Chíetoaı kọheıgu – Lesson 12
| Duashao jí sá raı da. Ma juna, ꝡä báq elu bï guosıa, ꝡä moaqshaı hó móq? ①② | There is something I want to know. Is it true that elephants never forget? |
| Bu dua jí, mä juna hóq da. ③ | I don’t know whether that’s true. |
| Je ma juna, ꝡä míao bï nıe sá poq míao móq? | And is it true that, as for the moon, some people are inside it? |
| Sahu, ꝡä chı béı sá poq hóq da. ④ | It’s not the case that anyone believes that. |
| Je ma báq nuımpoq bï tı hó sá rıaq móq? | And as for aliens, are they somewhere? |
| Daı juna hóq da. Jaq sao jíaq da. | That’s possible. The world is very big. |
| Je pu ruaq sá poq, ꝡä jıq báq aıpu da. ② Mıu súq hí raı móq? | Some people said that ghosts exist. What do you think? |
| Sá raı nä dua sía poq ráı da. Jí bï mıu jí, ꝡä báq aıpu bï daı jıq hó da. ⑤ | There are things which nobody knows. As for me, I think that it’s possible that ghosts exist. |
| Ina. Je ma béı sá raı nä dua súq ráı móq? | Okay. Is there anything you do know? |
| Dua jí, ꝡä puı téoq da. Naı tua súq, ꝡä rıa kíao ba. Pıkuaı jí da! ⑥ | I know that those were a lot of questions. Now open the door. I have to pee! |
Notes
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The word juna means “to be true”. In this sentence, we see that a subclause can have a topic: ꝡä báq elu bï …
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We encounter two new long roots in this lesson: elu “to be an elephant”, and aıpu “to be a ghost”.
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This is another example of mä “whether”, creating an indirect whether-question. hóq is another pronoun, which means “that”, referring to a case or situation that was just mentioned. mä juna hóq “whether that is true”.
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The word sahu means “to be false”. Unlike bu, it’s a verb. With sahu, we can negate an entire clause instead of just a verb: here, bu chı sá poq hóq da would mean “some people don’t believe it”.
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This might be the longest and most complex sentence so far, but it’s really just a combination of familiar patterns.
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pıkuaı “to have to pee” is a compound with the components pı “to pee”, and the familiar kuaı “to long for, to need”.
Exercises
Translate:
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Ma juna, ꝡä cho súq báq elu móq? “Is it true that you like elephants?”
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Sahu, ꝡä tú kato nä kuo hó da. “It’s not true that every cat is black.”
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Du, ꝡä pıkuaı súq da. “It seems like you have to pee.”
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Ruaq súq sá juna da. “You said something true.”
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Chı hó, ꝡä jıq báq aıpu da. “They believe that ghosts exist.”
Fill in the blanks:
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“They said that every dog is a friend.” Pu ruaq hó, ꝡä tú kune nä paı hó da.
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“I want to know whether you like apples.” Duashao jí, mä báq shamu bï cho súq máq da.
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“I hope that that’s true.” Zaı jí, ꝡä juna hóq da.
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“I claimed I saw a ghost.” Pu ruaq jí, ꝡä sá aıpu nä kaqgaı jí hó da.
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“It’s not the case that the elephant is inside the building.” Sahu, ꝡä nıe élu jío da.