Abstract
The official definition of the artificial human language Ouxu, covering writing, pronunciation, word formation, grammar, meaning, and usage. This book plus the dictionary are the complete language definition.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Examples
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Ouxu is an artificial language designed to emphasize subtext. Compared to other artificial languages, Ouxu promotes expression of nuances of meaning through word order, word choice, and word construction. The syntax is designed to allow many different ways to express the same idea, and each different way suggests slightly different feelings or inferences.
It may be good for literature. Anyway, it seemed like a fun idea!
Ouxu is:
Simple in spelling and pronunciation, with few sounds compared to English.
Poetic in sound—at least according to my taste.
Fairly free in word order.
Noun-based. The vocabulary consists of nouns and affixes, plus a modest number of particles. Relations that other languages draw using verbs are drawn instead using a system of inflections that act sort of like case markers.
Industrial strength, usable for any language purpose (provided you're good at making up compound words). The grammar and vocabulary cover everything needed. The dictionary is available in human-readable and machine-readable formats.
Slightly large for an artificial language, with 1612 dictionary entries.
Original in its vocabulary. The word meanings were chosen after semantic analysis from scratch, rather than drawn from word lists of other languages, so the distinctions drawn do not correspond to those of any other published language. The word forms were selected by an optimization program that trades off simplicity versus distinctness.
In linguistic terms, Ouxu can be described as:
Agglutinative, with compounding and derivational and inflectional suffixes. Most words are inflected.
Left-branching in the morphology and grammar. Although there are no verbs as such, if there were then the underlying basic word order would be SOV (subject-object-verb).
In my mind, Ouxu is the opposite of another language of mine, an unfinished one that belongs to the logical language family. The design goals as well as the basic word order and other linguistic choices are all opposite. To me, logical languages feel strict and awkward because of their precision; Ouxu is designed to feel loose and comfortable.
In this book I make up technical senses for a lot of words. Some of them are already technical words from linguistics, and I am using them differently. Sorry, I hope it's not too confusing!
Example 1.1. Six Sentences
Xutxu puhanxe pa. Blue+part ink+whole belief.
Xutxu pa puhanxe. Blue+part belief ink+whole.
Pa xutxu puhanxe. Belief blue+part ink+whole.
Puhanxe xutxu pa. Ink+whole blue+part belief.
Puhanxe pa xutxu. Ink+whole belief blue+part.
Pa puhanxe xutxu. Belief ink+whole blue+part.
These six sentences can all be translated as "The ink is blue." Of course, they don't all mean exactly the same thing. Let's take it one step at a time.
Xutxu and puhanxe are inflected nouns. Each starts with a root which carries the meaning and ends with a suffix, the inflection, which gives the word's role in the sentence. Here, the roles are "part", in this case the aspect of being blue, and the "whole", in this case is the object, the ink, which has the aspect.
Pa is a topic divider. Words to the left of the divider are the "topic" and give information which the listener is expected to already know. Words to the right of the divider are new information. For example, if you think the listener has seen something blue and doesn't know what it is, then blue is in the topic and is to the left of the divider while the new information, that the blue is ink, is to the right. It's the opposite if you believe that the listener knows about the ink but doesn't yet know its color.
Since words are marked with suffixes for their roles in the sentence, as long as you respect the divider, you can put the words into any order. The rule is that whatever is most important or most salient goes last. If xutxu and puhanxe are on the same side of the divider, then xutxu second means that you're emphasizing the ink, while puhanxe second means that you're emphasizing the color.
Here I've tried to translate the six sentences in a way that captures some of the nuances. As always when translating between languages, the meanings don't correspond exactly—none of the translations is truly accurate. All of the sentences can be translated as "The ink is blue."
Table 1.2. Translating the Six
| Xutxu puhanxe pa. | The ink is blue (as you know). |
| Xutxu pa puhanxe. | The blue color is ink. |
| Pa xutxu puhanxe. | There was blue ink. |
| Puhanxe xutxu pa. | Blue is the color of the ink (as you know). |
| Puhanxe pa xutxu. | Blue is the color of the ink. |
| Pa puhanxe xutxu. | There was ink that was blue. |
Example 1.2. Six More Sentences
Puhana xuta pa. Ink+same blue+same belief.
Puhana pa xuta. Ink+same belief blue+same.
Pa puhana xuta. Belief ink+same blue+same.
Puhana xuta pa. Blue+same ink+same belief.
Xuta pa puhana. Blue+same belief ink+same.
Pa xuta puhana. Belief blue+same ink+same.
These six sentences can also all be translated as "The ink is blue." You can see that the word orders are the same as in the first six sentences, but the suffixes are different. Two or more words with the suffix -a all describe the same thing, so the sentences are saying that something exists to which the terms "blue" and "ink" both apply.
The contrast should be suggestive: Instead of distinguishing the object from its property and treating the two differently, these sentences conflate the object and property. Neither is privileged by its grammatical role, only by the word order.
Here are some other ways to say "The ink is blue." All these are completely natural; none of them are made up just to add more.
Table 1.4. Even More Blue Ink
| Pa xutso puhanpe. | Belief blue+attribute ink+exist. | There is blue ink. |
| Pa puhanso xutpe. | Belief ink+attribute blue+exist. | The blue is ink. |
| Puhana ohe xuta. | Ink+same realis blue+same. | The ink is blue (it really is). |
| Xutpuhanpe. | Blue+ink+exist. | There is blue ink. (using a compound word) |
Ouxu is of course not restricted to simple sentences. Can you imagine how many ways there are to say something complicated?
Example 1.3. A Slightly Longer Sentence
Agliluleoet ili ofta tanenaun heihfa. Confident+too-much+only+cause immediate i+agent goal+not+change-to clause+very-very+event. Overconfidence is the only thing that keeps me from giving up completely. (From the Daily Whale, 13 March 2002.)
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This chapter explains the basic sound units, the phonemes, of Ouxu, and their basic combinations, the syllables. For pronunciation of word stress, see Stress.
Examples are from American English except where noted.
A syllable in Ouxu in general has the form CVC. The vowel is required, but the initial and final consonants are both optional. Thus the possible forms are V, CV, VC, and CVC.
By leaving out consonants, any number of vowels can appear in a row in a word. The language is deliberately vowel-heavy. A sequence of two consonants can appear only in the middle of a word, never at the beginning or end. Because the consonants belong to different syllables, they should never be difficult to pronounce.
Table 2.1. The Vowels
| a | central low vowel "ah" (unrounded) | "bother" |
| e | front lower mid vowel "eh" (unrounded) | "better" |
| i | front high vowel "ee" (unrounded) | "beetle" |
| o | back lower-mid vowel "oh" (rounded) | "bowl" |
| u | back high vowel "oo" (rounded) | "boot" |
When pronouncing a single vowel, separated by consonants or word boundaries from any other vowels, your pronunciation should be pure and constant. English vowels often have glides. For example, Ouxu "o" is not pronounced with a "w" sound at the end.
In a sequence of vowels, each vowel is a separate syllable. When two or more different vowels appear in a row, pronounce each one separately with a smooth glide between them. When two or more of the same vowel appear in a row, pronounce them as a single long vowel, about twice the duration of a normal vowel.
Sequences of vowels are common. The vocabulary is deliberately vowel-heavy. It's possible to construct long words that consist entirely of vowels, such as uieouauua, which means "in order to promise only rain". I like it that way.
No triple vowels occur in the dictionary. (The program that made up the word forms actually included one, taaa- for "bored", but I edited it by hand to taa-.) But triple vowels can occur in compound words, including inflected words.
You can't tell from the sound of a long vowel how many written vowels it may correspond to. "Ooo" sounds the same as "oo". That's OK. Unambiguity is not a design goal. In practice, confusion is rare.
Ouxu has eleven consonants. Eight of them are "series" consonants, which form stop/fricative pairs at four places of articulation. The other three are "exceptional" consonants.
