For EnterJustice (and others): Central Mountain morphology

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For EnterJustice (and others): Central Mountain morphology

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This is a repost in response to a request from EnterJustice in another thread; the original post containing this information has been lost.

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PRE-PROTO-CENTRAL MOUNTAIN AND PROTO-CENTRAL MOUNTAIN

§1. Central Mountain (CM) was a large family, perhaps largest among its early contemporaries, only a small part of which survived the First Earth. Our reconstuctions are based, to begin with, on two of the best-known languages, Hlholammelo (Hlh) and Kapakwonak (K), the most ancient attested members of the family. Comparison of data from more scantily recorded CM dialects has shown that these reconstructions will, in the main, fit all the known languages, and can accordingly be viewed as Proto-Central Mountain (PCM).

An earlier stage, pre-PCM (pPCM), is investigated through methods of internal reconstruction applied to PCM. While by no means a blind guess, pPCM may indeed reflect as much speculation as fact, perhaps glossing over (by necessity) substantial irregularities and variations in favor of idealized forms. Elements and words from pPCM must be viewed with this caveat in mind. Nevertheless, we regard many, if not most, pPCM forms as probable, while admitting that our internally reconstructed language as a whole is not likely definitive.

PPCM and PCM were alike polysynthetic, non-confugurational and incorporating. That is to say, words could be made up of a great many component word-forming elements, whose relative order was strictly determined, and which were unintelligible and without meaning if taken out of proper context; while word order in the sentence was largely free. PPCM was primarily agglutinating, with a few fusional elements; but PCM developed a higher degree of fusion.

A NOTE ON ASTERISKS

For sake of clarity, pPCM forms are marked with a double asterisk (**), while PCM forms bear a single asterisk.

SOUNDS

Transcription follows, in the main, Americanist notation, supplementing with IPA or ad hoc symbols only when the former is inadequate or unclear. No distinction is drawn between phoneme and phone.

PPCM had five vowels, which apparently did not distinguish quantity: high front **ɩ; mid front **ɛ; low central **a; high back **ʊ; and mid back **ɔ. The back vowels were rounded; the others were not. The high and mid vowels were all lax.

The pPCM simple consonants were unaspirated stops **p, **t, **k; fricatives **s, **h; and nasals **m, **n, **ŋ. The nasal consonants were voiced; the rest were voiceless, probably lenis. The consonant **ŋ, although alien to the phonologies of the attested languages, is reconstructed based on the need for a segment that shares the nasality of *m and the velarness of *k, both of which are yielded by the segment.

PPCM syllable structure was strict, invariably CV, with a vowel always forming the syllabic peak. No clusters, consonant or vowel, occurred. There was a single level of stress, constituted by increased amplitude. Monosyllabic words all received stress; and disyllabic words were stressed on the first syllable. In words of three or more syllables, every other syllable was stressed, starting with the first, with the final syllable invariably receiving stress as well. In polysyllabic words containing an even number of syllables, this resulted in two contiguous intra-word stressed syllables (the final two), a phenomenon which occurred nowhere else in the language.


THE WORD

Aside from particles, which were uninflected, words in pPCM/PCM fell into a single morphological category whose members could function syntactically as either verbs or nominals. The pPCM/PCM word had two "slots" or morphological positions, both of which were obligatory: a derivational stem, followed by an inflectional final suffix.


THE ROOT

As pertains to pPCM at least, the root can be considered an abstract, unanalyzable semantic entity without inherent morphological class and of highly generalized meaning; and from the roots of pPCM we may say are derived the vast majority of pPCM's (and, inevitably, PCM's) actual word-forming elements. Roots are semantically oriented toward action, motion, process, relationship, quality and quantity; they express nothing that is unambiguously nominal. Without exception, they follow the pattern CV(CV), with disyllabic roots exhibiting a strict vowel harmony: the central vowel may appear with any other vowel in a disyllabic root, while front vowels may only appear with another front vowel and back vowels may only appear with another back vowel. This vowel harmony suggests that, at an even earlier stage than pPCM, the disyllabic roots were biconsonantal with identical vowels, which were differentiated as new vocalics developed and as the language grew semantically. The glimpse into the distant past of CM provided by the vowel harmony further suggests that pPCM, for all its phonetic strictures, grew from an even stricter primordial phonology. Most disyllabic roots have two different consonants; but a few contain identical consonants. No root is longer than two syllables.


PSEUDO-ROOTS

PPCM pseudo-roots reflect archaic petrified derivational morphology from a very ancient (and perhaps primordial) derivational system that existed in CM prior to the derivational mechanics of pPCM. Synchronically with respect to pPCM, pseudo-roots are as unanalyzable as roots proper; however, they were originally stems prior to pPCM, but through the loss of the productivity of their derivational infixes and processes they have become frozen forms. In pPCM, they behave identically to true roots, possessing for the most part generalized meaning, and yielding their own word-forming elements; only through diachronic analysis are their relationships to certain true roots revealed. While pseudo-roots follow the CV pattern of true roots, they do not always conform to the vowel harmony and may exceed two syllables.

A front-to-back and corresponding central/back-to-front vocalic ablaut, likely in origin a form of sound symbolism, yields pseudo-roots of augmentative and diminutive meanings. Augmentative ablaut expresses strengthening of meaning, increase in size, greater intensity, the pejorative, worsening of meaning or perversion; diminutive ablaut expresses weakening of meaning, decrease in size, lesser intensity, endearment or bettering of meaning. Either one can express extremes of meaning. Both literal and figurative augmentative and diminutive derivations are extant. The ablaut occurs to applicable vowels thus:

Front-to-back (augmentative) ablaut:

**ɩ > **ʊ
**ɛ > **ɔ

Central/back-to-front (diminutive) ablaut:

**a > **ɛ
**ʊ > **ɩ
**ɔ > **ɛ

Another form of probable sound symbolism, involving consonant alternation, also derives augmentative and dimunutive pseudo-roots. It follows the same general semantics as the vocalic ablaut but is less commonly observed. The alternations occur to applicable consonants thus:

Fortition (augmentative):

**s > **t
**h > **k

Lenition (diminutive):

**t > **s
**k > **h

Whether the alternations **h ∼ **k and **k ∼ **h involved ʔ and x as intermediates cannot be determined.

Several derivational infixes, which follow the first vowel of a disyllabic root and appear as suffixes on monosyllabic roots, are also seen to yield pseudo-roots:

**-mɛ-: animizer (< root **mɛ 'spiritualness, spiritual power, sacredness, medicine, mysteriousness, animacy')

**-ŋɩ-: consequential (< root **ŋɩ 'do, make, cause, causalness, causality, create')

**-ŋɔ-: extensional (< root **ŋɔ 'sameness, similarity, likeness, commonality')

Due to the extreme remoteness and inaccessability of the prior derivational system in which these infixes were productive, a definitive (nor even sketchy) analysis of that system cannot be offered; only the general semantic effects of the infixes, as they were retained in pPCM at least, can be stated with any degree of accuracy. As we might expect of the likely primordial times in which it coalesced, this prior derivational system appears to have been semantically much looser and more free-form compared to the more consistent system that had replaced it by the time of pPCM; but little more can be said of it, as the aforementioned remnants of it in pPCM offer but a few vague clues. Moreover, pPCM itself appears to have undergone wholesale reformation and leveling (at the morphemic and word levels alike) along with the replacement of the prior system by the new ("current") one, making further penetration into the earlier system difficult, if not impossble. (Whether this reformation and leveling, or the appearance of it, was actual or is merely an artifact of the internal reconstruction process used to reconstruct pPCM is unknown; given pPCM's unnaturally high degree of regularity and lack of allomorphic variation, it is likely that the latter is the case, at least to some degree.)

