Prsänëan language

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Prsänëan

(Persänëtagarë)

International orange and red sun, symbol of the Prsänëan language
Spoken in Prsänëa
Total users 1
Language family Constructed language
Language source English (primary)
Language type Constructed language
Writing system Prsänëan alphabet (with Latin Romanization)
Official Status
Official language in Prsänëa
Regulated by Prsänëan Language Regulation Board
ISO 639 codes ps/prs

The Prsänëan language, or simply Prsänëan (Romanized Prsänëan: Løgvëj Persänëtagarë; formal Prsänëan: ), and in technical and historical discussion the Modern Prsänëan language (Prsänëan: Løgvëj Persänëtagarë Noovagarë), is a constructed language created and used as an official language by the Grand Duchy of Prsänëa. The conlang is continually in development by the Prsänëan Language Regulation Board of the PPR's Internal and Government Affairs Office. The aspects of the language have been constructed from various languages, with the addition of multiple invented concepts. Prsänëan is primarily an Indo European language with main basis in the Germanic languages and heavy influence by the Romance languages.

History

Origins

Evolution of the Prsänëan language

The origins of Prsänëan begin with the creation of Prsänëan English as a phonetic transcription of American English. The writing system utilized multiple glyphs from different macronational languages. This system was in place for around six months in Prsänëa until the system became used less often by the few people who knew the transcription. In late May 2011, Premier James Wilary of the PPR decided it would be beneficial to the republic if a new full Prsänëan language was made. The abolishment of the Prsänëan English writing system as a scripture of Prsänëan began this transition. The era of Old Prsänëan occurred between May 29 and November 5, 2011, when Prsänëan retained an extensive alphabet left mainly over from Prsänëan English, and most words continued to be English in nature, but respelled to a more Latin alphabet. After November 5, the change was made to a drastically smaller alphabet in the Middle Prsänëan era. With the lack of interest in the language following this time, the implementation of the revision was minor.

Ukaønt sør Skïp för der rïčsguv de der Republik Pëpölśàrë de Persänëa, hê mïkrönäcû žat ist dês Kaliförnëu, SÜU. Es rûçëñ uv ÄRMC Prëmër Djäms E Wilarë.

— Only known remaining example of Old Prsänëan, used as the description of the Prsänëan government Skype account.

Progress

In December 2011, the Prsänëan Language Regulation Board (PLRB) was formed in order to formally regulate the language. Following this and the activity slump in the language, on February 19, 2012, the Middle Prsänëan era came to a close as the modern Prsänëan language took shape. This included the extensively used Pre-Spelling Reform alphabet, which was used for the majority of the period that the Prsänëan language had its rise in development to its current structures. With the new formations in the language, words and grammar in Prsänëan began to be formed rapidly as interest grew. After efforts made by the Prsänëan Language Regulation Board, the first dictionary of the Prsänëan language was published in late March 2012 in the A1 Forum. Four total editions of the Unabridged Dictionary of the Prsänëan Language have been published to date. With the development of the fifth edition in June, the PLRB announced that the language had surpassed the 700th word mark.

Spelling reform

On June 9, 2012, the Prsänëan language began to be drastically modified in the Prsänëan Spelling Reform. This saw the removal of the special characters and diacritics beyond a few ones that were more commonly used. It also saw the implementation of digraphs and other multiple letter representations of sounds that had previously been shown by these complicated characters. The Prsänëan Language Regulation Board had promoted the idea "in order to make Prsänëan simpler and more attractive for others to make use of our language". In mid July, the Prsänëan Language Institute was founded by the PLRB as an educational organization for the future teaching of Prsänëan, but has yet to be opened.

New alphabet

The usage and updating of the Prsänëan language died out in the latter half of 2012. However, in December 2012, the PRLB decided on the creation of an entirely new alphabet for Prsänëan, completely separate from that of the Latin variant used prior. The change was announced on January 2, 2013, and the Regulation Board then began the process of changing official documentation into using the new alphabet. General resources were decided to be kept in Romanized Prsänëan for simplicity and ease of use, and to utilize the official alphabet for more formal uses.

