I’ve finally started the next step of the process of our reason for being here in the Ga’dang tribe. Hurray! The Lord has blessed me with a language helper, Zaldo, who is eager to assist me in this daunting task, even when it hurts his ears.
For example, we were practising making sentences using places to go to, how we got there, who went, and when we did it. Sounds simple, eh? Maybe in English! Here’s a sample: “I rode a water buffalo to the school yesterday”. In Ga’dang I should’ve said; “Naddaffuwak se ageskwelan se gafi.” This is a case of not easier said than done!
Notice the double consonants? Zaldo, along with everyone else listening was able to hear it when I didn’t say those double consonants right. Then there’s the ‘a’ sound, which can almost sound like a short ‘u’ (as in cut)or ‘a’ (as in cat) instead of ‘a’, as in ball if I’m not careful. Those really hurt his ears!
Here’s a few more fun ones with double consonants I twisted my tongue around:
Nallakarak – I walked
Sintaw naggabwatannu? Where did you come from?
Ansa nadingngangngo? What do you hear?
The trick (I think) is to split the doubbles between syllables without making it too obvious. That offten gets funny looks too.
Pray for us as we dig into the language here and try to make sense of it. Clarity of speech is essential for when we present God’s Word to them someday, hopefully not too far in the disttant future.