Onondaga language
Encyclopedia
Onondaga Nation Language ( (onũdaʔɡeɡáʔ niɡawẽnoʔdẽʔ), "Onondaga is our language") is the language of the Onondaga
First Nation, one of the original five constituent tribes of the League of the Iroquois
(Hodenosaunee).
This language is spoken in the United States and Canada, primarily on the reservation in central New York state, and near Brantford
, Ontario
.
The two plosives, /t/, /k/ are allophonically
voiced to [d] and [ɡ] before vowels and resonants and are spelled ⟨d⟩ and ⟨g⟩ in this case. There is considerable palatalization and affrication in the language.
Onondaga has five oral vowels, /i e o æ a/ (/æ/ is sometimes represented with ⟨ä⟩), and two nasal vowel
s, /ẽ/ and /ũ/. The nasal vowels, following the Iroquoianist tradition, are spelled with ogonek
s in the scholarly literature and in Ontario (⟨ę⟩ and or ). In New York, they are represented with a following ⟨ñ⟩ (⟨eñ⟩ and ⟨oñ⟩). Vowels can be both short and long. When vowel length derives from the now lost consonant *r, it is phonemic. Vowel length is written with a following colon, ⟨:⟩ or raised dot ⟨·⟩.
refers to when the event takes place, either in the past, the present or the future. Aspect
refers to the event itself, such as whether it is finished or ongoing or occurs repeatedly. There are four aspects in Onondaga. The first is the habitual aspect (HAB). This aspect is used to refer to an event that takes place repeatedly or on an on-going basis. The second is the punctual aspect (PUNC) (also known as perfective aspect). This aspect refers to an entire event in its completeness. When used in the past tense, the event is described as “over and done-with.” It cannot describe an event that is interrupted or incomplete. The third aspect is the stative (STAT) (also known as imperfective) refers to an event that is ongoing or incomplete or, if it occurs in the past tense, that has some bearing on the present. Finally, there is the purposive aspect (PURP), which refers to imminent action, and usually implies intent or volition on the part of the subject. Active verbs can appear with any of the first three aspects. Motion verbs can ap-pear with any of all four aspects. Stative verbs can only appear with the stative aspect.
Each of the following sections outlines the shapes that these morphemes can take.
The prepronominal prefixes express a variety of concepts and ideas. The first concept we cover is modality
, which expresses the degree of urgency, certainty or likelihood of the event. There are three modal prefixes in Onondaga. The modal prefixes only appear with the punctual aspect. They also appear if there is a modalizer suffix. The first of these is commonly called the future modal prefix (FUT). This prefix expresses events that have not yet taken place at the time the speaker is talking. The second is the factual modal prefix (FACT). This prefix indicates that the speaker knows the event happened for a fact. It typically has a past tense reading (since we are normally only sure about events that happened in the past). The third is optative modal prefix (OPT). This prefix expresses the idea that the event should or ought to take place. It is also used to express untrue events or events that might have taken place, but have not. Here are some examples.
(36) a. ęhayę́:twaʔ
ę- ha- yętw- aʔ
FUT- 3.SG.M.AG- plant- PUNC
‘He will plant it.’
b. waʔhayę́:twaʔ
waʔ- ha- yę:tw- aʔ
FACT- 3.SG.M.AG- plant- PUNC
‘He planted it.’
c. ahayę́:twaʔ
a- ha- yę:tw- aʔ
OPT- 3.SG.M.AG- plant- PUNC
‘He might plant it.’
The following chart lists forms of the three modal prepronominal prefixes and indicates when to use which form.
In addition to the modal prefixes, there is also a set of prefixes that express a variety of concepts, some of which do not have a clearly distinct meaning, rather their meaning varies de-pending on context. The list of these includes repetitive, cislocative, dualic, translocative, parti-tive, coincident, contrastive, and negative.
The repetitive morpheme adds the meaning of doing something again or repeating some-thing. The basic form of the repetitive morpheme is /s-/. Here are some examples. Example (37) has the prepronominal prefix /sa-/, which is a combination of both repetitive and factual mood. Example (38) has the prepronominal prefix /ęs-/, which is a combination of repetitive and future. These contrast with example (39), which does not have the repetitive morpheme.
(37) sahayę́:twaʔ
sa– ha– yętw– aʔ
REP.FACT- 3.SG.M- plant-PUNC
‘He planted it again.’
(38) ęshayę́:twaʔ
ęs– ha– yętw– aʔ
REP.FUT- 3.SG.M- plant- PUNC
‘He will plant it again.’
(39) waʔhayę́:twaʔ
waʔ– ha– yętw– aʔ
FACT- 3.SG.M- plant- PUNC
‘He planted it.’
The cislocative (CLOC) morpheme is used to indicate movement toward the speaker. It can also mean that a particular event is pinpointed back in time. In some cases, the meaning of the cislocative is unpredictable. Some of these are listed below. There are two forms of the cislocative.
/t-/ default
/di-/ used with any 2nd person or 1st person inclusive, except 2.SG.AG
The translocative (TLOC) morpheme is used to indicate movement away from the speaker. The form of the translocative is /he-/
The dualic (DUC) does not have a specific meaning. The form of the dualic is /de-/, but changes when it appears in combination with other prepronominal prefixes. Whenever it appears with a verb stem, it changes the meaning in unpredictable ways. Usually, however, there is some notion of there being two of something or of some reciprocal activity such as trading. Also, some verb roots must appear with the dualic prepronominal prefix. In examples (41) and (42), the dualic prefix is obligatory. In example (43), the dualic prefix adds the meaning of becoming two pieces.
(41) deyǫshę́thwas
de- yǫ- ashęthw-as
DUC- 3.SG.F- cry- HAB
‘She is crying.’
(42) dehahahíyaʔks
de- ha- ahah- iyaʔk- s
DUC- 3.SG.M- road- cross- HAB
‘He crosses a road.’
(43) dehá:yaʔks
de- ha- yaʔk- s
DUC- 3.SG.M- break- HAB
‘He breaks it into two.’
(44) há:yaʔks
ha- yaʔk- s
3.SG.M- break- HAB
‘He breaks it off.’
Onondaga distinguishes three persons
: first (I or we), second (you) and third (he, she, it or they). The first person can be either exclusive
(EXCL), which excludes the listener, or inclusive (INCL), which includes the listener.
Here, when John says we, it does not include the person he’s talking to. In other words, Mary doesn’t get to go to the movies. This use of we is called the first person exclusive. English does not make a distinction between inclusive and exclusive we, but Onondaga does. Consider the following two words. The pronominal prefix /dn-/ indicates a first person dual inclusive subject, and the pronominal prefix /agn-/ indicates a first person dual exclusive subject.
