amapitsaitsapai

Wauja

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˌma.piˈt͡saɪ.t͡sa.paɪ/

Verb

amapitsaitsapai

1. (transitive) he/she/it forewarns, augurs, portends (is an omen or harbinger) (of misfortune or ill tidings to someone)

   Aminya ya pamapitsaitsapai, uma ipitsi.

   "You shall not be an omen of ill," [she] said to him.

   Maka minya pamapitsaitse, aitsa wa ha.

   "Never shall you be a harbinger of death. That shall not be."

   Katepe pamapitsaitsa, aminya wa han. Aitsa pawojo pamapitsaitsapai.

   "Don't even think of being an omen of evil. That you may not do."

   Kalahan, akain ta-ka-pai yeetsopou, akain taka yeetsopou, punupa pikityeko-je-eu.

   "In days to come, when the piqui fruit starts falling, [in the season when] when it falls, you see… then will your voice be heard."

   [Punupa uno takene yeetsopoeu whun]

   [Side comment by the storyteller:] "You'll see when it rains later [you'll hear the sound]."

   Pa pikityeko-je-eu whun, umapai. Tu-ru! tu-ru! tu-ru! puME eu whun.

   "Then shall you speak," she said. "Tu-ru! tu-ru! tu-ru! shall you say," [she] said.

   Kata pamapitsaitsa, aitsa wa. Kajutukalupei yiu.

   "That you should be a harbinger of misfortune – you shall not. You shall become a frog."

References

• All examples uttered by Itsautaku, shaman and elder, recounting traditional Wauja tale, "The Man who Drowned in Honey." Recorded in Piyulaga village in the presence of his adult daughter, adolescent son, and others, December 1989, transcript p. 32. In this brief excerpt from the story, a cruel husband is drowned in honey and transformed by his wife into a frog. This species of frog (Leptodactylus latrans), described by the Wauja as particularly large and ugly, can be heard croaking in the season when the piqui fruit falls from the trees. The Wauja explain that sounds and signs by birds and other animals can forewarn of future events.