Say it in Karen - Book 2

312 Pages·2007·1.65 MB·English

SAY IT IN KAREN
Book II

by
Emilie Ballard

Published by
The Thailand Baptist Missionary Fellowship
P.O. Box 29, Chiang Mai, Thailand 50000
2
Foreword

Aim of Say It in Karen Books I, II, and III
This is the second of a planned series of three volumes of Say It in Karen (not
including the Introduction book on how to read and write Sgaw Karen). The aim is that
by the time you have completed all 3 books, you will have been introduced to all of the
more common grammatical constructions in the spoken language as well as to a fair
amount of everyday vocabulary, and that you will have been given practice in obtaining
new vocabulary by various methods and come to realize the importance of using the new
words or phrases right way in as many ways as possible to help fix them in your minds.
Thus, upon completion of these books you will be able to carry on by yourself, increasing
your vocabulary day by day according to your needs.

Format of the Lessons
The format of Book II is essentially the same as that of Book I, with 10-12 new words
or expressions in the Useful Words and Phrases section, followed by two Pattern
Sentences and Phrases sections to illustrate how the new vocabulary is used; Substitution
Drills, Completion Drills, Expansion Drills, Command and Response Drills, and
Question and Answer Drills are included to give you practice in using particular
expressions or grammatical structures and to help you think in the language and respond
automatically; a section on Word Usage and Grammar explains some things about the
language; Reading and Writing exercises help you remember how the words are spelled;
the Listening and Speaking section helps you get out among the Karens and learn from
listening to and responding to them and learning how they speak in natural situations; a
Cultural Assignment for each 5 lessons helps you become better oriented to and more
observant of the Karen culture; also one or more sections on Conversation Practice are
included in each lesson. These conversation practice sections are the most important
(although the other sections are needed to prepare you for them), and you should spend an
increasing amount of time on conversisng with your teacher as well as with other Karens
outside of the classroom as you study these lessons. Don't feel that you have to finish
each lesson in a given number of days--stay with each lesson until you have gotten it well
and are able to use the new vocabulary and sentence structures in your conversation,
together with what you have learned in previous lessons. As in Book I, every fifth lesson
is a review lesson. Instructions to the teacher are given in Karen italics for the benefit of
those who are not very fluent in English.

In Book II a few common dialectical differences have been noted in footnotes.
However, it still seems advisable for you to learn to speak the standard Karen first
(especially if you work with the Thailand Karen Baptist Convention), yet learning to
recognize the colloquial expressions used in your area. If you work with the TKBC, you
will no doubt need to work with Karens from all areas where the convention has work, so
you don't want to speak only one certain colloquial dialect. After you know the language
better, you will be able to switch from the standard Karen to the colloquial way of
speaking in the area where you live and vice versa.
Evaluation
When you have completed the 20 lessons in this book, it is strongly recommended that
you have your progress in using the Karen language evaluated. Suggestions for this will
be found at the end of Lesson 20, and a suggested evaluation form in both English and
Karen will be found in the appendix. Your level of competence will no doubt be slightly
higher than that at the end of Book I, although because you will be conversisng with a
Karen other than your teacher, that may affect your conversation during the evaluaion a
bit. However, it will result in a more accurate evaluation of your level of competence.

Constructive Criticism and Suggestions
As you study these lessons, make a note of difficulties you meet and/or constructive
criticism and suggestions you have, and upon completion of the book send them to the
Language and Orientation Committee, Thailand Baptist Missionary Fellowship, P.O. Box
29, Chiang Mai, 50000. Then, if at a later date the lessons are revised, your comments
can be considered.

Acknowledgements
The author wishes to express appreciation to Thra Thu Nu, who spent many hours
helping prepare and correct the Karen lesson material, and to both him and Thramu
Christabelle for helping make the lesson tapes. Appreciation is also expressed for the
help of Thramu Napa (now gone to her heavenly home) for her help with the instruction
to the teacher in Karen in much of the book, and to Thramu Naw Win for help in
proofreading the lesson material and in helping the author understand some of the
differences in the Musikee colloquial dialect of Karen from the standard Karen.

