LINGWA DE PLANETA GRAMMAR
with examples

Dmitry Ivanov,
Anastasia Lysenko,
Elena Ivanova,
Asya Vinogradova

Lingwa de Planeta (LdP for short) is a neutral international auxiliary language based on the ten most widely spoken world languages, including six western European — English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian — and Chinese, Russian, Hindi, and Arabic. LdP also includes words from other languages to some extent. See the more detailed general description at http://lingwadeplaneta. info/

CONTENTS

Alphabet and pronunciation

Alphabet

The LdP alphabet is based on the Latin one and contains 25 letters:

A

B

Ch

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

a

b

ch

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

p

r

s

t

u

v

w

x

y

z

There is no letter q, and c is used only in combination ch.

Consonants

b	like b in bar
ch	like ch in cheers
d	like d in duck
f	like f in fish
g	like g in groom
h	like ch in the German Fach (recommended), or h in home
j	like j in jack
k	like k in cake, aspirated
l	like l in love
m	like m in mamma
n	like n in nanny
p	like p in papa, aspirated
r	Any kind of rhotic sound will do. After a vowel it is to be pronounced, however articulated
s	like s in Sunday. Between vowels it may be voiced to some degree
sh	like sh in shoe
t	like t in type, aspirated
v	like v in vale (also admissible like w in wall)
w	like w in wall
z	like dz in adze

The combination ng at the end of a word is pronounced as one sound: [ŋ] (like in doing) is preferred, but [n] is also possible. In the middle of a word this combination is read exactly as combination of n plus g.

The letter x denotes the combination of letters ks. Between vowels it is recommended to read it as the combination of letters gs. In the position before a consonant may be read as [s].

Double consonants are not used.

In some proper names one should read "sh" as two separate consonants, in such cases a delimitator ' is used: Mas'hadov.

Vowels

a	like a in father
e	like e in bell
i	like ea in tea
o	like oa in boat
u	like oo in cool

The letter "y".

The letters i and y denote the same sound [i]. The use of y basically indicates that the sound is not stressed: pyu [piú]. Besides, y at the end of a word indicates that the word is not a verb: krai to cry — skay sky.

The letter names

Aa — a
Bb — be
CH ch — che
Dd — de
Ee — e
Ff — ef
Gg — ge
Hh — ha
Ii — i
Jj — ja
Kk — ka
Ll — el
Mm — em
Nn — en
Oo — o
Pp — pe
Rr — er
Ss — es
Tt — te
Uu — u
Vv — ve
Ww — wa
Xx — iks
Yy — ye
Zz — ze

The combination of letters SH can be spelled either as "es ha" or "sha". Although the letter C alone, without H, is absent in the alphabet, it has the name "charli". The name for this letter may be needed when spelling words of other languages. Similarly, the symbol Q has the name "kebek".

When transmitting and receiving voice messages by radio or telephone, it may be advisable to use the ICAO spelling alphabet. In the case of Lidepla its symbols have the following pronunciation:

Aa — alfa
Bb — bravo
Cc — charli
Dd — delta
Ee — eko
Ff — foxtrot
Gg — golf
Hh — hotel
Ii — india
Jj — juliet
Kk — kilo
Ll — lima
Mm — maik
Nn — novemba
Oo — oska
Pp — papa
Qq — kebek
Rr — romio
Ss — siera
Tt — tango
Uu — uniform
Vv — vikta
Ww — wiski
Xx — ex rei
Yy — yanki
Zz — zulu

It is also possible to use full words beginning with a given letter for spelling, ex.:

a — amiga
b — bileta
ch — chipe
d — duma
e — egale
f — fabula
g — gana
h — hema
i — informa
j — jabra
k — kitaba
l — luna
m — mama
n — nocha
o — opa
p — pama
r — regula
s — salam
sh — shamba
t — tabla
u — unida
v — vino
w — worda
x — xilofon
y — yunga
z — zian

Example:

— Hey, yu audi ku? Skribi ba may el-meil adres! Tayar ku? Walaa: luna haifen duma haifen pama, akauda, informa nocha bileta opa xilofon, punta, regula unida.

— Hey, do you hear me? Write down my e-mail address! Ready? Here it is: luna haifen duma haifen pama, at sign, informa nocha bileta opa xilofon, dot, regula unida.

Stress

The main rule is: the vowel before the last consonant or "y" is stressed:

In words of the shape (C)CVV like háo — good, well, krái — to cry the first vowel is stressed.

