2.5 Links

A link modifies a noun with a linked phrase which expresses a spatial/temporal/etc. relation. Compare the function of the English preposition ‘in’ in the three phrases below. In the first sentence ‘in’ modifies the verb ‘sleeps’ and therefore functions as a preposition. In the second and third sentences ‘in’ modifies the noun ‘cat’ and therefore functions as a link.

(1) The cat sleeps in the room.

(2) The cat in the room is mine.

(3) The cat sleeping in the room is mine.

Prepositions vs. Links

In the sentences above, the function of the word ‘in’ as either a preposition or a link is clearly indicated by its position in the sentence. However, such is not always the case in English, as illustrated by the following sentence:

He read the book in the room.

This sentence is ambiguous: Do we mean that he read the book while he was in the room, or that he read the book that was in the room? In Ayola this ambiguity is resolved by uniquely marked prepositions and links:

Dya lergits la libro enu la cambro. He read the book (while he was) in the room.

Dya lergits la libro jenu la cambro. He read the book (that was/is) in the room.

In Ayola a prepositional phrase is free to move within a sentence. For example, the first of the above sentences may also be written as

Enu la cambro dya lergits la libro. In the room he read the book.

In contrast to a prepositional phrase, a link phrase is bound to follow the noun it modifies within a noun phrase and cannot move freely within a sentence.

Identifying & Forming Links

There are both elementary and compound links in Ayola. The five elementary links are discussed in section 2.5.2. Compound links are formed from prepositions by prefixing a preposition root with one of the three link prefixes (c-or j-) while retaining the –u preposition ending. Links have the following forms:

Elementary: elementary word beginning with j-

Compound: link prefix + elementary preposition

link prefix + preposition root + –u ending

Link prefixes are selected by the following criteria:

A. If the preposition begins with a voiceless consonant (p, t, k, f, s, c, h), add c-

except where the consonant is s- in which case c- replaces s-.

B. If the preposition begins with a voiced consonant (b, d, g, v, z, j, l, m, n, r) add

j- except where the consonant is z- in which case j- replaces z-.

C. If the preposition begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), add j-

Although compound links have the preposition ending –u, they are distinguished from the prepositions by the prefixes c- (+ voiceless consonant), j- (+ voiced consonant or vowel).

2.5.1 Derived Links Based on Elementary Prepositions

The three elementary prepositions byu, ecu and acu form the following links:

Table 2.5-1

These links are illustrated by the following examples:

La pentruro jbyu Rembrant estats kusta.	The painting by Rembrandt costs a lot.
Myo kumpruts la libro geskribinta jbyu la awtoro.	I will buy the book written by the author.
La dusta strado djunta jecu la unto estats longa.	The second street joined to the first street is long.
Myo havats preferayto jwi le teho jacu le kafo.	I have a preference for tea over coffee.

2.5.2 Derived Links Based on Compound Prepositions

The table below shows sixteen examples of links derived from compound prepositions. They are organized by prefix.

Table 2.5-2 Some Derived Links Based on Compound Prepositions

Preposition	Link	Preposition	Link	Preposition	Link
furu	cfuru	delu	jdelu	avu	javu
postu	cpostu	naku	jnaku	enu	jenu
tazaytu	ctazaytu	vonu	jvonu	twinu	ctwinu
smeru	cmeru	ayfu	jayfu	onu	jonu
fromanteyu	cfromanteyu			onderu	jonderu
				aynu	jaynu
				viafrentu	jviafrentu

A Test for Using Prepositions or Links

A good test which the student may use to decide between the use of a preposition or a link is the following:

Does the prepositional phrase answer

1. an adverbial question (where, when, why, from where, etc.)? or

2. an adjectival question (which, what kind of)?

If it answers an adverbial question, use a preposition.

If it answers an adjectival question, use a link.

Let us apply this test to the sentence:

He read the book in the room.

Hwerve dya lergits la libro? Where did he read the book?

Dya lergits la libro enu la cambro. He read the book (while he was) in the

room.

Hwa libro dya lergits? Which book did he read?

Dya lergits la libro jenu la cambro. He read the book (that was/is) in the room.

