Translation Test: Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018)

Source: Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, 2018

Original language: English

Reference: Chapter summaries / rule headings (canonical edition)

Status: Draft — JBP-001 first pass (S789–S800)

Purpose

Peterson's twelve rules are a wi-ra and wi-vo stress test — a vocabulary of embodied authority, ethical self-obligation, temporal comparison, and the management of suffering. Where Alinsky's rules (ALI-001) are adversarial and tactical, Peterson's are personal and developmental. The vocabulary pressure falls on:

zo-ma-su as posture/power signal — Rule 1 asserts that body-structure (zo-ma + su) is a signal of directed power to the social network. The claim is constitutive, not merely descriptive.
helm identity in self-obligation — Rule 2's philosophical content is that the rule for treating yourself (wi-fe lo-[ka lo-mi]) is functionally equivalent to the rule for treating others. helm (G011) is the precise operator: not strict identity (helms) but functional equivalence.
nu-be temporal axis vs. social axis — Rule 4 makes explicit that the comparison should be along the temporal axis (who you were yesterday) not the social axis (who another person is now). Tonesu encodes this as two bracketed arguments to nu-be, separated by /.
ke, as Peterson's hedged imperative — Rule 8 ("Tell the truth — or, at least, don't lie") is a two-stage claim: the ideal and the minimum. The ke, pivot renders this exactly: truth-signaling / pivot: at minimum, no deliberate false-signal.
i- prefix on to — Rule 10's "be precise in your speech" becomes ka si-mi ne i-to — act on your signal to be precise/particular-thought. First use of i- in the morphological-command role.
fa-de-ra + / + se fa-vo — Rule 12 ("pet a cat when you encounter one on the street") is Peterson's meditation on attending to small goods amid large suffering. The / structural parallel holds the two conditions together without asserting a causal relationship: suffering increases / perceive the singular positive.

Secondary tests: ka-be-ne (W218, deliberate bond-creation) in a social selection context (Rule 3); zo-ne ne-fe su (kinship requires structure) as the structural ground of parental obligation (Rule 5); pa-mi-su (your immediate domain's structure) + ti-be (proximate future) sequence for Rule 6.

Vocabulary Framework

Form	Status	Gloss	Notes
`zo-ma-su`	compositional	body-posture; body-structure	`zo-ma` (W163) + `su` (structure); first use S789
`wi-ra`	W177 ✅	directed power / authority	the signal posture conveys (Rule 1)
`ne-su`	W031 ⏳	network / society	the social hierarchy (Rule 1)
`helm`	G011 ✅	functional equivalence mark	Rule 2: self-obligation = other-obligation
`ka-be-ne`	W218 ✅	deliberate bond-creation	Rule 3: selectively form bonds
`wi-vo`	W190 ✅	beneficent will / good will	the criterion for choosing companions (Rule 3)
`zo-li`	W148 ✅	human person	self and other (Rules 2, 4)
`nu-be`	compositional	comparison	MAP-001 established; temporal vs social axis (Rule 4)
`li-be`	W033 ✅	child / person in growth phase	the children (Rules 5, 11)
`zo-ne`	W076 ⏳	biological kinship bond	parental obligation ground (Rule 5)
`pa-mi-su`	compositional	order of your immediate domain	`pa-mi` (W110) + `su`; your house in order (Rule 6)
`to-fe`	W028 ⏳	epistemic boundary	the judgment withheld until Rule 6's condition is met
`vo-be`	compositional	growing/increasing value	meaning (Rule 7)
`du-ki`	compositional	result-motion / expedient path	`du` + `ki`; short-term efficiency (Rule 7)
`to-ne-su`	W000 ✅	truth; the language	the ideal (Rule 8)
`ka-si-no`	compositional	to lie / deliberate false-signal	`ka` + `si` + `no`; SNG-001 first use; minimum violation (Rule 8)
`i-to`	compositional	precise-thought	`i-` (precise/particular prefix) + `to`; Rule 10
`fa-ra`	W154 ✅	fear / awe, forceful affect	the affect of risk (Rule 11)
`fa-de-ra`	W155 ✅	suffering, affect-decrease-force	the condition (Rule 12)
`ru`	primitive ✅	unity / singularity	the singular small good (Rule 12)

JBP-001 — The Twelve Rules (S789–S800)

S789 — JBP-001-A — Rule 1

Source: "Stand up straight with your shoulders back."

