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Lesson 2: Word Order

Word Order 1

NOTE: If you find grammar-geekiness intimidating, skip to "Word Order 2."

[Type-of-Sentence Word, Verb, Case Phrase-Subject, Evidence Word]

Don't be concerned about the notation above; it will be useful in the long run. A "Case Phrase" is the same thing as what traditional English grammars call a "prepositional phrase." In English this means a preposition and its following noun phrase, as in "with a hatchet" or "to the beach," most of the time; in Láadan it usually means a noun phrase and its ending. This will become clear as we go along, and each of the sentence patterns explained will use the notation, with "Case Phrase" abbreviated to just "CP" in future to save space. "Case Phrase-Subject" will be written "CP-S."

Word Order 2

A Láadan sentence begins with a word, called the [Type-of-Sentence Word], that tells you what sort of sentence it is--statement, question, request, etc. The most common of these words is "Bíi," which begins ordinary statements (known grammatically as declarative sentences).

A Láadan sentence ends with a word, called the ["Evidence Word,"] that states why the speaker considers the sentence to be true. Probably the most common of these words is "wa," which means "claimed to be true because the speaker herself perceived whatever has been said."

Within the sentence that begins with the Type-of-Sentence Word and ends with the Evidence Word, the Verb comes before the Noun(s).

Vocabulary


	áya		to be beautiful
	Bíi		Speech Act Morpheme--declarative
	doth		to follow
	hal		to work
	hena		sibling (by birth)
	mid		animal; any creature
	óoha		to be tired; to be weary
	thul		parent
	wa		Evidence Morpheme--claimed to be true because the speaker herself perceived what has been said
	with		person

Note that Láadan doesn't divide adjectives and verbs into two classes as English does. Thus "áya" means "be beautiful" without any need for a separate word "be" in the sentence.

Examples


	Bíi hal mid wa.		(The/A) animal works.
	Bíi áya with wa.		(The/A) person is beautiful.
	Bíi óoha thul wa.		(The/A) parent is tired.
	Bíi hal thul wa.		(The/A) parent works.
	Bíi áya mid wa.		(The/A) animal is beautiful.

Note that Láadan has no separate words for "a" or "the." In future examples, one or the other will be provided for the purposes of the English translation.

Exercises


Translate the following from Láadan to English.
1	Bíi áya mid wa.
2	Bíi óoha hena wa.
3	Bíi hal Másha wa.
4	Bíi doth with wa.
5	Bíi hal mid wa.
6	Bíi áya thul wa.
Put these in correct Láadan word order, then translate them into English.
7	hena wa bíi áya
8	bíi thul óoha wa
9	hal with bíi wa
10	wa mid bíi doth
11	with bíi áya wa
12	hal bíi wa hena
Translate the following from English to Láadan.
13	The animal is beautiful.
14	Margaret is weary.
15	A sibling follows.
16	A creature is tired.
17	The parent works.
18	The parent follows.

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Answers


1	The animal is beautiful.
2	A sibling is weary.
3	Marsha works.
4	The person follows.
5	The animal works.
6	The parent is beautiful.

7	Bíi áya hena wa. The sibling is beautiful.
8	Bíi óoha thul wa. The parent is weary.
9	Bíi hal with wa. The person works.
10	Bíi doth mid wa. The animal follows.
11	Bíi áya with wa. The person is beautiful.
12	Bíi hal hena wa. The sibling works.

13	Bíi áya mid wa.
14	Bíi óoha Mázhareth wa.
15	Bíi doth hena wa.
16	Bíi óoha mid wa.
17	Bíi hal thul wa.
18	Bíi doth thul wa.

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