The animizer is an artifact of the introduction of the animacy distinction into CM, which by the time of pPCM was well-established. Originally apparently a formal means of animizing inanimate initials (see §xx for a discussion of initial animacy and §xx for a related discussion of nominal animacy), it appears on a few pseudo-roots that survived into pPCM; but all these pseudo-roots have undergone significant semantic change, and it is these changes that likely account for their retention. The consequential and extensional infixes appear more often. The former derives a pseudo-root that is connected to a true root by means of causality: the pseudo-root owes its existence or substance to the root, or the pseudo-root is so because the root is; or, less typically, the true root is a consequence of the pseudo-root. The latter derives a pseudo-root that is in some way associated with or is an extension of a true root, most typically resulting in a pseudo-root of greater specificity or specialization of meaning than the root. The association or extension is literal in some cases, figurative in others.

No more than one infix appears on any single pseudo-root; but some pseudo-roots show both an infix and either the ablaut or consonant alternation. In these cases, where ablaut is involved, the vowel(s) of the original roots and the vowel of the infixes alike undergo change, suggesting that the infixes had become unproductive, and their corresponding pseudo-roots frozen, before the ablaut was applied.

Save where the animizing infix is used, initials deriving from pseudo-roots almost always (except in a few rare cases) share the animacy class of the initials of the true roots from which they come. Initials from pseudo-roots that undergo only vocalic ablaut or consonantal alternation also share the transitivity, dynamic/stative class and agreement class of the initials of their associated true roots. However, initials from pseudo-roots using infixes may not always share the transitivity, dynamic/stative class or agreement class of the initials of their associated true roots. See §xx for a discussion of these initial distinctions.

In addition, there is a special class of pseudo-roots that are derived by compounding of roots and pseudo-roots; these are the pseudo-roots yielding the (transitive) times numbers 6-20 and the (dynamic) counting numbers 6-20; see §xx for a discussion of numbers in pPCM/PCM. Though some of these are of considerable length compared to other pseudo-roots, they can rightly be judged as falling into the pseudo-root catgegory, as they yield initials, medials and qualitative/quantitative infixes just as other roots and pseudo-roots do.

By the time of pPCM, all of the foregoing infixes and processes giving rise to pseudo-roots had ceased to be productive; the infixes especially would seem to have been unproductive for some time by the era of pPCM.


MORPHOLOGICAL CLASSES

PPCM/PCM's word-forming elements divide into a number of distinct morphological classes. All pPCM word-forming elements save the incorporable nominals are ultimately ascribable to roots (or to roots via pseudo-roots); and multiple elements of differing morphological classes often all have their origins in the same root/pseudo-root, and indeed in pPCM are phonetically identical to one another and to their roots/pseudo-roots of origin. In PCM, however, many such elements have each developed their own unique phonetic forms from allomorphic variations. Generally speaking, it is, in pPCM, morphological position (i.e., location in a word) that determines the morphological class of a given element, i.e., its exact meaning and function; we may say that morphological position transforms a pPCM root/pseudo-root into an actual word-forming element of a given class.

The basic morphological classes of pPCM/PCM word-forming elements are prefix, initial, morphological conjunction, medial suffix, final suffix, incorporable nominal affix, infix and objective-subjective suffixes. Each class save the morphological conjunction divides further into sub-classes.

Prefixes come in three sub-types: the conjunct prefixes, the interrogative prefix and the vocative prefix.

The initial serves as the core of a word, its broad semantic field or main idea, and occurs in three types: simple initials, complex productive initials and complex unproductive initials. Simple initials are morphologically simple, phonetically equivalent to a bare root in pPCM. Complex productive initials are productive constructions that are morphologically complex: they contain either a simple iniitial or a complex unproductive initial and at least one other productive derivational element. Complex unproductive initials reflect the petrified derivational morphology of pseudo-roots, and are the equivalent of the simple initials of true roots; they behave morphologically in all ways like simple initials.

The morphological conjunction is used to compound multiple initials (see §xx for a discussion of this type of derivation).

Medial suffixes modify initials in various ways, and are phonetically identical to corresponding initials of related meaning in pPCM, and derive from the same roots/pseudo-roots as corresponding initials; and they divide similiarly to the initials, into simple medials, complex productive medials and complex unproductive medials. The morphological characters of the medial sub-classes match those of similar initial sub-classes.

Finals are inflectional and give pronominal information of the agent and/or patient; they divide into intransitive objective finals, intransitive subjective finals, transitive dual objective finals, transitive subjective-objective finals, and transitive dual subjective finals. There is also an abstract final that appears on certain intransitives and on some transitive passives.

Incorporable nominal affixes distinguish between incorporable participant nominals and incorporable non-participant nominals, the former encompassing agents and patients that are incorporated into a word and the latter all other nominals so incorporated. Incorporable participant nominals appear as prefixes on the initial, while incorporable non-participant nominals show up as suffixes.

Infixes come in a number of varieties: those applicable to incorporable nominals, the qualitative and quantitative infixes and the possessive infixes; those applicable to initials, the detransitivizing infixes, the negation infix, the causative infix, the reflexive infix, the reciprocal infix and the nominal-related infixes; and those applicable to finals: the ordinal-aspectual-modal infixes and the relational-genitive infixes. Possessive infixes are applicable to incorporable nominals and finals alike; and some initial infixes are also applicable to medials, though medials have no infixes that are particular to them. Infixes appear after the first vowel of di- and polysyllabic elements, and as suffixes to monosyllabic ones.

Objective-subjective suffixes appear only in finals and divide into the objective suffix and the subjective suffix, both of which are used to alter the relationship of the agent and patient to the action.


ELEMENT AND STEM DERIVATION

The pPCM/PCM stem is built from productive word-forming elements; it has five major morphological positions, with the initial being the sole obligatory element. There are also a number of minor morphological positions, which are infixes to the elements in major positions. PPCM/PCM stems are constructed on this template:

prefix + incorporable participant nominal + initial + medial + incorporable non-participant nominal
1 2 3 4 5

Any of the elements in major positions save the prefixes may themselves be derived by taking one or more infixes.

