Nahónda

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Nahónda

Introduction

Nahónda, also known as Nohánda and Nónda, 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 tentatively grouped as part of a larger grouping, called the Nahenic language family.

Nouns

Independent and Bound Pronominal Forms

Agent Patient
Person Independent Bound Independant Bound
1st sg. yat -t- ya -ya-
2nd sg. intá -nt- ta -n-
3rd masc.sg. kun -k- ka -Ø-
3rd fem.sg kcela -kc- la -la-
3rd neut.anim.sg séha -s- seh -s-
3rd neut.inanim.sg ma -m- tsila -ts-
4th sg. wahán -han- wa -w-



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 Comments
Agent Patient Agent Patient
Proximal saka ko =sa =ko this one, near the speaker; compare saka with Minhast sap "this" (ABS)
Medio-proximal na ho =na =ho this/that one near the listener; compare na with Minhast nax "that" (ABS), ho with Nankôre =hori "that"
Distal wanko wo =wa =wo far from both speaker and listener; compare with Minhast waššī (ABS)
Invisible yanko 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 the connective min to join the demonstrative to its head, in Nahónda the demonstrative is simply juxtaposed before its head, e.g.:

Wanko šúnkawakánhi owožupi sukakatsa1
wanko šúnkawakán-hi owožu-pi suka~ka-tsa
DIST horse-AGT grass-PL run-INT-EVID.VIS

I always see that horse racing across the plains.

Verbs

The polysynthetic Nohandaráy verb follows a templatic paradigm (c.f. Northern Iroquioan languages, Ainu, Minhast, etc).

Nohandaray Verb Template
Category Affix Additional Notes
Temporal Adverbials [placeholder]
Precative [placeholder]
Negator [placeholder]
Irealis (condittional, Optative, etc) [placeholder]
Manner Adverbials [placeholder]

Morphosyntactic Alignment

Nahónda morphosyntactic alignment is classified as the Split Intransitive type, also known as an Active-Stative alignment. Transitive clauses by definition take two core arguments, an Agent, and a Patient. Intransitive clauses take only one core argument. That the verb that core argument takes may denote either a state, e.g. "He is sick", or it may designate an action instigated by the the core argument, e.g. "He jumps". In the first case, the core argument takes marking which indicates it experiences or is affected by the state, while in the second the argument takes another marker which indicates that it instigates an action or event.

Languages of the Split Intransitive type may be further divided into one of two subtype. One type, the Split-S type, divides its verbs into two lexical division: one division is restricted to states; its NP argument is an experiencer or undergoer of the state, and hence takes one type of case marking. The other verbal division expresses events which indicate its core argument functions as an agent; the core argument thus takes marking distinct from that of an experiencer or undergoer. The other Split Intransitive subtype, the Fluid-S type, does not exhibit this verbal distinction: all verbs may serve to indicate state or events; case marking of the core argument depends on its semantic role, it is not preselected based on the verbal class, as Fluid-S type languages do not have distinct verbal classes.

Nahónda belongs to the Fluid-S type of languages. When the core argument of an Intransitive verb functions as a semantic Agent, it takes the marker =yo, whereas it takes the marker =ka when it is an Experiencer or Undergoer.

Footnotes

1) The Siouan languages, particularly Lakota, had a major impact on the Nahónda lexicon. We see this influence in this sample sentence Wanko šúnkawakánhi owožupi sukakatsa. Nahónda šúnkawakán "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".