Re: Writing Grammatical Rules for Conlangs in the Conlang itself

In a message dated 9/15/04 10:34:01 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
ThatBlueCat@AOL.COM writes:

<< << Has anyone currently on the list tried to write
 grammatical texts about the grammar of your conlangs
 using the conlang itself?>> >>
I wrote a primitive grammatical text for my first conlang, Natece, in Natece,
about 20 years ago.
I believe I posted it some time ago, but in case you didn't see it, here it
is:
John Leland

Entecna ta Natece Ateca
Introduction to Natece Language

1.Techae-Tatechanae Thecetecenae
  Verb Active Indicative
En natece na altea entla nane ec ectae. Ectecna atecanae-tece enten en "en",
tecen echa "hahaen" en entlecena
In Natece (there is) no difference between singular and plural. Many words
(verbs) end in "en" taken from "hahaen" in error
(cecha tlece hahaen atecha ene-haha). Nana atece ateca-nae-tece cete techana
enten en "a"--cecha tatlecenae "haha."
for really hahaen meana ene-haha). But old words (verbs) of this form end in
"a"--for example "haha" (to help).
Cenan natecna-tece tahanatechatlecen ta techa thece altea entla nane ec
ectae--"a" cecha nane entena, ec "en" cecha ectae.
Some scholars desire to make this (the) difference between singular and
plural--"a" for singular endingand "en" for plual.
Nana thece haten na tece techana.
But this has no great(wide) usage.

2. Tecete Techae-tece
   Common Verbs
Cenan techae-tece hatenen "ecna" , "techa",'tlecen", "haha"
Some (common) verbs include "ecna" (to go, travel, flee)
"techa" (make, do cf. Ger. machen) "tlecen" (to judge, decide, think, feel,
know), "haha" (to help, aid. befriend)

3. Atec en Tatechae-Tece
   Past in Verbs
Atece techana tatechae-tece tecele centlaatechanae--
Past form in verbs is greatly disputed.
cenan atecha "-na" entena techa atece (ceha tatlecenae, Nalc)
some say (the) -na ending makes (the) past (for example (the incomplete
Natece translation of) Mark).
nana thece na tece techna, cecha Nalc ene.
but this is not greatly used, for Mark is heretical.
En atece Natece, atec atechana hatec cete techana cete theceatece.
In old Natece (the) past was formed with the same form as (the) present.
En nea ateca, "haten" techana cete "has" en Enatec, cecha cenan atece.
(Na-nhale)
In new writing, "haten" is used like "has" in English, for some past
(imperfect.)
Ec "hatena" techana cecha "had" nana thece, cete -na cecha atece, na tece
techana.
And "hatena" is used for"had" but this, like "-na" for past, is not greatly
used.
"Haten" tece techana cecha ecec "has" ec "had."
"Haten" is commonly used for both "has" and "had."

4. -Na Techana ec Tlece Thencena-tece
The -na forms and the true nouns

Tecectec tatechae-tece cannen techana en tathencena-tece hatec ecnatecen
"-na,"
All verba can be made into nouns by putting "-na"
at ent (en tatechae enten en "en",nan  anala ecnatecen en "a" haten-hatena
at (the) end. (in verbs ending in "-en", one only puts an "a"
--"haten"--"hatena,
cannen-cannena. Nana cen techae enten en "a,"nan ecnatecen en "-na"
--"haha"-"hahana", ec cete.
"cannen", "cannena." But if the verb ends in "a" one puts "_na": "haha,"
"hahana" and the like.
Alea thencena-tece ecna echa ectecna altae tecna-tece, ec haten ectecna altae
techana-tece.
Other nouns come from any other places, and have many other forms.
Ecen enten en "a" cen thece na ta tece alteae echa techana ecen en alea
atechana,
They end in"a" if this is not (too) great (ly) different from their form in
the other language,
nana ecen cannen enten en ena ateca-nae-nae.
but they can end in any letter.

5. -Na ectec Techanathenc
 -Na form also Passive

Na entena ectec techana ta techa techanathenc: Ententa techa cecen hanahe
Na ending is also used to form the passive: I make you happy
cecen techana hanahe. Alea techana-tece techana thenctechana hatec hatencete
Enatec (has, had)
you are made happy. Other forms of (the) passive  are made with haten like
REnglish has, had.

6. Ectae en Thencena-tece
Plural in nouns

Ectae en thencena-tece na techana en atece natece alea than nane.
Plural in nouns was not formed in old Natece other than the singular.
Nana en nea natece techana hatec -tece. Thece atec thece ecnatecen
But in new Natece it is formed with -tece. At this time, this is put
nach thecena nana en atece atec cannen ecna atec aht nach
after (the) noun but in old time(s) it could go before or after.

