Some more Si-words: I, you, and many
As you may remember from the first two lessons, sentences normally begin with si-words, the two most common of which are Tasi (meaning "this") and Fasi (meaning "that"). But what if you want to refer to yourself ("I"), the person you're talking to ("you"), or more than one thing? It turns out there's a si-word for each of those cases!
It is believed that the Parseltongue for "I" and "you" is derived from English: my predecessor theorised that snakes did not start referring directly to themselves (or the people they were talking to) until they observed Parselmouths doing so in English. When snakes incorporated these concepts into Parseltongue, they simply took the sounds in English and approximated them as best they could in Parseltongue; just as you did for your own name back in the first lesson!
They ended up with the following: ai for "I" and ou for "you". Just like other si-words, they can start a sentence; the word order of the rest of the sentence does not change.
NOTE: Although snakes do not do this often, you can refer to someone by their name in Parseltongue; if so, the name takes the place of the si-word.
If you want to refer to more than one thing, the easiest way to do so is to use the word for "many", which is sisisisi. When you learn number words in the next lesson, you'll learn that you can also use the exact number of things in place of sisisisi... and that sisisisi is itself a number!
It is believed that the Parseltongue for "I" and "you" is derived from English: my predecessor theorised that snakes did not start referring directly to themselves (or the people they were talking to) until they observed Parselmouths doing so in English. When snakes incorporated these concepts into Parseltongue, they simply took the sounds in English and approximated them as best they could in Parseltongue; just as you did for your own name back in the first lesson!
They ended up with the following: ai for "I" and ou for "you". Just like other si-words, they can start a sentence; the word order of the rest of the sentence does not change.
NOTE: Although snakes do not do this often, you can refer to someone by their name in Parseltongue; if so, the name takes the place of the si-word.
If you want to refer to more than one thing, the easiest way to do so is to use the word for "many", which is sisisisi. When you learn number words in the next lesson, you'll learn that you can also use the exact number of things in place of sisisisi... and that sisisisi is itself a number!
You - ou
I - ai Many - sisisisi |
Examples:
I am cold. Many rats are running. I cold am. Many rat run. Ai bana aʃe. Sisisisi kata akaʃe. Visli'un is a human. Visli'un human. Visli'un ʃen. (NOTE that in the last example, ʃen does not refer to a specific human, but to the general concept of being human; as such, it is used as a na-word instead of as an object! Therefore, it does NOT need a si-word before it.) |
Common Nouns
You have already discovered a few nouns in the second assignment; if you look more closely at the class forum, you will see other nouns that your classmates have discovered as well. There is no strict rule on what nouns look like except for the general guideline that nouns usually do not have identical endings to other parts of speech; this is why Parseltongue teachers simply consider them "nouns" (and do not classify them according to their endings). In particular, it is rare for a noun to end in si (like a demonstrative pronoun), ʃ (like an interrogative pronoun), na (like an adjective), ne (like an adverb), ra (like a colour), ʃe (like a present tense verb), or ʃa (like a future tense verb). Note, however, that "rare" does not mean "non-existent"!
To express Parseltongue nouns in plural, you simply place the number before the noun; if the noun in question is the subject of the sentence, the number is used in place of "this" or "that". You already saw one number in the last assignment (though you may not have realized it at the time); numbers will be covered in more depth in the next lesson. For the purposes of this lesson, you can simply use the word sisisisi, which means "many", in place of numbers (as long as there is more than one object in question).
Below is a list of a few basic nouns that express fundamental concepts. Notice that unlike ai and ou, none of them look like their English equivalent. This is because the concepts all existed in Parseltongue before Parselmouths started seriously interacting with snakes!
To express Parseltongue nouns in plural, you simply place the number before the noun; if the noun in question is the subject of the sentence, the number is used in place of "this" or "that". You already saw one number in the last assignment (though you may not have realized it at the time); numbers will be covered in more depth in the next lesson. For the purposes of this lesson, you can simply use the word sisisisi, which means "many", in place of numbers (as long as there is more than one object in question).
Below is a list of a few basic nouns that express fundamental concepts. Notice that unlike ai and ou, none of them look like their English equivalent. This is because the concepts all existed in Parseltongue before Parselmouths started seriously interacting with snakes!
