alasa


etymology; tan
Acadian French à la chasse ‘hunting’ ← French chasser ‘to hunt’
usage; nasin kepeken
verb - hunt, forage
this usage is pretty rare, considering that it's pu.
definition
to hunt, forage
examples
phrase
concept
mi alasa.
i hunt.
ona li wile alasa.
they want to go hunting.
noun - hunt, forage
noun form of the verb.
definition
hunt, hunting, foraging
examples
phrase
concept
tan alasa la mi kama jo e moku mute.
i got a lot of food from the hunt.
alasa li pana e moku mute!
foraging gives a lot of food!
alternative usage; kepeken ante
noun - prey
rarely, although accepted, alasa can be used as 'prey', like the object of hunting.
definition
prey
examples
phrase
concept
mi alasa e soweli la, soweli li alasa mi.
when i hunt animals, the animals are my prey.
alasa mi li weka! o awen!
my prey ran away! wait!
pre-verb - try to
it implies to try to do something (generally without success).
some people prefer 'lukin' for trying.
lukindefinition
try to, attempt to
examples
phrase
concept
mi alasa lukin e ni.
i try to look at this.
mi alasa sona e lipu!!
i try to understand the document!
verb - look for
of course, lukin is kind of used for this - alasa implies more of a 'in the state of searching and have not found it yet'. lukin is more like one is seeing it right now.
lukindefinition
look for, find, hunt for
examples
phrase
concept
mi alasa e ilo mi.
i find my tool.
noun - goal
kind of the noun form of 'look for' definition. alasa can also mean goal or aim.
definition
goal, objective, aim, intent
examples
phrase
concept
alasa mi la mi pona.
my goal is that i am good.
i try to be good.
mi ante e alasa mi.
i change my objective.
theories/analysis; sona nasa
jo, lanpan, alasa
while lanpan is a non-pu word, it is common in ma pona pi toki pona, with wide usage. it has been brought up before that these three words have slightly overlapping meanings.
jo - to have lanpan - to get, to come to have alasa - to try to have
there were small discussions about replacing jo with lanpan and alasa. however, it never happened. this would most likely be supported by the jon'ts.
jon'talasa and lukin
as mentioned earlier, alasa and lukin have similar meanings when they are preverbs. however, there is a slight change in meaning.
alasa is more of trying actively to do, at the current moment. lukin, much like its meaning - looking - is like looking forward to do - one is planning to do it, but perhaps have not done so, or do not intend to do it anytime soon.
common phrases; toki
phrase
concept
ilo alasa
bow
(since the sitelen pona for alasa looks like a bow)
extra references; lipu ante
ma pona pi toki pona - ilo alasa
ma pona pi toki pona - jo, lanpan, alasa
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