the country. This was a
much simpler task than might have been supposed. I soon found that,
unlike any Terrestrial tongue, the language of this people had not
grown but been made--constructed deliberately on set principles, with
a view to the greatest possible simplicity and the least possible
taxation of the memory. There were no exceptions or irregularities,
and few unnecessary distinctions; while words were so connected and
related that the mastery of a few simple grammatical forms and of a
certain number of roots enabled me to guess at, and by and by to feel
tolerably sure of, the meaning of a new word. The verb has six tenses,
formed by the addition of a consonant to the root, and six persons,
plural and singular, masculine and feminine.

Singular. | Masc. | Fem. || Plural. | Masc. | Fem.
--------------|-------|------||----------|-------|--------
I am | ava | ava || We are | avau | avaa
Thou art | avo | avoo || You are | avou | avu
He or she is | avy | ave || They are | avoi | avee
--------------|-------|------||----------|-------|--------

The terminations are the three pronouns, feminine and masculine,
singular and plural, each represented by one of twelve vowel
characters, and declined like nouns. When a nominative immediately
follows the verb, the pronominal suffix is generally dropped, unless
required by euphony. Thus, "a man strikes" is _dak klaftas_, but in
the past tense, _dakny klaftas_, the verb without the suffix being
unpronounceable. The past tense is formed by the insertion of _n_
(_avna_: "I have been"), the future by _m_: _avma_. The imperative,
_avsa_; which in the first person is used to convey determination or
resolve; _avsa_, spoken in a peremptory tone, meaning "I _will_ be,"
while _avso_, according to the intonation, means "be" or "thou shalt
be;" i.e., shalt whether or no. _R_ forms the conditional, _avra_, and
_ren_ the conditional past, _avrena_, "I should have been." The need
for a passive voice is avoided by the simple method of putting the
pronoun in the accusative; thus, _daca_ signifies "I strike," _dacal_
(me strike) "I am struck." The infinitive is _avi; avyta_, "being;"
_avnyta_, "having been;" _avmyta_, "about to be." These are declined
like nouns, of which latter there are six forms, the masculine in _a,
o, and y,_ the feminine in _a, oo, and e;_ the plurals being formed
exactly as in the pronominal suffixes of the verb. The root-wor