A Grammar of Upper Tanana, Volume 2: Semantics, Syntax, Discourse 1496231430, 9781496231437

Citation preview

A Grammar of Upper Tanana

A Grammar of Upper Tanana Volume 2: Semantics, syntax, discourse

Olga Lovick

University of Nebraska Press Lincoln

© 2023 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America

♾ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Lovick, Olga Charlotte, author. Title: A grammar of Upper Tanana. Description: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, [2022]—Contents: volume 2. Semantics, syntax, discourse / Olga Lovick. | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2019014268 ISBN 9781496231437 (volume 2: hardcover) ISBN 9781496233684 (volume 2: pdf ) Subjects: LCSH: Upper Tanana language—Grammar. Classification: LCC LCC PM641.Z9 U67 2020 | DDC 497/.2—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019014268

For all Upper Tanana speakers: those who were here before us, those with us today, and those yet to come

Contents List of Tables

xxiii

List of Figures

xxiv

List of Abbreviations

xxvii

Acknowledgments

xxx

Preface to volume 2

xxxii

1

Introduction to volume 2 1.1 Differences and similarities between the volumes . . . . . . 1.2 Data, data presentation, and glossing . . . . . . . . . . . .

I

Semantic systems

2

Semantic properties of nouns 2.1 Animacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.1 Morphological nominal plural . . . . 2.1.2 The nominal enclitic iin . . . . . . . 2.2 Count/mass distinction . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 Compatibility with numerals . . . . 2.2.2 Cooccurence with classificatory verbs 2.2.3 Other verb stems . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Definiteness and specificity . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3

1 1 3

. . . . . . . . .

9 9 10 11 12 12 13 15 17 19

Noun classification 3.1 Stem class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1 Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

20 20 21

v

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

vi . . . . . . . . . . . .

22 24 26 28 29 31 32 34 38 38 40 43

. . . . . . . . . .

45 45 45 48 49 50 53 53 54 58 62

. . . . .

. . . . .

63 64 64 64 65 65

Lexical aspect: verb theme categories 6.1 Situation types: definitions and tests . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Lexical aspects and verb theme categories . . . . . . . . . 6.2.1 Neuter verb theme categories . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.1.1 Neuter verb themes in the transitional . 6.2.2 Operative verb theme category . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.2.1 Operative verb themes in the reversative

. . . . . .

66 68 70 70 75 76 80

3.2

3.3 4

5

6

3.1.1.1 Animate object . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1.2 Compact object . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1.3 Sticklike object . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1.4 Object in open container . . . . . . . . 3.1.1.5 Fabric object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1.6 Ropelike objects . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.1.7 Plural objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1.2 Verb themes derived from classificatory verb stems Gender marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 The gender system in Alaskan Dene . . . . . . . . 3.2.2 The erosion of the gender system in Upper Tanana Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lexical semantics 4.1 Nominal domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.1 The kinship system . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1.2 Rarity of general-kind terms . . . . . . . . 4.2 Verbal systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.1 Lexical number specification . . . . . . . . 4.2.2 Semantic extension of motion verbs . . . . . 4.2.2.1 Giving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.2.2 Perception . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.3 Lexicalization of emotions and mental states 4.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tense, aspect, modality, evidentiality 5.1 Tense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Modality . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Evidentiality . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

vii 6.2.3

6.3 6.4 7

8

Successive verb theme category . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.3.1 Successive verb themes in the durative . . 6.2.3.2 Successive verb themes in the momentaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.4 Conversive verb theme category . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.5 Motion verb theme category . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.5.1 Motion verb themes in the inceptive momentaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.5.2 Motion verb themes in the perambulative 6.2.5.3 Motion verb themes in the reversative . . Aspectual meaning of conjugation markers . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Inflectional aspect 7.1 Viewpoint aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.1 Perfective viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.1.1 Closed aspect . . . . . . . . . 7.1.1.2 Durativity . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.2 Imperfective viewpoint . . . . . . . . . 7.1.2.1 Open viewpoint . . . . . . . . 7.1.2.2 Durativity . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.3 Neutral viewpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.3.1 Open and closed . . . . . . . 7.1.3.2 Durativity . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 Superaspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2.1 Customary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2.2 Progressive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3 Subsituation aspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.1 Inceptive perfective . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.1.1 Starting point . . . . . . . . . 7.3.1.2 Focusing on preparatory stages 7.3.1.3 Future time reference . . . . . 7.3.1.4 Attempt (and fail) . . . . . . 7.3.2 Conative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

80 82 84 85 88 90 91 92 94 95 96 96 96 96 100 101 101 103 104 104 105 106 107 109 113 113 114 115 116 117 118 119

Modal inflection 121 8.1 Optative: deontic modality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 8.1.1 Desire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

viii

8.2

8.3 9

8.1.2 Intention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.3 Request formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.4 Asking for and giving recommendations . . . 8.1.5 Permission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.6 Optative in subordinate clauses . . . . . . . Future: epistemic modality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1 Certainty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1.1 Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1.2 Commissives . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1.3 Deductions . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1.4 Conditional clauses . . . . . . . . 8.2.1.5 Counterfactuality . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1.6 Avertive clauses . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.2 Uncertainty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.3 Genericity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.3.1 Habitual . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.3.2 (In)ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.3.3 Generic obligation and prohibition Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Modal particles 9.1 Nt’eh ‘for sure, certainly’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1.1 Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1.2 Formal characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1.3 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2 Łaan ‘MIR, indeed’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2.1 Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2.2 Formal characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2.3 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2.3.1 Mirative łaan . . . . . . . . . . 9.2.3.2 Łaan ‘indeed’ . . . . . . . . . . 9.3 le’ ‘IGN, DUB’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3.1 Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3.2 Formal characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3.3 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3.3.1 le’ in content questions . . . . . 9.3.3.2 le’ in the indefinite construction 9.3.3.3 le’ ‘DUB, maybe’ . . . . . . . . . 9.4 diaa ‘DES’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

124 124 127 127 129 129 130 130 131 133 134 134 135 136 139 139 142 143 145

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

147 147 147 147 149 151 151 151 151 151 152 153 154 154 154 154 155 156 158

ix

9.5

9.6

II

9.4.1 Origin . . . . . . . . 9.4.2 Formal characteristics 9.4.3 Functions . . . . . . ha’ ‘EMPH’ . . . . . . . . . . 9.5.1 Origin . . . . . . . . 9.5.2 Formal characteristics 9.5.3 Functions . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

158 158 159 159 159 159 159 161

Clause structure

10 Word order overview 10.1 Order of elements relative to the verb 10.1.1 Subject and object . . . . . . 10.1.2 Postpositional phrases . . . . 10.1.3 Possessors . . . . . . . . . . 10.1.4 Manner adverbs . . . . . . . 10.1.5 Copula . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1.6 Subordinators . . . . . . . . 10.1.7 Negative particle . . . . . . . 10.1.8 Interrogative proform . . . . 10.2 Order of other elements . . . . . . . 10.2.1 Order within the noun phrase 10.2.2 Degree adverb . . . . . . . . 10.2.3 Subordinate clause . . . . . . 10.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

163 163 163 164 165 165 165 166 166 167 167 167 168 168 169

11 Simple clauses 11.1 Placement of arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1.1 Clauses without an argument . . . . . . . . . 11.1.2 Intransitive clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1.2.1 No noun phrases: V . . . . . . . . . 11.1.2.2 One noun phrase: SV or VS . . . . . 11.1.3 Transitive clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1.3.1 No noun phrase: V . . . . . . . . . 11.1.3.2 One noun phrase: SV or OV . . . . . 11.1.3.3 Two noun phrases: SOV, OSV, or OVS 11.1.4 Bivalent clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

170 170 170 171 171 172 172 172 173 174 175

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

x 11.1.4.1 No noun phrase: V . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 11.1.4.2 One noun phrase: SV, PV, VS, or VP . . . . 176 11.1.4.3 Two noun phrases: SVP . . . . . . . . . . 176 11.1.5 Ditransitive clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 11.1.5.1 No noun phrase: V . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 11.1.5.2 One noun phrase: PV, OV, or SV . . . . . . 177 11.1.5.3 Two noun phrases: SOV or OPV . . . . . . 178 11.1.5.4 Three noun phrases: SOPV . . . . . . . . 179 11.2 Optional syntactic constituents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 11.2.1 Placement of optional postpositional phrases . . . . 180 11.2.1.1 Postpositional phrases in intransitive clauses 180 11.2.1.1.1 Without a subject noun phrase . 180 11.2.1.1.2 With subject noun phrase . . . 181 11.2.1.2 Postpositional phrases in transitive clauses 183 11.2.1.2.1 Without other noun phrases . . 183 11.2.1.2.2 With direct object noun phrases 184 11.2.1.2.3 With subject noun phrases . . . 185 11.2.1.2.4 With subject and direct object noun phrases . . . . . . . . . . 186 11.2.1.3 Several postpositional phrases in one clause 187 11.2.2 Placement of adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 11.2.3 Spatial and temporal adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 11.2.3.1 Clause-initial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 11.2.3.2 Clause-medial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 11.2.3.3 Clause-final . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 11.2.4 Manner adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 11.2.5 Degree adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 11.3 Prosody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 11.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 12 Clauses without verbs 12.1 Nominal predicates . . . . . . 12.1.1 Presentational clauses . 12.1.2 Location clauses . . . . 12.1.3 Naming clauses . . . . 12.1.4 Equational clauses . . . 12.1.5 Proper inclusion clauses 12.1.6 Existential clauses . . . 12.1.7 Possessive clauses . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

200 200 200 201 201 202 203 204 204

xi 12.2 Adjectives as predicates . . . . . . . . . . . 12.3 Excursion: the two copulas of Upper Tanana . 12.4 Nonverbal predicates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.4.1 O+(oo)+kol ‘O NEGEX’ . . . . . . . . 12.4.2 nde’ ‘give me’ . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.4.3 na’ ‘take it! here!’ . . . . . . . . . . 12.4.4 aan ‘come, move over’ . . . . . . . . 12.4.5 duka’ ‘okay, let’s go’ . . . . . . . . . 12.4.6 duk ‘shoot’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.4.7 ena’ ‘no’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.4.8 le’ ‘I don’t know’ . . . . . . . . . . . 12.4.9 nday ‘what the heck, where’ . . . . . 12.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Polar questions 13.1 Polar questions without question particle 13.1.1 Word order . . . . . . . . . . . 13.1.2 Absence of nominalization . . . . 13.1.3 Prosody . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.1.4 Answering . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2 Polar questions with lah . . . . . . . . . 13.2.1 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2.2 Prosody . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2.3 Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2.4 Answering . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3 Confirmation questions . . . . . . . . . 13.3.1 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3.2 Prosody . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3.3 Answering . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

205 206 208 208 208 209 209 210 210 211 211 212 213

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

214 214 214 215 215 217 218 218 220 221 222 223 223 224 224 225

14 Content questions 14.1 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.1.1 Position of question word . . . . . 14.1.2 Focus marking and nominalization 14.1.3 Prosody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.2 Inquiring about different roles . . . . . . . 14.2.1 Inquiring about the subject . . . . 14.2.2 Inquiring about the direct object .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

227 227 227 230 232 234 234 235

xii 14.2.3 Inquiring about the postpositional object 14.2.4 Inquiring about the possessor . . . . . . 14.2.5 Inquiring about the reason . . . . . . . 14.2.6 Inquiring about the manner . . . . . . . 14.2.7 Inquiring about other information . . . . 14.3 Embedded questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.4 Answering content questions . . . . . . . . . . . 14.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

236 236 237 238 239 240 242 244

15 Requests 246 15.1 Affirmative requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 15.1.1 Canonical (second-person) requests . . . . . . . . . 246 15.1.1.1 Requests in the imperfective . . . . . . . 247 15.1.1.2 Requests in the optative . . . . . . . . . 250 15.1.1.2.1 Optative requests with de’ ‘UR’ . 251 15.1.1.2.2 Conditional requests . . . . . . 252 15.1.1.2.3 dii xah, diaa ‘?’ . . . . . . . . . 253 15.1.1.3 Requests in the future . . . . . . . . . . 253 15.1.1.3.1 Conditional requests in the future 255 15.1.2 Hortatives (first-person requests) . . . . . . . . . . 255 15.1.3 Third person requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 15.2 Negative requests (prohibitives) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 15.2.1 Prohibitives in the optative . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 15.2.1.1 Third-person prohibitives . . . . . . . . 260 15.2.2 Prohibitives in the future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 15.2.3 Prohibitives in the imperfective . . . . . . . . . . . 263 15.2.4 Indirect strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 15.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 16 Negation 16.1 Standard negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.1.1 Negative inflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.1.1.1 Negative stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.1.1.2 Negative tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.1.1.3 Negative prefixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.1.1.3.1 Negative perfective inflection . . 16.1.1.3.2 Negative inflection in nonperfective forms . . . . . . . . . . 16.1.2 Negative particle k’a(t’eey) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

270 270 271 271 271 272 273 274 275

xiii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

277 277 278 278 279 280 281 282 283 283 284 287 289 289 290 294 296 297 299 301

17 Third-person marking 17.1 With first- and second-person subjects . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1.1 Direct object marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1.2 Postpositional object marking . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1.3 Possessor marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.2 With third-person subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.2.1 Direct object marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.2.1.1 Singular or nonhuman plural direct object 17.2.1.2 Human plural direct object . . . . . . . . 17.2.2 Postpositional object marking . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.2.2.1 Singular or nonhuman plural postpositional object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.2.2.2 Human postpositional object . . . . . . . 17.2.3 Possessor marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.3 With other subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.3.1 Direct objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.3.1.1 Postpositional objects . . . . . . . . . . . 17.3.1.2 Possessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

304 304 304 306 308 309 309 309 313 313

16.2

16.3 16.4

16.5 16.6

16.7

16.1.3 Scope of negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.1.3.1 Clausal negation . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.1.3.2 Constituent negation . . . . . . . . . . 16.1.3.2.1 Subject negation . . . . . . . 16.1.3.2.2 Negation of other constituents 16.1.3.3 Multiple negators in one clause . . . . . 16.1.4 Standard negation in questions and requests . . . 16.1.5 Standard negation in complex sentences . . . . . . Emphatic standard negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.2.1 Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.2.2 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Negation of requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Negation of nonverbal and existential clauses . . . . . . . 16.4.1 Nonverbal clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.4.2 Negation of existential clauses . . . . . . . . . . . Negative indefinite pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inherently negative verb themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.6.1 Verb themes derived by ts’#STEM+v́ . . . . . . . 16.6.2 Other negative neuter verb themes . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

313 316 317 320 320 320 321

xiv 17.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 18 Pronominal number marking 18.1 Subject number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.2 Object and possessor number marking . . . . . . . . . . . . 18.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

323 323 325 329

19 Noun phrases 331 19.1 Heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 19.1.1 Nouns as heads of noun phrases . . . . . . . . . . . 331 19.1.2 Pronouns as heads of noun phrases . . . . . . . . . 332 19.1.2.1 Free pronouns as heads of noun phrases . 332 19.1.2.2 Interrogative pronouns as heads of noun phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 19.1.2.3 Indefinite pronouns as heads of noun phrases 333 19.1.3 Quantifiers as heads of noun phrases . . . . . . . . 333 19.2 Other elements in the noun phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 19.2.1 Possessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 19.2.2 Demonstrative articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334 19.2.3 Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 19.2.4 Bare verb stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 19.2.5 Relative clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 19.2.6 Nonnumeral quantifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 19.2.7 Plural enclitic iin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 19.3 Pre- or postnominal elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 19.3.1 Numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 19.4 Order of elements in the noun phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . 340 19.5 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 20 Nonclausal coordination 20.1 Coordination of noun phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.1.1 Conjunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.1.1.1 Noun phrase coordination using eh/eł . . 20.1.1.2 Asyndetic noun phrase coordination . . . 20.1.1.3 Noun phrase coordination using įį’eh/įį’eł (tah) ‘etc., as well’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.1.1.4 Coordination with first person singular . . 20.1.2 Disjunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.1.3 Correlative coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

345 345 345 345 347 349 350 351 353

xv 20.2 Coordination of postpositional phrases . . . . . . . . . . . 353 20.3 Coordination of adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353 20.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 21 Quantification of entities 21.1 Quantification by numerals . . . . . . . . . . . 21.2 De-verbal quantifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.2.1 Ndlaan ‘a lot, many’ . . . . . . . . . . 21.2.2 Ntsiin ‘a little, few’ . . . . . . . . . . 21.2.3 Łahtthegn (nts’ą̈ ’), łahtthagn (nts’ą’) ‘all’ 21.3 Quantification using interrogative pronouns . . 21.3.1 Dii t’eey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.3.2 Doo t’eey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

357 357 357 357 358 359 359 360 360 361

22 Comparison 362 22.1 Cultural note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 22.2 Morphosyntactic comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363 22.2.1 Absolute comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 22.2.2 Relative comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 22.2.2.1 Comparison of superiority . . . . . . . . 367 22.2.2.2 Comparison of inferiority . . . . . . . . . 370 22.2.2.3 Comparison of equivalence . . . . . . . . 371 22.2.3 Implied comparison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 22.2.3.1 Nts’ąą’ ## H+stem ‘how X?’ . . . . . . . . 372 22.2.3.2 K’a(t’eey) (su’) ## H+stem ‘be not very X’ . 373 22.2.3.3 Da#t+H+stem ‘how X! exceedingly X! so X!’ 373 22.2.3.3.1 Formal properties . . . . . . . 373 22.2.3.3.2 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . 374 22.2.3.4 Comparative derivation as quantification . 375 22.3 Other strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 22.3.1 Prosodic augmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 22.3.2 Two clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 22.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 23 Prosodic augmentation 23.1 Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.1.1 Locus of augmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.2 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

382 382 385 386

xvi 23.2.1 Verb stems . . . . . . . 23.2.2 Directionals . . . . . . 23.2.3 Adverbs . . . . . . . . 23.2.4 Adjectives and modifiers 23.2.5 Quantifiers . . . . . . . 23.2.6 Other . . . . . . . . . 23.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

386 387 389 390 390 391 392

24 Coordination of clauses 24.1 Utterance-level conjunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.1.1 Cumulative coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.1.1.1 Asyndetic clause combining . . . . . . . 24.1.1.2 Nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.1.1.3 Tl’aan ‘and then’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.1.1.4 Ay eh/ay eł, ay ch’a, ay tl’aan ‘and then’ . . 24.1.2 Adversative coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.1.3 Disjunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.1.4 Coordination or subordination? Nominalized clauses with eh/eł . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.2 Discourse-level coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.2.1 Utterance-initial coordinators . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.2.1.1 (Ay) tl’aan ‘and then’ . . . . . . . . . . . 24.2.1.2 Ay (eh/eł) ‘and’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.2.1.3 Ay ch’a ‘anyway, that’s why’ . . . . . . . . 24.2.1.4 Ay du’ ‘and then, as for that’ . . . . . . . 24.2.1.5 T’oot’eey ‘but’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.2.2 Utterance-final coordinators . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.2.2.1 Utterance-final nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ . . . . . 24.2.2.2 Utterance-final tl’aan ‘and, and then’ . . . 24.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

394 394 394 394 398 402 405 406 409 410 412 412 412 415 416 417 418 418 419 422 425

25 Relative clauses 25.1 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.1.1 Relative clauses as nominalized clauses 25.1.1.1 Nominal properties . . . . . 25.1.1.2 Clausal properties . . . . . .

427 428 428 428 429

III

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

Beyond the clause

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

. . . .

xvii 25.1.2 Grammatical functions of the common argument . . 25.1.2.1 Grammatical functions of common argument in main clause . . . . . . . . . . . 25.1.2.2 Grammatical functions of common argument in relative clause . . . . . . . . . . 25.1.3 Internal heading of relative clauses . . . . . . . . . . 25.1.3.1 Absence of head noun phrase . . . . . . . 25.1.3.2 Adverb placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.1.3.3 Pronominal marking . . . . . . . . . . . 25.1.4 Complex relative clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.1.5 Prosody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.2 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.2.1 Nonrestrictive relative clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.2.2 Definite and indefinite interpretations . . . . . . . . 25.3 Additional functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Adverbial clauses 26.1 Locative clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.1.1 Specific location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.1.1.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.1.1.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.1.1.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . 26.1.2 General location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.1.2.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.1.2.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.1.2.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . 26.1.3 Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.1.3.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.1.3.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.1.3.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . 26.2 Temporal linkings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.2.1 A simultaneous to B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.2.1.1 dą’ ‘at a point in the past’ . . . . . . . . 26.2.1.1.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . 26.2.1.1.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . 26.2.1.1.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods 26.2.1.2 tah ‘when, while’ . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.2.1.2.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

430 430 433 435 436 437 438 440 442 444 445 445 449 452 454 455 455 455 456 456 456 456 457 457 457 457 458 458 459 459 459 459 461 461 461 461

xviii

26.3

26.4

26.5

26.6

26.7

26.8

26.9

26.2.1.2.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . 26.2.1.2.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . 26.2.2 B before A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.2.2.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.2.2.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.2.2.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . Manner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.3.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.3.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.3.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . . . . . . Similarity clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.4.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.4.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.4.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . . . . . . Conditional linkings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.5.1 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.5.2 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.5.2.1 Consequence clause . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.5.2.2 Condition clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.5.3 No distinction between types of conditional linkings 26.5.4 Negative conditionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.5.5 Conditional requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “To find out if ” clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.6.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.6.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.6.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . . . . . . Causal clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.7.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.7.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.7.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.7.4 Causal xah-clauses without main clause . . . . . . . Purpose linkings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.8.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.8.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.8.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.8.4 Argument sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Avertive linkings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.9.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.9.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

461 462 462 462 463 463 463 464 464 465 465 465 466 466 466 468 468 468 469 470 471 472 472 472 473 473 473 474 474 475 475 476 476 477 477 478 480 481 482

xix 26.9.3 Viewpoint aspects, moods, and polarity . . . . . . . 26.9.4 Avertive clauses without main clause . . . . . . . . 26.10 Concessive linkings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.10.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.10.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.10.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.10.4 Comparison to main clause coordinator t’oot’eey ‘but’ 26.11 Absolutive clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.1 Temporal absolutive clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.1.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.1.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.1.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . 26.11.1.4 Without main clauses . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.2 Causal absolutive clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.2.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.2.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.2.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . 26.11.3 Concessive absolutive clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.3.1 Semantics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.3.2 Clause order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.11.3.3 Viewpoint aspects and moods . . . . . . . 26.12 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

483 483 483 484 484 484 485 486 486 486 487 487 488 488 489 489 489 489 490 490 490 490

27 Complement clauses 27.1 Indirect discourse complements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.1.1 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.1.1.1 Embedded declaratives . . . . . . . . . . 27.1.1.2 Embedded questions . . . . . . . . . . . 27.1.2 Prosody . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.1.3 Verb themes allowing indirect discourse complements 27.1.3.1 Knowing and remembering . . . . . . . . 27.1.3.2 Attention and perception . . . . . . . . . 27.1.3.3 Learning, teaching, showing . . . . . . . 27.1.3.4 Liking and disliking . . . . . . . . . . . 27.1.3.5 Failing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.1.3.6 Being a certain way . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.1.3.7 Pretending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.2 Direct discourse complement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.2.1 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

493 494 495 495 498 499 501 501 504 505 505 506 507 508 509 509

xx 27.2.2 Prosody . . . . . . . . 27.2.3 Verb themes . . . . . . 27.2.3.1 Speaking . . 27.2.3.2 Thinking . . 27.2.3.3 Wanting . . 27.3 Quoted discourse complements 27.3.1 Structure . . . . . . . 27.3.2 Prosody . . . . . . . . 27.3.3 Verb themes . . . . . . 27.3.3.1 Speaking . . 27.3.3.2 Thinking . . 27.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Quotative frames 28.1 Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.1.1 Reporting verb . . . . 28.1.2 Noun phrase (+ du’) . . 28.1.3 No framing . . . . . . 28.1.4 Quoting quoted speech 28.2 Using different frames . . . . . 28.2.1 Reference tracking . . . 28.2.2 Stylistic use . . . . . . 28.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

512 513 513 514 516 518 518 519 520 520 522 523

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

525 525 525 527 529 530 530 531 534 536

29 Addressing individuals 29.1 Available forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29.1.1 Inflected kinship terms . . . . . 29.1.2 Bare kinship terms . . . . . . . 29.1.3 Free pronouns . . . . . . . . . . 29.1.4 Personal names . . . . . . . . . 29.2 Use of address terms . . . . . . . . . . . 29.2.1 Kinship terms in texts . . . . . . 29.2.2 Free pronouns in texts . . . . . . 29.2.3 Personal names in narrative texts 29.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

537 537 537 538 539 539 539 539 541 542 543

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

30 Managing information structure 544 30.1 Postverbal phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545 30.1.1 Antitopics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545

xxi 30.1.2 Afterthoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.1.3 New information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.2 Discourse markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.2.1 Du’ ‘contrastive topic’ . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.2.1.1 Functions and use . . . . . . . . 30.2.1.2 Placement, dislocation, prosody . 30.2.2 Ch’a(le) ‘focus’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.2.2.1 Functions and use . . . . . . . . 30.2.2.2 Nominalization, position, prosody 30.3 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Insubordination 31.1 Formal characteristics . . . 31.2 Functions . . . . . . . . . 31.2.1 Focus construction 31.2.2 Backgrounding . . 31.2.3 Clause chaining . . 31.3 Summary . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

547 549 550 550 550 554 556 557 559 561

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

562 562 565 565 567 570 572

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

574 575 575 577 577 577 578 579 579 580 581 581 582 583

Appendixes A Portmanteau morphemes in the conjunct zone A.1 Imperfective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.1.1 The Ø- imperfective . . . . . . . A.1.2 The aa- imperfective . . . . . . A.1.2.1 Progressive . . . . . . A.1.2.2 Future . . . . . . . . A.1.3 The n- imperfective . . . . . . . A.2 Perfective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.2.1 The Ø- perfective . . . . . . . . A.2.2 The aa- perfective . . . . . . . . A.2.3 The n- perfective . . . . . . . . A.2.4 The dh- perfective . . . . . . . . A.3 Optative u- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A.4 Negative-perfective i- . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

B Glossed sample texts 584 B.1 Taatsąą’ dixeel’ nadehnay: Raven throws off his pack, by Mrs. Avis Sam (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

xxii B.2 Taatsąą’ ts’ikeey iin naagn’ eldeeł: Raven eats the children’s eyes, by Mrs. Sherry Demit-Barnes (N) . . . . . . . . . . . 587 B.3 Noodlee iin: White people, by Mr. Roy H. David Sr. (T) . . 591 B.4 Hah’ogn nuun iin ay xah naak’udzuushya’ xah: About how we become smart from the animals out there, by Mrs. Cora H. David (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597 References

601

List of Tables 2.1 3.1 4.1 4.2 6.1 6.2 14.1 14.2 16.1 16.2 16.3 22.1 26.1

Mass nouns with number-marked verb stems . . . . . . . . 16 Classificatory verb stems in the imperfective viewpoint . . . 22 Consanguineal relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Affinal relatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Verb theme categories and situation type . . . . . . . . . . 67 Conjugation markers as situation aspect indicators, after Rice (2000, 257) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Interrogative pro-forms and phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Nominalization and focus marking in questions . . . . . . . 231 Affirmative and negative stems of the verb themes Ø+tsüh ‘cry’ and O+n+H+’įh ‘see O’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Frequency of k’at’eey and k’a in the Tetlin dialect across genres 276 Frequency of k’at’eey and k’a in the Northway dialect across genres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 Comparative prefix strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364 Summary of adverbial clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

xxiii

List of Figures 4.1 The Upper Tanana clan system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Relationship between modes in Koyukon (Axelrod 1993, 33) 11.1 Final fall with slightly higher stem (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 Final fall with slightly higher stem (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.3 Final fall with slightly higher stem (N) . . . . . . . . . . . 11.4 Falling pitch on stem syllable (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.5 Falling pitch on (unmarked) stem syllable (N) . . . . . . . . 11.6 Falling pitch on low-toned stem syllable (N) . . . . . . . . . 11.7 Falling pitch on low-toned stem syllable (N) . . . . . . . . . 13.1 Rising pitch in polar questions (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2 Rising pitch in polar questions (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.3 Rising pitch in lah-questions (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.4 Rising pitch in lah-questions (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.5 Rising pitch in lah-questions (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.6 Steady pitch in confirmation questions (N) . . . . . . . . . 13.7 Steady pitch in confirmation questions (T) . . . . . . . . . 14.1 Steady pitch in content questions (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.2 Slightly rising pitch in content questions (T) . . . . . . . . 14.3 Steady pitch in content questions (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.4 Slightly rising pitch in content questions (N) . . . . . . . . 16.1 Negative high tone (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.2 Negative high tone (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.3 Absence of negative high tone in prohibitives (N) . . . . . . 16.4 Absence of negative high tone in prohibitives (T) . . . . . . 16.5 High tone in existential negation (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.6 High tone in existential negation (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.7 Negative high in inherently negative themes (N) . . . . . . . 16.8 Negative high in inherently negative themes (T) . . . . . . . 16.9 Negative prosody in inherently negative themes (N) . . . . . 16.10 Negative prosody in inherently negative themes (T) . . . . . xxiv

46 65 194 195 195 196 196 197 197 216 216 220 220 221 224 225 232 233 233 234 272 273 288 288 292 292 298 298 301 301

xxv 22.1 Prosodic augmentation in absolute comparison (N) . . . . . 22.2 Prosodic augmentation in absolute comparison (T) . . . . . 22.3 Prosodic augmentation in absolute comparison (T) . . . . . 23.1 Prosodic augmentation (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.2 Prosodic augmentation (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.3 Extreme prosodic augmentation (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.4 Prosodic augmentation on non-stem (T) . . . . . . . . . . 23.5 Prosodic augmentation on directional (T) . . . . . . . . . . 24.1 Asyndetic coordination (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.2 Asyndetic coordination (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.3 Clause coordination with nts’ą’ (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.4 Clause coordination with nts’ą̈ ’ (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.5 Clause coordination with tl’aan (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.6 Clause coordination with tl’aan (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.7 Clause coordination with t’oot’eey (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.8 Clause coordination with t’oot’eey (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.9 Clause coordination with eł (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.10 Clause coordination with eh (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.11 Connecting utterances with ay tl’aan (T) . . . . . . . . . . 24.12 Utterance-final nts’ą’ (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.13 Utterance-final nts’ą̈ ’ (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.14 Utterance-final tl’aan (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.15 Utterance-final tl’aan (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.1 Smooth integration of relative clause (N) . . . . . . . . . . 25.2 Smooth integration of relative clause (T) . . . . . . . . . . 25.3 Pause preceding relative clause (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.4 Pause preceding relative clause (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.5 Pause following relative clause (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.6 Pause following relative clause (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.1 Prosody of embedded declarative (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.2 Prosody of embedded declarative (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.3 Prosody of embedded question (T) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.4 Prosody of embedded question (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.5 Prosody of embedded question without complementizer (T) . 27.6 Prosody of embedded declarative without complementizer (N) 27.7 Prosody of direct discourse complement (T) . . . . . . . . . 27.8 Prosody of direct discourse complement (N) . . . . . . . . . 27.9 Prosody of quoted discourse complement (N) . . . . . . . . 27.10 Prosody of quoted discourse complement (T) . . . . . . . .

377 377 378 383 384 384 385 388 396 396 399 400 403 403 407 408 411 412 415 421 421 425 425 442 442 443 443 444 444 500 500 501 501 502 502 513 513 519 520

xxvi 28.1 28.2 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 30.7 30.8 31.1 31.2

Quoted speech following du’ (T) . . . . . . . . . Quoted speech following du’ (N) . . . . . . . . Postverbal phrases: antitopics (N) . . . . . . . . Postverbal phrases: afterthoughts (T) . . . . . . Postverbal phrases: new information (T) . . . . . Du’ ‘CT’ without pause (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . Du’ ‘CT’ with pause (N) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Du’ ‘CT’ marking right-dislocated constituent (T) Prosody of ch’a-marked phrases (N) . . . . . . . Prosody of ch’a-marked phrases (T) . . . . . . . Prosody of insubordinate main clauses (T) . . . . Prosody of insubordinate main clauses (N) . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

528 528 547 548 550 556 556 557 560 561 564 565

List of Abbreviations

AA ABL ADJC ADM ADVZR ALL AO AR ASRT AVERT B clas. CMP CMPL CNJ CO CON CONC CONT conv. CT CUST D DEM DES desc. DH dim.

aa-conjugation marker ablative adjacent admirative adverbializer allative animate object areal assertive avertive Beaver Creek dialect classificatory verb theme category complementizer completive conjugation compact object conative conclusive continuative conversive verb theme category contrastive topic customary D-voice/valence marker demonstrative desire descriptive verb theme category dh-conjugation marker dimensional verb theme category

xxviii DSTR DSTL DUB DUR EMPH ERR ext. FD FO FOC FUT G, GEN H IGN IMP IMPSL INC INDF INTS IPV IT L LIN LRO MED MIR MOM mot. n. N N NEG NEGEX neut. NEUT NOM NTRL O, O ONOM

ABBREVIATIONS distributive distal dubitative durative emphasis errative extension verb theme category food object fabric-like object focus future gender H-voice/valence marker ignorance imperative impersonal inceptive indefinite intensifier imperfective iterative L-voice/valence marker linear object long rigid object medial mirative momentaneous motion verb theme category noun n-conjugation marker Northway dialect negation, negative negative existential neuter verb theme category neuter (aspect) nominalizer neutral distance direct object onomapoetic

ABBREVIATIONS OOC op. OPT P, P PASS PEJ PERS PL PNCT pos. POSS PP PRMB PROG PROH PROX PSR PST PURP PFV Q QUAL RECP REFL REP₁ REP₂ REV RO S S SEM SG stat. suc. T TERM TRNS UR v.

object in open container operative verb theme category optative postpositional object passive pejorative persistive plural punctual positional verb theme category possessed postposition perambulative progressive prohibitive proximate possessor past purposive perfective question qualifier reciprocal reflexive repetitive₁ repetitive₂ reversative rope-like object subject Scottie Creek dialect semelfactive singular stative verb theme category successive verb theme category Tetlin dialect terminative transitional urgent request verb

xxix

Acknowledgments This month (August 2021) marks the fifteen-year anniversary of my working with the Upper Tanana language and with the wonderful people who speak it. Few days go by where I do not think in one way or another about the elders I work with or what they so patiently try to teach me. My deepest and most heartfelt gratitude goes to my Upper Tanana friends and teachers. These include in particular Mr. and Mrs. Roy and Avis Sam from Northway and Mr. Roy H. David Sr. and Mrs. Ida Joe from Tetlin. I hope to be able to visit all of you again soon! Four other major contributors are no longer around to receive my thanks: Mrs. Darlene Northway (Northway), Mrs. Cora H. David (Tetlin), Mrs. Rosa Brewer (Northway), and Mrs. Sherry Demit Barnes (Northway). I cannot thank you enough for sharing with me your knowledge, wisdom, patience, sense of humor, and friendship. Without you, this grammar would not exist. Tsin’įį::::! I also want to thank the speakers’ families for making me feel welcome during my many visits, helping with logistics, and (not infrequently) directing my questions onto the right track. Two anonymous reviewers provided numerous in-depth, thoughtprovoking comments and questions on this manuscript. Thank you! Thanks also go to Caleb D. Brucks for assistance with elicitation, and to Olga Kriukova (known also as “Other Olga” or “O2”) for her help preparing appendix 1. A debt of gratitude goes to my colleagues for suggesting different angles on problems I was struggling with, reading suggestions and reading material, encouragement, and kind words—and, most of all, for not laughing whenever I mention that I am “doing a final pass” on the text. Most of the work on this volume took place after the project funding ran out in 2015 (acknowledged in the first volume). I am grateful to the Doyon Foundation and to James Kari and the University of Alaska for providing funding for two trips to Alaska for me (in 2018 and 2019).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

xxxi

The writing of this book was supervised by four felines: Nero and Kubla Khan at the beginning, Mephistopheles and Ramses at the end. I appreciate their moral support, if not their attempts at typing. I do not have the words to thank Joe and Julius, the only two people in the world with whom I would choose to be cooped up for a year or two. Danke für alles. I want to thank all of the above individuals, institutions, and agencies for their support. All errors of fact or representation are mine, or maybe the cats’.

Preface to volume 2 When I was finishing up the first complete draft of this volume, my husband asked me how much about Upper Tanana grammar I had learned in the process of writing about it, as opposed to what I knew when I started the process in 2013. The answer is: I knew at best 20 percent of what I know now. The undertaking of providing a complete (not to mention accurate) description of an entire language is humbling in its scope, and as I chipped away at it, I kept learning more—and I will continue to do so as I begin working on making this description useful to learners and teachers of Upper Tanana. My final push on compiling information for this volume coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This had the surprising effect of almost entirely clearing my calendar so that, for the first time in years, I had several contiguous months to work on it. (Plus, thinking about grammar served as a wonderful distraction from the news.) The second effect of the pandemic on this grammar is less uplifting. I have not been able to visit the Upper Tanana area since 2019, so I have not been able to reconnect with elders and learners, to teach the literacy workshop that we had planned, nor to check the last few things that I would have liked to have checked. All of a sudden I have to say: T’axoh. Ay shyįį’. Tsin’įį. (Finally. That’s all. Thank you.)

1 | Introduction to volume 2 The introduction to the first volume of this grammar stated the goal of providing “a complete description of the Upper Tanana language as spoken in the neighboring communities of Tetlin and Northway, Alaska” (Lovick 2020a, 2). The present volume is the second (and final) part of this endeavor. The introductory and background material from volume 1 is helpful for volume 2 as well, particularly the chapters on dialects (vol. 1, chap. 3) and cultural background (vol. 1, chap. 4). In the present chapter I lay out differences between the volumes and provide information on the presentation, glossing, and use of linguistic data in volume 2. 1.1. Differences and similarities between the volumes In the first volume I describe the phonology and morphology as well as the lexical categories of the Upper Tanana language; the focus there lies on individual words and word forms. In this second volume I move beyond the word. I begin by describing several semantic systems operating in Upper Tanana: nominal properties and the noun classification system, the two aspectual systems, and the modal system. Part 2 is concerned with clausal syntax and clause prosody; topics described here include word order, sentence types, negation, number marking and quantification, noun phrase structure, and comparison. In part 3 I describe structures that go beyond a single clause, including different types of clause combining, quoted speech, and discourse phenomena. While the first volume of the grammar can probably be read as a standalone book, this second volume draws heavily and explicitly on the structures described in volume 1. For example, understanding argument relations in Upper Tanana (a topic typically treated within the domain of syntax) requires an understanding of morphological participant marking, covered in volume 1, chapters 22, 23, 28, and 31. The discussion of lexical aspect in chapter 6 here is grounded in the verb theme category system introduced in chapter 25 of volume 1. Rather than reiterating content already covered in volume 1, I refer

2

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 2

readers to the relevant chapters where appropriate, acknowledging that this can be frustrating. Like the first volume, volume 2 is written in the theoretical framework of “basic linguistic theory” (Dixon 2009). My aim is to provide a holistic description of the entire linguistic system rather than solve any language-particular problem within a more explanation-oriented framework. This holistic view has implications for the structure of this book. While books imply a linear progression of ideas, linguistic systems are networks. As a consequence many chapters here explicitly presuppose content discussed in other chapters; e.g., all chapters on clause combining require some understanding of the formation and functions of relative clauses. This is reflected in the order of chapters, with the chapter on relative clauses occurring as the second chapter in part 3 “Beyond the clause.” In other instances, even careful ordering of chapters cannot resolve similar issues. For example, chapters 11 (The simple clause), 17 (Third-person marking), and 30 (Information structure) all deal with the interaction between free noun phrases and third-person marking on verbs and postpositions, but they do so from different perspectives and with different foci. It would, of course, have been possible to integrate all of this information into one (quite lengthy) chapter, but then a lot of highly detailed and specific information on third-person marking and noun-phrase placement would have preceded the discussion of very basic topics such as question formation and negation. Instead, I opt to break up the discussion and to provide crossreferences to related content. The nature of topics covered in this volume necessitates a few changes in approach from the one used in volume 1. One of these changes concerns typological claims. In the first volume I offered very little comparison to the typological literature, simply because I did not have any new information to offer here: it is well established that Dene languages are morphologically unusual, both with respect to their degree of polysynthesis and to the fact that they are almost exclusively prefixing. Similarly, the large (and somewhat unusual) consonant inventories of this language family have been described within typological frameworks. By contrast, Dene languages (except Navajo and Slave) are not well represented in the typological literature on syntactic or discourse topics, due to the relative dearth of exhaustive descriptions of the syntactic and discourse-level systems in this language family. Consequently, I offer commentary on whether a particular structure in Upper Tanana is typologically common or not. A second difference between the volumes was inspired by a conversation with Keren Rice about grammar writing. When I asked her what she would

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 2

3

do differently if she were to write her Grammar of Slave now, she responded that she would include much more information about the prosody of that language. I took my cue from this comment. I did not perform any quantitative analysis of prosodic features, but this volume features almost eighty pitch tracks that illustrate typical prosodic patterns of various constructions. The final difference concerns the appendix of texts. It is customary for grammars to include brief, fully glossed texts so the reader can see the language as it is actually spoken. I made the decision to include four texts, two from the Northway dialect and two from the Tetlin dialect. I want to thank the speakers for letting me use the texts in this fashion. The focus of this volume lies again on the Northway and Tetlin dialects, simply because they are the ones with which I have worked the most. Information about the Scottie Creek and Beaver Creek dialects is provided when it is available, but no structured comparison is offered. The audience is again anyone with some training in linguistics wanting to learn about the Upper Tanana language. While I avoid theoretical discussions, knowledge of basic linguistic terminology is essential for following the description. 1.2. Data, data presentation, and glossing The main source of data for the entire grammar is the text corpus collected by myself (2006–19) plus the story collection by Tyone (1996) and one long unpublished story by Mary Tyone recorded by Jim Kari and transcribed and translated by myself with the help of Northway dialect speakers.¹ This corpus totals about 10,000 utterances of narrative and conversational text. (This is a change from volume 1; much of the conversational data was annotated in 2018–2019, after volume 1 was already completed.) This type of data contains a reference to its place in the corpus (1a); the part before the colon is the identifier of the recording and the part after the colon identifies the utterance within the recording.² The corpus data is supplemented by elicited data gathered during the same time period. Much, but not all, of the elicited data is audio-recorded. Where an audio recording exists, the data reference points to its place in the recording (1b). Otherwise, a notebook reference (1c) or a reference to a similar structure in the text corpus that prompted an elicitation question (1d) is provided. (1) a. Nts’aa’ łootaahaał? (N) how 3SG:SG.get.around:FUT ‘How is she going to get around?’

UTOLVDN07Aug2205:035

4

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 2 b. Caleb dinąą nanal’įį’. (N) Caleb REFL:mother 3SG:see:IT:PFV ‘Caleb saw his own mother again.’ c. Gah delgayh xay tah. (N) rabbit 3SG:be.white:IPV winter in ‘Rabbits are white in winter.’

UTOLAF13May2801:048

UT Notebook #1, p. 24

d. Chih łuugn tthi’ sǫ’ k’ii’aht’üh, neehdįįni’. (N) also fish head PROH 2PL:cut.off:OPT 3PL>1PL:say:PFV ‘Also, don’t PL cut off fish heads, they told us.’ Comment on UTOLVDN10Jul2602:079 Speaker patience for prolongued elicitation sessions remains limited, and I see no value in creating feelings of boredom or annoyance simply to clarify minor syntactic points. Consequently, I limited elicitation to situations where I either noticed gaps in the documentation or needed to control for certain factors (see Lovick and Tuttle [2019]; or Lovick [forthcoming] for discussion and examples). Data is presented in the practical orthography used in Alaska, which does not mark (low or high) tone. Tone is marked only in those places where it is absolutely crucial, such as in chap. 16 on negation. I also made little effort to standardize variant pronunciations, with the consequence that two spellings for a particular word may be used on the same page (see Lovick [2020a, 142– 43] for a more nuanced discussion of my stance on standardization). In the transcriptions I indicate prosodic augmentation, which is a prosodic strategy to indicate increased quantity, intensity, effort, or repetition (see chap. 23). The strategy involves lengthening the stem as well as raising the pitch of the stem syllable, which is indicated in the transcription by colons, for example, elk’a::: in (2). In this instance, prosodic augmentation is translated by the adverb ‘really’. (2) K’ahdu’ elk’aa::: le’. (N) now 3PL:be.fat:IPV DUB ‘Right now [the ducks] are really fat, I guess.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:097 The decision to indicate this prosodic pattern consistently was motivated by two reasons. First, it is ubiquitous: as I observe in chapter 23, it is rare that a stretch of text consisting of five or six utterances contains not a single instance of prosodic augmentation. Second, it has an important function in the

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 2

5

linguistic system. Upper Tanana has only three degree adverbs (Lovick 2020a, 222), and they are used relatively rarely. This lexical gap seems to be filled by prosodic augmentation. Upper Tanana speakers frequently edit their oral texts during transcription and translation, often by changing the phrasing or by adding additional words. Changes to the original text are marked by ‹single angled brackets› and additions by ‹‹double angled brackets››. Glossing follows the conventions laid out in volume 1. Most examples are glossed at the word level, with indication of person, number, and aspectual information (3). (3) Ch’itay unaagn’ kol hanohshyuugn mänh xah old.man 3SG:eye NEGEX ADJC:MED:AR:down:AR lake to ninįįshyah. (N) 3SG:SG.arrive:PFV ‘That blind old man got down to the lake.’ UTCBAF14May2001:001 Only when the discussion requires the inclusion of morphological detail is the example glossed at the morpheme level. This is the case in (4) (a condensed version of [84] in chap. 6), which illustrates that different types of neuter verb themes occur with different conjugation markers in the imperfective mode. (4) a. Jah tah t’eey utsįį’ hunįį’ahᵉˣᵗ! (T) jah tah t’eey u-tsįį’ hu-nįį-’ah here at ADVZR 3SG.PSR-scent AR.S-N.PFV:Ø-LRO.extends:NEUT:IPV ‘Her scent extends up to here!’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:244 b. Ishyiit tah dahdzäł choh da’eh’ąąᶜˡᵃˢ stsay. (N) ishyiit tah dahdzäł choh da-eh-’ąą then among fish.rack big up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-keep.CO:NEUT:IPV s-tsay 1SG.PSR-grandfather ‘At that time, my grandfather had a big fish rack.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:102 c. Eh shta’ ntsuulᵈⁱᵐ hǫǫ’t’eey… (N) eh sh-ta’ n-tsuul hǫǫ’t’eey and 1SG.PSR-father 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.small:NEUT:IPV still ‘And my father was still small…’ UTOLVDN14Apr2601:018

6

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 2

Abbreviations follow, for the most part, those suggested in the Leipzig Glossing Rules (Comrie, Haspelmath, and Bickel 2015). For a few abbreviations that occur in almost all examples, I use slightly shorter abbreviations than the ones suggested there in order to conserve space (e.g., IPV rather than IPFV for ‘imperfective’; or NOM rather than NMLZR for ‘nominalizer’). This volume makes greater use of textual examples spanning multiple utterances. To distinguish those from multipart examples such as (4), they contain a preamble indicating the text and the speaker. Additionally, the individual utterances are labeled using numbers rather than a, b, c (5). (5)

UTOLVDN13May2909:109–111, Roy H. David Sr. (T) 1. ‹Ay ch’ale’› ts’ełag gǫǫ ‹ch’ishuuy keey nts’ą’› ch’inuh’įį xah and FOC one Gǫǫ different village to 1SG:steal:OPT PURP na’edaak. 3SG:SG.go:IT:IPV:CUST ‘And that one Gǫǫ he went again to a different village in order to steal.’ 2. Hǫǫ dį’ nt’ąy. thus do:IPV:NOM 3SG:be:IPV:NOM ‘That’s just what he does.’ 3. Gǫǫ haskeh ‹mǫǫsį’›. Tǫǫ chief 3SG:name ‘They call him the Gǫǫ Chief.’

The focus of the present volume on clauses and longer units, combined with the use of textual data, means that examples are often quite lengthy, which can make it difficult for the reader to pick out the crucial pieces of information. To facilitate this process, the morpheme, word, or phrase of interest is underlined when it is feasible to do so. Some examples are repeated multiple times in this grammar, sometimes even multiple times in the same chapter. While this adds to the bulk of the volume, it also makes it more readable: it is not convenient to be forced to constantly flip between chapters to compare an example on page 45 (to pick a random page) with discussion on page 384. When an example is discussed multiple times within the same chapter, I sometimes refer back to it and sometimes repeat it. The decision depends on several factors, including the number of intervening pages, the presence of underlining needed to highlight features of interest, and the relatedness between points made about a particular example.

INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME 2

7

I hope that the information presented in this chapter will enable the reader to follow the description and the examples offered within this volume. Notes 1. This last recording is identified with its ANLA identifiers ANLC4122a and ANLC4122b. 2. The identifier is composed of: UT—Upper Tanana; two letters indicating the person making the recording (OL for Olga Lovick or CB for Caleb Brucks); two or three letters indicating the media format (either AF for “audio flash” or VDN for “video–digital-NTSC encoding”); the date in the format YYMMMDD; and two digits indicating the recording chunk on that day.

Part I

Semantic systems

2 | Semantic properties of nouns In this chapter I describe some semantic properties of proper nouns in Upper Tanana. (Formal properties of nouns are described in volume 1, chapters 13 and 22; and the syntax of noun phrases is described in chapters 11, 17, 18, 21, and 19.) I show that Upper Tanana nouns exhibit an animacy distinction as well as a count/mass distinction, but that genericity/specificity and (in)definiteness are not formally marked. This information instead has to be determined from context. As discussed in section 19.1.1, Upper Tanana noun phrases often consist of bare nouns, regardless of syntactic position as subject (6a), direct object (6b), or postpositional object (6c). (6b) demonstrates that nouns with nonhuman referents may be interpreted as singular or plural. (6) a. Ts’ist’e’ łą’ t’eey hǫǫshyąą. (T) old.lady true ADVZR 3SG:be.smart:IPV ‘The old lady was truly smart.’

UTOLAF13May2403:014

b. Roy ts’iit ehmbiah. (N) Roy porcupine 3SG:cook:IPV ‘Roy is cooking (Ø/the/a) porcupine(s).’ UTOLVDN07Aug2002:003 c. Ts’ist’e’ nts’ą’ na’aadaał. (T) old.lady to 3SG:SG.go:IT:IPV:PROG ‘She was going back to the old lady.’

UTCBAF13Nov0501:329

(6) also demonstrates that bare nouns can be interpreted as definite (6a, 6c) or indefinite (6b) (see sec. 2.3). 2.1. Animacy Animacy is an important inherent property of nouns in Upper Tanana. It is marked as part of the nominal classification system described in chapter 3, but

10

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

it is also apparent in number marking. Plural number of animate referents can be marked in several ways: in the noun phrase it is marked by using a morphologically plural noun or the plural enclitic iin; in the verb phrase by using number-marked verb stems; and within the clause by plural pronominal prefixes (see vol. 1, chaps. 22, 23, 28, 31). 2.1.1. Morphological nominal plural Upper Tanana has a very small inventory of nouns displaying a morphological plural; the list in (7) is to my knowledge exhaustive. (7) Morphological plural on nouns a. b. c. d. e.

Singular Plural dineh dineey ts’exeh ts’exeey haskeh haskeey ts’ist’e’ ts’ist’eey ts’iiniin ts’iikeey

English ‘man, men’ ‘(young) woman, (young) women’ ‘chief, chiefs’ ‘old lady, old ladies’ ‘child, children’

The data in (7) suggests the existence of a historic suffix -ey ‘human plural’, which attaches to a few select nouns. This suffix has both phonological and semantic selection requirements. The nouns in (7a–7d) are disyllabic and end in an e+glottal segment; the plural of the noun stem ‘child’ in (7e) is irregular. Disyllabic nouns ending in different segments with comparable semantics (e.g., ch’itay ‘old man’, atshyąą ‘old person, elder’) do not form a morphological plural. Semantically, all noun stems allowing a morphological plural refer to humans but do not specify relatives; kinship terms with the same phonological structure as the nouns in (7), such as aadeh ‘older sister’ or ee’eh ‘maternal uncle’, have no morphological plural. In contrast to other Alaskan Dene languages, łįį ‘dog’ does not form a morphological plural. Plurality may be indicated by the morphological plural form alone (8), but more frequently it cooccurs with the nominal plural enclitic iin (see sec. 2.1.2 for more discussion). (8) a. K’at’eey huh dineey diltth’ii… (T) NEG there people 3PL:PL.stay:IPV:NEG ‘There were no people there…’ UTOLAF08Apr2804:002 b. … huts’iikeey hǫǫłįį. (N) 3PL:children AR:be:IPV ‘… they had children.’

UTCBVDN13Nov0804:019

SEMANTIC PROPERTIES OF NOUNS

11

2.1.2. The nominal enclitic iin All nouns referring to humans (9) and non-insect animals (10) can take the plural enclitic iin. Nouns with a morphological plural may cooccur with this enclitic (9a). (9) a. K’a hidloo ts’exeey iin nts’ą̈ ’. (B) NEG 3PL:laugh:IPV:NEG women PL at ‘They may not laugh at women.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:011 b. Ishyiit chih shchil iin k’anakta’, shiy shyįį’. (N) there also 1SG:younger.brother PL 1SG:take.care:IPV 1SG only ‘There I also took care of my younger brothers, all by myself.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:020 c. Atshyąą iin t’eey k’a naholndii. (T) old.person PL even NEG 3PL:tell:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘Even the old people don’t tell stories.’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:040 (10) a. Tl’aan noo:: ihhaał łįį iin tah. (N) and ahead:ALL 1SG:SG.go:IPV:PROG dog PL among ‘And I was walking ahead through the dogs.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:023 b. Ay tl’aan dzanh iin huts’ehk’aayh… (T) and then muskrat PL 1PL>3PL:filet:IPV ‘And then we fileted the (plural) muskrat … UTOLVDN07Nov2803:013 The nonhuman referents in (10) are actual real-world animals, not Animal People. There seem to be few restrictions on which animals may and may not cooccur with iin; in addition to the examples in (9), iin is attested in collocations with dlegn/dlagn ‘squirrel’, gah ‘rabbit’, nuun ‘small animal, porcupine’, ts’ugaay ‘songbird, small bird’, shoh, neetsay ‘bear’,¹ diniign ‘moose’ and udzih ‘caribou’. In myths, iin can even be used in conjunction with insects, as shown in (11). It is not clear whether it is possible to use iin with insects outside of myths. (11) a. Ay tl’aan Ch’atjogn iin nts’ą̈ ’ chih ha’įįshyah. (S) and then no-see-um PL at too 3SG:SG.come.out:PFV ‘And then he came to the No-see-um People.’ ANLC4122a-213

12

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. Eł t’eey Naadodi iin ha’įh’üüt. (T) and ADVZR ant PL 3PL:herd.moves.out:PFV ‘And then all the Ant People crawled out of there.’ UTOLAF08Apr2804:010

The enclitic iin can also function as an associative plural marker (Daniel and Moravcsik 2013), identifying a group that includes the referent of the noun phrase followed by iin (12). (12) a. Harry iin tat’eey ch’ihehk’aayh. (N) Harry PL also 3PL>INDF:filet:IPV ‘Harry’s family was also cutting [fish].’ UTOLVDN13May2003:055 b. Dinąą iin eł łoohtedak duugn. (T) REFL:mother PL with 3PL:PL.walk.around:IPV:CUST around.there ‘He used to walk around with his parents.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:020 The plural enclitic also can combine with the noun keey ‘village’, with the resulting meaning ‘people in the village’ (13). (13) “Shkeey iin all hǫǫ’ hutdihniił,” nih. (T) 1SG:village PL all thus 1SG>3PL:say:FUT say:IPV ‘“I will tell this to all the people in my village,” he said.’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:020 To summarize, animacy is a relevant category in Upper Tanana. Nouns with animate referents can be marked for plural (in a variety of ways), while number has to be inferred from context for inanimate referents. 2.2. Count/mass distinction Another important property of Upper Tanana nouns is the presence of a count/mass distinction. Formal properties of count nouns relevant to the discussion here include the ability to be pluralized and the ability to cooccur with numerals without the use of classifiers or measure phrases. As shown in the previous section, nouns with animate references may be pluralized and thus can be considered count nouns. The following discussion is limited to nouns with inanimate referents. 2.2.1. Compatibility with numerals Count nouns are compatible with numerals (14); mass nouns (such as rice, flour, pop, or tea—both loose and brewed) are not.

SEMANTIC PROPERTIES OF NOUNS

13

(14) a. Tudi t’aa’ łaakeey ditthi’ t’aadel’ąą’. (T) bald.eagle feather two REFL:head 3SG:have.CO.up/out:IPV ‘He had two eagle feathers on his head.’ UTOLAF10Jul0801:014 b. … hune’ taagn konthüh eedlay. (N) AR:upriver:ALL three bag 3PL:classify.PL.O:IPV:NOM ‘… upriver there were three bags.’ UTOLAF15May0501:148 Not only are mass nouns not attested with numerals in naturalistic speech, but they also could not be elicited. Speakers refused my suggestions of tseey łaakeey (intended: ‘two teas’) or taagn łiat (intended: ‘three flours’). In contrast to what Wilhelm (2008, 47) observes for Dëne Sųłiné, container readings for such expressions such as ‘two [cups] of tea’ or ‘three [bags] of flour’ were rejected by Upper Tanana speakers. 2.2.2. Cooccurence with classificatory verbs Most classificatory verbs described in chapter 3 are compatible only with count nouns (15). (15) a. Coffee can, ‹ch’įįtįįł choh› sts’ą̈ ’ aa’aał… (N) coffee can can big 1SG:to 3SG:bring.CO:IPV:PROG ‘A coffee can, he was bringing a big can to me…’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:052 b. Jah k’a’ ntl’a’ihtąą. (N) here gun 1SG>2SG:give.LRO:PFV ‘I gave you SG the single gun here.’

UTOLAF13May2801:027

c. K’a’ nuhtl’ats’aałeeł… (T) gun 1PL>2PL:handle.PL.O:FUT ‘We will give you PL guns…’

UTCBVDN14Jul1801:125

Wilhelm (2008) notes that classificatory verb stems in Dëne Sųłiné are not compatible with mass nouns. This is not the case in Upper Tanana; several classificatory verb stems occur quite commonly with mass nouns. Crucially, the resulting interpretation is always a container or chunk reading. The classificatory verb stem kąą ‘classify object in open container’ often occurs with mass nouns denoting liquids indicating a serving of water or soup (16).

14

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(16) a. Tuu itl’a’įįkąą… (N) water 3SG>3SG:give.OOC:PFV ‘She gave him [a cup of ] water…’ b. Ay eł tuuthał hutl’a’įįkąą. (T) and soup 3SG>3PL:give.OOC:PFV ‘And he gave them [bowls of ] soup.’

UTCBVDN13Nov1401:055

UTOLAF08Apr2805:023

Similarly ’ąą ‘classify compact object’ can occur with a mass noun such as tsayh ‘ocher’ (17). A speaker commented that this sentence meant that the ocher was carried in a little pouch. (17) Eh ts’exeh gaay tsayh nati’aak. (N) and girl ocher 3SG:carry.around.CO:IPV:CUST ‘And the girl was carrying [a bag of ] ocher.’ UTOLAF15May0501:103 The verb stem classifying plural objects also may occur with mass nouns; again, this yields a container (18a) or chunk (18b) reading. (18) a. ‹Łiat, saayh, sǫgay, ldil› nįįdlay. (N) flour rice sugar tea 3SG:bring.PL.O:PFV:NOM ‘He brought [bags of ] flour, rice, sugar, and tea.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:124 b. Tänh ik’ehts’üü ni’eedlah… (S) ice 3SG:armpits 3SG:put.PL.O:PFV ‘She put [chunks of ] ice under his armpits…’

ANLC4122a-162

Uncontained or unchunked mass nouns cannot cooccur with classificatory verb themes. The stem näł is used for granular masses such as snow (19a); and tl’iit for liquid or liquid-like movement of water (19b) or rice (19c). As discussed in chapter 3, the verb themes formed from these stems are not part of the classificatory verb system. (19) a. Ay shyüh tänh ik’it shyüh ik’it įįnäł… (S) and snow ice 3SG>3SG:on snow 3SG>3SG:on 3SG>3SG:pour:PFV ‘And he put/poured snow and ice on it…’ ANLC4122a-018 b. Hiiyihmbiat ch’itth’eh hiitu’ nadehtl’iit. (N) 3PL>3SG:boil:IPV first 3PL>3SG:water:POSS pour.down:IPV ‘The first time they boil it, they pour its water out.’ UTOLAF18Jun0401:008

SEMANTIC PROPERTIES OF NOUNS

15

c. ‹Saayh› chih itanihtl’iit. (N) rice too 3SG>SG:pour.in:PFV ‘He also poured rice into [the mixture].’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:044 Thus, count nouns and mass nouns behave differently when combined with classificatory verb stems. 2.2.3. Other verb stems There are a few other verb stems that distinguish (direct object) number and can thus serve to distinguish count and mass nouns (see sec. 4.2.1 for a list).² (20) illustrates the difference between O+H+tsįį ‘make SG O’ and O+Ø+xąą ‘make PL O’. (20) a. … tsayh hiiyeh ehtsiik. (T) boat 3PL>3SG:with make.SG.O:IPV:CUST ‘… they customarily make a boat with [birch bark].’ UTOLVDN13May2806:004 b. Ts’ayh gaay hii’eh natetkeegn ay boat small 3PL>3PL:with boat.around:IPV:CUST 3PL hįįxąą. (N) 3PL:make.PL.O:PFV ‘They made small canoes that they paddled around with.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:028 (21) contrasts the two verb themes for eating. (Na)#O+Ø+’aał ‘eat SG O’ is used when describing an eating event where a single entity is being consumed—in (21a), a piece of fish.³ O+L+deeł ‘eat PL O’ is used for describing eating events where a multiplicity of objects is being consumed. With human subjects, this theme is typically used to describe eating items such as berries, and cannot be used to describe an event of eating fish. (21b) is only possible in a context of a grizzly fishing for salmon and eating one fish after another. (21) a. Ay łuugn yeh na’įį’aał… (S) and fish 3SG>3SG:with eat.SG.O:PFV ‘And he ate fish with him…’ b. Łuugn eldeeł. (T) fish 3SG:eat.PL.O:IPV ‘It is eating [multiple] fish.’

ANLC-4122b

UTOLVDN13May2401:005

16

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

While count nouns can occur with either one of these verb themes, mass nouns are typically restricted to just one of them, although the choice of themes seems somewhat idiosyncratic. This is illustrated in table 2.1 for the two ‘make’ themes, which are the only ones that occur with sufficient frequency in the corpus to allow claims. O+H+tsįį ‘make SG O’

O+Ø+xąą ‘make PL O’

tuu ‘water’ tuuthäł ‘soup’ tseey, ldil ‘tea’ mba’ ‘dry fish’ dzännax ‘fermented fish’ tsät gaay ‘kindling’ ch’itdulshyįį ‘wood chips’ lsüü, nsüü ‘money’

tuu ‘water’ tsayh ‘ocher’ shyi’ gąy ‘dry meat’

Table 2.1. Mass nouns with number-marked verb stems Only one noun, tuu ‘water’, occurs with both the singular and the plural verb theme, but with different meanings. Tuu dhįhtsįį ‘you SG made SG water’ is an idiomatic expression meaning ‘you SG have a potlatch’ (22a),⁴ while with the plural theme it simply means ‘to make water [from melted snow]’ (22b). (22) a. T’axoh ishyiit nuunįįthädn tuu finally then AR>2SG:be.time:IPV:NOM water dhįhtsiin eh… (N) 2SG:make.SG.O:PFV:NOM when ‘When it finally is time for you to get ready to have your potlatch…’ UTOLVDN14May0508:028 b. Tl’aan chih ay tl’aan neeshyah xah tuu tsaaxąą… (N) and also and.then 1PL:house for water 1PL:make.PL.O:FUT ‘And then we will also make water for our house…’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:029 Note that shyi’ gąy ‘dry meat’ occurs with the plural stem, while mba’ ‘dry fish’ and dzännax ‘fermented fish’ take the singular stem (23). This may reflect the fact that fish are dried (and fermented) in one piece, while meat is cut into thin sheets or strips during the preparation. (23c) is particularly interesting, since it demonstrates how a count noun is being transformed into a mass noun.

SEMANTIC PROPERTIES OF NOUNS (23) a. Shyi’ gąyh hehxąą. (T) meat dry 3PL:make.PL.O:PFV ‘They made dry meat.’

17

UTCBVDN14Jul1801:007

b. Tl’aan mba’ įį tah chih hehtsįį. (T) and dry.fish and also 3PL:make.SG.O:PFV ‘And then they made dry fish also.’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:008 c. Łuugn sometimes dän deetaan dzännax fish sometimes forty fermented.fish hehtsiik. (S) 3PL:make.SG.O:IPV:CUST ‘Sometimes they would make forty fish into fermented fish.’ Tyone (1996, 13) It appears that most mass nouns occur with the singular verb theme. The lack of data makes it impossible to make stronger claims. To summarize, even though there is no plural marking for nouns with inanimate referents, there is a clear difference between mass nouns and count nouns. Count nouns can cooccur with numerals while mass nouns cannot. Count and mass nouns behave differently when combined with a classificatory verb theme. Finally, count nouns can cooccur with singular- or plural-marked verb themes, depending on context, while mass nouns can cooccur with only one of them. 2.3. Definiteness and specificity Most Upper Tanana noun phrases are not formally marked for definiteness nor specificity.⁵ (Following Lyons [1999] I use the term “definiteness” as roughly equivalent to “identifiability”.) This was shown in great detail by Wilhelm (2015) for Dëne Sųłiné; the following examples are inspired by her approach. Bare nouns can have unique reference (24a) or refer to entities introduced earlier in the discourse or detectable from extralinguistic context. In (24b) the girl was introduced four sentences earlier in the same text; preceding the production of (24c), a cup was placed carelessly on the edge of a table. (24) a. Ay ch’ale’ k’ahdu’ t’eey ch’aldzeek shyiit tnah’įįl. (N) and FOC today ADVZR moon in 2PL>3SG:see:FUT:NOM ‘And you PL can see him in the moon today.’ UTCBAF15May0401:028

18

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. Ts’exeh gaay ishyiit nts’ą’ teeshyah. (T) girl there to 3SG:SG.go:INC:PFV ‘The girl went over there.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:005 c. Ishyiit ts’änh tuutįįł da’ǫlkah, nadalthek. (N) there from cup 2SG:put.OOC.up:OPT 3SG:OOC.fall:FUT ‘You should put SG the cup elsewhere on [the table], it might fall.’ UTOLAFMay0807:050

Similarly, bare nouns can have generic reference (25). (25) a. Gah delgayh xay tah. (N) rabbit 3SG:be.white:IPV winter in ‘Rabbits are white in winter.’

UT Notebook #1, p. 24

b. Tehts’oon nän’ k’it deltth’iik. (N) mink land on 3PL:PL.live:IPV:CUST ‘Mink live on the land.’

UT Notebook #1, p. 24

Bare nouns can also refer to unspecific entities (26). (26) a. Roy ch’a k’a’ tl’atihtįįl. (N) Roy FOC gun 1SG:give.LRO:FUT:NOM ‘I would give Roy a gun.’ [discussing gift giving during a hypothetical potlatch] UTOLVDN14May0508:110 b. Ay ts’anh noo chi’idhįh’eeł de’ k’a’ ǫǫkeet 3SG from ahead:ALL 2SG>INDF:trap:PFV if gun 2SG:buy:OPT de’… (T) UR ‘And from there if you trap something, make sure you buy a gun (or: guns) with it…’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:070 Finally, bare nouns can have specific but not-identifiable reference to entities just introduced into the discourse (27). (27) a. Neenattheh dą’ ts’ist’e’ ‹łaakay› ts’exeey iin hihdeltth’ih. (T) 1PL:long.before at:PST old.lady two women PL 3PL:PL.stay:IPV ‘Long before us, there was an old lady and two girls.’ UTOLAF13May2403:001

SEMANTIC PROPERTIES OF NOUNS

19

b. Ahnuugn nǫǫgaay natedaak. (T) NTRL:across:AR fox 3SG:SG.walk.around:IPV:CUST ‘A fox was walking around on the other side.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:155 In discussing similar data for Dëne Sųłiné, Wilhelm (2015, 127) suggests that “the notions of definiteness and indefiniteness are foreign to the language; they are imposed by the metalanguage English” and concludes that nouns in Dëne Sųłiné are “unspecified for definiteness.” The same is true for Upper Tanana: the listener needs to decide for each bare noun whether the intendet interpretation is definite or indefinite, generic or specific, since these differences are not formally marked. The findings here seem to be consistent with a larger trend in Dene languages: only Babine-Witsuwit’en (Gunlogson 2001) and Dena’ina (Müller 2004) are reported to formally mark definiteness or specificity of object and possessor noun phrases through the presence of coreferential pronominal prefixes. 2.4. Summary Upper Tanana distinguishes animate from inanimate nouns; only the former group allows plural marking by morphological change, by the use of the plural enclitic iin, or by pronominal prefixes. Upper Tanana further has a mass/count distinction. Only count nouns may cooccur with numerals, and the two groups of nouns differ regarding their interpretation in conjunction with classificatory verb themes and number-marked verb themes. Finally, I noted that definiteness and specificity are not relevant concepts for the description of Upper Tanana noun phrases, as they are not formally marked. Notes 1. Neetsay ‘bear’ is a euphemism meaning literally ‘our grandfather’. See also vol. 1, chap. 4 for discussion. 2. The paired verb themes for ‘kill’ require an animate direct object and thus cannot cooccur with mass nouns. There is only one instance of a theme meaning ‘find’ with a mass noun. 3. Since whitefish, the most commonly consumed fish in the Upper Tanana area, are fairly large, it is unlikely that (21a) is intended to mean ‘ate an entire fish’. 4. Curiously, speakers translate this expression as ‘make tea’. 5. One exception are noun phrases containing demonstratives; see chap. 19.

3 | Noun classification The noun classification system of Alaskan Dene languages consists of two intersecting systems: “stem class,” defined by the classificatory verb stems which classify the internal argument by shape and consistency (described in 3.1), and “gender,” marked by qualifier prefixes classifying the internal argument by size and material (described in 3.2). In a language where both systems are fully functional, such as Dena’ina (Tenenbaum 1978), each noun falls into a class defined by both; thus a bird egg falls into the stem class of single round objects of d-gender, while fish eggs may fall into either the class of mushy objects or of plural objects, in both cases with n-gender (Tenenbaum 1978, 134). In Upper Tanana, as shown in 3.2, the gender system is in the process of disappearing. As a result, only the stem class system is salient in this language. 3.1. Stem class The classificatory verb system of Dene languages is what Allan (1977, 287) calls a predicate classifier system. Noun class membership is not indicated on the noun itself nor on a special classifier word. Instead, the verb stem conflates MOTION (or LOCATION) and FIGURE (Talmy 1985, 72–74) of the internal argument; thus the verb theme is marked for the noun class of the subject in intransitive clauses (28a) but for the noun class of the direct object in transitive ones (28b). (28) a. … dahdzäł cho::h chih ha’ogn da’ee’ąą. (N) dahdzäł choh chih ha-’ogn fish.frame big also NTRL-outside:ALL da-ee-’ąą up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.CO:IPV ‘… there was a huge fish frame out there.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:036

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

21

b. … Sarah ‹shdia’› Sarah eh shaak’ay Liza eh dahdzäł cho::h heh’ąą. (N) Sarah sh-dia’ Sarah eh sh-aak’ay Sarah 1SG.PSR-younger.sister Sarah and 1SG.PSR-maternal.aunt Liza eh dahdzäł choh heh-’ąą Liza and fish.frame big 3PL.S:DH.PFV:H-classify.CO:IPV ‘… my younger sister Sarah and my maternal aunt Liza had a huge fish frame.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:148 As in any language, conflation of FIGURE with MOTION or LOCATION occurs in many verb (themes); for example, the English verb roll requires that the rolling entity be round-ish, while lean requires the leaning entity to be rigid and saliently two-dimensional. Thus in defining the group of classificatory verb stems, I limit the description here to those stems that are part of two primary derivations: neuter verb themes describing the location or existence of an entity, and motion verb themes describing motion or handling of an entity. More information on the type of verb themes derived from classificatory verb stems can be found in section 3.1.2. 3.1.1. Inventory There are six classificatory verb stems categorizing singular objects (table 3.1). The verb stem classifying ropelike objects also is used for plural objects of all noun classes; there are thus seven distinct classes. This inventory is relatively small when compared to that of Dakelh (Poser [2005, 152] lists eleven), Ahtna (Kari [1979, 157] lists ten), or Tetsǫts’iné (Jaker and Cardinal [2021, 252] lists eight). Particularly striking is the absence of classes for mushy objects, food objects, burning objects, and granular objects, all of which are attested in several related languages. This is to some degree due to the definition of “classificatory verb stem” used here. Only the six stems below are attested in paired neuter and motion themes, which I take to be one of the defining characteristics of classificatory verb stems. Verb stems describing either the existence or the manipulation of these types of objects do exist in Upper Tanana but, crucially, they describe only manipulation or only existence, never both. As table 3.1 shows, there are two distinct sets of classificatory verb stems. The verb stems in set A are used in neuter verb themes with the meaning ‘object of [class] is in position’ and ‘subject keeps object of [class] in position’, as well as in active verb themes ‘handle object of [class]’. The verb stems in set B are used in intransitive and transitive motion verb themes with the meanings ‘object of [class] moves (independently)’ or ‘handle object of [class]

22

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

quickly, throw object of [class]’. All verb stems in this table are shown in the imperfective viewpoint.

neuter ‘animate object’ ‘compact object’ ‘elongated object’ ‘object in container’ ‘flat, flexible object’ ‘ropelike object’ ‘plural object’

tįį ’ąą tąą kąą niik dlah dlah

Set A active teeyh ’aayh tiiyh, tiih kaayh chuut łeeyh łeeyh

Set B ‘move indep.’ ‘throw O’ tth’ät

xäł nąyh xał nąyh nąyh? deeł deeł

Table 3.1. Classificatory verb stems in the imperfective viewpoint

In the following sections, the semantic classes defined by each verb stem are described in a bit more detail. 3.1.1.1. Animate object This noun class includes animals and humans. Set A of this noun class is illustrated in (29). (29) a. Dinän’ k’it data’ahteeł. (N) d-nän’ k’it da-ta-ah-teeł REFL.PSR-back on up-water-3SG.S:AA.IPV:H-classify.AO:IPV:PROG ‘[Otter] is floating on its back.’ UT Notebook #1, p. 59 b. … ay shyiit shįhtįį nagntän ch’a’ le’. (N) ay shyiit sh-įh-tįį 3SG in 1SG.O-3SG.S:AA.PFV:H-handle.AO:PFV nagn-tän ch’a le’ QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:L-freeze:IPV:NOM AVERT DUB ‘… then she put me into [the moss-stuffed blanket] so I wouldn’t freeze to death.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:065 The primary neuter verb themes built from this stem have undergone semantic shift. The theme Ø+tįį has the meaning ‘SG sleep’ rather than ‘SG animate be in position’ (30a); H+tįį has the meaning ‘SG die’ rather than ‘keep SG animate in position’ (30b).

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

23

(30) a. Shoh xay uudih eetįį. (T) shoh xay uudih ee-tįį bear winter all 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.AO:IPV ‘Bear sleeps all winter long.’ UT Notebook #1, p. 42 b. Ligaay ehtįį. (T) łigaay eh-tįį puppy 3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-classify.AO:IPV ‘The puppy died.’

UTOLAF09Jun2202:021

Dead creatures (animals and humans alike) also fall into this class (31). (31) a. Keey nts’ą’ di’aat na’alteeł. (T) keey nts’ą’ d-’aat na-al-teeł village to REFL.PSR-wife IT-3SG.S:AA.IPV:L-handle.AO:IPV:PROG ‘He was carrying his [dead] wife back to the village.’ UTOLVDN13May2901:032 b. Ditsǫǫ xah niiyiltįį… (T) d-tsǫǫ xah REFL.PSR-grandmother for ni-na-y-il-tįį TERM-IT-3SG.S>3SG.O-N.PFV:L-handle.AO:PFV ‘He brought [the dead puppy] back to his grandmother…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:022 The noun class for animate entities takes two different set B stems, depending on transitivity. The stem xäł is used in transitive themes, expressing that an animate object is being moved forcefully or quickly (32). (32) a. … manh shyiit (tąy) tuu tlok shyiit tayįhxał. (T) manh shyiit tąy tuu tlok shyiit lake into f.s. water dirty into ta-y-įh-xał into.water-3SG.S>3SG.O-AA.PFV:H-throw.AO:PFV ‘… he threw her into the lake, into the dirty water.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:135

24

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. T’axoh t’ayįhxäł. (B) t’axoh t’a-y-įh-xäł finally up/out-3SG.S>3SG.O-AA.PFV:H-throw.AO:PFV ‘Finally she threw him off [her back].’ UTOLVDN10Jul2710:050

The stem tth’ät is used in intransitive themes of falling (33). (33) a. Ay manh shyiit ta’altth’at. (T) ay manh shyiit ta-al-tth’at and lake into into.water-3SG.S:AA.PFV:L-AO.fall:PFV ‘And she fell into the lake.’ UTOLAF12Jul0602:020 b. Na’altth’ät. (N) na-al-tth’ät down-3SG.S:AA.PFV:L-AO.fall:PFV ‘He fell down [off a tree].’

UTOLVDN07Aug2205:075

Instead of tth’ät ‘animate moves independently, falls’, the stem nąyh ‘compact object moves independently’ may be used to describe falling or stumbling of animate referents (34), reflecting possibly the body shape during this event. (34) a. Mänh cho::h shyiit tat’atdalnąy. (N) shyiit mänh choh ocean into ta-t’a-tdal-nąy into.water-up/out-3SG.S:INC:QUAL:AA.PFV:L-CO.move.indep:PFV:NOM ‘He fell into the ocean…’ UTOLAF08Feb1902:013 b. “T’akidalnąy shyąą t’eey,” nih. (T) t’a-ki-dal-nąy catching.on-foot-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:L-CO.move.indep:PFV shyąą t’eey nih for.nothing say:IPV ‘“She tripped and fell for nothing,” he said.’ UTOLVDN13May2901:036 3.1.1.2. Compact object The class defined by the verb stem ’ąą ‘classify compact object’ appears to be the default category. While prototypical members of this class are compact objects, such as a rock, a pack, an axe, or a

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

25

berry, it also includes all (singular) objects that cannot be assigned to one of the other classes (35), including abstract objects such as kindness (35e). (35) a. … jah du’ ne’ jah dii le’ tthee cho::h ee’ąą. (N) jah du’ ne’ jah dii le’ tthee choh here CT upstream:ALL here what IGN rock big ee-’ąą 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.CO:IPV ‘… right there upstream I don’t know what, a huge rock was there.’ UTOLAF15May0501:198 b. … hut’oh ha’aat da’ee’ąą… (N) hu-t’oh ha-’aat da-ee-’ąą 3PL.PSR-nest NTRL-out:PNCT up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.CO:IPV ‘… their nest was sitting up high out there…’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:027 c. … ha’aatthiit shyah guuy ee’ąą. (N) ha-aa-tthiit shyah guuy ADJC-NTRL-waterwards:PNCT house tiny ee-’ąą 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.CO:IPV ‘… down there by the water was a tiny house.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:035 d. K’įį tah, k’įį ee’ąą… (N) k’įį tah k’įį ee-’ąą birch among birch 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.CO:IPV ‘Among the birch, there is birch there…’ UTOLAF08Feb1908:017 e. Ch’iliitthoo gaay tat’eey teejuh nuhshyiit dah’a’. (T) ch’iliitthoo gaay tat’eey teejuh nuh-shyiit grizzly small also kindness 2PL.P-in dah-’a’ QUAL:OPT:2PL.S:H-have.CO:OPT ‘Have kindness in you PL even for the little grizzlies.’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:030 The set B stem is suppletive. The perfective stem is nąyh ‘compact O moves indepently’; the other stems have an initial th- (36b). In intransitive verb themes

26

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(36a) the stem has the meaning ‘compact O moves independently’; in transitive ones (36b, c) it describes rapid handling of the object. (36) a. Saa uch’a’ statdelnay. (N) saa u-ch’a’ sun 3SG.P-from sta-tdel-nąy away-3SG.S:INC:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-CO.move.indep:PFV:NOM ‘The sun rolled away from him.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2719:037 b. Ts’exeh dats’idaak tah da’eedah dą’ uch’a’ stadįhthayh. (N) ts’exeh dats’idaak tah da-ee-dah dą’ woman chair on up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.sit:IPV when u-ch’a’ sta-dįh-thayh 3SG.P-from away-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:H-move.CO.rapidly:IPV ‘When the woman was sitting down on the chair, you pulled it out from under her.’ UTOLAF14May0807:002 c. … dik’eetl’aat nts’ą’ idehnąyh. (T) d-k’eetl’aat nts’ą’ REFL.P-behind towards i-deh-nąyh 3SG.S>3SG.O-QUAL:DH.PFV:H-move.CO:rapidly:PFV ‘… she threw [the fish knife] behind herself.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:049 3.1.1.3. Sticklike object This noun class includes objects that are rigid and saliently two-dimensional. (37) contains a sample of objects in this class. These objects seem to fall into three groups: tools and weapons (37a–c), means of transport such as a boat or camper (37d, e), and body parts that are shaped like sticks, such as tails (37f ).

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

27

(37) a. Ch’ijeey hahugn eetąą… (B) ch’ijeey hahugn ee-tąą scraper there 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.LRO:IPV ‘A scraper was lying there…’ UTOLVDN10Jul2722:021 b. Seeyh shyįį’ nataktįįk… (N) seeyh shyįį’ na-tak-tįįk knife only PRMB-INC:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-handle.LRO:IPV:CUST ‘I only carry a knife…’ UTOLVDN13May2004:029 c. Jah ch’a ts’ihtąy’ dhaktąą… (T) jah ch’a ts’ihtąy’ dhak-tąą here FOC bow DH.PFV:1SG.S:H-keep.LRO:IPV ‘I have a bow here…’ UTOLVDN13May2907:018 d. Ts’ayh slough gaay tats’įįtąą. (N) ts’ayh slough gaay ta-ts’įį-tąą boat slough small into.water-1PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-handle.LRO:PFV ‘We put the boat into a little slough.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:040 e. … hushyah choh heetąą nts’ą̈ ’. (N) hu-shyah choh hee-tąą nts’ą̈ ’ 3PL.PSR-house big 3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.LRO:IPV and ‘… they had parked their big camper.’ UTOLAF09Aug12:015 f. Nahnǫǫ nche’ shaa skidįįtįįh, … (T) nah-nǫǫ n-che’ sh-aa MED-across:ABL 2SG.PSR-tail 1SG.O-for ski-dįį-tįįh across-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-handle.LRO:IPV ‘From across put your SG tail across for me, …’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:192 The word for ‘camper’ in (37e) translates literally to ‘big house’, yet houses are distinguished from campers by stem class membership: shyah cooccurs with the stem ąą ‘classify CO’ when it has the meaning ‘house’ (35c), but with the stem tąą ‘classify LRO’ when it has the meaning ‘camper’. The set B stem for this stem class is xäł (38), which can also be used to describe rapid movement of animate objects (see also sec. 3.1.1.1).

28

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(38) a. Ay eh k’ahjil sheh nakecheexäł. (N) ay eh k’ahjil sh-eh and and almost 1SG.P-with nake-chee-xäł around.over-INDF.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-LRO.move.quickly:PFV ‘And [the canoe] almost tipped over with me.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:100 b. Tl’aan tsät nadįįxäł… (N) tl’aan tsät na-dįį-xäł and wood down-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:Ø-handle.LRO.quickly:PFV ‘Then he dropped the piece of wood…’ UTOLAF15May0501:230 3.1.1.4. Object in open container This noun class includes objects enclosed in rigid containers that are open at the top, such as cups, pots, teapots, open boxes, or plates¹ (39), but not soft containers such as packs or bags, which are included in the class defined by ’ąą (see sec. 3.1.1.2). (39) a. … tsat gų’ yaa ninįįkąą ‹nts’ą’›. (T) y-aa ni-nįį-kąą tsat gų’ wood worm:POSS 3SG.S>3SG.P-for TERM-N.PFV:Ø-handle.OOC:PFV nts’ą’ and ‘… he brought [a bowl of ] wood worms for him.’ UTOLVDN08Mar1302:008 b. “Hanoo’ tthidįįkaay eh nįhxot,” nih. (N) ha-noo’ tthi-dįį-kaay NTRL-to.fire:ALL to.fire-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-handle.OOC:IPV:NOM eh nįh-xot nih and QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:H-boil:IPV say:IPV ‘“Put [the meat] [in a bucket] over the fire and boil it,” she said.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:145 c. Tuu itl’a’įįkąą… (N) tuu i-tl’a-įį-kąą water 3SG.S>3SG.P-to-AA.PFV:Ø-handle.OOC:PFV ‘She brought him [a cup] of water…’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:055

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

29

Closed containers, such as a can with a lid or a closed bottle, do not fall into this category but into that defined by ąą ‘classify CO’ described in 3.1.1.2 (40). (40) a. Ch’įįtįįl choh sts’ą̈ ’ aa’aał tl’aan… (N) ch’įįtįįl choh s-ts’ą̈ ’ aa-’aał tl’aan can big 1SG.P-to 3SG.S:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.CO:IPV:PROG and ‘He was bringing a big [coffee] can to me and…’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:052 b. John tuu shyiit ts’etnaan itl’a’įį’ąą. (T) John tuu shyiit ts’et-naan Jon water in 1PL.S:Ø.IPV:D-drink:IPV:NOM i-tl’a-įį-’ąą 3SG.S>3SG.P-to-AA.PFV:Ø-handle.CO:PFV ‘John gave her a bottle of water.’ UTOLAF12Jul0701:048 When objects in this class move independently or are thrown, the verb stem nąyh ‘compact object moves independently’ is used (41). As mentioned in 3.1.1.1, this verb stem is suppletive. (41) a. … ehts’ayh tuutįįł nadįhnąyh. (N) ehts’ayh tuutįįł na-dįh-nąyh wind cup down-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:H-throw.CO:PFV ‘… the wind knocked the cup down.’ UTOLAF13May2801:006 b. Dii xah ch’a tuutįįl hadadhįhkaan nadalthegn nt’eh! (N) dii xah ch’a tuutįįl ha-da-dhįh-kaan why FOC cup out-up-DH.PFV:2SG.S:H-handle.OOC:IPV:NOM na-tdal-thegn nt’eh down-3SG.S:INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:L-OOC.move.indep:FUT:NOM ASRT ‘Why did you put the cup up there, it’s gonna fall down for sure!’ UTOLAF14May0807:051 3.1.1.5. Fabric object This noun class includes pieces of skin or fabric, blankets, and pieces of clothing such as shirts. There are very few examples of the set A stem niik; (42) contains the bulk of available examples. (42) a. Ts’ät shyign’ tah eeniik. (N) ts’ät shyign’ tah ee-niik blanket down:ALL among 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.FO:IPV ‘The blanket is lying on the floor.’ UTOLAF15Dec0701:011

30

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. Ay tl’aan hudänh dzehniik ‹ch’il nimbaał› eh. (N) ay tl’aan hu-dänh dzeh-niik and then AR.PSR-opening 1PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:H-classify.FO:IPV ch’il nimbaał eh cloth covering with ‘And then we put a cloth curtain [over] the door.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:044 c. Nahshyign eek eeniign ay du’ ǫhchuut tl’aan hahnogn da’ųhniign diaa. (N) nah-shyign’ eek ee-niign MED-down:ALL coat 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.FO:IPV:NOM ay du’ ǫh-chuut tl’aan hah-nogn that CT OPT:2SG.S:H-grab:OPT and NTRL-upland:AR da-ųh-niign diaa up-OPT:2SG.S:H-handle.FO:OPT DES ‘You should have picked up that coat where it was lying and put it up there.’ UTOLAF14May0807:033

One challenge with this particular verb stem is that it seems to have partially merged with the suppletive stem niik, chuut ‘grab’. In Ahtna, niic (in verb themes meaning ‘grab’) are used in the perfective, while cuut is used in the nonperfective modes (Kari 1990, 308). In classificatory themes only forms related to niic are used in that language. The distribution of the stems in Upper Tanana is less clear. The second verb form in (42c) could be a form of ‘grab’ or of ‘handle FO’ (glossed as the former, due to contrast with the last verb form in that example), but in (43) it very likely has the meaning ‘handle FO’. (43) Its’ädn’ degn’ ehchuut… (N) i-ts’ädn’ degn’ eh-chuut 3SG.S>3SG.PSR-blanket:POSS up:ALL 3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-handle.FO:PFV ‘He lifted her blanket…’ UTOLAF15May0501:062 Pants are treated as plural objects (44) and thus are not included in this category.

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

31

(44) Dehtle’ tthidįhdeeł… (T) d-ehtle’ tthi-dįh-deeł REFL.PSR-pants into.fire-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:H-throw.PL.O:PFV ‘He threw his own pants into the fire…’ UTOLVDN13May2805:021 There is only one instance of a set B stem for members of this class (45). Note that it is not clear whether the blanket is rolled up (in which case it would be classified as a compact object, see sec. 3.1.1.2) or spread out. (45) Uts’ädn’ ła’ uk’it u’aayy’ k’it dadįlnąyh. (S) u-ts’ädn’ ła’ u-k’it u-aayy’ k’it 3SG.PSR-blanket:POSS truly 3SG.P-on 3SG.PSR-snowshoe:POSS on da-dįl-nąyh up-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:L-CO?.moves:PFV ‘His blanket fell on his snowshoe.’ ANLC4122a-232 3.1.1.6. Ropelike objects This noun class includes ropelike objects such as ropes, sinew, string, and necklaces. The set A stem for this class is highly irregular; as described in volume 1, chapter 26, the verb stem is reconstructed without an onset consonant. In all neuter forms (46a) and in active perfective forms (46b), the stem-initial consonant is dl. In active forms with a Øvoice/valence marker, the stem-initial consonant is ł (46c).² Preceding the L-voice/valence marker (46d), the stem-initial consonant is shy in active imperfective and perfective forms alike. (46) a. … ch’aachin’ k’it tl’uuł daneedlah. (T) ch’aachin’ k’it tl’uuł da-nee-dlah tree.stump on rope up-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.RO:IPV ‘… there was the rope on the stump.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:185 b. … ch’itay ch’inikon’ t’eey thiin ninįįdlah. (N) ch’itay ch’inikon’ t’eey thiin ni-nįį-dlah old.man dentalium even neck TERM-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-handle.RO:PFV ‘… the old man put a dentalium necklace around [Loon’s] neck.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:050

32

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS c. Sta’įltthat shyiit t’eey tl’uuł hǫǫ’t’eey Ch’aachinh yaa inełeek. (T) sta-įl-tthat shyiit t’eey tl’uuł hǫǫ’t’eey ch’aachinh away-3SG.S:N.PFV:L-run:PFV there ADVZR rope still tree.stump y-aa i-ne-łeek 3SG.S>3SG.P-for 3SG.S>3SG.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.RO:IPV:CUST ‘She ran away and that rope, the Stump kept moving it for her.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:309 d. … that tth’ee nahnelshyeek. (N) that tth’ee na-hnel-shyeek that sinew IT-3PL.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-handle.RO:IPV:CUST ‘They would kill something and they would bring the sinew back to her.’ UTOLAF15May0501:193

The set B stem for this noun class is deeł ‘PL move independently, move PL O quickly’ (47). This is the only clear example in the corpus with this use; this stem also occurs in the primary motion theme Ø+deeł ‘PL go’. (47) Ay ch’a tth’ee inįhdädn du’ łahtthegn mbeh t’eey nanįįdeek. (N) ay ch’a tth’ee i-nįh-dädn du’ łahtthegn and FOC sinew 3SG.S>3PL.O-N.PFV:H-twist:PFV:NOM CT all mb-eh t’eey na-nįį-deek 3SG.P-with ADVZR down-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-PL.move.indep:PFV ‘And all the sinew she had twisted fell down with her.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:193 3.1.1.7. Plural objects The same stem set is also used for the classification of plural objects, regardless of which noun class the objects belong to in the singular. (48a) demonstrates this verb stem with a plural human object referent belonging to the class of animate objects, (48b) with rocks (compact objects), (48c) with guns (long rigid objects), (48d) with plates (objects in open containers), (48e) with scarves (fabric-like objects), and (48f ) with ropes (ropelike objects). It is also used with powdery object such as flour (48g).

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

33

(48) a. Ay tl’aan ishyiit ts’änh chih Sitka hǫǫsi’ dänh nts’ą̈ ’ neehteedlah. (N) ay tl’aan ishyiit ts’änh chih Sitka hǫǫ-si’ dänh and then there from also Sitka AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.called:IPV at nts’ą̈ ’ nee-h-tee-dlah to 1PL.O-3PL.S-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-handle.PL.O:PFV ‘And then from there they moved us to the place called Sitka.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:009 b. Tl’aan, “Jan du’ tthee tthee du’ ntl’a’ihdlah,” tl’aan… (T) tl’aan jan du’ tthee tthee du’ and here CT rock rock CT n-tl’a-ih-dlah tl’aan 2SG.P-to-AA.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-handle.PL.O:PFV and ‘And “Here, I gave you these rocks,” and… UTCBAF13Nov0501:178 c. Dik’aa’ sts’ayy’ shyiit hiiyįįdlah… (N) d-k’aa’ s-ts’ayy’ shyiit REFL.PSR-gun:POSS 1SG.PSR-canoe:POSS in hiiy-įį-dlah 3PL.S>3PL.O-AA.PFV:Ø-handle.PL.O:PFV ‘They put their guns into my canoe…’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:114 d. Tl’aan ha’ogn dahdzäł t’aat t’eey ishyiit t’eey tth’aak neexah nidnįįdlah… (N) tl’aan ha-’ogn dahdzäł t’aat’ t’eey ishyiit t’eey and NTRL-outside:AR meat.frame under ADVZR there ADVZR tth’aak nee-xah ni-dnįį-dlah plate 1PL.P-for TERM-3SG.S:QUAL:N.PFV:Ø-handle.PL.O:PFV ‘And out there under the meat frame he put out plates for us…’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:045 e. K’oniit’ay dog tah ts’ełeek… (T) k’oniit’ay dog tah ts’e-łeek scarf up:AR among 1PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST ‘We put scarves up there…’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:003

34

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS f. Ahdegn’ ts’oo k’it ch’įįkon’ ‹ditl’adn eh› da’eedlah… (T) ah-degn’ ts’oo k’it ch’įįkon’ ditl’adn eh NTRL-up:ALL spruce on dentalium necklace with da-ee-dlah up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.RO:IPV ‘Up there there were dentalium and necklaces on the trees…’ UTOLVDN13May2909:154 g. Łiat hǫǫ’t’eey ndlaan ee-dlah. łiat hǫǫ’t’eey ndlaan ee-dlah. flour still lots 3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV ‘There’s still plenty of flour.’ UT Notebook #4, p. 64

Similar to ropelike objects, plural objects also use deeł as set B stem (49). (49) a. Ishyiit dą’ chih san t’eey natetdeeyh… (T) ishyiit dą’ chih san t’eey then at too star ADVZR na-tet-deeyh down-3SG.S:INC:Ø.IPV:D-PL.move.indep:IPV ‘At that time, the stars were starting to fall…’ UTOLVDN07Nov2802:009 b. … ch’ixia’ udhihniik tl’aan t’a’akdeeł. (N) ch’ixia’ u-dhih-niik tl’aan eggs CON-DH.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-grab:PFV and t’a-ak-deeł down-AA.PFV:1SG.S:H-handle.PL.O.quickly:PFV ‘… I took the eggs and threw them down.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:018 3.1.2. Verb themes derived from classificatory verb stems Classificatory stems are used in classificatory verb themes (see chap. 6 here, and vol. 1, chap. 25 for more information on verb theme categories). In their (neuter) primary derivation, classificatory verb themes are intransitive and have the meaning ‘subject of [class] is in position’ (50). Some of these examples also contain the adverbial-derivational prefix da- ‘up, elevated’; this prefix is used when the object is located in an elevated position, such as on a table or a person’s lap.³ As noted in 3.1.1.1, the classificatory verb theme ‘clas-

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

35

sify animate object’ has undergone semantic shift and usually means ‘single animate subject is sleeping’ (50e). (50) a. … k’üdn ee’ąą. (N) k’üdn ee-’ąą fish.weir 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.CO:IPV ‘there was a fish weir’ UTCBAF15May0401:003 b. nuhxal’ eetąą (T) nuh-xal’ ee-tąą 2PL.PSR-sled:POSS 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.LRO:IPV ‘your PL sled is standing there’ UTOLAF07Feb1302:126 c. jign da’eekąą jign da-ee-kąą berries up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.OOC:IPV ‘berries are in a cup [on the table]’

Kari (1997)

d. Ts’ät shyign tah eeniik. (N) ts’ät shyign tah ee-niik blanket down:ALL at 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.FO:IPV ‘The blanket is lying on the floor.’ UTOLAF15Dec0701:011 e. … ts’iiniin shk’it t’eey da’eetįį. (N) ts’iiniin sh-k’it t’eey da-ee-tįį baby 1SG.P-on ADVZR up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.AO:IPV ‘… the baby is sleeping [on my lap].’ UTOLAF15Dec0705:027 f. tl’uuł needlah tl’uuł nee-dlah rope 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.RO:IPV ‘the rope is lying there’

Kari (1997)

g. … tth’aak shyiit łįį naagn’ eedlah. (N) tth’aak shyiit łįį naagn’ ee-dlah plate in dog eye 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV ‘… there were dogs’ eyes on the plate.’ UTOLAF15May0501:040 Neuter classificatory verb themes also have neuter transitive derivations, such as ‘keep O of [class] in position, have O of [class]’ (51). Transitive derivations are not attested for all classificatory verb themes; this is likely an accidental

36

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

gap in my data. Some of the neuter transitive derivations are marked by a change in voice/valence prefix (51a, b); others are not (51c, d). (51) a. … dahdzäł cho::h heh’ąą. (N) dahdzäł choh heh-’ąą fish.rack big 3PL.S:DH.PFV:H-classify.CO:IPV ‘… they had a big fish frame.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:148 b. Dii xah ch’a tuutįįl hadadhįhkaan… (N) dii xah ch’a tuutįįł ha-da-dhįh-kaan why FOC cup out-up-DH.PFV:2SG.S:H-classify.OOC:IPV:NOM ‘Why do you have the cup up there…’ UTOLAF14May0807:051 c. … hushyah choh heetąą nts’ą̈ ’. (N) hu-shyah choh hee-tąą nts’ą̈ ’ 3PL.PSR-house big 3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø–classify.LRO:IPV and ‘… they had parked their big camper.’ UTOLAF09Aug12:015 d. Eeł dzänh kah eeł heedlah… (N) eeł dzänh kah eeł hee-dlah trap muskrat for trap 3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV ‘They had traps for muskrat…’ UTCBVDN13Nov0804:002 This derivation is not possible for the verb theme Ø+tįį ‘SG sleep’ because further semantic shift has taken place; the verb theme H+tįį instead has the meaning ‘SG die’ (52). (52) Maadeh ehtįį. (T) m-aadeh eh-tįį 3SG.PSR-older.sister 3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-classify.AO:IPV ‘Her older sister died.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:030 Neuter classificatory themes are paired with active classificatory motion themes, which are always transitive and have the great derivational potential typical of motion themes, as illustrated in (53) using the classificatory verb stem kaayh ‘classify O in an open container (IPV)’.

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

37

(53) a. … tsat gų’ yaa ninįįkąą ‹nts’ą’›. (T) tsat gų’ y-aa ni-nįį-kąą wood worm:POSS 3SG.S>3SG.P-for TERM-N.PFV:Ø-handle.OOC:PFV nts’ą’ and ‘… he brought a bowl of wood worms for him.’ UTOLVDN08Mar1302:008 b. … mba’ eł jign utah xee yaa nii’inkąą. (T) mba’ eł jign u-tah xee y-aa dry.fish and berries 3SG.P-among grease 3SG.S>3SG.P-for ni-na-in-kąą TERM-IT-3SG.S:N.PFV:D-handle.OOC:PFV ‘… he brought a bowl of dried fish and berries mixed with grease back for him.’ UTOLVDN08Mar1302:018 c. Ena’ staanįįkaay! (N) ena’ sta-na-nįį-kaay no away-IT-N.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-handle.OOC:IPV:IMP ‘No, take [the teacup] away again!’ UTOLAF14May0807:053 d. Ay eł tuuthał hutl’a’įįkąą. (T) ay eł tuuthał hu-tl’a-įį-kąą and soup 3PL.P-to-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-handle.OOC:PFV ‘And he gave them soup.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:023 e. T’axoh shaa na’įįkaayh. (N) t’axoh, sh-aa na-įį-kaayh enough 1SG.P-for down-Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-handle.OOC:IPV ‘Enough, take [the pot of soup] down [off the stove] for me.’ UTOLAF15Dec0708:028 In addition to these regularly derived motion verbs with transparent semantics, classificatory verb themes have a strong tendency to lexicalize. A small selection of very common themes is presented in (54), but this inventory is by no means complete. (54) a. b. c.

Lexicalized derivations O+u+d+H+’aayh ‘find SG O’ O+u+d+H+dlah ‘find PL O’ ch’+d+H+’ąą ‘sing’

38 d. e. f. g. h.

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS ha+sa#Ø+’ąą na+xa#ch’+d+L+tįįk na+xa#ch’+d+L+shyeek Ø+tįį H+tįį

‘sun rises’ ‘SG go hunting’ ‘PL go hunting’ ‘SG sleep’ ‘PL sleep’

3.2. Gender marking The term “gender marking” in Dene linguistics refers to a productive use of the n-, d-, and hu- qualifiers, which classify the internal argument of the verb by size, type, and material. This system is productive in many Alaskan languages (see, for example, Tenenbaum [1978, sec. 420] and Lovick [2015] for Dena’ina; Jones [n.d.] for Koyukon; Kari [1979] and Kari [1990] for Ahtna; and Hargus [2000] for Deg Xinag), as well as in the Dene languages from Northern British Columbia (see Poser [2005] for Dakelh; and Hargus [2007, 384–94] for Witsuwit’en). In other Dene languages, however, this system seems to have been retained to a lesser degree. While Holton (2000, 237) states that the system in Tanacross is identical to that of Ahtna as described in Kari (1990), some of his examples contradict this statement. Rice (1989) discusses cognate qualifier prefixes in several places throughout her grammar, but it is not clear whether the “adjectival class prefixes” in her section 24.4.4.4 or the “non-aspectual” prefixes described in her section 24.5.2 function as systematically as the systems in Dena’ina, Koyukon, or Ahtna. As alluded to in volume 1, chapter 30, the gender system of Upper Tanana is eroding. The (somewhat idealized) system is described in 3.2.1; its erosion in 3.2.2. 3.2.1. The gender system in Alaskan Dene The gender prefixes classify objects by size, type, or material. There are at least two gender prefixes, n- and d-; while some scholars posit a third class characterized by the absence of a gender prefix (see, for example, Tenenbaum [1978, 133] for Dena’ina or Holton [2000, 238] for Tanacross), I choose not to do this for reasons that will become clear in section 3.2.2. As discussed in volume 1, chapter 30, the areal prefix hu-, which indexes spatial entities, can also be thought of as being part of the gender system. Kari (1990, 285) lists the following items as having n-gender in Ahtna: “1) round objects such as head, eye, face, noise, cheek, berry, fish egg, hailstone, mountain, hill; 2) rope or string-like objects such as rope, thread, chain, sinew, foot strap, intestine, umbilical cord; 3) liquids such as water, blood (except when liquids are used with the classificatory verbs)”. The following

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

39

types of things have d-gender in Ahtna: “1) stick, tree, leaf, plant, bark, pitch; 2) dish, cup, basket; 3) feather, hair, fur; 4) enclosed liquids, lake, puddle, pus, afterbirth, breast, egg; 5) word, song, story, news, name; 6) day, day’s journey, units of time; 7) fire, smoke, star” (Kari 1990, 131). Tenenbaum (1978) additionally posits a dn- gender marker for unusually bulky or heavy entities (see also Lovick [2015]). Tenenbaum (1978, 134) demonstrates clearly how the classificatory verb system interacts with the gender system in Dena’ina. For example, the verb stem ’un ‘classify single compact object’ (cognate to Upper Tanana ’ąą discussed in 3.1.1.2) is combined with Ø- gender when describing the location of a ball, trap, cap, cache, or the sun; with d- gender when describing the location of an egg or a song; with n- gender when describing the location of a berry, a loaf of bread, a (single) fish egg, or a coiled rope; and with dngender when describing the location of a rock, a ring, or a mirror. Traces of this system can be found in Upper Tanana as well. (55) illustrates the classificatory verb stem dlah ‘classify PL O, RO’ without a gender prefix, while the eggs in (55b) trigger a d-gender marker. The berries in (55c) and the rope in (55d) both trigger the n-gender prefix. (55) a. Ay eł aayh aayh chih eedlah… (T) ay eł aayh aayh chih ee-dlah and and snowshoe snowshoe also 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV ‘And he had snowshoes too…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:051 b. Ch’udzüüt xia’ ushyiit deedlah. (N) ch’udzüüt xia’ u-shyiit dee-dlah boreal.owl egg 3SG.P-in 3PL.S:D.GEN:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV ‘Boreal owl’s eggs were lying in [the nest].’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:014 c. Jign daneedlah. (N) jign da-nee-dlah berries up-3PL.S:N.GEN:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV ‘Berries are lying [on the table].’

Kari (1997)

d. … ch’aachin’ k’it tl’uuł daneedlah. (T) ch’aachin’ k’it tl’uuł da-nee-dlah tree.stump on rope up-3SG.S:N.GEN:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.RO:IPV ‘… the rope was on the tree stump.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:185

40

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

Gender prefixes also occur as part of other verb themes, such as the theme O+G+L+deeł ‘eat PL O’. No gender prefix is used when the object referent is a human being (56a); n-gender is used for berries (56b); and d-gender is used for plants (56c). (56) a. Dineey heldeeł. (T) dineey hel-deeł people 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:L-eat.PL.O:IPV ‘They eat human beings.’

UTOLVDN07Oct2604:019

b. shoh jign hihneldeeł. (S) shoh jign h-nel-deeł bear berries 3PL.S-N.GEN:Ø.IPV:L-eat.PL.O:IPV ‘The bears were eating berries.’

ANLC4122a:080

c. Gah k’ąy eh tl’oh eh k’įį eh hihdeldeeł. (N) gah k’ąy eh tl’oh eh k’įį eh rabbit willow and grass and birch and h-del-deeł 3PL.S-D.GEN:Ø.IPV:L-eat.PL.O:IPV ‘Rabbits eat willow, grass, and birch.’ UT Notebook #1, p. 25 As demonstrated in the next section, however, the gender system in Upper Tanana is no longer productive, nor is it applied in a regular fashion. 3.2.2. The erosion of the gender system in Upper Tanana Even though cases exist where gender prefixes are used as could be expected from looking at related languages, they are not used very regularly, as illustrated in (57), a textual example from a story about collecting eggs in spring. Line 1 of (57) is cited above as (55b); this sentence demonstrates that eggs cooccur with the d- qualifier. The gender marker is expected in the verb theme O+G+L+deeł ‘eat O’ in lines 2 and 3, similar to the forms in (56), and in the classificatory motion theme t’a#O+G+H+deeł ‘move PL O against [the ground] rapidly’ in line 5, but it is clearly absent in those cases. It is, however, present (and expected) in the verb form natidįhdeel ‘throw them down!’ in line 4.

NOUN CLASSIFICATION (57)

41

Excerpt: UTOLVDN07Aug2205:014–18 (N) 1. Ch’udzüüt xia’ ushyiit deedlah. ch’udzüüt xia’ u-shyiit dee-dlah boreal.owl egg 3SG.P-in 3PL.S:D.GEN:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV ‘Boreal owl’s eggs were lying in [the nest].’ 2. Ay du’ k’a hiiyildeel. ay du’ k’a hiiy-il-deel 3PL CT NEG 3PL.S>3PL.O-Ø.IPV:L-eat.PL.O:IPV:NEG ‘As for those, they don’t eat them.’ 3. Dii xah le’ mits’ishniign ay k’a hiiyeldeel. dii xah le’ m-i-ts’-ish-niign ay k’a why IGN 3SG.P-PP-PEJ-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:D-not.know:IPV 3SG NEG hiiy-el-deel 3PL.S>3PL.O-Ø.IPV:L-eat.PL.O:IPV:NEG ‘I don’t know why they don’t eat them.’ 4. “U’įįniiy tl’aan natidįhdeel!” shihinih. u-įį-niiy tl’aan CON-Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-grab:IPV:NOM and na-t-dįh-deel down-INC-D.GEN:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:H-handle.PL.O:IPV:IMP sh-hi-nih 1SG.P-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV ‘“Take them and throw them down!” they told me.’ 5. Shiy t’eey huk’eh dihdį’, ch’ixia’ udhihniik tl’aan t’a’akdeeł. shiy t’eey hu-k’eh dih-dį’ 1SG ADVZR 3PL.P-like QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-do:PFV ch’-xia’ u-dhih-niik tl’aan 1SG.PSR-egg CON-DH.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-grab:PFV and t’a-ak-deeł up/out-AA.PFV:1SG.S:H-handle.PL.O.rapidly:PFV ‘I did like they [told me], I took the eggs and threw them out.’

(57) is not an isolated instance; a similar example is given in (58). All verb forms other than yehnih ‘she said to him / he said to her’ have the rope (ngender) as object referent, yet only two of them (the first verb form in line

42

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

1 and the verb form in the quoted speech in line 2) contain the n-gender marker, while the second verb form in line 1 and the verb in line 2 do not. (58)

Excerpt: UTCBAF13Nov0501:141–43 (T) 1. “Jah tl’uuł ntl’anuhłeey yadįįłeek,” yehnih. jah tl’uuł n-tl’a-nuh-łeey here rope 2SG.P-to-N.GEN:OPT:1SG.S:Ø-handle.RO:IPV ya-d-įį-łeek CONT-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-handle.RO:IPV y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘I want to give you this rope here, keep moving it,” she said to [the tree stump].’ 2. “Shtl’anįįłeey ayt’oo,” yehnih. sh-tl’a-nįį-łeey ayt’oo 1SG.P-to-N.GEN:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-handle.RO:IPV:IMP OK y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“OK, give it to me,” [the tree stump] said to her.’ 3. Tsatbaay t’eey tl’ayįįdlah ay chih. ts’atbaay t’eey tl’a-y-įį-dlah ay tree.stump ADVZR to-3SG.S>3SG.P-AA.PFV:Ø-handle.RO:PFV and chih also ‘And she gave it to the tree stump.’

In addition to this erosion of the gender system, the gender prefixes seem to be in the process of becoming lexicalized in other themes. The Ahtna cognate of the verb theme O+H+tsayh ‘make SG.O’ takes a gender prefix; Kari (1990, 386), for example, reports naynełtsiin ‘he made it (biscuit)’ with n- gender and ik’ey’dełtsiin ‘he composed it (song)’ with d- gender. Yet in Upper Tanana the corresponding forms do not contain gender marking (59). (59) a. Łiat gąy na’aktsayh. (N) łiat gąy na-ak-tsayh flour dry IT-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-make.SG.O:IPV ‘I’m making a pancake.’ UTOLAF15Dec0705:033

NOUN CLASSIFICATION

43

b. Hah’ogn k’at’eey ch’ehłiig k’at’eey hehtsay. (N) hah-’ogn k’at’eey ch’ehłiig k’at’eey NTRL-outside:AR NEG song NEG heh-tsay 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-make.SG.O:IPV:NEG ‘Out there, they don’t make songs.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:128 In other verb themes formed from this stem, the gender marker shows up consistently. The verb theme O+n+H+tsayh ‘pick, collect O’ (60) always contains the n-qualifier (possibly referring to berries, the most common noun cooccurring with this verb theme), regardless of the object being picked; after all, the eggs in (60b) would be expected to trigger the d-qualifier. (60) a. … jign hihnehtsayh… (T) jign h-neh-tsayh berry 3PL.S-N.GEN:Ø.IPV:H-collect:IPV ‘… they were picking berries…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:006 b. … ch’ixia’ ts’inehtsayh. (N) ch’-xia’ ts’-neh-tsayh INDF.PSR-egg 1PL.S-N.GEN:Ø.IPV:H-collect:IPV ‘… we gather eggs.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:049 In sum, gender marking in Upper Tanana is becoming less regular and productive and is instead becoming more lexicalized. 3.3. Summary Upper Tanana has a set of classificatory verb stems, which form paired neuter and motion verb themes. Semantically these themes conflate FIGURE and MOTION or LOCATION (Talmy 1985). The resulting system is what Allan (1977, 287) calls a predicate classifier system. There are seven stem classes. Each class has two sets of classificatory stems: set A stems are used in neuter verb themes and handling themes, while set B stems are used in themes describing quick or uncontrolled handling or independent (and uncontrolled) movement of the classified entity. In addition to the primary neuter and motion themes built from these stems, all of them have considerable derivational potential. Upper Tanana has also partly retained the gender system, the productive use of the n-, d-, and hu- qualifiers, which also classify the verb’s internal argument by type and shape. As the available evidence shows, the use of gender

44

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

prefixes is less productive and regular than in other Alaskan languages or languages spoken in Northern British Columbia, and gender prefixes have a tendency either to disappear either entirely or to become lexicalized. Notes 1. Since one reviewer insists that there must be a distinction between flat and deep containers because it is attested in another Dene language, I will add a piece of anecdotal evidence: I have been asked by Upper Tanana speakers to pass them a flat paper plate with food on it using a form containing this stem. While this does not preclude the existence of an additional category, it suggests that this stem can be used for shallow and deep containers alike. Interestingly, the Doyon Languages Online project includes the form tth’aak shtl’adįįtįį ‘give SG me a plate’, which employs the verb stem for elongated objects. 2. The initial consonant is in fact a reflex of a former ł -voice/valence marker, but as discussed in vol. 1, chap. 26, the verb inflects as if the voice/valence prefix was Ø-. 3. Speakers did not enjoy the elicitation of classificatory verbs at all and got quite frustrated with me. This surprised me somewhat, since I have had very different experiences with speakers of Dena’ina, Dane-zaa, and Dëne Sųłiné, who all enjoyed this task. As a result, the data presented in this chapter is not as structured as that used in studies by other scholars. The reluctance in elicitation may be partly due to the existence of two nonverbal predicates— nde’ ‘give me’ and na’ ‘there is’—which obviate the need for classificatory verb themes in two of the generally most easily elicited prompts.

4 | Lexical semantics In this chapter, I describe a few lexical semantic systems operating in Upper Tanana that are not discussed elsewhere in this grammar. I also briefly comment on a few lexicalization patterns in Upper Tanana verbs. 4.1. Nominal domain Semantic systems in the nonverbal domain described elsewhere in this grammar include the directional system (vol. 1, chap. 17), the numeral system (vol. 1, chap. 20), and the noun classification system (chap. 3 here). In this section I describe the kinship system and comment on the rarity of general-kind terms. 4.1.1. The kinship system The description of the kinship system of Upper Tanana draws heavily on the work by Heinrich (1957) and Guédon (1974). As observed by both authors, Upper Tanana society is organized into two sides (this is the term used by Upper Tanana speakers; Heinrich and Guédon use the terms sibs). The sides are strictly exogamous. Each side contains several matrilineal clans or tribes (terms used interchangeably by speakers). The two sides are sometimes known as the Crow and the Wolf (Roy Sam, UT Notebook #3, 31) or Seagull (Guédon 1974, 74). Guédon lists many clans; the following list is limited to those that I have encountered with some frequency in Northway and Tetlin. The Crow side contains the following clans: Naltsiin, Nisüü, Dik’aayu, and Ałts’ą’ Dineey. The Wolf or Seagull side contains the clans Ts’ikaayuh, Dzihyu, Chichelyu, and the Ch’ąą iin. The Chishyu clan is considered to be ‘between the sides’, which means that members of this clan can marry an individual from either side. The system can be schematized as shown in figure 4.1. A brief history of the clans can be found in David (2017, 180–85). Clan membership remains enormously important for two reasons. The first is that clans are matrilineal and exogamous. Clan membership thus determines whom an individual may marry. Upper Tanana elders are always

46

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS Figure 4.1. The Upper Tanana clan system Crow

Wolf or Seagull

Naltsiin Ts’ikaayuh Nisüü Dzihyu Dik’aayu Chichelyu Ałts’ą’ Dineey Ch’ąą iin Chishyu

concerned that young people do not know “who they’re related to,” by which they mean “who belongs to the same side” and hence is not a potential spouse. (One example is the text Hudziit hahheeyh ‘You should teach them’ by the late Mrs. Darlene Northway, published in Sam, Demit-Barnes, and Northway (2021, 217–34).) This is reflected in the language, which distinguishes two words that could be translated as ‘relative’. Udelkan designates a relative on the mother’s side who, because of matrilineal clan membership, is also a member of one’s own side—that is, an individual one may not marry. (This is a nominalized verb that inflects for subject, so ‘my relative’ would be udagnkan.) The obligatorily possessed noun -ełegn, on the other hand, designates a relative on the father’s side, who is outside one’s side and thus an individual whom one may marry. The second reason clan membership is important has to do with the traditional potlatch. When a person or a group prepares for a potlatch, all members on their side are expected to provide support, financial or otherwise. During the potlatch, gifts are given exclusively to the members of the opposite side. Thus, maternal and paternal relatives have very different roles during a potlatch. (See Guédon [1974] or Simeone [1995] for more information on the traditional potlatch in the Upper Tanana area.) The clan system is reflected in the kinship terminology, with terms used in the female line different than those used in the male line, and different terms used for parallel cousins than for cross-cousins.¹ Terms for affinal relatives are given in table 4.1.

LEXICAL SEMANTICS English

Upper Tanana

(great-)grandmother (great-)grandfather

-tsǫǫ -tsay

mother father mother’s sister mother’s brother father’s sister

-nąą -ta’ -aakay -ee’eh -tsǫǫ

father’s brother

-taay

older sister younger sister

-aadeh -dia’ -ǫǫnüü (N) -ǫǫndaa (T) -chil -yaats’e’ -shyüüh -tthe’eh -shye’ -chaay -hüü -chaay

older brother younger brother daughter (woman speaking) son (woman speaking) daughter (man speaking) son (man speaking) child of woman’s brother child of man’s sister (great-)grandchild (woman speaking) (great-)grandchild (man speaking)

Comments also: father-in-law, father’s sister’s husband

also: grandmother, mother-in-law also: mother’s sister’s husband also: parallel cousins and spouses of one’s siblings also: woman’s sister’s children also: man’s brother’s children also: woman’s grandchild also: child of woman’s brother

-tthuy

Table 4.1. Consanguineal relatives English mother-in-law father-in-law wife husband wife’s sister husband’s brother

Upper Tanana -tsǫǫ -tsay -’aat -kąy’ -tsǫǫ -tsay

47

Comments also: grandmother, father’s sister also: grandfather

also: grandmother, mother-in-law also: grandfather, father-in-law

Table 4.2. Affinal relatives

48

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

4.1.2. Rarity of general-kind terms One striking aspect of lexicalization in Upper Tanana is the rarity of stems expressing general-kind terms, which extends across the (nominal) lexicon. As the lists of kinship terms in tables 4.1 and 4.2 show, there are no hyperonyms for concepts such as ‘parents’, ‘grandparents’, or ‘siblings’. These concepts are instead expressed by asyndetic noun coordination of the constituent units of these concepts ([61]; see sec. 20.1.1.2 for discussion of the structure of this coordination strategy). (61) a. … ishyiit dänh ch’a ‹stsǫǫ iin stsąy iin there at FOC 1SG:grandmother PL 1SG:grandfather PL udak-’ąą›. (N) 1SG:find.SG.O:PFV ‘… and at that place I found my grandparents.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:090 b. Łeecheeg eh dzeltth’ih danh, shta’ iin shnąą iin Łeecheeg at 1PL:PL:stay:IPV at 1SG:father PL 1SG:mother PL huts’ą’ tseneek. (T) 3PL:to 1PL:move.nomadically:INC:IPV:CUST ‘We were staying at Łeecheeg, with my parents we moved there.’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:002 c. Ts’įįtsuul dą’ Nahk’ade dą’ ch’ale ts’eneeshyaan 1PL:be.small:IPV when:PST fish.trap at FOC 1PL:grow:PFV:NOM shaadeh iin shoondah iin shchil iin 1SG:older.sister PL 1SG:older.brother PL 1SG:younger.brother PL shdia’ iin eł shnąą shta’ eł. (T) 1SG:younger.sister PL and 1SG:mother 1SG:father and ‘When we were little, we grew up in ‘fish trap’ (Last Tetlin) with my older sisters, my older brothers, my younger brothers, my younger sisters, and my parents.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:001 The same is true of other semantic domains, as close examination of Kari (1997) reveals. The only domains among human-made items where a generalkind term is lexicalized as a stem are CLOTHING (with ch’ił ‘clothes’) and SHELTER (with shyah ‘house, dwelling’). Kari (1997) contains forty-eight lexical items in the semantic domain TOOLS, but none that could be glossed as ‘tool’. Kari also lists over a hundred words for hunting gear, both traditional and modern (game fences, snares, nets, traps, different kinds of arrows and spears,

LEXICAL SEMANTICS

49

and guns), but no general term such as ‘hunting gear’ or ‘weapon’. (An exception is the word k’a’ ‘arrow, gun’, which can be used for any type of gun, but not for any type of arrow.) When it comes to words for the natural world, the situation is similar. There is no stem that translates to English ‘tree’, although there are of course numerous words for individual species of tree. The nominalized verb nishyee can be used to express the concept of ‘vegetation’, and the stem ts’äł is used with the meaning of ‘brush’. Łuugn ‘fish’ can be used for any kind of fish. Within the domain of BIRDS there are two hyperonyms. Dits’än ‘ducks’ includes dabbling and diving ducks but not other waterbirds such as swans, cormorants, or shorebirds. According to Kari (1997), tsaht’udn ‘bird’ may be used for any type of bird, but I have been told that it only includes ‘songbirds’ and cannot be used to include ducks; predatory birds such as hawks, eagles, or owls; or other larger birds such as ravens, cranes, or herons. (In a conversation with Roy and Avis Sam, they suggested that anything up to the size of a robin or camprobber would be tsaht’udn, but not larger birds.) In the domain of MAMMALS there is again no clear instance of hyperonymy. The stem nuun comes closest to meaning ‘mammal’ or ‘fur-bearing animal’. According to the Sams, nuun (or nuun gaay, ‘small animal’) includes mice, rabbits, foxes, lynx, weasels, mink, and martens, but not squirrels. (I did not ask about beavers, muskrats, or wolverines on this occasion.) Moose and caribou are not included in this category, and there is no word comparable to the English ‘ungulates’. (On the flipside, the domains of MOOSE and CARIBOU are quite well elaborated, with several terms eachn depending on the age and sex of the animal.) The same rarity of general-kind terms seems to exist in Dena’ina, as perusal of the Dena’ina Topical Dictionary (Kari 2007) shows. Not too much should be read into this—certainly it should not be used to frame neoWhorfian arguments, as the noun formation strategies described in volume 1, chapter 13 can fill these lexical gaps. Still, the rarity of general-kind terms in Upper Tanana is a striking feature of its nominal lexicon. 4.2. Verbal systems In addition to the classificatory verb system described in section 3.1, many verbs in Upper Tanana are specified for number of their internal argument. I also describe systematic extensions of motion verbs into certain semantic domains as well as lexicalization patterns in the expression of emotions and mental states.

