Word Class of Glyphs

Most glyphs can function as a noun, verb, adjective, and adverb. This excludes: people, numbers, grammatical particles, and quantifiers (such as “some,” “many,” “most,” etc.). Take the following glyph “desire” for example:

Glyph Order

The basic glyph order is right to left, with the primary glyph on the left and its modifiers on the right.

Strings of glyphs can get fairly long so be careful. Read from the rightmost end to the leftmost end.

There are three exceptions to this rule: Compact Verb Structures, numbers, and the genitive marking glyph Ù (but more on these later)

Verbs - Word Order

The basic word order is Subject Verb Object, similar to English.

Verbs - Structure

A verb consists of three parts: The glyph acting as the verb, ē , and ĕ.

The verbal glyph will fall in between ē and ĕ . The glyph ē is always necessary for a basic verb formation, but ĕ is only necessary when there is a direct object. ĕ will  fall between the verb glyph and the direct object glyph

Verbs - Tenses

Verb tense is marked on ē. There are three tenses: Past Ē , Present ē, and Future Ĕ

Making Equivalency Statements

An Equivalency statement is a statement that links the predicate to the subject. This is equivalent to the English “to be.” An example in English is “I am a person,” or “He is a dog” or “Eating is consuming food.” An equivalency statement in The Ancient Language depends on if the predicate  is a noun, adjective or  a verb.

    Noun Equivalency

To form a noun equivalency statement place the subject in front of the glyphs ē ė ĕ, and place the predicate at the end.

    Verb Equivalency

Forming a verb equivalency statement is very similar to forming a noun equivalency statement. The only difference is that the predicate must be a verb and that ĕ is replaced with the present tense ē. So the subject and predicate will enclose ē ė ē.

    Adjective Equivalency

Forming an adjective equivalency statement is similar to forming a noun equivalency statement. The only difference is that ė is replaced by /.

Verbs - Auxiliaries

Verbs can utilize one of two auxiliaries: “Can” and “Should”. Similar to tenses, these auxiliaries are marked on ē

    “Can” Auxiliary

The “can” auxiliary is used to express potentiality; this includes expressions such as “to be able” and “if/then” statements. The glyphs to express these are the past potential ě, the present potential Ĝ, and the future potential ĝ.

Using the potential auxiliary to express “to be able to” is easy; Simply replace ē with one of the potentiality marking glyphs above.

Using the potential auxiliary to express “if/then” statements has four requirements.

1: The future potential ĝ must be used in the “if” clause.

2: The “if” clause and the “then” clause must be separated by œ .

3: A subject must precede the verb in both clauses.

4: The “then” clause must be in the future tense

    “Should” Auxiliary

The “should” auxiliary is used to express an expected outcome. The glyphs used to express this are the expected past ı, the expected present IJ, and the expected future ij.

Verbs - Adverbs

The adverb of the verb has the same structure discussed in Glyph Order. That is, they are found to the right of the verbal glyph and are read right to left. There are four types of verbal adverbs: Manner, time, place, and recipient.

    Manner Adverbs -

A manner adverb tells how the verb is performed. This includes negating the verb

It is important to note that . will always fall at the far right end of a verb string.

    Time Adverbs -

A time adverb tells when or for how long the verb is performed.

    Recipient Adverbs

A recipient adverbs tells at whom a verb was done. This is not a direct object, but rather an indirect object. Examples of this would be “give something to someone ” or “tell something to someone .”

    Place Adverbs

A place adverb tells where a verb happens.

Remember to keep in mind basic glyph order when interpreting. Directional glyphs such as “in” ´ can have various interpretations depending on its position relative to the verb and place glyphs, as well as to the tense particles.

It is important to note that a verb can have one, some, or even all types of verbal adverbs modifying it. The common order in which adverbs are listed (from left to right) is: Manner -> recipient -> place -> time -> negative marker. Note that this is the order in which these concepts can be found in The Ancient Language, and NOT in English. Be sure to re-order them for a natural translation.

Creating a List

There are a handful of glyphs for creating a list. And their uses depend on if you are listing nouns, phrases, and modifiers.

To list nouns use “and” Ć, “or” Ė, or   “but” >.

To list phrases use the conjunctions “and” Ñ, “or” Ĵ, or “but” Ò. Note that the second clause must still have a subject.

To list modifiers use Á

Compact Verb Structures

A compact verb structure is when a verb takes a direct object without ĕ. The direct object will fall to the right of the verbal glyph.

Be careful not to confuse the direct object in a compact verb construction for an adverbial glyph.

It is important to note neither interpretations of the line above are incorrect grammatically. The one marked by the red X just doesn’t count as a compact verb. When dealing with a compact verb, there are certain glyphs (such as k above) that will be difficult to determine if they are functioning as a manner adverb or as a direct object. This can only be decided through context.

The uses for this construction are limited. Currently they can only be found in relative clauses and Relative Noun Structures.

