1

DIVINIAN

interpreted
& developed by

t. leah fehr

[email protected]
.com www.divinelanguage.com

© 2013
20 T. Leah Fehr
 2

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 3

Divinian

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 4

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 5

Divinian
The language of the Gods

an unofficial guide

interpreted and developed by

T. Leah Fehr

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 6

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 7

Man da hämas ilo piti’hämas,

dat tenon chtamana
ilo man dé sab’dé alkcatzé
dat veno isperobera.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 8

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 9

“… it’s the Divine Language, the ancient language;

spoken throughout the universe before time was time.”

- Father Vito Cornelius1

1
Excerpt taken from The Fifth Element © 1997 Gaumont. Spoken by Father Vito Cornelius, played by Ian Holm.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 10

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 11

Täblazat oum Imanétaba

Forward – Talar Mechtaba 15

1. Pronunciation – Limoï Tokemata 17

1.1 Divinian Alphabet and Letter Groups 17
1.2 Vowels 18
1.2.1 Short Vowels 18
1.2.2 Long Vowels 18
1.2.3 Vowel Groups and Dipthongs 19
1.2.4 Double Vowels 22
1.3 Consonants 22
1.3.1 Independent Consonants 22
1.3.2 Consonant Groups 23
1.3.3 Double Consonants 26
1.4 Stress 27

2. Sentence Structure – Skrivé Takhtad 29

2.1 Sentence Structure Overview 29
2.1.1 The Genitive Clause 30
2.1.2 The Negative Clause 30
2.1.3 The Future Tense Clause 31
2.1.4 The Modal Clause 31

3. Parts of Speech – Imanétaban oum Tokemata 33

3.1 Declension and Conjugation Prefix and Suffix 33
3.2 Nouns 34
3.2.1 Compound Nouns 35
3.2.2 Number and Declension 35
3.2.3 Plural Nouns 36
3.3 Articles 38
3.3.1 The Definite Article 38
3.3.2 The Indefinite Article 39
3.3.3 Demonstratives 39
3.4 Adjectives 40
3.4.1 Adjectives used as Nouns 41
3.4.2 Comparative and Superlative Adjectives 41
3.4.4 Possessive Adjectives 41
3.5 Pronouns 42
3.5.1 Personal Pronouns 44
3.5.1-1 Subject 44
3.5.1-2 Object
44
3.5.1-3 Reflexive 45
3.5.2 Possessive Pronouns 45

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 12

3.5.3 Relative Pronouns 46

3.5.4 Interrogative Pronouns 47
3.5.5 Indefinite Pronouns 47
3.6 Verbs 48
3.6.1 Present Tense 49
3.6.1-1 Continuous Action 49
3.6.1-2 Auxiliary Verbs 50
3.6.2 Past Tense 51
3.6.2-1 Auxiliary Verbs 51
3.6.3 Present Perfect Tense 52
3.6.3-1 Auxiliary Verbs 52
3.6.4 Past Perfect Tense 53
3.6.4-1 Auxiliary Verbs 54
3.6.5 Future Tense 54
3.6.5-1 Auxiliary Verbs 56
3.6.6 Future Perfect Tense 57
3.6.7 The Subjunctive Mood 57
3.6.7-1 Auxiliary Verbs 57
3.6.8 The Conditional Mood 58
3.6.9 Modal Verbs 59
3.7 Adverbs 61
3.7.1 Adverbs of Place 61
3.7.2 Adverbs of Time 62
3.7.3 Comparison of Adverbs 62
3.7.4 Adverbs of Manner and Degree 62
3.8 Prepositions 63
3.8.1 Prepositional Contractions 63
3.9 Conjunctions 64
3.9.1 Coordinating Conjunctions 64
3.9.2 Subordinating Conjunctions 65

4. Numbers – Kil’kissten 67
4.1 Numbers Overview 67
4.1.1 0 through 10 67
4.1.2 11 through 19 67
4.1.3 20 through 99 68
4.1.4 100 through 999 68
4.1.5 1,000 through 9,999 69
4.1.6 10,000 through 99,999 69
4.1.7 100,000 through 999,999 70
4.1.8 1,000,000+ 71

5. Telling Time – Tokemata Dolgaban 73

5.1 What time is it? 73
5.2 The Hours
73

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 13

5.2.2 The Twelve Hour Clock 73

5.2.3 The Twenty-Four Hour Clock 74
5.3 The Minutes 74

6. Days, Months, Dates and Seasons –

Ogonen, Patchabogonen, Djebeten ilo Dolgamitban 75
6.1 Days, Months and Dates Overview 75
6.1.1 General Terms 75
6.1.2 Days of the Week 75
6.1.3 Months of the Year 76
6.1.4 Dates 76
6.2 Seasons 77

Bibliography – Prematicalen 79

This book is intended for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES only. Divinian is a fictitious language and is NOT
intended for biblical, historical, literary, linguistic, etymological or factual usage. This text is derived from an
independent and unofficial interpretation of the Divine Language, and is not sponsored by Gaumont or any affiliates
thereof. Any and all words and definitions appearing in this text which originated in the script by Luc Besson, the
publications of Luc Besson or Terry Bisson, the soundtrack by Eric Serra, or the film The Fifth Element (Copyright
© 1997 Gaumont. All Rights Reserved.), are for reference purposes only and are not owned by this author. All
sources accredited herein.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 14

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 15

Talar Mechtaba

Divinian is an informal exploration and interpretation of the Divine Language,

originally created and developed by Luc Besson in his script and screenplay for the
1997 film The Fifth Element © 1997 Gaumont, starring Bruce Willis, Gary
Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich and Chris Tucker. The language was
highlighted in several scenes in the movie, spoken by the character Leeloominaï
Lekatariba Lamina-Tchaï Ekbat De Sebat (Precious Gem of the Earth and
Honourable Defender of Light and Life), or simply Leeloo (gem), played by Milla
Jovovich. This fictitious language was quite literally brought to life by Ms.
Jovovich, and the subsequent fan-following of both the film and the language were
evident in the numerous sites found on the internet dedicated to them, immediately
following the release of the movie.

There was, and still remains more than a decade later, much fan-following and
speculation on the origins and extent of the language. In an interview, Milla
Jovovich stated that Luc Besson presented her with a dictionary of 800 words
during production of the film, however the dictionary which was offered in the
1997 publication The Story of The Fifth Element written by Luc Besson, included
less than 150 words. Ms. Jovovich also indicated that the language was essentially
based on existing languages so as to maintain a degree of realism for the language
in the film. Since the release of the film and the original dictionary, many fans
have taken it upon themselves to try to extract the missing words in an attempt to
re-create the complete dictionary, however most sources remain incomplete, with
far too many gaps to truly make the Divine Language a living language.

This text is one fans independent study of the Divine Language, which finds its
root in the original dictionary offered by Luc Besson, and expands upon it to an
extent that has never before been offered. From the meager base of less than 200
words, a new Divinian to English dictionary is now available boasting in excess of
1,300 words, with a related-word English to Divinian dictionary that exceeds 6,000
words! And with the two complete dictionaries, a comprehensive explanation of
noun declension, verb conjugation, grammar and sentence structure have also been
compiled and presented here, as an authentic reference guide to truly learning to
speak, read and write the Divine Language, as interpreted and developed by T.
Leah Fehr, and offered here as Divinian.

The development of Divinian involved an indepth investigation, not only into the
established Divine Language, but in the entire spectrum of language, in general.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 16

Many new words that appear in this text were derived from the script, books and
film, using pre-existing words as their root. For those words that could not be born
of the obvious sources, they were carefully chosen from known languages
throughout the world. Every new word and translation in the Divinian dictionary
finds its root in a conventional source – with some words originating in Romanian,
Polish, Czech, Hebrew, and Portuguese dialects, to name only a few. Words were
chosen based on their meaning and compatibility with Divinian; similar letter
groupings, or overall tone or inflection. The author felt this method of
supplementing the existing dictionary was more respectful to its creator, in light of
the fact that many of the original words were also based on known languages.
Other sources for the dictionary presented here were from fellow fans of the
language and film, with a wonderfully keen knowledge of word usage and
etymology.

While it bears the appearance of an authentic study of Luc Besson’s Divine

Language, this text is unofficial and is not sponsored or endorsed by Luc Besson,
Gaumont, or any affiliates thereof. To distinguish between Luc Besson’s Divine
Language and that adapted by T. Leah Fehr herein, the language that is the focus of
this book is referred to as Divinian henceforth, and should not be compared to, or
considered to be, the language originally adapted by Luc Besson, but rather a
fictitious embellishment of it.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 17

1.
Limoï Tokemata

1.1 Divinian Alphabet and Letter Groups2

Short
Vowels Long Vowels Vowel Groups & Dipthongs
a man
ä yawn a late aï eye eo eh-oh ouy oo-yuh
ëé ee ay
e bet e eh au ah-oo ia ee-yuh oy boy
i sit ï greet ay late ia yuah ye yellow
o go
o water ö ah ay tennis io ee-oh
eye-
u stuck u moon aya yuh oï oil or boy Double Vowels
y yellow y n/a ayo ay-oh ou moon aa man
ea yeah oua oo-aw ee greet
ei eh-ee
eï aye oua water oo moon

Consonant
Consonants Groups
b boy w water ch church lf self ph phone
c car x n/a chk latchkey lg Olga pk napkin
d door z zebra cht hitched lk milk rb marble
f friend ckt cracked lkct sulked rj dirge
g good Double cr crack ls also rl girl
h human Consonants ct act mb remember rs person
j jump dd add dj gorge ml hamlet rt party
k kick ll llama fl floor mt dreamt sc school
l love mm summer fr fresh nch crunch sh wash
m mother nn running ft craft ncr increase sk ask
n never pp supper kb kickback nd hand sp speak
p paper ss wash kf backfire ndlh candleholder sst shtick
q n/a tt better khr crack ng angry tch catch
r forget kht cracked nj orange tr train
s sit kn kn nk drink ts sits
fox or
t time ks sticks nt can't tz Howitzer
v value kt cracked nv envy zh casual

2
English words in parentheses and/or italicized are for pronunciation purposes, with the sound being described
bolded in orange.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 18

1.2 Vowels
1.2.1 Short Vowels

When the letter ‘a’ appears at the beginning or in the middle of a

word, and when preceding a consonant, it is pronounced as a
keratapla / battle
a short ‘ah’ sound (man), however at the end of a word, it is
mechtaba / book
pronounced 'uh' (up). When the ‘a’ appears with an umlaut (ä),
matala / clothing
usually following a double consonant or consonant group, the
ä khrasma /
sound is a more elongated ‘ahh’ sound, and will always be in the
destiny
stressed syllable of a multisyllable word. The letter 'a' is always a
short sound, unless in conjunction with another vowel.
The short 'eh' sound (bet) is the most common ‘e’ sound in djebet / meeting
e Divinian. The letter 'e' is usually short unless in conjunction with dedero / decision
another vowel. envolet / gone
There is little usage of the short 'i' sound (sit) in Divinian. When
prematical /
i found in an unstressed syllable, the long ‘i’, can be shortened
important person
slightly and result in a sound close to the short ‘i’ in English.
The letter 'o' is often short when located in the middle of a word
and preceding a consonant, and is pronounced as an 'aw' sound
o (water). The only time an ‘o’ will be short at the beginning of a statoncro /
word is if it precedes an ‘l’. The umlaut ‘ö’ produces more of an intention
ö ‘oh’ sound but still very short and less rounded than the long ‘oh’ crön / million
sound, and in a multisyllable word will usually appear in the
unstressed syllable.
The short ‘u’ is similar to the English pronunciation ‘uh’ (stuck),
however the letter ‘u’ is typically used in conjunction with
another vowel, and is used only occasionally as an independent yututuki /
u sound in Divinian. The independent ‘u’ is most often a long complete
sound, except when preceding a double consonant, in which case
it is also always in an unstressed syllable.
The letter ‘y’ is always pronounced as a short 'yuh' sound
(yellow), whether at the beginning, middle or end of a word. If
yaknan / another
preceding a vowel, the 'uh' sound would take on the sound of the
ydeo / believe
vowel, unless they are separated by an apostrophe. The 'yuh'
hany / even
y sound is more subtle when at the end of the word, and while it
daïtaky / strike
does elongate a preceding vowel slightly, it does not slide into an
aranouylipot /
'ee' sound as it does in English. The ‘yuh’ sound should not be so
rescue
strong that it adds an extra syllable to a word, unless separated by
an apostrophe.

1.2.2 Long Vowels

There is little or no usage of a long ‘aye’ sound (late) in Divinian,

a unless in conjunction with another vowel.
n/a

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 19

e As with the letter 'a', the 'e' is almost always short unless in
conjunction with another vowel. The short 'eh' sound (bet) is the
most common ‘e’ sound, however it changes to a long ‘ay’ sound
ë
when accented (é), and a long ‘ee’ sound when it takes on an n/a
umlaut (ë). The accented ‘é’ is typically found at the end of
é words, but may also be used in the middle of a word. The umlaut
‘ë’ usually denotes an unstressed syllable, and is rarely used.
The letter ‘i’ in Divinian is always pronounced as a long ‘ee’
sound (greet) unless in an unstressed syllable, where it can be
shortened slightly and result in a sound close to the English short
i ‘i’. Words beginning with ‘i’ are always pronounced ‘ee’. When
mino / my
‘i’ is preceded by another vowel, it will almost always take on an
akilet / late
umlaut (ï) and lengthens the sound of the preceding vowel, sliding
ï luminaï / light
into an ‘ee’ sound. The only exception is if preceded by the letter
velui / feel
‘u’, in which case both vowels maintain their independent sounds.
The umlaut ‘ï´ is usually found at the end of words, however its
presence in the middle of a word typically denotes an unstressed
syllable.
The Divinian ‘o’ will always be a long ‘oh’ sound (go) at the
o beginning and end of a word, with the exception of words ojela / select
beginning with ‘ol’.
The letter ‘u’ is typically used in conjunction with another vowel,
and is used only occasionally as an independent sound in
kulka / road
u Divinian. The independent ‘u’ is always pronounced as a long
dalutan / careful
‘oo’ sound (moon), unless it precedes a double consonant in an
unstressed syllable.
The letter ‘y’ in Divinian is always pronounced as a short sound
(yellow), whether at the beginning, middle or end of a word. selovoy / attack
Unlike English, when ‘y’ appears at the end of a word in sonoy / awake
y Divinian, it does not slide into an 'ee' sound (as in ‘play’). The melaloy’ré /
only exception to this is when the ‘y’ is preceded by an ‘o’ at the mission
end of a word.