50

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

4.2.1. Lexical number specification Many verb themes in Upper Tanana are specified for number of their internal argument. Number marking is part of the classificatory verb stem system discussed in chapter 3; these verb stems classify their internal argument by shape and number. This type of number marking is obligatory. Many other verb themes are marked for number of the internal argument. A fairly exhaustive inventory of these themes is given in (62). Note that sometimes the only difference between the singular and the plural theme is the stem (62a–d, i), while in (62e–g, j–n), the plural and singular verb themes differ in several respects. (62) also demonstrates that number specification is more common in intransitive rather than transitive verb themes. (62) Singular and plural verb themes English Singular theme a. itr. ‘go’ Ø+haayh b. itr. ‘fly’ n+Ø+t’ah c. itr. ‘swim’ Ø+mbeeyh d. itr. ‘go hunting’ na+xa#ch’+d+L+tįįk e. itr. ‘run’ L+tthiit f. itr. ‘speak’ hu+n+Ø+heeyh g. itr. ‘sit’ Ø+dah h. itr. ‘stand’ na#Ø+thät i. itr. ‘sleep’ Ø+tįį j. itr. ‘die’ H+tįį k. tr. ‘make O’ O+H+tsayh l. tr. ‘kill O’ O+dh+H+xeh m. tr. ‘eat O’ na#O+Ø+’aał n. tr. ‘find O’ O+uu+d+H+’ąą

Plural theme Ø+deeł n+Ø+deeł Ø+’eeł na+xa#ch’+d+L+shyeek gąą’#L+shyeeyh ttha#d+L+xoh d+L+tth’ih na#Ø+deeh Ø+tiat Ø+łaak O+Ø+xąą O+Ø+xąą O+L+deeł O+uu+d+Ø+dlah

This type of number marking is obligatory; if the (intransitive) subject or (transitive) object referent is plural, then the plural verb theme must be used (63, 64). (63) a. Ch’aldzeeg shyiit nts’ą’ tah teeshyah. (T) ch’aldzeeg shyiit nts’ą’ tah tee-shyah moon in to among 3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV ‘He went up into the moon.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:070

LEXICAL SEMANTICS

51

b. Negn’ tah teedeeł… (T) negn’ tah tee-deeł upland:ALL among 3PL.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV ‘They went in the upland direction…’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:014 (64) a. “Jah chih nuhshyah ts’ehuhtsiin,” nih. (T) jah chih nuh-shyah ts’e-huh-tsiin here too 2PL.PSR-house 1PL.S-AR.O:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV:NOM nih say:IPV ‘“Here, we built your house,” they said.’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:015 b. … niimbaal shyah hehxaan… (T) niimbaal shyah heh-xaan shelter house 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-make.PL.O:IPV:NOM ‘… they made shelters…’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:011 There are some exceptions to this generalization. The verb theme ho+n+Ø+heeyh ‘speak’ can be used both in the singular (65a) and in the plural (65b). The plural theme ttha#d+L+xoh, however, cannot be used with a singular subject. The available data on the two themes suggests the possibility that ho+n+Ø+heeyh with a plural subject can be used to describe multiple individual speaking events while ttha#d+L+xoh is used in a collective sense, but a more detailed analysis is required to confirm this. (65) a. “… noodlee k’eh nuhts’ą’ huhheek k’a shdahtth’agn,” nee’ehnih. (T) noodlee k’eh nuh-ts’ą’ huh-heek white.person like 2PL.P-to QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-speak:IPV:CUST k’a sh-dah-tth’agn NEG 1SG.O-QUAL:NEG.PFV:2PL.S:Ø-listen:IPV:NEG nee-eh-nih 1PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“… when I spoke to you PL in English, you PL never listened,” he told us.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2802:020

52

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. … neehehtsüh neek’eh ts’ehǫǫheey tah. (T) nee-heh-tsüh nee-k’eh 1PL.O-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-whip:IPV 1PL.P-like ts’-hǫǫ-heey tah 1PL.S-QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-speak:IPV:NOM when ‘… they spanked us when we spoke our language.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2802:023 c. Hǫǫ ch’ale tthatdalxoo xah ch’ale ishyiit ts’anh noo’ hǫǫ. (T) hǫǫ’ ch’ale ttha-tdal-xoo xah thus FOC voice-INC:QUAL:Ø.IPV:2PL.S:L-PL.speak:FUT:NOM for ch’ale ishyiit ts’anh noo’ hǫǫ’ FOC there from ahead thus ‘This is how you PL have to speak from now onwards.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2802:021

In (66) it is likely that the mismatch between plural ts’iikeey iin ‘children’ and singular k’a łootaahaal ‘s/he may not walk’ is due to the fact that while this is a statement about children in general, the injunction is against individual children walking close to the place where potlatch gifts are laid out, rather than against children walking around as a group. (66) Ts’iikeey iin k’a hii’aaxah łootaahaal, įįjih, henih. (T) ts’iikeey iin k’a hii-aaxah łoo-taa-haal children PL NEG 3PL.S>3PL.P-close PERMB-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.go:FUT:NEG įįjih he-nih forbidden 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘Children may not walk close to it, that is įįjih, they say.’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:011 In the case of (67) the difference lies less in the number of objects being eaten than in the type of object. When eating something like meat, one consumes (prototypically at least) one piece of meat per eating event, whereas eating berries typically involves eating many berries (see also sec. 2.2.3 for more discussion). Thus different types of objects select different verbs of eating. (67) a. … dits’än na’ih’iił. (N) dits’änh na-ih-’iił duck IT-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-eat.SG.O:IPV:CUST ‘… I would eat the duck.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:141

LEXICAL SEMANTICS

53

b. Shoh jign neldeeł. (N) shoh jign nel-deeł bear berry 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-eat.PL.O:IPV ‘The bear is eating berries.’ UTOLAF14Nov2203:005 As a result, the verb theme O+L+deeł can acquire a habitual meaning when the object is singular. (68a) is a prohibition against eating a specific human being, while (68b) is a general injunction against human flesh. (68) a. Dii sǫ’ sǫ’ jah sǫ’ na’ųų’aal! dii sǫ’ sǫ’ jah sǫ’ na-ųų-’aal this PROH PROH here PROH IT-OPT:2SG.S:Ø-eat.SG.O:OPT ‘From now on do not eat this!’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:063 b. “Dineey iin sǫ’ aldeel,” yehnih. dineey iin sǫ’ al-deel people PL PROH OPT:2PL.S:L-eat.PL.O:OPT y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.O-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“Don’t you guys eat people,” he said to them.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:064 4.2.2. Semantic extension of motion verbs Broadwell (2006, chap. 19) shows that in Choctaw, verbs encoding many types of nonmotion events, including verbs of giving, perception, speech and thought, and some emotions, cooccur with directional particles typical of motion verbs. This suggests that these events are conceptualized by Choctaw speakers as motion events. Similar tendencies exist in Upper Tanana, although this manifests in a different fashion. Rather than cooccurring with directional particles, many nonmotion events are lexicalized as motion verbs and thus conceptualized as motion. In the following section I merely scratch the surface of this; a more detailed analysis is left for another time. 4.2.2.1. Giving ‘Giving’ is lexicalized by a derivation of the primary classification motion themes described in section 3.1; thus all ‘giving’ themes are inherently motion themes. The derivation consists of the bound postposition P+tl’a- ‘handing to P’, which introduces a recipient and triggers (ø, aa) conjugation markers. The patient is coded as direct object and determines which classificatory verb stem is used (69).

54

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(69) a. Shtl’a’įhteey, tsǫǫ! (T) sh-tl’a-įh-teey tsǫǫ 1SG.P-handing-Ø.IPV:2SG.S:H-handle.AO:IPV:IMP grandma ‘Give [the baby] to me, grandma!’ UTOLVDN13May2801:064 b. Ay eł tuuthał hutl’a’įįkąą. (T) ay eł tuuthał hu-tl’a-įį-kąą and soup 3PL.P-handing-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-handle.OOC:PFV ‘And he gave them soup.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:023 c. Dzänh diche’ itl’a’įįtąą. (N) dzänh d-che’ muskrat REFL.PSR-tail i-tl’a-įį-tąą 3SG.S>3SG.P-handing-AA.PFV:Ø-handle.LRO:PFV ‘Muskrat gave [Beaver] his own tail.’ UTCBAF14Jun0301:006 4.2.2.2. Perception Only the visual and auditory domains of perception are lexically rich in Upper Tanana. The most basic themes in these domains are the operative verb theme O+n+H+’įh ‘see O, look at O’ and the descriptive (neuter) O+d+i+Ø+tth’ek/tth’ak ‘hear O, understand O, listen to O’—thus seeing is an activity, while hearing is a state (see chap. 6 for aspectual properties of the verb theme categories). There are, however, numerous other verb themes in both domains that show a different conceptualization. A nonexhaustive list of verb themes related to visual perception is given in (70). For each verb theme, its theme category is given. (70) Verb themes of seeing Upper Tanana a. O+n+H+’įh b. ha#O+d+L+’įh c. P+kah ## ha#ch’+d+L+’įh d. na#n+h+tah e. ti+tthi#Ø+tthayh f. da+tthi#Ø+tthayh g. ha+tthi#Ø+tthayh h. P+i+naag#n+D+shyah

English ‘see O’ ‘spot O’ ‘look around for P’ ‘look around (for P), search (for P)’ ‘peek out’ ‘peek in’ ‘peek up & out’ ‘stare at P’

VTC op. op. op. mot. mot. mot. mot. mot.

LEXICAL SEMANTICS

55

The operative verb themes (70a–c) are formed using the stem ’įh and describe situations where the experiencer is not moving their body in order to see. The other themes all involve movement in one way or another. While the translations of (70c, d) are similar, they describe different types of events as demonstrated in (71). (71a) describes the speaker riding in a truck scanning the roadside for black bear without knowing whether one is present or not. The subject in (71b) walks around trying to find the source of the noise he perceives, which must be present. (71) a. Dahdǫǫ shoh dat-sąy kah hach’edagn’įį’. (N) dah-dǫǫ shoh dat-sąy kah PROX-up:ABL bear 3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:D-be.black:IPV for ha-ch’-dagn-’įį out-INDF-QUAL:AA.PFV:1SG.S:L-look:PFV ‘From uphill I was looking around for black bears.’ UTOLAF09Aug12:011 b. Ay eł Yamaagn Teeshyaay shyuugn nanehtah ndee nts’ą’ hǫǫnąy. (T) ay eł Yamaagn Teeshyaay shyuugn na-neh-tah and Yamaagn Teeshyaay down:AR IT-3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-look.for:PFV ndee nts’ą’ hǫǫ-nay where at AR.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-be.sound:IPV:NOM ‘And Yamaagn Teeshyaay looked around to see where the sound was coming from.’ UTOLAF08Apr2804:004 The other verb themes in (70) are derived motion themes. The ones in (70e–g) all have the etymology of ‘moving one’s head’, as the analysis in (72) shows. It must be stressed that this analysis could not be confirmed with speakers, who consistently translate these verb themes as ‘peek’. (72) also illustrates that the underlying theme tthi#Ø+tthayh ‘peek’ may combine with several directional prefix strings (see vol. 1, chap. 35 for a discussion of prefix strings). (72) a. Ay ch’ale ch’itay taathüh ts’anh titthinįįtthay. (T) ch’itay taathüh ts’anh ay ch’ale and.then old.man tent from ti-tthi-nįį-tthay out-head-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-move.pointed.O:PFV:NOM ‘And then an old man peeked out of the tent.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:191

56

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. Nah’ǫǫ datthiinįįtthayh tl’aan… (N) nah-’ǫǫ da-tthii-nįį-tthayh tl’aan MED-out:ABL in-head-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-move.pointed.O:PFV and ‘He peeked in from outside and…’ UTOLAF15May0501:155 c. Ts’at t’aat hatthi’etthay dą’ dineh nįh’įh. (T) ts’at t’aat ha-tthi-e-tthay blanket under up/out-head-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-move.pointed.O:IPV:NOM dą’ dineh nįh-’įh when:PST man 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-see:IPV ‘When she peeked out from under the blanket, she saw the man.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:221

The last verb theme in this list is derived from a classificatory motion theme and can be analyzed as moving one’s eyes (represented by an incorporate) as a plural object (73a). The closely related verb theme naak#u+d+Ø+shyah has the (metaphorical) meaning ‘be circumspect, wise, smart’ (73b); see Brucks and Lovick (2018, 108) for some discussion of the links between seeing and wisdom in Upper Tanana culture. (Note also that the verb theme ha+tthi#Ø+’ah ‘peek’ in (73a) differs from the one discussed earlier; this is a derivation of the neuter extension theme Ø+’ah ‘linear object extends’. Similar themes are attested more commonly in the domain of hearing, as discussed below.) (73) a. Ts’ät t’aat xa::’ ts’ät t’aat its’ą̈ ’ hatthi’įh’ah tl’aan yenaagnetshyah. (N) ts’ät t’aat xa’ ts’ät t’aat i-ts’ą̈ ’ blanket under carefully blanket under 3SG.S>3SG.P-to ha-tthi-įh-’ah tl’aan up/out-head-AA.PFV:H-extend.LIN.O:PFV and.then y-i-naag-net-shyah 3SG.S>3SG.P-PP-eye-QUAL:DH.PFV:D-handle.PL.O:PFV ‘Under the blanket, really carefully she peeks out from under the blanket and then she stared at him.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2713:028 b. Ts’exeh naak-’udįįshyah. (T) ts’exeh naak-u-dįį-shyah woman eye-3SG.S:CON-QUAL:AA.PFV:Ø-move.PL.O:PFV ‘The woman was/became wise.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:007 Hearing is conceptualized differently from seeing, as the list of verb themes in (74) demonstrates. Most of these verb themes are neuter and thus inherently

LEXICAL SEMANTICS

57

stative, while most seeing verb themes are active. (74) a. b. c. d.

Verb themes of seeing O+d+i+Ø+tth’ek/tth’ak dzii#d+D+dah ti+dzii#Ø+deeł (P+s’ą̈ ’)##dzii#Ø+’ah

‘hear O’ ‘SG sits listening’ ‘PL go outside to listen’ ‘extend one’s hearing, listen (to P)’

desc. desc. mot. ext.

There are small semantic differences between the themes. The verb theme in (74a) describes nonintentional perception of a sound (75a); that in (74b) describes intentional listening to someone’s speech (75b). (A similar verb theme is attested with the incorporate naag- ‘eye’- to describe intentional watching.) (75) a. Hanoo nts’ą̈ ’ ts’almbeet iin diitth’ek… (N) ha-noo nts’ą̈ ’ ts’almbeet iin dii-tth’ek NTRL-ahead to arctic.loon PL 3SG.S:QUAL:QUAL:Ø.PFV:Ø-hear:IPV ‘Up ahead he heard arctic loons…’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:023 b. Hǫǫ’ shdahnih, nahalndak, dziidishdah! (T) hǫǫ’ sh-dah-nih thus 1SG.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-say:IPV na-hal-ndak CONT-QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:2PL.S:L-tell.story:IPV dzii-dish-dah hearing-QUAL:Ø.PFV:1SG.S:D-SG.sit:IPV ‘Say PL it to me, tell PL me the story, I sit here listening!’ UTOLVDN13May2801:129 The other two verb themes describe listening for (rather than to) something, that is, situations where the subject is trying to hear something. (76), which contains both verb themes, is taken from a story where a family walks away from their camp to listen for distress calls or shots. (This was a routine check done every night to ensure that neighboring families were safe.) The incorporate dzii- ‘hearing’ is related to the obligatorily possessed noun -dziit ‘inner ear, hearing’. As the theme in (74d) illustrates, ‘hearing’ is conceptualized as a linear object that can be stretched out into different directions.

58

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(76) … hah’ogn tiidziihtetdak nts’ą’ dziihteh’aak natetxak tah. (T) hah-’ogn ti-na-dzii-htet-dak NTRL-out:AR out-PRMB-hearing-3PL.S:INC:Ø.IPV:D-PL.go:IPV:CUST nts’ą’ dzii-hteh-’aak and hearing-3PL.S:INC:Ø.IPV:H-extend.LIN.O:IPV:CUST na-tet-xak tah IT-INC:Ø.IPV:D-get.dark:IPV:CUST while ‘… they would go listening around away [from camp] and extend their hearing as it was getting dark.’ UTOLAF10Jul0801:005 4.2.3. Lexicalization of emotions and mental states In many languages emotions are conceptualized as being linked to body parts. Pasamonik (2012) finds that in the Dene language Dane-zaa, the heart serves as the seat of many emotions. This is not the case in Upper Tanana. While several emotions are lexicalized using themes with incorporated body parts, the incorporate nii- ‘mind’ seems to be just as common as the incorporate dzii-, dzeey- ‘heart’ (77). Surveying both the corpus and some targeted elicitation sessions only yielded the six verb themes in (77). There seem to be no examples with emotions expressed by collocations with unincorporated body parts. (77) a. b. c. d. e. f.

Emotion verb themes with incorporated body parts P+da+na+dzii#d+L+nayh ‘P is shocked, surprised’ na+dzeey#d+L+nayh ‘be scared’ chi+na+dzeey#d+D+haayh ‘SG is amazed’ nii#d+H+tayh ‘be strong-minded, brave’ ts’a+nii#L+t’eh ‘be mad, mean’ sta+nii#D+thiit ‘be worried, depressed’

mot. mot. mot. neut. neut. neut.

The morphological structure of these words is given in (78). Maybe not surprisingly, the heart is conceptualized as a compact object moving independently in motion themes (78a–c), while the mind is conceptualized as a more static entity in neuter verb themes (78d–f ). (78) a. udaadziidelnayh (N) u-da-na-dzii-del-nayh 3SG.P-up-IT-heart-3SG.S:DH.PFV:L-CO.move.quickly:PFV ‘s/he is shocked, surprised’ (lit. ‘his/her heart moved quickly back up’) UT Notebook #2.5, 15

LEXICAL SEMANTICS

59

b. nadzeeyhdagnnayh na-dzeeyh-dag-nayh IT-heart-QUAL:AA.PFV:1SG.S:L-move.independently:PFV ‘I am scared’ (lit. ‘my heart moved repeatedly’) Kari (1997b) c. chiidziidetdaak (T) chi-na-dzii-det-daak ?-IT-heart-3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV-D:S.move:IPV:CUST ‘she was amazed’ (lit. ‘her heart jumped?’) UTOLVDN13May2801:103 d. niidaktayh (N) nii-dak-tayh mind-QUAL:Ø.PFV:H-be.strong:IPV ‘I am brave, strong-minded’

UT Notebook #2.5, 11

e. ts’aniihelt’eh (T) ts’a-nii-hel-t’eh bad-mind-3PL.S:Ø.PFV:L-be:IPV ‘they were/got mad’ (lit. ‘their minds were in a bad way’) UTCBAF13Nov0501:294 f. staniinishthiit (N) sta-nii-nish-thiit away-mind-N.PFV:1SG.S:D-be.depressed:IPV ‘I’m depressed, worried’ (lit. ‘I am thinking with a distracted mind’) UT Notebook #4, 47 Fear is lexicalized as the descriptive verb theme n+L+jit ‘to be scared’. A few motion themes to do with fear make use of the incorporate thi-, shi- ‘fear’.² In (79a) the subject moves in a fearful way. In isolation the verb form in (79b) is translated as ‘it scared me to death’. In the context of (79b), the bear is the stimulus, but speaker commentary suggests that the singular subject that moves is the fear rather than the bear. (79) a. stathindakshyay (T) sta-thi-ndak-shyay away-fear-N.PFV:1SG.S:H-SG.go:PFV:NOM ‘I, having run away in fear’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:302

60

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. Ishyiit ch’a neetsay shits’ishnihshyah. (T) ishyiit ch’a nee-tsay then FOC 1PL.PSR-grandfather shi-ts’-sh-nih-shyah fright-PEJ-1SG.O-3SG.S:N.PFV:H-SG.go:PFV ‘This is how a bear really frightened me.’ UTOLAF09Jun2201:021

Some mental states such as happiness, dislike, or boredom seem to exist outside the experiencer. The mental state is expressed by the areal subject prefix and the experiencer is coded as the object of the benefactive postposition P+aa, xah ‘for P’ (80). (80) a. shaa hǫǫsǫǫ (N) sh-aa hǫǫ-sǫǫ 1SG.P-BEN AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.good:IPV ‘I am happy, I like it’

UTOLVDN13May2003:058

b. shaa ts’aa’utneet’eh (T) sh-aa ts’aa-hu-tnee-t’eh 1SG.P-BEN bad-AR.S-INC:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-be:IPV ‘I don’t like it, I’m bored’ UT Notebook #2.5, 12 Several verb themes describing undesirable mental states are formed using the pejorative prefix ts’- and a negative stem ([81]; see sec. 16.6.1 for more information on the formation of these themes). (81) Undesirable mental states using pejorative prefix Verb theme Meaning a. ts’#ho+H+dą́ y ‘be lonely’ b. ts’#ho+L+dą́ y ‘grieve, miss’ c. ts’#ho+n+Ø+níígn ‘be stupid, unaware’ d. ts’+hu#d+D+níígn ‘be lazy’ e. ts’#hu+d+Ø+thä́n ‘be depressed’ A few other emotions seem to employ metaphorical transfer. In (82a), distractedness due to grief is conceptualized as the mind (expressed only by the areal subject prefix) having moved away. The n-qualifier here suggests that this might be an errative form. The verb theme in (82b) is related to the noun stem ch’oh ‘quill’; one’s feelings are hurt as if one had been pricked by a quill. (This is, however, not a passive form where the patient is coded as the direct

LEXICAL SEMANTICS

61

object; see also vol. 1, chap. 27.) Arrogance is lexicalized as ‘being big for oneself ’ (82c). (82) a. Neh stootnelnay eh… (N) n-eh sta-hu-tnel-nay 2SG.P-with away-AR.S-INC:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-CO.move.indep:PFV:NOM eh when ‘When you SG are not all the way there…’ (lit.: ‘when [your mind] has moved away with you…’) UTOLVDN14May0508:013 b. agnch’oh (N) agn-ch’oh AA.PFV:1SG.S:L-prick:PFV ‘I am pouting, have hurt feelings’

UT Notebook #2.5, 17

c. idilchaa (N) id-il-chaa REFL.O-Ø.PFV:2SG.S:L-be.big:IPV ‘you SG are arrogant, [think] big of yourself ’ UT Notebook #2.5, p. 2 On the whole, Upper Tanana seems to use a number of different strategies to express emotions and mental states, and no clear seat of emotion in the body can be identified. There is a clear tendency for undesirable mental states and emotions to be derived using the pejorative prefix ts’- (81) or the prefix ts’a(a)‘bad’. It is also striking that the experiencer in quite a few emotions is coded as postpositional object rather than as subject. Finally, I find the inventory of emotions presented here relatively small—particularly since I conducted several elicitation sessions on emotion vocabulary, eliciting the same few expressions over and over again. Texts similarly are not a particularly rich source for this semantic domain. I wonder sometimes whether this reflects a cultural mindset of equanimity. Strong emotions such as rage (83a) or hate (83b) certainly are valued very negatively; in both cases, speakers refused to help me break down the words into their components! (The form in [83a] looks like a possessed noun; the one in [83b] is a verb form that may have the stem ‘linear object extends’.) Overall, this is a topic where more research needs to be done.

62

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(83) a. Shk’eegn t’oot’eey (T) 1SG:rage however ‘I was really mad though.’ b. Sǫ’ hugn dineey iin itsidal’a’. PROH also people PL 2PL:hate:OPT ‘Don’t PL hate people.’

UTOLAF09Jun2902:028

UTCBAF13Nov1203:030

4.3. Summary Lexical systems not discussed elsewhere in this grammar include the kinship system; the rarity of general-kind terms is also striking. Many verb themes exhibit a lexical number distinction. There are many instances of semantic extension of motion verbs into the domains of giving and perception. Lexicalization patterns in the expression of emotions and mental states are also briefly described. Notes 1. A parallel cousin is the descendant of a parent’s same-sex sibling, that is, of the mother’s sister or the father’s brother. A cross-cousin is the descendant of a parent’s opposite-sex sibling, that is, of the mother’s brother or the father’s sister. In the matrilineal clan system of the Upper Tanana an individual’s parallel cousin(s) belongs to their own side, while cross-cousins belong to the opposite side. Consanguineal relatives are related to an individual by having shared ancestry; affinal relatives are related to an individual through marriage. 2. The variation in the initial consonant is highly unusual and cannot be explained.

5 | Tense, aspect, modality, evidentiality In the next few chapters, I engage with the semantics of several categories that are usually typologically included under tense, aspect, and modality. Because of the idiosyncracies of Deneologist terminology (called “confusing” by, for example, Cook [2013, 136]), it is necessary here to clarify how terms are used in this grammar. In defining tense I follow Reichenbach (1947), who views tense as relating three points in time: the time of an event, a reference time, and the speaking time. Tense thus is a deictic category placing events along a time line. My definition of aspect follows Comrie (1976, 3), who states that “aspects are different ways of viewing the internal temporal constituency of a situation.” For the analysis of the rich aspectual system of Upper Tanana, the view of Smith (1991), who approaches aspect as consisting of two separate components, is helpful. Using three parameters (static/active, durative/punctual, and telic/atelic), Smith (1991) identifies five situation types—states, activities, accomplishments, semelfactives, and achievements—each of which has a distinct temporal structure. Viewpoint aspect, on the other hand, has to do with whether the action is ongoing or completed. In the domain of modality, Deneologist terminology is severely misleading. There is a morphological slot “mode” in the Dene verb, but, as I show in chapter 7, two of the categories expressed in this slot have more to do with viewpoint aspect than with modality (see, however, Axelrod [1993] for an opposing view). Mode is used in this sense throughout this grammar (and avoided as much as possible, unless the morphological slot is the topic of discussion), and strictly distinguished from mood, which I define, following Palmer (2001), as a morphological system expressing whether the propositional content of an utterance is asserted or not. In this chapter I briefly describe the expression of tense, aspect, modality,

64

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

and evidentiality in Upper Tanana; detail is provided in chapters 6–9.¹ 5.1. Tense Upper Tanana verbs are not inflected for tense, that is, there is no morphological category that indicates the relative location of events in time. This fact is, however, obscured to some degree both by translation and by terminology. On a terminological note, the label “future” for one of the modes (see sec. 5.3) is of course suggestive of a tense distinction, but as I show in chapter 8, the future is better viewed as part of the modal system. With respect to translation, there is a strong tendency for perfective forms to be translated into English as past tense, while imperfective and neutral forms are translated as either present or past. Yet as I show in section 7.1, the Upper Tanana perfective, neutral, and imperfective are true viewpoint aspects. Deictic temporal distinctions are made instead through the use of adverbials (see vol. 1, chap. 16). Tense is not discussed further in this grammar. 5.2. Aspect Both components of aspect identified by Smith (1991) are highly salient in Upper Tanana grammar. Lexical aspect, or situation type, is expressed through the verb theme category system. The verb theme category determines the choice of conjugation marker as well as the stem aspect of a verb theme; it also influences which aspectual derivations (Kari [1979], see also vol. 1, chap. 35). Lexical aspect is described in chapter 6. Viewpoint aspect, distinguishing imperfective, neutral, and perfective viewpoints, is marked inflectionally by prefixes as well as in the verb stem. (The imperfective and perfective viewpoints are referred to as “modes” in Deneologist tradition.) In addition to these formally marked viewpoints, Smith (1991) identifies a neutral viewpoint in Navajo, which is neither perfective nor imperfective. I adapt this stance to Upper Tanana. In addition to viewpoint aspect and lexical aspect, Upper Tanana makes further aspectual distinctions known in the literature as superaspect (Kari 1979, 30) and subsituation aspect (usage of this term follows Rice [2000b, 160]). These distinctions also are described in chapter 7. 5.3. Modality Modality is indicated both by inflection and particles. Modal inflection consists of the future and optative. Both future and optative are generally considered “modes”, which in the view of Axelrod (1993, 33) contrasts realis

TENSE, ASPECT, MODALITY, EVIDENTIALITY

65

Mode

Realis

Imperfective

Irrealis

Perfective

Future

Optative

Figure 5.1. Relationship between modes in Koyukon (Axelrod 1993, 33) and irrealis as indicated in figure 5.1.² The semantic difference between the optative and the future is described in chapter 8. Upper Tanana also has a small number of particles with epistemic modal meaning; those are described in chapter 9. 5.4. Evidentiality Following the typological study by Aikhenvald (2004, 3), “[e]videntiality is a linguistic category whose primary meaning is source of information.” Unlike other Dene languages (see, for example, deLancey [1990] for Hare, de Reuse [2003] for Western Apache, and Holton and Lovick [2008] for Dena’ina), Upper Tanana has no grammatical evidential system. There are two particles marking certainty of information (see chap. 9) but, as Aikhenvald (2004) points out, certainty of knowledge is distinct from evidentiality. 5.5. Summary Upper Tanana is an aspect-prominent language, with situation type expressed as part of the verb theme category system and viewpoint aspect expressed inflectionally. Modality is expressed by inflection as well as by modal particles. Tense and evidentiality are not expressed morphologically and are not further discussed in this grammar. Notes 1. I am aware that there is some discussion of whether or not evidentiality is a type of modality (see e.g., Palmer [2001, 8, 35–52] and Aikhenvald [2004, 7] for different stances), but since evidentiality is not a grammatical category of Upper Tanana, this is a moot point for current purposes. 2. The fifth member of the “modes” in Upper Tanana is the negativeperfective prefix ì-; its functions are described in chap. 16.

6 | Lexical aspect: verb theme categories Lexical aspect—also known as situation type or aktionsart¹—is defined here following Kortmann (1991, 19) as a lexical nondeictic category concerned with situation-internal time, where the temporal flair of the situation is inherent in the meaning of the verb. In Dene languages, lexical aspect manifests itself as membership in one of the verb theme categories (terminology follows Kari [1979]; Smith [1991] uses the term “verb lexeme category” instead). Verb theme categories in Dene languages can be thought of as lexical classes identified by a number of morphological characteristics. They share aspectual stem variation patterns and conjugation prefixes. They also have characteristic derivational potential. The formal properties of the ten verb theme categories identified by Kari (1979) are described in volume 1, chapter 25 and summarized in table 6.1. The penultimate column indicates the situation type according to the Vendler system as expanded by Smith (1991) (a proposal also made by Rice [2000b, 256]); the rationale for this analysis is given within this chapter. Although verb theme categories can be characterized morphologically, Smith (1991), Axelrod (1993), Bortolin (1998), and Rice (2000b), working on a variety of Northern Dene languages, argue that the verb theme category system is a semantic system. Authors differ in their analyses as to where the situation type distinction is located, or grammaticized, in the verbal system. Axelrod (1993), working on Koyukon, which exhibits relatively transparent stem suffixation, suggest its locus is in the stem aspectual system. Authors working on languages such as Slave (Rice 2000b) or Dëne Sųłiné (Bortolin 1998), where stem suffixation is much more opaque, suggest that situation type is indicated by a verb theme’s conjugation marker; both Smith (1991) and Axelrod (1993) explicitly disagree with this analysis. Wilhelm (2007, chap. 3), possibly the most sophisticated analysis of any Dene aspectual system,

neuter

active

LEXICAL ASPECT

67

VTC

conj.

aspect

sit. type

example

mot mot.

n, n aa, n

MOM PRMB

achievement activity

mot.

?, dh

REV

accomplishment

suc. suc.

ø, aa ø, dh/i

DUR SEM

activity semelfactive

op. op. op. op. op.

ø, aa ø, aa ø, ? ø, aa ø, ?

DUR REV REP₁ REP₂ ONOM

activity accomplishment activity activity ?

op.

ø, ?

PERS

?

conv. conv. conv. conv.

ø, dh ø, dh ø, dh ø, dh

CONC REV REP₂ CONT

accomplishment accomplishment accomplishment ?

Ø+haayh ‘SG arrive’ łoo#(t)+Ø+haał ‘SG walk around’ sts’ake#n+Ø+t’aa ‘SG fly in circle’ O+Ø+ttheeł ‘chop O’ O+Ø+ttheeł ‘chop O once’ D+nah ‘work’ O+hu+d+L+dįį ‘learn O’ D+shyiiyh ‘breathe’ ch’+d+L+dzüh ‘dance’ ch’uu#d+L+tl’ia ‘whistle’ dzi#L+shyeeh ‘PL mourn’ O+dh+H+xeh ‘kill SG O’ n+Ø+shyeeh ‘grow’ na#n+Ø+kąą’ ‘sew’ O+h+k’aayh ‘filet O’

ext stat. pos. clas. dim. desc.

n, aa dh, aa dh, aa dh, aa ø/aa/i, aa ø/aa/i, aa

NEUT NEUT NEUT NEUT NEUT NEUT

state state state state state state

Ø+’ah ‘it extends’ hu+n+Ø+k’ät ‘be cold’ Ø+dah ‘SG sit’ Ø+’ąą ‘classify CO’ Ø+chaa ‘be big’ Ø+łįį ‘be’

Table 6.1. Verb theme categories and situation type

68

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

disagrees with Bortolin’s analysis of Dëne Sųłiné and argues that due to the fact that telicity is not grammaticized in that language, Dëne Sųłiné cannot be said to have an overt situation type system. In this chapter I argue that the verb theme category system of Upper Tanana does reflect a situation type system. Although stem suffixation patterns are somewhat obscure in Upper Tanana (see vol. 1, chap. 26), it is in many instances possible to identify the stem aspect of any given theme. In my analysis I draw on evidence from both conjugation marker and stem aspect, treating both as indicators of verb theme category, and hence situation type or lexical aspect.² 6.1. Situation types: definitions and tests States are stable situations with no internal change throughout the situation time, where neither beginning nor end point of the state are located within the situation time. Smith (1991, 37) notes the following entailment pattern associated with states: “When a state holds for an interval it does so at the smallest sub-interval of that interval.” She also notes the semantic incompatibility of states with notions of agency, which manifests syntactically as co-occurrence restrictions with subject-oriented manner adverbials, the inability to occur as imperatives, and the inability to occur as complements of verbs such as English force, persuade (Smith 1991, 42–43). This latter diagnostic is not helpful for Upper Tanana, since such verbs are not attested. Subject-oriented manner adverbials, such as English deliberately, willingly, voluntarily, are also not attested in Upper Tanana; the only adverb falling into this category is shyąą t’eey ‘for nothing, for no reason, for the heck of it’.³ Static situations are generally compatible with durative adverbs. To distinguish the remaining situation types, tests to determine durativity and telicity are required. Achievements are punctual and telic; accomplishments are durative and telic; activities are durative and atelic; and semelfactives are punctual and atelic. To determine whether a verb theme is punctual or durative, I test its compatibility with a durative adverb such as hǫǫt’eey ‘still’, nithoo t’eey ‘for a long time’, or tädn/dziin uudih ‘all night/day long’. If the combination results in an ‘again and again’ interpretation, or the interpretation ‘after a long time’ or ‘after an entire night/day’, or if it is rejected by speakers as nonsensical, then I view the verb theme as punctual. If the combination of a verb theme with a durative adverb yields a sustained interpretation, I view the verb theme as durative. An additional indicator of durativity in Upper Tanana is compatibility with the imperfective viewpoint. Since the imperfective requires the topic

LEXICAL ASPECT

69

time to be within the situation time, it follows that the situation time be an interval—hence, the imperfective is mostly restricted to durative situations (see Smith [1991, 389]; Wilhelm [2007, 36–37]; and chap. 7 here). The notion of telicity in Dene languages is problematic. Smith (1991, 412) observes, for example, that telicity is not overtly grammaticized in Navajo and, crucially, that the contrast between telic and atelic situations cannot easily be tested in that language, due to the absence of formal notions such as completion and countability. In later work, however, she does identify both telic and atelic verb bases in Navajo (Smith 1996). Wilhelm (2007), working on Dëne Sųłiné, discusses at length the problems with telicity tests in Dene languages (see in particular chaps. 2 and 3) and concludes that telicity is not marked at all in Dëne Sųłiné. A different view is taken by Midgette (1996), who argues that in Navajo the motion verb theme category, which requires the momentaneous aspect in primary derivations, is inherently telic. She observes that motion themes in their primary derivation always entail a destination, and that derivational strings in the momentaneous aspect (the primary aspect of the motion verb theme category) “mark either a destination for the motion … or a path implying a motion or end point” (Midgette [1996, 45]; emphasis in original). While I agree with Smith (1991, 1996) and Wilhelm (2007) about the difficulties associated with applying telicity tests, I observe, similar to what has been noted by Midgette (1996), that verb themes in the momentaneous have a natural completion point, that is, are telic, and that entailments about whether this completion point was reached can be used as evidence for telicity. Axelrod (1993, 111), in her detailed study of aspect in Koyukon, comments that while semantic tests for aspect and approaches based on prototypes are often considered mutually exclusive, it is necessary to draw upon both to understand the aspectual system in this language. Smith (1991, 20), who also applies semantic tests, similarly argues that the situation type system is “organized around central members.” I follow Axelrod’s and Smith’s leads in acknowledging that there are prototypical members of each verb theme category; semantic tests are applied to these verb themes only, showing that, at least with respect to those central members, the verb theme category system aligns neatly with the situation type system. More marginal members of verb theme categories may or may not exhibit different behavior in these tests, as has been observed by Wilhelm (2007, 72) for Dëne Sųłiné. I leave a detailed analysis of these for another time.⁴

70

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

6.2. Lexical aspects and verb theme categories Dene languages distinguish active and neuter verb themes. Neuter verb themes require the neuter stem aspect; several neuter verb theme categories can be identified based on the conjugation marker in the imperfective viewpoint. I suggest here that neuter verb themes are semantically stative. Active verb themes have one of several different stem aspects. Stem aspect and conjugation marker are the diagnostics for membership in one of the active verb theme categories. Active verb themes are nonstative (dynamic). In the following sections the semantic properties of the lexical aspects in Upper Tanana are described. Their formal properties, in particular the different stem suffixation formulae associated with stem aspects, are described in volume 1, chapter 26. 6.2.1. Neuter verb theme categories Neuter verb themes are characterized by perfective prefix morphology in all imperfective forms as well as by neuter stem aspect. Kari (1979) identifies six neuter verb theme categories based on conjugation pattern and derivational potential (see also vol. 1, chap. 25). Axelrod (1993) identifies three neuter verb theme categories, using conjugation pattern as the sole diagnostic. All neuter verb theme categories require the neuter stem aspect in their primary derivation (84). Based on the conjugation marker in the imperfective viewpoint, we can distinguish extension themes (with n- in the imperfective, [84a]); classificatory, positional, and stative themes (with dh- in the imperfective, [84b–d]); and dimensional and descriptive themes (with Ø- or aa- in the imperfective, [84e–f ]). Throughout this chapter, stem aspect is indicated between the stem’s lexical gloss and its viewpoint aspect gloss; verb theme category is indicated as superscript in the text line. (84) a. Jah tah t’eey utsįį’ hunįį’ahᵉˣᵗ! (T) tah t’eey u-tsįį’ jah here among ADVZR 3SG.PSR-scent hu-nįį-’ah AR.S-N.PFV:Ø-LIN.extends:NEUT:IPV ‘Her scent extends up to here!’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:244

LEXICAL ASPECT

71

b. Ishyiit tah dahdzäł choh da’eh’ąąᶜˡᵃˢ stsay. (N) ishyiit tah dahdzäł choh da-eh-’ąą then among fish.rack big up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-keep.CO:NEUT:IPV s-tsay 1SG.PSR-grandfather ‘At that time, my grandfather had a big fish rack.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:102 c. Ts’exeh eh eedahᵖºˢ… (N) ts’exeh eh eeday woman with 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.stay:NEUT:IPV ‘He was staying with a woman.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:002 d. ‹Łahtthagn nts’ą’› nahetk’ąąˢᵗᵃᵗ. (T) łahtthagn nts’ą’ na-het-k’ąą all IT-3PL.S:DH.PFV:D-burn:NEUT:IPV ‘Everything was burning.’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:015 e. Eh shta’ ntsuulᵈⁱᵐ hǫǫ’t’eey… (N) eh sh-ta’ n-tsuul hǫǫ’t’eey and 1SG.PSR-father 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.small:NEUT:IPV still ‘And my father was still small…’ UTOLVDN14Apr2601:018 f. Nagnjitᵈᵉˢᶜ! (N) nagn-jit QUAL:Ø.PFV:1SG.S:L-be.scared:NEUT:IPV ‘I was scared!’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:064 Note that neuter verb themes are compatible with durative adverbials (84c, e). Extension themes require the n-conjugation marker in the imperfective. As noted by Kari (1979, 106), extension themes “refer to the arrangement of liner objects and of geographic features, to weather, and to illumination.” They consequently tend to occur with a third-person singular subject, and requests formed from an extension theme are not attested in the data. The classificatory, position, and stative verb theme categories require the dh-conjugation marker in the imperfective. Classificatory verb themes are formed using one of the classificatory verb stems described in chapter 3. In their basic derivation they describe the position of an entity, but they commonly occur in a transitive derivation where an agent keeps the entity in a certain position. Positional themes describe the position of (human) entities

72

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(with the exception of the verb theme for ‘SG stand’, which is a descriptive theme in Upper Tanana). Stative verb themes describe temperature as well as certain shapes. Requests can be formed from transitive classificatory as well as from positional verb themes (85). (85) a. “Huugn ch’a eeł dhahdlahᶜˡᵃˢ,” nih. (T) hugh ch’a eeł dhah-dlah nih there FOC trap DH.PFV:2PL.S:Ø-keep.PL.O:IPV say:IPV ‘“Have PL traps out there,” he said.’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:064 b. Ay ay k’it tah dadhįįdahᵖºˢ. (N) ay ay k’it tah da-dhįį-dah 3SG 3SG on among up-DH.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-SG.sit:IPV ‘That, sit SG on that [chair].’ UTOLAFMay0807:069 c. Ay tl’aan, “Shyah daanatdeełᵐºᵗ, dhahtiatᵖºˢ!” (N) ay tl’aan shyah da-na-nat-deeł and then house in-IT-N.IPV:2PL.S:D-PL.go:IPV dhah-tiat DH.PFV:2PL.S:Ø-PL.sleep:IPV ‘And then, “Go PL back home and sleep PL!” UTCBVDN14Jul2105:046 Typologically this is not surprising. Smith (1991, 39) notes that verb constellations of position and location in many languages differ from other stative verbs; in Upper Tanana this clearly includes the ability to occur in requests. They could possibly be interpreted as requests to enter the state described by the verb theme, that is, to set traps (85a),⁵ to sit down (85b), or to go to sleep (85c). Smith (1991) and Aikhenvald (2010, 151–3) link this also to the notion of control, which is present in the classificatory and positional verb themes in (85) but absent in stative verb themes such as n+L+kon ‘be hot’. To my knowledge, the few stative themes attested in Upper Tanana do not allow formation of requests. Dimensional and descriptive themes require the Ø- or aa- or (very rarely) ì- conjugation marker in their primary derivation. They are distinguished by the fact that dimensional verb themes allow the comparative derivations (see vol. 1, chap. 25, and chap. 22 here), while descriptive themes do not. Requests formed from all dimensional and many descriptive verb themes (for example, įįtsuul!ᵈⁱᵐ ‘be SG small!’ or ti’innak!ᵈᵉˢᶜ ‘be tired!’) are as odd in Upper

LEXICAL ASPECT

73

Tanana as their translations are in English. Yet some descriptive themes do allow request formation (86). Na#Ø+thät ‘SG stand’ is semantically similar to positional themes, but has an ì- conjugation marker in the imperfective mode (86a), which is typical of descriptive themes. In (86a) and (86b) an interpretation to enter the state may again be appropriate. This is less so in the other three examples; the speaker does not want the addressee to enter a particular state, but rather to listen to the entirety of the story (86c), to sing the entire song (86d), and to generally not be scared (86e). (86) a. … jah tah na’įįthätᵈᵉˢᶜ duhnoo’. (N) jah tah na-įį-thät d-uh-noo’ here among CONT-I.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-SG.stand:IPV PROX-AR-ahead:ALL ‘… stand SG right here!’ UTOLVDN13May2004:065 b. “Shǫǫnüü įįłįįᵈᵉˢᶜ,” yehnih… (N) sh-ǫǫnüü įį-łįį 1SG.PSR-older.brother Ø.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-be:IPV y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“Be my older brother!” he said to him.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2712:019 c. Łahtthag nts’ą’ jahtth’akᵈᵉˢᶜ! (T) łahtthag nts’ą’ jah-tth’ak all INDF.O:QUAL:QUAL:Ø.PFV:2PL.S:Ø-listen:IPV ‘All of you, listen to [the story]!’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:026 d. “Jin dǫh’ahᵈᵉˢᶜ de’,” yehnih. (N) jin dǫh-’ah de’ y-eh-nih DEM QUAL:OPT:2SG.S:H-sing:OPT UR 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“Make sure you sing this [song],” she said to her.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:196 e. Sǫ’ shinoljidnᵈᵉˢᶜ! (N) sǫ’ sh-i-nǫl-jidn PROH 1SG.P-PP-QUAL:OPT:2SG.S:L-be.scared:OPT ‘Don’t be SG afraid of me!’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:030 It could be argued that verb themes such as O+d+i+Ø+tth’ak ‘listen to O, hear O’ or O+d+H+’ąą ‘sing O’ are marginal members of the descriptive verb theme category. Aikhenvald (2010, 153) notes that some stative verbs are felicitous

74

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

in prohibitives even when not acceptable in affirmative requests. Still, the fact that many of the frequent neuter verb themes allow the formation of requests suggest either that this is not a good diagnostic for Upper Tanana or that at least some of the neuter verb themes should be classified more accurately as activities. In the absence of additional tests for states in Dene languages it is impossible to decide between these analyses. In all neuter verb theme categories the imperfective viewpoint indicates that the state obtains beyond the topic time. This allows a simultaneous interpretation of two imperfective verbs (see also sec. 7.1.2.1 for this property of the imperfective viewpoint in general). Both verbs in (87a) have the neuter stem aspect, while the second verb in (87b) has the durative aspect. (87) a. Tihatna::kᵈᵉˢᶜ. Hihdįįtsiinᵈᵉˢᶜ eł. (T) ti-hat-nak tired-3PL.S:AA.PFV:D-be.tired:NEUT:IPV h-dįį-tsiin eł 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.hungry:NEUT:IPV:NOM and ‘They were tired. And they were hungry.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:018–019 b. … dahdzäł t’aat dą’ tanedhagn’ahˢᵗᵃᵗ dänh hahnoo’ ay kon’ eh dagnxohºᵖ. (N) … dahdzäł t’aat dą’ fish.frame under at ta-n-dhagn-’ah dänh ?-QUAL-DH.PFV:1SG.S:L-LIN.extend:NEUT:IPV at hah-noo’ ay kon’ eh dagn-xoh NTRL-toward.fire:ALL and fire with QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-play:DUR:IPV ‘… I was squatting under the fish frame by the fire, I was playing with the fire.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:049 The endpoint of the state is hidden, regardless of whether the state is over by now, as in (88a), or whether it holds to this day (88b). (88) a. Hǫǫ’t’eey eetįįˢᵗᵃᵗ. (T) hǫǫ’t’eey ee-tįį still 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.sleep:NEUT:IPV ‘She was still sleeping.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:094

LEXICAL ASPECT

75

b. Sdzeey shyiit dhihdlahᶜˡᵃˢ, shtthi’ chih. (N) s-dzeey shyiit dhih-dlah 1SG.PSR-heart inside DH.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-keep.PL.O:NEUT:IPV sh-tthi’ chih 1SG.PSR-head also ‘But I kept [those words] in my heart, in my head too.’ UTOLAF13May2804:015 The perfective viewpoint in the neuter aspect is rarely used. It indicates that the state expressed by the verb theme no longer holds. Consequently, a coordinated perfective form in the neuter often receives a sequential rather than simultaneous interpretation (89) (see also sec. 7.1.1.1 for this property of the perfective viewpoint). (89) a. Dindeey iin ła’ t’eey huxah tsin’įį stsay xah hįįłe’ᵈᵉˢᶜ tl’aan nahtetdeeł. (T) dindeey iin łą’ t’eey u-xah tsin’įį people PL truly ADVZR 3SG.P-for grateful s-tsay xah hįį-łe’ tl’aan 1SG.PSR-grandfather for 3PL:AA.PFV:Ø-be:NEUT:PFV and.then na-htet-deeł IT-3PL.S:INC:DH.PFV:D-PL.go:MOM:PFV ‘The people were truly grateful toward my grandfather and then they left again.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1502:052 b. Ay tl’aan t’axoh eeł įįdla’ᶜˡᵃˢ ishyiit t’axoh ch’ookol de’ tay’ t’eey ch’iduugn tąy nootahtsay. (N) ay tl’aan t’axoh eeł įį-dla’ and and finally trap 3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-keep.PL.O:NEUT:PFV ishyiit t’axoh ch’-ookol de’ tay’ t’eey ch’iduugn tąy there finally INDF.O-NEGEX if again ADVZR elsewhere trail noo-tah-tsay IT:AR.O-3SG.S:INC:AA.IPV:H-make.SG.O:CONC:FUT:NOM ‘And finally, he had traps there, and if there was nothing in it, he would make trail again to somewhere else.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:032 6.2.1.1. Neuter verb themes in the transitional The transitional aspect is used in the transitional derivation of neuter verb themes. It is formally characterized by the transitional stem variation and by the ì-conjugation marker in the perfective. No imperfective transitional forms are recorded in the corpus,

76

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

nor could any be elicited. This incompatibility with the imperfective viewpoint suggests that the transitional aspect is punctual. It describes a transformation into a state, such as turning white in (90a) or becoming scared in (90b). These forms entail that the state has been reached suggesting that the transitional aspect is telic. (90) a. … utthi’ łahtthagn nts’ą’ dilgayhᵈᵉˢᶜ. (T) u-tthi’ łahtthagn nts’ą’ dil-gayh 3SG.PSR-head all 3SG.S:QUAL:I.PFV:L-be.white:TRNS:PFV ‘… his head became all white.’ UTOLVDN08Mar1304:004 b. Łįį du’ ishyi’ iniljitᵈᵉˢᶜ. (B) łįį du’ hii-shyi’ dog CT 3SG.S>3SG.PSR-meat i-nil-jit PP-3SG.S:QUAL:I.PFV:L-be.scared:TRNS:PFV ‘Dog became scared of [stealing the Wolves’] meat.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2714:020 In related languages the transitional aspect is quite productive (see, e.g., Kari [1979] for Ahtna or Axelrod [1993] for Koyukon), while it seems to be marginal in Upper Tanana, with only a handful of examples in my data. I suspect it is being replaced by the highly productive inceptive perfective subaspectual derivation described in section 7.3.1. 6.2.2. Operative verb theme category All operative verb themes require (Ø, aa) conjugation markers in their primary derivation, and many take the durative stem aspect. (Other stem aspects in the operative theme category include the reversative, the repetitive₁, the repetitive₂, the onomatopoetic, and the persistive.) Operative verb themes describe durative events. The first piece of evidence comes from the fact that these themes are not restricted in the imperfective viewpoint, indicating that the event was going on at the reference time. (91) contains examples of all stem aspects associated with primary operative verb themes. (91) a. Ts’ał shyiit ts’anh huhneh’įh.ºᵖ. (T) ts’ał shyiit ts’anh hu-hneh-’įh brush in from 3PL.O-3PL.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-see:DUR:IPV ‘They watched them from in the bushes.’ UTOLAF17Aug1009:016

LEXICAL ASPECT

77

b. Aayh įį tat’eey ehxąąºᵖ shnaał t’eey. (T) aayh įį tat’eey eh-xąą snowshoe also 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-make.PL.O:DUR:IPV sh-naał t’eey 1SG.P-before.eyes ADVZR ‘He made snowshoes too in front of my eyes.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1501:079 c. Hudeldįįºᵖ, hudeldįįºᵖ ay t’eey łįį. (T) hu-del-dįį 3SG.S>AR.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-learn:REV:IPV hu-del-dįį ay t’eey łįį 3SG.S>AR.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-learn:REV:IPV and ADVZR dog ‘He was learning and learning, also [about] dogs.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:098 d. Etshyiiyºᵖ you know k’at’eey etshyiiyºᵖ. (T) et-shyiiy you know k’at’eey 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:D-breathe:REP₁:IPV:NOM you know NEG et-shyiiy 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:D-breathe:REP₁:IPV:NEG ‘She was breathing, you know, and then she was not breathing.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:247 e. Dee’eh udehkatºᵖ… (N) d-ee’eh u-deh-kat REFL.PSR-maternal.uncle 3SG.S:CON-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-ask:REP₂:IPV ‘He asked his maternal uncle…’ UTOLVDN10Jul2720:032 f. “Ahug ch’uudeltl’iaºᵖ,” ts’exeh nihºᵖ. (T) a-hug ch’uu-del-tl’ia NTRL-there whistle-3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-whistle:ONOM:IPV:NOM ts’exeh nih woman say:IPV ‘“There was whistling outside,” the woman said.’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:044

78

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS g. …thaa ehdanh dzi’eteehºᵖ. (T) thaa ehdanh dzi-e-teeh voice without mourn-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-AO.move:PERS:IPV ‘She mourned without making a sound.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:032

Operative verb themes are also compatible with durative adverbs, describing situations with little or no internal change. (92) demonstrates this for operative verbs taking the durative, reversative, and repetitive₁ aspects. (92) a. Eh hǫǫ’t’eey ihsäłºᵖ. (N) eh hǫǫ’t’eey ih-säł and still Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-holler:DUR:IPV ‘And I was still hollering.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:034 b. Hugn niign t’eey ch’a łąą t’eey hǫǫ’t’eey hǫǫsu’ nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey jagndįį’ºᵖ. (N) hugn niign t’eey ch’a łąą t’eey hǫǫ’t’eey hǫǫsu’ nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey thus ADVZR ADVZR FOC truly ADVZR still well ADVZR jagn-dįį’ INDF.O:QUAL:AA.PFV:1SG.S:L-learn:REV:PFV ‘Even in this way during that time, I was still learning a lot of things very well.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:053 c. … niithoo’ t’eey hihdelxooºᵖ eł… (T) nithoo’ t’eey h-del-xoo eł long.time even 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-play:REP₁:IPV:NOM and ‘… they had been playing for a long time and…’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:078 In the perfective viewpoint, the durative indicates that the event is terminated (93). (93) a. Hǫǫ’ ch’ah needatni’ºᵖ ts’įįtsuul dą’. (N) hǫǫ’ ch’ah nee-dat-ni’ thus FOC 1PL.P-QUAL:AA.PFV:D-say:PASS:DUR:PFV ts’įį-tsuul dą’ 1PL.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.small:NEUT:IPV at ‘Thus we were told, when we were young.’ UTCBAF14May2001:014

LEXICAL ASPECT

79

b. K’ahdąądą’ shoh nak-’įįºᵖ dǫǫ nach’akłälᵐºᵗ eh. (N) k’ahdąądą’ shoh nak-’įį dǫǫ yesterday bear QUAL:AA.PFV:1SG.S:H-see:DUR:PFV downriver:ABL na-ch’ak-łäl eh IT-INDF.O:AA.IPV:1SG.S:H-drive:MOM:IPV:PROG:NOM and ‘Yesterday I saw a bear as I was driving back from [Tok].’ UTOLVDN10Jul2713:041 c. ch’ihaldziatºᵖ (T) ch’-hal-dziat INDF-3PL.S:AA.PFV:L-dance:REP₂:PFV ‘they’re done dancing’

UT Notebook #3, p. 95

d. Łat eł kon’ eł huhįįxąąºᵖ ‹łahtthagn nts’ą’›. (T) łat eł kon’ eł hu-hįį-xąą smoke and fire and 3PL.O-3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-kill.PL.O:DUR:PFV łahtthagn nts’ą’ all ‘They killed them all with fire and smoke.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:033 In operative verb themes there is no natural completion point, which is not surprising in (93a–b), but maybe requires a comment in (93d). The polysemous verb theme O+Ø+xąą ‘make PL O, kill PL O’ is not telic and thus does not entail completion. This is demonstrated in (94), the sentence following (93d) in the narrative, which clearly indicates that it is not certain that all Tailed People have died. (94) Jah ts’anh hutshyaak nts’ą’ k’a hiits’itnąy hihunay le’ nts’ą’ nįįłaag le’. (T) jah ts’anh hut-shyaak nts’ą’ here from AR.S:DH.PFV:D-happen:CONC:PFV and k’a hi-ts’it-nąy NEG ?-1PL.S:NEG.PFV:D-know:REP1:IPV:NEG le’ nts’ą’ hi-hu-nay 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-live:DUR:IPV:NOM IGN and nįį-łaag le’ 3PL.S:N.PFV:Ø-PL.die:MOM:IPV:NOM IGN ‘From when it happened we still do not know whether they are alive or whether they died.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:034

80

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

The perfective form of this verb theme is thus compatible with the reading ‘they killed them, and all of them are dead’ and with the reading ‘they killed them, are done killing them now, but some of them may have survived’.⁶ The operative verb theme category is thus [+durative, -telic] and verb themes in this verb theme category are activities. 6.2.2.1. Operative verb themes in the reversative There appears to be one exception to the above generalization. Operative verb themes requiring the reversative stem aspect appear to be [+ telic], as can be shown from entailments. The speaker in (95a) reflects on her upbringing, when she learned all the traditional survival skills that she knows until this day; this utterance is not compatible with the interpretation ‘but I still don’t know these things’. (95b) is taken from a narrative in which a man’s hair froze to the ground while he slept; only after his hair thaws out is he able to get up; if it was still frozen he would remain stuck. (95) a. Neettheh noo’ stsǫǫ iin stsay iin nts’ą̈ ’ hįįdįįgnºᵖ k’eh t’eey ‹łąą› t’eey hudzaldįį’ºᵖ. (N) nee-ttheh noo’ s-tsǫǫ iin 1PL.P-before ahead:ALL 1SG.PSR-grandmother PL s-tsay iin nts’ą̈ ’ hįį-dįįgn 1SG.PSR-grandfather PL how 3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-do:DUR:PFV:CUST k’eh t’eey łąą t’eey hu-dzal-dįį’ like ADVZR truly ADVZR AR.O-1PL.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:L-learn:REV:PFV ‘We learned everything that our grandmothers and grandfathers used to do long before our time.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:057 b. … utthi’ na’alxįįºᵖ nii’etshyahᵐºᵗ. (S) u-tthi’ na-al-xįį 3SG.PSR-head IT-3SG.S:AA.PFV:L-thaw:REV:PFV ni-na-et-shyah up-IT-3SG.S:DH.PFV:D-SG.go:MOM:PFV ‘… his head thawed out and he got up again.’ ANLC4122a:283 Operative verb themes requiring the reversative stem aspect are thus [+ durative, + telic]: they are accomplishments. 6.2.3. Successive verb theme category The defining characteristic of successive verb themes is their ability to occur with the semelfactive stem aspect, although Kari (1979, 118) considers successive verb themes to take the durative stem aspect in their primary derivation.

LEXICAL ASPECT

81

Leaving aside here the question of which stem aspect is primary for these verb themes, I begin by reviewing the aspectual properties of successive verb themes in the semelfactive stem aspect and then turn to successive verb themes in the durative. Successive verb themes with the semelfactive stem aspect take (Ø, ì/dh)⁷ conjugation markers. These themes describe events such as giving an object a single cut, punch, kick, or chop (96). (96) a. Dhakdayhˢᵘᶜ hanuhshyign’ tah dzina’altth’ätᵐºᵗ. (N) dhak-dayh ha-n-uh-shyign’ tah DH.PFV:1SG.S:H-shoot:SEM:PFV ADJC-MED-AR-down:ALL among dzina-al-tth’ät down.over.edge-3SG.S:AA.PFV:L-AO.fall:MOM:PFV ‘I shot [the bear] once and it tumbled down the slope‥’ UTOLAF09Aug12:033 b. … Stella ch’ideet’üüˢᵘᶜ tl’aan dzelt’ehᶜºⁿᵛ. (T) Stella ch’-dee-t’üü tl’aan Stella INDF.O-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-cut:SEM:PFV and dzel-t’eh 1PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-fry:CONC:PFV ‘… Stella gave [a pike] one cut and we fried it.’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:032 c. Ay neh’ąyºᵖ eł ay eetalˢᵘᶜ eł. (T) ay neh-’ąy eł ay 3SG 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-see:DUR:IPV:NOM and 3SG ee-tal eł 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-kick:SEM:PFV:NOM and ‘He saw [the tree stump] and gave it a kick.’ UTOLAF08Apr2804:006 Like the momentaneous, the semelfactive is restricted in the imperfective to imperatives in main clauses ([97] appears to be the only example in the corpus). This suggests that the semelfactive is punctual. It is also incompatible with durative adverbials.

82

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(97) Ch’įhdayhˢᵘᶜ! (N) ch’-įh-dayh INDF.O-Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-shoot:SEM:IPV ‘Shoot!’

UTCBVDN13Nov1401:007

The semelfactive aspect does not have entailments of telicity, although it is compatible with telic interpretation: the bear in (96a) was shot dead, and the piece of pike cut off in (96b) was then eaten. But as (96c) demonstrates, a change of state resulting from the event is not required. The semelfactive is thus (not surprisingly) a semelfactive in Smith’s (1991) typology: [-durative, -telic]. 6.2.3.1. Successive verb themes in the durative The durative stem aspect in successive verb themes describes prolonged atelic situations, that is, multiple iterations of an event such as shooting, cutting, kicking. The contrast is illustrated in the elicited examples in (98). (98) a. Yįhgotˢᵘᶜ. (N) y-įh-got 3SG.S>3SG.O-AA.PFV:H-punch:DUR:PFV ‘He hit him, punched him repeatedly.’

UTOLAF15Dec0607:022

b. Ugaan’ dhakgotˢᵘᶜ. (N) u-gaan’ dhak-got 3SG.PSR-arm DH.PFV:1SG.S:H-punch:SEM:PFV ‘I punched his arm once.’ UTOLAF13May2801:052 With the durative stem aspect, which requires (Ø, aa) conjugation markers, successive verb themes are compatible with the imperfective viewpoint (99). (99) a. Agntthäł nts’ą̈ ’ uu’akdiihˢᵘᶜ. (N) agn-tthäł nts’ą̈ ’ AA.IPV:1SG.S:L-SG.run:MOM:IPV:PROG and uu-ak-diih CON-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-shoot:DUR:IPV ‘I am running and I’m shooting at [the bear].’ UTOLAF09Aug12:027

LEXICAL ASPECT

83

b. Ndee ch’a łįį neenehtthayˢᵘᶜ? … (T) ndee ch’a łįį nee-neh-tthay where:PNCT FOC dog 1PL.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-bark:DUR:IPV:NOM ‘Where are the dogs barking at us? …’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:064 Successive verb themes are also compatible with durative adverbs (100). The resulting interpretation is that of repeated events over a prolonged period of time, which is further evidence of successive verb themes being inherently punctual. (100) a. Nithoo’ t’eey idet-ts’ätˢᵘᶜ. (N) nithoo’ t’eey id-et-ts’ät long.time ADVZR REFL.O-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:D-scratch:DUR:IPV ‘He was scratching himself for a long time.’ UTOLAF15Dec0607:033 b. … t’oot’eey hǫǫ’t’eey yettheelˢᵘᶜ eł… (T) t’oot’eey hǫǫ’t’eey y-e-ttheel eł but still 3SG.S>3SG.O-Ø.IPV:Ø-chop:DUR:IPV and ‘… but he still kept chopping it…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:040 In the perfective viewpoint, successive verb themes with the durative stem aspect indicate that the event is terminated but no natural completion point is entailed (101). The subject in (101a) does not chop down the entire brush but only clears a path for himself, and the trim in (101b) may or may not be completed. (101) a. Ay chih ay chih diseeyy’ eh naxat ts’äł įįttheelˢᵘᶜ eh yaa nįįshyahᵐºᵗ chih. (B) ay chih ay chih d-seeyy’ eh naxat 3SG also 3SG also REFL.PSR-knife:POSS with DEM ts’äł įį-ttheel eh y-aa brush 3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-chop:DUR:PFV:NOM and 3SG.S>3SG.P-for nįįshyah chih N.PFV:Ø-SG.arrive:MOM:PFV also ‘That too, that too, with his knife he chopped [a path through] the brush and came upon her.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:134

84

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. Łideldänh uxu’ hǫǫłiin eh ay ch’ale iht’üütˢᵘᶜ. (N) łideldänh u-xu’ hǫǫ-łiin eh ay scissors 3SG.PSR-teeth AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:NEUT:IPV:NOM with 3SG ch’ale ih-t’üüt FOC AA.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-cut:DUR:PFV ‘I cut this [trim around birch basket] with pinking shears.’ UTOLVDN07Jun1927:016

The durative stem aspect, then, turns underlyingly punctual atelic verb themes into durative atelic ones. 6.2.3.2. Successive verb themes in the momentaneous Successive verb themes may occur with derivational strings that require the momentaneous stem aspect (see vol. 1, chap. 35). These derived verb themes have aspectual properties that are very different from those with the semelfactive or durative stem aspects. Successive verb themes in the momentaneous stem aspect are punctual. In the imperfective viewpoint they are limited to imperatives in main clauses (102); nonimperative forms are not attested. They are also not attested with durative adverbials, and elicitation of combinations with such adverbials failed. (102) Shta’ iin xah tsat k’idįįttheełˢᵘᶜ… (T) sh-ta’ iin xah tsat 1S.PSR-father PL for wood k’i-dįį-ttheeł severing-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-chop:MOM:IPV ‘Chop SG wood for my father…’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:080 Momentaneous derivations of successive verb themes have a natural completion point and thus are telic. This can be shown from entailments: kindling requires the wood pieces to be fully detached from one another (103a). Likewise the cut-off heads in (103b) are being used to play ball, which is only possible once they have been severed completely. (103) a. …tsat sdziididhakt’ohˢᵘᶜ. (T) tsat sdzii-d-dhak-t’oh wood split-QUAL-DH.PFV:1SG.S:H-split.kindling:MOM:PFV ‘… I split the wood into kindling.’ UTOLAF12Jul0601:018

LEXICAL ASPECT

85

b. Dineey hexaan iin tthi’ k’iiheet’üüˢᵘᶜ… (T) dineey he-xaan iin tthi’ men 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-kill.PL.O:IPV:NOM PL head k’ii-hee-t’üü severing-3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-cut:MOM:PFV ‘They cut off the heads of the men they had killed…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:010 Momentaneous derivations of successive verb themes are thus [-durative, +telic]: they are achievements. 6.2.4. Conversive verb theme category Conversive verb themes require (Ø, dh) conjugation markers. Most of them take the conclusive stem aspect, but some take the reversative, the repetitive₂, or continuative stem aspects. Conversive verb themes (regardless of stem aspect) are durative, which can be demonstrated in two ways. First, the imperfective viewpoint in main clauses is not restricted (104). (104) a. Łiat gąy akt’iaᶜºⁿᵛ eh t’eey hah’ǫǫ doo le’ uudehdonh. (N) łiat gąy ak-t’ia eh pancake Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-fry:CONC:IPV:NOM and t’eey hah-’ǫǫ doo le’ ADVZR NTRL-outside:ABL who IGN uu-deh-donh 3SG.S:CON-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-knock:DUR:IPV ‘I was frying pancakes when someone knocked outside.’ UTOLAF15Dec0705:032 b. Mba’ ts’ehk’aayhᶜºⁿᵛ shyi’ ts’ehgąyᶜºⁿᵛ. (N) mba’ ts’eh-k’aayh shyi’ ts’eh-gąy dry.fish 1PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-filet:CONC:IPV meat 1PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-dry:IPV ‘We were cutting fish and drying meat.’ UTCBVDN14Aug0402:022 c. Jiyh hǫǫ’t’eey chih nanihkąą’ᶜºⁿᵛ. (N) jiyh hǫǫ’t’eey chih na-nih-kąą’ mitten still also IT-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-sew:REP₂:IPV ‘I’m still sewing mittens.’ UTOLAF15Dec0708:023

86

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS d. Ay tah nts’ą’ t’eey neshyeeᶜºⁿᵛ neshyeeᶜºⁿᵛ neshyeeᶜºⁿᵛ. (T) ay tah nts’ą’ t’eey ne-shyee and among ADVZR ADVZR 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-grow:REV:IPV ne-shyee ne-shyee 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-grow:REV:IPV 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-grow:REV:IPV ‘And from there he grew and grew and grew.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:069

Second, the conclusive is compatible with durative adverbials (104c, 105). (105) a. Hǫǫ’t’eey ini’iahᶜºⁿᵛ, nithoo’ t’eey. (T) hǫǫ’t’eey i-ni-’iah nithoo’ still 3SG.S>3SG.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-braid:CONC:IPV long.time t’eey ADVZR ‘She was still braiding it, for a long time.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:320 b. Nithoo:: hǫǫłįįᵈᵉˢᶜ t’eey, shyi’ hǫǫsǫǫ’ eht’iaᶜºⁿᵛ yaa. (T) nithoo:: hǫǫ-łįį t’eey, shyi’ hǫǫsǫǫ’ long.time AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV ADVZR meat nicely eh-t’ia y-aa. 3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-roast:PFV 3SG.S>3SG.P-for ‘He roasted that meat nicely for him for a long time.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:142 c. Ay nts’ą’ niithoo hineeshyaanᶜºⁿᵛ eł. (T) ay nts’ą’ niithoo’ hi-nee-shyaan and and long.time 3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-grow.up:REV:PFV:NOM eł and ‘And they grew up for a long time.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:019 The inherent telicity of the conclusive can be shown from entailments. The perfective entails that the completion point has been reached and is not compatible with the interpretation that this is not the case: the mittens in (106a) have to be finished, and the fat in (106b) has to have been completely liquefied. (106c) below describes the entire process of growing up, starting as a small baby and ending as a grown man. (106d) means that the speaker has finished cutting out the pattern, which is not compatible with the interpretation that

LEXICAL ASPECT

87

she has to keep working on it. (The adverb t’axoh ‘finally’ is another indicator of completive meaning.) The stolen food in (106e) is gone for good, and only items that are completed can be gifted at a potlatch (106f ). (106) a. … jiyh ehtsįįᶜºⁿᵛ. (N) jiyh eh-tsįį mitten 3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:CONC:PFV ‘… she made [a pair of ] mittens.’ UTOLAF15May0501:211 b. Ch’ik’ah i’eechiaᶜºⁿᵛ ‹eh› shyi’ gąy> niłtah ‹łatthegn’› itah niłtah yįįdlahᵐºᵗ tl’aan. (N) ch’-k’ah i-ee-chia INDF.PSR-fat 3SG.S>3SG.O-DH.PFV:Ø-render:CONC:PFV:NOM eh shyi’ gąy nił-tah łahtthegn nił-tah and meat dry RECP.P-among all RECP.P-among y-įį-dlah tl’aan 3SG.S>3SG.O-AA.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV and ‘Rendered fat and dry meat together, he had mixed it all together.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:060 c. Ts’iiniin gaay hanteey’ t’eey neeshyąąᶜºⁿᵛ dineh choh eltsįįⁿᵉᵘᵗ. (T) ts’iiniin gaay hanteey’ t’eey nee-shyąą child small quickly ADVZR 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-grow:REV:PFV dineh choh el-tsįį man big 3SG.S:DH.PFV:L-become:TRNS:PFV ‘The small baby grew up quickly, he became a big man.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:016 d. T’axoh kee haadhakt’üütᶜºⁿᵛ. (N) t’axoh kee ha-na-dhak-t’üüt finally slippers out-IT-DH.PFV:1SG.S:H-cut:REV:PFV ‘I’m finally done cutting out slippers.’ UTOLAF15Dec0704:025 e. … dlegn iin neeshyi’ hihnee’įįᶜºⁿᵛ. (N) dlegn iin nee-shyi’ h-nee-’įį squirrel PL 1PL.PSR-food 3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-steal:REP₁:PFV ‘… squirrels had stolen our food.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:115

88

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS f. Ay tl’aan eł ts’at dahtaałeeł, k’a’, lsüü, hugn k’oniit’ay tah naanetk’ąą’ᶜºⁿᵛ, … (T) ay tl’aan eł ts’at and.then and blanket da-h-taa-łeeł k’a’ lsüü hugn inside-3PL.S-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:MOM:FUT gun money etc. k’oniit’ay tah u-na-na-net-k’ąą’ scarf among 3SG.P-CONT-IT-QUAL:DH.PFV:D-sew:PASS:REP₁:PFV ‘And then they will bring in blankets, guns, money, scarves, what has been sewn, …’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:010

The elicited set in (107) contrasts imperfective and perfective forms. (107a) describes the process of frying mushrooms; the mushrooms may be cooking on the stove as we speak or they may have been fried at an earlier point in time. The imperfective is thus compatible with both completive and noncompletive interpretations. The perfective form in (107b) entails that the mushrooms are fried and ready to eat (or possibly already eaten), which is incompatible with the continuation ‘they need a little longer before they’re done’. (107) a. ch’inayy’ akt’iahᶜºⁿᵛ (N) ch’inayy’ ak-t’iah mushroom Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-fry:CONC:IPV ‘I am frying mushrooms, I fried mushrooms’ #1, p. 41

UT Notebook

b. ch’inayy’ dhakt’iatᶜºⁿᵛ (N) ch’inayy’ dhak-t’iat mushroom DH.PFV:1SG.S:H-fry:CONC:PFV ‘I already fried mushrooms, I’m done frying mushrooms’ Notebook #1, p. 41

UT

Thus, the conclusive aspect is [+durative, +telic] and verb themes in the conclusive aspect are accomplishments. 6.2.5. Motion verb theme category Motion themes in their primary derivation take (n, n) conjugation markers and the momentaneous stem aspect, but the numerous aspectual strings that can be taken by motion or successive themes may take different conjugation markers (see vol. 1, chap. 35). A detailed semantic analysis of derived themes in the momentaneous is beyond the scope of this chapter; I limit myself to a

LEXICAL ASPECT

89

broad overview. Motion verb themes in their primary derivation are punctual (108). In main clauses they are compatible with the imperfective viewpoint only in imperatives (108c); nonimperative imperfective forms of such themes in main clauses are not attested. (108) a. Nahdǫǫ ddhäł tüh nįįshyahᵐºᵗ. (N) nah-dǫǫ ddhäł tüh nįį-shyah MED-up:ABL mountain over 3SG:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:MOM:PFV ‘He came from up there over the mountains.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2703:002 b. … ch’itay ta’altth’ätᵐºᵗ. (N) ch’itay ta-al-tth’ät old.man into.water-3SG.S:AA.PFV:L-AO.fall:MOM:PFV ‘… the old man fell into the water.’ UTOLAF15May0501:129 c. Ǫǫ danįįhaayᵐºᵗ! (N) ǫǫ da-nįį-haay outside:ABL inside-N.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-SG.go:MOM:IPV:IMP ‘Come SG in from outside!’ UTOLAF15May0501:147 The punctual meaning of the momentaneous has the consequence that the verb form in (108a) signals arrival, not the route traversed; (108b) describes the instant where the old man enters the water, not his trajectory in falling; and (108c) focuses on the instant where the addressee enters the dwelling. Being punctual, the momentaneous is also incompatible with durative adverbials such as hǫǫ’t’eey ‘still’ or X uudih ‘all X long’; such combinations do not occur in the corpus nor could they be elicited. When combined with nithoo t’eey, the adverb is interpreted as ‘after a long time’ (109) rather than as the usual ‘for a long time’. (109) Nithoo t’eey keey tah stahinįįdeełˢᵘᶜ. (T) nithoo t’eey keey tah sta-hi-nįį-deeł long.time ADVZR village among away-3PL.S-N.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV ‘After a long time, they went away in the village area.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:050 Evidence for the telicity of verb themes in the momentaneous comes from entailments. All of the (perfective) verb forms in (110) entail completion of the event. In motion verb themes this means reaching the destination expressed

90

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

as part of the theme: the girl must have entered the house in (110a), while the loon in (110b) must have swum all the way to the shore rather than merely into the direction of the shore. The entailments cannot be canceled. (110) a. Ay eł danįįshyahᵐºᵗ tl’aan: (T) ay eł da-nįį-shyah tl’aan and and inside-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:MOM:PFV and ‘And she went inside and:’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:065 b. Datl’a’eemįįᵐºᵗ. (T) datl’a-ee-mįį ashore-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-swim:MOM:PFV ‘He swam ashore, out of the lake.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:107 Motion verb themes in the momentaneous are thus [-durative, +telic]: they are achievements. As noted in volume 1, chapter 25, verb themes in the motion theme category have enormous derivational potential. The aspectual properties of some of the more frequent derivations are reviewed in the following sections. 6.2.5.1. Motion verb themes in the inceptive momentaneous The inceptive momentaneous aspectual derivation is morphologically characterized by the inceptive prefix t- and (Ø, dh) conjugation prefixes. Unlike the inceptive perfective subsituation aspect (see sec. 7.3.1), the inceptive momentaneous occurs in all four modes, although it is restricted in the imperfective viewpoint. It has the meaning ‘to take off, leave (in the manner of verb theme)’, focusing on the starting point rather than the end point of the motion event. In nonperfective forms (111a, b, d), the focus lies on the preparatory stages prior to taking off; in perfective forms (111b), it lies on the actual moment of departure. (111) a. Ndee ts’ą̈ ’ tįįhaayhᵐºᵗ? ndee ts’ą̈ ’ tįį-haayh where:PNCT to INC:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-SG.go:MOM:IPV ‘Where are you off to?’ UTOLAF14Apr2501:044 b. Ay tl’aan ts’exeh noo teltthätᵐºᵗ. (N) ay tl’aan ts’exeh noo’ tel-tthät and then girl ahead:ALL 3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:L-SG.run:MOM:PFV ‘And then the girl started to run ahead.’ UTOLAF15May0501:119

LEXICAL ASPECT

91

c. Hutthan’ du’ tsaadalᵐºᵗ! (T) hu-tthan’ du’ tsaa-dal AR-waterward:ALL CT 1PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-PL.go:MOM:FUT:IMP ‘Let us go down there!’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:164 d. Ishyiit nts’ą’ tsuunaa’ᵐºᵗ… (T) ishyiit nts’ą’ tsuu-naa’ there to 1PL.S:INC:OPT:Ø-move.nomadically:MOM:OPT ‘Let us move [our camp] there…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:033 Semantically, the inceptive momentaneous resembles the momentaneous in that both are punctual aspects. They differ in telicity: the momentaneous is telic, while the inceptive momentaneous, which focuses on the starting point of a motion event, is atelic. 6.2.5.2. Motion verb themes in the perambulative The perambulative stem aspect is derived via two prefix strings na#t+D (aa, n) and łoo#(t) (aa, n); the distribution of these strings is discussed in volume 1, chapter 35. It has the meaning ‘moving about, moving here and there’; it is thus durative and atelic. The atelicity of the perambulative is demonstrated in (112); none of these examples contain a goal. (112) a. Ay ch’a delgay łoohaaxeelᵐºᵗ… (T) ay ch’a del-gay and FOC 3PL.S:QUAL:Ø.PFV:L-be.white:NEUT:IPV:NOM łoo-haa-xeel PRMB-3PL.S:AA.IPV:Ø-pack:PRMB:IPV:NOM ‘And there [the ants] were carrying their pupae (lit. ‘the white ones’) around…’ UTOLVDN13May2805:053 b. “Tthitu’ Niign t’eey natsatkeełᵐºᵗ,” henih. (N) Tthitu’ niign t’eey na-tsat-keeł Tanana.river ADVZR PRMB-1PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:D-go.by.boat:PRMB:FUT he-nih 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:DUR:IPV ‘“Let’s boat around on the Tanana River,” they said.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:086

92

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS c. Ay tl’aan tah “T’axoh natsutnaaᵐºᵗ,” hendiik nts’ą’. (T) ay tl’aan tah t’axoh and and among enough na-tsut-naa PRMB-1PL.S:INC:OPT:D-move.nomadically:PRMB:OPT he-ndiik nts’ą’ 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:DUR:IPV:CUST and ‘And then they would say, “Enough, let’s move on!” ’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:018

(112a) demonstrates that the perambulative derivation is compatible with the imperfective in nonimperative main clauses and is thus durative. Unlike the other durative aspects, however, the perambulative does not seem to cooccur with durative adverbials. The atelicity of perambulative motion themes can be seen in the perfective viewpoint. (113) indicates that the speaker’s travels across the United States are concluded, but not that any particular goal has been reached. (113) Hugn įį’eh tah t’eey łoonihshyahᵐºᵗ. (N) hugn įį’eh tah t’eey łoo-nih-shyah around etc. ADVZR PRMB-N.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-SG.go:PRMB:PFV ‘I went all over.’ UTOLAF13May2804:005 The perambulative derivation thus changes punctual telic motion themes (achievements) into durative atelic motion themes (activities). 6.2.5.3. Motion verb themes in the reversative A few derivational prefix strings that apply to motion themes require the reversative stem aspect, which takes (?, dh)⁸ conjugation markers. In motion verb themes the reversative stem aspect is not compatible with the imperfective viewpoint nor with durative adverbials; it is thus punctual. When a durative interpretation is required, the progressive superaspect (described in more detail in sec. 7.2.2) is used instead (114). (114) a. Yaanoo yaamaagn nts’ą̈ ’ snake’aahaałᵐºᵗ… (S) yaa-noo y-aamaagn nts’ą̈ ’ DSTL-ahead:ALL 3SG.S>3SG.P-around to snake-aa-haał around.circle-3SG.S:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.go:REV:IPV:PROG ‘He went ahead a long way around the lake…’ ANLC4122a-071

LEXICAL ASPECT

93

b. Nahdog deeł sts’akenaat’aaᵐºᵗ jeh’aanⁿᵉᵘᵗ dįįtth’akⁿᵉᵘᵗ! (T) nah-dog deeł MED-up:AR crane sts’ake-naa-t’aa around.circle-3SG.S:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.fly:REV:IPV:PROG:NOM jeh-’aan INDF:3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:H-sing:IPV:NOM dįį-tth’ak QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-listen:IPV ‘Listen to that crane circling overhead and singing!’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:021 In the perfective viewpoint the reversative entails completion. In combination with the adverb k’ahjil ‘almost’, a reversative theme indicates that the completion point was not reached: the boat did not capsize (115c). Reversative themes thus are telic. (115) a. Ishyiit t’eey nakideltthätᵐºᵗ nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey I mean nakidetdätᵐºᵗ nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey ha’ dahnegn’. (N) ishyiit t’eey naki-del-tthät nts’ą̈ ’ there ADVZR around-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-SG.run:REV:PFV and t’eey I mean naki-det-dät even I mean around-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:D-animal.runs:REV:PFV nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey ha’ dah-negn’ and even EMPH PROX-upland:ALL ‘[The bear] turned around and ran off [like a person], I mean it turned around and ran off upland [like an animal].’ UTOLVDN13May2004:088 b. … sts’akedeexałᵐºᵗ nts’ą’ nts’ą’ tinagntth’atᵐºᵗ… (T) sts’ake-dee-xał nts’ą’ around.over-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-LRO.moves:REV:PFV and ti-nagn-tth’at into.water-N.PFV:1SG.S:L-AO.fall:MOM:PFV ‘… [the boat] capsized and I fell into the water…’ UTOLAF09Jun2902:027

94

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS c. Ay eh k’ahjil sheh nakecheexałᵐºᵗ. (N) ay eh k’ahjil sh-eh and and almost 1SG.P-with nake-chee-xał over-INDF.S:INC:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-LRO.moves:REV:PFV ‘And the canoe almost tipped over with me.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:100

Thus, motion themes with the reversative stem aspect have [+punctual, +telic] meaning; these themes are achievements. 6.3. Aspectual meaning of conjugation markers Before concluding this chapter I wish to briefly comment on a claim put forward by Rice (2000b). After introducing the verb theme category system of Slave, she suggests that it may reflect the situation type system introduced by Vendler (1967), similar to what I propose for Upper Tanana here. She further develops her argument by suggesting that the conjugation markers n, s, and gh (cognate to n, dh, and aa in Upper Tanana) are “not simply indicators of conjugation class, but rather are overt markers of situation aspect” (Rice 2000b, 256). She disagrees in this respect with authors such as Smith (1991) and Axelrod (1993), both of whom find no evidence for this claim in Navajo and Koyukon, respectively. In support of her proposal, Rice (2000b) not only looks at the primary derivations of verb themes, but also at aspectual derivations which in Slave, as in Upper Tanana, may affect the conjugation marker and stem variation of the resulting verb theme. The resulting system, applied to Upper Tanana, is presented in table 6.2; note that “semelfactive” has to be added as a separate verb theme category, although it is a subcategory of the successive verb theme category. Only active verb theme categories are included in Rice’s discussion. Verb theme category motion successive operative conversive (semelfactive

Situation type achievement activity activity accomplishment semelfactive

Conjugation (Pfv.) naaaadhì-, dh-)

Table 6.2. Conjugation markers as situation aspect indicators, after Rice (2000, 257)

LEXICAL ASPECT

95

This proposal is certainly attractive, not only because it would result in overt and straightforward marking of a semantic system, but also because the conjugation markers would then have meaning in and of themselves. As the data examined in this chapter shows, however, this approach may not be entirely appropriate for Upper Tanana. The aa-perfective in Upper Tanana occurs in many activities and all states, the n-perfective in achievements—yet the nperfective also occurs in perambulative themes, which are activities. And while the dh-perfective in Upper Tanana is associated with accomplishments (all verbs in the conversive verb theme category), it also occurs in some semelfactives and in the reversative and inceptive momentaneous derivations of motion themes. To properly evaluate Rice’s proposal for Upper Tanana, more rigorous semantic analysis than the data presented here is required, particularly taking into account derivations with aspectual prefix strings. 6.4. Summary Semantic analysis of the verb theme category system in Upper Tanana suggests that the verb theme categories identified originally by Kari (1979) reflect a situation type system. Evidence comes from a verb theme’s stem aspect combined with its conjugation markers as well as from an analysis of the situation type of (core) members of each verb theme category. Notes 1. I use these terms interchangeably throughout. 2. While derivational potential is a diagnostic for membership in a particular verb theme category following Kari (1979), it is not considered in this discussion of the aspectual properties of verb theme categories. 3. This has to do with the lexicalization patterns of Upper Tanana; as seen in chap. 3, control and volition are often part of a verb theme’s semantics. 4. This is particularly true of the rarer stem aspects in the operative and conversive verb theme categories. 5. This interpretation is somewhat problematic for this particular verb theme, since there are related motion verb themes with the meaning ‘set traps’, and the transitive classificatory theme instead describes the state of having traps. 6. The singular counterparts of this verb theme (O+H+tsayh ‘make SG O’ and O+H+xeh ‘kill SG O’) both are telic. Both belong to the conversive verb theme category and require the conclusive aspect (see 6.2.4). 7. This variation has to do with the erosion of the ì-conjugation marker; see vol. 1, chap. 29 for discussion. 8. When a conjugation marker is given as ?, it means that it is not attested.

7 | Inflectional aspect In this chapter the inflectional aspect system of Upper Tanana is briefly described. This system is extremely rich in Upper Tanana (as it is in related languages) and a complete description comparable to Smith (1991) for Navajo, Axelrod (1993) for Koyukon, or Wilhelm (2007) for Dëne Sųłiné is beyond the scope of this grammar. I distinguish the following broad types of aspect: viewpoint aspect, superaspect, and subsituation aspect. The use of these terms is clarified later. Additionally, Upper Tanana has a lexical aspect system, described in chapter 6. 7.1. Viewpoint aspect Viewpoint aspects relate a situation time to a reference time (Wilhelm 2007, 12); they are thus semantic schemas that make parts of a situation “visible” (Smith 1991, 93). They allow the speaker to focus, for example, on the internal stages of a situation (which is usually associated with imperfective meanings), on a situation as a whole, including beginning and end (this is usually associated with perfective meanings), or they can be neutral with respect to which parts of a situation they focus on (this is what Smith [1991, 119] calls “neutral” viewpoint). All three are attested in Upper Tanana. 7.1.1. Perfective viewpoint The perfective is marked morphologically by a perfective stem plus prefixes. All verb themes allow the perfective viewpoint without restrictions. 7.1.1.1. Closed aspect The perfective indicates that the situation time is completely included (beginning to end) in the reference time; it is thus a closed viewpoint (116).

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

97

(116) a. Shnąą įįtsuul eł t’eey hutshyaak. (T) sh-nąą įį-tsuul eł t’eey 1SG.PSR-mother 3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-be.small:PFV:NOM and ADVZR hut-shyaak AR.S:DH.PFV:D-happen:PFV ‘My mother was small when that happened.’ UTOLAF10Jul0801:024 b. Hanaan’ nohtsąy tah neekeey hǫǫłe’, dihnih. (N) ha-naan’ nohtsąy tah nee-keey NTRL-across:ALL other.side among 1PL.PSR-village hǫǫ-łe’ dih-nih AR.S:AA.PFV:Ø-be:PFV QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-say:IPV ‘Our village used to be on the other side, I am saying.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:001 c. Än tinįįshyah ts’ą̈ ’ tsät įįttheeł. (N) än ti-nįį-shyah ts’ą̈ ’ tsät outside:ALL outside-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV and wood įį-ttheeł 3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-chop:PFV ‘He went outside and chopped the wood.’ UTOLAF12Jul1201:026 d. That nałateetleegn eh jah shyah gaay nahihuhtsįį. (N) that na-ła-tee-tleegn eh jah that down-sagging-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-be.rotten:PFV and this shyah gaay na-hi-huh-tsįį house small IT-3PL.S-AR.O:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV ‘After that [old house] broke down they built this small cabin.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0804:036 All examples describe situations that are completed: the speaker’s mother was no longer alive (and no longer a child) when (116a) was uttered; the village of Northway in (116b) moved to the other side of the river decades ago; the man went outside and finished chopping the wood in (116c); and the cabin mentioned in (116d) was finished many years ago—in fact, it is the cabin where the fieldwork on that day took place. The examples show that the perfective in Upper Tanana is strongly associated with completion of events (see also Smith [1991] for Navajo).¹ This can be observed in elicitation: good prompts for

98

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

perfective forms in Upper Tanana are ‘I already verbed’ and ‘I’m done verbing’, both of which entail completion, while prompts such as ‘I verbed yesterday’ may result in imperfective or perfective forms. A similar observation was made by Wilhelm (2007) for Dëne Sųłiné. She suggests that in that language the perfective includes a “posttime” of the situation time, which is also located in the reference time. During this posttime the situation described by the verb no longer holds. She represents this posttime as (117) (diagram from Wilhelm [2007, 51]; she uses TT for ‘topic time’, equivalent to the term ‘reference time’ used here). (The ‘unmarked perfective’ in (117a) occurs in other languages, not in Dëne Sųłiné.) (117)

Representing posttime a. Unmarked perfective ——[TT-{TSit———}-]—————> b. Dëne completive perfective ——[TT-{TSit———} ++++++]—————>

It is appropriate to describe the Upper Tanana perfective in the same fashion. Perfective forms indicate, just as they do in Dëne Sųłiné, that the reference time includes a posttime, where the situation described in the perfective verb no longer holds: the speaker’s mother in (116a) has not been a small child in many decades, and construction of the cabin in (116d) has been completed for more than half a century. It is the presence of this posttime that yields the completive meaning illustrated in the perfective verb forms in (118), but absent in their imperfective counterparts in (119). (118) a. … jiyh ehtsįį. (N) jiyh eh-tsįį mitten 3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV ‘she made mittens.’ UTOLAF15May0501:211 b. Łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ hiiyįhmbiah tatxol ch’a’. (N) łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ hiiy-įh-mbiah all 3PL.S>3PL.O-AA.PFV:H-boil:PFV tat-xol ch’a’ 3PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:D-break:FUT:NOM AVERT ‘They boiled all [the eggs] so they wouldn’t break.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:060

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

99

c. Ay eł danįįshyah tl’aan: (T) ay eł da-nįį-shyah tl’aan and and in-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV and ‘And she went inside and:’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:065 (119) a. K’įįy’ tth’aagn’ aktsayh. (N) k’įįy’ tth’aagn’ ak-tsayh birch basket:POSS 1SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-make.SG.O:IPV ‘I’m making a birch basket.’ UTOLVDN07Jun1927:003 b. Roy ts’iit ehmbiah. (N) Roy ts’iit eh-mbiah Roy porcupine 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-cook:IPV ‘Roy is cooking porcupine.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2002-001 c. Tsǫǫ, “Danįįhaay,” yehnih. (T) tsǫǫ da-nįį-haayh grandmother in-N.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-SG.go:IPV:IMP y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘The grandmother, “Come in,” she said to her.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:062 When applied to verb themes belonging to telic verb theme categories, the perfective entails that the natural completion point of the event was reached. Thus the conversive verb theme in (118a) only allows a completive interpretation; a continuation of ‘but she’s not quite done making the mittens’ is not possible. (119a), on the other hand, describes what the speaker is doing at the moment, while holding an unfinished birch basket in her hands. In the motion verb theme in (118c) the subject has come all the way inside (rather than stopping at the entrance), while (119c) is what one calls to invite someone in. When the verb theme belongs to an atelic verb theme category, the perfective entails that the event is terminated. (118b), illustrating an operative verb theme, describes the process of boiling eggs for transport. This suggests the existence of a natural completion point: the point when the eggs become hard-boiled. Yet this sentence is compatible with the continuation “but they’re still a little soft,” where this end point is not reached, and not compatible with the continuation “but they left them in the pot over the fire for another while.” The meaning contributed by the perfective viewpoint is that

100

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

the cooking event is completed; the degree to which the eggs are cooked is not relevant. (119b), on the other hand, was uttered when the speaker showed me a pot of porcupine cooking over the fire; the speaker commented that it was not quite done. Due to this completive entailment, the perfective is a closed viewpoint. As a consequence, a sequence of verbs in the perfective is interpreted as a sequence of events and an interpretation of these events as taking place simultaneously is not permitted (120). (120) a. Ay dhakday eh hanuhshyign’ tüh sdzina’altth’ät. (N) ay dhak-day eh ha-n-uh-shyign’ and DH.PFV:1SG.S:H-shoot:PFV:NOM and ADJ-MED-AR-down:ALL tüh sdzina-al-tth’ät over down.over.edge-3SG.S:AA.PFV:L-AO:fall:PFV ‘And I shot and it tumbled down the slope over the edge.’ UTOLAF09Aug12:028 b. Tthan’ teeshyaay eh ts’oo, ts’oo daatagn ǫǫ dineh gaay hayihtįį, ‹inach’ehdlǫǫ›. (T) tthan’ tee-shyay waterward:ALL 3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV:NOM eh ts’oo ts’oo daatagn ǫǫ dineh and spruce spruce between out:ABL boy gaay ha-y-įh-tįį small out-3SG.S>3SG.O-AA.PFV:H-handle.AO:PFV i-na-ch’eh-dlǫǫ 3SG.S>3SG.P-around-INDF.O:DH.PFV:H-wrap:PFV ‘She went waterward and took that little boy out from between spruce trees and wrapped him up.’ UTOLAF13May2403:060 7.1.1.2. Durativity The perfective is compatible with durative adverbials such as niithoo ‘for a long time’ (121a, b), provided that the verb theme is durative (see chap. 6). Even when no overt adverbial is present, the perfective allows a durative interpretation; for example, when the verb theme n+Ø+haał ‘spend night’ is combined with a numeral n, the resulting interpretation is ‘spend n nights’ (121c). Note that the completive entailment is still present; the girl in (121a) eventually concludes her stay; the children in (121b) reach maturity; and after the second night is over (121c) a new episode of the story begins.

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

101

(121) a. Nithoo t’eey hu’eh įįda’. (N) niithoo t’eey hu-eh įį-da’ long.time ADVZR 3PL.P-with 3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-SG.sit:PFV ‘She stayed with them for a long time.’ UTOLAF15May0501:189 b. … hihneeshyąą nihthoo eł. (T) h-nee-shyąą nihthoo eł 3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-grow.up:PFV long.time and ‘… they grew up for a long time.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:005 c. Łaakaay neehaal eh. (T) łaakay nee-haal eh two 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-spend.night:PFV:NOM and ‘She spent two nights.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:061 7.1.2. Imperfective viewpoint The imperfective contrasts with the perfective both morphologically and semantically. Morphologically the imperfective is characterized by imperfective stems and imperfective prefix morphology in active verb themes. Neuter verb themes use perfective prefix morphology in both the imperfective and the perfective viewpoints; here the two viewpoint aspects are distinguished by stem shape and conjugation marker (see vol. 1, chap. 25 for more discussion). 7.1.2.1. Open viewpoint Unlike the perfective, imperfective verb forms are compatible with noncompletive interpretations ([122]; see also the discussion of [118] and [119] in sec. 7.1.1). This means that the imperfective is an open viewpoint. (122) a. Tuuthäł ehtsįį. (N) tuuthäł eh-tsįį soup 3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV ‘He made soup [it is ready to eat].’ b. Tuuthäł ehtsayh. (N) tuuthäł eh-tsayh soup 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-make.SG.O:IPV ‘He is making soup [it is not ready].’

UT Notebook #1, p. 33

UT Notebook #1, p. 33

102

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

While the use of the perfective in (122a) requires that the soup be finished, the imperfective in (122b) does not have this requirement and thus hides the endpoint of the situation described in the verb constellation. Importantly, the imperfective does not entail that the event is still ongoing. (123a) is taken from a narrative about the history of Northway, which was moved to its current location in the mid-twentieth century. Although the verb form ehtsay is imperfective, the house has by now been completed and is still being lived in. (123b) describes a sequence of events: the addressee has to complete arriving at the rock before she can poke it with a stick. (123) a. Shyah ehtsay… (N) shyah eh-tsay house 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-build:IPV:NOM ‘He built the house…’

UTCBVDN13Nov0804:040

b. “Nah’aat dichinh dhaktaan eł mbaa ninįįhaayh tl’aan mbijįįshyiił,” yehnih. (T) nah-’aat dichinh dhak-taan MED-outside:PNCT stick DH.PFV:1SG.S:H-keep.LRO:IPV:NOM eł mb-aa ni-nįį-haayh and 3SG.P-for TERM-N.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-SG.go:IPV tl’aan mb-i-jįį-shyiił and 3SG.P-PP-INDF.O:QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-poke:IPV y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“I have a stick out there, go to [the rock] and poke it [with the stick],” she said to her.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:498 As an open viewpoint, the imperfective can express backgrounded (124) or simultaneous (125) events. (124) a. Ts’iiniin itsüh nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey daadeh eh teeshyah… (N) ts’iiniin i-tsüh nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey d-aadeh child 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-cry:IPV and even REFL.PSR-older.sister eh tee-shyah with 3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV ‘The child was crying but she started to go with her older sister…’ UTOLAF15May0501:026

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

103

b. … ikah natedaagn eł yudih’ąą… (T) i-kah na-te-daagn eł 3SG.S>3SG.P-for PRMB-INC:Ø.IPV-D.SG.go:IPV:CUST:NOM and y-u-dih-’ąą 3SG.S>3SG.O-CON-QUAL:I.PFV:H-find.CO:PFV ‘… she was walking around looking for him and found him…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:013 (125) a. Uts’iniin’ du’ etsaa hiiyneh’įh. (T) u-ts’iiniin’ du’ e-tsaa 3SG.PSR-child:POSS CT 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-cry:IPV:NOM hiiy-n-eh-’įh 3PL.S>3SG.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-look:IPV ‘They looked at her baby which was crying.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:027 b. Agntthäł nts’ą̈ ’ uu’akdiih. (N) agn-tthäł nts’ą̈ ’ uu-ak-diih AA.IPV:1SG.S:L-run:IPV and CON-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-shoot:IPV UTOLAF09Aug1201:027 ‘I’m running and shooting at it.’ 7.1.2.2. Durativity The imperfective describes situations where the reference time is located within the situation time. This requires the situation time to be an interval rather than a point (Smith 1991, 389); or, as Wilhelm (2007, 36–37) puts it, it requires the situation to be durative. Indeed, as has been observed already by Kari (1979) for Ahtna, the imperfective in active verb themes is largely restricted to the operative, successive, and conversive verb theme categories, all of which are durative. In punctual verb themes, such as the primary derivation of motion verbs and semelfactive successive verbs, the imperfective in main clauses is restricted to imperatives. Its occurrence in nonimperative main clauses can thus be used as a diagnostic for inherent durativity of verb themes; see chapter 6. Due to its durative meaning, the imperfective is compatible with durative adverbs such as those in (126). (126) a. Eh hǫǫ’t’eey ihsäł. (N) eh hǫǫ’t’eey ih-säł and still Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-holler:IPV ‘And I was still hollering.’

UTOLAF09Aug1202:034

104

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. Nithoo t’eey nahdog ddhał k’it hetsah. (T) nithoo t’eey nah-dog ddhał k’it long.time ADVZR PROX-uphill:AR mountain on he-tsah 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-cry:IPV ‘For a long time they cried up there on the mountain.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:035 c. Ch’idia’ gaay du’ tädn uudi::h naxat ch’itay neh’įh. (N) ch’-dia’ gaay du’ tädn uudih naxat ch’itay INDF.PSR-younger.sister small CT all.night.long that old.man neh-’įh 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-watch:IPV ‘The younger sister watched that old man all night long.’ UTOLAF15May0501:048

7.1.3. Neutral viewpoint Following Smith (1991) in her discussion of Navajo, I suggest that Upper Tanana has a neutral viewpoint that contrasts with the perfective and the imperfective.² Smith (1991, 119–23) defines the neutral viewpoint as “aspectually vague”, neither perfective nor imperfective, and thus compatible with closed or open interpretations. The neutral viewpoint in Upper Tanana is used in the future and optative, where the distinction between perfective and imperfective does not apply. In Navajo the neutral viewpoint also occurs with all verb forms in the neuter stem aspect (Smith 1991, 420). In Upper Tanana verb themes in the neuter stem aspect distinguish imperfective and perfective viewpoint; in those themes also the neutral viewpoint occurs only in the future and optative. 7.1.3.1. Open and closed The neutral viewpoint is compatible with open as well as with closed interpretations. (127a) contains two optative verb forms that have to be interpreted sequentially; at least the first one thus requires a closed interpretation.³ The first optative form in (127b) is better interpreted as open, since the two events take place simultaneously.

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

105

(127) a. “Maa ni’uhshya’ nts’ą̈ ’ nok-’įį,” nih. (N) m-aa ni-uh-shya’ nts’ą̈ ’ 3SG.P-for TERM-OPT:1SG.S:Ø-SG.go:OPT and nok-’įį nih QUAL:OPT:1SG.S:H-see:OPT say:IPV ‘“I want to go to it and see,” he said.’ UTOLAF09Aug12:049 b. Ch’idia’ ‹nih› “Nagąą’ts’inulshyee’ ts’uhchuud!” (T) ch’-dia’ nih INDF.PSR-younger.sister say:IPV na-gąą’-ts’-nul-shyee’ PRMB-arm-1PL.S-QUAL:OPT:L-move.PL.O:OPT ts’uh-chuud 1PL.S:CON:OPT:H-grab:OPT ‘The younger sister said, “Let’s run [after the butterfly] and [try to] grab it!”’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:096 The same is true for the future. (128a) describes a possible sequence of events, which suggests a closed interpretation. (128b) describes simultaneous events; thus an open interpretation of the future forms is required. (128) a. … ut’ahkitdagnthäł nts’ą̈ ’ uküh tagntth’äł. (N) u-t’a-ki-t-dagn-thäł nts’ą̈ ’ 3SG.P-catching.on-foot-INC-QUAL:AA.IPV:1SG.S:L-catch:FUT and u-küh tagn-tth’äł 3SG.P-beside INC:AA.IPV:1SG.S:L-AO.fall:FUT ‘… I will catch my foot on it and fall next to it.’ UTOLAF12Jul1201:017 b. Ay tl’aan eł ch’ihtahxał nts’ą’ ch’ihtaldzüh. (T) ay tl’aan eł ch’-h-tah-xał nts’ą’ and.then and INDF.O-3PL.S-INC:AA.IPV:H-drum:FUT and ch’-h-tal-dzüh INDF-3PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:L-dance:FUT ‘And then they will drum and dance.’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:008 7.1.3.2. Durativity The neutral viewpoint is compatible with durative (129a), stative (129b), and punctual (129c) situations.

106

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(129) a. Kee, kenchoł, ‹eek› t’eey meh tsaaxąą. (N) kee kenchoł eek t’eey m-eh shoe mukluk vest even 3SG.P-with tsaa-xąą 1PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-make.PL.O:FUT ‘We will make shoes, mukluks, or vests with it.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2001:013 b. “Ena’ hǫǫ’t’eey uute’,” yehnih. (T) ena’ hǫǫ’t’eey uu-te’ y-eh-nih no still 3SG.S:OPT:Ø-SG.sleep:OPT 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“No, let her sleep some more!” he said to her.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:112 c. “Nąą! Ashyig neekąy’ iin hihdelxoo nts’ą’ tsuudeel!” (T) nąą a-shyig nee-kąy’ iin mother NTRL-down:ALL 1PL.PSR-husband PL hih-del-xoo nts’ą’ tsuu-deel 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-play:IPV:NOM to 1PL.S:INC:OPT:Ø-PL.go:OPT ‘Mother! Let’s go to our husbands who are playing down there!’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:010 7.2. Superaspect The term “superaspect” describes derivational strings that “combine (…) with other aspectual derivational strings to form compound aspects” (Kari 1979, 30). Dene languages differ with respect to their number of superaspects. Kari (1979, 59) lists five superaspects for Ahtna: customary, progressive, errative, distributive, and distributive-customary. Axelrod (1993, xi) additionally lists the multiple in Koyukon. Rice (1989, 799–800), who uses the term “compounding aspect” rather than superaspect in her description of Slave, identifies the progressive, the customary, the distributive, the multiple, and the customary distributive. As discussed in volume 1, chapter 24, Upper Tanana has five superaspects: the customary, the progressive, the distributive, the distributive-customary, and the errative. Of these, only the first two are productive; the description here is limited to the semantics of the productive superaspects.

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

107

7.2.1. Customary The customary is characterized by (Ø, aa) conjugation markers and its own stem suffixation formula. As discussed in volume 1, chapter 25 and illustrated in (130), it is compatible with all stem aspects and verb theme categories. (130) a. Dziin uudi::h hugn dzeltth’iik… (N) dziin uudih hugn dzel-tth’iik all.day there 1PL.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-PL.stay:NEUT:IPV:CUST ‘All day long we would stay there…’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:050 b. Tsät įį’eh tat’eey nihdiłeek. (N) tsät įį’eh tat’eey wood also also ni-h-di-łeek TERM-3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:MOM:IPV:CUST ‘They would also bring wood.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:020 c. Christmas time tah nihts’įįł nats’i’iił… (N) Christmas time tah nihts’įįł Christmas time when muskrat.candy na-ts’i-’iił IT-1PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-eat:DUR:IPV:CUST ‘During Christmas we would always eat muskrat candy…’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:031 d. Shta’ chih k’įį eł t’eey hu mboh ehtsiik shchil iin xah. (T) sh-ta’ chih k’įį eł t’eey hu mboh 1SG.PSR-father too willow with ADVZR ? toboggan eh-tsiik sh-chil 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-make.SG.O:CONC:IPV:CUST 1SG.PSR-younger.brother iin xah PL for ‘My father would make toboggans with willow for my younger brothers.’ UTOLAF09Jun2901:004 e. Dzii::n uudih t’eey huh dzelxuu… (T) dziin uudih t’eey huh dzel-xuu all.day ADVZR ? 1PL.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-play:REP₁:IPV:CUST ‘All day long we would play…’ UTOLAF09Jun2901:012

108

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

The customary is compatible with all viewpoints, although the imperfective (the viewpoint in all forms in [130]) is by far the most common. The first verb in (131a) illustrates the customary in the perfective. The second verb in (131a) and the first verb in (131b) illustrate the customary in the neutral viewpoint (negative future). (131c) illustrates the customary in the optative (also neutral viewpoint). (131) a. Naltsiin iin at-tl’uuk niign k’at’eey ch’ishyoon iin hǫǫ’ htat-tl’uugn. (T) Naltsiin iin at-tl’uuk niign k’at’eey Naltsiin PL 3PL.S:AA.PFV:D-be.dressed:PFV:CUST the.way NEG ch’ishyoon iin hǫǫ’ htat-tl’uugn other PL thus 3PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:D-be.dressed:FUT:CUST:NEG ‘The way that the Naltsiin clan members dress, others may not dress in this way.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:152 b. Ena’, shnąą iin shta’ hǫǫ’ k’a tsaadįįgn neeheniik. (T) ena’ sh-nąą iin sh-ta’ no 1SG.PSR-mother PL 1SG.PSR-father hǫǫ’ k’a tsaa-dįįgn thus NEG 1PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-do:FUT:CUST:NEG nee-he-niik 1PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV:CUST ‘No, my mother and father always told us that we may never do this.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:276 c. Hah’än’ sǫ’ shyüh tah natǫǫdaag! (T) hah-’än’ sǫ’ shyüh tah NTRL-out:ALL PROH snow among na-tǫǫ-daag PRMB-INC:OPT:2SG.S-D.SG.go:OPT:CUST ‘Don’t (generally) walk around outside into the snow!’ UTOLAFMay0807:055 (130, 131) demonstrate that the customary indicates that the event expressed by the verb theme habitually or always takes place. It may also express that the event takes place continuously over a relatively short period of time, such as a single night in (132).

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

109

(132) Ts’exeh gaay naynel’iik chih ts’at t’aat. (T) ts’exeh gaay na-y-nel-’iik chih ts’at girl IT-3SG.S>3SG.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-watch:IPV:CUST also blanket t’aat under ‘The girl also kept watching him from under her blanket.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:104 In negative forms (131a, 131b, 133), it indicates that the event never takes place. (This is responsible for the absence of an adverb with the meaning ‘never’.) (133) a. Shta’ k’at’eey neets’ą̈ ’ ts’anii’elt’eegn. (N) sh-ta’ k’at’eey nee-ts’ą̈ ’ 1SG.PSR-father NEG 1PL.P-toward ts’a-nii-el-t’eegn angry-mind-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:L-be.angry:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘My father never got mad at us.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:010 b. Jan ch’a tsąą ts’ą’ t’eey hutshyaak t’oot’eey k’a hǫǫt’eey ts’eniign. (T) jan ch’a tsąą ts’ą’ t’eey hut-shyaak t’oot’eey k’a here FOC funny ADVZR AR.S:DH.PFV:D-happen:PFV but NEG hǫǫ’t’eey ts’e-niign still 1PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘A funny thing happened there, but we never told anyone.’ UTOLAF09Jun2902:020 c. K’at’eey ts’uneh’iign diht’eh. (T) k’at’eey ts’-hu-neh-’iign diht’eh NEG 1PL.S-AR.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-see:IPV:CUST:NEG 1:ASRT ‘We had never seen anything like [the road].’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:149 7.2.2. Progressive The status of the progressive in the aspectual system of Dene languages varies significantly. In Navajo the progressive is usually treated as a “mode” (Midgette 1996) or viewpoint aspect (Smith 1991); it thus complements the perfective and imperfective. In his study of Ahtna verb theme categories, Kari (1979, 98) includes the progressive as a superaspect, while he treats it as an aspect

110

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(stem aspect in the terminology used in the present grammar) in the Ahtna Athabaskan Dictionary (Kari 1990, 52). Axelrod (1993) treats the Koyukon progressive as a superaspect, as does Rice (1989, 887) for Slave. I treat it here, somewhat hesitantly, as a superaspect.⁴ In Upper Tanana the progressive is restricted to motion themes and occurs almost exclusively in the imperfective (a few exceptions are described toward the end of this section). In this respect, Upper Tanana differs from languages like Slave, in which the progressive may occur in all modes (Rice 1989, 818–20). It is formally characterized by an aa-conjugation prefix, the Ø-imperfective prefix, and a progressive stem. Most instances of the progressive occur in primary derivations of motion themes (134a, b). The progressive also occurs relatively frequently in reversative derivations (134c). In other derivations of motion themes, the progressive is rather rare (134d, e). (134) a. Udzih taanuu nts’ą̈ ’ aahaał. (N) udzih taanuu nts’ą̈ ’ aa-haał caribou island to 3SG.S:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.go:IPV:PROG ‘The caribou is walking towards the island.’ UTOLVDN13May1903:011 b. … noo’ tah aambeeł nts’ą’. (T) noo tah aa-mbeeł nts’ą’ out:ALL among 3SG.S:AA.IPV:Ø-swim:IPV:PROG and ‘… he swam way out [into the open ocean].’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:046 c. Deeł hadogn sts’akenaat’ah… (T) deeł ha-dogn crane NTRL-up.vertically:AR sts’ake-naa-t’ah around.circle-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.fly:IPV:PROG ‘The crane was circling overhead…’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:020 d. Da’ tayahteeł… (N) da’ ta-y-ah-teeł downriver:ALL water-3SG.S>3SG.O-AA.IPV:H-handle.AO:IPV:PROG ‘The water was carrying her along…’ UTOLAF12Jul1201:041

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

111

e. … dǫǫ naa’aadaał. (N) dǫǫ na-na-aa-daał up:ABL down-IT-3SG.S:AA.IPV-D:SG.go:IPV:PROG ‘… he was coming back down from up there.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:072 The progressive focuses on the internal stages of an event, thus allowing speakers to present motion events as ongoing. It introduces durativity into a verb theme category whose primary aspect is punctual (see chap. 6.2.5). Its durability can be demonstrated with its compatibility with durative adverbs (135). (135) a. Hǫǫ’t’eey atdüh ich’a’. (T) hǫǫ’t’eey at-düh i-ch’a’ still 3SG.S:AA.IPV:D-animal.run:IPV:PROG 3SG.S>3SG.P-from ‘[The fox] was still running away from him.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:397 b. Nithoo’ t’eey tthan’ haadał. (T) nithoo’ t’eey tthan’ haa-dał long.time ADVZR waterward:ALL 3PL.S:AA.IPV:Ø-PL.go:IPV:PROG ‘For a long time they were walking down.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1101:040 The progressive hides the endpoint of a motion event. The endpoint is implied but not entailed, since it can be canceled. In line 1 of the textual example (136), Raven and Swan Woman take off toward the south. The verb form is in the inceptive momentaneous derivation; the destination is expressed by the adverbial noo’ ‘ahead:ALL’. The two progressive verb forms in line 2 indicate that they are traveling a long way south (the destination is not overtly expressed here) before Raven falls into the ocean in line 3, thus never reaching the intended endpoint of the journey. (136)

Excerpt: UTOLAF08Feb1902:011–13 (N) 1. Noo’ nahtnetdeel eh ti’atnak. noo’ na-h-tnet-deel eh ahead:ALL IT-3PL.S-INC:QUAL:DH.PFV:D-PL.fly:PFV:NOM and ti-at-nak tired-3SG.S:AA.PFV:D-get.tired:PFV ‘They started to fly back south and [Raven] got very tired.’

112

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS 2. Nahnatdäł nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey nahnatdäl. na-h-nat-däł nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey IT-3PL.S-QUAL:AA.IPV:D-PL.fly:IPV:PROG and na-h-nat-däl IT-3PL.S-QUAL:AA.IPV:D-PL.fly:IPV:PROG:NOM ‘They were flying and flying.’ 3. Mänh cho::h shyiit tat’adalnay… mänh choh shyiit ocean in ta-t’a-dal-nay into.water-stumble-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:L-AO.fall:PFV:NOM ‘He fell into the ocean…’

Even though the endpoint can be canceled, the progressive is compatible with overt destinations (137). (137) a. … noo’ tah aambeeł nts’ą’. (T) tah aa-mbeeł nts’ą’ noo’ into.open:ALL among 3SG.S:AA.IPV:Ø-swim:IPV:PROG and ‘… he was swimming out into the open.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:046 b. Taamaagn nts’ą̈ ’ ihkeeł. (N) taamaagn nts’ą̈ ’ ih-keeł shore to AA.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-go.by.boat:IPV:PROG ‘I’m boating towards the shore.’ UTOLAF15Dec0705:006 c. Duhnoo’ uts’ą̈ ’ ihhaał… (N) d-uh-noo’ u-ts’ą̈ ’ ih-haał PROX-AR-ahead:ALL 3SG.P-to AA.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-SG.go:IPV:PROG ‘I am walking a little ways towards him…’ UTOLVDN13May2004:069 The underlying atelicity of the progressive is likely responsible for the fact that it only rarely cooccurs with momentaneous prefix strings specifying an endpoint, but see (134e) for an exception. Even though the progressive is generally limited to the imperfective, there are a handful of examples where it occurs in a different mode: in the optative in (138a, b), and in the negative perfective in (138c). In these cases a progressive stem is combined with the optative and negative perfective prefix, respectively.

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

113

(138) a. “Dii xah manh tthidįįduuh, ǫǫhaal,” yehnih. (T) dii xah manh tthi-dįį-duuh why lake out-QUAL:AA.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-crawl:PFV ǫǫ-haal y-eh-nih OPT:2SG.S:Ø-SG.go:OPT:PROG 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“Why did you crawl out to the lake, you should be walking,” he said to him.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:086 b. … jah nihǫǫłeeł de’, nih. (S) jah ni-hǫǫ-łeeł de’ nih here TERM-3PL.O:OPT:2SG.S:Ø-handle:PL.O:OPT:PROG UR say:IPV ‘… make sure you SG bring them back here, he said.’ ANLC4122a-191 c. Negn’ tah teedeeł k’a tąy ts’eeg k’it hiidal. (T) negn’ tah tee-deeł k’a tąy upland:ALL among 3PL.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV NEG trail ts’eeg k’it hii-dal narrow on 3PL.S:NEG.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV:PROG:NEG ‘They started walking upland, they didn’t walk on the wide trail.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:014 In these examples, like in all others, the progressive contributes a durative, atelic meaning. 7.3. Subsituation aspect I choose the term “subsituation aspect” (Rice 2000b, 160) over the term “nonaspectual derivation” coined by Kari (1979, 28), since this set of derivations modifies the temporal structure expressed by the verb theme. Kari’s term was chosen in contrast to “aspectual derivation,” that is, derivations that affect the stem aspect of a verb theme. Subsituation aspect does not affect stem variation.⁵ There are several subsituation aspectual strings, but only the inceptive perfective seems to be productive in Upper Tanana. All subsituation aspects contain a qualifier from position 5 of the verbal template. 7.3.1. Inceptive perfective The inceptive perfective subsituation aspect can apply to all active verb themes. In its unrestricted applicability, the inceptive perfective is reminiscent of the

114

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

customary superaspect, but it lacks the characteristic stem variation of a superaspect (see 7.2); instead, the inceptive perfective always uses the same stem as the regular perfective of the verb theme. It consists of the inceptive prefix t-, the dh-conjugation marker, and a perfective stem. It differs from the inceptive momentaneous aspectual derivation described in section 6.2.5.1 in two respects: 1. The inceptive perfective can apply to any verb theme category, while the inceptive momentaneous is restricted to primary verb themes in the motion verb theme category 2. The inceptive perfective occurs is restricted to the perfective, while the inceptive momentaneous may occur in the imperfective, perfective, future, or optative. The inceptive perfective has four major functions: focusing on the starting point of an event, focusing on the preparatory stages prior to the starting point, expressing the immediate future, and expressing that an event was attempted but failed. The last two functions are somewhat modal in nature. 7.3.1.1. Starting point The inceptive perfective is used to express the transition into a state (139a) or event (139b, c). (139) a. Ay tl’aan dziiteh’ah. (T) ay tl’aan dzii-teh-’ah and then hearing-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:H-extend.LIN.O:PFV ‘And then he began to listen.’ (lit. ‘And then he began to extend his hearing in a linear way.’) UTOLVDN13May2907:118 b. Ay tl’aan ts’exeh noo teltthät. (N) ay tl’aan ts’exeh noo tel-tthät and then girl ahead:ALL 3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:L-SG.run:PFV ‘And then that girl started running ahead.’ UTOLAF15May0501:119 c. Jahxan didia’ iteembaak. (T) jahxan d-dia’ i-tee-mbaak suddenly REFL.PSR-younger.sister PP-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-fight:PFV ‘Suddenly she began to fight her younger sister.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:167

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

115

With this meaning, the inceptive perfective is incompatible with durative adverbials; this suggests that it is punctual. It also has a natural completion point, which is reached when the subject is listening (139a), running toward the hills (139b), or fighting (139c). Wilhelm (2007, 111) shows that in Dëne Sųłiné, verb themes in the inceptive perfective (which is very rare in that language) pattern like achievements. It appears that the same is true for Upper Tanana. 7.3.1.2. Focusing on preparatory stages The inceptive perfective frequently focuses on the preparatory stages of an event, with the meaning ‘to be about to, get ready to’ (140). (140) a. Shta’ chih t’axoh tay’ staatetshyah natelsüü xah. (N) sh-ta’ chih t’axoh tay’ 1SG.PSR-father also finally again sta-na-tet-shyah away-IT-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:D-SG.go:IPV na-tel-süü xah PRMB-3SG.S:INC:Ø.IPV:L-hunt:IPV PURP ‘My father quickly got ready to go out again to go hunting.’ UTOLAF08Feb1906:007 b. Shnąą uts’iiniin uteełe’. (N) sh-nąą u-ts’iiniin hu-tee-łe’ 1SG.PSR-mother 3SG.PSR-baby AR.S-INC:DH.PFV:Ø–be:PFV ‘My mother was about to have her baby.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:049 c. Nachee’aal eh ashyign’ tth’aak shyiit łįį naagn’ eedlah. (N) na-chee-’aal eh a-shyign’ IT-3SG.S>INDF.O:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-eat:PFV:NOM and NTRL-down:ALL tth’aak shyiit łįį naagn’ ee-dlah plate in dog eye 3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV ‘She was about to eat and then down there in her plate there were dogs’ eyes.’ UTOLAF15May0501:040 Crucially, the inceptive perfective does not entail that the starting point of the event is reached. It is reached in (140a), where the father does leave to go hunting, and in (140b), where the mother did have the baby, but the girl in (140c) refuses to start eating after discovering dogs’ eyes in her plate.

116

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

7.3.1.3. Future time reference Somewhat related to this last use, the inceptive perfective can be used to express an immediate future, which contrasts (or possibly overlaps) with the future discussed in chapter 8.2. The difference between the forms is somewhat elusive in elicitation, but sentence pairs like those in (141) suggest that the future form in (141a) is a more remote future, while the inceptive perfective form in (141b) is an immediate future. Thus the adverbial tädn de’ has to be interpreted as ‘tonight’ in conjunction with the inceptive perfective (141b), but can be translated as ‘in the evening (of any day in the future)’ or as ‘tonight’ in conjunction with the future (141a). (141) a. Tädn de’ Caleb shyi’ taht’ia. (N) tädn de’ Caleb shyi’ tah-t’ia night when:FUT Caleb meat 3SG.S:INC:AA.IPV:H-fry:FUT ‘In the evening/tonight Caleb will fry meat.’ UT Notebook #4, p. 25 b. Tädn de’ Caleb shyi’ teht’ia. (N) tädn de’ Caleb shyi’ teh-t’ia night when:FUT Caleb meat 3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:H-fry:PFV ‘Tonight Caleb is going to fry meat.’ UT Notebook #4, p. 25 Turning to naturalistic speech, it generally appears that the inceptive perfective is used for more immediate contexts where there is considerable certainty of an event’s actualization.⁶ This immediacy is clear in (142a), where (part of ) the process of arriving at a campsite is described. In (142b) the speaker worries about the imminent loss of her traditional language and culture; while this loss is not immediate as long as there are elders and learners, it certainly is a possibility at the moment. (142c) comes from a text where the speaker talks about the first white man he ever encountered; again, the not-forgetting is not in the immediate future, but it appears to be certain. (142) a. Jah nantsee’aal ha’įįdlah. (N) jah na-ntsee-’aal here IT-DSTR:1PL.S>INDF.O:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-eat:PFV:NOM ha-įį-dlah out-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-handle.PL.O:PFV ‘Here she took out what we were going to eat.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:021

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

117

b. Hehteek tah ch’ehłiik hehtsay ay chih ch’a muteeshyaagn… (N) heh-teek tah ch’ehłiik 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-SG.die:IPV:CUST when song heh-tsay ay chih ch’a 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-make.SG.O:IPV:NOM 3SG too FOC m-uu-tee-shyaagn 3SG.P-CON-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-happen:PFV:NOM ‘When they die, they would make a song; this also will disappear soon…’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:127 c. K’at’eey mbaa hitidhagndaa, nsüü eh t’eey shtl’a’įįdlah. (T) k’at’eey mb-aa hi-t-dhagn-ndaa nsüü NEG 3SG.P-for ?-INC-DH.PFV:1SG.S:L-forget:PFV:NEG money eh t’eey sh-tl’a-įį-dlah with ADVZR 1SG.P-to-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-handle.PL.O:PFV ‘I’m not going to forget him, he gave me money.’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:033 7.3.1.4. Attempt (and fail) The focus on the preparatory stages of an event gives rise to another interpretation of the inceptive perfective: that of an event almost taking place (143); this meaning can be strengthened by the adverb k’ahjil ‘almost’ (143b). (143) a. T’axoh teetsee. (T) t’axoh tee-tsee finally 3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-cry:PFV ‘She almost cried.’

UTOLVDN14Nov2301:149

b. Ay eh k’ahjil sheh nakecheexał. (N) ay eh k’ahjil sh-eh and and almost 1SG.P-with nake-chee-xał over-INDF.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-LRO.move:PFV ‘And [the canoe] almost tipped over with me.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:100 This interpretation in turn gives rise to the interpretation ‘try and fail’ (144).

118

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(144) a. Udzeey shyiit itehday. (N) u-dzeey shyiit i-teh-day 3SG.PSR-heart in 3SG.S>3SG.O-INC:DH.PFV:H-shoot:PFV:NOM ‘He tried to shoot [the bear] in the heart [but hit it in the stomach instead].’ UTOLVDN13May2004:081 b. … uxol’ du’ degn’ tah hiiyuteeniig k’at’eey hiiyuunagn … (T) u-xol’ du’ degn’ tah 3SG.PSR-leg CT up:ALL among hiiy-uu-tee-niig k’at’eey 3SG.S>3SG.O-CON-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-grab:PFV:NOM NEG hiiy-uu-nagn 3SG.S>3SG.O-CON:NEG.PFV:Ø-grab:PFV:NEG ‘… they tried to grab his leg up there [but] they didn’t grab it‥’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:072 This meaning of the inceptive perfective is extremely common, particularly as complement of the verb theme P+i#d+D+nih ‘fail to P’ discussed in chapter 27.1.3.5 (145). (145) Uk’eh kiteeshyay yidetnih. (N) u-k’eh ki-tee-shyaay 3SG.P-following up-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV:NOM y-i-det-nih 3SG.S>3SG.O-PP-QUAL:Ø.IPV:D-fail:PFV ‘He tried and failed to climb up after him.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2701:012 7.3.2. Conative Several prefix strings containing the conative morpheme uu- also derive subsituation aspects. (146a) features the prefix string O+uu (?, dh) ‘passing by O’; (146b) contains the string O+uu+n (n, n) ‘do at O’. These prefix strings are not very productive. (146) a. … nah’ǫǫ nǫǫgaay du’ tah ii’utdat hǫǫ’t’eey. (T) nah-’ǫǫ nǫǫgaay du’ tah MED-outside:ABL fox CT among ii-ut-dat hǫǫ’t’eey 3SG.S>3SG.O-CON:DH.PFV:D-animal.runs:PFV still ‘…from outside the fox ran by them.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:236

INFLECTIONAL ASPECT

119

b. … shta’ niit ts’anh’ t’eey yunihdak ‹eł›. (T) sh-ta’ niit ts’anh t’eey 1SG.PSR-father waterwards:PNCT from ADVZR y-uu-nih-dak eł 3SG.S>3SG.O-CON-QUAL:N.PFV:H-shoot:PFV and ‘… my father shot at [the bear] from back there.’ UTOLAF09Jun2201:013 There are insufficient examples of these prefix strings to allow semantic analysis of the resulting subsituation aspects. 7.4. Summary Upper Tanana distinguishes three viewpoint aspects: imperfective, perfective, and neutral. Additionally, there are superaspectual derivations which may combine with aspectual derivations; in Upper Tanana, these are the customary and the progressive. Finally, there are subsituation aspects that are formally marked by qualifiers; of these, only the inceptive perfective appears to be productive in Upper Tanana. Notes 1. I use the term “completion” in the sense of Comrie’s (1976, 18) “complete,” indicating that the situation is terminated but not focusing specifically on the end of the situation. I strictly distinguish “completeness” from “telicity”; see also chap. 6. 2. This neutral viewpoint is distinct from the neuter verb theme category (and the neuter stem aspect required by neuter verb themes), which, as discussed in chap. 6, might be more appropriately labeled “stative”. 3. A reviewer suggested that a simultaneous interpretation would be possible here, with the looking event overlapping with the (in that interpretation, durative) walking event. This is not a possible interpretation of (127a). The first verb theme is punctual and telic: it focuses on the arrival at a killsite, not on the process of walking there. If the focus was to be placed on simultaneity, then the walking event would have to be made durative, through, for example, the perambulative derivation (similar to [127b]) or the progressive superaspect. In the specific context of (127a) it is not possible to see the item of interest (a killed bear) from where the interlocutors are standing, so the speaker first must go there and only then will be able to see the bear. 4. The hesitation is due to the limited applicability of the progressive in Upper Tanana, as described below.

