Kwak'wala
Encyclopedia
Kwak'wala is the Indigenous
language spoken by the Kwakwaka'wakw
. It belongs to the Wakashan language family. There are about 250 Kwak'wala speakers today, which amounts to 5% of the Kwakwaka'wakw population. Because of the small number of speakers, and the fact that very few children learn Kwak'wala as a first language, its long-term viability is in question. However, interest from many Kwakwaka'wakw in preserving their language and a number of revitalization projects are countervailing pressures which may extend the viability of the language.
Kwakwaka'wakw means "speakers of Kwak'wala," effectively defining an ethnic connection between different tribes by reference to a shared language. However, the Kwak'wala spoken by each tribe exhibits dialectical differences which may be quite significant in some cases. There are four major dialects which are unambiguously dialects of Kwak'wala: Kwak̓wala, ’Nak̓wala, G̱uc̓ala and T̓łat̓łasik̓wala.
In addition to these dialects, there are also Kwakwaka'wakw tribes that speak Liq'wala. Liq'wala has sometimes been considered to be a dialect of Kwak'wala, and sometimes a separate language. The standard orthography for Liq'wala is quite different from the most widely-used orthography for Kwak'wala, which tends to widen the apparent differences between Liq'wala and Kwak'wala.
, to which it belongs. These include a large phonemic inventory, with a very rich array of consonantal contrasts and relatively few vowels; frequent use of a reduced vowel (ə); contrastively glottalized sonorant consonants; the existence of ejectives at all places of articulation; and the existence of lateral affricates.
The vowels of Kwak'wala are a, e, i, o, u, ə. There is a phonemic length distinction as well; however, not all vowels exist in both long and short versions. The phonemic status of some of the vowels in question is relatively unclear. This is especially evident in the case of a and ə. These vowels often interchange in different instances of the same stem or suffix, depending on the phonological content. presents some cases of complementary distribution
between a and ə, but concludes that those vowels must be underlyingly distinct in some other cases.
analyzes all vowels other than ə and a as derived rather than underlying: i from /əj/; u from /əw/; e from /əja/; and o from /əwa/.
The consonantal inventory of Kwak'wala includes a three-way contrast in plosives (plain (voiceless), voiced, and ejective). There is an extensive series of distinctions between rounded and non-rounded consonants in the dorsal region. Notably, there are no velar consonants without secondary articulation: they are all either palatalized or labialized. The consonants are shown in the following table.
Stress placement depends on syllable weight. A syllable is heavy if it has a long vowel or a moraic
coda
; otherwise it is light. A moraic coda is a non-glottalized sonorant. Thus, pən is a heavy syllable, while pət is light . If a word has any heavy syllables, then primary stress falls on the leftmost heavy syllable. Otherwise, primary stress falls on the rightmost syllable.
Secondary stress also occurs, though its distribution is less well understood. According to , secondary stress falls on the second syllable following the primary stress, and iteratively thereafter on every second syllable. This statement may be amended to take into account the observation of that epenthetic vowels never bear stress, including secondary stress, and they seem to be invisible when syllables are counted for the assignment of secondary stress.
Kwak'wala appears to have an otherwise unattested pattern of repair strategies for coda condition violations. Underlyingly voiced consonants are devoiced word-finally, but surface faithfully with following epenthesis when word-internal. The glottalized consonants remain glottalized when word-final, but surface with a following epenthetic vowel when word-internal.
ing (except for reduplication
). Like other Wakashan languages, Kwak'wala morphology is notable for the complex effects which certain suffixes trigger or correlate with in the stems to which they affix. There are two basic categories of changes associated with suffixes: fortition
or lenition
of a stem-final consonant; and expansion of stem material, through vowel lengthening or reduplication.
Hardening and weakening
Suffixes fall into three classes according to their behavior. These classes are neutral, weakening, and hardening. Following the Boasian orthographic tradition, these suffix types are indicated by a symbol preceding the suffix: '-', '=' or '-!', respectively.) Weakening and hardening suffixes alter the stem to which they attach by changing the features of the stem-final consonant.
Weakening suffixes trigger a kind of lenition
. Plain voiceless stops and affricates are changed to their voiced equivalent. The behavior of fricatives is somewhat more erratic. /s/ weakens to [dz] or [j], depending on the root—a classification which is apparently arbitrary. /xʲ/ weakens to [n]. Both /xʷ/ and /χʷ/ weaken to [w], while /χ/ does not change in a weakening context. /ɬ/ voices when weakened, surfacing as [l]. Sonorants weaken by becoming glottalized.
In addition to this somewhat unpredictable set of changes, the patterns involved in weakening are further complicated by the fact that some suffixes weaken stops but do not affect fricatives. Boas lists eleven suffixes which weaken stops and affricates but do not weaken fricatives (these suffixes are indicated by the notation (=) as seen in the following list): (=)əs "continuously"; (=)əχsta "mouth, opening, to talk about"; (=)əxʲsa "away"; (=)təwiʔ or (=)toʔji "to do something while doing something else" – weakens /s/; (=)ɡʲəɬ "continuing motion in a definite direction" – weakens /k, q, s/; (=)ɡʲətɬəla "to go attend, to be on the way"; (=)χəkʷ "place where there are many (plants etc.)" – does not weaken /s/; (=)χs "canoe"; (=)χsikʲa "in front of house, body, mountain"; (=)χtɬəjˀa "by force"; (=)tɬiʔ "moving on water".
Hardening suffixes trigger a kind of fortition
. Stem final plain stops or affricates or sonorants become glottalized. As with weakening suffixes, the hardening patterns of fricatives are less predictable. /s/ hardens to [ts] or [jˀ]. (This classification is apparently arbitrary and not necessarily consistent with the weakening behavior of a given stem; i.e. a stem in which /s/ becomes [dz] when weakened may become either [ts] or [jˀ] when hardened, etc.) /xʲ/ hardens to [nˀ]. Both /xʷ/ and /χʷ/ harden to [wˀ], while /χ/ in a hardening context surfaces with an additional following glottal stop, i.e. [χʔ]. /ɬ/ hardens to [lˀ].
In keeping with the avoidance of laryngeally marked non-final codas, weakening and hardening often trigger epenthesis, yielding a schwa between the stem and suffix.
The table below illustrates how various roots weaken and harden.
Some stems with underlying final voiced stops or glottalized segments are attested with hardening and weakening suffixes. However they are too infrequent to give generalizations for how they behave in those contexts.
Stem expansion
In addition to fortition and lengthening, suffixes may also be associated with lengthening or reduplication effects on the stems which precede them. distinguishes seven classes of suffix (with many subclasses), which all have different effects on some of the twenty possible root shapes which he identifies:
Key: This chart follows the one given in , with a few alterations. Root shapes refer to an initial consonant C, a nucleus ə or a full vowel V, and final consonants including plain voiceless obstruents (T), voiced obstruents (D), glides (Y), other sonorants (R) and glottalized versions of each of T and R (Tʼ and Rˀ). Cells show the effect of suffixes belonging to the various classes (columns) on roots or stems of various shapes (rows). = indicates that the suffix leaves the stem unchanged. – indicates that the suffix triggers vowel lengthening in the stem (often causing ə to turn into aː). A cell with a vowel (a or e) indicates that the stem vowel is replaced with the vowel in the cell. Several symbols occurring together with + in the middle indicates that reduplication occurs; the symbols on each side of + indicate the shape of each syllable of the reduplicative stem.
