Descriptive words: Adverbs
Adverbs are the words that modify verbs (hence the name) and other descriptive words. Adverbs usually express location (place, space), time and frequency, manner. There are not many adverbs in Nûrlâm's dictionary:
New words
gûth (almost, nearly) – manner
mag (too [much]) – manner
sha (together) – manner
sharz (very) – manner
tîr (straight) – direction
Making adverbs from adjectives
Very few adverbs have the same form as adjectives (or other word classes):
New words
lad (late) < adj. “late” – time
raih (seldom, rarely) < adj. “rare” – time, frequency
thil (often, frequently) < adj. “frequent” – time, frequency
tug (only, just) < adj. “single, only” – frequency, manner
zârsh (today) < noun – time
In majority of cases you need to add suffix -arz after the adjective (or sometimes other part of speech) to convert it to adverb. If the adjective already has suffix -ûrz, it should be replaced with -arz.
New words
aktûrz (precise) ⇒ aktarz (precisely) – manner
durt (sure) ⇒ durtarz (surely, of course) – manner
hîs (fast, quick) ⇒ hîsarz (quickly, fast) – manner
kîb (to live) ⇒ kîbarz (alive) – manner
kog (true, real) ⇒ kogarz (truly, really, actually, indeed) – manner
Word order
The following rules are applied to position of adverbs in sentence:
if adverb modifies the verb, it should be placed after the verb and it's object: the fire quickly burns the forest ⇒ ghâshum ghâshâ taum hîsarz;
if adverb modifies the adjective that precedes the noun, then adverb is placed before the adjective: very old dirt ⇒ sharz kû dug;
if adverb modifies the adjective that is placed after the noun, then adverb is placed after the adjective: really hot water ⇒ nîn gashûrz kogarz;
if adjective has a modifying adverb, it cannot join the noun as a clitic: almost black blood ⇒ ghor mor gûth / gûth mor ghor (not “ghormor gûth”);
Word order of adverbs will be discussed again in the future lessons, when you'll learn how to make more complex sentences.
Exercise 1
Translate from English into Nûrlâm:
bring the slaves alive
come together
demons rarely fly
elves eat only fruits and bread
the man comes precisely
the slayer often kills
too hot dragon
these eyes see a very scary orc
warriors are resting today
wraiths surely rule this tower
thrak za snaga kîbarz
skât sha
rog skoirû raih
golug throkhû gau agh mazg tug
tarkum skâtâ aktarz
dogum dogâ thil
mag gashûrz lûg / lûg gashûrz mag
za hont kinû ash sharz uf uruk / za hont kinû ash uruk uf sharz
mau kâtû zârsh / mauh kâtû zârsh
gûl durbû za lug durtarz
Exercise 2
Translate from Nûrlâm:
ash olog tûrz sharz
gazatum lorâ zârsh
golug throkhû âps raih
gûth udug mink mauh
kogarz bhog saub
tark gimbû hlum hîsarz
ukh tîr
urukum maukû sha
za shra skâtâ mag lad
za snaga kâtâ mag
a very fat troll
the dwarf sleeps today
elves rarely eat meat
almost seven thousand warriors / nearly seven thousand warriors / almost 7000 warriors / nearly 7000 warriors
really good juice
humans quickly bring the clothes
go straight
orcs fight together
this person comes too late
this slave rests too much
Exercise 3
Make new adverbs from adjectives you've learnt before:
bad (fik) ⇒ badly
good (bhog) ⇒ well
heavy (bûrd) ⇒ heavily
long (rodh) ⇒ [for a] long
strong (bolg) ⇒ strongly
fikarz
bhogarz
bûrdarz
rodharz
bolgarz
See also