onuka

Wauja

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ɨˈnu.kə/

Verb

onuka

  1. (transitive) he/she/it kills (something or someone)
    Awapotene yiu, aunukawi, umakonapai ipitsi. Awapoteneu. Hoona! Piya patoka topoho. Natu napotebeni! ipiSUN wi.
    "Well, let's bury her, let's kill her [and be done with it]," they all said about her. "We'll bury her. Yes, we will!" "[You, there,] go dig her grave," [one of them said]. "I will bury her!" [answered one man]. [But this man was, in fact, secretly] her lover. [He was just pretending to go along with the others.]
    Ehen, amamitsatai. Minyulitai. Amamitsapai. Maka onuko. Maka akiyuntuapa.
    Yes, she was just tricking him. It was just a lie. She was deceiving him. So that she could kill him. So that she could get her revenge.
    Ninye nunuka kuhupojato.
    I'm off to hunt birds (lit., I'm off to kill [some] birds).
  2. (transitive) he/she/it attacks, harms, injures (something or someone)
    Onukawi! Maintyataitsawi.
    [He] attacked [him]! [He] hit [him] repeatedly.
  3. (transitive) he/she/it is angry at, bears ill will toward (something or someone)
    Nunuka pitsu.
    I'm mad [at] you.

Usage notes
  • Because the Wauja believe that human witches can cause harm, and even death, to other people through angry thoughts and secret incantations, the Wauja consider that bearing someone ill will is a form of harming them.

References
  • "Awapotene yiu" uttered by Itsautaku, storyteller and elder, recounting the traditional Wauja tale of the "Man Who Drowned in Honey," in the presence of his adolescent son Mayuri, adult daughter Mukura, and others. Recorded in Piyulaga village by E. Ireland, December 1989, transcript p. 6. In this story, a woman commits a grave sacrilege, nearly dies, is rescued, and takes revenge on her cruel husband, causing him to drown in honey, and be transformed into a frog. This species of frog (Leptodactylus latrans), is described by the Wauja as particularly large and ugly.
  • "Yamukunaun aya" uttered by Itsautaku, ibid., transcript pp. 24-25.
  • Other examples from E. Ireland field notes. Need to be checked by native speaker.
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