Knowing

English I think can be a guess, a memory, or a conclusion from clues, and the listener has to work out which. Agazan keeps the ordinary verb and adds a /th/ stance word that says which: MAY for what could be so, or a word for how you know it. So a guess never passes for a report, and a report says what it rests on.

On this page

• Beginner
  • MAY
  • Hold endings (MAY)
  • Practice
• Intermediate
  • Evidentiality
  • Evidence strength
  • Second-hand and further (th#N)
  • Source (/b/ after the channel)
  • Mirative (thezum)
  • Forecasts (bral)
  • Evidence clause (barl)
  • Live vs memory
  • Carrying a channel forward
  • Residue and former climate
  • Already, still, not yet, no longer
  • Notional (as-if framing)
  • Hold endings (NOTIONAL)
  • Deduction (thugum)
  • Channels as comparison bars
  • Channels after uem
  • Practice
• Advanced
  • Mood on one adjective
  • Dated channel (signed offset)
  • Whose view (holder)
  • Channels on a generalization
  • Practice
• See also

Beginner

MAY

To say something could be so without claiming that it is (Alahen may be leaving), keep the ordinary verb and add ovu plus an ending as a stance word on /th/. This word is called MAY. The sentence now says the leaving is possible, not that it happens, and it gives no reason for thinking so. This matters most for painful guesses (a rejection, a blow, a loss), which English I think easily turns into facts. Start with thovum, may / could be. (cue: 💭 thought: a balloon over the scene)

Without the /th/ word, you are reporting that it happens. As a plain noun the root keeps its own meaning (zovul a thought); the verb think is a different root, vevegal.

zalahen thovum vedabal dahaben.

z-Alahen | th-MAY | v-departure | d-Ahaben

"Alahen may be leaving Ahaben."

Compare with: zazawan vevegal. is Azawan thinks, a report of the act of thinking; it does not mark anything as a guess. For a likelihood in numbers (70% likely), use the stance number th+N.

Hold endings (MAY)

The ending on MAY says whether you mean to follow up on the could be: with -l you will find out, with -m you leave that unsaid (the default), and with -r it is a passing thought you are not pursuing. The three run on the same settled-to-passing scale as time horizon. No ending is better than the others: finding out, leaving it at may, and letting it go are all fine choices. With -n, the word is an ordinary name.

Agazan	Use	English	Same root as	Cue
thovul	could be, and you are committed to settling it	may, I'll find out / let's find out	ovul thought	💭: balloon plus a magnifying glass (-l the full run)
thovum	could be (default; follow-up unstated)	may / could be	ovul thought	💭: balloon (-m middle)
thovur	could be, as a passing thought you are not pursuing right now	may, who knows	ovul thought	💭: balloon drifting off (-r ≈ right now)

When you are not sure, use thovum: it says could be and nothing about following up.

zalahen thovul vabahel dazawan.

z-Alahen | th-MAY-find-out | v-punch | d-Azawan

"Alahen may be punching Azawan, I'll find out."

In a yes/no question, thovul says you are asking in order to find out:

yol zazawan vabahel thovul dalahen.

y-question | z-Azawan | v-punch | th-MAY-find-out | d-Alahen

"Might Azawan be punching Alahen? let's find out."

zahaben thovur vagahul.

z-Ahaben | th-MAY-who-knows | v-cry

"Ahaben may be crying, who knows."

Practice

Short drills for Beginner. Try each item before opening Show answer.

Setting: a café patio

New words:

English	Agazan	Cue
departure	vedabal	🛫
cry	vagahul	😭
fight	vavadal	🫯
MAY	thovum	💭 from thought: a balloon over the scene

Review:

English	Agazan
Azawan	azawan
Alahen	alahen
Ahaben	ahaben
think	vevegal
pay	vamol
tell	vezebel
wine	awahel
pour	vobohol
scream	vezugel
sandwich	azal
see	vahahal
punch	vabahel

English → Agazan

1. Ahaben may be leaving Azawan.

Show answer

zahaben thovum vedabal dazawan.

z-Ahaben | th-MAY | v-departure | d-Azawan

2. Azawan may be fighting Alahen, I'll find out.

Show answer

zazawan thovul vavadal dalahen.

z-Azawan | th-MAY-find-out | v-fight | d-Alahen

3. Alahen may be crying, who knows.

Show answer

zalahen thovur vagahul.

z-Alahen | th-MAY-who-knows | v-cry

4. Azawan thinks. (an act of thinking)

Show answer

zazawan vevegal.

z-Azawan | v-think

5. Could Ahaben be paying?

Show answer

yol zahaben vamol thovum.

y-question | z-Ahaben | v-pay | th-MAY

6. Alahen may be telling Azawan.

Show answer

zalahen thovum vezebel bazawan.

z-Alahen | th-MAY | v-tell | b-Azawan

Agazan → English

1. zazawan thovum dawahel vobohol.

Show answer

z-Azawan | th-MAY | d-wine | v-pour

Azawan may be pouring wine.

2. zahaben thovul vezugel.

Show answer

z-Ahaben | th-MAY-find-out | v-scream

Ahaben may be screaming, I'll find out.

3. yol zalahen vavadal thovul dazawan.

Show answer

y-question | z-Alahen | v-fight | th-MAY-find-out | d-Azawan

Might Alahen be fighting Azawan? Let's find out.

4. zazawan thovur dazal vahahal.

Show answer

z-Azawan | th-MAY-who-knows | d-sandwich | v-see

Azawan may be seeing a sandwich, who knows.

5. zahaben thovum vabahel dalahen.

Show answer

z-Ahaben | th-MAY | v-punch | d-Alahen

Ahaben may be punching Alahen.

Pick one

1. Azawan may be crying, I'll find out. zazawan thovul vagahul. or zazawan thovur vagahul.

Show answer

zazawan thovul vagahul.

z-Azawan | th-MAY-find-out | v-cry

-l commits to settling it; -r is a passing thought you are not pursuing.

Fix it

1. Ahaben may be leaving. (a guess, not a claim) zahaben vedabal.

Show answer

zahaben thovum vedabal.

z-Ahaben | th-MAY | v-departure

Without thovum, the sentence reports that Ahaben is leaving.

Intermediate

Evidentiality

English often says how you know a claim: I saw it, I heard, I figured. Agazan keeps the ordinary verb and adds a /th/ stance word for that, called an evidential. It names the channel the claim reached you through: sensing it now, memory, a pattern of cases, clues, a proof from premises, a report, or a gut sense. So the same walk can be reported seven ways, and the listener always knows what your claim rests on. Under other role letters the channel roots are ordinary words (vodol to attest, dewal an ear).

The seven channels come in four kinds. Two are direct: you sensed it yourself, now (LIVE) or earlier (MEMORY). Three are reasoned: you worked it out from similar cases (PATTERN), from clues about this case (CLUES), or from premises it must follow from (DEDUCED). One is received: someone else said or wrote it (REPORTED). One is internal: a sense you cannot fully spell out (INTUITION).

Verbs have no past or future form. Two channels place the event in time because of how you know it: LIVE means the scene is in your senses as you speak, and MEMORY means you remember sensing it (so it is past). The other channels do not place the event. When a reasoned or reported event happened at another time, add a when-frame: before / after / while, a clock or date, or a signed offset on the channel. A claim that something will happen is a forecast: a channel plus a later offset, so a forecast always says how you know.

zazawan thodom vowogal.

z-Azawan | th-LIVE | v-walk

"Azawan walks, live / from the scene."

zazawan thevom vowogal.

z-Azawan | th-MEMORY | v-walk

"Azawan walked, I remember it."

For could be with nothing behind it, use: MAY. When English I think means you have reasons (you worked it out, you heard it, you sense it), pick the channel for those reasons instead.

