Showing posts with label grammar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grammar. Show all posts

Wednesday, 22 December 2010

Thropoi

Thropoi is the (temporary?) name for my new 'artlang' (artistic language). It is derived from the first word that sprang to mind when coming up with this lang, which was "thropos". It means 'bull', though I'm not quite sure what effects that has on the meaning of 'Thropoi'.

Anyhow, let's look at a couple of sentences I assembled:
Anthonos sín darëthi prádo. Tas mano vesem mannin akot shánide. Tasta të tamen të rapu etet nají Frankarërne, jatem ain rutarevt.
It's supposed to mean the following:
Anthony is my friend. He has a great house near the sea. His mother and father went to France, but have not returned.
 Let's disect that, shall we?

  • Anthonos - "Anthony" [name, masc. nom. sg., o-base] from Anthonos
  • sín - "is" [verb, 3rd sg. act., present simple, indi.] from sín
  • darëthi - "my" [pronoun, general possessive sg., consonant-base] from dar
  • prádo - "friend" [n., general predicative sg., o-base] from prádo
  • tas - "he" [pn., masc. nom. sg., a-base] from tas
  • mano - "have" [v., 3rd sg. act., present simple, indi.] from mano
  • vesem - "house" [n., neuter acc. sg., c.-base] from ves
  • mannin - "big" [adjective, neut. acc. sg., o-base] from manno
  • akot - "near" [preposition]
  • shánide - "sea" [n., neut. locative sg., o-base] from sháno
  • tasta - "his" [pn., masc. poss. sg., a-base] from tas
  • të - "and" [conjunction] (always appears in pairs or groups)
  • tamen - "mother" [n., fem. nom. sg., e-base] from tamen
  • të - "and" [conjunction]
  • rapu - "father" [n., masc. nom. sg, u-base] from rapu
  • etet - "went" [v., 3rd pl. monovalent, past simple, indi.] from eta
  • nají - "to" [preposition]
  • Frankarërne - "France" [nm., neut. lative sg., c.-base] from Frankar
  • jatem - "but" [conjunction]
  • ain - "not" [adverb]
  • rutarevt - "have returned" [v., 3rd pl. mon., present perfect] from rutaro
Phew, that's quite a list.

As you might have noticed, Thropoi has a lot of different conjugations: there are 4 genders, 13 cases, 4 numbers and 5 bases (leaving you with 1040 noun-conjugations), 3 tenses, 3 aspects, 4 voices, 8 persons and 8 moods (resulting in 2304 verb-conjugations, although some are impossible).

This is of course on purpose. The aim of this particular lang is purely art; I want to have a language that one can only interpret and produce with a dictionary at hand. Where my other langs are often quite simple, this is a language that is ridiculously complex, just for the sake of it.

Wednesday, 15 December 2010

Hwong Zheng word order

As there are no affices in Hwong Zheng, word order is very specific. Basically, every sentence is divided as such:

[Subject] [Verb] [Object] [Additionals]

Where the additionals can be prepositional phrases and adverbs.

Adjectives always follow the noun they belong to. A noun and an adjective are often interchangeable.
Only articles can be placed in front of the noun.

When a segment consists of more than two elements, it is closed by repeating the first word.
If, for instance, a noun is followed by two adjectives, the noun is repeated afterwards to close the group. 
If a preposition is followed by a noun with an adjective, the preposition is repeated.

When repeating, the first half of the syllable, i.e. the consonant and semi-vowel, are omitted. In two-syllable words, only the last syllable-half remains.

E.g.:

Rwoung than dzheu 'oung -- Slave dead three (slave) -- Three dead slaves
Shoun ley syuung 'oun -- House near river (house) -- The house near the river
Wou reng zhing 'ou -- With child ten (with) -- With ten children
Ang wou dzyin hieng 'ou pwen myan 'ang -- Man with knife gold (with) clothed black (man) -- A man with a golden knife wearing black

Wednesday, 29 September 2010

Wow.

Єϝтιε Mεтακαтαᴧυ!


What's that? A new letter?

Λυмοειн ὑπнεειнκε βωειтει ἁϝтιιϝ οφтιтeрιει. Єϝ ουрυ.

Lie.inf sleep.inf-and couch.dat self.gen old.comp.dat. Good life.
"To lie and sleep on a couch older than yourself. That's life." 

It is. Well, the Waua only appears in some dialects, such as the one seen above. It's some proto dialect, as it features unassimilated forms (-οειн instead of -οιн) and ancient noun conjugations (-ιϝ instead of -ου).

