Difference between revisions of "Wichita/Grammar"

Revision as of 23:07, 20 March 2026

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"

Noun Incorporation

A noun stem and a verb stem can combine to form a single word instead of the two being separate and being an object noun phrase.

• keˀeseːcˀíriyari<v><n><fut> ↔ keˀeseːcˀíriyari "You will go looking for water"
• takirikiwi<v><n><pret> ↔ takirikiwi "He was carrying meat"
• wiːrˀic takwi <n><v><aor> ↔ wiːrˀictakwi "He has it on his hand"

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.

• waːwaˀa<v><s_pl3> ↔ hiˀwaːwaˀa — "they are eating"

• waːwaˀa<v><s_sg1> ↔ twaːwaˀa "I am eating"

• waːwaˀa<v><s_sg2> ↔ swaːwaˀa "you are eating"

• hiraˀa<v><aor> ↔ aːkihiraˀa "he/she came" (aorist)

• waːwaˀa<v><fut> ↔ keˀewaːwaˀa "he/she will eat"

• kaˀa<v>+waːwaˀa<v> ↔ kaˀawaːwaˀa "that one eating" (participle)

• hiraˀa<v><ind> ↔ nahiraˀa "the one who comes"

• a<v><ref>+waːwaˀa<v> ↔ awaːwaˀa "he/she is eating" (reflexive/indefinite)

• kiˀ<v><s_sg1>+waːwaˀa<v> ↔ kiˀwaːwaˀa "I am the one eating"

• hiraˀa<v><pl> ↔ caːkiˀhiraˀa "they came" (dual/plural)

• hiteˀecaki<v><s_p3><qot> ↔ kiyakihiteˀecaki "It is said that he was there"

• ˀikhiyaˀa<v><ref><s_p3><aor><qot> ↔ kiyaːkiˀ:khíyaˀa "It is said that he said to himself"

• ri<v><prt><o_p2><imp> ↔ iskirhiˀiyaskwa! "You must go and get it for me!"

• ka<nar>+a<qot>+a<aor>+ki<p3>+hi<sg>+iˀikeːs<v>+a<v> ↔ kaːˀaːˀaːkíhiːˀikéːsˀa "Then it is said that he was looking at him"

• wakˀa<v><aor><s_p3> ↔ aːkoːkˀa "He said"

• keˀe<fut>+s<p2>+ki<obj1>+haː<n>+hanniwihi<v> ↔ keˀeskihaːhanniwihi "You will throw me into the water",