This is a simple glossary of all technical terms used so far in lessons, partially alphabetised for convenience.
- apposition
- placing two or more noun phrases next to each other to describe the first one using the others
- class
- an abstract set of nouns that behave in roughly the same way when a suffix is added
- - class A
- nouns that attach the suffix with no modification to the base
- - class B
- nouns that delete the last vowel in the base
- - class C
- nouns that delete an ending, but do not modify the base
- clitic
- a word that will always try to be the second word in the phrase it belongs to
- comment
- the part of a sentence that gives new information about the topic
- connection
- placing two or more phrases next to each other to indicate connecting them with "and" or "or"
- contraction
- the combination of a vowel and one of i/y or u/w (i and y act identically, as do u and w) into a single vowel, occuring before a consonant or at the end of a word. The full set of rules are:
aa => a
ay => e (irregularly i)
aw => o (irregularly u)
iy and uy => i
iw and uw => u
- dependent pronoun
- a form of pronoun that is a clitic
- emphatic sentence
- a variant of a simple sentence where the topic is not the subject
- existential sentence
- a statement of existence about a single noun phrase (or pronoun)
- gender
- an abstract quality of nouns that is both determined by their meaning, and helps determine their meaning
- - common gender
- indicates a more "agent-like", "realised", or "individualised" noun
- - neuter gender
- indicates a more "patient-like", "abstract", or "mass" noun
- independent pronoun
- a form of pronoun that is almost always found at the beginning of a sentence
- introductory particle
- a grammatical word that introduces sentences, used to impart a particular nuance to the sentence
- nisbe
- a general purpose derivative; usages include forming "that which is" nouns from prepositions and adverbs
- nominal sentence
- a type of sentence that says that one noun phrase (or pronoun) "is" another noun phrase (or pronoun)
- phrase
- a set of words that together form a single unit
- - noun phrase
- a set of words that together act like a single noun
- - adverb phrase
- a set of words that together act like a single adverb
- possession
- placing two nouns immediately next to each other to indicate that the first belongs to the second
- suffix pronoun
- a form of personal pronoun that is found suffixed to other words
- topic
- the part of a sentence that gives previously established information