Mol pukwa. Positional verbs Ex. 4 –5

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. 24 ‗The baby is lying sleeping.‘

b. Mimmi kabzhi.

‗The baby is sitting in a chair sleeping.‘

c. Wag kabgwis.

25 ‗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. 24 b becomes m before m or n. For example, kab + -mai = kammai ‗is sleeping‘. 25 -gwis and -kwis are short forms of kwichi ‗to be standing‘.