It is assumed that you have at least skimmed through the reference manual for the Nasendi language. The manual can be obtained at the following URLs:
http://www.eskimo.com/~ram/lexical_semantics.html
http://www.axxess.net/~ram/lexical_semantics.html
Please bookmark the URL (or save a copy) for use in future lessons.
I will also point out which section(s) of the manual should be re-read in order to re-acquaint you with the material being introduced in the current lesson.
For this lesson, you should re-read Chapters 1, 2, and 3 of the reference manual before starting Lesson 1. You may also want to skim through Appendices C and D.
Vowels are pronounced as follows (assuming standard British Received Pronunciation or USA Boston pronunciation):
'a' like "a" in "father"
'e' like "e" in "let" or like "a" in "late"
'i' like "i" in "sit" or like "ea" in "heat"
'o' like "o" in "lost" or like "o" in "low"
'u' like "oo" in "book" or "boot"
Most consonants are pronounced as in English. The exceptions are:
'c' like "ch" in "check"
'g' always as in "bug" or "give", NEVER as in "germ" or "age"
'j' as in "jump"
'w' as in "away"
'x' like "sh" in "shop"
'y' as in "yo-yo" or "toy"
The letters 'q' and 'r' are not used in native Nasendi words, but may be used in proper names. The letter 'q' should be pronounced like "s" in "measure" or "vision". The letter 'r' can be pronounced as a flap (like "tt" in "butter"), as a trill (like "rr" in Spanish "carro"), or as a retroflex (like "r" in "hurry"). The flap pronunciation is preferred.
Each word should be stressed on the first vowel of the root. If there is at least one vowel between the first root vowel and the penultimate (i.e., the next-to-last) vowel of the entire word, then the penultimate vowel should also receive stress.
A more thorough description of Nasendi pronunciation can be found at the end of Appendix A in the reference manual.
tada - want, desire [stress: TA-da]
jutada - like, enjoy [stress: JU-ta-da]
konda - know [a fact, NOT a person]
loda - work, labor [stress: LO-da]
konloda - teach [stress: KON-lo-da]
takonloda - study [stress: TA-kon-LO-da]
caloda - drink, imbibe
tawloda - fly, keep oneself airborne
teda - tell, say to
konteda - explain
cindi - doctor, physician
koncindi - teacher
sendi - language
Nasendi - the name of the interlingua ["na-" is the proper name
prefix]
sencindi - linguist
cedi - person
takoncedi - student
judi - dog
jijudi - cat [domestic]
cetawdi - bird
tetawdi - parrot
cadi - water
kandi - car, automobile
cekandi - vehicle, craft
fekandi - bicycle
todi - room
catodi - bathroom, water closet, W.C.
jidi - house
cejidi - building
konjidi - library
lado - good, nice, desirable
jutindo - friendly, amiable
kontindo - wise, sage, sagacious, sapient
tetindo - quiet, taciturn, reticent, reserved
femu - two
gimu - three
mi - I, me
femi - you [singular]
bume - not, clause negator
meki - interrogative sentence marker
teda: "te" is a stand-alone root meaning 'say/tell'. The suffix
"-da" terminates the word and indicates that it is a verb.
konteda: "te" is a classifier indicating that the root "konte" is a
speech act. "Kon" is a modifying semi-root with the vague sense
'knowledge/teaching/learning/etc'. The combination means
'explain'.
tetawdi: "te" is a modifying semi-root with the vague sense
'speaking/communicating', and "taw" is the classifier for 'other
birds'. The combination means 'parrot'. The suffix "-di"
terminates the word and indicates that it is a noun.
The classifiers are semantically precise. Here are the classifiers used in the above list along with additional English examples:
-ca inorganic compounds (water, sodium chloride, potassium sulfate) -ta emotions & desires (fear, be angry, love, want, be happy, be eager, like/enjoy, be greedy, be emotional, have fun) -kon other mental states (think, know, remember, be conceited, understand, wonder, be intent/focused on, imagine) -lo activities (go, smoke, eat, ski, swim, walk, work, study, sing, fly, bark, teach, play) -te speech acts, default (tell, shout, ask, explain, flatter, lie, mock, offer, thank, curse, congratulate, recommend) -sen protocols, programs, and designs (language, creole, dialect, program, design, protocol, code, plan/scheme, recipe, score/music, rule, law, contract, instruction/direction, standard, treaty, curriculum, custom/more) -cin Business and academic people (carpenter, musicologist, physician, teacher, electrician, farmer, journeyman, mathematician, biologist, musician, salesman, actor, linguist, plumber) -ce other people (person, worker/laborer, prisoner, professional, fireman, member, student, pilot, polyglot, adult) -taw other birds (owl, woodpecker, kingfisher, hummingbird, parrot, cuckoo, pigeon, crane, stork) -ju carnivores (domestic dogs and cats, coyotes, foxes, bushdogs, hyenas, jaguars, lions, tigers, badgers, bears, weasels, otters) -kan non-water vehicles (automobile, bulldozer, airplane, locomotive, rickshaw, bicycle, truck, train) -to enclosed, functional sections of buildings (room, kitchen, bedroom, cell, parlor, attic, hallway, prison/jail cell, apartment, closet, basement/cellar, porch, balcony) -ji buildings (house, stadium, skyscraper, library, shed, garage) -tin scalar non-relational states that apply only to humans/sentients (wise, friendly, quiet/reticent, wealthy) -la other scalar non-relational states - subjective (good, attractive, fragrant, normal) -mu numerics, (one, seventh, three-fourths, 7.23E-5, three-at-a-time) -mi personal pronouns
Note that "mu" (numeric adjective) and "mi" (personal pronoun) are root-terminators. Thus, they do not require a part-of-speech suffix unless you want to change the default. All other classifiers that we are introducing in this lesson are semi-roots and require at least one suffix to terminate the word even if the default part-of-speech applies.