I have started writing down my grammar and collecting it all, as it seemed some rules were only on this paper, and other collocations can only be found on that webpage. Also, I have been working out the proto-languages' vowel assimiliation, as well as vowel elision.

Tuesday, 21 September 2010

Cupboard Utopia

Єтι Καтαᴧυ!

I've been working on some diachronics of some sort; it started with noun conjugations, but I will develop it to a couple of dialects. I'll probably put some of those into my conworld. You might just see something about all this sometime soon.

Δακрι мнεc xтωнc εмοнε οᴧβκε?

Back.dat is.3pl lands happiness.gen wealth.gen-and?
Are there lands of happiness and wealth on the other side?

Noortje was quite jumpy at that moment. Strolling across my table as if I weren't trying to get something done on my pc. I guess she noticed it was almost time for dinner, demanding some extra attention in the meantime.

And yes, both the ευтιε καтαᴧυ and The Sentence were written in a dialect of some sort. This one was created after first applying 'elesion' and then 'contraction'. Well, I haven't worked that out, really.

Friday, 27 August 2010

Verbal Vowel Assimilation (part 2)

Let's take a look at the verb stems alone:

Indi.: мεн-, нοιмε-, οιδα-, παнxο-, δεικн-
Con.: мεнe-, нοιмe-, οιδά-, παнxό-, δεικнύ-
Opt.: мεнε͂ι-, нοιмε͂ι-, οιδᾶι-, παнxο͂ι-, δεικнῦι-

There are five different verb types: verbs without a thematic vowel and ε-, α-, o- and υ-thematic verbs. υ-thematic vowels do not appear in the indicative.

In the coniunctive, the thematic vowel is prolongued. ε>e; α>ά; ο>ό, υ>ύ.
Verb stems without a thematic vowel get an -e- added.

In the optative, -ε͂ι- is added to the verb stem.

Thursday, 26 August 2010

Verbal Vowel Assimilation

As a response to yesterday's comment, I will run through the examples given their again, this time with pre- and post-assimilation forms.

If you haven't read seen the TALVAC yet, please 'tab' it as a reference.

The Lurioneski verbs have the following suffices for person and number:

1sg (I)
2sg (you) -ὶc
3sg (he) -
1pl (we) -ὸмα
2pl (you) -ὶтε
3pl (they) -εc

For instance, "I am" is мεнω and "you are" (pl) is мεнιтε.

However, most verbs also have a thematic vowel, which is either -ε, -α, -ο or -υ.
Ignoring the last one (as it is a rather tricky one), they assimilate as usual, meaning they combine with other vowels (in this case those of the verb suffices).

ε+ω > ω; ε+ὶ > ε͂ι*; ε+ὸ > ω; ε+ε > ε
E.g.: нοιмεὶc > нοιмε͂ιc ("you name"); нοιмεὸмα > нοιмωмα ("we name").

α+ω > ῶ; α+ὶ > ὶ; α+ὸ > ῶ; α+ε > α
E.g.: οιδαω > οιδῶ ("I know"); οιδαὶтε > οιδὶтε ("you know" (pl)).

ο+ω > ω; ο+ὶ > ὶ; ο+ὸ > ω; ο+ε > ο
E.g.: παнxοὶ > παнxὶ ("he eats"); παнxοεc > παнxοc ("they eat");

Got it? Great, 'cause it only gets harder.


The Optative is quite easy. It just puts -ε͂ι- between the verb root and the suffix. But again, the vowels assimilate (when possible).

ε+ε͂ι > ε͂ι; α+ε͂ι > ᾶι; ο+ε͂ι > ο͂ι;
E.g.: οιδαε͂ιω > οιδᾶιω ("may I know"); παнxοε͂ιεc > παнxο͂ιεc > παнxο͂ιc ("may they eat").


The Coniunctive does something tricky. When verbs have a thematic vowel, it lengthens it, causing it to assimilate differently. (When there is no thematic vowel, it simply puts -e- in between.) Let's take the same examples as before, but this time in the coniunctive:


e+ω > eω; e+ὶ > eὶ; e+ὸ > eὸ; e+ε > e
E.g.: нοιмeὶc > нοιмeὶc ("you could name"); нοιмeὸмα > нοιмeὸмα ("we could name").

ά+ω > άω; ά+ὶ > άὶ; ά+ὸ > άὸ; ά+ε > ά
E.g.: οιδάω > οιδάω ("I could know"); οιδάὶтε > οιδάὶтε ("you could know" (pl)).