Agazan	Use	English	Same root as	Cue
thodom	LIVE: firsthand, sensed now	live / from the scene	odol attest	👁️‍🗨️: sensing-and-saying while it is in view, in earshot, or on your skin
thevom	MEMORY: firsthand, remembered	from memory	evol fishing	🎣: you pull something back
thobam	PATTERN: similar cases	from the pattern	obal paw-prints	🐾: cases left behind
thunem	CLUES: reasoned from clues about this case	from the clues / apparently	unel investigate	🕵️: you work the clues
thugum	DEDUCED: it must hold if the premises hold	it follows / by deduction	ugul book	📖: a book already holds what it says; a deduction reads out only what the premises hold
thewam	REPORTED: someone else said or wrote it	so they say / according to…	ewal ear	👂: you take in what others pass on
thahom	INTUITION: a gut sense	my gut says	ahol heart	❤️: knowing you cannot fully spell out

Pick one channel for how you know.

zalahen thewam varadal.

z-Alahen | th-REPORTED | v-write

"Alahen writes, so they say."

zalahen thahom vezebal.

z-Alahen | th-INTUITION | v-sleep

"Alahen is asleep, my gut says."

LIVE covers every sense, not only sight: a sound in earshot, cold on your skin, an ache in your knee. MEMORY is the same senses, remembered. A screen or a recording extends your senses, so footage is LIVE while you watch it and MEMORY once you have watched it, with the device as the source. A document is REPORTED: someone wrote it, so it reached you from someone else.

Compare with: the act of seeing is the ordinary verb vahahal; LIVE only says how you know the claim. In the same way, hearing a door is an ordinary /v/ verb, not REPORTED. A feeling such as fear or hope is an emotion compose; INTUITION is a way of knowing, not a feeling about the event. Something a schedule says will happen is someone's PLAN, and a tale you tell for its own sake is NOTIONAL.

Related form: to deny only the channel (it happened, but I did not see it), close the evidential with a stance join. Two channels you cannot choose between use the same kind of join.

Evidence strength

The ending on a channel says how strong the evidence is. Use -m by default. The test is what you could offer if someone asked how do you know?:

• -l: you could show it. You can hand over something checkable apart from you (the document, the clues, the source), and the hearer can weigh it themselves.
• -m: you could describe it. You can say what you saw, were told, or noticed, and the hearer takes your account on trust.
• -r: you could only gesture at it. You can point toward it but cannot state it precisely, so a follow-up question would find little behind it.

What counts as showing depends on the channel, so the table names what each channel grades.

Strength grades your evidence, not how sure you feel and not how likely the event is. Likelihood is a separate stance number (th+70), so a strong pattern can still give middling odds, and a rumor can claim certainty. Strength is also not distance from the event: that is th#N, so a compiled report that is several hands removed can still be -l.

Channel	Graded on	-l show	-m (default) describe	-r gesture
LIVE	clarity of view	thodol a clear, full view	thodom	thodor a glimpse
MEMORY	vividness of memory	thevol a vivid memory	thevom	thevor a hazy memory
PATTERN	number and consistency of cases	thobal a well-established pattern	thobam	thobar a few cases
CLUES	strength of clues	thunel strong clues	thunem	thuner a weak clue
DEDUCED	how far you checked the steps	thugul every step could be shown	thugum	thugur it seems to follow, steps unchecked
REPORTED	reliability of the source	thewal a reliable source or an authoritative document	thewam	thewar a rumor or an unofficial note
INTUITION	how well you can state the basis	thahol a strong gut sense	thahom	thahor a faint hunch

Two rows stretch the word show. A live view is gone once the moment passes, so for LIVE and MEMORY -l means you could narrate it in fine detail. INTUITION is private, so -l means you can say what the sense rests on, not that you can hand it over.

DEDUCED grades how far you checked the steps, not the premises. A step can be airtight and still start from a false premise, so a deduction is only as good as what it was deduced from (deduction).

zalahen thewar vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-REPORTED.weak | v-departure

"Rumor has it Alahen left."

zazawan thevol vowogal.

z-Azawan | th-MEMORY.strong | v-walk

"Azawan walked, I remember it clearly."

Second-hand and further (th#N)

English second-hand, third-hand, a secondary source and a tertiary source count the hands between the person who was there and you. A channel does not say that. Add a stance number with the rank marker after the channel: th#N (from 2) is N-th hand. The channel says what form the claim reached you in, and the number says how far that is from the event. So thredul (th#2) is one step removed: told by someone who was there, or written by someone who asked them. threrel (th#3) is two steps removed: told by someone who was told, or compiled from reports. (cue: e ≈ order, the place in the chain)

zalahen thewam threrel vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-REPORTED | th-3rd-hand | v-departure

"Alahen left, so they say, third-hand."

zalahen thewal bunuzel thredul vedabal.

z-Alahen | [th-REPORTED.strong | b-newspaper] | th-2nd-hand | v-departure

"Alahen left, according to a newspaper article by someone who interviewed people who were there."

Alone, th#N says the claim was passed on to you, without saying in what form. After a channel it adds the form: REPORTED (a retelling, a secondary source, or lore passed down), PATTERN (cases you know only from reports), or CLUES (clues you know only from reports). The number counts the hands on the evidence, never the reasoning steps: a conclusion drawn from your own clues is plain CLUES. First-hand has no number, because that is a channel: th#N with LIVE or MEMORY (thodom, thevom) is not used. The usual number endings apply: -m about N-th hand (threrem), -r with a digit the same depth as before (threrer). Digitless threr under a question asks how many hands?

Compare with: th_N names which numbered source the claim rests on; th#N counts how many hands it passed through. Reliability of the one source you heard from is the ending on the channel (thewal / thewar).

Source (/b/ after the channel)

English according to Azawan and going by the camera name who or what you got the claim from. Put that noun in /b/ right after the channel. The channel is its host, so the /b/ is the source, not someone who receives anything.

zalahen thewam bazawan vedabal.

z-Alahen | [th-REPORTED | b-Azawan] | v-departure

"Alahen left, according to Azawan."

zalahen thodom bagahol vezebal.

z-Alahen | [th-LIVE | b-camera] | v-sleep

"Alahen is asleep, going by the camera." (watching the feed now)

What you put in that /b/ decides what it does. A person or other noun is the source: a speaker or a document on REPORTED, a screen or a recording on LIVE and MEMORY. A time measure phrase is an offset that dates the event instead (dated channel).

Compare with: the source is where the claim came to you from; the claim is still yours to pass on. To say the claim is someone else's view (Azawan thinks), use the holder, not /b/. A numbered footnote source is th_N.

Mirative (thezum)

English it turns out, to my surprise, and so … after all say the news ran against what you expected. Put thezum on the clause. This /th/ word is called MIRATIVE. It is not a channel: it says nothing about how you know, so add a channel beside it when you want to say that too.

zalahen thezum vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-MIRATIVE | v-departure

"Alahen left, it turns out."

The ending says how firm the expectation was that the news overturned. If you do not know, use -m.

Agazan	Use	English	Cue
thezul	it overturns a firm expectation	astonishingly, I never expected that	-l ≈ the expectation was locked in
thezum	it runs against what you expected (default)	it turns out, surprisingly	-m ≈ the ordinary case
thezur	it runs against a loose expectation	oh, as it happens	-r ≈ a passing guess

zalahen thodom thezul vowogal.

z-Alahen | th-LIVE | th-MIRATIVE.firm | v-walk

"Alahen is walking, I see it, and I never expected that."

The mirative says only that the news was unexpected, not whether it is good or bad. To say how it lands, add a feeling: the mirative after gobum says the stimulus was unexpected.

zebel wanathamar gobum thezum.

