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Lesson 5:

A. Pronunciation: Palatalized Sounds

a. As was said in Lesson 1 Ash has palatalized sounds. That is to say that along with the normal
articulation of the sound the middle part of the tongue is raised until it touches the palate to
produce a “y.”
b. For example, the “p” is articulated by rounding and opening the lips, but for the “py” (palatalized)
the lips must be rounded, the middle part of the tongue must be raised to the palate and then you
open your lips and the tongue gets into position to pronounce the following vowel.
c. Examples:
i. “py”
1. tampyaa – (storm/wind)
2. kepya – (type of plant)
3. pyaarentsi – (beer)
ii. “my”
1. nomyaaka – (I jumped)
2. myaantsi – (to jump)
3. myaanto – (green macaw)
iii. “ky”
1. nokyaake – (I entered)
2. nonchekya – (I will cut myself)
3. awakya – (we will eat)
iv. “wy”
1. nonkiwya – (I will wash myself)
2. nominthaawya – (I will scare myself)
3. intowya – (he will knock himself over)
v. “ry”
1. pimakoryaawaitapai – (you rest)
2. paryantzi – (banana)
3. oorya – (sun)
4. noparyi – (I fall)
B. Customs: The use of names
a. In this lesson’s dialogue a foreign visitor visits an Ash community. He handles a lot of questions and
one is about his name. Hardly ever do you ask this question to a fellow tribesman. When a
foreigner asks for an Ash name, the response is hesitant.
b. The polite form to refer to a person is to use a kinship term like “brother” or “aunt.”
c. Almost everyone has a name that close friends and relatives use, but generally these names are tied
to some embarrassing incident which they do not talk about with strangers. However it is
acceptable for a foreigner to use that name if he hears it from a relative.
C. Grammar
a. Reflexive Suffixes:
i. Along with the tense suffixes mentioned in lesson 4 there exists 3 more suffixes that indicate
tense. These suffixes also indicate reflexivity meaning they can be used when the action of
the verb falls on the subject like “he cut himself.”
ii. These suffixes show tense and reflexivity and are: “-ia,” “-eeya” (future) and “-a” (non-
future).
iii. Consider the following examples:
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chekaantsi chek - aantsi to cut

ichekiro i – chek – i - ro he cuts it
icheka i – chek - a he cuts himself
inchekero i – n – chek – e - ro he will cut it
inchekya i – n – chek - ia he will cut himself

kiwaantsi kiw - aantsi to wash

nokiwiro no – kiw – i - ro I wash it
nokiwa no – kiw - a I wash myself
nonkiwero no – n – kiw – e - ro I will wash it
nonkiwya no – n – kiw - ia I will wash myself

ñaantsi ny - aantsi to see

noñiiro no – ny – i(i) - ro I see it
noña no – ny - a I see myself
noñeero no – ny – e(e) - ro I will see her (it)
noñeeya no – ny - eeya I will see myself

iv. Notice that the last example takes the suffix “-eeya” for the future reflexive and the other
verbs take the suffix ‘-ia.” This has the form “-ya” which we will explain later on.
v. The use of “-ia” or “-eeya” in the verb depends on the type of consonant that precedes the
future reflexive suffix. The two types of consonants are palatalized and non-palatalized. The
majority of palatalized sounds, you write with 2 letters but in reality they are the equivalent
of one letter. (The people are only thinking one sound).
vi. Non-palatalized (“-ia”) – k, g, j, m, n, p, r, s, t, tz, th, ts, w
vii. Palatalized (“-eeya”) – ky, y, ñ, my, py, ry, sh, ty, ch, wy
viii. The verbs that end with a palatalized consonant take the suffix “-eeya” for future reflexive.
Those that end with a non-palatalized consonant take the suffix “-ia.” But there is a change
in the consonant and in the suffix. The “i” of “-ia” combines with the consonant and
converts it into a palatalized consonant. In this way the consonants are transformed to
palatalized and the suffix loses the “i.”
ix. The following are the specific changes for each non-palatalized consonants

