Pan an ne. ‗I am going tomorrow.‘
148 Event Time-Communication
Example Teacher: An sae wag takcha.
Teacher: achul Student: An achul wag takne.
Frame
An ____ wag takcha. ‗I saw the outsider ____.‘
An ____ wag takne. ‗I am going to see the outsider ____.‘
1. sae ‗yesterday‘
2. asto ‗day before yesterday‘
3. akpene ‗long ago‘
4. achul ‗day after tomorrow‘
5. kujal ‗later‘
6. pan ‗tomorrow‘
7. immis ‗now referring to past or future‘
c Time expressions at the end of a sentence Occasionally a time expression occurs at the end of a sentence in the postpredicate position see 17.4 The
time expression in this position is being emphasized by the speaker.
Example Machi nakwal ua makne, pane.
‗The boy is going to spear fish upriver tomorrow.‘ 12.4.1.2 Relating an event to another event Ex. 12
–26 As indicated see 7.4.1.4, the time of an event may be referred to by an exact time, for example, wachilbo
‗two o
‘clock‘. It may also be referred to by using an adverb of time, sae ‗yesterday‘, or a complex time word ibabakegus
‗four days ago‘ see 7.4.1.4. Another way of referring to the time of an event Event A is by referring to the time of another event Event B, that is known to the listener. That other event Event B, may
be referred to by use of a time-reference suffix or time conjunction, or by means of prior condition suffixes.
1 Time-reference suffix
The time-reference suffix is used to relate the time of one event which happened in the past to the time of another.
For instance, the listener knows the time at which Event B took place. He does not know the time at which Event A occurred. By telling the listener that,
―at the same time as Event B took place, Event A also took place,
‖ the speaker may establish the time of Event A. Relating the times of past events parallels the English construction,
―at the time thatwhen....‖
The speaker may refer to the time of Event A either by adding the time-reference suffix -un to the verb of Event B; by use of the time-reference conjunction teun
‗at the time that all that happened‘, which refers to the series of actions that together comprise Event B see 7.4.1.1 by the use of the time-reference suffix
-tu-du ‗before‘; or by use of a time-reference conjunction cholbal ‗after‘ or iktual ‗before‘.
a Time-reference suffix -un ‗at the time when‘
The speaker may refer to Event B with a short phrase such as, ‗the house burned‘, and then add the suffix
-un
60
to the verb in order to say,
‗at the time when the house burned‘. Examples
1. An neg kummajun
61
an mani pega ukcha.
‗At the time that I burned my fields, I gave you the money.‘
2. An mol makchaun tub kinnid periangus.
‗At the time that she was sewing a blouse, she lost her
thread.‘
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The time-reference suffix -un is followed by a pause before the utterance is continued. Because the pause is intrinsic in the suffix -un punctuation by a comma is not necessary.
61
The completed aspect -s becomes -j before the suffix -un.
12.4 Grammar 149
Exercise 12 . Time-reference suffix frame drill
The teacher says Sentence 1 and the student repeats it; the teacher says Sentence 2 and the student repeats it, and on through the following sentences through Sentence 5. This exercise should be repeated several times.
Example
Teacher: An neg kummajun machi anka chogzha. Student: An neg kummajun machi anka chogzha.
1. An neg kummajun machi anka chogzha. ‗At the time that I burned the field, the boy told me.‘
2. An nugal unkenaiun machi anka chogzha. ‗At the time that I pulled teeth, the boy told me.‘
3. An mas kuchaun machi anka chogzha. ‗At the time that I ate, the boy told me.‘
4. An karpa chobzhaun machi anka chogzha. ‗At the time that I made the basket, the boy told me.‘
5. An maiun machi anka chogzha. ‗At the time that I was at home, the boy told me.‘
Exercise 13 . Time-reference suffix drill
The teacher says the sentence. The student changes the sentence by adding the time-reference suffix -un to the verb and adding, An nad.
‗I went.‘ This exercise should be repeated several times.
Example Teacher: Machi mas kucha.
Student: Machi mas kuchaun an nad. 1. Machi mas kucha.
‗The boy ate the food.‘ 2. Ome mol makcha.
‗The woman sewed the blouse.‘ 3. Machi tulub pakcha.
‗The boy bought the lobster.‘ 4. Machi ul chobzha.
‗The boy made the canoe.‘ 5. Wag kallin pakcha.
‗The outsider bought the chicken.‘
Exercise 14
. Time-reference suffix drill
Repeat Exercise 14 with the student providing an appropriate main clause, that is instead of the An nad.
‗I went.
‘ suggested in the above exercise. b Time-reference conjunction teun
‗at the time when that was happening‘
The times of contemporary events may be related by the use of the time-reference conjunction teun
‗at the time all that happened
‘. Teun is a compound word comprised of the back reference te ‗all of that‘ and -un ‗at the time that‘. Teun basically sums up all the isolated incidents of Event B. That is to say, often the
speaker wants to give several pieces of information about Event B in a series of sentences. The speaker may then summarize all the events relating to Event B with the back reference te
‗all of that‘ and add the
suffix -un to form the time-reference conjunction teun
‗at the time all that was happening‘.