1.2.3 Vowel Groups and Dipthongs3

The ‘aï’ dipthong is pronounced ‘eye’ and appears most

apipoulaï / hi
aï frequently at the end of a word. Its presence in the middle of a
daïtaky / strike
word typically indicates an unstressed syllable.
The vowel combination 'au' does not change the integrity or root
sound of either vowel. The 'a' remains a short 'ah' (man) and the caupo /
au 'u' remains the long 'oo' (moon). The resulting sound is 'a-oo', two hospitable
syllables, with emphasis on the second ‘u’ syllable.

3
Dipthongs are vowel groups that, when conjoined, create one new sound.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 20

The ‘ay’ combination in Divinian is the only instance that the

letter ‘a’ is not short. Whenever ‘a’ precedes ‘y’ in a word
(beginning, middle or end), the ‘a’ is pronounced as ‘aye’ (late),
but be careful to not let the ‘y’ slide into an ‘ee’ sound as it tends moondelay /
ay to in English (play). The ‘ay’ vowel group should be pronounced world
as ‘ayuh’ with the ‘yuh’ sound being very short, keeping the chay / was
whole to one syllable, or at worst, almost a hiccup in the word.
Also, when said quickly, or in an unstressed syllable, the ‘ay’ can
become a dipthong with a resulting sound of ‘eh’ (tennis).
Unlike the ‘ay’ group, the appearance of the second ‘a’ at the end
of this vowel group changes the pronunciation of the ‘a’
preceding the ‘y’. Rather than a long ‘aye’ sound, this
aya combination changes to a long ‘i’ (eye), with the second ‘a’
bayaterol / raw
causing a more prominent ‘yuh’ sound at the end, pronounced as
‘eye-yuh’.
The vowel group 'ayo' follows the rules of the 'ay' group, however
if it appears in the middle of a word, the 'o' still retains a long 'oh'
sound (go), just as it would at the end of a word. The 'a' is a long dayodomo /
ayo 'aye' sound (late) followed by a short 'yuh', which slides into the extremely
'o'. The resulting sound is 'ay-oh', two syllables, with emphasis
on the first 'ay' syllable.
The dipthong 'ea' is rarely used, and it is the only time the 'e' will
be pronounced as a long 'ee' sound (greet), however the
ea combination of 'e' and 'a' change to sound of each to a new sound nealla / really
that is similar the English word 'yeah', beginning with a subtle
'yuh' sound, and ending with the common short 'ah' sound (man).
The ‘ei’ grouping is rare and typically used at the beginning of a
ei word. Pronounced as two quick syllables, both letters still
maintain their integrity as a short ‘eh’ (bet) and a long ‘i’ or ‘ee’ eito / unusual
sound (greet), resulting in ‘eh-ee’. However, if ‘ei’ appears at the touteï / head
eï end of a word, the ‘i’ always takes on an umlaut (ï) and it is
pronounced ‘aye’ (late).
Found primarily at the ends of words, the vowel group ‘eo’
retains the common rules of both the individual letters. The ‘eh’
eo is short (bet), but as it slides into the long ‘oh’ sound (go), it deo / god, divine
results in a sound closer to a long ‘aye’. Again, the result is two
syllables, ‘eh-oh’, with the emphasis on the first ‘e’ syllable.
When appearing at the end of a word, the vowel group ‘ia’
follows the rules of both individual letters. The ‘i’ is pronounced
as a long ‘ee’ sound (greet), which flows into the ‘uh’ sound (up)
ania / none,
of the ‘a’ whenever it ends a word. The result is a distinct two
nothing
ia syllable sound of ‘ee-yuh’. However, if ‘ia’ is in the middle of a
dia / slow
word, it becomes one syllable, but with two distinct sounds. The
sossian / self
‘i’ behaves more like a ‘y’ in this case with a ‘yuh’ sound, and the
‘a’ is short (man), but is softened by the ‘i’ which precedes it.
The resulting sounds is ‘yuah’.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 21

Appearing primarily at the end of a word, the vowel group ‘io’

follows the rules of both individual letters. The ‘i’ is pronounced ma'raydio /
io as a long ‘ee’ sound (greet), which flows into the ‘oh’ sound (go) considerate
of the ‘o’ whenever it ends a word.
The dipthong ‘oï’ can be found in the middle or at the end of
dinoïné /
words, with both vowels retaining their long sound, but ‘oh’ (go)
oï slides quickly into ‘ee’ (greet), the result ends up being ‘oy’ (oil
whatever
limoï / listen
or boy).
The vowel group ‘ou’ is quite common in Divinian, and shares its algoulana /
pronunciation with the letter ‘u’ and the double vowel ‘oo’. The brave
ou ‘ou’ sound is always pronounced as a long ‘oo’ (moon), unless it patou /
precedes an ‘a’. everywhere
The vowel group ‘oua’ can be pronounced two different ways, but
both pronunciations are actually variations of each other. One is
slow and the individual sounds are spoken clearly, resulting in
two distinct syllables, while the other is said very quickly, with
less diction, so only one syllable is detected. The first sound
follows the rules of the dipthong ‘ou’ spoken as ‘oo’ (moon)
however the ‘a’ takes on more of the short ‘o’ sound of ‘aw’ ouacra / enemy
oua (water). The result is ‘oo-aw’, which inevitably leads to a slight oualarta / small
‘wuh’ sound between the ‘ou’ and ‘a’. This is where the second open space
pronunciation begins to make an appearance. When said quickly
in an unstressed syllable, ‘oua’ is spoken as simply ‘wah’ (water).
The distinct two syllable sound should always be used when
followed by a hard consonant, like ‘c’ or ‘k’, whereas the single
syllable sound is used when followed by a soft consonant, like ‘l’
or ‘m’.
While ‘ou’ retains it’s ‘oo’ sound in this vowel group, the
addition of the letter ‘y’ elongates the sound and makes the ‘yuh’ aranouylipot /
ouy sound of the ‘y’ more prominent, pronounced as ‘oo-yuh’ and rescue
resulting in a two syllable effect.
The vowel group ‘oy’ shares its pronunciation with the ‘oï’ sound
as ‘oy’ (spoil), however this combination will only appear at the
selovoy / attack
oy end of a word or preceding an apostrophe in a compound word.
sonoy / awake
This is the only time that the ‘y’ should slide into an ‘ee’ sound,
as it tends to in English (boy).
The grouping of ‘ye’ is pronounced exactly as it is in English
(yellow), but be careful to not add another vowel sound before the
ye ‘y’ when ‘ye’ occurs after a consonant. In this situation, it fryesh / behave
becomes a distinct syllable break, and almost a hiccup in the
word.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 22

1.2.4 Double Vowels4

Pronounced as a short ‘ah’ sound (man), and similar to the short

aa ‘a’, but sharper and more exaggerated.
maata / sad
Pronounced as a long ‘ee’ sound (greet), and similar to the long
ee ‘i’, but slightly more exaggerated.
leeloo / stone
Pronounced as a long ‘oo’ sound (moon), and similar to ‘ou’ or ma'oolzi /
oo the long ‘u’, but slightly more exaggerated. confuse

1.3 Consonants
1.3.1 Independent Consonants

baraniba /
b Pronounced the same as in English.
present
As an independent consonant, ‘c’ will always be a hard sound,
c like the English ‘k’ (car), unless used in conjunction with an 'h'.
crön / million
Pronunciation of ‘d’ in Divinian is similar to that in English,
devet'desset /
d however it is a softer sound, made by putting the tip of your
perfect
tongue at the back of your front teeth.
f Pronounced the same as in English. flamta / forget
g Always pronounced the same as the English ‘g’ in ‘good’. gammal / arm
The letter 'h' in Divinian is most commonly found as an
independent consonant at the beginning of words, although it
does appear occasionally in the middle of a word. Regardless of
himmÄs / father
location, the 'h' is always pronounced as a slightly gutteral 'gh'
handala / hand
that is produced at the back of the throat (human) when preceding
h a vowel. There really is no comparable sound in Engish, however
hinoo / kiss
maha'nili /
it appears in German, Dutch, Arabic and other languages. The 'h'
someone
is also used in conjunction with other letters, such as 's', 'p' and 'c',
and the subsequent sound of each consonant is changed, either
individually or as a consonant group, much as it is in English.
The Divinian 'j' sounds much the same as it does in English,
pronounced as a soft 'g' or 'juh' sound (jump). This is a rarely
j used letter in Divinian, and is often found used in conjunction
jesset / some
with 'd', which gives it a slightly harder sound.
kyloun-kan /
k Pronounced the same as in English (kick).
instead
The letter 'l' in Divinian is pronounced much the same as it is in
English, however it is a slightly softer sound. To produce the loungalino /
l desired effect, rather than pronouncing 'l' from the back of your leave
throat, bring the sound to the front, with the tip of your tongue lacta / infinite
touching the back of your front teeth.

4
Double vowels will always appear in the stressed syllable of a word.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 23

m Pronounced the same as in English. meto / seek

n Pronounced the same as in English. nou'shan / sir
Pronounced the same as in English, and changes to an 'f' sound if piti / small
p combined with an 'h', just as in English. palela / fade
q The letter 'q' does not exist in Divinian. n/a
Similar to German, the Divinian ‘r’ tends to be a much more
uvular sound that it is in the English language. It can be rolled, as
in the Scottish pronunciation, however it is more commonly rab / eight
r pronounced as a kind of gargle. The sound is more subtle at the ligurat / ground
ends of words, and almost disappears into a slightly guttural ‘ah’
sound. There is no comparable sound in the English language.
As an independent consonant, ‘s’ behaves much like the English
version (sit) except that it is more distinct, pronounced at the front
simoulaï / reason
s of the mouth, with teeth together. However, as in English, the
sebat / above
sound produced by the letter ‘s’ changes when used in
conjunction with ‘h’ or as a double ‘ss’.
Pronunciation of ‘t’ in Divinian is similar to that in English,
however it is a softer sound, made by putting the tip of your
tokemata / speak
t tongue at the back of your front teeth. In Divinian, the ‘t’ never
bet / take
loses its original sound, even with used in conjunction with other
consonants.
v Pronounced the same as in English. mavano / have
w Pronounced the same as in English. awa / we
x The letter 'x' does not exist in Divinian. n/a
Pronounced the same as in English, unless used in conjunction
z with ‘h’.
azan / act

1.3.2 Consonant Groups5

michico /
ch Always pronounced the same as in English (church).
beautiful
Following the rule of ‘ch’, with ‘k’ pronounced as it would be schichkéman /
chk independently (latchkey). alright
Following the rule of ‘ch’, ending in the softer Divinian ‘t’ chtaman /
cht (hitched). understand
As in English, the ‘ck’ combination is always a hard ‘k’ sound, kicktenan /
ckt here followed by the softer ‘t’ (cracked). strong

5
Unlike English, the joining of consonants in Divinian rarely alters the root sound of the individual letters, leaving
the pronunciation of the following groups very much the same as they appear. There are exceptions, but primarily,
each letter is pronounced clearly. Also, the joining of distinct syllable sounds often signifies a syllable break in the
word, thereby distinguishing the two sounds clearly. Further consonant groups may present themselves in noun
declension and verb conjugation that are not outlined in this table, in which case each consonant retains its
individual sound.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 24

As an independent consonant, ‘c’ will always be a hard sound,

cr like the English ‘k’. The same rule applies here, followed by an crön / million
uvular ‘r’ (crack).
Pronounced just as it appears (act), however the ‘t’ is always a
ct slightly softer sound.
ractamo / huge
The ‘dj’ combination is found throughout Divinian and is
djala / what
pronounced much as you’d expect. It becomes a slightly harder
dj ‘juh’ sound, with a slight edge of the preceding ‘d’, resulting in a
adjïset /
something
sound similar to the soft English ‘g’ (gorge).
fl Pronounced the same as in English (floor). flamta / forget
The pronunciation of ‘fr’ is similar to English, but using an uvular
fr ‘r’ (fresh).
fryesh / behave
Pronounced similar to English (craft), however the ‘t’ is always a
ft slightly softer sound.
nalifta / why
kb Pronounced just as it appears (kickback). ekbat / honor
ekfebet /
kf Pronounced just as it appears (backfire).
important
The ‘khr’ combination is one of few instances where a consonant
is silent. In this combination, the ‘h’ has little influence because khrasma /
khr it precedes the softer consonant ‘r’, except to soften the ‘k’ destiny
slightly and exaggerate the uvular ‘r’ (crack).
In the ‘kht’ consonant combination, the ‘h’ is still essentially
silent, however because it precedes a hard consonant, it cause a
kht slight exhalation prior to the ‘t’ in the inevitable syllable break.
takhtad / tactic
There is no comparable sound in the English language.
Unlike its English counterpart, the ‘k’ in the consonant group ‘kn’
kn is never silent. Each letter is pronounced clearly, and typically pakna / question
signifies a syllable break in a word.
Pronounced just as it appears, similar to the English ‘x’ (fox or
ks sticks).
ikset / worry
Pronounced just as it appears (cracked), however the ‘t’ is always
kt a slightly softer sound.
dakta / thought
Pronounced the same as in English (self), following the rules of afrilfelset /
lf the Divinian 'l'. destruction
Both letters in the ‘lg’ group are pronounced clearly, following
lg the rules of each individual Divinian consonant (Olga).
dolgaban / time
Pronounced similar to English, following the rules of each
lk individual letter (milk).
kulka / road
In this consonant group, the ‘k’ and ‘c’ work together to form the
lkct same hard ‘k’ sound, while the ‘l’ and ‘t’ maintains their usual metalkcta / home
softness (sulked).
Pronounced the same as in English (also), following the rules of welso / know,
ls the Divinian 'l'. knowledge
topometimbackta
mb Pronounced the same as in English (remember).
/ surprise

