Translation

Some notes about language issues we've been having:

Being Polite
Students can appear to be very demanding and bossy. They say, for example, "Bob, come." That means, come over here because I need help. I assumed that, like a lot of kids, they were still working on manners. However, there seems to be no Yup'ik word for 'please'. So, "Bob, come," is not impolite at all. It's just a direct translation.

Reticence
This is partially cultural and partially language: it can be difficult to pin down exactly what the speaker means because they are often unwilling to be definite out of politeness. For instance, when we were going to walk to Tooksook Bay, which is seven miles across the tundra, we asked whether we needed to have rubber boots or if our hiking boots would be OK. The answer we got from G (see the 'who's who' on the sidebar) was, "You can make it in hiking boots". Well, that's true. You could also make it barefoot. But no rubber boots equaled sopping wet feet because you're slogging through calf-high water at times. Another example from this same trip: One of us waved at a plane that was passing overhead while we were midway between the two villages. G said, "We don't usually wave at planes." After a few minutes of asking clarifying questions we were told that if you're on the tundra and you wave to a plane it means you're in trouble and need help. It's like tundra 911. I think most non-Yup'ik folks would have said, "Definitely don't wave at planes unless you're really in need of help."

Time
We were told early on that Yup'ik folks don't like to talk about what will happen in the future. Asking about whether you're going to catch a moose or not is uncomfortable and impolite. I think this translates into the language because a lot of the students have difficulty conjugating verbs to indicate past, present or future. For example, a student told us that there was going to be native dancing at the school one night. We asked when. "It already happened." "Oh, I thought you said it was happening tonight." "Yes." "What time?" "Already." "....So is it going to happen or has it happened already?" "Happen." Turns out the dance had not yet happened but was about to start. We only found that out by going to the school to see what was up.

Colloquialisms
- When a student is kidding with you she'll say, "I jokes." As in, "I didn't do my homework. I jokes." And then she gives you the homework.
- Taking a photograph is "picturing". For example, "Can I picture the ocean? Then can you picture me and her with the fish?"
- You can travel by walk here. "How did you get to Toksook Bay?" "I went by walk."
- 4 wheelers are Hondas. All of them.
- Things are often, "So easy," or "So hard." But 'easy' becomes "eeeezy" and 'hard' is "haaaard."
- For the "she's going too?" or "can we have dessert too?" construction, one says, "Even she is going?" and "Even dessert?"
- When you are finished you say "already". As in, "Did you finish revising your essay?" "Already."