There are seventeen divider words. The meanings of the dividers are quite vague. In almost all situations you have a choice of more than one, with different connotations.
In a longer text or utterance, the dividers add pervading texture. The speaker is constantly forced to choose what aspect to emphasize in each sentence, and over paragraphs and chapters the shifting choice of dividers can convey subtle meanings.
Table 4.7. Emotional Dividers
| i | attraction | liking, love, admiration, respect, awe, triumph |
| u | aversion | anger, disliking, embarrassment, irritation, disgust |
| gi | joy | happiness, comfort, content, fun |
| gu | sorrow | sadness, grief, regret, pity |
| pi | desire | wanting, wishing, hope, faith |
| pu | fear | nervousness, worry, terror |
The emotional dividers tell about the speaker's emotional response to the sentence, or to something salient mentioned in the sentence. It may sometimes be ambiguous what the speaker's emotion applies to—that possibility adds richness. The emotional dividers group into three pairs, attraction/aversion, joy/sorrow, and desire/fear.
I puts more attention on the object of liking; gi more on the feeling itself. Gu is for sad feelings of loss or lost opportunity, including feelings about somebody else's loss. U fits all reasons other than fear for avoidance. Pu ranges from the mildest worry about a remote risk to abject terror.
There's no divider for humor. Jokes and irony have to stand on their own.
Table 4.8. Belief Dividers
| pa | belief | personal belief |
| ili | immediate | current observation or recent memory—always reliable |
| soa | unreliable | poorly remembered, poorly perceived, or apparently unlikely |
| esa | inference | apparently, it looks as if, I realized that |
| sai | cultural | "people say", cultural or in-group belief, proverb |
| tasu | story | hearsay, tale |
| ho | surprise | true but surprising, or surprising if true |
The belief dividers give information about the speaker's degree of belief in the truth of the sentence, or about the source of the information in the sentence.
Pa is the vaguest divider; it says only that the speaker believes the sentence, whether strongly or weakly. It is also the plainest, most unmarked divider, so you should prefer it when the choice of divider is unimportant (as it usually is in this grammar book). Tasu is for secondhand information, including fiction. Ho is for information that there is some reason to believe, but which seems so unlikely that that is also reason to disbelieve it. A tall tale fits either tasu or ho, but a good teller will mark some sentences with pa or even ohe (see the objective dividers immediately below) for effect.
Table 4.9. Objective Dividers
| ohe | realis | actual current or past |
| ipo | expected | expected, forecast, planned |
| uiti | conditional | conditional, possible, hypothetical |
| upui | generic | generic or universal |
The objective dividers disclaim subjective or personal influence and claim objectivity.
Ohe is for statements which which are currently true or used to be true. Ipo is for future statements which there is some reason to believe (the sun will rise tomorrow; the weather forecast is...; the computer model predicts...). Uiti is for events at any time which are conditional (if this happens, then that will be true), possible (it could be that...) or hypothetical (what if?). Upui is for generic claims like "frogs croak" or "meetings take too long".
Example 4.25. I Love You
Ofae atet i sofa. I+experiencer you+cause attraction romantic-love+event. I love you (because you are good).
Ofae atet gi sofa. I+experiencer you+cause joy romantic-love+event. I love you (which feels good).
Ofae atet pi sofa. I+experiencer you+cause desire romantic-love+event. I love you (suggesting "I want you").
Ofae atet ili sofa. I+experiencer you+cause immediate romantic-love+event. I love you right now.
Ofae atet esa sofa. I+experiencer you+cause inference romantic-love+event. It seems that I love you.
Ofae atet ohe sofa. I+experiencer you+cause realis romantic-love+event. I truly love you.
Ofae atet upui sofa. I+experiencer you+cause generic romantic-love+event. I love you, as always.