Yiii! Kwenga! - Eek! A Spider!
In the previous conversation between Meili and Ling, they used interjections such as hea and lo. The following sample shows more of such words:
eo za - gotcha! eo - yes, indeed za - to take, get, use yi - eek! expression of fear tustu - to let go of, let be nyeza - to enjoy, have fun he - ugh, expression of disgust awau - this, this thing la - to be at, exist on a location zizi - hair yai - ouch! expression of pain, to hurt bas - to stop, end, cease kum - to pull nunung - to stand still, don't move tim - to be imperative, must ho - really chu - from, get away from totoi - sticky hoi - huh? expression of surprise zedodi - snail, slug aye - that, that thing meo - cat monki - to throw up, vomit |
Kah has lots of words like he (disgust) hoi (surprise) and yi (fear). In the table below you can find them all:
ha - question marker nong - no, not eo - yes, indeed he - ugh, disgust hea - hey! you there! used to draw attention or warn somebody om - let us, expresses a wish, optative lo - focus, "doch" "am to!" emphasizes the previous word soi - please, polite request mai - hi, hello, introduces many greetings ho - really, truly ea - hey, "let me", interest wu - wow, whoah, awe, how very, what hoi - huh? surprise yai - to hurt, ouch! oi - come on! adhortative nye - yay! amusement, happiness yoi - oh dear, oh my, sympathy, grief, woe sus - shh! be quiet! wong - aargh, why I... anger a - er, indecision s - psst, used to draw attention in a crowded, noisy place gua - gulp, chug-a-lug |
Paragraph 5.1 - La la land
The word la has come up for the first time in the haya la...? construction. It was used in the conversation above in the following phrase:
|
The word la is the most generic way of denoting a location. It can be translated roughly with "to be at" or "to be present at". So the phrase haya la uba? literally means "what is at your father?". Now watch how it is used in the following phrases:
|
Paragraph 5.2 - La umomi
A good example of the practical use of the verb la can be seen in the following conversation in the doctor's office:
|
umomi - doctor yoyoi - to cry nura - to sit down, sit down on mau - also, too tim - to be imperative, must kum - to pull bo - inside bea - room wonke - to refuse (to do) kahaka - to guess en - that yayang - nothing vado - home dede - to attend, go to kukwando - preschool, kindergarten uyu - someone, a person, person jaru - to fight, fight with nonoi - to shake, wag, go back and forth, zig-zag vuvu - foot, leg yai - to hurt, be painful, also: ouch! tontoye - in that case, then bibi - belly, tummy lele - hand, arm kenke - neck bas - to stop, end, cease to do ayai - pain yuno - to point, direct, indicate kuku - face ayun - eye dun - tooth, teeth fuku - nose echu - so, thus onyau - to be blocked, jammed nyau - to block, jam montanya - eraser nenti - better, had better |
As can be seen in the body map above, Kah uses a generic term lele to describe both the arms and hands in one. Further specifications are made with the words yol for "fingers" and lebo for "handpalm". The same distinctions are made with vuvu "foot/leg", vuyol "toe" and vubo "sole":
Many bodyparts in Kah consists of a reduplication, such as lele, titi or vuvu. This means they have been derived from another word. Compare the following list:
|
Paragraph 5.3 - Yii! Kwenga!
The word la is used quite a lot in the following text:
|
kukiza - to have breakfast zubea - kitchen kwi - already nuchu - to leave akanka - work, job mosana - butter semi - to be sick, sick sus - quiet, to be quiet kwan - learn, study nintau - today vivinyam - to overreact, act hysterically en - that, whether kwenga - spider bon - to fall tau - now papya - to hop, hop up and down yun - to look zeze - back nubo - to enter, go into ango - cloth(es) bo - to be inside deka - to call, summon |
In the text above we see father ask:
|
This would translate directly as "Yourself go study today?". A verb like denu "to go" is combined with verbs quite often in order to indicate future aspect:
denu pau - will give denu kiza - will eat denu de - will come denu bas - will stop denu shim - will clean denu jam - will do wa denu pau - I will give li denu kiza - you will eat yu denu de - he/she will come wanyo denu bas - we will stop linyo denu shim - you (pl) will clean yunyo denu jam - they will do |
In the same manner, the word kwi "already" is combined with a verb regularly to express perfect aspect:
kwi pau - gave kwi kiza - ate kwi de - came kwi bas - stopped kwi shim - cleaned kwi jam - did wa kwi pau - I gave li kwi kiza - you ate yu kwi de - he/she came wanyo kwi bas - we stopped linyo kwi shim - you (pl) cleaned yunyo kwi jam - they did |
Perfect aspect cannot be compared with the perfect tense in English. It merely expresses an action has been finished, not at which point in time this has taken place. A sentence like Sunta wa kwi kiza "Monday I ate" may very well be translated as "Monday I will have eaten" when the Monday in question is next Monday, although a accumulation of aspect markers would be preferred: Sunta wa denu kwi kiza "Sunday I go already eat", or "Sunday I will have eaten".
