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Revision as of 01:47, 1 December 2020
Nahónda
Introduction
Nahónda, also known as Nónda and referred to by its own speakers as Nahónda keloma (lit. "Nahónda speak"), is a language centered in Northwestern Montana. It is bordered by the Lakota Nation to the east, by the Cheyenne to the south, and the Blackfeet and Crow Nations to the north. Along its western border lies the Nez Percé Nation. Long considered a language isolate, new analyses has demonstrated it shares a common lineage with Minhast and Nankôre. It has now been classified as a member of the Nahenic language family, a small family that includes Minhast and Nankóre, as well as the recently discovered Neina or Na'ena language in northeast Siberia. Nahónda is the second largest member of this family, around 60,450 members in the First Nations Confederation, with a few expatriate communities the largest of which exists in southern Manitoba at around nine hundred members. Minhast remains the population juggernaut, at 26 million members in the Minhast homeland, and around 3 million more scattered in expatriate communities throughout the rest of the world.
Nahónda is an agglutinative and fusional language which is most apparent in its complex verb forms. It is a split-intransitive language of the Fluid-S subtype. Agents are explicitly marked while patients receive null marking. Nahónda canonical word order is SOV, as in both Minhast and Nankóre, but word order is quite flexible and may deviate from SOV word order for pragmatics or other discourse considerations. Like Minhast, it is considered a polysynthetic language as it exhibits polypersonal agreement, noun incorporation, head marking, holophrasis, and adverbial, modal, and evidential markers inside the verb complex. The evolution of Nahónda polysynthesis is complex, reflecting both developments from its Nahenic ancestry, and influences from outside sources, especially the Siouan languages and a substrate Iroquoian layer.
The influence of other Native North American languages cannot be overstated, as many had a major impact on the phonology, morphology, and lexicon of the Nahónda language. These influences caused it to diverge from it sister languages to the point that earlier linguists considered it to be a member of the Siouan languages, although the Iroquoian language family was also a main contender.
Phonology
Nahónda phonology is relatively straightforward. Except for ejectives acquired from Siouan and other surrounding languages, its phonemic inventory otherwise consists of an average set of consonants, and a five-vowel system. Its phonemic inventory is considerably larger than Nankóre, which lost most of its voiced consonants, and a slightly larger than Minhast, which lacks affricates. Unlike both Minhast and Nankóre, Nahónda has an exclusively CV syllabic structure. Thus, Nahónda cognates always end in a vowel, whereas the former allow consonants in coda position.
Nahónda Consonantal Inventory
At first glance, the Nahónda consonantal inventory appears to have preserved Proto-Nahenic's ejective consonants. However, upon further examination, the ejectives in Nahónda appear in words originally derived from languages falling within the Siouan Sprachbund; none are found in words reconstructed from the protolanguage. The original laryngeals and pharyngeals were also largely lost with the exception of /h/. The rhotic /r/ merged with /l/, likely due to Lakota influence.
Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | Laryngeal | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plain | Ejective | Plain | Ejective | Plain | Ejective | Plain | Ejective | |||
Nasal | m | n | ||||||||
Plosive | p b | p' b' | t d | t' d' | k g | k' g' | ʔ | |||
Fricative | s z | s' z' | ʃ ʒ | h | ||||||
Affricates | t͡s d͡z | t͡s' d͡z' | t͡ʃ d͡ʒ | t͡ʃ' d͡ʒ' | ||||||
Approximants | w | j | ||||||||
Lateral | l |
Nahónda Vowel Inventory
Front | Near- front | Central | Near- back | Back | ||
Close |
| |||||
Near-close | ||||||
Close-mid | ||||||
Mid | ||||||
Open-mid | ||||||
Near-open | ||||||
Open |
Grammar
Nouns
Gender
Like Minhast, Nahónda has a four-way gender distinction: masculine, feminine, neuter animate, and neuter inanimate. Just as in Minhast, Nahónda does not attach gender markers on nouns, but rather agreement affixes in the verb complex take up this role, each affix indicating the gender of its cross-indexed nominal argument. The verb's agreement affixes cross-index core roles only, i.e. the agent and patient; nouns that serve in a peripheral role are unmarked. Regardless, all nouns have inherent gender which must be memorized individually in order to select the proper verbal agreement affixes, or correctly identify the gender of a peripheral noun.
