A Noun Inside the Verb

Level 6

A noun can join the front of a verb: y + ʼu gives hayʼu “I drink water”.

How It Works

English does the same in “house-hunting”. The noun goes before the verb, without “the” or a describing word, and the pair works as one word.

  • hayʼu “I drink water”: y “water” plus ʼu “take in”.
  • omandiʼokyty “she grates manioc”: mandiʼo “manioc” plus kyty “grate”.
  • opirakutu “they fish”: pira “fish” plus kutu “pierce”.
  • aipopete “I slap his hand”: po “hand” plus pete “slap”.

Most of the nouns are body parts, like po “hand” and juru “mouth”. The noun makes the sentence less about the object and more about the act. Omboty ijuru only means “he closed his mouth”, but ojurumboty means “he kept someone quiet”.

This is rare today. It survives in set words and with a few verbs: johéi “wash”, juka “kill”, kutu “pierce” and pete “slap” are the most common.

Examples (4)

  1. Hayʼu.

    I drink water.

    Y “water” sits inside the verb ʼu, so one word means “drink”.

  2. Avakuéra opirakutu opaichagua pira.

    People fish all kinds of fish.

    Pira “fish” is inside the verb kutu “pierce”, and the sentence still has its own object.

  3. Omongakuaa kure, omandiʼokyty ha oaramirõapo.

    She raises pigs, grates manioc and makes starch.

    Mandiʼo and aramirõ “starch” join the verbs kyty and apo.

  4. Upémarõ aipopete chupe.

    Finally I slapped his hand.

    Po “hand” joins pete “slap”.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

A Noun Inside the VerbLevel 6

Learn This First

A noun inside the verb joins two roots, so learners need compounds and the verbs that begin with a puso.