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Case Summary |
We’ve now seen all the cases used by Láadan. Case is nothing more nor less than the relation of a noun phrase to the verb—and sometimes to the Subject. However, if you are, perhaps, still uncomfortable with the idea of case, the following summary will illustrate and, hopefully, clarify:
Subject |
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who/what performs the action of the VERB |
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–Ø |
Bíi wida Méri anath wa. |
Mary carries food. |
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bebáa |
Báa wida bebáa anath? |
Who carries food? |
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radal, rawith |
Bíi wida rawith anath wa. |
No-one carries food. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida hi anath wa.
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This/that carries food. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida beye anath wa. |
Someone/something carries food. |
Identifier |
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no VERB; identifies the SUBJECT as something |
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–m |
Bíi Méri hothulem wa. |
Mary is a grandparent. |
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bebáam |
Báa Méri bebáam? |
Who/what is Mary? |
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ram |
Bíi Méri ram wa. |
Mary is no-one/nothing. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi Méri him wa. |
Mary is this/that. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi Méri beyem wa. |
Mary is something/someone. |
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úmú |
Bíi wida Méri anath úmú thulana wa. |
Mary carries food that is soup. |
Object |
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who/what receives the action of the VERB |
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–th |
Bíi wida Méri anath wa. |
Mary carries food. |
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bebáath |
Báa wida Méri bebáath? |
Mary carries what? What does Mary carry? |
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radal, rawith |
Bíi wida Méri radaleth wa. |
Mary carries nothing. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri hith wa. |
Mary carries this. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri beyeth wa. |
Mary carries something/someone. |
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úthú |
Bíi wida Méri úthú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries what the boss requests. |
Manner |
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how the VERB is done |
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–nal |
Bíi wida Méri anath dozhenal wa. |
Mary carries food easily. |
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bebáanal |
Báa wida Méri anath bebáanal? |
How does Mary carry food? |
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ranal |
Bíi wida Méri anath ranal wa. |
Mary carries food in no way. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri anath hinal wa. |
Mary carries food thus (in this/that way). |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri anath beyenal wa. |
Mary carries food somehow. |
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únalú |
Bíi wida Méri anath únalú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries food how (in the manner that) the boss requests. |
Instrument |
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what the SUBJECT uses in doing the VERB |
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–nan |
Bíi wida Méri anath dimodenan wa. |
Mary carries food with (using) a bag. |
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bebáanan |
Báa wida Méri anath bebáanan? |
Using what does Mary carry food? |
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ranan |
Bíi wida Méri anath ranan wa. |
Mary carries food using nothing. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri anath hinan wa. |
Mary carries food using this/that. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri anath beyenan wa. |
Mary carries food using something/someone. |
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únanú |
Bíi wida Méri anath únanú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries food using what the boss requests. |
Associate |
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who/what accompanies the SUBJECT in doing the VERB |
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–den (neutral) |
Bíi wida Méri anath laneden wa. |
Mary carries food along with a friend. |
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bebáaden |
Báa wida Méri anath bebáaden? |
With whom/what does Mary carry food? |
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raden |
Bíi wida Méri anath raden wa. |
Mary carries food along with no-one/nothing. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri anath hiden wa. |
Mary carries food along with this/that. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri anath beyeden wa. |
Mary carries food along with someone/something. |
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úndenú |
Bíi wida Méri anath údenú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries food along with whom/what the boss requests. |
Goal |
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where the VERB is done to, at or toward |
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–dim |
Bíi wida Méri anath áathamedim wa. |
Mary carries food to church. |
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bebáadim |
Báa wida Méri anath bebáadim? |
Whither carries Mary food? Where does Mary carry food to? |
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radim |
Bíi wida Méri anath radim wa. |
Mary carries food to nowhere. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri anath hidim wa. |
Mary carries food to this/that place. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri anath beyedim wa. |
Mary carries food to somewhere/someplace. |
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údimhú |
Bíi wida Méri anath údimú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries food to where the boss requests. |
Source |
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where the VERB is done from |
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–de |
Bíi wida Méri anath bethede wa. |
Mary carries food from home. |
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bebáade |
Báa wida Méri anath bebáade? |
Whence (from where) does Mary carry food? |
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rade |
Bíi wida Méri anath rade wa. |
Mary carries food from nowhere. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri anath hide wa. |
Mary carries food from this/that place. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri anath beyede wa. |
Mary carries food from somewhere/someplace. |
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údehú |
Bíi wida Méri anath údehú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries food whence (from where) the boss requests. |
Place |
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where the VERB is done |
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–sha |
Bíi wida Méri anath wethesha óobe wa. |
Mary carries food along the road. |
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bebáasha |
Báa wida Méri anath bebáasha? |
Where does Mary carry food? |
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rasha |
Bíi wida Méri anath rasha wa. |
Mary carries food nowhere. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri anath hisha wa. |
Mary carries food at this/that place. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri anath beyesha wa. |
Mary carries food somewhere/someplace. |
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úshahú |