Example Teun an chule takcha.
‗At the time when all that was happening, I saw a paca.‘ The following examples will help clarify the use of teun.
Examples
The man saw a paca at the time when he was planting rice. The speaker could summarize Event B by, ‗I was
planting rice ‘,
1a. An aros tignaiun an chule takcha. ‗At the time when I was planting rice, I saw a paca.‘
Or the speaker could give several parts to Event B and then summarize them by using the time-reference conjunction teun.
b. An aros ya chenai.
‗I was making holes for the rice.‘ c.
Nuskandin aka todonai. ‗The children were playing around.‘
d. An omedin
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aros tignai. ‗My wife was planting the rice.‘
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For a discussion of an as a possessive pronoun, see Lesson 13.4.2.1.
150 Event Time-Communication
e. Teun
an chule takcha.
‗At the time when all of that was going on, I saw the
paca.‘ The lady lost her thread when she was sewing. The speaker could summarize Event B with
‗I was sewing‘,
2a. An mol maktiun an tub periangus ‗At the time when I was sewing, I lost my thread.‘
or the speaker could tell several things that were happening in connection with Event B, and then summarize all those happenings with the time-reference conjunction teun.
b. An mol makchi.
‗I was sewing a mola.‘ c.
An omeganbak chunmanai. ‗I was talking with the women.‘
d. Nuskandin aka todonai.
‗The children were playing around.‘ e.
Teun
an tub periangus.
‗At the time when all that was going on, I lost the
thread.‘ When the people were running back and forth trying to rescue things from the burning house, the man lost his
keys from his pocket. The speaker could summarize Event B with ‗The house was burning.‘,
3a. Neg kummajun an yabe periangus. ‗At the time when the house was burning, I lost my
keys.‘ or the speaker could mention several things that were going on in connection with Event B, and summarize
them with the conjunction teun.
b. Mu neg kummas.
‗Grandma‘s house was burning.‘ c.
An abarmanai. ‗I was running.‘
d. Immal oninai.
‗I was rescuing things.‘ e.
Teun an yabe periangus.
‗At the time all that was going on, I lost my keys.‘
An outsider stole a canoe while the Kunas were in a meeting. The speaker could summarize Event B with ‗We
were all in a meeting. ‘,
4a. Anmal ormanaiun wag ul aturchas. ‗At the time that we were all in a meeting, the
outsider stole a canoe.‘ or the speaker could mention several things that were going on in connection with Event B, and summarize the
whole event with the conjunction teun.
b. Ormaked neggin pukwamal.
‗Everybody was in the meeting house.‘ c.
Pel pukwamal. ‗Everybody was there.‘
d. Sagla chunmanai.
‗The chief was speaking.‘ e.
Pel itomala. ‗Everybody was listening.‘
f.
Teun
wag ul aturchas.
‗At the time when all that was going on, the outsider
stole the canoe.‘ The lady saw a boa while she was in her house. The speaker could summarize Event B
with ‗I was at home.‘,
5a. An neggin chiun apa takcha. ‗At the time when I was at home, I saw a boa.‘
or the speaker could mention several things that were were going on in connection with Event B, and summarize it all with the conjunction teun.
b. An neggin chi.
‗I was at home.‘ c.
An mas tunai. ‗I was cooking food.‘
d. Nuskan aka todonai.
‗The children were playing about.‘ e.
An machered karpa chomnai. ‗My husband was making a basket.‘
f. Pun tummad upchan purenai.
‗My oldest daughter was spinning cotton.‘ g.
Teun an apa takcha.
‗At the time all that was going on, I saw a boa.‘
Exercise 15
. Paragraph intonation drill
The teacher reads Examples 1b-e, 2b-e, 3b-e, 4b-f, and 5b-g above. The student must pay special attention to the intonation patterns of the paragraphs.
12.4 Grammar 151
c Time-reference suffix -du-tu ‗before‘ and cholbal ‗after‘
The time one event happenedwill happen may be established by saying that it happened beforeafter some other known event. This is achieved by adding the suffix -tu-du
‗before‘ to the verb or by adding the
word cholbal ‗after‘ following the verb. This construction functions in the same way as -un ‗at the time
that ‘ see 12.4.1.2.1-a.
Examples 1. An yo mas kunneddu, sagla noni.
‗I had not yet eaten whenbefore the chief arrived.‘ 2. An mas kunchad cholbal, sagla noni.
‗After I had eaten, the chief arrived.‘
If the two events differ only as to who is involved, but the actions are the same, then reference is made by adding -du-tu
‗before‘ or cholbal ‗after‘ to the people doing the action. Examples