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Speech moves
How to start a new speech move with /y/: call someone, react, or say whether you are stating, asking, commanding, or forbidding.
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Beginner
Turn (/y/): start a new speech move
A turn is one speech move: a statement, question, command, or other act, including talking only to yourself. A /y/ word starts a new turn.
The /y/ words go at the start of the turn, before its body (the subject, object, verb, and the rest of the clause). So a /y/ word after a finished body never belongs to that body: it starts the next turn.
Call someone (/y/ + name)
To call someone into the turn, put /y/ before their name, which ends in -n. The call can be the whole turn or come before a clause. A /y/ word that ends in -n is always a call.
yalahen.y-Alahen
"Alahen!" (calling Alahen)
A /ɡ/ word right after the call describes the person you call, as it would after any noun. So a full name calls with its family name (yohun galuden. Ohun Aluden!, multipart names), and yalahen gubuhel. is blue Alahen!.
yohun galuden.[y-Ohun | g-Aluden]
"Ohun Aluden!" (calling Ohun Aluden)
To call someone by what they are (Waiter!, Doctor!), use the kind as a title: it still ends in -n, so yagavon calls the guard. An occupation title is a role compound with -n.
Compare with: a greeting is the speaker’s name as a citation (n.). Calling Alahen uses /y/; saying Alahen walks uses /z/ (zazawan vowogal).
Interjections: reactions
An interjection is a short reaction or exclamation that stands on its own. Write the reaction under /y/ with an ordinary ending: -l for the everyday sense, -m for the abstract sense, just as on any first mention.
yezul.y-surprise
"Surprise!"
yezum.y-amazement
"Amazing!"
The ending tells a reaction from a call: -n calls someone (yalahen, yagavon), and -l / -m give the reaction itself. So yagavol is Guard! shouted as an alarm, and yagavon calls the guard over.
A /ɡ/ word right after a reaction describes it, as one after a call describes the person called.
yezul gelavam.[y-surprise | g-big]
"Big surprise!"
Compare with: to react and then say that something is big, end the reaction with a period and start a new sentence.
Speech act: statement, question, command
Each turn does one thing: it states, asks, commands, or forbids. That is its speech act. An act word names it: y, a vowel, and -l. The statement word is yal, but a period already marks a statement, so you usually leave yal out.
When the turn is not a statement, put its act word immediately before the body:
yel vowogal.y-command | v-walk
"Walk!"
The vowel picks the act. Its cues are a add / hold, o one / pick, e order / instruct, u undo / take back. The same four vowels, with the same cues, come back in many small word families later on.
| Agazan | Use | Cue |
|---|---|---|
yal | statement (often omitted) | a ≈ add (hold the claim) |
yol | question: yes/no and fill-in ask | o ≈ one (pick from a menu) |
yel | command / instruction | e ≈ order (do this) |
yul | prohibition: don’t… | u ≈ undo (take the action back) |
Word order for each act
The first letter of each word already says its role, so any order of the body means the same thing. Each act still has a usual order. Use it: the act word is one short syllable, and if a listener misses it, the order still tells them which act you meant.
zazawan dabegol vabahel.z-Azawan | d-box | v-punch
"Azawan punches the box."
yol zazawan vabahel dabegol.y-question | z-Azawan | v-punch | d-box
"Does Azawan punch the box?"
yel vabahel dabegol.y-command | v-punch | d-box
"Punch the box!"
yul dabegol vabahel.y-prohibition | d-box | v-punch
"Don't punch the box."
Only a command starts with its verb. A question or prohibition whose act word gets lost sounds like a statement, never like an order to act.
| Act | Usual order | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| statement | verb late: subject, object, verb | the claim builds up to the action |
| question | verb second: one word, then the verb, then the rest | the verb steps forward to be checked |
| command | verb first | the action comes first: do it |
| prohibition | verb late, as in a statement | the action is held back |
The person who receives (/b/) stays right after the verb, wherever the verb goes: yel vamol bazawan. Pay Azawan! A question with no subject puts another word before its verb, so that it still does not start with the verb.
Practice
Short drills for Beginner. Try each item before opening Show answer.
Setting: a theater foyer
New words:
| English | Agazan | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| surprise | ezul | 😮 |
| sit | vehahel | 🪑 from chair |
| sneak | vezevul | 🥷 |
| run | varahal | 🏃 |
Review:
| English | Agazan |
|---|---|
| Azawan | azawan |
| Alahen | alahen |
| Ahaben | ahaben |
| pay | vamol |
| haste | hadehum |
| very | welavam |
| angry | anegel |
English → Agazan
1. Ahaben! (calling Ahaben)
Show answer
yahaben.
y-Ahaben
2. Amazing!
Show answer
yezum.
y-amazement
3. Does Alahen pay Azawan?
Show answer
yol zalahen vamol bazawan.
y-question | z-Alahen | v-pay | b-Azawan
Also correct: yol zalahen bazawan vamol.
4. Azawan, sit!
Show answer
yazawan yel vehahel.
y-Azawan | y-command | v-sit
5. Pay hastily!
Show answer
yel vamol hadehum.
y-command | v-pay | h-haste
Also correct: yel hadehum vamol.
6. Don’t pay hastily.
Show answer
yul hadehum vamol.
y-prohibition | h-haste | v-pay
A prohibition keeps its verb late, as in a statement; only a command starts with its verb.
Also correct: yul vamol hadehum.
Agazan → English
1. yazawan.
Show answer
y-Azawan
Azawan! (calling Azawan)
2. yol zahaben vehahel.
Show answer
y-question | z-Ahaben | v-sit
Does Ahaben sit?
3. yel varahal.
Show answer
y-command | v-run
Run!
4. yezul.
Show answer
y-surprise
Surprise!
5. yalahen yul varahal.
Show answer
y-Alahen | y-prohibition | v-run
Alahen, don’t run!
6. zahaben welavam ganegel vezevul.
Show answer
[z-Ahaben | [w-very | g-angry]] | v-sneak
A very angry Ahaben sneaks.
Pick one
1. Alahen! (calling Alahen over) yalahel. or yalahen.
Show answer
yalahen.
y-Alahen
A call ends in -n; yalahel is a reaction, Lion!
2. Don’t sit. yel vehahel. or yul vehahel.
Show answer
yul vehahel.
y-prohibition | v-sit
yul forbids the action; yel would command it: Sit!
Fix it
1. Does Azawan pay? zazawan vamol yol.
Show answer
yol zazawan vamol.
y-question | z-Azawan | v-pay
The act word goes before the body; a /y/ word after a finished body starts the next turn.
Intermediate
Reminder:
Intermediate sections assume you have read the beginner sections of every page.
Speech act: firm and soft
You already mark whether a turn is a statement, question, command, or prohibition. The ending of the act word adds how firmly you mean it. English softens with extra words (please, perhaps, for what it's worth); Agazan changes only the ending.
The act word is y + vowel + ending. The vowel picks the act as before (a statement, o question, e command, u prohibition). With -l you stand behind the act. With -m you offer it softly and leave the other person free to take it up or not. -r marks an act you hold only for now. Write the act word whenever the turn is not a plain statement; a period still lets you omit yal. A statement word you do write also ends a carried channel: the claim after it is in your own voice again.
yam zazawan vowogal.y-soft-statement | z-Azawan | v-walk
"For what it's worth, Azawan walks."
Compare with: MAY (thovum) marks the scene as could be. yam is still a statement; you put it forward without insisting the other person take it up.
| Agazan | Use | Cue |
|---|---|---|
yal | statement: claim or description | a add + -l: stand behind |
yam | soft statement: offered, not insisted (for what it's worth) | a add + -m: hold, but leave it open |
yol | question: yes/no and fill-in ask | o one / menu + -l: pick an answer |
yom | soft question: wonder, gentle ask, offer-like | o menu + -m: ask without pinning |
yel | command: instruction | e order + -l: do this |
yem | request: soft directive (please…) | e order + -m: ask, don’t command |
yul | prohibition: don’t… (firm) | u undo + -l: take the action back |
yum | soft prohibition: please don’t… / I’d rather you not… | u undo + -m: prefer they don’t |
For let's, make a soft request with inclusive we, aha (special pronouns), as the subject. Let's not is the soft prohibition.
yem vowogal zahan.y-request | v-walk | z-interlocutors
"Let's walk."
yum zahan vezebal.y-soft-prohibition | z-interlocutors | v-sleep
"Let's not sleep."
A hook (al / am / …) may sit among the opening /y/ words, immediately before the act word, or before a body that defaults to a statement.
For now (-r)
-r marks an act you hold only for now: provisional, and you expect to revisit it.
| Agazan | Use | English | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|
yar | provisional statement: held until something better comes | as things stand / for now, I take it that… | a add + -r: a claim held for now |
yor | working question: asked to proceed, expect to re-ask | just checking, …? / for now, is it…? | o menu + -r: an ask for now |
yer | command for now: do this until told otherwise | for now, … / go ahead and … for now | e order + -r: an instruction you expect to revisit |
yur | hold off: don't, for now | hold off on … / don't … yet | u undo + -r: take the action back, for now |
yur vowogal.y-hold-off | v-walk
"Hold off on walking for now."
yar zazawan vowogal.y-provisional-statement | z-Azawan | v-walk
"As things stand, Azawan walks."
