From 2a702d5155995f1b684a629bc769309c40fba627 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Christine Dodrill Date: Mon, 25 May 2020 23:00:17 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] add post 7 details --- .../06_conversations/discourse-structure.md | 25 +++++++++++++++++++ book/src/06_conversations/formality.md | 21 ++++++++++++++++ .../06_conversations/information-structure.md | 21 ++++++++++++++++ book/src/06_conversations/utterances.md | 18 +++++++++++++ book/src/SUMMARY.md | 4 +++ book/src/build.sh | 4 +++ 6 files changed, 93 insertions(+) create mode 100644 book/src/06_conversations/discourse-structure.md create mode 100644 book/src/06_conversations/formality.md create mode 100644 book/src/06_conversations/information-structure.md create mode 100644 book/src/06_conversations/utterances.md diff --git a/book/src/06_conversations/discourse-structure.md b/book/src/06_conversations/discourse-structure.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9ff9974 --- /dev/null +++ b/book/src/06_conversations/discourse-structure.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +## Discourse Structure + +Conversationally, a lot of things in L'ewa grammar get dropped unless it's +ambiguous. The I/yous that get tacked on in English are completely unneeded. A +completely valid conversation could look something like this: + +``` + xoi + xoi + xoi madsa? + lo spalo +``` + +And it would roughly equate to: + +``` + Hi + Hi, you doing okay? + Yes, have you eaten? + Yes, I ate an apple +``` + +People know when they can speak after a sufficient pause between utterances. +Interrupting is not common but not a social faux-pas, and can be used to stop a +false assumption from being said. diff --git a/book/src/06_conversations/formality.md b/book/src/06_conversations/formality.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..82535a8 --- /dev/null +++ b/book/src/06_conversations/formality.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +## Formality + +The informal dialect of L'ewa drops everything it can. The formal dialect +retains everything it can, to the point where it includes noun phrase endings, +the verb signaler, ka/ke/ku and every single optional particle in the language. +The formal dialect will end up sounding rather wordy compared to informal slangy +speech. Consider the differences between informal and formal versions of "I eat +an apple": + +``` +mi madsa lo spalo. +``` + +``` +ka mi ko xi ke madsa ku lo spalo ko. +``` + +Nearly all of those particles are not required in informal speech (you could +even get away with `madsa lo spalo` depending on context), but are required in +formal speech to ensure there is as little contextual confusion as possible. +Things like laws or legal rulings would be written out in the formal register. diff --git a/book/src/06_conversations/information-structure.md b/book/src/06_conversations/information-structure.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..efd2149 --- /dev/null +++ b/book/src/06_conversations/information-structure.md @@ -0,0 +1,21 @@ +## Information Structure + +L'ewa doesn't have any particular structure for marking previously known +information, as normal sentences should suffice in most cases. Consider this +paragraph: + +``` +I saw you eat an apple. Was it tasty? +``` + +Since `an apple` was the last thing mentioned in the paragraph, the vague "it" +pronoun in the second sentence can be interpreted as "the apple". + +L'ewa doesn't have a way to mark the topic of a sentence, that should be obvious +from context (additional clauses to describe things will help here). In most +cases the subject should be equivalent to the topic of a sentence. + +L'ewa doesn't directly offer ways to emphasize parts of sentences with phonemic +stress like English does (eg: "I THOUGHT you ate an apple" vs "I thought you ATE +an apple"), but emotion words can be used to help indicate feelings about +things, which should suffice as far as emphasis goes. diff --git a/book/src/06_conversations/utterances.md b/book/src/06_conversations/utterances.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1ecf5b9 --- /dev/null +++ b/book/src/06_conversations/utterances.md @@ -0,0 +1,18 @@ +## Utterances + +An utterance in L'ewa is anything from a single content word all the way up to +an entire paragraph of sentences. An emotion particle can be a complete +utterance. A question particle can be a complete utterance, anything can be an +utterance. A speaker may want to choose more succinct options when the other +detail is already contextually known or simply not relevant to the listener. + +L'ewa has a few discourse particles, here are a few of the more significant +ones: + +| L'ewa | Function | +|-------|------------------------------------------------------| +| xi | signals that the verb of the sentence is coming next | +| ko | ends a noun phrase | +| ka | marks something as the subject of the sentence | +| ke | marks something as the verb of the sentence | +| ku | marks something as the object of the sentence | diff --git a/book/src/SUMMARY.md b/book/src/SUMMARY.md index e016a7b..6a20022 100644 --- a/book/src/SUMMARY.md +++ b/book/src/SUMMARY.md @@ -32,4 +32,8 @@ - [Conversations](./06_conversations/index.md) - [Greetings](./06_conversations/greetings.md) - [Feelings](./06_conversations/feelings.md) + - [Information Structure](./06_conversations/information-structure.md) + - [Discourse Structure](./06_conversations/discourse-structure.md) + - [Utterances](06_conversations/utterances.md) + - [Formality](06_conversations/formality.md) - [Dictionary](./dictionary.md) diff --git a/book/src/build.sh b/book/src/build.sh index 15b2fb1..f9d7abc 100755 --- a/book/src/build.sh +++ b/book/src/build.sh @@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ intro/index.md 06_conversations/index.md 06_conversations/greetings.md 06_conversations/feelings.md + 06_conversations/information-structure.md + 06_conversations/discourse-structure.md + 06_conversations/utterances.md + 06_conversations/formality.md dictionary.md '