Notation: ka zo-ma-su ne si lo-wi-ra

Written: ka zoamasu ne si lowira

Gloss: act on body-posture to be a signal of directed-power

Natural reading: Make your physical bearing a signal of directed authority.

Notes: Peterson's Rule 1 is not about posture as cosmetics but about the constitutive relationship between body-structure and social hierarchy signaling. zo-ma-su = zo-ma (W163, body/physical matter of a living being) + su (structure/order) = posture, the body's structural form. si lo-wi-ra = signal-of-directed-power: posture is read by the social network (ne-su) as a claim about your position in the wi-ra hierarchy. The command: act so that your zo-ma-su constitutes that signal. First use of zo-ma-su.

S790 — JBP-001-B — Rule 2

Source: "Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping."

Notation: wi-fe lo-[ka lo-mi] helm wi-fe lo-[ka lo-ze]

Written: wife lo[ka lomi] helm wife lo[ka loze]

Gloss: rule for [acting toward me] = (functional equivalence) rule for [acting toward others]

Natural reading: The standard that governs how you treat others is functionally the same standard that governs how you treat yourself.

Notes: Peterson's insight: people are often better at caring for others than for themselves, and treat the asymmetry as obvious when it is a structural failure. wi-fe lo-[ka lo-mi] = the rule governing action directed at me. wi-fe lo-[ka lo-ze] = the rule governing action directed at others. helm (G011) marks functional equivalence — not strict identity (helms) but the same standard applied symmetrically. First use of helm in a bilateral self-other obligation claim.

S791 — JBP-001-C — Rule 3

Source: "Make friends with people who want the best for you."

Notation: ka-be-ne lo-li [wi-vo lo-mi]

Written: kabene loli [wivo lomi]

Gloss: deliberately bond with persons [who have beneficent-will toward me]

Natural reading: Deliberately form bonds with people whose will is directed toward your benefit.

Notes: ka-be-ne (W218) = deliberate bond-creation. lo-li = [with/toward] persons. wi-vo lo-mi (W190) = beneficent will directed toward me = wanting the best for you. The bracketed [wi-vo lo-mi] is a relative predicate on li: the persons who satisfy this condition are the right targets of ka-be-ne. Peterson's point: the selection of companions is not passive social drift but a deliberate act (ka).

S792 — JBP-001-D — Rule 4

Source: "Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today."

Notation: ka nu-be [zo-li-mi ti-de] / no [zo-li-ze ti-mi]

Written: ka nube [zolimi tide] / no [zoliize timi]

Gloss: act to compare [self-yesterday] / not [other-person-now]

Natural reading: Compare yourself along the temporal axis — against who you were — not along the social axis against who another person is today.

Notes: nu-be = comparison marker (first used MAP-001, S708–713). zo-li-mi ti-de = person-me + past/yesterday = your past self. zo-li-ze ti-mi = person-them + now = another person at the present moment. The / makes the structural choice explicit: two comparison axes are available; the rule names the right one and negates the wrong one. Peterson's argument: the social comparison axis produces resentment; the temporal comparison axis produces growth.

S793 — JBP-001-E — Rule 5

Source: "Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them."

Notation: ka lo-li-be-mi ne vo go {zo-ne ne-fe su}

Written: ka lolibemi ne vo go {zone nefe su}

Gloss: act on your-children toward value because {kinship-bond requires structure}

Natural reading: Shape your children's behavior toward what is good, because the kinship bond has a structural requirement.

