Plains Apache language: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:44, 17 May 2022

Revision as of 21:12, 17 May 2022

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{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!

! [[Grammatical person|First<br/>person]]

! [[Grammatical person|Second<br/>person]]

! [[Grammatical person|Third<br/>person]]

! Third person<br/>[[Indefiniteindefinite pronoun|indefinite]]

! [[Fourth person|Fourth<br/>person]]

|-

! [[Singular number|Singular]]

| lang=apk | ší-

| lang=apk | dí-

| rowspan="2" lang=apk | bí-

~ mí-

| rowspan="2" lang=apk | ʔí-

| rowspan="2" lang=apk | góó-

~ gó-

|-

! [[Plural]]

| colspan="2" lang=apk | dàxí- ~ dá-

|}

Some of these forms require further explanation. The indefinite third person may be used when the possessor is unknown, and is similar in meaning to "'someone's"' (e.g. ''{{lang|apk|ʔí-bą̀ą̀s}}, '' "a hoop owned by some unknown person"'). The fourth person is reserved for possessors who are deemed to be in some way remote from the speaker, usually socially; compare ''{{lang|apk|bí-bą̀ą̀s''}}, which would refer to a hoop belonging to someone who the speaker is familiar with and interacts with frequently and informally, and ''{{lang|apk|góó-bą̀ą̀s''}}, used for someone who the speaker has a purely formal relationship with and does not know well.

The noun bases to which these prefixes can be added are of one of three classes: primary, compound, and nominalized. Primary noun bases are mostly monosyllabic stems such as ''{{lang|apk|t'èèš}}, 'charcoal' "charcoal," though a few of them seem to consist of an unidentified prefix and a stem (e.g. ''{{lang|apk|dèè-éh}}, 'antelope' "antelope"), and some others are simply unanalyzable polysyllables, perhaps originally onomatopoeic (e.g. ''{{lang|apk|ʔą̀ą̀ʔą̀ʔ}}, 'magpie' "magpie"). Many of the stem nouns have different forms depending on their morphological context, with an absolute form when unpossessed, an inflected form when possessed, and a combining form in compounds or nominalized phrases. The formation of these is generally irregular, although certain patterns do exist, such as initial ''{{lang|apk|x''}}, ''{{lang|apk|s''}}, and ''{{lang|apk|ł''}} becoming ''{{lang|apk|ɣ''}}, ''{{lang|apk|z''}}, and ''{{lang|apk|l''}} when inflected (e.g. ''{{lang|apk|sàà''}} > ''{{lang|apk|bí-zàà''}}, "'his language"') and a final V:h becoming Vʔ (e.g. ''{{lang|apk|t'ààh''}} > ''{{lang|apk|bí-t'áʔ}}, '' "his feather"').

Some stem nouns, especially those referring to body parts, are [[Inalienablyinalienably possessed noun|inalienably possessed]], i.e. they cannot occur without a possessor prefix (e.g. ''{{lang|apk|bí-dààh''}}, "'his lips'," but not {{lang|apk|*''dààh''}}). In these cases the indefinite prefix must be used if one wishes to talk about the object without specifying the possessor (''{{lang|apk|ʔí-dààh''}}, "'lips"'). In order to indicate [[alienable possession]] of these nouns, an additional possessor prefix can be attached before the indefinite prefix, yielding forms like ''{{lang|apk|bí-ʔí-k'àʔ}}, '' "his fat (which comes from the body of something or someone else, but is now in his possession)"' contrasting with ''{{lang|apk|bí-k'àʔ''}}, "'his fat (which is a part of his own body)'." Some of these nouns may change their meaning when preceded by ''{{lang|apk|ʔí-''}}, such as ''{{lang|apk|ʔí-bèʔ}}, 'milk' "milk" versus ''{{lang|apk|bí-bèʔ''}}, "'her breast"'. Lastly, some can only take the indefinite prefix, effectively turning them into regular alienably possessed nouns starting with ''{{lang|apk|ʔí-''}} (e.g. ''{{lang|apk|ʔí-dààh}}, 'enemy' "enemy," but ''{{lang|apk|bí-ʔí-dààh''}}, "'his enemy'," not *''{{lang|apk|bí-dààh''}}).

The second kind of noun bases are compounds, which are formed from two noun stems and sometimes an enclitic of obscure meaning (e.g. ''{{lang|apk|bí-déé-kòò}}, '' "his tears'," from ''{{lang|apk|déé''}}, combining form of "'eye'," and ''{{lang|apk|kòò''}}, combining form of "'water"'). The third kind of noun bases are nominalized verbs or phrases, which may or may not include some kind of a relative enclitic. Examples include ''{{lang|apk|dáł-ts'ààh}}, '' "zebra, tiger'," from the identical verb meaning "'marks are on it'," and ''{{lang|apk|hà-ts'í-ɣą̀ą̀s-é''}}, "'badger'," from the verb ''{{lang|apk|hà-ts'í-ɣą̀ą̀s}}, '' "he scratches out"' plus the relative enclitic ''{{lang|apk|-é}} '' "he who'."

=== Verbs ===

Like those of most other Athabaskan languages, Plains Apache verbs are highly morphologically complex, exhibiting [[polypersonal agreement]], rich [[Grammaticalgrammatical aspect|aspect]] marking, and the characteristic Athabaskan classifier system (a set of four mandatory [[Valencyvalency (linguistics)|valence]]-changing prefixes found throughout the family). Bittle (1963) identifies 14 positions in the verb template, divided into the verbal base (which defines the lexical meaning of the verb) and [[Inflectionalinflectional paradigm|paradigmatic]] prefixes (which inflect the verb for person, number, tense, aspect, mood, and voice). The following verb template table is reproduced from Bittle:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

! rowspan="2" |Position

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|

|}

<section begin="list-of-glossing-abbreviations"/><div style="display:none;">

3SBJ:3rd person (singular), subject

3OBJ:3rd person (singular), object

</div><section end="list-of-glossing-abbreviations"/>

However, a verb in Plains Apache never has an affix in each position. A typical verb might be inflected as follows:

{{interlinear |indent=2 | lang = apk

|top= Šàyédíʔą̀ą̀

|ši- a- yi- dí- ∅- ∅- ʔą̀ą̀

|1SG.OBJ- PP- 3OBJ- PFV- 3SBJ- CLF- give

|'He gives it to me'
}}

In this case, ''{{lang|apk|ši''-}} is the indirect object prefix in slot 1, {{lang|apk|-''a''-}} is the postposition in slot 2, {{lang|apk|-''yi''-}} is the direct object prefix in slot 7, {{lang|apk|-''dí''-}} is the modal prefix in slot 11, slots 12 and 13 are occupied by zero morphemes, and ''{{lang|apk|ʔą̀ą̀''}} is the stem in slot 14. All other slots are empty.

The above example displays the zero classifier. Following is an example of a fully inflected verb with the ''{{lang|apk|ł''-}} classifier prefix:

{{interlinear |indent=2 | lang = apk

|top= Šìgółbèèš

|ši- go- ∅- ∅- ł- bèèš

|1SG.OBJ- NUM- IPFV- 3SBJ- CLF- boil

|'They two are boiling me'
}}

== Syntax ==