Random Grammar Stuff

[spilleddi]

Indefinite suffix for nouns.

In English the indefinite article is ‘a’, as in ‘a cat’. The cat in question can be any cat, not one in particular.

The suffix ‘-i’ does the same thing in Tutelo. It attaches to the end of a noun, or a noun phrase. The indefinite suffix is not used in all examples of Tutelo. In Osage, another Siouan language, the indefinate is optional, so it may be the same way with Tutelo.

Nouns
A river -- dagsiidañi /dagsiidañ-i/

An arrow -- mangsíi i /mangsíi-i/

A child -- waaguujgaayi /waaguujgaa-i/

A head -- pasuuyi /pasuu-i/

Hair -- nañtóoñwi /nañtóoñ-i/

An eye -- dasuuyi /dasúu-i/

Noun phrases
My child -- waaguujgaa miñgíidoñwi /waaguujgaa wiñ-gíidoñ-i/

His hatchet -- hiséep gíidooñwi /hiséepi gíidoñ-i/

Your bed -- saas yiñgíídoñwi /saasi yiñ-gíidoñ-i/

One house -- atíi nooñsaai /atíi nóoñsaa-i/

Example without using the indefinite suffix. Note the word for ‘and’ is ‘nigás’
A hat and a knife -- lubúus nigás maañsáañ

[spilleddi]

Definite suffixes for nouns.

In English the definite article is ‘the’, as in ‘the cat’.

In Tutelo these suffixes are ‘-ki/-kiñ’ or ‘se’. These suffixes are added onto a noun the same way the indefinite ‘-i’ is, and is also not always used.

The string -- waxúug /waxúu-gi/

The river -- daagseese /daagsee-se/

The arrow -- mañgsíig /mañgsíi-gi/

The basket -- pahiñg /pahiñ-gi/

The leaf -- odoox /odoo-gi/

[spilleddi]

Assertive suffixes

To say something in an assertive way, you can add -se or -la to the very end of the verb, after any other suffixes added to the verb stem. This is not as forceful as giving a command.

According to Oliverio, -se was most likely used by both men and women, but -la was probably only used by men, and a bit stronger than -se (I guess ladies have to be a bit more dainty). So men can say se or la at the end of the verb, or sela to make it more forceful. For those of you that study Dakota, -la is used the same way as Dakota -ye. Heres some examples both from Oliverio and my own construction.

I live there -- héewa watíiwase /hée-wa wa-tíi-wa-se/

I love you!(man speaking) -- mayiyañdosdeegala /wa-yi-yañdosdéega-la/

You drink water -- manii yalagbeese /manii ya-lagbée-se/

I found it! -- winéeokase /wi-née-óokE-se/

It is theirs! -- gidoñhlese /gidoñ-helE-se/

I'm hungry!(man speaking) -- miñgiihniñdeewasel /wiñ-gíihniñdée-wa-se-la/

[Linda]

A river -- dagsiidañi /dagsiidañ-i/

Wow, the Dan River is a truncated form of Tutelo, apparently! I wonder what the Pittsylvania historian will say about that?

[phyllis]

Can we get someone to make a disc of the language so we can also hear the way the words and phases are supposed to sound?

[spilleddi]

Hi Phyllis, thats in the works. Linda, is it possible yet to get sound files up that folks could click on and listen to? I can get you the files.

[Kamama]

Are we anywhere closer to that possiblity?
Hi Phyllis, thats in the works. Linda, is it possible yet to get sound files up that folks could click on and listen to? I can get you the files.

[spilleddi]

Hi Kamama,

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten this, my priority is to figure out how to get some sound files up so you can hear what these words may have sounded like, or at least my best guess.

By the end of June I'll actually have high speed internet, so I'll be moving a heck of a lot faster. Dialup as almost useless now, it takes forever just to check email. And computer time in spring and summer is about as scarce as hen's teeth. If I could work on Tutelo full time I'd be in seventh heaven, but life (and wildlife) keeps getting in the way....

[Linda]

Summer vacation starts in a few days. I've volunteered Felicia's son, Corey, to take on this project. Initially, let's just make a long, alphabetized list that we can post into a sticky thread on here. We'll get fancier later.