Lesson 1: Personal Pronouns
How to Use This Lesson
This lesson is divided into four sections. Please move through them in this order: Grammar, Vocabulary, Practice, Flashcards.
Do not try to memorize! Just read through the content attentively. The warm-ups and flashcards will bring the vocabulary back later!
Before you begin
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Personal Pronouns
Let's get started with grammar first!
Singular Pronouns
These are the personal pronouns:
| Oravia | English |
|---|---|
| nim | I |
| run | you |
| hay | he/she/they (singular) |
For example, if you want to refer to yourself, you'd say "nim".
There is no gender, so hay can be used as he, she, or any other singular third person pronoun. In sum, you can point to anyone and say "hay".
Plural Pronouns
Words in Oravia don't generally have plural, but personal pronouns do. Personal pronouns form the plural with -as: nim → nimas, run → runas, hay → hayas. Here they are:
| Oravia | English |
|---|---|
| nimas | we |
| runas | you (plural) |
| hayas | they (plural) |
For example, if you want to refer to just one person listening to you, you'd say "run". If you want to refer to multiple people, like "y'all", you'd say "runas".
All Together
Now let's look at them again, singular and plural: | Singular | Plural | |----------|--------| | nim (I) | nimas (we) | | run (you) | runas (you all) | | hay (he/she/they) | hayas (they) |
Quick Check
- How do you say "he"?
- How about "they (plural)"?
That's it for grammar today! Let's move on to the next tab: Vocabulary.
The MO Cluster
We are going to learn our first cluster! Look at the list of words below.
Remember, do not try to memorize them. Just read it through attentively.
| Oravia | English |
|---|---|
| moaria | apple |
| mocen | chocolate |
| mogali | coffee |
| mouje | drink |
All these words start with MO, being part of the MO cluster.
Guess the Cluster
Now, what do you think this cluster is about?
🌍 Sound Connections
Many languages use something similar to "mo" for food because it's a sound of lips together. For example, Hawaiian moku (to eat, archaic); Swahili mlo (meal); Korean 먹다 meokda (to eat); Japanese もぐもぐ mogu-mogu (onomatopoeia for eating/chewing); English yummy.
Sound connections create associations between Oravia's syllable-meanings and real world languages. This is not about strict etymology, its main purpose is helping learning. Read these boxes attentively and think about how the syllables relate in sound and meaning. This may help you remember words.
Matching Games
Time to practice! Match the Oravia words with their English meanings. Use sound-meaning associations as clues. For example, the subcluster sound tells you the category, even for words you haven't seen before.
If you don't remember or make a mistake, that's totally fine! We will have plenty of opportunities to practice. Right now just give it a try.
Click one word from each column to match them. The game will check automatically when you select both words.
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
🎉 Lesson 1 Complete!
Use the Flashcards tab for another quick review.
Come back tomorrow for Lesson 2.