Intonation patterns of questions and answers Ex. 4 –10

26 Conversational Replies Exercise 6 . YesNo question intonation pattern drill The teacher drills the class using Sentences 1 –5 below as yesno questions. Example Teacher: ¿Machi ob kunne? Student: ¿Machi ob kunne? 1. ¿Machi ob kunne? ‗Is the boy going to eat corn?‘ 2. ¿Machi mas chikne? ‗Is the boy going to cut plantains?‘ 3. ¿Machi immal amine? ‗Is the boy going to hunt something?‘ 4. ¿Machi ina komne? ‗Is the boy going to drink the medicine?‘ 5. ¿Machi ul chune? ‗Is the boy going to fetch the canoe?‘ Note : The lenis consonant b becomes m when it occurs before n Example kob + -ne = komne ‗going to drink‘ Exercise 7 . Statement intonation pattern drill The teacher drills the students using Sentences 1 –5 below as statements. Example Teacher: Machi ob kunne. Student: Machi ob kunne. 1. Machi ob kunne. ‗The boy is going to eat corn.‘ 2. Machi mas chikne. ‗The boy is going to cut plantains.‘ 3. Machi immal amine. ‗The boy is going to hunt something.‘ 4. Machi ina komne. ‗The boy is going to drink the medicine.‘ 5. Machi ul chune. ‗The boy is going to fetch the canoe.‘ Exercise 8 . Question and statement contrast The teacher says one of the sentences above. The student has to identify whether the teacher has uttered a question or a statement and writes ―question‖ or ―statement‖ on his answer sheet. Examples Teacher says: ¿Machi immal amine? Student writes: question Teacher says: Machi mas chikne. Student writes: statement If difficulty is experienced by the student in hearing the differences in the exercise, then the student should practice Exercise 9. Exercise 9 . Question and statement contrast The student should listen while the teacher repeats Sentences 1 –5 in Exercise 6 above. The teacher then inserts the following sentence between Sentences 4 and 5 as a statement A or as a question B. The student has to tell the teacher which has been used -- a question or a statement. The exercise should be repeated several times. A. Machi ua makne. ‗The boy is going to spear fish.‘ B. ¿Machi ua makne? ‗Is the boy going to spear fish?‘ Exercise 10 . Question and statement contrast Repeat Exercise 9 using the statements in Exercise 7. Again, the student needs to distinguish whether the statement A or the question B has been inserted. Note : After Exercises 9 and 10 are successfully completed, Exercise 8 should be repeated.

3.2.4 Pronunciation of consonants at the beginning of a word

At the beginning of a word, the difference between fortis and lenis disappears. For convenience we have written the consonants as p, t, k, ch, m, n, l, and s. 3.3 Culture 27 Examples 1. paba ‗father‘

2. tada

‗grandfatherelder‘

3. kobe

‗to drink‘

4. chobe

‗to make‘

5. sagla

‗chief‘

6. mama

‗manioc‘

7. nana

‗mother‘

8. lele

‗shaman uses black magic‘ Note : The lenis consonant r does not occur at the beginning of words.

3.2.5 Pronunciation of monosyllabic words Ex. 11

Monosyllabic words are words which have only one syllable. Kuna words which are made up of only one vowel and one consonant, or of only one vowel are pronounced by lengthening the vowel. When such monosyllabic words are said in isolation or at the end of a sentence, the tone slides down down glides. Examples 1. ti ‗water‘ 2. an ‗branch‘ 3. u ‗nest‘ Exercise 11 . Pronunciation of monosyllabic words The teacher says a word from the list below, and the student repeats the word after the teacher, mimicking as closely as possible the down glide in these monosyllabic words. Example Teacher: ti Student: ti 1. ti ‗water‘ 2. no ‗frog‘ 3. ka ‗hot peppers‘ 4. pe ‗you‘ 5. ku ‗louse‘ 6. ma ‗to peck‘ 7. ne ‗Go‘ 8. ni ‗moon‘ 9. po ‗to cry‘ 10. tu ‗species of armadillo‘ 11. a ‗that‘ 12. e ‗hisherits‘ 13. u ‗nest‘

3.3 Culture

When people first meet, there is usually an exchange of questions which helps the people become acquainted. Cultures differ as to the questions which may be politely asked in such a situation. Questions about where you have come from and where you are going are quite acceptable in Kuna. The question, ―When are you leaving?‖ is also often asked. That question does not have the same negative connotation it does in English, but rather implies the idea of, ―How long are you staying?‖ Questions concerning your parents, brothers and sisters, and wifehusband and children are bound to follow.