Basic Rules

There is no “formal” grammar, Dr. Weilgart used to say, since all the elements still keep their original meaning. Here are a few of the elements and combinations used to signify the most common parts of speech.

Note: the core elements of meaning are always capitalized and literal definitions using these elements are hyphenated and bracketed. The little curve placed high within the line is the aUI form of a hyphen – (so it’s not confused with the symbol for Negation).

Verbs

End in -v , -v, Action, since verbs, in general, are words that show some form of action.

  • e e: Movement; v v: Action
    • ev ev: to move
  • Simple Past: -pAv -pAv [Before-Time-Action/Verb] past action
    • e-pAv e-pAv: moved
  • Simple Future: -tAv -tAv [Toward-Time-Action/Verb] future action.
    • e-tAv e-tAv: will move

Modifiers: Adjectives and Adverbs

End in -m, -m, Quality, since adjectives and adverbs describe – they qualify or modify – a nearby noun, verb, or another adjective. This corresponds to the English endings -y, -ly, -ious, -al, -ary. Modifiers like to stand before the word being modified.

  • i i, Light → im im [Light-Quality] light (adj. as in ‘bright’)
  • o o, Life → om om [Life-Quality] alive
  • a a, Space → am am [Space-Quality] spatial

Opposites

Are formed by ‘covering’ a symbol with Y Y, Negation, as is done in English with the prefixes un-, anti-, de-

  • im im, light → yim yim [Opposite-light] dark
  • k k, Above → Yk Yk [Opposite-Above] below

As you may notice from these examples, when Y is in front (on top) of a vowel, it is written as a lower-case y consonant (pronounced as in ‘yellow’; /j/); when it is on top of a consonant, it is written as an upper case Y vowel (pronounced as in German Ü [/y/], as if you’re saying ‘ee’ but with very rounded lips, like for a kiss). So the symbol for Negation is always the opposite of what it’s standing above.

Articles

aUI does not insist on the use of the articles ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the.’ But they are possible:

  • yI yI [Non-Sound] a (not mentioned)
  • pI pI [Before-Sound] the (mentioned before)
  • yIn yIn [a-plural] several, some
  • pIn pIn [the-plural] the (many)

Plural

Is usually omitted or replaced by ‘many,’ nEn, nEn [Much-Matter-Quantity], or a specific number. Above, under ‘Articles,’ you see how articles can be used to show plural. Below, under ‘Pronouns,’ you see how they are made plural. Mass nouns often contain the -n, -n [Quantity] for plural or ‘much’:

  • u, u, Human → un, un [Human-Many] people
  • kE, kE [Above-Matter] gas → kEn, kEn [Above-Matter-Much] air

Pronouns

Take the place of a noun, like a nickname:

  • fu fu [This-Person] I, me
  • bu bu [Together-Person] you
  • cu cu [Existing-Person] he/she, gender-neutral
  • pIs pIs [the-Thing] it
  • fnu fnu [This-Many-Persons] we
  • bnu bnu [Together-Many-Persons] you all
  • nu nu [Many-Persons] they/them
  • pIns pIns [it-Plural] they/them

Questions

Begin with h, h, Question. Often it is best to end the question either with a question word, or simply with hI, hI? [Question-Sound] huh?

  • hu hu [Question-Person] who?
  • hE hE [Question-Matter] what?
  • ham ham [Question-Space] where?
  • hAm hAm [Question-Time] when?
  • hYtUm hYtUm [Question-cause-Adv.] why?
  • hUd hUd [Question-Conceptually-Means (what means)] how?

To Be

These forms give you the ‘is’ words. aUI has several ways to say ‘is’ depending on context, but here are the most common ones

  • Ec Ec [Matter-Exist] is
    Las Ec kab kvad.
    Las Ec kab kvad.
    The ball is on the table.
  • Uc Uc [Mental-Exist] is (conceptually)
    cu Uc rUm u.
    cu Uc rUm u.
    He/she is a good human.
  • Qc Øc [Conditional-Exist] is
  • Yc Yc [Opposite-Exist] not
    cu Qc Yrom, Yc tYweOm
    cu Øc Yrom, Yc tYweOm
    He/she is sick, not tired.
  • yEc yEc [Not-is] is not
    Las yEc kab kvad.
    Las yEc kab kvad.
    The ball is not on the table.
  • pAc pAc [past-Exist] was/were
    Las pAc kab kvad.
    Las pAc kab kvad.
    The ball was on the table.
  • tAc tAc [future-Exist] will be
    Las tAc kab kvad.
    Las tAc kab kvad.
    The ball will be on the table.