[z-present | [w-relatedness-met-any-term-INTERNAL-SURGING | g-stimulus]] | th-MIRATIVE

"Pleasantly surprised by the present."

Compare with: even on the including hook (wezum al) singles out the one unexpected member of a set. thezum says the whole claim was unexpected. For surprisingly on one adjective (surprisingly blue), put the ordinary word wezum (amazement) on /w/ right before it, the same word that grades the hook in even:

zazawan wezum gubuhel vowogal.

[z-Azawan | [w-amazement | g-blue]] | v-walk

"Azawan, surprisingly blue, walks."

Forecasts (bral)

English will can make a forecast: a claim that something will happen. Agazan has no will word for this. Use a channel and put bral right after it in /b/: a number with a plus sign and no digits, meaning some time after now. Because a forecast needs a channel, it always says what it rests on; for a hunch, that channel is INTUITION. The mirror, brul, is some time before now, for a past claim with no measured amount.

thobam bral verehel.

[th-PATTERN | b-later] | v-rain

"It will rain (going by the pattern)."

zalahen thahor bral vedabal.

z-Alahen | [th-INTUITION.weak | b-later] | v-departure

"I have a faint hunch Alahen will leave."

A schedule is not a forecast: it is someone's PLAN, and the channel says how you know about it.

zazawan thamam vezebel thewal bagadal.

z-Azawan | th-plan-itinerary | v-tell | [th-REPORTED.strong | b-calendar]

"Azawan is scheduled to speak, going by the official calendar."

In a question, the channel asks what the listener's answer rests on: going by the pattern you see, will it rain? The listener answers with that channel or names a different one. Pick the channel you expect them to have: CLUES (thunem) when they would work it out from clues, REPORTED (thewam) when they would go by what they heard or read.

yol thobam bral verehel.

y-question | [th-PATTERN | b-later] | v-rain

"Will it rain, going by the pattern?"

On a feeling (a sake word with a locus and a motion ending, before gobum), the channel and offset date the stimulus. On a feeling with no object, they date a stimulus you leave unnamed. The feeling itself stays now; to date a stance, use stance as-of.

Compare with: PLAN (thamam) says what someone intends to do; it needs no channel. A forecast is a claim about the world. To say how much later (in three hours), replace bral with a measured dated channel. Could be with nothing behind it is MAY, not a forecast.

Evidence clause (barl)

English judging by, going by, and given that name the grounds for a claim: the fact that tells you it holds. The three reasoned channels take grounds: CLUES (thunem, from clues), PATTERN (thobam, from cases that repeat) and DEDUCED (thugum, from premises). Each one takes barl as its /b/. The main sentence stops after barl, and the next sentence is the grounds (dependent clauses). You state the claim, the strength of your grounds, and the grounds themselves in one sentence.

zalahen vabahel thunem barl zazawan vezugel.

z-Alahen | v-punch | [th-CLUES | b-that-clause] | z-Azawan | v-scream

"Alahen punched, judging by the fact that Azawan is screaming."

Grounds are not a cause. With thavem barl, the clause after barl is what made the event happen. With a reasoned channel, it is only how you know the event happened: the screaming did not make Alahen punch.

zazawan vezugel thavem barl zalahen vabahel.

z-Azawan | v-scream | [th-because | b-that-clause] | z-Alahen | v-punch

"Azawan screams because Alahen punches."

You say	The clause after barl is	Form
what made it happen	the cause	thavem barl
what has to hold for it to happen	the condition	thoyem barl / tholum barl / thedam barl
how you know it happened	your grounds	thunem barl / thobam barl / thugum barl

The ending on the channel grades the grounds (evidence strength): -l for strong clues or a well-established pattern, -m by default, -r for a weak clue or a few cases. Strong clues still fall short of a proof: when the claim must hold if the grounds do, use DEDUCED (deduction).

verehel thunel barl zagavul gegeval.

v-rain | [th-CLUES.strong | b-that-clause] | [z-cloud | g-gray]

"It is raining, judging by the gray clouds (strong clues)."

For a forecast, keep the offset and put barl after it. The pattern is what you go by, and the grounds clause says what you see now.

verehel thobal bral barl zagavul gegeval.

v-rain | [th-PATTERN.strong | [b-later | b-that-clause]] | [z-cloud | g-gray]

"It will rain, going by the well-established pattern, given the gray clouds."

You assert the grounds, the way you assert a cause. If you are not sure of them, say so inside the grounds clause with its own channel:

zalahen vabahel thunem barl zazawan thodom vezugel.

z-Alahen | v-punch | [th-CLUES | b-that-clause] | z-Azawan | th-LIVE | v-scream

"Alahen punched, judging by the fact that Azawan is screaming (I am watching)."

Compare with: a noun in /b/ after any channel is its source (thewam bazawan according to Azawan), and no other channel takes barl. A cause or condition word may not come before the channel. Put the channel first (thunem thavem barl) to say both that you inferred it and that it was caused. Could be with no grounds is MAY.

Live vs memory

English I see it and I saw it both report watching; they differ in when you watched. LIVE thodom is for a scene still in your senses as you speak. MEMORY thevom is for a scene you remember sensing, so the event is past. Do not put both on one claim. English I witnessed it is MEMORY, not LIVE. (cue: memory is fishing: you pull the episode back, and it may not be what you hoped, the way a line can come up with a boot)

zazawan thevom vahahal dubudal.

z-Azawan | th-MEMORY | v-see | d-boot

"Azawan saw a boot, as I remember it."

Footage works the same way. While you watch, it is LIVE with the device as the source; once you have watched it, it is MEMORY, because your memory of the footage can slip just as a memory of the scene can.

zazawan thevom bagahol vowogal.

z-Azawan | [th-MEMORY | b-camera] | v-walk

"Azawan walked, as I remember from the camera."

Agazan	Use	English	Same root as	Cue
thodom	concurrent observation, by any sense	live / from the scene	odol attest	👁️‍🗨️: sensing-and-saying while it is in view
thevom	reconstructive / recalled observation	I remember / from memory	evol fishing	🎣: retrieval from the water

Carrying a channel forward

English tells a story with one they say or I remember at the start, and every sentence after it rests on the same ground. Agazan does the same. Once you put a channel on a claim, your later claims with no channel keep it: the channel is your frame. You name the channel once, then keep talking.

zalahen thewam vedabal. zalahen varahal. zalahen vezehel.

z-Alahen | th-REPORTED | v-departure . z-Alahen | v-run . z-Alahen | v-sing

"Alahen left, so they say. Alahen ran. Alahen sang." (all three are what you heard)

The frame is yours. It covers only your own claims, and someone else who replies never inherits it. Their reply does not end it either: when you go on telling, your frame is still in force.

Which sentences take the frame: your statements with no channel of their own, including a statement after a call, an interjection, or an answer word (yael zalahen varahal. yes, Alahen ran keeps your frame). A question does not take it, because a channel in a question asks about the listener's grounds (forecasts). A command, request, or prohibition does not take it, because it is not a claim. Neither ends the frame, so your next statement picks it up again.

zalahen thewam vedabal. yol zalahen varahal. zalahen vezehel.

z-Alahen | th-REPORTED | v-departure . y-question | z-Alahen | v-run . z-Alahen | v-sing

"Alahen left, so they say. Did Alahen run? Alahen sang (so they say)."

What does not end it: a new topic or a return to one, the sentence linkers (therefore, however, meanwhile, next, but), clause joins, asides, a MIRATIVE, or MAY. A story moves from one person to the next, and a surprise inside it is still part of it.

zazawan thewam vowogal. xalahen zozan vehahel.

z-Azawan | th-REPORTED | v-walk . x-Alahen | z-TOPIC | v-sit

"Azawan walked, so they say. Now, about Alahen: Alahen sat (so they say)."

