Phi practice Adverbial clauses in Phi

Reading 5 of 11

Part 4

Cause: lao

A reason in Phi arrives before the assertion it explains, and lao opens it. The frame can hold a complete clause:

lao pheralu to nai ruela wirua nai.

BECAUSE rain PST be path wet be.

(Because it rained, the path is wet.)

Or a bare noun phrase, when the cause needs no verb of its own:

lao pheralu ruela wirua nai.

BECAUSE rain path wet be.

(Because of the rain, the path is wet.)

The dependent clause is a full clause with full rights. It can carry its own negation and tense, and the main clause carries its own:

lao mia to ma sheluo mia to ma shelomu.

BECAUSE 1SG PST NEG listen 1SG PST NEG understand.

(Because I did not listen, I did not understand.)

One boundary keeps the word honest: lao marks the reason the speaker claims. It does not certify that the reason is the whole story, and other contributing causes, along with any question of responsibility, remain available for further sentences.

01One sentence or two

English "because" and "therefore" divide one job by direction; Phi divides it by scope. lao frames a reason inside a single sentence. thelao, the discourse marker, draws a conclusion across a sentence boundary: the evidence is a sentence of its own, and thelao opens the next one. When the reason deserves its own full sentence, or the conclusion follows a stretch of them, reach for thelao and the period. When reason and result are one thought, lao holds them in one sentence. Chapter 18 owns the markers; the choice between the two scopes is this pamphlet's business.

Practiceplace the reason

  1. Because the water is warm, the child plays. Build it.
  2. Say the same pair as two sentences, conclusion drawn across the boundary.
  3. Because of the wind, we sit at home. Build it with a noun-phrase cause.

Answers: 1 lao phialu sulae nai lopia wile. The reason clause completes at nai and the playing follows in the same sentence. 2 phialu sulae nai. thelao lopia wile. The evidence stands alone, and the marker opens the conclusion. Neither version outranks the other; they scope differently. 3 lao howeli lo mia mua womu meilo. The bare noun phrase names the cause, and the main clause keeps its ordinary shape, the place phrase before the verb.