Book 1 Lesson 4 koman (Eating Breakfast)

Book 1 Lesson 4 — koman (Eating Breakfast)

koman ｜ Eating Breakfast

Mom (In) called Sompo (So) and Masaray (Ma) to breakfast. Then, Masaray and Sompo went to Jiayo again, this time to visit Orchid Island Junior High School.

Readings

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In: áriag kamo rana si kavakes mo.
Bring your friend over for breakfast.

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So: ikong o riagen ta?
What's for breakfast?

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In: nitjipan a wakay aka no among.
Peeled sweet potatoes and fish.

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Ma: nge, apía kanen o wakay.
Mm, sweet potato is good!

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In: na mákan ni kavakes mo o wakay?!
Your friend dares to eat sweet potato?!

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So: nona, na ji akéyan o sosoli.
She likes taro too.

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In: makábsoy ka, ta mákcin ka an.
Eat some more, or you will go hungry.

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Ma: nohon, ayoy, ya apía o asoy no among.
Ok, thank you. The fish soup is very good!

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In: ya apía si kavakes mo, ya makakákan.
Your friend isn't picky with food. That's great.

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So: nge, ya ji apía o ri.
Yeah, she's pretty good.

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In: kamo mangay jino siciaraw ya?
Where are you going today?

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So: namen mangay do Jiayo.
We are going to Jiayo.

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In: ning.
Oh.

Grammar ｜ koman (Eating Breakfast)

(1) Interrogatives

The yes–no questions in Yami are expressed with a rising tone in sentence-final position to differentiate them from declarative sentences. In replying, if the answer is affirmative, we can use nona or nohon “yes” to respond.

There are two types of WH-questions. The WH-word of the first type is moved to the initial Predicate position, as in Example (1). The WH-word of the second type remains in its original position, as in Example (2).

1. ikong o riagen ta?
What's for breakfast?
2. kamo mangay jino siciaraw ya?
Where are you going today?

(2) Imperatives

Imperative verbs appear in the free root forms. For example:

3. áriag kamo rana si kavakes mo.
Bring your friend over for breakfast.
4. ángay kamo, manga ovay.
Go ahead, darlings.
5. lísna kamo jito.
Please take your seat!

(3) Directional sentence: mi, mangay

The GO verb mangay “go” not only can appear in the free root form as angay in an imperative sentence, but can also be reduced to mi to form a directional sentence. mi tends to be pronounced as mey after a pronoun, especially in Jiraralay.

6. kamo mangay jino siciaraw ya?
Where are you going today?
7. mi ko ipiyowyaw si kavakes an.
I'm taking my friend out.
8. namen mangay Jiayo.
We are going to Jiayo.
9. mi ko nan.
See you! (lit.: I will go!)

(4) Verb derivations

Yami verbs can be classified into dynamic and stative verbs, which have different verb inflection paradigms. Dynamic verb affixes include: -om-, mi-, ma-, maN-, maka-, maci-, mapi-, -en, -an, i-. The former seven affixes (i.e., -om-, mi-, ma-, maN-, maka-, maci-, mapi-) are intransitive affixes, whereas the latter three (i.e., -en, -an, i-) are transitive affixes.

An intransitive verb does not co-occur with a Nominative Patient, but it has a Nominative Agent. A transitive verb, on the other hand, occurs with at least two arguments: one is the Genitive Agent and the other is the Nominative Patient. A stative verb with the prefix ma- also makes the same transitive/intransitive distinction.

The Yami verb classification is illustrated by the following sentences from Lessons 1–4 in Volume 1:

(A) Dynamic verbs

(1) Transitive

1. mi ko i-piyowyaw si kavakes an.
I'm taking my friend out.
2. nona, ya ji agaga o ri, o ri ko ngaran-an jia si Masaray.
She is indeed very outgoing, so I call her si Masaray.

The following verbs all have the prefix ni- “perfective” added to the stems.

3. si kavakes ya, ko ni-rara a mai do pongso ta a ya milingalingay.
This is my college classmate. I invited her to come tour our island.
4. ni-tjip-an a wakay aka no among.
Peeled sweet potatoes and fish.

(2) Intransitive

5. r-om-iag kamo pa an?
Do you want some breakfast?
6. kamo ma-ngay jino?
Where are you guys going?
7. namen mamahamaha pa.
We are resting a little.
8. si kavakes ya, ko nirara a mai do pongso ta a mi-lingalingay.
This is my college classmate. I invited her to come tour our island.
9. ko mi-vazay do gokosio.
I work in the local township office.
10. ning, maka-pía kamo an!
Oh, have fun (lit. walk well)!
11. maká-bsoy ka, ta makcin ka an.
Eat some more, or you will go hungry.
12. ya apía si kavakes mo, ya maka-kakan.
Your friend isn't picky with food. That's great.
13. ko ji átenngi pa, ala mapi-vatvatek ko so kanakan.
I don't know yet. Perhaps I will teach in elementary school.

The following verbs all have the prefix ni- “perfective”.

14. namen mamahamaha pa, ta namen katéyka pa ni-r-om-iag.
We just finished breakfast, so we are resting a little.
15. kamo na ni-romiag?
Have you eaten breakfast yet?
16. kamo pa ji ni-ma-ngay do takey?
Did you not go into the mountains yet?
17. ko ni-m-ai nokakyab.
I just got here yesterday.
18. kokay, si Masaray ko, kararay na yaken ni Sompo do ilaod a ni-mi-vatvatek.
Hello, I'm si Masaray, Sompo's college classmate in Taiwan.

