Cheat sheet/Gamma
Vocab
Pronouns
- jí = me
- súq = you
- nháo = him/her/them
- múy = me+you
- míy = me+them
- máy = me+you+them
- há = one (impersonal)
These pronouns refer back to words of a certain animacy class:
- hó = him/her/them (animate)
- máq = it (inanimate)
- hóq = it (abstract)
- tá = it (adjective)
Attach -bo to pronouns to make genitive words:
- jıbo = ___ is mine
- suqbo = ___ is yours
- maqbo = ___ is its (inanimate)
Everyday vocab
- poq = ___ is a person
- ocha = ___ is a human
- nıaı = ___ is an animal
- deo = ___ is a child
- kato = ___ is a cat
- kune = ___ is a dog
- cıe = ___ is a fish
- hoe = ___ is a sun
- mıao = ___ is a moon
- nao = ___ is water
- haq = ___ is food
- rua = ___ is a flower
- maı = ___ loves ___
- paı = ___ is a friend of ___
- cho = ___ likes ___
- hıo = ___ greets ___
- chuq = ___ eats ___
- pıe = ___ drinks ___
- kuq = ___ says ___ to ___
- koy = ___ talks to ___
- gı = ___ is good
- huı = ___ is bad
- de = ___ is beautiful
- kıa = ___ is red
- mıo = ___ is blue
- bao = ___ is white
- kuo = ___ is black
- tı = ___ is at ___
- nıe = ___ is inside ___
- neo = ___ is on top of ___
- toa = ___ is a word
- muı = ___ is a meaning of ___
- toaq = ___ is Toaqic
- dua = ___ knows ___
- chı = ___ believes ___
- mıu = ___ opines ___
- gaı = ___ senses ___
- kuaı = ___ longs to do ___
- leo = ___ tries to do ___
- tua = ___ makes ___ happen
- shao = ___ wants ___ to happen
- choq = ___ uses ___ to do ___
- ca = ___ causes ___
- kuı = ___ is because ___
- bu = ___ is false
- le = ___ is likely
- daı = ___ is possible
- raı = ___ is something
- nı = ___ is this/that
Tenses and aspects
- pu = ___ happened
- naı = ___ happens now
- jıa = ___ will happen
- ceo = ___ starts to happen
- chufaq = ___ is happening
- shaı = ___ stops happening
- shıu = ___ happens before ___
- rao = ___ happens during ___
- bıe = ___ happens after ___
- nıqguo = ___ happens again
- he = ___ is gnomically true
Sentence structure
(Connector) | (Topic) | Body | (Illocution) |
---|---|---|---|
Je, (Well,) | háq bı, | gỉ máq jìe nháo | da. (statement) |
Keo, (However,) | moq? (question) | ||
Tıu, (So,) | ba. (wish) | ||
Nhu, (Anyway,) | nha. (promise) |
Tones
Rising tone
Makes a noun phrase out of a verb: póq "the person(s)", cá "the cause(s)"
Rising-creaky tone
Attaches a relative clause to a preceding noun.
Inside the phrase, hóa refers to the noun attached to. cy ends the clause.
- póq düa hóa cy = "the people who know"
- níaı mäı hóa jí cy = "the animal who loves me"
- níaı mäı jí hóa cy = "the animal who I love (it)"
Falling tone
Main verb.
- Mảı jí súq da. = "I love you."
Peaking tone
Starts a content clause, terminated by cy.
- ôcha jí cy = "that I am human"
- Dủa jí ôcha jí cy da. = "I know that I am human."
- Keo shảo jí nîaı jí cy da. = "But I want to be an animal."
Mid-falling tone
A preposition, which makes an adverbial with the following noun phrase.
It can go before or after the arguments to the main verb.
- nèo míao = "on the moon"
- Kỏy jí súq nèo míao. = "I talk to you on the moon."
- Mảı jí súq kùı pâı súq jí. = "I love you because you are my friend."
Falling creaky tone
An adverb. It can go before or after the arguments to the main verb.
- dãı = "possibly"
- Chỉ hó hóq dãı da. = "They possibly believe it."
Neutral tone
Used for function words like illocutions. Pronounced as any tonal "break" with the contour of the last word.
Determiners
Combine with a verb to make a "determiner phrase".
sa cỉe | a/some fish |
---|---|
tu cỉe | every fish |
sıa cỉe | no fish |
ke cỉe | the fish |
baq cỉe | fish (in general) |
hı cỉe | which fish? |
Or you can omit the verb: sa = "something", sıa = "nothing"…
Conjunctions
- Gỉ ra dẻ baq kảto da. = "Cats are good and/or beautiful."
- Gỉ ro hủı baq hảq da. = "Food is either good or bad."
- Rẻı súq ru jí múao. = "You and I surround the tree." (Both I do, and you do.)
- Rẻı súq roı jí múao. = "You and I (together) surround the tree."
Quotations and names
mo, teo, mi
Asking questions
ma, hi, ri, moq