In the combinations "au", "eu" — "u" is not stressed:

In the combinations "ai", "ei", "oi" — "i" is not stressed:

There are 4 consonant endings which are never stressed. These are -en, -us, -um, -er:

The endings of nouns and adjectives -ik-, -ul- are unstressed:

This doesn't apply to compound words with -fula like handafúla handful.

Non-standard stress is indicated through a doubled vowel:

kwantitaa — quantity
kwalitaa — quality
(and all abstract nouns derived from adjectives via the stressed suffix -(i)taa)
namastee — hello
adyoo — good-bye
bifoo — before
malgree — in spite of
shosee — highway
milyoo — milieu

The use of a doubled vowel is justified by that the stress in LdP is basically quantitative. A doubled vowel in a word without other vowels (like in 'zoo') is not regarded to be a stress mark.

Stress and word formation

In any derivation the stress of the basic word isn't shifted. It means that, for example, the plural endings -(e)s, the adverb suffix -em and the noun suffix -ing do not change stress:

Only few suffixes beginning with a vowel are exceptions to this rule:

as well as the aforementioned stressed suffix -(i)taa.

Compound words retain the stress of their components:

auslándajén — foreigner
jánmalánda — native land, homeland

Suffixes beginning with a consonant may receive a secondary stress:

A text with stress indicated

Bashán om humanístike transfórma de sosietáa

Namastée, káre amígas!

Me jói sinsérem por vídi yu, me jói ke nu es snóva pa húnta e ke nu mog diréktem diskúsi kwéstas kel agíti nu óli.

Probléma, ke nu zun durán yo pyú kem shi yar, es do tal natúra, ke ye óltáim pyú de sey kwéstas e li bikám óltáim pyú agúde.

In may repórta sedéy me wud yáo detalísi plúri prinsíp-ney tésa prisénti-ney bay me in pási-ney yar.

Dan, al konklúsi may bugrán bashán, me shwo-te, ke fo nu es tótem evidénte ke humanístike transfórma de sosietáa es buevítibíle.

Pronouns and Related Words

Personal pronouns

me	nu
yu	yu
ta (lu, ela) it	li

me — I
yu — you (sg., pl.)
ta — he, she, it (common for animate)
lu — he
ela — she
it — it (inanimate)
nu — we
li — they

Pronoun yu

General pronoun for 2nd person. If it's necessary to stress that you address a group, not a single person, you can use combinations like “yu oli” (you all), “yu ambi” (you both), “yu tri” (you three). Also it's possible to use "yu un" (you one) to clarify that you've switched from a group to an individual.

Pronoun ta

General pronoun for animate objects in 3rd person singular:

This pronoun can be used instead of lu and ela, which is comfortable for native speakers of languages without genders and special pronouns for "he" and "she" (e. g., Chinese, Finnish). Besides, it is convenient to use this pronoun in situations when the gender of a person is not defined exactly:

Es sempre hao si jen jan kwo ta yao. — It is always good when a man (or it may be a woman as well) knows what he/she wants.

Pronoun it

The pronoun it relates to inanimate objects:

Se es auto. It go kway. — This is a car. It goes fast.

It does not have the meaning "this, that" (as reference to the actions, conditions or events mentioned in the preceding or following statement); these meanings are expressed by pronouns "se" (this) and "to" (that):

Me jan to. — I know that. ("Me jan it" would mean "I know it (something inanimate)").

Declension of personal pronouns

Personal pronouns are invariable:

The dative case is marked with the preposition "a":

Possessive forms of personal pronouns

These may be regularly derived with the help of the particle “ney”:

me-ney	nu-ney
yu-ney	yu-ney yu-oli-ney
ta-ney lu-ney ela-ney it-ney	li-ney

But there are also shorter forms:

may	nuy
yur	yur
suy (luy, elay) suy	ley

may — my

yur — your (sg., pl.)

suy — its, his, her, one's (general for 3rd person singular)

luy — his

elay — her

nuy — our

ley — their

Suy is the universal possessive pronoun for the 3rd person singular. It can be used instead of ta-ney, lu-ney, ela-ney, it-ney:

It is natural to use "suy" or "ta-ney" in situations when the gender of a person is not specified:

Jen yusi ta-ney jansa fo adapti a milyoo. — Man uses his knowledge in order to adjust to the environment.

Demonstrative pronouns se and to

se — this (as a noun)

to — that (as a noun)

sey — this, these (before a noun, as an adjective)

toy — that, those (before a noun, as an adjective)

SE — this.

