Before starting this lesson, you should re-read Chapter 5 of the reference manual.
-toy colors (red, blue, green, turquoise, magenta, colored) -cu other binary non-relational states (open, actual/existent, straight, exposed, up, vertical, hollow, authentic, functional/operational, natural, clear/transparent, colorful, whole/complete) -kyu other acts, default = A/P-d verb (do something to, push, tickle, betray, spill, kick, throw, catch, drop, punish, drag, grasp/grab, pick up, put down, build, manipulate, spit on) -ce all non-living phenomena (tornado, rainbow, flood, blizzard, climate, snow(fall), typhoon, (weather) front, wind, storm, cloud, hot spring, earthquake, volcanic eruption, mudslide, life, fire/blaze, waterfall, sunspot, sun, star, galaxy, instinct) -ka epistemic modal (default AP/F-s deictic disjunct) -xa genitive/relative clause linker (F/P-s open adjective)
kyu - do something to, affect
tankyu - lift, pick up
cunkyu - build, construct, fabricate, erect, make
tinca - go, travel
cinko - remember, recall, have in one's memory
ce - fire, blaze
cenko - be afraid, scared, frightened, fearful of
cenxe - fire fighter, fireman
centi - firetruck, fire engine
cenpe - hot, of relatively high temperature
cenca - cook, prepare food using heat
cencanxe - chef, cook
cenci - kitchen, room where food is cooked or prepared
toy - colored, having color, hued, in color
jutoy - black
centoy - yellow
tantoy - blue
toynxe - painter, one who paints for a profession
toynca - paint, take part in the activity of painting
cu - actual, existent, real
cuma - there is/are/etc, exist, actually, really, in reality,
to be real or actual [see Grammar note 2. below]
boncu - in working order, working, functional/functioning,
operational/operative
boncuma - work, function, run, be in working order, be
functional or operational
conku - four
kude - how many, how much, what quantity of [interrogative]
xa - of [genitive marker]
xasu - have, possess
ka - may, be possible [possibility modal disjunct]
1. Use the modal disjunct "ka" to indicate that an event may be possible:
Ka xasu Lajonxe zaypwe.
John may have had the dog.
Ka ki ponkonca Laryaxe cinke teanci.
Mary may be studying in the living room.
Kade ka ki xenko tunfa canti?
Is it possible that you're thinking about the truck?
Do not confuse "ka" with the permissive sense of English "may" as in "You may go now". We'll discuss how to do this in a later lesson.
2. The root "cu", meaning 'existent/actual', is especially useful, because the verb "cuma" simply means 'to be existent/actual', which is equivalent to English "there is/are" when the subject is an indefinite or generic noun phrase (we'll have more to say about generic nouns in a later lesson):
Cuma xe giku to ke ci.
There were three people in the room.
Kade ki cuma kontea geku to ke teanci?
Are there a lot of desks in the living room?
Literally, the first example can be translated 'Three people existed in the living room' and the second example can be translated 'Do a lot of desks exist in that room?".
When the subject is a definite noun phrase, "cuma" is equivalent to English "be" or "exist":
Ki cuma kontea ke ci jaxi.
The desk is in that room.
[Literally: 'The desk exists in that room'.]
Ki cuma tanti.
The airplane exists.
Note in the second example that we could also have said "The airplane is real". However, the English word "real" often implies 'authenticity', which the Latenkwa word does not imply. Keep in mind that the root "cu" means 'existent', not 'authentic'.
When the subject is a clause, the English translation is best implemented by means of the English expression "it is/was/etc true" or by an adverb such as "actually" or "really". However, since "cuma" is a verb and can have a different tense than its argument, we will always implement it using "it is/was/etc true":
Ka ki cuma zayko tanxe tunfa.
It may be true that the pilot liked you.
[Literally: 'It may be actual/real that the pilot liked you'.]
Cuma ki ponko tenxe kontea xi.
