Weaver Denman audio
The following is a transcript of an audio recording archived at UC Berkeley's California Language Archive (you must agree to the terms of use to download audio). For convenience, the recording has been divided into individual audio clips on this page.
Download a PDF copy of the Weaver Denman audio transcript.
| Wiyot | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
0. Introduction | [William Bright:] "This is Weaver Denman, Wiyot Indian of Petrolia, California, giving a short Wiyot vocabulary and his own doctoring song, which was taught to him by a white fir tree." | |
1. gouwi' | man | |
2. guvouch | woman | Literally "female". |
3. diqa' | white man | |
4. waghishwa | white woman | |
5. jougash tighurrilh | young man | Other speakers usually gave tighurrilh alone as the word for "young man". It is not clear what jougash means in this phrase. |
6. tsurarilh | young woman | |
7. gaqilh | old man | Literally means "one who knows", i.e. a wise man. The word for Creator or God is Datrri Gaqilh, meaning "Above Old Man" or (literally) "Above-One-Who-Knows". |
8. shirouki | old woman | |
9. rra'chuchk | boy | |
10. guvoutsuqilh | girl | Literally means "she is female" or "one who is female". |
11. hija | baby | |
12. a darr! | Father! | Also pronounced hadarr. The word for "father" alone is darr; the word adarr is used when addressing your father directly. |
13. a ga! | Mother! | Also pronounced haga. The word for "mother" alone is ga; the word aga is used when addressing your mother directly. |
14. a douk! | Brother! / Sister! / Sibling! | Also pronounced hadouk. The word for "brother/sister" alone is douk (literally "sibling"); the word adouk is used when addressing your brother(s)/sister(s)/siblings directly. |
15. daritkurrughuk | leg | |
16. rrit | my tongue | The word for "(a/the) tongue" alone is wit. |
17. we's | hand | |
18. welilh | foot | |
19. wuti'l | its tail | The word for "(a/the) tail" alone is wut. |
20. luwut | heart | Other speakers gave wutw as the word for "heart". Due to the poor audio quality of this recording, it is possible that Mr. Denman's pronunciation is actually luwutw, and is a longer version of the same word used by other speakers. |
21. wutvilouk | ear | |
22. magouks | head | Also pronounced ma'gouks, vagouks, or va'gouks. Kroeber (1911) and Reichard (1922) say it also means "brain"; Reichard (1922) also says it is used to mean "salmon head" or "sometimes used of people in sense of "blockhead" [idiot]". |
23. wutwut | liver | |
24. wutgurrat | bone | |
25. gu'wik | blood | |
26. boutaguvourr | deer hide, deerskin | |
27. wuswitk | neck | |
28. wuchvurrach | wing | |
29. halalilh | duck | Literally means "it flies around". |
30. balh | hair | |
31. vurrarr | horn | |
32. we'doutk | fin | |
33. vulirr | eye | Also pronounced wulirr. |
34. walupt | feather | |
35. vupt | tooth, teeth | Also pronounced mupt or wupt. |
36. duturr | nose | |
37. lulhouk | elbow (?) | Other speakers gave wutouk, vutouk, or mutouk as the word for "elbow"; this word looks more like the word for "shoulder" given by other speakers. |
38. rrutgun | my fingernail, my toenail | The word for "(a/the) fingernail/toenail" alone is wutgun. |
39. wusurru'l | his/her/its milk | The word for "milk" alone is wusurr, also pronounced vusurr or musurr (this word also means "breast"). |
40. da'gh | belly | |
41. juchk | egg | Literally "round thing". Other speakers pronounce this word dutk; Mr. Denman's pronunciation may actually mean "big round thing". |
42. wa'l | fish eggs, roe | |
43. jiplh | beard, mustache, facial hair, whiskers | |
44. kouluwou'y | fur | |
45. boutaguvourr | deer hide, deerskin | |
46. witgalh | coyote | |
47. rrou'naksh | bullhead | Other speakers pronounced this word rrou'naks. |
