Dama Diwan

Daman Diwan
Template:Daman Diwan / Daman
Created by	–
Native to	the whole earth
Native speakers	3 billion (2016)
Language family	ProtoHuman Daman Diwan
Early form	ProtoHuman language
Dialect	informal and extended Dama variants

It can take a week to learn all the Daman Diwan vocabulary, but once you know it, you have a treasure:

• it is the ideal International Auxiliary Language
• minimal but all efficient
• artistic and dignified in sound
• perfectly logical
• flexible syntax
• permanent vocabulary (yet with unlimited possibilities for creating new terms)
• not based on any human language, but it exists within all human languages
• it can imitate the ways of all languages, although its fundamental structure is closer to head-final languages.

All the vocabulary (including grammar) comes, through sortition, from the sky, hence the name Daman (or taman) "from the sky" and it is for the people of the whole earth, hence it is Dewan / Diwan (or tiwan) "of the earth". It allows wonderful flexibility of word order within the frame of the head-final syntax. A language not suitable for telling any lies, but ideal for telling any truth.

The reasons why Daman Diwan is objectively different to all other (natural or constructed) languages:

1. It is the easiest, simplest, and smallest of all functional languages. This is measured by its 258 roots and 3 or 6 suffixes; it has been tested that it takes about 5 days for an average person to memorize the whole vocabulary. It is not possible to make an easier functional language, because if the number of morphemes is reduced, then it will be necessary to memorize a huge number of combinations with special subjective meanings which cannot be understood by the combined elements themselves.
2. In fact, the roots are the phonemes, so Dama is made from 12 roots only; but because it is not always easy to find the meaning of a cVc root from the individual phonemes, it is necessary to memorize the meaning of the 258 higher-level roots.
3. It is “open source” and personalizable (can be customized according to each individual’s own usage).
4. It is not made from any other language(s).
5. It is not made from a person’s or people’s personal judgements.
6. It is accomplished totally by means of divination through sortition (random), and that by asking the supreme benevolent spirit to form it, for the sake of the whole earth.
7. All possible combinations of phonemes are used.
8. All phonemes are equally represented in the formation of roots.

Dama Diwan as simple as it is / Daman Diwan sanon rure, sanon nibe (JURO)

-O :noun. -ON: object before its verb.

-A :adverb. -AN: genitive.

-E :active verb. -EN: active verb before its object.

All modifiers precede the modified.

Daman Diwan with only 3 suffixes / juno se kuba 3 tumo sa Dama Diwa (JIRO)

You can also use Daman with only 3 suffixes, without the additional -N. This is a usage of Daman with the same principles as ordinary Daman.

In this usage, the word order is only SVO, and you must always put a subject to every sentence, even if it is only a dummy subject, as TO (a person) or NO (a thing).

There is no -AN to express the genitive, but genitive can still be expressed by SE ("having") or by various postpositions (e.g. RASA "from", RAMA "in"); there is not even a marginal use of prepositions, only postpositions (-A) are used. The -A adverbs before nouns work as adjectives, which can often substitute a genitive, e.g. MAJA WURO "goat milk" instead of MAJAN WURO "goat's milk".

There is no -ON -E -O construction (RABON MIRE TO "wood cutting person" = a woodcutter), but it can be substituted by e.g. RABO-BA MIRE-TO "wood-done cutting-person" or abbreviations as RABE TO "the person who uses wood".

There is no -ON -E construction, but it can be substituted by nouns used as passive verbs, e.g. instead of RABON TO MIRE (wood← person cut) you can say RABO MIRO, TO BE= wood (was) cut, person did= the wood was cut by that person. Monosyllabics like BO "done", NO "made", MO "directed", etc., preferably in their adverbial forms BA "with that thing done", NA "with that thing made", MA "towards", etc., can also substitute -ON; so, you can say: RABO BA, TO MIRE= "wood being done something, person cut" instead of ordinary Daman: RABON TO MIRE; SUBO NA, TO KUTE = "house being made, person made high" =the person built the house high; TIKO MA, O WIWE ="plant(s)-to, I water" =I water the plants; and so on, substituting ordinary Daman -ON with postpositions.

In these ways, this usage of Daman can still work and convey essentially the same information as ordinary Daman, while still keeping the preferred word order OSV along with the unmarked SVO.

For example ordinary Daman says

JABAN JUWON MIME, RABON KURE "cow's dung← burning, tree← saving", while without the -N the same is said as

TO MIME JABO-RASA JUWO, BO KURE RABO "person burning cow-from dung, activity saving tree", that is: by burning cow's dung people (can) save trees.

This type of usage is called JIRO "tough, inflexible" although much of word-order flexibility is still possible, but the sentence subject must always be stated while it is mostly omitted in ordinary Daman (which is called JURO " element; individual; standard for measurement and judgment"); extended usage (below) is called JARO "stretchable, elastic".

Summary of the extended features / jaro jinon june (JARO)

(optional, rare, or purely theoretical)

Lengthening of stem- or only vowel: augmentative

Lengthening of suffix vowel: diminutive

(c=Consonant; v=Vowel; r=root; Ø=zero)

cAUc, cAIc, cA'Ac =the color or appearance of cUc, cIc, cA'Ac respectively.

cUAc is not cUc.

cIAc is without cIc.

cØc is not cAc.

cIUc is metaphorically cUc.

cUIc contains the cIc.

No suffix vowel: the thing that must be done.

ArA=superlative. ErA=less than. UrA=more than.

ArO=abstract noun. ErO=feminine noun. UrO=masculine noun.

ArE=reflexive verb. ErE=passive verb. UrE=causative verb.

rAO=a thing considered/used as rA. rAI=doing the way of r.

rIA=by way of the verb. rIO=the doer.

rOA=the way of the noun complex. rOI=to turn something into rO.

Extra conjunctions: AJ=and; AW=is; AJN=after first modifier; AWN=question marker.

ØN: some/any.

Grammar / kiwan nijo

DO NOT TRY TO LEARN Daman Diwan GRAMMAR; BUILD THE GRAMMAR BY YOURSELF after you know the 3 suffixes (extended into 6 by -N, or even forget the -N if it confuses you: use only the 3 suffixes then). If you know the meaning of Dama Diwan words and the head-final word order, you don't need to know any other grammar. "Grammar" means things obligatory to express, such as gender, case, number, tense, aspect of verb, mood and so on. All such things are available in Dama, but almost nothing is obligatory to express. In fact, it is better to omit anything that is easily understood without mentioning it. What is obligatory (and therefore, grammatical) in Dama, is that every word must end with one of the 3 vowels, and that vowel presents the word as a noun or adverb or verb; so, these 3 suffixes, along with the word order and the possible -N constitute the whole grammar of Daman Diwan. The 3 suffixes o / a / e have the following native names (with examples in brackets):

-o : ruro. (to, taro, no, wano…). It indicates a noun.

-a : jeno. (rasa, taba, na, kuka…). It indicates an adverb.

-e : tubo. (be, ne, bibe, nuje…). It indicates an active verb.

Adjectives are indicated by their position (before of a noun as modifiers, or after the noun as predicates), and not by any special marking; all parts of speech can serve as adjectives, but especially the adverbs -A before nouns -O work very much like adverbs derived from nouns, e.g. NUNA KIWO (NUNO=the front, NUNA=in front, KIWO=word) =foreword.

Relative clauses are expressed by their position (before the word they modify).

Genitive and possessive pronouns are expressed through the root S- "to have", the suffix -AN, and the word WISO ("one's own") that substitutes all possessive pronouns; also, postpositions can substitute the genitive, as RASA "from". Sometimes, when the word-relation is quite obvious, the genitive can be left unmarked, e.g. A RUSO, TAMA BUWA ="you eye, sky color" =your eyes are blue; A JUNO KATO? = "you name what?" = what is your name?

• So, the head-final word order is analyzed as GN, AN, RelN (genitive-noun, adjective-noun, and relative-noun).

From a purely theoretical point of view, the main parts of speech are thought to correspond to the main principles that define the world: space (nouns, -O), time (verbs, -E), and causality (adverbs, -A).

"Causality" means everything regarded as a cause for a certain effect. This terminology sounds still obscure, but Daman language always simplifies things: adverbs are called JENO, which means "use"; every adverb [cv]c-A means "by using the [cv]c" (where [cv]c- is the stem of the word and -A is the adverbial suffix).

• Adverbs primordially express mode or manner; however, according to their pragmatic meaning and the context, they can express everything that adverbs are used for in all languages (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverb).

An adverb (-A) can substitute all grammatical oblique cases (except accusative) such as dative, locative, comitative, instrumental, similative and (enhanced as -AN) the genitive and ablative. Where more accuracy is needed, numerous postpositions are used. Postpositions are themselves classified as adverbs (-A), e.g. SA "with", KA "in order to; should; must", MA "toward/to", RASA "from", JA "possibly" etc..

SUMMARY OF ALL COMBINATIONS OF THE BASIC PARTS OF SPEECH

We shall use the roots BUR (soft, as a mix of solid and liquid like dough or something that feels between solid and liquid) and WIW (liquid, especially water) as an example.

• BURO=soft, WIWO=liquid.
• BURA=softly, WIWA=by water, or in a liquid manner.
• BURE=to soften, WIWE =to water, make wet.

so

• BURO WIWO =a liquid which is thick; WIWO BURO =a soft substance which is watery.
• BURA WIWO =a liquid which is somewhat like a thicker substance; WIWA BURO =a soft substance which is somewhat like a liquid.
• BURO WIWA =with (or: in) water which is mud; WIWO BURA =with (or: in) mud which is liquid.

With punctuation (, : ! ?) after the first word (subject noun):

BURO, WIWA =the mud is like water. WIWO, BURA =the water is like mud.

• BURA WIWA =in water which is somewhat like mud, in boggy water. WIWA BURA =like a soft substance which is runny, e.g. in watery mud, or flowing like a thick runny substance.
• WIWO BURE =the water softens (e.g. the dried fruit or the bread); BURO WIWE the soft thing (e.g. the snow) made wet (e.g. your clothes).
• BURE WIWO =the water which softens (e.g. NUTON BURE WIWO-N O BAME =i drank the water which softened the [dry] fruit [soaked in it]).

WIWE BURO =the soft thing that waters/makes wet (e.g. the snow that waters the field when melting, or the snow that made the clothes wet).

• BURA WIWE =somebody waters by means of a soft thing, e.g. by a soaked sponge, or by snow. WIWA BURE =softens by means of liquid, e.g. softens the almonds by soaking them in water.
• WIWE BURA =by means of the soft thing which waters (e.g. by means of the snow that waters the earth, or by means of a sponge that makes wet).
• BURE WIWA =by means (or: in) the water that softens.
• BURE WIWE =softens and so waters: e.g. "when summer comes, softens the snow and so waters the earth". WIWE BURE =adds water and in this way turns something into a pulp: e.g. the blender turns the carrots into a pulp. WIWE BURE TANO =a kitchen blender.

For more detail, see below:

MODIFIERS TO NOUNS / ruro se nuna juno

So for example JASO is a tooth / teeth; JASA is the adverb "teeth-way", with (the) teeth, teeth-like, by means of teeth; and JASE is the verb: to use the teeth, bite or chew. All these can be used as predicates (after the subject) or as adjectives / modifiers (before the modified word); suppose the modified word is a noun such as BASO (fish); then JASO BASO = "the teeth-fish" (implying an important role of teeth, so it is a shark, if the context agrees). However, note that with a zero-copula if we put two nouns next to each other, the first is naturally a subject and the second is its predicate: this is the original construction. Now, if subject=describing and predicate=categorizing, then object-predicate means adjective-noun, so such an adjective has a connotation of subject (A=B); for example, a "tail" is called "JAMO WUSO" ("back cord"): JAMO (the rear thing) is an adjective to the noun WUSO (cord, rope, etc.), but at the same time there is the relation A=B: the back (thing) is a cord. So, even when saying JASO BASO "teeth fish" this is to give an impression that the fish is all teeth. If we must make clear that there is not an A=B relationship, then we use the suffix -AN, broadly analogous to English "of": JAMAN WOSO =the cord (or rope, thread) of the back part; or, the word SE forms a possessive function: JAMO SE WOSO "the cord that the back part has"; A SE JANO= your pig, clearly different from A JANO =you (are a) pig. However, we can still say e.g. A RUSO "your eye(s)" because the pragmatic context makes it obvious that we do not say exactly that "you are an eye".

In JASA BASO the modifier is an adverb; an adverb modifying a noun works much like a derivative adjective, in this case "teethy", "teeth-like", or "teeth-kind", such a kind of fish. A practical way to understand the meaning of an adverb is to use the word -"way" or the English suffixes -"wise", -"ly", -"like" or the prepositions "with" or "by". Very often in Daman the modifier of a noun is a verb, then it is equal to an active verb participle: JASE BASO =the biting fish =the fish that bites.

MODIFIERS TO VERBS / bo se nuna juno

Supposing the verb is JASE (uses the teeth, bites). A noun before the verb is its subject: BASO JASE =the fish is biting. An adverb before the verb is in the most proper adverbial function: BASA JASE =(s/he) bites like a fish, (s/he) bites the way fish do (this construction is very basic, so words marked as -A -E are always taken together firstly unless separated by punctuation; e.g. I SINA TIBE is taken as I SINA+TIBE "he works together" and not as I+SINA TIBE "together with him [somebody] works", the latter should be: I SINA, TIBE). A verb before another verb is dependent to the second verb; in all cases, the modified comes last and the modifier comes before it. So, NUJE JASE "catches-bites" means "bites in a catching way, bites so as to catch"; while WASE JASE "presses-bites" means "uses the teeth in a pressing way", i.e. "is chewing". In many cases, especially with the monosyllabic verbs as main, the modifying verb works as the object of the second verb, e.g. JASE RE "bite-want" =it wants/tries to bite.

