The following table shows all the cmavo belonging to selma'o BAI, and has five columns. The first column is the cmavo itself; the second column is the gismu linked to it. The third column gives an English phrase which indicates the meaning of the cmavo; and the fourth column indicates its meaning when preceded by “se”.
For those cmavo with meaningful “te”, “ve”, and even “xe” conversions (depending on the number of places of the underlying gismu), the meanings of these are shown on one or two extra rows following the primary row for that cmavo.
It should be emphasized that the place structures of the gismu control the meanings of the BAI cmavo. The English phrases shown here are only suggestive, and are often too broad or too narrow to correctly specify what the acceptable range of uses for the modal tag are.
ba'i basti replaced by instead of
bai bapli compelled by compelling
bau bangu in language in language of
be'i benji sent by transmitting
te=sent to ve=with transmit origin
xe=transmitted via
ca'i catni by authority of with authority over
cau claxu lacked by without
ci'e ciste in system with system function
te=of system components
ci'o cinmo felt by feeling emotion
ci'u ckilu on the scale on scale measuring
cu'u cusku as said by expressing
te=as told to ve=expressed in medium
de'i detri dated on the same date as
di'o diklo at the locus of at specific locus
do'e ----- vaguely related to
du'i dunli as much as equal to
du'o djuno according to knowing facts
te=knowing about
ve=under epistemology
fa'e fatne reverse of in reversal of
fau fasnu in the event of
fi'e finti created by creating work
te=created for purpose
ga'a zgana to observer observing
te=observed by means
ve=observed under conditions
gau gasnu with agent as agent in doing
ja'e jalge resulting in results because of
ja'i javni by rule by rule prescribing
ji'e jimte up to limit as a limit of
ji'o jitro under direction controlling
ji'u jicmu based on supporting
ka'a klama gone to by with destination
te=with origin ve=via route
xe=by transport mode
ka'i krati represented by on behalf of
kai ckaji characterizing with property
ki'i ckini as relation of related to
te=with relation
ki'u krinu justified by with justified result
koi korbi bounded by as boundary of
te=bordering
ku'u kulnu in culture in culture of
la'u klani as quantity of in quantity
le'a klesi in category as category of
te=defined by quality
li'e lidne led by leading
ma'e marji of material made from material
te=in material form of
ma'i manri in reference frame as a standard for
mau zmadu exceeded by more than
me'a mleca undercut by less than
me'e cmene with name as a name for
te=as a name to
mu'i mukti motivated by motive therefore
mu'u mupli exemplified by as an example of
ni'i nibli entailed by entails
pa'a panra in addition to similar to
te=similar in pattern
ve=similar by standard
pa'u pagbu with component as a part of
pi'o pilno used by using tool
po'i porsi in the sequence sequenced by rule
pu'a pluka pleased by in order to please
pu'e pruce by process processing from
te=processing into
ve=passing through stages
ra'a srana pertained to by concerning
ra'i krasi from source as an origin of
rai traji with superlative superlative in
te=at extreme ve=superlative among
ri'a rinka caused by causing
ri'i lifri experienced by experiencing
sau sarcu requiring necessarily for
te=necessarily under conditions
si'u sidju aided by assisting in
ta'i tadji by method as a method for
tai tamsmi as a form of in form
te=in form similar to
ti'i stidi suggested by suggesting
te=suggested to
ti'u tcika with time at the time of
tu'i stuzi with site as location of
va'o vanbi under conditions as conditions for
va'u xamgu benefiting from with beneficiary
zau zanru approved by approving
zu'e zukte with actor with means to goal
te=with goal
The lujvo “tamsmi” on which “tai” is based is derived from the tanru “tarmi simsa” and has the place structure:
tamsmi: x1 has form x2, similar in form to x3 in property/quality x4
This lujvo is employed because “tarmi” does not have a place structure useful for the modal’s purpose.