Giak Tutorial

[Exercises] [Answers]

Goals

To learn:

• to use conjunctions
• to form and use prepositional phrases correctly
• to use sentences of the form (Subject/Verb/Indirect Object/Direct Object)
• to use possesives

Vocabulary

Architectural	Geographical	Prepositions	Directions
Adog \'a-däg\ (n) Path, Track Agna \'ag-na\ (n) Road Etaar \'e-tär\ (n) Door Gagjak \'gag-jak\ (n) Border Gedad \'ge-dad\ (n) Town, City Gogak \'go-gak\ (n) Camp Magnok \'mag-näk\ (n) Arena Odgoz \'od-goz\ (n) Barricade Odgozeg \'od-gäz-,eg\ (n) Blockade Tuztor \'tuz-tor\ (n) Way Zazgog \'zaz-gäg\ (n) Church, Temple Zogak \'zo-gak\ (n) Gate	Adar \'a-där\ (n) Wasteland, Desert Egina \'e-gi-,na\ (n) Sea Egiza \'e-gi-,za\ (n) Bay, Cove Nengud \'nen-gud\ (n) Lake Nodog \'no-däg\ (n) Swamp, Marsh Odnenga \'od-nen-,ga\ (n) River Okrog \'ok-räg\ (n) Canyon, Chasm Ritzag \'rit-zag\ (n) Mountain Tezna \'tez-na\ (n) Waste	Ar \'är\ (prep) With Atog \'a-täg\ (prep) Above Eg \'eg\ (prep) To Iak \'i-ak\ (prep) At Kog \'kog\ (prep) In Kor \'kor\ (prep) From, Of Ogot \'o-gät\ (prep) Behind Tek \'tek\ (prep) As, Like Tor \'tor\ (prep) For	Aztar \'az-tär\ (n) North Dej \'dej\ (n) East Zand \'zand\ (n) South Tozaz \'to-zaz\ (n) West Daz \'daz\ (n) Left Jag \'jag\ (n) Right Tog \'tog\ (adv/prep) Up Tot \'tot\ (adv/prep) Down
	Conjunctions	Misc.
	Ash \'ash\ (conj) And Dar \'dar\ (conj) If Ka \'ka\ (conj) But Nart \'nart\ (conj) Or	Azga \'az-ga\ (n) Front Gegor \'ge-gor\ (n) Rear Nartag \'nar-tag\ (n) Flank	Dez \'dez\ (v) Come Der \'der\ (v) Go

Conjunctions

The conjunctions 'and', 'or' and 'but' are used in much the same way in Giak as they are in English.

• Ok ash zegor dez. -> The giak and I are coming.
• Egud zaz kordak nart orgadaka. -> The captain is ordering the sergeant or the humans.
• Dik dakagog naog ka dok dan. -> A spy doesn't run but he stands.
• Zutgorak gug ash stak darg igginim. -> The blue and orange monster attacks the children.
• Sheg ekor ash gaj. -> A dog falls and dies.

The conjunction 'ash' can be used to string together two or more modifiers as in the fourth example. 'Ash' must be used between every modifier in the list. This is to avoid confusion in spoken Giak when indirect objects and possesives are used. If it wasn't this way, the listener couldn't tell if the extra word in the list were modifing the original word or the object of the prepositional phrase. This will be illustrated later in this lesson.

• Odakar nad ash akog ash stuzor ash moton zaj. -> The dark, deaf, weak and short guard is shooting.

The conjunction 'if' is used somewhat differently than it is in English. There is no word for 'then' so all sentences using 'dar' are of the form '-this- if -that-'.

• Zizi gag jogg dar okak ek adag haag. -> The woman drinks the wine if thou get a new bottle.
• Zutaagon taag naog lugim dar okak nak dok. -> The undead doesn't kill the friends if thou fight it.

Note that these aren't very good Giak sentences. Conditional sentences are usually formed in the future tense which will be covered in Lesson VI.

Prepositional Phrases

The prepositions are used in the same way as they are in English.

• Oknar der eg gogak. -> The officer goes to camp.
• Orgadak taag ar moggador zegor. -> A human kills the giak with a hammer.
• Gorak kog nengud narg neni. -> The animal in the lake is wet.

Keep in mind that when prepositional phrases are used as adjectives or adverbs that they must immediately follow the word(s) modified. All three examples show this.

Indirect Objects

Indirect objects are a special case of prepositional phrases. They must come immediately after the predicate (just like any other prepositional phrase used to modify the predicate) and before the direct object. Indirect objects are formed with the words 'eg', 'kor' and 'tor'.

• Okim gaj tor zizinim. -> We die for women.
• Rekenar jeg kor nozod googa -> The scout takes food from a horse.
• Dok kag eg dikrak dok. -> He carries it to a bird.

Possessives

Possesives are formed by using the preposition 'kor'.

• Lug kor nenrak narg tagog. -> The thief's friend is fast. (literally: The friend of the thief is fast)
• Duldug dez kor gazjat kor orgar. -> The archer is coming from the army's barracks.
• ¿ Ta dorgarim jeg eg oknar kor dokim ash gudjag ash tukor zizinim ash igginim ? -> Are the war parties taking the women and children to their great and strong leader?

Notice that in the last example, the possesive 'kor dokim' preceded the other modifiers 'gudjag ash tukor.' This is clearer than placing it anywhere else in the list and I suggest that you follow this example.

The last example also shows why 'ash' must seperate every item of a modifier list. If a listener heard:

• ¿ Ta dorgarim jeg eg oknar kor dokim gudjag tukor zizinim ash igginim ?

'gudjag tukor' could be seen as modifying 'dokim' which would lead to the following:

• Are the great and strong war parties taking the women and children to their leader?

[Exercises]