Grammar:
the whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general.
Every language has its own grammatical side, as I am sure you already know.
What composes it, though? As in, what are the most common parts of grammar in a language?
The most important parts of grammar are the following:
nouns, adverbs, adjectives, determiners (like the, a/an), verbs and verb tenses (present, past, future, moods etc.).
Are we going to have a quick look at all of them? YES, WE ARE.
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Nouns:
a word used to identify things or people.
Examples of nouns:
book, person, man, tree, word, life.
They are commonly divided into two different categories:
abstract and concrete nouns.
Abstract nouns (hope, glory, love etc.) don't have any physical properties, concrete nouns (water, gas, books etc.) do.
Adverbs:
a word used to describe an adjective or verb.
They often end with -ly (gently, quickly, slowly etc.), but others don't.
Examples:
Here, now, very, highly etc.
Adjectives:
Describing words.
They can be colours, sizes, shapes, ages, origin and material.
Verbs:
A doing word (to do, to make, to have etc.).
Verb tenses:
Simple present (I eat), Simple past (I ate), Present continuous (I am eating), Past continuous (I was eating), Present perfect (I have seen), Present perfect continuous (I have been waiting), Past perfect (I had seen), Past perfect continuous (I had been eating), Simple future (I will be), Future continuous (I will be waiting), Future perfect (I will have eaten), 'be going to' (I'm going to eat), Future perfect continuous (I will have been eating), 'used to' (I used to swim), would.
Verb moods:
indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and infinitive.
Infinitive: to be, to wash, to see etc.
Imperative: Go! Be! Eat!
Subjunctive: May God be with you.
Indicative: Vikings will be the new vampires.
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How about for your language? Will there be a subjunctive? How will you be able to distinguish infinitives from the -ing form?
In Romance languages, like Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian, the subjunctive requires change in most people when they talk.
For example: I go in Italian is io vado, but the subjunctive is che io vada (that I go). He hopes that I go= Lui spera che io vada, not vado.
Infinitives in other languages:
German-...en/n (sprechen, to speak)
Italian-...are (parlare-to speak), ...ire (dormire-to sleep), ...ere (leggere-to read). Three conjugations here! How many types of verbs will there be in your language? 1, 2, 3 or more?
French-...er (parler-to speak), ...ir (dormir-to sleep), ...oir (vouloir-to want), ...re (faire-to do).
Dutch-en/n (werken-to work)
Japanese- formal version of verbs: ...masu (tabemasu-to eat)
Spanish-...ar (hablar-to speak), ...ir (decir-to say), ...er (comer-to eat)
In Lei'ine, for example, verbs in their infinitive form start with the prefix Tha-
Are your language's verbs going to have an ending to make them verbs or a beginning, like mine? You're free to do what you want; heck you could even put something in the middle to make them verbs!
Tha-maksi-ein-to be tender (from 'maksi'-tenderness', 'ein'-to be/to make/to render). In Lei'ine, the only verbs without the prefix 'tha' are the auxiliary verbs 'to be' and 'to have'.
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HOW TO: Create your own Language
Non-FictionHave you ever thought how cool it would be to have your own language, but never seemed to find the time to make it? Have you ever wondered how awesome it would be to be capable of communicating in your very own, made-up tongue, but thought you didn'...
