Wichita/Grammar

Language/Grammar

Wichita is a complex language that allows for a single word to act like an entire sentence. It does this by noun incorporation, which lets you use a noun root inside of a verb to create one long word. Instead of using separate words for "I" or "you" it uses a special form of the verb "to be" to show who is talking. In addition to this, most words for describing things like size, amount, and status are also connected directly to the words they are describing.

Nouns

Wichita nouns can take any of three suffixes, instrumental, locative, or a marker of the combining form. On some occasions, the definite article will also become suffixed as well. Beyond these markers, many nouns undergo a distinct shift when incorporated into verbs, transitioning from an independent word into a shortened root.

• haːrhiwiːc<n><ins> ↔ haːrhiwiːcáːhir "using a bowl"
• ikaːˀa<n><ins> ↔ ikaːráːhir "with a rock"
• kirikirˀiːs<n><ins> ↔ kirikirˀiːsáːhir "in Wichita (the language)"
• ikaːˀa<n><loc> ↔ ikaːkíyah "where the rock is"
• hirahrˀa<n><loc> ↔ hánnhirh "on the ground"
• kˀítaːks<n> ↔ kˀítaːks "coyote"

Pronouns

English has no direct translation for pronouns in Wichita. Instead of using the typical pronouns, Wichita uses inflected participles of the verbs "be", "you" (sg., dual, pl.) and the demonstratives 'that' or 'those' in order to portray the same ideas. Further, many pronouns are formed through specific prefixes that create interrogative, indefinite, or negative meanings from a shared root.

• eːkiriˀ<prn><itg> ↔ eːkiriˀ "what?"

• kaːkiriˀ<prn><ind> ↔ kaːkiriˀ "something"

• káːkiriˀ<prn><neg> ↔ káːkiriˀ "nothing"

• kaːckinc<prn><ind> ↔ kaːckinc "so many", "so much"

• eːckinc<prn><itg> ↔ eːckinc "how many?"

• eːsiːˀ<prn><itg> ↔ eːsiːˀ "how? what?"

• káːkiyaˀ<prn><neg> ↔ káːkiyaˀ "nobody"

• eːsis<prn><itg> ↔ eːsis "how far? how long?"

• hárah<prn><dem> ↔ hárah "there"
• natíriˀ<prn><rel> ↔ natíriˀ "that which"

Adjectives

Like pronouns, adjectives aren't really their own separate word class. They are actually stative verbs that describe how something is. You have three main ways to use them. You can incorporate the noun right into the describing verb or keep the noun as a separate word before or after the verb. You can also turn the verb into a participle to describe a noun, like saying "a fat horse" instead of "the horse is fat."

• néːrhirˀa<n>+tac<v><inc> ↔ tac tiréːrhirˀasˀi "the buffalo is big"
• néːrhirˀa<n>+tac<v> ↔ néːrhirˀa tac tiˀi "the buffalo is big"
• tac<v>+néːrhirˀa<n> ↔ tac tiˀi néːrhirˀa "the buffalo is big"
• kawáːrah<n>+heːc<v><inc> ↔ tiheːctaːrasˀi "the horse is fat"
• kawáːrah<n>+heːc<v> ↔ kawáːrah tiheːcˀi "the horse is fat"
• heːc<v>+kawáːrah<n> ↔ tiheːcˀi kawáːrah "the horse is fat"
• kawáːrah<n>+heːc<v> ↔ kawáːrah nahéːcˀih "a fat horse"

Quantifiers and Demonstratives

In Wichita, quantifiers and demonstratives usually show up as attached endings to pre-existing words. Generally, they are used to describe specific locations or to talk about the amount of something present. When using them to describe a noun, they can either stand alone (which is more uncommon), or be incorporated directly into the verb with a short suffix.

• táːkwicha<qnt>+hasˀ<v><nar>+aːˀaːki<aor><p3><sg>+weˀes<n>ˀarhi<v> ↔ táːkwicha hasˀaːˀaːkiwéˀesˀarhi "There were four dogs"
• áːkikeˀe<aor><p3><sg>+katakshirˀa<n>+chíˀass<v> ↔ áːkikeˀekatâkshirˀa chíˀass "One cloud appeared"
• hirahrˀa<loc><det><dem>+tiˀi<n> ↔ hiraːrˀ tiˀi "That one right there"

Interjections

Unlike a lot of other words in the Wichita language, interjections do not get used in pre-existing words. They are commonly used at the beginning of sentences to grab the readers attention but do not necessarily use the same patterns that the rest of the language does. You will find these interjections present in the dialogue of Wichita stories, as words and phrases like this are commonly used when talking to one another.

• éːh<ij> ↔ éːh "Oh! I forgot!"
• íːyáːh<ij> ↔ íːyáːh "Alas!"
• híːróːh<ij> ↔ híːróːh "Ha! Ha!"
• háˀwih<ij> ↔ háˀwih "OK!"
• awˀ<ij> ↔ awˀ "Hey, you!"
• kˀ<ij> ↔ kˀ "Ugh!" or "Yeech!"
• ehérh<ij> ↔ ehérh "Go!"

