 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Star Trek TNG Episode Guide
Vulcan Grammar
Vulcan Language A to L
Vulcan Language L to P
Vulcan Language Q to S
Vulcan Language T to Z
Warp Drive Theroy
Classic Quotes TOS
Classic Quotes TNG
Trekker Trivia
Polls
Klingon Proverbs
My Favorite Places
Newsletter
Trek Movies
Did you know
|
|
| Vulcan Grammar |
| ||||||
| INTRODUCTION TO OLD HIGH VULCAN GRAMMAR Ragtaya na'Zhit-Isan Os-Pid-Vuhlkansu The Old High Vulcan (OHV) language, also variously known as "Old Vulcan", "High Vulcan", "Ceremonial Vulcan" or "Old Liturgical Vulcan", known from the time of Surak and his followers, is ultimately descended from what historians usually call "Ancient Golic Vulcan", the language spoken at least 25,000 years ago on the Plains of Gol and surrounding regions. (Another descendant of Ancient Golic Vulcan is the extinct FthinraKathi, which is also discussed elsewhere on our site.) OHV continues to be spoken in ceremonial usage, at traditional schools of various disciplines (such as those at Gol and Seleya), by poets and writers of old styles of literature, by devout followers of Surak's teachings, and by members of many old clans. It is one of three "official" languages of the planet Vulcan and all educated Vulcans speak the language in addition to other dialects, somewhat like the status Latin had for something like 1,500 years on Earth. Philologists and linguists use the term "Old High Vulcan" to describe the traditional style of speaking the language, while more contemporary usage is usually simply called "High Vulcan" (HV). This is similar to the difference between the King's English and American English on Earth -- the first lead to the second and, although they have their minor differences, they are still for the most part the same language. OHV is a "compounding" language. Basic words and roots are put together to make new words, a lot like the Germanic languages of Earth. For example, the OHV for "mouth" is ru'lut and for "water" or "fluid" is masu. If you combine the two smaller words, you get ru'lut-masu, which means "saliva" (literally "mouth-water"). Some ancient compound words, like kun-ut ("marriage" or "bonding") have lost their separate meanings. Some adopted ancient words are no longer obviously compounds. Most compound words have a " - " (pakh, similar to a hyphen) separating their roots. As a very strong grammatical rule, you will never see more than three root words in a compound word, although these "word triads" can take prefixes and suffixes. For example, fal-tor-pan is possible (as is na'fal-tor-pan or fal-tor-pan'es), but never something like ahn-wun-san-zhel (which should be written san-zhel t'ahn-wun). Students learning OHV will have less difficulty when they separate compound words to analyze their parts. Another important point with OHV/HV can be made by a rough comparison with Old Icelandic and Modern Icelandic from Earth. Modern Icelandic builds up new vocabulary by "recycling" an obsolete word or a word from the older language. High Vulcan does this as well. One of many examples is the OHV/HV term for "computer" based on the old word tum, meaning "tally" and the common vel, meaning "thing". tum-vel literally means "tally(ing) thing", but is adapted for modern terminology. Reminants of this can be found in many other languages as well. OHV is also an affixing language. Prefixes and suffixes are added to words (simple or compound) to modify them. In OHV, most nearly all words corresponding to prepositions are prefixes. These are usually separated from the word they modify by a Vulcan half-stop (ulef-pekhaya) or " ' " (similar to an apostrophe). For example, etwel means "us" but k'etwel means "with us" and s'etwel means "from us". Suffixes are also important. They can be directly affixed, or separated by " ' " or " - ". For example, fonn means "loyal" and fonn'es means "loyalty" or kan (child) and kan-fam (childless). When new to the language, it is easy to confuse a compound word with a suffixed word. Also, certain ancient words handed down or adopted from now-extinct languages, like t'forti (finally), may look like they are prefixed but they are not. Memorizing the historical exceptions will help to prevent confusion later on. Prefixes & Suffixes See the three charts on the Affixes Page for examples of various grammatical and modifying affixes. Verb-Noun Word Pairs Most OHV words come in what are usually called verb-noun word pairs. If you know the verb, you can often determine the related noun, or vice versa. Most OHV verb-noun pairs follow one of several standard patterns. The table below shows the most common forms with sample words: TypeNoun endingNounVerbComments1(none)saul (shout)saul-tormost common; bare root plus -tor to make verb2(varied)ha'kiv (life)ha-torancient compound with root extracted plus -tor3(varied)talal (find)tal-tornoun variant to prevent similar word confusion4(varied)esta (touch)estuhlancient words, highly irregular with no pattern5anpsthan (search)psthaancient words, n added to verb to make noun6antevan (fall)tev-torpre-Surak words, an dropped and -tor added7ayashaya (break)shauu dropped from verb, ya added to make noun8~nshen (rise)she-torpre-Surak words, n dropped and -tor added9shanreshan (rage)reshapre-Surak words, n added to verb to make noun Word Etymology Sentence Order Sentence order is not rigidly fixed in OHV/HV. Although the verb is generally first, it may occur in any position, depending on emphasis or even a person's speaking style. A subject usually is placed before an object in the sentence. The language tends to be "contextual" in that understood or previously mentioned things are seldom repeated, unless needed for emphasis. Non-Vulcans sometimes have a tough time understanding a conversation when