Prefixes occupy the first major morphological position in the stem; and only one prefix may appear on a single stem. The three sub-classeses of them can peform a variety of functions:

1. The conjunct prefixes create subbordinate words that cannot stand alone as utterances; these must be used in conjunction with other, non-subbordinate (independent) words to make full sense: c.f. **hɛtʊŋɔmɛtɛ 'he(prox.) lives' beside **ŋaŋɩhɛtʊŋɔmɛtɛ 'when/as he(prox.) lives'. A word taking any of the conjunct prefixes associates itself with the immediately prior or following word in the sentence, such that the two words form a single expressive unit:

**maŋɩnɛsɔsamɛkʊtɛ tɛŋapɛkɛmɛkʊ 'he(prox.) wants to speed'

**ŋɩkʊtʊŋɔmɛtɛ tɛŋapɛkɛmɛ 'because he(prox.) fears him(obv.), he(prox.) speeds'

**tɛŋapɛkɛmɛ sɛŋɩtʊsʊmɛtɛ 'he(prox.) speeds until he(prox.) becomes exhausted'

Multiple conjunct words may appear together or in close proximity to form a phrase, but an independent word must invariably be present:

**maŋɩnɛsɔsamɛkʊtɛ tɛŋapɛkɛmɛkʊ ŋɩkʊtʊŋɔmɛtɛ 'he(prox.) wants to speed because he(prox.) fears him(obv.)'

All of the conjunct prefixes contain the sequence **-ŋɩ-, suggesting a derivational connection between them; but this connection, if real, is likely so remote that it defies definitive analysis, and the prefixes are instead treated as separate (non-derived) forms. Moreover, it is equally plausible that the connection is analogical and not derivational.

2. The interrogative prefix forms question words, both those prompting affirmative or negative answers and otherwise: c.f. **tɔŋɔmɔmɛtahɔmɛ 'he(prox.) chops him(obv.) through' beside **mɩtɩtɔŋɔmɔmɛtahɔmɛ 'does he(prox.) chop him(obv.) through?'

3. The vocative prefix is used for direct address and appears only on free-standing (i.e., non-incorporable) syntactic nominals: c.f. **kɔmɩŋɔmɛnɔsɛhɩ 'followers' (literally 'they(prox.) regularly follow someone') beside **sʊkɔmɩŋɔmɛnɔsɛhɩ 'O followers!'

Incorporable participant nominals occupy the second major position of the stem. A discussion of incorporable nominals generally and their derivation is in order. Incorporable nominals are the "abbreviated" forms of free-standing nominals, the forms that nominals take when they are incorporated into larger words; and, as such, they never appear as free words. There are six inflectional types of each of them, distinguishing by person and number: third (proximate) person singiular, third person plural, fourth (obviative) person singular, fourth person plural, fifth (farther obviative) person singular, fifth person plural. See §xx for a discussion of these pronominal distinctions. Each inflectional type of incorporable nominal is derived from its corresponding free-standing nominal by deletion of unstressed syllables, thus:

**'ŋɩhɛ'mɩŋɔ'mɛsɛ'hɩ 'otter' (literally 'he(prox.) regularly seeks things'): third (proximate) person singular > **-ŋɩmɩmɛhɩ-

**'ŋɩhɛ'mɩŋɔ'mɛnɔ'sɛ'hɩ 'otters': third person plural > **-ŋɩmɩmɛsɛhɩ-

**'ŋɩhɛ'mɩŋɔ'kʊsɛ'hɩ 'otter': fourth (obviative) person singular > **-ŋɩmɩkʊhɩ-

**'ŋɩhɛ'mɩŋɔ'nɔkʊ'sɛ'hɩ 'otters': fourth person plural > **-ŋɩmɩnɔsɛhɩ-

**'ŋɩhɛ'mɩŋɔ'mʊsɛ'hɩ 'otter': fifth (farther obviative) person singular > **-ŋɩmɩmʊhɩ-

**'ŋɩhɛ'mɩŋɔ'nɔmʊ'sɛ'hɩ 'otters': fifth person plural > **-ŋɩmɩnɔsɛhɩ-

There is sometimes ambiguity between certain inflectional forms of incorporable nominals, as between the plural fourth and fifth person forms above. The incorporable forms of nominals falling into the inalienable possessive class (see §xx for a discussion of the possessive distinctions) are derived from unpossessed free-standing nominal words, which do not otherwise occur, just as incorporable nominals of the alienable possessive class are; and possessive infixes are then inserted into them as normal.

The principles governing participant nominal incorporation are as follows: (1) Stems that trigger transitive agreement may optionally see the patient incorporated as an incorporable participant nominal; but the agent in such cases may never be so incorporated:

c.f. **kɔmɩŋɔmɛkɛnɔsɛhɩ nɔtʊŋamɛnɔtɛnɔ ŋɩhɛmɩŋɔnɔkʊsɛhɩ 'my followers see the otters' beside **kɔmɩŋɔmɛkɛnɔsɛhɩ ŋɩmɩnɔsɛhɩnɔtʊŋamɛnɔtɛ 'my followers see the otters' (literally 'my followers otters-see')

Multiple patients may be incorporated, one following the other without conjunction, but if one patient is incorporated, all of them must be.

(2) Stems that trigger intransitive agreement may optionally see the agent incorporated as an incorporable participant nominal:

c.f. **ŋɩhɛmɩŋɔmɛsɛhɩ matʊpɛmɛtɛ 'an otter is wet' beside **ŋɩmɩmɛhɩmatʊpɛnɩtɛ 'an otter is wet' (literally 'an otter-wets')

Again, multiple agents may be incorporated, but if one of them is, all of them must be.

Both types of incorporable nominal (participant and non-participant) are phonetically identical and may be composed so:

incorporable participant nominal/incorporable non-participant nominal + qualitative or quantitative infix + possessive infix

Incorporable nominals may take multiple qualitative and quantitative infixes, which derive from roots and pseudo-roots; these may occur sequentially in any order and always precede any possessive infix:

c.f. **-ŋɩmɩmɛsɛhɩ- 'otters' beside:

**-ŋɩnɛŋɔmɩmɛsɛhɩ- 'four otters'

**-ŋɩpɔpamɩmɛsɛhɩ- 'brown otters'

**-ŋɩkɛmɩmɛsɛhɩ- 'my otters'

**-ŋɩnɛŋɔpɔpamɩmɛsɛhɩ- 'four brown otters'

**-ŋɩnɛŋɔpɔpakɛmɩmɛsɛhɩ- 'my four brown otters'

Initials occupy the third major position in the stem, function as the core of the stem and word alike, and are derivationally the most complex of all elements; they may be composed thus:

simple initial/complex unproductive initial + detransitivizing infix + negation infix + causative infix + reflexive infix/reciprocal infix + nominal-related infix

Initials make a number of important distinctions: transitivity (intransitive and transitive), dynamic/stative class, animacy class (inanimate and animate), and agreement class. Agreement classes are as follows: intransitive initials distinguish between those that trigger objective agreement, wherein the agent is expressed as object (undergoer), and those that trigger subjective agreement, wherein the agent is expressed as subject (doer); and transitive initials distinguish similarly between those that trigger dual objective agreement, wherein the agent and patient both are expressed as object, and those that trigger subjective-objective agreement, wherein the agent is expressed as subject and the patient as object. Further, transitive initials using the reciprocal infix trigger a fifth class of agreement, dual subjective agreement, wherein the agent and patient are both expressed as subject. See §xx for more information on agreement classes and how they are expressed inflectionally. Simple initials and complex unproductive initials tend to be inherently transitive and dynamic whenever possible, with intransitive and stative forms accomplished via derivation.