(45) weʔdnek
weʔ– dn– ek– Ø
FACT- 1.DU.INCL- eat- PUNC
‘We two (you and I) ate it.’
(46) waʔagnek
waʔ– agn– ek– Ø
FACT- 1.DU.EXCL- eat- PUNC
‘We two (someone else and I) ate it.’
Three numbers are also distinguished in Onondaga: singular (for one entity, SG), dual (for two entities, DU), and plural (for three or more entities, PL). In the glosses, ‘singular’ is marked with SG, ‘dual’ is marked with DU, and ‘plural’ is marked with PL.
(47) waʔsek
waʔ– s– ek– Ø
FACT- 2.SG- eat- PUNC
‘You (sing.) ate it.’
(48) weʔsnek
weʔ– sn– ek– Ø
FACT- 2.DU- eat- PUNC
‘You two ate it.’
(49) weʔswek
weʔ– sw– ek– Ø
FACT- 2.PL- eat- PUNC
‘You all ate it.’
Additionally, Onondaga distinguishes three genders, which are realized in the third person, only. The first is masculine (M), which is used to refer to male humans and certain animals, either alone or in a group. The second is feminine (F). This is used to refer to female humans and certain animals, or some unknown person. It is sometimes called the feminine-indefinite. For groups of people that contain both men and women, the masculine is used. The third is neuter (N), which is used to refer to most animals and inanimate objects. In older texts, the neuter is used to refer to human females in certain circumstances, although this usage is no longer common. See Abrams (2006: 17) for more discussion. (Abbott, 1984 also discusses two feminine genders in Oneida.) Here are some examples.
(50) a. waʔek
waʔ- e- k- Ø
FACT- 3.SG.F- eat- PUNC
‘She ate it.’ OR ‘Someone ate it.’
b. waʔwek
waʔ- we- k- Ø
FACT- 3.SG.N- eat- PUNC
‘Something/it ate it.’
c. waʔhek
waʔ- he- k- Ø
FACT- 3.SG.M- eat- PUNC
‘Something/it ate it.’
Finally, we observe that there are two series of prefixes for intransitive verbs, the agent series (AG) and the patient series (PAT). As a general rule, verbs which involve active, purposeful movement or activity on the part of the subject are conjugated with the agent series. Verbs which involve involuntary action or states are conjugated with the patient series. There are so many ex-ceptions to this generalization, however, that one has to simply learn for each intransitive verb whether it takes the agent or the patient series. There is an additional rule for the intransitive verbs that take the agent series. When these verbs appear with stative aspect, they use the patient series rather than the agent series. This rule does not have any exceptions.
There are six classes of conjugations, which depend on the initial sound of the following morpheme (i.e., the first sound of the verb root or of the incorporated noun if there is one).
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
Intransitive, Patient-series
Transitive Series
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
Intransitive, Patient-series
Transitive Series
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
Intransitive, Patient-series
Transitive Series
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with /ę/. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
Intransitive, Patient-series
Transitive Series
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
Intransitive, Patient-series
Transitive Series
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
Intransitive, Patient-series
Transitive Series
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
Intransitive, Patient-series
Transitive Series
sentences such as “John saw himself,” and “We like ourselves,” and reciprocal sentences such as “We like each other.” The basic form of the reflexive marker (REFL) is /atat-/ and it appears right after the pronominal prefix and before the incorporated noun, if any. The reflexive is typically found only on transitive verbs, but because there is only one participant in the event, we use the intransitive series of pronominal prefixes. Here’s an example of a reflexive and a regular (non-reflexive) transitive for comparison.
(56) a. waʔgadadaehsę́thwaʔ
waʔ- k- atat- aehsęthw- aʔ
FACT- 1.SG.AG- REFL- kick- PUNC
‘I kicked myself.’
b. waʔsgaehsę́thwaʔ
waʔ- sk- aehsęthw- aʔ
FACT- 2.SG.AG:1.SG.PAT- kick- PUNC
‘You kicked me.’
In the non-reflexive transitive form there is a pronominal prefix, /sk-/ that indicates the subject (‘you’) and the object (‘me’). In the reflexive form, there is only one participant in the act of kicking (‘me’), so the intransitive form of the pronominal prefix is used, /k-/.
A reflexive action is something that you do to yourself. A reciprocal action is something people do to each other. Reciprocals must have at least two people involved. They are formed with the reflexive marker and the dualic prepronominal prefix discussed in section 3.4.1.1.2.4. Here is an example.
(57) waʔthyadadyǫ́dyahdęʔ
waʔ- t- hy- atat- yǫtya- ht- ęʔ
FACT- DUC- 3.DU.AG- REFL- laugh- CAUS- PUNC
‘They two made each other laugh.’
The semireflexive (SRFL) appears in a variety of circumstances that are not easy to pin down. The usual form of the semireflexive is /at-/, but certain verb roots take different forms. Listed here are some of the more common situations in which the semireflexive is used.
First, when a person’s own body part is the object of the action a semireflexive is normally used. Here is an example with and without a semireflexive. Again notice that the form with the semireflexive uses the intransitive pronominal prefix while the form without the semireflexive uses the transitive pronominal prefix.
(58) a. waʔgadnęntshagetsgwaʔ
waʔ- k- at- nęntsh- a- getsgw- aʔ
FACT- 1.SG.AG- SRFL- arm- JOIN- raise- PUNC
‘I raised my arm.’
b. waʔkhenęntshagetsgwaʔ
waʔ- khe- nęntsh- a- getsgw- aʔ
FACT- 1.SG.AG:3.SG.F.PAT- arm- JOIN- raise- PUNC
‘I raised her arm.’
Second, the semireflexive is used with verbs of grooming.
(59) John waʔhadyaʔdohaeʔ
John waʔ- ha- at- yaʔt- ohae- ʔ
John FACT- 3.SG.M.AG- SRFL- body- wash- PUNC
‘John washed (himself).’
Finally, the semireflexive is used to describe events or actions that are internally caused or spontaneous.
(60) a. waʔwadehnhóhwak
waʔ- w- at- ehnhohw- aR- k
FACT- 3.SG.NT.PAT- SRFL- door- apply- PUNC
‘The door closed.’
b. odųhwejiyáʔgi:h
o- at- ųhwęjy- yaʔk- ih
3.SG.NT.PAT- SRFL- earth- break- STAT
‘The earth has caved in.’