Notes: Peterson's argument: if you allow children to behave in ways that generate dislike in you or others, you damage the bond on which their development depends — and you will then fail them precisely when they need you most. lo-li-be-mi = [your] children (patient). ne vo = have value/be good = develop well. go {zo-ne ne-fe su} = the causal ground: the kinship bond (zo-ne, W076) requires (ne-fe, W042) structural integrity (su) to function. The child's behavior is the domain of action; the bond is the structural imperative.

S794 — JBP-001-F — Rule 6

Source: "Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world."

Notation: ka pa-mi-su ; ti-be to-fe lo-a-ne-su

Written: ka pamisu ; tibe tofe loanesu

Gloss: act on your-immediate-domain-structure ; then epistemic-boundary toward the-world

Natural reading: Order your immediate domain first; then you may make epistemic judgments about the wider world.

Notes: pa-mi-su = pa-mi (W110, here / speaker's location) + su (structure/order) = the ordered structure of your immediate place = your house in perfect order. ; = sequential connector (left-to-right ordering, no causal entailment asserted). ti-be (W040) = proximate future = "next / then." to-fe lo-a-ne-su = epistemic-boundary judgment toward the world. The ; is precise: the sequence is ordered, but the mechanism connecting the two operations is not logical entailment — Tonesu does not assert why ordering your domain enables world-critique, only that the sequence is normatively correct.

S795 — JBP-001-G — Rule 7

Source: "Pursue what is meaningful, not what is expedient."

Notation: ka lo-vo-be / no lo-du-ki

Written: ka lovobe / no loduki

Gloss: act toward [growing-value] / not [result-motion]

Natural reading: Pursue what increases in value over time, not what offers the fastest path to an outcome.

Notes: vo-be = value (vo) + growth/increase (be) = what increases in worth over time = meaningful. du-ki = result (du) + motion (ki) = result-motion = the path toward the quickest outcome = expedient. The / structural parallel holds the two orientations formally together, making the choice explicit. Peterson's argument: the expedient is attractive in the short term but depleting; the meaningful accumulates. Both are patterns of action; the difference is in what dimension they maximize.

S796 — JBP-001-H — Rule 8

Source: "Tell the truth — or, at least, don't lie."

Notation: si-ki to-ne-su / ke, no [la-mi ka-si-no]

Written: siki tonesu / ke, no [lami kasino]

Gloss: signal truth / pivot: not [that I deliberately false-signal]

Natural reading: Signal truth — or if that is not fully achievable, at minimum: I will not deliberately lie.

Notes: Peterson's Rule 8 has a two-level structure: the ideal and the floor. si-ki to-ne-su = the ideal: actively signal truth (W000). ke, = the silent pivot: the ideal claim is not re-performed; the following clause advances without re-denying the possibility of truth-telling. no [la-mi ka-si-no] = not [that I engage in deliberate false-signaling] = the floor: at minimum, no lie. ka-si-no = ka (deliberate action) + si (signal) + no (negation) = deliberately signal false = to lie; first used SNG-001. The / held between the two levels marks them as formally paired components of a single ethical commitment. This is the first use of ke, inside a / construction.

S797 — JBP-001-I — Rule 9

Source: "Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don't."

Notation: ka to [la-ze to lo-no-to-mi]

Written: ka to [laze to lonotoomi]

Gloss: act to model [that they know what falls outside my knowledge]

Natural reading: Operate with the model that your interlocutor may hold knowledge you do not have.

Notes: ka to [...] = deliberately adopt the model that [...] = "assume." la-ze to lo-no-to-mi = they know [what is patient-of-negation-of-my-knowledge] = they know what falls outside my cognitive model. lo-no-to-mi = patient + negation + thought/knowledge + first-person = what I don't know. Peterson's argument: epistemic humility is not passive — it is an active decision to instantiate a specific model of the interlocutor. The ka makes this explicit: it is an act of will to model the other as potentially knowing more than you.

S798 — JBP-001-J — Rule 10

Source: "Be precise in your speech."

