Lesson 1

Greetings

Berre!

/ˈbeɾːɨ/ "Hello"; "Goodbye"

This is the basic way of greeting, and it also works for saying goodbye. You respond with the same word.

Berizak!

/ˈbeɾɨzɐk/ "Good day"

This is the way to say "Good morning!", and it works for the whole day. The greeting for the late ours or the night farewell is "Berethawk!"

Kak mīm gi yek?

/ˈkäg ˈmiːŋ ˈgi ˈjek/ "How are you?"

The way to ask how you are. The most common response is: "Bēs, a gi?" ("Well, and you?), but there are other options: "Sudi bēs" ("All good"), "Bēs tir ras" ("Not great"), "Sitay sitay" ("So-so"), "Bēs, eskek" ("Fine, thanks")...

Introducing Yourself

Sām na Sarak. - Sam na Anderkē.

/ˈsäːn ˈnä ˈsäɾɐk/ - /ˈsäːn ˈnä ɐn̪ˈdeɾke/ "I am Sarah." - "I am Andrew."

Note that what you are is in the oblique case and that it receives the ending -k if it ends in a vowel and the ending -kē if it ends in a consonant.

Exercise 1: Try saying that this is your name, adding the appropriate ending.

Male names from our world: Mārek (Mark), Pawr (Paul), Erik (Eric), Ugo (Hugo)

Female names from our world: Emma (Emma), Erizabeth (Elisabeth), Sophia (Sophia), Aris (Alice)

Naucan names: Oki (boy), Koros (boy), Neze (girl), Sāri (girl), Kiran (both), Zora (both)

Kak sawkam gi yek?

/ˈkäk ˈsäwkɐm ˈgi ˈjek/ "What's your name?" ("How do you call yourself?")

The answer to this question also includes the name in oblique case.

Sawkam na yek… -k/-kē

/ˈsäwkɐm ˈnä ˈjek/ "My name is..."

You can answer like this or just your name in oblique case.

Zēn sām nākyak nathek?

/ˈzeːn ˈsäːn ˈnäːkjäg ˈnäθik/ "What's your name?"

It is also possible to make the question like this, but in this case the name in the answer has no special ending (it is in subjective case).

Sām Sara nākyak nathek.

/ˈsäːm ˈsäɾɐ ˈnäːkjäg ˈnäθɨk/ "My name is Sarah."

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