Prev: [Pronunciation & Transliteration]
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áya
to be beautiful
Bíi
Type-of-Sentence Word—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 Word—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.
When discussing the distinctions among the types of verbs in Láadan, it can be useful to describe the descriptive verbs as “stative verbs” (verbs that describe a state of being) as differentiated from “active verbs” (verbs that describe an action).
NOTE: If you find grammar-geekiness intimidating, skip to “Word Order 2.”
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.”
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).
Bíi áya hena wa.
(The/A) sibling is beautiful.
Bíi doth mid wa.
(The/An) animal follows.
Bíi hal thul wa.
(The/A) parent works.
Bíi óoha with wa.
(The/A) person is weary.
Note that Láadan has no separate words for “a(n)” or “the.” In future examples, one or the other will be provided for the purposes of the English translation.
Bíi áya Bétheni wa.
Bethany is beautiful.
Note that names occupy the noun’s place in a sentence, just like any other noun.
1
Bíi doth hena wa.
2
Bíi hal mid wa.
3
Bíi óoha thul wa.
4
Bíi áya with wa.
5
Bíi doth Másha wa.
6
Bíi hal hena wa.
7
mid wa bíi óoha
8
bíi thul áya wa
9
doth with bíi wa
10
wa Elízhabeth bíi hal
11
hena bíi óoha wa
12
áya bíi wa mid
13
The parent follows.
14
The person works.
15
Margaret is weary.
16
The parent is beautiful.
17
A person follows.
18
Michael works.
top1
A sibling follows.
2
The animal works.
3
The parent is tired.
4
The person is beautiful.
5
Marsha follows.
6
The sibling works.
7
Bíi óoha mid wa.
The creature is weary.
8
Bíi áya thul wa.
The parent is beautiful.
9
Bíi doth with wa.
The person follows.
10
Bíi hal Elízhabeth wa.
Elizabeth works.
11
Bíi óoha hena wa.
A sibling is tired.
12
Bíi áya mid wa.
The animal is beautiful.
13
Bíi doth thul wa.
14
Bíi hal with wa.
15
Bíi óoha Mázhareth wa.
16
Bíi áya thul wa.
17
Bíi doth with wa.
18
Bíi hal Máyel wa.