UNIT 1: ɯ̀r "Spring" Lesson 2: Utis De'ŋ

UNIT 1: ɯ̀r “Spring”

Lesson 2: “Ap Utis De’ŋ”

Aim: By the end of the lesson students should be able to produce interrogative bitse/besa/bilaŋsaŋ with demonstrative and possessive pronouns to ask about and introduce family members.

Story: After introducing himself, your new friend Dahaniŋ introduces the different members of his family.  He has a wife, a daughter, a baby son, and a dog.

U:: Tune de'ŋ bilaŋsaŋ?

Dahaniŋ: Bu:ŋ ap de'ŋ.  Kire ap qi:m haj ap hɯ'p.  Ap Qimdi i: Kətdum.  Ap hɯbda i: Dumil.

U:: Ture qimdɯl besa?

Dahaniŋ: Bu: ap huˀn.  Bud i: Liblja.

(a dog shows up)

U:: Ti:v-o!*  Kir uk ti:p?

Dahaniŋ: E', tur ap ti:p.  Bud i: Imtis.

*Note /p/à [v] shift between vowels

Another important note: Although I use traditional Ket names here, this practice has ceased among the modern Ket.  Ket children these days have Russian names, and only the oldest generation continues to have Ket names.  Also, here I have one conversant talking directly to the dog (“tiv-o!”).  We’re not sure if this was done in traditional Ket culture in the same way that it’s done in ours.

Grammar

1.      PLURALS IN KET: Most plurals in Ket are made by adding -ŋ (inanimate) or -n (animate) to the end of a noun.  A lot of irregulars exist, for example ke't>de'ŋ "person>people" or bu:>bu:ŋ "s/he>they".  If a noun's plural is irregular, it will be included in the vocabulary entry for easy reference.

2.      GENITIVE CASE: In Ket, we can make a construction roughly equivalent to English “-‘s” by adding da/di/na to, respectively, masculine, feminine/neuter, and animate plural nouns.  In the example above we see ap qimdi i: “my wife’s name” and ap hɯbda i: “my son’s name”.

3.      GENDER IN KET: Ket has three grammatical genders which determine how it is used in a sentence: masculine, feminine, and neuter.  Often feminine and neuter nouns are inflected the same way, but not always, so it's important to double-check.  Ket has no way of telling from the sound of a word if it is masculine or feminine, so we just have to memorize.  A good rule of thumb is: trees and economically important animals are masculine.  Rivers and economically unimportant animals are feminine.  Most other inanimate objects are neuter.  If a noun's gender cannot be discerned using the above rule, the gender is included in the vocabulary entry.

Masculine	Feminine/Neuter	Plural	English
Bitse?	Besa?	Bilaŋsaŋ?	Who?
Kir	Kire	Kine	This/these
Tur	Ture	Tune	That/those (nearby)
Qar	Qare	Qane	That/those (distant)

Vocabulary

Nouns Pertaining to Family (Note: Ket familial terms are extremely intricate, with lots of synonyms.  These are just the most common words for members of the immediate family.)
Ke’t	English
De'ŋ	People (ap de'ŋ “my people” used to mean “my family”).  Plural of ke’t “person, man”
Utis de'ŋ	Family; literally “nearby people”
Adeŋ	Relatives, family (literally “bones”)
Qi:m	Woman, wife, female (for people)
Hi’g	Male (for people)
Te:t	Husband
Dɯ:l (pl. kәˀd)	Child.  Therefore, qimdɯ:l “girl” or higdɯ:l “boy”
Ti:p (pl. ta:p)	Dog
O:p	Father, dad
A:m	Mother, mom
Ovaŋ	Parents (emphasis on Dad)
Aman	Parents (emphasis on Mom)
Bisep	Sibling (prefix hi’g or qi:m).  To emphasize a full, rather than half, sibling, preface with aŋ “hot”, e.g. aŋ higbisep “full brother”
Qi:b	Grandpa
Qima	Grandma
Ket Names
Dahaniŋ (m)	King Eagle, Golden Eagle
Kətdum (f)	Winter bird
Dumil (m)	Birdsong
Liblja	Ruff (bird)
Imtis (dog’s name)	Pebble

Exercise

Translate:

1.      Tur bitse? ____________________________

2.      Kire besa? ______________________________

3.      Kine bilaŋsaŋ? _____________________________

4.      Ap i: Kətdum.  Bud i: Dahaniŋ.  Bu: ap te:t. _________________________________________

5.      Buŋna tipda i: Imtis.  Imtis aqta ti:p! ___________________________________________

6.      Kire uk utis de'ŋna qu’s? ______________________________________________

7.      Bә:n, kire ap bәjda qu’s. _____________________________________________

8.      Tur higdɯ:lda i: bila? ________________________________________________

9.      Bu:ŋ ap ovaŋ. ____________________________________________

10.  Kire kәˀdna je’ŋ Kətdum haj Dumil. _____________________________________

Write a short passage introducing your family.