One thing that is very imprecise in Angurpiaq is the sense of time, for they are indifferent time-keepers at the best. There is a vague form of future tense, but it is rarely used. The term most often heard is tamnagok which can mean once upon a time, or it can also mean then or now—or even in a bit. The only other time-related term is eetchuk which signifies a long long time ago. This is so unspecific that it could mean forty or even two-thousand years.

As is to be expected their language reflects their physical existence. They mark many distinctions that do not exist in Marbak, yet completely ignore others. For obvious reasons there are a number of terms for snow. They refer to packed snow, powder snow, frozen snow, wet snow, snow that you can cut blocks from and even snow that balls underfoot. Yet on the other hand green and blue are not distinguished as separate colors. And while red can be told from yellow there is no separate designation for orange. Since the terms for these colors are only affixes, never used as words of their own, there is really no clear sense of their exact meaning.

It has been theorized that their strong feeling for affixes and innumerable connections and cross-connections may have some relationship with the Angurpiaq deftness and ability to see how mechanical parts fit together. Though it is certainly true that their assembled and tied boat frameworks, their navigational charts, reflect this it must be emphasized that this is a theory only.

DICTIONARIES

YILANÈ-ENGLISH

(Note: this list includes both single elements and some commonly repeated gestalts.)

aa: in

aga: departure

aglè: passage

aka: disgust

akas: growing land

akel: goodness

akse: stone

alak: succession

Alakas-aksehent: Florida Keys

alè: cage

alpè: beauty

ambei: height

ambesed: central meeting place

anat: bodily extremity

ankanaal: land-surrounded ocean

ankè: presence

apen: demand

asak: beach

ast: tooth

asto: movement

awa: pain

ban*: home

buru: circumambience

dee: this

ee: out

eede: that

eesen: flatness

efen: life

efenburu: group formed in childhood

efeneleiaa: spirit of life

efenselè: member of an efenburu

eisek: mud

eisekol: dredging animal

eiset: responsibility

eistaa: city leader

eksei: caution

elin: small

elininyil: pre-fargi stage of development

elinou: small saurian carnivore

embo: pressure

empè: commendation

end: vision

enet: lake

ènè: suppleness

enge: love

enteesenat: plesiosaur

ento: each single

Entoban*: Africa

epetruk: tyrannosaurus rex

erek: speed

esek: top

esekasak: birth-beach guardian

esik: south

espei: posture

estekel*: pterodactyl

eto<: shoot

fafn: catch

far<: inquiry

fargi: one learning to speak

gen: new

Genaglè: Straits of Gibralter

Gendasi*: North America

gul: hearing

gulawatsan: buzzer animal

han: maleness

hais: mind

hanalè: male residence

N.B. These two has female concepts are always has yellowness distinguished by voice of controller

has: female

has: yellowness

hè: numeral 1

hen: male/female

hent: revolution

hèsotsan: dart-firing weapon

hornsopa: genetic shape

huruksast: monoclonius

igi: entry

ihei: sense of smell/touch/feel

ineg: old

inlè: large size

intè: hunt

ipol: rub, buff

Isegnet: Mediterranean