This newsletter also gives context to my translation of Jonah 2:9.
NJV. Yahweh spoke to the fish, which then vomited Jonah onto the dry land.
Iatmul. Wakkadwun si’magi’ walaa, ki’ttigaiyakak Wa’vi ichaku. Pa’k.
Yahweh spoke to the fish = Wakkadwun si’magi’ walaa
Wakkadwun = Yahweh
si’magi’ = [to the] fish
walaa = spoke [and]
Neither Wakkadwun nor si’magi’ end in a Case Suffix. The words alone do not tell you whether Yahweh spoke to the fish, or if the fish spoke to Yahweh.
Of course, the fish is carrying out Yahweh’s will, so the different is an academic one.
Culturally, the Iatmul apply an Animacy Hierarchy to their language.
Yahweh is the creator of all things, therefore he has the most animacy. Therefore, unless specified, it is He who is talking, and the fish is being spoken to.
That said, I have made this whole verse grammatically ambiguous.
it vomited Jonah onto the dry land = ki’ttigaiyakak Wa’vi ichaku
ki’ttigaiyakak = onto the dry land
Wa’vi = Jonah
ichaku = it threw up
ki’ttigaiyakak has three components:
1. ki’tti’k = dry, specifically ground/water.
2. gaiyak = inside of the house, floor.
3. -ak = towards/onto.
I could not find a specific word for vomit, puke or throw up.
Iatmul has a number of verbs that mean throw (with variants).
I chose ichaku throw out because the middle /ch/ is a Fricative, meaning that it creates friction when it leaves the mouth – like vomit itself leaving the throat.
si’magi’ Wavi’ ichaku has two translations:
1. the fish vomited out Jonah
2. Jonah vomited out the fish.
Out of context, the default translation is Number 2.
However, our context is that the fish swallowed Jonah.
This context is Jonah 1:17, where it specifies that the fish swallowed Jonah.
In the Catholic Bible, however, this line happens in Jonah 2:1.
We have now come full circle.
KJV. And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
Iatmul. Wakkadwun si’magi’ walaa, ki’ttigaiyakak Wa’vi ichaku. Pa’k.
The Hebrew ends in a Peh פ. This too is punctuation.
Iatmul pa’k time, appointment indicates that Jonah has reached the place where he is supposed to be.
Jonah 2:9 ends in sa’k jump over, secret name.
Jonah has jumped over the hurdle of his own ego, and he can now reveal to the Ninevites the name of the Lord, previously kept a secret by the false gods that ruled the Assyrian empire.
I initially chose to exclude sa’k from Jonah 2:9 on the basis that I was being poetical for the sake of it. However, after seeing פ in Jonah 2:10, and discovering pa’k, I realised that Jonah 2:9 was crying out for its ס, and who am I to say no?