Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives and Adverbs
Globasa's nouns do not distinguish between singular and plural forms.
Globasa's nouns have neither definite nor indefinite articles.
If it is necessary to emphasize definiteness, hin (this/these) or den (that/those) may be used.
If it is necessary to emphasize singularity, un (one) may be used.
If it is necessary to emphasize plurality, plu (multiple) may be used.
In Globasa, nouns denoting people and animals are typically gender-neutral.
If it is necessary to emphasize gender, the adjectives fem (female) and man (male) may be used as prefixes.
Etymology of fem: English (feminine), French (féminin), German (feminin), Spanish (femenina)
Etymology of man: Mandarin (男 “nán”), French (masculin), Spanish (masculino), English (masculine), German (männlich), Hindi (मर्दाना “mardana”), Persian (مردانه “mardane”)
A handful of nouns denoting people do indicate gender.
Note: The gender-neutral word for parent(s) is atre. The gender-neutral word for mom/dad is mapa.
Fe is often used in sentence initial phrases with nouns.
In Globasa, a noun may be followed by another noun without the use of a preposition when the second noun specifies the identity of the first. This is known as apposition.
In Globasa, noun/verbs are words that can function as either noun or verb.
Noun/verb comparison is expressed as follows using the words max (more), min (less, fewer), dennumer (that number of, as many), denkwanti (that quantity, as much), kom (as, than).
With nouns:
Mi hare max kitabu kom yu.
I have more books than you.
Yu hare min kitabu kom mi.
You have fewer books than I.
Mi hare max to kom yu.
I have more (of them) than you.
Yu hare min to kom mi.
You have fewer (of them) than I.
Mi hare max kom cen kitabu.
I have more than one hundred books.
Yu hare min kom cen kitabu.
You have fewer than one hundred books.
Te hare dennumer kitabu kom mi.
She has as many books as me.
Te hare dennumer to kom mi.
She has as many as me.
Yu yam denkwanti risi kom mi.
You eat as much rice as me.
Yu yam denkwanti to kom mi.
You eat as much (of it) as me.
With verbs:
Myaw max somno kom bwaw.
or: Myaw somno max kom bwaw.
The cat sleeps more than the dog.
Bwaw min somno kom myaw.
or: Bwaw somno min kom myaw.
The dog sleeps less than the cat.
Bebe denkwanti somno kom myaw.
or: Bebe somno denkwanti kom myaw.
The baby sleeps as much as the cat.
To express the more/the less..., the more/the less..., Globasa uses fol max/min ki, max/min (ki).
Fol max ki mi doxo, mi max jixi.
or: Fol max ki mi doxo, max ki mi jixi.
The more I read, the more I know.
The order of these phrases may switch places:
Mi max jixi, fol max ki mi doxo.
or: Max ki mi jixi, fol max ki mi doxo.
I know more, the more I read.
Verbs are defined in the dictionary as auxiliary (abil, musi, etc.), transitive or intransitive. Whenever a verb could potentially work as either transitive or intransitive, Globasa defaults to transitivity, unless it is clear that the intransitive verb would be considerably more common than its counterpart.
Examples of transitive root verbs and derived intransitive verbs with -cu. In these pairs of verbs, the transitive and intransitive verbs are about equally common. As a result, the root verb is transitive.
esto - stop (bring to a stop)
estocu - stop (come to a stop)
harka - (cause to) move
harkacu - move
Examples of intransitive root verbs and derived transitive verbs with -gi. In these pairs of verbs, the intransitive verb is considerably more common than the transitive verb. As a result, the root verb is intransitive.
sokutu - fall
sokutugi - drop
xunjan - grow
xunjangi - (cause to) grow
In Globasa, adjectives and verb-modifying adverbs have identical form.
Adjective/adverbs precede the noun/verbs they modify.
Hinto is bono yam.
This is a good meal.
Bebe bono yam.
The baby eats well.
Uma velosi pawbu.
The horse runs fast.
Alternatively, adverbs may appear after the verb, but preceded by the direct and indirect objects, if any: Subject - Verb - (Direct and Indirect Objects) - Adverb.
Bebe yam bono.
The baby eats well.
Bwaw glu sui velosi.
The dog drinks the water quickly.
Adverbs may also be moved to the start of the sentence, so long as there is a definite pause with the comma so as to separate the phrase from the rest of the sentence. Without the pause, the adjective/adverb could be mistakenly interpreted as modifying the subject.
Velosi, bwaw glu sui.
Quickly, the dog drinks the water.
Unyum, te le idi cel banko.
First, she went to the bank.
The following are adjective/adverbs commonly used in sentence-initial phrases followed by a clear pause before the rest of the sentence.
Adjective/adverb comparison is expressed as follows using the words maxmo (more, -er), minmo (less), denmo (as),kom (as, than).
To express the most (-est) and the least, Glosaba uses maxim... te/to and minim... te/to. The word of means out of or off (of). Note that the pronouns te/to must immediately follow the adjective since noun phrases must always end in a noun or pronoun. See Noun Phrases.
To express the more/the less..., the more/the less..., Globasa uses fol maxmo/minmo, maxmo/minmo.
