metasyntactic variable marker
Explicitly marks the preceding variable, e.g. ko'a ko'e, lerfu-strings, and/or broda series as being metasyntactic: i.e. having no specific meaning or referent and merely used to demonstrate syntax or hypothetical scenarios. Automatically unassigns the variable from any previous assignment. May also be used for pronouns like mi or do or dei. This is useful to refer to mi as a 'first-person pronoun' rather than the actual speaker themself, for example, when giving the definition of mi'o: 'mi ge'ei jo'u do ge'ei', makes it clear that the speaker doesn't literally mean the speaker and the listener, but are using mi and do metasyntactically. Similarly, one might define mi as 'lo cusku be dei ge'ei'. See ge'ai, da'o