For example, class 7 suffixes added to C1 roots trigger reduplication on the pattern -+= which means that the reduplicative stem has two syllables, with the first syllable long and the second syllable preserving the length of the original stem. ˘ indicates a short copy; thus a 6a suffix on a D root will produce a reduplicative stem, with the second syllable being short and the first syllable having a nucleus a. C refers to one of the stem consonants. Stress marks show the location of primary stress in the suffixed form. In non-reduplicative forms, these indicate that the stem itself bears stress. In reduplicative forms, stress marks indicate which stem syllable bears stress. When no stress mark is included, stress assignment follows the regular pattern for Kwak'wala stress. Cells with multiple options are given as in the original chart; it is not clear whether this optionality is systematic in any way.
A few symbols whose meaning is unclear have been retained directly as given in Boas. These include V and v. The symbol -" corresponds to a special symbol in the original chart (a dash
with trema); its meaning is also unclear. A few corrections to the original chart are made in the version above. Class 2 suffixes are listed in this chart as "all -", i.e. lengthening all stems. However, all the class 2 suffixes described by Boas which productively apply to roots of type B or C leave stems unchanged rather than triggering lengthening. This also adheres to the phonotactics of Kwak'wala, which do not allow superheavy syllables of the type which would be created by lengthening these stems. Therefore, the chart above treats class 2 suffixes as causing no change in roots of these types. Additionally, several forms in the original chart have "-" in place of "+" in reduplicative forms. These are taken as errors here, and corrected in the chart above. Root classes C2 and C3 are included in this chart as they are included in Boas' chart, even though there are no known roots belonging to these classes (which would presumably have the shapes CəRR and CəRY). Root class B3 is included with the changes noted in the original chart, although states that there are no known roots of this type.
An example of a suffix which triggers stem changes is -!əm "exclusively; real, really; just only; common," which belongs to class 3f. Its effect on roots of various shapes is shown in the following table.
Other word-formation processes
In addition to suffix-driven reduplication, word formation may also involve reduplication not tied to any suffix. There are at least two reduplication patterns.
and inflection
al morphology, although they are not necessarily homologous with them.
Stem-forming suffixes
The suffixes in Kwak'wala can be grouped into at least nineteen different classes, principally on semantic grounds. In the order given by Boas, these classes correspond generally but not completely to the order in which these suffixes appear within a word:
1. General locatives: e.g. =axʲsa "away" (maːxtsʼaxʲsa "to go away for shame"); =ʔdzu "on a flat object" (ʔaleːwədzəweʔ "sea hunter on flat, i.e. Orion").
2. Special locatives: e.g. -ʔstu "round opening, eye, door" (t͡ɬeːχʼʷstu "to miss a round place"); =is "open space, bottom of sea, world, beach, in body" (mˀəɡʷiːs "round thing in stomach").
3. Special locatives referring to body parts: e.g. -!pəla "throat" (teːkʼʷəpəla "to have hanging on chest"); -!iq "in mind" (nˀeːnˀkʼʲiχʼid "to begin to say in mind").
4. Limitations of form: Generally used with numerals, e.g. =ukʷ' "human beings" (malˀuːkʷ "two persons"); -tsʼaq "long" (nˀəmpˈinatsʼaxsta "only once along street of village").
5. Temporal suffixes: e.g. -xʲid "recent past" (qaːsaxʲid "he went (about a week ago)"); -ajadzəwˀaɬ "used to be, to do" (t͡ɬiːqˈinuχajadzəwˀaɬ "used to be a canoe-builder").
6. Suffixes creating a transitive verb: e.g. -a, which turns a static or intransitive verb or a noun into a transitive verb: cf. ʔamχ "water-tight" and ʔamχa "to make water-tight"; and jaːsikʷ "tallow" and jaːsikʷa "to put tallow on".
7. Aspect: e.g. -(ə)s "continuously" (-!məmiːχəs "to sleep continuously, all the time"); -aːɬa "to be in the position of performing an act" (xʲuːsaɬa "to be at rest").
8. Plurality (human): i.e. -xʲdaʔχʷ (ʔaχiːdəxʲdaʔχʷ "they took").
9. Mode: e.g. -uʔ "hypothetical" (qasuʔ wət͡ɬasuʔt͡ɬuʔ "if you should be asked"); -xʲ "exhortative" (ɢʷalaxʲənts "do not let us do so!")
10. Passive: e.g. =əm "passive of verbs with instrumental" (halaːɢimaχa maːmajuɬtsila "it is paid to the midwife"); -ɬ "passive of verbs expressing sensations and mental actions; also sensations produced by outer actions" (ʔamdəɬ "to be affected by a furuncle").
11. Restriction of subject: e.g. -(xʲ)sanala "some" ((huːχʷsanalaɡʲəliɬ "some of them vomit in house"); -amənqʷəla "some" (kʲˈəlxʲamənqʷəla "some are unripe").
12. Nominal suffixes: e.g. -!ənχ "season" (xʲaːmˀaʔənχ "season of scarcity of food"); =id "the one by whom one is owned as" (qʼaːɡʷid "master (i.e. the one by whom one is owned as a slave)").
13. Verbal suffixes: e.g. =alisəm "to die of inner troubles" (xʷəljalisəm "to die of longing"); -buɬa "to pretend" (qʼʷaːsabuɬa "to pretend to cry").
14. Adverbal/adjectival suffixes: e.g. -kʲas "real, really" (nənwalakʼʷinikʲasus "your real supernatural power"); -dzi "large" (qʼaːsadzikʲas "a great number of sea otters").
15. Source of information: e.g. -lˀ(a) "it is said" (χənt͡ɬəlalˀ "very much, it is said"); -ʔənɡʲa "in a dream" (laʔənɡʲa "in a dream it was seen that he went").
16. Degree of certainty: e.g. -ɡʲanəm "perhaps" (suːɡʲanəm "you perhaps"); -dza "emphatic certainty" (ladzat͡ɬən "I am going to go").
17. Conjunctions: e.g. -mˀ "referring to a previous subject of conversation or narrative"; -tˈa "but, on his part".
18. Emotional attitudes: e.g. -id͡l "astonishing!" (saʔid͡la "is that you?!"); -niʔsd͡l "oh if!" (-ɡʲaːχniʔsd͡liʔ "oh, if he would come!").
19. Auxiliary suffixes: e.g. -ɡʲəɬ "motion without cessation, away" (uːχt͡ɬəɡʲəɬəχsa "to lift a load out of a canoe"); -əm "plural of locative suffixes" (jəpəmliɬ "to stand in a row in the house").
Inflectional suffixes
There are two major types of inflectional suffixes in Kwak'wala: verbal suffixes that modify a predicate
; and nominal clitic
s, which may agree with a noun present in the sentence, or may be entirely pronominal
.
Verbal inflection:
A typologically
notable feature of Kwak'wala is the distinction made in verbal conjugation between visible and invisible subjects. A distinction is also made between subjects that are near the listener and those that are not. The verb paradigm for la "to go" (classified as a Paradigm 2 verb) illustrates these properties :
Nominal inflection:
An entity can be present in a sentence in one of three ways: as a full overt noun; as a pronoun; or without any overt exponent. In each case, the entity will also be represented by an agreement clitic: if the entity takes the form of a noun or pronoun, the clitic will be from the prenominal set; if the entity has no overt exponent, then a pronominal clitic will be used. Clitics always precede the nominal with which they agree, which violates the generalization that Kwak'wala affixes are always suffixing. However, the clitic always forms a phonological word the preceding word rather than the nominal, with the result that the suffixing generalization is always true as far as the phonology is concerned.