2.5.3 Elementary Links

Six links in Ayola are not associated with prepositions. They are ji, jwi, je, jwe, ja and jwa. They all begin with the principal beginning consonant for links, namely j, but are not formed from a prepositional root. These six links are usually translated as ‘of’ in English and by an equivalent word or by a construction involving the genitive case in other languages. Because English ‘of’ and its equivalents in other languages serve many different functions, noun phrases containing these words are prone to a large number of ambiguities. It is in order to avoid these ambiguities that Ayola employs six distinct words in a system based on clear syntactic and semantic categories.

The six elementary links are given in Table 2.5-3 along with the types of words which they link as well as some representative examples illustrating their use. Also shown is a diagram depicting the relation between the words in which the link is indicated by a curved arrow. These diagrams create a mental picture which should help the student to decide quickly which of the six links to use. The individual links are discussed below.

Table 2.5-3 The Five Elementary Links

The Subject Link ji

The subject link ji links to a noun phrase or name which denotes the subject of an action or state. The noun preceding ji may be an event-abstraction noun derived from a verb (loving, reading, speaking, etc.), a state-abstraction noun derived from a verb (equality, etc.), preposition (surrounding, etc.), or noun (presidency, etc.).

The Object Link jwi

The object link jwi links to a noun phrase or name which denotes the object of an action, state or relation. The noun preceding jwi may be a concrete noun derived from a verb denoting the doer of an action (lover, reader, speaker, etc.), an event-abstraction noun derived from a verb (loving, reading, speaking, etc.), a state-abstraction noun derived from a verb (equality, etc.), preposition (surrounding, etc.), or noun (presidency, etc.) or a fundamental noun which expresses a relation such as a kinship relation (mother, father, etc.), a superordinate-subordinate relation (president, secretary, etc.), or a representational relation (photograph, image, etc.). Most fundamental nouns (water, man, tree, rock, chair, etc.), which simply denote an entity of some sort and are not inherently relational, are never followed by the link jwi.

ji vs. jwi

Because English ‘of’ can link to both subjects as well as objects, phrases such as ‘the loving of John’ and ‘the exceeding of the price’ are ambiguous. It is unclear whether the former sentence implies ‘John loves’ or ‘John is loved,’ and whether the latter sentence implies ‘the price exceeds’ or ‘the price is exceeded.’ The use of both jwi and ji completely eliminates this ambiguity in Ayola.

The Part-Whole Link je

The part-whole link je links a noun phrase denoting a smaller entity to a noun phrase or name denoting a larger entity of which the smaller entity is a part – either a physical, spatial, or temporal part – a quantity of material, or simply a component to a larger environment. Essentially any entity, whether it be concrete or abstract, can be thought of as part of some larger entity so that je is usually the most common translation of English ‘of.’

The Container-Contents Link jwe

The container-contents link jwe links a noun phrase denoting a larger entity to a noun phrase or name denoting a smaller entity which it contains either as a physical container and its contents, a building and its contents, a period of time and the event(s) or state(s) of affairs within it, etc. Here the words ‘container’ and ‘contents’ are interpreted freely.

je vs. jwe

The use of both je and jwe eliminates the ambiguity in a phrase such as ‘museum of the city’. Note the following:

muzeo je la urbo	museum of the city (the museum is part of a larger entity, viz. the city)
muzeo jwe la urbo	museum of the city (The museum’s contents are the city, i.e. it is a museum displaying and depicting the city.)

jwi vs. je

The use of both jwi and je eliminates the ambiguity in a phrase such as ‘father of the country’. Note the following:

patro jwi la paiso	father of the country (the country is (metaphorically) the offspring of the father, e.g. the USA from George Washington)
patro je la paiso	father of the country (the father is part of a larger entity, viz. the country)

Possession-Owner/User Link ja

The possession-owner/user link ja links a noun denoting a possession to a noun phrase or name denoting the owner or user of that possession. The linked phrase is commonly called the ‘possessive’ construction and is usually expressed in English with an apostrophe plus ‘s’ following the noun phrase or name as in ‘George’s car’, ‘Martha’s school’, or ‘the man’s hat’. Note that often, e.g. in the phrase ‘Martha’s school’, the relation between the ‘possessor’ and the ‘possessed’ is one of utility rather than one of legal ownership. Note that ja is not always used to translate the possessive construction in English as in the following examples:

John’s arm  la bratco je Djon (part-whole link)

the loving of John  la amajo jwi Djon (object link)

the loving of John  la amajo ji Djon (subject link)

Owner/User-Possession Link jwa

The owner/user-possession link jwa links a noun denoting the owner or user of a possession to a noun phrase denoting that possession. It expresses the same relationship as the link ja, but in reverse order.

