Pandunia

Introduction

Pandunia is a constructed language that is designed to be relatively easy for everyone. You can learn it fast with this practical course.

English speakers will find it easy to make basic sentences in Pandunia as the word order is generally the same as in English, there are no definite or indefinite articles, no verb "to be", and no complicated rules about changing the form of words to express singular and plural or the tense of verbs.

The course consists of short lessons. Each lesson introduces one new word, which is used in several different phrases in the lesson. This is to teach you how the word works as part of sentences. Possibly you will encounter also other new words in the same lesson but don't worry about them! You don't have to learn all of them at once. Just memorize the phrases that are useful for you! Maybe the rest will go to your memory subconsciously.

You can study this course together with one or several friends. Read the phrases together and try to make small conversations. You can also study alone. Even then it's useful to read out loud and create conversations. Repeat the same phrases several times today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and so on. As they say, repetition is the mother of learning.

Note! Many lessons include also tips and notes like this. They are there to clarify grammatical details for those who are interested. You can skip over them if they are not helpful. You don't have to know the theory of the language. You can just speak Pandunia!

Part 1: Greeting and basics

sal — greet, greeting

sal Hello!

sal suba! Good morning!

sal dia! Good day!

sal xam! Good evening!

sal noce! Good night!

sal yam! Bon appetit!

sal lai! Welcome!

sal ga! Goodbye!

sal safar! Have a safe journey!

sal sona! Sleep well!

As you can see from the range of expressions, sal is a general word for well-wishing. Use it any time!

Etymology. sal is from French: "salut", Arabic: سَلَام‏ "salām", Hebrew: שָׁלוֹם‏ "šalom", Turkish: selam, Hindi: सलाम "salām", Swahili: salaam, Indonesian: selamat.

mi — I, me

mi sara. I'm Sara.

mi tomas. I'm Thomas.

You can introduce yourself simply by saying mi and your name. You don't need a verb for saying it in Pandunia!

mi salama ma. I greet mother.

mi salama pa. I greet father.

The word salam is a noun and salama is the corresponding verb. The basic word order in Pandunia is subject-verb-object.

sara salama tomas. Sara greets Thomas.

salam ma! Greetings, mother!

salam pa! Greetings, father!

Etymology. mi is from English: me, Italian: mi, Swahili: mimi, Zulu: -mi-.

tu — you

tu tomas. You are Thomas.

mi salama tu. I greet you.

tu salama mi. You greet me.

Pronouns don't ever change their form in Pandunia. That's why mi is the same in subject and object positions while English has two different forms, 'I' and 'me'.

mi ama tu. I love you.

Etymology. tu is from Spanish: "tú", Italian: "tu", French: "tu", Hindi: तू "tū", Farsi: تو‏‎ "to", Tajik: ту "tu".

ye — he, she or it

ye man. He is a man.

ye fem. She is a woman.

ye apel. It is an apple.

ye is the general third person pronoun. It is used for people (irrespective of gender) as well as for things.

mi salama ye. I greet him/her.

Etymology. ye is from Lingala: yé, Swahili: yeye, Chichewa: iye, Zulu: -ye-, Hindi: यह "ye".

sual — to ask a question

sual tu tomas? Are you Thomas?

sual tu dotor? Are you a doctor?

Tip: Yes/no questions frequently begin with kia. It is just a regular verb, not a special question tag. In fact, the previous question is simply abbreviated from mi kia tu doktar. (I ask, you doctor?) by dropping out the first word.

sual tu bon? How are you? (Literally: Are you good?) mi bon. I'm good.
sual tu? And you?
mi no bon. I'm not good.

Etymology. sual is from Arabic, Swahili, and others.

ya — yes

sual tu tomas? Are you Thomas.

ya, mi tomas. Yes, I am Thomas.

sual ye dotor? Is he/she a doctor?

ya, ye dotor. Yes, he is a doctor.

no -- no, not

mi no sara. I'm not Sara.

mi no dotor. I'm not a doctor.

sual tu bon? Are you well?
si. mi bon. Yes, I'm well.

sual tu bon? Are you well?
no, mi no bon. No, I'm not well.

You can use no to deny anything. It is placed before the word that is denied.

ye no salam mi. He/she doesn't greet me.

Etymology. no is from English: no, Spanish: no, French: non.

mon -- people

Add mon to a singular pronoun to make it plural.

mimon salam tumon. We greet you all.

tumon salam yemon. You greet them.

yemon salam mimon! They greet us.

mimon si fem. We are women.

tumon si man. You are men.

yemon si apel. They are apples.

Etymology. mon is from Mandarin: 们 "men".

ke? what? who?

ke? What?

tu ke? Who are you?
mi tomas. I'm Thomas.

ye ke? Who is he/she?
ye sara. She is Sara.

tumon ke? Who are you people?

yemon ke? Who are they?

Etymology. ke is from Spanish: qué, Portuguese: que, Italian: che, Bengali: কী "ki".

ni — this

ni si ke? / ke si ni? What's this?

ni si aple. This is an apple.

ni si rubi aple. This is a red apple.

ni aple si rubi. This apple is red.

Note: When an adjective, like rubi, is placed before a noun, it works as a modifier. When it follows the noun, it works as an adjectival verb.

ye rubi. It's red.

su — 's (possessive particle)

ni ke? What's this?

ni si mi su fon. It's my phone.

ni si ke su? Whose is this?

ni si mi su. It's mine.

Note: Possessive particle su is put between the owner and the owned thing. So mi su means "my", tu su means "your" and so on.

ye si ke? Who's he/she?

ye si mi su dosti. He/she is my friend.

mi si sara su dosti. I am Sara's friend.

Etymology. da is from Punjabi: ਦਾ "dā", Mandarin: 的 "de".

nam — name

tu su nam si ke? What's your name?

mi su nam si tomas. My name is Thomas.

ye be nam ke? What he/she is called?

ye be nam sara. She is called Sara.

mi be nam tomas. I'm called Thomas.

Etymology. nam is from Hindi: नाम "nām", Farsi: نام‏‎ "nām", Thai: นาม "naam", Indonesian: nama, Japanese: 名前 "namae", German: Name, English: name.

ha — have

mi ha bon dom. I have a good house.

ye no ha pesa. He/she doesn't have money.

mi vol ha nove fon. I want to have a new phone.

sual tu ha ben? Do you have children? mi ha du ben. I have two children.

sabe — to know

mi sabe ye. I know him/her.

sual tu sabe ni jen? Do you know this person?

sual tumon sabe semon? Do you know each other?

mimon sabe semon ze long. We know each other for long.

mede — help

mi yau mede. I need help.

sual tu bil mede mi? Can you help me?

sual mi bil mede tu? Can I help you?