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Lesson 25: Instrument Case

Vocabulary


	batha		fork
	hum		knife
	il		to pay attention to
	láad		to perceive
	–nan		Suffix (CP): Instrument case
	óoyo		mouth
	oya		skin
	oyi		eye
	oyo		nose
	oyu		ear

Instrument Case

[(Aux) Verb (Neg) CP–S CP–Instrument]

To mark a Case Phrase as an Instrument (as that which is used to do something), use the ending “–nan.” Insert an “e” if necessary.

Examples


Bíi láad le neth oyinan wa.
	I perceive you with (using) (my) eyes.
		I see you.
			Bíi il le neth oyinan wa.
				I pay attention to you with (using) (my) eyes.
					I watch you.

Láadan handles perceptions and emotions rather differently than English does. In Láadan you perceive things externally, with your eyes or your ears or your nose or your skin. [...] The first sentence in the example set immediately above says that the speaker perceives “you” and that the speaker’s eyes are the instrument for that perception. We could translate it into English as “I see you with my eyes,” but that is a little superfluous: English “see” includes the information that it is done with eyes.


Bíi láad le neth oyunan wa.
	I perceive you with (using) (my) ears.
		I hear you.
			Bíi il le neth oyunan wa.
				I pay attention to you with (using) (my) ears.
					I listen to you.
			Bíi ma le neth wa.
				I listen to you.

In the last Láadan sentence above, we find the verb “ma” (listen), which is a shortcut verb for the construct “il ... oyunan” (pay attention using ears).


Bíi láad le delith nethath oyanan wa.
	I perceive your hair with (using) (my) skin (when it brushes against me).
		I feel your hair (when it brushes against me).
			Bíi il le delith nethath oyanan wa.
				I pay attention to your hair with (using) (my) skin.
					I feel (notice the texture of) your hair.

English doesn’t make this sensory modality easy to talk about; we can use “feel,” but then we almost always have to specify that this isn’t an emotional sensation—and whether it’s an involuntary tactile sensation or a voluntary act of tactile attention.


Bíi láad le mahinath oyonan wa.
	I perceive the flower with (using) (my) nose (as it happens to be in the room).
		I smell the flower (as it happens to be in the room).
			Bíi il le mahinath oyonan wa.
				I pay attention to the flower with (using) (my) nose.
					I sniff the flower.


Bíi láad le yuth óoyonan wa. Thal be.
	I perceive the fruit with (using) (my) mouth (as it happens to be in my mouth). It’s good.
		I taste the fruit (as it happens to be in my mouth). It’s good.
			Bóo il ne yuth óoyonan. Báa thal be?
				Prithee pay attention to the fruit with (using) (your) mouth. Is it good?
					Prithee taste the fruit. Is it good?


Bíi láad le neth wa.
	I perceive you (no sensory modality indicated).
		I perceive you.
			Bíi il le neth wa.
				I pay attention to you (no sensory modality indicated).
					I pay attention to you.

One of the really wonderful things about Láadan is that one can easily use “láad” by itself to mean “perceive” with no sensory modality implied or required. In English, “perceive” can feel awkward because we’re so used to supplying a sensory modality (i.e.: “see,” “hear,” “feel,” “smell,” or “taste”). We can also “pay attention” without specifying a sensory modality—which is not nearly so troublesome in English as “perceive” is.


	Bíi sháad be bode wa.		She comes/goes from the mountain.
	Báa sháad be bode mazhenan?		Does she come/go from the mountain by car (using a car)?
	Ra, sháad be bode wilimu eshenan wa.		No, she comes/goes from the mountain via the river by (using a) boat.
	Bíi sháad be bode esh lethonan wa.		She comes/goes from the mountain with (using) my boat.

	Bíi mehom thul shoneth wa.		The parents teach peace.
	Báa mehom thul shoneth bebáanan?		How (using what) do the parents teach peace?
	Bíi mehom thul shoneth shanan i danenan wa.		The parents teach peace with (using) harmony and with (using) language.

Exercises

Translate the following into English.


1	Bíi eríli mewida with anath dimenan wa.
2	Báa eril dóyom ábedá mideth nedebe bebáanan?
3	Bíi mehil lezh thilith óoyanan, i thal be; aril meyod lezh beth bathanan i humenan wa.
4	Bíi eril il wohóoha wohéena letho ilith oyanan; owa be wáa.
5	Báa aril mehim sherídan netha ábededi bebáanan?
6	Bíi eril dóham edin letha shath shal bethonan wa.

Incorporate the second noun as an Instrument; translate into English before and after.


7	Bíi dóhaba hothul wehehátha beth bethoth wa.	mahina menedebe
8	Bíi eril mehel halá esheth boó wáa.	oma
9	Báa aril bel ebalá wodazh wobaleth wehedi?	bebáa
10	Bíi aril dóháana thul háawitheth wa.	lom
11	Bíi láad omá wilith wa.	oyu
12	Bíi eril mesháad hóowith netha olinede wa.	wodóon womazh

Translate the following into Láadan.


13	The linguist intended to move her family using a boat.
14	The astronomer will see the light of the star.
15	My friend bought the pearl with her (by chance) money.
16	How (using what) does the healer feed the downy hatchling?
17	The amazed cat is able to smell the bird.
18	Plants thrive by means of their many leaves.

Were you able to form the word for “astronomer” in #14? We’ve seen “e–,” the prefix for “science of;” “astronomy” is the science of stars: “ehash.” An “astronomer” is one who does astronomy: “ehashá.”

#16 has a couple of words that may need discussion. “Feed” could be “cause to eat:” “dóyob.” “Hatchling” is a little less obvious. “Áwith” (baby; infant) is actually made of two morphemes (meaningful words or word-parts): the prefix “á–” (infant) and “with” (person). We can form a word for “infant bird” by using this same prefix with “babí” (bird): “ábabí.”

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Answers


1	Long ago the women carried food in (using) a container.
2	How (using what) did the farmer make the several creatures safe?
3	We are tasting the fish, and it’s good; we’ll eat it with fork and knife.
4	My weary heart-sibling felt (paid attention, using skin, to) the water; it was warm.
5	How will your nieces travel to the farm?
6	My cousin caused there to be harmony with her courtesy (using her courtesy).

7	The storekeeper’s grandmother makes her home fragrant (causes her home to be fragrant).
	Bíi dóhaba hothul wehehátha beth bethoth mahinanan menedebe.
	The storekeeper’s grandmother makes her home fragrant with many flowers.
8	The workers built (made) three boats.
	Bíi eril mehel halá esheth boó omanan wáa.
	The workers built three boats by hand (with (their) hands).
9	Will the baker take the soft bread to the store?
	Báa aril bel ebalá wodazh wobaleth wehedi bebáanan?
	How (using what) will the baker take the soft bread to the store?
10	The parent will cause the child to sleep.
	Bíi aril dóháana thul háawitheth lomenan wa.
	The parent will cause the child to sleep with a song.
11	The teacher perceives the river.
	Bíi láad omá wilith oyunan wa.
	The teacher hears the river.
12	Your grandchildren came from the forest.
	Bíi eril mesháad hóowith netha olinede wodóon womazhenan wa.
	Your grandchildren came from the forest by (using) the correct car.

13	Bíi eril nédeshub mina edaná onida bethath eshenan wáa.
14	Bíi aril láad ehashá ith ashethuth oyinan wa.
15	Bíi eril eb lan letho nemeth losh bethinan wa.
16	Báa dóyod duthahá woshane wohábabíth bebáanan?
17	Bíi ril thad láad womíi worul babíth oyonan wa.
18	Bíi metháa dala mi benethanan menedebe.

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