The eighteenth text, and the last of the sweep. Two days ago 55 roots had never appeared in any text; text 16 took twenty-one and text 17 took twenty-seven. Five were left that could be written: burun, dekat, gusa, kiri, polisi. They are all here, in the one scene that holds them — a blocked street.
Two more remain and are not here on purpose. See the gaps below.
Madina in aksam. Cok auto in tarik.
Auto no anda. Sofer punya gusa.
Ta sema kuat: "Kaifa mi go dom?"
Polisi lai. Ta sema: "Sabar, plis."
Polisi suda funga tarik ini. Ta sema: "Go kiri."
Sofer tanya: "Market dekat?"
Polisi respon: "Ya, dekat. Pat momen."
Anak keci in auto. Burun ta barid.
Mama ta funga pencere.
Auto anda kiri. Tarik baru duan.
Sofer no punya gusa sasa.
Polisi anda in tarik tena.
Line by line
| Amadunia | English |
|---|---|
| Madina in aksam. | The city in the evening. |
| Cok auto in tarik. | Many cars on the road. |
| Auto no anda. | The cars do not move. |
| Sofer punya gusa. | The driver has anger. |
| Ta sema kuat: “Kaifa mi go dom?” | He says strongly: “How do I get home?” |
| Polisi lai. | A police officer comes. |
| Ta sema: “Sabar, plis.” | She says: “Patience, please.” |
| Polisi suda funga tarik ini. | The police have closed this road. |
| Ta sema: “Go kiri.” | She says: “Go left.” |
| Sofer tanya: “Market dekat?” | The driver asks: “Is the market near?” |
| Polisi respon: “Ya, dekat. Pat momen.” | She answers: “Yes, near. Four moments.” |
| Anak keci in auto. | A small child is in the car. |
| Burun ta barid. | His nose is cold. |
| Mama ta funga pencere. | His mother closes the window. |
| Auto anda kiri. | The car goes left. |
| Tarik baru duan. | The new road is short. |
| Sofer no punya gusa sasa. | The driver has no anger now. |
| Polisi anda in tarik tena. | The officer walks the road again. |
What it reached
The five: burun, dekat, gusa, kiri, polisi. Every root in the
dictionary that can be written has now been written in a text, and
check.py holds that.
gusa is the interesting one. It is a noun — anger is something a person has, the way korku is — so Sofer punya gusa and, at the end, Sofer no punya gusa sasa. English would say he was angry and then calmed down; Amadunia says he had a thing and then did not. The frame is the language’s, not a translation of ours, and it came out of the grammar rather than being designed.
dekat stayed an adjective. Market dekat? is “is the market near?”, a predicate, and nowhere does this page write dekat market — that would be the preposition the language does not have.
Gaps
Two roots are left and neither can be written. madad — its class is undecided, so a sentence using it would answer the open question by accident. kadang — where a frequency adverb stands is open, so it cannot appear in a sentence without settling that.
This scene wanted both. Polisi madad sofer, the officer helps the driver, is the sentence the story is actually about, and it cannot be written. Kadang tarik funga, sometimes the road is closed, is what the officer would say. Two open questions, two sentences, and the words sitting in the dictionary unable to work.
No word for but, a fifth time (the briefing). Tarik baru duan wants “the new road is short but slow”.
Roots used
43 of 300.