The fifteenth text, and the lowest rung on the reading ladder: it uses only the 89 roots the lessons have taught by Lesson 10, and no rule beyond that lesson.
Ten lessons in, a learner has no prepositions, no ini or itu, no verb chains, no comparison and no subordinate clauses — those arrive between Lessons 12 and 18. What is there is a subject, a verb, an object, an adjective after its noun, the two tense markers, the plural, possession, a question and a command. This page is what that is enough for.
Sol lai. Din hao.
Mama mi suda kupi pan.
Papa mi nomu ca.
Mama sema: "Kula pan!"
Anak keci lala. Mi kan ta.
Mi sema: "Sasa, anak! Sol lai."
Anak ambil mano mi. Kita go market.
Market kabir. Cok insan situ.
Mi kupi ca. Anak kan foto.
Pesa mi keci sasa.
Rafiki mi lai. Ta sema: "Hi! Yu hao?"
Mi sema: "Ya. Familia mi hao."
Ta sema: "Yu suru ke?"
Mi sema: "Mi suru rabota."
Kita go dom.
Rat lai. Familia mi sini.
Anak lala.
Line by line
| Amadunia | English |
|---|---|
| Sol lai. Din hao. | The sun comes. The day is good. |
| Mama mi suda kupi pan. | My mother bought bread. |
| Papa mi nomu ca. | My father drinks tea. |
| Mama sema: “Kula pan!” | Mother says: “Eat bread!” |
| Anak keci lala. | The small child sleeps. |
| Mi kan ta. | I see him. |
| Mi sema: “Sasa, anak! Sol lai.” | I say: “Now, child! The sun is up.” |
| Anak ambil mano mi. | The child takes my hand. |
| Kita go market. | We go to the market. |
| Market kabir. | The market is big. |
| Cok insan situ. | There are many people there. |
| Mi kupi ca. | I buy tea. |
| Anak kan foto. | The child sees a photograph. |
| Pesa mi keci sasa. | My money is small now. |
| Rafiki mi lai. | My friend comes. |
| Ta sema: “Hi! Yu hao?” | She says: “Hello! Are you well?” |
| Mi sema: “Ya. Familia mi hao.” | I say: “Yes. My family is well.” |
| Ta sema: “Yu suru ke?” | She says: “What are you doing?” |
| Mi sema: “Mi suru rabota.” | I say: “I’m working.” |
| Kita go dom. | We go home. |
| Rat lai. Familia mi sini. | Night comes. My family is here. |
| Anak lala. | The child sleeps. |
What ten lessons are enough for
Twenty-seven sentences and 42 roots. A morning, an errand, a meeting, an evening — the shape of a day, told with no rule the course has not reached.
Four things the page had to do without, and none of them is missing from the language:
| Not yet taught | Arrives in | Written instead |
|---|---|---|
| in, dari, por | Lesson 15 | Kita go market — a movement verb takes its target bare, so going somewhere works; being somewhere does not |
| ini, itu | Lesson 15 | nothing is pointed at; the photograph is foto, never this photograph |
| verb chains | Lesson 17 | Mi suru rabota, not Mi mau suru rabota |
| porke, kab as joiners | Lesson 18 | every sentence stands alone; nothing is because of anything |
The last line of the page is where the absence shows. My family is at home cannot be written at Lesson 10: dom is a noun, a noun predicate needs es, and Familia mi es dom would say my family is a house. The page says Familia mi sini — my family is here — which is true, and is not the same sentence.
Nothing is because of anything. Without porke the child wakes, the market is crowded and the money runs short, and the page cannot say that one follows from another. That is the single largest difference between this text and text 14, eight lessons later.
Roots used
42 of 300.