Notation: ka si-mi ne i-to

Written: ka simi ne ito

Gloss: act on your-signal to be precise-thought

Natural reading: Make your signal carry precise and particular thought.

Notes: si-mi = signal + first-person = your signal = your speech. i-to = i- (precise/particular scope prefix) + to (thought/conceptual pattern) = the precise particular thought, as opposed to vague or generalized thought. Peterson's argument: vagueness in speech is not innocent — it produces vagueness in thought and vagueness in the world you navigate. The i- prefix is used here in a morphological-command role for the first time: ka [signal] ne [i-to] = make your speech embody precision.

S799 — JBP-001-K — Rule 11

Source: "Do not bother children when they are skateboarding."

Notation: li-be ne-fe fa-ra-be go {wi-ra be}

Written: libe nefe farabe go {wira be}

Gloss: children require growing-fear/risk because {directed-power grows}

Natural reading: Children need increasing encounters with risk because directed capacity grows from it.

Notes: Peterson's Rule 11 is not about skateboarding but about why over-protective intervention in dangerous play is harmful. The chapter argues that children need controlled encounters with risk to develop wi-ra — the directed power that enables them to navigate the world. fa-ra-be = fa-ra (W154, fear/awe forceful affect) + be (growth/increase) = increasing risk-affect = escalating challenge. wi-ra be = directed power increases = capacity grows. ne-fe (W042) = structural requirement = children do not merely benefit from risk; risk is a developmental requirement. The causal frame go {wi-ra be} gives the structural reason.

S800 — JBP-001-L — Rule 12

Source: "Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street."

Notation: fa-de-ra be / se fa-vo lo-ru

Written: fadera be / se favo loru

Gloss: suffering grows / perceive positive-affect from the singular

Natural reading: Amid growing suffering, perceive the individual moment of positive affect.

Notes: Peterson's Rule 12 is a meditation on attending to small goods when suffering is large. The cat is a metonymy: the singular (ru) small good that appears even in the worst conditions. fa-de-ra (W155) = suffering, affect-decrease-force. fa-de-ra be = suffering is increasing. / = the structural pairing: the two conditions are formally held together. se fa-vo lo-ru = perceive positive affect from the singular = attend to the individual small good that presents itself. Note: the / is not causal — suffering does not cause the attention, nor does the attention deny the suffering. They are held in parallel. This is a distinct use of / from the Rules 1 and 7 instances (where / marked a choice): here it marks co-presence of two conditions without asserting their relationship.

JBP-001 Batch Summary

S#	Rule	Core claim	Structural notes
S789	1: Stand up straight	`ka zo-ma-su ne si lo-wi-ra`	Body-posture = power signal; `zo-ma-su` first use
S790	2: Treat yourself as responsible	`wi-fe lo-[ka lo-mi] helm wi-fe lo-[ka lo-ze]`	`helm` bilateral self/other obligation first use
S791	3: Choose right friends	`ka-be-ne lo-li [wi-vo lo-mi]`	W218 `ka-be-ne` in social selection
S792	4: Compare to yesterday	`ka nu-be [zo-li-mi ti-de] / no [zo-li-ze ti-mi]`	Temporal vs social comparison axis via `/`
S793	5: Children and the bond	`ka lo-li-be-mi ne vo go {zo-ne ne-fe su}`	Kinship bond as structural imperative
S794	6: Order your domain first	`ka pa-mi-su ; ti-be to-fe lo-a-ne-su`	`pa-mi-su` first use; `;` as normative sequence
S795	7: Meaningful not expedient	`ka lo-vo-be / no lo-du-ki`	`vo-be` vs `du-ki` temporal orientation pair
S796	8: Tell the truth	`si-ki to-ne-su / ke, no [la-mi ka-si-no]`	First `ke,` inside `/`; two-level commitment
S797	9: Epistemic humility	`ka to [la-ze to lo-no-to-mi]`	Assumption as deliberate `ka` act
S798	10: Be precise in speech	`ka si-mi ne i-to`	`i-` prefix in morphological-command role (first)
S799	11: Risk and children	`li-be ne-fe fa-ra-be go {wi-ra be}`	Risk as structural developmental requirement
S800	12: Pet the cat	`fa-de-ra be / se fa-vo lo-ru`	`/` as co-presence (not choice, not causation)

New W-entries: none (all vocabulary compositional from registered forms).

