Faleni Compound reference

The point of Faleni is that you don't need a root for everything. These ~130 everyday words are all built from existing roots, head-first (the first root is what it is, the rest narrow it). None of them is a new dictionary entry, they fall straight out of the engine. Use them as patterns and make your own.

Notation: head + modifier = meaning. Build your own and check the parts with python3 tools/faleni.py check <word>.

Places & buildings

People & roles

Tools & objects

Food & drink

A meal has two equally legal builds: kema nami (eat + morning) names the meal, te kema nami (food + morning) names the food on the plate. The lessons drill the short one; both decode the same way.

Nature & animals

Feelings & abstractions (niso = -ness)

Colors (mix two)

Quantifier phrases

Direction

The n- family's two-syllable room ran out (python3 tools/faleni.py capacity), which is exactly the situation the compounding engine exists for. East and west are anchored on the sun, north and south on the map convention, so all four decode without being memorised.

Set phrases

Conventions rather than compounds, and taught in Lesson 2. They decode literally, which is why they are easy to remember: a greeting is just "good" plus the time of day.

Compound verbs (serial)

Every one of these is reversible and transparent, a learner who knows the roots can decode a word they've never seen, and coin one you've never written. That's how ~500 roots cover many thousands of meanings.