As you can probably tell from the title of this post, I would like to share a little bit about my experience with the Ngakarimojong language. First, a disclaimer: I make no claims about the accuracy of the information I here set forth. I am not a linguist, nor have I spent anywhere near enough time studying this language to offer a systematic, meticulous introduction to Ngakarimojong. What I offer here is merely my own nerdy thoughts based on my limited experience and study.
Allow me to show off for just a few seconds. Ejok-a? Engaleo-a? Erae ekaakiro Fiona. Erae ayong amalim. Abunit ayong ka Amerika. Eyai ngikur tooma ngakipi-a? Ok, I am done showing off. Now, I'll use those sentences as a springboard.
Hands down, the word I say most often is, Ejok. The basic translation is "good." However, it is also used as a greeting. If I say, Ejok-a? (the "-a" makes it a question), then I am asking, "Is it good?" or, to be more grammatically proper in English, "Is it well?" The answer is, Ejok! or Ejok a nooi! for emphasis, if one is feeling very good. On top of using ejok as a greeting, it is also the most common word for saying that something is good. As far as I know, Ngakarimojong does not have the plethora of synonyms for "good" that English has. In English, something can be outstanding, brilliant, terrific, wonderful, amazing, superb, alright, decent, acceptable, etc. etc. In K-jong, something can be ejok or ejok a nooi.
When I and my KEO colleagues first started learning the language, Martha (our missionary of oversight) oriented us by explaining the rules for pronunciation and equipping us with several pages of printed notes with common and useful phrases. For example, Engaleo-a? is a question meaning "Is it well," and the proper answer is Ee, engaleo. But if you are asked, Ingale iyong-a? (Is it well with you?) then the proper response is Ee, angale. At first, I learned by rote memorization. Which meant that I often got the answers confused, since, to my English-trained ear, engaleo, ingale, and angale all sound very similar. In time, however, I came to understand the the prefixes reflect third, second, and first person, respectively.
You may have noticed, in the example of Ngakarimojong that I wrote towards the beginning, the words ayong and iyong. Perhaps you thought the latter one was a typo, but, no. Ayong means I, and iyong means you. The difference is one letter, one sound. Actually, ayong can mean I or me, depending on which syllable is emphasized, but that distinction is a bit beyond our capacity to keep straight or even usually to hear.
It sounds like a truism that, in Ngakarimojong, vowels are incredibly important, but let me explain. Vowels indicate 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person; they indicate gender (amalim is a female teacher while emalim is a male teacher); and there are pretty much never two consonants that are not separated by at least one vowel. Wtht vwls n nglsh, y mght pssbly b bl t rd ths. Without vowels in Ngakarimojong, there is no way. Jk. Ngl? R yng mlm. Yeah, no idea. Not to mention the fact that changing a vowel can sometimes be the difference between "rock" and "snuff," between "brother-in-law" and "drunkard." Forget your P's and Q's, watch out for your A, E, I, O, and Us.
Speaking of letters, Ngakarimojong uses the Roman alphabet, minus a few letters (F, H, Q, V, X, Z) and with the addition of one: a single character for the "ng" sound, pictured below. While this is not a new sound for us English speakers, it is the first sound of many words, which is a bit difficult. English doesn't have any words (that I know of) that begin with the "ng" sound. Try starting a word with "nga." Not "nya." "Ng." Form the sound towards the back of your throat. See? It's a bit difficult. For the first few days of language learning, I practiced saying, "Song. So-nga. Nga!" until I could successfully start a word with Ng.
Happily for those of us who are trying to learn the language, Ngakarimojong uses a phonetic alphabet in which there are very, very few wierd rules and exceptions like "I before E except after C, blah, blah, blah." There are only a handful of letter combinations that change the sound of the letters. Instead of "ch," Ngakarimojong uses "c." Usually, vowels each make their own sound, even when paired (or tripled). Thus, rather than having a long vowel, diphthongs are spelled out. In English, the long A sound, as in "fate," or "weight" (which doesn't even have an A in it!) is actually the combination of two sounds: eh+ee, represented in K-Jong simply as "e-i." There are only a few combinations of vowels that make a different sound.
Becuase K-Jong is so beautifully phonetic, it is fairly easy for someone literate in English to learn to read it. Except when it isn't. You see, as best as I can figure, easily half of the language is composed of prefixes, suffixes, and other syllables that get inserted in somewhere. Here is a very simple example. Kingit means "to ask." Turn it into Akingiset and you have "question," or perhaps more literally, "thing that asks." To make it plural, add Nga- and -a for ngakingiseta. So, sometimes words get rather long and cumbersome.
Now, combine that with masculine/feminine and the fact that there seem to be a lot of irregular plurals. Oh, and I almost forgot directionality. With the addition of different syllables, one can indicate that so-and-so is doing the action for someone, to someone, with someone, to me, to you etc. I'll be honest, I do not understand the directionality yet, so I am afraid I can't give you a better example. At any rate, a native Ngakarimojong speaker can be very precise with a single word. In English, the word "give" stays the same regardless of who is giving what to whom; not so in K-Jong.
Memorizing vocab words is useful and necessary, but grammar is the fascinating part. Grammar sets the boundaries and rules for the playing field. Quite frankly, I am just barely scraping the surface of the grammar. Verb tenses are still somewhere between a mystery and a muddle to me. I can read K-Jong much better than I can speak it, to the point where I can sometimes catch errors in translations of our Bible lessons. However, I do not know enough that I can correct said discovered errors.
So, after this brief introduction to Ngakarimojong, perhaps you can decipher what I wrote at the beginning. Nabo (Again). Ejok-a? (Hello.) Engaleo-a? (Is it well?) Erae ekaakiro Fiona. (My name is Fiona.) I totally forgot to talk about possessives. Oh well. Erae ayong amalim. (I am a teacher.) A female teacher, as you can tell by the fact that I said A-malim and not E-malim. Abunit ayong ka Amerika. (I am from Amerika.) Note the sentence structure: verb-subject-object, literally something along the lines of "Come from I America." Eyai ngikur tooma ngakipi-a? (Are there worms in the water?) Just another useful phrase.
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