Sgaw Karen · Directional Verbs

Here's something that surprises English speakers learning Sgaw Karen.

You learn the word for "go":

lɛ̀
go

Then you learn the word for "come up" or "go up":

tʰɔ̂ˀ
ascend, go up, appear

So you try to say "go up." Your first guess might be to use just tʰɔ̂ˀ by itself — and that works, sometimes. But more often, what you'll hear is this:

lɛ̀-tʰɔ̂ˀ
go-ascend
"go up"

hɛ̄-tʰɔ̂ˀ
come-ascend
"come up" / "come out"

Wait—why is there a second verb? And why does tʰɔ̂ˀ sometimes mean "up" and sometimes mean "out"?

Here's the thing that changes everything: In Sgaw Karen, direction is expressed by verbs, not prepositions.

English uses little words like up, down, in, out, back. Sgaw Karen uses whole verbs—and they attach directly to other verbs. Once you understand this, a whole new part of the language clicks into place.

The core directional verbs

Sgaw Karen has a small set of verbs that are used to show direction of movement.

Verb	Basic Meaning	As a Directional
tʰɔ̂ˀ	ascend, go up	up, out, appear
lɔ̀	descend, go down	down
nɨ̀ˀ	enter	in, into
kè	return, go back	back, again
kwìˀ	throw	away, completely
xɔ̀	(no independent meaning)	horizontally, across

These verbs can attach to motion verbs like lɛ̀ (go), hɛ̄ (come), xê (run), and jù (fly). They can also attach to non-motion verbs like kwâ (look), sòˀ (carry), and even descriptive verbs like ɣè (be good).

The basic pattern: Motion + Direction

The simplest pattern is: [Motion Verb] + [Directional Verb]

With lɛ̀ (go)

Compound	Literally	Meaning
lɛ̀-tʰɔ̂ˀ	go-ascend	go up
lɛ̀-lɔ̀	go-descend	go down
lɛ̀-nɨ̀ˀ	go-enter	go in
lɛ̀-kè	go-return	go back
lɛ̀-xɔ̀	go-horizontally	go across (on the same level)

With hɛ̄ (come)

Compound	Literally	Meaning
hɛ̄-tʰɔ̂ˀ	come-ascend	come up / come out
hɛ̄-lɔ̀	come-descend	come down
hɛ̄-nɨ̀ˀ	come-enter	come in
hɛ̄-kè	come-return	come back

With other motion verbs

Compound	Literally	Meaning
xê-tʰɔ̂ˀ	run-ascend	run up / run out
jù-lɔ̀	fly-descend	dive, fly down
hāˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ	walk-ascend	go out, leave
hāˀ-kwìˀ	walk-throw	walk away

Notice something interesting: tʰɔ̂ˀ can mean either "up" or "out" depending on the verb it combines with.

With lɛ̀ (go): lɛ̀-tʰɔ̂ˀ = "go up" (like climbing a mountain)
With hāˀ (walk): hāˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ = "go out" (like leaving a house)
With hɛ̄ (come): hɛ̄-tʰɔ̂ˀ can mean either "come up" or "come out"

Combining multiple directions

You can also combine two directional verbs for more precise meanings.

Compound	Literally	Meaning
nɨ̀ˀ-lɔ̀	enter-descend	go into (emphasized)
tʰɔ̂ˀ-kwìˀ	ascend-throw	go away (completely)
hāˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ-kwìˀ	walk-ascend-throw	go away, leave for good

jù-nɨ̀ˀ-lɔ̀
fly-enter-descend
"fly into"

lɛ̀-tʰɔ̂ˀ-kwìˀ
go-ascend-throw
"go away (and not come back)"

The order is fixed: [Motion] + [Direction 1] + [Direction 2]

Direction with non-motion verbs

Here's where it gets really interesting. Directional verbs can attach to non-motion verbs to show the direction of the action or the movement of the object.

