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Mike S., On 16/09/2012 20:05:
"co Pe'e" would just identify the addressee as in "Thank you, sir" or "I already know that, John." It wouldn't really mean "I hereby call your attention" although I suppose that could happen incidentally. Presumably that would be your "w(ok)e'e", which I hadn't thought about until you mentioned it today: we'e! Hey you!
I note for the record it doesn't have to be _e'e_; any form could be assigned to the interjection for hailing.
we'e, co [le'e rslfe'e] tze'e!
So the "calling/paging Jorge" announcements they have in airports, would be "we'e co me'e xrxe".
Hey; I hereby make this identification: you [the addressee] are there! Hey, you there! If anyone wants that first-person "mi'e" pseudovocative sort of thing, and I think "co Pa'a" would cover that.
Yes.
I also think it would work with other variables, perhaps making the most sense with the "V'i" series: co [la'i csna�eka�i] mlta'i la djne nlcaka'i I hereby make this identification: [discussion topic] a'i are cats. John likes them. As for cats, John likes them.
That's a good idea. Co takes as its complement a formula, right? What happens when the formula contains more than one of a'a/e'e/V'i? E.g. "O my darling" vs "It's your lover here" -- co prma'ake'e. I think co has to be rethought a bit...
co ge'e me'e ndi me'e xrxe. O And and Jorge.That's is the one that made me go with the k version. ce'eko go mo ndi mo xrxe. O And and Jorge.
So does this mean we have ce'ek, ca'ak, cV'ik? That solves the problem I noted above.
The real point though is simply that "e'e", not "o", is Xorban for "you" which is why And wanted it in the vocative particle stem. If we really think the extra syllable is a problem then why not admit "yu" (since English happens to have a vocalic form) as a variable. That and "ay" for "a'a", and "oy" for "o'e", would shorten the language considerably.
I agree that a'a, e'e, o'e should be given VV forms, ideally with a bit of iconicity, so that Me contains I, You contains U, ME+YOU contains both. Maybe, ei=Me, ou=You, e(i)u=Me+You, oi=o'e; and ai, au are available as extra simple variables when the plain Vs run out. ceika ma ndi [not in itself a valediction or sign-off, of course]