LINGWA DE PLANETA GRAMMAR

with examples

Dmitry Ivanov,

Anastasia Lysenko,

Elena Ivanova,

Asya Vinogradova

Lingwa de Planeta (LdP for short) is a neutral international auxiliary language based on the ten most widely spoken world languages, including six western European — English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian — and Chinese, Russian, Hindi, and Arabic. LdP also includes words from other languages to some extent. See the more detailed general description at http://lingwadeplaneta. info/

CONTENTS

Alphabet and pronunciation

Stress

Pronouns and Related Words

Verbs

Nouns

Adjectives

Adverbs

Comparison

Numerals

Word formation

Prepositions, conjunctions

Interjections, particles

Syntax

Alphabet and pronunciation

Alphabet

The LdP alphabet is based on the Latin one and contains 25 letters:

A B Ch D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Z a b ch d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v w x y z

There is no letter q, and c is used only in combination ch.

Consonants

b like b in bar ch like ch in cheers d like d in duck f like f in fish g like g in groom h like ch in the German Fach (recommended), or h in home j like j in jack k like k in cake, aspirated l like l in love m like m in mamma n like n in nanny p like p in papa, aspirated r Any kind of rhotic sound will do. After a vowel it is to be pronounced, however articulated s like s in Sunday. Between vowels it may be voiced to some degree sh like sh in shoe t like t in type, aspirated v like v in vale (also admissible like w in wall) w like w in wall z like dz in adze

The combination ng at the end of a word is pronounced as one sound: [ŋ] (like in doing) is preferred, but [n] is also possible. In the middle of a word this combination is read exactly as combination of n plus g.

The letter x denotes the combination of letters ks. Between vowels it is recommended to read it as the combination of letters gs. In the position before a consonant may be read as [s].

Double consonants are not used.

In some proper names one should read "sh" as two separate consonants, in such cases a delimitator ' is used: Mas'hadov.

Vowels

a like a in father e like e in bell i like ea in tea o like oa in boat u like oo in cool

The letter "y".

The letters i and y denote the same sound [i]. The use of y basically indicates that the sound is not stressed: pyu [piú]. Besides, y at the end of a word indicates that the word is not a verb: krai to cry — skay sky.

The letter names

Aa — a

Bb — be

CH ch — che

Dd — de

Ee — e

Ff — ef

Gg — ge

Hh — ha

Ii — i

Jj — ja

Kk — ka

Ll — el

Mm — em

Nn — en

Oo — o

Pp — pe

Rr — er

Ss — es

Tt — te

Uu — u

Vv — ve

Ww — wa

Xx — iks

Yy — ye

Zz — ze

The combination of letters SH can be spelled either as "es ha" or "sha". Although the letter C alone, without H, is absent in the alphabet, it has the name "charli". The name for this letter may be needed when spelling words of other languages. Similarly, the symbol Q has the name "kebek".

When transmitting and receiving voice messages by radio or telephone, it may be advisable to use the ICAO spelling alphabet. In the case of Lidepla its symbols have the following pronunciation:

Aa — alfa

Bb — bravo

Cc — charli

Dd — delta

Ee — eko

Ff — foxtrot

Gg — golf

Hh — hotel

Ii — india

Jj — juliet

Kk — kilo

Ll — lima

Mm — maik

Nn — novemba

Oo — oska

Pp — papa

Qq — kebek

Rr — romio

Ss — siera

Tt — tango

Uu — uniform

Vv — vikta

Ww — wiski

Xx — ex rei

Yy — yanki

Zz — zulu

It is also possible to use full words beginning with a given letter for spelling, ex.:

a — amiga

b — bileta

ch — chipe

d — duma

e — egale

f — fabula

g — gana

h — hema

i — informa

j — jabra

k — kitaba

l — luna

m — mama

n — nocha

o — opa

p — pama

r — regula

s — salam

sh — shamba

t — tabla

u — unida

v — vino

w — worda

x — xilofon

y — yunga

z — zian

Example:

— Hey, yu audi ku? Skribi ba may el-meil adres! Tayar ku? Walaa: luna haifen duma haifen pama, akauda, informa nocha bileta opa xilofon, punta, regula unida.

— Hey, do you hear me? Write down my e-mail address! Ready? Here it is: luna haifen duma haifen pama, at sign, informa nocha bileta opa xilofon, dot, regula unida.

Stress

The main rule is: the vowel before the last consonant or "y" is stressed:

máta — mother

suóla — sole (of footwear)

matéria — matter

nóve — new

kórdia — heart

aktór — actor

aván — forward

krokodíl — crocodile

dúmi — to think

jámi — to gather

báya — bay (in coast)

jaopáy — signboard

In words of the shape (C)CVV like háo — good, well, krái — to cry the first vowel is stressed.

In the combinations "au", "eu" — "u" is not stressed:

áusen — outside

áudi — to hear

áuto — car

máus — mouse

káusa — cause

éuro — euro

In the combinations "ai", "ei", "oi" — "i" is not stressed:

máini — to mean

fáil — file

bréin — brain

méil — mail

asteróida — asteroid

There are 4 consonant endings which are never stressed. These are -en, -us, -um, -er:

ínen — inside

íven — even

désnen — to the right of

vírus — virus

fórum — forum

sírkum — around

ínter — between

kompyúter — computer

The endings of nouns and adjectives -ik-, -ul- are unstressed:

gramátika

pedagógika

públika

Áfrika

Amérika

polítike

lógike

únike

psikológike

stímula

ángula

This doesn't apply to compound words with -fula like handafúla handful.

Non-standard stress is indicated through a doubled vowel:

kwantitaa — quantity

kwalitaa — quality

(and all abstract nouns derived from adjectives via the stressed suffix -(i)taa)

namastee — hello

adyoo — good-bye

bifoo — before

malgree — in spite of

shosee — highway

milyoo — milieu

The use of a doubled vowel is justified by that the stress in LdP is basically quantitative. A doubled vowel in a word without other vowels (like in 'zoo') is not regarded to be a stress mark.

Stress and word formation

In any derivation the stress of the basic word isn't shifted. It means that, for example, the plural endings -(e)s, the adverb suffix -em and the noun suffix -ing do not change stress:

kórdias — hearts

naturálem — naturally (from naturále — natural)

físhing — fishing (from físhi — to fish)

Only few suffixes beginning with a vowel are exceptions to this rule:

-isi, -ifi (glúbe — glubísi, glubífi)

-inka (snéga — snegínka)

-ina (dóga — dogína)

-ista (dénta — dentísta)

-(t)ive (ákti — aktíve)

-ale, -are (ménta — mentále, pol — poláre),

as well as the aforementioned stressed suffix -(i)taa.

Compound words retain the stress of their components:

auslándajén — foreigner

jánmalánda — native land, homeland

Suffixes beginning with a consonant may receive a secondary stress:

gínalík — womanly (from gína — woman)

kúsishíl — tending to bite (from kúsi — to bite)

ófnitúl — opener