In this more advanced reading lesson, we will examine the Timucua version of the biblical story of Moses parting the Red Sea. We will not provide a morpheme or word gloss. Instead, we will provide a more literal translation of the Timucua text and highlight some linguistic features.
Original Text
Here are images of the stories
[image 165-6/598] Folio L1 recto Pareja 1627:f077v-079v
Transcription
Here is a transcription of Pareja 1627:f077v-079v (the story of Moses parting the Red Sea). We have created breaks in the paragraph to facilitate reading and translation.
Israel hicama Egipto vtima Rey Faraõ atelesta catemaqua Diosima Moysen Capitani chieta, hebuanimano. Moyses chi sisotanano, indo, mita Israel hicana, tocosohache
Moyses ano yayima, Dios hebuanoma, ocototaqere.
Dios hicama tocosotequa Moca, nabama, minomoqe.
Fiscali ema chumota, vquata, moca ibinema, abotota, naquana ybine basalate, basalatequene, naitaputa moca fichinoqua, eye fetelota, chieta, tocota machule,
Egipto holatamate soldado mimapuqua puqua mota, inibiti, ano enamiromosota, caqi Israel hicama, nafarisosiro, manta, molahacu,
moca ibine, mano, cararaba ebelecanco, basalate, basalate quenequa, etecotema, salalacata, andamichuqua, farenioqua chumota napatabosota, Egipto ano inemi holata matequene mefata, nihita, mocanabama nabota machule,
Translation
The city of Israel was slaves to the King Pharaoh in the land of Egypt, God made Moses captain and he spoke to Moses, saying, “I order you to take my people Israel out…”
Moses, a powerful person, heard God’s word, and then…
In order to take [Israel] to the town of God, they arrived at the edge of the sea, and…
He took something resembling a fiscal’s staff and he hit the water, and immediately the water retracted to one side and to the other side and it made a dry street at the bottom of the sea, and they came out (long ago).
The Egyptian chief and his great number of soldiers wanted to pursue the people and cause the town of Israel to return, but
The sea water was like a big slope, when it was standing on one side and the other side, and the water that was previously mentioned, it was as if the two sides were running back together, all the Egyptian people and the chief, they drowned and died near the sea.
Notable Features
The Remote Past
The passage contains different verb tenses, but we want to especially highlight the use of –chule. –chule indicates the remote past, or a past that happened long, long ago in a distant place. Timucua is not the only Southeastern language that contains different ways of expressing the past. For more on Timucua verbs see Lesson 5: Verb Tenses.
Consider this other example from a Timucua text:
Hitimano heca irimile acochule, Obispo michu cumepalino manino, curano isticocoba nacumosotela.
The Devil, our great enemy from long ago, caused many very bad thoughts to abound in the previously mentioned Bishop’s thoughts.
[Movilla (1635a:f149v)]
The –chule suffix indicates that the Devil was a great enemy from “long ago.”
In the example provided in this lesson, the -chule suffix appears twice. In the first instance, –chule describes how those fleeing Egypt went into the Red Sea. The suffix indicates that these actions happened long ago. The second instance of –chule appears at the end of passage, as to suggest that the described set of events happened long ago.
One thing to note when looking at examples of –chule is that the frequent suffix –mo (they), which is used for plural subjects, appears as –ma before this suffix (see Lesson 8.1). Thus tocota machule means “they came out (long ago).”
The use of –chule lets us see how Timucua writers were narrating time and situating Catholic stories within their linguistic frameworks.
Reduplication
The Timucua corpus contains many examples of reduplication, or syllables within the same word that repeat themselves. For example:
- salalaca slithering
- yalalaca transparent
- yururuca delicious, honey
- mocococa trembling
- melalaca flaming
The text in this lesson includes:
cararaba slope
salalaca flow, move, slither
It also contains repetition of certain words. For example, when describing the great number of Egyptians that followed Moses to the Red Sea, the passage reads: “Egipto holatamate soldado mimapuqua puqua mota.” The repetition of the word puqua (many) likely works as a form of emphasis. Once again, this linguistic choice lets us see how Timucuas are both narrating and describing these classic biblical stories.
Selective Borrowing
The Timucua text contains a handful of borrowed words.
“Rey Farao” describes Egypt’s ruler; “Diosima” denotes the Spanish God; the titles “Capitani” (captain) and “Fiscali” (fiscal, a kind of treasury official) are applied to Moses.
But interestingly enough, Timucuas do not borrow all words that describe Moses, Egypt, Israel, or all those far off people and places. At a critical moment in the passage, when the Egyptians are launching their attack, the Timucua text describes the Pharaoh not as “Rey Farao,” but as Egipto holata, or the Holata (chief) of Egypt.
Moreover, the Timucua text describes the Jewish people or the people of Israel as “Israel hicama” or, literally, “The city or town of Israel.” Timucuas are applying their own concept of a town, which describes not only a place, but also a group of people that were bound together by history, kinship, and movement. The Timucuas writers were thus making a choice about how to depict the Jewish people based on their own understanding of the world.
Concluding Remarks
There are many interesting linguistic features in this passage and this brief lesson only scratches the surface. We welcome you to read this passage, and look at the careful linguistic and narrative choices made by Timucua people hidden within these Catholic stories.