Table 2.3. Consonants
| p | bilabial stop | "p" |
| f | bilabial fricative | similar to "f" |
| t | alveolar stop | "t" |
| s | alveolar sibilant | "s" |
| c | palatal stop | similar to "ch" |
| x | palatal sibilant | a little bit like "sh" |
| k | velar stop | "k" |
| g | velar fricative | "g" |
| h | velar fricative | "h" |
| n | alveolar nasal | "n" |
| l | alveolar liquid | "l" |
"P" is the same as in English. "F" does not occur in English; it is produced by holding the lips together evenly (not pursed) and blowing through them.
"T" and "s" are the same as in English.
"C" and "x" do not occur in English. They are produced with the tongue against the roof of the mouth. "C" is softer than English "ch", and "x" is sharper than English "sh".
"K" is as in English. "G" is the sound of "ch" in German or in the word "Loch". It is sometimes written "kh". "G" is a much lower sound than "x"; it should be easy to tell the difference.
"H" is the same as in English, light and breathy rather than rough as in some languages. There should be no chance of confusing "h" with "g", which is a rougher sound. Be careful to always prounounce "h", even at the end of a syllable. "Bah" has an "h" sound at the end, unlike "ba". ("H" at the end of a syllable is also pronounced in Malay-Indonesian. It's nothing strange.)
"L" and "n" are the same as in English, but see below.
Consonants are pronounced differently depending on their environment in the word. The rules may sound a little complicated, but they're natural and easy to follow in practice.
A series consonant (pftscxkg) appearing at the beginning or end of a word is unvoiced. If it appears between vowels in the middle of a word, it is voiced.
An exceptional consonant does not change its voicing. "H" is never voiced. "N" and "l" are always voiced.
When two series consonants are brought together in the middle of a word, they are unvoiced. When a series consonant is brought together with an exceptional consonant, the series consonant takes on the voicing of the exceptional consonant.
Example 2.2. Clustered Consonants
okto "okto"
otto "oto"
olko "olgo"
ohko "oh-ko" (pronounce the "h")
"N" may change its place of articulation if it is immediately followed by a series consonant. In "np" or "nf" it is pronounced "m"; in "nc" or "nx" it is pronounced as a palatal nasal; in "nk" and "ng" it is pronounced like English "ng".
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This chapter explains the morphology of Ouxu words. It briefly goes over parts of speech that are explained more thoroughly in the grammar chapter, and also covers pronunciation of stress in a word. It discusses borrowing words from other languages.
There are only two basic parts of speech (though they have subkinds). Every complete word is either a particle or a content word.
A particle is a word in itself, and has its own dictionary entry. There are several kinds of particle, each of which is written into the grammar as a special case. See Grammar and Meaning.
A content word is made up of parts. It starts with a root. It may continue with further roots and derivational suffixes, which change the meaning. It always ends with one inflectional suffix which indicates its functional role in the sentence. This is explained in detail in Grammar and Meaning. See Derivational Suffixes, Compound Words, Inflections.
Dictionary entries are marked with hyphens to show whether they are particles, roots, derivational suffixes, or inflectional suffixes.
Table 3.1. Hyphens in Dictionary Entries
| particle | a word in itself |
| root- | starts a content word |
| -derivational- | after the root, before the inflectional suffix |
| -inflectional | ends a content word |
For a sense of scale, the Ouxu dictionary has 52 particles, 1384 roots, 137 derivational suffixes and 39 inflectional suffixes, for a total of 1612 entries.
A particle is stressed on its last syllable.
A content word takes primary stress on the last syllable of its last root. The last syllable of every root and every derivational suffix takes secondary stress. Other syllables are slack, including the inflectional suffix. This means that there may be a whole sequence of secondary stresses in a row.
Languages vary in their contrast between stressed and unstressed syllables. Ouxu has "weak" stress, that is, relatively little contrast between a stressed and an unstressed syllable. An unstressed syllable should be pronounced clearly; the vowel is never reduced. A secondary or primary stress should be given just enough emphasis that it can be clearly distinguished in good conditions when you're listening for it.
Example 3.1. Stress
agliluleoet (agli+lul+eo+et) agLILULeOet confident+too-much+only+cause (overconfidence is the only thing that...)
Ofta ouxuepu. OFta ouXUepu. I can speak Ouxu.
Some Ouxu words in the dictionary were created by borrowing from other languages, keeping the original pronunciation as closely as possible (which is not always very close).
Example 3.2. Some Loan Roots
| kika- | giga-, international standard prefix for 1,000,000,000 |
| nittel- | meter, unit of distance |
| enlix- | English, of or pertaining to England, the English people or language |
I won't suggest a long set of rules for transliterating into Ouxu, because usually it's pretty obvious what will work. "N" is the only substitute for any nasal, "r" must change into "l", double some consonants to make them unvoiced, and so on.
When should you borrow a word? Rarely. Unless you are going to use a concept frequently, it is better to refer to it with a phrase, or to just use the foreign word. If you can make a compound word that covers the meaning you want, the compound is usually preferable. In many cases there is no advantage to translating a foreign concept closely; all you need is a meaning that gets your idea across.
Good candidates for borrowing are cultural words for things like religions, ethnicities, foods, and other highly specific ideas that are difficult to translate, and some technical terms, especially terms that are international standards or that have already entered use in a wide range of languages.
Besides loan words (see the previous section, Loan Words), foreign words can be used directly in Ouxu text as roots (see Parts of Speech).
Roots are always inflected (see Inflections). To distinguish a foreign word used as a root from a native Ouxu word, mark it off with hyphens from any preceding and following elements of the word.
Example 3.3. Albuquerque
albuquerque-he albuquerque+place at Albuquerque
cifafhocacag-albuquerque-he left+bend+trajectory+albuquerque+place a left turn at Albuquerque
Some small groups of two, three, or five closely-related words are given matching forms, to make the words easier to learn. Within a word group, all words have the same consonants and the vowels vary systematically.
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A typical simple sentence might look like this: "I give you the book."
Example 4.1. A Simple Sentence
Utkeae pa ofta atihe. Book+experiencer belief I+agent you+beneficiary. I give you the book.
Table 4.1. The Word Parts
| utke- | book |
| -ae | (experiencer) |
| pa | (topic divider) |
| of- | I |
| -ta | (agent) |
| at- | you |
| -ihe | (beneficiary) |
The roots translated as "book", "I", and "you" are easy enough. The inflections are trickier. -Ta marks the agent, who takes action. -Ae marks the "experiencer" of the action, the book, and -ihe the beneficiary who receives it. See Inflections. Pa is the divider which separates elements the listener is thought to already be familiar with from new elements. See The Divider.
Strictly speaking, the meaning of the example is closer to "I did something for your benefit involving the book." Maybe I let you read it, or sold it to pay for your lunch, or burned it to keep you warm. Giving the book is only the most likely interpretation; context will be your only hint if something else is intended. Sentences in natural languages, if you look at them literally, are often vague in exactly this way. If you want to be more specific, both natural languages and Ouxu have their ways.
The inflectional suffixes are of two kinds, coordinating and subordinating. Coordinating inflections mark the main elements of the sentence. Subordinating inflections are like adjectives and adverbs: They mark modifiers.
Coordinating inflections mark top-level sentence roles like the agent who takes action, the "experiencer" of a change, the place and time, and so on. These roles do not correspond in any simple way to familiar roles like subject and object, because they are determined by semantics rather than by the definition of a verb.
Because the roles are marked by inflections, words with coordinating inflections can be put into any order, as long as you respect the divider.
The inflections can tell you whether the sentence is agentive and whether it is eventive or descriptive. (And you can also specify other -ive properties that linguists care about.) The content vocabulary is not burdened with words for, for example, separate agentive and non-agentive actions.
