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Lesson 3
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In the third of each set of seven lessons, we’ll have a lesson with no grammar at all. These will be times to rehearse what we’ve learned so far and to add some new vocabulary with which to play.
áana |
sleep |
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áath |
door |
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bud |
clothing |
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ede |
grain |
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héeya |
to fear |
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hesh |
grass |
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i |
and |
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laya |
to be red |
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lom |
song |
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muda |
pig |
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rana |
drink; beverage |
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shum |
air |
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thal |
to be good |
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tham |
circle |
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thili |
fish |
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thom |
pillow |
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u |
to be open |
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ud |
stone |
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wíi |
to be alive; to be living |
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zháadin |
to menopause |
The grass is beautiful. |
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The song is beautiful. |
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The fish is beautiful. |
Being alive is beautiful. |
Did you notice, in the last example, that a word that had been introduced as a verb, “wíi” (to be alive), was used as a noun, “wíi” (being alive)?
English does the same thing (known grammatically as “nominalization”), forming “abandonment” from “to abandon,” “carelessness” from “to be careless,” and so on; any English verb can be used as a noun if “–ing” is added, as in “Swimming is good exercise.” |
This process, which is common to all human languages, is very easy in Láadan. Simply use the verb in the noun’s place in the sentence and add a case suffix to in (in this case that’s the Subject Case suffix, which is a “null suffix”); this will become clear in subsequent lessons.
The person works. |
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The person is weary. |
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The person works and is weary. |
1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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9 |
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10 |
Note, in #8, that “zháadin” (to menopause) is done exclusively by females. Therefore, we could be more specific and translate “muda” (pig) in this sentence as “sow”.
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The circle is open. |
12 |
The pig is alive. |
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The beverage is red. |
14 |
The air is good. |
15 |
The fish menopauses. |
16 |
The clothing is open. |
17 |
The grass is alive. |
18 |
The pillow is red. |
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The grain is good. |
20 |
The fish is afraid. |
1 |
The door is open. |
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2 |
The clothing is red. |
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3 |
The pig sleeps. |
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4 |
The grain is alive. |
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5 |
The grass is good. |
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6 |
The circle is red. |
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7 |
The stone is good. |
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8 |
The sow menopauses. |
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9 |
The fish is alive. |
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10 |
The song is good. |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 |
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16 |
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17 |
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18 |
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19 |
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20 |