Comments and questions

 

 

It is very good that the BAS and POS information is given now, but:
It would be much better, if, instead of "twa [P/F-s case tag]", I could read "twa[nzume]". First, I wouldn't have to remember that a case tag is a transitive adverb ('cause "-me" for me is an adverbial ending) and I wouldn't have to remember that this actually would be equivalent to "-nzume" (as I certainly would check out all possible endings in order to understand POS and BAS of "twa" and its derivations), and second, it would be much more similar to the notation of "twambume", which is of course a P/F-d case tag, but doesn't have this notation in the dictionary. So, I have to translate anyway for myself "twambume" to "P/F-d case tag derivation from 'twa'".

For example:
twa[nzume] - at, in, near, with
twambume - to, into, on the way to, at

But does this always work? There is no suffix meaning "disjunct", is there?

 

Lesson 4:
There are two lamps above the toilet. Sya fawma gizwapya dweku to datwa pya.

Earlier in lesson 4 you said:
Note that we can also use "fawma" to achieve a similar result. However, for the sake of consistency, we will use the case-tag-to-verb construction rather than "fawma" in all future exercises.

So the example should be:
Sya datwama gizwapya dweku to pya.

 

Next: Is there a particular reason why we have so many different word orders for different POSes?

X cime Y: X preceding Y
cima X Y: X precedes Y
ci[disjunct] X: (precedingly) X

I thought and I still think, that the -me word order is the best one, more natural for us.

X cime Y: X preceding Y
X cima Y: X precedes Y
X ci: X precedingly (to me, the speaker)

A sentence like

Mary will ask John for the two blue chairs.

Pyo gyote Laryase Lajonse kyu datoa dweku.

would be in "my" word order:
Laryase gyote Lajonse kyu datoa dweku sya.

or, if a disjunct can be set closer to the verb:
Laryase gyote sya Lajonse kyu datoa dweku.

'Cause, so to say, every time I read a Ladekwa sentence, I have to rewrite it in my mind this way.

Here is another example (with a correction):

There are a lot of birds above the tower.

Sya fawma byeta geku to datwa bayfa.

My word order:

Byeta geku to fawma sya datwa bayfa.

This, by the way, should be

Byeta geku to datwama sya bayfa.

So, in Ladekwa word order:

Sya datwama byeta geku to bayfa.

 

The same goes for this example:

There's nothing in working order in the garage.

Sya fawma jutomi dwifaw zawtwa dico.

-> Sya zawtwama jutomi dwifaw dico.

 

Lesson 4:
Jako pa dicanya.
I want to go.

I think I have asked this before (talking about Nasendi or Katanda), but, what is the difference between
"Jako pa dicanya" and "Jako pa dica pa"?

Sentences with infinitives have an implicit recursive nature: The subject of the want-verb is subject of the go-verb. Is this correct? Hm, but then this example:

Lesson 4:
Did the chef remind you to put the table in the kitchen?
Tayne jikomba vese dwepa zawtwambanya bukyu veco?

If the infinitive implies a repeated subject, then this sentence would mean "Did the chef remind you that he puts the table into the kitchen?" Does "-nya" really link to the subject?

Lesson 4:
Bwiki pa byubwipya gyotwa byefa.
I heard the radio in front of the building.

I am not sure if this sentence can be interpreted in three different ways, but how do we express these three ways in Ladekwa explicitely without being too verbose?

* I heard the radio(, which is) in front of the building.
* I heard (from someone), that the radio is in front of the building.
* I heard the radio, so that I knew that it is in front of the building.

Lesson 4:
I wonder how we can say, instead of:

Did you tell some students that I changed my car into a truck?
Tayne te dwepa ligogyose to butimpa pa ti foy?

... "Did you tell some students that I changed my cars into those trucks?"

Does people know?