Nettie Rossig audio
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Wiyot | English | Notes |
---|---|---|
0. Introduction | [(linguist) Karl Teeter:] Wiyot, spoken by Mrs. Nettie Rossig, Eureka, California | This word list was recorded on June 26, 1956. Teeter's notes say that she was 80 years old at the time of this interview. |
1. Baduwat | Mad River | |
2. voupul | redwood log | Also pronounced voupul, and sometimes given as the name for the tree as well (not just a log). |
3. pi’dughurragilh | blackberry | Literally means "it is sour". |
4. vou’gul | huckleberry | Also pronounced mou'gul or wou'gul. |
5. boukshughutsguqi’ | thimbleberry | According to Reichard (1922), this word means roughly "little thing that sits upside down". |
6. viqhul | salal berry | Also pronounced vi'qhul or miqhul. |
7. kunabulilh | grizzly bear | Literally means "he bites". |
8. maqh | grizzly 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). |
9. me’luqh | elk | Also pronounced ve'luqh. |
10. bushdou’l | chipmunk | |
11. valhuk | salmon | Also pronounced malhuk; literally means "feasting". |
12. vatsuk | little girl | |
13. tsurarilh | young woman, teenaged girl | |
14. vachur | girl | Also pronounced machur. |
15. burratun, burratu’n | baby | |
16. vulirr | eye | Also pronounced wulirr. |
17. mupt | tooth, teeth | Also pronounced vupt or wupt. |
18. balh | hair | |
19. voul | house | Also pronounced moul, and occasionally woul. |
20. vutsitgughulh | chair | According to Reichard's (1922) notes, this literally means "something to put sitter on". Other pronunciations: sitghaghelh or rrutsitgughulh. |
21. vutseshura’wulh | mortar stone, acorn pounding stone | Teeter's (ca. 1956) notes say this means "what you put down bottom" (i.e., it's under the thing you are grinding); Reichard's (1922) notes translate it as "what we pound on". |
22. mus | fire | Also pronounced vus (or less frequently, mes, ves, wus, or wes). |
23. vadi’ | wood, firewood, tree(s) | Also pronounced madi'. |
24. mun | oar | Also pronounced men or ven. |
25. vurraji’ | water | Literally means "what is drunk". |
26. bitwu’lilh | basket plate | |
27. tigha’ri’ | trout | Many, many plants and animals have more than one name in Wiyot (see item 28 below). |
28. buditgane’lu’ | trout | Many, many plants and animals have more than one name in Wiyot (see item 27 above). |
29. vi’wurr | smoke | Also pronounced mi'wurr or ve'wurr. |
30. melh | axe | Also pronounced velh. |
31. be’l | cousin | |
32. vulouyuva’w | white | |
33. mus ya rraqh | red | Literally means "looks like flame" or "flame-colored". |
34. Wigi | Humboldt Bay | |
35. Giloulh | Eel River | |
36. Wiyat | Eel River | |
37. wanaqh | tree | |
38. wa’gul | peppernut | |
39. we’daw | salmonberry | |
40. wough | hollow weed, cow parsnip (Heracleum lanatum) | Teeter asks Ms. Rossig for the word meaning "sweet root", but she gives him the word for "hollow weed" instead. |
41. wulh | Indian "potato" with blue flowers | |
42. witgalh | coyote | |
43. waturrou’righu’ru’ | skunk | Literally means "one whose behind stinks", according to Teeter's (ca. 1956) notes. |
44. wuledat | razorback clam | |
45. we’s | hand | |
46. wutvut | head | |
47. we’sagh | five (5) | Literally means "one side (-sagh) of a hand (we's)". |
48. wagulhat | pepperwood tree (California bay laurel) | The ending -ulhat means "tree" or "bush", so this word literally means "peppernut tree" (see wa'gul, no. 38 above). |
49. wit | alder | |
50. wurrulaqh | today | |
51. qule walaqh | this morning | Literally "here morning" (walaqh = "morning"). |
52. diqa' | white man | |
53. diqa’ mutsa’wu’lhu’l | a kind of fern | Reichard (1922) says mutsawulh means "something to cut meat or fish on", so this word literally means "white man's thing to cut meat or fish on". |
54. wuda du’tighusurru’ni’lu’ | cow | Literally means "what you get milk out of with your hands". |
