Part 4 · grammar — Chapter 9 · particle system

Slot 1: Shaping the verb

Slot 1 particles modify the verb phrase. They mark when the action occurs, how it unfolds, who performs or receives it, how the speaker knows about it, and whether it's real or possible.

When multiple Slot 1 particles appear, they follow a strict order:

Tense → Aspect → Voice → Evidentiality → Modality → Negation

Tense

Phi has two tense particles. The present is unmarked.

to: Past

The particle to places the action in the past: something that has already happened.

mia to nila. — I saw. thia shea to loa. — You gave peace. shia womu to shua. — They came home.

so: Future

The particle so places the action in the future: something that will or might happen.

mia so nila. — I will see. thia so naphe. — You will help. shea so shua. — Peace will come.

Present (unmarked)

Without a tense particle, the action is understood as present:

mia nila. — I see. thia naphe. — You help.

Aspect

Aspect particles describe the internal structure of the action: whether it's ongoing, complete, beginning, or ending.

ki: Perfective

The perfective ki marks an action as complete at whatever reference time the tense sets: ki have done, to ki had done, so ki will have done.

thia ki shonela. — You have learned. mia to ki nila. — I had seen. mia so ki nila. — I will have seen.

si: Imperfective

The imperfective si marks an action as ongoing, in mid-flow. Habits belong to ro.

mia si shonela. — I am learning (mid-flow). shia si thalo. — They are walking.

pa: Inchoative

The inchoative pa marks the beginning of an action.

mia pa shonela. — I begin to learn. shia pa thuroa. — They start to grow.

ro: Habitual

The habitual ro marks actions that occur repeatedly or habitually.

mia ro shonela. — I learn (habitually). / I study regularly. shia ro thalo. — They walk (regularly).

te: Cessative

The cessative te marks the ending of an action.

mia te shonela. — I stop learning. shea te shua. — Peace ceases to come.

Voice

se: Passive

The passive se shifts focus from the actor to the recipient of the action. The original subject (the doer) is typically omitted.

Active: mia nophi kealo. — I create the story. Passive: nophi se kealo. — The story is created.

Active: shia peloru loa. — They give flowers. Passive: peloru se loa. — Flowers are given.

The passive is useful for de-emphasizing agency or when the actor is unknown or unimportant. In peace-oriented speech, it can soften statements that might otherwise assign blame.

ka: Causative

The causative ka indicates that the subject causes someone else to perform the action. It restructures the sentence exactly as voice particles do: the causer becomes the subject, and the original subject becomes the object. Like se, it says who acts; it claims nothing about certainty or obligation, which is why it lives here and not with the modals.

Base: lopia nulae. — The child sleeps. Causative: mia lopia ka nulae. — I make the child sleep.

Base: thia shonela. — You learn. Causative: mia thia ka shonela. — I make you learn. (I teach you.)

The voice rank's two particles combine only as se ka, the passive of a causative, and ka composes with the ranks around it in the fixed order:

lopia se ka nulae. — The child is made to sleep. mia lopia ka na nulae. — I must make the child sleep. mia lopia to ka ma nulae. — I did not make the child sleep. (ka ma denies the causation itself; making someone refrain takes its own verb or two clauses.)

Evidentiality

Evidentiality particles mark how the speaker knows what they're claiming. They make epistemic accountability explicit. These particles are detailed in Chapter 16, but here is a summary:

hi: Direct evidence

The speaker witnessed the event with their own senses. An unmarked sentence claims no source; hi adds the witness claim explicitly, along with its accountability.

mia hi nila. — I see (I directly witness this).

ke: Inferential evidence

The speaker deduced the information from evidence rather than witnessing it directly.

shia to ke wepu. — They left (I infer from evidence).

ti: Reportative evidence

The speaker received the information from another source.

lo miona to ti naphe. — People helped (I was told).

ho: Assumptive evidence

The speaker is assuming or supposing rather than knowing with certainty.

thia ho shea nai. — You are at peace (I assume).

Modality

Modality particles express possibility and necessity.

po: Possibility

The particle po marks an action as possible or expresses the subject's ability.

mia po shonela. — I can learn. shea po shua. — Peace may come.

na: Necessity

The particle na marks an action as necessary or obligatory.

mia na naphe. — I must help. thia na shonela. — You need to learn.

Negation

ma: Not

The negation particle ma negates the verb. It appears after all other Slot 1 particles.

mia ma nila. — I do not see. thia to ma shua. — You did not come. shia so po ma naphe. — They will not be able to help.

Negation in Phi is gentle. The particle ma simply marks absence rather than forceful denial.

Stacking Slot 1 particles

When multiple Slot 1 particles appear, they combine in order:

mia to si ke po ma nila. 1SG PST IPFV INFER POT NEG see "I was not being able to see (I infer)."

The order is always: Tense → Aspect → Voice → Evidentiality → Modality → Negation

This layered approach allows precise expression. Each particle adds one piece of information, and they compose predictably.