Updated Determiners.

Version 1.3

Having upgraded the articles and touched on the subject of quantifiers it seems prudent to post some ideas on other determiners. Some of my older suggestions were based on the comparative/ superlative endings and the definite and indefinite articles, all of which have now changed.

 

any                  enje

Derived from Mandarin “rènhé”, it sounds very close to English term too.

 

all/ every        pan or omni

This was originally a superlative of the indefinite article. The ISV term “pan” is simpler. Depending on phrase syntax this word can also mean “whole/ entire”. “Pan dez kanis” = “All the dogs” ; “Pan jez kanis” = “All dogs (indefinite)” ; “De pan kanis” = “The whole dog”. Instead of using a word for “both” the Diinlang speaker would say “pan duo”, “all two”. This more versatile construction can be used with other numbers, for example, “pan tet”, “all four”.

 

each                jede

Formed by combining indefinite article “je” with the general definite “de”.

 

very                 reta

A combination of the prefix meaning repetition “re-” with the augmentive ending “-ta”.

 

much             mas

many             masiz

In English “much” is used with uncountable nouns and “many” with countable nouns. It remains to be seen if such a distinction is needed in Diinlang. Use with a plural noun may be distinction enough. As an adverb “mas” is used as a prefix. As a determiner or pronoun it may be a stand alone word or part of a phrase. The same comments apply to “las” for “few/ little”. Words for quantity or number might be used instead or combined with “mas-” serving as a prefix. In the newer system these words are “ta” and “taz”.

 

other              olt

“Olt” is a phonetic spelling of “alt” derived from “alternative”.

 

another/ one more      uni mes  (uni eta)

The words for “another” are a direct translation of “one more”.

 

a few/ a little            uni las. (uni ko)

This resembles in structure translations in a number of other languages. “A lot” would logically be uni mas. (uni ta)

 

everything          pande/ panje/ panit

Literally “all things” – once the preferred term for “things” is decided.

 

none, no one, nothing      noze, noje or nojhen.

“Jhen” is person so “no one” is logically “nojhen”. The term for “nothing” will depend on the final form of “everything”.  
 

Update.

These determiners can also be used as indefinite pronouns to form the equivalents of “no one, nobody, somebody, anybody, everything, the other” etc.