Paiwan Every Day 18: siaq // rusiaqan

I am falling in love with my Paiwan class here in Tainan. It is actually not easy to keep one going in the city. Potential students are already few, nor is there any guarantee to incentivize attendance. People come and go, though most of the times they do not return. But I enjoy mine.

Unlike classes of other languages that I know (and I know many), a Paiwan class is not a stage for a teacher or lecture; rather,  it is (and has to be) participatory. Like a Paiwan group song, there is a leading vocal (the teacher) and responses (the students), and the curious thing is everyone has their turn to lead. All are learning about the language.

While learning conjugation, I made funny sentences like "I like you", "You like me" and "You need to like me". When it came to the third imperative exmaple, the men in the class burst out laughing, saying, "No Paiwan girl will say that. If you do, we will look at you and say, 'aiyanga~'", presumably with pity.

And why? Read today's sentence:

rusiaqan aravac a paiwan zuku. 

In English:
Paiwan people are very shy.

Glossary: 

1. ru-siaq-an: to be shy. ru- 'often, of high frequency'; the root is siaq 'shame, embarrassment'; -an 'abstract state nominalization'. 
2. aravac: very
3. a: subject case marker
4. paiwan zuku: Paiwan people. zuku is a loanword from Japanese ぞく族. 

Reading: