A Prayer for Eels

	A Prayer for Eels
	Cahto Language
	from Bill Ray (via Goddard 1909)

Cahto ¹		English Translation ²

---- "Bee'liing diidaa'ang nileeh shoonk' neesyii-jaa'.		---- "Lampreys swim from the north; let me eat them well.
	-------be.lin)---d"Ü.da^E.u^n)---nu^l.le#---co#n)k'---nes.y"Ü.dja^E
	---- "Eels / from north / swim / well / let me eat.
Toonai shoonk'-kwaa neesyii- jaa'.		Let me eat fish with good luck.
	to#.nai---co#n).kwa---nes.y"Ü.dja^E
	Fish / well / let me eat.
Skiitc yoyang-jaa'.		May the boys eat it.
	s.k"Ük---yo#.ya7n).dja^E
	Boys / may they eat.
T'eekii shoonk' yoyang- jaa'.		May the girls eat it well.
	t'e.k"Ü---co#n)k'---yo#.ya7n).dja^E
	Girls / well / may they eat.
Intc'ee' shoonk'-kwaa nooshkit.		Deer, may I swallow you with good luck.
	---------------in.tce^E---co#n)k'.kwa---no#c.ku^t
	Deer / well / may I swallow you.
Ch'aang shiiyee' aanint'ee-yee, ciiyee' lhkan.		You are my food, my sweet thing.
	tcan)---c"Ü.ye^E---a.nu^n.t'e.ye---c"Ü.ye^E---;.ku^n
	Food / my / you are / mine / sweet.
Doohaa'-bee'odin-jaa'.		Do not let it die.
	do#.ha^E.be.o#.du^n.dja^E
	Do not let it die.
Nshoo-banjaa'," tc'in yaa'nii.		Let it be good," he said, they say.
	n.co#.bu^n.dja^E---tc'in---ya^E.n"Ü
	Let it be good," he said they say.

₁. Click on highlighted words to search for them in the Dictionary/Lexical database. The top line is in the practical orthography. The middle line is in Goddard's transcription except that "underhook"/"Polish hook" is represented by "subscript left half-ring" ("underhook" is not present in the SIL IPA fonts). The bottom line is Goddard's word-by-word translation, with [occasional additions or emendations by me in square brackets].
₂. Line-by-line translation by me, largely informed by Goddard's translation, but attempting to translate every sentence, and to do so more literally (within the limits of English readability).

Goddard's Translation

"May I eat the eels that swim up the stream with good fortune. May I eat the fish with good fortune. May the boys and girls eat them with good fortune.
"Deer, may I swallow you with good luck. You are mine. My food is sweet. Do not let it die. Let it be good, "he said.

8/30/99 Sally Anderson using perl version 5.034000