Šadebu

(Shahdayboo)

 

            Šadebu is my first conlang. It is agglutinating with many verb forms. There are no articles. It’s phonology looks something like this:

 

Phonology

 

Consonants:

             labial  lab-dnt   dental  alv   alv-pal  velar  glottal

stop           p b                     t d             k       

fricative              v        th     x z    š ž      h       

affricate                                     č j

approximant     w                      r l             y   

nasal                                         ñ         

 

 

th –       This is the sound in mouth.

x -        This is the sound in ax, even at the beginning of a word.

č -        This is the sound in chew.

ñ -        This is the sound in onion.

š -        This is the sound in shoot.

ž -        This is the sound in measure.

 

All other sounds are pronounced as in English.

 

Šadebu has nine vowels:

 

ā –        As in acorn.

a –        As in apple.

ē –        As in evil.

e –        As in pet.

ī –         As in ice.

i –         As in it.

ō –        As in oboe.

o –        As in got.

u –        As in boot.

 

Vowels are not required for every word. For example, the word for “hot” is “č.”

 

Stress

Stress in Šadebu is always placed on the first syllable.

 

Sentence order

Šadebu has SVO sentence order, like English. (Subject Verb Object)

 

Numbers

Numbers are adjectives, and they are not inflected in any way.

 

zero                                          pud

one                                           ā

two                                           ālu

three                                         bōd

four                                           jix

five                                            luš

six                                            izhō

seven                                        ret

eight                                         ēō

nine                                          šōšač

 

Ordinal numbers are given the suffix –ē.

 

first                                           āē

two                                           āluē

three                                         bōdē

four                                           jixē

 

Verbs

 

Šadebu verbs are entirely regular. (They all conjugate the same way.) They inflect for tense, aspect, voice, conditionality, voice and mood. Finally, Šadebu verbs have personal pronoun endings. Infinitives always end in –ōth.

 

Present Tense

 

to organize                    lēpōth

 

I organize                      lēpul                 We, including you, organize                    lēpukev

You organize                 lēpud                We, excluding you, organize                   lēpulev

He/she organizes           lēpuč                Y’all organize                                         lēpudev

It organizes                   lēpučub            They organize                                        lēpučev

 

Who organizes              lēpuz kep         Kep means “who.” This is used for non-personal pronouns.

 

Past tense

There are two past tenses. In addition to the regular past, there is a remote past, which is used for things that happened, well, in the remote past.

 

                                                Normal Past

 

I organized                    pōlēpul                                     We organized                pōlēpukev

You organized               pōlēpud                                    We organized                pōlēpulev

He/she organized           pōlēpuč                                    Y’all organized               pōlēpudev

It organized                   pōlēpučub                                 They organized              pōlēpučev

 

Who organized              pōlēpuz kep                 

 

                                                Remote Past

 

I organized                    zōlēpul                                      We organized                zōlēpukev

You organized               zōlēpud                                     We organized                zōlēpulev

He/she organized           zōlēpuč                                     Y’all organized               zōlēpudev

It organized                   zōlēpučub                                 They organized              zōlēpučev

 

Who organized              zōlēpuz kep     

 

Note: If adding the zō- or pō- prefixes would cause two vowels to be together, the prefixes will change to zōx- and pōx-.

 

Future Tense

There are two future tenses. They are the regular and remote future tenses.

                                               

                                                Normal Future

 

I shall organize              šīlēpul                                       We shall organize          šīlēpukev

You will organize            šīlēpud                                      We shall organize          šīlēpulev

He/she will organize       šīlēpuč                                      Y’all will organize           šīlēpudev

It will organize                šīlēpučub                                  They will organize          šīlēpučev

 

Who will organize           šīlēpuz kep                   

 

                                                Remote Future

 

I shall organize              wīlēpul                                      We shall organize          wīlēpukev

You organize                 wīlēpud                                     We shall organize          wīlēpulev

He/she organize             wīlēpuč                                     Y’all organize                 wīlēpudev

It organize                     wīlēpučub                                 They organize                wīlēpučev

 

Who organized              wīlēpuz kep     

 

Note: If adding the wī- or šī- prefixes would cause two vowels to be together, the prefixes will change to wīx- and šīx-.

 

There are no set rules governing when to use the remote or the regular past/future. The distinction is up to the speaker. Of course, common sense is used. It is expected that one would refer to something that a caveman did in the remote past tense.

 

Perfect

A perfect verb indicates that the action has been completed. To form the perfect, insert the suffix -ōbō after the verb.

 

 

I have sung.                               edulōbō

It had sang.                               pōxedučubōbō

We shall have sung.                   šīxedukevōbō

 

Progressive Aspect

The progressive aspect involves an action that is happening. To form the progressive aspect, insert the particle šōd before the verb.

