Hrmitt reference grammar


6.4. Expressing Gratitude

The interjection pjut means "received" or "accepted" (cognate with the verb pjutmi "to receive", "to accept"), and is used to express gratitude:

pjuttaunaimi bolu?

pjut-tau-ai-mi
receive-2sg.p-q-v
bol-u
cargo-pat

Did you receive the cargo?

pjut.

pjut
received

Yes, thank you.

A more elaborate form of expressing gratitude uses the verb pjutmi with the dative ipftu:

pjutemi ipftektu.

pjut-en-mi
thank-1sg-v
ipf-tek-tu.
eye-2sg-dat

I thank you!

pjutmatmi ipftaitu.

pjut-mat-mi
thank-1pl-v
ipf-tai-tu
eye-2pl-dat

We thank you all!

The response is usually the idiom:

ipfemi ipftektu.

ipf-en-mi
eye-1sg-v
ipf-tek-tu
eye-2sg-dat

You're welcome.

ipfmatmi ipftaitu.

ipf-mat-mi
eye-1pl-v
ipf-tai-tu
eye-2pl-dat

You're welcome.

Often shortened to simply:

ipftektu.

ipf-tek-tu
eye-2sg-dat

You're welcome.

ipftaitu.

ipf-tai-tu
eye-2pl-dat

You're welcome.