Function Words: Conjunctions, Prepositions and Function Adverbs

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Conjunctions

  • ji - and
    • iji... ji... - both... and...
  • or - or
    • oro... or... - either... or...
  • nor - nor
    • noro... nor... - neither... nor...
  • kam - yes/no question particle
    • kama... kam... - whether... or (whether)...
  • mas - but
  • eger - if
  • kwas - as if [kwasi - seeming(ly)]
  • ki - that (clause conjunction)

Fe

Fe is a multi-purpose preposition with a general, indefinite meaning, often translated as of (relating to). It may be used as a preposition of time (at, in, on), as a preposition of place (only in prepositional phrases, as seen below), in sentence initial phrases, as an alternative to -li adjectives, and in cases where no other preposition is suitable.

Fe is optional with most expressions of time, as shown in the following examples:

(fe) ban mara - on a certain occasion, once, once upon a time
(fe) duli mara - sometimes, on occasion, at times
(fe) hin mara - this time
(fe) hin momento - in this moment
(fe) Lunadin - (on) Monday
(fe) duli Lunadin - (on) Mondays
(fe) nundin - today (used as an adverb)
(fe) tiga din fe xaya - three days later

The expressions fe nunya (at present, presently, now), fe leya (in the past, previously) and fe xaya (in the future, later on, afterwards) are typically left intact.

Expressing Possession

Globasa has two ways of expressing possession. The preposition de (of, belonging to) is used to express possession by nouns.

Baytu de Maria sen day.
"House of Mary is big."
Mary's house is big.

If the noun is understood, a pronoun is used (te/to or ete/oto):

To de Maria sen day.
Mary's is big.

The suffix -su is added to pronouns to form possessive adjectives. Similarly, the particle su is used to express possession by nouns and is equivalent to the English possessive suffix 's. Unlike in English, however, su is used as a separate word.

Maria su baytu sen day.
Mary's house is big.

If the noun is understood, a pronoun is used (te/to or ete/oto):

Maria su to sen day.
Mary's is big.

Prepositions of Place

  • in - in, inside of
    • inli - (adj) interior, inner
    • fe inya - (on the) inside; within
  • ex - outside (of), out
    • exli - (adj) exterior, external
    • fe exya - (on the) outside; without
  • per - on
    • perli - (adj) superficial, surface
    • fe perya - on the surface
  • bax - under(neath), beneath, below
    • baxli - underlying
    • fe baxya - underneath, below
  • of - off (of), out of, from
  • cel - to (movement) [cele - goal/purpose]
    • celki - so that, in order that
    • cel na - in order to
    • cel in - into
    • cel ex - out from, out of
  • hoy - toward(s) [hoyo - orientation/direction]
  • intre - between
    • fe intreya - in between
  • ultra - beyond
    • fe ultraya - beyond
  • infra - below
    • infrali - inferior
  • infer - shorter form of infraya: inferiority, belowness
    • fe infer - down below, down under
    • cel infer - down, downwards
  • supra - above
    • suprali - superior
  • super - shorter form of supraya: superiority, aboveness
    • fe super - up above
    • cel super - up, upwards
  • pas - through, by way of, via [pasa - pass]
  • tras - across, on the other side of, trans-
  • cis - on this side of
  • wey - around [jowey - surroundings]
  • fol - alongside (of), according to [folo - follow]
    • fe folya - alongside, accordingly
    • posfol - against (in the opposite direction of)

Phrasal Prepositions and Conjunctions

  • ruke - (n) back, rear; (v) be behind, be in the back
    • fe ruke - in the back
    • fe ruke de - behind, in the back of
  • kapi - (n) head; (v) be on top (of)
    • fe kapi - on top
    • fe kapi de - on top of
  • fronta - (n) forehead, front; (v) be in front (of)
    • fe fronta - in front
    • fe fronta de - in front of
  • muka - (n) face; (v) be facing, be face to face, be across (from)
    • fe muka - across, face to face
    • fe muka de - across from
  • oposya - (n) opposite; (v) be the opposite of
    • fe oposya - on the contrary
    • fe oposya de - opposite, contrary to, against (physically)
  • peda - (n) foot, bottom; (v) be at the bottom (of)
    • fe peda - at the bottom
    • fe peda de - at the bottom of
  • comen - (n) side; (v) be beside
    • fe comen - on the side
    • fe comen de - on the side (of), next to, beside
  • tayti - (n) substitute, substitution; (v) substitute, replace
    • fe tayti fe - instead (of)
    • fe tayti ki - instead of + sentence
  • kompara - (n) comparison; (v) compare
    • fe kompara fe - in comparison (to)
    • fe kompara ki - whereas
  • kosa - (n) cause; (v) cause
    • fe kosa fe; kos - due to, because of
    • kos (den)to - that's why, therefore
    • fe kosa ki; koski - because, since
  • folo - follow
    • fe folo - therefore, consequently, so
    • fe folo fe - as a consequence of, as a result of
    • fe folo ki - (such, so) that
  • ner - nearby, close (to)
    • ner fe - near, close to
  • teli - far, far away, remote, distant
    • teli fe - far from