Number
Case
Nahónda distinguishes two core cases, agent and patient, and one oblique case, the genitive. The Patient case is unmarked and serves as the direct object of most transitive verbs, and the subject of stative verbs. The Genitive serves not only to mark possessors, but as the recipient with donor verbs, e.g. wíkha Džalo-da nitsátačeyo "Give Dzhalo the rope", the hearer of speech verbs, e.g. Enane-da kelómatačeyelo "Speak to Mother!", as well as the direct or indirect object of transitive verbs belonging to other semantic types, e.g. Goal, Experiencer, etc.
Suffix | Sample Paradigm | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
Agent | -hi | -hipi | šúnkawakáne-hi | šúnkawakáne-hipi |
Patient | -∅ | -pi | šúnkawakáne | šúnkawakáne-pi |
Genitive | -da | -dapi | šúnkawakáneda | šúnkawakáne-dapi |
Pronominal Forms
Number | Person | Agent | Patient | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Independent | Bound | Independant | Bound | ||
Singular | 1st | yate | -ya- | ya | -ya- |
2nd | itá | -ta- | ta | -ta- | |
3rd Masc. | kane | -ka- | ka | -na- | |
3rd Fem. | kicela | -kice- | la | -la- | |
3rd Neut. Anim. | séha | -se- | se | -se- | |
3rd Neut. Inanim. | ma | -ma- | tsila | -tsi- | |
Plural | |||||
Plural | 1st Incl | akene | -ake- | ake | -ke- |
1st Excl | nene | -ne- | ne | -ne- | |
2nd | tahene | -tahe- | ta | -ta- | |
3rd Common | kene | -ke- | ke | -ke- | |
3rd Neut. Anim. | setse | -se- | se | -se- | |
3rd Neut. Inanim. | mate | -ma- | ma | -ma- |
Minhast:
Person - Number - Gender | Independant Forms | Bound Forms | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Ergative | Absolutive | Oblique | Attributive | |
1st Sg. | yakte | yak | yak- | -ek |
2nd Sg. | tahte | taħ | tah- taħ- |
-taħ |
3rd Masculine - Common Sg. | kūde | kua | kū- | -na |
3rd Feminine Sg. | lēde- | lea | lē- ley- |
-lea |
3rd Neuter Animate Sg. | šemet | šea | šē- šey- |
-šea |
3rd Neuter Inanimate Sg. | mēde | mea | mē- mey- |
-mea |
Plural | ||||
1st Plural Inclusive | hakemt(e) | hak | hak- | -(h)akkem |
1st Pl Exclusive | nemt(e) | nem | nem- | -nem |
2nd Pl. | taħtemt(e) tahemt(e) |
taħtem tahem |
taħtem- tahem- taħm- |
-taħtem -tahem -taħm |
3rd Masc./Common Pl | kemt(e) | kem | kem- | -kem |
3rd Neut. Anim. Pl. | sešt(e) | seš | sešš(i)- | -sseš |
3rd Neut. Inanim Pl. | maħt(e) | maħ | mah- maħ- |
-maħ |
Agent | Patient | |||
Person | Independent | Bound | Independant | Bound |
1st du.excl | tsatem | tsat | tsak | at |
1st du.incl | tsiháka | tsak | tsihák | ak (an) |
2nd dual | tsitá | tsit | tsitá | |
3rd masc.du | tsakàl | tskál | tsakáhal | tsak |
3rd fem.du | tsakìl | tskál | tsakíhil | tsak |
3rd mixed.du | tsacé | tsac | tsac | tsac |
3rd anim.du | tsamá | tsam | tsam | tsam |
3rd inanim.du | tsakìl | tskil | tsašl | tsaš |
4th du. | tsákce | tsakc | tsack | tsašk |
Agent | Patient | |||
Person | Independent | Bound | Independant | Bound |
1st pl.excl | hakém | km | hak | ak |
1st pl.incl. | cayácu | cac | acù | ac |
2nd pl | catáha | ctah | táha | ta |
3rd masc.pl | ciláha | clah | cíla | cīlà |
3rd fem.pl | ciláhe | cláhē | la | la |
3rd mixed.pl | cilána | clan | lan | lan |
