Machi nanga ua ukcha; nanga. ‗The boy gave Mother the fish.‘
17.4 Grammar 235
Example Teacher: Kukualed nade; kukualed.
Student: Kukualed nade; kukualed. 1.
Kukualed nade; kukualed.
‗The airplane left went.‘
2. Pab ye; pab.
‗Father is sick.‘
3. Mude, kachi chomnai; mude.
‗The old lady is making a hammock.‘
4. Omedin mas tunai; omedin.
‗The woman on the other hand is cooking food.‘
5. Urpa ina kobdani; urpa.
‗The younger sisterbrother has come to drink
medicine.‘
Exercise 10 . Postpredicate position subject repeated drill
The teacher says the sentence and the student repeats it repeating the subject in the postpredicate position. The teacher then repeats the correct answer after the student. This exercise should be repeated several times.
Example
Teacher: Wag nade. Student: Wag nade; waga.
Teacher: Wag nade; waga. 1. Wag nade.
‗The outsider left.‘ 2. Pab anka es ukcha.
‗Father gave me the machete.‘ 3. Machi ob chunad.
‗The boy went to fetch corn.‘ 4. Nandin chi.
‗Mother on the other hand is at home.‘ 5. Yannu nas.
‗The peccaries passed by.‘ Similarly, either the long or short form of the direct object may be used in the postpredicate position, but the use
of the long form in the main part of the sentence occurs only when an adult is speaking to a very small child.
Examples 1. An ob chune; ob.
‗I am going to fetch corn.‘ 2. An ob chune; oba.
‗I am going to fetch corn.‘ 3. An oba chune; oba.
‗I am going to fetch corn baby talk.‘
Exercise 11 . Postpredicate position object repetition frame drill
The teacher says Sentence 1 and the student repeats it; the teacher says Sentence 2 and the student repeats it, etc. This exercise should be repeated several times.
Example Teacher: An ob chune; ob.
Student: An ob chune; ob. 1. An ob chune; ob.
‗I am going to fetch corn.‘
2. Machi arri amine; arri.
‗The boy is going to hunt iguana.‘
3. An arki makne; arki.
‗I am going to spear huacuco.‘
4. Tad ul chobzha; ulu.
‗The elder made a canoe.‘
5. Ome mol makcha; mola.
‗The woman sewed a blouse.‘
Exercise 12 . Postpredicate position object repetition drill
The teacher says the sentence and the student repeats it, repeating the object in the postpredicate position.
Example Teacher: An ob chune.
Student: An ob chune; ob. 1. An ob chune.
‗I am going to fetch corn.‘ 2. Machi palu pakcha.
‗The boy bought salt.‘ 3. Pun ua kucha.
‗The girl ate fish.‘ 4. Mu kachi chomne.
‗The old lady is going to make a hammock.‘ 5. Machi tagar chwane.
‗The boy is going to gather thatch.‘
236 Telling Stories
17.4.2.3 Element stated in unexpanded or expanded form in the simple sentence and in an expanded form in the postpredicate position
1 Element modified by one adjective or a more specific term
A peripheral element may occur in unmodified form, but with any required suffix, in the simple sentence and be repeated in the postpredicate position followed by an adjective to which the suffix is attached, or it
may be repeated and followed by a more specific term, as in Sentence 4 of Exercise 13.
Exercise 13 . Postpredicate position peripheral element expanded frame drill
The teacher says Sentence 1 and the student repeats it; the teacher says Sentence 2 and the student repeats it, etc. This exercise should be repeated several times.
Example Teacher: Pab machiga es ukcha; machi tummadga.
Student: Pab machiga es ukcha; machi tummadga. 1.
Pab machiga es ukcha; machi tummadga. ‗Father gave the boy a machete; to the big boy.‘
2. Machi ulgin nad; ul arradgin.
‗The boy went by canoe; in the blue canoe.‘ 3.
Machi esgin neg emis; es pingin. ‗The boy cleaned the field with a machete; a new
machete.‘ 4.
Sagla sae arpi; sae wakur. ‗The chief went yesterday; yesterday morning.‘
Exercise 14
. Postpredicate position peripheral element expanded drill
The teacher says the sentence and the student repeats it, expanding the peripheral element in the postpredicate position by using one of the suggested expansions below.
