Monday, September 22, 2008

Why I Started This Blog

A friend of mine once told me that she felt ashamed to call herself Apatani. The reason, she told me, was that her Apatani was very poor. I wished I could help her. But I was too busy for myself then. I could have recommend her a book or two, but there was none I could think of.

She is just the one of the hundreds of young Apatanis who are brought up in a place where they do not get exposure to their own mother tongue. This blog is a modest effort (since I have some time to spare now) to assist them in learning Apatani.

I have spent some time on present status of written Apatani and found it wanting in many respects- much needed to be done to develop and standardize it. ACLS needs to take the iniatives and engage expert linguists or scholars having experience in Sino-Tibetan group of languages together with a team of Apatanis having knowledge in Apatani language.

The contents of this blog are based on my own understanding of Apatani. I have tried to adhere to the norms of the written form of Apatani that is current among the common users with slight modification in an area where I encountered difficulty in getting satisfactory explanation. However, the entire scheme of working of Apatani I have conceptualized in the contents of this blog should be understood in light of absence of standard form of written Apatani and the immediate need for which the contents are being prepared.

Besides, the contents in this blog are not the works of an expert but of a learner of the language. Feel free to post comments, inputs and critcism. Let’s make it interactive Tanii agun learning platform.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Words of Human Relationships

Words used as name of a person (should be capitalized)

Words used as name of relationship (shouldn’t be capitallized)

Equivalent English words

Ane or Ama

anii

mother

Aba

aba

father

Ato

ato bo

grandfather / father in-law / spouse’ ate bo

Ayo

ayo bo

grandmother / mother in-law / wife of spouse ate bo or wife’s baro

Ate

ate bo

elder brother / paternal uncle/ elder cousin

Ata

ata bo

elder sister / paternal aunt / elder cousin

Aku

aku bo

maternal uncle

Achi

achi bo

sister in-law (elder) / wife of ate bo, aku bo and elder oho bo

Am

am or nyahii

sister in law (younger) / wife of son, anu or younger oho bo . Also daughter in-law

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oho

son / daughter

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oho bo

nephew (son of ata bo)

baro

brother

barmii

sister

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anu

1. younger brother / nephew or son of ate bo (younger in age) [for ate bo]

2. younger sister / daughter of ate bo or aku bo [for ata bo]

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ami

elder sister [for younger sister; it’s ata bo for younger brother]

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aban

elder brother / ate bo

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ami-aban

elders

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anu-ami

sisters

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anu-aban

brothers

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anii-aba

parents

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barmii-baro

brother and sister

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ato-ayo bo

grandparents/ parents of spouse / wife’s ate bo and his wife or husband’s aban and his wife