Grammar

Upper Kuskokwim nouns are similar to English nouns. Their job is to name people, places and things. They are not as numerous as in English, however, and many of them are made from verbs. This process is described under Nominalized Verbs. It is possible to have many sentences without a proper noun (separate word) to indicate the subject (actor) of the object (one acted on) since subject and object pronouns are part of the verb, not separate words as they are in English. Notice how the two languages handle the following sentences:

English: The man caught a moose. (five words)
UKA: Dina dineje izdlanh. (three words) (STEM: -dlanh)
Man moose he/she caught
STEM: -dlanh

English: He caught a moose. (four words)
UKA: Dineje izdlanh. (two words) (STEM: -dlanh)
Man moose he/she caught

English: He caught it. (three words)
UKA: Yizdlanh. (one word) (STEM: -dlanh)
It he/she caught

Upper Kuskokwim nouns can be divided into two basic groups, those which are always possessed (owned) and those which may be possessed. The ones which do not have to be possessed again divide into two groups, the ones which change pronunciation and spelling when possessed and those which do not change. Examples of these groups follow:

1. Must be possessed (usually body parts):

2a. May be possessed—noun changes (clothing, personal possessions, lake names)

Note: Pronunciation of first and last consonants may change, and “-a” is added to the word.

2b. May be possessed—noun doesn’t change (items usually not personally owned)

Pronouns (pn.)

Pronouns take the place of nouns and may be separate words, or may be joined to nouns, or incorporated into nouns. In nouns the pronoun indicates possession. In verbs it may mark the subject, the direct object, or the indirect object.

Separate Words:

Incorporated Pronouns:
Subject and object pronouns can be seen in the verbs listed on the following pages. Because they are found within the verbs and sometimes combine with surrounding sounds, they may change the way they are pronounced and spelled, but they can usually be recognized as follows:

Another important pronoun is the “ch’i” or “y’ ” which serves as the indefinite object or possessor.

Nominalized Verbs (nomv.)

Verbs can be changed into nouns by adding “e” on the end of the word. This may change the pronunciation and spelling of the last consonant in the verb.

Verbs (v.)

Verbs are the most complex and the most important words in Athabaskan. A complete description of how verbs are put together would take a book in itself and new discoveries are still being made by linguists.

In brief, a verb is composed of one or more prefixes followed by a stem which together gives meaning to the word. The prefixes mark subjects, objects, modes, tenses, adverbs, themes and classifiers. To understand how a verb is put together one must start at the end of the word (the stem) and work towards the front.

The exception is when a suffix is added to modify the verb, such as when it is turned into a question or a noun.

The first prefix in front of the stem is the classifier. There are four of them: ł, l, di, and ǿ (zero).

The function of the classifier is not always clear but each verb has one. The “ł” classifier usually occurs in verbs where the subject is causing something to happen.

When certain prefixes are added to the verb the classifiers will change.

In the following section on Modes, examples are given with each subject pronoun and all three classifiers so that patterns formed when they come together may be seen.

The subject pronouns, except for first person plural (we) and third person plural (them), occur immediately before the classifiers. The markers were listed under the section on PRONOUNS and additional examples can be seen under the sections on MODES. One example is given here with a zero (ǿ) classifier so the subject pronoun occurs next to the stem.

In the dictionary most of the examples are given with the third person subject (he/she). By studying the examples someone who does not speak the language can begin to predict how the verb will be pronounced with other subject pronouns. You will have to pay attention to what occurs on each side of the subject pronoun, however, as the pronouns may merge with some surrounding sounds.

The third prefix position in front of the stem marks the mode. In general Athabaskan verbs differ from English verbs in that they focus on what happens (the mode or manner) rather than when it happens (tense or time). Is the action still going on? Then it is not complete but imperfect (imperfective mode). Is the action moving along? Then it is progressing (progressive mode). Is it complete? Then you have the perfective mode. Is it just starting (inceptive mode) or will it be going on later (future mode)? The optative mode is used to express the idea that something should happen, or to let the action happen. With some verbs the stem may stay the same for all modes; with others, it changes.