ό+ω > όω; ο+ὶ > όὶ; ό+ὸ > όὸ; ό+ε > ό
E.g.: παнxόὶ > παнxόὶ ("he eats"); παнxόεc > παнxόc ("they eat");


There is no visual distinction between the indicative 3pl and coniunctive 3pl of a verb (e.g. between παнxοc and παнxοc), as accents are rarely used. They are pronounced differently: [pɐnxɔs] and [pɐnxos] respectively.

(* I changed this one, but the chart still says ε+ὶ > ὶ.)

So there you have it.

Tuesday, 24 August 2010

Coniunctive and Optative

Єυтιε Καтαᴧυ!

Hell, it's about time.

"Єι καтec тυрαιc, мεнειι ουрυ мου κᴧαccιтeрιεгε."

If cats rule.opt.3p, be.opt.3s life my nice.comp.n-stress.
"If cats would rule, my life would be even nicer."

Today's sentence features the brand new* Optative.

(*When I say new, I mean 'new to you'; also, it's not completely new:)

What used to be the Coniunctive has been split into two modi: the (new) Coniunctive and the  Optative; leaving us with a total of 3 different modi (including the Indicative):

Indicative
мεнω, διc, нοιмι, δεικнοмα, παнxιтε, οιδαc
мεнοнтιι, нοιмωнтιι, παнxωнтιι, οιδωнтιι
The Indicative is used to state facts and other things that seem to be undeniable.

Coniunctive (+ε, +e)
мεнeω, δάιc, нοιмeι, δεικнυοмα, παнxόιтε, οιδαc
мεнeοнтιι, нοιмeοнтιι, παнxοοнтιι,  οιδαοнтιι
The Coniunctive is used to describe possibilities, uncertainties or irrealities.

Optative (+ει)
мεнειω, δαιιc, нοιмειι, δεικнυιοмα, παнxοιιтε, οιδαιc
мεнειοнтιι, нοιмειοнтιι, παнxοιοнтιι, οιδαιοнтιι
The Optative is used declare wishes, goals or unfortunate irrealities .

The katalu sentence is of course an example of the last of the optative's functions. She obviously is well aware that cats don't rule the world, but if they would, life would kick-ass.

Monday, 19 July 2010

Word Emphasis

I replied to a forum topic on the difference between defining and non-defining clauses; I thought it might be interesting to share.

Παнтιεc ιοᴧтυιн αδυнωнтec δec εκιειн.
All.ADJ dance.INF NEG-can.SUBST must leave.INF.
All who can't dance must leave.

Παнтec ιοᴧтυιн αδυнωнтιεc δec εκιειн.
All dance.INF NEG-can.ADJ must leave.INF.
All, who can't dance, must leave.

Here, the difference is made by switching noun/adjective, as adjectives can most often be omitted. In both sentences the inability to dance results in to the necessity to leave.

Φυαнтω мου ᴧυβрεc παнтιεc ειειᴧεтωнтιεc.
Sell.1SG my books all.ADJ read.PRF.PASS.ADJ.
I'm selling all my books which I've read.

Φυαнтω мου ᴧυβрεc παнтιεc, ἁтεc ειειᴧω.
Sell.1SG my books all.ADJ, which read.PRF.1SG.
I'm selling all my books, which I've read.

The emphasis is often on the last part of the sentence or word group, thus on ειειᴧεтωнтιεc in the third and on παнтιεc in the last sentence.

One could place the emphasis on many different words:
Φυαнтω ᴧυβрεc παнтιεc мου. - I sell all my books (not yours).
Φυαнтω παнтιεc мου ᴧυβрεc. - I sell all my books (but I'm keeping my films).
Παнтιεc мου ᴧυβрεc φυαнтω. - I sell all my books (I'm not just throwing them out).
As you might have noticed, participial constructions are an immense part of Lurion. They're what makes it unique, actually. Well, at least I haven't seen many other languages that use them so frequently.

Sunday, 27 June 2010

Vowel Assimilation 2

Although I have already done a post on vowel assimilation (appropriately called 'Vowel Assimilation'), I've given it a second thought, and made
 The Awesome Lurion Vowel Assimilation Chart (or TALVAC)
Yes, I'm making that up while typing. Sometimes my brilliance amazes me.
Oh, and it includes both the Naupilan and the Karvokan accent! How'd you like that?

Well, without further ado, here it is!
Ofcourse you can click on it for a bigger version. How else were you supposed to actually read it?

