Monday, August 6, 2012

Nunanirnaqvaa

When I went to the old run down BIA compound and looked out on the tundra, I was moved to tears and this feeling that I couldn't describe.  It was just so wonderful.  And then the same thing happened when I went to the sewage lagoon, and looked out across fireweed to ducks happily swimming (in raw sewage?) and the water reflecting the sunset.

I remember reading a book by Julia Alvarez, and remember coming across a quote that said something like "only an idiot would choose to speak English on purpose".  The more languages I learn, the more I think this is true.

There's no word to describe what I was feeling in that first paragraph in English completely, but in Yup'ik there is:  nunanirnaqvaa.

It is used as an exclamation and means:  My it's so beautiful, it fills me with joy!

1 comment:

  1. ...someone once said...English is just French...badly mis-pronounced.
    U.M.

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