ogatakoja

Wauja

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɨ.ɰaˈta.kɨ.ʐa/

Noun

ogatakoja

1. language (the system of verbal communication used by a particular community)

   Iyapai wauja ogatakoja.

   [She] speaks [the] Wauja language.

2. speech, talk, rumor

   Kamani pakakapai ogatakojainyalun? Aminya pakaka.

   Why do you believe gossip [lit., worthless talk]? Don't pay attention [to it].

   Aitsa minya iyawa. Ogatakojai hata.

   [He] won't [actually] go. [It's] just talk.

   Petemewi ogatakojai?

   Did you hear what people are saying?

3. manner or style of speaking

   Ahapitsain uma pata enojanaun wi, sapalaku ipitsi, kata tonejunaun ooja. Enoja ogatokoja. Tonejunaun aitsa umapai, sapalaku umata ipitsi. Aooja umatai tonejunaun.

   "Slender thing" — that's all that men say, referring to that belt clasp that women wear [as a pubic ornament]. It's men's way of speaking. Women don't say that, they simply call it "belt clasp." Women just say, "our loin belt."

4. characteristic vocalization or sound, (esp. referring to animals or spirit beings)

   Etemepei ogatakoja.

   They understand [one another's] language.

   [Offered as an explanation of why two parrots were nestled against one another and cooing.]

   Huuh iwaa! Yaitakonapai! Huuh iwaaaa!

   Yaityatakonapai: outa inyaun... Kawoka ogatakoja. Apwotakonape toneju kawoka openuutsa, umapai.

   [Storyteller:] Huuh iwaa! The men whooped and shouted [in one voice]! Huuh iwaaaa!

   [Later comment by young adult man:] [The whooping was] the voice of [the] Flute Spirit. "[The] woman will be buried alive for her sacrilege," it said.

Usage notes

• The Sacred Flutes are forbidden to the sight of women, upon pain of gang rape, at least in former times. In the story, a bold young woman commits a grave sacrilege, disguising herself as a man and actually playing the flutes. When the sacrilege is discovered, she is buried alive as punishment, and then secretly rescued by her lover. The Wauja do not bury women as punishment for violating the taboo; this element of the story appears to be a symbolic transformation.

Inflection

    Possession of ogatakoja

	singular	plural
first person	nogatakoja	agatakoja
second person	pogatakoja	yogatakoja
third person	ogatakoja	ogatakoja

Derived terms

• ogatakojai (“language, speech, word(s)”)

References

• "Ahapitsain uma" (transcript p. 85) uttered by Mayanu, explaining the indirect language used in a passage of the traditional Wauja tale, the "Caiman Spirit" (Yakaojokuma), recounted by Aruta, storyteller and elder. Recorded in Piyulaga village in the presence of assembled elders and others, November 1989.
• "Huuh iwaa!" (transcript, p. 8) uttered Itsautaku, shaman and elder, recounting the traditional tale, the "Man who Drowned in Honey" (Paistyawalu). Recorded in Piyulaga village in the presence of his adult daughter, adolescent son, and others, December 1989. "Yaityatakonapai: outa inyaun" (p. 17) uttered by Yakariwana (son of Aruta), upon hearing the recording of the story.
• Other examples from E. Ireland field notes. Need to be checked by native speaker.