Basic Properties
Royal is a subject–object–verb language. Adjectives typically follow the noun they modify, though there are a small number that normally precede them, that may have different meanings when following them. Royal has postpositions rather than prepositions, and in addition, it only has two. Reduplication, both of the initial syllable and entire words, is frequently used in Royal to perform a number of functions. Royal is an isolating language; nouns and verbs, reduplication exempt, never change form.
Nouns
Nouns in Royal, as mentioned previously, do not inflect. There are also no articles. As such, a noun in isolation such as cicir "dog" can actually mean "a dog", "the dog", "dogs", or "the dogs" depending on the context. Nouns, as mentioned previously, can be reduplicated. For nouns that are more than one syllable, either the first syllable alone or the entire noun can be reduplicated. A reduplicated noun typically implies a multitude of something, so that ci-cicir can be translated as "several dogs" or even "a pack of dogs". This is typically only used when the plurality is being emphasized, however.
Possessive nouns are formed with the postpostion te, and generally follow what they possess. For example, cicir tar te "the man's dog".
Pronouns
In the 2nd singular, there is a formality distinction. The plural of the 1st and 2nd is formed with the elsewhere-unseen suffix -yën, but the 3rd has an irregular plural form. The third person singular can also be used for any gender, as well as for inanimate and animate objects. There is also the reflexive pronoun min.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | ko | koyën |
| 2nd (informal) | no | noyën |
| 2nd (formal) | ula | |
| 3rd | tal | këlun |
| Reflexive | min | |
The possessives are all formed regularly with the possessive postposition te.
There are three demonstrative pronouns in Royal. It is a three-way distinction between i "this/these"–a object close to the speaker, ban "that/those", an object close to the listener but not the speaker, and yai "yonder", an object far from both listener and speaker. These demonstratives can act as standalone pronouns as well, in addition to modifying nouns.
Adjectives
Adjectives behave strangely in Royal. Most adjectives, as well as numerals and determiners follow the noun they modify.
However, there is a set of ten adjectives (which form five pairs of antonyms) that usually precede what they modify, though they can have a different connotation when they follow:
| kai "good" | gil "bad" |
| bok "large" | bëse "small" |
| det "true" | was "false" |
| izë "new" | dëzo "old" |
| bwen "bright" | os "dark" |
There is no copula that connects adjectives to nouns in Royal. Adjectives, in many sentences, behave much like verbs. For example, as a sentence, cicir kangën means "the dog is fast", while the same phrase can mean "the fast dog" as in cicir kangën bëfaun "the fast dog is barking".
Verbs
Verbs in Royal, as mentioned previously, follow their object. They also do not conjugate for tense, number, aspect. However, there is one suffix commonly found on verbs: the intransitive suffix -(ë)n. This suffix marks a verb as intransitive, and is used on all intransitive verbs. Adding this suffix can produce valid derived verbs, though the derived can have a somewhat unpredictable meaning:
| Transitive | Intransitive |
|---|---|
| blik "to lift up" | blikën "to rise" |
| cir "to stop (something)" | cirën "to stop, halt" |
| bak "to give birth to" | bakën "to be born" |
| nwam "to eat" | nwamën "to have a meal" |
| lërte "to break" | lërten "to break apart" |
While there are exceptions to these neat pairs (e.g. sat "to kill" vs. pan "to die") all intransitive verbs end in -n.
Note that with some suffixes, such as the agentive suffix -en, the intransitive suffix is dropped. Note that this does not apply to one-syllable intransitive verbs. This can create some ambiguity. For example, blikyen could mean "lifter" or "ascender".
There is also a prefix me(n)- which can derive transitive verbs from an adjective, much like the English -en suffix. The intransitive suffix can then be added to that construction, creating a verb that means "to become ___":
| Adjective | Transitive | Intransitive |
|---|---|---|
| dwa "long" | medwa "to lengthen" | medwan "to get long(er)" |
| bwen "bright" | mebwen "to make bright(er)" | medwanën "to get bright(er)" |
| ci "flat" | meci "to flatten" | mecin "to flatten out" |
| run "dirty" | merun "to dirty, soil" | merunën "to get dirty" |
| os "dark" | menos "to make dark(er)" | menosën "to get dark(er)" |
Verb phrases in Royal can often be strung together with other verb phrases without any conjunction. Though these may sometimes resemble postpositions, they are in actuality verbs. For example, ko pa ak hai, is literally translated as "I use knife cut" means "I cut using a knife" or "I use a knife to cut".
Negation
Verbs, adjectives, and adverbs can be negated with the negative particle më. This particle is placed after what it is negating. An adjective meaning "no" or "none", bai, can be placed after a noun.