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 25

The only instance of the 'ml' consonant group appearing is in an

mlarta / small
ml alternative spelling of the Divinian word oualarta. The
open space
pronunciation of the word does not change with the use of the 'm'.
Pronunciation is similar to English (dreamt), following the rules flamta'seddan /
mt of the Divinian ‘t’. unforgettable
Pronounced exactly as it appears, and as it would in English choncha / good
nch (crunch). looking
As always, the ‘c’ in this group behaves as it would
independently, sounding like a hard ‘k’, and the ‘r’ is uvular or statoncro /
ncr rolled (increase). This consonant group typically signifies a intention
syllable break in a word, between the ‘n’ and ‘c’.
Pronounced essentially the same as the English version, however
nd following the rules of the Divinian ‘d’ (hand).
kando / inside
The consonant group ‘ndlh’ is a difficult one, and only appears to
be present in one Divinian word, however it does have a similar
ndlh English pronunciation (candleholder), bearing in mind the
handlha / wrist
general rules of the individual consonants in Divinian.
Unlike its English counterpart, the consonant group ‘ng’ never
slides into one sound (as in ‘thing’). The individual letters do not
ng lose their integrity and are pronounced as two separate sounds, angesset / face
which may still blend slightly, but the ‘g’ always retains its root
sound (angry).
The ‘j’ in the group ‘nj’ in Divinian tends to become a sound very
nj similar to the soft English ‘g’, which is not prevalent in Divinian nonjima / change
(orange).
Pronounced as it appears, however does not tend to slip into an
nk ‘ing’ sound as it may in English (drink). Both consonants retain ankanach / rotten
their individual integrity.
Pronunciation is similar to English (can't), following the rules of asountimon /
nt the Divinian ‘t’. deliver
nv Pronounced the same as in English (envy). envolet / gone
Pronounced the same as its common English counterpart,
Phloston /
ph changing the individual sound of each letter to form a distinct ‘f’
Phloston
sound (telephone).
Pronounced just as it appears, usually signifying a syllable break
pk (napkin).
trapka / steal
Both letters maintain their independent sounds, and are
rb pronounced just as they appear, however following the rules of zarbrra / expose
the uvular ‘r’ (marble).
In this consonant group, again both letters retain the integrity of
their root sound, however the presence of the uvular ‘r’ softens
rj the ‘j’ slightly from a distinct ‘juh’ sound to more of a soft
ferji / rude
English ‘g’ pronunciation (dirge).
Pronunciation is similar to English (girl), following the rules of
rl both Divinian consonants.
orlo / go

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 26

Pronunciation is similar to English (person), following the rules parsousan /

rs of the Divinian ‘r’. person
Pronunciation is similar to English (party), following the rules of oualarta / small
rt both Divinian consonants. open space
Unlike it’s English counterpart, the consonant group ‘sc’ never
slides into one sound (as in ‘science’). Both letters are clearly
sc pronounced, with the ‘c’ retaining it’s usual hard ‘k’ sound
escobar / priest
(school).
sh Always pronounced the same as in English (wash). shosha / normal
basaskidoun /
sk Pronounced the same as in English (ask).
show
isperobera /
sp Pronounced the same as in English (speak).
prophecy
Following the rule of the double ‘ss’ and the softening of the
sst letter ‘t’, this group is pronounced just as it appears (shtick).
assta / these
Pronounced the same as in English (catch), with the sounds
tch blending to produce a slightly more distinct ‘ch’.
itchewa / turn
Pronunciation is similar to English (train), following the rules of hotro / about
tr both Divinian consonants. (something)
Often signifying a syllable break, the consonant group ‘tz’ is
pronounced as two very distinct sounds (Howitzer), and the ‘z’
tz does not soften to an ‘s’ sound as it tends to in English in similar
setzuki / happy
context (as in ‘ritz’).
This is another example where the ‘h’ is relatively silent, however
it works with the ‘z’ to change the overall sound of each letter to
zh produce one sound that is a distinctly deeper ‘sh’ or elongated ‘j’
zhit / on
sound (casual).

1.3.3 Double Consonants6

dd Pronounced much the same as in English (address). seddan / never

ll Pronounced much the same as in English (llama). nealla / really
chimmäs /
mm Pronounced much the same as in English (summer).
mother
nn Pronounced much the same as in English (running). manna / power
hoppi'hoppa /
pp Pronounced much the same as in English (supper).
make love
ss Always pronounced as the soft English ‘sh’ sound (wash). assin / without
tt Pronounced much the same as in English (better). kozött / walk

6
Double consonants behave much the same in Divinian as they do in English, with the individual sound of each
letter remaining the same, only slightly elongated. However, unlike English, the presence of a double consonant
often, but not always, denotes stress on the syllable following the consonants, not the syllable preceding.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 27

1.4 Stress
Boldface type will be used in this section to indicate stressed syllables. While
there are no established rules for spoken stress in Divinian, there are a few general
guidelines:

• In simple words of two syllables, the stress is usually on the first syllable.
chagan / accept
talar / before
staïzhit / chair

• A syllable following a double consonant will almost always be stressed.

himmÄs / father
goummil / leg
manna / power

• A syllable with a vowel group containing an umlaut will almost always be

stressed.
luminaï / light
limoï / listen

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 28

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 29

2.
Skrivé Takhtad

2.1 Sentence Structure Overview

A sentence is an organized group of words that express a statement, a question, a
command, a wish, or an exclamation. A sentence starts with a capital letter and
ends with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation mark.
Chamille skrivén y’am mechtaba. / Chamille writes a book.
Fankön Chamille skrivé y’am mechtaba? / Does Chamille write a book?
Chamille, skrivé hila mechtaba! / Chamille, write the book!

Sentences consist of two basic parts: a subject and a predicate.

• A subject is the sentence unit that originates the action or the condition
indicated by the verb. The subject is the “who” or “what” the sentence is
about. It is often the first element in a simple sentence.
Robert vigon hila chacha’souk. / Robert watches the movie.

subject =
who watches the movie

• A predicate is that part of the sentence that expresses what is said about the
subject.
sentence

subject predicate
Robert vigon hila chacha’souk. / Robert watches the movie.

• A subject must contain a noun or pronoun; a predicate must include a verb.

The parts of speech that make up the subject and predicate are defined and
discussed in Chapter 3 – Parts of Speech.

Divinian sentence structure and word order is much the same as English, with only
four types of sentences prevalent as exceptions: Sentences consisting of genitive
nouns, and negative, future tense, or modal verbs.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 30

2.1.1 The Genitive Clause

The presence of a genitive or possessive noun in a clause or sentence alters the

sentence slightly from its English counterpart. In English, a possessive noun acts
more as an adjective, describing the object being referred to. In the clause ‘a
mother’s love’, the object of the phrase is ‘love’ and the possessive noun
‘mother’s’ is describing the ‘love’. This sentence structure differs in Divinian in
that it presents the object of the phrase first, followed by the appropriate article and
the possessively-declined noun, implying the word ‘of’, thus denoting ownersip:
hila achan’chinou y’am chimmäsen (the love [of] a mother). Genitive structure
and usage is further explained in Section 3.2.2.

Djala on hila abrilomat kan azapo'dalaten? / What is that restaurant’s address?

Hila fryesh soun piti’hämasen on mu’chagantakat. / Your son’s behavior is unacceptable.
Hila matala soun chimmäsen on michico. / Your mother’s dress is beautiful.

2.1.2 The Negative Clause

A Divinian affirmative (or positive) sentence can be made into a negative sentence
by using the suffix –né (not). While né can be used as a word in its own right, it is
more commonly used as a suffix, added to a noun, adjective or verb describing the
subject of a sentence. For example: kan on kala (that is good) – kan on kalané
(that is not good). Please note that the word being negated will often appear at the
end of the sentence or clause. A good rule to follow for a negative clause is this:
Most negative clauses will actually begin as an affirmative clause, with the noun,
adjective or verb being negated by the suffix -né. For example: ‘He does not talk’
would translate to Sen tokematané (He talks not)7.

Negated words can also appear mid-sentence, especially when the word being
negated is followed by a pronoun or phrase, or any time the word being negated is
separated from the word –né in the English affirmative equivalent. For example:
‘Did you not see her?’ (Did you see her not?) would be said as Fänkot deno vigoné
veno? or more grammatically correct as Mavano deno vigoné’met veno? (Have you
not seen her?).

Essentially, any word that is negated in a sentence can take on the –né suffix,
however this rule only applies when the English counterpart includes the use of the
7
In this example, the verb ‘talk’ takes on the 3rd person verb conjugation when the present tense clause changes in
the affirmative in English – from ‘he does talk’ to ‘he talks’, therefore the verb tokemata becomes tokematan with
the addition of the negative suffix –né to become tokematané. This differs from the singular negative form of ‘do
not talk!’ which would translate into tokematné! or ‘talk not!’, dropping the ‘a’ at the end of the infinitive form and
replacing it with the suffix. Similar rules follow for past or future tense clauses that are negated.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 31

word ‘not’, or implies an opposition or negation. It does not apply to English

words that are negated by the presence of a prefix, such as un-, mis-, non-, im-, or
dis-; such words take on the Divinian prefix of mu’, which also acts a negating
element, but does not alter the basic sentence structure.

Hila dogaban chay kalané. / The weather was not nice.

Sän mechtaba on imanétné'met. / This book is not informative.
Sen chay chtamantné. / He was not understood.
Sen chay mu'chtamant. / He was misunderstood.

2.1.3 The Future Tense Clause

A Divinian sentence or statement that indicates something that will be done in the
future differs from English in that the word ‘will’ is implied by the addition of the
–té suffix to the verb. The Divinian word for ‘will’ is manté, and can be used
independently, however usually only in the affirmative statement Me manté. (‘I
will.) The only deviation in sentence structure from its English counterpart in a
future tense statement is the removal of the word ‘will’, and the addition of the
suffix -té to the verb. For example: ‘I will go’ is said as Me orloté (I [will] go), as
opposed to Me manté orlo. However, when future tense is implied in a question,
sentence structure differs more greatly from English, as the affected verb will
precede the subject. For example: ‘Will you go?’ is said as Orloté deno? (Go
[will] you?), rather than Manté deno orlo?. Also note there is no difference in the
Divinan structure when an English phrase denoting future tense does not include
the use of the word ‘will’, such as the question ‘Are you going to…?’.
Vigoté deno kan chacha’souk? / Will you see that movie?
Awa vigoté sän chacha’souk. / We will see this movie.
Gété denon y’am metalkcta? / Are you going to (will you) buy a house?
Awa gété kan metalkcta. / We are going to (we will) buy that house.

2.1.4 The Modal Clause

A modal clause is recognized by the presence of one of five modal verbs; can,
may, must, should or want to. Modal verbs do not describe an action but an
attitude toward it. A modal verb normally is followed by a complementary or
‘completing’ infinitive. The use of modal verbs can simplify a statement or
question a great deal, however sentence structure does change slightly with their
use, specifically when asking a question. The object is to phrase a question with a
modal verb as opposed to an infinitive. For example: ‘Do you want to read the
book’ directly translates in Divinian to Fänko deno bankité chtaman hila
mechtaba?, which is acceptable, but grammatically incorrect. The correct structure

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 32

would be Bankité deno chtaman hila mechtaba? or directly translated to English,

‘Want you (to) read the book?’. When posing a question with a modal verb,
always remember to place the verb before the subject noun, and that the word ‘to’
is always inferred.

Mana sen fänko kan? / Is he capable (can he) of doing that?

Makna deno eto kyla? / Are you allowed to (may you) be here?
Achtat deno elgoun’doloun domo? / Did you have to (must you) wait long?
Deno bachta eto setzuki. / You ought to (should) be happy.
Awa bankité ansila perod’jun. / We want to study now.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 33

3.
Imanétaban oum Tokemata

3.1 Declension and Conjugation Prefix and Suffix

English Divinian -ing -a14
-s or -es -n or -en -en 'met
's or s' -n or -en -enly -o'met15
-ed -t or -et -th 'dé
[to do] ko-8 -er -tz
-y, -ly or -ley -o9 -est -tzen
-ful 'oum10 -al 'met16
-fully 'oumo11 -ally -o’met
-able 'oum -tion -kt
-ability 'oumet12 -ment 'gé
-ious 'oum im-, in- non-, un-, mis-, dis- mu'
-iously 'oumo -ive / [to be] eto'
-ably 'oumo con- ma'17
-ish 'oum [to get] 'gé
-ishly 'oumo [to make] 'met
-less 'mol self- sossian'
-lessly 'molo [of us/our] 'tot
-ness -u13 [will be – future tense] -té

8
occasionally used in root verbs
9
will replace vowel at the end of words, and vowels
14
preceding 'ï' will replace vowel at the end of words, and vowels
10
will replace vowel(s) at the end of words preceding 'ï'
11 15
will replace vowel(s) at the end of words ‘o’ will replace vowel at the end of words, and
12
will replace vowel(s) at the end of words vowels preceding 'ï'
13 16
will replace vowel at the end of words, and vowels to make
17
preceding 'ï' occasionally used in root verbs

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 34

3.2 Nouns
Nouns are words that label or name persons or things (objects, places,
concepts, etc.). Divinian nouns have endings that indicate their number and
role within a sentence, however they are not assigned a gender, as is
common with many European languages. Grammatical gender assignment
is limited in Divinian, and is prevalent only in articles.
Sän mechtaba on imanetab’oum. / This book is informative.

noun (singular)

Kan chämas on domo assino. / That woman is very friendly.

noun (singular)

Me vano kyla statoncron. / I had good intentions.

noun (plural)

• Proper nouns name a particular person, place or thing.

