20pha
The question
Chapter four taught you to ask; this chapter teaches you to hold a question inside a sentence without asking it. pha … pho brackets an embedded yes-or-no question (whether) the way tha … tho brackets a statement. Same architecture, different doorway. The feast needs planning, and planning contains a fair amount of not-knowing:
SceneI
lopia pha pheralu so lepa pho ma sano.phao pha pheralu so lepa pho ma sano.wheo waero nila.
| new word | say it | it means |
|---|---|---|
| pha | pha | (opens an embedded question) |
| pho | pho | (closes it) |
Whether it will rain, nobody knows. The embedded question sits in its brackets with its own future particle, and the main verb outside is simply ma sano, not-know. Phi is precise about ignorance: you say exactly which question you do not have the answer to.
SceneII
lopiawa ne siora so shua.sulaelia. siora so shua.nosa lopia tha siora so shua tho sano.
The embedded question and the plain question are cousins: to wonder whether is pha … pho; to ask outright is chapter four's wa. The child skips the wondering, asks, and receives an answer. What was unresolved can now enter a tha … tho statement as known content.
SceneIII
phao pha lo mia nekuma sola shalu pilewa pho remo.phao sulae thilou.sulaeshalu. mea.
| new word | say it | it means |
|---|---|---|
| remo | re · mo | think, wonder |
| thilou | thi · lo · u | ask, inquire |
Meat or fish. The parent thinks over the whether (an embedded question can hold a sola choice), then does the sensible thing and asks the guest. Fish. Planning can hold an unresolved question without pretending it already has an answer.
SceneIV
shero shua.lopia pha wireo philo welao so nai pho remo.lopia nulae.
The child falls asleep wondering whether tomorrow will be good, which is the correct thing to fall asleep wondering, at that age or any other.