'Iikwich Bowen NyaaknachHeyaay kwapesiiw tewaaches matetay 'ehinch. Teodoorr wiich chuuhii. Puy 'uuch mechhallaahall nyechewayp tenyeways. Mechhallaahall peyapch tenamch ekwaavu temulemulp 'Iipay Aa rewii netuu-urp. Mechhallaahall kwa'elymisvech 'elymash retewii suunatt tenams 'ily kwa'chekwiivi. |
Kupilly 'ehin 'elymaam 'ehinch - Chemilly Kupshuw wii chuuhiim - "Haawka" wii. Mechhallaahallvech nyinyuy "Haawka" wii. Tenamvech 'elymashvech mechhallaahall marwayvu uuniiwch uchewayp, kupilly nyaamat.
'Elymashvech 'uuchuch 'ehmiiym uchkenaach, mechhallaahallvech netuu-urphs: esally hewakm tetnaarrch, emily hewakm tetnaarrch. Mechhallaahallvech kwa'elymis netuu-urpvu wiinyches.
Nyaapum mat unycheways, nyaapum huuchaalypch, 'uuchuchvu ewips, esally mat wiinys.
Kupilly 'ehin, 'elymashvech mechhallaahallvu ukenaa: " 'Iipaych naamch matsayvi mat pechehwiim, 'ehaa nyaamat netewaatt, 'esuw netewaatt, kuturrturrvech pattk, 'enyehatt nyaamat shaawattp."
'Elymashvech 'uuchuch 'ehmiiym uchkenaach, mechhallaahallvech netuu-urphs: esally hewakm tetnaarrch, emily hewakm tetnaarrch. Mechhallaahallvech kwa'elymis netuu-urpvu wiinyches.
Nyaapum mat unycheways, nyaapum huuchaalypch, 'uuchuchvu ewips, esally mat wiinys.
Kupilly 'ehin, 'elymashvech mechhallaahallvu ukenaa: " 'Iipaych naamch matsayvi mat pechehwiim, 'ehaa nyaamat netewaatt, 'esuw netewaatt, kuturrturrvech pattk, 'enyehatt nyaamat shaawattp."
Mechhallaahall kuknaapvech wiiches: "Aaaa, 'enyaawapch 'enetuu-urps 'uuch 'ema'wipvu 'iipayvu esally 'iinyh. 'Enyaawapmech 'esuwch umaawm nyaapum 'enaam 'ily 'ehin 'ehuumaayp. 'Empuun 'ehin wirewir eyach temur tewaa. Nyipches 'enyaawap 'esuwvu. Nyipily mechhallaahall marwayvech naak wirewir eyach 'ehmiiym weyaawchh. Wirewir eyach nyaheyumpkm nyaapum 'enyaach mema'wiik mesaawhvu nyukenaahs.
|
"Nyamelyak mehemaa hemir, mesallyvi stikm keyuuw wirewir eyachvu, nyaapum maaykallym kemann weraaw hemir. Kuyaaypch nyapam, nyaapum wirewir mehetuuk memank 'ekurm maamh. 'Emat 'ehini maakm puy 'esuwch 'ehmiiyh. Kuhmullvech pa'neyiws. Eyach peyaa kuutaa 'iipay kiny. Walwal ki'! Kiihallyp ka'!"
'Elymashvech pa'wipches, puknaach peyii 'iipaych umaaws.
'Elymashvech pa'wipches, puknaach peyii 'iipaych umaaws.
Notes & Translation
Heyaay kwapesiiw tewaaches matetay 'ehinch. Teodoorr wiich chuuhii.
Very long ago there was a mountain. It was called Mt. Teodoro.
Puy 'uuch mechhallaahall nyechewayp tenyeways.
There lived some tree ants.
Mechhallaahall peyapch tenamch ekwaavu temulemulp 'Iipay Aa rewii netuu-urp.
These ants learned to roll their feelers so that they sounded like people's voices.
Mechhallaahall kwa'elymisvech 'elymash retewii suunatt tenams 'ily kwa'chekwiivi.
The small ants were like the children who were playing among their big trees.
Kupilly 'ehin 'elymaam 'ehinch - Chemilly Kupshuw wii chuuhiim - "Haawka" wii.
One day a child - he was called "Ant-Watcher" - said, "Hello".
