Paiwan Every Day 54: sepi // namisepi

Dream big. It may be impossible to make millions by oneself. Nevertheless, dream heartily and sincerely. You will attract people with the same dream. Together you will pull in that much or even more resource to realize a common dream.

Therefore, dream big. For true sevadars.

namisepi aken tu makaya aken a miperper. 

In English: 
I dreamed that I can fly.

Paiwan Every Day 53: rengec // rukarengec

Though teasing does help the 💑👫 relationship, it takes widsom to keep the balance. 私はあまり上手じゃない。まだまだです。

marivu aravac a rukarengec a maresudju. 

In English:
Jealousy couples fight a lot.

Paiwan Every Day 52: supil // masupil

This is why I like language class: I get to read authors expressing views in their own languages.

Today we read a sociologist 清水幾太郎 (しみず いくたろう , 1907-1988) talking about "boredom". He said often people who get bored are considered inferior (かとう下等 ), and people who persevere are considered superior (じょうとう上等).  Nevertheless, he thinks feeling fed up is actually the sign of spiritual growth rather than acting childish. 面白いじゃない。

masupil aken a singlit tjanusun. 

In English: 
I am tired of missing you.

Paiwan Every Day 51: aljak

Pastor Ljumeg now serves as the Resident Pastor of Tava Tavan Kiukai. A winner of multiple literary awards, she speaks and writes excellent Paiwan, which she also shares in her eponymous blog “Ljumeg”.

When I was working at ILRDC, I invited her to work on the translation of Little Prince and President Tsai Ying-Wen’s “Apology to Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan”. It was in Talai Tawan Kiukai last Sunday that I finally had the chance to listen to her speaking our language Paiwan. She sounds even more powerful than on paper.

namaya amen tjai timuti a maqacuvucuvung,

kedri a kinljangan.

ljakua, su papungadan ni amen tu su aljak.

In English:

Like Timothy, we are young and ignorant. But you call us your children.

Paiwan Every Day 50: nguaq // namanguaq

Today at Talai Tawan Kiukai, a Korean professor from Yu-Shan Theological College was invited to speak; his sermon was translated into Paiwan.

Although it was difficult for the interpreter to grasp three monastery practices since the Middle Ages—theology, labor, and mendicancy—the fact that she could finish the entire sermon is thrilling. It proves the language is alive. I will follow this calling. 

Nu semupusupu titjen tua kai nua Cemas, azua namanguaq titjen.

In English:

If we read the word of God, we are blessed.

Paiwan Every Day 49: ciqaw

I watched a second 宮崎駿みやざきはやお animation "崖の上のポニョ" or Ponyo.  A Japanese mermaid falling in love with a boy at the same age of five. Very precocious. I like the boy's mother リサ better: independent, happy, postive, and strong. そうようになりたいね。

I don't know how to say mermaid in Paiwan, but I know fish. 😄😄

tjalja tjengelaian aken a keman ta ciqaw. 

In English:
I like to eat fish the most.

Paiwan Every Day 48: huing (ほいいん)

Like likisi (れきし 歴史), 'law' and 'court' in Paiwan are also borrowed from Japanese ほうりつ 法律and ほういん 法院ほ. As for three different levels of court - regional, high, supreme - , new Paiwan terms are made for them by ILRDC:

• Regional Court: cihu huing 
• High Court: kutu huing
• Supreme Court:tjaljavavavan a huing

Interestingly, while the first two new terms are pure borrowing, the third one is a combination of Paiwan vocabulary and borrowing. What are the guidlines for making new terms in indigenous languages? 

navaik aken a sema kutu huing tucu a qadaw. 

In English: 

I went to the High Court today. 

Paiwan Every Day 47: zangal // namasanpazangal

Interesting! Today I heard a conversation about using kanji (漢字かんじ). When naming a child with kanji, the woman thought it is better to keep the original characters, so people will not forget how to read these words, while the man preferred to change the characters, so people can better remember how to read them.

For example, 正人is read as “まさと”(ma-sa-to). The correlation between character and sound is weak, so you literally need to learn and memorize the pronunciation. If using 魔裟斗 (also read as ma-sa-to), it becomes easier to remember because the three characters give away their sound. Therefore, the man will choose魔裟斗instead of 正人as the name for his child.

Now in Taiwan indigenous peoples are allowed to give traditional indigenous names to their children, although kanji (Chinese characters) must be used since the official language of Taiwan is Chinese. In this case, transliteration becomes a playground where we fight to be the most creative with Chinese. Many unfamiliar or too-familiar kanji are chosen; they immediately strike an impression and bring people to laugh:

* Namoh (an Amis name) is 那麼好, which means ‘so good’ in Chinese. 

* Landuun (a Bunun name) becomes 倫敦, which is London in Chinese.

I have not yet found the kanji for my Yedda Palemeq, but some friends jokingly call me 阿達, which is like moron in Chinese. 本当にひどいね. Haha. 

namasanpazangal aravac a kakudan nua papungadan. 

In English:

Naming is a custom of significance. 

Paiwan Every Day 46: likisi (れきし歴史)

Though in Paiwan the Japanese れきし歴史 is borrowed to refer to history as a subject of study and reserach, it does not mean 'history' as the idea of 'past' is new to Paiwan. On the contrary, past is remembered by Paiwan people in many ways.  

aicu a likisi tjasikeljangan tua patjara pinacalivatan nua tja sevalitan, nua tja qinaljan, katua tja nasi a caucau.

In English: 

History makes us know better about the past of our ancestors, our village, and our human life. 

Paiwan Every Day 45: titjen

Today in class we read an article about the original self (ありのままの自分) and the social self (社会的な自己). The author argues we living in a society cannot disregard relationship and role. The social self prevails. 

It makes me wonder how Paiwan consider ‘self’, and I have two cases that show tiamen (first person plural exclusive) and timitja / titjen (first person plural inclusive) are more welcome than tiaken (first person singular):

•      Paiwan people will not say ku qinaljan (my village), but nia qinaljan (our village).

•      Paiwan people will not say mamazangiljan tiaken (I am the chief), but mamazangiljan [ti]amen (we are from the chief family).

In fact, the only ‘self’ one can find in the dictionary is macidji, meaning alone or by oneself, which has nothing to do with the assertion of individuality. Raleigh Ferrell did not have an entry for ‘individual’ in his Paiwan Dictionary, but there are many words for coming together.

sa titjen a se paiwan nadjemaljun tua 102,931 a caucau.

In English:

And we Paiwan have reached a population of 102,391.