In case you're wondering how to interpret this fantastic chart (and I know you are):

When a vowel on the left is followed by a vowel on the top, they either assimilate, in which case another vowel(cluster) is shown in the appropriate row and column, or they do not, in which case a hyphen, -, is shown.

The left chart (the big one) is the general Lurion assimilation, the bottom right shows the Karvokan exceptions.
The top right is the Naupilan accented assimilation chart, which is quite compact, as the Naupilans pronounce everything alike and make no distinction between long and short vowels when assimilating.

And to please those who enjoy seeing me make mistakes: no, I did not intentfully forget to add a ~ on the Naupilan α+ο>ῶ and α+ω>ῶ assimilations. But no, I systematically did not add circumfleces on diphthongs (like ε͂ι), so that does not count.

Well, you didn't suspect to see something as shockingly marvelous or overwhelmingly beautiful as TALVAC when you woke up this morning, did you?

Saturday, 29 May 2010

Comparison and Diminutive

There are 5 degrees of comparison (as opposed to the 3 most languages have):

ὁрιтαтιι - highest
ὁрιтeрιι - higher
ὁрιι - high
ὁрιмeрιι - less high
ὁрιcαтιι - least high

The first ι is very weak, so root and infix might assimilate. E.g.: ευтαтιι ('best'; instead of ευтιтαтιι), ᴧυмeрιι ('less low'; instead of ᴧυмιмeрιι) or ὑδecαтιι ('least wet'; instead of ὑδeιcαтιι).
This will, however, only happen with roots that end with a vowel or with the same consonant. For instance, note the difference between φαcαтιι/φαcιтαтιι ('least hot' and 'hottest'; from φαcιι) and φαcтιι/φαcтαтιι ('thick' and 'thickest'; from φαcтιι).

Not only adjectives can be compared, also nouns, adverbs and verbs.
E.g.: εтαрιтαтιc ('the most/best friend') or ιω тεᴧxιтeрιωн ('I go faster').

To compare with something, the comparing dative is used: ι мεнω ευтeрιι cει - 'I am better than you'.

Finally, there is also a diminutive, used to indicate a smaller version of something. It has the infix -ιнт-. For instance: καтιнтιc - 'a little cat'.

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

Numbers

The numeral system is quite simple (as is the rest of the lurion grammar).

Numbers 1-10, 100, 1000 and 10,000

1 - ἑιc (῾eου, ῾eι, ἑн)
2 - δцοc (δουc, δευ, δцαc)
3 - трεc (трωc, трειc, трεc)
4 - тεтрαc (тεтрωc, тεтрαιc, тεтрαc)
5 - πεнтεc (*)
6 - ἑκтεc
7 - επтεc
8 - οκтεc
9 - нαнтεc
10 - δeκεc
100 - zeнεc
1000 - βουᴧεc
10,000 - мυрιαδεc

(* All other numbers are conjugated as plural neuter nouns. In fact, they are plural neuter nouns.)
---

For numbers 20, 30, 40 etc; 200, 300, 400 etc; 2000, 3000, 4000 etc and 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 etc, the prefices for the digits 2-9 exist:

δυο-, трι-, трα-, πεн-, ἑκ-, επ-, οκ- and нαн-

For instance, 20 is δυοδeκεc and 70,000 is επмυрιαδεc.

For the digits behind a tenfold, hundredfold etc, the infices for the digits 1-9 exist:

-εн-, -δυ-, -трε-, -тεтрε-, -πεн-, -εκт-, -επт-, -οκт- and -нαнт-

For instance, 14 is δeκтεтрεc and 392 is трιzeннαнтδυεc or, shortened, трιzeнαнδυεc.

100 and 10,000 are the most important, 10 and 1000 are only used when it is necessary. Other examples:

трαβουᴧεc - four.thousand - 4000
οκмυрιαδπεнβουᴧεc - eight.tenthousand.five.thousand - 85,000
ἑκмυрιαδδeκεнεc - six.tenthousand.ten.one - 60,011
επмυрιαδδυнαнzeнοκттεтрεc - seven.tenthousand.two.nine.hundred.eight.four - 72,984

(That sure is a mouthful. Then again, so is seventytwothousandninehundredeightyfour.)

Monday, 10 May 2010

The Dual

I said I'd explain about the dual some time ago, but I totally forgot. Therefore, here it is.