Overview

This article is part of the series on:
Prsänëan language


History
- Prsänëan English
- Prsänëan Spelling Reform
Administration
- Grand Duchy of Prsänëa
- Prsänëan Language
Regulation Board

- Prsänëan Language Institute
- THE Unabridged Dictionary
of the Prsänëan Language

Official use

The government sponsored constructed language, as the successor to Prsänëan English, is an official language of the Prsänëa People's Republic. All government documents and activities are legally required to be provided with translations from English to Prsänëan and vice versa. Prsänëan is also the only language in Prsänëa with a cultural and historical basis in the nation, beyond English. Prsänëan is officially regulated by the government of Prsänëa through the Prsänëan Language Regulation Board, and servers as the official center for the resources of the language.

Education

Prsänëan is not currently taught at any level as a language. However, with the foundation of the Prsänëan Language Institute, it has become a priority to develop an educational system for Prsänëan to teach it at certain degrees. Data on the language is mostly included within the MicroWiki article on Prsänëan, and the currently only other resource on Prsänëan is THE Unabridged Dictionary of the Prsänëan Language.

Prsänëan Language Day

After the review of documents and editions of papers on the language of Prsänëan over its history, it was determined that the foundation of Prsänëan occurred on May 29, 2011. May 29 has subsequently become a holiday in the Prsänëa People's Republic to celebrate the formation of the regional conlang as a major part of the Republic's culture.

Influences

Numerous languages from the micronational world are reflected in the creation of the Prsänëan language. Primarily, this is seen directly in the number of languages which have words formed into the Prsänëan vocabulary, of which there are dozens. English, resistant to the influx of other influences, acts as the central basis for Prsänëan, and most aspects of the language retain their English equivalents if not specifically modified through other influences. Prsänëan, as stated by the Prsänëan Language Regulation Board, “is designed primarily as a language to be learned by the integration of English speaking persons, as most resources from the language are designed from an English reference angle.” Not all aspects of Prsänëan are derived from other languages however, as some are original to the language.

Esperanto

The extensive usage for prefixes and suffixes in Prsänëan is derived from Esperanto grammar, where the different parts of speech are each marked by their own affix. This is also directly reflected in the usage of the adjective (“-(g)are”) , adverb (“-(e)ge”) and verb suffixes, and the noun prefix (“ej(a)-“), amongst numerous others. Esperanto is also the cause, although German influence encourages the fact, of extensive word length in Prsänëan, where affixes are added end to end to form words of great length. Some of the unique characters in Esperanto, “Ĝ” and “Ĵ” were previously used in Early modern Prsänëan.

French

French is the largest external influence on Prsänëan, with the exception of English. Prsänëan grammar relies heavily on the injection of French language concepts, such as adjectives and adverbs being placed after their nouns and verbs. Questions, although not fully formulated yet, are able to use the same “est-ce que” format as used in French interrogative sentences. Quotation marks in Prsänëan are also used the same as in French, with the use of guillemets («…») for primary level quotations and quotation marks (“...”) for secondary. The nasal vowel /ɔ̃/ (used in Prsänëan as its own letter “Ø”) is derived from the French “on”. Although the conjugation of verbs as in French is left out in Prsänëan (with the exception of “to be”, “phrëgschel”, which has a modification for when used with multiple objects, as French verbs used with “etre”), the exclusion of a number of auxiliary verbs and the usage instead of numerous suffixes is derived from the French lack of usage of the verb “to be” in the present tense of verbs (where it is said “I speaking” instead of “I am speaking”).

Percent of influences on Prsänëan grammar and other aspects by other languages, excludes vocabulary

German

The German language has an influence on the language by being the encouragement for the trend in Prsänëan for longer words as compared to other languages, both macronational and micronational. Additionally, the German ability to combine nouns is shown in Prsänëan, where a term derived from English such as “speed limit” would be an entire separate word formed completely separate from both the adjective “speed” and the noun “limit”. The letters of “Ä” and “Ë” are also of German origin, as are the multigraphs “sch” and “gsch”.

