alo i anke?
ah-loe ee ahn-kay
What is this?
alo i
anke?
ah-loe ee ahn-kay
What is this?
| apensilu ah-pen-see-loo pencil
|
apuka ah-poo-kah book
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apapila ah-pah-pee-lah paper
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| apensu ah-pen-soo pen
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atopa'naketa ah-toe-pah-nah-kay-tah box
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akunxi ah-koon-shee key
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| alo i
anke? ah-loe ee ahn-kay What is this?
|
alo i
apensilu. ah-loe ee ah-payn-see-loo This is a pencil.
|
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| uwe alo i
apensilu? oo-way ah-loe ee ah-payn-see-loo Is this the pencil?
|
awa alo i
apensilu. ah-wah ah-loe ee ah-payn-see-loo Yes, this is the pencil.
|
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| uwe alo i
apensu? oo-way ah-loe ee ah-pen-soo Is this the pen?
|
inye alo ini apensu
iwi alo i apensilu. een-yay ah-loe ee-nee ah-pen-soo ee-wee ah-loe ee ah-payn-see-loo No, it is not the pen, it is the pencil.
|
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 |
THINGS TO REMEMBER: The word
i is called the copula, and
works something like the English verb "to be". The use of
i is very often optional.
We could just as easily say alo
apensilu, instead of alo
i apensilu. Either one would be considered correct. Its opposite
is ini, or "is not". You will also notice that Elomi has no words that are equivalent to the English articles "a", "an" and "the". In Elomi, "this is a pen" and "this is the pen" would both be translated alo apensu. You might also notice that Elomi does not use capitalization on proper nouns or at the beginning of a sentence. |
| amesa ah-may-sah table
|
atenko ah-ten-koe chair
|
aluxa ah-loo-sha lamp
|
apafi ah-pah-fi floor
|
afenti ah-fen-tee window
|
| uwe alo
atenko? oo-way ah-loe ah-ten-koe Is this a chair?
|
inye alo ini atenko
iwi alo amesa. een-yay ah-loe ee-nee ah-ten-koe ee-wee ah-loe ah-may-sah No, this is not the chair, it is the table.
|
| uwe alo
aluxu? oo-way ah-loe ah-loo-shoo Is this the lamp?
|
inye alo ini aluxu.
iwi alo afenti. een-yay ah-loe ee-nee ah-loo-shoo ee-wee ah-loe ah-fen-tee No, this is not the lamp, it is the window.
|
 |
NOTES: The word
alo can mean "this" or "it".
It can also take the place of "these" and "those".
The word iwi is a special kind of Elomi word called a functional word. iwi is one of several words that represent a kind of "spoken punctuation", in this case, a new sentence. In the examples above you will notice that in the second sentence there is a period or full stop before the word iwi. This is optional, but is common practice. You've probably noticed that nouns, the words for places and things, all begin with the letter "a". This is the rule in Elomi. |
| alupi ah-loo-pee door
|
anpali ahm-pah-lee wall
|
anki ahng-kee sky
|
aku'nisi ah-koo-nee-see picture
|
anpesa ahm-pay-sah shelf
|
| alumi ah-loo-mee room
|
akaxa ah-kah-shah storage chest; dresser
|
anpali'nanki ahm-pah-lee-nahng-kee ceiling
|
anxo'nisi ahn-sho-nee-see mirror
|
akaxa'nalumi ah-kah-sha-nah-loo-mee closet
|
| uwe alo
alupi? oo-way ah-loe ah-loo-pee Is this a door?
|
inye alo ini alupi
iwi alo akaxa'nalumi. een-yay ah-loe ee-nee ah-lupee ee-wee ah-loe ah-kah-sha-nah-loo-mee No, this is not the door, it is a closet.
|
| uwe alo
anki? oo-way ah-loe ahg-kee Is this the sky?
|
inye alo ini anki
iwi alo anpali'nanki. een-yay ah-loe ee-nee ahng-kee ee-wee ah-loe ahm-pah-lee-nang-kee No, this is not the sky, it is the ceiling.
|
| okeno
a. oe-kay-noe ah Very good!
|
oxe
a. oe-shay ah Thank you.
|
Answer the following questions aloud in Elomi; then write the answers and check them at the bottom of this page.
| 1. alo anke? 2. uwe alo anpesa? 3. uwe alo aluxa? |
 |
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4. uwe alo i aku'nisi? 5. alo i anke? 6. uwe alo anxo'nisi? |
| 7. uwe alo anki? 8. uwe alo akaxa? 9. uwe alo akunxi? |
 |
 |
10. alo anke? 11. uwe alo atenko? 12. uwe alo akaxa'nalumi? |
| 13. uwe alo apensu? 14. uwe alo alupi? 15. uwe alo amesa? |
 |
You may have noticed that some words appear to be made up of smaller pieces glued together. We see words like anki for "sky", anpali for "wall", and anpali'nanki for "sky-wall" or "ceiling". The apostrophe and the letter "n" functions as a sort of spoken hyphen to glue two words together into a compound word. Sometimes we will learn the compound word before we learn the pieces that go into making it up. But knowing the compound you may be able to guess at the meaning of the pieces. Can you figure out what pieces make up the word for "closet"? You may use the dictionary if you wish to figure out the pieces that go to make up the word for "mirror".
Answers to questions
1. alo apuka.
2. inye alo ini anpesa iwi alo apuka.
3. inye alo ini aluxa iwi alo apuka.
4. inye alo ini aku'nisi iwi alo atopa'naketa.
5. alo i atopa'naketa.
6. inye alo ini anxo'nisi iwi alo atopa'naketa.
7. inye alo ini anki iwi alo akunxi.
8. inye alo ini akaxa iwi alo akunxi.
9. awa alo akunxi.
10. alo apensilu.
11. inye alo ini atenko iwi alo apensilu.
12. inye alo ini akaxa'nalumi iwi alo apensilu.
13. inye alo ini apensu iwi alo amesa.
14. inye alo ini alupi iwi alo amesa.
15. awa alo amesa.
Question on building words: "Closet" is akaxa'nalumi from akaxa and alumi, or "room-storage-chest". "Mirror" is anxo'nisi from anxo ("self") and isi ("to see"), or "self-seer".