ERBzine 3561: Mangani Grammar 1-10 by Jairo Uparella

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Volume 3561

MANGANI GRAMMAR I

by Jairo Uparella
An Detailed Expansion of the Mangani-Ape/English Language
Created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in his Series of Tarzan Books
View the alternate WORD file HERE

Mangani has special rules describing the grammar of the language because its limited amplitude,
which does not permit the comparison with a grammatical structure as found in English or Spanish.
These rules enclose the main structure of the Mangani language and the way you can express any sentence with logical sense.

LESSON 1
Rule 1: Articles

The Mangani don't use articles (a, an, the). You just can use the nouns.
Countable or uncountable nouns are expressed putting the word "ho"(few, not much, some)
or "eho"(a lot, many, much, too much) before the noun.
Proper names of animals and some natural phenomena comes with capital letter:
Numa, Tantor, Gani, Kolana, Usha, Kudu, Ara, Argo, etc, except for common names as wala, dan, den, argo-ved, etc.

wala	house the, a house
b’wang-gash	knife the, a knife
Kalo	Cow, the, a cow
ho wala	few houses
eho wala	a lot of houses
ho-wala	the village
Usha	Wind, the wind
ho usha	few wind
eho usha	much wind

Usha gom tro ho wala Wind runs through few houses	Kalo yud lufo ho-wala Cow is near the village
ho usha yud gom tro ho wala few wind is running through few houses	ho kalo yud lufo ho-wala (some) cows are near the village
eho usha gom tro ho wala much wind runs through few houses	eho kalo yud lufo ho-wala (many) cows are near the village

MANGANI GRAMMAR LESSON 2
Rule 2: Conjunctions

The Mangani doesn’t have conjunctions properly. Instead of "and" you can say words separated by comma.
Instead of "or" for example just say “unk-gogo” at the end of the phrase.
The Mangani has expressions that work as conjunctions defined as Coordinating conjunctions.

bi et	*because*
et	*that*
zut-ul	*but, except*
o	*as, how*
.	.
popo pisah bi et t`kewa sopu	*eat fish because there’s no fruit*
o t`kewa sopu, popo pisah	*as there's no fruit, eat fish*
t`kewa sopu, zut-ul hane ut	*there's no fruit, but have grain*
unk-wala, unk-popo.	*home and eat.*
popo ud, unk gogo.	*eat or drink, decide!*
Argoved aro whuff, argo, eho dan	*Volcano spews smoke, fire and stone*
yel-t’yel	*here and there, around*

MANGANI GRAMMAR LESSON 3
Rule 3: Contractions

Mangani contracts similar vowels and similar consonants.
Some expressions with affixes can contract the same way.
An special case is the word “tand”, which negates the word to produce a different or opposite word.

eta-arad	little spear	etarad	arrow
ne-eta	duck-little	neta	bird
ba-wang	added to wang	b’wang	hand
ba-tho	added to mouth	b’tho*	tonge
tand-gogo	don’t say, don’t tell	t’gogo	be quiet

nga	to give
akut	intelligence
nga-akut	to teach	nga’kut	to teach

pane	to cover
pane-eta	to dress	pane`ta	to dress

_____________
*Lus and b’tho: the first refers to a language as an idiom and the organ. The second is only the organ.

MANGANI GRAMMAR LESSON 4
Rule 4: Numbers

Mangani do not use numbers. They do not need to count anything with precision.
The term “ho” indicates “some”, “not much”, and the term “eho”, specifies “many”, “much of something”.

t’ho, eho	much, many, a lot
ho,t’eho	some, few, a little, little
eho-kando-lu	many fierce ants
ho-kando-lu	some fierce ants
ho-lul	little water
eho-lul	much water

MANGANI GRAMMAR LESSON 5
Rule 5: Parts of speech

Parts of speech are relatively interchangeable.
Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs can all be used as other parts of speech, under certain kind of rules or cases:

Rule 5.1: Syllabication and Hyphens between Words.
This is the method of forming or dividing words into syllables.
In many cases some words obeys an accommodation of the pronunciation.

gor-go	go-gor(color at the end)	growl-black
tar-zan	zan-tar (color at the beginning)	white-skin
go-yat	yat-go(color at the beginning)	black-eye