(B) Stative verbs

(1) Transitive

19. na má-kan ni kavakes mo o wakay?!
Your friend dares to eat sweet potato?!

(2) Intransitive

20. ya pa ma-lavayo sira ina na?
Are her parents still young?
21. ka mó-wnay ( = ma- + onay) do irala?
Will you be in Orchid Island for long?
22. ciaha, ta namen ma-bsoy rana.
No, thank you. We are full.
23. makábsoy ka, ta ma-kcin ka an.
Eat some more, or you will go hungry.

If a stative verb with the affix ma- is used as an intransitive verb, the prefix ma- will become a- after the auxiliary verb ji:

24. nona, ya ji a-gága o ri.
She is indeed very outgoing.
25. nohon, ya pa ji a-laváyo sira ina na.
Yes, her parents are indeed still very young.

Other examples:
ma-cimoy → a-cimoy ‘rain'
ma-mying → a-mying ‘laugh'
ma-teneng → a-teneng ‘intelligent'
ma-viay → a-viay ‘alive'

When a stative verb is used as a transitive verb, its verb inflections after the auxiliary verb ji vary depending on the type of transitive affixes, as shown in “Table 6”.

Table 6. Inflections of transitive verbs after auxiliary verb ji

Base form	Changed form	Meaning of the Nominative
-en	-a	Patient
-an	-i	Location, reason of an action/event (dynamic verbs)
i-	-an	Tool, theme, beneficiary, reason of a state (stative verbs)

The following roots akey “like” and teneng “know, wisdom” belong to stative verbs. When they are used as transitive, following the auxiliary verb ji “exactly, negation”, the changed forms are used.

26. nona, na ji a-kéy-an o sosoli.
Yeah, she likes taro too. (cf. ika-key “like”)
27. ko ji á-tenng-i pa.
I don't know yet. (cf. ka-tenng-an “know”)

Other examples:
ma-cita → a-cita-a ‘see'
ma-sinmo → a-sinmo-a ‘meet'
ma-kala → a-kala-a ‘find'
ka-liman-an → a-liman-a ‘kill'
i-ka-rahet → a-rahet-an ‘worry'

In addition, there is another kind of ka- verbs, which will be discussed in Lesson 10. The following prefix ka- means “just finished”; the Agent is Genitive.

28. namen mamahamaha pa, ta namen ka-téyka pa niromiag.
We just finished breakfast, so we are resting a little.

Demonstrate ｜ koman (Eating Breakfast)

（1）Ask and answer about food preferences

1. íkong mo ikakey [a kanen]?
What do you like to eat?
ko ikákey o wakay.
I like to eat sweet potato.
ko ikákey o mogis.
I like to eat rice.
ko ikákey o odong.
I like to eat noodles.
2. íkong mo ji akeyan [a kanen]?
What don't you like to eat?
ko ji ákeyan o wakay.
I don't like to eat sweet potato.
ko ji ákeyan o mogis.
I don't like to eat rice.
ko ji ákeyan o odong.
I don't like to eat noodles.
3. íkongo mo ikakey [a yakan]?
What dishes do you like to eat?
ko ikákey o among.
I like to eat fish.
ko ikákey o napa.
I like to eat vegetables.
ko ikákey o viniay.
I like to eat meat.
4. íkongo mo ji akeyan [a yakan]?
What dishes don't you like to eat?
ko ji ákeyan o among.
I don't like to eat fish.
ko ji ákeyan o napa.
I don't like to eat vegetables.
ko ji ákeyan o viniay.
I don't like to eat meat.
5. íkong mo makan a kanen?
What do you dare to eat?
ko mákan o kagling.
I dare to eat lamb.
ko mákan o among.
I dare to eat fish.
ko mákan o viniay.
I dare to eat meat.
6. íkongo mo ji akan?
What don't you dare to eat?
ko ji ákan o among.
I don't dare to eat fish.
ko ji ákan o napa.
I don't dare to eat vegetables.
ko ji ákan o viniay.
I don't dare to eat meat.
ko ji ákan o mogis.
I don't dare to eat rice.
ko ji ákan o odong.
I don't dare to eat noodles.
For reference:
7. ka makakan so among?
Do you dare to eat fish?
[Beken,] ta ko makakan [so among].
I don't dare to eat [fish].
mo makan o among?
Do you dare to eat fish?
[Beken,] ta ko mákan [o among].
I don't dare to eat [fish].
8. koman ka so wakay?
Do you want to eat sweet potato?
nohon, [koman ko so wakay].
Sure, I want to eat sweet potato.
miyakan ka so among?
Do you want to eat fish?
toisa, [ta ko miyakan so among]
No, I don't want to eat fish.
[sino miyakan so among]
Who wants fish? [I'm not eating it.]
[ta ko makakan so among]
I don't dare to eat fish.

（2）Role play: host, guest, and helper

1. akan jito.
Come, eat. [Have some food.]
ciaha, ta ko na nikoman.
No, I've eaten already. / No, thank you.
2. yakan o yakan mo am,
Just have some of this dish.
ciaha, ta ya ko ji absoy rana.
No, thanks, I'm really full.
3. bekena koyta ka no among.
It is octopus and fish!
ta ya makakan so koyta si kehakay.
My friend doesn't eat octopus.