Nou’shan Smith chay topometimbacktat. / Mr. Smith was surprised.

proper noun

David on setzuki. / David is happy.

proper noun

• Common nouns do not name a particular person, place or thing. They

can be classified as count and non-count.

o Count nouns refer to persons, places or things that can be

counted.

Singular Plural
hila polygot / the hotel hila polygoten / the hotels
dé chämas / the woman dé chämasen / the women

o Non-count nouns refer to persons, places or things that cannot

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 35

be counted; they usually have only a singular form.

hila imanétaba / the information
hila dogaban / the weather

3.2.1 Compound Nouns

By combining two or more nouns, compound nouns are formed. The last
noun of the compound determines the count (singular or plural). Two
singular nouns may be joined to form a compound singular noun, or a
singular noun and a plural noun may be joined to form a compound plural
noun. Compound nouns are usually recognizable because the individual
nouns are often separated by an apostrophe.

Noun 1 Noun 2 Compound Noun

foun’dé / first ogon / day foun’dé'ogon / the birthday
metalkcta / home dalat / page metalkcta'dalat / the homepage
ligunaï / space dalaten / locations ligunaï'dalaten / the websites

3.2.2 Number and Declension

Number means that a word can be singular (referring to one person, place,
etc.) or plural (referring to more than one).

• A plural noun is recognized by its ending, or declension, which is

dependent on the last letter of the singular noun.

Declension relates to the endings of a noun that determine its role within a
sentence. Case is the inflectional form of a noun indicating its grammatical
relation to other words.

• The Divinian noun has only two cases: The nominative, marking the
subject and the object of the verb, and the genitive, or the possessive.

• The nominative case encompasses the accusative (the direct object)

and the dative (the indirect object), and there is no difference in
declension in these contexts from the nominative, otherwise
determined by number.

• The genitive case of a singular or plural noun will always take the
plural declension (–n or –en) of the subject noun to indicate
possessiveness.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 36

Dé chämas kilen'poulant hila parsousanen foun hila kiko hila ouacran.

The woman protected the people from the evil of the enemy.
subject verb direct object direct object possessive
nominative nominative (plural) nominative genitive
who? to whom? what? whose?

3.2.3 Plural Nouns

How do Divinian plurals compare with their English counterparts? Almost

all English nouns form plurals by adding –s or –es to the singular forms:
boy, boys; office, offices. The declension of plural nouns in Divinian is
similar to English, but uses –n and –en endings. Some plural forms do not
change at all from the singular. In terms of forming plurals, most Divinian
nouns belong to one of five groups. Each group forms the plural endings in
a different way.

Group 1

Nouns that end in a consonant will always take the –en ending, including
words that end in –y.

Case Singular Plural Meaning

nom. dé chimmäs dé chimmäsen the mother(s)
gen. dé chimmäsen dé chimmäsen of the mother(s)
nom. hila ligunaï'dalat hila ligunaï'dalaten the website(s)
gen. hila ligunaï'dalaten hila ligunaï'dalaten of the website(s)

Icoulay on soun chimmäs? / Where is your mother? (nominative singular)

Mina on pan dé matin chimmäsen. /
She is with the other mothers. (nominative plural)
Djala on hila abrilomat soun ligunaï'dalaten? /
What is your website’s address? (genitive singular)
Djala on hila abrilomaten senon ligunaï'dalaten? /
What are his website’s addresses? (genitive plural)

Group 2

Nouns that end in a vowel will always take the –n ending, with the exception
of words that end in –y.

Case Singular Plural Meaning

nom. hila sassta’shima hila sassta’shiman the ship(s)

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 37

gen. hila sassta’shiman hila sassta’shiman of the ship(s)

nom. hila mechtaba hila mechtaban the book(s)
gen. hila mechtaban hila mechtaban of the book(s)

Icoulay on soun sassta’shima? / Where is your ship? (nominative singular)

Mino sassta’shiman ont felsetet. / My ships were destroyed. (nominative plural)
On hila imanétaba cheba sän mechtaban? /
Is that book’s information valuable? (genitive singular)
Hila statoncron on ma’oolzi seno mechtaban. /
Her books’ intentions are confusing. (genitive plural)

Group 3

Nouns that end in the vowel groups –aï, –eï, and –oï will always take the –n
ending, and will never lose their umlaut.

Case Singular Plural Meaning

nom. hila luminaï hila luminaïn the light(s)
gen. hila luminaïn hila luminaïn of the light(s)
nom. hila touteï hila touteïn the head(s)
gen. hila touteïn hila touteïn of the head(s)

Bom on soun touteï? / How is your head? (nominative singular)

Tba touteïn on keseben dan amna. /
Two heads are better than one. (nominative plural)
Pan hila givo’mana luminaïn awa ont sonoyet. /
With the light’s help, we were awakened. (genitive singular)
Hila dalat luminaïn chay mu’welsoni. /
The lights’ location was unknown. (genitive plural)

Group 4

Nouns that do not change in the plural, but do take on a plural declension in
the genitive (possessive) case.

Case Singular Plural Meaning

nom. hila dogaban the weather
gen. hila dogabanen of the weather

Djala on hila isperobera dogabanen sän ogonen? /

What is today’s weather forecast? (genitive singular)

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 38

Group 5

Proper nouns, or names of people or places, never take on the plural

declension in the genitive (possessive) case, rather they are preceded by the
word oum (of) to indicate possessiveness.
Hila chacha’souk oum Shakespeare chay akba. /
Shakespeare’s play was brilliant.

3.3 Articles
Articles are words placed before nouns (or their modifying adjectives) that
permit us to differentiate among then in some way.

• Articles that refer to specific persons or objects are called definite

articles (equivalent to the English ‘the’). Articles designating
nonspecific persons or objects are called indefinite articles (equivalent
to the English ‘a’ or ‘an’)
Definite Indefinite
hila azapo’dalat / the hotel y’am azapo’dalat / a hotel
hila ouacra / the enemy y’am ouacra / an enemy

• In Divinian, only the definite article is used to indicate grammatical

gender, and since nouns are not assigned gender in Divinian, the
neutral ‘hila’ is most commonly used, unless speaking specifically
about a male (da) or female (dé) subject.
y’am cocha / a car
hila ansilan / the students
dé piti chämas / the young woman
da welso hämas / the intelligent man

• There is also a formal article used primarily for the purpose of

introductions, titles or statements, although its use is not common in
day to day dialog.

Hila’y’am Yututuki Melaloyen oum William Shakespeare /

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Hila’y’am Toma oum Homer / The Odyssey of Homer

3.3.1 The Definite Article

The definite article points to people, objects, or concepts that are known or
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 39

have been defined. The same article is used regardless of number or verb
tense, however a noun with a genitive declension will lose its article unless
the article is demonstrative (indicating nearness), or has a possessive
pronoun associated with it.

Hila melaloy chabogon on kessetount. / The work week is finished.

Hila chacha’souk chay kiko. / The movie was terrible
hila dogabanen sän ogonen / today’s weather
hila achan’chinou seno assinen / her friend’s love
hila zarbrra mechtaban / the book’s release

3.3.2 The Indefinite Article

The indefinite article points to something that is unspecified – a person or an

object in the singular. There are no plural forms. As with the definite
article, the same indefinite article is used regardless of verb tense, however a
noun with a genitive declension will never lose its indefinite article, in order
to establish that the noun is not specific or possessive.
Djala y’am ankanach ogon! / What a rotten day!
Olou chay y’am setzuki dolgaban dat veno. / It was a happy time for her.
hila achan’chinou y’am chimmäsen / a mother’s love
hila achan’chinou dé chimmäsen / the mother’s love

• A good rule to follow when using a genitive noun is this - if the sentence
can be changed to include the words ‘of the’, (where ‘the’ is not
preceding a gendered noun) then the article preceding the noun with the
genitive declension is always removed. For example: ‘the book’s
information’ can also be said as ‘the information of the book’, thus the
Divinian phrase would read as hila imanétaba mechtaban, whereas the
English phrase ‘a book’s information’ can also be said as ‘the
information of a book’, therefore the Divinian phrase would read as hila
imanétaba y’am mechtaban.
• Also note that the article preceding the possessed noun will always be
definite, for it is the genitive article, or lack thereof, which determines
specification or nearness.

3.3.3 Demonstratives

Demonstratives point to a person or thing that has been referred to

previously. They specify whether someone or something is relatively near
(the demonstratives ‘this’ and ‘these’) or far (‘that’ and those’).

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 40

Demonstratives Indicating ‘Nearness’

Case Singular Plural Meaning
nom. sän assta this / these
gen. sänen asstan of this / of these

The genitive forms of demonstrative articles are rarely used, but would
take on the same genitive declension as a proper noun by adding –n or –en,
following the same rules.

Sän mechtaba on domo kala. / This book is very good.

Assta matalan on michico. / These clothes are beautiful.

Demonstratives Indicating ‘Farther away’

Case Singular Plural Meaning
nom. kan kanen that / those
gen. kanen kanen of that / of those

In this case, the nominative and genitive forms are the same because the
plural is not a separate word, but has been pluralized from the stem word
‘kan’ to ‘kanen’, however the genitive forms of these articles are rarely
used.

Kan hamäs on domo assinou. / That man is very friendly.

Kanen piti’hamäs on mu’fryesha. / Those boys are misbehaving.

3.4 Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns. Adjectives follow some
of the same declension rules as nouns and verbs, however they do not have
to necessarily agree with the verb tense of the sentence, or noun they are
describing in terms of number, and they don’t change whether preceding a
noun or appearing as a predicate adjective, which stands after a linking verb.
dé setzuki piti’chämas / the happy girl
dé setzuki piti’chamäsen / the happy girls
dé piti’chämasen on setzuki / the girls are happy (predicate adjective)

Adjectives can also take on many other declensions, depending on their

context and English counterpart endings.
dé setzukitz piti’chamäs / the happier girl
dé setzukitzen piti’chamäsen / the happiest girls

Adjectives do not change declension when describing a genitive noun, and

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 41

will immediately precede the noun they are describing, whether it is the
genitive or the possessed noun, much the same as in English.
hila chila da ma’raydio himmÄsen / the kind father’s hug
hila ma’raydio chila da himmÄsen / the father’s kind hug
hila chila da himmÄsen chay ma’raydio / the father’s hug was kind

3.4.1 Adjectives used as Nouns

Whenever an adjective is used as a noun, it is declined like a noun.

Sen on da mu’klaat’met. / He is the unforgiven. (singular)

Ten on hila mu’klaaten’met. / They are the unforgiven. (plural)

3.4.2 Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

As in English, Divinian adjectives have comparative and superlative forms.

The comparative of an adjective is formed by adding –tz to its stem; the
superlative is formed by adding –tzen.

Adjective Comparative Superlative Meaning

valo valotz valotzen deep / deeper / deepest
skal skaltz skaltzen close / closer / closest
podo podotz podotzen great / greater / greatest

3.4.4 Possessive Adjectives

There is a group of possessive adjectives that are actually possessive

pronouns used as adjectives whenever they precede a noun.

Div. mino soun senon veno toten tenon

Eng. my your his her our their

mino himmÄs / my father

veno chimmäs / her mother

Common Adjective Prefix/Suffix

Eng. Eng.
English Divinian Stem Div. Stem Example Div. Example
-ed -t or -et change nonjima changed nonjimat
-able 'oum regret azipo regrettable azip'oum
[of us/our] 'tot choose ojela chosen ojela'tot
-y or -ly -o light luminaï lightly luminoï
-en 'met forgive klaat forgiven klaat'met
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 42

-al 'met history itoumalena historical itoumalena'met

-ful 'oum power manna powerful mann'oum
-ious 'oum
-ish 'oum self sossian selfish sossian'oum
-less 'mol self sossian selfless sossian'mol
-ing -a run komoul running komoula
-th -dé four pat fourth pat'dé
-er -tz small piti smaller pititz
-est -tzen small piti smallest pititzen
-ive eto' destroy felset destructive eto'felset

3.5 Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun or a noun phrase, refers back to it,
or inquires after it.

• Personal pronouns
Da hämas on ma’raydio. Sen on too dakt’oum. /
The man is kind. He is also thoughtful.

personal pronoun

The word sen is a personal pronoun; it replaces the subject noun hämas.

• Reflexive pronouns
Dé piti’chämas tokematan man veno’sossian. / The girl talks to herself.

reflexive pronoun

The word veno’sossian is a reflexive pronoun; it refers back to the subject noun
piti’chämas.

• Possessive pronouns
Mary on géna mino mechtaba. / Mary is getting my book.

possessive adjective

The word mino preceding a noun is a possessive pronoun used as a possessive

adjective.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 43

Hila mechtaba on minon. / The book is mine.

possessive pronoun

The word mino, standing by itself, is a possessive pronoun; it replaces the name of
the possessor, and takes on an –n ending to indicate the difference from its
possessive adjective counterpart.

• Demonstrative pronouns
Sän piti’hämas on assinou. / This boy is friendly.

demonstrative adjective

The word sän is a demonstrative pronoun, used as a demonstrative adjective.

