Kílta Lexember 13: issét "footpath, sidewalk"

Basic vocabulary again today:

issét /ˈis.seːt/ footpath, sidewalk < issa road, way + -ét lexical diminutive

Kílta has normal diminutives which can be used freely on anything, as well as fossilized diminutives which only occur as (non-productive) word derivation elements, sometimes without the non-diminutive root being used in the language at all.

Avur në issét nen erniënto.
avur në issét nen er-niënt-o
1PL TOP footpath nen TRANS-depart-PFV
We left on the footpath.

Uhítot si issét li úri avësso.
snow ACC sidewalk ABL just.now remove.PFV
I just removed snow from the sidewalk.

Kílta Lexember 12: chítas "regret, remorse"

Today's word has a modestly interesting etymology, but it kicked off a bunch of new polysemy for some adjectives:

chítas /ˈtʃiː․tas/ regret, remorse < chíto bite, chew + -as abstract nominalizer

Part of the motivation for this is that chíto also means sting when insects do it.

As is normal with emotion nouns, the verb relo bear, carry is used when one's experiencing it. I use the ablative li for the matter about which one has regrets, and the dative kë for a person who has been wronged.

Mannur në nirika li chítas si relo më.
3PL TOP war ABL regret ACC carry.PFV NEG
They don't regret the war.

Ëlá në atta kë chítas si relo.
3PL TOP father DAT regret ACC carry.PFV
They have regrets about their father.

Regrets have standard lexical collocations, generally adjectives, like: sincere, deep, etc., so I needed to cover that a bit. For a sincere regret, I just chose tásin true. That word is also used to mean something like equal to the task, which is more the sense I was drawing on here.

For other intensity terms I went back to the original meaning of chíto bite, and went with nútokin strong for deep regrets. Kwimin weak can mean mild regret, but more carries the sense of insincere regret. I'm not going to give examples of all of them, but one should give the flavor:

Nútokin chítas ël si sikwa mai nuto.
strong regret 3SG ACC house LAT impel.PFV
Deep regret(s) sent him home.

Nuto covers urge, set in motion, impel, etc.

Kílta Lexember 11: insen - "sink, basin"

More basic household vocabulary today:

insen /ˈin․sen/ sink, basin < in- augmentative + sen cup, bowl

This derivation is pretty transparent.

Insen mai manur si salki re.
sink LAT vegetable.PL ACC place.IMP PTCL
Put the vegetables in(to) the sink.

Imperatives are moderated with the particle re.

Insen si këspin mata li riëlainat no.
sink ACC hot water ABL fill.INF be.PFV
I'll fill the sink with hot water.

The simple future, INF + no, is practically confined to first person subjects, so the subject is unambiguous here. Also Kílta has separate temperature words for water and food. Mahin hot would be used for things or the weather.

Kílta Lexember 10: válekwa "sinecure"

Today I'm going a bit more specialized for Kílta, but still using the derivation I've used a previous post, the -i/ekwa room and building suffix:

válekwa /βaːˈle․kʷa/ sinecure < vál perquisite, privilege + -i/ekwa room, building suffix 

Here I'm using a common enough metonymy of a place for the things that go on there. In this case, it's referring to some sort of official position (possibly governmental, but it could be business, and probably organized crime) that someone has but for which they aren't expected to accomplish much if any work. The position exists to confer wealth and power.

Because it's derived from a location term, expressions with will tend to refer to that origin.

Sím në ronin válekwa nen úri vëchësto.
sím në ronin válekwa nen úri vëch-ëst-o
3SG TOP high sinecure LOC just.now remain-INCH-PFV
He just got a valuable sinecure.

The adjective ronin high is often associated with positions of power (again, a common enough conceptual metaphor). The verb vëcho means remain at the core, but is used for expressions meaning live, dwell.

One might also get kutta vë válekwa a vassal's sinecure, a valuable position that requires the continued patronage of some powerful figure. Any sinecure might be like this, but in this expression the position is precarious.

I still need to work out some nice phrasing for when someone is evicted from a sinecure.

Kílta Lexember 9: okwama "kitchen"

Yet another fairly basic term I should have invented for Kílta years ago:

okwama /oˈkʷæ.ma/ kitchen < okwa hearth, fireplace + -ama location and time derivation

I don't use the ("non-productive") -e/ikwa room derivation here to avoid the doubled /kʷ/.

Kolán okwama nen vuttë sunko?
everyone kitchen LOC why stand.PFV
Why is everyone in the kitchen?

I spend a certain amount of time thinking about lexical collocation. You could say that someone was "very mistaken," but a more idiomatic turn of phrase is "sorely mistaken." You cannot, however, be "sorely correct." A high degree of attention is close. And so on. Intensifiers often come in for special treatment.

Kitchens don't usually get intensifiers, but you do sometimes want to talk about a kitchen (or any workspace) that is well suited or well prepared for the work that goes on there. So, I've decided to add a polysemy to the already existing adjective kinochin, normally used of people to mean ready, prepared. When referring to places where work takes place, it now also means well or fully equipped. If you were trying to sell it, I suppose you could say well-appointed.

Ël vë kinochin okwama nen tëlpár surílo.
3SG ATTR well.equipped kitchen LOC cook.CVB.IPFV enjoy.PFV
I enjoy cooking in their well-equipped kitchen.

Kílta Lexember 8: konekwa "bedroom"

Very basic vocabulary for Kílta today:

konekwa /koˈne.kʷa/ bedroom < kono sleep -(e/i)kwa room, building

The suffix -(e/i)kwa is yet another of those "non-productive" suffixes. 

Mautur në konekwa nen nulo tul?
cats TOP bedroom LOC lie.PFV Q
Are the cats in the bedroom?

Not a whole lot of room (sorry) for polysemy with this one.

Kílta Lexember 7: hënnëtukës "charismatic leader"

A somewhat more obscure term for Kílta today, but a matter that sometimes grabs my attention.

hënnëtukës /xən.nəˈtu.kəs/ charismatic leader < hënno tame, control + tuka eye + -ës agent and instr. nmnl

In Kílta the word tuka eye has strong connotations of nosiness, extending to surveillance. I wanted for this word to capture the role of the rather nosy techniques of group control that tend to accompany organizations headed by charismatic figures. Also, what the leader turns their eye to tends to become the interest of everyone in such a group.

Hënnëtukës luël si chasët në, nahësá luël si inachëlo.
hünnëtukës luël si chas-ët në, nahës-á luël si inach-ël-o
charismatic.leader error ACC do-CVB.PFV TOP follower-PL error ACC big-CAUS-PFV
When a charismatic leader makes a mistake, the followers amplify the mistake.

A general converb clause can be topicalized, and it has a mixed conditional and temporal sense. My translation uses when, which captures the more conditional sense here.

Hënnëtukës në pairun no.
chairsmatic.leader TOP disaster be.PFV
A charistmatic leader is a catastrophe.

Kílta distinguishes pairun, a disaster that is more man-made, from sauna, a disaster over which people have no control.