Polonika (Language)

Polonika, (or *Poloniki Glossa "Polonan Language"*) is a modern, independent branch of the Argaivian family of languages, native to the Free City of Archpolonia.

## Pronouns

There are five primary Polonan pronouns:

Ay- I/We

Tey- You/They

Su-He

So-She

Sa-It/Them/Neutral Person

### Plurality Modifiers

The distinction between the singular and plural forms of each pronoun is dictated by the presence of so-called "plurality modifier". In formal or classical Polonika, this modifier comes in two forms. "Tin" indicates the singular, "Ten" the plural. The plurality modifier is placed between the verb and the object in a sentence when referring to the subject. When referring to the subject, the plurality is left unknown until clarified in a later sentence with the question "one?"

#### Example 1- Plurality Modifier:

"Ay apo *tin* Archpolonia"- I love Archpolonia

"Ay apo *ten* Archpolonia"- We love Archpolonia

#### Example 2- One?:

"Sa oto ten Kilos"- They own dogs.

"Eña?"- One?

"Kilos sui ten Tria!"- There are three dogs!

Note: The response 'one?' is a formality which predates the introduction of the plurality modifier into Polonika. In Middle Polonika, plurality could only be expressed through outright numerical value. Nowadays of course, the use of 'ten' makes it clear that there isn't just the one dog. However, the term remains in use.

## Numbers

Eña - One

Dva - Two

Tria - Three

Kuadri - Four

Chink - Five

Echi - Six

## Tenses

Polonika has four tenses: past, present, future and never. Present tense uses the basic pronouns outlined above, however the other three employ the use of suffixes to alter the meaning of the pronouns according to the subject's relationship to the tense. There are three tense suffixes:

* Past: -kos
* Future: -ki
* Never: -kosaru.

### Present tense

The easiest and most basic of all the Polonika tenses, this one deals with things which currently are, or which are currently ongoing. You've already seen some sentences constructed in present tense. Here are some more examples:

#### Example 1- Present Tense

"Tey budu ten Polonika"- They learn/are learning Polonika

"So brosit tin sa ten"- She throws them.

## Nouns

All nouns in Polonika are written with capital letters.

Polonika is a language which employs heavy use of compound nouns. This is often assumed to be due to centuries of Tall Kingdom cultural influence, however it may alternatively be simply due to the relatively limited number of basic nouns commonly found in the language - the legacy of Archpolonia's Argaivan heritage, perhaps.

Whatever the reason, the result is that Polonika is a relatively easy language to learn in its basic form. A traveler with even basic knowledge of some words can, with a modicum of creativity and some basic knowledge and forethought, carry out relatively detailed conversations with Polonikans, simply by combining basic nouns together. With some experimentation, it is easy to stumble across actual words in this way.

Examples of these compound nouns include:

Svet (light) + Synomilia (talk/conversation) = Svetomilia (light semaphore)

Chastni (private) + Thesi (place) = Chasthesi (home)

Senet (old) + Pelos (father) = Senepelos (grandfather)

## List of words

Linethesi - Shop (lit. "gold/money place")

Lin - Gold/Money

Ay- I/We

Brosit - Throws/To Throw

Budu - Learns/To Learn

Chastni - Private

Chasthesi - Home

Chink - Five

Dva - Two

Echi - Six

Eña - One

Haña - Master

Kuadri - Four

Kuvados - Religious texts

Nafos - New

Pelos - Father

Polospelos - King/Ruler (lit. "people father")

Polonika - City/Nation

Polos - Citizens/People

Sa-It/Them/Neutral Person

Senet - Old (living thing)

Senepelos - Grandfather

Sikos - Old (object)

So-She

Su-He

Svet - Light

Svetomilia - Light semaphore

Svetsynomilia - Small talk

Synomilia - Talk/Conversation

Tey- You/They

Thesi - Place

Tria - Three