pronouns, subjects and objects are dropped out. Vulcans usually find it wasteful to use more words than are truly necessary to get a point across. Normally full word usage is only done in teaching situations. Stress Stress is somewhat variable in OHV/HV, although purists invariably put the stress on the second syllable of a word or root word, or the second part of a compound. Irregularities in stress are nearly all confined to adopted words from ancient or extinct languages. Remember not to count prefixes and suffixes when determining stress. The root word, whether compound or not, is what stress is based on. By memorization and listening to native speakers, you should have no difficulty in perfecting where stress falls. Written Vulcan The Vulcans who speak OHV/HV use three main styles of writing the sounds of their language. Each of these styles has a specific place in Vulcan life and society. Although they are known by various names, the most widely accepted names are Ceremonial, Common and Media. "Ceremonial" is the most ornate style, preserving a certain amount of the ancient pictographic nature of Vulcan languages. This script is used for most inscriptions, official legal and family documents, and all major logical/philosophical works. This is the style that Surak and his contemporaries used throughout their works. The "Common" script is that used in day-to-day life for writing notes, journals and correspondence, and for any use that the "Ceremonial" is not appropriate. It is not as intricate as the "Ceremonial" script and is much quicker to write. The "Media" script is a simplified form used for mass-produced printings and computer displays. It is very easy to tell the different styles apart from each other. Other works are available for those interested in Vulcan writing. Alphabet The alphabetic system used in OHV/HV is made up of three sets of three groups of three phonetic symbols -- 27 symbols in all. Each symbol represents a unique sound in the language. There are no redundant symbols. Since this instruction is for speakers of Federation Standard English (FSE), we will not be using Vulcan symbols. The actual Vulcan order of their letters is: S T P K R L A Sh O U D V Kh E B H G Ch I N Zh M Y F W Z Th In the early days of Earth-Vulcan contact, before the United Federation of Planets was formed and Federation Standard English was formalized, an inaccurate transcription alphabet was devised for English speakers and many of these errors continue to the present in many of the Vulcan languages. You often see "y" written instead of the more accurate "ai", for example. This is because the "y" in English is consonant or vowel, where in Vulcan it is only a consonant. You can still see feyhan and kreyla instead of feihan and kreila. The Vulcan Language Transliteration Conference of Stardate 6550.0 updated and corrected mistakes of the past. This dictionary uses the official updated transliteration/spelling rules. Pronunciation Old High Vulcan vowel-sounds are pronounced as follows: a -- as a in ball ah -- as o in hot ai -- as i in nice au -- as ou in house e -- as in echo eh -- a clipped "e" ei -- as a in same i -- as ee in seem ih -- as i in hit o -- as o in home oh -- "o" in throat with lips rounded, similar to Scandinavian "å" oi -- close to oy in boy u -- as oo in soon uh -- as u in ugly but with lips more rounded Note: Doubling an individual vowel lengthens the sound, never changes it. Old High Vulcan consonant-sounds are nearly the same as their FSE counterparts. The only exceptions are: y -- always a consonant, as in yellow ch -- always hard as ch in cheese zh -- like the second g in garage th -- always hard like the th in thank kh -- close to the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch Although doubled consonants are not common in OHV, when they do occur, they are pronounced as follows: ss -- drawn out, almost like a slight hiss rr -- drawn out, often slightly rolled ll -- drawn out, often slightly trilled nn -- at the end of a word, almost like "nuh" mm -- at the end of a word, almost like "muh" Numbers Numbers or numerals come in three forms in OHV/HV: Cardinal, Ordinal and Combining. Cardinal and ordinal work nearly the same as they do in FSE. Both cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers normally come before the item they are modifying in a sentence. The combining form of a number is prefixed to the front of the item it is modifying. See the accompanying chart on the Numbers Page for the various forms. Articles There is no definite article in OHV/HV. For example, the word ek'zer can mean jewel, a jewel or the jewel. Although this is confusing to non-Vulcans, the Vulcans have no trouble because context dictates the intent. Indefinite articles (a, an) are rare in contemporary usage, normally used only for emphasis. In some ancient ceremonies, all sacred texts, certain styles of literature, and the speech of superiors they are used. Plurals Plurals are usually understood through context or by the use of pluralizing words, such as a number. In most cases, the word does not change its form or spelling. A pluralizing direct suffix (lar) does exist in OHV/HV, but is usually only used for emphasis or accuracy in Normal Mode, although it much more common when speaking in Superior Mode. Cases There are no regular cases in OHV/HV. Reforms around the time of Surak dropped many irregularities that appeared in ancient Vulcan languages and simplified the speech. Surak's death lead to a stagnation in language reforms, so all irregularities were not eliminated. Certain words, mostly pronouns, do have alternate forms for use in special situations. These pronouns seem to have dative or reflexive forms. For example, du means "you" while vu means something like "you-yourself". Most