Procedure for Deciding among the Six Links

Deciding which of the six links to use to translate the English word ‘of’ is easier than it might first appear if one follows the following three-step procedure.

1. Is the relation expressed by the link phrase one of subject or object?

If the link precedes the subject, use ji.

If the link precedes the object, use jwi.

2. Is the relation expressed by the link phrase one of being included in a larger entity or including a smaller entity?

If the link precedes the larger entity, use je.

If the link precedes the smaller entity, use jwe.

3. Is the relation expressed by the link phrase one of ownership or utility to a possession?

If the link precedes the owner or user, use ja.

If the link precedes the possession, use jwa.

Other Translations of English ‘of’

There are four principal cases in which the English word ‘of’ is not translated as one of the five links discussed above.

1. In an item-material relation in which ‘of’ is equivalent to ‘made of’ the adjectival form of the noun denoting the material simply precedes the noun denoting the item, as is equivalently done in English.

feruma vergo iron rod = rod of iron

niva kovro snow covering = covering of snow

2. In a category-name relation the category word simply precedes the name.

la urbo Boston the city of Boston

la steyto Masatcusets the state of Massachusetts

3. In a few cases ‘of’ is translated by another link derived from a preposition of the kind discussed earlier in this chapter. Three important ones are ckwantu (to the degree of), javu (characterized by) and janteyu (before).

krecajo ckwantu sesa procentoy an increase of six percent

bambino javu kwina djaroy a child of five years

deco janteyu duso ten of two (time)

4. In a few other cases ‘of’ is translated by a preposition or a verb derived from a preposition and not a link at all. Three important ones are delu (from), kawsu (because of) and vonu (about).

Dya delats bona familio. She is of (from) a good family.

Dya mortits kawsu kancero. He died of (because of) cancer.

Dyay parlits vonu multa cozoy. They talked of (about) many things.

Nouns Which Use Multiple Elementary Links

It is common for a noun to use multiple elementary links. One common class of such nouns is those ending in –uro which denote the result of an action or process. The four examples given below for fotografuro (photograph) nicely illustrate how Ayola’s elementary links eliminate ambiguities in English.

fotografuro jwi Karc	photograph of Karsh (Karsh is the object of the photograph.)
fotografuro je la albumo	photograph of the album (The photograph is part of the album.)
fotografuro jwe beletso	photograph of beauty (The photograph contains beauty.)
fotografuro ja Karc	photograph of Karsh (Karsh owns the photograph.)

Noun Phrases with Possessive Determiners and Their Equivalent Link Phrases

Noun phrases with possessive determiners such as myoza caro, myoza hando and dyayza urbo all have an equivalent linked phrase using one of the elementary links ji, jwi, je, jwe, ja or jwa. The appropriate link depends on the noun modified by the possessive determiner.

For an abstract noun such as amajo or eglayto, use ji.

myoza amajo = la amajo ji myo

dwaza eglayto = la eglayto ji dwa

For a noun which can take an object such as amo or matro, use jwi.

myoza amo = la amo jwi myo

myoza matro = la matro jwi myo

For a noun which denotes a part of something such as hando or fundo, use je.

myoza hando = la hando je myo

dwaza fundo = la fundo je dwa

For a noun which denotes a container of something such as urbo or glaso, use jwe.

dyayza urbo = la urbo jwe dyay

dwaza glaso = la glaso jwe dwa

For a noun which denotes a thing owned or used, use ja.

myoza caro = la caro ja myo

dyayza skulo = la skulo ja dya

For a noun which denotes a owner or user, use jwa.

dwaza persono = la persono jwa dwa (referring to the person who owns or uses it)

If one wishes to express an event-object relation with an abstract noun such as amajo, first construct the passive form of the abstract noun (geamajo) and then apply the possessive determiner. The pronoun underlying the possessive determiner is now the subject of the passive verb (geamare) where it was the object of the active verb (amare).

myoza geamajo = la geamajo ji myo

= la amajo jwi myo

By following these strict rules of correspondence between noun phrases with possessive determiners and equivalent linked phrases Ayola maintains essentially unambiguous meaning while making use of only one set of possessive determiners.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Give the link form of the following prepositions.

