58 Positional Words
Examples Teacher: Chuli. An pinche chi.
Student: Chuli. An pinche chi. Teacher: Chuli. An pe aptaji.
Student: Chuli. An pe aptaji. 1. Chuli. An pinche chi.
‗Nothing. I‘m just sitting.‘ 2. Chuli. An pe aptaji.
‗Nothing. I‘m just waiting for you.‘ 3. Chuli. An pe taktani.
‗Nothing. I‘m just coming to visit you.‘ 4. Chuli. An ul obirne.
‗Nowhere. I‘m just going to take the canoe around to the other side of the peninsula.
‘ 5. Chuli. An kamne.
‗Nothing. I‘m just going to go to sleep.‘
6.3 Culture
Gestures and habits vary from culture to culture. It is important to identify with the culture you are studying by learning common gestures, such as the way the people point at things and the way they count on their fingers.
6.3.1 Pointing
Kuna people point at objects or people by facing the objectperson, giving a quick uplift of the chin in that direction, and raising the lower lip slightly.
6.3.2 Counting with fingers
The numbers 1 –5 are counted by holding the left hand, palm up. The right index finger is laid across the
successive fingers one at a time, starting with the little finger. The numbers 6
–10 are counted by holding the right hand palm down. The left thumb is laid across the successive fingers, starting with the thumb.
6.4 Grammar 59
Example Figure 1. Finger Counting
Count ―one‖
Count ―two‖
Count ―six‖
Count ―eight‖
6.4 Grammar
6.4.1 Positional verbs Ex. 4 –5
In EnglishSpanish it is relatively easy to talk about the general location or presence of a person or object by using the verb
‗to be‘ or estar.
Examples English
Spanish 1. The spear is on the floor.
El chuzo está en el piso. 2. The spear is against the wall.
El chuzo está recostado a la pared. 3. The basket is on the floor.
La canasta está en el piso.
You will note in the above examples that the same verb, is, is used throughout the English examples to refer to general location of the object. The verb está is used throughout the Spanish examples.
A Kuna speaker, however, must choose one from several positional verbs to refer to the general location and position of a person or object. The above EnglishSpanish examples require three different positional verbs to
be said in Kuna.
Examples
1. Eswal napkin
mai .
spear on-the-ground
is-lying ‗The spear is lying on the ground.‘
60 Positional Words
2. Eswal ilagin
kwichi .
spear on-the-wall
is-leaningstanding ‗The spear is leaning against the wall.‘
3. Karpa napkin
chi
. basket
on-the-ground is-sitting
‗The basket is sitting on the ground.‘ The general location of a personobject is always viewed in light of hisits position. There are five basic
potential positions —lying, sitting, hanging suspended, standing, and ―on all fours‖—each of which is
indicated by one of five
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positional verbs. When a Kuna speaks of the location of a personobject, he must choose the positional verb which, in his point of view, reflects the position of the personobject.
Examples 1. Aktigal mai.
‗The canoe pole is lying there.‘ 2. Nalas chi.
‗The orange is sitting there.‘ 3. Mol nai.
‗The blouse is hanging there.‘ 4. Eswal kwichi.
‗The spear is standing up there.‘ 5. Koe un.
‗The deer is on all fours there.‘ 6.4.1.1 Positional verbs with reference to objects
Various situations or objects indicate to a Kuna speaker the specific positional verb which ought to be used.
1 Mai
In general, the positional verb mai refers to objects which are
―lying down.‖ An object which occurs with
the verb mai is generally a long object. From the viewpoint of a Kuna speaker, a long object cannot generally be doubled bent into a sitting position. It is either mai
‗lying‘ or kwichi ‗standing‘. Examples
1. Eswal mai.
‗The spear is lying on the floor.‘
2. Aktigal mai.
‗The canoe pole is lying on the floor.‘
2 Chi
In general, the positional verb chi refers to objects which are
―sitting.‖ An object which occurs with the
verb chi is generally a squat object. The objects may be either large or small. Examples
1. Karpa chi.
‗The basket is sitting there.‘
2. Nalas chi.
‗The orange is sitting there.‘
3. Kan chi.
‗The bench is sitting there.‘
4. Pude chi.
‗The bottle is sitting there.‘
5. Esmed chi.
‗The pot is sitting there.‘
3 Nai
In general, the positional verb nai refers to objects which are
―hanging‖ or ―suspended.‖ Any object which is hung from rafters, as well as boats and planes which are viewed as being suspended presumably in
water or air occur with the positional verb nai.
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A sixth positional verb, ti, which involves motion, is dealt with in 18.4.2.
6.4 Grammar 61
Examples 1. Mol nai.
