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Re: Latin Hebrew creole -- some samples

From:Patrick Dunn <pdunn@...>
Date:Saturday, January 4, 2003, 21:31
Jan van Steenbergen wrote:

> > I would be eager to see some grammar of the language. Is there something > online, and if not, would you care to post something?
I've got a very bare skeleton grammar, which I'll post here: Words borrowed from Latin have the following sound (and spelling) changes applied: qu -> k cV^f-> c /tS/ cV^b -> k v /w/ -> v /v/ ae -> aj oe -> oj gu -> g V: -> V V^fV -> jV (hence, eo -> jo) #s -> #0 Words borrowed from Hebrew undergo the following sound (and spelling) changes: beth -> b, veth -> v cheth -> h yod -> j ayin -> 0 (null) kaf -> k, khaf -> h tzaddai -> z qof -> k shin -> sc /S/ sin -> s thav -> t #h -> #0 Latin nouns are borrowed in the ablative case. Hebrew nouns are always borrowed in the absolutive state, except in cases where entire phrases are borrowed as one word. Latin verbs are borrowed in the imperative. Hebrew verbs are borrowed in the (usually) qal 3rd person masculine singular perfect. Latin adjectives are borrowed in their neuter ablative case. II. Nouns Nouns do not change for number or case. A noun may be pluralized by preceding it with the particle ja (from ea, "they"). gladjo -- a sword, the sword ja gladjo -- swords, the swords ja contracts with enclitic prepositions: d'ja gladjo -- of swords When context makes plurality clear, "ja" is optional and usually omitted. III. Verbs Verbs do not decline for number, person, tense, or mood. ani ama hu -- I love him. hu ama ani -- He loves me. ani da -- I give tu da -- you give ata da -- you (formal) give hu da -- he, she, it gives no da -- we give vo da -- you (pl) give aten da -- you pl formal give hen da -- they give Future tense can be indicated by context or by preceding the verb with "volo". tu volo da -- you will give Past tense can be indicated by preceding the verb with habjo tu habjo da -- you gave Verbs can be made passive by preceding the tense marker (if there is one) with the particle mi. hu mi da -- it is given The agent of a passive sentence is indicated with the enclitic preposition "be." The indirect object, as usual, can be indicated with the enclitic preposition "le." libro mi habjo da l'amiko b'ani. -- the book was given to [my] friend by me. Verbs are negated by preceding them with the enclitic particle "lo." ani lo da te hu libro. "I do not give him the book." This negation can be emphasized by following the verb with the word "nunkam," "never." hu lo habjo da nunkam t'ani libro! "He didn't give me the book." IV. Sentence structure Sentences are SVO. Adjectives usually follow the noun they describe, and heads precede their compliments. The relativizer is "asc." ze gladjo, asc aba d'ani da l'ani hu, haja bono. "This sword, which my father gave to me, is good." Note that the pronoun, in this case "hu", is stated within the relative clause, unlike in English. A question is formed by prefixing the entire utterance with "ha." ha ze haja gladjo, asc aba d'ata da l'ata hu? "Is this the sword which your father gave to you?" ha tu da libro de tu t'ani? "Will you give me your book?" The question word is "ke." It means both "what" and "who," and is prefixed to other words to make "where," "when," "why," and "how": ke-loko -- where? ke-tempo -- when? per-ke -- why? ke-modo -- how? ke-kanto -- how much? how many? "ke" should not be confused with the enclitic preposition ke, meaning "like; about." The interogative is never enclitic. Emphatic forms of "what" and "who" are "ke-ma" and "ke-mi" respectively.