Sen on assinou. / He is friendly.

demonstrative pronoun

The word sen, standing by itself, is used as a demonstrative pronoun; it replaces

the noun.

• Relative pronouns
Dé chämas kan on kozötta on mino chimmäs. /
The woman that is walking away is my mother.
relative pronoun

The word kan is a relative pronoun; it refers back to the noun in the main clause.

• Interrogative pronouns
Kinen matala on sän? / Whose clothing is this?

interrogative pronoun

The word kinen is an interrogative pronoun; it inquires after a person or thing.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 44

• Indefinite pronouns

Amin achta né eto mu'chtamant. / One must not be misunderstood.

indefinite pronoun

In the sentence above, the word amin is an indefinite pronoun; it replaces a noun
subject, a person, or persons who are not clearly defined.

3.5.1 Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to living beings, objects, or ideas. The first person
is used by a speaker or writer about himself or herself (me/mo, awa / I, we).
The second person is the person spoken or written to (deno / you). The third
person is the person or thing spoken or written about (sen, ven, olou, ten / he,
she, it, they).

3.5.1-1 Subject

Subject pronouns are used in the nominative. They have the following
forms:18

Person Divinian English Examples

sin. 1st Me / Mo I Me o maata. / I am sad.
2nd deno you On deno hela? / Are you coming?
sen he Sen tokematan kala. / He speaks well.
3rd ven she Ven on michico. / She is beautiful.
olou it Olou y'am kala ogon. / It is a good day.
pl. 1st awa we Awa orlot dot. / We went there.
2nd denon you Icoulay fänko denon tch'oum? / Where do you live?
3rd ten they Ten on kyla. / They are here.

3.5.1-2 Object

Object pronouns are used in the accusative and in the dative as direct objects
or as objects of a preposition that takes the accusative or the dative. They
have the following forms:19

18
The Divinian words for ‘I’ are Me and Mo and can be used interchangeably, often depending on the verb
following the pronoun. For example: ‘I am’ would more likely be said as Me o, rather than Mo o.
19
2nd person plural pronouns will always take on a plural declension (adding –n or –en to the stem) to
indicate that the subject or object is plural, but only IF the English counterpart plural does not differ from
the singular, as in the case of deno (you – singular) and denon (you – plural)

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 45

Person Divinian English Examples

sin. 1st mina me Charles danket mina. / Charles thanked me.
2nd deno you Ven vigon deno manané. / He can't see you.
seno him Ven achan'chinoun seno. / She loves him.
3rd veno her Awa basaskidount veno. / We showed her.
olou it Ven veluit olou. / She felt it.
pl. 1st tot us Deno aranouylipotet tot. / You rescued us.
2nd denon you Sen givo'manat denon. / He helped you.
3rd teno them Ven hinoot teno. / She kissed them.

3.5.1-3 Reflexive

A reflexive pronoun “reflects” or refers back to the subject:

Dé piti’chämas tokematan man veno’sossian. / The girl talks to herself.

Similar to English, Divinian distinguishes reflexive pronouns by the use of

‘self’. The word sossian is added to the stem word, separated by an
apostrophe to indicate that it has become a compound word and reflexive
pronoun.

Person Divinian English Examples

sin. 1st mino'sossian myself Mo paknat mino'sossian. / I questioned myself.
2nd soun'sossian yourself Latun soun'sossian. / Trust yourself.
seno'sossian himself Sen mekteten seno'sossian /
He prepares himself.
veno'sossian herself Ven dinat veno'sossian. /
3rd She judged herself.
olou'sossian itself Olou kilen'poulanan olou'sossian. /
It protects itself.

toten'sossianen ourselves Awa mu'gamatet toten'sossianen. /

pl. 1st We forbade ourselves.
2nd soun'sossianen yourselves Givo'mana soun'sossianen. / Help yourselves.
teno'sossianen themselves Ten bydem'mineart teno'sossianen. /
3rd They humbled themselves.

3.5.2 Possessive Pronouns

Possessives denote ownership. Their use generally corresponds to English

usage. Each possessive can be used as an adjective or as an independent
pronoun.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 46

Indefinite Singular Possessive Adjective

y’am hämas / a man mino hämas / my man (husband)
y’am chämas / a woman mino chämas / my woman (wife)
y’am piti’parsousan / a child mino piti’parsousan / my child

Demonstrative Plural Possessive Adjective

assta piti’parsounanen / mino piti’parsounanen /
these children my children

Possessive Adjectives / Pronouns

Adjective Pronoun Meaning
mino minon my / mine
soun sounen your / yours
senon senon his
veno venon her / hers
toten toten our / ours
tenon tenon their / theirs

• A possessive pronoun, or predicate nominative, that stands by itself

will always take on the plural declension (-n or –en) unless it is
already a pluralized word, like senon, toten and tenon.

3.5.3 Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun introduces a relative clause by referring to a noun or

pronoun in the preceding main clause. The element to which the relative
pronoun refers is called the antecedent.
Here is a woman whom you know.
Kyla on dé chämas kin deno welso.

antecedent relative pronoun

Main Clause Relative Clause

The relative pronouns in Divinian are kin and kan (who and that). Their use
depends on the context of the sentence.

Case Pronoun Meaning

nom. kan that
nom. kin who / whom
gen. kinen whose / of which

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 47

3.5.4 Interrogative Pronouns

An interrogative pronoun replaces a noun or noun phrase introducing a

question. The main Divinian interrogative pronouns are the same as in
English: kin (who), djala (what), icoulay (where), ashna (when), nalifta
(why), and bom (how).
Kin on kyla? / Who is here?
Djala fänko Mo vigo dot? / What do I see there?
Icoulay fänkot deno helé foun? / Where did you come from?
Ashna on hila djebet? / When is the meeting?
Nalifta on deno maata? / Why are you sad?
Bom on deno sän ogon? / How are you today?

3.5.5 Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to persons or objects that the speaker cannot or will
not identify. A majority of them can also be used as indefinite adjectives.
Indefinite Adjectives Indefinite Pronouns
jesset mechtaba / some books Adjïset on envolet. / Something is missing.
yaknan dolgaban / another time Manté maha’nili givo’mana mina? /
Will someone help me?

Important Indefinite Pronouns

Singular Plural / Genitive Meaning
yaknan yaknanen another
mol - less
piti - little
do - no
do'amin do'aminen nobody
ania - none / nothing
amin - one
matin matinen other
parsousanen parsousanen people
dom - plenty
jesset - some
maha'nili maha'nilen someone
adjïset adjïseten something
ten tenon they
deno soun you

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 48

3.6 Verbs
Verbs are words that describe an action, a process, or a state of being. Verbs
are conjugated depending on their tense, person and continuation of the act
being described. There is a direct relationship between Divinian verb
conjugation and that used in English, which greatly simplifies learning the
proper verb endings.
Action: Deno pakna. / You ask; you are asking; you do ask.

2nd person 2nd person

singular subject singular ending

Process: Awa bet.20 / We take; we do take.21

1st person 1st person

plural subject ending

State of Being: Ten on. / They are.

3rd person 1st person

plural subject plural ending

Me latun / I trust (1st person)

deno latun / you trust (2nd person)

ven latunen / she trusts (3rd person)
The English verb ends in –s, therefore the Divinan verb is conjugated like a plural
noun, ending in –n or –en

sen latunet / he trusted (3rd person past tense)

English past tense verbs often end in –d or –ed, whereas the Divinian past tense
verb ends in –t or –et

latuna teno / trusting them (continuous verb)

The English equivalent are verbs often ending in –ing, whereas Divinan
20
Most 1st and 2nd person Divinan verbs, and even some 3rd person verbs, can be used interchangeably,
and therefore may not conjugated differently. For example: ‘I take, you take, we take, they take’ all use
the same verb in English, despite the difference in person and number – Divinian verbs act much the same
way. However, the English phrase ‘he takes’ would be conjugated plurally in Divinian as ‘sen beten’.
21
The English verb ‘taking’ denotes a continuous action, therefore an –a is added to the stem word. This is
the general rule for any verbs ending in –ing, unless they already end in –a, in which case they are not
conjugated.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 49

continuous verbs will end in –a

3.6.1 Present Tense

The present tense of a verb is determined by the noun/pronoun person. 1st

person present tense verbs are always the same as the infinite verb. For
example: The verb in Me komoul (I run) is the same as in man komoul (to
run). The difference in conjugation of a present tense verb is decided by the
person and the verbs relation to its English counterpart. For example: Me
komoul (I run) is not conjugated because it is in the 1st person, however sen
komoulen (he runs) is conjugated in the 3rd person singular form (similar to
plural noun declension) to reflect the English use of the –s at the end of the
stem word. 3rd person plural present tense verbs are typically not
conjugated and will remain the same as a 1st person singular present tense
verb. For example: Me tokemata De’oum (I speak Divinian) and Ten
tokemata De’oum (They speak Divinian). Divinian verb conjugation is very
closely related to English, and therefore very simple to learn once the verb
stems are memorized.

Person Ending Example Meaning

sin. 1st - Mo pakna I ask
2nd - deno pakna you ask
3rd -n or -en ven paknan she asks
pl. 1st - awa pakna we ask
2nd - denon pakna you ask
3rd - ten pakna they ask

3.6.1-1 Continuous Action

When expressing a situation that started in the past and continues into the
present, the continuous verb conjugation is used. This situation is easily
recognized in English by the ending –ing on a present tense verb. The
Divinian conjugation of the same verb would add the ending –a instead, but
only when the infinite verb does not already end in –a. Many Divinian verbs
end in –a, therefore when in a continuous state, they do not change. For
example: Me pakna (I ask) and Me o pakna (I am asking) use the same verb,
and essentially have the same meaning. These two phrases are differentiated
only by the inclusion of the auxiliary verb o (am), which changes its
meaning from an indicative statement to a continuous statement.

• When conjugating a verb that ends in -eï or –oï, the –a ending

replaces the vowel preceding the –ï, rather than appearing at the end
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 50

of the word.
• When conjugating a verb that ends in a double vowel ending in –i, the
–a ending replaces the letter preceding the –i, and the –i takes on an
umlaut (ï).
• When conjugating a verb that ends in a single vowel other than –a, the
–a ending replaces the vowel.

Stem Continuous Meaning Conjugation Rule

nonjima nonjima changing no change from the infinite
velui velaï feeling -ui is replaced by -aï
vigo viga seeing -o is replaced by -a
mektet mekteta preparing -a is added to stem

3.6.1-1 Auxiliary Verbs

There are three auxiliary (or helping) verbs in Divinian: the verbs eto22 (to
be)23, eto’helé (to become) and mavano (to have). The verbs eto and
mavano are as commonly used in Divinian as are their equivalents in
English. They can be used as words in their own right, but usually they help
to form other verb forms.

eto / to be
Me o I am awa on we are
deno on you are denon on you are (pl)
sen on he is ten on they are

Me o y’am chimmäs. / I am a mother.

On deno min metalkcta? / Are you at home?
Awa on setzuki. / We are happy.

mavano / to have
Me mavano I have awa mavano we have
deno mavano you have denon mavano you have (pl)
sen mavano he has ten mavano they have

Deno mavano y’am cocha. / You have a car.

Ven mavano y’am michico matalan. / She has a pretty dress.
22
The Divinian auxiliary verb eto can also be used as a prefix for other verbs, adjectives and adverbs to
indicate to action of being, or if the English equivalent bears the prefix be-. For example: eto’dero –
decisive (to be decisive), eto’akiletet – beloved (to be loved).
23
Grammatically, the actual word ‘be’ or eto will not appear in a present or past tense clause, for it is
grammatically incorrect to say ‘I be’, ‘you be’ or ‘they be’, ‘I been’, ‘you been’ or ‘they been’, which is
why the actual word eto does not appear in the present or past tense ‘to be’ auxiliary tables.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 51

Mavano ten y’am ligunaï’dalat? / Do they have a website?

eto’helé / to become
Mo eto’helé I become awa eto’helé we become
deno eto’helé you become denon eto’helé you become (pl)
sen eto’helén he becomes ten eto’helé they become

Sen bankitén eto’helé y’am escobar. / He wants to become a priest.24

Mavano deno eto’helé kit’mol?. / Have you become careless?

3.6.2 Past Tense

The past tense, also called imperfect, is used in Divinian primarily to report
or narrate past events, sometimes a recurring or habitual action – especially
in written or formal usage. An English past tense verb is often conjugated
by adding –ed to the stem (walk, walked). Similarly, Divinian past tense
verbs will take on a –t or –et ending to reflect a past action or event. The
past tense verb is always conjugated the same way, regardless of noun
person (1st, 2nd or 3rd) or number (singular or plural).
Hila amitba ten tch’oumt din Amsterdam. / The year they lived in Amsterdam.
Afta ven azapot, ven orlot dat y’am kozött. / After she ate, she went for a walk.
Sen dalatet hila mechtaba. / He located the book.

• If the stem of the verb ends in a vowel, it takes on the –t ending to

indicate past tense. (azapo – azapot / orlo - orlot)
• If the stem of the verb ends in a hard consonant (-d or –t), it takes on
the –et ending to indicate past tense. (dalat – dalatet)
• If the stem of the verb ends in a consonant other than –d or –t, it takes
on the –t ending to indicate past tense. (tch’oum – tch’oumt)

3.6.2-1 Auxiliary Verbs

eto / to be
Me chay I was awa ont we were
deno ont you were denon ont you were (pl)
sen chay he was ten ont they were

mavano / to have
Me vano I had awa vano we had
deno vano you had denon vano you had (pl)
24
In this case, the word bankitén is a modal verb (meaning ‘wants to’), so the word ‘to’ (man) is dropped.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 52

sen vano he had ten vano they had

eto’helé / to become
Mo eto’helét I became awa eto’helét we became
deno eto’helét you became denon eto’helét you became (pl)
sen eto’helét he became ten eto’helét they became

Awa vano y’am kala dolgaban. / We had a good time.

