Tatari Faran Grammar

Conversational Conventions

Greetings

Greetings in Tatari Faran are quite simple: they consist simply of the vocative form of the person(s) being addressed. For example:

These greetings are, in fact, formal greetings, in spite of their literal English meaning. Typically, one would nod gently as one greets another in this way, as an acknowledgement of the other party.

The informal form of the greeting is simply the bare pronoun:

Another common form of address is when one is at the door and wishes to call for attention:

(It is considered rude to knock or otherwise make a noise to draw attention; shouting tsi'an tse! is the proper protocol.)

Introductions

Introducing Oneself

A man introduces himself by using the word minas (name (masc.)):

A woman introduces herself using the word minein (name (fem.)):

Asking Someone's Name

To ask someone's name, one would say to a man:

Or to a woman:

Note that pronouns are not used in this context; when minas or minein are used in a statement, they are understood to refer to the name of the speaker; and when they are used in a question, they are understood to refer to the listener. Pronouns would only be used in the unusual situation when you need to ask someone your own name, or to tell someone their name.

The usual response to learning someone's name is to say:

Or,

Sometimes the response may simply be addressing the person (again) with the appropriate vocative, usually accompanied by a slight nod or bow of acknowledgement, such as in the following conversation snippet:

Young man:

diru tse! minas sa taaho. minein sei sii?

diru

girl

tse!

2SG

minas

name

sa

CVY.M

taaho.

Taaho

minein

name

sei

CVY.F

sii?

what

Hello, girl! My name is Taaho. What is your name?

Young woman:

minein sei sua.

minein

name

sei

CVY.F

sua.

Sua

My name is Sua.

Young man:

diru tse.

diru

girl

tse.

2SG

Nice to meet you.

Young woman:

kiran tse.

kiran

young_man

tse.

2SG

Nice to meet you too.

Introducing a Friend

To introduce someone else, minas and minein are not used; instead, the third person pronoun tara' is used instead:

Farewells

There are several ways of saying farewell, each of which depends on the circumstances.

If one is speaking to departing guests, the proper farewell is:

The finalizer jain means “well”, and is used in all farewells. The above farewell literally means “walk well” or “walk safely”.

If one is departing from a host, the proper farewell is:

The verb tanap means “to dwell”. This farewell literally means “dwell safely”, and is appropriate only if the other party lives in that place.

If one is departing from another party, but the other party does not live in that place, a different farewell is used. A common farewell, used when the other party is remaining in order to stand guard or to wait for something, is:

This farewell literally means “stand well” or “guard well”.

Expressing gratitude

Gratitude is expressed by saying:

This expression is the vocative of fainan, “good person” or “benefactor”. The pronoun, of course, would be huna when thanking more than one person:

Interestingly enough, this same phrase is often also used as a normal vocative when addressing the same person(s) later—essentially one continues thanking one's benefactor thereafter.

Apologies

Apology is expressed by:

Pardon is granted by saying:

Or, simply: