General

Bridgian syntax is very similar to English syntax in quite a few ways – e.g., verb-ordering, hyphenation, and some adjectives. The sentence “I will raid a Bridgian land per life-ending fight in this town” translates to þey ghey [sel] ral Bycbeys-so ghɐy hal enden-bheyga ımvɐyn ve þel beys – the words stay in the exact same order, emphasising this fact. However, there are a few differences:

• Lists are written as a ˌ and b ˌ c ˌ d rather than a, b, c, and d. (Yes, using U+02CC, ‘modifier letter low vertical line’, was deliberate.)
• Adjectives are put after a noun if it is describes a quality, rather than prescribing one.
  This is explained further in the main page's FAQ.
• A reversed comma (U+2E41) is used at the start of extra information ⹁with regular commas going at the end of extra information.
• A lot of prefixes are put as suffixes, such as ım- rather than -tion for a verb's process.

Affixes

Bridgian words are made up of one or more root words, each connected to prefixes and suffixes. Each prefix or suffix can be connected to a type of word – adjective, noun, verb, et cetera – and will change its meaning, often altering the type of the word.

Hyphenation

Hyphenation joins together root words and affixes to produce compound words, in a much simpler way than prepositions can. Hyphenation-syntax works similarly to in English, with the exception of commonly directly joining words together, something that takes decades to happen in English.

Levels

Each hyphenation in Bridgian is given a level, starting from 0, which determines the order for compound word–resolution. Specifically, hyphenations are resolved in the following order:

1. Level 0 affixes, following the affixion algorithm
2. Level 0 hyphens, from left to right
3. Level 1 affixes, following the affixion algorithm
4. Level 1 hyphens, from left to right
5. Level 2 affixes, following the affixion algorithm
6. Level 2 hyphens, from left to right
   et cetera

Below are listed the rules for hyphenation in Bridgian, where an the “level” of a word relates to highest level of hyphenation found within it, excluding outer affixes if applicable. Single-root words are considered to be level -1 in this system, except proper nouns, which are level 0 by default.

Hyphenation between affix and n-level root: level n + 2 if the affixion-order could be ambiguous, otherwise level n + 1.

Hyphenation between roots of levels m and n: level max(1, m, n + 1) if spread between words, else level max(m, n + 1)

Symbols

The symbol used to denote hyphenation changes based on its level. In syllabic form, horizontal lines are put below (or above, in the case of prefixes) the hyphenation-glyph. In anglicised and traditional forms, notation is as follows:

0. Direct joining. Invoke rules of isophony on repeated characters.
1. Hyphens (-) used to join words, as typical in English.
2. En-dashes (–) used to join words; this continues for higher levels.

Definitions

Words in each pair are referred to as A-B, with the subject used for adjectives.

Noun–noun → noun

B is prescribed as a component of A, with B being the output noun. If B is a verb-result, -performer, or -process, then the output is the result, performer, or process, respectively, of the verb with A as the object.

Adjective–noun → adjective

B is described as a component of the subject; A prescribes a quality onto B. In English, examples would be ‘high-quality’ or ‘fast-moving’.

Adjective–preposition → adjective

A being a participle, B applies onto the verb, with the subject as B's object.

Noun–adjective → adjective

If B is a past participle (i.e., ends with -ba), A is the performer of the verb unto the subject. Else, if B is a present participle or performative (i.e., ends with -ga or -ha), the subject is the performer of the verb unto A.

Affixion algorithm

1. Consider a root word with affixes on either side. Label these as “A-root-B”.
2. Look at the “target types” of each of the affixes – the type that each affix applies to. Compare them with the type of the root.
3. If only one of the affixes has the same type as the root, join it.
   If both of the affixes have the same type as the root, then the joining-order is ambiguous.
   (If neither of the affixes have the correct type, then the word is invalid.)
4. Relabel the joined word as the “root” and repeat steps 2 and 3 until all affixes have been resolved.

Stress-rules

Words are stressed in Bridgian according to the following rules:

1. Stress may only fall on root words, not affixes – this is the only true rule of syllable-stress.
2. Prioritise stressing important words – e.g., nouns, verbs, and the roots of compound words (see rule 4).
3. Avoid stressing two syllables in a row, though this may have to be broken to achieve rule 2.
4. For runs of root words in joined compound words, stress every other root word – stressing the last root is generally preferred, but this may be swapped to follow rule 3.

Exact syntax

The Devious One, in his infinite wisdom, thought that people would understand Bridgian a lot better if he put lexical analysis to it. He was wrong, as evidenced below.

Key

• [element] – optional element
• (elements) – list of elements
• element := ... – definition of an element
• element(T) or element(A, B) – subtypes of the element
• element(n) – numerical value for the element (hyphenation-level)
• T – a placeholder for any type
• where T ϵ {...} – limits on placeholder (one of the types in curly brackets)
• A+B – two elements joined together, no separation
• A + B – two elements joined together, separated by a space
• m + n – numerical addition
• m − n – numerical subtraction (unspaced hyphens are part of names)
• <n – any value less than n; ≤n, >n, and ≥n work likewise
• A+n – convert n to decimal and add to text
• ‘...’ – a piece of text
• A | B – a “or” b (resolved after + operator)
• ; – separation between definitions

Definitions