Somish

Notes

Here you will find some random tidbits about Somish that didn't find their way into the lessons, but are good to know.

Greetings

Besides he (hello), and often used after it, one says # monen where # is the number of months left until summer (to the closest month). The response to this is # ja. If less than one month remains, the greeting is soma kom! The response is kom ja! If it's already summer one says soma se! The response is soma ja!

Syllable structure

Somish has a strict syllable structure that ensures that words and sentences are easy to pronounce, as there are never harsh combinations of consonants. Syllables must end with a vowel or l, m, n, r or s. If one of these consonants is the ending, it must be alone after the vowel. Beginnings of syllables (onsets) that are permitted are the same combinations that are allowed in English.

Alternate pronunciations for t and d

The normal pronunciations of t and d are as in English. However, these letters can optionally be pronounced as th in thin and th in than respectively.

Ordinal numbers

Numbers have no ordinal form (i.e. first, second, etc.). To express this, you have to say the noun followed by (num) #. So, the third book is buka tre or buka num tre.

Telling time

To express the time, say tim followed by the hour (in 24-hour format), then o followed by the minutes. Three o'clock p.m. (3:00 p.m.) is tim tie-fem and is written 1500. 3:05 is tim tie-fem o fem (1505).

The five senses

There are regular active/passive relationships used for words pertaining to the senses. Because si means see, sis means look (appear) as well as be seen. So, sis, horas, palpas, lutes and smakas mean look, sound, feel, smell, and taste as in looks/sounds/feels/smells/tastes like... respectively.

Also note that the sensing verbs by themselves express a passive experiencing of the stimulus. si means see; hora means hear. The expression of the active use of these senses to collect information is formed by adding the word jor (make, do). jor si means look at; jor hora means listen.

Ago

Two years ago = for to oren

Months

The months are numbered rather than named. June is mon ses. August is mon ote.

Another use for melan

One of the books = en melan bukan

Word doubling

A word can be doubled to augment its meaning. stustu = huge. vitavita = extremely pure white.

Titles

Titles, including Mr., Ms., etc. are not used. In more formal situations when using a first name would not be appropriate, the last name is used by itself.

Compounding

Compound nouns must be written as one word. Theoretically, there is no limit to this compounding.

Gender

Somish has no grammatical gender. Personal gender is rarely specified (as exemplified by the neutral pronoun hen), as it is seldom considered important information. Note that all words are essentially gender-neutral except on (male) and in (female). These, of course, can be used in compounds to form gender-specific terms when necessary. For example, onukres (boy).

Family relations

All family relation labels are created from the basic building blocks, elda, uelda, siskon and gita (parent, child, sibling and spouse). When used alone, these forms are used. When they are combined into compounds, just the first syllables of the words are used. For example, aunt is elsi (comes from eldasiskon (parent-sibling). A cousin would be the child (uelda) of the elsi, therefore elsiu.

Comparison

The comparitive is always formed with mer. The superlative is always formed with mes. For example, je se mer ho an du, men hen se mes ho melan jen. (I am taller than you, but he is the tallest among us.)

Proper nouns
Names of countries, nationalities and languages have official words in Somish. All other proper nouns do not and are usually not translated from the original language. Sometimes they are adapted to Somish sounds and spelling, but that is entirely optional. However, unless they are names of countries, nationalities or languages, they must start with a : (a colon). Also, remember that uppercase letters are never used (even if the name is left in its native form).