Hellyaak Siny
Heyaay 'iikwiich hewakch nyewaa emak penak tenyeway. 'Enyaak ewupm, 'aaw kwa'stik matetay eyukvi ewups. 'Iikwiichvech pemaann. Wenaaw tenaa, tenaa. Siny ewup.
Sinyvech hellykaay 'ukuwaay pehkwii tuuyuuws. 'Aawvu kuukap tewam. 'Iikwiichvech wip: "'Aawvu 'ewup ta'nyeways. Maach maayk meyiwchmeyu?" Sinyvech wiis: "Hellyaa 'aashukp. Nyipily 'enyewaam 'aah." 'Iikwiichvech ewupm. Nyaapum tetkewanp. |
Notes
Heyaay 'iikwiich hewakch nyewaa emak penak tenyeway.
Long ago two men were sitting behind their house.
'Enyaak ewupm, 'aaw kwa'stik matetay eyukvi ewups.
They looked east, and they saw a small fire in front of the mountain.
'Iikwiichvech pemaann. Wenaaw tenaa, tenaa. Siny ewup.
The men got up. They ran and ran. They saw a woman.
Sinyvech hellykaay 'ukuwaay pehkwii tuuyuuws. 'Aawvu kuukap tewam.
The woman was standing underneath a pine tree. She was circling the fire.
'Iikwiichvech wip: "'Aawvu 'ewup ta'nyeways. Maach maayk meyiwchmeyu?"
The men said: "We were looking at the fire. Where did you come from?"
Sinyvech wiis: "Hellyaa 'aashukp. Nyipily 'enyewaam 'aah."
The woman said: "I fell off the moon. Now I'm going home."
'Iikwiichvech ewupm. Nyaapum tetkewanp.
The men looked out at her. Then they turned around and came back.
Long ago two men were sitting behind their house.
- 'iikwiich hewakch: two men. -ch on verb "hewak" means the following verb has the same subject.
- nyewaa emak: behind their house
- penak tenyeway: were sitting
'Enyaak ewupm, 'aaw kwa'stik matetay eyukvi ewups.
They looked east, and they saw a small fire in front of the mountain.
- ewupm: plural of um, looks away, at something in the distance. Notice resemblance with ewup, they see
- 'enyaak ewupm: They looked (toward, or at the) East. 'Enyaak = East, similar to 'enyaa, the sun
- matetay eyukvi: In front of the mountain, or possibly "on the face of" the mountain. Eyuk = is before, could also mean "in front of". Contrast with "emak", behind.
'Iikwiichvech pemaann. Wenaaw tenaa, tenaa. Siny ewup.
The men got up. They ran and ran. They saw a woman.
- Wenaaw tenaa, tenaa: They ran and ran. Reduplication of the auxiliary verb shows how it went on for some time.
Sinyvech hellykaay 'ukuwaay pehkwii tuuyuuws. 'Aawvu kuukap tewam.
The woman was standing underneath a pine tree. She was circling the fire.
- hellykaay 'ukuwaay: Underneath a pine tree. 'Ukuwaay = verb meaning under or inside
- pehkwii tuuyuuws: Was standing. See how both "pehkwii" and "tuuyuuw" mean "to stand/standing".
- 'Aawvu kuukap tewam: Was going (walking) around the fire. "Kuukap" means "goes around" or "is located around". It needs an object, here "'aawvu", the fire, with definite article -vu ("the") because it is the specific fire that was mentioned earlier.
- tewam: Auxiliary meaning "around", because the action is taking place in the vicinity of a certain location.
'Iikwiichvech wip: "'Aawvu 'ewup ta'nyeways. Maach maayk meyiwchmeyu?"
The men said: "We were looking at the fire. Where did you come from?"
- 'Aawvu 'ewup ta'nyeways: "We saw the fire" or "we were looking at the fire".
- Maayk: "Whence" or "from where?" Maay "where" plus -k "from".
- maayk meyiwchmeyu? Where did you come from? or, "Where do you come from?"
- -chmeyu, used as the present-tense question suffix for second-person questions, or questions asking about the person being spoken to. Notice how the question ending is used even with the question word "maay".
Sinyvech wiis: "Hellyaa 'aashukp. Nyipily 'enyewaam 'aah."
The woman said: "I fell off the moon. Now I'm going home."
- Hellyaa 'aashukp. I fell from the moon. "Aashukp" = falls off, said of long objects (like humans). Hellyaa, is in bare form, one could probably say Hellyaak, from the moon.
- Nyipily: Now. Adverb of time, sentence-initial. "Nyi" might add some emphasis compared to "pily", which also means "now".
- 'enyewaam 'aah. I'm going to go to my home. 'eny-, "my"; -m, "to"; and -h, future tense.
'Iikwiichvech ewupm. Nyaapum tetkewanp.
The men looked out at her. Then they turned around and came back.
- 'Iikwiichvech ewupm. The men looked out (at her).
- Nyaapum tetkewanp. Then they turned around and came back. Tetkewanp = pl. of tekewanp, "turns around and comes back." This verb with -p usually has a more passive sense, like "gets turned around", but here specifically means to turn around and come back. Related verb "tekewank" has similar meanings with slight differences.
Vocabulary
'aah
aashukp 'aaw emak 'enyaak 'enyewaam ewaa ewup ewupm eyuk hellyaa hellykaay hewak heyaay 'iikwiich kuukap kwa'stik maach maayk matetay meyiw nyaapum nyewaa nyipily pehkwii pemaann penak siny ta'nyeway tenaa tenyeway tetkewanp tewam tuuyuuw 'ukuwaay wenaaw wii wip |
I will go. 1st person future of "waa", goes
falls off, used for long objects fire behind East to my house house pl. of ewuuw, sees pl. of um, looks out at something before, in front of the moon a type of pine tree are two long ago men goes around something that which is small. Nominalized from 'estik, is small you, subject form from whence mountain you come then their house now stands pl. of wemann, stands up pl. of wenak, sits woman pl. of ta'waa, 1st pers. of tewaa, auxiliary while sitting pl. of tewaa, auxiliary while going pl. of tewaa, tuuyuuw, or tuuyaq, stationary auxiliary verbs pl. of tekewanp, turns around and comes back auxiliary, "while around" auxiliary, "while standing" underneath pl. of wenuw, runs says pl. of wii, says |