Common Faronaf Grammar

This page covers the exact grammar of Common Faronaf as it was during the Elven presence on Sentres. It is quite unique.

Case System

 * Nominative (Gwethcë). This is used for the subject or predicate or adjective of the sentence.
 * The boy saw her.
 * John was a clever person.
 * John was clever.
 * Genitive (Whabcë). This is used to indicate possession, like the English 's, or 'of'.
 * The dog of the boy is good/The boy's dog is good.
 * John's house.
 * John of London.
 * Dative (Lungwacë). This indicates the recipient of an action. It is not standard in English grammar and can be hard for English speakers to understand. It is often represented by 'to' or 'for'
 * John killed the dog. (The dog is being killed)
 * John built me a snowman. (The snowman is being built for John)
 * I sent the John a book. (A books is being sent to John)
 * Hither do we go. (We are going to here)
 * I made this car for him/I made him this car. (The Car is being made for John).
 * Ablative (Lhamicë). This can be a likened to by, with or from in English. To translate into the Faronaf Ablative it might be helpful to rearrange sentences, as shown below.
 * Whence did he come? (From where did he come?)
 * How did you get that wound? (Where did your wound come from?)
 * A sword hit me. (I was hit by/with a sword.)
 * Which house did you come out of? (From which house..)
 * The slave came from the fields.
 * Accusative (Hyahwehlecë). This is used to indicate the object of a sentence.
 * The man sees the woman. (What? The woman.)
 * The woman sees him. (What? Him.)
 * The man saw the woman moving.
 * Locative (Ingcë). This is equivilent to the word 'in', or 'on'
 * The dog in the house.
 * The ships were sailing on the sea.
 * The man saw the woman in the shop.
 * Vocative (Hranyacë). The simplest of cases, used for speech.
 * Hello John! (John is being hailed).
 * Speak, girl!
 * Luke, where do you lead us?
 * Imperative (Chaucë). Used for giving orders.
 * Come here!
 * Kill him!

Here is one of the unusual cases where two cases are used. Not only does the dog belong to John, but it is being hit by a sword. In this case, if you know the cases, you can reorder the words. On the mat sat the cat. On the mat the cat sat. (There) sat the cat on the mat.
 * Example sentences:
 * The horse [Nominative]
 * of what?
 * The bad boys [Genitive]
 * where?
 * In the park [Locative]
 * who is the park for?
 * For the children [Dative]
 * which children?
 * Of London [Genitive]

Gwethcë:
This is formed by adding -nen. It needs only to be added on the noun, which comes last. If needed just the -en is added. (Order is Adjective; Noun) Consider:
 * Clever Tóthel:
 * angwí-tóthelen
 * Clever Beautiful Tóthel:
 * preagwí-angwí-tóthelen

Whabcë:
This is formed by adding -ath. If the word already ends in -ath, use ending: -as.
 * The House of Tóthel = Tóthel's House
 * tóthelen ungwenath

Hyahwehlecë:
This is formed by adding -esë on the end of a word. It is changed to -së when the word ends in a vowel.
 * Tóthel sells a box:
 * dwethi tóthelen blausë
 * Tóthel sells a big box:
 * dwethi tóthelen maw-flausë
 * Beautiful Tóthel quickly sells a big box:
 * coith-wethi preagwí-tóthelen maw-flausë

Lungwacë:
This is formed by adding -(l)oy
 * Tóthel sells Vāgwë a box:
 * dwethi tóthelen vāgwëloy blausë
 * Beautiful Tóthel quickly sells Vāgwë a big box:
 * coith-wethi preagwí-tóthelen vāgwëloy maw-flausë

Lhamicë:
This is formed by adding -(lh)in
 * Tóthel was sold a box by Vāgwë:
 * tóthelen dwethin blausë vāgwëin

Ingcë:
This is formed by adding -(th)ayyë
 * Tóthel was in a box:
 * tóthelen fóthin blauthayyë

Hranyacë:
This is formed by adding -(dw)o, and making lenis the first consonant.
 * Hello Tóthel!:
 * Ëy thóthelo!
 * Vāgwë, to where do you lead us?:
 * vāgwëo cwolmaloy (do you lead us)?

Adverbs, Adjectives, Pronouns
Adverbs and Adjectives directly come before the word they describe. Pronouns are put directly where the noun would have been in the sentence.

Lenition
Words are lenited in some cases. This happens following a definite article (i), but not when it is plural (í). Also, if it is a noun after an adjective, or a verb after an adverb; unless the adjective/adverb ends in an n/m/ng. The last case is following pronouns - such as me, you, his, its etc. As well as the changes outlined in the table, w-modifiers change to w, nasal modifiers drop the n. ' signifies a letter has been dropped, and has no sound. Examples:
 * The King (i, paras) > i faras
 * Rightful Man (kwebon, luiye) > kwebon-luiye
 * The Confederate Kingdoms (ai, lithólparasë) > ai lithólparasë (no change, because plural)
 * The Godly Emperor (i doilí, lhem) > i dhoilí-lem
 * Beautiful Cudhonor (preagwí, Cuthonor) > preagwí-Chuthonor
 * The Great History (i, maw, pwamaw) > i faw-wamaw
 * Immortal City (iluinë, siath) > iluinë-shiath
 * The Elven Bow (i, thëaril, blíthaw) > i thëaril-flíthaw
 * Lord of the world (hera, i, buidath) > hera i vuidath

