BATESON PROJECT WORLDBUILDING TEAM
Gang of Five: Poul Anderson, Karen Anderson, Paula Butler, Ctein, Al 
Harrison


THE ET LANGUAGE

GRAMMAR

This grammar is based on Turkish, with infixes for voice, mood, and tense, 
and suffixes for person, number and case. Turkish does not, as I recall, 
have gender, which we certainly don't need anyway. I am going beyond 
Turkish in giving mood and tense to nouns and adjectives. I don't see any 
role for voice outside the verb, but I'm open to suggestions. 

1. The Verb
Consists of stem + infixes + suffix. Infixes show voice, mood, and tense 
in that order. The suffix shows person and number, or forms the 
infinitive, participle, etc. 
Suffixes of person and number:
Singular: it, ik, is Plural: igd, izd, ig, iz (you&I, they&I, you, they)
Stem: ok have

Aorist (a "timeless" tense, though not the same as in Greek): 
okit
I have
okigd
ye and I have



okizd
they and I have

okik
you have
okig 
ye have

okis
he, she, it has
okiz
they have

(For the sake of clarity, the infixes for voice and mood have been 
omitted: okit would actually be okimalit in the active voice and the 
declarative mood, okomulit in the passive reportative ["I am said to have 
{a book"}] etc.)

Voices
Active: im The subject is in the nominative case, and if the verb is 
transitive, the object is in the accusative.
Interactive: am Denotes reciprocal action. Used with two subject/object 
nouns in the relative case.
Passive: om The subject is in the nominative, and if there is an agent, it 
is in the ablative; no preposition is necessary. 

Moods 
Declarative: al  okimaliris  He has (a book) at-this-moment. 
Reportative: ul okimuliris He allegedly has (a book) at-this-moment.
Optative (for possible states) If he has a book, he knows his lesson.
Subjunctive (for conditions contrary to fact)  If he had a book he would 
know his lesson.
Imperative: found in 2nd, 3d person; get a book! let there be light!
Interrogative Has he a book?
Intentional He would have a book; The man who would be king

Tenses 
Simple present: Use aorist
Present instant: "Even as we speak", ir
Present habitual: sir
Examples: okimalirik you have at this moment, okimalsiriz they usually have
Past instant: or
Past habitual: sor
Examples: okimalorit I had at that moment, okimalsorigd ye and I usually 
had
Future (no examples prepared)




2. The Noun

Mood and Tense: 
Future: The medalist-to-be Yamaguchi was born in Fremont.
Past: The former medalist Witt appeared on CBS.
Intentional: The would-be medalist Bonaly was dressed as a bullfighter.

Number and Case:
Number is singular or plural. 
Cases are nominative, genitive, relative, ablative, and accusative. 
Nominative
edat
(a) stone
edad
stones

Genitive
edata
of (a) stone
edada
of stones

Relative
edati
"with" (a) stone
edadi
"with" stones

Accusative
edato
direct object
edado
direct object

Ablative
edatu
used w. prepositions  
edadu
used w. prepositions


Example: Okirit edato, I right-now have a stone. Uzhi igiriz edati, 
with-person throw-right-now with-stone (the person throws the stone/the 
stone is thrown by the person)

VOCABULARY: ET-ENGLISH AND ENGLISH-ET

ET-ENGLISH
ak adj. not; akan without
an prep. with
ar adv. very;  arel. adj.very big; aron adj. very small
avat n. finger
azhat n. land, island; azhulat reported island; arelazhat very big island 
(continent)
edat n. stone
efat n. sun, star
ek prep. on
el adj.big
en v. inter. bear, engender; enat, parent
et adj. more; etel bigger, eton smaller
enat n. (fr. en, bear) parent
ezat n. water
ig v. inter. throw
irr v. int. be (exist). See also ok
izhat n. hand
ok v.t. have, possess; used like Sp. tener, e.g. tener frio, to be cold 
(of persons)
on adj. small
orat n. water
uk three
up one
us four
ut two
uvat n. world
uzhat n. person; onuzhat, onat uzhat small person, child; aronuzhat, 
aronat uzhat very small person, baby
yalat n. plant
yerat n. dirt, soil
yilat n. cloud
yobat n. sibling
yoth v. inter. nourish
yub conj. and
yul v.t. see