The constituent morphemes are separated by hyphens in the second line of the example. Each one is translated, as closely as possible, in the third line. It is important to understand that none of the component morphemes is a separate word, since they cannot be uttered, or understood, in isolation.
A second way in which linguists classify the morphology of languages is in terms of how the morphemes of a word combine. This distinction is between languages that are fusional
and languages that are agglutinative. Fusion occurs in two ways: a single morpheme may have two or more functions (or meanings) in a given word, or contiguous morphemes may affect each other's shape in such a way that it is difficult to segment the word into morphemes. A language is agglutinative if the morphemes composing a word each carries its own meaning and can be easily segmented from its neighbor. Onondaga is fusional (in the second sense of that term). Fusion is especially prevalent at the boundary between prefixes and the stem. Here certain phonological processes take place which change the shapes of one or both contiguous morphemes. For example:
Languages are also classified in terms of the preeminent morphological processes they manifest. In Onondaga the two major morphological processes are prefixing, and suffixing. Prefixes and suffixes are bound morphemes, that is, they are morphemes that cannot occur in isolation. Onondaga verbs must, minimally, begin in a pronominal prefix and inflect for aspect
. For example:
Nouns must, minimally, begin in a nominal prefix and end in a noun suffix. For example:
is a process of compounding in which two stems, a noun and a verb stem, are combined into a new stem that is inflected with verbal morphology and that functions as a verb. Nouns occupying the semantic roles, or thematic relations, of patient, theme, factitive theme, location, goal, path, or instrument are eligible for incorporation. Of these, it is nouns designating semantic patients and themes that are most frequently incorporated. Semantic agents, causers, and beneficiaries are not eligible for incorporation.
The first example shows that the nominal root -nęh- "corn" has been incorporated into the verbal complex forming a single word. The second example shows the noun /onęhaʔ/ ('corn') as a separate word and preceded by the particle neʔ, a particle which marks a following word or phrase as a nominal.
Noun incorporation is a highly productive process in Onondaga. However, its productivity is an attribute of individual nouns and verbs. Every noun and every verb is lexically marked in terms of its incorporation characteristics. Some nouns incorporate frequently, that is, they can combine with many different verbs, others almost never. Among the verbs that can incorporate—and some do not incorporate at all—there is a continuum of productivity. At their most productive, verbs can incorporate one of any number of nouns, in fact, some verbs can only occur together with an incorporated noun. Verbs at their most unproductive, can incorporate only a single noun. Between these extremes are additional types: verbs that can incorporate only a restricted set of nouns; verb and noun combinations that are highly idiomatic—these often denote conventionalized activities (e.g., English 'he information-gathered)—so that separating the noun, though interpretable, is perceived as inappropriate.
The use of noun incorporation is governed by various discourse factors. It is often used as a way of backgrounding information.
is typically free in Onondaga (though see question formation below). It depends on various discourse factors.
begin with the interrogative word:
Yes-no questions are formed by appending the question-particle to the questioned item:
Onondaga (tribe)
The Onondaga are one of the original five constituent nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. Their traditional homeland is in and around Onondaga County, New York...
First Nation, one of the original five constituent tribes of the League of the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
(Hodenosaunee).
This language is spoken in the United States and Canada, primarily on the reservation in central New York state, and near Brantford
Brantford, Ontario
Brantford is a city located on the Grand River in Southern Ontario, Canada. While geographically surrounded by the County of Brant, the city is politically independent...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
Phonology
This table shows the (consonant) phonemes that are found in Onondaga.| Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... |
Postalveolar Postalveolar consonant Postalveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the alveolar ridge, further back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but not as far back as the hard palate... / Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | t | k | ʔ | |
| Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :... |
dʒ | |||
| Fricatives Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
s | h | ||
| Resonants | n | j | w |
The two plosives, /t/, /k/ are allophonically
Allophone
In phonology, an allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, and are allophones for the phoneme in the English language...
voiced to [d] and [ɡ] before vowels and resonants and are spelled ⟨d⟩ and ⟨g⟩ in this case. There is considerable palatalization and affrication in the language.
Onondaga has five oral vowels, /i e o æ a/ (/æ/ is sometimes represented with ⟨ä⟩), and two nasal vowel
Nasal vowel
A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation...
s, /ẽ/ and /ũ/. The nasal vowels, following the Iroquoianist tradition, are spelled with ogonek
Ogonek
The ogonek is a diacritic hook placed under the lower right corner of a vowel in the Latin alphabet used in several European and Native American languages.-Use:...
s in the scholarly literature and in Ontario (⟨ę⟩ and or ). In New York, they are represented with a following ⟨ñ⟩ (⟨eñ⟩ and ⟨oñ⟩). Vowels can be both short and long. When vowel length derives from the now lost consonant *r, it is phonemic. Vowel length is written with a following colon, ⟨:⟩ or raised dot ⟨·⟩.
Morphology
Onondaga is a polysynthetic language, exhibiting a great deal of inflectional and derivational morphology on the verbal forms (including noun incorporation). Nominal forms have less morphology. Additionally, there are particles, which are monomorphemic.Verbal Morphology
Onondaga verbs can be divided into three main classes, according to their aspectual properties (discussed below). These are the active verbs, motion verbs, and stative verbs. We must distinguish between tense and aspect. TenseGrammatical tense
A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
refers to when the event takes place, either in the past, the present or the future. Aspect
Grammatical aspect
In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow in a given action, event, or state, from the point of view of the speaker...
refers to the event itself, such as whether it is finished or ongoing or occurs repeatedly. There are four aspects in Onondaga. The first is the habitual aspect (HAB). This aspect is used to refer to an event that takes place repeatedly or on an on-going basis. The second is the punctual aspect (PUNC) (also known as perfective aspect). This aspect refers to an entire event in its completeness. When used in the past tense, the event is described as “over and done-with.” It cannot describe an event that is interrupted or incomplete. The third aspect is the stative (STAT) (also known as imperfective) refers to an event that is ongoing or incomplete or, if it occurs in the past tense, that has some bearing on the present. Finally, there is the purposive aspect (PURP), which refers to imminent action, and usually implies intent or volition on the part of the subject. Active verbs can appear with any of the first three aspects. Motion verbs can ap-pear with any of all four aspects. Stative verbs can only appear with the stative aspect.
Verbal Template
A typical Onondaga verb consists of several morphemes (components). The following chart outlines the order of the morphemes. Obligatory morphemes appear in boldface, and optional morphemes are in standard font. Note that some of the “optional” morphemes are obligatory with certain verb roots. The obligatory morphemes, however, must appear on each and every single verb.| pre-pronominal prefixes | pronominal prefixes | reflexive or semireflexive | incorporated noun | verb root | derivational suffixes | aspect suffix | expanded aspect suffix |
Each of the following sections outlines the shapes that these morphemes can take.
