Latejami Self-Study Course

Lesson 5



Required reading:

Before starting this lesson, you should re-read Chapters 7 and 8 of the reference manual.

New Classifiers:

  -fig	separators/barriers (mat, fence, carpet, curtain, door,
	  window, floor/ceiling, pane (of glass/plastic/etc), roof)
  -del	antonyms of measurable physical states (cold, short, light,
	  thin, slow, young, cheap, low, short, early, quiet, soft,
	  shallow)
  -fom	antonyms of other scalar non-relational states (small, dry,
	  blunt, weak, dark/unlit, cloudy/overcast(?), rough,
	  rare, sour, bad, ugly, smelly, abnormal, foolish,
	  unfriendly, quiet/reticent, poor, bad-tasting, inconvenient)

New Vocabulary:

#V	figi	- wall
#V	zefigi	- fence
#V	kifigi	- window
#V	dafigi	- ceiling
#V	tifigi	- door
#V	cufigi	- floor [of a room]

#V	zondelo	- young, not old
#V	tidelo	- slow, leisurely, having a low rate of motion or
			activity
#V	daculo	- high, elevated, lofty, at a relatively great altitude
#V	dadelo	- low, at a relatively small altitude
#V	feculo	- hot, of relatively high temperature
#V	fedelo	- cold, of relatively low temperature


#V	fomo	- small, little, having minimal size
#V	bofomo	- dry, arid, having atypically low moisture or water
#V	kofomo	- foolish, unwise, imprudent, senseless, witless, dumb
#V	tefomo	- quiet, taciturn, reticent, reserved
#V	xofomo	- weak, feeble, lacking strength
#V	zoyfomo	- unfriendly, unsociable, hostile
#V	cakemo	- good, desirable, nice, opposite of bad
#V	cafomo	- bad, undesirable, opposite of good

#V	ximamba	- give, bequeath

#V	kabegi	- scientist
#V	tekabegi - linguist
#V	fefawbegi - fireman, fire fighter

#V	fozikigi - shed, shack, small utility or storage building
#V	jikigi	- tower, tall and narrow building
#V	bijikigi - skyscraper, a very tall building

#V	zedepi	- hallway, corridor, hall, passageway

#V	tayvi	- we, us
#V	taymo	- our

#V	tomi	- something, anything
#V	jutomi	- nothing, nil, naught

#V	tomame	- because (of)
#V	tomamene - why [interrogative], for what reason
#V	dezogumbe - onto (the surface of)
#V	zogumbe - to, into, on the way to
#V	xuzoge	- between, betwixt

#V	jevu	- future-perfect tense-aspect disjunct
#V	jeve	- after, since, subsequent to, once
#V	cipe	- before, prior to, by the time (of)

#V	kedovu	- should, ought to


Grammar:

1. Use the tense-aspect disjunct "jevu" to force a verb to be future-perfect:

#l	Jevu kobaycala dabegi.
#e	The pilot will teach.

#l	Jevu cakopa bavi bocivi.
#e	I'll want the water.

2. When two verbs are linked by a conjunction, the second verb will have the same tense and aspect as the first verb unless it is explicitly overridden:

#l	Dasu fikicala bavi tesye kokwacala Lajonbegi.
#e	I'm reading and John is studying.

but:

#l	Dasu fikicala bavi tesye jevu kokwacala Lajonbegi.
#e	I'm reading and John will study.

3. The infinitive suffix "-iv" should also be used if the verb follows a conjunction and the subject is the same as the verb it is linked to by the conjunction:

#l	Dasu bucala bavi tesye bekopiva timi.
#e	I'm working and thinking about the car.

4. When an adjective is converted to a noun, English usually adds the word "one":

#l	Dasu zoykopa bavi timi fomo.
#e	I like the small car.

#l	Dasu zoykopa bavi fomi.
#e	I like the small one.

With numbers, however, English does not use "one":

#l	Dasu cakopa bavi dikumi tomo.
#e	I want three.

Note that we must use "tomo" above; otherwise, the translation would have been 'I want the three'.

5. We have now introduced all four scalar non-relational state classifiers. Here they are together:

  cul	measurable physical states with corresponding, commonly used,
	  measure words, default = P-s (hot, tall, heavy,
	  thick, fast, old/aged, expensive, high, long, late, loud, deep)
  del	antonyms of measurable physical states, default = P-s
	  (cold, short, light, thin, slow, young, cheap, low,
	  short, early, quiet, soft, shallow)
  kem	other scalar non-relational states - typically vague or
	  subjective (big, wet, sharp, strong, light/lit, sunny,
	  smooth, common, sweet, good, attractive, fragrant, normal,
	  wise, friendly, talkative/garrulous, wealthy, tasty,
	  convenient)
  fom	antonyms of other scalar non-relational states (small, dry,
	  blunt, weak, dark/unlit, cloudy/overcast(?), rough,
	  rare, sour, bad, ugly, smelly, abnormal, foolish,
	  unfriendly, quiet/reticent, poor, bad-tasting, inconvenient)

Note that they define two basic categories (measurable physical and other) and each category has both a normal and antonymic classifier.