There are three kinds of coordinating inflections, agentive, eventive, and descriptive.
Table 4.2. Agentive Coordinating Inflections
| -ta | -agent | agent who takes deliberate action |
| -ha | -action | the agent's action |
| -epu | -instrument | used by the agent in the action |
| -ua | -goal | agent's goal for the action |
| -aoa | -avoid | negative goal of the agent of the sentence |
An agent is anything that has a goal and takes actions to achieve it. If the sun is trying to make you take your coat off, it is an agent.
Using any agentive inflection implies that there is an agent who takes an action in pursuit of a goal. Neither the agent, the action, nor the goal need be mentioned; anything that is obvious or unimportant can be freely left out. In fact, a sentence can be agentive without using any agentive inflection, though it's probably rare.
Example 4.2. Agentive Sentences
Ofta pa epuua. I+agent belief market+goal. I went to the store.
Ofta pa usluepu epuua. I+agent belief car+instrument market+goal. I drove to the store.
Ofta pa ofepu epuua. I+agent belief I+instrument market+goal. I walked to the store.
Ofta pa hofheha epuua. I+agent belief fly+action market+goal. I flew to the store.
Ofta ouxuepu. I+agent Ouxu+instrument. I can speak Ouxu.
All inflections are vague, which makes them flexible. The store can be a goal because it is a destination. More generally, a situation can also be a goal; to express that, see Clauses.
Table 4.3. Eventive Coordinating Inflections
| -fa | -event | the event of the sentence |
| -et | -cause | any cause of the event of the sentence |
| -ae | -experiencer | something affected by the event of the sentence |
| -au | -change-from | from the starting situation |
| -un | -change-to | a result |
| -pu | -change-by | amount or degree of change |
| -apa | -change-in | thing changed |
| -kap | -move | a moving object |
| -ia | -direction | direction moved in, trajectory moved through |
An eventive inflection describes an event, which is to say, a change. An eventive sentence notionally describes only one event, though it may be a complex or multi-part event: "Ideas occurred to both of us" is one event. If you use more than one eventive inflection in a clause, they describe the same event.
Example 4.3. Eventive Sentences
Taehuae pa colupfa. Chalk+experiencer belief fracture+event. The chalk broke.
Xeussutun pa atae ofae. Concept+example-of+change-to belief you+experiencer I+experiencer. Ideas occurred to both of us.
Every agentive sentence is also eventive, because the agent's action -ha is also an event -fa. Using an agentive inflection suggests that the event of the sentence is the agent's action, but sometimes it might be some other event instead—perhaps a cause or result of the agent's action. Here are two sentences in which the agentive action is separate from the event.
Example 4.4. Independently Agentive and Eventive
Atta ofet epuua pa ofkap. You+agent I+cause market+goal belief I+move. You had me go to the store. (I can be the cause because I moved myself; you are the agent because it was your goal. You could also be the cause because you ultimately decided, but the meaning would be less clear.)
Atta ofet epuua pa atkap. You+agent I+cause market+goal belief you+move. You had me take you to the store. (I can be the cause because I moved you.)
Whether a sentence should be agentive or eventive can be a matter of point of view. If you suppose that rain just happens, you'll use an eventive sentence. If you suppose that Blinky the Rain God makes it rain, or that cloud seeding has occurred, then you might choose an agentive sentence.
Example 4.5. Agentive vs. Eventive
Uifa. Rain+event. It's raining (that happens sometimes).
Uiha. Rain+action. It's raining (because somebody decided it should).
-Un is the result of the action or event. For a failed action, you can say liospu (nothing+change-by) or liosapa (nothing+change-in), with slightly different meanings.
-Kap (-move) is more specific than -apa (-change-in). Both mention the thing changing, but -kap is for physical movement specifically.
Table 4.4. Descriptive Coordinating Inflections
| -peha | -vocative | identify the addressee |
| -he | -place | place described, place of the action or event |
| -hu | -time | time described, time of the action or event |
| -haa | -viewpoint | according to a person or a criterion |
| -pe | -exist | something that exists or is the case |
| -pie | -aside | a parenthetical remark, an aside |
| -xu | -part | a part or aspect |
| -xe | -whole | a whole |
| -a | -same | two or more that are the same |
| -tit | -equal | two or more that are equivalent |
| -tut | -not-equal | two or more that are not equivalent |
| -ihe | -beneficiary | a beneficiary of the situation, event, or action |
A descriptive inflection is the only kind that can appear in a descriptive sentence, a sentence which conveys information about a static situation. Descriptive inflections can be also used in agentive or eventive sentences (just as an eventive inflection can be used in a agentive sentence).
-Peha is for identifying, invoking, or calling out to your audience.
Example 4.6. Vocative
Blinky-peha uiha he! Blinky+vocative rain+action command! O Blinky, make it rain!
-Haa is a tricky one. It identifies a viewpoint from which or a criterion under which the sentence holds. It might be a person whose opinion the sentence expresses, or a device or a way of measuring under which the sentence is true, or an actual viewpoint so that the sentence holds if you are standing there.
Example 4.7. Viewpoints
Pa xatxu ofhaa. Belief green+part I+viewpoint. It looks green to me.
Pa nifa kuteholiogpahaa. Belief north+same direction+measurement+device+viewpoint. The compass says it's to the north.
-Pe if used of an object means that the object exists. If used of a fact (see Clauses to express facts so that they can be inflected), it means that the fact holds.
-Xu and -xe are meant to be used together. -Xu is either a physical part or an aspect of the whole -xe. With this you can express "apples are red" and "apples have stems".
There is no requirement that -xu and -xe both appear if either does. Each one's appearance implies the other's existence, but the other may be left unexpressed. No content word that is obvious or insignificant ever has to be included.
-A is meant to be used more than once in a sentence. Any words inflected with -a are different ways of referring to the same thing (whether an object or an idea). With this, you can express "apples are red" by equating red and apple. If only one -a appears in the sentence, it has no formal meaning, which can also be useful.
-Tit and -tut are also meant to be used more than once each in a sentence. -Tit identifies two or more things as equivalent or interchangeable for some purpose (perhaps they are as good as each other). -Tut is the opposite; it identifies things which can't be interchanged.
Example 4.8. Not Interchangeable
1sifegtut liatut! 1+alkane+not-equal air+not-equal! Natural gas is not air!
-Ihe identifies somebody (some agent) who benefits from the situation or event of the sentence. If the sentence is agentive, it may be somebody who is intended to benefit, rather than somebody who actually does. It's similar to the English preposition "for".
Example 4.9. Beneficiaries
Ofta pa Rosebud-ihe. I+agent belief Rosebud+beneficiary. I did it for Rosebud.
Some coordinating inflections are designed to appear more than once in a sentence. Any of the others can also be repeated in a sentence. The meaning of doing so is usually pretty obvious. If more than one word is inflected -ta (-agent), then the event of the sentence was caused by more than one agent, and so on.
You can get a similar effect with the subordinating inflection -ko (-and), explained below. But repeating the inflection allows more freedom, because you can control shades of meaning by changing the word order.
Example 4.10. Repeating an Inflection
Pa ofxu Smith-xu ifsanxe. Belief I+part Smith+part team+whole. I worked together with Smith. (I was part of a team with Smith.)
Ofxu ifsanxe pa Smith-xu. I+part team+whole belief Smith+part. Not only I but also Smith was on the team.
A subordinating inflection makes the word into a modifier which modifies the following word—the subordinate becomes an adjective or adverb. The modified word is called the "head". All subordinating inflections have "o" as the final vowel, and no coordinating inflection does.
A word with a subordinating inflection goes right before its head. It cannot be moved around freely.