Rat - kata
Bird - tuif Human - ʃen Owl - houk |
Wand - ʃik
Book - pard Clock - tikni Quill - gisan |
Sky - slan
Forest - riʃan Castle - vinth Path - fasar |
ʃe-words: Common Verbs
You can usually recognize verbs by their endings. For example, every verb in the language has a standard form ending in 'ʃe'. Verb endings in Parseltongue do NOT change to match their subject; the ending is ʃe regardless of whether the subject uses Tasi, Fasi, Ai, Ou, or a number that reflects plural! This is why verbs are considered "ʃe"-words in Parseltongue. A few basic verbs are given below.
Do - dorʃe
Be - aʃe
Have - einʃe
Walk - vaʃe
Run - akaʃe
Jump - dinʃe
Drop - kaʃe
Grab - runʃe
Drink - sloʃe
Eat - giʃe
Be - aʃe
Have - einʃe
Walk - vaʃe
Run - akaʃe
Jump - dinʃe
Drop - kaʃe
Grab - runʃe
Drink - sloʃe
Eat - giʃe
WARNING: Even though there is a form of 'be' in Parseltongue, it is only used to express properties that can change (much like the Spanish verb 'estar'). If expressing an inherent property that does not change, the sentence contains no verb!
EXAMPLES:
I am human. Ai ʃen.
I am cold. Ai bana aʃe.
NOTE that if a sentence either contains no verb (because 'to be' is implied) or has 'to be' as its verb, its object does not require a -si word! This is why the first example above is "Ai ʃen" and not "Ai fasi ʃen": otherwise, you'd be saying "I am that human" instead of "I am human".
EXAMPLES:
I am human. Ai ʃen.
I am cold. Ai bana aʃe.
NOTE that if a sentence either contains no verb (because 'to be' is implied) or has 'to be' as its verb, its object does not require a -si word! This is why the first example above is "Ai ʃen" and not "Ai fasi ʃen": otherwise, you'd be saying "I am that human" instead of "I am human".
Past/Present Tense
Traditionally, snakes did not need to distinguish events that are happening now from events that happened in the past. As such, Parseltongue verbs do not change to reflect the past tense. When Parselmouths needed to make it clear that an event has already happened, they normally use time words - like "earlier" (suu in Parseltongue) or "yesterday" (slu in Parseltongue) to reflect it. Over the years, snakes have picked up this habit as well! However, note that snakes do not use these words literally; they can use "yesterday" when they really mean "two days ago" or "earlier today" for example. It's something you have to intuit for yourself!
Time words are considered ne-words (adverbs); they therefore are positioned like adverbs in sentences (i.e. right after the verb). If a sentence has multiple ne-words, then the time words normally go last. There is only one exception: if you are using sa, ʃe, or ha as a ne-word, it goes last of all! |
Earlier - Suu
Yesterday - Slu |
EXAMPLE:
I might have dropped my book on the path earlier. (Original English)
I this book that path drop on earlier maybe. (Parseltongue glosses)
Ai tasi pard fasi fasar kaʃe sobne suu ha. (Parseltongue)
Here is a quick run-through of the word order used. Note that if the original English sentence has a subject, an object, and a prepositional phrase, the object takes the place of the subject - and the object of the prepositional phrase takes the place of the object!
Si-word: I (note that if "I", "you", or a name is used as a si-word, it is not attached to any subject, na-word, or ra-word).
Si-word: this. (the closest equivalent to 'my'; it modifies the word "book" and NOT the word "I"!)
Subject: book. (Note that 'book' would NOT be considered a subject in English!)
na-word: N/A (if a noun is modified by both a na-word and a ra-word, the na-word goes first!)
ra-word: N/A
Si-word: that.
Object: path.
na-word: N/A
ra-word: N/A
ʃe-word: drop. (Note that the basic form is used even though the sentence is in past tense!)
ne-word: on.
Time ne-word: earlier. (Note its position as the middle of three adverbs.)
Yes/No ne-word: maybe. (This is nearly always the last word in the sentence when used; if the speaker was certain they had dropped the book on the path, sa would take the place of ha here - and ʃe could reflect that the book was NOT dropped on the path.)
