avalèn

Adjectives

All adjectives in Avalèn end in -è. Whereas in English they usually come before the noun they affect (e.g the big dog), in Avalèn they come after. So 'the big dog' would be 'marì vàsè' – literally: 'dog.the big'. Adjectives don't change depending on any other characteristic the noun might possess (e.g plurality) – they always end in -è.

The verb to be

The majority of verbs in Avalèn are conjugated in the same way, the only exception being with to be. The verb to be consists of two parts: the verb and the pronoun. These two parts appear together as one word, even though they consist of two distinct parts.

To form the present tense, you use the verb part 'è' for singular pronouns, 'ù' for plural pronouns. In order to make this correctly conjugated however, you need to add the second pronoun part after it. Below is a list of what we call independent pronouns, which we use with the verb to be. (We will discuss the difference between dependent and independent pronouns later.)

1^st person singular (I) – las
2^nd person singular (you) – dær
3^rd person singular (he/she) – cìv
3^rd person singular (it) – sa
1^st person plural (we) – ràl
2^nd person plural (you, more than one person) – nelæ
3^rd person plural (they) – plach

To conjugate to be correctly, add the pronoun directly after the verb. For example, singular pronouns are conjugated: èlas – I am, èdær – you are, ècìv – he/she is, èsa – it is. Plural pronouns are conjugated: ùràl – we are, ùnelæ – you (pl.) are, ùplach – they are.

When a pronoun isn't used (e.g a man is big, the dogs are good), 'è' and 'ù' are used without a pronoun attached. For example: a man is big – lænò è vàsè, the dogs are good – æmarì ù ædè.

Note that to be is the only verb to be conjugated in this way.

Vocabulary
vàsè – big/large, dasè – nice/pleasant, velè – beautiful, blancè – white, ædè - good

Exercises
Translate into English:

1. ùplach velè

2. èdær dasè

3. ædòdhò ù blancè

4. mondì vàsè

5. amìdhò ædè è dasè

6. èsa dòdhì vàsè

7. èlas velè

8. misonò velè blancè

9. ùràl æbachò dasè ædè

10. ælamìdhì ù dasè

Vocabulary
tree – roned, sun – anar, water – vèch, swan - vatar, and - ì
old (not young) – lùnè, golden – chorè, sweet (flavour) – dolè, quiet - neclàtè

Translate into Avalèn:

11. the golden weapon

12. an old tree

13. they are white trees

14. sweet water is nice

15. I am old

16. the golden sun is beautiful

17. you are a beautiful dream

18. we are quiet

19. a large, golden swan

20. white swans are good and beautiful

Answers to Part II exercises