120

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

5. Kari’s “non-aspectual” derivations also include some operations that are genuinely not concerned with aspect, such as causativation, gender prefixes, or the prefix string chi#ch’+d+L ‘pretend’. These are not discussed in the present chapter, but see vol. 1, chap. 24 for more information. 6. As discussed in sec. 8.2, Upper Tanana Dene are somewhat hesitant to talk about the future and generally avoid making predictions.

8 | Modal inflection Upper Tanana modal inflection consists of the optative and the future. Both express that an event is not actualized; they contrast in this way with the imperfective and perfective viewpoints. The optative has strong deontic meanings of desire, intention, requesting, and permission, while the future has epistemic meanings, in particular certainty and genericity. The question about the status of the optative and future in the verbal system can be answered in two ways: structurally and semantically. Semantically, it is clear from the data presented in sections 8.1 and 8.2 that both encode notions typically associated with cross-linguistic categories subsumed under the label “irrealis” and contrast clearly with the imperfective and perfective viewpoints, both of which encode realis notions (see also fig. 5.1 in sec. 5.3). The structural answer is, however, somewhat more complicated. The optative contrasts morphologically with the perfective and imperfective: optative forms contain the optative prefix u- in the same morphological position as (and mutually exclusive with) the perfective prefix į-, while the imperfective is characterized by the absence of any prefix in that position. Optative stems also differ systematically from perfective and imperfective stems; see volume 1, chapter 26 for details. The optative thus contrasts structurally and semantically with both the perfective and the imperfective. The case of the future lies somewhat differently. Structurally the future is a type of imperfective, characterized by the absence of a “mode” prefix plus the presence of the aa-conjugation marker and the inceptive prefix t-. The future thus bears structural resemblance to the (subsituation aspect) inceptive perfective, which is characterized by the perfective mode prefix, the dhconjugation marker, and the inceptive prefix. Note that these two inflection patterns have semantic commonalities, as both express nonactualized situations (see sec. 7.3.1 for discussion). They additionally share the fact that they can apply to virtually any verb theme. The crucial difference between them is the fact that the inceptive perfective takes the verb theme’s ordinary perfective

122

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

stem, while the future tends to have its own stem variant (see vol. 1, chap. 26). Thus there is some evidence that the future structurally contrasts with the imperfective and is not simply a type of imperfective. The functions of the future—expressing certainty in the eventual actualization of an event as well as generic events—are consistent with its morphological origin as a special imperfective, but as the nonactualization of the event is central to its meaning, I treat it as modal. 8.1. Optative: deontic modality In expressing unactualized events, the optative contrasts semantically with the imperfective and perfective, both of which express events that are about to begin, are ongoing, or are completed. The various functions of the optative are described in the following sections. 8.1.1. Desire One of the most common functions of the optative (and the one that gives it its name) is the expression of desire. Most examples of this have a first-person singular subject (147a, b), but third-person (147c) and indefinite subjects (147d) are also attested. (147) a. “Nuh’eh tuhshya’,” hudihnay. (N) nuh-’eh tuh-shya’ 2PL.P-with INC:OPT:1SG.S:Ø-SG.go:OPT hu-dih-nay 3PL.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-say:IPV:NOM ‘“I want to go with you PL,” I said to them.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:033 b. T’axoh, “Shin, shin duhtth’ag,” nih… (T) t’axoh shin shin duh-tth’ag nih finally 1SG 1SG QUAL:QUAL:OPT:1SG.S:Ø-hear:OPT say:IPV ‘Finally, “I’d like to hear him for myself,” she said…’ UTOLVDN13May2801:048 c. Ne’ sheh natuudaagn! (N) ne’ sh-eh na-tuu-daagn upriver:ALL 1SG.P-with PRMB-3SG.S:INC:OPT-D:SG.go:OPT:CUST ‘I’d like her to come back upriver with me!’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:018

MODAL INFLECTION

123

d. “Shaa nijulthii,” nih. (T) sh-aa ni-jul-thii nih 1SG.P-for TERM-INDF.S:QUAL:OPT:L-miracle.happen:OPT say:IPV ‘“I hope a miracle happens for me,” she said.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:294 In her discussion of modality in Navajo, Willie (1996, 335) points out that one may only make a wish when one really wants the event to take place. She further notes that in that language, “speech is seen as very powerful in bringing about a desired circumstance” (335). In Upper Tanana speech is likewise an important aspect of magic; when a shaman makes a magical wish, it becomes reality. This is articulated explicitly in (148a), where Grandmother Spider teaches the younger sister how to create edible plants, and it is implicit in magical wishes such as when Yamaagn Teeshyaay hides all the weapons or when Wolverine calls the weather (148b, c). (148) a. “Dii uułe’ udįįnih de’ ay taałeeł,” yehnih. (T) dii uu-łe’ u-dįį-nih de’ what 3SG.S:OPT:Ø-be:OPT 3SG.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-say:IPV if ay taa-łeeł y-eh-nih 3SG 3SG.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-be:FUT 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“If you say what it shall be, it is going to be that,” she said to her.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:264 b. “Sǫ’ hiyuduh’aay that tthee too ch’inul’į’,” nih. (T) sǫ’ hiy-u-duh-’aay that tthee too PROH 3SG.S>3SG.O-CON-QUAL:OPT:H-find.CO:OPT that axe too ch’-nul-’į’ nih INDF-3SG.S:QUAL:OPT:L-hide.self:OPT say:IPV ‘“Don’t let them find the stone [axe], it shall remain hidden too,” he said.’ UTOLVDN13May2804:071 c. Ch’itay tinįįmbaak “Hee:::t! Uhshyüü:::h!” (T) ch’itay ti-nįį-mbaak heet uh-shyüüh old.man out-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-fight:PFV ? 3SG.S:OPT:H-snow:OPT ‘The old man came angrily outside, “Heet! Let it snow heavily!” UTOLVDN13May2805:027

124

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

8.1.2. Intention Closely related to the expression of desire is that of intention, also usually in the optative. Speakers usually translate clauses expressing intention with the future (149). (149) a. “Nuhxah tuuthał oktsay,” hu’ehnih. (T) nuh-xah tuuthał ok-tsay 2PL.P-for soup OPT:1SG.S:H-make.SG.O:OPT hu-eh-nih 3PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘I will make soup for you PL,” he said to them.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:020 b. Ay eh, “Shee’eh udokkadn,” iyehnih, ay dzänh. (N) ay eh sh-ee’eh u-dok-kadn and and 1SG.PSR-maternal.uncle CON-QUAL:OPT:1SG.S:H-ask:OPT iy-eh-nih ay dzänh 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV DEM muskrat ‘And then, “I’m going to ask my maternal uncle,” he said to him, that muskrat.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2720:035 c. Jah t’eey niits’uuneey. (N) jah t’eey ni-na-ts’uu-neey here ADVZR TERM-IT-1PL.S:OPT:Ø-move.nomadically:OPT ‘We’ll stop right here.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2601:034 8.1.3. Request formation Although canonical requests employ the imperfective mode (see chap. 15), the optative is involved in the formation of several noncanonical request types: hortatives, polite and urgent requests, third-person requests, and negative requests. When the subject is first-person plural, as in (149c), the resulting clause can be interpreted as an intention or as a hortative. (149c) was translated by the speaker as an intention ‘we’ll stop’, but the examples in (150) were all translated with ‘let’s’, suggesting a hortative interpretation. (150) a. “Ttheh nats’ulshyiiyh,” nih… (T) ttheh na-ts’ul-shyiiyh nih first CONT-1PL.S:OPT:L-rest:OPT say:IPV ‘“Let’s rest first,” she said…’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:111

MODAL INFLECTION

125

b. Ay tl’aan jah “Ch’idänh, ch’idänh mänh dehtaan nts’ą̈ ’ ts’udäł,” henay eh. (N) ay tl’aan jah ch’idänh ch’idänh mänh and.then here different different lake deh-taan nts’ą̈ ’ 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:H-water.lies:IPV:NOM to ts’uu-däł he-nay eh 1PL.S:OPT:Ø-PL.go:OPT 3PL.S:Ø.IPV-say:IPV:NOM and ‘And then, “A different, let’s move to where there’s a different lake,” they said.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:006 The optative also is used in polite second-person requests, such as when addressing another adult (151). (151) a. “Shyiign t’axoh natonshya’,” yehnih. (T) shyiign’ t’axoh na-ton-shya’ down:ALL finally IT-INC:OPT:2SG.S:D-SG.go:OPT y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“It is time for you to go home now,” she said to her.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:098 b. “Nah’aat nan’ k’it shaa k’iinųųttheeł,” yehnih. (T) nah-’aat nan’ k’it sh-aa MED-out:PNCT eart on 1SG.P-for k’ii-nųų-ttheeł y-eh-nih hole-QUAL:OPT:2SG.S:Ø-chop:OPT 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“There on the ground, chop a hole for me,” he said to him.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:134 It is required in urgent second-person requests with the particle de’ (152).¹ (152) a. “… hanteey’ t’eey daa shaa na’unshya’ de’,” yehnih. (N) hanteey’ t’eey daa sh-aa na-un-shya’ de’ quick ADVZR ? 1SG.P-for IT-OPT:2SG.S:D-SG.go:OPT UR y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“… make sure you SG come back quickly for me,” he said to him.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:109

126

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. “Hii’ǫǫndąyh de’,” yehnih. (T) hi-ǫǫ-ndąyh de’ y-eh-nih ?-OPT:2SG.S:Ø-know:OPT UR 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“Make sure you know this,” she said to her.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:100

The optative is used in third-person requests as well (153). In those directives, the addressee is directed to behave in a manner such that the third-person subject can perform the activity expressed by the verb. The addressee may be expressed as a postpositional phrase (for example, nuhxah ‘in a way affecting you PL’ in [153a]), but this is not required (153b). (153) a. Jah duugn łįį iin hanoo’ nuhxah hihuh’üü! (N) jah duugn łįį iin ha-noo’ nuh-xah hereabouts dog PL NTRL-ahead:ALL 2PL.P-for h-huh-’üü 3PL.S-CON:OPT:H-PL.migrate:OPT ‘Let some dogs pass you PL!’ UTOLVDN13May2004:021 b. “Ena’, hǫǫ’t’eey uute’,” yehnih. (T) ena’ hǫǫ’t’eey uu-te’ y-eh-nih no still 3SG.S:OPT:Ø-SG.sleep:OPT 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“No, let her sleep some more,” he said to her.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:112 Negative requests in the second and third person are also formed using the optative plus the prohibitive particle sǫ’ (154). (154) a. Dii sǫ’ sǫ’ jah sǫ’ na’ųų’aal! (N) dii sǫ’ sǫ’ jah sǫ’ na-ųų-’aal this PROH PROH here PROH CONT-OPT:2SG.S:Ø-eat:OPT ‘Don’t PL eat this [type of meat]!’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:063 b. Tl’aan ndia’ gaay sǫ’ sta’uushya’ nuhnaał t’eey. (T) tl’aan n-dia’ gaay sǫ’ and 2SG.PSR-younger.sister small PROH sta-uu-shya’ nuh-naał t’eey away-3SG.S:OPT:Ø-SG.go:OPT 2PL.P-before.eyes ADVZR ‘And don’t let your SG younger sister wander off in front of your PL eyes!’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:052

MODAL INFLECTION

127

8.1.4. Asking for and giving recommendations There are also a few instances of the optative when the speaker asks for advice or recommendations (155). (155) a. Ay huk’aa’ du’, “Nts’aa’ ts’uh’įį neek’aa’ eh,” hinih. (N) ay hu-k’aa’ du’ nts’aa’ ts’uh-’įį and 3PL.PSR-gun:POSS CT how 1PL.S:OPT:H-do:OPT nee-k’aa’ eh hi-nih 1PL.PSR-gun:POSS with 3PL.S:Ø.IPV-say:IPV ‘And about their guns, “What are we going to do with our guns?” they said.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:088 b. T’axoh, “Nts’ąą łaan ch’itay ch’a’ sta’ogntthiit,” nih… (T) t’axoh nts’ąą’ łaan ch’itay ch’a’ sta-ogn-tthiit finally how truly old.man from away-OPT:1SG.S:L-run:OPT nih say:IPV ‘Finally, “How can I get away from this old man,” she said… UTOLVDN14Nov2301:271 The optative is also used when advice or recommendations are given to a third person (156a) or to oneself (156b). Recommendations given to the addressee are indistinguishable from polite requests (see sec. 8.1.3). (156) a. “Shk’eh t’eey duudį’,” nih. (T) sh-k’eh t’eey duu-dį’ nih 1SG.P-like ADVZR 3SG.S:QUAL:OPT:Ø-do:OPT say:IPV ‘“He should do it like me,” he said.’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:061 b. Shyah shyiit ts’änh ts’iguugn choh u’uhniiy. (N) shyah shyiit ts’änh ts’iguugn choh u-uh-niiy house in from fork big CON-OPT:1SG.S:Ø-grab:OPT ‘I should grab a big fork from inside the house.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2002:005 8.1.5. Permission The optative is sometimes used when granting permission (157).

128

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(157) a. Ay shnąą, “Ayt’oo,” nih, “nuh’eh natuudaagn,” hu’ehnih. (N) ay sh-nąą ayt’oo nih and 1SG.PSR-mother OK say:IPV nuh-’eh na-tuu-daagn 2PL.P-with PRMB-3SG.S:INC:OPT-D:SG.go:IPV:CUST:NOM hu-eh-nih 3PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘And my mother, “OK,” she said, “she may go with you PL,” she said to them.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:034 b. Nche’ naa ndüüh de’ ayt’oh nche’ shtl’aa’ǫǫtįį. (N) n-che’ n-aa n-düüh de’ ayt’oh 2SG.PSR-tail 2SG.P-for 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.heavy:IPV if OK n-che’ sh-tl’aa-ǫǫ-tįį 2SG.PSR-tail 1SG.P-to-OPT:2SG.S:Ø-handle.LRO:OPT ‘If your tail is too heavy for you, OK, you can give me your tail.’ UTCBAF14Jun0301:003 Permission also may be granted in the imperfective (158). (158) a. Duka’ än tinįįhaay! (N) duka’ än ti-nįį-haay OK outside:ALL out-N.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-SG.go:IPV ‘OK, you may go outside!’ UTOLAF15May0501:078 b. Unąą du’: “T’axoh, hah’ogn dįlxoh k’ahdu’ t’eey,” yehnih. (T) u-nąą du’ t’axoh hah-’ogn 3SG:PSR-mother CT finally NTRL-outside:AR dįl-xoh k’ahdu’ t’eey QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:L-play:IPV now ADVZR y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘Her mother said to her: “It’s OK, you can play outside now.”’ UTOLAF12Jul0601:020 There appears to be a difference between permissions granted in the imperfective versus in the optative. The imperfective is used when the original request is nothing out of the ordinary (such as to go outside to the bathroom in [158a] or to play outside in [158b]). It may also be that the social distance between the interlocutors plays a role; in both cases, an adult addresses a child. The

MODAL INFLECTION

129

optative seems to be used when permission is granted for more unusual requests, such as when a small girl wants to accompany her older brothers on a canoe trip (157a) or when Muskrat asks his uncle Beaver to swap tails (157b). This is reminiscent of the patterns observed in requesting, where the imperfective is used for unmarked requests while the optative occurs in more onerous or more polite requests (see chap. 15 here or Lovick [2016] for more detail). 8.1.6. Optative in subordinate clauses Finally, the optative is used in certain subordinate clauses. (159a) illustrates its use in a complement clause of the verb theme O+n+Ø+thänh ‘want O’, (159b) in a purpose clause. (159) a. Dineh tleegn uhłe’ shyįį’ t’eey nįįthänh xah lah dįįdąy? (N) dineh tleegn uh-łe’ shyįį’ man rotten OPT:1SG.S:Ø-be:OPT only t’eey nįį-thänh xah lah ADVZR QUAL:Ø.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-want:IPV because Q dįį-dąy QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-do:IPV:NOM ‘Are you SG doing this because you want to be a bum?’ UTOLAFMay0807:046 b. Ay eł etsaa:: ch’its’ą’ tsuunaa xah. (T) ay eł e-tsaa ch’itsą’ and 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-cry:IPV elsewhere tsuu-naa xah 1PL.S:OPT:Ø-move.nomadically:OPT PURP ‘And then he cried hard so they would move to a different place.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:035 Note that in both of these constructions, the subject of the subordinate clause is formally in the first person, although it is coreferential with the secondperson (159a) or third-person (159b) subject of the main clause. See chapter 27 for more information on the formation of complement clauses and section 26.8 for more detail on purpose clauses. 8.2. Future: epistemic modality The future contrasts semantically with the imperfective and perfective viewpoints and the optative. Morphologically, the future is a special type of

130

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

imperfective characterized by the presence of the inceptive prefix t-, the aa-conjugation marker, and the future stem variation. Its meanings cluster around two distinct notions: a high degree of confidence in the event’s or state’s eventual actualization, and genericity of the event or state. It thus has mostly epistemic meaning. 8.2.1. Certainty Generally, the future expresses a relatively great degree of confidence in the eventual actualization of the event and is consequently used in predictions (160). (160) a. Łahtthag nts’ą’ hihtaałaa. (T) łahtthag nts’ą’ h-taa-łaa all 3PL.S-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-PL.die:FUT ‘All of them will die.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:016 b. K’at’eey nihtaat’üü. (N) k’at’eey n-h-taa-t’üü NEG 2SG.O-3PL.S-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-cut:FUT:NEG ‘You are not going to get surgery.’ (lit. ‘they are not going to cut you’) UTOLVDN14Apr2602:079 Scollon and Scollon (1981, 20) observe that in Alaskan Dene it is not compatible with the teachings of įįjih to make predictions about oneself, especially regarding plans for the future or hunting luck (see also vol. 1, chap. 4 or Lovick [forthcoming] for discussion). It is vital to avoid being presumptuous about one’s future, and generally preferable to speak very carefully so as not to tempt one’s luck. Not surprisingly, then, predictions such as those in (160) are quite rare and occur in pragmatically marked circumstances. The predicted event in (160a), uttered by a wise woman recognizing the signs, is the punishment for violating įįjih. (160b), uttered by a medical professional, expresses that an anticipated undesirable event is not going to take place. 8.2.1.1. Warnings Reinforced with the assertive marker nt’eh (see sec. 9.1), utterances in the future often express warnings (161). (161) a. K’ahdu’ t’eey jah nitaahaal nt’eh. (N) k’ahdu’ t’eey jah ni-taa-haal nt’eh now ADVZR here TERM-3SG.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.go:FUT:NOM ASRT ‘[The grizzly] is going to come here now for sure.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:068

MODAL INFLECTION

131

b. “Laalil natnatdagn stanuhtaałeel nt’eh,” hu’ehnih. (T) laalil na-tnat-dagn butterfly PRMB-INC:QUAL:2PL.S:D-PL.go:IPV:CUST:NOM sta-nuh-taa-łeel nt’eh away-2PL.O-3SG.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:FUT:NOM ASRT hu-eh-nih 3PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“[If ] you PL follow the butterfly, he will take you PL away for sure,” she said to them.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:005 Here again, the future signals great certainty that the predicted event will take place. 8.2.1.2. Commissives Commissives, i.e., speech acts committing the speaker to a course of action, are always in the future. The promise in (162a) is one that the speaker intends to keep, while the one in (162b) is a false promise— instead of taking the girls back to their home, the speaker intends to kill them. (162) a. “Sǫ’ sǫ’ huxah ts’ihǫǫday, hutnak-’įįł,” hu’ehnih. (T) sǫ’ sǫ’ hu-xah ts’-hǫǫ-day PROH PROH 3PL.P-for PEJ-AR:NEG.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-worry:IPV hu-tnak-’įįł 3PL.O-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:1SG.S:H-look:FUT hu-eh-nih 3PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘Don’t worry about them, I will look after them,” he said to them.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:032 b. K’ahmänn’ de’, k’ahmänn’ de’ nuh’eh tihhaał. (N) k’ahmänn’ de’ k’ahmänn’ de’ nuh-eh morning when:FUT morning when:FUT 2PL.P-with tih-haał INC:AA.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-SG.go:FUT ‘In the morning, in the morning I will go with you.’ UTOLAF15May0501:044 The threat in (163a) is not serious; the speaker is threatening to shoot her husband and their friend Gary because they are laughing at her. The threat in (163b), however, is entirely serious. (Note that the future in [163b] could also be caused by its occurrence in a conditional construction; see sec. 8.2.1.4.)

132

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(163) a. Gary chih edloh ‹eł› k’a’ udhihniik nts’ą’ “Nuhtah jakk’aa!” hudihnih. (T) Gary chih e-dloh eł Gary also 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-laugh:IPV and k’a’ u-dhih-niik nts’ą’ gun CON-DH.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-grab:IPV and nuh-tah jak-k’aa 2PL.P-among INDF.O:INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:1SG.S:H-shoot:FUT hu-dih-nih 3PL.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-say:IPV ‘Gary was laughing too, and I grabbed a gun and told them, “I’m gonna shoot you guys!”’ UTOLAF09Jun2902:013 b. Įįtsah de’ nan t’ah nantsidhahxeh… (T) įįtsah de’ nan t’ah Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-cry:IPV if 2SG too na-n-ts-dhah-xeh IT-2SG.O-1PL.S:INC-QUAL:AA.IPV:H-kill.SG.O:FUT ‘If you SG cry, we will kill you too…’ UTOLVDN13May2909:038 The future is also used in refusals. In line 1 of the textual example in(164), Grandmother Spider tells the Devil to leave her, otherwise she will kill him with her gaze. The directive is phrased in the imperfective, but the refusal in the first verb form in line 2 is in the future (as is the warning in the second verb form in that utterance). (164)

Excerpt: UTOLAF10Jul0202:140–41 (B) 1. “Nah’än tthiinįįdaay, nnak-’įh de’ łahtthegn ntth’än’ shyiit shyiig nataadüh.” nah-’än tthi-na-nįį-daay MED-outside:ALL outside-IT-N.IPV:2SG.S-D.SG.go:IPV:IMP n-nak-’įh de’ łahtthegn n-tth’än’ 2SG.O-QUAL.Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-look:IPV if all 2SG.PSR-bone shyiit shyig’ na-taa-düh inside down:ALL down-3PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-PL.animal.move:FUT ‘“Go SG back outside; if I look at you, all your bones inside will fall down.”’ (Old Lady Spider speaking)

MODAL INFLECTION

133

2. Ay, “Ina’, k’a än tthiitihdaal, ntidhakxeh.” ay ina’ k’a än and no NEG outside:ALL tthi-na-tih-daal outside-IT-INC:AA.IPV:1SG.S-D:SG.go:FUT:NEG n-t-dhak-xeh 2SG.O-INC-QUAL.AA.IPV:1SG.S:H-kill.SG.O:IPV ‘And, “No, I’m not going back outside, I’m going to kill you SG.”’ (Devil speaking) 8.2.1.3. Deductions The future is also used when a speaker makes a deduction based on available evidence (165). This use of the future is likely again based on its epistemic meanings of certainty. It is fairly rare, and usually it is the absence of entities that causes the speaker to make deductions about their whereabouts. (165) a. Ahnoo niichinal’įįl nt’eh, ahuugn k’ąy gaay uniign t’eey hugn tah t’eey chinal’įįl nt’eh… (N) ah-noo’ NTRL-ahead:ALL ni-na-ch-nal-’įįl TERM-IT-INDF:3SG.S:INC-QUAL:AA.IPV:L-hide:FUT:NOM nt’eh ahugn k’ąy gaay uniign t’eey hugn tat’eey ASRT there willow small among ADVZR there also ch-nal-’įįl nt’eh INDF:3SG.S:INC-QUAL:AA.IPV:L-hide:FUT:NOM ASRT ‘Up there [the bear] must be hiding, he must be hiding there among the small willows there for sure…’ UTOLVDN13May2004:038 b. “Sseeyy’ tatnįh’įįl shch’a’,” nih, “t’oot’eey na’utdak-’aał,” nih. (T) s-seeyy’ sta-tnįh-’įįl 1SG.PSR-knife:POSS away-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2SG.S:H-hide:FUT:NOM sh-ch’a’ nih t’oot’eey 1SG.P-from say:IPV but na-u-tdak-’aał nih IT-CON-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:1SG.S:H-find.CO:FUT say:IPV ‘“You must have hidden my knife from me,” he said, “but I’m going to find it,” he said.’ UTOLVDN13May2804:077

134

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

8.2.1.4. Conditional clauses Its epistemic meaning of great confidence in the actualization of events is also responsible for the (almost obligatory) use of the future in consequence clauses of conditionals (see sec. 26.5.2), regardless of whether the condition is habitual (166a), hypothetical (166b), or counterfactual (166c). (166) a. … hihdįįtsįį de’, hahiitaa’aał. (N) h-dįį-tsįį de’ 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.hungry:IPV if ha-hii-taa-’aał out-3PL.S>3SG.O-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-classify.CO:FUT ‘… if/when they are hungry, they will take [the cached food] out [of the pit].’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:087 b. Nuhshyah eł tuu niihąą de’, k’at’eey nuhshyah suu utaałeel. (T) nuh-shyah eł tuu nii-hąą de’ k’at’eey 2PL.PSR-house and water 3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-be.flood:IPV if NEG nuh-shyah suu hu-taa-łeel 2PL.PSR-house nice AR.S-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-classify.PL.P:FUT:NEG ‘If water floods your PL houses, you PL won’t have nice houses any longer.’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:022 c. K’at’eey hǫǫsu’ ik’anehtah de’, nts’aa’ utaanił le’. (T) k’at’eey hǫǫsu’ i-k’a-neh-tah NEG well 3SG.S>3SG.P-care-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-take.care:IPV:NEG de’ nts’aa’ hu-taa-nił le’ if how AR.S-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-happen:FUT IGN ‘If she had not taken good care of him, I don’t know what would have happened.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:045 The only major exceptions to this generalization are conditional requests, where both condition and consequent are in the optative (see sec. 26.5.5 for discussion and examples). 8.2.1.5. Counterfactuality Somewhat surprisingly, the future is also used in nonconditional counterfactuals, that is, in the descriptions of events that (in the judgment of the speaker) have not been nor will they ever be actualized. Thus, again, this meaning is related to the notion of certainty. In (167a), the speaker describes how her father raised her and her siblings after the early death of her mother—at that point the mother can no longer speak to her children. (167b) is taken from a story where the speaker reflects on the time

MODAL INFLECTION

135

when she brought up her own children, imagining what would have happened had she and her peers made a stronger effort to pass on the language and culture to their children. Note that both examples also include other meanings of the future: (167a) expresses certainty (sec. 8.2.1), while (167b) expresses obligation (sec. 8.2.3.3). (167) a. “Nnąą ch’a hǫǫ’ nuhtdaanįįl,” nee’ehniik. (N) n-nąą ch’a hǫǫ’ 2SG.PSR-mother FOC thus nuh-tdaa-nįįl 2PL.P-3SG.S:INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:Ø-say:FUT:NOM nee-eh-niik 1PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV:CUST ‘“Your mother would say this to you,” he would tell us.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:009 b. Neexon ch’a hunąą ts’įįłįį nts’ą̈ ’ hįįtsuul nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey neek’eh huts’ą̈ ’ ts’utaaheel chih, k’at’eey chih neek’eh huts’ą̈ ’ ts’ihǫǫheey nts’ą̈ ’ neek’eh k’at’eey hiihetnay. (N) neexon ch’a hu-nąą ts’įį-łįį nts’ą̈ ’ 1PL FOC 3PL.PSR-mother 1PL.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV and hįį-tsuul nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey nee-k’eh hu-ts’ą̈ ’ 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-be.small:IPV ADVZR 1PL.P-like 3PL.P-to ts’-hu-taa-heel chih k’at’eey chih nee-k’eh 1PL.S-AR-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-speak:FUT:NOM also NEG also 1PL.P-like hu-ts’ą̈ ’ ts’-hǫǫ-heey nts’ą̈ ’ nee-k’eh 3PL.P-to 1PL.S-QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-speak:IPV:NEG and 1PL.P-like k’at’eey h-i-het-nay NEG AR.P-PP-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:D-know:IPV:NEG ‘We, being their mothers, we should have spoken our language to them when they were small, but we didn’t speak our language to them and [now] they do not know our language.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:013 The use of the future in counterfactuals is also reported for Navajo (Willie 1996, 338–39). 8.2.1.6. Avertive clauses The future is also used in almost all avertive clauses, i.e., adverbial clauses expressing an undesirable consequence that can be averted by the action taken in the main clause (168).²

136

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(168) a. Łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ hiiyįhmbiah tatxol ch’a’. (N) łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ hiiy-įh-mbiah all 3PL.S>3PL.O-AA.PFV:H-boil:PFV tat-xol ch’a’ 3PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:D-break:FUT:NOM AVERT ‘They boiled all [the eggs] to prevent them from breaking.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:060 b. Dinįį’ t’eey hiiyeek’ia degn’ nts’ą’ nahnalxon ch’a’ hutthįį’ nataatloo, ay ch’a’. (T) d-nįį’ t’eey hiiy-ee-k’ia degn’ REFL.PSR-face ADVZR 3PL.S>3PL.O-DH.PFV:Ø-exercise:PFV up:ALL nts’ą’ na-h-tnal-xon ch’a’ ADVZR IT-3PL.S-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:L-wrinkle:FUT:NOM AVERT hu-tthįį na-taa-tloo ay ch’a’ 3PL.PSR-flesh down-3SG.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-sag:FUT:NOM 3SG AVERT ‘They train their faces upward so they don’t become wrinkly and their flesh doesn’t sag.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2901:033 Here again the future again has epistemic functions of certainty: the undesirable event is bound to happen unless preventative action is taken. See section 26.9 or Lovick (forthcoming) for more information on avertive linkings. 8.2.2. Uncertainty While the future is generally associated with a great degree of confidence, it also is used to express uncertainty about the actualization of an event (169). This meaning is often reinforced by the presence of the modal particle le’ ‘DUB, maybe’ (169a), but this is not required (169b). (169) a. “Nootnįl’įįł le’,” yehnih. (N) na-hu-tnįl-’įįł le’ IT-AR.O-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2SG.S:L-see:FUT DUB y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“You might be able to see again,” he told him.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:041

MODAL INFLECTION

137

b. “Ntakdayh,” shehnih, “jah tah na’įįthät duhnoo’.” (N) n-tak-dayh sh-eh-nih 2SG.O-INC:AA.IPV:1SG.S:H-shoot:FUT 1SG.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV jah tah na-įį-thät duh-noo’ here among CONT-I.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-SG.stand:IPV PROX:AR-ahead:ALL ‘“I might shoot you,” he said to me, “stand over here.”’ UTOLVDN13May2004:065 In declaratives this meaning of the future is rare. It is noticeably more common in questions, where it tends to express uncertainty about the circumstances of actualization of an event rather than uncertainty about the actualization: the husband in (170a) does not doubt his wife’s eventual return but merely wonders about when it will take place, and Fox in (170b) is aware that some action is expected but is unsure which one. (170) a. Ukąy’ du’, “Ndehde’ sh’aat niitaadaał?” yuunih. (T) u-kąy’ du’ ndehde’ 3SG.PSR-husband CT when:FUT sh-’aat ni-na-taa-daał 1SG.PSR-wife TERM-IT-3SG.S:INC:AA.IPV-D:SG.go:FUT y-uu-nih 3SG.S>3SG.O-CON-Ø.IPV:Ø-wonder:IPV ‘Her husband was wondering though, “When is my wife coming back?”’ UTOLVDN13May2907:047 b. Nuungaay du’: “Nts’ą̈ ’ tihdįįł?” (N) nuungaay du’ nts’ą̈ ’ tih-dįįł fox CT how INC:AA.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-do:FUT ‘Fox though: “What am I going to do?”’ UTOLAF15May0501:113 With this function of questioning the circumstances of the actualization of an event, the future frequently is used when questioning directives (171) or threats (172). (171) is a narrated dialogue between an old lady (lines 1 and 3) and her granddaughter (line 2), where the granddaughter does not understand the reason behind the directive.

138 (171)

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS Excerpt: UTOLAF07Oct2512:012–14 (T) 1. “Tsat łahtthagn nts’ą’ nah’ogn nidnįįłeey!” tsat łahtthagn nts’ą’ nah-’ogn wood all MED-outside:AR ni-dnįį-łeey TERM-QUAL:N.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:IMP ‘“Bring all the wood outside!”’ (grandmother speaking]) 2. “Dii xah tihdiil?” dii xah tih-diil why INC:AA.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-do:FUT:NOM ‘“Why should I do that?”’ (granddaughter speaking) 3. “Tahshyüü hukah.” tah-shyüü hu-kah 3SG.S:INC:AA.IPV:H-snow:FUT 3PL.P-in.quest ‘“It will snow seeking them.”’³ (grandmother speaking)

The exchange between Grandmother Spider and the Devil in (172) illustrates the future in questioning the efficacy of a threat. The verb theme ha#O+H+thak ‘to extend O in multiple protrusions’ is used by Grandmother Spider in line 1 to threaten the Devil with looking at him (thereby killing him with her gaze) as well as in his subsequent doubt of the seriousness of her threat in line 2 and in his counter-threat to expose himself to her in line 3. The threats as well as the doubt are all in the future. (172)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN14Nov2301:427–29 (T) 1. Ts’ist’e’ de’, “Nts’ą’ hajakthak,” nih. ts’ist’e’ de’ n-ts’ą’ old.lady ? 2SG.P-to ha-jak-thak out-INDF.O:INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:1SG.S:H-cause.protrusion:FUT nih say:IPV ‘The old lady said: “I’m going to look at you!”’ (lit. ‘I will stick something in multiple protrusions out toward you’)

MODAL INFLECTION

139

2. “Dii ch’a sts’ą’ hatdįhthag,” yehnih. dii ch’a s-ts’ą’ what FOC 1SG.P-to ha-tdįh-thag out-INDF.O:INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:1SG.S:H-cause.protrusion:FUT:NOM y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“What are you going to stick out at me,” he said to her.’ 3. “Stsogn jiit jan nts’ą’ hatdakthak,” yehnih. s-tsogn jiit n-ts’ą’ 1SG.PSR-penis rotten 2SG.P-to ha-tdak-thak out-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:1SG.S:H-cause.protrusion:FUT y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“I’m going to stick my rotten penis out towards you,” he said to her.’ 8.2.3. Genericity The second set of functions of the future in Upper Tanana cluster around notions of genericity or habituality. As noted originally by Givón (1994, 270– 1), it is typologically not uncommon for an “irrealis” mood to also express such notions. Habitual or generic events are not actualized; in describing them a speaker makes a prediction about the world. 8.2.3.1. Habitual The future is often used to describe habitual events, similar to the customary superaspect described in section 7.2.1. (173) illustrates both sets of forms, drawing on examples from a text on how to properly host a potlatch. The text starts out in the imperfective customary (lines 1–3), but about halfway through the text the speaker switches to the future (lines 4–6). The interpretation does not change; all steps in (173) are integral parts of a potlatch and have to take place in exactly this order. (Utterances containing neither a future not an imperfective customary form are omitted.) Future forms are underlined once, customary forms are underlined twice.

140

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(173) 1. Ts’ihootįįł tah adogn ts’at eł dats’ełeek tl’aan ch’ik’on’ uk’üü dats’ełeek tl’aan hushyign dats’etiik. ts’-ho-tįįł tah a-dogn 1PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-make.potlatch:IPV:CUST when NTRL-up:AR ts’at eł da-ts’e-łeek tl’aan blanket and up-1PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST and ch’ik’on’ u-k’üü da-ts’e-łeek dentalium 3SG.P-beside up-1PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST tl’aan hu-shyign’ da-ts’e-tiik and AR-down:ALL inside-1PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.LRO:IPV:CUST ‘When we make potlatch, we put up blankets and dentalium, and then we bring it all in.’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:001 2. K’oniit’ay dog tah ts’ełeek tl’aan hii’eł dzi’ulshyee xah. k’oniit’ay dog tah ts’e-łeek tl’aan scarf up:AR among 1PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST and hii-eł dzi-ul-shyee xah 3PL.S>3SG.P-with mourn-3PL.S:OPT:L-dance:OPT PURP ‘We put the scarves up there so they can do the mourning dance with them.’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:003 3. Taagn hǫǫłįį de’ shyi’ eł hugn dii eł hehmbiadn eł. taagn hǫǫ-łįį de’ shyi’ eł hugn dii three AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV when:FUT meat and etc. whatever eł heh-mbiadn eł and 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-cook:IPV:CUST:NOM and ‘On the third day, they cook meat and [all the best stuff ].’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:006 4. Noo ts’ihtaałeel dineey nataa’aał. noo’ ts’-h-taa-łeel dineey into.middle:ALL 1PL.S-?-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:FUT:NOM people na-taa-’aał CONT-3PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-eat:FUT ‘We put it into the middle for people to eat.’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:007

MODAL INFLECTION

141

5. Ay tl’aan k’a’ eł jiyh eł lsüü eł k’oniit’ay eł ts’uutaanak tl’aan. ay tl’aan k’a’ eł jiyh eł lsüü eł k’oniit’ay eł and then gun and mittens and money and scarves and ts’-uu-taa-nak tl’aan 1PL.S-CON-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-take:FUT and ‘And then we get (lit. ‘take’) guns, mittens, money, and scarves.’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:014 6. Ay tl’aan hii’eł chaldzüh. ay tl’aan hii-eł chal-dzüh and then 3PL.S>3SG.P-with IND:INC:AA.IPV:L-dance:FUT ‘And then they dance with [their potlatch gift].’ UTOLAF11Aug0207-018 In (174), a description of how to make dzinah ‘fermented fish’, the speaker oscillates between the imperfective customary and the future (sometimes customary, sometimes not). The future in line 1 is motivated by the conditional clause, but in the other examples it is unclear what motivates the choice of either form. Again, future forms are underlined once, customary forms twice. (174)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN07Nov2901:105–08 (N) 1. T’axoh hutneltänh de’ hǫǫ’t’eey łuugn, hǫǫ’t’eey łuugn hǫǫłįį de’ hiitalshyeek tl’aan ha. t’axoh hu-tnel-tänh de’ hǫǫ’t’eey finally AR.S-INC:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-freeze:PFV if still łuugn hǫǫ’t’eey łuugn hǫǫ-łįį de’ fish still fish AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV if hii-tal-shyeek tl’aan ha’ 3PL.S>3PL.O-INC:AA.IPV:L-handle.PL.O:FUT:CUST and EMPH ‘Finally when it freezes, and if there’s still fish, still fish, they will take it.’ 2. Ay du’ ay chih nän’ shyiit hiiyiłeek. ay du’ ay chih nän’ shyiit 3SG CT 3SG also ground into hiiy-i-łeek 3PL.S>3SG.O-Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST ‘And that too they put into the ground.’

142

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS 3. Elih hǫǫłiin k’a hiitahgąy. elih hǫǫ-łiin k’a cold AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV:NOM NEG hii-tah-gąy 3PL.S>3SG.O-INC:AA.IPV:H-dry:FUT:NEG ‘Because it is cold they won’t dry it.’ 4. Hǫǫ’ įhchah nts’ą̈ ’ nän’ shyiit hiitaałeel. hǫǫ’ įh-chah nts’ą̈ ’ nän’ shyiit thus 3SG.S:AA.PFV:H-be.big:PFV and ground in hii-taa-łeel 3PL.S>3SG.O-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:FUT:NOM ‘When it is enough they will put it into the ground.’

Even though the motivation for either form in contexts such as (173) and (174) remains unclear, the examples clearly demonstrate that the Upper Tanana future may be used to encode habitual events. 8.2.3.2. (In)ability Another major function of the future is to express generic (in)ability (175). This use is very common, especially for inability, which is expressed by a standard-negated future form (175c, d). (175) a. T’oodįht’ay ishyiit nuhxah eedah ay nts’ą̈ ’ jah utahheeyh. (N) T’oodįht’ay ishyiit nuh-xah eedah ay nts’ą̈ ’ God there 2PL.P-for 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.stay:IPV 3SG to jah u-tah-heeyh here QUAL-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-speak:FUT ‘God is there for you, you can always talk to him.’ UTOLAF10Jul0901:009 b. Ay ch’ale’ k’ahdu’ t’eey ch’aldzeek shyiit tnah’įįl. (T) ay ch’ale’ k’ahdu’ t’eey ch’aldzeek shyiit and FOC now ADVZR moon in tnah-’įįl INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2PL.S:H-see:FUT:NOM ‘And you PL can see [Nedzeegn] in the moon today.’ UTCBAF15May0401:028

MODAL INFLECTION

143

c. Nts’aa’ k’at’eey tsaadįįl niign t’eey ch’a hįįdįį’. (N) nts’aa’ k’at’eey tsaa-dįįl niign t’eey how NEG 1PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-do:FUT:NEG the.way ADVZR ch’a hįį-dįį’ FOC 3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-do:PFV ‘There is no way we can do what they did.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:036 d. K’at’eey nan’ t’eey du’ tnah’iil, tuu, tuu nithaad… (T) k’at’eey nan’ t’eey du’ tnah-’iil tuu NEG land even CT INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2PL.S:H-see:FUT:NEG water tuu ni-thaad water 3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-be.far:IPV:NOM ‘You cannot even see land, the water, the water goes so far…’ UTOLVDN13May2909:050 In this way the future contrasts with the imperfective, which encodes (in)ability in specific situations (176). (176) a. Hunįh’įh? (T) hu-nįh-’įh AR.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:H-see:IPV ‘Can you see?’

UTOLVDN13May2907:095

b. K’at’eey huhheey, … (N) k’at’eey huh-heey NEG QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-speak:IPV:NEG ‘I was not able to speak, …’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:069 There is a small semantic difference between the two modes. The imperfective is used when the (in)ability is recent (the addressee in [176a] has just been cured of blindness) or temporary (the inability to speak in [176b] was caused by an illness), while the future is limited to generic (in)ability. Bybee (1998, 262) finds that (in)ability and other types of speakeroriented modality are only rarely expressed inflectionally; Upper Tanana clearly constitutes an exception to this typological trend. 8.2.3.3. Generic obligation and prohibition The future is also used in clauses indicating strong generic obligation. Lovick (2016) notes that future forms in the second person are often interpreted as strong directives with no

144

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

regard for contingencies, but they also are attested with first-person (177c) and third-person subjects (177d). (177) a. Hǫǫ ch’ale tthatdalxoo xah ch’ale ishyiit ts’anh noo’ hǫǫ’. (T) hǫǫ’ ch’ale ttha-tdal-xoo xah thus FOC voice-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2PL.S:L-PL.speak:FUT:NOM for ch’ale ishyiit ts’anh noo’ hǫǫ’ FOC here from onwards thus ‘This is how you PL are supposed to speak from now on.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2802:021 b. Dąą’ ch’a utahnąy, dąą’ ch’a utahnąy, dąą’ ch’a shyah utah’aal. (N) dąą’ ch’a hu-tah-nąy dąą’ ch’a thus FOC QUAL-INC:AA.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-live:FUT:NOM thus FOC hu-tah-nąy dąą’ ch’a shyah QUAL-INC:AA.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-live:FUT:NOM thus FOC house hu-tah-’aal AR.O-INC:AA.IPV:2PL.S:H-classify.CO:FUT:NOM ‘This is how you PL have to live, this is how you PL have to live, this is how you have to keep your house.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:024 c. Ay ch’a ts’iikeey iin eh nats’utalnegn. (N) ay ch’a ts’iikeey iin eh 3SG FOC children PL to na-ts’u-tal-negn CONT-1PL.S:QUAL-INC:AA.IPV:L-tell.story:FUT:NOM ‘That’s what we have to tell the children.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:080 d. … ts’exeey iin ahch’aa łoohtaahaał. (T) ts’exeey iin ahch’aa łoo-h-taa-haał women PL far.from PRMB-3PL.S-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.go:FUT ‘… [men] have to walk far from women.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2901:023 Negative clauses in the future often receive a strict generic prohibitive interpretation. These are again particularly common in the second person (178a, b), but are also attested in the first (178c) and third (178d) person.

MODAL INFLECTION

145

(178) a. K’at’eey jah tay’ natįįdaal! (T) k’at’eey jah tay’ na-tįį-daal NEG here again IT-INC:AA.IPV:2SG.S-D:SG.go:FUT:NEG ‘Don’t you SG ever come back here again!’ UTOLVDN13May2901:045 b. Ay du’ k’at’eey mbaa nitahdäl. (N) ay du’ k’at’eey mb-aa ni-tah-däl 3SG CT NEG 3SG.P-for TERM-INC:AA.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-PL.go:FUT:NEG ‘You PL may not go to [the edge of the volcano].’ UTOLAF17Aug0801:039 c. Ena’, shnąą iin shta’ hǫǫ’ k’a tsaadįįgn neeheniik. (T) ena’ sh-nąą iin sh-ta’ hǫǫ’ k’a no 1SG.PSR-mother PL 1SG.PSR-father thus NEG tsaa-dįįgn nee-he-niik 1PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-do:FUT:NEG 1PL.P-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV:CUST ‘No, our parents always told us that we may not do that.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:276 d. Ay iin eh tah ts’exeey iin huxol’ k’at’eey hihtnah’įįl, hihdįįni’. (N) ay iin eh tah ts’exeey iin hu-xol’ 3 PL and women PL 3PL.PSR-legs k’at’eey h-tnah-’įįl NEG 3PL.S-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:H-look:FUT:NEG h-dįį-ni’ 3PL.S-QUAL:AA.PFV:Ø-say:PFV ‘And also women are not allowed to look at [men’s] legs, they used to say.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:051 All examples in (177) and (178) express nonnegotiable and general obligations or prohibitions that apply without exception. This type of modality also is rarely expressed inflectionally according to Bybee (1998, 262). 8.3. Summary In main clauses the optative always has strong deontic meaning components clustering around the notions of desire and intention, which are extended to the functions of requesting, wondering about what to do, and granting

146

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

permission. It is also used in two types of subordinate clauses related to desire (complement clauses) and intention (purpose clauses). The future, by contrast, has epistemic meanings clustering around the notions of certainty and genericity, where the latter includes (generic) permission and ability. It is also used obligatorily in the consequence clauses of conditional linkings and in avertive clauses. Notes 1. (152b) is translated as ‘You will know by that’ in the published versions (David 2011, 2017), but more recent fieldwork suggests that the translation given here is more accurate. 2. In David (2017, 168), ay ch’a’ at the end of (168b) is transcribed as ay ch’a ‘and’ and grouped with the beginning of the following utterance. Upon listening to the recording again, I think that it is more correctly ay ch’a’ ‘to prevent this’ and should be grouped as done in (168b). 3. The postposition here is unusual, suggesting that the impending snowstorm is able to search for and eventually kill the humans who have caused it through their violation of įįjih.

9 | Modal particles Upper Tanana has a small inventory of modal particles. Some of these mark speech acts (e.g., de’ ‘UR’ in requests or the two polar question markers lah and hąą); see chap. 15 (requests) and 13 (polar questions) for details. Of the remaining particles, t‘“ve to do with epistemic notions: nt’eh asserts that the speaker believes in the truth of the proposition; le’ expresses doubt or ignorance; and łaan functions as a mirative in questions and as an expression of surprise at new information. Additionally, there is a desiderative particle diaa and an emphatic marker ha’. These five particles are described in this chapter. Most modal particles of Upper Tanana appear to be related to other lexical items. For this reason the discussion of each particle includes some information about its likely origin. Some particles require the verb form to be nominalized or in a special mode; such restrictions are described where applicable. 9.1. Nt’eh ‘for sure, certainly’ The clause-final particle nt’eh indicates that the speaker is very certain that the proposition expressed in the clause is true. 9.1.1. Origin The clause-final particle nt’eh originates as the third-person singular imperfective form of the descriptive verb theme (d+)Ø+t’eh ‘be thus’ (179), which takes an obligatory complement.¹ (179) Dineh gaay shkąy’ nt’eh! (N) man small 1SG:husband 3SG:be:IPV ‘The short man was my husband!’

UTOLAF12Jul1202:031

9.1.2. Formal characteristics Nt’eh ‘ASRT’ is a fully inflected verb form of a complement-taking verb theme. As discussed in section 27.1.3.6, this complement may be a noun, a pronoun, a postpositional phrase, an adverb, a modifier, or a nominalized clause. As a

148

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

consequence, the assertive marker nt’eh also requires nominalization of the preceding clause (180). (180) a. Įįjih hiiyehnąy nt’eh! (T) įįjih 3PL>3SG:say:IPV:NOM ASRT ‘They certainly say it is įįjih!’

UTOLAFMay0807:078

b. Cora hǫǫshyaa::n nt’eh, hudihnih. (N) Cora 3SG.:be.smart:IPV:NOM ASRT 1SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘I told them, Cora is really smart.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2301:002 This particle is only partially grammaticized, which becomes apparent if the subject of the clause is not third person. While it most commonly occurs in the form nt’eh (181a, b), it also sometimes shows person agreement with the clausal subject (181c, d). (The examples in [181] are fully glossed. The gloss of the latter two forms shows the morphological structure; ordinarily dįįt’eh is glossed as ‘2:ASRT’ and diht’eh as ‘1:ASRT’.) (181) a. Eh, “K’a ihtsaa, k’ahdu’ łat eh dihdį’ nt’eh,” nih. (T) eh k’a ih-tsaa k’ahdu’ łat eh and NEG Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-cry:IPV:NEG now smoke with dih-dį’ nt’eh nih QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-do:IPV:NOM ASRT say:IPV ‘And, “I’m not crying, I’m really doing this [= my eyes are watering] because of the smoke,” she said.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:039 b. Useeyy’ k’at’eey łootahtįįl nt’eh! (N) u-seeyy’ k’at’eey 3SG:knife:POSS NEG łoo-tah-tįįl nt’eh PRMB-INC:AA.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-handle.LRO:FUT:NEG ASRT ‘You PL absolutely may not carry his knife around!’ UTOLAF14May0807:047 c. Tįhts’iign dįįt’eh! (N) tįh-ts’iign dįį-t’eh INC:AA.IPV:2SG.S:H-be.sick:FUT:NOM QUAL:Ø.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-be:IPV ‘You SG will certainly get sick!’ UTOLAFMay0807:054

MODAL PARTICLES

149

d. “Jah dugn ch’a dhihday diht’eh,” iyehnih. (T) jah duugn ch’a dhih-day hereabouts FOC DH.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-SG.sit:IPV:NOM dih-t’eh iy-eh-nih QUAL:Ø.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-be:IPV 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“Right here is where I sit,” she said to her.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:338 The assertive marker only varies with person, not with number. In (182) the singular form diht’eh is used even though the subject of ts’uneh’įįgn is plural. (182) K’at’eey ts’uneh’iign diht’eh. (T) NEG 1PL>AR:see:IPV:CUST:NEG 1:ASRT ‘We certainly never saw [a highway] before.’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:149 9.1.3. Functions By using nt’eh (and the forms diht’eh and dįįt’eh) the speaker asserts the truthfulness of the proposition. The use of nt’eh in assertions is demonstrated in (180) above as well as in (183). (183a) comes from the story about the woman who married a bear. After the bear kills his wife in anger, he brings her body back to her parents and tries to tell them that her death was an accident. In (183a) the wife’s father indicates that he does not believe this story. In (183b) the speaker’s aunts are trying to calm her down after an unexpected encounter with a marmot. What is interesting about (183c) is that it is, in fact, a lie. This exact sentence occurs in several tellings of the Butterfly story, where the younger sister wonders why her older sister does not wake up. (183c) is the Devil’s reply to her question—knowing full well that the older sister is dead, because he has killed her himself. ([181a] also is a lie that the speaker tells to save herself from being thrown into the fire.) Note also that in (183c), nt’eh follows a causal clause rather than a main clause. (183) a. “Shtthe’ diign, hǫǫ’ 1SG:man’s.daughter do:IPV:CUST:NOM thus dik’anįlta’ nt’eh!” uta’ chih 3SG>REFL:take.care:PFV:NOM ASRT 3SG:father also yehnih. (T) 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“My daughter always took care of herself!” her father also said to him.’ UTOLVDN13May2901:037

150

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. K’at’eey nutdaaneegn nt’eh… (N) NEG 3SG>2SG:hurt:FUT:NEG:NOM ASRT ‘[The marmot] is not going to hurt you…’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:037 c. Ti’etnak xah nt’eh! (B) 3SG:be.tired:IPV because ASRT ‘Because she is tired!’

UTOLAF10Jul0202:051

Nt’eh ‘ASRT’ is also often used in commissives such as promises (184a), warnings (184b), and threats (184c). (184) a. “Tädn hǫǫłįį eh jah T’odįht’ay ‹nantahshye’› night AR:be:IPV and here God 3SG>2SG:heal:FUT:NOM nt’eh uts’ą̈ ’ hutnįįdeey de’,” shdia’ ASRT 3SG:to 2SG:SG.pray:FUT:NOM if 1SG:younger.sister shehnih. (N) 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘“Tonight, God will surely heal you SG if you SG pray to him,” my younger sister said to me.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:037 b. “Laalil natnatdagn butterfly 2PL:PL.follow.around:IPV:CUST:NOM stanuhtaałeel nt’eh,” hu’ehnih. (T) 3SG>2PL:take.away.PL.O:FUT:NOM ASRT 3SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“If you follow the butterfly, he will take you away for sure,” she told them.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:005 c. Ay t’oot’eey nnihhaal diht’eh hu. (T) and but 1SG>2SG:SG.follow:FUT:NOM 1:ASRT ? ‘But I am going to follow you anyway.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:188 Last of all, nt’eh also occurs in strict rules such as (185). (185) a. Xaskeey iin shyįį’ t’eey yeh attl’u’ chiefs PL only ADVZR 3PL>3SG:with 3PL:be.dressed:IPV:NOM nt’eh. (N) ASRT ‘Only chiefs may wear [dentalium].’ UTCBAF14May2001:093

MODAL PARTICLES

151

b. Ay eh “Sǫ’ dǫlchuudn, k’a dzilchuudn nt’eh,” and PROH 2SG:save.food:OPT NEG 1PL:save.food:PFV:NEG ASRT hiiyehnih. (S) 3PL>3SG:say:IPV ‘And then, “Don’t save food, we absolutely don’t save food,” they said to him.’ ANLC4122a-278 It should be noted that none of these uses of nt’eh are common—there are only about twenty-five instances of nt’eh, diht’eh, dįįt’eh in my corpus. I suspect that this may due to cultural reasons. Generally, speakers are reluctant to make assertions unless they are certain that these assertions are truthful—adding nt’eh thus is redundant in most cases, since the fact that an utterance is made already indicates that the speaker is certain of its truthfulness. Thus, nt’eh is necessary only when particular force is required: in lies, promises, threats, warnings, or when emphasizing the truthfulness of a proposition is necessary for other reasons. 9.2. Łaan ‘MIR, indeed’ Like nt’eh ‘ASRT’, the modal particle łaan is quite rare; there are fewer than twenty examples in my corpus, most of them from the Tetlin dialect. 9.2.1. Origin Łaan is likely cognate to the adverb łą’ (t’eey), łąą’ (t’eey) ‘truly, really’. Leer (1996a, ł/4) suggests that it derives from a Proto-Dene morpheme with mirative and focus-marking functions. 9.2.2. Formal characteristics Łaan always has the same form. Almost all examples of łaan are from the Tetlin dialect. 9.2.3. Functions Łaan ‘mirative, indeed’ has two functions, depending on the speech act. It has mirative meaning in questions, whereas in declaratives it indicates that the proposition is some kind of surprising discovery. 9.2.3.1. Mirative łaan Mirative łaan follows the interrogative word nts’ąą’ ‘how’ (186). The verb in these questions is always in the optative.

152

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(186) a. Ay tl’aan, “Nts’ąą’ tatxol ch’a’ nts’ąą’ łaan and then how 3PL:break:PASS:FUT:NOM AVERT how MIR ts’uh’įį?” hinih. (N) 1PL:act:OPT 3PL:say:IPV ‘And then “How shall we do it [=transport the eggs] so they don’t break?” they said.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:054 b. Naann’ ski’uhshya’ nts’aa’ łaan? (T) across:ALL 1SG:SG.go.across:OPT how MIR ‘However can I get across?’ UTOLAF09Aug1101:005 There are only a handful of instances similar to (186) in the corpus. It is possible that it would occur more frequently in a corpus containing more everyday interactions. 9.2.3.2. Łaan ‘indeed’ In declaratives, łaan indicates surprise at a sudden discovery. With this function it follows the surprising constituent, which is often but not always a clause. (187) is taken from a story about Chief David’s potlatch. Chief David’s nephew Ambeet (‘Albert’) is surprised to spot a group of potlatch guests from Dawson and Eagle when he boats around ‘Louie place’ by the Tanana River several days after the potlatch: (187)

Excerpt: UTCB13Nov1502:019-20 (T) 1. Natetkeek huugn eh t’eey tthiitu’ 3SG:boat.around:IPV:CUST there and ADVZR river tthidįįshyah dahdogn dindeey iin chih hadel’įh. 3SG:SG.come.out:PFV PROX:up:AR people PL also 3SG:spot:PFV ‘He was boating around there and came out on the Tanana river and up there he spotted people.’ 2. Huts’ą’ aakeeł xanteey’ eh t’eey dindeey 3PL:towards 3SG:go.by.boat:IPV:PROG quickly and ADVZR people iin łaan. PL MIR ‘He was boating toward them quickly and indeed: there were people.’

With this function, łaan is often not translated by speakers at all. (188a) describes how the girl, running from the Devil, chances upon the house of Grandmother Spider, who will ultimately save her. (188b) describes how an

MODAL PARTICLES

153

old lady finds a little baby in the woods. Both events are unexpected; neither speaker offered a translation for łaan. (188) a. Altthał diinah Kelahdzeey Kelahdzeey iin 3SG:SG.run:IPV:PROG while spider spider PL hanogn shyah łaan, hah’ǫǫ nts’ą’ NTRL:upland:AR house MIR NTRL:outside:ABL ADVZR udehgod eł. (T) 3SG:knock:IPV:NOM and ‘While she was running, [there was] upland the house of the Spider people, and she knocked from outside.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:057 b. Ts’oo daatag xayh t’aa ts’iiniin gaay hiitnįh’įį spruce between spruce.roots under baby 3PL>3SG:hide:PFV łaan. (T) MIR ‘They had hidden the baby between two spruce trees under the spruce roots.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:054 Łaan also is used to express disappointment at a discovery. The subject in (189a) is both surprised and a little disappointed to find that the potlatch music he hears is being made by Ant People rather than by humans. (189b) describes the Devil’s dismay when he discovers that he has been tricked into monitoring a Tree Stump’s movements. (189) a. Ts’oo t’eey łk’idįltadn tat’eey naadod łaan. (T) spruce even 3SG:poke.apart:PFV:NOM and ants MIR ‘He poked the spruce in half and [there were] just ants.’ UTOLVDN13May2805:049 b. Shyiit ninįįshyay t’eey Ch’aachinh łaan tl’uuł there 3SG:SG.arrive:PFV:NOM but Tree.Stump MIR rope yaanełeek shyiit hadil’įh. (T) 3SG:move.around.PL.O:IPV:CUST there 3SG:spot:PFV ‘He went there and he spotted only the Tree Stump moving that rope around.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:353 9.3. le’ ‘IGN, DUB’ Le’, which signals ignorance or doubt, is somewhat more common than the preceding two modal particles, which may also be due to its larger variety of

154

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

functions. 9.3.1. Origin The origin of le’ ‘IGN, DUB’ is not entirely clear. It may be related to ghulaa ‘dubitative’ in Koyukon (Jetté and Jones 2000, 377) and to Ahtna le’e ‘apparently, evidently’ (Kari 1990, 274), which in turn suggests that its underlying stem is Proto-Dene *leˑ ‘be’ (see also Leer [1996a]). Synchronically, le’ ‘IGN, DUB’ is related to the nonverbal predicate le’e ‘IGN, I don’t know’ illustrated in (190). (190)

Excerpt: UTCBAF13Nov0501:048–49 (T) 1. Natehxeeł hǫǫ’t’eey nts’ą’ ch’a ts’idąy? get.dark:IT:INC:PFV still how FOC 1PL:do:IPV:NOM ‘“It is getting dark still, what are we doing?”’ [the older sister asked.] 2. “Le’e,” that ts’exeh gaay du’ nih. IGN that girl CT say:IPV ‘“I don’t know,” that girl [the younger sister] said.’

9.3.2. Formal characteristics Le’ ‘IGN, DUB’ always has the phonetic form [lɛʔ]. Unlike other syllables ending in a glottal stop, it does not appear to have low tone; or maybe its low tone is obscured by rising intonation. It generally has scope over the preceding constituent. It appears to have no grammatical effect on the clause; it does not trigger nominalization nor does it require the verb to be in any particular mode. Further formal considerations are discussed in the following sections, since the different functions of le’ are distinguished syntactically. 9.3.3. Functions Le’ ‘IGN, DUB’ has three major functions. In content questions, it often follows the question word, stressing the speaker’s ignorance. Le’ also often follows the indefinite proforms doo ‘someone’ and dii ‘something’, indicating that the speaker does not know the identity of the referent. Finally, le’ functions as a dubitative marker. 9.3.3.1. le’ in content questions Le’ often occurs in content questions. Its semantic contribution in this construction seems to be to stress the asker’s need for information (191).

MODAL PARTICLES

155

(191) a. “Dii nt’ay t’eey dineey doo dineh le’ what 3SG:be:IPV:NOM ADVZR people who people DUB dhehxay?” uudihnih nts’ą’… (T) 3SG:kill.SG.O:IPV:NOM 1SG:think:IPV and ‘“What is it, what kind of person is [the bear] killing?” I was thinking and…’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:011 b. Udzih du’ dii xah le’ k’at’eey hiiyeldeel jah caribou CT why IGN NEG 3PL>3PL:eat.PL.O:IPV:NEG here t’iin iin. (T) people PL ‘As for caribou, I don’t know why they don’t eat them, the people here.’ UTOLVDN13May2401:037 This construction occurs particularly frequently in elicited questions (192). (192) a. “Ndee ch’ihtnel’įį’ le’?” łihdetnih. (T) where 3PL:hide:PFV DUB 3PL>RECP:say:IPV ‘“Where can they be hiding?” they say to each other.’ UTOLAF12Jul1101:022 b. Dii xah le’ ehts’iign? (N) why DUB 3SG:be.sick:IPV:NOM ‘Whyever did he become sick?’

UTOLAF13May2801:036

Le’ is also used in indirect questions when the speaker wants to signal that she does not know the answer (193). These indirect questions are not complement clauses of a verb of knowing, but it is conceivable that le’ in such instances is a reduced form of the non-verbal predicate le’e. (193) Shnąą, nts’ą̈ ’ tah hudįįni’ le’. (N) sh-nąą nts’ą̈ ’ tah hu-dįį-ni’ le’ 1SG:mother how among 3PL.P-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:Ø-say:PFV IGN ‘I don’t know what my mother said to them.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:116 9.3.3.2. le’ in the indefinite construction Le’ is also often used in the indefinite construction described in volume 1, chapter 19, particularly following doo ‘who, someone’ and dii ‘what, something’. Its semantic contribution is to add uncertainty about the identity of the referent. The translations in (194) were suggested by the speakers.

156

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(194) a. Łaakaay iin ts’ehxeey iin, “Ahnoo’ doo le’ two PL women PL NTRL:ahead:ALL someone IGN ch’aałuu,” hiiyehnih. (T) 3SG>INDF:drag:IPV:PROG 3PL>3SG:say:IPV ‘Two women said to him, “Up ahead someone, we don’t know who, is dragging something.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:162 b. Noo’ shtthe’ na’ǫǫ ts’änh jah dii le’ ahead 1SG:before MED:outside:ABL from here something IGN sheh ha’atdädn. (N) 1SG:with 3SG:SG.animal.run.out:PFV:NOM ‘Ahead, in front of me, something, I don’t know what, came running by me.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:029 9.3.3.3. le’ ‘DUB, maybe’ In clause-final position, le’ has the meaning ‘maybe’. Speakers use it to indicate uncertainty about a proposition’s truthfulness (195). (195) a. Adogn hihdįįtsįį le’ eh NTRL:up:AR 3PL:be.hungry:IPV maybe with huts’inįhthįįk. (N) 1PL>3PL:wonder.about:PFV:CUST ‘We always wonder if they are maybe hungry up there.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:038 b. Nootnįl’įįł le’, yehnih. (N) 2SG>AR:see:IT:FUT maybe 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Maybe you SG will be able to see again,” he said to him.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:041 c. Hiits’ehetniign ay eł le’. (T) 3PL>3SG:not.know:IPV 3SG and maybe ‘Maybe they don’t know about it.’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:034 It is also translated as ‘I guess’ in conjectures. The speaker in (196a) is fairly certain that Wolverine froze to death, but by using le’ indicates that he is not entirely sure. The speaker in (196b) conjectures that the ducks are fat in mid-July, but has not been outside to check on this for herself.

MODAL PARTICLES

157

(196) a. Nelts’įį le’ huug tah. (T) 3SG:freeze.solid:PFV DUB there among ‘I guess he froze to death there.’ UTOLVDN13May2805:032 b. K’ahdu’ elk’aa::: le’. (N) now 3PL:be.fat:IPV DUB ‘Right now [the ducks] are really fat, I guess.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:097 With dubitative meaning, le’ often follows causal or purpose clauses, when the speaker is not entirely certain if her assessment of the motivation is correct. In (197a) the speaker wonders why Northway people like eating caribou while Tetlin people do not. In (197b) the speaker tells the story of her birth. She was born in February in Ladue country (far away from any village) and her family was worried that she would freeze. Since the narrator has no personal recollection of this event, she has to guess about her aunt’s motivation. (197) a. I mean udzih ch’its’ąą’ iholnayh xah le’. (T) I mean caribou different 3SG:taste:IPV because DUB ‘I mean, maybe [it’s] because caribou tastes different [there].’ UTOLVDN13May2401:040 b. Ts’ät shyiit idįįdlah tl’aan ay shyiit blanket into 3SG>3SG:put.PL.O:PFV and 3SG into shįhtįį nagntän ch’a’ le’. (N) 3SG>1SG:handle.AO:PFV 1SG:freeze:FUT:NOM AVERT DUB ‘She put [the moss] into the blanket and then she put me into it to prevent my freezing, I guess.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:065 In non-final position, le’ has scope over the preceding constituent: the speaker in (198a) concludes that Wolverine’s wife is also a wolverine (as in, a bad person who does not keep įįjih; see Lovick [2012b] for connotations of the word nahtsįą ‘wolverine’) based on the evidence of her behavior in a traditional story; the speaker in (198b) interprets a celestial sign as being directed at her rather than at anyone else. (198) a. U’aat ay chih nahtsįą le’ nt’ay, u’aat. (T) 3SG:wife 3SG also wolverine DUB 3SG:be:IPV:NOM 3SG:wife ‘His wife, she was a wolverine too, I guess, his wife.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:006

158

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS b. Edzee::::’! Shaa le’ nt’ay! (N) surprise 1SG:for DUB 3SG:be:IPV:NOM ‘What a surprise! It must be for me!’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:052

The dubitative meaning of le’ presumably also underlies its use as a disjunctive coordinator (see sec. 24.1.3 for discussion and examples). 9.4. diaa ‘DES’ Diaa ‘DES’ is used in expressions of desire. 9.4.1. Origin The most likely origin of diaa is the question word dii xah ‘why’, which in turn consists of the question word dii and the postposition P+xah ‘for P’, which is often realized as [tı͡aː] and thus (phonetically) indistinguishable from diaa ‘DES’. Additional evidence comes from translations of clauses such as (199), where a speaker suggested to translate diaa as ‘why don’t you’. (199) Ina’. Shtthi’ k’it tah ni’ųųha’ diaa. (B) no 1SG:head on among 2SG:SG.go.to.toilet:OPT DES ‘No. Why don’t you go to the toilet on my head.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:063 Yet there are several reasons not to treat utterances like (199) as negative whyquestions. First, as discussed in chapter 14, the question word usually occurs in clause-initial, not clause-final position. Second, the verb form in (199) is affirmative; it lacks the high tone on the stem characteristic of negative verbs (see chap. 16). A negative why-question such as “Why did you not do the dishes?” would, however, require a negative verb form. Finally, the question word is variably realized as [tiː xah] or [tı͡aː], while the modal particle is always realized as [tı͡aː]. 9.4.2. Formal characteristics Diaa ‘DES’ has an unusual syllable structure. While the diphthong /ı͡a/ is not uncommon in Upper Tanana (see vol. 1, chap. 6), it does not exhibit a length distinction. Yet the diphthong in diaa is generally longer than the same diphthong in other words. This modal particle occurs in clause-final position and requires the preceding verb to be in the optative.

MODAL PARTICLES

159

9.4.3. Functions Diaa ‘DES’ is used to express desires that are difficult to fulfill, either because of their immorality (as was the case in [199] above) or because they are impossible. In (200a) an abused wife wishes that her bear husband would be nicer to her which, being a bear, is impossible for him. (200b) is an elicited sentence; here the speaker expresses regret that she forgot to tie up her dog before leaving. (200) a. Hǫǫsǫǫ dǫǫdįįgn diaa! (T) nicely 2SG:act:OPT:CUST DES ‘If only you’d act nicely!’

UTOLVDN13May2901:016

b. Łįį danuh’adn tl’aan tuhshya’ diaa! (N) dog 1SG:tie.up:OPT and 1SG:SG.go:INC:OPT DES ‘If only I had tied up the dog [before] I went off!’ UTOLAF15Dec0706:016 Diaa ‘if only’ does not occur very frequently in the narrative corpus. It is common in elicitations of irrealis situations (such as [200b]) as well as in elicited directives. This may be another particle that would occur much more frequently in a more interactive corpus. 9.5. ha’ ‘EMPH’ The clause-final particle ha’ ‘EMPH’ occurs only rarely, and most tokens come from the Tetlin dialect. The gloss ‘EMPH’ is tentative. 9.5.1. Origin Kari (1990, 209) suggests that the emphatic particle gha’ in Ahtna is related to the causal/purposive conjunction gha’. A similar analysis could be appropriate for Upper Tanana as well, in which case ha’ would be related to the conjunction xah. The initial consonant of the conjunction is frequently realized as [h]; the final glottal stop of the modal particle may be due to the emphatic function of ha’. 9.5.2. Formal characteristics This particle usually has the form ha’. It is sometimes realized without the final glottal stop. 9.5.3. Functions Of the nine clear examples of ha’ in my corpus, four come from the beginning (201a) or closing sections (201b) of stories.

160

SEMANTIC SYSTEMS

(201) a. Jan Nedzeegn ha’. (T) this Nedzeegn EMPH ‘This is [the story of ] Nedzeegn.’

UTOLAF09Jun2202:001

b. So that’s the story shnąą sheł nahalndag so that’s the story 1SG:mother 1SG:to 3SG:tell.story:PFV:NOM ha’. (T) EMPH ‘So that’s the story my mother told me.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:114 While (201a) could be an elliptical version of jan Nedzeegn xah [nahoholndag] ‘this is [the story they tell] about Nedzeegn’, where ha’ is a phonological variant of the postposition P+xah ‘for P, about P’, a similar analysis is not possible for (201b). Ha’ is also used to emphasize critical developments within a story. The following excerpt is taken from a conversation between Mrs. Avis Sam (N) and Mrs. Cora David (T), who are discussing the big fire of 1912. Mrs. Sam’s father, a boy at the time, is fleeing with his family from the fire along a packed-dirt trail, but he trips and falls beside the trail into the hot ashes. The crucial event in line 4 is marked by ha’. (202)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN09Jun2301:058–63 1. AS: Jah tąy hunįį’ah ne:::’. there trail AR:LIN.O.extends:IPV upriver:ALL ‘The trail there extended a long way upriver.’ 2. Ay ch’ale ntsuul eh. 3SG FOC 3SG:be.small:IPV and ‘And [my father] was small.’ 3. T’akidįlnay ha’! 3SG:trip:PFV:NOM EMPH ‘He tripped!’ 4. Ah– ‘?’ 5. CD: Hm-hm. ‘Hm-hm.’

MODAL PARTICLES

161

6. AS: And ahshyiign nooditk’ąą niign t’eey and NTRL:down:ALL AR:burn:PASS:IT:PFV the.way ADVZR dą’ digaan’ eh dejaak. at REFL:arm with 3SG:slide:IPV ‘And then down there where it had burnt all around he slid with his arms.’ The fall described in (202) led to severe burns, which caused the child’s father to become so angry that he made magic and brought snow to extinguish the fire and cool down the land. The child’s tripping is the pivotal moment of this narrative, which is marked by ha’. This use of ha’ is quite rare with only a few examples. 9.6. Summary Upper Tanana has a small inventory of modal particles. Three of them express epistemic modality: nt’eh ‘ASRT’, łaan ‘MIR, indeed’, and le’ ‘IGN, DUB’. There is also a desiderative particle diaa and an emphatic particle ha’. All of these particles appear to be related to other lexical items in the language. Notes 1. See sec. 27.1.3.6 for a rationale for my treating d- as a conjunct prefix. Also, note that d- is deleted in third-person (singular and plural) imperfective forms.

Part II

Clause structure

10 | Word order overview This chapter provides a broad overview of word order phenomena in Upper Tanana. This language is mostly head-final; the main exception to this generalization is in the noun phrase. In this chapter I provide only the broader tendencies of word order; in many instances there are exceptions, and occasionally no tendency can be found. These exceptions are described in greater detail elsewhere in this grammar. The organization of this chapter rougly follows Dryer’s (2007b) typological study of word order. Elements mentioned in Dryer (2007b) but not applicable to Upper Tanana are not discussed here. 10.1. Order of elements relative to the verb 10.1.1. Subject and object Like most Dene languages, Upper Tanana is verb-final. Subjects of intransitive clauses (203a), as well as both arguments of transitive clauses (203b, c), precede the verb. (203) a. laalil natnet-t’ah (T) butterfly 3SG:flutter.around:IPV:ERR ‘a butterfly was fluttering around’ b. shyi’ ehmbiah (T) meat 3SG:cook:IPV ‘he cooked the meat’ c. Nǫǫgaay ch’idiitth’ak. (T) fox 3SG>INDF:hear:IPV ‘The fox heard something.’

UTCBAF13Nov0501:033

UTOLVDN14May0703:126

UTCBAF13Nov0501:160

There are not many instances where both a subject and an object noun phrase occur in the same clause. It appears that SO order is most frequent (204), but see chapter 11 for more information.

164

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(204) Eh ts’exeh gaay tsayh nati’aak. (N) and girl ocher 3SG:carry.around.CO:IPV:CUST ‘And the girl was carrying ocher around.’ UTOLAF15May0501:103 The same observations hold for bivalent clauses, in which the second argument is the object of a bound postposition (205). Note that the subject noun phrase in (205c) is the free pronoun shiy ‘1SG’ rather than a noun; there simply are not many examples of this constellation. (205) a. utsǫǫ hǫǫsu’ ik’anehtah (T) 3SG:grandmother well 3SG>3SG:take.care.of:IPV ‘his grandmother took good care of him’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:048 b. łįį inagnjit (N) dog 1SG:be.scared.of:IPV ‘I am scared of the dog’

UTOLAF18Jun0101:003

c. Ishyiit shiy shchil iin k’anakta’, shiy then 1SG 1SG:younger.brother PL 1SG:take.care.of:IPV 1SG shyįį’. (N) only ‘At that time, I took care of my younger brothers, just me.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:019 More detail on word order and argument noun phrases is provided in chapters 11 and 17. 10.1.2. Postpositional phrases As described in volume 1, chapter 15, Upper Tanana has only postpositions, no prepositions. Postpositions may be inflected (see vol. 1, chap. 23). Postpositional phrases generally precede the verb (206). (206) a. Nuhshyign’ ik’eh teltthät… (N) MED:AR:down:ALL 3SG>3SG:after SG:run:INC:PFV ‘He started running down after it…’ UTOLAF09Aug12:034 b. … shįįła’ eh ch’ixia’ kah nadagnnay. (N) 1SG:hand with INDF:eggs in.quest 1SG:feel.around:PFV:NOM ‘… I felt around for eggs with my hands.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:012

WORD ORDER OVERVIEW

165

The order of postpositional phrases with respect to other elements in the clause is described in section 11.2.1. Postpositional phrases also often occur in postverbal position (see secs. 11.2.1 and 30.1). 10.1.3. Possessors Possession may be marked inflectionally (see vol. 1, chap. 22). Nominal possessors always precede the possessee (207). (207) a. Stsąy Alkał xeel’ ehtsįį. (N) 1SG:grandfather Alkał pack:POSS 3SG:make.SG.O:PFV ‘My grandfather made Alkał’s pack.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:104 b. T’ayta’ ch’a shta’ uta’ ch’udilnii t’axoh. (N) T’ayta’ FOC 1SG:father 3SG:father 3PL:get.mad:PFV finally ‘T’ayta’ and my father’s father got very mad.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2601:025 When the possessee is inalienably possessed, such as shta’ uta’ ‘my father’s father’ in (207b), the possessor may be expressed by both a noun phrase and a possessor prefix. See also chapter 17. 10.1.4. Manner adverbs Most manner adverbs precede the verb (208). (208) a. Hǫǫsu’ t’eey nach’ihįį’aał łe’. (N) well ADVZR 3PL:eat:IT:PFV DUB ‘They ate well, I guess.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2725:026 b. Ts’ist’e’ ha’gaay ni’eeshyah. (T) old.lady slowly 3SG:get.up:PFV ‘The old lady got up slowly.’

UTOLVDN14Nov2301:430

Manner adverbs also occur in postverbal position (see sec. 11.2.4). 10.1.5. Copula If a nonverbal predicate involves a copula, then the predicate always precedes the copula. The predicate in (209a) is the noun phrase ts’exeh gaay ‘girl’; in (209b) it is the adjective elih ‘cold’.

166

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(209) a. Ts’exeh gaay nłįį. (N) girl 3SG:be:IPV ‘It was a girl.’

UTOLVDN07Nov2901:052

b. Elih hǫǫłįį. (N) cold AR:be:IPV ‘It was cold.’

UTCBVDN13Nov1401:022

Clauses with nonverbal predicates with and without copula are described in chapter 12. 10.1.6. Subordinators Complementizers (210) and other subordinating conjunctions (211) occur without exception in postverbal position. (210) a. Daadeh ehtįį nts’ą’ t’eey i’etnayh. (T) REFL:older.sister 3SG:SG.die:PFV CMP 3SG:know:IPV ‘She knew that her older sister had died.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:249 b. Hiitehchuud t’eey hiiyidetniih… (T) 3PL>3SG:grab:INC:PFV:NOM CMP 3PL>3SG:fail:PFV ‘They failed to grab it…’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:062 (211) a. Nełegn’ uhłe’ xah dihdį’,… (N) 2SG:friend 1SG:be:OPT because 1SG:do:IPV ‘I’m doing this because I want to be your SG friend…’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:031 b. Sheł naholndak niign ch’a dihnay. (T) 1SG:to 3SG:tell.stories:IPV the.way FOC 1SG:say:IPV:NOM ‘I say it the way she told me the story about it.’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:002 Complementation strategies are described in chapter 27 and adverbial clauses in chapter 26. 10.1.7. Negative particle Both the particle used in standard negation k’a(t’eey) and that used in negation of requests sǫ’ always precede the verb or verb phrase (212). See section 16.1.3 for more discussion on the placement of k’a(t’eey).

WORD ORDER OVERVIEW

167

(212) a. Ay chih hut’ah t’eey k’at’eey nelsüü taa’aal. (N) and also 3PL:pocket ADVZR NEG money 3SG:classify.CO:FUT:NEG ‘And also they won’t have money in their pocket.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:066 b. Dineey iin sǫ’ ǫǫdloo… (N) men PL PROH 2SG:smile:OPT ‘Don’t SG smile at men…’

UTOLAF12Jul1203:060

10.1.8. Interrogative proform Most interrogative proforms occur in sentence-initial position (213). (213) a. Doo neexah ‹natalsüü› ch’a… (T) who 1PL:for 3SG:hunt:FUT:NOM FOC ‘Who is going to hunt for us…’ UTOLAF13May2403:043 b. Doo iin uuhdehk’adn ch’a hidąy? (N) who PL 3PL:ask:IPV:NOM FOC 3PL:do:IPV:NOM ‘Doing this, whom did they ask?’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:040 There are, however, exceptions to this generalization as discussed in chapter 14. 10.2. Order of other elements 10.2.1. Order within the noun phrase With the exception of demonstratives and sometimes numerals, most elements in the noun phrase follow the noun. (214a) shows the order of noun and plural enclitic; (214b) that of noun and modifier; (214c) that of noun and relative clause; (214d; e) the variable order of noun and numeral; and (214f ) that of demonstrative and noun. (214) a. ‹Ts’iikeey› iin hu’ihuushyaak ha’ogn. (N) children PL 3PL:be.lost:IPV NTRL:out:AR ‘Our children are lost out there.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:021 b. Łuugn xah dahdzał guuy chih ts’ehtsiik… (T) fish for rack tiny also 1PL:make.SG.O:IPV:CUST ‘We would make a tiny drying rack for the fish…’ UTOLAF09Jun2901:011

168

CLAUSE STRUCTURE c. Ay dineh nuhxah danįįshyay, angel hǫǫłįį t’eey and man 2PL:to 3SG:come.in:PFV:NOM angel AR:be:IPV even du’. (N) CT ‘And the man who came in to you might be an angel.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:033 d. Jah łįį łaakay hįlt’eh. (N) there dog two 3PL:be.number:IPV ‘There were two dogs.’

UTCBAF15May0403:011

e. Łaakay dits’ihtąyy’ ehtsįį. (T) two REFL:bow:POSS 3SG:make.SG.O:PFV ‘He made his own two bows.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:150 f. Jin tąy ts’uudäł! (N) DEM trail 1PL:PL.go:OPT ‘Let’s go onto this trail!’

UTOLAF10Jul0202:022

More details, especially about the instances of variation, are given in chapter 19. 10.2.2. Degree adverb Since degree adverbs are formally identical to adverbializers (see vol. 1, chap. 16), their function in any given example can be difficult to determine. In (215) nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey and t’eey follow the adverb they modify. (215) a. Ay t’oot’eey hǫǫsu’ nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey shta’ neenehshyąą.(N) and but well INTS 1SG:father 3SG>1PL:raise:PFV ‘But still my dad brought us up really well.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:029 b. … na’ogn nithaad t’eey hugn tah ts’edak. (T) MED:out:AR far INTS there among 1PL:PL.go:IPV:CUST ‘… we walked around a really long way out there.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1501:091 10.2.3. Subordinate clause The relative position of subordinate clause and main clause depends on the type of subordination. Generally there is a preference for the subordinate

WORD ORDER OVERVIEW

169

clause to precede the main clause, but many exceptions exist. This is described in chapter 27 for the three different types of complement clauses and in chapter 26 for the many different types of adverbial clauses. 10.3. Summary In this chapter broad word order characteristics of Upper Tanana are described. More information, especially on variability, can be found in the chapters describing the individual structures.

11 | Simple clauses Most of this chapter is dedicated to the description of the word order of constituents relative to the verb in simple declarative clauses. The position of argument noun phrases is described in section 11.1; that of optional elements in the clause is described in 11.2. Clausal prosody is briefly described in section 11.3. Only clauses with verbs are discussed in this chapter; verbless clauses are discussed in chapter 12. 11.1. Placement of arguments The discussion of the relative order of clausal arguments is organized by transitivity of the verb theme: no argument, intransitive, transitive, bivalent, and ditransitive.¹ 11.1.1. Clauses without an argument A few verbs describing atmospheric conditions may be inflected in all modes, but not for subject. These verbs always occur in the unmarked form otherwise interpreted as third-person singular subject. They obligatorily occur without free noun phrases (216). (216) a. Hu’eh na’įhchąą. (N) hu-’eh na-įh-chąą 3PL.P-with IT-AA.PFV:H-rain:PFV ‘It rained with them.’ b. Hǫǫchaa t’eey ehts’ayh… (T) hǫǫchaa t’eey eh-ts’ayh very ADVZR Ø.IPV:H-be.windy:IPV ‘It was very windy…’

UTOLVDN09Jun2301:139

UTCBAF13Nov1510:027

SIMPLE CLAUSES

171

c. … neh tahshyüüdn. (N) n-eh tah-shyüüdn 2SG.P-with INC:AA.IPV:H-snow:FUT:NOM ‘… it will snow with you SG.’ UTOLAF15May0501:214 Occasionally there are noun phrases in clauses headed by this type of verb (217). (217) shyüh ehchąą shyüh eh-chąą snow Ø.IPV:H-rain:IPV ‘it is snowing’ (lit. ‘it was raining in a snow fashion’)

Kari (1997b)

Clauses such as (217) are, however, quite rare. More frequently, such a noun phrase is adverbialized by t’eey (218). This suggests that the noun phrase in (217) functions as adverbial rather than as subject. (218) … ch’inłuut t’eey ehshyüü eł. (T) ch’inłuut t’eey eh-shyüü eł hail ADVZR Ø.IPV:H-snow:IPV:NOM and ‘… and it was hailing.’ (lit. ‘it was snowing in a hail fashion’) UTOLAF08Apr2805:106 11.1.2. Intransitive clauses Intransitive clauses only have a subject, which usually has the semantic role of agent or theme. 11.1.2.1. No noun phrases: V When the subject is first or second person (219a), subject noun phrases are disallowed (see vol. 1, chaps. 28 and 31). When the subject is third person, noun phrases are not required (219b). Clauses without nominal arguments are quite common. (219) a. Nanishshyah. (N) na-nish-shyah IT-N.PFV:1SG:D-SG.go:PFV ‘I came home.’ b. Tihatna::k. (T) ti-hat-nak tired-3PL.S:AA.PFV:D-be.tired:IPV ‘They were exhausted.’

UTOLVDN14Apr2602:081

UTOLAF08Apr2805:018

172

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

11.1.2.2. One noun phrase: SV or VS When subject noun phrases do occur in intransitive clauses, they usually precede the verb (220). (220) a. Ts’iiniin guu::y etsaa::. (T) ts’iiniin guuy e-tsaa child small 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-cry:IPV ‘The baby was crying.’

UTOLAF09Jun2202:014

b. Hugn dits’än nanatdäł. (N) hugn dits’än na-nat-däł there duck IT-3PL.S:QUAL:AA.IPV:D-PL.fly:IPV:PROG ‘Out there the ducks are coming back.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:085 VS order is also common in intransitive clauses, depending to some degree on the speaker. The speaker who produced (221a) uses VS order very frequently; the speaker who produced (221b) much less so. Clauses with postverbal subjects occur in all dialects; see section 30.1 for more information. (221) a. Tthinaan nts’ą’ eetįį ch’aadeh. (T) tthinaan nts’ą’ ee-tįį ch’-aadeh sideways ADVZR 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.sleep:IPV INDF.PSR-older.sister ‘The older sister was sleeping on her side.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:239 b. … stach’idzinįįdlah udzih. (T) sta-ch’idzi-nįį-dlah udzih away-quadruped-3PL.S:N.PFV:Ø-PL.move:PFV caribou ‘… the caribou ran away.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:057 11.1.3. Transitive clauses In transitive clauses the subject usually has the semantic role of agent and the direct object has that of patient or theme. 11.1.3.1. No noun phrase: V It is common for both subject and direct object to be expressed pronominally (222). Note that some third-person arguments are not expressed overtly at all, such as the third-person singular subject in (222a) or the third-person plural object in (222b); see chapter 17 for details.

SIMPLE CLAUSES

173

(222) a. Shtedhehxįį, … (T) sh-te-dheh-xįį 1SG.O-3SG.S:INC-QUAL:DH.PFV:H-kill.SG.O:PFV ‘He is trying to kill me…’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:231 b. Nat’u’ahłe’! … (T) nat’u-ah-łe’ skin-Ø.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:DSTR ‘Skin PL them [the muskrat]!’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:012 c. Ineh’įh. (N) i-neh-’įh 3SG>3PL-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-see:IPV ‘He saw [the bugs].’

UTCBVDN13Nov1401:056

11.1.3.2. One noun phrase: SV or OV In transitive clauses either the subject (223) or the direct object (224) may be expressed by a free noun phrase. In both (223) and (224) the noun phrase precedes the verb; this is the most common word order. Note that an object prefix is required in the absence of an object noun phrase ([223]; see chap. 17). (223) a. Ay teejuh ch’itay ay t’oot’eey yetnąą. (T) ay teejuh ch’itay ay t’oot’eey and poor.thing old.man and although y-et-nąą 3SG.S>3SG.O-Ø.IPV:D-drink:IPV ‘And the poor old man would drink it anyway.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:010 b. Ts’ant’ay shtedhehxįį… (T) ts’ant’ay sh-t-dheh-xįį devil 1SG.O-3SG.S:INC-QUAL:DH.PFV:H-kill.SG.O:PFV ‘The Devil is trying to kill me…’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:229 (224) a. … hunaagn’ eldeeł. (N) hu-naagn’ el-deeł 3PL.PSR-eye 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:L-eat.PL.O:IPV ‘… he ate their eyes.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0805:015

174

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. … xįąh hehtsįį. (N) xįąh heh-tsįį raft 3PL.S:DH.PFV:H-make:PFV ‘… they made a raft.’

UTOLVDN14Apr2601:002

If a transitive clause contains only one noun phrase, then this noun phrase occurs almost always in preverbal position. 11.1.3.3. Two noun phrases: SOV, OSV, or OVS Transitive clauses with two overt noun phrases are relatively rare in natural speech. There seems to be a preference for SOV (225). (225) a. … sts’iiniin’ ts’ayh dehxįą eł… (T) s-ts’iiniin’ ts’ayh deh-xįą eł 1SG.PSR-child:POSS boat 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-rock:IPV:NOM and ‘… my child rocked the boat and…’ UTOLAF09Jun2902:027 b. Atthiit ch’itay shaadeh dhehxįį xah… (T) a-tthiit ch’itay sh-aadeh NTRL-waterward:PNCT old.man 1SG.PSR-older.sister dheh-xįį xah 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:H-kill.SG.O:PFV because ‘Because the old man killed my older sister there by the water…’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:140 OSV order is also attested; it is usually indicated by the use of i/y- as direct object prefix ([226]; see sec. 17.2.1 for discussion). This word order is neither particularly common nor particularly rare. (226) a. … tl’uuł hǫǫ’t’eey ch’aachinh yaa inełeek. (T) tl’uuł hǫǫ’t’eey ch’aachinh y-aa rope still stump 3SG.S>3SG.P-for i-ne-łeek 3SG.S>3SG.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.RO:IPV:CUST ‘… the stump kept moving the rope for her.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:309

SIMPLE CLAUSES b. … ay ch’a Che’ T’iin Tsa’ Ushyaa idhehxįį. (S) ay ch’a Che’ T’iin Tsa’ Ushyąą and FOC Tailed.Person Smart.Beaver i-dheh-xįį 3SG.S>3SG.O-QUAL:DH.PFV:H-kill.SG.O:PFV ‘… and then Smart Beaver killed the Tailed Man.’ 063

175

ANLC4122a-

A more common strategy is to move the subject noun phrase into postverbal position, resulting in OVS order (227). The direct object is not usually moved into postverbal position. (227) a. Diniign tth’an’ k’ii’ettheeł that ts’ist’e’, … (T) diniign tth’an’ k’ii-e-ttheeł that ts’ist’e’ moose bone apart-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-chop:IPV that old.lady ‘She split moose bones, that old lady…’ UTOLVDN13May2907:120 b. Ts’exeh gaay nadihtįį that ts’exeh. (T) ts’exeh gaay na-dih-tįį that ts’exeh girl IT-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:H-give.birth:PFV that woman ‘She gave birth to a girl, that woman.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:016 11.1.4. Bivalent clauses Bivalent clauses also have two arguments, a (usually) agentive subject and the object of a bound postposition. The semantic role of the postpositional object depends on the postposition but is frequently a recipient or goal. 11.1.4.1. No noun phrase: V Frequently neither subject nor postpositional object are expressed by a free NP (228). The bound postpositions are P+t’a ‘catching up with P’ and P+i ‘affecting P’, respectively. (228) a. Hut’aheedeeł… (T) hu-t’a-hįį-deeł 3PL.P-catch-3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV ‘They caught up with them…’ UTOLVDN13May2909:025

176

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Mbindagjiit!. (T) mb-i-nagn-jiit 3SG.P-PP-QUAL:AA.PFV:1SG.S:L-be.scared:PFV ‘I was scared of him.’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:017

11.1.4.2. One noun phrase: SV, PV, VS, or VP (229a) contains a subject noun phrase; the postpositional object is expressed by i- ‘3SG>3SG’-. The sole noun phrase in (229b) refers to the postpositional object.² (229c) finally contains a postverbal noun phrase which can be interpreted in two ways: the speaker intended the first interpretation given in the translation tier, but other fluent speakers have suggested the second interpretation instead. (229) a. … utsǫǫ hǫǫsu’ ik’anehtah. (T) u-tsǫǫ hǫǫsu’ 3SG.PSR-grandmother well i-k’a-neh-tah 3SG.S>3SG.P-care-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-take.care:IPV ‘… his grandmother took good care of him.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:048 b. Dich’il’ k’iich’ehtsäł. (N) d-ch’il’ k’ii-ch’-eh-tsäł REFL-clothes rub-INDF-3SG:Ø.IPV:H-wash:IPV ‘He’s washing his clothes.’ UTCBAF13Nov0905:051 c. … t’oot’eey yineljit ch’itay. (T) t’oot’eey y-i-nel-jit ch’itay but 3SG.S>3SG.P-PP-QUAL:Ø.PFV:L-be.scared:IPV old.man i. ‘… but he was scared of the old man’ ii. ‘… but the old man was scared of him.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:127 More information on postposed noun phrases is given in section 30.1. 11.1.4.3. Two noun phrases: SVP There is one example of a bivalent clause with two free noun phrases in the order SPV (230). The presence of the contrastive topic marker du’ might indicate that the subject has been leftdislocated in this instance (see sec. 30.2.1.2).

SIMPLE CLAUSES

177

(230) Łįį iin du’ hiishyi’ ineljit. łįį iin du’ hii-shyi’ i-nel-jit dog PL CT 3PL.S>3PL.PSR-meat PP-QUAL:Ø.PFV:L-be.scared:IPV ‘The dogs were scared of [eating the wolves’] meat.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2714:020 11.1.5. Ditransitive clauses There are a few ditransitive verb themes in Upper Tanana. All of them contain an incorporated postposition introducing a recipient. The subject is usually an agent and the direct object a patient or theme. 11.1.5.1. No noun phrase: V Ditransitive clauses without any external noun phrases are relatively rare. In (231a) the direct object is not overtly expressed due to the presence of a first person subject (see sec. 17.1 for details). (231) a. … utl’a’ih’ąą. (N) u-tl’a-ih-’ąą 3SG.P-to-AA.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-handle.CO:PFV ‘… I gave it to her.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:058 b. … hu’ihiiyeh’aał. (T) hu-i-hiiy-eh-’aał 3PL.P-PP-3PL.S>3SG.O-Ø.IPV:H-feed:IPV ‘… they feed it to them.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2902:001 11.1.5.2. One noun phrase: PV, OV, or SV When there is only one nominal argument in a ditransitive theme, it may have any syntactic role. Most frequently the noun phrase refers to the postpositional argument (232a), but it may also refer to the direct object (232b) or the subject (232c). The pronominal prefixes in these examples have a disambiguating function, since i/y- (in direct or postpositional object position) cannot be coreferential with an immediately preceding noun phrase (see chap. 17). (232) a. … k’at’eey dą’ ts’iiniin tl’ayihchuudn… (T) k’at’eey dą’ ts’iiniin NEG at child tl’a-y-ih-chuudn to-3PL.S>3SG.S-NEG.PFV:H-handle.food:PFV:NEG ‘… they did not give it to the child…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:068

178

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Huugn diniign k’at’eey yi’eh’aal… (T) hugn diniign k’at’eey y-i-eh-’aal there moose NEG 3SG.S>3SG.P-PP-Ø.IPV:H-feed:IPV:NEG ‘She didn’t feed him any moose meat…’ UTOLVDN13May2907:130 c. … shee’eh hǫǫsǫǫ t’eey nee’ich’eh’aał. (N) sh-ee’eh hǫǫsǫǫ t’eey 1SG.PSR-maternal.uncle well ADVZR nee-i-ch’eh-’aał 1PL.P-PP-INDF.O:3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-feed:IPV ‘… my uncle always fed us well.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:074

11.1.5.3. Two noun phrases: SOV or OPV When there are two noun phrases in a ditransitive clause, they usually refer to the subject and direct object (233). The postpositional object is then expressed by a (bound) pronoun and the noun phrases occur in the order SOV. (233) a. Dzänh diche’ itl’a’įįtąą. (N) dzänh d-che’ i-tl’a-įį-tąą muskrat REFL.PSR-tail 3SG.S>3SG.P-to-AA.PFV:Ø-handle.LRO:PFV ‘Muskrat gave him his own tail.’ UTCBAF14Jun0301:006 b. Ishyiit hǫǫ ts’exeh tuu itl’a’įįkąą… (N) ishyiit hǫǫ’ ts’exeh tuu i-tl’a-įį-kąą there thus woman water 3SG.S>3SG.P-to-AA.PFV:Ø-handle.OOC:PFV ‘There the woman gave him water…’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:061 Clauses with two free noun phrases referring to the direct and postpositional objects are very rare. The order then is OPV. Note, however, that the direct object is expressed by the free noun phrase jign ntl’at ‘blueberries and salmonberries’, but also as part of the portmanteau prefix hii- ‘3PL.S>3PL.O’in direct object position (234).

SIMPLE CLAUSES

179

(234) Jign ntl’at ‹chih› ay chih ts’iikeey k’a ihiitah’aal. (T) jign ntl’at chih ay chih ts’iikeey k’a blueberries cranberries too that too children NEG i-hii-tah-’aal PP-3PL.S>3PL.O-INC:AA.IPV:H-feed:FUT:NEG ‘Blueberries and cranberries, they also don’t feed those to children.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2902:006 There are no examples of a ditransitive clause containing a subject and postpositional object noun phrase. 11.1.5.4. Three noun phrases: SOPV The corpus contains exactly one example of a ditransitive clause with three overt noun phrases. The word order is SOPV and none of the arguments are overtly marked on the verb (235). (235) Tl’aan tagoh du’, dinayh, dinayh chih tuhtsil tl’a’įį’ąą. (T) tl’aan tagoh du’, dinayh, dinayh chih tuhtsil and swan CT bearberries bearberries too green.winged.teal tl’a-įį-’ąą to-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-handle.CO:PFV ‘And then Swan gave Green-winged Teal [a pouch with] bearberries.’ UTOLVDN13May2902:051 In elicitation one Northway speaker showed preference for the order SPOV, rejecting clauses with SOPV order (236); again, no arguments are overtly marked on the verb. (236) Mary ts’iiniin tuu tl’a’įįkąą. (N) Mary ts’iiniin tuu tl’a-įį-kąą Mary child water to-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-handle.OOC:PFV ‘Mary gave water to the child.’ UT Notebook #5, p. 68 I made the decision to not explore this further. The fact that there is exactly one example of a ditransitive clause with three free noun phrases in the narrative corpus suggests that this is a very marginal construction. The exact order does not really matter, since this is not usually done. One interesting item to note is that in ditransitive clauses, noun phrases do not occur in postverbal position regardless of the number of free noun phrases in the clause. I suspect this is due to the potential for ambiguity. Generally, subject noun phrases as well as postpositional phrases are often moved into the postverbal position, whereas direct objects usually occur in

180

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

preverbal position. Thus, in a ditransitive clause, the agent or the recipient could be moved into postverbal position—but as both of these are typically human, it would then be challenging to identify the function of a postverbal noun phrase. 11.2. Optional syntactic constituents Optional syntactic constituents include postpositional phrases headed by free postpositions (sec. 11.2.1) as well as adverbs (sec. 11.2.2). Their position in the clause is flexible; the placement of postpositional phrases seems to be influenced by discourse factors while that of adverbs is determined by their scope. Similar word order variability in Ahtna is used by Rice and Saxon (2005) to argue in favor of several syntactic subject positions in that language. I remain agnostic with respect to the number of subject positions in Upper Tanana.³ 11.2.1. Placement of optional postpositional phrases Optional postpositional phrases⁴ introduce additional participants. While the postpositional object is the argument of the postposition, the postpositional phrase serves as adjunct to the clause. The object of a postposition may be a pronominal prefix or a noun phrase. While postpositional phrases are quite free—they may occur in almost any position in the clause—the nominal object of a postposition always immediately precedes the head. 11.2.1.1. Postpositional phrases in intransitive clauses Intransitive clauses may contain postpositional phrases headed by free postpositions. 11.2.1.1.1. Without a subject noun phrase In the absence of a subject noun phrase, the postpositional phrase usually precedes the verb (237), but the opposite is also attested (238). Note that the entire postpositional phrase is moved into postverbal position. (237) a. Mbaa ki’ihshyah tl’aan… (N) mb-aa ki-ih-shyah tl’aan 3SG.P-for climb-AA.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-SG.go.up:PFV and ‘I went up for it and…’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:012 b. Noodlee k’eh naadlįh hihunayh. noodlee k’eh naadlįh h-hu-nayh white.people like instead 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-live:IPV ‘They live like white people instead.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:075

SIMPLE CLAUSES

181

(238) a. Altthał altthał ich’a’. (T) al-tthał al-tthał 3SG.S:AA.IPV:L-SG.run:IPV:PROG 3SG.S:AA.IPV:L-SG.run:IPV:PROG i-ch’a’ 3SG.S>3SG.P-from ‘She was running and running away from him.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:153 b. … ya’än’ tah tinagntthät k’a’ eh. (N) ya-’än’ tah ti-nagn-tthät k’a’ eh DSTL-out:ALL among out-N.PFV:1SG.S:L-SG.run:PFV gun with ‘… I ran out with a gun.’ UTOLAF09Aug12:024 11.2.1.1.2. With subject noun phrase When the subject is expressed by a free noun phrase in an intransitive clause containing a postpositional phrase, the subject usually precedes the inflected postposition, which in turn precedes the verb (239). Since the postpositional object prefix is not usually interpreted as coreferential to the preceding noun phrase (see chap. 17), no ambiguity results, even when both subject and postpositional object are third person. (239) a. Mbah iin hu’aanah nihnįįdeel… (T) mbah iin hu-’aanah ni-h-nįį-deel warrior PL 3PL.P-around TERM-3PL.S:N.PFV:Ø-PL:go:PFV:NOM ‘Warriors gathered around them…’ UTOLAF13May2403:009 b. Hunąą huts’ą’ ehsał… (T) hu-nąą hu-ts’ą’ eh-sał 3PL.PSR-mother 3PL.P-to 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-holler:IPV ‘Their mother hollered at them…’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:004 There are a few examples where the subject follows a noun phrase referring to the postpositional object (240). The noun phrase Nahtsįą ‘Wolverine’ is coreferential with the (pronominal) object of P+aa ‘for, to P’. The inflection on P+aa ‘for, to P’ suggests that this is a case of left dislocation. Cases like (240) are unusual.

182

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(240) Nahtsįą, Yamaagn Teeshyaay yaa nįįshyay eł: (T) nahtsįą Yamaagn Teeshyaay y-aa nįį-shyay wolverine Yamaagn Teeshyaay 3SG.S>3SG.P-to N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV:NOM eł and ‘Wolverine, Yamaagn Teeshyaay came to him and: ’ UTOLVDN08Mar1307:002 There are no examples of the inflected postpositional phrase preceding the subject. The postpositional phrase frequently occurs in postverbal position (241). (241) a. … u’aat tiich’inel’įį ich’a’. (T) u-’aat ti-na-ch’-nel-’įį 3SG.PSR-wife out-IT-INDF-3SG.S:N.PFV:L-sneak:PFV i-ch’a’ 3SG.S>3SG.P-from ‘… his wife sneaked out again away from him.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:053 b. Too much nee’įįtsįį dał ha’eeląy, łat ‹eh›. (T) too much nee-įįtsįį dał ha-ee-łąy too much 1PL.PSR-nose blood out-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-flow:PFV łat eh smoke because ‘Too much blood was coming out of our noses, because of the smoke.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2301:133 The nominal subject may also occur in postverbal position (see sec. 30.1). In (242a) the postposition takes a pronominal object; in (242b) it takes a nominal one. (242) a. … hiitüh ehaak ts’exeey hǫǫshyaan iin. (T) hii-tüh e-haak ts’exeey 3PL.S>3SG.P-over Ø.IPV:Ø-SG.go:IPV:CUST women hǫǫ-shyaan iin 3PL.S:AR:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.smart:IPV:NOM PL ‘… they stepped over it, the smart women.’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:016

SIMPLE CLAUSES

183

b. … ahdogn dahdzäl da’ee’aan k’it da’eedlah łįį iin t’eey ehk’aay. (N) ah-dogn dahdzäl da-ee-’aan NTRL-up:AR meat.rack up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.CO:IPV:NOM k’it da-ee-dlah łįį iin t’eey on up-3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV dog PL even eh-k’aay 3PL.S:DH.PFV:H-filet:PFV:NOM ‘… up there on the meat rack standing there, there were cut-up dogs.’ UTOLAF15May0501:028 There are no instances where both the subject and the postpositional phrase follow the verb. 11.2.1.2. Postpositional phrases in transitive clauses In clauses headed by transitive verb themes, postpositional phrases are similarly free. Their position depends, however, to some degree on the presence of other noun phrases in the clause. 11.2.1.2.1. Without other noun phrases In the absence of subject and direct object noun phrases, the postpositional phrase usually precedes the verb (243). (243) a. Ay eł ditsǫǫ xah niiyilshyah. (T) ay eł d-tsǫǫ xah and REFL.PSR-grandmother to ni-na-y-il-shyah TERM-IT-3SG.S>3SG.O-N.PFV:L-classify.PL.O:PFV ‘And he brought them back to his grandmother.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:028 b. … manh shyiit tuu tl’ok shyiit tayįhxał. (T) manh shyiit tuu tl’ok shyiit lake into water dirty into ta-y-įh-xał water-3SG.S>3SG.O-AA.PFV:H-throw.AO:PFV ‘… he threw her into the lake, into the dirty water.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:135 Postverbal postpositional phrases are also common in transitive clauses (244). (244b) additionally contains a preverbal postpositional phrase.

184

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(244) a. T’a’uhłeey nuhnaał! (T) t’a-uh-łeey nuh-naał under-OPT:1SG.S:Ø-handle.PL.O:OPT 2PL.P-before.eyes ‘I’m going to plant them right in front of your eyes!’ UTCBVDN13Nov1501:058 b. … dikǫ’thüü shyiit nahuhtelshyeek dich’il’ kah. (N) shyiit d-kǫ’thüü REFL.PSR-bag in na-hu-h-tel-shyeek PRMB-3PL.O-3PL.S-INC:Ø.IPV:L-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST d-ch’il’ kah REFL.PSR-clothes looking.for ‘… they were moving things around in their bags looking for their clothes.’ UTOLAF15May0501:181 11.2.1.2.2. With direct object noun phrases If the transitive clause contains a free direct object noun phrase, then the direct object may precede (245a) or follow (245b) the postpositional phrase. Note that (245a) and (245b) are almost identical apart from the order of direct object and postpositional object. The verb is not inflected for direct object, regardless of whether lexical material occurs between the direct object noun phrase and the verb.⁵ If a meaning difference exists between these two orders, it is likely to be very subtle. (245) a. Ay ch’ale tsüüh shyįį’ di’aat xah na’elshyeek… (N) ay ch’ale tsüüh shyįį’ d-’aat xah and FOC edib.roots only REFL.PSR-wife for na-el-shyeek IT-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:L-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST ‘And he only ever brought back edible roots for his wife…’ UTOLVDN10Jul2713:012 b. Ishyiit laa di’aat xah tsüüh shyįį’ na’elshyeek? (B) ishyiit laa d-’aat xah tsüüh shyįį’ there Q REFL.PSR-wife for edib.roots only na-el-shyeek IT-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:L-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST ‘Is this the one where he only ever brings back edible roots for his wife?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2713:005

SIMPLE CLAUSES

185

The postpositional phrase is frequently postposed, regardless of whether the postpositional object is a bound pronoun (246a) or a noun phrase (246b). (246) a. Łaa, nǫǫ nche’ skidįįttheey shaa! (T) łaa nǫǫ n-che’ partner across:ABL 2SG.PSR-tail ski-dįį-tthey sh-aa across-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-move.LRO.quickly:IPV:IMP 1SG.P-for ‘Partner, put your tail across for me!’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:162 b. … shyah ts’ihuhtsįį k’ąy’ eh. shyah ts’-huh-tsįį k’ąy’ eh house 1PL.S-AR.O:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV willow with ‘… we made a house with willows.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:019 The direct object noun phrase is not usually postposed. (247) could be considered an exception, but the direct object is expressed twice: once by the indefinite object prefix ch’- on the verb and once by the postposed noun phrase. Generally the indefinite object prefix is not compatible with free noun phrases; thus the postposed noun phrase cannot be considered part of the same clause. (247) Huxeel’ shyiit ch’a hiixah ch’ihnihdok shyi’ gąy ch’ik’ah įį’eh tah. (N) hu-xeel’ shyiit ch’a hii-xah 3PL.PSR-pack:POSS in FOC 3PL.S>3PL.P-for ch’-h-nih-dok shyi’ gąy ch’-k’ah įį’eh tah INDF.O-3PL.S-N.PFV:H-stuff:PFV meat dry INDF.PSR-fat etc. ‘Into their packs they stuffed something for them, dry meat and fat and stuff like that.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2725:005 11.2.1.2.3. With subject noun phrases Examples of a subject noun phrase in a transitive clause containing a postpositional phrase are quite rare. In (248) the subject noun phrase precedes the postpositional phrase; there is no direct object noun phrase. This may be the only example of this type. (248) … shnąą yeh ch’uhmbia xah. (N) sh-nąą y-eh ch’-uh-mbia 1SG.PSR-mother 3SG.S>3SG.P-with INDF.O-3SG.S:OPT:H-cook:OPT xah PURP ‘… so my mother could cook with it.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:028

186

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Slightly more frequently, the subject noun phrase is moved into postverbal position (249). (249) a. … huts’ą̈ ’ tah hiitelshyeek ch’inąą iin. (N) hu-ts’ą̈ ’ tah hii-tel-shyeek 3PL.P-to among 3PL.S>3SG.O-INC:Ø.IPV:L-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST ch’-nąą iin INDF.PSR-mother PL ‘… and their mothers bring it to them.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:050 b. Neettheh dą’ ts’änh T’oodįht’ąy ihetnayh, nee’ełaan iin. (N) nee-ttheh dą’ ts’änh T’oodįht’ąy 1PL.P-before when:PST from God i-het-nayh nee-’ełaan iin PP-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:D-know:IPV 1PL.PSR-partners PL ‘They know God from a long time before us, our people.’ UTOLAF10Jul0901:001 There are, however, so few examples that it is difficult to determine which of the above word orders is actually preferred. 11.2.1.2.4. With subject and direct object noun phrases Clauses containing both a subject and a direct object noun phrase in addition to a postpositional phrase are exceedingly rare. In (250a) the subject noun phrase precedes the direct object noun phrase, which in turn precedes the postpositional phrase; in (250b) the direct object noun phrase follows the postpositional phrase. Both sentences were uttered by the same speaker within the same text. (250) a. Nts’ą’ uta’ aayh įįtah t’eey yaa exaan… (T) nts’ą’ u-ta’ aayh įįtah t’eey y-aa and 3SG.PSR-father snowshoe also even 3SG.S>3SG.P-for eh-xaan Ø.IPV:H-make.PL.O:IPV:NOM ‘And his father had made snowshoes for him…’ UTOLVDN14May0703:031

SIMPLE CLAUSES

187

b. That ts’exeh that dineh ts’anh ts’iniin gaay nadįhtįį. (T) that ts’exeh that dineh ts’anh ts’iiniin gaay that woman that man from baby na-dįh-tįį IT-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:H-give.birth:PFV ‘And that woman had a baby from that man.’ UTOLVDN14May0703:019 11.2.1.3. Several postpositional phrases in one clause Due to the multitude of functions expressed by postpositional phrases, it is not at all uncommon for several to appear in the clause. If several postpositional phrases occur in preverbal position, the ones with animate arguments typically occur closer to the verb than those with inanimate ones (251). (251) a. Hanteey’ t’eey ts’ayh gaay shyiit huts’ą’ hihteedeeł eł. (T) hanteey’ t’eey ts’ayh gaay shyiit hu-ts’ą’ quickly ADVZR boat small in 3PL.P-to h-tee-deeł eł 3PL.S-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV:NOM and ‘Quickly, in a small boat they went to them.’ UTOLAF10Jul0801:007 b. … Beaver Lake tah shta’ iin shnąą iin eh dzeltth’ih. (N) Beaver Lake tah sh-ta’ iin sh-nąą iin eh Beaver Lake at 1SG.PSR-father PL 1SG.PSR-mother PL with dzel-tth’ih 1PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-PL.stay:IPV ‘… we would stay at Beaver Lake with my father and my mother.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0804:003 It is also common for one postpositional phrase to be preverbal and another one to be postverbal (252). Here animacy does not seem to play a role, since the postpositional phrase with an animate object occurs in preverbal position in (252a), but postverbally in (252b).

188

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(252) a. … “T’oodįht’ay nts’ą̈ ’ unahdeeyh dziin tah,” neehenih. (N) T’oodįht’ay nts’ą̈ ’ u-nah-deeyh dziin God to CON-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-PL.pray:IPV day tah nee-he-nih among 1PL.P-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV ‘ “Pray to God every day,” they told us.’ UTOLAF10Jul0901:004 b. Ay tl’aan mba’ eegąy įį’eh tah łįį xeel’ shyii ełeey dinąą xah. (N) ay tl’aan mba’ ee-gąy įį’eh tah and.then dry.fish 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-be.dry:IPV etc. łįį xeel’ shyii e-łeey dog pack:POSS into 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:NOM d-nąą xah REFL.PSR-mother for ‘And then he would put dry fish and so on into the dog pack, for his mother.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:047 11.2.2. Placement of adverbs The placement of adverbs in Upper Tanana is flexible and depends to some degree on the type of adverb (see also Givón [1984, 81–82]). Adverbs generally precede the constituent they modify and have scope over; thus temporal and spatial adverbs, which typically have scope over the entire clause, tend to occur in clause-initial position, while manner adverbs, which are more likely to have scope over the verb phrase or even just the verb, tend to occur in clause-medial position. Clause-final adverbs are also common; these have scope over the entire clause. Degree adverbs typically follow the constituent they modify. 11.2.3. Spatial and temporal adverbs 11.2.3.1. Clause-initial Spatial and temporal adverbs have a strong tendency to occur in clause-initial position (253). This has to do with their function of providing a temporal and spatial frame for the event or situation described in the clause; they typically have scope over the entire clause. (253) a. Hahnaat dineh tth’i’elt’ayh… (T) hah-naat dineh tth’i-el-t’ayh NTRL-across:PNCT man out-3SG.S:DH.PFV:L-stretch.out:IPV ‘A man was lying stretched out on the other side [of the tent]…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:032

SIMPLE CLAUSES

189

b. Tädn uudih ts’exeh gaay du’ chich’ideltįį… (N) tädn uudih ts’exeh gaay du’ night all.long girl CT chi-ch’-del-tįį pretend-INDF-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-SG.sleep:IPV ‘All night long the girl pretended to sleep.’ UTOLAF15May0501:050 If a clause contains both a spatial and a temporal adverb in clause-initial position, the temporal one precedes the spatial one (254). (254) a. Dziin hanogn hoosu’ nah’įh de’ ch’inįįkon’ uthiin needlah nah’įįł. (N) dziin ha-nogn hoosu’ nah-’įh de’ today NTRL-upland:AR well QUAL:Ø.IPV:2PL.S:H-look:IPV if ch’inįįkon’ u-thiin needlah dentalium 3SG.PSR-neck 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.RO:IPV tnah-’įįł INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2PL.S:H-see:FUT ‘Today in the upland area, if you look carefully, you will see a dentalium [necklace] around [loon’s] neck.’ UTCBAF14May2001:012 b. Ishyiit dą’ ahnoo’ ts’ist’e’ eł ts’exeh gaay dihishyįį’ hihdeltth’ih. (T) ishyiit dą’ ah-noo’ ts’ist’e’ eł ts’exeh gaay then at:PST NTRL-ahead:ALL old.lady and girl dihishyįį’ h-del-tth’ih by.themselves 3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:L-PL.stay:IPV ‘At that time, an old lady and a girl were living out there by themselves.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:002 The opposite order is not attested. 11.2.3.2. Clause-medial In some instances spatial adverbs occur preverbally following other syntactic material (255). In those cases they have scope over the verb only, not over the entire clause. (255) a. Ldil kah negn’ na’įįdaał. (N) na-įį-daał ldil kah negn’ tea for upland:ALL IT-AA.IPV:2SG.S-D:SG.go:IPV:PROG ‘Go back upland for tea.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:024

190

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Ay eł Yamaagn Teeshyaay shyuugn nanehtah ndee nts’ą’ hǫǫnąy. (T) ay eł Yamaagn Teeshyaay shyuugn na-neh-tah and Yamaagn Teeshyaay down:AR IT-3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-look:IPV ndee nts’ą’ hǫǫ-nąy where:PNCT at AR:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.sound:IPV:NOM ‘And Yamaagn Teeshyaay looked around on the ground [to see] where the sound was [coming from].’ UTOLAF08Apr2804:004

Only a few temporal adverbs occur regularly in clause-medial position, including hǫǫ’t’eey ‘still’ and tay’ ‘again’. These adverbs also typically have scope over the verb only rather than the whole clause (256). (256) a. Hanogn shyi’ hǫǫ’t’eey heedlah. (N) ha-nogn shyi’ hǫǫ’t’eey hee-dlah NTRL-upland:AR meat still 3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-have.PL.O:IPV ‘They still had some meat in the upland area.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:025 b. That ch’itay ahnoo tay’ t’eey naydehkon’. (T) that ch’itay ah-noo tay’ t’eey that old.man NTRL-towards.fire:ALL again ADVZR na-y-deh-kon’ IT-3SG.S>3SG.O-QUAL:DH.PFV:H-heat:PFV ‘That old man heated it up again in the fire.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:251 11.2.3.3. Clause-final Spatial and temporal adverbs occasionally also occur in clause-final position, where they have scope over the entire clause (257). (257) a. … ts’oo cho::h nidee’ay tah naan’. (N) ts’oo choh ni-dee-’ay tah spruce big up-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-extend:IPV:NOM among naan’ across:ALL ‘… a big spruce was standing on the other side.’ UTOLAF17Aug0801:021

SIMPLE CLAUSES b. Ay tl’aan dziin ookol ishyiit dą’. (N) ay tl’aan dziin ookol ishyiit dą’ and then day NEGEX then at ‘There was no daylight back then.’

191

UTOLVDN10Jul2716:031

11.2.4. Manner adverbs Manner adverbs typically occur in clause-medial position and have scope over the verb phrase (258). Since (258b) does not have a nominal subject, the adverb ts’ehkah t’eey ‘plainly’ appears to occur in clause-initial position. (258) a. Ts’ist’e’ ha’gaay ni’eeshyah. (T) ts’ist’e’ ha’gaay ni-ee-shyah old.lady slowly up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.move:PFV ‘The old lady got up slowly.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:430 b. Ts’ehkah t’eey ay ch’aldzeeg shyiit dineh gaay eeday tnah’įįł. (T) ts’ehkah t’eey ay ch’aldzeeg shyiit dineh gaay plainly ADVZR 3SG moon in boy ee-day tnah-’įįł 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.stay:IPV:NOM INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2PL.S:H-see:FUT ‘You can plainly see that boy standing in the moon.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:073 Manner adverbs may also precede the verb rather than the verb phrase (259); in this case they have scope over the verb only. (259) a. Che’ T’iin naadlįh huhinih. (T) Che’ T’iin naadlįh hu-hi-nih tail people by.mistake 3PL.P-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV ‘They called them Tailed People by mistake.’ UTOLVDN13May2803:036 b. Nts’aa’ nih saan t’eey dihtth’ek. (N) nts’aa’ nih saan t’eey dih-tth’ek how say:IPV barely ADVZR QUAL:QUAL:Ø.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-hear:IPV ‘I can barely hear what he is saying.’ UTOLAF13May2801:060 11.2.5. Degree adverbs The position of degree adverbs depends on the constituent they modify, but also on the adverb itself. Degree adverbs such as t’axoh ‘enough, sufficiently’,

192

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

ha’ guuy ‘a little’, and k’ahjil ‘almost’, all of which modify the verb phrase, usually precede the modified constituent (260). (260) a. Det-łįǫ ishyiit de’ ch’a t’axoh t’axoh at-thoo. (N) det-łįǫ ishyiit de’ ch’a t’axoh t’axoh 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:D-be.pliable:IPV here if FOC enough enough at-thoo 3SG.O:AA.PFV:D-tan:PASS:PFV:NOM ‘When [the skin] is pliable like here, it is tanned enough.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2001:005 b. Ay xah ha’ guuy nts’ą’ nuh’eł nahogndagn ha’ ch’ale. (T) ay xah ha’ guuy nts’ą’ nuh-’eł 3SG about little ADVZR 2PL.P-to na-hogn-dagn ha’ ch’ale CONT-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:L-tell.story:IPV:NOM EMPH FOC ‘That’s why I’ll tell you only a little bit about it.’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:045 c. Ay eh k’ahjil sheh nakecheexał. (N) ay eh k’ahjil sh-eh and.then almost 1SG.P-with nake-chee-xał over-INDF:3PL.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-move.LRO.quickly:PFV ‘And [the guns] almost turned [the boat] over with me.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:100 Others, such as shyįį’ ‘only, just’, chih ‘also’, and t’eey ‘very, INTS’, follow the constituent being modified (261). (261) a. Natet-tloh shyįį’… (T) na-tet-tloh shyįį’ IT-3PL.S:INC:Ø.IPV:D-flop:IPV just ‘[The dead bodies] were just floppy…’

UTCBAF14Jul1805:050

b. … noodlee k’eh shyįį’ hiihetnayh. (N) noodlee k’eh shyįį’ h-i-het-nayh white.man like only AR.P-PP-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:D-know:IPV ‘… they only know the white man’s way.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:091

SIMPLE CLAUSES

193

c. … shaadeh chih dhehxįį… (T) sh-aadeh chih dheh-xįį 1SG.PSR-older.sister also 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:H-kill.SG.O:PFV ‘… he killed my older sister, too, …’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:231 d. Hunak-’įh, hǫǫsu’ t’eey hunak-’įh… (N) hu-nak-’įh, hǫǫsu’ t’eey AR-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-see:IPV well very hu-nak-’įh AR-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-see:IPV ‘I can see, I can see very well…’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:048 11.3. Prosody Described in this section are the major prosodic patterns observed in utterances consisting of simple declarative clauses ending in a verb. Throughout this volume numerous prosodic patterns are described that differ from the ones discussed in this section. The prosody of negative declaratives is described in chapter 16 and that of questions in chapters 14 and 13. The prosody of various subordinating constructions is discussed in chapters 25 (relative clauses), 26 (adverbial clauses), and 27 (complement clauses). The prosody of utterances ending in clause-final coordinators is described in chapter 24, that of utterances containing several types of postverbal phrases in chapter 30, and that of insubordinate main clauses in chapter 31. There is also a special intonation pattern associated with augmentation; this is described in chapter 23. The most common pattern in Upper Tanana (declarative) clauses involves final lowering, which was described for this language originally in Lovick and Tuttle (2011), a study of prosodic and syntactic patterns in conversation. The authors found that in conversation, final lowering is quite salient and often used as a turn-yielding cue. In narrative text, final lowering as described in Lovick and Tuttle (2011) is less common, possibly for pragmatic reasons: speakers are not that likely to yield their turn in the middle of a narrative. More common is the pattern illustrated in figure 11.1, the wave form and pitch track of (262). The wave form shows a slight loss of intensity throughout the utterance.⁶ The pitch track shows a gentle decline in pitch across the utterance, from a peak in ditsǫǫ xah ‘for his own grandmother’. The lowest pitch can be found on the pre-stem syllable, with a very slight rise toward the stem syllable.

194

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(262) Ay eł ditsǫǫ xah niiyilshyah. (T) ay eł d-tsǫǫ xah and.then REFL.PSR-grandmother for ni-na-y-il-shyah TERM-IT-3SG.S>3SG.O-N.PFV:L-handle.PL.O:IT:PFV ‘And then he brought them back to his grandmother.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:028 Figure 11.1. Final fall with slightly higher stem (T), UTOLAF09Jun2202:028.

This pattern of gently declining pitch with very slight stem stress is very common in the Tetlin dialect, where there is no low tone. Figure 11.2 shows the wave form and pitch track of (263), produced by a male speaker of the Tetlin dialect. The peak in this utterance is the directional stem, which bears the high tone typical of these lexical items (see vol. 1, chap. 17). (263) Ashyuúúgn keey danh hihdelxoh. (T) a-shyúúgn keey danh h-del-xoh NTRL-down:AR village at 3PL.S-Ø.IPV:L-play.IPV ‘Down there at the village site they were playing.’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:008 In the tonal Northway dialect this pattern is just as commonly found when the stem syllable is not tonally marked. Figure 11.3 and (264) illustrate this for Mrs. Sherry Demit-Barnes. Lexical tone is marked in this example. The low tone on the pre-stem syllable exacerbates the rise on the stem syllable.

