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, 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".

Though constructed, Triparic, like most natural languages, is not fully regular in this table.

Classical

	Question ("What") (v-)	Indefinite ("Some") (alv-)	General ("Any") (quiv-)	Universal ("Each, every") (chav-)	Negative ("No") (niv-)	Near ("This") (ist-)	Far ("That") (il-)
Reason	varum (why)	—	—	—	—	—	—
Manner	vi (how)	—	yovi (in any way)	—	—	—	—
Amount	—	—	yoka (any)	alle (all)	—	—	—
Selection	velk* (which ...)	—	yoka (any)	yede (each ...)	—	cite(s) ... (this/these ...)	ceta(s) ... (that/those ...)
Place	vo (where)	—	yovo (anywhere)	—	—	hir (here)	—
Time	vann (when)	—	yovann (whenever)	—	—	—	—
Thing	vas (what)	—	—	—	—	—	—
Person	vex (who)	—	—	—	—	—	—
Possessor	vez (whose)	—	—	—	—	—	—

*velk is attested as "which" as the relative pronoun; not sure I can find it as in "which one do you like, honey?"

Table of Correlatives

The columns, and some of the rows, have patterns for their formation, but like in English, there are exceptions. In English you can say where, somewhere, everywhere, anywhere, nowhere, but then here and there, while similar, do not contain where.

Patterns are indicated in parentheses in the column headers and (where useful) in the row headers. Asterisks (*) are used to highlight irregular forms in those rows which have useful patterns. A dash (—) indicates there is no single word for that cell.

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

Pronominal Mnemonics

A few of the rows have some helpful relation to the personal pronouns and can be remembered as such. The pattern (though there are exceptions) for the thing row is -id, which is the 3rd person neuter pronoun "it". The patterns for the person and possessor rows are -ei(s), which is the 3rd person epicene pronoun "he, she, they" in its nominative and possessive forms.

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 vir 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." Ia videde erm en ni fø. "I saw him at no time".