Ioway Cultural Institute : Language :
Ioway Language Lessons and Vocabulary

[English]
Frank: Sit down. Do you want some coffee?
Bob: Yes. I want coffee. Thank you. Do you have sugar?
Frank: The sugar is in that bowl.
Bob: This is good coffee.
Frank: Do you want some pie? We have apple or gooseberry.
Bob: I love pie! I want both!


[Ioway]
Frank: Mina ne. Mankan thewe lagunsta?
Bob: Hunje. Mankan thewe hagunda ke. Aho. Nanyi astin je?
Frank: Waske ida nanyi ke.
Bob: Je'e mankan thewe pi ke.
Frank: Warok'in lagunsta je? Shexanye aresku witadhe hanyiwi ke.
Bob: Warok'in hegrahi ke! Nunki hagunda ke!

Sentence Analysis

Frank: Mina ne.
(MEE-nah nay)
["sit"+command]

Mankan thewe lagunsta?
(MUH-kuh THAY-way lah-GOON-stah?)
["medicine"+"black"+"you want"?]

Bob: Hunje.
(HOON-jay)
["yes"]

Mankan thewe hagunda ke.
(MUH-kuh THAY-way ha-GOON-dah keh)
["medicine"+"black"+"I want"+statement]

Aho.
(ah-HOE)
["thank you" (or assent)]

Nanyi astin je?
(NAH-nyee a-STEEn jay?)
["sugar"+"you have"+question]

Frank: Waske ida nanyi ke.
(wah-SKAY ee-DAH NAH-nyee keh)
["bowl"+"in there"+"sugar"+statement]

Bob: Je'e mankan thewe pi ke.
(JAY-ay MUH-kuh THAY-way PEE keh)
["this"+"medicine"+"black"+"good"+statement]

Frank: Warok'in lagunsta je?
(wah-ROHK-ee(n) lah-GOON-stah jay?)
["pie/cake"+"you want"+question]

Shexanye aresku witadhe hanyiwi ke.
(shay-KHA-nyay ah-RAY-skoo wee-TAH-they HA-nyee-wee keh)
["apple"+"or"+"gooseberry"+"we have"+statement]

Bob: Warok'in hegrahi ke!
(wah-ROHK-ee(n) heen-GRAH-hee keh!)
["pie"+"I like/love"+statement]

Nunki hagunda ke!
(NOON-kee hah-GOON-dah keh!)
["both"+"I want"+statement]

Vocabulary

aho (ah-HO) "hello"; "thank you"; "amen": used by men as assent or acknowledgement of another's presence or statement. Women say "aha" (ah-HA)

anyi (ah-NYEE) "to have"; "to own"; "to possess"
----anyi (I have) -------hanyiwi (we have)
----asti (you have) -----astiwi (you all have)
----ani (he/she/it has) --aninye (they have)

aresku (ah-RAY-skoo) "either"; "or": some pronounce it "arexgu" (ah-RAY-khgu)

grahi (GRAH-hee) "to like"; "to love"
----hegrahi (I love) ---------hingrahiwi (we love)
----legrahi (you love) -------legrahiwi (you all love)
----grahi (he/she/it loves) ---grahinye (they love)

guna (GOO-nah) "to want"
----hagunda (I want) ---------hingundawi (we want)
----lagunsta (you want) ------lagunstawi (you all want)
----guna (he/she/it wants) ----gunanye (they want)

hunje (HOON-jeh) "yes"

ida (ee-DAH) "to be there, in something"

je (jay) indicates a question

je'e (JAY-ay) "this"

ke (keh) indicates a statement (men; women use "ki" (kee))

mankan (MUH-kuh) "medicine"

mankanthewe (MUH-kuh-THAY-way) "coffee"; literally "black medicine"

mina (MEE-nah) "to sit"
----hamina (I sit) -----------hinminawi (we sit)
----lamina (you sit) --------laminawi (you all sit)
----mina (he/she/it sits) ----minanye (they sit)

nanyi (NAH-nyee) "sugar"; "syrup"; "tree sap"; literally "tree water". Long ago, Ioways got sugar by tapping maple tree sap like some tribes still do up north, notably the Ojibwe. The boiled-down tree sap made maple syrup and maple sugar. The Ioways retained this term for any kind of "sugar".

ne (nay) indicates a command to do something. Also used as "le", in some situations.

nunki (NOON-kee) "both"

shexanye (SHAY-kha-nyeh) "apple": literally "big crabapple". The wild prairie crabapple (Malus ioensis) was called "she" (SHAY). When white settlers introduced the much larger domesticated apple, the Ioways called this new fruit "the BIG crabapple." Some pronounce it "shexanje" (shay-KHAN-jay).

thewe (THAY-way) "black"; "to be very dark in color"

warok'in (wah-ROHK-ee(n)) "pie"; "cake": literally "something cooked"

waske (WAH-skeh) "bowl"; some pronounce it "waxge" (WAH-khgeh)

witadhe (wee-TAH-they) "gooseberry" (Gooseberry bush, berries (plant): Wild gooseberry (Ribes cynosbati), and other gooseberry species)

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