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Word endings
A content word’s last letter tells the listener how to take its meaning: a new ordinary kind, the root’s abstract sense, or a name. That last letter is the word ending.
Outside a sentence (a list, a heading, a dictionary line) you write root + ending, with no first letter for the word’s role in a sentence. That spelling is a citation.
On this page
Beginner
First mention, concrete (-l)
When you mention a kind of thing for the first time, in its everyday concrete meaning (a scene you could point at), end the citation with -l. The listener treats it as a new, ordinary instance of that kind. English for the citation is the bare kind, with no article. (cue: l ≈ look / concrete)
azawal"swan"
First mention, abstract (-m)
Many roots also have one abstract sense listed in the lexicon (its published abstract): an idea you cannot point at, which grows out of the concrete picture. When you introduce that sense for the first time, end the citation with -m. (cue: m ≈ meaning / abstract)
azawam"grace"
Compare with: the everyday picture of the same root uses -l (azawal swan). Grace is the published abstract of azawa, so the citation is -m. (cue: from swan: the glide of grace)
Named (-n)
When the word is a name for one particular person or place, not a kind of thing, end the citation with -n. (cue: n ≈ name)
azawan"Azawan"
Compare with: the same root as a kind is azawal swan; as the published abstract, azawam grace. -n names the person.
Most roots can be your own name this way. Pick one here or from the lexicon, and examples where you are the speaker will show it.
Pick an Agazan name. Any published root becomes a name with -n.
Loading names…
Or pick your own in the lexicon (Use as my name on a row). Until you choose, examples marked as yours use amun, the word for whoever is speaking.
Greeting
To say hello or a simple goodbye, say your own name: the named citation, followed by a period. Said when you arrive, it greets; said when you leave, it takes leave. Write it exactly as the citation, with no first letter added.
n.speaker
Your name, said as hello or goodbye.
The greeting names you, not the person you greet, so it works the same for a stranger whose name you don't know and for a whole room: n. said to a group is hi, all.
Compare with: the same citation in a list or heading has no period and is not a greeting or goodbye.
The three endings
The last letters you just used, on the same root azawa:
| Agazan | Use | English | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|
azawal | first mention, everyday kind | swan | l ≈ concrete |
azawam | first mention, published abstract | grace | m ≈ abstract |
azawan | this person or place as a name | Azawan | n ≈ name |
Writing
A citation is lowercase root + ending (azawal, azawam, azawan). English for a citation is the bare sense (swan, grace, Azawan), with no article. In a sentence you add a first letter for the word’s role, as the clause page shows. A greeting is the named citation as a whole opening (n.).
Practice
Short drills for Beginner. Try each item before opening Show answer. Choose -l (new concrete), -m (new abstract), or -n (named). Every answer is a citation (no first letter). For a name, the English prompt gives the root's meaning (courage), not the name as English spells it (Alahen), except in the greeting items.
Setting: a classroom
The word bank lists the roots this checkpoint introduces. English is what you produce; Agazan is its citation; Cue is a memory aid, and names the root's other sense when it has one. Later checkpoints add a Review table of words met earlier.
New words:
| English | Agazan | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| school | uzugul | 🏫: a school teaches, so its abstract is education |
| book | ugul | 📖: a book holds knowledge |
| pencil | ebeyol | ✏️: pencil marks can be erased, so its abstract is a draft |
| bell | ebehul | 🔔: a bell rings to warn, so its abstract is alert |
| magnify | amagal | 🔍: close looking, so its abstract is scrutiny |
| Azawan | azawan | 🦢 swan, abstract grace |
| Alahen | alahen | 🦁 lion, abstract courage |
| Ahaben | ahaben | 🌺 hibiscus, abstract beauty |
| your name | n | from the name helper above |
English → Agazan
1. school (citation)
Show answer
uzugul
school
2. knowledge (citation)
Show answer
ugum
knowledge
3. alert (citation)
Show answer
ebehum
alert
4. courage, as a name (citation)
Show answer
alahen
Alahen
5. Hello, the speaker is Azawan.
Show answer
azawan.
