The simple vowels of the Martian alphabet correspond exactly to the five French vowels, a, e, i, o, u, and have the same shades of pronunciation.
The Martian c plays the triple part which it also fulfils in French. The s has the same capricious character as in our language. It is generally hard, but between two vowels it becomes soft, like z.
2. Grammatical Forms.—The ensemble of the texts which we possess does not as yet permit us to make a Martian grammar. Certain indications, however, warrant the prediction that the rules of that grammar, if it ever sees the light of day, will be only the counterpart of, or a parody upon, those of French.
Here, for example, is a list of personal pronouns, articles, possessive adjectives, etc., which have appeared hitherto:
| je cé | me lé, moi si | ton ché | ce tès, ces têsé | de ti |
| tu dé | te di, toi vi | ta chée | cette tês, têsée | des tié |
| il hed | se rès, lui pi | tes chi | le (pron.) zé | du té |
| nous nini | mon êzi | son bi | qui kâ, que ké | au ine |
| vous sini | ma êzé | sa bé | quel kiz, quelle kizé | |
| ils hed | mes éziné | ses bée | un mis, une misé | |
| on idé | notre iche | le, la, les (art.) zé, zi, zée. | ||
There are some texts where the feminine is derived from the masculine by the addition of an e mute, and the plural by the small, unpronounced sign, which has all the appearance of being a reminiscence of French s.
Between these two languages there is another order of points of contact, of a more special interest, because it shows the preponderating rôle which verbal images have often played in the making of Martian to the prejudice of the intrinsic, logical nature of the ideas. I should say that at all times the Martian translates the French word, allowing itself to be guided by auditive analogies without regard to the real meaning, in such a way that we are surprised to discover in the idiom of the planet Mars the same peculiarities of homonyms as in French. It is also the case that two vocables identical as to pronunciation, but of entirely heterogeneous signification, as the preposition à and the a of the verb avoir, are rendered in Martian by the same word, é.
Other curious coincidences are to be noted. In French the conjunction et only slightly differs, from the point of view of phonic images, from the verb est; in Martian also there is a great analogy, between ni and né, which translate these two words. Between the past participle nié of the verb to be and the conjunction ni there is only the difference of an é, just as between their French equivalents été and et.
It must be admitted that all these coincidences would be very extraordinary if they were purely fortuitous.