of these alternative forms are based on handed-down tradition. Interrogative Although many galactic languages have interrogative symbols, Vulcan does not -- there is no Vulcan question mark. Questions are formed by raising the voice at the end of the sentence or using a questioning word like wilat (where) in the sentence. To aid offworlders in learning the language, though, a question mark is usually used in transliterated Vulcan but never with true written Vulcan. Invective Mode The invective mode is extremely rare in contempory usage because of the distaste Vulcans feel in its use and even existence. This insulting or abusive mode of speech does not fit with the logical lifestyle and control of emotions that Vulcans embrace. In the pre-Surak world, its usage was common, but today it is only used by those who do not follow Surak's teachings, outlaws, those undergoing a difficult pon farr, and by the criminally insane. Gutterals are prefixed to nouns in usage and come in two forms: Mild Invective and Severe Invective. Mild is comprised of "khr" before a vowel sound and "khra" before a consonant sound; Severe is comprised of "khrikh" before a vowel sound and "khrikha" before a consonant sound. Never use these in speech with cultured Vulcans or you may find yourself committed to a psychiatric facility for testing. Because of their distaste, Vulcans simply refer to this as "Gutteral Mode", if they speak of it at all. Honorifics In OHV/HV, there are a number of examples of one word used for normal usage and a variant used when addressing or referring to something or someone "honored" or "greatly admired". This is to be expected in a culture such as that of Vulcan. In addition, the prefix "o" -- which has no exact FSE translation but "honorable" is considered closest in meaning -- is directly affixed to the word it modifies. Examples: Osu, literally "honored person", but usually translated as "sir" or "madam", depending on the context; and osavensu "honored teacher", which is nearly always used in preference over savensu, teacher. Modes of Speech There are three modes of speech in OHV/HV: Superior, Normal and Inferior. One who is superior in standing to or much older than another person often uses the "Superior Mode" form of many words in speech. These words tend to be more ancient forms of words. In addition to using the older forms of words, superiors also tend to be more formal in their use of the language, not dropping out as much as the normal speaker does. Examples of this are that in "Superior Mode", one tends to use the indefinite article and pluralizing suffixes, where in "Normal Mode" they are usually dropped. Throughout our material, we are concentrating on "Normal Mode", as that is the mode perhaps 90% of Vulcans use. "Inferior Mode" is mostly a leftover from the days before Surak. It is a very simplified form of the language that was previously used by slaves, common servants, those with low intelligence, and very young children before entering school. Most Vulcans find this mode distasteful and it is now thought of as an historical artifact. Since this is an introductory grammar and not a comprehensive guide, we will not go into this subject any further at this time. We may eventually add some examples of "Superior Mode" vs. "Normal Mode" speech in future updates. Verbs In OHV/HV, the verb usually takes only one form for all three persons, singular or plural. There are three types of verbs in OHV/HV: Weak, Irregular Strong and Regular Strong. Weak verbs are formed by taking a word root and suffixing it with "-tor". This form is contextual and is the same for both past and present tenses. More than half of all OHV verbs are weak. Irregular strong verbs can take any form, such as estuhl (to touch) or pstha (to search), and are usually ancient words still in use. Like the weak verbs, they keep the same form in past and present. Regular strong verbs end with "au". They keep their infinitive form in the present tense. In the simple past tense, the ending changes to "al". All three types of verbs are treated the same way in perfect past tense and the future tense. In the perfect past tense, the verb is prefixed with "ki'". For example, sarlah means "to come" while ki'sarlah means "has come". In the future tense, all verbs either go by context or are preceded by a few helper words. In Superior Mode this is fa'wak (future). For example, fa'wak pehkau means "will stop" or "shall stop" (literally "future to stop"). In Normal Mode, these are "dungi" (will) or "dungau" (shall). For example, dungi-pehkau ("will stop") and dungau-pehkau ("shall stop"). Punctuation In OHV/HV, there are five main marks used in contemporary punctuation: " - " pakh (stroke) - used in affixing or compounding words, and in a sentence as a comma or semi-colon is used in FSE " -- " dah-pakh (double-stroke) - used as a colon or long dash is used in FSE " ' " ulef-pekhaya (half-stop) - used to separate prefixes from root words " . " ek'pehkaya (full-stop) - used as a period is used in FSE " .. " dah-pehkaya (double-stop) - used for emphasis, similar to an exclamation mark Many Vulcans use what is called ek'pakh (full-stroke), a line about the length of three pakh marks, instead of dah-pakh. This is the older form and is preferred in literature or religious texts. The writings of Surak always use the ek'pakh instead of the dah-pakh. The dah-pakh was popularized by its use in the media script and we will use it here for typographic reasons. As stated before, there is no question mark in OHV/HV. There are additional specialized symbols used in typography and science, but we will not discuss them in this particular material. A future page may focus on typographic and scientific symbols. |
 stnine@hotmail.com |
|
. |
| Visitors: 02107 |