100 Superwords: Part 3

Let's carry on with our superwords:

• namani, nämene: to be (past)
• mike: to put
• bätä, yebätä: about, about that
• biti, yebiti: with (by means of), plus, after
• nemen: remain
• ngäbe: people
• ngäbere: language of the ngäbe 
• kukwe: subject, word, issue, language
• jondron: thing
• nitre: persons

Now let's see some little explanation of most of those words:

• Namani, nämene: These are the past of "to be", pero I could not find what's the difference between them. It seems to be something similar to the difference between the Spanish words "estuve" and "estaba"
• Mike: It means "to put" and it is used often together with other words to convey other ideas. For instance,  "mike ütiäte jai" > "to put important for oneself" > "to respect". Another example, "mike täte" > "to put complete" > "to obey, to worship"
• Bätä, yebätä: "Bätä" is one of the most used words in the language and has several meanings, so I have to spend a full lesson with it. For now I'll say it means "about" and also "and" when it is on his own. For instance, "yebätä" > "about that". On the other hand, when on its own: "Pluma bätä cuaderno mika nete" > "Pen and notebook put here" > "Put the pen and the notebook here"
• Biti, yebiti: It means "with" but just to refer to the means or tool with which the action is done. For instance, "Tita blite microfonobiti" > "I'm talking microphone-with" > "I'm talking by means of the microphone". And also, "yebiti" > "that-with" > "with that, by means of that"
• Ngäbe: It means "people" I'm the Ngäbere language, and that's the word they use to refer to their people or race. ¿Have you ever heard the term "Guaymí"? That's the word the latinos used to refer to the ngäbes, and even though it is not wrong it is getting obsolete, maybe because it is generally accepted it is polite to use the word they use to refer to their ethnic group themselves, which is "ngäbe"
• Ngäbere: Remeber this, "ngäbe" is the ethnic group or the person, but "Ngäbere" is their language.
• Kukwe / jondron: "Jondron" is a thing, an object, something that is physical, that you can touch. "Kukwe" is something abstract, something you cannot touch, and therefore it can also mean "subject" and even "issue" or "problem". Often it means "word" and this leads to other meanings like "voice" and even "language"
• Nitre: Maybe you already figured out this one, "ni + tre" that is "person" + plural = "persons"

Keep those questions coming!

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