Mechhallaahallvech nyinyuy "Haawka" wii.
The ants said "Hello" back to him.
Tenamvech 'elymashvech mechhallaahall marwayvu uuniiwch uchewayp,
kupilly nyaamat.
The children that were there spoke to the ants every day.
'Elymashvech 'uuchuch 'ehmiiym uchkenaach, mechhallaahallvech netuu-urphs:
The children told them many things, so that the ants would learn:
Esally hewakm tetnaarrch, emily hewakm tetnaarrch.
To have two arms and two legs.
Mechhallaahallvech kwa'elymis netuu-urpvu wiinyches.
The ants gave them what little beings know.
Nyaapum mat unycheways, nyaapum huuchaalypch, 'uuchuchvu ewips,
esally mat wiinys.
Then they became friends, and they were happy, they would do anything to help each other.
Kupilly 'ehin, 'elymashvech mechhallaahallvu ukenaa:
One day, the children told the ants:
" 'Iipaych naamch matsayvi mat pechehwiim, 'ehaa nyaamat netewaatt,
'esuw netewaatt, kuturrturrvech pattk, 'enyehatt nyaamat shaawattp."
Some people went and got lost in the desert, all their water ran out, their food ran out, their wagon broke down, and all their horses died.
Mechhallaahall kuknaapvech wiiches: "Aaaa, 'enyaawapch 'enetuu-urps 'uuch 'ema'wipvu 'iipayvu esally 'iinyh.
The spokesman ant said: "Ah, we know what to do to help the people."
'Enyaawapmech 'esuwch umaawm nyaapum 'enaam 'ily 'ehin 'ehuumaayp.
Food runs out for us too, and then we go find another tree.
'Empuun 'ehin wirewir eyach temur tewaa.
There is a shallow basket full of wing seeds.
Nyipches 'enyaawap 'esuwvu.
That is our food.
Nyipily mechhallaahall marwayvech naak wirewir eyach 'ehmiiym weyaawchh.
The other ants will go right now and get a bunch of wing seeds.
Wirewir eyach nyaheyumpkm nyaapum 'enyaach mema'wiik mesaawhvu nyukenaahs.
Once they've gathered the seeds, then I'll tell you how to eat them.
Nyamelyak mehemaa hemir, mesallyvi stikm keyuuw wirewir eyachvu,
nyaapum maaykallym kemann weraaw hemir.
When you lie down before you go to sleep, take a bit of wing seeds in your hand,
then in the morning get up before it gets hot.
Kuyaaypch nyapam, nyaapum wirewir mehetuuk memank 'ekurm maamh.
When the wind arrives, then you will grab the wing and you will fly far.
'Emat 'ehini maakm puy 'esuwch 'ehmiiyh.
You'll go to another place where there is lots of food.
Kuhmullvech pa'neyiws.
Here come the gatherers.
Eyach peyaa kuutaa 'iipay kiny.
Take these seeds and give them to the people.
Walwal ki'! Kiihallyp ka'!"
Go quick! Hurry and go!
'Elymashvech pa'wipches, puknaach peyii 'iipaych umaaws.
The children did it, and that's why there are no people here.
Very long ago there was a mountain. It was called Mt. Teodoro.
- Heyaay kwapesiiw: Another way to say "very long ago". Kwapesiiw is nominalized from apesiiw, "is very much".
- tewaaches: "There was". Tewaa can serve as a standalone verb for "to be", even for non-people like in this sentence.
- 'ehinch: -ch same subject marker, normally this verb would come before "tewaa".
Puy 'uuch mechhallaahall nyechewayp tenyeways.
There lived some tree ants.
- 'uuch mechhallaahall: 'Uuch "what" apparently can be placed before nouns to mean "some", used when introducing something new.
- mechhallaahall: These refer to carpenter ants, big ants that often live in oak trees.
- nyechewayp tenyeway: Literally, "were living", helping verb tenyeway is used to show that it went on for a duration of time.
Mechhallaahall peyapch tenamch ekwaavu temulemulp 'Iipay Aa rewii netuu-urp.
These ants learned to roll their feelers so that they sounded like people's voices.
- tenamch…: Helping verb "were around", here used without a regular verb complement, plus -ch "and", same subject marker. It appears this -ch is there to mean "when", without using prefix nya-. So this part is, "As they were around, they learned..."
