The last time that we saw Tab Ed Xewko and her man, they had just cemented an informal marriage and settled down into some form of domestic bliss. But will it last?
Scroll down to find out…
Part 6:
1. Təb Yed Xǣwøkont wen’akoc’ada p’īxøna ŋan’ih t’or’ewonta. T’edah t’en’ewøq n’īwøq.
Tab Ed Xewko’s little dog could once again be hard barking outside. Now she knew.
2. Wen’ako xaxøyuta pəløkəd n’əqməda, xaxøyuta pomøna siliəq.
She grabbed the dog by the flock on its ears and looked between its ears.
3. Ow, ŋokaya yur m’an m’adøq. Tīdoh xəc’ah yūq yonør ŋǣbøtoh yekarøq.
Oh, there were many tents, about a hundred. There were almost ten thousand reindeer.
4. Təb Yed Xǣwkønt xasawada xoni.
Tab Ed Xewko’s husband was sleeping.
5. Təb Yed Xǣwøkor wen’akoc’amta wadərc’ø n’iri mən’iyewida ŋesodənə m’adoq yedøh p’ada.
Tab Ed Xewko took the dog and went in the direction where she saw the tents being set up.
6. M’adoq xǣwənøh ŋoq tǣwiq.
At last she reached the tents.
7. Təd wad’is’eyø ŋudamta yal’enta pirødər’ih n’axør nekølŋada. Yibanta n’ad xadøm n’əlpadalaəda.
Then she moved her left hand three times against the sun. She started summoning a storm from the South.
8. Texøq tǣwiq ŋan’ih, təh wen’akoc’amta tab’eda: “Madøh yedøh n’erd’eyin!”
She got to the reindeer and ordered the dog: “Lead them back to the tent!”
9. Tədøxəwøh yur m’an tī nikəlŋa.
It split about a hundred reindeer from the herd.
10. Wen’akoc’ada n’ab’i ŋǣmta t’ībt’es’əti, n’ab’i ŋǣmta t’ībt’es’əti. M’agyeŋkad xabt’eq wen’akoc’ah pūmna l’ampøliq.
The dog lifted one leg and then lifted another leg. The reindeer which usually graze near the tents ran after the dog.
11. Təb Yed Xǣwøkor ŋan’ih n’enoway ŋudamta yal’ah s’erøh n’axør nekølŋada. Ŋermøta n’ad xaqmorc’ø t’īr taneyədøq.
Tab Ed Xewko moved her right hand in the direction of the sun. The clouds came from the North and fell.
With fire and brimstone, ice and frost has our heroine laid down her wrath.
None shall steal from her her man.
Will this storm be one too many? Will it engulf her hearth and heart?
Later, dear ones.
In this newsletter, we will discuss the Inchoative Suffix. This appears in line 7:
7. Yibanta n’ad xadøm n’əlpadalaəda. = She started summoning a storm from the South.
The Inchoative Suffix varies quite a lot, but it almost always begins with an /l/.
n’əlpadalaəda is built from these components:
1. n’əlpada = elicit.
2. -laə = start.
3. -da = she ____-ed it.
In Tundra Nenets, the Inchoative often receives the translation start or make happen.
Our next example contains an element which some may find familiar:
P’īyako m’erøkurkawøna wərønəlyøq. = The ermine started running faster.
p’īyako means ermine, or perhaps little ermine, as it contains the Diminutive Suffix –ko.
wərønəlyøq is built from three components:
1. wərønə = a Verb which means run.
2. -lyø = the Inchoative Suffix.
3. -q = the 3rd Person Singular Reflexive.
Due to the presence of the Reflexive, we have a word which means something like it made itself to start running.
m’erøkurkawøna, is built from four components:
1. m’erø = an Adjective which means fast.
2. -ku = the Adverb Suffix.
3. -rka = the Comparative Suffix.
4. -wøna = the Prolative Case Suffix.
This word means faster, or possibly along faster.
I could not give this a more literal translation.
Whilst most Inchoative Suffixes start with /l/, many Intransitive Verbs related to the weather, it starts instead with /m/. For example:
Ŋarka Wayø m’akəd ŋəd’im’a. = The older Waya went out of the tent.
Here, the relevant word is ŋəd’im’a, which is built from two components:
1. ŋəd’i = a Noun which means visible.
2. -m’a = the Inchoative Suffix.
m’akəd is the Ablative Declension of m’a, which means tent, giving it a translation of from the tent.
Thus, the phrase m’akəd ŋəd’im’a has the more literal translation, became visible out of the tent.
This sentence comes from another Nenets myth called “The Two Wayas”, which, very much like the story of Tab Ed Xewko, takes place in the mythical past.
Thus, I like to imagine that this use of the Meteorological Inchoative emphasises poetically the degree to which these two are woven into the fabric.
Nikolaeva’s Grammar also includes this tale in its entirety. In short, it tells of a hostile encounter between the titular Wayas and their neighbours the Tungus.
(It is very much told from the Tundra Nenets’ point of view. It’s depiction of the Tungus does not reflect the views and opinions of the author.)
Source: Nikolaeva, Irina, A Grammar of Tundra Nenets (Berlin: de Gruyter 2014)
Book Review
Dominion by Tom Holland
I mostly knew of this through the work of YouTuber Paul VanderKlay, but I won’t go into that here.
This book is a chronicle of over 2,000 years of Western Thought, and how inextricably Christian it is.
Here, I shall discuss but one moment, and expand thereupon.
In Chapter 18, he includes this extract from the personal correspondence of Charles Darwin: “I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidæ with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of caterpillars.”
This discovery shook the hitherto stalwart faith of Darwin, who had received education under holy orders.
Since we cannot doubt the sheer strength of Darwin’s curiosity, we must cast suspicion on the quality of his theological education. Why?
The Ichneumonid is a class of wasps.
When the Hebrews first wrote down the Garden of Eden narrative, what sort of tree did they imagine?
In most contemporary depictions, the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil takes the form of an apple. But would an ancient Near-Eastener have thought in such a fashion?
In Matthew 21:19, Jesus comes across a fig-tree which is full of leaves but which has no fruit, the season being not yet come. For this crime he causes the tree to wither away.
What else is special about the humble fig?
If you pluck it at the right moment, it is a sweet treat.
If you wait too long, a wasp sets up home inside.
Who taught Darwin his Biblical Symbolism? I ask.