Words

Soqotri
ḷe- - on, over, against (CSOL II 522 – 523; LS 227; CSOL I 598)

Terminative (‘to, towards’):

tóˀo hέmen tesóri ḷe-méḳṣeʰ édof ˁes bedíḷhɛḷ di-dénob wa-keḷéˀes di-ˀórem ‘When the other cow almost fell into the precipice, he caught it by the tip of its tail and brought it back onto the path’ (CSOL II 1:32);

Locative (‘at, near; in’):

ˁö́mor bass bíhid ˁánhi bass ezóˁom έhɛ ḥatóˀo ḷe-máˁẓ̂ad di-ḳáˁar wa-ˀaḷ-ˀóˁod idéš ‘He said: “All right, just let me spend the night there, near the doorpost, and I will not approach you”’ (CSOL II 1:141);

Temporal:

aḷ-ˁak šéken deʰ ḷe-ˁáṣar ‘I will be with you no more at this time tomorrow’ (CSOL II 6:17)

‘At, in the process of doing something (with a verbal noun)’:

ˁö́mor wa-ḷaṭ tšáḳam ḷe-ḥíṣoʰ ˁaf ˁamḳ di-ḥteʰ wa-ḷaṭ tédom ‘And he continued: “Then she stays awake until the middle of the night sewing, and only then does she go to sleep’ (CSOL II 15:23)

‘For, because of’:

ezˁémoʰ ḥánˀeʰ ˁážeʰ wa-díˀseʰ bέbɛʰ wa-seʰ kúľľeʰ yom tö́boš díˀseʰ ḷe-muṭáľľaḳ ‘So they went on like that, the woman and her father, and every day she wept about her husband who divorced her’ (CSOL II 1:135)

‘About, concerning’:

ḷeteˁéyhen wa-ktob ˁéʸhen énneʰ íľľi ḳetáľ ˁadúww as-suľṭán múgšem bɛr diˀegέḷed ‘He defeated them and left this inscription about them: “The one who defeated the enemy of the sultan was the son of Cowhide”’ (CSOL II 1:121)

‘Against’:

yɔʰ mɔn šíˀho ḷe-ˁebéroʰ ‘Who is with me against this generation’ (CSOL II 5:1)

Denoting duty, obligation:

wa-díˀʸheʰ ˁážeʰ aḷ-ˁad ˁes kaḷ tezóˁom wa-tsɛ ‘As for his wife, she was just staying there and eating’ (CSOL II 15:9)

Malefactive:

wa-ḥére έˀɛfo ľáḳaˁ wa-ˀaḷ-ḳaˁ wa-di-ˀaḷḳaˁ yezáˁa ˁeʸh díˀʸheʰ mέľ ‘And they tried to solve the riddle, but could not; and whoever could not solve the riddle, the boy took from him his wealth’ (CSOL II 4:7)

Soqotri
ḷóˀo - why? (LS 227; CSOL I 599; CSOL II 524)
Soqotri
ḷébhon - rectum (CSOL II 526)
Soqotri
ḷébhon - white (LS 228; CSOL I 600; CSOL II 525)
Soqotri
ḷébḷeb - stem (LS 228, CSOL II 525)
Soqotri
ḷέbin - if only (CSOL I 604, CSOL II 525)
Soqotri
ḷékod - to make a saddle (Naumkin et al. 2014a:37, 53; LS 233)
Soqotri
ľóḳaʰ - bottle (LS 231)
Soqotri
ḷéḳhɛm - kind of tree (Commiphora parvifolia) (LS 236, CSOL I 603, Miller–Morris 2004:468, CSOL II 528)
Soqotri
ḷaḷ - when (temporal conjunction) (CSOL II 528; CSOL I 603; LS 233)

ḷaḷ is used with the imperfect only.

 

ḷaḷ + imperfect + imperfect in the main clause, referring to the present/future:

ˁö́mor hes kéľľama tegózim ḷaḷ tefáḷaḥ šɔm eẓ̂áḷaˁ heš ‘He said: “If when the sun rises, you give me an oath, I will tell you”’ (CSOL II 4:20)

 

ḷaḷ + imperfect + perfect in the main clause, referring to the present:

ḷaḷ yekέˀɛ ḥéyhe ḥŝey tentézi ˁey wa-bíŝi di-yenáfaˁ šey íľyhe neféˀḥéten ‘When somebody is alone, he has nobody to help him or to get his jobs done’ (CSOL II 13:12)

 

ḷaḷ + imperfect + verbless clause referring to the present:

ḥéyhe bɛr ḥóriš ḷaḷ yíron šfɔ́niŝ wáľľa nóyher wáľľa ḥéyhe ḷe-ḥa be-ḥaḷf yeˁúmor hes mɛníyyo wa-mɛníyyo diyáˁ aḷ-škéro ḷaḷ nihámaˁ ṭad yíron mɛníyyo naˁámer toˀk diyáˁ ‘When a human being insults an animal, or a bird, or another person wherever he may be, we call it mɛníyyo (insult). An insult is a bad thing, not a good one, and when we hear somebody to give insult, we say to him: “Stop this bad thing!”’ (CSOL II 15:16bis)

 

ḷaḷ + imperfect + perfect in the main clause, referring to the past:

fɔ́ne díˀʸho be-šebóbeʰ ḷaḷ téken ẓ̂ayέfɛʰ wa-neḳáḷem aḷ-ˀémtoḷ ľinhór ḥe wa-ˁad náˁaʰ keʰ šeˁáyen bíŝi di-yaˀáraḥ ḥe ‘Formerly, in my youth, when there was a feast and we’d jump, nobody could outdo me. And even now, if we go running, nobody can catch me’ (CSOL II 13:33)

 

ḷaḷ + imperfect + imperfect in the main clause, referring to the past:

έter ˁag ḷáfi wa-di-ˁeẓ̂ wa-ḷaḷ yaˁágob bíľe deš bíľe di-ˁégeb hes yemáṭaˀs díˀyhe be-ˀáˁẓ̂eẓ̂ ‘Eter was a strong and vigorous man, and when he desired something, the thing he desired he would attain thanks to his strength’ (CSOL II 30:1)

 

ḷaḷ + imperfect + verbless clause referring to the past:

ˁímɛr ˁag ḷaḷ yegámaˁ díˀyhe ˁáže aḷyegámaˁ kaḷ be-kúľľe yom ṭey márra ‘They say there was a man who used to copulate with his wife only once a day’ (CSOL II 14:2)