Latenkwa Self-Study Course

Lesson 6



Required reading:

Before starting this lesson, you should re-read Chapter 9 of the reference manual.

New Classifiers:

  -xwa	antonyms of relational locatives (away from, under, to the right
	  of, to the south of)
  -faw	opposites of other binary non-relational states (closed,
	  imaginary, crooked, hidden, down, horizontal, solid, fake,
	  dysfunctional/broken, artificial, opaque, colorless,
	  partial/incomplete)

New Vocabulary:

    xwa         - away from, not at
    gexwa       - far (away) from, distant from
    voxwa       - near, close to
    zuxwa       - next to, right at, adjacent to
    taynxwa     - behind, in back of
    tanxwa      - under, below, beneath, underneath
    cinxwa      - outside of, out of, not in(side)

    faw         - imaginary, nonexistent, fictitious, not real or actual
    toynfaw     - colorless, hueless, lacking color
    jecu        - open, accessible, allowing passage or access
    jefaw       - closed, shut, inaccessible, not allowing passage or
			access
    bonfaw      - broken, dysfunctional, in disrepair, out of order,
			not in working order

    pinpa       - store, shop, mart [retail]
    gepinpa     - shopping mall, mall, shopping center
    pinpanxe    - storekeeper, shopkeeper, merchant, dealer, retailer
    continpa    - bus station/depot
    bonpa       - clinic [medical]
    gebonpa     - hospital
    vobonpa     - doctor's office
    tinpa       - gas station, filling station, service station
    tantinpa    - airport, airfield, airdrome
    cinpa       - hotel, inn, hospice, roadhouse

    pinca       - shop, go shopping
    pinte       - haggle, dicker, negotiate, bargain
    pintea      - counter, checkout (counter), table or other flat
			surface over which business transactions are
			conducted

    jaku        - six
    biku        - all, every
    bikumi      - everything, all things
    voku        - few, little [quantity], a small amount or quantity,
			not too much, not too many

    kyuswa      - with, by (means of), via, on [instrumental case tag]


Grammar:

1. The A/P-d suffix "-dan" can also be used with activities:

    Ki koncadan tenxe lixe jaxi.
    The linguist is teaching those people.

If the verb needs a focus, the A/P/F-d suffix "-da" can be used:

    Ki koncada tenxe lixe jaxi Latenkwa.
    The linguist is teaching those people Latenkwa.

2. The English translation of the case tag "kyuswa" depends on the nature of its argument:

    Bonfawdan fa taynfo kyuswa tea to.
    I broke the window with a chair.

    Tinca zefa kedume konpa kyuswa conti.
    We went to the school on the bus.

But note the difference when the generic noun prefix "lu-" is used:

    Tinca zefa kedume konpa kyuswa luconti.
    We went to the school by bus.

When the argument is a clause, the verb should use the infinitive suffix "-se" to indicate that its subject is the same as the main verb:

    Cenkoda fa konxe fa kyuswa bonfawdanse taynfo.
    I made the teacher afraid of me by breaking the window.

3. Use the semi-root "-zay" to convert a number to an ordinal:

    Ki ponko fa kontea tunzayku.
    I want the second desk.

4. Most English prepositions can be used as case tags or as open noun modifiers (i.e. open adjectives). In Latenkwa, however, we must use the part-of-speech suffix "-mu" to convert a case tag to an open noun:

    Tay fa pinpanxe cinke cinpa.
    I saw the merchant in the hotel.
    [The "seeing" definitely took place in the hotel.]

    Tay fa pinpanxe cinkemu cinpa.
    I saw the merchant in the hotel.
    [The merchant was in the hotel at one time or other.
    The "seeing", however, may have occurred elsewhere.]

Note that the English sentences are ambiguous. The Latenkwa sentences are never ambiguous.