3rd anim.pl | cikíla | cklíha | kíla | kīlá |
3rd inanim.pl | ci?áca | cyac | áca | áca |
3rd High Public | cihòtape | cotape | hotápe | tapè |
4th pl. | cī?áca | cīyac | áca | acà |
Demonstratives
Like its relatives Minhast and Nankôre, Nahónda makes a four-way distinction in its demonstratives. Some forms, such as the Proximal and Medio-proximal demonstratives, show in the Agent forms an etymological relationship with Minhast. The Medio-proximal patient and Distal agent forms appear to be derived from the same source as in the corresponding Nankôre form. A common etymology for the Invisible form among all the sister languages has yet to be found. The Nahónda demonstratives are listed in the following table:
Independent | Clitic | Meaning | Nahenic Cognates | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Agent | Patient | Agent | Patient | |||
Proximal | saka | ko | =sa | =ko | This one, near the speaker |
|
Medio-proximal | na | ho | =na | =ho | This/that one near the listener "that" |
|
Distal | wanko wanku |
wo | =wa | =wo | Far from both speaker and listener |
|
Invisible | yanko yanku |
yo | =ya | =yo | Used for objects beyond sight or obstructed by another object. It may also be used for a person or thing being referred to within a narrative or other discourse, and sometimes as a decessive. |
|
The independent forms may serve as attributives, in which case they appear before the noun phrase. Unlike Minhast, which requires a connective particle to join the demonstrative to its head, in Nahónda the demonstrative is simply juxtaposed before its head, e.g.:
- Wanko šúnkawakaninéhi owožutkopi kasukakatsané1
wanko šúnkawakáne-ne-hi owožu-tko-pi ka-suka~ka-tsa-né
DIST horse-DET.cylindrical.object-AGT grass-DET.flat.prone.object-PL 3MS.AGT-run~INT-EVID.VIS-INTR.ACT
That horse is always racing across the plains.
Determiners
Like many languages that fall in the Siouan Sprachbund, Nahónda uses determiners to mark size and shape information on nouns. These determiners occur as a set of suffixes that attach to the noun preceding any case markers. These suffixes, descended from postural and motion verbs, reflect an evolutionary pathway similar to the non-Siouan languages. The verbs from which these suffixes developed originate from Nahenic roots.
Type | Affix | Source and Cognates | Examples |
---|---|---|---|
Squat/Bulky object, moving |
-ksa- |
|
|
Flat object, stationary | -tko- |
| |
Cylindrical object, moving | -ne- |
|
|
Thin upright object, stationary | -lo- |
|
|
Sharp or tapering object, stationary | -tso- |
|
|
Numbers
Nahónda employs a base-10 system, although remnants of a base-20 system exist, as in tsentsatsa "twenty" (c.f. Minhast šentāz "twenty") and tsatsentatse "forty" (c.f. Minhast saššentāz "forty"). Siouan influence manifests again, from the numbers eleven through nineteen in the form of the prefix ak-, e.g. aktsunó "eleven" and aktsané "twelve". The prefix is derived from the Lakota prefix aké- found in the numbers eleven and up, as in the Lakota numbers akéwaŋži "eleven", and akénuŋpa "twelve", both literally meaning "ten and one" and "ten and two", respectively.