With verbs of carrying

Sgaw Karen has several verbs for carrying depending on how you carry something:

sòˀ = carry in arms
jōˀ = carry on shoulders (with a neck yoke)
wī = carry on back (with a tumpline)
tɔ̄ = carry on head

All of them combine with directionals:

Compound	Literally	Meaning
sòˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ	carry-ascend	carry up/out
sòˀ-lɔ̀	carry-descend	carry down
sòˀ-nɨ̀ˀ	carry-enter	carry in
sòˀ-kè	carry-return	carry back
sòˀ-kwìˀ	carry-throw	carry away

sòˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ tʰī lə̄ hîˀ pʰɔ̄.kʰôˀ
carry-UP water at house above
"carry the water to the top of the house"

With verbs of putting

pàˀ-nɨ̀ˀ lə̂ sʰū tʰə̂ˀ pù
put-ENTER stone to bag inside
"put a stone into the bag"

With verbs of removing

bêˀ-lɔ̀ nə-pʰlɔ̂ˀ.kʰī
take.off-DOWN your-trousers
"take off your trousers"

The directional tells you where the object goes or where it comes from.

Two special directionals: kè and kwìˀ

kè – "back" or "again"

kè as a directional has two related meanings.

1. Physical return (object-oriented):

pàˀ-kè lìˀ-sɔ̄.sʰɣī pʰɛ̄ ʔə-lɔ̂
put-RETURN bible at its-place
"put the Bible back in its place"

pɣè-kè kʰlī tə-bêˀ ʔì
buy-RETURN boat one-CLF this
"buy back this boat"

2. Doing something again (event-oriented):

ʔɔ̄ˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ pɛ̄.trɔ̄ dɔ̄ˀ pīˀ-kədā-kè ʔɔ̀
open-UP window and close-REVERSE-RETURN it
"opened the window and closed it again"

The position in the verb compound can tell you which meaning is intended. When it means "again," it often comes after other modifiers like bâˀ.

kwìˀ – "away" or "completely"

kwìˀ literally means "throw," but as a directional it means away, gone, completely finished.

With intransitive verbs (subject-oriented):

xê-kwìˀ
run-AWAY
"run away"

lə̀ˀ-kwìˀ
be.finished-AWAY
"run out, be completely used up"

With transitive verbs (object-oriented):

hɨ̂ˀ-kwìˀ jə-kʰɔ̂ˀ.pʰjū.tʰə̂ˀ
steal-AWAY my-computer
"stole my computer"

mà-θī-kwìˀ ʔɔ̀
make-die-AWAY it
"kill it completely"

kwìˀ adds a sense of finality or completeness to the action.

Direction with descriptive verbs: the metaphorical extension

Here's where directional verbs become truly essential. You can attach tʰɔ̂ˀ (up) or lɔ̀ (down) to descriptive verbs to show that something is changing in degree.

Direction	Meaning	Used with…
tʰɔ̂ˀ	increase	positive qualities, increases
lɔ̀	decrease	negative qualities, decreases

tʰɔ̂ˀ – things getting bigger, better, more

Compound	Literally	Meaning
dôˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ	big-UP	get bigger, grow
ɣè-tʰɔ̂ˀ	good-UP	get better, improve
pɣâ-tʰɔ̂ˀ	old-UP	get older
tʰɔ̄-tʰɔ̂ˀ	long-UP	grow taller
ʔā-tʰɔ̂ˀ	many-UP	increase
sʰûˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ	strong-UP	get stronger
mɨ̀ˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ	enjoyable-UP	get more enjoyable

kʰɛ̄.ʔì lə̄ wê pù nêˀ klɛ̄ ɣè-tʰɔ̂ˀ
now at city inside that road good-UP
"Now in the city, the roads have improved."

lɔ̀ – things getting smaller, worse, less

Compound	Literally	Meaning
sʰīˀ-lɔ̀	small-DOWN	get smaller
xɛ̀-lɔ̀	thin-DOWN	get thinner (people)
bū-lɔ̀	thin-DOWN	get thinner (objects)
sɣà-lɔ̀	few-DOWN	decrease
kʰɨ̂ˀ-lɔ̀	cool-DOWN	get cooler
kʰīˀ-lɔ̀	dark-DOWN	get darker

pɣà dɔ̄ˀ lêˀ-jɔ̂ sɣà-lɔ̀
person ride bicycle few-DOWN
"the number of people riding bicycles has decreased"

