Saturday, October 16, 2021

Paiwan Every Day 588: dudu // tjaljaduduan

tjaljaduduan aken tua venca. 

Free translation
I am most mad about lying. 

Word gloss
  1. tjalja-dudu-an: the most anger. tjalja- 'superlative'; the root is dudu 'anger, mad, piss off'; -an 'NMZ'. 
  2. aken: I, 1st person SIN NOM
  3. tua: by or about
  4. v(e)<en>ca: to lie, AV. The root is veca 'dishonest, lie'. 
Voice file

From Raleigh Ferrell's Paiwan Dictionary (1982) and ILRDF Online Paiwan Dictionary tjaljaduduan


Usually, -an is understood as case marker for nominalization; it turns a root into a noun. Ferrell defines it as 'specific location in time/space; specific one/type; referent focus' (Ferrell, 1982, p. 17), giving the following examples: 
  • kan-an: (1) eat (referent focus); (2) place where eating occurs or dining room or diner or restaurant. 
  • pa-gung-an: barn, a place where cows are kept (gung 'bovine'). 
Therefore, one will expect it comes after a genitive like ku 'my', su 'your SIN', nia 'our', nu 'your PL' or before and after a genitive like niaken or nia'en 'my'; nisun 'your SIN'; niamen 'our'; nimun 'your PL'; nimadju 'his or her' and niamadju 'their', depending on the syntax. 
  • after GEN: ku kaka tjaljavilivililjan 'my youngest brother'; su ngadan 'your name'; nia kinacemekeljan 'our family'; nu qinaljan 'your village'. 
  • before ni- GEN: ligu nisun 'your glory'; kalapkapan nimadju 'her thenar'; sudjusudjuan niamadju their crushes'. 
  • after ni- GEN: niaken azua a kisi. 'That is my bowl'. 
Nevertheless, in this case, the -an noun tjaljaduduan 'the highest level of anger' precedes the nominative form of 'I' aken. It almost indicates the -an word can also be an adjective in addition to the commonly understood noun. Is that so?

Another thing to note is compared with -an 'referent focus', another ending case marker -en (or -in following a verb) is object focus, referring to the object/goal of action. 
  • kan-an: where eating occurs, the place for kan, like today's kakanan
  • kan-en: what is being eaten, food, like today's kakanen

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Paiwan Every Day 668: pai

pai, kinemnemanga tiamadju tu kemacu tua ljigim nua kakinan.   Free translation : Now, they decided to take their mother's sewing needle...