Ökwe'ôwékhá' > The Mingo/Seneca Language > Grammar

Native Grammar

Native Grammar

as spoken by the
Mingo and Seneca Indians

Teyewënônya'khahkwa'   Ökwe'öwékhá'

he   Niënötwënötha'   ne   Hënökwe'ôwe
Hotinyææshâôt   Hotinötawa'ká'   kho

Why Grammar ? Writing and
Pronunciation		 The Sentence The Word
Glossary Additional Sources Translations Feedback

Why Grammar ?
Why bother with lots of tedious grammatical details ?

  1. Make the Most of a Limited Vocabulary
    Using some basic grammar, you can maximize the use of every single word (or word-root) you know. It enables you to construct many different conjugations and formations, and create many different shades of meaning, which accommodates for many different situations.

  2. Easy to Handle Long Words (both Recognize and Remember)
    The Iroquois languages (and, in fact, quite a great few of Native American languages) tend to have very long words. At first glance, they appear as a long stretch of arbitrary syllables. However, knowing grammar, the listener (or reader) can recognize the structure of the word, and perhaps understand most of it.

    Example:
    The Mingo name for West-Virginia is «Työtahsehtahkwa'ke». At first glance it might seem like a tongue twister. However, knowing some basic grammar, we can easily recognize the following struture: "T + y + öt + ahseht + (a) + hkw + (a) + ' + ke" (the letters in parenthesis are linking vowels), which means "at (the place where) one does 'ahseht' there". This is accomplished even without knowing the meaning of the main verb "-ahseht-". This means that all you have to remember is the word "-ahseht-", and the structure "at where one '-ahseht-'s there". By the way, it turns out that "-ahseht-" means "to hide", and the entire word means "at (the place) where one hides there", or simply "(at the) Hiding Place" (the West Virginia mountains were used as a refuge place for the Mingo people in the area).

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Writing and Pronunciation
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The Sentence
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The Word
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Glossary

Grammatical Terms

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Additional Sources
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Translations

Kányö'ökhá'   Tekawënötenyô



he -- (1) Towards; (2) As («he   ni...<something>...»)

hënökwe'ôwe -- Original People, Native People; "Indiians" (Native Americans)
hën- : they (Agent pronomial prefix: 3rd person, plural, masculine)
This is the form before «ö»; the "normal" form is «hati-»
-ökwe- : person
-'öwe : Authentic, Original.
The «ö» is lenghened according to the vowel-lengthing rules


hotinyææshâôt -- Mingo people
literally: "They tie a strap around their neck"; this stems from the the original Mingo custome of wearing a black badge around the neck
hoti- : they, them (Patient pronomial prefix;   3rd person, plural, masculine)
The Patient form is required by the Stative aspect (of the verb stem «-nyææshâôt»)
-nyææshâôt :   to tie a strap around the neck
Verb stem, in the Stative aspect; the verb base is «-nyææshæöt-» (in this case, the Stative form is identical to the verb base).
The penultimate vowel, («æ») is lengthened according to the vowel-lengthening rules.
The last vowel («ö») is lengthened in assimilation to the previous long vowel («â»).
-nya- : neck
The root for "neck" is changed into «-nyæ-» when its vowel is not the one before last.
The reason for this is that the original root was «-nyar-» (i.e. ended with the consonant «r»). Over the course of history, the «r» dropped, and caused the following linking vowel to change from its original «a» to an «æ». This linking vowel then cause the preceeding vowel (the «a» of the root), which was no longer separated by a consonant, to change to an «æ» itself. When the root "neck" («-nyar-») was the one before last, the assimilation into «æ» did not happen (on the contrary, the «a» became long, due to the vowel-lengthening rules, and caused the following linking vowel «æ» to turn into a long «a» itself. So, for example, the word "neck" on its own is «onyáá'», from the original «onyára'»).
-æ- :   linking vowel
-shâôt [or -shêôt] : to tie with a strap, to attach a strap
Verb stem, in the Stative aspect (the verb-root is -shâôt- or -shêôt-, in this case identical to the Stative aspect).
-sha- : strap;
The root for "strap" turns into «-shæ-» whenever the vowel is not the one before last in the word. The reason for this is that the original root used to be «-shar-»; see the full grammatical explanation given above for the root «-nya-», neck. The word for "strap" on its own is «kasháá'», from the original «kashára'»
The final «æ» may be nasalized into «ë» because of the following «ö».
The vowel is lengthened according to the vowel-lengthening rules
-öt : to attach,
Verb stem, in the Stative aspect. The verb root is -öt- (in this case identical to the Stative aspect).
The vowel is lenghened in assimilation to the preceeding long vowel

Notes:
  1. Seneca Spelling:
    This spelling reflects the Seneca pronunciation (an exceptional for this site); in West-Virginian Mingo, the «o» would be «u», yielding «HUtinyææshâôt»

  2. (Speculated) Original Form:
    As explained in the grammatical analysis of this word, the original form of two of the incorporated words used to contain the consonant «r». I can, therefore, speculate that the original form of the word was (something like): «Honyarasháröt».