Emphatic prohibition
When a missed don't would be dangerous, say yul twice among the opening /y/ words. The repeat makes the prohibition louder; it never cancels it. Repeat only the opening act word: a yul after the body starts a new turn instead of adding emphasis.
yul yul vezevul.y-prohibition | y-prohibition | v-sneak
"Don't sneak. I mean it."
Describing a call or reaction
A call or a reaction can also take an adjective before it, with gl-, the way a noun does. Its /w/ and its /b/ come along as usual.
glalavam yalahen.[gl-cherished | y-Alahen]
"Dear Alahen!"
glegevom yebeval.[gl-delight | y-birthday]
"Happy birthday!"
A reaction can also take a degree word right before it, to say how strongly it holds. A call takes none: the person you call is not more or less called.
welavam yezum.[w-very | y-amazement]
"Truly amazing!"
The degree word grades the reaction itself. A tone mark is how you sound saying it, so the two can go together.
To say who or what you react to (hooray for Azawan), add a hook and /b/ after the reaction: yuhohul el bazawan. A bare /b/ there would start the body as the person who receives.
Tone marks
A tone mark shows how you feel, or what you stress, while you say something. It changes your voice only. It never changes the speech act (that is the act word's job), and a sentence still ends in a period.
| Mark | Feeling | Voice | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|
! | Strong feeling (excited, upset: the words say which) | Louder, stressed | English ! |
? | Unsure about it | Rising, tentative | English (?) after a doubtful word |
% | Joking, teasing (not meant literally) | Light, smiling | A wink |
& | Contrast: this one, not another | Stressed and slowed | and not the other |
; | Warm, affectionate | Soft, gentle | A soft pause |
Doubling a mark makes it stronger: !! is louder again, ?? is very unsure, ;; is very tender, %% is broad teasing, && is a firm contrast. Combining marks mixes tones: ?! is surprised and doubtful (Wait, what?!), %; is teasing but fond, &! is this one, and I feel strongly about it. A stack has no spaces and its order does not matter (?! and !? sound the same). Each mark may appear at most twice, so !!! is not a mark.
Write the mark before what it colors, so you see the tone before you say the words:
| Written | Colors |
|---|---|
Attached to a word: !zazawan | that word |
Attached to a span: !d[ … ] | the span |
Standing alone, then a space: ! zazawan … | the rest of the sentence, up to the period |
zazawan vahahal ?dodogal.z-Azawan | v-see | ?d-dog
"Azawan saw a dog (?)." (unsure about just dog).
! zazawan vowogal.! | z-Azawan | v-walk
"Azawan walks!"
zazawan vahahal &dodogal.z-Azawan | v-see | &d-dog
"Azawan saw a dog." (a dog, not something else).
The other marks work the same way:
zazawan !!vowogal.z-Azawan | !!v-walk
"Azawan walks!!"
?! zalahen vahahal dodogal.?! | z-Alahen | v-see | d-dog
"Alahen saw a dog?!"
%;zalahen vowogal.%;z-Alahen | v-walk
"Dear Alahen walks." (teasing, fondly)
zazawan vahahal ??dodogal.z-Azawan | v-see | ??d-dog
"Azawan saw a (??) dog." (very unsure it was a dog).
%% zazawan vowogal.%% | z-Azawan | v-walk
"Azawan walks." (broad teasing)
zazawan vahahal &&dodogal.z-Azawan | v-see | &&d-dog
"Azawan saw a dog." (a dog, and definitely not something else).
;;zalahen vahahal dodogal.;;z-Alahen | v-see | d-dog
"Dearest Alahen saw a dog."
% zazawan vowogal.% | z-Azawan | v-walk
"Azawan walks." (joking)
;zalahen vahahal dodogal.;z-Alahen | v-see | d-dog
"Dear Alahen saw a dog."
A mark on a span colors all of it:
zazawan ?d[azawan] vezebel.z-Azawan | ?d-CITE[Azawan] | v-tell
"Azawan said “Azawan” (?)." (unsure about just the quoted word).
Compare with: yol asks a question; ? only sounds unsure. A tone mark shows the feeling; emotion compose states it as a claim, and the two can share a sentence.
