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Vocabulary

Notice the word “hóowith” (grandchild) above. It is derived, clearly, from “háawith” (child), but the “háa–” prefix is changed to “hóo–” under the influence of “ho–” (grand–) from “hothul” (grandparent). Linguists call this type of change “assimilation of place;” we have also seen this process in “hóya”; (beautiful: said of a place) wherein “áya” (beautiful) gains the initial “h” from “hoth” (place) and its “á” becomes “ó,” assimilating to the “o” of “hoth.” And in “háya” (beautiful: of a time) wherein “áya” is similarly affected by “hath” (time).

Identifier Case

[(Aux) Ø–Verb (Neg) CP–S CP–Identifier]

The other item of note about a sentence using an Identifier Case structure is that there is no apparent verb. Láadan doesn’t have a “cupola” (the stand-alone verb “to be” that English uses, among other things, to equate two things). The Láadan Identifer structure appears to have no verb (linguist-speak: the verb presents a null surface form); we simply present the Subject (the one being Identified) and the Identifier (what the Subject is being Identified as). If we’re placing the Identification in another time or denying the Identification altogether, the Auxiliary will precede, and the negative will follow, the invisible verb.

Examples

Notice that, as always, the Subject Case Phrase comes before any other Case Phrase.

Notice, also, the ending “–hul”. This is the first you have seen of a whole set of Degree Markers. This one means that the verb (remember that adjectives in Láadan are just verbs) to which it is attached is a “extemely” form of itself.

Notice that the Subject (“le” or “I” in all the above examples) can be Identified with more than one other noun, as in the second example above. We can also deny the Identification by inserting “ra” after the verb, just as usual—except that the verb is invisible (linguists refer to this as the verb having a “null surface form”).

Notice in the above, that in the Identifier Case structure, just as usual, the auxiliary comes before the verb and the negative comes after the verb; the only difference here is that the verb has that “null surface form” (it’s invisible).

Consider the Láadan sentence “Bíi áya wíi wa” from Lesson 3. Up ‘til now, we have translated it, “Being alive is beautiful.” If we reconsider the same sentence as an Identifier Case sequence, it would be translated “Being beautiful is being alive” or “To be beautiful is to be alive” or “Beauty is aliveness.” It is instructive to note that these two very different (in English) thoughts are expressed in exactly the same way in Láadan.

Exercises

Translate the following into English.

Note the word “dená” in #2; it is formed from “den” (to help) and means “helper” or “assistant.”

Notice the word “mahá” (listener) in #5. It’s formed from “ma” (to listen) and “–á” (doer; one who). Within a morpheme (indivisible meaningful word part), the vowel sequence “aá” would be allowable, but because one of these comes from “ma” (to listen) and the other comes from “–á” (doer), they must be separated by an “h.”

Equate the following—in a question and a statement to answer it—using the Identifier Case, and translate both into English. The first word will be the Subject. The second column will give time and/or negative where appropriate.

Example: “with, thul” with “past, not” give “Báa eril ra with thul?” (Wasn’t the woman a parent?) and “Bíi eril ra with thul wa.” (The woman was not a parent.)

Note the word “ebalá” in #7. Formed from “e–” (science of) + “bal” (bread) + “–á” (doer), it means “baker.” Láadan is very good at allowing speakers to “make up” the word that fits the meaning they need.

Also in #7, note the plural form of the pronoun. There is a way to indicate that a noun is plural without a perceptible verb, and we’ll see that in a few lessons. Until then, a plural pronoun is our only mechanism for indicating plural in an Identifier Case sequence.

Translate the following into Láadan.

Note: As we see in #15, nouns can also be made “more so” by the addition of “–hul;” however, their increase in degree isn’t usually translated well in English by the word “extemely.”

Answers