Everything you need to “decline” a word, no linguistics degree required.

We'll use one word the whole way through:

SHARU: "miracle"
Said simply: Sharu | Working stem: shaaru

In English we'd just say “miracle” every time. In Yivalese the word itself changes depending on who's involved, where they are, and how you're saying it. Let's walk through it.

Take the “Said (simplified)” spelling, lowercase it. That's your stem.

Sharu -> shaaru   (the written/dictionary spelling has the double vowel)

• If the word has hyphens like “Ganda-l”: strip from the hyphen → “ganda”
• If it's “Was-sikh-ka”: keep prefix+middle, drop the last → “wassikh”
• If it has !, ?, (, ) in it: no forms; it's an exclamation, not a verb.

Just the stem. “The miracle-doer / the one performing a miracle, right here.” English parallel: just “miracle” / “the one who miracles”

shaaru -> the miracle-doer (base)

Add WHO is doing it; stick these endings on:

• shaaru + in = shaarwin → “the miracle-doer: me” (I)
• shaaru + tse = shaarutse → “the miracle-doer: you” (you)
• shaaru + rh = shaarurh → “the miracle-doer: them” (they)

English: “I miracle / you miracle / they miracle” (Yivalese bakes the subject into the word itself.)

How to pick the ending:

• Base ends in [w/u] sound? → +win (not +in, the w gets absorbed)
• Base ends in ii? → +iin
• Base ends in a/o or -aea? → +ani / +atse / +arh
• Everything else: → +in / +tse / +rh

“The one the miracle is happening TO.” Like “being miracled.” English parallel: “be given a miracle” / “to receive a miracle”

For shaaru, the receiver form is also:

shaaru -> the receiver (same word here!)

With person:

• shaaru + in = shaarwin → “it's happening to me”
• shaaru + tse = shaarutse → “it's happening to you”
• shaaru + rh = shaarurh → “it's happening to them”

Stick a prefix on the stem. That's it.

• ipp + shaaru = ittshaaru → gentle: “could you maybe…?”
• epp + shaaru = ettshaaru → normal: “please do it”
• app + shaaru = attshaaru → strong: “DO IT NOW”

English: “Would you perform a miracle?” / “Perform a miracle.” / “MIRACLE. NOW.”

(The prefix changes shape slightly based on what sound starts the stem, the full pattern table is in human.md, but ipp/epp/app is the easy approximation.)

Yivalese tracks WHERE the action is happening relative to the speaker. The word itself changes shape to encode direction. No extra prepositions needed.

• shaaru → the miracle-doer, RIGHT HERE (by the speaker)
• shaarwa → the miracle-doer, OVER THERE (across the room)
• shaarwii → the miracle-doer, COMING HERE (moving toward speaker)
• shaaruyo → the miracle-doer, GOING AWAY (moving away from speaker)

English parallels: “a miracle happening here” / “there's a miracle over there” / “a miracle coming this way” / “a miracle heading off”

Add person to the “over there” form:

• shaarwa + ni = shaarwani → “the miracle over there: for/to me”
• shaarwa + tse = shaarwatse → “the miracle over there: for/to you”
• shaarwa + rh = shaarwarh → “the miracle over there: for/to them”

The receiver “over there” (Passor-There) works the same way:

• shaarua → “being miracled, over there”
• shaarua + ni = shaaruani → “being miracled over there, for me”

Like saying “MIRACLES everywhere” or “she's SUCH a miracle person.” You build a prefix by echoing the starting sounds of the stem.

The rules by what sound starts the stem:

• starts with sh/zh: sh + vowel + zh + echo → shazhaaru (shaaru)
• starts with s + vowel: s + vowel + z + echo → sizila (sila)
• starts with n/m/l + vowel: repeat 1st syllable → lalami (lami), nanayil (nayil)
• starts with k/g + vowel: k + vowel + g + echo → kaganda (ganda)
• starts with p/b + vowel: p + vowel + b + echo → pabashkhaw (bashkhaw)
• starts with vowel or h: prepend iya → iyalunel (alunel)
• starts with anything else: prepend ea → eawassikh (wassikh)
• absolute fallback: prepend hee → heewhatever

For shaaru: “sh” onset → sha + zh + a + aru = shazhaaru

English feel: “She is SUCH a miracle.” / “Miracles miracles everywhere!”

“Making/causing” someone to perform the miracle. English: “I made it happen” / “She made you do it”

• shaaru + niya = shaaruniya → “causing ME to miracle”
• shaaru + taya = shaarutaya → “causing YOU to miracle”
• shaaru + rheya = shaarurheya → “causing THEM to miracle”

Quick rule: almost always +niya / +taya / +rheya tacked on the stem.

“Currently doing it, actively, in progress.” English: “is performing a miracle / actively miracling”

shaaru + yaam = shaaruyaam -> "actively performing a miracle right now"

Rule: if stem ends in a vowel, add yaam; if it ends in oo, swap to waam; if it ends in a consonant, just add aam.

Raise a glass, celebrate, exclaim. Used in toasts and songs.

shaaroyets! -> "Here's to miracles! / For miracles!"

Rule: end of stem gets replaced/augmented with -eyets! or -oyets! (exact ending depends on stem's final sound; generally just say -eyets!)