Triparic Correlatives

The inventor of Esperanto, Dr. L. L. Zamenhof, is famous for inventing the table of correlatives to express all the interrogative, demonstrative, and qualifier words of a language in a systematic way.

In Esperanto, the table is completely regular. In most natural languages, and Triparic, it is not; certain cells are empty and have to be provided by phrases rather than simple words. In English, for example, there is no word in the universal / reason cell; one must use the phrase "for every reason." But there is a word in the interrogative / reason cell: that word is "why".

Table of Correlatives

	Question ("What")	Near ("This")	Far ("That")	Indefinite ("Some")	General ("Any")	Universal ("Each, every")	Negative ("No")
	(v-)	(ist-)	(il-)	(alv-)	(quiv-)	(chav-)	(ni-)
Reason	varum (why)	—	ilum (therefore)	—	—	—	—
Manner	vi (how, as)	—	*zo (thus, as, so)	alvi (somehow)	quivi (in any way)	—	—
Amount	vi molt'o (how much of)	ista molt'o (this much of)	ila molt'o (that much of)	alva (some)	quiva (any)	alle (all)	ni (no)
Selection (-a)	*vila(s) ... (which ...)	ista(s) ... (this/these ...)	ila(s) ... (that/those ...)	alva(s) ... (some ...)	quiva(s) ... (whichever ..., any ...)	chava, *alle ... (each ..., all ...)	*ni ... (no ...)
Place (-o)	vo (where)	*hir (here)	*dir (there)	alvo (somewhere)	quivo (anywhere)	chavo (everywhere)	nivo (nowhere)
Time (-ann)	vann (when)	*nann (now)	*dann (then)	alvann (sometime)	quivann (anytime)	*semper (always)	*ninn (never)
Thing (-id)	*vas (what)	istid (this thing)	ilid (that thing)	alvid (something)	quivid (anything)	*alles (everything)	nivid (nothing)
Person (-ei)	vei (who)	istei (this one)	ilei (that one)	alvei (someone)	quivei (anyone)	chavei (everyone)	nivei (no one)
Possessor (-eis)	veis (whose)	isteis (this one's)	ileis (that one's)	alveis (someone's)	quiveis (whoever's, anyone's)	chaveis (everyone's)	niveis (no one's)

Other Correlative Expressions

Quality: gen ("... kind of ...")

Phrases like "what kind of", "that kind of", and so forth are formed in Triparic much as in English, with the selection correlatives and the noun gen "kind, sort": Vila gen o mensch tuðet ista? "What kind of man would do this?" Ila gen o plåx ist ni gut. "That kind of place is no good."

Occasion: fø ("at ... time", "sometimes")

English does not always clearly distinguish expressions of time from occasion: "I never saw him" versus "At no time did I see him"; "He's there now" (at this moment on a clock) versus "He's there this time" (there have been repeated attempts to locate him there, but this attempt has succeeded).

Phrases of occasion are formed using the selection correlatives in the phrase en ... fø, which can be translated "at ... time", "on ... occasion", or "in ... instance": Er ist dir en ista fø. "He's there [at] this time." Ego videde erm en ni fø. "I saw him at no time".