14. Bu casuao hú / It doesn't matter

Conversation

Míqte: Tıka.
Ánhe: Hóı Míqte, tîka! Hıa nánı cea?
Míqte: Ém? Heaq jí kú ké haqsaı.
Ánhe: A, nho, aja! Teqsom jí súq ba.
Míqte: Zı, zı. Pu bu choaısao ké hao nha.
Ánhe: Bu chı jí hú! Duı paıgı súq ꝡeı.
Míqte: Ꝡá jıa sıqja súq ké haqtoq bï, paıgı béı súq.
Ánhe: Oaı, bu mala kuq jí hú ba.

Negation

The word bu means “not”: it negates the clause it’s in. It usually goes at the start of a clause, but it can occur in other places as well.

Bu seakuaı jí.
I’m not tired.

Bu suaq tú poq.
It’s not the case that everyone sings.

Tú poq nä, bu suaq hóa.
Each person (is such that) they didn’t sing.

Pu bu choaısao ké hao nha.
The stuff wasn’t expensive.

Bu and scope

Just like the quantifying articles sá wraps its scope island in a “there exists” (∃) and tú wraps it scope island in a “for all” (∀), the word bu wraps its scope island in a not (¬).

Ꝡa chı jí, ꝡá pu bu suaq sá poq da.

Ꝡa chı jí,
ꝡá pu bu suaq sá poq
da.
 I believe
¬ ∃p:p sang.

I believe nobody sang.

The operators ¬ and ∃p in the formula reflect the order of bu and sá in the original sentence. And so if we reorder these words, the meaning changes.

Ꝡa chı jí, ꝡá sá poq nä pu bu suaq hó da.

Ꝡa chı jí,
ꝡá sá poq nä pu bu suaq hó
da.
 I believe
∃p: ¬p sang.

I believe there was a person who didn’t sing.

What gets negated, exactly?

Episodic sentences

Episodic Toaq sentences claim that certain events exist at some time. That means a simple sentence with bu (or sía) claims the non-existence of a certain kind of event.

Tı jí Súomıgua.
I was in Finland.
There exists some event e during time t of me being in Finland.

Bu tı jí Súomıgua.
I wasn’t in Finland.
It’s false that there exists some event e during time t of me being in Finland.

Because this variable t is a “vague, definite” time, we don’t claim that we never were or never will be in Finland — only that it didn’t happen within the time we are talking about.

If there are other quantifiers, bu may negate a more complex claim:

Geq jí tú lıq.
I met every woman.
For each woman L, there exists some event e during time t of me meeting L.

Bu geq jí tú lıq.
It’s false that I met every woman.
It’s false that, for each woman L, there exists some event e during time t of me meeting L.

That is: I failed to meet at least some woman, and so the for-all statement about meeting-episodes isn’t true.

(By the way, when a sentence refers to a “vague definite time” t, we take this to be the same t for the whole sentence, across all assignments of variables: Geq jí tú lıq comes with a guarantee that “the time we are talking about” isn’t different from one woman to the next.)

Generic sentences

In generic sentences, he also acts as a scope operator, and so the order of it and bu matters:

He bu jaı báq poq.
People are unhappy.
It’s true that, as a rule, there are no events of people being happy.

Bu he jaı báq poq.
People aren’t happy.
It is not true that, as a rule, there are events of people being happy.

Tense

It usually doesn’t matter which way around bu and the tense word are.

Bu naı casuao hú.
Naı bu casuao hú.
(¬ ∃e) That doesn’t matter now.

But if it’s an existential tense, like mala, the order matters, just like it does between bu and sá.

Bu mala casuao hú.
(¬ ∃t ∃e) That has never mattered.

Mala bu casuao hú.
(∃t ¬ ∃e) One time, that didn’t matter.

Focus

The word kú marks the following noun or adverb as new information, and the rest of the sentence as old news. It’s often used when answering an actual or implied question.

Heaq jí kú ké haqsaı.
The groceries are what I’m carrying.
Answers the implied question “What are you carrying?”

Chı jí kú, ꝡá shuıja nháo sá raı.
What I think is, that she’s hiding something.
Answers the implied question “What do you think?”

The word béı is similar. It marks the following noun or adverb as contrasting information. It negates some alternative statement. It’s often used when correcting what someone else might think.

Heaq jí béı ké haqsaı.
(No,) I’m carrying the GROCERIES.
Negates some implied statement like “You’re carrying the clothes.”

There isn’t really an English translation of kú or béı, because this information is normally expressed using prosody or word order in English.