Modal Pre-pronominal Prefixes
The prepronominal prefixes express a variety of concepts and ideas. The first concept we cover is modality
Linguistic modality
In linguistics, modality is what allows speakers to evaluate a proposition relative to a set of other propositions.In standard formal approaches to modality, an utterance expressing modality can always roughly be paraphrased to fit the following template:...
, which expresses the degree of urgency, certainty or likelihood of the event. There are three modal prefixes in Onondaga. The modal prefixes only appear with the punctual aspect. They also appear if there is a modalizer suffix. The first of these is commonly called the future modal prefix (FUT). This prefix expresses events that have not yet taken place at the time the speaker is talking. The second is the factual modal prefix (FACT). This prefix indicates that the speaker knows the event happened for a fact. It typically has a past tense reading (since we are normally only sure about events that happened in the past). The third is optative modal prefix (OPT). This prefix expresses the idea that the event should or ought to take place. It is also used to express untrue events or events that might have taken place, but have not. Here are some examples.
(36) a. ęhayę́:twaʔ
ę- ha- yętw- aʔ
FUT- 3.SG.M.AG- plant- PUNC
‘He will plant it.’
b. waʔhayę́:twaʔ
waʔ- ha- yę:tw- aʔ
FACT- 3.SG.M.AG- plant- PUNC
‘He planted it.’
c. ahayę́:twaʔ
a- ha- yę:tw- aʔ
OPT- 3.SG.M.AG- plant- PUNC
‘He might plant it.’
The following chart lists forms of the three modal prepronominal prefixes and indicates when to use which form.
| Mood | Pre-pronominal Prefix | When used | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| factual (FACT) | waʔ | default | waʔhayę́:twaʔ waʔ-ha-yę:tw-aʔ FACT-he-plant-PUNC ‘He planted it.’ |
| weʔ | any 2nd person or 1st person inclusive (except 2.SG.AG) | weʔdniyę́:twaʔ weʔ-dni-yę:tw-aʔ FACT-1.DU.INCL.AG-plant-PUNC ‘You and I planted it.’ |
|
| ǫ | optionally replaces sequence waʔwa | ǫgyę́:twaʔ waʔ-wak-yę:tw-aʔ FACT-1.SG.PAT-plant-PUNC ‘It planted me.’ (ex, a monster) |
|
| future (FUT) | ę | does not change | ęhayę́:twaʔ ę-ha-yę:tw-aʔ FUT-he-plant-PUNC ‘He will plant it.’ |
| optative | a / a: | default (/a-/ and /a:-/ are in free variation) | ahayę́:twaʔ a-ha-yę:tw-aʔ OPT-he-plant-PUNC ‘He might plant it.’ |
| ae | any 2nd person or 1st person inclusive (except 2.SG.AG) | aedniyę́:twaʔ ae-dni-yę:tw-aʔ OPT-1.DU.INCL.AG-plant-PUNC ‘You and I might plant it.’ |
|
| aǫ | optionally replaces sequence /awa/ | aǫgyę́:twaʔ a-wak-yę:tw-aʔ OPT-1.SG.PAT-plant-PUNC ‘It might plant me.’ (ex, a monster) |
Non-modal Pre-pronominal Prefixes
In addition to the modal prefixes, there is also a set of prefixes that express a variety of concepts, some of which do not have a clearly distinct meaning, rather their meaning varies de-pending on context. The list of these includes repetitive, cislocative, dualic, translocative, parti-tive, coincident, contrastive, and negative.
Repetitive
The repetitive morpheme adds the meaning of doing something again or repeating some-thing. The basic form of the repetitive morpheme is /s-/. Here are some examples. Example (37) has the prepronominal prefix /sa-/, which is a combination of both repetitive and factual mood. Example (38) has the prepronominal prefix /ęs-/, which is a combination of repetitive and future. These contrast with example (39), which does not have the repetitive morpheme.
(37) sahayę́:twaʔ
sa– ha– yętw– aʔ
REP.FACT- 3.SG.M- plant-PUNC
‘He planted it again.’
(38) ęshayę́:twaʔ
ęs– ha– yętw– aʔ
REP.FUT- 3.SG.M- plant- PUNC
‘He will plant it again.’
(39) waʔhayę́:twaʔ
waʔ– ha– yętw– aʔ
FACT- 3.SG.M- plant- PUNC
‘He planted it.’
Cislocative
The cislocative (CLOC) morpheme is used to indicate movement toward the speaker. It can also mean that a particular event is pinpointed back in time. In some cases, the meaning of the cislocative is unpredictable. Some of these are listed below. There are two forms of the cislocative.
/t-/ default
/di-/ used with any 2nd person or 1st person inclusive, except 2.SG.AG
Translocative
The translocative (TLOC) morpheme is used to indicate movement away from the speaker. The form of the translocative is /he-/
Dualic
The dualic (DUC) does not have a specific meaning. The form of the dualic is /de-/, but changes when it appears in combination with other prepronominal prefixes. Whenever it appears with a verb stem, it changes the meaning in unpredictable ways. Usually, however, there is some notion of there being two of something or of some reciprocal activity such as trading. Also, some verb roots must appear with the dualic prepronominal prefix. In examples (41) and (42), the dualic prefix is obligatory. In example (43), the dualic prefix adds the meaning of becoming two pieces.
(41) deyǫshę́thwas
de- yǫ- ashęthw-as
DUC- 3.SG.F- cry- HAB
‘She is crying.’
(42) dehahahíyaʔks
de- ha- ahah- iyaʔk- s
DUC- 3.SG.M- road- cross- HAB
‘He crosses a road.’
(43) dehá:yaʔks
de- ha- yaʔk- s
DUC- 3.SG.M- break- HAB
‘He breaks it into two.’
(44) há:yaʔks
ha- yaʔk- s
3.SG.M- break- HAB
‘He breaks it off.’
Pronominal Prefixes
There are three series of pronominal prefixes in Onondaga. There is a transitive series, used with transitive verbs. Intransitive verbs use either the agent series or the patient series. The choice between the latter two is often complex, as we will see. The phonological shape of the pronominal prefix depends on the identity of the following sound. This gives rise to several series of pronominal prefixes, which are labelled according to the following segment. These include the c-series (for pronominal prefixes which precede a consonant), the a-series (for pronominal prefixes which precede /a/), the e-series, ę-series, o-series, ǫ-series, and i-series. Finally, the pronominal prefixes inflect for person, number and gender. We discuss each of these in turn.Onondaga distinguishes three persons
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
: first (I or we), second (you) and third (he, she, it or they). The first person can be either exclusive
Clusivity
In linguistics, clusivity is a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first-person pronouns and verbal morphology, also called inclusive "we" and exclusive "we"...
