Kinship Words
Family words have separate forms for no owner, for me or you, and for him or her.
How It Works
| Meaning | No owner | My, your, a named owner | His or her |
|---|---|---|---|
| father | túva | ru | itúva |
| mother | sy | sy | isy |
| son of a man | taʼýra | raʼy | itaʼýra |
| daughter of a man | tajýra | rajy | itajýra |
A woman calls her child memby: che memby. A man uses taʼýra for a son and tajýra for a daughter, and after che or nde these become raʼy and rajy: che raʼy “my son”, che rajy “my daughter”.
These words follow the same stand-apart rule as other owned nouns: che ru, nde sy.
Today most people use Spanish words for the rest of the family. The common Guarani ones are ména “husband”, jarýi “grandmother” and tamói “grandfather”.
Examples (4)
- Itúva ha isy oguereko peteĩ jaguaʼi.
His father and his mother have a little dog.
Itúva is i- plus túva, and isy is i- plus sy.
- Che ru oguereko mbohapy kavaju.
My father has three horses.
After che the word for father is ru.
- Maitei nde rúpe.
Say hi to your father.
After nde the word is ru, and -pe joins it.
- Péina ápe che ména.
This is my husband.
Che ména means “my husband”.
Common Mistakes
Using h- for “his father”.
Húva oguata.Itúva oguata.Túva takes i- for “his father”: say itúva, never húva. Family words do not all work this way: tamói “grandfather” becomes hamói “his grandfather”, so learn each word with its own form.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Family words use the form for his or her, so that form comes first.
Related Patterns
Words in This Pattern
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