23

Loth

IntroductionConsonants VowelsDiphthongsSounds in LothNoun Cases and DeclensionsPossessivesPluralsCapitalizationOn Nouns in LothVerb ConjugationOn Verbs in LothAdjectives and AdverbsSyntaxReflexivesContractionsNegatives and AffirmativesSuperlatives and ComparativesQuestionsAuxiliariesNeologismNumbersTimeSlang and Informalities

INTRODUCTIONLoth is a simplistic and logical language created with numerous influences, such as French, Japanese, Early Modern English, German, Ancient Egyptian, and words and phrases from numerous Native American languages.

Consonants The consonants used in Loth are similar to those in English, with the exception of the total exclusion of two consonants: bilabial plosives P and B. Otherwise, consonants are written more phonetically than in English; for example, C is never used for K or S are able to replace it, and similarly for letters like Q and X. The following chart represents English consonants and their pronunciation in words. These consonants and the following vowels and diphthongs are represented in linguistic terms via the notation of the IPA (International Phonetic Association) which created the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) to standardize all spoken sounds in a universal means of written expression.

SymbolExampleSymbolExampleSymbolExampleSymbolExample

pPopfFanmManCool

bBusvVerynNineA voiced /h/ like Behind

tTwoThree, MathRingCats

dDogThe, FatherhHappyAdds

ChurchsSixlLike

JamzZoor, Red

kCakeShoewWind

gGoodBeige, GaragejYes

VowelsThe vowels used in Loth are about the same as those found in English, with the exception of the French /y/ or //. Also, some speakers may pronounce // and // as the same vowel, but here they are treated separately.

SymbolExampleSymbolExampleSymbolExampleSymbolExample

iMeeTenHatSpa, Its leviosa, not . . .

In, (which one, the Schwa or Wedger, is written depends on the surrounding sounds; for simplicity the // is always used here)Focus, Up, BudArmJeune (French)

Look3TurnOn

uShoeSaw, Dawny(not the consonant Y) Pronounce /i/ above but with protrusion roundedness; movement is akin to the articulation of a W. It is the u in the French tu

Therefore, the alphabet of Loth when used in accordance with English ornithology is as follows: A, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, Z.

DiphthongsDiphthongs are simple combinations of two vowels. No diphthongs appear in Loth that are not easily found in English.

SymbolExampleSymbol Example

aRide, Pie, eyePoor, Tour (disyllabic)

aFoulNose, Arrow

eFace, PayeHair

Foil, Noise (disyllabic)Deer (disyllabic; pronounced like ee-ah as in two syllables)

oBone (often replaced by // or /o/, represented as /o/ herein)

Sounds in LothDouble Vowels aa used to represent // ii or ee used to represent /i/ uu used to represent /u/ oo used to represent r when put before an R but normally /u/ when it is at the beginning of a word

The, th, and th the (at the end of a word) used to represent // th (at the end of a word) used to represent /e/ th (at the end of a word) used to represent // only Any other vowel following th at the end of a word is meant to represent // followed by that vowel

Sh, tsh, and tsh sh (at the end of a word) used to represent (as in dash) tsh used to represent tsh (at the end of a word) represents e

Other A symbol used to represent the diphthong /e/ as in Pay. It is used much like the French , such as in parl. ts used to represent dz used to represent

NOUN CASES AND DECLENSIONS In grammar, declension is defined as the variation of form of a certain noun in order to specify aspects such as subject/object, mood, position, and gender. Noun cases are the specific categories by which a noun may be declined. There are no declensions in Modern English, though they may be found in kindred languages.

Each noun in this language stands alone, and no particular lettering or ending is necessary. Nouns have no inherent gender, and no natural variations exist. However, once a noun must be used in a sentence involving a subject, object, or possession, it takes a certain ending. Nouns are only declined as subjects or objects when there are both in a sentence; no other regular cases are present (indirect object, ablative, instrumental, etc.). Irregular forms do not exist but some declensions may be written differently (see below).

Nouns alone in a statement are left without declension. For example, in tanitis sheshuth (the wandering streams), sheshuth is not declined. Similarly, verbs used intransitively (without a specific object) are never declined, such as sheshuth tanitis (the streams wander). However, if it were tanitis sheshuthsu itha iv (the wandering streams I see), the sheshuth takes the su ending because it is the object. Hence, nouns are declined only when something is being done to something else.

(Notice that there is no indication of the in those example sentences; this is because there is no the in the language, although there is a/an/one. One would not say I walk to the trees, for only I walk to trees is necessary. If one wanted to be specific, they could say I walk to these trees.)