- ekwaa: "horns", refers to the ants' antennae.
- temulemulp: "Rolls", transitive verb acting on ekwaavu, their horns.
- ekwaavu temulemulp 'Iipay Aa rewii: There is a lack of prepositions that English would have. This line is literally, "they rolled their horns and it seemed like 'Iipay Aa," but it is understood as, "they rolled their horns so that it sounded like 'Iipay Aa." Apparently "look like", "seem like", and "sound like" are all covered under the verb rewii.
- netuu-urp: Verb meaning "knows" or "learns". Here it most likely means "learns", and the learning applied to the previous verbs: they learned to roll their horns so that it sounded like the people's language.
Mechhallaahall kwa'elymisvech 'elymash retewii suunatt tenams 'ily kwa'chekwiivi.
The small ants were like the children who were playing among their big trees.
- kwa'elymis: "the small ones", nominalized from 'elyemis, are small. Interestingly, the first shwa in 'elyemis is not deleted, as we would have expected based on the rules outlined in the book. However, the penultimate shwa is.
- 'elymash retewii: "Were like the children." Retewii is an alternate form of retuuwiip, plural of rewii, "is like, looks like". Many verbs have multiple possible plural forms, and variations like this have been seen in verbs like achemuch vs. achuumuch, "they kill"; and ichemaach vs. ichiimaach, "they dance". Sometimes different plural forms have slightly different meanings, but there is no apparent difference between retewii and retuuwiip.
- 'elymash retewii suunatt tenams: "They looked like the children who were playing around." Again, there are no words for "who were…", but that is understood: "They looked like children, they were playing around…"
- 'ily kwa'chekwiivi: "In the big trees." Kwa'chekwii nominalized from 'ichekwii, "are big". In this case, the first vowel in 'ichekwii is deleted, and the penultimate shwa is preserved.
Kupilly 'ehin 'elymaam 'ehinch - Chemilly Kupshuw wii chuuhiim - "Haawka" wii.
One day a child - he was called "Ant-Watcher" - said, "Hello".
- Kupilly 'ehin: "One day"; no affixes on 'ehin.
- 'elymaam 'ehinch: "A child" or "one child". -ch can be used on 'ehin if the same subject does something else later in the sentence.
- chemilly: The more general word for "ant", also used specifically for red ants.
- chemilly kupshuw: "The one who cares for ants". As you can see, objects like chemilly can be used with nominalized verbs. Kupshuw is from peshuw, "waits for, takes care of."
- wii chuuhiim: "They called him.." -m is placed on "wii chuuhii" when it is injected into a larger sentence, indicating that the "people calling" him something were different from the subject of the main sentence.
Mechhallaahallvech nyinyuy "Haawka" wii.
The ants said "Hello" back to him.
- nyinyuy "Haawka" wii: Nyinyuy is a verb meaning "does again", sometimes with the same-subject suffix -ch or -k. Here, they are not literally saying "haawka" again, but more "saying it back" to the boy. Thus, nyinyuy and wii seem like equivalents for "say back" or "reply", but given the meaning of nyinyuy, this use may only be possible when a party is saying the same thing back to someone.
- Since wii is singular, this sentence may actually mean that "a" ant spoke back to him, though to specify this, 'ehin could have been used.
Tenamvech 'elymashvech mechhallaahall marwayvu uuniiwch uchewayp,
kupilly nyaamat.
The children that were there spoke to the ants every day.
- Tenamvech 'elymashvech: It is not really clear why "tenam" (pl. of tewam, is/does while around) has -vech, or why both it and 'elymash need -vech. Perhaps this is equivalent to kw- nominalization, meaning "the children that were there.
- mechhallaahall marwayvu: Appears to mean "the other ants", but does that make sense in this sentence? The book translation says they "spoke to each other"; maybe that is what "marway" is for, though "mat" would also accomplish that meaning.
- uuniiwch uchewayp: "They spoke to them", with "uuniiw" literally meaning "facing" something or someone.
- kupilly nyaamat: Lit. "all day", actually meaning "every day".
'Elymashvech 'uuchuch 'ehmiiym uchkenaach, mechhallaahallvech netuu-urphs:
The children told them many things, so that the ants would learn:
- 'uuchuch 'ehmiiym: "Many things", with different subject -m, literally, "things were many and they told them."