The so-called detransitivizing infixes can perform a variety of functions; despite their name, they are far more than mere detransitivizers. They may do any of the following:

(1) Reverse the meaning of certain initials, or derive initials of opposite meaning;

(2) Convert transitive initials into intransitive, i.e., eliminate the patient;

(3) Derive stative initials from dynamic, i.e., eliminate the act or change of state;

(4) Form passives;

(5) Form medio-passives.

The detransitivizer **-ha- (< root **ha 'oppositeness, inverseness, backwardness'), which reverses meaning, appears to have been the first in use and served as the ultimate origin for the entire set; and by means of both vowel and consonant alternation, its form and functions were expanded therefrom. This resulted in a system of fused detransitivizers whose members could perform more than one function simultaneously. Referring to the numbered functions above, the detransitivizing infixes are:

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
(1) **-ha-
(2) **-hɔ- **-sɔ-
(3) **-hʊ- **-sʊ- **-tʊ-
(4) **-hɛ- **-sɛ- **-tɛ- **-kɛ-
(5) **-hɩ- **-sɩ- **-tɩ- **-kɩ- **-pɩ-

The detransitivizers at the intersections of identical numbers (e.g., (1) and (1)) perform only the single numbered function, while those at the intersections of different numbers perform the two numbered functions simultaneously. Performing more than two functions simultaneously requires the use of two infixes; and an initial may take up to two detransitivizing infixes, sequentially. If two infixes performing dual functions are used at once, they may come in any order; but if one infix performs but a single function, it must come after the infix that performs dual functions.

The vowel and consonant alternations seen among the detransitivizers all proceed from the **-h- and **-a- of **-ha-, such that it is possible to describe each vowel and consonant as performing or expressing a certain function:

**-h-, **-a-: reversal
**-s-, **-ɔ-: transitive to intransitive
**-t-, **-ʊ-: dynamic to stative
**-k-, **-ɛ-: passive
**-p-, **-ɩ-: medio-passive

The reversal function is semantically stronger than mere negation, but it is not applicable consistently to every initial; rather, it is applicable only to those initials for which there are not already initials of opposite or reversed meaning extant: c.f. **hɛmɛ 'he breathes' beside **hɛhamɛ 'he holds (his) breath'.

The detransitivizing function eliminates the patient: c.f. **pɛkɛmɛ 'he(prox.) commits an (unspecified) act quickly or swiftly upon him(obv.)' beside **pɛsɔkɛmɛ 'he(prox.) commits an (unspecified) act quickly or swiftly'.

The dynamic-to-stative function can not only eliminate the act or change of state, but also express active verses passive sensory functions: c.f. **mapɛmɛtɛ 'he(prox.) becomes wet' beside **matʊpɛmɛtɛ 'he(prox.) is wet', and **nɔŋamɛ 'he(prox.) looks at or visually examines him(obv.)' beside **nɔtʊŋamɛtɛ 'he(prox.) sees him(obv.)'.

In passives, which are always transitive, the agent is demoted or deemphasized but still overtly expressed; and, morphologically, agent and patient exchange places in some respects, such that some of the rules and tendencies that normally apply to patients apply instead to agents, and vice-versa. Exceptions to this include the following: (1) the order of agent and patient in the final is not reversed in passives, and the default, unmarked patients that each pronominal category of agent expresses in transitives are not altered (see §xx for a description of these phenomena); (2) agents are still inherently expressed as subjects (or doers) in passives, and patients inherently expressed as objects (or undergoers); see §xx for a description of this phenomenon. E.g., c.f. **mɛsʊmɛnɔtɛ nɛtʊhɩmɛnɔtɛ 'higher powers(prox.) hear him(obv.)' beside **mɛsʊnɔkʊtɛ nɛtɛhɩnɔkʊtɛ 'he(prox.) is heard by higher powers(obv.)'. In passives, it is the agent (as opposed to the patient) that may optionally be incorporated as an incorporable participant nominal into the stem; and when this is done, the personal element representing the agent is omitted from the final (see §xx): **mɛnɔtɛnɛtɛhɩnɩtɛ 'he(prox.) is heard by the higher powers(obv.)'. This sometimes results in an abstract final being used.

Medio-passives eliminate the agent entirely, much like the detransitivizing function eliminates the patient, creating an agentless form of intransitive; these always trigger a special form of objective agreement wherein the objective suffix is omitted and the final consists of a single personal element which refers to the patient (see §xx for a discussion of these issues); c.f. **nɔtʊŋamɛ 'he(prox.) sees him(obv.)' beside **nɔtɩŋakʊ 'he(obv.) is seen'. As with transitives, the patient may optionally be incorporated into a medio-passive stem as an incorporable participant nominal, in which case the personal element representing the patient is omitted from the final and an abstract final is used (see §xx): c.f. **nɔtʊŋamɛ ŋɩhɛmɩŋɔkʊsɛhɩ 'he(prox.) sees the otter(obv.)' beside **ŋɩmɩkʊhɩnɔtɩŋanɩ 'the otter(obv.) is seen'.

The negation infix **-mɔpɔ- (< root **mɔpɔ 'propositional falseness, lie') is used to negate an initial (and thereby a stem): c.f. **nɛkamɛ 'he(prox.) makes a sound toward him(obv.)' beside **nɛmɔpɔkamɛ 'he(prox.) does not make a sound toward him(obv.)'.

The causative infix **-ŋɩ- (< root **ŋɩ 'do, make, cause, causalness, causality, create') is applicable to intransitive initials only (including those that have been made intransitive by a detransitivizing infix); it makes intransitive initials transitive: c.f. **hamɔhɔtɛ 'it(prox.) becomes hot' beside **haŋɩmɔmɛhɔ 'he(prox.) makes it(prox.) become hot, he(prox.) heats it(prox.)'.

The reflexive infix **-ŋɛ- (< root **ŋɛ 'hereness or nowness') is a special type of detransitivizer that makes the agent the recipient of the action of an initial; i.e., it shows action upon oneself: c.f. **mɩkamɛ 'he(prox.) strikes him(obv.)' beside **mɩŋɛkamɛ 'he(prox.) strikes himself'. Use of the reflexive invariably results in an intransitive initial.

The reciprocal infix **-ŋɛŋɛ- (a formal reduplication of the reflexive infix) shows identical action of two or more persons toward, to or upon one another. Unlike the reflexive infix, when used by itself, the reciprocal maintains the transitivity of the initial, and causes the initial to trigger dual subjective agreement: e.g., **mɩŋɛŋɛkamɛta 'he(prox.) strikes him(obv.), and he(obv.) strikes him(prox.)'. When used in conjunction with a normal detransitivizing infix (which performs the detransitivizing function), however, the reciprocal produces an intransitive initial just like the reflexive: e.g., **mɩsɔŋɛŋɛkamɛnɔ 'they(prox.) strike each other'.