Many other prefixes can occur in front of the mode position to modify the verb in some way. Most of these should be thought of as part of the basic verb. They do not change when the subject or the mode are changed. The exception to this is the plural subject markers we (ts’i) and they (hi) and the marker used in the future and inceptive mode (ti) which all occur in front of the mode position. Another exception is the indirect object position which occurs toward the beginning of the verb.

Some examples of the other prefixes that modify the basic meaning without changing the subject can be seen in the following examples.

Imperfective Mode (imv.)
This mode indicates that the action is still going on. The action is incomplete. The imperfectives are the simplest verbs and may only consist of the subject pronoun and the stem, or in the case of the third person singular which is ǿ then may only be the stem. An example of this is “ne” (he/she said). Other imperfective verbs have only the classifier and the stem, such as:

Imperfective verbs are identified by the absence of a marker (ǿ) in the mode position or a “ni” in the mode position. The stem used with the imperfective may also differ from those used with the other modes of the same verbs. Many imperfective stems end in “sh” or “nh”. Examples of both imperfectives with each of the four classifiers follow.

Most verbs use only one of the perfective mode markers but some verbs will utilize two of them as in the words for sitting or staying, shown above. In this case, the “zi” indicates that the action is complete and is still in that condition (zido, he is sitting/staying). The “ghe” indicates that the action was complete but is no longer so (ghedo’, he stayed/sat).

Examples of each perfective mode are given below with the various subject pronouns and classifiers.

Perfective Mode (pv.)
Perfective verbs indicate that the action is completed. They are marked by a “z”, a “ghe”, or a “ne” in the mode position. With a third person subject, which is ǿ, and a ǿ classifier, you may only have the mode and the stem on some verbs:

Progressive Mode (prv.)
Progressive mode refers to action moving along. The progressive mode is used with motion verbs such as walking, running, swimming, carrying, crawling, etc. Not every verb has a progressive mode.

Inceptive Mode (inv.)
The Inceptive Mode refers to action just starting. This mode is formed by combining a “ti” with the “z” perfective mode.

Future Mode (fv.)
The future mode refers to actions that will be taking place. It is formed by combining the “ti” with the progressive mode marker “ghi”. Although not every verb has a progressive form, every verb has a future form using the progressive marker with the “ti”.

Optative Mode (ov.)
The optative mode usually translates as “let something happen” or “something should happen”. Although it is possible to use this mode with all six subject pronouns, most examples tend to occur with certain subjects. This mode can combine with others by changing stems or including other markers such as the “ti” for future optatives. The marker for the optative is “ghw” which may be actualized as “u” when it combines with other syllables. Some examples with different classifiers are given below.

Postpositions (pp.)

These are the words that function like English prepositions but they come after the noun or pronoun that they modify. They are closely associated with the verbs and are sometimes thought of as part of the verb. They use the same pronoun markers as the direct object.

Adjectives (adj.)

Adjectives are words with modify nouns. There are very few adjectives in the Upper Kuskokwim Language. A few examples are as follows:

Adverbs (adv.)

Adverbs are words which modify verbs. Adverbs are more numerous than adjectives but not as numerous as nouns and verbs. The adverbs are more complex than nouns but not as complex as verbs. Adverbs specify time, location, direction and how action takes place. Some examples of each are given below.

Postpositions can be used with adverbs. Adverbs can also be nominalized like verbs by adding “e”.

Conjunctions (conj.)

Conjunctions are words used to connect two sentences or phrases. They are similar to English conjunctions.

Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are used in the dictionary. Most denote the different kinds of words listed. The classification of some words may be changed following a complete study of Upper Kuskokwim. Following each entry in the dictionary an identification as to the kind of word is given in parenthesis