Verbal suffixes are shown in the following table:
Because first and second person entities are always deictically
accessible, there is no distinction between demonstrative and non-demonstrative clitics. However, third person clitics are distinguished in this way. As with verbal inflection, agreement clitics distinguish entities that are near and far, and entities that are visible and invisible. Pronominal demonstrative clitics are shown in the following table (1 indicates an entity near the speaker; 2 indicates an entity near the hearer; 3 indicates an entity distant from both hearer and speaker):
Prenominal demonstrative clitics do not distinguish between visible and invisible entities. They are divided into two classes: consonantal forms (which precede proper names, indefinite nouns, and third person possessive forms whose possessor is not the subject of the sentence), and vocalic forms (which precede all other nouns and pronouns):
Another set of suffixes is used to simultaneously indicate the subject and object/instrument, as shown in the following tables. (Note that when the extension
of the subject and object/instrument overlap, no suffix is available. Another construction must be used to express this kind of reflexive
relation.)
(NB: In the preceding table, forms with a first person object do not use a verbal suffix. Rather, they use a periphrastic auxiliary form of the verb ɡʲaχ "to come". This auxiliary precedes the main verb in the sentence.)
Suffixation is also used for genitive constructions. These suffixes can be either prenominal/pronominal or postnominal. First person genitives allow either form. Third person genitives observe a robust differentiation between those cases in which the subject and possessor are the same entity, and those in which they are not. In the former case, the instrumental suffix -s is added to the prenominal genitive marker, and the possessed noun take the postnominal demonstrative genitive ending. In the latter case, the instrumental -s attaches to the postnominal genitive ending on the possessed noun, and the prenominal suffix remains unchanged.
The following table shows genitive suffixes for first and second person possessors. Prenominal forms include a distinction between first and second person, while the distinction in postnominal forms is made by adding the pronominal verbal inflection for the appropriate person.
Genitive suffixes with a third-person possessor are shown in the following table:
Prenominal forms for the objective and instrumental are formed by suffixing the prenominal forms given above to -χ or s respectively.
Independent pronouns also exist in Kwak'wala. Pronouns have verbal and nominal forms. Verbal forms inflect like other verbs. Nominal forms occur in subject, object and instrumental forms. The full set of pronouns is shown in the following table:
Note that the object forms are clearly related to ɡaχ "to come" (in the first person) and la "to go" (in the second and third person).
A minimal sentence consists of a predicate. Although this is syntactically simple, it is not necessarily semantically impoverished. The rich morphological system of Kwak'wala allows the expression of many features in a single predicate: for example, ɢaɢakʼʲənt͡ɬut͡ɬ "I shall try to get you to be my wife"; ɬawadənt͡ɬasəkʲ "I have this one for my husband (lit. I am husband owner of him)" .
In sentences with greater syntactic complexity, word-order is identical to the order in which inflectional morphemes are added to a stem, namely: stem/predicate – subject – direct object – instrument – indirect object. Thus:
A number of clitic
s are used to mark agreement with nouns, including clitics for definiteness
/deixis
and case
(including accusative
and instrumental case
). Clitics are positioned at the left edge of the noun they agree with, but lean phonologically to their left. The result is a systematic mismatch between syntactic and phonological constituent structure, such that on the surface, each prenominal word appears to be inflected to agree with the following noun.
This can be seen in the preceding example: the sentence-initial predicate kʷixidida includes a clitic /-ida/ which belongs together with the nominal bəɡʷanəmaχa in terms of syntactical constituency. That nominal in turns includes a clitic /-χa/ which is syntactically connected to the following noun, and so on.
in the late 19th and early 20th century. Over time, Boas developed a systematic orthography for documentation of Kwak'wala, which captured almost all of the important distinctions in the language (although some features, such as vowel length and stress, were not recorded systematically).
Although the Boasian orthography was able to capture almost all of the important features of Kwak'wala, it was difficult for Kwak'wala speakers to use: it was impossible to write with a standard typewriter, due to its abundant use of special symbols; and it used some standard letters very differently than English orthography, which was familiar to many Kwakwaka'wakw. A practical orthography, developed by the Kwakwaka'wakw linguist David Grubb, became the standard system for writing Kwak'wala.
Practical writing of Kwak'wala today is typically done in the orthography promoted by the U'mista Cultural Society, which largely resembles the Grubb orthography. Variants of this orthography allow for easier computer typesetting. For example, instead of marking ejective consonants with an apostrophe printed above the consonant, the apostrophe may be printed as a separate character following the consonant. Linguistic works on Kwak'wala typically use an IPA
or Americanist
transcription.
The following table compares different orthographic representations of some Kwak'wala words.
(NB: g. in the Boasian transcription should be an underdotted g rather than a digraph
. ḵ’, etc., in the U'mista transcription should be overstricken rather than written as digraphs.)
However, a number of revitalization efforts have recently attempted to reverse language loss for Kwak'wala. A proposal to build a Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations Centre for Language Culture has gained wide support. A review of revitalization efforts in the 1990s shows that the potential to fully revitalize Kwak'wala still remains, but serious hurdles also exist.
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast
The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those historical peoples. They are now situated within the Canadian Province of British Columbia and the U.S...
language spoken by the Kwakwaka'wakw
Kwakwaka'wakw
The Kwakwaka'wakw are an Indigenous group of First Nations peoples, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland and islands.Kwakwaka'wakw translates as "Those who speak Kwak'wala", describing the collective nations within the area that...
. It belongs to the Wakashan language family. There are about 250 Kwak'wala speakers today, which amounts to 5% of the Kwakwaka'wakw population. Because of the small number of speakers, and the fact that very few children learn Kwak'wala as a first language, its long-term viability is in question. However, interest from many Kwakwaka'wakw in preserving their language and a number of revitalization projects are countervailing pressures which may extend the viability of the language.
Dialects
The ethnonymEthnonym
An ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms and autonyms or endonyms .As an example, the ethnonym for...
Kwakwaka'wakw means "speakers of Kwak'wala," effectively defining an ethnic connection between different tribes by reference to a shared language. However, the Kwak'wala spoken by each tribe exhibits dialectical differences which may be quite significant in some cases. There are four major dialects which are unambiguously dialects of Kwak'wala: Kwak̓wala, ’Nak̓wala, G̱uc̓ala and T̓łat̓łasik̓wala.
In addition to these dialects, there are also Kwakwaka'wakw tribes that speak Liq'wala. Liq'wala has sometimes been considered to be a dialect of Kwak'wala, and sometimes a separate language. The standard orthography for Liq'wala is quite different from the most widely-used orthography for Kwak'wala, which tends to widen the apparent differences between Liq'wala and Kwak'wala.
Structure
| |Note: Kwak'wala text in this section is written in IPA International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... transcription. For the difference between this and other transcription systems used for Kwak'wala, see the following section. Note also that vowel length and stress are not marked in all forms in this section. |
|
Phonology
Kwak'wala phonology exhibits many traits of the Northwest Coast linguistic areaSprachbund
A Sprachbund – also known as a linguistic area, convergence area, diffusion area or language crossroads – is a group of languages that have become similar in some way because of geographical proximity and language contact. They may be genetically unrelated, or only distantly related...
, to which it belongs. These include a large phonemic inventory, with a very rich array of consonantal contrasts and relatively few vowels; frequent use of a reduced vowel (ə); contrastively glottalized sonorant consonants; the existence of ejectives at all places of articulation; and the existence of lateral affricates.