SIMPLE CLAUSES

195

Figure 11.2. Final fall with slightly higher stem (T), UTCBAF14Jul1805:008.

(264) Hǫǫsù’ nts’ą̈̀ ’ t’eey needzììt hǫ̀ ǫ̀ heeyh. (N) hǫǫsù’ nts’ą̈̀ ’ t’eey nee-dzììt hǫ̀ ǫ̀ -heeyh well ADVZR 1PL.PSR-hearing 3SG.S:QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-talk:IPV ‘He taught us well.’ (lit. ‘He spoke well into our ears.’) UTCBAF13Nov1203:002 Figure 11.3. Final fall with slightly higher stem (N), UTCBAF13Nov1203:002.

Another common pattern in both dialects is to extend the falling pitch onto the verb stem. This is illustrated for the Tetlin dialect in figure 11.4 (wave form and pitch track of [265]). (265) Eł hunąą tthinįįshyah. (T) eł hu-nąą tthi-nįį-shyah and 3PL.PSR-mother out-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV ‘And their mother came out.’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:011

196

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Figure 11.4. Falling pitch on stem syllable (T), UTCBAF14Jul1805:011.

This pattern of falling pitch on the final syllable is also attested in the Northway dialect, as shown in figure 11.5 (wave form and pitch track of [266]). Lexical tone is indicated in the transcription; the verb stem does not bear low tone. (266) Hugn neexon shyį̀į̀’ dzeltth’iik. (N) hugn neexon shyį̀į̀’ dzel-tth’iik there 1PL only 1PL.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-PL.stay:IPV:CUST ‘We would stay there by ourselves.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:011 Figure 11.5. Falling pitch on (unmarked) stem syllable (N), UTCBAF13Nov1203:011.

When the verb stem is low-toned there is always a clear drop in pitch on the stem syllable as illustrated in figure 11.6 (wave form and pitch track of [267]). In this example only the final syllable of the verb form bears a low tone.

SIMPLE CLAUSES

197

(267) Hugn dits’än nanatdä̀ł. (N) hugn dits’än na-nat-dä̀ł there duck IT-3PL.S:QUAL:AA.IPV:D-PL.fly:IPV:PROG ‘The ducks are coming back.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:085 Figure 11.6. Falling pitch on low-toned stem syllable (N), UTOLAF12Jul1203:085.

Figure 11.7 and (268) illustrate this for Mrs. Sherry Demit-Barnes. This utterance has several low tones. The low tone on the stem of hǫǫsu’ ‘well’ seems to have been overriden by prosodic augmentation (see chap. 23), while the two low tones in the verb—on the second and fifth syllables—are realized much lower than the surrounding unmarked syllables. Figure 11.7. Falling pitch on low-toned stem syllable (N), UTCBAF13Nov1203:014.

198

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(268) Ay t’oot’eey hǫǫsù’ niłk’àts’eneltà’. (N) ay t’oot’eey hǫǫsù’ nił-k’à-ts’-nel-tà’ and however well RECP.P-care-1PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-take.care.of:IPV ‘But anyway, we took good care of each other.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:014 This strong lowering seems to be the usual pattern if a low-toned verb stem occurs in utterance-final position. 11.4. Summary Upper Tanana shows a preference for verb-final clauses, although subjects, postpositional objects, and postpositional phrases also frequently occur in postverbal position. Clauses with two or more free noun phrases are generally rare, but two tendencies can be identified: (preverbal) subjects typically precede (direct and postpositional) objects, and direct objects precede postpositional ones. Free postpositional phrases may occur almost anywhere in the clause, and clauses with several free postpositional phrases are common. The placement of adverbs depends on the type of adverb. Temporal and spatial adverbs typically have scope over the entire clause and occur in clause-initial position. More rarely they may be used clause-finally, again with scope of the entire clause. In clause-medial position they typically have scope over the constituent they precede, usually the verb phrase. Manner adverbs also usually precede the constituent they have scope over. Some degree adverbs precede the constituent they modify, others follow it. The most common prosodic patterns in utterances consisting of simple clauses were also described. Generally there is a tendency toward final lowering, but if the stem does not bear a lexical low tone it is often pronounced with slightly higher pitch than the pre-stem syllable. The stem syllable also often has the lowest pitch in the sentence, particularly if it bears a low tone. Notes 1. With the term “bivalent” I mean verb themes containing a subject and postpositional object, in contrast to a transitive verb theme, which contains a subject and a direct object. 2. The indefinite prefix ch’- in the direct object position is thematic in this verb theme. 3. To clarify: this is not to be taken as disagreement with Rice and Saxon’s proposal. I simply focus on a different aspect of this issue. 4. In this section, only the possible positions for postpositional phrases headed by free postpositions are described; the behavior of the objects of bound

SIMPLE CLAUSES

199

postpositions is discussed in secs. 11.1.4 and 11.1.5. 5. Tsüüh ‘edible roots’ refers to hedysarum alpinum. Other Indigenous groups use terms such as ‘Indian carrot, wild potato,’ or ‘bear root’ when talking about this root in English, but in the Upper Tanana area, tsüüh is always translated as ‘(edible) roots’. 6. I do not use head-mounted microphones, so claims about intensity are problematic. This slight fade, however, is present in virtually all utterances and should thus be considered part of the typical pattern.

12 | Clauses without verbs Perhaps surprising in a language with such complex verbs, it is possible to form clauses without a verb. The predicate function can then be taken over by a noun, an adjective, an imperative-only lexeme, or another type of nonverbal predicate. Some constructions require or allow a copula, some do not. While both copulas in Upper Tanana are verbs, I treat the predicates formed using copulas as nonverbal, following Stassen (1997, 13) and Dryer (2007a, 224). 12.1. Nominal predicates A noun can be used as predicate in several types of clauses. 12.1.1. Presentational clauses Presentational clauses usually consist of a demonstrative, the focus particle ch’a, plus the predicate noun (269) or pronoun (270). Presentational clauses never contain a copula. (269) a. Jah ch’a John eł Mary eł shyah. (T) there FOC John and Mary and house ‘This [is] John and Mary’s house.’ UTOLAF12Jul0602:001 b. Ay k’it – jin ch’a łuugn. Mba’! (N) 3SG on DEM FOC fish dry.fish ‘On it—this [is] the fish. Dry fish!’ UTOLVDN07Aug2004:042 (270) a. Ay ch’a shiy. (N) 3SG FOC 1SG ‘That [was] me.’ b. Jah neexon shyįį’ tah. (N) here 1PL only ? ‘There [was] just us.’

UTOLVDN07Nov2901:053

UTCBAF13Nov1203:019

CLAUSES WITHOUT VERBS

201

12.1.2. Location clauses Location clauses usually consist of a directional adverb that indicates the location, followed by a predicate noun phrase (271a, b). In (271c) the location is expressed by a noun phrase instead of a directional; this noun phrase follows the predicate noun phrase tahtlogn ‘[there were] algae’. (271) a. … ay tl’aan ahnaat eh t’eey diniign. (T) and then NTRL:across:PNCT and ADVZR moose ‘… and across [there was] a moose.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:021 b. Aniit danh keey danh Naambia. (T) NTRL:upriver:PNCT at village at Northway ‘Upriver [is] the village Northway.’ UTCBAF14Jul1804:001 c. Ne’ shyign tah ti’įltth’ät tl’aan upriver:ALL down:ALL among 3SG:fall.underwater:PFV and haa’atshyay eh tahtlogn utthi’. (N) 3SG:SG.come.out:IT:PFV:NOM and algae 3SG:head ‘She fell down into the water and when she came back out, [there were] algae on her head.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:104 Location clauses also never contain a copula. 12.1.3. Naming clauses The obligatorily possessed noun -ǫǫsi’ ‘name’ frequently functions as predicate in naming clauses (272). The first clause in (272b) is negated using the standard negator k’at’eey, which occurs at the left edge of the predicate. (272) a. Shǫǫnüü Arthur mǫǫsi’. (N) 1SG:older.brother Arthur 3SG:name ‘My older brother was called Arthur.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:063 b. Ishyiit ch’ale’ k’at’eey Avis shǫǫsi’, Ts’exeh Su’ shǫǫsi’. (N) there FOC NEG Avis 1SG:name woman beautiful 1SG:name ‘And at that time my name wasn’t Avis, it was ‘Beautiful Woman’.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:145 The word order in naming clauses is always in the one in (272). Upper Tanana naming clauses never contain a copula. The examples in (273) demonstrate that this is different in Ahtna.

202 (273)

CLAUSE STRUCTURE Ahtna a. John s’uze’ dilaen. John 1SG:name 3SG:be:IPV ‘My name is John.’

Kari (1990, 460)

b. nts’e n’uze dilaen? how 2SG:name 3SG:be:IPV ‘What is your name?’

Kari (1990, 460)

12.1.4. Equational clauses Upper Tanana distinguishes between proper inclusion and equational clauses (Payne 1997, 114). Dryer (2007a, 233) distinguishes these types as follows: in an equational clause, the subject and predicate noun phrases can be reversed without changing the meaning “with the only difference in meaning being a possible difference in topic and focus”. In a proper inclusion clause this reversal is not possible. This distinction is illustrated in (274), both examples of which are taken from a story about how the speaker’s family met John Hajdukovich for the first time. When asked about his identity, John Hajdukovich explains what group of people he belongs to, using a proper inclusion clause (274a), before stating his name in an equational one (274b). Note the different copulas used in Upper Tanana. (274) a. Noodlee ihłįį… (T) white.man 1SG:be:IPV ‘I am a white man…’

UTCBVDN14Jul1801:024

b. John Hajdukovich łaan ay diht’eh… (T) John Hajdukovich truly that 1SG:be:IPV ‘I am John Hajdukovich…’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:042 In equational clauses the predicate consists of a noun phrase usually followed by the copula (d+)Ø+t’eh ‘be’.¹ The predicate noun phrase may be followed by the focus marker ch’a, which triggers nominalization of the copula (275). The subject usually precedes the predicate (274b, 275a, 276) but may also be postposed (275b). (275) a. Naxat güh hiiyehnay Taatsąą’ ch’ale’ nt’ay… (N) DEM dirt 3PL>3SG:say:IPV:NOM raven FOC 3SG:be:IPV:NOM ‘That dirt, they say, that was Raven…’ UTCBAF15May0401:014

CLAUSES WITHOUT VERBS

203

b. Nithoo’ t’eey eh tsǫǫ kelahdzeey ch’ale long.time ADVZR and grandmother spider FOC nt’ay ts’ist’e’ du’. (T) 3SG:be:IPV:NOM old.lady CT ‘For a long time [the girl stayed there] and the old lady, that was Grandmother Spider.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:281 (276) illustrates that in an equational clause the noun phrases can be switched, as indicated by the italicized words in the free translations. (276) a. Dineh gaay shk’ąy’ nt’eh! (N) man small 1SG:husband 3SG:be:IPV ‘The short man is my husband!’

UTOLAF12Jul1202:031

b. Shk’ąy’ dineh gaay nt’eh! (N) 1SG:husband man small 3SG:be:IPV ‘My husband is the short man!’ Comment on UTOLAF12Jul1202:031 12.1.5. Proper inclusion clauses In proper inclusion clauses (Payne 1997, 114) or in clauses with “true nominal predicates” (Dryer 2007a, 233), the predicate is nonreferential; the subject is an entity that has the property of belonging to the class denoted by the predicate. Proper inclusion clauses in Upper Tanana employ the copula Ø+łįį ‘be’ (274b, 277). (277) a. Frank Sam ‹shta’› ełegn nłįį. (N) Frank Sam 1SG:father cousin 3SG:be:IPV ‘Frank Sam was my dad’s cousin.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:062 b. Ay dineh nuhxah danįįshyay angel nłįį de’ and man 2PL:for 3SG:SGcome.in:PFV:NOM angel 3SG:be:IPV if du’? (N) CT ‘And what if the man who came to you PL is an angel?’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:032 As in other intransitive clauses, a free subject noun phrase is not required (278).

204

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(278) a. Ts’exeh gaay nłįį. (N) girl 3SG:be:IPV ‘[The baby] was a girl.’ b. Naltsįį ihłįį nts’ą’… (T) Naltsįį 1SG:be:IPV and ‘I am Naltsįį and…’

UTOLVDN07Nov2901:052

UTOLAF11Aug0207:015

The word order in proper inclusion clauses is quite rigid: the subject noun phrase precedes the predicate noun phrase, which in turn precedes the copula. This clause type may also occur without a copula (279). (279) Udia’ gaay du’ ts’exeh gaay. (T) 3SG:younger.sister small CT girl ‘The younger sister [was] a girl.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:028 12.1.6. Existential clauses Existential clauses always contain the copula Ø+łįį, inflected for areal subject (280). As Thompson (1993) demonstrates for Koyukon, the areal prefix in such clauses is a dummy subject and does not agree with the subject (see also vol. 1, chap. 31 for discussion and examples). (280) a. Uts’ädn’ nu’ hǫǫłįį. (N) 3SG:blanket:POSS hole AR:be:IPV ‘There was a hole in her blanket.’

UTOLAF15May0501:048

b. “Huche’ ts’eegn hǫǫłįį,” nee’ehnih. (T) 3SG:tail long AR:be:IPV 3PL>1P:say:IPV ‘ “They have a long tail,’ she told us.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:018 In existential clauses, the noun phrase always precedes the copula. Negative existential clauses are formed using the nonverbal predicate O+kol ‘O NEGEX’ (see secs. 12.4.1 and 16.4.2). 12.1.7. Possessive clauses Possessive clauses are similar to existential ones in that they contain the copula Ø+łįį, inflected for areal subject. The predicate noun phrase is inflected for possessor (281).

CLAUSES WITHOUT VERBS

205

(281) a. Mary ukąy’ Pete Charlie mǫǫsi’; huts’iikeey Mary 3SG:husband Pete Charlie 3SG:name 3PL:children hǫǫłįį. (N) AR:be:IPV ‘Mary’s husband was called Pete Charlie; they had kids (lit. ‘their kids existed’).’ UTCBVDN13Nov0804:019 b. Sht’ayy’ hǫǫłįį… (T) 1SG:strength AR:be:IPV ‘I was strong (lit. ‘my strength existed’)…’ UTOLAF09Jun2201:017 Negative possessive clauses are formed using the nonverbal predicate O+kol ‘O NEGEX’ (see secs. 12.4.1and 16.4.2). 12.2. Adjectives as predicates Upper Tanana has a small number of nonverbal words expressing property concepts that can serve as predicates. These are called “adjectives” in the present work and “predicative adjectives” in Kari (1990) and Hargus (2007). The inventory of adjectives in Upper Tanana is given in volume 1, chapter 18. All Upper Tanana adjectives are intransitive. The subject always precedes the adjective and a copula is not required (282). (282) a. “Tuu idzii’!” nih. (T) water scary say:IPV ‘ “The water is scary!” he said.’ b. Kon’ choh, elok! (T) fire big hot ‘The fire was big and hot!’

UTOLVDN13May2907:089

UTOLAF09Jun2402:005

Yet while a copula is not required, adjectives do occasionally cooccur with one. The copula always follows the adjective. (283) demonstrates that either copula (Ø+łįį and (d+)Ø+t’eh) is possible. (283) a. Eli::h hǫǫłįį, xay. (N) cold AR:be:IPV winter ‘The weather was cold, winter.’ b. Ayaa nt’eh! (B) yucky 3SG:be:IPV ‘That is yucky!’

UTOLVDN07Nov2901:048

UTOLAF10Jul0202:059

206

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

It appears that ayaa ‘yucky’ and įįjih ‘forbidden’ occur with the copula (d+)Ø+t’eh, while abah ‘hurt’, choh ‘big’, elih ‘cold’, elok ‘hot’, and gaay ‘small’ occur with Ø+łįį. 12.3. Excursion: the two copulas of Upper Tanana As sections 12.1–12.2 demonstrate, Upper Tanana distinguishes two copulas: Ø+łįį and (d+)Ø+t’eh. Their distribution can be summarized as follows: Ø+łįį occurs in proper inclusion, existential, and possessive clauses, while (d+)Ø+t’eh occurs in equational clauses. Both are attested in clauses with adjectival predicates. Cognates of both copulas are attested in many Dene languages, but they do not seem to function in the same fashion across the language family. Probably the most detailed study is Welch (2012) for Tłįchǫ Yatiì. He reports that in that language, the different copulas encode a distinction between stage-level and individual-level predicates, with the former expressing “transitory and accidental properties” (80) while the latter express “permanent and essential” properties (81, as well as the references cited there). Welch illustrates this with examples such as (284), observing that (284a) would be used “in an ephemeral, non-characterizing sense, e.g. in a play,” while (284b) characterizes an entity as actually being a caribou. (284)

Tłįchǫ Yatiì (Welch 2012, 80–1) a. Ekwǫ̀ elį. caribou 3SG:COP1:IPV ‘S/he/it is a caribou.’ b. Ekwǫ̀ hǫt’e. caribou 3SG:COP2:IPV ‘It is a caribou.’

The distinction described by Welch is primarily a semantic one, although it has implications for the syntax of the two copulas in Tłįchǫ Yatiì as well. At first glance it does not line up with my observations about Upper Tanana, as evidenced by (274), repeated here as (285). This example demonstrates that both copulas can be used in individual-level predicates, since both describe intrinsic properties of the individual. (285) a. Noodlee ihłįį… (T) white.man 1SG:be:IPV ‘I am a white man…’

UTCBVDN14Jul1801:024

CLAUSES WITHOUT VERBS

207

b. John Hajdukovich łaan ay diht’eh… (T) John Hajdukovich truly that 1SG:be:IPV ‘I am John Hajdukovich…’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:042 Yet there are instances where a distinction similar to that identified by Welch (2012) for Tłįchǫ Yatiì seems to exist. While proper inclusion clauses generally take Ø+łįį, there are rare instances that take (d+)Ø+t’eh. A minimal pair is shown in (286). (286) a. … shnąą tsʼiiniin nłįį eł tʼeey. (T) 1SG:mother child 3SG:be:IPV and ADVZR ‘… my mother was a child.’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:017 b. Dii xah ch’ale natidhah’a’ dishyįį’? Ts’iiniin why FOC 2PL>3SG:send.back:INC:PFV:NOM by.herself child nt’eh! (N) 3SG:be:IPV ‘Why did you PL send her back by herself? She’s just a baby!’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:040 (286a) is a standard proper inclusion clause: the speaker’s mother is a member of the group ‘children’. (286b) is slightly different. Here a father is scolding his daughters for sending their cousin back to the house, highlighting the fact that she is too young to be out by herself. The cousin (subject of the second clause in [286b]) is also a member of the group ‘children’, but the meaning of this clause goes beyond proper inclusion: she is labeled as having the characteristic properties of a young child, such as immaturity and a lack of independence. The sentence pair in (286) thus demonstrates a difference between a stagelevel predicate in (286a), where the subject temporarily belongs to the group ‘children’, and an individual-level predicate in (286a), where the subject is being characterized as having properties typical of children. This distinction may also explain why adjectives may occur with either copula, shown in (283) above and repeated here as (287). The cold weather in (287a) is transient, resulting in a stage-level interpretation—at some point it will warm up again. (287b), on the other hand, is uttered as part of the refusal to perform an immoral act (to defecate on the Devil’s head): this act is intrinsically ‘yucky’. In this instance, an individual-level interpretation is more appropriate.

208

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(287) a. Eli::h hǫǫłįį, xay. (N) cold AR:be:IPV winter ‘The weather was cold, winter.’ b. Ayaa nt’eh! (B) yucky 3SG:be:IPV ‘That is yucky!’

UTOLVDN07Nov2901:048

UTOLAF10Jul0202:059

12.4. Nonverbal predicates There is a small group of nonverbal predicates, including the existential negator O+(oo)+kol ‘O NEGEX’ (12.4.1); several imperative-only morphemes (12.4.2–12.4.6); and a few other items (12.4.7–12.4.9). 12.4.1. O+(oo)+kol ‘O NEGEX’ The existential negator O+(oo)+kol takes an object which may be expressed either inflectionally or by a noun phrase. It is used for negation of existence (288a, b) as well as for negative possessive clauses (288c). The object noun phrase always precedes the predicate. (288) a. Hiikah teedak tah ch’ikol. (T) 3PL>3S:looking.for PL.go:INC:IPV:CUST when INDF.O:NEGEX ‘When they went looking for him, there was nothing.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:007 b. Łįį t’eey kol. (T) dog ADVZR NEGEX ‘There were no dogs.’

UTCBAF13Nov0501:065

c. Ay t’eey neets’ayy’ kol. (N) and ADVZR 1PL:boat:POSS NEGEX ‘We have no boat.’

UTOLAF15Dec0701:021

More information on existential negation is provided in section 16.4.2. 12.4.2. nde’ ‘give me’ Nde’ ‘give me’ is used in commands and takes a direct object. Often, the object is not expressed overtly; the speaker will just point to it. In (289a), which comes from a traditional story, nde’ is accompanied by a grabbing gesture. The object referent is the topic in this particular episode. In (289b, c), the object is expressed by a free noun phrase. The object noun phrase can precede (289b) nde’ or follow it (289c).

CLAUSES WITHOUT VERBS

209

(289) a. “Aan, nde’!” dehtle’ ich’a’ na’ehchuut. (T) move.over give.me REFL:pants 3SG>3SG:from handle.FO:IT:PFV ‘“Move over, gimme!” and he grabbed his own pants back from him.’ UTOLVDN13May2805:024 b. Stsǫǫ, shyi’ nde’! (N) 1SG:grandmother meat give.me ‘Grandma, give me the meat!’ c. Sh’aat, nde’ tuu! (T) 1SG:wife give.me water ‘My wife, give me water!’

UTOLVDN10Jul2724:070

UTOLVDN13May2907:005

(289) also demonstrates that the same particle is used regardless of the shape of the object—when a clause containing a verb is used, the appropriate classificatory verb stem has to be selected. 12.4.3. na’ ‘take it! here!’ The nonverbal imperative na’ ‘take it! here!’ usually occurs without an object (290a). It also can be used with an object (290b). More rarely, it can be used with a subject in a presentational clause (290c). (290) a. “Na’!” ditthe’ iin tl’ayįhtįį. (S) take.it REFL:man’s.daughter PL 3SG>3SG:give.AO:PFV ‘“Take him!” he gave [the baby] to his daughters.’ ANLC4122a-186 b. Nuhch’il’ na’! (T) 2PL:clothes take.it ‘Pick up your PL clothes!’

UTOLAF07Feb1302:092

c. Atthiit Naatayhneetkayh dą’ ch’a ishyiit ch’a NTRL:downriver:PNCT dried-up.hill at FOC there FOC hukeey na’. (T) 3PL:village take.it ‘Down there by the river, at Dried-up Hill, is their village.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:023 12.4.4. aan ‘come, move over’ The imperative-only lexeme aan ‘come, move over’ may occur with a vocative noun phrase (291a) but not with arguments. Its status as a predicate is, however, clear from its ability to occur with a subordinate clause (291b).

210

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(291) a. Shneh’ąy eh “Shdia::’! ‹Shdia’, 3SG>1SG:see:IPV:NOM and 1SG:younger.sister 1SG:younger.sister aan!” shehnih.› (N) come 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘He saw me and said to me, “My younger sister! My younger sister, come!”’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:100 b. Nnaag’ kol de’, aan! (T) 2SG:eye NEGEX if come.in ‘If you SG are blind, come here!’

UTOLVDN13May2907:088

It is usually used to utter an invitation, but see (289a) for an instance where it seems to mean ‘move over’. 12.4.5. duka’ ‘okay, let’s go’ The imperative-only morpheme duka’ ‘okay, let’s go’ cannot take arguments (292). Speakers often translate it as ‘go ahead’, but unlike its English translation, duka’ often includes the speaker as well as the hearer. (292) a. Ay eł Noogaay du’, “Duka’, hǫǫ shįįłeeł… (T) and fox CT go.ahead thus 2SG>1SG:handle.PL.O:IPV:PROG ‘And then Fox [said], “Go ahead, paint me (lit. ‘put plural objects on me’)…”’ UTOLAF09Aug1101:010 b. “Duka’,” ts’inih tl’aan dǫǫ neets’ayy’ let’s.go 1PL:say:IPV and.then downriver:ABL 1PL:canoe:POSS Tth’itu’ Niign tats’įįdlah… (N) Tanana River 1PL:put.PL.O.into.water:PFV ‘“Let’s go!” we said and put our canoes into the Tanana River…’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:087 12.4.6. duk ‘shoot’ The imperative-only lexeme duk ‘shoot! go!’ cannot take arguments (293). In (293b) it occurs as complement of P+d+ø+nih ‘say to P’, which allows both quoted and direct discourse complements (see chap. 27). (293) a. “Duk!” dikąy’ ehnih, … (T) shoot REFL:husband 3SG:say:IPV ‘“Shoot!” she said to her husband…’ UTOLVDN13May2907:030

CLAUSES WITHOUT VERBS

211

b. “Duk shdǫǫni’ de’ shyįį’,” di’aat ehnih. (T) shoot 2SG>1SG:say:OPT UR only REFL:wife 3SG:say:IPV ‘“Just tell me when,” he said to his wife.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:032 12.4.7. ena’ ‘no’ While ina’, ena’ ‘no, don’t’ is usually used by itself to respond negatively to a request or suggestion (294), it can also be used as a predicate (295). It then always follows its argument. (294)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN14Nov2301:265–67 (T) 1. Stsay, t’axoh shaadeh ts’i’okthiid! 1SG:grandfather finally 1SG:older.sister 1SG:wake.up:OPT ‘Grandfather, I want to wake up my older sister!’ [the girl said] 2. Ena’! Ena’! Uute’! no no 3SG:SG.sleep:OPT ‘No! No! Let her sleep!’ [the old man responded]

(295) a. Tthiinįįshyah de’ chih ay chih ena’. (N) 2SG:SG.have.period:PFV if also 3SG also no ‘When you SG have your period, also, [going among people] also is a no-no.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:057 b. Ts’exeey iin dineh gaan’ hihchiign hǫǫ’ ena’! (N) women PL man arm 3PL:grab:IPV:CUST:NOM thus no ‘Woman grabbing men by the wrists, that’s No!’ UTOLAF14Nov2405:002 12.4.8. le’ ‘I don’t know’ Le’(e) ‘I don’t know’ usually functions as a one-word answer to a question (296). (296)

Excerpt: UTOLAF17Aug0801:017–18 (N) 1. “Datidhįhtsuul t’eey ishyiit dänh nts’ąą’ ch’a 2SG:be.so.small:PFV ADVZR then at how FOC dįįnay,” shehnih. 2SG:say:IPV:NOM 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘“You were too young, how could you remember (lit.: ‘say’) this,” he asked me.’

212

CLAUSE STRUCTURE 2. “Le’e.” I.don’t.know ‘“I don’t know.”[I said.]’

Le’e ‘I don’t know’ can also be used as a predicate taking a nominal complement doo ‘who’ (297a). More frequently its complement is a question (297b, c). Le’(e) follows the constituent that is unknown, either the question word (297a, b) or the entire question (297c). (297) a. Jesus henay chih doo le’. (N) Jesus 3PL:say:IPV:NOM also who IGN ‘I didn’t know who the one they call Jesus [was] either.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:022 b. Udzih du’ dia le’ k’at’eey hiiyeldeel jah caribou CT why IGN NEG 3PL>3SG:eat.PL.O:IPV:NEG here t’iin iin. (T) people PL ‘As for the caribou, I don’t know why they don’t eat them, the people here.’ UTOLVDN13May2401:037 c. Shnąą, nts’ą̈ ’ tah hudįįni’ le’. (N) 1SG:mother how among? 3SG>3PL:say.to:PFV IGN ‘My mother, what she said to them I don’t know.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:116 More information on embedded questions is found in chapter 27. 12.4.9. nday ‘what the heck, where’ Nday ‘what the heck’, generally a cognitive interjection,² also can be used as predicate. In this usage it is usually translated as ‘where’. It additionally suggests that the speaker feels that they should know where the entity is and is frustrated because they do not know its whereabouts. It may precede or follow the entity whose whereabouts are being queried, with no apparent difference in meaning (298). (298) a. “Nday naadeh du’,” yehnih. (T) where 2SG:older.sister CT 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Where is your older sister,” he said to her.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:367

CLAUSES WITHOUT VERBS

213

b. Ts’exeh du’ nday? Ndee itinįį’įį? (B) woman CT where where:PNCT 2SG:hide:PFV ‘Where is that girl? Where did you hide her?’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:138 12.5. Summary In verbless clauses the predicate is formed by lexical items that are not verbs, that is, nouns, adjectives, and one of a few other nonverbal predicates. Different clause types with nominal predicates can be identified, depending on the presence and type of copula. Clauses with adjectival predicates contain an optional copula; different adjectives seem to trigger the use of different copulas. Other nonverbal predicates do not allow the use of a copula. Some of these words allow nominal arguments (subjects or direct objects), which almost always precede the predicate. Notes 1. Kari (1990, 344) indicates that in Ahtna, the d- prefix is a disjunct prefix. In Upper Tanana it has been reanalyzed as a qualifier as evidenced by the first-person plural form dzįįt’eh, where qualifier absorption takes place (see vol. 1, chap. 30 for more discussion). Also note that the d- prefix is not present in third-person forms in the imperfective, although it is present in third-person forms in the perfective. 2. Cognitive interjections encode state of knowledge (Ameka 1992, 113). Nday expresses that the speaker is missing a certain piece of information as well as the frustration felt about this.

13 | Polar questions Polar questions are asked to ascertain the truth of a proposition (Sadock and Zwicky 1985, 179). Two types of polar questions can be identified in Upper Tanana: those formed with the question particle lah, and those without. Both are characterized by special intonation contours. The second type is significantly more common. There are also confirmation questions formed with the particle hąą. 13.1. Polar questions without question particle Most polar questions are formed without a question particle. This type of question is indistinguishable from declarative clauses with respect to both word order and nominalization; their sole distinguishing feature is rising intonation. A similar pattern has been reported by Holton (2005, 263) for Tanacross; in Lower Tanana, by contrast, polar questions usually employ a question marker (Tuttle 1998, 136) and no rising intonation (159). 13.1.1. Word order There are no changes in word order associated with question formation. This is illustrated in (299, 300), where the questions are contrasted with similar declarative sentences. (299) a. Shoh aldeeł? (N) bear 2PL:eat.PL.O:IPV ‘Do you PL eat bear?’ b. Ay chih dindeey heldeeł. (T) and too people 3PL:eat.PL.O:IPV ‘And also, they eat humans.’

UTOLAF09Aug12:041

UTOLVDN13May2804:014

POLAR QUESTIONS (300) a. Hǫǫ’ dįįnih? (N) thus 2SG:say:IPV ‘Do you SG say it like this?’ b. Hǫǫ shyįį’ dihnih. (T) thus only 1SG:say:IPV ‘This is all I’m saying.’

215

UTOLAF12Jul1201:003

UTOLVDN11Jul2903:010

13.1.2. Absence of nominalization The main verb in polar questions is typically not nominalized. This is in contrast to content questions, where nominalization with and without the focus particle ch’a is quite common (see chap. 14 for more information). (301) a. Uudįhkat? (N) 2SG:ask:IPV ‘Did you ask him?’

UTOLAFMay0807:065

b. Dziin, tädn, ay chih įįxąą? (N) day night 3SG also 3SG:make.PL.O:PFV ‘Day and night, did [Raven] make those too?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2716:018 c. Hunįh’įh? (T) 2SG>AR:see:IPV ‘Can you SG see?’

UTOLVDN13May2907:095

13.1.3. Prosody Polar questions without a question particle are characterized by a high rise (sometimes followed by a fall) on the final syllable of the question, which is almost always the verb stem. This syllable then usually has the highest pitch in the sentence. The high rise is very salient to speakers. One speaker commented, “You know it’s a question because you go up with your voice;” another one referred to it as a “question mark.” Since polar questions are structurally identical to declarative clauses, this high final rise is the only indicator that (302a, b) are questions. Figure 13.1 shows the pitch track of (302a), in which the speaker addresses a fictitious person. This speaker usually maintains the high pitch until the end of the syllable. Figure 13.2 shows the pitch track of (302b), which was produced by a male speaker of the Tetlin dialect as part of a traditional story. Note that this speaker has a high rise followed by a fall on the final syllable of the question.

216

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(302) a. Nts’ą̈ ’ huhheey shdįįtth’ek? (N) how 1SG:speak:IPV:NOM 2SG:hear:IPV ‘Do you hear what I’m saying?’ UTOLAF14May0807:074 b. “Ahdaat tl’uuł, tl’uuł daneedlay NTRL:downriver:PNCT rope rope 3SG:RO.lie.up:IPV:NOM nįh’įį’?” (T) 2SG:see:PFV ‘Over there the rope, did you SG see the rope lying up there?’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:509 Figure 13.1. Rising pitch in polar questions (N), UTOLAF14May0807:074.

Figure 13.2. Rising pitch in polar questions (T), UTOLVDN14Nov2301:509.

As discussed in section 27.3.1, this rising intonation is also present when the question is a quoted discourse complement.

POLAR QUESTIONS

217

13.1.4. Answering Polar questions may be answered simply with the words ąą ‘yes’ or le’e ‘I don’t know, maybe’. Both are very rare in my corpus. The word for ‘no’, ina’, ena’ is not often used to answer polar questions. There are some instances where speakers will use English no and then backtranslate it during the transcription process (303), but none where ina’, ena’ is used in Upper Tanana. (The main use of ina’, ena’ is to utter one-word prohibitions or to refuse requests.) I suspect that the back-translation in line 2 of (303) is due to English influence. (303)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN14Apr2602:075–76 (N) 1. “Nts’ąą’ hidį’ nts’ą̈ ’ hii’innay,” shehnih. how 3PL:do:IPV ADVZR 2SG:know:IPV 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘“Do you know what they did,” she said to me.’ 2. “‹Ena’›.” no ‘“No.”’ [I said]

In narrated conversations, negative answers tend to be fairly elaborate. In line 1 of (3041), Loon, trying to heal a man of his blindness, asks the man whether he can see yet. The negative answer is given in line 2. (304)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN13May2907:095–96 (T) 1. “Hunįh’įh?” 2SG>AR:see:IPV ‘“Can you SG see?”’ [Loon asked] 2. “Sheh nadegn’ hutgaayh t’oot’eey k’a 1SG:with MED:up:ALL AR:be.small:IPV but NEG nih. hunak-’ąy,” 1SG>AR:see:IPV:NEG say:IPV ‘“With me there’s a little [light] up there but I cannot see,” [the man] said.’

(305) contains a question-answer pair with an affirmative answer using ąą ‘yes’, but note that the speaker elaborates on her ‘yes’.

218 (305)

CLAUSE STRUCTURE Excerpt: UTOLAF09Aug12:042–43 (N) 1. “Shoh aldeeł dii xah ch’a dįh’ąy?” bear 2PL:eat.PL.O:IPV why FOC 2SG:affect:IPV:NOM shehnih. 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘“Do you eat bear, [is that] why you’re messing with it?” he said to me.’ 2. “Ąą, shiy ch’ale agndeel,” udihnih. yes 1SG FOC 1SG:eat.PL.O:IPV:NOM 1SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Yes, as for me, I eat them,” I told him.’

Most frequently, polar questions are not answered verbally, which is then taken as affirmation. This points to an affirmative bias, similar to what Givón (1990, 783) notes for English. In response to (306), where Mrs. Sherry DemitBarnes inquires whether Mrs. Darlene Northway remembers a particular incident, Mrs. Northway lowers the newspaper she has been looking at and turns her gaze toward Mrs. Demit-Barnes, who seems to interpret this as an affirmative answer and continues the story. In other situations, speakers will nod their head once to give an affirmative answer. (306) Ay hi’innay, Darlene? (N) 3SG 2SG:know:IPV Darlene ‘Do you remember, Darlene?’

UTOLVDN10Jul2725:007

In order to give a negative answer, speakers tend to simply shake their heads. 13.2. Polar questions with lah Polar questions also may be formed with the question marker lah. Questions formed with lah are much rarer than those without. 13.2.1. Structure The question marker lah follows the constituent that is being queried. This can be the verb (307), a noun phrase (308a), a postpositional phrase (308b), or an adverb (308c). (307) a. “Jah duugn ts’eedah lah?” hǫǫchaa t’eey esał. (T) hereabouts IMPSL:SG.sit:IPV Q loud ADVZR 3SG:holler:IPV ‘“Is there anyone here?” she hollered really loud.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:402

POLAR QUESTIONS

219

b. Įįsǫǫ lah, įįsǫǫ lah? (N) 2SG:be.good:IPV Q 2SG:be.good:IPV Q ‘Are you SG OK, are you SG OK?’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:101 (308) a. Ch’ichanshyu’ lah dahnąy? (N) INDF:stomach.fat Q 2SG:say:IPV:NOM ‘Are you PL talking about the stomach fat?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2722:050 b. Ikooneh’ąy eh jah ay ts’oo t’aa, 3SG>3SG:look.around.for:IPV:NOM and here and spruce under ts’oo t’aa lah? (T) spruce under Q ‘She was looking around for them and under a spruce, [was it] under a spruce?’ UTOLVDN13May2801:052 c. Ishyiit lah di’aat xah tsüüh shyįį’ here Q REFL:wife for edib.roots only na’elshyeek? (B) 3SG:handle.PL.O:IT:IPV:CUST ‘Is this here (= the story) where he brings back only edible roots for his wife?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2713:005 It is also possible to query entire clauses with lah. In (309) the speaker is wondering about the motive for a young man’s bad behavior. In that question lah follows the causal clause ‘because you want to be be only a bum’. (309) Dineh tleegn uhłe’ shyįį’ t’eey nįįthän xah lah man rotten 1SG:be:OPT only ADVZR 2SG:want:IPV:NOM PURP Q dįįdąy? (N) 2SG:act:IPV:NOM ‘Are you SG behaving like this because you want to be only a bum?’ UTOLAF14May0807:046 Thus lah acts as a focus marker for the constituent being queried. Since it is, however, limited to use in polar questions and differs from the generalpurpose focus marker ch’a described in section 30.2.2, I gloss it as a question marker rather than a focus particle.

220

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

13.2.2. Prosody Questions formed with lah also contain a high rise on the final syllable. In figure 13.3, a pitch track of (308b), the high pitch falls on lah. (Note that the speaker also has a high pitch on the first instance of t’aa, but when he receives no response, he repeats the queried constituent followed by lah.) When lah is not in utterance-final position, the high falls onto the verb stem as shown in figure 13.4, the pitch track of (308c). Particularly interesting is figure 13.5 (a pitch track of [310]), where high pitch occurs on the verb stem even though additional material follows. (310) Ts’exeey iin lah dąy or dineey iin? (N) women PL Q do:IPV:NOM or men PL ‘Do women do that or men?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:086 Figure 13.3. Rising pitch in lah-questions (T), UTOLVDN13May2801:052.

Figure 13.4. Rising pitch in lah-questions (N), UTOLVDN10Jul2713:005.

POLAR QUESTIONS

221

Figure 13.5. Rising pitch in lah-questions (N), UTOLVDN10Jul2602:086.

13.2.3. Use Polar questions with lah are much rarer than questions without this particle. As discussed in 13.2.1, lah is used to focus the constituent being queried. It can also be used to clarify that the speaker is posing a question, as in (308b) above. Here the speaker describes how an old lady is searching for a baby that she heard crying in the woods. He apparently does not remember where she found the baby, so he asks his wife whether the baby was under a spruce. His first question uses only rising intonation (see also fig. 13.3), but when his wife does not respond, he repeats the question with lah. Attempts to elicit questions with lah had curious results. During an elicitation session on the formation of polar questions, lah was used spontaneously in only one question (311). (311) Nach’įį’aał lah? (N) 2SG>INDF:eat:PFV Q ‘Have you SG eaten?’

UTOLAF14Nov2001:013

Both speakers present on this occasion judged that lah was required in (311). When an adverb of time was added to the sentence, one of the speakers produced (312a). In the following discussion both speakers agreed that, while my suggestion in (312b) was acceptable, the version without lah was preferred. (312) a. K’ahmän’ dą’ nach’įį’aał? (N) morning when:PST 2SG>INDF:eat:PFV ‘Did you SG eat this morning, did you SG have breakfast?’ UTOLAF14Nov2001:014

222

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. K’ahmän’ dą’ nach’įį’aał lah? (N) morning when:PST 2SG>INDF:eat:PFV Q ‘Did you SG eat this morning, did you SG have breakfast?’

In yet other cases the use of lah is not possible (313). (313) a. Łuugn ndlaan ha’įįdlah (*lah)? (N) fish lots 2SG:take.out.PL.O:PFV Q ‘Did you catch a lot of fish?’ UTOLAF14Nov2001:005 b. K’ahmän’ dą’ tsät įįttheeł (*lah)? (N) morning when:PST wood 2SG:chop:PFV Q ‘Did you chop wood this morning?’ UTOLAF14Nov2001:017 The available data is insufficient to formulate a strong hypothesis about the use of lah. 13.2.4. Answering Unlike polar questions without lah, this type of question usually has an explicit affirmative answer with ąą, ahą ‘yes’ (314, 315), often elaborated on using the constituent focused by lah in the question. (314)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN10Jul2713:005–06 1. JS:

Ishyiit lah di’aat xah tsüüh shyįį’ there Q REFL:wife for edib.roots only na’elshyeek? (B) 3SG:handle.PL.O:IT:IPV:CUST JS: ‘Is this here (= the story) where he brings back only edible roots for his wife?’

2. SDB: Ahą. Tsüü shyįį’ t’eey. (N) yes roots only INTS SDB: ‘Yes. Only roots.’ (315)

Excerpt: UTCBAF13Nov0501:300–01 1. “Ts’ihǫhday lah,” yehnih. 2SG:be.lonely:IPV Q 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Are you SG lonely,” [Grandmother Spider] said to [the girl].’ 2. “Ąą,” nih. yes say:IPV ‘“Yes,” she said.’

POLAR QUESTIONS

223

3. “Ts’ihokdąy,” nih. 1SG:be.lonely:IPV say:IPV ‘“I am lonely,” she said.’ When a question with lah is not answered at all, this is taken as an affirmative answer. When a negative answer is required (e.g., when the proposition does not hold for the focused constituent or when the proposition does not hold just for the focused constituent), a simple correction is given (316, 317). Again, ina’, ena’ ‘no’ is not used in this context. (316)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN10Jul2602:086–87 1. DN: Ts’exeey iin lah dąy or dineey iin? (N) women PL Q do:IPV:NOM or men PL DN: ‘Do women do that or men?’ 2. JS: Dineh. (B) man JS: ‘Men.’

(317)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN10Jul2722:050–51 1. DN: Ch’ichanshyu’ lah dahnąy? (N) INDF:stomach.fat Q 2SG:say:IPV:NOM DN: ‘Are you PL talking about the stomach fat?’ 2. JS: Ch’ichanshyu’ eh ch’its’ädn k’ah… (B) INDF:stomach.fat and INDF:kidney fat JS: ‘Stomach fat and kidney fat…’

13.3. Confirmation questions Confirmation questions are a special type of polar question where the speaker expects the answer to be ‘yes’, although it would also be possible for the listener to disagree. All examples in the corpus are instances where the narrator consulted with other speakers about the accuracy of her recollections and received an affirmative response. 13.3.1. Structure Formally, confirmation questions are marked by the clause final marker hąą. Otherwise, confirmation questions are structurally indistinguishable from

224

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

other polar questions: the word order is identical to that found in declarative clauses, and the verb is not nominalized (318). (318) a. Shee’eh neekaa’etkįį, hąą? (T) 1SG:maternal.uncle 3SG>1PL:go.by.boat.for:IT:INC:PFV Q ‘My maternal uncle came back for us by boat, right?’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:063 b. Huxol’ t’ayy’ xah le’, hąą? (N) 3PL:leg strength PURP DUB Q ‘So their legs [would have] strength, I guess, right?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:095 Upper Tanana hąą is phonetically similar to American English hunh. It is thus possible that this is a borrowing from English. 13.3.2. Prosody Prosodically, confirmation questions are characterized by level or very slightly raised pitch at the end of the unit. This is illustrated in figure 13.6 (a pitch track of [318b]), and figure 13.7 (a pitch track of [318a]). Figure 13.6. Steady pitch in confirmation questions (N), UTOLVDN10Jul2602:095.

13.3.3. Answering Most of the time confirmation questions are not explicitly answered, which is taken as agreement. (319) illustrates one of the rare cases in which explicit agreement is given. Mrs. Avis Sam has just related an incident where her daughter was (improperly) asked to let someone else wear her clan regalia, which the daughter (properly) refused. The speakers are emotionally involved

POLAR QUESTIONS

225

Figure 13.7. Steady pitch in confirmation questions (T), UTOLVDN10Jul0701:063.

in this topic and are in agreement about making sure that regalia need to be treated respectfully. (319)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN09Jun2302:148–50 1. AS: Łąą ch’ale nay, hąą? true FOC say:IPV:NOM Q AS: ‘She said the right thing though, right?’ 2. CD: Yeah. 3. CD: Nįį, that’s why k’ahdu’ ha’ hǫǫ’ ndihnay. look that’s why now EMPH thus 1SG>2SG:say:IPV CD: ‘Look, that’s why I’m talking to you about this now.’

There are no instances in the corpus of disagreement following a confirmation question. 13.4. Summary Most polar questions in Upper Tanana do not contain any question particles and are structurally identical to declarative clauses. Unlike content questions, polar questions are hardly ever nominalized. Their only identifying feature is a high rise on the final syllable, which speakers sometimes refer to as a “question mark.” Polar questions may also be formed using the question particle lah following the constituent being queried. These questions also are not usually nominalized and have the same word order as declaratives. In this type of question the high rise on the final syllable is present as well.

226

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Confirmation questions, where the speaker expects the answer to be “yes,” have the same structure as the other types of polar questions, but they contain the question marker hąą in final position. Prosodically, confirmation questions are characterized by level or only slightly raised pitch. For each type of question, common ways of answering them were briefly discussed. While affirmative answers often contain (or consist of ) the word ąą, ahą ‘yes’, ina’, ena’ ‘no’ is not usually used in this context. Instead, a simple correction is offered. Frequently questions are not answered at all, which is taken as an affirmative answer or agreement.

14 | Content questions In content questions, the speaker calls upon the hearer to provide a missing piece of information. The missing piece of information is replaced by an interrogative proform or phrase. An inventory of question words and phrases is given in table 14.1; they are illustrated in the sections that follow. English

Upper Tanana

‘who (PL)’ ‘what’

doo (iin) dii

‘why’ (= ‘what for’) ‘how, what’ ‘when:FUT’ ‘when:PST’ ‘where:PNCT’ ‘where at’ ‘where from’ ‘where to’ ‘where:AR, whereabouts’ ‘how many times’ ‘how many’

dii xah, dii aa nts’ąą’, nts’ą̈ ’, nts’aa’, nts’üü, (n)ts’oo ndehde’ ndehdą’ ndee ndee dą’/dänh/danh ndee ts’änh/ts’anh ndee nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ nduugn nduugn (k’eh) ndee k’eh

Table 14.1. Interrogative pro-forms and phrases 14.1. Structure 14.1.1. Position of question word Question words referring to arguments typically occur in situ. The word order tendencies of Upper Tanana described in chapter 11, however, mean that “in situ” and “clause-initially” frequently coincide. Subject noun phrases tend to occur in clause-initial position. While they precede direct object noun phrases,

228

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

it is rare that both are present in the same clause. Most adverbial phrases of space and time, which would be queried with ndee (ts’änh, ts’ą̈ ’) ‘where (from, to)’, nduugn ‘whereabouts’, ndehde’ ‘when FUT’, ndehdą’ ‘when PST’, or nduugn tah ‘how long’, occur in clause-initial position. Postpositional phrases in general tend to occur toward the left edge of the clause (320). (320) a. “Doo iin ch’a daht’ay?” yehnih. (T) who PL FOC 2PL:be:IPV:NOM 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Who are you PL?” he said to them.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:069 b. Dii ch’a huxah ehmbia? (N) what FOC 3PL:for 3SG:cook:IPV:NOM ‘What did he cook for them?’ c. Dii aa k’a honįįheey? (N) why NEG 2SG:talk:IPV:NEG ‘Why are you SG not talking?’

UTOLAF15May0501:036

UTOLVDN07Aug2205:112

d. Nts’aa’ haa’atshyah? (N) how 3SG:SG.go.out:IT:PFV ‘How did he get back out?’

UTOLAF08Feb1902:015

e. Ndee ntsinul’į’? (T) where:PNCT 1PL:hide:OPT ‘Where should we hide?’

UTOLAF12Jul1101:009

f. Ndee nts’ą’ tidhahdeeł? (T) where:PNCT to 2PL:PL.go:INC:PFV ‘Where are you PL off to?’

UTCBAF13Nov0502:004

g. Ndee ts’anh shuudah’ąą nts’ą’ t’eey? (T) where from 2PL>1SG:find:SG.O:PFV:NOM ADVZR ‘Where did you PL find me?’ UTOLVDN13May2801:109 h. Nduugn tįįhaayh? (N) where:AR 2SG:SG.go:INC:IPV ‘Whereabouts are you SG going?’

UTOLAF14Apr2501:042

i. Ndehde’ jah dakich’ihtdalshyaał? (N) when:FUT here 3PL:put.feet.up:FUT ‘When are they going to relax (lit. ‘put their feet up’)?’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:032

CONTENT QUESTIONS

229

j. Ndehdą’ ntsǫǫ nuhtl’aayįįdlay… (N) when:PST 2SG:grandmother 3SG>2PL>3SG:handle.PL.O:PFV:NOM ‘When did your SG grandmother give you PL [those things]… UTOLAF12Jul1203:026 k. Nduugn tah neehaał? (T) how.many among 3SG:spend.night:PFV ‘How many nights did he spend there?’ UTOLVDN13May2801:057 l. Ndee k’eh ts’iikeey iin dhįhdlah? (N) how.many children PL 2SG:have.PL.O:IPV ‘How many children do you have?’ UT Notebook #1, p. 14 There are relatively few examples that demonstrate clearly that question words occur in situ and not word-initially. In (321a) (an elicited example) the question word queries the direct object and occurs in canonical position. In (321b), an embedded question, the postpositional phrase containing the question word also occurs in canonical position between subject and verb.¹ In (321c) the question word follows the spatial adverb ishyiit ‘there’, and in (321d) it occurs in the typical place for a manner adverb, that is, it precedes the verb. (321) a. Mary doo ehgot? (N) Mary who 3SG:punch:IPV ‘Whom did Mary punch?’

UT Notebook #3, p. 97

b. … “Adog ts’iikeey dii eł delxoo nįh’įh,” NTRL:up:AR children what with 3PL:play:IPV:NOM 2SG:look:IPV ts’iiniin ehnih. (T) child 3SG:say:IPV ‘… “Look what the children up there are playing with,” she said to the child.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:004 c. Ishyiit dii xah dadhįįday hu? (N) there why 2SG:SG.sit.on.chair:IPV:NOM ? ‘Why are you SG sitting there?’ UTOLAFMay0807:066 d. … “Nday, nnaagn’ nts’ą̈ ’ nt’eh?” ch’itay ehnih. (N) well 2SG:eye how 3PL:be:IPV old.man 3SG:say:IPV ‘… “Well, how are your eyes?” he said to the old man.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:034

230

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Particularly revealing is (322). This utterance (taken from a narrative) contains the English question word how come in initial position of the clause ‘How come my grandmothers were like that’. The Upper Tanana question word nts’ąą’ ‘how’, however, occurs between the subject phrase stsǫǫ iin ‘my grandmothers/grandparents’ and the verb hįįt’ay ‘they, being thus’. (322) K’a’ t’eey k’at’eey natsitiign how come gun even NEG 1PL:carry.around:IPV:CUST:NEG how come stsǫǫ iin nts’ąą’ hit’ąy dą’? (N) 1SG:grandmother PL how 3PL:be:PFV:NOM at:PST? ‘We never even carried a gun; how come my grandparents were like that?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:033 It is possible for the question phrase to follow a left-dislocated constituent, marked by the contrastive topic marker du’ (323a, b) or by a following pause (323c). (323) a. Saa du’ doo ehtsįį? (N) sun CT who 3SG:make.SG.O:PFV ‘As for the sun, who made that?’

UTOLVDN10Jul2716:013

b. Shyi’ du’ dii xah ch’a k’at’eey tah’aal neehedįįni’? (N) meat CT why FOC NEG 2PL:eat:FUT:NEG 3PL>1PL:tell:PFV ‘About that meat, why did they tell us that we may not eat it?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:102 c. Ukąy’, nts’ąą’ t’in mǫǫsi’? (N) 3SG:husband how be:PFV:NOM 3SG:name ‘Her husband, what was his name?’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:157 The data thus suggests that question words and phrases typically occur in canonical position, which in most cases coincides with the clause-initial position. 14.1.2. Focus marking and nominalization Content questions in Upper Tanana are often nominalized, which is likely due to insubordination (Evans 2007). Insubordination in content questions occurs elsewhere in the language family; see, for example, Cable (2011) for Tlingit or Hargus (2012) for Deg Xinag. Minoura (2004, 54) claims that questions without nominalization are ungrammatical in Upper Tanana. As the examples here show, this is not accurate; only (320a, 320b, 321c), and (323b) are nominalized. Many of these examples contain the focus marker ch’a, which

CONTENT QUESTIONS

231

generally triggers nominalization (see sec. 30.2.2.2). Table 14.2 provides an overview of 307 questions. The column “plain” contains the count of nonnominalized verb forms. “Nominalized” includes all nominalized forms, with those containing a focus marker in parentheses. Forms with a focus marker but no nominalization do not occur.² Table 14.2 demonstrates that, contrary to Minoura’s claim, nonnominalized verb forms in content questions occur much more frequently than nominalized ones.³ It also shows that the question words doo (iin) ‘who (PL)’, dii ‘what’, and dii xah ‘why’ frequently cooccur with nominalization and focus marker, while the other question words do so much more rarely. Upper Tanana

English

doo (iin) dii dii xah nts’ąą’ etc. ndehde’ ndehdą’ ndee etc. nduugn nduugn k’eh ndee k’eh

‘who (PL)’ ‘what’ ‘why’ ‘how, what’ ‘when:FUT’ ‘when:PST’ ‘where:PNCT’ etc. ‘where:AR’ ‘how many times’ ‘how many’

Total

Plain

Nominalized (Focus)

19 30 32 63 6 0 39 13 1 0

18 (13) 24 (14) 40 (17) 11 (6) 0 (0) 1 (0) 9 (5) 0 (0) 0 (0) 1 (0)

203

104

Table 14.2. Nominalization and focus marking in questions Although Minoura’s claim about the obligatoriness of nominalization is faulty, he is correct about its function as marking a new-old dichotomy (Minoura 2004, 55–56). The common use of nominalization and focus marker in Upper Tanana content questions is likely due to presupposition effects (see also Sadock and Zwicky [1985, 185]), as can be demonstrated using (324). (324) Ay ch’ale, “Dii ch’a aktsän?” (N) and FOC what FOC 1SG:smell:IPV:NOM ‘And then, “What is it I’m smelling?”’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:053 The person uttering the question wishes to know what they are smelling; the fact that they are smelling something is old and presupposed information, while the missing piece of information is new. In many languages this

232

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

dichotomy is expressed using cleft constructions (Sadock and Zwicky 1985, 185); in Upper Tanana, nominalization (with or without the focus marker) is often used instead. As described in section 30.2.2, the focus marker ch’a in Upper Tanana is used to point to the availability of several alternatives (see also Krifka [2008, 247]). In questions such as (324), there are a number of different creatures that the speaker could be smelling. Additionally ch’a ‘FOC’ in questions also may have the effect of making the question stronger (one speaker compared it to inserting “the heck” in English content questions, as in Who the heck is this?). 14.1.3. Prosody Content questions are characterized by the absence of final lowering and sometimes even a slight rise on the final syllable, usually the verb stem. When present, the rise is not nearly as strong as that typical of polar questions (see chap. 13 for discussion), but this pattern is also clearly different from the falling information typical of declaratives described in sec. 11.3. Figures 14.1 (a pitch track of [325]) and 14.2 (a pitch track of [326]) illustrate both patterns for the Tetlin dialect. In figure 14.1 the verb occurs in utterance final position with no evidence of lowering. In figure 14.2 the question is quoted speech followed by a verb of saying; the question here exhibits a slight rise. (325) Dii xah tihdiil? (T) why 1SG:do:FUT:NOM ‘Why would I do that?’

UTOLAF07Oct2512:013

Figure 14.1. Steady pitch in content questions (T), UTOLAF07Oct2512:013.

CONTENT QUESTIONS

233

(326) “Doo iin ch’a daht’ay?” yehnih. (T) who PL FOC 2PL:be:IPV:NOM 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Who are you PL?” he said to them.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:069 Figure 14.2. Slightly rising pitch in content questions (T), UTCBAF13Nov0501:069.

The same patterns are attested in the Northway dialect. In figure 14.3 (a pitch track of [327]), the utterance-final verb is characterized by steady pitch without detectable rise or fall. Figure 14.4 (a pitch track of [328]), illustrates another instance of quoted speech; here again a rise on the final syllable of the question can be observed. (327) Dii dzaldįį’? (N) what 1PL:learn:PFV ‘What did we learn?’

UTOLAF10Jul0901:030

Figure 14.3. Steady pitch in content questions (N), UTOLAF10Jul0901:030.

234

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(328) “Nts’ąą’ ch’a dąy?” uts’inih, … (N) how FOC do:IPV:NOM 1PL>3SG:say:IPV ‘“What is it doing?” we said to him… UTOLAF17Aug0801:037 Figure 14.4. Slightly rising pitch in content questions (N), UTOLAF17Aug0801:037.

This pattern of either steady pitch or a slight rise on the final syllable is typical for content questions. 14.2. Inquiring about different roles 14.2.1. Inquiring about the subject Inquiries about the subject are formed with dii ‘what’ (329a) or doo ‘who’ (329b). When the subject is human plural, doo is pluralized with the enclitic iin (329c). The interrogative pronoun occurs clause-initially, which is the normal position for nominal subjects (see chap. 11). Doo ‘who’ is often followed by the focus particle ch’a in subject questions; dii ‘what’ in subject position is not. Note also that subject questions with dii are relatively rare. (329) a. “Dii nt’ay?” iyehnih… (T) what 3SG:be:IPV:NOM 3PL>3SG:say:IPV:NOM ‘“What is this?” they said…’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:035 b. Doo ch’a nt’ay? (N) who FOC 3SG:be:IPV:NOM ‘Who is that?’

UTOLAF14Apr3001:001

c. … “Doo iin ch’a deltth’ii?” ehnih. (T) who PL FOC 3PL:PL.stay:IPV:NOM 3SG:say:IPV ‘… “Who all lives here?” he said.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:417

CONTENT QUESTIONS

235

Inquiries about the subject may be expressed elliptically, as demonstrated in the textual example (330). (330)

Excerpt: UTCBAF14Jul1805:035–37 (T) 1. “Needach’įįxąą shyiign danh.” 3PL>1PL:kill.off:PFV down:ALL at ‘“They killed all of us [our people] down there.”’ (old lady speaking) 2. “Doo iin?” who PL ‘“Who [killed all of our people]?”’ (boy speaking) 3. “Che’ t’iin,” nih. tail people say:IPV ‘“The Tailed People,” she said.’

14.2.2. Inquiring about the direct object Inquiries about the direct object are also made with dii ‘what’ (331a) or doo ‘who’ (331b). Again, doo may be pluralized (331c). (331) a. Ay ch’ale, “Dii ch’a aktsän?” (N) and FOC what FOC 1SG:smell:IPV:NOM ‘And then, “What do I smell?”’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:053 b. Doo nah’įį? (N) who 2PL:see:PFV ‘Whom did you PL see?’

UTOLAF14Apr3001:009

c. Doo iin uuhdehk’adn ch’a hidąy? (N) doo PL 3PL:ask:IPV:NOM FOC 3PL:do:IPV:NOM ‘Whom all did they ask [about] doing this?’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:040 As noted already and illustrated again in (332a), the interrogative word occurs in canonical position. It may also be fronted and followed by the focus marker ch’a (332b). (Nominalization of the verb is impossible to detect in [332], as the stem ends in a glottal stop. Since nominalization is obligatory in the presence of the focus marker, I treat the verb in [332b] as nominalized.)

236

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(332) a. Mary dii nanįįkąą’? (N) Mary what 3SG:sew:PFV ‘What did Mary sew?’ b. Dii ch’a Mary nanįįkąą’? (N) what FOC Mary 3SG:sew:PFV:NOM ‘What is it that Mary sewed?’

UTOLAF14Nov1808:003

UTOLAF14Nov1808:005

Interrogative words inquiring after the direct object do not seem to be used elliptically. 14.2.3. Inquiring about the postpositional object Interrogative words asking about the postpositional object occur in situ preceding the postposition (333). In more idiomatic English, (333c) could be translated as ‘At whose PL camp did he arrive?’. (333) a. Dii eł chih łuugn haats’ulshyeey? (T) what with also fish 1PL:take.out:PL.O:IT:OPT ‘With what could we have taken our fish?’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:059 b. Doo eh tidhįįshyah? (N) who with 2SG:SG.go:INC:PFV ‘Who did you go with?’

UT Notebook #3, p. 52

c. Doo iin xah ch’a niniishyay? (N) who PL for FOC 3SG:SG.arrive:PFV:NOM ‘For whom PL did he arrive?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2606:008 Elliptical questions about the postpositional object such as (334) are relatively common. (334) “Doo k’eet?” yehnih. (T) who on.account 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“On account of whom?” she said to her.’

UTCBAF13Nov0501:303

14.2.4. Inquiring about the possessor Dii ‘what’ and doo (iin) ‘who (PL)’ also occur in possessor position. The only example with dii as possessor (335a) comes from elicitation,⁴ as does (335b) with doo ‘whose’. (335c) comes from a text that has not been completely transcribed nor reviewed, so no identifier has been assigned to the utterance yet.

CONTENT QUESTIONS (335) a. Jin dii thüh ch’a nt’ay? (N) this what skin FOC 3SG:be:IPV:NOM ‘What kind of fur is this?’ (lit. ‘What’s skin is this?’) Notebook #3, p. 86 b. Doo eegn’ ch’a nt’ay? (N) who coat:POSS FOC 3SG:be:IPV:NOM ‘Whose coat is this?’

237

UT

UTOLAF14Apr2501:028

c. “Doo iin k’eh ch’a nt’ay?” nithänh… (S) who PL tracks FOC 3SG:be:IPV:NOM 3SG:wonder:IPV ‘“Whose tracks are those?” he wondered…’ ANLC4122b Most instances of possessor questions are elliptical. The speaker of (336) is asking a clarification question of another person telling a story about Yamaagn Teeshaay. (336) Doo ełe’? (B) who pants:POSS ‘Whose pants?’

UTOLVDN10Jul2607

14.2.5. Inquiring about the reason Inquiries about the reason for an event are formed using dii xah, dii aa, diaa ‘what for = why’ (337). (337) a. Dii xah ch’a tsüü shyįį’ shaa why FOC edib.roots only 1SG:for daadelshyeegn? (N) 3SG:bring.inside.PL.O:IT:IPV:CUST:NOM ‘Why does he only bring back edible roots to me?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2713:020 b. Dii aa tihdiił? (T) why 1SG:do:FUT ‘Why should I do that?’

UTCBAF13Nov0501:193

The choice of dii xah, dii aa, or diaa for ‘why’ does not correlate with the established dialect boundaries; it appears to be a case of free variation. While individual speakers may prefer one or the other variant, all of them accept both forms⁵ Dii xah, dii aa, diaa ‘why’ often occurs elliptically (338).

238 (338)

CLAUSE STRUCTURE Excerpt: UTCBVDN13Nov1501:058–60 (T) 1. Jah duugn “T’a’uhłeey nuhnaał!” hereabouts 1SG:plant.PL.O:OPT 2PL:before.eyes ‘Here [my dad said] “I’m going to plant it before your eyes!”’ 2. “Dii xah?” why ‘“Why?”’ (children speaking) 3. “Ah’aal xah,” nee’ehniik. 2PL:eat:IPV:NOM PURP 3SG>1PL:say:IPV:CUST ‘“So you PL can eat it,” he would tell us.’

14.2.6. Inquiring about the manner The form of the interrogative word inquiring about manner depends on the dialect (see vol. 1, chap. 19). It is also used in some contexts where it is translated with ‘what’ in English (339b). (339) a. Tuu t’aat nts’ų̈ ų̈ ’ uhshya’? (S) water under how 1SG:SG.go:OPT ‘How can I go under the water?’ b. Nts’aa’ hutshyaak? (T) how AR:happen:PFV ‘What happened?’

Tyone (1996:41)

UTOLAF10Jul0801:010

c. … Stsay, shaadeh du’ nts’ąą’ ch’a nchaa t’eey 1SG:grandfather 1SG:older.sister CT how FOC hard ADVZR eetįį? (N) 3SG:SG.sleep:IPV ‘… Grandfather, how come my older sister is sleeping so hard?’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:050 This type of question is only rarely nominalized, and the interrogative word is not usually followed by the focus marker. In instances where the focus marker does occur, it seems to add extreme surprise: the speaker in (339c) feigns this emotion at her inability to rouse her (dead) sister from sleep. Nts’ąą’ ‘how’ is also used with the meaning ‘how many’ when combined with the verb theme L+t’eh ‘be a number’ (340).

CONTENT QUESTIONS

239

(340) Ay tl’aan uts’iikeey iin nts’ąą’ helt’eh? (N) and.then 3SG:children PL how.many 3PL:be.number:IPV ‘And her children, how many were there?’ UTOLAF15May0501:179 14.2.7. Inquiring about other information The remaining interrogative words occur relatively rarely in the corpus and are discussed together. Ndee is used to inquire about the location of an entity (341). It can be used in clauses with (341a) and without a verb (341b). ([341b] is elicited.) (341) a. Ndee ch’a łįį neenehtthay? (T) where:PNCT FOC dog 3PL>1PL:bark.at:IPV:NOM ‘Where are the dogs that are barking at us?’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:064 b. Rosa ndee ushyah? (N) Rosa where:PNCT 3SG:house ‘Where [is] Rosa’s house?’

UTOLAF13May2804:023

Ndee ‘where’ is also used in questions where an English speaker would typically use ‘which one’. The following two questions are elicited. In (342a) the consultants looked at a family picture of their daughter and granddaughters and were asked how to say ‘Which one of these women is your daughter?’; in (342b) there were several used coffee cups on the table and the target question was ‘Which of these cups is yours?’. (342) a. Ndee ch’a nyaats’e’? (N) where:PNCT FOC 2SG:woman’s.daughter ‘Which one is your daughter? Where is your daughter?’ UT Notebook #3, p. 96 b. Ndee ch’a ntuutįįl’? (N) where:PNCT FOC 2SG:cup:POSS ‘Which one is your cup? Where is your cup?’ UT Notebook #3, p. 96 As described in volume 1, chapter 19, ndee combines with several postpositions to inquire about direction and origin of movement. Complex forms derived from ndee can be used elliptically (343), which is not the case for ndee.

240

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(343) Ndee danh? (T) where:PNCT at ‘Where at?’

UTCBAF13Nov0401:008

Ndeh ‘when’ cannot be used by itself, but it is part of the interrogative phrases ndehde’ ‘when FUT’ and ndehdą’ ‘when PST’ (344). It is likely that the similarity between ndeh ‘when’ and ndee ‘where’ is no coincidence; as in many other languages, temporal concepts in Upper Tanana are often expressed using spatial elements (see vol. 1, chap. 15 on free postpositions and chap. 16 on adverbs for more discussion and examples). (344) a. Ndehde’ ishyiit ts’iik’eey iin nitahłeeł? (N) when:FUT there children PL 2PL:bring.PL.O:FUT ‘When are you going to bring the children down there?’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:032 b. Ndehdą’ nuhtsǫǫ nuhtl’a’yįįdlay ch’a when:PST 2PL:grandmother 3SG>2PL>3SG:give.PL.O:PFV:NOM FOC dahdąy? (N) 2PL:do:IPV:NOM ‘When did your grandmother give you PL [those things] that you’re acting [in this way]?’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:026 There are no instances of ndehde’ and ndehdą’ used elliptically. Inquiries about the number of times an event took place are formed using nduugn ‘how many times’ (345). (345) Nduugn tah neehaał? (T) how.many among 3SG:spend.night:PFV ‘How many nights did he spend there?’ UTOLVDN13May2801:054 Ndee k’eh ‘how many’ is used when asking for the time (346). (346) Ndee k’eh łach’eexał? (N) how.many INDF:LRO.move.to:PFV ‘What time is it?’ (lit. ‘How many [items] has the clublike object completely moved to?’) UT Notebook #1, p. 14 14.3. Embedded questions Many of the examples given above occur as quoted speech using one of the quotative frames described in chapter 28. These questions differ in no respect

CONTENT QUESTIONS

241

from nonquoted questions, as demonstrated by a comparison between the quoted questions in (347) and the questions directed at someone present in the recording situation (348). (347) a. “Dii eh shi’utįįkeet?” Nǫǫgaay yehnih. (T) what with 2SG>1SG:pay:FUT fox 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“What are you SG going to pay me with?” Fox said to him.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:373 b. Ay tl’aan shnąą ay du’: “Nts’aa’ neh hǫǫt’eh?” (N) and then 1SG:mother 3SG CT what 2SG:with AR:be:IPV ‘And then my mother [said]: “How are things with you?”’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:110 (348) a. Dii xah nats’ehulndak? (T) what about 1PL:tell.story:IPV ‘What are we going to tell a story about?’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:004 b. Gee, nts’ąą’ daht’eh? (N) gee how 2PL:be:IT:PFV ‘Gee, what’s [wrong] with you guys?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2720:031 Questions also can be used as indirect discourse complements, a type of complement clause (see chap. 27 for a description of the different types of complement clauses). In this construction they are usually followed by the complementizer nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ (t’eey). They are not usually nominalized when used as indirect discourse complement (349). (349) a. Dii ch’ihdeh’ąą nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey k’a hi’agnnay. (N) what 3PL:sing:IPV CMP NEG 1SG:remember:IPV:NEG ‘I don’t remember what they sang.’ UTCBVDN14Jul2105:045 b. Ay t’eey nǫǫgaay yi’etnayh doo nt’eh nts’ą’ t’eey. (T) and ADVZR fox 3SG:know:IPV who 3SG:be:IPV ADVZR ‘And Fox knew who that was.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:198 There are no other structural differences between embedded and nonembedded questions. More information on embedded question is given in section 27.1.1.2.

242

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

14.4. Answering content questions Content questions can be answered by a full clause repeating the information presupposed in the question but also providing the new information (350). (350)

Excerpt: UTOLAF07Oct2512:009–10 (T) 1. Ay eł ditsǫǫ: “Dii ch’a hiiyeh’ąy?” and REFL:grandmother what FOC 3PL>3SG:mess.with:IPV:NOM ‘And her grandmother: “What are they messing with?”’ 2. Ts’exeh gaay du’: “Deeł gaay ch’ale hiiyeh’ąy!” girl CT crane small FOC 3PL>3SG:mess.with:IPV:NOM ‘The girl [said]: “They’re messing with a baby crane!”’

An unusually clear example is given in (351), where the subordinate clause containing presupposed information is rephrased in the response. (351)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN11Aug0802:035–36 (N) 1. “Nnąą, nnąą na’aadaał de’ nts’ąą’ 2SG:mother 2SG:mother 3SG:SG.return:IPV:PROG when:FUT how utaadįįł,” yehnih. AR:happen:FUT 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Your mother, when your mother returns, what will happen,” [Yamaagn Teeshyaay] said to [the Eaglet].’ 2. “Shnąą nanat-t’ah de’ taałuut guuy 1SG:mother 3SG:SG.fly.back:IPV:PROG when:FUT hail small nataadeeh,” nih. 3PL:PL.fall:IT:FUT say:IPV ‘“When my mother is flying back, a little hail will fall,” [the Eaglet] said.’

In (352) the presupposed information (an old man having crawled to a lake) is expressed by the nonspecific verb theme d+Ø+dįį ‘do so’ in the question, but with a specific verb ta#O+duuh ‘crawl to the water’ in the answer. (352)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN13May2907:080–81 (T) a. ”Ch’itay dii xah dįįdąy?” Ts’almbeet iyehnih. old.man why 2SG:do:IPV:NOM loon 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Old man, why are you doing this?” the Loon said to him.’

CONTENT QUESTIONS

243

2. “Jah duugn tuu ehdanh shda’ neegąy hereabouts water lacking 1SG:mouth 3SG:dry:IPV:NOM tanihduuh,” nih. 1SG:crawl.to.water:PFV say:IPV ‘“I crawled here [because] my mouth was dry for lack of water,” he said.’ Such elaborate responses are, however, not common. More typical are brief responses containing only new information (353). (353)

Excerpt: UTCBVDN14Jul1801:023–24 (T) 1. Shnąą, “Doo dįįt’ay?” yehnih. 1SG:mother who 2SG:be:IPV:NOM 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘My mother, “Who are you SG?” she said to him.’ 2. “Noodlee ihłįį, jah duugn naxałtihtįįk.” white.man 1SG:be:IPV hereabouts 1SG:drive.sled.around:IPV:CUST ‘“I’m a white man, I drive around with a sled.” [John Hajdukovich responded]’

In line 1 of (354) two brothers are asking their mother how their little sister can join them on their boating trip. The mother’s response—that the girl can use and carry her own boat—does not repeat presupposed information, but elaborates on it by suggesting that the girl is strong enough to carry her own boat (lines 2 and 3). (354)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN07Aug2205:035–37 (N) 1. “Nts’aa’ łootaahaał?” how 3SG:SG.get.around:FUT ‘“How is she going to get around?”’ (bouys speaking) 2. “Oh, dits’ayy’ eh.” oh REFL:boat:POSS with ‘“Oh, with her own canoe.”’ (mother speaking) a. “Dits’ayy’ łootaatįįł dii xah t’eey.” REFL:boat:POSS 3SG:carry.around.LRO:FUT why ADVZR ‘“She can just carry her own canoe around.”’ (mother speaking)

In (355) the speaker also first responds briefly and then elaborates in the following utterance. The speaker in line 2 inquires about the motivation for the directive to gather wood in line 1. Here the common ground is not even

244

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

expressed in the question itself. The grandmother then explains that the wood is intended to prepare them for the coming cold, which will kill all others (lines 3 and 4). (355)

Excerpt: UTOLAF07Oct2512:013–15 (T) 1. “Tsat ‹łahtthagn nts’ą’› nah’ogn nidnįįłeey!” firewood all MED:out:AR 2SG:bring.PL.O:IPV:IMP ‘“Bring all the firewood [to the area] outside!”’ (grandmother speaking) 2. “Dii xah tihdiil?” why 1SG:do:FUT:NOM ‘“Why should I do this?”’ (girl speaking) 3. “Tahshyüü hukah.” 3SG:snow:FUT 3PL:in.quest ‘“It will snow in quest of them.”’ (grandmother speaking) 4. “Hihtaałaa, dineey iin, ts’iikeey iin ‹łahtthagn nts’ą’› 3PL:PL.die:FUT people PL children PL all hihtaałaa.” 3PL:PL.die:FUT ‘“They will die; all the people and children will die.”’ (grandmother speaking)

When the question is posed in an elliptical fashion, that is, with the presupposed information not expressed, the answer frequently has the same format (356). (356)

Excerpt: UTCBAF14Jul1805:039–40 (T) 1. “Ndee danh?” huhenih. where at 3PL>3PL:say:IPV ‘“Where at?” they said to them.’ 2. “Adog ts’anh, ddhał, ishyiit danh,” huhenih. NTRL:up:AR from mountain there at 3PL>3PL:say:IPV ‘“From up there, the mountain, there,” they said to them.’

14.5. Summary Content questions always contain an interrogative word or phrase. This word usually occurs in situ; there are no word order changes in content questions.

CONTENT QUESTIONS

245

The verb in a content question is often nominalized. The question word is often followed by the focus marker ch’a, which seems to make a question more urgent. Content questions have their own characteristic prosody, with steady or slightly rising pitch on the final syllable. They do not tend to have the falling contour associated with declaratives nor the strong rise typical of polar questions. Embedded questions do not differ structurally from nonembedded ones; they usually require the complementizer nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ (t’eey). Content questions are usually answered elliptically, sometimes including additional information. Notes 1. Embedded questions do not differ structurally from nonembedded ones; see sec. 14.3. 2. This number is the result of a corpus search for 400 questions conducted in 2016. Negative questions are not included in the count below, since nominalization of the verb cannot be determined in the presence of the negative suffix (see vol. 1, chap. 37). Also excluded in table 14.2 were questions without a verb, or questions containing verbs where nominalization is not detectable. 3. Minoura (2004, 55) seems to have been aware that nominalization in nts’ąą’-questions is much less common than in other types. 4. I suspect that this is due to semantic constrains, as possessors are typically human. 5. Some speakers claim that there is a small semantic difference between the forms. The two speakers present when (i) was discussed agreed that (b) conveys a greater sense of incomprehension and annoyance than (a). Both of them are speakers of the Northway dialect. When other speakers were presented with this pair of sentences, however, they stated that there was no difference. (i) a. Dii aa ch’udįlnąy? (N) why 2SG:be.mad:IPV ‘Why are you SG mad?’ b. Dii xah ch’udįlnąy? why 2SG:be.mad:IPV ‘Whyever are you SG mad?’

UT notebook #3, 53

UT notebook #3, 53

15 | Requests Requests are speech acts that count as an attempt by the speaker to get someone to do something (Searle 1969, 69). Numerous distinctions of requests can be drawn (see Aikhenvald [2010]). One fundamental distinction is whether the speech act is an affirmative request (an attempt to get someone to do something, 15.1) or a negative request (an attempt to get someone to refrain from doing something 15.2). A second distinction has to do with to whom the request is directed. Additionally, different degrees of politeness and urgency can be distinguished. These distinctions are addressed within the sections on affirmative and negative requests. As noted in other work (Lovick 2016; Lovick and Tuttle 2019), negative requests are often avoided in Upper Tanana. Indirect strategies for negative requests are briefly described in section 15.2.4. 15.1. Affirmative requests Within the domain of affirmative requests (i.e., requests to do something), one important distinction relates to the identity of the addressee. The prototypical case of a request is a second-person request (15.1.1); Aikhenvald (2010, 18) calls these requests “canonical.” Upper Tanana uses a number of strategies that reflect different degrees of politeness, urgency, and general applicability. The language also allows formation of hortatives (requests directed at the first person, sec. 15.1.2). There are also requests directed at a third person, but as I show in section 15.1.3, the actual addressee of such a request may again be the second person. 15.1.1. Canonical (second-person) requests There are several ways of phrasing a canonical request depending on politeness, general applicability, and urgency. They may be in the imperfective, optative, and future, with different nuances. There is also a special type of conditional request, which seems to have given rise to a type of urgent request.

REQUESTS

247

15.1.1.1. Requests in the imperfective Imperfective requests seem to be the most unmarked type (and could thus be called “imperatives”). They can be formed from active (357) and neuter (358) verb themes alike. (357) a. “Danįįhaayh!” yehnih. (T) 2SG:SG.come.in:IPV 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Come SG in,” she said to her.’

UTOLAF08Apr2805:068

b. Hah’ogn nidahłeey. (N) NTRL:outside:AR 2SG:put.PL.O:IPV:IMP ‘Pile PL [the wood] outside.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2601:036 (358) a. Shdoo didhaltth’ih! (T) 1SG:waiting.for 2PL:PL.stay:IPV ‘Wait PL for me!’ b. Soo’, soo’ dįįt’eh… (N) careful careful 2SG:be:IPV ‘Careful, be SG careful…’

UTOLVDN13May2801:049

UTOLVDN14Apr2601:019

(357) demonstrates that requests in the imperfective may contain a vocalic suffix, which creates a heavy stem syllable (see vol. 1, chap. 8 for discussion of the changes involved). The functions of this suffix are not clearly understood. It is formally identical to the nominalizing suffix, which suggests that it might have its origin in insubordination, as has been noted by Evans (2007) for a number of languages. The request in (359a) contrasts with the one in (357a) only by the presence of the imperative suffix, yet the speaker was adamant that there is no semantic difference between the two utterances (note also that they are by the same speaker and occur within the same story). Similarly, the contribution of the imperative suffix in (359b) compared to (358a) is not clear. During the transcription process, speakers often alternate freely between suffixed and unsuffixed forms, suggesting that this suffix is optional. (359) a. Tsǫǫ: “Danįįhaay!” yehnih. (T) grandmother 2SG:SG.come.in:IPV:IMP 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘The grandmother said to her, “Come SG in!”’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:062 b. … “Shyah didhaltth’ii,” neehinih. (N) house 2PL:PL.stay:IPV:IMP 3PL>1PL:say:IPV ‘… “Stay at home,” they said to us.’ UTCBVDN14Jul2105:020

248

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Affirmative requests in the imperfective mode do not contain special particles. The frequency of affirmative requests in the imperfective mode in narrative suggests that they are the default case. This is confirmed by elicitation; responses to cues such as ‘Play! Sing! Run!’ always take this form. As shown in Lovick (2016), imperfective requests are used in situations where the speaker’s entitlement is relatively high, either because she is higher in status than the hearer (e.g., when addressing an animal or a child) or because speaker and hearer are roughly equal in status and are very familiar with each other. This is demonstrated in the next few examples. Because the situation and the relation of the discourse participants to each other is important here, each example will be presented in context. The excerpt in (360) is taken from a childhood memoir about looking for duck eggs with her mother and aunties. The adults spot an owl flying out of a hollow tree and tell the girl to climb up and throw the owl’s eggs out. All directives in (360) are in the imperfective. (360)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN07Aug2205:010–17 (N) 1. “Maa ki’įįhaay,” shihinih. 3SG:for 2SG:SG.go:IPV:IMP 3PL>1SG:say:IPV ‘“Climb up for [the eggs],” they said to me.’ 2. “… ch’ixia’ ushyiit de’ kah unįh’įį,” eggs 3SG:inside check.for 2SG>AR:look:IPV:IMP shihinih. 3PL>1SG:say:IPV ‘“… look around to check for eggs in it,” they said to me.’ 3. (5 lines omitted) 4. “U’įįniiy tl’aan natidįhdeel,” 2SG:grab:IPV:IMP and 2SG:throw.down.PL.O:IPV:IMP shihinih. 3PL>1SG:say:IPV ‘“Take them and throw them down,” they said to me.’

(361) illustrates the same thing; here an elder advises young people about the importance of prayer and gratitude.

REQUESTS (361)

249

Excerpt: UTOLAF10Jul0901:005–10 (N) 1. K’analta’ nduugn natahdek niign 2PL:take.care:IPV wherever 2PL:PL.walk.around:IPV:CUST the.way t’eey uts’ą̈ ’ ahheey. ADVZR 3SG:to 2PL:speak:IPV:IMP ‘Take care of yourselves, and wherever you PL go, talk (=pray) to him.’ 2. (two lines omitted) 3. … łąą’ t’eey mbaa tsiin’įį ahłįį! truly ADVZR 3SG:for grateful 2PL:be:IPV ‘… be PL truly thankful for it.’

The imperfective is also the unmarked choice for requests of someone of equal status. In (362) the narrator’s aunties (who are about the same age as the narrator) ask her to go back to the house. (362) “Nän! Negn’ shyah nts’ą̈ ’ na’įįdaał tl’aan tseey 2SG upland:ALL house to 2SG:SG.go.back:IPV:PROG and tea kah įįha’,” shihinih. (N) for 2SG:fetch:IPV 3PL>1SG:say:IPV ‘“You! Go back upland to the house and get tea,” they said to me.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:023 If there is a great deal of familiarity, imperfective requests are used even when a person of low status addresses one of higher status, as in (363). Both utterances come from the same story; in (363a) a girl speaks to her grandmother, while in (363b), a boy talks to his older sisters and his grandmother. (363) a. Shtl’a’įhteey, tsǫǫ! (T) 2SG>3SG>1SG.give.AO:IPV:IMP grandmother ‘Give [the baby] to me, grandma!’ UTOLVDN13May2801:064 b. Hǫǫ’ shdahnih, nahalndak, thus 2PL>1SG:say:IPV 2PL>1SG.tell.story:IPV dziidishdah! (T) 1SG:SG.sit.listening:IPV ‘Tell me this, tell me the story, I sit listening!’ UTOLVDN13May2801:129

250

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Their use in a variety of different situations suggests that imperfective requests are the least marked form that an affirmative request can take. 15.1.1.2. Requests in the optative Requests in the optative may occur with or without particles. There is also a special type of conditional request in the optative. Optative requests without particles are perceived to be milder in tone than those in the imperfective. They may be formed of active (364) and neuter (365) verb themes, although optative requests from neuter themes are quite rare. (364) a. Shla’ k’it ni’ųųha’, jah shla’ k’it! (N) 1SG:hand on 2SG:SG.go.to.toilet:OPT here 1SG:hand on ‘Go SG to the toilet in my hand, right here on my hand!’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:057 b. Nah’aat nan’ k’it shaa k’iinųųttheeł! (T) MED:outside:PUNCT earth on 1SG:for 2SG:chop.hole:OPT ‘Out there, chop a hole in the earth for me.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:134 c. “… shaa mbeh dųlxoo,” nih. (N) 1SG:for 3SG:with 2SG:play:OPT say:IPV ‘“… play with him for me,” she said to him.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:115 (365) a. Ch’iliitthoo gaay tat’eey teejuh nuhshyiit dah’a’. (T) grizzly small even kindness 2PL:in 2PL:classify.CO:OPT ‘Have kindness in you PL even for the little grizzlies.’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:030 b. Hǫǫsu’ nts’ą’ dineh ǫǫłe’ dii xah ch’a! (T) good ADVZR person 2SG:be:OPT why FOC ‘You SG should be a good person!’ UTOLVDN08Mar1307:003 Generally, requests in the optative are used when the speaker is not certain that the addressee will comply with the request, either because the task is immoral (364a), arduous (364b), or otherwise demanding (364c, 365), or because the speaker does not think that they are entitled to make this request because they do not know the addressee well enough (364b, c). Both instances are taken from traditional stories where the interlocutors have just met. As optative requests express uncertainty about the addressee’s compliance, they are perceived as softer and more polite than requests in the imperfective.

REQUESTS

251

15.1.1.2.1. Optative requests with de’ ‘UR’ Optative requests frequently include the postverbal particle de’ ‘UR’; these also may occur with active (366) and neuter (367) verb themes. This construction likely arose through insubordination of conditional requests (see sec. 15.1.1.2.2). Optative requests with de’ are at least as common as those without, if not more so. (366) a. Ndia’ gaay, ndia’ gaay 2SG:younger.sister small 2SG:younger.sister small chih! (T) nadaa’ųh’įį de’, nchil 2SG:look.after:OPT UR 2SG:younger.brother too ‘Your younger sister, make sure you look after your younger sister, your younger brother too!’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:030 de’! (N) b. Ay hii’ųlnayh 3SG 2SG:remember:OPT UR ‘Make sure you SG remember that!’

UTOLAFMay0807:082

(367) a. “Jin dǫh’ah de’,” yehnih. (N) DEM 2SG:sing:OPT UR 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Make sure you sing this [song],” she said to her.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:196 b. Tthi’ du’: dindayh ǫǫłe’ de’! (T) head CT bearberries 2SG:be:OPT UR ‘Regarding his head: you shall be bearberries!’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:268 Lovick (2016) treats de’ in requests as an attenuating particle and translates it as ‘please’. However, in more recent work (Lovick, forthcoming) de’ in requests is analyzed as an urgent request marker drawing attention to the undesirable consequences arising from noncompliance. In (366a), taken from the Story about Grandmother Spider, a mother reminds her daughter of her responsibility for the younger children—when the daughter fails in her duty, she and her younger sister get lost and she herself is killed. In (366b) the speaker addresses a (fictional) granddaughter, reminding her of the need to adhere to Upper Tanana behavior guidelines. Noncompliance here could result in the granddaughter being a bad person. (367a) is again from the Story about Grandmother Spider. Here the addressee is told to sing a particular song, otherwise the sun will remain hidden. Thus, de’ ‘UR’ adds urgency to a request.

252

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

15.1.1.2.2. Conditional requests The origin of optative requests with de’ is likely a special type of conditional linking: the conditional request. Conditional requests have the structure of (declarative) conditional linkings described in section 26.5, with two modifications. Whereas the consequent in a declarative conditional linking is in the future, the consequent in a conditional request is always in the optative. Additionally, both clauses in conditional requests are marked by clause-final de’ (which I gloss as ‘if ’ in the condition but as UR in the consequent clause); in conditional declaratives, only the condition clause contains this marker. (368) is a declarative conditional linking, while (369) illustrates conditional requests. (368) Dziin hanogn hoosu’ nah’įh de’ ch’inįįkon’ uthiin day NTRL:upland:AR well 2PL:look:IPV if dentalium 3SG:neck nįįdlah nah’įįł. (N) 3SG:classify.RO:IPV 2PL:see:FUT ‘Today if you look there well, you will see the dentalium necklace around his neck.’ UTCBAF14May2001:012 (369) a. “Nihthaad ninahdeel de’ tah na’alshyiih de’,” long.way 2PL:PL.go:PFV if when 2PL:rest:OPT UR hu’ǫǫndaa hu’ehnih. (T) 3PL:older.brother 3SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“When you PL have gone a long way, take a rest,” their older brother said to them.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:040 b. Jah daaninshyah de’ ahugn eek hanugn here 2SG:SG.come.back.in:PFV if etc coat AR:upland:AR hǫǫsǫǫ ni’ǫǫniik de’! (N) good 2SG:put.FO:OPT UR ‘When you SG come back inside, put your coat in a good place up there!’ UTOLAFMay0807:045 c. Ay tl’aan ch’idhįhxįį de’, ishyiit shyi’ hǫǫ’t’eey and.then 2SG>INDF:kill.SG.O:PFV if then meat still ushyi’ maa ǫǫdla’ de’… (N) 3SG:meat 3SG:for 2SG:keep.PL.O:OPT UR ‘And if you kill [a moose], then meat, make sure you leave some of its meat for [the raven]…’ UTOLAF08Feb1906:010

REQUESTS

253

In conditional requests, de’ in the consequent (the actual request) may be translated as ‘make sure’ (369c), but this is not always the case (369a, b), which suggests that this meaning is not part of the conditional request construction. 15.1.1.2.3. dii xah, diaa ‘?’ In a small number of cases, a modal particle dii xah, diaa ‘if only’ is also used in optative requests (370). The form dii xah is used mainly in the Tetlin dialect; the reduced form diaa occurs in both the Northway and Tetlin dialects. This particle may be cognate with the interrogative proform dii xah ‘why’, which also is attested with the pronunciation diaa. Dii xah, diaa in requests does not, however, behave like dii xah, diaa in questions: the question word usually occurs in clause-initial position (see sec. 14.1.1), while the request particle occurs postverbally. Note also that while the translations include a negation, the Upper Tanana version is not formally negative (370). (370) a. Hǫǫsu’ nts’ą’ dineh ǫǫłe’ dii xah ch’a! (T) good ADVZR person 2SG:be:OPT if.only FOC ‘Why aren’t you SG a good person; if only you SG were a good person; you SG should be a good person!’ UTOLVDN08Mar1307:003 b. Hǫǫsǫǫ dǫǫdįįgn diaa! (T) nice 2SG:act:OPT if.only ‘Why don’t you SG act nicely; if only you SG would act nicely; you SG should act nicely!’ UTOLVDN13May2901:016 c. Shtthi’ k’it tah ni’ųųha’ diaa! (B) 1SG:head on among 2SG:SG.go.to.toilet:OPT if.only ‘Why don’t you SG go to the toilet on my head; if only you SG would go to the toilet on my head; go SG to the toilet on my head!’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:063 One speaker suggested that dii xah, diaa in requests convey a sense of frustration or annoyance with the addressee, which is consistent with the examples in (370a, b) but does not seem appropriate for (370c), which contains the suggestion of a highly immoral act. The small number of textual examples and the contradictory results in elicitation prevent me from making any definitive claims about this particle in requests. Other uses of this particle are described in chapter 9. 15.1.1.3. Requests in the future The future is used only rarely in affirmative requests. It is used to express general, non-negotiable rules (371). Requests in the future are perceived as stronger than the other types.

254

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(371) a. Hǫǫ’ ch’a taht’üü! (N) thus FOC 2PL:cut:FUT:NOM ‘Cut [the fish] this way; this is how you have to cut the fish!’ UTOLAF10Jul0901:025 b. Hugn ch’a nuhts’iikeey atdahniil! (T) thus FOC 2PL:children 2PL:teacy:FUT:NOM ‘Teach your PL children things like that; you PLmust teach your children things like that!’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:018 Requests in the future are used when the speaker wants to display a high degree of entitlement, for example, when a parent addresses a child (371a) or an elder addresses the community (371b). Requests in the future also indicate that the speaker has no regard for the contingencies involved. Future directives are also used by individuals with medicine power, as illustrated by the textual example in (372), which is taken from the introductory section of the story of Yamaagn Teeshyaay and the Eagle.¹ The speaker gives a few examples of how Yamaagn Teeshyaay “fixes” wrong-doers. (372)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN11Aug0802:023–25 (N) 1. Huxah ni’ihaag tl’aan hudziit 3PL:for 3SG:SG.arrive:IPV:CUST:NOM and 3PL:hearing hǫǫheey. 3SG:speak:IPV:NOM ‘He would come to them and would teach them (lit. ‘speak into their ears’).’ 2. “Dąą’ ch’a utahnąy, dąą’ ch’a utahnąy, dąą’ thus FOC 2PL:live:FUT:NOM thus FOC 2PL:live:FUT:NOM thus ch’a shyah utah’aal.” FOC house 2PL>AR:keep:FUT:NOM ‘“This is how you have to live, this is how you have to live, this is how you have to build/keep your house.”’ 3. “Jah duugn ch’a nuhts’iikeey iin ichah’aal.” hereabouts FOC 2PL:children PL 2PL>INDF:feed:FUT:NOM ‘“This is how to feed your kids!” [Yamaagn Teeshyay would tell them.]’

Yamaagn Teeshyaay is the biggest shaman of all; what he says, will happen. When he tells creatures that they will from now on behave in a certain fashion,

REQUESTS

255

they have no choice but to obey. As compliance with directives in the future mode is obligatory, they are best described as orders. 15.1.1.3.1. Conditional requests in the future There is one example where a conditional request employs the future mode in the consequent clause. In (373) the speaker relates one of the core values of the Upper Tanana: the need for hospitality (see also McKennan [1959, 46]; Guédon [1974, 140]). By phrasing this conditional request in the future, the father in (373) makes it abundantly clear that hospitality is not optional. Note that the particle de’ is present in both condition and consequence clauses, thus distinguishing it from regular conditional linkings described in section 26.5. (373) Hah’ogn doo nuhxah danįįshyah de’ dii NTRL:out:AR someone 2PL:for 3SG:SG.come.in:PFV if everything hutl’atahchil t’eey hu’ichah’aał de’. (N) 2PL>3PL:give.food:FUT:NOM ADVZR 2PL>INDF>3PL:feed:FUT UR ‘When someone comes in to you PL, give PL them everything [they need], feed PL them.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:031 This appears to be the only instance of this construction in the corpus, but as it was checked by different speakers during the publication process of Sam, Demit-Barnes, and Northway (2021) without being flagged, it appears to be well-formed. 15.1.2. Hortatives (first-person requests) Hortatives are requests addressed to the first person. They are always in the optative mode (374). (374) a. “Ttheh nats’ulshyiyh,” nih… (T) wait 1PL:rest:OPT say:IPV ‘“Wait, let’s take a rest,” she said…’

UTOLVDN14Nov2301:111

b. “Hahdegn’ saa xah ts’uudeeł,” nih. (N) NTRL:up:ALL sun for 1PL:PL.go:OPT say:IPV ‘“Let’s go get the sun up there!” he said.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2719:006 Hortatives are thus in the same paradigm as the mild canonical requests described in section 15.1.1.2; as discussed in section 15.1.3 they share this paradigm with third-person requests.

256

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

While Upper Tanana does not generally distinguish inclusive from exclusive first person plural, most hortatives in this language are plural and include both the speaker and the hearer(s). In (375a) this is clear from the use of the reciprocal object prefix; in (375b) the (included) addressee of the hortative refuses to comply. (375) a. “Ayt’oo, naniłts’utxąą ch’ale,” łįį tthiikaan enough 1PL>RECP:kill.PL.O:IT:OPT FOC dog wolf ehnih. (T) 3SG:say:IPV ‘“Enough, let’s kill each other,” the dog said to the wolf.’ UTOLVDN13May2905:030 b. “Hǫǫ’t’eey ts’uhchuut,” “No, ena’, ena’,” nih. (T) still 1PL:grab:OPT no no no say:IPV ‘“Let’s still grab it,” [the younger sister said but] “No, no no,” [the older sister] said.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:050 There are, however, also instances where the addressee does not appear to be included in the hortative. The hortatives in (376) are uttered by story characters who do not expect (or want) the addressee to come along; thus hortatives can be exclusive as well. (376) a. Nąą! Ashyig neekąy’ iin hihdelxoo nts’ą’ mom NTRL:down:ALL 1PL:husband PL 3PL:play:IPV:NOM to tsuudeel! (T) 1PL:PL.go:OPT ‘Mom! Let’s go down to our husbands playing there!’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:010 b. “K’a jah ‹dzaltth’iil, nats’utdeeł›,” yehnih. (N) NEG here 1PL:PL.stay:FUT:NEG 1PL:PL.go:IT:OPT 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“We can’t stay here, let’s go back,” she said to him.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2710:023 There is one possible instance of a singular hortative (377), but this could also simply be an expression of desire on part of the speaker (see sec. 8.1.1). (377) “Ha’ nok-’įį’,” shehnih. (N) hey 1SG:look:OPT 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘Hey, let me see/I want to see,” she said to me.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:057

REQUESTS

257

15.1.3. Third person requests Upper Tanana also has third-person requests. They are always in the optative mode and thus belong to the same paradigm as hortatives and canonical requests in the optative. They may be formed from active (378) and neuter (379) verb themes. (378) a. “Mboh eh hanteey’ sts’ą̈ ’ hihtuudeel, nih. (S) toboggan and quickly 1SG:to 3PL:PL.go:INC:OPT say:IPV ‘“They shall hurry back to me with a toboggan,” he said.’ ANLC4122a-237 b. “Ne’ sheh natuudaagn!” (N) upriver:ALL 1SG:with 3SG:SG.go.around:IPV:CUST:NOM ‘She should come back to the upriver area with me!’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:018 (379) a. Sts’iiniin’ uułe’! (T) 1SG:baby:POSS 3SG:be:OPT ‘He shall be my baby!’

UTOLVDN13May2801:066

b. Hǫǫ’t’eey uute’! (N) still 3SG:SG.sleep:OPT ‘Let her sleep some more!’

UTOLAF15May0501:067

(378) and (379) are not true jussives, where the third-person subject is requested to perform the event expressed by the verb theme. Instead, the hearer is expected to ensure that the third person can carry out the request: by passing on the message about the toboggan quickly (378a), by giving the child permission to come along upriver (378b), by allowing the baby to be raised by the girl who utters (379a), or by not waking up her sister (379b). These requests are thus a type of mediated discourse. Affirmative third-person requests are rare in Upper Tanana; most of the clear examples in the corpus are given in (378) and (379). 15.2. Negative requests (prohibitives) Negative requests or prohibitives, that is, requests to refrain from doing something, are much less common in Upper Tanana than affirmative ones. Negative requests exhibit a modal distinction between optative (immediate, sec. 15.2.1) and future (general, sec. 15.2.2) prohibitions. There are also some instances of negative requests in the imperfective mode (sec. 15.2.3); while these are formally first person plural, they are directed at a second-person

258

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

addressee. There are no dedicated negative hortatives or jussives; all negative requests have a second-person addressee. Crucially, the addressee does not have to be coded as subject of the request but may be in a different syntactic role; there are even a few instances where the addressee is not expressed at all (sec. 15.2.1.1). In earlier work (Lovick 2016, 267) I observe that affirmative requests outnumber negative ones at a ratio of 5:1, and suggests that this asymmetry is due to due to įįjih, in that uttering any negative request can be seen as an attack on an individual’s positive and negative face. Lovick and Tuttle (2019) present a methodology to investigate this in more detail; some common strategies for indirect negative requests are described in section 15.2.4. 15.2.1. Prohibitives in the optative Negative requests in the optative seem to be the default; they are the most frequent type in text and also the preferred response in elicitation. This type of request is characterized by the prohibitive particle sǫ’ followed by a formally affirmative verb form in the optative mode. The verb stems in optative prohibitives do not have the high tone associated with negative inflection (see sec. 16.1.1.2 for discussion of this high pitch and 16.3 for an illustration of its absence in this type of negative request). This type of request can be formed from active (380) and neuter (381) verb themes alike. (380) a. “Sǫ’ ti’ahshya’!” hu’ehnih. (T) PROH 2PL:SG.go.out:OPT 3SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“Don’t PL go out!”, she said to them.’ UTOLAF13May2403:026 b. “Sǫ’ shaa nahǫlndegn!” yehnih. (N) PROH 1SG:BEN 2SG:tell:OPT 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Don’t SG tell her about me!”, he said to him.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:044 (381) a. “Sǫ’ sǫ’ huxah ts’ihųhdąy, hutnak-’įįł,” PROH PROH 3PL:BEN 2SG:worry:OPT 1SG>3PL:watch:FUT hu’ehnih. (T) 3SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“Don’t, don’t SG worry about them, I’ll watch them,” he said to them.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:032

REQUESTS b. Sǫ’ shinǫljidn! (N) PROH 2SG>1SG:be.scared:OPT ‘Don’t SG be scared of me!’

259

UTOLVDN11Aug0802:030

As the verb form itself is formally affirmative, the negative force must be contained within the prohibitive particle sǫ’. This particle can be used in isolation to utter a warning of danger. In the textual example in (382), a mother tries (in vain) to stop her daughters from behaving foolishly. (382)

Excerpt: UTOLAF08Apr2805:004–05 (T) 1. Hunąą huts’ą’ ehsał nts’ą’: “Ena’! Sǫ’!” 3PL:mother 3PL:to 3SG:holler:IPV and no PROH ‘Their mother hollered at them: “No! Don’t!”’ 2. “Laalil natnatdagn butterfly 2PL:PL.follow.around:IPV:CUST:NOM stanuhtaałeel nt’eh,” hu’ehnih. 3SG>2PL:take.away.PL.O:FUT:NOM ASRT 3SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“If you PL follow a butterfly, he will take you PL away for sure,” she said to them.’

Sǫ’ ‘PROH’ is obligatory in negative directives in the optative. It typically precedes the entire verb phrase (380b, 381a, 383a). It also may occur several times within the same utterance without affecting the meaning (381a, 383b). (383) a. Ogn shyüh hǫǫłįį sǫ’ kee edänh ti’ųųshya’. (N) outside:AR snow AR:be:IPV PROH shoe without 2SG:SG.go.out:OPT ‘There’s snow outside, don’t go out without shoes.’ UTOLAF14Nov2407:001 b. Ts’įįgąąk tay’ t’eey “Sǫ’, sǫ’ tąy nteel chickadee again ADVZR PROH PROH trail 3SG:be.wide:IPV:NOM sǫ’ dahtthan’ tahdeel!” (T) PROH PROX:waterwards:ALL 2PL:PL.go:OPT ‘Again that Chickadee, “Don’t, don’t you PL go onto the wide trail down here!”’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:130 Typically this form is used in immediate requests, when the speaker believes that the addressee is about to perform the prohibited action and seeks to deter them. As noted by Lovick and Tuttle (2019, 132), this type of request can be perceived as rude. It is used most frequently when an older person

260

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

addresses a child; both utterances in (384) were uttered by a father addressing his offspring. (384) a. Shta’, “Hanaat, Uudlade dą’ nts’ą’ 1SG:father NTRL:across:PNCT one.with.moss at to shk’etl’üdn noo’ de’ t’eey ishyiit sǫ’ 1SG:after.death long.time when:FUT ADVZR there PROH ni’ųųshya’,” shehnih. (T) 2SG:SG.go.to:OPT 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘My father, “To ‘the one with moss’ don’t go there even long after I’m gone!”, he said to me.’ UTOLVDN08Mar1311:004 b. Sǫ’ hugn dineey iin itsidal’a’. (N) PROH etc. people PL 2SG:hate:OPT ‘Also, don’t hate people.’

UTCBAF13Nov1203:030

It may also be used when addressing a person of equal status, such as in (385), where the speaker addresses her brother. Only a handful of examples of this are found in the data, which reflects just as how rude these negative requests are perceived. (385) “Sǫ’ än nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey dǫǫdįį’!” udihnih. (N) PROH out:ALL to ADVZR 2SG:do:OPT 1SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Don’t do anything yet!” I said to him.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:061 The most common negative request in the corpus is the form in (381b); it is even used when addressing a stranger. This form, as well as the one in (381a), are not perceived as rude, suggesting that verb theme semantics impact the perception of negative directives. 15.2.1.1. Third-person prohibitives Negative requests in the optative also occur with the addressee coded in a non-subject position. Formally, the forms appear to be third-person requests. Like their affirmative counterparts discussed in section 15.1.3, third-person prohibitives are not jussives, since the second-person addressee is again somehow responsible for preventing the action expressed in the verb. This type of request is possible with the secondperson addressee coded as a direct (386a) or postpositional (386b) object.²

REQUESTS

261

(386) a. Ts’aht’iin sǫ’ jah dugn nuhchuudn hihdįįni’. (N) pubescent.girl PROH hereabouts 3SG>2SG:grab:OPT 3PL:say:PFV ‘Don’t let a pubescent girl grab you SG there [around the wrist], they used to say.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:055 b. Tl’aan ndia’ gaay sǫ’ sta’uushya’ and.then 2SG:younger.sister small PROH 3SG:SG.wander.off:OPT nuhnaał t’eey. (T) 2PL:before.eyes ADVZR ‘And don’t let your younger sister wander off in front of your PL eyes.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:052 When the event does not allow a second-person participant but the addressee is still expected to prevent the event, the speaker can introduce the addressee using a postpositional phrase with P+xah, aa ‘for the benefit of P’ (387a). As (387b) demonstrates, this is not required. (In that instance, the mother of a young child addresses her parents, who are looking after the baby.)³ (387) a. Sǫ’ dineh nuhxah staa’utshya’ dįįtsįį PROH person 2PL:for 3SG:SG.go.away:IT:OPT 3SG:be.hungry:IPV eh. (N) and ‘Don’t let a person go away from you hungry!’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:032 b. “Naxat ts’iiniin sǫ’ ogn ti’uushya’,” hinih. (N) that child PROH out:AR 3SG:SG.go.out:OPT 3PL:say:IPV ‘“Don’t let that child go outside,” they said.’ UTOLAF18Jun1001:002 Very rarely there are instances where there is no obvious second-person addressee. (388) is from a text where Yamaagn Teeshyaay enters Wolverine’s house and makes a magical wish to let Wolverine’s stone axe and knife disappear. (388)

UTOLVDN13May2804:070–071 (T) 1. “Tsina’ sǫ’ hiiyuduh’aay,” nih. wish PROH 3PL>3SG:find.CO:OPT say:IPV ‘“Don’t let them find [the stone axe],” he said.’

262

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

2. “Sǫ’ hiyuduh‹‹’aay›› seeyh ‹chih› ch’inul’į’,” nih. PROH 3PL>3SG:find.CO:OPT knife too 3SG:be.hidden:OPT say:IPV ‘“Don’t let them find it, and may the knife be hidden as well,” he said.’ Due to the dearth of comparable examples it cannot be determined whether (388) is an appeal to an unexpressed higher power (which would make it comparable to [387b]) or a negative jussive directed at an inanimate object. 15.2.2. Prohibitives in the future The second most common type of negative requests consists of a standardnegated future verb form in the second person. As described in section 16.1, standard negation is marked by a verb form inflected for negation plus the standard negator k’a(t’eey); (389) demonstrates that all of these components are present in this type of negative request. (The negative high on the stem syllable of standard-negated forms is marked in all examples; the low tone on the pre-stem syllable is indicated only in the Northway dialect, since it cannot be distinguished in the Tetlin dialect.) (389) a. K’at’eey jah tay’ natįįdáál! (T) NEG here again 2SG:SG.come.back:FUT:NEG ‘Don’t you SG ever come back here again!’ UTOLVDN13May2901:045 b. Ay du’ k’àt’eey mbaa nìtàhdä́l. (N) 3SG CT NEG 3SG:BEN 2PL:PL.go.to:FUT:NEG ‘As for that one, you PL may not go to it.’ UTOLAF17Aug0801:039 Negative directives in the future always contain the standard negator k’a(t’eey) (390), not the prohibitive particle sǫ’. (390) a. … k’at’eey nitahhaagn nts’ą’… (T) NEG 3SG:spend.night:FUT:CUST:NEG and UTOLVDN07Oct2602:039 ‘… do SG not rest overnight…’ b. Shyi’ du’ dii xah ch’a “k’at’eey tah’aal” neehedįįni’? (N) meat CT why FOC NEG 2PL:eat:FUT:NEG 3PL>1PL:say:PFV ‘As for meat, why did they tell us “you PL may not eat it”?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:102 Lovick (2016) claims that both k’a(t’eey) ‘NEG’ and sǫ’ ‘PROH’ may be used in future prohibitives, but more recent investigations suggest that this may not

REQUESTS

263

be the case. As an example, consider the form in (8a) on page 271 of that paper, included here as (391). Instead of treating this as a future form (which would be expected to have the verb stem dal rather than deel), it should be glossed as an inceptive optative form. (391) Sǫ’ shk’eh tahdeeł. (T) PROH 1SG:following 2PL:PL.go:OPT ‘Don’t PL follow me!’

UTOLAF09Jun2202:012

The properties of k’a(t’eey) are described in more detail in section 16.1. Like their affirmative counterparts, negative requests in the future express general strict prohibitions and are usually uttered by an older person addressing a younger one: a white teacher addressing Tetlin children in (392a), a father addressing the son-in-law who has just killed his wife (392b), or an elder advising a young person (392c). (392) a. … “K’at’eey nuhk’eh hutahheel!” neehinih. (T) NEG 2PL:like 2PL:PL.speak:FUT:NEG 3PL>1PL:say:IPV ‘… “You PL may not speak in your language!” they told us.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2802:018 b. K’at’eey jah tay’ natįįdaal! (T) NEG here again 2SG:SG.come.back:FUT:NEG ‘Don’t you SG ever come back here again!’ UTOLVDN13May2901:045 c. Hashyiign dineh eegn’ k’a utüh tįį’ia! (N) NTRL:down:AR man coat:POSS NEG 3SG:over 2SG:step:FUT:NEG ‘You SG can’t step over a man’s coat!’ UTOLAF14Nov2404:003 These two features of prohibitives in the future—the great entitlement displayed by the individual uttering them and the general applicability of the injunction—are responsible for the fact that they are particularly common in directives that have to do with įįjih (see Lovick [2016] for more discussion). 15.2.3. Prohibitives in the imperfective In materials from the Scottie Creek dialect there is also a small number of prohibitives in the imperfective mode (393). Like negative requests in the future, they employ standard negation (i.e., negative inflection plus the negative particle k’a(t’eey)) rather than the prohibitive marker sǫ’. Additionally, they are always in the first person plural. (393a) contrasts an optative prohibitive with the corresponding imperfective form.

264

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(393) a. Ay eh “Sǫ’ dǫlchuudn! K’a dzelchuud nt’eh,” and PROH 2SG:save.food:OPT NEG 1PL:save.food:IPV:NEG ASRT hiiyehnih. (S) 3PL>3SG:say:IPV ‘And “Don’t save food! Certainly don’t save food!” they said to him.’ ANLC4122a-278 b. Dineh iin k’a ts’eldeel! (S) human PL NEG 1PL:eat:IPV:NEG ‘Don’t eat humans!’

ANLC4122b

In the Northway dialect, similar forms are also common in elicitation using videos, as described in Lovick and Tuttle (2019). Some elicited examples are given in (394); note that two possible translations are offered for (394b). (394) a. Hǫǫ k’a ts’idįįgn. (N) thus NEG 1PL:do:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘Don’t do that.’

UTOLAF14Nov2411:002

b. Dineh iin xeel’ k’at’eey nats’iłii man PL pack:POSS NEG 1PL:take.down.PL.O:IPV:NEG hǫǫt’eh. (N) ASRT ‘Don’t take men’s packs down; we don’t take men’s packs down.’ UTOLAF14May0807:071 Despite their occasional use both in text and elicitation, these are marginal forms. In one story, a speaker produced (395a), which another speaker corrected to (395b) during transcription: (395) a. Chih łuugn tthi’ k’iits’it’üü’ t’eey, chih ina’, also fish head 1PL:cut.off:IPV:CUST:NEG ADVZR also no neehdįįni’. (N) 3PL>1PL:say:PFV ‘Also, don’t cut off fish heads, they told us.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:079 b. Chih łuugn tthi’ sǫ’ k’ii’aht’üh, neehdįįni’. (N) also fish head PROH 2PL:cut.off:OPT 3PL>1PL:say:PFV ‘Also, don’t PL cut off fish heads, they told us.’

REQUESTS

265

In the discussion of the original form in (395a), Speaker B said that “it was okay, some people said it like that,” but that she preferred (395b). (Interestingly, Speaker B does produce first-person plural prohibitives occasionally; for example [394b].) These forms are not attested in the Tetlin dialect; instead, standardnegated first-person plural forms in the future mode are used (396). (396) Ena’, shnąą iin shta’ hǫǫ’ k’a tsaadįįgn no 1PL:mother PL 1PL:father thus NEG 1PL:do:FUT:CUST:NEG neeheniik. (T) 3PL>1PL:say:IPV:CUST ‘No, my parents always told us, don’t do that!’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:276 All examples of prohibitives in the first person plural in the corpus have to do with įįjih (see vol. 1, chap. 4, Lovick [2016], or Lovick and Tuttle [2019] for discussion of įįjih). While this is of course a very small number of tokens, the use of the first person plural in įįjih-prohibitives is semantically plausible as an in-group marker: we, the Upper Tanana people (or, in the case of [393] the No-see-um People) do not do perform this type of activity. It can also be taken as an impersonal subject marker, as has been reported by de Reuse and Goode (2006, 348). De Reuse finds that in San Carlos Apache, prohibitives formed with the “fourth person subject prefix” ch’i- (cognate to Upper Tanana ts’-) are more subtle and polite than prohibitives formed with a second person subject prefix; see also Brown and Levinson (1987, 191–92). Negative requests in the first person plural imperfective or future likely have their origin in indirect speech acts; after all, they take the form of declarative sentences and contain the standard negator k’a(t’eey), which is used to negate declaratives and questions, not requests (see sec. 16.1). The translations suggested by the speakers, however, suggest that they are conventionalized forms. It also appears that they are somewhat softer than second-person prohibitives, constituting less of a threat to the addressee’s negative face. 15.2.4. Indirect strategies Given the strong tendency to avoid direct negative directives in Upper Tanana, it is not surprising that several indirect strategies are commonly used. The more common of these strategies are described below; they were elicited using the video methodology described in Lovick and Tuttle (2019) and are described in greater detail in that study. One common strategy to avoid a negative request is to instead use an

266

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

affirmative request suggesting a different course of action (397). The speaker reacts to a video clip where a woman has removed a man’s pack from his chair to sit down. (397)

Excerpt: UTOLAF14Nov2402:003–07 (N) 1. I’m trying to figure out don’t do that, the man sits [there]. 2. I would tell her that: 3. Ch’idänh tah dadhįįdah. elsewhere among 2SG:SG.sit:IPV ‘Sit somewhere else.’ 4. Ahnaan’ tah dadhįįdah. NTRL:across:ALL among 2SG:SG.sit:IPV ‘Sit over there.’ 5. Ishyiit dineh da’eeday hahnaan’ ch’idänh there man 3SG:SG.sit:IPV:NOM NTRL:across:ALL elsewhere tah dadhįįdah. among 2SG:SG.sit:IPV ‘A man is sitting there, sit over there in a different place.’

Another common strategy is to invite the addressee to reflect on their behavior, to point out likely (undesirable) consequences, and to offer advice on how to improve the situation. The speaker uttered the sequence in (398) after watching a video where a man pulls out the chair from under a woman sitting down. (398)

Excerpt: UTOLAF14May0807:001–06 (N) 1. Dii xah ch’a dįįdąy? why FOC 2SG:do:IPV:NOM ‘Why did you do this?’ 2. Ts’exeh dats’idaak tah da’eedah dą’ uch’a’ woman chair among 3SG:SG.sit:IPV when 3SG:from stadįhthay. 2SG:pull.LRO.quickly.away:PFV:NOM ‘When the woman sat down in the chair, you pulled it away from her.’

REQUESTS

267

3. Hashyign nat’adalnąy abah nłįį le’. NTRL:down:ALL 3SG:CO.fall:PFV:NOM ouch 3SG:be:IPV DUB ‘She fell down, maybe she hurt herself.’ 4. Niidįhteey tl’aan “K’at’eey hǫǫ natishdįįl,” 2SG:pick.up.AO:IPV:NOM and NEG thus 1SG:do:IT:FUT:NEG dįįnih. 2SG:say:IPV ‘Pick her up and say “I’m not going to do that again.”’ 5. “Ch’its’ąą’ t’eey ch’a dihdąy.” wrong ADVZR FOC 1SG:do:IPV:NOM ‘“I did something wrong.”’ 6. Sǫ’ hǫǫ dą’ dǫǫdįį! PROH thus thus 2SG:do:OPT ‘Don’t do that again!’ Another common strategy is to phrase the forbidden action in the imperfective customary and to then point out that it is forbidden (399). (399) Ts’exeey iin dineh gaan’ hihchiign hǫǫ’ ena’! (N) women PL man arm 3PL:grab:IPV:CUST:NOM thus no ‘For women to grab a man’s wrist, that’s not on!’ UTOLAF14Nov2405:002 For actions that have not yet begun, the inceptive perfective derivation (focusing on the preparatory stages of an event, see sec. 7.3.1) is also used in this fashion (400). Here the speaker addresses first a man who threw his coat on the floor and then a woman about to step over it. Both actions are įįjih. (400)

Excerpt: UTOLAF14Nov2404:006–09 (N) 1. Nashyiign n’eegn’ tay’ t’eey dhįhniig. MED:down:ALL 2SG:coat:POSS again ADVZR 2SG:handle.FO:PFV:IMP ‘Pick up your coat down there again.’ 2. Ts’exeh iitüh tee’ia, įįjih hǫǫt’eh. woman 3SG>3SG:over step:PFV forbidden AR:be:IPV ‘A woman is about to step over it, that’s forbidden.’

268

CLAUSE STRUCTURE 3. Ena’! no ‘No!’ 4. Dineh eegn’ tüh tidhįį’ia įįjih hǫǫt’eh. man coat:POSS over 2SG:step:PFV forbidden AR:be:IPV ‘You’re about to step over a man’s coat, that’s forbidden.’

Thus, common indirect prohibitive strategies include: questioning behavior and pointing out possible consequences, making alternative suggestions in the form of positive requests, or pointing out that a particular type of behavior is forbidden. 15.3. Summary Requests to do something (affirmative requests) are typically directed at the second person, but may also be directed at the first or third person. The most neutral form for an affirmative second-person request is an imperfective form inflected for second person; this often has an imperfective suffix with unclear semantic contribution. Optative forms are perceived to be gentler and more polite, while future requests are more like orders. A special case of optative requests involves the clause-final particle de’, which adds urgency. Hortatives (first-person requests) and third-person requests share a paradigm with polite second-person requests in the optative. Requests not to do something (negative requests or prohibitives) are almost always directed at the second person. The most common form involves the prohibitive particle sǫ’ followed by an (affirmative) optative verb form. Strict prohibitions are expressed by a standard-negated second-person future form. There are also some instances of first-person plural forms used as (second-person) prohibitives; they are either in the imperfective or future mode. Since all types of negative requests are perceived as face-threatening acts, indirect strategies are often preferred. Notes 1. Yamaagn Teeshyaay ‘He Who Went Around It’ travels all over the world and teaches people and animals how to live properly (see also Attla [1990] and Demit and Joe [2010] for other Alaskan Dene versions of this story cycle). Because of the great spiritual significance of this story cycle, I do not generally use longer stretches from it. Since the segment in (372) comes from the general introduction to the story cycle, I have been told that it was acceptable to use this example here.

REQUESTS

269

2. The second-person addressee is actually present twice: once as singular possessor, once as plural postpositional object. It is not clear what causes this mismatch in number, but no speaker has even commented on it, much less objected to it. 3. Somewhat surprisingly, the verb of saying is inflected for third person plural.

16 | Negation In this chapter several negative constructions are described. Miestamo (2007, 552) lists four types of negation: standard negation (the negation of declaratives, see secs. 16.1 and 16.2); negation of imperatives (16.3); negation of nonverbal and existential clauses (16.4); and negative indefinite pronouns (16.5). Upper Tanana has additionally a small group of inherently negative verb themes (16.6). Several negation strategies described here involve high tone; for this reason tone is marked in the orthographic representation throughout this chapter.¹ 16.1. Standard negation Standard negation in Upper Tanana, that is, negation of declarative clauses, is expressed in three different places: a negative verb stem, negative verb prefixes, and a negative particle or proclitic k’a(t’eey). (401) illustrates the contrast between an affirmative and a negative form. The various ways in which negative polarity in (401b) is expressed are underlined. (401) a. ch’aldziat (T) ch’al-dziat INDF:3SG.S:AA.PFV:L-dance:PFV ‘s/he danced’

UT Notebook #3, 94

b. k’at’eey ch’ìldzíádn (T) k’at’eey ch’ìl-dzíádn NEG INDF:3SG.S:NEG.PFV:L-dance:PFV:NEG ‘s/he didn’t dance’ UT Notebook #3, 94 Negative inflection is described in section 16.1.1 and the negative particle in 16.1.2. Negative inflection also occurs in inherently negative verb themes (see sec. 16.6).

NEGATION

271

16.1.1. Negative inflection Negative polarity is indicated both in the verb stem and in the conjugation/mode prefixes. 16.1.1.1. Negative stems Negative verb stems always contain a vocalic suffix that creates heavy stems. Heavy stems differ from the corresponding light ones in a number of ways, including vowel length, voicing of the stem-final consonant, denasalization; see volume 1, chapter 11 for detail. Affirmative and negative stems potentially contrast in all modes, although in some instances they may look indistinguishable (table 16.1).

IPV PFV FUT OPT

Ø+tsüh Affirmative Negative

O+n+H+’įh Affirmative Negative

tsüh tsia’ tsüh tsüü

’įh ’įį(’) ’įįł ’įį’

tsüü tsia’ tsüü tsüü

’ąy ’iin ’įįl ’įį

Table 16.1. Affirmative and negative stems of the verb themes Ø+tsüh ‘cry’ and O+n+H+’įh ‘see O’ 16.1.1.2. Negative tone Negative stems are additionally characterized by high pitch. While Minoura (1994, 179–80) claims that this “superhigh tone,” as he terms it, is characteristic only of the speech of the late Mrs. Bessie John from Beaver Creek, and that he is unable to hear it in the speech of all other Upper Tanana speakers he has worked with, volume 1, chapter 7 shows that it is present in all Upper Tanana dialects, although the clarity of its realization varies across speakers, and might be generally more clearly realized by women. In that work, I indicate that it is unclear whether this high pitch is a tone or an intonation pattern; more recent work (Lovick and Tuttle 2021) suggests that it is a tone. Figure 16.1, wave form and pitch track of (402), illustrates the negative high for a female speaker of the Northway dialect; lexical low tone and the negative high are marked. The portion of the (lengthy) utterance shown here contrasts an affirmative and a negative form of the same verb theme; both clauses are taken from the middle of an utterance. In both verb forms the pre-stem syllable bears a low tone. The stem of the negative verb form is pronounced about 30HZ higher than the one of the affirmative verb.

272

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(402) … “Jin ch’a udidhį̀lkanh, jin dù’ k’àt’eey udį̀lkán…” (N) jin ch’a u-d-dhį̀l-kanh jin dù’ DEM FOC CON-QUAL-DH.PFV:2SG.S:L-be.related.to:IPV:NOM DEM CT k’àt’eey u-dį̀l-kán NEG CON-QUAL:NEG.PFV:2SG.S:L-be.related.to:IPV:NEG ‘… “This one, you’re related to, that one you’re not related to…”’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:030 Figure 16.1. Negative high tone (N), UTOLAF12Jul1203:030.

Figure 16.2, wave form and pitch track of (403), demonstrates this pattern for a female speaker of the Tetlin dialect, which does not distinguish low tone. This utterance also contrasts affirmative and negative forms of the same verb theme but with an aspectual difference. The negative verb form is in utterancefinal position, but it is almost 40HZ higher than the affirmative form. (403) Négn’ tah teedeeł k’a tąy ts’eeg k’it hiidál. (T) négn’ tah tee-deeł k’a tąy ts’eeg upland:ALL among 3PL.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV NEG trail narrow k’it hii-dál on 3PL.S:NEG.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV:PROG ‘They went upland, they did not go onto the narrow trail.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:014 This pattern is present in the speech of all speakers I have worked with, although it is realized more clearly in some speakers than in others. 16.1.1.3. Negative prefixes Negation is additionally marked by prefixes. Most Alaskan Dene languages distinguish between negative inflection for perfective and for nonperfective modes (see Leer [2000] for an overview or Tenenbaum [1978] for Dena’ina, Kari [1990] for Ahtna, Axelrod [1993] for

NEGATION

273

Figure 16.2. Negative high tone (T),UTOLAF08Apr2805:014.