The logic

Think of a vertical scale:

Good things go up (tʰɔ̂ˀ)
Bad things go down (lɔ̀)

This is why you'll hear:

ʔə-pɣè dôˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ
its-price big-UP
"the price went up" (bad for buyers, but the price itself is increasing)

kʰɨ̂ˀ-lɔ̀
cool-DOWN
"getting cooler" (good in hot weather, but the temperature is going down)

The directional tells you which direction on the scale the quality is moving.

tʰɔ̂ˀ for new situations: the inchoative

There's one more use of tʰɔ̂ˀ that's extremely common. When attached to certain verbs, tʰɔ̂ˀ means "start to V" or "V suddenly appears."

This is called the inchoative or initio-transformative use.

Compound	Literally	Meaning
nì-tʰɔ̂ˀ	laugh-UP	burst out laughing
nə̄.mū-tʰɔ̂ˀ	smell.fragrant-UP	start smelling good
pɣè-tʰɔ̂ˀ	call-UP	start calling (of frogs)

sɔ̀.pà kwâ tʰū.ɣè dɔ̄ˀ nì-tʰɔ̂ˀ
king look Htoo.Gay and laugh-UP
"The king looked at Htoo Gay and burst out laughing."

This is different from the "increase" meaning. Here, tʰɔ̂ˀ marks the beginning of a new state or action, not just a change in degree.

Directionals with hɛ̄ (come) and kè (return)

Two directionals can also appear before the main verb as separate words.

hɛ̄ (come) and kè (return) can be used this way to show direction toward the speaker or direction back.

Compare:

Pattern	Example	Meaning
Pre-verb	hɛ̄-sòˀ	come-carry = "bring"
Post-verb	sòˀ-hɛ̄	carry-come = "carry (toward speaker)"

In practice, the pre-verb position is more common for these two:

hɛ̄-sòˀ tʰī
come-carry water
"bring water"

kè-xê sʰū θəwɔ̄
return-run to village
"run back to the village"

The patterns you'll use most

Pattern 1: Motion + Direction

lɛ̀ + Directional
lɛ̀-tʰɔ̂ˀ (go up), lɛ̀-lɔ̀ (go down), lɛ̀-nɨ̀ˀ (go in), lɛ̀-kè (go back)

Pattern 2: Action + Direction (Object Moves)

Verb + Directional + Object
sòˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ tʰī (carry water up), pàˀ-nɨ̀ˀ lə̂ (put a stone in), bêˀ-lɔ̀ pʰlɔ̂ˀ.kʰī (take off trousers)

Pattern 3: Descriptive Verb + Direction (Change in Degree)

Descriptive Verb + tʰɔ̂ˀ / lɔ̀
dôˀ-tʰɔ̂ˀ (get bigger), ɣè-tʰɔ̂ˀ (get better), sʰīˀ-lɔ̀ (get smaller), kʰɨ̂ˀ-lɔ̀ (get cooler)

Pattern 4: Verb + kwìˀ (Away / Completely)

Verb + kwìˀ
xê-kwìˀ (run away), hɨ̂ˀ-kwìˀ (steal away), lə̀ˀ-kwìˀ (be used up)

Summary: what to remember

1. Direction in Sgaw Karen is expressed by verbs, not prepositions.

2. The core directionals are: tʰɔ̂ˀ (up/out), lɔ̀ (down), nɨ̀ˀ (in), kè (back/again), kwìˀ (away/completely), xɔ̀ (horizontally).

3. Basic pattern: [Motion Verb] + [Directional]

4. Directionals attach to non-motion verbs to show where the object goes.

5. With descriptive verbs, tʰɔ̂ˀ and lɔ̀ show increase or decrease.

6. tʰɔ̂ˀ can also mark the beginning of a new action (inchoative).

7. kwìˀ adds a sense of finality or completeness.