Compositional first uses: - zo-ma-su = body-posture (S789): zo-ma W163 + su - pa-mi-su = immediate domain structure / your house's order (S794): pa-mi W110 + su - vo-be = growing/increasing value = meaningful (S795): vo + be - du-ki = result-motion / expedient path (S795): du + ki - i-to = precise/particular thought (S798): i- prefix + to - fa-ra-be = growing risk-affect / escalating challenge (S799): fa-ra W154 + be

Key structural findings: 1. helm bilateral obligation (S790). First use of helm in a rule-equivalence claim spanning self and others. Previous helm uses were explanatory definition marks. Here it is a normative predicate: the rule for self-treatment and the rule for other-treatment are functionally the same standard. 2. nu-be temporal vs social axis (S792). Rule 4 makes the choice of comparison axis explicit using /. Two arguments to nu-be — one temporal (ti-de), one social (zo-li-ze) — are held in structural parallel with the correct one affirmed and the wrong one negated. 3. ke, inside / (S796). First use. The / holds the ideal and the floor together as two formally paired components of the same ethical commitment; ke, inside that structure pivots without re-performing the denial of the ideal. 4. i- in morphological-command role (S798). The i- prefix (precise/particular scope) has previously appeared in attribute-scope uses. Here it appears in ka [X] ne i-to — a command that the signal instantiate i--grade thought. Extends i- from attribute-scope to property-target of a command. 5. Three / uses distinguished (S789–S800). Rule 1 (S777, ALI): actual vs attributed (constitutive pair). Rule 4 (S792): temporal vs social axis (choice + negation). Rule 12 (S800): suffering and attention (co-presence without relationship specification). The three are now distinct attested functions. 6. fa-ra-be as developmental requirement (S799). First use of fa-ra with be (growth/increase) in a ne-fe (requirement) frame. Risk-affect is not merely tolerable — it is structurally required. The causal go {wi-ra be} gives the mechanism: directed capacity grows from encountering escalating challenge. 7. / as co-presence (S800). Distinguished from / as choice (Rules 1, 7) and / as antithetical parallel (DKN-001, SLZ batches). Here suffering and attending to small goods are co-present conditions without the / asserting their relationship type. The three / functions now have clear corpus exemplars.

Colloquial Register Analysis

Form used	CLQ entry	Colloquial form	Notes
`zo-ma-su`	none	—	3-root compositional first use; no shortform established; defer
`wi-ra` (W177)	none	—	2-root — below CLQ threshold
`wi-fe` (W100)	none	—	2-root — below CLQ threshold
`ka-be-ne` (W218)	none	—	3-root — meets threshold; no shortform established
`wi-vo` (W190)	none	—	2-root — below CLQ threshold
`pa-mi-su`	none	—	3-root compositional first use; no shortform established; defer
`vo-be`	none	—	2-root — below CLQ threshold
`du-ki`	none	—	2-root — below CLQ threshold
`to-ne-su` (W000)	none	—	3-root — active; no shortform established
`ka-si-no`	none	—	3-root compositional; no shortform established; defer
`i-to`	none	—	Scope-prefix compound — grammatical operator; outside CLQ scope
`fa-ra` (W154)	none	—	2-root — below CLQ threshold
`fa-de-ra` (W155)	none	—	3-root — meets threshold; no shortform established
`ke,`	none	—	Grammatical particle — outside CLQ scope
`helm`	none	—	Punctuation/spoken operator — outside CLQ scope

Verdict: irreducibly formal — all forms are below threshold, scope-prefix grammatical operators, punctuation operators, or compositional first uses deferred.

CLQ entries registered from this batch: none.