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LESSON 1
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1.1 Useful Words and Phrases
1.1 Im@IgqSbW@fOuioINp
REPEAT after the teacher.
URp--PbMrq@sgNgIfMgnJvfURpWAa 1-2 Ohu.

UoS h To covet, desire, want to have
Mrkq (Im) To buy, purchase
WMrkq Price
MrqMrkqImNg Buyer
Erq To be few in number, be scarce
ErqShq To become fewer in number,become
scarcer
PqErqShq (Im) To reduce in number, quantity, or degree
ShqIfn/Jfn To fall off or from accidentally
WMrkqShqIfn/Jfn To come to in price
FaoW`Sfp/Shp1 How much? How many?
FaoKgpShp/Sfp How large?

FaoQanShp/Sfp 2 How long in time?
Igm Brass, copper; coin, money

IgmAaFaQfmOep/IgmUaoOrf Twenty-five satangs
Ee Silver, money
Oo Baht
IgmIOo/EeIOo One baht
Mhm Multiple of hundred (refers to money)
IgmIMhm/EeIMhm One hundred baht
Oufp To be left over, remain over and above
(W)Ofup Remainder, left-over; more than
@Scn/P3sg Classifier for kinds of things
@eq To revert back, to recur again

1 In some areas, such as the Musikee area, the expression JfShp/Sfp or KgpJfShp/Sfp is used rather than
FaoW`Shp/Sfp.
2 In some areas, such as the Musikee area, the expression AfShp/Sfp is used more often than FaoQan
Shp/Sfp.
3 In some areas, such as in the Musikee area, the word En is used more than @Scn or P sgas a classifier for
kinds of things.
1.2 Pattern Sentences and Phrases
1.2 Im@IgqWK g
(1) Use of UoS,h "to covet, desire, want to have"
(1) ImUdIm@Igq "UoSh"
REPEAT after the teacher.
URp--PbMrq@sgNgIfMgnJvfURpWAa 2-3 Th.

LUoShPIqShp/Sfp What do you want?
QUoShSanUoTap I want hymnbooks.
QUoShU@ va I want bananas.
QUoShJhoHp I want pork.
QUoShFhKap I want eggs.
QUoShImKhoImSp I want vegetables.

(2) Use of WMrkq, "price"
(2) ImUdIm@Igq "WMrkq"
REPEAT after the teacher.
URp--PbMrq@sgNgIfMgnJvfURpWAa 2-3 Th.

WMrkqK~Shp/Sfp How (What) is the price?
WMrkqShqIfn(Jfn)AaFaAaOo The price comes (falls) to 22 baht.
WMrkqOp The price is cheap (correct).
WMrkqKgp The price is expensive (big).
WMrkqJhp The price has gone up.
WMrkqShq The price has come down.

(3) Use of Igm/Ee, "money, coin;" Oo, baht;" and Mhm, classifier for hundreds of baht.
(3) ImUdIm@Igq "Igm/Ee," "Oo," Kho "Mhm"
REPEAT after the teacher.
URp--PbMrq@sgNgIfMgnJvfURpWAa 2-3 0h.

(a) Igm 5 Oep/IgmIO rf 5 satangs
IgmWOepIFa/IgmIF rg 10 satangs
Igm 15 Oep (IgmIFrgOrf) 15 satangs
Igm 25 Oep/IgmUaoO rf 25 satangs
IgmWOep 50/IgmQfmFrg 50 satangs
Igm 75 Oep/Igm^vaFrgO rf 75 satangs
(b) Igm 45 Oo 45 baht
Igm 50 Oo/IgmWOo 50 50 baht
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Igm 100 Oo/IgmIMhm 100 baht
Igm 200 Oo/IgmAaMhm 200 baht
Igm 550 Oo/IgmQfmMhmQfmF a 550 baht

Repeat (b) using E e in place of Igm. Repeat a second time omitting both Igm and Ee;
e.g., 45 Oo.
URp--IfSg (b) @KhoIOhu OpFpWWaqIOhuSb "Igm" WShmLlpIfSb "E"e. UbThIThLlp PqShq Ifn
"Igm" Kho "Ee" AaPaqSbn. WKg--URp@If "45 Oo."