There are eleven cases, as shown below. The first three, represented in orange, are normal cases, while the next eight are considered separate. These cases are unneeded and rarely used in colloquial speech, but rather are reserved for literature and poetry, though are in any case optional. These are called Literary Cases. The first is used to call out a certain object or person, such as is common by apostrophe in poetry (O Earth!); the second is used to express various emotions relating to sadness, sorrow, despair, and woe (for example, kroth (tree) would be written as krotho if it were to be personified as melancholy); the bright case is the opposite of melancholy, dealing with emotions of happiness, bliss, and contentment; the humble case acts to emphasize the smallness or insignificance of an object (krothal might describe a tree that is destitute and leaning limp and barren, shrunk in a famine); grand describes the oppositea feeling of importance, grandness, or monstrosity; the subjunctive describes anything that is not real, such as wishes, dreams, aspirations, fantasies, uncertainties, and so on (the specific meaning would depend on the structure of the sentence, which would specify by what means the object or idea expressed was unrealfor example, I wish that would indicate that it is a wish, or I dream that would indicate that is it a dream); the connective case indicates that the speaker is in some way connected to the object, more often spiritually or mentally than physically; and the spiritual case indicates that the object is in some way mystical, spiritual, religious, nonphysical, or lofty in thoughtthis is often used with thoughts, emotions, and philosophy.

Noun Cases (For Both Singular and Plural)Spelling of DeclensionIPA Pronunciation

Subject-a

Object-susu

Possessive-e

Vocative-vuvu

Melancholy-oo

Bright-ii

Humble-all

Grand-ithi

Subjunctive-ung

Connective-uthau

Spiritual-umm

In the Literary Cases, the object being described is the one that takes the ending, regardless of whether it is a subject or object. For example, in I watch Julie, if the speaker were describing his or herself as melancholy, the I would take the singular melancholy declension, but if she or he were describing Julie as melancholy, the ending would be added onto Julies name. This can even be expanded to use two different literary cases at once, often for juxtaposition. In the aforementioned case, the melancholy ending could be added to I while the bright case could be added to Julie.

Because both the literary cases and regular cases are added to the end of a noun, they seem to be unable to work at once. However, both subjective/objective/possessive cases may be utilized with any Literary Case at once. To do this, the regular cases simply follow the literary cases on the word. For example, itha alar lyna (I love the Moon) takes the form of ithal-a alar lynith-su when the humble and grand literary cases are used respectively, forming the phrase I (that is humble) love the grand Moon. Notice that the subject and object declensions that follow the literary ones are hyphenated merely for easy readability; however, they are pronounced as if one word unless the last sound of the Literary Case and the first sound of the regular case interfere, such as in the case of the employment of both the melancholy case and the subject case. In this case, as in others, a hyphenated T is placed in between the two sounds, thus manifesting a word such as allasho-t-a (the melancholy rain, as a subject). The pronunciation of this would not differ in any respects due to the hyphens, and so this would be said as allashota.

One might also notice that in the above statement, ithal-a alar lynith-su, the A from lyna is dropped to allow a smoother pronunciation. A similar but importantly different practice occurs when the last vowel sound of a noun to be declined and the first vowel sound of the ending are phonetically the same and no means of distinction of where one ends and the other begins is easily able to be made. In this case, instead of the nouns last vowel being dropped, the two vowels are assimilated but written as if hyphenated. For example, if last sound of a subject is //, then the -a ending is assimilated and pronounced fluidly, but written with a hyphen. For example, kula-a iithdon shetithesu (the river takes the pebbles) in which the -a is added to kula even though it is not pronounced to allow the reader to easily understand which is the subject. However, this would not have to be done if there were another way of understanding that a certain ending was being employed, such as in the subjunctive ayung (air, initially aya) in which aya ends with the // sound and ung begins with the // sound, however in this case it is clear that aya is declined due to the subsequent ng sound. In other words, when its spoken and it can still be understood to be declined, it does not need to be written with a hyphen.

Endings are not to be used redundantly; one could say itha iv shekroth, kuth, whi onkuthsu (I see the trees, the land, and the sky) without having to add su to shekroth or kuth because the list as a whole is treated as one entity them; despite this, if the list were separated the su would have to be used multiple times.

An object can also be introduced and then immediately used as a subject; for example, I stop the men that push themI is the subject and men the object, but without even a stop the men are made the subject and them the object. In order for both declensions to be present, men would have to take both the subject and object declensions. However, this is not done. In Loth a phrase is formed that looks like I-a stop the men-su that push them-su; thus, there are ostensibly two objects in this single phrase.

One must also be wary of the difference between an object and an indirect object (which takes no endings). For example, in the phrase Mary bought me an apple in which the subject is Mary, the object is the apple, and the indirect object is me. To remember this, the sentence may be shortened to Mary bought an apple and if this sentence is generally the same (though less specific) then the excluded object is the indirect object, or the object in a sentence that has nothing done directly to it.