Example Teacher: Nan punga mol ukcha.
Student: Nan punga mol ukcha; pun tummadga.
Expansion
1. tummad ‗big‘
2. arrad ‗blue‘
3. aluminyogad ‗aluminum‘
Statement
1. Nan punga mol ukcha. ‗Mother gave the girl cloth.‘
2. Tad kukualedgin noni. ‗The elder arrived by plane.‘
3. Ua pormogin pukwa. ‗The fish are in the pot.‘
4. Machi negzhe immal pelene. ‗The boy is going to carry the thing to the house.‘
5. Ome neg akar tani. ‗The woman is coming from the house.‘
The subject likewise, may be highlighted by stating it in an unexpanded form in the simple sentence and in an expanded form in the postpredicate position. The expanded form of the subject after the predicate
includes: subject accompanied by an adjective long or short form which is modified by an adverb; subject accompanied by a duplicated adjective long or short form; or subject accompanied by a second
adjective.
Example Ul noni; ul tummad.
‗A big canoe arrived. lit.: the canoe arrived; the big canoe.‘
When the adjective in the postpredicate position is a numeral, the subject may be omitted if the number prefix unambiguously refers to it see Sections 5.4 and 7.4. The long or short form of the numeral prefix
may be used.
Examples
1. Tule noni; tule walapá. ‗Three people arrived.‘
2. Tule noni; walapá. ‗Three people arrived.‘
3. Tule noni; walpá. ‗Three people arrived.‘
17.4 Grammar 237
Exercise 15 . Postpredicate position subject expansion frame drill
The teacher says Sentence 1 and the student repeats it; the teacher says Sentence 2 and the student repeats it, etc. This exercise should be repeated several times.
Example
Teacher: Ul noni; ul tummadi. Student: Ul noni; ul tummadi.
1. Ul noni; ul tummadi.
‗The big canoe arrived.‘
2. Koe wakis; koe chapinni.
‗The young deer escaped.‘
3. Wag nad; waga chowidi.
‗The tall outsider left.‘
4. Wagi ob mas; wagi ichejuli.
‗Many parrots ate the corn.‘
5. Chapi kullubal kwichi; chapi tummadi.
‗A big tree grows on the river bank.‘
Exercise 16 . Postpredicate position subject expansion drill
The teacher says the sentence and the student repeats it, expanding the subject by using one of the suggested expansions below.
Example Teacher: Ul noni.
Student: Ul noni; ul tummad.
Expansion
1. tummad ‗big‘
2. arrad ‗blue‘
3. nued ‗good‘
Statement
1. Ul noni. ‗The canoe arrived.‘
2. Tud neg tikalbal nis. ‗The flower grew beside the house.‘
3. Kukualed aktes. ‗The plane landed.‘
4. Motor nakwis. ‗The outboard canoe wentcame upriver.‘
5. Chikwi purkwis. ‗The bird died.‘
Similarly, the direct object may be stated in an unexpanded form in the simple sentence and in an expanded form in the postpredicate position in order to highlight or clarify it. The adjective which
modifies the direct object and occurs in the postpredicate position may occur in its long or short form. If two forms exist for that particular adjective, the long form is more descriptive.
Example Machi ul pakcha; ul tummadi.
‗The boy bought a big canoe.‘
The speaker of this example wishes you to realize that the canoe purchased was a big canoe. The emphasis is on the description of the canoe.
The short form of an adjective which has a longshort form is used to classify the noun it modifies. It gives a similar connotation as the English phrase,
―one of the items classified as the ____ big, fat, little, etc. ones.
‖
Example Machi ul pakcha; ul tummad.
‗The boy bought a canoe, one of the big ones.‘ The speaker of this example wishes you to realize that the canoe purchased was one of the big ones. The
emphasis is on the group to whichfrom which the object belongswas chosen. The difference in meaning between sentences using the long and short form of a certain adjective is very
slight; however, it is helpful to be aware of this shade of meaning.
Exercise 17
. Postpredicate position object expansion frame drill
The teacher says Sentence 1 and the student repeats it; the teacher says Sentence 2 and the student repeats it, etc. This exercise should be repeated several times.
