Latenkwa Self-Study Course

Lesson 9



Required reading:

Before starting this lesson, you should re-read Chapter 12 of the reference manual.

New Classifiers:

  -pi	all groups/organizations (parliament, republic, brigade,
	  bureaucracy, army, kingdom, political party, senate,
	  theocracy, government, jury, corporation, faculty,
	  partnership, sorority, business, trust, cartel, construction
	  company, union, law firm, restaurant chain, club, choir,
	  circle, clan, community, congregation, sect, team/crew,
	  department, organization, parish, gang, caste, brotherhood)
  -fyo	exchange and transfer verbs, default = AP/F-d verb (buy/sell,
	  borrow/lend, swap/exchange, invest in, donate, confiscate/
	  commandeer, steal) [Convention: "ju-" will be used if the
	  subject gains possession of the focus.  The unmarked form will
	  be used if the subject loses possession of the focus.]

New Suffix:

  -so	passive

New Vocabulary:

    fyo         - exchange, swap, trade, switch, interchange
    ponkaynfyo  - steal, purloin, make off with, pilfer, filch, rob
    pinfyo      - sell, vend
    jupinfyo    - buy, purchase
    ponconfyo   - donate, contribute, bestow, give for a benevolent reason
    fyonko      - be/feel grateful, thankful, or obliged for/that, feel
			gratitude for/that
    fyonte      - thank, express gratitude, give or offer thanks

    pi          - business (establishment), firm, concern
    ponkaynpi   - black market, gray market
    konpi       - faculty, teaching staff
    canpi       - union, labor union, trade union
    tanpi       - airline (company), air service
    pinpyo      - cash register, till, cashbox
    pinxe       - businessman, businesswoman, entrepreneur, man or
			woman of business
    pinpu       - money, funds, capital
    pinpunfyo   - pay, spend, expend, disburse, remit
    pinpunpa    - bank (financial institution)
    pinpunpanxe - banker, moneylender
    pinpe       - expensive, costly, high-priced, dear
    pinfyu      - inexpensive, low-cost, cheap, frugal
    pinko       - be greedy, acquisitive, avaricious, grasping, selfish
    jupinko     - be generous, selfless, munificent, magnanimous,
			big-hearted
    pinco       - wealthy, rich, affluent, moneyed, well-to-do,
			prosperous
    pinkay      - poor, poverty-stricken, needy
    pinkya      - dollar [unit of currency]

    byuku       - nine

    tomin       - to/from/with, secondary agent-patient in
			exchange/swap verbs
    toswa       - for, secondary focus in exchange/swap verbs

    voto        - slightly, a little, not too, a bit, to a small or low
			degree
		[Note that "voto" is a previous-word modifier.]


Grammar:

1. In the required reading for Lesson 1, we learned about grammatical voice changes. In this lesson, we'll practice with the passive voice. Here are some examples:

    Jecudanso taynfo.
    The window was opened.

    Kade ki koncasiso Latenkwa?
    Is Latenkwa being taught?

    Juka teso fa kema tunfa tantinpa.
    I wasn't told that you were at the airport.

    Konteso fa ki koncoma lutaynta.
    It was explained to me that owls are wise.

Note the use of "it" in the last example. "Explain" is one of several English verbs that cannot be passivized in the normal way. A sentence like "*I was explained to that owls are wise" does not sound natural.

2. So far, we have not learned Latenkwa equivalents to the English pronouns "he/him", "she/her", "it", and "they/them". The reason for this is that they're almost always used to refer to something already mentioned in the conversation, while pronouns like "I" and "you" refer to people who are taking part in the conversation. Words that refer to other words are called "anaphora".

In Latenkwa, an anaphor of a word is created by using the first morpheme of the root of the headword of the expression it refers to plus "h" plus an appropriate part-of-speech vowel. For example, "bonhi" is the anaphor for "bonxe" and "libonfu" (remember, "li-" is a prefix; it is not part of the root). However, "bonhi" is not an anaphor for "gebonpa" (because the first root morpheme is "ge"). The correct anaphor for "gebonpa" is "gehi".

In this lesson, we will practice only with noun anaphora. Thus, all of them will end in "-hi". Here are some examples:

    Ki ponko tunfa tunti foy gapye juka ki xasu fa tunhi.
    You want my bicycle but I don't have it.

    Tay fa litwinta pye tanca twinhi.
    I saw the birds and they flew.

    Ki zayko fa konxe toman ki poncoma konhi.
    I like the teacher because he's good.

    Te Laryaxe fa ponko ryahi fonfu foy.
    Mary told me that she wanted my sandwich.