The nominal-related infixes are many and of various root/pseudo-root origins; they each express a certain relationship between the action of the initial and an incorporable non-participant nominal. An initial may take multiple nominal-related infixes, sequentially, and these may come in any order. They can expand the action of the initial nominally beyond the basic participants (agent and patient) in myriad ways:

c.f. **-ŋɩpɛ- 'attempt or try to do something' beside:

**-ŋɩkɛŋɩpɛ- 'attempt or try to do something onto/on/over top of/over/above someone/something'

**-ŋɩkɩpɛ- 'attempt or try to do something toward/to/at/by someone/something'

**-ŋɩmɔŋɩpɛ- 'attempt or try to do something under/below/beneath someone/something'

**-ŋɩnapɛ- 'attempt or try to do something with (in the company of) someone/something'

**-ŋɩhɩpɛ- 'attempt or try to do something without (not in the company of) someone/something'

**-ŋɩnʊpɛ- 'attempt or try to do something into/in/inside of/within someone/something'

**-ŋɩsʊpɛ- 'attempt or try to do something out(side) of/out from/away from/from someone/something'

**-ŋɩpɛpɛ- 'attempt or try to do something by means of someone/something'

**-ŋɩsapɛ- 'attempt or try to do something for the good or benefit of someone/something'

Some nominal-related infixes can express either a dynamic or a stative meaning ('into' verses 'in', e.g., both of which the infix **-nʊ- may express); typically, it is the dynamic/stative class of the initial that determines whether such a nominal-related infix should be translated as dynamic or stative.

Furthermore, as a productive derivational process, the first (or only) syllable of an initial may be reduplicated to express repetition of action. This reduplication occurs after any infixation to the initial: c.f. **tɔŋɔmɔmɛ 'he(prox.) cuts him(obv.)' beside **tɔtɔŋɔmɔmɛ 'he(prox.) cuts and cuts him(obv.)'.

Two or more initials may be compounded by the morphological conjunction **-na- (< root **na 'withness, having along, conjunction'), so long as all initials so linked share the same transitivity and agreement class and the same agent(s) and/or patient(s). E.g.:

**kɛhɩnanʊkɔhɔtɛ 'it(prox.) becomes dry and hard, it(prox.) dries hard'

**kɔnakɛmɩmɛ 'he(prox.) follows and thinks of him(obv.), he(prox.) hunts him(obv.)'

The governing principles of initial infixes in these cases are as follows:

1. Any detransitivizing infix that does not form a passive or medio-passive or a causative infix applies only to the initial on which it is used and not to the compounded initial as a whole.

2. Any detransitivizing infix that forms a passive or medio-passive, a negation infix, a reflexive infix/reciprocal infix or a nominal-related infix is applied only to the first initial of the compound (in their respective orders, if more than one of these is used) and applies to the compounded initial as a whole.

Any medials present in a stem apply to the compounded initial as a whole. Repetitive reduplication occurs as normal only to the first initial of a compound, after all infixing, and likewise applies to the compounded initial as a whole.

Medials occupy the fourth major position of the stem; they always modify the idea of an initial in some manner, sometimes adverbally: c.f. **tɛŋamɛ 'he(prox.) moves' beside **tɛŋapɛkɛmɛ 'he(prox.) moves quickly, he(prox.) speeds'.

Medials may take certain initial infixes so:

simple medial/complex unproductive medial + detransitivizing infix + causative infix

A medial may take multiple infixes, sequentially; but these are limited to those detransitvizing infixes that reverse meaning or alter dynamic/stative class and to the causative infix. Multiple medials may appear in the same stem, sequentially, and may come in any order.

Incorporable non-participant nominals occupy the fifth and last position of the stem; they may be composed as previously described. Under their category falls all incorporated nominals which are neither agents nor patients; and their relationship to an action is shown by nominal-related infixes on the initial. In other words, a nominal-related infix "points to" or is "attached to" an incorporable non-participant nominal that follows the initial (and medial(s), if any): c.f. **pʊtamɛhɔ 'he(prox.) gives it(prox.)' beside **pʊsataŋɩmɩkʊhɩmɛhɔ 'he(prox.) gives it(prox.) for the good of the otter(obv.), he(prox.) gives it(prox.) to the otter(obv.)'.

If no incorporable non-participant nominal is present in the expected position, the speaker is assumed to be the object of a nominal-related infix. Multiple incorporable non-participant nominals may be present in a single stem, one following the other without conjunction, but the order of nominal-related infixes in the initial must match the order of their associated incorporable non-participant nominals that follow. Any nominal-related infixes that lack an associated non-participant nominal (and thus refer to the speaker, as previously described) must come after any nominal-related infixes that do have associated non-participant nominals.


INFLECTION

Inflectional finals are obligatory to the word and are built from productive word-forming elements; and, as their name implies, they occupy the second and last morphological position of the word. The major morphological positions of the final are the agent and the patient; the minor positions are either suffixes to the agent or patient, the objective suffix and the subjective suffix, or infixes to the final as a whole, the ordinal-aspectual-modal infixes, the possessive infixes and the relational-genitive infixes.

Agents and patients may be complex; they consist minimally of a personal element, which is itself built from meaningful components. To fully understand the origin of the personal elements, it is necessary to discuss the CM pronominal system as it existed prior to pPCM. Before the pPCM stage, CM made pronominal distinctions of person (first, second, third), number (singular, simple plural, partitive plural, aggregative plural), formality (informal, formal, for second and third persons) and specificity (non-specific, specific, for third persons). It also marked an indefinite person. Personal elements were built up by agglutination of components in set order: person+formality+number+specificity. The components were as follows, with the singular, informal and non-specific unmarked:

Person

first: **-kɩ- (< root **kɩ 'motion toward, towardness or location at')

second: **-sʊ- (< root **sʊ 'motion away, awayness, locational outness, outsideness')

third: **-hɔ- (< root **hɔ 'asideness, separateness')

Number

simple plural: **-nɔ- (< root **nɔ 'twoness, two times, not alone, more than one, more than one time')

partitive plural: **-pɩ- (< root **pɩ 'partialness, incompleteness, some')

aggregative plural: **-sɩ- (< root **sɩ 'completeness, wholeness, fullness, all')

Other

formal: **-ma- (< root **ma 'bigness or largeness')

specific: **-kʊ- (< root **kʊ 'right or rightness (of hand)')

indefinite: **-sɛhɩ- (< root **sɛhɩ 'lacking personal knowledge')

The prior set of CM personal elements, then, appears to have been thus, where S=singular, P=simple plural, Pa=partitive plural, A=aggregative plural, I=informal, F=formal, N=non-specific, Sp=specific and In=indefinite:

1S: **-kɩ-
1P: **-kɩnɔ-
1Pa: **-kɩpɩ-
1A: **-kɩsɩ-
2SI: **-sʊ-
2PI: **-sʊnɔ-
2PaI: **-sʊpɩ-
2AI: **-sʊsɩ-
2SF: **-sʊma-
2PF: **-sʊmanɔ-
2PaF: **-sʊmapɩ-
2AF: **-sʊmasɩ-
3SIN: **-hɔ-
3PIN: **-hɔnɔ-
3PaIN: **-hɔpɩ-
3AIN: **-hɔsɩ-
3SISp: **-kʊ-
3PISp: **-nɔkʊ-
3PaISp: **-pɩkʊ-
3AISp: **-sɩkʊ-
3SFN: **-hɔma-
3PFN: **-hɔmanɔ-
3PaFN: **-hɔmapɩ-
3AFN: **-hɔmasɩ-
3SFSp: **-makʊ-
3PFSp: **-manɔkʊ-
3PaFSp: **-mapɩkʊ-
3AFSp: **-masɩkʊ-
In: **-sɛhɩ-

Because specificity occurs only in the third person, where it is marked the component for third person was omitted.