MODIFIERS TO ADVERBS / jeno se nuna juno

Like all words, adverbs can be modified by all words; adverbs very often work as POSTpositions or adverbs of time/place/mode in relation to a noun, so the main word here is the postpositional adverb which comes second: JASO JENA "teeth-using" =by using the teeth. JASO RAMA ="tooth-inside" =inside the tooth. JASO RINO RAMA "teeth-row-inside" =inside the row of the teeth. An adverb can modify another adverb (again, the modifier comes first): JENA =using, by means of; MIWA JENA "big-way using" =much using, making much use of. A verb modifying an adverb is common for adverbs functioning as postpositions or conjunctions: e.g. KA "in order to; must", so JASE KA AN-MARA "in order to bite - comes close"; JASE KA! (bite!) is a possible order to a dog that has been taught Daman. That is not so hard, as a dog can learn 500 expressions in the first year of its life, while Daman has only 262 morphemes.

THE SUFFIXED -N / mibo -n

It is indeed possible to use the Daman language without the suffixed -N. In such a usage, Daman does not lose its ability to express things, but it loses some of its freedom: the unmarked word order should then be strict SVO, and the subject must always be present (even as a dummy, e.g. TO "person", NO "thing" etc.); some people may think such a usage to be easier; for me, it is too hard; all my experience shows that the easiest way to start a sentence in Daman is to start with the object. Also, the final -N on verbs is extremely practical in showing different types of object (e.g., after -EN, a mere adverb or a whole sentence can be a verb's object), and so, even if you thing that it is easier without the suffixed -N, you may find it much more difficult if you try to use Dama without that -N.

All the 3 suffixes can be extended by a final nasal, which is best pronounced as velar if possible to the speaker. The final nasal is the connecting indicator: it goes between the governed word (called SUTO) and its governing word (SUTE) to connect them. A mnemonic device to remember the role of -N is the word "next", as -N joins primarily with the next word. In Daman, the mnemonic word is "NUJO" (catching), as it "catches" the next words, or "NUTO" (fruit, result), as it connects to the result (object) of the word. The -N can also be considered as an abbreviated form of "NO" (thing): it is understood as "the thing, which...".

So, between a noun object and its verb: BASON NUJE = "fish-catches" = "s/he catches fish", while BASO NUJE = the fish catches (prey). If the verb goes first, NUJEN BASO "s/he catches fish". But in NUJE BASO, "baso" canNOT be the object, so it is the case of a verb modifier to a noun: "the catching fish", the fish that catches (prey).

Note: in the construction -ON -E e.g. BASON NUJE, the -ON word is the object of the verb, but its meaning is exactly the same as that of a subject to that verb understood as passive: BASON NUJE = (they) catch fish, but the same can be translated also as "fish is caught". In this way, the -ON -E structure can perfectly substitute the passive voice. Extended Daman does have a passive voice marker: BASO ENUJE =fish is caught, but that is very rarely to be used and only in case that it serves for shortcutting expression.

The suffix -A is applied when the adverb is used as a POSTposition, or more generally to show that the adverb is connected primarily with the PREVIOUS words before the meaning is joined to the following (with the reservation of -A -E structure, see above).

UNTIL 2016 MARCH 03, the suffix -AN marked an adverb used as a PREposition or conjunction, or more generally to show that the adverb connects primarily to the FOLLOWING word and not to the previous.

AFTER 2016 MARCH 04, it has been discovered that the most proper use is to abolish the use of PREpositions (except IN, UN, AN) and use only POSTpositions, which, anyway, have always been preferred in Daman. The primordial meaning of the suffix -AN is to form the genitive of nouns, although the genitive can have a connotation of ablative and words marked with -AN may still be marginally used as prepositions. The "genitive" with the ending -AN broadly means relation, usually translated by Engligh "of", including "in relation to", "about", so e.g. "MAWA KIWE" = "they talk in a manly way", while "MAWAN KIWE" = "they talk of men, about men". Of course, MUTAN MUSO = "women's clothes", MAWAN JATO = "a man's bag".

Sometimes -AN (genitive role) and -A (pure adverb) can refer to the same thing; e.g. SUBAN SAMO "the house's furniture" means the same as SUBA SAMO "the furniture in the house"; SUBAN NAJO "opposite of the house" is really the same as SUBA NAJO "opposite to the house". But there can be a significant difference, as -AN can show a thing as "origin", while -A can show the same thing as "destination": WUSA TUWE "by a rope - stabilize" is "to tie up"; but WUSAN TUWE "from a rope - stabilize" is "to hang".

Although there are fundamentally no prepositions in Daman, if we consider a phrase like: "BASO AN MARA, KAN JASE" ("the fish is getting near, of-intention biting"), "of-intention biting" cannot mean but "with an intention to bite"; such is the function of all adverbs that can be used as postpositions, especially RASA (from), MA (to), KA (in order to; must); so it is quite logical and in correct grammar to use them as prepositions in the form RASAN, MAN, KAN, although this usage is discouraged, yet it is another instance of Daman imitating the usages of different languages. A phrase started with such a preposition (-AN) should be separated from the rest of the text by two commas (or other two punctuation marks).

In general it is advisable to use the -N as sparingly as possible. I NARO JAMA, KIWON SANA NUME SIBA. And yet a prepositional syntax can also be imitated with the help of the indeclinable prepositional IN: the most normal way is to say, e.g. SURA SURA TARO IN RABO KUTA or SURA SURA TARO, RABAN KUTA = "the monkey is up the tree", or: SURA SURA TARO, RABO KUTA, but we can also say the same as SURA SURA TARO, KUTA IN RABO. IN is really used as a connector: IN RABO means "on/at the tree" and the adverb KUTA "up" makes the position more specific. But as RABO KUTA means already "on the tree", IN is superfluous unless for separating SURA SURA TARO from RABO KUTA; a comma too can act in the role of separating words grouped together on either side of it. The final -N in general and the JUNAN WOMO SIJO (see next) are all used as separators and connectors.

Other parts of speech / junan womo sijo

These are: the 3 pronouns (NARO JUNO): A (you, second person), I (third person), O (I, first person); and

the 3 logical particles (SIME JUNO / SIME KUMO), used mostly like prepositions but they are a kind of indeclinable verbs so they can be placed in the end of clause in a verbal sense: AN (become), IN (is there, is somewhere), UN (is not, does not).

the 4 connecting particles (SINE JUNO) exist only in extended Daman; they are AJ (and), AJN (connecting the modifiers), AW (copula, "is", "am", "are"), and AWN (question marker). These refer to the word after them, unless there is some punctuation after the SINE JUNO, then they refer to the word(s) before them.

