The Flute Player – Kumeyaay Story in ‘Iipay Aa, Mesa Grande Dialect
This is a traditional Kumeyaay story told by Ted Couro in his native language ‘Iipay Aa or Kumeyaay, Mesa Grande dialect. It was recorded sometime between 1964 and 1975 by linguist Margaret Langdon, who also transcribed and translated it, probably with help from Couro. Here I present my revised transcription and translation. Note that some parts were unclear, so it may not be totally complete and accurate.
The Kumeyaay transcription uses Langdon’s orthography, which I believe is still the best orthography there is for Kumeyaay. However, you will notice that some things will not sound exactly how they are spelled 100% of the time. A good example is the suffix -ch, whose sound is often reduced to “g”, “d”, or even “n”, as in at least one instance in this recording. Despite this variation, we will always spell it as “ch” so that you will know which suffix it is and what it is supposed to mean.
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