Lingwa de Planeta | Complex Sentence

In this lesson you will learn:

• 4 pronouns (swa, mutu, it, oni)
• 12 verbs (pregi, kwesti, jawabi, dai, pren, helpi, go, lai, safari, gani, dansi, rasmi)
• 10 special verbs (mog, janmog, darfi, treba, mus, gai, majbur, nidi, yao, pri)
• 8 prepositions (a, om, fo, por, kun, sin, in, fon)
• 6 question words (hu, kwo, wo, wen, way, komo)
• 6 demonstrative words (hir, dar, ahir, adar, dan, tak)
• 6 useful words (yoshi, toshi, poy, snova, turan, tuy)
• 3 conjunctions (sikom, obwol, yedoh)
• 2 grammatical words (ke, unkwe, hi, ku)

Total: 59 vocabulary units (+34 from lesson 1 = a total of 93 units)

Pronouns as objects

Pronouns in Lidepla do not change. If a pronoun is placed after the verb, it will function as an object (i.e., it will answer the question "who? what?"):

To say "oneself", the word swa is used (for all pronouns). To convey the meaning of "each other" or "one another", there is the word mutu.

An inanimate object can be replaced by the pronoun it.

Translation Exercise

• I see you.
• You understand me.
• She did not understand you.
• We love him.
• They will not hear it.
• She does not know herself.
• You will not hear each other.
• You do not hear yourself.
• We understood each other.

Main Prepositions

To answer the question "to whom?", the preposition a is used.

To answer the question "about what? about whom?", the preposition om is needed.

Other important prepositions: fo (for), por (because of), kun (with), sin (without)

Translation Exercise

• for me
• about you
• because of us
• for you (plural)
• with you
• without her
• because of you

A preposition can also be followed by a verb:

Question and Demonstrative Words

Question words:

• hu - who
• kwo - what
• wo - where
• a wo - where to
• fon wo - where from
• wen - when
• way - why
• komo - how

Question words are placed, as a rule, at the beginning of the sentence; the word order in the sentence does not change.

Translation Exercise

• Who understands?
• Who knew?
• What did you know?
• What will he understand?
• Where did you work?
• Where will we work?
• Where are you going to and from?
• When did he arrive?
• Why don't you understand?
• How do you speak?

You can answer questions with question words using demonstrative words:

• se - this
• to - that
• hir - here
• dar - there
• ahir - to here
• adar - to there
• dan - then
• tak - so, thus

Complex Sentence

Question words can also begin a subordinate clause:

Also to create complex sentences the word (conjunction) ke (that) is used:

It is important not to confuse the words kwo and ke:

Note that in Lidepla there is no sequence of tenses: in the subordinate clause, the particles indicate the time of the action in relation to the action in the main clause.

Translation Exercise

• You know where I lived.
• He sees how I wait.
• I don't understand what you want (yao).
• We said that they would travel (safari).
• She doesn't believe that you will come (lai).
• They don't know where I will go (go).
• I don't understand what you sing about (gani).
• You don't know who she dances with (dansi).
• I don't understand how you speak without thinking.

Another way to build a complex sentence: preposition + particle ke:

Generalizing Meaning

In English there is the construction "whoever", "whatever", etc., which can appear after any question word at the beginning of a subordinate clause: whoever, whatever, however. In Lidepla, this construction is expressed with a single word: unkwe, which can be placed in the same way after any question word (the verb is used in its basic form):

Sometimes it doesn't matter who does something. For this case there is the pronoun oni, which can be translated as "one", "someone", "they".

Translation Exercise

• Wherever you live
• Whatever he thinks
• Whoever comes
• However they ask me

Special Verbs

Special verbs that express an attitude towards the action are usually called "modal". With their help you can form verbal sequences:

• mog – can (broad sense)
• janmog – to know how (to have the skill)
• darfi – to have permission
• treba – to need (broad sense)
• mus – must (obligation)
• gai – should, it is recommended according to the rules
• majbur – to be forced/obliged
• nidi – to need
• yao – to want
• pri – to like, to feel pleasure

Special verbs themselves can take particles that specify the time. The main verbs after the special ones remain in their basic form.

The subject before a special verb can be omitted. In this case, the phrase acquires an impersonal meaning:

Translation Exercise

• She will want to ask you.
• We like to work.
• I had to ask (pregi).
• You should hope.
• Here one cannot (is not allowed to) dance (dansi).
• One must answer when asked.
• He did not come (lai), because he did not want to see him/her.

Emphatic Particles hi and ku

To highlight, to emphasize the meaning of the whole sentence (that is, mainly its predicate) we use, as we already know, the particle ya. But in Lidepla there is also a more targeted action particle: it emphasizes precisely the word before which it is located. This is the particle hi:

To emphasize a word in a question, there is the particle ku. With it you can easily ask a (general) question to a specific word in the sentence (the particle is placed after the word):

The particle ku is useful when you need to ask a general question to a short phrase:

Translation Exercise

• I am talking precisely about you.
• Is it she who loves you?
• I (precisely) know, (and) do not believe.

Useful Words for Narrations

In a story, for example, about oneself or about one's abilities, the word yoshi ("and also") can be useful:

In a dialogue, however, the word toshi ("also") can be useful:

Useful conjunctions:

• sikom - since, as
• obwol - although
• yedoh - however

Translation Exercise

• I believe them too.
• I don't work. And I don't love you either.
• I need to understand right now.
• I can't understand, although I have to work.
• He may come suddenly. She doesn't want to wait, however, he loves her.
• We don't want to see him again.
• I believe, since I don't want to live without you.
• Then I will answer you (jawabi).