Sen eto’helét y’am escobar. / He became a priest.
Ont deno min ansila’dalat? / Were you at school? (singular)
Me chay chtamana sän mechtaba. / I was reading this book.
Ont denon min hila chacha’souken zhit Sabogon? /
Were you at the movies on Friday? (plural)

3.6.3 Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense is a verb form used frequently in English and in
Divinian. It is the tense commonly used in conversation and is, in most
instances, the equivalent of the English past tense.

• The present perfect is formed by taking the present tense of the

auxiliary verbs mavano or eto plus the past participle of the main
verb. Please note that there is often no difference in conjugation
between past tense and past participles in Divinian.

Me mavano paknat da hämas. / I have asked the man.

auxiliary verb past tense /

participle

3.6.3-1 Auxiliary Verbs25

eto / to be
Me mavano etot I have been awa mavano etot we have been
deno mavano etot you have been denon mavano etot you have been (pl)
sen kau etot he has been ten mavano etot they have been

mavano / to have
Me mavanon I have had awa mavanon we have had
deno mavanon you have had denon mavanon you have had (pl)
25
For the sake of brevity, the auxiliary ‘have had’ or ‘mavano vano’ is shortened to ‘mavanon’, essentially
pluralizing the verb ‘vano’.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 53

sen kau vano he has had ten mavanon they have had

eto’helé / to become
Mo mavano eto’helé I have become awa mavano eto’helé we have become
deno mavano eto’helé you have become denon mavano eto’helé you have become (pl)
sen kau eto’helé he has become ten mavano eto’helé they have become

Awa mavano etot min metalkcta sän ogon. / We have been (were) at home today.
Kau sen etot man hila chacha’souk? / Has he been (was he) to the movie?
Mavanon deno y’am kala dolgaban? /
Did you have (have you had) a good time?
Kau soun himmÄs eto’helé da prematical? /
Did your father (has your father) become the manager?

• In the examples below, the first Divinian sentence uses the past tense
of the verb, and the second sentence uses the present perfect.
Sen tokematat pan veno. / Sen kau tokematat pan veno. / He talked with her.
Fanköt ven djebet seno? / Kau ven djebetet seno? / Did she meet him?
Awa azapot y’am domo. / Awa mavana azapo’met y’am domo. / We ate a lot.26
Sen paknat seno dat senon kil’kisst. / Sen kau paknat seno dat senon kil’kisst. /
She asked him for his number.
Ven nonjimat veno matalan. / Ven kau nonjimat veno matalan. /
She changed her clothes.
Deno chtamant hila mechtaba. Deno mavano chtamant hila mechtaba. /
You read the book.
Fänkot deno vigoné veno? / Mavano deno vigoné’met veno? /
Did you not see her?

3.6.4 Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense consists of the past tense of the auxiliary verbs
mavano or eto plus the past participle of the main verb. This tense indicates
a past event that took place before another past event.
Sen chay bayaterol fer ven vano heléné. /
He was angry because she had not come.
past tense past perfect tense

26
Some Divinian past participles differ from past tense and can be used interchangeably as adjectives. For
example: azapot (ate) – past tense / azapo’met (eaten) – past participle. Most times that an English past
participle ends in –en, its Divinian counterpart will take on the ‘met ending. The ‘met endings is never
altered, despite tense – tense conjugation will appear at the end of the stem word preceding ‘met.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 54

Ven chay maata fer veno chimmäs vano envolet. /

She was sad because her mother had gone.
David chay topometimbacktat fer ten vano flamtatné'met senon foun'dé'ogon. /
David was surprised because they had not forgotten his birthday.

3.6.4-1 Auxiliary Verbs27

eto / to be
Me vano etot I had been awa vano etot we had been
deno vano etot you had been denon vano etot you had been (pl)
sen vano etot he had been ten vano etot they had been

mavano / to have
Me vanon I had had awa vanon we had had
deno vanon you had had denon vanon you had had (pl)
sen vanon he had had ten vanon they had had

eto’helé / to become
Mo vano eto’helé I had become awa vano eto’helé we had become
deno vano eto’helé you had become denon vano eto’helé you had become (pl)
sen vano eto’helé he had become ten vano eto’helé they had become

Me vano etot min metalkcta ashna deno helét. /

I had been at home when you came.
Ven vano etot maata fer sen vano vigoné’met veno basaskidoun. /
She had been sad because he had not seen her show.
Ten vanon y’am ankanach dolgaban ashna ten azapot min kan azapo’dalat. /
They’d had a rotten time when they ate at that restaurant.

3.6.5 Future Tense

The future tense is formed when a verb takes on the –té suffix. The
Divinian word man (to) becomes the equivalent of the English future tense
verb ‘will’ when followed by –té as in manté. This word can be used
independently, but primarily is only used as a word in its own right in the
affirmative ‘Me manté.’ Or ‘I will.’, and when not acting as an auxiliary
verb. When used in a question, the affected verb precedes the subject. For
example: ‘Will you buy the book?’ is said as Gété deno hila mechtaba?,
which directly translates to English as ‘Buy you the book?’ with the suffix –
té added to the verb to denote the action has not yet happened. Simply put,
27
Because there is no differentiation between the past tense and past participle of vano (had), the past
perfect form of ‘had had’ in Divinian is shortened to vanon (essentially pluralizing it) as opposed to vano
vano, to reduce the obvious repetition.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 55

when the use of the word ‘will’ is used in conjunction with a verb or
auxiliary verb in English to express an affirmative future tense statement, the
word manté in Divinian is dropped, and the verb takes on the -té ending (as
in the phrases Mo eté / ‘I will be’ or Mo komoulté / ‘I will run’).

Me kozoulté man New York. / I will fly to New York.

Me geté metalkcta tum ogon. / I’ll get home tomorrow.
Awa djebeté din hila azapo’dalat. / We’ll meet in the restaurant.

Future tense conjugation tends to be slightly more complex than past tense,
and is dependent on the ending of the verb being conjugated. There are five
groups into which future tense verb conjugation will fall:

Group 1

For verbs ending in -t, -ta, -te, -ti, -to, -tu, the suffix –té replaces the -t (and
vowel).

Present Future Meaning

barata baraté to bestow
kit kité to care
angesset angesseté to face
banalëto banalëté to give

Group 2

For verbs ending in -é, -wa, any vowel group (including –y), or any
consonant other than –t, the suffix –té is added without changing the stem
word.

Present Future Meaning

simoulaï simoulaïté to reason
gé gété to get
itchewa itchewaté to turn
daïtakya daïtakyaté to strike
skal skalté to close
kanach kanachté to rot

Group 3

For verbs ending in the suffix 'met, the suffix –té is added to the stem word,
not the suffix.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 56

Present Future Meaning

seto'met seté'met to relieve
apsha'met apshté'met to immobilize
binay'met binayté'met to endanger

Group 4

For verbs ending in a single vowel preceded by pl-, kn-, rr-, rl-, pk-, the
suffix –té is added without changing the stem word.

Present Future Meaning

keratapla kerataplaté to battle
zarbrra zarbrraté to expose
orlo orloté to go
pakna paknaté to question
trapka trapkaté to steal

Group 5

For verbs ending in a single vowel preceded by a single consonant, the suffix
–té replaces the vowel.

Present Future Meaning

chamina chaminté to caress
ojela ojelté to choose
tactila tactilté to contact

3.6.5-1 Auxiliary Verbs

eto / to be
Mo eté I will be awa eté we will be
deno eté you will be denon eté you will be (pl)
sen eté he will be ten eté they will be

mavano / to have
Me mavanté I will have awa mavanté we will have
deno mavanté you will have denon mavanté you will have (pl)
sen mavanté he will have ten mavanté they will have

eto’helé / to become
Mo eto’helté I will become awa eto’helté we will become
deno eto’helté you will become denon eto’helté you will become (pl)
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 57

sen eto’helté he will become ten eto’helté they will become

Ashna Mo helé, sen eté dot too. / When I come, he will be there too.
Deno mavanté y’am kala dolgaban. / You will have a good time.
Manté sen eto’helté da tum prematical? / Will he become the next manager?
Sen eto’helté da tum prematical. / He will become the next manager.

3.6.6 Future Perfect Tense

The future perfect tense is formed from the future tense of the verb mavano
(mavanté), and the past participle of the main verb. This tense is rarely used.
Sen mavanté mektetet y’am domo dolgaban. / He will have prepared a long time.
Me mavanté etot kyla dat kba amitban. / I will have been here for three years.

3.6.7 The Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood expresses a point of view, doubt, fear, hope –

essentially, anything that is not a fact. A subjunctive mood or statement can
be considered as a counterpart to the indicative mood or statement.

3.6.7-1 Auxiliary Verbs

The auxiliary verbs eto and mavano in the subjunctive are as follows:

eto / to be
Past Tense Indicative Present Tense Subjunctive
Me chay / I was Me banté eto / I would be
deno ont / you were deno banté eto / you would be
sen chay / he was sen banté eto / he would be
awa ont / we were awa banté eto / we would be
denon ont / you were (pl) denon banté eto / you would be (pl)
ten ont / they were ten banté eto / they would be
Past Tense Subjunctive
Me banté mavano etot / I would have been
deno banté mavano etot / you would have been
sen banté mavano etot / he would have been
awa banté mavano etot / we would have been
denon banté mavano etot / you would have been (pl)
ten banté mavano etot / they would have been

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 58

mavano / to have
Past Tense Indicative Present Tense Subjunctive
Me vano / I had Me banté mavano / I would have
deno vano / you had deno banté mavano / you would have
sen vano / he had sen banté mavano / he would have
awa vano / we had awa banté mavano / we would have
denon vano / you had (pl) denon banté mavano / you would have (pl)
ten vano / they had ten banté mavano / they would have
Past Tense Subjunctive
Me banté mavanon / I would have had
deno banté mavanon / you would have had
sen banté mavanon / he would have had
awa banté mavanon / we would have had
denon banté mavanon / you would have had (pl)
ten banté mavanon / they would have had

Aka amna Me banté eto pititz. / If only I were (would be) younger.
Aka amna deno banté mavano kyla. / If only you had (would have) been here.

3.6.8 The Conditional Mood

The conditional mood is the grammatical form usually introduced by aka

(if). It expresses a condition: “I would do it, if…” It is used in the same
way as the English conditional.

• The indicative mood is used in both parts of a conditional sentence if

nothing in the clause is introduced by banté (would), or contrary to the
fact, and if the dominant verb is in the future tense.
Aka Me mavano dolgaban, Me chtamanté y’am mechtaba. /
If I have time, I will read a book.

• Present contrary-to-fact situations can be expressed by the present

tense of the subjunctive.
Aka Me vano dolgaban, Me banté chtaman y’am mechtaba. /
If I had time, I would read a book.

• Past contrary-to-fact situations can be expressed by the past tense of

the subjunctive.
Aka Me vanon dolgaban, Me banté mavano chtamant y’am mechtaba. /
If I’d had time, I would have read the book.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 59

3.6.9 Modal Verbs

Modal verbs do not describe an action but an attitude toward it. A modal
verb normally is followed by a complementary or ‘completing’ infinitive.

There are five modal verbs in Divinian:

bamana to be able to, could

makna to be allowed to, may
achta to have to, must
bachta ought to, should
bankité to want to

bamana / to be able to, could

Present Tense Past Tense
Me mana I can Me bamana I could
deno mana you can deno bamana you could
sen mana he can sen bamana he could
awa mana we can awa bamana we could
denon mana you can (pl) denon bamana you could (pl)
ten mana they can ten bamana they could

Ven mana skrivé kala. / She can write well.

Awa mana kozoul man Amsterdam. / We can fly to Amsterdam.
Me bamana tokemata De’oum. / I could speak Divinian.28
Deno on mana man fänko kan. / You are able to do that.
Kan manané sedan. / That cannot happen.29
Mana ven eto min metalkcta? / Can she stay at home?
Mana sen fänko kan? / Is he capable of doing that?
Bamana deno givo’mana teno? / Were you able to help them?
Bamana ven helé? / Could she come?

makna / to be allowed to, may

Present Tense Past Tense
Me makna I may Me maknat I was allowed to
deno makna you may deno maknat you were allowed to
sen makna he may sen maknat he was allowed to
awa makna we may awa maknat we was allowed to
denon makna you may (pl) denon maknat you were allowed to (pl)
ten makna they may ten maknat they were allowed to
28
While this type of question is referencing something that happened previously, the infinitive verb used in
conjunction with the modal verb is always spoken as present tense.
29
The modal verb ‘mana’ takes on the –né suffix to indicate that that it is being negated.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 60

Deno makna orlo man hila chacha’souk. /

You are allowed (may) to go to the film.
Deno maknat man loungalino. / You were allowed to leave.
Ven makna azapo adjïset. / She may eat something.
Hila piti’parsounanen makna helé. / The children may come.
Ven maknatné hila kaji. / She was not allowed to (may not) go out.
Makna awa helé too? / May we come too?
Makna deno eto kyla? / Are you allowed to (may you) be here?
Makna Me orlo pan deno? / May I go with you?
Maknat deno vigo seno? / Were you allowed to (may you) see him?

achta / to have to, must

Present Tense Past Tense
Me achta I must Me achtat I had to
deno achta you must deno achtat you had to
sen achta he must sen achtat he had to
awa achta we must awa achtat we had to
denon achta you must (pl) denon achtat you had to (pl)
ten achta they must ten achtat they had to

Me achta orlo metalkcta. / I have to (must) go home.

