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:''Not to be confused with [[wikipedia:Terminator_(franchise)|Terminator]].''
:''Not to be confused with [[wikipedia:Terminator_(franchise)|Terminator]].''


Some function words (e.g. “{{t|po}}”, “{{t|mı}}”) may sometimes require a terminator word to close it if it would cause confusion without. For example, if there were no terminators, “{{t|po káto chỏiceaq}}” could be “the claw of a cat” or “the cat claw’s [something]”.
A '''terminator''' is a [[particle]] that carries no meaning whose purpose is to show where a [[phrase]] of a certain kind ends. Some [[particle]]s, like {{t|po}}, {{t|mı}}, {{tone|5}}, open phrase – for example, {{t|po}} expects a [[noun phrase]] to immediately follow, and {{tone|5}} opens a [[clause|full “nested sentence”]]. And sometimes it is necessary to specify where that phrase ends, for unambiguity’s sake.


==List of terminators==
== A common example: {{class|po|object-incorporating verb}} phrases ==
Say we wanted to translate “a cat’s claw” to Toaq. “A cat’s” would be {{t|po baq kảto}}. “Claw” is {{t|choıceaq}}. So our first idea would be to put one right next to the other [[serial verb|like an adjective, forming a serial]]:


<blockquote><poem>
{{red|*{{t|po baq kảto chỏıceaq}}}}
''a cat-claw’s [something]''
</poem></blockquote>
But this is incorrect because the noun phrase that {{t|po}} expects to fit in its bellows never ends! So {{t|baq kảto chỏıceaq}} ends up forming one noun phrase, meaning “a cat-claw” (something that is a cat and a claw at the same time 🤔). In this case we need to signal that {{t|kảto}} needs to go ''inside'' {{t|po}}, whereas {{t|chỏıbeaq}} needs to stay ''outside'' of it. This is where terminators come into play: {{t|ga}}, the terminator for {{t|po}}, serves as a fence guarding the content (the noun phrase) inside from the content (rest of serial verb) outside:
<blockquote><poem>
{{t|{{green|po baq kảto ga}} chỏıceaq}}
''a cat’s claw''
</poem></blockquote>
(Green marks the extent of the {{t|po}}-phrase – so in a sense, {{t|ga}} cuts it short.)
== Skippable terminators ==
Some terminators are '''skippable''' (also known as '''elidable/elidible''' or '''omissible''' in [[loglang]]ing circles) – they don’t need to appear every time the corresponding particle appears. {{t|po}}’s {{t|ga}} is an example of such a terminator. For example, while it is perfectly fine to say
<blockquote><poem>
{{t|{{green|Pỏ jí ga}} ní rủa da.}}
''This flower is mine.''
</poem></blockquote>
we can safely remove the {{t|ga}} without any repercussions:
<blockquote>
{{t|{{green|Pỏ jí}} ní rủa da.}}
</blockquote>
This is because after we see {{t|jí}}, a complete noun phrase, we encounter {{t|ní rủa}} – ''yet another'' noun phrase – which can’t possibly fit inside the {{t|po}}-phrase because {{t|po}} only ever asked for ''one'' noun phrase. This is different from the last example because {{t|chỏıbeaq}} could ''expand'' the {{t|baq kảto}} noun phrase by forming the serial verb {{t|kảto chỏıbeaq}}. It follows that {{t|ní rủa}} has to stay outside of the {{t|po}}-phrase, which ends prematurely.
Other terminators are always expected to be there, for example {{t|kıo}}’s {{t|kı}}. The two are used for parenthetical statements ({{t|kıo}} like this one! {{t|kı}}) and it wouldn’t make sense to allow the {{t|kı}} to be skipped (elided).
Some phrases don’t need terminators at all – for example, {{t|ju}} (which opens a parenthetical ''statement'') ends as soon as the statement (a full sentence) ends (with an illocution like {{t|da}}). In this case we could also consider {{class|da|illocutions}} as terminators of {{t|ju}} (that depends on whether you require terminators not to carry any meaning but be purely structural).
== How to learn these? ==
There are two schools of thought on how to teach terminators, and both are equally valid (but it’s hard to say which one is “better”):
# Pretend every particle that has a terminator, skippable or not, intrinsically implies that terminator being there – for example, we would say that the grammatical structure for possessives is not {{t|po {{x}}}} but {{t|po {{x}} ga}}. Then specify that some of these terminators may be skipped under some circumstances.
# Don’t include terminators in the definitions of grammatical structures. Warn whenever one phrase bleeds into another (and introduce terminators as a stopgap mechanism for such occasions).
With (1) learners end up terminating too much; with (2), too little. (1) does not cause ungrammaticalities, but introduces yet another delay for the learner to produce sentences in the language as it is actually spoken (and spoken Toaq is not replete in terminators, which are in general avoided; see [[#Attitudes towards terminators|below section]]). (2) does engender ungrammatical productions, and also causes nuisance down the line as terminators are not easy to explain, but gets the learner much closer to actual Toaq 90% of the time.
