Lesson 1 - The simplest sentence forms.  Some useful words.



*hix'pym goq.
Look, a morning-glory!

dejv-ram hoq.
Hey, Dave! 

kq goq, tq hoq.  
Hello.  (Literally, "Here I am." or "Behold me, O you.")

These sentences have no verb, just a noun and one or two of the
simpler role markers.  {goq} points attention to the word or phrase
that precedes it, like "behold!" in archaic English or "voila" in
French.  {hoq} is used following the pronoun {tq} (you) or a person's
name, to get their attention when you're starting to talk to them.
The suffix {-ram} marks a personal name (there are other suffixes for
family names, place names, etc.)  

When you say something about yourself you don't have to explicitly
mention yourself or use the pronoun {kq} (I, me).  Just a verb
or comment phrase is fine.

vax-onx-zox.
(I'm) eating.

ljaxw-gjax-tla-van henx.
(I) am not a linguist.

The most common verb endings are {-zox} and {van}.  {-zox} shows an
active, deliberate action; {-van} shows a state, or a comparatively
inactive though deliberate "action", or an involuntary process.  An
adjective root plus {-van} is often used where English would use an
"is"-phrase.

..................... more examples of -zox/-van contrast?

{zoqn} following the verb turns a statement into a question:

?blaxl-fwa-van zoqn.
Am (I) annoying (to you)?

Earlier I showed you the role markers {goq} and {hoq}.  Most 
noun phrases in gjax-zym-byn will be marked with some role marker
or other, usually a two-syllable particle that comes after the 
noun phrase.  ({goq} and {hoq} are one syllable, and so are all
the location and time markers (like "at", "to", "on", "during" etc.
in English); most of the more abstract role markers are two syllables,
and a few are three syllables.)

One of the more common role markers is {nxiqn-i}; it marks a noun
or adjective phrase as a comment on the subject of the sentence
(or the following noun phrase in a more complex sentence).  Remember
that if you yourself are the subject of the sentence, you don't have
to mention yourself as such; just a comment by itself is a complete
sentence:

fiqm-box nxiqn-i.  
(I'm) healthy.

fiqm-hoxw-tla nxiqn-i.
(I'm) a doctor.

"Topic-comment" is one of the main kinds of sentences in gzb; two noun
phrases, one marked with {nxiqn-i} and one (perhaps implicitly) with
{miq-i}, "topic".  They can come in either order.  Here are some
examples where the topic isn't implicitly {kq} "I, me".

kyn-viq miq-i haxn-box nxiqn-i.
Father is old (time-proven).

sqiqm-cxa miq-i peq'lax-box nxiqn-i.
The computer is old (obsolete, outdated).

There are several words meaning "old" in gzb.  {haxn} signifies
that something or someone has been around long enough to be proven
good or improved or otherwise is highly esteemed because of its age.
{peq'lax} means that something has been around long enough to wear out, or
that a more useful replacement has become easily available.  It's most
often used of electronics and reference books.
A neutral term is {baxm-cox}, un-new.  It's used only when you don't
have an opinion about the quality of something old.

You may have noticed that {goq}, {hoq}, {miq-i} and {nxiqn-i} all come
after the word or phrase they mark.  This is the rule in gzb; all
words that show grammatical relations come after their main subject or
object.  Technically these are "postpositions" as opposed to the
"prepositions" that English and related languages use.

Vocabulary:

kq		I
tq		you, y'all

sqiqm-cxa	computer (sqiqm "calculation" + cxa "tool")
gjax		language
ljaxw		observational science
ljaxw-gjax-tla	linguist

vax		digestive system
vax-onx-zox	to eat or drink
vax-rqnx-zox	to excrete

fiqm		health
-box		adjective suffix
haxn		good oldness
peq'lax		obsoleteness
baxm		newness
fixm-box	healthy
haxn-box	old and good
peq'lax-box	obsolete
baxm-box	new
-cox		opposite suffix
baxm-cox-box	old (neutral)
blaxl		frustration, annoyance
-fwa		suffix showing causation
blaxl-fwa	frustrating, annoying

haxn-van	is old and good
baxm-van	is new
fiqm-van	is healthy 

henx		no, not
zoqn		(turns a statement into a question.  Comes right after the verb.)
goq		behold! look!
hoq		O!  (Placed after the pronoun {tq} or a person's name when addressing them.)

nxiqn		a description or comment
miq		topic, subject, theme
miq-i		Shows the topic part of a sentence.
nxiqn-i		Shows the comment part of a sentence.