prep.; conj.

1.

a. ri ˁag díˀʸheʰ máˁref tóˀo ri egrέyded ‘The man drank from his glass, and as soon as he drank, he collapsed’ (CSOL I 1:16)

b. náṭin díma tóˀo aḷ-náfaˁ šin ḥer bek ˁámok ber ʸheʰ šeʸh nέfaˁ diyáḥŝeʸh ‘Since Dmitry doesn’t work with us today, that means he’s got something else to do’ (CSOL I 28:21)

c. wa-ˀenbö́we di-ˀegέḷed tóˀo aḷ-yetebében kaḷ be-gad di-ˀéľľehe ‘And he was called Cowhide because he wore only cowhides’ (CSOL II 1:5)

d. eḳdémoʰ ˁeʸh tóˀo rézaḥ ‘They saw that he was tired’ (CSOL II 14:47)

e. tóˀo neṭóhor men ŝέte móḷek díˀʸho siyáraʰ ‘When we were about to set off from Hadibo, I overfilled my car’ (CSOL II 2:8)

f. wa-tóˀo ľinbót báˁad ŝέhɛr wáľľa trɔ ŝέhri yeṣóuˁof ‘When it (a tree) has been pollinated, after a month or two, one clears the clusters from the dead ovaries’ (CSOL II 11:3)

g. tóˀo ḷázˁam ḷe-dríšeʰ kor éṣtet édfe tho ṣ̌aˁáreʰ di-ˀέˀɛfo ‘As soon as I sat at the window to look out, the sound of people deafened me’ (CSOL II 21:5)

h. érbodk díˀʸho ˁouyέghɛn tóˀo yenáḥag wa-yóˁod ke-ˀembóryeʰ iľyáˁ ‘I chastized my son that he was running with a bad crowd and horsing around with them’ (CSOL II 6:20) 

j. wa-ˀéḳdem dέnˁaʰ ouʸhέḷhɛn tóˀo yeḥóḷeb ˁag wa-yedóˁor di-féžher ‘And he saw this business—how the man was milking his cow and then pouring its milk onto the ground’ (CSOL II 7:25)

2.

a. šerbénoʰ tóˀo ˁemέroʰ hes ‘She did as she (her mistress) told her’ (CSOL I 26:44)

b. wa-ˁag ṭad di-Méro šeʸh ṭad múgšem ḷe-ḥaʰ έˀɛfo tóˀo yɛˀɛtéˀen ‘Now there was one man from Mero who had a boy, as people say’ (CSOL I 8:4)

3.

a. wa-ľikán aḷ-yezóˁom sáˁte tóˀo meŝíyyoʰ meṭéboʰ ‘But it (a used milkskin) will not hold as long as a tanned bucket’ (CSOL II 9:23)

b. wa-ˀištábah be-nhɔfš tóˀo tšɛʰ ‘He assumed his appearance, became like him’ (CSOL II 14:6)

Conjunction:

‘when’ (Ia)

‘since, because’ (Ib, c)

‘that, how (perceptional)’ (Id)

‘that (completive)’ (Ih)

‘that (elaboration)’ (Ij)

‘as, like’ (2a, b)

If the main verb is in the perfect, conjunction tóˀo is usually followed by a verb in the perfect (1a). The use of the imperfect after tóˀo indicates prospective and related meanings (Ie). If the main verb is in the imperfect, the combination “tóˀo + jussive” is used (If). The combination “tóˀo + jussive” can also be used with the main verb in the perfect, apparently with the meaning ‘as soon as’ (Ig).

toˀo hέmen + imperfect ‘when something almost happened’:

tóˀo hέmen tesóri ḷe-méḳṣe édof ˁes be-díľhɛḷ di-dénob ‘When she (the cow) almost fell into the precipice, he caught her by the tip of her taiľ (CSOL II 1:32)

tóˀo kέrhe/kέrhen + perfect/imperfect ‘just as, as soon as’:

tóˀo kέrhen ékobk ḷe-tɛr di-mestášfe ŝínik trɔ ˁággi... ‘As soon as I entered the hospital, I saw two men...’ (CSOL II 5:6)

tóˀo ʸheʰ/seʰ ‘for a second time, in the same way as one did before’:

a. hímaˁ tenṣóraʰ wa-ḳéṣaˁ yetomíˁin wa-hímaˁ tóˀo ʸheʰ ‘He heard singing and he stood listening and he heard it again’ (field notes).

b. ḥiróˀoʰ di-ṣáˁanhin wa-ḥiróˀoʰ di-gέme ˁᵃtaf kténḥoʰ tóˀo seʰ ‘She tried from below, she tried from above, and then she came back’ (CSOL I 8:37).

fáḥre tóˀo ken/kɔn ‘all that were (there)’:

aḷ-ˁad kaḷ seʰ di-šɛˀɛbídoʰ ḥaʰ fáḥre tóˀo kɔn ‘There was nothing but it (the snake), which spread itself there in its entirety’ (CSOL I 24:14); kɔn mes gad wa-mes ŝérhon wa-mes íˀidi fáḥre tóˀo kɔn mabľúľ dem wa-ŝars ‘All of her body, her feet, her hands, all of it became moist, pus ulcers’ (CSOL II 4:58).

men tóˀo ‘because’:

wa-béše men tóˀo aḷ-ˁegέboʰ heʸh ‘She wept because she did not like him’ (CSOL II 1:104).

ˁaf + tóˀo + perfect ‘when’: 

ˁaf tóˀo kέrhe meḷóˀoʰ díˀseʰ ḳáŝˁer gedéḥes ˁag ‘As soon as she filled her water-skin, a man came up to her’ (CSOL I 7:5).

ˁan tóˀo ‘when, after, later’: 

ˁö́mor ˁan tóˀo gédaḥk di-maˁábaẓ̂ ˁö́mor tóˀo gédaḥk di-maˁábaẓ̂ wagáb ḥe ṣaľát aľ-ˁásar ‘He said: “When I came to Maʿabaz, it was time for the afternoon prayer”’ (CSOL II 23:28).