Irrealis Modality
The pertinential preposition meta can be used when talking about hypothetical scenarios that don't necessarily occur (for more info about special prepositions, see: prepositions-3). This is useful for making irrealis modal statements, i.e. statements that doesn't tell you whether something exists/happens, but instead tell you someone's attitudes and predictions about it.
| M'ai 1SG-∈ |
telosa want |
meta PRN |
m'ai 1SG-∈ |
nektosa. swim |
| 'I want to swim' (I want that I swim) (I desire about [the scenario, in which] I swim) |
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| M'ai 1SG-∈ |
telosa want |
meta PRN |
t'ai 2SG-∈ |
nektosa. swim |
| 'I want you to swim' (I want that you swim) (I desire about [the scenario, in which] you swim) |
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If the subject of the main sentence is the same as the subject of the hypothetical scenario, we can use the "abstract form" -atea on the hypothetical action and omitt the hypothetical subject (for more info about the abstract form, see: affixes).
| M'ai 1SG-∈ |
telosa want |
meta PRN |
nektosatea swimming |
| 'I want to swim' (I desire about the act of swimming) |
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For brevity, we can omitt the preposition meta by turning the main modal verb into the construct form -e. However this might introduce ambiguity (for more info about the construct form, see: basics).
| M'ai 1SG-∈ |
telose want-CONS |
nektosatea swimming |
| 'I want to swim' (I desire the act of swimming) |
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| L'ai 3SG-∈ |
non NEG |
potentose able-CONS |
somnosatea sleeping |
| 'He could not sleep.' (He lacks the capability of sleeping) |
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| La that |
ornit'ai bird-∈ |
deontose need-CONS |
fagosatea eating |
| 'That bird needs to eat' (That bird requires the act of eating) |
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If the speaker is more comfortable with a head final structure, the hypothetical action can be turned into the "genitive/root form" with the-o ending and attached to the begining of the modal verb (for more info about the construct form, see: basics).
| La that |
ornit'ai bird-∈ |
fago-deontosa eat-GEN-need |
| 'That bird needs to eat' (That bird is in need of eating) |
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Here are some common modal verbs
| deontos | : | to need, must, have to, be morally obligated, should something bad will happen if you don't do X |
| nolitos | : | to be forbidden, must not, should not something bad will happen if you do X |
| okos | : | to be allowed, be permitted to, have a prerogative to, facultative/elective nothing bad will happen whether you do X or not do X |
| telos | : | to want, to desire, to wish, to intend note: you can say filotelos to emphasize that the desire came from a positive motivation and not from coercion, fear, or threat. |
| potentos | : | to be capable, can, have the ability to do X; have access to materials, methods, skills, or knowledge required to do something |
| liberos | : | to be free to do X, at liberty to, have the capability and permission to do something |