Conversation Listing Pronunciation and Intonation Ex. 1 –4

46 Trade Language Exercise 3 . Listing intonation pattern The teacher says Sentence 1 and the class hums the intonation; the teacher says Sentence 2 and the class hums the intonation, etc. This exercise should be repeated several times. 1. Mola, ezha, palu; tegine akwati. ‗Cloth, machetes, salt; and kerosene.‘ 2. Ogoba, mama, aswe; tegine mazhi, oba, wawadun. ‗Coconuts, manioc, avocados; plantains, corn and bananas.‘ 3. Pedro, Luis, Ricardo; tegine Alberto, Toni, Ilberto. ‗Peter, Louis, Richard; Albert, Tony and Gilbert.‘ 4. Koe, yannu, chule; tegine chigli, kwama, nalu. ‗Deer, peccary and paca; turkey, pheasant, and macaw parrot.‘ 5. Kwinub, tiur, arki; tegine tola, puga, chwegob. ‗Sabalo, sabaletta, huacuco, catfish all are species of fish .‘ Exercise 4 . Listing pronunciation drill Mimic the teacher as he repeats Sentences 1 –5 of Exercise 3 above. You should take care to maintain rhythm and pitch as you formulate the sounds of the words. Try not to distort the intonation pattern.

5.3 Culture

Kunas are vitally interested in buying and selling. Bargaining does not play a big role in the culture. Most things have a ―going price.‖ They often want to know the cost of your possessions and it is quite acceptable to discuss prices freely. The outsider is expected to remember what he paid for the clothes he is wearing or any of his tools or equipment. However, it is also acceptable not to know the cash value of gifts you have received. Sometimes Kunas do not like for you to disclose the price of something they have sold to you. When others ask the price you gave for an item you bought in the village you may refer them to the seller. If nobody in the present company knows the person who sold you the item, you may disclose the price, but not the name of the person from whom you bought it. If Kunas are buying or selling small items e.g., fish hooks, buttons the items are usually counted in groups of fives.

5.4 Grammar

5.4.1 Numbers Ex. 5 –15

The numeral system in Kuna is complex. The numbers themselves are not difficult, but the system of prefixes is difficult to control.

5.4.3.3 Basic number stem

The basic number stems of Kuna are used in counting items in much the same way as items are counted in Spanish and English. The stems, however, are never used by themselves; they always occur with a prefix see 5.4.1.3. It is important to memorize the basic number stems. 1. -gwenna ‗one‘ 2. -bo ‗two‘ 3. -pá ‗three‘ 4. -bake ‗four‘ 5. -atale ‗five‘ 6. -nerkwa ‗six‘ 7. -kugle ‗seven‘ 8. -pabake ‗eight‘ 5.4 Grammar 47 9. -bakebake ‗nine‘ 10. -ambe ‗ten‘ 11. -tula- ‗twenty‘

5.4.1.2 Word order of the number phrase

Unlike English or Spanish, the numeral in Kuna is used after the noun: noun + prefix + number stem. Example nuzha + kwa- + -bake = nuzha kwabake ‗four eggs‘

5.4.1.3 Numeral prefixes

In Kuna, you must use one of the many numeral prefixes with the number stem. These prefixes are divided into four main groups according to how a Kuna perceives the item he is counting, or according to the complexity of the number: 1. Group I Shape of object prefixes 2. Group II Complex number-building prefixes 3. Group III Measurement-related prefixes 4. Group IV Time-related prefixes In this lesson, Group I and Group II prefixes are discussed; Group III and Group IV prefixes are discussed in Lesson VII. 1 Group I. Shape of object prefixes When a speaker describes a single object he uses a prefix which reflects the speaker ‘s view of the shape of that object. There are several such shape prefixes. a Ka- Ka - is the most general of the number prefixes based on the shape of an object. It is usually used for longish, non-flat objects such as leaves mango, plantain, etc., canoe poles, needles for sewing and injections, and a stack of dollar bills see 7.4.1.3. Ka - is also used in cases in which no other shape distinction seems to fit. A tip for language learners is: When in doubt, try ka-, it just may work Examples

1. es kapá

‗three machetes‘

2. aktigal kabo

‗two canoe poles‘

3. tagar kabo

‗two wild banana leaves‘

4. iko kapá

‗three needles‘

5. karta kabo

‗two dollar bills‘

6. nalas kagan kabo

‗two orange leaves‘ b Wala-wal- 18 Wala -wal- is used in describing people and animals and anything which transports people such as cars, planes, and boats. It is used for such elongated objects as plantain, manioc, and jungle ice cream guava. It is also used for any long, thin pole from which the branches have been removed such as house poles, logs and in counting spirit beings and God. 18 Actually, several of the terms which are treated here as shape prefixes can occur alone as noun stems or in compound forms with other noun roots. For example, wala-wal- occurs with ezhaes ‗ironmachete‘ in eswal ‗spear‘ When it occurs alone, walawal means ‗poletrunkmain river‘.