Before starting this lesson, you should re-read Chapter 4 of the reference manual.
La- proper name li- plural, more than one
-to true generic root (default = P-s adjective) -xi demonstratives (default = P-s adjective) -ke positive relational locatives (at/in/on, between, above, to the left of, north of, default = P/F-s case tag) -pe measurable physical states with corresponding, commonly used, measure words (hot, tall, heavy, thick, fast, old/aged, expensive, high, long, late) -tea furniture (chair, table, bed, sofa, bookcase, desk, tripod, ladder)
xenko - think about, ponder, reflect on, contemplate
panca - live, reside, dwell, make one's home
ponte - ask for/that, request, order [eg. at a restaurant]
canti - truck, lorry
tanti - airplane, plane, aircraft
tea - chair
twintea - piece or item of furniture
kontea - desk
cantea - table, bench, stand
xede - who [interrogative noun] [stress: XE-de]
Lajonxe - John [stress: la-JON-xe]
Laryaxe - Mary [stress: la-RYA-xe]
boxe - plumber
tanxe - pilot, airman, aviator, flier
tinci - garage, carbarn, coach or carriage house
teanci - living room, parlor, sitting room
konci - classroom, schoolroom
tanci - attic, garret, loft
pe - old, aged, antiquated
tinpe - fast, quick
baku - one, single
geku - much, many. a lot of, numerous, plenty of
to - a/an, some/any, indefinite article
xi - this/these
jaxi - that/those
ke - at, near, with
cinke - in, inside of, within
ki - present-imperfect tense-aspect disjunct
1. Use the tense-aspect disjunct "ki" to force a verb to be present-imperfect:
Ki konca tenxe.
The linguist is teaching.
Ki ponko fa bocay.
I want the water.
2. To convert a singular noun to a plural noun, use the prefix "li-":
Xenko Lajonxe lizaypwe.
John thought about the dogs.
Ki ca lixe.
The people are working.
Use "litwintea" to represent the simple English noun "furniture":
Ki zayko fa litwintea.
I like the furniture.
[Literally: I like the pieces of furniture.]
3. Use "to" for the English indefinite articles 'a', 'an', or 'some':
Ki panca boxe to cinke pa jaxi.
A plumber lives in that house.
Ponte liponkonxe to fa bocay to.
Some students asked me for some water.
Ponko fa zaypwe tunku to.
I wanted two dogs.
Keep in mind that all noun phrases are definite by default in Latenkwa. Thus, "to" must be used in the last example above.
4. Note that "xede" consists of the 'person' classifier "xe" and the interrogative suffix "-de". Literally, it means 'which person'.
Te xede tunfa ki ca fa?
Who told you that I'm working?
5. The word "ke" is a very general locative case tag, and its English equivalent depends on its argument (i.e., the word that follows "ke"):
Ponkonca xede ke kontea jaxi?
Who studied at that desk?
Ki ca Lajonxe ke tanci.
John is working in the attic.
Ki boca tenxe ke tanti.
The linguist is drinking near the airplane.
If the above seems confusing, it's because English uses different prepositions for different arguments. However, "ke" can always be thought of as equivalent to English "at". But when "at" is ungrammatical or sounds awkward, it's necessary to substitute the closest English equivalent.
Here are several English examples:
AT the cave/river/reservoir/dam/school/commune/swamp/
house/shopping mall/island/planet/wharf/beach/
farm
IN the forest/garden/city/desert/room/suburb
ON the patio/campus/road/continent/balcony/stage
NEAR the refrigerator/chair/flagpole/car/tent/door
WITH/NEAR the books/hooks/choir/scissors/salt/dog/boy
In other words, always translate "ke" to "at" if it sounds right,
otherwise use the closest English equivalent.
Who is working?
Ki ca xede?
John is thinking about the desks.
Ki xenko Lajonxe likontea.
Does the friendly cat like this attic?
Kade ki zayko panpwe zayco tanci xi?
Is the linguist teaching in the classroom?
Kade ki konca tenxe ke konci?
[Note that we can use either "ke" or "cinke" since the
translation for either one is "in" with the word "classroom".]
The pilot asked me for a fast airplane.
Ponte tanxe fa tanti tinpe to.
I didn't tell John that you like that chair.
Juka te fa Lajonxe ki zayko tunfa tea jaxi.
Does a plumber live in that house?
Kade ki panca boxe to cinke pa jaxi?
Who did you tell that I'm drinking?
Te tunfa xede ki boca fa?
The doctor asked me for one piece of furniture.
Ponte bonxe fa twintea baku to.
Mary told me that you don't like the furniture.
Te Laryaxe fa juka ki zayko tunfa litwintea.
I know that those old birds are flying.
Ki ko fa ki tanca litwinta pe jaxi.
Who is the teacher thinking about?
Ki xenko konxe xede?
Mary didn't like this living room.
Juka zayko Laryaxe teanci xi.
Did you tell me that you don't want the truck?
Kade te tunfa fa juka ki ponko tunfa canti?
The plumber asked me for a lot of tables.
Ponte boxe fa cantea geku to.
[Note the mandatory use of "to" above. But note that it must
not be used in the next example.]
I thought about the many airplanes.
Xenko fa tanti geku.
[The above would sound more realistic if "airplanes" were
modified by a relative clause, as in "I thought about the many
airplanes that passed overhead". We'll learn about relative
clauses in a future lesson.]
Three students explained to me in the garage that you
don't like me.
Konte ponkonxe giku to fa cinke tinci juka ki zayko
tunfa fa.