Lesson 2: Basic Words and Grammar

(For Lesson 1: An Introduction, click here.)

Words in Solresol are formed, as you might expect, by creating combinations of syllables from its alphabet. Because of its limited size, almost every combination from 1 to 4 syllables in length has unique meaning, and synonyms are avoided. In total, there are 2260 words of four syllables or fewer - which is sufficient for almost all communication.

In general, the smallest words in Solresol have the most basic meaning, and the longer words are more specific. This fact aids learning, because one can start with shorter and easier to remember words. The first seven words to familiarize yourself with, for example, are:

One-Syllable Words
Do	-	No, not, neither, nor, etc.
Re	-	And
Mi	-	Or
Fa	-	To, at
Sol	-	If
La	-	The
Si	-	Yes

Most of these words are not immediately useful, but knowing them from the beginning will help you create sentences as you learn the necessary vocabulary. The most immediately useful and necessary words from this set are do, re, la, and si, but I will, in the future, assume you know them all.


Solresol words often come in groups of related terms - François Sudre did this intentionally to aid learning.
For instance, look at your first pronouns:

Dore	-	I, me
Domi	-	You
Dofa	-	He, it

These words occur in a sequential order alphabetically (-re, -mi, -fa), because they all hold a similar function.

In order to make a sentence, though, you need a verb.

Faremi

-

to be, exist

This verb is certainly one of the most important words in any language. Familiarize yourself with it, memorize it, and never forget it.

Solresol does not conjugate verbs for different subjects, as many languages do.

Dore faremi.	-	I am.
Domi faremi.	-	You are.
Dofa faremi.	-	He (it) is.

In order to explain a few more ideas, we need a bit more vocabulary:

Domilado	-	To speak, talk, utter
Solresol	-	Solresol specifically, but also language in general
Milasi	-	To love (a person); cherish
Fasifa	-	To want to do something, to intend to do

Solresol sentences (usually) take the structure subject-verb-object (SVO), as English usually is. For example:

Dofa milasi domi.	-	He loves you.
Domi milasi dofa.	-	You love him.

An unaltered verb (as seen in the sentence "Dore faremi") is always in either the present tense (e.g. "I am") or the infinitive (e.g. "to be"), depending on the context. For example:

Dore domilado Solresol.	-	I speak Solresol.
Dore fasifa domilado Solresol.	-	I want to speak Solresol.

Even though the word 'domilado' did not change, its function changed in the sentence from a conjugated verb to an infinitive.

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By using the word 'do' (no, not, etc.), negation in Solresol is very simple. Just add 'do' before the relevant word (usually the verb).

Dore domilado Solresol.	-	I speak Solresol.
Dore do domilado Solresol.	-	I do not speak Solresol.
Dofa do milasi domi.	-	He doesn't love you.
Domi do faremi dore.	-	You are not me.

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That's all for lesson two! Stay tuned for lesson 3, and have fun learning Solresol!

For next time, you need to know all the vocabulary from this lesson and understand this material. If anything doesn't make sense, leave a comment with your question, and I'm sure I'll be able to help.

Vocabulary
Do	-	No, not, neither, nor, etc. (negation)
Re	-	And
Mi	-	Or
Fa	-	To, at
Sol	-	If
La	-	The
Si	-	Yes
Dore	-	I, me
Domi	-	You
Dofa	-	He, it
Faremi	-	to be, exist
Domilado	-	To speak, talk, utter
Solresol	-	Solresol specifically, but also language in general
Milasi	-	To love (a person); cherish
Fasifa	-	To want to do something, to intend to do

When you're ready to go on to Lesson 3, click here.