#quechwan

[upcomingsynthesis]

Umanpuru wajtanakushanku

Quechwan idiom.

Literal translation:

Umanpuru. Uma- root word for head. -n third person singular genitive suffix. -puru Spanish loan from puro, meaning only. (Dices puras mentiras, you say only lies.)

Wajtanakushanku. Wajta- Root word for hit + -na Nominalizer suffix -> Wajtana = A hit + -ku reflex -> Wajtanaku = A self-hit. -shan progressive verbalizer + -ku third person plural reflex. So, They are getting hits from each other. They're not fighting, that's the root maka-.

In all, They are just bumping their heads into each other.

This idiom is used to refer to the situation where you have a confused and disorganized group rushing to and fro in a restricted place and bumping into each other. They're not necessarily frantic, but they aren't getting anything done or generally ineffective. They could be idle regarding an expected activity. It conveys the image of people butting heads sideways, not confrontationally but comically.

Umanpuru is not used by itself, outside of this idiom. Wajtanakushanku by itself is grammatical but odd.

Quechwan is an agglutinative language sub-family spoken mostly in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, with a few speakers in Argentina, Chile and Ecuador. This idiom was collected from the Southern variety, in Bolivia.