Restrictors and spans cheat sheet

A quick look at restrictors and spans on one page. Nothing here is new: each row links to the section that teaches it. Stage: B Beginner, I Intermediate, A Advanced.

When a claim counts

List the occasions (times or cases) in the adverb slot /h/, then end with a restrictor. The occasion words and the restrictor are one unit. Put the same restrictor on /w/ right before an adjective to limit only that adjective; /h/ limits the whole clause.

The core words

Job	Example	English	Stage
Only when	zazawan vowogal herehel hal.	Azawan walks only when raining.	B
Never: no occasion, closed	zalahen vowogal hal.	Alahen never walks.	B
Always	zahaben vezehel hual.	Ahaben always sings.	B
Usually: open	zahaben vezehel huam.	Ahaben usually sings.	B
Always except	zazawan vowogal herehel hual.	Azawan always walks except when raining.	B
Sometimes	zalahen varahal har.	Alahen runs sometimes.	B
Anytime	zahaben vowogal hor.	Ahaben walks anytime.	B
Some other time	zahaben vowogal hur.	Ahaben walks at some other time.	B
When and at other times too: open	zazawan vezebal herehel hanadal ham.	Azawan sleeps when raining and at night, among other times.	B
Only the adjective	zazawan wal gezebul.	Azawan is never sleepy.	B
Only the adjective, listed	zazawan werehel wal gezebul.	Azawan is sleepy only when raining.	B
A habit, on an adjective	zalahen wual gezebul.	Alahen is always sleepy.	B

Two manner adverbs in a row, with no restrictor, both describe the walk: zazawan vowogal hadehum halahom. quickly and quietly (only when / never).

Which restrictor

The vowel picks the reading and the ending says how open the list is: -l closed, -m open, -r an unspecified member. The same map works on /w/ (wal, wam, wual, and so on).

Agazan	Use	English (with occasions)	English (bare)	Stage
hal / ham	listed times	only when… / when…, among others	never / never, as far as I know	B
hol / hom	one exclusive menu	either when A or when B (not both)		I
haol / haom	any of the listed times	when A and/or when B		I
hul / hum	invert the list	not when…		I
hual / huam	every time minus the list	always except when…	always / usually	B
huol / huom	any leftover time minus the list	anytime except when…		I

Ranked

Agazan	Use	English	Stage
hel / hem	priority	preferably when A ≻ when B	I
hael / haem	in order	first when A, then when B	I
hoel / hoem	equal frequency	equally when A and when B	I
huel / huem	last-first	as a last resort when A	I

With several occasions before huel, the last listed is the first choice.

Some member, unlisted

-r points at some time without saying which, so nothing needs to come before it.

Agazan	Use	English (with occasions)	English (bare)	Stage
har	some member of the listed times	sometimes among these	sometimes	B
hor	some member of a one-choice menu	anytime among these	anytime	B
hur	a leftover occasion	some time other than these	some other time	B
her	the first-ranked occasion	at whichever ranks first	at the preferred time	I

Job	Example	English	Stage
Either, not both	zazawan vowogal herehel hanadal hol.	Azawan walks either when raining or at night.	I
And/or	zalahen vezebal herehel hozezol haol.	Alahen sleeps when raining and/or when snowing.	I
Preferably	zazawan vowogal hamabam hahobam hel.	preferably in an emergency rather than for convenience	I
Last resort	zazawan vowogal herehel huel.	Azawan walks only as a last resort when raining.	I
When's best?	yol her zahan vowogal.	When's best for us to walk?	I
On an adjective, one of two	zazawan werehel wanadal wol gezebul.	sleepy either when raining or at night	I
A whole clause as the occasion: barl	zahaben vezehel thoyem barl zazawan vowogal.	Ahaben sings if Azawan walks.	I

Use a restrictor when each occasion is a word; use barl when the occasion is a full clause. To ask when?, see questions.

Setting a chunk apart

A span is a role letter and a pair of brackets. The letter is the role of the whole chunk in the sentence. A span is written only: speech has no word for its edges.

Which bracket

Bracket	Inside is	Use	Example	Stage
[…]	Agazan	cite: what someone said, a title	zazawan d[azawan] vezebel.	B
<…>	not Agazan	opaque: a foreign word, code, a name	zazawan d<kimchi> vahahal.	B
th(…)	Agazan	aside: a side comment; g(…) on a noun, w(…) on the next word, h(…) on the action	zazawan vowogal th(hagawal).	B
{ … }	Agazan	scope island: a binder inside reaches only that chunk	zazawan { hegewem zodogal geredal } vahahal.	I

When the lexicon has a matching root, write the ordinary word, not a span. An aside holds the same speech act as the outer sentence and never goes under /y/, /z/, /d/, /b/, or /v/.

Marks before the bracket

Mark	Use	English	Example	Stage
(none)	exact	verbatim wording	d[azawan]	B
~	paraphrase	the gist	d~[zazawan vezehel]	B
@	proper	a work known by that title	d@[onodan alahen]	B
~@	proper, loosely remembered	something like that title	d~@[onodan alahen]	B
^@	one thing under the name	an iPhone, a copy of	d^@[onodan alahen]	I
~^@	one copy, title roughly	a copy of something like	d~^@[onodan alahen]	I

A one-word name is an ordinary -n word (donodan), not a span.