5. In this lesson, we introduce two more 'opposite' classifiers: "-xwa" (the opposite of "-ke") and "-faw" (the opposite of "-cu"). Here they are together:

  ke    positive relational locatives (at/in/on, between, above, to the
          left of, to the north of, default = P/F-s case tag)
  xwa   antonyms of relational locatives (away from, under, to the right
          of, to the south of, default = P/F-s case tag)
  cu    other binary non-relational states (open, real/existent,
          straight, exposed, up, vertical, hollow, authentic,
          functional/operational, natural, clear/transparent, colorful,
          whole/complete)
  faw   opposites of other binary non-relational states (closed,
          imaginary, crooked, hidden, down, horizontal, solid, fake,
          dysfunctional/broken, artificial, opaque, colorless,
          partial/incomplete)




Drills (on tape):

    All bears are strong.
    Ki boncoma conpwe biku.

    Who will read to the students?
    Twe tayncadan xede liponkonxe?

    The sixth owl was under the firetruck.
    Tanxwama taynta jazayku centi.

    It's true that John closed the two doors.
    Ki cuma jefawdan Lajonxe jefo tunku.

    There's a little water behind the toilet.
    Ki cuma bocay voku to taynxwa pyo.

    I broke the washing machine with a chair.
    Bonfawdan fa bopyo kyuswa tea to.

    The painter doesn't like the colorless ones.
    Juka ki zayko toynxe litoynfawmi.

    There was a lot outside the auditorium.
    Cuma gekumi to cinxwa conci.

    I saw the vehicle outside the store next to the
      hospital.
    Tay fa twinti cinxwa pinpa zuxwamu gebonpa.

    The doctor wants everything in working order.
    Ki ponko bonxe bikumi boncu.

    [The above sentence is ambiguous in English but not in Latenkwa.
    A correct paraphrase is "The doctor wants everything that is in
    working order.  The English translation can also have the sense
    "The doctor wants everything to be in working order.]

    How many people did you teach the language?
    Koncada tunfa xe kude tenkwa?

    The plumber is undecided about going shopping at the
      shopping mall.
    Ki tunko boxe pincase ke gepinpa.

    My cat was afraid of the dog because I was away from
      the house.
    Cenko panpwe foy zaypwe toman xwama fa pa.

    There was a fire in the hotel near the airport.
    Cuma ce to cinke cinpa voxwamu tantinpa.

    I'm imagining that your car doesn't work and that
      you're far from a gas station.
    Ki taynko fa juka ki boncuma ti tunfoy pye ki gexwama
      tunfa tinpa to.

    The pilot is haggling with the merchant about the table
      and the chairs.
    Ki pinte tanxe pinpanxe cantea pye litea.

    I didn't understand the old person behind the counter
      at the hotel.
    Juka conko fa xe pe taynxwamu pintea ke cinpa.

    [Note that either "ke" or "kemu" are acceptable here, but we
    must use "taynxwamu" to indicate that the old person was behind
    the counter when the "understanding" failed.]

    The fireman told me that my doctor's office was closed
      because of the fire.
    Te cenxe fa jefawma vobonpa foy toman ce.

    Why did you open the door and close the window?
    Jecudan tunfa jefo tomande pye jefawdanse taynfo?

    We saw the five big black buses at the bus station.
    Tay zefa conti jutoy co vuku ke continpa.

    I remember seeing a few stoves in front of the garage.
    Ki cinko fa tayse cenpyo voku to taynke tinci.

    Did you remind the technician to go to the clinic
      before me?
    Kade cinkoda tunfa pyonxe tincase kedume bonpa pyame fa?

    The bear isn't imaginary and doesn't live far from our
      house.
    Juka ki fawma conpwe pye juka pancase gexwa pa zefoy.

    Did you put those colorful parrots next to the open
      window?
    Kade zuxwada tunfa litenta toyncu jaxi taynfo jecu?

    I know that you're working and that Mary is studying
      near the lamp.
    Ki ko fa ki ca tunfa pye ponkonca Laryaxe voxwa taynpyo.

    [Note that "ki" is not needed ahead of "ponkonca" because its
    default tense is the same as "ca" because of the conjunction
    "pye".]

    I heard on the radio that there are owls in the
      hospital's attic.
    Tentay fa kyuswa tantenpyo ki cuma lutaynta cinke tanci
      xa gebonpa.

End of Lesson 6