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tekinged / missing

The repository where the tekinged.com committee tracks and defines missing words. Anyone can join!
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kitar belau #197

Closed johnbent closed 1 year ago

johnbent commented 1 year ago

kitar belau created by jimgeselbracht@yahoo.com on 2017-01-23 13:17:13

johnbent commented 1 year ago

jimgeselbracht@yahoo.com replied,

Kitar Belau (or probably Kita er Belau?) is a phrase used in a couple of songs.  Last spring I asked some folks what it meant and they told me "We Palauans".  Here is a mashup example from two different songs.  First is Wataru Elbelau and then Frederick Olsudong singing the first line of the song Kitar Belau (or, also spelled Chitar Belau, or Guitar Belau which I know is incorrect, but calls to mind a good punk song):  "Kitar Belau el Seinengdang ..." = We Palauans who are the youth (?) and then followed by the an extraction from the great Ngardmau song, Arumi no Singoto (aka Kebruka) with the line "Kitar Belau el di mekekerei" [We Palauans are a small place (compared to the rest of the world)] - the context of the Kebruka verse is that at the end of the work day they are at the top of a hill in Ngardmau looking out over Babeldaob. My question is, what is the proper spelling of this word and is it missing from Tekinged? http://hellaholler.com/ouchacha/mp3/kitar.mp3

johnbent commented 1 year ago

mngiruchelbad@gmail.com replied,

Aki tang er Belau becomes ---akitarbelau el seinendang....

johnbent commented 1 year ago

jimgeselbracht@yahoo.com replied,

Thanks.  I thought it might be something like that ... 


johnbent commented 1 year ago

johnbent@gmail.com replied,

So it looks like this is just a mis-spelling or poetic license so I think we can ignore this one. Jim, agree? Perhaps you should write out the lyrics though to reflect correct spelling?

johnbent commented 1 year ago

jimgeselbracht@yahoo.com replied,

I've been expanding out "words" to be gramatically correct except where doing so significantly changes the pronunciation.  This is such a case, I think.  "Aki tang er" doesn't easily become "kitar", which is how it appears to be pronounced.  I'd propose this as a contraction.

johnbent commented 1 year ago

johnbent@gmail.com replied,

The correct spelling of "Aki ta er" is actually "Aki ta er" not "Aki tang er." The rule for words ending in 'ng' is that if they are followed by another word and the 'ng' is not pronounced, then you drop it. This rule I like because it brings spelling closer to pronunciation.

Unfortunately, the spelling rules are not always consistent because sometimes they keep unpronounced letters (e.g. they keep the 'e' in 'me ak' even though it's pronounced as 'mak').

johnbent commented 1 year ago

jimgeselbracht@yahoo.com replied,

I was thinking it was correct:  aki tang (we are one person) er Belau (of Palau) as opposed to aki ta el Belau (we are one Palau).  Isn't the word "el" supposed to connect numbers and the things they count?  But I'm still learning ...


johnbent commented 1 year ago

johnbent@gmail.com replied,

I think 'el' basically goes between adjectives and nouns. That grammar wiki that Justin mentioned? I would so much love an easy to read guide to the little words ('er', 'a', 'el', 'me', 'le', others?)

johnbent commented 1 year ago

jimgeselbracht@yahoo.com replied,

I agree with that.  Those pesky connecting words have baffled me for years.  In Joseph's grammar book (1975 edition is what I have), pages 28-29 lay out the uses of the connecting word "el", which includes separating numbers and what they count.