Restrictors
Use these words when you want to say when a claim counts: only when it rains, never, always. They take the adverb letter h (or w immediately before the adjective they limit) plus the same vowels and endings you already use on joins. Time or case words sit before the restrictor. Together they limit when the verb's claim (or that adjective) holds; they do not describe how it happens.
On this page
Only when / never (hal)
To say only when it rains, list the occasions (times or cases) when the verb's claim is true, then end the list with the restrictor hal. Everything goes in the adverb slot (/h/): occasion words first, the restrictor last, the way a join word ends a list. Closed -l means these are all the times you stand behind. (cue: a ≈ add, adding up the times.)
zazozon vowurol herulal hal.z-Azozon | v-walk | h-rain | h-only-when
"Azozon walks only when it rains."
With no occasion before it, the list of times is empty and closed, so the claim holds at no time: bare hal is never. (cue: a ≈ add, but nothing added, and -l closes the list.)
zalazun vowurol hal.z-Alazun | v-walk | h-never
"Alazun never walks."
Compare with: English the guard who sits picks out which person (which person or thing); that is not a restrictor. Bundling items into one list uses a join. Two manner adverbs in a row, with no restrictor, both describe the walk (quickly and quietly): they say how it happens, not when it counts.
zazozon vowurol hadurom halozum.z-Azozon | v-walk | h-haste | h-quietude
"Azozon walks quickly and quietly."
Always (hual)
To say the verb's claim holds at every time, use hual. Bare hual is always. With occasion words before it, those times are the exceptions (always except when…). Open huam leaves room for exceptions you have not listed, as -m leaves any list open: always, as far as I know, which English usually says as usually or as a rule. (cue: u ≈ undo then a ≈ add.)
zahelan vozuyel hual.z-Ahelan | v-sing | h-always
"Ahelan always sings."
zahelan vozuyel huam.z-Ahelan | v-sing | h-always.open
"Ahelan usually sings."
zazozon vowurol herulal hual.z-Azozon | v-walk | h-rain | h-always-except
"Azozon always walks except when it rains."
Sometimes / anytime / some other time
To say sometimes, anytime, or some other time without naming the occasion (no rain, no night), put ending -r on the restrictor: har, her, hur. -r points at some time without saying which, so nothing needs to come before it. Anytime (her) means any one particular time will do, not at all times (that is always, hual).
Sometimes is the usual English for har, alongside never and always. It says only that there is some such occasion, as something does on a join. It does not mean often.
| Ageben | Use | English | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|
har | unspecified member of the time inventory | sometimes / at some time | -r names a member |
her | unspecified member of a one-choice time menu | anytime (any one particular time, whichever you pick) | e ≈ choice |
hur | unspecified leftover occasion | some other time | u ≈ undo |
zalazun veruvol har.z-Alazun | v-run | h-sometimes
"Alazun runs sometimes."
zahelan vowurol her.z-Ahelan | v-walk | h-anytime
"Ahelan walks anytime." (whichever time you pick)
hur names an occasion outside the times already in play. With occasion words before it, that is a time other than the listed ones. With none, it is a time other than the ones the conversation is already about, as in the reply below. Bare hur only says some such other occasion exists (at some other time). It does not say the claim holds at other times in general.
yel zahelan vowurol herulal.y-question | z-Ahelan | v-walk | h-rain
"Does Ahelan walk when it rains?"
yuol. zahelan vowurol hur.y-no . z-Ahelan | v-walk | h-some-other-time
"No. Ahelan walks at some other time."
On the following adjective (/w/)
To say never sleepy or sometimes sleepy, limit only the adjective, not the whole sentence. Use the same restrictor vowels and endings with letter w instead of h, right before the adjective. Occasion words for that adjective also take w and sit immediately before the restrictor. An /h/ restrictor, by contrast, limits the whole clause.
zazozon wal guzemel.z-Azozon | [w-never | g-sleepy]
"Azozon is never sleepy."
zalazun wual guzemel.z-Alazun | [w-always | g-sleepy]
"Alazun is always sleepy."
zahelan war guzemel.z-Ahelan | [w-sometimes | g-sleepy]
"Ahelan is sometimes sleepy."
zazozon werulal wal guzemel.z-Azozon | [w-rain | w-only-when | g-sleepy]
"Azozon is sleepy only when it rains."
zalazun wer guzemel.z-Alazun | [w-anytime | g-sleepy]
"Alazun is sleepy anytime."
zahelan wur guzemel.z-Ahelan | [w-some-other-time | g-sleepy]
"Ahelan is sleepy at some other time."
| Ageben | Use | English | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|
/h/ | limits the clause | when the verb claim counts | h starts how / when / where |
/w/ | same map on the next adjective | never sleepy | w ≈ with (stuck to that host) |
Compare with: ordinary /w/ adds extra detail to an adjective (clause). A restrictor on /w/ says when that adjective holds.
