How do you know?
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The gap
English doesn't mark whether a claim was seen, remembered, worked out, or heard from someone. So a rumor can pass for an eyewitness report, and a strong hunch from the clues can pass for a proof. In Ageben, a claim can carry a word for the channel it came through.
The forms
| Drop-in | Channel |
|---|---|
thugem | live: you're seeing, hearing, or feeling it now |
thevum | from memory (you sensed it before) |
thubom | from the pattern (similar cases you know of) |
theyom | worked out from clues about this case |
thanam | deduced: it must follow from what you already grant |
thebam | reported: someone told you, or you read it |
thabem | intuition: a gut sense |
Seven channels is a menu; you don't need to memorize it. A recording counts as your own senses: thugem while you watch it, thevum once you have. A document counts as a report.
Clues and a deduction are not the same. Clues make a claim likely, and it can still fail with every clue true. A deduction can't fail unless something it starts from is false. Save thanam for it follows, so it must be, not for it's obvious.
Swap the ending to say how strong the evidence is: -l strong, -m the default, -r weak. thebar is a rumor, thevul is a vivid memory, and thaber is a faint hunch. For a pattern, thubol is a well-established one and thubor rests on a few cases. For a deduction, the ending grades how far you checked the steps: thanal you could show every step, thanar it seems to follow but you haven't checked. Strength is how much the claim rests on, not how likely the event is. A solid source can still report something unlikely.
This is the same settled-to-passing scale as in How sure are you?: solid evidence is lasting (-l), and a rumor could shift at any moment (-r).
Examples
The server is down
thugem.
Marco quitthebar.
The meeting got movedthebal.
I locked the doorthevur.
This bug is in the parsertheyom,thomam.
thebal is a reliable source, like an official notice; thevur is a hazy memory. The last example says you worked it out from clues and it's only a could be. How you know and how sure you are are separate questions, so you can answer both.
When you tell a story, you only need the drop-in on the first sentence. It covers the sentences after it until you name a different one:
Marco quit
thebam. He took the stapler. He didn't say goodbye.
All three are what you heard. Plain English loses that by the second sentence.
Practice
Add the drop-in that fits the note.
1. The bakery closes at six. (you read it on their official site)
Show answer
The bakery closes at six thebal.
2. Dana's engaged. (a rumor)
Show answer
Dana's engaged thebar.
3. The bus is late. (going by similar cases)
Show answer
The bus is late thubom.
4. Something's wrong. (a gut feeling)
Show answer
Something's wrong thabem.
5. The package was delivered to the old address. (it must have been, given the address on the order; you traced every step)
Show answer
The package was delivered to the old address thanal.