San yom

San yom kaun | Conjunctions

Ba kom has four conjunctions: u, pin, xe, and me.

U

U means "and". It is used to link nouns and clauses together in lists.

When linking clauses, u is used for statements that are both true at the same time. It is not used for sequences of events that happen one after the other. For this, serial verb constructions, or the conjunction pi, are used.

U can also be used to form adverbs when an action takes place during another activity.

• O dan yun sok u bim sol.
  [he/she] [walk] [around] [box] [and] [with the nose] [breathe in]
  "He/she walked around the box sniffing."

• Mi lal caum u ui laun.
  [I] [run] [slow] [and] [listen to] [music]
  "I listen to music while I jog."

To express "both … and …", the adverb ai is placed after the verb.

• Ling pon ai siu u cam.
  [tidings] [fill] [too] [street] [and] [field]
  "The news filled both streets and fields."

• Mi xam ai kuwi u tai.
  [I] [enjoy] [too] [coffee] [and] [tea]
  "I like both coffee and tea."

Pi

Pi means "and then", "so", or "and thereby".

Pi can be used to introduce an event that happens after the event of the previous clause.

• Mi til pi con kem.
  [I] [get up] [and then] [put on] [clothing]
  "I got up and got dressed."

• O cak pal sam pi din do wo in i ne pai.
  [he/she] [cook] [bread] [three]
  [and then] [give] [two] [to] [person] [relativizer] [lack] [wealth]
  "He/she baked three loaves of bread and then gave two to the poor."

It can be used to mean "so", introducing a statement that is true because a previous statement is true.

• Hau lo seng, pi sul lo kung.
  [air] [aspect] [cold], [so] [pond/lake] [aspect] [freeze]
  "It's gotten cold, so the pond is frozen."

• Ul la fa, pi mi wi na yon no.
  [water] [aspect] [rain] [and therefore] [I] [want] [not] [go] [out]
  "It's raining, so I don't want to go out."

• Si wai bo, pi mi ting-ting.
  [you] [request] [kind] [and therefore] [I] [think]-[think]
  "You asked nicely, so I'll think about it."

It is used to mean "then" in if-then statements.

• Sa yan wi tal, pi yan de din.
  [if] [one] [want to] [receive], [then] [one] [must] [give]
  "If you want to receive it, then you have to give it."

• Sa si yau wo mi, pi mi lu yain.
  [if] [you] [yell] [to] [I], [then] [I] [would] [cry]
  "If you yelled at me, then I would cry."

• Sa si yen lau, pi wo mi nat ba.
  [if] [you] [come] [by], [then] [to] [I] [send] [speech]
  "If you come over, then give me a call."

Pi can also be used to turn the previous clause into an adverb that describes the following clause.

• Un put fam pi xol.
  [use] [writing implement] [powder] [and thereby] [write]
  "Write it in pencil."

• Mim so tik bu lit pam pi makang pau.
  [we] [do] [tree] [fruit] [line.up] [grow] [and thereby] [make.easy] [harvesting]
  "We grow the fruit trees in rows to make them easier to harvest."

It is also used in the phrase "the more…, the more …".

[verb] se, pi [verb] se.

For example:

• Tik aim se, pi bu mil se.
  [tree] [old] [further], [then] [fruit] [sweet] [further]
  "The older the tree, the sweeter the fruit."

• Yan dong se, pi ca mai se.
  [one] [study] [further] [and thereby] [know] [much] [futher]
  "The more you study, the wiser you are."

• Om caim mai se, pi ye nimai se.
  [they] [conserve] [much] [further] [and thereby] [have] [little] [further]
  "The more they saved, the less they had."

• Mi ting du se, pi wi na so se.
  [I] [think about] [long] [further], [and thereby] [want to] [not] [do] [further]
  "The longer I think about it, the less I want to do it."

Xe

Xe means "but", "and yet", "however", "on the other hand".

It can also be used to point out the reason for something, like "after all" or "well". This is often paired with a.

• No lu keng mai.
  [out] [become] [bad] [very]
  "It turned out very badly."
  Xe a mi matain si.
  [but] [indeed] [I] [warn] [you]
  "Well I did warn you."

When used with a question, it can be used to seek further information, or to impart a sense of urgency.

• Xe mo?
  [but] [what]
  "What now?" "What happened next?"

• Xe mi po so mo?
  [but] [I] [can] [do] [what]
  "What ever can I do?"

• Xe mu kau ling?
  [but] [question] [back] [report]
  "Aren't you going to answer?"

Me

Me means "or" or "nor".

To express "either … or …", or "neither … nor …", the adverb ai is placed after the verb.

• Si po ai tal me sak.
  [you] [can] [too] [take] [or] [forsake]
  "You can either take it or leave it."

