Reference notes
Appendix A: Glossary of Linguistic Terms
The technical vocabulary used in this manual, in plain language, with the Phi feature each term describes.
- analytic language
- A language in which words never change form: no conjugations, no declensions, no endings. All grammatical meaning comes from word order and separate particles. Phi is strictly analytic; a word learned once is learned whole.
- aspect
- How an action unfolds in time, as distinct from when it happens (tense). Phi's five aspects: perfective
ki(completed whole), imperfectivesi(ongoing), inchoativepa(beginning), cessativete(ending), habitualro(recurring). - causative
- A construction meaning to make someone do something. Phi's
ka: the causer becomes subject, the one caused to act becomes object (mia lopia ka nulae— I make the child sleep). - classifier
- An optional word that assigns what is counted to one of Phi's broad categories:
himo(people),lipha(non-human living things),themo(detached or crafted objects), andnophe(abstractions, time, and events). It can foreground a category but does not guarantee regard or settle a disputed classification. - complementizer
- A framing function word, one syllable long and always opening on a fricative digraph, which is how the ear tells one from a particle. The clause frames are
tha…tho(that-clauses),pha…pho(embedded questions),sha…sho(Phi quotations), andwhu, which opens a relative clause and lets the head noun close it. - source material
- Foreign wording, source-script names, exact records, formulas, identifiers, quotations, and other unassimilated artifacts preserved outside a Phi passage in the surrounding medium. Phi may point to, translate, or analyze that material without treating its tokens as Phi syntax.
- copula
- The verb to be linking a subject to a description. Phi's
nai; the predicate comes before it (shelira mioru nai— the forest is beautiful). - demonstrative
- A pointing word. Phi:
ha(this, near) andra(that, far). - evidentiality
- Grammatical marking of how the speaker knows. Phi's optional set:
hi(witnessed),ke(inferred),ti(told by others),ho(assumed). Unmarked speech implies direct experience. - gloss
- The word-by-word annotation line under Phi examples. Grammatical elements are glossed in capitals using Leipzig-style abbreviations (below); content words in lowercase English.
- head / head-directionality
- The "head" is a phrase's core word (the noun in a noun phrase, the verb in a verb phrase); languages are classed by whether heads come before or after their dependents. Phi deliberately does not fit this binary; see modifier-first.
- hiatus
- Two adjacent vowels pronounced as separate syllables, with no glide or merger between them. Phi's foundational sound rule:
auis always /ä.u/, never a diphthong. - minimal pair
- Two words differing by a single sound (
hea/shea). Phi's coining policy forbids new minimal pairs within a word class, and requires natural opposites to be maximally dissimilar (lawe/kuri, left/right). - modifier-first
- Phi's single organizing principle. Every element that modifies, specifies, or relates comes before what it affects: objects before verbs, adjectives before nouns, prepositions before their objects, clauses before their heads. "Announce, then deliver."
- mood
- The speech-act flavor of a sentence. Phi marks mood with Slot 0 particles: question
wa, imperativeno, conditionallu, optativesu(wishes), politenesspi. - optative
- The mood of wishes and blessings ("may all beings be well"). Phi's
su, the workhorse of the Metta Sutta. - original composition
- A work composed first in Phi rather than inherited from another source. English supplies a close reading, while a proposition record tracks the argument and its unanswered questions.
- particle
- A short, invariant grammatical word. In Phi, always a single CV syllable, assigned to one of three slots: sentence-frame (Slot 0), verb-phrase (Slot 1), word-level (Slot 2).
- phonotactics
- The rules for how sounds may combine. Phi uses open (C)CV syllables, consonant-initial and vowel-final words, no three-vowel runs, no repeated syllable with an onset within a word, and an absolute three-syllable lexical ceiling.
- pre-nominal relative clause
- A relative clause placed before the noun it describes:
[whu mia to nila] shelu— the [that I saw] book. Phi's relativizerwhuopens the clause; the head noun itself closes it. - pro-drop / topic-drop
- Omitting the subject when context makes it obvious. Phi allows it once a topic is established; it is never required.
- quotative
- Marking for directly quoted speech. Phi's
sha…shoframe preserves the speaker's exact words, including their original tense and pronouns. - reflexive / reciprocal
- Action on oneself (
miso: I see myself) versus on each other (wiso: we love each other). - SOV
- Subject-Object-Verb order, Phi's sentence shape: context established, action delivered last.
- tense
- When an action happens relative to now. Phi: past
to, futureso, present unmarked. - translation
- Carrying a source's claims and distinctions into natural Phi while preserving its important images, relationships, and force. Close translation follows the source without copying its word order. The shelf shows the method at full length in the Metta Sutta and beside transmutations in the paired works.
- transmutation
- Rebuilding a source through Phi's concepts and values, with permission to change what a translation would preserve. Its source citations and gap log show what shifted. See chapters 22 and 24.
- vocative
- The grammar of calling someone. Phi's
kona, standing outside the sentence it introduces.