If the expression is converted into a name, it is not necessary the dash.

gor-go	Gorgo
tar-zan	Tarzan
go-yat	Goyat

Most of the cases you can use hyphens to separate or join words that obey to one idea, or concept:

yat	eye
b’zan	hair
yat-b`zan	eyebrow

akut-kewa	to take advantage of	(intelligence-have)
yud-yato-yel-t`yel	to look about	(be-watching-here and there)
hane-knu-do	to improve	(to make-learn)

MANGANI GRAMMAR LESSON 6
Rule 5.2: Using the expression "Unk"

When you say "unk + noun or verb" means that one is going to stay or be with another person
(or ape like Barkak here) or place.
If you change the words, "verb or noun-unk", you are asking.
Examples:

Barkak –	Tarzan unk	Tarzan go?Barkak is asking
Tarzan –	Tarzan unk,unk Barkak	Tarzan answers, yes, with Barkak

But Tarzan doesn’t want to go with Barkak, so he can say:

Barkak –	Tarzan unk	Tarzan go? Barkak is asking
Tarzan –	Tarzan unk, tand-unk Barkak	(or “rak”) Tarzan is answering, yes, without Barkak

And he doesn’t want to go home, he can say:


Tarzan –	Tarzan tand-unk wala	Tarzan don’t go home

Unk is used to command or emit an order.
This is one way to express verbs.

unk-lul	go to water (bathe!)	go and wash yourself!
unk-wala	go home!	go into home!
unk-gogo	speak! , decide!	go and speak!
unk-popo	eat!	go and eat!
unk-ugla	fight!	go and fight!
unk-nala	go up!, climb!	go and climb!
unk-ud	drink!	go and drink!
unk-yat	look!, see!	go and see!
unk-yut	cut!	go and cut it!

The expression “tand-unk” or “t`unk”, means that you don’t have the order to do something.

tand-unk-ugla	t`unk-ugla	t`ugla	donot fight!
tand-unk-nala	t`unk-nala	t`nala	donot go up!, do not climb!
tand-unk-ud	t`unk-ud	t`ud	donot drink!
tand-unk-yat	t`unk-yat	t`yat	donot look!, not see!

MANGANI GRAMMAR LESSON 7
Rule 5.3 Interrogative pronouns

As in many languages, they are used to ask a question.
Some of them refer only to living beings or people, like "who" and
others refer to people and objects, etc like "what".
They do not distinguish between singular and plural. In rare circumstances they are used as relative pronouns.
They are:

bi-et		why
e		where
et		what
ha-il		whom
il		who
o		how
ul-il		whose
uta		when
uz		which

Examples:

Barkak -	bi-et Tarzan rem ho sopu	why Tarzan brig fruits?
Tarzan -	bi-et Tarzan kewa-t’po	because Tarzan is hungry

Barkak -	Tarzan-e	where is Tarzan?
Ape -	gugu zu den, lufo gom-lul	in front of the big tree, near river

Ape -	unk-yat	look!
Tarzan -	yato-e	where? (I look where?)
Ape -	nala	Up
	yato nala!	look up!

Barkak -	il kewa-shee-ze Bara	who have hunted Bara?
Ape -	Tarzan kewa-shee-ze Bara	Tarzan has hunted Bara

Barkak -	uta Tarzan ande’ta	when does Tarzan leave?
Tarzan -	Tarzan ande’ta rak-eta a’g	Tarzan possibly leaves early

MANGANI GRAMMAR LESSON 8
Rule 5.4: Using the verb "Yud"

The verb “Yud” means Appear, Be (is, are, was, were), Come, Stay.

Tarzan yud!		Tarzan is coming. Tarzan-Be. Tarzan appears.
Tarzan yud nala den		Tarzan is on the tree

It means “follow” or “be after one”.

