Word Order

This language has word order unlike English. In English, the words are in Subject-Verb-Object order. In Atarel, sentences are in Subject-Object-Verb order. So, ‘This is my cat,’ would look like, 'This my cat is. ' Auxiliary verbs precede the verb they modify. So ‘This could be my cat,’ would be ‘This my cat could be.’ In sentences like ‘I think they went to pay for the food,’ each part of the sentence is broken into its own idea. So, instead of all of the verbs going to the end of the sentence (I they for the food think went to pay – hardly understandable!), each part of the sentence is broken from the rest, and the verb goes to the end of that part. ‘I think | they went | to pay for the food,’ is changed to ‘I think | they went | for the food to pay.’

Alphabet

It is important to know that Atarel does not include the letters K, J, Q, X, or Z. You will never see these letters in Atarel. The phonetic equivalent is used in foreign cases, and Y is usually used in place of J, S in place of Z, and C is always pronounced as a K (i.e. Kuwait = Cuwait, New Jersey = Nuyersi, Quebec = Cwebec, Mexico = Mecsico, Zimbabwe = Simbabwe).

Verbs

The word esu means ‘to be’. It can be used to say that something exists, as in “There is a cat,” or to describe a subject, “That is a cat.” It can also be used in place of ‘am’ and ‘are’. Note how it ends in U. All unconjugated verbs end in U.

Past and Future Tense Particles

A simple particle at the beginning of a sentence can change the tense of the whole idea. Ce can be roughly translated as ‘in the past’. Putting this particle at the beginning of a sentence can make the sentence past tense. Mu means ‘in the future’, and is used the same way. If neither of these are used, the sentence is present tense. There are also verb conjugations to make individual verbs past or future. In a sentence like ‘I think this happened,’ using the ce particle will make both verbs (think and happened) past tense (‘I thought this happened’). If you want each verb to be a different tense, you have to conjugate them.

Verb Conjugation

As explained before, all unconjugated verbs end U. Conjugating a verb can make it past or future, and positive or negative. For present positive verbs (e.g. ‘to go’), no conjugation is necessary. For present negative verbs (e.g. ‘to not go’), the last vowel of the verb is dropped, and a suffix is added to show negativity, -onen.

Esu = to be/to exist. Esonen = to not be/to not exist.

The past positive suffix is -umu, and the past negative is -unen.

Esumu = was/existed. Esunen = was not/did not exist.

Future positive is -ice, and future negative is -inen.

Esice = will be/will exist. Esinen = will not be/will not exist.

Adjectives - Comparative and Superlative Forms.

All adjectives end in A or E. Adding an R will make the comparative form. Adding an S will make the superlative form.

Articles

English has several articles, including both definite and indefinite. Some definite articles are ‘the’, ‘this’, and ‘that’. Indefinite includes ‘a’ and ‘an’. Atarel omits indefinite articles, as they are unnecessary. A noun, such as ‘cat’ can mean either just ‘cat’ or ‘a cat’. Definite articles are more useful, as they can be used to specify what you are talking about, and where it is. ‘This’ indicates something nearby, ‘that’ indicates something farther away.

Infinitives

Infinitives are ignored. So if you wanted to say ‘to care’, you would only say ‘care’.

Nouns

All regular nouns (without any prefixes) except pronouns begin with a consonant. They do not consistently end in either a consonant or a vowel. Nouns never, ever have suffixes. Modifiers are always prefixes.

Making a Noun Plural - Excess

To make a noun plural, you add the prefix ta-, which is a variation of the word tase, which means ‘many’. To show that there is too much of something, add the prefix tu-, which is a variation of the word tusa, which means ‘too much’.

Possession

To show possession, the article se is added between the owner and the noun. It can be considered the ‘s in “Beth’s”. It also changes words like ‘I’, ‘he’, and ‘she’ to ‘my’, ‘his’, and ‘her’. Following a noun with se, but not specifying what they own, changes these words to ‘mine’, ‘his’, and ‘hers’. One can also translate se as ‘of’, making the sentence ‘It is his cat,’ mean ‘It is the cat of him.’ However, this particle is only used for possession, and not cases like ‘I thought of you.’

Changing Nouns to Verbs

The word dusu means ‘to do’. The letters du can be added to the beginning of a noun to change it into a verb. So, adding du to ‘a feeling’ would change it to ‘to feel’.

Changing Adjectives to Adverbs

The word arge means ‘bad’. Adding te to such an adjective will turn it into an adverb. So, te can be thought of as the ‘ly’ in English words like ‘amazingly’, ‘largely’, etc. Arge means ‘bad’, argete means ‘badly’.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are pronouns that indicate that the subject and object are the same entity. In the sentence ‘He talked to himself,’ himself is the reflexive pronoun. ‘Himself’ shows that the subject and object are both the same person. In Atarel, to show that the object is the same as the subject, the prefix omo is added.

Making an Antonym of an Adjective or Adverb

The prefix ne- can be added to an adjective or adverb to form the opposite of that word. Tase means ‘many’, netase means ‘few’. Prona means ‘nice’, neprona means ‘unkind’.


