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Tutelo-Saponi verbs are just downright difficult, no way around that. There is a base verb, but in order to say something, you have to tack stuff on to it, and that can change the sounds in the base verb.
I find one of the best ways to learn verbs is to learn commands. To make a command, you take the base verb and add “yí” to the end. If the verb ends in an “i”, you add “í” instead. The “E” used in some base verbs indicates a variable vowel sound that changes depending on whats being tacked on. In the case of commands the “E” changes to an ”a”. In parentheses I wrote the base verb plus the command.
Here are some commands that you can use on your critters, kids, and/or significant other.
Beg! — oyáñdise yí (oyáñdise + yí)
Dance! — giichíi í (giichíi + í)
Do It, Make It! — ‘óoñ yí (‘óoñ +yí)
Drink! — lagbée yí (lagbée + yí)
Eat! — luuta yí (luutE + yí)
Eat Something! — waluuta yí (waluutE + yí)
Give! — gúu yí (gúu +yí)
Go Back Out, Come Back Out! — akáglañga yí (akáglañgE + yí)
Go Down! — ohíñda yí (ohíñda + yí)
Go Out! — aakalañga yí (aakalañgE + yí)
Lay Down! — máñga yí (máñgE + yí)
Lay Down, Recline! — wahaa máñga yí (wahaa máñgE +yí)
Sit, Stay! — láñga yí (láñgE + yí)
Sit Down! — waaha láñga yí (waaha láñgE +yí)
Stand! — nañhée yí (nañhée + yí)
Stay! — monotisnok yí (monotisnok is a Saponi word)
Wake Up! — glee yí (glee + yí)
To do, to make — ‘óoñ
Pronouns for nasal verb stems. These are added to the beginning of the verb.
These are used only for ‘óoñ and oñsbé ‘to know’.
I — m-
You — y-
He, she, it — nothing added to verb
Past action The first 2 terms are not well defined.
Past — -óokE
Past, distant past, occurring over a long duration in the past — -yukE
Past or ongoing action that is real to speaker — -wa
Ongoing action
Ongoing action — -óoñ (since this appears to be related to the verb ‘óoñ, I don’t think it would be used with that verb)
Ongoing action (for motion verbs and ‘stand’) — ya-
Ongoing or past action that is real to speaker — -wa
Potential action
Something that may or will happen — -dE
Heres what happens when you tack all the pieces together. Another rule is that two like vowels together can become one, as shown when adding óokE to ‘ooñ. Also, ‘w’ can become ‘m’ after a nasal vowel, so ‘wa’ becomes ‘ma’.
Past
I made it, did it — móoñka /m-‘óoñ-óokE/
You made it, did it — yóoñka /y-‘óoñ-óokE/
He,she,it made it, did it — óoñka /‘óoñ-óokE/
Ongoing
I am making it, doing it — móoñma /m-‘óoñ-wa/
You are making it, doing it — yóoñma /y-‘óoñ-wa/
He, she, it, is making it, doing it — óoñma /‘óoñ-wa/
Future
I will make it, do it — móoñda /m-‘óoñ-dE/
You will make it, do it — yóoñda /y-‘óoñ-dE/
He, she, it, will make it, do it — óoñda /‘óoñ-dE/
We, us — wañg-/wañ-
Another pronunciation rule, the ‘g’ on the word for ‘we’ is deleted before everything except h, l, w, and y. Note also the ‘w’ changes to ‘m’ before the nasal vowel.
We were making — mañóoñka /wañ-‘óoñ-óokE/
We are making — mañóoñma /wañ-‘óoñ-wa/
We will be making — mañóoñda /wañ-‘óoñ-dE/
These are all treated as verbs.
Black — aséepi, lahooni (Mohawk)
Blue — asoodi
Brown — achodade
Green — odóolakóoñ
Green, leaf, grass — odoo
Red — achudi
White — asáañ
Yellow — síi
Add hiyé to the end of the color to say you are making something that color.
To cause — /-hiyé/
Blacken — asepihiyé
To make something blue — asoodihiyé
To make something brown — achodadehiyé
To make something green — odoolakooñhiye
Redden — achuudihiyé
Whiten — asaañhiyé
To make something yellow — sihiyé
In Tutelo, adjectives are treated as verbs.
