Interlingue grammar

**Interlingue** is a constructed language. It was called _Occidental_ between 1922 and 1947. Edgar de Wahl, one of the first Esperantists, created it. De Wahl was from the city of Tallinn in Estonia, which was in the Russian Empire but later became its own country. He spoke German, Russian, Estonian and French since he was a child and had natural ability in languages. He is often called _de Wahl_.

Interlingue looks a lot like languages in the Romance language family: French, Spanish, Italian, and so on. De Wahl made a rule called De Wahl's rule that made changing verbs to nouns easier and more regular. For example, the word **exploder** (to explode) regularly changes its **d** to **s** (making explo**s**ion) when following this rule.

## Alphabet and pronunciation

Interlingue is written with 26 Latin letters: a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. The letters of the alphabet are pronounced as _a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, jot, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, qu, er, es, te, u, ve, duplic ve, ix, ypsilon_, and _zet_. Accents are written on the five vowels to indicate irregular stress, with the acute accent (á é í ó ú) preferred, but others (è, ê, etc.) permitted.

The vowels are usually pronounced as follows:
- **a** as English f**a**ther.
- **e** open or closed, as  English b**e**d and y**e**s.
- **i** as English mach**i**ne.
- **o** open or closed as in English d**oo**r, h**o**t.
- **u** as English r**u**le, p**u**ll.
- **y** is a consonant after a vowel or beginning a word before a vowel, otherwise is pronounced as **i**.

The consonants are pronounced as in English, with the following exceptions:
- **c** when before e and i = [ts]: _cive_, _helice_
- **g** when before e and i = English s in pleasure: _plage, giraffe_; but elsewhere c and g are as in can, go
- **ss** = [s] as in _pass_
- **s** between vowels = [z]: _rose, positiv_
- **z** = [dz]
- **zz** = [ts]
- **ch** = [ʃ], English sh: _chambre_
- **j** = [ʒ], English s in pleasure
- **t** as [t], except when followed by ia, io, iu, or ie and not preceded by an s. Thus the t in _nation_ is pronounced [ts] but in _bastion_ as [t].

Other doubled consonants are pronounced as a single consonant, unless when separated they would be pronounced differently. Ex. **grammatica** is pronounced as if written **gramatica**, but **occidental** and **suggestion** are pronounced as if written as **oc** followed by **cidental**, and **sug** followed by **gestion**.

## Article

Like English, Interlingue has a definite article and an indefinite article. The definite article (the) is _li_, and the indefinite (a, an) is _un_. Plural of a noun is made by adding _-s_ after a vowel, or _-es_ after most consonants. To avoid pronunciation and stress changes, words ending in -c, -g, and -m only add an -s: un libre, du libre**s**, un angul, tri angul**es**, li tric, li tric**s**, li plug, li plug**s**, li album, pluri album**s**, li tram, du tram**s**.

The ending of the definite article can be modified to **lo** (masculine), **la** (feminine), **lu** (neuter), **lis** (plural), **los** (masculine plural), e **las** (feminine plural). Of these, the forms **lu** and **lis** are most common: **lu** in the same sense as Spanish _lo_ and English _that which_, as in **Ne li aprension de un lingue es lu essential, ma su usation** (_that which_ is essential is not the learning of a language, but using it), and **lis** to change to plural words that are difficult to make plural on their own: **lis s** (the s's).

## Personal pronouns

Interlingue has two forms for the personal pronouns: one for the subject form (nominative), and one for the object form (accusative or dative).

