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In this lesson, we add start to modify our nouns by adding glyphs to the main noun glyph. We will also learn more about how to manipulate the blocks in order to find the best composition. We will use the same vocabulary that you'll find jan Pije’s lesson 5.
ike
jaki
lawa
len
lili
mute
nasa
seli
sewi
tomo
utala
If you feel you are starting to understand how to stack your glyph blocks, adding modifiers shouldn’t be too hard. Let’s look at jan Pije’s example, building up to this good soldier.
jan
jan utala
jan utala pona ni
jan utala pona
This compound noun block is equally at home as the subject, or direct object.
jan utala pona ni li lawa.
mi lawa e jan utala pona ni.
In chapter 2 we talked about tucking glyphs behind others. Look how well this works for the combination jan utala in these examples.
jan lili
tomo mute
jan nasa mute
Lili and mute are wider and shorter than some of the more square glyphs.
As modifiers this can work to your advantage, as they don’t take up too much space. Often they can tuck right underneath the noun they are modifying.
telo nasa ni
ilo seli ni
Remember in lesson 1 we said syllable glyphs can be used instead of glyph blocks? As a glyph block, ni is pretty square, but as a syllable it is tall and thin.
len ni
This can be useful when ni is used as a modifier. Take a look at how ni works here as a syllable block and above as a glyph block. This can offer you a variety of ways to fill the given space in any situation.
ma ike jaki ni
ma ike jaki ni
Maybe you have started to notice, glyph blocks have a little bit of give to them.
ma ike jaki ni
They can stretch or squish in order to maintain a square shape in a multi-block structure.
ma ike jaki ni
ma ike jaki ni
If you understand how to tuck one glyph behind another, to stretch or squish glyphs, and use short and thin blocks, you will see just how many different arrangements there are for compound blocks.
ma ike jaki ni
ma ike jaki ni
Here are seven different ways to arrange ma ike jaki ni. Which one you would want to choose would depend on the how well it fits in the rest of the sentence.