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Greetings & Salutations

How to say hello, introduce yourself and describe where you're from.

Verbs & Gerunds.​

Meeting someone involves the verb monodo and a usage of a subordinate clause (an inner sentence). The subordinate clause acts similar to how a gerund would in English, meaning that it allows you to refer to the action of the verb as a noun.

xe kelo tô ônî tûek, li kûzoû. Playing on computers is awesome.

li kûzoû û xe kelo tô ônî tûek. It is awesome to play on computers.

noyo sûko xe kelo tô ônî tûek. I like playing on computers.

Starting the first sentence with a subordinate clause requires that you use a pause (a comma, orthographically) to ensure that the listener understands this to be an inner clause of the sentence. However, he second example doesn't start with a subject and instead provideds it after the verb (li) by using the subject preposition (û). This allows you to introduce the subordinate clause at the end of the sentence which reduces the need for the pause when speaking. In the third sentence, since the subordinate clause is being provided as the object of the verb, it also is the last argument of the sentence and avoids the need for a pause.

Meet & Greet​

Now with some grammar under our belt, let's learn how to meet and greet your fellow Hisyêans! We will try to describe some of the characteristics of the different sentences being used in the examples. Feel free to skip over that if you want to just focus in on learning the phrases.

Meeting Someone​

In the first sentence, we are using a simple sentence with a transitive verb, two pronouns. This is your standard subject, verb, object sentence. With the addition of one preposition at the end.

In the next sentence, we are using a deontic verb phrase coupled with propositive sentence ender. The deontic verb phrase marker indicates the sentence describes a desired future. The propositive sentence ender indicates the speaker is looking for agreement or approval from the listener. The sentence also uses the beneficiary/purpose preposition indicating what the meeting is for.

Finally, the last sentence is where we make use of a subjective subordinate clause we learned about above. It indicates that an action is what is desired (the verb of the main predicate).

noyo monodo nîo hoî suhot dus. I am meeting them at 10

nûs kûu monodo oxon côûfon bitûn cî. Let's meet for supper, sound good?

nîmû fôlun xe monodo noyo hoî cihôû ko. Do you want to meet me later?

Responding to questions

There are three types of questions that need a special answer: polar questions, propositive questions, and pro-form questions. Each one is answered slightly differently.

Polar Questions​

A polar question (in English, these are often called yes-no questions) is one where you are offering a state or action and asking someone to indicate if that state or action is affirmed or not affirmed (i.e., true or false, respectively).

To answer a polar question, you can respond with the verb that was used in the question or the negatitive marker (yôk) or both.

ke mokon ni hoî lono uklo ko. "Will you eat it tomorrow?"

mokon. "Yes."

nîmû côûfon ôfo ko. "Did you cook this?"

yôk. "No."

nîmû monodo sî nîo bi ôhel ko. "Have you met them before?"

monodo yôk. "I haven't"

Or, in the case of a subject complement sentence, you can respond with the nucleus of the complement, the verb for "to exist" (gô) or the negatitive marker (yôk).

ke li gô hoî ôfo hoî lono uklo ko. "Will you be here tomorrow?"

gô. "Yes"

nîmû li cunyû ko. "Are you cold?"

cunyû. "Yes"

umo Somiel li gô hoî ulyô hoî bitûn ôfo ko. "Was Samuel there tonight?"

yôk. "No"

In either case, you can also respond with "true" (hokîkî) or "false" (hûdul).

ôlê zowo mokon êo sî hoî bitûn ôfo ko. "Did the dog get fed tonight?"

hûdul. "False."

Propositive Questions​

A propositive question (in English, these don't have a specific form but involve usage of specific sentence ending phrases like "agreed?" or "sound good?") is one where you are offering a state or action with an irrealis mood and requesting someone to indicate if they agree.

Like the polar questions, you can respond with the verb that was used in the question or the negatitive marker (yôk) or both.

nîmû mokon ofek noyo hoî lono uklo cî. "Does you eating with me tomorrow sound good?"

mokon. "Yes."

nûs côûfon ôfo cî. "Let's cook this!"

yôk. "No."

nîmû monodo nîo cî. "Do you agree to meet them?"

monodo yôk. "I don't."