Bad, coarse — okaayiikikañ
Bad, ugly — okaayíiki
Be in the middle — yaañd
Big, great, large — idáañ
Curved — kugsañ
Far, long — henáñ
Flat, level, shallow — sáab
Good — bíi, sdéegE
Hot — gaate
Hot, warm — agaate, agaatga
Long — yoñpañ, sui, yoñpañka, yapósge, yoñpañkajga
Long (tall) — sdedga (almost identical to Ofo word for tall)
Old, aged — hooagaa
Rectilinear — yoñpañsgiye
Round, globular — bus
Size, large — nísga
Small — guujga, hoñsgá
Strong — sooti, itaai
Sweet — chigooñyoñ
Thin — hableehaa
Ugly — keegisahañka
Windy — omañglée
Young — nikahee
Young, little — yíñgi
So adjustives and colors are all going to have all kinds of different suffixes (prefixes?) added to them according to how they’re being used? Is that what you mean when you say they’re treated as verbs? An adjective is going to change according the it’s tense and so forth??
I don’t remember seeing an explanation of what the capitalization signifies in a word like /wañ-‘óoñ-óokE/
In a word like giichíi í is that a glottal stop between that last group of iiiiiiii’s? I mean the giichíi í. That’s a good exercise in the interminable Tutelo vowel. Just practice saying aaaaeeeeiiiioooouuuu over and over and be prepared to encouter it in a Tutelo word at some point. Am I having dejá vu? Or did I already say that somewhere?
Colors and adjectives- yep, they are just like intransitive verbs, with all the pronouns and tenses tacked on and everything. Even numbers can be treated as verbs. Tutelo is chock full of verbs with different kinds of verbs taking different kinds of pronouns and the like. Its just frightening.
’E’ can be pronounced like ’a’, ‘i’, or ‘e’, depending on whats tacked on. Theres rules for that.
No glottal stop between all those ’iiiiii’s. The only place a glottal stop is ever used is with the verb ‘óoñ’ and its variants.
I would suggest just using all the verbs I’ve listed the best way you can now, even if its just replacing the English word with Tutelo. It may not be grammatically correct, but you’ll learn the word, and we all gotto start somewhere. I also wouldn’t stress out over pronunciation to much, thats the last thing you become proficient in when learning a new language. Also, remember, I’m learning this language with you, so don’t take everything I’m giving you as gospel, I’ll be correcting any bloopers as I find them.
Keep up great work..sorry I haven’t posted!
The work that is being done is GREAT (understatement!)
(School is abit nuts…so I haven’t had time…but please keep up the great work)
I do what I can on this end 🙂
Deb
There are 2 kinds of verbs found in Tutelo, in Oliverio they are called ‘active’ and ‘stative’. Active verbs tend to describe actions, and stative verbs tend to describe states, but this isn’t always so. These verbs also use different pronouns. Below I’ll describe active verbs.
These pronouns are part of the verb, and may attach to the beginning or middle of the verb. ‘Wañg-‘ or ‘wañ-‘ tends to only attach to the beginning of the verb.
I — wa-
You (one person) — ya-
He, she, it — nothing
We — wañg- or wañ-
Remember, ‘w’ has a tendency to change to ‘m’ near a nasal vowel, and ‘g’ is deleted before everything except h, l, w, and y, and sometimes deleted otherwise. Also ‘g’ can change to ‘x’ or ‘h’ before another consonant, except before ‘p’. ‘E’ at the end of a verb becomes ‘a’ when nothing is added to it, and becomes ‘e’ when ‘wa’ is added.
Examples
To drink — lagbée or olagbée
I will drink — walagbeeda or ówalagbeeda /wa-lagbée-dE/
You will drink — yalagbeeda or oyálagbeeda /ya-lagbée-dE/
He will drink — lagbéeda or olagbéeda /lagbée-dE/
We will drink — mañlagbeeda or máñolagbéeda /wañg-lagbée-dE/
To think, remember — hgoñsbée
I think, I remember it — wahgoñsbeewa /wa-hgoñbée-wa/
You think, you remember it — yahgoñsbeewa /ya-hgoñsbée-wa/
He thinks, he remembers it — goñsbéewa /hgoñsbée-wa/
We think, we remember it — mañxgoñsbeewa /wañg-hgoñsbée-wa/
To run — hinda or hindaahE
I run — hiwandaaha /hi-wa-ndaahE/
You run — hiyandaaha /hi-ya-ndaahE/
He runs — hindaaha /hindaahE/
We run — mañghindaaha /wañg-hindaahE/
To sleep — hiiyañdgaabee or hiiyañda
I sleep, I’m sleeping, I’m going to bed — wahiiyañdgaabeewa /wa-hiiyañdgaabee-wa/
