Clarify the roles of kia and the Short Road

kia.md

@@ -6,23 +6,23 @@ Phi is a philosophical constructed language for practicing mindful and compassio
 
 It cannot make a speaker mindful or kind; grammar has never been good at supervising people. It can make certain choices audible and give a speaker a chance to notice them. Spend a few minutes with it and decide what you hear.
 
-## The grammar has one organizing principle
+## A sentence arrives in order
 
 Here is a Phi sentence in the order a listener receives it:
 
 > **lopia** — a child —
 > **thiku pelori** — a small bird —
 > **nila.** — sees.
 
-Read it in order: a child, a small bird, sees. A describing word precedes its noun, and the object precedes the verb. Phi calls the shared direction *announce, then deliver*.
+Read it in order: a child, a small bird, sees. The bird arrives before the seeing, and **thiku**, small, arrives before **pelori**, bird. Phi calls that shared direction *announce, then deliver*.
 
-Words do not conjugate or decline. Time and number travel as separate words, as do possibility and negation. The verb does not change its coat when past time arrives. This is considerate of it, particularly around midnight.
+That is enough machinery for a greeting. *The Short Road* follows the principle through a guided tour; for now, the patience of the verb is enough. It waits until the child and bird are both present. Phi words do not conjugate or decline. They are remarkably unwilling to change clothes, even around midnight.
 
 ## A dog in three syllables
 
 Try the word for dog: **lo · ha · u**. Each syllable is open, with no consonant closing it, and the final two vowels remain separate. The opening **lo** leans toward *lothea*, love; the final **a · u** falls away like a howl. The wolf is still audible at the end of the word.
 
-The lexicon records this careful pronunciation, with every vowel full and every syllable recoverable. Conversational Phi may move faster and carry an accent. It still preserves the contrasts that keep one word from becoming another.
+The lexicon records a careful pronunciation for every word, but speech need not sound like beads placed one by one on a tray. Everyday pace and the speaker's own accent are welcome while the contrasts that keep one word from becoming another remain clear.
 
 ## Punctuation speaks
 

scripts/build_site.py

@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ def inline(s):
 
 
 KIA_SECTION_TITLES = (
-    "The grammar has one organizing principle",
+    "A sentence arrives in order",
     "A dog in three syllables",
     "Punctuation speaks",
     "How do you know?",

short_road.md

@@ -1,16 +1,16 @@
 # The short road
 
-The primer takes the gentle road through one household. The manual stops to name every moving part. This page keeps walking. In about twenty minutes, it follows Phi from its first open vowel to the text shelf. It does not replace either longer work; it gives the main systems one working example apiece and leaves the door open.
+*kia* is the threshold: a greeting and enough of Phi's choices to decide whether to enter. The primer takes the gentle road through one household, while the manual stops to name every moving part. This page keeps walking. In about twenty minutes, it starts again at the greeting, then follows Phi from its first open vowel to the text shelf. It gives each main system one working example and leaves the longer lessons to their proper shelves.
 
 ## Let the vowels finish
 
-Phi has five vowels, each kept full in careful speech. Its syllables are open, and adjacent vowels remain separate: `kia` is **ki · a**, while `lohau` is **lo · ha · u**. Stress falls on the next-to-last syllable, so `lohau` leans on **ha**.
+The greeting and the dog first appeared as glimpses. Here they become examples. Phi has five vowels, each kept full in careful speech. Its syllables are open, and adjacent vowels remain separate: `kia` is **ki · a**, while `lohau` is **lo · ha · u**. Stress falls on the next-to-last syllable, so `lohau` leans on **ha**.
 
 Careful speech also distinguishes `ph`, `th`, `sh`, and `wh`. Conversational Phi may move faster and carry an accent. Enough of each word's shape must remain for a listener to recover it.
 
 ## One organizing principle
 
-Here is an ordinary Phi sentence.
+A child seeing a bird can show the direction. One well-behaved bird is not much of a grammar test, so here is a sentence with a chisel.
 
 ```
 mia roe kiru wolea kati.
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ A translation remains answerable to the source's claims and distinctions while u
 
 ## Where the choices come from
 
-Phi names five pillars rather than presenting its choices as neutral. The sky stations and walking-distance measure draw on pre-industrial wisdom, while the moneyless Morris scene looks towards solarpunk.
+*kia* names Phi's five pillars. Along this road they have already done practical work. The sky stations and walking-distance measure draw on pre-industrial wisdom, while the moneyless Morris scene looks towards solarpunk.
 
 *Announce, then deliver* owes part of its attention to Buddhist mindfulness and Right Speech, the practices of staying present to an utterance and considering what it will do. Grammar promises neither automatically. Art Nouveau appears in meanings grown through relation: gray from stone, pink from dawn. Peace linguistics asks whether an utterance sustains relationship or rehearses domination. That is why the Ring Verse receives a refusal.