the poetry of "big"

[asakiyume]

My Tikuna teacher was explaining to me about the different words for big, and it was so poetic. She said:

There are three words for big:

tauchiii
for slippers and shoes
sandals, bags, caps, and t-shirts

taama
for hugs, kisses, smiles, and greetings, my friend

and tapuneechii

friend, this word is used

for very

big

trees

(my translation of her texts, with minimal liberties taken)

Comments

[athenais]

I like the way you did that.

I learned three separate uses for one word in Swedish last night, and when to describe a certain item as one word or another. Swedish has so many words for dealing with the cold.

[asakiyume]

I can bet it has words for dealing with the cold!

What was the word you learned three separate uses for last night?

(oh, and thank you!)

[athenais]

The word for fall. The verb form is "att falla," to take a tumble. Then there's the noun, "ett fall," meaning a case such as a doctor's case load or a detective having a case to follow. And "falla ner" to spill down (a cascade of papers off a filing cabinet or that sort of thing).

I asked about the different between a "filt" and a "täcke," which both mean blanket. The first is thinner, like a picnic blanket or a light covering to throw over you while on the sofa. The second is thicker, having some quilting or down or something to puff it up, and it is what goes on a bed. You can also put the filt on the bed, but a täcke is associated with bedding specifically.

And snow blanketing the ground is "snötäcke!" Because it's thick!

[asakiyume]

Oh god, I love this so much. I'm going to tell my dad about the different words for blanket (he's always fussing about what he should have on his bed for the weather)
snötäcke --WHAT A GREAT WORD

[rachelmanija]

very

big

trees

I love that.

[asakiyume]

I wish I could ethically share her recordings; it's so wonderful hearing her say this stuff.

"Solo en los árboles se dice tapuneechii; en los árboles, los árboles grandes, árboles muy grandes, tapuneechii."

Like the açai palm, she said:

Not my photo; I got it from this flickr account

[zdenka]

That's truly delightful!

[asakiyume]

It really is--I'm so glad that it transmits, that you can feel it too!

[puddleshark]

This is wonderful!

Thank you.

[asakiyume]

^_^

My pleasure!

[mallorys_camera]

English has hundreds of words for "big"! 😄

[asakiyume]

Yes but I KNOW all those words! And it's the categories that I like here. I like that hugs, kisses, greetings, etc. get their own category of bigness.

But I do like thinking about it about English too. With English a tree and a person can both be tall. And a building can be tall. But not, usually, a cat or dog or horse.

A person can be large, and a room can be large. But a room can be spacious, but a person can't. Nor can a boulder (which can be large). I guess because people and boulders are solid and a room is full of air. A ship can be spacious. A spaceship can be too ;-)

And so on! In conclusion: LANGUAGE

[sovay]

and tapuneechii
friend, this word is used
for very
big
trees

I'm so glad to know this.

[asakiyume]

^_^

The word for tree is naineta, so if you want to say "a big tree" you can say "naineta tapuneechii"

[purlewe]

THIS IS AMAZING. *imagine me falling back on a bed in happiness*

[asakiyume]

You and me both!

[sartorias]

I love when languages evolve like that.

[asakiyume]

Yes, the evolution: I like a special word for big that's used for hugs, kisses, greetings, etc.--what a nice category. And that there's a word for just tall trees ;-) (Maybe she'll remember other things that can be described as tapuneechii later, but for now, in my mind, it's reserved for trees!)

[minoanmiss]

uses icon, expresses joy

[asakiyume]

naineta tapuneechii 💛

[rimturse]

I love how languages reflect mindsets and cultures*, and what a lovely reflection this is. :)

*like Danish have words that doesn't exist in English and vice-versa.

[asakiyume]

Yes, I feel like every time you learn a language, or even start to learn a language, you're learning more pieces of the heart of humanity.

[amaebi]

*swoon*

POTENTIAL: A STORE OF POWER

When the first fine magic’s fled, we lose
the glow of words that name the thing, the act,
the what connects them, that link our minds
to other minds that have not known
our daffodil. The conjury’s still there.

Ki`i: to reach or seize or grab, too greedy to accept.
and oni`oni, motion and especially that eager wiggle
as of an eel’s joyous squirm, or a hunter powering up to spring.
Ki`i`oni`oni: a movie—motion gripped by film and caught
yet still motion—not a motion stilled. I`a `ula`ula—
fish red-red, a goldfish: not rust’s red nor plum’s
but red as royal blood, blazing like a feather cloak.

Hummingbird: a word that moves so quick,
but held fast and gentle, opens: the feathered
flyer whose path is told by singing wings. (The screams
of midget rage the hummers swear in, unmentioned.
For to name is to summon)

That fragment speck from Sappho—“…soap…”—
a sliver of a poem, but not too small for power. “Soap?”
we say in stores or loos, and it appears,
if it is there to manifest. With such poetry, such power
to sheath each word, a dictionary’s a spell book,
and a sentence, a daring and a making.

[asakiyume]

Oh I ****LOVE**** this.

I hope you publish it somehow/where, so many can see it.

[amaebi]

Thank you! *beam*

It's been published in the Pennsylvania Literary Journal.

Hey, I just sold second North American rights for the first time. Since it's for a poem, I sold them for $0. :D

[asakiyume]

Hurray!! Hurray for both things, even if the second comes sin dinero.

It's a gorgeous poem.

[amaebi]

I am honestly and weirdly excited about selling the second North American rights. :D I was unclear: that was on the poem about elephant dung and Ptolemaic epicycles. :D

[zdenka]

The screams of midget rage

I love that! I was lucky enough to live one summer where there were ruby-throated hummingbirds and got to observe their behavior. They are so tiny and so aggressive. :D Their tiny squeaked war-cries when they have aerial battles . . .

[amaebi]

*beam* Here we get broad-tailed and black-chinned, usually for most of the summer-- we're short on black-chinned this year--, and calliope (tiniest here) and rufous more seasonally-- rufous in trouble across the United States.

I call them my screams little darlings.

[zdenka]

How wonderful to have so many different kinds!! I'm no longer living in hummingbird territory, and I miss them . . .

[smokingboot]

Your post is a poem in itself.

Thank you for it!

[asakiyume]

The poetry is in her texts; I just organized it all poem-like on the page ;-)

[lokifan]

Looovely.

[asakiyume]

abrazos taama ^_^