The vowels of Kwak'wala are a, e, i, o, u, ə. There is a phonemic length distinction as well; however, not all vowels exist in both long and short versions. The phonemic status of some of the vowels in question is relatively unclear. This is especially evident in the case of a and ə. These vowels often interchange in different instances of the same stem or suffix, depending on the phonological content. presents some cases of complementary distribution
Complementary distribution
Complementary distribution in linguistics is the relationship between two different elements, where one element is found in a particular environment and the other element is found in the opposite environment...
between a and ə, but concludes that those vowels must be underlyingly distinct in some other cases.
analyzes all vowels other than ə and a as derived rather than underlying: i from /əj/; u from /əw/; e from /əja/; and o from /əwa/.
The consonantal inventory of Kwak'wala includes a three-way contrast in plosives (plain (voiceless), voiced, and ejective). There is an extensive series of distinctions between rounded and non-rounded consonants in the dorsal region. Notably, there are no velar consonants without secondary articulation: they are all either palatalized or labialized. The consonants are shown in the following table.
| Bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:... |
Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... |
Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
Uvular Uvular consonant Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth.... |
pal. | lab. | plain | lab. | |||||
| Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
plain | m | n | |||||||
| glottalized Glottalization Glottalization is the complete or partial closure of the glottis during the articulation of another sound. Glottalization of vowels and other sonorants is most often realized as creaky voice... |
mˀ | nˀ | ||||||||
| Plosive Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &... |
voiceless Voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of... |
p | t | kʲ | kʷ | q | qʷ | ʔ | ||
| voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
b | d | ɡʲ | ɡʷ | ɢ | ɢʷ | ||||
| ejective Ejective consonant In phonetics, ejective consonants are voiceless consonants that are pronounced with simultaneous closure of the glottis. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants... |
pʼ | tʼ | kʼʲ | kʼʷ | qʼ | qʼʷ | ||||
| Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :... |
voiceless | ts | tɬ | |||||||
| voiced | dz | dl | ||||||||
| ejective | tsʼ | tɬʼ | ||||||||
| Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
s | ɬ | xʲ | xʷ | χ | χʷ | h | |||
| Approximant Approximant consonant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no... |
plain | l | j | w | ||||||
| glottalized | lˀ | jˀ | wˀ | |||||||
Stress placement depends on syllable weight. A syllable is heavy if it has a long vowel or a moraic
Mora (linguistics)
Mora is a unit in phonology that determines syllable weight, which in some languages determines stress or timing. As with many technical linguistic terms, the definition of a mora varies. Perhaps the most succinct working definition was provided by the American linguist James D...
coda
Syllable coda
In phonology, a syllable coda comprises the consonant sounds of a syllable that follow the nucleus, which is usually a vowel. The combination of a nucleus and a coda is called a rime. Some syllables consist only of a nucleus with no coda...
; otherwise it is light. A moraic coda is a non-glottalized sonorant. Thus, pən is a heavy syllable, while pət is light . If a word has any heavy syllables, then primary stress falls on the leftmost heavy syllable. Otherwise, primary stress falls on the rightmost syllable.
Secondary stress also occurs, though its distribution is less well understood. According to , secondary stress falls on the second syllable following the primary stress, and iteratively thereafter on every second syllable. This statement may be amended to take into account the observation of that epenthetic vowels never bear stress, including secondary stress, and they seem to be invisible when syllables are counted for the assignment of secondary stress.
Kwak'wala appears to have an otherwise unattested pattern of repair strategies for coda condition violations. Underlyingly voiced consonants are devoiced word-finally, but surface faithfully with following epenthesis when word-internal. The glottalized consonants remain glottalized when word-final, but surface with a following epenthetic vowel when word-internal.
Morphophonology
Kwak'wala has a rich morphological system which, like other Wakashan languages, is entirely suffixSuffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
ing (except for reduplication
Reduplication
Reduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
). Like other Wakashan languages, Kwak'wala morphology is notable for the complex effects which certain suffixes trigger or correlate with in the stems to which they affix. There are two basic categories of changes associated with suffixes: fortition
Fortition
Fortition is a consonantal change from a 'weak' sound to a 'strong' one, the opposite of the more common lenition. For example, a fricative or an approximant may become a plosive...
or lenition
Lenition
In linguistics, lenition is a kind of sound change that alters consonants, making them "weaker" in some way. The word lenition itself means "softening" or "weakening" . Lenition can happen both synchronically and diachronically...
of a stem-final consonant; and expansion of stem material, through vowel lengthening or reduplication.
Hardening and weakening
Suffixes fall into three classes according to their behavior. These classes are neutral, weakening, and hardening. Following the Boasian orthographic tradition, these suffix types are indicated by a symbol preceding the suffix: '-', '=' or '-!', respectively.) Weakening and hardening suffixes alter the stem to which they attach by changing the features of the stem-final consonant.
Weakening suffixes trigger a kind of lenition
Lenition
In linguistics, lenition is a kind of sound change that alters consonants, making them "weaker" in some way. The word lenition itself means "softening" or "weakening" . Lenition can happen both synchronically and diachronically...
. Plain voiceless stops and affricates are changed to their voiced equivalent. The behavior of fricatives is somewhat more erratic. /s/ weakens to [dz] or [j], depending on the root—a classification which is apparently arbitrary. /xʲ/ weakens to [n]. Both /xʷ/ and /χʷ/ weaken to [w], while /χ/ does not change in a weakening context. /ɬ/ voices when weakened, surfacing as [l]. Sonorants weaken by becoming glottalized.
In addition to this somewhat unpredictable set of changes, the patterns involved in weakening are further complicated by the fact that some suffixes weaken stops but do not affect fricatives. Boas lists eleven suffixes which weaken stops and affricates but do not weaken fricatives (these suffixes are indicated by the notation (=) as seen in the following list): (=)əs "continuously"; (=)əχsta "mouth, opening, to talk about"; (=)əxʲsa "away"; (=)təwiʔ or (=)toʔji "to do something while doing something else" – weakens /s/; (=)ɡʲəɬ "continuing motion in a definite direction" – weakens /k, q, s/; (=)ɡʲətɬəla "to go attend, to be on the way"; (=)χəkʷ "place where there are many (plants etc.)" – does not weaken /s/; (=)χs "canoe"; (=)χsikʲa "in front of house, body, mountain"; (=)χtɬəjˀa "by force"; (=)tɬiʔ "moving on water".
Hardening suffixes trigger a kind of fortition
Fortition
Fortition is a consonantal change from a 'weak' sound to a 'strong' one, the opposite of the more common lenition. For example, a fricative or an approximant may become a plosive...
. Stem final plain stops or affricates or sonorants become glottalized. As with weakening suffixes, the hardening patterns of fricatives are less predictable. /s/ hardens to [ts] or [jˀ]. (This classification is apparently arbitrary and not necessarily consistent with the weakening behavior of a given stem; i.e. a stem in which /s/ becomes [dz] when weakened may become either [ts] or [jˀ] when hardened, etc.) /xʲ/ hardens to [nˀ]. Both /xʷ/ and /χʷ/ harden to [wˀ], while /χ/ in a hardening context surfaces with an additional following glottal stop, i.e. [χʔ]. /ɬ/ hardens to [lˀ].
In keeping with the avoidance of laryngeally marked non-final codas, weakening and hardening often trigger epenthesis, yielding a schwa between the stem and suffix.