Ten achta ansila perod'jun. / They have to (must) study now.
Achta deno orlo? / Do you have to (must you) go?
Sen achta gé pana perod’jun. / He has to (must) get up now.
Awa achtat chtaman hila mechtaba. / We had to read the book.
Achtat deno elgoun’doloun domo? / Did you have to wait long?
Djala matin achta awa fänko? / What else do we have to do?
Achta deno limoï man seno? / Do you have to listen to him?
Achtat deno azapo domo? / Did you have to eat so much?

bachta / ought to, should

Present Tense Past Tense
Me bachta I should Me bachtat I should (have)
deno bachta you should deno bachtat you should (have)
sen bachta he should sen bachtat he should (have)
awa bachta we should awa bachtat we should (have)
denon bachta you should (pl) denon bachtat you should (have) (pl)
ten bachta they should ten bachtat they should (have)

Sen bachtat etot pan veno. / He should have been with her.
Deno bachta eto setzuki. / You ought to be happy.
Ven on bachta eto kyla. / She is supposed to be here.
Me bachta skrivé seno. / I ought to (should) write him.
Ven bachta eto din Toronto. / She is supposed to be in Toronto.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 61

Ashna bachta awa eto dot? / When are we supposed to be there?30

Bachta Me dilin’dilin teno? / Shall I call them?

bankité / to want to
Present Tense Past Tense
Me bankité I want to Me bankitét I wanted to
deno bankité you want to deno bankitét you wanted to
sen bankitén he wants to sen bankitét he wanted to
awa bankité we want to awa bankitét we wanted to
denon bankité you want to (pl) denon bankitét you wanted to (pl)
ten bankité they want to ten bankitét they wanted to

Djala bankité deno fänko sän ogon? / What do you want to do today?
Bankité deno givo’mana mina? / Do you want to help me?
Awa bankité ansila perod’jun. / We want to study now.
Ven bankitén chtaman hila mechtaba. / She wants to read the book. 31
Me bankiténé fänko kan. / I do not wish to do that.
Bankité deno orlo man hila chacha’souken? / Do you want to go to the movies?
Bankitén sen kozoul man Las Vegas? / Does he want to fly to Las Vegas?
Bankitét deno dilin’dilin seno? / Did you want to call him?
Djala bankitét ven tokemata seno? / What did she want to tell him?

3.7 Adverbs
Adverbs are words that mofidy verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They
indicate place, time, manner, and intensity.
Sen tokematan too dia. / He talks too slow.
Dé chämas on nealla michico. / The woman is very beautiful.
Sen dom orlon man hila chacha’souken zhit Sabogon. /
He often goes to the movies on Friday.

Divinian adjectives often take on the –o ending to become adverbs, which is

the equivalent of the English –ly ending, as in dakt’oum / dakt’oumo
(thoughtful / thoughtfully). However, there are also Divinian words that are
adverbs only.

3.7.1 Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of place indicate location or direction. They determine the place of

30
The ‘are’ is dropped in this case because the modal verb ‘bachta’ changes the context of the sentence
from ‘when are we supposed to’ to ‘when should we’, with ‘eto’ or ‘be’ being the infinitive verb.
31
Similar to English, when a modal verb takes on an ‘s’ to indicate third person (I want / he wants), the
Divinian counterpart also takes on the pluralized ending of –n or –en (Me bankité / sen bankitén).

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 62

the action.

kajindo outside
kando inside
pana up
panané down
sebat over
do'icoulay nowhere
patou everywhere
zhit'ruta on the way

Maha’nili on elgoun’dolouna kajindo. / Someone is waiting outside.

Mo mavano vigoné’met kan do’icoulay! / I have not seen that anywhere!
Me chimmäs tch’oumen sebat dot. / My mother lives over there.
Olou too dato pana dot. / It’s too high up there.

3.7.2 Adverbs of Time

afta after
akta soon
ashan then
tum'ogon tomorrow
aft'ogon yesterday
sän'ogon today

Mo eté dot akta. / I will be there soon.

Ashan Me orlot metalkcta. / Then I went home.
Me skrivté man seno tum’ogon. / I will write to him tomorrow.

3.7.3 Comparison of Adverbs

Adjectives used as adverbs add –tz in the comparative. In the superlative,

they take –tzen.
Marco melaloyen kicktenan. / Marco works hard.
John melaloyen kicktenantz. / John works harder.
Michael melaloyen kicktenantzen. / Michael works hardest.

3.7.4 Adverbs of Manner and Degree

Adverbs of manner and degree describe the way in which a situation comes
about or an activity occurs.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 63

domo very
nealla really
dayodomo quite
skalo nearly / almost
hotro about (something)
hatelo about (someone)

Sen skalo loungalinot. / He almost left.

Ven on hatelo kbaami amitba welso. / She is about 30 years old.
Ten on dayodomo setzuki pan olou. / They are quite happy with it.
Kan chacha’souk chay nealla kiko. / That movie was really bad.

3.8 Prepositions
Prepositions are words that relate with other parts of speech to form phrases.
Soun mechtaba on zhit hila täblazat. / Your book is on the table.
Sen fänkot olou dat mina. / He did it for me.

3.8.1 Prepositional Contractions

Sometimes prepositions and the definite article are combined to form a

single word. Here are some of the more common forms of these
contractions:

Object Person (m) Person (f)

min hila at the minla minda mindé
man hila to the manla manda mandé
zhit hila on the zhitla zhitda zhitdé
divo hila by the divola divoda divodé
dat hila for the datla datda datdé
dindo hila into the dindola dindoda dindodé
din hila in the dinla dinda dindé
foun hila from the founla founda foundé
oum hila of the oumla oumda oumdé

Zhitla hanya, awa orlo kaji. / In the evening, we go out.

Sen staanen divola täblazat. / He stands by the desk.
Ven orlot dindola metalkcta. / She went into the house.
Me limoït kan founda escobar. / I heard that from the priest.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 64

• -la, -da and –dé

When getting something from a place or thing, -la is used.

When getting something from a man, -da is used.
When getting something from a woman, -dé is used.

3.9 Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that connect other words, phrases or clauses. An
independent (or main) clause has at least one subject and one predicate and
can stand by itself.
Dé chämmas on kala. / The woman is nice.
Ven on choncha. / She is attractive.

Dé chämmas on kala, ilo ven on choncha. /

The woman is nice, and she is attractive.

independent clause conjunction independent clause

3.9.1 Coordinating Conjunctions

Conjunctions that join words, phrases or independent clauses of equal

standing are called coordinating conjunctions. The primary coordinating
conjunctions are:

bom but
seja or
ilo and

• Coordinating conjunctions joining words

Chamille ilo Tobin orlot manla mechtaba’dalat. /

Chamille and Tobin went to the library.
Deno mana itchewa kital seja kitoz. / You can turn left or right.
Ven on michico, bom kiko. / She is pretty, but mean.

• Coordinating conjunctions joining phrases

Sen orlot manla chacha’souk, seja Me fänkotné. /
He went to the movie, but I didn’t.
Sen, seja senon himmÄs, on hela. / He, or his father, is coming.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 65

• Coordinating conjunctions joining independent clauses

Me orlot kaji, ilo sen staant min metalkcta. / I went out, and he stayed at home.
Me limoït veno, bom ven limoïtné mina. /
I heard her, but she did not hear me.
Sen orlotné manla chacha’souk, bom staant min metalkcta. /
He did not go to the movie, but stayed at home.

3.9.2 Subordinating Conjunctions

Conjunctions that make one clause dependent on another clause are

subordinating conjunctions. They join dependent clauses to independent
clauses or to other dependent clauses. A dependent clause cannot stand by
itself.

• In English, most subordinate clauses can be inversed without

changing word order. Divinian subordinate clauses act much the same
way.
Ashna sen paknat mina kaji, awa orlot man y’am podo azapo’dalat. /
When he asked me out, we went to a great restaurant.

Awa orlot man y’am podo azapo’dalat, ashna sen paknat mina kaji. /
We went to a great restaurant, when he asked me out.

Common subordinating conjunctions

aka if
ashna when
divo by
talar before
afta after
fer because
foun since
kan that

Mo bamana gé y’am cocha, aka Mo vano y’am keseben melaloy. /

I could buy a car, if I had a better job.
Divo ansila mani, deno fänkot soun kalatzen. /
By studying more, you did your best
Kiba flamta soun matala, talar deno loungalino. /
Don’t forget your coat, before you leave.
Afta Me staï, Me veluïté keseben. / After I rest, I will feel better.
Me o loungalina fer oum soun kiko tokemata. /
I am leaving because of your cruel words.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 66

Ven kau etot maata foun sen loungalinot. / She has been sad since he left.
Ten welso kan ven on michico. / They know that she is beautiful.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 67

4.
Kil’kissten

4.1 Numbers Overview

Preliminary sources for Divinian numbers provide only the basic cardinal
numbers, 1 through 10, 100 and 1,000,000, leaving many gaps in even
common usage of numbers in Divinian. With the facilitation of pre-
established words, this comprehensive reference of numbers was developed.
Please note that the use of the word ‘and’ or an inferred comma to separate a
number series between tens, thousands and so on, common in English
pronunciation of numbers (1543 is one thousand, five hundred and forty
three), appears as an apostrophe in Divinan, without the use of the word
‘ilo’ (and).

4.1.1 0 through 10

The numbers 1 through 10 are established and published herein as derived

from existing sources, however a translation for zero (0) was not clearly
defined. The Divinian word ania, directly translated as ‘nothing’ has been
determined as the associated word for zero (0).

0 zero ania
1 one amna
2 two tba
3 three kba
4 four pat
5 five sab
6 six sat
7 seven chab
8 eight rab
9 nine fab
10 ten ami

4.1.2 11 through 19

The determination of the numbers 11 through 19 was essentially derived

from the root number group of 10 or ‘ami’ in Divinian. Therefore, each
spoken number would begin with this root and the conclusive number is
associated as an unpunctuated compound.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 68

11 eleven amiaamna
12 twelve amitba
13 thirteen amikba
14 fourteen amipat
15 fifteen amisab
16 sixteen amisat
17 seventeen amichab
18 eighteen amirab
19 nineteen amifab

4.1.3 20 through 99

Still using 10 or ‘ami’ as the established root of numbers up to one hundred

(for which there is also an established translation), the appearance of ‘ami’
follows through from 20 to 99, however it no longer precedes an individual
numerical assignment, but either follows it, or occurs between the dominant
number, which assigns the quantity, and the conclusive number, as an
unpunctuated compound.

20 twenty tbaami
30 thirty kbaami
40 forty patami
50 fifty sabami
51 fifty one sabamiamna
52 fifty two sabamitba
53 fifty three sabamikba
54 fifty four sabamipat
55 fifty five sabamisab

4.1.4 100 through 999

The Divinian word ‘chöun’ is the only established translation between

‘hundred’ (chöun) and ‘million’ (crön), therefore it becomes the root of the
next three series of numbers, beginning with numbers from 100 through 999.
As with the ‘ten’ in the previous series, the ‘hundred’ is the subsequent
condition of the designated number, therefore it follows the dominant
number, which assigns a quantity to the amount in question, and would then
precede the conclusive number(s), as a punctuated compound.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 69

hundred(s) chöun
100 one hundred amnachöun
200 two hundred tbachöun
300 three hundred kbachöun
400 four hundred patchöun
500 five hundred sabchöun
505 five hundred and five sabchöun'sab
515 five hundred and fifteen sabchöun'amisab
525 five hundred and twenty five sabchöun'tbaamisab

4.1.5 1,000 through 9,999

There is no established translation for thousand (1000) in Divinian.

However, with the root of hundred (100) or ‘chöun’, and the simple
calculation of 100 by 10 (equalling 1000), it follows that the root of the
number (chöun) would remain, and would be quantified by 10 (ami),
resulting in an unpunctuated compound of ‘chöunami’, preceded by the
singular dominant number, and followed by the punctuated conclusive.

thousand(s) chöunami
1000 one thousand amnachöunami
2000 two thousand tbachöunami
3000 three thousand kbachöunami
4000 four thousand patchöunami
5000 five thousand sabchöunami
5005 five thousand and five sabchöunami'sab
5015 five thousand and fifteen sabchöunami'amisab
five thousand and twenty
5025 five sabchöunami'tbaamisab
five thousand, five
5525 hundred and twenty five sabchöunami'sabchöun'tbaamisab

4.1.6 10,000 through 99,999

For the sake of avoiding tedious and obvious repetition in the resulting
pronunciation following the rules of the last number group, this series
diverts from the basic multiplicative translation (100x10=1000) to a solution
which has a similar numeric result, however a less cumbersome
pronunciation. The established translation of 100 (chöun) is the
mathematical root of 10,000, therefore the resulting interpretive translation
of 10,000 would be an unpunctuated compound of ‘chöuntba’ or (100²),
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 70

preceded by an ‘ami’ dominant and followed by punctuated conclusive

number(s).

ten thousand(s) chöuntba

10000 ten thousand amichöuntba
20000 twenty thousand tbaamichöuntba
30000 thirty thousand kbaamichöuntba
40000 forty thousand patamichöuntba
50000 fifty thousand sabamichöuntba
50005 fifty thousand and five sabamichöuntba'sab
fifty thousand and twenty
50025 five sabamichöuntba'tbaamisab
fifty thousand, one
50125 hundred and twenty five sabamichöuntba'amnachöun'tbaamisab
fifty five thousand, one
55125 hundred and twenty five sabamisabchöuntba'amnachöun'tbaamisab

4.1.7 100,000 through 999,999

Carrying forward the rules of the previous series, we return to the
multiplicative rule of its predecessor for the final series of numbers leading
up to the established million (crön). Still maintaining the overall root of
‘chöun’, the following series becomes the unpunctuated compound
‘chöuntbami’ (100² x 10 = 100,000), preceded by a dominant number and
followed by the respective punctuated conclusive number(s).

hundred thousand(s) chöuntbaami

100000 one hundred thousand amnachöuntbaami
200000 two hundred thousand tbachöuntbaami
300000 three hundred thousand kbachöuntbaami
400000 four hundred thousand patchöuntbaami
500000 five hundred thousand sabchöuntbaami
five hundred thousand and
500005 five sabchöuntbaami'sab
five hundred thousand and
500045 forty five sabchöuntbaami'patamisab
five hundred thousand,
three hundred and forty
500345 five sabchöuntbaami'kbachöun'patamisab
five hundred and two
thousand, three hundred
502345 and forty five sabchöun'tba'chöuntbaami'kbachöun'patamisab
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 71

five hundred and twelve

thousand, three hundred
512345 and forty five sabchöun'amitba'chöuntbaami'kbachöun'patamisab

4.1.8 1,000,000 +

With the established translation of a million (crön), we can carry forward

with most any common number usage, taking into consideration the previous
rules, always with the compound and unpunctuated dominant number
preceding, and punctuated conclusive number(s) following.

million crön
1000000 one million amnacrön

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 72

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 73

5.
Tokemata Dolgaban

5.1 What time is it?

In Divinian, this question is asked thus: Djala tima oloun?

