Remedy for a Rattlesnake Bite

 Remedy  for  a  Rattlesnake  Bite                                                      

Mary  J.  Yee      

Remedy for a Rattlesnake Bite  

Story by Mary J. Yee Recorded by John Peabody Harrington

Translation by Suzanne Wash Edited by Matthew Vestuto

Here is a short text in Barbareño Chumash, which Mary J. Yee gave to John Harrington. Suzanne Wash provided the parsing and translation.

A parsing is a breakdown of the Chumash phrases into their smallest parts (morphemes.) Below the parsing, or break-down, there are abbreviations for what the different phrase parts mean. I have done my best to align these directly below the parsing.

Sometimes you will see an actual English translation beneath the Chumash word, but mostly you will see mysterious abbreviations, like the number, 3, or PURP…

At the end of this document, I will provide a glossary of the abbreviations that appear in this text with the full term and definitions. I’ll also provide links to further information if you are inclined to go deeper into the analysis of the language.

You may notice that some letters in the parsing don’t appear in the main text. For example, the h in h’il, is dropped, resulting in phrases beginning with il. This process is called elision, and it is common even in English.

nas’uw ilku ilx šáp,  

na =s-ʔuw hi=l =ku hi=l =xšap when=3-bite DP=ART=person DP=ART=rattlesnake

When a rattlesnake bit a person,

im ekasamqili’uniyíwpi il ’e’neq iltštániw iltupméktš k ehak u itštániw il əx ə y iltupméktš,

they used to look for (at once) a l i tt le gir l or a l i tt le boy,

him eka=s-am -qil i-ʔ-uniyiw-pi hi=l =ʔeneq hi=l =tštaniw EM.SEQ=3-IDF-HAB -look.for-at.once DP=ART=female DP=ART=be.small

hi=l =tupmekč k ehak u hi=tštaniw hi=l =ʔǝhǝy hi=l =tupmektš

DP=ART=child or DP=be.small DP=ART=male DP=ART=child

a person not grown up,

se’olx ó’nin íku,

s-e-ʔolxonin hi=ku 3-N-grown.up DP=person

tšu =s-oxšol -pi hi=l =puhuʔ

PURP=3-urinate-at.once DP=ART=dish  

tšušox šólpì hilpuhu,

to urinate at once into a dish,

hika=s-am -hik en hi=s-am -soxyop-us hi=hoʔ=l =ʔuw -pi SEQ =3-IDF-use DP=3-IDF-wash -APPL DP=DIS=ART=bite-LOC hi=hoʔ=l =xšap DP=DIS=ART=rattlesnake

hikasamhík én isamsox yó’pus iho’l uwpí iho’lx šáp

and then they use it to wash out the place where the rattlesnake bit.

nas’uw ilku ilx šáp, im ekasamqili’uniyíwpi il ’e’neq iltštániw iltupméktš k ehak u itštániw il əx ə y iltupméktš, se’olx ó’nin íku , tšušox šólpì hilpuhu hikasamhík én isamsox yó’pus iho’ l uwpí iho’lx šáp

When a rattlesnake bit a person, they used to look for at once a little girl or a little boy, a person not grown up, to urinate at once into a dish, and then they use it to wash out the place where the rattlesnake bit.

TERMS 3 = Third person; them, they, it APPL = Appelative ART = Article DIS = Distal (Demonstrative) DP = Determiner Proximal EM.SEQ = Emphatic Sequential HAB = Habitual Aspect IDF = Indefinite LOC = Locative N = Negative marker PURP = Purposive SEQ = Sequential