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>
> lesson12:
> Pegompa Kajobyo vekxe ne jabudinja to.
> = John opened the window and left the room.
> sts: isn't this ambigiuos? for example, what means "Casi Kajobyo
> jakoski ne jabudinja to"? does it mean "John wants to study and to
> leave the room" or "John wants to study and left the room"?
>
First of all, "ne" can only link the two infinitives "jakoski" and
"jabudinja" - there is no ambiguity. Thus, they are both the embedded
argument of "casi", and the correct translation is "John wants to study
and to leave the room". If you want the second translation, you have to
use "meku" and "gaku":
Meku casi Kajobyo jakoski gaku ne jabudinja to
= John wants to teach and is leaving the room.
Note that "jabudinja" now inherits its tense-aspect from "casi" since it
wasn't explicitly over-ridden.
>
> lesson12:
> Poor Mary cleaned the empty refrigerator with her tears.
> Nagompa Kamaryabyo busensa bumespu bubitsando xomse vevyu
> maho.
> sts: why not "bubitsanto" instead of "bubistando"?
>
You're right. Thanks!
>
> lesson12:
> I'll give you the money for the carpets and a few pieces
> of furniture.
> Goy temba mi tumi setoy vaspe levokxe ne zwe fomu.
> sts: this means that you will buy the carpets and the pieces of
> forniture, using the money that i will give you. but what if i buyed
> the carpets and the pieces of forniture, but i will give the money
> for that later? would i have to use in that case "vamse" instead of
> "vaspe"? ->
> *"Goy temba mi tumi setoy vamse levokxe ne zwe fomu."
>
"Vaspe" is very vague, but world knowledge tells us that it's very
likely that the money will be spent on the carpets and the furniture,
either directly or indirectly. The implication is also that the
listener will but the items from someone other than the speaker. Now,
if the speaker were actually buying the items from the listener, then
"vamse" should be used instead.
[BTW, "*buyed" -> "bought", "*forniture" -> "furniture".]
>
> lesson12:
> It's unlikely that you have no memory of using the
> restaurant's truck.
> Fobe bupesi tumi jaxonfa fungo te funye.
> sts: why doesn't /xo/ have a classifier? are there any other words
> that don't have classifiers? or did i miss something?
>
"Xo" IS a classifier! Every word in Katanda, without exception, has
exactly one classifier.
>
> lesson12:
> The banker bought the blue airplane because he liked it
> more than the brown one.
> Sesku sebyo cingo cimyu vakxe pi lisi xeku sehi cihi tane
> kobumyunti.
> sts: i got "Sesku sebyo cingo cimyu vakxe pi jalisi xeku cihi tane
> kobumyunti." - is that correct? and, what if we were talking about a
> pilot? would if have to say "vakxe pi lisi xeku cihi cihi"?
>
Sesku sebyo cingo cimyu vakxe pi jalisi xeku cihi tane kobumyunti.
= The banker bought the blue airplane because to have liked it more
than the brown one.
Sesku sebyo cingo cimyu vakxe pi lisi xeku cihi cihi.
= The banker bought the blue airplane because it liked it more.
>
> > > lesson10:
> >> Do you want me to keep this table short like that one?
> >> Kibe casi tumi buxunsanfa mi vozwe ju batende tujunti?
> >> sts: i don't understand why it's "batende". why not simply "bate"? hm...
> >>
> >
> >Because it's being used as a case tag, NOT a noun modifier.
>
> (is it correct that a case tag is an open adverb?)
>
It's more correct to say that an adverb is a case tag with no arguments.
>
> so it's a case tag... then it is linked to the agent, which would be
> 'me'. but in that case the meaning is "do you want me to keep this
> table short, just like this one does?".
>
The implied subjects of case tags are ambiguous just like their
counterparts in natural languages. In this case, the implied subject is
obviously "vozwe". If you assume that "me" is the subject of "batende",
then you are probably using an older version of the reference manual,
and I suggest that you get the latest version. The context, and only
the context, provides the subject of a case tag. Case role usually
match, but not always.
Regards,
Rick Morneau
http://www.srv.net/~ram
http://www.eskimo.com/~ram