Spoonfed Lesson 1: A Familiar Face

Version: v0 (pre-release)

A series of sentences telling a simple story introducing core words and concepts. Each sentence adds no more than one new word or concept.

panpa!
Hello!
[seeing!]

The Luma greeting. The stem panp means SEE, and the -a ending makes it a noun — literally “a seeing!” Every Luma word must end in -a, -o, -i, or -u. A bare stem by itself is never a valid word.

sa panpo.
I see.
[I see.]

sa means “I” or “me.” Notice panp now ends in -o instead of -a — the -o ending makes a word a verb. So panpa = a seeing, but panpo = to see. The same stem changes role based on its ending: -a = noun, -o = verb. Word order is Subject–Verb–Object (SVO), just like English.

sa panpo ila.
I see something.
[I see thing.]

ila means “thing.” The -a ending marks it as a noun, sitting in the object position after the verb. SVO at work: sa (I) panpo (see) ila (thing).

ila no.
Something is there.
[thing exists.]

no is the verb “to be” or “to exist.” In Luma, you never drop this verb — if you want to say something is something, no must be there. The stem is n, and -o makes it a verb.

sa panpo pa.
I see it.
[I see that.]

pa means “he,” “she,” “it,” or “that” — Luma has no gender distinction. Here pa refers back to the ila we just mentioned. This is back-reference: once you introduce something, you can use pa to point back to it.

pa no oma.
It’s a person.
[that is person.]

oma means “person.” We can now see what the thing is — pa (that) no (is) oma (a person). The sentence links back to what we saw with pa, then tells us what it is.

sa temo oma.
I know the person.
[I know person.]

temo means “to know.” Stem tem + -o verb ending. Simple SVO: sa (I) temo (know) oma (person). Not just any person — someone familiar.

sa panpo oma, sulu sa temo pa.
I see the person, and I know them.
[I see person, and I know that.]

sulu means “and” — it connects two clauses. Notice the comma before sulu: whenever a -u word introduces a new clause (with its own subject and verb), a comma is required. After sulu, you start a fresh clause with its own subject: sa temo pa. And pa here refers back to oma — the person we just mentioned.

oma no tenama.
The person is a friend.
[person is friend.]

tenama means “friend.” Stem tenam + -a noun ending. The pattern is the same as before: subject (oma) + verb (no) + what they are (tenama).

sa temo menta.
I know the name.
[I know name.]

menta means “name” (as a noun). Stem ment + -a ending. This stem will show up again in the next sentence with a different ending. In English, you would probably say “I know their name”, but Luma favors brevity. From context, we know which name we are talking about, so we don’t need to specify “their name”, and can just say “name”.

pa no mentu Matu.
He is named Matu.
[that is name Matu.]

The same stem ment now has the -u ending: mentu. In Luma, -u words go before their target — here, mentu goes before the proper name Matu. Every proper name in Luma must be preceded by mentu. In English, you might say “His name is Matu”, but because all proper names in Luma must be preceded by mentu, which marks it as a name, that would be redundant. You would be saying something like “His name is name Matu”. So “he is name Matu” is the favored form in Luma.

mentu Matu no anli.
Matu is well.
[name Matu is good.]

anli means “good” or “well.” The -i ending makes a word a modifier (like an adjective or adverb). Modifiers always come after the word they describe. Here anli follows the verb no — “Matu exists good-ly” gives us “Matu is well.” Notice that to use someone’s name as a subject, you still need mentu before it.

pa puno “panpa!”
He says “hello!”
[that says “seeing!”]

puno means “to say” or “to speak.” Stem pun + -o verb ending. Quoted speech works just as you’d expect — the quote sits after the verb.

oma loni no.
Another person is here.
[person other exists.]

loni means “other” or “different.” The -i modifier follows its head: oma loni = “other person” = someone else. Then no completes the sentence — another person exists, is present. Like all -i modifiers, it comes after the noun it describes.

mentu Matu panpo tupu pa loni.
Matu looks toward the other one.
[name Matu sees toward that other.]

tupu means “toward.” It has the -u ending, so it goes before its target — here, pa loni (that other one). This is the core positional rule at work: -i words follow their head (pa loni — “that” modified by “other”), while -u words precede their target (tupu pa loni — “toward that other one”).

pa puno “pa no tenama kantu sa, sulu pa no mentu Sala.”
He says “she is my friend, and she is named Sala.”
[that says “that is friend owned-by me, and that is name Sala.”]

Inside the quote, kantu means “owned by” — it marks possession. The pattern is: the thing possessed + kantu + the possessor. So tenama kantu sa = “friend of mine” (friend owned-by me). This is head-first order, the same as English “friend of mine” but opposite to “my friend.” Luma always puts the possessed thing first.

The rest of the quote uses what we already know: sulu connects the two clauses, and mentu Sala introduces the new name.

sa puno tupu mentu Sala: “panpa pamini!”
I say to Sala: “Nice to meet you!”
[I say toward name Sala: “seeing happy!”]

pamini means “happy.” It’s an -i modifier following panpa — so panpa pamini = “a happy seeing” = “nice to meet you.” The colon introduces what is being said, and tupu mentu Sala tells us who it’s directed toward.

Summary

You spot something in the distance, realize it’s someone you know, and get introduced to their friend Sala.

Words introduced

Concepts introduced

• Four word endings: -a (noun), -o (verb), -i (modifier), -u (grammatical)
• SVO word order
• Modifiers (-i) follow their head
• Grammatical words (-u) precede their target
• no as a regular verb — never dropped
• Back-reference with pa (refer to something already mentioned)
• Clause conjunction with sulu and comma rule
• mentu before all proper names
• Possession: possessed + kantu + possessor (head-first)
• Derivation: same stem, different ending = different role (panpa / panpo, menta / mentu)

Remix

Practice sentences using only the stems from this lesson. No new vocabulary — just new combinations.

mentu Sala no pamini.
Sala is happy.
[name Sala is happy.]

sa temo ila loni.
I know something else.
[I know thing other.]

sa panpo tupu mentu Sala.
I look toward Sala.
[I see toward name Sala.]

mentu Matu no oma anli.
Matu is a good person.
[name Matu is person good.]

mentu Sala temo menta kantu sa.
Sala knows my name.
[name Sala knows name owned-by me.]

oma no tenama kantu mentu Matu.
The person is Matu’s friend.
[person is friend owned-by name Matu.]

pa puno pa: “mentu Sala no tenama.”
He says this: “Sala is a friend.”
[that says this: “name Sala is friend.”]

menta kantu pa no anli.
His name is good.
[name owned-by that is good.]

sa temo pa, sulu pa temo sa.
I know her, and she knows me.
[I know that, and that knows me.]

mentu Sala puno “panpa!” tupu oma loni.
Sala says “hello!” to another person.
[name Sala says “seeing!” toward person other.]