Shipibo Foundations · Module 2: Describing the World · Lesson 5 of 5

Turning the volume up (and down)

By the end you can make any description stronger or gentler.

6 new words · about 10 minutes

Kikín metsá! Very beautiful! — Kaná is with you for Module 2.

Shipibo tunes adjectives with suffixes. -shaman — of the most excellent quality: jakónshaman. -bires — purely/all: jakónbires. -tani — more or less: jakóntani. -shoko — small and endearing: jakónshoko. -ma — not: jakóma. And one standalone intensifier: kikín — very. They combine: kikín jakónshaman.
Tuning an adjective
-shamanof the most excellent qualityjakónshaman
-birespurely, alljakónbires
-tanimore or lessjakóntani
-shokosmall and endearingjakónshoko
-manotjakóma
kikínvery (stands alone)kikín jakónshaman
Culture note. Kikín is borrowed from Quechua — which may be why it stands alone while everything else attaches as a suffix. Two subtleties worth owning: kikín intensifies anything, good or bad (kikín jakóma — really bad), and with tastes it shades into 'too' (kikin bata — too sweet). -shaman, by contrast, always carries positive excellence — jakónshaman is the best, and jakóma-shaman is impossible. Nobody excels at being bad.
✓ sourced Module 1-2 deck slides 3–8 · nothing invented

The words

Read each one. The next screen hides the meaning so you can test yourself.

-shamanof the most excellent quality
-birespurely / all
-tanimore or less
-shokosmall, endearing
-manot
kikínvery

Cover the meaning

Say it before you flip. Be honest — "again" brings it back.

tap to reveal
tap to flip back

In a sentence

Try translating each line yourself before you tap.

Ja tári ríki kikín áni!
tap to translate
That tunic is very big!
Paránta xói ríki nóeshaman!
tap to translate
Grilled plantain is excellently tasty!
Náto xáwe ríki metsáshoko.
tap to translate
This gentleman is endearingly handsome.
Try it. Take one adjective and run it through all five suffixes aloud.

Build the sentence

Tap the words into order.

Say:

Check yourself

'Excellently good' is…
-tani means…
kikín is special because…
Kaná
✓

Lesson complete

Kaná approves — Jakonshaman!

You can now make any description stronger or gentler.

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