Table 4.5. Subordinating Inflections
| -so | -attribute | attribute, property, quality of the head |
| -lo | -of | association with the head |
| -seo | -have | control over the head |
| -xot | -label | arbitrary label of the head |
| -luo | -measure | measure of the head |
| -paso | -times | multiply units of measure |
| -oho | -per | divide units of measure |
| -ko | -and | (logical) and |
| -pon | -or | (logical) or |
| -hon | -then | and then, in some sequential order |
| -hito | -except | and not, except for this one |
-So and -lo are similar to -xu (-part), except that they are subordinating inflections. -So is more specific, only for attributes. -Lo is more general, for any association between the subordinate and its head.
Example 4.11. Attributes and Associations
Pa atlo pataupe. Belief you+of friend+exist. You have a friend.
Ofxe pa xatso axoflo hioxu. I+whole belief green+attribute egg+of liking+part. I like green eggs.
Pa xatso axoflo hioso ofa. Belief green+attribute egg+of liking+attribute I+same. I like green eggs.
-Seo says that the subordinate has some form of control over the head, such as owning it or holding it in the hand. This covers many uses of the English possessive "'s" and some uses of the word "have".
Example 4.12. Having Control
Ofseo honfaa pa luhia. I+have chair+same belief cart+same. My chair rolls.
-Xot lets you attach an arbitrary label to the head. The label may be meaningful, but it doesn't have to be.
Example 4.13. Labels
Higixot haxocafcixe pa cifxu. Female+label excrete+room+whole belief left+part. Thw women's room is on the left.
Pa 107xot afcia. Belief 107+label room+same. It is room 107.
-Luo, -paso and -oho are for units of measurement, or for things which are being used as units such as steps of distance or cars full of people.
-Luo says that the subordinate is some measure of the head—a count, the degree to which it is the case, or any other measure. It is similar to -so but more specific. -Paso multiplies units, for example to get square meters. -Oho divides units, for example to get meters per second.
Example 4.14. Measurements
Hohe pa 3luo xufxope. It+place belief 3+measure planet+exist. There are three planets there.
Pa 3nekanittelluo xufxohiga. Belief 3+mega+meter+measure planet+this+same. This planet is 3,000 kilometers across.
Pa 3nittelpaso nittelluo pefiaa. Belief 3+meter+times meter+measure island+same. The island has an area of three square meters.
Pa sekkontaoho 3luo hoa. Belief second+per 3+measure it+same. It repeats three times per second.
Pa sekkontaoho 3nittelluo hokap. Belief second+per 3+meter+measure it+move. It moves at three meters per second.
The remaining subordinating inflections act something like conjunctions, creating lists. The most useful is -ko, meaning that the subordinate and the head both hold.
Example 4.15. Using -ko
Pa kesucogko ikesocugpoa ep. Belief happy+measure+and sad+measure+opposite+same not. Sadness is not the opposite of happiness.
-Pon means that either the subordinate or the head holds. If used in a longer list, at least one of the listed items holds. -Hon is for sequences or lists. The items are in some sequential order.
Example 4.16. Using -pon and -hon
Pa litpon lutpon feefa aukahuifpu aiupupofa. Belief increasing+or decreasing+or constant+event currency+cost+change-by special-case+opposite+event. It is normal for prices to either rise, fall, or remain the same.
Laipiepu pa lutafohon litlankafa. Bank+market+cost belief decreasing+still+then increasing+again+event. Financial markets will continue to fall before they rise again.
-Hito is for something which does not hold. It can mean "and not" or "except".
Example 4.17. Using -hito
Upui hohighito taepaxu tatoixe. Generic it+this+except metal+part rail+whole. All the bars are metal, except this one.
Ofae sofa i Jane-hito atet. I+experiencer romantic-love+event attraction Jane+except you+cause. I love you and not Jane.
The last example is an eventive sentence. Strictly speaking, it means "I fell in love with you, not Jane." It's a normal eventive sentence in Ouxu, and it's correct because the love was not always there. It doesn't matter that the corresponding English sentence is descriptive, it matters whether it fits the situation.
The special suffix -o can be added only after a coordinating inflection, converting it to a subordinating inflection. The meaning of the subordinated inflection changes slightly so that it makes sense as a subordinating inflection.
Table 4.6. Subordinated Coordinating Inflections
| -tao | -agent+subordinate | an agent associated with the head |
| -hao | -action+subordinate | an action associated with the head |
| -epuo | -instrument+subordinate | an instrument associated with the head |
| -uao | -goal+subordinate | a goal or purpose associated with the head |
| -aoao | -avoid+subordinate | a negative goal associated with the head |
| -fao | -event+subordinate | an event associated with the head |
| -eto | -cause+subordinate | a cause of the head |
| -aeo | -experiencer+subordinate | experiencer of the event of the head |
| -auo | -change-from+subordinate | change from the subordinate to the head |
| -uno | -change-to+subordinate | change from the head to the subordinate |
| -puo | -change-by+subordinate | the head changes by the amount of the subordinate |
| -apao | -change-in+subordinate | the subordinate changes in the event of the head |
| -kapo | -move+subordinate | the subordinate moves in the event of the head |
| -iao | -direction+subordinate | direction or trajectory of the head |
| -pehao | -vocative+subordinate | calling out to the subordinate with reference to the head |
| -heo | -place+subordinate | place of the head |
| -huo | -time+subordinate | time of the head |
| -haao | -viewpoint+subordinate | viewpoint from which the head is true |
| -peo | -exist+subordinate | something that exists related to the head |
| -pieo | -aside+subordinate | an aside related to the head |
| -xuo | -part+subordinate | a part or aspect of the head |
| -xeo | -whole+subordinate | a whole of which the head is a part |
| -ao | -same+subordinate | the same as the head |
| -tito | -equal+subordinate | equivalent to the head |
| -tuto | -not-equal+subordinate | not equivalent to the head |
| -iheo | -beneficiary+subordinate | a beneficiary of the head |
Example 4.18. Using the Subordinator
Athaao oftao ouha pa Jane-ta. You+viewpoint+subordinate I+agent+subordinate move+action belief Jane+agent. You think I'm moving it, but really Jane is.
More than one subordinate can be attached to the same head, just as a noun in English can be modified by more than one adjective.
If the different subordinates are using the same inflection, this is best done using the descriptive coordinating inflection -ko, meaning "and". The subordinates joined with -ko merge together with the head to form a single grammatical unit.
Example 4.19. Stringing Together Subordinates with -ko
Huxonlagetsatetxe pa xitko xatko xutxu. Image+quantum+plural+whole belief red+and green+and blue+part. The pixels are red, green, and blue.
If the different subordinates are using different inflections, then -ko doesn't do the trick. Instead, use the special suffix -i, which can be added only after a subordinating inflection (including one made by the subordinator -o).
Example 4.20. Stringing Together Subordinates with -i
Pa 4ilaii elouhighe sokofa. Belief 4+time+also boundary+this+place crime+event. The crime occurred at 4, at that edge.
You may be used to thinking that nouns and verbs are different kinds of words with different kinds of meanings. In Ouxu, with only one part of speech for content words, the same root given different endings may take on roles corresponding to a noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb, the object of various prepositions, and so on. The root's range of meaning is that wide; the inflection narrows it down.
In the dictionary definitions, most Ouxu words are defined in terms of English nouns or adjectives. Some are defined in terms of English verbs. The parts of speech used in the English definitions only reflect English usage; any Ouxu word can be used with any inflection.
Example 4.21. Blue Endings
Xutta. Blue+agent. The blue one did it (brought it about). (Perhaps Dr. Manhattan, or an Indian god, or somebody wearing a blue uniform.)
Xutet. Blue+cause. The blue one did it (caused it). (Probably a blue object.)
Xutae. Blue+experiencer. It was done to the blue one.
Xutihe. Blue+beneficiary. It was done for the blue one.
Xutha.
Blue+action.
It was made blue ("blued"). (Or: Something blue was made.)
Xutun. Blue+change-to. It turned blue.
Xutau. Blue+change-from. It used to be blue.
