ꃄꆜ：ꐋꀨ，ꆏꇿꀀꌠꉬ？
ꃄꎓ：ꉢꑝꅇꀀꌠꉬ。
ꃄꆜ：ꆏꆈꌠꅀꉌꈲꉬ？
ꃄꎓ：ꉢꆈꌠꂷꉬ。
ꃄꆜ：ꆍꃅꄷꋬꂻꈨꅪꀞ！
ꃄꎓ：ꋬꂻꈨꅪ，ꐥꅍꐥꀋꇲ。
ꃄꆜ：ꆍꃅꄷꎿꈎꋚꁧꒉꁧꂄꈓꉫꀕ？
ꃄꎓ：ꂄꐯꂄꈓꉬ。
ꃄꎓ：ꀊꅰꃅꀋꂄꈓ，ꈾꌋꆀꀦꇴꆹꉾ，ꍯ、ꑸꑽꆹꀋꉾ。
ꃄꆜ：ꑞꒉꄸ？
ꃄꎓ：ꂷꉐꐛꇨꄉꂿꃋꈻꇨꀕꒉꄸ。
ꃄꆜ：ꆍꃅꄷꐩꏿꀕ？
ꃄꎓ：ꐩꑌꏿ，ꎭꑌꏿ。
ꃄꆜ：ꌿꏿꀕ？
ꃄꎓ：ꌿꀉꑌꃅꀋꏿ，ꈾꄈꀉꑌꃅꏿ。
ꃄꆜ：ꈿꐔꅀꈵꆈ？
ꃄꎓ：ꈿꐔꑌꏿ，ꈵꆈꑌꏿ。
ꃄꆜ：ꋚꁧꋋꈨꈍꃅꐙ？
ꃄꎓ：ꂄꈓꉬ。
ꃄꆜ：ꆍꋚꋠꇎꀕ？
ꃄꎓ：ꋠꇎꐯꋠꇎ。
Muxhlie : Comrade, where do you come from ?
Muxrryr : I am originally from Xide.
Muxhlie : Are you Yi or Han nationality ?
Muxrryr : I am Yi.
Muxhlie : Your hometown is a peaceful place I suppose.
Muxrryr : Quiet and peaceful.
Muxhlie : Have you had a good harvest there this year ?
Muxrryr : We had a bumper harvest.
Muxrryr : We didn't have a very good harvest. We had a good crop of buckwheat and maize, but we did not have a very good crop of rice and potatoes.
Muxhlie : Why was that ?
Muxrryr : It was because there was too much rain, and the weather was too cold.
Muxhlie : Do you grow oats there ?
Muxrryr : We grow both oats and wheat.
Muxhlie : Do you grow barley ?
Muxrryr : We don't grow much barley, but grow quite a lot of buckwheat.
Muxhlie : Sweet buckwheat or bitter buckwheat ?
Muxrryr : We grow both sweet buckwheat and bitter buckwheat.
Muxhlie : What was the harvest of these crops like ?
Muxrryr : It was a good harvest.
Muxhlie : Have you enough grain to eat ?
Muxrryr : Plenty, plenty.
1. ꆏꇿꀀꌠꉬ (ne kat it su nge) : Literally "You are a where dweller ?" (i.e. Where do you live ?"), but actually an expression used to ascertain someone's place of birth or native town, not their current residence. The particle ꌠ (su) turns ꇿꀀ (kat it) "where live" into a noun phrase – "a where dweller". Likewise the reply ꉢꑝꅇꀀꌠꉬ (nga xit ddop it su nge) translates literally as "I am a Xide dweller" (i.e. "I am a native of Xide").
2. ꃅꄷ (mu ddix) : This word normally means "district", but when used after ꆍ (nop) "you (plural)" it takes the specific meaning of the place where you come from (i.e. your hometown or native county).
3. ꈻꇨꀕ (mgo guo w) : When ꇨ (guo) "too" is reduplicated, it intensifies the meaning of the word it modifies. So ꈻꇨ (mgo guo) "too cold", but ꈻꇨꀕ (mgo guo w) "really too cold". In this sentence the word ꈻ (mgo) should be read in the Secondary High tone, that is as ꈺ (mgox).
4. ꐩꑌꏿ, ꎭꑌꏿ (jju nyi qip , sha nyi qip) : When ꑌ (nyi) is used in tandem, if the preceding syllable is in the Mid Level tone, then it is normally read in the Secondary High tone. Thus, in this sentence, ꐩ (jju) and ꎭ (sha) should be read as ꐨ (jjux) and ꎬ (shax). Likewise, in the sentence ꆏꑌꁧ, ꋌꑌꁧ (ne nyi bbo, cy nyi bbo) "You are going, and he is also going", the words ꆏ (ne) and ꋌ (cy) should be read as ꆎ (nex) and ꋋ (cyx).
5. ꋚꁧꋋꈨ (zza bbo cyx gge) : Demonstrative pronouns such as ꋋꈨ (cyx gge) "these" follow their noun in Yi.
6. ꋠꇎꐯꋠꇎ (zze lut jjy zze lut) : As well as intensifying adjectives (see Lesson 4 Note 1), the particle ꐯ (jjy) can intensify adverbal constructs, such as in this case, where ꋠꇎ (zze lut) "to eat enough" is reduplicated with ꐯ (jjy) in the middle to give the meaning "plenty to eat". Likewise ꀀꌒ (it sa) "to sleep well" can be intensified to ꀀꌒꐯꀀꌒ (it sa jjy it sa) "to have a good night's sleep".
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