PossessivesBefore possessives may be understood, the following chart represents the persons in the language, on which possessive forms will be built:

PersonsLothIPAEnglish Equivalent

1st Person (s.)IthiI, me

2nd Person Formal (s.)LalYou

2nd Person Informal (s.)SongsThou, thee (archaic), now you

3rd Person (s.)RiriIt/she/he/who/whom/one (impersonal)/ a person; only represents the gender-neutral ne here

1st Person (pl.)UududWe, us

2nd Person (pl.)YanjnYou (in the past ye)

3rd Person (pl.)FallflThey, them

Possessive declensions may appear like they will interfere with others, but they do not, for the object takes the objective ending and the possessor takes the possessive ending. Hence, he eats Johns apple would look more like he-a eats John- apple-su (hyphens for clarity). However, phrases like I see my tree would be itha iv ith krothsu as the I is reinserted before the object being possessed (where it most often is) and the possessive ending () is added to it, making it my. Other possessive words such as his, mine, theirs, and so on are laid out in the chart below:

PersonsLothIPAEnglish Equivalent

1st Person (s.)IthieMy, mine

2nd Person Formal (s.)LleYour (s.), yours (s.)

2nd Person Informal (s.)SongseThy, thine (archaic)

3rd Person (s.)RreNir, nirs/ones

1st Person (pl.)UdudeOur, ours

2nd Person (pl.)YanjneYour (pl.), yours (pl.)

3rd Person (pl.)FallfleTheir, theirs

3rd Person (s.)YjeIts

3rd Person (s.)KkeWhose (not the whose to be used in a question)

3rd Person (s.)SheEach others

As a last note on possessives, note the difference between intransitive and transitive verb usages herethe subject and object declensions are merely introduced in transitive:

LothEnglish

IntransitiveIth cans overfillMy cans overfill

TransitiveIth cans-a overfill the ground-suMy cans overfill the ground

PluralsNouns are made plural by placing she (IPA: i) in the beginning of them. To avoid confusion, no word is begun with she unless it is plural (exceptions, such as loanwords, do apply). However, the she is optional if a number is directly related to the object within a phrase to indicate that it is greater than onethis form is almost always only used in poetry and literature. For example, The forest two-thousand tree strong or My one hundred brick.

Much like previously-discussed noun rules, hyphens are used in plurals at times for clarity. If the noun taking the plural starts with a vowel, the she is hyphenated to the beginning. For example, sheayu (whims) could be mispronounced like shay-you and therefore it is written as she-ayu to be less ambiguous, but in no way is the pronunciation affected.

CapitalizationCapitals are unnecessary in this language but written in phonetic English style via the same rules as English, with the exception that no words such as I need to be capitalized at any time when they are used.

On Nouns in LothIn a system similar but slightly more flexible than English, any noun may be borrowed to act as a verb, though some need not be used this way. For example, it is logical to use the word for love to also mean to love, (when used in this respect) but to skyscraper from skyscraper does not form a clear action; perhaps to build a skyscraper would work better. When a noun is turned into an infinitive, a un- is added to the end (though it is removed once the verb is conjugated).

Nouns like creator or writer do not exist. Rather than saying I am a singer one says I sing. Saying I can sing in Loth would indicate roughly the same thing as saying Im not a singer but I sing in English.

VERB CONJUGATIONThe structure of verb conjugation in this language is very similar to English and many other Western languages. The singular and plural persons are again charted below for reference:

PersonsLothIPAEnglish Equivalent

1st Person (s.)IthiI, me, myself

2nd Person Formal (s.)LalYou

2nd Person Informal (s.)SongsThou, thee (archaic), now you

3rd Person (s.)RiriIt/she/he/who/whom/one (impersonal)/ a person; only represents the gender-neutral ne here

1st Person (pl.)UududWe, us

2nd Person (pl.)YanjnYou (in the past ye)

3rd Person (pl.)FallflThey, them

Singular persons here are in green and plural in red for more obvious distinction. Two unfamiliar aspects may be noted to the English speaker: the 2nd person informal and the 2nd person plural. The 2nd person informal is reserved for addressing someone with whom the speaker is close or intimate, but also may be used to be rude and disrespectful when using it to address strangers, or could be used to address objects vocatively. Secondly, in English the person you can either mean one person or a group of people. To clarify, the former case is given la and the latter case is given yan in this language.

Another simplistic aspect of Loth is that no variations of persons exist. For example, me and I in English are both represented by just ith. There are also no he or she pronouns; the closest translation is to the gender-neutral ne. It is still possible to say I/they am/are a man/woman, but not to assume gender in any situation.

Before tenses and conjugations are realized, first one must understand the nature of English conjugations:

Present (non-past)PastFutureFuture-in-the-past

AspectsSimplego(es)wentwill gowould go

Continuousam/is/are goingwas/were goingwill be goingwould be going

Perfecthave/has gonehad gonewill have gonewould have gone

Perfect continuoushave/has been goinghad been goingwill have been goingwould have been going

As in the picture above, present, past, future, and future-in-the-past are split up into four categories each. However, in this language simple and continuous are merged, preset perfect is equated with past simple, and future perfect is equated with future simple. Thus, this chart is formed:

Present (non-past)PastFutureFuture-in-the-past

AspectsSimplego(es)wentwill gowould go

PerfectN/Ahad goneN/Awould have gone

Perfect continuoushave/has been goinghad been goingwill have been goingwould have been going

Below are the conjugations for each of these tenses. Empty spaces indicate that the infinitive is unchanged and simply put in front of the persons. When the last sound of an infinitive is a vowel and the ending begins with a vowel (regardless of what vowel it is), the first vowel from the infinitive is dropped.