Tarzan -	Tarzan-unk-wala	I am going home, I go home, I will go home
Barkak -	Barkak yud	Barkak is following Tarzan. Barkak- go- too
Tarzan -	Tarzan yud zor wala	Tarzan is at home
Tarzan -	Jane yud zor wala	Jane will come home
Tarzan -	Tarzan kewa yud zor wala	Tarzan have to stay at home

Yud and common prepositions

yud keen	be against
yud lufo	be close to	be beside to
yud nala	be up	be on	be above	be over
yud ram	be below of
yud rand	be at the back of	be behind of	be after
yud rud	be around of
yud t`nala	be lower	downward	be under
yud t`unk	be without
yud tro	be everywhere
yud unk	be with
yud wee	be between	be among
yud zor	be at	be in	be inside
yud zut	be out	be outside

Yud and common adjective

yud aba-ah-ze	be jealous
yud ado-ze	be clean
yud akut-yud-ze	be wise
yud akut-ze	be intelligent
yud ande-ah-ze	be fugitive
yud argo-do-ze	be rabid
yud bor-ze	be dry
yud bund-ze	be dead
yud bur-eta-ze	be quiet
yud bur-ze	be cold
yud zu-ag-ze	be bigger
yud zu-vo-ze	be strong
yud zu-ze	be ample
yud zu-ze	be big

MANGANI GRAMMAR LESSON 9
Rule 5.5: Using the affix "Ka"

The affix “ka” is a Reflexive pronoun that converts verbs into Reflexive verbs,
meaning “by one’s self” or “oneself”. :

ka-lul		bathe, to wash by one’s self (to wash part of one’s body)
ka-mee		to wet by one’s self (to wet all or part of our body)
ka-goda		to surrender by one’s self, because you don’t want to go on
ka-unk		go because one want, one decide not to stay anymore in a place.
ka-pan-vo		to get tired, one feels that you are getting tired.
ka-rota		I enjoy, I laugh alone.

Tarzan –	ka-lul	will you wash by yourself? (first person who say is asking)
Ape –	ka-lul	Yes, I will (second person who repeat is answering)

Tarzan can say to an ape, that doesn’t wet himself because he could get sick.

Tarzan –

Tand ka-lul, eho-lul,

ka-gu-mado

Don’t wet yourself. Much water will you sick

When you say your name first, means that you express what you are doing:

Tarzan –

Tarzan ka-lul

Tarzan bathes himself. (first person is expressing)

Tarzan –	ka-goda	Do you surrender?
Terkoz –	ka-goda	Yes, I do surrender
Apes -	Terkoz ka-goda, Tarzan gan-do	Terkoz give up, Tarzan win

In the next example, the main action comes from the other person:

Jane –	ka-gree	Love me?
Tarzan –	ka-gree	Love you
	gree-ah!	Love you so much

MANGANI GRAMMAR LESSON 10
Rule 5.6 Logic and the term "eta"

When two expressions are together for logic expressions,
the first one is the conditional and the other one indicates “what to do in case of”.
“Eta” is a suffix meaning “quasi”, “almost”, “try”.
Example:

Tarzan – Horta bundolo-eta, Tarzan bundolo Horta

If Horta try to attack, (then) Tarzan will kill Horta.

Dialog:

Ape -	Tarzan po	Tarzan hungry?
Tarzan -	rak	Yes.
Ape -	Tarzan po, unk wala, unk popo	If Tarzan hungry, go home and eat
	ka-unk popo sopu	You-go to eat some fruit
Tarzan -	waugh	You’re right
Barkak -	usha-do	Go fast (act as wind)
Tarzan -	gor-eta Barkak, tand unk	Warn you Barkak, don’t go
	Tarzan yud, rem sopu Barkak	Tarzan comes. Bring fruit to Barkak
Barkak -	ugh. Barkak akut-do	Ok. Barkak understand (Wise-act)

Examples:

amba-eta	to stumble.
gor-eta	to advise (almost growling)
kreeg-eta	to warn
gom-eta	almost running but not walking
meeta-ah!	it is raining so hard!
meeta-eta	it looks like rain
mee-a	to give birth, to produce

Usually “eta” means “little”. It is located before the other words.

meeta

eta-meeta

rain

drizzle

MANGANI GRAMMAR
by Jairo Uparella

Introduction

Lessons 1-10

Lessons 11-20

Lessons 21-27

Dictionary

BILL HILLMAN
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