Leipzig-style abbreviations used in this manual
Grammatical category labels follow the Leipzig Glossing Rules and the standard extensions of the typological literature. One deliberate house convention, permitted by Leipzig rule 4: lexical function words (spatial prepositions, quantifiers) are also glossed in capitals (ABOVE, BETWEEN, MANY) so that every function word is visually distinct from content vocabulary in a gloss line. Interrogatives are glossed by meaning in lowercase (who, where, when). Transparent English capitals (ABOVE, MANY, WITHOUT) appear in gloss lines without table rows; the table below lists every abbreviation that cannot be read as plain English.
Click or hover on a row for a longer explanation of that gloss.
| Abbr. | Phi | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
1SG/2SG/3SG mia (I), thia (you), and shia (they, singular, no gender) are the three personal pronouns. None changes with grammatical role; the same form serves as subject, object, or the object of a preposition. | mia, thia, shia | I / you / they-one |
1PL The plural marker lo before mia: we. The same pattern gives lo thia (you all) and lo shia (they, plural). | lo mia | we |
ABL From, a source: melu lue nitho shua is the friend comes from the north. | lue | from |
| ABST.CLF The optional classifier for concepts, time units, events, and other non-physical countables; it marks a category without settling the referent's ontological status. | nophe | abstraction classifier |
ADVRS The adversative conjunction: contrast or exception between two joined elements, without negating what came before. Where whekai turns a whole sentence against the last one, thona joins two phrases of equal weight that pull in different directions. | thona | but (mild) |
ALL To, the goal of motion, with arrival promised. Its counterpart wea (toward) makes no such promise. | kau | to (allative) |
ANT The clause or span it introduces sets a boundary the main event precedes: before. Over a counted span it points backward: phoe wi philo is two days ago. | phoe | before |
ASSUM Marks that the speaker is assuming or supposing something rather than knowing it, one of Phi's four evidentials alongside hi (witnessed), ke (inferred), and ti (told). | ho | assumed |
ATTEN The attenuator: slightly, a little. la sulae is slightly warm. Denying the quality outright is ma. | la | attenuator |
CAUS The causative: the one who causes an action becomes the subject, and the original subject becomes the object. lopia nulae (the child sleeps) becomes mia lopia ka nulae (I make the child sleep). | ka | causative |
CESS The aspect for an action's ending: mia te shelomu is I stop understanding. | te | cessative |
CMPR The comparative marker, paired with sheo (than): tomora sheo shiro mo raelu nai is the mountain is taller than the tree. | mo | comparative |
COM Accompaniment: shared presence rather than tool. nua melu is with a friend; the chisel you cut with takes roe instead. | nua | with (company) |
| CONC The concessive relator: the clause it introduces runs contrary to what follows, and the main clause delivers what happened anyway. | shai | although |
COND The realis conditional, announcing a real or likely if. Its irrealis counterpart, for a condition that did not or cannot hold, is the two-particle lu he. | lu | conditional |
| CONS The discourse marker of consequence: what follows is presented as the result or conclusion of what came before. Discourse markers stand after any Slot 0 particle, before the subject. | thelao | therefore |
| CONTR The discourse marker of contrast: the sentence it opens turns against the one before. Like all discourse markers it begins with a fricative, the breath a speaker takes before redirecting the conversation. | whekai | however |
| COORD And, the basic coordinating conjunction, joining words, phrases, or clauses of equal weight. | nela | and |
DAT To, for, marking the recipient or beneficiary of an action: mia wei thia loami loa is I give you a gift. | wei | to, for (recipient) |
DECL.COMP Opens an embedded clause that reports the content of a statement rather than its exact words. It always closes with tho. | tha | that-clause (opener) |
DECL.COMP.CLOSE Closes a tha clause. Phi's verb-final order needs the closer; without it, the embedded verb and the main verb would sit side by side with no way to tell them apart. | tho | that-clause (closer) |
| DIR Marks that the speaker witnessed the event directly, through their own senses. | hi | witnessed |
| DISJ Or, the coordinating conjunction for alternatives. | sola | or |
DUR Temporal containment: the event happens within a span, not at a point. sui kelua is during the morning. | sui | during |
EXC Says a degree has passed what the purpose allows. wo sukaro is too hot, where ru sukaro is only very hot. | wo | excessive |
| EXMP The discourse marker that steps from the general to a concrete case: what follows illustrates what was just said. | phisu | for example |
FOC Marks emphatic focus on one element of the sentence: mia ko lothea shelomu singles out love, not other things, as what is understood. | ko | focus |
| FUT The future tense particle. Present tense carries no particle at all. | so | future |
HAB The aspect for a recurring or characteristic action, distinct from si (mid-flow, happening now): mia ro theo is I read regularly. | ro | habitual |
HON.INTIM / HON.RESPECT / HON.ROLE Three word-level particles standing between ne and a name. ni marks deep personal bonds of love, family, or friendship; sa marks respect for mentors, elders, and wisdom holders; le acknowledges a current service role. They announce relationship, never rank. | ni, sa, le | honorifics |
HUM.CLF The optional classifier for people: ta himo melu is one friend explicitly classified as a person. The category is audible, but respect depends on use and context. | himo | people classifier |