|||colspan="2"|first|colspan="2"|second|colspan="2"|third (neutral)|colspan="2"|third (fem.)|colspan="2"|third (masculine)||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan="3"|**Singular**|**Subject**|yo|I|tu|thee|it|it|ella|she|il|he|
|**Object**|me|me|te|thou|it|it|la|her|le|him|||
|**Possessive**|mi|my|tui|thy|su|its|su|her|su|his|||
|rowspan="3"|**Plural**|**Subject**|noi|we|vu|you|ili|they|ellas|they|illos|they|
|**Object**|nos|us|vos|you|les|them|las|them|los|them|||
|**Possessive**|nor|our|vor|your|lor|their|lor|their|lor|their|||
Grammatical endings are used, but less than in Esperanto and Ido in which parts of speech are marked with obligatory endings. Only a few parts of speech (such as verb infinitives) in Interlingue have entirely obligatory endings, while many others either have endings the usage of which is optional and sometimes recommended. Some grammatical endings are:
- **ar, er, ir**: verb infinitive. f**ar** (to do), poss**er** (be able), scr**ir** (to write)
- **e**: the general noun ending used obligatorily to differentiate nouns from other parts or speech or for reasons of pronunciation. Examples of obligatory -e endings: capital**e** (capital, noun) vs. capital (capital, adjective), contenet**e** (content) vs, contenet (contained), sud (south, adjective) vs. sud**e** (south as an independent noun, as in the north and the south). A final -e is recommended in words ending with -s to avoid confusion with the plural (curs**e**, sens**e**), -ir, -er- and -ar endings to avoid confusion with the verb infinitive (danger**e**, desir**e**, paper**e**), and other such areas where its addition aids in differentiation or pronunciation. Optional -e endings: can or can**e** (dog), Pentecost or Pentecost**e** (Pentecost).
- **i**: the general adjectival ending, similar to -e in usage. Examples of obligatory -i endings: pigr**i** (lazy) and acr**i** (sharp) to enable pronunciation, verd**i** (green, adjective) to distinguish from verd**e** (green, noun). Examples of optional -i endings: etern vs. etern**i** (eternal), imens vs. imens**i** (immense).
- **a**: nouns that end in **e** formed from an **-ar** verb are often written with the **-a** ending if one wishes to emphasize the verbal (active) aspect. A me veni un pens**a** (a thought occurs to me) vs. Pens**e**s e paroles (thoughts and words). The **a** ending also makes nouns feminine: angles**e** (English person), angles**o** (Englishman), angles**a** (English woman). This does not apply to nouns that on their own indicate the gender (patre, matre).
- **o**: indicates the masculine gender in the same way **a** indicates the feminine.

## Correlatives

||QU- (interrogative/relative)|T- (demonstrative)|ALQU- (undefined)|NEQU- (negative)|-CUNC (indeterminate)|**Ø** (collective)|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|-I (persons, standard demonstrative)|qui (who)|ti (this/that)|alqui (someone)|nequi (nobody)|quicunc (whoever)|omni (every, all)|
|-O (things)|quo (what)|to (that: general demonstrative as in "**that** is true")|alquo (something)|nequo (nothing)|quocunc (whatever)|omno (all)|
|-EL (both persons and things)|quel (which)|tel (such)|alquel (any)|nequel|quelcunc (whichever)|chascun (each, all)|
|-AL (quality)|qual (which, what a)|tal (that)|alqual (any kind)|nequal|qualcunc||
|-AM (way, mode)|quam (as)|tam (so)|alquam (anyhow)|nequam|quamcunc (however)||
|-ANT (quantity)|quant (how many)|tant (so much)|alquant (somewhat)|nequant|quantcunc||
|-ANDE (time)|quande (when)|tande (then)|alquande|nequande (never)|quandecunc|sempre (always, ever)|
|-U (place)|u (where)|ci / ta (here / there)|alcu (somewhere)|necu (nowhere)|ucunc (anywhere)|partú (everywhere)|

Notes on the correlatives:

**Alcun** (some) and **necun** (no, none) are respectively the adjectives of **alquel** and **nequel.**

The -**qui** series has optional accusative forms ending in -em: **quem**, **alquem**, **nequem.**

The -**al** series is adverbialized with the -men ending: **qualmen** (how) **talmen** (that way).

Correlatives can take the plural ending: **queles**, **quales, tis, omnis**, etc.

**Ci** (here) and **ta** (there) can be affixed to **ti** and **to** to indicate proximity or distance: **ti libre** (this book), **ti-ci** libre (this book here), **ti-ta** libre (that book there), **tis** (these), **tis-ci** (these here), **tis-ta** (those there), **to-ci** (this here), **to-ta** (that there).

