Borg Grammatical Tables

Part of speech vowels

a

abstract and concrete nouns: bad good thing

e

adverbs: bed well

i

adjectives: bid good

o

animate nouns: bod good person

u

verbs: vlibajud improve (intr)

Commentary: Modifications to the part-of-speech vowels are palatal y of the oblique case and vocalic r of the plural.

Derivational prefixes

dma-

wrongly: dmakhut misunderstand

fne-

opposite: fnebid bad

mbi-

starting, suddenness: mbiruj set out

swe-

repetition: swedukh give back

wsa-

separation, dispersal: wsadukh distribute, give out

Commentary:

1. These are the only 'official' prefixes, but many prepositions and separate words have the status of quasi-official prefixes, eg.: lwi out of, from: lwiruj to exit, Hlavan capital city.
2. Some of these prefixes can be used like roots to form words; in these cases, the final vowel of the prefix drops off: fin opposite, sew over again, back.

Derivational infixes

aD

abstract name of a quality: chaDaS whiteness, baDagh perfection

aj

transitive to intransitive; become, get: bajugh become perfect, 'uj to become

añ

result of an action: pañash message

ap

socket, holder: DHapagh prosthesis socket

aq

thing regularly filled with: naqan fuel tank, 'aq container

a?

augmentative: ba?id excellent, 'e? tremendously

ed

disparagement: pedush scrawl

em

collective: vemaq collective

ep

member of a group: vepan city dweller, mop member

eq

concrete manifestation of an abstraction: cheqa? novelty, maq thing

external result of an action: ?eqaD molten metal beads

characteristic behavior: beqaq childishness

edible residue from something: neqan nutrients

iD

obligation to be -ed: qiDish must be assimilated

iDH

worthiness: qiDHish assimiliable (worth assimilating)

ikut

art, skill: vikutagh linguistics

im

female: vimoq female person

in

possibility; able to be: jiniD legible, ten possibly, maybe

iq

allotted place for: liqan school

is

part of a whole: nisan drop of fuel

iT

leader of a place/group: viTon city leader

ob

provide with, carry out a procedure: nobuH arm, provide with weapons, vobuT magnetize

oD

killer of: ghoDaDH herbicide

oH

diminutive: thoHab pamphlet, paH tiny thing

oj

piece of machinery for: pojaj hoist, elevator

om

tool, implement, means: ?omakh key, pam tool

op

male: vopoq male person

oq

causative; intransitive to transitive: shoqut (make to) stand up, puq to cause

oT

theory, system, characteristic behavior: voTaT magnetism

oz

capability; able to: DHozim sentient

uch

multiple: ghuchiz fourfold

ud

activity, sometimes prolonged or repeated: Hudad period of study

ugh

scholarly study of: zhughazh cosmology

uhw

like, having the form of: Duhwiq fiery

uH

collective numeral: ghuHaz quartet

um

metaphoric; no fixed meaning: shumun to fulfill, accomplish

up

fraction: ghupaz quarter

uS

disposition, tendency: kuSis talkative

ut

person regularly engaged in: ?utoj teacher

u'

abundance of: bu'is metal-bearing, ?a' abundance, a lot

Commentary: Many of these infixes can themselves form independent words (as in ?a' above). In these cases, the initial vowel of the infix converts to an initial root consonant, according to the following table

vowel	becomes
a	'
e	m
i	t
o	p
u	?

Verbal infixes

• present: -i'
• past: -iw
• future: -il
• conditional: -ih
• imperative: -ah
• gerundive: -u
• participles
  • active
    • present: -o'
    • past: -ow
    • future: -ol
  • passive
    • present: -e'
    • past: -ew
    • future: -el

Commentary:

1. The conditional is used for statements of unreality or possibility.
2. The gerundive (verbal noun) is simply the root plus part-of-speech vowel u; this vowel does not drop out when the verb is inflected for tense. The uniflected gerund can be used as the subject or the object of other verbs (without oblique y).
3. Participles can be used in any part of speech by supplying the proper part-of-speech vowel.
4. Participial adverbs always refer to the subject of the main verb. They perform many of the functions of dependent clauses in English.

Prepositions

• bla before, in front of
• chri around, about
• chwe (no definite meaning)
• Dgha instead of
• Dwe at, by, next to; up to (with y-)
• fneghra despite
• ghra because of
• hva to, towards; indirect object
• Hwu during
• knu with
• lhu of (quantity, weight)
• lva according to, along
• lwi out of, from (origin), made from
• pDo after, behind
• plu over, above
• pra for the sake of, so that
• pvo for, because of, in exchange for
• pza against, con; away from (with y-)
• p?i about, concerning
• sbu under
• sne without
• spu beside, next to
• sru on, upon; onto (with y-)
• s?e outside, besides
• tro in, at; into (with y-)
• tve of, from, since
• Tra through
• thna across
• vma by means of
• vzo at the rate of
• ?ri until

Commentary:

1. Prepositions indicating location can be made to show motion by placing the noun in the oblique case: ja? Dwe at the planet, jya? Dwe up to the planet. On the other hand, prepositions like hva and lwi never take the oblique, since motion is inherent in their definitions.
2. Certain prepositions have equivalents in other parts of speech, generally derived by dropping the final v of the preposition and treating the remaining consonants as a C₁_C₂ root. Words derived from these can participate in any of the processes of part-of-speech vowelling and affixation: chri: chur to surround, cheqar surroundings, environment; plu: pil superior, pul to exceed; s?e: si? external, seqa? exterior; vma: vim indirect, snevem directly; thna: thoqun to transfer; bla: bel previously, bil prior.

© 1998, Terrence Donnelly