Tanacross Learners' Dictionary
PRELIMINARY VERSION
compiled by Irene Solomon Arnold, Gary Holton, and Rick Thoman
Copyright © 2006 Alaska Native Language Center. The materials on this site, including Tanacross language transcriptions and audio recordings are intended for educational and reference purposes only. Commmercial use is strictly prohibited. Reproduction for non-profit educational purposes is permitted, provided appropriate citation is included. See complete terms of use. Please direct questions and comments to gary.holton@uaf.edu.Browse the glossary using this index
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P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | ALL
F |
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face: my face |
faint: she or he fainted, blacked out LITERALLY 'darkness fell upon him/her' shéł nátl'ets dálneyh I fainted, blacked out |
fair (pretty): he, she or it is pretty |
falcon:jîiz chox gyrfalcon |
fall (down):na'altth'et he, she or it (living being) fell xughegtth'et I fell down Different words are used for one or more than one living being perfective paradigm
xededhishmets | ||||||
fall (season): noxłuu xúnłęę it is fall time noxłuu tah dendîig de'ukah nats'elsíix in the fall we hunt for moose SYN autumn nén' tenh k'ědz' falltime |
falling star:sén' tsáan' |
family: my family, relatives ALSO relative |
famine: SYN starvation |
famished: I am famished |
fangs: fangs (on a dog or wolf) |
far: it is far away xnintháat deh distant, far away place xnintháat deh ts'enh ninshah she or he came from far away |
fart: |
farther: a little farther jah ts'enh xnihk'ôdl deh ninindah she or he is camped a little farther from here |
fast (quick): xen ghegtthet I am running fast SYN quickly |
fat: fat (food) ch'echǎadz' rendered fat elk'aax it is fat imperfective paradigm
generally only used for 'he, she or it' | ||||||
father: my father tá' daddy |
father-in-law: my father-in-law ALSO grandfather |
fatigue: |
fatten: |
favored child: favored or spoiled child; traditionally a chief's child raised in a special way There is no truly appropriate English translation word for this concept. |
favorite: my favorite |
feasible: |
feather: general term for feather, specifically wing feather naxnetdêg wut'ą̌ą' xołeex flying creatures have feathers chuyh down feather |
February: |
feeble: |
feed: she or he is feeding us łii ech'ek-'aał I am feeding the dogs |
feel:medegdeyh I am feeling it, touching it jâan edildeyh feel this |
femur: my femur, thighbone SYN thighbone |
fence: caribou fence |
fermented: something fermented |
fermented fish: fermented whitefish in birchbark basket niłk'odl Copper River style fermented fish heads |
fetch: |
few: few wudzih ntsîin shę́ę' nek-'ę́ę' I saw just a few caribou |
fight (physically): we are fighting łii iin łe'etxąą the dogs are fighting |
file: a file ihk'aax I am filing it ninlagę̌y' ínk'aax you are filing your fingernails |
filet: fish filet, fish meat |
fill:datnindiił fill it all the way up (by pouring or other continuous motion) tuu shíi dátníndiił fill it up with water (by pouring) na'itdek fill it up (using repeated motion) łéemah jâan shíi na'itdek fill the dirt in here tuu shíi na'itdek fill it up with water (for example, by ladling) de'egtl'ek I am filling it (with a scooping motion) |
fin: |
finally: finally, at last sâan tah nihshah finally I arrived |
find: I found it mexdil'ąą it is found; you found it for yourself |
fine: |
finger: my finger shinlaats'ógh' gáay' my pinky finger shinlaagez space between my fingers |
fingernail: my fingernail |
finish: finished, that's it, all done SEE used up |
fire: fire kón' mâagh edge of a fire kón' ts'í' by the fire kón' ndêedz toward the fireplace kón' diik'ąą the fire started kón' natnétdek the fire went out kón' nádį́hk'aayh you build a fire kón' déhk'én' he or she has a fire burning |
fire (a gun): |
firedrill: |
fireplace: |
firewood: ALSO wood |
first: ch'et-ttheh nihshah I came in first |
fish (food from fish): fish meat łuug eltsel freshly cut fish má' dried fish łuug nitsǐdl' sour fish dzenax fermented fish łuug xěe' fish grease tsalkeyh split and dried whitefish with backbone for dogs |
fish (specific fish):łuug general term for fish, but often referring to humpback whitefish tsaamêey alternate word for whitefish (but not a Tanacross word) xełtįį' round whitefish seejel grayling łuug delt'el sockeye salmon łuug chox king salmon uljaaddh northern pike ts'aan lingcod tats'aht'ôl sucker fish Parts of a fish łuug gǔudh' fish scales wut'ǒgh' adipose fin wuk'es fish gills wuchěel' fish tail łuug k'ų́ų' fish eggs, roe łuug ts'íig' fish guts łuutl'ěey' fish slime |
Fish Creek: |
fishing (places): dipnetting place tsaa k'ée underground fish cache |
fishing (activities):nach'ekłóx I'm fishing (with a hook) imperfective paradigm
łuug dhekłóx | ||||||
fishing tools: dipnet various parts of a dipnet have their own name éth dámaadh frame of dipnet éth tį̌į' handle of dipnet tedenin'aay thin willow stick used as 'fish detector' in 'eth' tehmíił fishnet, gillnet yi'éł nách'éhłôgh fishing pole tiigóg' fish spear xtsiił fish weir, fish fence tedh'aan fish trap tedh'aan dzeey' fish trap funnel dahdzeł fish drying rack ch'e'es fish stringer meetsel fish knife SYN ulu wu'eł ch'ettsol fish baling pole |
