This article discusses the language as spoken by the Matis.

Alphabet

a, c, d, e, f, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, v, w, y, z

Pronunciation

The Matisian language makes use of generally soft sounds. There is very little overlap between many consonants, vowels and diphthongs. In the Matisian language there are harsh sound such as the t and k, as well as reserved words that has a often negative, unpleasant or otherwise important connotation, eg. of the latter include "Kterhos", which means Fyros and is considered one of the harshest words in the Matisian language containing 3 harsh consonants and a double consonant.

Vowels

• a, o, i are pronounced like their counterparts in the common French tongue.
• e is pronounced as the French would pronounce é.
• u is a sound between the french u and ou.
• y can be considered both a vowel and a consonant, as a vowel it is pronounced as i.

Consonants

Note: All consonants in the Matisian language are sounded. Also, sounds not listed here are pronounced as they would be in French.

• y can be considered both vowel and a consonant, as a consonant it is pronounced like the English initial y in "you"
• ch is pronounced as tch similar to English ch, eg. cherae is pronounced tchéraé.
• sh is pronounced like the French ch.
• r is pronounced from the back of the throat, similar to French r or halfway between Spanish r and English r.
• c, k, t are hard sounds and are pronounced like one would pronounce them in French. The c and k usually denote a negative or an important notion such as in the word "necat" (end) or the honorific "-karan" (king). c when followed by and e or i is pronounced ké and ki respectively.
• rh is the harshest sound in the Matisian language and is pronounced similarly to the Spanish j and comes from the back of the throat. These sounds are rare and only appear in words with a strong negative connotation.
• Double consonants like ss lengthens the sound, double consonants are usually exceptional, like "nasse" (poison)

Common Phrases

Phrase	English
aiya(e)	Hey (lit. "blessed")
davae naia	Good evening (lit. "sweet night")
deles aiye	Greetings! (this is less formal than "deles silam" but stronger than "aiya")
deles silam	Good day, (lit. "good time", this phrase contains no notion of time)
deles necat	Goodbye (lit. "ending time")
meria naia	Goodnight
deles cherae	Good luck! (lit. "chance time")
erates file	Congratulations! (lit. "Be proud!")
naete	Please
fila(e)	Thank you
neis	You're welcome
Jena aiye	Blessed be Jena!
ser(ae)	Mr/Ms
nec	used for negation, eg. nec mindaleis = I dislike
nec	No
sil	Yes

Note: letters in brackets indicate the letter to be added for the word's feminine form.

Suffixes

Honorifics

• -wivan : underling, honorific used for someone beneath your standing
• -modin : equal, honorific used for someone equal to your standing
• -kin  : lord, honorific used for someone of higher standing i.e a superior or noble
• -karan : king, reserved honorific for the Matis king

Adjectives and Passive forms

• -a  : masculine singular
• -ae : feminine singular
• -ai : plural (masculine or feminine)

Nouns

Note: matal = fight

• -e  : singular
• -ei  : plural
• -ena  : a contraction of "-e nar". Marker indicating a person performing an action, eg. matalena = the (male) warrior, one who fights
• -enae  : feminine form of -ena, the person performing the action is a female, eg. matalenae = the (female) warrior
• -enai  : plural of -ena, eg. matalenai : the warriors
• -a/ae/ai : marker, used in the passive voice, to indicate the person or object undergoing an action, eg. matala = the beaten, the fighting

Verbs

Note: mindal = love; mot = work

• -eis  : present tense and infinitive marker, eg. mindaleis = I love
• -eiti : past tense marker, eg. mindaleiti = I loved
• -ias  : future tense marker, eg. mindalias = I shall love
• -ates : imperative marker, eg. motates = work!

Important! Matisian verbs only indicate time and do NOT conjugate, meaning it does not change according to the subject performing the action. When a subject is not present the first person singular (I) is automatically the subject, or in case of the present tense form it can also have an infinitive meaning.