Extended Dama Diwan / Dama Diwan jaro

The extended possibilities of Dama Diwan are based on the ability to form "diphthongs" which are in fact realized as two successive vowels of which one (typically the first one) is turned into a semivowel. The vowel "A" is not turned into a semivowel. In some cases, none of the two successive vowels can turn into a semivowel, then it is best to put a "weak" unwritten consonant (such as /ʔ/, /h/, /ʕ/) between the two. Also, extended Dama can lengthen or drop a vowel for derivation purposes. Extended Dama uses the same 12 phonemes and the same roots as ordinary Dama (only the 4 conjunctions are added), but differs in the ability to combine, lengthen, or even omit, vowels. In this way, extended Dama can form a great many thousands of derived words, so virtually possessing a richer vocabulary than all natural spoken languages although ordinary Dama has only 258 lexical roots and 6 possible suffixes. Some features for extending Dama sound "informal", especially the expressive lengthening of vowels. Other features sound "formal", as U -> JU in the stems to denote a metaphorical usage of the word. Some extended features of Dama seem to make the language or its pronunciation difficult. Difficulty is against the basic principles of Dama, so the learner should not try to learn any of the extended features that seems difficult. Instead, the extended features are for facilitating the users in cases where ordinary Dama seems to be less practical because of the need for word combinations where extended Dama can do with only a derivation trick. Extended features have scarcely been used while Dama is in the fourth year of use, and some of those features have not been used at all but exist in theory as means to satisfy all desires for having all the derivation devices and conjunctions that a decent and dignified International Auxiliary Language is presumed to own. Like the vocabulary and all the features of ordinary Dama, the extended features too have been discovered by means of divination

Degrees of reality / ruran mujo

jiro nijo wuwa Dama Diwan kiwo jan sen wa wiko mujo: 1."jume", 2."i kiban", 3."kaso", 4."nanon".

Informal Dama Diwan can express four "degrees" (MUJO) which bear the native names : 1."JUME", 2."I KIBAN", 3."KASO", 4."NANON".

This is done by expressive usage of vowels, as follows:

• 1."JUME" (intensification), means that informal Dama can lengthen (double, triple, or even more) the first or only vowel of a word in order to express largeness, e.g. BAAKO =a big body (BAKO), TAAAMO =the huge sky, MUUKO =a big victory, WIIIWO =huge water (ocean), and so on.

• 2."I KIBAN", which, in theory, means that only the lengthened suffix (of disyllabic words only) is emphasized according to the lengthening of its vowel; in practice, this is asserting the grammatical function of the word on the cost of its stem; so e.g. if we say RABOO, this means we assert it is a noun, an extant thing, because the extant thing in this case is very small and tends to be neglected, so RABOO means a small tree (RABO), and likewise TAROO= a small animal (TARO), JUTOOO is a tiny piece of skin (JUTO). It works the same way with verbs and adverbs; so, if we say "JAJEE" it means that (s/he) gave money indeed, but it was so little money (JAJ-). An example with an adverb is SUNAAA "in the past", which is very very near past. So this function lessens, makes light, or even makes fun, of the stem meaning.

Note: in monosyllabic words, lengthening the only vowel makes them augmentative (JUME). Augmented SANO (small), i.e. SAAANO, means very very small. "I KIBAN" MIWO (big), i.e. MIWOO lessens the greatness, so MIWOO =somewhat big.

Formal Dama uses no augmentative / diminutive devices unless adjectives as MIWO (big) and SANO (small).

• 3."KASO", is the "vrddhi" function which is formed as "vrddhi" in Sanskrit; that is, an "A" is added immediately after the first consonant (before the stem vowel) of a disyllabic word, so e.g. "NIWO" becomes "NAIWO" and "WAJO" becomes "WA'AJO".

Note that if an "A" is marked with another "A" in vrddhi function, there must be a separatiting mark (') after the first "a" (WA'ARO, NA'AMO etc.), which is shown in pronunciation by a glottal stop or an "h" or a similar "light" laryngeal sound. The usefulness of the vrddhi (a+vowel) word is primarily to express a color, e.g. TINO =a (blue) gem, TAINO =blue; (some other common colors are WAUKO =yellow, i.e. of citrus fruit, TAIKO =green [of plants], RA'AKO =green [of leek etc.], SAITO =red [of blood], MAIMO [of fire] or saujo [of the sun] =golden color, JAUSO [of the moon] =silvery white). JAIWO [of egg] is white, but WAURO [of milk] is expressly more white, and the perfect white is WA'AJO [of light]. If the original word cannot be used for its color, the vrddhi is used for its similarity, e.g. BUSO =a dog, BAUSO =an animal similar to a dog, e.g. the Tasmanian tiger; or for outer appearance, as in NURO =normal, NAURO =something that seems to be normal, ordinary.

Formal Dama does not use the vrddhi (augmented vowel) function; instead, it uses "BUW(O)" for color, "RAN-" for similarity, and "KAWA" for outer appearance.

• 4."NANON". This can apply only to the disyllabic words with I/E or U/O in their stem; then the stem vowel (other than "A") can take an "A" after it, thus the stem vowel becomes a semivowel (J / W, not different from I/E and U/O respectively, only that the stem vowel must be weaker or not stronger than the added "A"); thus, NIMO → NJAMO / NIAMO, KIWO → KJAWO / KIAWO, TUBE → TWABE / TUABE, NUWE → NWAWE / NUAWE, etc.

This expresses the negative or opposite of the stem; e.g. NIMO =meat, NIAMO =meatless, KIWO =word, KIAWO =without words, TUBE =give, TWABE =not give, refuse, NUWE =to make unclear, NUAWE =to clarify.

Formal Dama uses instead the negative particle "UN" and the stem BIM- "to undo, reverse".

Prefixes / nuna mibo

This is the meaning of the prefixes (which have not been used and even not been explored until 2016 November 12) in Dama Diwan:

With nouns: (-o)

u- =MAWO, male; e- =MUTO, female; a- =WANO, abstract noun, with a connotation of true nature, truly so.

This is the form they have in the Western style: u-, e-, a-. In other styles they may be pronounced also o-, i-, ə-. These may be used only in informal Dama, and then with due care, so they may not be confused with the pronouns A (you), I (this/that), O (me). While the pronouns are written and pronounced as separate words, the prefixes can only be written joint to the word, and never be emphasized, while the emphasis should be on the second syllable (stem) or on the 3rd syllable (suffix), e.g. akúto, or akutó. If the prefix is quite distinctly emphasized by length or stress or higher pitch, it is taken not as a prefix, but as a pronoun: á kuto. For the meaning of emphasizing (mainly by lengthening) the stem syllable or the suffix syllable, see the informal Dama degrees (MUJO) above.

Informal Dama may be used (that is, sparingly) in spoken language when one has to be very quick in expressing something. In written texts, informal Dama may appear in order to render accurately some informally spoken phrases, in poetry for metric reasons, or in literature for creating more concise expressions than formal Dama can do (e.g., it is more concise to say "ejabo" (a cow), than "muto jabo", or "taino" (blue colour) than "tina buwo".

With verbs: (-e)

u- =BE BO, causative verb; e- =KIJE BO, passive verb; a- =KIRO MA BO, reflexive verb.

The common way of forming causative verbs is through the verb BE "to do"; so, UN KUBA TIWA RIJON, KIRO JAAKON A KAWE, O BE "not only its footprints, I will show you the lion itself"; informal Dama: KIRO JAAKON A MA UKAWE". UKAWE =I make (you) see, I show (you). The causative verb marked by U- should not take 2 objects both in accusative, because that would bring confusion: *A TON JAAKON UKAWE is too bad a syntax, must not be used; instead, the last object (object of object) must be kept in accusative (-ON -E or -EN -O) and the first object of the causative verb should be shown as an indirect object (e.g. with -MA).