 

I am drinking.                             šōd rāpilul

She was drinking.                      šōd pōrāpiluč

Y’all will be drinking.                   šōd šīrāpiludev

 

Habitual Aspect

The habitual aspect involves an action that is repeated habitually. To form the habitual aspect, use the prefix jā/jāt.

 

I wake up in the morning.                        Jārēdul yit tuček.

Shaniqua works at the zoo.                     Šañēkwa jākāšuč īva yeh.

 

Passive Voice

The passive voice is formed by adding the particle thaz after the verb.

 

I am eaten.                                            Pōlabul thaz.

You were understood.                             Pōdidud thaz.

He will be kissed.                                   Šīkešejuč thaz.

 

Conditionality

To make a verb conditional, add the suffix –pēk.

 

It would travel.                                        Bekešučubpēk.

They would go.                                      Aručevpēk.

I would eat.                                            Labulpēk.

 

Imperative mood

To make a verb a command, take the root of the verb and add the prefix i/iž.

 

Skateboard!                                           ¡Iduličav!

Pay attention!                                        ¡Ižatij!

Sweep your room!                                  ¡Iprex ubdō rōvādō!

 

Negative Mood

To negate a verb, use the prefix ba/bat.

 

He didn’t find.                                        Bapōblozuč.

We didn’t see.                                       Bapōkrulev.

The elephant didn’t make the bed.           Radajōz bakevītučub.

 

Subjunctive Mood

To form “if” statements, insert the particle dī before the verb.

 

If I were a rich man                                 Eš dī ul bēb bīča.

Joe wishes he were a dog.                      Jō dī pēxuč dīuč žib.

If you collected stamps.                          Eš dī pāled škudābu.

 

 

A note on affix orders:

The order for suffixes is person, perfect, conditional.

 

We would have hitchhiked.                     Pōkratulevōbōpēk.

 

The order for prefixes is tense, negativity, habituality.

 

They will never work at the zoo.               Šībajāpridučev īva yeh.

 

There is no set order for particles before or after the verb.

 

If I am drinking.              Dī šōd rāpilul.

If I am drinking.              Šōd dī rāpilul.

 

Both are correct.

 

Gerunds

To form a gerund, add the suffix –īk or –k to the verb root. The gerund functions as a noun.

 

Singing is fun.                Edīk učub xō.

 

Infinitives

Infinitives end in –ōth. They function as nouns, but cannot be pluralized. Sometimes they function as adjectives, as in the third example, where to eat modifies food.

To help is good.                         Wezōth učub žip.

Joe was happy to help.               Jō pōxuč blōx wezōth.

The food to eat was delicious.     Klepiv labōth pōxučub ōča.

 

Participles

Participles end in –ēč or –č. Or they can end in –ōj or –j. Use the first suffix in place of the English –ing. Use the second suffix in place of the English –ed. Don’t confuse your gerunds and participles!

 

The people parking the car are my parents.                      Jartu wešōj dotkat učev ēdō zavabu.

I saw a parked car.                                                         Pōkrul wešēč dotkat.

 

Nouns

Nouns do not have case. In fact, they do not change much at all. Nouns in Šadebu inflect for number.

 

Number

To make a noun plural, add the suffix –u. If the noun ends in a vowel, add the suffix –bu.

 

dog                               žib

dogs                             žibu

cat                                rooh

cats                              roohu

 

Adjectives/Adverbs

 

Adjectives and adverbs function as in English. Colors are placed after the adjective they modify, but regular adjectives and adverbs go before the word they modify.

 

Comparison

 

delicious                       ōča

more delicious               ōčapō

less delicious                ōčatī

most delicious               ōčabō

least delicious               ōčadī

as delicious as              dādōča

 

Conjunctions

Conjunctions work like English.

 

if                                   ēš

and                               ōč

or                                 k

but                                bāba

nor                                kuk

 

Prepositions

Prepositions work as in English.

 

about                            bratō

for                                 aj

from                              dō

in                                  yit

of                                  ša

off                                 batō

on                                 tō

to                                 yā

with                              vih

 

Pronouns

Pronouns work like English.

 

I                                   ēd                                 The Šadebu equivalent of –self is –lex.

you                               ub                                 Myself               ēdōlex

he/she                          īya

it                                  iz

inclusive we                   ēr

exclusive we                  lar

y’all                              ōpā

they                              bar

 

my/mine                        ēdō

our/ours (inc)                 ērdō

our/ours (exc)                lardō

your/yours                     ubdō

y’alls                             ōpādō

their/theirs                     nardō

his/her/hers                   īyado

it/its                              izdō