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Lesson 9: Vocabulary Interlude 2

Vocabulary


	ábed		farm
	ábedá		farmer
	ada		to laugh
	amedara		to dance
	ash		star
	babí		bird
	boshum		cloud
	déela		garden
	dem		window
	héena		sibling-of-the-heart
	ma		to listen
	omid		horse
	osháana		to menstruate
	rathal		to be bad
	ro		weather
	shóod		to be busy
	wam		to be still; to be calm
	woth		wisdom
	yu		fruit
	yul		wind

Here you’ll notice some more “constructed” words. “Rathal” means “to be bad” and is constructed from “ra–” meaning “not” or “non–” joined to “thal” meaning “to be good.” Another is “ábedá” (farmer) formed from “ábed” (farm) and “–á” (doer, one who...). And “boshum” (cloud) is formed from “bo” (mountain) and “shum” (air). Previously we saw “rahu” (to be closed), made from “ra–” (non–) and “u” (to be open). Láadan creates new words easily by the process of adding words and meaningful word-parts (linguists call these meaningful word-parts “morphemes”) together.

Examples


	Bíi thal ro wa.		The weather is good.
	Bíi thal ra ro wa.		The weather is not good.
	Bíi rathal ro wa.		The weather is bad.
	Bíi rathal ra ro wa.		The weather is not bad.

	Báa lawida bebáa?		Who is pregnant?
	Báa lawida Másha?		Is Marsha pregnant?
	Bíi lawida ra Másha waá.		Marsha is not pregnant (I’ve heard, but I don’t believe it).
	Bíi lawida Másha wi.		Marsha is pregnant, obviously.

Exercises

Translate the following into English


1	Bíi yod omid wa.
2	Bíi amedara ra ábedá wáa.
3	Bíi ma héena wa.
4	Báa osháana thul?
5	Bíi wam ra yul wi.
6	Báa áana bebáa?
7	Bíi melaya ra yu wi.
8	Bíi meháya boshum wa.
9	Báa rathal ro?
10	Bíi dóon hothul wa.

Translate the following into Láadan

You’ll need to supply Evidence Words; experiment with the meanings the various Evidence Words add to the Láadan that English is simply missing.


11	The farms are closed.
12	The men are amazed.
13	The worker is busy.
14	The garden thrives.
15	Birds don’t needlework.
16	The window isn’t open.
17	Does the animal laugh?
18	Does the star teach?
19	Is the drink good?
20	Who is alive?

Did you have any trouble forming the word for “worker” in #13? We know “hal,” the word for “to work;” all we need do is add the “agentive suffix,” “–á,” and we have “halá,” the word for “worker.”

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Answers


1	The horse eats.
2	The farmer does not dance.
3	The heart-sibling listens.
4	Is the mother menstruating?
5	The wind is not still.
6	Who is asleep?
7	The fruits are not red.
8	The clouds are beautiful.
9	Is the weather bad?
10	The grandmother is correct.

11	Bíi merahu ábed wáa.
12	Bíi memíi withid wa.
13	Bíi shóod halá wáa.
14	Bíi tháa déela wa.
15	Bíi medathim ra babí wi.
16	Bíi u ra dem wa.
17	Báa ada mid?
18	Báa om ash?
19	Báa thal rana?
20	Báa wíi bebáa?

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