Phi pamphlets — Appendix: quick reference

ReferenceThe number words

Phi	Value	Class
`mu`	0	base numeral
`ta`	1	base numeral
`wi`	2	base numeral
`shao`	3	scale unit (three-group)
`phoi`	9	scale unit (nine-group)
`lau`	27	scale unit (twenty-seven-group)
`rei`	81	scale unit (eighty-one-group)

Composition: largest unit first, digits ta or wi before each scale, units last, zero places omitted, never a remainder of three, and never a repeated scale. wi phoi ta shao ta = 18 + 3 + 1 = 22. The exact range is 0-242; the maximum is wi rei wi lau wi phoi wi shao wi. Exact values from 243 upward remain source material outside the Phi passage. A numeral or quantifier already marks quantity and never combines with plural lo.

ReferenceThe four natures

Classifier	Gloss	Covers	Rule of thumb
`himo`	HUM.CLF	people	explicitly categorizes counted people
`lipha`	LIFE.CLF	living beings, living parts, life in waiting	the egg, the ear, the seed
`themo`	THING.CLF	the detached and the crafted	the plank, the bowl, the carved ear
`nophe`	ABST.CLF	concepts, time, events	the year, the storm-as-event, the walk

Always optional; nature-now decides when a classifier is chosen, and declining to classify is the honest form of not knowing. Foregrounding a category is not a guarantee of regard.

ReferenceExact, about, and beyond

Form	Means
`ta shao wi powea`	five eggs, counted
`shao powea`	some three eggs
`phoi miona`	nine or so people
`lau shiro`	many trees
`rei silero`	stars on roughly an eighty-one-group scale; a great many stars
`henoi sulopa`	enough soup for the context under discussion

Quantifier row: theula (UNIV), sheloi (MANY), shelami (MOST), soli (SOME), phina (FEW), theli (EACH), wheli (ANY), mawha (NONE), henoi (ENOUGH). The question: wia (HOW MANY), wia himo miona (how many people?).

ReferencePosition

nu (ORD) + cardinal + noun: nu ta shao philo, the third day. Position as topic: [cardinal] noa, lopia mua wi noa nai. An ordinal states position; who set the order, and what follows from it, are separate facts.

ReferenceThe five verbs of arithmetic

Verb	Operation	Pattern
`sholei`	gather (+)	`wi nela ta shao sholei. ta shao wi kelai.`
`leiro`	release (−)	`ta phoi nela ta shao leiro. wi shao kelai.`
`welura`	spread (×)	`ta shao nela wi welura. wi shao kelai.`
`phanoi`	portion (÷)	`ta phoi nela ta shao phanoi. ta shao kelai.`
`kelai`	result or equality	closes a result clause; pure equality also uses `nela` between quantities

nela is mandatory between operands, in comparison as in arithmetic: [quantity 1] nela [quantity 2] sharoi (exceed) or thenoi (fall short), magnitude only, never worth. Addition and subtraction require the same kind of quantity. Multiplication takes a counted quantity plus a bare factor. Division takes a total plus recipients or groups; the quotient inherits the total's kind, and any remainder is stated separately, a fact with a future. Classifiers remain optional. Phi has no negative or fractional numeral syntax.

ReferenceThe questions of honest counting

Do I know it exactly? Would the difference change what anyone does? Is it mine to give? Yeses all the way down: count, and pay the length gladly. Otherwise shao, soli, or henoi may already be the whole truth, and the sentence gets shorter as it gets truer. An exact numeral, an estimate, a quantifier, or a source record can each be the accurate choice.

ReferenceVocabulary of this pamphlet

Phi	Gloss
powea	egg
piru	trader
silawo	village
noru	bowl
tomi	pot
wiru	basket
shalu	fish
wolea	wood
shonui	ear
torua	year
noa	position

ReferenceCross-references

Doctrine: the manual, Part IV ch12 (foundation, building, approximation, position and kind, conscious calculation); documents/grammar/numeral_reference.md for the full inventory.
The classifier ruling and the nature-now rule: canon.md, Classifiers.
Measurement, power, and numeral design: documents/design/psychological_violence_of_measurement.md.
The scenes this pamphlet drills: primer ch15, ta wi shao, market day; the well of primer ch24, pronounced clear with mawha suliwa; the journal dates of manual ch23; the velveteen story's eighteen scenes.