Chapter 14 Verbs and time
Event nouns: a verb names its event
Every Phi verb licenses an event or result noun without changing form. remo is think and a thought; thalo is walk and a walk; hola is laugh and a laugh; whunei is breathe and a breath.
This is a grammar-wide rule. The lexicon records each of these words as a verb because the verbal meaning is its lexical home. Noun use needs no second part-of-speech listing.
Position shows the use
mia thalo.
1SG walk.
mia ta nophe thalo halemu.
1SG one ABST.CLF walk remember.
In the first clause, thalo is the final predicate. In the second, it is counted as an object and halemu closes the clause. A counted event may take optional nophe, the classifier for events, time, and abstractions: ta nophe whunei or simply ta whunei is one breath.
| Phi | Literal gloss | English |
|---|---|---|
mia remo. | 1SG think | I think. |
lo remo | PL think | thoughts |
mia thole halemu. | 1SG practice remember | I remember the practice. |
ta nophe whunei | one ABST.CLF breathe | one breath |
shia hola hea. | 3SG laugh hear | They hear a laugh. |
The rule runs one way
A deed names its event, but a thing does not name its deed. shelu is a book; reading it is mia shelu theo. Rain is pheralu, and rain falls: pheralu lepa. A parent is phao; nurturing, teaching, and care are numelo, thumela, and theama.
No content entry lists both noun and verb. Position and the event-noun rule bridge from an action to its event. The reverse direction needs the verb that says what the thing actually does.
The rule reduces memorization without making all interpretations automatic. A result noun may need context to show which result is meant, and some events have an ordinary lexical noun beside the rule-derived form. The sentence still has to earn its clarity.