Common Kai Translation Handbook v0.4

Status: draft guide

This handbook explains how to translate English into Common Kai without turning every sentence into Sacred Kai. Translate the practical meaning first. Add inner reading only after the Common Kai grammar works.

1. Translation Layers

A complete teaching translation may show four layers:

1. Common Kai.
2. Plain English approximation.
3. Grammar note.
4. Inner reading.

Example:

2. Translate Meaning, Not English Grammar

Do not copy English word order blindly.

English:

"I have the tool."

Common Kai:

Alo te mi.

Literal:

The tool is with me.

3. "To Be"

Use e for identity, class, and quality.

• I am a person. = Mi e elen.
• The home is safe. = Noa e niva.
• This is food. = Tio e namo.

Use a relation phrase without e for location.

• I am at home. = Mi en noa.
• The object is with me. = Teno te mi.

Avoid Mi e en noa. in Common Kai.

4. "Have"

Common Kai does not use an ordinary possession verb.

Use te for temporary possession and na for belonging/source.

5. English Tense

Kai uses aspect first and time words when needed.

Do not force every English tense into a separate Kai tense.

6. Want, Need, Can, May, Must, Should

Use different Common Kai forms:

• Want: Mi li huno. = I want water.
• Need: Mi el nive huno. = I need water.
• Able: Mi e kiri li yare. = I can go.
• Permitted: Mi e vari li yare. = I may go.
• Must: Lano li mi yare. = I must go.
• Should: Sai li ti some. = You should sleep.
• Might: Mi an-vai yare. = I might go.

English "can" must be translated by meaning:

• Can you lift it? = ability: Ti e kiri li kire sio ya?
• Can I enter? = permission: Mi e vari li en ya?
• Can it rain? = possibility: Ravu an-vai or ya?

7. Questions

Yes-no questions end with ya.

• Are you home? = Ti en noa ya?
• Do you want water? = Ti li huno ya?

Content questions use question words:

• Who is there? = Yael en sio?
• What is this? = Tio e yano?
• Where are you going? = Ti el yare li yava?
• Why did you speak? = Ti or lune yana?

8. English "That"

Use va for reported clauses.

• I know that you are home. = Mi e miri va ti en noa.
• She said that Kai is within us. = Si or lune va kai en nai.
• I ask whether you will go. = Mi el yale va ti an yare ya.

9. Relative Clauses

Use va after the head noun.

• The person who spoke is here. = Elen va or lune en tio.
• The tool that I used is safe. = Alo va mi or ale e niva.
• The home that we built is bright. = Noa va nai or ore e lumo.

10. Idioms

Translate the real meaning, not the image, unless you intentionally want a poetic effect.

11. Technical Translation

For technical writing:

1. Use exact terms.
2. Define new compounds or loans.
3. Avoid sacred ambiguity.
4. Keep international symbols where needed.
5. Give examples.

Example:

Raltelo e alo li rale.

The measuring device is a tool for measurement.

If exact reference matters, borrow:

• Python = Vaiton
• DNA = DNA in writing; define a spoken technical form later.
• kg, m, s = keep symbols in technical text.

12. Coin or Borrow

Coin when the concept is transparent:

• phone = luntelo
• kitchen = namnoa
• clinic = sannoa

Borrow when identity matters:

• Maria = Maria or Malia
• Tokyo = Tokio
• Python = Vaiton

Mark borrowed terms as loan or technical.

13. Avoid Over-Poetic Translation

Bad Common Kai habit:

English: "Please close the door."

Over-poetic:

Ma veil the gate of becoming into hidden silence.

Common Kai:

Ma sha vae vao. or, once "close" is coined, use the exact close predicate.

The inner reading may be added afterward, but the Common Kai sentence must work first.

14. Safety, Medical, and Legal Translation

Use Common or Technical Kai first.

• Do not drink the water. = Ma sha hune huno.
• I need medicine. = Mi el nive sano.
• The agreement is written. = Lano or kale.

Sacred Kai may be added as a blessing, not as a replacement for the instruction.