ohapa

ohapa

Wauja

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɨˈha.pa/

Preposition

ohapa

1. among, in, beside

   [Arutatumpa:] Awojotopa yajo! OnupajotaKONApai yiu. OnupajotaKONApai yiu.

   [Inyaun:] Atakaho ohapapai?

   [Arutatumpa:] Atakaho ohapa. Ehejuawi.

   [Inyaun:] Ehejuapai!

   [Arutatumpa:] Ehejuawi. Ehejuawi, ehejuawi. InuPA yiu. Pa ka, onu piruka itsa katiwhun, piiiiiii tu han na! Panakuutsa. Pato ohapaitsiu.

   [Storyteller:] Such [a] handsome [youth]! Everyone was staring [at him]. Everyone was just staring, [transfixed].

   [Listener:] [They] were in [the] bushes?

   [Storyteller:] In [the] bushes. They had hidden themselves [in the bushes].

   [Listener:] They were hiding [in ambush]!

   [Storyteller:] They were hiding. So they crouched there, hidden, just watching [in silence]. Just then, [the chief's] wife slid off one of these [gestures to a woman's loin belt] — piiiiiii! [sound of the belt slowly being drawn against her body] From her inside place. From [where it had been resting] against her vulva.

   [Audience:] [Laughter.]

Usage notes

• The example is drawn from the story of the Caiman Spirit (Yakaojokuma). In this story, the chief's two wives secretly have amorous encounters with a caiman spirit being. The chief and his men hear a rumor that this is going on, and wait in ambush to kill the chief's rival. From their hiding place in the underbrush, they are astonished to witness the caiman spirit appear in the form of a beautiful young man, as one of the women languorously slips off her loin belt in response.

Related terms

• ohapaitsa (“from among, from beside, out of”)

References

• "Awojotopa yajo" (transcript, p. 63) uttered by Arutatumpa, storyteller and elder, and members of his audience, as he recounted the traditional tale, the "Caiman Spirit" (Yakaojokuma). Recorded in Piyulaga village in the presence of assembled elders and others, November 1989, for BBC film, "The Storyteller."