Tutelo-Saponi word order and sentences

[spilleddi]

Tutelo-Saponi has Subject-Object-Verb word order. So the English sentence “Ï am making string”, comes out to “I string I-Making”. The first 'I' can be dropped, so it can come out as 'string I-making’.

Examples of word order
I am making string -- waxúug móoñma /waxúu-gi m-‘óoñ-wa/

I use a knife -- maañsáañ iwa’óoñwa

I bought a horse -- chooñgidáñ waglumiihawa

You will see the stream -- daagseese oyaxaatida /daagsee-se o-ya-xáatE-dE/

The horse runs -- chooñgidáñ hindaaha

He eats bread -- wáagsaagbáa waaluuta

We drink water -- manii mañlagbeewa

We stole bread -- máagsaagbáa mañgmanoñdáañima

Using ‘and’
And -- nigás

Horse and dog -- chooñgidáñ nigás chóoñgi

I bought a horse and dog -- chooñgidáñ nigás chóoñgi waglumiihawa

Adjectives
Adjectives are placed after nouns. ‘Small house’ in English is ‘house small’ in Tutelo

Small house -- atíi guujga

A large house -- atíi idáani /atíi idáa-i/

3 days -- naháañb laali

White string -- waxúu asáañ

I am making white string -- waxúu asáañ móoñma

Adverb placement
Adverbs come before the object and verb.

I ate bread yesterday -- sidóoñlé wáagsaagbáa waawiñluutiwa

I will eat bread today -- naháñblekíñ máagsaagbáa waawiñluuta

I will eat bread tomorrow -- naháañbgi wáagsaagbáa waawiñluutida

I will eat much bread -- ohooñ máagsaagbáa waawiñluutida

Presently I am eating bread -- iñgiñ máagsaagbáa waawiñluutiwa

[spilleddi]

I should mention that the easiest way to make a sentence is to first figure out what you want to say, than add all the pieces together and change the sounds according to the rules.

For example, if I want to say “I don’t remember”, I first put all the peaces together in the right order in their underlying form. The rules tell me what order to put them in.

I don’t remember
not-I-remember-ing-not
gi-wa-gihgoñsbée-wa-nE

Then I change all the sounds accordingly, again following the rules. I drop the accent mark in gihgoñsbée because I don’t know for sure were gihgoñsbée is accented in a sentence. Also, nE changes to na.

giwagihgoñsbeewana

I’ve posted enough stuff now were you can start doing this on your own.

I’m still learning the rules, and the ones I’ve posted so far are spread around this forum, so eventually when I have most of them figured out, I’d like to put them in one big post for reference. But in order to make good Tutelo, you need to know the rules, and when to follow or ignore them.

[daniel_bingamon]

gihgoñsbée is accented in a sentence. Also, nE changes to na.
This is similar to the E/A changeable verb rule in Lakota. In some cases, the E becomes an A.