				*Atarel* *Grammar*



	Home \| Grammar \| Pronunciation \| Dictionary






		The Language Word Order This language has word order unlike English. In English, the words are in Subject-Verb-Object order. In Atarel, sentences are in Subject-Object-Verb order. So, ‘This is my cat,’ would look like, 'This my cat is. ' Auxiliary verbs precede the verb they modify. So ‘This could be my cat,’ would be ‘This my cat could be.’ In sentences like ‘I think they went to pay for the food,’ each part of the sentence is broken into its own idea. So, instead of all of the verbs going to the end of the sentence (I they for the food think went to pay – hardly understandable!), each part of the sentence is broken from the rest, and the verb goes to the end of that part. ‘I think \| they went \| to pay for the food,’ is changed to ‘I think \| they went \| for the food to pay.’ Alphabet It is important to know that Atarel does not include the letters K, J, Q, X, or Z. You will never see these letters in Atarel. The phonetic equivalent is used in foreign cases, and Y is usually used in place of J, S in place of Z, and C is always pronounced as a K (i.e. Kuwait = Cuwait, New Jersey = Nuyersi, Quebec = Cwebec, Mexico = Mecsico, Zimbabwe = Simbabwe). Verbs The word esu means ‘to be’. It can be used to say that something exists, as in “There is a cat,” or to describe a subject, “That is a cat.” It can also be used in place of ‘am’ and ‘are’. Note how it ends in U. All unconjugated verbs end in U. Past and Future Tense Particles A simple particle at the beginning of a sentence can change the tense of the whole idea. Ce can be roughly translated as ‘in the past’. Putting this particle at the beginning of a sentence can make the sentence past tense. Mu means ‘in the future’, and is used the same way. If neither of these are used, the sentence is present tense. There are also verb conjugations to make individual verbs past or future. In a sentence like ‘I think this happened,’ using the ce particle will make both verbs (think and happened) past tense (‘I thought this happened’). If you want each verb to be a different tense, you have to conjugate them. Verb Conjugation As explained before, all unconjugated verbs end U. Conjugating a verb can make it past or future, and positive or negative. For present positive verbs (e.g. ‘to go’), no conjugation is necessary. For present negative verbs (e.g. ‘to not go’), the last vowel of the verb is dropped, and a suffix is added to show negativity, -onen. Esu = to be/to exist. Esonen = to not be/to not exist. The past positive suffix is -umu, and the past negative is -unen. Esumu = was/existed. Esunen = was not/did not exist. Future positive is -ice, and future negative is -inen. Esice = will be/will exist. Esinen = will not be/will not exist. Adjectives - Comparative and Superlative Forms. All adjectives end in A or E. Adding an R will make the comparative form. Adding an S will make the superlative form. Articles English has several articles, including both definite and indefinite. Some definite articles are ‘the’, ‘this’, and ‘that’. Indefinite includes ‘a’ and ‘an’. Atarel omits indefinite articles, as they are unnecessary. A noun, such as ‘cat’ can mean either just ‘cat’ or ‘a cat’. Definite articles are more useful, as they can be used to specify what you are talking about, and where it is. ‘This’ indicates something nearby, ‘that’ indicates something farther away. Infinitives Infinitives are ignored. So if you wanted to say ‘to care’, you would only say ‘care’. Nouns All regular nouns (without any prefixes) except pronouns begin with a consonant. They do not consistently end in either a consonant or a vowel. Nouns never, ever have suffixes. Modifiers are always prefixes. Making a Noun Plural - Excess To make a noun plural, you add the prefix ta-, which is a variation of the word tase, which means ‘many’. To show that there is too much of something, add the prefix tu-, which is a variation of the word tusa, which means ‘too much’. Possession To show possession, the article se is added between the owner and the noun. It can be considered the ‘s in “Beth’s”. It also changes words like ‘I’, ‘he’, and ‘she’ to ‘my’, ‘his’, and ‘her’. Following a noun with se, but not specifying what they own, changes these words to ‘mine’, ‘his’, and ‘hers’. One can also translate se as ‘of’, making the sentence ‘It is his cat,’ mean ‘It is the cat of him.’ However, this particle is only used for possession, and not cases like ‘I thought of you.’ Changing Nouns to Verbs The word dusu means ‘to do’. The letters du can be added to the beginning of a noun to change it into a verb. So, adding du to ‘a feeling’ would change it to ‘to feel’. Changing Adjectives to Adverbs The word arge means ‘bad’. Adding te to such an adjective will turn it into an adverb. So, te can be thought of as the ‘ly’ in English words like ‘amazingly’, ‘largely’, etc. Arge means ‘bad’, argete means ‘badly’. Reflexive Pronouns Reflexive pronouns are pronouns that indicate that the subject and object are the same entity. In the sentence ‘He talked to himself,’ himself is the reflexive pronoun. ‘Himself’ shows that the subject and object are both the same person. In Atarel, to show that the object is the same as the subject, the prefix omo is added. Making an Antonym of an Adjective or Adverb The prefix ne- can be added to an adjective or adverb to form the opposite of that word. Tase means ‘many’, netase means ‘few’. Prona means ‘nice’, neprona means ‘unkind’.