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Lesson 8
Auxiliaries


Vocabulary

ril

Auxiliary: present

eril

Auxiliary: past

aril

Auxiliary: future

eríli

Auxiliary: far past

aríli

Auxiliary: far future

rilrili

Auxiliary: hypothetical

wil

Auxiliary: optative mood (desire): “would that...,” “let there be...”

Additional Vocabulary

mazh

car; automobile

sha

harmony

waá

Evidence Word: believed to be false because the speaker mistrusts the source

Wil shalisten to this pronounced is the standard greeting in Láadan; it means “Let there be harmony.” In speech and informal writing, a heartfelt wish or, as in this case, a greeting may appear without Type-of-Sentence Word or Evidence Word. This is perfectly acceptable because no one is going to be confused about the meaning.

Arillisten to this pronounced (later) is the standard Láadan leave-taking.

Time Auxiliaries

[(Auxiliary) Verb (Neg) CP–S]

When you need to indicate time in a sentence, put an auxiliary immediately before the verb. Auxiliaries never change their shape in any way, even if the verb itself is made plural.

Absent any auxiliary, present time is assumed. Subsequent to the occurrence of an auxiliary, in connected sentences, that time is assumed until another auxiliary occurs.

Examples

Bíi hal ne wa. listen to this pronounced

You work (implied present-time).

Bíi ril hal ne wa. listen to this pronounced

You work now (explicit present-time).

Bíi eril hal ne wa. listen to this pronounced

You worked.

Bíi aril hal ne wa. listen to this pronounced

You will work.

Bíi eríli hal ne wa. listen to this pronounced

Long ago, you worked.

Bíi aríli hal ne wa. listen to this pronounced

In the far future, you will work.
Some day, you will work.

Bíi rilrili hal ne wa. listen to this pronounced

Let’s suppose you worked....
Perhaps you work....
You might work....

Bíi wil hal ne wa. listen to this pronounced

Would that you worked....
If only you would work....
I wish you would work....

Wil hal. listen to this pronounced

Let there be work.

Exercises

Translate the following into English.

1

Bíi aríli dathim Elízhabeth wi. listen to this pronounced

2

Bíi eril thal bal wo. listen to this pronounced

3

Bíi aril ralóolohul mazh wa. listen to this pronounced

4

Bíi eríli di withid wáa, “Bíi aril nahu thosh, id yom rawith wa.” listen to this pronounced

5

Bíi rilrili áana ra Máthu wo. listen to this pronounced

6

Wil shóod. listen to this pronounced

In #4, did you note in the final clause of the man’s speech that “…yom rawith…” (no-one is safe) when spoken aloud sounds identical to “…yom ra with…” (a person is not safe)? This kind of ambiguity is common to human languages. Many mechanisms are available to clarify; one of those in Láadan would be to double the negative: “…yom ra rawith….” A single “ra” is all that’s required in Láadan to make a sentence negative, and the “ra–” included in “rawith” suffices; however, it is not a grammatical error in Láadan to include an extra “ra” either for clarity or emphasis.

Set the following in the tense indicated; translate into English before and after.

7

Bíi aril tháa ábed wa. listen to this pronounced

past

8

Bíi eril dozh zháadin wa. listen to this pronounced

optative

9

Bíi rilrili shóod ra Hérel wo. listen to this pronounced

far future

10

Bíi melaya áath wi. listen to this pronounced

hypothetical

10

Bíi aril melalom thul wáa. listen to this pronounced

far past

12

Bíi mehóoha omid waá. listen to this pronounced

future

Notice, in #7 (and in #3 above): the Evidence Word “wa” (according to my own perception) used regarding a future event. In most cases, a human speaker cannot have perceived what will happen in the future; in such a case “wa” would be understood to mean “according to my expectation;” expectation is a perception, albeit an internal one.

Translate the following into Láadan.

13

The mice ate, long ago.

14

The grain will be green.

15

A stone clearly might be beautiful.

16

Suzette was right; the cat was afraid.

17

The beverage might not be hot.

18

Let there be wisdom!

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Answers

1

Elizabeth will needlework in the far future, obviously.

2

I suppose the bread was good.

3

The car will be extremely quick.

4

I’m told that long ago a man said, “The sky will begin to open, and then no-one will be safe.”

5

Matthew might not sleep, I suppose.

6

Let there be busy-ness.


7

The farm will thrive.

Bíi eril tháa ábed wa. listen to this pronounced

The farm thrived.

8

Menopausing was easy, in my experience.

Bíi wil dozh zháadin wa. listen to this pronounced

Would that menopausing be easy.

9

I suppose Carol may not be busy.

Bíi aríli shóod ra Hérel wo. listen to this pronounced

I suppose Carol will, long hence, not be busy.

10

Of course the doors are red.

Bíi rilrili melaya áath wi. listen to this pronounced

Of course the doors may be red.

11

The parents will sing.

Bíi eríli melalom thul wa. listen to this pronounced

Long ago, the parents sang.

12

I’m in some doubt that the horses are weary.

Bíi aril mehóoha omid waá. listen to this pronounced

I’m in some doubt that the horses will be weary.


13

Bíi eríli meyod edemid wáa. listen to this pronounced

14

Bíi aril liyen ede wa. listen to this pronounced

15

Bíi rilrili áya ud wi. listen to this pronounced

16

Bíi eril dóon Shuzhéth wa; héeya rul. listen to this pronounced

17

Bíi rilrili owa ra rana wa. listen to this pronounced

18

Wil woth! listen to this pronounced

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