ahatain

Wauja

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.haˈtaĩ/

Adverb

ahatain

1. little, barely, scarcely (to a small degree, to a small extent)

   Ahatain hata kaupai. Aitsa kaupai kyankan.

   It hurts only a little. It doesn't hurt much.

   Ahatain hata homakapai atsi. Kaupai intyetyu yeyawa.

   Grandma sleeps only a little. [Her] knees ache during the night.

   Punupa otukaka, katapai otukake eu. Otukaka akixekojatapai han. Aya ewejeke kawoka. Hoona! uma. Ja toneju, aitsa kixekoja – ahaTAIN ta kixekojapai.

   Her brother, you see, her brother was there. It was her brother that spoke with her. "Let's go play the flutes," [he said]. "Let's!" [she replied]. That woman, she did not speak [out], she spoke only very little [she spoke so softly that she was barely audible; she whispered].

Adjective

ahatain

1. a little (a little bit, a small amount of)

   Ahatain pata uputa nu. Kakaiyapai ipitsi ukunakuto.

   He gave me only a little bit. He's stingy with ammunition.

2. small (in size)

   Ahatainpai opona. Aitsa weke opona.

   His house is small. It's not a big house.

   Yulatoju ahataintsain, nejo awojo nipitsi. Aminya potamana nu weke.

   The tiny little beads, that's what I like. Don't bring me the big ones.

Synonyms

• hapari (pittance)

Antonyms

• kyankan (much, very)
• okuma (many)

Derived terms

• ahatain kyankan (somewhat; lit., a little bit a lot)

References

• "Punupa otukaka" uttered by Itsautaku, storyteller and elder, recounting the traditional Wauja tale of the "Man Who Drowned in Honey," in the presence of his adolescent son Mayuri, adult daughter Mukura, and others. Recorded in Piyulaga village by E. Ireland, December 1989, transcript p. 3.
• Other utterances from E. Ireland field notes. Need to be checked by native speaker.