Lesson 7 – Food & Eating

A  classifier  is a  word used to  accompany  nouns  and can be considered to “classify” the noun in some way.

Å‚ classifier

The general pattern for the Å‚ classifer can be seen in common verbs such as “aÅ‚tsii’ (“I am making‘), aÅ‚vir (“I am boiling‘), and aÅ‚ch’yaa (“I am cooking‘).

 

to make (T)		-tsii
ałtsii		I make
Ä…htsii		you make
ahtsii  yahtsii		heÅ‚she makes
tr’ahtsii		we make
ohtsii		you guys’ make
gahtsii  giyahtsii		they make

 

to boil (T)		-vir
ałvir		I am boiling
Ä…hvir		you are boiling
ahvir  yahvir		heÅ‚she is boiling
tr’ahvir		we are boiling
ohvir		you guys’ are boiling
gahvir  giyahvir		they are boiling

 

to fryÅ‚to cook (T)		-ch’yaa
aÅ‚ch’yaa		I am cooking
Ä…hch’yaa		you are cooking
ahch’yaa  yahch’yaa		heÅ‚she is cooking
tr’ahch’yaa		we are cooking
ohch’yaa		you guys’ are cooking
gahch’yaa  giyahch’yaa		they are cooking

 

The Å‚ classifier pattern:

	Active	Stative
1st singular	-aÅ‚-	—
2nd singular	-Ä…h-	—
3rd singular	–ah-	––
1st plural	tr’ah-; -rah-	—
2nd plural	-oh-	—
3rd plural	-gah-	—

d classifier

“Cheeshandak’ has been the only example of the d classifier so far, the classifier pattern between the prefix “chee-“ and the stem “—ndak’. A unique characteristic of the d classifier appears in 3rd person singular: if a prefix occurs before the classifier then the classifer marker is omitted. For instance, “cheendak’ (“he/she is tired‘) has no classifier marker. If there is no prefix before the d classifier marker in a verb, a “dÑ—-“ marks 3rd person singular. This can be seen in the verbs shi’įį’ (“I have ___‘) and shinįį (“I am drinking ___’).

to have (T)		Stem -‘įį
shi’įį		I have
ni’įį		you have
di’įį		he/she has
tr’ii’įį		we have
khwi’įį		you guys’ have
gi’įį		they have

 

to drink* (T)		Stem -nįį
shinįį		I am drinking
ninįį		you are drinking
dinįį		he/she is drinking
tr’iinįį		we are drinking
khwinįį		you guys’ are drinking
giinįį		they are drinking
* Cannot be used with alcohol

 

The d classifier pattern:

	Active	Stative
1st singular	-shÑ—-	—
2nd singular	-nÑ—-	—
3rd singular	Ø; dÑ—-	––
1st plural	tr’ii-; -rii-	—
2nd plural	-khwÑ—-	—
3rd plural	-gii-	—

lidii-     tea

chuutyah-   cup

shungaii- sugar

ch’eedzit shungaii- honey

spun- Spoon

k’ik – plate

laagahfii – coffee

Å‚uh gąįį faa – cookies

Å‚uh ch’yaa – bread

khwaii luh chyaa – frybread

_____ shin’ii. – I am drinking (water).

_____  nin’ii. – You are drinking (water).

_____ in’aa. – You are eating (fish).

_____ ih’aa. – I am eating (fish).

Å‚uk – salmon

Å‚uk choh – king salmon

ch’izhur, dinjik – moose

nilii tee chu’ – soup

vanh gwa shii – breakfast

drin tÅ‚’an gwa shii – lunch

khąą gwashii – dinner

jyah – snacks

shih gwanlii – food

k’iktan- china, porcelain

_____yihthan –   I want _____

_______yindhan?   Do you want____?

 

 

____________Hininjyaa – Will you drink ________

___________ Hishinjyaa – I will drink __________

 

This week you will go to the website  https://www.uaf.edu/anla/ and search for an Elder’s story which is either spoken or written in Gwich’in and has an English transcript.

Create a new post on this site and describe the story in English. Imagine what you would want to ask of the elder if you were having a conversation or what you would like to say.   Type it out your questions to the elder in English and Gwichin in your post.

When we think of gathering people together for eating, we also might think of listening to music and telling stories. View the resource page on Songs and Stories if you haven’t yet.