Apupiwe: reference§

This document states what the language is. The reasons for each part are in why it is this way, its history is in changelog, and the word lists are in the data folder.

The language calls itself apu pi we "everyone's language", said [ˈapu pi we], roughly AH-poo pee weh, with only the first syllable stressed. Its name in English and other languages is one word, Apupiwe, said the same way. Any language is named with apu pi followed by whose language it is.

Apupiwe is a designed language for people who speak it natively, within the world's existing cultures. Its own grammar is built for native speakers. Where it meets a culture's conventions, such as clocks, calendars, units, names and customs, it carries them. Where conventions conflict and one must be chosen, it follows the international standard.

What the language is for, and how its criteria are weighed against each other, is set out in the goal.

1. Principles§

1. The common case costs nothing. Statements, ordinary belief, an unknown source, the topic, and present or unspecified time are unmarked. Frequent meanings have the shortest words.
2. Heads come first, and position carries role. The order is subject, verb, object. A content word that describes a noun or a verb follows it. Words never move to show their role.
3. Operators come before what they cover (section 6).
4. Heavy goes last. A noun's own modifiers come before its pi "of" phrase, and long clauses go to the end. Nothing may follow a relative clause in its phrase.
5. Doubling widens or strengthens any word except a digit in a number: mu mu emphatic "not", nun nun extra deference, yo yo emergency, genso genso "the whole turn is not literal", nen nen "each other", feko feko "exactly so". Doubled mu is always emphasis and never means "not not".
6. Every social pressure has its own word: ba and bi for emphasis, nun for politeness, lanno for respect, and the stance words of section 7.
7. A precise way always exists, but it need not always be used. Anything the listener can supply may be left out (section 4.5), and any ambiguity can be removed by saying more.

2. Sounds§

• The vowels are a e i o u. Every syllable keeps its full vowel.
• There are 13 consonants: p b t d k g · m n · f s · l w y. They are made at the lips (p b m w, and f with lip and teeth), with the tongue tip (t d n s l), with the tongue body (y) and with the back of the tongue (k g).
• A syllable has the shape (C)V(n). A syllable with no consonant before its vowel (a, en) occurs only at the start of a word. The only consonant that can end a syllable is n.
• Words fall into three types by sound:
• grammar words have one unstressed syllable (table in section 13), except the two-syllable operators listed after that table, which are stressed on the first like content words;
• the digits 0–5 have one stressed syllable;
• every other word has two or more syllables and is stressed on the first.
• Words never change form. There are no endings, no agreement, no case and no gender.
• Stress is a higher pitch on the stressed syllable, stepping down after it. It does not make the syllable longer. The rhythm is syllable-timed.
• Across a phrase, each stressed syllable is a little lower than the one before (declination), and pitch resets after a pause.
• There are no tones. Pitch carries only intonation and emotion. A question needs no rising tone, because its words make it a question, but rising anyway is fine.
• Some harmless variants are allowed, inside content words only. Before i and e, k and g may sound like "ch" and "j". A vowel plus n may become a nasal vowel. Consonants between vowels may soften. Grammar words keep their consonants.
• mm "heard you", huh? "say again", and any other interjection or hesitation sound speakers use are outside the sound system and carry no grammar.
• Native content words never begin with an open syllable identical to a digit (po fi sa ka da te). Loans are exempt.

3. Writing§

• The letters are a b d e f g i k l m n o p s t u w y, one per sound, with no accents. Digits never appear inside a word. Spelling follows the standard pronunciation, and neither the harmless variants nor stress are written.
• Lowercase is the standard. Capitals carry no meaning and are harmless.
• These marks carry grammar:

? and ! are allowed and add nothing. - and : are not used in the language's own words. - Some things pass through as written: chat abbreviations and interjections (ok, lol), digits, unit symbols (5 km, 20 °C, 30%), the local clock notation (21:30, 9:30 pm), ISO dates (2026-10-10), letters used as labels, links, email addresses, @handles, #tags, emoji, code, file names, and personal and brand names (section 11). Unit symbols are read aloud by their borrowed names (9.3) and clock notation in the speaker's clock style (8.3). Other notation is read as the speaker's culture reads it. - Ordinary writing uses digits for numbers. This reference spells numbers out only to show how they are said. Digits are grouped in threes from the decimal point with a space (1 250 000), and . is the decimal point. A senary number is marked ₆ (or _6). - Words are written apart. A phrase said fast keeps its spaces until a fused form actually changes sound and becomes a new word.