Koyukon, or Holton [2000] for Tanacross). Upper Tanana does so as well, but this distinction is realized in unique ways. 16.1.1.3.1. Negative perfective inflection The negative perfective prefix ìis used in all negative forms that are formally perfective, that is, in perfective active verb themes as well as in (semantically) imperfective neuter verb themes. This prefix replaces the verb theme’s regular conjugation/mode complex. The morphophonemics of this prefix are described in volume 1, chapter 29. In active verb themes the negative perfective is restricted to (formally and semantically) perfective forms. (404) contrasts affirmative and negative forms in the Northway dialect. (404) a. gah dhèhxįį (N) gah dhèh-xįį rabbit 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:H-kill.SG.O:PFV ‘he killed the rabbit’ UTCBAF13Nov0905:074 b. k’àt’eey udzih dhìhxáy (N) k’àt’eey udzih dhìh-xáy NEG caribou 3SG.S:QUAL:NEG.PFV:H-kill.SG.O:PFV:NEG ‘he didn’t kill the caribou’ UTCBAF13Nov0905:075 (405) illustrates the contrast between affirmative and negative forms in the Tetlin dialect, where lexical low tone is not distinguished. (405) a. ch’aldziat (T) ch’al-dziat INDF:3SG.S:AA.PFV:L-dance:PFV ‘she danced, is done dancing’

UT Notebook #3, p. 95

274

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. k’a ch’ildzíádn (T) k’a ch’il-dzíádn NEG INDF:3SG.S:NEG.PFV:L-dance:PFV:NEG ‘she didn’t dance’ UT Notebook #3, p. 95

In neuter verb themes the negative perfective is used both in (semantically) imperfective and perfective forms, since both take perfective prefixes (see also vol. 1, chap. 25). (406) illustrates affirmative and negative inflection in the imperfective of the neuter verb theme n+L+jit ‘be scared’. The forms are from the Tetlin dialect that does not distinguish low tone. The affirmative imperfective form (406a) takes a Ø-perfective plus the imperfective stem jit. The negative imperfective form (406b) contains the negative perfective prefix ì- as well as the negative imperfective stem jídn. (406) a. ts’ineljit (T) ts’-nel-jit 1PL.S-QUAL:Ø.PFV:L-be.scared:IPV ‘we are scared’

UTCBVDN14Jul1801:133

b. k’a ts’iniljídn (T) k’a ts’-nil-jídn NEG 1PL.S-QUAL:NEG.PFV:L-be.scared:IPV:NEG ‘we are not scared’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:076 In (407) the negative perfective prefix replaces the dh-perfective in the imperfective affirmative. (407) a. tthee k’it da’eedah (N) tthee k’it da-ee-dah rock on up-3SG.S-DH.PFV:Ø-SG.sit:IPV ‘she’s sitting on a rock’ UTCBAF13Nov0906:029 b. k’àt’eey tthee k’it da’ìdááy (N) k’àt’eey tthee k’it da-ì-dááy NEG rock on up-3SG.S:NEG.PFV:Ø-SG.sit:IPV:NEG ‘she’s not sitting on a rock’ UTCBAF13Nov0906:030 Affirmative and negative perfective neuter forms are rare and difficult to elicit; no paired example can be found in my corpus. 16.1.1.3.2. Negative inflection in nonperfective forms In most Alaskan Dene languages negative nonperfective forms are characterized by a dh-prefix

NEGATION

275

(Leer 2000). Upper Tanana and Tanacross have lost this morpheme, with the exception of a few fossilized forms (Kari 1993). Leer (2000, 104) suggests that these two languages have reorganized the negative nonperfective paradigm, extending the low tone of the negative perfective prefix ì- to the nonperfective modes (408). (408) a. k’àt’eey ètsǘǘ k’àt’eey è-tsüü NEG 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-cry:IPV:NEG ‘s/he is not crying’ b. k’àt’eey tààtsǘǘ k’àt’eey tàà-tsüü NEG 3SG.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-cry:FUT:NEG ‘s/he is not going to cry’ c. k’àt’eey ùùtsǘǘ k’àt’eey ùù-tsǘǘ NEG 3SG.S:OPT:Ø-cry:OPT:NEG ‘s/he shouldn’t cry’

UT Notebook #3, p. 85

UT Notebook #3, p. 86

UTOLAF18Jun1003:002

It is also possible that the low tone on the prefix syllable in non-perfective forms is simply a contrast to the high negative stem described in 16.1.1.2. I remain agnostic on this issue.² 16.1.2. Negative particle k’a(t’eey) With very few exceptions, all standard negated forms contain the particle k’a(t’eey) ‘NEG’. The longer form k’at’eey clearly is composed of k’a ‘NEG’ plus the adverbializer t’eey, but there is no difference in meaning between k’a and k’at’eey; all speakers use both forms. Both are illustrated in (409); both sentences were produced by the same speaker. (409) a. k’a ts’iniljídn (T) k’a ts’-nil-jídn NEG 1PL.S-QUAL:Ø.PFV:L-be.scared:IPV:NEG ‘we were not scared’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:076 b. k’at’eey tihehááy (T) k’at’eey ti-he-hááy NEG out-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-SG.go:IPV:NEG ‘they do not go outside’ UTOLAF13May2403:008

276

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Tables 16.2 and 16.3 contain frequency counts for k’a and k’at’eey in the Tetlin and Northway dialects. In the Tetlin dialect, k’at’eey is slightly more frequent; in the Northway dialect, considerably so. There also may be a slight correlation with formality; while k’at’eey is generally more common in all genres in both dialects (with the exception of “Teachings” in the Tetlin dialect), the effect is least pronounced in informal speech, that is, in memoirs and conversation. Note, however, that genre classification in Upper Tanana remains problematic (see also Lovick [2012a]). Additionally, since I often have the recorder running for longer periods of time, it may be difficult to determine for individual utterances whether they are part of a myth or of a more conversational introduction. Generally, it appears that both negators are acceptable and possibly interchangeable in informal discourse, while k’at’eey is preferred in more formal styles, with Tetlin speakers overall using k’a more frequently than Northway speakers.

k’a k’at’eey

Traditional story

Teaching

Memoir, Conversation

Total

50 79

15 13

29 37

94 129

Table 16.2. Frequency of k’at’eey and k’a in the Tetlin dialect across genres

k’a k’at’eey

Traditional story

Teaching

Memoir, Conversation

Total

3 27

0 23

29 62

32 112

Table 16.3. Frequency of k’at’eey and k’a in the Northway dialect across genres Since there appears to be no meaning difference between k’a and k’at’eey, they are glossed identically as ‘NEG’. One Tetlin speaker uses the forms a and at’eey instead of k’a and k’at’eey. In written documents I usually standardize these forms to k’a and k’at’eey, respectively, to make the texts more accessible to readers. (410) a. A ihtsáá… a ih-tsáá NEG Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-cry:IPV:NEG ‘I am not crying…’

UTOLVDN13May2909:039

NEGATION

277

b. At’eey nan’ t’eey du’ nah’ííl… at’eey nan’ t’eey du’ tnah-’ííl NEG land ADVZR CT INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2PL.S:H-see:FUT:NEG ‘You cannot even see the land…’ UTOLVDN13May2909:050 16.1.3. Scope of negation The position of k’a(t’eey) in the clause is related to the scope of the negation. 16.1.3.1. Clausal negation When the entire clause is negated, k’a(t’eey) typically precedes the entire verb phrase, including (nonsubject) arguments and adjuncts (411). (The postpositional phrase diła’ eł ‘with their hands’ in [411a] is focused and thus occurs to the left of k’a; see below for more discussion.) (411) a. Diła’ eł k’a ditthi’ hets’íígn… (T) di-ła’ eł k’a di-tthi’ REFL.PSR-hand with NEG REFL.PSR-head he-ts’íígn 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-scratch:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘With their hands they may not scratch their heads…’ UTOLVDN11Jul2901:030 b. K’àt’eey dich’ìl’ k’ììch’èhts’ä́l. (N) k’àt’eey di-ch’ìl’ NEG REFL.PSR-clothes k’ìì-ch’èh-ts’ä́l rubbing-INDF:3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-wash:IPV:NEG ‘He didn’t wash his clothes.’ UTCBAF13Nov0905:052 c. … k’àt’eey hǫǫsǫǫ dik’anèltá’ èh. (N) k’àt’eey hǫǫsǫǫ NEG well d-k’a-nèl-tá’ REFL.P-care-3PL.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-take.care:IPV:NEG:NOM èh because ‘… because they do not take care of themselves properly.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:049

278

CLAUSE STRUCTURE d. … k’a tąy ts’eeg k’it hiidál. (T) k’a tąy ts’eeg k’it hii-dál NEG trail narrow on 3PL.S:NEG.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV:PROG ‘…they didn’t go on the narrow trail.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:014

In clauses containing a nominal subject, k’a(t’eey) typically occurs between the subject and the verb phrase (412). (412) a. Ts’iikeey iin k’a hii’aaxah łootaaháál, įįjih, henih. (T) ts’iikeey iin k’a hii-aaxah children PL NEG 3PL.S>3SG.P-near łoo-taa-háál įįjih he-nih PRMB-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.go:FUT:NEG forbidden 3PL.S:Ø.IPV-say:IPV ‘Children may not walk near it, this is įįjih, they say.’ UTOLF11Aug0207:011 b. Shtà’ k’àt’eey neets’ą̈̀ ’ ts’anii’elt’éégn. (N) sh-tà’ k’àt’eey nee-ts’ą̈̀ ’ 1SG.PSR-father NEG 1PL.P-toward ts’a-nii-el-t’eegn bad-mind-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:L-be.mad:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘My father never got mad at us.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:010 16.1.3.2. Constituent negation 16.1.3.2.1. Subject negation When the subject is negated, the negative particle precedes the subject; the verb is still inflected for negative polarity (413). The negated subject always receives generic interpretation. (413) a. K’at’eey huh dineey diltth’íí, jee’aan diitth’ak. (T) k’at’eey huh dineey dil-tth’íí, NEG ? people 3PL.S:QUAL:NEG.PFV:L-PL.stay:IPV:NEG jee-’aan INDF:3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-sing:IPV:NOM dii-tth’ak 3SG.S:QUAL:QUAL:Ø.PFV:Ø-hear:IPV ‘There were no people [but] he heard singing.’ UTOLAF08Apr2804:002

NEGATION

279

b. Naltsiin iin at-tl’uuk niign k’at’eey ch’ishyoon iin hǫǫ’ htat-tl’úúgn. (T) Naltsiin iin at-tl’uuk niign k’at’eey Naltsiin PL 3PL.S:AA.PFV:D-be.dressed:IPV:CUST the.way NEG ch’ishyoon iin hǫǫ’ htat-tl’úúgn others PL thus 3PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:D-be.dressed:FUT:CUST:NEG ‘The way the Naltsiin [clan] dresses, no other people may dress in this fashion.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:152 c. Nuhshyah eł tuu niihąą de’, k’at’eey nuhshyah suu utaałéél. (T) nuh-shyah eł tuu nii-hąą de’ k’at’eey 2PL.PSR-house with water 3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-be.flood:IPV if NEG nuh-shyah suu hu-taa-łéél 2PL.PSR-house nice AR.S-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-classify.PL.O:FUT:NEG ‘When your PL houses are flooded, your PL nice houses won’t exist [any longer].’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:022 16.1.3.2.2. Negation of other constituents When constituents other than the subject are negated, they are left-dislocated and k’a(t’eey) occurs between the negated constituent and the negative verb form (414). (In these examples, the left-dislocated negated constituent is underlined.) (414) a. Ch’itay dù’ k’àt’eey minaniich’àkthä́dn. (N) ch’itay dù’ k’àt’eey old.man CT NEG m-i-na-nii-ch’àk-thä́dn 3SG.P-PP-IT-mind-INDF.O:NEG.PFV:1SG.S:H-think:IPV:NEG ‘About that old man though, I didn’t even think about him.’ UTOLAF09Aug12:045 b. Hugn diniign dù’ k’àt’eey yi’èh’áál shyì’ gąy t’eey. (T) hugn diniign dù’ k’àt’eey y-i-èh-’áál ? moose CT NEG 3SG.S>3SG.P-PP-Ø.IPV:H-feed:IPV:NEG shyì’ gąy t’eey meat dry even ‘As for the moose, she didn’t give [the man] any dry [moose] meat.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:130

280

CLAUSE STRUCTURE c. Airplane t’eey k’à dìhtth’égn. (N) airplane t’eey k’à dìh-tthégn airplane even NEG QUAL:QUAL:NEG.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-hear:IPV:NEG ‘Even airplanes, I didn’t hear any.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:043

16.1.3.3. Multiple negators in one clause K’a(t’eey) may occur multiple times within the same clause. This appears to have no semantic effect; the negation in (415) is not stronger than in clauses negated with only one instance of k’a(t’eey). (415) a. K’at’eey ts’ist’e’ ay t’oot’eey k’at’eey dits’įįkeey k’a ti’ełééy. (T) k’at’eey ts’ist’e’ ay t’oot’eey k’at’eey d-ts’įįkeey k’a NEG old.lady and but NEG REFL.PSR-children NEG ti-e-łééy out-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:NEG ‘But the old lady did not take her children outside.’ UTOLAF13May2403:012 b. … ishyiit huu dą’ k’at’eey k’at’eey noodlee k’eh ‹thahdzilxóó›. (T) ishyiit huu dą’ k’at’eey k’at’eey noodlee k’eh then ? at NEG NEG white.man like thah-dzil-xóó voice-1PL.S:QUAL:NEG.PFV:L-PL.speak:PFV:NEG ‘… at that time we didn’t speak English.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2802:016 c. Ay chih k’àt’eey dziin k’àt’eey ts’ììkeey iin ts’èxeey gaay iin k’àt’eey hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ huhìnáy nts’ą̈̀ ’. (N) ay chih k’àt’eey dziin k’àt’eey ts’ììkeey iin ts’èxeey gaay iin and also NEG today NEG children PL girls PL ̀ k’àt’eey hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ hu-hì-náy nts’ą̈ ’ NEG thus 3PL.P-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV:NEG and ‘Today, they don’t tell the children, the little girls about this.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:073

NEGATION

281

d. Just, k’àt’eey, k’àt’eey hǫǫsú’ hihdèltth’íí iin k’àt’eey ch’a. (N) just k’àt’eey k’àt’eey hǫǫsú’ just NEG NEG well hih-dèl-tth’íí iin k’àt’eey ch’a 3PL.S-QUAL:NEG.PFV:L-PL.live:IPV:NEG:NOM PL NEG FOC ‘[It’s] just, they don’t live right.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:036 16.1.4. Standard negation in questions and requests The standard negation strategy described here is also used in the formation of negative questions (416). (416) a. “Dii xah ch’a hǫ̀ ǫ̀ tidhahdį̀’ k’àt’eey hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ shdàhnáy?” yèhnih. (N) dii xah ch’a hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ t-dhah-dį̀’ k’àt’eey hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ why FOC thus INC-DH.PFV:2PL.S:Ø-do:PFV NEG thus sh-dàh-náy y-èh-nih 1SG.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-say:IPV:NEG 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘ “Why did you PL not tell me what you PL are going to do?” he said to them.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:039 b. Dii xah k’à dich’èl’ááł? (B) dii xah k’à d-i-ch’èl-’ááł why NEG REFL.P-PP-INDF.O:3PL.S:Ø.IPV:L-feed:IPV:NEG ‘Why can they not feed themselves?’ UTOLVDN10Jul2601:050 c. K’à hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ hèdíígn? (N) k’à hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ hè-díígn NEG thus 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-do:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘They don’t usually do that?’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:014 K’a(t’eey) is also used in nonnegotiable negative requests in the future (417).³ See section 15.2.2 and Lovick (2016) for more examples and discussion. (417) a. …“K’at’eey nuhk’eh hutahhéél,” neehinih. (T) k’at’eey nuh-k’eh hu-tah-héél NEG 2PL.P-like QUAL-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-speak:FUT:NEG nee-hi-nih 1PL.P-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV ‘… ‘You PL may not speak your language,” they said to us.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2802:018

282

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. K’at’eey jah tay’ natįįdáál! (T) k’at’eey jah tay’ na-tįį-daal NEG here again IT-INC:AA.IPV:2SG.S-D:SG.go:FUT:NEG ‘Don’t you ever come back here again!’ UTOLVDN13May2901:045 c. K’àt’eey this, jin k’àt’eey mbèh chìntl’úúł nt’eh! (N) k’àt’eey this jin k’àt’eey mb-èh NEG this DEM NEG 3SG.P-with chìn-tl’úúł nt’eh INDF.O:INC:AA.IPV:2SG.S:D-wear:FUT:NEG ASRT ‘You may not wear this!’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:143

16.1.5. Standard negation in complex sentences In complex sentences, standard negation can apply either to the main (418) or the subordinate (419) clause. The negated clause is underlined. (418) a. Dii ch’ihdeh’ąą ts’ą̈̀ ’ t’eey k’à hi’àgnnáy. (N) dii ch’-h-deh-’ąą ts’ą̈̀ ’ t’eey k’à what INDF-3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:H-sing:IPV CMP NEG h-i-àgn-náy AR.P-PP-Ø.IPV:SG.S:L-remember:IPV:NEG ‘I don’t remember what they were singing.’ UTCBVDN14Jul2105:045 b. Nduu huhaałeeł niign t’eey k’a hihitnáy. (T) nduu hu-haa-łeeł niign whereabouts 3PL.O-3PL.S:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:PROG the.way t’eey k’a h-i-hit-náy ADVZR NEG AR.P-PP-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:D-know:IPV:NEG ‘They do not know where they are taking them.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:018 (419) a. Dii xah lè’ mits’ìshníígn ay k’à hiiyèldéél. (N) dii xah lè’ m-i-ts’-ìsh-níígn ay k’à why IGN 3SG.P-PP-PEJ-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:D-not.know:IPV 3SG NEG hiiy-èl-déél 3PL.S>3PL.O-Ø.IPV:L-eat.PL.O:IPV:NEG ‘I don’t know why they don’t eat them.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:016

NEGATION

283

b. K’a nats’utdéél ‹chih› ts’iniithanh t’eey, natsetdeeł. (T) k’a na-ts’ut-déél chih NEG IT-1PL.S:OPT:D-PL.go:OPT:NEG also ts’-nii-thanh t’eey 1PL.S-QUAL:Ø.PFV:Ø-want:IPV although na-tset-deeł IT-1PL.S:INC:DH.PFV:D-PL.go:PFV ‘Although we wanted not to go back, we went back.’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:066 16.2. Emphatic standard negation Upper Tanana has a secondary strategy for standard negation, which does not merely indicate that the proposition is not true, but that its truthfulness is inconceivable to the speaker. 16.2.1. Form Emphatic standard negation is characterized by the discontinuous particle làh . . . ha’⁴ which brackets a morphologically affirmative verb form. It appears that the lah (sometimes lengthened to laa) portion of the emphatic negative marker is related to the polar question marker of the same shape; see section 13.2 for discussion of this marker. It is also possible that lah is cognate to Ahtna le’, li’, lii ‘negative’ (Kari 1990, 276), although the Ahtna particle requires a morphologically negative verb form while the Upper Tanana one does not.⁵ The origin of ha’ is unclear, but it occurs by itself as a clause-final emphatic particle (see sec. 9.5) and is glossed accordingly. Most striking about this construction is the fact that the verb form bracketed by làh . . . ha’ is formally affirmative, as shown in (420). (420) a. K’à’ làh hǫǫłįį hà’. (B) k’à’ làh hǫǫ-łįį hà’ gun NEG AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV EMPH ‘There was no such thing as guns.’

UTOLVDN10Jul2602:003

b. Huhnáán’ tat’eey shaa laa hunįįthaat ha’! (T) huh-naan’ tat’eey sh-aa laa hu-nįį-thaat ha’ AR-across:ALL even 1SG.P-for NEG AR.S-N.PFV:Ø-be.far:IPV EMPH ‘[Flying] across to that area is not at all too far for me!’ UTOLVDN13May2902:030

284

CLAUSE STRUCTURE c. Shiy làh natishmbeek hi’ishnayh hà’! (B) shiy làh na-tish-mbeek 1SG NEG PRMB-INC:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:D-swim:IPV h-i-ish-nayh hà’ AR.P-PP-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:D-know:IPV:CUST EMPH ‘Me, I have no idea how to swim!’ UTOLVDN10Jul2721:013

The emphatic negative may bracket only the verb form (420a, b) or additional material (420c). It seems, however, that including more than just the verb is judged infelicitous and worthy of correction at least by some speakers. (421a) contains the original form; (421b) is the one corrected by the (same) speaker. (421) a. Tsugaay iin xah laa dach’įįtl’uh ndihnih ha’… (T) tsugaay iin xah laa da-ch’įį-tl’uh bird PL for NEG closed-INDF.O:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-set.snare:IPV:DSTR n-dih-nih ha’ 2SG.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-say:IPV EMPH ‘I didn’t tell you to set snares for birds…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:030 b. Tsugaay iin xah dach’įįtl’uh laa ndihnih ha’… (T) tsugaay iin xah da-ch’įį-tl’uh bird PL for closed-INDF.O:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-set.snare:IPV:DSTR laa n-dih-nih ha’ NEG 2SG.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-say:IPV EMPH ‘I didn’t tell you to set snares for birds…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:030 In the original form in (421a) làh . . . ha’ brackets the verb of the complement clause with the verb of the main clause; note that tsugaay iin xah ‘for birds’ is also part of the complement clause. In (421b) the speaker has moved làh back so that làh . . . ha’ brackets only the verb of the main clause. In the speech of this speaker, at least, làh . . . ha’ only frames the negated verb and no other constituents. 16.2.2. Semantics Làh . . . ha’ has emphatic negative meaning. It is often used to express that the very possibility of the clause’s proposition being true is inconceivable. (422a) is taken from a narrative about the traditional ways of putting up food for winter. The speaker describes several traditional ways of storing fish caught

NEGATION

285

at different times of year, explaining that these methods used to be necessary because of the absence of freezers. I asked her whether (422a) was comparable to (422b), negated by k’a(t’eey) or to (422c), negated by O+kól (the existential negator discussed in 16.4.2 below). While she evaluated my suggestions as acceptable Upper Tanana, she stated unequivocally that they did not have the same meaning as her original phrasing. (422b) could be used in a situation where a person does not own a freezer, even though others do, while (422c) could be used to express that the freezer’s absence contravenes expectations (maybe because it has been stolen). (422a), by contrast, means that the Upper Tanana people were not even aware that such a thing as freezers existed. (422) a. Ishyiit dą’ làà freezer ts’įįdlah hà’. (N) ishyiit dą’ laa freezer ts’įį-dlah ha’ then at:PST NEG freezer 1PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-have.PL.O:PFV EMPH ‘Back then, we didn’t have anything like freezers.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:113 b. ishyiit dą̀ ’ k’àt’eey freezer hùùłíín (N) ishyiit dą̀ ’ k’àt’eey freezer hùù-łíín then at:PST NEG freezer AR.S:NEG.PFV:Ø-be:IPV:NEG ‘back then, there was no freezer’ constructed c. Ishyiit dą̀ ’ freezer ookól. (N) ishyiit dą̀ ’ freezer ookól then at:PST freezer NEGEX ‘Back then, there was no freezer.’

constructed

In other instances the meaning difference between k’a(t’eey) negation and làh . . . ha’ negation is harder to pin down. I asked another speaker to compare the two sentences in (423) (both from spontaneous text) to the two sentences in (424), which were constructed by me and judged acceptable by the speaker. (423) a. Hàskeh làh dįįt’eh hà’! (N) hàskeh làh dįį-t’eh hà’ chief NEG QUAL:Ø.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-be:IPV EMPH ‘You are nothing like a chief!’ UTOLAF14May0807:039 b. Hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ làà ndihnih hà’! (T) hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ làà n-dih-nih hà’ thus NEG 2SG.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-say:IPV EMPH ‘I told you nothing of the sort!’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:023

286

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(424) a. K’àt’eey hàskeh dį̀į̀t’áy! (N) k’àt’eey hàskeh dį̀į̀-t’áy NEG chief QUAL:NEG.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-be:IPV:NEG ‘You’re no chief!’ b. K’àt’eey hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ ndìhnáy! (N) k’àt’eey hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’ n-dìh-náy NEG thus 2SG.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-say:IPV:NEG ‘I didn’t say that to you!’

constructed

constructed

The speaker struggled to put her finger on the meaning difference between the forms in (423) and those in (424). She finally decided that the ones in (423) sounded more forceful, and that they could possibly be taken as rude, especially when something like (423b) was uttered by a younger person addressing an elder. This potential rudeness of emphatic standard negation can of course be exploited. In (425a) Wolverine rejects Yamaagn Teeshyaay’s efforts to make a good person out of him; this way of addressing Yamaagn Teeshyaay, I was told, is “wolverine way,” which means that it is highly improper and lacking in respect (see Lovick [2012b] for a discussion of the connotations of wolverine). In (425b) Grandmother Spider is trying to get rid of the Devil, who has pursued a girl into her house. Because of his inherent wickedness, Grandmother Spider does not feel obliged to behave courteously toward him and asks him to leave (see also Lovick [2016] for a discussion of this part of the story). (425) a. Nahtsįą: “Nxaa tah la dihdį’ ha’, nk’eh la duhdį’ ay shin ha’ ch’a.” (T) nahtsįą n-xaa tah la dih-dį’ wolverine 2SG.P-no.concern.for NEG QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-do:IPV ha’ n-k’eh la duh-dį’ ay shin ha’ EMPH 2SG.P-like NEG QUAL:OPT:1SG.S:Ø-do:OPT and 1SG EMPH ch’a FOC ‘Wolverine [said]: “It’s none of your SG business what I do, I certainly wouldn’t want to do things like you SG.’ UTOLVDN08Mar1307:006

NEGATION

287

b. “An tthiinįįdaay la nshyah hǫǫłįį ha’,” ehnih. (T) an tthi-na-nįį-daay la outside:ALL outside-IT-N.IPV:2SG.S-D:SG.go:IPV:IMP NEG n-shyah hǫǫ-łįį ha’ eh-nih 2SG.PSR-house AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV EMPH 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘ “Get SG out of here, this isn’t your house,” she said to him.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:424 16.3. Negation of requests Negation of requests is quite complex and depends on several factors (see Lovick [2016] and Lovick and Tuttle [2019] for discussion). It is described in more detail in section 15.2. Below I describe only the form that is most common in elicitation, which is, however, perceived to be rather rude (see also Lovick and Tuttle [2019, 131–32]). Negation of requests is noncompositional, that is, negative requests are not simply affirmative requests negated with standard negation (see van der Auwera, Lejeune, and Goussev [2013] for discussion). As described in chapter 15, the most common form of an affirmative request is a second-person imperfective. The most common form for a negative request, however, is the optative. Crucially, the optative verb in negative requests is morphologically affirmative; the prohibitive force comes from the prohibitive marker sǫ’ (426). (426) a. Ha’aat tsät įįttheeł ch’a! (N) ha-’aat tsät įį-ttheeł ch’a NTRL-out:PNCT wood Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-chop:IPV FOC ‘Chop SG wood outside!’ UTOLAF13May2804:047 b. … sǫ’ tsät ǫǫttheel… (N) sǫ’ tsät ǫǫ-ttheel PROH wood OPT:2SG.S:Ø-chop:OPT ‘… don’t SG chop wood…’

UTOLAF12Jul1201:009

As noted in volume 1, chapter 26, the optative in Upper Tanana is often characterized by a vocalic suffix, which causes effects similar to the negative suffix described in section 16.1.1.1. The verb stem in a prohibitive form, however, lacks the high tone of standard-negated forms. This is demonstrated in figure 16.3, wave form and pitch track of (427), for the same Northway speaker who produced the utterance shown in figure 16.1. No high on the stem syllable of the prohibitive verb can be observed.

288

CLAUSE STRUCTURE Figure 16.3. Absence of negative high tone in prohibitives (N), UTOLVDN11Aug0802:044.

(427) “Sǫ’ shaa nahǫlndegn!” yehnih. (N) sǫ’ sh-aa na-hǫl-negn PROH 1SG.P-about CONT-QUAL:OPT:2SG.S:L-tell.story:OPT y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“Don’t SG tell her about me!” he said to him.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:044 Figure 16.4, the wave form and pitch track of (428), illustrates the same thing for a female Tetlin speaker (the same one who produced the utterance in figure 16.2). Again, no high on the stem of the prohibitive verb can be observed. Figure 16.4. Absence of negative high tone in prohibitives (T), UTOLVDN11Jul2901:039.

NEGATION

289

(428) Ay xah, “Sǫ’ huts’adn’ idaltsadn,” huheniik. (T) ay xah sǫ’ hu-ts’adn 3SG because PROH 3PL.PSR-belongings:POSS i-dal-tsadn hu-he-niik PP-QUAL:OPT:2PL.S:L-touch:OPT 3PL.P-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV:CUST ‘That’s why [the older people] used to tell [the children], “don’t touch [boys’] stuff.”’ UTOLVDN11Jul2901:039 The placement of the prohibitive particle is analogous to that of the standard negator k’a(t’eey). It typically precedes the entire verb phrase (427, 428). More detail on negative directives can be found in section 15.2. 16.4. Negation of nonverbal and existential clauses 16.4.1. Nonverbal clauses There are two common types of nonverbal clauses in Upper Tanana. The first type employs a nonverbal predicate with or without a copula, the second employs an imperative-only morpheme as predicate (see chap. 12). Clauses with an imperative-only morpheme as predicate cannot be negated; thus only negation of clauses with nonverbal predicates is described here. Clauses with nonverbal predicates can be negated in two ways. One is to simply place the standard negator k’a(t’eey) in front of the predicate (429a). The other, much more common, strategy is to negate the copula (429b). Note that the predicate noun in (429a) bears the stem high typical of negated verb forms. (429) a. k’àt’eey diníígn (N) k’àt’eey diniign NEG moose ‘[this is] not a moose’

UTCBAF13May2301:018

b. k’at’eey diniign iiłą́ y (T) k’at’eey diniign ii-łą́ y NEG moose 3SG.S:NEG.PFV:Ø-be:IPV:NEG ‘[this] isn’t a moose’ UTOLAF13May2404:038 There are a few instances where a postpositional phrase serving as predicate is negated (430), again with the negative high on the stem.

290

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(430) a. K’àt’eey ts’ììkeey iin xáh! (N) k’àt’eey ts’ììkeey iin xáh NEG children PL for ‘[It is] not for children!’

UTOLAF12Jul1203:054

b. K’a sts’ánh, huthiin nineedlay nt’eh. (T) k’a s-ts’ánh hu-thiin NEG 1SG.P-from 3PL.PSR-neck ni-nee-dlay TERM-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.RO:IPV:NOM n-t’eh 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV ‘[This is] not mine, it is their scarf (lit. ‘it is around their neck’).’ UTOLAF07Feb1302:102 There seem to be no instances of negated locative clauses in the corpus. 16.4.2. Negation of existential clauses Existential clauses are negated using a form of the negative existential nonverbal predicate O+(oo)kól ‘O NEGEX; there is no O’ (431). In analogy to the analysis by Kari (1990, 244) for the Ahtna stem kol ‘absent, none’, who treats this form as a reanalyzed stem originating in the negated form of the verb theme Ø+lae ‘to be’ with an areal subject, I consider kól to be a reanalyzed stem (see also Lovick [2020b] for an overview of this morpheme in Northern Dene).⁶ The existential negator often contains the conative prefix u- or oowith unclear semantic contribution (431b). It is separated as a morpheme in this chapter but not elsewhere in this grammar. (431) a. Łįį t’eey kól. (T) łįį t’eey kól dog even NEGEX ‘There were no dogs.’

UTCBAF13Nov0501:065

b. “Tseey! Ii! Tseey ukól!” nih. (N) tseey ii tseey u-kól nih tea oh.no tea CON-NEGEX say:IPV ‘“Tea! Oh no! [We have] no tea!” she said.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:022

NEGATION

291

c. Shiy ch’a Carl kól tah ay shchil iin k’ànaktà’, shǫǫnüü Carl kól tah. (N) shiy ch’a Carl kól tah ay sh-chil iin 1SG FOC Carl NEGEX when and 1SG.PSR-younger.brother PL k’à-nak-tà’ sh-ǫǫnüü Carl care-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-take.care:IPV 1SG.PSR-older.brother Carl kól tah NEGEX when ‘As for me, when Carl wasn’t there, I would look after my younger brothers when my older brother Carl wasn’t there.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:015 The existential negator has the typical negative high. Figure 16.5 illustrates this for the Northway dialect, figure 16.6 for the Tetlin dialect. The two examples are glossed in (432). (432) a. Chinh shyììt ukól dè’ nä̀n’ shyìì haahuhtaałeeł. (N) chinh shyììt u-kól dè’ nä̀n’ shyìì pole.cache CON-NEGEX if ground in ha-na-hu-h-taa-łeeł out-IT-AR.O-3PL.S-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:FUT ‘When there’s no more [food] in the pole cache, they take it out of the ground.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:081 b. … t’oot’eey k’a hiiyoodih’ááy, mbookól. (T) t’oot’eey k’a hiiy-oo-dih-’ááy but NEG 3PL.S>3SG.O-CON-QUAL:NEG.PFV:H-find.SG.O:PFV:NEG mb-oo-kól 3SG.O-CON-NEGEX ‘… but they didn’t find him, he was gone.’ UTOLAF10Jul0801:019 When the direct object of O+(oo)kól ‘O NEGEX, there is no O’ is possessed, the resulting clause is usually translated as ‘PSR has no O’ (433). (433) a. Hushyì’ ukól, łuugn ukól hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’t’eey. (N) hu-shyì’ u-kól łuugn u-kól hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’t’eey 3PL.PSR-food CON-NEGEX fish CON-NEGEX still ‘They have no food, there’s no fish yet.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:025

292

CLAUSE STRUCTURE Figure 16.5. High tone in existential negation (N), UTOLVDN07Nov2901:081.

Figure 16.6. High tone in existential negation (T), UTOLAF10Jul0801:019.

b. “Sts’adn’ t’eey kól,” nih. (T) s-ts’adn’ t’eey kól nih 1SG.PSR-belongings:POSS even NEGEX say:IPV ‘“I have nothing (lit. ‘no belongings’),” he said.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:110 c. Neetehmbiil’ t’eey kól nts’ą’. (T) nee-tehmbiil’ t’eey kól nts’ą’ 1PL.PSR-gillnet:POSS even NEGEX and ‘We didn’t even have a gillnet.’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:058 As Lovick (2020b, 498–99) observes, the existential negator in many Dene languages gives rise to idioms such as those in (434). (434c) is a common euphemism to talk about a loved one’s passing, although it may also be used to describe the temporary absence of an individual (see [431c]).

NEGATION (434) a. Ch’itay unààgn’ kól. (N) ch’itay u-nààgn’ kól old.man 3SG.PSR-eyes NEGEX ‘An old man was blind.’ b. Shtheeg t’àyy’ kól… (N) sh-theeg t’àyy’ kól 1SG.PSR-voice strength:POSS NEGEX ‘My voice is weak…’

293

UTCBVDN13Nov1401:001

UTOLVDN10Jul2713:053

c. Shnąą kól… (N) sh-nąą kól 1SG.PSR-mother NEGEX ‘My mother was gone [i.e. no longer alive]…’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:008 As discussed in volume 1, chapter 21, O+(oo)kól ‘O NEGEX, there is no O’ is a nonverbal predicate that can be inflected for object person and number, future, and inceptive perfective, but not for other categories (435). (435) a. Hiikah tedak tah ch’ikól. (T) hii-kah te-dak tah 3PL.S>3SG.P-looking.for INC:Ø.IPV:Ø-PL.go:IPV:CUST when ch’i-kól INDF.O-NEGEX ‘When they went looking for him, there was nothing.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:007 b. “Naxat neechìl iin neechìl iin kól dè’ k’àt’eey jah dzàltth’ííl,” hinih, “nee’uutaakól.” (N) naxat nee-chìl iin nee-chìl iin DEM 1PL.PSR-younger.brother PL 1PL.PSR-younger.brother PL kól dè’ k’àt’eey jah dzàl-tth’ííl NEGEX if NEG here 1PL.S:INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:L-PL.stay:FUT:NEG hi-nih nee-uu-taa-kól 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV 1PL.O-CON-INC:AA.IPV-NEGEX ‘“These our younger brothers, if our younger brothers had not existed, we wouldn’t be here,” they said, “we would be gone.”’ UTCBAF15May0403:047

294

CLAUSE STRUCTURE c. T’axo:::h t’axoh shuutèèkól. (N) t’axoh t’axoh sh-uu-tèè-kól finally finally 1SG.O-CON-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-NEGEX ‘Finally, finally I was near death (lit. ‘I was about to be gone’).’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:012

O+(oo)kól ‘O NEGEX, there is no O’ is not a quantifier; it never occurs attributively within the noun phrase and there are no recorded instances of it being used attributively. (436a), constructed by me, was rejected, and the speaker suggested (436b) instead. (436) a. *Łuugn kól hats’įįdlah. (N) łuugn kól ha-ts’įį-dlah fish none out-1PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-handle.PL.O:PFV Intended: ‘We didn’t catch any fish.’ UT notebook # 3, p. 54 b. Łuugn k’à hats’ììłéél, łuugn ookól. (N) łuugn k’à ha-ts’ìì-łéél łuugn fish not out-1PL.S:NEG.PFV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:PROG:NEG fish oo-kól CON-NEGEX ‘We didn’t catch any fish, there were no fish.’ UT notebook #3, p. 54 After the speaker suggested (436b), I asked for a judgment on Łuugn kól k’à hats’ììłéél with a negated verb form, which was also rejected. O+(oo)kól ‘O NEGEX, there is no O’ thus functions only as a predicate. 16.5. Negative indefinite pronouns As discussed in volume 1, chapter 19, the interrogative proforms followed by t’eey ‘even’⁷ may be used as negative indefinite proforms in standard negated, prohibitive, and negative existential clauses. In clauses with standard negation, k’a(t’eey) may precede the entire verb phrase (437a), follow the indefinite pronoun (437b), or occur in both positions (437c). (437) a. K’at’eey dii t’eey ts’i’áál. (T) k’at’eey dii t’eey ts’i-áál NEG anything 1PL.S:NEG.PFV:Ø-eat:PFV:NEG ‘We didn’t eat anything.’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:027

NEGATION

295

b. Dii t’eey k’à dìhtth’égn. (N) dii t’eey k’à dìh-tth’égn anything NEG QUAL:NEG.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-hear:IPV:NEG ‘I couldn’t hear anything.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:043 c. … nóógn Nahk’ade dą’ k’a doo t’eey k’a neexah ehááy nts’ą’. (T) nóógn Nahk’ade dą’ k’a doo t’eey k’a nee-xah upland:AR fish.trap at NEG anyone NEG 1PL.P-for e-haay nts’ą’ 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-SG.go:IPV:NEG and ‘… up there at Nahk’ade nobody came for us.’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:043 While the verb in this construction always bears negative inflection, the negative particle k’a(t’eey) appears to be optional (438). Such forms are attested in the speech of several speakers and, while they do not occur in elicitation and are much less commonly found than forms with k’a(t’eey), they are not judged ungrammatical when they occur in narratives. (438) a. Doo t’eey hǫǫ shehníígn! (T) doo t’eey hǫǫ sh-eh-níígn anyone thus 1SG.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘Nobody ever says that to me!’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:253 b. Hanógn etshyin iin ts’änh dii t’eey utàhníígn. (N) ha-nógn et-shyin iin ts’änh NTRL-upland:AR 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:D-make.magic:IPV:NOM PL from dii t’eey u-tàh-níígn anything CON-INC:AA.IPV:2PL.S:H-grab:FUT:NEG ‘Up there, from medicine men, you may not touch anything.’ UTOLAF14May0807:049 Nts’ąą’ ‘how, somehow, no way’ also functions as a negative proform in negative clauses (439). In all available examples, k’a(t’eey) is present. (439) a. … k’at’eey nts’ąą’ t’eey hedį́į́g… (T) k’at’eey nts’ąą’ t’eey he-dį́į́g NEG no.way 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-do:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘… they never do anything…’ (lit. ‘they never act in any way’) UTOLAF09Jun2404:007

296

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Nts’ą̀ ą̀ ’ t’eey k’à hùtshyáágn, hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’t’eey diht’eh. (N) nts’ą̀ ą̀ ’ t’eey k’à hùt-shyáágn hǫ̀ ǫ̀ ’t’eey no.way NEG AR.S:NEG.PFV:D-happen:PFV:NEG still dih-t’eh QUAL:Ø.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-be:IPV ‘Nothing happened, I was still the same.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:0556

Negative indefinite pronouns also occur in prohibitive clauses (440). There are very few examples of this type. (440) a. Sǫ̀ ’ doo t’eey staa’utshyà’ nuhch’à’. (N) sǫ̀ ’ doo t’eey sta-na-ut-shyà’ nuh-ch’à’ PROH anyone away-IT-3SG.S:OPT:D-SG.go:OPT 2PL.P-from ‘Don’t let anyone go away from you PL again.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:032 b. “Sǫ̀ ’ ä́n nts’ą̀ ą̀ ’ t’eey dǫǫdįį’,” udihnih. (N) sǫ̀ ä́n nts’ą̀ ą̀ ’ t’eey dǫǫdįį’ PROH ? no.way QUAL:OPT:2SG.S:Ø-do:OPT u-dih-nih 3SG.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-say:IPV ‘“Don’t do anything yet,” I said to him.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:061 Negative indefinite proforms also occur in existential negation (441). (441) a. Dii t’eey kól. (T) dii t’eey kól anything NEGEX ‘There was nothing left.’

UTOLAF09Jun2402:017

b. Maandah t’eey doo t’eey kól. (T) m-aandah t’eey doo t’eey kól 3SG.P-nearby ADVZR anyone NEGEX ‘There was nobody around.’ UTOLVDN13May2805:046 16.6. Inherently negative verb themes There is a small number of inherently negative verb themes. They are characterized by a negative (heavy) stem bearing the characteristic high tone described above, but they do not cooccur with the negative proclitics k’a(t’eey)

NEGATION

297

‘NEG’ or sǫ’ ‘PROH’. Based on their morphological properties, two groups of inherently negative verb themes can be identified. 16.6.1. Verb themes derived by ts’#STEM+v́ As described in volume 1, chapter 35, the pejorative prefix string ts’#STEM+v́ derives negative descriptive verb themes. An inventory of negative-descriptive verb themes derived by this prefix string is given in (442). The third and fourth columns contain information on the affirmative stems that these themes are built on. Some of these verb themes come from my corpus, others from Kari (1997); note that it is difficult to assign a single meaning to the string ts’#STEM+v́ . It is uncertain whether the inventory in (442) is exhaustive. (442) Negative-descriptive themes Verb theme Meaning a. ts’#ho+H+dą́ y ‘be lonely’ b. ts’#ho+L+dą́ y ‘grieve, miss’ c. ts’#O+n+L+dą́ y ‘not know how to O’ d. ts’#L+ką́ y ‘taste bad’ e. P+i+ts’#D+níígn ‘not know P’ f. ts’#ho+n+Ø+níígn ‘be stupid, unaware’ g. ts’+hu#d+D+níígn ‘be lazy’ h. P+èh ts’+da#d+Ø+t’égn ‘look funny to P’ i. ts’#hu+d+Ø+thä́n ‘be depressed’

Aff. stem dįį dįį dįį kąyh niik niik niik t’eh thänh

Stem gloss ‘know’ ‘know’ ‘know’ ‘be tasty’ ‘feel, know’ ‘feel, know’ ‘feel, know’ ‘be’ ‘think, want’

(443) demonstrates that negative-descriptive verb themes do not occur with the standard negator k’a(t’eey). (443a, b) also contain a nonnegated and a standard-negated verb form, thus illustrating the tonal contrasts. Pitch tracks of these two utterances are shown in figures 16.7 (Northway) and 16.8 (Tetlin). (443) a. Jah hits’ìtníígn nts’ą̈̀ ’ nats’iholnegn chih k’à hùùsúúy. (N) jah h-i-ts’-ìt-níígn nts’ą̈̀ ’ here AR.P-PP-PEJ:1PL.S:NEG.PFV:D-not.know:IPV and chih k’à na-ts’i-hol-negn CONT-1PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-tell.story:IPV:NOM also NEG hùù-súúy AR.S:NEG.PFV:Ø-be.good:IPV:NEG ‘We don’t know [the stories] and when we tell stories, it’s not right.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:078

298

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Diniign du’ mbihǫǫłeek tah ts’udetnííg nts’ą’ k’a xan ni’iháág nts’ą’. (T) diniign du’ mb-i-hǫǫ-łeek tah moose CT 3SG.P-PP-AR.Ø.PFV:Ø-be.born:IPV:CUST when ts’-hu-det-nííg nts’ą’ k’a xan PEJ-lazy-3SG.S:QUAL:NEG.PFV:D-be.lazy:IPV and NEG quickly ni-i-háág nts’ą’ up-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-SG:go:IPV:CUST:NEG and ‘Moose though, when it gets born it’s lazy and doesn’t get up quickly.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2902:002 c. And ts’ihǫ̀ hdą́ ::y dinąą iin kah. (N) and ts’-hǫ̀ h-dą́ y d-nąą iin kah and PEJ-3SG.S:AR:Ø.PFV:H-be.lonely:IPV REFL.PSR-mother PL for ‘And she was lonely for her parents.’ UTOLAF15May0501:197 Figure 16.7. Negative high in inherently negative themes (N), UTOLAF12Jul1203:078.

Figure 16.8. Negative high in inherently negative themes (T) UTOLVDN11Jul2902:002.

NEGATION

299

In addition to the prefix ts’- ‘PEJ’- and negative stems, these verb themes are usually characterized by negative perfective inflection in the imperfective ([443a, b]; no perfective forms of these verb themes occur in the corpus, and they proved impossible to elicit). For most speakers these verb themes consistently exhibit the tonal pattern associated with standard negation, with a low-marked pre-stem syllable and a high stem. (443c) exhibits the tonal pattern but the nasality of the pre-stem vowel suggests that this form contains the regular perfective prefix į-, not the negative-perfective prefix ì-. This suggests that reanalysis of these verb themes as (formally) affirmative may be ongoing. At least one speaker of the Tetlin dialect treats negative-descriptive themes as regular descriptive themes allowing standard negation (444). (444) a. k’at’eey ts’ihokdą́ y (T) k’at’eey ts’-hok-dą́ y NEG PEJ-AR:NEG.PFV:1SG.S:H-be.lonely:IPV:NEG ‘I am not lonely’ UTOLAF14Nov2416:011 b. k’at’eey ts’odishníígn (T) k’at’eey ts’-oo-dish-níígn NEG PEJ-lazy-QUAL:NEG.PFV:1SG.S:D-be.lazy:IPV:NEG ‘I’m not lazy’ UT Notebook #5, p. 38 It is unclear whether this speaker’s realization of the high on the stems of negative-descriptive themes differs from that of the high on negated negativedescriptive themes; there are simply not enough tokens for analysis. I have not had the opportunity to test the possibility of negated negative-descriptive themes with other Tetlin speakers. Northway speakers consistently refused sentences such as (444). 16.6.2. Other negative neuter verb themes There are a few other neuter verb themes that historically contain the negative suffix, even though there is no corresponding affirmative verb theme in the contemporary language. These negative neuter verb themes may have negative stems but take the affirmative Ø-perfective that is typical of dimensional verb themes, with the exception of Ø+k’úl ‘be a short distance, be low’, which takes the n-perfective associated with extension themes. A list of these verb themes, and of their antonyms, is given in (445); this list may not be inclusive.

300

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(445) Negative neuter verb themes containing -v́ -‘NEG’ Verb theme Meaning Antonym a. Ø+tsúúl ‘be small’ Ø+chaa b. Ø+k’úl ‘be a short distance, be low’ Ø+thaat c. Ø+ts’éégn ‘be narrow’ Ø+teeł d. Ø+dzáág ‘be lightweight’ Ø+düh e. Ø+tsíín ‘be few’ Ø+dląą f. ts’a#Ø+tléégn ‘be bad’ g. ts’a#n+Ø+tléégn ‘be ugly’

Meaning ‘be big’ ‘be a long way’ ‘be wide’ ‘be heavy’ ‘be many’

Givón (1984, 350–51) discusses adjectival properties where one member of the pair is considered to be “affirmative” and “more conceptually salient” while the other member of the pair is considered to be “negative” and less conceptually salient. The property concepts identified as “negative” by Givón (1984, 351) (e.g., small, short, narrow, lightweight) are precisely those that are inherently negative in Upper Tanana.⁸ It appears that this feature of inherent negativity is overtly coded in Upper Tanana. These verb themes all bear the negative stem high described in section 16.1.1.2. This is illustrated for the Northway dialect in figure 16.9 (wave form and pitch track of [446a]) and for the Tetlin dialect in figure 16.10 (wave form and pitch track of [446b]). (446) a. “Nah’ógn, nah’ógn unį̀į̀k’úl dänh t’eey,” nih. (N) nah-’ógn nah-’ógn hu-nįį-k’úl dänh MED-outside:AR MED-outside:AR AR.S-N.PFV:Ø-be.short:IPV at t’eey nih ADVZR say:IPV ‘“Right outside, right outside, just a little ways,” he said.’ UTOLAF15May0501:081 b. “Ts’ayh ntsúúl nts’aa’ ch’a tsaadiil?” udihnih. (T) ts’ayh n-tsúúl nts’aa ch’a’ boat 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.small:IPV how FOC tsaa-diil u-dih-nih 1PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-do:FUT:NOM 3SG.P-QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-say:IPV ‘“The canoe is small, how could we do it (i.e., cross the creek in it)?” I said to him.’ UTOLAF09Jun2902:007 Note however that many of the corresponding affirmative verb themes also are typically pronounced with special prosody: forms of Ø+düh ‘be heavy’,

NEGATION

301

Figure 16.9. Negative prosody in inherently negative themes (N), UTOLAF15May0501:081.

Figure 16.10. Negative prosody in inherently negative themes (T), UTOLAF09Jun2902:007.

Ø+dlaan ‘be many’, Ø+chaa ‘be big’, and Ø+thaat ‘be far’ are usually realized both higher and longer than surrounding material, which may be due to prosodic augmentation (see chap. 23). 16.7. Summary Standard negation in Upper Tanana consists of a verb form inflected for negative polarity and a particle k’a(t’eey) ‘NEG’, which usually precedes the entire verb phrase. Standard negation is characterized by a high tone on the verb stem in all dialects. There is additionally an emphatic negation strategy consisting of an affirmative verb form bracketed by the discontinuous negator làh . . . ha’. The most common form for a negative request is an affirmative optative verb form preceded by the prohibitive particle sǫ’. This type of negative request does not exhibit the high pitch on the verb stem that is typical for standard negation. (Other negative requesting strategies are described in sec. 15.2.)

302

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Existential negation involves the negative existential nonverbal predicate O+(oo)kól ‘O NEGEX, there is no O’. This nonverbal predicate originates as a standard negated verb form and thus bears the characteristic high pitch of that strategy. In negated clauses of all types, interrogative proforms function as negative indefinites. There are some inherently negative verb themes characterized by the high negative stem tone. Some of them are formed by the prefix string ts’#STEM+v́ ; others merely contain the negative suffix -v́ . Notes 1. High tone is attested and thus marked in all dialects. Low tone is not phonemic in the Tetlin dialect and consequently not indicated there. 2. One reviewer points out that the stance one takes on this issue has implications for glossing. If Leer is correct and the low on the pre-stem syllable in nonperfective forms is phonemic, then this should be reflected in the glosses in dialects that distinguish low tone (Northway and Beaver Creek) but not in Tetlin, which does not. Since tone is not generally written in the practical orthography at least in Northway, the difference in analysis would not be linked to any orthographical difference between the forms, as shown in (ii). (ii) a. k’at’eey aahaal (N) k’at’eey aa-haal NEG 3SG:NEG:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.go:IPV:PROG:NEG ‘s/he is not walking’

constructed

b. k’at’eey aahaal (T) k’at’eey aa-haal NEG 3SG:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.go:IPV:PROG:NEG ‘s/he is not walking’

constructed

This would be, in fact, the most compelling argument to write tone that I have encountered to date, but it would also inflate a dialect difference that has very little psychological reality for speakers. 3. The verb stem in (416c) is unusual; while it bears the negative high, the final consonant is voiceless. 4. Both portions of the emphatic negator bear a low tone. This is indicated in the examples where appropriate, but not in the discussion of this marker. 5. Another possibility is that lah is cognate to the negative proclitics lha in Tsilhqút’ín (Cook 2013, 499) and ł(e) in Dakelh (Morice 1932, 248). See

NEGATION

303

also Leer (1996a) and Lovick (2020b). 6. Given that the areal prefix has the form hu- in contemporary Upper Tanana (rather than ko- in Ahtna or qe- in Dena’ina, two languages where the areal prefix retains the onset consonant reconstructed by Leer (1996b) for Proto-Dene), this appears to be quite an old form. The contemporary form in Upper Tanana would have the shape hǫ̀ ǫ̀ łíín (N) or hǫǫłą́ y (T) ‘it (place, situation) does not exist’, but is not used in this fashion. 7. This gloss was suggested by speakers, but the semantic contribution of t’eey here is unclear. 8. Other adjectival properties listed by Givón are either not lexically expressed in Upper Tanana, or are expressed using a regularly negated verb form.

17 | Third-person marking Third-person marking in Dene languages is quite complex, as evidenced from the number of studies focusing on this issue. (See, for example, Saxon [1986] for Tłįchǫ Yatiì; Sandoval and Jelinek [1989] for Jicarilla Apache; Willie [1991] for Navajo; Thompson [1989, 1996] for Koyukon and beyond; Tuttle [1996] for Lower Tanana; Gunlogson [2001] for Babine-Witsuwit’en; Rice [2003] for Slave; or Müller [2004] and Lovick [2005] for Dena’ina.) Much of this literature is concerned with the question of whether the argument positions are filled by free noun phrases or by pronominal affixes, and the implications this has for syntactic theory. The focus in this chapter lies on understanding the choices between the different object and possessor prefixes in various syntactic constellations, not on the implications of these choices for any particular linguistic theory. Regarding the argument status of noun phrases and pronominal prefixes, I follow Kibrik (2011) in assuming that arguments can be expressed by free noun phrases or by pronominal affixes; I thus do not treat affixes as agreement markers. In cases where both a free noun phrase and a coreferential pronominal prefix are present, I follow Kibrik (2011) in assuming that the argument is expressed twice. The description here is limited to simple clauses where none of the noun phrases are dislocated (either left-dislocated using a lengthy pause or a discourse marker, or postposed). The effects of dislocation on third-person marking are described in chapter 30. Throughout this chapter the functional head that does or does not bear a pronominal prefix is underlined. 17.1. With first- and second-person subjects 17.1.1. Direct object marking When the subject is first or second person, the third-person direct object is usually not expressed, whether in clauses with a direct object noun phrase (447) or in clauses without one (448).

THIRD-PERSON MARKING

305

(447) a. … kon’ choh dok-k’än’ xah. (N) kon’ choh dok-k’än’ xah fire big QUAL:OPT:1SG.S:H-build.fire:OPT PURP ‘… so I can make a big fire.’ UTOLAF12Jul1201:008 b. Shoh aldeeł? (N) shoh al-deeł bear Ø.IPV:2PL.S:L-eat:IPV ‘Do you PL eat bear?’

UTOLAF09Aug12:041

(448) a. Nats’inel’įįk nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey… (N) na-ts’-nel-’įįk nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey IT-1PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-see:IPV:CUST ADVZR ‘Every time we look at him…’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:079 b. Ay ch’ale’ k’ahdu’ t’eey ch’aldzeek shyiit nah’įįl. (T) ay ch’ale k’ahdu’ t’eey ch’aldzeek shyiit and FOC today ADVZR moon in tnah-’įįl INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2PL.S:H-see:FUT:NOM ‘And you PL can see him in the moon today.’ UTCBAF15May0401:028 When the third-person direct object is human plural, it may be expressed by the direct object prefix hu- (449).¹ (450) demonstrates that nonhuman plural objects are not usually expressed by hu-. (449) a. K’inahu’agshyaak tl’aan hu’ihxąą. (T) k’ina-hu-ag-shyaak tl’aan revenge-3PL.O-AA.PFV:1SG.S:H-revenge:PFV and hu-ih-xąą 3PL.O-AA.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-kill.PL.O:PFV ‘I got even with them and killed them.’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:053 b. … hutsaaxąą. (T) hu-tsaa-xąą 3PL.O-1PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-kill.PL.O:FUT ‘… we will kill them.’

UTCBAF14Jul1001:010

306

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(450) a. Ąą, shiy ch’ale agndeel, … (N) ąą shiy ch’ale agn-deel yes 1SG FOC Ø.IPV:1SG.S:L-eat:IPV:NOM ‘Yes, as for me, I eat [bears], …’ UTOLAF09Aug12:043 b. Utthi’ ts’ąy’ ne’ nts’ą’ dadhahdlah de’… (T) u-tthi’ ts’ąy’ ne’ nts’ą’ 3PL.PSR-head side backwards to da-dhah-dlah de’ up-DH.PFV:2PL.S:H-handle.PL.O:IPV if ‘If you PL put [fish] up with the sides of their heads facing backwards, …’ UTOLVDN11Jul2903:005 Very occasionally, hu- ‘3PL.O’- is used as a direct object prefix in the presence of a co-referential noun phrase. This is particularly surprising in (451), as the direct object referent is clearly nonhuman. (451) Ay tl’aan dzanh iin huts’ehk’aay… (T) ay tl’aan dzanh iin hu-ts’eh-k’aay and.then muskrat PL 3PL.O-1PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-filet:IPV:NOM ‘And then we filet the muskrats…’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:013 The third-person singular object prefix u- never occurs as direct object prefix. This is different from observations made even in closely related languages, such as Dena’ina (Müller 2004, 102) or Slave (Rice 1989, 627), which both allow a cognate of Upper Tanana u- as direct object prefix with a first- or second-person subject if the object referent is human. 17.1.2. Postpositional object marking Postpositional object marking depends on whether a postpositional object noun phrase precedes the postposition. If this is the case, then no object prefixes are used with a first- or second-person subject (452). (452) a. … shįłaa eh ch’ixia’ kah nadagnnay. (N) sh-įłaa eh ch’ixia’ kah 1SG.PSR-hand with egg for na-dagn-nay IT-QUAL:AA.PFV:1SG.S:L-move.hand:PFV:NOM ‘… I felt with my hands for eggs.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:012

THIRD-PERSON MARKING

307

b. Hah’ogn łigaay gąął tah natinłuuk! (T) hah-’ogn łigaay gąął tah NTRL-out:AR puppy snare among na-tin-łuuk PRMB-INC:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:D-drag:IPV:CUST ‘Drag SG the puppy around the snare line!’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:019 In the absence of a postpositional object noun phrase, postpositional thirdperson objects are always expressed pronominally. Human singular referents and nonhuman singular or plural human referents are usually coded by u/mb-², which is glossed either as ‘3SG.P’- (453a) or ‘3PL.P’- (453b), depending on context. (453) a. Ay k’at’eey mbits’iniljidn… (T) ay k’at’eey mb-i-ts’-nil-jidn and NEG 3SG.P-PP-1PL.S-QUAL:NEG.PFV:L-be.afraid:IPV:NEG ‘And we were not afraid of him…’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:027 b. … ay ch’a tuuthäł mbeh tįhtsayh! (N) ay ch’a tuuthäł mb-eh tįh-tsayh 3SG FOC soup 3PL.P-with INC:AA.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-make.SG.O:FUT ‘… and make SG soup with [the dried fish heads]!’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:037 Human plural referents of postpositional objects with a first- or secondperson subject are encoded by hu-. (454) a. … tsat huxah k’iidįįttheeł!…(T) tsat hu-xah k’ii-dįį-ttheeł wood 3PL.P-for severing-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-chop:IPV ‘… chop SG wood for them!…’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:016 b. Ch’ik’ah t’eey hutl’a’ahchuut! ch’ik’ah t’eey hu-tl’a-ah-chuut fat even 3PL.P-to-Ø.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-give.food:IPV ‘Give PL them even fat!’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:097

308

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

17.1.3. Possessor marking The presence of a third-person possessor prefix depends again on the presence of a coreferential noun phrase. No possessor prefixes are used with a first- or second-person subject in the presence of a possessor noun phrase (455). (455) a. And naan’ shaak’ay iin shyah ts’ą̈ ’ tidhihshyay eh… (N) and naan’ sh-aak’ay iin shyah ts’ą̈ ’ and across:ALL 1SG.PSR-maternal.aunt PL house to t-dhih-shyay eh INC-DH.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-SG.go:PFV:NOM and ‘And I went across to my aunties’ house and…’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:010 b. K’at’eey dineh eegn’ tüh tah’üü… (N) k’at’eey dineh eegn’ tüh tah-’üü NEG man coat:POSS over INC:AA.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-step:FUT:NEG ‘You PL may not step over a man’s coat…’ UTOLAFMay0807:035 In the absence of a nominal possessor, a possessor prefix is obligatory. U-/mbis used when the possessor referent is singular (456). (456) a. Useeyy’ k’at’eey łootahtįįl nt’eh! (N) u-seeyy’ k’at’eey 3SG.PSR-knife:POSS NEG łoo-tah-tįįl nt’eh PRMB-INC:AA.PFV:2PL.S:Ø-handle.LRO:FUT:NEG ASRT ‘Don’t PL carry his knife around!’ UTOLAFMay0807:047 b. Tl’aan uthüh utihnak. (T) tl’aan u-thüh u-tih-nak then 3SG.PSR-skin CON-INC:AA.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-handle.FO:FUT ‘Then I would take it’s [the bear’s] skin.’ UTOLVDN13May2906:021 Hu- ‘3PL.PSR’- is used when the third-person possessor is human plural (457).³

THIRD-PERSON MARKING

309

(457) a. Hu’eel’ shyiit t’eey staachilshyeek… (T) hu-eel’ shyiit t’eey 3PL.PSR-trap:POSS in ADVZR sta-na-chil-shyeek away-IT-INDF.O:INC:AA.IPV:2SG.S:L-handle.PL.O:FUT:CUST ‘You SG will take away everything in their traps…’ UTOLVDN08Mar1307:017 b. Hu’an hu’an k’idahłeey… (T) hu-’an hu-’an 3PL.PSR-den 3PL.PSR-den k’i-dah-łeey hole-QUAL:2PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:IMP ‘Put [the wood] into their dens, their dens…’ UTOLAF17Aug1009:020 17.2. With third-person subjects When subject and direct or postpositional object or possessor are coreferential, the reflexive object or possessor prefix is used (see vol. 1, chap. 31). In the following sections only disjunct reference is discussed. 17.2.1. Direct object marking Direct object marking with third-person subjects depends on the presence and position of a coreferential object noun phrase. An additional factor is whether the direct object referent is human plural. 17.2.1.1. Singular or nonhuman plural direct object As described in volume 1, chapter 31, the double reference prefixes (a term from Kibrik [2011, 136]) i/y- ‘3SG.S>3O’- and hii(y)- ‘3PL.S>3O’- are typically used when both subject and direct object are third person and there are no direct object noun phrases (458, 459). Note that the two prefixes are specified for subject number only, while the object number may be singular (458a, 459a) or nonhuman plural (458b, 459b). (458) a. ineh’įh (T) i-neh-’įh 3SG.S>3SG.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-look.at:IPV ‘she looked at him’

UTCBAF13Nov0501:256

310

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Ts’iikeey iin xah niiynįlshyah… (N) ts’iikeey iin xah ni-na-y-nįl-shyah children PL for TERM-IT-3SG.S>3PL.O-N.PFV:L-handle.PL.O:PFV ‘He brought [the rabbits] back to the children…’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:068

(459) a. … k’at’eey hiiyudih’aay. (T) k’at’eey hiiy-uu-dih-’aay NEG 3PL.S>3SG.O-CON-QUAL:NEG.PFV:H-find.SG.O:PFV:NEG ‘… they didn’t find him.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:010 b. Hiiyeldeel xah ch’ale hiinehtsay. (N) hiiy-el-deel xah ch’ale 3PL.S>3PL.O-Ø.IPV:L-eat.PL.O:IPV:NOM PURP FOC hii-neh-tsay 3PL.S>3PL.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-gather:IPV:NOM ‘They gather [eggs] in order to eat them.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:024 Both prefixes are what Kibrik (2011, 96) calls “alternating,” that is, the presence of an object noun phrase precludes the presence of a pronominal prefix. This is illustrated in (460) and (461). (460a) contains a direct object noun phrase; thus i/y- cannot be used. When the same noun phrase refers to the subject, however, i/y- has to be used (460b). (460) a. Ahdegn’ ts’exeh gaay nanel’iik t’eey. (T) ah-degn’ ts’exeh gaay na-nel-’iik NTRL-up:ALL girl IT-3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-watch:IPV:CUST t’eey ADVZR ‘He kept watching the girl up there.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:103 b. Ts’exeh gaay naynel’iik chih ts’at t’aat. (T) ts’exeh gaay na-y-nel-’iik chih girl IT-3SG.S>3SG.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-watch:IPV:CUST also ts’at t’aat blanket under ‘The girl kept watching him too, [from] underneath the blanket.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:104

THIRD-PERSON MARKING

311

(461) describes a man wrestling with a bear. Both clauses describe the man hanging on to the bear’s neck. The first one contains the subject noun phrase dindeh ‘man’, and thus the object prefix i/y- is used to refer to the direct object, the bear. The second clause contains the object noun phrase shoh ‘bear’ which blocks the prefix i/y-. This sentence is not compatible with an interpretation of ‘the bear was hanging on to the man’. (461) T’axoh na’ǫǫ, hǫǫ’t’eey dindeh yuuton’ that shoh uuton’, dindeh shoh. (T) t’axoh na-’ǫǫ hǫǫ’t’eey dindeh finally MED-out:ABL still man y-uu-ton’ that shoh 3SG.S>3SG.O-CON:DH.PFV:Ø-hold:PFV that bear uu-ton’ dindeh shoh CON:DH.PFV:Ø-hold:PFV man bear ‘Just then from away, the man is still hanging on to it, [the man] is hanging on to the bear, the man the bear.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:117 I/y- ‘3SG.S>3O’- may also be used in clauses with OSV word order, where it signals that the noun phrase immediately adjacent to the verb may not be interpreted as direct object (462). When subject and object reference are clear from context, the use of i/y- is not required, even with OSV order (463). (462) a. … ay ch’a Che’ t’iin Tsa’ Ushyaa idhehxįį. (S) ay ch’a Che’ t’iin Tsa’ Ushyąą and FOC Tailed.Man Smart.Beaver i-dheh-xįį 3SG.S>3SG.O-QUAL:DH.PFV:H-kill.SG.O:PFV ‘… and Smart Beaver killed the Tailed Man.’

ANLC4122a-063

b. Nuhts’ay’ ‹chih› dineh yuuton’… (T) nuhts’ay’ chih dineh y-uu-ton’ either.side also man 3SG.S>3SG.O-CON:DH.PFV:Ø-hold:PFV ‘The man was holding on to both sides [of the canoe]…’ UTOLAF09Jun2902:026

312

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(463) … hanog kon’ utsǫǫ dehk’an. (T) ha-nog kon’ u-tsǫǫ NTRL-upland:AR fire 3SG.PSR-grandmother deh-k’an 3SG:DH.PFV:H-make.fire:PFV ‘… in the upland area his grandmother made a fire.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:037 This syntactic behavior of i/y- is typical of Northern Dene languages in general (see also Saxon [1986] for Tłįchǫ Yatiì; Rice [1989] for Slave; Thompson [1996] for Koyukon; Tuttle [1996] for Lower Tanana; and Kibrik [2011, 240– 42] for an overview). In all of these languages, the cognate of Upper Tanana i/y- is mutually exclusive with direct object noun phrases. Only Witsuwit’en (Gunlogson 2001) and Dena’ina (Müller 2004; Lovick 2005) are exceptions; in those languages definite noun phrases may cooccur with the cognate of i/ywhile indefinite ones do not. The syntax of hii(y)- seems to be slightly different. Generally, a noun phrase preceding hii(y) ‘3PL.S>3O’- cannot be interpreted as coreferential to the direct object (464a); when an object noun phrase is present, hii(y)- cannot be used (464b). (464) a. noodlee iin hiiyeldeel (N) noodlee iin hiiy-el-deel white.people PL 3PL.S>3PL.O-Ø.IPV:L-eat.IPV:NOM ‘the things that white people eat’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:007 b. … dineey iin t’eey heldeel. (N) dineey iin t’eey hel-deel people PL ADVZR 3PL.S:QUAL:Ø.PFV:L-eat.IPV:NOM ‘… they were eating people.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:020 Yet exceptions to this generalization such as (465) are quite common in cases where context clarifies the grammatical role of the free noun phrase. (465) a. Tl’aan dzanh hiiyeh’eeł… (T) tl’aan dzanh hiiy-eh-’eeł and muskrat 3PL.S:3PL.O-Ø.IPV:H-trap:IPV:CUST ‘And they would trap muskrats…’ UTCBVDN13Nov1501:036

THIRD-PERSON MARKING

313

b. Tsayh hiiyehxaan. (N) tsayh hiiy-eh-xaan ochre 3PL.S>3PL.O-Ø.IPV:H-make.PL.O:IPV:NOM ‘They made ochre.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:100 17.2.1.2. Human plural direct object When a third-person subject acts on a third-person human plural object, the object prefix hu- ‘3PL.O’- may be used in the absence of a coreferential noun phrase (466). (466) a. … łat t’eey hu’įįxąą. (T) łat t’eey hu-įį-xąą smoke ADVZR 3PL.O-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-kill.PL.O:PFV ‘… the smoke killed them.’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:056 b. Łat eł kon’ eł huhįįk’ąą. (T) łat eł kon’ eł hu-hįį-k’ąą smoke and fire and 3PL.O-3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-burn:PFV ‘They burned them with smoke and fire.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:032 17.2.2. Postpositional object marking The prefixes used in postpositional object marking are mostly identical to those used in direct object marking, but there are some differences in use. 17.2.2.1. Singular or nonhuman plural postpositional object When both subject and postpositional object are third-person singular (or unspecified for number), then the double reference pronoun i/y- ‘3SG.S>3P’- is frequently used, provided no postpositional object noun phrase is present. It occurs in the position of postpositional object; the verbal subject position is thus empty (467). (467) a. Ts’oo k’it ich’a’ ki’eltthät. (N) ts’oo k’it i-ch’a’ ki-el-tthät spruce on 3SG.S>3SG.P-from up-DH.PFV:L-SG.run:PFV ‘He quickly climbed up a spruce away from him.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2701:007

314

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Nuhshyign’ ik’eh teltthät… (N) n-uh-shyign’ i-k’eh tel-tthät PROX-AR-down:ALL 3SG.S>3SG.P-following INC:DH.PFV:L-run:PFV ‘He ran down after [the bear]…’ UTOLAF09Aug12:034 c. … shnąą yeh ch’uhmbia xah. (N) sh-nąą y-eh ch’uh-mbia xah 1SG.PSR-mother 3SG.S>3SG.P-with INDF.O:OPT:H-cook:OPT PURP ‘… so my mother could cook with it.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:028

The referent of the postpositional object expressed by i/y- may be human (467a), animate nonhuman (467b), or inanimate (467c). There are no instances of a human plural object referent expressed by i/y-. Hii(y)- is used under similar circumstances as i/y- when the subject is third person plural. Like its singular counterpart i/y-, hii(y)- occupies the position of postpositional object, and the subject position is left empty (468). (468) a. Natelsüü iin hiixah edloh. (T) natelsüü iin hii-xah e-dloh hunter PL 3PL.S>3SG.P-for Ø.IPV:Ø-laugh:IPV ‘The hunters laughed at him.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:049 b. … kantsįą t’eey hii’eł ehxąą… (T) kantsįą t’eey hii-eł eh-xąą slipper even 3PL.S>3PL.P-with Ø.IPV:H-make.PL.O:IPV ‘… they make slippers with [the skins]…’ UTOLVDN07Nov2804:012 (469) demonstrates that i/y- alternates with a free noun phrase. (469) a. Ay tl’aan haskeh xah nihnįįdeeł… (T) ay tl’aan haskeh xah ni-hnįį-deeł and then chief to TERM-3PL.S:N.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV ‘And then they came to the chief…’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:120 b. Ch’udzüüt du’ yaa ninįįshyah… (N) ch’udzüüt du’ y-aa ni-nįį-shyah owl CT 3SG.S>3SG.P-to TERM-N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV ‘Owl came to him…’ UTOLVDN10Jul2719:039

THIRD-PERSON MARKING

315

Since i/y- cannot be interpreted as coreferential to the preceding free noun phrase, it may be used to indicate deviations from canonical word order (470). (470) Nahtsįą, Yamaagn Teeshyaay yaa nįįshyay eł: Nahtsįą Yamaagn Teeshyaay y-aa Wolverine Yamaagn Teeshyaay 3SG.S>3SG.P-to nįį-shyay eł N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV:NOM and ‘Wolverine, Yamaagn Teeshyaay came to him and: ’ UTOLVDN08Mar1307:002 The postpositional object prefix hii(y)- alternates in the same fashion with free noun phrases. It is absent when there is a free postpositional object noun phrase (471a). When the clause contains both a free noun phrase and the prefix hii(y)-, the noun phrase is interpreted as referring to either the subject (471b) or the direct object (471c) but never the postpositional object. (471) a. … didia’ eh ah’ogn naalil natnetdegn. (N) d-dia’ eh ah-’ogn naalil REFL.PSR-younger.sister with NTRL-ouside:AR butterfly na-tnet-degn IT-3SG.S:INC:QUAL:Ø.IPV:D-PL.go:IPV:CUST:NOM ‘… with her younger sister she started following a butterfly out there.’ UTOLAF15May0501:006 b. Nnąą iin hiich’a’ stach’ihnil’iin… (T) n-nąą iin hii-ch’a’ 2SG.PSR-mother PL 3PL.S>3PL.P-from sta-ch’-hnil-’iin away-INDF-3PL.S:QUAL:N.PFV:L-hide:PFV:NOM ‘Your SG parents were hiding from them…’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:038 c. … nts’ą’ eek hii’eł ehxąą, hugn. (T) nts’ą’ eek hii-eł eh-xąą hugn and coat 3PL.S>3SG.P-with Ø.IPV:H-make.SG.O:IPV etc. ‘… and they make coats out of it and things.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2804:007 Thus, generally, i/y- and hii(y)- may not be used as postpositional object prefixes when a coreferential free noun phrase is present.

316

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Relative clauses provide apparent counterexamples to this generalization (472). (472) Ts’ayh gaay hii’eh natetkeegn ay hįįxąą. (N) ts’ayh gaay hii-eh canoe small 3PL.S>3SG.P-with na-tet-keegn ay PRMB-INC:Ø.IPV:D-go.by.boat:IPV:CUST:NOM that hįį-xąą 3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-make.SG.O:PFV ‘They made a small canoe that they would boat around with.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:028 The direct object of the verb hįįxąą ‘they made it’ in (472) is the relative clause hii’eh natetkeegn ‘the one they would boat around with’. Relative clauses in Dene languages are internally headed (see Platero [1974] for Navajo; and chap. 25 here for Upper Tanana). Thus, even though ts’ayh gaay precedes the prefix hii(y)-, it does not function as the postpositional object of the relative clause. 17.2.2.2. Human postpositional object When the referent of the postpositional object is human singular, u/mb-‘3SG.P’ may be used instead of i/y-. This is particularly common when the subject of the clause is inanimate (473a), but it also happens when both subject and postpositional object are human (473b). (473) a. Eh t’eey mbeh ch’idiła’ k’edetxoł. (N) eh t’eey mb-eh ch’idiła’ and even 3SG.O-with branch k’e-det-xoł severing-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:D-break:PFV ‘And suddenly the branch broke with him.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:073 b. Ts’ehłegn u’aat mbeh aahaał. (S) ts’ełegn u-’aat mb-eh aa-haał one 3SG.PSR-wife 3SG.P-with 3SG.S:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.go:IPV:PROG ‘One wife went with him.’ ANLC4122a-004 In her discussion of intransitive verbs, Rice (2000a, 178) states that the Ahtna cognate of u/mb- can be used only with nonagentive, nonhuman subjects. This

THIRD-PERSON MARKING

317

is not the case in Upper Tanana, as illustrated in (473b), which contains both an agentive human subject and a postpositional object marked by u/mb-. When the referent of the postpositional object is human plural, the object prefix hu- may be used instead of i/y- (with human singular subject, as in [474a]) or hii(y)- (with human plural subject, as in [474b]). (474) a. hu’eh delxoh (T) hu-eh del-xoh 3PL.P-with 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-play:IPV ‘it was playing with them’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:040 b. Hu’eh hetnah. (N) hu-eh het-nah 3PL.P-with 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:D-work:IPV ‘They were working with them.’

UTCBVDN13Nov0804:042

17.2.3. Possessor marking Possessor marking largely resembles postpositional object marking. The choice of prefix depends, again, on the presence or absence of a possessor noun phrase and on the possessor’s animacy. In the presence of possessor noun phrases, the possessor is usually not expressed pronominally (475). (475) a. … Frank Sam shyah tah niihatdeeł. (N) Frank Sam shyah tah ni-na-hat-deeł Frank Sam house among up-IT-3PL.S:AA.PFV:D-PL.go:PFV ‘… they went back up to Frank Sam’s house.’ UTCBVDN14Jul2105:043 b. Stsay Alkał xeel’ ehtsįį. (N) s-tsay Alkał 1SG.PSR-grandfather Alkał eh-tsįį 3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV ‘My grandpa made Alkał’s pack.’

xeel’ pack:POSS

UTOLVDN10Jul2724:104

There is one exception. When the possessee is inalienably possessed, cooccurrence of a possessor noun phrase and a third-person possessor prefix is common (476).⁴

318

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(476) a. Roy uta’ Titus David jah Dzihyuh. (T) Roy u-ta’ Titus David jah Dzihyu Roy 3SG.PSR-father Titus David here Dzihyu ‘Roy’s father, Titus David, [was] Dzihyuh.’ UTOLAF11Aug0201:019 b. Shta’ ugaan’ ‹łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’› eet’eh. (N) sh-ta’ u-gaan’ łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ 1SG.PSR-father 3SG.PSR-arm all ee-t’eh 3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-burn:PFV ‘My father’s arms all burned.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2601:024 In the absence of a possessor noun phrase and a human singular possessor, the possessor prefix u/mb- ‘3SG.PSR-’ is usually used (477). (There are almost no examples with an inanimate possessor.) In this constellation the possessee is usually coreferential with the subject. (477) a. Uts’ayy’ titeełaat k’eh eltsįį. (N) u-ts’ayy’ ti-tee-łaat k’eh 3SG.PSR-canoe:POSS underwater-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-sink:PFV like el-tsįį 3SG.S:DH.PFV:L-seem:IPV ‘His canoe looked like it was about to sink.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:108 b. Maadeh ehtįį. (T) m-aadeh eh-tįį 3SG.PSR-older.sister 3SG.S:DH.PFV:H-SG.die:PFV ‘Her older sister died.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:030 When the subject is coreferential with neither the possessor nor with the possessee, i/y- ‘3SG.S>3PSR’- may be used instead (478). Generally, however, i/y- ‘3SG.S>3PSR’- is not a very common prefix.

THIRD-PERSON MARKING

319

(478) a. … yaadeh shyiit yeł ushyiit dįįtthay eł. (T) y-aadeh shyiit y-eł u-shyiit 3SG.S>3SG.PSR-older.sister into 3SG.S>3SG.O-with 3SG.P-into dįį-tthay eł QUAL:AA.PFV:Ø-push.LRO:PFV:NOM and ‘… and with it he pushed into her older sister, into her.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:029 b. Inįį’ dąą’ dįh’įh, stsǫǫ. (N) i-nįį’ dąą’ dįh-’įh 3SG.S>3SG.PSR-face thus QUAL:AA.PFV:H-do:PFV s-tsǫǫ 1SG.PSR-grandmother ‘My grandmother rubbed [the dog’s] face.’ (lit. ‘My grandmother did thus to his face.’) UTOLVDN10Jul2724:112 When the possessor is third-person human plural, the possessor prefix hu‘3PL.PSR’- is used, regardless of whether the possessee is also the clausal subject (479a) or not (479b). (479) a. Eł hunąą tthinįįshyah. (T) eł hu-nąą tthi-nįį-shyah and 3PL.PSR-mother out-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV ‘And their mother came out.’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:011 b. Ay iin eh tah ts’exeey iin huxol’ k’at’eey hihtnah’įįl hihdįįni’. (N) ay iin eh tah ts’exeey iin hu-xol’ k’at’eey 3 PL and also women PL 3PL.PSR-leg NEG h-tnah-’įįl h-dįį-ni’ 3PL-INC:QUAL:AA.PFV:H-see:FUT:NEG 3PL-QUAL:AA.PFV:Ø-say:PFV ‘And they too, women may not look at [men’s] legs, they used to say.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:051 Only rarely is hii(y)- used as a possessor prefix (480). In (480) the possessors are fish being prepared for drying; possibly the fact that they are already dead is the reason for the unusual prefix.

320

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(480) … k’at’eey hiitthi’ k’ii’ett’ii. (T) k’at’eey hii-tthi’ k’i-na-et-t’ii NEG 3PL.S>3PL.PSR-head severing-IT-Ø.IPV:D-cut:IPV:CUST ‘… they may not cut off [fish] heads.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2903:001 17.3. With other subjects “Other subjects” includes indefinite and areal subjects. Both of these are very rare in clauses with more than one argument. I also include a few examples of incorporates that may have subject status, although, as discussed in volume 1, chapter 33, I am not certain that incorporates have argument status in Upper Tanana. 17.3.1. Direct objects There seem to be no examples of an indefinite or areal subject acting on a direct third-person object. There are two instances in the corpus where an incorporate can be interpreted as the subject of a transitive clause acting on a third-person singular human object. In both instances i/y- ‘3SG.S>3O’- is used (481). Incorporates are underlined. (481) a. Tth’itu’ niign da’ tayahteeł. (N) tth’itu’ niign da’ river downriver:ALL ta-y-ah-teeł water-3SG.S>3SG.O-AA.IPV:H-handle.AO:IPV:PROG ‘The river is carrying her downriver.’ UTOLAF12Jul1201:039 b. t’aambałyįhtįį (T) t’a-na-mbał-y-įh-tįį under-IT-sleep-3PL.S>3SG.O-AA.PFV:H-handle.AO:PFV ‘she fell asleep instantly’ (lit. ‘sleep pulled her under’) UTOLVDN14Nov2301:226 An interpretation of the incorporates as adverbials is also possible, and perhaps even preferable. Incorporation is somewhat challenging to elicit in contemporary Upper Tanana (see also the discussion in vol. 1, chap. 33); thus a structured investigation of the status of the incorporates in (481) was impossible. 17.3.1.1. Postpositional objects When an indefinite (482a), areal (482b), or incorporated (482c) subject cooccurs with a third-person singular postposi-

THIRD-PERSON MARKING

321

tional object, the latter is marked by u/mb- ‘3SG.P’- or hu- ‘3PL.P’-, regardless of whether there is a coreferential object noun phrase present.⁵ (482) a. Ch’aadeh ushyiit ch’įįshyah ch’idanh tah. (T) ch’-aadeh u-shyiit ch’įį-shyah INDF.PSR-older.sister 3SG.P-into INDF.S:AA.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV ch’idanh tah different ‘Something different [i.e. an evil spirit] got into the older sister.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:139 b. Noo:::, Ch’isana river daane::’ uk’üü, mänh hǫǫłįį… (N) noo Chisana river da-ne’ u-k’üü mänh ahead:ALL Chisana river PROX-upriver:ALL 3SG.P-next.to lake hǫǫ-łįį AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV ‘Ahead, upriver, beside the Chisana river, there are lakes…’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:083 c. hu’eh naatsiił’įįshyah (S) hu-’eh na-na-tsiił-įį-shyah 3PL.P-with down-IT-snow-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV ‘it snowed heavily on them’ Tyone (1996, 63) When the postpositional object is third-person plural, hu- ‘3PL.P’- is used (483). (483) Hushyąą k’eh huxah hǫǫt’eh… (N) hu-shyąą’ t’eey k’eh hu-xah hǫǫ-t’eh 3PL-for.nothing like 3PL.P-for AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV ‘It was like nothing for them…’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:103 17.3.1.2. Possessor There seem to be no instances where an indefinite or incorporated subject acts on the referent of a possessor prefix. With an areal subject, however, a nominal possessor may cooccur with the possessor prefix u/mb- ‘3SG.PSR’- (484).

322

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(484) … stsay Elijah Demit, ushyah hǫǫłįį ishyiit. (N) s-tsay Elijah Demit u-shyah hǫǫ-łįį 1SG.PSR-grandfather Elijah Demit 3SG.PSR-house AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV ishyiit there ‘… my grandpa Elijah Demit’s house was there.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0804:007 17.4. Summary Third person object markers in Upper Tanana are alternating, that is, they occur only when no coreferential noun phrase is present. When object markers occur immediately following a noun phrase, then this noun phrase must be interpreted as not coreferential to the object marker or as part of a different clause. In the absence of object noun phrases, subject person determines the choice of object marker: the prefixes i-and hii(y)-occur only with third-person subjects, never with first- or second-person subjects. The object markers uand hu-, which are largely limited to human referents, may occur with all types of subjects. In most clauses with a first- or second-person subject, the third-person direct object is not expressed at all, while the third-person postpositional object is expressed with u-or hu-. Notes 1. Surprisingly, there does not seem to be an example of a second-person singular subject acting on an overtly marked third-person plural subject in the data. 2. U - occurs before a consonant, mb- before a vowel. 3. The dens in (457b) belong to the Tailed People, which are quasi-human. 4. Dzihyu is one of the Upper Tanana clans; see chap. 4 here or Guédon (1974). 5. Again, it is uncertain whether the incorporate functions as subject or adverbial.

18 | Pronominal number marking Upper Tanana distinguishes singular and plural. Unlike in related languages, there is no dual. Plural is marked in several places in the clause, but, even so, plurality is marked somewhat inconsistently and often has to be inferred from context. (485) shows one of the rare examples where number is marked in all possible places: the noun ts’iikeey ‘children’ is morphologically plural (see sec. 2.1.1), the noun phrase contains the plural enclitic iin (see sec. 2.1.2); the verb theme Ø+łaak ‘PL die’ is inherently plural (see sec. 4.2.1); and the verb form is inflected for third-person plural. (485) ‹Łahtthag nts’ą’› ts’iikeey iin t’eey łahtthag nts’ą’ nahįįłaak nts’ą’. (T) łahtthag nts’ą’ ts’iikeey iin t’eey łahtthag nts’ą’ all children PL ADVZR all na-hįį-łaak nts’ą’ IT-3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-PL:die:PFV and ‘All of them, all the children died.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:025 With first- and second-person referents (which always are human or animate), pronominal number marking is obligatory; see volume 1, chapters 22, 23, 28, and 31. Number marking of third-person referents depends on animacy and syntactic role. Number of inanimate referents is never marked pronominally. 18.1. Subject number Plural marking of animate subjects is not obligatory: a (formally) singular form such as neh’įh can be interpreted as singular (486a) or plural (486b), provided that plural reference is indicated elsewhere in the clause, such as the subject Gǫǫ iin, which contains the plural enclitic. A plural form such as (486c), however, can only be interpreted as having plural reference. (Throughout this section I indicate ambiguous number with ⁇; elsewhere in this grammar I simply indicate the intended number.)

324

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(486) a. Didia’ neh’įh. (T) d-dia’ neh-’įh REFL.PSR-younger.sister 3??.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-look:IPV ‘She looked at her younger sister.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:185 b. … Gǫǫ iin ts’exeh neh’įh,… (T) Gǫǫ iin ts’exeh neh-’įh Gǫǫ PL woman 3??.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-look:IPV ‘… the Gǫǫ PL looked at the woman…’ UTOLVDN13May2909:026 c. Hanadegn’ Nahk’ade hanadeg’ ddhał eekeh łat hihneh’įh… (T) ha-na-degn’ Nahk’ade ha-na-deg’ ddhał eekeh ADJC-MED-up:ALL fish.trap ADJC-MED-up:ALL mountain halfway łat h-neh-’įh smoke 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-see:IPV ‘Up there by ‘fish trap’ (Last Tetlin), halfway up the mountain, they saw smoke…’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:010 Plural marking of human subjects also is optional when the verb theme is marked for number. (487a, b) both have plural subject reference, although only (487a) contains the plural subject prefix. In (487c) the subject noun phrase mbee’eh ‘his maternal uncle’ is overtly singular and the verb form teedeeł ‘they went off ’ does not contain a plural subject marker, yet this form is nevertheless interpreted as having plural subject reference because of the plural verb theme. (487) a. Ndegn’ hteedeel… (T) ndegn’ h-tee-deel upland:ALL 3PL.S-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV:NOM ‘As they were going upland…’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:015 b. Negn’ tah teedeeł… (T) negn’ tah tee-deeł upland:ALL among 3??.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV ‘They began to walk upland…’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:014

NUMBER MARKING

325

c. Ay mbee’eh diniign kah udzih kah teedeel eł. (T) ay mb-ee’eh diniign kah udzih kah and 3SG.PSR-maternal.uncle moose for caribou for tee-deel eł 3??.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV:NOM and ‘And then his uncle and others went for moose and caribou.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:052 Verb forms with third-person plural subject reference but lacking the thirdperson plural subject prefix h- never occur in elicitation; the answer to a prompt such as ‘How do you say they are crying, walking, running’ invariably contains h-, regardless of whether plurality is additionally indicated elsewhere in the clause. When the subject referent is nonhuman but animate, it may be marked on the verb by the third-person plural subject prefix h-, but this is not required (488). (488) a. … hushyi’, nach’ihuu’aal xah, hushyi’ ts’ehmbiah. (N) hu-shyi’ na-ch’-huu-’aal xah 3PL.PSR-food IT-INDF.O-3PL.S:OPT:Ø-eat:SG.O:OPT PURP hu-shyi’ ts’eh-mbiah 3PL.PSR-food 1PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-cook:IPV ‘… their food, so [the dogs] can eat, we cook their food.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:030 b. Ułįįg’ iin łąą’ t’eey nadįįt’a::yh! (T) u-łįįg’ iin łąą 3SG.PSR-dog:POSS PL truly na-dįį-t’ayh IT-3??.S:QUAL:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.strong:IPV ‘His dogs were truly fast!’

t’eey ADVZR

UTCBVDN14Jul1801:037

18.2. Object and possessor number marking Number marking of direct and postpositional objects and possessors differs in a few respects from that of subjects. For human and near-human¹ thirdperson direct (489) and postpositional objects (490) and possessors (491), number marking is obligatory. This is the case even when the number of the direct object referent is indicated in the verb stem (489a).

326

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(489) a. Łat eh łat eh t’eey hu’įįxąą. (T) łat eh łat eh t’eey hu-įį-xąą smoke and smoke and ADVZR 3PL.O-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-kill.PL.O:PFV ‘He killed [the Tailed People] with smoke, with smoke.’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:048 b. … k’a hu’udagkadn. (N) k’a hu-u-dag-kadn NEG 3PL.O-CON-QUAL:NEG.PFV:1SG.S:L-ask:PFV:NEG ‘… I didn’t ask them.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:019 (490) a. … k’at’eey huk’eh ts’iniishyeel. (T) k’at’eey hu-k’eh ts’-nii-shyeel NEG 3PL.P-like 1PL.S-QUAL:NEG.PFV:Ø-grow:PFV:NEG ‘… we did not grow up like them.’ UTOLAF09Jun2901:009 b. Hah’ogn doo nuhxah danįįshyah de’ dii hutl’atahchil t’eey hu’ichah’aał de’. (N) hah-’ogn doo nuh-xah da-nįį-shyah NTRL-outside:AR someone 2PL.P-for in-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV hu-tl’a-tah-chil de’ dii if whatever 3PL.P-to-INC:AA.IPV:2PL.S:H-handle.food:FUT:NOM t’eey hu-i-chah-’aał de’ ADVZR 3PL.P-PP-INDF.O:INC:AA.IPV:2PL.S:H-feed:FUT APPR ‘If someone comes in to you PL from outside, you PL have to give them whatever [you have], you have to feed them.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:031 In (490b) the (formally plural) postpositional object of hutl’atahchil ‘you PL have to give them food’ and hu’ichah’aał ‘you PL have to feed them’ is coreferential with the subject of doo nuhxah danįįshyah ‘whoever comes in to you’. Although the verb form danįįshyah has a singular verb stem and is not inflected for plural, the indefinite pronoun doo apparently confers a plural interpretation. Number marking is also obligatory for human possessors, even when plurality is indicated elsewhere in the clause, as for example by the plural-marked noun ts’iikeey iin ‘children PL’ in (491a).

NUMBER MARKING

327

(491) a. Hahshyuugn ts’iikeey iin du’ hunaagn’ łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ kol. (N) hah-shyuugn ts’iikeey iin du’ hu-naagn’ łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ NTRL-down:AR children PL CT 3PL.PSR-eyes all kol NEGEX ‘Down there, the children’s eyes were all gone.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0805:019 b. Huch’il, hushyah, hǫǫ’ ch’a nts’ą’ t’eey hǫǫ’ nahutk’ąą. (T) hu-ch’il hu-shyah hǫǫ’ ch’a nts’ą’ t’eey hǫǫ’ 3PL.PSR-clothing 3PL.PSR-house thus FOC ADVZR ADVZR thus na-hut-k’ąą IT-AR.S:DH.PFV:D-burn:PFV ‘Their clothes, their homes, everything burnt up.’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:010 Plural marking for nonhuman animate direct objects is optional. It is usually present when the referent is animate and the verb theme is not specified for number (492). (492) a. Jan iin ch’a hudhihdlǫǫ iin, … (T) jan iin ch’a hu-dhih-dlǫǫ iin this PL FOC 3PL.O-DH.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-snare:PFV:NOM PL ‘These [birds] are what I snared,…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:029 b. … daahunih’at. (T) da-na-hu-nih-’at closed-IT-3PL.O-QUAL:AA.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-untie:PFV ‘… I untied [the dogs].’ UTOLAF09Jun2201:005 When the verb theme is specified for object number, plural pronouns referring to nonhuman animate referents are not usually used (493). (493) a. Dits’an tah, k’ahdu’ hiiyexaan, hugn tah įįjih. (T) dits’an tah k’ahdu’ hiiy-e-xaan hugn duck among now 3PL.S>3??.O-Ø.IPV:Ø-kill.PL.O:PFV:NOM etc. tah įįjih among taboo ‘Ducks are also forbidden if they just killed them.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2901:013

328

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Naat shyiit nts’ą’ hihteedeeł udzih ‹łahtthagn nts’ą’› įįdlah nts’ą’ ha’įįxąą. (T) naat shyiit nts’ą’ h-tee-deeł across:PNCT there at 3PL.S-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV udzih łahtthagn nts’ą’ įį-dlah nts’ą’ caribou all 3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV and ha-įį-xąą out-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-kill.PL.O:PFV ‘They took off towards the place across and there he had killed all of the caribou.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:064

Examples of plural animate nonhuman postpositional objects and possessors are quite rare, but from the few available examples it appears that plurality is consistently marked pronominally (494). (494) a. Daach’et-łǫǫ huxah, henih. (T) da-na-ch’et-łǫǫ hu-xah close-IT-3SG.S>INDF.O:DH.PFV:D-snare:PFV 3PL.P-for he-nih 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV ‘He set snares for [birds], they say.’ UTOLAF13May2403:079 b. … hushyi’ ts’ehmbiah. (N) hu-shyi’ ts’eh-mbiah 3PL.PSR-food 1PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-cook:IPV ‘… we would cook [the dogs’] food.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:031 Thus, plurality of nonhuman animate referents is usually marked pronominally unless it is indicated elsewhere in the clause. When the direct object referent is inanimate, plurality is not usually marked, regardless of whether plurality is indicated in the verb theme (495a) or not (495b). (495) a. K’įį eł, k’įį eł seeyh eh t’eey xał tat’eey exąą. (T) k’įį eł k’įį eł seeyh eh t’eey xał tat’eey birch with birch with knife with even sled also e-xąą 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-make.PL.O:IPV ‘With birch, with birch and using a knife he even built sleds.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:101

NUMBER MARKING

329

b. Łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ hiiyįhmbiah tatxol ch’a’. (N) łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ hiiy-įh-mbiah all 3PL.S>3SG.O-AA.PFV:H-boil:IPV tat-xol ch’a’ 3PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:D-break:FUT:NOM AVERT ‘They boiled all [the eggs] so they wouldn’t break.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:060 When an inanimate referent serves as postpositional object, plurality is not expressed pronominally. The double-reference prefix hii- in (496) indicates that the subject is plural but is not specified for object number (see also vol. 1, chap. 23 for more discussion). (496) a. Hishyiit dal’iad kee hugn t’eey hii’eł exąą. (T) hishyiit dal’iad kee hugn t’eey hii-’eł footwear shoe etc. ADVZR 3PL.S>3PL.P-with e-xąą Ø.IPV:Ø-make.PL.O:IPV ‘They make even footwear, shoes, with [the skins].’ UTOLVDN07Nov2804:008 b. Ts’ayh gaay hii’eh natetkeegn ay hįįxąą. (N) ts’ayh gaay hii-eh boat small 3PL.S>3PL.P-with na-tet-keegn ay PRMB-INC:Ø.IPV:D-go.by.boat:IPV:CUST:NOM 3SG hįį-xąą 3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-make.PL.O:PFV ‘They made small boats that they would paddle around with.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:028 Inanimate possessors occur so rarely that it is impossible to determine whether number is marked. 18.3. Summary Upper Tanana distinguishes two numbers: singular and plural. Number is marked in several places in the clause. Nominal plural marking is described in sec. 2.1. Some verb themes are lexically specified for number of the internal argument (see sec. ??). With animate referents, number may also be marked by pronominal prefixes. Although number may theoretically be marked in up

330

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

to four different places, only lexical number marking seems to be required; all other number markers appear to be optional. Notes 1. The Tailed People in (489a) are nonhuman creatures that eat people.

19 | Noun phrases Noun phrases in Upper Tanana minimally consist of a bare noun, a pronoun, or a quantifier. While noun phrases headed by bare nouns are grammatical (see also chap. 2) and very commonly used, noun phrases may contain a variety of other elements, including demonstratives, possessor noun phrases, modifiers, adjectives, neuter verbs, numerals, and the human plural enclitic iin. The order of these elements reveals the internal structure of the noun phrase. Noun phrases discussed in the text are bracketed throughout this chapter to facilitate following the examples. 19.1. Heads The head of a noun phrases may be a noun, a pronoun, or a quantifier. 19.1.1. Nouns as heads of noun phrases Noun phrases are usually headed by nouns. These nouns can be stem nouns (497), compound nouns (498), or deverbal nouns (499). (497) a. Hahnǫǫ [dineh] shk’eh aahaal… (N) NTRL:upland:ABL man 1SG:following 1SG:SG.go:IPV:PROG:NOM ‘From upland a man is following me…’ UTOLAF15May0501:109 b. Christmas time tah [nihts’įįł ] nats’i’iił… (N) Christmas time when muskrat.candy 1PL:eat:IPV:CUST ‘Around Christmas we would eat muskrat candy…’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:031 (498) a. Nuhxah [tuu-thał ] oktsay. (T) 2PL:for water-warm 1SG:make.SG.O:OPT ‘I’m going to make soup for you.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:020

332

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. … [chin shyiit] łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ dahiinįįdlah. (N) stick in all ‘… they brought it all into a pole cache.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:046

(499) a. Jah [mbeh nats’elmoo] eh shyii here 3SG:with 1PL:roll.around:IPV:NOM with there niits’itdek… (N) 1PL:PL.arrive:IT:IPV:CUST ‘We would go there with bicycles…’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:095 b. Noodlee hugn [jineetl’adn] huhninįį’ąą… (T) white.man etc. 3SG>INDF:write:PFV:NOM 3SG>3PL:bring.CO.to:PFV ‘A white man brought a book to them…’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:037 19.1.2. Pronouns as heads of noun phrases Free, interrogative, and indefinite pronouns also function as the heads of noun phrases. 19.1.2.1. Free pronouns as heads of noun phrases by free (personal) pronouns are illustrated in (500). (500) a. T’axoh [shiy] shyįį’ dhihdah. (N) finally 1SG only 1SG:SG.live:IPV ‘Now I was living all by myself.’

Noun phrases headed

UTOLVDN14Apr2602:134

b. Ay ch’ale [nuhxon] nuhhogndag. (T) 3SG FOC 2PL 1SG>2PL:tell.story:OPT:NOM ‘This is what I want to tell you PL.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:006 19.1.2.2. Interrogative pronouns as heads of noun phrases pronouns also function as the heads of noun phrases (501).

Interrogative

(501) a. “[Doo iin] ch’a daht’ay?” yehnih. (T) who PL FOC 2PL:be:IPV:NOM 3SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“Who are you PL?” he asked them.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:069 b. Ay eł ditsǫǫ: “[Dii] ch’a hiiyeh’ąy?” (T) and REFL:grandmother what FOC 3PL>3SG:act.on:IPV:NOM ‘And her grandmother said: “What are they messing with?”’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:009

NOUN PHRASES

333

19.1.2.3. Indefinite pronouns as heads of noun phrases Indefinite pronouns, formally identical to the interrogative pronouns discussed in section 19.1.2.2 (see also vol. 1, chap. 19), also may serve as the heads of noun phrases (502); the resulting noun phrase often is followed by the uncertainty particle le’ ‘IGN’ (502b). (502) a. Hah’ogn [doo] nuhxah danįįshyah de’… (N) NTRL:out:AR someone 2PL:for 3SG:SG.come.in:PFV if ‘When someone comes in to you PL out there…’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:030 b. Jahxan ch’aadeh [dii] le’ hadel’ąy. (T) suddenly INDF:older.sister something IGN 3SG:spot:PFV:NOM ‘Suddenly, the older sister spotted something.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:061 19.1.3. Quantifiers as heads of noun phrases Numerals and other quantifiers also occasionally serve as heads of noun phrases. The use of numerals is often contrastive (see also vol. 1, chap. 20), which is indicated by focus-sensitive particles, such as shyįį’ ‘only’ in (503a). (503) a. Huhįįxąą t’oot’eey [ts’ehłag] ay shyįį’ hundayh. (T) 3PL>3PL:kill.PL.O:PFV but one 3SG only 3SG:live:IPV ‘They killed them, but only one of them survived.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:053 b. [Łaakeey] or [taagn] iin etshyiyh. (T) two or three PL 3PL.save:PASS:PFV ‘Two or three were saved.’ UTOLAF17Aug1009:025 Somewhat more common are noun phrases headed by nonnumeral quantifiers such as k’a hiidlaan ‘not many’ and ntsiin iin ‘a few’ (504a) or łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ ‘all of them’ (504b). (504) a. Hǫǫ ch’ale hediign k’ahdu’ dziin, [k’a thus FOC 3PL:do:IPV:CUST:NOM now day NEG hiidlaan] nah’ogn [ntsiin iin] 3PL:be.many:IPV:NEG MED:outside:AR 3PL:be.few:IPV PL hǫǫ’ hediik. (T) thus 3PL:do:IPV:CUST ‘They do this up to this day; not many but some still do this out there.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:025

334

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. [Łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’] hiiyįhmbiah tatxol ch’a’. (N) all 3PL>3PL:boil:PFV 3PL:break:FUT AVERT ‘They boiled all of them so they wouldn’t break.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:060

19.2. Other elements in the noun phrase Most noun phrases consist merely of a head, but noun phrases may contain additional elements: demonstrative articles and possessor noun phrases, both of which usually precede the head; and modifiers, bare verb stems, relative clauses, nonnumeral quantifiers, and the plural enclitic iin, all of which follow the head. Noun phrases may also contain numerals, which may precede or follow the head. 19.2.1. Possessor While the possessor is usually expressed pronominally (see vol. 1, chap. 22 for details), it may also be expressed by a possessor noun phrase, which always immediately precedes the possessed noun phrase (505). (505) a. Ay eh [dineh säk] na’at-’aał tl’aan. (N) and and man torso 3SG:bring.CO:IT:IPV:PROG and ‘And she was bringing back a man’s torso.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:048 b. Hashyiign [dineh eegn’] k’a utüh tįį’ia. (N) NTRL:down:ALL man coat:POSS NEG 3SG:over 2SG:step:FUT:NEG ‘You SG may not step over a man’s coat on the floor.’ UTOLAF14Nov2404:003 The noun in (505a) is obligatorily possessed, while the noun in (505b) does not require a possessor. (This difference causes the presence of the alienable possessive suffix in [505b] and its absence in [505a]; see vol. 1, chap. 22 or 17.2.3.) 19.2.2. Demonstrative articles The demonstrative article has the form dii in the Tetlin dialect and (na)xat in the Northway dialect (506); both always precede the noun phrase. Demonstrative articles are very rarely used in this language.

NOUN PHRASES

335

(506) a. Jahxan [dii dineh tleegn], gǫǫ, ts’iniin du’ uuniik suddenly DEM man filthy monster child CT 3SG:grab:PFV ich’ol’ t’eey. (T) 3SG:neck ADVZR ‘Suddenly that filthy man, the monster, grabbed the child by the neck.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:031 b. “[Naxat neechil iin] ch’a huxah t’eey DEM 1PL:younger.brother PL FOC 3PL:because ADVZR ts’ihunnay,” hinih. (N) 1PL:be.alive:IPV 3PL:say:IPV ‘”We are alive because of these our younger brothers,” they said.’ UTCBAF15May0403:049 19.2.3. Modifiers Modifiers are stems expressing property concepts (see vol. 1, chap. 18). Almost all modifiers follow the head noun (507). (507) a. … [ts’at su’] t’eey k’it t’eey tth’idhalt’ay! (T) blanket nice even on ADVZR 2PL:be.straight:PFV:IMP ‘… stretch yourselves out on the nice blankets!’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:076 b. [Dineh tleegn] uhłe’ nįįthän? (N) man rotten 1SG:be:OPT 3SG:want:IPV:NOM ‘Does he want to be a despicable person?’ UTOLAFMay0807:043 The modifier teejuh ‘poor, pitiful’ may occur before (508a) or after (508b) the head noun, with no discernable difference in meaning. All other modifiers are restricted to the postnominal position. (508) a. Ay [teejuh ch’itay] ay t’oot’eey yetnaa. (T) and poor old.man and though 3SG>3SG:drink:IPV ‘And the poor old man would still drink it.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:010 b. [Shta’ teejuh]! (N) 1SG:father poor ‘My poor dad!’

UTCBAF13Nov1203:040

336

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

There is only one instance of a noun phrase containing two modifiers in the corpus. In (509) the speaker originally produced the modifiers in the opposite order but was adamant that the corrected version ts’exeh gaay su’ ‘pretty girl’ was preferable. This is likely because ts’exeh gaay is a lexicalized compound with the meaning ‘girl’ rather than ‘small woman’. (509) That ch’oondaa hayihtįį that INDF:older.brother 3SG>3SG:handle.AO:PFV [ts’exeh ‹gaay su’›]. (T) woman small pretty ‘That old brother took her out from the sack, really pretty girl.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:290 19.2.4. Bare verb stems Nouns may also be modified by bare verb stems; those always follow the noun (510). This construction is presumably the origin of the noun-verb compounds described in volume 1, chapter 13. (510) a. Ay eł Ts’igąąk: “[Tąy ts’eegn] k’eh ahdeeł, sǫ’ and and chickadee trail narrow following 2PL:PL.go:IPV PROH [tąy teeł] k’eh ahdeel,” hu’ehnih. (T) trail wide following 2PL:PL.go:OPT 3SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘And Chickadee told them: “Go on the narrow trail, don’t go on the wide trail!”’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:012 b. Niiduuy nchaa nts’ą̈ ’ [uche’ t’onh] hǫǫłįį. (N) lynx 3SG:be.big:IPV and 3SG:tail stubby AR:be:IPV Notebook #1, p. 38 ‘Lynx is large and has a stubby tail.’ 19.2.5. Relative clauses Relative clauses modifying a noun phrase also follow the noun. Most often the relative clause consists simply of a nominalized neuter verb (511), but more complex relative clauses also occur (512). (511) a. Dahdǫǫ [shoh datsąy] kah hach’edagn’įį. (N) PROX:up:ABL bear 3SG:be.black:IPV:NOM for 1SG:look.around:IPV ‘From up there I was looking around for black bear.’ UTOLAF09Aug12:011

NOUN PHRASES

337

b. That ch’iik’on k’it [tthee deldliad] eh t’eey that dentalium on rock 3SG:be.shiny:IPV:NOM and ADVZR uk’it eedlah. (T) 3SG:on 3SG:classify.RO:PFV ‘On that dentalium [necklace] there was a gold nugget (lit. ‘a shiny rock’).’ UTOLVDN13May2909:164 (512) a. [Ch’itay ch’a ch’ishyiign eh ehxaan] du’: (N) old.man FOC pictures with 3SG:make.PL.O:PFV:NOM CT ‘The old man who’d been taking pictures [said]:’ UTOLAF09Aug12:040 b. Ay tl’aan [dii ch’ixia’ ts’udiidlay] neexunh and then whatever eggs 1PL:find.PL.O:PFV:NOM 1PL neets’änh taałeeł. (N) 1PL:from 3PL:classify:PL.O:FUT ‘And then all the eggs we found were ours to keep.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:023 More information on relative clauses can be found in chapter 25. 19.2.6. Nonnumeral quantifiers Nonnumeral quantifiers, most of which are nominalized verb forms, always follow the head (513). (513) a. … [tuu ntsiin] tthiidǫhtl’iit… (S) water 3SG:be.little:IPV:NOM 2SG:pour.into.fire:OPT ‘you SG should pour a little bit of soup (lit. ‘water’) into the fire…’ Tyone (1996, 44) b. … [nsüü ndlaan] tįhtsayh. (N) money 3SG:be.many:IPV:NOM 2SG:make.SG.O:FUT ‘… you SG will make lots of money.’ UTOLAF12Jul1202:028 19.2.7. Plural enclitic iin The plural enclitic iin always occurs postnominally (514).

338

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(514) a. Dzanh xah ni’eełhełeegn xah [shnąą muskrat for 3PL:set.PL.traps:IPV:CUST:NOM PURP 1SG:mother iin]. (T) PL ‘So that my parents could set traps for muskrat.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:004 b. [Ts’iikeey iin] ts’įįłįį ntsą̈ ’… (N) children PL 1PL:be:IPV and ‘We were children and…’

UTOLAF08Feb1906:006

Evidence for the status of iin as a phrasal enclitic rather than as an affix comes from two sources. First, iin may occur in noun phrases that are not headed by nouns, such as an interrogative pronoun (515a), a free pronoun (515b), or a nominalized verb form (515c). (515) a. [Doo iin] ch’a daht’ay? (T) who PL FOC 2PL:be:IPV:NOM ‘Who are you PL?’

UTCBAF13Nov0501:069

b. Ay, [ay iin] shyįį’ ch’a hǫǫ’ hedąy hunak-’įį. (N) and 3 PL only FOC thus 3PL:do:IPV 1SG>3PL:see:PFV ‘And, they are the only ones I saw doing that.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:058 c. [Ishyiit hihdelxoo iin] du’ k’at’eey nts’aa’ t’eey there 3PL:play:IPV:NOM PL CT NEG how ADVZR hedąy. (N) 3PL:do:IPV:NEG ‘The ones that had been playing there didn’t do anything.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:019 The second piece of evidence is that in complex noun phrases, iin follows the last element of the noun phrase, not the noun. (516) demonstrates that iin can either occur at the end of the entire phrase (516a) or immediately after the noun and again at the end of the phrase (516b). (Impressionistically, the second option appears to be more common.) The same can be observed when the noun phrase contains a relative clause rather than a numeral (516c). The plural enclitic is underlined in this example.

NOUN PHRASES

339

(516) a. Neenaattheh dą’ [ts’exeey gaay łaakeey iin] hihdelxoo 1PL:before at:PST girls two PL 3PL:play:IPV:NOM hah’ogn. (T) NTRL:out:AR ‘Once upon a time, two girls were playing outside.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:001 b. [Dineey iin łaakeey iin] nahelseeyh eł hihteedeeł. (T) men PL two PL 3PL:hunt:IPV and 3PL:PL.go:INC:PFV ‘Two men went off to hunt.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:008 c. Nuug ishyiit hutah [dineey iin diniign upland:AR there 3PL:among people PL moose hihdhehxiin iin hugn shyi’ naaheedlay iin] 3PL:kill.SG.O:PFV:NOM PL and meat 3PL:have.PL.O:PFV:NOM PL hu’ich’eh’aał nts’ą’ hǫǫsu’ hihdeltth’ih. (T) 3PL>3PL>INDF:feed:IPV and well 3PL:PL.stay:IPV ‘Up there people who had killed moose and had meat fed them, and they stayed pretty well.’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:023 19.3. Pre- or postnominal elements Some elements do not seem to be fixed with regard to their position in the noun phrase. 19.3.1. Numerals The position of numerals in the Upper Tanana noun phrase is somewhat surprising. Most of the time they occur in postnominal position (517), but there are also cases where they occur in prenominal position (518). Most of the utterances in (517) and (518) come from natural discourse; the exception is (518b), which is taken from an elicitation session of comparative structures. That example demonstrates that prenominal numerals come between the demonstrative article and the noun. (517) a. [Ddhał taag] tah, deg’ tah, deg’ tah mountain three among up:ALL among up:ALL among hu’aałeeł… (T) 3SG>3PL:handle.PL.O:IPV:PROG ‘It was taking them over three mountains, up and further up…’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:068

340

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. … [shǫǫnüü iin łaakay] helt’eh… (N) 1SG:older.brother PL two 3PL:be.number:IPV ‘… I had two older brothers…’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:027

(518) a. [Łaakay dits’įhtąy’] ehtsįį. (T) two REFL:bow:POSS 3SG:make.PL.O:PFV ‘He made two bows.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:137 b. [Naxat łaakay ts’exeh iin] ch’a shiit’eey uhtthixa’ DEM two woman PL FOC more.than 3SG:hair įhts’eek. (N) 3SG:be.longer:PFV ‘Her hair is longer than that of the other two women.’ UTOLAF15May0701:032 Upper Tanana is not alone among the Dene languages to allow both prenominal and postnominal numerals. Schwiertz (2009, 66) observes a similar situation in Dane-zaa and suggests that the prenominal position is due to linguistic contact with English. Rice (1989, 377), on the other hand, observes that in Slave there is a semantic difference between prenominal numerals and postnominal numerals. In the Upper Tanana data such a semantic difference cannot be observed. It is possible that the relative position of numerals is due to language contact; in elicitation contexts, the “English” order numeral > noun is certainly preferred. 19.4. Order of elements in the noun phrase The relative order of elements within the noun phrase is hard to determine, for two reasons. First, complex noun phrases, that is, noun phrases that contain more than one element in addition to the head are relatively rare. Second, a certain degree of variability exists in the order of elements, especially with respect to the numerals and the plural enclitic iin. (519) appears to be the only example of a noun phrase containing a demonstrative and possessor noun phrase. It is unclear whether naxat ‘DEM’ has scope over only the possessor noun phrase ts’exeh ‘woman’ or over the complex noun phrase ts’exeh tuutįįl’ ‘the woman’s cup’. (519) [Naxat ts’exeh tuutįįl’] nts’ą̈ ’ dįįdį’? (N) DEM woman cup:POSS how 2SG:do:IPV ‘What are you doing with that woman’s cup?’ UTOLAF14Nov2411:001

NOUN PHRASES

341

There are no examples of a prenominal numeral and a demonstrative or possessor. The order of postnominal elements is similarly challenging to determine. There appear to be no examples of a noun phrase containing both a modifier and a bare verb stem, so their relative order cannot be determined.¹ When a noun phrase contains both a modifier and a relative clause, the modifier usually occurs closer to the head (520a), although the opposite order also occurs (520b). The grammaticality of (520b) was confirmed by several speakers, although nłįįgn’ choh delgay was also accepted. (520) a. [Ch’itsay ts’eegn nelkon] t’eey hadel’įh. (T) steel narrow 3SG:be.hot:IPV:NOM ADVZR 3SG:spot:IPV ‘She spotted long, hot steel.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:091 b. “Ndąy [naxat nłįįgn’ delgay choh] du’?” where that 2SG:dog:POSS 3SG:be.white:IPV:NOM big CT hudihnih. (N) 1SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“Where [is] that big white dog of yours?” I said to them.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:048 When numerals occur in postnominal position, they typically follow the modifier (521). Note that in all examples of this type, the modifier is probably best interpreted as the second part of a noun + modifier compound; there are no instances of a numeral following a nonlexicalized noun + modifier construction. (In these examples I provide a separate gloss for the modifier; usually I gloss the lexical items as compounds.) (521) a. Neenaattheh dą’ [ts’exeey gaay łaakeey iin] 1PL:long.before when:PST women small two PL hihdelxoo hah’ogn. (T) 3PL:play:IPV:NOM NTRL:out:AR ‘Long before us, two girls were playing out there.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:001 b. [Ts’iiniin gaay łaakay] niłk’eh t’eey hįhdüh. (N) child small two RECP:like ADVZR 3PL:be.heavy:PFV ‘The two babies are equally heavy.’ UTOLAF15Dec0601:009 There is only one example that shows the relative order of a postnominal numeral and a relative clause; the numeral follows the relative clause, which in turn follows the modifier (522).

342

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(522) … [ts’ayh guuy detl’oon eł eltsiin łaakeey] canoe small canvas with 3PL:make.SG.O:PASS:PFV:NOM two ishyiit eetąą. (T) there 3PL:classify.LRO:IPV ‘… there were two small canoes made with canvas lying there.’ UTOLAF09Jun2902:005 The human plural enclitic iin follows modifiers regardless of whether the modifier is lexicalized as part of a noun + modifier compound (523a) or not lexicalized (523b). (523) a. [Ts’exeey gaay iin] tthiihiihaak tah… (N) girls PL 3PL:have.period:IPV:CUST when ‘When girls have their first period, …’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:058 b. Hǫǫsǫǫ t’eey hu’ich’įh’aał, [dindeey choh iin], well ADVZR 3PL>3PL>INDF:feed:PFV men big PL stsay eh Chief David. (T) 1SG:grandfather and Chief David ‘My grandfather and Chief David fed them well, those important men.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1502:007 The corpus contains no example of the plural enclitic being used in a noun phrase containing a bare verb stem. When the noun phrase contains a relative clause, the enclitic may either follow just the nominalized verb form (524a) or occur both after the head and after the nominalized verb form (524b); see also section 19.2.7. (524) a. Ishyiit deltth’ii iin jah jah [dineey there 3PL:PL.stay:IPV:NOM PL here here men deltth’ii iin] huug tsaa tah 3PL:PL.stay:IPV:NOM PL etc. cache among haahihłeek… (T) 3PL:take.out.PL.O:IT:IPV:CUST ‘The ones living there, the people living there were taking things out of their caches…’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:026

NOUN PHRASES

343

b. Jah tąy k’üü [noodlee iin nah’ogn tourist here trail beside white.man PL NTRL:outside:AR tourist huhinay iin] hushyah choh heetąą 3PL>3PL:say:IPV:NOM PL 3PL:house big 3PL:keep.LRO:IPV nts’ą̈ ’. (N) and ‘There next to the road these white people they call tourists had parked their big camper.’ UTOLAF09Aug1201:015 In noun phrases containing a postnominal numeral, the plural enclitic may come between the head and the numeral (525a), follow the numeral (525b), or follow both the head and the numeral (525c). (525) a. [Łįį iin łaakay] helt’eh. (N) dog PL two 3PL:be.number:IPV ‘There were two dogs.’

UTOLVDN10Jul2725:011

b. Ay eł t’axoh eł [ushüü taagn iin] nahatdał. (T) and.then finally and 3SG:woman’s.son three PL 3PL:PL.return:IPV ‘And then finally her three sons were coming back.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:082 c. [Dineey iin łaakeey iin] nahelseeyh eł hihteedeeł. (T) men PL two PL 3PL:hunt:IPV and 3PL:PL.go:INC:PFV UTOLVDN07Oct2604:008 ‘Two men went off to hunt.’ Prenumeral elements (demonstratives, possessor phrases, or numerals) are not usually followed by iin ‘PL’. The order of elements in the noun phrase can be summarized as shown in 214. (526) Demonstrative—Possessor—Head—Modifier—Bare verb stem—Relative clause—Numeral The head is the only element that is obligatory. Not represented in (526) is the human plural enclitic iin because of its variable position. 19.5. Summary Upper Tanana noun phrases are usually headed by nouns, but may also be headed by pronouns or quantifiers. While noun phrases consisting only of a noun are acceptable, they may optionally include several other elements, including possessors, demonstratives, modifiers, bare verb stems, relative

344

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

clauses, numerals, nonnumeral quantifiers, and the plural enclitic iin. The order of these elements is also described. Notes 1. Speakers had absolutely no patience for elicitation of complex noun phrases.

20 | Nonclausal coordination Coordination is the process of joining two or more items of equal rank. Some languages use the same strategies for coordination of clauses, noun phrases, and other elements. In Upper Tanana, different strategies are used for the coordination of noun phrases, postpositional phrases, adverbs, and adjectives and modifiers on the one hand, and clauses on the other hand. In this chapter only strategies for nonclausal coordination are described; clause coordination is discussed in chapter 24. 20.1. Coordination of noun phrases Most instances of noun phrase coordination involve conjunction, but disjunction is also marginally possible. 20.1.1. Conjunction There are several strategies for noun phrase conjunction: coordination using eh/eł ‘with, and’, juxtaposition, and use of the universal extender įį’eh ‘etc., as well’. 20.1.1.1. Noun phrase coordination using eh/eł Noun phrases are coordinated using the formula NP eh NP eh (eł in the Tetlin dialect). This strategy is used when coordinating two or three items that do not form a conceptual unit. Coordination with eh/eł is the most common noun phrase coordination strategy. (527) a. Ay tl’aan k’a’ eł jiyh eł lsüü eł k’oniit’ay eł and then gun and mitten and money and scarf and ts’uutaanak tl’aan. (T) 1PL:grab:FUT and ‘And then we will get guns, mittens, money, and scarves.’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:014

346

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Łihtetxąą ishyiit t’eey Jǫǫ eh Chįhttheeł 3PL>RECP:fight:PFV then ADVZR camprobber and woodpecker eh. (N) and ‘They started to fight, Camprobber and Woodpecker.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0803:011

There are quite a few instances in the corpus where the final noun phrase in the list is not followed by eh. It is possible that this is an influence from English; in his discussion of noun coordination in Upper Kuskokwim, Kibrik (2004, 539) notes that in that language, the cognate morpheme ʔił always follows all coordinated nouns. (528) a. Carl eh Jimmy shǫǫnüü hįįłįį. (N) Carl and Jimmy 1SG:older.brother 3PL:be:IPV ‘Carl and Jimmy were my older brothers.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:011 b. Shyi’ niihelshyeek tah shta’ eh meat 3PL>3PL:bringPL.O:IT:IPV:CUST when 1SG:father and shǫǫnüü iin eh shchil iin tat’eey 1SG:older.brother PL and 1SG:younger.brother PL even ch’ihehk’aayh. (N) 3PL>INDF:filet:IPV:CUST ‘When they brought back the meat, my father and my oldest brother and even my younger brothers fileted it.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:018 Stassen (2013) distinguishes between WITH-languages, where the same marker is used for noun conjunction and the comitative construction, and AND-languages, where different markers are used. Eh/eł ‘and’ is formally identical to the instrumental/comitative postposition P+eh/eł ‘with P’; Upper Tanana thus is clearly a WITH-language. While most coordinated noun phrases consist of stem nouns, more complex noun phrases, such as those in (529), can also be conjoined using eh/eł.

NONCLAUSAL COORDINATION

347

(529) “Ndugn tahdak tah hahdogn nuhts’adn wherever 2PL:PL.go:INC:IPV:CUST when NTRL:up:AR 2PL:stuff [dii dii tah’aal] eł [dii shyii’ tahtiadn] what what 2PL:eat:FUT:NOM and what in 2PL:PL.sleep:FUT:NOM eł [nuhch’il] eł da’ahdlaak shyiit,” and 2PL:clothes:POSS and 2PL:put.PL.O.up:IPV:CUST in nee’ehnih. (T) 3SG>1PL:say:IPV ‘“When you PL go somewhere, put your stuff, what you’re going to eat, what you’re going to sleep in, and your clothes in a high place,” she said to us.’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:023 This construction is also used when several noun phrases within a postpositional phrase are coordinated (530). (530) a. Hugn dlagn eh, gah eh kįį’ ‹shyįį’› hihdeltth’ih. (T) there squirrel and rabbit and subsist.on only 3PL:PL.live:IPV ‘They lived subsisting only on squirrels and rabbits.’ UTOLAF13May2403:044 b. Ishyiit chih Chehtsade Niign tthil eł diniign eł kah there also mouse creek ground.squirrel and moose and for nahtetneegn… (T) 3PL:move.around:IPV:NOM ‘There also at Mice Creek, they would move there for ground squirrels and moose…’ UTOLVDN08Mar1311:010 20.1.1.2. Asyndetic noun phrase coordination The second common strategy is asyndetic noun coordination, where the noun phrases are simply juxtaposed (531). Asyndetic noun coordination is used especially in instances where the referents of the coordinated noun phrases form a conceptual unit not lexicalized in Upper Tanana—mother and father form the unit ‘parents’ (531a), grandmother and grandfather form the unit ‘grandparents, ancestors’ (531b), and mother and her sisters (the stem -aak’ay refers to female siblings of the mother only) are the closest relatives an individual can have (531c). Note that when another item that does not immediately belong to such a unit is added, eh/eł is used. In (531d) the noun phrase mǫǫndaa ‘her older brother’ is coordinated using NP eh NP eh to the asyndetically conjoined unit unąą uta’ ‘her mother and father’. The final eh in (531c) is not used as a conjunction, but as the comitative postposition ‘with’; the first eł in (531d) conjoins the two clauses. Conjoined noun phrases are bracketed in this section.

348

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(531) a. Hudeg’ ch’ale’ [neenąą iin neeta’ iin] AR:up:ALL FOC 1PL:mother PL 1SG:father PL natsitnal’įįł … (T) 1PL:see:IT:FUT ‘Up there, we will see our mother and father again…’ UTCBVDN13Nov1101:028 b. Neettheh dihnay [stsǫǫ iin stsay 1PL:before 1SG:say:IPV:NOM 1SG:grandmother PL 1SG:grandfather iin] noo hįįdį’ k’eh t’eey hidį’. (N) PL ahead:ALL 3PL:do:PFV like ADVZR 3PL:do:IPV ‘They do it like our grandmothers and grandfathers did it long before it, I’m saying.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:052 c. K’ehtth’iign niign łuugn kah nits’inįįnaa, [shnąą iin lake.outlet creek fish for 1PL:move.to:PFV 1SG:mother PL shaak’ay iin] eh. (N) 1SG:maternal.aunt PL and ‘We moved to K’ehtth’iign Niign for fish, with my parents and my aunties.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:001 d. Shyig uneh’ąy eł [unąą uta’] down:ALL 3SG:look.around:IPV:NOM and 3SG:mother 3SG:father eł mǫǫndaa eł hadel’įh. (T) and 3SG:older.brother and 3SG:spot:IPV ‘She looked around down and spotted her mother and father and her older brother.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:314 Asyndetic coordination also is used in lists containing three or more conceptually related items (532). (532) a. Ts’įįtsuul dą’ Nahk’ade dą’ ch’ale ts’eneeshyaan 1PL:be.small:IPV when:PST fish.trap at FOC 1PL:grow:PFV:NOM [shaadeh iin shoondah iin shchil iin 1SG:older.sister PL 1SG:older.brother PL 1SG:younger.brother PL shdia’ iin] eł [shnąą shta’] eł. (T) 1SG:younger.sister PL and 1SG:mother 1SG:father and ‘When we were little, we grew up in ‘fish trap’ (Last Tetlin) with my older sisters, my older brothers, my younger brothers, my younger sisters, and my parents.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:001

NONCLAUSAL COORDINATION

349

b. [Kee, kenchoł, ‹eek›] t’eey meh tsaaxąą. (N) shoe mukluk vest even 3SG:with 1PL:make.PL.O:FUT ‘We will make shoes, mukluks, and vests with [the moosehide].’ UTOLVDN07Aug2001:013 Like coordination using eh/eł, asyndetic coordination also can be used to conjoin complex noun phrases (533). (533) [Xat dineh ch’ittheh mihǫǫłiin] [uchil DEM man first 3SG:be.born:IPV:NOM 3SG:younger.brother uk’etl’aat mihǫǫłiin] niłk’eh t’eey hįhchah. (N) 3SG:following 3SG:be.born:IPV:NOM RECP:like ADVZR 3PL:be.as.big:IPV ‘The first-born man and his younger brother born after him are equally tall.’ UTOLAF15Dec0601:016 This strategy is also used when combining nouns that are objects of the same postposition (534). (534) Ay tl’aan hugn [shaadeh iin shǫǫndaa iin] hu’eh and.then also 1SG:older.sister PL 1SG:older.brother PL 3PL:with dzelxuu… (T) 1PL:play:IPV:CUST ‘And then I also used to play with my older sisters and my older brothers…’ UTCBVDN13Nov1501:029 20.1.1.3. Noun phrase coordination using įį’eh/įį’eł (tah) ‘etc., as well’ Less common than coordination with eh/eł and juxtaposition is coordination with įį’eh/įį’eł (tah) ‘etc., as well’. Įį’eh/įį’eł (tah) is used in all dialects as a universal extender for items where the (animate) plural marker iin cannot be used (535). It consists of a morpheme įį with unknown meaning, the postposition eh, eł ‘with’, and optionally the postposition tah ‘among’.¹ This plural reading conferred by įį’eh (tah) is most apparent in (535a), where the verb stem xąą ‘make plural objects (IPV)’ clearly indicates that the young man does not build just a single sled. (535) a. K’įį eł, k’įį eł seeyh eh t’eey xał įį’eh nts’ą’ t’eey birch and birch and knife and ADVZR sled etc. ADVZR exąą. (T) 3SG:make.PL.O:IPV ‘With birch, with birch and a knife he made sleds and things.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:101

350

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Hahtthän’ eeł idlaak NTRL:waterwards:ALL trap 3PL:keep.PL.O:IPV:CUST naxach’ihdelshyeek dzänh de’ kah, dits’än 3PL:PL.go.hunting:IPV:CUST muskrat looking.for duck de’ kah de’ t’eey, diniign, udzih įį’eh tah. (N) looking.for if ADVZR moose caribou etc. ‘Downland, they’d set traps and go hunting for muskrat and ducks and moose and caribou, whatever there is.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0804:021

Įį’eh (tah) is occasionally used to coordinate noun phrases (536); its syntax seems to be similar to that of eh/eł ‘and’ in that it occurs following each item. (536) a. Gah įį’eh hugn dayh įį’eh uxah na’įlshyah… (S) rabbit and etc. chicken and 3PL:for 3SG:handle.PL.O:IT:PFV ‘He brought rabbits and chickens back for them…’ ANLC4122a-069 b. Ishyi’, ndląą shyi’ shyi’ įį’eh itth’an’ ay ch’ale’ 3SG:meat lots meat meat also 3SG:bones 3SG FOC ts’ihtąy’ uxah ehtsįį ay nehtsayh. (T) bow.and.arrow 3SG:for 3SG 3SG:make.SG.O:PFV 3SG:gather:IPV ‘He gathered up all the meat, lots of meat, and also the bones to make bow and arrow.’ UTOLAF13May2403:098 20.1.1.4. Coordination with first person singular When the speaker is one of the entities being conjoined, one of two strategies may be used. Sometimes the free pronoun shiy/shin ‘1SG’ is conjoined as one of the items (537). In (537a) shin ‘I’ is conjoined using NP eł NP eł, and the verb is inflected for first-person plural subject. In (537b) the verb is inflected for first-person singular subject, and shiy ‘I’ is linked asyndetically to the preceding list of people. The first strategy seems to be more frequent. (537) a. Roy eł shin eł shyįį’ t’eey hu’eł Roy and 1SG and only ADVZR 3PL:with natsetdak. (T) 1PL:PL.go.around:IPV:CUST ‘Just Roy and I were walking about with them.’ UTOLAF09Jun2902:004

NONCLAUSAL COORDINATION

351

b. Shaak’ay Maggie, Northway Albert and my cousin 1SG:maternal.aunt Maggie Northway Albert and my cousin Eva, Ben Albert, ts’iikeey iin Lee Northway, Jasper Charlie, Eva Ben Albert children PL Lee Northway Jasper Charlie my brother Josh Demit, Carl my brother, shiy tah hu’eh my brother Josh Demit Carl my brother 1SG among 3PL:with natihdaag, ay iin shyįį’. (N) 1SG:SG.go.around:IPV:CUST:NOM and PL only ‘My auntie Maggie, Northway Albert and my cousin Eva Ben Albert, the children Lee Northway, Jasper Charlie, my brother Josh Demit, my brother Carl, me as well, I walked around with them, just them.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:007 When the pronoun shiy/shin ‘1SG’ is not used, the other noun phrase(s) are optionally followed by eh/eł and the verb is inflected for first-person plural subject, indicating that the speaker is included in this group. (534) illustrates this for the Tetlin dialect, (538) for Northway. (538) a. Stsǫǫ du’ ohts’ąy dats’ee’dah. (N) 1SG:grandmother CT other.side 1PL:SG.sit.up:IPV ‘My grandmother and I were sitting up on [something] on the other side.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:087 b. Shǫǫnüü Arthur eh mbaa ts’idloo::h. (N) 1SG:older.brother Arthur and 3SG:for 1PL:laugh:IPV ‘My older brother Arthur and I were laughing so hard at him!’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:077 20.1.2. Disjunction Disjunction, the linguistic expression of the presence of alternatives, is rare in Upper Tanana. Most commonly, the English disjunction or is borrowed (539). (539) Bertha or stsǫǫ Anna, hutsädn’ kol de’ tsät Bertha or 1SG:grandmother Anna 3PL:wood:POSS NEGEX if wood kah huxah ‹‹niidalshyeek››. (N) for 3PL:for 3PL:bring.PL.O:PFV:CUST ‘If Bertha or my grandmother Anna didn’t have wood, they would get wood for them.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:034

352

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

It is also possible to express disjunction without borrowing. In that case, the alternative options are juxtaposed and the second one is followed by the modal particle le’ ‘DUB’ (540). Note that in all instances the translation suggests a great degree of uncertainty, which is likely conferred by le’ ‘DUB’. (540) a. Ch’idia’ hashyiign tuuthał shyiit INDF:younger.sister NTRL:down:ALL soup in unįh’ąy eł [łįį naagn’] [dii naagn’ le’] 3SG:look:PFV:NOM and dog eye what eye DUB ushyiit natateełeek. (T) 3SG:in 3PL:PL.move.around.in.liquid:IPV:CUST ‘The younger sister looked down into her soup and there were dogs’ eyes or eyes of I don’t know what floating around in it.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:024 b. Xa::y hǫǫłįį de’ k’ahdu’ November hǫǫłįį, winter AR:be:IPV if now November AR:be:IPV yeah, [December], [January] le’ hihdįįtsįį de’ yeah December January DUB 3PL:be.hungry:IPV if hahiitaa’aał. (N) 3PL>3SG:take.out.CO:FUT ‘When it is real winter—now it is November, yeah, maybe in December or January—when they’re hungry, they will take it out.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:087 Disjunctive strategies appear to be rare in (Northern) Dene languages in general. Rice (1989, 1052) states that in Hare the coordinator gúhshį ‘or’ is used but does not comment on its frequency (only one example of this coordinator is included). Cook (2004, 316) describes the possible disjunctive coordinator húto in Dëne Sųłiné which, as he clearly demonstrates, may, however, be interpreted as a modal particle instead. (Note that Upper Tanana le’ ‘DUB’ also functions as a modal particle; see sec. 9.3 for details.) In Tsilhqút’ín disjunctive coordination is expressed by the adverb k’és ‘almost’, according to Cook (2013, 110–11). The most detailed discussion of the rarity of disjunction in Dene languages can be found in Kibrik (2004, 548), who points out that Upper Kuskokwim has no “native disjunctive construction” and that the English borrowing o ‘or’ is used instead. He suggests that the lack of choices offered in the harsh environment of interior Alaska may be a cultural reason for the absence of this construction. As attractive as Kibrik’s reasoning is—and the rareness of dedicated dis-

NONCLAUSAL COORDINATION

353

junctive coordinators in Northern Dene languages is indisputable—I wish to add a caveat. As shown by the Upper Tanana examples and the data cited by Cook (2004, 2013), the lack of a dedicated disjunctive coordinator does not mean Northern Dene languages cannot express disjunction. Instead, it appears that these languages have developed disjunctive strategies that do not necessarily involve a dedicated disjunctive coordinator. 20.1.3. Correlative coordination There does not appear to be a mechanism for correlative coordination in Upper Tanana. 20.2. Coordination of postpositional phrases There are only a handful of examples of coordinated postpositional phrases. In all instances, postpositional phrases are coordinated asyndetically (541). (541) a. Huugn dach’etl’uuk tat’eey, dach’etl’uuk also 3SG:set.snare:IPV:CUST also 3SG:set.snare:IPV:CUST tah t’eey [noogaay xah] t’eey, [niiduuy xah] t’eey [tthiikaan also fox for ADVZR lynx for ADVZR wolf xah] t’eey. (T) for ADVZR ‘He would also set snares, he would set snares, for fox, for lynx, [and] for wolf.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1501:025 b. Tatlogn [unįį’ k’it] [ditthi’ k’it] hashyǫǫ tuu algae 3SG:face on REFL:head on NTRL:down:ABL water shyiit haanal’ah, oh! (N) in 3SG:stick.out.CO:IT:PFV oh ‘There was algae on her face and her head when she stuck them out of the water again, oh!’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:105 There is no instance of disjunction of postpositional phrases. 20.3. Coordination of adverbs Coordination of adverbs is generally rare. Adverbials are coordinated by juxtaposition; their meanings are simply combined (542). (542) a. Ishyiit dziin shyįį’ hǫǫ’ shdįįni’. (N) then day only thus 3SG>1SG:say:PFV ‘Then, only on that day did he tell me thus.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2301:146

354

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Neenaattheh dą’, niithaa::d dą’, negn’ Nahk’ade 1PL:long.before at long.ago at upland:ALL fish.trap dą’, dineey iin, stsay iin, stsǫǫ iin at people PL 1SG:grandfather PL 1SG:grandmother PL stsǫǫ iin nahugn hihdeltth’ii eł t’eey. (T) 1SG:grandmother PL there 3PL:PL.stay:IPV:NOM and ADVZR ‘A long time before us, a long time ago upland at ‘fish trap’ (Last Tetlin) people: my grandparents, my grandmothers were staying out there.’ UTOLAF10Jul0801:001

Most instances of asyndetic adverb coordination involve stacked directional adverbs that refine geographic reference (543); see also Brucks (2015). (543) a. Ay hada’ negn’ du’ shee’eh and NTRL:downriver:ALL upland:ALL CT 1SG:maternal.uncle Steven Northway dits’iikeey iin di’aat Edna eh Steven Northway REFL.PSR:children PL REFL.PSR:wife Edna with hushyah hǫǫłįį tl’aan. (N) 3PL:house AR:be:IPV and ‘A little downstream and upland is my uncle Stephen Northway’s, his kids’, and his wife Edna’s, house.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0804:014 b. Ay tl’aan chih Herman Kessler mǫǫsi’ chih hanaat and.then also Hermann Kessler 3SG:name also NTRL:across:PNCT ahne’, … (N) NTRL:upriver:ALL ‘And then Hermann Kessler was his name, [his store was] at a place across [the river] and upriver…’ UTCBVDN13Nov0804:044 To express sequential directional movement it is possible to coordinate spatial adverbs with tl’aan ‘and then’. (544a) describes how Loon cures an old man’s blindness by diving with him: he first swims down into the water and then swims up and out, repeating the process multiple times. (544b) was a failed attempt to elicit the Upper Tanana prefix string for moving on a zigzagging trajectory. Directional adverbs coordinated with tl’aan thus describe sequential movements rather than rendering the described location or direction more precise.

NONCLAUSAL COORDINATION

355

(544) a. Shyign’ tah tuu shyiit tl’aan degn’ down:ALL among water in and.then up:ALL yaahatmeeł tl’aan tay’ shyign’ tah 3SG:swim.up:IT:IPV:PROG and.then again down:ALL among tl’aan degn’ tah yaahatmeeł. (N) (N) and.then up:ALL among 3SG:swim.up:IT:IPV:PROG ‘Down into the water and up he swam back out and then again down and up he swam back out.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:045 b. Duhda’ skinįįshyah tl’aan duhdegn’ PROX:downriver:ALL 3SG:SG.go.across:PFV and.then PROX:up:ALL tl’aan duhnaan’ dii kah nanita’ ch’a and.then PROX:across:ALL something for 3SG:look.for:IPV FOC dąy. (N) do:IPV:NOM ‘He went a little ways downriver and then up and then across; he did that [because] he was looking for something.’ UTOLAF15Dec0607:004 There is one instance of disjunction of adverbs (545). It is structurally identical to the examples for noun disjunction given in section 20.1.2, with the exception that the adverbs are not juxtaposed. (545) K’ahdąą’de’ utahshyüüt tädn de’ t’eey le’. (N) tomorrow AR:snow:FUT night when:FUT ADVZR DUB ‘It’s going to snow tomorrow or tonight maybe.’ UTOLAF15Dec0603:015 20.4. Summary Strategies used for clause coordination differ from those used for coordination of nonclausal elements; only the latter type is discussed in this chapter. Noun phrases are usually coordinated using the coordinator eh/eł, which is formally identical to the postposition P+eh/eł ‘with P’. The coordinator follows each coordinated noun phrase. There are also instances where it does not follow the last noun in a chain; it is possible that this is due to the influence of English. Noun phrases may also be coordinated by juxtaposition. This happens in particular when the noun phrases form a conceptual unit such as ‘siblings’ or ‘parents’, neither of which is lexicalized in Upper Tanana, or when listing more than three items. More rarely, noun phrases are coordinated using the extender įį’eh/įį’eł (tah) ‘etc., as well’. Like eh/eł, it occurs after each coordinated

356

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

noun phrase. There is no dedicated disjunctive coordinator in Upper Tanana; instead, the dubitative marker le’ is used. Le’ follows only the second noun phrase, never the first. Alternatively, the borrowed disjunction or may be used. Postpositional phrases and adverbs are coordinated by juxtaposition; directional adverbs can also be coordinated with tl’aan ‘and then’ when successive directional movement is described. Notes 1. Semantically, a link between įį and the plural enclitic iin is plausible, but they consistently differ phonetically.

21 | Quantification of entities This chapter describes quantification of entities using numerals, deverbal quantifiers, and interrogative pronouns. 21.1. Quantification by numerals Quantification by numerals is not common, and usually only the numerals for one through four are used in such constructions (see also vol. 1, chap. 20). As discussed in chapter 19, the numeral may precede or follow the quantified noun (546). The presence of the numeral neither precludes nor requires the presence of iin. Note, however, that the quantified noun in (546b) obligatorily occurs in the plural form when quantified by a numeral other than one. (546) a. łaakeey ts’exeey gaay shyįį’ (T) two girls only ‘only two girls’

UTOLAF09Jun2202:005

b. dineey łaakeey iin (T) men two PL ‘two men’

UTOLAF09Aug1301:001

Only count nouns can occur with numerals; see section 2.2. 21.2. De-verbal quantifiers Several quantifiers in Upper Tanana are derived from verb forms, including ndlaan ‘a lot, many’, ntsiin ‘a little, few’, and łahtthegn (nts’ą̈ ’), łahtthagn (nts’ą’) ‘all, every’. 21.2.1. Ndlaan ‘a lot, many’ The quantifier ndlaan ‘a lot, many’ is the nominalized third-person singular Ø-perfective form of the neuter theme Ø+dląą ‘be plentiful, many’. Ndlaan follows the noun it quantifies. Ndlaan is used both for count nouns (547a) and for mass nouns (547b).

358

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(547) a. Uts’iikeey ndlaan hǫǫłįį. (N) 3SG:children many AR:be:IPV ‘She has many children.’

UTOLAF12Jul1202:022

b. Łiat hǫǫ’t’eey ndlaan eedlah. (N) flour still lots 3PL:classify.PL.O:IPV ‘There’s still plenty of flour.’ UT Notebook #4, p. 64 (547b) shows that ndlaan retains some verbal properties, in that other material may intervene between the quantifier and the quantified entity. (548a, b) show that it inflects for person, number, and negation. (548c) demonstrates that it allows the comparative derivation. (548) a. Ts’įįdlaan toot’eey ushyiit dzeltth’iik… (T) 1PL:be.many:IPV although 3SG:in 1PL:PL.sit:IPV:CUST ‘Even though we were many we would sit in [the boat]…’ UTCBVDN13Nov1501:055 b. Hǫǫ’ ch’ale ‹‹hediign›› k’ahdu’ dziin, k’a thus FOC 3PL:do:IPV:CUST:NOM today NEG hiidlaan nah’ogn ntsiin iin hǫǫ’ 3PL:be.many:IPV:NEG MED:out:AR 3PL:be.few:IPV PL thus hediik. (T) 3PL:do:IPV:CUST ‘That’s what they do today, not very many, but some still do that.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:025 c. Hǫǫ’ hįhdlaa ts’ą’ tat’eey neekahcheexąą. (T) thus 3PL:be.as.many:IPV ADVZR also INDF>1PL:kill.off:PFV ‘As many as there were, they killed all of us.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:135 21.2.2. Ntsiin ‘a little, few’ The quantifier ntsiin ‘a little, few’ functions in an analogous way to ndlaan. Ntsiin is the nominalized third-person singular Ø-perfective form of the neuter theme Ø-tsiin ‘be few’. It has a high stem tone and thus is likely an inherently negative stem (vol. 1, chap. 11). Like ndlaan, ntsiin follows the quantified noun and is used with mass and count nouns (549).

QUANTIFICATION OF ENTITIES

359

(549) a. Łiat ntsiin shyįį’ ahugn eedlah. (N) flour a.little only in.there 3PL:classify.PL.O:IPV ‘There’s only a little flour in there.’ UT Notebook #4, p. 64 b. Łuugn ntsiin shyįį’ hats’įįdlah. (N) fish few only 1PL:take.out.PL.O:PFV ‘We only took out a few fish.’ UT Notebook #4, p. 64 21.2.3. Łahtthegn (nts’ą̈ ’), łahtthagn (nts’ą’) ‘all’ The universal quantifier łahtthegn (nts’ą̈ ’), łahtthagn (nts’ą’) is the nominalized third-person plural Ø-perfective form of the neuter verb theme ła#tthek (or ła#tthak) ‘be whole, complete’ plus the adverbializer nts’ą̈ ’, nts’ą’. It always follows the quantified noun. Somewhat surprisingly, it occurs only rarely in spontaneous speech. All speakers that I have worked with regularly substitute the English word all for łahtthegn and łahtthagn; only when the text is later reviewed and transcribed is this translated back into Upper Tanana (550, 551). In the a-sentences, the original English all is used; the b- sentences contain the edited version. The contribution of nts’ą̈ ’, nts’ą’ to the quantifier is uncertain; forms with this particle are considerably more common than forms without it. (550) a. Hihtaałaa, dineey iin ts’iikeey iin all nts’ą’ hihtaałaa. (T) 3PL:PL.die:FUT men PL children PL all ADVZR 3PL:PL.die:FUT ‘They will die, all the men and children will die.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:015 b. Hihtaałaa, dineey iin, ts’iikeey iin łahtthagn nts’ą’ hihtaałaa. (551) a. Danoo ts’änh dits’änh iin all nahnatdäl… (N) PROX:ahead:ALL from duck PL all 3PL:PL.fly:IT:IPV:PROG ‘There all the ducks are flying back…’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:086 b. Danoo ts’änh dits’änh iin ‹łahtthegn› nahnatdäl … 21.3. Quantification using interrogative pronouns Together with the particle t’eey with uncertain meaning, the interrogative pronouns dii ‘what’ and doo ‘who’ form quantifying constructions in affirmative and negative clauses.

360

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

21.3.1. Dii t’eey Dii ‘what’ combines with the particle t’eey to form the quantifier ‘everything’ in affirmative clauses (552). (552) a. Dii t’eey įįjih… (T) everything forbidden ‘Everything was forbidden…’

UTOLVDN11Jul2901:044

b. Dii t’eey t’eey shyi’ t’eey ‹łahtthegn› hǫǫ’t’eey ishyiit everything ADVZR meat ADVZR all still there eedlah. (N) 3PL:classify.PL.O:IPV ‘Everything, all the meat was still there.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2725:022 In negative clauses dii t’eey is best translated as ‘anything, nothing’ (553); see also section 16.5. (553) a. K’at’eey dii t’eey ts’i’aal. (T) NEG nothing 1PL:eat:PFV:NEG ‘We didn’t eat anything.’ b. Dii t’eey k’a dihtth’egn. (N) nothing NEG 1SG:hear:IPV:NEG ‘I couldn’t hear anything.’

UTOLAF09Jun2402:027

UTOLVDN14Apr2602:043

Dii t’eey is considerably more common in negative clauses than in affirmative ones, which is probably due to the fact that the reading ‘everything’ can also be achieved using the quantifier łahtthegn (nts’ą̈ ’) / łahtthagn (nts’ą’). 21.3.2. Doo t’eey In affirmative clauses doo t’eey occurs very rarely and only has the meaning ‘someone’ rather than ‘everyone’, as analogy with dii t’eey would have suggested (see vol. 1, chap. 19 for discussion and examples). In negative clauses doo t’eey means, predictably, ‘anyone, nobody’ (554). (554) a. Doo t’eey hǫǫ shehniign… (T) nobody thus 3SG>1SG:say:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘Nobody says that to me…’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:253 b. … k’at’eey doo t’eey hiishyįį’ chaa’aal… (T) NEG nobody 3PL:only 3PL>INDF:eat:FUT:NEG ‘… nobody else may eat from it…’ UTOLVDN11Jul2901:006

QUANTIFICATION OF ENTITIES

361

Note that (554a) does not contain the negative particle k’a or k’at’eey; the negative inflection on the verb is sufficient to arrive at the intended meaning (see also sec. 16.5). 21.4. Summary Entities can be quantified by numerals, deverbal quantifiers, or interrogative pronouns.

22 | Comparison In this chapter strategies for the expression of comparison are described. There are several detailed discussions of comparative constructions in Dene languages, including Morice (1932, 146–52) on Dakelh; Kari (1979, 171– 72) on Ahtna; Rice (1989, chap. 32) on Slavey; Bogal-Allbritten (2013) and Bochnak and Bogal-Allbritten (2015) on Navajo; and Tuttle (2018) on Koyukon, Lower Tanana, and Ahtna. Except for Tuttle (2018), however, all of these studies are concerned exclusively with the morphosyntactic expression of comparison similar to what is described in section 22.2. As observed by Tuttle (2018) and discussed here in 22.3, however, there are additional strategies that, in Upper Tanana at least, are more common than morphosyntactic comparison. In Upper Tanana, relative and absolute comparisons use the same morphosyntax. In relative comparison an entity (the “topic” of comparison) is compared to some standard; in absolute comparison the topic of comparison is identified as “the most X” in its class. (This terminology, following Rice [1989], is used instead of the terms “comparative” and “superlative,” which suggest that different constructions are used.) Additionally, Upper Tanana uses this morphosyntactic strategy for the expression of implied comparisons (see 22.2.3 for a definition of this term). The parameter of comparison in Upper Tanana is almost always expressed by a verb, often one belonging to the neuter verb theme category.¹ Of the small group of adjectives described in volume 1, chapter 18, only choh ‘big’ occasionally serves as standard of comparison. 22.1. Cultural note The overt comparison of entities is something that generally is not done in Upper Tanana culture. The reason for this is that comparison can easily lead to bragging, something that is considered įįjih and thus avoided (Mrs. Avis Sam, pers. comm., May 6, 2015). This became clear during elicitation. The response

COMPARISON

363

to the stimulus, “I have more money than Caleb” was originally (555a), but then Mrs. Sam added (555b–c). (555)

UT Notebook #4, p. 32 (N) a. Caleb ch’ashyiit t’eey shelsüü’ hǫǫłįį. Caleb more.than ADVZR 1SG:money:POSS AR:be:IPV ‘I have more money than Caleb.’ b. Nchinshyiit ch’idhįįdlay la dįįnay? 2SG:cache 2SG>INDF:keep.PL.O:IPV:NOM Q 2SG:say:IPV:NOM ‘Are you saying that you have lots of stuff in your cache?’ c. Shiy hǫǫ’ dihdį’ sǫ’ dahniign. 1SG thus 1SG:do:IPV PROH 2PL:say:IPV:CUST:NOM ‘Don’t PL brag.’ (lit. ‘Don’t PL say, I did this.’)

She further explained that (555b) is a sarcastic remark made when someone— usually a child—is bragging. It is a reminder that to say that one has lots of provisions in one’s cache is įįjih and severely jeopardizes one’s luck. When the child (or linguist) does not pick up on (555b), an elder might give the clear prohibition in (555c), although, as discussed in section 15.2, direct prohibitions also are generally avoided. Tuttle (2018, 113) makes a similar observation regarding superlatives, suggesting that they are so rare in spontaneous speech because “incomplete knowledge does not provide an acceptable base for claiming that an entity is the ‘most’ anything.” This observation (discussed in detail in Tuttle [2018, 110–13]) holds for Upper Tanana as well; as a result, much of the data in this chapter comes from elicitation following the strategies suggested in Bochnak and Bogal-Allbritten (2015) and Tuttle (2018). Textual examples are marked by (t) following the example reference, elicited examples by (e). 22.2. Morphosyntactic comparison Morphosyntactic comparison requires one of several comparative aspectual strings applying to the verb expressing the parameter of comparison. When the verb belongs to the dimensional verb theme category, these prefix strings trigger the comparative derivation in dimensional verb themes, which changes a Ø- voice/valence marker to H- and in a few instances also affects the verb stem. The inventory of comparative prefix strings in Upper Tanana is given in table 22.1. Comparative aspectual strings express absolute and relative comparison as well as implied comparison, where no standard is expressed (see sec. 22.2.3).

364

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Prefix string hu+ch’ashyiit ## H+stem hu+ch’anoo’ ## H+stem P+ch’ashyiit ## H+stem P+ch’anoo ## H+stem P+k’e’ ## H+stem P+k’eh ## H+stem nił+k’eh ## H+stem nił+i#L+stem su’ ## H+stem k’a(t’eey) su’ ## H+stem nts’ąą’ ## H+stem da#t+H+stem measure ## H+stem

Gloss ‘be the most X’ ‘be the most X’ ‘be more X than P’ ‘be a lot more X than P’ ‘be less X than P’ ‘be as X as P’ ‘be equally X’ ‘be equally X’ ‘be X enough’ ‘be not very X’ ‘be how X?’ ‘be how X! be so X! be exceedingly X!’ ‘be measure amount X’

absolute superiority inferiority

relative

equivalence

implied

Table 22.1. Comparative prefix strings The morphological effects caused by the comparative derivations are illustrated in (556). (556a) shows the verb theme Ø+chaa ‘to be big’ in its primary derivation. The comparative forms in (556b, c) contain an H- voice/valence marker and show the comparative stem variation. (556) a. K’a elk’aa t’oo nchaa… (N) k’a el-k’aa t’oo n-chaa NEG 3SG.S:NEG.PFV:L-be.fat:IPV:NEG but 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.big:IPV ‘She wasn’t fat, but big…’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:154 (t) b. Didia’ gaay ch’ashyiit t’eey įhchah. (N) d-dia’ gaay ch’ashyiit t’eey REFL.PSR-younger.sister small more.than ADVZR įh-chah 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:H-be.big:IPV ‘He’s taller than his younger sister.’ UTOLAF15Dec0601:015 (e)

COMPARISON

365

c. Aneg’, Skate Lake k’eh įhchay manh. (T) a-neg’ Skate Lake k’eh įh-chay NTRL:upland:ALL Skate Lake like 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:H-be.big:PFV:NOM manh lake ‘It’s about as big a lake as Skate Lake up there, the lake.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2303:024 (t) While usually only verb themes with a Ø- voice/valence marker exhibit the change to H-, the in pair (557) shows that at least one speaker can change an L-voice/valence marker to H- in this construction. (Also, it appears that the verb theme’s n- qualifier disappears in the comparative derivation.) In other verb themes with an L- voice/valence-marker, this does not seem to happen (see, e.g., [560a]). (557) a. Neldzeegn hǫǫchaa neldzeek. (N) neldzeegn hǫǫchaa nel-dzeek lamp very 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-be.bright:IPV ‘This lamp is very bright.’ UTOLAF15May0702:014 (e) b. Jin łaakay iin ch’ashyiit t’eey įhdzeek. (N) jin łaakaay iin ch’ashyiit t’eey įh-dzeek this two PL more.than ADVZR 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:H-be.bright:PFV ‘This one is brighter than the other two.’ UTOLAF15May0701:025 (e) The parameter of comparison is most often a dimensional verb theme, but verb themes belonging to other verb theme categories may be used in this construction as well. Agtthał ‘I’m running’ in (558a) is a motion verb; hi’etnayh ‘he knew’ in (558b) and ch’agndzüh ‘I’m dancing’ in (558c) belong to the operative verb theme category.² In these cases the comparison expresses that the subject possesses the ability to perform the activity expressed by the verb theme to a greater degree than the standard does. Note that the voice/valence marker change and the stem changes that are part of the comparative prefix strings do not apply to verb themes not belonging to the dimensional verb theme category. (558) a. Nch’ashyiit agtthał. (T) n-ch’ashyiit ag-tthał 2SG.P-more.than AA.IPV:1SG.S:L-run:IPV:PROG ‘I run faster than you SG.’ UTOLAF15May0609:015 (e)

366

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. That one du’ shch’anoo’ t’eey hits’etnayh. (N) that one du’ sh-ch’anoo’ t’eey that one CT 1SG.P-lots.more.than ADVZR h-i-ts’-et-nayh AR.P-PP-?-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:D-know:IPV ‘That one knew a lot more than me.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:029 (t) c. Mary ch’ahnoo’ hǫǫsǫǫ ch’agndzüh. (N) Mary ch’ahnoo’ hǫǫsǫǫ ch’agn-dzüh Mary lots.more.than well INDF:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:L-dance:IPV ‘I dance a lot better than Mary.’ UT Notebook #2, p. 47 (e)

Usually the subject of the verb serves as topic of comparison, but possessors (555a, 559a) and direct objects (559b) can do so as well. (559) a. Uch’anoo shelsüü’ hǫǫłįį. (N) u-ch’anoo’ sh-elsüü’ hǫǫ-łįį 3SG.P-lots.more.than 1SG.PSR-money:POSS AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV ‘I have a lot more money than he does.’ UTOLAF15May0609:014 (e) b. Łuugn huch’ahnoo’ įhchay dhakłoh. (N) łuugn hu-ch’ahnoo’ įh-chay fish 3PL.P-lots.more.than 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:H-be.big:PFV:NOM dhak-łoh DH.PFV:1SG.S:H-hook:PFV ‘I caught [with a hook] a much larger fish than they did.’ UT Notebook #2, p. 47 (e) 22.2.1. Absolute comparison In absolute comparisons there is no standard to which the entity is being compared; it is instead identified as that entity possessing the greatest degree of the quality in question. In naturalistic discourse this is usually expressed prosodically (see sec. 22.3.1). In elicitation Tetlin speakers will sometimes use P+ch’anoo’/ch’ahnoo ‘lots more than’ with an areal object, as is done in (560). These sentences were elicited using English superlatives, as indicated in the translations. There are no spontaneous examples of this construction, nor are there any examples in the Northway dialect; hence this construction will not be discussed further.

COMPARISON

367

(560) a. Jah hiiyetnaan elkąy huch’anoo’ t’eey. (T) jah hiiyetnaan this 3PL.S>3SG.O-Ø.IPV:D-drink:IPV:NOM elkąy huch’anoo’ t’eey 3SG.S:DH.PFV:L-be.sweet:IPV AR:lots.more.than ADVZR ‘This beverage is the sweetest of all.’ UTOLAF15May0608:048 (e) b. Huch’ahnoo’ nįįndia. (T) AR:lots.more.than 3SG:be.long:PFV ‘This is the longest [rope].’ UTOLAF15May0609:009 (e) 22.2.2. Relative comparison Different types of relative comparison can be distinguished. Comparison of superiority uses the postpositions P+ch’ashyiit ‘more than P’ and P+ch’ahnoo’ ‘lots more than P’; comparison of inferiority uses P+k’e’ ‘less than P’, and comparison of equivalence uses P+k’eh ‘like P’. 22.2.2.1. Comparison of superiority The most common postposition used in comparison is P+ch’ashyiit ‘more than P’ (561). The postposition often bears a high pitch on the second syllable: P+ch’ashyíít. (561) a. Caleb shch’ashyiit hǫǫshyąą. (T) Caleb sh-ch’ashyiit hǫǫ-shyąą Caleb 1SG.P-more.than 3SG.S:AR:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.smart:IPV ‘Caleb is smarter than me.’ UTOLAF15May0609:013 (e) b. Nch’ashyiit agtthał. (T) n-ch’ashyiit ag-tthał 2SG.P-more.than AA.IPV:1SG.S:L-run:IPV:PROG ‘I run faster than you.’ UTOLAF15May0609:015 (e) c. Łįį dat-sąy ch’ashyiit įhchah. (N) łįį dat-sąy ch’ashyiit dog 3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:D-be.black:IPV:NOM more.than įh-chah 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:H-be.big:IPV ‘It is bigger than the black dog.’ UTOLAF15May0701:002 (e)

368

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

Both the topic of comparison and the standard may be expressed by pronoun or by a full noun phrase. While the subject usually precedes the postpositional phrase, the postpositional phrase of the standard may also occur in postverbal position (562). (562) a. Łįį iin ch’edzihaałeeł naxan ch’ashyiit t’eey. (N) łįį iin ch’edzi-haa-łeeł naxan dog PL quadruped-3PL.S:AA.IPV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV:PROG those ch’ashyiit t’eey more.than ADVZR ‘These dogs run faster than those ones.’ UTOLAF15May0703:023 (e) b. Uke’ įhchah ch’a jin łaakay iin ch’ashyiit t’eey. (N) u-ke’ įh-chah ch’a jin łaakay iin 3SG.PSR-feet 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:H-big:PFV FOC these two PL ch’ashyiit t’eey more.than ADVZR ‘His feet are bigger than these other two.’ UTOLAF15May0701:010 (e) The changed word order does not appear to affect the meanings; the following two sentences differ in word order but not in meaning. (The postpositional phrase shaa ‘for me’ in [563a] indicates that the relative beauty of the sisters is a personal judgment and is not caused by the changed word order.) It is unclear why the speaker uses the form ahshyiit in (563b) rather than the more usual ch’ahshyiit; this variant occurs occasionally in her speech. (563) a. Shaadeh shaa t’eey nsǫǫ shdia’ ch’ashyiit. (N) sh-aadeh sh-aa t’eey n-sǫǫ 1SG.PSR-older.sister 1SG.P-for ADVZR 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.pretty:IPV sh-dia’ ch’ashyiit 1SG.PSR-younger.sister more.than ‘My older sister is prettier than my younger sister, in my opinion.’ UT Notebook #2, p. 47 (e)

COMPARISON

369

b. Shaadeh shdia’ ahshyiit t’eey nsǫǫ. (N) sh-aadeh sh-dia’ ahshyiit t’eey 1SG.PSR-older.sister 1SG.PSR-younger.sister more.than ADVZR n-sǫǫ 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.pretty:IPV ‘My older sister is prettier than my younger sister.’ UT Notebook #2, p. 47 (e) When the difference between the topic of comparison and the standard is substantial, the postposition P+ch’anoo’, ch’ahnoo’ ‘a lot more than P’ may be used instead of P+ch’ashyiit ‘more than P’ (564). The postposition also often bears a high tone on the second syllable: P+ch’anóó’. There is no exact cutoff point determining when P+ch’anoo’, ch’ahnoo’ is used rather than P+ch’ashyiit. (564) a. Diniign tthįį’ ts’iit ch’ahnoo’ t’eey nsǫǫ. (T) diniign tthįį’ ts’iit ch’ahnoo’ t’eey moose meat porcupine lots.more.than ADVZR n-sǫǫ 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.good:IPV ‘Moose meat is a lot nicer than porcupine.’ UTOLAF07Oct2504:019 (e) b. Mary ch’ahnoo’ hǫǫsǫǫ ch’agndzüh. (N) Mary ch’anoo hǫǫsǫǫ ch’agn-dzüh Mary lots.more.than well INDF:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:L-dance:IPV ‘I dance a lot better than Mary.’ UT Notebook #2, p. 47 (e) Syntactically, P+ch’anoo’ behaves exactly like P+ch’ashyiit. Standard and topic of comparison may be expressed by full noun phrase or by pronominal prefix. The postpositional phrase usually precedes the verb but may also be postposed (565). (565) a. Shliig’ iin nįįt’aayh nch’ahnoo nt’eh. sh-liig’ iin nįį-t’aayh 1SG.PSR-dog:POSS PL 3PL.S:N.PFV:Ø-be.strong:IPV n-ch’ahnoo’ nt’eh 2SG.P-lots.more.than ASRT ’My dogs are for sure a lot faster than yours SG !’ UTOLAF07Oct2504:028 (e)

370

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Ts’iit tthįį’ nįįts’iik diniign tthįį’ ch’ahnoo’ t’eey. ts’iit tthįį’ nįį-ts’iik diniign tthįį’ porcupine meat 3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-be.bitter:IPV moose meat ch’ahnoo’ t’eey lots.more.than ADVZR ‘Porcupine meat tastes a lot worse (lit. ‘more bitter’) than moose meat.’ UTOLAF07Oct2504:019 (e)

22.2.2.2. Comparison of inferiority In comparisons of inferiority the postposition P+k’e’ ‘less than P’ is used (566). (566) a. Łįį dat-sąy nahat łaakay łįį k’e’ įhtsuul. (N) łįį dat-sąy nahat łaakay łįį dog 3SG.S:QUAL:AA.PFV:D-black:IPV:NOM that two dog k’e’ įh-tsuul less.than 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:H-small:PFV ‘The black dog is smaller than the other two dogs.’ UTOLAF15May0701:004 (e) b. Dineh gaay dinąą k’e’ įhchah. (T) dineh gaay di-nąą k’e’ įh-chah boy REFL.PSR-mother less.than 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:H-big:PFV ‘The boy is almost as big as his mother.’ UTOLAF07Oct2504:007 (e) Note that either Ø+tsuul ‘be small, short’ or Ø+chaa ‘be big, tall’ may be used here. If Ø+chaa ‘be big, tall’ is used, the resulting meaning is that the compared entity is almost but not quite as big as the standard, whereas Ø+tsuul ‘be small, short’ apparently indicates that the difference between compared entity and standard is larger. Again, the standard of comparison may follow the verb (567). (567) Uke’ gaay uk’e’ įhtsuul ch’a uke’ choh. u-ke’ gaay u-k’e’ įh-tsuul ch’a 3SG.PSR-feet small 2SG.P-less.than 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:H-small:PFV FOC u-ke’ choh 3SG.PSR-feet big ‘The small feet are smaller than the big feet.’ UTOLAF15May0608:011 (e)

COMPARISON

371

A second way of expressing comparison of inferiority involves the postposition P+k’eh ‘like P’, which usually expresses comparison of equivalence (see sec. 22.2.2.3). When P+k’eh ‘like P’ is used to express comparison of inferiority, the negated verb is preceded not only by the negative marker k’a(t’eey) but also by the degree adverb su’, suu ‘very’. The resulting construction then could be translated as ‘S is less X than P’ (568a), ‘S is not as X as P’ (568b). No naturalistic examples of this construction are attested, so it is possible that it is a calque from English. (568) a. Jah dineh k’a su’ ilk’aa uk’eh. (T) jah dineh k’a su’ il-k’aa u-k’eh here man NEG very 3SG.S:NEG.PFV:L-be.fat:PFV:NEG 3SG.P-like ‘This man here is skinnier [than that one]; he is not as fat as him.’ UTOLAF15May0608:038 (e) b. Nk’eh k’a su’ agntthal. (T) n-k’eh k’a su’ agn-tthal 2SG.P-like NEG very AA.IPV:1SG.S:L-run:IPV:NEG ‘I don’t run as fast as you SG.’ UTOLAF15May0609:019 (e) 22.2.2.3. Comparison of equivalence In comparison of equivalence P+k’eh ‘like P’ is used. There are several spontaneous examples of this; (569a) was volunteered during an elicitation session comparing different shoe sizes, while (569b) comes from a narrative. In (569a) the parameter of comparison is an adjective, not a verb. (569) a. Gah k’eh uke’ choh. (N) gah k’eh u-ke’ choh rabbit like 3SG.PSR-foot big ‘His feet [are] as big as a rabbit[’s].’ UTOLAF15May0701:009 (e) b. Łaakay, łaakay k’eh hįhchah, henih. (T) łaakay łaakay k’eh hįh-chah he-nih two two like 3PL.S:Ø.PFV:H-be.big:PFV 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV ‘They are two, two [feet] tall, they say.’ UTOLVDN13May2902:013 (t) Reciprocal comparison of equivalence is expressed by prefixing the index with the reciprocal prefix. In the one spontaneous instance of this (570a), the expected change of the verb’s voice/valence marker from H- to L- takes place

372

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(see vol. 1, chap. 27), while in the elicited example (570b) it does not; the form hįldüü (with changed voice/valence marker) was rejected by this speaker on a later date. Note that in (570a), the bound postposition P+i ‘affecting P’ is used rather than P+k’eh ‘like P’. (570) a. … nił’ihdaltayh. (T) nił-i-h-dal-tayh RECP.P-PP-3PL.S-QUAL:AA.PFV:L-be.strong:PFV ‘… they were as strong as each other.’ UTOLVDN13May2902:040 (t) b. Ts’iiniin gaay łaakay niłk’eh t’eey hįhdüü. (N) ts’iiniin gaay łaakay nił-k’eh t’eey hįh-düü baby two RECP.P-like ADVZR 3PL.S:Ø.PFV:H-be.heavy:IPV ‘The two babies are equally heavy.’ UTOLAF15Dec0601:009 (e) 22.2.3. Implied comparison The term “implied comparison” follows Morice (1932, 147–48), who uses it to describe cognate constructions in Dakelh. These constructions are characterized by comparative morphology when the parameter of comparison is expressed by a dimensional verb theme, but do not involve direct comparison of entities. 22.2.3.1. Nts’ąą’ ## H+stem ‘how X?’ When inquiring to which degree a property is exhibited by a referent, the dimensional verb theme expressing the property occurs in the comparative derivation (571). (571) a. Ts’iiniin gaay nts’ąą’ įhdüh? (N) ts’iiniin gaay nts’ąą’ įh-düh baby how 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:H-be.heavy:IPV ‘How heavy is the baby?’ UTOLAF15Dec0601:007 (e) b. …hi’ishnayh nts’ąą’ t’eey dįhtayh. (T) h-i-ish-nayh nts’ąą’ t’eey AR.P-PP-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:D-know:IPV how ADVZR dįh-tayh QUAL:Ø.PFV:2SG.S:H-be.strong:IPV ‘… I know how strong you are.’ UTOLVDN13May2902:046 (t)

COMPARISON

373

22.2.3.2. K’a(t’eey) (su’) ## H+stem ‘be not very X’ Morice (1932, 148) and Kari (1979, 171), in describing Dakelh and Ahtna, respectively, both cite a comparative prefix string ‘sufficiently X’ involving the (presumably disjunct) prefix su-. This is not attested in my data, but there is a negative prefix string k’a(t’eey) su’ ## H+stem³ ‘be not very X’, which may be related to the Dakelh and Ahtna prefix strings. The only textual example with this semantics does not contain su’ (572b). (572) a. K’a su’ nildzeeg. (T) k’a su’ nil-dzeeg NEG very 3SG.S:QUAL:NEG.PFV:L-be.bright:IPV:NEG ‘[The lamp] is not very bright.’ UTOLAF15May0608:045 (e) b. “K’a unihthaad,” yehnih. (N) k’a hu-nih-thaad y-eh-nih NEG AR.S:NEG.PFV:H-be.far:IPV:NEG 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV “‘[Do not go] not very far,” he said to her.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:283 (t) 22.2.3.3. Da#t+H+stem ‘how X! exceedingly X! so X!’ Unlike most of the other comparative prefix strings, da#t+H+stem ‘how X! exceedingly X! so X!’ occurs quite frequently in natural speech. Its formal properties are described in section 22.2.3.3.1; its semantics in section 22.2.3.3.2. 22.2.3.3.1. Formal properties Alone among the comparative prefix strings, da#t+H+stem requires the dh-perfective (573). (573) a. “Datidhįhtsuul t’eey ishyiit dänh nts’ąą’ ch’a dįįnay?” shehnih. (N) da-t-dhįh-tsuul t’eey ishyiit dänh nts’ąą’ ADM-INC-DH.PFV:2SG.S:H-be.small:IPV ADVZR then at:PNCT how ch’a dįį-nay sh-eh-nih FOC QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-say:IPV:NOM 1SG.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘You were too young at that time, how could you remember this?” he asked me.’ UTOLAF17Aug0801:017 (t) b. Datehdzaagn! (T) da-teh-dzaagn ADM-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:H-be.lightweight:IPV ‘[The baby] is so light!’ UTOLVDN14May0703:101 (e)

374

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

When the subject of the verb is expressed by the areal prefix hu-, it coalesces with preceding da- into doo- (574). (574) Dootehsu’ shyah choh huhtsįį! da-hu-teh-su’ shyah choh ADM-AR.S-INC:DH.PFV:H-be.good:PFV house big huh-tsįį 3SG.S>AR.O:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV ‘How well he built his big house!’

UTCBVDN14Jul1801:049 (t)

22.2.3.3.2. Semantics When the verb formed with da#t+H+stem functions as predicate, it indicates that the quality described by the verb is present in abundant, possibly surprising quantity (575). This is not always a good thing; this prefix string also can express that the quality is present to an excessive and thus unpleasant degree (575a), but neutral (575b) and positive (575c) evaluations using this prefix stringare also common. (575) a. “Tsin’įį! Neeshyah ‹łahtthagn nts’ą’› tuu tuu daatneehaan eł t’eey ch’a shyah udhahtsiin,” henih. (T) tsin’įį nee-shyah łahtthagn nts’ą’ tuu tuu thank.you 1PL.PSR-house all water water da-na?-tnee-haan eł ADM-IT?-3SG.S:INC:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-water.rises:PFV:NOM and t’eey ch’a shyah hu-dhah-tsiin ADVZR FOC house AR.O-DH.PFV:2PL.S:H-make.SG.O:PFV:NOM he-nih 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV “‘Thank you! Our house is flooded (lit. ‘water has risen too high [in] our house’) and you PL built a shelter!’ they said.’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:014 (t) b. Dineh datehchay ch’a nt’ay! (N) dineh da-teh-chay ch’a man ADM-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-be.tall:IPV:NOM FOC n-t’ay 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV:NOM ‘What a tall man that is!’ UTOLAF15Dec0601:021 (e)

COMPARISON

375

c. Ooooh, ch’itay datehtayh. (T) ooooh ch’itay da-teh-tayh ooooh old.man ADM-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-be.strong:IPV ‘Oooh, the old man was pretty strong.’ UTOLVDN13May1907:033 (t) With an areal subject, the resulting verb form often functions as an adverb with admirative meaning ‘how X!’. Again this prefix string can express positive (576a) or negative surprise (576b). (576) a. “Dootehxan na’įįdaał, chaay!” yehnih. (T) da-hu-teh-xan ADM-AR.S-INC:DH.PFV:H-be.quick:IPV na-įį-daał chaay IT-AA.IPV:2SG.S-D:SG.go:IPV:PROG woman’s.grandchild y-eh-nih 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“How quickly you came back, grandson!” she said to him.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:211 (t) b. “Dootnehthoo ch’a dįįt’ay,” yehnih. (N) da-hu-tneh-thoo ch’a ADM-AR.S-INC:QUAL:DH.PFV:H-be.long.time:IPV FOC dįį-t’eh y-eh-nih QUAL:Ø.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-be:IPV:NOM 3SG.S>3SG.P-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“What is taking you so long (lit. ‘What a long time you are [taking]),” he said to her.’ UTOLAF15May0501:090 (t) 22.2.3.4. Comparative derivation as quantification The comparative derivation is also used in one construction of quantification, using the comparative derivation of the dimensional verb theme Ø+dląą ‘be many’ (577)’. (577) a. Hǫǫ’ įhdlaan nts’ą’ hudach’įįxąą tl’aan. (T) hǫǫ’ įh-dlaan nts’ą’ thus 3PL.S:Ø.PFV:H-be.many:IPV:NOM ADVZR hu-da-ch’-įį-xąą tl’aan 3PL.P-CMPL-INDF-3SG.S:AA.PFV:Ø-kill.PL.O:PFV and ‘As many as there were, he killed them all.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:203 (t)

376

CLAUSE STRUCTURE b. Nts’aa’ nts’ą̈ ’ įhdlaan hudiidlay, ‹łahtthegn› hiiyįhmbiah. (N) nts’aa’ nts’ą̈ ’ įh-dlaan how ADVZR 3PL.S:Ø.PFV:H-be.as.many:IPV:NOM hu-dii-dlay łahtthegn 3PL.O-3PL.S:QUAL:I.PFV:Ø-find.PL.O:PFV:NOM all hiiy-įh-mbiah 3PL.S>3PL.O-AA.PFV:H-boil:PFV ‘As many as they found, they boiled them all.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:059 (t)

Here the product of the comparative derivation seems to function as a universal quantifier. 22.3. Other strategies Due to the cultural restrictions on morphosyntactic comparison discussed in section 22.1, it is not surprising that there are several other strategies to compare items; see Dixon (2012, 359–60). Prosodic augmentation is often used for absolute comparison, while relative comparison is often expressed by two juxtaposed clauses. 22.3.1. Prosodic augmentation Absolute comparison is often indicated by prosodic augmentation (see also chap. 23), a special prosodic pattern involving lengthening and/or pitch raising of the stem of the lexical item expressing the parameter of comparison. (A similar strategy has been reported for Koyukon by Tuttle [2018, 112].) Figure 22.1 shows the wave form and pitch track of (578a). This sentence was elicited using pictures of three girls with hair of differing lengths. The parameter of comparison is a bare stem. This stem is pronounced not only higher, but also louder and longer than comparable material (e.g., the numeral taagn ‘three’ at the beginning of the utterance). Figure 22.2 (the wave form and pitch track of [578b]) demonstrates this strategy for an extension verb theme n+Ø+t’ayh ‘be fast’, which cannot take the comparative derivation. The short stem vowel is not lengthened, but is pronounced at much higher pitch as well as louder than the rest of the utterance. Although the dimensional verb theme Ø+chaa ‘be big’ would allow the comparative derivation, the speaker chooses to use prosodic augmentation instead, as demonstrated in figure 22.3, the wave form and pitch track of (578c). Again, prosodic augmentation involves higher pitch and amplitude.

COMPARISON

377

Figure 22.1. Prosodic augmentation in absolute comparison (N), UTOLAF15May0701:030.

Figure 22.2. Prosodic augmentation in absolute comparison (T), UTOLAF07Oct2504:025.

(578) a. Taagn ts’exeh du’ utthixa’ ts’ee::gn hǫǫłįį. (N) taagn ts’exeh du’ u-tthixa’ ts’eegn hǫǫ-łįį three woman CT 3SG.PSR-hair long AR.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-be:IPV ‘The third woman has the longest hair.’ UTOLAF15May0701:030 (e) b. Shliig’ nįįt’a::yh! (T) sh-liig’ nįį-t’ayh 1SG.PSR-dog:POSS 3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-be.strong:IPV ‘My dog is the fastest!’ UTOLAF07Oct2504:025 (e) c. Dineh nchaa::. (T) dineh n-chaa man 3SG-be.tall:IPV ‘He was the tallest man.’

UTCBAF14May2502:007 (t)

378

CLAUSE STRUCTURE Figure 22.3. Prosodic augmentation in absolute comparison (T), UTCBAF14May2502:007.

Prosodic augmentation is a common strategy when translating English superlatives into Upper Tanana, but speakers are hesitant to translate property concept words with prosodic augmentation as superlatives, presumably for similar reasons as discussed in section 22.1. More information on the phenomenon can be found in chapter 23. 22.3.2. Two clauses Due to the cultural constraints on direct comparison, relative comparison is often expressed using two separate clauses. This happened quite frequently even in elicitation, where speakers are generally more comfortable producing comparatives than in naturalistic speech. (579) was the response to ‘Caleb has more dogs than Olga’. (579) Caleb ułiign’ ndląą Olga du’ ułiign’ ntsiin. (N) Caleb u-łiign’ n-dląą Olga du’ Caleb 3SG.PSR-dog:POSS 3PL.Ø.PFV:Ø-be.many:IPV Olga CT u-łiign’ n-tsiin 3SG.PSR-dog:POSS 3PL.Ø.PFV:Ø-be.few:IPV ‘Caleb has a lot of dogs, but Olga has few dogs.’ UTOLAF15May0701:017 (e) This strategy is often used in narrative text. In (580) a smart boy is compared to his not-so-smart peers—while the other boys get killed by the Tailed People for their carelessness, the smart boy is the one who figures out what is going on and kills the Tailed People. The mental faculties of each boy are expressed in separate clauses; no comparative prefix strings are used. The same parameter of comparison (the descriptive verb theme ho+Ø+shyąą ‘be smart’)

COMPARISON

379

is used in both clauses, with line 1 asserting its presence and line 2 asserting its absence. (580)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN13May2803:027–29 (T) 1. Hǫǫshyaan dineh huttheh teeshyah. hǫǫ-shyaan dineh hu-ttheh 3SG.S:AR:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.smart:IPV:NOM man 3PL.P-in.front tee-shyah 3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV ‘The smart boy went ahead of them.’ 2. Ch’ittheh du’ k’a huushyay iin ‹hihteedeeł›. ch’ittheh du’ k’a huu-shyay iin first CT NEG 3PL.S:NEG.PFV:Ø:be.smart:IPV:NEG:NOM PL h-tee-deeł 3PL.S-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV ‘First though went the ones who weren’t smart.’ 3. Ay iin hu’ookol, huhįįxąą. ay iin hu-ookol hu-hįį-xąą 3 PL 3PL.O-NEGEX 3PL.O-3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-kill.PL.O:PFV ‘They disappeared, [the Tailed People] had killed them.’

In (581) Mrs. Avis Sam from Northway describes the canoes that her older brothers made for themselves and for her. The relative size of the two canoes is important for the narrative—Mrs. Sam’s small canoe almost capsizes with her in it because of her brothers’ carelessness—but rather than comparing them directly, she describes the size of each in separate, non-adjacent clauses. Instead of using a negated form of the parameter of comparison, the speaker uses different parameters: the modifier choh ‘big’ in line 1 and the verb theme Ø+tsuul ‘be small’ in line 2. (581)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN07Aug2205:029–31 (N) 1. Ay tl’aan łaakay helt’eh nts’ą̈ ’, ts’ayh choh ay iin du’. ay tl’aan łaakay hel-t’eh nts’ą̈ ’ ts’ayh choh and then two 3PL.S:Ø.PFV:L-be.number:IPV and canoe big ay iin du’ 3 PL CT ‘And they [my older brothers] were two, and they [had] a big canoe.’

380

CLAUSE STRUCTURE 2. Shiy, shiy du’ ihtsuul. shiy shiy du’ ih-tsuul 1SG 1SG CT 1SG:be.small:IPV ‘Me though, I was small.’ 3. Ay xah ntsuul hehtsįį. Canvas. ay xah n-tsuul 3SG because 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.small:IPV:NOM heh-tsįį canvas 3PL.S:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV canvas ‘That’s why they made a small one. [With] canvas.’

This strategy also has been reported by Tuttle (2018) for related languages. 22.4. Summary Morphosyntactic comparison is characterized by a postposition serving as index, while the postpositional object serves as standard. Different postpositions are used for comparisons of superiority, inferiority, and equality. When the parameter of comparison is expressed by a dimensional verb theme, the comparative derivation of this verb theme is used. The comparative derivation also applies in implied comparisons. There is no morphosyntactic difference between absolute and relative comparison. There are several types of implied comparison which also use comparative morphosyntax. Despite the existence of dedicated comparative morphosyntax, morphosyntactic comparison is quite rare in natural discourse. Speakers have commented that this construction should be avoided since it easily leads to bragging. Indeed, most naturalistic examples in my corpus come from a narrative about bragging, and while there are a few naturalistic instances of relative comparison, there is not a single example of a morphosyntactic absolute comparison in my narrative corpus. Similar points have been raised by Tuttle (2018) for Koyukon, Lower Tanana, and Ahtna. This avoidance of morphosyntactic comparison results in the existence of two other comparative strategies. Absolute comparison may be expressed by prosodic augmentation, while relative comparison is often expressed by two descriptive clauses. Notes 1. This view differs from that taken by Bogal-Allbritten (2013), who in her work on Navajo distinguishes between “verbs” and “adjectives” while also

COMPARISON

381

acknowledging the morphological similarities between these two groups. I instead treat all of these lexemes as verbs. 2. In this instance hǫǫsǫǫ ‘well’ clearly is an adverb rather than an inflected verb form, since the verb theme Ø+sǫǫ ‘be good’ generally allows the comparative derivation. 3. The Upper Tanana morpheme has a final glottal stop, and speakers claim that it is not part of the verb, so I treat it as a separate word here.

23 | Prosodic augmentation Prosodic augmentation is my coinage for an iconic pattern where the prosody reflects an increase of an event (by repetition, continuation, or intensity), of a quality (in intensity), or of an amount. This pattern was originally reported by Jetté (1907, 4) as a way to mark emphasis or superlatives in Koyukon. Tuttle (2018, 111) includes this strategy in a description of comparative constructions in several Alaskan Dene languages. She reports a high tone plus vowel lengthening in stems “to intensify descriptive verbs (similar to faaaaaar away in English).” One important difference to the English strategy Tuttle mentions is that in Upper Tanana (and maybe in other Alaskan Dene languages as well), prosodic augmentation is ubiquitous. Informal counts suggest that every tenth sentence or so contains at least one instance of prosodic augmentation. Additionally, it is not limited to descriptive verbs (or even verbs generally) but can be applied to all sorts of content words and even a few function words. Prosodic augmentation is a highly characteristic speech pattern for Upper Tanana speakers and often carries over into English discourse. In the orthographic representation, prosodic augmentation is indicated by colons, with the number of colons roughly indicating the degree of augmentation. 23.1. Properties Prosodic augmentation involves a combination of pitch, vowel duration, and intensity. (As I do not use head-mounted microphones, the intensity visible in the wave forms is influenced by the speaker’s position relative to the microphone; in most instances, however, the increase in intensity is drastic enough to not be considered an artifact of, say, the speaker leaning forward.) In figure 23.1, wave form and pitch track of (582), prosodic augmentation is illustrated for a male speaker of the Tetlin dialect. Here the main feature is lengthening; while the phonemically long vowel of the first word tuu ‘water’ is 0.17s in duration, the phonemically short but augmented stem vowel in taneldok ‘they would customarily crawl about in the water’ is 0.96s—more

PROSODIC AUGMENTATION

383

than five times longer. The augmented syllable also bears the second-highest pitch in the sentence; only the initial word has a higher pitch. The raised pitch in the augmented syllable is held steady throughout. (582) Tuu shyiit gǫǫ gaay t’eey ushyiit water in bug small ADVZR 3SG:in taneldo:::::k. (T) 3PL:crawl.around.in.water:IPV:CUST ‘In the water would be all of these little bugs crawling around.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:008 Figure 23.1. Prosodic augmentation (T), UTOLVDN13May2907:008.

Prosodic augmentation is realized in the same way in the Northway dialect. Figure 23.2, wave form and pitch track of (583), demonstrates pitch raising (the augmented syllable is almost 30HZ higher in pitch than the next-highest syllable) as well as increased duration; the augmented syllable is 1.08s, while the next-longest one (the verb stem of nahtnetdeel ‘they, starting to fly back’, with a phonemically long vowel) is 0.18s. (583) Noo’ nahtnetdeel eh ti’atna::::k. (N) ahead:ALL 3PL:PL.fly:IT:INC:PFV:NOM and 3SG:be.tired:IPV ‘They started to fly back south and he got so tired.’ UTOLAF08Feb1902:011 Speakers vary considerably in the realization of prosodic augmentation, depending on their communicative goals. A particularly dramatic example of prosodic augmentation is shown in figure 23.3, wave form and pitch track of (584), which was uttered by a female speaker from Northway. All vowels in this utterance are phonemically short. Most of them are less than 0.01s in duration, but the augmented vowel is 1.13s—more than ten times as long as

384

CLAUSE STRUCTURE Figure 23.2. Prosodic augmentation (N), UTOLAF08Feb1902:011.

the others. The pitch difference is similarly dramatic as shown in the pitch track; the speaker switches into falsetto during the rise in the pre-stem syllable of ihsäł ‘I screamed’ and maintains the exorbitantly high pitch of more than 400HZ throughout the vowel (except in a small portion when her voice breaks). The descent into her normal pitch range takes place over the first syllable of the next word. (584) Ihsä:::::ł na’ihthät. (N) 1SG:holler:IPV 1SG:SG.stand:IPV ‘I stood there hollering.’

UTOLAF09Aug1202:031

Figure 23.3. Extreme prosodic augmentation (N), UTOLAF09Aug1202:031.

But although there is some variation in the realization of prosodic augmentation both across and within speakers, it is almost always characterized by raised steady pitch across the entire augmented syllable, increased duration, and increased intensity.

PROSODIC AUGMENTATION

385

23.1.1. Locus of augmentation In most instances prosodic augmentation occurs on the stem as shown in all examples up to this point. There is, however, one possible exception (585)which clearly shows the augmentation occurring on the second syllable of the standard negator k’a(t’eey) (figure 23.4). As discussed in section 16.1.2, the standard negator minimally has the form k’a and the function of t’eey is not entirely clear. Yet in (585) the augmentation is clearly on the second syllable and not on the stem of the negator. (585) Hii’aa’an hii’uteedaak tah k’at’ee:::y 3PL>3SG:passing 3PL>3SG:PL.pass:INC:PFV:CUST when NEG shyaheh’aag nts’ą’… (T) 3PL:make.noise:IPV:CUST:NEG and ‘When they try to pass him, they absolutely never make a noise…’ UTOLAF09Jun2404:007 Figure 23.4. Prosodic augmentation on non-stem (T), UTOLAF09Jun2404:007.

It is possible that this is due to the general morphological structure of Upper Tanana. In almost all words the stem is the final syllable, thus stem phenomena such as prosodic augmentation almost always occurs on the final syllable of the word. Generally, however, the presence of augmentation is a good indicator of stem-hood. Figure 23.4 also illustrates the difference between the high tone on the stem syllable characteristic of standard negation and prosodic augmentation. The final syllable of shyaheh’aag ‘they didn’t make a sound’ is clearly higher than the surrounding material, but it is much less high and long than the augmented syllable in the negator.

386

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

23.2. Functions Depending on the type of word it applies to, prosodic augmentation serves several different functions, all of which have to do with expressing an increase. It is particularly frequent on verb stems and the stems of directional adverbs, but is also attested on adjectives and modifiers, adverbs other than directionals, and even some nouns and other lexical items. Its functions depend to some degree on the item it applies to. 23.2.1. Verb stems In verbs, one of the most frequent functions of prosodic augmentation is to express increased intensity of the event expressed by the verb theme (586). Speakers often find these sentences difficult to translate, and often a different translation is required for every instance. Only the translation in (586a) was suggested by the speaker. (586b) was translated by the speaker as ‘They were telling sto:::ries’ (with prosodic augmentation on the first syllable of stories), and in (586c) the speaker helping with the transcription (not the storyteller herself ) did not attempt to translate the prosodic augmentation at all. The intent of the prosodic augmentation in that sentence is to indicate that the children’s play is raucous and įįjih: the following sentence describes the noise produced by the children, and the entire village is slaughtered because of the transgression of mistreating an animal. (586) a. Ay t’oot’eey dineey iin xah hihǫǫtsüü:: nts’ą’. (T) and however people PL for 3PL:have.hard.time:PFV and ‘But still, this was a really hard time for people.’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:024 b. Ishyiit k’it k’iits’atdeeł nats’indeel there on 1PL:go.to.shore.by.boat:IT:PFV 1PL:PL.go:IT:PFV:NOM eh nahiholne::k! (N) and 3PL:tell.stories:IPV ‘We went ashore back there and when we came home, they were telling big stories!’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:109 c. Dlagn eł hihdelxoo:: nts’ą’. (T) squirrel with 3PL:play:IPV:NOM and ‘They were playing with a squirrel.’ UTOLAF13May2403:003 Despite the challenges around translating prosodic augmentation, the associated increase in intensity is very salient to speakers. During the elicitation of

PROSODIC AUGMENTATION

387

comparative and superlative forms, one speaker provided the following commentary. Like, like we say, like red we say delt’äl. Just plain red. And if you say real red, we say dilt’ä::ł. Delt’äl is just color red. … Unaagn’ deldliadn nłįį. That’s his eyes are blue. And real blue, that’s deldlia::t. This is really blue. Deldliadn is just blue. UTOLAF07Nov2906 This meaning of prosodic augmentation is likely responsible for its use to express absolute comparisons; see section 22.3.1. In other instances, prosodic augmentation seems to have the function of expressing increased duration, either through repetition (587a) or continued action (587b). This function is less frequent. (587) a. Shuudehka:::t. (N) 3SG>1SG:ask:IPV ‘He kept asking me questions.’

UTOLAF09Aug1201:046

b. ‹Nts’ą’› Ch’itay ts’exeh k’eh alttha::ł. (T) and old.man woman following 3SG:run:IPV:PROG ‘And that old man keeps running after the girl.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:052 23.2.2. Directionals Directional adverbs generally bear a high pitch (see also vol. 1, chap. 17). They are, however, additionally prone to prosodic augmentation, with often extravagantly high pitches and lengthened vowels. The difference between prosodic augmentation and the high pitch typical of directional stems is illustrated in figure 23.5, which contains the wave form and pitch track of the first five words of (588) (the entire clause is too long to display here). This utterance contains two tokens of the directional hanadegn’ ‘adjacent to a place a medium distance up’. The first token illustrates prosodic augmentation; the stem vowel has an average pitch of 304HZ (with a peak at 332HZ) and a duration of 0.43s. The second token is not augmented; the stem vowel here has an average pitch of 268HZ and a duration of 0.08s, both of which are typical of directional stems with a short vowel for this speaker.

388

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(588) Hanadegnʼ Nahkʼade hanadegʼ ddhał eekeh łat ADJ:MED:up:ALL fish.trap ADJ:MED:up:ALL mountain side smoke hihnehʼįh,… (T) 3PL:see:IPV ‘Way up there, way up there at Nahk’ade, halfway up the mountain, they saw smoke…’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:010 Figure 23.5. Prosodic augmentation on directional (T), UTOLAF07Nov2602:010.

In directionals, prosodic augmentation seems to correlate with a distance distinction. While distance is usually expressed by prefixes such as the medial distance prefix na- in hanadegn’ (see also vol. 1, chap. 17), one learner of Upper Tanana once commented that “the longer the vowel, the farther it is away.”¹ This is clearly illustrated in (589), where the directional bears the neutral-distance prefix ah-. (589) Ay tl’aan ahne:::’ tseekįį. (N) and then NTRL:upriver:ALL 1PL:go.by.boat:INC:PFV ‘And then we started paddling a long way upriver.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:042 It could even be that distance prefixes and prosodic augmentation complement each other. In (588) three places are related to each other: the place where the family is standing, their travel destination (Nahk’ade), and a place located beyond Nahk’ade. The speaker describes how her family returned from Tanacross to Nahk’ade to discover that there has been a big flood and that shelters have been built on the sides of the mountains. The medial distance prefix na- signals that they are standing within easy walking distance of Nahk’ade. From where they are standing they can see smoke a long way up the mountain above

PROSODIC AUGMENTATION

389

Nahk’ade. This greater distance is expressed by prosodic augmentation of the stem. Alternatively, it is possible that prosodic augmentation of directional stems is an alternative strategy to using the distal prefix ya-, which is by far the rarest of the directional prefixes, with only four or five tokens in the corpus. On the few occasions where it does occur, it tends to be accompanied by prosodic augmentation, as for example in (590). (590) Yanoo:: huniithaadn eh natsetdek, dziin DSTL:ahead:ALL AR.S:be.far:IPV:NOM and 1PL:PL.go:IT:IPV:CUST day udih nee’eh hǫǫłe’. (N) all 1PL:with AR:be:PFV ‘We went back a long way, it took us all day.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:020 23.2.3. Adverbs Prosodic augmentation is also common with adverbs indicating a long period of time (591a) or a great distance (591b). Here it indicates increased duration or distance. (591) a. Dziin uudi::h hugn dzeltth’iik tl’aan day all.long etc. 1PL:PL:stay:IPV:CUST and natsetdek. (N) 1PL:PL.go:IT:INC:IPV:CUST ‘All day long we would stay there and then we’d go back.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:050 b. Nithaa::d tah t’eey utnah’iil tuu tüh tuu long.way among ADVZR 2PL>AR:look:FUT:NOM water over water tüh skinįį’ah, nih. (T) over 3SG:extend.across:IPV say:IPV ‘You PL can see a really long way, the water extends all the way across, they said.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:049 In manner adverbs it seems to have intensifying meaning (592).

390

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(592) a. Ts’ät t’aat xa::’ ts’ät t’aat its’ą̈ ’ blanket under carefully blanket under 3SG>3SG:to hatthi’įh’ah… (N) peak.out:PFV ‘From under the blanket, from under the blanket she peaked out at him very carefully…’ UTOLVDN10Jul2713:028 b. Hunaann’ tsiił k’it daheedeeł nts’ą’ hantee::y’ AR:across:ALL bridge on 3PL:PL.go.up:PFV and quickly nahatdał… (T) 3PL:PL.go:IT:IPV:PROG They got to the bridge to walk over to the other side, they’re walking back in a hurry…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:013 23.2.4. Adjectives and modifiers When occurring on adjectives or modifiers, prosodic augmentation indicates that the denoted property is present in abundance (593). ([593a] describes an enormous wildfire in the early twentieth century.) (593b) additionally illustrates that prosodic augmentation carries over into English. (593) a. Kon’ cho::::h, elo:::k, nih. (T) fire big hot say:IPV ‘The fire was big and hot, she said.’

UTOLAF09Jun2402:005

b. Stsǫǫ iin hihteeju::h eh t’eey so:: kind… (N) 1SG:grandmother PL 3PL:kind and ADVZR so kind The old people were all so kind, so kind.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:147 23.2.5. Quantifiers Not surprisingly, prosodic augmentation frequently affects quantifiers, again with the function of intensifying their meaning (594). This is particularly common with the English quantifier all (594c). (594) a. Hushyi’ ndlaa::n hah’ogn. (T) 3SG:meat 3SG:be.lots:IPV:NOM NTRL:out:AR ‘They had lots and lots of meat out there.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:041

PROSODIC AUGMENTATION

391

b. Shnąą iin łuugn eegąy ntsii::n 1SG:mother PL fish 3SG:be.dry:IPV:NOM 3SG:be.little:IPV:NOM eedlah de’ ay łahiitnahch’ił tl’aan 3PL:classify.PL.O:IPV if 3SG 3SG>3SG:tear.apart:FUT and neetl’ayitahchik… (N) 3SG>1PL>3SG.handle.food:FUT:CUST ‘If my mother had even a tiny piece of dry fish, she would tear it apart and give it to us…’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:130 c. A:::ll łat eh t’eey hu’įįxąą hǫǫ’t’eey ehchąą. (T) all smoke with ADVZR 3PL:kill.PL.O:PFV still 3SG:rain:IPV ‘They killed all of them with smoke, it was still raining.’ UTOLVDN13May2803:083 23.2.6. Other More rarely, prosodic augmentation occurs on other lexical categories. When it occurs on noun stems it indicates that the entity designated by the noun is present in abundance. Note that neither utterance in (595) contains a quantifier. Prosodic augmentation on nouns is rarer than on verbs, adverbs, or adjectives and modifiers. (595) a. Ts’ełegn du’ uk’it ch’ik’e::h hǫǫłįį! (N) one CT 3SG:on INDF:tracks AR:be:IPV ‘On one [trail] there were lots of tracks!’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:018 b. Degn’ ji::gn hǫǫłįį,… (N) up:ALL berries AR:be:IPV ‘Up there there are lots of berries…’

UTOLVDN10Jul2703:008

In other instances it intensifies the meaning of the noun, for example, from ‘winter’ to ‘real winter’ in (596). (596) Xa::y hǫǫłįį de’ k’ahdu’ November hǫǫłįį, yeah, December, winter AR:be:IPV if now November AR:be:IPV yeah December January le’… (N) January DUB ‘When it is real winter, right now it is November, yeay, maybe in December or January…’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:087 On other words prosodic augmentation again has an intensifying effect (597).

392

CLAUSE STRUCTURE

(597) a. Tsin’įį::, tsin’įį::,” hinih. (N) thank.you thank.you 3PL:say:IPV ‘“Thank you, thank you,” they said.’

UTCBAF15May0403:048

b. Shaak’ay niljiit nts’ą̈ ’ łaakaay 1SG:maternal.aunt 3PL:be.scared:PFV and two helt’eh nts’ą̈ ’ shk’e::h nagąą’htelshyah. (N) 3PL:be.number:IPV and 1SG:following 3PL:run:PFV ‘My aunties got scared and they both ran after me.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:033 c. Dii::: t’eey kol. (T) anything NEGEX ‘Absolutely nothing was left.’

UTOLAF09Jun2402:017

23.3. Summary Prosodic augmentation is a prosodic pattern affecting stems. It is characterized by increased duration and intensity as well as by raised pitch that is maintained throughout the syllable. This prosodic pattern differs from the high pitches associated with directional stems and standard-negated verb forms. It does not seem to have category restrictions. Its functions are iconic: it signals an increase in intensity, quality, or duration, depending on the word it applies to, thus replacing adjectives and adverbs of degree and intensity. Prosodic augmentation can be challenging to translate; frequently it is not translated at all. This prosodic pattern is ubiquitous in Upper Tanana discourse. It is used in all dialects and by all speakers, although speakers differ both with respect to how frequently they employ it and in their realization of this pattern. Prosodic augmentation even carries over into English discourse. Notes 1. Thank you, Cherie Marunde, for this observation!

Part III

Beyond the clause

24 | Coordination of clauses This chapter focuses on coordination of clauses within an utterance (24.1) as well as coordination of utterances (24.2). Coordination of noun phrases, postpositional phrases, and adverbs is described in chapter 20. As has been noted by Holton (2004) for Tanacross and Hargus (2012) for Deg Xinag, the distinction between clause coordination and various types of subordination in Alaskan Dene is not sharply drawn; some strategies could be considered instances of either. This is particularly the case for clauses combined with eh/eł, which obligatorily follows a nominalized verb form. In his study of Tanacross Holton (2004, 123–26) treats this as a type of (main clause) coordination. Here these clauses are treated as absolutive adverbial clauses (see sec. 26.11) and thus as a type of subordination; the rationale for this is discussed in section 24.1.4. 24.1. Utterance-level conjunction Upper Tanana has a large number of cumulative coordinators described in 24.1.1. The adversative conjunction is described in 24.1.2 and disjunctive strategies in 24.1.3. There is no disjunctive conjunction equivalent to English or, nor are there illative coordinating conjunctions (this is expressed using adverbial clauses instead). 24.1.1. Cumulative coordination There are several clause-level cumulative coordination strategies in Upper Tanana. Asyndetic coordination is common, but there are also several coordinators: nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’; tl’aan ‘and then’; and (less frequently) ay eh/ay eł, ay ch’a, ay tl’aan ‘and then’. 24.1.1.1. Asyndetic clause combining Clauses are frequently combined without an overt coordinator or subordinator. An informal count of about two hundred instances of clause-combining showed that with eighty tokens, asyndetic coordination may be the most common strategy. It is characterized

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

395

by simple juxtaposition of clauses with no formal connector. Neither clause is nominalized. The two clauses may have the same subject (598a, b) or different subjects (598c, d). (598) a. Duhnoo’ uts’ą̈ ’ ihhaał, jah PROX:AR:ahead:ALL 3SG:towards 1SG:SG.go:IPV:PROG here uts’ą̈ ’ t’eey na’ihthät. (N) 3SG:towards ADVZR 1SG:SG.stand:IPV ‘Right ahead I am walking towards him, I am standing there facing him.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:069 b. Ts’iiniin gaay hanteey’ t’eey neeshyąą, dineh choh baby quickly ADVZR 3SG:grow:PFV man big eltsįį. (T) 3SG:become:PFV ‘The baby grew up quickly, he became a big man.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:016 c. Dąą’ ik’it da’eedah, ch’ixia’ unänht’agn thus 3SG>3PL:on 3SG:SG.sit.on:IPV egg 3SG:behind ‹łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’› etxoł. (N) all 3PL:break:PFV ‘Thus he sat down on [the eggs], all the eggs behind him broke.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:076 d. Eh t’eey tthitu’ tthiniishyah, dahdog Nǫǫgaay and ADVZR river 3SG:SG.go.out:PFV PROX:up:AR fox hǫǫ’t’eey natedaak. (T) still 3SG:SG.walk.around:IPV:CUST ‘And he came out to the river [and] Fox was still walking about up there.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:191 Prosodically, the clauses form a single utterance. No lowering is detectable at the end of the first clause and pauses tend to be relatively brief. In his account of clause-combining in Tanacross Holton (2004, 121–22) refers to this as “comma intonation.” Figure 24.1, wave form and pitch track of (598b), shows an example where the clauses are not separated by pause; instead, pauses separate the first constituent from the rest of each clause. The pitch is being held steady at the end of the first clause. Figure 24.2, pitch track and wave form of (598a), shows an example containing a brief pause of 0.8s. The pitch does not drop preceding the pause.

396

BEYOND THE CLAUSE Figure 24.1. Asyndetic coordination (T), UTOLAF09Jun2202:016.

Figure 24.2. Asyndetic coordination (N), UTOLVDN13May2004:069.

It is possible to coordinate more than two clauses in this fashion (599). (599) a. Hǫǫ’ hedį’, hǫǫ’ hetshyaak, gąą’halshyeeł… (T) thus 3PL:do:IPV thus 3PL:happen:PFV 3PL:PL.run:IPV:PROG ‘They did thus, thus it happened, they were running…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:041 b. Teltthät teltthät altthäł 3SG:SG:run:INC:PFV 3SG:SG:run:INC:PFV 3SG:SG:run:IPV:PROG altthäł nts’ą̈ ’. (N) 3SG:SG:run:IPV:PROG and ‘She started to run, she started to run, she ran and ran.’ UTOLAF15May0501:097 Asyndetic coordination is the strategy used in the only instance where two clauses headed by adjectives are coordinated (600).

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES (600) Kon’ cho:::h, elo:::k. (T) kon’ choh elok fire big hot ‘The fire [was] big and hot.’

397

UTOLAF09Jun2402:005

Asyndetic coordination can express several semantic relations between the clauses. Very frequently the two clauses express (almost) the same proposition, as for example in (599) or in (601). In (601a) the clauses are repeated verbatim; in (601b) more information is added in the second clause. (601) a. Hiinaadał, hiinaadał. (T) 3PL>3PL:PL.follow:IPV:PROG 3PL>3PL:PL.follow:IPV:PROG ‘They followed them and followed them.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:044 b. Ay t’oot’eey natsetdeeł, hunegn’ uk’eh and however 1PL:PL.go.back:INC:PFV AR:upland:ALL 3SG:following t’eey natsetdeeł. (N) ADVZR 1PL:PL.go.back:INC:PFV ‘Even so we went back, we went back upland, following it.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:099 Asyndetic coordination also often expresses distinct but simultaneous events (602). (602) a. Neexon shyįį’ t’eey hanogn, kon’ maagn 1PL only ADVZR NTRL:upland:AR fire around dzeltth’iik hanogn naxach’ihdelshyeek. (N) 1PL:PL.sit:IPV:CUST NTRL:upland:AR 3PL:PL.go.hunting:IPV:CUST ‘We [were] the only ones up there, we would be sitting around the fire [and] they would go hunting in the upland area.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:043 b. K’at’eey nkah hutnak-’įįl, danįįhaay. (T) NEG 2SG:for 1SG>AR:look:FUT:NEG 2SG:SG.come.in:IPV:IMP ‘I’m not going to look at you, come in!’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:063 Asyndetic coordination almost always has cumulative meaning, but there are also a few instances where it has adversative meaning (603).

398

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(603) a. Ts’iiniin gaay ehtsaa, dii t’eey k’a baby 3SG:cry:IPV anything ADVZR NEG huhdih’aay. (T) 3PL:find.CO:PFV:NEG ‘The baby was crying [but] they couldn’t find anything.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:043 b. K’at’eey ihdüü chih; ‹ihtsuul›. (N) NEG 1SG:be.heavy:IPV:NEG also 1SG:be.small:IPV ‘I wasn’t heavy either [instead] I was small.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:097 24.1.1.2. Nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ The most common overt cumulative coordinator is nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’. The spelling variation represents a dialect difference (see vol. 1, chap. 6 for discussion). The morpheme nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ is highly polysemous: it functions as a postposition P+nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘toward P’ (see vol. 1, chap. 15) and as an adverbializer (see vol. 1, chap. 16) in addition to its use as a conjunction described here. Similar polysemy for cognate morphemes is reported by Kari (1990, 407) for Ahtna ts’en’; Kibrik (2004, 545) for Upper Kuskokwim ts’eʔ; Holton (2004, 122–23) for Tanacross ts’į́’ ; and Hargus (2012, 89) for Deg Xinag ts’i(n). Nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ occurs between clauses; neither clause is nominalized (604). The clauses may have the same subject (604a, b) or different subjects (604c, d); conjoined clauses with the same subject seem to be more common. (604) a. Neetsay du’ anyway neetsay du’ hu ch’udneexonh 1PL:grandfather CT anyway 1PL:grandfather CT ? 3SG:growl:IPV nts’ą’ esał. (T) and 3SG:holler:IPV ‘The bear though, anyway, the bear though was growling and hollering.’ UTOLAF09Jun2201:012 b. Ay mänh maagn natsetdek nts’ą̈ ’ and lake shore 1PL:PL.walk.around:IPV:CUST and ni’eełts’ełeek. (N) 1PL:set.traps:IPV:CUST ‘And we were walking around the lakeshore and setting traps.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:108

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

399

c. Ts’ehtąy’ eł hiiyuhdiih nts’ą’ dichinh k’a’ uk’e’ bow with 3PL>3SG:shoot.at:IPV and arrow 3SG:short.of na’etdeeyh ay. (T) 3PL:PL.fall:PFV and ‘They shot at him with a bow and the arrows fell short of him.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:048 d. Mänh choh shyiit t’eey tat’atdalnay ocean into ADVZR 3SG:stumble.into.water:PFV nts’ą̈ ’ hashyuugn łuugn choh iteltät, and NTRL:down:AR whale 3SG>3SG:swallow:INC:PFV hiiyehnih. (N) 3PL>3SG:say:IPV ‘He fell into the ocean and down there a whale swallowed him, they say.’ UTOLAF08Feb1902:014 Clauses conjoined with nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ tend to have one of two prosodic patterns. When the second clause is very short (typically the case when the clauses share a subject), the two clauses tend to form one prosodic unit without pauses. This is illustrated in figure 24.3, wave form and pitch track of (604a). ([604b] has the same pattern.) When the second clause is longer, nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ is prosodically integrated into the first clause and is followed by a pause. This is illustrated in figure 24.4, wave form and pitch track of (604d). Note that nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ often contains an extremely short vowel articulated with reduced intensity; combined with the two glottalized consonants this often results in a vowel that cannot be measured for pitch. As a consequence, the presence or absence of final lowering at the end of the first clause cannot be determined, but the second clause tends to begin at a similar pitch as the last measurable pitch of the first clause. Figure 24.3. Clause coordination with nts’ą’ (T), UTOLAF09Jun2201:012.

400

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

Figure 24.4. Clause coordination with nts’ą̈ ’ (N), UTOLAF08Feb1902:014.

When more than two clauses are conjoined, nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ occurs between all clauses (605). (605) a. Shaak’ay niljiit nts’ą̈ ’ łaakaay 1SG:maternal.aunt 3PL:be.scared:PFV and two helt’eh nts’ą̈ ’ shk’e::h nagąą’htelshyah. (N) 3PL:be.number:IPV and 1SG:after 3PL:PL:run.around:PFV ‘My aunt got scared and there were two of them and they ran after me.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:033 b. Ahdogn ts’oo k’it tah daach’ettl’uh nts’ą’ NTRL:up:AR spruce on among 3SG>INDF:set.snares:PFV:DSTR and tsugaay iin łahtth’agn nts’ą’ hugn itah naa’etdlǫǫ bird PL all etc. 3SG>3SG:among get.snared:PFV nts’ą’ tsugaay iin na’eet’ayh. (T) and bird PL 3PL:hang.down:IPV ‘He went and set snares up in the spruce trees, and all the little birds got caught and were hanging there.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:026 In his discussion of coordination in Upper Kuskokwim Kibrik (2004, 544) cites an example containing six tokens of ts’eʔ and observes that his corpus contains many instances of even longer chains formed with this coordinator. In Upper Tanana such chains exist (606), but they are relatively rare. (Tokens of nts’ą’ are underlined in this example.)

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

401

(606) Ne’ natidhatdeel de’, sǫ’ upriver:ALL 2PL:PL.stop:IT:INC:PFV:NOM when:FUT PROH sǫ’ ni’ahdag nts’ą’ altthał PROH 2PL:PL.go.to:IPV:CUST:NEG and 2PL:run:IPV:PROG nts’ą’ hantee::y t’eey altthał nts’ą’ k’at’eey and quickly ADVZR 2PL:run:IPV:PROG and NEG nts’ą’. (T) nitahhaagn 2PL:SG:spend.night:FUT:CUST:NEG and ‘When you PL walk back upstream, don’t stop, keep on running and hurry up, keep on running and you can’t stop for the night.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:039 Nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ usually coordinates events that take place simultaneously rather than sequentially (607a). This differs from Holton’s (2004, 126) observations about Tanacross ts’į́’, which “conjoins events which are not temporally connected but which usually share the same subject.” (Holton also notes exceptions from the same-subject requirement.) (607) a. Ay tl’aan eł ch’ihtahxał nts’ą’ ch’ihtaldzüh. (T) and.then and 3PL:drum:FUT and 3PL:dance:FUT ‘And then they will drum and dance.’ UTOLAF11Aug0207:008 b. Deeł hadogn sts’akenaat’ah nts’ą’ jeh’ąą. (T) crane NTRL:up:AR 3SG:SG.fly.in.circle:IPV:PROG and 3SG:sing:IPV ‘The crane was circling overhead and singing.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:020 c. Stsǫǫ dishyįį’ tanel’ah nts’ą̈ ’ [laughter] shaa 1SG:grandmother alone 3SG:sit:IPV and 1SG:for idloh! (N) 3SG:laugh:IPV ‘My grandmother was sitting there by herself and laughing at me!’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:072 d. Agntthäł nts’ą̈ ’ uu’akdiih. (N) 1SG:run:IPV:PROG and 1SG:shoot:IPV ‘I’m running and shooting; I’m shooting while I’m running.’ UTOLAF09Aug1201:027 While most instances of coordination with nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ receive a simultaneous interpretation, there are also cases where a sequential interpretation is more

402

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

appropriate (608). (608) a. “Maa ni’uhshya’ nts’ą̈ ’ nok-’įį!” nih. (N) 3SG:for 1SG:SG.go.to:OPT and 1SG:see:OPT say:IPV ‘“I want to go to [the bear] and see it!” he said.’ UTOLAF09Aug1201:049 b. Ts’exeh gaay dayihshyił nts’ą’ di’eeg’ t’aat girl 3SG:grab.in.air:PFV and 3SG:shawl:POSS under yįhxał ha… (T) 3SG>3SG:throw.AO:PFV EMPH ‘The girl caught [the crane] and threw it under her [skin] shawl…’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:008 Note, however, that while the events in (608) are sequential, they are intimately connected and could be viewed as part of the same event. 24.1.1.3. Tl’aan ‘and then’ The coordinator tl’aan ‘and then’ is almost as common as nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’. Tl’aan ‘and then’ has no allomorphs, but it is sometimes pronounced [ɬaːn] in casual speech. Tl’aan conjoins main clauses and occurs between the clauses it connects (609). The clauses may have the same subject (609a, b) or different subjects (609c, d). Usually,neither clause is nominalized, but there are exceptions (609c). (609) a. Naxach’ihdelshyeek tl’aan nahetdek. (N) 3PL:PL.go.hunting:IPV:CUST and.then 3PL:PL.return:IPV:CUST ‘They would go hunting and then they would return.’ UTOLAF10Jul0901:017 b. “Ishyiit nitsaadał tl’aan ts’otnah’įįł nts’ą’ there 1PL:PL.go.there:FUT and 1PL:look.around:FUT how įhdlaan iin atxąą de’ kah,” nih. (T) 3PL:be.many:PFV:NOM PL 3PL:kill.PL.O:PASS:PFV to.check say:IPV ‘We will go there and look around to find out how many were killed,” she said.’ UTOLAF13May2403-036 c. Eh its’ą̈ ’ teltthät tl’aan and 3SG>3SG:toward 3SG:run:PFV and.then nahiidhehxiin nuhshyign’ tah. (N) 3PL>3SG:kill.SG.O:IT:PFV:NOM MED:AR:down:AR among ‘And he ran towards [the bear] and then they killed it down there.’ UTOLAF09Aug1201:038

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

403

d. … Stella ch’ideet’üh tl’aan dzelt’eh. (T) Stella 3SG>INDF:cut:PFV and 1PL:fry:PFV ‘… Stella cut some off and then we fried it.’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:032 Clauses conjoined with tl’aan have prosody similar to clauses conjoined with nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’. If the second clause is short, then the clauses form a smooth prosodic curve without pauses, as illustrated in figure 24.5, wave form and pitch track of (609d). If the second clause is longer, tl’aan is prosodically integrated with the first clause and is followed by a pause. No final lowering takes place before this pause and, unlike nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’, tl’aan is not phonetically reduced. This is shown in figure 24.6, wave form and pitch track of (609c). Figure 24.5. Clause coordination with tl’aan (T), UTOLVDN10Jul0701:032.

Figure 24.6. Clause coordination with tl’aan (N), UTOLAF09Aug1201:038.

It is possible to chain more than two clauses with tl’aan ‘and then’ (610). Tokens of tl’aan are underlined in this example.

404

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(610) a. Hunegn’ tseedeeł tl’aan ishyiit AR:upland:ALL 1PL:PL.go:INC:PFV and.then there nits’inįįdeeł tl’aan shyah ts’ihuhtsįį 1PL:PL.arrive:PFV and.then house 1PL>AR:make.SG.O:PFV k’ąy’ eh. (N) willow with ‘We started to go upland and then we got there and then we built a house out of willows.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:019 b. Tthiigąą’hįlshyah tl’aan didia’ na’uuniik 3PL:PL.run.out:PFV and REFL:younger.sister 3SG:grab:IT:PFV tl’aan hiikah‹‹netah››. (T) and 3PL>3SG:look.for:IPV ‘They ran outside and then she grabbed her younger sister and they looked for him.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:042 Tl’aan ‘and, and then’ organizes events sequentially (611). (611) a. Ay tl’aan diłaan iin ts’ą̈ ’ haa’atshyah tl’aan and.then REFL:people PL to 3SG:SG.go.out:IT:PFV and.then ishyiit ‹chih› hu’inaholndek, hiiyehnih. (N) there also 3SG>3PL:tell.story.to:IPV 3PL>3SG:say:IPV ‘And then she went back to her own people and told them about it, they say.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2713:046 b. Hiiyehgąy tl’aan ay shyiit tah shyi’ 3PL>3SG:dry:IPV:CUST:NOM and.then 3SG there among meat hiiye’įįł. (T) 3PL>3SG:eat:IPV:CUST ‘They dry it, and then they may eat the meat.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2901:005 Because of its strong sequential meaning, tl’aan ‘and, and then’ occurs very commonly in procedural texts, where the order of the steps is fixed (612). Tokens of tl’aan are underlined.

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

405

(612) a. Ay tl’aan dzanh iin huts’ehk’aay and.then muskrat PL 1PL>3PL:filet:IPV:CUST:NOM tl’aan huts’ehgąy tl’aan dogn and.then 1PL>3PL:dry:IPV:CUST:NOM and.then up:AR daats’ehłeeg tl’aan. (T) 1PL:put.up.PL.O:IT:IPV:CUST:NOM and.then ‘And then we filet the muskrat and then we dry it and then we put it up [into the cache].’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:013 b. Gąą’hihdelshyeek gąą’hihdelshyeek tl’aan k’ąy’ xah 3PL:PL.run:IPV:CUST 3PL:PL.run:IPV:CUST and.then willow for niheltthek tl’aan sdziihiiyįįgąąt 3PL:SG.run.to:IPV:CUST and.then 3PL>3SG:tear.in.half:PFV:CUST tl’aan ay ts’exeey hiitehshyik eh t’eey. (N) and.then and women 3PL>3SG:jump:INC:PFV:CUST and ADVZR ‘They run and run, and then they run to the willow and then they tear it in half and then the women jump over it.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:093 There are a few examples where tl’aan ‘and then’ connects clauses expressing simultaneous events. In (613) the narrator describes how she and her siblings would help her father and his hunting partners process meat while staying at the hunting camp. Usually events like the ones in (613) are connected by nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ instead. (613) ‹Ay› tl’aan hugn t’eey dzeltth’iik tl’aan shyi’ and.then there ADVZR 1PL:PL.stay:IPV:CUST and.then meat hu’eh ts’ehk’aay. (N) 3PL:with 1PL:filet:IPV:CUST ‘And then we would stay there and cut meat with them.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:035 24.1.1.4. Ay eh/ay eł, ay ch’a, ay tl’aan ‘and then’ All of the following coordinators usually conjoin utterances (see sec. 24.2) but are occasionally used within utterances. The coordinator ay eh/ay eł ‘and then’ consists of the third-person singular pronoun ay and the instrumental/comitative postposition P+eh/eł ‘with P’ (614).

406

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(614) Jah tsayh eh idnintsay ay eh tįįsuuł! (N) this ochre with 2SG>REFL:paint:IPV:IMP and.then 2SG:be.pretty:FUT ‘Paint yourself with this ochre and then you will be pretty!’ UTOLAF15May0501:105 Ay ch’a ‘and then’ consists of the third-person singular pronoun ay and the focus marker ch’a (615). (The initial connector ay du’ ‘and then’ is described in sec. 24.2.1.4.) (615) Ay du’ ch’itay nts’ą’ hats’įįdeel ay ch’a and.then old.man to 1PL:PL.come.out:PFV:NOM and.then shaadeh dhehxįį. (T) 1SG:older.sister 3SG:kill.SG.O:PFV ‘And then we came out to an old man, and then he killed my older sister.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:171 Ay tl’aan ‘and then’ consists of the third-person singular pronoun ay followed by the coordinating conjunction tl’aan (616). (616) Ts’ehłegn ts’ehłegn k’a’ eh jah eedah, ay tl’aan ch’a one one shot with here 3SG:SG.stay:IPV and.then FOC shchil seeyh eh eedah, Jasper, Josh. (N) 1SG:younger.brother knife with 3SG:SG.stay:IPV Jasper Josh ‘[Josh] had a single shot, and then my younger brother had a knife, Jasper, Josh.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:063 All these connectors have strong sequential meaning, expressing either a temporal sequence of events (614, 615) or a temporal progression of thoughts (616), where the speaker describes the weapons at their disposal with a temporal sequence: the gun is their first line of defense against an attacking bear and only after the gun has been fired will they use the knife. 24.1.2. Adversative coordination The adversative coordinator has the form t’oo(t’eey) ‘but’ (617). No functional difference between t’oot’eey and t’oo can be determined, but the longer form is more common. T’oo(t’eey) ‘but’ conjoins main clauses; neither clause is nominalized. (617) a. Degn’ niiydehteek t’oot’eey natet-tloh. (T) up:ALL 3SG>3SG:move.AO.up:IPV:CUST but 3SG:be.floppy:PFV ‘He tried to sit her up but she was limp.’ UTOLVDN13May2901:031

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

407

b. “Ena’!” yehnih t’oot’eey yeh natetshyah. (N) no 3SG>3SG:say:IPV but 3SG>3SG:SG:with SG.go:IT:INC:PFV ‘“No!” she said to him but he still went back with her.’ UTOLAF08Feb1902:007 c. Oh! Hǫǫshyąą t’oo łaan dįįdąy. (T) oh 3SG:be.smart:IPV but true 3SG:do:PFV:NOM ‘Oh! He was smart but he did this anyway.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:042 d. Hǫǫsu’ hǫǫłįį t’oo nah’ogn elih hanteey’ t’eey good AR:be:IPV but MED:out:AR cold quickly ADVZR huułeek. (N) AR:become:IPV:CUST ‘The weather may be good, but it often gets cold quickly out there.’ UTOLAF19Jan0501:016 Prosodically, adversative coordination patterns like coordination with nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ and tl’aan. When the two clauses are short, they form one prosodic curve (e.g., figure 24.7, wave form and pitch track of [617a]). Alternatively, there may be a pause following t’oo(t’eey), as shown in figure 24.8, wave form and pitch track of (617d). (The filled pause in this latter example is quite long, but not unusually so.) Figure 24.7. Clause coordination with t’oot’eey (T), UTOLVDN13May2901:031.

When t’oot’eey occurs between clauses (618), it can be ambiguous between an adversative coordinator and a concessive subordinator (see also sec. 26.10). The different translations in (618) were suggested at various occasions during the transcription process.

408

BEYOND THE CLAUSE Figure 24.8. Clause coordination with t’oot’eey (N), UTOLAF19Jan0501:016.

(618) a. Tadn hǫǫłįį t’oot’eey dindeh aahaał. (T) night AR:be:IPV but man 3SG:SG.walk:IPV:PROG i. ‘Even though it was night, a man was walking.’ ii. ‘It was night, but a man was walking.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1101:005 b. Dineh choh t’oot’eey etsaa. (T) man big but/although 3SG:cry:IPV i. ‘He was a big man, but he cried.’ ii. ‘Even though he was a big man, he cried.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:036 Kibrik (2004, 549) reports similar ambiguity for Upper Kuskokwim ʔedinh ‘but, although’. T’oot’eey ‘but’ expresses opposition (619a), comparison (619b), or contrast (619c) between clauses. (619) a. K’ahjil t’eey hiiyuuniik t’oot’eey huch’a’ t’eey almost ADVZR 3PL>3SG:grab:PFV but 3PL:from ADVZR nantnett’ah. (T) 3SG:flutter.around:PFV:ERR ‘They almost caught one but it fluttered away from them.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:037 b. Neek’eh heltsįį t’oot’eey ła’ t’eey hihdat-sąy. (T) 1PL:like 3PL:look.like:IPV but truly ADVZR 3PL:be.black:IPV ‘[The soldiers] looked like us but they were really black.’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:101

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

409

c. Nah’ogn dlegn de’ t’eey, dlegn t’eey ntsuul MED:out:AR squirrel if ADVZR squirrel ADVZR 3SG:be.small:IPV t’oot’eey ay t’eey taldeeł. (N) but 3SG even 2PL:eat:FUT ‘If [there are] squirrels out there, a squirrel may be small but still you PL have to eat them.’ UTOLAF18Jun0401:042 24.1.3. Disjunction Clause-level disjunction, that is, the presentation of alternatives, is vanishingly rare in Upper Tanana. The entire corpus contains four examples. In (620) disjunction is expressed using the dubitative particle le’ after each clause. (620) was originally uttered in English and translated into Upper Tanana by the speaker on a later occasion. (620) Jah ts’anh hutshyaak nts’ą’ k’a hiits’itnąy then from AR:happen:PFV and NEG 1PL:know:IPV:NEG hihunay le’ nts’ą’ nįįłaag le’. (T) 3PL:be.alive:IPV:NOM DUB and 3PL:PL.die:PFV:NOM DUB ‘From when this happened, we [still] do not know [whether] they are alive or whether they died.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:034 This strategy of using le’ after each constituent is also used in disjunction of noun phrases; see section 20.1.2. The other strategy for disjunction involves the coordinator or borrowed from English, which occurs between the two clauses (621). (621) a. Hǫǫ diik ‹nts’ą’› hutthǫǫ thus do:IPV:CUST and AR:waterward:ABL tah or jah ts’anh nahtetdak 3PL:come.back:INC:IPV:CUST when or here from nahtthan’ nahtetdak tah too MED:waterward:ALL 3PL:come.back:INC:IPV:CUST when too hǫǫ diik. (T) thus do:IPV:CUST ‘He always does that; when they come back from the area by the river or when they walk back down there, too, he always does that.’ UTOLAF09Jun2404:005

410

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. “Nuh’ełag taałeeł nuh’oondaa taałeeł or 2PL:relative 3SG:be:FUT 2PL:older.brother 3SG:be:FUT or nuhchil taałeeł,” hu’ehnih. (T) 2PL:younger.brother 3SG:be:FUT 3SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“He is going to be one of you PL; he will be your older brother or he will be your younger brother,” she said to them.’ UTOLAF13May2403:069

24.1.4. Coordination or subordination? Nominalized clauses with eh/eł Upper Tanana additionally has a clause-combining strategy that is situated between coordination and subordination. As discussed in section 26.11, absolutive adverbial clauses are formally subordinate in that they are characterized by nominalization (thus being marked as subordinate) and by the subordinator eh/eł, which is related to the postposition P+eh/eł ‘with P’. While the semantic relation between the clauses is variable (this is one motivation for treating them as absolutive clauses), they are often translated as coordinated main clauses (622). It has been remarked by other scholars that the distinction between coordination and subordination is not always entirely clear (see, e.g., Givón [1990, 847–48] or Heine and Kuteva [2007, 211] for a typological perspective or Holton [2004, 125] for Tanacross). In Upper Tanana absolutive clauses seem to occupy a space between coordination and subordination: while formally subordinate, they appear to be functionally independent, which ultimately gives rise to the use of discourse-level insubordination described in section 31. (Note that both clauses in [622b, d] are formally absolutive clauses—an instance of insubordination.) (622) a. Nachee’aal eh ashyign’ tth’aak shyiit łįį 3SG>INDF:eat:INC:PFV:NOM and NTRL:down:AR plate in dog naagn’ eedlah. (N) eye 3PL:classify.PL.S:IPV ‘She was about to eat and down there in her plate there were dogs’ eyes.’ UTOLAF15May0501:040 b. Nanihshyay eh tthän’ 1SG:SG.come.back:PFV:NOM and waterwards:ALL tseenaan eh. (N) 1PL:move.nomadically:PFV:NOM and ‘I came back and we moved down there.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:086

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

411

c. Ch’ithüh shyah shyiit ishyiit hutah hihdeltth’ii eł INDF:skin house in there AR:among 3PL:PL.stay:IPV:NOM and t’eey adog nts’ą’ ts’iikeey ‹‹iin›› shyah’eh’ąą, ADVZR NTRL:up:AR towards children PL 3PL:make.noise:IPV hihdelxoh. (T) 3PL:play:IPV ‘They were staying there in a teepee and over there children were making a lot of noise, playing.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:003 d. Laalil eh dzelxoo eł butterfly with 1PL:play:IPV:NOM and staaneenįįdlay. (T) 3SG>1PL:lead.PL.O.astray:IPV:NOM ‘We were playing with a butterfly and it led us astray.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:170 Prosodically, clauses connected by nominalization and eh/eł tend to be tightly integrated. Figure 24.9 is a partial wave form and pitch track of (622c). It shows that there is no pause or other prosodic break following eł. The same close integration is shown in figure 24.10, wave form and pitch track of (622a). The pause in this utterance does not separate the clauses but instead occurs within the second clause. Figure 24.9. Clause coordination with eł (T), UTOLAF07Oct2512:003.

Regardless of whether this strategy is best viewed as a type of coordination or subordination, it is one of the most common types of clause combining. In my informal count of two hundred coordinated clauses, there are forty instances of this strategy;¹ only asyndetic clause coordination is more frequent. Additionally, this type of clause-combining also operates at the discourse level as discussed in chapter 31.

412

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

Figure 24.10. Clause coordination with eh (N), UTOLAF15May0501:040.

24.2. Discourse-level coordination Discourse-level coordination often is not formally marked at all; instead, separate utterances, each with their own prosodic contour, are uttered sequentially. In the following sections I briefly describe the most frequent lexical items connecting utterances. Those occurring in utterance-initial position are described in 24.2.1. There are also several utterance-final items connecting utterances; these are described in 24.2.2. 24.2.1. Utterance-initial coordinators The most common utterance-initial coordinators are ay tl’aan, ay eh, ay ch’a, or ay du’, all usually translated with ‘and then’, or t’oot’eey ‘but’. 24.2.1.1. (Ay) tl’aan ‘and then’ (Ay) tl’aan ‘and then’ expresses a sequential relationship between events. (623) is a procedural text describing how the speaker’s father made toys for his sons. (623)

Excerpt: UTOLAF09Jun2901:005–07 (T) 1. Dichinh, dichinh hugn dichinh eł imaagn wood wood etc wood with 3SG>3SG:frame hohtsiik tl’aan hiiyuutǫǫ mbiit’ah make.SG.AR.O:IPV:CUST and.then 3PL>3SG:handles 3SG:at.back chiit hiiyuutǫǫ dą’ chih hohtsiik eł. ? 3PL>3SG:handles at also make.SG.AR.O:IPV:CUST and ‘Wood, wood, things, he made a frame with wood on top of it and he also made handles at [the toboggan’s] back.’

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

413

2. Ay tl’aan gah ke’ k’eh et’ii ay łįį huxah and.then rabbit feet like 3SG:cut:IPV:CUST and dog 3PL:for ehtsiik. 3SG:make.SG.O:IPV:CUST ‘And then he would cut rabbits’ feet and make dogs for them.’ (624) describes how the speaker and her siblings followed a wounded bear to ensure that it did not circle back to attack them. (624)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN13May2004:089–91 (N) 1. Ahda’ negn’ neetąy’ NTRL:downriver:ALL upland:ALL 1PL:trail natsetneek niign t’eey tetdät, 1PL:move.around:IPV:CUST the.way ADVZR 3SG:animal.run:INC:PFV huhda’ negn’ tetdät. AR:downriver:ALL upland:ALL 3SG:animal.run:INC:PFV ‘[The bear] started to run the way we were traveling, downriver and upland; he started to run downriver and upland.’ 2. Łaakay nįįthaat k’eh t’eey ninįįshyah. two 3SG:be.far:PFV like ADVZR 3SG:SG.arrive:PFV ‘He went two miles.’ 3. Tl’aan t’eey ehtįį. then ADVZR 3SG:SG:die:PFV ‘And then he died.’

As a consequence of its sequential meaning, ay tl’aan is often used at the beginning of a new episode (625). Lines 1–3 conclude the episode where Loon heals an old man of blindness. The final episode, where the old man finds and kills his abusive wife, is introduced by ay tl’aan in line 4. (625)

Excerpt: UTCBVDN13Nov1401:048–51 (N) 1. “Hunak-’įh, hǫǫsu’ t’eey hunak-’įh,” Ts’almbeet 1SG>AR:see:IPV well ADVZR 1SG>AR:see:IPV loon ehnih. 3SG:say:IPV ‘“I can see, I can see very well now,” he told the loon.’

414

BEYOND THE CLAUSE 2. “Hahnegn’ nishnįhteeyh mänh maagn.” NTRL:upland:ALL 2SG>SG:bring.AO:IPV lake shore ‘“Take me back up to the shore.”’ 3. Ishyiit niihindeel eh ay ch’itay ch’inikon’ there 3PL:PL.arrive.back:PFV:NOM and and old.man dentalium t’eey ithiin ninįįdlah. ADVZR 3SG>3SG:neck put.RO:PFV ‘They got back over there and that old man put a dentalium necklace around [Loon’s] neck.’ 4. Ay tl’aan ch’itay du’ hada’ ‹ay› ts’exeh nts’ą’ and.then old.man CT NTRL:downriver:ALL DEM woman to natetshyah. 3SG:SG.go:IT:INC:PFV ‘And then that old man went back downriver to that woman.’

Line 1 in (626) concludes the episode where U.S. Army representatives instruct the Tetlin people in self-defense during World War II, while line 2 begins the episode where the speaker discusses the construction of the Alaska Highway. (626)

Excerpt: UTCBVDN14Jul1801:144–45 (T) 1. Tl’aan nahtetdeeł. and.then 3PL:PL.go:IT:INC:PFV ‘And then [the US Army representatives] went back.’ 2. Ay tl’aan that tąy hohįįxaan. and.then that highway 3PL>AR:build.PL.O:PFV:NOM ‘And then they built that highway.’

Utterance sequences containing one of these coordinators are prosodically unremarkable. Figure 24.11 contains the wave form and pitch track of both clauses in (626). Tl’aan at the beginning of line 1 is prosodically integrated into the clause; there are no pauses or strong pitch movements. Ay tl’aan at the beginning of line 2 is set apart from all surrounding material by lengthy pauses. It is, however, clearly part of the second clause as evidenced by the pitch movement: tl’aan in line 2 is the locus of the pitch and intensity reset typical of utterance-initial position. These two prosodic patterns—full integration into the following clause, or separation by pauses, with pitch and

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

415

intensity integration into the following utterance—are typical not just of (ay) tl’aan but also of utterance-initial ay, ay eh, etc. Figure 24.11. Connecting utterances with ay tl’aan (T): UTCBVDN14Jul1801:144–145.

24.2.1.2. Ay (eh/eł) ‘and’ Ay ‘and’ as well as the longer version ay eh/eł lacks the strong sequential meaning component of (ay) tl’aan. (627) contrasts sequential tl’aan (within the utterance in line 1) with the conjunction ay ‘and’, which links lines 2 and 3. The two events in lines 2 and 3 are simultaneous; in drinking the cup of water too fast (one speaker explained that this verb would be used to describe taking a shot of whisky) the young woman inadvertently swallows the dirt. (627)

Excerpt: UTCBAF15May0401:010–12 (N) 1. “Ayah!” nih tl’aan t’ayįhtl’iit tl’aan yuck say:IPV and.then 3SG>3SG:pour.down:PFV and.then ch’ishyuuy t’ach’įįshyiił. different 3SG>INDF:dip.water:PFV ‘“Yuck!” she said and she poured the water out and dipped different [water].’ 2. Initeltth’eek. 3SG>SG:gulp.down:PFV ‘She gulped it down.’ 3. Ay güh chih iteltät. and dirt also 3SG>SG:swallow:INC:PFV ‘And she swallowed that dirt as well.’

416

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(628) relates how a group of elders rushes to the assistance of another group of people who have fired distress shots after their son’s canoe capsized. (628)

Excerpt: UTOLAF10Jul0801:008–09 (T) 1. Nts’aa’ hutshyaak de’ kah hohneh’įį xah huts’ą’ what AR:happen:PFV to.check 3PL>AR:look:PFV for 3PL:to hihniideeł. 3PL:PL:go.to:PFV ‘They came there in order to find out what had happened.’ 2. Ay eł t’eey dzihelshyee::h nts’ą’ hahįįdeeł. and ADVZR 3PL:dance.mourning:IPV and 2PL:PL.come.out:PFV ‘And they were doing the mourning dance as they came out.’

24.2.1.3. Ay ch’a ‘anyway, that’s why’ Ay ch’a, composed of the third-person pronoun ay and the focus marker ch’a(le’), has two distinct functions. It is often used to signal the end of a digression and the return to the main topic of the narrative. This is evident in (629), where the speaker briefly digresses to introduce her aunt, Martha Mark, as her source of knowledge in line 2, before proceeding to tell the story of her own birth. The return to the main storyline is signaled by ay ch’ale’ in line 3. Note that ch’a(le’) triggers nominalization of the clause (see also sec. 30.2.2.2). (629)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN07Nov2901:049–51 (N) 1. Shnąą uts’iiniin uteełe’. 1SG:mother 3SG:child 3SG:be.born:INC:PFV ‘My mother was about to have her baby.’ 2. Ay t’axoh ts’iiniin muuteełe’, ehnih, Martha and finally child 3SG:be.born:INC:PFV 3SG:say:IPV Martha Mark sheh naholnegn tah dihnih. Mark 1SG:to 3SG:tell.story:IPV:NOM when 1SG:say:IPV ‘And finally the baby was about to be born, she said; Martha Mark told me what I am saying now.’ 3. Ay ch’ale shnąą eh įįda’ ay ts’iiniin 3SG FOC 1SG:mother with 3SG:SG.sit:PFV and child mihǫǫłiin du’. 3SG:be.born:IPV CT ‘Anyway, she sat with my mother as the child was being born.’

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

417

The other common function of ay ch’a(le’) is to create a causal link between the utterances (630). (630)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN13May2804:008–10 (T) 1. Hushyi’ tat’eey tne’įį. 3SG:food even 3SG:steal:IPV ‘He even steals their food.’ 2. Tl’aan yeldiił tl’aan and.then 3SG>SG:eat.PL.O:IPV:CUST and nach’itnel’įįk. 3SG:sneak.around:IPV:CUST ‘Then he eats it and then he sneaks around.’ 3. Ay ch’a ts’ant’ay hiyehnay. 3SG FOC devil 3PL>3SG:say:IPV:NOM ‘That’s why they call him the devil.’

24.2.1.4. Ay du’ ‘and then, as for that’ Ay du’ ‘and then, as for that’ is composed of the third-person pronoun ay and the contrastive topic marker du’. It occurs more rarely than the other markers. It contrasts events and is used when two people are doing the same thing separately. (631) describes how the speaker’s father and his brother set up their tent site, with the two families’ tents separated by the shared fire. (631)

Excerpt: UTOLAF17Aug0801:028–29 (N) 1. Ay tl’aan taathüh nihįįtthay. and.then tent 3SG:put.up.tent:PFV:NOM ‘And then [my uncle] put up a tent.’ 2. Ay du’ jah kon’ kon’ k’üü shta’ iin dishyah taathüh and.then here fire fire beside 1SG:father PL REFL:house tent nihnįįtthayh tl’aan nuhts’ąy du’ shtay 3SG:put.up.tent:PFV and.then other.side CT 1SG:paternal.uncle Bill Northway mǫǫsi’ u’aat Elsie, no, u’aat Eliza eh. Bill Northway 3SG:name 3SG:wife Elsie no 3SG:wife Eliza and ‘And then beside the fire, my dad put up his house, a tent, and on the other side [was] my uncle, Bill Northway was his name, and his wife Elsie, no, his wife Eliza.’

418

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

It can also contrast the simultaneous actions of different individuals (632), which describes how a Bear mistreats his (human) wife. There are several storytellers in (632), identified by their initials. (632)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN10Jul2713:008–10 (N) 1. SDB: Tsüü yaa na’elshyeek shyįį’, edib.roots 3SG:for 3SG:bring.back:PL.O:IPV:CUST only hiiyehnih. 3PL>3SG:say:IPV SDB: ‘He only brought back edible roots for her, they say.’ 2. DN: Ay du’ u’aat du’ k’at’eey hu’än yaa and.then 3SG:wife CT NEG AR:out:ALL 3SG:for tihaagn. 3SG:SG.go:INC:IPV:CUST:NEG ‘And his wife, she does not go out for him.’ (Speaker comment: she is not involved with what he’s doing.) 3. DN: Kon’k’eet shyįį’ yįhda’ nts’ą̈ ’ dishyįį’ campsite only 3SG>3SG.leave:SG:PFV and alone dich’el’aał anogn. 3SG>REFL>INDF:feed:IPV NTRL:upland:AR ‘He leaves her by the campsite and feeds only himself up there.’

24.2.1.5. T’oot’eey ‘but’ T’oot’eey is used to express contrast between utterances (633) in the same way that it links clauses within utterances (see 24.1.2). (633)

Excerpt: UTCBAF13Nov1203:013–14 (N) 1. Dziin tah huukol shǫǫnüü eh. all.day 3PL:NEGEX 1SG:older.brother with ‘All day they would be gone, with my older brother.’ 2. Ay t’oot’eey hǫǫsu’ niłk’ats’enelta’. and but well 1PL>RECP:take.care:IPV ‘But we [the younger siblings] took good care of one another.’

24.2.2. Utterance-final coordinators Similar to what Lovick (2010) describes for Dena’ina, several coordinators in Upper Tanana occur in utterance-final position, establishing cohesion be-

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

419

tween utterances. Utterance-final coordinators are underlined throughout this section. 24.2.2.1. Utterance-final nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ The most frequent utterancefinal connector is nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’, which functions less as a clause-connector than as a signal that the speaker is not yet finished. It could thus be viewed as a turn-holding device (see also Lovick and Tuttle [2011, 148]). Nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ does not trigger nominalization of the preceding clause. This is illustrated in (634). In this excerpt there are five tokens of nts’ą’: three in utterance-medial position (in lines 1, 2, and 4) and two (underlined) in utterance-final position (lines 1 and 3). (634)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN07Nov2803:005–08 (T) 1. Neexon du’ ts’įįtsuul nts’ą’ k’at’eey dzanh xah t’eey 1PL CT 1PL:be.small:IPV and NEG muskrat for ADVZR ni’eełts’ełeegn nts’ą’. 1PL:set.traps:IPV:CUST:NEG and ‘Us though, we were small and we didn’t set traps for muskrat.’ 2. Ts’iikeey ts’įįłįį nts’ą’ dzelxoh. children 1PL:be:IPV and 1PL:play:IPV ‘We were children and played.’ 3. Neenąą iin ts’eneh’ąy k’eh ts’ediik 1PL:mother PL 1PL:watch:IPV:NOM like 1PL:do:IPV:CUST taamaagn łoots’edak nts’ą’. shore 1PL:PL.walk.around:IPV:NOM and ‘We did like our mothers, whom we watched, and walked around the lake shore.’ 4. K’a łą eeł ts’edįįg t’oot’eey dzelxoh nts’ą’ NEG truly trap 1PL:do.IPV:CUST:NEG but 1PL:play:IPV and ni’eełts’eełeek ts’ihol’iik. 1PL:set.traps:IPV:CUST 1PL:pretend:IPV:CUST ‘We didn’t really do it but we played and pretended to set traps.’

Nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ in utterance-final position does not appear to have a sequential meaning component; it simply links two propositions without making claims about the order of events described therein (635). Ts’exeey iin tthihihaagn iin ‘women who customarily go out’ is a euphemism for young women

420

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

going through puberty. (635)

Excerpt: UTOLAF12Jul1203:063–64 (N) 1. Diniign kah nahtetdek tah ay iin dineey iin moose for 3PL:PL.go.around:IPV:CUST when 3 PL men PL ay iin ch’a įįjih nts’ą̈ ’. 3 PL FOC taboo and ‘When they go for moose, [encountering women] is taboo for men.’ 2. Ts’exeey iin tthihihaagn iin ay iin ch’a an’ women PL 3PL:SG.go.out:IPV:CUST:NOM PL 3 PL FOC away:ALL ihdel’ay, nah’ogn neetsay 3PL>REFL:keep.away:IPV:NOM MED:out:AR 1PL:grandfather nah’ogn ts’äł shyiit nłiin ay ts’exeey iin MED:out:AR bush in 3SG:be:IPV:NOM and women PL tthinįįshyay itsidel’ay nt’eh. 3PL:SG.go.out:PFV:NOM 3PL:dislike:IPV:NOM ASRT ‘Women going through puberty are keeping themselves away, out there there are bears in the bush and they don’t like women who are going through puberty.’

In (636) utterance-final nts’ą̈ ’ is again used to establish cohesion between the utterances. (636)

Excerpt: UTCBVDN13Nov0804:039–40 (N) 1. Ay tl’aan ch’ik’eh shee’eh Walter ishyiit and.then last 1SG:maternal.uncle Walter there ninįįnąą huugn all niłxah niihetdek 3SG:move.to:PFV there all RECP:for 3PL:PL.go.around:IT:IPV:CUST nts’ą̈ ’. and ‘And then, last of all, my uncle Walter moved there, all of them would come around for each other.’

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

421

2. Shyah hehtsayh, shyah hįįdlaa nts’ą̈ ’ house 3PL:make.SG.O:IPV house 3PL:be.many:IPV and k’at’eey hutiithaadn nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey shyah already NEG AR:be.long.time:IPV:NEG ADVZR house already holtsiik. AR:make.SG.O:PASS:IPV:CUST ‘They built a house, many houses, and it wasn’t long before houses were already built.’ Prosodically nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ clearly concludes the first utterance. Figure 24.12, wave form and pitch track of part of (634, lines 3–4), shows that nts’ą’ continues the prosodic curve of line 3. It is produced with such low intensity that its pitch is not measurable. In figure 24.13, wave form and pitch track of part of (635), nts’ą̈ ’ similarly continues the first utterance’s prosodic curve and is the locus of the final fall typical of utterances. In both instances nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ is followed by a pause. Figure 24.12. Utterance-final nts’ą’ (T): UTOLVDN07Nov2803:007–008.

Figure 24.13. Utterance-final nts’ą̈ ’ (N): UTOLAF12Jul1203:063–064.

422

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

24.2.2.2. Utterance-final tl’aan ‘and, and then’ Tl’aan ‘and, and then’ occurs relatively rarely in utterance-final position. It seems to be more common in the Northway dialect than in Tetlin. In (637) utterance-final tl’aan indicates a temporal sequence of events: first the grandfather puts the pack on the dog Alkał, then he gives Alkał instructions. (637)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN10Jul2724:107–8 (N) 1. Alkał ‹łahtthegn› ixeel’ hǫǫsǫǫ ik’it Alkał all 3SG>3SG:pack:POSS well 3SG>3SG:on.top na’ehtsįį tl’aan. fix:IT:PFV and.then ‘[My grandfather] fixed Alkał’s pack nicely on top of him.’ 2. “Jah xeeł degn’ tąy huxah niinin’aay.” here pack up:ALL trail 3PL:for 2SG:bring.CO:IT:IPV:IMP ‘“Bring this pack up the trail for them.”’ (grandfather talking to Alkał)

In (638) the speaker gives a virtual tour of the old Northway village. Utterancefinal tl’aan ‘and’ has strong sequential meaning here. The description of the location of houses in (638) is organized as if one were walking through the old village, from one house to the next. This sequentiality distinguishes it from nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’. (638)

Excerpt: UTCBVDN13Nov0804:014–19 (N) 1. Ay hada’ negn’ du’ shee’eh and NTRL:downriver:ALL upland:ALL CT 1SG:maternal.uncle Stephen Northway dits’iikeey iin di’aat Edna eh Steven Northway REFL:children PL REFL:wife Edna with hushyah hǫǫłįį tl’aan. 3PL:house ARbe:IPV and ‘A little downstream and away from the river is my uncle Stephen Northway, his kids, and his wife Edna’s, house.’

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

423

2. Ha’ahdǫǫ neeshyah nts’ą̈ ’ dǫǫ, ADJ:NTRL:downriver:ABL 1PL:house toward downriver:ABL ha’ashyign’ shee’eh Stephen ADJ:NTRL:down:AR 1SG:maternal.uncle Stephen eeday hashyign’ t’eey shee’eh 3SG:SG.stay:IPV:NOM NTRL:down:AR ADVZR 1SG:maternal.uncle Bill Northway shyah huhtsįį. Bill Northway house 3SG>AR:make.SG.O:PFV ‘The next one from downriver towards our house, down from where my uncle Stephen was staying, my uncle Bill Northway built a house.’ 3. Tl’aan Stephen Northway shyah ha’ah’aat dänh and.then Stephen Northway house ADJ:NTRL:outside:PNCT at ishyiit jah. there here ‘And then Stephen Northway’s house was next door there.’ 4. Stsay Elijah Demit ushyah, jah Frank Sam iin 1SG:grandfather Elijah Demit 3SG:house here Frank Sam PL all nts’ą̈ ’ dełaadn iin eh ishyiit hihdeltth’ih tl’aan. all ADVZR REFL:relatives PL and there 3PL:PL.stay:IPV and.then ‘My grandpa Elijah Demit’s house, here Frank Sam and his people stayed there.’ 5. Shta’ iin chih just, stsǫǫ Mary, Chief Sam 1SG:father PL also just 1SG:grandmother Mary Chief Sam udia’ nłįį ay eh ch’a nił’eh shyįį’ t’eey 3SG:younger.sister 3SG:be:IPV and FOC RECP:with only ADVZR hihdeltth’ign, Frank Sam udia’ iin, 3PL:PL.stay:IPV:CUST:NOM Frank Sam 3SG:younger.sister PL uchil iin, Mary, Helen, Andrew, Silas ay iin chih 3SG:younger.brother PL Mary Helen Andrew Silas 3 PL also dinąą Bessie eh. REFL:mother Bessie and ‘My father also, Grandma Mary is Chief Sam’s younger sister, that’s why they always stayed together: Frank Sam, his younger sisters and brothers, Mary, Helen, Andrew and Silas, and their mother Bessie.’

