Phi practice Coordination in Phi

Reading 2 of 9

Part 1

Equal partners: nela

nela joins elements of equal grammatical status. The two sides must be comparable pieces of structure: a noun with a noun, a verb with a verb, a clause with a clause.

mia shea nela lothea phaelo.

1SG peace COORD love feel.

(I feel peace and love.)

mia theo nela sheluo.

1SG read COORD listen.

(I read and listen.)

Two objects sharing one verb, two actions sharing one subject. In each, nela holds the pair level: no sequence, no cause, no ranking. Peace does not produce love in the first sentence, and the reading does not precede the listening in the second. The conjunction says together, and stops.

01Phrases keep their shape

Longer phrases ride on either side with their internal order untouched:

mia mioru peloru nela whalo shiro nila.

1SG beautiful flower COORD large tree see.

(I see a beautiful flower and a large tree.)

Each side is a complete noun phrase built exactly as the nouns pamphlet builds them; nela stands at the seam and joins the finished wholes.

02Clauses in one sentence

At clause level, each side carries its own subject, objects, and verb, and the period waits for both:

mia theo nela thia sheluo.

1SG read COORD 2SG listen.

(I read, and you listen.)

sileta sulae nai nela howeli phaelu nai.

sun warm be COORD wind peaceful be.

(The sun is warm, and the wind is peaceful.)

The first verb completes its clause; nela opens the second; one sentence holds the pair. Whether two facts belong in one sentence or two is a real choice, and part 5 takes it up.

03Every join says its name

A list of three or more repeats nela at every boundary:

shiro nela peloru nela whelina.

tree COORD flower COORD grass.

(Trees and flowers and grass.)

Each join is audible, each item worth its own and. A list built this way cannot slur its members together, and any ranking among them would need words of its own.

Practicehold the pair level

  1. I love friends and family.
  2. The tree is beautiful and large.
  3. I read, and you listen.
  4. Trees and flowers and grass, every joint sounded.

Answers: 1 mia melu nela lumani lothea. 2 shiro mioru nela whalo nai. 3 mia theo nela thia sheluo. 4 shiro nela peloru nela whelina. Four pairs and a list, all level, nothing ranked, nothing implied between the partners but the and itself.