Hawaiian

Hawaiian influence on Prsänëan is mainly kept to the evolution of the alphabet over time. Old Prsänëan used an oversized alphabet. From the knowledge of the creators of Prsänëan, Hawaiian used an alphabet of only 13 letters, and it was decided to follow the more compact trend with the onset of Middle Prsänëan. With the expansion of the alphabet again in Early modern Prsänëan, Hawaiian influence came again to influence its shrink to 20 letters for the current alphabet. Also, the guttural stop, used in Hawaiian as ‘, became a Prsänëan consonant and was originally used the same until it was changed into the letter “T”.

Other influences

  • Irish: Although not derived from directly, the Irish language's extensive use of multigraphs influenced the system of multigraphs in Prsänëan.
  • Norwegian: The letter "Ø" from the Norwegian alphabet was adopted into the Prsänëan alphabet.
  • Russian: The Cyrillic alphabet was used as the basis for the characters in the Prsänëan number system.
  • Spanish: The usage of the terminal punctuation words at the beginning and ends of a sentence was based on Spanish grammar.
  • Swahili: The genders in Prsänëan of "animate", "inanimate" and "abstract" are derived from the extensive listing of Swahili genders.
  • Vulcan: The practice of using words as punctuation marks for exclamations and questions is borrowed from Vulcan where interrogative sentences are marked with the word "ta" at the end.

Phonology

The sounds used in Prsänëan phonology are generally the same as would be used in American English. The main difference is used with the letter "Ø" which carries the nasal vowel of "on" in French. Certain sounds are only written through the use of multigraphs, while others are represented by both graphs and individual letters. No letter on its own, however, carries more than one sound.

Consonants

Consonants
IPA Examples Letter/Multigraph
f phi, caff, fan Ph
ɡ guy, bag G
h high, ahead H
j yes, yacht Y, Yj
k sky, crack C, Cxh
l lie, sly, gal L
n nigh, snide, can N, Hn, Nn
θ thigh, math X
p pie, spy, cap P, Vp
r rye, try, very R
s sigh, mass S
v vie, have V
z zoo, has Js
ʒ pleasure, vision, beige J, Gsch
ʃ cash, emotion Sch
ʔ uh-oh, Hawai'i T
Bilabial Labiodental Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Labialvelar Glottal
Nasal n
Plosive p k    g ʔ
Affricate
Fricative f    v θ s    z ʃ    ʒ h
Approximant r j
Lateral l

Vowels

Vowels
IPA Examples Letter/Multigraph
æ trap, pad, shall, ban A
ɛ dress, bed, fell, men E, Ie
ɪ kit, lid, fill, bin I
fleece, seed, feel, mean, sea Ë
face, made, fail, vein, pay Ä
ʌ strut, mud, dull, gun Oo
ɔ̃ son, bon Ø

Writing system

Alphabet

The formal alphabet with Romanized counterparts

The Prsänëan language uses two separate writing systems. The most common and easiest to access utilizes twenty characters, all derived from the Latin alphabet. These all come from seventeen letters of the basic alphabet, while the other three are derived from the Latin alphabet with additional diacritic marks. The second system is made up of seventeen characters, with three more with diacritic marks, that match with Romanized counterparts. The latter system is the formal Prsänëan alphabet that was independently created as a unique written form for the language. It is generally considered the "official" alphabet in Prsänëan, whereas the Romanized system is the more widely used variant. The formal alphabet is generally used only in official documentation, and the Romanized system has been kept for most usage otherwise.  

  Alphabet
Uppercase
A Ä C E Ë G H I J L N O Ø P R S T V X Y
Lowercase
a ä c e ë g h i j l n o ø p r s t v x y

Multigraphs

Prsänëan also uses digraphs, trigraphs and other multi letter representations of phonology. Previous to the spelling reform, there were no multigraphs, and some letters in the language stood for multiple sounds. The letter "O" in Prsänëan is only used in the "Oo" digraph, and is never found used by itself.

