A long time, for a while. ana k̓ʷapɨ́n iłamáyšana máal wíyat̓iš ‘the aforementioned which was lost for a long time’; ku patáwaqitna wíyat̓iš ‘and they looked for him for a long time’; ana kúuš kʷáal ánɨm ana kú wíyat̓iš iwɨ́šayčɨn púuy ‘it seems like a long winter because the snow stayed for a long time’; kutaš kʷná wíyat̓iš wɨ́šayčɨnx̣ana ‘and we used to stay there a long time’; ku wíyat̓iš ittáwax̣ɨnx̣ana xʷɨ́saat ku łmáma ‘and it would take a long time to grow into an old man and an old woman’.
As spoken by a group of elders in the early 1980s when thinking about putting their language to writing.
The words and sentences in this dictionary are mostly the contribution of Twáway, otherwise known of as Inez Spino Reves. Twáway has never flinched from working with linguists, and her command of the “old language” with all its intricacies of grammar and vocabulary is second to none. Other Umatilla contributors are Charley McKay, Donald Joe, Emily Littlefish, Fred Hill, Joan Watlamet, Mildred Quaempts, and Thomas Morning Owl. Animal and plant identifications were much aided by botanist Dave Corliss (personal communication) and by Eugene Hunn (1979, 1990).