What ends it:

• A new frame. Any channel replaces it, and so do NOTIONAL and a holder. From there on, the new one carries.
• The statement word, written out. yal (or yam / yar) before a body says you are back in your own voice, with no frame. It is the one place where writing the usually silent statement word changes the meaning. A rhetorical yal yol is a question, so it does not count.
• xavazem by the way: a digression leaves what you were telling. To go back, name the channel again.
• A goodbye, which ends the conversation.

zalahen thewam vedabal. yal zalahen vezebal.

z-Alahen | th-REPORTED | v-departure . y-statement | z-Alahen | v-sleep

"Alahen left, so they say. Alahen is asleep." (the second claim no longer rests on the report)

A quote keeps its speaker's frame: nothing carries into it from outside, and your own frame resumes after it.

Residue and former climate

English has left and used to tell mix two things: when the event happened, and how it stands now. Agazan places events in time with other tools: before / after / while, a clock or date, LIVE / MEMORY, or a forecast. Two /th/ words cover how it stands. RESIDUE says the outcome of an event is still in effect now. FORMER says a usual pattern is not one you are claiming for now. Neither says when anything happened, so use them alongside a channel or a when-frame, never as a past or present tense.

RESIDUE (amo) says the result still counts: an unpaid tab, a door that is still shut. Without it, you make no claim that anything is left over (the event is over and done, or nothing remains from it). As a plain noun, zamom is debt. (cue: 💰 a debt still on the books)

zalahen thamom vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-RESIDUE | v-departure

"Alahen has left (and is still gone)."

zalahen thevom thamom vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-MEMORY | th-RESIDUE | v-departure

"I remember Alahen leaving, and Alahen is still gone."

zalahen thodom thamom vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-LIVE | th-RESIDUE | v-departure

"Alahen has left and is still gone, I can see it." (what is left over is in view)

Compare with: after (hanom boyel) orders two events. thamom does not say the leaving was earlier; it says the outcome is still in effect. LIVE is how you know, not what is left over. A result as a property can stay ordinary /ɡ/ (the door is shut) with no residue word.

FORMER (eno) says a usual pattern held, but you are not claiming it holds now: Azawan always tells as a past habit. Without it, always hual describes the pattern as it stands now. As a plain noun, zenom is emptiness. (cue: 🪹 the nesting season is over; a former climate, not today's weather)

zazawan hual vezebel thenom.

z-Azawan | h-always | v-tell | th-FORMER

"Azawan always tells, a former pattern, not today's."

zazawan hual vezebel thenom thevom.

z-Azawan | h-always | v-tell | th-FORMER | th-MEMORY

"Azawan always told, a former pattern, not today's; I remember it."

zazawan hual vezebel thenom thobam bral.

z-Azawan | h-always | v-tell | th-FORMER | [th-PATTERN | b-later]

"Azawan always tells, a pattern that will be former by then (forecast from the pattern)."

Compare with: PATTERN thobam says how you know (from repeated cases); it does not say the pattern is over. thenom is not a past tense either: it works with LIVE and in a forecast.

Do not write thenom right before hual: that spot holds the restrictor's list of occasions (always except when …). Put hual first (bare always) and FORMER after the verb, where a channel goes on a general claim.

Agazan	Use	English	Same root as	Cue
thamom	outcome still in effect	still counts / residue	amom debt	💰: unpaid balance still on the books
thenom	usual pattern not claimed for now	former climate	enom emptiness	🪹: the nesting season is over

Put RESIDUE and FORMER on /th/, anywhere in the sentence. Use /w/ only when the word applies to the one /ɡ/ adjective right after it. Both always end in -m.

Already, still, not yet, no longer

English already, still, not yet, and no longer do not place an event in time. Each compares what is true now with a change: has it come, or not? Like RESIDUE, that is about how things stand now, not when something happened, so Agazan uses four /h/ words, not a tense. (cue: each root pictures the stage the change is at)

Agazan	Use	English	Same root as	Cue
hoham	the change has happened	already	ohal hatch	🐣: the chick is already out
hagem	the state goes on	still	agel anchor	⚓: the ship is held where it was
huzem	the change is expected but has not come	not yet	uzel seedling	🌱: not grown yet
hewem	the state has stopped	no longer / not anymore	ewel wilt	🥀: no longer fresh

zazawan hagem vowogal.

z-Azawan | h-still | v-walk

"Azawan is still walking."

zazawan huzem vowogal.

z-Azawan | h-not-yet | v-walk

"Azawan hasn't walked yet."

zazawan hewem vowogal ol bahazal.

z-Azawan | h-no-longer | v-walk | [at | b-house]

"Azawan doesn't walk at the house anymore."

The ending says how settled the current stage is, on the same settled-to-passing scale as time horizon. Use -m when it could change back, or when you do not know. Use -l when it is not expected to. Use -r when it holds only for now: it is likely to change back soon, or, on not yet, the change may never come.

Agazan	Use	English
hohal	done, and it will stay done	already, for good
hagel	goes on, with no end in sight	still, and it will keep on
huzel	not yet, but it is sure to come	not yet, but it will
hewel	stopped, and it will not come back	never again
hohar	done, but likely to come undone	already, for now
hager	goes on, but about to end	still, for now
huzer	not yet, and it may never come	not yet, maybe never
hewer	stopped for now; expected to resume	paused / not for now

zalahen hohal vedabal.

z-Alahen | h-already.lasting | v-departure

"Alahen has already left, for good."

zazawan hewer vowogal.

z-Azawan | h-no-longer.for-now | v-walk

"Azawan has stopped walking for now." (a pause; quitting for good is hewel)

When only one /ɡ/ adjective is still or no longer so, write the same word under /w/ immediately before that adjective.

zazawan dagadul wagem gubuhel vahahal.

z-Azawan | [d-cat | [w-still | g-blue]] | v-see

"Azawan sees a cat that is still blue."

Compare with: RESIDUE thamom says the outcome of a finished event is still in effect, not that the act goes on. FORMER thenom retires a usual pattern; hewem says any state or act has stopped.

Ever / never

English has ever / has never asks whether something happened at least once, at no particular time. Use already hoham with sometimes har (restrictors): the change has come, on some unnamed occasion. For has never, use bare hal (never).

zazawan hoham vezewel har.

z-Azawan | h-already | v-swim | h-sometimes

"Azawan has swum at some point."

zazawan vezewel hal.

z-Azawan | v-swim | h-never

"Azawan has never swum."

Notional (as-if framing)

To talk about a scene that is only imagined (imagine …, as if …, for the sake of argument), keep the ordinary verb and add avo plus an ending on /th/. This word is called NOTIONAL. The sentence now describes an imagined scene and makes no claim that it happens, so a pretend walk still uses the ordinary verb walk. (cue: 🎭 theater: a stage mask)

zazawan thavom vowogal.

z-Azawan | th-NOTIONAL | v-walk

"Imagine Azawan walking."

For could be, use: MAY.

NOTIONAL carries forward like a channel, so a story you make up, or a supposition you reason through, runs over several sentences. Once upon a time is NOTIONAL on the first sentence.

zazawan thavom vowogal. zazawan vehahel. zazawan vezehel.

z-Azawan | th-NOTIONAL | v-walk . z-Azawan | v-sit . z-Azawan | v-sing

"Imagine Azawan walking. Azawan sits down. Azawan sings."

A legend that people pass on as true is not NOTIONAL: it is REPORTED, often with a hand count.

Compare with: walks like a duck is a real walk; only its manner matches the model (simile humum). Tells on behalf of Alahen is a real telling, and Azawan is still the teller (proxy hadem).

