Giak Tutorial

Lesson II

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[Exercises] [Answers]

Goals

To learn:

Vocabulary

VerbsNouns
Aga \'a-ga\ (v)
Want
Azgad \'az-gad\ (v)
Burn
Dag \'dag\ (v)
Build, Erect, Make
Dajo \'da-jä\(v)
Follow
Darg \'därg\ (v)
Attack
Ek \'ek\ (v)
Get, Fetch
Gag \'gag\ (v)
Drink
Jeg \'jeg\ (v)
Take
Jez \'jez\ (v)
Break
Jok \'jok\ (v)
Demand, Ask
Kag \'kag\ (v)
Carry
Lazag \'la-zag\ (v)
Cook
Nak \'nak\(v)
Fight
Okgan \'ok-gan\ (v)
Lead
Okja \'ok-ja\ (v)
Obey
Oza \'o-za\ (v)
Use
Raz \'raz\ (v)
Eat
Ruzzar \'ruz-zär\ (v)
Destroy
Shez \'shez\ (v)
Cut
Taag \'täg\ (v)
Kill
Tan \'tan\ (v)
Listen, Hear
Zaz \'zaz\ (v)
Order
Zee \'zee\ (v)
See
Zinoz \'zi-nä\(v)
Smell
Adez \'a-dez\ (n)
Blood
Dikrak \'dik-rak\ (n)
Bird
Dorgar \'dor-gär\ (n)
War Party
Gajog \'ga-jäg\ (n)
Drink
Gazad \'ga-zad\ (n)
Stronghold, Castle
Gazjat \'gaz-jat\ (n)
Barracks
Googa \'goo-ga\ (n)
Food
Heza \'hez-a\ (n)
Hut, House
Jogg \'jog\ (n)
Wine
Kon \'kon\ (n)
Hunt
Moggador \'mo-ga-,dor\ (n)
Hammer
Mok \'mok\ (n)
Bridge
Interrogatory (Questions)
An \'an\ (n/conj)
Who/Whom
Dak \'dak\ (adv/conj)
How
Ega \'e-ga\ (adv/conj)
Where
Ka \'ka\ (adv/conj)
Why
On \'on\ (adv/conj)
When
Teg \'teg\ (n/conj)
What
Ta \'ta\ (adv)
(no translation)

Gee \'gee\ (adv)
Yes, Positive
Naog \'na-ä\
(adv) No, Negative

Direct Objects

Direct objects in Giak function in much the same way as they do in English. A sentence with a direct object is of the form (subject / predicate / direct object). For example:

Note that there is no special objective case for pronouns. The second example above would be tranlated as:

Pronouns are translated like this:

A subject closely related to direct objects is that of predicate nominatives. Since there is no objective case, they act just like a direct object.

Questions

Questions are asked in the form (interrogatory word / subject / predicate / direct object). For example:

The interrogatory words 'an' (who/whom) and 'teg' (what) are special cases. They function as the subject of a sentence or as its object rather than an interrogatory word at the beginning of the sentence.

The word 'ta' is used for questions that have no interrogatory word such as:

Although there is no direct translation for 'ta,' you can think of it as a helper verb such as 'do' and 'is.' Notice that the sentence following 'ta' follows the normal word order of (subject / predicate / [direct object]).

Questions in Written and Spoken Giak

There are two methods of distinguishing a question from a statement in Giak:

  1. Written Giak -- A sentence must be followed by a question mark (?). It is also suggested that questions be preceded by an inverted question mark (¿). This clues the reader into the fact that the sentence is a question before he reads it.
    • ¿ Ka dokim gag gajogim ?
    • ¿ Ta dikrak darg dorgar ?
  2. Spoken Giak -- The last syllable of the sentence is given added inflection by raising the pitch of the voice. This is typical of many European languages. This was perhaps one of the hardest parts of the language for Giaks to master. Their monotone voices were hard pressed to contort to a new pitch. It is believed by some that this was an ironic joke played on the hapless giaks by those minions of Naar that created the language. More than one giak has ended its life prematurely because its leader misinterpreted a question as a command.

Sentence Structure

So far we know how to use sentences with the following structure:

The []'s denote an optional element so that the preceding statement implies that the interrogatory and direct object are optional to the sentence. Stripping those elements from the structure leaves us with the basic sentence consisting of (subject / predicate).

[Exercises]