4. The sentence§

4.1 Template§

A sentence fills these slots in this order. Only the verb, or a fragment (4.5), is required.

4.2 The verb and its objects§

• For any content word, what you mean decides the clear form:
• for a state ("is big", "is closed"), use gun + word: guyi gun kudu "the house is big". A feeling named by an action word is said with the plain verb: to nuta "I'm afraid" (I fear);
• for an event ("walks", "is walking", "walked"), use the word as the verb, with an aspect word when precision matters: ewo le niba "the person is walking", ewo manni niba "the person (usually) walks", ewo sin niba "the person walked";
• for a description of a noun ("the person who walks", "the house that is big"), use man: ewo man niba, guyi man gun kudu.
• A bare noun followed by a word (guyi kudu, ewo niba) may be a description or a statement. Context decides, and the clear forms above remove any doubt.
• Any content word can take any role by its position. As an object, or with a derivation marker, it is a noun (sepi "apologise / an apology").
• A word right after the verb describes the action: oyi fanse "say calmly". It comes before the object, as in nawi yobe pasu "eat food quickly". After the object, a word describes the object: nawi pasu yobe "eat fast food".
• With two objects, the recipient comes first and then the thing: tofo me nuta "teach you fear".
• When one verb follows another and the first takes an object (want, try, need, must, can, start, stop, teach, see, like, help…), the second verb is that object: walo alun "try to break". Otherwise the second verb describes the first: goyu pume "sit thinking".
• muge "do; make" followed by a result and then an object means "make (it) so": muge upe tan "fix this". Followed by an object and then a manner, it means "do (it) so": muge tan upe "do this well".
• A command needs tin, or so for a request. Without a particle, a sentence is a statement.

4.3 Openers§

• A linker is a word or phrase at the start that ties the sentence to the one before it, such as gi tan "so", un "but" or yen "and also".
• Any relation phrase may open the sentence, followed by a pause. A time or place phrase there sets the scene: mon minfi, … "at noon, …". An opening phrase changes no roles.
• A topic is pi + a noun phrase at the start, meaning "as for X": pi tale la, no kuwi guyi, yidu bu la. "As for the cars, the caretaker takes them." At the start, pi has no other reading, and the topic runs to the pause, so it can be a list: pi upe yen yomo, "as for good and bad,".
• An if/when clause is don "if", nin "while/when", wo "after", ya "before" or gi "because", followed by a clause.
• When several of these open a sentence, they come in this order: linker, scene or topic, if/when clause. The speech-act particle follows them.
• Only a person word (4.1) calls someone. A longer noun phrase before a pause is the subject (4.6), and a fronted relation phrase or pi phrase is a scene or topic phrase.

4.4 Clauses and relation phrases§

• A relation phrase (mon, tun, se, gan, li, ya, wo, fu, nin, and the two-syllable anko "until" and nuwen "without") at clause level attaches to the clause's verb. Inside a noun phrase, only pi attaches to a noun. To give a noun any other relation, use a relative clause: sola man gun mon bige pi yolan "the road that is above the river". In comparisons and quantities (9.3), se, tun and fu belong to their number or adjective. After a time, wo and ya belong to that time (8.2): to isi mon wuma wo dili fi "I go the day after tomorrow".
• A relation word may drop its object when context supplies it, as in wo "after that" and ya "beforehand". It then ends its clause or comes before a pause.
• A relation word can take a clause (wo wan la yidu ewo bo "after they took someone") or an action noun (se kusa "from leaving").
• A relative clause attaches to the nearest noun before it. A time, reason or condition clause at the start of a sentence belongs to the main clause. At the end, it belongs to the innermost clause before it, unless a pause closes that clause first: nin leso, to sin miya ewo man sigo "in the morning, I watched the person who came back"; to sin miya ewo man sigo nin leso "I watched the person who came back in the morning". In the same way, a phrase or clause after verbs joined by yen, lu or un belongs to the last of them, and at the start it covers them all: wan doku yen nawi mon guyi "he works, and eats at home"; mon guyi, wan doku yen nawi "at home, he works and eats".
• yen "and", lu "or" and un "but" join nouns, verbs, modifiers or clauses. Nouns in a list are joined with yen: mole yen wede "mother and father". lu X lu Y means "either X or Y, not both".
• Verbs joined by yen, lu or un are separate predicates. Operators and aspect words before one of them cover only that verb, and an object after the last verb belongs to it: wan mu nawi yen wopo "she doesn't eat, and she sleeps"; to nagu yen yidu bu "I see (it) and take it".
• A quote is framed by a say-verb, and in writing it goes in quotation marks. It is its own sentence with its own speech-act particle. Broken-off speech just stops.

4.5 Leaving things out§

• Anything the listener can supply from context may be left out: the subject, the object, the object of a relation word or the verb. An answer or follow-up can be just the new part: muyi yu? moti? "what time? again?"; nagu me la mon dili pi ufo. "see you all Saturday".
• The exception is gun with no subject at the start of a sentence, which means "there is" (4.7). To say "(it) is X", keep the subject: bu gun nimo "it's money". With gun left out too, a bare state is fine: bi upe. "very good."
• When leaving something out could be unclear, say it.

4.6 Pauses§

A pause, written as a comma, goes wherever a phrase could otherwise run on. It belongs in these places: - after someone called at the start, and before someone called at the end; - after an opener (linker, scene, topic, if/when clause); - after a subject that contains a clause or a phrasal derived word, before its verb (no sanwa man … sin sege, keya unfu …); - between a recipient and a long object; - between clauses joined by yen, lu or un when the first ends in a noun; - before a stance word, and before the choice tag yu (4.8); - between a larger and a smaller calendar unit (dunan pi yawu, dili pi mape); - after a relative clause, to close it before more material.

In casual writing, pauses that context makes obvious may be dropped.

4.7 "Is": gun§

• gun goes before a state: guyi gun kudu "the house is big". Without it, guyi kudu is normally read as "the big house".
• gun goes before a noun: wan gun tiwu "she is a child".
• gun goes before a place phrase: wan gun mon guyi "he is at home".
• gun before an action word gives the state of whoever undergoes the action: gun tapi "is closed", wan gun kuwi "she is protected", to gun nuta "I am feared". This holds for every action word, feelings included; the one who feels takes the plain verb (to nuta "I'm afraid").
• gun before a wun clause means "is that …".
• After man, after another verb, after li, and after yen, lu or un joining verbs, a gun with no subject is "is" or "to be", with the subject understood: momu gun tiwu "want to be a child", go ibe sogan li gun kuwi "everyone has the right to be protected", wan obu yen gun simi "she came and is sick".
• gun with no subject means "there is" only at the start of a sentence, right after an opener's pause, or at the start of a clause after don, gi, nin, wo, ya or wun (don gun pasu "if there is food"). Phrase operators, kon and aspect words in front of it count as part of that start: mu gun pasu "there's no food"; un, gun musu feli "but there are many things".

4.8 Questions and answers§

• A yes/no question starts with min. A min at the end of a clause is a tag, "…, right?".
• Question words stay where the answer goes and need no min: me momu wun to oyi yu. "you want me to say what?"
• Question words are built from yu: yu what; ewo yu who; X yu which X; mon kemu yu where; mon muyi yu when; gi yu why; fu yu how; wifu yu how many/much; pi ewo yu whose. wifu yu follows its noun the way a number does: ewo wifu yu "how many people".
• To offer a choice, ask min … lu … "either?", or ask … lu …, yu "which?" with a pause before yu so it isn't read as "which X". That second kind is answered by echoing the choice.
• An indirect question starts its wun clause with min, with or without a question word: to mu lugo wun min wan obu "I don't know whether she's coming", to mu lugo wun min ewo yu obu "I don't know who is coming". Without min, a question word anywhere in the sentence makes the whole sentence a question: me momu wun to oyi yu "you want me to say what?"
• Answers echo the verb, since there are no words for yes and no: "Aren't you coming?" → obu / mu obu. A question with gun is answered by echoing what follows gun: "Is the house big?" → kudu / mu kudu. To acknowledge, mm says you heard, an echo says you understood, and de + verb says "will do".

5. The noun phrase§

5.1 Template§

A noun phrase runs in this order: noun, content modifiers, number, la, determiner, pi phrase, relative clause, as in guyi kudu sa la tan pi en mara man …. Titles and lanno come before the noun (10.1), and phrase operators come before the whole phrase (6.2).

5.2 Parts§

• Describing words follow the noun: guyi kudu "big house". For a clear description, use man (5.3).
• Gender is a modifier, stated once when it matters: tiwu futa "daughter", no wungu futa "the leader, a woman".
• Noun + noun is used only for gender and for the compounds in compounds.tsv. Other relations use pi or a relative clause.
• Numbers and times can stand alone as noun phrases: yawu gun upe "ten is fine", wuma gun upe "tomorrow is fine".
• A noun followed by a number is a count (dili oma "seven days"). Noun + pi + number is a label (kemin pi sa "document 2"), and a label also gives a place in order: gimu pi ka "the third time", ewo pi fi "the first person". "Last" is pi fugi, "of the end": gimu pi fugi "the last time". With a number before pi, the phrase is a part: fi pi ka "one of three".
• The plural word la is optional. A count or context can show plurality.
• There are no articles. Whether something is known or new is left to context, or shown with tan, ben, bo or a number.
• Determiners (table in section 13) and mesun "each" follow the noun: guyi tan "this house", ewo bo "someone", musu bo "something", pu nume mesun "each home". A determiner right after a noun or pronoun belongs to it. So to give a recipient a determiner standing alone as the thing, use tun: to iko ben tun wan "I told that to him" (to iko wan ben is "I told that-him"). A determiner may stand alone as a noun phrase: we "all", in "some", fa "none". A part of a whole is a determiner or number + pi + noun: kin pi foto la "some of the photos".
• pi "of" links a noun to a noun: guyi pi en mara "Mara's house". Each pi attaches to the nearest noun before it, and its phrase is the nearest single noun after it, so a list joined by yen or lu is outside it: enpa pi pume yen lite pi nosen is "freedom of thought, and religion". To cover every item, repeat the head: enpa pi pume yen enpa pi lite pi nosen "freedom of thought and freedom of religion".
• "One's own" is pi nen: to ibe guyi pi nen "I have my own house". Since a pi phrase holds a single noun, two owners of one thing take a relative clause: guyi man en mara yen en tomas ibe "Mara and Tomas's house".

5.3 Relative clauses§

A relative clause is man + clause, placed after the noun. The noun fills the role missing from the clause: - subject: ewo man niba "the person who walks"; - object: mabo man me la yaga "the papers you put"; - place or time, with the relation word at the end of the clause: kemu man to nume mon "the place where I live"; - any other relation, the same way: yetu man to fonsu gan "the tool I cut with"; - "whose", with pi wan inside the clause pointing back to the noun: ewo man guyi pi wan gun kudu "the person whose house is big".

If both the subject and the object are missing, the noun is the subject: ewo man nagu "the person who sees". For "the person I see", keep the subject: ewo man to nagu.

A relative clause attaches to the nearest noun or pronoun before it, so after a pi phrase it describes the pi noun. To describe the head instead, put a quality before the pi phrase or use a new sentence. No word closes a relative clause. A pause closes it, along with every relative clause still open.

5.4 Derived words§

Four markers before a verb or verb phrase name a role in the action:

• A pi phrase after a derived word belongs to the last noun inside its base, or to the derived word itself if its base has no noun: du kuwi pi to "my thing for keeping".
• The base may be a verb phrase: no isi se guyi "one who goes from home", a traveller. It runs to the end of its phrase, like a relative clause, and a pause separates it from a following verb. It also ends before a name (en …) or a gender word (futa, lowu), so no tofo en mara is "Teacher Mara" and no wungu futa "the leader, a woman".
• A person something is done to is ewo man gun + verb: ewo man gun tofo "a student".
• A noun base is linked with pi or a verb: pu pi mabo "an office", no obu se yaye "an alien".
• For opposites, mu + word means "not X" (mu upe "not good"), and a separate opposite root names the other pole (yomo "bad").

6. Operators§

6.1 Clause operators§

Clause operators start the clause (slot 5) and cover all of it. - Confidence is kon + a number of sixths, the chance in 6 that the statement is true: kon po impossible, kon fi unlikely, kon sa doubtful, kon ka even odds, kon da likely, kon te very likely, kon ufo certain; kon te mimi te 5.5 in 6; kon bo "don't know how sure". An unmarked statement is believed. Exact probabilities use a number and pasentu. - Source is optional: wanme seen, inwun told, wemen inferred. - "Might" and "must" in the sense of probably are a matter of confidence: "She must be home" is kon te wan gun mon guyi.

6.2 Phrase operators§

Phrase operators cover the word or phrase right after them, including a phrase that opens the sentence (na mon funti, … "only in the community, …"). Before the verb, they cover the predicate, which is the verb with everything after it in its clause. To negate a single phrase, put mu before that phrase: wan doku mu mon guyi "she works, but not at home". - mu not (to mu yidu bu "I don't/didn't take it"; mu mu emphatic); - na only; fe also; wi even (wi don "even if"); o focus, "this one, not another" (o en tomas yidu bu "Tomas took it"; before the verb it insists: to o unfu "I did pay"); - to add a whole statement ("also, …"), start with yen; fe before the verb means the subject also does it; - konsin at least; nedin almost; - degree words ke more, bi very, tason rather (ke kudu "bigger"; nimo ke uyo "less money"). - Before the verb, the order is phrase operators, then manni, then aspect, then the verb: to fe manni le doku.

7. Speech acts and stance§

7.1 Speech acts (slot 3)§

• A statement has no particle. Each sentence has one speech act.
• genso or ba may modify the act from in front of its particle: genso min me lugo "as if you'd know"; ba min is a surprised or indignant question.
• Someone else's intention is reported (inwun) or stated with time words and kon; de is only for the speaker's own commitment.

7.2 Stance (slot 13)§

After a pause at the end, a word can comment on the whole sentence, whatever its speech act: - min "…, right?" (checks); - a "as you know, you see" (shared ground): wan sin oyi bu, a.; - buni "okay?" (softens, invites agreement): so pen isi, buni.; - donon "it turned out" (against expectation): wan gun no ibe guyi, donon. - A half-remembered "wasn't it?" is low confidence plus the tag: kon ka wan sin oyi bu, min. - If two stance words occur, min comes last. - Other words used in this position are stance words too. The choice tag , yu "which?" (4.8) has its own slot at the end and is not a stance word.

8. Time§

8.1 Tense and aspect§

• Tense is optional. A time word or the first sin of a narrative sets the frame, the time that what follows is about, and later verbs in that frame stay unmarked. The future is shown by a time word or by context: mon wuma, gegi muwo "it will rain tomorrow".
• Aspect words come right before the verb. sin means done. With no frame set it reads as past. Inside a past frame it marks something already done by that time, "had done", and inside a future frame it is "will have". le means ongoing, and also "still". buntu means about to. sin and le don't combine, so "was doing" is a past frame + le.
• mu sin "not yet". For "didn't do", use a past frame + mu + verb.
• manni "usually" marks habit. With a past frame it means "used to".
• Intent is marked with gan momu "on purpose" and mu gan momu "by accident".

8.2 Time words§

• The time roots are eda now, mefa today, wuma tomorrow, afe yesterday; dili day, nelon week (7 days), dunan month (also "moon"), fawu year; muyi time (a span or a point); gimu occasion (gimu sa "twice").
• A time can be an anchor plus an offset, and the offset names its unit: wuma wo dili fi "the day after tomorrow". With no anchor, the offset counts from the current frame (8.1), which is now unless a story has set another time: wo nelon fi "a week from now, next week", ya dunan fi "a month ago". Any time or event can be the anchor.
• A duration is a count: awuwa ka "three hours". nin + duration means "during, for" a span that frames the clause: nin dili oma "for seven days".
• Age is lived time: to nume fawu ka yawu "I have lived 30 years".
• Hours, minutes and seconds are borrowed: awuwa, minitu, sekandu.