Hold endings (NOTIONAL)

The ending on NOTIONAL says what the imagining is for: with -l you rehearse a scene to prepare for doing it, with -m you picture it with no further purpose (the default), and with -r you toy with a what if for the moment. The three run on the same settled-to-passing scale as time horizon, like the endings on PLAN. With -n, the word is an ordinary name.

Agazan	Use	English	Same root as	Cue
thavol	rehearse a possible scene to prepare for action	let’s practice… / try acting as if…	avol theater	🎭: practice a scene
thavom	imagine a scene without a further purpose (default)	imagine… / as if…	avol theater	🎭: picture a scene
thavor	toy with a possibility or assumption, for now	suppose… / what if…?	avol theater	🎭: try on a mask for a moment

When you are not sure, use thavom.

zahaben thavol vezehel.

z-Ahaben | th-NOTIONAL-rehearse | v-sing

"Ahaben practices singing." (rehearsing the imagined scene)

zazawan thavor varadal.

z-Azawan | th-NOTIONAL-suppose | v-write

"Suppose Azawan writes." (toying with an assumption)

Deduction (thugum)

English it follows that, P, so Q and by deduction claim more than good evidence: if the premises hold, the conclusion must hold. Put DEDUCED (thugum) on the conclusion and the premises after barl, as in any evidence clause. Join several premises with a clause join; a join after a stand-in stays in the dependent, so every premise is grounds. You assert the premises and the conclusion.

zazawan vedehol thugum barl zual gaxedehothel vedehol xam zazawan gaxedehothel.

z-Azawan | v-teach | [th-DEDUCED | b-that-clause] | [[z-everything | g-agent-x-teach-th-role] | v-teach | x-and.open | z-Azawan | g-agent-x-teach-th-role]

"Azawan teaches, since every teacher teaches and Azawan is a teacher."

To claim only that the conclusion follows, put a pole between the channel and barl. The pole is the ordinary if: the premises are enough for the conclusion, and you do not claim them. DEDUCED says you know that link by deduction. Now you assert nothing but the link.

zazawan vedehol thugum thoyem barl zual gaxedehothel vedehol xam zazawan gaxedehothel.

z-Azawan | v-teach | th-DEDUCED | [th-if | b-that-clause] | [[z-everything | g-agent-x-teach-th-role] | v-teach | x-and.open | z-Azawan | g-agent-x-teach-th-role]

"If every teacher teaches and Azawan is a teacher, it follows that Azawan teaches."

You claim	Form	You assert
P, so Q	Q thugum barl P	P and Q
Q follows from P	Q thugum thoyem barl P	only the link
P and Q come to the same thing	Q thugum thedam barl P	only the link, both ways
P rules out Q	Q denied with vul, then thugum thoyem barl P	only that P and Q cannot both hold

To say a conclusion does not follow (that doesn't follow, a non sequitur), deny the channel and the pole together with a stance join before barl. You deny the link and claim nothing about P or Q: either may still be true.

The ending grades how far you checked the steps (evidence strength): thugul when you could write out every step, thugum when you could name the premises and the rule, thugur when it only seems to follow.

When the premises come first, open the conclusion with the linker xodul it follows that (sentence linkers). It reaches back to the one sentence before it, so join every premise into that sentence.

zual gaxedehothel vedehol xam zazawan gaxedehothel. xodul zazawan vedehol.

[[z-everything | g-agent-x-teach-th-role] | v-teach | x-and.open | z-Azawan | g-agent-x-teach-th-role] . x-it-follows | z-Azawan | v-teach

"Every teacher teaches, and Azawan is a teacher. It follows that Azawan teaches."

A linker is not a channel, so the conclusion keeps your frame: a deduction from a report is still REPORTED. To reason from a premise you do not grant, suppose it with NOTIONAL thavor. The frame carries, so every step after it stays supposed. To keep what you found, state the link with its own channel, which ends the supposition:

zazawan thavor gaxedehothel. xodul zazawan vedehol. zazawan vedehol thugum thoyem barl zazawan gaxedehothel.

z-Azawan | th-NOTIONAL-suppose | g-agent-x-teach-th-role . x-it-follows | z-Azawan | v-teach . z-Azawan | v-teach | th-DEDUCED | [th-if | b-that-clause] | [z-Azawan | g-agent-x-teach-th-role]

"Suppose Azawan is a teacher. Then Azawan teaches. So if Azawan is a teacher, it follows that Azawan teaches."

Compare with: strong clues (thunel) make a claim likely, but it can still fail with every clue true. A deduction cannot fail unless a premise does. Because (thavem) says what made it happen; a deduction says only what must be true.

Channels as comparison bars

English sleepier than usual and bigger than it looks compare against an expectation. Put the channel right before the rank word (zel / zuel / zoel) as the comparison's bar. The bar is then what that channel led you to expect, not how you know the claim. After the comparison, the same word is the claim's channel again.

zazawan thobam zel gezebul.

[z-Azawan | th-PATTERN | z-rank/more | g-sleepy]

"Azawan is sleepier than usual."

zazawan zel gezebul thobam.

[z-Azawan | z-rank/more | g-sleepy] | th-PATTERN

"Azawan is the sleepiest, going by the pattern."

Channel as the bar	Ranks against	English
LIVE thodom	how it looks	than it looks
MEMORY thevom	how you remember it	than I remember
PATTERN thobam	the trail of cases	than usual
CLUES thunem	what was worked out	than calculated
REPORTED thewam	what was said or written	than advertised / than the stories say
INTUITION thahom	your gut expectation	than I expected
FORMER thenom	how it used to be	than it used to be
NOTIONAL thavom	the imagined case	than imagined

MAY and MIRATIVE give no expected value to compare against, so neither can be a bar. Than scheduled ranks against a plan: that is the PLAN bar (thamam).

Channels after uem

English contrary to what I was told and against my gut say the event went against what a source led you to expect. Put the channel after the hook uem (contrary to), the same way as a ban or a plan (contrary to a stance). The pair names what the event goes against; the channel then says nothing about how you know the claim.

zazawan vowogal uem thewam.

z-Azawan | v-walk | [contrary-to | th-REPORTED]

"Azawan walks, contrary to what I was told."

zazawan vowogal uem thahom.

z-Azawan | v-walk | [contrary-to | th-INTUITION]

"Azawan walks, against my gut."

After uem	Goes against	English
LIVE thodom	how it looks	contrary to appearances
MEMORY thevom	how you remember it	contrary to what I remember
PATTERN thobam	the trail of cases	contrary to habit / unusually
CLUES thunem	what was worked out	contrary to my calculations
REPORTED thewam	what was said or written	contrary to what I was told / contrary to legend
INTUITION thahom	your gut expectation	against my gut

Off schedule goes against a plan: uem thamam (contrary to a stance). MIRATIVE already says the claim ran against what you expected, so it does not follow uem. MAY, NOTIONAL, RESIDUE, and FORMER do not either: none of them is something the event could go against.

Compare with: zazawan thezum vowogal. says the walking surprised you. zazawan vowogal uem thahom. says your gut expected otherwise, whether or not the news surprised you.

Practice

Short drills for Intermediate. Try each item before opening Show answer.

