Phi practice Pronouns and topic-drop in Phi

Reading 10 of 11

Part 9

Exercises

Answers follow at the end. Before checking any form, say aloud who acts, who receives, and which words the listener already holds.

Part AName the role

For each sentence, name the role of every pronoun.

  1. thia mia nila.
  2. mia lo thia whaline.
  3. thia wei mia shua.
  4. mia lohau welao nai.
  5. lo mia lo shia nila.

Part BBuild the clause

Render each English sentence in Phi.

  1. You know yourself.
  2. We heal ourselves.
  3. They know one another.
  4. You and I love each other.
  5. That tree is very large.
  6. I am here.

Part CRepair or defend

Some items are ungrammatical, some are grammatical but claim the wrong thing for the stated intent, and some are fine. Judge each.

  1. mia lohau nai. intended as "I have a dog."
  2. *mia wiso nila. intended as "we see each other."
  3. lo mia miso nila. intended as "we see each other."
  4. *lo ha melu intended as "these friends."
  5. mia shelu theo. shelomu. as a two-sentence account.

Part DLighten or restore

Apply topic-drop where it is safe, and restore the subject where it is not.

  1. mia shelu theo. mia shelomu. Lighten it.
  2. shai shelira thiku nai shelira mioru nai. Say the subject once.
  3. melu to shua. lopia to shua. Now say that the child sang.
  4. melu to shua. to therilu. Safe or not? Say why.

Part ETranslate

  1. su lo mia lo ha ru thape.
  2. mia nela thia wiso lothea.
  3. whu mia to nila peloru mioru nai. thuroa.
  4. lo mia wepu. thia ma wepu.

Check your workAnswer key

AnswersPart A

  1. thia subject, mia object: you see me.
  2. mia subject, lo thia plural object: I thank you all.
  3. thia subject, mia object of the preposition wei: you come to me.
  4. mia possessor inside the subject phrase: my dog is good, and the reading is unambiguous because "I am a good dog" would order the words mia welao lohau nai.
  5. lo mia plural subject, lo shia plural object: we see them, the seam falling where the subject phrase ends.

AnswersPart B

  1. thia miso sano.
  2. lo mia miso theala.
  3. lo shia wiso sano.
  4. mia nela thia wiso lothea.
  5. ra shiro ru whalo nai.
  6. mia ha nai.

AnswersPart C

  1. Wrong for the meaning: it says "I am a dog." Ownership takes phelu: mia lohau phelu.
  2. Ungrammatical: the reciprocal needs a plural subject. lo mia wiso nila.
  3. Grammatical but the mirror, not the meeting: it says we see ourselves. lo mia wiso nila.
  4. Ungrammatical for the meaning: before a noun the deictic leads. ha lo melu.
  5. Fine, defend it: the first sentence establishes mia, the second drops it while it remains recoverable. This is the pattern working exactly as designed.

AnswersPart D

  1. mia shelu theo. shelomu. Established one period ago, recoverable still: the drop is free.
  2. shai shelira thiku nai mioru nai. The frame establishes the forest, and the second shelira was the one word the sentence could spare.
  3. lopia to meliho. Two referents stand live, so the singer is named in full.
  4. Safe: one referent is established and no rival has entered, so the resting lands on the friend without hesitation.

AnswersPart E

  1. Let us burn these thoroughly. lo ha points at the bricks with no noun needed.
  2. You and I love each other: coordination builds the pair, and wiso carries the love between them.
  3. The flower that I saw is beautiful. It grows: the relative clause builds the subject once, and the next sentence needs only a verb.
  4. We go. You do not go: the contrast clause draws the line that lo mia alone leaves open.