minyulitai

Wauja

Etymology

From minyuli (“lie, falsehood, untruth”) +‎ -tai (“merely, only, nothing but”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mĩˈju.li.taɪ/

Noun

minyulitai

1. absolutely untrue, nothing but a lie, an untruth

   Paintyawi ojopai. Payuwatuapai ipitsi. Minyuli! Minyulitai! Aitsa yajo itsapai!

   [Mother speaking to her adolescent daughter:] You probably had sex with him. [It's obvious that] you're crazy about him.

   [Daughter:] That's a lie! Just a lie! It's not like that at all!

2. ruse, deception, stratagem, pretense, trickery, bluff, treachery

   Minyulitai tumapai. Emetsuatai kehoto.

   It was just deception that they built it [they weren't really just building a village]. They were stealing the land.

   [Wauja elder recounting how a neighboring community tried to encroach on Wauja land.]

   [Itsautaku:] Yamukunaun aya autukene mapa. Atukutapai yamukunauntope. Iya tukene mapa. Hoona, ayiu! Pa, yamukunaun iya itsenu wi. Tika tika tika ... minyulitai! [Mukura:] Amamitsatai? [Itsautaku:] Ehen, amamitsatai. Minyulitai. Amamitsapai. Maka onuko. Maka akiyuntuapa. Tika tika tik ... itsenu yamukunaun. Yamukunaun, aitsa uutapai. Aitsa uutapai okaintsityu han.

   [Itsautaku, elder, telling traditional story:] "Children, let's collect [wild] honey!" [She] invited all the children [of the village to come along]. [They] were going to collect honey. "All right, let's go!" [they said]. Well, all the children went with [the woman and her husband]. [The patter of their running feet was heard on the path:] tika tika tika. But [the seemingly light-hearted outing] was just a ploy! [It was just part of the plan.] [Itsautaku's daughter, Mukura, interjects:] [So she] was simply tricking [her husband]? [Itsautaku resumes:] Yes, [she] was just tricking [him]. [It] was just a lie. [She] was deceiving [him]. So that [she] could kill [him]. So that [she] could get [her] revenge. Tika tika tika [went the patter of the children's feet]. [The] children who had accompanied [them]. [The] children did not know. [They] did not know what [the woman] was planning.

3. pretense, formality, dissemblance, dissimulation, evasion (oblique, indirect, or formally modest manner of speaking)

   "Nana autehene aitsu han, auleinyeintsakula waitsa," umapai... Putakanaku ipitsi umapai... Punubapai fazenda, kata ahapwonatain fazenda, aitsa inyaun wakapai onain, ipitsi umapai. Aitsaha -- minyulitai, putakanaku. Ipitsi umapai. Amaunaun hata ogatakoja.

   [Acknowledging ceremonial guests from another village, a Wauja chief formally orates:] "These ones indeed have come searching for us, [here in] our abandoned fallow manioc gardens." [The chief] is referring to the village. See, a summer manioc garden is just a little [encampment], there's nobody living there, that's what he's saying. But no, it's not true, [the village to which his guests have come is actually a] large village [and not a humble encampment]. He's just saying that. It's merely a chief's way of speaking [with formal modesty].

   "Nana tua autehene aitsu han, tya," umawi, paisejo ipitsi. "Hain, tya. Aitsa kala natu ya, tya." …Aitsa nikiyejepei ipitsi umapai. Minyulitai. Ogatakoja hata.

   "These ones indeed have come searching for us," [the chief] said to his younger brother [formally announcing ceremonial guests from another village]. "Ah. Certainly not me," [said the younger chief]. He was saying he was unworthy, unskilled at oratory. But it was not true. It was just a manner of speaking.

Synonyms

• minyuli (“lie, untruth”)

Antonyms

• kamalajo (“true, truth”)

Verb

minyulitai

1. (intransitive) he/she/it only or habitually lies

   Minyulitai kata inyaunmalun. Aminya pakako.

   That jerk is just making things up. Don't believe it.

2. (intransitive) he/she/it errs, misspeaks, is mistaken

   Mepiauwan itsupalu sekunya. Ehn! Niminyulitai. Pauwan hatiu. Opawa aitsa neke kakawakawiu.

   She had two daughters in those days. Ah! I misspoke. She had only one. The other wasn't born yet.

   Nupoponapai. Niminyulitai nanatapai.

   I am making mistakes. I am messing up as I write.

Derived terms

• apoponapai (“errs, is mistaken”)
• minyulitsi (“liar”)

References

• "Minyulitai tumapai," "Nana autehene," and "Nana tua" examples 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.
• "Yamukunaun aya" 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 pp. 24-25. In this story, a woman takes revenge on her cruel husband, causing him to drown in honey, and be transformed into a frog (Leptodactylus latrans).
• Remaining utterances from E. Ireland field notes. Need to be checked by native speaker.