Setting: a press conference

New words:

English	Agazan	Cue
mute	vamuyul	🔇
cloud	agavul	☁️
gray	egeval	🩶
LIVE	thodom	👁️‍🗨️ from attest: seen at the scene
MEMORY	thevom	🎣 from fishing: pulled up from memory
PATTERN	thobam	🐾 from paw-prints: a trail of cases
CLUES	thunem	🕵️ from investigate: worked out from clues
DEDUCED	thugum	📖 from book: read out of the premises
REPORTED	thewam	👂 from ear: someone said so
NOTIONAL	thavom	🎭 from theater: an imagined scene
RESIDUE	thamom	💰 from money: a debt left standing
FORMER	thenom	🪹 from empty nest: what used to be
MIRATIVE	thezum	😮 from surprise: it turns out

Review:

English	Agazan
Azawan	azawan
Alahen	alahen
Ahaben	ahaben
camera	agahol
radio	eredel
rain	erehel
departure	vedabal
tell	vezebel
see	vahahal
sing	vezehel
scream	vezugel
punch	vabahel
sleep	vezebal

English → Agazan

1. Azawan tells Ahaben, seen live; what was told still stands.

Show answer

zazawan thodom thamom vezebel bahaben.

z-Azawan | th-LIVE | th-RESIDUE | v-tell | b-Ahaben

2. Alahen screams, so they say, third-hand.

Show answer

zalahen thewam threrel vezugel.

z-Alahen | th-REPORTED | th-3rd-hand | v-scream

3. Going by a well-established pattern, Azawan will tell Ahaben.

Show answer

zazawan thobal bral vezebel bahaben.

z-Azawan | [th-PATTERN.strong | b-later] | v-tell | b-Ahaben

4. Azawan has sung at some point.

Show answer

zazawan hoham vezehel har.

z-Azawan | h-already | v-sing | h-sometimes

5. Alahen sings, it turns out, seen live.

Show answer

zalahen thodom thezum vezehel.

z-Alahen | th-LIVE | th-MIRATIVE | v-sing

6. Imagine Alahen muting the radio.

Show answer

zalahen thavom vamuyul deredel.

z-Alahen | th-NOTIONAL | v-mute | d-radio

Agazan → English

1. zalahen thevom bagahol vezehel.

Show answer

z-Alahen | [th-MEMORY | b-camera] | v-sing

Alahen sang, as I remember from the camera.

2. zalahen thevom vahahal deredel. yal zalahen vezebal.

Show answer

z-Alahen | th-MEMORY | v-see | d-radio . y-statement | z-Alahen | v-sleep

Alahen saw a radio, as I remember. Alahen is asleep. (the written statement word ends the memory frame)

3. zalahen huzel vedabal.

Show answer

z-Alahen | h-not-yet.lasting | v-departure

Alahen hasn't left yet, but will.

4. verehel thobal bral barl zagavul gegeval.

Show answer

v-rain | [th-PATTERN.strong | [b-later | b-that-clause]] | [z-cloud | g-gray]

It will rain, going by the well-established pattern, given the gray clouds.

5. zalahen thenom zel gegeval.

Show answer

[z-Alahen | th-FORMER | z-rank/more | g-gray]

Alahen is grayer than Alahen used to be.

6. zahaben vezebel uem thewam.

Show answer

z-Ahaben | v-tell | [contrary-to | th-REPORTED]

Ahaben tells, contrary to what I was told.

Pick one

1. There are gray clouds, and there is rain if there are gray clouds; so there is rain, and you could write out every step. zerehel thugul barl zagavul gegeval xam zerehel goyem bagavul gegeval. or zerehel thugum barl zagavul gegeval xam zerehel goyem bagavul gegeval.

Show answer

zerehel thugul barl zagavul gegeval xam zerehel goyem bagavul gegeval.

z-rain | [th-DEDUCED.strong | b-that-clause] | [[z-cloud | g-gray] | x-and.open | z-rain | [g-if | [b-cloud | g-gray]]]

DEDUCED with -l means you could show every step; -m means you could name the premises and the rule.

2. Ahaben practices singing. zahaben thavol vezehel. or zahaben thavom vezehel.

Show answer

zahaben thavol vezehel.

z-Ahaben | th-NOTIONAL-rehearse | v-sing

NOTIONAL with -l is a rehearsal; -m only imagines the singing.

Fix it

1. Alahen punched, judging by the fact that Azawan screams. zalahen vabahel thavem barl zazawan vezugel.

Show answer

zalahen vabahel thunem barl zazawan vezugel.

z-Alahen | v-punch | [th-CLUES | b-that-clause] | z-Azawan | v-scream

The scream is your evidence, so it goes after CLUES; thavem would make the scream the cause of the punch.

Advanced

Mood on one adjective

The /th/ words on this page (MAY, the channels, RESIDUE, FORMER, NOTIONAL) cover the whole sentence. When one applies only to a single /ɡ/ adjective, put the same word on /w/ right before that adjective instead.

Only words about how you know or how things stand move to /w/ this way: the ones above, CAUSE, the already / still words, and can with ubo. A plan, decision, try, or want stays on /th/: on /w/ the same spelling is the ordinary word of its root (wamam as planned, wehum decidedly, wudum tentatively, wohum wishfully).

zazawan wevom gubuhel vowogal.

[z-Azawan | [w-MEMORY | g-blue]] | v-walk

"Azawan walks, and that blue is from memory."

zazawan wodom gubuhel vowogal.

[z-Azawan | [w-LIVE | g-blue]] | v-walk

"Azawan walks, and that blue is from the scene (live)."

zazawan wamom gadadal vowogal.

[z-Azawan | [w-RESIDUE | g-tired]] | v-walk

"Azawan walks, still tired (the tiredness has not worn off)."

Dated channel (signed offset)

English three hours ago and in three hours count from now. Agazan counts from the channel instead: put a measure phrase in /b/ immediately after the evidential. Any other noun there is the source; a time measure is the offset. The amount is signed: - is earlier than now, + is later than now. The offset always dates the event, not the moment you learned about it. There is no bare ago word, so a dated claim always says how you know it.

zazawan thevom bagazem grurel vowogal.

z-Azawan | [th-MEMORY | [b-hour | g-minus-three]] | v-walk

"I saw Azawan walk three hours ago."

zalahen thewam bagazem grarel vedabal.

z-Alahen | [th-REPORTED | [b-hour | g-three]] | v-departure

"I hear Alahen leaves in three hours."

Some channels only point one way:

Channel	Sign	Why
thevom MEMORY	- only	you already observed it
thodom LIVE	no offset	the scene is in view now
thobam PATTERN	- or +	-: it happened then, if the pattern held; +: it will, if the pattern holds
thunem CLUES, thewam REPORTED, thahom INTUITION	- or +	the channel does not fix the time
PLAN thamam	+ only	the intended act is later

The wrong sign on a one-way word (thevom with +, thamam with -) is not a sentence.

A carried channel keeps its offset. Date the first sentence of a story, and the bare sentences after it happen then too, so a past story needs no tense and no offset on every line. A new offset starts a new frame.

zazawan thevom bazazam gruwol vowogal. zazawan vehahel.

z-Azawan | [th-MEMORY | [b-day | g-minus-one]] | v-walk . z-Azawan | v-sit

"I saw Azawan walk yesterday. Azawan sat down (yesterday, as I remember)."

A signed measure in the /b/ of a time pole (homam until, heveham by, habam before, hanom after, huwem during) counts from now, the same way. The pole itself needs no channel, but its clause must already be a command, a request, or a plan, or carry a channel of its own (a carried frame does not count). So a command or a plan can name a day without saying how anyone knows, while a plain statement cannot use a pole to slip in a past or future with no warrant. An absolute date in the pole (homam b_#22,7) needs none of this.

yel vaheham zehon homam bazazam grawol.

y-command | v-confidentiality | z-listener | [h-until | [b-day | g-one]]

"Keep the secret until tomorrow."

For just and about to, use the just-short amount with no unit: brubul is a hair before now, brabul is a hair after now.

zazawan thevom brubul vowogal.

z-Azawan | [th-MEMORY | b---e-] | v-walk

"I just saw Azawan walk."

thunem brabul verehel.

