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beye
Indefinite Pronoun (someone, somebody, something)
esh
boat
eshá
sailor [esh (boat) + –á (DOER)]
–hal
Degree Marker: to an unusual degree
–hil
Degree Marker: to a minor degree; rather; somewhat
ili
water
ilisháad
to swim [ili (water) + sháad (to go/come)]
im
to travel
íthi
to be tall; to be high
líithi
to be white
líithin
to be grey
lili
to be wet
mela
ocean [me– (aggrandizer) + ili (water)]
melamid
dolphin, porpoise [mela (ocean) + mid (creature)] {CH}<
réele
harbor
shumáad
to fly [shum (air) + sháad (to go/come)]
Here we see two more of the set of Degree Markers. The first,
“Beye” is known grammatically as an “indefinite pronoun” and means “someone” or “something.” As it is a pronoun, it also has the forms “beyezh” and “beyen” meaning “some(ones)” or “some(things)”—few/several (2 to 5) and many (more than 5), respectively. Whether the item/items to which “beye/beyezh/beyen” refers is/are people or things is subject to interpretation for the purposes of translation into English.
The various forms of “beye” can also be used to signify a non-specific subset of the available set of a given noun is (are) under discussion—as in the examples below:
Bíi melaya mahina wa.
Flowers are red.
The flowers are red.
Bíi melaya mahina beyen wa.
Some-many flowers are red.
Báa íthi bo?
Is a mountain tall?
Is the mountain tall?
Báa íthi bo beye?
Is some mountain tall?
In both of these examples, the item(s) being discussed are (is) many (or one) of the possible flowers (or mountains), but we’re not specifying which one(s). Notice that when used in this way, the “beye/beyezh/beyen” is postpositional to (immediately follows) the noun it modifies.
The Harbor
The day is beautiful. The stiff breeze is cool and moist. The sky is fleecy-clouded and blue; the clouds are high and white. The sea is green. Some-many seabirds are flying; fish and dolphins swim.
There are boats; some-few are large, and some-many are small. Some-many are white; some-few are gray; some-many are green and yellow. These-many boats are fast. The sailors are strong and beautiful, and they travel widely and are blessed.
The Harbor
Réele
Réele
Harbor
Harbor
The day is beautiful. The stiff breeze is cool and moist. The sky is fleecy-clouded and blue; the clouds are high and white. The sea is green. Some-many birds are flying; fish and dolphins swim.
Bíi háya sháal wa. Rahowahil i lilihil yulehal. Bol i leyi thosh; mehíthi i melíithi boshum. Liyen mela. Meshumáad babí beyen; mehilisháad thili i melamid.
Bíi
DECL
háya
BeBeautifulTime
sháal
Day
wa.
MYPERC
Rahowahil
NON + BeWarm = BeCold + DEGminor
i
And
lilihil
BeWet + DEGminor
yulehal.
Wind + DEGunusual
Bol
BeFleecyClouded
i
And
leyi
BeBlue
thosh;
Sky
mehíthi
PL + BeHigh
i
And
melíithi
PL + BeWhite
boshum.
Cloud
Liyen
BeGreen
mela.
Ocean
Meshumáad
PL + Air + ComeGo = Fly
babí
Bird
beyen;
Indef>5
mehilisháad
PL + Water + ComeGo = Swim
thili
Fish
i
And
melamid.
Dolphin
The day is beautiful. The unusually strong wind is cold and wet, both to a minor degree. The sky is fleecy-clouded and blue; the clouds are high and white. The ocean is green. Some-many birds are flying; fish and dolphins are swimming.
There are boats; some-few are large, and some-many are small. Some-many are white; some-few are gray; some-many are green and yellow. These-many boats are fast. The sailors are strong and beautiful, and they travel widely and are blessed.
Bíi meham esh wa; merahíya beyezh, i mehíya beyen. Melíithi beyen; melíithin beyezh; meliyen i meléli beyen. Meralóolo esh hin. Medo i meháya eshá, i mehimehal i mehothel ben.
Bíi
DECL
meham
PL + BePresent
esh
Boat
wa;
MYPERC
merahíya
PL + NON + BeSmall = BeLarge
beyezh,
Indef2-5
i
And
mehíya
PL + BeSmall
beyen.
Indef>5
Melíithi
PL + BeWhite
beyen;
Indef>5
melíithin
PL + BeGray
beyezh;
Indef2-5
meliyen
PL + BeGreen
i
And
meléli
PL + BeYellow
beyen.
Indef>5
Meralóolo
PL + NON + BeSlow = BeQuick
esh
Boat
hin.
Demo>5
Medo
PL + BeStrong
i
And
meháya
PL + BeBeautiful
eshá,
Boat + DOER = Sailor
i
And
mehimehal
PL + Travel + DEGunusual
i
And
mehothel
PL + BeBlessed
ben.
X>5
There are boats; some-few are large and some-many are small. Some-many are white; some-few are gray; some-many are yellow and green. These-many boats are quick. The sailors are strong and beautiful, and they travel to an unusual degree and are blessed.
Réele
Bíi háya sháal wa.
Rahowahil i lilihil yulehal.
Bol i leyi thosh; mehíthi i melíithi boshum.
Liyen mela.
Meshumáad babí beyen; mehilisháad thili i melamid.
Bíi meham esh wa; merahíya beyezh, i mehíya beyen.
Melíithi beyen; melíithin beyezh; meliyen i meléli beyen.
Meralóolo esh hin.
Medo i meháya eshá, i mehimehal i mehothel ben.
We’ve used the new Degree Markers in some routine, normative ways: rahowahil (cool, a minor degree of coldness); lilihil (moist, a minor degree of wetness). We also use them in some more advanced ways: yulehal (stiff breeze, an unusual degree of wind); mehimehal (travel widely, an unusual degree of traveling). These are good examples of perfectly acceptable uses for any of the Degree Markers.
At the beginning of the second paragraph, we use the Indefinite pronouns postpositionally to specify a non-specific subset of the available boats; however, having declared that we’re talking about boats in the first clause, we repeatedly use the Indefinite pronouns to modify that noun—but never restate the noun. Human languages avoid the frequent repetition of identical information, so this use of the modifier without the modified noun is perfectly acceptable.
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