Word Order and Sentence Formation
Examples:
 * Adjectives describing nouns always come before the noun, and are attached with a '-'.
 * Elven Bow > thëaril-flíthaw
 * Prepositions, as described above, created by using the case system on nouns and pronouns.
 * Adverbs describing verbs always come before the verb, and are attached with a '-'.
 * Quickly Sells > coith-wethi
 * Verbs always come first in the sentence, usually followed by the subject.
 * He quickly sells the Elven Bow > coith-wethimpa i thëaril-flíthawen
 * Intensifiers, Comparatives, Superlatives are constructed as so:
 * With adjectives there are intensifier forms, comparative forms and superlative forms. These are grouped into 1st degree and 2nd degree intensifiers, 1st degree and 2nd degree comparatives, and superlatives. English example: 1st:Int=Very Strong; 2nd:Int=Extremely Strong; 1st:Com=Stronger; 2nd:Com=Much Stronger; Sup=Strongest.
 * With adverbs there are intensifier forms. These are grouped into 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree intensifiers. English example: 1st=Very Quickly; 2nd=Really Quickly; 3rd=Extremely Quickly.
 * So here is a table of the endings:
 * He extremely quickly sells - choitithon-dwethimpa
 * Very beautiful bow - preagwíed-flíthaw
 * The Most Godly Emperor - i dhoilíeding-lhem

Pluralisation
This is not to be used when there are only two instances (two houses, two bananas) - for this use the Dual. Faronaf follows quite a complicated pluralisation system, where multiple vowels are affected. If there is a non-diphthong vowel combination in the word (e.g: Siath), change the first vowel. When pluralising, change the vowel sound in the primary syllable as outlined below:

Examples:
The formation of plurals has changed over many years, so there are irregularities, especially in proper nouns:
 * Lithól > Líthol
 * Siath > Síath
 * Thëar > Thauar
 * Kotimā > Kutimām
 * Tal > Tel
 * Valta > Veltar
 * Yasarmin > Yesarmín
 * For instance, the plural of Feth (water) is Fith, but in the place name 'Cómp-senin-fath', Feth is pluralised as Fath - an archaic form.

Group Plural
The -ath suffix is used to indicate a people. For instance, Yylo means High, so Yyloâth means The High People, or The ones who are High. The singular version of this is 'Personification'.

Personification
To make a noun into a name worthy of a person, -el is added. It could be thought of as the singular version of the -ath ending. For instance, Yylo means High, so Yyloêl means The one who is High.

Dual
This is a plural from only used when there are two instances of a noun. It was used less in the 3rd age of Men and beyond, but was still an important part of the written language.
 * If the noun ends in a vowel, add a -ra suffix.
 * If the noun ends in a consonant, add a -i
 * Change last vowel of the word (excluding the last phoneme):

Examples:

 * Nínach > Nínāchi (standard plural would be Nonāch)
 * Mwab > Mwābi (pl = Mweb)
 * Valta > Valtāra (pl = Veltar)
 * Marthë > Marthera (pl = Merthër)

Universal
This is used for 'all'. For instance: All kings, all Men, all winters. To form it, if the first letter is a consonant, add the suffix Ga- and lenis the consonant. If it is a vowel, just add -c.

Examples:

 * Nínach > Gavínach
 * Paras > Gafaras
 * Luiye > Galuiye
 * Mwab > Gewab
 * Valta > Gevalta
 * Uirala > Cuirala

Further Pluralisation Examples
Nínach = Rainbow. Eg: 'Of the two rainbows' could be said as 'i Nínāchiâth'
 * Plural = Nonāch
 * Dual = Nínāchi
 * Group Plural = Nínachath
 * Universal = Gavínach
 * Personified = Nínachel

Blíthaw = Bow. Eg: 'Of the one who is a bow' could be said as 'i Blíthauêlath'
 * Plural = Blothāw
 * Dual = Blíthāuî
 * Group Plural = Blíthauâth
 * Universal = Geflíthaw
 * Personified = Blíthauêl

Types of Verb
In Faronaf infinitive verbs end in one of two endings: -îa (fem) or -alh (masc).
 * To Be - Fóthalh
 * To Have - Cëlîa

Simple

 * I am > Fóthë
 * He has > Cëlaimpa
 * You (s) hide > Cutha
 * John sold > John Dwethin

x-Form
For forms roughly translated as 'I am come', 'I was come', and 'I will be come'. Examples:
 * I am come > Dodasa
 * We will be gone > Marwathon
 * He was arrived > Cyresi

Verbs English - Common Faronaf

 * Act - Echedalh
 * Arrive - Cyrîa
 * Be - Fóthalh
 * Born - Cwenalh
 * (to be) Brave - Faromalh
 * Contemplate - Fyralh
 * (to be) Dead - Marwalh
 * Die - Thiwalh
 * Do - Angwalh
 * Dwell - Drichîa
 * Endow - Gwadhîa
 * Go - Mylîa
 * Have - Cëlîa
 * Hide - Cuthîa
 * Sell - Dwethalh
 * Should - -uich
 * Sit - Ërolîa
 * Speak - Gwadîa