== Attitudes towards terminators ==
The practice of having constructs come in starter–terminator pairs like {{t|po}}–{{t|ga}} to aid in unambiguity has a precedent in [[Lojban]]. However, Lojban’s terminators are much more essential and commonplace since it has a much more nested and Byzantine structure, whereas Toaq is relatively flat.
[[Hoemaı]] considers terminators a necessary evil as they are not easy to codify in formal syntax terms, or at least come with a lot of useless syntax: a terminated phrase like {{t|po {{x}} ga {{x}}}} requires ''two'' heads, one for the {{t|po}} (which is semantically bearing), one for the {{t|ga}} (which is semantically vacuous):
{| style="text-align: center;"
|+ {{t|pỏ jí ga tỏa}} ''my words''
| colspan=4 |
| colspan=2 | VP
|
|-
| colspan=3 |
| style=vertical-align:top; | ╱<br>CopV<sub>F</sub>P
|
| &emsp; <!-- strut -->
| ╲<br>V
|-
|
| style=vertical-align:top; | ╱<br>CopVP
| colspan=2 |
| ╲<br>CopV<sub>F</sub>
|
| style=vertical-align:top; | △<br>{{t|tỏa}}
|-
| ╱<br>CopV<br>│<br>{{t|pỏ}}
|
| style=vertical-align:top; | ╲<br>DP<br>△<br>{{t|jí}}
|
| style=vertical-align:top; | │<br>{{t|ga}}
|}
(Note: some internal CopVP structure was omitted for brevity.)
== Avoiding terminators altogether ==
It is possible that a future version of Toaq does away with terminators entirely, since it is usually sufficient to place heavy constituents on the far right of a sentence, corroborating Toaq’s right-branching syntax, and if necessary move any interlopers to the [[topic]] (which is terminated by {{t|bı}} – but this terminator usage is fine because a topic phrase is not ''introduced'' by any particle). Here’s an example of these repair strategies in use:
<blockquote><poem>
{{t|Cả rôq nháo cy rôq mao jí da.}}
''That they cried made me cry too.'' (Ugly: there is a heavy constituent {{t|rôq nháo (cy)}} on the left. We need to make do with a terminator, plus the sentence is much less nice to read.)
↓
{{t|Rôq nháo bı, cả róu rôq mao jí da.}}
''As for them crying, it caused me to cry too.'' (Much nicer, if longer.)
{{t|Rỏq nháo cà rôq mao jí da.}}
''They cried, causing me to cry too.'' (Short and sweet, but we’ve had to pay the cost of changing the meaning of the sentence.)
</poem></blockquote>
<blockquote><poem>
{{t|Mảı pó pó jíbo pỉa ga pảı ga sẻo sa mẻaheo da.}}
''My sibling’s friend’s spouse loves somebody else.'' (😖 Terminators {{t|ga}}lore!)
↓
{{t|Pó jíbo pỉa ga pảı bı, mảı zébo sẻo sa mẻaheo da.}}
''As for my sibling’s friend, their spouse loves somebody else.'' (Better, and an actual repair strategy used in natural languages when the nesting becomes insufferable, but we’ve still not gotten rid of {{t|ga}}.)
{{t|Séo pö páı pö jíbo pỉa bı, mảı séo sa mẻaheo da.}}
''As for the spouse of the friend of my sibling, they love somebody else.'' (We still do copious nesting, but at least {{t|bı}} is there to take it all down. If this sort of noun phrase appeared in the middle of the sentence, like {{t|Mảı séo pö páı pö jíbo pỉa cy cy sa mẻaheo da}}, we’d be back at cascading terminators like the {{t|cy cy}} here. So best to keep this sort of nesting in the topic, where it’s easiest and most natural to annul.)
{{t|Jíbo pỉa hóbo pảı hóbo sẻo bı, mảı hó sa mẻaheo da.}}
''As for my friend, as for their friend, as for their sibling, they love somebody else.'' (Long but very easy to follow.)
</poem></blockquote>
The takeaway: prefer short and simple sentences to long and convoluted ones. Sometimes it’s best to distribute the information over multiple sentences (like in Modern Greek) rather than try to pack them into one large one. And if you need to right-branch early, {{t|bı}} is your friend.
== List of terminators ==
=== [[#Skippable terminators|Skippable]] ===
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
! Structure !! Terminator
! rowspan=2 | Structure
! rowspan=2 | Terminator
! colspan=3 | Example <span style="font-weight: normal;>(underline shows how far the phrase extends)</span>
|-
! Without terminator !! → !! With terminator
|-
|-
| {{t|MI}} || {{t|ga}}
| {{class|po|object-incorporating verbs}} || {{t|ga}}
| {{t|<u>pỏ súq nỉaı</u>}} ''you, an animal’s'' || || {{t|<u>pỏ súq ga</u> nỉaı}} ''your animal''
|-
|-
| {{t|PO}} || {{t|ga}}
| {{class|mı|name marker}} || {{t|ga}} (unofficially, {{t|ceı}})
| {{t|<u>mỉ mỉao kảto</u>}} ''“Moon-Cat”'' || || {{t|<u>mỉ mỉao ga</u> kảto}} ''“Moon” the cat''
|-
|-
| {{t|MO}} || {{t|teo}}
| {{class|lu|free relative clause (as in “the one who …”)}}  || {{t|ky}}
| {{t|mảı jí sa <u>lủ mảı hóa fúy</u> da}} ''I love somebody who loves me'' || || {{t|<u>lủ mảı hóa jí ky</u> nháo da}} ''they are such that I love them''
|}
 
