Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Today, yesterday, tomorrow

1. The formation of adverbs refering to past or present days (as well as past or present years) is quite regular in Tanii:


-lo
-yo
-ro
-lyin
-nyan






a-
alo
day
ayo
night
aro
morning
alyin
evening
anyan
year
si(i)
si(i)lo
today
si(i)yo
tonight
si(i)ro
this morning
si(i)lyin
this evening
si(i)nyan
this year
bii
biilyo
yesterday
biiyo
yesterday night/ last night
biiro
yesterday morning/ last morning
biilyin
yesterday evening/ last evening
biinyan
last year
ko
kolo
day before yesterday
koyo
day before yesterday night
koro
day before yesterday morning
kolyin
day before yesterday
evening
konyan
2 years ago

The only exception is biilyo (yesterday).

Note
: In day-to-day conversation, kolo (day before yesterday) can have a broader sense and convey the meaning of "a few days back".

Ngo Mumbai ho kolo aku.
I arrived in Mumbai a couple of days back.

Another synonym is lonyi-lohin (literally '2-3 days') :

Lonyi-lohin kapyopa, ngo nii mi kapato.
I saw you some days back

Similarly, siinyan-siilo (literally 'this year-today') can be translated as "nowadays".

biinyan means "last year" and konyan "the year before last year" or "two years ago". Taken together, the two words biinyan-konyan convey the meaning of "in past years".


2. For refering to coming days, the formation of compound words is different : here the root -da is used with various prefixes :

D+1
D+2
D+3
D+4
arda
rida
riiboda
riikhiida/riipoda
tomorrow
day after tomorrow
three days hence
four days hence

Further specification (morning, evening, night) is made by adding corresponding words (aro, alyin, ayo). There are 2 exceptions : konda (tomorrow morning) and ri aro (day after tomorrow morning).


morning
evening
night
D+1
konda
tomorrow morning
arda alyin
tomorrow evening
arda ayo
tomorrow night
D+2
ri aro
day after tomorrow morning
rida alyin
day after tomorrow evening
rida ayo
day after tomorrow night
D+3
riiboda aro
3 days hence morning
riiboda alyin
3 days hence evening
riiboda ayo
3 days hence night

Note: arida and arda-rida (literally" tomorrow-day after tomorrow") are used for counting an unspecified number of days. Both can be translated either as "in coming days" or as " in future".

Arda-rida ngo Korea inchi
I will (surely) go to Korea in future.

The formation of adverbs refering to coming years is based on the same general principle (various prefixes + da), but is not regular. For coming months there are no specific words but cricumlocutions : alyinii piilo => literally 'coming month', alyinii piilo barnye nii (lit. 'the second of coming months'), alyinii piilo barhin nii (lit. 'the third of coming months'), etc.


DAY
MONTH
YEAR
+1
konda
tomorrow
alyinii piilo
next month
diirada
next year
+2
rida
day after tomorrow
alyinii piilo barnye nii
two months hence
lonyada
two years hence
+3
riiboda
alyinii piilo barhin nii
three months hence
loyida (lohida ?)
three years hence

Note 1 :
Lonyada could derive from : lo + nye (2) + da.
Loyida might be 'lohida' and thus derive from : lo + hin (3) + da (in Tanii the final n of 'hin' usually drops before l).


Note
2:
The same way arda-rida (literally "tomorrow-day after tomorrow") means "in coming days" or "in future", diira-lonyan (literally "next year-year after next year) can be translated as "in coming years" or " in future". Similarly loyida or lohida (3 years hence) can convey the general meaning of "in coming years".
PB

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Isn't our language so scientific?

By the way, yesterday morning is "biiro" and the day after tomorrow morning is "ri-aro".

Unknown said...

and yesterday is "biilyo" and not "bi(i)lo".

PB said...

@ Kanno
Not scientific, but logical to some extent... Anyway, thanks for correcting me. I'm often hesitating between speech variations from village to village (as for eg. with the word siilo= today which some people tend to pronounce as 'silo'), and true word differences as between bilo and biilyo. Do not hesitate to point to other mistakes, if any.

taj said...

Could, "3 years hence = loyi da"

Unknown said...

I have gone through ur informative blog.I found a lot of similarities between Apatani and Misingtani language..such as silo,siro are of same meaning..

PB said...

@ Kanno and Taj,
Your corrections have been added.
One author (Abraham, 1985) suggests the following series :

lonyanda = year after next year
lonyan habada = one year after lonyan
nyapi anyanda = 2 years after lonyan
nyango anyanda = 3 years after lonyan

What do you think of it ??

@ bhaskar
Thanks for dropping by. Keep commenting and pls inform us about other similarities with Mising language, if any

taj said...

Yes, "lohida" is more appropriate spelling. I am very poor in spelling Tanii words.

And I think we are searching for one word equivalent solution as far as possible, hence above cannot be in the same league as derada, lonyada lohida extra.

If we go by Abraham's proposition there could be many permutation and combination.

Unknown said...

The adverb formation of ko- are almost similar and bers the same meaning with the Misingtani language.It is seen that some words such as alo,konda,ayo,biiro etc. are found in Misingtani language but the meaning are different from Apatani.If there co-ordinated effort from the Tani people,there can be high and develop literature among the Tanis.
How do you write biiro?I think the pronounciation is something different say, in Mising Bíro-is brother,here note the 'í' letter through which a sound fitted to our language is pronounced.Similarly,'é' is used to pronounced our language such as arém(plate),aín(gold),ansíng(cold),ésar(air) etc.In this way in case of Apatani language too such letters be used,I suggest for correct pronounciation.

PB said...

@ MIGANG PEGUBHAI
You seem to speak in favour of the development of a common language. I have my own opinion about it. But before adding my own personal comment (if of any interest), since I am a non-Tani I would prefer Taniis and other Tani-speaking people express their views first.

PB said...

Thanks and welcome, Ruth.

Unknown said...

Nice.we all tanii are with you to promote this dream of our culture and tradition.
We all tanii should be gratefull to you for promoting our tradition and culture.
THANKS n CARRY ON...........

PB said...

@ Nic's
Thanks for your comment... Sure we carry on. But pls bear with us as posts are less regular these days. Actually the reason is, we are currently working on a project that will help promoting Tanii language, and hopefully should be useful to many. By the way, if you have some knowledge of your mother tongue and wish to devote a little of your time on it, you can be part of it. My mail ID is indicated on my blogger profile.
Cheers.

Unknown said...

Hopefuly,all Tanii can introuced a new common language out of coordination and cooperation.I'm eager to cooperate in this sphere if there is such move , especially Mising Tani language.

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