WW #34: Speaking chilis

Here’s a spicy Nitherian sentence:

Misanyathmo vovoslo sesecha.

The interesting word here is the verb compound wisanyathmo “berate, be angry at”, which literally means “speak chili peppers” (from yathm “chili pepper”). This structure is used for other kinds of emotionally charged speech in Nitherian. Examples include wisanyoshasho “flatter, praise” (literally “speak flowers”) and wisntsovoso “reassure, comfort” (literally “speak honey”).