Lesson 5: U Marker, De, En
Suppose you say I give the food. The obvious next question is: to whom?
Grammar
U: to / for
That recipient gets u:
u — indirect object, usually to or for. Mnemonic: U = Unto.
For the example below, anona means give. Its breakdown comes later in the lesson.
Now the whole mnemonic finally fits:
Actor Initiates, Engaging, Unto.
| Marker | Mnemonic | Main role |
|---|---|---|
| a | Actor | subject |
| i | Initiates | verb |
| e | Engaging | direct object |
| u | Unto | indirect object: to / for |
a nim i anona e mo u eofa
Click to Reveal Translation
*I give food to a friend.*Because the markers show the roles, Oravia has flexible word order. Other orders are just as acceptable, and speakers can choose the one that feels comfortable or matches the style they want to use. In this short English-language course, most examples follow English-like order to keep it simple.
De: of / from
de connects something to a source, origin, or possessor:
boemo de eofa
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*the friend's kitchen / the kitchen of the friend*Personal pronouns still use the shorter pattern from Lesson 1:
nim boemo
Click to Reveal Translation
*my kitchen*It may help you remember to think of Romance de.
En: in / on / at
en covers ordinary location and time relations such as in, on, and at:
nim en boemo
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*I am in the kitchen.*bo means house / home.
nim en bo
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*I am at home.*Notice that there is no a ... a ... here (is/are), because en already expresses the location.
To remember, think about en being similar to in, or Spanish en.
How much do you actually have to mark?
In ordinary speech, markers may be dropped, as you already saw with a nim i mo → nim i mo. Use a marker whenever it helps make the role clear.
Vocabulary
Subclusters: a narrower kind of thing
A cluster says what general kind of thing is this? A subcluster zooms in one step further.
The AN family makes it easy to see:
AN — action in general
ANE — static action: staying, resting, remaining
ANI — movement toward
ANO — movement away
So to keep this in mind: ANI- points toward, and ANO- points away.
Building blocks
ANE — static action. Mnemonic: E = at Ease, staying in place.
FENE — rest. Mnemonic: FINish, then rest.
ANO — movement away. Mnemonic: O = Out.
NA — giving. Mnemonic: “Now, Accept this.”
BOR — structural parts of a house. Mnemonic: the border of the house.
LU — outside. Mnemonic: Look Up when you are outside.
Words
| Oravia | Meaning | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| anefene | rest | ANE static action + FENE rest |
| anona | give | ANO movement away + NA giving |
| borlu | window | BOR house structure + LU outside |
| leigai | shrub | LEI plants + GAI small |
| vardur | tooth | VAR face/head area + DUR hardness |
Put it together
From earlier lessons
viwa = blood
boemo = kitchen / cook
yudur = hard / difficult
yalgai = small
i anona e mo u eofa
Click to Reveal Translation
*I give food to a friend.*i anona e viwa
Click to Reveal Translation
*I give / donate blood.*a borlu de boemo a yalgai
Click to Reveal Translation
*The kitchen window is small.*a vardur a yudur
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*The tooth is hard.*i anefene en boemo
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*I rest in the kitchen.*a leigai a yalgai
Click to Reveal Translation
*The shrub is small.*Your turn
Write one sentence with u, and one short phrase or sentence with de or en.
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