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Lesson 4

A. Pronunciation: “jeje” and “te”

a. The word “jeje” means “yes.” It is not pronounced according to the normal rules. It is nasalized and
the stress is on the first syllable.
b. The word “te” means “no.” The “e” you pronounce by putting your tongue in a slightly higher
position and more relaxed.
B. Customs
a. Gestures to show direction:
i. When you say “janto” the word is accompanied with 1 or 2 gestures that are culturally
acceptable.
1. One is to stretch the lower lip in the indicated direction.
2. The other is to put your hand near your chin or chest and show the direction with
your hand.
ii. Very rarely do the Ash show direction with the finger or with the arm extended.
b. The jungle as the supermarket:
i. The Ash obtain what they need from the jungle. Consequently when they travel they take
very little. The jungle always has what is necessary for surviving. Compared with the
national people, the Ash live in the present and worry less about saving/having for the
future.
C. Grammar
a. Infinitive
i. The infinitive of the verb is a form that you hardly ever use, but is useful for the student
because in the infinitive, it is easy to identify the root of the verb. The suffix of the infinitive
is “-aantsi.” The infinitive does not take prefixes.
ii. Examples:
1. kowaantsi – to want
2. nintaantsi – to want/need
3. pokaantsi – to come
4. apii(t)aantsi – to repeat
5. iyo(t)aantsi – to know/learn
6. oyaa(t)aantsi – to follow/ accompany
iii. In the first 3 examples, the verb roots are easier to identify. Removing the suffix “-aantsi”
you have the roots: “kow,” “nint,” “pok.”
iv. In the other examples, the roots are not so easy to identify. There is a process that affects
the Ash verbs that we call epenthesis. The actual roots are “apii,” “iyo,” and “oyaa.” Being
that these roots end with a vowel the process of epenthesis requires that you put a “t”
between the final vowel of the root and the vowel of the suffix. In lesson 8 we find more
detail of the process of epenthesis.
b. Verb tense
1. In Ash, the verb tense indicates the time of the action: future or non-future. The
non-future ranges from the present back to the remote past.
2. To see the differences between future and non-future tenses, study the examples:
a. nonkowe – I will want
nokowi – I want
b. ipoke – she will come (Yuruá)
ipoki – she comes (Yuruá)
c. pininte – you will want/need
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pinintzi – you need/want

3. Tense suffixes
a. The tense suffixes are “-e” (future) and “-i” (non-future). Different from the
suffix “-aantsi” these tense suffixes require a subject of the verb. In the
prior examples, the subject is a prefix (see lesson 2) but it can also be a suffix
(see lesson 10).
b. As you can see from the examples the tense suffixes follow the root and can
be followed by other suffixes. See lesson 15 for the order of suffixes.
c. 2 examples of suffixes that come after the tense suffix are: 1. “-ro” (direct
object) 2. “-na” (indirect object) – see lesson 6.
d. When the non-future tense “-i” follows “t”, the “t” becomes “tz.” This
occurs when the “t” is part of the root like with “pinintzi” (you needed) and
also when the “t” is added for epenthesis like “papiitziro” (you repeat it).
e. In the same way, when the suffix “-i” non-future follows the “s” the “s”
become “sh.”
i. awisaantsi – to pass
ii. nawise - I will pass
iii. nawishi - I pass/passed
4. Tense prefixes
a. In the future tense it is also necessary to make 2 changes before the root.
When the root begins with a stop (p,t,k) you add an “n” or “m” between the
prefix and the root. The “m” precedes the “p” and the “n” precedes the “t”
or “k.”
Future Non-future
nompoke nopoki
pinkowe pikowi

b. The second change that you have to make before the root is the change of
the person prefix, “he.” (see lesson 2) For the roots that begin with a vowel,
the 3rd person masculine prefix must begin with “ir-.”
Future Non-future
Irimpoite (he Jimpoitzi (he
will follow) follows)

5. The imperative: the future tense also is used as imperative in the form of 2nd person
singular (you).
a. papiitero – Repeat!
b. pimpoke – Come!
6. Irregular verb: “jataantsi” (to go). The infinitive is “jataantsi” but the root is “iyaa”
for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular forms. Note though, that the root is “aa” for
the 1st person plural (we).
Non-future
niyaatzi I go
piyaatzi you go
jiyaatzi he goes
iyaatzi she goes
aatzi we go
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Future
niyaate I will go
piyaate you will go
iriyaate he will go
iyaate she will go
aate we will go

D. Exercises
1. a. pipoki - __________________________________________________
b. niyote -__________________________________________________
c. papiitero -________________________________________________
d. nokowi - _________________________________________________
e. oyaatemi -________________________________________________
f. piyotzi -___________________________________________________
g. noyaatero -_______________________________________________
h. impoke -_________________________________________________
i. onkowe -_________________________________________________
j. noninte -_________________________________________________
k. apiitziro -_________________________________________________
l. jiyotzi -___________________________________________________
m. iyote -___________________________________________________
n. joyaatzina -_______________________________________________
2. a. nonkowe -________________________________________________
b. nokowi - _________________________________________________
c. pininte - __________________________________________________
d. pinintzi - _________________________________________________
e. ompoke - ________________________________________________
f. opoki - ___________________________________________________
g. papiite -__________________________________________________
h. papiitzi - _________________________________________________
i. iriyote - __________________________________________________
j. jiyotzi - __________________________________________________
k. poyaate -_________________________________________________
l. poyaatzi - _________________________________________________
3. a. pokaantsi - ______________________________________________
b. kowaantsi - ______________________________________________
c. apiitaantsi -______________________________________________
d. iyotaantsi -______________________________________________
e. oyaataantsi- _____________________________________________
4. a. ________________________________________________________
b. _________________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
5. a. _________________________________________________________
b. _________________________________________________________
c. _________________________________________________________
6. A.a.________________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
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c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
B.a.________________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
C.a.________________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
D.a._______________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
E.a.________________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
F.a.________________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
G.a._______________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
H.a._______________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
I.a.________________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
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c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
J.a.________________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
K.a.________________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
L.a.________________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________
M.a._______________________________________________________
b._______________________________________________________
c._______________________________________________________
d._______________________________________________________
e._______________________________________________________
f.________________________________________________________