Xutpe. Blue+exist. It's blue. (Or: There is blue. Or: There is a blue one.)
Xuthu. Blue+time. It was during the blue time. (Perhaps the blue hours of evening, or Picasso's Blue Period.)
Xuthe. Blue+place. It was in the blue place.
You wouldn't ordinarily say xutfa (blue+event) to mean "it turned blue", because xutun is more specific. But if you wanted to, you could.
In a sentence of Ouxu, most of the words are can be called nouns. A typical sentence looks like this:
noun noun ... divider noun noun ....
In other words, any number of leading nouns (zero or more), a divider, then any number of trailing nouns (zero or more). (But a lone divider as a sentence in itself makes no sense.) Those before the divider are the "topic", which means information that the listener is believed or assumed to already have a referent for. Those after the divider are new information.
A story might begin, "A woodcutter lived in the forest. One day, the woodcutter set out as usual, early in the morning." In the first sentence, the woodcutter is new information (that's why English says "a woodcutter"). In the second sentence, the referent has been established (now it's "the woodcutter").
Example 4.22. Woodcutter
Pa sioiluia uesa hehe sioitaluffuaape. Belief tree+group+same home+same clause+place tree+cut+person+exist. A woodcutter lived in the forest.
Sioitaluffuaata pa kolehu akosxonpinlihu uesgunpinlikap. Tree+cut+person+agent belief day+indefinite+time early+morning+typical+time home+away+typical+move. One day, the woodcutter set out as usual, early in the morning.
When you're talking, your listener has a mental model of what the conversation is about. And you, the speaker, have a model of what your listener's model is. When your model says that the listener's model includes item X, then X is part of the topic. It doesn't matter how they got to know about X; you mentioned it, or it's plainly visible, or it was already familiar, or they figured it out—no matter where it came from, it's in the topic.
Example 4.23. Topic Examples
Pa uipe. Belief rain+exist. (In a long distance phone call.) It's raining (here).
Uipe pa. Rain+exist belief. (In a face-to-face conversation.) It's raining.
Tenta ligonsatetae pa hoketaun.
They+agent beam+plural+experiencer belief it+overlapping+change-to.
(In Ghostbusters, after "they" and "the beams" have come up.) They crossed the beams.
By using the divider, you are conveying an impression of your model of the other's model of the situation. Nothing forces you to be honest. Often you'll find that a word can reasonably fall on either side of the divider. There is always a difference in meaning between the choices. Other things being equal, new information is emphasized over old information. The emphasis effect of moving a word across the divider is normally stronger than the effect of moving it later in the sentence without crossing the divider.
You can choose different words for the divider, with different meanings. See Choosing the Divider. In this section, I stick to pa, the plainest divider, which means only that the speaker believes what they're saying.
It is also possible to leave the divider out of the sentence. In that case, all the nouns belong to the topic; the sentence may direct attention but it doesn't say anything new. The meaning is similar to "as you can see."
Example 4.24. Omitting the Divider
Uipe. Rain+exist. It's raining (as you can see).
Xitso hanxuae talufha uglaoaoa. Red+attribute wire+experiencer cut+action explosion+avoid. Cutting the red wire (like this) prevents the explosion.
A concept of topic is common across many natural languages—maybe all of them. In some, like Korean, it is grammaticalized, as it is in Ouxu. But Ouxu's concept of topic is not the same as a natural language topic, because it includes all old information, rather than one item that is being focused on.
There are seventeen divider words. The meanings of the dividers are quite vague. In almost all situations you have a choice of more than one, with different connotations.
In a longer text or utterance, the dividers add pervading texture. The speaker is constantly forced to choose what aspect to emphasize in each sentence, and over paragraphs and chapters the shifting choice of dividers can convey subtle meanings.
Table 4.7. Emotional Dividers
| i | attraction | liking, love, admiration, respect, awe, triumph |
| u | aversion | anger, disliking, embarrassment, irritation, disgust |
| gi | joy | happiness, comfort, content, fun |
| gu | sorrow | sadness, grief, regret, pity |
| pi | desire | wanting, wishing, hope, faith |
| pu | fear | nervousness, worry, terror |
The emotional dividers tell about the speaker's emotional response to the sentence, or to something salient mentioned in the sentence. It may sometimes be ambiguous what the speaker's emotion applies to—that possibility adds richness. The emotional dividers group into three pairs, attraction/aversion, joy/sorrow, and desire/fear.
I puts more attention on the object of liking; gi more on the feeling itself. Gu is for sad feelings of loss or lost opportunity, including feelings about somebody else's loss. U fits all reasons other than fear for avoidance. Pu ranges from the mildest worry about a remote risk to abject terror.
There's no divider for humor. Jokes and irony have to stand on their own.
Table 4.8. Belief Dividers
| pa | belief | personal belief |
| ili | immediate | current observation or recent memory—always reliable |
| soa | unreliable | poorly remembered, poorly perceived, or apparently unlikely |
| esa | inference | apparently, it looks as if, I realized that |
| sai | cultural | "people say", cultural or in-group belief, proverb |
| tasu | story | hearsay, tale |
| ho | surprise | true but surprising, or surprising if true |
The belief dividers give information about the speaker's degree of belief in the truth of the sentence, or about the source of the information in the sentence.
Pa is the vaguest divider; it says only that the speaker believes the sentence, whether strongly or weakly. It is also the plainest, most unmarked divider, so you should prefer it when the choice of divider is unimportant (as it usually is in this grammar book). Tasu is for secondhand information, including fiction. Ho is for information that there is some reason to believe, but which seems so unlikely that that is also reason to disbelieve it. A tall tale fits either tasu or ho, but a good teller will mark some sentences with pa or even ohe (see the objective dividers immediately below) for effect.
Table 4.9. Objective Dividers
| ohe | realis | actual current or past |
| ipo | expected | expected, forecast, planned |
| uiti | conditional | conditional, possible, hypothetical |
| upui | generic | generic or universal |
The objective dividers disclaim subjective or personal influence and claim objectivity.
Ohe is for statements which which are currently true or used to be true. Ipo is for future statements which there is some reason to believe (the sun will rise tomorrow; the weather forecast is...; the computer model predicts...). Uiti is for events at any time which are conditional (if this happens, then that will be true), possible (it could be that...) or hypothetical (what if?). Upui is for generic claims like "frogs croak" or "meetings take too long".
Example 4.25. I Love You
Ofae atet i sofa. I+experiencer you+cause attraction romantic-love+event. I love you (because you are good).
Ofae atet gi sofa. I+experiencer you+cause joy romantic-love+event. I love you (which feels good).
Ofae atet pi sofa. I+experiencer you+cause desire romantic-love+event. I love you (suggesting "I want you").
Ofae atet ili sofa. I+experiencer you+cause immediate romantic-love+event. I love you right now.
Ofae atet esa sofa. I+experiencer you+cause inference romantic-love+event. It seems that I love you.
Ofae atet ohe sofa. I+experiencer you+cause realis romantic-love+event. I truly love you.
Ofae atet upui sofa. I+experiencer you+cause generic romantic-love+event. I love you, as always.
You can modify the meaning of any root by adding a derivational suffix. The new root+suffix compound then acts as if it were a root itself, and can be modified further by adding more derivational suffixes.
There are 137 derivational suffixes. Only some are explained here; see the dictionary for the rest.
Table 4.10. The Most Important Derivational Suffixes
| -te- | -question- |
| -na- | -not- |
| -po- | -opposite- |
| -hig- | -this- |
| -hug- | -that- |
| -le- | -indefinite- |
-Te- is the main question word (well, question affix). This is the normal way to ask questions, other than yes-no questions. (See Sentence Modifiers for yes-no questions.) -Te- requests more information about the root it is attached to.
Example 4.26. Questions and Answers
Attepe? You+question+exist? Who are you?