The table below illustrates how various roots weaken and harden.
| Root | Weakening | Hardening |
|---|---|---|
| ʔiːp | ʔiːbaju | ʔiːpʼid |
| wat | waːdəkʷ | watʼiːniʔ |
| ɢəkʲ | ɢəɡʲad | ɢaːɢəkʼʲa |
| bəkʷ | bəɡʷiːs | bəkʼʷəs |
| wənq | wənɢiɬ | wənqʼa |
| jaqʷ | jaːɢʷis | jaːqʼʷəs |
| kʼʲəmtɬ | kʼʲəmdləkʷ | kʼʲəmtɬʼala |
| pʼəs | pʼəjaːju | pʼaːpʼətsʼa |
| məxʲ | mənatsʼi | maːmanˀa |
| dlaχʷ | dlaːwaju | dlaːwˀa |
| tsʼuːɬ | tsʼuːlatu | tsʼulˀəmja |
| siːχʷ | siːwaju | siːwˀala |
Some stems with underlying final voiced stops or glottalized segments are attested with hardening and weakening suffixes. However they are too infrequent to give generalizations for how they behave in those contexts.
Stem expansion
In addition to fortition and lengthening, suffixes may also be associated with lengthening or reduplication effects on the stems which precede them. distinguishes seven classes of suffix (with many subclasses), which all have different effects on some of the twenty possible root shapes which he identifies:
| Root | Suffix | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class | Shape | e.g. | 1 | 1a | 2 | 3a | 3b | 3c | 3d | 3e | 3f | 3g | 3h | 4 | 5 | 6a | 6b | 6c | 6d | 7 |
| A1. | CəT | nəp | = | = | – | – or V+= | – | – | ˈa or +ə | ˈa | – | – or ˘+= | ˈa or CVC*a | ˘+= | aː+a | – | – | ˈa | – | eː+v |
| A2. | CəR | kən | = | – | – | – | – | -+= | = or ˘+= | ˘+= | – or ˘+= | ˘+= | ˘+= | aː+= | -+˘ or – | -+˘ | -+˘ | -+˘ | -+˘ | |
| A3. | CəY | dəy | = | – | – | – | – or V+= | ˘+= or -" | – or ˘+= | ˘+= | ˘+= | -" or ˘+= | ˘+= | -+˘ | -+˘ | -+˘ | -+˘ | -+˘ | ||
| A4. | CəD | wˀəd | = | = | – | – | – | – | ˈ- | – | – | – | – | – | = (?) | – | eː+˘ | |||
| A5. | CəTʼ | χəkʲʼ | = | = | – | – | – | – | ˈ- | – | – | = | ˘+= | aː+= | – | – | eː+˘ | |||
| A6. | CəRˀ | tsʼəmˀ | = | = | – | – | = | ˈ- | ˈ- | ˘+= | ˘+= | ˘+= | – | – | eː+˘ | |||||
| B1. | CVT | ɡʲuːkʷ | = | = | = | – or -+˘ | -" or ˘+= | ˘+= or -" or CajaC | -" or ˘+= | -" or ˘+= | -" or ˘+= | -" or -+= | ˘+= | ˘+= | aː+= | -+˘ or -+aː | -+v | – or -+a | -+a | -+˘ |
| B2. | CVR | qʼuːm | = | = | = | ˘+= | ˘+- or əm | -+˘ | ||||||||||||
| B3. | CVY | – | = | = | = | -" or ˘+= | ˘+- | |||||||||||||
| B4. | CVD | jˀuːɡʷ | = | = | = | ˘+= or ˈ- | -" or ˘+= | ˘+= | ||||||||||||
| B5. | CVTʼ | siːqʼ | = | = | = | = | ˘+=(a) | – or ˘+= | ˘+= | v+= | ˘+- | -+˘ | – or ˘+- | |||||||
| B6. | CVRˀ | waːnˀ | = | = | = | = | ˘+= | ˘+= | – | |||||||||||
| C1. | CVRT | qəns | = | = | = | – or -+˘ or CaRaC | – or ˘+= or CaRaC | ˘+= or CaRaC | – or ˘+= | ˘+= or CaRaC | ˘+= or – | – or ˘+= | ˘+= | ˘+= | aː+= | -+˘ | -+= | -+=˘ | -+˘ | -+= |
| C2. | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||
| C3. | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||
| C4. | CəRD | məndz | = | = | v+= | – or ˘+= | v+= | ˘+- | ||||||||||||
| C5. | CəRTʼ | jənkʲʼ | = | = | = | ˘+= | – or ˘+= | ˘+= | v+= | ˘+- | ||||||||||
| C6. | CəRˀT | ɡʲəmˀxʲ | = | = | = | – | ||||||||||||||
| D. | CəTT | tsʼəɬkʲ | = | = | ˘+= | -" or ˘+= | ˘+= | ˘+= | ˘+= | aː+? | aː+˘ | -+˘ |
Key: This chart follows the one given in , with a few alterations. Root shapes refer to an initial consonant C, a nucleus ə or a full vowel V, and final consonants including plain voiceless obstruents (T), voiced obstruents (D), glides (Y), other sonorants (R) and glottalized versions of each of T and R (Tʼ and Rˀ). Cells show the effect of suffixes belonging to the various classes (columns) on roots or stems of various shapes (rows). = indicates that the suffix leaves the stem unchanged. – indicates that the suffix triggers vowel lengthening in the stem (often causing ə to turn into aː). A cell with a vowel (a or e) indicates that the stem vowel is replaced with the vowel in the cell. Several symbols occurring together with + in the middle indicates that reduplication occurs; the symbols on each side of + indicate the shape of each syllable of the reduplicative stem.
For example, class 7 suffixes added to C1 roots trigger reduplication on the pattern -+= which means that the reduplicative stem has two syllables, with the first syllable long and the second syllable preserving the length of the original stem. ˘ indicates a short copy; thus a 6a suffix on a D root will produce a reduplicative stem, with the second syllable being short and the first syllable having a nucleus a. C refers to one of the stem consonants. Stress marks show the location of primary stress in the suffixed form. In non-reduplicative forms, these indicate that the stem itself bears stress. In reduplicative forms, stress marks indicate which stem syllable bears stress. When no stress mark is included, stress assignment follows the regular pattern for Kwak'wala stress. Cells with multiple options are given as in the original chart; it is not clear whether this optionality is systematic in any way.
A few symbols whose meaning is unclear have been retained directly as given in Boas. These include V and v. The symbol -" corresponds to a special symbol in the original chart (a dash
Dash
A dash is one of several kinds of punctuation mark. Dashes appear similar to hyphens, but differ from them primarily in length, and serve different functions. The most common versions of the dash are the en dash and the em dash .-Common dashes:...
with trema); its meaning is also unclear. A few corrections to the original chart are made in the version above. Class 2 suffixes are listed in this chart as "all -", i.e. lengthening all stems. However, all the class 2 suffixes described by Boas which productively apply to roots of type B or C leave stems unchanged rather than triggering lengthening. This also adheres to the phonotactics of Kwak'wala, which do not allow superheavy syllables of the type which would be created by lengthening these stems. Therefore, the chart above treats class 2 suffixes as causing no change in roots of these types. Additionally, several forms in the original chart have "-" in place of "+" in reduplicative forms. These are taken as errors here, and corrected in the chart above. Root classes C2 and C3 are included in this chart as they are included in Boas' chart, even though there are no known roots belonging to these classes (which would presumably have the shapes CəRR and CəRY). Root class B3 is included with the changes noted in the original chart, although states that there are no known roots of this type.
An example of a suffix which triggers stem changes is -!əm "exclusively; real, really; just only; common," which belongs to class 3f. Its effect on roots of various shapes is shown in the following table.
| Root class | Root | Suffixed form | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | məxʲ | maːnˀəm | "hit with fist and nothing else" |
| A2 | kʲən | kʲəkʲənˀəmxʲʔid | "to get really loose" |
| A3 | qʼəj | qʼaqʼajˀəm | "really many" |
| A4 | wˀəd | wˀadaʔəm | "really cold" |
| A5 | χəkʲʼ | χaːkʲʼaʔəm | "really to stay away" |
| A6 | ɬəlˀ | ɬaːlaʔəm | "really dead" |
| B1 | ɡʲuːkʷ | ɡʲəɡʲuːkʷʼəm | "a house and nothing else" |
| B2 | ɡʲaːl | ɡʲəɡʲaːlaʔəm | "very first" |
| B4 | juːɡʷ | jˀəjˀuːɡʷamˀ or jˀuːɡʷamˀ | "really rain" |
| B5 | χanˀ | χəχaːnˀaʔəm | "really naked" |
| C1 | ləmχʷ | lələmwˀəm | "really dry" |
| D | pʼədəkʲ | pʼaːdəkʲʼəmxʲʔid | "it gets really dark" |
Other word-formation processes
In addition to suffix-driven reduplication, word formation may also involve reduplication not tied to any suffix. There are at least two reduplication patterns.
Morphosyntax
Expansion of stems through suffixation is a central feature of the language, which transforms a relatively small lexicon of roots into a large and precise vocabulary. Different linguistic analyses have grouped these suffixes into classes in various ways, including "formative" vs. "incremental" and "governing" vs. "restrictive". rejects these morphosyntactic classifications and divides suffixes into various classes based mainly on semantic criteria. Nevertheless, there are morphosyntactic facts which do distinguish classes of suffixes, including suffix ordering and the existence of paradigms for certain suffix types. At a minimum, there is sufficient evidence from syntax and phonology to distinguish between stem-forming suffixes and inflectional suffixes. These classes are comparable to the distinction between derivationalDerivation (linguistics)
In linguistics, derivation is the process of forming a new word on the basis of an existing word, e.g. happi-ness and un-happy from happy, or determination from determine...
and inflection
Inflection
In grammar, inflection or inflexion is the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, grammatical voice, aspect, person, number, gender and case...
al morphology, although they are not necessarily homologous with them.
Stem-forming suffixes
The suffixes in Kwak'wala can be grouped into at least nineteen different classes, principally on semantic grounds. In the order given by Boas, these classes correspond generally but not completely to the order in which these suffixes appear within a word:
1. General locatives: e.g. =axʲsa "away" (maːxtsʼaxʲsa "to go away for shame"); =ʔdzu "on a flat object" (ʔaleːwədzəweʔ "sea hunter on flat, i.e. Orion").
2. Special locatives: e.g. -ʔstu "round opening, eye, door" (t͡ɬeːχʼʷstu "to miss a round place"); =is "open space, bottom of sea, world, beach, in body" (mˀəɡʷiːs "round thing in stomach").
3. Special locatives referring to body parts: e.g. -!pəla "throat" (teːkʼʷəpəla "to have hanging on chest"); -!iq "in mind" (nˀeːnˀkʼʲiχʼid "to begin to say in mind").
4. Limitations of form: Generally used with numerals, e.g. =ukʷ' "human beings" (malˀuːkʷ "two persons"); -tsʼaq "long" (nˀəmpˈinatsʼaxsta "only once along street of village").
5. Temporal suffixes: e.g. -xʲid "recent past" (qaːsaxʲid "he went (about a week ago)"); -ajadzəwˀaɬ "used to be, to do" (t͡ɬiːqˈinuχajadzəwˀaɬ "used to be a canoe-builder").
6. Suffixes creating a transitive verb: e.g. -a, which turns a static or intransitive verb or a noun into a transitive verb: cf. ʔamχ "water-tight" and ʔamχa "to make water-tight"; and jaːsikʷ "tallow" and jaːsikʷa "to put tallow on".
7. Aspect: e.g. -(ə)s "continuously" (-!məmiːχəs "to sleep continuously, all the time"); -aːɬa "to be in the position of performing an act" (xʲuːsaɬa "to be at rest").
8. Plurality (human): i.e. -xʲdaʔχʷ (ʔaχiːdəxʲdaʔχʷ "they took").
9. Mode: e.g. -uʔ "hypothetical" (qasuʔ wət͡ɬasuʔt͡ɬuʔ "if you should be asked"); -xʲ "exhortative" (ɢʷalaxʲənts "do not let us do so!")
10. Passive: e.g. =əm "passive of verbs with instrumental" (halaːɢimaχa maːmajuɬtsila "it is paid to the midwife"); -ɬ "passive of verbs expressing sensations and mental actions; also sensations produced by outer actions" (ʔamdəɬ "to be affected by a furuncle").
11. Restriction of subject: e.g. -(xʲ)sanala "some" ((huːχʷsanalaɡʲəliɬ "some of them vomit in house"); -amənqʷəla "some" (kʲˈəlxʲamənqʷəla "some are unripe").
12. Nominal suffixes: e.g. -!ənχ "season" (xʲaːmˀaʔənχ "season of scarcity of food"); =id "the one by whom one is owned as" (qʼaːɡʷid "master (i.e. the one by whom one is owned as a slave)").
13. Verbal suffixes: e.g. =alisəm "to die of inner troubles" (xʷəljalisəm "to die of longing"); -buɬa "to pretend" (qʼʷaːsabuɬa "to pretend to cry").
14. Adverbal/adjectival suffixes: e.g. -kʲas "real, really" (nənwalakʼʷinikʲasus "your real supernatural power"); -dzi "large" (qʼaːsadzikʲas "a great number of sea otters").
15. Source of information: e.g. -lˀ(a) "it is said" (χənt͡ɬəlalˀ "very much, it is said"); -ʔənɡʲa "in a dream" (laʔənɡʲa "in a dream it was seen that he went").
16. Degree of certainty: e.g. -ɡʲanəm "perhaps" (suːɡʲanəm "you perhaps"); -dza "emphatic certainty" (ladzat͡ɬən "I am going to go").
17. Conjunctions: e.g. -mˀ "referring to a previous subject of conversation or narrative"; -tˈa "but, on his part".
18. Emotional attitudes: e.g. -id͡l "astonishing!" (saʔid͡la "is that you?!"); -niʔsd͡l "oh if!" (-ɡʲaːχniʔsd͡liʔ "oh, if he would come!").
19. Auxiliary suffixes: e.g. -ɡʲəɬ "motion without cessation, away" (uːχt͡ɬəɡʲəɬəχsa "to lift a load out of a canoe"); -əm "plural of locative suffixes" (jəpəmliɬ "to stand in a row in the house").
Inflectional suffixes
There are two major types of inflectional suffixes in Kwak'wala: verbal suffixes that modify a predicate
Predicate (grammar)
There are two competing notions of the predicate in theories of grammar. Traditional grammar tends to view a predicate as one of two main parts of a sentence, the other being the subject, which the predicate modifies. The other understanding of predicates is inspired from work in predicate calculus...
; and nominal clitic
Clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
s, which may agree with a noun present in the sentence, or may be entirely pronominal
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
.
Verbal inflection:
A typologically
Linguistic typology
Linguistic typology is a subfield of linguistics that studies and classifies languages according to their structural features. Its aim is to describe and explain the common properties and the structural diversity of the world's languages...
notable feature of Kwak'wala is the distinction made in verbal conjugation between visible and invisible subjects. A distinction is also made between subjects that are near the listener and those that are not. The verb paradigm for la "to go" (classified as a Paradigm 2 verb) illustrates these properties :
| Indicative | Interrogative | |
|---|---|---|
| 1sg. | lən | laːʔən |
| 1pl. | lekʲ | --- |
| 2sg./pl. | las | laːsa |
| 3sg. near-me visible | lakʲ | laːʔəkʲ |
| 3sg. near-me invisible | laɡʲaʔ | laːʔəɡʲaʔ |
| 3pl. near-you visible | laχ | laːʔuχʷ |
| 3pl. near-you invisible | laʔ | laːʔuʔ |
| 3pl. elsewhere visible | la | laːʔiʔ |
| 3pl. elsewhere invisible | laːʔ | laːʔijˀa |
Nominal inflection:
An entity can be present in a sentence in one of three ways: as a full overt noun; as a pronoun; or without any overt exponent. In each case, the entity will also be represented by an agreement clitic: if the entity takes the form of a noun or pronoun, the clitic will be from the prenominal set; if the entity has no overt exponent, then a pronominal clitic will be used. Clitics always precede the nominal with which they agree, which violates the generalization that Kwak'wala affixes are always suffixing. However, the clitic always forms a phonological word the preceding word rather than the nominal, with the result that the suffixing generalization is always true as far as the phonology is concerned.
Verbal suffixes are shown in the following table:
| Pronominal | Prenominal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Object | Instrumental | Subject | Object | Instrumental | ||
| 1sg. | -ən(t͡ɬ) | – | -ən(t͡ɬ) | ||||
| 1pl. inclusive | -ənts | – | -ənts | ||||
| 1pl. exclusive | -əntsuxʼʷ | – | -əntsuxʼʷ | ||||
| 2sg./pl. | -əs | -ut͡ɬ | -us | ||||
| 3sg./pl. | – | -q | -s | -e | -χ | -s |
Because first and second person entities are always deictically
Deixis
In linguistics, deixis refers to the phenomenon wherein understanding the meaning of certain words and phrases in an utterance requires contextual information. Words are deictic if their semantic meaning is fixed but their denotational meaning varies depending on time and/or place...
accessible, there is no distinction between demonstrative and non-demonstrative clitics. However, third person clitics are distinguished in this way. As with verbal inflection, agreement clitics distinguish entities that are near and far, and entities that are visible and invisible. Pronominal demonstrative clitics are shown in the following table (1 indicates an entity near the speaker; 2 indicates an entity near the hearer; 3 indicates an entity distant from both hearer and speaker):
| Subject | Object | Instrumental | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 visible | -kʲ | -qəkʲ | -səkʲ |
| 1 invisible | -ɡʲaʔ | -χɡʲaʔ | -sɡʲaʔ |
| 2 visible | -uχ | -qʷ | -suχ |
| 2 invisible | -uʔ | -qʼʷ; -quʔ | -suʔ |
| 3 visible | -iq | -q | -s |
| 3 invisible | -iʔ | -qi | -si |
Prenominal demonstrative clitics do not distinguish between visible and invisible entities. They are divided into two classes: consonantal forms (which precede proper names, indefinite nouns, and third person possessive forms whose possessor is not the subject of the sentence), and vocalic forms (which precede all other nouns and pronouns):
| Subject | Object | Instrumental | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consonantal | Vocalic | Consonantal | Vocalic | Consonantal | Vocalic | |||
| 1 | -ɡʲa | -ɡʲada | -χɡʲa | -χɡʲada | ||||
| -sɡʲada | ||||||||
| 2 | -uχ | -uχda | -χuχ; -χʷ | -χuχda; -χʷa | -suχ; -sa | -suχda; -sa | ||
| 3 | -i | -ida; -ida | -χ | -χa | ||||
| -sa |
Another set of suffixes is used to simultaneously indicate the subject and object/instrument, as shown in the following tables. (Note that when the extension
Extension (semantics)
In any of several studies that treat the use of signs - for example, in linguistics, logic, mathematics, semantics, and semiotics - the extension of a concept, idea, or sign consists of the things to which it applies, in contrast with its comprehension or intension, which consists very roughly of...
of the subject and object/instrument overlap, no suffix is available. Another construction must be used to express this kind of reflexive
Reflexive verb
In grammar, a reflexive verb is a verb whose semantic agent and patient are the same. For example, the English verb to perjure is reflexive, since one can only perjure oneself...
relation.)
| Subject | Object | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg. | 1pl. inclusive | 1pl. exclusive | 2-sg./pl. | 3sg./pl. | |
| 1sg. | – | – | – | -ənt͡ɬut͡ɬ | -ənt͡ɬaq |
| 1pl. inclusive | – | – | – | – | -əntsaq |
| 1pl. exclusive | – | – | – | -ənuxʼʷut͡ɬ | -ənuxʼʷaq |
| 2sg./pl. | ɡʲaχən | – | ɡʲaχənuxʼʷ | – | -siq |
| 3sg./pl. | ɡʲaχən | ɡʲaχənts | ɡʲaχənuxʼʷ | -ut͡ɬ | -q |
(NB: In the preceding table, forms with a first person object do not use a verbal suffix. Rather, they use a periphrastic auxiliary form of the verb ɡʲaχ "to come". This auxiliary precedes the main verb in the sentence.)
| Subject | Instrumental | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg. | 1pl. inclusive | 1pl. exclusive | 2-sg./pl. | 3sg./pl. | |
| 1sg. | – | – | – | -ənt͡ɬus | -ənt͡ɬas |
| 1pl. inclusive | – | – | – | – | -əntsas |
| 1pl. exclusive | – | – | – | -ənuxʼʷus | -ənuxʼʷas |
| 2sg./pl. | -setsən | – | -setsənuxʼʷ | – | -sis |
| 3sg./pl. | -ən | -ənts | -ənuxʼʷ | -us | -s |
Suffixation is also used for genitive constructions. These suffixes can be either prenominal/pronominal or postnominal. First person genitives allow either form. Third person genitives observe a robust differentiation between those cases in which the subject and possessor are the same entity, and those in which they are not. In the former case, the instrumental suffix -s is added to the prenominal genitive marker, and the possessed noun take the postnominal demonstrative genitive ending. In the latter case, the instrumental -s attaches to the postnominal genitive ending on the possessed noun, and the prenominal suffix remains unchanged.
The following table shows genitive suffixes for first and second person possessors. Prenominal forms include a distinction between first and second person, while the distinction in postnominal forms is made by adding the pronominal verbal inflection for the appropriate person.
| Prenominal: 1st person | Prenominal: 2nd person | Postnominal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| near-me visible | -ɡʲin, -ɡʲints | -ɡʲas | -ɡʲ- |
| near-me invisible | -ɡʲinuxʼʷ | -ɡʲas | -ɡʲa- |
| near-you visible | -ən, -ənts | -us, -χs | -(a)q- |
| near-you invisible | -ən, -ənts | -uχs | -(a)qʼ- |
| elsewhere visible | -ənuxʼʷ | -is | -(i)- |
| elsewhere invisible | -ənuxʼʷ | -is | -a- |
Genitive suffixes with a third-person possessor are shown in the following table:
| Possessor is subject | Possessor is not subject | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prenominal | Postnominal | Prenominal | Postnominal | ||
| near-me visible | -ɡʲas | -kʲ | -ɡʲa | -ɡʲas | |
| near-me invisible | -ɡʲas | -ɡʲaʔ | -ɡʲa | -ɡʲaʔəs | |
| near-you visible | -us | -q | -uχ | -(a)χs | |
| near-you invisible | -us | -qʼ | -uχ | -qʼəs | |
| elsewhere visible | -is | – | -i | -s | |
| elsewhere invisible | -is | -a | -i | -as |
Prenominal forms for the objective and instrumental are formed by suffixing the prenominal forms given above to -χ or s respectively.
Independent pronouns also exist in Kwak'wala. Pronouns have verbal and nominal forms. Verbal forms inflect like other verbs. Nominal forms occur in subject, object and instrumental forms. The full set of pronouns is shown in the following table:
| Verbal forms | Nominal forms | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Object | Instrumental | |||
| 1sg. | nuːɡʷa | jən | ɡʲaχən | jən | |
| 1pl. inclusive | nuːɡʷənts | jənts | ɡʲaχənts | jənts | |
| 1pl. exclusive | nuːɡʷənuxʼʷ | jənuxʼʷ | ɡʲaχənuxʼʷ | jənuxʼʷ | |
| 2sg./pl. | su | jut͡ɬ | lat͡ɬ | jut͡ɬ | |
| 3sg./pl. near-me | ɡʲa | jəχɡʲa | laχɡʲa | jəsɡʲa | |
| 3sg./pl. near-you | ju | jəχuχ | laχuχ | jəsuχ | |
| 3sg./pl. elsewhere | hi | jəχ | laq | jəs |
Note that the object forms are clearly related to ɡaχ "to come" (in the first person) and la "to go" (in the second and third person).
Syntax
Kwak'wala formally distinguishes only three classes of words: predicates/substantives; particles; and exclamatory forms. Nouns and verbs are distinguished mainly by syntactic context. Thus, the bare form kʼʷasʼ "sit" is a verb; combined with an article-like particle, it serves as a noun: jəχa kʼʷasʼ "the one who sits" .A minimal sentence consists of a predicate. Although this is syntactically simple, it is not necessarily semantically impoverished. The rich morphological system of Kwak'wala allows the expression of many features in a single predicate: for example, ɢaɢakʼʲənt͡ɬut͡ɬ "I shall try to get you to be my wife"; ɬawadənt͡ɬasəkʲ "I have this one for my husband (lit. I am husband owner of him)" .
In sentences with greater syntactic complexity, word-order is identical to the order in which inflectional morphemes are added to a stem, namely: stem/predicate – subject – direct object – instrument – indirect object. Thus:
| |kʷixidida | bəɡʷanəmaχa | qʼasasis | tʼəlwaɢaju |
| |kʷixid-ida | bəɡʷanəm-a-χa | qʼasa-s-is | tʼəlwaɢaju |
| |clubbed-the | man-OBJ-the | sea.otter-INSTR-his | club |
| |The man clubbed the sea-otter with his club. , |
A number of clitic
Clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
s are used to mark agreement with nouns, including clitics for definiteness
Definiteness
In grammatical theory, definiteness is a feature of noun phrases, distinguishing between entities which are specific and identifiable in a given context and entities which are not ....
/deixis
Deixis
In linguistics, deixis refers to the phenomenon wherein understanding the meaning of certain words and phrases in an utterance requires contextual information. Words are deictic if their semantic meaning is fixed but their denotational meaning varies depending on time and/or place...
and case
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
(including accusative
Accusative case
The accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
and instrumental case
Instrumental case
The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
). Clitics are positioned at the left edge of the noun they agree with, but lean phonologically to their left. The result is a systematic mismatch between syntactic and phonological constituent structure, such that on the surface, each prenominal word appears to be inflected to agree with the following noun.
This can be seen in the preceding example: the sentence-initial predicate kʷixidida includes a clitic /-ida/ which belongs together with the nominal bəɡʷanəmaχa in terms of syntactical constituency. That nominal in turns includes a clitic /-χa/ which is syntactically connected to the following noun, and so on.
Orthography
Word lists and some documentation of Kwak'wala were created from the early period of contact with Europeans in the 18th century, but a systematic attempt to record the language did not occur before the work of Franz BoasFranz Boas
Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
in the late 19th and early 20th century. Over time, Boas developed a systematic orthography for documentation of Kwak'wala, which captured almost all of the important distinctions in the language (although some features, such as vowel length and stress, were not recorded systematically).
Although the Boasian orthography was able to capture almost all of the important features of Kwak'wala, it was difficult for Kwak'wala speakers to use: it was impossible to write with a standard typewriter, due to its abundant use of special symbols; and it used some standard letters very differently than English orthography, which was familiar to many Kwakwaka'wakw. A practical orthography, developed by the Kwakwaka'wakw linguist David Grubb, became the standard system for writing Kwak'wala.
Practical writing of Kwak'wala today is typically done in the orthography promoted by the U'mista Cultural Society, which largely resembles the Grubb orthography. Variants of this orthography allow for easier computer typesetting. For example, instead of marking ejective consonants with an apostrophe printed above the consonant, the apostrophe may be printed as a separate character following the consonant. Linguistic works on Kwak'wala typically use an IPA
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...
or Americanist
Americanist phonetic notation
Americanist phonetic notation is a system of phonetic notation originally developed by European and American anthropologists and language scientists for the phonetic and phonemic transcription of Native American and European languages...
transcription.
The following table compares different orthographic representations of some Kwak'wala words.
| "that will be" | "and so first I throw" | "six kinds" | "raven dancer" | |
| Boas | he’εEmLe | gˑEłεmisEn | q!ăL!Exˑεi’dała | g.wEg.wā’xwElał |
| Grubb | hi7emtli | gelh'misehn | ḵˈat̕lhexˈidalha | g̱weg̱wax̱welalh |
| U'mista | hi'a̠mtli | ga̠ł'misa̠n | ḵˈat̕ła̱xˈidała | g̱wa̱g̱wax̱wa̱lał |
| IPA | hiʔəmt͡ɬi | ɡʲəɬmˀisən | qʼat͡ɬʼəxʼʲidaɬa | ɢʷəɢʷaːχʷəlaɬ |
(NB: g. in the Boasian transcription should be an underdotted g rather than a digraph
Digraph (orthography)
A digraph or digram is a pair of characters used to write one phoneme or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined...
. ḵ’, etc., in the U'mista transcription should be overstricken rather than written as digraphs.)
History and current status
The use of Kwak'wala declined significantly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, mainly due to the assimilationist policies of the Canadian government, and above all the mandatory attendance of Kwakwa'wakw children at residential schools. Although Kwak'wala and Kwakwaka'wakw culture have been well-studied by linguists and anthropologists, these efforts did not reverse the trends leading to language loss. According to Guy Buchholtzer, "The anthropological discourse had too often become a long monologue, in which the Kwakwaka'wakw had nothing to say." As a result of these pressures, there are relatively few Kwak'wala speakers today, and most remaining speakers are past the age of child-raising, which is considered crucial for language transmission. As with many other indigenous languages, there are significant barriers to language revitalization.However, a number of revitalization efforts have recently attempted to reverse language loss for Kwak'wala. A proposal to build a Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations Centre for Language Culture has gained wide support. A review of revitalization efforts in the 1990s shows that the potential to fully revitalize Kwak'wala still remains, but serious hurdles also exist.