Creature:Sinchori/Language

The predominant Sinchori language is Sinchorvin. It is quite a simple language.

Alphabet


The Sinchorvin written alphabet consists of 21 characters. Each character represents a sound, and the sounds are grouped together to form words. All Sinchorvin characters have a flat line at the top, and Sinchorvin writing usually (but not always) has all the characters in a word connected by having one top line.

Grammar Rules
Grammar is the rules of a language, and how words are arranged and changed to represent different ideas. In Sinchori grammar, the "root" word is left unchanged and prefixes or suffixes are added to change the meaning of the word. These affixes are always seperated from the "root" of the word by a hyphen (-), which represents a very small pause between the affix and the root when speaking. Important Sinchorvin grammar is explained below.

Nouns
Nouns are people, places, or things. In Sinchorvin, nouns are altered to represent several different changes in meaning.

For example, to make a noun plural, but only 2 or 3 items, a prefix of "iakh-" (literally meaning "some") is added to the noun. To make a noun plural with more than 3 subjects the prefix "owkh-" (literally "many") is added. So, for example, to refer to one city a person would simply say "mezhi" ("city"). If they were referring to three cites they would say "iakh-mezhi", and to refer to six cities they would say "owkh-mezhi".

Possession ("my name") in Sinchorvin is shown by adding a prefix of "u-" to the noun or pronoun that possesses the other. For example, "my name" in Sinchorvin would be "u-ser zech", which literally means "of me name". If the nouns or pronouns involved are also plural, the prefix of "u-" comes before the plurality prefix. So, for example, to say "the cities' names", referring to two cities, one would say "u-iakh-mezhi iakh-zech", literally meaning "of some cities some names". Of course, if the cities shared a name then "zech" ("name") would not be plural, only "mezhi" ("city").

Pronouns
Pronouns are used to refer to a specific noun without referring to it by name. The Sinchori have several pronouns, listed below:

Pronouns do not need to be conjugated for plurality because the pronoun itself is inherently singular, small plural, or large plural. However, they are of course still conjugated to show possession.

Verbs
Verbs are actions, generally describing an action by a noun (person, place, or thing).

In Sinchorvin, verbs in their "basic" form have a suffix of "-eltén", which makes the verb mean "to ...". A verb is first conjugated based on the plurality of the noun or pronoun it relates to. Singular nouns simply eliminate the "-eltén" and do not replace it; plural nouns with 2 or 3 subjects (two plants, for example) replace "-eltén" with "-tsia"; plural nouns with more than 3 subjects or an unspecified number replace it with "-tsé". For example, to conjugate éntier-eltén (to eat) into "I eat", "you eat", "he eats", or another singular present tense saying, it would be changed to éntier; "me and my friend eat", "the two people eat", or another plural of less than 3 would be éntier-tsia, and a plural of more than 3 would would be éntier-tsé.

In Sinchorvin, verbs are also conjugated according to their tense, meaning when the verb's action took place. Verbs are normally in the present tense, meaning they are happening right now. To make an action happen in the future ("I will eat") a prefix of "muri-" (literally meaning "eventually") is added. If an action happened in the recent past (within the past day), a prefix of "kher-" (literally "previously") is added. If an action happened more than a day ago the suffix "Uskh-" (lit. "long ago") is added. So, for example, "I will eat" is "ser muri-éntier" ("ser" is "I"), while "I ate [sometime today]" would be "ser kher-éntier", and "I ate [before today]" would be "ser uskh-éntier". Remember to still conjugate the verb based on its plurality while conjugating tense.