Finally, as mentioned previously, all verbs exist with an infinitive form of un-verb here but the un- is dropped from the beginning as soon as it undergoes any conjugations. For example, song olosuud un-leehu (you [informal] want to feel, leehu meaning to feel) becomes song leehuud (you [informal] feel).

PersonsPRESENT SIMPLEIPAPAST SIMPLEIPAFUTURE SIMPLEIPA

1st Person (s.)--oth-dradr

2nd Person Formal (s.)--oth-dradr

2nd Person Informal (s.)-uudud-the-uue

3rd Person (w/impersonal) (s.)-uss-th (-oth for words that end with consonants) or -zizi

1st Person (pl.)--oth-dradr

2nd Person (pl.)--oth-dradr

3rd Person (pl.)--oth-dradr

While the future-in-the-past simple remains along the same vein as the previous conjugations, the past perfect and future-in-past perfect are conjugated not by adding onto the end of the infinitive, but by placing a word before it (and otherwise not changing the verb, though dropping the un- from the infinitive). This is indicated via the brackets. For instance, itha leehu allashsu (I feel the rain) would be represented as I had felt the rain (past perfect) as itha ving leehu allashsu.

PersonsFUTURE-IN-PAST SIMPLEIPAPAST PERFECTIPAFUTURE-IN-PAST PERFECTIPA

1st Person (s.)-awnn[ving]v[stu]stu

2nd Person Formal (s.)-awnn[ving]v[stu]stu

2nd Person Informal (s.)-st (-ust for verbs ending in a consonant)st or st[ving]v[stu]stu

3rd Person (w/impersonal) (s.)-e[ving]v[stu]stu

1st Person (pl.)-awnn[ving]v[stu]stu

2nd Person (pl.)-awnn[ving]v[stu]stu

3rd Person (pl.)-awnn[ving]v[stu]stu

In the following four categories, the two previous qualities previously seen are both implemented: the word (put in brackets) is placed before the verb, but endings are also added onto the end of the infinitive. The slashes are put in between these two in the IPA to represent where the verb would go. Hence, I had been feeling the rain would be expressed as itha ving leehoth allashsu. In this way, the last four conjugations may easily be derived from the knowledge of qualities of the former ones.

PersonsPRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUSIPAPAST PERFECT CONTINUOUSIPAFUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUSIPA

1st Person (s.)[mish] -mi[ving] othv/[saan] dra sn/dr

2nd Person Formal (s.)[mish] - mi[ving] oth v/[saan] dra sn/dr

2nd Person Informal (s.)[mish] uud mi/ud[ving] thv/e[saan] usn/ue

3rd Person (w/impersonal) (s.)[mish] us mi/s[ving] th (-oth for words that end in consonants)v/ or [saan] zi sn/zi

1st Person (pl.)[mish] -mi[ving] oth v/[saan] dra sn/dr

2nd Person (pl.)[mish] -mi[ving] oth v/[saan] dra sn/ dr

3rd Person (pl.)[mish] -mi[ving] oth v/[saan] dra sn/ dr

The future-in-past perfect continuous conjugation carries on much like the past three. The two empty boxes are reserved for other tenses that may be added later on.

PersonsFUTURE-IN-PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUSIPAIPAIPA

1st Person (s.)[stu] awn stu/n

2nd Person Formal (s.)[stu] awn stu/n

2nd Person Informal (s.)[stu] st (-ust for verbs ending in a consonant)stu/st or st

3rd Person (w/impersonal) (s.)[stu] stu/e

1st Person (pl.)[stu] awn stu/n

2nd Person (pl.)[stu] awn stu/n

3rd Person (pl.)[stu] awn stu/n

On Verbs in LothThere are two categories of verbs in Loth: Common Loth and Formal Loth. Formal Loth is used in formal documents, most writing (both prose and poetry), and by people who wish to establish themselves as of a higher class, while Common Loth is used colloquially by most others. There is perhaps not a very noticeable distinction between these two styles, but Formal Loth, which is comprised of verbs such as to possess, to usurp, and to philosophize, has a certain French-inspired taste, while Common Loth, which contains such words as to get, to say, and to go, has a more Germanic orientation. Most verbs are organized in pairs that roughly translate to English, with the Formal Loth words generally being of a more lofty and intellectual flavor, while the Common Loth words are more dense and human. Though these same divisions are found (although less emphasized) in English, the distinct sound of these contrasting verbs makes their difference immediately apparent.