Apart from all these, {{class|hu|vocative particle}}, which are used for vocatives, are sometimes understood as terminated with {{t|ga}}. However this would seem unnecessary as {{class|hu|vocative particle}} are commonly used between sentences, in which case you may use {{t|lả}}, e.g., {{t|hủ káto lả chủq súq ba}} ''O cat, you should eat!''.
 
=== Non-skippable ===
{| class="wikitable"
! Structure
! Terminator
|-
|-
| {{t|KIO}} || {{t|kı}}
| {{class|mo|full-text quote marker}} || {{t|teo}}
|-
|-
| {{t|lu}} || {{t|ky}}
| {{class|kıo|open parenthesis}} || {{t|kı}}
|-
|-
| prenex    || {{t|bı}}
| topic || {{t|bı}}
|-
|-
| statement || {{t|cy}}
| [[clause]] ({{tone|3}} or {{tone|5}}) || {{t|cy}}
|}
|}
While not officially confirmed or denied, clauses seem to be terminable with adverbials. For example, in {{t|Cả rôq nháo põı jảq mẻo rôq mao jí jẽo nãı da}} ''That they cried in great sadness now caused me to cry as well'', the noun phrase {{t|rôq…}} can’t possibly be included in the first {{t|rôq…}} clause as it appears after {{t|põı jảq mẻo}}, and adverbs go at the end of a clause – and {{t|nãı}} is similarly ousted to the outer clause because it’s preceded by {{t|jẽo}}, which is type-2 (and type-2 always follows type-1). There is a proposal for supplanting {{t|cy}} with {{t|nã}}, where {{t|na}} would be a vacuous type-2 adverbial ({{t|jeo}}?).
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