Speech acts
Reminder:
Intermediate sections assume you have read the beginner sections of every page.
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Doubling an act word
Say an act word twice among the opening /y/ words to make the act more insistent. The act stays the same; the repeat never cancels it. Use it most where a missed don't would be dangerous.
yul yul vozuyul.y-prohibition | y-prohibition | v-sneak
"Don't sneak. I mean it."
| Ageben | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
yal yal | insisted statement | I'm telling you, … |
yel yel | pressing question | I really need to know: …? |
yol yol | urgent command | Do it. Now. |
yul yul | emphatic prohibition | Don't. I mean it. |
Both words take the same ending: yom yom is an insistent plea (please, please…), and yur yur is really, hold off for now. yal is usually left out, but yal yal is always written, because the repeat carries the emphasis.
Repeat only the opening act word: an act word after the body starts a new turn instead of adding emphasis.
Compare with: the tone mark ! makes your voice louder and more stressed. A doubled act word makes the act itself more insistent, so it also fits a calm voice. The two can go together.
Stacking two act words
People often do one act while sounding like another. Could you pass the salt? is a request that sounds like a question. We don't hit in this house is a prohibition that sounds like a statement. Two different act words say both: the first is what you really do, and the second is how it sounds. The listener always knows the real act from the first word, and answers that act.
yol yel vabuvul dubogal zawan.y-command | y-question | v-punch | d-box | z-listener
"Could you punch the box?" (a request)
The body takes the first word's usual order. The second word only says how the turn sounds and never moves the verb. So a prohibition that sounds like a command still keeps its verb late, and a missed yul never leaves an order to act.
yul yol dubogal vabuvul.y-prohibition | y-command | d-box | v-punch
"Go ahead, punch the box." (sarcastic: don't)
yul yal zayan dubogal vabuvul.y-prohibition | y-statement | z-interlocutors | d-box | v-punch
"We don't punch the box." (a house rule)
| Ageben | Really does → sounds like | English |
|---|---|---|
yol yel | command → question | Could you pass the salt? |
yol yal | command → statement | You'll be home by ten. / Passengers remain seated. |
yol yul | command → prohibition | Don't you dare finish those cookies (teasing: do) |
yul yal | prohibition → statement | We don't hit in this house. |
yul yel | prohibition → question | Must you? / Do you really have to shout? |
yul yol | prohibition → command | Go ahead, try it. (sarcastic: don't) |
yal yol | statement → command | Note that… / Mark my words. |
yal yul | statement → prohibition | I won't even mention that he lied. (said anyway) |
Each word's ending describes its own act. The first ending says how firmly you really mean the act; the second says how it sounds. So a stack can show a soft sound over a firm act, which is the pressure that is hardest to name in English:
| Ageben | Use | English |
|---|---|---|
yom yel | soft request that sounds like a question: they may say no | Would you mind…? |
yol yem | firm command that sounds like a gentle ask: they may not say no | a boss's Would you maybe…? |
yol yom | command with a please that is not optional | Please do it. (not a choice) |
yom yol | soft offer that sounds like a command | Have a seat. Go on, take another. |
yor yal | rule for now that sounds like a description | For now, everyone stays inside. |
yum yal | soft norm | We'd rather people didn't… |
yul yur | firm no that sounds like not yet | Let's hold off for now. (meaning never) |
yom yol vehohel.y-request | y-command | v-sit
"Sit, sit!" (an offer)
A stack has two act words at most, with nothing between them. A call, a reaction, or a hook goes before the first act word. The first word is always written, even yal: without it, the second word would be the act.
Describing a call or reaction
A call or a reaction can also take an adjective before it, with gl-, the way a noun does. Its /w/ and its /b/ come along as usual.
glolamam yalazun.[gl-cherished | y-Alazun]
"Dear Alazun!"
glugomam yuburol.[gl-delight | y-birthday]
"Happy birthday!"
A reaction can also take a degree word right before it, to say how strongly it holds. A call takes none: the person you call is not more or less called.
welazem yemem.[w-very | y-amazement]
"Truly amazing!"
The degree word grades the reaction itself. A tone mark is how you sound saying it, so the two can go together.
To say who or what you react to (hooray for Azozon), add a hook and /b/ after the reaction: yahumal ol bazozon. A bare /b/ there would start the body as the person who receives.
Speech manner (frankly / to be clear)
English frankly and to be clear say in words how you are speaking. A tone mark cannot do that, because it changes only your voice. Instead, use a stance word (/th/, clause) built on an ordinary root. Like any stance word, it may sit anywhere in the sentence; the start is usual.
| Ageben | English | Root |
|---|---|---|
thagebem | to be clear / to put it plainly | clarity |
thavewom | frankly / honestly / to tell the truth | revelation |
thagebem zazozon vowurol.th-clarity | z-Azozon | v-walk
"To be clear, Azozon walks."
thavewom zalazun vezuvel.th-revelation | z-Alazun | v-sleep
"Honestly, Alazun is sleeping."
Compare with: the stance word describes your way of saying the claim, not the action. /h/ on the same root (hagebem) would describe how the action itself is done.
Number as interjection
A number word in /y/ is a call-out (Three more!, a score). It can sit with the other opening /y/ words, before the act word, or stand alone as its own turn.
Practice
Short drills for Intermediate. Try each item before opening Show answer.
Setting: a music rehearsal
New words:
| English | Ageben | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| trumpet | adorol | 🎺 |
| clarity | thagebem | 👓 from glasses: seeing it plainly |
| revelation | thavewom | 🔦 from flashlight: showing what was hidden |
Review:
| English | Ageben |
|---|---|
| Azozon | azozon |
| Alazun | alazun |
| stop | vezohul |
| run | veruvol |
| page | obonol |
| write | varuyol |
| see | vayebel |
| very | welazem |
| surprise | emel |
English → Ageben
1. Don't run. I mean it.
Show answer
yul yul veruvol.
y-prohibition | y-prohibition | v-run
2. To be clear, Azozon writes a page.
Show answer
thagebem zazozon dobonol varuyol.
th-clarity | z-Azozon | d-page | v-write
3. Please, please stop.
Show answer
yom yom vezohul.
y-request | y-request | v-stop
Ageben → English
1. yem thavewom zalazun vayebel dadorol.
Show answer
y-soft-question | th-revelation | z-Alazun | v-see | d-trumpet
Honestly, does Alazun see the trumpet, I wonder?
2. welazem yemem.
Show answer
[w-very | y-amazement]
Truly amazing!
3. yul yol vezohul.
Show answer
y-prohibition | y-command | v-stop
Go ahead, stop. (sarcastic: don't stop)
Pick one
1. Go ahead, stop. (sarcastic) yul yol vezohul. or yol yol vezohul.
Show answer
yul yol vezohul.
y-prohibition | y-command | v-stop
Two different act words stack as one sarcastic turn; repeating yol only insists on the command.
Fix it
1. Don't stop. I mean it. yul vezohul yul.
Show answer
yul yul vezohul.
y-prohibition | y-prohibition | v-stop
Repeat the act word among the opening /y/ words; a yul after the body starts a new turn.