Articles

	Article	Meaning
Definite article:	i	the
Partitive article:	di	of

Notes on articles:

• There is no indefinite article, eg. "i ende" means "the heart" while "ende" can mean either just "heart" or "a heart"
• The partitive article can also be used meaning "from" or "by", eg. "tuleiti di Zora" means "I came from Zora"

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

Word	English
ne	I, me
le	you (singular)
se	he, she, it
nye	us
lye	you (plural)
sye	they

Possessive Adjectives

Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Plural	English
na	nae	nai	my
la	lae	lai	your
sa	sae	sai	his, her, its
nya	nya	nyai	our
lya	lya	lyai	your
sya	sya	syai	their

Note: Possessive adjectives agree with the number and case of the noun they modify, eg. na mane e nai sanei = my food and my thoughts

Examples:

• sa nar : his homin
• sae narae : her homin

• la mindalena : your lover
• lae mindalenae : your lover

• na mindala : my darling
• nae mindalae : my darling

• na mate : my labour
• nai matei : my labours

Interrogative pronouns

• ma  : which/what?
• il  : when?
• lar  : where?
• manya : how?
• ye  : who?

Derivatives:

Word	Basic Meaning
mailya	everything
mamine	something
mane*	anything
ililya	all the time
ilmine	perhaps
ilne*	ever
larilya	everywhere
larmine	somewhere/anywhere
larne	nowhere
manyailya	by all means
manyamine	somehow
manyane	by any means
yeilya	everyone
yemine	someone
yene*	anyone

* By adding "nec" in front of these words the word is negated, eg. nec mane = nothing; nec ilne = never; nec yene = no-one

Demonstrative pronouns

• tana : this, that, these, those, etc

Examples:

• tana ma : "what's that?" or "what are those?" or "what are these?"
• tana ye : "who's that?" or "who's this?"

Other pronouns

• ena  : there
• hya  : here

Prepositions

• a  : to, at, by
• an  : towards, upwards (motion)
• apa  : against, on
• ento  : after
• epe  : before
• ilya  : with
• imi  : in, on, aboard
• ten  : for, towards

Conjuncations

• cil  : or
• e  : and
• nan  : but
• nasie : because

Adverbs

• anda(e) : far, long
• ata  : still, again, yet
  • ata-  : prefix which gets the meaning of English "re-"
• hara(e) : near, short
• Ilya  : together
• uvea  : many, much
• yale  : finally, at last
• laye  : very
• sin  : as well

Numerals

Matis	English	Number
0	mane	zero
1	mine	one
2	ate	two
3	nele	three
4	came	four
5	leme	five
6	ene	six
7	ote	seven
8	tole	eight
9	nere	nine
10	caine	ten

Adjectives

This section is under construction

Matis	Basic Meaning
lutae	enchanting, enchanted

Nouns

Matis	Basic Meaning
aire	copper (colour)
aiye	blessing
altae	manufacturing
altaena	manufacturers
ande	distance, length
arena	owner, possessor
arye	left(side), clumsiness
cadeleule	bronze (colour)
cadere	fall, dusk
cirhie	traitor
cherae	luck, chance
dare	proximity
dave	sweetness
decat!	pain, suffering
deles	time
ende	heart
envine	cure, treatment
envinena	healer
ere	being, creature
ferye	right(side), address
file	pride
firhe	death
firhena	dead
ilmae	light, sun
ilmaule	gold (colour)
kainae	goddess
kterhos	a Fyros, barbarian, heathen
lele	Continuation
loide	body
lum!	life
lutaena(e)	enchanter
maie	well, good (both nouns)
mane	food
manena	eater
morhda	black, dark
morhdasane	inquietude, disquiet, dark thoughts
matala	the beaten, loser
matale	fight, battle
matalena	warrior, fighter
mata	history (that is spoken)
mate	speech, language
matena	orator, speaker, narrator
mearule	red, blood
mene	a round
mere	will
meriae	beauty
meriaena(e)*	a beatiful homin
mindala(e)	beloved, darling, sweetie
mindale	love
mindalena(e)	lover
mote	work, labour
motena	worker, labourer
naete	pleasure
naia	night
nar(ae)	a homin
nate	novelty
necat!	end
nasse	poison
nertha	the killed, victim
nerhte	assassination, murder
nerthena	assassin, murderer, killer
ninwe	sky, heaven
ninweule	blue
nirila	relection
nirile	mirror
nityae	smallness
nityaena	a small or short homin, a Tryker
ora	due
ore	duty
palte	touch, sensation
pole	power
sama	those who are helped, the saved
same	rescue, aid
samena	that which helps, savior
sane	thought
sanena	thinker
sarde	hardness, rigidity
satie	strength
silam!	joy, happiness
sule	drink
sulena	drinker
tane	fact
tule	advent, arrival
tuline	red-gold (colour)
ulcae	disease, evil
ulcaena	patient
ulye	colour
umae	greatness
umaena	a great or tall homin, a Zoraï
vaine	envelope, entourage
valya	protege
valye	protection, custody
valyena	protector, guardian
vanime	ugliness
vela	view
vele	look, expression
velena	observer

