Matthew 15: 32-39
You can read my introduction to this language in the previous newsletter.
Here is the full passage, which you can find in your physical Bible.
Jarawara.
32. Mēmakiti wato hā hinamahimaro Kabini ati nareka, ‘Oko tabari mē tama kana hāro; otā amo ni trei ni jā, mē tafe watare. Fimineke ihi mē toki onofa okare, foro ni onofa okare hawi jā.’
33. Mēmakiti wato ati narake, ‘Nahomake hā. Tamake hāro. Jamata botone ē na awara?’
34. Mē Kabine ati nake, ‘Tē kā bao ēribe?’ Mē ati narake, ‘Bao seti na, aba tatama rabake.’
35. Ati nawahaka, ‘Naho nahi bofe jā’.
36. Bao seti ni wara namarika, aba wara narika, ati faja toforemisareka. Baka hinarake, mēmakiti wati hikakawake. Mēmakiti wati tāri naharake mē nahi hā jā.
37. Tafa hawa jā, akaraharake, ibisiri amake; ibisiri kā isiri mō ni seti narake.
38. Mēmakiti tafarake, mē miri ni kowato na, mēfanawiri matehe bisa amake.
39. Mē nahi ati nareka “Tē tokomahi!” Tokifirika, tokimisaka Jamaneme jā.
Jarawara has a total of 12 Past Tense Suffixes.
1. Distance
There is Immediate, Recent and Distant Past.
These can refer to specific times, but if you put them together they show a sequence of events. The Distant happened first, followed by the Recent, followed by the Immediate.
In this context, we’ll be exclusively using the latter purpose.
2. Evidence
Each Past Tense Suffix tells you whether the person saw it or not.
These are called Eyewitness vs. Eyewitness.
In this one, we only use the Eyewitness variants.
3. Gender
Jarawara has 2 Genders: Masculine and Feminine.
We will explore the quirks of Jarawara Gender throughout this passage.
KJV. And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
Jarawara. Bao seti ni wara namarika, aba wara narika, ati faja toforemisareka. Baka hinarake, mēmakiti wati hikakawake. Mēmakiti wati tāri naharake mē nahi hā jā.
Bao seti ni wara namarika, aba wara narika, ati faja toforemisareka = He took the seven loaves, and the fish, and he gave them thanks.
Bao seti ni = the seven loaves
wara nemarika = he took
aba wara narika = he took the fish
ati faja toforemisareka = and he gave thanks
In the introduction, I mention the 3 Past Tenses: Far, Recent and Immediate. I use all three in this sentence in order to create rising tension.
wara nemarika he did take contains –(hi)mari the Far Past Eyewitness Masculine.
wara narika he did take contains –(hi)ri, the Recent Past Eyewitness Masculine.
Other than ne, which is a variant of na do, these are simple enough
give thanks comes from Greek eucharisteō (ευχαριστέω).
I built ati faja toforemisareka from five components:
1. ati = voice/speech/language.
2. faja = enough/sufficient/finished.
…
3. to- = Away.
4. -fore = (one person) lies on a raised surface.
5. -misa = Upwards.
6. -re = short for –(ha)re.
7. - ka = He did.
-(ha)re is the Immediate Past Eyewitness Masculine.
In addition, the Verb phrase ati forI means speak firmly.
Furthermore, when faja begins a sentence, it means then.
Baka hinarake, mēmakiti wati hikakawake, = he broke them, he gave them to his disciples
Baka hinarake = he broke them
mēmakiti wati = the disciples
hikakawake = he gave it to them
This one gave me a few headaches, but nowhere as near as any as the one directly below.
Here, we meet the Object Construction Prefix hi-.
It does the following:
baka narake = it broke something
becomes
baka hinarake = someone else broke it.
(This is a simplified explanation. I wanted to avoid having to explain the phrase “clarifies an Ambitransitive” because that would take too long. Also, I am unsure whether I could, even if I did want to.)
Fortunately, this sentence contains a more helpful example:
mēmakiti wati kakawake = the disciples gave it to him/her.
becomes
mēmakiti wati hikakawake = someone gave it to the disciples.
It sort of works like a Passive, but I am unable to explore the distinction without: a) drowning the reader in jargon; and b) revealing my own ignorance.
Mēmakiti wati tāri naharake mē nahi hā jā = the disciples gave them to the crowd
Mēmakiti wati = the disciples
tāri naharake = they gave them
mē nahi hā nijā = to the crowd.
This was another nightmare of a sentence to figure out.
I build mē nahi hā nijā from the following:
1. mē = they.
2. nahi = who are sitting.
3. hā = Here Visible.
4. nijā = to.
Dixon calls jā the Peripheral Marker. Its English translations include in(to), on(to) and most other prepositions, depending on context.
Fortunately, it always comes after the verb, thereby allowing me to sidestep the fact that Jarawara has zero grammatical cases. You will see it again direct.
KJV. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.
Jarawara. Tafa hawa jā, akaraharake, ibisiri amake; ibisiri kā isiri mō ni seti narake.