- mechhallaahallvech netuu-urph: Again, we are missing an implicit "so that" they would learn/know.
Esally hewakm tetnaarrch, emily hewakm tetnaarrch.
To have two arms and two legs.
- This part is understood as, "What it was like to have two arms…", though it is literally, "they have two arms…" You can see these phrases as objects of the verb netuu-urp, "they learn", and they could possibly even take -vu on the verbs.
Mechhallaahallvech kwa'elymis netuu-urpvu wiinyches.
The ants gave them what little beings know.
- Mechhallaahallvech: Since the article -vech is on this word, we know that the next word "kwa'elymis" is not included in the noun phrase, so the subject of the main verb wiiny is NOT "the small ants", rather it is just "the ants".
- kwa'elymis netuu-urpvu: "What little ones know". The position of this phrase in the sentence tells us to treat it like a noun, the object of wiiny "they give", made even more clear by the article -vu, placed on definite objects. The book translates this as, "what only small creatures would know"; there is no exact equivalent for "only" in 'Iipay.
- wiinyches: -ches used for simple emphasis.
Nyaapum mat unycheways, nyaapum huuchaalypch, 'uuchuchvu ewips,
esally mat wiinys.
Then they became friends, and they were happy, they would do anything to help each other.
- mat unycheway: "They became friends with each other". "Mat" means "themselves" or here, "each other", and unycheway, pl. of unyeway, means "is a friend" or "befriends", yet another example of how Kumeyaay uses the same verbs for being in a state and getting into a state.
- huuchaalypch: The same-subject -ch is a clue that there is more to the sentence (unless it is an intentionally sentence-final -ch).
- 'uuchuchvu ewip: 'Uuchuch usually means "something", but here means "anything", with -vu possibly making that more clear.
- esally mat wiinys: Literally, "they help each other", or even more literally, "they give each other their hand." The book translation says, "they were happy to do anything to help each other". Of course, we are missing many details we would have in English to indicate that this is a hypothetical statement, or that the "doing" was connected to the "helping". There is no "would" and no "in order to", although there are ways you could say these things in Kumeyaay if you had to. Here, it was apparently unnecessary to go through that trouble.
Kupilly 'ehin, 'elymashvech mechhallaahallvu ukenaa:
One day, the children told the ants:
- mechhallaahallvu ukenaa: "They told the ants." See how the person being told someone is treated as a direct object; there is no separate affix to distinguish direct and indirect objects (the ants, or the person being told would be treated as an indirect object in other languages like Latin).
- ukenaa: Often, especially in quick or informal speech, speakers do not use the plural form of verbs even though the subject is plural.
" 'Iipaych naamch matsayvi mat pechehwiim, 'ehaa nyaamat netewaatt,
'esuw netewaatt, kuturrturrvech pattk, 'enyehatt nyaamat shaawattp."
Some people went and got lost in the desert, all their water ran out, their food ran out, their wagon broke down, and all their horses died.
- 'Iipaych: In English we would say "some" people, but in 'Iipay Aa, a word for "some" is not always necessary.
- mat pechehwiim: Pl. of pehwim, literally "they lost themselves".
- 'ehaa netewaatt, 'esuw netewaatt: Here we see how the verb newatt, "finishes", can also be used to mean "run out", as with the verb nesoom, "is done/over". Interesting how the verbs are plural; we wouldn't say "their waters and their foods ran out", but this gives the image of a large number or quantity of objects.
- kuturrturr: This is more of an informal word, meaning "wheel". It has ku-, meaning it was nominalized from a verb turrturr, meaning "turns (around like a wheel)". Neither kuturrturr nor turrturr are found in the dictionary, suggesting that this is a slang-like word, probably an onomatopoeia formulated from the way a wheel sounds or moves.
- 'enyehatt: It is unclear why this is 'enyehatt, which would mean "our horse(s)", and not nyehatt, "their horse(s)". To be even more correct, we would expect it to be nyechehaatt, "their horses", the plural form.
Mechhallaahall kuknaapvech wiiches: "Aaaa, 'enyaawapch 'enetuu-urps 'uuch 'ema'wipvu 'iipayvu esally 'iinyh.
The spokesman ant said: "Ah, we know what to do to help the people."
- kuknaap: Nominalized from kenaap, "tells about something".