Azawan
6. Hello, say it with your own name.
Show answer
n.
speaker
Agazan → English
1. uzugum
Show answer
education
education
2. ebeyol
Show answer
pencil
pencil
3. amagal
Show answer
magnify
magnify
4. ebehul
Show answer
bell
bell
5. ahabem
Show answer
beauty
beauty
6. ahaben.
Show answer
Ahaben
Ahaben. (hello, the speaker is Ahaben)
Pick one
1. scrutiny amagal or amagam
Show answer
amagam
scrutiny
Scrutiny is the abstract sense of the root, so it takes -m; amagal is magnify.
2. Azawan, in a list of names azawal or azawan
Show answer
azawan
Azawan
A name for one person takes -n; azawal is a swan.
Fix it
1. draft ebeyol
Show answer
ebeyom
draft
Draft is the abstract sense, so it takes -m, not -l; ebeyol is the pencil itself.
Intermediate
Reminder:
Intermediate sections assume you have read the beginner sections of every page.
Proper name (-n)
Beginner used -n for a person’s or place’s name. You can also mark a title, brand, or other conventional name on any role letter: a named race as the verb, a named style as the adjective, a named standard as the adverb. The first letter still says the word’s role in the clause; -n says you mean the thing that bears that name, not the kind the root describes.
A brand, a product line, a work, or a yearly event counts as one named thing, even though it has many units, copies, or runnings. To mean one of those, use -ln.
zahaben vezehen.z-Ahaben | v-Ezehen
"Ahaben sings Ezehen" (that titled song).
The rest of the role map (same -n):
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
/z/ /d/ /b/ + -n | this named entity | person, place, titled work, brand or product line (Azawan, Paris, the Odyssey; book by [Rowling]) |
/v/ + -n | this named event, rite, or titled action | perform [Hamlet], run [the Boston Marathon], observe [Ramadan] |
/ɡ/ + -n | this named style, brand, family, or category | [Art Deco] furniture, [iOS] app, Ohun [Aluden] |
/w/ + -n | named scale, grade, or criterion on the following adjective | spicy [Scoville], large [King-size] |
/h/ + -n | named standard, channel, or official frame | according to [GAAP], in [Q3] as the named quarter |
/y/ vocative + -n | address this named person, place, or title; on /y/, -n always calls | yalahen; a kind as a title (yagavon); titled group (Team Alpha) |
One of a name (-ln)
English an iPhone, a copy of the Odyssey, and someone named Azawan each mean one thing the name applies to, not the named thing itself. End the word in -ln instead of -n, on /z/, /d/, or /b/. Like -l, it brings a new thing into the talk, and the n says which name it falls under. So you can mention one bed of a bed brand without a separate word for bed. (cue: l first mention, then n name)
zalahen dazawaln vahahal.z-Alahen | d-Azawan.instance | v-see
"Alahen sees an Azawan." (one bed of that brand)
What counts as one depends on what the name names:
| Name (-n) | One of it (-ln) |
|---|---|
| a brand or product line | one unit (an Azawan) |
| a work | one copy or one performance |
| a yearly event | one running of it |
| a person | someone with that name (another Azawan) |
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
dazawan | the named thing itself | Azawan (the brand) |
dazawaln | one thing the name applies to | an Azawan |
dazawalnx | some things the name applies to (plurality) | some Azawans |
zohuln galuden | the same on a full name | someone named Ohun Aluden |
An -ln word is a new mention, so a lone zazawaln. is there is an Azawan, and a later -r resume (dazawar) is that same bed, not the brand. A foreign name in a span uses the fence mark ^@ for the same job (spans).
Compare with: gazawan after a noun puts it in the brand (zebedal gazawan the bed is an Azawan). -l on the root is the root’s own sense: dazawal is a swan.
Countries and traditions
A country root and a tradition root use all four endings, with one job each:
| Ending | Country (aheba) | Tradition (uguve) |
|---|---|---|
| -n | the country as a named place: Japan | the tradition as a named whole: Christianity |
| -m | belonging to its people: Japanese | belonging to its people: Christian |
| -l | its flag: a Japanese flag | its symbol: a crucifix |
| -ln | one thing that bears the name (a ship named Japan) | one thing that bears the name |
-n names the whole and -m says someone or something belongs to it, so a nationality is not a special case. A person, a quality, or a thing from that people (Japanese food) takes -m; -n on /ɡ/ is a named label instead: a style, a brand, or a family name (Art Deco, iOS, Ohun [Aluden]).
zazawan gahebam.z-Azawan | g-japanese
"Azawan is Japanese."
