Pronunciation: Tracking and Mimicry Ex. 1 –3

104 Basic HealthMedical Discussion People who are very ill remain in their hammocks. Generally speaking, the wife or the mother of the sick person caters to hisher needs. Should both adults of a household be sick, the female children may help with their care. Mothers of the sick people also help. If neither adult has parents, and the children are unable to help, the responsibility does not naturally rest on any nonfamily member. Medicine is usually dispensed by an ina tule ‗medicine manshaman‘ who uses a variety of jungle herbs in conjunction with chants, burning incense, and sometimes wooden dolls to treat illnesses. The ina tule never uses his skills to cause illness or death. If there is no ina tule and one of the family members knows the appropriate jungle herb, he may administer it. Medicine is considered to fall into three categories of strength: 1 the least potent, a poultice or ointment for external use, 2 the next most effective, a potion to be ingested, and 3 the most potent, a solution in which to bathe. The sick may eatdrink what they prefer. If a food produces a bitter taste, it is considered contraindicated for the sick person during that particular disease. With certain herbal medicines, the patient may not eat or drink certain things; with others, he cannot bathe. When a Kuna receives medicine from an outsider he will often ask, ―May I eatdrinkbathe when I take this? ‖ As barriers of communication and geography are broken down by means of radio and airplane, Kuna people are becoming more exposed to western medicine and medical facilities. In Panama today, many Kuna villages have small government-run clinics administered by trained local often Kuna medical auxiliaries. Serious cases may be flown to the provincial capitals or Panama City in government or commercial planes.

9.4 Grammar

Adjectives Adjectives in Kuna, as in Spanish and English, are modifiers of a person or object and are used in conjunction with the noun in order to describe it more fully. Most Kuna adjectives are part of a noun phrase and convey a concept similar to the EnglishSpanish adjectival concept. Since some aspects of negation of adjectives and of Kuna color are unique, they are described apart from the general discussion on adjectives. The formation of attributive and existence sentences is also unique.

9.4.1 Word order of a noun phrase Ex. 4 –5

A noun phrase may consist of a noun, adjective and suffix, or of a noun modifying another noun.

9.4.1.1 Position of adjective in noun phrase

In Kuna, unlike English, the adjective is placed after the noun. Example Karpa tummad chi. ‗A large basket is sitting there.‘ 9.4.1.2 Position of suffixes Up to this point, suffixes which are used in conjunction with a noun have always been attached to the noun. Examples 1. neggin ‗in the house‘ 2. ulgin ‗in the canoe‘ 3. ¿Masde, igi mani? ‗The plantains, how much are they?‘ However, when the noun is modified by an adjective e.g., ‗small‘, ‗red‘, the noun plus the adjective is considered as one unit a noun phrase in Kuna, and the suffix is added to the end of the noun phrase: noun + adjective + suffix. Examples 1. neg totogin ‗in the little house‘ 2. ul tummadgin ‗in the big canoe‘