[th-CLUES | b-+-e-] | v-rain

"It is about to rain (from the clouds)."

For soon, soften that hair with open -m: brabum is a short while after now. It is later than about to (brabul) but still close, unlike open-ended later (bral).

thunem brabum verehel.

[th-CLUES | b-+-e-.about] | v-rain

"It will rain soon (from the clouds)."

The mirror, brubum, is a short while before now: recently.

zazawan thevom brubum vowogal.

z-Azawan | [th-MEMORY | b---e-.about] | v-walk

"I saw Azawan walk recently."

zalahen thobam bagazem grurel vezebal.

z-Alahen | [th-PATTERN | [b-hour | g-minus-three]] | v-sleep

"Going by the pattern, Alahen slept three hours ago."

A channel used as a comparison bar takes the same offset, which dates the bar: MEMORY with a day before is than yesterday.

zazawan thevom bazazam gruwol zel gezebul.

[z-Azawan | [th-MEMORY | [b-day | g-minus-one]] | z-rank/more | g-sleepy]

"Azawan is sleepier than yesterday."

With an as-of pair, the offset counts from the as-of moment instead of from the moment you speak.

Compare with: an absolute clock or date (h_#22,7) dates the event without a channel. RESIDUE and FORMER do not locate time, so they take no offset.

Now and today

Agazan has no short now word. Say now with an offset of zero: the event sits no time away from the moment you speak. The channel stays, so now still says how you know it.

zalahen thunem bagazem grazol vezebal.

z-Alahen | [th-CLUES | [b-hour | g-zero]] | v-sleep

"Alahen must be asleep right now."

The unit sets how wide now is. Zero hours is right now; zero days is today.

zazawan thewam bazazam grazol vezehel.

z-Azawan | [th-REPORTED | [b-day | g-zero]] | v-sing

"I hear Azawan sings today."

Use zero on a channel that takes either sign. LIVE thodom already means now in view, so it needs no offset. MEMORY takes - only and PLAN takes + only, so zero is not a sentence on them.

Whose view (holder)

English Azawan thinks…, she's upset, and he doubts it report what is in someone else's mind as if you could see it. In Agazan, you name whose view a sentence gives (the holder) by joining their name onto a channel, MAY, or NOTIONAL. Keep that word's own last letter (-l, -m, or -r) and write the name straight after it: thunem plus azawan is thunemazawan. The joining letter is the seam. This is the only way to name a holder, so you can never report someone's view without saying how you know it. (cue: the name hangs off the way you know it)

zalahen thunemazawan vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-CLUES-Azawan | v-departure

"I gather Azawan thinks Alahen left."

zalahen thewamazawan vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-REPORTED-Azawan | v-departure

"I hear Azawan thinks Alahen left."

zalahen thovumazawan vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-MAY-Azawan | v-departure

"Maybe Azawan thinks Alahen left." (a guess about Azawan's view, marked as a guess)

zalahen thavomazawan vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-NOTIONAL-Azawan | v-departure

"Imagine it as Azawan sees it: Alahen left." (taking Azawan's point of view on purpose)

The seam letter keeps its meaning: evidence strength on a channel, the hold on MAY or NOTIONAL. The name keeps its own -n at the end. -n is never a seam.

zalahen thunelazawan vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-CLUES.strong-Azawan | v-departure

"Strong clues say Azawan thinks Alahen left."

zalahen thewarazawan vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-REPORTED.weak-Azawan | v-departure

"Rumor has it Azawan thinks Alahen left."

A holder carries forward like a channel. After it, your bare claims go on giving that person's view, until a new frame, so you can tell a stretch of the story as they see it.

zalahen thunemazawan vedabal. zalahen vezebal.

z-Alahen | th-CLUES-Azawan | v-departure . z-Alahen | v-sleep

"I gather Azawan thinks Alahen left, and is asleep."

The holder word ends the way a noun for that person would. -n is a name. -r resumes someone already named, which is English he / she / they, and a role pointer on -r works too (thunemaxar, I gather the latest doer thinks). Add associative -x after the ending for the person and their associates. A kind of person on -lx is some people of that kind.

zazawan vowogal. zalahen thunemazawar vedabal.

z-Azawan | v-walk . z-Alahen | th-CLUES-←Azawan | v-departure

"Azawan walks. I gather they think Alahen left."

zazawan vowogal. zalahen thunemaxar vedabal.

z-Azawan | v-walk . z-Alahen | th-CLUES-←agent.same | v-departure

"Azawan walks. I gather they think Alahen left." (the latest doer: Azawan)

zalahen thunemazawanx vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-CLUES-Azawan-x | v-departure

"I gather Azawan and co. think Alahen left."

zalahen thunemobelx vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-CLUES-person-x | v-departure

"I gather some people think Alahen left."

The holder may be the topic pronoun, whoever the conversation is about now, or the generic pronoun, the generic view. The generic pronoun takes no -x.

xazawan thunemozan zalahen vedabal.

x-Azawan | th-CLUES-TOPIC | z-Alahen | v-departure

"Now, about Azawan: I gather Azawan thinks Alahen left."

thunemoben zalahen vedabal.

th-CLUES-ONE | z-Alahen | v-departure

"I gather one would think Alahen left."

The seam word is yours; the rest of the clause is the holder's. The word that carries the name says how you know about the holder's view: you inferred it, heard it, guess it, or are imagining it. You claim nothing about whether the holder is right, and nothing about your own view. Everything else in the clause, wherever it sits, belongs to the holder:

In the clause	With no holder	With a holder
The event	you assert it	what the holder takes to be so; you do not assert it
MAY, MIRATIVE, CAUSE poles, DECISION, prescription	yours	the holder's
Sake words and emotion compose, with their endings	your stake and feeling	the holder's stake and feeling
A /ɡ/ sake's my reading (personal possession)	your belonging	the holder's belonging
Another evidential	how you know	how the holder knows
The grounds after an inferring or pattern host's barl	grounds you assert	the holder's grounds; you do not assert them
A comparison bar	your expectation	the holder's expectation

zumel wanathumol gobum balahen thunemazawan.

[z-memo | [[w-relatedness-unmet-modifiable-AIMED-STILL | g-stimulus] | b-Alahen]] | th-CLUES-Azawan

"I gather Azawan resents Alahen about the memo, gone still." (the stake, the aim, and the stillness are Azawan's)

zalahen thunemazawan thodom vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-CLUES-Azawan | th-LIVE | v-departure

"I gather Azawan saw Alahen leave." (LIVE is how Azawan knows)

zalahen thezum thunemazawan vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-MIRATIVE | th-CLUES-Azawan | v-departure

"I gather Alahen's leaving surprised Azawan." (the surprise is Azawan's)

A holder on a comparison bar names whose expectation you rank against. Inside the fence the seam covers only the bar: the ranking itself is still your claim.

zazawan thahomalahen zel gezebul.

[z-Azawan | th-INTUITION-Alahen | z-rank/more | g-sleepy]

"Azawan is sleepier than Alahen expected."

A holder on a channel after uem names whose view the event goes against. The seam covers only that pair: the event is still your claim.

zazawan vowogal uem thewamalahen.

z-Azawan | v-walk | [contrary-to | th-REPORTED-Alahen]

"Azawan walks, contrary to what I hear Alahen thinks."

A feeling with no object works the same way: the holder makes it someone else's feeling.

thulothuruor thunemalahen.

th-competence-unmet-passing-UNPLACED-SURGING | th-CLUES-Alahen

"I gather Alahen is anxious."