Non-palatalized consonant What it becomes with -ia

--k --kya
--m --mya
--n --ña
--p --pya
--r --rya
--s --sha
--t --tya
--tz --tya
--ts --cha
--w --wya
--g --iya

x. You will not find the combination “th” and “-ia” because there is no root or verb suffix that
ends with “th.”
xi. In the case of the “g” it does not have a palatalized counterpart. So “g” and “-ia” become “-
iya.”
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b. The rule of lengthened vowels:

i. A vowel that follows a palatalized consonant becomes lengthened if it is followed by another
suffix
ii. For example:
1. nareetya + mi becomes nareetya(a)mi
2. noñi + ro becomes noñi(i)ro
3. pinkye + ro becomes pinkye(e)ro
c. Reflexive Verbs:
i. Until now we have seen the normal use of the reflexive suffixes but there exists a group of
verbs that only take the reflexive suffixes to indicate tense. In these verbs the suffixes “-ia,”
“-eeya,” and “-a” do not necessarily mean reflexivity.
ii. For example:
1. pareetana – you visit me
2. notsipatami – I accompany you
iii. The more common verbs of the group appear in the following chart. These appear in
vocabulary marked as VR.
ametaantsi to get used to
areetaantsi to visit or arrive
ashitaantsi to possess
etaantsi to precede or to begin
ñaathataantsi to play (with)
poñaantsi to proceed from
shirontaantsi to laugh / smile
wethataantsi to greet

iv. There are some verbs that can take the non-reflexive tenses as well as the reflexive tense
suffixes but with a different meaning.
v. For example, when the verb “kantaantsi” takes a tense from non-reflexive tenses, it means
“to say” but when it takes a tense from the set of reflexive tenses it means “to be” or “to
make oneself.”
1. okantake – she said
2. okantaka – is
vi. This class of verbs you will find in the vocabulary with both meanings.
vii. The more common verbs of this group appear in the following list:
Verb Meaning
Reflexive Non-reflexive
agaantsi to be trapped or fall into a to bring, draw or take out
trap
kantaantsi to be/ to make oneself to say
iragaantsi to cry to lament
iyotaantsi to notice to know/learn
nonkarataantsi to measure to fulfill
peyaantsi to disappear to lose
pinataantsi to cost to pay

d.
e. Summary of Verb Tense:
i. In all there are 5 tense suffixes, 2 of which are alternative forms of future reflexive tense.
The suffixes are shown in the following chart.
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Non-reflexive Reflexive
Non-future -i -a
Future -e -ia (non-palatalized)
-eeya (palatalized)

D. Exercises
1. Fill in the following chart:
Non-reflexive Reflexive
Non-future
Future (non-palatalized)
(palatalized)

2. a._______ e._______ i.______ m.______

b._______ f._______ j.______ n.______
c._______ g._______ k.______
d._______ h._______ l.______
3. a._______________ d.________________
b._______________ e.________________
c._______________ f._________________
4. a. okithaata - _______________________________________________
b. nokiwa -__________________________________________________
c. noña -___________________________________________________
d. jonorya-_________________________________________________
5. a. nonchekya-________________________________________________
b. pinkithaatya-______________________________________________
c. onkiwya-_________________________________________________
d. ironoryeeya-______________________________________________
6. a. picheki-__________________________________________________
b. okithaatzi-________________________________________________
c. nonkithaate-______________________________________________
d. nokiwi-__________________________________________________
e. onkiwe-__________________________________________________
f. piñi-_____________________________________________________
g. noñe-___________________________________________________
h. jonoryi-__________________________________________________
i. ironorye-__________________________________________________
7. a. noña-___________________________________________________
b. nokiwa-__________________________________________________
c. nonkiwya-________________________________________________
d. okithaata-________________________________________________
e. onkithaatya-______________________________________________
f. inchekya-__________________________________________________
g. icheka-___________________________________________________
h. jonorya-_________________________________________________
i. ironoryeeya-_______________________________________________
8. a. piñi + ro =_______________________________________________
b. noñe + mi =______________________________________________
c. incheke + ro =______________________________________________
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d. jonoryi + ro =_____________________________________________
pinkiwe + ro =_______________________________________________
ponoryi + ri =________________________________________________
okithaatzi + na =_____________________________________________
9. chekaantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
10. ñaantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
11. kithaataantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
12. kiwaantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
13. chekaantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
14. ñaantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
15. kithaataantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
16. kiwaantsi
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a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
17. onoryaantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
18. onoryaantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
19. paitaantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
20. areetaantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
21. makoryantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
22. tsipataantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
23. saikaantsi
a._________________________________________________________b._________
________________________________________________
c._________________________________________________________
d._________________________________________________________
e._________________________________________________________
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24. -25. Practice conversation