You sleep, you’re sleeping, you’re going to bed — yahiiyañdgaabeewa /ya-hiiyañdgaabee-wa/
He sleeps, he’s sleeping, he’s going to bed — hiiyañdgaabeewa /hiiyañdgaabee-wa/
We sleep, we’re sleeping, we’re going to bed — wañgniiyañdgaabeewa /wañg-hiiyañdgaabee-wa/
To use — i’óoñ
I use, I’m using it — iwa’óoñwa or ima’óoñwa /i-wa-‘óoñ-wa/ Note ‘wa’ at the end doesn’t change to ‘ma’
You use, you are using it — iya’ooñwa /i-ya-‘óoñ-wa/
He uses, he is using it — i’ooñwa /i’óoñ-wa/
We use, we are using it — wañi’ooñwa /wañ-i’óoñ-wa/
To laugh — iñgséehE or gséehE or lagséehE
I laugh — iñwagseeha /iñ-wa-gséehE/
You laugh — iñyagseeha /iñ-ya-gséehE/
He laughs — iñgséeha /iñgséehE/
We laugh — mañiñgseeha or wañiñgseeha /wañ-iñgséehE/
To sweep — gaxléepi
I sweep — wagaxleep /wa-gaxléepi/
You sweep — yagaxleep /ya-gaxléepi/
He sweeps — gaxléep /gaxléepi/
We sweep — mañgaxleep /wañ-gaxléepi/
To remember — gihgoñsbée
I remember it — wagihgoñsbeewa /wa-gihgoñsbée-wa/
You remember it — yagihgoñsbeewa /ya-gihgoñsbée-wa/
He remembers it — gihgoñsbeewa /gihgoñsbée-wa/
We remember it — mañgihgoñsbeewa or mañxgihgoñsbeewa /wañg-gihgoñsbée-wa/
Go/come back or to go/come home — gilEE
I’m going home — wagleewa /wa-gilEE-wa/
You’re going home — yagleewa /ya-gilEE-wa/
Hes going home — gileewa /gilEE-wa/
We’re going home — máñgleewa or máñxgleewa /wañ-gilEE-wa/
Kill, shot, beat — gidée
I kill him, I killed him — wagdeewa /wa-gidée-wa/
You kill him, you killed him — yagdeewa /ya-gidée-wa/
He kills him, he killed him — gideewa /gidée-wa/
We kill him, we killed him — máñgdeewa or máñxdeewa or mañgideewa
Kick, stamp, push, thrust — ohiñhné
I kick, stamp, push, or thrust — ówahiñhnéwa /ó-wa-hiñhné-wa/
You kick, stamp, push, or thrust — óyahiñhnéwa /ó-ya-hiñhné-wa/
He kicks, stamps, pushes, or thrusts — óhiñhnéwa /ohiñhné-wa/
We kick, stamp, push, or thrust — wáñohiñhnéwa /wáñ-ohiñhné-wa/
Push, thrust — hiñhné
I push, I thrust — wahiñhne /wa-hiñhné/
You push, you thrust — yahiñhne /ya-hiñhné/
He pushes, he thrusts — hiñhné /hiñhné/
We push, we thrust — wáñxhiñhne /wáñg-hiñhné/
To speak, tell, call — ogláagE or giláagE
I speak, tell, call — owagláaga or owaglaaxa /o-wa-gláagE/
You speak, tell, call — oyaglaaga or oyaglaaxa /o-ya-gláagE/
He speaks, tells, calls — ogláaga or oglaaxa /ogláagE/
We speak, tell, call — mañoglaaga or mañoglaaxa /wañ-ogláagE/
I noticed that like other Siouan languages, the wa, ya, wan(g) can be either prefix verbs or infixed verbs depending on the verb used.
One of the problem with many dictionaries that out there is the lack any verb markers.
To just have to learn where it goes for each word.
Excellent work!
A lot of verbs with ‘o’ at the beginning place wa and ya after ‘o’ and wañ(g) before the ‘o’. The ‘o’ can be optional, for instance ogláagE and giláagE (both mean to speak). I’ve included both variants in the above word list, and I’ve used as many examples straight from the dictionary as I can.
Some verb prefixes:
‘o-‘ — something is occurring in or into something.
‘á-’ — something is occurring on something or at somewhere.
‘i-‘ — something is occurring towards a certain direction, or something is occuring with something.
Hi everyone. I haven’t posted for quite a while. I’ve had computer problems this winter and haven’t been on Saponi Town much.
A week or so ago I was on here and found a post with a link to someone who was speaking what I believe was Tutelo language lessons and I believe the person was from Saponi Town.
I’ve lost the link and for some reason I can’t find the it again. Can someone point me to it? And also, I was wondering if you could tell me who is doing the lessons?
Thank you in advance for the information.
Barb 🙂
If you look at the online Tutelo dictionary thread, Linda posted a list of vocabulary words that I recorded. Thats the only thing so far from Saponitown. Don’t mind my Northwest Indian accent.
I plan on sending more recordings eventually, but if anyone else wants to give making recordings a try, youre more than welcome, especially if you have experience with other Siouan languages.
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