akamapai

Wauja

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈka.ma.paɪ/

Verb

akamapai

1. (intransitive) he/she/it dies (ceases to live)

   Akamapai, aitsa neke amunauntapai. Inyaun opalutsato, kehoto wekehopei. Naatsa weke otainyaun, punuba inyaun akamawamiu, amunaun akama wamiu, punuba otain, iya kehoto wekehopei. Itsatai.

   [If a chief's sons are still children when] he dies, they are not yet made chief. The co-chief [the partner of the late principal chief] becomes principal chief. After the children of the first chief are grown, you see, the co-chief also [eventually] will die, and so then the grown sons of the first chief will become chief. That's how it is.

   Aminya pakulukata. Akama yajo wiu. Aitsa minya kutowa.

   Don't worry. It's really dead [lit., it really died]. It won't wake up.

   [Said of a piranha just caught and clubbed, lying at our feet in the canoe.]

2. (intransitive) he/she/it weakens (is sick, ill, unwell)

   Nakamapai. Kaupai notowonaku, kaupai nipinyunaku, nukahopai atai.

   I'm feeling sick. I have a headache, a sore throat, and a fever.

   Nakamapai yiu. Patokene natu wi!

   I'm dying in here. You [must] dig me out now!

   [From a tradtional story in which a woman is buried alive and then rescued].

3. (intransitive) he/she/it passes out (becomes unconscious)

   Yakapa tuukawiu hooka, akamawiu. Onupa apapa atai, inyankawi.

   The shaman smoked tobacco until he passed out. He saw spirits, and told [us] about it.

References

• "Akamapai, aitsa neke" uttered by Aruta, storyteller and elder, recounting Wauja history in the presence of his son and nephew. Recorded in Piyulaga village by E. Ireland, 4/25/96, transcript page 26.
• "Nakamapai yiu" uttered by Itsautaku, storyteller and elder, recounting the traditional Wauja tale of the "Man Who Drowned in Honey," in the presence of his adolescent son Mayuri, adult daughter Mukura, and others. Recorded in Piyulaga village by E. Ireland, December 1989, transcript p. 13.