(EXCL), which excludes the listener, or inclusive (INCL), which includes the listener.
Here, when John says we, it does not include the person he’s talking to. In other words, Mary doesn’t get to go to the movies. This use of we is called the first person exclusive. English does not make a distinction between inclusive and exclusive we, but Onondaga does. Consider the following two words. The pronominal prefix /dn-/ indicates a first person dual inclusive subject, and the pronominal prefix /agn-/ indicates a first person dual exclusive subject.
(45) weʔdnek
weʔ– dn– ek– Ø
FACT- 1.DU.INCL- eat- PUNC
‘We two (you and I) ate it.’
(46) waʔagnek
waʔ– agn– ek– Ø
FACT- 1.DU.EXCL- eat- PUNC
‘We two (someone else and I) ate it.’
Three numbers are also distinguished in Onondaga: singular (for one entity, SG), dual (for two entities, DU), and plural (for three or more entities, PL). In the glosses, ‘singular’ is marked with SG, ‘dual’ is marked with DU, and ‘plural’ is marked with PL.
(47) waʔsek
waʔ– s– ek– Ø
FACT- 2.SG- eat- PUNC
‘You (sing.) ate it.’
(48) weʔsnek
weʔ– sn– ek– Ø
FACT- 2.DU- eat- PUNC
‘You two ate it.’
(49) weʔswek
weʔ– sw– ek– Ø
FACT- 2.PL- eat- PUNC
‘You all ate it.’
Additionally, Onondaga distinguishes three genders, which are realized in the third person, only. The first is masculine (M), which is used to refer to male humans and certain animals, either alone or in a group. The second is feminine (F). This is used to refer to female humans and certain animals, or some unknown person. It is sometimes called the feminine-indefinite. For groups of people that contain both men and women, the masculine is used. The third is neuter (N), which is used to refer to most animals and inanimate objects. In older texts, the neuter is used to refer to human females in certain circumstances, although this usage is no longer common. See Abrams (2006: 17) for more discussion. (Abbott, 1984 also discusses two feminine genders in Oneida.) Here are some examples.
(50) a. waʔek
waʔ- e- k- Ø
FACT- 3.SG.F- eat- PUNC
‘She ate it.’ OR ‘Someone ate it.’
b. waʔwek
waʔ- we- k- Ø
FACT- 3.SG.N- eat- PUNC
‘Something/it ate it.’
c. waʔhek
waʔ- he- k- Ø
FACT- 3.SG.M- eat- PUNC
‘Something/it ate it.’
Finally, we observe that there are two series of prefixes for intransitive verbs, the agent series (AG) and the patient series (PAT). As a general rule, verbs which involve active, purposeful movement or activity on the part of the subject are conjugated with the agent series. Verbs which involve involuntary action or states are conjugated with the patient series. There are so many ex-ceptions to this generalization, however, that one has to simply learn for each intransitive verb whether it takes the agent or the patient series. There is an additional rule for the intransitive verbs that take the agent series. When these verbs appear with stative aspect, they use the patient series rather than the agent series. This rule does not have any exceptions.
There are six classes of conjugations, which depend on the initial sound of the following morpheme (i.e., the first sound of the verb root or of the incorporated noun if there is one).
C-Stem
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
| 1st person exclusive | 1st person inclusive | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | k- | N/A | s- | ha- (MASC); (y)e- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)agni- | dni- | sni- | hni- (MASC); gni- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)agwa- | dwa- | swa- | hadi- (MASC); gǫdi- (FEM) |
Intransitive, Patient-series
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | (w)ak- | sa- | ho- (MASC); ((y)a)go- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)ǫgni- | sni- | hodi- (MASC); (y)odi- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)ǫgwa- | swa- |
Transitive Series
| Patient (to right) Agent (below) |
1.SG | 1.DU | 1.PL | 2.SG | 2.DU | 2.PL | 3.NEUT | 3.SG.MASC | 3.FEM/INDEF.SG | 3.FEM.DU/PL | 3.MASC.DU/PL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.SG | gǫ- | gni- | gwa- | he- | khe- | ||||||
| 1.DU.EXCL | gni- | gni- | gwa- | shagni- | (y)akhni- | ||||||
| 1.PL.EXCL | gwa- | gwa- | gwa- | shagwa- | |||||||
| 1.DU.INCL | shedni- | (y)ethi- | |||||||||
| 1.PL.INCL | shedwa- | ||||||||||
| 2.SG | sk- | sgni- | sgwa- | hes- | she- | ||||||
| 2.DU | sgni- | sgni- | sgwa- | shesni- | (y)etchi- | ||||||
| 2.PL | sgwa- | sgwa- | sgwa- | sheswa- | |||||||
| 3.SG.MASC | hak- | shǫgni- | shǫgwa- | hya- | shesni- | sheswa- | hǫwa- | shago- | |||
| 3.SG.FEM/INDEF | (y)ǫk- | (y)ǫkhi- | (y)esa- | (y)etchi- | gǫwa- | hǫwa- | (y)ǫdat- | gǫwadi- | hǫwadi- | ||
| 3.DU/PL.FEM | ((y)a)godi- | ||||||||||
| 3.DU.PL.MASC | hǫk- | shagodi- | |||||||||
A-Stem
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
| 1st person exclusive | 1st person inclusive | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | g- | N/A | (h)s- | hǫhR- (MASC); yǫw- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)agy- | dy- | jy- | hy- (MASC); gy- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)agw- | dw- | sw- | hǫw- (MASC); gǫw- (FEM) |
Intransitive, Patient-series