The derivational logic behind some of the components is obvious, while with others it is more obscure. The 'toward' and 'away' of first and second person refer to position or motion relative to a speaker; and the 'separateness' of third person signifies a participant set apart from speaker and addressee. The formal component likely refers to the physical size of the Ozolotaahko relative to humans, as the formal pronominals were reserved exclusively for speaking to or about them. The use of 'right' to express specificity likely originates with a common gestural custom of pointing or referring to different objects or sets of objects with different hands. The indefinite denoted a person about whom no pronominally significant details were known or given, or a generalized person; it can be translated variously as 'one(s)', 'someone(s)', 'something(s)', thing(s), 'anyone(s)', 'anything(s)', 'a person', 'people', etc.

By the time of pPCM, the pronominal system had undergone significant change, with reanalysis of some components and the addition of others. The partitive and aggregative plurals were lost in all forms save the plural first person, where they came to refer to the exclusive and inclusive plural first persons, respectively. Because exclusivity and inclusivity occur only in the first person, the component marking first person in these forms was dropped. The simple plural first person was abandoned; but the simple plural was retained as the lone plural in all other forms. The third person non-specific and specific forms came to be used as proximate and obviative third persons, respectively, with the former eventually displaced by a new set of animate (proximate) third person forms when the distinction of animacy entered CM; and the old proximate forms were relegated to the status of referring to inanimate (proximate) third persons. The formality distinction was lost among the inanimate third person forms, due to lack of a need for it; and due to their origin, the obviative forms did not distinguish animacy. The third person specific forms, probably after having been in use as obviatives for some time, gave rise to a secondary set of forms, the farther obviatives. The new animate third person forms were innovated from the old third person non-specific/proximate finals by replacement of the component **-hɔ- with **-mɛ- (< root **mɛ 'spiritualness, spiritual power, sacredness, medicine, mysteriousness, animacy'). The farther obviatives were created from the obviatives by replacement of the component **-kʊ- with **-mʊ- (< root **mʊ 'differentness, dissimilarness'); **-kʊ- was omitted or dropped from the farther obviatives because **-mʊ-, which was employed initially at least as a marker of differentiation, occurs only in the farther obviatives, and therefore overt marking of the obviative there was unnecessary. Thus, the pPCM personal elements are, where 4=obviative, 5=farther obviative, S=singular, P=plural, A=animate, Ia=inanimate, E=exclusive, Ic=inclusive, I=informal, F=formal and In=indefinite:

1S: **-kɩ-
1PE: **-pɩ-
1PIc: **-sɩ-
2SI: **-sʊ-
2PI: **-sʊnɔ-
2SF: **-sʊma-
2PF: **-sʊmanɔ-
3SAI: **-mɛ-
3PAI: **-mɛnɔ-
3SAF: **-mɛma-
3PAF: **-mɛmanɔ-
3SIa: **-hɔ-
3PIa: **-hɔnɔ-
4SI: **-kʊ-
4PI: **-nɔkʊ-
4SF: **-makʊ-
4PF: **-manɔkʊ-
5SI: **-mʊ-
5PI: **-nɔmʊ-
5SF: **-mamʊ-
5PF: **-manɔmʊ-
In: **-sɛhɩ-

Often, the obviative is referred to as the fourth person and the farther obviative as the fifth person.

Following the alterations to the pronominal system, these components in the personal elements can be said to have been reanalyzed as having different meanings:

**-hɔ-: inanimate (proximate) third person

**-pɩ-: plural exclusivity

**-sɩ-: plural inclusivity

**-kʊ-: obviative

The new component **-mɛ- marked the animate (proximate) third person, while the other new component **-mʊ- marked the farther obviative.

In intransitive finals, the single personal element marks the agent; in transitive finals, the first personal element marks the agent and the second personal element marks the patient. Agents are inherently expressed as subjects (doers) and patients inherently expressed as objects (undergoers), but this is alterable by the objective suffix and subjective suffix. The objective suffix **-tɛ (< root **tɛ 'accidentallness') expresses lack of initiation or control of an act on the part of the agent, in essence making the agent an object or undergoer. The subjective suffix **-ta (< root **ta 'deliberateness') expresses initiation and/or control of an act on the part of the patient, in essence making the patient a subject or doer.

Agents may be composed so:

personal element + objective suffix/subjective suffix

Patients likewise may take a suffix:

personal element + subjective suffix

The five basic types of finals have archetypical compositions that admit of much variation; which type of final is used, and indeed which variation thereof is used, is determined by the transitivity of the stem and the agreement class that it triggers, the possible incorporation of agent or patient into the stem as an incorporable nominal, and by the pronominal details of the agent and patient. Final types are named for transitivity plus agreement class.

Intransitive objective finals have this archetypical form:

personal element + objective suffix
(agent)

Intransitive subjective finals consist of a single personal element, which represents the agent.

Transitive dual objective finals:

personal element + objective suffix + personal element
(agent) (patient)

Transitive subjective-objective finals:

personal element + personal element
(agent) (patient)

Transitive dual subjective finals:

personal element + personal element + subjective suffix
(agent) (patient)

The foregoing archetypical forms are altered in the following ways in certain circumstances:

1. When the patient is incorporated as an incorporable nominal into any transitive or intransitive medio-passive stem, the personal element representing the patient is omitted from the final; and the same holds true when the agent in a passive is incorporated into the stem: the personal element representing the agent is omitted from the final.

2. When the agent is incorporated as an incorporable nominal into any intransitive stem, the personal element representing the agent is omitted from the final; and in its place appears a so-called abstract final, **-nɩ- (< root **nɩ 'zeroness or zero times, nothingness, none'), which is a semantically empty element; the abstract final functions as merely a formal means of satisfying the requirement that a final be present to have a complete word. Intransitive medio-passive stems that incorporate the patient likewise use the abstract final. The abstract final also appears on some (transitive) passives where the agent is incorporated into the stem.

3. In transitives, when any first, second, third inanimate, fourth, fifth or indefinite person agent acts on any animate third person patient, the component that marks person type is omitted from the patient's personal element in the final. This is so even in passives where the abstract final is used.

4. In transitives, when any animate third person agent acts on any fourth person patient, the component that marks person type is omitted from the patient's personal element in the final. This is so even in passives where the abstract final is used.

5. In (intransitive) medio-passives, the objective suffix is omitted from the final and the remaining single personal element of the final refers to the patient (this personal element may likewise be omitted and an abstract final susbtituted when the patient is incorporated into the medio-passive stem, as described in 1. and 2. above).

In cases 3. and 4. we may say that, in transitives, each pronominal category of agent has its own default patient, which is unmarked; e.g., in case 4. there is a singular informal fourth person patient that co-occurs, defaultly and unmarkedly, with all animate third person agents in transitives.

