Introduction

Pamatu is a language I created in 2017. My goals for this language are the following:

• Small, a priori lexicon (~100-200 words)
• Relatively simple and logical grammar
• Reasonably practical for everyday use

Phonology

Pamatu has only 13 letters: a, e, f, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, s, t, and u. All of which are pronounced as in the IPA.

m, n, f, and l are all pronounced like in English.

p, t, and k are all unaspirated. If you don't know what that means, you can just pronounce them as in pet, tap, and cat.

s is always voiceless as in Ross, and never voiced as in rose.

The five vowels are pronounced as in Spanish or Esperanto.

a is similar to bat, but more open. If you want, you can just pronounce it exactly like bat.

e is similar to bate, but a pure vowel, made by keeping your mouth still when producing the sound. Again, you can still just say bate or bet.

i is pronounced as in beet.

o is similar to boat, but a pure vowel. Again, you can still just say boat.

u is pronounced as in boot.

Stress falls on the first syllable of the word. Pronounce the first syllable longer, louder, or higher pitched than the other syllables in the word. For example, pamatu is pronounced PAH-mah-too, not pah-MAH-too or pah-mah-TOO.

Pamatu is written in all lowercase. It may also be written with a custom alphabet:

Phonotactics

Every syllable is a consonant followed by a vowel. Nothing less, nothing more.

Grammar

As mentioned before, Pamatu grammar is designed to be relatively simple and logical. On a scale from a natual language to Lojban, Pamatu would fit somewhere in the middle.

Nouns

Nouns are words that describe things, including objects, people, places, etc.

Note that articles (like a or the in English) do not exist in Pamatu and by deafult, nouns do not specify whether they are singular or plural, so falo can mean a bird, the bird, or the birds.

Verbs

Verbs are words that describe actions or relationships. Note that by default, they do not specify tense (when the action happens).

Basic Sentence Structure

The most basic sentence consists of only a verb. Such sentence describes that the action of the verb happens.

A noun may be placed before the verb to act as the subject. The subject performs the verb's action.

A verb may be followed by a noun to act as the object. The object recieves the verb's action.

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe other words. They can describe nouns, verbs, and other adjectives. They are placed after what they modify.

Note: Adjectives in Pamatu include intransitive verbs: verbs that cannot have an object.

Nouns as Adjectives

When a noun is placed after another noun, it behaves as an adjective that describes the first noun being of or pertaining to it.

Relative Clauses

Sometimes you'll want to describe a noun by saying that it performs or receives a certain action. This is what relative clauses are for.

To make a relative clause where the noun performs the verb's action, place so after the noun, then the verb, then optionally the object.

To make a relative clause where the noun receives the verb's action, place su after the noun, then optionally the subject, then the verb.

Gerunds

A verb can be converted into a noun that represents the action or process of the verb by placing lo before the verb.

A whole sentence can be converted into a gerund.

Quality Nouns

An adjective can be converted into a noun that describes the quality of itself by placing pu before the adjective.

Infinitives

Infinitives do not exist in Pamatu. To say I want to eat, you must rephrase it using gerunds as I want me eating.

le

If you know Toki Pona, then le works like la. It seperates the sentence from it's context.

Basically, A le B means B happens when/if A happens.

Statement Clauses

You can embed a statement into a sentence by placing to before the statement.

Dictionary

fa: particle. and (see grammar)
feke: adjective. gross, disgusting, unclean
falo: noun. bird
falomo: noun. building, structure
fene: noun. word, name
feno: noun. head
fi: adjective. opposite, inverse in meaning
fisa: noun. fish
fisale: noun. manner, method, way, path, road
fupo: noun. arm, hand
ka: adjective. very, a lot, to a great extent, a large quantity of
kaka: adjective. big, large
kalimi: noun. stick, something long and hard
kametu: verb. do, work on, make, cause
kane: verb. hear
kaneka: noun. ear
kani: noun. sound
ke: noun. you
kemo: adjective. crazy, stupid, weird
ketolu: noun. skin, outer layer
ki: verb. know
kiki: noun. bug
ko: adjective. go, travel, move
kosa: noun. moon
ku: noun. person
la: noun. I, me
lapino: noun. hair, string, rope, something long and flexible
le: particle. seperates sentence from context (see grammar)
lemi: adjective. alive, living
lesu: verb. feel
li: verb. be (something)
likato: noun. picture, image, writing, drawing
limu: noun. water, liquid
lo: particle. used for gerunds (see grammar)
lu: verb. have, own, possess
lufo: noun. circle, sphere
lufu: adjective. round
ma: noun. thing, something
mita: verb. eat, drink, consume
motefi: adjective. fun, funny, entertaining
mulo: adjective. almost, nearly
nako: noun. fruit, vegetable
nosu: verb. be true from the perspective of
nusipa: noun. animal, mammal
pama: verb. talk
pete: noun. leg, foot
pisoma: noun. rock, stone, asphalt (can be used as an adjective meaning 'hard')
pu: particle. used for quality nouns (see grammar)
safa: noun. time
safe: verb. wait for
sapa: adjective. past tense, was, former
sapi: adjective. now, current
sapu: adjective. future tense, will
si: verb. see, look at
siki: noun. eye
siko: noun. color
siku: noun. light
so: particle. used for relative clauses (see grammar)
sopo: verb. want
sopu: verb. need
su: noun. used for relative clauses (see grammar)
ta: verb. be on, in, at
te: adjective. hot, cooked
ti: adjective. good
tipale: adjective. total, complete, whole
timali: verb. find, discover
tono: noun. bump, nose
tu: adjective. simple, basic, plain, easy
tuko: noun. sun, star
tulimu: noun. mouth