It was true that the linguist wants this desk.
[Literally: 'It was actual/real that the linguist wants this desk'.]
Note in the second example that the event was true but there is an implication that it may no longer be true. If we had used "actually" instead of "it was true", we would have failed to translate this implication.
3. You can convert an adjective or a noun to a P-s verb by simply changing its part-of-speech to verb using the suffix "-ma":
Juka koncoma konxe.
The teacher wasn't wise.
Kade ki tinpema tunti jaxi?
Is that bicycle fast?
Ki bonxema lixe jaxi.
Those people are doctors.
Some Latenkwa words that are verbs by default are adjectives in English. To get the adjective form, just change the part-of-speech to adjective with the suffix "-mo":
Verb form:
Cenko tanxe fa.
The pilot was afraid of me.
Adjective form:
Ki ca tanxe cenkomo.
The frightened pilot is working.
4. Use the genitive open adjective "xa" to indicate possession or a close association. This is usually indicated in English by adding apostrophe-s to the possessor if it is simple, or by using the preposition "of" if the possessor is too long or complex. Here are some examples:
Ki xasu fa tenta xa boxe.
I have the plumber's parrot.
Zayko fa litanti xa tanxe zayco conku jaxi.
I liked the airplanes of those four friendly pilots.
Note that the word "xasu", meaning 'to have', is simply the P/F-s verb
form of "xa".
You weren't wise.
Juka koncoma tunfa.
Is it possible that John had the black car?
Kade ka xasu Lajonxe ti jutoy?
There was an actual parrot in the living room.
Cuma tenta cu to ke teanci.
Are you afraid of the painter?
Kade ki cenko tunfa toynxe?
How many desks does the classroom have?
Ki xasu konci kontea kude?
Those four airplanes may exist.
Ka ki cuma tanti conku jaxi.
A yellow bird is flying in Mary's room.
Ki tanca twinta centoy to ke ci xa Laryaxe.
Did you have three black cats?
Kade xasu tunfa panpwe jutoy giku to?
Are there a lot of frightened people in that building?
Kade ki cuma xe cenkomo geku to cinke twinpa jaxi?
I want you to lift those two colored chairs.
Ki ponko fa tankyu tunfa tea toy tunku jaxi.
Are you asking me for the pilot's furniture?
Kade ki ponte tunfa fa litwintea xa tanxe?
I know that the fire is hot.
Ki ko fa ki cenpema ce.
How many people are painting in the kitchen?
Ki toynca xe kude ke cenci?
I told the teachers that one painter is going.
Te fa likonxe ki tinca toynxe baku to.
The four blue vehicles are in the garage.
Ki cuma twinti tantoy conku cinke tinci.
It's true that Mary didn't like the bathroom.
Ki cuma juka zayko Laryaxe boci.
Who told you that the truck doesn't work?
Te xede tunfa juka ki boncuma canti?
This piece of furniture is a table.
Ki canteama twintea xi.
How many firemen were in the firetruck?
Cuma cenxe kude cinke centi?
Who did something to the water of the plumber's dog?
Kyu xede bocay xa zaypwe xa boxe?
Some people told me that the doctor is cooking in the
garage.
Te lixe to fa ki cenca bonxe ke tinci.
The chef may have wanted a talkative parrot.
Ka ponko cencanxe tenta tenco to.
I don't remember an old yellow house.
Juka ki cinko fa pa centoy pe to.
The blue room is a kitchen.
Ki cencima ci tantoy.
The students are building an actual airplane at the
school.
Ki cunkyu liponkonxe tanti cu to ke konpa.
Did the linguist build the furniture in the attic?
Kade cunkyu tenxe litwintea ke tanci?
There were four bicycles in working order in the garage.
Cuma tunti boncu conku to cinke tinci.
I told the teacher that the students may be studying at
the school.
Te fa konxe ka ki ponkonca liponkonxe ke konpa.