RIHANNSU SYNTAX

INTRODUCTION TO RIHANNSU SYNTAX

INTRODUCTION:

The syntax spelled out in this section varies from easy to
understand to just about impossible to decipher unless you
are a language expert. Do what you can, starting out with
simple words inserted into your posts, poetry and stories
and gradually work your way up to sentences.

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NOUNS

Have three cases, Nominative (for subject and object), Possessive (ownership), and Dative (for Indirect Object).

Proper Nouns

Rihannsu place very high value on names, and so all Proper Nouns

(Names of People, Places, Elements) modify differently than common nouns..

Common Nouns

There are three groups of common nouns, depending on what the noun ends in. Each group has different endings.

Group I = nouns ending in i or e

Group II = nouns ending in a, o, u

Group III = nouns ending in a consonant sound

Noun Endings (suffixes) "-" shows where noun is placed

NOUN TYPE	NOM	POS	DAT
Proper Singular	-ha (no suffix)	S’-	-’ri -h’ri
Proper Plural	-su	ch’-	-su’ri
Group I singular	(no suffix)	-n	-vha
Group I plural	-in	-en	-vher
Group II singular	(no suffix)	-m	-vha
Group II plural	-r	-en	-vher
Group III singular	(no suffix)	-ai	-evha
Group III plural	-ir	-en	-evher

Prefixes Used Only for Proper Names

Never to be used with common nouns to create a Name such as "Lhiess ir-Aihai" unless "aihai" (prairie) is an actual NAME of a region. It is improper to use it to mean "from the prairie" or "from the sea" or any other similar usage.

t’- Female Clan Name (used in third Name)

T’-Female honorific in elder Firstnames, esp in older Vulcans

tr’- Male Clan Name (used in third Name)

S’- Male honorific, used in elder Firstnames, esp Vulcan

i - common form of city-name (used in second Name)

ir - common form of region-name (used in second Name) used by those from rural areas

ei- if person is from a specific city or as common elder prefix (in second name). Used when one changes Names due to an important event.

e- common marriage-name prefix (used in second Name), used in place of former clan-name prefix.

VOCATIVES

Vocatives are names spoken when addressing someone, as in their title or their name. They occur at the beginning or the end of a sentence.

Examples: (Riov, cloak disengaging.) (Cloak disengaging, Riov)

IRREGULAR NOUNS

These nouns have their own special forms and do not fit the groupings listed above.

English Term	Nom (s)	Nom (p)	Pos (s)	Pos (p)	Dat (s)	Dat (p)
Servant	Hfai	Hfehan	Hfeham	Hfehen	Hfaevha	Hfavher
House/Clan	Hfihar	Hfihrnn	Hfirh	Hfihevha	Hfihevha	Hfihevher
Sibling	Ravsam	Ravsai	Ravsem	Ravsen	Rasevha	Rasevher
Person	Rhadam	Rhadai	Rhadem	Rhaden	Rhaevha	Rhaevher

PRONOUNS

There are five basic pronouns: I, You, He, She & It (gender neuter).

Person	Nom (s)	Nom (P)	Pos (s)	Pos (p)	Dat (s)	Dat (p)
1st (I)	arhem	mnean (we)	arham (my)	mnei (our)	arvha (to me)	mnevher (to us)
2nd (you)	hwio	hrain (you)	hwai (your)	hraen (yours)	hwavha (to you)	hravher (to you)
3rd (she)	rii	riin (they)	riam (hers)	riien (theirs)	riivha (to her)	riivher (to them)
3rd (he)	dii	diin (they)	diam (his)	diien (theirs)	riivha (to him)	diivher (to them)
3rd (it)	aei	lloan (they)	aeim (its)	lloannen (theirs)	aeivha (to it)	lloannher (to those)

Many of these are shortened (as contractions) and added to the beginning of the words they apply to, especially when using the possessive form:

Example: arh’kaevra (my heart). Note the use of an apostrophe ( ‘ ) when letters are omitted.

