Toaq, But Easy, at Least in the Beginning
Hıo ka! Hello and welcome to Toaq, But Easy, at Least in the Beginning. Mı Mıao jí. I am Mıao (Moon).
1 - Nıq paı! - A new friend!
Mıao: Jadı. Mı Mıao jí. Chua hí súq*?
Nuaq: Jadı. Mı Nuaq jí. Foa súq hí?
Mıao: Foa gı jí. Ma foa gı súq?
Nuaq: Foa gı máo jí.
Mıao: Chuq súq hí?
Nuaq: Chuq jí shámu.
English
Moon: Hi. I’m Moon. What’s your name?Night: Hi. I’m Night. What are you feeling? (i.e. “How are you?”)
Moon: I’m feeling good. Are you feeling good?
Night: I’m also feeling good.
Moon: What are you eating?
Night: I am eating an apple.
* Note that q is pronounced as the “ng” /ŋ/ sound in “sing” /sɪŋ/.
Vocabulary
chua | ◌ is the name of ◌ |
foa | ◌ feels ◌ |
hí | which / what |
jadı | hi |
jí | I/me |
máo | also |
mı X | the one called X |
shamu | ◌ is an apple |
súq | you (singular) |
1.1 - Tones
The falling tone, which isn’t marked by any diacritic, is generally used for verbs. However, as you can see, it is also used for some other things, for example jadı. The rising tone is used for nouns, pronouns, and determiners.
1.2 - Word order
The most simplest word order in Toaq is VSO — verb - subject - object. Notice how “Chuq jí shámu” literally translates to “Eat I apple”.
1.3 - Mı
Mı is prefixed before the names of things and people (and others), i.e. proper nouns.
- Foa* gı mí Mıao. = “Moon feels good.”
* We will talk about why it’s not foa mí Mıao gí later in Lesson [TODO].
1.4 - Ma
Ma is used to ask yes-or-no questions.
- Ma mı Mıao súq? = “Are you Moon?”
2 - O jıbo! - Oh my!
Mıao: Tao súq hí tî ní foto?!
Nuaq: Haha! Pu kıaqtoe jí kíaq bụqbuaı po kúne jıbo!
Mıao: ...
…
Nuaq: Hóı mí Mıao ꝡa naı noaq jí kúe ꝡë súq hóa.
Mıao: É? O. Neaochıaqca ní…
English
Moon: What are you doing in this photo?!Night: Haha! I cut my dog’s long fur.
Moon: …
…
Night: Moon, I’m reading the book which you wrote.
Moon: Huh? Oh. That’s embarrassing…
Vocabulary
buaı | ◌ is long |
buq- | prefix: very |
hóa | |
hóı | vocative |
jıa | ◌ happens in the future |
jıbo | ◌ is mine |
kıaq | ◌ is hair/fur |
kıaqtoe | ◌ cuts the hair/fur of ◌ |
kue | ◌ is a book |
naı | ◌ happens now |
neaochıaqca | ◌ is embarrassing to ◌ |
noaq | ◌ reads ◌ |
po | of |
pu | ◌ happened in the past |
tao | ◌ does ◌ |
tı | ◌ is at ◌ |
ꝡa | |
ꝡë |
2.1 - Prepositions
Oh hey! New tone! The rising falling tone is used for prepositions and adverbs. Prepositions in Toaq use the second slot of a verb.
- tı = ◌ is at ◌
- Tı jí búajıo. = “I’m at the house.”
- Kuq jí tî búajıo. = “I talk at the house”
2.2 - Tense
Toaq has words for tense, but unlike in English, they’re not mandatory.
pu | past |
naı | now |
jıa | future |
2.3 - Adjectives
Adjectives come after the nouns they modify, similar to Spanish. Only the first word of a noun phrase gets the tone though, so adjectives get a tone like verbs.
2.4 - Possession
Possessive words come after the nouns they modify. Compare “X of Y” (rather than “Y’s X”) for English.
To make possessive forms of pronouns, add the suffix -bo.
- kúne jıbo = “my dog” (“the dog of me”)
- kúne suqbo = “your dog” (“the dog of you”)
To make other things possessive, use po.
- kúne po mı Nuaq = “Night’s dog” (“the dog of Night”)
2.5 - Hóı over there!
The word hóı is used for getting someone’s attention when saying their name.
- Jadı mı Mıao ❌
- Jadı hóı mı Mıao ✅
2.6 - Ꝡha?
Ꝡhat’s this funny letter? The letter Ꝡ ꝡ can be pronounced as “w” /w/ or “y” /j/.
2.7 - Ꝡa?
Ꝡa is a (usually) optional word for marking the start of a new sentence. The reason it is used in Hóı mí Mıao ꝡa naı noaq jí kúe ꝡë súq hóa is to keep things from being confused.