Test Sentences, 18

Continuing with Gary’s list:

  1. You must write more neatly.

Oh my. Writing. I am not sure if the people who speak sodna-lɛni even have writing. If they do, it is a specialist skill. And since this sentence is especially about the physical skill of forming letters, I think I will use mɛh-aŋi as the verb for turning ink into letters, or writing.

So, ink. That’d be a class III, motile plural (’cause it is a liquid), so syetɨdi would be the proper form. Letters would also be class III, and in the sessile plural (multiple letters), so ɨlkɨni. This gives us syetɨdi mɛhaŋi ɨlkɨni so far.

“You” would be the source in this case, and in the motile singular ŋidi.

“More neatly” is the adverb mɨdeya modified by no “more”.

And “must”…. “Must” will work like “should”, except with ka.

37. ŋidi syetɨdi mɛhaŋi ɨlkɨni mɨdeya no dɛstɛ ka.

ŋidi
S
2P.MTsg
syetɨdi
A
ink.MTpl
mɛh-
AF+
out
aŋi
V
aŋi.IMP
ɨlkɨni
D
letter.SSpl
mɨdeya
ADV
carefully
no
ADV
more
dɛstɛ
EVI
REP
ka.
CP
CMD

You must make ink into letters more carefully.

In Kēlen:

37. ñarra jīlki ānen ankēλa nā cī;

ñ-
NI
arra
2SG.A
jīlki
writings
ānen
with
ankēλa
deliberate care
more
HRT

Questions?