Or, in the case of a subject complement sentence, you can respond with the nucleus of the complement, the verb "to agree" (wofok) or the negatitive marker (yôk).

ke li gô hoî ôfo hoî lono uklo cî. "You will be here tomorrow, right?"

wofok. "Agreed."

nîmû li cunyû cî. "You will be cold, okay?"

cunyû. "Yes"

umo Somiel kûu li gô hoî ulyô hoî bitûn ôfo cî. "Samuel must be there tonight, right?"

yôk. "No"

Unlike polar questions, you can't respond with "true" or "false" but you can make more formal approval setnences by making use of the verb "to agree".

û nîmû ôlê zowo onô mokon êo hoî bitûn ôfo cî. "You will feed the dog tonight, sound good?"

noyo wofok yôk nênko fos noyo kûu li nô mût dênêmêk yê zomo kîôsô noyo. "I do not agree because I must go to my team's practice."

Pro-Form Questions​

A pro-form question (in English, these are called open questions) is one where the interrogative word (zik) is either a nucleus of a preposition (a noun) or a modifier.

noyo kûu ôntôn zik mût kôndodû onô. "What clothes should I wear to the party?"

û cûdo yê umo zik li dibo zik. "Whose gifts are in which boxes?"

nênko zik û nîmû gûwolo. "Why are you scratching?"

How To Greet​

For the initial contact with another person, there are some common expressions used as pleasantries. Each one uses a subjective subordinate clause as the experiencer of an adjectival complement.

li xôn û xe monodo nîmû lôîcôk. It is so nice to meet you.

li xôn êto û xe dêko nîmû. It is great to see you.

li cômêl û xe monodo nîmû. Lovely to meet you.

Responding To A Greeting​

The standard "thank you" can be interpreted as either being subjectless or a first-person subject drop. The context preposition indicates that the thankfulness is concerning that marked object. Use adjectives on the thankfulness to expand on the meaning. In the third example, we are interpeting the "much" as being adverbial (i.e., they have been thankful many times) and the added emphasis sentence ender is being used to represent "so".

li konxo hôn nîmû.Thank you.

li konxo êto hôn nîmû.Many thanks to you.

li konxo bi êto lôîcôk. Thank you so much.

oxon noyo ûtok. For me also.

li xôn û xe monodo nîmû ûtok. It is nice to meet you too.

When You'll Meet Again​

Here, we are intepreting the mood in the English sentence as being deontic and the added ender of "ok?" is being filled by the propositive sentence ender. In the second sentence, we are interpeting the mood in the English sentence as being epistemic and the question word also means that it is effectively interrogative as well. In the third sentence, you have to be careful to remember that the second verb is being intepreted as the object of the active verb preposition. The fourth sentence makes use of the interrogative sentence ender.

nûs kûu monodo bi dîzel zelen cî. Let's meet again soon, ok?

hoî wokût zik û noyo kôî dêko nîmû bi dîzel. When can I see you again?

nûs kôî dôstoc îskô hoî bitûn yê lono unbol cî. We could get a drink on Saturday night, sound good?

nîmû li fôlnî hoî suhot tukwos yê bitûn ôfo ko. Are you free at 8pm tonight?

noyo xîwon xe dêko nîmû bi zelen êto lôîcôk. I so hope to see you very soon!

Introductions​

My Name Is...​

Proper names are an important tool to identify specific entities with great accuracy. In Hîsyêô, proper names are modifiers and they exist connected to a nucleus of some kind.

(umo) zik li nîmû. Who are you?

noyo li umo Zêk. I am Jake.

zik li somo nîmû. What is your name?

somo noyo li umo Keli. My name is Kelly.

(umo) somo zik (mût nîmû). What do people call you?

(umo) somo umo Ootyo (mût noyo). People call me Aadhya.

nîmû somo zik mût cizî. What do you call yourself?

noyo somo Ismêl mût cizî. I call myself Ismail.

noyo yûnyoû somo dîzel ko. Do you have a nickname?

somo dîzel li umo Yûsilnên123. My nickname is UserName123.

Introducting others​

Getting To Know You​

Do You Speak...​

Where You're From​

Invitations​

Inviting Someone​

Being Invited​