Meeting people
A first meeting asks for four things: a hello, a name, where you are from, and a reason to keep talking. The root under all of it is sarve meet.
Hello
| Pikotika | Literally | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Novasarve! | new-meet | Hello! (meeting for the first time) |
| Kontensarve! | happy-meet | Hello! (anyone, any time) |
| Eko ri konten sarve a tu. | I RI happy meet A you | I'm happy to meet you. |
| Kontenveni! | happy-come | Welcome! |
| Sammoto. | same-manner | Likewise. |
Pona suryan and the rest of the time-of-day greetings, and every goodbye, are on Pleasantries and filler.
Names
Names are capitalized, as in English. Usually the name alone is all you need; but when you need to be clear that you're giving the name of a person, you can precede it with omo.
When naming something that's not a person, you might want to preced it with roko (place), sitas (city), nasyon (country), komparroko (shop), or komparmen (company).
| Pikotika | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tu nomen ri ker? | What's your name? |
| Eko nomen ri Aras. | My name is Alice. |
| Eko ri Aras. | I'm Alice. |
| Tisomo ri omo Popu. | This is Bob. |
| Tisomo ri eko ami Popu. | This is my friend Bob. |
| Pam sarve a eko ami Popu. | Meet my friend Bob. |
| Perton — tu nomen ri ker repe? | Sorry — what was your name again? |
| Tis ri eko nomenkarta. | Here's my card. |
Your own name gets adapted to the fifteen letters Pikotika has, and it keeps its Latin spelling even in Han text — Alice is Aras, Bob is Popu. See Names and loanwords for yours.
Where you're from
| Pikotika | Literally | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Tu ri vons kerroko? | you RI from what-place | Where are you from? |
| Eko ri vons Kanata. | I RI from Canada | I'm from Canada. |
| Eko ri Kanata omo. | I RI Canada person | I'm Canadian. |
| Eko ri viva in Itaria, sets eko ri vons Kanata. | I RI life in Italia, but I RI from Canada | I live in Italy, but I'm from Canada. |
| Tu ri in tisroko yer vin, ker? | you RI in this-place before finish, what | Have you been here before? |
| Tu ri in tisroko por opus sive por yu, ker? | you RI in this-place for work or for play, what | Are you here for work or for pleasure? |
Notice the two uses of a country name: vons Kanata names the place you came from, while Kanata omo is an ordinary modifier — a Canada person. There is no separate word for ‘Canadian’.
Languages
| Pikotika | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tu ri tika a Inkuris, ker? | Do you speak English? |
| Tu tikamoto ri ker? | What language do you speak? |
| Eko ri tika a piko Pikotika. | I speak a little Pikotika. |
| Eko ri impar a Pikotika sista. | I'm still learning Pikotika. |
| Pam nonveros tika. | Please speak slowly. |
| Tonkuo omo ri tika a Tonwen. | A Chinese person speaks Chinese. |
A language's name is whatever its own speakers call it, approximated like any other loanword — Vuranse comes from français, not from English French. The country name works the same way; Tonkuo is China, Tonwen is Chinese. See Names and loanwords.
How you know each other
| Pikotika | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tu ri sape a Karra in kermoto? | How do you know Carla? |
| Ekomen ri yunta opus. | We work together. |
| Ekomen ri sarve in imparroko. | We met at school. |
| Tisomo ri eko ami. | She's a friend of mine. |
| Eko ri veni kum eko ami. | I came with a friend. |
| Eko ri non pensa a ekomen ri sarve vin. | I don't think we've met. |
| Ekomen ri sarve vin, non? | We've met before, haven't we? |
in kermoto asks by what route, not what state — the answer is the story of how it happened. See Prepositional phrases.
Once you are past this, everything else is Small talk.
A whole conversation
Carla introduces two of her friends at a party.
| Pikotika | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Karra: Aras, pam sarve a eko ami Popu. | Carla: Alice, meet my friend Bob. | |
| Aras: Novasarve, Popu. Eko nomen ri Aras. | Alice: Hello, Bob. My name is Alice. | |
| Popu: Eko ri konten sarve a tu. Perton — tu nomen ri ker repe? | Bob: Happy to meet you. Sorry — what was your name again? | |
| Aras: Aras. Tis ri Kanata nomen. | Alice: Alice. It's a Canadian name. | |
| Popu: Tu ri vons Kanata, ker? | Bob: You're from Canada? | |
| Aras: Si, sets eko ri viva in Itaria in tistempo. | Alice: Yes, but I live in Italy now. | |
| Popu: Sorpe! Tu ri tika a Itariano, ker? | Bob: Wow! Do you speak Italian? | |
| Aras: Piko. Eko ri impar sista. | Alice: A little. I'm still learning. | |
| Popu: Kum tu ri sape a Karra in kermoto? | Bob: And how do you know Carla? | |
| Aras: Ekomen ri yunta opus in monikase. Kum tu, ker? | Alice: We work together at a bank. And you? | |
| Popu: Ekomen ri sarve in imparroko, mur anyo yer. | Bob: We met at school, many years ago. | |
| Popu: Eko ri konten sarve a tu, Aras. | Bob: It was good to meet you, Alice. | |
| Aras: Sammoto! | Alice: Likewise! |