Panlingvo has a grammar that is systematic, regular and also very flexible. There is a simple root-and-ending system at the core of the grammar. Every word is made of one or more roots and an ending, which is attached to the root.
Panlingvo uses a simple array of five vowel endings, which indicate clearly the word class of every word.
The vowel endings make syntax transparent. In Panlingvo, one can know the grammatical structure of a sentence without knowing the meaning of the words. For example, consider the following sentence where root words are hidden.
░░░e ░░░░░a ░░░░i ░░░░e.
In other languages nothing could be guessed only by the last vowels of words, but in Panlingvo they reveal the structure of the whole sentence. First, the word classes can be known, because they are indicated by the vowel endings. The first word is a noun because it ends in -e, the next one is a verb because it ends in -a, and the last two are an adjective and a noun ending in -i and -e respectively. Second, the constituents of the sentence and their order can be known from the word classes. The sentence consists of a subject, which is the first noun, a predicate, which is the verb, and an object, which consists of the adjective and the noun in the end. The word order is thus subject–verb–object.
░░░░e ░░░░░a ░░░░i ░░░░e.
│ │ │ │
┌─────┴───────┐┌────┴────┐┌────┴────┐┌──────┴──────┐
│ substantivo ││ A-verbo ││adjectivo││ substantivo │
└─────┬───────┘└────┬────┘└────┬────┘└──────┬──────┘
│ │ └─────┬──────┘
┌─────┴────┐ ┌─────┴─────┐ ┌─────┴─────┐
│ subjekto │ │ predikato │ │ objekto │
└──────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘
The vowel endings form the grammatical structure of sentences, and the meaning or content comes from root words. A root word is a word without an ending, like bach- ‘child’, kitab- ‘writing’, long- ‘length’ and letr- ‘letter’. A root with an ending is a complete word, like bace ‘child’ (noun) and kitaba ‘write’ (verb). The roots and endings together create the complete meaning of a sentence.
░░░░e ░░░░░a ░░░░i ░░░░e.
bache kitaba longi letre.
'Infano skribas longan leteron.'
Thanks to its flexible grammatical structure, word order is free in Panlingvo.
Subject, verb and object can be arranged in any order, which is a good thing, because different languages use different word orders. The subject–verb–object order is the most common order by number of speakers, and the subject–object–verb order is the most common order by number of languages. The examples below show how clause constituents are arranged in various languages – and how freely they can be arranged in Panlingvo!
| Lingvo | Subjekto | Verbo | Objekto |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angle: | The child | writes | a letter |
| France: | L’enfant | écrit | une lettre. |
| Hispane: | El niño | escribe | una carta. |
| Germane: | Das Kind | schreibt | einen Brief. |
| Ĉine: | Háizi | xiě | xìn. |
| Malaje: | Anak | menulis | surat. |
| Panlingve: | bache | kitaba | letre. |
| Lingvo | Subjekto | Objekto | Verbo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turke: | Çocuk | mektubu | yazar. |
| Hindie: | bacca | patr | likhata hai. |
| Japane: | kodomo wa | tegami o | kakimasu. |
| Panlingve: | bache | letre | kitabu. |
| Lingvo | Verbo | Subjekto | Objekto |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arabe: | yaktab | al-tifl | risālatan |
| Tagaloge: | Nagsusulat | ang bata | ng liham. |
| Panlingve: | kitabu | bache | letre. |
In most languages only one word order is possible or normal. For example, in English it is nearly impossible to say things in the subject–object–verb order. You can’t say simply the child the letter writes.
Word order is free also in other cases. For example, adjectives can be placed before the noun or after the noun. In Panlingvo, one can say bache suki or suki bache and the meaning is the same: ‘a happy child’. In most languages one or the other order is preferred or even required. For example, in English the noun-last order (e.g. a happy child) is normal, and the opposite order (e.g. a child happy) would sound abnormal. In Spanish it’s the opposite: the noun-first order (e.g. un niño feliz) is normal and the noun-last order (e.g. un feliz nīno) is abnormal.
