Chíetoaı kọshı – 1st Lesson
| Ruqshua da. ①② | It’s raining. |
| Kéo choa da. ③ | But there is talking. |
| Rú hıaı da. ③ | And there is laughing. |
| De cháq da. ④⑤ | It’s a beautiful day. |
Notes
-
ruqshua means “to rain”. It carries a falling tone
, indicated by the absence of a tone mark. -
da, in the falling tone, marks a sentence as an assertion. It is always found at the end of a sentence. There are also other equivalent particles for questions and imperatives, which we will come across in future lessons.
-
choa is another verb (“to utter a sound”). Again, it can be identified as such because it carries a falling tone
. The word kéo (“but”), a conjunction, is in the rising tone, indicated by the acute accent on the é. -
The word rú (“and”), another conjunction, is again in the rising tone.
-
This sentence literally means “The day is beautiful”. The verb is de “to be beautiful”. In Toaq, the verb comes first in a sentence, and is followed by the nouns.
-
cháq means “the day”. It carries a rising tone
. We will learn more about using this tone to make nouns in the next lesson.
Exercises
Translate:
-
Ruqshua da. Kéo hıaı da. “It’s raining, but there is laughing.”
-
De cháq da. Kéo ruqshua da. “It’s a beautiful day, but it’s raining.”
-
Hıaı da. Rú choa da. “There is laughing, and there is talking.”
Fill in the blanks:
-
“It’s raining.” Ruqshua da.
-
“There is beauty.” De da.
-
“It’s raining, but it’s a beautiful day.” Ruqshua da. Kéo de cháq da.