55. duqht | cottontail rabbit | |
56. duqh | pitch | (Refers to a tar-like resin, such as from pine trees.) |
57. rrana’lha’webulougilh | jackrabbit | Literally means "his ears are long". |
58. wouda’ dishgiqagilh | quail | Literally means, "the one who talks about dead people". This is based on a traditional taboo about mentioning the dead directly; the quail's call is said to sound like the phrase "your mother lives," which if referring to someone's mother who had passed away, would have been a major taboo. (See item 105 below.) |
59. dayughu’lu’ | whale | According to Reichard's (1922) notes, this word literally means "behind has no hole, smooth; it has no opening where one should be"; Teeter (ca. 1964) agrees it means "no hole behind". |
60. tgibus | small red crabs | |
61. tigha’ri’ | trout | |
62. tsharr | mussel | |
63. joumashk | (land) snail, slug | Also pronounced joumashk. There is a different word for sea snails (voukt). |
64. tsoutsgish | bird | |
65. jougi’chuchk | seagull | |
66. tighurrilh | young man | |
67. tsurarilh | young woman | |
68. tsek | child, children | |
69. diqa’ | white man | |
70. duturr | nose | |
71. krrutgaduwilh | leg | |
72. duklhulouk | six (6) | |
73. tshanats | spoon | Literally means "little mussel shell" (from the word tsharr "mussel"), because women's spoons were made from mussel shells (see this photo of a ceremonial mussel shell spoon). |
74. toul | pestle | |
75. tsgroulhighurru’ru’ | black bear | Literally means "small-eyed one". |
76. ta’murr | moon | Also used to mean "sun" or "clock"; usually pronounced ta'm. |
77. shou’r | beach, coast, ocean | |
78. dini luga’ | east, inland | |
79. yi da’sh | my father / my son | |
80. yi douk | my sister / my brother / my sibling | |
81. Duwa vulali’yum? | Where are you going? | |
82. rra’chuchk | boy | |
83. rrouwutvut | my head | |
84. rri’durr | two (2) | |
85. rrikurr | three (3) | |
86. rriya’wurr | four (4) | |
87. rrak jach | upriver | Literally "toward upriver"; rrak = "toward/in the direction of", and jach = "upriver". Wik jach means "from upriver" (wik = "from the direction of"). |
88. rralitguk | go in the mountains | This word may just mean "in the mountains/in the hills". |
89. rrak vou’r | north | Literally "toward the north"; "from the north" would be wik vou'r. (The word for "shark" is also pronounced vou'r, but as far as I know it is unrelated to "north".) |
90. rrak hut | south | Literally "toward the south"; "from the south" would be wik hut. |
91. lashk | strawberry | Some speakers pronounced this word lash (without the final -k). |
92. lalilh | river | Literally means "it goes along". |
93. lughulhiswulh | hazel brush, hazel bush | |
94. lupda’w | cloud | |
95. lhuch | woodrat | Also pronounced lhech. |
96. lha’wirou’wulh | sewing needle | Reichard (1922) says this means "what you use to pick out briars", but I am not convinced this is correct. A traditional needle made from a deer rib bone, used for making tule mats, is called paklh. |
97. siswayuplhi’ | an edible seaweed | Literally "black hairlike thing". |
98. shi’rouki’ | old woman | |
99. siswaqi’ | maidenhair fern | Literally "black-stemmed". |
100. Soulatluk | Wiyot language | Literally "our jaw"; also used by some speakers as the name of the Wiyot people. |
101. shagha’duw | gill net | |
102. gatsura | soaproot | |
103. kunubulilh | grizzly bear | Literally means "he bites". |
104. wuda’ dishgiqagilh | quail | Literally means, "the one who talks about dead people". This is based on a traditional taboo about mentioning the dead directly; the quail's call is said to sound like the phrase "your mother lives," which if referring to someone's mother who had passed away, would have been a major taboo. (See item 105 below.) |
105. Kuga daqh. | "Your mother lives." (what the quail says) | This is what the quail's call is said to sound like. Traditionally, it was a major taboo to directly mention a person who had passed away, so one of the names for quail means "the one who talks about dead people" (see items 58 & 104 above). |
