Dolittan
Study these data from dolittan, a language spoken by
perhaps at least one fellow from Puddleby On the Marsh,
and answer the questions.
zing ta zoo
the elephant sings
silabun ta kodo
the monkeys dance
sosa ta babu ta ra
the chicken eats the carrot
mula zing ta fong
a cat sees the elephant
mima ta sizoon ii jo
the rat hears beautiful songs
labun ki ta sumu jo
the little monkey hears a flute
mularan zoon kimi
a mouse enjoys a song
mula ta siliki ta fong
the cat sees the birds
sisosa ta labu
the chickens are being silly
- What do these Dolittan words (or parts of words) mean in English?
- babu
- fong
- ii
- jo
- ki
- kimi
- kodo
- labu
- liki
- mima
- mula
- n
- ra
- si
- sosa
- sumu
- ta
- zing
- zoo
- What is the order of subject, verb and object?
- Name at least two other languages which also have this basic word order.
- What is the order of definite article (the), adjective and noun?
- Briefly discuss the use of definite and indefinite articles ("a" and "the") in dolittan.
- What is interesting about the formation of the dolittan word for "mouse"? How would you gloss it?
- How do you say "the rats see a beautiful dance" in dolittan?
- What does the dolittan sentence "sizing ta sosaran kimi" mean?