Before starting this lesson, you should re-read Chapter 10 of the reference manual.
-pu other informative/artistic/entertaining/social items (map, book, CD-ROM, painting, statue, tombstone, flag, encyclopedia, toy, coin, award/prize, photograph, money, letter/missive, flagpole) -fe other artificial locations - typically infrastructure (park, canal, dike, road, trail, reservoir, plaza, interchange, parking lot) -kya measures (meter, acre, gallon, gram, ton, second, century, radian, dollar, joule, newton, hertz, watt, ampere, ohm)
pu - book, volume, tome
toynpu - painting, mural, canvas (that has been painted on)
tinpu - license plate
konpu - textbook, schoolbook
bikonpu - encyclopedia
tenpu - dictionary, wordbook, lexicon
penpu - antique, something made a long time ago but still
having social value
punpa - library
fe - road, roadway, carriageway, thoroughfare
bofe - canal, waterway, watercourse
pinfe - market(place), open market, bazaar, outdoor marketplace
punfe - park, common(s)
tinfe - parking lot
fenti - train, railroad train
fenpa - railroad station/depot, train station/depot
fenke - along (the length of)
fenpe - long, lengthy [spatial]
gekya - month, unit of measure equal to one-twelfth of a year
kya - day, unit of measure equal to twenty-four hours
fenkya - meter [unit of measurement]
voxe - child, youth, kid, a young person
gexe - adult, grownup, a mature person
zeku - seven
pyu - here, at this location
japyu - there, at that location
kyo - now, at this time
kyo-kyamay - today, on this day
tunkyo - earlier, already, at a time before now
tunkyo-kyamay- yesterday
gikyo - later, at a time after now
gikyo-kyamay- tomorrow
geto - very, highly, extremely, a lot, much
cawnto - only, just, merely, simply, solely, exclusively,
purely, nothing but
[Note that "geto" and "cawnto" are previous-word
modifiers.]
1. Positive, measurable, scalar non-relational states can be used as measure verbs when converted to P/F-s verbs (suffix = "-su"):
Ki pesu zaypwe gekya giku to.
The dog is three months old.
Ki fenpesu tanti fenkya vuku to.
The airplane is five meters long.
Note that, technically, the above measure phrases are new referents, and therefore must be marked indefinite using "to". Measure phrases can even be made definite later, as in "The five meters was longer than I expected" or "Why is the five meters that I measured longer than what you measured?".
We can also use other argument structures. Here's an example using the A/P/F-d suffix "-da":
Fenpeda fa cantea fenkya tunku to.
I made the table two meters long.
Literally, the above sentence means 'I caused the table to become two meters long'.
2. Verbs can be converted to adverbs and case tags by simply changing the part-of-speech with the suffix "-me":
Ki kema Lajonxe cenci cencame.
John is in the kitchen cooking.
Ki kema Lajonxe cenci cencadanme tenta tenco.
John is in the kitchen cooking the talkative parrot.
3. The temporal adverbs "kyo", "tunkyo", and "gikyo" are called deictic because the referent time is the moment of speech. In other words, "kyo" means 'at the same time that the speaker speaks', "tunkyo" means 'at a time before the speaker speaks', and "gikyo" means 'at a time after the speaker speaks'.
A temporal adverb will override a verb's default tense:
Jecudan fa taynfo kyo.
I'm opening the window now.
Xenko fa litoynpu gikyo.
I'll think about the paintings later.
The adverb "kyo" does not override a verb's default tense when it is modified by a measure word, such as "day" or "month" (eg. "kyo-kyamay" = 'today'), because the actual time is ambiguous. For example, in the sentence "Tay bonxe zaypwe kyo-kyamay", did the doctor see the dog earlier today, will he see it later today, or does he see it right now?
However, there is no ambiguity when "tunkyo" or "gikyo" are modified, and thus they will override the default tense:
Tinca fa gikyo-kyamay.
I'll go tomorrow.
These books won't make you wise.
Juka twe koncodan lipu xi tunfa.
How many good paintings do you have now?
Xasu tunfa toynpu ponco kude kyo?
The adults were in the living room drinking.
Kema ligexe teanci bocame.
Is this colored wall three meters long?
Kade ki fenpesu cinfo toy xi fenkya giku to?
The pilot may have done something to the seventh
airplane.
Ka kyu tanxe tanti zezayku.
I wanted to make the room six meters long.
Ponko fa fenpedase ci fenkya jaku to.
There are only a few buildings along the canal.
Ki cuma twinpa voku cawnto to fenke bofe.
We'll go to the library later by train.
Tinca zefa kedume punpa gikyo kyuswa lufenti.
I saw your car's license plates in front of the radio.
Tay fa litinpu xa ti tunfoy taynke tantenpyo.
The foolish technician lifted the very hot television.
Tankyu pyonxe konkay tantaynpyo cenpe geto.
John asked the teacher for the textbook earlier in the
parking lot.
Ponte Lajonxe konxe konpu tunkyo ke tinfe.
I explained to the merchant that the cat is only one
month old.
Konte fa pinpanxe ki pesu panpwe gekya baku cawnto to.
Will you have the young people build a shed tomorrow?
Kade twe cudan tunfa cunkyu lixe fyu zupa to
gikyo-kyamay?
The painter wanted to have a cold dry day.
Ponko toynxe xasuse kya bokay cenfyu to.
The sparrows and the slow owl flew low above the
marketplace.
Tanca lita pye taynta tinfyu tanfyume tanke pinfe.
I saw nothing yellow in the parking lot near the
skyscraper.
Tay fa jutomi centoy ke tinfe voxwamu tanpa.
The quiet children were in the garage making a desk.
Cinkema livoxe tenkay tinci cudanme kontea to.
Mary heard the talkative parrot in the park after you
went shopping.
Tentay Laryaxe tenta tenco ke punfe tweme pinca tunfa.
The unfriendly painter will paint the floor here in the
hallway.
Twe toyncadan toynxe zaykay jutanfo pyu ke jeci.
Did the students frighten the teacher by painting the
dictionary?
Kade cenkodan liponkonxe konxe kyuswa toyncadanse tenpu?
I saw something wet between the two sofas yesterday.
Tay fa tomi boco jekemu contea tunku tunkyo-kyamay.
Why did you put only the old encyclopedia above the
telephone?
Tankeda tunfa bikonpu pe cawntomo tenpyo tomande?
[Note that we must use the adjective form "cawntomo" so that the
entire noun phrase (including the adjective "old" and the default
article "the") is modified by "only". If we had used the previous-
word modifier form "cawnto", it would have modified only the word
"old", which is useless since it would imply that the only quality
that the encyclopedia has is "oldness". Check the dictionary entry
for cawnto for more examples.]
You should have put the four small pieces of furniture
along the blue fence.
Gepo fenkeda tunfa twintea kay conku panfo tantoy.
The road is there because a lot of people want to go to
the canal.
Ki japyuma fe toman ki ponko xe geku to tincase kedume
bofe.
Will the friendly chef give you the truck for the bad
antiques today?
Kade twe xada cencanxe zayco tunfa canti tomun lipenpu
ponkay kyo-kyamay?
The plumber told me that the high ceiling in the train
station is weak.
Te boxe fa ki bonkayma tanfo tanpe cinkemu fenpa.