UAP GRAMMAR

Only a few days before my departure from Uap, I received through the kindness of Padre Cristobal de Canals, a grammar, written in Spanish, of the language of the island. The small volume of a hundred and forty-four pages bears the following title: Primer Ensayo de Grammatica de la lengua de Yap (Carolina Occidentales) con un Pequeno Diccionario y varias Frases en forma Diálogo. Por un Padre Capuchino, Misionero de aquellas islas. Manila. Imprenta del Collegio de Santo Tomas, á cargo de D. Gervasi, Memije, 1888.

In a short preface the Padre tells us that the modest treatise is the work of a residence in the island of Uap of about a year.

It is almost needless to remark that when a language has never been set forth in writing, its forms and even its pronunciation are as shifting as the sands of a beach. The only object of those to whom it is native is to understand and be understood. Let these two ends be gained, and all the accidents of grammar are superfluous and pronunciation will fall under no critic’s condemnation. That this is true as regards pronunciation, sufficient proof is come under my own observation; in the twenty years that elapsed between the date of the Padre’s grammar and my sojourn in the island, the pronunciation showed marked variation between that recorded in the Grammar and that current in the island when I visited it.

Furthermore, it may be noted, I fear, that the Padre, in certain cases, especially in the conjugations of verbs, failed to observe that what he assumes to be a variation in structure decided enough to constitute a separate conjugation, is, after all, merely a change due to euphony, or due to a colloquial contraction, as we find it in all languages, such as, for instance, we have in English in our familiar haven’t, where, of course, n’t is not a part of the verb.

In these circumstances I have deemed it wisest to set forth the Etymology and Syntax in the briefest and most concise way, and trust to phrases and the vocabulary as supplemental to the mother wit of the traveller in his communications with the simple-minded natives of this truly charming island, and I am bound to add that the novice will never find there severe critics of grammatical or linguistic blunders.

It is to be borne in mind that the language of Uap belongs, certainly to a large degree, to the Agglutinating Group; and, possibly, the more intimate our familiarity with it, the more distinctly we should recognize as compounds words, which we now regard as simple, and analyze them into their component parts. For instance, the definite article “the” is faré; “those,” fapi; “those two,” fagali. Here fa is evidently a root and the affix pi we know to be the sign of the plural, but the meanings of ré and gali are lost.

There are no grammatical genders, that is, there are no affixes, suffixes, or terminations to indicate genders, but pumawn, man, and pin, woman, follow the noun when sex is to be emphasized. We have the same poverty in English in expressing the gender of certain animals, such as: she-wolf, he-goat, she-bear, etc.

There appears to be no Indefinite Article, and for even a Definite Article there seems to be no very great use. It is as follows, for all genders:

Singular faré the

Plural fapi those

Dual fagali those two

Examples: The man—faré pumawn; the woman—faré pin; the house—faré naun; the men—fapi pumawn; the women—fapi pin; the two women—fagali pin; etc.

The second syllable of the plural fapi is also used to express the plural, e.g., the children—pi abetir; the people in a village—pi u binau.

Before going further into the maze of Uap words and their arrangement in sentences I am impressed with the advisability of quoting from Professor Basil Hall Chamberlain’s “A Hand-Book of Colloquial Japanese” (page 11) in order to give an excuse and to ask pardon for giving a comparison and classification of one of these Far Eastern languages in terms used in the grammars of the other side of the world.

“A word as to the parts of speech in Japanese. Strictly speaking there are but two, the verb and the noun. The particles or ‘postpositions’ and suffixes, which take the place of our prepositions, conjunctions, and conjugational terminations, were themselves originally fragments of nouns and verbs. The pronoun and numeral are simply nouns. The true adjective (including the adverb) is a sort of neuter verb. But many words answering to our adjectives and adverbs are nouns in Japanese. Altogether our grammatical categories do not fit the Japanese language well. They have only been adhered to in this work in so far as they may serve as landmarks familiar to the student.”

PRONOUNS

The PERSONAL PRONOUNS are igak—I, igur—thou, tsanem—he, she or it. Igak is thus declined:

Singular:

Nominative igak I

Genitive and ablative rak of me

Dative gufanei for me

Accusative and dative ngok me; to me

A curious refinement is to be noted in the dual and plural of this first personal pronoun; each possesses two inflections, namely, one conveying the ordinary idea of duality or plurality, such as gadou—we two, and gadad—we; and a second conveying the idea that the present company is alone referred to and that all others are excluded. For instance, gadou u Rul means simply “we two men of Rul,” but should the two men be joined by a third whom they did not wish to be included in the pronoun, the phrase would be gomou u Rul, that is, “we two men, and we two men alone, of Rul.” Thus, also, should a man happen to address the assembled people of his district, he would say: Gadad pi u Rul, i.e., “We the people of Rul,” but if he wished to express the idea that he refers to their own district, to the exclusion of all others, he would say, Gomad pi u Rul.

The two numbers, dual and plural, of the first person, are thus declined:

Dual nominative gadou we two

Genitive and ablative rodou of us two, with us two

Dative n̄ḡadafanou for us two

Accusative n̄ḡodou us two; to us two

Dual (Exclusive Form):

Nominative gomou we two only

Genitive and ablative romou of or with us two only

Dative kufanu for us two only

Accusative n̄ḡomou us two only

Plural:

Nominative gadad we

Genitive and ablative rodad of us; or, with us

Dative n̄ḡadafaned for us

Accusative and dative n̄ḡodad us; or, to us

Plural (Exclusive):

Nominative gomad we only

Genitive and ablative romad of us; or, with us only

Dative goufaned for us only

Accusative and dative n̄ḡomad us only; or, to us only

The second person is thus declined:

Singular:

Nominative igur thou

Genitive and ablative rom of thee; or, with thee

Dative mufanei for thee

Accusative and dative n̄ḡom thee; or, to thee

Dual:

Nominative gumu you two

Genitive and ablative romu of or with you two

Dative mufanu for you two

Accusative and dative n̄ḡomu you two, or to you two

Plural:

Nominative gumed you

Genitive and ablative romed of you, or with you

Dative mufaned for you

Accusative and dative n̄ḡomed you, or to you

The third person:

Singular:

Nominative tsanem, fanem he, she, it

Genitive and ablative rok of or with him, her, it

Dative fanei for him, her, it

Accusative and dative n̄ḡak him, her, it, or to him, her, it

Dual:

Nominative galitsanem they two

Genitive and ablative rorou of, or with the two

Dative rafanou for the two

Accusative and dative n̄ḡorou them two, or to the two

Plural:

Nominative pitsanem they

Genitive and ablative rorad of them, or with them

Dative rafaned for them

Accusative and dative n̄ḡorad them, or to them

Demonstrative pronouns are of three kinds, namely, personal, impersonal (i.e., relating to things animate and inanimate), and partitive (i.e., relating to parts or pieces of objects). The personal demonstrative pronouns are:

Singular:

tsanei, or anei this

[The abbreviation, anei, apparently, is only for euphony.]

tsanir, or anir that

tsanem, or anem that yonder

fatsa that far off, unseen, out of sight

Dual:

galitsanei, or galianei these two

galitsanir, or galianir those two

galitsanem, or galianem those two yonder

Plural:

pitsanei, or pianei these

pitsanir, or pianir those

pitsanem, or yad those yonder

Impersonal demonstrative pronouns, referring to animals and things: binei—this; binir—that; binem—that yonder; tinei—these; tinir—those; tinem—those yonder.

Partitive demonstrative pronouns: kinei—this piece of; kinir—that piece of; kinem—that piece yonder of. Tsikinei (if the piece is very small); tsikinega (if the piece is very large).

The POSSESSIVE PRONOUN, when applied to anything which has no relation to our body, is the genitive of the personal pronoun, placed after the noun: purpur rak—my hat; naun rom—thy house; ton rok—his hatchet; mad romad—our clothes; domunemun romed—your food; uelduk rorou—the field of those two.

The possessives of nouns signifying parts of the body, or things relating to or proceeding from it, are formed as follows: the noun loses its last letter, when this is an i, and sometimes the last syllable, when it happens to be ngin, and then the last syllable of the genitive of the personal pronoun is used as a possessive suffix. For the first or second person singular, the suffix is -ak or -ek for the first person, -am or -em for the second person. I cannot, however, detect any rule whereby the vowel should be changed, nor can any rule be given for the third person.