Form

- υc
- ουc
- ευ
- αc

Use

The dual is used for pairs, thus not just for any 2 items. A good example is οπυc (eyes / a pair of eyes), e.g. αнтрωπec οπευ ειδεc, "humans look with their eyes" (lit: humans with-pair-of-eyes look).
Other examples are other body (ακeυc, 'a pair of ears') or φeᴧυc, 'a pair of lovers/partners.
(It would be nonsense to say αмβрυc, 'a pair of apples', or δцοc οπυc, 'a pair of two eyes'.)

Tuesday, 27 April 2010

Participles

Forms

Any verb can be substantivised (is that a word?) very easily, i.e. by adding the affix -οнт and a noun/adjective suffix.
E.g.: ειδι ("he sees") > ειδοнтιc ("he who sees / the see-er"); гυнαc δεδαcεc ("women will (hopefully) have given") > δεδαcοнтιαc гυнαc ("the women who (hopefully) will have given").

Also, infinitives can be turned into nouns (and adjectives) simply by adding a neuter suffix. Here, the nominative and accusative are the same as the infinitive:
-ειн
-ειнου
-ειнει
-ειн

Use

Participles are used in many more cases that most modern natlangs. For instance, participles can be used as any wordgroup in a sentence, i.e. subject, object etc.
Also, participle adjectives can be used to give extra information about any wordgroup in a sentence.

Sunday, 25 April 2010

Verb moods: Imperative, Infinitive and Coniunctive

Verb have a number of moods, including the indicative, imperative, infinitive and coniunctive. I will go through these four here.

Indicative

No specific affix.

Is used to state actions in the present, past or future. Also used to describe habits.

Imperative

-εтι for singular and dual;
-εтε for plural;
-υcтε for general advise

Is used to give orders or give advise. The plural form is used for all groups (thus more than one person/object), except when the subject is dual, e.g. (a pair of) eyes, legs, partners etc. The general form is used to advise people unknown to the speaker/writer, for instance in manuals or cooking books.

Infinitive

-ειн

Is used to describe the action on itself, e.g. Нιтω παнxοιн. - "I like to eat". The infinitive is actually a participle noun. (Also have a look at this post.)

Coniunctive

-e- or lengthening the root-vowel; e.g.: ἁπтω > ἁπтeω and cтω > cтαω (resp.)

Is used to state wishes, irrealities and possibilities.

Saturday, 24 April 2010

Verb tenses

There are 9 tenses in Lurion, combining 2 elements, time and state.

Praesens, Aorist and Futurum (Present, Past and Future)
Simple, Imperfect and Perfect

The time-part is very easy; praesens is used for actions in the present, aorist in the past and futurum for actions that will (or might) happen in the future.

The state-part is a bit more complicated. Simple is used for describing (consecutive) actions, imperfect for continuous actions and perfect for completed actions.

Praesens and Simple have no affices.
Aorist adds the prefix e-, futurum the suffix -εc.
Imperfect adds the suffix -εн, perfect a reduplication of the first syllable (e.g. δω > δεδω).

E.g.:
eδεδω - "I had given" (past perfect)
οιοιcιc - "You (sg) will have thought" (future perfect)
eοιδαнιтε - "You (pl) were knowing" (past imperfect)
It must be noted that the latter is highly unusual, because it is quite odd to 'know continuously'. Something like "although you knew" would be translated as цαᴧтε eοιδιтε.

Lets look at the semantical differences between the tenses:

Λeгω, δω e φεᴧιω. - "I speak, I give and I (make) love."; these are all habits.
Eᴧeгω, eδω e eφεᴧιω. - "I spoke, I gave and I loved."; these are 3 actions in chronological order.
Λeгω e οιнω. - "I speak and I am thinking"; i.e. 'I speak while I am thinking'.
Δεδωмι ᴧυβрεн e ᴧeгω. - "I have been given a book and I speak"; i.e. 'I speak, (while) having/owning a book'.

Thursday, 22 April 2010

Noun and Adjective Conjugations

The conjugations of nouns and adjectives are pretty much the same, with a couple of exeptions.

gmfn
sgnomιc/ιοα-/ε
accιнοнαнεн
genουουαου
datειαιει
plnomecocαcεc
accεcocαcεc
genωcωcωcωc
datοιcοιcαιcειc

The general singular nominative nouns end in -ιc, adjectives in -ι, neuter sg. nom. nouns can end in a lot of ways, adj. in -ε.
The genitive is stressed, e.g. гυнα as in gúna is nominative, as in guná, it is genitive.