CONVERTING NOUNS TO ADJECTIVES

The prefix ih’ added to any noun can be used as an adjective to describe an entity that possesses some or all of the qualities of that entity. (Example: ih’varuul (scoundrel-like)

VERBS

Verbs have two tenses: Past and Present. An action which occurs in the future uses the present tense plus a time indicator:

Examples:

(Future) Rhi siuren dha arhem llaiuri (In five minutes I will be dying)

(Present) Arhem llaiuri (I am dying)

Verbs have three aspects: Common, Progressive, and Completed.

Examples:

In the Present tense: Arhem enaere (I run), Arhem enaereri (I am running), Arhem enaerer (I have run)

In the Past tense: Arhem enaeren (I ran), Arhem enaereari (I was running), Arhem enaerear (I had run)

Verbs have four moods: Indicative (an action), Negative (action did not occur), Subjunctive (action might occur), and Imperative (a

command)

Examples:

In the present tense: enaere (run), enaerekhe (won’t/don’t run), enaerete (might have run), enaereu (Run!) enaerei (Run! To inferior) enaeren (Run! To superior)

In the Past tense: enaeren (ran), enaereakhe (didn’t run), enaereate (might not have run), (no imperative in Past tense)

	Present Tense			Past Tense
Mood	Common	Progressive	Completed	Common	Progressive	Completed
Indicative	*	-(u)ri	-(i)r	-n	-ari	-ar
Negative	-(u)khe	-(u)khi	-(u)kh	-akhe	-akhi	-akh
Subjunctive	-(u)te	-(u)ti	-(u)t	-ate	-ati	-at

* The dictionary listing of a verb is the Common Present-tense Indicative (no suffix)

(letter) = letter to be added to suffix if verb ends in a consonant

Imperatives	neutral	To Inferior	To Superior
	-u	-e/i/o *	-n

* Verbs ending in e or a, use suffix -i

Verbs ending in i or o, use suffix -e

Verbs ending in u, use suffix -o

Passive and Reflexive modifiers precede imperative suffixes

Passive	-(a)hr
Reflexive	-(a)hn

Examples:

Passive: (I have been injured)

Reflexive: (I injured myself)

Participles	Passive	Active
Common	-ari	-anh
Complete	-eri	-enh

Examples:

Common active: (a burning candle)

Common Complete: (a devoted friend)

Infinitives are verbs used without an object.

Examples: (I am going to eat. I will go. He will hunt. He must be.)

Examples of verbs NOT used as infinitives; ( I am going to eat dinner. I will go home. He will hunt fowl. He must be crazy.)

	Present Tense Infinitives			Past Tense Infinitives
Voice	Common	Progressive	Completed	Common	Progressive	Completed
Active	-er	-eri	-eir	-ehr	-ehri	-eihr
Passive	-an	-ari	-ar	-ahn	-ahri	-ahr

OTHER PREFIXES & SUFFIXES

Thei- indicates "may" as in (it may happen, you may go, may you go in peace)

-‘hna or -‘hnah means to "engage" or "activate" and forms one word with its noun: aeh’lla’hna (engage cloak)

-‘rau means "let", suggesting a command or acquiescence

NOTES ON SUBJUNCTIVES

Subjunctive mood is used to convey what might be. It is more uncertain than the indicative mood.

Example: I may advise the Fvillha. (Auethute Fvillha arhem)

Subjunctive mood can also convey contrary-to-fact conditional sentences.

Example: (If I were an Admiral, I would advise the Fvillha.)

THE VERB "TO BE"

(be, am, are, is)

The Federation Standard verb "to be" does not exist in Rihannsu. States of being are shown by suffixes, by use of the correct verb form and by sentence structure.

Example: Federation Standard (The plant is green) Rihannsu (plant green)

DESCRIPTIVE USE OF "TO BE"

Example: Federation Standard: (That color is green) Rihannsu (called that color green)

This is an example of a definition, or calling out of a name of a color, rather than "green" being used as a modifier.

POLITE USE OF DEFINITION

Because names of persons and objects are so important to Rihannsu, just bluntly describing a person could be insulting unless a phrase is added to say WHO is describing the person.