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | (w)ag- | s- | how- (MASC); ((y)a)gow- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)ǫgy- | jy- | hon- (MASC); (y)on- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)ǫgw- | sw- |
Transitive Series
| Patient (to right) Agent (below) |
1.SG | 1.DU | 1.PL | 2.SG | 2.DU | 2.PL | 3.NEUT | 3.SG.MASC | 3.FEM/INDEF.SG | 3.FEM.DU/PL | 3.MASC.DU/PL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.SG | gǫy- | gy- | gw- | hey- | khey- | ||||||
| 1.DU.EXCL | gy- | gy- | gw- | shagy- | (y)akhiy- | ||||||
| 1.PL.EXCL | gw- | gw- | gw- | shagw- | |||||||
| 1.DU.INCL | shedy- | (y)ethy- | |||||||||
| 1.PL.INCL | shedwa- | ||||||||||
| 2.SG | sg- | sgy- | sgw- | hes- | shey- | ||||||
| 2.DU | sgy- | sgy- | sgw- | shejy- | (y)etchiy- | ||||||
| 2.PL | sgw- | sgw- | sgw- | shesw- | |||||||
| 3.SG.MASC | hag- | shǫgy- | shǫgw- | hy- | (s)hejy- | (s)hesw- | hǫw- | shagow- | |||
| 3.SG.FEM/INDEF | (y)ǫg- | (y)ǫkhiy- | (y)es- | (y)etchiy- | gǫw- | hǫw- | (y)ǫdad- | gǫwan- | hǫwadiy- | ||
| 3.DU/PL.FEM | ((y)a)godiy- | ||||||||||
| 3.DU.PL.MASC | hǫg- | shagodi- | |||||||||
E-Stem
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
| 1st person exclusive | 1st person inclusive | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | g- | N/A | (h)s- | h- (MASC); yagǫ(y)- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)agn- | dn- | sn- | hn- (MASC); gn- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)agw- | dw- | sw- | hęn- (MASC); gǫn- (FEM) |
Intransitive, Patient-series
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | (w)ag- | s- | haw- (MASC); ((y)a)gaw- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)ǫgn- | sn- | hon- (MASC); (y)on- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)ǫgw- | sw- |
Transitive Series
| Patient (to right) Agent (below) |
1.SG | 1.DU | 1.PL | 2.SG | 2.DU | 2.PL | 3.NEUT | 3.SG.MASC | 3.FEM/INDEF.SG | 3.FEM.DU/PL | 3.MASC.DU/PL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.SG | gǫy- | gn- | gw- | hey- | khey- | ||||||
| 1.DU.EXCL | gn- | gn- | gw- | shagn- | (y)akhiy- | ||||||
| 1.PL.EXCL | gw- | gw- | gw- | shagw- | |||||||
| 1.DU.INCL | shedn- | (y)ethy- | |||||||||
| 1.PL.INCL | shedwa- | ||||||||||
| 2.SG | sg- | sgn- | sgw- | hes- | shey- | ||||||
| 2.DU | sgn- | sgn- | sgw- | shejy- | (y)etchiy- | ||||||
| 2.PL | sgw- | sgw- | sgw- | shesw- | |||||||
| 3.SG.MASC | hag- | shǫgn- | shǫgw- | hy- | (s)hesn- | (s)hesw- | hǫw- | shagaw- | |||
| 3.SG.FEM/INDEF | (y)ǫg- | (y)ǫkhiy- | (y)es- | (y)etchiy- | gǫw- | hǫw- | (y)ǫdad- | gǫwan- | hǫwadiy- | ||
| 3.DU/PL.FEM | ((y)a)godiy- | ||||||||||
| 3.DU/PL.MASC | hǫg- | shagodi- | |||||||||
Ę-Stem
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with /ę/. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
| 1st person exclusive | 1st person inclusive | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | g- | N/A | (h)s- | hǫhR- (MASC); yǫw/yag- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)agy- | dy- | jy- | hy- (MASC); gy- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)agw- | dw- | sw- | hǫw- (MASC); gǫn- (FEM) |
Intransitive, Patient-series
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | (w)ag- | s- | how- (MASC); ((y)a)gow- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)ǫgy- | jy- | hon- (MASC); (y)on- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)ǫgw- | sw- |
Transitive Series
| Patient (to right) Agent (below) |
1.SG | 1.DU | 1.PL | 2.SG | 2.DU | 2.PL | 3.NEUT | 3.SG.MASC | 3.FEM/INDEF.SG | 3.FEM.DU/PL | 3.MASC.DU/PL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.SG | gǫy- | gy- | gw- | hey- | khey- | ||||||
| 1.DU.EXCL | gy- | gy- | gw- | shagy- | (y)akhiy- | ||||||
| 1.PL.EXCL | gw- | gw- | gw- | shagw- | |||||||
| 1.DU.INCL | shedy- | (y)ethy- | |||||||||
| 1.PL.INCL | shedwa- | ||||||||||
| 2.SG | sg- | sgy- | sgw- | hes- | shey- | ||||||
| 2.DU | sgy- | sgy- | sgw- | shejy- | (y)etchiy- | ||||||
| 2.PL | sgw- | sgw- | sgw- | shesw- | |||||||
| 3.SG.MASC | hag- | shǫgy- | shǫgw- | hy- | (s)hejy- | (s)hesw- | hǫw- | shagow- | |||
| 3.SG.FEM/INDEF | (y)ǫg- | (y)ǫkhiy- | (y)es- | (y)etchiy- | gǫw- | hǫw- | (y)ǫdad- | gǫwan- | hǫwadiy- | ||
| 3.DU/PL.FEM | ((y)a)godiy- | ||||||||||
| 3.DU.PL.MASC | hǫg- | shagodi- | |||||||||
O-Stem
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
| 1st person exclusive | 1st person inclusive | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | g- | N/A | (h)s- | hǫhR- (MASC); yǫw- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)agy- | dy- | jy- | hy- (MASC); gy- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)agw- | dw- | sw- | hǫw- (MASC); gǫw- (FEM) |
Intransitive, Patient-series
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | (w)ag- | s- | how- (MASC); ((y)a)gow- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)ǫgy- | jy- | hon- (MASC); (y)on- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)ǫgw- | sw- |
Transitive Series
| Patient (to right) Agent (below) |
1.SG | 1.DU | 1.PL | 2.SG | 2.DU | 2.PL | 3.NEUT | 3.SG.MASC | 3.FEM/INDEF.SG | 3.FEM.DU/PL | 3.MASC.DU/PL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.SG | gǫy- | gy- | gw- | hey- | khey- | ||||||
| 1.DU.EXCL | gy- | gy- | gw- | shagn- | (y)akhiy- | ||||||
| 1.PL.EXCL | gw- | gw- | gw- | shagy- | |||||||
| 1.DU.INCL | shedn- | (y)ethiy- | |||||||||