238 Telling Stories
Example Teacher: Tad ul chobzha; ul toto.
Student: Tad ul chobzha; ul toto. 1. Tad ul chobzha; ul toto.
‗The elder made a small canoe.‘
2. Ome ob chus; ob chellele.
‗The woman fetched mature hard corn.‘
3. Achu chule kas; chule tadagwad.
‗The dog caught a huge paca.‘
4. Wag mas pakpi; mas kollo.
‗The outsider wants to buy ripe bananas.‘
5. Ome mol ukcha; mol kollogwad.
‗The woman sold a yellow blouse.‘
Exercise 18
. Postpredicate position object expansion substitution drill
The teacher gives the sentence and the student repeats it, expanding the object by using one of the suggested expansions.The teacher then repeats the correct answer using the chosen expansion.
Example Teacher: Tad ul pakcha.
Student: Tad ul pakcha; ul tummadi. Teacher: Tad ul pakcha; ul tummadi.
1. Tad ul pakcha. ‗The elder bought a canoe.‘
Expansion 1. tummad
‗big‘ 2. kinnid
‗red‘ 3. nued
‗good‘ 2. Machi ua makcha.
‗The boy speared fish.‘
Expansion 1. ukabo
‗two fish‘ 2. ichejul
‗a lot‘ 3. tummad
‗big‘ 3. Ome mol pakcha.
‗The woman bought cloth.‘
Expansion 1. kinnid
‗red‘ 2. tataragwa
‗thin‘ 3. nued
‗good‘ 4. Machi koe makcha.
‗The boy shot a deer.‘
Expansion 1. kallagwa
‗thin‘ 2. kwallu nikarba
‗very fat‘ 3. yeskwagwad
‗medium-sized‘ 5. Machi es periangus.
‗The boy lost the machete.‘
Expansion 1. chered
‗old‘ 2. nugal nikad
‗sharp‘ 3. iskujaled
‗broken‘
2 Element modified by two adjectives
In English, any noun may be modified by two adjectives. In Kuna, if an element is to be modified by two adjectives, both modifiers do not occur in the simple sentence see 17.4.1.2. The speaker must determine
which adjective is more important to him. The element and the less important adjective to which the appropriate suffix is attached are placed in the simple sentence. Then the element and the more important
adjective to which the appropriate suffix is attached are placed in the postverbal position, further modifying the element without information overload.
Examples 1. Sagla ul tummadgin nade; ul kinnidgin.
‗The chief went in a big red canoe.‘ The speaker chose to emphasize kinnid
‗red‘ rather than tummad ‗big‘. 2. Tad ul tummad pakcha; ul kinnid.
‗The elder bought a big red canoe.‘ 3. Tad ul tummad pakcha; ul kinnidi.
‗The elder bought a big canoe; a red one.‘
17.4 Grammar 239
Exercise 19 . Postpredicate position second adjective with element drill
The teacher says the sentence and the student repeats it, using a second adjective from the suggested ones in the list below in the postpredicate position.
Example
Teacher: Ul tummad noni. Student: Ul tummad noni; ul kinnidi.
Expansion
1. kinnid ‗red‘
2. chellele ‗hard‘
3. nued ‗good‘
Statement
1. Ul tummad noni. ‗A big canoe arrived.‘
2. Machi ob ichejul chus. ‗The boy fetched lots of corn.‘
3. Sagla kabaston chowid chobzha. ‗The chief made a long baton.‘
4. Ome mol toto makcha. ‗The woman made a small blouse.‘
5. Nap chunnad pistagin nai. ‗There is real soil on the airstrip.‘
In some cases, one or two adjectives are needed to specifically classify a generic term, thus in a sense, becoming part of the actual name of the element. In this case, the long form of the adjective is descriptive
and the short form is a classification of the object.
Example
1. achu ‗carnivorous animal‘
2. achu parpad ‗spotted carnivorous animal ocelot‘
3. achu parpad tummad ‗large spotted carnivorous animal either a jaguar or a big ocelot‘
Example 1. Machi achu parpad mecha; achu tummad.
‗The boy killed a jaguar class of animal.‘