1. In Nasendi, noun phrases are definite by default. This means that we almost never need a word for English "the". We'll see later how to handle "the" in the rare case when it is needed. We'll also learn about the Nasendi equivalent for the English indefinite articles "a" and "an".
2. The tense of all verbs is past-perfective unless they are marked otherwise. We'll learn how to change this in later lessons. [If you don't remember what 'past-perfective' means, re-read section 15.0.]
3. In Nasendi, the verb precedes the subject, the subject precedes the direct object (if there is one, of course), which in turn precedes the indirect object (if there is one, of course):
Loda mi.
I worked.
Jutada cindi jijudi.
The doctor liked the cat.
Teda femi koncindi tada mi fekandi.
You told the teacher that I wanted the bicycle.
Adjectives always follow the noun:
Loda takoncedi femu.
The two students worked.
Adjective modification is cumulative and the meaning becomes more precise as each adjective is added on the right. This means that, in general, Nasendi adjective order will be exactly the opposite of English adjective order:
cedi jutindo femu = the two friendly people
This will become more clear as we do the drills in this and subsequent lessons.
4. You can negate a verb by placing "bume" at the beginning of the sentence:
Bume loda mi.
I didn't work.
Konda koncindi bume takonloda mi.
The teacher knew that I didn't study.
"Bume" literally means 'It is not true that ...', and consists of the zero polarity semi-root "bu" and the modal root-terminator "me". We'll have a lot more to say about modals in later lessons.
5. You can make a sentence interrogative by placing the special word "meki" at the very beginning of the sentence:
Meki jutada femi jidi?
Did you like the house?
Meki tada takoncedi fekandi?
Did the student want the bicycle?
"Meki" literally means 'Is it true that ...', and consists of the modal
root "me" and the interrogative suffix "-ki".
Repetition drills on tape will have the following format:
1. Sentence in English.
2. Sentence in Nasendi.
3. Pause. Student repeats the Nasendi sentence during the
pause.
4. Same sentence in Nasendi again.
5. Pause. Student repeats the Nasendi sentence during the
pause.
The student studied.
Takonloda takoncedi.
Did the parrot drink?
Meki caloda tetawdi?
I wanted the good bicycle.
Tada mi fekandi lado.
The bird didn't fly.
Bume tawloda cetawdi.
Did the dog like the house?
Meki jutada judi jidi?
The three linguists wanted the car.
Tada sencindi gimu kandi.
Did you study?
Meki takonloda femi?
I liked the quiet cat.
Jutada mi jijudi tetindo.
The cat wanted the water.
Tada jijudi cadi.
The linguist knew the three languages.
Konda sencindi sendi gimu.
I knew that you liked the room.
Konda mi jutada femi todi.
Did the linguist like the library?
Meki jutada sencindi konjidi?
The teacher wanted the parrot to fly.
Tada koncindi tawloda tetawdi.
You didn't like the three good dogs.
Bume jutada femi judi lado gimu.
Did you know that the wise doctor worked?
Meki konda femi loda cindi kontindo?
The three people didn't like the bathroom.
Bume jutada cedi gimu catodi.
The doctor didn't want me to teach.
Bume tada cindi konloda mi.
Did the quiet teacher tell you that I liked the
building?
Meki teda koncindi tetindo femi jutada mi cejidi?
The two people explained to me that the vehicle didn't
fly.
Konteda cedi femu mi bume tawloda cekandi.
Did I tell you that the two friendly students drank?
Meki teda mi femi caloda takoncedi jutindo femu?
Translation drills on tape will use the same sentences as were used
for the repetition drills, but with the following format:
1. Sentence in English.
2. Pause. Student should utter the Nasendi equivalent during
the pause.
3. Sentence in Nasendi.
4. Pause. Student repeats the Nasendi sentence during the
pause.
The student should repeat the drills as often as necessary until
they are mastered.