kixekojapai

Wauja

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kiˈtjɛ.kɨ.ʐa.paɪ/, [kiˈtjɛ.kɨ.ʐɐ.paɪ]

Verb

kixekojapai

1. (intransitive) he/she/it speaks

   Aunekiu, yekitsa aikixekojama.

   That's all for now. Later we'll speak again.

   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].

2. (intransitive) it chatters (vocalizes, makes sound)

   Kixekojapai kuhupojato.

   The birds are chattering.

Usage notes

• The verb kixekojapai is used when one person (or non-human being) speaks or orates. When someone engages in dialog with others, the verb changes to akixekojatapai. Note that Wauja adds the prefix –a and suffix -ta as markers that the speaker is not merely speaking, but also "causing another to speak."

Derived terms

• akixekojatapai (“converses with, causes to speak”)

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.