‗The clothes are hanging there.‘
2. Kachi nai.
‗The hammock is hanging there.‘
3. Kukualed nai.
‗The plane is suspended there.‘
4. Choul nai.
‗The boat is suspended there.‘
Another use of the positional verb nai is in the case of some items being left over out of a group. Examples
1. Nuzha ampa nai.
‗There are still some eggs left over.‘
2. Yannu ampa nai.
‗There are still some peccary left in the herd.‘
4 Kwichi
In general, the positional verb kwichi refers to objects which are standing upleaning against something. Nonrigid items cannot
―stand‖ and consequently never occur with the positional verb kwichi.
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Examples 1. Eswal kwichi.
‗The spear is standing there.‘
2. Pagla kwichi.
‗The main house pole is standing there.‘
5 Un
Un is used to describe something which is viewed as being
―on all fours.‖
Examples 1. Koe wegin un.
‗The deer is on all fours there.‘
2. Achu wegin un.
‗The dog is on all fours there.‘
6.4.1.2 Variation in choice of positional verbs Usually it is fairly easy to choose the correct positional verb as you view an object from a Kuna person
‘s point of view. Sometimes, however, the choice of position may vary according to the situation or to the viewpoint of
the speaker at the moment.
Examples 1. Mol nai.
‗The blouse is hanging there.‘
2. Mol mai.
‗The blouse is folded flat and lying there.‘
3. Mol chi.
‗The blouse is sitting there on a temporary basis.‘
4. Mol pukwa.
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‗The blouse is in a heap there.‘
6.4.1.3 Positional verbs with reference to people Although any of the positional verbs may be used on occasions with reference to people, the verbs mai and chi
are most commonly used.
1 Idiomatic use of maichi
In the Paya Kuna dialect,
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there is an idiomatic distinction made between the positional verb used to refer
to the physical presence location of a man versus that of a woman. The positional verb mai is almost always used to refer to the location of a man or a boy, and the positional verb chi is almost always used to
refer to the location of a woman or a girl.
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kwichi is actually a compound verb derived from kwi ‗to stand‘ + -s ‗completive‘ + chi ‗to sit‘. Note that s + ch becomes ch.
22
The plural of positional verbs is discussed in 13.4.3.2.
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The San Blas dialect uses mai for both male and female.
62 Positional Words
Examples 1. Tad mai.
‗The grandfather is at homepresent.‘
2. Machi mai.
‗The boy is at homepresent.‘
3. Mu chi.
‗The grandmother is at homepresent.‘
4. Pun chi.
‗The girl is at homepresent.‘ According to tradition, this distinction stems from the ancient times when a man always received guests
while lying in his hammock mai, while women were seated on benches chi to receive guests.
2 Position in focus with reference to people
Although by far the most common use of positional verbs for men and women is mai and chi, respectively, occasionally the situation demands that another one be used.
If, in the mind of the speaker, the position of the person is in focus, the construction parallels the SpanishEnglish construction lying, sitting, standingleaning, hangingsuspended, or
―on all fours.‖ It is helpful to be aware of some examples of situations in which a position is in focus and, consequently, a
positional verb other than maichi is used. Situation 1
A man has been sick and lying in his hammock for days. A visitor comes to call. The sick man is feeling a little better and is even sitting up on a bench. The fact that the man is sitting is very important to the
visitor because he had not expected that turn of events. The person responding to the visitor ‘s opening
remarks might say:
Tad chi. ‗The elder one is sitting.‘
Situation 2
A woman is very sick and lying in a hammock. The important information is that the woman is so sick she is lying down. Relatives may say to visitors:
Nan mai. ‗Mother is lying down.‘
3 Temporary presence
If the presence of a man is temporary, the positional verb chi may be used. Examples
1. Machi chi.
‗The boy is here temporarily.‘
2. An machered neggin chi.
‗My husband is temporarily in the house.‘
4 Positional verb mai referring to a person
‟s status
Mai
is used in speaking of a person ‘s status or position in the community. To form the status construction,
the suffix -ga is added to the status position. Examples
1. Pedro saglaga mai.
‗Peter is the chief.‘
2. Alvaro tummadga mai.
‗Alvaro is the leader.‘
5 Positional verb nai referring to allegiance
Nai is used to show allegiance of one person to another. The suffix -bal is added to the name of the person
to whom allegiance is shown.
Examples 1. Pedro anbal nai.
‗Peter is for me.‘
2. Juan, Luisbal nai.
‗John is for Louis.‘
6.4 Grammar 63
Exercise 4 . Idiomatic use of maichi drill
The teacher says one of the words in the following list. Using the word the teacher has said, the student completes a sentence with the idiomatic form of maichi.
Example Teacher: Ome
Student: Ome chi. 1. ome
‗woman‘ 2. pun
‗daughter‘ 3. machi
‗boy‘ 4. tad
‗elder‘ 5. Luis
‗Louis‘ 6. María
‗Mary‘
Exercise 5 . Positional verb viewpoint drill
If practical, the teacher should carry out the following drill. The purpose of the drill is to help the student learn how a Kuna would view the position of an object. The teacher points to an object. The student replies, inserting in the
frame below the positional nai, mai, chi, kwichi or un that a Kuna would use, viewing the object involved.
Example Teacher: points to a cord hanging down from the roof
Student: We, wegin nai. Frame
We, wegin ____.
‗That is lying, sitting, standing, hanging, on all fours over there.‘ Note
: Ten to fifteen items should be used, if possible. The drill should be repeated several times until the student is able to anticipate the Kuna viewpoint of an object
‘s position.
6.4.2 Present progressive tense-aspect Ex. 6 –9
When an event or action is viewed by the speaker as being in progress, the aspect of the verb is present progressive. The present progressive parallels the SpanishEnglish construction Estoy comiendo.
―I am eating.‖
In Kuna, the present progressive is formed by suffixing one of the positional verbs -mai, -chi, -nai, or -kwichi to the verb stem.
6.4.2.1 General use of the present progressive
In general, the positional verb used to form the present progressive reflects the position of the personthing doing the action.
Examples 1a. Mimmi kammai.
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‗The baby is lying sleeping.‘
b. Mimmi kabzhi.
‗The baby is sitting in a chair sleeping.‘
c. Wag kabgwis.
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‗The outsider is standingleaning against something sleeping.‘
2a. An mas kunchi.
‗I am sitting eating.‘
b. An mas kunkwis.
5
‗I am standing eating.‘
3. Kukualed kukunai.
‗The plane is suspended flying.‘
It is important to note that the present progressive suffix -chi, changes its form according to the final vowel or consonant of the verb stem:
-chi occurs following fortis consonants. -chi becomes -zhi following lenis consonants.
-chi becomes -ji following vowels.
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b becomes m before m or n. For example, kab + -mai = kammai
‗is sleeping‘.
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-gwis and -kwis are short forms of kwichi
‗to be standing‘.
64 Positional Words
Examples 1. An mas kunchi.
‗I am sitting eating.‘
2. An madun kobzhi.
‗I am sitting drinking.‘
3. An mas tuji.
‗I am sitting cooking.‘
6.4.2.2 Activepassive involvement in present progressive tense A Kuna speaker often makes a distinction between a person actively engaging in an action, versus someone who
is passively involved in an action. If the speaker is focusing on the idea that the person is actively or passively involved in an action, rather than on the action itself, the positional verbs nai and chi are used as present
progressive suffixes. The suffix -nai
‗hangingsuspended‘ is used to indicate that a person is actively involved in an action. The actor may be standing, sitting or lying, but he is actively involved.
Examples 1. An mol maknai.
‗I am actively sitting sewing a blouse.‘ 2. Machi karro nudanai.
‗The boy is actively lying down underneath fixing a car.‘ The present progressive tense suffix -chi is used if an actor is passively involved in an action, regardless of a
standing, sitting, or lying position. If, for example, a woman is standing passively watching food cook, but is not stirring it, or doing anything to the fire, a Kuna speaker would use the present progressive suffix
-chi-zhi-ji. Or, if a man is lying under a car, passively looking at it, but he is not actively involved in doing anything, the present progressive suffix -chi-zhi-ji could be used.
Examples 1. Ome mas tuji.
‗The woman is passively possibly standing cooking food.‘ 2. Tule karro takchi.
‗The man is passively possibly lying underneath looking at a car.‘ 3. An aros takchi.
‗I am passively possibly standing looking at the rice.‘ 6.4.2.3 Temporary action sense of -gwis-kwis
The temporary nature of an action in progress can be indicated by using -gwis-kwis in a secondary sense. In this case the suffix -gwis-kwis
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is added to the short form of the verb stem.
Examples 1. An nuskan takkwis.
‗I am looking after the children for the moment.‘ 2. An itigin meggwis.
‗I am living here temporarily.‘
Exercise 6 . Present progressive aspect 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 ua kunnai. Student: An ua kunnai.
1. An ua kunnai. ‗I‘m eating fish.‘
2. An ua maknai. ‗I‘m spearing fish.‘
3. An ua chwanai. ‗I‘m catching fish.‘
4. An karta takchi. ‗I‘m just sitting looking atreading a letter.‘
5. An karta nermaji. ‗I‘m just sitting writing a letter.‘
6. Machi kammai. ‗The boy lies sleeping.‘
7. Machi atamai. ‗The boy lies awake.‘
8. Machi ullukumai. ‗The boy lies resting.‘
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purkwis ‗died‘ and nakwis ‗to ascendgo up‘ are not derived in this way.
