Chíetoaı kọroaı – Lesson 8
| Hóı súq, Hóı súq… Je dua jí, ꝡä shıe súq da. ① | You, hey you… I know that you are awake. |
| Béı jí bï dua jí, ꝡä pazı jí da. ② | And I, I know that I am annoyed. |
| Foı jí da! Moı súq hí raı móq? | I am bored. What are you thinking about? |
| Sía raı. Je shoe súq, ꝡä nuo jí ba. ③ | Nothing. Let me sleep. |
| Kushe. ④ | Sorry. |
| Gı núaq ba. | Good night. |
| Hóı súq… | Hey you… |
| Bu choa ba. ⑤ | No talking! |
| Shao jí, ꝡä suaq súq sá raı da. Tua súq, ꝡä nuo jí ba. ⑥ | I want you to sing something. Make me sleep. |
| Hí raı nä aojaı súq, ꝡä suaq jí ráı móq? ⑦ | What do you want me to sing? |
| Zao súq hí suaqse móq? | What songs do you know? |
| Sía. | None. |
Notes
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The word ꝡä is used to create content clauses, also known as that-clauses, because they often begin with the word “that” in English. In simple terms, a content clause is a sentence which can be used within another sentence. This is achieved by turning the sentence into a noun, and this is precisely what ꝡä does. ꝡä shıe súq “that you are awake”, is such a content clause. The word ꝡä is placed before the verb which begins the content clause.
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The word béı is placed before words to emphasize them. In speech, that emphasis can additionally be accompanied with a stress on béı itself. We also see the next example of ꝡä here: ꝡä pazı jí “that I’m annoyed”. The full sentence is: Dua jí, ꝡä pazı jí “I know that I’m annoyed”. We write a comma before subclauses.
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sía “no”, “zero”, works like sá and tú. sía raı means “no thing(s)” or “nothing”.
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The literal meaning of Bu choa ba is “May there not be talking”.
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Here we see two more examples of ꝡä: in ꝡä suaq súq sá raı “that you sing something”, and ꝡä nuo jí “that I sleep”. In Toaq, instead of “I want you to sing”, we say “I want that you sing”: aojaı jí, ꝡä suaq súq.
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Here we have a fronted hí question. Recall that hí binding raı here means that any subsequent occurence of ráı refers to the same thing(s). Therefore, a more literal translation of this sentence would be: “what things are such that you want that I sing them?”
Exercises
Translate:
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Tua hó, ꝡä soa jí hó da. “They make me help them.”
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Ma zao súq máma móq? “Do you know the mother?”
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Ma aojaı súq, ꝡä fa jí hó móq? “Do you want me to go to them?”
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Kaqgaı jí, ꝡä tıa kúne sófa da. “I see that the dog is behind the sofa.”
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Dua jí, ꝡä dua jí sía raı da. “I know that I know nothing.”
Fill in the blanks:
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“I know that the dog likes you.” Dua jí, ꝡä cho kúne súq da.
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“Nobody wants it to rain.” Aojaı sía poq, ꝡä ruqshua da.
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“Make the house white.” Tua súq, ꝡä bao jío ba.
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“There is a person I want you to see.” Sá poq nä aojaı jí, ꝡä kaqgaı súq póq da.
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“Do I know you?” Ma zao jí súq móq?