Part 1
Three words, one shape
A knock, the door opens, and the visit begins with the two people it takes to have one:
mia thia nila.
1SG 2SG see.
wa thia shea nai.
Q 2SG peace be.
mia is the speaker and thia the addressee, and each keeps its form wherever the sentence puts it. The greeting question is the oldest use of the pair: one person locating another and asking after their state, four words in all.
01The third word
shia brings in one more being or thing, anyone or anything the two of you speak of:
shia shua.
3SG come.
mia shia sano.
1SG 3SG know.
English needs to pick he, she, it, or they before the sentence can move; shia mentions the person without describing them, and the conversation supplies who is meant. When more identification would help, a noun or a name does that work, and the naming pamphlet gives names their own ground. The pronoun's job is presence, and it does that job with one word for everyone.
02One shape, heard
All three pronouns are hiatus disyllables: a stressed first syllable, then a separate open a. Say them slowly, mi.a, thi.a, shi.a, and hear the family resemblance the grammar built in. The th of thia asks the tongue for a moment of deliberate placement, and some speakers like it that the word for you begins with a sound that cannot be said carelessly.
Practicethe door
- I thank you.
- You know me.
- Are you at peace? Ask it of the friend on the step.
- They arrive. Announce the third guest.
Answers: 1 mia thia whaline. 2 thia mia sano. 3 wa thia shea nai. 4 shia shua. Four sentences into the visit and every person present already has a word, the same word they will keep all evening.