The Barona Inter-Tribal Dictionary, 'Iipay Aa Tiipay Aa Uumall, published in 2008, is the most comprehensive Kumeyaay dictionary to date. Its strengths are in 'Iipay and Jamul Tiipay. The dictionary can be found in several university libraries as well as the library at Barona. It offers words from multiple dialects, but it does not explicitly label which dialect each entry belongs to. Instead, every example of text is labeled with the initials of the person who said it. Through reading biographical information on the contributors, I have made the following list of BITD authors labeled with their presumed Kumeyaay dialect. If you ever come across the BITD, this might help you determine which dialect a given word is from. However, do not trust this breakdown to be completely accurate.
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'Iipay Aa:
Mesa Grande: BTD-DC: Dora Rodriguez Curo ENT-DC: Dora Rodriguez Curo Barona: BTD: Barona Tribal Dictionary BTDT: BTD Recordings PC: Patrick Melvin Curo JR: Josephine Romero RA: Ramon Ames SB: Steve Banegas Santa Ysabel: BTD-CM: Charles Magginni BTD-IM: Isabel Magee HO: Herman Osuna MW: Myrtle Welch SR: Stan Rodriguez Inaja: Lenora Phoenix Banegas Viejas: EB: Edward Roosevelt Brown* SIB: Sam Brown TH: Tom Hyde Other: AP-CN: Class Notes |
Tiipay Aa:
Jamul: AT: Adolf Regenald Thing JTD: Jane Thing Dumas LC: Lupe Curo MC: Mary Cuero TC: Celerina Cuero Baja California: MR: Ana Gloria Rodriguez JM: Juan Meza Neither 'Iipay nor Tiipay: Los Conejos: EB: Ed Brown* La Posta MLC: Marie La Chappa *Ed Brown spoke what is referred to in the BITD as the Los Conejos dialect, which shares as many features with Tiipay as it does with 'Iipay. His words are often identical or very similar to 'Iipay words, yet his speech is much like Tiipay. Before using one of his words to write in 'Iipay Aa, I will first check to see if it is somewhere in the Mesa Grande dictionary, and it often is.
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Other Clues
There are some other ways to tell if a word is 'Iipay or Tiipay, but they are less reliable. For example, any word written with an "x" is Tiipay, and anything with an isolated "h" is 'Iipay. Some Tiipay words have "sh" where 'Iipay would have "h", but this is not always the case. Sometimes, a word will be given only by a Tiipay speaker, but it will be perfectly valid in 'Iipay as well. In many cases, though, Tiipay has words that 'Iipay simply does not have an exact equivalent for.
One rule maintained throughout the BITD is that any 'Iipay entries will be listed first, followed by the in-between dialects such as Los Conejos, then followed by Tiipay entries at the end. Keep in mind, however, that there is not always an 'Iipay entry for every given word.
The most common 'Iipay contributor to the BITD is its predecessor, the BTD (Barona Tribal Dictionary). EB (Ed Brown) is another prolific contributor of words that are mostly similar to 'Iipay. AT (Adolf Thing) and JTD (Jane Thing Dumas) are the most common Tiipay contributors.
Using the BITD for Mesa Grande 'Iipay Aa
As discussed in the Master Plan, this site prefers to use Mesa Grande words pulled out of the much older Dictionary of Mesa Grande Diegueño by Ted Couro and Christina Hutcheson, whose contents were not incorporated into the newer BITD, although much overlap exists. If a word is not found there, we will look for an 'Iipay word out of the BITD, and we will choose a variant given by a Mesa Grande speaker or the speaker closest to it. Generally, words labeled BTD, PC, AP-CN, or any other contributor from Mesa Grande, Barona, or Santa Ysabel are acceptable for our dialect of 'Iipay. If a word has no entries from any of these sources, a variant provided by Ed Brown (EB) might be considered.
Many English words in the BITD only have translations from Tiipay contributors. When this happens, I will search the Kumeyaay-English section of the Mesa Grande dictionary for any word that looks similar. Often I find that such words do exist in 'Iipay, with minor differences in form or meaning.
More Than a Dictionary
Beyond providing individual words, the BITD is an invaluable resource due to the numerous example sentences, provided by native speakers, found underneath each entry and in the book's detailed grammar section. I often turn to the BITD for guidance on how to use certain words that I cannot find in context anywhere else. Even if an example sentence is only provided in Tiipay, I can look to the speaker's phrasing for clues as to how to use that word in 'Iipay.
In addition, the BITD provides precise definitions for each Kumeyaay word, helping you make the most appropriate choice for your context. I often turn to the BITD's descriptions when I need to clarify the meaning of a word found in the Mesa Grande dictionary.
There are some other ways to tell if a word is 'Iipay or Tiipay, but they are less reliable. For example, any word written with an "x" is Tiipay, and anything with an isolated "h" is 'Iipay. Some Tiipay words have "sh" where 'Iipay would have "h", but this is not always the case. Sometimes, a word will be given only by a Tiipay speaker, but it will be perfectly valid in 'Iipay as well. In many cases, though, Tiipay has words that 'Iipay simply does not have an exact equivalent for.
One rule maintained throughout the BITD is that any 'Iipay entries will be listed first, followed by the in-between dialects such as Los Conejos, then followed by Tiipay entries at the end. Keep in mind, however, that there is not always an 'Iipay entry for every given word.
The most common 'Iipay contributor to the BITD is its predecessor, the BTD (Barona Tribal Dictionary). EB (Ed Brown) is another prolific contributor of words that are mostly similar to 'Iipay. AT (Adolf Thing) and JTD (Jane Thing Dumas) are the most common Tiipay contributors.
Using the BITD for Mesa Grande 'Iipay Aa
As discussed in the Master Plan, this site prefers to use Mesa Grande words pulled out of the much older Dictionary of Mesa Grande Diegueño by Ted Couro and Christina Hutcheson, whose contents were not incorporated into the newer BITD, although much overlap exists. If a word is not found there, we will look for an 'Iipay word out of the BITD, and we will choose a variant given by a Mesa Grande speaker or the speaker closest to it. Generally, words labeled BTD, PC, AP-CN, or any other contributor from Mesa Grande, Barona, or Santa Ysabel are acceptable for our dialect of 'Iipay. If a word has no entries from any of these sources, a variant provided by Ed Brown (EB) might be considered.
Many English words in the BITD only have translations from Tiipay contributors. When this happens, I will search the Kumeyaay-English section of the Mesa Grande dictionary for any word that looks similar. Often I find that such words do exist in 'Iipay, with minor differences in form or meaning.
More Than a Dictionary
Beyond providing individual words, the BITD is an invaluable resource due to the numerous example sentences, provided by native speakers, found underneath each entry and in the book's detailed grammar section. I often turn to the BITD for guidance on how to use certain words that I cannot find in context anywhere else. Even if an example sentence is only provided in Tiipay, I can look to the speaker's phrasing for clues as to how to use that word in 'Iipay.
In addition, the BITD provides precise definitions for each Kumeyaay word, helping you make the most appropriate choice for your context. I often turn to the BITD's descriptions when I need to clarify the meaning of a word found in the Mesa Grande dictionary.