greetings, responses and leavetakings in mitsqanaqan̓
T1 ~ masǝxihua ~
pake et
<<< Kitsepawit (Fernando Librado) ~ ~ ~ photographed by
HAKU
John Harrington
@
weneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;mu (a sleeping place)
presently
Hueneme
¡ Introduction ¡ Name Avoidance
TABLE OF CONTENTS
¡ Formal Greeting
¡ Salutations
¡ Leavetakings
qašǝ
elele
one who is cheerful, contented
¡ More Greetings
aya
ʔałyawyaʔaw
¡ Responses
Black abalone, Red abalone, Keyhole limpet
INTRODUCTION The following are greetings (ways of addressing,) responses and leavetakings in our mitsqanaqanĚ&#x201C; language.
When you see the red speaker symbol, you can run your cursor over it and it will reveal an audio player. You can hear the sound of the words. Just click on the play button and practice along. In learning our greetings we are exposed to more than pronunciation and our writing system (orthography.) We also learn about culture. So before getting into the greetings, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to share with you a few cultural aspects related to addressing people.
NAME AVOIDANCE Today we might say, "Haku Julie," but in day’s past, we wouldn’t dream of saying such a thing! Like other cultures around the world, we practice "name avoidance." Saying someone’s name is considered a form of cursing. Instead, we address people by kinship term or nickname. I will accompany this presentation with a shortlist of these terms. As Fernando Librado told Harrington, "Nicknames are so much used, know some people for life and never know their real names." A related taboo is avoiding the names of the recently deceased. Instead, they are referred to indirectly, "the one who passed," "she who left," or even less roundabout… "the one who liked chocolate." To begin speaking your language, even if only greetings, is to reclaim culture in a big way!
hákù (greetings, hello, welcome) ¡ The accent marks help us understand how a word is said. Usually, we will not write with accent marks, but it is useful when learning how to speak, so I include them here. ¡ Think of it like a skateboard or bike ramp. It goes up, and then down you go on the other side.
haku haku lahupwašwašǝtš (Hello, hello, are you well?) This is our formal, and formulaic, greeting. We double up haku and then ask, “are you well?” There is an expected answer and it is:
lakwašwašǝtš
(I am well)
RESPONSES
k : I am…
RESPONSES
¡ tswaya hešikpoš : I am happy ¡ muštšum hešikpoš : I’m sad (my heart is no good) ¡ mukwašwašǝtš : I am not well ¡ kšuyaqša : I am sick ¡ kyawya’aw : I am cheerful!
MORE RESPONSES ¡ kwatilala : I am tired ¡ koloq : I am hungry ¡ ne’ekaqkum : I am full (of food) ¡ kyułuł : I am angry ¡ ktaxtaxšǝtš : I am strong (I have force) ¡ tsiwǝwǝ hešikpoš : I am exhilarated
SALUTATIONS
Physical and Verbal
PHYSICAL SALUTATION
A Page from the Harrington notes.
WHEN TWO PEOPLE APPROACH EACH OTHER THEY GIVE A LITTLE BOW THEN… These photos were taken with friends from the Native Student Alliance at The Evergreen State College. This is in front of
sg ᵂig ᵂiaʔltx ᵂ “The House Of Welcome,” or
The Evergreen Longhouse
…WALK TO ONE PACE APART
(One lines up to the North and one to the South)
THEN BOTH TURN THEIR FACES TOWARD THE EAST Turning bodies slightly also.
THEN TO THE WEST
And then they begin to talkâ&#x20AC;Ś
VERBAL SALUTATIONS
¡ wašǝtš ’išnaxyǝt
: good morning
¡ wašǝtš ’išaw
: good day
¡ wašǝtš ’ismayǝ
: good afternoon or evening
¡ wašǝtš ’isułkuw
: good night
MORE GREETINGS
haku combinations
haku aliwǝ
greetings, my relation ¡ ’aliwǝ : is a relation by affinity. These are friends and those you consider family who are not connected by blood, like in-laws etc. ¡ When we say a kinship term, we always have to say whose kin we’re speaking about. In our language, k, is the first person (I, me or my.) So, aliwǝ means “my relation.” ¡ You will notice that the k in aliwǝ is different than the k in haku. It has a “pop” to it. This is called an “ejective.” You eject the sound. You will see it written aliwǝ, or k’aliwǝ.