Conjunctions

In Wichita, conjunctions are the handy words that glue sentences and ideas together. You have coordinating conjunctions that connect two equal parts of a sentence like "and" or "but." Then you have subordinating conjunctions that introduce a dependent clause to show a cause or a condition. These words don't change their shape or get buried inside verbs, so they are usually easy to spot in a text.

• hinniˀ<cnjcoo> ↔ hinniˀ "and"
• eːkw<cnjcoo> ↔ eːkw "or"
• hiriwaːˀ<cnjcoo> ↔ hiriwaːˀ "and then"
• hiriˀ<cnjadv> ↔ hiriˀ "in that case"
• hiːwéˀewakhaːr<cnjsub> ↔ hiːwéˀewakhaːr "because"
• haːwaˀ<cnjadv> ↔ haːwaˀ "also"

Adverbs

In Wichita, adverbs are mostly independent words that stay the same no matter where they are in a sentence. They usually show up right before the verb they are modifying to tell you how, when, or where an action is happening. Some of these adverbs are actually just built out of noun or verb roots that have been turned into specialized markers for time and place.

• wéra<adv> ↔ wéra "now"
• waˀ<adv> ↔ waˀ "yet"
• hirˀíːs<adv> ↔ hirˀíːs "long ago"
• asskhaˀ<adv> ↔ asskhaˀ "again"
• tiˀrih<adv> ↔ tiˀrih "here"
• haraˀ<adv> ↔ haraˀ "over there"
• hiːríkaːh<adv> ↔ hiːríkaːh "inside"
• híːrakaːh<adv> ↔ híːrakaːh "outside"
• akwithah<adv> ↔ akwithah "above"
• wickhéːˀ<adv> ↔ wickhéːˀ "well"
• hassis<adv> ↔ hassis "really"
• isaˀ<adv> ↔ isaˀ "maybe"
• khaˀ<adv> ↔ khaˀ "not"
• ickiriˀ<adv> ↔ ickiriˀ "only"
• kas<adv> ↔ kas "almost"
• acs<adv> ↔ acs "very"
• wickheˀes<adv> ↔ wickheˀes "quickly"

Verbs

In Wichita, verbs are integral because a single word can act like a whole sentence. They use a massive system of 34 position classes to pack in details about who is doing what and when.

• ˀarasi<v><ipfv><aor><qot> ↔ áːkaˀarásis "I heard she was cooking it"

• ˀarasi<v><pfv><aor><qot> ↔ áːkaˀarásiki "I heard she cooked it"

• ˀarasi<v><inten><aor><qot> ↔ áːkaˀarásistaris "I heard she was planning on cooking it"

• ˀarasi<v><genr><aor><qot> ↔ áːkaˀarásikiːss "I heard she always cooked it"

• ˀarasi<v><ipfv><aor> ↔ ákaˀárasis "I know myself she was cooking it"

• ˀarasi<v><pfv><aor> ↔ ákaˀárasiki "I know myself she cooked it"

• ˀarasi<v><inten><aor> ↔ ákaˀarásistaris "I know myself she was going to cook it"

• ˀarasi<v><genr><aor> ↔ ákaˀaraásikiːss "I know myself she always cooked it"

• ˀarasi<v><pfv><fut> ↔ keˀárasiki "She will cook it"

• ˀarasi<v><ipfv><fut> ↔ keˀárasis "She will be cooking it"

• ˀarasi<v><genr><fut> ↔ keˀárasikiːss "She will always cook it"

• ˀarasi<v><pfv><fut><qot> ↔ ehéˀárasiki "I heard she will cook it"

• ˀarasi<v><ipfv><fut><qot> ↔ ehéˀárasis "I heard she will be cooking it"

• ˀarasi<v><genr><fut><qot> ↔ eheˀárasikiːss "I heard she will always be the one to cook it"

• ˀarasi<v><v><ipfv><ind> ↔ taˀarásis "She is cooking it"; "She cooked it"

• ˀarasi<v><inten><ind> ↔ taˀarásistaris "She's planning to cook it"

• ˀarasi<v><genr><ind> ↔ taˀarásikiːːs "She always cooks it"

• ˀarasi<v><ipfv><excl> ↔ ískiráːrásis "There she goes, cooking it!"

• ˀarasi<v><ipfv><dir> ↔ aˀarásis "Then you cook it"

• ˀarasi<v><pfv><imp> ↔ haˀarásiki "Let her cook it"

• ˀarasi<v><pfv><imp><fut> ↔ kiːˀárasiki "Let her cook it later"

• ˀarasi<v><genr><imp><fut> ↔ kiːˀárasikiːss "You must always let her cook it",