Bíi wida Méri anath úshahú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries food where the boss requests. |
Time |
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when the VERB is done |
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–ya |
Bíi wida Méri anath náaleya wa. |
Mary carries food at night. |
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bebáaya |
Báa wida Méri anath bebáaya? |
When does Mary carry food? |
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raya |
Bíi wida Méri anath raya wa. |
Mary carries food nowhen. Mary never carries food. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri anath hiya wa. |
Mary carries food at this/that time. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri anath beyeya wa. |
Mary carries food somewhen/sometime. |
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úyahú |
Bíi wida Méri anath úyahú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries food when the boss requests. |
Beneficiary |
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on whose/what’s behalf the VERB is done |
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–da (neutral) |
Bíi wida Méri anath wíithameda wa. |
Mary carries food for (neutral/voluntary) the clergy. |
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bebáada |
Báa wida Méri anath bebáada? |
For whom (on whose behalf) does Mary carry food? |
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rada |
Bíi wida Méri anath rada wa. |
Mary carries food for no-one/nothing in particular. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri anath hida wa. |
Mary carries food for this/that. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri anath beyeda wa. |
Mary carries food for someone/something. |
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údahú |
Bíi wida Méri anath údahú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries food for whom/what the boss requests. |
Purpose |
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purpose for which the VERB is done |
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–wan |
Bíi wida Méri anath duthawan wa. |
Mary carries food in order to heal. |
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bebáawan |
Báa wida Méri anath bebáawan? |
Why (for what purpose) does Mary carry food? |
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rawan |
Bíi wida Méri anath rawan wa. |
Mary carries food purposelessly. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri anath hiwan wa. |
Mary carries food for this/that purpose. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri anath beyewan wa. |
Mary carries food for some purpose. |
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úwanú |
Bíi wida Méri anath úwanú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries food for the purpose the boss requests. |
Cause |
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because of what the VERB is done |
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–wáan |
Bíi wida Méri anath éeyawáan wa. |
Mary carries food due to illness. |
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bebáawáan |
Báa wida Méri anath bebáawáan? |
Why (because of what) does Mary carry food? |
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rawáan |
Bíi wida Méri anath rawáan wa. |
Mary carries food from no cause. |
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hi, hizh, hin |
Bíi wida Méri anath hiwáan wa. |
Mary carries food because of this/that. |
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beye, beyezh, beyen |
Bíi wida Méri anath beyewáan wa. |
Mary carries food because of something/someone. |
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úwáanú |
Bíi wida Méri anath úwáanú dibóo hu wa. |
Mary carries food because the boss requests. |
The upshot of the foregoing is that it is possible to have a simple sentence with many case phrases.
Bíi wida Méri anath dozhenal dimodenan lanedan áathamedim bethede wethesha óobe náaleya wíithamedáa duthawan éeyawáanwa. |
Mary carries food easily with (using) a bag with (pleasurably) a friend to the church from home along the road at night out of duty to the clergy to promote healing because of illness. |
You may notice that the order of the case phrases in the English feels awkward. The standard word order in Láadan is different than that in English, but it seemed more transparent to transpose the Láadan case elements in order, despite the awkwardness of the English.
Regarding the Láadan standard word order in active sentences (Passive construction in Láadan is different and has its own future lesson) is as follows:
• Type-of-Sentence Word. May have Mood Suffix applied. |
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• Verb Phrase |
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∘ optional Auxiliary |
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∘ (plural) Verb —OR— (plural) Verb Complex —OR— Identifier’s Ø-Verb |
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∘ optional Negative |
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• Case Phrases. It is axiomatic that any Case Phrase |
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∘ Subject |
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∘ Identifier —OR— ∘ Object |
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∘ Manner |
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∘ Instrument |
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∘ Associate |
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∘ Goal |
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∘ Source |
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∘ Place |
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∘ Time |
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∘ Beneficiary |
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∘ Purpose |
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∘ Cause |
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• Evidential |
The above is the standard order of Case Phrases (linguist-speak: the “unmarked order”). In natural case-languages, the order of case phrases is quite fluid. When, as we hope, Láadan goes out into the world and becomes a living language, the native speaker will have reasons—ranging from emphasizing one Case Phrase over another to poetic needs such as meter or rhyme, and so on—to reorder the Case Phrases. This grammar is in no way sufficiently advanced to cover these eventualities.
You may have noticed some groupings of similar cases in the above list. Since almost all cases relate to the expression of the Verb (with the remainder relating to the Subject), the broad groups are: |
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1) Subject, Identifier/Object; |
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2) Manner (the case most purely related to the Verb); |
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3) Instrument, Associate (the English “with” pair); |
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4) Goal, Source, Place, Time (the four “locatory” cases); |
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5) Beneficiary, Purpose, Cause (the “motivational” set). |
Quantifiers—like “woho” (#All), waha” (#Any), “menedebe” (#>5), “nedebe” (#2-5)—and numbers—like “rano” (#0), “nede” (#1), “shin” (#2), “thab” (#10), “thabeshin” (#20)—do not formally take case suffixes. However, informally, it would be perfectly understood to say “wohosha” (everywhere), “menedebedim” (to many— ambiguous as to whether to many places or to many people), “nedebedá” (for the benefit of few, by coercion), “nedenal” (singly; one-by-one), or any of a number of other cased quantifier formations. With the exception of “nedenal”, all of these are shorthand for longer phrases involving “with” (person) or “dal” (thing) or “hath” (time) or “hoth” (place). If there should be any confusion, the more fully-expressed phrase would likely be necessary to resolve the ambiguity. |