Pronouns and speech moves stay yours: SELF is still you, and the sentence is still your turn. The holder's view is their view now. To give their view at another time, add stance as-of (thuhum), which then dates their stance. A channel with a holder still takes its own /b/, so thewamazawan bral is I hear Azawan expects it.

One clause, one holder. The holder covers its clause and any dependent sentence inside it; a new /x/ sentence is yours again unless it has its own seam word. A dependent with its own seam word switches holder for that sentence only. That is how you take a stance on someone else's stance: your stance in the main sentence, theirs in a dependent.

wanathum gobum zarl zalahen wanathum gobum thunemazawan.

[w-relatedness-unmet-modifiable | g-stimulus] | z-that-clause | [z-Alahen | [w-relatedness-unmet-modifiable | g-stimulus]] | th-CLUES-Azawan

"It sits badly with me that, as I gather, Alahen sits badly with Azawan."

The first sake word has no holder, so it is yours. The second is Azawan's.

Only the seven channels, MAY, and NOTIONAL take a holder: they are the ways you can have access to someone else's view. When they told you in their own words, a cite keeps their wording instead.

Compare with: being upset for Azawan is your own feeling about Azawan's stake (the ON-BEHALF locus in emotion compose); with a holder the feeling is Azawan's. On behalf of Azawan is proxy (hadem). A dictionary compound also joins with an ending letter, but it is a listed word; the holder seam is built on the spot, and only after these closed hosts.

Channels on a generalization

English always, usually, every, and never make a general claim. The universal fences (zual / zuam) and the restrictors (hual / huam / hal) already say who or when the claim covers, and their ending says how many exceptions it allows: closed -l allows none, and open -m leaves them open, as on any list (usually, as a rule). No other word is needed for the claim itself.

zazawan huam vowogal.

z-Azawan | h-always.open | v-walk

"Azawan usually walks."

To say how you know the general claim, add a channel. On a clause with a universal fence or restrictor, the channel is your warrant for the whole generalization, not for one case, and its ending says how much backs it.

zazawan hual vowogal thobar.

z-Azawan | h-always | v-walk | th-PATTERN.weak

"Azawan always walks, from the few cases I have seen."

zual gaxedehothel vedehol thugul.

[z-everything | g-agent-x-teach-th-role] | v-teach | th-DEDUCED.strong

"Every teacher teaches; it follows."

zalahen hal vabahel thewal bazagul.

z-Alahen | h-never | v-punch | [th-REPORTED.strong | b-soccer]

"Alahen never punches, per the soccer rules."

The fence says how far the claim reaches, and the channel says what it rests on. Keep the two apart: always, as far as I have checked is closed hual with a weak channel, because you claim no exceptions on thin evidence. Open huam does not claim that: it leaves the exceptions open.

English	Fence or restrictor	Channel	Example
usually, as a rule	huam / zuam	any, or none	zazawan huam vowogal.
always, as far as I have checked	hual / zual	a weak channel	zazawan hual vowogal thobar.
it follows that every …	zual	DEDUCED.strong thugul	zual gaxedehothel vedehol thugul.
by definition	zual + thedam barl	none	zual gobel gaxedehothel thedam barl zober vedehol.
under the rules of …	hal / hual	REPORTED.strong with the rules in /b/	zalahen hal vabahel thewal bazagul.
cats are sleepy (in general)	zuam + kind	any, or none	zuam gagadul gezebul thobam.

A cause or condition on a general claim says how things work. It holds for each member or occasion, the same way the verb does. Inside the sentence after barl, resume the kind with -r (zagadur) to mean that same one: each cat, in turn.

zual gagadul vezebal thegem thoyem barl zagadur gezebul.

[z-everything | g-cat] | v-sleep | th-CAUSE | [th-if | b-that-clause] | [z-←cat | g-sleepy]

"Every cat sleeps when it is sleepy; that is how it works."

A definition works both ways: whatever has the property is that kind, and every member of the kind has it. Write it on a closed fence with thedam (if and only if, from causation). The grounds sentence is the defining property. A definition needs no channel, because it is a decision about a word, not a report about the world.

zual gobel gaxedehothel thedam barl zober vedehol.

[z-everything | g-person] | g-agent-x-teach-th-role | [th-iff | b-that-clause] | z-←person | v-teach

"A person is a teacher if and only if they teach (by definition)."

The channel stays on the main sentence and covers the whole generalization. Put it before the pole, as with the evidence clause: zual gagadul vezebal thobal thoyem barl … is going by a well-established pattern, every cat sleeps when ….

Compare with: a general claim you are not giving as today's report is FORMER (thenom). Every cat must sleep as a rule someone sets is REQUIRE (thumem), not a law of how things work. Maybe every cat sleeps is MAY on the same clause.

Practice

Short drills for Advanced. Try each item before opening Show answer.

Setting: a film archive

New words:

English	Agazan	Cue
cat	agadul	🐈

Review:

English	Agazan
Azawan	azawan
Alahen	alahen
LIVE	thodom
MEMORY	thevom
PATTERN	thobam
CLUES	thunem
CAUSE	thegem
if	thoyem
blue	ubuhel
sleepy	ezebul
hour	agazem
camera	agahol
walk	vowogal
write	varadal
sit	vehahel
sleep	vezebal
departure	vedabal
see	vahahal

English → Agazan

1. Alahen walks, and that blue is live, from the scene itself.

Show answer

zalahen wodom gubuhel vowogal.

[z-Alahen | [w-LIVE | g-blue]] | v-walk

2. I saw Azawan write three hours ago.

Show answer

zazawan thevom bagazem grurel varadal.

z-Azawan | [th-MEMORY | [b-hour | g-minus-three]] | v-write

3. Cats sleep, as a rule, going by the pattern.

Show answer

zuam gagadul vezebal thobam.

[z-everything.open | g-cat] | v-sleep | th-PATTERN

4. I gather Azawan thinks Alahen left. (Azawan's clues, not mine)

Show answer

zalahen thunemazawan vedabal.

z-Alahen | th-CLUES-Azawan | v-departure

Agazan → English

1. zazawan hual vehahel thobar.

Show answer

z-Azawan | h-always | v-sit | th-PATTERN.weak

Azawan always sits, going by the few cases I have seen.

2. zalahen thobam bagazem grurel vezebal.

Show answer

z-Alahen | [th-PATTERN | [b-hour | g-minus-three]] | v-sleep

Going by the pattern, Alahen slept three hours ago.

3. zual gagadul vezebal thegem thoyem barl zagadur gezebul.

Show answer

[z-everything | g-cat] | v-sleep | th-CAUSE | [th-if | b-that-clause] | [z-←cat | g-sleepy]

Every cat sleeps when it is sleepy; that is how it works.

4. zazawan thevom brubul dagahol vahahal.

Show answer

z-Azawan | [th-MEMORY | b---e-] | d-camera | v-see

I just saw Azawan look at the camera.

Pick one

1. I saw Azawan walk recently. zazawan thevom brubum vowogal. or zazawan thevom brubul vowogal.

Show answer

zazawan thevom brubum vowogal.

z-Azawan | [th-MEMORY | b---e-.about] | v-walk

Open -m softens the hair into a short while ago; -l is just now.

What changes

1. zazawan wevom gubuhel vowogal. / zazawan wodom gubuhel vowogal.

Show answer

[z-Azawan | [w-MEMORY | g-blue]] | v-walk

[z-Azawan | [w-LIVE | g-blue]] | v-walk

Both channels sit on the adjective only: the blue is remembered in the first, seen live in the second.

See also

• Sake ascription: sakes.md
• Emotion compose: sakes.md
• Plan vs forecast: intention.md
• Clock / date / when-frames: numbers-applied.md
• Habitual always: restrictors.md
• General claims and their warrant: Channels on a generalization
• Someone else's view: Whose view (holder)