Three types of infixes may apply to finals, which occur after the first vowel of di- and polysyllabic finals, and as suffixes to monosyllabic finals:

final + ordinal-aspectual-modal infix + possessive infix + relational-genitive infix

PPCM marks two orders (the manifest and the unmanifest), three aspects (the continuative, the imperfective and the perfective) and two modes (the indicative and the imperative). Tense, strictly speaking, is not marked. In the indicative mode, marking of one of four levels of evidentiality is mandatory: (1) by firsthand experience, (2) by secondhand experience, testimony, hearsay or common knowledge, (3) by deduction or implication, or (4) by assumption, guess or speculation. The imperative mode divides into sub-modes consisting of imperatives proper (the immediate imperative and the delayed imperative) and two others associated with the imperatives: the obligative and the hortative, which deal with suggestion and urging.

Order, aspect and mode are obligatorily shown on all words by means of a set of fused infixes. The manifest order, continuative aspect and the firsthand evidential of the indicative mode are unmarked. PPCM's ordinal-aspectual-modal infixes all ultimately derive from the infix **-kɛmɩ- 'unmanifest order, imperfective aspect, indicative mode/firsthand evidential' (< root **kɛmɩ 'thinking, imagination'), which appears to have gained its meaning due to the unmanifest being used with words related to thought, imagination, etc. Other phonetically unrelated infixes were doubtless contemporary with it before pPCM, and expressed other ordinal-aspectual-modal combinations, but **-kɛmɩ- alone survived into pPCM; and, through both vowel and consonant alternation reminiscent of the detransitivizers, it gave rise to the entire set of pPCM ordinal-aspectual-modal infixes, which replaced any previous infixes that may have been in use.

As a disyllabic element, **-kɛmɩ- lent itself to a series of complex alternations that resulted in each of its vowels and consonants, and each of the vowels and consonants of its derivative infixes, taking on or expressing a certain abstract meaning. Each ordinal-aspectual-modal infix is divisible by its syllables into two parts: the consonant of the first syllable expressing order, the vowel of the first syllable expressing evidentiality level for the indicative mode, the consonant of the second syllable expressing aspect, and the vowel of the second syllable expressing the sub-mode for the imperative. Indicative and imperative modes are not expressed simultaneously; when one mode is marked by a given infix, the other syllable of the infix contains a "null" vowel, i.e., a vowel that marks no specific level of evidentiality (for the indicative) nor any specific imperative sub-mode. The abstract meanings of the vowels and consonants found in the infixes can be summarized as follows:

First syllable (order, indicative mode)

**-k-: unmanifest order

**-p-: manifest order

**-ɛ-: firsthand evidential (indicative mode)

**-ɩ-: secondhand evidential (indicative mode)

**-a-: deduction evidential (indicative mode)

**-ɔ-: assumption evidential (indicative mode)

**-ʊ-: <null indicative>

Second syllable (aspect, imperative mode)

**-m-: imperfective aspect

**-ŋ-: perfective aspect

**-n-: continuative aspect

**-ɔ-: immediate imperative (imperative mode)

**-ʊ-: delayed imperative (imperative mode)

**-a-: obligative (imperative mode)

**-ɛ-: hortative (imperative mode)

**-ɩ-: <null imperative>

There are two sub-sets of ordinal-aspectual-modal infixes: full infixes and half-infixes. The latter are the full infixes broken down into their constituient syllables, such that each one expresses either only order/indicative mode or aspect/imperative mode; and they are used in cases where a full infix is not necessary because the word's order/mode or its aspect/mode combination is unmarked. The full infixes are used in all other cases. The infixes are:

Full infixes

**-pɛnɩ-: manifest + firsthand + continuative + <null imperative>
**-pɛmɩ-: manifest + firsthand + imperfective + <null imperative>
**-pɛŋɩ-: manifest + firsthand + perfective + <null imperative>
**-pɩnɩ-: manifest + secondhand + continuative + <null imperative>
**-pɩmɩ-: manifest + secondhand + imperfective + <null imperative>
**-pɩŋɩ-: manifest + secondhand + perfective + <null imperative>
**-panɩ-: manifest + deduction + continuative + <null imperative>
**-pamɩ-: manifest + deduction + imperfective + <null imperative>
**-paŋɩ-: manifest + deduction + perfective + <null imperative>
**-pɔnɩ-: manifest + assumption + continuative + <null imperative>
**-pɔmɩ-: manifest + assumption + imperfective + <null imperative>
**-pɔŋɩ-: manifest + assumption + perfective + <null imperative>

**-pʊnɔ-: manifest + <null indicative> + continuative + immediate imperative
**-pʊnʊ-: manifest + <null indicative> + continuative + delayed imperative
**-pʊna-: manifest + <null indicative> + continuative + obligative
**-pʊnɛ-: manifest + <null indicative> + continuative + hortative
**-pʊmɔ-: manifest + <null indicative> + imperfective + immediate imperative
**-pʊmʊ-: manifest + <null indicative> + imperfective + delayed imperative
**-pʊma-: manifest + <null indicative> + imperfective + obligative
**-pʊmɛ-: manifest + <null indicative> + imperfective + hortative
**-pʊŋɔ-: manifest + <null indicative> + perfective + immediate imperative
**-pʊŋʊ-: manifest + <null indicative> + perfective + delayed imperative
**-pʊŋa-: manifest + <null indicative> + perfective + obligative
**-pʊŋɛ-: manifest + <null indicative> + perfective + hortative

**-kɛnɩ-: unmanifest + firsthand + continuative + <null imperative>
**-kɛmɩ-: unmanifest + firsthand + imperfective + <null imperative>
**-kɛŋɩ-: unmanifest + firsthand + perfective + <null imperative>
**-kɩnɩ-: unmanifest + secondhand + continuative + <null imperative>
**-kɩmɩ-: unmanifest + secondhand + imperfective + <null imperative>
**-kɩŋɩ-: unmanifest + secondhand + perfective + <null imperative>
**-kanɩ-: unmanifest + deduction + continuative + <null imperative>
**-kamɩ-: unmanifest + deduction + imperfective + <null imperative>
**-kaŋɩ-: unmanifest + deduction + perfective + <null imperative>
**-kɔnɩ-: unmanifest + assumption + continuative + <null imperative>
**-kɔmɩ-: unmanifest + assumption + imperfective + <null imperative>
**-kɔŋɩ-: unmanifest + assumption + perfective + <null imperative>

**-kʊnɔ-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + continuative + immediate imperative
**-kʊnʊ-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + continuative + delayed imperative
**-kʊna-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + continuative + obligative
**-kʊnɛ-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + continuative + hortative
**-kʊmɔ-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + imperfective + immediate imperative
**-kʊmʊ-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + imperfective + delayed imperative
**-kʊma-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + imperfective + obligative
**-kʊmɛ-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + imperfective + hortative
**-kʊŋɔ-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + perfective + immediate imperative
**-kʊŋʊ-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + perfective + delayed imperative
**-kʊŋa-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + perfective + obligative
**-kʊŋɛ-: unmanifest + <null indicative> + perfective + hortative

Half-infixes

Ordinal/Indicative

**-pɛ-: manifest + firsthand
**-pɩ-: manifest + secondhand
**-pa-: manifest + deduction
**-pɔ-: manifest + assumption
**-pʊ-: manifest + <null indicative>
**-kɛ-: unmanifest + firsthand
**-kɩ-: unmanifest + secondhand
**-ka-: unmanifest + deduction
**-kɔ-: unmanifest + assumption
**-kʊ-: unmanifest + <null indicative>