48. youts | maggot | Other speakers pronounced this word youtw; given the poor quality of this audio recording, Mr. Denman may have been saying youtsw, which would literally mean "little maggot". |
49. wayits | dog | Also used to refer to horses, after they were brought to the area by white settlers. |
50. hiwat | abalone | |
51. hiqh | head louse/lice | Also pronounced heqh. Two other words are also pronounced hiqh or heqh: one means "snow" or "hail", and the other means "deerskin cape" or "buckskin/deerskin/animal hide". |
52. highuchk | body louse/lice | Literally means "big (ugly) louse"; from hiqh (no. 51 above). |
53. duklhalilh | flea | Literally means "it jumps across". |
54. wulhgagulh | lice eggs, nits | |
55. halalilh | duck | Literally means "it flies around". |
56. hu'mik | pigeon | |
57. rranadaqulu'l | goose | Literally means something like "big voice". |
58. bushdou'l | chipmunk | |
59. jechach | game animal | Also the word for "meat". |
60. ruruwesh | raccoon | One of two words for raccoon. According to Teeter's (ca. 1956) notes, this word means ""lifts his little hand up" (if palm tickles, knows berries are ripe)". Other speakers pronounced this word rarawesh or harawesh. |
61. hout | surf fish, smelt | |
62. houlhi' | clam | |
63. tsharr | mussel | |
64. ba'm | sturgeon | |
65. butsou'laksh | owl | Also pronounced bitsoulaksh or pitsou'laksh. Translated specifically as "great horned owl" by Curtis (1924) and Merriam (ca. 1910-1923), but elsewhere just "owl". |
66. boutsurr | fawn | |
67. joumashk | (land) snail, slug | There is a different word (voukt) for sea snails. Some speakers pronounce this word without the "k" (joumash). |
68. panu'l | crane, heron | Also pronounced panu'lu or panu'rugh. Usually translated as "crane", though Merriam says it is one of the words for "great blue heron". According to Teeter's (ca. 1956) notes, it means roughly "diarrhea all the time". |
69. valhuk | salmon | Also pronounced malhuk; literally means "feasting". |
70. hawouturrurighu' | skunk | Also pronounced huwaturrou'righu'rugh. Literally means "one whose behind stinks", according to Teeter's (ca. 1956) notes. |
71. maqh | bear | Also pronounced vaqh. Variously translated as "bear", "black bear", and "grizzly bear". (There are other words that specifically refer to black bear and grizzly bear). |
72. goumayoulilh | sea lion | Literally means "swims around", or perhaps more accurately, "turns around and around swimming". |
73. duqht | cottontail rabbit. | Also pronounced daqht. |
74. vus yu rrutgu' | yellowhammer (probably refers to the red-shafted flicker) | Also pronounced vus ya rretgu'lu, which literally means "flame-colored" (yellow/orange/red). |
75. lhuplh | crab | Other speakers pronounced this word suplh. Generally translated "crab", but speaker Birdie James told J.P. Harrington that it referred specifically to "Eel River crabs". |
76. guvouy | shiner, surf fish | |
77. dou'dughu'n | snipe | |
78. rruchuchurriru' | mouse | This may be an alternate pronunciation of tsutsurrutshighu'rugh, a word for mouse found in Reichard (1922) and translated as meaning "little long tail". |
79. goujishuqi | field mouse (?) | This may be a mistake, as goujishuqi' is the word for pine nut beads used in necklaces & regalia. Gishuqhi' is a word for mouse given by other speakers. |
80. lhechk, lhuchk | rat | Some speakers pronounced this word as lhech or lhuch (without the final k). It is translated as "aboriginal Indian rat" (Curtin, 1889) and "woodrat" (Curtis, 1924; Merriam, ca. 1910-1923; Reichard, 1922). |
81. gou'daw | eel (Pacific lamprey) | |
82. tselhou'nighu' | frog | Shortened pronunciation of tselhounighu'ru. Teeter & Nichols (1993) gives the literal translation of this word as "the one whose arse is dirty", but Teeter's (ca. 1956) notes say it means "he doesn't wipe his @ss". |
83. madaqilh | lizard | Literally means "he stares". Also pronounced vadaqilh. |