Unish sentences consist of a subject (S), a verb (V), and an object (O)—ordered (S-V-O). This word order is preserved in declarative sentences (DS) as well as in interrogative sentences (IS). In Unish, the difference between a declarative sentence and an interrogative sentence is that the former ends with a period and falling intonation, while the latter ends with a question mark and rising intonation.
[DS]Timlovbeisbolgame.
lovebaseballgame
“Timlovesthe baseballgame.”
[IS]Timlovbeisbolgame?
“Does Tim love the baseball game?”
As a result of this rule, interrogative pronouns (who, what, when, where, why, and how) appear in situ, as opposed to always being placed initially within a sentence.
Sarah lovwu?
lovewho
“Who does Sarah love?”
WulovSarah?
Wholove
“Who loves Sarah?”
JohnlovSarah we?
lovewhy
“Why does John love Sarah?”
In an imperative sentence the subject ‘you’ is omitted, and a verb and an object appear in that order.
Opnwindo.
openwindow
“Open the window.”
In a propositive sentence, the words that introduce suggestion appear first, and then a verb and an object appear in that order.
Letmiswachmuvi.
letuswatchmovie
“Let's watch a movie.”
Irrespective of number (i.e., plural or singular) or person (i.e., first-person, second-person, or third-person) of a subject, the form of the verb corresponding to the subject does not vary.
[First-person][singular]Mikomoseb.
Ilikeapple
“I like apples.”
[Second-person][singular]Dekomoseb.
youlikeapple
“You like apples.”
[Third-person][singular]Kevinkomoseb.
likeapple
“Kevin likes apples.”
[Third-person][plural]Leskomoseb.
theylikeapple
“They like apples.”
In Unish, a prefix is attached to a main verb in making a passive sentence. A passive sentence is formed from an active sentence by inserting the verb “es” in front of the active verb and changing the subject-object order. In specifying the agent in a passive sentence, the preposition “de” is used.
Milovde.Deeslov(demi).
Iloveyou⇒youbelovebyme
“I love you.""You are loved (by me).”
Lesbaiedbuk.Bukesedbai.
theyboughtbook⇒bookbe-Pastbuy
“They bought a book.""A book was bought.”
When a direct object and an indirect object appear simultaneously in an active sentence, only the direct object can be used as the subject in a passive sentence.
Larrygivedbuktomi.BukesedgivtomideLarry.
gavebooktome⇒bookbe-Pastgivetomeby
“Larry gave a book to me.”“A book was given to me by Larry.”
The Plural form of all nouns (namely, pronouns, common nouns, and proper nouns) is created by attaching ‘-s’ to their singular form. Therefore, irregular plural form of a noun does not exist in Unish.
acto⇒aktosaqarium⇒aqariumskakto⇒kaktos
‘actor’‘actors’‘aquarium’‘aquaria’‘cactus’‘cacti/cactuses’
In Unish, articles (that is, a definite article or an indefinite article) are not used at all. Instead it is recognized tacitly from the context whether an article is omitted.
Albert havdog.Dogbarkedlastanait.
havedog⇒dogbarkedlastnight
“Albert has a dog.”“The dog barked last night.”
In Unish, there is no gender distinction in pronouns, and the plural form of a pronoun is created by attaching an “-s” to its singular form. Like the plural form of common nouns, a plural personal pronoun is obtained by attaching the suffix “–s” to a singular pronoun. The plural forms of all nouns are made simply by attaching that suffix to their singular forms. There is only one third-person singular pronoun, therefore the referent of that pronoun is determined based on the context in which it is used.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First-person | mi | mis |
| Second-person | de | des |
| Third-person | le | les |
Levisitedmuze.
he/shevisitedmuseum
“He/She visited museum.”
Lesvisitedmuze.
theyvisitedmuseum
“They visited a museum.”
Reflexive pronouns are all ‘self’ regardless of their number and person.
Milovself.
Ilovemyself
“I love myself.”
Leslovself.
theylovethemselves
“They love themselves.”
In Unish, the form of nouns does not vary according to their case.
Milovde.
Iloveyou
“I love you.”
Delovmi.
youloveme
“You love me.”
The genitive case of a noun is expressed by the structure <noun + apostrophe + s> or <preposition + noun>.
Mireturnedle'sbuktole.
Ireturnedhis/herbooktohim/her
“I returned his/her book to him/her.”
Mireturnedbukovletole.
Ireturnedbookofhim/hertohim/her
"I returned his/her book to him/her.”
karovpaderovde=de'spader'skar
caroffatherofyouyourfather'scar
“your father's car”“your father's car”
There are three kinds of tense in Unish: past, present, and future.
(1) The present form of a verb is the same as its basic form.
(2) The past form of a verb is created by attaching ‘-ed’ its basic form.
(3) The future form of a verb is created by attaching ‘-il’ to its basic form.
[Present]LesmitSusanevriwik.
theymeeteveryweek
“They meet Susan every week.”
[Past]LesmitedSusanyedi
theymetyesterday
“They met Susan yesterday.“
[Future]LemitilSusannedi.
theywill meettomorow
“They will meet Susan tomorrow.”
