Mirad Grammar/Lesson 4

100% Lesson 4: Where Are You Going? In this lesson, you will learn how to conjugate verbs in the progressive tenses and to ask yes-or-no questions. You'll also learn about comparison of adjectives and some new pronouns. Dialog thumb| {| class="wikitable" style="background:lightyellow; ;font-size:smaller;" |+ Dialog 4: Where are you going? |- ! MIRAD !! ENGLISH |- | 1. Duhom et peye? || Where are you going? |- | 2. At peye tam. || I'm going home. |- | 3. Duven et peyo bey pur? || Will you be going by car? (Lit. Say whether you will be going...) |- | 4. Vo. At tyoyapo. Ata tam voy se yib bi him. || No. I'll walk. My house is not far from here. |- | 5. At peya humep. Apu ha pur bay at. || I was going that way. Get in the car with me. |- | 6. Hway! Hus su ga iga. || Thanks! That would be faster. |- | 7. Hwey. Duven et ifie enzyukparen? || Don't mention it. Do you enjoy bicycling? |- | 8. Gla. At enzyukpareya hijwamaj. || Very much so. I was cycling this morning. |- | 9. Hiy eta tam. Duven hus se eta enzyukpar be ha zadeym? || Here's your house. Is that your bicycle in the front yard? |- | 10. Vo. Atas se be ha zodeym. Huas bexwe ata dat. || No. Mine is in the backyard. That one belongs to my friend. |- | 11. Hua enzyuk se go via vyel etas || That bike is less good-looking than yours. |- | 12. Ve. Hway av ha pepuen, datif. || Maybe. Thanks for the lift, buddy. |} Grammar Notes Progressive Aspect Verbs In the above dialog, you will notice that there are some verbs in a tense other than one of the simple tenses you learned in the last lesson, namely the progressive tenses. The tenses in the progressive aspect refer to states and actions that go over a period of time. When we way "I am walking home", that refers to an ongoing action, not a habit. This is pretty easy for English speakers, because English tenses have the same opposition of simple vs. progressive aspect. The progressive tenses are formed with the infix ey between the verb stem and suffix. Here is a chart showing the new set of tenses (active voice only): {| class="wikitable" style="background:lightyellow; ;font-size:smaller;" |+ Progressive Aspect Tenses |- ! ASPECT !! VOICE !! MOOD !! TENSE !! EXAMPLE |- !row=1| Progressive||Active || Indicative || Present | at peye....I am going |- !row=1| Progressive||Active || Indicative || Past | at peya....I was going |- !row=1| Progressive||Active || Indicative || Future | at peyo....I will be going |- !row=1| Progressive||Active || Hypothetical || Atemporal | at peyu....I would be going |} Examples: At peye tam.....I am going home. Et seye fua.....You are being bad. Duven et tambeseyo Ferom ojo huj?....Will you be living in France by then? At tyoyapeyu, oy se gra yiba.....I would be walking, but it's too far. Note the difference between the simple and the progressive aspect in the following two sentences: Ha tixut tyoyape tistam hyajub.....The student walks to school every day. (SIMPLE ASPECT) Ha tixut tyoyapeye tistam hijub.....The student is walking to school today. (Progressive ASPECT ) Comparison of Adjectives and Adverbs thumb| First of all, there is a set of 'quantitative determiners' built on the basic word ga meaning more. They are shown in the chart below. Some of them are used in the comparison of adjectives and adverbs. {| class="wikitable" style="background:lightyellow; ;font-size:smaller;" |+ Dialog 1 Quantitative Determiners |- ! TYPE !! POSITIVE !! INTERMEDIATE !! NEGATIVE |- !row=1| Comparative | ga....more || ge....equally, as || go....less |- !row=1| Absolute | gla....very || gle....rather, quite || glo....not very |- !row=1| Execessive | gra....too || gre....enough || gro....insufficiently |- !row=1| Superlative | gwa....most || gwe....just the right degree || gwo....least |} These words can be used, among other things, to modify adjectives and adverbs for degree. In the comparative construction, the word than or as in English is translated by the preposition vyel in Mirad: ga via vyel x....more beautiful than x ga igay vyel x....more quickly than x ge fia vyel x....as good as x ge fiay vyel x....as well as x go fia vyel....less good than x go fiay vyel....not a well as x gra iga....too fast gre fia....good enough ha gwa fia tuxut bi ha tistam....the best teacher in the school ( = of the school) It dala gwe.....He spoke just enough. Creating Yes-No Questions A yes-no question is usually introduced by the particle duven, which literally means say whether.... This does not involve inverting the subject and predicate. Duven et se yata tuxut?....Are you our teacher? Duven et tyoyape tistam?....Do you walk to school? Duven yit yexeya bay et?....Were they working with you? Sometimes, Duven...? can be omitted and a question is implied by a rising intonation of voice or a question mark in writing. Et upeye bay at?....