-------------------- naaghai lhinaaslaat-ee -- full moon ----------------------

naaghai lhinaaslaat-ee -- full moon

Pronunciation:
  Like "NAH - ghy THLUH - nawse - LAW - tay" (Listen)

Etymology:

  Naaghai can refer to both moon and sun, and literally means "one that travels around," "traveller."
  Lhinaaslaat means "it floats back together" or "it floats together again."
  -ee is short for -yee, a particle that indicates that the speaker has seen it with his/her own eyes, and it is therefore definitely true.
  Thus, naaghai lhinaaslaat-ee essentially means "the moon/traveller has clearly floated back together."

Culture:

  The Naahneesh people related the lunar cycle to the cycle of birth and death. The phases (Moon phases from googol.com) are named as follows:

    shaa yaashtc ingaan-ee new moon (lit. "the young month is born" or "the month is new-born")
 (Listen)

    naaghai ch'inyaan-ee one-third waxing moon (lit. "the moon has grown up")
 (Listen)

    naaghai seeghindii-yee two-thirds waxing moon (lit. "the moon has gotten old")
 (Listen)

    naaghai lhinaaslaat-ee full moon (lit. "the moon has floated back together")
 (Listen)

    naaghai beeghideel-ee two-thirds waning moon (lit. "the moon is going up against it (death)")
 (Listen)

    naaghai shaa beediin-ee one-third waning moon (lit. "the moon and month are dead")
 (Listen)

  "The month was divided according to the phases of the moon." (Loeb fide Martinez Bell and Bill Ray's wife, 1932 p.20) Note that the divisions of the phases are different from those made in western European cultures. Europeans tend to divide at the halves and quarters (moon info from Tim Beauchamp), the Naahneesh divide at the thirds.
 

Related Languages:

  Hupa: Le:na:LtehL, full moon (lit. "it has gotten wide together again")

-------------------------
Sally Anderson
sally@turtlenodes.com
Cahto Language Home Page