Examples of in Lwaitel

See the section for on the page about verbs.

Contents

Perceiving objects

I see the cat.

Lun an myau.
[ˈlun ˈan ˈmjæo]
-ensee-prox anprox myau.cat.

Alternate word order: An myau lun. Not allowed: *Lúku an myau; the verb agrees with the thing experienced, not the experiencer.

I see a cat.

Lúshe an myau.
[ˈlu.ʃᵿ̜̆ ˈan ˈmjæo]
-shesee-indf anprox myau.cat.

Sye marks that an myau is indefinite. The alternate word order An myau lúsye is still allowed. Note that lúsye doesn't mark agreement with the subject.

I see (rather than hear) the cat.

Lun sáki an myau.
[ˈlun ˈsa.ki ˈan ˈmjæo]
-ensee-prox sákisee anprox myau.cat.

by itself often implies sight, but if you want to be clear that you saw the cat (with your eyes), rather than hearing or feeling zem, then you can say this.

I see the cat.
 
Lun an myau hu kú.
[ˈlun ˈan ˈmjæo hu.ˈku]
-ensee-prox anprox myaucat hu=.exp=I/me.

Can be used for contrastive focus. Also allowed: Hu kú lun an myau. Not allowed: *Kú lun an myau; because the speaker is experiencing rather than doing, must be marked with hu (preposition indicating an experiencer).

He said he saw the cat.
 
Lun an myau mausel
[ˈlun ˈan ˈmjæo ˈmao.sl̩]
-ensee-prox anprox myaucat maus-elsay-med

Or Lul al myau mausen if you've been talking mainly about him, rather than the cat. The implied experiencer changes when you're talking about what someone else said.

I look at the cat.
 
Lánku sákipes an myau.
[ˈlaŋ.ku ˈsa.ki.pɪ̆s ˈan ˈmjæo]
lam-kudo-1 sákipeslook_at anprox myau.cat.

Lam sakipes means intentional looking, as opposed to which could just be passive seeing.


Lánku sáki an myau.
[ˈlaŋ.ku ˈsa.ki ˈan ˈmjæo]
lam-kudo-1 sákilook_at anprox myau.cat.

Less formal

Perception of facts

The cat is black.
 
An myau swan swátel.
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈswɑn ˈswɑ.tl̩]
anprox myaucat swa-enbe-prox swátel.black.

Basic example sentence that I'll use to construct more complex examples.

The cat looks black (to me).
 
An myau swin swátel .
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈswɨɲ ˈswɑ.tl̩ ˈlu]
anprox myaucat swí-enbe.sbjv-prox swátelblack .see.

Some alternate word orders allowed: Lú an myau swin swatel, An myau lú swin swatel. Not allowed: *An myau lú(n) swatel: when used in this sense, modifies a complete sentence, so the regular verb must be there. Definitely not allowed: *An myau lan saki (swa) swatel: lam saki does translate to "look", but it doesn't mean "look" in this sense, but rather that the cat is looking at something.

This expresses some uncertainty as to whether the cat really is black, or if it just looks that way for some reason. Because of this, the verb changes to the subjunctive (swin instead of swan).

I see that the cat is black.
  
An myau swan swátel hwel .
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈswɑn ˈswɑ.tl̩ hwl̩ ˈlu]
anprox myaucat swa-enbe-prox swátelblack hwelnfoc .see.

This statement expresses roughly the same amount of certainty as An myau swa-n swatel ("the cat looks black"), but also says that the speaker got the information from direct perception (especially sight). The verb also changes back to the indicative mood.

An myau swa-n swatel lú (with neither the subjunctive nor hwel) is ambiguous between this meaning and the previous meaning, but is allowed in informal speech.

I see that the cat is black, and my perception is right.
  
An myau swan swátel pikwá.
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈswɑn ˈswɑ.tl̩ ˈlu pi.ˈkwɑ]
anprox myaucat swa-enbe-prox swátelblack see pikwá.true.
I heard that the cat is black.
  