Used as a noun. Se, as compared with to, indicates a closer (in time or place) object, action, event, etc.

Se es auto. — This is a car (these are cars). (‘Se’ may be omitted in such sentences: Es auto. — This is a car, literally "is car".)

Me jan se. — I know this.

TO — that.

Used as a noun. To, as compared with se, indicates a more remote (in time or place) object, action, event, etc.

Se es auto e to es bisikla. — This is a car, and that is a bicycle.

To es avion, bu faula. — That is an airplane, not a bird.

Me ve shwo a yu om to. — I shall tell you about that.

Me jan to. — I know that/it.

To es — that is, i. e.

The expression "to ke" denotes "the thing(s) which, what":

To ke yu shwo a me es prave. — What you tell me is right.

SEY — this, these (before a noun, as an adjective).

Sey auto es hwan. — This car is yellow.

Sey autos es hwan. — These cars are yellow.

Ob sey dafta es yu-ney? — Is this copybook yours?

Sey daftas bu es yu-ney, es me-ney. — These copybooks aren't yours, they are mine.

TOY — that, those (before a noun, as an adjective).

Sey auto es hwan e toy auto es blu. — This car is yellow, and that car is blue.

Hu es toy jen? — Who is that person?

Ob toy dafta es yu-ney? — Is that copybook yours?

Toy daftas bu es yu-ney, es me-ney. — Those copybooks aren't yours, they are mine.

Sey-la, toy-la

Sey-la, toy-la — this (one) or that (one), the one — may replace objects already mentioned.

Examples:

Dai a me kitaba! — Kwel? — Sey-la on tabla. — Give me the book! — Which one? — The one on the table.

Dai a me kitabas! — Kwel? — Sey-las on tana. — Give me books! — Which ones? — These ones on the shelf.

Walaa dwa kitaba. Sey-la es hao e toy-la es buhao. — Here are two books. This one is good, and that one is bad.

Walaa daftas. Sey-las es fo skribi e toy-las es fo rasmi. — Here are copybooks. These are for writing, and those are for drawing.

Interrogative and relative pronouns

kwo

what:

ke

1) that (relative pronoun):

Me jan ke yu lubi me. — I know that you love me.

2) begins a modifying group after a noun, without prepositions:

kwel

what, which (interrogative):

kel

which, what (relative):

Combination "lo kel" means "what, which" as a noun:

Ela lai-te sun, lo kel joisi-te me gro. — She came quickly which pleased me much.

In the genitive kel-ney:

profesor kel-ney kitabas nulwan lekti — the professor whose books nobody reads.

komo

1) how, in what way:

2) how, how much:

Komo gao es toy baum? — How high is that tree?

kom

1) as (in comparisons, references):

2) as, in the capacity of:

nau me gun kom disainer — now I work as a designer.

kwanto

how much, as much, how many, as many:

tanto

so much, so many, thus much:

Other

Indefinite personal pronoun oni

Makes impersonal sentences like:

Reflexive pronoun swa

Common reflexive pronoun for all persons and numbers:

The possessive form is swa-ney (one's own, my own, your own, our own, their own):

bay swa-ney okos — with one's own eyes.

The pronoun wan

It means an individual:

The system of pronouns and adverbs

In LdP there is a system of compound pronouns and adverbs. Its important elements are:

These elements combining with others (loko — place (the suffix "lok" means "place" too), taim — time, ves — time (instance), wan — an individual, komo — how, -sa — noun suffix) may produce compound pronouns and adverbs:

But there are also short, simple words for some concepts:

Verbs

Verb types

There are two verb types:

i-verbs (type 1) and other verbs (type 2).

i-verbs are the verbs that end in consonant+i, e. g.:

Monosyllabic i-verbs like pri, chi, pi constitute a specific subtype characterized by that in derivation their -i is always preserved, e. g.:

Examples of type 2 verbs:

Verbs with prefixes fa- and mah-, which contain adjectives, are type 2 verbs too:

The main verb form

This is the only verb form that one has to memorize. It is used in all cases, with particles or adverbs added for clarity when needed.

Examples:

Negation is formed by means of the particle bu placed before a verb or tense particle:

Verb forms

Verb forms are basically the main verb form plus a particle before or after the verb. If a particle comes after the verb, it is written with a hyphen. Thus, the main verb form is always evident, and its stress is preserved.