- 'uuch 'ema'wipvu: "What we (will) do". An indirect question with -vu, this is the object of 'enetuu-urp. Indirect questions like this in 'Iipay Aa sometimes do not take -vu. Here we translate this as, "We know what to do", but literally it is closer to "we know what we will do", and we could probably add -h to make it, " 'uuch 'ema'wiphvu".
- ma'wip: pl. of ma'wii, verb meaning "to do" in questions like "does what?" and "does how?"
- 'iipayvu esally 'iinyh: "We will help the people", lit. "we will give them a hand". Esally need not be marked for person, but it could probably be 'esally 'iny for "I help", though that might be too proper. Again, there is no explicit, "in order to", but this is understood from context.
'Enyaawapmech 'esuwch umaawm nyaapum 'enaam 'ily 'ehin 'ehuumaayp.
Food runs out for us too, and then we go find another tree.
- 'Enyaawapmech: Short for 'enyaawap nyemach, meaning "us too" or "for us too".
- 'esuwch umaaw: Lit. "Food is not", meaning "there is no food". Notice -ch subject marker.
- umaawm: -m means the next verb will have a different subject.
- 'enaam.. 'ehuumaayp: "We go find". The verb waa or waam is used much like "go" in English to describe people "going and doing" something.
- 'ily 'ehin: Lit. "one tree" or "another tree". 'Ehin, 'ehini, 'ehinech all can mean "another", "a different one".
'Empuun 'ehin wirewir eyach temur tewaa.
There is a shallow basket full of wing seeds.
- 'Empuun: Refers to a type of large shallow basket, possibly used for winnowing?
- wirewir eyach: Lit. "wing seed". The type of plant is not specified.
- temur: Here we see how to say "full of" something, place the item it is full of in front of the verb: 'empuun eyach temur. The basket is full of seeds.
- tewaa: Again, this is used less as a progressive helping verb and more as a "to be" verb.
Nyipches 'enyaawap 'esuwvu.
That is our food.
- The word order is switched around, normally we would expect: 'Enyaawap 'esuwvu nyipches, "Our food is that." You could also say, "Nyip 'enyaawap 'esuwches." "That there is our food."
- Here we see that when identifying or equating something (predicate nominative construction), such as with two nouns and the suffix -ches, the first noun being identified does NOT take the subject marker -ch, but is left bare, or as seen here can take the object article -vu to make it definite. This is because " 'Esuw nyipches" is short for " 'Esuw nyipch yis", "The food is that," where -ch comes on the second noun "nyip", and "yi" is a verb meaning "is".
- 'Enyaawap 'esuw: "Our food". Here we see how the possessor is placed before the noun. For some reason, 'esuw is not given the possessive marker 'enye- "my/our", though I see no reason why you couldn't say 'enyesuw, "our food". Either this is was the simple choice of the speaker, or 'esuw is one of those nouns that cannot take the possessive prefixes.
Nyipily mechhallaahall marwayvech naak wirewir eyach 'ehmiiym weyaawchh.
The other ants will go right now and get a bunch of wing seeds.
- Nyipily: Defined simply as "now", though it feels like it has more urgency or immediacy than "pily".
- mechhallaahall marwayvech: "The other ants"
- naak… weyaawchh: "Will go and get." -k on "naa" means "and", and that the next action will be in the future.
Wirewir eyach nyaheyumpkm nyaapum 'enyaach mema'wiik mesaawhvu nyukenaahs.
Once they've gathered the seeds, then I'll tell you how to eat them.
- heyump: Defined as "gathers grass", but apparently can apply to other objects. Imagine the act of gathering something and piling it up together.
- nyaheyumpkm nyaapum: "When they have gathered it, then…" This construction of nya- plus nyaapum is a common way of saying "after" something happens or "once" something happens, "then" something else will happen. This substitutes the word "after", for which there is no exact equivalent in 'Iipay Aa. The book translates this line to "while they gather," probably because it would make more sense in the story, given that the ant immediately goes on to explaining and doesn't appear to wait. However, I believe "once they gather" is a more accurate interpretation, because the -km on heyump means the action is in the future, not present, and "nyaapum" means that the telling will take place after that happens.
- mema'wiik mesaawh: "How you will eat". This is an indirect question, with the normal question looking something like, "Mesaaw mema'wii?" "How do you eat?" Here we see that the verb ma'wii can be used in questions of how to do something. Another way to ask how to do something is with mu'yuu, as in "Mu'yuuch 'esaaw?" "How do I eat?"
- mema'wiik mesaawhvu: Here we see the whole phrase is made a noun and the object of the following verb by means of the suffix -vu.
- nyukenaahs: ny-, "I do it to you", differentiated from "he does it to me" by the subject 'enyaach. -s for emphasis can come after -h.
Nyamelyak mehemaa hemir, mesallyvi stikm keyuuw wirewir eyachvu,
nyaapum maaykallym kemann weraaw hemir.
When you lie down before you go to sleep, take a bit of wing seeds in your hand,
then in the morning get up before it gets hot.
- mehemaa hemir: "Before you sleep". Hemir is an uninflected word meaning "before" or "not yet", placed after the verb it applies to.
- stikm: "A little". 'Estik plus -m for different subject, often used when a verb phrase becomes the object of another verb. According to Couro and Langdon (LTII), 'estik always becomes stikm when -m is added.
- mesallyvi… eyachvu: Irregular word order; regular word order would probably be: "Wirewir eyach stikm mesallyvi keyuuw," "Take a little bit of wing seeds in your hand." I would expect -vu to be deleted from eyachvu in this case, but I cannot be sure. Maybe "wirewir eyachvu" by itself after "keyuuw" is "of wing seeds".
- maaykallym: -m is added, probably optionally, and appears to be the different-subject marker, making this literally, "when it is morning". This -m is optional on maaykally.
- weraaw hemir: Another example of hemir, meaning "before it is hot." By itself, "weraaw hemir" could probably mean, "it is not yet hot."
Kuyaaypch nyapam, nyaapum wirewir mehetuuk memank 'ekurm maamh.
When the wind arrives, then you will grab the wing and you will fly far.
- kuyaayp: Yaayp is a verb meaning "it is windy" or "the wind blows/is blowing", and also a verb, "the wind". Here it is nominalized, making it even more clear that we are talking about the noun, "the wind".
- kuyaaypch nyapam: "When the wind arrives." Interesting way of putting it.
- nyapam, nyaapum: Another example of "nya- nyaapum", making this, "When the wind arrives, THEN…" or, "Once/after the wind arrives…"
- nyapam: We could add -km to this, making it nyapamkm or nyapamkem, since this action is in the future and the following verb will have a different subject. However, this is not absolutely necessary for the clarity of the sentence and can be left out. Evidently, natural Kumeyaay speech is not overly-correct and frequently omits grammatical affixes.
- mehetuuk memank: "You'll take it and you'll fly." The ant is still telling the child what to do, but instead of using the imperative k- form, he uses a more indirect form of me- and -h, saying "you will". See how both verbs have -k, which is -ch in the future, meaning that the following verbs will be in the future, performed by the same subject.
- 'ekurm maamh: "You will go far." Literally, "it is far-m and you will go". Notice how he didn't say " 'ekurm memanh", but used one verb for the manner of motion (weman) and another verb for the direction or general act of traveling (waam).
'Emat 'ehini maakm puy 'esuwch 'ehmiiyh.
You'll go to another place where there is lots of food.
- 'emat 'ehini: Another place. 'Ehini means "another", and is a little more clear that just saying 'ehin. 'Ehini does not take other suffixes like -m.
- maakm: Here we see the full suffix -km, telling us that the next verb is in the future and its subject will be different.
- 'esuwch 'ehmiiyh: Here 'ehmiiy is the main verb meaning "is a lot" or "are many". Here we see that 'ehmiiy does not always mean "are many" but can also mean "a lot", as we do not mean, "there will be many foods" but rather, "there will be a lot of food".
Kuhmullvech pa'neyiws.
Here come the gatherers.
- kuhmullvech: Nominalized from hemull "gather large objects". Funny how to the ants, gathering seeds is "hemull", but to humans, it would be hemul, "gather small objects".
- pa'neyiw: The pa- equivalent of teneyiw, "they are/do while coming". Pa- variants of the helping verbs are used when describing something you see happening here and now, right in front of you, often translating to things like, "here he is!" or "there he goes!"
Eyach peyaa kuutaa 'iipay kiny.
Take these seeds and give them to the people.