- A mark may go on any word, including act words and sentence linkers. Attached to a scope island (a chunk of words in braces
{ … }), it colors the whole island. - A mark is a stack of
!,?,%,&,;, each at most twice, in any order. A third copy (!!!) is not a mark, and neither are marks in a row with a space between (! !). &is the only way to single out one word: moving a word adds no stress (English emphasis).- A mark on a word inside a colored span or sentence overrides it for that word. To mix tones on one word, stack them there.
- Before a span fence, the mark is your tone about the quote. Inside the fence, it is part of what is quoted (the original speaker's tone).
- Speech adds no syllables: you voice the mark over its words.
Speech manner (frankly / to be clear)
English frankly and to be clear say in words how you are speaking. A tone mark cannot do that, because it changes only your voice. Instead, use a stance word (/th/, clause) built on an ordinary root. Like any stance word, it may sit anywhere in the sentence; the start is usual.
| Agazan | English | Root |
|---|---|---|
thagazam | to be clear / to put it plainly | clarity |
thaveham | frankly / honestly / to tell the truth | revelation |
thagazam zazawan vowogal.th-clarity | z-Azawan | v-walk
"To be clear, Azawan walks."
thaveham zalahen vezebal.th-revelation | z-Alahen | v-sleep
"Honestly, Alahen is sleeping."
Compare with: the stance word describes your way of saying the claim, not the action. /h/ on the same root (hagazam) would describe how the action itself is done.
Number as interjection
A number word in /y/ is a call-out (Three more!, a score). It can sit with the other opening /y/ words, before the act word, or stand alone as its own turn. How each kind of number reads here: numbers.
Practice
Short drills for Intermediate. Try each item before opening Show answer.
Setting: a music rehearsal
New words:
| English | Agazan | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| trumpet | adawol | 🎺 |
| clarity | thagazam | 👓 from glasses: seeing it plainly |
| revelation | thaveham | 🔦 from flashlight: showing what was hidden |
Review:
| English | Agazan |
|---|---|
| Azawan | azawan |
| Alahen | alahen |
| Ahaben | ahaben |
| interlocutors | ahan |
| sing | vezehel |
| stop | vazadal |
| quiet | agawal |
| run | varahal |
| page | abehel |
| write | varadal |
| see | vahahal |
| find | vamagal |
English → Agazan
1. For what it's worth, Ahaben sings.
Show answer
yam zahaben vezehel.
y-soft-statement | z-Ahaben | v-sing
2. Let's sing.
Show answer
yem vezehel zahan.
y-request | v-sing | z-interlocutors
3. Hold off on stopping for now.
Show answer
yur vazadal.
y-hold-off | v-stop
4. Don't run. I mean it.
Show answer
yul yul varahal.
y-prohibition | y-prohibition | v-run
5. Azawan sees a trumpet! (strong feeling about the whole sentence)
Show answer
! zazawan dadawol vahahal.
! | z-Azawan | d-trumpet | v-see
6. To be clear, Alahen sings quietly.
Show answer
thagazam zalahen hagawal vezehel.
th-clarity | z-Alahen | h-quiet | v-sing
Agazan → English
1. yom zalahen vamagal dadawol.
Show answer
y-soft-question | z-Alahen | v-find | d-trumpet
Does Alahen find the trumpet, I wonder?
2. yer vezehel zazawan.
Show answer
y-command-for-now | v-sing | z-Azawan
For now, Azawan is to sing.
3. yum zahan vazadal.
Show answer
y-soft-prohibition | z-interlocutors | v-stop
Let's not stop.
4. thaveham zahaben dabehel varadal.
Show answer
th-revelation | z-Ahaben | d-page | v-write
Honestly, Ahaben writes a page.
5. zalahen vahahal &dadawol.
Show answer
z-Alahen | v-see | &d-trumpet
Alahen sees a trumpet. (a trumpet, not something else)
6. yar zazawan hagawal vezehel.
Show answer
y-provisional-statement | z-Azawan | h-quiet | v-sing
As things stand, Azawan sings quietly.
Pick one
1. Please sing. yem vezehel. or yel vezehel.
Show answer
yem vezehel.
y-request | v-sing
Soft -m asks; firm yel commands.
2. Hold off on singing for now. yur vezehel. or yul vezehel.
Show answer
yur vezehel.
y-hold-off | v-sing
-r holds the don't only for now; yul forbids outright.
Fix it
1. Don't stop. I mean it. yul vazadal yul.
Show answer
yul yul vazadal.
y-prohibition | y-prohibition | v-stop
Repeat the act word among the opening /y/ words; a yul after the body starts a new turn.