Letters. The standard formulae for starting and ending a letter are fairly stylized, though more flexible in general than the conversational mechanics of introducing people.

In the simplest case - quite common in email - you simply start the letter with the vocative particle e followed either by the addressee's name in the dative or by nathaste. Never combine the name and nath in this case. To end, simply put your name in the ablative.

A somewhat more formal - or at least stylized - approach can be modeled on the following formulae:

saremon/airenen/arau, E recipient-dative nath

E recipient-dative nath, saremon/airenen/arau

These simply add a word for "hello" to the greeting.

sender-nominatve recipient-dative saremol

This is a fairly standard opening formula, but is a little odd in that it uses the present infinitive rather than the normal verb form. Further, it's hanging out at the end of the phrase, which is not a normal place for a verb in Vaior. The idea is to get the sender and recipient mentioned quickly.

sender-nominatve recipient-dative saremm

Same as above, but the verb has been abbreviated to the stem form with the accent final, implying that some other form of the stem was here originally but lost a final syllable.

recipient-dative saremol sender-nominatve

recipient-dative saremm sender-nominatve

These two simply put the recipients name first, and is perhaps a bit more respectful and formal.

In all of the openings above you may follow the SAREM form with andu(l) to be emphatic.

Often you will hope for the good health of the letter recipient both at the beginning and the end of the letter, with phrases much like these:

asaulo va (andul), ar ciarimm sa/nath/natham.

I (very much) hope that you are well.

ciarimm sa

(I hope/wish) you healthy, may you be healthy

ciarimm sa

(I hope/wish) you healthy, may you be healthy

ciaro va uri sa ta ciarimm

I'm well and I hope you are, too.

The greeting and the wish for health may be joined into single complex sentences with considerable variation and abbreviation. When using the lengthier saremm formulae, the pronouns of the wishes for health are cast into the third person, with participles sometimes used, too (those'll be introduced in a later lesson).

• Nicoste saremm Sein asauloth ar ciarimm nath. Hoping that (he) is well, Jane greets Nick.
• E Suste nath, saremon ciarimm ta Nico Greetings to Sue from Nick who wishes her well.

Ending phrases are similarly stylized, and have essentially the same meaning as the opening ones. The only significant difference is that wishes for good health are sometimes turned into commands, ciari! be healthy!.