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Lesson 19: Source Case

Vocabulary


	bod		dish
	–de		Suffix (CP): Source Case
	heshehoth		park [hesh (grass) + hoth (place)]
	im		to travel
	mina		to move
	nu		here
	núu		there
	sháad		to go; to come
	thel		to get; to obtain
	wehe		store (market)

The verb “sháad” means “to go” and also “to come,” just as “eb” means “to buy” and “to sell” and “bel” means “to bring” and “to take.” This difference (called “deixis” by linguists) merely refers to the direction in which the action happens. We will see how to “disambiguate the deixis” (decipher which direction is being spoken about) in this lesson and the next.

Source Case

[(Aux) Verb (Neg) CP–S (CP–O) CP–Source]

The Source Case identifies a case phrase as the origin or beginning-point of an action. To mark a Case Phrase as a Source, use the ending “–de.” If the word ends in a consonant, you’ll need to insert “e” to separate the consonants, of course.

Examples


	Bíi im with wa.		The woman travels.
	Bíi im with heshehothede wa.		The woman travels from the park.

	Bíi eril eb withid mudath wa.		The man bought (or sold) the pig.
	Bíi eril eb withid mudath ebaláde wa.		The man bought the pig from the baker.

Here we see how to resolve the deixis of “eb.” Since we know that ownership of the pig was transferred from the baker, we know that the man was buying it (rather than selling it, which would have been to the baker).


	Báa eril mesháad nen?		Did you (many) come (or go)?
	Báa eril mesháad nen bode?		Did you (many) come (or go) from the mountain?

We still cannot disambiguate the deixis on “sháad,” however. We know that the movement being discussed was from the mountain. But “you” still could either have “come” from the mountain or “gone” from the mountain. To disambiguate “sháad” we need to know where the speaker is, relative to the Source.


	Báa eril mesháad nen nude?		Did you (many) go hence?

In this example it is clear that “you” “went” (not “came”) “hence;” there is no longer any ambiguity. The word “hence” (“nude” in Láadan) is a somewhat archaic form in English; it means “from here”—Source Case in English! There are a few more English Source Case forms: “thence” (“from there”—“núude” in Láadan), “whence” (“from where”—“bebáade” in Láadan), and “nowhence” (“from nowhere”—“rade” in Láadan).


	Bíi eril mina le anath wa.		I moved the food.
	Bíi eril mina le anath bodede wa.		I moved the food from the dish.
	Bíi eril mina le anath bod nethode wa.		I moved the food from your dish.

Here we see how the Possessive and the Source interact. Just like the Object case suffix did, the Source case suffix moves to the end of the possessive phrase, leaving the noun (“bod” in this case) shorn of its suffix.

Exercises

Translate the following into English.


1	Bíi sháad ebalá mewohóya wobode wa.
2	Báa eríli mehim with belidede?
3	Bíi aril mebel hena letha baleth bodede wa.
4	Báa eril methel nezh mahinath bebáade?
5	Bíi eril eb hóowithid wohéthe womazh Ána bede wa.
6	Báa eril doth wolawida wohomid bebáath urahude?

Notice in #3, that we cannot yet disambiguate the deixis on “bel” (to bring; to take). It’s impossible, for the purposes of translation into English, to tell whether my siblings will “take” or “bring” bread from the dish.

Notice in #5, that we do not attach the Source Case suffix directly to personal names.

Incorporate the second noun phrase as a Source; translate into English before and after.


7	Bíi aril memina mewoshane womid wáa.	ábed
8	Báa eril thad eb ne yuth?	bebáa
9	Bíi eríli sháad wonée woháwith wáa.	ash
10	Bíi ril meduhim onida wáa.	mewohaba wohoth
11	Bíi eril bel ra rul laleth wa.	hothul
12	Bíi eril oób háawith wáa.	esh

Translate the following into Láadan.


13	The farmer gets food from the earth.
14	The teacher moved a bad insect from the garden.
15	Carol’s uncle promises to buy a plant from the weary storekeeper.
16	Whence came we (many), long ago?
17	The dancer traveled from her safe home.
18	My nephew will follow the assistant from the busy store.

Did you have any trouble with the word “storekeeper” in #15? We’ve learned “wehe” (store); a storekeeper would be one who “does” a store: “wehehá.”

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Answers


1	The baker comes/goes from the beautiful mountains.
2	Did the people, long ago, travel from the house?
3	My blood-siblings will take bread from the dish.
4	Whence (from where) did you (few) get the flower(s)?
5	The grandson bought a clean car from Anna.
6	Whom did the pregnant horse follow from the gate?

7	The furry animals will move.
	Bíi aril memina mewoshane womid ábedede wáa.
	The furry animals will move from the farm.
8	Were you able to buy/sell the fruit?
	Báa eril thad eb ne yuth bebáade?
	Whence (from where) were you able to buy the fruit?
9	The alien infant came long ago.
	Bíi eríli sháad wonée woháwith ashede wáa.
	The alien infant came from the star long ago.
10	The families try to travel.
	Bíi ril meduhim onida mewohaba wohothede wáa.
	The families try to travel from the fragrant places.
11	The cat didn’t bring/take the milk.
	Bíi eril bel ra rul laleth hothulede wa.
	The cat didn’t bring/take the milk from the grandmother.
12	The child jumped.
	Bíi eril oób háawith eshede wáa.
	The child jumped from the boat.

13	Bíi thel ábedá anath donide wi.
14	Bíi eril mina omá worathal wozhubeth déelade wáa.
15	Bíi bédi eb berídanid Hérel betha dalath wohóoha woweheháde wa.
16	Báa eríli mesháad len bebáade?
17	Bíi im amedarahá woyom wobeth bethode wáa.
18	Bíi aril doth sherídan letha denáth woshóod wowehede wa.

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