There are also some shared verbs between the two styles and some verbs that the other does not use. For example, formally, there is no verb to be. It would be considered low and informal to use such a verb in an essay or job interview. Instead of saying I am tired, one might say I tire, though the declensions could specify if (1) the speaker is tired or (2) the speaker is tiring another person or object. The verb to be can often be easily replaced, such as saying the language becomes created by rather than the language is created by.

Common Loth and Formal Loth are generally used separately and kept in their respective areas of usage. For example, to use Formal Loth in conversation (even with strangers) would be akin to asking someone Would you fancy dining this evening, and by whom would you prefer your means of transportation? rather than Wanna go out to eat? And whos gonna drive you there?

ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBSAdjectives are replaced by verbs or nouns. Instead of saying they are aged, one might say they age, so that aging is made a constant process rather than a quality alone. One might also say they have age in the usage of a noun. However, the cases themselves may serve as adjectives; literary cases may describe ideas or things.

These faux-adjectives as verbs may be placed before or after the noun they describe (the aging people or the people age, though aging and age as used here would both translate to the same word due to the merging of the simple and continuous tenses), depending on preference or poetic need. However, the replacement of adjectives with nouns is more commonand this is not only done in Loth. The French say Jai faim meaning I have hunger rather than I am hungry.

Adverbs are also replaced. One might say I feel with wellness rather than I am feeling well or they could say I walk with slowness instead of I walk slowly. Its a simple step to remove adverbs once one is able to reach a mentality that excludes adjectives.

SYNTAXThere are six possible word orders in languages, and in this list S stands for subject, V for verb, and O for object: SVO (English) John eats the apple. SOV John the apple eats. OSV The apple John eats. OVS The apple eats John. VOS Eats the apple John. VSO Eats John the apple.In Loth, word order is generally SVO, but it can be mixed any way when subject and object cases are employed. More exotic syntaxes like VSO are generally reserved for poetry, and colloquially SVO or OVS are used most often.

REFLEXIVESThe next topic to move onto is reflexives. For example, I wash myself or she sits by herself. To create reflexives, a sound is merely placed before the verb, but the sound used depends on the person. The concept is aptly explained when presented in this graph:

PersonsPlaced before verbIPAEnglish Equivalent

1st Person (s.)ThawMyself

2nd Person Formal (s.)WuwuYourself

2nd Person Informal (s.)HaahThyself (archaic), now yourself

3rd Person (s.)TheNirself/Oneself

1st Person (pl.)FaafOurselves

2nd Person (pl.)NaanYourselves

3rd Person (pl.)MaamThemselves

3rd Person (pl.)ShawEach other, one another

3rd Person (s.)AwItself

An example of this might be ith thaw iv, meaning I see myself (literally, I myself see) or fall shaw ro-yu, meaning they hold each other.

CONTRACTIONSContractions are not very often used in Loth, but they can be found in old abbreviated words (for example, Lam (North) which was originally Lothathuam or yaso (hello) which is archaically yash-voth-la-vathraso (literally, good-upon-you-today)), and otherwise when a person interferes with a verb (this is happens only with la and ri). When this occurs, the first vowel is assimilated and replaced by an apostrophe, as in laim (you [formal] like) from la aim or yarrivus (it arrives) from yi arrivus.

To make pronunciation smoother, common words and often written as if they are contracted; for example, itholos (I want), although if the sentence were I want it the declension endings would make this practice unneeded as the statement would be itha olos yisu.

NEGATIVES AND AFFIRMATIVESIn languages, negatives are used to contradict a statement while affirmatives are used to emphasize it. In Loth, affirmatives are used and placed in the same respects as negatives, and can be derived from negatives by replacing the initial K with a W and subsequent Ks in the word with th, with a few exceptions (rows highlighted in bright red are the exceptions).

NegativeIPAIn EnglishOpposite AffirmativeIPAIn English

KukuNoWawYes

KikiNo!WhirwrYes!

KikavkikveNobodyWithavwiveEveryone

KauvkvNothingWauvwvEverything

KizarakizrNowhereWizarawizrEverywhere

KikufukikufuNobodysWithufuwiufuEverybodys

KiitkiteNot very [much, often, verb, etc.]WiitwiteVery [much, often, verb, etc.]

Kuth . . . kaku . . . kNeither . . . norW . . . whiwe . . . wiBoth . . . and

KuthkuNotN/AN/AN/A

KuvakuvNeverWavathwvAlways

KiishinkinNot at all/free of/-less/noneWiishinwinCompletely, totally, all

KisotamkisotmNot yetWisotamwisotmAlready

KikarathokikroNot anymoreWitharathowiroTo this day, still

KiilhakilhaOrdinarily, NoramllyWiilhawilhaEspeciallly

Kiveritkiverite(Only) FigurativelyWiveritwiveriteLiterally

KivaroskivrosDoubtful, perhaps notWivaroswivrosSans doubt

There are two categories of negatives/affirmatives: the regulars (blue in the In English columns) and irregulars (yellow in the same columns); the two in green can act as both. The regulars always describe a verb or how something is done and go after the verb in question. For example, ith leehu (I feel) could be ith leehu kuva (I never feel) or ith leehu kisotam (I dont feel anything yet). For neither/nor, an example might be ith leehu kuth iv ka (I neither feel nor see), and I dont feel would simply be represented as ith leehu kuth. As such, both of these may act as regulars.

