Part 8
The interaction tables
Phi's particle grammar is closed. Its combinations follow the inventories and ordering rules already described; they do not wait for a corpus example to become grammatical. These tables gather the rules without treating unused combinations as invitations to invent new syntax.
Table 1Slot 0 forms
| Form | Reading |
|---|---|
| no particle | declarative assertion |
wa | yes/no question |
no | directive |
lu | realis condition |
lu he | irrealis or counterfactual condition |
su | wish, hope, blessing, or prayer |
pi | polite stance |
pi wa | polite yes/no question |
pi no | polite directive |
| any other multiple Slot 0 sequence | not licensed |
he exists only after lu. Politeness precedes the question or directive in the two documented combined forms. Slot 0 does not otherwise allow speakers to pile one utterance frame on another.
Table 2inside Slot 1
| Pattern | Rule |
|---|---|
| particles from different ranks | combine in fixed rank order when all meanings apply to one event |
| two particles from one rank | not licensed |
se ka | the sole same-rank pair, in that order |
ka se | not licensed |
po ma | cannot; possibility or ability denied |
na ma | must not; necessity applies to refraining |
ka ma | causation denied; the caused event remains open |
| need not | expressed with the freedom construction, not reordered particles |
Tense and aspect combine compositionally: to ki, so ki, to si, so si, to ro, and so ro all follow the same order. The same rule extends across the remaining ranks. A sequence such as to si ke po ma is legal if one event truly needs every distinction.
Table 3Slot 0 over Slot 1
| Pattern | Example | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| question over a past clause | wa thia to nila. | Did you see? |
| directive over negation | no ponu ma tapu. | Do not close the door. |
| wish over future | su shea so shua. | May peace come. |
| realis condition with its own stack | lu mia naphe. thia towe so nai. | If I help, you will be well. |
| polite question | pi wa thia po shua. | Could you please come? |
| polite directive | pi no mia naphe. | Please help me. |
A licensed Slot 0 frame may contain an ordinary Slot 1 stack. The particles still make their usual claims. A negative directive is therefore a directive whose predicate is negated; it is not a new Slot 0 combination. A condition and its consequence remain separate clauses, each with its own Slot 1 choices.
Table 4inside Slot 2
| Pattern | Rule |
|---|---|
we or li | one may occupy the widest relation on a phrase; they do not stack together |
ha or ra | deixis precedes quantity, focus, degree, and the word |
lo or a numeral or quantifier | one expression of quantity; lo does not accompany another quantity |
ko | focus follows quantity and precedes an ordinary degree particle |
ru, la, pe, wo, or mo | degree stays next to the word it measures, which may be a noun as readily as an adjective or a verb, one particle at a time |
mo ko | fixed superlative construction |
nu + numeral | fixed ordinal construction |
ne + honorific + name | name marker precedes the relationship marker |
Practicelicense or refuse
For each form, say whether it is licensed and give the rule.
so kihi kepi suka popo kase kaka seno ponu ma tapu.lo wi meluwe li ha meluru nuheru womu
Answers: 1 licensed, future reference time plus completion. 2 not licensed, two evidentials in one rank. 3 not licensed, not one of the documented Slot 0 combinations. 4 licensed, voice before modality. 5 not licensed, modality cannot precede voice. 6 licensed, the fixed passive-causative pair. 7 not licensed, the voice pair has one order. 8 licensed, a directive over a negated predicate. 9 not licensed, a numeral replaces lo. 10 not licensed, we and li do not share one phrase. 11 licensed, a degree particle on a noun, and the only route open to a state Phi names without an adjective. 12 licensed by the ordering rule and refused by sense, since a house has no degree to raise; this is the one item on the list that no rule turns away.