Mingo Mini-Lesson (5)


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Lost Arrow :: Part I, Sentence 1

Ne' ne haya'tí haksa'aa hanôkek ne kanöhsa'ôwe kahatakô.
There was a little boy who lived all alone in a house in the forest.


kahatakô  ::  in the forest

The word kahatakô means "in the forest, in the woods".  The basic word for a forest is kaháta'.  The ending -kô conveys the idea of being inside, within, or enclosed by some space.  If we compare kaháta' and kahatakô, we can notice an important pronunciation pattern in Mingo.  Note that the middle -a- in kaháta' is long (-á-), but that in kahatakô the same vowel is short.  This alternation between long and short vowels in related sets of words is due to the general rhythmic pattern that words have in Mingo. There are rules we can learn for when to make the vowels long, and when to keep them short, but for now it is best to simply learn the words themselves and not worry about the rules until later.


Summary of New Vocabulary for Lost Arrow, Part I Sentence 1

ê'  --  yes
haksa'aa  --  he's a boy; a boy
hanôkek  --  he lived (in a place)
hanôke'  --  he lives (in a place)
haya'tí  --  he's alone, he's by himself
hë'ë  --  no
hökwe'ôwe  --  he's native, he's an Indian; a Native man, an Indian man
kaháta'  --  forest
kahatakô  --  in the forest
kaksa'aa  --  it's a child; a child
kanöhsa'  --  temporary hunting lodge
kanöhsa'ôwe  --  native-style house
kanöhsút  --  house
kaya'tí  --  it's alone, it's by itself (ref. to an animal)
káwé?  --  where?
keksa'aa  --  I'm a child knôkek  --  I lived (in a place)
knôke'  --  I live (in a place)
kökwe'ôwe  --  I'm Native, I'm an Indian
kya'tí  --  I'm alone, I'm by myself
ne  --  phrase marker particle
ne'  --  clause marker particle
ökwe'ôwe  --  Native person, Indian person
seksa'aa  --  you're a child
snôkek  --  you lived (in a place)
snôke'  --  you live (in a place)
sökwe'ôwe  --  you're Native, you're an Indian
sya'tí  --  you're alone, you're by yourself
thë'ë  --  no
túkës  --  yes
yakökwe'ôwe  --  she's Native, she's an Indian
yeksa'aa  --  she's a girl; a girl
yenôkek  --  she lived (in a place)
yenôke'  --  she lives (in a place)
yeya'tí  --  she's alone, she's by herself


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