Also, all adjectives can be formed from nouns by adding the infix -ι-. E.g.: гυнα (woman) > гυнιι (female, feminine).
Where conjugations overlap, for instance in the plural genitive -ωc, and the gender must be specified, an infix can be added to nouns, being -ο- for masculine, -α- for feminine and -e- for neuter words. E.g.: гυнοωc, meaning 'male woman', i.e. a very feminine man, a 'queer' (as an insult to homosexuals, although my conpeople are most unlikely to make such an insult) or sometimes a transvestite.

Common neuter nom. sg. conjugations are -ε, -υ and -εр. The latter turns into -р in all cases except the nom. sg., e.g. ᴧυβεр, ᴧυβрεн (book).

There is also a dual, which has for all genders the same 4 suffices. More on the dual later, as it also involves some explanation.

Tuesday, 20 April 2010

Cases explained

Lurion has 4 different cases, all quite commonly known.

Nominative
Used to indicate the subject and all nouns and adjectives that are attributes to the subject.

Aᴧεκcαнδεр Meгιι нe ᴧeгι. - Alexander the Great said nothing.

Accusative
Used to indicate the object and its attributes. Also, it is used after verbs and prepositions to indicate direction and goal.

Δαн ειδι καтιн нιтιιн. - Daan sees the nice cat.
Παтрο ιι Γαᴧᴧιαн. - Father goes to France.

Genitive
Used to indicate possession and to indicate origin and reason.

Єιδιc καтιн мου? - Do you see my cat?
Zeнιc Aφрικαα ιι. - The foreigner comes from Afrika.

Dative
Used to indicate indirect objects and location, enviroment, method and tools.

Δω φοβυεн мεтαι. - I give fruit to mother.
Λeгεc ᴧαнгει zeнιει. - They speak in a foreign language.
Єιδεтι ὁπευ. - Look with your eyes.

Ofcourse, some words might feature exceptions etc, but these are the general rules.

Genders explained

There are 4 genders in Lurion, being General, Masculine, Feminine and Neuter.

Masculine and Feminine are quite simpel: they are used to indicate the physical gender of a creature. For instance παтрο (father) is masculine, and мεтα (mother) is feminine. Also, Feminine is used for geological names, e.g. Ἁрᴧεмα (Haarlem) or Βрιтαннια (Brittain, Lurion's common name for the UK).

General is used to indicate living creatures without specifying their physical gender, for instance jobs, animals and last names, e.g. δαмκιc (servant), κυнιc (dog) and Ιнт'Цεᴧδ (In 't Veld).

Neuter is used for everything else, for instance objects, languages or concepts. E.g.: ὁικe (house), ᴧυрιοнεcκι (Lurion) and εтεгκε (wire, but also metaphorically thread or blog).

Lurion's genders are very interchangeable, and this is way normally only the General or Neuter is shown in lists of words. For instance, βοc (cow), βοцο (bull), βοцα (cow (f)).

Vowel Assimilation

Vowels may assimilate, depending on their length.
The following types can be distinguished:

α, α:, ο, ω, ε, e, ι, ι:, ι., υ, υ:, ει, οι, αι, υι, ου, αυ, ευ

Here the : marks longer vowels. The ι. is a special type, as it is short but strong; it is used e.g. in the verb suffices -ιc, -ι and -ιтε.

They can be categorised according to their length/strength:

ε
α, ι, υ
o
α:, ω, e, υ:, ει, οι, αι, υι, ου, αυ, ευ
ι:, ι.

The first two rows are weak, the last two are strong.

Assimilation occurs when a weak and a strong vowel meet.
(This is only a rule of thumb, though.)

E.g.:
αα - αα
α:ε - α:
α:ω - α:ω
αει - αι

The ο is medially strong, e.g.: αο - ω or eο - eο (both strong), but οω - ω (weak).
The ι: never assimilates (e.g.: ι:α - ι:α), and the ι. 'eats' all weak vowels, including the ο (e.g.: αι. - ι. or ωι. - ωι.).

Verb declensions

The verb declensions are the same for all tenses. Here are the active and passive declensions:

Active

-ιc

-οмα
-ιтε
-εc

Passive
-οмι
-εтαc
-εтα
-εтοн
-εтαтε
-εтοн

For instance, the 3rd person singular passive of ᴧεгειн ("to say"; root: ᴧεг-) is ᴧεгεтα ("he is said"), and the 2nd person plural active of мεнειн ("to be"; root: мεн-) is мεнιтε ("you are" (pl.)).