New Verbs

Reminder: the letter j is read as a soft, vibrant "y"; in the combination ai, the "a" is stressed.

The preposition "a" can be omitted, since the verb "helpi" has no other direct object.

Translation Exercise

• I didn't know. But you said. Now I know. (Me... . Bat yu... . Nau me...)
• She believes and hopes. (Ela... e...)
• They don't see and don't hear, but they speak. (Li... e..., bat...)
• He doesn't understand, but he works. (Ta..., bat...)
• I speak so that you understand. (Me... dabe yu...)
• She hopes because she loves. (Ela... bikos ela...)
• You don't know or you don't understand. (Yu... o...)
• She didn't think, she (yes) knew. (Ela..., ela ya...)
• You don't believe? No, not at all, I really do believe! (Ob yu...? - Doh, me... ya!)

Text

Read the text. Clarify the meaning of the words you don't understand. Try to retell this text or create your own.

• Me kwesti ta: "Hu komandi hir?"
• Ta bu jawabi. Me snova kwesti: "Way yu bu jawabi? Ob yu bu mog shwo?"
• Ta shwo: "Me mog. Bat me bu jan kwo shwo. Bikos me bu jan hu komandi. Nu oli lubi mutu." (From Gianni Rodari)

• komandi (to command)

Etiquette: Where are you from? Where do you live?

Before asking a question, it may be appropriate to apologize: Skusi.

When meeting someone, you can ask: Wo yu jivi? (Where do you live?). In the answer you will need the preposition in (in):

• Me jivi in Sankt-Peterburg. (I live in St. Petersburg.)

You can also ask Fon wo yu lai? (Where do you come from?). In the answer you will need the preposition fon (from). The names of the countries in Lidepla sound as close as possible to how they are pronounced in the language of those countries:

• Rusia - Russia
• Ingland - England
• Frans - France
• Doichland - Germany
• Espania - Spain
• Nipon - Japan
• Jungwo - China

Language in Focus: Chinese

Despite all its popularity, English ranks only third in terms of number of speakers (around 300 million people). Speakers of Chinese are more than double that (more than 800 million)! The Chinese language is very ancient: scientists have found inscriptions on the bones of sacrificed animals dating back to at least the 11th century BC. The peculiarity of the unified Chinese writing system is that the symbols do not convey sounds, but meanings of words. On the basis of this system several dialects were formed, which developed independently within different states. Over time, the dialects formed in the north became more widespread. It was they that served as the basis for the formation of the official language of the Chinese empire, in which all important documents were written, as well as the language of the common people, which was only used in oral communication. The lexical composition of the language underwent significant transformations twice: in the 1st century AD with the arrival of Buddhism, the language was enriched with a whole layer of concepts, and since the beginning of the 20th century, the language has adopted concepts adapted from Western civilization.

Excerpt from "The Little Prince" in Chinese (the transcription has been written using the sounds of Lidepla very approximately, without indicating the tones):

啊！我的小王子 ......
A! wo de syao wan zi

就这样，一点一滴地，我逐渐懂得了你那忧郁的小生命。
ziou je yan, idyen-idi-de, wo ju zien dun de le ni na you yu de syao shen min

长久以来，你惟一的乐趣只是欣赏落日。
ch'han ziou I lai, ni wei i de le tsiu ji shi sin shan luo r/shi

这是我在第四天早晨知道的，当你说出：
je shi wo zai di si tien zao chen ji dao de dang ni shuo ch'hu

“我喜欢看夕阳。”
wo si huan kan si yan

Reminder: the letter z is pronounced as a soft, vibrant "dz"; the letter j is pronounced as a soft, vibrant "y".

Chinese words are composed of syllables, each of which has its own meaning. The sound of the language is very peculiar, different from the usual European languages. The fact is that in Chinese not only the sounds themselves have meaning, but also the tones, that is, how exactly the syllable is pronounced: whether the voice rises when pronouncing the syllable, or falls, or remains at the same height.

Among the most frequent words in Lidepla, there are quite a few words borrowed from Chinese.

Functional words and adverbs:

• bu - no
• ba - imperative
• gwo - past indefinite
• zai - continuous action
• zuy - the most
• fen - forms fractions
• shi - ten
• idyen - a little
• haishi - still, yet
• shao - little
• turan - suddenly

Nouns:

• jen - person
• bao - bag
• mao - wool, hair
• dao - way, path
• yuan - employee, official
• guan - public institution
• bey - back
• duza - belly, abdomen
• tuza - rabbit
• chiza - spoon
• feng - wind

Verbs:

• zwo - to do
• shwo - to speak, to say
• lwo - to fall
• yao - to want, to wish
• kan - to look, to see
• gun - to work
• chi - to eat
• zin - to enter
• chu - to exit
• zun - to be engaged in something
• mangi - to be busy with something
• tungi - to hurt, to cause pain
• kaulu - to consider, to take into account

Adjectives:

• hao - good
• lao - old
• gao - high
• syao - small
• byen - convenient, comfortable
• hwan - yellow
• suan - sour
• guy - expensive
• kway - fast
• lenge - cold
• lan - lazy

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