Aitea ho? Unspecified+question+same surprise? Huhwhuh?
Atta tiha pa aiteua? You+agent change-location+action belief unspecified+question+goal? Why did you go?
Ouxulo eaeun pa fuaateihe fuaateta? Ouxu+of learned+change-to belief person+question+beneficiary person+question+agent? Who taught Ouxu to whom?
-Na- converts the root to mean anything other than its original meaning. -Po- converts it to mean specifically its opposite.
Example 4.27. Negation and Opposites
Pa xitnaa. Belief red+not+same. It's non-red.
Pa xitpoa. Belief red+opposite+same. It's the opposite of red (perhaps cyan).
-Hig- and -hug- act as demonstratives. If you've fallen into the snake pit, you can use them to distinguish this snake that's about to strike from that snake that's still relatively far. -Hig- is for nearby things, and should be your default choice if it doesn't matter (unlike English, where "that" is often the default choice). -Hug- is for more distant things.
-Le- is similar to "a" in "a frog can jump" or "some" in "some frogs are poisonous". It means that you're not talking about any specific object; you're making a generic statement.
Example 4.29. A Generic Statement
Uxetlexe pa laaofxu. Frog+indefinite+whole belief poison+part. Some frogs are poisonous.
You can create new words not only by adding suffixes, but also by putting roots together. The result acts as if it were a single root. The word order is the same as in English: Modifier first.
Example 4.30. Compound Roots
cofo- dog+food- dog food
xaagahaepupit- full+meal+basket- full lunch basket
You can even add a new root after a derivational suffix.
Example 4.31. Compound Roots With Suffixes
cofxiaoxia- dog+similar+food+similar- foodlike substance for a doglike thing
epetepota holy+opposite+agent unholy being
A natural language generally has a variety of kinds of clauses that can be embedded in sentences. "Going out to lunch" in "Going out to lunch would be a good idea" is a nominal clause, because it acts as a noun in the sentence. (To check, substitute a noun: "A wall here would be a good idea.") "That you know" in "I know that you know" is another kind of clause. "Which was too far away" in "We rejected Luigi's, which was too far away" is a relative clause, modifying "Luigi's".
Ouxu has only one kind of clause, but it can serve all the purposes of natural language clauses because it is inflected as if it were a single word.
Grammatically, a clause is a sentence minus the divider. The sentence is followed by the special root he-, which marks the end of the clause. He- is inflected like any other element of the larger sentence, and the clause as a whole plays the role in the larger sentence which the inflection declares.
Example 4.32. Giant Robots
uescoenae hotopoha heua home+city+experiencer build+opposite+action clause+goal to want to destroy my town
Pa uescoenae hotopoha heua ipatehso ogpafuaata. Belief home+city+experiencer build+opposite+action clause+goal large+very+attribute device+person+agent. Giant robots want to destroy my town.
Pa uescoenae hotopoha heua ipatehso ogpafuaata hepe ofae hogeun. Belief home+city+experiencer build+opposite+action clause+goal large+very+attribute device+person+agent clause+exist I+experiencer familiar-with+change-to. I found out that giant robots want to destroy my town.
As shown above, clauses can be nested. A clause can be used anywhere and inflected in any way, as appropriate to the meaning. If a clause uses a subordinating inflection, of course it must appear immediately before whatever it is modifying.
Example 4.33. Space Aliens
ipatpoko xatpe heso large+opposite+and green+exist clause+attribute which were small and green
Uescoenae hotopoha heua pa ipatpoko xatpe heso elelafuaahuata. Home+city+experiencer build+opposite+action clause+goal belief large+opposite+and green+exist clause+attribute outer-space+person+also+agent. The space aliens, who were small and green, also wanted to destroy my town.
In the above example, you might more simply say xatelelafuaaunta (small green space aliens). Breaking out "small and green" into a clause is a stylistic choice. By using a less tightly-bound grammatical form, it suggests that the information is less central.
A clause cannot be split across the divider. A clause is a single sentence element and acts as if it were a single word; though some parts of it may be known to the listener, it is the clause as a whole that must be placed before or after the divider, depending on its status.
If you add a derivational suffix to the clause ender, it applies to the whole clause. The same goes for compounding another root with the clause ender.
Example 4.34. Clause Modifier
Soxe pa sapafae kieaae puotfa heuohuxu. Romantic-love+whole belief the-moon+experiencer earth+experiencer collision+event clause+repeating+part. It's a the-moon-keeps-crashing-into-the-earth kind of love.
There is no marker to let you know when a clause begins. Because of that, a sentence with a clause is in general grammatically ambiguous: You can't tell for sure which words belong to the clause and which belong directly to the larger sentence. This is true of natural languages too, but we rarely notice because the meaning and context of the sentence snatch out the correct interpretation and force it on us without our awareness.
Where there is risk of ambiguity, it is good style to put a clause first in the sentence, or to start it immediately after the divider. The natural barrier will serve to mark the start of the clause.
Direct quotations work the same way that clauses do. The sentence is followed by the special root tita-, which marks the end of the quote. Tita- is inflected like any other element of the larger sentence, and the quote as a whole plays the role in the larger sentence which the inflection declares.
Indirect quotes are of course ordinary clauses.
Example 4.35. I Said
Ofta pa kieaae xughitun titaun. I+agent belief earth+experiencer finished+now+change-to quote+change-to. "The Earth ends now," I said. (direct quote)
Ofta pa kieaae xughitun hepe. I+agent belief earth+experiencer finished+now+change-to clause+exist. I said that the Earth ends now. (indirect quote)
Ouxu has six conjunction particles. The conjunctions can be used in two ways, to link separate sentences and to join related sentences into one so that information does not have to be repeated.
Table 4.11. The Conjunctions
| a | and | all are true |
| xa | or | at least one is true |
| huo | one-of | exactly one is true |
| pia | iff | all are true or all are false |
| puha | if | the first implies the second |
| aeu | irrelevant | the second whether or not the first |
When linking two sentences, a conjunction appears at the start of the second sentence.
Example 4.36. Two Linked Sentences
Atae ofae pa tutxiun. Xa ofta pa ihonofkap Waziristan-un. You+experiencer I+experiencer belief spouse+change-to. Or I+agent belief defence+I+move Waziristan+change-to. I'll marry you, or I'll flee to Waziristan (or both).
Two of the conjunctions, puha and aeu, are binary. It doesn't make sense to use a binary conjunction several times in a row; it should only link two sentences, not three or more.
The other conjunctions can apply to any number of sentences in a row, and the conjunction's meaning applies to all of them as a group.
Example 4.37. List of Conjuncts
Atae ofae pa tutxiun. Huo ofta atxu pa gefaxe. Huo pa ufakuha. You+experiencer I+experiencer belief spouse+change-to. One-of I+agent you+part belief problem+whole. One-of belief compromise+action. Either I'll marry you, or I find you troublesome, or we can reach a compromise.
A is logically redundant as a sentence link, of course. Simply saying one sentence and then the next means that both are true. But you can use it anyway for emphasis.
Two or more sentences which share words can be joined into one sentence using a repeated conjunction. In the usual case, the shared words are at the end of the resulting single sentence, though it's sometimes possible to share words at the beginning instead or as well.
Example 4.38. Joined Sentences
Pa ofae apeleha hoet. Pa atae apelepoha hoet. Belief I+experiencer respect+action it+cause. Belief you+experiencer respect+opposite+action it+cause. I admire it. You despise it. Pa ofae apeleha a atae apelepoha a hoet. Belief I+experiencer respect+action and you+experiencer respect+opposite+action and it+cause. I admire and you despise it.
Use of the divider becomes more complicated in a joined sentence. The divider can appear in one of three places, the shared head of the sentence, in the branches of the sentence, or in the shared tail.
