Tag Archives: 2011

yungun (noun): wind, breeze; air. tiná yungund-ut ngúya mbullas hullangur here air-DEF COP.IMPERF stinking.ESS death.GEN “the air here reeks of death”

nas- (ditransitive verb), imperfective nasárte: to leave, forget; to enlarge; to equip, decorate, improve ca nas-am párundalut vacec I forget.PERF-TRANS house.ACC.DEF coin.BEN “I forgot the money at [my] house” The original meaning of nasárte was ‘to equip, improve’, but it … Continue reading →

sácen (noun): form, shape; way, means. cá-mullangut civa sácend-atunúrces this-bread.DEF become.COMPL shape-strange.ESS “this bread has turned a strange shape”

ndingún (noun): net, netting. narcambúralurvem simbanendám ndingúnd-alut tándembur hunter.fish.GEN.DEF tear.COMPL.TRANS net-ACC.DEF accident.GEN “the fisherman tore up the net by accident”

littánd- (transitive verb), imperfective littándatam: to remember, recall, concentrate on. ta littánd-atam sungavarándalut NEG remember-IMPERF.1.TRANS maternal.uncle.father.ACC.DEF “I do not remember [my] father’s maternal uncle” The verb littándatam normally takes an object in the accusative case, but some variants/speakers prefer the … Continue reading →

suttám (noun): cheek, cheeks; (by extension) pink, pinkish. ma-suttámb-ut civa mullámbes his-cheek-DEF become.COMPL sweat.ESS “his cheeks are sweaty”

nurm (noun): courageous, fearless. tayat arcá nurm-a yallangettá tandesá early indeed courageous-INDEF die.IMPERF.NON1 glorious.ESS.PL “the fearless die early, [but] with glory”

musand- (transitive verb), imperfective musandaram: to beat, break, break in two. cirnut musand-am sútalut cúlarur man.DEF break.PERF-TRANS bone.ACC.DEF tooth.GEN “the man broke the bone [in two] with [his] teeth”

taya (quantifier): nobody, no thing, nothing. ta ca ngúrnucám máru-taya-l NEG I see.POT.TRANS it.GEN-nothing-ACC “I could not see anything” taya belongs to the class of ‘numeral-like quantifiers’, which exhibit syntactic behavior identical to that of proper cardinal numerals (such as … Continue reading →