6. Modal tags: BAI

Here ``se'' is used before a cmavo, namely ``pi'o'', rather than before a brivla. The meaning of this cmavo, which belongs to selma'o BAI, is exactly the same as that of ``fi'o pilno fe'u''. Since what we want is a tag based on ``se pilno'' rather than ``pilno'' --- the tool, not the tool user --- the grammar allows a BAI cmavo to be converted using a SE cmavo. Example 5.2 may therefore be rewritten as:

6.1)  mi viska do sepi'o le zunle kanla
    I see you with-tool: the left eye
    I see you using my left eye.

The compound cmavo ``sepi'o'' is much shorter than ``fi'o se pilno [fe'u]'' and can be thought of as a single word meaning ``with-tool''. The modal tag ``pi'o'', with no ``se'', similarly means ``with-tool-user'', probably a less useful concept. Nevertheless, the parallelism with the place structure of ``pilno'' makes the additional syllable worthwhile.

Some BAI cmavo make sense with as well as without a SE cmavo; for example, ``ka'a'', the BAI corresponding to the gismu ``klama'', has five usable forms corresponding to the five places of ``klama'' respectively:

   ka'a        with-goer
    seka'a      with-destination
    teka'a      with-origin
    veka'a      with-route
    xeka'a      with-means-of-transport

Any of these tags may be used to provide modal places for bridi, as in the following examples:

6.2)  la .eivn. cu vecnu loi flira cinta ka'a mi
    Avon sells a-mass-of face paint with-goer me.
    I am a traveling cosmetics salesperson for Avon.

6.3)  mi cadzu seka'a la bratfyd.
    I walk with-destination Bradford.
    I am walking to Bradford.

6.4)   bloti teka'a la nu,IORK.
    [Observative:] is-a-boat with-origin New York
    A boat from New York!

6.5)   do bajra veka'a lo djine
    You run with-route a circle.
    You are running in circles.

6.6)   mi citka xeka'a le vinji
    I eat with-means-of-transport the airplane.
    I eat in the airplane.

All BAI cmavo have the form CV'V or CVV. Most of them are CV'V, where the C is the first consonant of the corresponding gismu and the two Vs are the two vowels of the gismu. The table in Section 16 shows the exceptions.

There is one additional BAI cmavo that is not derived from a gismu: ``do'e''. This cmavo is used when an extra place is needed, but it seems useful to be vague about the semantic implications of the extra place:

6.7)  lo nanmu be do'e le berti cu klama le tcadu
    Some man [related to] the north came to-the city.
    A man of the north came to the city.