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56 [fifty-six]

Feelings

56 [ses en vyftig]	Gevoelens

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The language of our ancestors

Modern languages can be analyzed by linguists. Various methods are used to do so. But how did people speak thousands of years ago? It is much more difficult to answer this question. Despite this, scientists have been busy researching for years. They would like to explore how people spoke earlier. In order to do this, they attempt to reconstruct ancient speech forms. American scientists have now made an exciting discovery. They analyzed more than 2,000 languages. In particular they analyzed the sentence structure of the languages. The results of their study were very interesting. About half of the languages had the S-O-V sentence structure. That is to say, the sentences are ordered by subject, object and verb. More than 700 languages follow the pattern S-V-O. And about 160 languages operate according to the V-S-O system. Only about 40 languages use the V-O-S pattern. 120 languages display a hybrid. On the other hand, O-V-S and O-S-V are distinctly rarer systems. The majority of the analyzed languages use the S-O-V principle. Persian, Japanese and Turkish are some examples. Most living languages follow the S-V-O pattern, however. This sentence structure dominates the Indo-European language family today. Researchers believe that the S-O-V model was used earlier. All languages are based on this system. But then the languages diverged. We don't yet know how that happened. However, the variation of sentence structures must have had a reason. Because in evolution, only that which has an advantage prevails…

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to feel like / want to	l_s h_ lus hê l__ h_ lus hê ___ __ lus hê
We feel like. / We want to.	O_s h_t l_s_ Ons het lus. O__ h__ l___ Ons het lus. ___ ___ ____ Ons het lus.
We don’t feel like. / We do’t want to.	O_s h_t n_e l_s n_e_ Ons het nie lus nie. O__ h__ n__ l__ n___ Ons het nie lus nie. ___ ___ ___ ___ ____ Ons het nie lus nie.

to be afraid	o_ b_n_ t_ w_e_ om bang te wees o_ b___ t_ w___ om bang te wees __ ____ __ ____ om bang te wees
I’m afraid.	E_ i_ b_n_. Ek is bang. E_ i_ b____ Ek is bang. __ __ _____ Ek is bang.
I am not afraid.	E_ i_ n_e b_n_ n_e_ Ek is nie bang nie. E_ i_ n__ b___ n___ Ek is nie bang nie. __ __ ___ ____ ____ Ek is nie bang nie.

to have time	o_ t_d t_ h_ om tyd te hê o_ t__ t_ h_ om tyd te hê __ ___ __ __ om tyd te hê
He has time.	H_ h_t t_d_ Hy het tyd. H_ h__ t___ Hy het tyd. __ ___ ____ Hy het tyd.
He has no time.	H_ h_t n_e t_d n_e_ Hy het nie tyd nie. H_ h__ n__ t__ n___ Hy het nie tyd nie. __ ___ ___ ___ ____ Hy het nie tyd nie.

to be bored	o_ v_r_e_l_ t_ w_e_ om verveeld te wees o_ v_______ t_ w___ om verveeld te wees __ ________ __ ____ om verveeld te wees
She is bored.	S_ i_ v_r_e_l_. Sy is verveeld. S_ i_ v________ Sy is verveeld. __ __ _________ Sy is verveeld.
She is not bored.	S_ i_ n_e v_r_e_l_ n_e_ Sy is nie verveeld nie. S_ i_ n__ v_______ n___ Sy is nie verveeld nie. __ __ ___ ________ ____ Sy is nie verveeld nie.

to be hungry	o_ h_n_e_ t_ w_e_ om honger te wees o_ h_____ t_ w___ om honger te wees __ ______ __ ____ om honger te wees
Are you hungry?	I_ j_l_e h_n_e_? Is julle honger? I_ j____ h______ Is julle honger? __ _____ _______ Is julle honger?
Aren’t you hungry?	I_ j_l_e n_e h_n_e_ n_e_ Is julle nie honger nie? I_ j____ n__ h_____ n___ Is julle nie honger nie? __ _____ ___ ______ ____ Is julle nie honger nie?

to be thirsty	o_ d_r_ t_ w_e_ om dors te wees o_ d___ t_ w___ om dors te wees __ ____ __ ____ om dors te wees
They are thirsty.	H_l_e i_ d_r_. Hulle is dors. H____ i_ d____ Hulle is dors. _____ __ _____ Hulle is dors.
They are not thirsty.	H_l_e i_ n_e d_r_ n_e_ Hulle is nie dors nie. H____ i_ n__ d___ n___ Hulle is nie dors nie. _____ __ ___ ____ ____ Hulle is nie dors nie.

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The language of our ancestors

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