saakɨ́ɨni¹ tell, narrate, or recount a story

• • tell, narrate, or recount a story

  Grammar Note

  The permissible nominal objects of this verb include: 1) the noun <saakɨ́ɨni> ‘story’, and possessive NPs incorporating this noun, which function as story titles; or 2) an anaphoric pronoun referring to the story or its content (in the latter case, <niwa>). The object may be null when followed by a relative clause, e.g., <kí=saakii Ø iimi aárɨɨyaa kíija> ‘I will tell that which is happening to me’; and the verb can also take an imbedded interrogative clause complement, e.g., <kí=saakii saakaa na=miíyaa kíija> ‘I will tell what they did to me’, or <kí=saakii jaátaaraata kí=majáana iwɨɨ́rɨkura> ‘I will tell how my wife died’

  • • Example 228:
      

      Kí=saakii jaátaaraata=na maakatúuwa iikiaárikɨ=na pɨyɨ́ɨni maasiáana aakaka anákaka=jina: Takarnáaku, Anatimu, Nɨɨkamúumu, Muumúumu, Maasayuúmu=jina.

      I will recount how our ancestors lived at the headwaters of many rivers: the Nanay, Pintuyacu, Chambira, Momón and Mazán Rivers.

    • Example 786:
      

      Aákari kí=saakii nɨɨtamu saakɨ́ɨni anapa=jata.

      Now I’ll tell the story of the vulture with the macaw.