The suffix -ya has a variety of useful functions and is equivalent to several English suffixes: -ity, -ness, -dom, -hood, -ship.
real - real (adj)
realya - reality (noun)
bimar - sick, ill (adj)
bimarya - illness, disease (noun)
huru - free (adj)
huruya - freedom, liberty (noun)
poemaya - poetry (abstract noun)
arkiteto - architect (concrete noun)
arkitetoya - architecture (abstract noun)
The suffix -ya means -hood or -ship when attached to nouns denoting relationships.
matre - mother (concrete noun)
matreya - motherhood (abstract noun)
patre - father (concrete noun)
patreya - fatherhood (abstract noun)
In some cases the concrete or count noun is used as verb and the abstract or noncount noun is derived using -ya functions as the counterpart to the verb.
image - image/picture (concrete noun), imagine/picture (verb)
imageya - imagination (abstract noun)
magneto - magnet (concrete noun), attract (verb)
magnetoya - attraction (abstract noun)
Likewise, the body parts associated with the five senses denote the related action (verb), while -ya is used to derive the abstract noun.
oko - eye (concrete noun), see, look (verb)
okoya - sight or sense of sight (abstract noun)
ore - ear (concrete noun), hear, listen (verb)
oreya - hearing or sense of hearing (abstract noun)
nasa - nose (concrete noun), smell (verb)
nasaya - smell or sense of smell (abstract noun)
xeto - tongue (concrete noun), taste (verb)
xetoya - taste or sense of taste (abstract noun)
Prepositions are turned into noun/verbs using the suffix -ya. See Prepositional Verbs.
Etymology of -ya: Hindi (सत्य "satya" - truth), Spanish (alegría - joy)
Globasa uses the prefix du- to express the gerund.
The prefix du- is also used for the continuous/habitual verb aspect. See Verb Forms.
The prefix du- is truncated from dure (duration).
Etymology of dure: English, French, German and Spanish
The suffix -gi turns adjectives into transitive verbs.
bala - strong
balagi - strengthen
pule - full
pulegi - fill
The suffix -gi is also used to turn transitive or intransitive verb into causative verbs.
side - sit
sidegi - seat, sit (cause to sit)
The suffix -gi is truncated from gibe (give).
Etymology of gibe: English (give), German (geben, gibt) and Mandarin (给 “gěi”)
The suffix -cu (get/become) turns adjectives into intransitive verbs.
roso - red
rosocu - blush/redden (get red)
The suffix -cu may also be applied to noun/verbs, turning them into intransitive verbs.
The suffix -cu is truncated from cudu (take, obtain, acquire, gain)
Etymology of cudu: Mandarin (取得 "qǔdé"), Korean (취득 “chwideug”)
In Globasa, adjective/adverbs are derived from nouns by means of various suffixes. See full list of suffixes under Word Formation. One of the most common is the suffix -li (of, relating to).
musika - music
musikali - musical, musically
denta - tooth
dentali - dental
dongo - east
dongoli - eastern
The suffix -li is also used for deriving adjective/adverbs out of function words. See Function Words.
Etymology of -li: French (-el, -elle), Spanish (-al), English (-al, -ly), German (-lich), Russian (-ельный “-elni”, -альный “-alni”), Turkish (-li)
The suffix -pul means full of or having.
jawgu - care, take care
jawgupul - careful
The suffix -pul is truncated from pule (full).
Etymology of pule: English (full), Hindi (पूर्ण “purn”), Russian (полный “poln-”)
The suffix -ne means in the active process of and is used to derive what are known in Globasa as active adjectives.
Active adjectives are in most cases equivalent to present participles in English (adjectives ending in -ing). However, unlike in English, active adjectives are not used to generate the progressive verb forms (I am sleeping, She is dancing, etc.). Instead, they only function as adjectives.
somno - sleep
somnone meliyen - sleeping beauty
sampo - walk
sampone moryen - walking dead
danse - dance
dansene uma - dancing horse
interes - interest
interesne kitabu - interesting book
Etymology of -ne: English (-ing), French (-ant), Spanish (-ando), German (-en, -ende), Russian (-ный “-ny”), Turkish (-en, -an)
Active adjectives that appear sentence initially may alternatively be expressed as prepositional phrases using the infinitive verb form.
Doxone, nini le xorsomno.
Reading, the kid fell asleep.
or
Fe na doxo, nini le xorsomno.
Reading, the kid fell asleep.
or
Dur na doxo, nini le xorsomno.
While reading, the kid fell asleep.
This construction is useful particularly when the phrase includes a direct object since, unlike the present participle in English, active adjectives in Globasa cannot function as verbs.
Dur na doxo sesu preferido kitabu, nini le xorsomno.
While reading his favorite book, the kid fell asleep.
Naturally, these phrases may also be expressed as full clauses, as opposed to prepositional phrases.
Dur te le doxo (sesu preferido kitabu), nini xorsomno.
While he read (his favorite book), the kid fell asleep.
Active adjectives may be rendered passive by adding the passive prefix be- to derive what are known in Globasa as passive active adjectives (or passive adjectives for short). There is no exact equivalent in English for passive adjectives, but are best understood as the exact passive form of the present participle in English.
The suffix -do means in an inactive state of. Words with this suffix are known in Globasa as inactive adjectives and are typically translated as the past participle in English. However, unlike in English, inactive adjectives are not used to generate perfect or passive verb forms (I have worked, It was/got stolen, etc.). Instead, they function only as adjectives.
It is worth noting that, technically speaking, the suffix -do is added to the noun aspect of noun/verbs. For this reason -do may be added to either transitive or intransitive noun/verbs.
With transitive noun/verbs:
With intransitive noun/verbs:
Etymology of -do: English (-ed), Spanish (-ado, -ido)
Adjective/adverbs that modify other adjective/adverbs, known as adj/adv-modifying adverbs, add the suffix -mo. Compare the following pairs of phrases.
perfeto blue oko - perfect (blue eyes) or blue eyes that are perfect
perfetomo blue oko - (perfectly blue) eyes or eyes that are perfectly blue
naturali syahe tofa - natural black hair (not a wig)
naturalimo syahe tofa - naturally black hair (not dyed)