8.3 Clock, calendar, dates§

• The clock follows the speaker's culture, and both styles are always understood.
• The 24-hour style reads four digits one at a time: mon po mape ka po "at 09:30", mon sa fi ka po "at 21:30".
• The 12-hour style counts the hour (1–12), then gives the minutes as two digits, then optionally pi + a part of the day: mon mape ka po pi yami "at 9:30 at night"; mon yawu po sa "at 10:02". On the hour, the hour is said alone: mon yawu sa "at 12".
• The parts of the day are leso morning, minfi noon, duwun afternoon, kegin evening and yami night. Midnight is yawu sa pi yami.
• For about a time, put fu before it: mon fu minfi "around noon".
• A weekday is dili pi + 1–7 on its own, with Monday as 1 (ISO 8601): dili pi ka "Wednesday". A day of the month is said with its month; without one, say whose day it is: dili pi ka pi dunan "the 3rd (of the month)", dili pi ka pi isi "the third day of the trip".
• Dates put the larger unit first, with a pause between: dunan pi yawu, dili pi mape "October 9". A weekday with a time is said the same way: dili pi te, mon …. Years are read digit by digit: fawu pi sa po sa ufo "2026".
• The senary calendar is described in senary measurement.

9. Numbers§

9.1 Digits and place words§

9.2 Reading numbers§

• The place words are yawu 10, loki 100, munno 1000, tonen million and siwin billion. The last three are also group words. In the quantity reading, place words come in descending order, each preceded by its digit. A 1 before a place word is dropped, and zero places are skipped: 15 yawu te, 50 te yawu, 42 da yawu sa, 105 loki te. A group word takes a whole number before it: 250 000 = sa loki te yawu munno.
• The digit reading says one digit at a time. It is used whenever the exact digits matter more than the size: for identifiers, phone numbers and codes (in groups of three from the right), and for years and 24-hour clock times (as one four-digit group).
• Labels (noun + pi + number) under 100 use the quantity reading (dili pi yawu da "day 14"). Larger labels use the digit reading.
• Decimals use mimi "point": 1.5 = fi mimi te. guti means minus. With unun "× 10 to the", ka unun guti ufo = 3 × 10⁻⁶.
• A senary number is senali + digits: senali sa po = 20₆ = 12.

9.3 Amounts and comparison§

• For "about", put fu before the number: ewo fu ka yawu "about 30 people".
• A range is se X tun Y. "At least" is konsin X, and "at most" is mu ke se X.
• "Enough" is tonya.
• A comparison is ke + quality + se + standard: ke kudu se guyi ben "bigger than that house". For "most", compare with everything: ke kudu se we "biggest" (bigger than all). For "less", use ke with the opposite (ke meli "smaller"). For "as … as", use fu (kudu fu bu "as big as it").
• Measurements use borrowed international unit names, with the unit first like any counted noun: kilamita te "5 km". The native unit roots in the lexicon belong to the senary system (senary measurement).

10. People§

10.1 Calling someone, titles, respect§

• You can call someone with a person word (a name, a title, or a single role or kin word) at the start (slot 1, for attention) or at the end (slot 14, to soften): en mara, tin obu. / tin obu, en mara.
• Titles go before the name with no comma, and work both in address and in reference: no tofo en mara "Teacher Mara"; no tofo en mara sin oyi "Teacher Mara said".
• lanno is the title of respect, and has no gender. It goes before a name, role or kin word (lanno en olusegun "Mr/Ms Olusegun", lanno faba pi wede "Uncle / Aunt (father's sibling)"). It can stand alone in address (lanno, so nun … "Sir/Madam, please …"), and alone in reference when context shows who (lanno sin oyi "the honoured one said"). It marks respect for the person named and never means "you".
• There is no apposition. To describe someone, use a title before the name, a relative clause or a new sentence.

10.2 Politeness and routines§

• nun adds politeness or deference and nothing else. It comes after any opener, right after the speech-act particle (so nun … "please …"), or where the particle would be in a statement. nun nun adds more.
• There are no polite pronouns and no speech levels. me is "you" to anyone. Respect is carried by lanno, titles and nun.
• Politeness never changes the act. A polite instruction is tin nun, and a polite warning is yo nun: yo nun osa le obu. fon nun pen wupi isi. "(Warning, politely) the water is coming. (Advice, politely) we need to go."
• In an emergency (yo yo), no nun is expected.
• Routines are fixed formulas. The greetings are upe and upe leso "good morning", the farewell is upe isi "go well", thanks is lota and sorry is sepi. With politeness, nun comes first: nun upe leso.