424

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

In the Tetlin dialect, utterance-final tl’aan seems to be rarer, but the semantics are the same (639). (639)

Excerpt: UTCBAF13Nov0501:036–37 (T) 1. Laalil hǫǫ’t’eey niłk’inaat’ay eł butterfly still 3SG:SG:flutter.around:IPV:PROG:NOM and hǫǫ’t’eey hiinaadał tah hedloo still 3PL>3SG:PL.follow:IPV:PROG when 3PL:laugh:IPV:NOM tl’aan. and ‘The butterfly was fluttering around and they were following and laughing.’ 2. K’ahjil t’eey hiiyuuniik t’oot’eey huch’a’ t’eey almost ADVZR 3PL>3SG:grab:PFV but 3PL:from ADVZR nantnett’ah. 3SG:flutter.around:PFV:ERR ‘They almost caught one but it fluttered away from them.’

Two prosodic patterns are typical of utterance-final tl’aan. In (637), parts of which are shown in figure 24.14, tl’aan is prosodically integrated into the first utterance and separated from the following utterance by a pause. Note, however, that the final lowering in the first utterance is relatively slight; the pitch reset at the beginning of the quoted speech is a more conclusive cue to the beginning of a new utterance. The second prosodic pattern is illustrated in figure 24.15, partial wave form and pitch track of (6381, b). Here tl’aan is separated from the preceding utterance by a short pause and from the following one by a much longer pause. The preceding utterance’s falling pitch continues onto tl’aan, which is pronounced with similar intensity as preceding material—this differentiates from utterance-initial (ay) tl’aan, which features a pitch reset and higher intensity (see 24.2.1.1).

COORDINATION OF CLAUSES

425

Figure 24.14. Utterance-final tl’aan (N): UTOLVDN10Jul2724:107–8.

Figure 24.15. Utterance-final tl’aan (N): UTCBVDN14Nov0804:014–5.

24.3. Summary Upper Tanana has several clause coordination strategies. The most frequent strategy for cumulative coordination is juxtaposition of clauses without any coordinator. The coordinator nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ usually bestows a simultaneous interpretation, while tl’aan ‘and, and then’ is used when a sequential interpretation is intended. There is an adversative coordinator t’oot’eey; it is occasionally difficult to distinguish adversative coordination from concessive adverbial linking. All of these coordinators occur between the clauses they conjoin. They also share common prosodic patterns. The first pattern associated with coordination is a smooth prosodic curve typical of mono-clausal utterances, with no pause before or after the coordinator. The second pattern involves a pause after the coordinator, which is linked tightly to the first clause. No final lowering takes place before the coordinator. There are two strategies for the expression of clausal disjunction; both are too rare to make claims about their prosody. Upper Tanana also has a clause-combining strategy that is situated some-

426

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

where between subordination and coordination. Clauses looking like absolutive adverbial clauses (i.e., nominalized clauses followed by eh/eł ) are often translated as main clauses. Prosodically, these clauses are very tightly linked. Clause-combining at the discourse level involves similar coordinators occurring in utterance-initial or utterance-final position, that is, between the two linked items. Nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ ‘and’ is slightly more frequent in general and simply links two utterances. Tl’aan ‘and then’ occurs relatively rarely and seems to be more common in the Northway dialect; it has sequential meaning. Notes 1. I counted only instances that were translated as main clauses, not those that were translated as temporal, causal, or concessive clauses.

25 | Relative clauses Relative clauses are clauses that modify a (nominal or pronominal) head (Dixon 2010, 313). This head has a grammatical role both in the relative clause and in the main clause; following Dixon, it is called the common argument here.¹ The common argument in (640a) serves as subject of both the main clause and the relative clause. In (640b) the common argument serves as postpositional object of the main clause but subject of the relative clause. Relative clauses are underlined throughout this chapter; the common argument is underlined twice when it is coded as a free noun phrase. (640) a. K’a’ shnänt’aagn eedlay du’ ch’idänh k’üü tah dąą’ ‹łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’› tedeek. (N) k’a’ sh-nänt’aagn ee-dlay gun 1SG.P-behind.back 3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV:NOM du’ ch’idänh k’üü tah dąą’ łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ CT different beside among thus all te-deek 3PL.S:INC:Ø.IPV:Ø-PL.move:IPV:CUST ‘And the guns lying behind me all moved over to one side.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:099 b. Nąą! Ashyig neekąy’ iin hihdelxoo nts’ą’ tsuudeel! (T) nąą a-shyig nee-kąy’ iin mother NTRL-down:ALL 1PL.PSR-husband PL h-del-xoo nts’ą’ tsuu-deel 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-play:IPV:NOM to 1PL.S:INC:OPT:Ø-PL.go:OPT ‘Mom! Let’s go down to our husbands who are playing!’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:010 Structural properties of relative clauses are described in section 25.1. Relative clauses have several grammatical and discourse-related functions, which are

428

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

described briefly in sections 25.2 and 25.3. More detail on these functions can be found in chapters 26, 27, 30, and 31. 25.1. Structure In this section structural features of relative clauses are described, including their status as nominalized clauses; the fact that they are internally headed; and some observations about their prosody. 25.1.1. Relative clauses as nominalized clauses Relative clauses are marked by a vocalic suffix -v, which is absorbed into the verb stem creating a heavy stem syllable (see vol. 1, chap. 11 for detail). As a consequence, relative clauses are formally identical to deverbal nouns, and it is sometimes difficult to identify whether a given form is better interpreted as a deverbal noun or as a relative clause. Following the typological studies of (Keenan 1985, 141) and (Dixon 2010, 313), I treat Upper Tanana relative clauses as noun phrases, and -v as a nominalizing suffix, similar to the observations by (Willie 1989) for Navajo, (Wilhelm 2014) for Dëne Sųłiné, and (Hucklebridge 2016) for Tłįchǫ Yatiì, rather than as a complementizer as done by (Saxon 2000) for Tłįchǫ Yatiì and (Boyle 2016) for the Siouan language Hidatsa. In Upper Tanana, relative clauses have both nominal and clausal properties, as outlined in the following sections. 25.1.1.1. Nominal properties Relative clauses may be marked by the plural enclitic iin, which attaches to noun phrases ([641]; see chap. 19 for more discussion of noun phrase structure). (641) a. Jah tąy k’üü noodlee iin nah’ogn tourist huhinay iin hushyah choh heetąą nts’ą̈ ’. (N) jah tąy k’üü noodlee iin nah-ogn tourist here trail beside white.man PL NTRL-outside:AR tourist hu-hi-nay iin hu-shyah choh 3PL.P-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV:NOM PL 3PL.PSR-house big hee-tąą nts’ą̈ ’ 3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.LRO:IPV and ‘There next to the road these white people they call tourists had parked their big camper.’ UTOLAF09Aug1201:015

RELATIVE CLAUSES

429

b. Ndee nts’ą’ hihteenah needach’įįxaan iin du’… (T) ndee nts’ą’ h-tee-nah where to 3PL.S-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-move:PFV nee-da-ch’įį-xaan iin du’ 1PL.P-CMPL-INDF:3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-kill.PL.O:PFV:NOM PL CT ‘Where did they go, the ones who killed us all…’ UTOLAF13May2403:102 Relative clauses may be marked with the contrastive topic particle du’, which also usually follows noun phrases ([642]; see sec. 30.2.1 for more discussion). (642) a. Ch’itay ch’a ch’ishyiign eh exaan du’: “Shoh aldeeł?” (N) ch’itay ch’a ch’isyiign eh e-xaan du’ old.man FOC picture with 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-make.PL.O:IPV:NOM CT shoh al-deeł bear Ø.IPV:2PL.S:L-eat.PL.O:IPV ‘The old man who was taking pictures though: “Do you guys eat bear?”’ UTOLAF09Aug1201:040 b. Łuugn eldeel du’ taguuł mǫǫsi’. (T) łuugn el-deel du’ taguuł m-ǫǫsi’ fish 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:L-eat.PL.O:IPV:NOM CT taguuł 3SG.PSR-name ‘The one who eats fish is called taguuł.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:049 Most importantly, relative clauses fill participant positions in the main clause (see sec. 25.1.2.1). 25.1.1.2. Clausal properties The verbs in relative clauses are always fully inflected. This is demonstrated in all examples within this chapter. Relative clauses may—and frequently do—contain free noun and postpositional phrases (643b) or adverbs (643a). The order of elements within a relative clause is indistinguishable from that in other clause types (see chap. 11). (643) a. Ishyiit hihdelxoo iin du’ k’at’eey nts’aa’ t’eey hedąy. (T) ishyiit h-del-xoo iin du’ k’at’eey nts’aa’ there 3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:L-play:IPV:NOM PL CT NEG how t’eey he-dąy ADVZR 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-do:IPV:NEG ‘The ones who had been playing there didn’t do anything.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:019

430

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. Łigaay iin nee’eh nahtel’üü all nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey inahdįh’üüt.(N) łigaay iin nee-’eh na-h-tel-’üü puppy PL 1PL.P-with PRMB-3PL.S-INC:Ø.IPV:L-herd.move:IPV:NOM all nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey i-na-h-dįh-’üüt all ADVZR 3SG.P-around-3PL.S-QUAL:AA.PFV:H-herd.move:PFV ‘The puppies that were walking there with us went all around him.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:072

25.1.2. Grammatical functions of the common argument The common argument fills a grammatical role in both the main clause and the relative clause. 25.1.2.1. Grammatical functions of common argument in main clause The common argument may fill all grammatical roles in the main clause. In a typological study, (Keenan and Comrie 1977, 66) set up an accessibility hierarchy that specifies which grammatical positions in a clause may be relativized. This hierarchy, presented in (644), is to be interpreted as an implicational scale; if an element further to the right of this hierarchy can be relativized, then all elements to its left also can be relativized (this is actually a simplification of their observations, see Keenan and Comrie [1977] for more discussion). In (644) Keenan and Comrie’s terminology is adjusted to that used throughout this grammar. (644) Subject > direct object > postpositional object > possessor (> object of comparison) (645a) illustrates that the common noun may function as subject of the main clause. (645) a. Ay t’eey ch’a dineh hǫǫshyaan huk’eh natedaak nts’ą’… (T) ay t’eey ch’a dineh hǫǫ-shyaan and even FOC man 3SG.S:AR:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.smart:IPV:NOM hu-k’eh na-te-daak nts’ą’ 3PL.P-following PRMB-3SG.S:INC:Ø.IPV-D:SG.go:IPV and ‘And that smart man was walking around following them…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:020

RELATIVE CLAUSES

431

b. K’at’eey dineh iin nak-’įįgn diht’eh. (N) k’at’eey dineh iin nak-’įįgn NEG person PL QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-look:IPV:CUST:NEG:NOM dih-t’eh QUAL:Ø.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-be:IPV ‘I am one who does not look at people.’ UTOLAF15May0501:146 When the common argument functions as direct object in the main clause, it is usually marked overtly on the main verb (646). (646) a. “Laalil natnatdagn stanuhtaałeel nt’eh,” hu’ehnih. (T) laalil na-tnat-dagn butterfly PRMB-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:2PL.S:D-PL.follow:IPV:CUST:NOM sta-nuh-taa-łeel nt’eh away-2PL.O-3SG.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:FUT:NOM ASRT hu-eh-nih 3PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘He will certainly take you PL away, who are following a butterfly,” she said to them.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805-005 b. Ahugn dii hiiyuukeedn Delta Junction ts’änh nahiiyalshyeel… (N) ahugn dii hiiy-uu-keedn there everything 3PL.S>3PL.O-CON:DH.PFV:Ø-buy:PFV:NOM Delta Junction ts’änh Delta Junction from na-hii-al-shyeel IT-3PL.S>3PL.O-AA.IPV:L-handle.PL.O:IPV:PROG:NOM ‘There everything they had bought in Delta Junction they were bringing back…’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:013 When the common argument is a postpositional object in the main clause, it is not usually marked on the postposition (647).

432

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(647) a. Ts’oo shyah hohuhtsiin shyiit hdeltth’ih. (T) ts’oo shyah ho-huh-tsiin shyiit spruce house AR.O-3PL.S:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV:NOM in h-del-tth’ih 3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:L-PL.stay:IPV ‘They stayed in a spruce house that they had built.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:038 b. Nąą! Ashyig neekąy’ iin hihdelxoo nts’ą’ tsuudeel! (T) nąą a-shyig nee-kąy’ iin mother NTRL-down:ALL 1PL.PSR-husband PL h-del-xoo nts’ą’ tsuu-deel 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-play:IPV:NOM to 1PL.S:INC:OPT:Ø-PL.go:OPT ‘Mom! Let’s go down to our husbands who are playing!’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:010 Rarely the common argument functions as possessor in the main clause. In those cases it is sometimes marked pronominally on the possessed noun (648a), sometimes not (648b). (648) a. Jah tąy k’üü noodlee iin nah’ogn tourist huhinay iin hushyah choh heetąą nts’ą̈ ’. (N) jah tąy k’üü noodlee iin nah-ogn tourist here trail beside white.man PL NTRL-outside:AR tourist hu-hi-nay iin hu-shyah choh 3PL.P-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV:NOM PL 3PL.PSR-house big hee-tąą nts’ą̈ ’ 3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.LRO:IPV and ‘There next to the road these white people they call tourists had parked their big camper.’ UTOLAF09Aug1201:015 b. Dineey hehxaan iin tthi’ k’iiheet’üü… (T) dineey he-xaan iin tthi’ men 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-kill.PL.O:IPV:NOM PL head k’ii-hee-t’üü severing-3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-cut:PFV ‘They cut off the heads of the men they had killed…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:010

RELATIVE CLAUSES

433

It is possible that the marking pattern here has to do with alienability; the camper in (648a) is alienable and thus requires overt possessive marking to be interpreted as possessed,² while the heads in (648b) are inalienably possessed. There are, however, insufficient examples of this construction to properly evaluate this hypothesis. 25.1.2.2. Grammatical functions of common argument in relative clause The common argument may have any grammatical function in the relative clause. (649) illustrates it as having subject function. (649) a. Łigaay iin nee’eh nahtel’üü all nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey inahdįh’üüt. (N) łigaay iin nee-’eh na-h-tel-’üü puppy PL 1PL.P-with PRMB-3PL.S-INC:Ø.IPV:L-herd.move:IPV:NOM all nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey i-na-h-dįh-’üüt all ADVZR 3SG.P-around-3PL.S-QUAL:AA.PFV:H-herd.move:PFV ‘The puppies that were walking there with us went all around him.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:072 b. Ay t’eey ch’a dineh hǫǫshyaan huk’eh natedaak nts’ą’… (T) ay t’eey ch’a dineh hǫǫ-shyaan and even FOC man 3SG.S:AR:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.smart:IPV:NOM hu-k’eh na-te-daak nts’ą’ 3PL.P-following PRMB-3SG.S:INC:Ø.IPV-D:SG.go:IPV:CUST and ‘And that smart man was walking around following them…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:020 In (650) the common argument functions as direct object of the relative clause. (650) a. “Nday, hashyign’ nee’eh ntl’ach’ihchuudn du’ dii xah dįhthädn?” shehnih. (N) nday ha-shyign’ n-ee’eh whoa NTRL-down:ALL 2SG.PSR-maternal.uncle n-tl’a-ch’-ih-chuudn du’ dii xah 2SG.P-to-INDF.O-AA.PFV:H-handle.food:PFV:NOM CT why dįh-thät sh-eh-nih QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:H-throw.CO:IPV:NOM 1SG.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“Whoa, why do you throw what your uncle gave to you on the ground?” she said to me.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:056

434

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. Ts’oo shyah hohuhtsiin shyiit hdeltth’ih. (T) ts’oo shyah ho-huh-tsiin shyiit spruce house AR.O-3PL.S:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV:NOM in h-del-tth’ih 3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:L-PL.stay:IPV ‘They stayed in a spruce house that they had built.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:038

In (651) the common argument is the postpositional object of the relative clause. (651) a. Ts’ayh gaay hii’eh natetkeegn ay hįįxąą. (N) ts’ayh gaay hii-eh canoe small 3PL.S>3SG.P-with na-tet-keegn ay PRMB-INC:Ø.IPV:D-go.by.boat:IPV:CUST:NOM 3SG hįį-xąą 3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-make.PL.O:PFV ‘They made a small canoe that they paddled around with.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:028 b. K’at’eey uk’it ts’ehtiid t’aat k’a hihtaadal. (T) k’at’eey u-k’it ts’eh-tiid t’aat k’a NEG 3SG.P-on 1PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-PL.sleep:IPV:CUST:NOM under NEG h-taa-dal 3PL.S-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-PL.go:FUT:NEG ‘They cannot have gone under the thing we sleep on [=the bed].’ UTOLAF12Jul1101:030 (652) shows that the common argument can be a possessor in the relative clause. The main clause in (652a) is verbless, with nday ‘where’ functioning as predicate.³ (652) a. Nday jah ts’exeh njah duug nts’ą’ t’eey utsįį’ hunįįt’ay xah… (T) nday jah ts’exeh jah duug nts’ą’ t’eey u-tsįį’ where this girl hereabouts to ADVZR 3SG.PSR-scent hu-nįį-tąy xah AR.S-N.PFV:Ø-trail.extend:IPV:NOM ? ‘Where is that girl whose scent trail extends up to here…’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:072

RELATIVE CLAUSES

435

b. K’ahdu’ uts’iiniin hǫǫłiin iin t’eey ts’iiniin k’ahdu’ mihǫǫłiin t’eey nahtehmbiik… (N) k’ahdu u-ts’iiniin hǫǫ-łiin iin t’eey now 3SG.PSR-children AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV:NOM PL ADVZR ts’iiniin k’ahdu’ m-i-hǫǫ-łiin t’eey child now 3SG.P-PP-AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV:NOM ADVZR na-h-teh-mbiik PRMB-3PL.S-INC:DH:Ø.IPV:H-swing:IPV:CUST ‘Nowadays the ones who have children [the ones whose children exist], they flaunt the children they just gave birth to…’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:052 While the common argument may have all grammatical roles in a relative clause, there is quite an asymmetry regarding their relative frequency. Most frequently the common argument functions as subject of the relative clause. Common arguments functioning as postpositional objects in relative clauses are extremely frequent, but have a strong tendency to be lexicalized as deverbal nouns; for example, uk’it ts’ehtiid ‘the one we sleep on’ is the unmarked way of saying ‘bed’ (see vol. 1, chap. 13 for more examples). Nonlexicalized instances such as (651b) are remarkably hard to find. Common arguments functioning as direct object of the relative clause are noticeably less common, and the corpus contains only a handful of examples of possessors within the relative clause as common argument. 25.1.3. Internal heading of relative clauses The argument that relative clauses in Dene languages are internally headed was originally put forward by (Platero 1974, 202–203), who observed that in verb-final Navajo, the relative clause typically follows the head noun, while in other verb-final languages, such as Turkish and Japanese, the relative clause precedes the head noun. Platero explains this by arguing that the head noun in Navajo is not part of the main clause, but rather part of the relative clause itself. Evidence for this view comes from two sources: adverb placement and noun phrase deletion. Following Platero’s work, similar arguments have been made by other scholars for related languages; see, for example, (Rice 1989) for Slave; (Saxon 2000) for Tłįchǫ Yatiì; and (Wilhelm 2014) for Dëne Sųłiné. To show that Upper Tanana relative clauses are internally headed, I will present evidence from the presence or absence of noun phrases, adverb placement, and pronominal marking.

436

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

25.1.3.1. Absence of head noun phrase In most examples so far in this chapter, the common argument occurs as an overt noun phrase. Similar to what other researchers have observed for related languages, however, this noun phrase is by no means required ([653]; see also Willie [1989] for Navajo; Rice [1989] for Slave; Saxon [2000] for Tłįchǫ Yatiì; or Wilhelm [2014] for Dëne Sųłiné). (653) a. “Nday, hashyign’ nee’eh ntl’ach’ihchuudn du’ dii xah dįhthädn?” shehnih. (N) nday ha-shyign’ n-ee’eh whoa NTRL-down:ALL 2SG.PSR-maternal.uncle n-tl’a-ch’-ih-chuudn du’ dii xah 2SG.P-to-INDF.O-3SG.S:AA.PFV:H-handle.food:PFV:NOM CT why dįh-thät sh-eh-nih QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:H-throw.CO:IPV:NOM 1SG.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“Whoa, why do you throw what your uncle gave to you on the ground?” she said to me.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:056 b. K’adįįde’ tah, “All nǫǫndaa iin hįįxaan iin huh k’inahu’agshyaak shyįį’,” hu’ehnih. (T) k’adįįde’ tah all n-ǫǫndaa little.later when all 2SG.PSR-older.brother iin hįį-xaan iin huh PL 3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-kill.PL.O:PFV:NOM PL etc. k’ina-hu-ag-shyaak shyįį’ revenge-3PL.O-AA.PFV:1SG.S:L-take.revenge:PFV only hu-eh-nih 3PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘A little while later, “I only got even with all the ones who had killed your SG older brothers,” he told them.’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:052 c. Adogn dlagn xah delxoo iin all hįįxąą. (T) a-dogn dlagn xah del-xoo iin NTRL-up:AR squirrel with 3PL.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-play:IPV:NOM PL all hįį-xąą all 3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-kill.PL.O:PFV ‘They killed all the ones who had been playing with the squirrel up there.’ UTOLAF13May2403:029

RELATIVE CLAUSES

437

Forms comparable to (653) lead (Willie 1989, 413) to claim that in Navajo the relative marker serves as head of the relative clause by turning a clause into a referring expression, which is formally nominal. This analysis is appropriate for Upper Tanana as well; note for example the use of the contrastive topic marker du’ and the plural marker following the relative clauses, both of which are typically part of noun phrases (see chap. 19). 25.1.3.2. Adverb placement Clear evidence for the internal heading of relative clauses comes from the placement of directional adverbs. Directionals occur typically in clause-initial position. In (654) the directionals are part of the relative clause, not the main clause, as is clear from the translations. Since the adverbs precede the common argument noun phrases (shyah ‘house’ in [654a], deeł ‘crane’ in [654b], and ts’ist’e’ ‘old lady’ in [654c]), it follows that these nouns phrases also are part of the relative clause, not of the main clause. (654) a. “Ha’ahda’ shyah hudhaktsiin hunah’įh,” nih! (T) ha-ah-da’ shyah ADJ-NTRL-downriver:ALL house hu-dhak-tsiin AR.O-DH.PFV:1SG.S:H-make.SG.O:PFV:NOM hu-nah-’įh nih AR.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2PL.S:H-look:IPV say:IPV ‘“Look at the house that I built downstream,” he said.’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:048 b. Nahdog deeł sts’akenaat’aa jeh’aan dįįtth’ak! nah-dog deeł PROX-above:AR crane sts’ake-naa-t’aa circling-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.fly:IPV:PROG:NOM jeh-’aan INDF.O:3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-sing:IPV:NOM dįį-tth’ak QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-listen:IPV ‘Listen SG to that crane singing who is circling overhead!’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:021

438

BEYOND THE CLAUSE c. Ay tl’aan hah’ogn ts’ist’e’ deltth’ii iin tats’iłe’. ay tl’aan hah-’ign ts’ist’e’ and then NTRL-out:AR old.lady del-tthii iin 3PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-PL.stay:IPV:NOM PL ta-ts’i-łe’ distribute-1PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:DSTR ‘And then we would distribute [the fish] among the old ladies staying out there.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:137

25.1.3.3. Pronominal marking Pronominal evidence for internal headedness of relative clauses is inconclusive. I will focus here on relative clauses where both subject and direct or postpositional object are third person. As discussed in chapter 17, the double-reference prefixes i/y- ‘3SG.S>3SG.O, 3SG.S>3SG.P’and hii- ‘3PL.S>3SG.O, 3PL.S>3SG.P’- are used only when the object noun phrase does not immediately precede the verb or postposition. Thus we would expect these prefixes to occur in clauses such as (655a), where the noun phrase is coreferential with the subject of the relative clause, but not in (655b), where the noun phrase is coreferential with the direct object of the relative clause (see sec. 17.2.1 for more discussion). (655) a. … Jah ts’exeh gaay shtl’ayįįdlay nadokthiin. (T) jah ts’exeh gaay here girl sh-tl’a-y-įį-dlay 1SG.P-to-3SG.S>3SG.O-AA.PFV:Ø-handle.PL.O:PFV:NOM na-dok-thiin down-QUAL:OPT:1SG.S:H-drop:CO:OPT ‘… I should drop the [stuff ] that the girl gave me.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:206 b. Oh that ts’iiniin gaay udih’aan ts’ist’e’ la’? (T) oh that ts’iinin gaay u-dih-’aan oh that baby 3SG.S:CON-QUAL:I.PFV:H-find.CO:PFV:NOM ts’ist’e’ la’? old.lady Q ‘Oh, that baby that the old lady found?’ UTOLAF13May2403:070

RELATIVE CLAUSES

439

Yet there also are examples like (656). In (656a) the relative clause is headed by the direct object, which is expressed both by the overt noun phrase tl’uuł ‘rope’ and by i/y-. In (656b) the postpositional object functions as head of the relative clause; it is expressed both by the free noun phrase ts’ayh gaay ‘small canoe’ and hii-. Examples such as (656) could suggest that the noun phrases tl’uuł ‘rope’ and ts’ayh gaay ‘small canoe’ are part of the main clause, not part of the relative clause. (656) a. T’axo::h jin tl’uuł yįhtsiin hahshyign’ t’axoh yeh. (N) t’axoh jin tl’uuł y-įh-tsiin finally this rope 3SG.S:3SG.O-AA.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV:NOM hah-shyign’ t’axoh y-eh NTRL-down:ALL finally 3SG.S>3SG.P-with ‘Finally, this rope that she had made [reached] all the way down.’ UTOLAF15May0501:212 b. Ts’ayh gaay hii’eh natetkeegn ay hįįxąą. (N) ts’ayh gaay hii-eh canoe small 3PL.S>3SG.P-with na-tet-keegn ay PRMB-INC:Ø.IPV:D-go.by.boat:IPV:NOM 3SG hįį-xąą 3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-make.PL.O:PFV ‘They made a small canoe that they paddled around with.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:028 Even in those examples, though, there is some evidence supporting the view that relative clauses are internally headed. If the noun were not part of the relative clause, we would expect this to be marked by intonation. Yet in both sentences the intonation contour of the underlined part is smooth and unbroken, with no pause between the noun and the object prefix, which suggests that these items belong to the same syntactic unit (see 25.1.5 for more discussion of the prosody of relative clauses). It may also be significant that both examples in (656) were produced by the same speaker; it is possible that her grammar differs in this respect from that of other speakers. Given the overall small number of examples for relative clauses headed by direct or postpositional objects overall, it is unclear if there is a fundamental difference between (655) and (656) or if this is idiolectal variation.

440

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

25.1.4. Complex relative clauses Complex relative clauses fall into two groups. In the more common type the common argument is modified by two relative clauses that are conjoined asyndetically. In this type, the common argument has the same grammatical role in both relative clauses; this role is typically that of subject. Since relative clauses in Upper Tanana are usually restrictive (see 25.2), the resulting reading is intersectional: the crane in (657a) is both flying in a circle and singing, and the people in (657b) have killed a moose and have meat as a result of this. (657) a. Nahdog deeł sts’akenaat’aa jeh’aan dįįtth’ak! nah-dog deeł PROX-above:AR crane sts’ake-naa-t’aa circling-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.fly:IPV:PROG:NOM jeh-’aan INDF.O:3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-sing:IPV:NOM dįį-tth’ak QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-listen:IPV ‘Listen SG to that crane singing who is circling overhead!’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:021 b. Nuug ishyiit hutah dineey iin huu diniign hihdhehxiin iin hugn shyi’ naaheedlay iin hu’ich’eh’aał… (T) nuug ishyiit hu-tah dineey iin huu upland:AR there AR.P-among people PL etc. diniign h-dheh-xiin iin moose 3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:H-kill.SG.O:PFV:NOM PL hugn shyi’ na-hee-dlay iin etc. meat IT-3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV:NOM PL hu-i-ch’eh-’aał 3PL.P-PP-3PL.S>INDF.O:Ø.IPV:H-feed:IPV ‘In the upland area, people who had killed a moose [and] had meat, fed them…’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:023 The less common type is that of stacked relative clauses, that is, relative clauses where the common argument is modified by another relative clause in a different grammatical role (658).

RELATIVE CLAUSES

441

(658) a. Ishyiit dineh da’eedaay ashyiign dixeel’ dixeel’ shyiit da’ee’aan ay chih nts’ąą’ eh ch’a na’įį’aan? (N) ishyiit dineh da-ee-daay there man up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-SG.sit:IPV:NOM a-shyign’ d-xeeł’ d-xeel’ shyiit NTRL-down:ALL REFL.PSR-pack:POSS REFL.PSR-pack:POSS there da-ee-’aan ay chih nts’ąą’ eh ch’a up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.CO:IPV:NOM 3SG also how and FOC na-įį-’aan down-AA.PFV:2SG.S:Ø-handle.CO:PFV:NOM ‘How come you took down the pack that the man who was sitting there was keeping down there?’ UTOLAFMay0807:070 b. Dineh, dineh jah danįįshyay uxeel’ da’ee’aan nday? (N) dineh dineh jah da-nįį-shyay man man here in-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV:NOM u-xeel’ da-ee-’aan nday 3SG.PSR-pack:POSS up-3SG.S:DH.PFV-classify.CO:IPV:NOM where ‘Where is the man who just came in here’s pack that was lying here?’ UTOLAFMay0807:060 (658a) contains three relative clauses. The main clause is nominalized because of the focus marker ch’a (see secs. 25.3 and 30.2.2.2 for more discussion). The pack serves as direct object of the main clause nts’ąą’ eh ch’a na’įį’aan ‘how come you took it down’. It is also the direct object of the relative clause dixeel’ ishyiit da’ee’aan ‘the one who has his pack there’, and at the same time the possessee of the first relative clause ishyiit dineh da’eeday ‘the man who was sitting here’. (658b) is similarly complex, and challenging to translate.⁴ The main clause is verbless, with nday ‘where’ serving as predicate and uxeel’ da’ee’aan ‘his pack that he had there’ as subject, which, however, itself contains a relative clause. The possessor of the pack is also expressed by the relative clause dineh jah danįįshyay ‘the man who came in here’. Thus the two relative clauses share an argument (the man is subject of one and possessor of the other) and the second relative clause shares an argument with the main clause (the pack is subject in both). Such stacked relative clauses are not uncommon in Upper Tanana, as has also been noted by (Saxon 2000, 98) for Tłįchǫ Yatiì.

442

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

25.1.5. Prosody Generally, relative clauses are prosodically well integrated into the sentence, as illustrated in figures 25.1 (wave form and pitch track of [645a]) and 25.2 (wave form and pitch track of [(646b]). The wave forms in both figures show that there are no significant pauses anywhere (periods of quiet on the wave forms correspond to voiceless oral stops), and the pitch tracks demonstrate that the pitch movement is a smooth, gentle decline over the whole sentence. This prosodic pattern is common in both dialects. (The pitch perturbations in figure 25.1 are caused by creakiness surrounding glottal or glottalized segments. The final syllable in figure 25.2 contains a voiceless vowel. Figure 25.1. Smooth integration of relative clause (N), UTOLAF15May0501:146.

Figure 25.2. Smooth integration of relative clause (T), UTOLAF09Jun2202:038.

Another common pattern is to insert a pause between the noun phrase coreferential with the common argument and the nominalized verb. Examples are given in figures 25.3 and 25.4. In addition to the pause, there is falling intonation over the noun phrase preceding the pause. The morphological breakdown of the two sentences in figures 25.3 and 25.4 is given in (649a) and (647b).

RELATIVE CLAUSES

443

Figure 25.3. Pause preceding relative clause (N), UTOLVDN13May2004:072.

Figure 25.4. Pause preceding relative clause (T), UTCBAF14Jul1805:010.

The third common pattern is a pause after the relative clause (or, when the relative clause serves as postpositional object, after the postposition), as shown in figures 25.5 and 25.6. The two sentences corresponding to these figures are given in (659). (659a) begins with a false start, so the corresponding figure shows only the portion of the sentence following the false start. The noise during the long pause in figure 25.6 was produced by a kitten, not the speaker. (659) a. That [f.s.] nałateetleegn eh jah shyah gaay nahihuhtsįį. (N) that na-ła-tee-tleegn eh that IT-sagging-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-be.rotten:PFV:NOM because jah shyah gaay na-hi-huh-tsįį here house small IT-3PL.S-AR:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV ‘Because that [house] was falling down, they built another small house right here.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0804:036

444

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. Ay t’eey ch’a dineh hǫǫshyaan huk’eh natedaak nts’ą’… (T) ay t’eey ch’a dineh hǫǫ-shyaan and even FOC man 3SG.S:AR:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.smart:IPV:NOM hu-k’eh na-te-daak nts’ą’ 3PL.P-following PRMB-3SG.S:INC:Ø.IPV-D:SG.go:IPV:CUST and ‘And that smart man was walking around following them…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:020 Figure 25.5. Pause following relative clause (N), UTCBVDN13Nov0804:036.

Figure 25.6. Pause following relative clause (T), UTOLVDN07Oct2604:020.

All three prosodic patterns are quite common in relative clauses: no pause at all, a pause following the common argument noun phrase (which is pronounced with falling pitch), and a pause following the relative clause. 25.2. Semantics Relative clauses provide additional information about the common argument. There is no distinction between restrictive and nonrestrictive relative clauses (sec. 25.2.1). The (in)definiteness of relative clauses is discussed in section 25.2.2.

RELATIVE CLAUSES

445

25.2.1. Nonrestrictive relative clauses While many of the examples in this chapter illustrate restrictive relative clauses (e.g., [641] above), nonrestrictive relative clauses also occur. This distinction is not formally marked; instead, the correct interpretation needs to be determined from context. The girls in (660a) each have only one husband, and all boats are intended for boating (660b). (660) a. Nąą! Ashyig neekąy’ iin hihdelxoo nts’ą’ tsuudeel! (T) nąą a-shyig nee-kąy’ iin mother NTRL-down:ALL 1PL.PSR-husband PL h-del-xoo nts’ą’ tsuu-deel 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-play:IPV:NOM to 1PL.S:INC:OPT:Ø-PL.go:OPT ‘Mom! Let’s go down to our husbands who are playing!’ UTCBAF14Jul1805:010 b. Ts’ayh gaay hii’eh natetkeegn ay hįįxąą. (N) ts’ayh gaay hii-eh canoe small 3PL.S>3SG.P-with na-tet-keegn ay PRMB-INC:Ø.IPV:D-go.by.boat:IPV:CUST:NOM 3SG hįį-xąą 3PL.S:AA.PFV:Ø-make.PL.O:PFV ‘They made a small canoe that they paddled around with.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:028 25.2.2. Definite and indefinite interpretations In the literature on internally headed relative clauses, it has sometimes been suggested that they must be indefinite (e.g., Basilico [1996, 507]). As originally observed by (Saxon 2000, 100), this claim is not unproblematic for Dene languages. As discussed in chapter 2, definiteness is not overtly expressed in Upper Tanana. Relative clauses are similar to other noun phrases in that they may receive indefinite (661) or definite (662) interpretation; this difference is not formally marked but needs to be determined from context.

446

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(661) a. … ahdogn dahdzäl da’ee’aan k’it da’eedlah łįį iin t’eey ehk’aay. (N) ah-dogn dahdzäl da-ee-’aan NTRL-up:AR drying.rack up-3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.CO:IPV:NOM k’it da-ee-dlah łįį iin t’eey on up-3PL.S:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV dog PL ADVZR eh-k’aay 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-filet:IPV:NOM ‘… up there on a rack standing there were cut-up dogs.’ UTOLAF15May0501:029 b. Ts’ist’e’ hǫǫshyaan keey hah’ogn hihdeltth’ih dits’įįkeey ‹łaakay› eł. (T) ts’ist’e’ hǫǫ-shyaan keey hah-’ogn old.lady AR:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.smart:IPV:NOM village NTRL-outside:AR h-del-tth’ih d-ts’įįkeey łaakay eł 3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:L-PL.stay:IPV REFL.PSR-children two with ‘A smart old lady was staying outside the village with her two children.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:008 (662) a. Anegn’ tah, łįį delgay na’ithät. (N) a-negn’ tah łįį NTRL-upland:ALL among dog del-gay 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.PFV:L-be.white:IPV:NOM na-i-thät CONT-3SG.S:I.PFV:Ø-SG.stand:IPV ‘Up there the white dog was standing.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:043 b. Noodlee nuhxah ninįįshyay ay ch’ale’ mbi’ishnąy ch’ale’. (T) noodlee nuh-xah ni-nįį-shyay ay white.man 2PL.P-to TERM-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV:NOM 3SG ch’ale’ mb-i-ish-nąyh ch’ale’ FOC 3SG.P-PP-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:D-know:IPV:NOM FOC ‘I know the white man that came to you guys.’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:045 An interpretation as indefinite of łįį delgay ‘white dog’ or noodlee nuhxah ninįįshyah ‘the white man who came to you’ cannot be maintained in the

RELATIVE CLAUSES

447

context of these utterances; both referents have been introduced into the discourse in earlier utterances. Relative clauses containing a demonstrative always receive definite interpretation (663). (663) a. Jan iin ch’a hudhihdloon iin, ditsǫǫ ehnih. (T) jan iin ch’a hu-dhih-dloon iin DEM PL FOC 3PL.O-DH.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-snare:PFV:NOM PL d-tsǫǫ eh-nih REFL.PSR-grandmother 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“This is what I caught in the snares,” he said to his grandmother.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:029 b. Naxat dineh ch’ishyiign exaan shoh dat-sąy ay du’ k’at’eey minaniich’akthädn nts’ą̈ ’. (N) naxat dineh ch’ishyiign e-xaan shoh DEM man picture 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-make.PL.O:IPV:NOM bear dat-sąy ay du’ k’at’eey 3SG.S:QUAL:QUAL:Ø.PFV:D-be.black:IPV:NOM 3SG CT NEG m-i-na-nii-ch’-ak-thän nts’ą̈ ’ 3SG.P-PP-IT-mind-INDF.O-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-think:IPV:NEG and ‘That old man taking pictures of the black bear, I didn’t even think about him.’ UTOLAF09Aug1201:025 Relative clauses where the common argument is expressed pronominally (excluding indefinite ch’- or impersonal ts’-) always receive definite interpretation. This is usually a third-person pronoun (664a), but it may also be first or second person (664b). (664) a. “Huug nach’ihnel’įįg iin, keey iin exaan nak-’įh shnaag’ eh t’eey,” hu’ehnih. (T) huug na-ch’-h-nel-’įįg there PRMB-INDF-3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-sneak:IPV:CUST:NOM iin keey iin e-xaan PL village PL 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-kill.PL.O:IPV:NOM nak-’įh sh-naag’ eh t’eey QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-see:IPV 1SG.PSR-eye with ADVZR hu-eh-nih 3PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘The ones sneaking around there, I see them with my own eyes kill off the village people, …’ UTOLVDN13May2801:011

448

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. K’at’eey dineh iin nak-’įįgn diht’eh. (N) k’at’eey dineh iin nak-’įįgn NEG person PL QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-look:IPV:CUST:NEG:NOM dih-t’eh QUAL:Ø.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-be:IPV ‘I am one who does not look at people.’ UTOLAF15May0501:146

When the common argument is additionally represented by a question word such as dii ‘what’ or doo ‘who’, the relative clause is translated either as indefinite (665) or as having universal reference (666). This ambiguity has also been pointed out by (Saxon 2000, 102) for Tłįchǫ Yatiì. (665) a. Doo ts’inuhshyee yuunąy, ay itnahshyeeyh! (T) doo ts’-nuh-shyee whoever IMPSL-QUAL:OPT:H-raise:OPT y-uu-nąy ay 3SG.S>3SG.O-CON:Ø.IPV:Ø-want:IPV:NOM 3SG i-tnah-shyeeyh 3SG.S>3SG.O-INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:H-raise:FUT ‘Whoever wants to raise him will raise him.’ UTOLAF13May2403:067 b. Dii uhdih’aan, dii uhdih’aan hiitaa’aal hiiyixąą. (N) dii u-h-dih-’aan whatever CON-3PL.S-QUAL:I.PFV:H-find.CO:PFV:NOM dii u-h-dih-’aan whatever CON-3PL.S-QUAL:I.PFV:H-find.CO:PFV:NOM hii-taa-’aał 3PL.S>3SG.O-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-eat:FUT:NOM hiiy-i-xąą 3PL.S>3SG.O-Ø.IPV:Ø-kill.PL.O:IPV:CUST ‘Whatever they found, they killed whatever they found [so] they could eat it.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:091

RELATIVE CLAUSES

449

(666) a. Ay tl’aan dii ch’ixia’ ts’uudiidlay neexunh neets’änh taałeeł. (N) ay tl’aan dii ch’-xia’ and then all INDF.PSR-eggs ts’-uu-dii-dlay neexunh nee-ts’änh 1PL.S-CON-QUAL:I.PFV:Ø-find.PL.O:PFV:NOM 1PL 1PL.P-from taa-łeeł 3PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-classify.PL.O:FUT ‘And then all the eggs we found were ours to keep.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:023 b. Dii hukeey ts’anh huch’ihneh’iin hugn ts’at nts’ą’ t’eey hug ditsǫǫ nts’ą’ na’alshyeeł. (T) dii hu-keey ts’anh everything 3PL.PSR-village from hu-ch’-h-neh-įį hugn 3PL.P-INDF-3PL.S-QUAL:DH.PFV:H-steal:PFV:NOM etc. ts’at nts’ą’ t’eey hug d-tsǫǫ nts’ą’ blanket ADVZR etc. REFL.PSR-grandmother to na-al-shyeeł IT-3SG.S:AA.IPV:L-handle.PL.O:IPV:PROG ‘Everything they had stolen from there village, blankets and all, he brought back to his grandmother.’ UTOLAF13May2403:132 The difference between indefinite and universal reference can be small; compare, for example, (665b) to (666a). In (665b) the speaker talks about how the men would go hunting when the family ran out of food in winter. They would, of course, not kill everything they saw, but they also were not hunting for any specific game; they were hunting for anything that is generally considered edible. (666a), produced by the same speaker, describes egg-gathering in spring. The kids would help and, as a reward, be allowed to keep all of the eggs they found. 25.3. Additional functions In the preceding sections the core functions of relative clauses in Upper Tanana—as deverbal nouns, as relative clauses proper, and thus as arguments of verbs and postpositions—were discussed and exemplified. Some additional functions are noted here; more information can be found in the chapters referenced below. Many subordinating conjunctions introducing adverbial clauses are for-

450

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

mally identical to postpositions. It is thus not surprising that some of them require, or at least prefer, a relative clause as complement (667). See chapter 26 for more detail on which subordinators require nominalization of the clause. (667) a. Hudįįk’aan ttheh dą’ hutąy hǫǫłįį. (N) hu-dįį-k’aan ttheh dą’ hu-tąy AR.S-QUAL:AA.PFV:Ø-burn:PFV:NOM before at 3PL.PSR-trail hǫǫ-łįį AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV ‘Before [the land] burned up, they had a trail there.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2601:013 b. … ina’, k’at’eey nihthän aktsän xah t’eey. (N) ina’ k’at’eey nih-thän no NEG QUAL:NEG.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-want:IPV:NEG ak-tsän xah t’eey Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-smell:IPV:NOM because ADVZR ‘… no, I didn’t want it because I had smelled it.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:68 Some verbs taking clausal complements require their complement to be relativized (668). Some additionally require a complementizer (668b). See chap. 27 for more information on complement clauses. (668) a. Hiitehchuudn hii’idetniih. (N) hii-teh-chuudn 3PL.S>3SG.O-INC:DH.PFV:H-grab:PFV:NOM hii-i-det-niih 3PL.S>3SG.P-PP-QUAL:Ø.IPV:D-fail:IPV ‘They tried in vain to catch it…’ UTOLAF15May0501:008 b. Ch’aachin’ nts’ą̈ ’ hǫǫheey t’eey hiits’etniign. (N) ch’aachin’ nts’ą̈ ’ hǫǫ-heeyh t’eey tree.stump to 3SG.S:AR:QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-talk:IPV:NOM CMP h-i-ts’-et-niign AR.P-PP-PEJ-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:D-not.know:IPV ‘He didn’t know that he was talking to a Tree Stump.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:080

RELATIVE CLAUSES

451

Clauses containing the focus marker ch’a(le) are always relativized (669); see sec. 30.2.2.2. (669) a. … “Ayaa! Shyąą t’eey ch’a dįįnay!” shehnih. (N) ayaa shyąą t’eey ch’a dįį-nih mean for.nothing FOC QUAL:Ø.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-say:IPV:NOM sh-eh-nih 1SG.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“Mean! You said that for nothing!” she said to me.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:126 b. “Ndee ch’a łįį neenehtthay?” huhneh’ąy. (T) ndee ch’a łįį nee-neh-ttheh where:PNCT FOC dog 1PL.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-bark:IPV:NOM hu-h-neh-’ąy AR.O-3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:H-look:IPV:NOM ‘“Where are the dogs barking at us?” they looked around.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:064 The verb form huhneh’ąy ‘they, looking around’ in (669b) illustrates one additional function of relative clauses originally described by (Leer 1996b, 202– 3) as an areal trait of the Headwaters language group:⁵ their use as (backgrounded) main clauses. A textual example is given in (670). With the exception of line 2 of (670), the main clause in each line of this stretch of text is nominalized. Each line corresponds to one utterance characterized by lowered pitch and a following pause (see sec. 11.3 here and Lovick and Tuttle [2011] for more discussion of Upper Tanana prosody). Note also that each line is translated as a main clause. Most of the nominalized verb forms are followed by eh ‘with, and’ but not all of them are (see, e.g., line 3 of [670]). This use of relative clauses is described in chapter 31. (670)

UTOLVDN07Aug2205:003–007; Mrs. Avis Sam (N) 1. Ay tl’aan hu’eh tseedeel eh. ay tl’aan hu-eh tsee-deel eh and then 3PL.P-with 1PL.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV:NOM and ‘And then we went with them.’

452

BEYOND THE CLAUSE 2. Mänh maagn natsetdek. mänh maagn na-tset-dek lake around PRMB-1PL.S:INC:Ø.IPV:D-PL.go:IPV ‘We would walk around the lake.’ 3. Tl’oh tah ts’änh jah ch’ixia’ ts’uudiidlay, dits’än xia’. tl’oh tah ts’änh jah ch’-xia’ grass among from here INDF.PSR-egg ts’-uu-dii-dlay dits’än xia’ 1PL.S-CON-QUAL:I.PFV:Ø-find.PL.O:PFV:NOM duck egg ‘There in the grass we found eggs, ducks’ eggs.’ 4. Ay tl’aan jah, “Ch’idänh, ch’idänh mänh dehtaan nts’ą̈ ’ ts’udäł,” henay eh. ay tl’aan jah ch’idänh ch’idänh and then here different different mänh deh-tąą nts’ą̈ ’ lake 3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:H-lake.lies:IPV:NOM to ts’uu-däł he-nay eh 1PL.S:OPT:Ø-PL.go:OPT 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV:NOM and ‘And then there, “Let us go to a different lake,” they said.’ 5. Hunaann’ hu’eh tseedeel eh. hu-naann’ hu-’eh tsee-deel eh AR-across:ALL 3PL.P-with 1PL.S:INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV:NOM and ‘We went across with them.’

25.4. Summary Relative clauses in Upper Tanana are internally headed and best viewed as nominalized clauses. The common argument may be present as a free noun phrase, a bound pronoun, or an interrogative pronoun dii ‘what’ or doo ‘who’. The common argument may have all syntactic roles in the relative clause as well as in the main clause. Stacking of relative clauses is possible. Relative clauses are prosodically integrated into the main clause; when pauses do occur, they come immediately after the common argument noun phrase or after the relative clause. Relative clauses may be restrictive or nonrestrictive; there is no formal difference between these types. They receive indefinite or definite interpretation; this also is not usually formally marked.

RELATIVE CLAUSES

453

Beyond the modification of a (nominal or pronominal) head, relative clauses serve several different functions: they are required in some types of adverbial clauses and in certain complement clauses. The focus marker ch’a also triggers nominalization. Last of all, relative clauses may be used as independent clauses. Notes 1. Other terms in the literature include “double role noun” (Rice 1989) or “pivot” (Hucklebridge 2016). 2. Note in particular that the noun stem shyah ‘house’ never bears the possessive suffix and is thus not recognizable as possessed unless a possessor prefix is present. 3. The mismatch between the stem-initial consonant of the verb form in (652a) is puzzling: the audio track very clearly contains the ejective /t’/ rather than the aspirated /t/ that matches the translation provided by the speaker. It is possible that I missed a correction during the transcription and translation process. 4. I thank both reviewers for trying their hand at translating this sentence. One of them is responsible for the translation used here. 5. The Headwaters group, characterized generally by the development of stem-coda consonants, includes Gwich’in, Han, Northern Tutchone, and Southern Tutchone (Leer 1996b, 193). Upper Tanana is included as a marginal member.

26 | Adverbial clauses Adverbial clauses are clauses that modify a main clause in the same way that an adverb does. Syntactically, adverbial clauses are adjuncts rather than arguments (Thompson and Longacre 1985, 171). Typologically, finite and nonfinite adverbial clauses can be distinguished (Diessel 2001, 434); Upper Tanana has only finite adverbial clauses due to the absence of non-finite verb forms. Adverbial clauses in Upper Tanana are marked by subordinating conjunctions, many of which are formally identical to postpositions. (The grammaticization path of postpositions to adverbial clause markers is well-documented in the typological literature; see Heine and Kuteva [2007, 221–24] for an overview and examples.) Like postpositions, subordinating conjunctions always occur in clause-final position. Some of them require nominalization of the subordinate verb (671a, b), which is likely due to the subordinator’s origin as a postposition. Similar facts have been reported for related languages (e.g. Rice [1989] for Slave.)¹ (671) a. … ne’ shta’ eeł eedlay xah, upland:ALL 1SG:father trap 3SG:have.PL.O:IPV:NOM because hugn dzeltth’ih mbeł. (T) there 1PL:PL.stay:IPV 3SG:with ‘…we would stay with [my dad] because my dad had traps upriver.’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:014 b. Hudįįk’aan ttheh dą’ hutąy hǫǫłįį. (N) AR:burn:PFV:NOM before at 3PL:trail AR:be:IPV ‘Before the area burned up, they used to have a trail.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2601:013 c. Ts’oo taanił uudhihniik de’? (N) how 3SG:happen:FUT 1SG>3SG:marry:PFV if ‘What will happen if I marry him?’ UTOLAF12Jul1202:017

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

455

(671) shows that the order of subordinate and superordinate clause is variable; while there is a general tendency for the adverbial clause to precede the main clause, certain types of adverbial clause usually follow the main clause. In the following discussion of adverbial clauses, the subordinating conjunction, semantics of the adverbial clause, clause order, as well as common or required viewpoint aspects or moods in adverbial and main clause are described. 26.1. Locative clauses Different subordinating conjunctions are used in locative clauses than in path clauses. 26.1.1. Specific location Adverbial clauses indicating specific location usually contain the subordinator dänh ‘at the place where, to the place where’. The verb in the subordinate clause is not usually nominalized, but see (673b) for an exception. 26.1.1.1. Semantics Adverbial clauses with dänh can express the specific location where an event takes place (672) or motion directed toward a specific place (673). (672) a. Noo’ dii du’ tach’et’oh danh eedah. (T) ahead:ALL what CT 3SG:paddle:IPV at 3SG:SG.sit:IPV ‘He sat in the place where he could paddle.’ UTOLAF09Jun2902:010 b. Diniign hįįxąą dänh ch’a hǫǫłįį, ishyiit dänh. (N) moose 3PL:kill.PL.O:PFV at FOC AR:be:IPV there at ‘This is the place where they killed moose, there.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:130 (673) a. …

shyah hihuhtsįį dänh ishyiit house 3PL>AR:make.SG.O:PFV at there niihiiyelshyeek. (N) 3PL:bring.PL.O:IT:IPV:CUST ‘… they brought [the meat] back to where they had built a house.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:039

456

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. Hunehtthay danh t’eey shyiit ninįįdeel 3PL>3PL:bark:IPV:NOM at ADVZR there 3PL:PL.go.to:PFV:NOM eł… (T) and ‘They went to where [the dogs] had been barking at them…’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:067

Movement toward a specific place may also be expressed by the complex subordinator dänh nts’ą̈ ’ ‘toward the place where’ (674). There are no examples of this in the Tetlin dialect. (674) Ay tl’aan ishyiit ts’änh chih Sitka hǫǫsi’ dänh nts’ą̈ ’ and then there from too Sitka AR:be.called:IPV at to neehteedlah. (N) 3PL>1PL:handle.PL.O:INC:PFV ‘And from there they took us to the place that is called Sitka.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:009 26.1.1.2. Clause order The adverbial clause with dänh ‘at’ usually precedes the main clause (672–674), but it may also follow the main clause (675). (675) Ay ch’a duhdegn’ utth’i’ k’it delgayh, and FOC PROX:AR:up:ALL 3SG:head on 3SG:be.white:IPV tthiyidnįįshyiił dänh. (N) 3SG>3SG:push.head.into.fire:PFV at ‘And then up there on his head it turned white, where he had pushed it into the fire.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0803:013 26.1.1.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods (672–675) demonstrate that both clauses may be in the imperfective or perfective. There are no instances of the future or optative in locational sentences. 26.1.2. General location When the location in the adverbial clause is not a specific point, but a general area, then the subordinator tah ‘in the area where’ may be used. This use of tah seems to be restricted to the Tetlin dialect. Tah ‘in the area where’ is related to the postposition P+tah ‘among P, in the area of P’. The verb in clauses with tah ‘in the area where’ is not usually nominalized. 26.1.2.1. Semantics Adverbial clauses with tah ‘in the area where’ describe an areal rather than a punctual location (676).

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

457

(676) a. Tthiiteetthak tah manh cho::h eltsiik. (T) 3SG>3SG:throw.CO.out:PFV where lake big 3SG:appear:IPV:CUST ‘Where she threw [the fish knife], a big lake appeared.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:050 b. Ay iin ‹chih› tah hugn ndee nts’ą’ tahįįdeeł tah 3 PL too among etc. where from 3PL:PL.go:PFV where da’an ch’ale ndlaan t’eey Dzihyuu iin PROX:outside:ALL FOC 3PL:be.many:IPV:NOM even Dzihyuu PL Ahtna dą’. (T) Ahtna at ‘And where they come from, there are lots of Dzihyuu in [the] Ahtna [area].’ UTOLAF11Aug0201:017 26.1.2.2. Clause order Adverbial clauses with tah ‘in the area where’ always precede the main clause. 26.1.2.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods From the few examples available for this linking, it appears that both the subordinate clause and the main clause may be in the imperfective or perfective. 26.1.3. Path Adverbial clauses indicating the path or trajectory of movement usually contain the subordinator niign ‘the way that’. The verb in the subordinate clause is not usually nominalized. 26.1.3.1. Semantics In trajectory clauses niign has the meaning ‘in the direction that, in the way that’. The same subordinator is used in manner clauses with the meaning ‘the way that’ (see sec. 26.3). Niign ‘in the direction that’ occurs both in definite (677) and in indefinite (678) adverbial clauses. (Note that [677a] contains two nested adverbial trajectory clauses, which is not reflected in the translation.) There are no structural differences between the definite and indefinite path clauses. (677) a. … tąy shyįį’ nahuu’ah niign hodaat’įį trail only AR:LIN.extend:IT:IPV the.way AR:be.visible:PFV niign thihteedeeł. (T) the.way 3PL:PL.run.out:INC:PFV ‘… only the direction where the trail extended was visible, that’s the direction they ran into. ’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:020

458

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. “Unak-’įh niign hach’uudal’įį,” hudihnih. (N) 1SG:look:IPV the.way 2PL:look.around:IPV 1SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“Look in the direction where I am looking,” I said to them.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:051

(678) a. Nduugn natatdek niign t’eey T’oodįht’ay where:AR 2PL:PL.go.around:IPV:CUST the.way ADVZR God nts’ą’ hunahheeyh. (N) to 2PL:speak:IPV ‘Talk to God wherever you go!’ UTOLAF10Jul0901:006 b. Nduugn haadał niign mǫǫndaa iin ay where:AR 3PL:PL.go:IPV:PROG the.way 3SG:older.brother PL and t’oot’eey hiik’eh haadał. (T) however 3PL>3PL:following 3PL:PL.go:IPV:PROG ‘Wherever they are going, her older brothers follow them.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:009 The adverbializer t’eey often follows niign ‘the way that, in the direction that’; its semantic contribution is unclear. 26.1.3.2. Clause order As (677) and (678) demonstrate, the trajectory clause almost always precedes the main clause. The opposite order is attested only rarely; after uttering (679), where the main clause precedes the path clause, the speaker produced (677b) using the more common clause order instead. During the transcription process she did not flag (679) as problematic, yet she did indicate a preference for (677b). (679) Hahnegn’, haach’uudal’įį hunak-’įh niign! (N) NTRL:upland:ALL 2PL:look.around:IPV 1SG:look:IPV the.way ‘You guys watch upland in the direction that I’m looking!’ UTOLVDN13May2004:050 26.1.3.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods In definite trajectory linkings the main clause and the adverbial clause are usually in the same viewpoint, which is typically the imperfective, more rarely the perfective (677, 679). The one exception is (680), where the main clause is a directive in the imperfective and the adverbial clause in the inceptive perfective.

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

459

(680) Nduu tneet’ak niign įįhaał! (N) where:AR 3SG:SG.fly:INC:PFV the.way 2SG:SG.go:IPV:PROG ‘Go SG to where it is flying!’ UTOLAF08Feb1906:009 In indefinite trajectory linkings both verbs are typically in the imperfective. (678a) is in the perambulative customary, (678b) is in the progressive. The customary superaspect is common in both clauses (681). (681) Nduugn de’ natedaak niign ayaa ts’ą’ wherever ? 3SG:SG.go.around:IPV:CUST the.way yucky ADVZR t’eey hǫǫ’ dįįk. (T) ADVZR thus do:IPV:CUST ‘Wherever [Wolverine] goes, he does things in a disgusting way.’ UTOLVDN13May2804:004 26.2. Temporal linkings Temporal adverbial linkings relate events to each other in a temporal fashion. The situation A in the adverbial clause may precede the situation B of the main clause (after A, B took place), may follow it (before A, B took place), or A and B may occur simultaneously (while/during A, B took place). The first of these possibilities—A follows B—is not usually expressed by adverbial clauses. It may instead be expressed by coordination of two main clauses (see chap. 24 for more information) or by nominalization (see chap. 25). Occasionally adverbial clauses formed with eh/eł have this interpretation; see section 26.11. 26.2.1. A simultaneous to B There are two subordinators expressing simultaneity: dą’ ‘at a point in the past’ and tah ‘when, while’. 26.2.1.1. dą’ ‘at a point in the past’ The subordinator dą’ ‘at a point in the past’ is formally identical to the postposition P+dą’ ‘at a point P in the past’. The subordinator dą’ does not trigger nominalization of the verb in the adverbial clause. 26.2.1.1.1. Semantics Dą’ ‘at a point in the past’ only can be used for points in the past. (Points in the future are usually expressed using conditional clauses; see sec. 26.5). Dą’ ‘at a point in the past’ may be combined with the postposition P+ts’änh ‘from P’ to achieve the reading ‘from the point in time on’ (682c).

460

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(682) a. Ishyiit dą’ hǫǫ’ hutshyaak dą’ t’eey chih saa chih then at:PST thus AR:happen:PFV at even too sun too t’a’įį’ąh. (T) 3SG:CO.moves.under:PFV ‘At that time when [the earthquake] happened, the sun went under too.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2802:007 b. Shlįįgn’ shlįįgn’ gaay hospital ts’ą̈ ’ tidhihshyah 1SG:dog:POSS 1SG:dog:POSS small hospital to 1SG:SG.go:INC:PFV dą’ ‹doo iin› tl’ahiiyįhtįį. (N) at:PST someone PL 3SG>3SG:give.AO:PFV ‘My dog, my puppy, when I went to the hospital, they gave it to someone else.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:085 c. Yaa danįįshyah dą’ ts’anh yii’etnayh. (T) 3SG>3SG:for SG.go.inside:PFV at:PST from 3SG>3SG:know:IPV ‘She had known him from the time he came to her.’ UTOLVDN14May0703:137 When combined with a verb in the momentaneous aspect, dą’ clearly has punctual meaning (682). There are, however, also examples where dą’ combines with inherently durative verb themes. The verb in the subordinate clause in (683a) is in the conclusive aspect, which is inherently durative (see chap. 5), as is the verb in the main clause, which is in the neuter aspect. The sentence describes a situation that held true at multiple distinct points in time throughout the speaker’s youth, rather than through its entirety. In (683b), where the adverbial clause contains a neuter verb theme, the situation described held true throughout most of the speaker’s childhood. (683) a. Ts’inihyeeh dą’ Roy, Roy eh ts’inishyeeh dą’ 1PL:grow:IPV at:PST Roy Roy and 1PL:grow:IPV at dzįįtsįį. (N) 1PL:be.hungry:IPV ‘When we were growing up, when Roy and I were growing up, we were hungry.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:126

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

461

b. Ts’įįtsuul dą’ Nahk’ade dą’ ch’ale 1PL:be.small:IPV at:PST fish.trap at:PNCT FOC ts’eneeshyaan… (T) 1PL:grow:PFV:NOM ‘When I was young, we grew up at ‘fish trap’ (Last Tetlin)…’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:001 26.2.1.1.2. Clause order While most adverbial clauses with dą’ precede the main clause, the opposite order also occurs (684). (684) Hǫǫ’ ch’a needatni’ ts’įįtsuul dą’. (N) thus FOC 1PL:say:PASS:PFV 1PL:be.small:IPV at:PST ‘Thus we were told, when we were young.’ UTCBAF14May2001:014 26.2.1.1.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods Both main clause and adverbial clause may be in the imperfective or perfective, with no clear pattern emerging due to the small number of examples. 26.2.1.2. tah ‘when, while’ Tah ‘when, while’ is considerably more common than dą’ ‘at a point in the past’. Tah is related to the postposition P+tah ‘among P’. It does not trigger nominalization of the verb. 26.2.1.2.1. Semantics In contrast to dą’ ‘at a point in the past’, the subordinator tah usually receives the habitual interpretation ‘every time when, whenever’, and does not always have past time reference (685). (685) a. Unąą iin: Nah’ogn dalxuu tah, 3SG:mother PL MED:outside:AR 2PL:play:IPV:CUST when dik’analta’! (T) 2PL>REFL:take.care:IPV ‘Their mother [said]: “Whenever you PL play outside, take care of yourselves!’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:029 b. Ay staahetdek tah, yinįįdät. (N) and 3PL:PL.go.away:IT:IPV:CUST when 3SG>3SG:twist:PFV ‘And whenever they would go away again, she twisted [sinew].’ UTOLAF15May0501:190 26.2.1.2.2. Clause order Adverbial clauses containing tah ‘when, while’ almost always precede the main clause. An exception is shown in (686).²

462

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(686) … hah’ogn tiidziihtetdak nts’ą’ NTRL:outside:AR 3PL:PL.go.out.listening:IPV:CUST and dziihteh’aak natetxak tah. (T) 3PL:extend.hearing:IPV:CUST 3SG:get.dark:IT:INC:PFV:CUST while ‘… they would go outside to listen and they would extend their hearing while it was getting dark.’ UTOLAF10Jul0801:005 26.2.1.2.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods In keeping with the habitual meaning of tah, the verb in the subordinate clause is usually in the imperfective customary. The verb in the main clause often is in the imperfective customary as well, but other forms are also attested (687). (687) a. Hah’ogn hiikah nanetaak tah k’at’eey NTRL:outside:AR 3PL>3SG:for look.for:IT:IPV:CUST when NEG hiyudih’aay. (T) 3PL>3SG:find.CO:PFV:NEG ‘They looked for him outside but didn’t find him.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:009 b. Adogn daats’ehłeeg tah chih k’at’eey NTRL:up:AR 1PL:put.up.PL.O:IPV:CUST:NOM when also NEG ne’ nts’ą’ k’a daatsaadlaal utthi’ ts’ąy upriver:ALL ADVZR NEG 1PL:put.up.PL.O:FUT:NEG 3SG:head side anoo ts’ą’ shyįį’ datsaałaał utthi’. (T) NTRL:ahead:ALL ADVZR only 1PL:put.up.PL.O:FUT 3SG:head ‘When we put them up [on the rack], we may not put them so they face backwards, we have to put them up there with their heads forward’. UTOLVDN11Jul2903:003 26.2.2. B before A The final type of temporal-sequencing clause is introduced by the subordinator ttheh ‘before’. Ttheh is related to the postposition P+ttheh ‘ahead of P, in front of P’, which may have spatial or temporal interpretation. The subordinator ttheh usually triggers nominalization of the verb. 26.2.2.1. Semantics Adverbial clauses with ttheh ‘before’ indicate that the events in the main clause precede those in the subordinate clause (688).

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

463

(688) a. Hut’ahteedeel ttheh gǫǫ, gǫǫ iin ts’exeh 3PL>3PL:PL.catch.up.to:PFV:NOM before gǫǫ gǫǫ PL woman neh’įh tl’aan uts’iniin’. (T) 3PL:look:IPV and 3SG:child:POSS ‘Before they caught up with them, the Gǫǫ looked at the woman and then at her child.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:026 b. Carl itedhexąy ttheh, “K’at’eey Carl 3SG>3SG:kill.SG.O:INC:PFV:NOM before NEG shchil iin tįįxaan!” (N) 1SG:younger.brother PL 2SG:kill.FUT:NEG ‘Before Carl killed [the bear], [I thought] “you SG are not going to kill my younger brothers!”’ UTOLVDN13May2004:093 26.2.2.2. Clause order Adverbial clauses with ttheh usually precede the main clause, but the opposite order is also attested (689). (689) Nihiinįįdlah xay hutaltsay ttheh… (T) 3PL:keep.PL.O:PFV winter AR:turn:FUT:NOM before ‘They had lots [of food] before it turned winter…’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:030 26.2.2.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods Adverbial clauses with ttheh are usually in the inceptive perfective (688) or the future (689). In the elicited example (690), the inceptive derivation of a motion verb theme is used in the optative. (690) Natushshya’ tthe’ nudokkan… (N) 1SG:SG.go:INC:OPT:NOM before 1SG>2SG:ask:OPT ‘Before I go I’d like to ask you a question.’ UTOLAF13May2804:021 It appears that the presence of the inceptive prefix is required in all temporal adverbial clauses with ttheh. 26.3. Manner Adverbial clauses indicating the manner of an event are usually formed with the subordinator niign ‘the way that’, which is also discussed in section 26.1.3. This subordinator does not usually trigger nominalization.

464

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

26.3.1. Semantics The subordinator niign ‘the way that’ can be used literally to refer to an actual trajectory (see sec. 26.1.3), or metaphorically to refer to a manner of doing something. Manner clauses introduced by niign may be definite (691) or indefinite (692). (691) a. Sheł naholndak niign ch’a dihnay. (T) 1SG:to 3SG:tell.story:IPV the.way FOC 1SG:say:IPV:NOM ‘I say it the way she told me stories about it.’ UTOLAF09Jun2402:002 b. Nts’aa’ tsaat’eeł niign t’eey nee’ahdįįni’ nts’ą’. (T) how 1PL:be:FUT the.way ADVZR 3PL>1PL:teach:PFV and ‘They taught us the way we should be in the future.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2902:013 c. “Nts’ąą’ ndihnih niign t’eey dǫǫdį’ de’,” how 1SG>2SGsay:IPV the.way ADVZR 2SG:do:OPT UR udihnih. (N) 1SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Make sure you SG do exactly what I tell you,” I said to him.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:067 (692) a. Hah’ogn k’ąy’, k’įįy, ‹łahtthegn› nts’ąą’ hu’et-sih NTRL:outside:AR willow birch all how 3PL:be.called:PFV niign ay t’eey ch’a ts’iikeey iin hǫǫ’ itdahnįįl… (N) the.way and even FOC children PL thus 2PL:teach:FUT:NOM ‘Out there willows, birch, the way they are called, you PL need to teach that to the children…’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:090 b. Neenąą iin nts’aa hetdiik niign t’eey 1PL:mother PL how 3PL:do:IPV:CUST the.way ADVZR dzelxoh… (T) 1PL:play:IPV ‘We played whatever our mothers used to do…’ UTOLAF09Jun2901:015 26.3.2. Clause order The manner clause almost always precedes the main clause (691, 692). There are also a few examples of the opposite order, such as (693), which contains

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

465

two manner clauses that follow the main clause. (693) Che’ T’iin xah nahogndagn nts’aa mbiijaktth’ak Tail People about 1SG:tell.stories:IPV:NOM how 1SG>3SG:hear:IPV niign shta’ eh shnąą iin hǫǫ’ shehnay the.way 1SG:father and 1SG:mother PL thus 3PL>1SG:say:IPV:NOM niign. (T) the.way ‘I tell the story about the Tailed People in the way I heard it, in the way my parents told it to me.’ UTOLVDN13May2803:001 26.3.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods There are no restrictions on the viewpoint or mood in the main clause: (691a) is in the imperfective, (691b) is in the perfective, (691c) is in the optative, and (692a) is in the future. The manner clause likewise can be in the imperfective (691a, c), perfective (692a), or future (691b). (There seem to be no instances of a manner clause in the optative.) 26.4. Similarity clauses Adverbial clauses expressing similarity contain the subordinating conjunction k’eh ‘like’, which is formally identical to the postposition P+k’eh ‘like P’. The subordinator k’eh does not usually cause nominalization. 26.4.1. Semantics Most frequently the main clause in a similarity linking contains a form of the verb L+tsįį ‘to appear, to look like’ (694a), but other types of similarity are also encoded by k’eh-clauses (694b, c). (694) a. Uts’ayy’ titeełaat k’eh eltsįį. (N) 3SG:boat:POSS 3SG:sink:PFV like 3SG:appear:IPV ‘His boat looked as if it was about to sink.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:108 b. Utthuul’ jah huthaad nii’et-hak k’eh 3SG:tongue here 3SG:mouth 3SG:extend.up:IPV:CUST like hǫǫheey. (N) 3SG:speak:IPV:NOM ‘He speaks like his tongue is moved backwards in his mouth.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2712:033

466

BEYOND THE CLAUSE c. … ch’ahtag ch’iheldzüh k’eh t’eey hedį’. (T) sharptailed.grouse 3PL:dance:IPV like ADVZR 3PL:do:IPV ‘… they danced the sharp-tailed grouse dance’ (lit. ‘they acted like the sharp-tailed grouse when they dance’) UTCBVDN13Nov1502:044

Semantically, similarity linkings differ from manner linkings in that they highlight apparent or impressionistic similarity rather than a particular fashion of doing something. 26.4.2. Clause order Similarity clauses always precede the main clause (694). 26.4.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods The similarity clause may be in the imperfective (694a, c) or the perfective (694b). The main clause is almost always in the imperfective; (695) is the only example of a perfective main clause in a similarity linking. Note that semantically (695) appears to contain a manner clause rather than a similarity clause, despite the use of the subordinator k’eh. (695) Neettheh noo’ stsǫǫ iin stsay iin 1PL:before ahead:ALL 1SG:grandmother PL 1SG:grandfather PL nts’ą̈ ’ hįįdįįgn k’eh t’eey ‹łąą› t’eey hudzaldįį’. (N) how 3PL:do:PFV:CUST like ADVZR truly ADVZR 1PL>AR:learn:PFV ‘We learned everything that our grandmothers and grandfathers used to do long before our time.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:057 26.5. Conditional linkings Conditional clauses set up a condition that may be factual (696), habitual (697), hypothetical (698), or counterfactual (699).³ The main clause expresses the consequence. Conditional clauses always contain the subordinating conjunction de’ ‘if ’. This conjunction is related to the postposition P+de’ ‘at a point P (FUT)’. De’ ‘if ’ does not usually cause nominalization of the preceding verb, but see (699) for an exception. (696) a. Dziin hanogn hǫǫsu’ nah’įh de’ ch’inikon’ uthiin day NTRL:upland:AR well 2PL:see:IPV if dentalium 3SG:neck nįįdlah nah’įįł. (N) 3SG:classify.RO:IPV:NOM 2PL:see:FUT ‘Today if you look around well, you will see the necklace around his neck.’ UTCBAF14May2001:012

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

467

b. Shk’eh ‹łahtthagn nts’ą’› huhheey de’, ihtsuul 1SG:like all 1SG:speak:IPV:NOM if 1SG:be.small:IPV dą’ ts’anh nats’otelnak de’, ishyiit huunoo’ ch’a at:PST from 1PL:tell.stories:INC:PFV if there AR:ahead:ALL FOC łą’ hǫǫsǫǫ nts’ą’ t’eey ts’eneeshyah. (T) really well ADVZR 1PL:grow.up:PFV ‘If I talk in my language, if we tell stories from when I was small, from that far-back time, [you will see that] we grew up in a really good way.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2804:015 (697) a. Ay eh dhįįt’eh de’ shit taa’aał. (N) and and 2SG:get.burned:PFV if scar 3SG:classify.CO:FUT ‘And when you SG get burned, there will be a scar.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2601:051 b. Utthi’ ts’ąy noo nts’ą’ dadhahdlah de’ shyįį’ łuugn 3SG:head side ahead:ALL and 2PL:have.PL.O:IPV if only fish utaałeeł. (T) AR:classify.PL.O:FUT ‘Only if you PL put [the fish] up [on the drying rack] with the sides of their heads [facing] ahead, there will be fish.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2903:006 (698) a. … k’at’eey hǫǫ’ tįįdiil innah de’. (T) NEG thus 2SG:do:FUT:NEG 2SG:drink:IPV if ‘… you SG won’t do this [shiver] if you SG drink this [hot water].’ UTOLAF09Jun2201:020 b. Nche’ naa ndüüh de’ ayt’oh nche’ 2SG:tail 2SG:for 3SG:be.heavy:IPV if okay 2SG:tail shtl’aa’ǫǫtįį. (N) 2SG>1SG:give.LRO:OPT ‘If your SG tail is too heavy for you, then okay, you can give me your tail.’ UTCBAF14Jun0301:003

468

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(699) Neek’eh shyįį’ huts’ą̈ ’ ts’ihǫǫheey de’ hįįtsuul 1PL:like only 3PL:to 1PL:speak:IPV:NOM if 3PL:be.small:IPV dą’ ts’änh, neets’iikeey iin huts’ą̈ ’ ts’ihǫǫheey de’ ch’a when from 1PL:children PL 3PL:to 1PL:speak:IPV:NOM if FOC neehihtdaatth’egn ‹k’ahdu’› dziin. (N) 3PL>1PL:understand:FUT:NOM now day ‘If we had spoken only our language to them, from when they were small, if we’d spoken to our children, they would understand us today.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:014 There is no formal difference between the types of conditionals, see 26.5.3. 26.5.1. Clause order (696–699) show that the ordering of clauses is usually iconic, with the condition preceding the consequence. Only rarely does the condition follow the consequence. This appears to be done to highlight the consequence; almost all examples of this order found in the corpus are requests or questions (700). (700) a. … hu’ichah’aal hu’its’atniign de’ t’eey. (N) 2PL>3PL:feed:FUT:IMP 2PL>3PL:not.know:IPV if even ‘… you PL have to feed them even if you don’t know them.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:034 b. Dii dii shtl’atįį’aał hǫǫ’ dihdį’ de’? (N) what what 2SG>1SG:give.CO:FUT thus 1SG:do:IPV if ‘What are you going to give me if I do this?’ UTOLAF15May0501:102 26.5.2. Viewpoint aspects and moods 26.5.2.1. Consequence clause The overwhelming majority of consequence clauses is in the future (696–700). There are a few instances of consequence clauses in the imperfective; these describe habitual or customary consequences (701). (701) a. Adeg’ ch’aldzeeg shyiit ch’ale na’ethadn hǫǫ’t’eey NTRL:up:ALL moon in FOC 3SG:SG.stand:IPV:NOM still ch’aldzeeg nah’įh de’. (T) moon 2SG:look:IPV if ‘He is still standing up there in the moon, if you look at the moon.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:071

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

469

b. Jign kol de’ nihchǫǫ t’eey ts’enehtsayh. (N) berry NEGEX if rosehip even 1SG:pick:IPV ‘If the berries were gone, we’d pick rosehips.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:049 Note, however, that while imperfective consequent clauses are restricted to habitual conditional linkings, most of these linkings have future consequent clauses (e.g., [697]). 26.5.2.2. Condition clause The viewpoint aspect and mood in the condition clause seems to be largely determined by verb theme category (indicated here with superscripts). If the verb theme in a condition clause belongs to the atelic operative or neuter verb theme categories, the verb will be in the imperfective (702). (702) a. “Įįtsahºᵖ de’ nan t’ah nantsidhahxeh,” hiiyehnih. (T) 2SG:cry:IPV if 2SG too 1PL>2SG:kill.SG.O:FUT 3PL>3SG:say:IPV ‘“If you cry, we will kill you as well,” they said to her.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:038 b. Jah dadhihdahⁿᵉᵘᵗ de’ ayt’oo? (N) here 1SG:SG.sit:IPV if OK ‘Is it OK if I sit here?’

UTOLAF14Nov2402:011

When the verb theme in the condition clause belongs to the telic motion or conversive verb theme categories, the verb is typically in the perfective (703). (703) a. Udzih, udzih iin nįįshyahᵐºᵗ de’ ‹chih› udzih kah caribou caribou PL 3SG:SG.go:PFV if too caribou for tsaadał… (T) 1PL:PL.go:FUT ‘When a whole band of caribou moved in, we would go [hunting] for caribou…’ UTOLVDN07Nov2804:006 b. Ay eh dhįįt’ehᶜºⁿᵛ de’ shit taa’aał. (N) and and 2SG:get.burned:PFV if scar 3SG:classify.CO:FUT ‘And when you get burned, there will be a scar.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2601:051 Motion themes in the condition clause also frequently occur in the progressive or customary (704).

470

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(704) a. “Shnąą nanat-t’ahᵐºᵗ de’ taałuut guuy nataadeeh,” 1SG:mother 3SG:SG.fly:IPV:PROG if hail small 3PL:PL.fall:FUT nih. (N) say:IPV ‘“When my mother is flying back, a little bit of hail will fall,” he said.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:036 b. … shnąą iin nat’uyehteegᵐºᵗ de’ 1SG:mother PL 3SG>3SG:skin.AO:IPV:CUST:NOM if ts’ineh’įįk. (T) 1PL:watch:IPV:CUST ‘… whenever our parents would skin [an animal], we would watch.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1501:036 26.5.3. No distinction between types of conditional linkings Similar to what has been reported by Anisman (2019) for Tłįchǫ Yatiì, Upper Tanana does not distinguish grammatically between different types of conditional linkings. It was noted above that habitual conditional linkings often have an imperfective customary consequence clause but that this is not necessarily the case—after all, a conditional linking with a future consequence clause may also be habitual. Similarly, there is no formal distinction between factual, hypothetical, and counterfactual conditional linkings. Compare the counterfactual linkings in (705) to the hypothetical and factual conditionals in (702–704). (705) a. Xał shyiit dzeltth’ih de’ eli::h tsaałeel ch’a’ sled in 1PL:PL.sit:IPV if cold 1PL:be:FUT:NOM AVERT hu’eh ts’edek. (N) 3PL:with 1PL:PL.go:IPV:CUST ‘If we’d been sitting in the sled, we would have gotten cold, to avoid [that] we would walk with them.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:017 b. Hunąą iin, huta’ iin, hutsǫǫ iin, 3PL:mother PL 3PL:father PL 3PL:grandmother PL hutsay iin ay iin hudziit hihǫǫheey de’ 3PL:grandfather PL 3SG PL 3PL:hearing 3PL:speak:IPV:NOM if k’a hǫǫ’ hihtaadįįl. (N) NEG thus 3PL:do:FUT:NEG ‘If their mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers had taught them, they wouldn’t do those things.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:010

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

471

Direct elicitation confirms this. (706) is taken from an elicitation session using the storyboard (Totem Field Storyboards Working Group 2010), where a woman has to choose between two men and asks a fortune-teller for advice. First, she asks what will happen if she marries one of the men; the Upper Tanana version of this hypothetical conditional linking is given in (706a). After receiving an answer, she marries the man and lives happily with him for a long time. But then she wonders what would have happened if she had married the other man, resulting in the counterfactual conditional linking in (706b). (706) a. Ts’oo taanił udhihniik de’? (N) how 3SG:happen:FUT 1SG>3SG:marry:PFV if ‘What will happen if I marry him?’ UTOLAF12Jul1202:017 b. Nts’oo taanił le’ nah dineh gaay udhihniik how 3SG:happen:FUT IGN that man small 1SG>3SG:marry:PFV de’? (N) if ‘What would have happened if I had married the small man?’ UTOLAF12Jul1202:026 The only structural difference between the two sentences is the presence of the uncertainty marker le’ in the counterfactual one (706b), but as the examples in (705) demonstrate, this le’ is by no means required in counterfactual conditionals. Thus, both natural and elicited data suggests that there is no distinction between the different types of conditional linkings. 26.5.4. Negative conditionals Negative conditions are formed like affirmative ones, except that the verb in the condition clause is negated. (707a) is elicited, while (707b) comes from natural discourse. (707) a. K’at’eey ehchąą de’ ch’a mänh nts’ą̈ ’ tsaadäl NEG 3SG:rain:IPV:NEG if FOC lake to 1PL:PL.go:IPV:NOM noo nts’ą̈ ’. (N) ahead:ALL to ‘If it doesn’t rain, we will go out to the lake.’ UTOLAF13May2804:046

472

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. K’at’eey hǫǫ shdįįnay de’ ntidhakxeh!… (N) NEG thus 2SG>1SG:say:IPV:NEG if 1SG>2SG:kill.SG.O:FUT ‘If you SG don’t tell me, I will kill you!…’ UTOLAF15May0501:157

26.5.5. Conditional requests Conditional requests differ structurally in two respects from other conditional linkings. The consequence (which is the request portion of a conditional request) is in the optative rather than in the future, and both clauses contain the final marker de’. Note that de’ is glossed as ‘if ’ in the condition, but as UR in the consequent (708). (708) a. “Yįhkon’ de’ jah nii’ǫnshya’ de’,” yehnih. (T) be.spring:IPV if here 2SG:SG.return:OPT UR 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“When it is spring, make sure you come back here,” he said to him.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:159 b. “That tl’uuł, nan k’it ninįįshyah de’ nnąą iin that rope ground on 2SG:SG.arrive:PFV if 2SG:mother PL xa de’ dǫǫxaa’ de’,” yehnih. (T) for if 2SG:shake:OPT UR 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘That rope, when you get [down] to the ground, to your parents, make sure shake it,” she said to her.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:542 This construction is likely the origin of de’ in urgent requests in the optative described in section 15.1.1.2.1. 26.6. “To find out if ” clauses The subordinator de’ kah ‘to find out if, to see if ’ is related to the postposition P+de’ kah ‘to see if P’. This subordinator does not usually trigger nominalization of the subordinate verb. 26.6.1. Semantics De’ kah ‘to see if, to find out if, to check if ’ indicates that the action in the main clause is performed to find out whether the situation in the adverbial clause is true or not. Even though de’ kah is often translated as a verb (e.g., ‘to see’ in [709b]), it should be stressed that it is not a verb but a complex subordinator related to two postpositions.

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

473

(709) a. Hu’uudahkat dįįtsįį de’ kah. (N) 2PL>3PL:ask:IPV 3PL:be.hungry:IPV to.check ‘Ask them if they’re hungry.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:035 b. Nts’aa’ shdįįnih nts’aa’ shk’anįhtah de’ kah how 2SG>1SG:say:IPV how 2SG>1SG:take.care.of:IPV to.check ch’ale hǫǫ’ naa dihdąy. (T) FOC thus 2SG:for 1SG:do:IPV:NOM ‘I did all this to you to see what you would say to me, how you cared for me.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:044 26.6.2. Clause order The adverbial clause can either precede or follow the main clause (709, 710). It appears that both orders are equally common. (710) a. Ch’idia’ du’ yaa chijeltįį nts’ąą’ INDF:younger.sister CT 3SG>3SG:for pretend.to.sleep:IPV how dį’ de’ kah. (T) do:IPV to.check ‘The younger sister though pretended to sleep for him to find out what he was doing.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:233 b. … doo hiik’uuyįhshyah de’ kah hiiyetatnayh. (T) someone 3PL>3SG:SG.pass:PFV to.check 3PL>3SG:know:FUT ‘… they would figure out if someone passed by.’ UTOLVDN13May2803:009 26.6.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods Both perfective and imperfective verb forms are attested in the main clause and adverbial clause. 26.7. Causal clauses Causal clauses indicate the cause of an event or action or the reason an event or action took place. Causal clauses are marked by the subordinating conjunction xah ‘because’, which is also used in purpose clauses (see 26.8). Xah ‘because’ is related to the postposition P+xah ‘for P, because of P’. The verb in the subordinate clause is almost always nominalized before xah.

474

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

26.7.1. Semantics Clauses formed with xah may express causes or reasons. When the adverbial clause expresses a cause, the situation in the main clause is the result of the events described in the subordinate clause (711). (711) a. K’at’eey iiynįįthän xah t’eey yaa NEG 3SG>3SG:want:IPV:NOM because ADVZR 3SG>3SG:for itsü::h. (N) cry:IPV ‘She was crying hard because she didn’t want this.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0804:004 b. Atthiit ch’itay shaadeh dhehxįį NTRL:waterwards:PNCT old.man 1SG:older.sister 3SG:kill.SG.O:PFV xah tah uch’a’ staach’inog’įį. (T) because among 3SG:from 1SG:sneak.away:IT:OPT ‘I want to sneak away from him because down by the water the old man killed my older sister.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:139 Xah-clauses can also express the reason for undertaking the events in the main clause (712). (712) a. Tsuugn eł tthiikaan ‹nts’ą’› hugn xah ni’eełhełe’ marten and wolf and etc. for 3PL:set.PL.traps:IPV:DSTR xah huhnatsetdak. (T) because 1PL>AR:PL.go:INC:IPV:CUST ‘We went to that area because they were setting traps for marten and wolf and other animals.’ UTOLVDN08Mar1311:003 b. Dziin k’ahdu’ hǫǫłįį nee’eh jah nts’ąą’ day now AR:be:IPV 1PL:with here how nats’iholnegn xah. (N) 1PL:tell.stories:IPV:NOM because ‘Today we are here because we are telling stories.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:002 26.7.2. Clause order Xah-clauses expressing a cause usually precede the main clause as shown in (711). Xah-clauses expressing a reason may either precede (712a) or follow (712b) the main clause.

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

475

26.7.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods The verb in the subordinate clause is usually in the imperfective (711–712), but it may also be in the perfective (713a) or the optative (713b). The main clause also is almost always in the imperfective, but the perfective (713a) and optative (711b) also occur occasionally. (713) a. … ddhäł nohshyign’ staa’įltthädn xah mountain down:ALL 3SG:SG.run.away:IT:PFV:NOM because etshyiyh. (S) 3SG:be.saved:PFV ‘… because he ran back down the mountain, he was saved.’ Tyone (1996, 76) b. “Nełegn’ uhłe’ xah dihdį’,” iyehnih. (N) 2SG:friend 1SG:be:OPT because 1SG:do:IPV 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“I’m doing this because I want to be your friend,” he said to him.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0802:031 26.7.4. Causal xah-clauses without main clause Causal clauses frequently occur without a main clause, particularly in dialogue situations (715, 714). In both cases the a-utterance contains a question ‘why’ or ‘how come’, and the b-utterance contains the answer stating the reason. Line 2 of (715) contains the only example of a causal clause in the future. (714)

Excerpt: UTOLAF10Jul0202:050–51 (B) 1. “Stsay, shaadeh du’ nts’ąą’ ch’a nchaa t’eey 1SG:grandfather 1SG:older.sister CT how FOC greatly ADVZR eetįį?” 3SG:SG.sleep:PFV ‘“Grandfather, why is my older sister sleeping so much?”’ (girl speaking) 2. “Ti’etnak xah nt’eh!” 3SG:be.tired:IPV because ASRT ‘“Because she’s tired!”’ (old man speaking)

(715)

Excerpt: UTCBAF13Nov0501:193–94 (T) 1. “Diaa tihdiił?” why 1SG:do:FUT ‘“Why should I do this?”’ (girl speaking)

476

BEYOND THE CLAUSE 2. “Nihutihkeet xah!” 1SG>2SG>AR:pay:FUT because ‘“Because I will pay you!”’ (fox speaking)

26.8. Purpose linkings Purpose linkings indicate that the event or situation expressed in the subordinate clause is the intended result or outcome of the events in the main clause. Purpose clauses always contain the subordinator xah, which is related to the postposition P+xah ‘for P’. The verb in purpose clauses is almost always nominalized. 26.8.1. Semantics Purpose clauses express the intended result or outcome of the events in the main clause. They differ semantically from causal clauses described in 26.7.1 in that the result is not yet realized (716). (716) a. Shnąą hugn t’eey sheł naholndak uxah 1SG:mother that even 1SG:to 3SG:tell.stories:IPV 3SG:about huhshya’ xah. (T) 1SG:be.smart:OPT PURP ‘My mother told me about this so I get smart for it.’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:007 b. Shyüh ts’änh tuu ts’ixąą ishyiit du’ shnąą snow from water 1SG:make.PL.O:IPV there CT 1SG:mother yeh ch’uhmbia xah. (N) 3SG>3SG:with 3SG>INDF:cook:OPT:NOM PURP ‘We would make water from snow so that my mother could cook with it.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:028 c. K’ahmänn’ dą’ nants’uu’aal xah t’eey adog morning at 1PL>INDF:eat:OPT:NOM PURP even NTRL:up:AR nantsełek. (N) 1PL:drive.around:IPV ‘In the morning we drove around in order [to find somewhere] to eat.’ UTOLAF15Dec0704:001 Upper Tanana distinguishes purpose linkings, where the result is desirable and intended, from avertive linkings, where the result is something to be avoided. See 26.9.

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

477

26.8.2. Clause order Purpose clauses may follow (716a, b) or, more rarely, precede (716c) the main clause. The more frequent order main clause–purpose clause is iconic, since the intended results in the purpose clause temporally follow the events in the main clause. No meaning difference appears to be associated with the different clause orders. 26.8.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods With only a few exceptions, purpose clauses are in the optative (716). This is a formal diagnostic distinguishing them from causal clauses, which contain the same subordinator xah but are usually in the imperfective (see 26.7). Very rarely, purpose clauses are in the future (717a), expressing strong obligation, or in the inceptive perfective (717b) with the meaning ‘to attempt to X’. ([717b] could also be translated as a reason clause ‘because he is trying to kill me’.) There are also purpose clauses in the imperfective, which then are formally indistinguishable from reason clauses (see sec. 26.7.1), even though they have different semantics. Rice (1989, 1260) suggests that imperfective forms in purpose clauses may be due to the imperfective being “unmarked”. (717) a. Dahniil xah ch’ale nuhts’ą’ noodlee k’eh 2PL:speak:FUT:NOM PURP FOC 2PL:to white.man like huhheegn. (T) 1SG:speak:IPV:CUST:NOM ‘I speak to you girls in English so you speak it.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2802:022 b. Nuun, hahnǫǫ dineh tleegn aahaał fox NTRL:upland:ABL man evil 3SG:SG.go:IPV:PROG shtidhehxiin xah. (N) 3SG>1SG:kill.SG.O:INC:PFV:NOM PURP ‘Fox, from up there a man is coming in order to try and kill me.’ UTOLAF15May0501:100 c. Nigąą’hįlshyah tthan’ 3PL:PL.arrive.running:PFV waterwards:ALL xah. (T) hohneh’įį 3PL:look.around:IPV:NOM PURP ‘They ran there to look around by the water.’ UTOLAF13May2403:049

478

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

The main clause usually is in the imperfective (716, 717), although it may also be in the perfective if the verb belongs to the motion theme category (718a), in the optative if the main clause is a request (718b), or in the future if the main clause expresses an intention (718c). (718) a. … ishyiit niits’indeeł nants’uu’aal xah… (N) there 1PL:PL.arrive:IT:PFV 1PL:eat:IT:OPT:NOM PURP ‘… we went back there in order to eat…’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:115 b. Naan’ maa nke’ ni’ǫǫłeey diaa across:ALL 3SG:for 2SG:feet 2SG:handle.PL.O:OPT DES ut’ahi’uushya’ xah! (N) 3PL>3SG:SG.pass:OPT PURP ‘Could you SG move your feet over for him, so [people] can get past them!’ UTOLAFMay0807:021 c. “… shtląą iin hutl’atihłeeł tsin’įį 1SG:partner PL 1SG>3PL:handle.PL.O:FUT grateful hihnuułe’ xah,” nih. (T) 3PL:be:OPT:NOM PURP say:IPV ‘“… I will give [the payment I received] to my clan partners so they are grateful,” he said.’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:052 26.8.4. Argument sharing When the third-person subject of the main clause is coreferential (or in an inclusion relationship) with a participant of the purpose clause, perspective shift takes place: the shared argument is then expressed by a first-person marker in the purpose clause. This is most frequently the case when the shared argument is the subject of both clauses (719). (719) a. Eli:::h chih dineey oktanh xah. (T) cold too people 1SG:freeze:OPT PURP ‘[The north wind] is cold, too, so it (lit. ‘I’) can freeze people.’ UTOLAF09Jun2404:010 b. Dineey ts’uuxaan xah all niigąą’hįlshyah. (T) people 1PL:kill:PL.O:OPT:NOM PURP all 3PL:PL.run:PFV ‘They all came running so they (lit. ‘we’) could kill people.’ UTOLAF13May2403:023

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

479

c. Diniign ts’oo tah ts’änh aahaał tuu moose spruce among from 3SG:SG.go:IPV:PROG water ushna’ xah. (N) 1SG:drink:OPT:NOM PURP ‘The moose walks out from among the spruce trees in order to drink water.’ UTOLVDN13May1903:012 Rarely, perspective shift takes place when the third-person subject of the main clause is coreferential with the direct object of the verb of the purpose clause, which is inflected for first-person object (720). Note that the verb form in the purpose clause is a passive and thus has no subject. (720) Eł hǫǫshyąą t’oo ch’a dąy nts’aa’ shdutni’ and 3SG:be.smart:IPV but FOC do:IPV:NOM how 1SG:say:PASS:OPT xah le’ dąy. (T) PURP IGN do:IPV:NOM ‘He was smart but he did that [to see] what he (lit. ‘I’) would be told.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:031 This perspective shift differs from deranking as described in Cristofaro (2013), as the verb forms in purpose clauses are acceptable in independent clauses (e.g., tuu ushna’ from [719b] is one way of saying ‘I want to drink water, I’m going to drink water’). It is, however, somewhat similar to some of the strategies to express “implicit arguments” in purpose clauses discussed in Schmidtke-Bode (2009, 51–62), although that author also does not describe anything similar to the Upper Tanana construction. (This phenomenon is also similar to the direct discourse complementation strategy described in sec. 27.2.) Perspective shift in purpose is limited to clauses in the optative; thus it does not occur in (717c), which is in the imperfective, nor in (721), which is in the inceptive perfective. (721) Shta’ chih t’axoh tay’ staatetshyah 1SG:father too quickly again 3SG:SG.go.away:IT:INC:PFV natelsüü xah. (N) 3SG:hunt:PFV:NOM PURP ‘My father was quickly ready to go out again in order to hunt.’ UTOLAF08Feb1906:007 It also does not occur in some optative purpose clauses such as (722). This is possibly because the individuals twisting the sinew may not be the same ones who use the resulting thread for sewing, but I was unable to get clear speaker

480

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

judgments on this issue. (722) Nahugn ttheeh tah, diniign tthee’ tah mbeł ch’ikee there sinew among moose sinew among 3SG:with INDF:footwear julkąą xah hii’eł hiinetdat… (T) 3PL>INDF:sew:OPT PURP 3PL>3SG:with 3PL>3SG:twist:IPV ‘Sinew, moose sinew they twist it together so they can sew moccasins with it…’ UTOLVDN11Jul2901:018 Elicitation did not clarify the matter. The two sentences in (723) were uttered by different speakers in response to the prompt “she makes moccasins in order to sell them”. The Tetlin speaker used a construction involving the subject shift, the Northway speaker did not.⁴ (723) a. Kentsįą nanetl’u’ an tuhłeey slippers 3SG:sew:IT:IPV outside:ALL 1SG:handle.PL.O:INC:OPT:NOM xah. (T) PURP ‘She sews slippers in order to sell them.’ UTOLAF14Nov2416:001 b. Kee ehxąą än’ footwear 3SG:make.PL.O:IPV outside:ALL naytulshyeegn xah. (N) 3SG>3SG:handle.PL.O:IT:INC:OPT:CUST:NOM PURP ‘She makes moccasins in order to sell them.’ UTOLAF14Nov2203:017 When I asked the speakers about the difference between the two sentences, both responded that this was just another way of saying the same thing. Generally, perspective shift is more common in the speech of Tetlin speakers (of fourteen instances, eleven are in the Tetlin dialect). Carter (2016) suggests that perspective shift is due to the urgency of the intention expressed by the purpose clause, which may be similar to what Schmidtke-Bode (2009, 60) calls “need.” There is at this point insufficient data to answer this question. 26.9. Avertive linkings Avertive clauses are formed with the subordinator ch’a’ ‘AVERT, lest’, which derives from the postposition P+ch’a’ ‘away from P’.⁵ Ch’a’ usually triggers nominalization of the verb.

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

481

26.9.1. Semantics Avertive linkings indicate that the action in the main clause is undertaken in order to prevent the event expressed in the subordinate clause. They are usually translated with ‘to prevent that’ or ‘so that not’, but note that the Upper Tanana verb is never negative in this type of linking (724). (724) a. Ay du’ nahugn diniign thüh tl’uul’ hehtsįį and CT there moose skin rope:POSS 3PL:make.SG.O:PFV ay hiiyinįhtl’ǫǫ eł noo ch’aa’imbeek and 3PL>3SG:tie:PFV and out:ALL 3SG:wade.out:PFV titaahaal ch’a’. (T) 3SG:SG.go.underwater:FUT:NOM AVERT ‘And they made a moose skin rope and tied it around him [when] he walked out into the water, so he would not go under.’ UTOLAF10Jul0801:023 b. Ts’ät shyiit idįįdlah tl’aan ay shyiit blanket in 3SG>3SG:handle.PL.O:PFV and.then 3SG inside shįhtįį nagntän ch’a’ le’. (N) 3SG>1SG:handle.AO:PFV 1SG:freeze:FUT AVERT DUB ‘She put [the moss] in the blanket and then she put me into it to prevent my freezing, I guess.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:065 c. Tsat ettheeł edlii ch’a’. (T) wood 3SG:chop:IPV cold:NOM AVERT ‘He chopped wood so he won’t be cold.’ UTOLAF14Nov2416:008 Avertive clauses cannot be used when the subject of the main clause lacks control over the events in the subordinate clause (725a) or in in-case scenarios (725b). (725) a. Dadhįįnąy, nnakgot xah! (N) 2SG:shut.up:IPV 1SG>2SG:punch:FUT because ‘Shut up, because I might punch you!’ UTOLAF18Jun0803:020 b. Eek nadildiiy ehchaan ttheh. (T) coat 2SG:wear:IPV:IMP 3SG:rain:IPV:NOM before ‘Take SG [your] coat in case it rains.’ UTOLAF18Jun0201:028 Finally, ch’a’ ‘AVERT’ can only be used with affirmative main clauses (726). When the main clause is negative or prohibitive, either a purpose clause (727a)

482

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

or a juxtaposed main clause (727b) is used instead. (726) a. Dinįį’ t’eey hiiyeek’ia degn’ nts’ą’ REFL:face even 3PL>3PL:train:PFV up:ALL ADVZR nahnalxon ch’a’ hutthįį’ nataatloo. (T) 3PL:be.wrinkly:FUT:NOM AVERT 3PL:flesh 3PL:sag.down:FUT:NOM ‘They train their faces upward so they don’t become wrinkly and their flesh doesn’t sag.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2901:033 b. Nts’aa ch’ixia’ nts’aa łoodzaałeeł how eggs how 1PL:carry.around.PL.O:FUT tatxol ch’a’? (N) 3PL:break:FUT:NOM AVERT ‘How are we going to carry the eggs around so they don’t break?’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:053 (727) a. … k’a hiineldeel, huts’änh huxu’ tahjiit NEG 3PL>3PL:eat:PL.O:IPV:NEG 3PL:from 3PL:teeth 3PL:rot:FUT xah. (B) because ‘… they do not eat them, because their teeth will rot from them.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:063 b. Sǫ’ ay chih eh dulxoo, än’ yeh PROH 3SG too with 3SG:play:OPT outside 3SG>3SG:with tthitaahaał! (N) 3SG:SG.go.out:FUT ‘Don’t let him play with [the sun], he will go outside with it!’ UTOLAF18Jun1001:009 26.9.2. Clause order Avertive clauses almost always follow the main clause, but may occasionally precede it (728). (728) Ay tl’aan, “Nts’aa’ tatxol ch’a’ nts’aa’ łaan and then how 3PL:break:FUT:NOM AVERT how truly ts’uh’įį?” hinih. (N) 1PL:do:OPT 3PL:say:IPV ‘And then, “What should we do so [the eggs] don’t break?” they said.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:054

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

483

The preferred clause order (main clause before subordinate clause) in negative purpose clauses is iconic. 26.9.3. Viewpoint aspects, moods, and polarity There are no restrictions on the viewpoint aspect or mood of the main clause. It may be in the perfective (724a, b), imperfective (724c), future (726b), and optative (728). The avertive clause is almost always in the future (724, 726, 728). Rarely it may be in the inceptive perfective, which has similar semantics to the future ([729]; see sec. 7.3.1.3.). (729) Ay tl’aan tuu tetshyoo ch’a’ hanit’ah… (N) and.then water 3SG:splash:PASS:INC:PFV:NOM AVERT 3SG:SG.fly.up:IPV ‘And to avoid getting splashed, [the duck] flies up…’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:048 26.9.4. Avertive clauses without main clause In dialogue situations avertive clauses may occur without main clauses (730), similar to what was noted for causal clauses in 26.7.4. (730)

Excerpt: UTCBAF13Nov0501:174–76 (T) 1. “Jah du’ ch’iithoo,” nǫǫgaay “ntl’a’ihtąą,” yehnih. here CT scraper fox 1SG>2SG:give.LRO:PFV 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“This scraper here I gave to you,” she said to Fox.’ 2. “Eh diaa?” yehnih. and why 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“And why?” he said to her.’ 3. “Ahnoo shnaahaal ch’a’,” nih. NTRL:ahead:ALL 3SG>1SG:SG.follow:FUT:NOM AVERT say:IPV ‘“To prevent him following me further,” she said to him.’

(The scraper will turn into a large lake, which will indeed prevent the Devil from catching up too soon.) 26.10. Concessive linkings Concessive clauses are formed with the subordinator t’oot’eey ‘although’ (731). T’oot’eey ‘although, even though’ is not related to any postposition and never triggers nominalization of the subordinate verb.

484

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(731) a. “Duk!” dikąy’ ehnih, unaagn’ kol t’oot’eey. (T) get.ready REFL:husband 3SG:say:IPV 3SG:eyes NEGEX although ‘“Get ready [to shoot]!” she said to her husband even though he was blind.’ UTOLVDN13May2907:030 b. Łaakay ishyiit huugn tah eeł ts’iłaak two thereabouts among trap 1PL:handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST ts’įįtsuul t’oot’eey, shnąą eh. (N) 1PL:be.small:IPV although 1SG:mother and ‘In two [of the big lakes] we would set traps even though we were small, with my mother.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0804:024 In the Tetlin dialect t’eey ‘although’ may be used instead of t’oot’eey, with no apparent difference in meaning (732a). In the Northway dialect nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey ‘although’ may be used instead of t’oot’eey (732b). (732) a. K’a nats’utdeel chih ts’iniithan t’eey NEG 1PL:PL.go:IT:OPT:NOM too 1PL:want:IPV:NEG although natsetdeeł. (T) 1PL:PL.go:IT:INC:PFV ‘Even though we didn’t want to go back, we went back.’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:066 b. ‹Eh› dihtth’eey jah dhihtįį nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey. (N) and 1SG:hear:IPV here 1SG:classify.AO:IPV although ‘And I could hear it, even though I was lying there.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:062 26.10.1. Semantics Concessive linkings contrast a concession in the subordinate clause with a proposition in the main clause (Thompson and Longacre 1985, 198). 26.10.2. Clause order Concessive clauses formed with t’oot’eey usually follow the main clause, although the opposite order is also attested (732a). Note, however, that sentences where the concessive clause precedes the main clause are ambiguous (see 26.10.4). 26.10.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods There are only about fifteen naturalistic concessive linkings in my corpus, which makes it difficult to make claims about the viewpoint aspects and moods

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

485

used therein. It appears that any viewpoint aspect or mood may be used in the main clause, while most concessive clauses seem to be in the imperfective. 26.10.4. Comparison to main clause coordinator t’oot’eey ‘but’ T’oot’eey can also be used as a coordinating conjunction ‘but’ described in chap. 24.1.2. The two usages can be distinguished by the position of t’oot’eey in the clause. With the meaning ‘although’, t’oot’eey occurs in clause-final position (733a). With the meaning ‘but’, it occurs at the beginning of the clause (733b). (733) a. Tsät uhttheel ti’ishnak t’oot’eey. (N) wood 1SG:chop:OPT 1SG:be.tired:IPV although ‘I will chop the wood even though I’m tired.’ UTOLAF13May2804:049 b. Ay t’oot’eey neek’eh ts’ehǫǫheey sdzeey shyiit and but 1PL:like 1PL:speak:IPV 1SG:heart in dhihdlah shtthi’ shyiit t’eey. (N) 1SG:keep.PL.O:PFV 1SG:heart in ADVZR ‘But [despite living away from the village] I kept the way we speak in my heart and in my head.’ UTOLAF13May2804:003 Consequently it can be difficult to distinguish a sentence containing a concessive clause followed by the main clause, from a sentence containing two main clauses coordinated with t’oot’eey ‘but’. This is illustrated in (734), where both sentences can be analyzed (and translated) in either fashion: (734) a. Neexonh ts’ikeey gaay ts’įįłįį t’oot’eey 1PL children small 1PL:be:IPV although/but ts’idek! (N) 1PL:PL.go:IPV:CUST i. ‘Us, we were small children but we walked!’ ii. ‘Us, even though we were small children, we walked!’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:016 b. Dineh choh t’oot’eey etsaa. (T) man big although/but 3SG:cry:IPV i. ‘He was a big man, but he cried.’ ii. ‘Even though he was a big man, he cried.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:036

486

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

The prosody does not serve to disambiguate this. In (734a), t’oot’eey occurs in the same intonation unit as the preceding material and is followed by a pause. This intonation pattern, however, is characteristic of many coordinating conjunctions such as nts’ą̈ ’ ‘and’ or ay tl’aan ‘and then’ as shown in section 24.1.1. In (734b) there is no pause, and t’oot’eey forms an intonational unit with the following material, but not with the clause dineh choh. Speakers will sometimes use one translation, sometimes the other, without any obvious motivation for either. Thus, the difference between a concessive linking and two main clauses coordinated by t’oot’eey ‘but’ is only clear when t’oot’eey occurs in sentence-initial position (as a coordinating conjunction with the meaning ‘but’) or in sentence-final position as a subordinating conjunction with the meaning ‘although’. 26.11. Absolutive clauses Use of the term ‘absolutive’ here follows Thompson and Longacre (1985, 200– 201), who define an absolutive clause as being (1) somehow marked as subordinate, while (2) not clearly indicating the relationship between the two clauses, and thus (3) necessitating inference of this relationship from context. Absolutive clauses contain the subordinating conjunction eh/eł (eł in the Tetlin dialect, eh in all others.) Eh/eł always triggers nominalization of the verb. Absolutive clauses in Upper Tanana may have temporal, causal, and (very rarely) concessive interpretation. 26.11.1. Temporal absolutive clauses The most common type of absolutive clause has temporal interpretation. 26.11.1.1. Semantics The absolutive clause may indicate simultaneity (735a) or sequentiality (735b). In some cases it is unclear which of these interpretations is intended (735c). (735) a. Nahk’ade dą’ shnąą iin hįįtsuul fish.trap at 1SG:mother PL 3PL:be.small:IPV:NOM eł Dihthaad dą’ hihteenaa and nearby.place at 3PL:move.nomadically:INC:PFV hihteneeyh. (T) 3PL:move.nomadically:INC:IPV ‘At ‘fish trap’ (Last Tetlin), when my parents were little, they went off to ‘nearby place’ (Mansfield), they were going to move.’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:001

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

487

b. Ishyiit hunoo’ ninįįshyay eh ishyiit tah there AR:ahead:ALL 3SG:SG.arrive:PFV:NOM and there among tuu etnąą. (N) water 3SG:drink:IPV ‘He arrived there and drank some water.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:024 c. Lahlil nats’itnetdagn eł butterfly 1PL:PL.follow.around:IPV:CUST:NOM and nee’ihuushyaak. (T) AR>1PL:get.lost:PFV ‘We were following a butterfly and we got lost.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1101:008 As (735b, c) show, temporal adverbial clauses are most frequently translated into English as main clauses. 26.11.1.2. Clause order Temporal absolutive clauses almost always precede the main clause (735), although the opposite order is attested occasionally (736). (736) K’ahdąądą’ shoh nak-’įį’ dǫǫ yesterday bear 1SG:see:PFV downriver:ABL nach’akłäl eh. (N) 1SG:drive:IT:IPV:PROG:NOM when ‘I saw a bear yesterday when I was driving back from downriver.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2713:041 26.11.1.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods In temporal absolutive linkings both clauses are usually in the imperfective or perfective. All logical combinations are common: both clauses in the imperfective (737a); the main clause in the imperfective and the subordinate clause in the perfective (737b); both clauses in the perfective (737c); and the main clause in the perfective and the subordinate clause in the imperfective (737d). (737) a. Chinh, chinh maagn noo’ nats’atdal eł flat flat edge ahead:ALL 1PL:PL.go:IT:IPV:PROG:NOM and t’eey shta’ iin ttheh na’ihdaał. (T) ADVZR 1SG:father PL in.front 1SG:SG.go:IT:IPV:PROG ‘At the edge of the flats we were walking back out and I was walking way ahead of my parents.’ UTOLAF09Jun2201:003

488

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. … shnąą ǫǫ tinįįshyay eh taatsąą’ 1SG:mother outside:from 3SG:SG.go.out:PFV:NOM and raven dog daanaat’ah. (N) up:AR 3SG:SG.fly.around.up:IPV ‘… my mother came out and a raven was flying around up there.’ UTOLAF08Feb1906:006 c. Ishyiit niihindeel eh there 3PL:PL.arrive:IT:PFV:NOM and t’eey thiin ninįįdlah. (N) ADVZR neck 3SG:put.PL.O:PFV ‘They got there and the old man put [the Loon’s] neck.’

ay ch’itay ch’inikon’ that old.man dentalium

a dentalium necklace around UTCBVDN13Nov1401:050

d. Shyig uneh’ąy eł unąą uta’ down:ALL 3SG:look.around:IPV:NOM and 3SG:mother 3SG:father eł mǫǫndaa eł hadil’įh. (T) and 3SG:older.brother and 3SG:spot:PFV ‘She looked down and she saw her mother, father, and older brother.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:314 There is one example of a main clause in the future (738). This main clause is a rhetorical question inquiring about the (im)possibility to land at a flooded village site. (738) Nahk’ade nahindeel eł jah ndee k’it fish.trap 3PL:PL.arrive:IT:PFV:NOM and here where on dahtaadał; łahtthagn nts’ą’ hushyah shyiit tuu. (T) 3PL:PL.land:FUT all 3PL:house in water ‘When they got back to ‘fish trap’ (Last Tetlin), where could they land; water was in all their homes.’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:006 Aside from such examples, the imperfective and perfective are clearly preferred in temporal absolutive linkings. 26.11.1.4. Without main clauses Temporal absolutive clauses may occur by themselves, without an accompanying main clause; see chapter 31 for discussion and examples. 26.11.2. Causal absolutive clauses Absolutive clauses often receive a causal interpretation.

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

489

26.11.2.1. Semantics Causal clauses formed using eh/eł express a cause rather than a reason; thus, the main clause is the direct result of the event or situation described in the causal clause (739). (739) a. Jahxan niheedeeł Gǫǫ iin hiidiitth’ag suddenly 3PL:PL.get.up:PFV Gǫǫ PL 3PL>3SG:hear:IPV:NOM eł. (T) because ‘Suddenly the Gǫǫ got up because they heard her.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:056 b. K’at’eey nts’uukiidn jiitl’ade NEG 1PL>INDF:buy:IPV:CUST:NEG INDF:be.expensive:IPV:NOM eł. (T) because ‘We never bought anything because it was too expensive.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:049 c. Ay eli::h hǫǫłiin eh Martha nah’ogn and cold AR:be:IPV:NOM because Martha MED:outside:AR dlegn hut’oh de’ kah natidaak. (N) squirrel 3PL:nest looking.for 3SG:SG:walk.around:IPV:CUST ‘And because it was so cold, Martha walked around out there looking for squirrel nests.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2901:056 26.11.2.2. Clause order Causal clauses with eh/eł usually follow the main clause (739a, b), although the opposite order also occurs occasionally (739c). The preferred clause order is not iconic, since the cause temporally precedes the events in the main clause: the Gǫǫ get up after hearing the woman (739a) and the high prices of food in the store precedes the family’s inability to purchase anything (739b). 26.11.2.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods (739) demonstrates that the verb in the causal clause is usually in the imperfective. The main clause is usually in the imperfective or perfective. 26.11.3. Concessive absolutive clauses Absolutive adverbial clauses also may have concessive meaning. This is probably the rarest interpretation, and all clear examples come from the Northway dialect.

490

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

26.11.3.1. Semantics Concessive absolutive clauses contain a concession which is contrasted with the main clause. The contrast here is more indirect than in concessive clauses introduced by t’oot’eey (see 26.10 for discussion) and the translation by the speaker often indicates this; thus, (740a) was translated as ‘don’t let a man go away from you PL hungry’ and (740b) was translated with two main clauses coordinated by ‘and’. Yet the concessive semantics is present. Note that (740a) is unusual since the verb in the absolutive clause is not relativized. (740) a. Sǫ’ dineh nuhxah staa’utshya’ dįįtsįį PROH man 2PL:for 3SG:SG.go.away:IT:OPT 3SG:be.hungry:IPV eh. (N) although ‘Don’t let a man go away from you even though he’s hungry!’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:032 b. Hiitehchuudn eh hii’idetniiy. (N) 3PL>3SG:grab:PFV:NOM but 3PL>3SG:fail:PFV:NOM ‘They tried to grab it but failed.’ UTOLAF15May0501:009 26.11.3.2. Clause order Concessive absolutive clauses may follow (740a) or precede (740b) the main clause. There are insufficient examples in the corpus to determine whether there is a preferred order. 26.11.3.3. Viewpoint aspects and moods As already mentioned, there are very few examples of concessive absolutive clauses. All of them are in the imperfective or perfective. The main clauses in concessive absolutive linkings tend to be in the imperfective or perfective; the optative form in (740a) is due to this being a prohibitive (see chap. 15). 26.12. Summary Table 26.1 summarizes adverbial linkings in Upper Tanana. It shows several tendencies. Most subordinators do not cause nominalization of the verb in the adverbial clause, even if the subordinator is formally identical to a postposition. For most types of adverbial clauses, a preference in clause order can be determined, but the order depends on the type of clause. Finally, in most adverbial linkings, there seems to be no restriction on the viewpoint aspect or mood of (A/M) either adverbial or main clause. (I suspect that the future and optative are so rare because of the general restrictions on their use; see chap. 5.) Exceptions to this are conditionals (main clause in the future only), conditional requests (main clause in the optative only), purpose clauses (adverbial clause in the optative), and avertive clauses (adverbial clause in the future).

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

Clause type

491

Conj.

Nom.

Clause order

Aspect/Mood subord. main

dänh tah niign

no no no

sub>main sub>main sub>main

IPV, PFV IPV, PFV IPV, PFV

IPV, PFV IPV, PFV IPV, PFV

dą’

no

sub>main

IPV, PFV

IPV, PFV

tah

no

sub>main

IPV, PFV

ttheh

yes

sub>main

niign k’eh

no no

sub>main sub>main

FUT, OPT, PFV IPV, PFV IPV, PFV

iPFV, PFV, FUT IPV, PFV, FUT all IPV, (PFV)

de’ de’… de’ de’ kah

no no no

sub>main sub>main either

IPV, PFV IPV, PFV IPV, pfv

FUT OPT IPV, PFV

xah

yes

sub>main

xah

yes

main>sub

Purpose

xah

yes

main>sub

IPV, PFV, OPT IPV, PFV, OPT all

Avertive

ch’a’

yes

main>sub

IPV, PFV, OPT IPV, PFV, OPT OPT (FUT, PFV) FUT

Concessive Absolutive temporal causal concessive

t’oot’eey

no

main>sub

IPV

IPV, PFV, OPT all

eh/eł eh/eł eh/eł

yes yes yes

sub>main main>sub sub>main

IPV, PFV IPV IPV

IPV, PFV IPV, PFV IPV, PFV

Locative specific general trajectory Temporal simultaneous (punctual) simultaneous (general) ‘before’ Manner Similarity Conditional declarative requests ‘to find out if ’ Causal cause reason

Table 26.1. Summary of adverbial clauses

492

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

Notes 1. Other authors go further. Cook (2004, 375–381) analyzes adverbial clauses in Dëne Sųłiné as postpositional phrases rather than clauses. He bases his argument not only on the formal identity of (most) subordinators with postpositions and the fact that the verb in adverbial clauses is usually nominalized in that language, but also on the fact that both types of units can be moved into postverbal position. 2. This sentence contains two interesting instances of the incorporate dzii‘hearing’ in verb themes of listening. The first form tiidziihtetdak means that individuals would walk away from their campsite to listen to the noises around them; this form is in the perambulative customary and thus indicates a nondirectional walking-and-listening event. The second verb form describes a different type of listening which involves metaphorical construction of one’s hearing as a linear object that one can extend into particular directions. The utterance describes how, in the old days, people would walk away from their campsites in the evening in order to listen to distress shots or calls. 3. The distinction between the first three types is quite difficult; see also Anisman (2019) for discussion of this problem. 4. There are, of course, additional differences between the sentences, including different types of footwear, different verbs for making them, and the fact that the (irregular) verb for selling in (723b) contains the iterative prefix, which triggers change in voice/valence marker. 5. More information on the subordinator, and on avertive clauses in general, is found in Lovick (forthcoming).

27 | Complement clauses Clausal complements are clauses selected by a verb theme as one of the core arguments (Dixon 2010, 370). Upper Tanana distinguishes several types of clausal complements, based on structural differences. These types have been identified in many Dene languages; they were initially described by Platero (1974) and Schauber (1979) for Navajo but have been reported for the other members of the family (see, e.g., Rice [1989] for Slave; Cook [2004] for Dëne Sųłiné; de Reuse and Goode [2006] for San Carlos Apache; or Cook [2013, chap. 6] for Tsilhqút’ín; note also that Saxon [1998] presents a more finegrained distinction of complement clauses in Tłįchǫ Yatiì, which does not seem to be relevant for Upper Tanana). In indirect discourse constructions, the reference of the participants of the complement clause is determined from the perspective of the speaker of the sentence: a first-person subject refers to the speaker, a second-person subject to the hearer, and a third-person subject to another entity. In (741), the two third-person subjects are coreferential. Both are expressed by the third person plural marker h-. Indirect discourse complements usually contain a complementizer, such as nts’ą’ t’eey in (741). (741) Nduu haadał nts’ą’ t’eey k’at’eey hihitnąy,… (T) whereabouts 3PL:PL.go:IPV:PROG CMP NEG 3PL:know:IPV:NEG ‘They did not know where they were going…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:021 In direct discourse complements, the reference of the participants of the complement clause is determined from the perspective of the subject of the main clause. In (742) the subjects of the two clauses are again coreferential, but while the subject of the main clause is third person, the subject of the complement clause is first person. Direct discourse complements never contain a complementizer.

494

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(742) Daktayh shyįį’ nįįthanh. (T) 1SG:be.strong:IPV only 3SG:think:IPV ‘He thinks that he is (lit. ‘I am’) the only one who is strong.’ UTOLVDN13May2902:034 In quoted speech complements the same shift in perspective takes place and there is no complementizer (743). Additionally the quoted speech is set off prosodically from the main clause. (743) Ukąy’ du’, “Ndehde’ sh’aat niitaadaał,” 3SG:husband CT when:FUT 1SG:wife 3SG:SG.arrive:IT:FUT yuunih. (T) 3SG:think:IPV ‘And her husband thought, “When is my wife coming back?”’ UTOLVDN13May2907:047 While the distinction between indirect and direct discourse complements is discussed throughout Deneologist literature, that between direct and quoted discourse complements is usually touched upon only briefly. Schauber (1979, 28–29) shows that in Navajo these two clause types behave differently with respect to the presence of certain discourse particles, and Saxon (1998, 206) notes that in Tłįchǫ Yatiì certain types of questions with nonverbal predicates may occur only as quoted complement, not as direct discourse complement. 27.1. Indirect discourse complements An inventory of verb themes requiring indirect discourse complements is given in (744); this list is not exhaustive. The complement takes the place of the postpositional object in the verb themes (744a–e) and that of the direct object in verb themes (744f–m). Only three verb themes allow an indirect discourse complement in the subject position (744n–p). Some verb themes allow both questions and declaratives as indirect discourse complements (744a–d, f, g), while others allow only declaratives. (744) Verb themes taking indirect discourse complements Theme Translation Argument a. P+i#D+nayh ‘know P’ P (question, declarative) b. P+i+ts’#D+niign ‘not know P’ P (question, declarative) c. P+i#L+nayh ‘remember P’ P (question, declarative) d. P+i#L+nüh ‘forget P’ P (question, declarative) e. P+i#d+D+niih ‘fail to P’ P (declarative) f. P+i#ch’+O+hu+d+H+dįį ‘teach O to P’ O (question, declarative)

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES g. h. i. j. k. l. m. n. o. p.

