Naeso/Sentences

This is where we'll put proposed and approved sentences in Naeso, exemplifying the uses of words and suffixes and grammatical structures.

If a word or suffix hasn't yet been voted in on the dictionary pages, but you use it here anyway, please please please link to the relevant vote.

glossing

If you're not sure how to format a sentence gloss, see the Leipzig Glossing Rules.

The following abbreviations are Naeso-specific and don't appear in the Leipzig list.

• MB — morpheme boundary
• INC — inceptive aspect
• NEW — someone who has just joined the conversation (as in pae)
• OLD — someone who has been part of the conversation for a while (as in tha)
• T — temporal preposition

Proposed sentences

Sanzuja ku si pan soenu.

read-PRF A 1SG FOC book

I finish reading the book (at some unspecified time, but probably recent past). — 0/0 (0/0)

Lavao'am ku Jaeku va zaevu.

write-MB-PROG A Jim P sentence

jim_henry is writing a sentence. — 0/0 (0/0)

• The above uses glottal stop as a liason consonant, written as an apostrophe between the root's vowel cluster and the affix's vowel; the basics of it would be unaffected if the liason consonant were something different.

Lavaosu ku Jaeku va zaevu.

write-PRS Jim P sentence

Jim's writing a sentence. — 0/0 (0/0)

Zelthizo ku lynh va do.

make-INC A we;INCL P language

We are beginning to make a language. — 0/0 (0/0)

Eana pan pae!

hello FOC 2SG;NEW

Hello! (said to someone who's just joined the chat) — 0/0 (0/0)

Kal pan tha!

goodbye FOC 2SG;OLD

Goodbye! (said to someone who's been on the chat for a while) — 0/0 (0/0)

• The above are proposed more-formal variants of basic "Eana!" and "Kal!"

Zelthija ku si va jan.

make-PRF A 1SG P word

I have (just) made a word/words. — 0/0 (0/0)

Sunhsa'am ku si va silzu.

edit-MB-PROG A 1SG P page

I am editing the (wiki) page. — 0/0 (0/0)

Souzo dakai sifi.

be-INC network unreliable

The network has become unreliable. — 0/0 (0/0)

• This sentence lacks a preposition for dakai. —Fenhl

Souzo bu dakai pan sifi.

be-INC TOP network FOC unreliable

The network has become unreliable. — 0/0 (0/0)

Souzo bu dakai sifi.

be-INC TOP network unreliable

The network has become unreliable. — 0/0 (0/0)

Sifi benh bu dakai.

unreliable again TOP network.

The network is unreliable again. — 0/0 (0/0)

• Since when is unreliable a verb?
• Since when is the semantic boundary between verbs and modifiers a cross-linguistic universal? --Jim Henry 18:16, 17 April 2011 (PDT)

tseltsinh sinte syn kunoy'apfe pan tthaikiun.

contain full in vehicle-MB-hover FOC eel-PL

My hovercraft is full of eels. — 0/0 (0/0)

• This is an example of redundancy in Naeso: tseltsinh syn could be replaced by tseltsinh bu or sou syn, but "Let usage define meaning" applies. —Fenhl

Jia ku y panli onan pfe bam Inhthaja bu kunoy pimum, bam Mansu so inna?

Speak A 2SG FOC-Q man or;EXCL REL enter-PRF P vehicle public, REL sit LOC that

Are you talking about the man who just entered the subway or about the man who is sitting there? — 0/0 (0/0)

Sou benh ku si so ua fyu poynh?

be again A 1SG LOC this T Q?

"I'll be back in a" what? — 0/0 (0/0)

• The original text was What's bbiab? Be back in a ¿?, in other words, What does the last 'b' stabd for? —Fenhl 18:12, 23 October 2010 (PDT)
• It seems to me it could also be glossed as "When will you I be here again?" --Jim Henry 18:36, 23 October 2010 (PDT)

Jia ku tha pan poynh?

say A 2SG;OLD FOC Q

What did you say?/What are you saying? — 0/0 (0/0)

• Since the above only makes sense in IRC when dealing with a dakai sifi, I additionally suggest the below.

What does what you just said mean? — 0/0 (0/0)

• The first English sentence above is a more literal gloss, the latter more idiomatic. Sure. --Jim Henry 18:16, 17 April 2011 (PDT)