The basic rules of Pandunia

These are the basic rules of Pandunia language. They are described in more detail later in this document.

1. World words: Pandunia is an evenly global language. International words are borrowed from all parts of the world to Pandunia. They are adapted to the pronunciation and orthography of Pandunia. One base word is admitted and additional words are built from it according to rule 10.
2. Spelling and pronunciation: Spelling is simple and regular. Every word is pronounced exactly as it is written. Almost every letter and letter-combination indicates always the same sound.
3. Regular accent: If the word has one or two syllables, the first syllable is accented. If the word has three or more syllables, the second syllable is accented.
4. Pronouns:
   • The personal pronouns are: mi I, tu you (sg.), da he/she/it, mimen we, tumen you (pl.), damen they.
   • The possessive pronouns are: mi su my, tu su your, da su his or her, mimen su our, tumen su your, damen su their.
   • The interrogative pronouns are: ke what or who, ke su whose.
5. Nouns: Nouns have only one form, always the same. Their form is not affected by number, gender or case. Number is indicated by number and quantity words. Their role is indicated by word order or by a preposition.
6. Numerals: The cardinal numbers are:
   • 0 siro, 1 un, 2 du, 3 tri, 4 nelu, 5 lima, 6 luka, 7 ceti, 8 bati, 9 tisa, 10 des.
   • Greater than ten: 11 des un, 12 des du, 13 des tri, etc.
   • Tens: 20 du des, 30 tri des, 40 nelu des, etc.
   • Hundreds: 100 un sento, 200 du sento, 300 tri sento, etc.
   • Thousands: 1000 un kilo, 2000 du kilo, 3000 tri kilo, etc.
   • The ordinal numbers use the suffix me: un me (first), du me (second), tri me (third), etc.
7. Modifiers: The adjective and the adverb have the same form. The adjective modifier is before the noun that it modifies, and the adverb modifier is before the verb that it modifies.
   • un suga loge – A fast speech.
   • tu suga loge. – You speak fast.
8. Verbs: The verb does not change in person, number and tense. Auxiliary verbs indicate time.
   • zai indicates an ongoing event.
   • le indicates a completed event whose results have an effect on the present situation.
   • pas indicates a completed event that has no connection to the present situation.
   • xa indicates a future event.
9. Word order:
   • The word order is subject–verb–object. The same order is used in declarations and questions.
   • A passive sentence is created with the help of the passive auxiliary verb be. A similar effect can be also reached with the impersonal pronoun se.
     • pandunia be loge. – Pandunia is spoken.
     • se loge pandunia. – One speaks Pandunia.
   • In the pivot structure, the object of the transitive verb functions as the subject of the following verb.
     • mi cing tu loge pandunia. – I ask you to speak Pandunia.
   • Pronouns can be left out when they are obvious and redundant.
     • mi cing tu loge pandunia. → cing loge pandunia. – Please speak Pandunia.
10. Word building: In Pandunia, words change only when their actual meaning changes. Words don't ever change only to serve in a different grammatical role. Compound words are made by combining the elements that form them. The main word stands at the end.
    • posta ("mail") + kasa ("box") = posta kasa ("mailbox")