Listed occasions (open)
To say when it rains, among other times, end the list with open ham instead of closed hal. Open -m leaves room for occasions you did not list, so the claim no longer means only when. Each listed occasion is one simple content word, and every occasion takes the same role letter as the restrictor (/h/, or /w/ before an adjective). Bare ham is never, as far as I know. (cue: a ≈ add; ua ≈ undo then add.)
| Ageben | Use | English | Cue |
|---|---|---|---|
hal / ham | listed times; empty list is never | only when… / when…, among other occasions · bare never / never, as far as I know | a ≈ add |
hual / huam | every time minus listed exceptions | always except when… · bare always / usually (always, as far as I know) | u ≈ undo then a ≈ add |
zazozon vezuvel herulal hanurul ham.z-Azozon | v-sleep | h-rain | h-night | h-when.open
"Azozon sleeps when it rains and at night, among other times."
Practice
Short drills for Beginner. Try each item before opening Show answer.
Setting: a swimming pool
New words:
| English | Ageben | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| swim | vazuvol | 🏊 |
| sleepy | uzemel | 😪 |
| rain | erulal | 🌧️ |
| night | anurul | 🌃 |
| thunderstorm | anulul | ⛈️ |
Review:
| English | Ageben |
|---|---|
| Azozon | azozon |
| Alazun | alazun |
| Ahelan | ahelan |
| scream | veyamul |
| sit | vehohel |
| run | veruvol |
| angry | onumul |
English → Ageben
1. Azozon swims only when it rains.
Show answer
zazozon vazuvol herulal hal.
z-Azozon | v-swim | h-rain | h-only-when
2. Alazun never swims.
Show answer
zalazun vazuvol hal.
z-Alazun | v-swim | h-never
3. Ahelan always swims, except at night.
Show answer
zahelan vazuvol hanurul hual.
z-Ahelan | v-swim | h-night | h-always-except
4. Alazun screams sometimes.
Show answer
zalazun veyamul har.
z-Alazun | v-scream | h-sometimes
5. Ahelan is never sleepy.
Show answer
zahelan wal guzemel.
z-Ahelan | [w-never | g-sleepy]
6. Azozon swims at night, among other times.
Show answer
zazozon vazuvol hanurul ham.
z-Azozon | v-swim | h-night | h-when.open
Ageben → English
1. zahelan vehohel huam.
Show answer
z-Ahelan | v-sit | h-always.open
Ahelan usually sits.
2. zalazun wual gonumul.
Show answer
z-Alazun | [w-always | g-angry]
Alazun is always angry.
3. zazozon vazuvol her.
Show answer
z-Azozon | v-swim | h-anytime
Azozon swims anytime.
4. zalazun veruvol hanulul hal.
Show answer
z-Alazun | v-run | h-thunderstorm | h-only-when
Alazun runs only when there is a thunderstorm.
5. zazozon vazuvol hur.
Show answer
z-Azozon | v-swim | h-some-other-time
Azozon swims at some other time.
6. zahelan wanurul wal guzemel.
Show answer
z-Ahelan | [w-night | w-only-when | g-sleepy]
Ahelan is sleepy only at night.
Pick one
1. Alazun always runs. zalazun veruvol hual. or zalazun veruvol hal.
Show answer
zalazun veruvol hual.
z-Alazun | v-run | h-always
Bare hual is always; bare hal, an empty list of times, is never.
2. Azozon is sometimes sleepy. zazozon war guzemel. or zazozon har guzemel.
Show answer
zazozon war guzemel.
z-Azozon | [w-sometimes | g-sleepy]
To limit only the adjective, the restrictor takes w right before it; har limits the whole clause.
Fix it
1. Alazun sits when it rains, among other times. zalazun vehohel herulal hal.
Show answer
zalazun vehohel herulal ham.
z-Alazun | v-sit | h-rain | h-when.open
Closed hal says only when it rains; open ham leaves room for other times.