Chinuk Wawa lesson

[David Robertson]

I haven't posted one of these in a very long time.  These little lessons
usually get a good response, and I want to encourage everyone to develop
their Chinuk Wawa understanding skilz, so here we go.

[from Kamloops Wawa July 1894, front page:]

(1) Ayu tilikom mamuk pipa kopa nsaika.  Klaska
(2) aias tiki tlap ukuk Kamlups Wawa pipa mokst
(3) taim kopa iht mun.  Pi wik kata nsaika aiak
(4) mamuk kakwa.  Ayu tilikom mitlait[,] ilo klaska mamuk
(5) hilp kopa ukuk pipa.  Kakwa iaka aias til mamuk
(6) alta pus mash ukuk pipa kopa msaika kanawi mun[.]
(7) Alki pus tilikom kanawi mamuk hilp kopa ukuk
(8) msaika pipa iawa nsaika tolo pus iaka kuli
(9) mokst taim kopa iht mun pi klunas kanawi sondi.

VOCABULARY:
aiak = soon
aias = very much; very
alki = in the future
alta = now
ayu = lots of
hilp = help
iaka = it
iawa = then
iht = a/one
ilo = not at all
kakwa = so
Kamlups = Kamloops
Kamlups Wawa = Kamloops Wawa
kanawi = every; all
kata = how
klaska = they
klunas = maybe even
kopa = to; per
kuli = go out
mamuk = do/make
mamuk hilp = (give) help
mamuk kakwa = do that
mamuk pipa = write (letters)
mash = send
mitlait = there are
mokst = two
mokst taim = twice
msaika = you folks; your
mun = month
nsaika = us
pi = but
pipa = (news)paper
pus = (in order) to; if; for (somebody/something) to (do something)
sondi = week
taim = times
tiki = want
til = hard
til mamuk = hard work
tilikom = people
tlap = to get
tolo = manage (to do___)
ukuk = this
wawa = speaks
wik = no(t)
wik kata = there's no way

DISCUSSION:

*Broadly speaking, the word order in Chinuk Wawa resembles how we speak
English.  So in line (1) we have a subject (ayu tilikom) + a verb (mamuk
pipa) + an (indirect) object (kopa nsaika).

(1) Ayu tilikom  |  mamuk pipa  |  kopa nsaika.

*But any adverbs tend to come before the verb (often even right at the
beginning of the sentence).  An example is in capital letters in lines (1-
3).

                                         (1) Klaska
(2) AIAS tiki tlap ukuk Kamlups Wawa pipa mokst
(3) taim kopa iht mun.

*The same thing is seen in lines (3-4)...

                        (3) Pi WIK KATA nsaika aiak
(4) mamuk kakwa.

*Now, sometimes you will see different word order from what you'd expect
in English.  So in (4) you find literally "many people there are"...

                  (4) Ayu tilikom mitlait...

*Another thing this sentence shows is that there's usually no word at all
for "[(the) one(s)] who/which/that".  You have to be on your toes to
realize when this meaning is intended.  I'll symbolize the absence of the
relative word here with @ in (4-5).

                  (4) Ayu tilikom mitlait[,] @  ilo klaska mamuk
(5) hilp kopa ukuk pipa.

*Lots of words have multiple meanings in Chinuk Wawa, so you also have to
become alert to which meaning is more likely in a given sentence.  For
example in (5-6), where aias can also mean "big", til can mean "heavy",
and mash can mean "throw (out)".  If you didn't choose the appropriate
meanings (given in the vocabulary list above), you might find this
sentence pretty odd!

                           (5) Kakwa iaka aias til mamuk
(6) alta pus mash ukuk pipa kopa msaika kanawi mun[.]

*Notice that the word for "but" in (3-4) above can also mean "and" as in
(7-9) below.  Another very common word that has some widely differing
meanings is pus; below, the first time you see it, it means "if"; the
second time you see it, it means "for (something/someone) to (do
something)".  Try figuring out the best English translation starting from
the word nsaika...!

(7) Alki pus tilikom kanawi mamuk hilp kopa ukuk
(8) msaika pipa iawa nsaika tolo pus iaka kuli
(9) mokst taim kopa iht mun pi klunas kanawi sondi.

*I also welcome your suggested English translations of this whole
passage.  Post them to the list if you want.  Don't worry whether you've
got it just right; we all learn by doing.

Klahawiam.  Naika nim:

--Dave R

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