English Translation
Tom is usually drunk by this time of day.
First, let’s break down the sentence:
- “tenpo ale la”
- “jan Tom li”
- “kama nasa”
- “kepeken telo nasa”
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“tenpo ale la” translates to “always” or “all the time” in English. Here “tenpo” means “time”, “ale” (or “ali”) means “everything” or “all”, and “la” separates the context or condition from the main sentence that follows. So, “tenpo ale la” sets the context as something that happens all the time.
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“jan Tom li” refers to a person named Tom. “jan” means “person” and is followed by the name “Tom”. The particle “li” separates the subject of the sentence from the verb, except when the subject is “mi” (I/me) or “sina” (you), in which case “li” is not used.
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“kama nasa” means “become silly” or “get drunk/high”. “kama” means “become” or “come to be” and “nasa” means “silly”, “crazy”, “drunk”, or “strange”.
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“kepeken” means “use” or “with the use of”.
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“telo nasa” means “alcoholic beverage” or “intoxicating liquid”. “telo” means “water” or “liquid” and “nasa” as said before, means “silly”, “crazy”, “drunk”, or “strange”. When combined, “telo nasa” is understood to mean a beverage that causes intoxication.
Therefore, the whole sentence “tenpo ale la jan Tom li kama nasa kepeken telo nasa.” translates to “Always, Tom becomes drunk using alcoholic beverage.” If we smooth that out to more natural English, we’d get: “Tom is always getting drunk with alcohol” or “Tom always becomes silly by drinking intoxicating liquids.”