In Panlingvo, even adpositions can be placed before nouns as prepositions (as in English) or after nouns as postpositions (as in Japanese and Hindi). The level of flexibility in Panlingvo is uncomparable!
But why free word order matters? Because it makes it easy to approach Panlingvo. There are more than one way to begin speaking the language. Most other languages can offer only one way that is right and all other ways are wrong. Therefore a big part of learning is actually about unlearning old habits. Not in Panlingvo!
Learning courses can be tailor-made for specific audiences. When one teaches Panlingvo to speakers of language X, it’s smartest to teach a form of Panlingvo that is close to language X. For example, speakers of Turkish would grasp easily Panlingvo that uses Turkish-like word orders (subject–object–verb, adjective–noun and postpositions) whereas speakers of Malay would grasp easily Panlingvo that uses Malay-like features (subject–verb–object, noun–adjective and prepositions).
Panlingvo courses can be made so that there is maximum similarity between the source language and the target langauge (Panlingvo) in early stages of learning. This is a unique feature of Panlingvo. However, as learners make progress, texts in Panlingvo can be adjusted little by little toward the international standard of the language.
Panlingvo uses vowel endings for quick word derivation. In this system the final vowel of a word indicates its word class. So the root (i.e. stem) of the word indicates a general idea and the vowel endings indicate different manifestations of that idea.
Panlingvo uses the following vowel endings to mark parts of speech.
No vowel or -e indicates a noun, which is the name of the thing or idea that the root is about. Nouns answer to the question: What?
-ia indicates a collective noun, which means the totality of the things that the root is about. It can also indicate an abstract noun. For example, humania means “humanity” both as the collective “humankind” and as the abstract “humanhood”.
-i indicates an adjective, which describes the main characteristic or quality of the root. Adjectives answer to the following questions: What kind? How many?
-o indicates an adverb, which describes a manner or a circumstance (ex. place or time). Adverbs answer to the following questions: How? Where? When?
-a indicates an progresa verbo, which is an action that a person can do with the corresponding noun. So the purpose or the potential of the noun determines the meaning of the verb.
-u indicates a regresa verbo, which is an event that happens or an action that is done to someone. The meaning of a regresa verbo depends on the corresponding progresa verbo.
These endings and the participles (-an- and -it-) are the only true suffixes i.e. bound morphemes in Panlingvo. All other suffixes can be used also as independent words. For example paciste (pacifist) is made up of two full words: pace (peace) and iste (proponent).
The designated vowel endings enable easy derivation of one type of word from another. An ending is simply changed to another ending. All endings can be used on all roots in the same way.
Here are a few examples of different types of ideas.
-a and -u are the endings for verbs.
-e is the ending for nouns.
If the stem’s idea is an action, then its noun form will mean the result or the product of the action. For example from kitaba (‘to write’) we get kitabe (‘writing’ or ‘text’).
If the idea is a description, then its noun form will mean a concrete instance of that quality. For example from nevi (‘new’) we get neve (‘a novelty’ i.e. something new).
Additional noun suffixes are presented below.
-i is the ending for adjektivos and adjectival verbs.
If the stem’s idea is a description, then its adjectival form will mean “that which is in the state of the root”. For example from nev- (‘newness’), we get nevi (‘new’ i.e. ‘that which is new’).
If the idea is an action, then its adjectival form will mean the state that is produced by the action. For example from loga (‘to speak’) we get logi (‘spoken’).
If the idea is a thing, an object or a person, then its adjectival form will mean “that which is like the root”. For example, from the noun human (‘human being’), we get the adjektivo humani (‘human’, having the attributes of a human being).
If the root is a place word, then its adjectival form will mean ‘that which is from that place’.
Rusia Russia, Rusi Russian
Pakistan Pakistan, Pakistani Pakistani
Amerike America, Ameriki American
Europe Europe, Europi European
Asia Asia, Asi Asian