If the divider is in the branches, that is, among the words that differ between the joined sentences, then each branch must have its own divider. You can always recognize this case, because the sentence contains more than one divider. The sentence ends up with as many divider words as there are branches.
If there is only one divider in the sentence, then it is either in the head or in the tail. If it is in the head, it must appear at the end of the head, as the last word shared. In the examples above, the divider is the first word, so it is the only word of the head. If the divider is in the tail, it may appear anywhere. The rules for transforming the joined sentence back into the original sentences should be obvious: Each original sentence consists of the head, followed by one of the branches, followed by the tail.
Example 4.39. The Divider in Joined Sentences
Ofta pa athigae huo athugae huo tutxiun. I+agent belief you+this+experiencer one-of you+that+experiencer one-of spouse+change-to. I'll marry either you or you. (Appropriate if you're picking two people out of a crowd.)
Athigae gi huo athugae gu huo ofta tutxiun. You+this+experiencer joy one-of you+that+experiencer sorrow one-of I+agent spouse+change-to. I'll marry either you, gladly, or you, sadly.
Athigae huo athugae huo ofta pa tutxiun. You+this+experiencer one-of you+that+experiencer one-of I+agent belief spouse+change-to. I'll marry either you or you. (Appropriate if the two candidates are already known.)
The binary conjunctions puha and aeu can be used only twice in a sentence. The other conjunctions can be repeated any number of times, to join many sentences into one.
Example 4.40. More Joined Sentences
Ofta litgaha pa sufhoae pia paletae pia anxoae pia. I+agent bite+action belief bear+experiencer iff bat+experiencer iff bug+experiencer iff. I'll bite all of the bear, the bat, and the bug, or none of them.
Ouxu has four kinds of floating particles that can be used anywhere in a sentence, sentence modifiers, discourse connectives, conversation management words, and exclamations.
Anywhere in a sentence means anywhere that a separate word can go, even between a subordinate and its head.
Se identifies the sentence as a question. If you use it with a statement X that contains no question words, it means "Is X the case?" This is the normal way to ask a yes-no question. For other questions, se is optional but can improve clarity. See The Most Important Derivational Suffixes.
He identifies the sentence as a command. This is usually necessary—how else will your listener know? If it appears in a sentence X, it means "You, make it so that X is true." In a command, it often makes sense to leave out the divider; commands often mention only known referents.
Ao identifies the sentence as a proposal, a suggestion, or an alternative. It can mean "let's", as in "let's go bowling", or "one possibility is...".
Ep negates the sentence. It changes "X is the case" to "X is not the case".
The unmarked position for a sentence modifier is at the end of the sentence. Remember that the end of the sentence is the most emphatic position. If you put a sentence modifier at the beginning of the sentence, you are muffling its meaning, saying that it is relatively unimportant.
Example 4.41. Weak Negation
Pa ufaa ep. Belief actual+same not. That's not true.
Ep pa ufaa. Not belief actual+same. That's not really true.
If you put a sentence modifier in the middle of the sentence, you are saying that the part of the sentence before the modifier is somehow "more responsible" for the modifier than the part after. (This is something of a reversal from the usual rule of thumb, but it makes sense because moving the modifier implies that something is special.)
Example 4.42. Weak Proposal
Tiha gageun ao. Change-location+action park+change-to proposal. Let's go to the park.
Tiha ao gageun. Change-location+action proposal park+change-to. Let's go somewhere, like the park.
Uan tags a sentence as an observation, similar to English "isn't it?"
Ala means that the sentence's truth should be clear, similarly to "obviously" or "of course".
Ui emphasizes that the sentence is true, strengthening the claim of the sentence. It is similar to English "really" or even to the punctuation mark "!".
Api weakens the claim of the sentence. From a formal, logical point of view it has no meaning, but pragmatically it reduces the emphasis placed on the sentence, perhaps out of regard for someone's feelings.
A discourse connective can be placed anywhere. It indicates a relation that holds between preceding discourse and following discourse. How much preceding and following discourse is left wholly to context—a discourse connective may hold between two words of the same sentence, or between two chapters of a long document.
Table 4.14. The Discourse Connectives
| ataha | as-generalization |
| leu | for-example |
| iuk | because |
| hapa | therefore |
| iae | furthermore |
| co | however |
Ataha says that following discourse offers a generalization of something more specific that has been mentioned.
Leu says the opposite, that following discourse offers a more specific example of the general topic of discussion.
Iuk says that following discourse is in some sense logically or chronologically before preceding discourse. It may mean "because" or "before that".
Hapa says that following discourse is in some sense logically or chronologically after preceding discourse. It may mean "therefore" or "after then".
Iae says that following discourse adds more weight to an ongoing line of argument.
Co says that following discourse contrasts with previous discourse in some way. It's similar to "but" or "however" in English.
A conversation management word often makes sense as the first word of a sentence, or even as the only word. Like other floating particles, it can of course be used anywhere.
Table 4.15. Conversation Management Words
| lit | hello |
| lut | goodbye |
| tin | thanks |
| tun | sorry |
| teti | hey |
| la | huh |
| ee | uh |
| poe | roger |
| poua | wilco |
Lit and lut express greeting and parting. They can also be used to mark the entry or exit of a person from the conversation or from a temporary social group.
Tin and tun express gratitude and regret. Tun always means "I'm sorry about that", never "I'm sorry for you" (that's pity, not regret).
Teti is for calling attention to yourself. (For calling attention to something particular that you're saying, see the emphasis derivational suffixes in the dictionary, such as -cua-.)
La expresses confusion. That's why you use it when you forget the words to a song.
Ee indicates hesitation. You are holding the floor until you can figure out what to say. You can draw out the long vowel as long as necessary.
Poe says that you've heard and understood what you were told.
Poua is similar to "roger wilco"; it means you've understood and will comply. You may be obeying a command or only agreeing to a suggestion.
Exclamations, like the conversation management words, can be used anywhere and make sense by themselves, as the only word in a sentence. In fact, the division between the categories could be seen as arbitrary.
Tat expresses surprise or sudden observation.
Uku expresses worry, or a troubling observation.
Hii expresses awe or respect.
Ce expresses joy or triumph. Since it's short and sharp, say it several times if you like!
So expresses fear or observes danger.
Ot expresses disgust.
This chapter sets conventions for numbers and for dates and times, then goes on to discuss a few points of usage.
The number system of Ouxu is modeled after Lojban's system, except that the number words are ordinary roots. Here are the words for the numbers from zero to nine, plus the decimal point and the negative sign. Note that the vowels systematically run i e a o u, from higher to lower in pitch.
Table 5.1. The Digits
| pii- | 0 |
| ee- | 1 |
| apa- | 2 |
| toho- | 3 |
| huu- | 4 |
| lici- | 5 |
| pe- | 6 |
| laas- | 7 |
| ot- | 8 |
| uxu- | 9 |
| ha- | decimal-point- |
| isi- | negate- |
| ciu- | comma- |
A number is a compound root. Simply write down a number as usual, such as -12,345.6. That is a correct Ouxu number in the form of a compound root whose pronunciation you can read off of the above table: isieeapaciutohohuulicihape-. As a root, of course you have to inflect it to use it in a sentence.
Ciu- is for numeric commas only. Commas are optional, but if used they should be three digits apart, at the thousands, the millions, and so on, just as in American English.
For clarity, numbers should be written as digits rather than spelled out.
Example 5.1. Two
Pa 2so iftupe. Belief 2+attribute lake+exist. There are two lakes.
4lo sugki.5a 2a ohe. 4+of to-the-power+.5+same 2+same realis. The square root of four is two.
The international standard SI prefixes for numbers from 10-15 to 1015 have been borrowed into Ouxu as roots.