fist: |
fit (size): it fits him/her shch'ěl' sheghį́hchaagh my clothes fit me |
five: |
fix: I fixed it niłk'etah nadhektsįį I fixed it the way it was shaa tth'iitaxdénínłeeyh she fixed it, straightened it out for me |
flame: kón' dét-tthuuł fire is flaming |
flap: it (bird) flapped its wings |
flat: it is flat and wide téeł xédétmets carpet, blanket is spread out flat wuké' étmedz one with a wide, flat foot |
flats: |
fleas: its fleas shétth kadel snow fleas |
flee: |
flesh:wutthį́į' its flesh |
flesh (a skin): she or he is fleshing it imperfective paradigm
tools used in fleshing náhttheł tool for removing flesh from skin ch'ejeeyh pole that skin is held on while fleshing the skin SEE tan, skin | ||||||
flicker (bird): northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) |
flimsy: it is flimsy, thin |
flint: ALSO obsidian |
float (remain on top of water):dataya'aał it is floating (not sinking) ch'achěnn' tadaatiił a tree stump is floating downriver see [downriver] for more examples of 'floating downriver'. |
flood: it flooded sheen dą́'ą tuu níihąą last summer it flooded |
floor: |
flour: |
flow: it is flowing łeeke'udit-łęyh the streams all flow together |
fly: it is flying stâanet-t'ak it flew away dets'ên xâanit-t'ax the duck is flying around tsuugaay stanínínt'ek the bird flew away naadóg tsúgaay yaníshąą a flock of birds flew up |
fly (bug): fly nindáa fly eggs |
foam: foam tuu k'et xunxos xúnłęę there is foam on the water xatnalxots it foamed up |
fog: it's foggy taashíits patchy fog over water |
fold: she or he is folding it wutéel' nádhékxoł I folded his or her bedding elxoł it is folded łe'elxôl something folded together |
follow: I am following you yik'eh aahaał she or he is following behind him/her |
following: |
food: ALSO meat xkéen' snacks, rations ch'ekéen' ég'ęh my rations |
food in animal's stomach: SEE rennet |
fool: he fooled me |
foot: my foot ALSO paw shkeet'aag top of my foot shkeetl'áa' sole of my foot shkeetétl heel of my foot |
foot print: its footprint |
for:êy gha jeyh êy gha ehtsįį she or he made gloves for him/her xúu' gha' eshěg' ts'į́' tíhhaał I'll go there for that shaa for me shaa ch'įhłeł drive for me naa for you xuugha for them de'ukah for the purpose of, in search of wudzih de'ukah nats'elséex we're hunting for caribou |
forbidden: SYN taboo łą́'ą ch'e injih xendiix it true that they say it is forbidden sú'u xú' duníi, injih ha' don't say that, it's taboo |
forefathers: SYN ancestors |
forehead: my forehead shints'etadaag my forehead |
forest: woods, forest taachěnn' woods, forest taachěnn' tah tanetshah she or he got lost in the woods |
forest fire: there is forest fire |
forever: forever, from here on out |
forget: I forgot medhegndax I forgot it |
forgive: I forgave him or her |
fork (utensil): |
forked: |
form: it formed into that shape |
fortunate: she or he was fortunate, lucked out shaa nítjélnęyh I was fortunate |
Fortymile River: |
forward: tth'iinděddh' áahaał she or he is walking forward |
four: |
fox: red fox naageddh sęy black fox wumét ts'edet-sęy cross fox (Vulpes fulva) |
foxtail (plant): LITERALLY 'dog's tail' |
fragile: |
freeze: it is frozen menh neltenh the lake is frozen xtét-tenh it is starting to freeze shintsįį et-tenh my nose is frozen, has frostbite nelts'į́į' it is frozen solid shí' nelts'į́į'i frozen meat shí' nelts'į́į' the meat is frozen solid |
frequently: |
fresh: it is fresh |
friend: my friend ALSO cousin |
friendly: she or he is a friendly person |
frighten: she or he is frightening him or her SEE afraid |
fringe: ch'etheth nat-'êl fringe on clothing, boots ch'eníhtthek I am cutting fringe (cutting strips of hide) |
frog: wood frog (Rana sylvatica) |
frogberry: SYN nagoonberry (Rubus arcticus) |
from: deshax ts'enh ninshah he came from his house neets'enh from us |
front: in front shnandeddh in front of me neenandeddh k'étl'adíidaay k'et didhindah you are sitting on a chair in front of us |
front (of house):kón'teg toward or in front of a house or at the doorway of a house |
frost: frost dahsógh' ice crystals in the air (as during very cold weather) naxúlsóx it is frosty k'áhmén' tah naxúlsóx it is frosty this morning dahxotl'uh frost on trees, bushes Traditionally this was a sign that very cold weather was coming naxnetk'aatth gha ch'e dahxotl'uuy the frost on the trees indicates that it is going to get cold |
frostbite: |
froth: |
frown: he's frowning |
fry:ekt'éeth I'm frying it imperfective paradigm
| ||||||
frybread: SYN bannock |
frying pan: |
full: it is full datneldok it is packed, full dahtsaa shíi dách'étnéldok the cache is packed full of stuff ts'anedhegtek I'm full, satisfied (had enough to eat) |
fun (make fun): he's making fun of himself |
fungus (black birch): |
funny: you sound funny (e.g. telling a joke) shaa tsąą dadindlih you sound funny to me tsąą t'etshaak he did something funny maa tsąą xal'ęh something funny is happening |
fur:ch'exá' dinsųų good quality fur in autumn The following words refer to old time fur clothing where the fur is on the inside dąą eek fur coat dąą thetl fur pants |
furry: it is furry |
future: in the future, after a time xtéetthet dé' tah nataadaał he will return in the future, after a while |
