History
Common Phrases
| Phrase |
English
|
| aiya(e) |
Hey (lit. "blessed"), used to address a person
|
| 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
For individuals:
- -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
For adjectives and passive forms
- -a : masculine singular
- -ae : feminine singular
- -ai : plural (masculine or feminine)
For nouns
Note: matal = to 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 battle, the fighting
For verbs
Note: mindal = to love;
- -eis : present tense and infinitive marker (does not conjugate), 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. mindalates = love!
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 |
English
|
| 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
Note:
Other pronouns
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
|
References
Matis Language