John Lechner Profile picture
Aug 26, 2022 8 tweets 3 min read Read on X
A mini thread on what "don" means in #Chechen.

First, it is a filler word, used by Chechens but perhaps not as liberally as Kadyrov... so what does it mean? (1/n)
"don" comes from the Chechen дуй хьуна? (dui hwuna)
First: хьуна is the dative form of the second person singular, i.e., "to you." Literary Chechen has eight cases: nominative, genitive, dative, ergative, instrumental, substantive, comparative, and locative...
Nom. хьо
Gen. хьан
Dat. хьуна
Erg. ахь
Inst. хьоьца
Subs. хьох
Comp. хьол
Loc. хьоьга

The nominative, dative, and ergative can all be subjects of a Chechen verb. Ergativity is a widespread feature of indigenous languages of the Caucasus.
Essentially, if a Chechen verb doesn't take a direct object (intransitive), the subject will be in the nom. If it does take an DO (transitive), the subject will be in the ergative case, and the direct object in the "nominative." More on ergativity here:
medium.com/@jalechner/com…
Now let's look at дуй

Depending how you count, Chechen has six noun classes. Only two reflect gender in the Indo-European sense. We use ду to denote them Image
The combination of noun class and ergative verb structure makes Chechen particularly difficult for foreigners. Verbs often agree with noun class: in intransitive sentences with the nom., in transitive sentences with the direct object. Click on photo for example Image
The default noun class is ду. It is used when a noun is not specified, often as an implied "it."

The particle -й makes the sentence a question...
So дуй хьуна? Means "is it not to you?" Probably something close to "ain't it?" or innit?

In natural speech, dui hwuna becomes closer to dohwun or doʔun... which gets transliterated as "don"!

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More from @JohnLechner1

Aug 5, 2023
One more thing I'd like to add on the #Wagner discourse in #Niger. The events in Niamey are, I think, a culmination of an increasingly polarized geopolitical environment combined with the arrival of new security partners for African governments (1/n)
What I don't think gets a lot of attention is how narrow the structure of the international system is for African political entrepreneurs: i.e., African governments, political opposition, armed groups etc. (2/n)
Let's say you are in opp to a gov. or regime that cooperates heavily or has backing from the West. The government leverages that relationship on the international stage to gain resources and is better situated to stay incumbent / in power. (3/n)
Read 15 tweets
Aug 4, 2023
A few thoughts on #Wagner and #Niger. I am going to put myself out there, and I may be wrong, but I think it's unlikely we would see Wagner intervene before ECOWAS, for the following reasons: (1/n)
Let me say before, I am not an expert on Niger, on Nigerien politics, or what is going on Niamey. I do know, however, a bit about how #Wagner views its operations in Africa and that's the perspective I'm coming from (2/n)
First: we have to remember that it costs nothing to post on Telegram, or have a meeting in Mali. Prigozhin is right to comment and offer his services, it gets the ball rolling. But interventions do cost money and they require buy in from many groups! (3/n)
Read 12 tweets
Mar 20, 2023
Why I’m making no conclusions yet on the deaths of nine Chinese citizens killed at a mining site near Bambari in #CAR.

In short it is *way* too early. Why? (1/n)
First, local independent media credited the attack to the armed group coalition CPC. There are credible reports that CPC were in the area, that armed men were looking for Chinese citizens days before. (2/n)
Moreover a few days before 3 Chinese citizens were kidnapped by CPC in the southwest of the country. However, this was likely perpetrated by anti-balaka, while CPC operating in the center of CAR are more likely to be UPC or FPRC affiliated (an FPRC gen was taken at Bria) (3/n)
Read 7 tweets
Mar 13, 2023
This conversation, to me, shows that people still fundamentally misunderstand Russian PMCs in Africa. Russia (and its PMCs) are inseparable from the larger ecosystem, consisting of local governments, civilians, outside powers, NGOs, etc. (1/n)
Whether a national government partners with Russian PMCs is based almost entirely on local security priorities. Russian PMCs as a potential partner are simply the latest among of slate of potential intervenors (West, particularly France, UN). (2/n)
"Neocolonial narratives" like all narratives, can be bent to rationalize choice of partner, though genuine, bottom-up, pro-sovereignty movements in the Sahel and elsewhere are making it more difficult for regimes to partner with France (3/n)
Read 10 tweets
Feb 23, 2023
Some thoughts from Bangui on a slew of articles citing U.S. officials and plots regarding Russian PMCs in the Central African Republic. First, the recent Le Monde article (1/n)

lemonde.fr/afrique/articl…
Le Monde claims US diplomats gave Touadera 12 months to get rid of Wagner, and in exchange they would support training for CAR armed forces, increase humanitarian aid, and step up their support to the UN peacekeeping mission (2/n)
Some close to the matter told me it's nonsense; the US made no such demand. If true it's a terrible deal and a non-starter. Replacing Russian PMCs with "training" and support for peacekeepers would be regime suicide for Touadera, armed groups would quickly be at Bangui (3/n)
Read 9 tweets
Jan 31, 2023
#CAR update: Some thoughts on the security agreement between the CAR government and #Sudan's Hemedti (a thread)
On December 29, the CAR government, represented by Hassan Bouba (former number two under Ali Darassa's UPC armed group), and Russian PMCs met with reps of Hemedti's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in CAR's northeast town of Birao (1/n)
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss armed group mobilization on the CAR-Sudan border in Am Dafok. Who exactly was mobilizing we don't know for sure - UPC were there, FPRC, Chadian rebels, Sudanese militias, free agents and Coalition Siriri were all present (2/n)
Read 12 tweets

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