Difference between revisions of "Wôpanâak/Grammar"

Revision as of 17:09, 14 February 2017

Morphological Categories

Nouns

The tag for a noun should be <n>. Nouns are divided into two classes based on animacy. The tag for an animate noun will be <aa> and the tag for an inanimate noun will be <nn>. Certain nouns (such as nouns for family members and body parts) are dependent, meaning they cannot appear without a possession marker. Dependent nouns should be tagged <dep>.

• masq<n><aa> ↔ masq
• apun<n><nn> ↔ apun
• -ȣsh<n><aa><dep><px1sg> ↔ nȣsh
• -seet<n><nn><dep> ↔ nuseet

Verbs

The tag for a noun should be <v>. Verbs can additionally be categorized as transitive and intransitive, which should be tagged as <tv> and <iv> respectively. Verbs inflect differently depending on whether their subjects and objects are animate or inanimate.

• qeeqaw<v><iv><p3><sg> ↔ qeeqaw
• nunâm<v><tv><p1><sg> ↔ nunâm

Pronouns

Personal pronouns and reflexive pronouns are both present in the language. Pronouns will be tagged with <prn> along with person and number, as well as other tags that might apply to nouns such as animacy status. Reflexive pronouns will be additionally tagged with <refl>.

• neen<prn><aa><p1><sg> ↔ neen
• keenaw<prn><aa><p2><pl> ↔ keenaw
• wuhakah<prn><aa><p3><refl> ↔ wuhakah

Demonstratives and Interrogatives

Demonstratives will be tagged <dem> and interrogatives <itg>. There are separate demonstratives and interrogatives for animate and inanimate nouns, so they will receive these tags as well.

• yȣ<dem><nn><sg> ↔ yȣ
• yȣuh<dem><aa><sg> ↔ yȣuh
• tyâqa<itg><nn> ↔ tyâqa
• hawân<itg><aa> ↔ hawân

Basic Noun Pluralization

There are two numbers: singular and plural. Singular nouns will be tagged <sg> and plural nouns will be tagged <pl>. The plural marker for nouns differs depending whether the noun is animate or inanimate.

Animate plural nouns take the suffix «ak».

• masq<n><aa><pl> ↔ masqak
• anâqs<n><aa><pl> ↔ anâqsak

Inanimate plural nouns take the suffix «ash».

• apun<n><nn><pl> ↔ apunash
• meequn<n><nn><pl> ↔ meequnash
• sâpaheek<n><nn><pl> ↔ sâpaheekash

Obviative Nouns

Animate nouns that are being acted upon or possessed by other animate third-person nouns receive the suffix «ah». This obviative form will be marked with the tag <obv>.

Some examples are as follows:

• masq<n><aa><obv> ↔ masqah
• mutumwusus<n><aa><obv> ↔ mutumwususah
• qanunôn<n><aa><obv> ↔ qanunônah

Plural obviative nouns take the same suffix as singular obviative nouns, and no other suffix.

• masq<n><aa><obv> ↔ masqah
• mutumwusus<n><aa><obv> ↔ mutumwususah
• qanunôn<n><aa><obv> ↔ qanunônah

Absentative Nouns

Nouns can be marked as absentative, meaning that they are no longer present. For animate nouns the absentative carries the meaning of "deceased". Absentative nouns will be tagged <abs>.

Singular absentative nouns carry the suffix «ay». Both animate and inanimate nouns take the same suffix.

• masq<n><aa><sg><abs> ↔ masqay
• meequn<n><nn><sg><abs> ↔ meequnay

Plural absentative nouns take the suffix «uk». The suffix is the same for animate and inanimate nouns.

• masq<n><aa><pl><abs> ↔ masquk
• meequn<n><nn><pl><abs> ↔ meequnuk

Possession

Possession is marked on the noun being possessed. Possession markers for various persons in the singular will be tagged as follows: <px1sg>, <px2sg>, <px3sg>. There is a distinction between first person plural inclusive and first person plural exclusive, which will be tagged <px1plin> and <px1plex> respectively. The other plural persons will be tagged <px2pl> and <px3pl>. Indefinite possession will be tagged <pxindef>.

Possession is marked with a prefix depending on the possessor:

• -seet<n><nn><dep><px1sg><sg> ↔ nuseet
• -seet<n><nn><dep><px2sg><sg> ↔ kuseet
• -seet<n><nn><dep><px3sg><sg> ↔ wuseet
• -seet<n><nn><dep><pxindef><sg> ↔ museet

In the case that the possessor is plural, a suffix is used as well:

• -seet<n><nn><dep><px1plex><sg> ↔ nuseetun
• -seet<n><nn><dep><px1plin><sg> ↔ kuseetun
• -seet<n><nn><dep><px2pl><sg> ↔ kuseetuw
• -seet<n><nn><dep><px3pl><sg> ↔ wuseetuw

Possessed nouns receive suffixes as normal, but it should be noted that the «un» and «uw» suffixes used to indicate plural possessors are realized as «unôn» and «uwôw» when followed by any other suffixes:

• -seet<n><nn><dep><px1plex><pl> ↔ nuseetunônash
• -seet<n><nn><dep><px1plin><pl> ↔ kuseetunônash
• -seet<n><nn><dep><px2pl><pl> ↔ kuseetuwôwash
• -seet<n><nn><dep><px3pl><pl> ↔ wuseetuwôwash

Vowel-initial nouns take possession prefixes slightly differently. If the vowel-initial noun is a dependent noun, only the onset of the prefix is inserted:

• -ukhôt<n><nn><dep><px1sg><sg> ↔ nukhôt
• -ukhôt<n><nn><dep><px2sg><sg> ↔ kukhôt
• -ukhôt<n><nn><dep><px3sg><sg> ↔ wukhôt
• -ukhôt<n><nn><dep><pxindef><sg> ↔ mukhôt

If the vowel-initial noun is an independent noun, a «t» is inserted between the prefix and the stem:

• apun<n><nn><px1sg><sg> ↔ nutapun
• apun<n><nn><px2sg><sg> ↔ kutapun
• apun<n><nn><px3sg><sg> ↔ wutapun
• apun<n><nn><pxindef><sg> ↔ mutapun

Nouns that begin in «m», «p», «k», or «w» pattern differently from other nouns when their possessor is third person. They take the prefix «u»:

• mahkus<n><nn><px3sg><sg> ↔ umahkus
• pahsȣnak<n><nn><px3sg><sg> ↔ upset
• keenuhwheek<n><nn><px3sg><sg> ↔ ukeenuhwheek

Certain nouns are irregular in that they always take the suffix «m» when possessed, before all other suffixes:

• manut<n><aa><px1sg><sg> ↔ numanutȣm
• manut<n><aa><px1plex><pl> ↔ numanutȣmunônak
• ahkee<n><nn><px1sg><sg> ↔ nutahkeem
• ahkee<n><nn><px1plex><pl> ↔ nutahkeemunônash

(Note that «manut» always receives an «ȣ» before any other suffixes - see "Irregular Nouns" below.)

Locative Nouns

Nouns receive the suffix «ut» when being used to describe the location of something. Locative nouns will be tagged <loc>. Singular and plural nouns receive the same suffix. Locative nouns generally function as complements to certain verbs which require complements beyond a simple object. As such, their meaning varies based on context.

• apun<n><nn><loc> ↔ apunut
• -seet<n><nn><px1sg><loc> ↔ nuseetut
• -eek<n><nn><px1sg><loc> ↔ neekut

Irregular Nouns

Certain nouns have sounds or syllables that appear on the stem before a suffix of any type, but are absent otherwise. They appear to pattern irregularly. Here are some examples given in the grammar:

The word «anum» "dog" receives a «w» after its stem and before any suffix:

• anum<n><aa><sg> ↔ anum
• anum<n><aa><pl> ↔ anumwak
• anum<n><aa><obv> ↔ anumwah
• anum<n><aa><sg><abs> ↔ anumway
• anum<n><aa><pl><abs> ↔ anumwuk

The word «apȣôk» "chair" receives the syllable «an» before any suffix:

• apȣôk<n><nn><sg> ↔ apȣôk
• apȣôk<n><nn><pl> ↔ apȣôkanash
• apȣôk<n><nn><sg><abs> ↔ apȣôkanay
• apȣôk<n><nn><pl><abs> ↔ apȣôkanuk

Intransitive Verbs

Like possession on nouns, the subject of a verb is marked with both prefixes and suffixes.

• qaqee-<v><iv><p1><sg> ↔ nuqaqeem
• qaqee-<v><iv><p2><sg> ↔ kuqaqeem
• qaqee-<v><iv><p3><sg> ↔ qaqeew
• qaqee-<v><iv><p1><pl><exc> ↔ nuqaqeemun
• qaqee-<v><iv><p1><pl><inc> ↔ kuqaqeemun
• qaqee-<v><iv><p2><pl> ↔ kuqaqeemwuw
• qaqee-<v><iv><p3><pl> ↔ qaqeemwak

When the subject of a verb is an obviative noun (such as an animate noun being possessed by another animate noun), the verb requires an obviative suffix:

• qaqeew<v><iv><p3><obv> ↔ qaqeewah

Verbs with stems ending in «ô» change to «â» when they have a suffix that begins with «w»:

• peeyô-<v><iv><p3><sg> ↔ peeyâw
• peeyô-<v><iv><p3><pl> ↔ peeyâwak
• peeyô-<v><iv><p3><obv> ↔ peeyâwah

Vowel-initial verbs have a «t» inserted between the prefix and the stem if there is a prefix:

• -ô-<v><iv><p1><sg> ↔ nutôm
• -ô-<v><iv><p2><sg> ↔ kutôm

In consonant-final verbs, a «u» is inserted between the end of the stem and any consonant-initial suffixes:

• nup<v><iv><p3><pl><aa> ↔ nupuwak
• nup<v><iv><p2><pl> ↔ kunupumwuw

However, consonant-final verbs do not receive the «m» suffix in the first and second person singular, and only optionally receive the «w» suffix in the third-person singular:

• nup<v><iv><p1><sg> ↔ nunup
• nup<v><iv><p2><sg> ↔ kunup
• nup<v><iv><p3><sg> ↔ nup
• nup<v><iv><p3><sg> ↔ nupuw