Particles before the verb:

Particles after the verb:

Examples:

chi — to eat

ve chi — will eat

chi-te, he chi — ate or have eaten

zai chi — is eating

ve zai chi — will be eating

zai chi-te — was eating

ve he chi — will have eaten

he chi-te — had eaten

wud chi — would eat

wud chi-te — would have eaten

gei chi — is being eaten

ve gei chi — will be being eaten

gei-te chi — was being eaten

es chi-ney — is eaten

bin chi-ney — was eaten

ve bi chi-ney — will be eaten

chi-she — eating (active part.):

chi-she kota — the eating cat

chi-yen — (while) eating (verbal adverb)

afte chi — having eaten

gwo chi — used to eat, has experience of eating

sal chi — about to eat

yus chi-te — have just eaten.

Future tense

Examples:

me ve shwo — I shall say (speak)

nu ve go — we shall go

ela ve lekti — she will read

yu ve gun — you will work

ve pluvi — it will rain

me bu ve go — I won't go.

Past tense

There are 2 particles for the past tense: he (before verb) means the completed action, -te (after verb) means the past tense for any action, completed or not:

When -te and he are used together, they are equal to the English past perfect tense:

Wen lu lai-te a dom, ela he kuki-te akshamfan — When he came home, she had cooked supper.

The combination of ve with he is equal to the English future perfect tense:

Wen lu ve lai a dom, ela ve he kuki akshamfan. — When he comes home, she will have cooked supper.

•   The verb "bi" to be is special, and it has the past form bin:

Wo yu bin? — Where were you? Where have you been?

Imperative mode

To stress the imperative meaning, or to make it clearer, the particle ‘ba’ may be used after verb:

There is also the particle ‘hay’ (‘may, let’) expressing a wish or permission:

The negative imperative is formed with 'bu' or with a special particle 'bye':

Continuous aspect

It is marked by ‘zai’ before the verb:

The use of ‘zai’ is not obligatory. It is used only if the continuous aspect of action should be stressed.

Present active participle

Formed with -she:

Tuza sidi-she in bush ek-salti aus e lopi kway-kway nich kolina. — A hare sitting in the bush jumped out and ran very quickly down the hill.

•   Basically the same meaning is conveyed through the suffix -anta, which some nouns in LdP have:

But these words are not active participles, they are nouns with their own meaning.

•   Instead of active participles, constructions with kel may be used:

Tuza kel sidi in bush. — The hare that is sitting in the bush.

Constructions with kel are preferable when a direct object is involved:

Kota kel chi fish. — The cat that eats fish.

Verbal adverb

This is formed with -yen:

•   It should be noted that simultaneity of actions may be also expressed through the preposition al (at, in the process of):

•   Constructions “afte + verb”, “al he + verb” mean “having done something”:

Conditional tense

This is formed with the help of particle wud in both main and subordinate clauses:

The particle wud may be shortened to 'd:

The immediate future and past

These are the constructions “to be about to do something” and “to have just done something”. The first one is “sal + verb”, the second is “yus + verb in past tense”:

Remote past tense

The remote past tense is formed with “gwo + verb” and expresses some action as a fact of the indefinitely remote past, which is connected with the present moment only in terms of having the corresponding experience. This is something that was taking place or used to take place some time ago:

Tense marking

There are 2 variants of tense marking in LdP: the full and the simple one.

The full variant is when you mark verb tense according to sense and without tense concordance (independent from whether it is a main or subordinate clause). Basically it means that the tense in an indirect quotation (he said that he was leaving) should be the same as in a direct quotation (he said, "I am leaving").

Examples:

The simple variant is when you don't mark verb tense at all but use words like ‘today’, ‘yesterday’ etc. and the context to convey the information about time of action. This variant is appropriate in speech.

Examples:

However, even in texts repeated past-tense marking is quite often superfluous, e. g., in narrating a series of past events.

Example (with a literal translation):

Se eventi mucho yar bak. Dwa jen zai go	This happens many years ago. Two men walk
along kamina e miti un jen kel porti un	along the road and meet a man who carries a
nangwa.	pumpkin.
Li lai a ta, shwo:	They come to him and say:
— Hey! Kwo es sub yur bracha?	— Hey! What is it under your arm?

Transitivity

The prefix “fa” (“to get, to become”) may serve as an intransitivity marker:

The causative prefix “mah” may serve as a transitivity marker:

Many verbs in LdP may be intransitive and transitive in the same form, the same as the English verbs, for example ‘begin’ (‘to begin something’ vs ‘the film begins’) and ‘develop’ (‘to develop a theory’ vs ‘to develop into a nice personality’). Usually, if the verb is followed by an object, the verb is transitive, otherwise it is not:

If ambiguity may arise, one can use the prefixes “fa” and “mah”.