Examples: lungai—mouth; lungak—my mouth; lungam—thy mouth; lungan—his mouth; lunga-dad—our mouths; lunga-med—your mouths; lunga-rad—their mouths; lolugei—head; lolugek—my head; lolugem—thy head, etc.

Relative Pronouns.—The idea of relation is expressed by the particle ni. Thus, faré abetir ni ior—the child that cries; nu ni keb—rain that falls.

By means of this ni, is formed the interrogative mini, which may be placed either before or after the noun. Thus, mini igur—who art thou? mini e romed—which of you? pianir mini—who are those women?

The following interrogative particles are used for animals and inanimate objects: mang—what? benin̄ḡan—which one? tinin̄ḡan—which ones? Galinin̄ḡan—which of those two?

When mini precedes a demonstrative personal pronoun, beginning with a consonant, and mang precedes a neuter demonstrative pronoun, they are followed by the particle e. Thus, mini e tsanei—who is this person? mang e binei—what is this (thing or animal)?

The INDEFINITE PRONOUNS are the following: tareb, or tab—one, the one; be—the other; dari—no one, no thing. Thus, tareb e pumawn ni keb—the man who comes; bine e naun, naun ku bë—this house is the house of the other man; dari pumawn u naun—there is no man at home.

VERBS

There is no substantive verb. The past, present, and future state must be gathered from the drift of the sentence. Its place is filled, however, by two particles ni and e; of which we have already had examples. Thus, faré māāb ni bin—the door is open; matsalabok e naun—clean is the house.

N. B. After the three personal pronouns, these particles are omitted. Thus, igak alid—I am dirty; igur matsalabok—thou art clean; tsanem fel—he is good. They are also omitted in negative sentences when dagathi, not, is used. Thus, dagathi alid—it [is] not dirty; dagathi Tomak—it [is] not Tomak; faré abetir dagathi fel—the child [is] not good; faré gatu dagathi baga—the cat [is] not large. When, however, for the sake of emphasis, the predicate precedes the subject, then these particles are used. Thus, dagathi fel e abetir—it is not a good child; dagathi baga e gatu—it is not a large cat.

“It is,” “there is,” “there are,” are sometimes expressed by kabai. Thus, kabai u nifi—it is in the fire; kabai bȯȯr wu—there are many betel nuts.

When kabai is used in the sense of “to have,” it is followed by the genitive of the possessor. Thus, kabai debdeb rak—I have a box; kabai piri olum rok—he is very cold.

“Not to be,” and “not to have,” when referring to inanimate objects, or to the dead, are expressed by dari. Thus, dari e lugud rok—I have no cigarette; dari e morau—there is no [ripe] coconut.

When they refer, however, to animate objects, dari may be also used, but likewise demoi (sing.), darmei (dual), and darmed (plural). Thus, pumawn demoi u mu—the man is not in the canoe; fouap darmei fakam ni fel—yesterday your two children were not good; darmed fapi abetir u naun—the boys are not in the house.

In the little Spanish and Uap Grammar, of which I have already spoken, and to which I wish always to express my obligation, though I have by no means followed it, verbs are divided into six conjugations, and paradigms of all are given. For reasons which are to me sufficient, this division appears too elaborate, and a little arbitrary in dealing with an unwritten language, which varies from generation to generation. Inasmuch as there is no Uap literature and the only object in learning the language is for the purpose of conversation, I think it better, to judge by my own experience, to learn these various inflections from phrases and a vocabulary, rather than to memorize page after page of paradigms. Accordingly, the conjugation of only one verb is here given, merely to show the general inflection,—premising that there are, what we might naturally expect, only three tenses: the present, past and future. Thus, we may conjugate non, to speak, where non is not an infinitive, but merely a root:

Present Tense

Singular gu-non I speak

mu-non thou speakest

be-non he speaks

Plural absolute da-non-ad we all speak

da-non-ed you all speak

da-non-od they all speak

Plural restrictive gu-non-ad we alone speak

mu-non-ad you alone speak

ra-non-ad they alone speak

Dual absolute da-non-ou we two speak

Dual restrictive gu-non-ou we two alone speak

mu-non-ou you two alone speak

ra-non-ou they two alone speak

Perfect Tenses

Singular kogu-non I spoke, I have spoken

komu-non thou hast spoken

i-non, or ke-non he spoke, he has spoken

Plural absolute kada-non-ad, -ed, -od we, you, they, all spoke

Plural restrictive kogu-non-ad we alone spoke

komu-non-ad you alone spoke

kara-non-ad they alone spoke

Dual absolute kada-non-ou we two spoke

Dual restrictive kogu-non-ou we two alone spoke

komu-non-ou you two alone spoke

kara-non-ou they two alone spoke

Future Tense

Singular baigu-non I shall speak

baimu-non thou shalt speak

bai-non he shall speak

Plural absolute baida-non-ad, -ed, -od we, you, they, will speak

Plural restrictive baigu-non-ad we alone will speak

baimu-non-ad you alone will speak

baira-non-ad they alone will speak

Dual absolute baida-non-ou we two will speak

Dual restrictive baigu-non-ou we two alone will speak

baimu-non-ou you two alone will speak

baira-non-ou they two alone will speak

Imperative

Singular mu-non speak thou

n̄ḡe-non let him speak

Plural mu-non-ad you speak

n̄ḡara-non-ad let them speak

Dual mu-non-ou you two speak

n̄ḡara-non-ou let those two speak

Past participle ken-non spoken

It is not to be supposed that these hyphens are observable in the spoken language. “In forming the dual from the plural,” says the Padre, “it is to be observed that it is necessary to change only the suffix ad into on wherever it occurs. It may be noticed also that the difference in the tenses is marked by the prefix to the root and its prefix in the present tense and not by the termination: the prefix ke or ka (ke gu-non) for the present perfect and preterite, and bai (bai gu-non) for the future.”

ADVERBS

There is a certain class of words, which in Uap, but not in English, serve as adverbs, as follows: baiu or bau—where, or wherein; urai—here; uara—there; uaram—yonder; ulang—above; ubut—below; butsugur—near; uen—outside; urun̄ḡin or ebinau—everywhere; utoluk—in the middle; lan̄ḡin (lang-u-in)—inside; dekem (dek-u-em) on the top of; tan̄ḡin (tang-u-in)—underneath, below.

It will be noticed that in all these words the vowel sound of u is present. When this vowel sound is doubled it conveys the idea of “from,” as follows: uuroi—from here; uuro—from there; uurom—from yonder; uubut—from below; uulang—from above; uubutsugur—from near; uubutorel—from far; uulan̄ḡin—from inside; uuen—from outside.

The interrogation bau, or danduu, or darduu may be used, as meaning, whither does the road lead to such and such a house or village.

Again the prefix n̄ḡa means “toward.” Thus n̄ḡan—toward where; n̄ḡarai—toward here; n̄ḡara—toward there; n̄ḡaram—toward yonder; n̄ḡalang—toward above; n̄ḡabut—toward below; n̄ḡalangin—toward inside; n̄ḡauen—toward outside.

Time is expressed adverbially, thus: dain—when (if used of future events); uin—when (if used for past events); man̄ḡial—at what time (of to-day); kakarom—before; fouperen̄ḡan—two days ago; foupelen—day before yesterday; fouap—yesterday; doba, diri—to-day; tsine—now; kabul—to-morrow; lan̄ḡilat—day after to-morrow; dukuf—three days hence; kanin̄ḡek—four days hence (by prefixing ka to the cardinal numbers (see below), after and including the number four, the idea is conveyed of so many days hence; thus, kaärgak—ten, days hence); bai-non, baibiid—afterward; baikatabots—soon, immediately; foun̄ḡan—last night; fouepnep—night before last; kaforombots—not long ago; kaargon—from the beginning; kakarom-ni-kakarom—formerly (see degrees of comparison, below); pirieiai—often; tamathath—seldom.

Again, there is a class of words indicative of modes or manner, which more closely than others resemble our adverbs; such as fel, kefel—well; felnifel—very well (see degrees of comparison, below); kirifel,—most perfectly; bikireb—badly; tsidiri—instantly; papai—soon, quickly; soath—slowly; arragon—thus, in this manner (if used interrogatively, in what manner? how? we have uargon) tarebarragon—as, the same as; susun, ued—equally; urungin-e-ran—continually.

ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are used adverbially. Thus: botsu—little; raau—abundant; boör—many; biltsilits—few; also, piri—very; dari—nothing; bots—something; kaiuk—enough.

Affirmative and negative particles are as follows: hu, hei—yes; dan̄ḡai—no; riul—really; arragon—it is so; iya—it is that; sorom—you are right; riul-ni-riul—most certainly; dari—there is no; dakori—there is no more; dagathi—it is not; auna—perhaps.

Degrees of comparison are not indicated by any inflection of the adjective; where, however, the idea of superiority or of increase is to be expressed, the particle ko is used as the comparative degree, thus: bilibithir solap ko abetir—the old man is more skillful than the youth; baut ren, tomal e kobre—wood is lighter than iron.

The superlative is expressed either by prefixing ri before an adjective, or by a repetition of the adjective connected by ni. As thus: ri-manigil—most excellent; manigil ni manigil—most excellent; pachijik ni pachijik—very very small; riguchigur—the nearest.

PREPOSITIONS AND POSSESSIVES

Of prepositions n̄ḡa is used where we use “to,” denoting tendency.

Ni corresponds to our genitive defining the material, as, debdeb ni kobre—box of iron; naun ni ren—house of wood.

When, however, a partitive genitive is intended, ne represents “of,” as logoru eduk ne merau—two baskets of coconuts.

Nu expresses our genitive of origin, as fak nu Tomak—child of Tomak; mokuf nu Uap—flower of Uap.

Ku is used for our possessive genitive, when the thing possessed is inanimate, but when animate, then e is used. Thus: thauei ku pumawn—necklace of the man; otofin ku pin—charcoal of the woman; gatu e olakem—cat of your brother; babi e Pilun—pig of the Chief.

CONJUNCTIONS

The conjunctions are as follows:

n̄ḡe and

reb also

dagathi neither, nor

fa either, or

ma but

ya because

n̄ḡe so that

CARDINAL NUMBERS

1 reb, tareb

2 rub, logoru

3 adolib

4 anin̄ḡek

5 lal

6 nel

7 medelib

8 meruk

9 mereb

10 argak

11 argak n̄ḡe tareb

12 argak n̄ḡe logoru

14 ragak n̄ḡe anin̄ḡek

20 r’liu

21 r’liu n̄ḡe tareb

30 agiei

33 agiei n̄ḡe adolib

40 anin̄ḡargak

50 uguem

55 uguem n̄ḡe lal

60 nelargak

70 medelibargak

80 merukargak

90 merebargak

100 raȧi

200 rum raȧi

202 rum raȧi logoru

300 adolib mere ai

500 lal mere ai

1000 buyu

Ordinal numbers are not used. We have, however, mon—first, in the front; toluk—in the middle; uoriel—last, lastly.

Ordinal numbers are not in reality lacking; yai—time, when joined to the cardinal numbers by the article e provides them. Thus: tareb-e-yai—once; logoru-e-yai—twice; adolib-e-yai—thrice; etc.

It remains only to add a reference to the curious word mere, which, to quote the words of the Padre, “is constantly heard and is a necessary adjunct in speaking the language colloquially. It may be placed at the beginning of any speech and before any noun or verb in a sentence; it is especially useful in orations, being placed before ideas which are interpolated and which explain or connect the whole account.

“Example: Tsine mere keb e Ronoboi, mere Lian denang!—Now there comes Ronoboi and Lian doesn’t know he’s coming!

“This sentence would be perfectly correct without mere, but strength and eloquence are added by putting it in these two places.”

MEASUREMENTS

Terms used for small measurements:

Deh a span of index finger and thumb

Bogul the width of the four fingers together

Rif-e-rif the width of the back of the hand

Beridiri the stretch of the arms, a fathom

TIME

Terms used in denoting the time of day:

Kakatabul-ni-kakatabul dawn

Galaial early morning

Kakatabul about eight o’clock

Misi n̄ḡijik about ten or eleven o’clock

Misi noon

Kathik one o’clock

Kapal about three o’clock

Gaunauruk late afternoon

Kainep night time

Lukunalang midnight