Hotinötawa'ká' -- Seneca (people).   Literally: Moutnain People
hoti- :   they (Patient pronomial prefix: 3rd person, plural, masculine)
-nöt- : mountain, hill
-a- : linking vowel
-wa' : (I don't know what this one means)
-ká' : characterising suffix, such as "-ish", or "-ous" in English
Note:
This form is Seneca (an exceptional for this site); in West-Virginian Mingo, the «o» would be «u», yielding «Hutinötawa'ká'»

Kányö'ökhá' -- Whitely, Englishly (i.e. in English)
ka- :   it (Agent pronomial prefix); the vowel is lengthened by the following verb-stem (type LX)
-nyö'ö :   to be a white person.
Verb stem, in the Stative aspect; the verb root is -nyö'ö- (in this case there is no special ending for the Stative aspect).
-khá' :   characterizer suffix (such as "-ly" in English)

kho -- And, too
It is said after the items being added.
Note:
This form is Seneca (an exceptional for this site); in West-Virginian Mingo, the «o» would be «u», yielding «Khu»

ne -- a grammatically subordinating particlle
For further details, see The Particle « ne »

niënötwënötha' -- The way they speak
ni- : "partitive", "the way it is done"
hën- : they (Agent pronomial prefix: 3rd person, plural, masculine)
This is the form before the vowel «a» (the "normal" form, or more common, is «hati-»).
The initial "h" is dropped off after a vowel
-atwënötha' : to speak (a language)
verb stem, in the Habitual aspect; the verb base is «-atwënöt-».
The literal meaning is "to string words/sounds together"
at- :   "middle" prefix (akin to "oneself" in English)
The vowel «a» is nasalized to «ö» after the previous «n» (of the pronomial prefix «hën-»)
-wën- :   sound, word
Noun root.   It is used here as an "incorporated noun" (i.e. "to attach sounds" or "to attach words").
-ötha' :   to attach
Verb stem, in the Habitual aspect; the verb root is «-öt-».


ökwe'öwékhá' -- (1) Natively (2) The name of any Irooquoian language (all the North-Iroquoian languages call their language "Ökwe'öwékhá'").
The word should be capitalized («Ökwe'öwékhá'») when it is used to mean the name of the language. Otherwise («ökwe'öwékhá'»), it would be understood as the adverb "natively".
ökwe'ôwe : a native person, an Indian. Literally: "authentic person".
            ökwe : person
            -'öwe : authenticator suffix (the "ö" is long if this suffix is the last in the word)
-khá' : characterizer suffix ("-ly")

tekawënötenyô -- It is translated
te- : dual (verb prefix of «te-...-wënötenyô»)
ka- : it (Agent pronomial prefix: 3rd person, neutral [i.e. inanimate -- neither feminine nor masculine], singular)
te-...-wënötenyô :  
  1. to be translated (when used with Agent pronomial prefix);  
  2. to have translated (when used with Patient pronomial prefix).
Verb stem, in the Stative aspect; the verb root is «te-...-wënöteny-», to translate something (literally: "to change one word for another").
te- :   dual (verb prefix); in this case: "one for another"
-...- :   this is where the pronomial-prefix is placed
-wën- :   sound, word
This is an incorporated noun; it serves as the object of the verb (i.e. to change words)
-ö- : linking-vowel
This linking vowel is actually an «a» nasalized to «ö» because of the preceding «n» (in other languages, e.g. Mohawk, this assimilation does not happen, and the linking vowel is actually «a»; for example, compare the Mohawk word «owëna'» for "word" to the Mingo/Seneca equivalent, «owënö'»).
-tenyô :  
  1. to be changed (when used with an Agent pronomial-prefix);  
  2. to have changed (when used with a Patient pronomial-prefix)
Verb stem, in the Stative aspect. the verb root is «-teny-», to change.


teyewënônya'khahkwa'   --   Word-Construction; Grammar  
(Literally: "one uses (it) to construct words", "a word-constructing tool", "a word-constructor")
te- : dual
Verb prefix (of the verb-stem the verb-root «te...nya'kh», "to break")
ye- :   (1) she;   (2) "one" (i.e. anyone)
Agent pronomial prefix (3rd person, singular, feminine)
The literal meaning of this prefix is "she". However it is used also to denote the "general" person, e.g. "one says", "one constructs", etc.
te...wënônya'kh- :   to constructd words
Verb base.
te- :   dual
Verb-prefix.
Needed for the verb «te...nya'kh», "to construct together"
... :   (this is where the pronomial-prefix goes)
-wën- : sound, word
Noun root. It is used here as an "incorporated noun" with the verb «te...nya'kh», "to construct" (yielding "to construct words", or "to word-construct").
-ö- : linking vowel
This is actually the vowel «a» nasalized to «ö» after the preceeding «n»).
The vowel is lenghened because of the following verb-root (type LX)
te...nya'kh :   to construct together
te- :   dual verb prefix (here it means "together")
... :   (this is where the pronomial-prefix is placed)
-nya'kh- :   to construct
Verb root
-a- : linking vowel
-hkwa' :   "Instrumental"
Base-suffix, in the Habitual aspect; the root of this suffix is «-hkw-».
It denotes the meaning of being instrumental to something, a tool for something.


työtahsehtahkwa'ke -- (1) at the hiding place;   (2) West-Virginia (the West-Virginia mountains served as a refuge place for the Mingo people)
When used to denote "West-Virginia", the word is capitalized.
työtahsehtahkwa' : hiding place
t- at someplace (verb prefix)
ye- she (Agent pronomial prefix). In this case, used as the anonymous "one" (i.e. "one hides"). When «ye-» comes before the letter "a", the combination of both changes into «yö-»
-atahseht- : to hide (oneself)
-at- "middle" prefix (i.e. "oneself")
-ahseht- : to hide something
-a- : linking vowel
-hkwa' : Instrumentative verb-base suffix.
-ke : at someplace (location suffix)
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Uhkwa'   « Ökwe'ôwékhá' » Háyatôôk   ne   Gil Freundlich
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