Láadan/Lessons/19

Introduction

Once you're comfortable with basic sentence structures, you may want to include one sentence in another. For example, "Did you know that [grandma died]?", where "Grandma died" is its own sentence, but is included in a larger sentence.

Embedding statements: -hé marker

The "-hé" marker can be used to embed one statement within another statement. "-hé" will be added to the last word in the internal sentence.

Examples

Láadan	English	Vocab words
Bíi áya le wa.	I am beautiful.	áya = to be beautiful
Bíi lith le [áya lehé] wa.	I think that I am beautiful.	lith = to think
Bíi lith be [áya lehé] wa.	She thinks that I am beautiful.

Embedding questions: -hée marker

This marker can be used to embed a question within a sentence. The external sentence can also be a question, or it can be a statement. "-hée" will be added to the last word in the internal sentence.

Examples

Láadan	English	Vocab words
Bíi áya le wa.	I am beautiful.
Bíi lith be [áya lehée]?	Do you think that I am beautiful?
Bíi lothel ra le [áya lehée] wa.	I don't know whether I am beautiful or not.	lothel = to know

Embedding relative clauses: -háa marker

A relative clause modifies a noun. With the statement and question embedding markers above, the internal sentences are relatively standalone ("the rain is cold." "do you think that [the rain is cold]?"). Here, however, the relative clause will modify the sentence as a whole.

Examples

Láadan	English	Vocab words
Bíi an behid witheth wa.	He knows a woman.
Bíi lalom with wa.	The woman sings.
Bíi an behid [lalom witheháath] wa.	He knows a woman who sings.

(Amberwind (2012), Láadan Lessons, p. 295)

Comparison

Note the difference between using "-hé" and "-háa":

Láadan	English	Vocab words
Bíi dom le [hal withehé] wa.	I remember that [the woman works].	dom = to remember
Bíi dom le [hal witheháa] wa.	I remember the [woman that works].