WW #29: Noisy Cats

Amamoyto nin myas ndon pungïsun e-mwamwa mï-hniyhn.

Here are the new Muipidan words:

• Amamoyto “mother-in-law” is a diminutive of amamodo “mother”, made by switching it to the domestic class; this class is prototypically for domestic animals (mwa “cat” is also in this class), but it acts as an affectionate diminutive for words that don’t refer to animals. Amamoyto is normally used only for a woman’s mother-in-law; a married couple typically lives with the husband’s family, so she has a much closer bond to his parents than he has to hers. To refer to a man’s mother-in-law, one would use the literal phrase amamodo nï-kongïmodo “wife’s mother”.
• Pungïsus “to annoy” is related to pumus “to write”; the original meaning was “poke”.
• Hniyhnïs “to squeal” is, perhaps not surprisingly, imitative of a whining or squealing sound, using its double voiceless nasals to emphasize the harshness of the sound.