In the last example, note that "rya" was used instead of "la" because "la" is a prefix, not a root morpheme.

3. Use the secondary agent-patient case tag "tomin" to indicate the non-subject donor or recipient in most transfer verbs (classifier "fyo"):

    Jupinfyo fa pu tomin Lajonxe.
    I bought the book from John.

    Pinfyo fa pu tomin Lajonxe.
    I sold the book to John.

Note that the translation of "tomin" depends on whether its argument is the donor or the recipient.

However, "tomin" can not be used with the verb ponkaynfyo because the victim of the theft is not a willing participant. In this case, we must use the A/P/F-d form of the verb, ponkaynfyoda:

    Ponkaynfyoda tunfa fa tunti.
    You stole the bicycle from me.

Note that the word order of the patient and focus is the reverse of the English order. Literally, it is "*you stole me the bicycle".


Drills (on tape):

    Nothing will be remembered.
    Twe cinkoso jutomi.

    The washing machine was very expensive.
    Pinpema geto bopyo.

    Why is your parrot keeping itself wet?
    Ki bocosin tenta tunfoy tomande?

    The airline is only three months old.
    Ki pesu tanpi gekya giku cawnto to.

    I was in the bus and it was cold.
    Cinkema fa conti pye cenfyuma conhi.

    The adults thanked the children for making the fire.
    Fyonte ligexe livoxe cudanse ce.

    I should have sold the old television in the attic to
      the engineer.
    Gepo pinfyo fa tantaynpyo pe kemu tanci tomin cunxe.

    The license plates of the firetruck in the parking lot
      at the school were stolen.
    Ponkaynfyoso litinpu xa centi kemu tinfe kemu konpa.

    I didn't like the expensive chairs because they were
      small.
    Juka zayko fa litea pinpe toman kayma teahi.

    The banker will buy something from the merchant in the
      train later.
    Jupinfyo pinpunpanxe tomi tomin pinpanxe cinke fenti
      gikyo.

    Was it known that the auditorium's ceiling was weak?
    Kade koso bonkayma tanfo xa conci?

    The cash register was bad but it works a little now.
    Ponkayma pinpyo gapye boncuma voto pinhi kyo.

    I'm imagining many good days for my business.
    Ki taynko fa kya ponco geku to tomun pi foy.

    Those unfriendly students stole the encyclopedia from
      the library.
    Ponkaynfyoda liponkonxe zaykay jaxi punpa bikonpu.

    A generous wealthy painter donated a lot of money to
      the labor union.
    Ponconfyo toynxe pinco jupinkomo to pinpu geku to tomin
      canpi.

    We exchanged the broken radios for two in working order.
    Fyo zefa litantenpyo bonfaw toswa tunkumi boncu to.

    The firemen are grateful that the water in the canal
      was high today.
    Ki fyonko licenxe tanpema bocay cinkemu bofe kyo-kyamay.

    Does the teacher live here because he wants to live
      near the park?
    Kade ki panca konxe pyu toman ki ponko konhi pancase
      voxwa punfe?

    The fence along the road was broken earlier.
    Bonfawdanso panfo fenkemu fe tunkyo.

    Why didn't you give the seven poor people sandwiches?
    Juka xada tunfa xe pinkay zeku lufonfu tomande?

    The greedy businessman paid only nine dollars for the
      lamps and the black sofa.
    Pinpunfyo pinxe pinkomo pinkya byuku cawnto to toswa
      litaynpyo pye contea jutoy.

    I bought the owl in an actual black market behind the
      skyscraper.
    Jupinfyo fa taynta ke ponkaynpi cu to taynxwa tanpa.

    The hallway between the living room and the dining room
      is four meters long.
    Ki fenpesu jeci jekemu teanci pye funci fenkya conku to.

    The banker explained to me that the bank will have a
      low ceiling because it'll be inexpensive.
    Konte pinpunpanxe fa twe xasu pinpunpa tanfo tanfyu to
      toman twe pinfyuma tanhi.

    John will paint the shed's floor tomorrow after he goes
      to the marketplace.
    Toyncadan Lajonxe jutanfo xa zupa gikyo-kyamay tweme
      tinca jonhi kedume pinfe.

    The foolish chef wanted nine tables but I gave him only
      six.
    Ponko cencanxe konkay cantea byuku to gapye xada fa
      cenhi jakumi cawnto to.

    The faculty wasn't there yesterday because it was
      informed that all students were told to stay away
      from the bus station.
    Juka japyuma konpi tunkyo-kyamay toman kodaso konhi
      teso ponkonxe biku xwasise continpa.

End of Lesson 9