Interesting Sentence from E. A-O-H (& Maltese Cetaceans!)

["Alfred W. Tüting"]

Am 28.01.2008 um 01:28 schrieb Clive Bloomfield:

> A) Emil AFRAID-OF-HAWK TEXT [p.19] :
>
> Iteoyuze awichableze kin hingnaku kin wachantokpani tkha wowachinye  
> nica wicasha kin hecha, na hoksila kin insh waechinchinpika  
> wachantokpanipi kin hecha ableze.
>
> B) Ann NOLAN CLARK's original [p.18] :
>
> "She read in their faces the hopeless longing of the man, the eager  
> longing of the boy."
>
> (...)
> As regards that intriguing word 'waechinchinpika' (not in Riggs, or  
> B-Md.), I had to guess at the meaning from the context, as well as  
> being, of course, guided by Nolan Clark's English original.
> Also, B-Md's lovely word "waekichinchinke" glossed thus : "one who  
> persists in asking; one who wants sthg. very badly, and often asks",  
> based presumably on the same basic root : "chin", also sheds much  
> semantic light, I believe.
> The animate plural -pi suffixes, on waechinchin(pi)ka &  
> wachantokpani(pi), led me to realize that the final 'kin' before  
> 'hecha ableze', in all likelihood, marked a Partitive construction  
> with hecha.
> Also, one has often heard people endowed with such traits,  
> characterized as "squeaky-wheels", hence that rendering.



Dear Clive, I like your interpretation (and, of course, the text!).  
What's really fascinating for me is by what economical means of  
grammar the most sophisticated sentences can be expressed in iyapi!  
(Okay, this original one doesn't seem to be too complex.)
Also, I not only learnt a new nice word (waekicincinke - there are  
many to be found in Toka wan ..., though) but also those squeaky- 
wheels (getting the grease) - Nörgler, Meckerer, Nervensäge, Quengler  
etc. were new to me :)  Thanks!

Alfred

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