10 · moru

Two more aspects, and they are a pair: ki closes a doing (complete, done, the tools set down), and te marks a doing that ceases. One is an arrival, the other a stopping. The storm from chapter seven left some work behind.

I

pheralu to lepa.
moru to lepa.
phao moru nila.
wheo moru nila.

The rain fell, and part of the garden wall fell with it. The parent looks at the wall. The elder looks at the wall. In every language, this is how repairs begin.

II

phao moru si shiroka.
melu shua. melu moru si shiroka.
lopia lo kerou kolua.
lohau lo miona si nila.
phao moru ki shiroka.

Read the first and last lines against each other: si shiroka, the repairing still open; ki shiroka, the repairing closed. Same wall, same verb: the particle alone moves the work from underway to done. Between them: a friend who shows up, a child who carries stones, and a dog who supervises.

III

pheralu lepa.
pheralu te lepa.
howeli te shua.
sorae phelo loa.

Rain falls. Rain stops falling. te is the gentlest stop in the language: not finished like ki, just no longer happening. The wind lets go too, and the sun takes over the sky.

IV

phao therilu.
melu therilu.
wheo therilu.
lohau therilu.
misheko rihe.
misheko mua moru thalo.

Work complete, everyone rests, and the cat rises, crosses the yard, and walks along the top of the repaired wall, testing it. The wall holds. It has passed the only inspection that matters.

Four aspects now: si holds a doing open, ki closes it, te lets it cease, and the unmarked verb simply does. Say the wall's two sentences once more and feel the work finish in your mouth.

The machinery, when you want it: the manual's Part IV, chapter 14, section 4.