  Multigraph
Uppercase
CXH GSCH HN IE JS NN OO PH SCH VP YJ
Lowercase
cxh gsch hn ie js nn oo ph sch vp yj

Numbers

Prsänëan originally used Arabic/Hindu numerals when developed and into early 2012. However, in April, the Prsänëan Language Regulation Board decided to establish a different number system for the language. On April 26, the Board officially published the numerals to be used in Prsänëan. Counting and other aspects of numbers and mathematics are the same in Prsänëan as English, but with the use of different symbols. The system goes 0, Ю; 1, Я; 2, И; 3, З; 4, П; 5, К; 6, М; 7, Г; 8, В; and 9, Ш. All characters are derived from the Cyrillic alphabet. The symbols "Ц" and "Д" are not numbers but symbols used in place of the comma for larger numbers, and the dot for fractions. The comma replacement "Ц" is used as 4,654, ПЦМКП. The dot replacement "Д" is used as 5.64, КДМП. When used alone, the number system is fully capitalized. When used in a sentence, the numbers are capitalized along the lines of other Prsänëan words.

  Number
Uppercase
Ю Я И З Π К М Г В Ш Ц Д
Lowercase
ю я и з п к м г в ш ц д

Grammar

Grammar at a glance
Morphological typologyAgglutinative
Morphosyntactic alignmentAccusative
Head directionInitial
Constituent orderS-V-O

Diacritic marks

Diacritic Marks in Prsänëan are utilized to signify different letters. Until the spelling reform however, they were more numerous as parts of separate letters and were additionally used to show changes in words as parts of modifiers. The marks are an important part of the language, as not using the marks would result in a change of word recognition and pronunciation. The language had used a wide variety of diacritics, but no longer involves them in a majority of words. They are used more often in the letters Ä, Ë and Ø as opposed to their less common appearance in languages such as German.

Affixes

Prefixes and suffixes in Prsänëan also include designations of the function of certain words, for comparative adjectives and ordinal numerals. All adjective words use a suffix "-(g)arë" to denote that word being an adjective, and the same for adverbs with "-(e)ge". Verbs use a listing of nine different suffixes to denote the different tenses that the verbs are used in. Additionally, there are five different prefixes that can be attached to the auxiliary verb "xen" to allow the auxiliary verb to as different modal verbs. Also, when nouns are derived from verbs, the basic form of the verb is marked with the noun prefix "ej(a)-" to denote the fact is it a noun. Affixes are also added to the end of articles, but before the plural suffix, to denote when a noun is of the "inanimate" or "abstract" genders, with usage of "-(v)acx" and "-(r)iln" respectively.

Adjective affixes

Comparative suffixes in English, "-er" as in "faster" and "-est" as in "fastest" are also in the language respectively as the suffixes "-(i)voon" and "-(i)voonoohn" with the same meanings. Also, as with "-(ph)ish" or "-ish", the adjective suffix is used before the comparative modifier ("more beautiful" becomes "hanjsoogarëvoon" and not simply "hanjsoovoon"). When numbers are used adjectively, and not as articles, they are placed in ordinal form. There are three different suffixes for ordinal numbers: one for ordinal one, "​-(a)cë", one for ordinal two, "-(a)catä", and one for the rest above two, "-(e)catë" ("the first king" becomes "søx xjsar ëniecë" and so on). The position of ordinal numbers is the same for dates as the rest of adjectives (which means  the correct order for ordinal numbers is the same as in "November Third"). The abbreviations for the ordinal numbers are 1cë, 2ac, 3ec, 4ec, etc.

