apakata

Verb

 * 1)  he/she/it causes a human or spiritual being to sing esp., brings forth the voice of a spirit

Usage notes

 * The verb apaka is used when one or more persons (or non-human beings) sings. When someone engages in a sacred ritual that causes the voice of a spirit to be heard, the verb changes to apakata. Note that Wauja uses the prefix –a, together with the suffix -ta, as markers that the subject is not merely singing, but also "causing another to sing."
 * The example utterance above, "Umejo iyawi," is taken from the traditional story, "Man Who Was Drowned in Honey" (Paitsyawalu). In this short excerpt, a bold young woman (who has disguised herself as a man) is causing the voice of the Flute Spirit to be heard when she plays the sacred flute. In this sense, she is "causing" the Flute Spirit to "sing." This is a grave sacrilege, since the mere sight of the flutes is forbidden to women, with severe penalties for infraction. In the excerpt above, her cruel husband publicly exposes her deception, and demands that she be killed. Later in the story, however, she escapes and takes revenge, causing him to drown in honey, and be transformed into a species of frog (Leptodactylus latrans), that the Wauja describe as particularly large and ugly. For more about this story, see "Man Who Drowned in Honey" under Appendix: Traditional Stories Referenced in Lemmas.