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
aheban | the named country | Japan |
dahebal | its flag | a Japanese flag |
gahebam | belonging to its people | Japanese |
Titled phrases (hook, join, span)
A store, title, or handle can be several words. Put -n on the hook, join, or span that packages them. That ending names the whole phrase. Each inner word keeps its own ending: a kind stays -l, an abstract stays -m, a resume stays -r, and a person or place that is itself a name still takes -n.
dedehel on dagavel.NAME[d-tea | instead | d-coffee]
"Coffee-Instead-of-Tea" (a cafe name)
| Package | Where -n sits | Inner words |
|---|---|---|
| hook | the hook (on, extra-noun -n, …) | sides keep -l / -m / -r, or -n if that side is a name |
| join | the join (zon, …) | members keep their usual endings |
| span | the fence (@ / spoken -n) | interior tokens keep their usual endings |
A one-word name, a hyphenated name with mid-word x, and each part of a full name still end the content word in -n (multipart names).
Multipart names
English writes a given name and a family name as two words (Ohun Aluden). Agazan does too. The given name fills the slot with -n, and the family name follows it as a /ɡ/ word with -n: like a brand, a family is a named group the person falls under. Given name first is the usual order.
zohun galuden vowogal.[z-Ohun | g-Aluden] | v-walk
"Ohun Aluden walks."
The family name describes the given name, so the person is still one noun in one slot. A resume repeats the given name’s stem, so zohur points back to Ohun Aluden, and you can drop the family name once the person is known.
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
ohun galuden | citation of a full name | Ohun Aluden |
zohun galuden | full name in a noun slot | Ohun Aluden |
zohuln galuden | one of a name | someone named Ohun Aluden |
zohur | resume | Ohun (the same person) |
Put the family name first, as an adjective before the noun, only when your culture names people family first. The same family name can describe the family itself (zavahal galuden the Aluden family), and what the family uses takes the ordinary whose hook: dahazal em bavahal galuden is the Aluden family’s house.
A full name works as a greeting too: ohun galuden. is Ohun Aluden saying hello. A call takes the family name the same way (yohun galuden. Ohun Aluden!). A conversation-length bid goes on the given name, never on the family name.
A family name is an adjective, so a /b/ right after it would complete it as a hosted extra noun. Put the person who receives after the verb, as usual: zohun galuden vezebel balahen. is Ohun Aluden tells Alahen.
A hyphenated name (Mary-Kate, Coffee-Tea) is one word: roots join left to right with mid-word x (ordinary compound order), and -n names the whole.
zohuxaluden vowogal.z-Ohu-x-Aluden | v-walk
"Ohuxaluden walks."
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
zohuxaluden | hyphenated given name | Ohuxaluden |
zohuxaluden galuden | hyphenated given name and a family name | Ohuxaluden Aluden |
zagavexedehen, zagavexedehexowoden | shop label from lexicon roots | Coffee-Tea; Coffee-Tea-Water |
A business or product name uses the same pieces. A compact label is one x word. A product under a maker’s name takes the maker as its /ɡ/ name, as a person takes a family name (a Mustang by Ford). A name with grammar inside it, such as a verb or instead of, is a titled phrase or a span, where any role letter can appear.
A nativized loan (a foreign word adapted into an Agazan root, plus an ordinary ending) takes the same four endings as any content word. A lexical compound also fills one slot: it is one stem, written without mid-word x (zebedaluruhel bedroom).
Compare with: zohun galuden. alone is a sentence: Ohun is an Aluden (classification). The citation ohun galuden has no role letter, so it only names. Adjacent bare same-role words (zohun zaluden) are two people in a join.
Continue (/x/): overview
Beginner used the ending to say how to take a content word’s meaning. On an /x/ continue word, the ending instead picks what the word does:
| Agazan | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
| one of six linkers + -m (firm -l on three) | glue one finished sentence to the next | but, therefore, … (linkers) |
other /x/ root + -l / -m / -n | introduce a topic | now, about X; let’s now talk about X |
/x/ root + -r | return to a topic | back to X |
| clause join + -n | sequence | and then xan, … (joins) |
Discourse hooks, which have no first letter, use hook endings. Hook -n titles a proper-name phrase (hooks).