Purpose Prefix/Suffix
Adverb -(e)ge
Adjective -(g)arë
Noun ej(a)-
Possession arë(g)-
Likeness -(ph)isch
Nationality -(s)iesë
Inanimate gender -(v)acx
Abstract gender -(r)iln
Comparison -(i)voon (more)
-(i)voonoohn (most)
Ordinal ​-(a)cë (first)
-(a)catä (second)
-(e)catë

Punctuation

Punctuation in Prsänëan is generally used along the same lines as that of English, with Spanish influences. Like English, commas are used in pauses, and to separate parts of sentences. When listing items of three or more, the comma is used after each item in the list, including the serial comma before the conjunction at the end of the list (“He likes fish, bread, and steak” is proper while “He likes fish, bread and steak” is not). Semicolons are omitted from official technical use, but are mainly for aesthetic desires of writers. Colons retain their English purposes, mainly as introducing description such as lists, and also designating dialogue by an individual where quotation marks are sometimes omitted. Apostrophes are never used and play no part in the punctuation of words in Prsänëan. Quotation marks are used in the same manner as English, but use Spanish marks. The primary marks used for basic quotation are guillemets or «…», and secondary quotation marks used under the primary are “…” (Both together, the marks work like: Jim said «I heard Tony say “I like cats”».)

Terminal marks

A period is placed following every sentence in Prsänëan, even with the usage of exclamation and question marks. Unlike English, exclamation and question marks are actual words, and like in Spanish, are placed at the beginning and the end of the sentence, before and after all words that otherwise comprise the sentence (“I am confessing!” would be written “Ri iec jacisënisën ri.”, same pattern with question marks). The first letter of punctuation mark words is capitalized at the beginning of sentences like other words. When a statement is made that calls for both question and exclamation marks, the exclamation word mark is placed at the beginning of the sentence, and the question at the end (“You are confessing?!” would be written “Ri soo jacisënisën ra.”). In short sentences, or where only an interjection is used, usage of a mark at the beginning of the sentence is not required, unless it is both an exclamation and a question, which then follows the previous pattern.

Purpose Mark
Exclamation mark Ri
Question mark Ra
Quotation marks «…» (Primary)
“…” (Secondary)

Gender

Genders in Prsänëan play a minor role in the overall usage of the language. Their purpose is mainly used as a redundant detailing of nouns, and the genders used are leftover from an extensive proposed system of genders in Old Prsänëan. Prsänëan is comprised of three genders, “animate”, “inanimate” and “abstract”. The "Animate Gender” is considered anything alive or living, like people, animals and plants. The “Inanimate Gender” is considered any physical object that is not animate, like books or tables. The “Abstract Gender” comprises all nonphysical nouns and things, like ideas or numbers. A noun in usage is considered of the gender that it would be if it stood alone, regardless of context or adjectives that modify it. A group of items is considered the gender of the highest ranking item, which is in the order of “animate” as highest, with “inanimate” next, and “abstract” last (if three baskets and a dog are together, the group is considered “animate”).

Parts of speech

Articles

In basic Prsänëan, articles are placed before every common noun. However, proper nouns do not use them except in specific circumstances, and common nouns can stand alone, but then must be capitalized. The definite article is either singular, or pluralized as the rest of Prsänëan words ("søx rapix", "the rabbit" and "søxat rapixat", "the rabbits"). The indefinite article is usually singular in Prsänëan ("søn rapix", "a rabbit") but sometimes plural ("sønat rapixat", "some rabbits"). The partitive article is only used in singular form, ("pës rapix", "some rabbit"). A negitive article is used to state the lack of existence of something ("nën rapix", "no rabbit" and "nënat rapixat", "no rabbits"). Gender also plays a role in the usage of articles, as they are the only part of speech in Prsänëan that change according to the gender of a noun. Nouns in the Animate Gender are preceded by the basic articles. Inanimate Gender and Abstract Gender nouns are preceded by articles with the addition to either "-(v)acx" or "-(r)iln" suffixes respectively on the article, placed before the plural suffix when with multiple objects (“the cake” would be “søxacx cänc”, and “the cakes” would be “søxacxat cäncat”). When used with multiple objects or in groups, the correct article is the one that corresponds to the highest ranking object in that group, in order from highest: animate, inanimate, and abstract. One object of a higher gender makes an entire group that gender.