Many derivatives are formed from the correlatives: **qualitá** from **qual** + **itá**, **quantitá** from **quant** + -**itá**, **omnipotent** from **omni + potent.**

## Verbs

Verbs in Interlingue have three endings: -**ar**, -**er**, and -**ir**. Conjugation is performed with a combination of endings and auxiliary verbs. The verb **esser** (to be) is exceptional in being written **es** in the present  tense, though the **esse** form is seen in the imperative.
||Form|Interlingue|English|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Infinitive|ar / er / ir|amar / decider / scrir|to love / to decide / to write||
|Present|a / e / i|yo ama / decide / scri|I love / decide / write||
|Past|-t|yo amat / decidet / scrit|I loved / decided / wrote|stress thus falls on the last syllable: yo am**at**|
|Future|va + inf.|yo va amar / decider / scrir|I will (shall) love / decide / write|**va** on its own is not a verb (to go = **ear** or **vader**)|
|Conditional|vell + inf.|yo vell amar / decider / scrir|I would love / decide / write|Also used for hearsay: **Un acusation secun quel il vell har esset... -** An accusation alleging him to have been... (lit. _an accusation according to which he would have been..._)|
|Imperative|a! / e! / i!|ama! / decide! / scri!|love! / decide! / write!|Imperative of esser is **esse**.|

||Form|Interlingue|English|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Perfect|ha + t|yo ha amat / decidet / scrit|I have loved / decided / written|**ha** on its own is not a verb (to have = **haver**)|
|Pluperfect|hat + t|yo hat amat / decidet / scrit|I had loved / decided / written||
|Future Perfect|va har + t|yo va har amat / decidet / scrit|I will (shall) have loved / decided / written||
|Perfect Conditional|vell har + t|yo vell har amat / decidet / scrit|I would have loved / decided / written||
|Future in the past|vat + inf.|yo vat amar / decider / scrir|I was going to love / to decide / to write||
|Precative|ples + inf.|ples amar! / decider! / scrir!|please love! / please / write!||
|Hortative|lass + inf.|lass nos amar! / decider! / scrir!|let's love! / decide! / write!||
|Optative|mey + inf.|yo mey amar / decider / scrir|May I love / decide / write|Only the same as English **may** in the optative mood (as in "May his days be long" or "May the Force be with you", not "I may or may not go").|
|Present participle|-nt|amant / decident / scrient|loving / deciding / writing|-ir verbs become -ient|
|Gerund (adverbial participle)|-nte|amante / decidente / scriente|(while) loving / deciding / writing|-ir verbs become -iente|

## Adverbs

Interlingue has **primary adverbs** and **derived adverbs**. Primary adverbs are adverbs without special endings: _tre_ (very), _sempre_ (always), etc.

Derived adverbs are adverbs made by putting -**men** at the end of an adjective (**rapid** = quick, **rapidmen** = quickly). This is similar to _-ment_ in French, _-mente_ in Italian, and other Romance languages. The ending _-men_ was inspired by Provençal and spoken French (which does not pronounce the t in _-ment_) and chosen over _-mente_ to avoid clashing with the noun ending _-ment_ and other nouns in the language derived from the past tense in -t. The ending may be omitted when the meaning is clear: **tu deve far it rapid(men)** = you must do it quick(ly).

Dr. F. Haas in 1956 grouped the most common adverbs by type as below.

|Genre|Common Adverbs|
| --- | --- |
|Manner (How?)|qualmen, quam, talmen, tam, alquam, nequam, solmen, apen, tot, totalmen, totmen, ne totmen, totmen ne|
|Quantity (How much?)|quant, tant, sat, suficent, nequant, alquant, tre, tro, circa, mult, poc, un poc, quelcvez, multvez, sovente, plu, adplu, sempre, sempre plu, sempre plu mult, sempre plu mult ancor, min, plu o min, maxim, admaxim|
|Location (Where? To / from where?)|u, ci, ta, alcú, necú, partú, ucunc, supra, infra, circum, éxter, extra, intra, ínter, detra, levul, dextri, proxim, lontan.|
|Time (When?)|quande, unquande, alquande, nequande, quandecunc, alor, tande, ínterim, nu, strax, subitmen, just, justmen, bentost, tost, tard, temporan, solmen, ne ante, sovente, sempre, ne plu, antey, poy, depoy, desde, in ante, ja, ancor, ne ancor, adplu|
|Affirmation/ Negation / Doubt (Really?)|yes, no, ne, ne plu, si, ya, fórsan, sin dúbite.|