Extended use of -gad-kad -gad-kad is used in the sense of

162 Communicating Community Togetherness 3. pab ‗father‘ 4. machi ‗boy‘ Questions 1. ¿Achude, toagadi? ‗To whom does the dog belong?‘ 2. ¿Ozhide, toagadi? ‗To whom does the pineapple belong?‘ 3. ¿Sapatte, toagadi? ‗To whom does the shoe belong?‘ 4. ¿Esmedde, toagadi? ‗To whom does the pot belong?‘ 5. ¿Negde, toagadi? ‗To whom does the house belong?‘ Exercise 5 . -gad-kad drill The teacher asks the question and the student answers, selecting an answer from the list below. Example Teacher: ¿Toagad kallin wakis? Student: Nangad. Answers 1. pe ‗you‘ 2. tad ‗elder‘ 3. nan ‗mother‘ 4. pun ‗girl‘ Questions 1. ¿Toagad kallin wakis? ‗Whose chicken disappeared?‘ 2. ¿Toagad ul cheles? ‗Whose canoe washed away?‘ 3. ¿Toagad akan wegin kwichi? ‗Whose axe is standing over there?‘ 4. ¿Toagad mol enukchales? ‗Whose clothes were washed?‘ 5. ¿Toagad esmed, itide? ‗Whose pot is this?‘

13.4.3 Concept of pluralization Ex. 6 –18

In Kuna, there is not necessarily anything in a noun or in most verbs which would tell you whether it is singular or plural. Generally speaking, you understand that a nounverb is singular or plural from the context of the sentence or from the situation. In the case of nouns, however, there are two suffixes, -gana-kana and -mala, which are added in certain situations to indicate that the speaker is referring to more than one individual. Positional verbs have a plural form and the suffix -mala may be added to a verb to indicate that ―everyone‖ is included in an action.

13.4.3.1 Inclusion markers

There are two suffixes in Kuna which are used to indicate that various individual nouns are being associated. The suffix -gana-kan is used for a class of nouns, whereas -mal tends to parallel the English construction ―a group of.... ‖ 1 Status class marker - gana-kana 65 Several individuals who have reached a certain status in life or degree of accomplishment may be classified by the addition of the suffix -gana-kana to the noun which refers to the status of the individual person. The status class marker -gan-kan refers almost exclusively to people. 66 Only certain words which refer to people may be used with the suffix -gan-kan. See the list below. 65 -gana follows lenis consonants and vowels. -kana follows fortis consonants. 66 See 13.4.3.1 –7. 13.4 Grammar 163 The use of -gan-kan does not parallel the use of the English plural. It is closer to the English construction ―a class of ...‖ because of the manner in which it refers only to a general class of people who have achieved a certain social prestige in Kuna society. The English example of the difference between ―women‖ and ―THE women‖ may help to make the use of -gan-kan clear. ―Women‖ refers to all women, whereas ―THE women‖ refers to a special class of women who may be singled out for their particular specialty or social status. ―THE women‖ closely parallels the Kuna construction formed by the use of -gan-kan. Examples 1. omegan ‗women‘ Omegan are all the women who have reached the stage or class where they are considered ―women‖.

2. tulegan

‗peopleKuna who have a specialty‘ Tulegan is not used to include all Kuna people. It is used only to refer to those who are recognized as having sufficient knowledge in a field to be considered experts. They are generally accepted as being proficient in one or more areas: medicine, history, culture, music, etc. People who are literate and write letters on their own account would not be considered ―tulegana.‖ Those who read letters to, or write letters for the town would be considered ―tulegana.‖ An interesting use of the status class marker -gan-kan is with the word tol ‗inhabitant‘. The word tolgan ‗inhabitants‘ may be added to the name of a town to indicate that these people have the status of being inhabitants of the town. Example Pay tolgan ‗inhabitants of Paya‘ a Words that take -gan-gana 1. tule tulegan ‗peopleKunas who have a speciality‘ 2. tol tolgan ‗inhabitants‘ 3. tummad tummagan 67 ‗chiefs, important ones‘ 4. tad tadgan ‗eldersforefathers‘ 5. cheled chelegan ‗old experienced menlit.: old ones‘ 6. mu mugan ‗matronsold respected women‘ 7. machered machergan ‗men‘ 8. pab pabgan ‗parents of one particular child‘ 9. ome omegan ‗women‘ 10. nan nangan ‗mothersparents‘ 11. nuchu nuskan ‗children‘ 12. purwi 68 purwigan ‗little ones children‘ 13. wagwa wagwagan ‗grandchildrendescendants‘ b Words that cannot take -gan-gana 1. machi 69 ‗boyyoung manson‘ 2. puna ‗girlyoung womandaughter‘ 3. waga ‗outsider‘ 67 Memorize these irregular forms of the -kan-kana constructions also . 68 purwi ‗a very small object‘ always uses the suffix -gan-gana when it refers to children. 69 The forms machigan ‗young man‘ and punagan ‗young woman‘ are no longer in use; however, occasionally the long forms machigana ‗young men‘ and punagana ‗young women‘ are heard at town meetings. They are used to give instructions to those who are at the stage of being youths e.g., Machigana chogo . ‗Instruct the young men.‘ also .