Kardiifa is the ceremonial from of Kardii. It is the language of the Krishaalin and is used in ceremony and ritual. Important documents are written in Kardiifa and there are also those who find it fashionable to always use Kardiifa in writing. All Shela laws are written in Kardiifa.
Many Kardii words have separate Kardiifa forms. These are often longer than the common forms:
While many of the Kardiifa forms are old forms of the modern word, some are modern words which have been ‘ornamented’ and made into longer, fancier forms:
Verbs
In Kardiifa, there are no verb suffixes. Kardiifa relies heavily on word order to determine word function, although there are other ways for the verb to distinguish itself.
Where the subject of a sentence is not stated, it is replaced by the word ‘lee’:
Tense is indicated for Kardiifa verbs by placing the words ‘chii’ (for future tense) or ‘iicha’ (for past tense) after the verb:
The ‘e’ Marker
The ‘e’ marker comes between the subject and the verb:
As with the ‘i’ marker, if there is no confusion without ‘e’ then the marker may be dropped:
Relative Clauses
A hard-working word as always, ‘vin’ has yet another use as the Kardiifa relative pronoun. It is placed before a clausal verb, replacing the ‘-se’ suffix:
Imperative
A Kardiifa imperative omits the subject completely (including ‘lee’), placing the verb at the beginning of the sentence:
A request or weak imperative (equivalent to using the ‘-jje’ suffix in common Kardii) is formed the same way, but also adds the word ‘ksate’ (request) before the verb:
Plural
While optional in common Kardii, the plural form (‘-di’ suffix) is always used in Kardiifa.
The Honorific
While the honorific ‘wen’ is used in common Kardii, its use is much more usual in Kardiifa. Like ‘vin’, ‘wen’ is placed before a noun:
In Kardiifa, ‘wen’ is used when speaking of anything (or anyone) which deserves respect. In common Kardii, it tends only to be used when speaking of Gods or of the Mineri family.