The accent shifted to ultimate position in virtually all numbers with the exceptions tsentsatsa and tsatsentatse. These exceptions usually occur where the base-20 system of the proto-language surface. Ironically, in their Minhast cognates the last syllable is stressed due to vowel lengthening of the final closed syllables, i.e. šentāz /ʃɛn'ta:z/ and saššentāz /saʃ:ɛn'ta:z/.
Number | Cardinal | Ordinal | Verbal |
---|---|---|---|
one | tsunó | ||
two | tsané | ||
three | dutsá | ||
four | maná | ||
five | gdané | ||
six | tsihá | ||
seven | glihá | ||
eight | nuná | ||
nine | galó | ||
ten | tatsnó | ||
eleven | aktsunó | (ak- is derived from Lakota aké-, used for the 10's unit) | |
twelve | aktsané | ||
thirteen | aktutsé | ||
fourteen | agmaná | ||
fifteen | akatsé | ||
sixteen | aktsihé | ||
seventeen | aglihé | ||
eighteen | agnuné | ||
nineteen | agdalé | ||
twenty | tsentsatsa | ||
twenty-one | tsanke tsunó | ||
twenty-two | tsanke tsané | ||
twenty-three | šentāz-u-duxt | <-- | |
thirty | šentāz-u-tazem | ||
forty | tsatsentatse | ||
fifty | saššentāz-u-tazem | ||
sixty | duššentāz | ||
seventy | duššentāz-u-tazem | ||
eighty | meneštazem | ||
ninety | meneštazem-u-tazem | ||
one hundred | gādi | ||
one thousand | gaggādi |
Verbs
Verb Template
The polysynthetic Nohandaráy verb follows a templatic paradigm (c.f. Northern Iroquioan languages).
Initials | |||
---|---|---|---|
Conjunctives | Scalar Operators | Reflexive/Reciprocal | |
Verb Core | |||
Pronominals | Verb Root | Incorporated Noun | |
Medials | |||
Adverbials | Locatives | Evidentials | |
Finals | |||
Transitivity | Precatives | Clitics |
There are three principal types of transitivity markers in Nahónda, transitive active, intransitive active, and intransitive stative. A minor fourth type of marker exists, a zero-valent intransitive impersonal marker, which is used principally for describing meteorological and supernatural events.
Affix | Cognates | |
---|---|---|
Transitive Active | -čé | Minhast hittu "to give" |
Intransitive Active | -né | Minhast -an (?) (verbal intransitive marker) Nankóre iná' (?) (copula) Neina -nani (?) (verbal intransitive marker) |
Intransitive Stative | -ná | Minhast -an (?) (verbal intransitive marker) Nankóre iná' (?) (copula) |
Intransitive Impersonal | -ká |
Male/Female Speech Marking
Nahónda verbs use special suffixes to differentiate whether the speaker is male or female. These suffixes have no cognates in any of the Nahenic languages, but were adopted from their immediate Siouan-speaking neighbors, specifically, the Lakota. These suffixes are apparently a recent borrowing, as the forms are exactly the same as in Lakota, having undergone no morphophonotactic changes.
Postural and Locomotive Verbs
Nahónda lacks adpositions and verbal applicative markers to indicate the locational or directional relationship of a noun phrase. Instead, postural and locomotive verbs are used to indicate oblique case relations:
Verb | Meaning | Cognates | Examples | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ablative | amané | to approach | Minhast hān "to come" | |
Comitative | tsakané | to accompany | Minhast saħpan "to walk" | |
Instrumental | tsipilače | to use | Minhast sespir "hand" |
|
Particles
Syntax
Footnotes
1) The Siouan languages, particularly Lakota, had a major impact on the Nahónda lexicon. We see this influence in this sample sentence Wanko šúnkawakáninehi owožupi kasukakatsané. Nahónda šúnkawakáne "horse" is borrowed directly from Lakota šúŋkawakȟáŋ, as is owožu "grass". Even the plural marker -pi is borrowed from the Lakota plural marker -pi. The verb sukaka-tsa comes from Nahenic roots, c.f. Minhast sukkan "to be quick" and saru "to see".