yaawö
Ye'kwana[edit]
| Bolívar state | yaawö |
|---|---|
| Brazil | yaawä |
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Probably from iyö (inanimate invisible demonstrative pronoun) + awö (“in”). Compare the construction of Trió irëme, derived from the Trió cognate of iyö and having a very similar meaning to yaawö.
Pronunciation[edit]
Particle[edit]
yaawö
- Then, so, and so; used in the explanation of events to indicate a transition from one to the next.
- Synonym: dünane
- Focalizes an element of a sentence by isolating it after the particle.
Usage notes[edit]
This particle is extremely frequent and appears in a huge variety of contexts, so that pinning down its various meanings is difficult and native speakers sometimes make comments on its overuse. It usually appears late in a clause; in the rarer occasions when it introduces a clause, it is almost always reiterated later in the sentence.
This particle is more frequent in narratives than in conversations, but it is even more frequent when the speaker organizes ideas out of context, such as in a speech in a meeting or a description of an activity that is not currently being performed.
References[edit]
- Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “yaawö”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana[1], Lyon, pages 163–164