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Lesson 14: Identifier Case

[(Aux) Ø-Verb (Neg) CP-S CP-Identifier]

Identifier Case

To mark a Case Phrase as an Identifier (that which identifies the subject by profession, sexual gender, nationality, etc.), add the zero ending--that is, add no ending. This is identical to the rule for Subject Case Phrases.

Vocabulary


	ana		food
	dal		thing
	en		to understand
	hath		time
	hóowith		grandchild; granddaughter
	hoth		place
	-hul		Degree Marker: to an extreme degree; very; extremely
	láa		perception
	owa		to be warm
	yom		to be safe; to be secure

Examples


	Bíi le with wa.		I am a person.
	Bíi le wothal wowith wa.		I am a good person.
	Bíi le wothalehul wowith wa.		I am a very good person.

Notice that, as always, the Subject Case Phrase comes before any other Case Phrase.

Notice, also, the ending "-hul". This is the first you have seen of a whole set of Degree Markers. This one means that the verb (remember that adjectives in Láadan are just verbs) to which it is attached is a "very" form of itself.


	Bíi le omá wa.		I am a teacher.
	Bíi le omá i thul wa.		I am a teacher and a parent.
	Bíi ra le omá wa.		I am not a teacher.

Notice that the Subject ("le" or "I" in all the above examples) can be Identified with more than one other noun, as in the second example above. We can also deny the Identification by inserting "ra" after the verb, just as usual--except that the verb is invisible (linguists refer to this as the verb having a "null surface form").


	Báa with thul?		Is the person a parent?
	Bíi eril ra with thul wa.		The person was not a parent.
	Bíi ra with thul wa.		The person is not a parent.
	Bíi aril with thul wa.		The person will be a parent.

Notice in the above, that in the Identifier Case structure, just as usual, the auxiliary comes before the verb and the negative comes after the verb; the only difference here is that the verb has that "null surface form" (it's invisible).


	Báa shon bebáa?		What is peace?
	Báa shon yom?		Is peace safety?
	Bíi om en wa.		Teaching is understanding.

Consider the Láadan sentence "Bíi áya wíi wa" from Lesson 3. Prior to this lesson, we have translated it, "Being alive is beautiful." If we reconsider the same sentence as an Identifier Case sequence, it would be translated "Being beautiful is being alive" or "To be beautiful is to be alive." It is instructive to note that these two very different (in English) thoughts are expressed in exactly the same way in Láadan.

Exercises

Translate the following into English.


1	Bíi berídan halá wáa.
2	Bíi ra wohóoha wodená thul wa.
3	Báa bebáa ábedá?
4	Bíi ra wíi yom wi.
5	Bíi Therísha mahá wáa.
6	Báa ra áath dem?

Note the word "dená" in #2; it is formed from "den" (to help) and means "helper" or "assistant."

Notice the word "mahá" (listener) in #5. It's formed from "ma" (to listen) and "-á" (doer; one who). Within a morpheme (meaningful word part), the vowel sequence "aá" would be allowed, but because these are from two different morphemes, they must be separated by an "h."

Equate the following--in a question and a statement to answer it--using the Identifier Case, and translate both into English. The first word will be the Subject. The second column will give time and/or negative where appropriate.

Example: "with, thul" with "past, not" give "Báa eril ra with thul?" (Wasn't the woman a parent?) and "Bíi eril ra with thul wa." (The woman was not a parent.)


7	nen, ebalá	future, not
8	be, wothal wohana
9	dan, Láadan	not
10	om, den
11	wodo wowith, hothul	not
12	hoth, déela	past

Note the word "ebalá" in #7. Formed from "e-" (science of) + "bal" (bread) + "-á" (doer), it means "baker." Láadan is very good at allowing speakers to "make up" the word that fits the meaning they need.

Also in #7, note the plural form of the pronoun. There is a way to indicate that a noun is plural without a perceptible verb, and we'll see that in a few lessons. Until then, a plural pronoun is our only mechanism for indicating plural in an Identifier Case sequence.

Translate the following into Láadan.


13	Is the plant green grass?
14	The furry creature is not a cat.
15	Being old will be a lot of work.
16	Milk is a beverage.
17	To laugh and dance is to be beautiful.
18	The thing was not a car.

Note: As we see in #15, nouns can also be made "more so" by the addition of "-hul;" however, their increase in degree isn't usually translated well in English by the word "very."

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Answers


1	The aunt is a worker.
2	The tired assistant is not a parent.
3	Who is the farmer?
4	To be alive is not to be safe (or: Being alive is not being safe).
5	Teresa is one who listens.
6	A door is not a window.

7	Báa aril ra nen ebalá? Won't you (many) be bakers? Bíi aril ra nen ebalá wa. You (many) will not be bakers.
8	Báa be wothal wohana? Is it good food? Bíi be wothal wohana wáa. It is good food.
9	Báa ra dan Láadan? Isn't the language Láadan? Bíi ra dan Láadan wa. The language is not Láadan.
10	Báa om den? Is teaching helping (or: Is to teach to help)? Bíi om den wi. Teaching is helping (or: To teach is to help) (obviously).
11	Báa ra wodo wowith hothul? Isn't the strong woman a grandmother? Bíi ra wodo wowith hothul wa. The strong woman isn't a grandmother.
12	Báa eril hoth déela? Was the place a garden? Bíi eril hoth déela wa. The place was a garden.

13	Báa dala woliyen wohesh?
14	Bíi ra woshane womid rul wa.
15	Bíi aril balin halehul wáa.
16	Bíi lal rana wi.
17	Bíi ada i amedara áya wa.
18	Bíi eril ra dal mazh wa.

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