Stress
The main rule is: the vowel before the last consonant or "y" is stressed:
máta — mother
suóla — sole (of footwear)
matéria — matter
nóve — new
kórdia — heart
aktór — actor
aván — forward
krokodíl — crocodile
dúmi — to think
jámi — to gather
báya — bay (in coast)
jaopáy — signboard
In words of the shape (C)CVV like háo — good, well, krái — to cry the first vowel is stressed.
In the combinations "au", "eu" — "u" is not stressed:
áusen — outside
áudi — to hear
áuto — car
máus — mouse
káusa — cause
éuro — euro
In the combinations "ai", "ei", "oi" — "i" is not stressed:
máini — to mean
fáil — file
bréin — brain
méil — mail
asteróida — asteroid
There are 4 consonant endings which are never stressed. These are -en, -us, -um, -er:
ínen — inside
íven — even
désnen — to the right of
vírus — virus
fórum — forum
sírkum — around
ínter — between
kompyúter — computer
The endings of nouns and adjectives -ik-, -ul- are unstressed:
gramátika
pedagógika
públika
Áfrika
Amérika
polítike
lógike
únike
psikológike
stímula
ángula
This doesn't apply to compound words with -fula like handafúla handful.
Non-standard stress is indicated through a doubled voweclass="underline"
kwantitaa — quantity
kwalitaa — quality
(and all abstract nouns derived from adjectives via the stressed suffix -(i)taa)
namastee — hello
adyoo — good-bye
bifoo — before
malgree — in spite of
shosee — highway
milyoo — milieu
The use of a doubled vowel is justified by that the stress in LdP is basically quantitative. A doubled vowel in a word without other vowels (like in 'zoo') is not regarded to be a stress mark.
Stress and word formation
In any derivation the stress of the basic word isn't shifted. It means that, for example, the plural endings -(e)s, the adverb suffix -em and the noun suffix -ing do not change stress:
kórdias — hearts
naturálem — naturally (from naturále — natural)
físhing — fishing (from físhi — to fish)
Only few suffixes beginning with a vowel are exceptions to this rule:
-isi, -ifi (glúbe — glubísi, glubífi)
-inka (snéga — snegínka)
-ina (dóga — dogína)
-ista (dénta — dentísta)
-(t)ive (ákti — aktíve)
-ale, -are (ménta — mentále, pol — poláre),
as well as the aforementioned stressed suffix -(i)taa.
Compound words retain the stress of their components:
auslándajén — foreigner
jánmalánda — native land, homeland
Suffixes beginning with a consonant may receive a secondary stress:
gínalík — womanly (from gína — woman)
kúsishíl — tending to bite (from kúsi — to bite)
ófnitúl — opener
vídibíle — visible
A text with stress indicated
Bashán om humanístike transfórma de sosietáa
Namastée, káre amígas!
Me jói sinsérem por vídi yu, me jói ke nu es snóva pa húnta e ke nu mog diréktem diskúsi kwéstas kel agíti nu óli.
Probléma, ke nu zun durán yo pyú kem shi yar, es do tal natúra, ke ye óltáim pyú de sey kwéstas e li bikám óltáim pyú agúde.
In may repórta sedéy me wud yáo detalísi plúri prinsíp-ney tésa prisénti-ney bay me in pási-ney yar.
Dan, al konklúsi may bugrán bashán, me shwo-te, ke fo nu es tótem evidénte ke humanístike transfórma de sosietáa es buevítibíle.
Pronouns and Related Words
Personal pronouns
me nu yu yu ta (lu, ela)
it li
me — I
yu — you (sg., pl.)
ta — he, she, it (common for animate)
lu — he
ela — she
it — it (inanimate)
nu — we
li — they
Pronoun yu
General pronoun for 2nd person. If it's necessary to stress that you address a group, not a single person, you can use combinations like “yu oli” (you all), “yu ambi” (you both), “yu tri” (you three). Also it's possible to use "yu un" (you one) to clarify that you've switched from a group to an individual.
Pronoun ta
General pronoun for animate objects in 3rd person singular:
Kwo ta shwo? — What does he/she say?
Me vidi ta. — I see him/her (or an animal).
Es doga. Ta nami Sharik — It's a dog. Its name is Sharik.
This pronoun can be used instead of lu and ela, which is comfortable for native speakers of languages without genders and special pronouns for "he" and "she" (e. g., Chinese, Finnish). Besides, it is convenient to use this pronoun in situations when the gender of a person is not defined exactly:
Es sempre hao si jen jan kwo ta yao. — It is always good when a man (or it may be a woman as well) knows what he/she wants.
Pronoun it
The pronoun it relates to inanimate objects:
Se es auto. It go kway. — This is a car. It goes fast.
It does not have the meaning "this, that" (as reference to the actions, conditions or events mentioned in the preceding or following statement); these meanings are expressed by pronouns "se" (this) and "to" (that):