Now that you know the basics of how words are pronounced and how sentences are performed in vocabulary, it's time to learn some vocabulary!
We will start with some words that would be considered "pronouns" in English and then move onto words that would be considered adjectives and adverbs in English. But also, we will learn the way Parseltongue grammar classifies words: a standard feature of Parseltongue grammar is you can usually tell the type of word it ends with by its ending.
We will start with some words that would be considered "pronouns" in English and then move onto words that would be considered adjectives and adverbs in English. But also, we will learn the way Parseltongue grammar classifies words: a standard feature of Parseltongue grammar is you can usually tell the type of word it ends with by its ending.
Si-words (roughly: demonstrative pronouns)
Sentences in Parseltongue usually start with one of two words: Tasi (which means "This") or Fasi (which means "That"). It should be stressed that there are no equivalents of the words "the", "a", or "an" in Parseltongue; snakes use Tasi or Fasi instead.
Tasi and Fasi are considered "si-words" in Parseltongue because they end in "-si". (NOTE: Tasi and Fasi are used for singular subjects only. You will learn about other "si-words", such as the number words, in later lessons.) |
This - Tasi
That - Fasi |
Esh-words (roughly: interrogative pronouns)
Often you'll want to ask questions in Parseltongue, such as if you want to learn something from our class snakes! As you can see to the right, many of the basic question words in English have direct equivalents in Parseltongue. However, Parseltongue places these words at the end of sentences instead of the beginning.
For example, the question "Who is that?" is glossed as "That who?" and therefore translates into Parseltongue as "Fasi haʃ?" Note that the basic question words end similarly to the Parseltongue word for 'question'; Parseltongue speakers will often refer to the question words as "ʃ-words" or "esh-words", analogous to "the 5 W's" of who/what/where/when/why in English. However, Kestnaʃ itself is NOT considered an "ʃ-word" but rather a noun. |
Who - Haʃ
What - Teʃ When - Fiʃ Why - Vuʃ Where - Doʃ How - Baʃ Question - Kestnaʃ |
Na-words and Ne-words (roughly: adjectives and adverbs)
'As you will probably recall from your primary school studies, adjectives and adverbs are used in slightly different ways in English. In particular, adjectives are used to modify nouns and pronouns and adverbs are used to modify other parts of speech. The same holds true in Parseltongue!
Most of the time, if you encounter a new word in Parseltongue, its ending can give you a good idea about what type of word it is. For example:
-Interrogative pronouns end in 'ʃ' and are called ʃ-words.
-The demonstrative pronouns end in 'si' and, along with numbers, are called si-words.
-Adjectives usually end in 'na' and are called na-words.
-Adverbs usually end in 'ne' and are called ne-words.
I should point out that you already know two adverbs from the last lesson (even though they are exceptions to the ending rule above). In particular, the words for 'yes' and 'no', sa and ʃe, can be used as adverbs. A third exception is the word for 'maybe', which is ha in Parseltongue. But then again, when your word is only two letters long, there isn't really room for a two letter ending! Note that sa, ʃe, and ha are ONLY considered ne-words when they are actually used as adverbs (as opposed to just answering questions)!
A few basic adjectives and adverbs, all of which follow the 'na'/'ne' ending, are below.
Most of the time, if you encounter a new word in Parseltongue, its ending can give you a good idea about what type of word it is. For example:
-Interrogative pronouns end in 'ʃ' and are called ʃ-words.
-The demonstrative pronouns end in 'si' and, along with numbers, are called si-words.
-Adjectives usually end in 'na' and are called na-words.
-Adverbs usually end in 'ne' and are called ne-words.
I should point out that you already know two adverbs from the last lesson (even though they are exceptions to the ending rule above). In particular, the words for 'yes' and 'no', sa and ʃe, can be used as adverbs. A third exception is the word for 'maybe', which is ha in Parseltongue. But then again, when your word is only two letters long, there isn't really room for a two letter ending! Note that sa, ʃe, and ha are ONLY considered ne-words when they are actually used as adverbs (as opposed to just answering questions)!
A few basic adjectives and adverbs, all of which follow the 'na'/'ne' ending, are below.
Adjectives:
Hot - Firna Cold - Bana Large - ʃena Small - Tina Fat - Gorna Thin - Peina Wet - Asuna Dry - Sarna |
Adverbs:
Slowly - Derne Quickly - ʃine On - Sobne Under - Athne Away - Sine Towards - Harne Quietly - ʃane Loudly - Kuine |
Switching the ending of a word between "na" and "ne" also changes its part of speech. For example: sarne is an adverb meaning "drily" (switching the "-na" in sarna to "-ne" serves the same function in Parseltongue as adding "-ly" to an adjective in English) and the adjective kuina can be used to describe a creature who is inherently loud.
Basic Parseltongue Sentences
Now that you know some pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs, you are ready to form a few sentences!
Normally, you would need a verb to form a sentence - and we haven't covered verbs yet. However, the verb "to be" is often implied in Parseltongue - so if that is the only verb your sentence would need in English, you would not need a verb in Parseltongue! Here are a few examples:
-"Why is this wet?" is glossed as "This wet why?" and therefore translates into Parseltongue as "Tasi asuna vuʃ?"
-"How quickly is that?" is glossed as "That quickly how?" or "Fasi ʃine baʃ?"
A few words about Tasi vs Fasi: while there are no hard and fast rules, you would normally use tasi (meaning "this") for something right in front of you - or something you are talking about. By contrast, fasi (meaning "that") would often refer to something further away: either due to distance or because it's not the current subject of discussion.
Normally, you would need a verb to form a sentence - and we haven't covered verbs yet. However, the verb "to be" is often implied in Parseltongue - so if that is the only verb your sentence would need in English, you would not need a verb in Parseltongue! Here are a few examples:
-"Why is this wet?" is glossed as "This wet why?" and therefore translates into Parseltongue as "Tasi asuna vuʃ?"
-"How quickly is that?" is glossed as "That quickly how?" or "Fasi ʃine baʃ?"
A few words about Tasi vs Fasi: while there are no hard and fast rules, you would normally use tasi (meaning "this") for something right in front of you - or something you are talking about. By contrast, fasi (meaning "that") would often refer to something further away: either due to distance or because it's not the current subject of discussion.
Ra-words (roughly: colours)
The Parseltongue word for "colour" is slehara. Note that it ends in
"-ra". Similarly, even though they are adjectives, the basic Parseltongue colour words also end in "-ra" (which makes them the most common exception to the "adjectives normally end in -na" rule); as such, Parseltongue speakers will often refer to colour-words as "ra-words". Just as with Kestnaʃ , though, slehara itself is considered a noun and not a ra-word. Some basic colour words can be found to your right! |
Colour - Slehara
Red - Ara Orange - Sora Yellow - Bira Green - Tira Blue - Vera Purple - Pura Black - Kura White - Ʃira Brown - Gara |