Other Prepositions

  • el - direct object marker
    • Functions as a preposition and is typically omitted
  • de - of (belonging to)
  • tas - to (indirect object marker), for
  • tem - about [tema - theme, topic]
  • pro - in favor of, for, pro- (opp anti)
  • anti - against
  • fal - (done) by [fale - do, make]
  • har - with (having) [hare - have]
    • nenhar - without (not having)
  • ton - (together/along) with [tongo - together]
    • nenton - without, separate/apart from
  • yon - with (using), by means of [yongu - use]
    • yon na - by + -ing verb phrase
  • nenyon - without (not using)
    • nenyon na - without + -ing verb phrase
  • por - in exchange for
    • por (moyun) - per

Function Words of Time

  • dur - during, for + noun phrase
    • dur (moyun) - per
    • dur na - while + -ing verb phrase
    • durki - while + sentence
  • fin- - (prefix) end, come to [fini - finish/end]
    • finfe - (prep) until + noun phrase
    • finki - (conj) until + sentence
  • xor- - (prefix) beginning [xoru - begin/start]
    • xorfe - (prep) from, since + noun phrase
    • xorki - (conj) (ever) since + sentence
  • jaldi - early
  • dyer - late
  • haji - still
    • no haji - no longer, not anymore
  • uje - already
    • no uje - not yet
  • fori - immediate(ly)
  • pimpan - frequent(ly), often
  • nadir - rare(ly), seldom
  • mara - time (occasion)
    • (fe) ban mara - once, once upon a time
    • (fe) duli mara - sometimes
  • nun - present tense particle
    • nunli - present(ly), current(ly)
    • nunya - the present
      • fe nunya - at present, presently, now
    • nundin - today
    • (fe) nunli din - nowadays
  • ja- - (pfx) immediately adjacent [jara - neighbor]
    • jali - adjacent
  • le - past tense particle
    • jale - just have (immediate past tense)
    • jaledin - yesterday
    • leli - past, previous(ly), former(ly), ex-
    • jaleli - the last, the most recent
    • nerleli - recent(ly)
    • telileli - a long time ago
    • leya - (n) the past
      • fe leya - in the past, previously, formerly
    • lefe - before + noun phrase; ago
      • lefe or fe - by (on or before)
    • lefe na - before + -ing verb phrase
    • leki - before + sentence
  • xa
    • jaxa - be about to (immediate future tense)
    • jaxadin - tomorrow
    • xali - (adj) future
    • jaxali - next, the following, (and) then
    • nerxali - soon
    • telixali - in a long time
    • xaya - (n) the future; (v) be after, come after, follow
      • fe xaya - in the future, later (on), afterwards
    • xafe - after, in + noun phrase
    • xafe na - after + -ing verb phrase
    • xaki - after + sentence

Function Words of Quantity and Degree

  • kriban - almost
  • kufi - sufficient, enough (of quantity)
    • kufimo - sufficiently, enough (of degree)
  • plu - multiple (used for expressing plurality)
  • multi - many, much
  • xosu - few, little (of quantity), a little bit [opp multi]
  • daymo - greatly, very
  • lilmo - a little (of degree) [opp daymo]
  • godomo - too
  • total - entire, whole
  • eskaso - scarce(ly), barely, hardly
  • daju - approximate(ly), rough(ly), about, around
    • dajuya - (n) approximation, estimate; (v) approximate, estimate

Other Function Adverbs

  • no - no, not, don't, doesn't
    • noli - negative
    • noya - say no (to), negate, deny, reject
  • si - yes
    • sili - affirmative
    • siya - say yes (to), approve
  • hata - even
    • no hata - not even
    • fe hataya - even so, however, nevertheless, nonetheless, in spite of that
    • fe hataya fe - in spite of, despite + noun phrase
    • fe hataya na in spite of + -ing verb phrase
    • fe hataya ki - even though, although, despite the fact that + sentence
  • pia - also
  • sol - only [solo - alone, the only, the sole]

Comparison

  • kom - as (comparable to), than (as compared with) [kompara - comparison/compare]
  • denmo... kom... - as... as...
  • max - more
    • maxpul - additional, extra, another; additionally, moreover, further, furthermore
    • ji max (o)to/(e)te - et cetera
  • max... kom... - more (a greater number of, a greater amount)... + noun/verb than...
  • maxmo... kom... - more (to a greater degree)... + adj/adv than...
  • denkwanti... kom... - as much as
  • dennumer... kom... - as many as
  • maxim - the most
  • maximum - maximum, at most
    • maximumya - the maximum
    • maximummo - as... as possible
  • maxori - (adj/adv) most (the majority of), mostly
    • maxoriya - majority
  • maxus - (prep) plus, with addition of, in addition to, besides
    • maxusli - (adj/adv) positive (+1, +2, etc.), besides (that)
    • fe maxusya - besides (that)
  • min - fewer, less
  • min... kom... - fewer, less... + noun/verb than...
  • minmo... kom... - less... + adj/adv than...
  • minim - the least
  • minimum - minimum, at least
    • minimumya - the minimum
  • minori - (adj/adv) the minority of
    • minoriya - minority
  • minus - (prep) minus, except for
    • minusli - (adj/adv) negative (-1, -2, etc.), except for that
    • fe minusya - except for that
    • minus eger - unless