toneju

Wauja

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɨˈnɛ.ʐu/

Noun

toneju (plural tonejunaun)

1. woman

   Tonejunaun hojojokonapai. Hojojokonapai okanu wi. Tuapa waka ou wi.

   The women [both] stood there. They stood close [to the caiman spirit]. They were drawing close to him.

   Taaa ka toneju oukaka, ejeikepei kawoka. Ejekewi kawoka yeyawa. Ninye neke nojeike kawoka uma pa kai – toneju wiu whun.

   Well, long ago there was a woman [who] played the [sacred] flute. She played the [sacred] flute in the deep of night [under cover of darkness]. "I'm going to play the flute now," is exactly what that woman said.

See also

• enoja (man, male person)
• inyaun (person, human being)

References

• "Tonejunaun hojojokonapai" uttered by Aruta, storyteller and elder, recounting the traditional tale of Yakaijokuma (Caiman Spirit and the Origin of Piqui), November 1989. Recorded in BBC film, "The Storyteller."
• "Taaa ka toneju" 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. 1.
• C. Ball, "Negation in Wauja discourse" (In Negation in Arawak Languages, edited by Lev Michael, Tania Granadillo, Boston: Brill, 2014, p. 152)