Wichita and English/Contrastive Grammar

Language Differences:

Noun-Adjective Order

In English, adjectives precede the nouns they describe, but in Wichita, adjectives follow nouns. Because Wichita is a polysynthetic language, the adjective gets incorporated after the noun stem but before other stems.

• (wic) kˀítaːkskhac wéraˀ hasˀaːˀákicitaːheˀeh → (eng) White coyote must he had his knife with him

• (wic) kˀítaːks<n>+khac<adj> wéraˀ<adv> taːha<n>+ˀahi<v><narr><qot><ref><aor><dat> → (eng) white<adj><sg> coyote<n><sg> must<adv> he<prn><m><sg> have<v><past> he<prn><pos> knife<n> with<pr> he<prn><pos><obj>

• (wic) keˀeséːcˀiriyari hinníˀ keˀeskihaːkhachanniwihi → (eng) You will shake your head and you will throw me into the pure water

• (wic) ˀic<n>+ˀiriyari<v><fut><s_sg2> hinní<cnj> haː<n>+khac<adj>+hirahr-riwihi<adj><fut><s_sg2><s_sg1> → (eng) you<prn> do<v><fut> shake<v> you<prn><ssg_2><pos> head<n> and<cnj> you<prn> do<v><fut> throw<v> I<prn><obj> into<pr> the<det> pure<adj> water<n>

Personal Pronouns

Unlike English Wichita has no single morphemic forms for pronouns. Where English uses I, you, etc., Wichita utilizes personally inflected participles of "ˀi", the verb for "be".

• (wic) nahitéːhárih aːríːwaːwaˀas → (eng) They ate beside the creek

• (wic) na<pp>+hita<n>+yiha<v><loc> waːwaˀa<v><impf><qot><perf><ind><subj> → (eng) we<pl><p3> eat<v><past> beside<pr> the<det> creek<n><sg>

• (wic) arahéːˀiras → (eng) He found it in the water

• (wic) haː<n>+ˀirasi<v><perf><p3> → (eng) he<prn><p1><sg> find<v><past> it<prn><sg><nt> in<pr> the<det> water<n>

Article Usage

The definite article in English ("the") precedes known or specific nouns. Contrastingly, the definite article ("-reˀer-" / "-reːr-") is not necessary when referring to particular nouns.

• (wic) keˀeséːcˀiriyari hinníˀ keˀeskihaːhanniwihi → (eng) You will shake your head and you will throw me into the water

• (wic) ˀic<n>+ˀiriyari<v><fut><s_sg2> hinní<cnj> haː<n>+hirahr-riwihi<adj><fut><s_sg2><s_sg1> → (eng) you<prn> do<v><fut> shake<v> you<prn><ssg_2><pos> and<cnj> you<prn> do<v><fut> throw<v> I<prn><obj> into<pr> the<det> water<n>

• (wic) árahaːhanniwih → (eng) He threw it into the ditch

• (wic) haː<n>+hira<n>+riwihi<v><perf><p3> → (eng) he<prn><p1><sg> throw<v><past> it<prn><sg><nt> in<pr> the<det> ditch<n><sg>

Interrogative Pronouns

Wichita forms interrogative pronouns by combining a prefix and an indefinite root ("kiriˀ"). In English, interrogative pronouns do not utilize affixes and instead rely on distinct words.

• (wic) wáˀːcˀarˀa aːkoːkˀa, "éːkiriˀ, háːwaˀ, neˀewáˀːr?" → (eng) Squirrel said, "What (is it) then, friend?"

• (wic) wáˀːcˀarˀa<n><perf><p3> wakˀa<v><qot><aor> éː<itg>+kiriˀ<prn> haːwa<adv> neˀewáˀːr<n><sg> → (eng) squirrel<n><sg> say<v><past> what<itg> is<v> it<prn><sg> then<adv> friend<n><sg>

• (wic) éːkiriˀ háːwaˀ nasíːwakharakˀas? → (eng) What then are you talking about?

• (wic) éː<itg>+kiriˀ<prn> haːwa<adv> ra<itg>+wakharakˀa<v><impf><ind><s_sg2> → (eng) what<itg> then<adv> is<v><pl> you<prn> talk<v><pprs> about<pr>

Noun Inflection

Nouns in Wichita utilize suffixes of the instrumental, locative, or combining form, whereas English does not utilize such suffixes. For example, the instrumental form uses the suffix "ráːhir".

• (wic) keˀeséːcˀiriyari hinníˀ keˀeskihaːhanniwihi → (eng) You will shake your head and you will throw me into the water

• (wic) ˀic<n>+ˀiriyari<v><fut><s_sg2> hinní<cnj> haː<n>+hirahr-riwihi<adj><fut><s_sg2><s_sg1> → (eng) you<prn> do<v><fut> shake<v> you<prn><ssg_2><pos> head<n> and<cnj> you<prn> do<v><fut> throw<v> I<prn><obj> into<pr> the<det> water<n>

• (wic) keˀesawiːrˀictakwi; keˀeskihaːhanniwihi → (eng) You will shake your shoulder; you will throw me into the water

• (wic) wiːrˀic<n>+takwi<v><fut><s_sg2> haː<n>+hirahr-riwihi<adj><fut><s_sg2><s_sg1> → (eng) you<prn> do<v><fut> shake<v> you<prn><ssg_2><pos> shoulder<n><sg> you<prn> do<v><fut> throw<v> I<prn><obj> into<pr> the<det> water<n>,,