Learning Ai Basata - Step by Step
Ai Basata Dictionary
Started: Jan. 14, 2010
Last Update: Jan. 31, 2010
Lesson One
Some Notes on Pronunciation
Ai Basata means The Speech, and is pronounced eye-BAH-sah-tah.
Vowels (Sara)
There are five pure vowels in ai Basata. They are pronounced as in
"Mogadishu day" (o, a, i, u, e). When two
vowels occur together they are pronounced by gliding from the first vowel sound to the
second. For example, ai would be pronounced like the English "eye". (AH -> EE)
Glides are single syllables, so that, for example, kailo is KAI-low (two syllables)
not KA'I-low (three syllables).
The vowel "u" is never pronounced "you", like the English "use", unless it is actually
preceded by a "y" or "i". No vowel will ever be doubled; "aa", "ee", "ii", "oo", "uu" do not
occur in ai Basata.
There are no silent vowels in ai Basata. Every vowel is pronounced so that:
one would be pronounced OH-nay.
Consonants (Anukula)
The consonants are pronounced as follows:
| b - b in bat, baby | p - p in pot, poppy |
| ç - ch in church, chime | r - r in roar, rug |
| d - d in dog, did | s - s in sit, sister |
| f - f in foot, fun | sh - sh in shoe |
| g - g in girl, gag | t - t in tip, tot |
| h - h in him, hat | v - v in valve, velvet |
| j - j in judge, jury | w - w in wow, wave |
| k - k in kick, king | y - y in you, yap |
| l - l in loop, lull | z - z in zoo, zip |
| m - m in map, tame | x - s in measure, pleasure |
| n - n in new, nine | |
"TH" does not exist, the letter Q is not used. The CH sound may be written either as plain
c or as ç, although plain C is prefered for ease of entry on a standard keyboard. Some older
texts, and modern texts meant to imitate older style may use "ch" for this sound.
Proper names are normally kept in their original form, however, if it desired to
transliterate proper names into standard ai Basata orthography then the unvoiced "th"
becomes "f" and the voiced "th" becomes "d", while the vowel sounds round off to their
nearest approximation. For example: Theodore Witherspoon => Fiodor Widerspun,
or possibly Fiyodor Widerspun depending on the personal preference of the
transcriber.
Accent (Stress) (Ukasara)
The stress always falls on the final vowel of the root, regardless of any compounding or
additional suffixes. When two roots are used in a word, both final root vowels are stressed,
but the final root gets the principle stress, while the intial root is only lightly stressed.
The dictionary, and some educational texts (including this web page) will show the stress
by underlining the vowels, however, these stress indicators are not normally used in written
ai Basata. It is important to learn the roots so that stress is placed
in the right place when speaking ai Basata.
If stress is not marked on this page or in the dictionary, it usually falls on the
second vowel from the end of the word: ukasara,
namapada. When in doubt, consult the dictionary.
The defintion entry will always include the root structure of the word, and each root's
final vowel is stressed.
In the sentences that follow, the first occurance of each new word will include the stress marker
(underline) even when the stress is the default stress on the second to last vowel. After that,
the stress marker on default stressed words will be omitted. Words which carry the stress on
any other vowel will be marked throughout these lessons.
Sentences
-
Ma pasato i biala. I see a boy.
- biala = boy, lad
- i = a particle marking the direct object. May be omitted if the direct object
immediately follows the verb. Otherwise it is required. E.g: I biala ma pasato
(A) boy (is who) I see.
- ma = I, me, first person singular pronoun
- pasato = to see. Also to look at, especially in the imperative
-
Ma pasato dahara. I see a girl.
- dahara = girl
- Note the omission of the direct object particle i.
-
Ma pasato biala u dahara. I see a boy and a girl.
- u = and
- The English indefinite article "a" has no ai Basata equivalent. The numeral one is
used rarely as an indefinite article.
- Ye biala pasato die dahara. The boy sees the girl.
- ye = definite article, the. (Pr: YAY)
- die = Accusative of the definite article. (Pr: DEE-ay) The accusative of the definite article,
when present, takes the place of the accusative particle i. E.g: Die dahara ye
biala pasato. = The girl (is who) the boy sees. In older documents you may encounter
the archaic i ye for die. E.g. Ye biala pasato i ye dahara.
-
Ma balati pasato die dahara u die biala. I can see the girl and the boy.
- balati = [adv] able to. Unlike the English "to be able to", the
ai Basata "balati" is an adverb. "Ma balati pasato..."
is literally "I able-ly see..."
-
Ye biala pasato balati die dahara. The boy can see the girl.
(Lit: The boy sees able-ly the girl.)
- Note the word order. Adverbs may appear almost anywhere in the sentence.
-
Pasato da die macha. Look at the man!
- da = you, second person singular pronoun
- misa = we, first person plural pronoun
- When the subject and verb are inverted (VS) and the subject is a pronoun, then
the sentence is understood to be an imperative, or command. The imperative is also used to
declare intent or suggest an action. E.g: Ma viajo. = I am going.
(As a factual statement of something already happening.);
Viajo ma. = I'm going! = I am about to go, or intend to go (right now
or very soon). Viajo misa. = Let's go.
- macha = man
- viajo = to go
- pasato defined above as "to see", is better translated "to look at"
in the imperative.
-
Pasato dusa die biala u die macha. (You-all) See the boy and the man!
- dusa = you-all, second person plural pronoun.
-
Ye macha karo i serota. The man has a hat.
More commonly: Ye macha karo serota.
- karo = to have in one's possession, but not necessarily own.
- serota = hat
-
Ki, ye biala karo serota? Does the boy have a hat?
- ki = A particle to change a statement into a yes/no question
- ki is either the first or second element in the sentence, standing alone,
or following a verb or adverb, as shown below.
-
Balati ki, ye macha sahaso? Can the man run?
- Notice that since the adverb balati (able-ly) is the focus of the inquiry
it is placed first, before the question particle ki.
Literally: Able-to QP, The man runs?
- sahaso = to run, to rush
-
Ye biala balati sahaso. The boy can run.
-
Ye macha balati pasato hi ye biala sahaso. The man can see the boy run.
Lit: The man able-ly sees that the boy runs.
-
hi = that/who/which; introduces a phrase which acts as a direct object,
or a phrase which further specifies a noun. E.g: ...ye biala hi ta karo serota...
...the boy who he has (a) hat... (Eng: ... the boy with a hat ...)
- ta = he, him, it; singular masc. or neut. pronoun.
-
Ma karo serota. I have a hat.
-
Ma karo talika. I have a doll.
-
Pasato da mie talika. See my doll!
- mue = my, first person singular possesive pronoun. Possesive pronouns act
like adjectives
- mie = accusative of the first person singular possesive. Is equivalent
to i mue which, while not common, can be used.
-
Balati ki, ye talika pasato? Can the doll see?
-
Ma balati pasato mie talika. I can see my doll.
Also possible: Mie talika ma pasato balati.
Also possible, but less common: I mue talika ma pasato balati.
-
Don't forget that when the direct object is placed anywhere other than
immediately after the verb it must be marked with the particle i, or
an accusative form of the pronoun or definite article.
-
Ki, ye talika karo serota? Has the doll a hat?
Also possible: Karo ki, ye talika i serota?
-
Notice that the second version associates the verb karo more closely
with the questioning particle ki, emphasizing that the question is
more about the act of possession than about the hat.
-
When this word order is used the accusative particle i must be present,
since the direct object does not immediately follow the verb.
-
Mue talika karo serota. My doll has a hat.
The girl has (a) doll and (a) hat.