Ararahih'urípih
A Dictionary and Text Corpus of the Karuk Language

Nettie Ruben: "The Story of Skunk" (1957)

Primary participants: Nettie Ruben (speaker), William Bright (researcher)
Date: 1957
Project identifier: WB_KL-46
Publication details: William Bright, The Karok Language (1957), pp. 246-247, Text 46
Additional contributor: Nico Baier (annotator)


Text display mode: paragraph | sentence | word | word components


[1] víri    vaa    káan    uum    vúra    kun'ûupvunaati    tayiith   
so    so    there    3.SG    Intensive    they.are.digging.it    Brodiaea   
(Ground squirrels) were digging brodiaea roots there.

[2] máruk        kunítraatih   
uphill    PERF    they.are.looking.upward   
They looked uphill.

[3] axmáy    ík    máruk    ára    u'íhuniheesh   
suddenly    must    uphill    person    he.will.dance.down   
Suddenly a person was about to dance down.

[4] chátik    vúra        ûumukich   
finally    Intensive    PERF    near   
Finally he was close by.

[5] púyava    kunímuustih   
you.see    they.are.looking.at.him   
So they looked at him.

[6]     kuntápkuup    pakunímuustih    u'íihtih   
PERF    they.like.him    when.they.watch.him    he.is.dancing   
They liked him as they watched him, he was dancing.

[7] púyava    kun'áraarahitih    kunímuusti    axchaytunvêechas    mukúnuuthkam    tupíhivriin   
you.see    they.are.living    they.are.looking.at.him    little.ground.squirrels    seaward.from.them    he.has.danced.back.and.forth   
So they sat, the little ground squirrels watched him, he danced back and forth in front of them

[8] púyava    kári    xás    tóo    pif   
you.see    then    then    he.has    fart   
And then he broke wind.

[9] kári    xás        kuniktírish    pa'axchaytunvêechas   
then    then    PERF    they.faint    the.little.ground.squirrels   
And the little ground squirrels fainted.

[10] kári    xás    tóo    psáansip    patayíith    tishnamkanvínusunach   
then    then    he.has    carry.back    the.brodiaeas    skunk.sp.   
Then (the type of skunk called) tishnamkanvínusunach carried off the brodiaeas

[11] ii!        kunpifúksiip   
oh!    PERF    they.get.back.up   
Oh, then they got up again.

[12] kári    xás        púfaat    pamukuntáyiith   
then    then    PERF    nothing    their.brodiaeas   
And they had no brodiaeas.


[13] púyava    kúkuum    vúra    imáan    chími    nu'ûupvanvi    kúkuum   
you.see    again    Intensive    tomorrow    soon    let's.go.dig.roots    again   
So again the next day (they said), "Let's go dig roots again!"

[14] púyava    táay        kun'ûupva    patayíith   
you.see    much    PERF    they.dig.roots    the.brodiaeas   
So they dug a lot of brodiaeas.

[15] xás    kúkuum    kunítraatih    kúkuum    tu'íhithun   
then    again    they.are.looking.upward    again    he.danced.around   
And again they looked uphill, he was dancing down again.

[16] kári    xás    upiip    púya    payêem    ík    vôohara    mûuk    ivúreesh    papay'ôok    tu'íhithunahaak    nunúthvaaykam   
then    then    he.says    and.so    now    must    digging.stick    with.(by.means.of)    you.will.jab.him    when.here    when.he.danced.around    in.front.of.us   
And (one) said, "Say, this time we must jab him with a digging stick when he dances around here in front of us."

[17] xás    púyava    vúra    tu'íhuni        ûumukich   
then    you.see    Intensive    he.danced.down    PERF    near   
And so he danced down close.

[18] púyava    vúra        kunkáriha    pakunkupavúraheesh   
you.see    Intensive    PERF    they.are.ready    when.they.will.jab.him   
And they were ready to jab him.


[19] kári    xás    víri    vaa    tupuxíchkaanva    poo'íihtih    kûufan 'an 'an 'an   
then    then    so    that    he.worked.hard    when.he.was.dancing    kûufan 'an 'an 'an   
And there he was exerting himself as he danced, (singing) "kûufan 'an 'an 'an."
(Bright: "These words evidently contain kuuf, the name of a species of skunk. It is not clear whether kuuf and tishnamkanvínusunach are two names for the same species.")

[20] kúuk    tukúchnaaxma    upífeesh   
to    he.stuck.his.buttocks.toward.them    he.will.fart   
He turned his buttocks toward them, he was about to break wind.

[21] kári    xás    chikus!    tuvur   
then    then    sound.of.poking    he.jabbed.him   
And wham! They jabbed him.

[22] kári    xás    ukyívish    áfup    patá    kunvúr    vôohara    mûuk   
then    then    he.falls.down    buttocks    when    they.jab.him    digging.stick    with.(by.means.of)   
Then he fell down, when they jabbed him in the buttocks with a digging stick.

[23] kári    xás    pamukuntáyiith    kunipsháansiip    kunpíhmar   
then    then    their.brodiaeas    they.pick.them.up    they.run.back   
Then they carried off their brodiaeas, they ran home.

[24] kunpírurav   
they.run.away   
They fled.

[25] púyava    vúra    koomahich   
you.see    Intensive    little.bit   
So that's all.