| 1.PL.INCL | shedy- | ||||||||||
| 2.SG | sg- | sgn- | sgy- | hes- | shey- | ||||||
| 2.DU | sgn- | sgn- | sgy- | shesn- | (y)etchiy- | ||||||
| 2.PL | sgy- | sgy- | sgy- | shejy- | |||||||
| 3.SG.MASC | hag- | shǫgn- | shǫgy- | hyay- | (s)hesn- | (s)hejy- | hǫy- | shaga- | |||
| 3.SG.FEM/INDEF | (y)ǫg- | (y)ǫkhiy- | (y)es- | (y)etchiy- | gǫw- | hǫw- | (y)ǫdad- | gǫwan- | hǫwadiy- | ||
| 3.DU/PL.FEM | ((y)a)godiy- | ||||||||||
| 3.DU.PL.MASC | hǫg- | shagodi- | |||||||||
Ǫ-Stem
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
| 1st person exclusive | 1st person inclusive | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | g- | N/A | (h)s- | hǫhR- (MASC); yǫw- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)agy- | dy- | jy- | hy- (MASC); gy- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)agw- | dw- | sw- | hǫw- (MASC); gǫw- (FEM) |
Intransitive, Patient-series
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | (w)ag- | s- | how- (MASC); ((y)a)gow- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)ǫgy- | jy- | hon- (MASC); (y)on- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)ǫgw- | sw- |
Transitive Series
| Patient (to right) Agent (below) |
1.SG | 1.DU | 1.PL | 2.SG | 2.DU | 2.PL | 3.NEUT | 3.SG.MASC | 3.FEM/INDEF.SG | 3.FEM.DU/PL | 3.MASC.DU/PL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.SG | gǫy- | gy- | gw- | hey- | khey- | ||||||
| 1.DU.EXCL | gy- | gy- | gw- | shagy- | (y)akhiy- | ||||||
| 1.PL.EXCL | gw- | gw- | gw- | shagw- | |||||||
| 1.DU.INCL | shedy- | (y)ethy- | |||||||||
| 1.PL.INCL | shedwa- | ||||||||||
| 2.SG | sg- | sgy- | sgw- | hes- | shey- | ||||||
| 2.DU | sgy- | sgy- | sgw- | shejy- | (y)etchiy- | ||||||
| 2.PL | sgw- | sgw- | sgw- | shesw- | |||||||
| 3.SG.MASC | hag- | shǫgy- | shǫgw- | hy- | (s)hejy- | (s)hesw- | hǫw- | shagow- | |||
| 3.SG.FEM/INDEF | (y)ǫg- | (y)ǫkhiy- | (y)es- | (y)etchiy- | gǫw- | hǫw- | (y)ǫdad- | gǫwan- | hǫwadiy- | ||
| 3.DU/PL.FEM | ((y)a)godiy- | ||||||||||
| 3.DU.PL.MASC | hǫg- | shagodi- | |||||||||
I-Stem
The following chart lists the pronominal prefixes for stems that begin with a consonant. Note that (y) or (w) in brackets disappears when preceded by a pre-pronominal prefix.
Intransitive, Agent-series
| 1st person exclusive | 1st person inclusive | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | g- | N/A | (h)s- | hǫhR- (MASC); yǫw- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)agy- | dy- | jy- | hy- (MASC); gy- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)agw- | dw- | sw- | hǫw- (MASC); gǫw- (FEM) |
Intransitive, Patient-series
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | (w)ag- | s- | how- (MASC); ((y)a)gow- (FEM, INDEF or NEUT) |
| dual | (y)ǫgy- | jy- | hon- (MASC); (y)on- (FEM) |
| plural | (y)ǫgw- | sw- |
Transitive Series
| Patient (to right) Agent (below) |
1.SG | 1.DU | 1.PL | 2.SG | 2.DU | 2.PL | 3.NEUT | 3.SG.MASC | 3.FEM/INDEF.SG | 3.FEM.DU/PL | 3.MASC.DU/PL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.SG | gǫy- | gy- | gw- | hey- | khey- | ||||||
| 1.DU.EXCL | gy- | gy- | gw- | shagy- | (y)akhiy- | ||||||
| 1.PL.EXCL | gw- | gw- | gw- | shagw- | |||||||
| 1.DU.INCL | shedy- | (y)ethy- | |||||||||
| 1.PL.INCL | shedwa- | ||||||||||
| 2.SG | sg- | sgy- | sgw- | hes- | shey- | ||||||
| 2.DU | sgy- | sgy- | sgw- | shejy- | (y)etchiy- | ||||||
| 2.PL | sgw- | sgw- | sgw- | shesw- | |||||||
| 3.SG.MASC | hag- | shǫgy- | shǫgw- | hy- | (s)hejy- | (s)hesw- | hǫw- | shagow- | |||
| 3.SG.FEM/INDEF | (y)ǫg- | (y)ǫkhiy- | (y)es- | (y)etchiy- | gǫw- | hǫw- | (y)ǫdad- | gǫwan- | hǫwadiy- | ||
| 3.DU/PL.FEM | ((y)a)godiy- | ||||||||||
| 3.DU.PL.MASC | hǫg- | shagodi- | |||||||||
Reflexive and Semireflexive
This section discusses reflexiveReflexive
Reflexive may refer to:In fiction:*MetafictionIn grammar:*Reflexive pronoun, a pronoun with a reflexive relationship with its self-identical antecedent*Reflexive verb, where a semantic agent and patient are the same...
sentences such as “John saw himself,” and “We like ourselves,” and reciprocal sentences such as “We like each other.” The basic form of the reflexive marker (REFL) is /atat-/ and it appears right after the pronominal prefix and before the incorporated noun, if any. The reflexive is typically found only on transitive verbs, but because there is only one participant in the event, we use the intransitive series of pronominal prefixes. Here’s an example of a reflexive and a regular (non-reflexive) transitive for comparison.
(56) a. waʔgadadaehsę́thwaʔ
waʔ- k- atat- aehsęthw- aʔ
FACT- 1.SG.AG- REFL- kick- PUNC
‘I kicked myself.’
b. waʔsgaehsę́thwaʔ
waʔ- sk- aehsęthw- aʔ
FACT- 2.SG.AG:1.SG.PAT- kick- PUNC
‘You kicked me.’
In the non-reflexive transitive form there is a pronominal prefix, /sk-/ that indicates the subject (‘you’) and the object (‘me’). In the reflexive form, there is only one participant in the act of kicking (‘me’), so the intransitive form of the pronominal prefix is used, /k-/.
A reflexive action is something that you do to yourself. A reciprocal action is something people do to each other. Reciprocals must have at least two people involved. They are formed with the reflexive marker and the dualic prepronominal prefix discussed in section 3.4.1.1.2.4. Here is an example.
