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Lesson 22: Time Units / NO Cluster

How to Use This Lesson

This lesson is divided into five sections. Please move through them in this order: Warm-Up, Grammar, Vocabulary, Practice, Flashcards.

Do not try to memorize! Just read through the content attentively. We will have plenty of exercises and reviews later!

How much do you remember?

Check the boxes for words you think you know. Then click Show Answers to reveal the meanings.

Time Units

We will use numbers to talk about time! The numbers 1–7 are: tam, tor, par, bale, alui, teva, peri.

We will use these to say the days of the week. The week starts on Monday, so that's day 1. Then Tuesday is day 2, and so on, like this:

Tamen liperi = one in week = Monday
Toren liperi = two in week = Tuesday
Paren liperi = three in week = Wednesday

How would you say Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday?

In speech, people may drop liperi and say just Tamen, Toren, Paren, Baleen, Aluien, Tevaen, and Perien. In writing, the full form may be preferred.

For months, we use numbers 8–12: auta, tenda, das, dastam, dastor. For dates, we specify the month and day, like this:

Lipardas tam = month one = January
Lipardas tor = month two = February
Litam tam = day one = 1st of...
Litam tor = day two = 2nd of...

How would you say July, October, and December? How about 23rd of August?

Celi run fadevi litam?

Finally, there are two more important words when it comes to time. Lar is used for a general, unspecified past, and lis is used for a general, unspecified future. For example:

Lar, i dami a falfal = once upon a time, there was a child  
Lis, i ilian = one day, I will know

These words can also be used to mean last and next when followed by a time period, like this: 

Lar lidastor = the previous year / last year
Lis lipardas = the following month / next month

The reference is usually the present, so when someone says lis or lar + time, it usually means last or next year / month / week. But remember, -ar and -is work as relative time, so if the narrative is not in the present, they may mean the previous / the following.

To sum up: 

Lipardas tam, lipardas tor... = January, February... 
Litam tam, litam tor... = day 1, day 2...
Tamen liperi, toren liperi... = Monday, Tuesday...
Lar = unspecified past, once
Lar + time period = the previous year / month / week...
Lis = unspecific future, one day
Lis + time period = the following year / month / week...

NO CLUSTER

Today we will learn our next cluster, NO!

Oravia English
nomie seems
norven already
noniu some
no such, like, as
noi here

The NO cluster has function words, that is, words that sharpen what you mean, adding precision and nuance.

You already know how to say a lot of things, and now you will be able to express yourself better. For example:

nim i anye = I do
nolili nim i anyeis = I will do it forever
nim i anepou = I stop
norven nim i anepou = I already stopped

Remember: when combining words, the word that comes before modifies what comes after (e.g., moaria mouje = apple juice). NO words follow the same rule, so use a NO word before what it modifies. For example,

nim i anona e anona u noniu ilhei = I give the gift to some people
nim i anona e noniu anona u ilhei = I give some gifts to people

So let's take a look at three words in this cluster. First, no means such, as, like. For example:

hay i vanvu no yamirli = she walks like an old person.

Second, nomie means seems. We usually pair nomie with no (such, like, as), for example:

a oimel i nomie no oihi = the story seems like it's interesting
hay vardur i nomie no yahci = her teeth seem sharp

Third, let's take a look at the word for here, noi:

noi i dami a falni = there is a baby here
a nim a noi = I am here

You can use it to modify other words, like this: 

noi falni = the here baby = this baby

And of course, you can use ho to express opposite: 

ho noi i dami a moaria = there is an apple there
ho noi moaria = the there apple = that apple

🌍 Sound Connections

Mie comes from Mandarin 面 miàn (face, appearance).

Here's another word that uses this root:
daemie = estimate (evaluation + seem), just like nomie = seem like (function word + seem)

To sum it up: 

as with other words, *no* cluster words go before what they modify
nomie no = seems like
noi = here, this

Now try to create a sentence using NO words, or 3 if you're up for a challenge!

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

Round 4

🎉 Lesson 22 Complete!

Come back tomorrow for Lesson 23.