! These nouns are irregular
* This can also be replaced by the phrase "almeria(e) nar(ae)"

Verbs

Infinitive	Past Tense	Future Tense	Imperative	Basic Meaning
aiyeis	aiyeiti	aiyias	aiyates	to bless
altaeis	altaeiti	altaias	altaates	to make, to produce, to manufacture
andeis	andeiti	andias	andates	to be far
areis	areiti	arias	arates	have/has (auxiliary verb), to have
aryeis	aryeiti	aryias	aryates	to be clumsy
avaleis	avaleiti	avalias	avalates	to be nice, to be agreeable
cadereis	cadereiti	caderias	caderates	to fall, to descend
cheraeis	cheraeiti	cheraias	cheraates	to be lucky
daveis	daveiti	davias	davates	to be gentle
decateis	decateiti	decatias	decatates	to be in pain (intransitive), to hurt (transitive)
envineis	envineiti	envinias	envinates	to cure, to treat
ereis	ereiti	erias	erates	to be
feryeis	feryeiti	feryias	feryates	to be right, to be clever
fileis	fileiti	filias	filates	to be proud
firheis	firheiti	firhias	firhates	to die, to be dying
hareis	hareiti	harias	harates	to approach
leleis	leleiti	lelias	lelates	to carry on, to continue, to proceed
lumeis	lumeiti	lumias	lumates	to live, to be alive
lutaeis	lutaeiti	lutaias	lutaates	to enchant
maieis	maieiti	maiias	maiates	to be well, to feel comfortable
maneis	maneiti	manias	manates	to eat, to feed
mataleis	mataleiti	matalias	matalates	to battle, to fight
meneis	meneiti	menias	menates	to go, to travel
mereis	mereiti	merias	merates	to want, to desire
meriaeis	meriaeiti	meriaias	meriaates	to be beautiful
mindaleis	mindaleiti	mindalias	mindalates	to love
moteis	moteiti	motias	motates	to work
naeteis	naeteiti	naetias	naetates	to be pleasant, to be agreeable, to please
nateis	nateiti	natias	natates	to renew
necateis	necateiti	necatias	necatates	to end, to finish
nerhteis	nerhteiti	nerhtias	nerhtates	to kill, to murder, to butcher, to slay
oreis	oreiti	orias	orates	ought to, must
palteis	palteiti	paltias	paltates	to hit, to touch, to feel
poleis	poleiti	polias	polates	to be able, can
sameis	sameiti	samias	samates	to help, to save
saneis	saneiti	sanias	sanates	to think
sardeis	sareiti	sardias	sardates	to roughen
satieis	satieiti	satiias	satiates	to be strong, to be brave
silameis	silameiti	silamias	silamates	to tickle, to be happy
suleis	suleiti	sulias	sulates	to drink
taneis	taneiti	tanias	tanates	to do
tuleis	tuleiti	tulias	tulates	to come
ulcaeis	ulcaeiti	ulcaias	ulcaates	to be ill
umaeis	umaeiti	umaias	umaates	to grow up, to be great
vaineis	vaineiti	vainias	vainates	to surround, to envelop, to hug
valyeis	valyeiti	valyias	valyates	to protect, to keep, to guard
vanimeis	vanimeiti	vanimias	vanimates	to be ugly
veleis	veleiti	velias	velates	to see, to watch

Untranslated Words

Nouns

These nouns, if their proposed translation is correct, should be sorted in the appropriate above sections. It is a possible that these nouns might not translate to nouns at all.

Matis	Original French	Proposed Translation
are	le fait d'avoir, et donc par extension la possession	possessed, owned
avale	le fait d'être agréable	nice
nata	un nouveau	new

Verbs

Infinitive	Past Tense	Future Tense	Imperative	Original French
leis	leiti	lias	lates	être toi
lyeis	lyeiti	lyias	lyates	être vous
nareis	nareiti	narias	narates	être homin
neis	neiti	nias	nates	être moi
nityaeis	nityaeiti	nityaias	nityaates	être petit
nyeis	nyeiti	nyias	nyates	être nous
seis	seiti	sias	sates	être lui/elle/soi
syeis	syeiti	syias	syates	être eux/elles

References

Note: All sources are in French

• A guide to the Matis Vocabulary
• Pronunciation