Aspectual/Imperative

**-nɩ-: continuative + <null imperative>
**-mɩ-: imperfective + <null imperative>
**-ŋɩ-: perfective + <null imperative>
**-nɔ-: continuative + immediate imperative
**-nʊ-: continuative + delayed imperative
**-na-: continuative + obligative
**-nɛ-: continuative + hortative
**-mɔ-: imperfective + immediate imperative
**-mʊ-: imperfective + delayed imperative
**-ma-: imperfective + obligative
**-mɛ-: imperfective + hortative
**-ŋɔ-: perfective + immediate imperative
**-ŋʊ-: perfective + delayed imperative
**-ŋa-: perfective + obligative
**-ŋɛ-: perfective + hortative

The possessive infixes may be found on both incorporable nominals and on finals. In the latter case, they indicate the possessor of the free-standing nominal to whose final they are infixed. PPCM distinguishes inalienable and alienable possession; the former encompasses family members (and persons involved in certain other close relationships), parts of the body and a few intimate possessions, while the latter covers all else. Nominals, both free-standing and incorporable, of the inalienable class always appear with a possessive infix, while nominals of the alienable class appear in both possessed and unpossessed forms. The pPCM possessive infixes are, where 4=obviative, 5=farther obviative, S=singular, P=plural, A=animate, Ia=inanimate, E=exclusive, Ic=inclusive, I=informal, F=formal and In=indefinite:

Inalienable Alienable

1S: **-kɩ- **-kɛ-
1PE: **-pɩ- **-pɛ-
1PIc: **-sɩ- **-sɛ-
2SI: **-sʊ- **-sɔ-
2PI: **-sʊnɔ- **-sɔnʊ-
2SF: **-sʊma- **-sɔmɔ-
2PF: **-sʊmanɔ- **-sɔmɔnʊ-
3SAI: **-mɛ- **-mɩ-
3PAI: **-mɛnɔ- **-mɩnʊ-
3SAF: **-mɛma- **-mɩmɔ-
3PAF: **-mɛmanɔ- **-mɩmɔnʊ-
3SIa: **-hɔ- **-hʊ-
3PIa: **-hɔnɔ- **-hʊnʊ-
4SI: **-kʊ- **-kɔ-
4PI: **-nɔkʊ- **-nʊkɔ-
4SF: **-makʊ- **-mɔkɔ-
4PF: **-manɔkʊ- **-mɔnʊkɔ-
5SI: **-mʊ- **-mɔ-
5PI: **-nɔmʊ- **-nʊmɔ-
5SF: **-mamʊ- **-mɔmɔ-
5PF: **-manɔmʊ- **-mɔnʊmɔ-
In: **-sɛhɩ- **-sɩhɛ-

The inalienable possessive infixes are identical in form to the personal elements of the finals; the alienable infixes are derived from the inalienable by vowel alternation:

**ɩ > **ɛ
**ɛ > **ɩ
**a > **ɔ
**ʊ > **ɔ
**ɔ > **ʊ

The relational-genitive infixes, unlike the possessives, appear only on finals, and thus are used only with free-standing nominals. They are used to express a vareity of associative relationships outside of possession, e.g., composition, origin and description. It seems likely that description was the original use of these infixes, to indicate occurence of one thing in the context of or as the quality/quantity of another, and their functions were expanded therefrom. Prior to pPCM, there were two relational-genitives:

**-na-: third person non-specific
**-nɔ-: third person specific

The former follows from the root **na 'withness, having along, conjunction', while the latter derives from the former by vowel alternation. The pronominal system changes leading up to pPCM brought about renalaysis of these infixes, and the addition of two more, derived also by vowel alternation:

**-na-: inanimate (proximate) third person
**-nɔ-: obviative (fourth person)
**-nɛ-: animate (proximate) third person
**-nʊ-: farther obviative (fifth person)



PERSONAL PRONOUNS

PPCM has a set of personal pronouns, which may be used largely like any other free-standing nominals; however, these occur seldom in their free-standing forms, only in cases of special emphasis. They are ordinary words built from the initials **-hɛtʊŋɔ- 'live or be alive or living (biologically or spirtually)', for any that may refer to an animate, and **hɛhʊŋɔ- 'not live or be non-living (biologically or spirtually)', for inanimates. Where 4=obviative, 5=farther obviative, S=singular, P=plural, A=animate, Ia=inanimate, E=exclusive, Ic=inclusive, I=informal, F=formal and In=indefinite, the pPCM personal pronouns are:

1S: **hɛtʊŋɔkɩtɛ
1PE: **hɛtʊŋɔpɩtɛ
1PIc: **hɛtʊŋɔsɩtɛ
2SI: **hɛtʊŋɔsʊtɛ
2PI: **hɛtʊŋɔsʊnɔtɛ
2SF: **hɛtʊŋɔsʊmatɛ
2PF: **hɛtʊŋɔsʊmanɔtɛ
3SAI: **hɛtʊŋɔmɛtɛ
3PAI: **hɛtʊŋɔmɛnɔtɛ
3SAF: **hɛtʊŋɔmɛmatɛ
3PAF: **hɛtʊŋɔmɛmanɔtɛ
3SIa: **hɛhʊŋɔhɔtɛ
3PIa: **hɛhʊŋɔhɔnɔtɛ
4SI: **hɛtʊŋɔkʊtɛ
4PI: **hɛtʊŋɔnɔkʊtɛ
4SF: **hɛtʊŋɔmakʊtɛ
4PF: **hɛtʊŋɔmanɔkʊtɛ
5SI: **hɛtʊ&#3
"On that island lies the flesh and bone of the Great Charging Bear, for as long as the grass grows and water runs," he said. "Where his spirit dwells, no one can say."

TaylorS
Avisaru
Avisaru
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Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:44 pm
Location: Moorhead, MN, USA

Post by TaylorS »

This is great! It's really hard to get my head around how polysenthetic languages work.

User avatar
vohpenonomae
N'guny
N'guny
Posts: 91
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2002 4:23 am

Post by vohpenonomae »

TaylorS wrote:This is great! It's really hard to get my head around how polysenthetic languages work.
Getting out of the traditional Latinate grammar mold is the key to beginning to understand them; along with that chuck the pervasive notion that a word expresses a single idea, act or thing. Instead, think of the word as a sentence, and you'll be close to getting the basic idea of how they work.

It's not that hard, really; they look mysterious and opaque to outsiders, but they really have their own internally consistent logic. The exact details of this logic varies from family to family, of course.
"On that island lies the flesh and bone of the Great Charging Bear, for as long as the grass grows and water runs," he said. "Where his spirit dwells, no one can say."

EnterJustice
Niš
Niš
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Dec 17, 2006 9:28 pm
Location: Eurasia

Post by EnterJustice »

Oh my, that's awesome!

I'm sorry I'm only seeing this now, 'cause I'm leaving for Spain in 12 hours' time.

I'll find time to wrap my head around it afterwards though. Thanks for posting!

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