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Lesson 29: Time Case

Vocabulary


	dash		tooth
	–di		Suffix (Speech Act Morpheme): said as teacher
	dide		to be early
	hadihad		always
	hathobéeya		until [hath (time) + obée (during) + ya (Time case)]
	náal		night
	obée		during
	udath		noon
	widahath		when
	–ya		Suffix (CP): Time Case

In addition to the postpositions above, there are two more words we’ve already discussed that can be used as postpositions of time. “Eril” (the past auxiliary) can mean “before” or “earlier,” and (as we’ve seen in one of our Time Out lessons) “aril” (the future auxiliary) can mean “after” or “later”. These concern time—as distinct from “ihé” (in front of; before) and “ihée” (behind; after) which locate objects relative to other objects in space.

Like “widahoth” in the Place Case lesson, “widahath” acts as a subordinating conjunction, as in “Bíi hal le widahath ham hal wa” (I work when there is work), rather than as a question-word.

There are a few words we can introduce here. They’re new vocabulary, but they’re composed of straightforward combinations of words & word-parts that we’ve seen before. Láadan makes creating new words easy—and deciphering the words so created easy, as well.


	háanáal		evening [háa– (child/young) + náal (night)]
	háasháal		morning [háa– (child/young) + sháal (day)]
	nanáal		sunset [na– (begin) + náal (night)]
	nasháal		dawn [na– (begin) + sháal (day)]
	udathihée		afternoon [udath (noon) + ihée (after)]

In the first two words in this set, we see what you might have suspected. The prefix “háa–” meaning “child” or “young.” Of course, we’ve seen it in the word “háawith,” but it can also be used with other species to mean their children.

Time Case

[(Aux) Verb (Neg) CP–S CP–Time]

To mark a Case Phrase as Time, add the ending “–ya.” This ending specifies an event or state as being at a particular location in time.

Examples


	Bíi hal le wa.		I work.
	Bíi hal le náaleya wa.		I work at night.
	Bíi hal le náaleya obée wa.		I work during the night.
	Bíi hal le hadihad wa.		I always work.
	Bíi hal le widahath them hal le wa.		I work when I need to work.

	Báa hal ne?		Do you work?
	Báa hal ne bebáaya?		When do you work?
	Bíi nahal le nasháaleya wa.		I begin working at dawn.
	Bíi hal le háasháaleya obe wa.		I work through the morning.
	Bíi náhal le udathihéeya wa.		I continue working in the afternoon.
	Bíi nóhal le nanáaleya wa.		I stop working at sunset.

Exercises

Translate the following into English.


1	Bíi aril ham yul nanáaleya wa.
2	Bíi mehul menosháad lezh bethedi háasháaleya wa.
3	Bíi eril amedara Bétheni onida bethaden i lan bethodan nedebe háanáaleya wáa.
4	Bíi meloláad len woho thenahul widahath wóoban beye wi.
5	Báa aril áwith háawith bebáaya?
6	Bíi rilrili il le ith ashethuth oyinan melaha náaleya wa.

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


7	Báa eril bedi di with Láadan?	bebáa
8	Bíi menoháana shamid ábedeha o wáa.	nasháal aril
9	Báa eril sháad Máthu beyedi?	wemon hathobéeya
10	Báa mehaba mi dalatha?	weman obée
11	Ra, izh aril menahaba mahina betha wa.	wemen
12	Bóo eb ne esheth boó ledi.	udath eril

Did you notice the word “beyedi” in #9? Could you tell that it was “beye” (someone/something) + “–di” (Goal Case)? This is how we form the concept “somewhither” or “to somewhere.” Given this, we should probably expect to be able to form a number of words using “beye” and its plural forms in various cases: “beyede” (somewhence; from somewhere); “beyeha” ((in/at) somewhere); “beyeya” (somewhen).

Translate the following into Láadan.


13	The sun shines intensely in summer.
14	My heart-sibling is alone in the house through the day.
15	The old man always slept in the afternoon.
16	The teacher’s head hurt; the dentist healed a tooth, and the teacher is thriving again.
17	The sky was dark when the traveler sang about the beautiful pearl, but the listeners had lamps.
18	The strong healer helps the many wild animals when they need safety.

Did you have any trouble with #13? We’ve seen the idiom for talking about the weather a couple of times before: we use “ham” (there is/are) with the manifestation of the weather (sun, wind, rain, snow, hail, etc.) that is under discussion. So, in #13, the clause about the weather is “ham rosh” (the sun shines—literally “there is sun”). But we have no word for “intense”—and we haven’t yet learned to work with “–ly” forms—so how do we emphasize the strength of the sunshine in summer? What if we apply “–hul” (the “extremely” Degree Marker) to “rosh” (sun)....

In #16, we need a word for “dentist.” We know “dash” (tooth). We can coin a word for “dentistry:” “edash” from “e–” (science of) + “dash” (tooth). A practitioner of dentistry would be a dentist: “edashá” from “edash” (dentistry) + “á–” (doer).

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Answers


1	There will be wind (it will be windy) at sunset.
2	We hope to arrive home in the morning.
3	Bethany danced with her family and her several friends (with pleasure) in the evening.
4	We all feel great joy when someone gives birth (obviously).
5	When will the baby be a child?
6	I might watch starlight on the ocean at night.

7	Did the woman learn to speak Láadan?
	Báa eril bedi di with Láadan bebáaya?
	When did the woman learn to speak Láadan?
8	Domestic animals around the farm awaken (finish sleeping).
	Bíi menoháana shamid ábedeha o nasháaleya aril wáa.
	Domestic animals around the farm awaken after dawn.
9	Did Matthew go somewhere?
	Báa eril sháad Máthu beyedi wemoneya hathobéeya?
	Did Matthew go somewhere until autumn?
10	Are the plant’s leaves fragrant?
	Báa mehaba mi dalatha wemaneya obée?
	Are the plant’s leaves fragrant during the winter?
11	No, but its flowers will begin to be fragrant.
	Ra, izh aril menahaba mahina betha wemeneya wa.
	No, but its flowers will begin to be fragrant in spring.
12	Prithee sell me three boats.
	Bóo eb ne esheth boó ledi udatheya eril.
	Prithee sell me three boats before noon.

13	Bíi ham roshehul wumaneya wi.
14	Bíi sholan héena letho belideha sháaleya obe wa.
15	Bíi eril áana wobalin wowithid udathihéeya hadihad wáa.
16	Bíi eril úuya on omátha; dutha edashá dasheth, i ril netháa omá wáa.
17	Bíi eril ham rahith thosheha widahath lalom imá woháya wonemethu, izh methi mahá ithedaleth wa.
18	Bíi den wodo woduthahá romideth menedebe widahath methem ben yometh wáa.

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