Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Paiwan Every Day 374: kan // kenamain

tisun a nakemesa tua tja kenamain?

In English: 
Did you make the breakfast?

Glossary
  1. ti-sun: you, 2nd person singular nominative (NOM). ti- 'subject case marker for specific person'; the root is sun 'you, 2nd person singular'. 
  2. a: ligature (LIG)
  3. na-k<em>esa: cooked, actor voice (AV). The root is kesa 'cook'. 
  4. tua: oblique (OBL) case marker
  5. tja: our, 1st person plural genitive (GEN), usually bound, but seems also to serve as a general demonstrative. 
  6. kenamain*: breakfast. I don't know how to break the word until the root kan. How? 
Reading

CIP Online Paiwan Dictionary kenamain

*I had a conversation with kivi, a native of sinvaudjan and a Paiwan language teacher, about kenamain. I suggested, without much evidence, that this word may derive from a three-fold conjugation: k<en>a(n->m)-in. -en- and -in are two undergoer voice (UV) case markers and n becomes m for easier pronunciation. I now feel my guess may be too far-fetched because I cannot find an example where the root kan is used as UV. 

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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...