- eyach peyaa: Again, we could say "eyach peyap", "these seeds", but we do not need to be overly proper. Plus, maybe the seeds were in a bunch, seemingly a single object.
- uutaa: Meaning "takes a bunch", usually "to" some place, also seen in Sandra's Story.
Walwal ki'! Kiihallyp ka'!"
Go quick! Hurry and go!
- walwal ki': "Be quick!" Example of how wii verbs are inflected only on the "wii".
- kiihallyp: "Hurry!" or "Hurry up!", here combined with ka', "Hurry up and go!"
'Elymashvech pa'wipches, puknaach peyii 'iipaych umaaws.
The children did it, and that's why there are no people here.
- pa'wip: pl. of pa'wii, "does it". Pa'wii is a bit more specific than ewii "does", or even English "does it", here meaning they do the specific aforementioned thing. Similar to ma'wii, "does what?", not to be confused with pewii, "says it".
- puknaach: "That's why". Seemingly short for "puu ukenaa", "that tells (why)".
- peyii 'iipaych umaaws: "Here there are no people." In the book, the story is referring to a picture that is right next to it, where you see the abandoned wagon (presumably from Pat's Story) surrounded by dead horses, but with no people in sight.
Vocabulary
apesiiw
chemilly chuuhii 'ehaa 'ehatt 'ehin 'ehini 'ehmiiy 'ekur ekwaa 'elyemis 'elymaam 'elymash 'emat emily 'empuun 'enyaawap 'enyaawapch 'enyaawapmech esally esally winy 'estik 'esuw ewip eyach haawka hemaa hemir hemull hetuu hewak heyaay heyump huuchaalyp huumaayp 'ichekwii iihallyp 'iipay 'ily kuhmull kuknaap kupilly kupshuw kuturrturr kuyaayp maaykally marway mat matetay matsay ma'wii ma'wip mechhallaahall naa naam netewaatt netuu-urp nyaamat nyaapum nyechewayp nyinyuy nyip nyipily pam pa'neyiw pattk pa'wip pechehwiim peshuw peyaa peyap peyii puknaach puy retewii rewii shaawattp stikm suunatt temulemulp temur tenam tenyeway tetnaarrch tewaa uchewayp uchkenaach ukenaa umaaw unycheway 'uuch 'uuchuch uuniiw uutaa walwal wii welyak weman wemann weraaw wesaaw weyaawch weyuuw wii wii chuuhii wiiny winy wirewir yaayp |
is very much
ant (usually red ant) is called, named water dog, horse, domestic animal is one, one, another another are many, is a lot is far his horn pl. of 'estik, is small child, little one children, pl. of 'elymaam place, land, earth his leg, foot large shallow basket us we we too, us too his hand, arm gives a hand, helps is small, is a little food pl. of ewii, does its seed hello sleeps, falls asleep before, not yet gathers large things grabs, gets, holds are two long ago gathers grass (or similar things) pl. of hechalyp, is happy pl. of hemay, looks for, finds pl. of 'iikuu, is big hurries, hurries up people tree, wood, stick gatherer, from hemull, gathers from kenaap, tells about day from peshuw, takes care of wheel, thing that turns the wind, that which blows morning, it is morning, in the morning others each other, himself mountain (big land) desert (dry land) does what, does how pl. of ma'wii, does what carpenter ants, large ants that live in oak trees pl. of waa, goes pl. of waam, goes away pl. of newatt, finishes, runs out pl. of nur, knows, learns all, every then pl. of nyewaayp, lives is again, does again that now arrives, gets there here they come, from teneyiw, does while coming breaks, breaks down does it pl. of pehwim, loses takes care of, waits for this these here that's why there pl. of rewii, looks like, is like, sounds like looks like, is like, sounds like pl. of melay, dies, is dead a little, from 'estik, is small, a little pl. of suunarr, plays rolls something is full pl. of tewam, is/does while around pl. of tewaa, is/does pl. of tenarr, has is/does while sitting, there is pl. of waayp, speaks pl. of ukenaa, tells tells someone is not, are not, are none pl. of unyeway, is a friend, befriends what, some something, anything is opposed to, facing, opposite to takes a bunch is quick, does quickly lies down flies gets up is hot eats (hard, chewy things) pl. of weyuuw, gets gets, takes says they call him pl. of winy, gives gives his wing wind, the wind blows, it is windy |