Nasendi Self-Study Course

Lesson 9



Required reading:

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

New Classifiers:

  -bin	Business and academic groups/organizations (corporation,
	  faculty, partnership, sorority, business, trust, cartel,
	  construction company, union, law firm, restaurant chain)
  -fay	exchange and transfer verbs, default = AP/F-d verb (buy/sell,
	  borrow/lend, swap/exchange, invest in, donate, confiscate/
	  commandeer, steal) [Convention: "bu-" 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:

  -vo	passive

New Vocabulary:

    fayda       - exchange, swap, trade, switch, interchange
    bufayda     - steal, purloin, make off with, pilfer, filch, rob
    gyafayda    - sell, vend
    bugyafayda  - buy, purchase
    lafayda     - donate, contribute, bestow, give for a benevolent reason
    faytado     - grateful (for), thankful, obliged, feeling gratitude,
			grateful, thankful, or obliged for
    fayteda     - thank (for), express gratitude, give or offer thanks

    bindi       - business (establishment), firm, concern
    bubindi     - black market, gray market
    konbindi    - faculty, teaching staff
    lobindi     - union, labor union, trade union
    tawbindi    - airline (company), air service
    binbyadi    - cash register, till, cashbox
    bincindi    - businessman, businesswoman, entrepreneur, man or
			woman of business
    binfayda    - pay, spend, expend, disburse, remit
    binfodo     - inexpensive, low-cost, cheap, frugal
    bingyadi    - bank (financial institution)
    bingyacindi - banker, moneylender
    binjadi     - money, funds, capital
    bintado     - greedy, acquisitive, avaricious, grasping, selfish
    bubintado   - generous, selfless, munificent, magnanimous,
			big-hearted
    binteda     - offer, bid, proffer, tender, make a bid/offer/tender
    bintindo    - wealthy, rich, affluent, moneyed, well-to-do,
			prosperous
    bintoydo    - poor, poverty-stricken, needy
    binxedo     - expensive, costly, high-priced, dear
    binzidi     - dollar [unit of currency]

    xomu        - nine

    make        - to/from/with, secondary agent-patient in
			exchange/swap verbs
    maswa       - for, secondary focus in exchange/swap verbs

    foma        - slightly, a little, not too, a bit, to a small or low
			degree
		[Note that "foma" 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:

    Canzanvyuvo licandi.
    The window was opened.

    Meki pi konlokavo Nasendi?
    Is Nasendi being taught?

    Bume tevo mi pyoda femi konjidi.
    I wasn't told that you were at the library.

    Kontevo mi pi kontinda nulitawdi.
    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 Nasendi 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 Nasendi, 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, "cinhi" is the anaphor for "cindi" and "nicinfudi" (remember, "ni-" is a prefix; it is not part of the root). However, "cinhi" is not an anaphor for "ficindi" (because the first root morpheme is "fi"). The correct anaphor for "ficindi" is "fihi".

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

    Pi tada femi fekandi poy bupye bume pi posa mi fehi.
    You want my bicycle but I don't have it.

    Lida mi nicetawdi pye tawloda cehi.
    I saw the birds and they flew.

    Pi jutada mi koncindi mave pi lada konhi.
    I like the teacher because he's good.

    Teda Naryacedi mi tada ryahi canfudi poy.
    Mary told me that she wanted my sandwich.

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

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

    Bugyafayda mi jadi make Najoncedi.
    I bought the book from John.

    Gyafayda mi jadi make Najoncedi.
    I sold the book to John.

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

However, "make" can not be used with the verb bufayda 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, bufayvu:

    Bufayvu femi mi fekandi.
    You stole the bicycle from me.

Note that the word order of the patient and focus is the reverse of the English order.


Drills (on tape):

    Nothing will be remembered.
    Pu tokonvo bumadi.

    Why is your parrot keeping itself wet?
    Pi cabikya tetawdi fepoy maveki?

    The airline is only three months old.
    Pi xesa tawbindi xezidi gimu toma ma.

    I was in the bus and it was cold.
    Topyoda mi bikandi pye jinfoda bihi.

    The adults thanked the children for making the fire.
    Fayteda nixecedi nifocedi fivyuvi jindi.

    I should have sold the old television in the attic to
      the engineer.
    Xemo gyafayda mi libyadi xedo pyodu tawtodi make
      ficindi.

    The license plates of the firetruck in the parking lot
      were stolen.
    Bufayvo nikanjadi po jinkandi pyodu kanlaydi.

    I didn't like the expensive chairs because they were
      small.
    Bume jutada mi nizwedi binxedo mave zuda zwehi.

    The banker will buy something from the merchant in the
      train later.
    Bugyafayda bingyacindi madi make gyacindi topyo
      laykandi gimay.

    Was it known that the auditorium's ceiling was weak?
    Meki konvo cinzuda tawcandi po bitodi?

    The cash register was bad but it works a little now.
    Buda binbyadi bupye cinfida foma binhi may.

    I'm imagining many good days for my business.
    Pi likonda mi zidi lado xemu ma mase bindi poy.

    Those unfriendly students stole the encyclopedia from
      the library.
    Bufayvu nitakoncedi jutoydo bape konjidi bikonjadi.

    A generous wealthy painter donated a lot of money to
      the labor union.
    Lafayda byecindi bintindo bubintado ma binjadi xemu ma
      make lobindi.

    We exchanged the broken radios for two in working order.
    Fayda zemi nitawtebyadi cinzando maswa femudi cinfido
      ma.

    The fire fighters are grateful that the water in the
      canal was high today.
    Pi faytada nijincedi tawxeda cadi topyodu calaydi
      may-ziday.

    Does the teacher live here because he wants to live
      near the park?
    Meki pi jiloda koncindi paw mave pi tada konhi jilovi
      fomoy jalaydi?

    The fence along the road was broken earlier.
    Cinzanvyuvo jicandi laypyodu laydi femay.

    Why didn't you offer the seven poor people sandwiches?
    Bume binteda femi cedi bintoydo zemu nucanfudi maveki?

    The greedy businessman paid only nine dollars for the
      black sofa.
    Binfayda bincindi bintado binzidi xomu toma ma maswa
      bizwedi bubyedo.

    I bought the owl in an actual black market behind the
      skyscraper.
    Bugyafayda mi litawdi pyo bubindi fido ma limoy tawjidi.

    The hallway between the living room and the dining room
      is four meters long.
    Pi layxesa cantodi canpyodu zwetodi pye futodi layzidi
      jomu ma.

    The banker explained to me that the bank will have a
      low ceiling because it'll be inexpensive.
    Konteda bingyacindi mi pu posa bingyadi tawcandi
      tawfodo ma mave pu binfoda tawhi.

    John will paint the shed's floor tomorrow after he goes
      to the marketplace.
    Byelovyu Najoncedi butawcandi po zujidi gimay-ziday
      pude kanloda jonhi pyosude gyalaydi.

    The foolish chef wanted nine tables but I gave him only
      six.
    Tada jincindi kontoydo lozwedi xomu ma bupye povu mi
      jinhi bamudi toma ma.

    The faculty wasn't there yesterday because it was
      informed that all students were told to stay away
      from the bus station.
    Bume bapawda konbindi femay-ziday mave konvuvo konhi
      tevo takoncedi bimu moykavi bigyadi.

End of Lesson 9