However, acting as irregulars, they would describe a noun. Neither food nor water would be suute kuth usi ka (literally, food neither water nor) and not food would be suute kuth. The remaining irregulars all function differently. Nothing and nobody are both conjugated as third person singular and used in a sentence as description of a certain state. For example, nobody is going would be represented as kikav sallus and nothing is real as kauv veritus (literally, nothing reals). Nowhere is used in the same way and nobodys is again used as a person, but note that nobodys is not simply nobody with the possessive ending. An example of this in usage is kikufu shaut maiz ith (nobodys fault but mine). Be sure not to confuse kikufu with kikav here, even though kikufu does not have the characteristic of possession.

Not very is used partially to describe adverbs (I run not very quickly) and as adverbs are not present in Loth, this phrase differs a bit from English.

Recall that the red wall would be said in Loth as the redding wall or the wall with red/the wall that has red and, similarly, I run quickly could be replaced by my run quickens or I run with quickness. In the former case, not very would be placed after quickens to describe that the run is not quickening very well and hence not very muchthus forming, I run not very quickly. This would be written as ith tung hathus kiit. In the case of I run with quickness, the not very would simply be placed after quickness. In this way, not very acts as a means of lessening the effect of a certain word or object. However, it can also be used in terms of not very much or not very often.

No words for much, often, or similar exist, so the usage in this way is inferred. For example, let us observe the following conversation:Zenus laim un-yali? (Do you like to go out?)Kiit. (Not very [much])Zay la yali? (When do you go out?)Kiit. (Not very [often])However, the exact meaning cannot always be inferred; consider the question How do you like your apples? and the response not verydid the speaker mean not very many, or not very often? In this case, the usage of phrases like almost never or more must be employed.

The Yes and No are used here only for answering a question. One could not say no man may harm me though they could say none man may harm me (kihshin stropha un-iitus facille ithsu).

Finally, the No! negative may be unusual to an English speaker. It is not necessarily used out of anger or frustration, but to emphasize an answer or answer a negative question. For instance, if one were asked Youre not going out? the answer No could be interpreted in differing respects. However, ki here is used to answer one of these questions by ignoring (almost cancelling out) the negative. Hence, to answer the aforementioned question with ki would mean that the answerer is indeed not going out, but to answer it with whir (yes!) would mean the opposite.

Double negatives in Loth cancel each other out and thus are unnecessary, though in literature they may be used to strengthen emphasis.

SUPERLATIVES AND COMPARATIVESSuperlatives are used to assert one thing as the supreme (This is the least plentiful harvest of the decade) and comparatives are used to compare two things (This fish tastes more salty than that fish). In English, there are many words such as bigger or easier to be used as comparatives, but in Loth there is only more than. There are only six superlatives and comparatives in Loth:

Superlative/ComparativeIPAMeaningSample Sentence with Literal Translation

HuhuMoreLa-a tawvath shegentsu hu. (You have money more)

LuluLessSongsu itha alar lu. (You I love less)

HaalhlMostItha gluth foshsu haal. (I enjoy corn most)

LaalllLeastYia tawnth shekrothsu laal. (It has trees least)

HuushhuMore thanItha aim solariso huush lynasu. (I like the Sun more than the Moon)

LuushluLess thanItha leehu zash luush zutsu. (I feel that less than this)

ToiltlSame asRia tawn fynsu toil l. (He has hair the same as yours)

Note that, while in English expressions more than and same as would be separated (I am more happy than you), in Loth these are always employed at once. Also note the following: When using more, less, most, or least (all superlatives), a complete statement is first made (you have money), then the superlative added. When using more than, less than, or same as (all comparatives), the comparative is always put in between the two things being compared.Sometimes comparatives and superlatives cannot be directly translated. For example, a comparative such as I think youre better at the trumpet than she is would have to be rearranged to I think youre good at the trumpet more than she is before being translated to ith irus song zineth tiin tungango hush ri zineth.

Also take note that in comparatives the -su object ending comes after both things are listed, as these two will always be together and so they need no redundant endings.

QUESTIONSTo form questions, only two aspects are needed in a fashion very similar to English. The first is a gradual upward inflection (represented in writing by a question mark) and the second is a mere replacement of known information with a designated word, usually moved to the beginning of a sentence. In Loth, a question is formed by first forming a statement containing missing information (hence the question) and then filling the place of the missing information with a question word, which are presented below. Examples:

Statement FormQuestion FormIn Loth

I am going out at ten.You are going out when?La yali zay?

Im getting twelve.Youre getting how many?La-a kal zithu-su?

John is my friend.Who is your friend?Zir-a lathus lasu?

I must go.You what go?La-a zi sallsu?

