The Gospel of Luke 9:3
NJV. He said to them, ‘Take nothing for the journey: neither staff, nor haversack, no bread, nor money; and do not have a spare tunic.
Haida. ’laa suu’wagan: ‘K’yuwaay kulgw gam gin tl’aa ungaŋ’aŋ: gam sGaa t’ask’aay gam gwaahl gam gilg gam daalaa; ’waagyaan gam k’udaats’ chasdaŋ skyuu’iidaŋ.
he said to them = ’laa hal suu’wagan
’laa = them
hal = he
suu’wagan = said to them
suu’wagan has three components:
1. suu = say
2. –’wa = Plural
3. -gan = did.
hal and ’laa are both of them the 3rd Person Pronoun.
In Haida, there is no distinction between the Pronouns he/she and they.
Instead, you distinguish he/she from they with the Plural Suffix on the Verb.
After that, we get into the weeds of Haida Word Order. Here, you need to know about the Focus Zone and the Pronoun Zone.
The former comes before the latter.
The pronoun hal only occurs in the Pronoun Zone.
take nothing on your journey = k’yuwaay kulgw gam gin tl’aa ungaŋ’aŋ
k’yuwaay = road
kulgw = on
gam gin tl’aa = nothing
ungaŋ’aŋ = do not carry on the back
In this context, k’yuwaay means road.
k’yuuwaay, which comes from k’yuu, has five different meanings. However, you can tell them apart based on the classifier:
1. skaa (small spherical) = small clam
2. k’ii (large, chunky 3D) = large clam
3. Ga (2D thick rigid) = door/doorway/gate (entrance in general)
4. hlGa (2D made from parallel 1D objects) = ladder
5. sGa ( 1D extended flexible) = road
Without a Classifier, k’yuu means housefront pole with a doorway through it.
Classifiers do not always appear in a sentence, so it is not always clear.
Classifiers only appear in a certain number of contexts, one of which we will see later.
neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread, nor money = gam sGaa t’ask’aay gam gwaahl gam gilg gam daalaa
gam sGaa t’ask’aay = no shaman’s baton
gam gwaahl = no bag
gam gilg = no pilot bread
gam daalaa = no money
staff/stave comes from the Greek hrabdos (ράβδος), which means staff of authority or sceptre.
sGaa t’ask’aay shaman’s baton was, thus, the most appropriate existing native term.
For those who don’t know, pilot bread means hardtack or cracker.
The Haida call it gilg because it looks like gilg, also known as bracket or shelf fungus. The resemblance is indeed uncanny.
daalaa is the Haida word for money, and it can also mean silver or dollar.
I assume it comes from the American word dollar.
and do not have two coats = ’waagyaan gam k’udaats’ chasdaŋ skyuu’iidaŋ
’waagyaan = and
gam = not
k’udaats’ = coat
chasdaŋ = two
skyuu’iidaŋ = (do not) carry on the shoulder
k’udaats’ chasdaŋ has three components:
1. k’udaats’ = coat
…
2. cha- = Flexible 3D Container Object
3. sdaŋ = two.
Classifiers appear before numbers.
Haida has up to over 400 classifiers.
KJV. And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.
Haida. ’laa suu’wagan: ‘K’yuwaay kulgw gam gin tl’aa ungaŋ’aŋ: gam sGaa t’ask’aay gam gwaahl gam gilg gam daalaa; ’waagyaan gam k’udaats’ chasdaŋ skyuu’iidaŋ.
Haida. Waigien hin la il shudāīwon, Dalung istīidsdlu lth gum gin isdangwong, tushka isgien, gwau-alth ishin, shibli ishin, dāla ishin lth gum isdang-wong; kōdats chi-stung ishin lth gum isdang-wong.