ENGLISH-ET
and yub 
be, exist irr
bear, engender en
big el
cloud yilat
continent n. arelazherat (very big land)
dirt, soil yerat
finger  avat
four us
hand izhat
have, possess ok
land, island azhat
more et; bigger, etel
not ak
nourish yoth
on ek
one up
parent enat
person uzhat; onuzhat, onat uzhat, small person, child; aronuzhat. aronat 
uzhat very small person, baby
plant yalat
sea ezat
see, observe yul
sibling yobat
small on
stone edat
stone edat
sun, star efat
three uk
throw ig
two ut
very ar; very big, arel
water orat
with an
without akan
world utat

SENTENCES

1. The plant is large. The plant is small. They are plants.
	Yalat elat irrimalis. Yalat onat irrimalis. Yalad irrimaliz.
2. The stone is large. The plant is small. The plant is not big.
	Edat elat irrimalis. Yalat onat irrimalis. Yalat akelat irrimalis.
3. The plant is large. The stone is small. The stone is not big.
	Yalat elat irrimalis. Edat onat irrimalis. Edat akelat irrimalis.
4. The plant is larger than the stone. The stone is smaller than the 
plant. 
	Yalat etelat edato irrimalis. Edat etonat yalato irrimalis.
5. The person is larger than the plant. The person is larger than the 
stone. The plant and the stone are not big.
	Uzhat etelat yalato irrimalis. Uzhat etelat edato irrimalis. Yalat yub 
edat akelad irrimaliz.
6. One person is big. Two persons are small. Three plants are big. Four 
stones are small.
	Upat uzhat elat irrimalis. Utad uzhad onad irrimaliz. Ukad yalad elad 
irrimaliz. Usad edad onad irrimaliz.
7. Big person nourishes small persons. Big person is parent of small 
persons. Small persons are siblings.
	Eluzhati onuzhadi yothamalid. Eluzhat enat onuzhada irrimalis. Onuzhada 
yobad irrimalid.
8. Plants nourish person. Stones not-nourish person.
	Yaladi uzhati yothamaliz. Edadi uzhati akyothamaliz.
9. Plant is on stone. Stone is on plant.
	Yalat ek edatu irrimalis. Edat ek yalatu irrimalis.
10. Plant and stone are on dirt.
	Yalat yub edat ek yeratu irrimaliz.
11. Parent nourishes small person. Parent nourishes child.
	Enatu onatu uzhatu yothamalis. Enatu onuzhatu yothamalis.
12. Two parents engender very small person. Two parents engender baby.
	Utadi enadi aronati uzhati enamalaz. Utadi enadi aronuzhati enamalaz.
13. Dirt nourishes plant. Stone not-nourishes plant.
	Yeratu yalatu yothamalis. Edatu yalatu akyothamalis.
14. Dirt and stone are land. Land nourishes plants.
	Yerat yub edat azhat irrimaliz. Azhati yaladi yothamaliz.
15. Person has four hands. Hand has four fingers.
	Uzhat usado izhado okimalis. Izhat usado avado okimalis.
16. Water is {hydrogen hydroxide}. Cloud has water.
	Orat {HOH} irrimalis. Yilat orato okimalis.
17. Water and water is sea. Land and sea is world.
	Orat yub orat ezat irrimalis. Azhat yub orat utat irrimalis.
18. Person with child. Person not-with child.
	Uzhat an onuzhatu. Uzhat akan onuzhatu.
19. Person is parent of two children. Children are siblings.
	Uzhat enat utada onuzhada irrimalis. Onuzhad yobad irrimaliz.
20. Parent world with cloud. Parent world without cloud.
	Enat utat an yilatu. Enat utat akan yilatu.
21. {Symbol} is star. Parent star has sibling.
	{*} efat irrimalis. Enat efat yobato okimalis.