I might have dropped my book on the path earlier. (Original English)
I this book that path drop on earlier maybe. (Parseltongue glosses)
Ai tasi pard fasi fasar kaʃe sobne suu ha. (Parseltongue)
Here is a quick run-through of the word order used. Note that if the original English sentence has a subject, an object, and a prepositional phrase, the object takes the place of the subject - and the object of the prepositional phrase takes the place of the object!
Si-word: I (note that if "I", "you", or a name is used as a si-word, it is not attached to any subject, na-word, or ra-word).
Si-word: this. (the closest equivalent to 'my'; it modifies the word "book" and NOT the word "I"!)
Subject: book. (Note that 'book' would NOT be considered a subject in English!)
na-word: N/A (if a noun is modified by both a na-word and a ra-word, the na-word goes first!)
ra-word: N/A
Si-word: that.
Object: path.
na-word: N/A
ra-word: N/A
ʃe-word: drop. (Note that the basic form is used even though the sentence is in past tense!)
ne-word: on.
Time ne-word: earlier. (Note its position as the middle of three adverbs.)
Yes/No ne-word: maybe. (This is nearly always the last word in the sentence when used; if the speaker was certain they had dropped the book on the path, sa would take the place of ha here - and ʃe could reflect that the book was NOT dropped on the path.)
ʃa-words: Future Tense and Imperative Form
Although snakes have not traditionally needed to past from present, they always had a way to distinguish events that will happen from things that already happened. Traditionally, they use this form to give orders instead of to make predictions (although they have come to use the future tense for predictions after interacting with humans). You can express a verb in future tense by changing the ending from 'ʃe' to 'ʃa'; this form of the verb is then considered a ʃa-word.
EXAMPLE:
You will walk to the castle. (Original English)
You castle (will) walk to. (Parseltongue glosses)
Ou vinth vaʃa harne. (Parseltongue)
Note that if a sentence has only one object (including objects of prepositional phrases), the 'subject' means exactly what it does in English while the 'object' is simply the object of the preopositional phrase.
Si-word: You
Subject: You
Na-word: N/A
Ra-word: N/A
Object: castle (This would be "object of a prepositional phrase" in English)
Na-word: N/A
Ra-word: N/A
ʃe-word: (will) walk. (Note that the ending changed to reflect future tense!)
Ne-word: to.
You will walk to the castle. (Original English)
You castle (will) walk to. (Parseltongue glosses)
Ou vinth vaʃa harne. (Parseltongue)
Note that if a sentence has only one object (including objects of prepositional phrases), the 'subject' means exactly what it does in English while the 'object' is simply the object of the preopositional phrase.
Si-word: You
Subject: You
Na-word: N/A
Ra-word: N/A
Object: castle (This would be "object of a prepositional phrase" in English)
Na-word: N/A
Ra-word: N/A
ʃe-word: (will) walk. (Note that the ending changed to reflect future tense!)
Ne-word: to.
To help with word order: a mnemonic
As a reward for making it through such a tricky lesson, I'm going to teach you a mnemonic to help you remember the rules of Parseltongue word order! It is as follows (presented with dashes between syllables to guide your pronunciation):
Si-sub-na-ra si-ob-na-ra ʃe-ne-suu-sa (esh).
Think of it as follows:
si-word, subject, na-word, ra-word
si-word, object, na-word, ra-word
ʃe-word, ne-word, "word like suu", "word like sa", (ʃ-word) .
(note that suu is a time ne-word, so "word like suu" is a time ne-word; similarly, sa is a yes/no ne-word, so "word like sa" is a yes/no ne-word.)
And that last bit: if you're asking a question, the ʃ-word goes at the very end of the sentence! It appears as "esh" instead of ʃ for a clearer pronunciation.
Si-sub-na-ra si-ob-na-ra ʃe-ne-suu-sa (esh).
Think of it as follows:
si-word, subject, na-word, ra-word
si-word, object, na-word, ra-word
ʃe-word, ne-word, "word like suu", "word like sa", (ʃ-word) .
(note that suu is a time ne-word, so "word like suu" is a time ne-word; similarly, sa is a yes/no ne-word, so "word like sa" is a yes/no ne-word.)
And that last bit: if you're asking a question, the ʃ-word goes at the very end of the sentence! It appears as "esh" instead of ʃ for a clearer pronunciation.