Animate singular Animate plural Inanimate singular Inanimate plural Abstract singular Abstract plural
Definite (the) Søx Søxat Søxacx Søxacxat Søxiln Søxilnat
Partitive (some) Pës Pësacx Pësiln
Indefinite (a/an) Søn Sønat Sønacx Sønacxat Søniln Sønilnat
Negitive (no) Nën Nënat Nënacx Nënacxat Nëniln Nënilnat

Pronouns

Types of pronouns, and personal pronouns explicitly, are more numerous in Prsänëan than in some languages along the lines of English. Influences for a larger variety of pronouns in the language were French and Middle English, mainly in which there is separation in some contexts between plural and singular pronouns that is no longer existent in modern English. Nominative and accusative forms of pronouns are not distinguished in Prsänëan (there is no different "I" and "me", only "I"). The possessive forms are derived by using the adjective suffix at the end of the pronoun, "-(g)arë" (possessive we, "ves", becomes "vesarë" and she, "jë", becomes "jëgarë").

  Nominative (I) Posessive (my/mine)
I Iec Iecarë
We Ves Vesarë
You (singular) Soo Soogarë
You (plural) Yal Yalarë
He Hin Hinarë
She Jëgarë
It Yjev Yjevarë
They (singular) Ëls Ëlsarë
They (plural) Ëlsat Ëlsatarë
Who Øtën Øtënarë

Nouns

The nouns in Prsänëan can be derived from two main sources. They are either made from scratch or derived from another language, or are derived from Prsänëan verbs.  Those derived from verbs are formed from the addition of the noun prefix, “ej(a)-“ to the simple form of the verb (“ejanøva” for “migration” is formed from the addition of “ej(a)-“ to the verb “to migrate”, or “nøva”). When used in basic form in the language, common nouns must always be preceded by an article. However, common nouns can stand alone for certain, but must be capitalized. Proper nouns are always capitalized, and never use articles in normal contexts. Articles can be utilized for specific purposes with proper nouns though, where they can provide emphasis or other technical details about the noun. Nouns are also categorized into three different genders in Prsänëan, "animate" (or living objects), "inanimate" (nonliving physical objects) and "abstract" (nonphysical items). These are only marked on the articles that precede nouns, and play little role in the function or usage of nouns.

Modifiers

Both adverbs and adjectives in Prsänëan work in the same manner, with both being placed after their respective words that they modify, as in French, and that both are indicated by certain prefixes and suffixes. Additionally, when multiple adverbs or adjectives are used for a term, they are listed as done in English and the rest of Prsänëan ("the beautiful grand king" becomes "the king beautiful and grand", translated "søx xjsar granvarë oon hanjsoogarë"). 

Adverbs

Adverbs operate on one single system with one suffix, "-(e)ge" (which forms "svëphege", "swiftly" from "svëph"). This applies to every application of an adverb.

Adjectives

Adjectives work in the same manner as adverbs, but have more numerous forms in which they can be stated. The basic adjective works as adverbs except with the use of an adjective suffix, "-(g)arë" (which forms "hanjsoogarë", "beautiful" from "hanjsoo", "beauty"). The possessive forms of nouns also work in the same positions as adjectives, but with the use of a possessive prefix instead ("Søx has arëpoosxer" meaning "the dog's house" as opposed to "søx has poosxerarë", "the dog house"). When the adjective involved is a description of nationality or the belonging to group or place, another suffix is used, "-(s)iesë" (so that "Atënie" for "A1" becomes "Atëniesiesë" for "A1ian"). This rule is modified in the case of languages, which are usually named after nations or places they originated, but are needed to be signified different than the adjective form of the location. Languages, even those not named for a location, are formed with the adjective suffix, even though they are nouns and not adjectives ("English" would be literally "Englandish", and a theoretical "A1an language" would be named "Atëniegarë"). Other modifyers for adjectives include the suffix "-(ph)isch" which has the same purpose as the English suffix "-ish" in "funish" ("snooj" for the color "orange" and "orangeish" in this form would be applied as "snoojarëphisch" and not "snoojisch").