Relative Noun Structures

A relative noun structure is a noun that has a compact verb functioning as its modifier. The compact verb plays the role of a relative clause. A simple idea of what this means all together is a noun “that does something.” Real world English examples would be “The city that never sleeps” and “The boy who cried wolf.”

Relative Clauses

Relative clause is a clause that is dependent on another. The relative clause is the second of two. English examples of this structure are “I want to eat” and “I went to the store to buy food.” In these examples the relative clauses are “to eat” and “to buy food.” The Ancient Language has two types of relative clauses: Personal and Impersonal.

    Personal Relative Clauses

A personal relative clause is when the relative clause (the second clause in the sentence) refers back to the subject. That is, the subject in the first clause is the one who is also acting as the subject in the second clause.

To form a personal relative clause separate the verb of the two clauses with ē.

If the first clause has a direct object, then this clause will use a compact verb structure.

    Impersonal Relative Clauses

An impersonal relative clause is when the second clause and the first clause have two separate subjects. The way to form an impersonal relative clause is by separating the first and the second clauses with  ò.

Genitive Marker

The genitive marker is the glyph Ù. It functions as a marker to show possession or origin. It falls between the subject glyph and the origin/possessor glyph.

Goddess
Thorns
Metal
Fire
Abyss
Faith
Disputed
King
Queen
Shining
Shade/Gloomy
City/Civilization
Disputed
Less
Least
not
Have/Possess
Great/Big/More
Greatest/Most
but
Create
Plant
Blade/Sword
Person
Ash/soot
Disputed
Light
Darkness
Birth/life
Disputed
Death
Danger/Trap
Spike
Crush
Disputed
Left
Right
Choose
Room
Floor (of a building)
Building
Some
Many
Time
Past
Present
Future
Year
Disputed
You
Coin/Money
Peace
Rise/Up/High
Fall/Down/Low
Rule(r)
Meet
Wealth
Beauty
Disputed
Rain/Water
Ocean/Sea
Disputed
Chasm
God (nt.)
Ruins
Opposites
Disputed
Child
Happy
Walk/Move
Unchanged/Still
Path/Cross
Desire
Generous
Oppression
Tentative
Blessing
Punish
Disputed
Gift
Selfish
Poor
Confident
Sad
Sorrow
Anger
Love
Disputed
Apathy
Disputed
Crazy/Confused
Disputed
Violence/Conflict
Wise
Naivety
Grandchild
Great Grandchild
Young
Old
Few
Worship
Accordance/Agree/Agreement
Temple
Request
Again/Still
Demand
Require
Sacrifice
Release/Free
Phantom/spirit/soul
Enter
Exit
Body
Never
Broken/flaw
Head
Fall/Drop
In order to
Tentative
Explorer/Traveler
Disputed
Beg
Greedy
Fear
Know
Tentative
modifier lister
Use
Tentative
Subjects/citizens
Strong
Tentative
On top / Above
Wear/cover
Foot
Shoe
Hat
Currently Unknown
Relic
Deposit/Insert
Remove/Take
Envy
and (conj.)
but (conj.)
Crown
Immortal
End/Last
Ignore
Descendant
Stop
Tentative
of/from/by
All
Boulder
Detain
Tentative
Imprison/Capture
Ecstatic
Chaos/Discord
Survive
Heir
Rage
Crawl
History
attract
Disputed
Grow
Force
Tentative
pain/torture
tranquil
Tentative
Rolling pin stone
gramamtical partical
I/me
See
Atrophy
Intimidating/Oppressive
Tentative
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
and
Become
was
is
will be
Accusative marker
Or
Equal/outcome
Disputed
God (m.)
Tell/Inform
Promise
could
can
will be able to
Disputed
Currently Unknown
Return/back
Door
Whip
Jump
Tentative
Heart/Life
Prediction
Truth
Pitfall
Stone
Poet/Story teller
Town
Disputed
Start
Tentative
should have
Tentative
should
Tentative
shall
Tentative
or (conj.)
Key
Contain
Disputed
Small chest
Medium chest
Large chest
Guard/Guardian
Medium/Average
Disputed
Curse
Home/Place
Tentative
Void/Consume
Hell
Seer
Disputed
Architect
Warrior
Secret
Tentative
Name
Disputed
Warn
Decieve
Heaven
Earth
Disputed
Animal
Disputed
Kill/Deadly
Then
Tentative
Evil
Tentative
Good
Tentative
Common
Uncommon
Rare
Epic
Legendary
Hall
Shaft
Wall
Ceiling
Floor
Vine
Air
Sky
Sun
Moon
Stars
Comet
Cloud
Gas Bomb
Laser
Hot
Cold
Rotate
Red
Yellow
Blue
Orange
Green
Purple
Color
Brown
White
Rainbow
Black
Lucky
(n.)
Title/Date
Disputed
Piece
Safety/Protect
Fly
Title/Date with entry
Disputed
Eye of Agony
Masked Defiler
Devouring Rage
Good
Tentative
Bad
Tentative
Untrustworthy
Tentative
Shield/armor
Tentative
Empty
Tentative
Work
Tentative