Number-word exception
Beginner used -l / -m / -n to say how to take a citation’s meaning. On number words, those same letters (and -r) have number-specific meanings. After a role letter, the number marker r may start a cluster that only number words use (phonology.md).
Practice
Short drills for Intermediate. Try each item before opening Show answer.
Setting: a hospital ward
New words:
| English | Agazan | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| hospital-bed (ward name) | ahazoxebedan | 🏥 hospital x 🛏️ bed: one ward's name |
| Temperature (named standard) | heveden | 🌡️ from thermometer |
| Intrusion (titled procedure) | vazehen | 💉 from syringe |
| Emergency (titled drill) | vamaban | 🚑 from ambulance |
Review:
| English | Agazan |
|---|---|
| Azawan | azawan |
| Alahen | alahen |
| Ahaben | ahaben |
| sit | vehahel |
| see | vahahal |
| write | varadal |
| run | varahal |
| sleep | vezebal |
| big | gelavam |
| Japanese | ahebam |
English → Agazan
1. Azawan sits according to Hospital (the named frame).
Show answer
zazawan vehahel hahazon.
z-Azawan | v-sit | h-Ahazon
2. The bed is an Azawan (the brand).
Show answer
zebedal gazawan.
z-bed | g-Azawan
3. Ahaben observes Sleep (the ward's titled rest hour).
Show answer
zahaben vezeban.
z-Ahaben | v-Ezeban
4. Azawan sees Hospital-Bed (the ward's name).
Show answer
zazawan dahazoxebedan vahahal.
z-Azawan | d-Ahazo-x-Ebedan | v-see
Also correct: zazawan vahahal dahazoxebedan.
5. There is a big Ahaben (one bed of that brand).
Show answer
zahabeln gelavam.
z-Ahaben.instance | g-big
6. Alahen sees a Japanese flag.
Show answer
zalahen dahebal vahahal.
z-Alahen | d-japan-flag | v-see
Agazan → English
1. zalahen varadal heveden.
Show answer
z-Alahen | v-write | h-Eveden
Alahen writes according to Temperature (the named standard).
2. zahaben vazehen.
Show answer
z-Ahaben | v-Azehen
Ahaben performs Intrusion (that titled procedure).
3. zalahen varahal hamaban.
Show answer
z-Alahen | v-run | h-Amaban
Alahen runs in Emergency (the named frame).
4. zazawan dahabeln vahahal. zahaber gelavam.
Show answer
z-Azawan | d-Ahaben.instance | v-see . z-←Ahaben.instance | g-big
Azawan sees an Ahaben. It is big. (one bed of that brand)
5. zahazoxebedan varadal.
Show answer
z-Ahazo-x-Ebedan | v-write
Hospital-Bed writes. (the ward, as an office)
6. zebedal gahebam.
Show answer
z-bed | g-japanese
The bed is Japanese.
Pick one
1. Alahen sees an Azawan (one bed of that brand). zalahen dazawaln vahahal. or zalahen dazawan vahahal.
Show answer
zalahen dazawaln vahahal.
z-Alahen | d-Azawan.instance | v-see
-ln is one thing the name applies to; -n is the brand itself.
2. Ahaben performs Emergency (the titled drill). zahaben vamaban. or zahaben vamabal.
Show answer
zahaben vamaban.
z-Ahaben | v-Amaban
-n on the verb names that titled event; -l is the root's everyday sense.
Fix it
1. Hospital-Bed sits. (one ward's name) zahazon zebedan vehahel.
Show answer
zahazoxebedan vehahel.
z-Ahazo-x-Ebedan | v-sit
A hyphenated name is one word joined with x; two -n words in the same role are two named things.
See also
- pronouns.md: resume -r; special
amu/eho/aha/una - plurality.md: -x after the ending
- clause.md: role letters; adding a first letter to a citation
- spans.md: mention / opaque when the form or a foreign acronym is the point
- x-compounds.md: long titles as ordinary compounds
- Titled phrases: hooks.md, joins.md, spans.md