With adverbs: (-a)

u- =WUMAN MIBA, comparative degree, "more than": UKÚTA=higher; e- =WUMAN BUNA, less than: EKÚTA =less high; a- =BUMAN MIBA, superlative: "to the highest degree" / "more than all others": AKÚTA =on the highest / higher than all others.

Prefixes to verbs and adverbs were only suspected before 2017 February 24. May be used in the future, but only as sparingly as possible. With these, informal Dama Diwan completes all possibilities for affixation, all possible use of the 3 vowels.

Highly accurate Dama Diwan / miba jeto Dama Diwan

Highly accurate Dama Diwan can use a W (or unstressed O/U) before the I of a stem and a J (or unstressed E/I) before the U of a stem in order to express the metaphorical aspect of a word in the latter case and containing objects in the former.

U→ JU is used for metaphor or analogy. Some examples:

TUSO=seed; TJUSO is things analogous to seeds, e.g. sperm; or grains of sand.

SURO=both hands; SJURO is something analogous to 2 hands, e.g. the claws of a crab.

KURO=secure; KJURO is something analogous to real security, e.g. insurance, the security we have by paying an insurance company.

I→ WI signifies not the thing itself, but something that contains it; for example:

SIRO=a substance; SWIRO=something containing that substance;

MISO=a sharp point, e.g. a thorn, a needle; MWISO=having (a) sharp point(s), e.g. a thorny bush, a porcupine, an arrow;

SITO=blood; SWITO=having blood. Lobsters are SJATO (bloodless) while fish are SWITO, creatures with blood.

Highly accurate Dama can be difficult for some people to use; in fact, it has only once or twice been in actual usage until now (November of the year 2016); on the other hand, this feature completes all possibilities of making diphthongs with the vowels of Dama, and its use may be quite useful in the future for elaborate or artistic expounding of ideas.

Possibility of using pairs of suffixes / juna mumo tumon jene jo

Every Dama root ending with a consonant must take one, and only one suffix in the form of a single vowel. Would it be meaningful and viable to have two vowel suffixes? In fact, the Systematic Language or SostiMatiko, which was an experiment that led to the formation of Dama, could freely use not only two but even more suffixes, each one referring to the word formed before each suffix itself. Experimentation has shown everything about such an application. So we know that theoretically it can be possible to use some pairs of suffixes in Dama, although such have never been used until now that it takes little more time for Dama Diwan to complete 3 years of use. Possible pair of suffixes are eo→ju, ea→ja, ae→aj, ao→aw, oa→wa, oe→wi. The same suffix cannot be use twice, and no more than two suffixes can be used on one word. So let us see what would be the meaning of each of those theoretical pairs:

• -eo→-ju is the verb's (-E) noun (-O), so it is equal to an active participle: TANJU =TANE TO (the person who uses the machine). WIWJU =WIWE NO, the watering thing (can or hose etc). Since this usage is always so easy in Dama, eo→ju is quite useless.
• -ea→-ja is the verb's (-E) way (-A), so it is equal to an adverbial participle, meaning "by doing that": TANJA =TANE BA (by means of using a machine). As this is easily expressed in Dama by the word BA, ea→ja is also useless.
• -ae→-aj is the way's (-A) active verb (-E). RAMAJ =RAMA BE (puts something inside), so, as this is so easily expressed in ordinary Dama, ae→aj is also useless.
• -ao→-aw is the adverb's (-A) noun (-O): RAMAW =RAMA NO (the thing which is inside). Also this is easily expressed in ordinary Dama, no need to use -ao→-aw.
• -oa→-wa is the noun's (-O) way (-A), which is anyway shown by any mere adverb suffixed only by -A. The pair of suffixes -OA had been used in the SostiMatiko, forerunner of Dama Diwan, in order to show that the adverbial concept refers to the whole noun-complex before the -A, and not only to the noun suffixed by the -A. To apply this to Dama, we would create phrases like RABO KUTWA (upon the tree) or TAMO BUNWA (under the sky), it surely makes sense, but still seems to be useless as we could say RABO KUTA and TAMO BUNA for the same.
• -oe→-wi/-oj is the noun's (-O) verb (-E), which again seems to be quite superfluous, since the verb is already marked by the -E. However, note that the active verb in Dama Diwan has 3 original senses: primordially,

the verbs with I vowel (cIcE) mean “to produce/give the cIcO noun [to the object of the verb]”;

the verbs with A vowel (cAcE) mean “to use the cAcO noun”, and

the verbs with U vowel (cUcE) mean “to turn something into the cUcO noun”.

For cUcE verbs, the suffix pair oe→wi/oj is totally superfluous and therefore useless. However, for cAcE, and especially for cIcE verbs, the pair suffix oe→wi/oj does modify the meaning: this pair suffix means "to turn something into the cAcO/cIcO noun"; for example, a transitive TISE means "to give life" (normally meant for something already living), while TISWI means "to turn into life", i.e. to turn a lifeless thing into a living thing. So, TISE could be used for e.g. water that enlivened a person exhausted by thirst, while TISWI could be used for prophet Elijah who brought the widow's son back to life. BARON WIWE means to water, throw water to a metallic object, while BARON WIWOJ means to turn the metal into liquid, i.e. melt it. And yet again, such a usage is not indispensable, because to bring to life can be expressed as TISON BE, and to melt a metal can be expressed as WIWON BE in ordinary Dama, however remember that DAMA JARO, the extended Dama is for shortcutting expressions only and it is not meant for expressing anything that ordinary Dama cannot. Possibly some day in the future, when the population of the earth acquire fluency in Dama, some people choose to use pairs of suffixes some times, especially the pair mentioned last, to express a distinction in meaning, as long as it is not likely for the listener to confuse the second suffix of the pair for a vowel starting a following word.

Extended conjunctions / sine kumo mibo

AJ=and, and so; AW=is (copula); AJN=after first modifier; AWN=question marker.

Omission of vowels / rira kumo bima

In the suffix

Absence of suffix vowel means the thing that must be done. KARO=a straight thing, KAR=a thing that must be straightened. To express the imperative by means of it, the object of the imperative verb should be in a genitive or dative form: A TAN KIW=a thing of yours that must be said=you must say. O MA KUR=a thing to me that must be protected=I must protect. (A KIW=you must be said, i.e. you must be mentioned, talked about; O KUR=I must be protected).

In the stem

A stem with 2 consonants but no vowel (or an epenthetic "-") means the opposite of the cAc root: KARO=straight, KRO=crooked.

Independent -N

=some/any. (Occurs only in divination messages).

Correctness, personalization and limitations / jeto jino, wiso jino, nejo mijo

Some people expect a great language to be a show of complexity like some constructed languages. Dama is nothing like that, as it is not even a conlang; it is not a language constructed by people, but one acquired through divination (called "random" functions by the skeptic). Its non-conlang character is obvious because conlangs are regulated by people, so they are always subject to additions, new regulations and alterations. Conlangs are adjusted by their makers, while on the other hand the Dama users have to adjust themselves to the very simple means of Dama. After all, it is not possible to add anything to it, because all the possible combinations of its phonemes have already been used.