Exercise 2

Determine if the underlined word can be translated into Ayola by using a preposition, link, or both, even if the meaning seems somewhat strange or unusual. Write ‘preposition,’ ‘link,’ or ‘both,’ and then write the correct translation(s) of the underlined word. Occasionally, the underlined word can be translated as two different prepositions in Ayola. In addition, where ‘both’ is correct, the link may not be derived from the preposition.

1. Follow the path along the river to get to your destination.

2. She’ll buy the house between the school and the baseball field.

3. Did you see the man with the young child?

4. The voice came from above the clouds.

5. Mom told me to open the gift from Aunt Maria right away.

6. I didn’t see the woman with William.

7. My parents drove from Ohio to California.

8. The most famous bridge across the Seine is called the Pont Neuf.

9. The wine throughout this region is considered the most delicious.

10. The boy painted the picture on the floor.

11. The book is in the library.

12. The girl in the store is very polite.

13. Do you watch the man on TV?

14. I saw the woman with binoculars.

15. You wrote about people.

16. You wrote a book about people.

17. I heard the boy in the room.

18. He drew the picture on the wall.

19. Grab the book below the shelf.

Exercise 3

Match the English phrase with the correct category. Some phrases may match to more than one category. Give the correct Ayola link for each meaning.

Exercise 4

Will the following phrases be translated with ji, jwi, je, jwe, ja, jwa, another link, or no link at all? Write the correct link or noun phrase in Ayola.

1. the life of the president

2. the animals of the forest

3. a glass of wine

4. the hall of paintings

5. a wall of stone

6. the planting of the trees

7. the mother of John

8. the story of my family

9. a friend of Catherine

10. a class of historians

11. the restoration of the government

12. the department of chemistry

13. the radio of Fred

14. the bravery of soldiers

15. a shirt of my sister

16. the intelligence of the student

17. the protesting of the people

18. a carton of eggs

19. the teachers of the high school

20. the queen of the country

21. a woman of two dogs

Exercise 5

Will the following phrases be translated ji, jwi, je, jwe, ja, jwa, another link, or no link at all? Write the correct link or noun phrase in Ayola.

Exercise 6

In the sample English text, highlight the noun phrases containing the word ‘of’ as well as other occurrences of ‘of’. Translate them with an Ayola link, preposition, or quantifier.

Lovers of dogs will not be happy to learn of the new plague of Townville. As of the first of January, an ounce of dog food may cost your pet its life. The increasing number of cattle deaths is affecting the quality even of the lowest-grade meat products. The cattle of the mid-western plains have been suffering due to a disease of the digestive system, the worst of all illnesses. This has not been a year of good fortune for the Mayer family. At the beginning of last year, their dog of five years began to have problems digesting some meat products. One of the Mayers’ other dogs recently died of a similar disease. The Institute of Animal Nutrition has published a study of the effect of modern pesticides on the grasses consumed by most cattle. Even a small bowl of dog food may contain a high percentage of dangerous toxins. The average rancher of free-range cattle claims not to use pesticides on the vegetation of their properties. The study of these diseased cattle reveals otherwise. Of all the issues raised in the beef industry this season, the one which affects our pets may win the largest amount of attention.

Exercise 7

Examine the images. Determine which link’s meaning they signify. Write the hyphenated phrase specifying the type of link and write the correct link next to the image.

Exercise 8

Translate the following sentences into Ayola, taking care to choose the correct Ayola form (preposition or link) for the underlined English prepositions. If the English sentence is ambiguous, choose the most plausible interpretation.

1. The man in the room stands on the floor.

2. Dave took the shoes for Pedro to Maria.

3. He filled the balloon with the stripe with helium.

4. The talking since nine continued until eleven.