Similarly, a question like kwi kiza ha? can be translated best as "have you eaten yet?" using a perfect tense in the English counterpart.
In the same manner, the progressive aspect, marked by our acquainted verb la "to be at", cannot be considered to be equal to the English imperfect tense. It denotes an action is taking place in a current fashion:
la pau - is giving la kiza - is eating la de - is coming la bas - is stopping la shim - is cleaning la jam - is doing. wa la pau - I am giving li la kiza - you are eating yu la de - he/she is coming wanyo la bas - we are stopping linyo la shim - you (pl) are cleaning yunyo la jam - they are doing |
When a word like ninye "yesterday" or zemanta "tomorrow" shows up in a sentence like wa la shim "I am cleaning", it is visible English tense and Kah aspect are two completely different things:ninye wa la shim "yesterday I was cleaning" and zemanta wa la shim "tomorrow I will be cleaning".
Aspect is rarely marked in Kah. A sentence like yu jam can either mean "he did", "he is doing" or "he will do it", all depending on the context, such as temporal words like:
zemanta - tomorrow ninye - yesterday nintau - today tunzemanta - the day after tomorrow kuninye - the day before yesterday anin - day ninyo - week Kwata - Sunday Sunta - Monday Yenta - Tuesday Panta - Wednesday Jonta - Thursday Vaita - Friday Teota - Saturday maro - month Kwamaro - January Sumaro - February Yemaro - March Pamaro - April Jomaro - May Vaimaro -June Teomaro - July Diamaro - August Sastamaro - September Ninimaro - October Maumaro - November Zemaro - December zenu - next yeku - last janja - usually lum - about, about to, to be on the brink of zemanta wa kwan - tomorrow I will study janja kwan la zekita - I usually study in the evening lum kwan - I was about to study yun yu kuninye - I saw him the day before yesterday uda de la Vaita zenu - my brother will come next Friday vanyo kwanu la Ninimaro - the family met in October |
Please make the following exercises:
1) Please try to incorporate the following words in the sentences: mea binki Sunta Zemaro ba 1. Uma la kiza ... 2. Nintau ... 3. Vanyo denu de la ... 4. Uba ai uma, bua ai ... 5. Weyun ... Sanchez ninye. 2) Change the following sentences in the future aspect: 1. Naimah shim zizi. 2. Wa weyun bua. 3. Uba de vanyo. 4. Ben la kiza binki. 5. Bua kwi kwan. 3) Change the following sentences in the perfect aspect: 1. Meo shim yulo. 2. Ma Wang weyun Yunus. 3. Kiza kuki ha? 4. Denu weyun vanyo. 5. Meo la kiza. 4) Change the following sentences in the progressive aspect: 1. Umomi weyun ahim na Yunus. 2. Bibi yai. 3. Meo nubo bea. 4. Ben denu kwan. 5. Uma kwi jam kuki. 5) Translate the following sentences in Kah: 1. We will meet again. 2. Are you really fine? 3. Hey, stop that! 4. Would you like something to eat? 5. Please hand your sister the bread and the butter. 6) Translate the following sentences in English: 1. La ninku, wanyo janja kiza binki. 2. Yulo denu shim nintau. 3. Montanya bon ti vuvu. 4. Wa weske titi nong yai. 5. Bibi ha? Bibi nong yai ha? |