Dama can further evolve by discovering new combinations of words - to that, we can find no limit. The limitation is that every new combination discovered and everything else should be expressed according to the above rules; then it is perfectly correct; of course, when we say something in Dama, we should imagine ourselves in the receiver's position: "what would I understand if somebody told me that?".

Although so simple, Dama can be personalized in as many ways as there are people in the world. Some basics styles are known: The western style, using close vowels in the stem of dissylabic words and open vowels in the suffixes. (e.g. BIRO) The oriental style, using open vowels in the stem of dissylabic words and close vowels in the suffixes. (e.g. BERU) The southern style, using only close vowels (BIRU). The northern style, using open vowels (BERO). And, the central style, which, although impressive by its name, has hardly been applied until 2017, uses open vowels (O/E) with K-, N-, J-, W-, S- and close vowels (U/I) with T-, B-, M-, R- (but, to keep a balance between open and close vowels, use JU, not JO, and WI, not WE in the penultimate syllables; only if /ə/ is used with all T-, B-, M-, R-, then JO and WE are used in the central style, so as to pursue a balance between open and close vowels).

So far, the most practical style seems to be the western style (BIRO), while the most difficult seems to be the northern style. The southern style (BIRU), although not so elegant, is easy to understand at least by reading. The central style is both elegant and helpful in differentiating similar words, so it has a chance to become the most popular in the future.

Apart from these main styles, the user of Dama can choose between K/G, T/TS/D, O/U, E/I depending on many factors that can influence one’s choice; such factors are:

• differentiation: the central style can be very useful for differentiating similar words. Also, if you feel a chance to confuse M to N, you can pronounce M somewhat longer (like MM), and if you feel a K might be confused with T, pronounce T aspirate (just like English "t") and K unaspirated.
• choosing voiced G, D for the second syllables and the corresponding voiceless K, T for the beginning of words or vice versa, can be helpful for differentiating similar words and also for additional indicating the beginning and end of each word in pronunciation.
• dissimilation for taboo reasons: e.g. those who have Turkish as their first language, may choose to pronounce SEK- or SIG- instead of SIK- which in Turkish signifies the penis and its action. While Greeks can prefer "MON-" (door, window, gate) to "MUN-" which is reminiscent of the Greek word for "vulva".
• facilitating the memory; e.g. an English speaker may prefer to pronounce "GODU" instead of "KUTO" (high), so as to connect the word to "God" in memory; while a Turkish speaker may find it better to pronounce the same "KUTO", so as to be reminded of "KUT" (divine favor). This tactic can be used very extensively, as every Dama word is reminiscent of similar words in all languages.
• influences of the speakers' first language: e.g. if the speaker has no /w/ sound in his/her native language (as happens with Germans, Greeks, Italians, Turks, and others), can pronounce ɸ / β / f / v / ʋ in the place of /w/. For Greeks, the “J” is realized only as /ʝ/ or /ç/, but for most other people /j/ is easier.

Some languages make the vowels E/O when stressed and I/U when unstressed, while other languages do the opposite.

• simply personal taste: a user may prefer "tsawo" instead of "tawo" (sharp / acid / sour), just because the "tsawo" sounds more "acid" to his/her feeling.
• facilitating word division in oral use: so, for example, it is preferable to pronounce the final /n/ as /ŋ/, and /h/ (or similar sounds) can freely be pronounced before word-initial vowels, while /x/ can be freely added to the end of monosyllabic words ending in vowels.

Of course, there must be some limitations in such personalization, so that the Dama can function as an international auxiliary language:

• It is strongly recommended that the disyllabic words have different stress / pitch / length / vowel openness (height) over their two syllables, or at least monosyllabic words should take as much time as disyllabic ones in pronunciation when not pronounced together with the previous word.
• To pronounce Dama words together is not only permitted but also encouraged, for showing in speech how words group together (in writing this can be facilitated by hyphens and punctuation). The 6 monosyllabic words A, I, O, UN, IN, AN can freely be enclitics or proclitics (joined in pronunciation with the previous or next word), but the monosyllabic words starting with consonants can be joined (as enclitics) to their preceding word only; it can be a bad habit (for possibly creating some confusion) to pronounce such monosyllabic words joint (as proclitics) to their following ones.
• To write Dama words together as one word might help to show how the words combine together, but that can confuse the learners. Writing several words without word division might be used some time in the future if people are proficient in Dama; even in that case, the rule should be that no monosyllabic word starting with a consonant should be jointly written with other words, unless that monosyllabic is in the end of the set or is ending with -n in the beginning of the set. The best way to join Dama words together is by using a hyphen and not absence of dividing space.
• Only the 16 letters a b d e g i j k m n o r s t u w (including the combinations TS and DS) may be used when writing Dama with the Latin alphabet. Palatal sounds (e.g. /c/, /ɟ/) should be considered phonemically same as velar (k/g), and not same as dentals (t/d). The sound /p/ should be avoided, at least by making it emphatic or ejective, and lateral sounds should not be accepted in Dama.

These limitation define the acoustic "flavor" and character of Dama, just like a Pythagorean or analogous musical scale that has limited positions so that everything played on it sounds pleasant and harmonious.

An ideal standardized form / NAMA KAWEN WAMO

The very idea of Daman Diwan having an ideal standardized version seems well incongruous to its concept of being the easiest language to all and personalizable in all those ways explained previously; that is why it has a great many allophones to its phonemes, so that each person can use the easiest for him/her. Then why should we define a standardized form? It is not meant to be used by the users of Dama, and even the most enthusiastic promoter of Dama cannot use that standardized form exactly. Still, there may be some usefulness in describing such a standardized form, for that can be the "shopfront display" of Dama; it will help the language appear neat, small and easy, as it really is, before one gets to know the many allophones and alternative usages that may give a false impression that the language is too rich. Also, the ideal standardized form will set a "golden" central form to be targeted, although nobody has to achieve it. This standardized ideal form has been defined by all forms of divination, especially dreams, and by the practical usage of the language during its 4 years of use. So, all the phonemes will be presented below with their ideal standardized forms:

Vowel	in the stems of words	in the affixes
A	/ɐ/	/ä/
I	/i/	/e/
U	/u/	/o/

The vowels used as prefixes are A /ä/, E /e/, U /u/. The monosyllabic words are AN /äŋ/, IN /iŋ/, UN /uŋ/; A /ä/, I /i/, O /o/. In extended Dama, when a vowel is lengthened for intensification, it changes its height: it becomes close if it was open (in monosyllabic words) and it becomes open if it was close (in the stems of disyllabic words). Vowel lenghthening for showing intensification is also accompanied by a higher tone (pitch). The stressed syllable of words is the first syllable; however, if the second syllable of disyllabic words is lengthened for showing diminution, that second syllable is stressed instead of the first one. A /h/ is inserted between vowels belonging to different words, and between -N+v- (that is, an /h/ is also pronounced before a vowel that follows a -N of the previous word). The /ʔ/ is inserted between vowels of the same word (occurring only in extended Dama). When a I or U is next to another vowel within a word, it turns to /j/ / /w/ respectively. If there are two successive vowels in a word of extended Dama, the second one is stressed, except if the first one is A, then this A is stressed. In extended Dama, WUv- and JIv- (v=vowel) are turned to WOv- and JEv- respectively. Prefixes are never stressed. In singing or chanting, monosyllabic words are followed by /x/, which turns to the same consonant as the following if it is k / t / b / r / s; e.g., TO BE SIRO is to be pronounced TOB BES SIRO; but TO NE JATO is to be pronounced as TOx NEx JATO (because there is no "repeatable" consonant after the /x/). In conversation, /x/ is not used, but only a /ʔ/ at the end of stressed monosyllabic words followed by j / w / n / m, and no consonants are "repeated" (i.e. lengthened), except that M should always be slightly longer than N. Monosyllabic words are stressed unless they are joined to the previous disyllabic word, in which case they are pronounced with the previous disyllabic as if it were one trisyllabic word.

