Latenkwa Self-Study Course

Lesson 5



Required reading:

Before starting this lesson, you should re-read Chapters 7 and 8 of the reference manual.

New Classifiers:

  -fo	other artificial items, typically connectors and separators
	  (pane (eg. of glass), fence, carpet, curtain, door, window,
	  shelf, floor/ceiling, roof, rope, pin, hook, nail, clip,
	  shoestring, button (on clothing), hinge, anchor, spring,
	  zipper, chain, hanger, plug/stopper, cap, needle, shingle,
	  doorknob, wheel, tile, rudder, trigger, handrail, pushbutton,
	  flywheel)
  -fyu	antonyms of measurable physical states (cold, short, light,
	  thin, slow, young, cheap, low, short, early, quiet, soft)
  -kay	antonyms of other scalar non-relational states (small, dry,
	  blunt, weak, dirty, dark/unlit, cloudy/overcast(?), rough,
	  rare, sour, bad, ugly, smelly, abnormal, foolish,
	  unfriendly, quiet/reticent, poor, bad-tasting)

New Vocabulary:

    panfo       - fence
    taynfo      - window
    tanfo       - ceiling
    jutanfo     - floor [of a room]
    cinfo       - wall
    jefo        - door
    jeke        - between, betwixt
    jeci        - hallway, corridor, hall, passageway

    zefa        - we, us
    zefoy       - our

    tomi        - something, anything
    jutomi      - nothing, nil, naught

    zaykay      - unfriendly, unsociable, hostile
    konkay      - foolish, unwise, imprudent, senseless, witless, dumb
    tenkay      - quiet, taciturn, reticent, reserved
    ponco       - good, desirable, nice, opposite of bad
    ponkay      - bad, undesirable, opposite of good

    fyu         - young, not old
    cenfyu      - cold, of relatively low temperature
    tinfyu      - slow, leisurely, having a low rate of motion or
			activity
    tanfyu      - low, at a relatively small altitude
    tanpe       - high, elevated, lofty, at a relatively great altitude

    kay         - small, little, having minimal size
    bokay       - dry, arid, having atypically low moisture or water
    bonkay      - weak, feeble, lacking strength

    tanpa       - skyscraper, a very tall building
    zupa        - shed, shack, small utility or storage building

    xada        - give, bequeath

    toman       - because (of)
    tomande     - why [interrogative], for what reason
    kedume      - to, into, on the way to

    twe         - future-perfect tense-aspect disjunct
    tweme       - after, since, subsequent to, once
    pyame       - before, prior to, by the time (of)

    gepo        - should, ought to


Grammar:

1. Use the tense-aspect disjunct "twe" to force a verb to be future-perfect:

    Twe konca tenxe.
    The linguist will teach.

    Twe ponko fa bocay.
    I'll want the water.

2. When two verbs are linked by a conjunction, the second verb will have the same tense and aspect as the first verb unless it is explicitly overridden:

    Ki taynca fa pye ponkonca Lajonxe.
    I'm reading and John is studying.

but:

    Ki taynca fa pye twe ponkonca Lajonxe.
    I'm reading and John will study.

3. The infinitive suffix "-se" should also be used if the verb follows a conjunction and the subject is the same as the verb it is linked to by the conjunction:

    Ki ca fa pye xenkose ti.
    I'm working and thinking about the car.

4. When an adjective is converted to a noun, English usually adds the word "one":

    Ki zayko fa ti jutoy.
    I like the black car.

    Ki zayko fa jutoymi.
    I like the black one.

With numbers, however, English does not use "one":

    Ki ponko fa gikumi to.
    I want three.

Note that we must use "to" above; otherwise, the translation would have been 'I want the three'.