Table 5.2. The SI Magnitude Prefixes
| fento- | femto- | 10-15 |
| pikko- | pico- | 10-12 |
| nano- | nano- | 10-9 |
| niklo- | micro- | 10-6 |
| nili- | milli- | 10-3 |
| senti- | centi- | 10-2 |
| tessi- | deci- | 10-1 |
| tekka- | deca- | 101 |
| hekto- | hecto- | 102 |
| kilo- | kilo- | 103 |
| neka- | mega- | 106 |
| kika- | giga- | 109 |
| tela- | tera- | 1012 |
| petta- | peta- | 1015 |
Example 5.2. Using the SI Prefixes
2kika- 2+kika- two billion (American)
kika2- kika+2- a billion and two (American)
Here are the basic words for parts of dates and times. These words are not for durations, they are for specifying absolute times like "three in the afternoon" or "Tuesday".
Table 5.3. Date and Time Words
| agas- | clock-year- | calendar year |
| tifo- | clock-month- | calendar month |
| hetpi- | clock-month-day- | day of the month |
| feu- | clock-week-day- | day of the week |
| filaf- | clock-hour- | hour of the day |
| ipilo- | clock-minute- | minute of the hour |
| lolai- | clock-second- | second of the minute |
| (not pronounced) | ; | (date divider) |
| (not pronounced) | : | (time divider) |
To form a month or a day of the week, put a number before the time word, creating a compound root. The months are numbered one through twelve for January through December. The days are one through seven for Monday through Sunday (European style). The same plan can be followed for years, hours, and so on, of course.
Example 5.3. Tuesday
Pa 2feuhu 17tifohu. Belief 2+clock-week-day+time 17+clock-month+time. It's on Tuesday the 17th.
As in English, dates and times can also be expressed compactly as strings. Dates are written with ";" as a divider: 2009;02;14. Times are written in 24-hour format with ":" as the divider: 10:11:12.
Dates and times are always in "big-endian" style, with the larger units first. So it's year;month;day and hours:minutes:seconds.
The usage of the indirect question root iu- is basically similar to the use of indirect questions in English.
Indirect questions are about knowledge and belief, so they are best expressed with clauses and cieg-, a root whose meaning includes mental models.
Example 5.4. Indirect Questions
Pa iupe hexu ofciegxe. Belief what+exist clause+part I+model+whole. I know what that is.
Pa fuaaiupe hexu ofciegxe. Belief person+what+exist clause+part I+model+whole. I know who that is.
Ili ofxe pehanpokigeiuxu hexu atciega hexu ofciegxe ep. Immediate I+whole smart+opposite+kind-of+what+part clause+part you+model+same clause+part I+model+whole not. However I+model+whole inference difference+kind-of+part clause+part. I don't know what kind of idiot you take me for, but I'm certain that I'm a different kind. (the Daily Whale, 23 April 2002)
Some topics you might expect to find in this grammar book don't actually require any special grammar. Instead they're in the dictionary. Here's where to look.
Pronouns are of course ordinary roots. There's no reason to make them a grammatical special case.
One point of caution. English and other Indo-European languages commonly require pronouns even in cases where they are meaningless or obvious. In Ouxu, you don't have to mention anything that's not worth mentioning. If you're talking about yourself, you don't have to say "I did this" and "I did that" in every sentence. Leave out the "I" and let it be understood.
Table 5.4. Pronouns
| of- | i- | I |
| at- | you- | you, the audience or intended audience |
| ten- | they- | they, he, she, person or persons neither you nor I |
| ho- | it- | it, something obvious or recently mentioned |
| li- | it-near-me- | it, nearer to the speaker |
| la- | it-near-you- | it, nearer to the audience |
| lu- | it-far- | it, far away |
Comparatives and superlatives are expressed with derivational suffixes. The dictionary includes examples showing usage.
Table 5.5. Comparative and Superlative Suffixes
| -kit- | -more- | more than another |
| -kut- | -less- | less than another |
| -nin- | -the-most- | the most from some group |
| -nun- | -the-least- | the least from some group |
Tense and aspect are also expressed with derivational suffixes. Besides tense and aspect proper there are a few simple time conversions which change one interval of time into another. The natural place to put one of these suffixes is often on the event or action, but of course they'll go on any content word or clause.
Table 5.6. Tense and Aspect Proper
| -ife- | -past- | past, former |
| -epi- | -current- | current, now |
| -gof- | -future- | future |
| -oxo- | -continuous- | continuously true |
| -ouhu- | -repeating- | repeatedly true |
| -koua- | -habitual- | habitually true (in the linguistics sense) |
| -utpaf- | -occasional- | occasionally true |
| -lanka- | -again- | true again |
| -afo- | -still- | still true |
| -tip- | -always- | always true |
| -tup- | -never- | never true |
Table 5.7. Time Conversions
| -ni- | -after- | later than this |
| -nu- | -before- | earlier than this |
| -xil- | -start-time- | when this started |
| -xul- | -end-time- | when this ended |
| -gupu- | -now-until- | time between now and the given time |
Implicit in the chapters above and in many of the examples in them, as well as in the dictionary definitions, is that Ouxu is to be used loosely and freely, perhaps even more loosely than a natural language.
An artificial language has fewer words than a natural language, which means that fewer of these words can have narrow meanings. By necessity, the word meanings must be vague. When choosing words, use your imagination.
An artificial language also doesn't have the vast history of a natural language, with the large stock of phrases, associations, and usage patterns that have evolved over generations. A natural language will often provide special shades of meaning for words and inflections in specific situations, overriding in part the general meanings. In Ouxu you don't have this guidance, so again, use your imagination.
Every language has an associated culture. For an artificial language with few and novice speakers, the culture is more implied by the language design than provided by the language community. The basic beliefs of the culture are that the goals of the language design are valuable, and I think that other beliefs can normally be seen in a language design too, and in other materials that go along with the language.
I designed Ouxu's culture along with the language, at least in my mind. Ouxu speakers should enjoy playing around with Ouxu and coming up with creative usages. Ouxu promotes subtext and nuance, and adding sneaky subtext (and decoding subtext by others) should be fun.
The examples in this grammar book and in the dictionary should give you lots of ideas to get started with. When you can create imaginative usages freely, you'll have made Ouxu your own.
Every natural language has a system of metaphorical usage that allows words to be used understandably when taken outside their literal meanings. Systems of metaphor in my experience differ between languages but remain strikingly similar to each other in basic ways, which suggests that they reflect something basic in human cognition. For example, all metaphor systems that I've seen or read about allow speakers to talk about time by using words that are about space—specific correspondences differ between languages, but the basic metaphor that time is space seems to be universal.
Ouxu also allows natural metaphor. But be careful, because metaphor is tricky in an artificial language. It's beyond my ability (and maybe anyone's) to specify a complete metaphor system for a language, and unless you are outstandingly self-aware and conscious of how metaphors work, when you use metaphor in Ouxu you will probably carry over assumptions willy-nilly from your native language. Therefore I designed Ouxu's vocabulary so that metaphor should never be necessary. You can always say what you need to literally.
Nevertheless, Ouxu would be unnatural if it didn't allow metaphor. To speak of time as if it were space, simply use a space-related word and inflect it with -hu (-time). The same goes for many other simple metaphors. Metaphors that are common across many languages are fair game: Associating the upward direction with higher social status, associating upstream locations with purity and downstream with contamination. Also good are many standard metaphors that have names, like personification (taking an idea or an inanimate object as person).
Example 5.5. Time as Space
Pa husakufhu upinpotatsupe xagtugetsaepe. Belief now+far+time morally-good+opposite+snake+exist predator+large+bird+exist. Once upon a time, there lived a serpent and an eagle. (-far- is a space word)
Beyond that, use your common sense, and bear in mind that Ouxu is designed to display its own culture which stands far apart from any shared culture of English speakers, and from any natural culture that I know of. As a rule of thumb, maybe a novel metaphor is a good idea if it is simultaneously surprising (I hope that indicates that it's not stolen from another language) and easy to understand (I hope that indicates that it's natural).