Example: Federation Standard: (The Praetor is a Rihanha) Rihannsu: (I say that the Praetor is a Rihanha)

EXISTENTIAL USE OF "TO BE"

This is a very formal usage and seen only in formal speech and in formal writing.

Example: Federation Standard: (I exist) Rihannsu: (I call I myself)

A negative state of being is indicated by the use of Dhat.

A subjunctive (might or may) state of being is indicated by the use of Tie.

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives immediately follow nouns, and the last adjective in a noun phrase takes the case modifier (suffix) of the noun.

All words in a noun phrase agree in number. (apples greens larges) (apple green large) (apples greens four)

Adjectives always modify their form like common nouns.

Adjectives may take additional endings to indicate comparison: these precede case and plural endings.

COMPARISON SUFFIXES (common usage)

LEAST: -im

LESS: -il

MORE: -e

MOST: -ha example: vriha (highest) = high + most

RESPECTFUL SUFFIXES (To superiors)

LEAST: ‘mri
LESS: ‘nil (common: ‘re)
MORE: ‘ne
MOST: ‘nra

FORMAL SPEECH

‘nra is often used to express certainty rather than comparison.

Example: RESPECTFUL: Auethn qiuu mnek’ne? ( Is all well? Are you well?)

Example: FORMAL: Auethn qiuu mnek’nra?

ADVERBS

The Adverb Dhat is used to convey negative state of being (not or no) in a sentence. It can be used alone as a declaration ("Dhat!") or with verbs in the indicative mood. Using Dhat + indicative is the same as using the verb in its negative form. Dhat usually precedes the verb but can be used at any logical point in the sentence.

Rhe (truly) is often used as an emphasis

Adverbs take the same comparative modifiers as adjectives. To convert an adjective to an adverb, add the suffix -ev after the adjective (but before any comparative suffixes)

Example:

ADJECTIVE: viduus (Cheerful)

ADVERB: viduusev (Cheerfully)

ADVERB WITH COMPARISON viduusev’nra (Most Cheerfully)

Adverbs usually follow the verbs they modify, but MAY immediately precede them. Adverbs that modify adjectives or other adverbs FOLLOW the words they modify. (When in doubt place the adverb AFTER the word it modifies).

PREPOSITIONS

(in, on, under, around, onto, over, above, etc. ) Immediately precede the nouns they modify.

Example: (under starship) (above house)

WORD ORDER IN A SENTENCE

(s = subject, v = verb, o = object)

V-O-S or S-V-O (Saw the boy she.) or (She saw the boy.)

V-O (If no subject or if subject is known) (Sheaths the neca.)

O-V: IMPERATIVES (Commands) (Him Kill!) (Shields raise)

S-V (He ate) (She lives) (They departed) (He is happy)

Indirect objects

Indirect objects may fall anywhere in the sentence except between a direct object and the verb.

Examples: "to the Riov" as the Indirect object phrase "Gave the gun" as the verb-direct object

(He to the Riov gave the gun)
(To the Riov, he gave the gun)
(He gave the gun to the Riov)

NOUN PHRASES (a noun and its modifiers)

(N = noun, ADJ = adjective, ADV = adverb, POS = possesive)

N-ADJ-ADV (Apple Green Pale) (Apples greens pales)
N-ADJ (Sword shiny)
N-POS (Sword Deletham’s)

APPOSITIVES

An appositive is a phrase that modifies a noun in the manner of a title:

Example: (Hanaj, my sibling, is happy)

Appositives are preceded by the particle hje and followed by the particle udt

Examples:

Hanaj, hje ar’ravsam udt, oelh.

Hanaj oelh, hje ar’ravsam udt.

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This Rihannsu Syntax was rescued, re-created and edited from the website Institute Of Ra’tleihfi, Department of Xenosociology, previously posted at this URL: www.standford.edu/~auerhahn/rihan.html

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TREKMUSE VARIATION:
GRAMMAR

Nouns: Forming Plurals

To pluralize a singular, usual rule is that if the word ends in a consonant, add -a, if it ends in an a, add the letter r, if it ends in an i, add in.

