Stepping through a course - Lesson 9

This lesson is all about the way verbs are conjugated in the so-called "conjunct form". I sort of touched on this, although not explicitly, in my notes on forming basic questions, We're also introduced to the question word for "What" and an exclamation function word for "please" and "Come on!".

Dialog - 

F: Giwii-wiisin na endaayaan?
M: Henh. Miigwech niibowa.
F: Daga wiisinidaa iwidi endaayan.
F: Henyanh, daga wiisinidaa omaa endaayaan.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
M: Wegonen waa-miijiyan?
F: Daga, wiisinidaa iwidi endaayan.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
F: Aaniindi wii-wiisiniyan?
M: Daga, wiisinidaa omaa endaayaan.
F: Giwii-wiisin na omaa endaayaan?
M: Henh. Miigwech niibowa.


Breaking itt down line by line:

F: Giwii-wiisin na endaayaan?

• "Endaayaan" is a new word, meaning "my house", so she is asking "Do you want to eat at my house?" The "yaan" ending means it refers to the first person singlur (mine).

M: Henh. Miigwech niibowa.

• "Yes, thanks a lot", covered in Lesson 7.

F: Daga wiisinidaa iwidi endaayan.

• Here is another new word - "Daga", which means "Please" or more emphatically, "Come on!" We also see that "wiisini" is conjugated differently. Here, it functions as "Let's go". Also notice that "endaayan" has and ending of "yan". This "yan" refers to the second person singular (yours). So he is saying "Come on!, let's eat there at your house."

F: Henyanh, daga wiisinidaa omaa endaayaan.

• Here, she is saying "Yes, come on (or please), let's eat here at my house. Again, notice the "yaan" first person singular ending, meaning "mine".

* * * * * * * * * * * *

M: Wegonen waa-miijiyan?

• The new word "What" is introduced here. Also notice that we have another new word for "eat" - miijin. The difference with this verb and wiisini, is that miijin can take an object, either explicitly, or as in this case, the question word "wegonen" (what). We also attach the "waa" to the beginning to denote that it is "want to/would like to". So  The sentence would be translated as "What would you like/do you want to eat?"

F: Daga, wiisinidaa iwidi endaayan.

• Again, "Come on/Please, let's eat there at your house."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

F: Aaniindi wii-wiisiniyan?

• Since "Aaniindi" (Where) is also a question word, "wiisini" is conjugated as a conjunct verb. So she is asking "Where do you want to eat?"

M: Daga, wiisinidaa omaa endaayaan.

• Again, "Come on/Please, let's eat at my house" (yaan ending for "mine").

F: Giwii-wiisin na omaa endaayaan?

• "Do you want/Would you like to eat here at my house?"

M: Henh. Miigwech niibowa.

• "Yes, thanks a lot."

This lesson is actually a good extension of my last post regarding question words, and gives us a bit more exposure and practice with this new "conjunct" verb conjugation.


New words learned in this lesson:

• wegonen - what?; why?; how?; what [THING(S)]?
• daga - please; by all means
• daa - reside; live at; home; stay
• miijin - eat [SOMETHING]