GREETING AND ADDRESSING ¡ haku aqsutiwǝ : greetings, my friend ¡ haku amiwu/amiwa : hola, mi amigo/amiga ¡ haku kišnuna : greetings my cousin ¡ haku kʰawa : greetings my aunt (mother’s sister) ¡ haku kʰtata : greetings my uncle (mother’s brother) ¡ haku kʰwotʰ : greetings my wotʰ (chief, capitan/a)
LEAVE TAKINGS
pʰqišǝtšǝš
LEAVETAKINGS ¡ kna’ał : I go (away), I am leaving. ¡ kǝpǝ hukna’ał : now, I will go. ¡ kayakna’ał : ya me voy, I go now, I’m outta here
Ok, we now know how to say I’m going, but what do we say when we are staying and someone else is going?
GOODBYE ¡ lakakayuqišqišǝtšàš : we’ll see each other again soon ¡ kakisikałna’ał he’išup : ya me voy, adios (literally God) ¡ pʰqišǝtšǝš : look after yourself (in health and business) (lit. look at your body) ¡ pišqišǝtšǝš : look after yourselves (2) ¡ piqišǝtšǝš : look after yourselves (plural, 3+)
KINSHIP TERMS ~ NICKNAMES
and other vocabulary
¡ k ʰtete (kʰete) : my mother ¡ k ʰkoko (kʰoko) : my father ¡ ami : my older sibling (brother or sister) ¡ itšitš : my younger sibling (brother or sister)
KINSHIP TERMS k : fi r s t p e r s o n p : second person ts : third person There are different terms for your mothers kin and your fathers kin.
§ kʰawa/muk : my aunt (mother’s sister/father’s sister) § tata/anǝš : my uncle (mother’s brother/father’s brother) § kpopowaš/kwopowaš : my grandfather (mother’s father/father’s father) § knenewaš/kapmamawaš : my grandmother (mother’s mother/father’s mother) § išnuna : my cousin
¡ ’eqsté ’ ye: cabezon (sheepshead fish) nickname of Juan Justo Sr. because he had a
big head.
¡ he’l’aqimay : the black fellow nickname of Leandro Gonzales, who was very dark complexioned. ¡ kopkop : toad nickname of Juan Cansio. ¡ kʰnoyu’knoy : pollywog Juan Justo, nicknamed by Juan Cansio.
NICKNAMES Some of these nicknames are previous to conquest.
Notice the i n fl u e n c e o f Spanish in some of these.
§ kukulito : round ball nickname of Francisco Constantino. He gained the nickname because he served many functions; judge, teacher and choir leader, passing from one role to another like a ball. § lakutiya : La Cutilla (the knife) nickname of Angustia Garcia. § pesupesu : pesopeso nickname of toponxele because he wore peso sized abalone ornaments on his dance skirt.
§ silinahúwitíta nickname for Mary Yee, derived from her relative silinahuwit, aka Jose Venadero. § štuuy : young ground-squirrel nickname for Ignacio of Santa Inez. § takaka : quail § tomolelu : one associated with the tomol nickname of Pánfilo, from Sp. tomol-ero. § tšatšiyu : unknown nickname of Juliana-Ignacio.
§ ’uškuk’ : islay stirrer nickname of an unknown woman whose face was narrow above and broad below, like a stirrer. § walawyù : he can transplant himself anywhere in an instant. nickname of Arabio. § wonono : screetch owl nickname of José Antonio Féliz. § helitsi : angelita nickname, a shortened diminutive form of the Spanish.
¡ ha : aah! ; an exclamation of surprise. English, ahh!
¡ haha! : hey! ; an exclamation of gladness. This can also be used for English; right on! and yeah!
¡ tapi, tapi : come in, come in (when someone arrives at your home)
GREETING RELATED SAYINGS Here are some c o m m o n wo r d s in our language which come i n to p l ay w i t h greetings or other c o nve r s i n g .
Next topic : Introductions
Please feel free to email me with any questions: mvestuto@gmail.com