(57) waʔthyadadyǫ́dyahdęʔ
waʔ- t- hy- atat- yǫtya- ht- ęʔ
FACT- DUC- 3.DU.AG- REFL- laugh- CAUS- PUNC
‘They two made each other laugh.’
The semireflexive (SRFL) appears in a variety of circumstances that are not easy to pin down. The usual form of the semireflexive is /at-/, but certain verb roots take different forms. Listed here are some of the more common situations in which the semireflexive is used.
First, when a person’s own body part is the object of the action a semireflexive is normally used. Here is an example with and without a semireflexive. Again notice that the form with the semireflexive uses the intransitive pronominal prefix while the form without the semireflexive uses the transitive pronominal prefix.
(58) a. waʔgadnęntshagetsgwaʔ
waʔ- k- at- nęntsh- a- getsgw- aʔ
FACT- 1.SG.AG- SRFL- arm- JOIN- raise- PUNC
‘I raised my arm.’
b. waʔkhenęntshagetsgwaʔ
waʔ- khe- nęntsh- a- getsgw- aʔ
FACT- 1.SG.AG:3.SG.F.PAT- arm- JOIN- raise- PUNC
‘I raised her arm.’
Second, the semireflexive is used with verbs of grooming.
(59) John waʔhadyaʔdohaeʔ
John waʔ- ha- at- yaʔt- ohae- ʔ
John FACT- 3.SG.M.AG- SRFL- body- wash- PUNC
‘John washed (himself).’
Finally, the semireflexive is used to describe events or actions that are internally caused or spontaneous.
(60) a. waʔwadehnhóhwak
waʔ- w- at- ehnhohw- aR- k
FACT- 3.SG.NT.PAT- SRFL- door- apply- PUNC
‘The door closed.’
b. odųhwejiyáʔgi:h
o- at- ųhwęjy- yaʔk- ih
3.SG.NT.PAT- SRFL- earth- break- STAT
‘The earth has caved in.’
- factual.mode-change.of.state-she-self-belly-burst-at.one.point.in.time
- "she blabbed, she revealed a secret" [literally, 'she burst her belly']
The constituent morphemes are separated by hyphens in the second line of the example. Each one is translated, as closely as possible, in the third line. It is important to understand that none of the component morphemes is a separate word, since they cannot be uttered, or understood, in isolation.
A second way in which linguists classify the morphology of languages is in terms of how the morphemes of a word combine. This distinction is between languages that are fusional
Fusional language
A fusional language is a type of synthetic language, distinguished from agglutinative languages by its tendency to overlay many morphemes in a way that can be difficult to segment....
and languages that are agglutinative. Fusion occurs in two ways: a single morpheme may have two or more functions (or meanings) in a given word, or contiguous morphemes may affect each other's shape in such a way that it is difficult to segment the word into morphemes. A language is agglutinative if the morphemes composing a word each carries its own meaning and can be easily segmented from its neighbor. Onondaga is fusional (in the second sense of that term). Fusion is especially prevalent at the boundary between prefixes and the stem. Here certain phonological processes take place which change the shapes of one or both contiguous morphemes. For example:
- neuter.agent.prefix-help.out-stative.aspect
- "it is helping."
Languages are also classified in terms of the preeminent morphological processes they manifest. In Onondaga the two major morphological processes are prefixing, and suffixing. Prefixes and suffixes are bound morphemes, that is, they are morphemes that cannot occur in isolation. Onondaga verbs must, minimally, begin in a pronominal prefix and inflect for aspect
Aspect
Aspect may be:*Aspect , a feature that is linked to many parts of a program, but which is not necessarily the primary function of the program...
. For example:
- third.person.singular.masculine.agent-plant-habitual.aspect
- "he plants"
Nouns must, minimally, begin in a nominal prefix and end in a noun suffix. For example:
- neuter.agent-pail-noun.suffix
- "pail"
Noun Incorporation
Noun incorporationIncorporation (linguistics)
Incorporation is a phenomenon by which a word, usually a verb, forms a kind of compound with, for instance, its direct object or adverbial modifier, while retaining its original syntactic function....
is a process of compounding in which two stems, a noun and a verb stem, are combined into a new stem that is inflected with verbal morphology and that functions as a verb. Nouns occupying the semantic roles, or thematic relations, of patient, theme, factitive theme, location, goal, path, or instrument are eligible for incorporation. Of these, it is nouns designating semantic patients and themes that are most frequently incorporated. Semantic agents, causers, and beneficiaries are not eligible for incorporation.
The first example shows that the nominal root -nęh- "corn" has been incorporated into the verbal complex forming a single word. The second example shows the noun /onęhaʔ/ ('corn') as a separate word and preceded by the particle neʔ, a particle which marks a following word or phrase as a nominal.
- factual.mode-he-corn-plant-punctual.aspect
- 'he planted corn' [literally, 'he corn-planted'].
- factual.mode-he-plant-punctual.aspect nominal.particle it-corn-noun.suffix
- 'he planted (the) corn'
Noun incorporation is a highly productive process in Onondaga. However, its productivity is an attribute of individual nouns and verbs. Every noun and every verb is lexically marked in terms of its incorporation characteristics. Some nouns incorporate frequently, that is, they can combine with many different verbs, others almost never. Among the verbs that can incorporate—and some do not incorporate at all—there is a continuum of productivity. At their most productive, verbs can incorporate one of any number of nouns, in fact, some verbs can only occur together with an incorporated noun. Verbs at their most unproductive, can incorporate only a single noun. Between these extremes are additional types: verbs that can incorporate only a restricted set of nouns; verb and noun combinations that are highly idiomatic—these often denote conventionalized activities (e.g., English 'he information-gathered)—so that separating the noun, though interpretable, is perceived as inappropriate.
The use of noun incorporation is governed by various discourse factors. It is often used as a way of backgrounding information.
Word Order
Word orderWord order
In linguistics, word order typology refers to the study of the order of the syntactic constituents of a language, and how different languages can employ different orders. Correlations between orders found in different syntactic subdomains are also of interest...
is typically free in Onondaga (though see question formation below). It depends on various discourse factors.
Question Formation
Wh-questionsWh-questions
Wh-questions may refer to:*In linguistics, a question that makes use of interrogative words *In journalism, the Five Ws...
begin with the interrogative word:
- where place here-it-house-be.lying-stative.aspect
- "Where is the house?"
- what thus-you-do-habitual.aspect
- "What are you doing?"
Yes-no questions are formed by appending the question-particle to the questioned item:
- you-be.asleep-stative.aspect question.particle
- "Are you asleep?"