Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Paiwan Every Day 543: -aw / -ay

Here are two suffixes in Ferrell that I have not yet read anywhere nor heard about. 

-aw: object focus, indefinite future / projected or intended action, referent [object?] focus
  • ku-kan-aw: I will probably eat it (Ferrell, p. 60)
  • ku-qaljup-aw: I will probably hunt (Ferrell, p. 17)
-ay: referent focus, indefinite future / project or intended action, referent focus
  • ku-kan-ay: I will probably eat (there) (Ferrell, p. 60)
  • ku-qaljup-ay: I will probably hunt (there) (Ferrell, p. 17)
Word gloss
  1. ku: my, 1st person SIN GEN
Voice file

From Raleigh Ferrell's Paiwan Dictionary (1982). 

I actually think -aw is object focus while -ay is referent focus. What does it mean, in addition to the semantic difference on the object (thing being eaten or hunted) and the location (where eating or hunting takes place)? And I am reading simply by pronouncing the combination of etters. I either have never heard these words or do not remember them at all.  

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Paiwan Every Day 668: pai

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