10.3 Reference§

• wan "he/she" is the person or animal being talked about. yi is another one who isn't the topic: wan nagu yi "she saw him". A newcomer is yi, or is named, until the speaker makes them the topic.
• bu "it" is the thing being talked about. ben alone is a thing that isn't the topic: me momu bu lu ben, yu. "this one or that one?"
• tan or ben alone stands for an event, statement or situation. tan is nearer (what I'm saying, here and now), and ben further (what you said, an earlier event): ben gun upe "that's good"; gi tan "so". For a recipient, see 5.2.
• sun, in reported speech or thought, is the person whose words are reported.
• go is anyone, people in general. me is only ever the listener and is never generic. An unknown doer is ewo bo.
• nen is self. As an object it is reflexive (to kuwi nen "I keep myself"). After a noun or pronoun it means "in person" (wan nen obu "he came himself").
• pen is we including you, and din is we not including you. wan la is "they" and me la "you all".
• A pronoun never means the subject of its own clause; for that, use nen. The listener finds referents from context. If one could be unclear, name it.

11. Names, loans, new words§

• Names take en: en mara. A personal or brand name keeps its owner's spelling in lowercase, even with letters the language lacks: en denise, en xi jinping, en nguyen, en wi-fi. Say it as close to its owner's pronunciation as you can. Place names are names too: en london, though an established adapted form may be used instead: en landan. Names aren't used as verbs.
• The adapted form (tools/names.py) is the spoken fallback for a name and the form of every loan. It is made like this:
• each foreign sound becomes the nearest native sound: r → l, v → b, ʋ → w, z/sh/zh → s, th → f, dh → d, ch → t, j → d, kh → k; h and glottal sounds disappear; ng → n; length, aspiration and tone are dropped; ə, ʌ, æ → a;
• two vowels in a row get a glide between them, y after i or e and w otherwise;
• a consonant that can't stand where it is gets an added u;
• the result has at least two syllables, counting a glide (tuwu).
• Loans take no en. They are used only where the world shares a form, and are taken in that international form: dola dollar, minitu, kilamita, pasentu, intalunetu, imeyilu, kamela, foto. A loan enters the lexicon once it is common, and until then near-collisions are tolerated. Everything else is said with native words, built words or phrases.
• Computers and interfaces use everyday words: search ditun, delete nuton, share peton, copy gayen, add ginni, download dunu, install yaga, turn on/off benbi/tapi, settings ge finsa la, computer du sunbu (compounds.tsv). doku "work" covers a machine working.
• Letters used as labels (apartment 3B) pass through and are read as the speaker's culture reads them.
• New words are made by the method in vocabulary-method.md.

12. Conditions and modality§

• A condition is don "if" + clause. kon + number after don says how likely the condition is: don kon fi "if (unlikely)". don kon po "if (and it isn't so)" is counterfactual: don kon po to sin isi, to sin nagu wan "if I had gone, I would have seen her". The main clause is the consequence, and there is no "would".
• There are three kinds of modality: ability, with lenu "can"; obligation, with keya "must" and wupi "need to, should"; and permission, with efon "allow" (me gun efon nawi "you may eat"). Probability is confidence (6.1).
• Purpose is li + verb, "in order to": li bika "to buy".
• "Let's" is so pen …, and "don't" is tin mu ….

13. Grammar words§

These operators have two syllables, stressed on the first: not literal genso, seen wanme, told inwun, inferred wemen, at least konsin, about to buntu, rather tason, almost nedin, each mesun, usually manni, "okay?" buni, "it turned out" donon, title lanno, until anko, without nuwen. anko and nuwen are relation words, used like ya and gan: to doku anko kegin "I work until evening", wan obu nuwen nimo "he came without money". "Against" in the sense of protection is se "from" (kuwi wan se ben "protect him against that"); in the sense of opposing it is the verb ninsu "oppose".

14. Vocabulary§

• ../data/lexicon.tsv lists roots and loans, each with a field and a frequency tier (1 rare – 5 most common). ../data/grammar.tsv lists the grammar words, ../data/numbers.tsv the number words and ../data/compounds.tsv the established compounds.
• A gloss with a second gloss after a comma fixes the sense: gufu "hard, not soft". A root means that sense only.
• One root may cover senses that most language families lump together: apu "word; language". Context tells them apart.