Participles with -ney

Passive participle is marked with "-ney":

pi-ney akwa — the drunk water.

If you want to say that the water is being drunk, add "zai":

zai-pi-ney akwa — the water that is being drunk.

With intransitive verbs -ney is a past active participle marker:

With some verbs both meanings are possible:

adapti-ney — adapted (either “that has become adapted” or “that has been adapted”).

To specify the exact meaning, if needed, use transitivity markers:

The passive of state

The passive of state is formed by "bi" and "verb+ney"; it indicates a state as a result of a finished process:

The passive of becoming

The passive of becoming, formed by the auxiliary verb ‘gei’ and verb, indicates an unfinished process:

The past tense is formed with ‘gei-te’; the future with ‘ve gei’:

Se gei-te zwo tak e to ve gei zwo otrem. — This was (being) done so, and that will be (being) done otherwise.

Verb doubling

This expresses that an action takes some time or is repeated many times. There may also be a connotation of certain ease and lack of constraint :

The verb "bi" (to be)

This is an exceptional verb. It has the main form "bi", the present tense form "es", and the past tense form "bin".

•   "Es" does not need a subject in clauses like

•   In aphoristic sayings the link-verb ‘es’ might be dropped:

The infinitive and the infinitive particle "tu"

The infinitive particle tu is used when the infinitive has a meaning close to that of a noun (substantivization):

•   If the infinitive is placed after another verb, "tu" is not used:

•   In cases where the infinitive completes the meaning of a noun or adjective, it uses the same preposition as a noun would — though that preposition may differ from its English equivalent:

•   In subordinate clauses after the relative words "ob", "wo", "komo", etc., the infinitive is used without "tu":

•   The particle "tu" may be used to mark the infinitive group:

The verb "ye" (there is)

The verb ye means "there is":

The negative meaning (absence of something) is expressed through "bu ye" or yok (not available). The latter is placed after the object under discussion:

The helping verb "fai"

It has the general meaning ‘to do, to perform an action’ and is used in combination with nouns and adverbs:

As distinct from ‘zwo’ (to do, to make) ‘fai’ is a helping verb and may be used only in combinations, so “Do it!” is “Zwo to!”

In speech the combination ‘fai+noun’ may sometimes replace verbs that you cannot remember. In such a case ‘fai’ means ‘to use the object in some usual way, to act in usual way in connection with the object’:

Modal verbs

Mog — can, may:

Darfi — to have permission, be allowed, (one) may:

Yao — want:

Mus — must; have to:

Treba — it is necessary; require:

("Treba" has a wider meaning than "nidi" and "gai").

Nidi — need:

Gai — (one) should, (one) ought, supposed to:

Majbur — be compelled to, have to, there is no other way but:

Pri — to like:

"Intensive" verbs

Some verbs are used to add specific meanings to the action description.

Pai — (the basic meaning "to get, receive") imparts the meaning "to succeed, achieve, obtain":

Lwo — (the basic meaning "to fall") conveys the depth of transition into another state/condition:

Dai — (the basic meaning "to give") conveys unexpectedness of action for observers or its unexpected intensity:

Verb prefixes

be — when added to intransitive verbs, makes action apply to an object:

when added to transitive verbs, changes the object of action:

de(s) — opposite action ("des" if before a vowel):

desharji — discharge

delodi — unload

desorganisi — disorganize

ek- — denotes that something is done only one time or rather suddenly (from Hindi "ek" one):

en- — denotes the beginning of action:

fa — conveys the meaning "to get, to become":

When used with verbs, makes them intransitive:

mah — causative prefix meaning "to make, render, transform into, bring into a condition" (synonymous with the suffix -isi). It is practical to use it with adjectives like ‘hao, gao’. E. g.:

This prefix also modifies verbs:

•   It should be noted that there is also a link-verb ‘mah’ meaning the same as the English “make”:

mis — equal to the English mis-:

ras — separation, division, or dispersion:

ri — again, anew:

tra — through(out):

Verb suffixes

isi — makes transitive verbs, means "to make, render, transform into, bring into a condition" (same as mah-):

If added to a noun ending in -ia, "-ia" is dropped:

mifologia mythology — mifologisi mythologise.

ifi — makes intransitive verbs, means "to get, to become" (same as fa-):

vati — used for deriving verbs in cases where the use of –i is undesirable: