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Introductory Linguistics for Language Revitalization
with a focus on Nuuchahnulth
- Notes for Linguistics
- 2010– Janet Leonard and Adam Werle
- Handout 1. What is linguistics? ............................................ Contents
- Handout 2. A history of linguistics .......................................
- Handout 3. Language families of British Columbia ..............
- Handout 4. Language learning..............................................
- Handout 5. Vowels................................................................
- Handout 6. Consonants.......................................................
- Handout 7. Alphabets .........................................................
- Handout 8. Phonemes.........................................................
- Handout 9. Word-building ..................................................
- Handout 10. Interlinear analysis.........................................
- Handout 11. Sentence structure..........................................
- Handout 12. Aspect, tense, and mood ................................
- References...........................................................................
- Endnotes .............................................................................
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Notes for Linguistics 181: Introductory Linguistics for Language Revitalization, with a
focus on Nuuchahnulth
(CC BY) 2010–2018 Janet Leonard and Adam Werle
University of Victoria
These notes were written by Janet Leonard and Adam Werle in 2010 for University of
Victoria Linguistics 181, focusing on SENĆOŦEN (Saanich), and were later adapted by
Adam for Kwak
wala in 2010, and for Nuuchahnulth during 2013–2018.
We thank our colleagues and fellow learners for their encouragement and feedback,
which have helped to improve these notes.
G̱ilakas’la. • HÍSW̱KE. • ʔuušy̓akšiƛeʔicuu. • ʔuušiy̓akšƛ
asuw.
‣ linguist: studies the structure of human languages.
‣ polyglot: speaks many languages.
‣ translator: translates one language into another, carefully and usually in writing.
‣ interpreter: translates one language into another, immediately and without writing.
In this course, we will be interested mainly in the subfields of language acquisition,
phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and historical linguistics.
∞ Exercise 2. Why are these six subfields important for language revitalization?
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Research on Nuuchahnulth has focused mainly on its grammar, and on its historical
relationship to other Wakashan languages. There is so far little research on other
aspects of Nuuchahnulth, such as its acquisition, semantics, or processing.
∞ Exercise 3. Different languages do not use all the same sounds. What sounds do
Nuuchahnulth and English share? What sounds are found only in one or the other?
∞ Exercise 4. How are the following words related? Can you identify any parts that
are smaller than a word, but meaningful? What do these parts mean?
(2) č
iyaa cutting (fish) maḥt
ii house
čiin̓
uł, čiin̓
ił totem pole maʔas home, village, tribe
nučii mountain maatmaas families, tribes
nuučaan̓uł, nuučaanł mountain range maan̓uł Maa-nulth Nations
∞ Exercise 5. Consider the following sentences in Nuuchahnulth and English. Where
in the sentence is the verb (hear, miss, push, marry)? Is it ever elsewhere? (The
abbreviations B, C, T, Q refer to Nuuchahnulth dialects.)
(3) Q naʔaaš maʔiƛqci nani.
naʔaa – š maʔiƛqc –i nani
hear –he boy –the Grandma
The boy hears Grandma.
(4) T wiiy̓iičiƛs suutił.
wiiy̓iičiƛ –s suutił
miss –I you
I miss you.
(5) C čatšiʔatʔick n̓aas.
čatšiʔat –ʔick n̓aas
pushed –you Creator
The Creator has nudged you.
(6) B ʔucḥinƛaḥ huuʕiiʔatḥ.
ʔucḥinƛ – aḥ huuʕiiʔatḥ
marry –I Huu-ay-aht
I married a Huuayaht man.
Handout 2. A history of linguistics
Terms0)
‣ philology: the study of classical (old) languages and literatures.
‣ grammar: the patterns that one must know in order to use a language. In a narrow
sense, grammar is about how words and sentences are built from smaller parts
(morphology and syntax). In a broader sense, it includes phonology and semantics.
‣ prescriptive grammar: says (prescribes) how to speak or write correctly.
‣ descriptive grammar: says how a language is used, without reference to correctness.
Notes
Grammar has been studied for at least 2,500 years, for several purposes.
- To prescribe so-called correct ways of speaking and writing.
- To make laws, culture, and holy books available in other languages.
- To promote the use of one language over another.
- To help scholars, officials, missionaries, and travellers learn new languages.
Some of the earliest studies of grammar described Sanskrit, Tamil, Greek, and Latin.
The study of grammar seems to have been encouraged where a language was an
important tool for sharing literature or religion. It was also helped by the availability of
writing, though some early grammars may have been composed orally.
- Around 400 BCE, the East Indian scholar Pāṇini composed the Aṣṭādhyāyī (‘eight
chapters’), a detailed and systematic grammar of Classical Sanskrit.
- Possibly around the 200s BCE, unknown authors began composing the Tolkāppiyam,
a grammar of Tamil, which is a language of southern India and Sri Lanka.
- Around the 200s BCE, Greek scholars began to describe grammar in order to help
common Greek speakers understand older Greek writers. The oldest surviving
example is the Art of Grammar (tekhnē grammatikē) by Dionysius Thrax.
- Beginning in the first century BCE, Romans wrote about Latin grammar, following
the Greek tradition. They prescribed correct speech and writing, studied older
writers, and taught Greek to Latin speakers. Greek and Latin continued to be the
main languages of formal study in Europe until around 1200 to 1600.
- Possibly beginning in the 600s, unknown authors wrote Auraicept n-Éces (‘the
scholars’ primer’), describing the Irish language, and promoting its use over Latin.
- In the 1100s, an unknown Icelander wrote the First Grammatical Treatise (Fyrsta
Málfræðiritgerðin), describing Icelandic vowels and consonants.
- In 1586, William Bullokar wrote Pamphlet for Grammar, and A Bref Grammar for
English, which are the oldest English grammars that still survive today.
Handout 3. Language families of British Columbia
Terms0)
‣ language: a natural, human system of communication that includes sounds, words,
and rules for combining these to express a variety of meanings.
‣ native language, first language: a language that one speaks from a very young age.
‣ indigenous, aboriginal: these terms refer to people or languages that live in or are
associated with a particular place, are the first or among the first to be associated
with that place, and have historical and cultural roots from that place.
‣ dialect: a regional or social variety of a language. Every language is a dialect.
‣ idiolect: the dialect of a single person. A person’s individual dialect.
‣ jargon: vocabulary associated with a particular job, activity, or way of life.
‣ pidgin: a simple language used by speakers of different languages to communicate.
For example, Chinuk Wawa. No one’s native language.
‣ creole: a pidgin that has developed into a language. For example, Hawaiian Creole.
‣ language family: a group of languages whose similarities indicate that they come
from a common parent language. Such languages are said to be genetically related
(whether or not the speakers of these languages are related by blood).
‣ language area: a group of languages whose similarities result from geographical
contact (whether or not the languages are genetically related).
Notes
The aboriginal languages of British Columbia belong to seven different language
families. Nuuchahnulth is a member of the Wakashan family.
(1) Language family Some languages belonging to this family
‣ Algonquian Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibwe, Arapaho, Mi’kmaq
‣ Haida Haida
‣ Kutenai Ktunaxa
‣ Na-Dene Tlingit, Dogrib, Carrier, Chilcotin, Hupa, Navajo
‣ Salishan Nuxalk, Halkomelem, SENĆOŦEN, Squamish, Lillooet
‣ Tsimshianic S’m̓algya̱x, Gitxsan, Nisg ̱
a’a, Sgüüx̣s
‣ Wakashan Haisla, Kwak
wala, Nuuchahnulth, Ditidaht, Makah
The Wakashan family is small, containing only seven languages. By contrast, the
neighbouring Salish family is large and diverse, containing about 23 languages. Haida
and Ktunaxa are isolates. They are not known to be related to any other language.
Wakashan, Salish, and other language familes of the Northwest Coast of North America
form a language area. They share many characteristics through contact with each other,
independently of any similarities that may result from genetic relatedness.
∞ Exercise 8. Compare these data from Ditidaht (D), Kwak
wala (K), and SENĆOŦEN
(S). What similarities and differences do you see? Which similarities are due to
genetic relatedness, which to language contact, and which to coincidence?
(2) K K
widza̱kwida na’a̱nge.
k
ʷidz–əkʷ –ida naʔənge
snow –topped–the mountains
The mountains are snow-topped.
(3) S NEȻIM TŦE XIW̱E.
nəkʷim tθə x̣ixʷə
red the sea urchin
The sea urchin is red.
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(4) D k
ʷisqeeʔsa dučʔibadx̣
aq.
k
ʷis –qeeʔs –!a dučʔibadx̣
–!aq
snow–topped–is mountains–the
The mountains are snow-topped.
(5) D ƛix̣k
ʷa šačkaapx̣aq.
ƛix̣
uk–!a šačkaapx̣ –!aq
red –is sea urchin–the
The sea urchin is red.
Because it has been spoken for a long time, and over a broad area, Nuuchahnulth
includes several dialects. Yet these are similar enough to be considered one language.
∞ Exercise 9. Compare the following sentences from different Nuuchahnulth dialects.
How are they different? Imagine that all these dialects were once identical. If that is
so, then which forms are conservative (old), and which are innovative (new)?
(6) Q ḥaaʔaḥkʷic n̓uw̓iiqs. ƛułʔim waʔič. kukumss suutił.
N ḥaaʔaḥakʔic n̓uw̓iiqsu. ƛułʔum waʔič. wiwik
aps suutił.
C ḥaay̓aḥakʔick n̓uw̓iiqsu. ƛułʔim waʔič. wiwik
aps suutił.
B yaałukʷeʔic n̓uw̓iiqsu. ƛułʔim weʔič. wiwik
apamaḥ suw̓a.
There is your father. Sleep well. I don’t understand you.
Compare these data from several Wakashan languages:
(7) ‘red’ ‘weep’ ‘mountain’ ‘path, door’
Haisla t
hàq°a q̓°àsa w̓awès w̓awès t
xls t
əxə̀ls
Heiltsuk ƛ
áqva q̓vása q̓vúq̓vs q̓ʷúq̓ʷəs t
x t
əx
Wuik
ala ƛ
aqva q̓vasa q̓vuq̓vs q̓ʷuq̓ʷs t
x t
x
Kwak
wala t
łaḵwa ḵ
wasa na̱ge nəge ta̱xa̱
la t
əxəla
Nuuchahnulth ƛiḥ
uk ʕiḥak nučii nučiː taš
ii taš
iː
Ditidaht ƛix̣
uk ʕax̣ak dučiʔ dučiʔ taš
ii taš
iː
Makah ƛix̌
uk q̓ix̌ak dučiʔiˑ dučiʔiː taš
iˑ taš
iː
∞ Exercise 10. Guess how the above words were pronounced in Proto-Wakashan, the
hypothetical parent language of the modern Wakashan languages.
Total Physical Response (TPR) (Asher 2000):
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- L2 acquisition is made automatic and subconscious by being combined with actions.
- L2 learners perform actions, following commands given in the target language.
- The combination of L2 input and movement aids memory and acquisition.
The Language Nest approach (King 2001):
- This approach reintroduces an endangered language as a first language.
- Very young children are exposed to fluent speech in a daycare-like environment.
- It originated in New Zealand in the 1980s, for teaching the Māori language.
The Mentor-Apprentice approach (Hinton 2001, Hinton and others 2002):
- A fluent speaker (master or mentor) teaches an L2 learner (apprentice).
- The mentor and apprentice spend many hours together, engaging in everyday
activities, and speaking only the target language.
- It was developed in the 1990s for teaching indigenous Californian languages.
Accelerated Second-Language Acquisition (ASLA) (Stephen Neyooxet Greymorning):
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- It was developed for teaching Arapaho.
- The method puts more focus on quickly developing learners’ ability to understand
and produce simple sentences of two or three words.
- It puts less focus on vocabulary and action-related learning activities.
- When instructors see that learners are on the verge of acquiring particular
vocabulary and grammar points, they prompt them to grasp them on their own.
The Shared Stories method (this is Adam’s name for it):
- Learners share personal stories, then record native speakers retelling these stories.
- Learners practise using active listening (speaking along) and passive listening.
- They use pictures or comics as visual aids, but no writing.
- This is based on methods and input from Greg Thomson and Stan Anonby (SIL).
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∞ Exercise 11. Which of these language-learning strategies are immersion strategies?
Which ones imitate the pattern of natural L1 acquisition?
∞ Exercise 12. When learning a language, is it helpful to read and write? Why?
∞ Exercise 13. When learning a language, is it helpful to have a conscious
understanding of the grammar? How about when teaching a language? Why?
Handout 5. Vowels
Terms0)
‣ phonetics: the study of language sounds as a physical, measurable phenomenon.
‣ articulatory phonetics: the study of how people produce language sounds.
‣ acoustic phonetics: the study of language sounds as pure sound waves.
‣ auditory phonetics: the study of how people perceive language sounds.
‣ International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA): a system of phonetic writing, established in
1888, designed to be adequate to represent the sounds of all human languages.
Notes
‣ vocal tract: the organs through which language sounds pass, including the larynx
(voicebox), pharynx (throat), oral cavity (mouth), and nasal cavity (sinuses).
‣ articulators: the movable parts of the vocal tract (the lips, tongue, jaw, and velum).
Two important classes of sounds are vowels and consonants.
(1) Vowels Consonants
- more singable • less singable
- involve very little obstruction of
the vocal tract
- involve partial or complete
obstruction of the vocal tract
- distinguished mainly by tongue
and jaw position
- distinguished by gestures made all
along the vocal tract
- found at the centres of syllables • found at the edges of syllables
‣ monophthong: a single vowel sound. The centre of a syllable.
‣ diphthong: two vowel sounds that are pronounced as the centre of one syllable.
The following words illustrate English vowels as they are pronounced on the west coast
of North America. It is customary to put phonetic transcriptions in square brackets.
(2) i beet [bit] u boot [but] oɪ boy [boɪ]
ɪ bit [bɪt] ʊ book [bʊk] oʊ boat [boʊt]
eɪ bait [beɪt] ə Abba [æbə] ʌ but [bʌt] ɑɪ bite [bɑɪt]
ɛ bet [bɛt] æ bat [bæt] ɑ bah [bɑ] ɑʊ bout [bɑʊt]
∞ Exercise 14. Which English vowels are diphthongs? Which are monophthongs?
∞ Exercise 15. Transcribe the vowels in these English words, using IPA symbols.
(3) buzz dune slow raft shrub great voice bought
gift send far shop put shears how rough
mind grey war snooze dunk death sigh laugh
Handout 6. Consonants
Terms0)
‣ consonant place: where in the vocal tract a consonant is made.
‣ consonant manner: how airflow is used during a consonant.
‣ consonant phonation: what the vocal folds are doing during a consonant.
Notes
Consonant manner refers to what sort of obstruction a consonant sound involves.
‣ obstruents: consonants made with a lot of vocal tract obstruction.
‣ spirant (fricative): involves continuous, noisy airflow through an obstruction.
‣ stop (plosive): involves total obstruction, followed by a noisy release.
‣ affricate (plosive): begins as a plosive, then is released into a spirant.
‣ resonants (sonorants): consonants made with little vocal tract obstruction.
‣ nasal: involves full obstruction in the mouth, but free airflow through the nose.
‣ approximant: a consonant made with very little obstruction.
‣ liquid: an r-like or l-like sound.
‣ glide: a vowel-like consonant (usually, a w or y sound).
These English and Nuuchahnulth words begin with consonants of various manners:
(1) Manner English examples Nuuchahnulth examples
stops tubby, purity, collect puu ‘gun’, tat
uus ‘star’, ʔiiḥ ‘big’
fricatives shine, feel, honey, so sačk ‘sharp’, łačiƛ ‘let go’, ḥaw̓ił ‘chief’
affricates challenge, justice č
up ‘tongue’, c̓aʔak ‘river’, ƛanat ‘wedge’
nasals needy, mermaid maamaati ‘bird’, nunuuk ‘sing’
liquids lucky, rubber luu luu (interjection)
glides yummy, Wilbur wawaa ‘saying’, yačaa ‘dogfish’
Consonant place refers to where in the vocal tract a consonant is made.
‣ bilabial: made by bringing the lips together.
‣ labiodental: made by bringing the lower lip against the upper teeth.
‣ interdental: made with the tongue tip between the teeth.
‣ alveolar: made with the tongue tip against the alveolar ridge, behind the upper teeth.
‣ postalveolar: made by pressing the tongue just behind the alveolar ridge.
‣ palatal: made by pressing the tongue against the hard palate.
‣ velar: made by pressing the tongue against the velum, or soft palate.
‣ uvular: made by pressing the tongue against the uvula, a dangling flap of skin.
‣ glottal: made by closing the glottis—that is, the opening between the vocal folds.
These mid-sagittal diagrams illustrate various consonant places, using IPA symbols:
(2) Plosives (3) Spirants (4) Nasals
Consonants are also distinguished by phonation—that is, what the larynx is doing.
‣ larynx: the organ that protects the windpipe, and contains the vocal folds.
‣ vocal folds (or vocal cords): flaps of skin at the larynx that produce phonation.
‣ glottis: the space between the vocal folds.
‣ phonation (or state of the glottis): how the vocal folds affect a sound.
‣ voiceless: made with the vocal folds at rest.
‣ voiced: made with the vocal folds vibrating, as in singing.
‣ aspirated: made with the vocal folds stiff and apart, as in [h].
‣ glottalized: made by bringing the vocal folds together, as in [ʔ].
‣ ejective: a stop consonant whose glottalization causes a stronger release.
‣ creaky voice: a type of phonation in which the vocal folds are brought
together, but not fully closed, resulting in a creaky sound.
In English, plosives and fricatives can be voiceless or voiced.
(5) Phonation Plosives Spirants
voiceless p t tʃ k f θ s ʃ
voiced b d dʒ ɡ v ð z ʒ
In Nuuchahnulth, plosives and resonants can be plain or glottalized. Glottalized
plosives are ejective. Glottalized resonants have a glottal stop [ʔ], or creaky voice.
(6) Phonation Plosives Resonants
plain p t ƛ c č k m n y w
glottalized p̓ t
ƛ
c̓ č
k
m̓ n̓ y̓ w̓
glottalized (IPA) p’ t’ t’͜ɬ t’͜s t’͜ʃ k’ ˀm ˀn ˀj ˀw
∞ Exercise 17. For each consonant at the beginning of a Nuuchahnulth word in
example (1), identify the consonant’s place, manner, and phonation.
Here is another way of arranging the segments of Nuuchahnulth.
(5) Nuuchahnulth consonants (6) Vowels
p t ƛ c č k kʷ q qʷ high i ii u uu
plosives
p̓ t
ƛ
c̓ č
k
k
ʷ ʕ ʔ mid e ee o oo
fricatives ł s š x xʷ x̣ x̣ʷ ḥ h low a aa
m n y w
resonants
m̓ n̓ y̓ w̓
This arrangement of Nuuchahnulth letters clarifies, for example, that only plosives and
resonants can be glottalized, and that only tongue back sounds can be round.
The Nuuchahnulth alphabet is an Americanist alphabet. Unlike the IPA, Americanist
alphabets are not standardized. They vary across languages, and among scholars.
∞ Exercise 18. Are the English and Nuuchahnulth alphabets orthographies?
∞ Exercise 19. Why isn’t the IPA used to write Nuuchahnulth?
Today’s Nuuchahnulth alphabet dates from Nootka Texts (Sapir and Swadesh 1939),
informed by Edward Sapir’s work with Alex Thomas (Sapir 1933, 1949), and Some
Orthographic Recommendations (Herzog and others 1934). Some changes were
introduced in Sapir and Swadesh (1955), and in T
aat
aaqsapa (Powell 1991).
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The central proposal of Some Orthographic Recommendations was that every sound of a
language should be written with one letter, and every letter should signify one sound.
Sapir learned from Thomas that the glottalized resonants m̓ n̓ w̓ y̓ behave as single
sounds, similarly to the glottalized plosives p̓ t
ƛ
c̓ č
k
k
ʷ (Sapir 1933, 1949).
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(7) early Sapir t!sa’ak Thomas t!sa’ak c̓aʔak river
early Sapir ’mā’mīqsu Thomas m!ām!īqsu m̓aam̓iiqsu older sibling
∞ Exercise 20. These transcriptions are from The Rival Whalers (Sapir 1924). Trans-
literate each word into the Nuuchahnulth alphabet, and give an English translation.
(8) tca´kop ’ɩˑ´ḥᵃtoˑp‘ ’yoˑ´qwaˑ‘ ’ɩ´nⁱk‘’ɩ‘ t’ɔ´ḥᵃt’sɩtɩ‘ tƚu´p‘k‘citƚ
hɩnˑɩˑ´p‘ su´kwɩtƚ ƚoˑ´tsˑmɛ’ɩ‘ ’aḥᵃ’aˑ ’oˑ´sɩmⁱtc .̛ɔ´’yɩ‘
∞ Exercise 21. Read Some Orthographic Recommendations (Herzog and others 1934).
Which of the symbols proposed in the article are relevant for Nuuchahnulth? How
do these improve on the symbols used in The Rival Whalers?
Handout 8. Phonemes
Terms0)
‣ phonology: the study of how language sounds combine to form words.
‣ phoneme: a sound that contrasts meaningfully with other sounds.
‣ allophones: two or more sounds that are perceived as the same phoneme.
‣ minimal pair: a pair of words that differ in a single sound.
‣ phonological rule: a pattern where one sound changes into another.
‣ assimilation: when one sound becomes similar to another sound.
‣ neutralization: when two sounds are pronounced the same in some context.
Notes
When it is useful, slash brackets are used for phonemic transcriptions of meaningful
sounds, and square brackets for phonetic transcriptions of actual pronunciations.
(1) phonemic transcription: / ðə pɔɹ tɑɪni kɪti kæt mjɑʊd æt ðə dɔɹ /
phonetic transcription: [ ðə pʰɔɹ tʰɑɪni kʰɪɾi kʰæʔ mjɑʊɾ əʔ ðə dɔɹ ]
A well designed writing system is precise enough to represent all of the meaningful
sounds in a language, but omits unnecessary detail. In other words, a good writing
system represents only the phonemes of a language.
The following minimal pairs show that the sounds /p b t d k ɡ/ are different phonemes in
English. English speakers perceive them as different sounds.
(2) pit [pɪt] appy [æpi] tome [toʊm] crime [kɹɑɪm] irk [ɹk]
bit [bɪt] Abby [æbi] dome [doʊm] grime [ɡɹɑɪm] erg [ɹɡ]
Now compare [p] and [pʰ] in English. At the beginnings of stressed syllables, /p t k/
are said with a puff of air called aspiration, but after /s/ they are not aspirated. As a
result, [p pʰ] do not make minimal pairs, and are perceived as the same sound.
(3) pit [pʰɪt] pork [pʰɔɹk] top [tʰɑp] ton [tʰʌn] kid [kʰɪd]
spit [spɪt] spork [spɔɹk] stop [stɑp] stun [stʌn] skid [skɪd]
In other words, [p pʰ] are allophones of the phoneme /p/ in English. This is why they
are written with the same letter in this language.
∞ Exercise 22. Compare [p p’] in SENĆOŦEN. Are they two phonemes, or allophones
of one phoneme? Do SENĆOŦEN speakers perceive them as different?
(4) ŚPOḰES ʃpaqʷəs drop off KPET q’pət gather it
ŚBO₭EṈ ʃp’aq’ʷəŋ foam W̱KBET xʷq’p’ət patch it
Handout 9. Word-building
Terms0)
‣ morphology: the study of word structure.
‣ morpheme: a minimal meaningful part of a word.
‣ root: the most important, or central morpheme of a word.
‣ stem: one or more morphemes to which more morphemes can be added.
‣ word: one or more morphemes that are pronounced as a stand-alone unit.
‣ free: describes a morpheme that can stand alone as a word.
‣ bound: describes a morpheme that can appear only with other morphemes.
‣ morphological process: a change in a word’s shape that changes its meaning.
‣ compounding: making a new word by combining two roots.
‣ ablaut: making a new word by changing one or more of its vowels.
‣ reduplication: making a new word by doubling all or part of the word.
‣ affixation: making a new word by adding an affix.
‣ affix: a morpheme that is added to a stem.
‣ prefix: an affix that appears at the beginning of its stem.
‣ suffix: an affix that appears at the end of its stem.
‣ infix: an affix that appears inside of its stem.
Notes
Morphology is the study of how languages build words. The meaningful parts of words
are called morphemes. Some morphemes are free, and some are bound.
(1) yaaʔakukḥak siy̓a.
yaaʔak –uk =ḥa =k siy̓a.
pain –have =MOOD =you me
Do you love me?
(2) yaaʔakukʷaḥ suw̓a.
yaaʔak –uk =(m)a =ḥ suw̓a.
pain –have =MOOD =I you
I love you.
The most common way of building words is by combining stems with affixes.
∞ Exercise 25. Use dashes to divide these English and Nuuchahnulth words into
morphemes. Identify which morphemes are roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
(3) happy fasten modern sleep put open
happiness unfasten postmodernism sleeplessness input reopen
(4) ʔučqak foggy ʔučqmis fog ʔučqšiƛ get foggy
łiw̓aḥak cloudy łiw̓aḥmis cloud łiw̓aḥšiƛ get cloudy
taʔił sick tamis sickness tapiƛ get sick
tii tea tiinaq like tea tiiʔiic drink tea
qʷišaa cigarette qʷišnaq like to smoke qʷišʔiic smoke
kʷaapii coffee kʷaapiqnaq like coffee kʷaapiʕic drink coffee
The only prefixes in Nuuchahnulth involve reduplication.
(5) nuuk song ʕatiq–šiƛ thank sup̓ic–mis sand
nuuk–nuuk songs ʕaa–ʕaatiq–a thanking su–sup̓ic–k
uk sugar
Any sequence of morphemes to which more morphemes can be added is a stem.
∞ Exercise 26. How many stems are in each of these words?
(6) ʔuyaqḥ–mis–nak=ḥa=k. Do you have news?
(7) qic̓–as–w̓it
as=ʔaƛ=e=ʔic. You’re going to go to school now.
English builds new words by compounding, but Nuuchahnulth does not.
(8) weekday snowman takeout daycare shut-in well-worn
pigpen milkshake seafood slowdance speakeasy well-wisher
Nuuchahnulth builds some words just by changes in vowel length.
(9) wałšiƛ go home m̓iƛšiƛ start raining tum̓aqstuƛ get dark
waałšiƛ going home m̓iiƛšiƛ starting to rain tuum̓aqstuƛ getting dark
∞ Exercise 27. Both English and Nuuchahnulth build words by ablaut. Which of these
past tense verbs and plural nouns are formed by affixation, and which by ablaut?
(10) sing stare break warn girl man foot idea
sang stared broke warned girls men feet ideas
∞ Exercise 28. Nuuchahnulth forms plurals by affixation, reduplication, and changes
in vowel length. For each of these plurals, say which of these processes is used.
(11) meʔiƛqac meʔiƛqacm̓inḥ boy tan̓
a taatn̓
a child
łucsac łucsacm̓inḥ girl maʔas maatmaas tribe
quuʔas quutquuʔas person ʔiiḥ ʔeʔiiḥ big
quuʔassa quuʔassam̓inḥ Indian naniiqsu nananiqsu grandparent
łuučm̓uup łułuučm̓up sister kaaʔuuc kakuuc grandchild
ḥaw̓ił ḥaw̓iiḥ chief ḥaaw̓iłaƛ ḥaaw̓iiḥaƛ young man
ḥakum ḥatkmiiḥ queen ḥaakʷaaƛ ḥaatḥaakʷaƛ young woman
čakup čaakupiiḥ man łuucsma łuucsaamiiḥ woman