Verbs

Verbs in Prsänëan are generally simple and contain few forms, and all are regular. The conjugations of verbs are made primarily by adding suffixes to the verb in its root form, as with the present tense suffix "-(i)sën" ("jac" in present tense becomes "jacisën", "confessing"). The same goes for the past tense suffix, "-(v)ix" ("jac" becomes "jacix", "confessed"). Future tense, however, does not require the use of auxiliary verbs as in English and French, but uses a suffix in the exact same way as present and past tense, "-(enn)ye". This can be literally stated from "[We] will confess" into "[We] confess-will" (so that "jac" becomes "jacennye").

Perfect tense

Other than the simple and infinitive forms of verbs, Prsänëan allows for the perfect tense in either past, present or future. The formation of this is based on the simple form, in that the past tense suffix is placed after the root verb, after the suffix of the tense the verb is being acted in. This equates to the past perfect suffix, "-(v)ixix", the present perfect suffix, "-(i)sënix" and the future perfect suffix, "-(enn)yevix". Prsänëan utilizes only suffixes to change the tense ("[We] had confessed" being literally "[We] confesseded", "[We] have confessed" becoming literally "[We] confessinged", and "[We] will have confessed" being literally "[We] confess-willed").

Continuous tense

In addition to the perfect tense, Prsänëan later added the continuous tense for verbs in March 2012. Unlike the present tense, the formation of the continuous tense is formed by placing the present tense suffix after the root verb and before the tense of the actual action. This rule is modified for past tense, however, where the present suffix follows the past tense suffix (otherwise both the present perfect "-(i)sënix" and the past continuous would be the same). In this way, the suffixes are formed as "-(v)ixisën" for the past continuous, "-(i)sënisën" for present continuous, and "-(i)sënennye" used for past continuous. The use of the suffixes replaces the auxiliary verbs in English that allow for the same tense ("[We] were confessing" being literally "[We] confesseding", "[We] are confessing" becoming literally "[We] confessinging", and "[We] will be confessing" being literally "[We] confess-willing").

Purpose Simple (-ing/-ed) Perfect (have, had) Continuous (were, was)
Past -(v)ix -(v)ixix -(v)ixisën
Present -(i)sën -(i)sënix -(i)sënisën
Future -(enn)ye -(enn)yevix -(i)sënennye
Infinitive Xen -

Imperative mood

Orders or commands are expressed in Prsänëan by use of the future tense suffix, and modified word order. Where a sentence may normally say in Prsänëan "Soo cacxhesën hin." (translated "You hate him.") as a neutral statement, when giving a command, it would be "Cacxhesën hin, soo." (translated "Hate him, you." or "Do hate him.") in Verb-Object-Subject order. A comma or pause is always used between the object and the subject to separate the groups. With the addition of the future tense, the sentence correctly becomes "Cacxheye hin, soo." or "Will hate him, you." In order to state a prohibiting command, the adverb "atølege" for "not" is placed after the verb, as in "Cacxheye atølege hin, soo" (translated "Will hate not him, you." or "Do not hate him.").

Auxiliary verbs

As in a language like English, there is the infinitive form of verbs, based off the simple root word (such as "jac", "confess") which is formed by adding a separate auxiliary verb before the word, "xen" ("jac" then becomes "xen jac", "to confess"). Also, the use of modal auxiliary verbs is also included as additional tone given to the meaning of verbs. The use of these auxiliary verbs is done by placing certain prefixes on the infinitive "xen", similar to that of Prsänëan suffixes on the root of verbs. For instance, "cane-" for "can" or "could", is placed on the "xen" as "canexen", which subsequently goes before the verb in which the "can" ability is being stated. Depending on the tense of the root verb, "canexen" could mean "can confess" if used in the present tense or "could confess" if the root verb is used in the past or future ("canexen" with present tense of "confess", "jacisën", becomes "canexen jacisën", "can confess"). The modal verbs can be used before either simple or perfect tenses of verbs, depending on the need of the verb as would be normal. These rules apply the same to all five modal verbs.