5. We have now introduced all four scalar non-relational state classifiers. Here they are together:

  pe    measurable physical states with corresponding, commonly used,
          measure words (hot, tall, heavy, thick, fast, old/aged,
          expensive, high, long, late, loud, hard(?))
  fyu   antonyms of measurable physical states (cold, short, light,
          thin, slow, young, cheap, low, short, early, quiet, soft)
  co    other scalar non-relational states - typically vague or
          subjective (big, wet, sharp, strong, clean, light/lit, sunny,
          smooth, common, sweet, good, attractive, fragrant, normal,
          wise, friendly, talkative/garrulous, wealthy, tasty)
  kay   antonyms of other scalar non-relational states (small, dry,
          blunt, weak, dirty, dark/unlit, cloudy/overcast(?), rough,
          rare, sour, bad, ugly, smelly, abnormal, foolish,
          unfriendly, quiet/reticent, poor, bad-tasting)

Note that they define two basic categories (measurable physical and other) and each category has both a normal and antonymic classifier.


Drills (on tape):

    The pilot may have gone to the auditorium.
    Ka tinca tanxe kedume conci.

    I'll study and you'll be quiet.
    Twe ponkonca fa pye tenkayma tunfa.

    The young technicians didn't tell me anything.
    Juka te lipyonxe fyu fa tomi.

    An unfriendly plumber did something to those vehicles.
    Kyu boxe zaykay to litwinti jaxi.

    Why wasn't the desk near the sofa?
    Juka kema kontea contea tomande?

    There will be a lot of actual wise people at the school.
    Twe cuma xe konco cu geku to ke konpa.

    Why are the floor and the walls wet?
    Ki bocoma tomande jutanfo pye licinfo?

    I saw the cats before I saw the dogs.
    Tay fa lipanpwe pyame tay fa lizaypwe.

    I'm telling you that that chair is cold.
    Ki te fa tunfa ki cenfyuma tea jaxi.

    We should have moved our bicycles into the shed.
    Gepo cinkeda zefa litunti zefoy zupa.

    Did you give the painter the hot water?
    Kade xada tunfa toynxe bocay cenpe?

    One car was slow and three were fast.
    Tinfyuma ti baku to pye tinpema gikumi to.

    The firemen are painting in the classroom.
    Ki toynca licenxe ke konci.

    I'll think about the truck after I cook.
    Twe xenko fa canti tweme cenca fa.

    You want a telephone because you're talkative.
    Ki ponko tunfa tenpyo to toman ki tencoma tunfa.

    Some bad students are coloring Mary's tables.
    Ki toydan liponkonxe ponkay to licantea xa Laryaxe.

	[Note that "toydan" literally means 'to make colored'
	or 'to cause to have color'.]

    There's nothing in working order in the garage.
    Ki cuma jutomi boncu cinke tinci.

    John doesn't like the bathroom because of the low
      ceiling.
    Juka ki zayko Lajonxe boci toman tanfo tanfyu.

    The teacher taught in the bus on the way to the school.
    Konca konxe cinke conti kedume konpa.

    We'll have four small rooms in the house for the
      linguists.
    Twe xasu zefa ci kay conku to cinke pa tomun litenxe.

    I didn't have you lift the television because you're
      weak.
    Juka cudan fa tankyu tunfa tantaynpyo toman ki bonkayma
      tunfa.

    The chef is building something in the kitchen.
    Ki cunkyu cencanxe tomi cinke cenci.

    I want the black car because the yellow one doesn't
      work.
    Ki ponko fa ti jutoy toman juka ki boncuma centoymi.

    The foolish birds are flying above that old skyscraper.
    Ki tanca litwinta konkay tanke tanpa pe jaxi.

    You should have built a good fence between those two
      buildings.
    Gepo cunkyu tunfa panfo ponco to jeke litwinpa tunku
      jaxi.

    The hallway has two high windows and five big doors.
    Ki xasu jeci taynfo tanpe tunku to pye jefo co vuku to.

    Our building isn't dry and we're afraid of the plumber.
    Juka ki bokayma twinpa zefoy. pye ki cenko zefa boxe.

    Mary will go to the attic and ask John for the two blue
      chairs.
    Twe tinca Laryaxe kedume tanci pye pontese Lajonxe tea
      tantoy tunku.

End of Lesson 5