| IMP The imperative marker, announcing a command or request. | no | imperative |
INCH The aspect for an action's beginning: mia pa shelomu is I begin to understand. | pa | inchoative |
| INFER Marks that the speaker reached the claim by inference from evidence, not by direct witness or report. | ke | inferred |
INS The instrumental: the tool, means, or method an action uses. mia roe kiru wolea kati is I cut the wood with the chisel; company takes nua instead. | roe | with (tool) |
INT.COMP Opens an embedded yes/no question (I wonder whether). It always closes with pho. | pha | embedded question (opener) |
INT.COMP.CLOSE Closes a pha clause, marking where the embedded question ends so the main verb can follow without ambiguity. | pho | embedded question (closer) |
INTS The intensifier: very, truly. ru welao is very good. | ru | intensifier |
IPFV The aspect for action in progress, mid-flow, right now, distinct from ro (habitual). | si | imperfective |
IRR Paired with lu as lu he, an unreal or counterfactual conditional, for a condition that did not or cannot hold. | he | irrealis |
| LIFE.CLF The optional classifier for non-human living beings, living parts, and forms treated as life in waiting. | lipha | living-thing classifier |
LOC In, at, inside, marking where an action happens. It is never a motion endpoint itself; going toward a destination uses kau. | mua | in/at |
| NAME Announces that the following Phi token is a proper designation. The token may be a content word or a productive Phi-form onym of two, three, or four syllables with no lexicon meaning. | ne | proper-name token |
NEC Marks that an action is necessary or obligatory: mia na naphe is I must help. | na | necessity |
| NEG Negation. It always comes last in a stack of Slot 1 particles, after tense, aspect, voice, evidentiality, and modality. | ma | negation |
OPT Announces a wish, hope, or prayer: su sila towe nai is may the community be well. | su | optative |
ORD Marks that the numeral before a noun gives its position, not its quantity: nu ta lopia is the first child, not one child. | nu | ordinal |
PASS The passive voice, promoting the object of an action to subject: mia nophi kealo (I create the story) becomes nophi se kealo (the story is created). | se | passive |
PFV The aspect for completion at whatever point the tense sets as its reference: ki alone is have done, to ki is had done, so ki is will have done. | ki | perfective |
PL The plural marker for an unquantified noun. A numeral or quantifier already implies plurality, so lo never combines with one. | lo | plural |
POL Marks that the whole utterance is polite or respectful, and can combine with other Slot 0 particles: pi no lumani naphe is please help the family. | pi | politeness |
POST The clause or span it introduces names what came first, and the main clause follows it: after. pheo teku shemu is after a short moment; over a counted span it points forward, so pheo wi philo is in two days. | pheo | after |
POT Marks possibility or ability: mia po shelomu is I can understand, or I am able to understand. | po | possibility (can/may) |
PROX/DIST ha (this, near) and ra (that, far), Phi's two demonstratives, marking distance from the speaker rather than gender or class. | ha, ra | this/that |
| PST The past tense particle. | to | past |
PURP Introduces a purpose clause, the intention announced before the act: lila hea is in order to hear. Purpose, unlike cause, looks forward. | lila | so that (purpose) |
| Q Opens a sentence to announce a yes/no question, always sentence-initial. | wa | question |
QUOT.COMP Opens a direct quotation, preserving the speaker's exact words rather than their content. It always closes with sho. | sha | quotation (opener) |
QUOT.COMP.CLOSE Closes a sha quotation, marking where the quoted words end so the verb of speaking or hearing can follow. | sho | quotation (closer) |
RECP/REFL wiso marks mutual action between plural subjects (we help each other); miso turns an action back on its own subject (I wash myself). The designed -so pair extending the pronoun set. | wiso, miso | each other / oneself |
REL Introduces a relative clause, which stands before the noun it describes: [whu mia to nila] shelu is the book that I saw. | whu | relativizer |
| REP Marks that the speaker received the information from someone else, rather than witnessing, inferring, or assuming it. | ti | reported |
| REPH The discourse marker of restatement: what follows says the previous thought again in a different form, another road offered to the same place. | shorela | in other words |
RESTR Marks that a statement holds for the one thing named, and nothing else: only. It fences identity, who or which, never quantity; a count is stated exactly or with henoi. | li | only, restrictive |
| SPEC The discourse marker that narrows from the general to the particular, singling out the case the speaker means. | shekoi | specifically |
SUFF Says a degree meets what the situation asks. pe sukaro is hot enough; henoi does the same for a quantity. | pe | sufficient |
| SUMM The discourse marker that gathers what came before into its essence, the turn from exploration to distillation. | shelao | in summary |
| THING.CLF The optional classifier for detached or crafted physical objects such as tools, containers, buildings, and stones; it is not a classifier for all inanimate matter or places. | themo | object classifier |
UNIV The universal quantifier: every member of the set, none left out. theula miona is all people, the opening words of Phi's Article 1. | theula | all, every |
VOC Marks direct address, standing outside the sentence it introduces: kona melu. mia ha nai is friend, I am here. | kona | vocative |