Chapter 9: To Boston Via The Road Go I, With An Excursion Into The Land Of Modals

11. Mixed modal connection

It is possible to mix logical connection (explained in Chapter 14) with modal connection, in a way that simultaneously asserts the logical connection and the modal relationship. Consider the sentences:

✥11.1    mi nelci do .ije mi nelci la djein.
I like you.  And I like Jane

which is a logical connection, and

✥11.2    mi nelci do .iki'ubo mi nelci la djein.
I like you.  Justified-by I like Jane.

The meanings of ✥11.1 and ✥11.2 can be simultaneously expressed by combining the two compound cmavo, thus:

✥11.3    mi nelci do .ijeki'ubo mi nelci la djein.
I like you.  And justified-by I like Jane.

Here the two sentences “mi nelci do” and “mi nelci la djein.” are simultaneously asserted, their logical connection is asserted, and their causal relationship is asserted. The logical connective “je” comes before the modal “ki'u” in all such mixed connections.

Since “mi nelci do” and “mi nelci la djein.” differ only in the final sumti, we can transform ✥11.3 into a mixed sumti connection:

✥11.4    mi nelci do .eki'ubo la djein.
I like you and/because Jane.

Note that this connection is an afterthought one. Mixed connectives are always afterthought; forethought connectives must be either logical or modal.

There are numerous other afterthought logical and non-logical connectives that can have modal information planted within them. For example, a bridi-tail connected version of ✥11.4 would be:

✥11.5    mi nelci do gi'eki'ubo nelci la djein.
I like you and/because like Jane.

The following three complex examples all mean the same thing.

✥11.6    mi bevri le dakli
    .ijeseri'abo tu'e mi bevri le gerku
    .ijadu'ibo mi bevri le mlatu [tu'u]
I carry the sack.
    And [effect] (I carry the dog
    And/or [equal] I carry the cat. )
I carry the sack.
    As a result I carry the dog
    or I carry the cat, equally.

✥11.7 mi bevri le dakli
    gi'eseri'ake bevri le gerku
    gi'adu'ibo bevri le mlatu [ke'e]
I carry the sack
    and [effect] (carry the dog
    and/or [equal] carry the cat ).
I carry the sack
    and as a result carry the dog or carry the cat equally.

✥11.8 mi bevri le dakli
    .eseri'ake le gerku
        .adu'ibo le mlatu [ke'e]
I carry the sack
    and [effect] (the cat
        and/or [equal] the dog ).
I carry the sack, and as a result the cat
    or the dog equally.

In ✥11.6, the “tu'e … tu'u” brackets are the equivalent of the “ke … ke'e” brackets in ✥11.7 and ✥11.8, because “ke … ke'e” cannot extend across more than one sentence. It would also be possible to change the “.ijeseri'abo” to “.ije seri'a”, which would show that the “tu'e … tu'u” portion was an effect, but would not pin down the “mi bevri le dakli” portion as the cause. It is legal for a modal (or a tense; see Chapter 10) to modify the whole of a “tu'e … tu'u” construct.

Note: The uses of modals discussed in this section are applicable both to BAI modals and to “fi'o”-plus-selbri modals.