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Maj Articles

The Maj article system was designed to address a fundamental challenge in language: balancing grammatical precision with logical clarity. Unlike Latin, which used a complex system of case endings to embed grammatical information directly into the noun, Maj follows the path of many Romance languages by using separate words as articles. However, Maj's approach goes further. It rejects the historical complexities and gender-based rules found in other languages to create a system that is both simple and efficient. By using distinct, unchanging article words, Maj ensures that a noun is always a noun. This design choice is critical for efficiency, as it simplifies parsing for both human learners and computers. The goal is to avoid ambiguity and streamline interpretation, making Maj a clear, logical, and effective tool for human communication.

Article Design

Maj articles are very short words, sometimes called "particles," used before nouns or pronouns. Articles may be of some use to improve the understanding of the word that follows. Maj uses several kinds of articles to establish the noun's role in a sentence.

Indefinite article

For Maj the indefinite form uses the numeral "una" for singular and "eme" for plural. This form of article is sometimes used as a pronoun, but most of the time the noun is specified. The next examples show several forms of indefinite articles.

Examples:

una kasa = a house
eme kase = some houses
ocy kasa = any house
ogi kasa = every house

In sentences:

ia vedu una kasa = I see a house
sa sonu ta kasa = It is your house
ta vedu una baka = You see a boat
sa sonu ma baka = It is my boat

Definite article

The definite article is very similar to other European languages. Maj's definite article is more simple. It does not depend on gender or number and is a sinlge word "el", translated to "the".

Examples:

el kasa = the house
el kase = the houses
el baka = the boat
el bake = the boats

In sentences:

el mytsa sonu pe la kasa! = The cat is on the house!
el mytse sonu ip la kasa! = The cats are at the house!
el mytsa sonu yn la baka! = The cat is in the boat!
el ciane andu la ma neba! = The dogs are going to my neighbor!

Determinant article

The determinant article establishes the noun more clearly. It specifies if the noun is nearby or further away. Also, the determinant article specifies the number: one or many. Imagine the gesture of pointing at things with your finger. This is the meaning of the determinant article: to point out things.

Examples:

eta = this
ete = these
ela = that
ele = those
ota = other
ote = others

In sentences:

ete mytse sonu pe ela kasa! = The cats are on that house!
eta mytsa sonu domo! = This cat is asleep!
el bake sonu pe ela laka! = The boats are on that lake!
ese bake sonu pe el laka! = Those boats are on the lake!
el ote lake nu xaru bake! = The other lakes do not have boats!
ia nu vedu ota baka! = I don't see another boat!
ogi baka xaru akwa yn sa! = Every boat has water in it!
ome bake sonu moxa! = All boats are wet!

Possessive article

The possessive article is used to express the relation between a particular object and a person that has or owns it. The possessive article is often used in combination with a pronoun or noun representing a person. This article is simple "al" the same for singular or plural.

Examples:

eta beba sonu al ma = this drink is mine
eta moka sonu al ta = this is your food
ele bake sonu al nos = that boats are ours

Read next: Pronouns