Which slot

Agazan	Use	English	Stage
/d/	object	said / wrote / saw “…”	B
/z/	subject	a foreign name as the subject	B
/b/	extra party	a foreign name as the recipient	B
/v/	verb	echo the act as wording; a loan verb	B
/ɡ/	adjective	a loan adjective; an aside on the noun	B
/w/	extra detail	a loan degree word; an aside on the next word	B
/h/	adverb	a loan adverb; an aside on the action	B
/th/	stance	an aside on the sentence	B

Job	Example	English	Stage
Quote a sentence	zalahen d~[zazawan vezehel] varadal.	Alahen wrote something like “Azawan sings.”	B
A title of several words	zahaben d@[onodan alahen] vezehel.	Ahaben sang Onodan Alahen.	B
A cite as the verb	yul zalahen v[vazadal].	Don't say “stop,” Alahen.	B
A loan verb	zalahen v<google> dazawan.	Alahen googled Azawan.	B
A loan adjective	zodogal g<rouge> vowogal.	A rouge dog walks.	B
A quoted question	zazawan d[yol zalahen vowogal] vezebel.	Azawan said, “Does Alahen walk?”	I
Point back at a quote	zalahen d[azawan] vezebel. zahaben duxar vahahal.	Alahen said “Azawan.” Ahaben saw that.	I
Topic from a title	x@[onodan alahen] dozan vezehel.	Now, about Onodan Alahen: it is sung.	I
An aside as a clause	zazawan vowogal th(zalahen vezebal).	Azawan walks (Alahen sleeps).	B
An aside on a noun	zazawan g(zazawar vowogal) vezehel.	Azawan, who walks, sings.	B
An aside on one word	zodogal w(zazawan vezebel) gubuhel vowogal.	A (so Azawan says) blue dog walks.	B
An aside before the noun	gl(gubuhel) zodogal gamazam vowogal.	The small dog (it is blue) walks.	I
A loan adjective before the noun	gl<rouge> zodogal vowogal.	A rouge dog walks.	I
A loan degree word	zodogal w<molto> gubuhel vowogal.	A molto blue dog walks.	B
Aside inside a cite	zazawan d[ th(hagawal) azawan ] vezebel.	Azawan said “Azawan” (quietly).	A

Calls and mentions

Job	Example	English	Stage
Call a foreign name	y@<Sam>	Sam!	B
Name of uncertain spelling	y~@<Sam>	Sam? (not sure of the name)	B
Foreign interjection	y<Amen>	Amen!	B
A word as spelling: glelel	glelel z<odoga> gamazam.	The word “odoga” is small.	I
A name as spelling: glelen	zazawan glelen d<onodan> vogozam.	Azawan dislikes the name “onodan.”	I

Writing the close

Writing	Use	English	Stage
d[…]	close one span, whole	the matching closer	A
d[…#]	editorial: cut off or faulty	trailing off	A
d[…|]	close all open spans	sweep everything	A

Scope islands

Braces { … } group one chunk so a binder inside reaches only it. The edges are a pause in speech. A tone mark right before the brace colors the whole island.

Rule	Detail	Stage
Binder required	a scope-taking /h/ or /th/, or a join, inside; a hook is never a binder	I
At most one phrase	a noun phrase, verb phrase, or /ɡ/ stack, with its own detail	I
One island per clause	islands do not nest	I
Hosts keep their /b/	host and hosted /b/ are both inside or both outside	I
No role letter	on the edges	I
Empty { }	has no reading	I

Placement	Reading	Stage
/h/ or /th/ inside	frames that chunk	I
/h/ or /th/ outside	ordinary floating word: frames the verb or clause	I
Join inside	joins only the interior conjuncts	I
Join outside	ordinary lookback; the edges do not filter it	I

Job	Example	English	Stage
A possibility, on one chunk	zazawan { hegewem zodogal geredal } vahahal.	Azawan saw, as a possibility, the red dog.	I
A join, on one pair	zazawan { zalahen zal } zam vahahal.	Azawan and (just Alahen) saw …	I
A recipient first, then the binder	zazawan { balahen hegewem } vezebel.	Azawan told Alahen, possibly	I

Don't mix up

This	vs	That
hal only when (a closed list)		ham among other times (an open list)
hual always (every time)		har sometimes (some time)
hor anytime (any one will do)		hual always (at all times)
hur some other time (a leftover occasion)		huol anytime except when… (leftover times in general)
herehel hal only when raining (a restrictor list)		thoyem barl if a whole sentence (a dependent)
d[azawan] what was said (a cite)		donodan the one-word name (an ordinary -n word)
d@[onodan alahen] the work (a proper span)		glelen the name as spelling (a mention)
th(…) an aside (a comment)		{ … } a scope island (a chunk for a binder)