Parts of speech in Adso

[sign_lang2017]

There are seven parts of speech in Adso

1. NOUN

Nouns end in -no.
fi "fire-"   -->   fino "fire"
sa "know-"   -->   sano "knowledge, information"
mo "move-"   -->   mono "motion, movement"

Adso nouns have no number, but the plural can be optionally expressed with the root ka "add-":

• finoka "fires",
• monoka "motions".

There are no articles in Adso: fino "fire"/"a fire"/'the fire/; mono "motion", "a motion", "the motion".

2. VERB

Verbs end in -vi.

fi "fire-" --> fivi "burn"
sa "know-"   -->   savi "know"
mo "move-"   -->   movi "move"

There is no verb conjugation in Adso:

• Mi savi "I know"
• Ni savi "you know"
• Ta savi "she knows"

There are no verb moods in Adso:

• Mi movi "I move, I am moving".
• Movi! Move!
• Poi mi movi "If I moved".

The past and the future tenses can be can be expressed with gavi "come" and devi "go" (but it is not necessary).

• Mi devi movi "I moved, I had moved, I was moving".
• Mi gavi movi "I will move, I will be moving".

Passive forms can be formed with rivi "take":

• Mi rivi movi "I was moved, I am moved, I will be moved".
• Ta rivi fivi "it was burnt, it is burnt, it will be burnt"

3. ADJECTIVE

Adjectives end in -le.

va "finish-"   -->   vale "last, latest"
ne "inside-"   -->   nele "internal"

4. ADVERB

Adverbs end in -ce (pronounced [che]).

va "finish-"   -->   vace "at last, finally"
bi "big-"   -->   bice "very"

Adverbs kace (from ka "add-" ) and ankace (an "one" + ka) are used to form degrees of comparison:

• kace bile - bigger
• ankace bile - biggest

5. NUMERAL

Cardinal numbers end in -n:

• an "1"
• lin "10"

Ordinal numbers end in -nle:

• anle "first"
• linle "tenth"

6. PRONOUN

Personal pronouns do not take endings when used as a subject:

• Mi movi "I move"
• Ni savi "You know"

Personal pronouns take the noun ending -no when used as an object:

• Brian savi mino "Brian knows me"
• Mi movi tano "I move it"

Possessive adjectives and possesive pronouns take the adjective ending -le:

• Pino mile zavi bile "My house is big"
• Ta zavi mile "It is mine"

7. "SEVENTH PART"

"Seventh part" includes prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, particles.

Preposition:

• re "rear-"   -->   rei "behind"  

Conjunction:

• po "can-"   -->   poi "if"

Interjection:

• ra "good-"   -->   rai "OK, well"

Particle:

• no "no-"   -->  noi "not"