rĭm-ca.
I see myself.
šyj-ca râm.
The cat washes herself.
tâlm ĥy-i ĉârn-ca dejv-ram.
Dave scratched his head.
The verb ending {-ca} is used for actions when the same entity is the actor and the one acted upon, or the experiencer and the object of attention. If a sentence where the main verb has a {-ca} ending also has an overt patient phrase, as in the third sentence above, it shows a specific body part that the actor is focusing their reflexive act upon. The same applies to other kinds of object besides {ĥy-i} patients:
ŝĭn kâ-i ku-ca.
I hear my circulatory system [particularly the blood vessels in my ears].
The postposition suffix {-m} means the thing modified by the postpositional phrase is part of the object of the postposition:
elis-ram im tyn-van rĭm-ŋĭw prym-fwa.
Elise has pretty eyes. [lit. Pretty eyes are part of Elise.]
ħulŋ-van Ќ cim mâŋ mĭ-i.
My left hand is injured.
Note the derivation of {rĭm-ŋĭw} "eye(s)" from {rĭm} "seeing." {ŋĭw} can be a stand-alone word meaning "body part" or "faculty" (it doesn't always refer to something physical), but it's commonly used as a suffix to build words for body parts described according to their function. Some body parts have root words of their own, like {mâŋ} "hand."
{-m} is usually used with {i} and sometimes an orientation prefix (as in {cim} above, "in the left part of"). It can be used with {ř} or {o}, however; {řm} "ceasing to be part of, getting cut/broken off from" or {om} "becoming part of, joining onto".
dejv-ram ĵřm šâ-ŋĭw ĥy-i vâ-oŋ-zô Φĭlm-ĝĭ.
A giant butterfly ate Dave's right arm and hand.
ƥ ĵom ŋĭw bâm-bô ĥy-i tyn-zô fĭm-hôw-tla.
A doctor gave him a new one.
The postposition {pě'ŝlĭ-i} marks an object of a verb of feeling — usually a body part, sometimes an intangible faculty such as the imagination or conscience.
tâlm pě'ŝlĭ-i jyn-cô-van.
My head hurts. / I have a headache.
šâ-ŋĭw bâm-bô pě'ŝlĭ-i čun-van dejv-ram.
Dave's new right arm and hand are itching.
Here are a few more sentences illustrating more body-part words.
šâ-ŋĭw vim tyn-van mâŋ.
The hand is in front of the arm-and-hand.
mâŋ vim tyn-van zjam.
Fingers/toes are in the front part of the hand.
ƴâ-ŋĭw θim tyn-van plâŋ.
The foot is the bottom part of the leg-and-foot.
plâŋ vim mew tyn-van zjam.
Fingers/toes are in the front part of the foot, too.
{zjâm} primarily means the fingers and toes; it can be used to derive words for some other similarly-shaped body parts of humans and other living things, for which see the list of body parts in the lexicon.
| ŋĭw | body part, faculty |
| rĭm | seeing |
| rĭm-ŋĭw | eyes |
| rĭm-van | to see |
| rĭm-ca | to see oneself |
| ku | hearing |
| ku-van | to hear |
| ku-ŋĭw | ears |
| źum | to touch, feel |
| źum-ŋĭw | skin |
| jyn | physical pleasure |
| jyn-cô | pain |
| jyn-cô-van | to hurt, to ache |
| ƴâ | walking, running; moving with frequent adjustment of direction |
| šâ | carrying, holding, grasping |
| ƴâ-ŋĭw | legs & feet |
| šâ-ŋĭw | arms & hands |
| ly-ŋĭw | wing (of a bird, insect, etc.) |
| ĝĭw | trunk, torso |
| zjâm | fingers & toes |
| mâŋ | hand |
| plâŋ | foot |
| tâlm | head |
| ʝym | hair, feather, scale, leaf |
| ʝym-daj | a person's head of hair, a tree's foliage, etc. |
| šĭm-ŋĭw | brain |
| ŝĭn | heart and circulatory system |
| syl | mouth |
| fĭm-hôw-tla | doctor, physician |
| ĥâ | cutting, chopping, breaking |
| ĥâ-zô | to cut, chop, break |
| ĥâ-ŋĭw | tooth, teeth |
| ħulŋ | harm, damage, injury |
| ħulŋ-van | to be injured, to have an injury |
| ħulŋ-zô | to damage, to cause injury |
| čun | itching |
| čun-van | to itch |
| bâm | newness |
| bâm-bô | new |
| šyj | cleanness |
| šyj-bô | clean |
| šyj-van | to be clean |
| šyj-zô | to wash, to clean (something/someone else) |
| šyj-ca | to bathe, to wash/clean oneself (or part of one's body) |
| ĉârn | scratching, scraping, rubbing, scrubbing |
| ĝĭ | big |
| ny | small |
| mew | too, even, also |
| ƥ | third-person animate pronoun: he, she, it (people or animals) |
| -m | part of |
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Last updated December 2015.