Big Concept: Introduction to Verbs
There are two verbs introduced in this lesson, “feel good” and “survive until morning”. In Mohican, a verb is a word which tells about an action, a feeling, a state of being, a perception, etc. Verbs come in many different varieties which indicate who is doing the action, what the action is being done to, why it is taking place, and so on. We will learn all about verbs gradually as they are introduced in the lessons.
One-Participant Verbs (Intransitive)
Many verbs are performed or experienced by a person or a group of people doing the same action. This person or group is called a participant. Sometimes the participant is an animal or animals, spirit(s), plant(s), tool(s), or some other object(s). An important aspect of Algonquian languages is that verbs which have one participant tend to have similar patterns, so they are grouped together in the grammar.
The following sentences exemplify verbs with one participant, the participant is highlighted in both the Mohican and the English. Note that locations where actions occur are usually not considered participants.
- Na neemanaw kse'naw. “That man is running”.
- Na pxaanim keesamanthow. “That woman is feeling better”.
- Neek wãatheethak nameenaak. “Those children are happy”.
- Neek namaathak mcheemãakwata'. “Those fish smell bad”.
- Na hooth neexeen pmaxakwok. “That pot is lying on the floor”.
- Neek sãapneekanak ayowak mtokweenootaak. “Those sewing needles are in the basket”.
The Subject
In every Mohican sentence, it is important to know who is doing the action, who is doing the feeling or perceiving, or who is in a given state of being. The doer or feeler of a verb with one participant is called the subject. There is almost always a spoken indication (flag or marker) on every verb that indicates the subject. Sometimes the flag comes at the beginning of the verb (a prefix), sometimes at the end (a suffix), and sometimes at both the beginning and the end (a prefix and suffix). Prefixes and suffixes are colour coded here for easy identification.
Putting Statement Mode (indicative) verbs together
The verbs in this unit are in the Statement Mode (indicative) which is used to make simple observations or descriptions of what is going on or has happened. As an introduction to how these verbs are put together, let's consider the one-participant verb stem /the'taneenaa-/ “have a cold” (an easy and consistent verb with nothing terribly unusual going on). Verbs come in different classifications based on what sound is heard at the end of the stem: in this case, we are looking at an aa-stem.
Stems are here presented between slashes with a hyphen at the end; the hyphen indicates that suffixes go here. Verbs are usually found in dictionaries in the naakmã form (she or he), so the dictionary would list the word as the'taneenaw “she or he has a cold”. It is best to work from the stem when building up different forms of the verb, but keep in mind that a verb stem is abstract and on its own does not usually make sense without suffixes and/or prefixes. As more verbs and stem classifications are introduced, any noteworthy changes from the patterns shown here will be noted.
There is a general pattern for prefixes depending on who is included as a participant:
- If you are in any way involved in the action, the prefix is k-.
- If you are not involved, but I am, the prefix is n-.
- If neither you norme is involved, there is no prefix.
Forms with only a prefix
- Where the subject is niya (me), it is flagged with a prefix: n-.
- If the subject is kiya (just you), the prefix is k-.
- Although there is no suffix, shorten the final vowel when it is at the very end of the word.
- nthe'taneena “I have a cold”
- kthe'taneena “you have a cold”
Forms with only a suffix
- Where the subject is naakmã (she or he), it is flagged with a suffix: -w. Shorten the final vowel of the stem when it occurs directly before the suffix -w.
- If the subject is naakmãawã (they), the suffix is -wak. In a few stems (such as aa-stems) a contracted -k suffix is used.
- When people in general are the doers, or there is an instance of the action happening, the suffix is -in. In a few stems (such as aa-stems) a contracted -n suffix is used. The people-in-general participant has the abbreviation X.
- the'taneenaw “she or he has a cold”
- the'taneenaak “they have a cold”
- the'taneenaan “people have colds, there is a cold going around”
Forms with both a prefix and a suffix
- Where the subject is nyaanã (we but not you) it is flagged with a prefix n- and a suffix -'nã.
- If the subject is kyaanã (you, me, and some others), the prefix is k- and the suffix is -'nã.
- If the subject is kyaanook (all of us), the prefix is k- and the suffix is -'nook.
- If the subject is kyaawã (you guys), the prefix is k- and the suffix is -'mã.
- The final vowel of the stem is pronounced short before all these suffixes.
- nthe'taneena'nã “we have a cold, but not you”
- kthe'taneena'nã “we have a cold, including you”
- kthe'taneena'nook “we all have a cold”
- kthe'taneena'mã “you guys have a cold”
/onamanithee/: “feel good”
The words that indicate someone is “feeling physically well” are based off of the stem /onamanithee-/. This is a regular ee-stem one-participant verb. Here is the list of forms in the Statement Mode (indicative).
Regular Mode / Indicative
- noonamanthe “I am feeling good”
- koonamanthe “You are feeling good”
- onamanithow “She or he is feeling good”
- onamanitheen “People are feeling good, there are good feelings going on”
- noonamanthe'nã “We are feeling good, but not you”
- koonamanthe'nã “We are feeling good, including you”
- koonamanthe'nook “We all are feeling good”
- koonamanthe'mã “You guys are feeling good”
- onamanithowak “They are feeling good”
Notes
- Verb stems which begin with the sound /o/ pronounce it long /oo/ after a prefix n‑ or k‑.
- The naakmãawã (they) suffix is the full variant -wak.
- The last vowel in the stem /ee/ is transformed into /o/ for naakmã (s/he) and naakmãawã (they).
- Sometimes the verb stem has two distinct pronunciation shapes depending on whether there is a prefix or not. This is due to the stress rhythms inherent to Mohican. It is simplest at this stage to learn a stem's stress-shapes as we encounter them in the lessons. For onamanithow “s/he is feeling good”, the stress-shapes are: /-oonamanthee-/ when there is a prefix, and /onamanithee-/ when there is no prefix.
/wãapanaxeen/: “survive until the morning”
The stem for this verb is /wãapanaxeen-/. There are no separate stem-shapes. This is a regular n-stem verb. Here is the list of forms in the Statement Mode (indicative).
Regular Mode / Indicative
- nwãapanaxeen “I have survived until the morning”
- kwãapanaxeen “You have survived until the morning”
- wãapanaxeen “She or he has survived until the morning”
- wãapanaxeenin “People have survived until the morning”
- nwãapanaxeenhinã “We have survived until the morning, but not you”
- kwãapanaxeenhinã “We have survived until the morning, including you”
- kwãapanaxeenhinook “We all have survived until the morning”
- kwãapanaxeenhimã “You guys have survived until the morning”
- wãapanaxeenaak “They have survived until the morning”
Notes
- The naakmã (s/he) suffix -w is silent after n-stem verbs.
- The naakmãawã (they) suffix for n-stem verbs is -aak.
- N-stem verbs come in two flavours depending on the stress rhythm of the stem. Some stems have a strong stress in the final syllable, other stems have a weak stress in the final syllable. If the last syllable has a long vowel, it will be a strong stem, if the last syllable has a short vowel, the stem-flavour must be learned for each verb. The verb /wãapanaxeen-/ is a strong stem because the last vowel is long /ee/.
- Strong n-stem verbs have slightly different suffixes for “we” and “you guys” forms.
- -hinã instead of -'nã
- -hinook instead of -'nook
- -himã instead of -'mã