Tundra Nenets 4
By turning herself into a sledge, Tab Ed Xewko has rescued a man from the clutches of two other women. Let us now see whether she can keep him…
Part 4:
1. Tən’ananta balaŋkonta n’oh s’īnøh xaqmiq ŋan’ih, Təb Yed Xǣwøkor ŋopoy mixiwteyøq.
Tab Ed Xewko reached the door of her wooden hut and turned into a human again.
2. Xasawa sirah n’in’a xayi.
The man was still on the snow.
3. Təb Yed Xǣwøkor waqwøxənta yūs’ibteyøq, xoneyøq.
Tab Ed Xewko lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
4. Yalemah n’ana n’emada xəya. Yalemah n’erøcuy ŋǣwi.
In the morning she woke up. It was before dawn.
5. Xasawanta n’emada xǣnarøxa, yab’ebt’oda xǣweko. Balagaŋkom s’an s’urøxəl’ewonta.
It seemed that the man woke up too and had sobered up. He could be heard walking around the wooden hut.
6. Wadønaxøqtoh toqmanta p’ūnaki. S’an s’urøxəl’ewonta.
He was searching for the place where he came from when they brought him there. He went around several times.
7. Toqmanta n’īs’ xuq n’om t’adeda, m’ath t’u.
He didn’t find the place from whence he came, so he opened the door and entered the tent.
8. Təb Yed Xǣwøkor səneyøq. Tumta p’ata, s’ay yedøm p’ir’e. Tolømta ta.
Tab Ed Xewko jumped up. She started the fire and made tea. She brought in the table.
9. Ŋob toløxəna ŋorŋa xasawah n’ah. Ŋəmke ŋoroqmamt’ih yolc’eqmaxødənt’ih xasawa p’īnøh xanønamta xanønakio.
She ate together with the man at the same table. When they finished eating, the man went out to do his business.
10. Təb Yed Xǣwøkor s’ī n’aŋi xǣwøxəna xərøta nul’odakom xūqn’erkom l’exabta, xərta nul’odakoh n’ih xonabtada xasawamta.
Tab Ed Xewko made a fur bed with a twig mattress near the entrance and put the man to sleep there.
11. Xon’omaxədant’ih təntøyah səwawøna yalema, təntøyah yurkøyəxøh.
They slept, and then got up well after dawn.
So far, it seems that Tab and her new man are getting along quite well.
Tune in next time, to see if this state of affairs can last another day.
In this newsletter, we will discuss the Auditive Suffix, which you can see in the second sentence in Line 5:
Balagaŋkom s’an s’urøxǝl’ewonta. He could be heard walking around the wooden hut.
s’urøxǝl’ewonta is built from three components:
1. s’urøxǝl’e = a Verb which means go around.
2. -won = the Auditive Suffix.
3. -ta = the 3rd Person Singular Suffix.
As its name suggests, the Auditive is an Evidential Marker.
In this case, it tells the listener that the information has been gained via the ears, as oppose to the eyes. Thus:
Another example of the Auditive goes:
Sarm’ikøq ŋob’ermontoh. = The howling of the wolves is heard.
sarm’ikøq is the Plural of sarm’ik, which means wolf.
ŋob’ermontoh is built from three components:
1. ŋob’er = a Verb which means howl.
2. -mon = the Auditive Suffix.
3. -toh = the 3rd Person Plural Suffix.
Another way to translate this sentence goes:
Sarm’ikøq ŋob’ermontoh. = The wolves are howling; I hear them.
As with many Suffixes in Tundra Nenets, it begins with a /w/ after a Vowel and with an /m/ after a Consonant. It can also take the longer forms –wanon / -manon.
In addition, it can also refer to information acquired through other senses, such as taste and touch. For example:
Ya sǝwa ŋǣwanonta. = The soup is good; I tasted it.
ya means soup and sǝwa means good.
ŋǣwanonta is built from three components:
1. ŋǣ = a Verb which means be.
2. -wanon = the Auditive Suffix.
3. -ta = the 3rd Person Singular Suffix.
In addition, it can be used to indicate information acquired through smell, but this requires the Odorative Suffix -yə. For example:
Ŋobada xəras’inøyəwonta. = His glove smells of kerosene.
xəras’inøyəwonta is built from four components:
1. xəras’in = a Noun which means kerosene
2. -yə = the Odorative Suffix.
3. -won = the Auditive Suffix.
4. -ta = the 3rd Person Singular Suffix.
Taken alone, the Verb xəras’inøyə means to smell of kerosene.
Here are some other examples of the Odorative:
xal’a = fish
xal’ayə = to smell of fish
ŋəmca = meat
ŋəmcayə = to smell of meat.
In addition, the Suffix -yə can also mean to feel like or to taste of, but I have subjected you to enough strangeness thus far.
If you still need some more strangeness, the rest of my articles should scratch that itch.
Source: Irina, Nikolaeva, A Grammar of Tundra Nenets (Berlin: de Gruyter 2014)