CONNECTIVES
Ceqli basically follows the Loglan system of connectives. The basic ones are:
kay - and
va - and/or (inclusive or)
fi - if and only if
seya - whether or not
We also have the compounds with "bu", thus:
buva - if (the "bu" negates the previous element, and, logically, that makes it mean "only if," believe it or not.)
vabu - if
They are used to connect elements of a sentence.
X kay Z sta ci. X and Y are here
X va Z sta ci. Either X or Y (and maybe both) are here.
X fi Z sta ci. X, if and only if Y, is here. X is here if and only if Y is here.
X seya Z sta ci. X, whether or not Y, is here.
X buva Z sta ci. X is here only if Z (is here).
X vabu Z sta ci. X is here if Z (is here).
These last two are logical opposites. Check it out with truth tables.
Whole sentences can be connected by prefixing "hi" to the connectives. ("Hi" basically means that one sentence is done and now another will start.)
ta kanin kom ta karn hikay ta para kom ta tsau.
Dogs eat meat and cattle eat grass.
to faul gi ziq hiva go drim.
The bird is singing or I'm dreaming (or both).
go fu ven hifi zi tayarfa to twaykomka.
I will come if (and only if) you make dinner.
ti jan bol hiseya go tiq j.
John talks whether I hear him or not.
go fey pren zi hibuva zi bol
I can understand you only if you speak.
go fu kom ba hivabu zi ten komxo.
I will eat if you have food.
Finally, in a set of modifiers, the "pi" forms are used.
to ga pikay hoqsa kanin.
The big and red dog.
to ga piva hoqsa kanin.
The either big or red or both dog.
to ga pifi hoqsa kanin.
The big, if and only if red, dog.
to ga piseya hoqsa kanin.
The big, whether red or not, dog.
to ga pibuva hoqsa kanin.
The big, only if red, dog.
to ga pivabu hoqsa kanin.
The big, if red, dog.
Those are the hard-core logical connectives.
Now, for normal colloquial speech, we have two other “ifs”:
ha – this is from Hebrew, and it means what we usually mean by “if," that is, "contingent on":
ha zi komfo, go don komxo ko zi. – If you are hungry, I will give food to you.
ha to kanin sta cu, to felin bu danja – If the dog is there, the cat will not enter.
bwi (pronounced 'bwee')– from Russian, this is the counterfactual “if,” and is used in cases where many languages use the subjunctive:
bwi zi komfo, go don komxo ko zi – If you were hungry (and you’re not), I’d give food to you.
bwi to kanin sta cu, to felin bu danja – If the dog were there, the cat would not enter.
You can think of “ha” as meaning “In the possible word that…” and regard it as a modifier of the other clause. Similarly, you can think of “bwi” as meaning “In the alternate world (not this one) that…”, and regard that, too, as a modifier of the other clause.
Click here to go directly to CEQLI CHAPTER THREE - A few sentences.