Láadan/Lessons/5

Láadan Pronous, objects, and multiple verbs, to try to [VERB] Previous Page Next Page Pronouns There are first, second, and third person pronouns in Láadan. These are gender neutral, and change based on the amount of people being talked about. Voice Singular Plural, 2 to 5 Plural, 6 or more First Person ("I") Le Lezh Len Second Person ("You") Ne Nezh Nen Third Person ("He", "She") Be Bezh Ben Examples Láadan English Vocab words left Bíi ham le wi! I am present! ham = to be present, to attend left left Bíi meham lezh wi! We are present! meham = me- (plural) + ham Objects Now we'll introduce objects to our sentence. The sentence pattern is [(Aux) Verb (Neg) CP-S CP-O], where CP-O is the Case-Phrase-Object. Now we can see that the sentence structure in Láadan is VSO (verb-subject-object) order. Objects in Láadan are also marked with the Object Marker, the suffix -th or -eth (depending on whether the last letter of the object is a vowel or consonant). Examples Láadan English Vocab words Bíi yod le wa. I am eating. yod = to eat Bíi yod le doyuth wa. I am eating an apple. doyu = apple Bíi yod le ódoneth wa. I am eating cheese. ódon = cheese Bíi néde le thuzheth wa. I want a cake. néde = to want, thuzh = cake Notes In the case where the subject and object are obvious, the object marker can be left off. For example, if we said "I speak Láadan", it is clear: I can speak Láadan, but Láadan cannot speak me. Therefore, the sentence could be said as "Bíi di le Láadaneth wa." or "Bíi di le Láadan wa." (Suzette Haden Elgin A First Dictionary and Grammar of Láadan, Second Edition 1988 18) Multiple verbs Sometimes you will want to combine verbs like "to want", "to need", "to must" with another verb - "I want to run", "I need to wait", "I must work". In Láadan, this forms a Verb Complex. The two verbs go together, with the auxiliary going before both, and the negative going afterward, if present. Nothing can go between the two verbs. Both must be marked plural if the subject is plural. (Suzette Haden Elgin A First Dictionary and Grammar of Láadan, Second Edition 1988 22) Examples Láadan English Vocab words Bíi yod le wa. I am eating. yod = to eat Bíi néde yod le wa. I want to eat. Bíi menéde meyod lezh wa. We want to eat. To try to [VERB] The prefix "du-" means "to try". Examples Láadan English Vocab words Bíi ulanin le wa. I am studying. ulanin = to study Bíi duhulanin le wa. I am trying to study. Notes