Notice that the question words never take declension ending directly, but are hyphenated at the end. Despite this, they are still pronounced fluidly. The following are question words in Loth:

LothIPAIn English

ZarazrWhere

ZuzuWhy

ZirzirWho/whom

ZamuthzmuWhose

ZithuziuHow many/much

ZiziWhat

ZiithziWhich

ZiyidzijdPardon/what did you say

ZizashzizWhat/who is that

ZizutzizutWhat/who is this

ZayzeWhen

ZivziveHow

ZenuszinsDoes/do/are (it/you/he/she) [ex. Do you want to go tomorrow?]

Mish-zenusmizensHave/has (you/it/she/he) been

ZenthezenDid (it/you/he/she)

Ving-zenvzenHad (it/you) [ex. Had he gone by the time you got here?]

Ving-zenthevzenHad (it/you) been

ZenzizenziWill (it/she/he/you)

Saan-zenzisnzenziWill (you/it) have been

ZenzeneWould (you/it/I/he/she)

Stu-zenstuzenWould (it/you) have [ex. Would you have gone?]

Stu-zenstuzeneWould (you/it) have been [ex. Would you have been going?]

Notice that the last 10 question words are all conjugated in the tense they represent as third person singular as a verb zen. The words in parenthesis for these words represent some of the subjects that might be placed in therein.

Prepositions are also often used with questions, such as you were taken by whom? or you put your keys on what? meaning questions will likely be preposition-heavy.

Note that zenus is not a complete replacement for do. If one wished to ask, do you like fries? the statement would first be rewritten as you like fries and zenus put before you, but in a question such as when do you eat? the word zenus would not be involved despite being in a very similar English question. Instead, it would be zay la skawn? (literally, when you eat?) as the question is first worded as the statement you eat before the zay is inserted.

The word order for questions is generally unchanged by the appearance of a question word, especially in writing, but more often than not the question word is put in the beginning of the phrase so that it is clear from the beginning that a question is being asked.

However, this system is changed when one of the question words need to be used in a statement. For example, Im going when I need to contains the word when but is not intended as a question; similarly, Its what it looks like and I dont know how. In order to use these words in this way, the same words are used with the exception that the first Z is replaced with an M. Thus, the chart for question words within statements looks like this:

LothIPAIn English

MaramrWhere

MumuWhy

MirmirWho/whom

MamuthmmuWhose

MithumiuHow many/much

MimiWhat

MiithmiWhich

MiyidmijdPardon/what did you say

MizashmizWhat/who is that

MizutmizutWhat/who is this

MaymeWhen

MivmiveHow

MenusminsDoes/do/are (it/you/he/she)

Mish-menusmimensHave/has (you/it/she/he) been

MenthemenDid (it/you/he/she)

Ving-menvmenHad (it/you)

Ving-menthevmenHad (it/you) been

MenzimenziWill (it/she/he/you)

Saan-menzisnmenziWill (you/it) have been

MenmeneWould (you/it/I/he/she)

Stu-menstumenWould (it/you) have

Stu-menstumeneWould (you/it) have been

In Loth, there is no plural for who, for it is used in both singular and plural situations.

AUXILIARIESIn English, auxiliaries are used to express tone or intention. The following are a few examples in English: Ishallgo now. Theydidwrite that novel together. Iamgoing now. Hewaswinning the election.However, many of these would be written differently in Loth, hence making many auxiliaries unneeded: Iwillgo now. Theywrote that novel together. Igo now. He won the election.The only auxiliary that does remain in Loth is should, as in you sould go. Quite simply, should is unconjugated and represented in Loth in all cases as thetra (IPA: etr). Hence, you should go would be la thetra sall.

Note that statements like you can go would be written in Loth as you have the ability to go, though to have the ability is only one verb, so this phrase would look like this: la iita un-sall with the verb in infinitive form. Similarly, to be required to is used to replace the auxiliary must.

NEOLOGISMNew words can easily be coined if necessary, or could become ghost words, which are coined unofficially on the spot for the purposes of a conversation and then vanish once the conversation has ended. This is done by usage of prefixes attached to the word itself (thus, they would come after she if it were to be a plural). The purpose of these prefixes is to specify the time, manner, or nature of a certain noun or verb; these are even apparent in English. To suppose gave rise to to presuppose and view to preview from the usage of just one prefix; similarly, possible created impossible and marine allowed submarine. The same concept applies to Loth in the making of momentary or unofficial words.