• When speaking in terms of time, the word tima (hour) is always used
in the singular.
Oloun kba tima. / It is three o’clock.

• The word dolgaban (time) is not used to ask the time; it expresses an
abstract concept.
Bom dolgaban kozoulen! / How time flies!
Dot on do dolgaban. / There is no time.

5.2 The Hours

5.2.1 The Twelve-Hour Clock

amna tima one o'clock

tba tima two o'clock
kba tima three o'clock
pat tima four o'clock
sab tima five o'clock
sat tima six o'clock
chab tima seven o'clock
rab tima eight o'clock
fab tima nine o'clock
ami tima ten o'clock
amiamna tima eleven o'clock
amitba tima twelve o'clock

In oridinary conversation, you can distinguish between the different times of

day by using the following expressions:

talagon in the morning

aftagon in the afternoon
hanya in the evening
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 74

akhanya at night

Oloun sat tima talagon. / It is 6am.

Oloun kba tima aftagon. / It is 3pm.
Oloun amitba tima akhanya. / It is midnight.

5.2.2 The Twenty-Four Hour Clock

To determine the time in terms of a twenty-four hour clock, each hour (0:00
to 23:59) must be considered in terms of hundreds, much the same as in
English. And the time is expressed in 2 sets of compound numbers, rather
than the numerically correct expression of thousands, hundreds, tens and
ones. For example: 1300 hours (1pm) translates to amikbachöun tima
(directly translated as thirteen hundred hours). This format will only appear
when referencing a twenty-four hour clock or when speaking in terms of
years. It is not an acceptable way of defining numbers mathematically.
Oloun ania’satchöun tima. / It is 6am.
Oloun amisabchöun tima. / It is 3pm.
Oloun tbami’patchöun tima / It is midnight.

5.3 The Minutes

• Minutes (satami’dé) may be added directly after the hour, as in
English.
Oloun ami tima amisab. / It is ten fifteen (10:15).32

• Or they may be used with the word afta (after, past).

Oloun amisab (satamdina) afta ami. / It is fifteen (minutes) past ten.

• As the next hour approaches, you may use man (to) to express
minutes.
Oloun sab man fab. / It is five to nine.

• To express half and quarter hours, the words koulin (half), and kazin
(quarter) are used.
Oloun koulin afta chab. / It is half past seven.
Oloun dazing man tba. / It’s quarter to two.
32
When time is spoken casually in this manner, the word tima is dropped.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 75

6.
Ogonen, Patchabogonen, Djebeten ilo
Dolgamitban

6.1 Days, Months and Dates Overview

Pre-existing words for Imperial date reference are virtually nonexistent in
any known Divinian source, with only one prevalent word - ‘day’ (ogon).
With the facilitation of pre-established words, this comprehensive reference
of date-related terminology was developed, based upon the current Imperial
system.

6.1.1 General Terms

Using the pre-determined word for ‘day’ (ogon), the general terms for
‘week’, ‘month’ and ‘year’ were determined, using the root of ‘ogon’ and
the obvious numbers in relation to each word; ‘seven’ (chab) days in a week,
and ‘four’ (pat) weeks in a month. The word for ‘year’ is an exception to
this, which directly translates to simply ‘twelve’ (amitba), as in the twelve
months in a year.

day ogon
week chabogon
month patchabogon
year amitba

6.1.2 Days of the Week

The format used for weekdays is based on the seven days in a week being
treated as numbers, beginning with Monday as the first day (amna), through
to Sunday as the seventh day (chab), and each word ending in ‘day’ (ogon),
just as in English. You’ll notice that those days whose preceding compound
ends in a vowel, the vowel is dropped and replaced by the compound ogon.
The Divinian word for ‘Sunday’ is actually the same word as for ‘week’,
however it is capitalized, as with all days of the week, similar to English.

Monday Amnogon
Tuesday Tbogon
Wednesday Kbogon
Thursday Patogon
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 76

Friday Sabogon
Saturday Satogon
Sunday Chabogon

6.1.3 Months of the Year

For the sake of brevity, the word for ‘year’ in Divinian has been determined
as simply ‘amitba’ meaning ‘twelve’, as in twelve months in a year. The
format used for the individual months is based on the 12 months in a year
being treated as numbers, beginning with January as the first month (amna),
through to December as the twelfth month (amitba), and each word ending
in ‘year’ (amitba), behaving much like a fractional expression. For example,
the month of May is translated to ‘Sabamitba’, or the fifth out of twelve
months. Please note that those months whose preceding compound ends in
‘a’, the vowel is dropped and replaced the the compound amitba. The month
of December is also simply ‘Amitba’ or ‘twelve’ however it is capitalized, as
are all the months, to distinguish it from its counterpart word.

January Amnamitba
February Tbamitba
March Kbamitba
April Patamitba
May Sabamitba
June Satamitba
July Chabamitba
August Rabamitba
September Fabamitba
October Amiamitba
November Amiamnamitba
December Amitba

6.1.4 Dates

To express dates in Divinian, ordinal numbers are used. These are words
representing the rank of a number with respect to some order; in particular,
order or position (first, second, third). They differ from cardinal numbers
which refer to quanitity (one, two, three). Cardinal numbers become ordinal
numbers with the addition of the punctuated suffix ‘dé (the equivalent of the
English suffix –th).33
33
The punctuate suffix ‘dé differs from the unpunctuated suffix –dé, which is used in prepositional
contractions to express gender.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr
 77

The structure of a written or spoken dates differs slightly from English in

that the date precedes the month and year. This variation on word order and
the presence of the ‘dé suffix provide inference to the word ‘of’. For
example: The fourth of July would be written as 4 Chabamitba, and spoken
as pat’dé Chabamitba.
18 Amiamnamitba 2008 (amirab’dé Amiamnamitba tbachöunami’rab) /
November 18, 2008
Djala on hila djebet sän’ogonen? / What is today’s date?
Sän’ogon on hila amirab’dé Amiamnamitba /
Today is the eighteenth of November.
Awa loungalinté zhit kbami’dé Amiamnamitba. /
We will leave on November thirtieth.

Years are expressed much the same in Divinian as in English: Rather than
the proper, but lengthy, pronunciation of the complete number, expressing
thousands, hundreds and ones, years can be shortened to two compound
numbers. For example: 1912, when spoken in correct numeric form is
amnachöunami'fab-chöun’amitba, or ‘one thousand, nine hundred and
twelve’. However, the preferable method when speaking in terms of years is
amifab'amitba, or ‘nineteen twelve’.

6.2 Seasons
The Divinian word for ‘season’ is dolgamitba, or ‘time of year’.

zima winter
mola spring
väro summer
jeseï autumn

Me kozoulté man Europe dinla mola. / I will fly to Europe in the spring.
Väron kyla on michico. / Summers here are beautiful.
Jeseï on mino kalatzen dolgamitba. / Autumn is my favorite time of year.
Oloun dom hany kyla dinla zima. / It’s very mild here in the winter.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 78

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 79

Prematicalen

Official Sources:
The Fifth Element – An original script by Luc Besson, August 1995 Draft.
- located at: http://attrition.org/misc/ee/fifth_element-DRAFT_script.txt
The Story of The Fifth Element – A non fiction book by Luc Besson, 1997.
The Fifth Element (film) – ©1997 Gaumont.
The Fifth Element – A novel by Terry Bisson, 1997, from the screenplay by Luc Besson
& Robert Mark Kamen. Based on a story by Luc Besson.
The Fifth Element – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Eric Serra, 1997.
The Fifth Element on MillaJ.com
- located at: http://www.millaj.com/film/fifth.shtml
Master the Basics of German – by Paul G. Graves, Ph.D., and Henry Strutz, M.A.

Unofficial Internet Sources:

The Generic’s – Language of The Fifth Element
– previously located at: http://users.adelphia.net/~gameguy/gltfe.htm
The Internet Movie Database
- located at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119116/#
Leeloo’s Language by Dustfromamoth
- located at: http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1099350
The Divine Language by Echui
- located at: http://www.echui.com/language.html
The Divine Language on Langmaker
- previously located at: http://www.langmaker.com/db/Divine_Language
The Divine Language by The Generic on Geocities
- located at: http://www.geocities.com/writerscraftws/5thelement/
The Fifth Element on Wikipedia
- located at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifth_Element
Babylon Translation @ a Click
- located at: http://www.babylon.com/eng/index.php

Fan Contribution:
Anonymous L. - aka Laloomana Mina Lekatariba Foun D'Laminatchn Ekbat D'Sebat aka
Laloolapipoulai Mina Lekatariba Manapipoulai Ekbat D'Sebat

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 80

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 81

T. Leah Fehr published her first poetic anthology, der Nackte Künstler (ISBN 13:
978-0-7795024-6-2), in 2008, and was previously published in Shells Upon The
Shore (ISBN 0-7951-5068-7) by the International Library of Poetry, and she is a two-
time recipient of their Editors Choice Award for her poems ‘The Hindrance’ and
‘Unspoken’. She was also granted the Silver Medallion Award and rank of Amateur
Judge Advocate and Poet Laureate by Poets.com, an affiliate of the International
Library of Poetry.

der Nackte Künstler

As the first published anthology of her written works, der Nackte Künstler offers a
glimpse into the poetic anima of T. Leah Fehr, as she embarks on an infinite journey
of rumination, lust, bitterness and betrayal. With an eclectic collection of structurally
chaotic free-verse, prose, short-form and ‘purge’ poetry, der Nackte Künstler palpably
challenges the proverbial artist to recognize and acknowledge the writer as a peer of
equal stature, while simultaneously and delicately delving into such ambiguous
realms as immortality, literary alcoholism, Don-Juanism and cyberrelationship
addiction.

To be released...

Apatheology

In her second collection of poetry and prose, T. Leah Fehr takes her boundless
journey of parable and verse from within to without in a provocative dissection of the
human condition and the faithlessly inherent Doctrine of Apathy to which humanity
has befallen; an intrinsic indifference in the wake of such atrocities as domestic
violence, racial and religious prejudice, sexual persecution and poverty. Apatheology
is one poets study of the Apathetian cult and culture, as it cowers and cultivates
within every blind and deaf mute who succumbs to this New World dogma.

Just Like You

Childhood is filled with imagination and speculation about every possibility in the
universe. What if aliens walked among us, disguised as humans… stuffed into the human
suits that they wear, just as we wear our own disguises? Childhood is also filled with fear
of the unknown, insecurity and a yearning to belong. Just Like You is a short comedic
children’s story, written as a pantoum, of one alien’s struggle to fit in on Earth and his
fear of being different than everyone else; his fear of misunderstanding and persecution,
and his inherent yearning to be seen as one with his peers, despite his physical
differences.

© 2013 T. Leah Fehr

 82

Divinian. The Language of the Gods. The Divine Language.

The Divinian tongue is the oldest of all languages; a dialect from which
all contempora
contemporary
porary language finds its origin.
origin. Divinian is the elemental
language of the human race; a language conceived of intangible and
forgotten gods. A language lost to time. Until now.

In the spring of 1997, remnants of this forgotten language were offered to

the world by a French scribe and playwright, who had devoted years of
research to its study and development.
development. It was speculated, at the time, that
he had uncovered over 800 words of the original vernacular,
vernacular, however less
than 150 words were actually made public. Following the revelation of
the existence of the language in 1997, the scribe ostensibly resigned
resigned his
studies, and his research and findings were all but forgotten, save for a few
notations and articles,
articles, based more on conjecture than fact,
fact, by devoted
linguistic students who had followed his work.

T. Leah Fehr has undertaken an independent and ongoing

ongoing study of the
remaining fragments of the Divine Language. Through exhaustive
research and collaboration, she has uncovered more words of the original
language than have ever before been revealed. This text is a collection of
over 1300 Divinian words,
words, as well as grammatical rules and an extensive
study of Divinian parts of speech. As a poet and scribe herself, T. Leah
Fehr strives to revive this lost language, to develop it into a living language
that can be learned, written, spoken and passed down through generations,
lest it be mislaid once more.

This language represents the conception

of the spoken word.
May we bear
bear witness to its rebirth.
Intended for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES only. Divinian is a fictitious language and is NOT intended for
biblical, historical, literary, linguistic, etymological or factual usage. This text is derived from an independent
and unofficial interpretation of the Divine Language, and is not sponsored by Gaumont or any affiliates thereof.
Any and all words and definitions appearing in this text which originated in the script by Luc Besson, the
publications of Luc Besson or Terry Bisson, the soundtrack by Eric Serra, or the film The Fifth Element
(Copyright © 1997 Gaumont. All Rights Reserved.), are for reference purposes only and are not owned by this
author. All sources accredited herein.
© 2013 T. Leah Fehr