An myau swan swátel swámes.
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈswɑn ˈswɑ.tl̩ ˈswɑ.mə̆s]
anprox myaucat swa-enbe-prox swátelblack swámes.according_to.

While in English, hear can imply that you were told the information by someone else, in Lwaitel using lú ustelw here would imply that you directly perceived the cat using hearing.

Emotion

I'm happy.

niuspe.
[ˈlu ˈɲᵻʉs.pʊ̜̆]
see niuspe.feel_happy.
I'm happy that the cat is black.
  
An myau swan swátel niuspe.
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈswɑn ˈswɑ.tl̩ ˈlu ˈɲᵻʉs.pʊ̜̆]
anprox myaucat swa-enbe-prox swátelblack see niuspe.feel_happy.

With a verb of emotion, the main sentence is a normal indicative sentence and lú niuspe expresses how the person feels about it. This implies that the fact that the cat is black is known, and the focus is only on the speaker's happiness about it.

The cat is black, and I'm happy about that.
   
An myau swan swátel hwel niuspe.
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈswɑn ˈswɑ.tl̩ hwl̩ ˈlu ˈɲᵻʉs.pʊ̜̆]
anprox myaucat swa-enbe-prox swátelblack hwelnfoc see niuspe.feel_happy.

Defocusing implies that the cat being black is new, important information, and the fact that I'm happy about it is not the main point of the sentence.

I'm happy about the cat.
 
An myau lun niuspe.
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈlun ˈɲᵻʉs.pʊ̜̆]
anprox myaucat -ensee-prox niuspe.feel_happy.

...not sure how much sense this makes... need a better noun here. TODO

I want the cat to be black.
  
An myau swin swátel yátleng.
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈswɨɲ ˈswɑ.tl̩ ˈlu ˈjæt.lŋ̩]
anprox myaucat swí-enbe.sbjv-prox swátelblack see yátleng.desire.
I want a friend.
  
Lákweku lúshe yátleng.
[ˈla.kwʊ̜̆k.ku ˈlu.ʃᵿ̜̆ ˈjæt.lŋ̩]
lákwe-kufriend-1 -shesee-indf yátleng.desire.

Lakwe is a noun that must always have a possesser; this is true even if it's indefinite. You could also say Kíku lakwe nga lú yatleng ("I want to befriend someone").

Thought

I think the cat is black (but I'm not sure).
  
An myau swin swátel líkelpwe.
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈswɨɲ ˈswɑ.tl̩ ˈlu ˈʎi.kl̩.pwʊ̜̆]
anprox myaucat swí-enbe.sbjv-prox swátelblack see líkelpwe.suspect.

Not *An myau swin swatel lú pwili: that would only be used to contrast with what someone else thinks, or what one thinks at a later time. Also not *An myau swan swatel maus pemim; that means something else (see next example).

I thought, "The cat is black".
  
An myau swan swátel maus pemím.
[ˈan ˈmjæo ˈswɑn ˈswɑ.tl̩ ˈmaos pə̆m.ˈmim]
anprox myaucat swa-enbe-prox swátelblack maussay pemím.head.

This means that the person said, in their head, the sentence "the cat is black", or some paraphrase of it.

I know this person.
  
An kip lun mesúwek.
[ˈan ˈkip ˈlun mə̆s.ˈsu.wʊ̜̆k]
anprox kipperson -ensee-prox mesúwek.be_familiar_with.

Not *An kip lun kiusteng, that's for knowing facts. (I think Spanish is similar in making this distinction.)

I can speak Lwaitel.
 
kwálsem Lwaitel.
[ˈlu ˈkwɑl.sm̩ ˈlʷɑe.tl̩]
see kwálsemunderstand lwaitel.lwaitel.

Use of "understand" instead of some variant of "to speak" (Swa il hem mausku Lwaitel(?)) is more common.