6 · silawo
The last chapter of Part I leaves the house. Two direction words carry it: lue — from, and wei — to, for. Like mua, they announce before they deliver: first the relation, then the place or person it points at, then the rest of the sentence. With them come the verbs of going and coming, and the two verbs this language may care about most: giving and receiving.
I
lopia lue womu wepu.
lohau wepu.
misheko mua womu nai.
misheko nulae.
| new word | say it | it means |
|---|---|---|
| lue | lu · e | from |
| wepu | we · pu | go |
The child sets out from home; the dog goes too. The cat has reviewed the plan and declined.
II
melu mua phitura nai.
melu shua.
melu: kia lopia. kia lohau.
lopia: kia melu.
lopia lue phitura phialu kolua.
| new word | say it | it means |
|---|---|---|
| phitura | phi · tu · ra | well |
| shua | shu · a | come |
| kolua | ko · lu · a | carry |
A friend at the village well (where friends are usually found), and the child carries water from it. Read that last sentence slowly: who, from where, what, and only then the doing. By now your ear waits for the verb without being told to.
III
melu wei lopia peloru loa.
lopia peloru howela.
lopia: mea melu.
melu: pao lopia.
| new word | say it | it means |
|---|---|---|
| wei | we · i | to, for |
| loa | lo · a | give |
| howela | ho · we · la | receive |
| mea | me · a | thanks |
The friend gives the child a flower: wei lopia, to the child, announced before the flower ever changes hands. The child receives it; thanks are said; the friend takes their leave. Small ceremony, complete grammar.
IV
lopia shua.
lopia mua womu nai.
lopia wei phao peloru loa.
phao peloru howela.
sorae phelo loa.
| new word | say it | it means |
|---|---|---|
| phelo | phe · lo | light |
Home again, and the flower is given onward: received at the well, delivered to the parent, worth more at each handing. And the last line is the language showing you its heart: Phi does not say the sun shines. It says sorae phelo loa — the sun gives light. The day's last giver is the biggest one.
lopia nulae. lohau nulae. phao nulae. wheo nulae.
misheko rihe.
Everyone sleeps. And the cat: the cat's day is just beginning.
Part I is complete. Read all six chapters again in one slow sitting; it will take you twenty minutes, and this time none of it will resist you. You can say what things are and do, make them many, describe them, ask and answer, greet and part, say whose and where, and hand a flower from one person to another with the grammar announcing every step. That is a life, in miniature. Part II adds time to it.
The machinery, when you want it: the prepositions live in the manual's Part IV; giving-sentences with wei appear in chapter 21's social patterns.