Japanese

Romanization

iya

1. rōmaji reading of いや

Sranan Tongo

Interjection

iya

1. yes

Wauja

Verb

iya

1. (intransitive) he/she/it goes (somewhere, toward someone/something, or away from someone/something)

   Iyawi uleitaku wi.

   He went to [his] manioc gardens.

   Yeetsipikitsa wi, ja naatsa tipunu kamo han, iye waku wi.

   At dawn, when the tip of the sun appears over the horizon, [the two women] go to the river to bathe.

   Iyapai pausityu ou wi?

   He was going to get his porridge?

   Iyape papwinaku. Iyene, iye neke enikati yiu ... Paaa hamamakatapai ka! ... Iyehene.

   [The Caiman Spirit] is going to his home [returning to the deep water where he dwells]. He is going far out into the river, to its very center... Everything shakes [as he sinks into the water] ... [Then he] is gone.

   Ayiu, ju!

   "Let's go, dear!" [the elder one said to her sister].

   Hoona! Piyiu! uma pakai.

   All right! Go ahead! they said.

   Paa iya onubapai. InaPWIta iyaapa. Aintyehene.

   So he went to [have a] look. [But a] paca had arrived before him, [and] was [already] eating.

   Punupa kaliu, jawa, umapa pakai, punupa kaliu, jawa. Aitsa awojopai iyaapa, umapai. Aintyapai moma ha, amomala. Hain? uma pakai. #: Meeneke ya nunupawi, uma pakai. Iya paukula okaho. Yeekiyene wi.

   "Husband," they said, "there is something you must know. That no-good paca has been eating the calabashes, our calabashes." "Huh?" he said. "I'll see about that right away," he said. "[He] went to get his gun. [It] was dusk.

   Peyu, akaintyawi. Iyapa patukakalu ou wi.

   He stood up from his hammock and went right over to his sister's house.

   Ojonain kala — ka ka ra ku! umapai araukuma kityekojapai yiu. Ayiu yamukunaun, ayiu ayiu ayiu ayiu. Au!! Iyakona waku yi! Opukenejonaun wi.

   When the sun was here (well before dawn), and the cock crowed — ka ka ra ku! [he elders began to call the men from their hammocks]. "Let's go, children! Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go!" [The men whooped and called back from their houses.] So they all went to the river. The followers of the chief.

   Iyapai otebwo. Onubene oteboga akain!

   [They] went under [the tree]. They saw piqui fruit [on the ground] beneath [the tree]!

2. (transitive) he/she/it takes (someone or something)

   Iyakona apapa atai. UkuTAkona uku itsenu.

   They're going to take that beast. They're going to shoot him full of arrows.

   Katsa inyaun iyawi nuneetse?

   Who took my necklace?

   Iya opanupei yiu.

   He took her as his wife.

   Ninye numejopei.

   I will marry him [lit., take him as my husband].

3. (transitive) he/she/it approaches (someone or something in respect of some attribute)

   Nejo iya kala — laki-laki inakuapai yi, tya. Itse ipenuwaka kaliuno.

   [He] approached [the size of] that beast in the laki-laki. [He] was monstrous, enormous.

   [Comparing the size of the Caiman Spirit to that of a whale being cut up by arctic hunters, an image the Wauja had seen in a View-Master slide. The Wauja dubbed the View-Master device "laki-laki," in reference to the clicking sound it made.]

4. (transitive) he/she/it grasps, grabs, collects (someone or something)

   Hoona! Aaah ka iya ka papai itsei yiu.

   So! They began to collect firewood.

   Majoju, iya paukuliu. UkuTE iyaapiu.

   Suddenly he went for his gun. He was going to shoot the paca.

References

• Examples uttered by Aruta, storyteller and elder, and his son Peyeeto, as Aruta recounted the traditional tale, "The Caiman Spirit" (Yakaojokuma): "Iyawi uleitaku" (transcript p. 7), "Yeetsipikitsa wi" (p. 12), "Iyapai pausityu" (p. 21), "Iyape papwinaku" (p. 39) "Ayiu, ju!" (p. 40), "Hoona! Piyiu!" (p. 42), "Paa iya" (p. 43), "Punupa kaliu" (p. 44), "Peyu, akaintyawi" (p. 50), "Ojonain kala" (p. 55), "Iyapai otebwo" (p. 71), "Iyakona apapa atai" (p. 59), "Iya opanupei" (p. 5), "Nejo iya" (p. 18), "Hoona! Aaah" (p. 68), and "Majoju, iya" (p. 45). Recorded in Piyulaga village in the presence of assembled elders and others, November 1989.
• Other examples from E. Ireland field notes. Need to be checked by native speaker.