Consonant	as first consonant of a word	as second consonant of a word
J	/ʝ/	/ʝ/
W	/ɸ/+U; /w/ elsewhere	/β/+O; /w/ elsewhere
B	/b/	/b/
R	/r/	/ɽɽ/
M	/m/	/m/
S	/s/	/s/
N	/n/	/ɳ/	/ŋ/ in the end of words
K	/k/	A+/g/+A/E, /k/ elsewhere
T	/tʰ/	/ʈ/

In syntax, postpositions are used; the genitive as preposition may be used marginally, and only after punctuation.

languages not to be used / TJAWAN KIWA SIJO

While Dama Diwan is TIWAN (of the earth), there are innumerable languages cognate to it, which are not meant for the earth, so they are called TJAWAN (not of the earth, not for the world).

TJAWAN are purely theoretical languages that might be formed by using extra phonemes which are not permitted in Dama Diwan. The most important of TJAWAN languages is called Mystic Dama language or MISO TIKO DAMA KIWO SIJO. Its symbol is a rose with 100 petals (MISO TIKO literally meaning “thorn plant”, which in this context is understood as a rose bush). Mystic Dama language includes the phoneme H, which is written in the 10 digits system by the figure “6” (properly, "A"). The phoneme H is the esoteric aspect of N. While N- means a concrete thing, H- means existence perceived by the mind, feelings, or soul, but not by the senses as N-. All roots containing H have a meaning analogous to the corresponding roots with N, but always the roots with H refer to things perceived by the mind, while those with N refer to things perceived by the senses. A few examples may be given; NAKO=searching, HAKO=curiosity, thirst for knowledge. NATO=belly, HATO=digestion, assimilation. NABO=love, HABO=goodness on a deep level (and compare to the Arabic root hbb=friendship, habib=friend). NUMO=good, HUMO=perfect goodness (here compare the “bija mantra” HUM which means divine goodness, and the most famous OM, which for Dama is another pronunciation of HUM, as O is an allophone of U, and a vowel unpreceded by a consonant is considered the same as preceded by H or a similar laryngeal sound). If H takes the place of an N in the first syllable, then its meaning is focused on the objective aspect, it refers to objective reality, while in the second syllable it refers to subjectivity or feelings, for example NINO=ceremony or ritual, HINO=sacred, NIHO=reverence, HIHO=both sacred and revered. Remembering the meaning of the words with N it is easy to know the meaning of the words that have H in place of N. Note though that Dama Diwan does not make use of those words; in Dama Diwan H and other laryngeals are only possible “coverings” of the words starting with a vowel (A, O, I, UN, IN, AN and prefixed words of informal/extended Dama). So the Mystic Dama words with H are only to find esoteric interpretations to words. For example, the Japanese name Hayakawa, in Mystic Dama is interpreted as HAJA (spirit of confrontation, courage, bravery; from NAJA=opposite to) + KAWA “looking, beholding”.

Because of this connection of the phoneme N to H or to zero-consonant, N holds and important position in Dama Diwan:

For understanding the deeper meaning of a VC or a CV part of a root, we should consider the meaning of VC or CV extended by N as N+VC or CV-N. For example, for understanding the deeper meaning of -AB in all roots containing -AB (JAB, WAB, MAB, TAB, BAB, NAB, KAB, RAB, SAB), we should understand that NAB- is the central of this group of nine words: as NAB- means love, all nine roots of the -AB group signify things necessary for applying love in real life;

for understanding the deeper meaning of JA- in all roots containing JA- (JAJ, JAW, JAM, JAT, JAB, JAN, JAK, JAR, JAS), we should understand that JAN- is the central of this group of nine words: JAN- meaning pig, and symbolizing a tendency to exaggeration, overdoing due to the instincts, so all the nine words of the JA- group mean things that can be abused by overdoing because of the instincts.

Another TJAWAN language makes a distinction between velar Q and palatal C. The difference in meaning is very subtle; Q refers to things really objective, while C to things realized as such, but possibly not so in reality. Again the first syllable focuses on external reality, while the second one focuses on feelings and cognition. For example, QARO=indeed straight, while CARO=believed to be straight. TUQO=something really heard, while TUCO is something one things (he) heard. This is also a theoretical language. Although velars can alternate with palatals in Dama Diwan, there the distinction is ignored: Dama Diwan uses only K (or G) which is usually velar, but the same can be pronounced as palatal without a distinction in meaning.

In a dream it was found that /d͡ʒego/ means the pointed tip on the back of a spear, used to keep it upright thrust in the earth while the warrior is resting (that was called σαυρωτήρ in ancient Greek). Therefore, /d͡ʒego/ is a TJAWAN form of TIKO "plant", meaning "that which makes a thing function (apparently but not really) as a plant, i.e. standing upright". So, this is the meaning of changing t/d into /d͡ʒ/ (along with voicing all consonants, and using an open vowel in the stem): "that which makes a thing function (apparently but not really) as a ++++ (thing indicating by the original Dama Diwan word)"

The most avoided TJAWAN language makes use of the sound L. It is called TAJA (“slippery”) language. The meaning of words with L is analogous to those with R, but those words with L refer always to deceitful things and deceitful, therefore dangerous, aspects. So, RURO is reality, but LULO is a completely deceitful situation (in Sumerian “LUL” means lie, deception, and in many natural languages too the sound L is used for signifying deception: e.g. English “lies”, German “Lüge”, Turkish “yalan” or “yalan dolan”). Daman Diwan strictly avoids the TAJA forms; they have a very unhealthy effect. Cultures that worshipped truth and sincerity lacked the sound L altogether, like the ancient Persians and ancient Egyptians, in Modern times the Japanese and the Māori, or used L very sparingly, as in Sanskrit where old L is usually altered to R. TAJA language is only for discovering the inner meanings of non-Dama words.