Drills (on tape):

#E	The pilot may have gone to the auditorium.
#L	Tamu ticala dabegi zogumbe bidepi.

#E	I'll study and you'll be quiet.
#L	Jevu kokwacala bavi tesye tefoma xevi.

#E	The young technicians didn't tell me anything.
#L	Jutamu tega libinbegi zondelo bavi tomi.

#E	We saw a policeman at the park.
#L	Kiva tayvi cunbegi tomo zoge jizegi.

#E	An unfriendly plumber did something to those vehicles.
#L	Busa bobegi zoyfomo tomo libyetimi zaso.

#E	The real parrots don't know Latejami.
#L	Jutamu dasu kopa litedami kavo Latejami.

#E	Why wasn't the desk near the sofa?
#L	Jutamu zoga kojisi zejisi tomamene?

#E	The scientist brought the radio to John's farm.
#L	Zentibusa kabegi foyfabisi zogumbe fuzegi ximyu Lajonbegi.

#E	There will be a lot of wise people at the school.
#L	Jevu kava begi kokemo kekumo tomo zoge kokigi.

#E	Why are the floor and the walls wet?
#L	Dasu bokema tomamene cufigi tesye lifigi?

#E	I saw the cats before I saw the dogs.
#L	Kiva bavi likwizovi cipe kiva bavi lizovi.

#E	Mary wants to go to the cold attic.
#L	Dasu cakopa Laryabegi ticaliva zogumbe dadepi fedelo.

#E	I'm telling you that that chair is cold.
#L	Dasu tega bavi xevi dasu fedela jisi zaso.

#E	We should have moved our bicycles into the shed.
#L	Kedovu zizogamba tayvi lixetimi taymo fozikigi.

#E	Did you give the scientist the hot water?
#L	Tamenu ximamba xevi kabegi bocivi feculo?

#E	One car was slow and three were fast.
#L	Tidela timi bakumo tomo tesye ticula dikumi tomo.

#E	I want to push the stove onto the road.
#L	Dasu cakopa bavi baybusiva fufebisi dezogumbe zegi.

#E	The firemen are waiting in the classroom.
#L	Dasu jucala lifefawbegi zizoge kodepi.

#E	I'll think about the truck after I build the fence.
#L	Jevu bekopa bavi butimi jeve kwibusa bavi zefigi.

#E	The linguist should have moved the car onto the street.
#L	Kedovu dezogamba tekabegi timi fozegi.

#E	Mary will ask John for the five useful vehicles.
#L	Jevu catega Laryabegi Lajonbegi byetimi bukavo tukumo.

#E	There are a lot of birds above the tower.
#L	Dasu kava byedami kekumo tomo dazoge jikigi.

#E	You want a telephone because you're talkative.
#L	Dasu cakopa xevi tebisi tomo tomame dasu tekema xevi.

#E	Some bad students had our valuable old table.
#L	Ximunza likokwabegi cafomo tomo bujisi zonculo jakavo taymo.

#E	There's nothing in working order in the garage.
#L	Dasu kava jutomi joykavo zizoge tidepi.

#E	John doesn't like the living room because of the low ceiling.
#L	Jutamu dasu zoykopa Lajonbegi tedepi tomame dafigi dadelo.

#E	The teacher taught in the bus on the way to the school.
#L	Kobaycala kobaybegi zizoge zetimi zogumbe kokigi.

#E	We'll have four small rooms in the house for the linguists.
#L	Jevu ximunza tayvi depi fomo cokumo tomo zizoge kigi tomume litekabegi.

#E	I didn't have you lift the television because you're weak.
#L	Jutamu kavapa bavi dabusa xevi kifabisi tomame dasu xofoma xevi.

#E	The photographer is building something in the bathroom.
#L	Dasu kwibusa binkibegi tomi zizoge bodepi.

#E	I want the small car because the big one doesn't work.
#L	Dasu cakopa bavi timi fomo tomame jutamu dasu joykava kemi.

#E	The foolish birds are flying above that old skyscraper.
#L	Dasu dacala libyedami kofomo dazoge bijikigi zonculo zaso.

#E	You should have built a good fence between those two buildings.
#L	Kedovu kwibusa xevi zefigi cakemo tomo xuzoge byekigi xekumo zaso.

#E	The hallway has two high windows and five big doors.
#L	Dasu ximunza zedepi kifigi daculo xekumo tomo tesye tifigi kemo tukumo tomo.

#E	Our building isn't dry and we're afraid of the plumber.
#L	Jutamu dasu bofoma byekigi taymo tesye bunkopa tayvi bobegi.

End of Lesson 5