Conjunctions

[Francisc Czobor]

LaXayEm khanawi !
   
  I'm coming up again with one of my questions that usually remain unanswered.
  According to the dictionaries, the universal CW conjunction _pi_  means primarily "and", but also "or, then, besides, but".
  But I don't feel comfortable using the same word for "and" and also for "but" and "or".
  This would work for a trade language, but an everyday language like the GR creole should discriminate between these meanings.
  I have remarked that sometimes other words are used for "but". Thus, Duane Pasco uses the word _keschi_ (which, according to the dictionaries, means "notwithstanding, although"), whereas Tony Johnson uses the English loanword _bEt_.
  But to translate the conjuction "or" I have seen only the word _pi_. Only in Phillips' "Chinook Book" I have seen the interogative particle _na(h)_ used with the sense "or" in interogative context: "Klaxtah man, Chim, nah Bill?" = "Which man, Jim or (perhaps) Bill?" (Literally, "Which man, Jim? No? Bill?")
  Was there in some CW variety also another word for "or" (I mean a special word for "or") ??
   
  Hayash mersi pi hayu masi,
  Francisc
   

		
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