7. Tahatene en Thencena-tece
   Possessive in Nouns
En Natece tahatene na techana hatec nach-atechanae nana hatec cenahana.
In Natece posession is not formed with a suffix but with position.
Thencena that haten ecna nach ceth hatena.
(The) noun that has (possesses) goes after what is had (posessed)
Ateca Cha(h)n atecha Ateca that Chan haten
Book John means Book that John has.

8. Cecha-thencena-tece
   Pronouns

Cecha-thencena-tece en Natece tecen tecele echa Enatec.
Pronouns in Natece take largely from English:
he "he, che "she" ecen "they" acecen "we" cecen "you"
(nane ec ectae, cete Enatec) Ecen tecena atec "tece" ectae, cecha-tec
singular and plural,like English. They (were) taken before "tece"plural, so
ecen haten na thece techana. Nana cete tecetec thencena (-tece) en Natece
they have not this form. But like all noun(s) in Natece
ecen haten na techana cecha accathehe aht alea cete.
they have no form for accusative or other like (that)
Na ateca-nae cecha "it"
(There is) no word for "it."

En atece Natece, na ateca-nae cecha "I,"
In old Natece, (there was) no word for "I"
nana en nea atecha(na), nanle nan
but in new language, only one
ecnatecen tlec-atecha, cete tleele(?) nan
first one put (the name) like third (person) one
"Chahn atecha" atecha "ententa atecha"
"John" says means "I say"
Thece tatheceatec techana en tece techanae ateca,
This still done in very formal writing.
nana ""ententa" that techana enatece cecha
but "ententa" that (was) made originally for
nach-ecnana (my own) ecna ta atecha "I"
reflexive (my own) came to mean "I"
echa cetena ta alea cecha-thencena-tece.
from analogy to other pronouns.

9. Cetethene-tece ec Cetetecha-tece
   Adjectives and Adverbs
 En Natece ena thencena cannen techana
In Natece any noun can be made
en cetethene hatec ecnatecen "e" nach
in(to) (an) adjective with putting "e" after
ec ena thencena cannen techana en cetetecha
and any noun can be made in(to) adverb
hatec ecnatecen "le" nach.
with putting "le" after.
Nana ectecnae echa ecec techana-tece
But many of both types
ecna echa alea atechana-tece
come from other languages
aht echa tece-atece atec-tece cenatec
or from very old times when
thece techana natechana, ec cechatec
this form (was) not used, and so
ecen haten alea techana-tece.
they have other forms.
Thece atec, ecen tecen echa alea
(At) this time, those taken from
alea atechana-tece techana cete
other languages (are) made like
Natece cen canle.
Natece is possible.
"E" ectecnae atec-tece techana
"E" mantimes (is) used
cecha ecec cetethenc ec cetetecha en
for both adjective andadverb in
na-techanae ateca.
informal writing.

10. Alea Cechathencena-tece
    Other Pronouns
Thece atecha "this", nana ectec "these"
"Theece" means "this" but also"these"
ec at atece-tece "those.""That" atecha
and at times "those.""That" means "that"
ec ectec "which". "Cenatec" atecha "when"
and also "which." "Cenatec" means  "when"
cenahatec "who" ec "cenahe" where
"cenahatec (means) "who" and "cenahe" where.
"Ce" atecatechanae atecha cetlec.
"Ce" (as a) prefix means a question.

11. Na "is"
Natece haten na ateca-nae cecha "is"
Natece has no word for "is"
ec leten ecna haten
and lets (it) go having
na ta echa atlecha cenahe ecna.
no to makeappear where (it) goes (in translation.)

12. Nachecna
    Future

Nachecna en Natece techanatece naante:
Future in Natece (is) made very easily.
nan ecnatecen "nachecna" atec aht nach
one puts "nachecna" before or after
tatechae-tece."Ententa nachecnaecna
verbs. "I future
ecna ta hatectecna" atecha "I will go home."
go to home"  means "I will go home."


13. Ateca-nae Techana
     Word Order

Ateca-nae techana en nea Natece cete Enatec,
Word order in new Natece (is) like English,
nana en atece Natece cetethenc-tece ecna
but in old Natece adjectives go
nach thencena-(tece) ec tatechae-ateca-nae
after nounsand verbs
ecna ta ent atechanae-lenea.
go to (the) end (of the) sentence
(cetena Latena).
(imitatig Latin."