Re: Conlang Development With Multple Noun Cases

The Druni language has nine cases. Word order is quite flexible but MOST of
the time the order is SOV (subject-object-verb). This rule can be violated
with impunity however. Adjectives in Druni are NOT declined for either case or
number and are USUALLY placed before the noun but not always. ALL adjectives
having the characteristic ending "-it" but the "t" is dropped if the adjective
follows both the verb and the noun:

Ex: Ta feresh tuhibit onyara. "The book is red."  (Standard Word Order-SOV)
     (The book  red    is.)

      Ta feresh onyara tuhibi. "The book is red."
      (The book  is       red.)

      Onyara tuhibit ta feresh.  "The book is red."
      (Is        red     the book.)

      Onyara ta feresh tuhibi. "The book is red."
      (Is        the book  red.)

BUT:

       Onyara ta tuhibit feresh.  "It is the red book."
       (It is     the red    book.)

Also, invariable adjectives:

shirit na "green grassland"
shirit nau "green grasslands"

sitivit shol "constructed language"
sitivit sholu "constructed languages"

OR:

na shiri "green grassland" (note loss of "t")
nau shiri "green grasslands"

shol sitivi "constructed language"
sholu sitivi "constructed languages"

The word order is governed by what Druni linguists called "The Primacy of
Sound and Meaning" (Ta Odnokun Ketasha vey Paraa),  which means that the
speaker/writer has the goal of building a sentence that is clear in meaning
and balanced and flowing in sound. He or she therefore may use any word order
according to taste in order to achieve this goal.

"Idaizhe, pa ruvya makayara u ta Drunit shol vey banadjinit onyara vey
nobshetatsi!"

(So one can say that the Druni language is both beautiful and communicative!)

And of course I would say that, but I am prejudiced in this regard... :)

Jim H
ta Druntan