(Are) you coming with me? The answer to any of the questions could be va yes, ve maybe, or vo no. Note: voy means not and is used to negate a predicate: Yata voy se eta dati.....We are not your friends. Voy at.....Not I. Similarly, vay means indeed, certainly and modifies the predicate verb: Yet se vay ata dati.....You are really my friends. Vey is in-between, and means may, possibly as a predicate modifier: At vey upo.....I may come. Hia tuxut se vey ga fia vyel hua tuxut.....This teacher is possibly better than that teacher. Pronominalizing Adjectives Possessive adjectives like my, his, etc. and deictic adjectives like this, that, etc. can be pronominalized as shown in the following chart: {| class="wikitable" style="background:lightyellow; ;font-size:smaller;" |+ Dialog 1 Pronominalized Possessive and Deictic Adjectives |- ! ADJECTIVE !! SINGULAR PRONOUN !! PLURAL PRONOUN |- | ata....my || atas....mine || atasi....mine |- | eta....your || etas....yours || etasi....yours |- | ita....his/her || itas....his/hers || itasi....his/hers |- | yata....our || yatas....ours || yatasi....ours |- | yeta....your || yetas....yours || yetasi....yours |- | yita....their || yitas....theirs || yitasi....theirs |- | duha....which || duhas....which one || duhasi....which ones |- | hia....this || hias....this one || hiasi....these (ones) |- | hua....my || huas....that one || huasi....those (ones) |} Examples: Hias se etas. (pronounced etás). Huas se atas.....This one is yours. That one is mine. Huasi se etasi. Huasi se atasi.....Those are yours. Those are mine. Duven hua tam se etas?....Is that house yours? Yatasi se ga aga vyel yetasi.....Ours are bigger than yours. All the pronouns in the above chart refer to possessed or specified things. Change the s to t to make them refer to possessed or specified people: Hiati sa fia vyel huati.....These (people) were better than those (ones). Yatati.....Our own (people) ( = Sinn Fein, in Irish) Vocabulary Nouns: par....vehicle, usually small and unmotorized, like a cart or wagon enzyukpar....bicycle    ( < en-....double + zyuk....wheel + par....small vehicle) enzyukpar....bike inzyukpar....tricycle (in-....triple) unzyukpar....wagon (un-....quadruple) pir....electric vehicle enzyukpir....scooter pur....car, motor vehicle enzyukpur....motorcycle tixam....school    ( < tix....study + (t)am....house ) datif....buddy    ( dat....friend + -if....affection) zadeym....front yard    ( < za....front + deym....garden ) zodeym....back yard    ( < zo....back ) jwamaj....morning    ( < jwa....early + maj....day vs. moj....night) Verbs: per....go    (to) aper....get on, board, mount    ( < a(b)....on + per....go) aper pur....get in a car tyoyaper....walk    (to)    ( < tyoya(b)....foot + per ) enzyukper....bike    (to)    ( < enzyuk + per) peper....ride    (on land) pepuer....give a ride/lift to    (verbs ending in -uer or causative) pepuen....a lift, a ride    (gerunds end in -en) ifier....like, enjoy, be pleased    ( < if....pleasure + (b)ier....take, get) bexer....have/hold     bexwer....belong (to) (passive voice of bexer) Determiners/Adverbs: humep....that way/direction    ( mep....road, way ) hyajub....every day    (hya-....every + jub....day hijub....today    (hi-....this + jub....day hijwamaj....this morning    (hi-....this + jwa....early + maj....daylight) Prepositions: bay....with, in the company of bey....by, by means of boy....without Pronouns atas....mine, etas....yours, etc. duhoas?....which one?, hias....this one, etc. Quiz { Fill in the following blanks with the Mirad equivalent of the underlined English: |type="{}"} 1. At { tyoyapeya _9 } tam hoj et yibdalara at.....I was walking home when you telephoned me. 2. Ha tuxut { yexeye _6 } zo ita dresem.....The teacher is working behind his desk. 3. Duven et { upeyo _5 } tistam zajub?....Will you be coming to school tomorrow? 4. Hot { apeye _5 } hua enzyuk?....Who is getting on that bicycle? 5. { Atasi _5 } se ga iga vyel { etasi _5}.....Mine are faster than yours. 6. Ata dresem se { go _2 } aga vyel { etas _4}.....My desk is less big than yours. 7. Yata tuxut yexe ga jestay { vyel _4} { etas _4 }.....Our teacher works harder than yours (pl.). Lesson 3 Lesson 5