For example to make erein a plural, you will get erein-a; hnoiyika to hnoiyikar, and fvai to fvaiin.

PRONOUNS

There are five basic pronouns: I, You, He, She & It (gender neuter) (Trekmuse version).

Person	Nom (s)	Nom (P)	Pos (s)	Pos (p)	Objective (s)	Objective (p)
1st (I)	arhem/ ao	t'lhoi (we)	thlhom (my/mine)	t'lhoim (our)	thlom (me)	t'loim (us)
2nd (you)			? (your)		au (you)
3rd (she)	t'shel	t'hhai (they)	t'shelm(hers)	t'hhaim (their)	t'selm (her)	t'haim (them)
3rd (he)	thlhe (he)	t'hhai (they)	thlhem (his)	t'hhaim (their)	thelm (him)	t'haim (them)
3rd (it)	t'li	t'hhai (they)	t'lim (its)	t'hhaim (their)	t'lii	t'haim (them)

Conjugating Verbs

The below tables determine how Rihannsu verbs are conjugated. The letters before the slash "/" show the sup-inf mode and the letters after the slash show the inf-sup mode. To determine whether to use sup-inf (SI) or inf-sup (IS) mode, ask yourself whether the subject of the sentence is considered the superior of the object or if the enactor of the verb is considered superior to the receiver of the action. In matters of rank, it is simple, as the one with the higher rank is superior. Rihannsu are always considered superior to other races or to plants, animals, and objects. Plants, animals, and objects are considered superior to other races. This could also provide some subtle ways of insulting someone or something, if you use SI mode where IS is normally required.

For verbs ending in a or e add the following to the end of the verb:

singular plural

I lo/llo loi/lloi we

you l/ll l-a/ll-a you (plural)

he/she/it la/lla lar/llar they

For verbs ending in i or o add the following to the end of the verb:

singular plural

I yo/yyo yoi/yyoi we

you y/yy y-a/yy-a you (plural)

he/she/it ya/yya yar/yyar they

For verbs ending in u add the following to the end of the verb:

singular plural

I hy/hhy hy-a/hhy-a we

you hyai/hhyai hyaiin/hhyaiin you (plural)

he/she/it hya/hhya hyar/hhyar they

For verbs ending in a consonant add the following to the end of the
verb:

	singular	plural
I	-ao/-aao	-aoi/-aaoi	we
you	-ay/-aay	-ay-a/-aay-a	you (plural)
he/she/it	-aya/-aaya	-ayar/-aayar	they

For example, we will now conjugate the verb "to be," or hwii:

singular plural

I am - hwiiyo we are - hwiiyoi

you are - hwiiy you are - hwiyy-a

he/she/it is - hwiiya they are - hwiiyar

Verb Tenses

To express tense, the following prefixes are attached to the verb before any adverbs. Note that the present tense requires no prefix to denote tense:

lh' - verb prefix denoting past tense
v' - verb prefix denoting future tense

Asking Questions in Rihannsu

Do ask a question, for example "do you love me?" just turn it into an imperative sentence, which in this case would be "you love me" and add on a question mark to the end.

Adjectives

Certain nouns can also serve as adjectives, with modification (i.e. the words secret or male). To convert these nouns to adjectives, add a "-hi" to the end of nouns ending in a vowel and "-ahi" to the end of nouns ending in a consonant.

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	singular	plural
I	lo/llo	loi/lloi	we
you	l/ll	l-a/ll-a	you (plural)
he/she/it	la/lla	lar/llar	they

	singular	plural
I	yo/yyo	yoi/yyoi	we
you	y/yy	y-a/yy-a	you (plural)
he/she/it	ya/yya	yar/yyar	they

	singular	plural
I	hy/hhy	hy-a/hhy-a	we
you	hyai/hhyai	hyaiin/hhyaiin	you (plural)
he/she/it	hya/hhya	hyar/hhyar	they

singular	plural
I am - hwiiyo	we are - hwiiyoi
you are - hwiiy	you are - hwiyy-a
he/she/it is - hwiiya	they are - hwiiyar