Mateis

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This article discusses the language as spoken by the Matis.

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.

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 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.


Prefixes

  • ata- : again
  • mai(ae)- : good, beneficial, well
  • ulca(e)- : malicious, bad


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?"


Determinatives

Present Tense Past Tense Future Tense Basic Meaning
neis neiti nias that's me
leis leiti lias that’s you
seis seiti sias that's him/her/it
nyeis nyeiti nyias that's us
lyeis lyeiti lyias that's you (plural)
syeis syeiti syias that's them


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


Conjunctions

  • 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
aiya(e) blessed
alta(e) built, manufactured, engineered (for plants)
anda(e) far, long
ara(e) owned, propertied
arya(e) left, left-sided, left-handed, clumsy, awkward
avala(e) nice, pleasant, agreeable
cadera(e) fallen
chera(e) lucky
dava(e) sweet, tender, soft, gentle
decata(e) painful, sorrowful, sad
era hasbeen (as adjective)
ferya(e) rightheous, right-sided, right-handed, straight, adroit, skillful, dexterous
fila(e) proud
firha(e) dead, extinct
hara(e) near, short
lela(e) Continuous, uninterrupted, unceasing
loida(e) material, physical
luma(e) living, live, vibrant
lutae enchanting, enchanted
mai(ae) good, favourable, well
mana(e) eaten
matala(e) beaten, battered, defeated
mata(e) eloquent, speaking, spoken
mena(e) gone
mera(e) wanted, desired
meria(e) beautiful
mindala(e) loved
mota(e) working
naia(e) nocturnal
nara(e) homin (as an adjective)
naeta(e) pleasant, pleasing, amiable, amusing, agreeable
nata(e) new
necata(e) final, ending, ended
nerhta(e) killed, murdered, assassinated
nitya(e) small
ora(e) due (as an adjective)
palta(e) stricken, affected
pola(e) possible
sama(e) helped, saved
sana(e) thoughtful
sarda(e) hard, rough, rigid
satia(e) strong, brave
silama(e) joyous, happy
sula(e) drunken
tana(e) made, ripe
tula(e) destination
ulca(e) evil, bad
uma(e) great, tall
vaina(e) surrounded, besieged, envelopped, entwined
vanima(e) ugly, unsightly, ill-favoured
valya(e) protected, guarded
vela(e) understodd, seen, watched


Nouns

Matis Basic Meaning
aire copper (colour)
aiye blessing
altae manufacturing
altaena manufacturer, maker
ande distance, length
are ownership
arena owner, possessor
arye left(side), clumsiness
avale pleasantness
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 (as a noun)
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
mateis mateiti matias matates to speak
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
nityaeis nityaeiti nityaias nityaates to be small
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


References

Note: All sources are in French