(c) IOo 25 Oep/IOoUaoOrf 1 baht 25 satang
AaOoWOepQfmFa/AaOoQfmFrg 2 baht 50 satang
UbOo 75 Oep/UbOo^vaFrgO rf 3 baht 75 satang
(d) INubpIOo One round thing for a baht.
CcNubpQfmOo Six for five baht.
AaOepIFaQfmOo Two flat things for 15 baht.
WOgIFa 94 Oo Ten long things for 94 baht.
SanAaOepIMhm Two books for 100 baht.
UbNubpAaOoQfmFrg Three round things for 2.50.

(4) Use of Ofup. "to be over and above, be left-over; more than
(4) ImUdIm@Igq "Ofup,"
REPEAT after the teacher.
URp--PbMrq@sgNgIfMgnJvfURpWAa 2-3 Th.

(a) PeqWgpOfup. Some rice is left over.
@UdWgpOfup. Some curry is left over.
U@vaUpWgpOfupUbNubp Three bananas are left over.
JaAhuWT`WgpOfup Some hot drink with milk in it is left over.
(b) IgmWOfup Left-over money, change
PeqWOfup Left-over rice
@UdWOfup Left-over curry
ImAhuJaWOfup Left-over soup
ImKhoImSpWOfup Left-over vegetables
FhHpWOfup Left-over chicken
(c) I@aSgqWOfup More than a kilogram/kilometer
W8qAaFaWOfup More than 20 people.
JhoWKcIFaWOfup More than ten pigs.
HpNgWOgQfmFaWOfup More than 50 fish
3
U@vaUpWNubp 20 WOfup More than 20 bananas

Repeat (c) omitting the particle W which precedes Ofup.
URp--IfSg (c) @KhoIOhu OpFpWWaqIOhu PqShqIfn "W" SbWWgpSb "Ofup" WPfnH`. WKg--
I@aSgqOfup.

(d) I@aSgqWOfupNoNh. One and a half kilos
UbOoWOfupIgm 55 Oep Three baht 55 satangs.
AaFaIOoWOfupIgm 19 Oep 2l baht l9 satangs.
18 OoWOfufpIgmAaFaQfmOep 18 baht 25 satangs
65 OoWOfupIgmWOepQfmFa 65 baht 50 satang.
4 Oo WOfupIgmWOep 30 4 baht 30 satang.
50 OoWOfupIgm 88 Oep 50 baht 88 satang
1 OoWOfupIgm 15 Oep 1 baht 15 satang
AaOoWOfupIgm 99 Oep 2 baht 99 satang

Repeat (d) omitting the particle W which precedes Ofup. Then repeat again omitting
the expression WOfup.
URp--IfSg@KhoIOhu OpFpWWaqIOhu PqShqIfn "W" Sb "Ofup" WPfnH`. WKg--I@aSgOfup.
UbThITh PqShqIfn "WOufp." WKg--"I@aSgqNoNh."

(5) Use of @Scn/P,sg classifier for kinds of things
(5) ImUdIm@Igq "@Scn/Psg"
REPEAT after the teacher.
URp--PbMrq@sgNgIfMgnJvfURpWAa 2-3 Th.

(a) MrqAa@Scn Two kinds of people
HpNgSvam@Scn Four kinds of fish
FhUb@Scn Three kinds of chickens
ImWSvfmCho@Scn Eight colors
SanAa@Scn Two kinds of books
(b) ImUoTapSvam@ScnQfm@Scn 4 or 5 kinds of songs
IgmIOoWgp 2 @Scn 3 @Scn 2 or 3 kinds of 1-baht coins
@UdI@ScnAa@Scn 1 or 2 kinds of curry
SanUoTap 3 @Scn 4 @Scn 3 or 4 kinds of hymnbooks
(c) U@vaW@Scn@Scn A variety of bananas
KboW@Scn@Scn A variety of houses
SanW@Scn@Scn A variety of books
ImWSvfmW@Scn@Scn A variety of colors
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