Chapter 11 Nouns and their world
The words of the heart
Color, place, and the body each got their words; this section gives you the inner ones. The grammar is already yours from the words of the body: states are worn with nai, sensations are felt with phaelo. What remains is the vocabulary, its carves, and the rule that keeps it honest.
The felt basics
The noun feelings, objects of phaelo:
| Phi | Gloss |
|---|---|
| shea | peace |
| nuhe | sadness |
| sukima | fear |
| nupira | shame |
| thomari | courage |
The adjective states, worn with nai:
| Phi | Gloss |
|---|---|
| siora | joy |
| loshi | joyful |
| shena | calm |
| phaelu | peaceful |
| noalu | tranquil |
| thiro | serene |
| nuloe | content |
| nemo | grateful |
| kuelo | curious |
| phaeli | tender |
| hurao | patient |
| shaelo | brave |
| phena | kind |
| thoru | proud |
mia siora nai.
1SG joy be.
mia nuhe phaelo.
1SG sadness feel.
And because a feeling is felt rather than been, it can also be set down:
shia nupira to leiro.
3SG shame PST release.
The carved calm
Phi has six words in peace's neighborhood, and each holds its own ground. shea is peace itself, the noun you feel and wish. phaelu is the abiding disposition, peacefulness as character. shena is the stillness of this moment. noalu is the deeper settled form, the tranquility of a lake that has been calm a long time. thiro is serene, composure with some height in it. nuloe is content, satisfaction with what is. Choosing among them is not a vocabulary test; it is a moment of noticing what, exactly, is true.
The joy pair carves the same way: siora is felt joy, the upwelling in the one who feels it, and loshi is the joy-giving character of things, a festival day, good news, a bright morning.
The named and composed heart
The list above gives a learner the core feeling patterns, but Phi's heart has more than one shelf. Beyond it are monelu (amused), wiroa (hopeful), luroi (nervous), and nilua (shy). therua (eager), sheli (impatient), and wipha (restless) belong there too. Each word has a useful carve of its own.
Several other feelings keep their parts visible. Anger is korua thero, heart-fire, and hatred uses the same settled expression. Contempt is thiku nila, seeing-as-small, framed as an act of perception and never a fact about another person's worth. Envy is phelu pula, a wish aimed at what another holds. Loneliness combines sonu with nuhe, sadness in being alone. These expressions expose Phi's chosen analysis without proving that every person experiences the feeling in exactly that way. A direct word remains possible when it carries a useful distinction.
Wonder needs no compound at all, because wonder is a question held as a feeling, and Phi can put a whole question inside phaelo:
mia pha lopia nulae pho phaelo.
1SG INT.COMP child sleep INT.COMP.CLOSE feel.
The verbs of the heart
Some of the heart's work is verbs, and they take ordinary objects: lothea (love), rinu (want), wilao (long for), pula (wish), soliru (hope), theomi (trust), nuhemi (grieve, from the turning of a life), and nelu (revere, the inward awe). These are not rungs on one ladder. rinu is ordinary desire, wilao gives desire a sustained or intense pull, pula presents an outcome one would welcome, and soliru regards that welcome outcome as possible while it remains uncertain.
One further pair is worth keeping straight: woraka is felt appreciation and whaline is its expression, so gratitude runs from the nemo heart through woraka to the spoken whaline:
mia thia lothea.
1SG 2SG love.
mia thia whaline.
1SG 2SG thank.
The primer's first conversation ends on mia thia lothea. This section adds the distinctions needed when love is not the only thing in the room. The two predicate patterns keep a person separate from a passing feeling, while the settled compounds leave their interpretation visible enough to question.