106. sukseswilh | otter | According to Reichard (1922), this literally means "he takes an ugly mouthful". |
107. gou’murr | mink | Possibly related to the verb goumurr, meaning "to be soft". |
108. goumayoulilh | sea lion | Literally means "swims around", or perhaps more accurately, "turns around and around swimming". |
109. wa’shuqe’yu’ | a dead whale | |
110. kimuk | whale | Also pronounced kemuk. In this recording, Teeter says this word refers to the whale when it is being cut up; however, several speakers gave this as a general word for "whale". |
111. gou’daw | eel (Pacific lamprey) | |
112. gutvay’ | a small edible clam | |
113. quqh | frog | |
114. gouwi’ | man | |
115. kagurrawi’wilh | woman | One of several words for "woman"; this one means "she wears a dress". |
116. 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". |
117. vuloul | mouth | Also pronounced veloul or wuloul, and also used to refer to a hole. |
118. gou’tsurr | one (1) | |
119. gi’mila’ghulh | cup | Also pronounced givula'ghulh, gimulaghulh, giwulagulh. Literally means "what is used to dip with", and also refers to a woven basketry dipper. |
120. ga’muk | acorn | |
121. kaluwou’ | large basket | |
122. kughu’ba’y | pipe | Curtin (1889) says this word refers to a pipe made of stone. Teeter (ca. 1956) says it literally means "hold in your mouth". |
123. kuvalh | willow | Also pronounced kuwalh, and translated by Reichard (1925) as "dusky-leaved willow" and "willow (gray leaves) used for open wicker basket". |
124. goulilhuqi’ | lightning | Also pronounced hilhuk, helhuk, or dulilhuk. |
125. gouwuli’ | earthquake | |
126. huruwulhari’ | tomorrow | |
127. gou qupshoul | covered up | |
128. gawu siswek | dusk | Literally "it starts to get dark". |
129. gou kou’nurr | night | |
130. giyaw | no | |
131. Giloulh | Eel River | |
132. gou boutsurouy | a whistle | |
133. gachvayichanuwilh | handkerchief | Both Reichard and Teeter say this word means roughly "what is used to wipe one's nose". |
134. halhuqh | deer | |
135. hout | surf fish | |
136. hiwa’gulughutk | cockle | Literally means "large and round". |
137. houlhi’ | horse clam | Also translated as "bay clam" or just "clam". |
138. hiwat | abalone | |
139. hanouna’si’ | snake | Also pronounced halou'na'si', and literally means "crawls/slithers along". |
140. ha’rich | snake | Also pronounced ha'rech. Reichard (1925) says it refers to garter snakes. |
141. kagurrawi'wilh | woman | One of several words for "woman"; this one means "she wears a dress". |
142. humoutwilh | woman | This word refers to the traditional "apron" or front skirt worn by women, called moutw or voutw. |
143. halou'wi' | canoe, boat | Literally means "it comes along". |
144. hou'l | water | |
145. halat | thunder | |
146. hiqh | snow | Also pronounced heqh. Two other words are also pronounced hiqh or heqh: one means "head louse/lice", and the other means "deerskin cape" or "buckskin/deerskin/animal hide". |
147. gouruwulha' | daylight | See item 159 below for what is probably a more complete pronunciation of this word. |
148. wu'daw | salmonberry | Also pronounced we'daw. |
149. bushdou'l | chipmunk | |
150. we'sagh | five (5) | Literally means "one side (-sagh) of a hand (we's)". |
151. we's | hand | |
152. gou'murr | mink | Possibly related to the verb goumurr, meaning "to be soft". |
153. vi'wurr | smoke | Also pronounced mi'wurr or ve'wurr. |
154. rriya'wurr | four (4) | |
155. gou kou'nurr | night | |
156. tsharr | mussel | |
157. vulirr | eye | Also pronounced wulirr. |
158. rri'durr | two (2) | |
159. gouruwulha'r | daylight | |
160. burratu’n | baby | Reichard (1925) says this refers to a baby in a basket (see item 161 below). |
161. burratu’nuwe’ | baby basket | Also pronounced burratunuwe'l. |