Prefix
Shall/should Jsala-
Will/would Vølenn-
May/might Nøgenn-
Can/could Cane-
Must Havgøtoo-

"To be"

One single modification occurs outside of regular parameters for verbs, in the case of "to be", or "phrëgschel". In its case, when used with multiple objects or people, the plural suffix, -(s)at, is added to the end of the train of suffixes to indicate this use, as with French words conjugated with "etre" ("We are" translates as "Ves phrëgschelisënat" instead of "Ves phrëgschelisën").

Vocabulary

Origins of Prsänëan words and vocabulary, those derived from itself are original

Prsänëan words are unique in their structure, as there is no specific word structure, and the number of syllable structures varies as much as does in English. However, certain combinations of consonants not common to English words are used also. The average word in Prsänëan is generally considered longer than the average word in other macronational languages, including English. This is due to the extensive addition of affixes to words, and general intent to create words with more letters.

Formation

Most Prsänëan words original to the language, either from direct invention or are Prsänëanized modifications of other derived words. English is most often borrowed from, with French second and German after. There are dozens of other languages whose vocabularies have been borrowed from into Prsänëan, often only a couple of words are derived.

Examples

Phrases

Generic questions are formulated by a question word (the equivalents of "who", "what", etc.), the question verb, "phärennx", in proper tense (for a question in either the future, present or past), the subject of the question (the thing(s) being inquired about) and then the question word, "ra". A question such as "Where will the race be?" would be arranged "Vatooge phärennxennye søxiln räncenn ra." The answer would be formulated as the subject of the question, the question verb in the tense of the answer, and then the answer itself. An answer such as "The race is at the house." would be arranged "Søxiln räncenn phärennxisën ap søxacx ejahas." Questions with set words, such as the following, are used in a similar way, except are not utilized or follow the rules as verbs, but as interjections:

  • How are you?: Vapinsch [soo, yal, etc.] ra.
    • I am/feel [...].: [Iec, Ves, etc.] vapinsch [...].
      • Well: pennge
      • Badly: gravennge
      • Alright/so-so: csecsøge
  • What time is it?: Cløcxhoor ra.
    • The time is [...].: [...] cløcxhoor.
  • What is your name?: Napele [soo, yal, etc.] ra.
    • My name is [...].: [Iec, Ves, etc.] napele [...].

Words

  • Hello (formal): vønjoor
  • Hi (informal): äcxh
  • Goodbye (formal): agoor
  • Bye (informal): viex
  • Please: haxes
  • Thank you (formal): søcräxe
  • Thanks (informal): vancxhe
  • You're welcome: velcxhønenn
  • Yes: yjes
  • No: nøn
  • Okay: agevegx
  • Because: vasennce
  • With: avec
  • And: oon 
  • But: nas

Translations

Language Text
English Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

French Article premier de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme:

Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits. Ils sont doués de raison et de conscience et doivent agir les uns envers les autres dans un esprit de fraternité.

German Artikel eins der Allgemeinen Erklärung der Menschenrechte:

Alle Menschen sind frei und gleich an Würde und Rechten geboren. Sie sind mit Vernunft und Gewissen begabt und sollen einander im Geiste der Brüderlichkeit begegnen.

Prsänëan English Бтiкöι Wuи uv жë Üиiveяsöι Дeкιäräcuи uv Hüмаи Rïтs:

Oι нüмaи вëëиs ь вöяи гяë aид ëкwöι iи дiэиiтë aид яïтs. Жä ь eидaюд wix яëzuи aид кoиciиs aид cюuд aкт тюwöядs wuи aиuжя iи ä sпëяiт uv вяuжянюuд.

Prsänëan Cxhapixre Я alø søxacx Ejercläroong Vooxroogarë alø Nennschennrecxe:

Vagapønat phrëgschelisënat Ejalipererarë oon Ejecvalarë yjensi Ejavoorpe oon Nennschennrecxesat. Ëlsat phrëgschelisënat vøxerixarë avec Ejaräjsøn oon Glevischenn oon jsalaxen gloonacennye ap ienanver yjensi søniln esprix alø Phraxernixë.