• Om wi ye na ai pem me bet.
  [they] [want] [have] [not] [too] [forgive] [or] [avenge]
  "They want neither forgiveness nor revenge."

A

Indicates contrast; "but rather".

San yom hin | Initial particles

These particles are placed at the very beginning of a sentence. They indicate the type of sentence.

When no particle is used, the sentence is either a statement or a command.

mu

Creates a yes-or-no question.

• Mu o a bai si?
  [question] [he/she] [be] [sibling] [you]
  "Is he/she your sibling?"

• Mu si xan tai?
  [question] [you] [enjoy] [tea]
  "Do you like tea?"

• Mu ul la fa ci?
  [question] [water] [aspect] [fall.from.sky] [now]
  "Is it raining right now?"

When used with a negative adverb, mu can sometimes indicate incredulity.

• Mu si ca na?
  [question] [you] [know] [already] [not]
  "Don't you know?"

It can be placed at the end of a sentence to form a tag-question.

• Si xan tai, mu?
  [you] [enjoy] [tea] [question]
  "You like tea, don't you?"

• O a bai si, mu?
  [he/she] [be] [sibling] [you] [question]
  "He/she is your sibling, isn't he/she?"

• Wa bo leng, mu?
  [this] [good] [play] [question]
  "This is fun, isn't it?"

yo

Creates polite requests or suggestions; "let's", "how about", "why don't".

• Yo mim yon ta be fo.
  [suggestion] [we] [go] [to] [shore] [sand]
  "Let's go to the beach."

• Yo si pang lok.
  [suggestion] [you] [organize] [document]
  "How about you organize the documents."

• Yo sim ten xan.
  [suggestion] [you] [suit] [liking]
  "Suit yourselves."

• Yo mi yon kan lo a mo.
  [suggestion] [I] [go] [look] [aspect] [be] [what]
  "Why don't I go see what's going on."

• Yo mi hin sa ba mi hain man si.
  [suggestion] [I] [begin] [adverb] [say] [I] [respect] [opinion] [you]
  "Let me begin by saying that I respect your opinion."

Yo is also used as a vocative particle. It is placed before names or titles when one is addressing someone directly.

• Yo pahain, mu ben?
  [O] [respected one], [question] [alright]
  "How are you, sir/ma'am?"

• Yo kal, cun xe wai yen yom mi.
  [O] [dear one], [bothersome] [but] [ask] [come] [help] [I]
  "Dear, would you come help me?"

ni

Makes a negative command.

• Ni so ya.
  [don't] [do] [that]
  "Don't do that."

• Ni ba da wo mi.
  [don't] [voice] [big] [to] [I]
  "Don't raise your voice at me."

a

Makes a statement emphatic, or confirms something that is doubted. Equivalent to using do-support in English.

muyo

Used to ask someone’s opinion on a suggestion. Could be translated as "how about" or "what if".

• Muyo pok bo i sui nel yong?
  [how about] [cup] [nice] [of] [drink] [root] [leg]
  "How about a nice cup of ginseng tea?"

• Muyo mim pang wan sa an xen?
  [how about] [we] [arrange] [time] [at] [day] [tomorrow]
  "How about we schedule it for tomorrow?"

wi

This means "may", expressing a hope or wish.

• Wi yadul ain du.
  [may] [king] [live] [long]
  "Long live the king."

• Wi ye lem.
  [may] [there be] [light]
  "Let there be light."

uwa

Makes a sentence exclamatory, expresses surprise. Can be translated as "Oh but…" or "Isn't…".
On its own, it can be translated as "wow" or "oh my God".

• Uwa mak si lim.
  [oh but] [eye] [you] [beautiful]
  "Your eyes are so beautiful!"

• Uwa o a in bo xai.
  [oh but] [he/she] [be] [person] [good] [etiquette]
  "What a gentleman he is."

When used with a question, it can mean "ever" or "on earth".

• Uwa si yu mo so ya?
  [oh but] [you] [because of] [what] [do] [that]
  "Why on earth did you do that?"

• Uwa o la nal mo?
  [oh but] [he/she] [aspect] [talk about] [what]
  "What on earth is he/she talking about?"

aya

Expresses dismay at a realization. Can be translated as "oh no" or "oh dear" or "oops".

e

Expresses uncertainty, or that the speaker is taking time to collect their thoughts.

• E wa nikang.
  [particle] [this] [difficult]
  "Huh, this is difficult."

• E mi ca na.
  [particle] [I] [know] [not]
  "Gee, I don't know."

• E mi meng.
  [particle] [I] [confused]
  "I'm so confused."

• E mi xan.
  [particle] [I] [like]
  "I think I like it."