A TJAWAN language that is also avoided, is called MINO (crawling); this one can use P in place of B, and the meaning of words with P is again analogous to those with B, but P shows a feeble or pitiable aspect of the corresponding B word: e.g., BAKO=body, but PAKO=a weak or sickly body. RABO=a tree / piece of wood, but RAPO =a frail tree / piece of wood. Eastern Greek dialects, the most important today being Cypriot, have trouble pronouncing B, they usually devoice it to P, but they can pronounce PP; for natives of such languages it is suggested to pronounce PP or P' (an emphatic or ejective P) instead of mere P when using Dama Diwan.

Invitation / wono

Here is an invitation to Dama Diwan language, and if interested you can be a member of the group.

Phonology and phonotactics / kumo sijo, kuma nijo

Dama has 3 vowel phonemes: a, i/e, u/o.

It is also possible to use two allophones of "A", ideally /ä/ and /ə/, if that feels better for native speakers of a language that differentiates between a closer and a slightly more open "A"; in this version Dama has an open and a close form of each one of the 3 vowel phonemes; the open A is /ä/ and the close A is /ə/ (or a similar pair of sounds), but both those A should be written by the same letter A. In the version with two kinds of A, the close A (/ə/) follows the chosen phonotactics for all close vowels (i, u, close A), and the open A (/ä/) follows the chosen phonotactics for all open vowels (e, o, open A): (e.g. close A in the first syllable and open A in the suffix, when the western style is used).

With only one kind of A, the ideal is /ä/; ideally, I is /i/, E is /e/, U is /u/ and O is /o/, but these guidelines for reading are not strict, as long as the 3 vowel phonemes are explicitly distinguished from each other. Extended Daman has one more vowel, which does not exist in the IPA. It is pronounced with clenched teeth, always without stress or length, and it is written by a short hyphen (-). This vowel is used to indicate an absence of the vowel A, when it is not possible to pronounce the word otherwise; e.g. W-WO means WAWO where the A has been dropped; SAT- means SATA where the second A has been dropped. Sometimes it is easy for most people to pronounce a word with a dropped A, e.g. S-KO "ignorance", T-RO "non-animal"; but when that is hard, the "-" vowel takes the place of the dropped A (for the meaning of a dropped A, see under extended Daman description). Dama has 9 consonant phonemes: k/g, t/d/ts, b, n, m, j, r, w, s.

There are many possible allophones, such as /v/ or /ɸ/ for w, but the use of /p/ is discouraged while "L" (lateral sounds articulated with the tongue) is not acceptable. The word final -N is best pronounced as /ŋ/ if possible to the speaker.

Writing systems / kiwon rijo

• The aforementioned 16 letters of the Latin alphabet are permitted to be used for Dama.

Words, mainly proper names, inserted from other languages, follow their original spelling and are written with only their first letter capital, while the true Dama words use only lower or only upper case letters.

Sometimes, even Dama words are written with only their first letter capital, to show that they are used as proper names, as the name Dama Diwan itself.

• Every other writing system can also be used for writing Dama; however, the Latin alphabet is preferred.

• Dama can also be written by using only the 10 numerical digits, as follows:

1 =I, i, e, j [י]

2 =O, o, u, w [ו]

3 =M, m [מ]

4 =T, t, d [ת]

5 =b, B [ב]

6 =A, a [א]

7 =N, n [נ]

8 =g, G, k [ק]

9 =R, r [ר]

0 =S, s [ס]

(This connection of letters to numerical digits has been done by means of sortition; however, there is a noted similarity to old and modern Hebrew letters, which are given in the square brackets) So the 10 digits are quite enough to write the 12 phonemes of Dama Diwan language.

• Such a small number of indispensable digits to represent Dama means we can use only those for Morse code, so if we symbolise a dot by “.” and a dash by “-”, the necessary Morse symbols (by order of brevity, the shorter for the more frequent) are:

. =2 =O, o, u, w.

- =1 =I, i, e, j

.. =6 =A, a

-. =7 =N, n

.- =3 =M, m

-- =9 =R, r

... =4 =T, t, d

-.. =0 =S, s

.-. =8 =g, G, k

..- =5 =b, B

(In Dama, the difference between I/E, U/O is not phonemic. J and W as phonemes are different, but Dama words only start with CONSONANTS (including J, W), and then there is always a vowel after each consonant with the exception of final N (which is better, but not compulsory, to be pronounced as /ŋ/). Therefore, 16127 can only be JAJON or JAJUN, both correct in Dama; and the same happens with all other Dama words: they can be rendered totally correctly by the use of only the 10 digits, that is with a pad of only 10 digits plus a space key. The connection of the 10 digits to Latin letters is obvious, based on similarity of shape.)

• Dama Braille (described in the last pages of https://www.academia.edu/12434367/theory_history) also uses only 10 symbols and it can be learnt in 3 minutes, while formal Braille has a repertoire of 64 possible signs (with 2 columns of 3 dots for each letter) expandable to 256 possible signs (with 2 columns of 4 dots for each letter, as available in the Segoe UI Symbol font) and requires at least 3 months to be learnt with the quickest teaching course.
• Dama is also unique in having its own writing system which is logographic and phonemic at the same time, as explained in https://www.academia.edu/12434367/theory_history .

Links and tools for learning the Dama Diwan language / Dama Diwan kiwo sijon kije sage ma muno tano

1) A hub for links: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NO7gS30eBA5RvYQjud2EL8U-JX5cOp45OdEyknln-eE/edit?usp=sharing

2) http://konlangerz.com/conlang/85/Dama_dewan for a concise description (good, but slightly outdated);

3) http://konlangerz.com/conlang/85/Dama_dewan/texts for some sample texts to read;

There are also some documents in https://crete.academia.edu/GiannhsKenanidhs/Dama-Diwan-Language. Although Daman Diwan is a perfect language, human knowledge of it is still (2018) only human; We know that it is the ideal international auxiliary language because it has already been proven capable to create many good quality texts conveying successfully knowledge of any kind.

Sample texts / kiwo rano

[johuwax]

jetu wanu nomu bomu rora / jito wano numo bumo rura / 1142 2672 7232 5232 9296

nomu tesu rora / numo tiso rura / 7232 4102 9296

nomu tesu man jetu / numo tiso man jito / 7232 4102 367 1142

i jetu boma nomu ma jetu / i jito buma numo ma jito / 1 1142 5232 7232 36 1142

[ooomm]

this is a translation of the most sacred text of the ancient Persian monotheistic religion:

“Honesty is the most complete good

(honesty) is happiness

happiness to the honest

who is honest for the sake of the best Honesty”.

[johuwax]

kata sute-kuto ke, i-ka sije-i-jete-bumo-rasa numo-sako-tube-won-sa kukan kuta-kikon-sa ruro bira be-wo i be man-sake-bumo rure-kuto i, man-jeto-buno-wo, tuben kure-i.

[ooomm]

this is a translation of the other most sacred text of the ancient Persian monotheistic religion, which is rendered here in Cyrillic alphabet:

Яѳаа Аһуу Ваиријоо Аѳаа Ратуш Ашаат-чиит Һачаа

Ваңһыыуш Даздаа Манаңһоо Шяоѳынанаам Аңһыыуш Маздааи

Хшаѳрымчаа Аһурааи Аа Јим Дрыґубјоо Дадат Ваастаарым.

(hear it)