Prefix to AddIPAMeaningEnglish Equivalent

KikiAgainst, oppositeAnti/in/im/contra

MumuBeforePre/ante/fore

FalflAfterPost

LinlnUnderSub/under

IngAbove, overSuper/over

SanssensWithoutA/an/non

ThiroaroSelfAuto/self

TrestresAroundCircum

OrnrnWith, togetherCo/com/con

DuduOff, away fromDe

OothuPut intoEn

TaketekFormerEx

SuumdsumdBeyond, more thanExtra/ultra

AltltDifferentHetero

KatktSameHomo

AwnnOver, extraHyper

ShaUnderHypo

EntrentrIntoIn

TharamrmBetween Inter/intra

GiismgismLargeMacro

KallklSmallMicro

U/uumu/umOneMono/uni

RaarTwoStereo/bi/di

SigsgEveryOmni/pan

SotsotSame timeSyn

ThimmAcrossTrans/dia

TraatrThreeTri

SitrusitruMultiplePoly/multi

TastsNotDis/un

UnumunmTo cause toEn/em

UngummMiddle ofMid

KivkivWronglyMis

UssAgainRe

OtumotmHalfSemi

AttForwardPro

ThuuTake backRe

UdorudrDistantTele

LenlenBothAmbi

YajGoodBene

KluukluHundredCent/centi

SolesolThousandMilli

DdeChange Meta

RaathrLarge, greatMega/magni

VoumvomThroughPer

SishsiAlmostPara

NUMBERSIn Loth, numbers are thoroughly calculated by addition. For example, ta-solk (62) is literally 2-60 (the hypens are not to be regarded as subtraction symbols, but rather connectors). Also important is that the addition is based on the smallest numbers first, so 6,578 would be spoken as 8-70-500-6,000. The system is quite simple and the consistent patterns are easy to follow.

Numbers are written with the same digits as English, though once they must be pronounced the following forms appear:

NumberIPAEnglishNumberIPAEnglishNumberIPAEnglish

UmumOneFiith-neufinuThirteenDolkdolkSeventy

TatTwoRak-neurknuFourteenWolkwolkEighty

FiithfiThreeLatir-neult3rnuFifteenSholkuolkuNinety

RakrkFourSiit-neusitnuSixteenNaathnHundred

Latirlt3rFiveDool-neudulnuSeventeenTaathtTwo hundred

SiitsitSixOt-neutnuEighteenNiyotunijotuThousand

DooldulSevenShruth-neurunuNineteenNuthunuuTen Thousand

OttEightTolktolkTwentyNafkanfkHundred Thousand

ShruthruNine FolkfolkThirtyNolithnolMillion

NeunuTenRolkrolkFourtyNuuthgarnugrBillion

U-neuunuElevenLolklolkFifty

Ta-neutnuTwelveSolksolkSixty

As apparent, after ten, a simple suffix is added on to the single letter that represents every 10. The only exceptions to this rule are the O and Sh prefixes, in that the O is always replaced by a W and a single u is added to the end of every number beginning in Sh (hence sholku and not sholk)this is done merely to prevent confusion with the similar-sounding S prefix.

After billion (nuuthgar), combinations of million and billion are used to reach higher numbers (thus rendering a gazillion untranslatable to Loth)for example, two trillion is called two-million-billion (the smaller number always coming first) or ta-nolith-nuuthgari. Zero is expressed as kuut (IPA: kut) and negative for negative numbers is ki, though this is only to be used directly preceding a number or otherwise in unambiguous context.

Examples of the number system: 152: ta-lolk-naath 107,234: rak-folk-taath-diyotu-kuut-nafka 6,257,891: u-shruthu-waath-diyotu-luthu-tafka-solith(While these last numbers seem lengthy, consider their length in English: six-million-two-hundred-fifty-seven-thousand-eight-hundred-ninety-one)

Secondly, endings to words like secondly must be introduced. In Loth, second and secondly (or first and firstly) are treated the same, although to attain words first and second suffixes to the numbers must be added. Much like English uses th and French ime at the end of their numbers, Loth uses shu (IPA: u). There are no exceptions to this ruleevery number gets shu to be represented in an order.

TIMETime is expressed in Loth by no unusual means. Months are expressed in the same respects. The following is a chart of common words used in Loth to expres time:

LothIPAIn English

SurasurSecond

AtaltlHour

MunamunMinute

ThrasorsoDay, as in three days (not daytime)

TsiftsifWeek

JoadodMonth

AmosmosYear

EdomedmDecade

KluumosklumosCentury

SolmosslmosMillenium

MenelmenelMoment

AtreustrisTime

UngumaermerNoon

LynasonalinsonMidnight

FalungflAfternoon (evening is included here)

MutungmutMorning

IimtolimtlJanuary

IshrovirvFebruary

OstaraostrMarch

DeltaantdeltntApril

ElishiaeliiMay

EtioetioJune

LammaslmsJuly

EtishenetienAugust

MadonmdnSeptember

AthshuuOctober

SamhainsemhenNovember

TuletulDecember

In Loth, a certain time is expressed as taa she-atal siit-neu shemuna (two hours sixteen minutes) or 2a16 in shorthand (notice the she-atal is abbreviated to the letter A, not S).

SLANG AND INFORMALITIESThe following is a chart of slang or otherwise colloquial words and their English counterparts, if present.

SlangIPAEnglish

WowoYeah

KukkkNah

Song yash?s jWhats up? Whats good?

SosoHey (greeting)

tteNot much, nothing (in response)