oukapai
Wauja[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
oukapai
- (transitive) he/she/it calls (addresses, beckons or summons by name)
- Katsa okaho oukakonapai?
- What is her name?
- (literally, “By what does everyone call [her]?”)
Usage notes[edit]
Wauja speakers usually address each other using kinship terms, such as uncle, grandmother, and so on. It is much less common to address someone by name. Parents may address their children by name, though no child would presume to address a parent by name. Spouses sometimes address each other by name in private contexts, but in public, it is more seemly to beckon the spouse by referring to the couple's child, as in, "Father of Tommy!" Lovers also address each other by name in private, a delicious intimacy, of course. Although names are rarely used in direct address, they often are used in conversation about an absent third party, to clarify who is being talked about. As a matter of decorum and respect, it is forbidden to utter the names of one's in-laws, and of the recently deceased.
See also[edit]
- agatapai (speaks a person's name)
References[edit]
- E. Ireland field notes, 1981-83.