Tafa hawa jā, akaraharake, ibisiri amake; = everyone ate, and were satisfied
Tafa hawa jā = after everyone ate
akaraharake = they were satisfied
ibisiri amake = there were pieces
Tafa hawa jā has these components:
1. tafa = eat.
2. hawa = be accomplished.
3. jā = after.
A more literal translation is something like upon the accomplishment of the eating, which looks like a sentence straight out of Charles Dickens or Anthony Trollope. Since I plan on reading several more Trollope’s this year, I shall keep an eye out for a phrase similar to this one.
(I specified Anthony because I was once accused of reading a Joanne Trollope novel. Rest assured reader, the only post 20th Century fiction that I read is high fantasy. When I want a love triangle done well, I’ll read Mr Trollope.)
akaraharake has three components:
1. akara = be satisfied after eating.
2. -hara = Immediate Past Eyewitness Feminine.
3. -ke = she/they did.
It also looks like a word that is very fun to say. Indeed, I thought about using the short form –ra instead of –hara, but I decided not to because making someone say akararake is a very cruel thing to do.
Also, the full form –hara makes it a more satisfying.
ibisiri kā isiri mō ni seti narake = the pieces filled seven baskets
ibisiri kā = of the piece/s
isiri = basket/s
mō ni = her/their being full
seti narake = were seven.
I am, indeed, very happy that ibisiri small piece and isiri basket are only one syllable apart.
As I mentioned above, Jarawara has two Gender: Masculine and Feminine.
In contrast to a Western European language, however, the Feminine is the Default.
KJV. And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.
Jarawara. Mēmakiti tafarake, mē miri ni kowato na, mēfanawiri matehe bisa amake.
Mēmakiti tafarake, mē miri ni kowato na = the men that ate were four thousand in number
Mēmakiti tafarake = the men ate
mē miri ni = their being a thousand
kowato na = is four
Jarawara has two numbers:
ohari = be one/alone/only one/thing.
fama = be two/a pair/a couple.
All higher numbers come from Portuguese. In this translation, we have the following:
trei na = be three (from três).
kowato na = be four (from quatro).
seti na = be seven (from sete).
miri na = be a thousand (from mil).
mēfanawiri matehe bisa amake = along with women and children
mēfanawiri = women
matehe = children
bisa = also
amake = they were
Jarawara has a total of four nouns with their own plural form. Three feature in this passage:
1. makiti man –> mēmakiti men.
2. fanawi woman –> mēfanawiri women.
3. inamatewe child –> matehe children.
The fourth is hinamati spirit, which simply becomes mēhinamati spirits.
KJV. And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.
Jarawara. Mē nahi ati nareka “Tē tokomahi!” Tokifirika, tokimisaka Jamaneme jā.
Mē nahi ati nareka “Tē tokomahi!” = He said to the crowd, “Go home!”
Mē nahi ati nareka = he said to those standing near
“Tē tokomahi!” = All of you, go back!
tokomahi has four components:
1. to- = Away.
2. ko = in motion.
3. -ma = Back.
4. -hi = do it now!
ka in motion + -ma back is the normal way of saying to return in Jarawara.
There is another way, which is the verb wete na.
However, wete na = wrap cord around something several times, usually done before tying something up.
Some knots require you to turn the string back on itself, i.e. return it.
Matthew 16:19 BSB
[Jesus replied]: I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
He bound them with the food. Now He lets them loose.
Tokifirika, tokimisaka Jamaneme jā. = He took a boat and came to the coast of Magdala.
Tokifirika = he went away on the water
tokimisaka = he went up the river bank
Jamaneme jā = at Magdala
Magdala (Μαγδαλά) comes from Hebrew migdal (מגדל) tower or flower bed.
How can one word mean tower or flower bed?
migdal (מגדל) comes from gadal (גדל) to grow.
I built Jamaneme from two components:
1. jama = thing.
2. neme = sky, be tall/high, upper part, above, top.
tokifirika and tokimisaka both begin with the same two components:
1. to- = Away.
2. ki = in motion.
They both end in the Masculine Declarative.
tokimisaka he went up the riverbank has one more component:
3. -misa = up (other than stream).
The Suffix –tima refers exclusively to going upstream.
For everything else, from riverbanks to a photo that fell over, you use –misa.
Meanwhile, tokifirika has two other components:
3. -fi = on the water.
4. -ri = Recent Past Eyewitness Masculine.
I choose the Recent Past because the Suffix –ri also means “on a surface or edge”. (This form of –ri can’t appear alongside –fi due to Suffixing Echelons).
It refers to anything on the ground, and is used for sitting/standing/lying in a house, on a bench or a log.
Jarawara has two words for boat, both of which come from Portuguese. It is possible that they have lost their original word, or they did not have one.
I could go on a tangent about whether or not the Amazon was home to any pre-Columbian civilisations, but if you want an introduction, here is the esteemed Stefan Milosavljevich:
Sources:
R.M.W. Dixon, The Jarawara Language of Southern Amazonia (Oxford: University Press 2004)