P+i#ch’+O+hu+d+H+’įh O+hu+d+L+dįį P+i#O+d+Ø+nih O+ho+L+’įh O+n+H+’įh O+d+Ø+tth’ek ha#O+d+L+’įh PRED (d+)Ø+t’eh P+aa##Ø+su’ P+aa##ts’a#n+L+t’eh

‘show O to P’ ‘learn O’ ‘teach O to P’ ‘pretend to O’ ‘see O, watch O’ ‘hear O, listen to O’ ‘spot O, discover O’ ‘S be PRED’ ‘P like S’ ‘P dislike S’

495

O (question, declarative) O (declarative) O (question) O (declarative) O (declarative) O (declarative) O (declarative) S (declarative) S (declarative) S (declarative)

Complement clauses are formed using one of two complementizers. Additional complementation strategies are nominalization without the presence of a complementizer and juxtaposition of clauses. 27.1.1. Structure Complement clauses proper are formed using the complementizer t’eey for embedded declaratives or nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ (t’eey) for embedded questions.¹ Additional complementation strategies include nominalization without complementizer and simple juxtaposition of clauses. 27.1.1.1. Embedded declaratives Embedded declaratives are usually formed using the complementizer t’eey. The complement clause is usually nominalized (745). (745) a. … dich’agn’aal t’eey hidishniih. (N) 1SG>REFL:feed:IPV:NOM CMP 1SG:fail:IPV ‘… I wasn’t able to feed myself.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:036 b. Ch’aachin’ nts’ą̈ ’ hǫǫheey t’eey hits’etniign. (N) tree.stump to 3SG:speak:IPV:NOM CMP 3SG:not.know:IPV ‘He didn’t know that he was talking to a Tree Stump.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:080 c. Łuugn tat’eey ehk’aay t’eey yich’oodehdiih. (T) fish also 3PL:filet:IPV:NOM CMP 3SG>3PL:teach:IPV ‘She also taught them to cut fish.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:022 d. Ay shyiit ts’ą’ ch’ihdeh’aan t’eey diitth’ak. (T) and inside from 3PL:sing:IPV:NOM CMP 3SG:hear:IPV ‘And he heard them singing from inside [the tree stump].’ UTOLVDN13May2805:040

496

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

Occasionally the complementizer nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ (t’eey), which is generally used for embedding questions (see sec. 27.1.1.2), is also used in embedded declaratives (746).² (746) Dineey iin k’at’eey hiihitnąy Che’ t’iin iin hįįłįį people PL NEG 3PL>3PL:know:IPV:NEG tail people PL 3PL:be:IPV nts’ą’. (T) CMP ‘People didn’t know that there were Tailed People.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:007 The embedded declarative with t’eey almost always precedes the main clause (745). One of the few exceptions is given in (747). (747) Ts’ist’e’ hi’etnayh ts’exeh gaay ts’ihǫǫdąy t’eey. (T) old.lady 3SG:know:IPV girl 3SG:be.sad:IPV CMP ‘The old lady knew that the girl was sad.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:297 When the complement serves as direct object of the main clause, the subject of the complement clause is occasionally marked pronominally as the direct object on the main verb (748). It is not clear what determines whether the object clause is marked on the main verb. (748) Ahnǫǫ’ t’eey dindeh gaay ch’aałuu NTRL:ahead:ABL ADVZR boy 3SG>INDF:drag:IPV:PROG:NOM t’eey hahiidel’įh. (T) CMP 3PL>3SG:spot:PFV ‘From across they spotted the boy dragging something.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:161 The most common other complementation strategy is to use a nominalized complement clause without a complementizer (749). The complement is usually a declarative. (749) a. Itidhihxiin idetniih. (N) 3SG>3SG:kill.SG.O:INC:PFV:NOM 3SG>3SG:fail:PFV ‘He tried and failed to kill him.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2701:001 b. “Jah dugn ch’a dhihday diht’eh,” iyehnih. (T) hereabouts FOC 1SG:SG.sit:IPV:NOM 1SG:be:IPV 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“I am such that I stay right here,” she said to her.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:338

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

497

c. Stsay na’atkeel 1SG:grandfather 3SG:go.by.boat:IT:IPV:PROG:NOM ii’etnay… (N) 3SG:know:IPV:NOM ‘He knew that my grandfather was coming back in his boat…’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:121 d. … ay chih shnaał eh nathuyehteeg and also 1SG:before.eyes and 3SG>3SG:skin:IPV:CUST:NOM nak-’įh. (T) 1SG:watch:IPV ‘… and I would watch him skinning them also before my eyes.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1501:038 With the exception of the verb theme in (749b), all of these themes also allow declarative complements with t’eey. In the absence of any complementizer, the nominalized complement clause almost always precedes the main clause (749). One of the few exceptions is given in (750), which was originally produced in English. It is possible that the unusual word order is caused by the back-translation into Upper Tanana. (750) … k’a hiits’itnąy hihunay le’ nts’ą’ NEG 1PL:know:IPV:NEG 3PL:live:IPV:NOM DUB and nįįłaag le’. (T) 3PL:PL.die:PFV:NOM DUB ‘… we don’t know if they are alive or dead.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2604:034 Again, an argument of the complement clause may be marked as the direct object on the main verb (751). (751) a. Ay, ay iin shyįį’ ch’a hǫǫ’ hedąy hunak-’įį’. (N) 3 3 PL only FOC thus 3PL:do:IPV 1SG>3PL:see:PFV ‘They were the only ones I saw doing that.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:058 b. Hiitehchuudn hii’idetniih. (N) 3PL>3SG:grab:INC:PFV:NOM 3PL>3SG:fail:PFV ‘They tried and failed to grab it.’ UTOLAF15May0501:008 There are a few additional instances of complement clauses without formal marking (i.e., without nominalization or a complementizer). It is possible

498

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

that this is a case of juxtaposition rather than of embedding; there are too few examples to draw any conclusions. (752) Christmas time tah nihts’įįł nats’i’iił, hi’agnnayh. (N) Christmas time at watermilfoil 1PL:eat:IPV:CUST 1SG:remember:IPV i. ‘I remember we would always eat muskrat candy (watermilfoil) around Christmas time.’ ii. ‘We would always eat muskrat candy around Christmas time, I remember.’ UTCBVDN13Nov0805:031 27.1.1.2. Embedded questions Embedded questions usually contain the complementizer nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ (t’eey) (753). The presence of t’eey appears to be optional; the first part of this complementizer has the form nts’ą’ in the Tetlin dialect, and nts’ą̈ ’ in all other dialects. Complement clauses formed with nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ (t’eey) are not usually nominalized. (753) a. Ay, ay du’ dii xah hiyehnih nts’ą̈ ’ mits’ishniign, … (N) 3SG 3SG CT why 3PL>3SG:say:IPV CMP 1SG:not.know:IPV ‘I don’t know why they said that‥’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:019 b. Nts’ą̈ ’ hidį’ nts’ą̈ ’ hi’innay… (N) how 3PL:do:IPV CMP 2PL:know:IPV:NOM ‘Do you know what they did…’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:075 c. Nduu haadał nts’ą’ t’eey k’at’eey whereabouts 3PL:PL.go:IPV:PROG CMP NEG hihitnąy,… (T) 3PL:know:IPV:NEG ‘They did not know where they were going…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:021 Embedded questions formed with nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ (t’eey) usually precede the main clause (753), but may also follow the main clause (754). (754) … mits’ishniign dii nt’eh nts’ą̈ ’. (N) 1SG>3SG:not.know:IPV what 3SG:be:IPV CMP ‘… I didn’t know what it was.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:030 Occasionally the subject of the complement clause is also marked pronominally as an argument of the main verb. This is almost always the case when the complement clause is postposed (754), but it may also happen when the complement clause precedes the main clause (755).

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

499

(755) Nithoo’ doo hiłįį nts’a’ t’eey nił’ihetnayh. (T) long.time who 3PL:be:IPV CMP 3PL>RECP:know:IPV ‘For a long time, they knew who the other was.’ UTOLVDN14May0703:015 On rare occasions embedded questions occur without a complementizer. They are then usually nominalized (756). (756) a. … adog ts’iikeey dii eł delxoo nįh’įh… (T) NTRL:up:AR children what with 3PL:play:IPV:NOM 2SG:look:IPV ‘… look SG what the children are playing with up there…’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:004 b. Chįhttheel ‹‹du’›› mbaa ts’ahuneet’eh nts’aa woodpecker CT 3SG:for AR:be.bad:IPV how iyehnąy. (N) 3SG>3SG:say:IPV:NOM ‘Woodpecker though didn’t like what [Camprobber] said to him.’ UTOLVDN11Aug0803:009 Very rarely, embedded questions are neither nominalized nor contain a complementizer (757). It may be more appropriate to treat these as a case of juxtaposition rather than of embedding; there are, however, insufficient examples to test this. (757) T’axoh nih “Ay hi’ishnayh nts’ąą’ t’eey dįhtayh.” (T) finally say:IPV 3SG 1SG:know:IPV how ADVZR 2SG:be.strong:PFV ‘Finally he said, “I know how strong you SG are.”’ UTOLVDN13May2902:046 27.1.2. Prosody In almost all tokens of an embedded declarative, pitch is held steady across the embedded clause. The complementizer is usually followed by a brief pause. This is demonstrated in figure 27.1 (the wave form and pitch track of [758]) for the Tetlin dialect and in figure 27.2 (the wave form and pitch track of [745a]) for the Northway dialect. (758) Teete’ t’eey nelji::t! (T) 3SG:SG.sleep:INC:PFV CMP 3SG:be.scared:IPV ‘She was too scared to fall asleep!’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:086

500

BEYOND THE CLAUSE Figure 27.1. Prosody of embedded declarative (T), UTCBAF13Nov0501:086.

Figure 27.2. Prosody of embedded declarative (N), UTOLVDN14Apr2602:036.

In embedded questions, the presence of pause following the complementizer is much less consistent. In figure 27.3 (wave form and pitch track of [759a]) it is present, but in figure 27.4 (wave form and pitch track of [759b]) it is not. (759) a. Nduu haadał nts’ą’ t’eey k’at’eey whereabouts 3PL:PL.go:IPV:PROG CMP NEG hihitnąy,… (T) 3PL:know:IPV:NEG ‘They did not know where they were going…’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:021 b. Ndee k’eh dzeltth’ii nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey hits’ishniign. (N) how.long 1PL:PL.stay:IPV:NOM CMP 1PL:not.know:IPV ‘I don’t know how long we stayed there.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:021

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

501

Figure 27.3. Prosody of embedded question (T), UTOLVDN07Oct2602:021.

Figure 27.4. Prosody of embedded question (N), UTOLVDN13May2003:021.

In complementation without a complementizer, there is usually no pause following the (nominalized) complement clause. This is true both of embedded interrogatives (e.g., fig. 27.5, the wave form and pitch track of the quoted speech of [756a]) and embedded declaratives (e.g., fig. 27.6, the wave form and pitch track of [751b]). 27.1.3. Verb themes allowing indirect discourse complements The verb themes in (744) fall into several semantic groups which share grammatical properties. These properties are briefly described in the following sections. 27.1.3.1. Knowing and remembering In verb themes of knowing, not knowing, remembering, and forgetting, the complement clause takes the position of the postpositional object, as can be seen in a comparison of sentences containing clausal (760) and nominal or pronominal (761) objects.

502

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

Figure 27.5. Prosody of embedded question without complementizer (T), UTOLAF07Oct2512:004.

Figure 27.6. Prosody of embedded declarative without complementizer (N), UTOLAF15May0501:008.

(760) a. Ts’exeh ch’a chinįį’iin nts’ą̈ ’ hi’ishnayh.(N) girl FOC 2SG:hide:PFV:NOM CMP 1SG:know:IPV ‘I know that you SG hid that girl.’ UTOLAF10Jul0202:141 b. … gaał eł diłiign’ tidhehxiin t’eey snare with REFL:dog:POSS 3SG:kill.SG.O:INC:PFV:NOM CMP hits’etniign. (T) 3SG:not.know:IPV ‘… he didn’t know that he had killed his own dog with the snare.’ UTOLVDN13May2801:091 c. Shta’ ehnay hi’agnnayh. (N) 1SG:father 3SG:say:IPV:NOM 1SG:remember:IPV ‘I remember her saying [that] to my father.’ UTOLAF08Feb1906:011

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

503

d. Nts’ąą, nts’ąą’ yehnih nts’ą̈ ’ hidhagnnüh. (N) how how 3SG>3SG:say:IPV CMP 1SG:forget:PFV ‘I forgot what he said to him.’ UTOLAF15May0501:094 (761) a. Huch’ehłiign ‹łaakeey› ay chih i’ishnayh… (T) 3PL:song two 3PL also 1SG:know:IPV ‘I know their two songs too…’ UTOLAF10Jul0801:027 b. Mits’ishniign. (N) 1SG>3SG:not.know:IPV ‘I did not know him.’

UTOLVDN14Apr2602:023

c. Oh! Dineh mi’agnnayh. (N) oh man 1SG>3SG:remember:IPV ‘Oh! I remember that guy.’

UTOLAF13May2801:057

d. Midhagnnüh. (N) 1SG>3SG:forget:PFV ‘I forgot him.’

UTOLAF13May2801:058

(760) shows that the morphological position of the postpositional argument on these verb themes is often filled by an h- prefix. This is likely a reduced form of the areal prefix hu-, as comparison of these themes with their Ahtna counterparts (Kari 1990) suggests. As 761a) demonstrates, this prefix is not required. This type of verb may take a declarative (762a) or an interrogative (762b) clause as its complement. (762) a. Hits’ihetniign Gǫǫ iin tthihiiydįhxal 3PL:not.know:IPV Gǫǫ PL 3PL>3SG:throw.AO.into.fire:PFV:NOM t’eey hits’ihetniign‥ (T) CMP 3PL:not.know:IPV ‘They did not know that the Gǫǫ had thrown [the baby] into the fire, they did not know.’ UTOLVDN13May2909:046 b. Ndee k’eh dzeltth’ii nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey hits’ishniign. (N) how.long 1PL:PL.stay:IPV:NOM CMP 1PL:not.know:IPV ‘I don’t know how long we stayed there.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:021

504

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

27.1.3.2. Attention and perception Verb themes of attention and perception likewise share several properties. Their complements have the role of direct object. Like verb themes of knowing, they can take a clausal (763) or a (pro)nominal (764) complement. (763) a. … ay eł ts’exeey hįįłįį nts’ą’ huhneh’ąy and and women 3PL:be:IPV CMP 3PL>3PL:see:IPV:NOM eł. (T) and ‘… [the warriors] could see that they’re women.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:015 b. Ahdog łeech’ak thaayh k’it Nǫǫgaay NTRL:up:AR mud sand on fox natedaag t’eey hadil’įh. (T) 3SG:SG.walk.around:IPV:CUST:NOM CMP 3SG:spot:PFV ‘She spotted a Fox walking around up there on the mud and sand.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:329 c. Eh doctor nurse ts’ą̈ ’ hǫǫheey dihtth’ek. (N) and doctor nurse to 3SG:speak:IPV:NOM 3SG:hear:IPV ‘And I heard the doctor talking to the nurse.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:018 (764) a. … stsay ts’ineh’įh. (N) 1SG:grandfather 1SG:see:IPV ‘… we saw my grandfather.’ b. … didia’ hadil’įh. (T) REFL:younger.sister 3SG:spot:PFV ‘… he spotted his younger sister.’

UTOLAF12Jul1203:107

UTCBAF13Nov0501:355

c. Hanoo nts’ą̈ ’ ts’almbeet iin ditth’ek… (N) NTRL:ahead:ALL to loon PL 3SG:hear:IPV ‘Ahead he heard the loons…’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:023 Attention verb themes usually take declaratives as their clausal complements. Only rarely do they take questions as complements (765). (765) Nts’ą’ huhheey shdįįtth’ek? (N) how 1SG:speak:IPV:NOM 2SG>1SG:hear:IPV ‘Do you hear what I’m saying?’ UTOLAF14May0807:074

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

505

27.1.3.3. Learning, teaching, showing The clausal complement of verb themes of learning, teaching, and showing, i.e., the skill being learned, taught, or shown, is in the direct object position. The individual receiving the lesson is marked in the postpositional object position (766). (766) a. … ts’iikeey iin hǫǫ’ itdahnįįl nts’ą̈ ’ hu’et-sih children PL thus 2PL:teach:FUT:NOM how 3PL:name:PASS:IPV nts’ą̈ ’. (N) CMP ‘… you PL have to teach the children what [the plants] are called.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:090 b. Ishyiit dänh ch’ale, ‹shiy xah t’eey na’agnsüü udagndįį’… ›(N) there at FOC 1SG for ADVZR 1SG:hunt:IPV 1SG>AR:learn:IPV ‘At that time, I learned to hunt for myself…’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:140 c. Ay tl’aan tsuug chih tl’aan tehts’oon eh tat’eey hugn tat’eey and then marten also and mink and also there also eeł hedlaak huxah neech’ohdehdiih. (T) trap 3PL:have.PL.O:IPV:CUST 3PL:for 3PL>1PL>AR:teach:IPV ‘And marten, and mink too, they taught us to have traps for them.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1501:028 d. … “Nuh’ich’ootnak-’įįł nts’ą’ dihdį’ nts’ą’,”… (T) 1SG>2PL>AR:show:FUT how 1SG:do:IPV CMP ‘… “I will show you PL what I can do,”…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:050 The skill being taught or learned is always expressed as a clausal complement. In the verb forms in (766b–d), the skill being taught or shown is expressed also by the areal prefix on the main verb, although it is unclear whether this prefix is lexicalized in these themes. 27.1.3.4. Liking and disliking In verb themes of liking and disliking, the complement clause takes the position of subject. The subject is always represented by an areal prefix, regardless of the form of the complement. The experiencer is coded as object of the postposition P+aa ‘for the benefit of P’ (767). These verb themes are not used to express that one likes or dislikes persons.

506

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(767) a. “Shyah suu shyiit didhaltth’ih nts’ą’ nuhxah hǫǫsǫǫ,” house nice in 2PL:PL.stay:IPV CMP 2PL:for AR:be.good:IPV nee’ehnih. (T) 3SG>1PL:say:IPV ‘You PL like living in a nice house.’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:020 b. Teethäł T’aat Niign maa ts’a’uneet’eh. (N) steambath under creek 3SG:for AR:be.bad:IPV ‘She didn’t like ‘Under Steambath Creek’.’ UTOLVDN13May2003:016 27.1.3.5. Failing This verb theme requires a declarative clause in the inceptive perfective as a postpositional object; it is not attested with embedded questions or (pro)nominal complements. The postpositional object position of P+i#d+D+niih ‘fail at P’ is marked with a prefix coreferential to the direct object prefix of the verb in the complement clause. The complement usually precedes the main clause (768a), but the opposite order is also attested (768b). (768) a. Uk’eh kiteeshyay yidetniih. (N) 3SG:following 3SG:SG.climb:INC:PFV:NOM 3SG>3SG:fail:PFV ‘He tried and failed to climb up after him.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2701:012 b. Hu’idetniih huteexaan. (T) 3SG>3PL:fail:PFV 3SG>3PL:kill.PL.O:INC:PFV:NOM ‘He tried in vain to kill them.’ UTOLVDN13May2804:110 It may occur without an overt complement if the failed action can be deduced from context, as shown in line 3 of (769). (769)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN14Nov2301:062–64 (T) 1. Hiitehchuud t’eey hiiyidetniih, ch’aadeh 3PL>3SG:grab:INC:PFV:NOM CMP 3PL>3SG:fail:PFV INDF:older.sister chih. also ‘They tried to grab [the butterfly] but failed, the older sister too.’ 2. “Shin, shin,” nił’eh detnih, “okchuudn shin!” 1SG 1SG RECP:to 3PL:say:IPV 1SG:grab:OPT 1SG ‘“Me, me,” they said to each other, “I want to grab it, me!”

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

507

3. Hǫǫ’ tay’ hedetniih huch’a’ tah niłk’inett’ah thus again 3PL:fail:PFV 3PL:from among 3SG:SG.flutter:IPV niłk’inett’ah huch’a’. 3SG:SG.flutter:IPV 3PL:from ‘Again they failed, it fluttered away from them, it fluttered away from them.’ 27.1.3.6. Being a certain way The verb theme (d+)Ø+t’eh ‘be’³ may take many types of complements: a noun phrase (770a), a free pronoun (770b), an adverb (770c), a postpositional phrase (770d), or, rarely, a modifier (770e) as complement. With those types of complement, this verb theme is translated as ‘be’. (770) a. “An! Neetsaan’ nt’eh!” henih. (T) away 1PL:poop 3SG:be:IPV 3PL:say:IPV ‘“Away! This is our poop!” they said.’ UTOLAF11Aug0204:008 b. Neets’ą’ ła’et-’aak “Shin diht’eh,” nee’ehnih. (T) 1PL:to 3SG:wave.hand:IPV:CUST 1SG 1SG:be:IPV 3SG>1PL:say:IPV ‘He waved at us, “It’s me,” he said to us.’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:022 c. “Soo’, soo’ dįįt’eh… (N) careful careful 2SG:be:IPV ‘Careful, be SG careful, …’

UTOLVDN14Apr2601:019

d. Shta’ shnąą k’eh t’eey dįįt’e’ ‹chih›. (N) 1SG:father 1SG:mother like ADVZR 3SG:be:PFV too ‘My father was like my mother.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:024 e. Ayaa nt’eh! (N) yucky 3SG:be:IPV ‘That is yucky!’

UTOLAF10Jul0202:059

When (d+)Ø+t’eh ‘be’ takes a clausal complement, however, semantic shift takes place; the proposition of the complement clause is emphasized or intensified in meaning. In this construction the complement clause is always a nominalized declarative clause, often in the future.

508

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(771) a. “Sts’ą’ hajįhnayh de’ k’at’eey 1SG:to 2SG>INDF:move.CO.out.quickly:PFV if NEG tnak-’įįl diht’eh,” yehnih. (T) 1SG:see:FUT:NEG:NOM 1SG:be:IPV 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘Even if you SG take [your penis] out towards me, I still won’t be able to see it (lit. ‘I am one who cannot see it’),” she said to him.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:433 b. Tįhts’iign dįįt’eh! (N) 2SG:be.sick:FUT:NOM 2SG:be:IPV ‘You will certainly get sick!’ (lit. ‘You are one who will get sick!’) UTOLAF14May0807:055 c. Įįjih hiiyehnąy nt’eh! (N) forbidden 3PL>3SG:say:IPV 3SG:be:IPV ‘They certainly say it is forbidden!’ UTOLAF14May0807:079 The subject of the complement clause usually has the same person as that of the main clause (771a, b), but not always the same number (771c). This suggests that nt’eh is becoming lexicalized as an assertive marker; see section 9.1 for more discussion and examples. 27.1.3.7. Pretending The verb theme ho+L+įh ‘pretend’ only allows a clausal complement, never a (pro)nominal one. If we assume that the areal prefix in the verb theme is coreferential to the complement clause, then it follows that the complement clause takes the position of direct object. This verb theme always takes a declarative clause as its complement. The complement is not nominalized and may precede or follow the main verb. The two clauses always have the same subject (772). (772) a. Ch’idia’ du’ neljidn eh INDF:younger.sister CT 3SG:be.scared:IPV:NOM and ch’i’aał hul’įh… (N) 3SG>INDF:eat:IPV 3SG:pretend:IPV ‘The younger sister though was scared and only pretended to eat…’ UTOLAF15May0501:042 b. … ni’eełts’ełeek ts’ihol’iik. (T) 1PL:set.PL.traps:IPV:CUST 1PL:pretend:IPV:CUST ‘… we pretended to set traps.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2803:008

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

509

27.2. Direct discourse complement A small number of verbs in Upper Tanana takes a direct discourse complement. As outlined by, for example, Rice (1989) for Slave, Saxon (1998) for Tłįchǫ Yatiì, or Cook (2004) for Dëne Sųłiné, direct discourse complements are characterized by the lack of any overt complementizer or nominalization. Most important, they exhibit perspective shift. They share these properties with quoted discourse complements (see 27.3), from which they can be challenging to distinguish. An inventory of verb themes allowing direct discourse complements is given in (773); it is likely inclusive. With the exception of (773a), all verbs in this list describe mental processes such as wanting and thinking. As pointed out by Rice (1989, 1276), however, the type of complement clause required by a verb theme cannot be predicted and thus must be learned for each verb theme individually. (773) Verb themes allowing direct discourse complements Theme Translation Type a. O+d+Ø+nih ‘say to O’ direct, quoted b. O+uu+Ø+nih ‘think’ direct, quoted c. n+Ø+thänh ‘want, think’ direct, quoted d. i+nii#n+Ø+thänh ‘think, wonder, desire’ direct, quoted e. P+i+na+nii#ch’+H+thät ‘think, expect, conclude’ indirect, direct 27.2.1. Structure Direct discourse complements are structurally identical to independent clauses. The verb form daktayh ‘I am strong’ is a main clause in (774a) but a complement clause in (774b). (774b) also demonstrates that direct discourse complements have no complementizer and are not nominalized. Most important, pronoun reference is evaluated from the perspective of the subject of the main clause: the first-person singular subject of the direct discourse complement in (774b) is coreferential to the third-person singular subject of the main clause. In the elicited indirect discourse complement (774c), the first-person singular subject refers to the speaker, not to the subject of the main clause. (Note that the speaker is indexed as direct object on the matrix verb.) (774) a. Ihtsuul t’oot’eey daktayh. (N) 1SG:be.small:IPV but 1SG:be.strong:IPV ‘I am small but I am strong.’ UTOLAF13May2804:042

510

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. Daktayh shyįį’ nįįthanh. (T) 1SG:be.strong:IPV only 3SG:think:IPV ‘He thinks that only he is strong.’ UTOLVDN13May2902:034 c. Dineh daktayh shuunih. (N) man 1SG:be.strong:IPV 3SG>1SG:think:IPV ‘The man thinks that I [speaker] am strong.’ UTOLAF17Aug0502:031

A challenge in interpretation concerns verb themes of thinking and saying. With these verb themes it can be difficult to draw the line between reported and quoted thought or speech. While authors like Schauber (1979) and Saxon (1998) assume a relatively clear distinction based on the use of particles, I have not been able to apply this distinction to Upper Tanana. With very few exceptions, speakers will accept both a direct discourse interpretation and a quoted discourse interpretation. Most of the time speakers volunteer the quoted discourse translation given in ii of the utterances in (775), but accept the i-translations as well when suggested to them. In (775c) the speaker volunteered the direct discourse translation ii.⁴ (775) a. Tl’aan hugn tihdaał, iyniinįįthanh. (T) and here 1SG:SG.stay:FUT 3SG:think:IPV i. ‘And he thought he would stay there.’ ii. ‘He thought, “I will stay here.”’ UTOLVDN13May2901:042 b. Kon’ dįhkąąyh, yehnih. (T) fire 2SG:build.fire:IPV 3SG>3SG:say:IPV i. ‘He told him to build a fire.’ ii. ‘He told him, “Build a fire!” UTOLVDN13May2909:137 c. Ch’itay ehtįį iynįįthanh. (T) old.man 3SG:SG:die:PFV 3SG:think:IPV i. ‘She thought that the old man had died.’ ii. ‘She thought, “The old man has died.”’ UTOLVDN13May2907:124 First-person pronouns in the complement clause refer to the subject of the matrix clause, regardless of which person that is (776).

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

511

(776) a. K’at’eey nduugn nts’ą’ tihhaał nuhdihniil. (T) NEG whereabouts to 1SG:SG:go:FUT 1SG>2PL:tell:FUT:NEG ‘I’m not going to tell you PL where I’m going.’ UTCBAF14Jul1001:013 b. Dineh tleegn uhłe’ shyįį’ t’eey nįįthänh xah lah man dirty 1SG:be:OPT only ADVZR 2SG:want:IPV because Q dįįdąy? (N) 2SG:do:IPV:NOM ‘Are you SG doing this because you SG want to be a bum?’ UTOLAFMay0807:046 c. … ts’utl’u’ hinįįthanh niign t’eey hetl’uuk. (T) 1PL:dress:OPT 3PL:want:IPV the.way ADVZR 3PL:dress:IPV:CUST ‘… they dress in whatever way they want to dress.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:122 The interpretation of first-person pronouns in the complement clause potentially leads to ambiguity between an indirect discourse interpretation and a direct discourse one, as demonstrated by the elicited example (777). Note that under the first interpretation the possessor and the subject marker are coreferential but have different reference under the second interpretation. (777) Shaadeh eh ushnah nįįthänh. (N) 1SG:sister with 1SG:work:OPT 3SG:want:IPV i. ‘He wants to work with his sister.’ ii. ‘He wants to work with my [speaker’s] sister.’ UTOLAF17Aug0502:040, 043 Second-person pronouns in the complement clause refer to the addressee of the thinking or speaking event expressed in the main verb. The addressee may be formally marked on the main verb (778a, b) or not (778c). (778) a. K’a hǫǫ’ dhįhxeh natinłuug k’a NEG thus 2SG:kill.SG.O:IPV 2SG:drag.around:IPV:CUST:NOM NEG ndihnay… (T) 1SG>2SG:say:IPV:NOM ‘I didn’t tell you SG to kill [the puppy] by dragging it around…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:024

512

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. Fairbanks nts’ą tseedeeł University ch’aldzüh Fairbanks to 1PL:PL.go:INC:PFV University 2PL:dance:IPV neehenay xah. (N) 3PL>1PL:tell:IPV because ‘We went to Fairbanks because they had told us to dance at the University.’ UTOLAF17Aug0801:006 c. Shin du’ ts’onįįniign udihnih… (T) 1SG CT 2SG:be.stupid:IPV 1SG:think:IPV ‘Even I thought that you SG are stupid…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:043

Third-person pronouns in the complement clause refer to someone who is neither the speaker nor the addressee of the main verb. ([779a] is elicited.) (779) a. K’at’eey tsat k’iduuttheeł inihthan. (T) NEG wood 3SG:chop:OPT 1SG:want:IPV:NEG ‘I don’t want him to chop wood.’ UTOLAF13May2404:047 b. Dii uułe’ udįįnih de’ ay taałeeł… (T) what 3SG:be:OPT 2SG>3SG:say:IPV if 3SG 3SG:be:FUT ‘If you SG tell it to be something, it’ll become that…’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:264 c. Ts’exeh du’, hǫǫ’t’eey unaagn’ kol yuunih. (N) woman CT still 3SG:eyes NEGEX 3SG>3SG:think:IPV ‘The woman though thought that he was still blind.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:053 (776–779) also demonstrate that the direct discourse complement typically precedes the matrix verb. 27.2.2. Prosody Direct discourse complements almost always are closely integrated into the clause, with no discernible pause or pitch movement between the complement and the following main verb. This is illustrated in figure 27.7 for the Tetlin dialect (the example is given in [778c]) and in figure 27.8 for the Northway dialect (the example is given in [780]; this example also contains part of the English phrase right now, which the speaker then corrects to k’ahdu’). (780) Uhtsüü inihthänh k’ahdu’. (N) 1SG:cry:OPT 1SG:want:IPV now ‘I feel like crying now.’

UTCBAF13Nov1203:041

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

513

Figure 27.7. Prosody of direct discourse complement (T), UTOLAF09Jun2202:043.

Figure 27.8. Prosody of direct discourse complement (N), UTCBAF13Nov1203:041.

27.2.3. Verb themes In the next few sections the different types of verb themes that allow direct discourse complements are introduced with a bit more detail. 27.2.3.1. Speaking Most verb themes of speaking only allow a quoted discourse complement (see sec. 27.3).⁵ The exception is P+d+Ø+nih ‘say to P’, which allows both direct and quoted discourse complements ([781]; see sec. 27.2.1 for a discussion of ambiguity). (781) a. Hǫǫ ch’ale Teełąy hihnįįdeel eł thus FOC Tetlin 3PL:PL:arrive:PFV:NOM when hudahnih. (T) staanatdeeł 2PL:PL.go.away:IT:IPV 2PL>3PL:tell:IPV ‘Thus when they come to Tetlin, tell them to go away again.’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:038

514

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. K’a’ dąą ųųton’ ndihnay… (N) gun thus 2SG:hold:OPT 1SG>2SG:say:IPV:NOM ‘I told you SG to hold the gun like this…’ UTOLAF13May2804:035 c. Dineey iin sǫ’ ǫǫdloo eh nųh’iign men PL PROH 2SG:laugh:OPT:NOM and 2SG:look.at:OPT:NOM įį’eh tah, neehehniik. (N) etc. 3PL>1PL:say:IPV:CUST ‘They used to tell us not to smile and look at men and so on.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:060

Syntactically the direct discourse complement seems to function as an adverbial. It cannot be replaced with a noun phrase but only with an adverbial such as hǫǫ’ ‘thus’ (782a) or with the interrogative word nts’ąą’ ‘how’ (782b). (782) a. Shta’ hǫǫ’ shehnih, nee’ehnih. (N) 1SG:father thus 3SG>1SG:say:IPV 3SG>1PL:say:IPV ‘My father told me thus, told us thus.’ UTOLAF10Jul0901:015 b. Nts’ąą, nts’ąą’ yehnih nts’ą̈ ’ hiidhagnnüh. (N) how how 3SG>3SG:say:IPV CMP 1SG:forget:PFV ‘I forget what he said.’ UTOLAF15May0501:094 27.2.3.2. Thinking Verb themes of thinking fall structurally into two groups: verb themes formed from the stem thänh ‘think’ and one verb theme (O+uu+(d+)Ø+nih) formed from the stem nih ‘say, think’. There is a slight semantic difference between these two groups of themes. O+uu+(d+)Ø+nih is used for mental observations of present states, possibly similar to the English ‘say to oneself ’ (it could be that this analogy is influenced by this verb theme’s etymology). The d-qualifier in O+uu+(d+)Ø+nih ‘think’ disappears in thirdperson subject forms (783a), similar to what takes place in the related verb theme P#d+Ø+nih ‘say to P’ (see sec. 27.3.3.1). (783) a. Ts’exeh du’, hǫǫ’t’eey unaagn’ kol yuunih. (N) woman CT still 3SG:eyes NEGEX 3SG>3SG:think:IPV ‘The woman though thought that he was still blind.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:053

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

515

b. Shin du’ ts’onįįniign udihnih… (T) 1SG CT 2SG:be.stupid:IPV 1SG:think:IPV ‘Even I thought that you SG are not smart…’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:043 O+(i+)n+Ø+thänh⁶ and i+nii#n+Ø+thänh, by contrast, have connotations of wondering or desiring (784). (784) a. Dii ch’a nt’ay, nihthänh, hǫǫ’ hits’ishniign. (N) what FOC 3SG:be:IPV:NOM 1SG:think:IPV thus 1SG:not.know:IPV ‘What could it be, I kept wondering, I didn’t know.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:050 b. Tl’aan, hugn tihdaał, iyniinįįthanh. (T) and here 1SG:SG.sit:FUT 1SG:think:IPV ‘And then he thought that he would stay there.’ UTOLVDN13May2901:042 The verb theme P+i+na+nii#ch’+H+thät finally expresses strong determination (785a) or signals that the thought is a deduction (785b). In this example the speaker just discovered that dry meat has disappeared from the drying rack. (785) a. Ay ts’iiniin “Nuh’ich’ootnak-’įįł nts’ą’ dihdį’ nts’ą’,” and child 1SG>2PL:show:FUT how 1SG:do:IPV CMP hunaniich’ehthad nts’ą’ nįįthan. (T) 3SG>3PL:think:IPV:NOM and 3SG:think:IPV:NOM ‘And the child thought towards them and wished, I will show you PL what I can do.’ UTOLAF09Jun2202:050 b. Mbinaniich’akthät ishyiit gǫǫ eedah. (N) 1SG>3SG:think:IPV there monster 3SG:SG.sit:IPV ‘I was thinking that there’s a bear here.’ UTOLVDN13May2004:026 Most of these verb themes may also take other types of complements. (i+)n+Ø+thänh ‘think’ takes adverbial complements, such as the interrogative word nts’aa’ ‘how’ in (786a) or the adverbial įįjih t’eey ‘in a way to do with įįjih’ (786b).

516

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(786) a. “Nche’ k’it de’ skitihhaal hǫǫłįį t’oot’eey 2SG:tail on if 1SG:SG.go.across:FUT:NOM AR:be:IPV but nts’aa’ iinįįthan,” yehnih. (T) how 2SG:think:IPV:NOM 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“I could easily go across on your tail but what do you think,” she said to him.’ UTOLAF09Aug1101:006 b. K’ahdu’ du’ k’a įįjih t’eey hiyniithan. (T) now CT NEG taboo ADVZR 3PL:think:IPV:NEG ‘Nowadays they don’t think about įįjih.’ (lit. ‘they don’t think in an įįjih way’) UTOLVDN11Jul2901-008 P+i+na+nii#ch’+H+thät ‘think about P’ on the other hand may take a nominal argument (787). (787) Ch’itay du’ k’at’eey minaniich’akthädn. (N) old.man CT NEG 1SG>3SG:think.about:IPV:NEG ‘I wasn’t thinking about that old man.’ UTOLAF09Aug12:025 O+uu+(d+)Ø+nih ‘think’ appears to only take clausal complements, similar to the verb theme P+d+Ø+nih ‘say to P’ that it is derived from. 27.2.3.3. Wanting While desiderative modality is often expressed simply using the optative (see sec. 8.1), it may also be expressed using the verb themes O+(i+)n+Ø+thänh ‘want O’ and O+uu+Ø+nih ‘want O’ with a complement clause in the optative. The verb theme O+(i+)n+Ø+thänh ‘want O’ is used when the subject’s desires for herself are expressed (788). (788) a. K’a nats’utdeel ‹chih› ts’iniithanh t’eey, NEG 1PL:PL.go:IT:OPT:NEG too 1PL:want:IPV though natsetdeeł. (T) 1PL:PL.go:IT:PFV ‘Even though we wanted not to go back, we went back.’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:066 b. Uhtsüü inihthänh k’ahdu’. (N) 1SG:cry:OPT 1SG:want:IPV now ‘I feel like crying now.’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:041 With this meaning, O+(i+)n+Ø+thänh ‘want O’ can also take a nominal or pronominal complement (789); both sentences are elicited. When the object referent is human, the resulting meaning is ‘be in love with O, desire O’ (789a).

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

517

Inanimate nominal complements of this verb theme, such as (789b), are fairly rare. (789) a. Łaakay dineey iin hii’iynįįthänh. (N) two men PL 3PL>3SG:want:IPV ‘Two men are in love with her.’ b. Tseey inįįthänh? (N) tea 2SG:want:IPV ‘Do you want tea?’

UTOLAF12Jul1202:006

UTOLAF14Nov2001:009

This verb theme can also be used when the subject of the main clause wants another person to (not) do something, as illustrated in the elicited sentences in (790). (790) a. K’at’eey uutsüü nihthän. (N) NEG 3SG:cry:OPT 1SG:want:IPV:NEG ‘I don’t want him to cry.’ UTOLAF18Jun1003:001 b. Jah dineh da’eedah nihthän. (N) here man 3SG:SG.sit.up:IPV 1sg:want:IPV ‘I want the man to sit there.’ UTOLAF14May0807:063 In this construction the verb theme O+uu+Ø+nih ‘want O’ is often used instead (791). This verb theme cannot be used in contexts like (788), where the main verb’s subject’s own desires are expressed. (791b) is elicited. (791) a. Uhte’ yuunih. (T) 3SG:SG.die:OPT 3SG>3SG:want:IPV ‘She wanted him to die.’

UTOLVDN13May2907:011

b. Mary dits’iiniin’ k’at’eey ogn Mary REFL:child NEG outside:AR natuudaagn yuunih. (N) 3SG:SG.walk.around:OPT:CUST:NEG 3SG>3SG:want:IPV ‘Mary wants her child not to walk around outside.’ UTOLAF17Aug0502:018 (790b) and (791b) illustrate a difference with respect to negation scope. In (790b) the matrix clause is negated, whereas in (791b) the complement clause is negated. There are insufficient examples to determine whether this is due to the different verb themes.

518

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

Note that there are no instances where the subject of the main clause wants the addressee to do something, as in the English ‘I want you to tidy your room’. 27.3. Quoted discourse complements A number of verb themes of thinking and speaking take quoted discourse complements. The list in (792) is likely inclusive. (792) Verb themes allowing quoted discourse complements Theme Translation Type a. O+uu+Ø+nih ‘think’ direct, quoted b. n+Ø+thänh ‘think, wonder, desire’ direct, quoted c. i+nii#n+Ø+thänh ‘think, wonder, desire’ direct, quoted d. O+d+Ø+nih ‘say to O’ quoted, direct e. O+uu+d+H+kan ‘ask O’ quoted f. Ø+säł ‘holler’ quoted g. O+n+H+säł ‘holler at O’ quoted h. P+i+chi#ch’+d+L+nih ‘lie to P’ quoted i. da#d+L+shyaak ‘lie’ quoted j. sta+da#hu+d+Ø+’aayh ‘exaggerate’ quoted 27.3.1. Structure Structurally, quoted discourse complements are identical to independent clauses. Like direct discourse complements, they require perspective shift. The resulting ambiguity between direct and quoted discourse complements for the verb themes in (792a–d) is discussed in section 27.2.1. The verb themes in (792e–j), however, only allow quoted discourse complements. Although quoted discourse complements are not formally marked as subordinate, they are clearly embedded into the matrix clause. In (793a) the quoted discourse occurs between the subject (which may have been fronted with du’ ‘CT’, see sec. 30.2.1) and the verb. In (793b) the quoted discourse follows the coordinator eł, which links the main clause to the preceding one. (793) a. Tagoh ts’exeh du’ “Ina’! K’at’eey ‹hanoo’› swan woman CT no NEG NTRL:ahead:ALL utįhtsay!” yehnih… (N) 2SG:make.SG.O:FUT:NEG 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘The Swan woman though said to him, “No! You can’t make it that far!”…’ UTOLAF08Feb1902:004

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

519

b. Eł: “K’at’eey tih’aal,” yuunih nts’ą’… (T) and NEG 1SG:eat:FUT:NEG 3SG>3SG:think:IPV and And “I’m not going to eat that,” she thought and… UTOLAF08Apr2805:025 27.3.2. Prosody As the punctuation in (793) suggests, quoted discourse complements tend to have the prosodic properties of independent clauses. They are often set off from the surrounding material by pauses and may have melodies associated with certain speech acts, such as questions or requests. Figure 27.9 shows the wave form and pitch track of (794a), a partial utterance taken from a narrative where a woman tells her blind husband when to shoot at a moose. The urgency there is reflected by the high pitches in the quoted speech; while the frame is at around 200 Hz or lower, the quoted speech is 300–400 Hz. Note also the lengthy pause following ay eh ‘and then’. Figure 27.10, wave form and pitch track of (794b), illustrates that the rising pitch associated with polar questions without question particles is maintained in quotation. (794) a. Ay eh, “T’axoh! Ch’įhdayh!” yehnih,… (N) and and now 2SG:shoot:IPV 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘And then, “Now! Shoot!” she said to him, …’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:007 b. “Ahdaat, tthee nįh’įh?” nih. (T) NTRL:downriver:PNCT rock 2SG:see:IPV say:IPV ‘“Do you see the rock over there?” she said.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:307 Figure 27.9. Prosody of quoted discourse complement (N), UTCBVDN13Nov1401:007.

520

BEYOND THE CLAUSE Figure 27.10. Prosody of quoted discourse complement (T), UTCBAF13Nov0501:307.

27.3.3. Verb themes As illustrated in (792), verb themes allowing quoted discourse complements fall into two broad categories: verbs of saying and verbs of thinking. 27.3.3.1. Speaking The bulk of quoted discourse occurs as a complement of a verb of speaking. By far the most common verb is P+d+Ø+nih ‘say to P’. This verb theme is irregular: the verb theme P+d+Ø+nih is used in the imperfective mode with inner subject prefixes (795a) and in the perfective mode with all subjects (795b). It is also used in forms with a D-effect, although there the voice/valence marker of course changes to D- (795c). When the subject is third-person singular, or third-person plural with a third person singular object, the verb theme P+H+nih is used instead (795d); in the third-person plural, the verb theme is P+Ø+nih (795e). Finally the bare stem nih also occurs with third-person singular reference in the imperfective mode (795f ). (795) a. “Duka’,” hudihnih. (N) ok 1SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“OK,” I said to them.’

UTOLAF09Aug1202:016

b. “Ts’aht’iin sǫ’ jah dugn nuhchuudn,” hihdįįni’. (N) pubescent.girl PROH hereabouts 3SG>2SG:grab:OPT 3PL:say:PFV ‘“Don’t let a sequestered girl grab you SG here [around the wrist],” they used to say.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2602:055 c. “Doo nt’ay,” niłdzetnih. (T) who 3SG:be:IPV:NOM 1PL>RECP:say:IPV ‘“Who is that,” we said to each other.’ UTCBVDN14Jul1801:019

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

521

d. “Shyiign t’axoh natonshya’,” yehnih. (T) down:ALL finally 2SG:SG.go:IT:INC:OPT 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“You SG should go back down now,” she said to her.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:098 e. “Nee’eh įįhaał,” shihinih. (N) 1PL:with 2SG:SG.go:IPV:PROG 3PL>1SG:say:IPV ‘“Come SG with us,” they said to me.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:015 f. “Ch’ookol,” nih. (N) INDF:NEGEX say:IPV ‘“Nothing,” he said.’

UTOLAF08Feb1906:003

The complement can be a particle (795a), a complete clause (795b–e), or a nonverbal predicate (795f ). Syntactically the quoted discourse complement seems to take the role of adverbial as evidenced by its replacement with the interrogative word nts’ąą’ ‘how’ (see 27.2.3.1). While my corpus contains hundreds of instances of this verb theme having a direct discourse complement, there are only a handful of instances of the other verb themes in (792). Some of these examples are problematic; note, for example, that there are two verbs of saying in (796a) and that the verb form yuudehkat ‘he asked her’ in (796b) was added during transcription of the text. (796) a. Jahxan hu’uudehkat “Ndee nts’ą’ tidhahdeeł,” suddenly 3SG>3PL:ask:IPV where:PNCT to 2PL:PL.go:PFV hu’ehnih. (T) 3SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘Suddenly he asked them, “Where are you going,” he said to them.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1101:006 b. Ch’i’aat, ts’exeh du’, “Nday dhakdayh?” ‹‹yuudehkat››. (N) INDF:wife woman CT well 1SG:shoot:PFV 3SG>3SG:ask:PFV ‘His wife, the woman, “So, did I shoot it?” he asked her.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:010 c. “Jah duugn ts’eedah lah?” hǫǫchaa t’eey hereabouts IMPSL:SG.sit:IPV Q AR:be.big:IPV ADVZR esał. (T) 3SG:holler:IPV ‘“Is there anyone here?” she hollered really loud.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:402

522

BEYOND THE CLAUSE d. “K’ahmann’ de’ tah natsatdał,” yichijelnih. (T) morning when among 1PL:PL.go:IT:FUT 3SG>3SG:lie.to:IPV ‘“In the morning we will go back,” he lied to her.’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:114 e. “Shiichetkayh,” dadelshyaak. (T) INDF>1SG:cramps.affect:INC:PFV 3SG:lie:PFV ‘“I have stomach cramps,” she lied.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:320 f. “Degn’ ji::gn hǫǫłįį, ji::::gn hǫǫłįį,” hu’eh up:ALL berry AR:be:IPV berry AR:be:IPV 3PL:with stadoodnįį’ąą. (N) 3SG:exaggerate:PFV ‘Up there there are berries, there are lots of berries,” he exaggerated to them.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2703:008

While P+d+H+nih ‘say to P’ occurs with a quoted or direct discourse complement, or with their replacements hǫǫ’ ‘thus’ or nts’ąą’ ‘how’, the other verb themes may occur without any complement at all (797). (797) a. Shuudehka:::t. (N) 3SG>1SG:ask:IPV ‘He kept asking me questions.’ b. Eh naksä:::l eh. (N) and 1SG:holler:IPV:NOM and ‘And I was screaming.’

UTOLAF09Aug12:046

UTOLAF09Aug1201:022

c. Hu’ichijelnih. (T) 3SG>3PL:lie.to:IPV ‘She lied to them.’

UTOLVDN13May2909:040

d. K’at’eey dadagshyaagn! (T) NEG 1SG:lie:IPV:NEG ‘I’m not lying!’

UTOLVDN13May2801:215

27.3.3.2. Thinking All of these verb themes allow direct and quoted discourse complements (798). The semantics of the different verb themes wisas described in section 27.2.3.2.

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

523

(798) a. “Dii ch’a nt’ay?” nihthänh, hǫǫ’ hits’ishniign. (N) what FOC 3SG:be:IPV:NOM 1SG:think:IPV thus 1SG:not.know:IPV ‘“What is it?” I thought, I didn’t know.’ UTOLVDN14Apr2602:050 b. Dahniit utnah neexah, “Shta’ teejuh!” always 3SG:work:OPT 1PL:for 1SG:father poor.thing udihnįįk. (N) 1SG:think:IPV:CUST ‘He always wanted to work for us and I kept thinking “My poor dad!”’ UTCBAF13Nov1203:026 c. “Ah’ogn nts’a’ hǫǫ dį’,” hiinįįthanh. (T) NTRL:out:AR how thus do:IPV 3PL:think:IPV ‘“What’s going on out there,” they thought.’ UTOLAF13May2403:002 27.4. Summary There are three types of complement clauses. In indirect discourse complements reference in the complement clause is evaluated from the perspective of the speech situation; that is, first-person pronouns refer to the speaker, and so on. Indirect complement clauses usually contain a complementizer; t’eey (plus nominalization of the verb in the complement clause) is used in declarative complement clauses, nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ (t’eey) (without nominalization) is used in interrogative complement clauses. A secondary complementation strategy involves using a nominalized complement clause without complementizer. Indirect discourse complements with complementizers are usually set apart prosodically from the main clause; those without a complementizer form one prosodic unit with the main clause. In direct and quoted complement clauses, reference in the complement clause is evaluated from the perspective of the subject of the main clause: first-person pronouns refer to the subject of the main clause. The distinction between direct and quoted discourse complements is less straightforward. No diagnostic was supplied here; I followed speaker judgments in determining whether a given example was a case of discourse or quoted discourse complementation. Prosodically, direct discourse complements are well integrated with the main clause, while quoted discourse complements retain their own prosodic curve.

524

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

Notes 1. It is striking that the two complementizers t’eey and nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ (t’eey) are formally identical to the adverbializers described in vol. 1, chap. 16. 2. Since polar questions are usually indistinguishable structurally from declaratives, it is also possible to consider the complement in (746) as an embedded question, Che’ T’iin iin hįįłįį? ‘Are there Tailed People?’. Under that analysis, nts’ą̈ ’/nts’ą’ (t’eey) occurs almost exclusively with embedded questions. 3. Kari (1990, 344) indicates that in Ahtna, the d- prefix is a disjunct prefix. In Upper Tanana it has been reanalyzed as a qualifier, as evidenced by the firstperson plural form dzįįt’eh, where qualifier absorption takes place. Also note that the d- prefix is not present in third-person forms in the imperfective, although it is present in third-person forms in the perfective. 4. I suspect that this has to do with the structure of English, which does not have a construction similar to Upper Tanana direct discourse. With the type of matrix verbs illustrated in (775), the only choices for translation into English are reported and quoted speech. The latter is much more similar to the Upper Tanana direct discourse construction, not to mention easier for second-language speakers to use. 5. There is also one verb theme, ho+n+Ø+heeyh ‘speak’, that does not allow any complement at all. 6. The i-qualifier occurs in an unusual position in this verb theme. As outlined in vol. 1, chap. 30, it usually follows the n-qualifier; in this verb theme however, it precedes it. It is similarly unclear what governs its presence or absence in (788).

28 | Quotative frames There is no reported speech in Upper Tanana; thus whenever a character’s words are rendered as part of a narrative, quoted speech is used. Quoted speech is formally indistinguishable from independent utterances. The only indicator of its status as a complement clause (see chap. 27) is the presence of a quotative frame (28.1), although there are also instances of quoted speech without such a frame. Quotative frames can be varied to keep track of different speakers or for stylistic purposes (28.2). 28.1. Inventory The quotative frame may either be a reporting verb following or (rarely) preceding the complement, or an introductory speaker noun phrase optionally containing the contrastive topic marker du’. Occasionally no quotative frame is used. 28.1.1. Reporting verb The most common quotative frame is a reporting verb, which takes the quoted speech as complement. This construction is described in more detail in section 27.3; some examples are given in (799). (799) a. “Maa ki’įįhaay,” shihinih. (N) 3SG:for 2SG:SG.climb:IPV:IMP 3PL>1SG:say:IPV ‘“Climb up for it,” they said to me.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:010 b. “Nts’aa’ ch’ixia’ nts’aa’ łoodzaałeeł tatxol how egg how 1PL:carry.PL.O.around:FUT 3PL:break:FUT ch’a’?” nił’ihdetnih. (N) AVERT 3PL>RECP:say:IPV ‘“How are we going to carry the eggs so they don’t break?” they said to each other.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:053

526

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

The reporting verb almost always follows the quoted speech; the opposite order (illustrated in [800]) is very rare. (800) Ay dinąą iin hu’ehnih: “Hǫǫ’ hudį’ hǫǫ’ and REFL:mother PL 3SG>3PL:say:IPV thus AR:do:IPV thus utshyaak de’, jah stsǫǫ uts’iikeey iin AR:happen:IPV if here 1SG:grandmother 3SG:children PL nahiidhehxįį.” (N) 3PL>3SG:kill.SG.O:PFV ‘And she said to her parents: “This happens, if this happens, then my grandmother’s children killed her.”’ UTOLAF15May0501:230 When the speaker of the quoted speech is third-person singular, the bare imperfective stem nih often is used instead of a fully inflected form (801). (801) “Jah t’eey, jah t’eey tihdaał,” nih. (T) here ADVZR here ADVZR 1SG:SG.stay:FUT say:IPV ‘“I’m going to stay right here,” he said.’ UTOLAF08Apr2805:077 When the quoted speech encompasses multiple utterances by the same individual, the quotative frame usually occurs at the end of the entire turn rather than following each utterance (802). (802)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN13May2909:130–33 (T) 1. Neek’eh hǫǫheey eł. 1PL:like 3SG:speak:IPV:NOM and ‘[The Gǫǫ] spoke our language.’ 2. “Tsin’įį! Sǫ’ shinǫljidn!” thank.you PROH 2SG>1SG:be.afraid.of:OPT ‘“Thank you! Don’t SG be afraid of me!”’ 3. “Sǫ’ shinǫljidn, shdhįhshyiiy.” PROH 2SG>1SG:be.afraid.of:OPT 2SG>1SG:save:PFV:NOM ‘“Don’t SG be afraid of me, you SG saved me.”’ 3. “Nah’aat nan’ k’it shaa k’iinųųttheeł,” MED:out:PNCT earth on 1SG:for 2SG:chop.hole:OPT yehnih. 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Out there, chop SG a hole in the ground for me,” he said to him.’

QUOTATIVE FRAMES

527

28.1.2. Noun phrase (+ du’) The quotative frame may also consist of an introductory noun phrase plus the contrastive topic marker du’ (803). (803) a. Ch’itay du’: “K’at’eey staatihdaal!” (T) old.man CT NEG 1SG:SG.go.away:IT:FUT:NEG ‘The Old Man: “I’m not going to go away again!” UTOLAF08Apr2805:076 b. Mary du’: ”John! Sǫ’ ogn, sǫ’ tsät ǫǫttheel, ogn Mary CT John PROH out:AR PROH wood 2SG:chop:OPT out:AR hutnatl’ät.” (N) AR:be.dark:PFV ‘Mary [said]: “John! Don’t chop wood outside, it’s dark outside.”’ UTOLAF12Jul1201:009 This strategy is particularly common when a turn consisting of several utterances is quoted. The entire turn is then bracketed by the noun phrase + du’ preceding the quoted speech and a reporting verb following it (804). (804)

Excerpt: UTOLAF09Aug12:040–42 (N) 1. Ch’itay ch’a ch’ishyiign eh ixaan du’: old.man FOC pictures with 3SG:make.PL.O:IPV:NOM CT ‘That old man who was taking pictures [said]:’ 2. “Shoh aldeeł?” bear 2PL:eat:IPV ‘“Do you PL eat bear?”’ 3. “Shoh aldeeł dii xah ch’a dįh’ąy?” shehnih. bear 2PL:eat:IPV why FOC 2SG:act:IPV:NOM 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘“Are you SG doing this it because you PL eat bear?” he said to me.

The noun phrase followed by du’ is often set apart prosodically from the following quoted material. This is illustrated in figure 28.1 (the pitch track of [805a]), for the Tetlin dialect. Not only is du’ separated from the following word by a pause of about half a second, but there is also a noticeable change in pitch: the quoted speech begins about 40 Hz higher than the frame. The same prosodic pattern can be shown in the Northway dialect (see fig. 28.2, the pitch track of [805b]). Here the speaker returns to her usual pitch in the quoted speech, after some very creaky syllables in the introductory noun phrase.

528

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(805) a. Ts’exeh gaay du’: “Deeł gaay ch’ale hiiyeh’ąy!” (T) girl CT crane small FOC 3PL>3SG:mess.with:IPV:NOM ‘The girl [said]: “They’re messing with a baby crane!”’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:010 b. Ch’itay tleegn du’: “Oh! Ti’atnak xah nt’eh!” (N) old.man dirty CT oh 3SG:be.tired:IPV because ASRT ‘The evil man though: ”Oh! It’s because she’s tired!”’ UTOLAF15May0501:068 Figure 28.1. Quoted speech following du’ (T), UTOLAF07Oct2512:010

Figure 28.2. Quoted speech following du’ (N), UTOLAF15May0501:068

While du’ frequently occurs in this context, it is not required. The quoted speech in lines 2 and 3 of (806) is introduced by the plain noun phrase Kelahdzeey Ts’ist’e’ ‘Old Lady Spider’ line 1.

QUOTATIVE FRAMES (806)

529

Excerpt: UTOLAF08Apr2805:073–75 (T) 1. Ch’itay eł shyuugn uneh’ąy eł Kelahdzeey old.man and down:AR 3SG>AR:look:IPV:NOM and spider Ts’ist’e’: old.lady ‘The Old Man looked around and Old Lady Spider:’ 2. “An staanįįdaay!” out:ALL 2SG:SG.go.away:IT:IPV:NOM ‘“Get back out!”’ 3. “Nts’ą’ hachakthak nts’ą’ ntth’an’ 2SG:toward 1SG:extend.mult.protrusions:FUT and 2SG:bone nataadah,” yehnih. 3PL:PL.fall:FUT 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“I will extend [my eyes] toward you and all your bones will fall down,” she said to him.’

28.1.3. No framing Often quoted speech is not overtly framed at all; instead, the listener must identify from context both the presence of quoted speech and the character who uttered it. This is particularly common in traditional stories that are wellknown to storyteller and audience alike, such as (807). The quoted speech in line 2 is not signaled in any way, nor is the change of speaker in line 3. Even though the speakers of lines 2 and 3 of are not indicated, a listener familiar with the story of course knows that it is the boy trying to obtain information, and the grandmother instructing her granddaughters to tell him what took place. (807)

Excerpt: UTOLAF13May2403:088–91 (T) 1. Huts’oodąy nįįt’ayh shyiit danh hetsaa 3PL>AR:grieve:IPV:NOM strongly there at 3PL:cry:IPV:NOM t’eey eh dineh hu’i’etnayh. ADVZR and boy 3SG>AR:know:IPV ‘They grieved strongly about it and they cried, and the boy knew it.’ 2. “Hǫǫ’ dahnih, ła’ mbeh nahalndak!” thus 2PL:say:IPV truly 3SG:about 2PL:tell:IPV ‘“Talk about it, tell the truth about it!”’ (boy speaking)

530

BEYOND THE CLAUSE 3. “Sǫ’ mbaa dadalshyagn ła’ nts’ą’ hutshyaak PROH 3SG:for 2PL:lie:IPV:NEG truly ADVZR AR:happen:PFV niign!” the.way ‘“Don’t lie to him, [tell it] the way it truly happened!” (grandmother speaking)

28.1.4. Quoting quoted speech There are a few instances where a character in a narrative quotes something that a different character said earlier. In (808) two sisters are arguing about the advice Chickadee gave them earlier in the story. In line 1 the older sister quotes Chickadee’s words. The older sister’s speech is framed by ch’aadeh du’ ‘the older sister CT’, that of Chickadee by Ts’igąąk du’. . . nee’ehnih ‘Chickadee CT said to us. . .’ The younger sister’s response in line 2 is introduced by ch’idia’ du’ ‘the younger sister CT’, but when she quotes Chickadee in line 3, his speech is not framed at all. (808)

Excerpt: UTOLAF15May0501:020–22 (N) 1. Ch’aadeh du’: “Ts’igąąk du’, ‘Naan’ tąy INDF:older.sister CT chickadee CT across:ALL trail hǫǫteeł niign ahdäł!’ nee’ehnih.” AR:be.wide:IPV the.way 2PL:PL.go:IPV:PROG 3SG>1PLsay:IPV ‘The older sister [said]: “Chickadee, ‘Go PL on the wide trail!’ he said to us.”’ 2. Udia’ gaay du’: “Ina’, Ina’!” 3SG:younger. sister CT no no ‘Her younger sister though: “No, no!”’ 3. ‘“‘Hǫǫts’eek niign k’i’ahdeeł tl’aan ishyiit AR:be.narrow:IPV the.way 2PL:PL.go.onto.trail:IPV and then de’ nta’ iin na’uudah’aa!”’ if 2SG:father PL 2PL:find:SG.O:IT:IPV ‘““Turn PL off onto the narrow trail, and then you PL will find your SG parents again!” [[is what Chickadee told us]” the younger sister said]’

28.2. Using different frames The different frames described in 28.1 can be varied to assist with reference tracking or to create a more lively narrative.

QUOTATIVE FRAMES

531

28.2.1. Reference tracking The different techniques of framing quoted speech can be used to track within a narrative who is saying what. Very commonly only the verb of saying is used to frame the discourse. This is particularly common in narratives where the narrator is one of the characters, since this allows for easy disambiguation of speakers within the story. The following stretch of text comes from a narrative by Mrs. Avis Sam (Northway), who relates how she shot a bear that was sitting on the side of a highway without noticing that there was a white tourist taking pictures of the bear. (809) takes place after she has shot the bear, which has tumbled down the slope. (809)

Excerpt: UTOLAF09Aug1201:045–50 1. Shuudehka::::t. 3SG>1SG:ask:IPV ‘[The tourist] kept asking me questions.’ 2. “Nday? Nday?” where where ‘“Where? Where?” [the old man asked] 3. “Ndee nushyign’, tamaagn nts’ą̈ ’ where:PNCT MED:AR:down:ALL water’s.edge toward nushyign’ (tu) tth’itu’ nts’ą̈ ’ tah shoh eedah.” MED:AR:down:ALL (f.s.) river at among bear 3SG:SG.sit:IPV ‘“Down there, down at the water’s edge by the river, the bear is sitting.’ [I replied] 4. “Maa ni’uhshya’ nts’ą’ nok-’įį!” nih. 3SG:for 1SG:SG.go.there:OPT and 1SG:look:OPT say:IPV ‘“I want to go there and look at it!” he said.’ 5. “Ayt’oo, ayt’oo,” udihnih. OK OK 1SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“OK, OK,” I told him.’

The first two items of quoted speech in lines 2 and 3 of (809) are not framed (shuudehka::::t ‘he kept asking me questions’ forms its own prosodic curve with unit-final intonation). Both following tokens of quoted speech are framed by verbs: the speech in line 4 by the bare stem nih ‘say:IPV’, which receives interpretation as a third-person form by default and thus must have the old

532

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

man as subject; and the speech in line 4 by a form of P+d+Ø+nih ‘say to P’, which is overtly inflected for first person. A similar strategy can be used with two third-person referents. In the following segment of the Loon Story as told by Mr. Roy H. David Sr. (Tetlin), the Loon’s turns are distinguished from the Old Man’s by use of different framing verbs (810). The Loon’s speech is framed by the full verb form (i)yehnih ‘he said to him’ in lines 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12, while the old man’s speech in lines 2, 5, 8, and 10 is framed by the bare stem nih ‘he said’. The one exception is line 11, where nih is used to frame the Loon’s speech; note that the speaker reverts to using yehnih in the very next utterance. (810)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN13May2907:080–91 (T) 1. “Ch’itay dii xah dįįday?” Ts’almbeet iyehnih. old.man why 2SG:do:IPV:NOM loon 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Old Man, why are you doing this?” Loon said to him.’ 2. “Jah duugn tuu ehdanh shda’ neegąy thereabouts water without 1SG:mouth 3SG:be.dry:IPV tanihduuh,” nih. 1SG:crawl.away:PFV say:IPV ‘“Thereabouts my mouth was dry without water, I crawled away,” [the man] said.’ 3. “Ndee nkeey?” yehnih. where:PNCT 2SG:village 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Where is your village?” [Loon] said to [the man].’ 4. “Naxat dog.” there up:AR ‘“Up that way.”’ 5. “Sh’aat du’ huug ndee nts’ą’ teeshyah t’eey 1SG:wife CT there where to 3SG:SG.go:INC:PFV ADVZR mits’ishniign,” nih. 1SG>3SG:not.know:IPV say:IPV ‘“I don’t know where my wife went off to,” [the man] said.’ 6. He was telling the truth.

QUOTATIVE FRAMES

533

7. “Dii xah manh tthidįįduuh, ǫǫhaal,” why lake 2SG:crawl.out:IPV:PROG 2SG:SG.go:OPT:PROG yehnih. 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Why did you crawl out to the lake, you should walk,” [Loon] said to [the man].’ 8. “Shnaag’ kol,” nih. 1SG:eye NEGEX say:IPV ‘“I am blind,” [the man] said.’ 9. “Nnaag’ kol de’, aan!” yehnih. 2SG:eye NEGEX if come.in 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“If you are blind, come in!” [Loon] said to him.’ 10.“Tuu idzii’!” nih. water scary say:IPV ‘“The water is scary!” [the man] said.’ 11.“Ay t’oot’eey, aan!” nih. and although come.in say ‘“Still, come in!” [Loon] said.’ 12.T’axoh tinįįmįį ay t’oot’eey aambeeł, “Aan finally 3SG:wade:PFV and but 3SG:swim:IPV:PROG come.here ay t’oot’eey,” yehnih. and although 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘Finally [the blind man] waded into the water, but he was swimming, and “Come here anyway!” [Loon] said to him.’ While it is rare for this pattern to be maintained as long as it is in (810), the tendency to distinguish the speech of narrative characters by choosing different framing verbs is quite common. (811) describes how the Tetlin people sought refuge from a severe flood in the Nahk’ade hills.

534 (811)

BEYOND THE CLAUSE Excerpt: UTOLAF07Nov2602:014–15 (T) 1. “Tsin’įį! Neeshyah łahtthagn nts’ą’ tuu tuu thank.you 1PL:house all water water daatneehaan eł t’eey ch’a shyah 3SG:be.flooded:IT:INC:PFV:NOM and even FOC house udhahtsiin,” henih. 2PL>AR:make.SG.O:PFV:NOM 3PL:say:IPV ‘“Thank you! Our house is completely full of water, and you PL built a house for us,” [the Tetlin people] said.’ 2. “Jah chih nuhshyah ts’ehuhtsiin,” nih. here also 2PL:house 1PL>AR:make.SG.O:PFV:NOM say:IPV ‘“We built your PL house, too,” [the Nahk’ade people] said.’

Another way to keep track of quoted speech is to use NP + du’ at the beginning of every turn (812). (812)

Excerpt: UTOLAF10Jul0202:041–42 (N) 1. Ch’idia’ du’: “Stsǫǫ eh tihteeł!” INDF:younger.sister CT 1SG:grandmother with 1SG:SG.sleep:FUT ‘The younger sister [said]: “I’m going to sleep with my grandmother!”’ 2. Ch’aadeh du’: “Stsay eh tatihteeł!” INDF:older.sister CT 1SG:grandfather with 1SG:SG.sleep:FUT ‘The older sister [said]: “I’m going to sleep with my grandfather!”’

This pattern is not generally used over longer stretches of text, as it would require repeating full noun phrases, which is not usually done. 28.2.2. Stylistic use In narrative discourse, speakers often mix and match the various devices used to frame reported speech. This allows the narrator to avoid monotonous structures such as ‘he said, she said’; instead, the narrated conversation seems quite lively. The following long excerpt from the Two Girls Story as told by Mrs. Avis Sam (Northway) illustrates this varied framing quite clearly (813).

QUOTATIVE FRAMES (813)

535

Excerpt: UTOLAF15May0501:064–73 (N) 1. T’axoh k’ahmänn’ nihǫǫthädn eh hanteey’ t’eey finally morning 3SG:wake.up:PFV:NOM and quickly ADVZR ni’eeshyah. 3SG:SG.get.up:PFV ‘Finally it was morning and [the younger sister] got up quickly.’ 2. “Shaadeh du’ ts’i’uuthiit ch’a nt’ay!” 1SG:older.sister CT 3SG:wake.up:OPT FOC ASRT:NOM ‘“My older sister really should be up by now!”’ (younger sister speaking) 3. Ch’itay tleegn du’: “Oh! Ti’atnak xah nt’eh!” old.man rotten CT oh 3SG:be.tired:IPV because ASRT ‘That evil old man though: “Oh! That’s because she’s tired!”’ 4. “Hǫǫ’t’eey uute’!” still 3SG:SG.sleep:OPT ‘“Let her sleep some more!”’ (old man speaking) 5. Ts’exeh gaay du’: “Stsay! Stsay!” girl CT 1SG:grandfather 1SG:grandfather ‘That girl though: “Grandpa! Grandpa!”’ 6. “Nah’än ti’uhshya’!” MED:out:ALL 1SG:SG.go.out:OPT ‘“I want to go outside!”’ (still girl speaking) 7. “Oh!” oh ‘“Oh!” (old man speaking) 8. “Nahshyign’ t’eey nashyuugn t’eey ni’įįha’!” MED:down:ALL ADVZR MED:down:AR ADVZR 2SG:SG.go.to.toilet:IPV ‘“Go to the toilet right here on the floor!”’ (still old man speaking) 9. “Ina’! Ina’! Stsay uunishshyaa!” no no 1SG:grandfather 1SG:be.shy:IPV ‘“No! No! Grandfather, I’m ashamed!”’ (girl speaking)

536

BEYOND THE CLAUSE 10.And ch’itay tleegn dįįła’ choh tl’adįįłay and old.man rotten REFL:hand big 3SG:cup.hands:PFV:NOM tl’aan: and ‘And that evil Old Man cupped his big hands and:’ 11.“Jah shįįtl’aat t’eey!” nih. here 1SG:palm ADVZR say:IPV ‘“Here, [go to the toilet in] my palm!” he said.’

The first segment of reported speech in line 2 of (813) is not overtly introduced, since the context (in particular the vocative shaadeh ‘my older sister’) allows the listener to deduce that it is the younger sister who utters it. The speech in lines 3 and 5 is introduced both times by a noun phrase + du’ ‘CT’; the utterances in lines 4 and 6 are continuations of the story characters’ turns. The quoted speech in lines 7–9 is not introduced at all; here the audience has to rely on knowledge of the story to infer that the speaker is the immoral old man in lines 7 and 8, while the vocative stsay ‘Grandpa’ in line 9 clearly indicates that the speaker is the girl. The last utterance in line 11 is framed by nih ‘say:IPV’; again the immorality of the request means that the speaker must be the old man. 28.3. Summary Quoted utterances are identifiable as complement clauses only because of the presence of a quotative frames. Upper Tanana uses several quotative frames. Within narratives these frames can be varied to either assist with reference tracking or to create a more lively narrative.

29 | Addressing individuals In Upper Tanana culture, individuals are rarely addressed using names; instead, terms indicating the relationship between the speaker and the addressee are used. (This trend carries over into English.) Most of these terms indicate kinship and as such are obligatorily possessed in vocative as well as in nonvocative contexts. Some kinship terms may be used without a possessor prefix in vocative constructions. There appear to be no special vocative terms. An overview over the different forms used to address individuals is given in section 29.1; their use is described in section 29.2. 29.1. Available forms There are three types of forms used for addressing individuals: inflected kinship terms, bare kinship terms, and free pronouns. Only very rarely are personal names used. 29.1.1. Inflected kinship terms Most commonly, individuals are addressed by a kinship term inflected for first-person singular (814). (814) a. Shneh’ąy eh “Shdia::’! Shdia’, 3SG>1SG:look:IPV:NOM and 1SG:younger.sister 1SG:younger.sister aan!” shehnih. (N) come 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘He looked at me and “My younger sister! My younger sister, come here!” he said to me.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:100 b. “Sh’aat, nde’ tuu,” nih. (T) 1SG:wife give water say:IPV ‘“My wife, give me water,” he said.’

UTOLVDN13May2907:005

538

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

29.1.2. Bare kinship terms A small number of kinship terms can be used as address terms without a possessor prefix. (815) contains all the stems attested in this construction; some examples are provided in (816). (815) Bare kinship stems as vocatives a. nąą ‘mom’ b. ta’ ‘dad’ c. tsǫǫ ‘grandma’ d. chaay ‘grandchild’ (woman speaking) e. łaan ‘partner, friend’ (816) a. Nąą! Ta’! Shdia’ na’inshyah! (T) mother father 1SG:younger.sister 3SG:SG.go:IT:PFV ‘Mom! Dad! My younger sister has returned!’ UTCBAF13Nov0501:359 b. “Łąą’, nts’ą’ huhheey,” yehnih. (T friend 2SG:to 1SG:speak:OPT 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Friend, I want to talk to you,” she said to him.’ UTOLVDN14Nov2301:295 These stems form an interesting set. (815a–815c) are all terms for close relatives in generations ascending from ego. Of these, nąą ‘mom’ and tsǫǫ ‘grandma’ appear most frequent in the corpus. It is not surprising that the most common caretakers of a small child would be addressed without possessive morphology; these address terms are likely among a child’s first words. The bare stem ta’ ‘dad’ occurs only a handful of times, and tsay ‘grandfather’ hardly ever occurs without a possessor and is judged by some speakers to be an impossible form. While it is likely that the lack of possessive morphology in (815a–c) is due to these words being acquired at a very young age, this fact cannot explain the bare stem chaay ‘grandchild’ (woman speaking) in (815e). It is likely that the existence of this bare form is due to its great frequency both in everyday interactions and in narratives (many traditional narratives feature a grandmother and one or more grandchildren as main characters). This could also explain why semantically related words such as tthuuy ‘man’s grandchild’ or any of the words referring to an individual’s offspring may never occur without a possessive prefix. The term łaan finally describes originally a cross-cousin of either sex, but is extended to designate any individual to whom one is connected

ADDRESSING INDIVIDUALS

539

through cooperation or friendship (Heinrich 1957, 19). By sheer number of tokens, bare kinship terms are the most common way of addressing individuals. 29.1.3. Free pronouns Occasionally free pronouns are used to address individuals (817). (817) a. “Nän! Negn’ shyah nts’ą̈ ’ na’įįdaał tl’aan tseey 2SG upland:ALL house to 2SG:SG.go.IT:IPV:PROG and tea kah įįha’,” shihinih. (N for 2SG:SG.fetch:IPV 3PL>1SG:say:IPV ‘“You! Go back up to the house and get the tea,” they said to me.’ UTOLAF09Aug1202:023 b. Shtheeg t’ayy’ kol hanteey’ nuhxon’ dahdį’. (N 1SG:voice strength:POSS NEGEX quickly 2PL 2PL:do:IPV ‘My voice is going, come on you guys, take over [telling stories].’ UTOLVDN10Jul2713:053 29.1.4. Personal names Personal names are used only rarely to address individuals. This was already observed by McKennan (1959, 142), although he does not discuss potential reasons. The avoidance of personal names when addressing someone holds regardless of whether the individual has a traditional or a “white” name. Kinship terms are used instead. 29.2. Use of address terms Most of my data comes from narrative text, thus the discussion here focuses on this genre. I supplement it with observations that I made during my interactions with the community; since most of that data is not recorded, no references are provided. The most frequent type of address term in narrative text is (bare or inflected) kinship terms. Pronouns and personal names are both used very rarely. 29.2.1. Kinship terms in texts Both bare and inflected kinship terms are used abundantly in narrative texts. They are used to address individuals regardless of whether the name of the addressee is known to the speaker or not. In (814a), repeated here as (818a), the narrator quotes her older brother, Calvin, who was really excited when she came to visit. He of course knew his sister’s name. A similar situation holds

540

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

true in (818b), where Aambeet (“Albert”) addresses his maternal uncle, Chief David. (818) a. Shneh’ąy eh “Shdia::’! Shdia’, 3SG>1SG:look:IPV:NOM and 1SG:younger.sister 1SG:younger.sister aan!” shehnih. (N come 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘He looked at me and “My younger sister! My younger sister, come here!” he said to me.’ UTOLVDN10Jul2724:100 b. Shee’eh, ahtthǫǫ nts’anh ch’aadał. (T) 1SG:maternal.uncle NTRL:waterwards:ABL from INDF:SG.go:IPV ‘My uncle, people are coming from waterwards.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1502:031 This abundant use of kinship terms is also exploited in traditional narratives, where characters frequently are unnamed (Fall 1990, 4). This is shown in (819), taken from the Two Girls Story. (819)

Excerpt: UTOLAF15May0501:142–45 (N) 1. “Tsǫǫ!” grandma ‘“Grandma!”’ 2. “Naa da’uhshya’!” 2SG:for 2SG:SG.come.in:OPT ‘“I want to come in to you!”’ 3. Utsǫǫ du’ dąą t’eey nt’eh. 3SG:grandmother CT thus ADVZR 3SG:be:IPV ‘Her grandmother though stayed like that.’ 4. “Chaay, k’at’eey nnak-’įįl diht’eh.” grandchild NEG 1SG>2SG:see:FUT:NEG:NOM 1SG:ASRT ‘“Grandchild, I cannot look at you.”’

Grandmother Spider is not actually the grandmother of the girl; instead, the terms tsǫǫ ‘grandma’ and stsay ‘my grandfather’ are often used to respectfully address older people to whom one is not related, while chaay ‘grandchild’ (woman speaking) and shtthuuy ‘my grandchild’ (man speaking) are used to address all young people. This has already been remarked upon by McKennan (1959, 142).

ADDRESSING INDIVIDUALS

541

When addressing a person two whom one is not related but who is of similar age, the term łąą’ ‘friend, partner’ may be used, as illustrated in (820). (820) is taken from a different telling of the same story. (820)

Excerpt: UTCBAF13Nov0501:159–62 (T) 1. That ts’exeh gaay “Łąą’!” yehnih. that girl friend 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘That girl, “Friend!” she said to [the Fox].’ 2. Nǫǫgaay ch’idiitth’ak. fox 3SG>INDF:hear:IPV ‘The Fox heard her.’ 3. “Nday!” nih. what say:IPV ‘“What!” he said.’ 4. Ay chih “Łąą’, nǫǫ nche’ skidįįttheey and also friend across:ABL 2SG:tail 2SG:put.LRO.across:IPV:IMP shaa!” 1SG:for ‘And also, “Friend, put your trail across from over there for me!”’

Thus kinship terms are used not only when a kinship relation exists, but also when one wants to establish a relationship with someone whom one has not met before. 29.2.2. Free pronouns in texts Free pronouns are used relatively rarely to address someone. They may be used among equals, when one is very familiar with the addressee (an example was [817a] above, which was uttered by a girl to her cousin); when the speaker has authority over the addressee (in [821a], an Elder is addressing a young person who has done something wrong); or when addressing someone who has no status within the kinship system, like the Tree Stump in (821b). (821) a. Nän du’! Dii xah ch’a haskeh k’eh ch’a nii’įįdaak 2SG CT why FOC chief like FOC 2SG:SG.go:IT:IPV:CUST tl’aan hashyugn nts’ą̈ ’ ch’įįłeegn? (N) and NTRL:down:AR to 2SG>INDF:handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST:NOM ‘And you! Why do you come back here like you’re chief and throw stuff on the ground?’ UTOLAF14May0807:037

542

BEYOND THE CLAUSE b. “Ch’aachinh! Nän! That ch’itay dąą tl’uuł itinnayh de’, tree.stump 2SG that old.man thus rope 3SG:move:FUT if ‘Ina’ ina’ hǫǫ’t’eey thee’!’ udǫǫni’ de’,” yehnih. (N) no no still wait 2SG>3SG:say:IPV APPR 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Tree stump! You! If that old man moves that rope, make sure you tell him, ‘No, no, still going, wait!’,” she said to him.’ UTOLAF15May0501:086–087

While I have no recorded example, this is also how the Elders I work with tend to address me. 29.2.3. Personal names in narrative texts Personal names are used only rarely to address individuals. (822) is a somewhat unusual instance of the use of a personal name. It is taken from a story told by Mrs. Avis Sam (Northway) about her childhood after the death of her mother. Mrs. Sam had to fend for herself for several years and was supported by several relatives, some of which are named in line 1. When she reports how they would invite her to eat with them, she uses her traditional name Ts’exeh Su’, possibly because the individuals she identifies would address her using different kinship terms: the women would call her shchaay, while her grandfather would call her shtthuuy. (822)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN14Apr2602:143–46 (N) 1. Stsǫǫ choh Annie, Anna stsǫǫ choh eh 1SG:grandmother big Annie Anna 1SG:grandmother big and stsǫǫ Laura eh k’at’eey natidaagn, 1SG:grandmother Laura and NEG 3SG:SG.walk.around:IPV:NEG and stsąy Titus mǫǫsi’, hǫǫsu’ t’eey and 1SG:grandfather Titus 3SG:name well ADVZR shk’ahnehta’. 3PL>1SG:take.care:IPV ‘My great-grandmother Annie, my great-grandmother Anna, and Grandma Laura who cannot walk, and my grandfather, Titus he was called, they took really good care of me.’ 2. Shiy shyįį’ dhihday shich’iheh’aał. 1SG only 1SG:SG.stay:IPV:NOM 3PL>1SG>INDF:feed:IPV ‘I stayed by myself and they fed me.’

ADDRESSING INDIVIDUALS

543

3. Ishyiit ch’ale’ k’at’eey Avis shǫǫsi’ Ts’exeh Su’ shǫǫsi’. then FOC NEG Avis 1SG:name woman beautiful 1SG:name ‘At that time my name wasn’t Avis, my name was “Beautiful Woman”.’ 4. Shaa hiihuuheek tah “Ts’exeh Su’, aan 1SG:for 3PL:speak:IPV:CUST when woman beautiful come nee’eh nach’įį’aał.” 1PL:with 2SG>INDF:eat:IT:IPV ‘They would talk thus to me, “Beautiful Woman, come eat with us!”’ 29.3. Summary The most common way to address someone in Upper Tanana is to use a kinship term. Kinship terms have to be inflected for possessor, thus most kinship terms used as vocatives are in the first person singular. A few kinship terms—the words corresponding to ‘mom’, ‘dad’, ‘grandma’, ‘grandchild’ (woman speaking), and ‘partner, friend’—may be used without a possessor marker when used as address terms. More rarely, second-person pronouns are used to address individuals. Personal names tend to be used only in exceptional situations.

30 | Managing information structure In this chapter I describe strategies used for managing information structure, that is, the way information is packaged and ordered. The participant marking patterns described in chapter 17 allow the speaker to leave information known to both hearer and speaker unexpressed. In (823) the main character, Nedzeegn, is not once mentioned by noun phrase, even though the entire segment is about him. Similarly, his grandmother is referred to explicitly only in line 1, but pronominally in the two following sentences. (823)

Excerpt: UTOLAF09Jun2202:018–20 (T) 1. Nts’ąą’ utsǫǫ yehnih tah ch’its’ąą shyįį’ how 3SG:grandmother 3SG>3SG:say:IPV when different only t’eey dį’. ADVZR do:IPV ‘Whatever his grandmother told him, [Nedzeegn] did the opposite.’ 2. “Hah’ogn łigaay gąął tah natinłuuk,” NTRL:out:AR puppy snare among 2SG:drag.around:IPV yehnih. 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Take the puppy on a leash around the snareline,” she said to him.’ 3. Łigaay thiin tl’uuł ninįįdlah tl’aan uk’eh puppy neck rope 3SG:put.RO:PFV and 3SG:behind naytedaak łigaay thiich’ehchüh 3SG:SG.walk.around:IPV:CUST puppy 3SG:choke:PFV yetetłuugn eł. 3SG>3SG:drag:INC:IPV:CUST:NOM and ‘She put a rope around the puppy’s neck; [the puppy] was walking around behind him and he choked the puppy, dragging it.’

MANAGING INFORMATION STRUCTURE

545

As a result, Upper Tanana has a relatively low referential density as defined by Bickel (2003); see the texts in appendix B for further examples. The remainder of this chapter is concerned with ways of marking information structure for overt phrases through the use of word order (30.1) and discourse markers (30.2). 30.1. Postverbal phrases As described in chapter 11 most lexical material in Upper Tanana occurs in preverbal position. Two types of phrases, however, occur in postverbal position with some frequency: postpositional phrases and subject noun phrases. From an information structure perspective, postverbal phrases fall into three groups. Most postverbal phrases contain antitopics, defined by Chafe (1976) as accessible information that is not of great importance. These can be distinguished from afterthoughts, which provide clarifying or disambiguating information. Some postverbal phrases contain new and highly surprising information. 30.1.1. Antitopics Antitopics are defined here following Herring (1994, 128) as phrases with referents that are accessible and important and are thus similar to topics.¹ They have an intermediate status from an information flow perspective in that they are known but less salient than topics: they may have to be reactivated after not having been mentioned explicitly for a few utterances, or they may be deactivated as other referents become more prominent. (824) illustrates the reactivating function of postposed material. Lines 1– 4 establish the context, where two elders talk about a large fire in the Upper Tanana area that took place when their parents were children. In line 1 Mrs. Avis Sam introduces the notion of nosebleeds caused by smoky air. In lines 2–4 the speakers talk about the general hardship brought by the fire before Mrs. Cora H. David returns to the nosebleeds in line 5. This time the smoke that caused nosebleeds is reactivated as a postverbal postpositional phrase. (824)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN09Jun2301:129–33 1. AS: Ay tl’aan naxat łät eh ch’a hu’įįtsįį däł. (N) and DEM smoke with FOC 3PL:nose blood ‘AS: And then, with that smoke blood [came from] their noses.’ 2. CD: Ba::::d. (T) ‘CD: Very bad.’

546

BEYOND THE CLAUSE 3. AS: K’at’eey huusuuy t’eey ch’a nee’eh NEG AR:be.good:IPV:NEG ADVZR FOC 1PL:with hetshyaagn, nih. (N) 3PL:happen:PFV:NOM say:IPV ‘AS: It didn’t happen in a good way for us, he said.’ 4. CD: K’at’eey ishyiit dą’ k’at’eey hihitnay hǫǫ’, NEG then at:PST NEG 3PL:know:IPV:NEG thus shnąą t’eey ‹nih›.(T) 1SG:mother ADVZR say:IPV ‘CD: At that time, they didn’t know about [what caused the fire], my mother said.’ 5. CD: Too much nee’įįtsįį dał ha’eeląy, łat too much 1PL:nose blood 3SG:flow.out:PFV:NOM smoke ‹eh› (T). with ‘CD: Too much blood was coming out of our noses, because of the smoke.’

Reactivation is also illustrated in (825). The children are introduced by a full noun phrase in line 1 and remain topical throughout lines 2 and 3, where they are referred to by pronouns. In line 4, where two other constituents are focused, the children are mentioned explicitly again, ensuring that they remain activated. It is unclear why they are also mentioned again in line 5. (825)

Excerpt: UTOLAF12Jul1203:008–12 (N) 1. Ay iin ch’a ts’iikeey iin nił’its’ihetniign 3 PL FOC children PL 3PL>RECP:not.know:IPV nił’ehłaadn nłįį nts’ą̈ ’ t’eey nił’eh RECP:paternal.relatives 3SG:be:IPV ADVZR RECP:with nahdeltth’ih. 3PL:PL.live:IT:IPV ‘And the children do not know who they are paternally related to and they live with each other.’ 2. Hiits’ihetniign eh ch’a hedąy. 3PL:not.know:IPV:NOM and FOC 3PL:do:IPV:NOM ‘They do this because they don’t know.’

MANAGING INFORMATION STRUCTURE

547

3. Hunąą iin, huta’ iin, hutsǫǫ iin, 3PL:mother PL 3PL:father PL 3PL:grandmother PL hutsay iin ay iin hudziit hihǫǫheey de’ 3PL:grandfather PL 3 PL 3PL:hearing 3PL:speak:IPV:NOM if k’a hǫǫ’ hihtaadįįl. NEG thus 3PL:do:FUT:NEG ‘If their mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers and others taught them, they wouldn’t be doing that.’ 4. Neexon’ ch’a neek’eexaagn ch’a kids iin. 1PL FOC 1PL:fault FOC kids PL ‘It is our fault the kids [are doing that].’ 5. K’at’eey hǫǫsǫǫ hidąy ha’ogn ts’iikeey iin hu’. NEG well 3PL:do:IPV:NEG NTRL:out:AR children PL etc. ‘They’re not doing well, the kids out there.’ Antitopics such as those in line 5 of (824) or lines 4 and 5 of (825) typically are not separated by pause from the rest of the utterance. The pitch of the preceding verb is held steady and only lowered on the final postverbal phrase. This is illustrated in figure 30.1 for line 5 of (825). The verb stem is negative and thus high; note that the pitch generally declines from there, except for another raised pitch on the stressed second syllable of ts’iikeey ‘children’. Figure 30.1. Postverbal phrases: antitopics (N), UTOLAF12Jul1203:012.

30.1.2. Afterthoughts In her work on Tamil Herring (1994) distinguishes antitopics from afterthoughts, which she defines as including “additions, corrections, reformulations, and explanations” (125) using not only semantico-pragmatic but

548

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

also prosodic diagnostics. Postverbal afterthoughts also are common in Upper Tanana. (826) is the initial sentence of a text; the postverbal subject noun phrase can thus not be known to the hearer. It is prosodically set apart by a pause and the preceding verb form has falling intonation. (826) Neettheh dą’ ts’änh T’oodįht’ąy (1.1s) ihetnayh, (1.8s) 1PL:before at:PST from God 3PL:know:PFV nee’ełaan iin. (N) 1PL:people PL ‘From long before us they knew about God, our people.’ UTOLAF10Jul0901:001 (827) is an instance where the postposed subject noun phrase clearly has disambiguating function. Either the boy or his mother could serve as subject of the verb form yehnih in line 2, hence the clarifying noun phrase. Figure 30.2, waveform and pitch track of line 2 of (827), illustrates the typical prosody of afterthoughts: the falling intonation on the verb followed by a brief pause and a (noun or postpositional) phrase uttered at low pitch. (827)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN14Nov2301:083–84 (T) 1. Dindeh gaay du’ dinąą xah nii’inshyah. boy CT REFL:mother to 3SG:SG.go:IT:PFV ‘The boy went back to his mother.’ 2. “Nday naadeh?” yehnih unąą. whoah 2SG:older.sister 3SG>3SG:say:IPV 3SG:mother ‘“What about your older sister?” said his mother to him.’ Figure 30.2. Postverbal phrases: afterthoughts (T), UTOLVDN14Nov2301:084.

MANAGING INFORMATION STRUCTURE

549

30.1.3. New information The postverbal position is also used for new, often surprising, or even shocking information. The barking noises that the girls hear in line 1 of (828) emanate from the cut-up dog carcasses introduced by a postverbal noun phrase in line 3. Note the use of pauses leading up to the girls’ discovery, slowing down the narrative and creating suspense. (828)

Excerpt: UTOLAF15May0501:027–29 (N) 1. Tąy ‹uniitthaa:::d› haadäl eh trail AR:be.long:IPV:NOM 3PL:PL.go:IPV:PROG:NOM and ha’adogn łįį huunehttheh. ADJC:NTRL:up:AR dog 3PL>3PL:bark.at:IPV ‘They were going a long way and up there dogs were barking at them.’ 2. Ha’atthuugn doo le’ eeday. ADCJ:NTRL:waterwards:AR someone IGN 3SG:SG.sit:IPV:NOM ‘Someone was sitting there.’ 3. Ishyiit nts’ą̈ ’ (1.3s) nihnįįdeel eh (0.5s) there ADVZR 3PL:PL:arrive:PFV:NOM and ahdogn (1.3s) dahdzäł da’ee’aan k’it (0.8s) NTRL:up:AR meat.rack 3SG:CO.be.up:IPV:NOM on da’eedlah (2.3s) łįį iin t’eey ehk’aay. 3PL:PL.be.up:IPV dog PL ADVZR 3PL:filet:PFV:NOM ‘They went there and up there on a rack standing there were cut-up dogs.’

In (829) the girls rushing back to play ball with what they thought to be their husbands also make a gruesome discovery. It is striking how similar line 3 of (828) is to (829) in the use of word order and pauses in the creation of suspense. Both utterances consist of multiple brief clauses that simultaneously advance the narrative while at the same time slowing it down by adding pauses between each clause. The pitch of the final verb is being held steady rather than lowered; the final postpositional phrase is then uttered more quietly and with lower pitch. This is illustrated in figure 30.3 for (829).

550

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(829) Hunaann’ tsiił k’it daheedeeł nts’ą’ (0.8s) hanteey’ AR:across:ALL bridge on 3PL:PL.go.on:PFV and quickly nahatdał (2.3s) hanteey’ nahatdał 3PL:PL.walk:IT:IPV:PROG quickly 3PL:PL.walk:IT:IPV:PROG nts’ą’ (3.4s) hohneh’ąy eł (0.9s) dineey iin (0.3s) and 3PL:spot:PFV:NOM and men PL hihdelxoo::: (1.6s) dineey tthi’ eł. (T) 3PL:play:IPV:NOM people head with ‘They got to the bridge to walk over to the other side, they’re walking back in a hurry, they’re walking back in a hurry and they spot the men playing with people’s heads.’ UTOLVDN07Oct2602:013 Figure 30.3. Postverbal phrases: new information (T), UTOLVDN07Oct2602:013.

30.2. Discourse markers There are two discourse markers in Upper Tanana primarily involved with regulating information flow: the contrastive topic marker du’ and the focus marker ch’a. 30.2.1. Du’ ‘contrastive topic’ Du’ ‘CT’ is one of the most frequent lexical items in Upper Tanana. Morphemes cognate to Upper Tanana du’ exist in several Dene languages including Ahtna du’ (Kari 1990, 160); Koyukon doo’ (Jetté and Jones 2000, 149); and Dena’ina =hdi (Lovick 2010, 178–182). Leer (1996a, d/67) reconstructs this morpheme for Proto-Dene with the form *duʔə, with the meaning ‘also, and’. 30.2.1.1. Functions and use Du’ frequently expresses contrast (830). The plural subject prefix in line 1 refers to a group consisting of two sisters and an old man, all of whom have been mentioned earlier. Lines 2 and 3 then

MANAGING INFORMATION STRUCTURE

551

contrast the sisters’ behavior. This contrast is marked by du’ after both noun phrases. (830)

Excerpt: UTCBAF13Nov0501:082–84 (N) 1. Hehtiat. 3PL:PL.sleep:IPV ‘They slept.’ 2. Ch’aadeh du’ du’ łą t’eey ti’atnagn eh INDF:older.sister CT CT truly ADVZR 3SG:be.tired:PFV:NOM and just shinelte’. just 3SG:SG.sleep.hard:PFV ‘The older sister was really tired and just slept hard.’ 3. That ch’idia’ du’ hǫǫshyąą. that INDF:younger.sister CT 3SG:be.smart:IPV ‘That younger sister though was smart.’

Du’ is also used to indicate contrast within utterances (831). (831) a. Diihii du’ dunaan’, tl’aan shiy du’ dunaan’. (N) 3PL CT PROX:AR:across:ALL and 1SG CT PROX:AR:across:ALL ‘They [went] across [this] way and I [went] across [that] way.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:050 b. Shin du’ k’a ih’aal, Stella yįį’aał, 1SG CT NEG 1SG:eat:PFV:NEG Stella 3SG>3SG:eat:PFV ntsuul. (T) 3SG:be.small:IPV ‘I didn’t eat it [but] Stella ate it, a little bit.’ UTOLVDN10Jul0701:034 c. Neexon du’ dą’ ch’a ts’eneeshyaan, k’at’eey huk’eh 1PL CT thus FOC 1PL:grow.up:PFV:NOM NEG 3PL:like ts’iniishyeel. (T) 1PL:grow.up:PFV:NEG ‘Us, that’s the way we grew up; we didn’t grow up like them.’ UTOLAF09Jun2901:009 In (832) du’ is used after a directional adverb to contrast locations. The reference point (the speaker’s old family cabin) is established in line 1 of (832).

552

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

Lines 2 and 3 indicate the location of several other houses relative to the reference point. (832) Excerpt: UTCBVDN13Nov0804:005–07 (N) a. Ishyiit tah ‹ahnaat› shnąą iin shta’ there among NTRL:waterwards:PNCT 1SG:mother PL 1SG:father neeshyah hǫǫłįį ishyiit. 1PL:house AR:be:IPV there ‘At that time my mother’s and father’s and our house was across there [at a place on the other side of the river].’ b. Ashyign’ t’eey Frank Sam ushyah hǫǫłįį. NTRL:down:ALL ADVZR Frank Sam 3SG:house AR:be:IPV ‘Down there [in the area below our house] was Frank Sam’s house.’ c. Ahda::’ little bit ahda’ du’ Elijah, NTRL:downriver:ALL little bit NTRL:downriver:ALL CT Elijah stsay Elijah Demit, ushyah hǫǫłįį ishyiit. 1SG:grandfather Elijah Demit 3SG:house AR:be:IPV there ‘A little ways downstream [of our house] though is Grandpa Elijah Demit’s house.’ Within larger discourse units, du’ marks highly accessible information that contrasts with something else (833). The main characters are introduced in lines 1 and 2; for the next few utterances they are referred to pronominally, and reference has to be deduced from context. Since women traditionally were not allowed to hunt or even touch a man’s weapons (pers. comm. Sherry DemitBarnes, May 8, 2014), the quoted speech in line 4 must be uttered by the man. Up to this point the old man has been the topic of the narrative. In line 5 his wife becomes the topic; this is indicated by the use of the full noun phrase ts’exeh as well as by the contrastive topic marker du’. She remains the topic throughout the next utterances, as evidenced by the lack of noun phrases in line 7. (Line 6 is a parenthetical.) In line 8 the old man reverts back to being the topic as indicated by du’. Note that the speaker originally said that ch’itay ‘that old man’ and edited it later during the transcription process to ch’itay du’. (833)

Excerpt: UTCBVDN13Nov1401:001–08 (N) 1. Ch’itay unaagn’ kol. old.man 3SG:eye NEGEX ‘There was a blind old man.’

MANAGING INFORMATION STRUCTURE

553

2. Ts’exeh eh eedah. woman with 3SG:SG.stay:IPV ‘He was staying with a woman.’ 3. Diniign huxah danįįshyay eh. moose 3PL:for 3SG:SG.come.in:PFV:NOM and ‘A moose came in to them.’ 4. “Jah hǫǫsu’ shaa hǫǫsu’ nishnįhteey okday here well 1SG:for well 2SG>1SG:place.AO:IPV 1SG:shoot:OPT xah,” yehnih. PURP 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Set me up well, in a good way, so I can shoot,” [the old man] said to [his wife].’ 5. Ts’exeh, ts’exeh du’ hǫǫsu’ diniign nts’ą̈ ’ niynįhtįį woman woman CT well moose towards 3SG>3SG:place.AO:PFV tl’aan. and ‘The woman set him up well for the moose.’ 6. Ts’ihtąy, ay ch’ah huk’aa’. bow 3SG FOC 3PL:gun:POSS ‘Bow, that was their gun.’ 7. Ay eh, “T’axoh! Ch’įhdayh!” yehnih, and.then finally 2SG>INDF:shoot:IPV 3SG>3SG:say:IPV “Mbunįhdiiyh!” 2SG>3SG:shoot.at:IPV ‘And then “Now! Shoot!” she said to him, “Shoot at it!” 8. Yihdayh ay t’oot’eey idiitth’ek, ch’itay ‹du’›. 3SG>3SG:shoot:PFV and but 3SG:hear:IPV old.man CT ‘He shot and heard it [hit], that old man.’ Thus, while topics are usually referred to by bound pronouns, topic shifts are marked by du’. This can be exploited when framing direct discourse, especially when the speaker is rendering a conversation with frequently switching interlocutors (834).

554 (834)

BEYOND THE CLAUSE Excerpt: UTOLAF08Feb1902:003–04 (N) 1. Yehnih dadelthät nts’ą̈ ’, “Neh 3SG>3SG:say:IPV 3SG:keep.saying:PFV and 2SG:with natushshya’,” yehnih. 1SG:SG.go:INC:IT:OPT 3SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘[Raven] said, he kept telling [Swan Woman], “I want to go back with you,” he said to her.’ 2. Tagoh ts’exeh du’, “Ena’! K’at’eey ‹hanoo’› swan woman CT no NEG NTRL:ahead:ALL utįhtsay!” yehnih, t’oot’eey Taatsąą’ du’ 2SG>AR:make.SG.O:FUT:NEG 3SG>3SG:say:IPV but raven CT “Neh natushshya’!” eh xah niidaydelthät 2SG:with 1SG:SG.go:IT:OPT and for 3SG>3SG:keep.verbally.at:PFV nts’ą̈ ’. and ‘The swan woman told him, “No! You can’t make it down there!”, but Raven, “I want to go back with you!” and he kept at her like this.’

This use of du’ is described in more detail in section 28.1.2. 30.2.1.2. Placement, dislocation, prosody Du’ always follows the topicalized constituent (830–834). Since du’ ‘CT’ always follows the entire phrase, it is a good diagnostic for determining the right edge of noun phrases, indicated by brackets in (835). (835) a. [K’a’ shnänt’aagn eedlay] du’ ch’idänh gun 1SG:behind.back 3PL:classify.PL.O:IPV:NOM CT different k’üü tah dąą’ ‹łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’› tedeek. (N) beside among thus all 3PL:PL.move:INC:PFV ‘And the guns lying behind me all moved over to one side.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:099 b. [Ndąy naxat nłįįgn’ delgay choh] du’? (N) where that 2SG:dog:POSS 3SG:be.white:IPV:NOM big CT ‘Where [is] that big white dog of yours?’ UTOLVDN13May2004:048 Constituents marked by du’ often are dislocated, usually to the left. Most constituents precede the verb; thus it can be hard to tell the difference between

MANAGING INFORMATION STRUCTURE

555

a preverbal constituent in canonical position and a left-dislocated one. (836) provides formal evidence that these constituents are indeed dislocated. As set out in chapter 17, third-person direct and postpositional objects are usually unmarked in the presence of a coreferential free noun phrase within the same clause. This is not the case in (836)—the direct objects in (836a) and the postpositional object in (836b) are marked on the verb form, which suggests that the noun phrases marked by du’ have been left-dislocated. (836) a. Huthüh du’ tahiidehthoh nts’ą’ eek hii’eł 3PL:skin CT 3PL>3PL:tan.skin:IPV and clothes 3PL>3PL:with exąą, hugn. (T) make.PL.O:IPV etc. ‘As for their skins, they tan them and make clothes out of them.’ UTOLVDN07Nov2804:007 b. Ch’itay du’ k’at’eey minaniich’akthädn. (N) old.man CT NEG 1SG>3SG:think.about:IPV:NEG ‘That old man though, I didn’t even think about him.’ UTOLAF09Aug1201:045 Right-dislocated constituents marked by du’ are fairly rare and always strongly contrastive. In (837a) the contrast is expressed overtly; in (837b) the speaker is implying that today’s youth do not know proper behavior. (837) a. Ay tl’aan kitl’aats’etkeek dunaan’ tl’aan and.then 1PL:land:IT:IPV:CUST PROX:AR:across:ALL and.then shǫǫnüü iin dunaan’ ay shiy du’. (N) 1SG:older.brother PL PROX:AR:across:ALL and 1SG CT ‘And then we would land again and my older brothers [would go] this way and I, that way.’ UTOLVDN07Aug2205:051 b. Hugn t’eey ch’a nee’adatni’ neexon du’. (T) etc ADVZR FOC 1PL:teach:PASS:PFV:NOM 1PL CT ‘We were taught stuff like that, us.’ UTOLVDN11Jul2902:012 The prosodic realization of left-dislocated constituents marked by du’ varies. Often there is no pause following du’, such as in figure 30.4, wave form and pitch track of (838a). In other cases it is followed by a pause, as shown in figure 30.5, wave form and pitch track of (838b). When the phrase marked by du’ is right-dislocated, it seems to continue the fall and fade begun across the verb form; it also is not separated by pause from the rest of the utterance (see fig. 30.6, wave form and pitch track of [837b]).

556

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

(838) a. Ch’idia’ gaay du’ ineh’įh. (N) INDF:younger.sister small CT 3SG>3SG:watch:IPV ‘The younger sister though had been watching him.’ UTOLAF15May0501:064 b. Ch’itay du’ dįįtsįį natehdliyh old.man CT 3SG:be.hungry:IPV 3SG:be.cold:IT:INC:PFV ii’eh tah. (N) etc. ‘That old man though, he was hungry and he was beginning to be cold and so on.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:058 Figure 30.4. Du’ ‘CT’ without pause (N), UTOLAF15May0501:064.

Figure 30.5. Du’ ‘CT’ with pause (N), UTCBVDN13Nov1401:058.

30.2.2. Ch’a(le) ‘focus’ The focus marker ch’a(le) is another high-frequency item. The origin of ch’a is not entirely clear. It is likely cognate to Ahtna c’a ‘too, also else’ (Kari 1990, 123) as well as to Dena’ina k’i ‘too’ (Lovick 2010, 175), but appears to function differently from those discourse markers.

MANAGING INFORMATION STRUCTURE

557

Figure 30.6. Du’ ‘CT’ marking right-dislocated constituent (T), UTOLVDN11Jul2902:012.

The longer form ch’ale occurs predominantly in the Tetlin dialect but is attested in all other dialects as well. Origin and semantic contribution of this -le are unclear.² There appears to be no difference in meaning between ch’a and ch’ale. 30.2.2.1. Functions and use Ch’a(le) is a focus marker. My use of the term focus follows Krifka (2008, 247), who defines it as “indicat[ing] the presence of alternatives that are relevant for the interpretation of linguistic expressions”; I do not use this term to refer to discourse-new information. The focus marker is used to signal that the marked constituent is one option among several. In (839) two sisters are arguing at a crossroads about the correct trail. (839)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN14Nov2301:163–66 (T) 1. Jahxan itthiitsal uuniik tl’aan dahtthan’ suddenly 3SG>3SG:hair grab:PFV and.then PROX:waterwards:ALL didia’ tehtl’ah. REFL:younger.sister 3SG:push:INC:PFV ‘Suddenly she grabbed [her younger sister’s] hair and pushed her younger sister [onto the trail] towards the water.’ 2. “Hutthan’ du’ tsaadal!” AR:waterwards:ALL CT 1PL:PL.go:FUT:NOM ‘“We have to go waterwards!” [the older sister said.]’ 3. “Ena’! Deg’!” no up:ALL ‘“No! Upwards!” [the younger sister said.]’

558

BEYOND THE CLAUSE 4. “Deg’ ch’ale tsaadal!” up:ALL FOC 1PL:PL.go:FUT:NOM ‘We have to go up there!” [the younger sister said.]’

The choice is not always overt, in that not all alternatives are expressed. The first and second tokens of ch’a in (840) point to an implicit choice between the group including the speaker, who should have advised the younger generations, and other people, who did not have this task. The third and fourth tokens of ch’a indicate a choice between individuals that count as relatives in the Upper Tanana kinship systems, and (unmentioned) individuals who do not (see sec. 4.1.1 for information on the kinship system). ts’įįłiin hutsǫǫ (840) Neexon ch’a, hunąą FOC 3PL:mother 1PL:be:IPV:NOM 3PL:grandmother 1PL ts’įįłiin nts’ą̈ ’ neexon ch’a hudziit 1PL:be:IPV:NOM ADVZR 1PL FOC 3PL:hearing hutsaaheel tl’aan “Hǫǫ’ ch’a FOC 1PL>3PL:speak:FUT:NOM and.then thus nuh’uudelkan iin ay iin ay iin ch’a,” 3PL>3PL:be.related.to:IPV:NOM PL 3 PL 3 PL FOC hudzaanił. (N) 1PL>3PL:say:FUT ‘Us, who are their mothers and grandmothers, it was us who should have advised them “This way you PL are maternally related, these ones [and] these ones,” we should have told them.’ UTOLAF12Jul1203:007 This indication of the presence of alternatives is likely also the cause for the frequent use of ch’a(le) in content questions (see sec. 14.1.2). Note that while ch’a is sometimes used in situations where the number of answers is constrained, this is not always the case. In (841a) there are not too many possible answers—the narrator’s son has just spotted his mother using a gun by the side of the highway and there are a limited number of animals that she could possibly be trying to kill—but in (841b) the speaker has no idea what the addressee is dragging behind him. (841) a. Ay du’: “Dii? Dii? Dii ch’a dįh’ąy?” (N) 3SG CT what what what FOC 2SG:mess.with:IPV:NOM ‘He: “What? What? What is it you’re messing with?” ’ UTOLAF09Aug1201:031

MANAGING INFORMATION STRUCTURE b. Dii ch’a įįłuu? what FOC 2SG:pull:IPV:PROG:NOM ‘What is it you’re pulling?’

559

UTOLVDN13May2801:180

Ch’a(le) is also used in answers (842). It signals an implicit contrast between the speaker, who eats bear, and most other Upper Tanana people, who will not touch it. (842)

Excerpt: UTOLAF09Aug1201:042–43 (N) 1. “Shoh aldeeł dii xah ch’a dįh’ąy?” bear 2PL:eat.PL.O:IPV why FOC 2SG:do:IPV:NOM shehnih. 3SG>1SG:say:IPV ‘“Do you PL eat bear, is that why you SG are doing this?” he said to me.’ 2. “Ąą, shiy ch’ale agndeel,” udihnih. yes 1SG FOC 1SG:eat.PL.O:IPV:NOM 1SG>3SG:say:IPV ‘“Yes, as for me, I eat them,” I said to him.’

Ch’a(le) is also used in presentational clauses (843); see section 12.1.1 for more information. (843) Jin ch’ale diniign diniign choh. (N) DEM FOC moose moose big ‘This [skin] is a moose, a big moose.’

UTOLVDN07Aug2001:019

30.2.2.2. Nominalization, position, prosody Ch’a(le) triggers nominalization of the clause in which it occurs. This link between focus and nominalization is well-attested in the world’s languages; see Schachter (1973) for an early study or Evans (2007) for a more recent one. (844) a. Ay, “Dii xah ch’a dįįdąy?” hiiyehnih. (N) and why FOC 2SG:do:IPV:NOM 3PL>3SG:say:IPV ‘And “Why are you doing this?” they said to him.’ UTCBVDN13Nov1401:025 b. Hugn ch’a nuhts’iikeey atdahniil. (T) things FOC 2PL:children 2PL:teach.to:FUT:NOM ‘Things like that, you have to teach [them] to your children.’ UTOLAF07Nov2602:018

560

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

There are a handful of instances where the focus marker occurs without nominalization, such as (845) (the nominalized form is dhahdlay). Speakers do not notice or correct such forms, and there seems to be no difference in meaning. (845) “Hugn ch’a eeł dhahdlah,” nih. (T) there FOC trap 2PL:keep:2PL:IPV say:IPV ‘“Keep PL traps there,” he said.’ UTCBAF13Nov0401:064 Phrases marked with ch’a have a tendency to occur early in the clause, but this is not required (846). (846) a. Jah nts’aa’ dihnay; ay uxah ts’ehuushya’ xah here how 1SG:say:IV:NOM 3SG 3SG:for 1PL:be.smart:OPT PURP ch’ale neehenay. (T) FOC 3PL>1PL:say:IPV:NOM ‘This is what I’ve said; they tell us [these things] so we become smart for it.’ UTOLAF07Oct2512:027 b. Just, k’at’eey, k’at’eey hǫǫsu’ hihdeltth’ii iin k’at’eey just NEG NEG well 3PL:PL:live:IPV:NEG:NOM PL NEG ch’a, ch’ale hǫǫ huhenay. (N) FOC FOC thus 3PL>3PL:say:IPV:NOM ‘It is just, they do not live right, that’s what he told them.’ UTOLVDN09Jun2302:036–037 Prosodically, phrases marked by ch’a are unremarkable. They are not usually set off by surrounding pauses and are generally prosodically integrated into the utterance. The position of the ch’a-marked phrase in the utterance does not seem to affect this, as illustrated in figure 30.7 (wave and pitch track of [8422]) and figure 30.8 (wave form and pitch track of [846a]; note that the first word of this utterance is not shown in the image, as it is separated from the rest of the utterance by a lengthy pause). Figure 30.7. Prosody of ch’a-marked phrases (N), UTOLAF09Aug1201:043.

MANAGING INFORMATION STRUCTURE

561

Figure 30.8. Prosody of ch’a-marked phrases (T), UTOLAF07Oct2512:027.

30.3. Summary Several strategies are used to manage information structure. The postverbal position in Upper Tanana is commonly used for antitopics, afterthoughts, and new and highly surprising, even shocking, information. Two discourse markers also regulate information flow. The contrastive topic marker du’, which often triggers left- (more rarely right-) dislocation, primarily is used in topicshift situations. The focus marker ch’a, which triggers nominalization, indicates the presence of alternatives. Notes 1. Herring (1994) discusses only noun phrases; in Upper Tanana, postpositional phrases with this function are also attested. 2. While it is formally similar to the dubitative marker discussed in sec. 9.3, this does not lead to a semantically plausible explanation.

31 | Insubordination The term “insubordination” was coined by Evans (2007, 367) to describe “the conventionalized main clause use of what, on prima facie grounds, appear to be formally subordinate clauses.” As shown elsewhere in this grammar, insubordination is well attested in Upper Tanana content questions (see sec. 14.1.2), certain types of requests (see sec. 15.1.1.1), and the focus construction (see sec. 30.2.2.2). But, as originally noted by Leer (1996b, 202), in Tanacross and Upper Tanana “the heavy form [i.e., the nominalized form of a stem, OL] seems to be creeping into use in independent clauses in a way that is not yet well researched nor well understood, but which shows signs of being analogous—at least by origin—to the use of cleft clauses in English as a focus device.” Leer describes a type of insubordination that operates not within sentences (as originally conceived by Evans [2007]) but rather within larger stretches of text. This type of discourse-level insubordination was originally observed by Mithun (2008) for Navajo and Central Alaskan Yup’ik, but has been shown to exist also in Tlingit (Cable 2011) and Deg Xinag (Hargus 2012). It is also very common in Upper Tanana, with the two major functions identified by Cable (2011, 170–71) for Tlingit: backgrounding and quasi-clause chaining.¹ Similar to Hargus’s (2012) observations about Deg Xinag, insubordinate clauses in Upper Tanana have prosodic contours typical of independent clauses. 31.1. Formal characteristics Insubordination in Upper Tanana is characterized by nominalization of the verb form and often (but not necessarily) the subordinator eh/eł, which is related to the postposition P+eh/eł ‘with P’. The result is formally indistinguishable from the absolutive adverbial clauses described in section 26.11. The difference lies in the intonation: insubordinate clauses have prosodic contours typical of independent utterances, such as final fall, fading, and lengthy following pauses; see section 11.3 and Lovick and Tuttle (2011) for more

INSUBORDINATION

563

information. The excerpt in (847) contains two insubordinate clauses, in lines 2 and 3. The context shows that they are not subordinate to other material. The top panel of figure 31.1 shows the wave forms and pitch tracks of line 1 of (847), an independent utterance consisting of two main clauses. The bottom panel shows the insubordinate clause in line 2 of the same excerpt. The intonational contours of these two utterances are similar: pitches and intensity are high toward the beginning and then drop gently across the utterance. The two utterances in figure 31.1 are separated by a pause of 0.7s; the second utterance is followed by a longer pause of 3.1s before line 3. (This longer pause is not shown in its entirety in figure 31.1.) (847)

Excerpt: UTOLAF08Apr2805:039–42 (T) 1. Ch’ithüh tl’uul’ itl’adn ninįįdlah tl’aan nah’an INDF:skin rope:POSS 3SG>3SG:waist put.RO:PFV and MED:out:ALL tiynįhtįį. 3SG>3SG:put.AO.out:PFV ‘He put a skin rope around her waist and let her outside.’ 2. Negn’ ts’ał shyiit įįshyaay eł. upland:ALL brush into 3SG:SG.go:PFV:NOM and ‘She went upland into the brush.’ 3. Ch’aachin’ dą’ ishyiit dą’ ch’aachin’ iin tree.stump at:PST there at:PST tree.stump PL huhonday. 3PL:be.alive:IPV:NOM ‘Tree Stump, at that time, the tree stumps were alive.’ 4. Ch’aachin’, “Dąą’ tl’uuł nǫǫłeek de’,” Ch’aachin’ tree.stump thus rope 2SG:handle.RO:OPT:CUST UR tree.stump ehnih. 3SG:say:IPV ‘[To] the Tree Stump, “Make sure you keep moving this rope here,” she said to the Tree Stump.’

The same thing can be observed in (848) and figure 31.2. The top panel of figure 31.2 shows the wave form and pitch track of line 1 of (848), the bottom panel shows those of lines 2 and 3. Line 2 is not subordinate to the previous utterance, as evidenced by the coordinating conjunctions and ay tl’aan ‘and

564

BEYOND THE CLAUSE Figure 31.1. Prosody of insubordinate main clauses (T), UTOLAF08Apr2805:039–040.

and then’ in initial position as well as by the lengthy pause of 2.5s separating these utterances. (Most of this pause is not visible in figure 31.2.) The strong fall toward the end of this unit (likely exacerbated by the fact that the last three syllables in line 2 are low-toned) as well as the following pause of 0.6s and the return to a much higher pitch at the beginning of line 3 clearly show that line 2 functions as an independent clause. (848)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN07Aug2205:002–04 (N) 1. Yahna’ne’, “Ch’ixia’ kah natsitdek,” DSTL:MED:upriver:ALL INDF:egg for 1PL:PL.walk.around:IPV:CUST neehinih. 3PL>1PL:say:IPV ‘Way over there, “Let’s go for eggs,” they told us.’ 2. And ay tl’aan hu’eh tseedeel eh. and and.then 3PL:with 1PL:PL.go:INC:PFV:NOM and ‘And then we went with them.’

INSUBORDINATION

565

3. Mänh maagn natsetdek. lake shore 1PL:PL.walk.around:IPV:CUST ‘We walked around the lakeshore.’ Figure 31.2. Prosody of insubordinate main clauses (N), UTOLVDN07Aug2205:002–004.

31.2. Functions Insubordination is a feature of the focus construction (see sec. 30.2.2 for information on the focus marker). Similar to what has been observed by Mithun (2008) for Navajo and Central Alaskan Yup’ik or by Cable (2011) for Tlingit, other common functions at the discourse level are backgrounding and quasi-clause chaining. 31.2.1. Focus construction Insubordination is obligatory in the focus construction. Typologically, this is well attested. Schachter (1973) already observes that focus marking is often accompanied by relativization (one form of insubordination); similarly Evans (2007, 413–16) finds that contrastive focus constructions are a common context for insubordination. In Upper Tanana the focus construction is by far the most common case of insubordination; it is attested in all dialects and in

566

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

the speech of all speakers. (849) illustrates this use in the Tetlin dialect. The insubordinate form here is the second verb form in line 2; the clause headed by this verb is not dependent on any of the surrounding material. Instead it serves to contrast the two sisters, who neglect their chores, with their older brother, who takes care of his parents. (849)

Excerpt: UTCBAF13Nov0501:037–39 (T) 1. K’ahjil t’eey hiiyuuniik t’oot’eey huch’a’ t’eey almost ADVZR 3PL>3SG:grab:PFV but 3PL:from ADVZR nantnett’ah. 3SG:SG.fly:PFV:ERR ‘[The three children] almost caught one [butterfly] but it fluttered away from them.’ 2. Hǫǫ’t’eey nahiitnetdak nts’ą’ still 3PL>3SG:PL.follow.around:IPV:CUST and ch’aadeh eł ch’idia’ ch’a hedąy. INDF:older.sister and INDF:younger.sister FOC 3PL:do:IPV:NOM ‘They were still following it around; that was the older sister and the younger sister doing it.’ 3. Ch’oondaa du’ chih dita’ eł dinąą eł INDF:older.brother CT also REFL:father and REFL:mother and xah tsät ‹niidet-łuugn› tl’aan tuu ukah for wood 3SG:drag.there:IT:IPV:CUST:NOM and water 3SG:for xah eh k’a hu’eh delxoo. for and NEG 3PL:with 3SG:play:IPV:NEG ‘The older brother though, he was hauling wood and [going for] water for his parents; he wasn’t playing with them.’

(850) illustrates insubordination in the focus construction for the Northway dialect. This excerpt contains two focused clauses, lines 2 and 3. Neither of them is subordinate to surrounding material; rather, the insubordinate clause in line 3 serves as main clause to the adverbial clause ts’įįtsuul dą’ tsänh ‘from when we were small’.

INSUBORDINATION (850)

567

Excerpt: UTOLAF10Jul0901:012–14 (N) 1. Nduu natatdegn ay łuugn wherever 2PL:PL.go.around:IPV:CUST:NOM and fish ahk’aay eh ay jign nahtsayh t’at’eey 2PL:filet:IPV:NOM and and berries 2PL:pick:IPV and huugn t’at’eey łąą’ t’eey mbaa tsin’įį ahłįį. etc. and truly ADVZR 3SG:for grateful 2PL:be:IPV ‘Wherever you PL go, when you are cutting fish and picking berries also truly, be thankful for it.’ 2. Hǫǫ’ ch’a needatni’. thus FOC 1PL:tell:PASS:PFV:NOM ‘That’s the way were were told.’ 3. Ay k’eh ch’a naniints’ithädn ts’įįtsuul dą’ 3SG like FOC 1PL:think:IPV:NOM 1PL:be.small:IPV when:PST ts’änh. from ‘That’s how we think from when we were small.’ 4. Shta’ always, excuse me. Shta’ hǫǫ’ shehnih, 1SG:father always excuse me 1SG:father thus 3SG>1SG:say:IPV nee’ehnih. 3SG>1PL:say:IPV ‘My dad always told me [this], told us [that].’

This construction is quite common in Upper Tanana discourse. The text (850) is taken from comprises 42 utterances; six of these contain a focus construction. (849) comes from a text comprising 374 utterances with 22 focus constructions. 31.2.2. Backgrounding Backgrounding is another common discourse-level function of insubordination in Upper Tanana. It can be observed in the opening section of a memoir by Mrs. Avis Sam (Northway). Of the eight non-embedded² verbs in (851), four are insubordinate and four are formally independent. The formally independent clauses establish the location (line 1) and the topic of the narrative (line 2), start the action in (line 4), and describe the event that initiates the first episode of the story (line 8). The insubordinate clauses, on the other hand, provide background action (lines 3, 6, and 7) or commentary (line 5).

568 (851)

BEYOND THE CLAUSE Excerpt: UTOLVDN07Aug2205:001–08 (N) 1. K’ehtth’iign niign łuugn kah nits’inįįnaa shnąą iin lake.outlet creek fish for 1PL:move.to:PFV 1SG:mother PL shaak’ay iin eh. 1SG:maternal.aunt PL and ‘We moved to K’ehtth’iign Niign for fish with my mom and my aunties.’ 2. Yahna’ne’, “Ch’ixia’ kah natsitdek,” DSTL:MED:upriver:ALL INDF:egg for 1PL:PL.walk.around:IPV:CUST neehinih. 3PL>1PL:say:IPV ‘Way over there, “Let’s go for eggs,” they told us.’ 3. And ay tl’aan hu’eh tseedeel eh. and and.then 3PL:with 1PL:PL.go:INC:PFV:NOM and ‘And then we went with them.’ 4. Mänh maagn natsetdek. lake shore 1PL:PL.walk.around:IPV:CUST ‘We walked around the lakeshore.’ 5. Tl’oh tah ts’änh jah ch’ixia’ ts’uudiidlay, dits’än grass among from here INDF:egg 1PL:find.PL.O:PFV:NOM duck xia’. egg ‘There among the grass we found eggs, ducks’ eggs.’ 6. Ay tl’aan jah “Ch’idänh, ch’idänh mänh dehtaan and.then here different different lake 3SG:be.lake:IPV:NOM nts’ą̈ ’ ts’udäł,” henay eh. to 1PL:PL.go:OPT 3PL:say:IPV:NOM and ‘And then here, “Different, let’s go to the place where a different lake lies,” they said.’ 7. Hunaan’ hu’eh tseedeel eh. AR:across:ALL 3PL:with 1PL:PL.go:INC:PFV:NOM and ‘We went that way with them.’

INSUBORDINATION

569

8. Hahdogn ts’oo shyiit ts’änh ts’aht’udn hanįįt’ak. NTRL:up:AR spruce in from bird 3SG:SG.fly.out:PFV ‘And up there a bird flew out from among the spruce.’ (852) illustrates insubordination as a backgrounding device in a story in the Tetlin dialect. The clauses in line 1 indicate that the girls take the wrong way, which is new and important information. When it is, however, repeated in line 2, it is less important, as is apparently their arrival (last clause in line 2 and also line 4). The fact that the old man is the Devil is, however, a crucial pivot in the story, hence the clause in line 3 is not insubordinate. The relative clause in line 6 is possibly an instance of clause-chaining with line 5; see section 31.2.3. (852)

Excerpt: UTOLAF08Apr2805:014–20 (T) 1. Negn’ tah teedeeł k’a tąy ts’eeg k’it upland:ALL among 3PL:PL.go:INC:PFV NEG trail narrow on hiidal. 3PL:PL.go:IPV:PROG:NEG ‘They went upland, they did not go on the narrow trail.’ 2. Ndegn’ hteedeel eł t’eey ch’itay ch’itay upland:ALL 3PL:PL.go:INC:PFV:NOM and ADVZR old.man old.man diishyįį’ eeday xah hinįįdeel. alone 3SG:SG.stay:IPV:NOM to 3PL:PL.arrive:PFV:NOM ‘They went upland and came to an old man staying by himself.’ 3. Ts’ant’ay łan, ‹hinih›. devil truly 3PL:say:IPV ‘Devil truly, they say.’ 4. Ishyiit dą’ hihnįįdeel eł. there at 3PL:PL.arrive:PFV:NOM and ‘They arrived there.’ 5. Tihatna::k. 3PL:be.tired:PFV ‘They were tired.’ 6. Hihdįįtsiin eł. 3PL:be.hungry:PFV:NOM and ‘And they were hungry.’

570

BEYOND THE CLAUSE 7. “Nuhxah tuuthał oktsay,” hu’ehnih. 2PL:for soup 1SG:make.SG.O:OPT 3SG>3PL:say:IPV ‘“I will make soup for you,” he said to them.’

Because of its backgrounding function, insubordination is particularly common in the initial paragraph(s) of a narrative. The examples above are taken from texts with an unusually high density of this phenomenon; usually there are only a few instances per text. 31.2.3. Clause chaining The third and much less common discourse-level function of insubordination in Upper Tanana is clause chaining. The passage in (853) describes how a blind man waits for his wife to return, not knowing that she has left him to die. At first the verb forms are formally independent (lines 1–3).³ But, as the waiting continues, insubordinate clauses are used (lines 4, 5). Only when the old man takes action (line 6) do formally independent clauses occur again. (853)

Excerpt: UTOLVDN13May2907:058–63 (T) 1. U’aat t’axoh ts’ehłagn neehaał mbookol. 3SG:wife finally one 3SG:spend.night:PFV 3SG:NEGEX ‘His wife was gone for one night.’ 2. Łaakaay shineehaał mbookol hǫǫ’t’eey. two 3SG:spend.night:PFV 3SG:NEGEX still ‘She was gone for a second night.’ 3. Ch’itay tuu ehdanh uda’ neegąyh. old.man water without 3SG:mouth 3SG:get.dry:PFV ‘The old man was getting dehydrated without water.’ 4. Łaakay neehaal eh. two 3SG:spend.night:PFV:NOM and ‘Two nights passed.’ 5. T’axoh taag neehaal eh. finally three 3SG:spend.night:PFV:NOM and ‘And finally three nights passed.’ 6. Ni’eeshyah. 3SG:SG.get.up:PFV ‘He got up.’

INSUBORDINATION

571

Examples of insubordination as a clause-chaining device in the Northway dialect are much harder to find. A few instances are in (854) (line 3 and the second verb in line 4). These clauses are not dependent on any other clause; they also do not contain background information but are instrumental in moving the action along. (Line 5 is not an insubordinate clause, but rather an absolutive adverbial clause that is prosodically if not syntactically independent of line 4.) (854)

UTOLAF15May0501:002–008 (N) 1. And hu’ǫǫnüü hǫǫłįį or huchil? and 3PL:older.brother AR:be:IPV or 3PL:younger.brother ‘And did they have an older brother or a younger brother?’ 2. Hu’ǫǫnüü? 3PL:older.brother ‘An older brother?’ 3. Hunąą eh huta’ eh 3PL:mother and 3PL:father and eh. nahtetneegn 3PL:move.around.nomadically:IPV:CUST:NOM and ‘They would move camp with their mom and dad.’ 4. Nihnįįnaa tl’aan mbaadeh eh 3PL:arrive.at.camp:PFV and 3SG:older.sister and didia’ eh ah’ogn naalil REFL:younger.sister and NTRL:out:AR butterfly natnetdegn. 3PL:follow.around:INC:IPV:CUST:NOM ‘They moved there and the older sister and her younger sister started to follow a butterfly out there.’ 5. Naalil huxah nsoon eh. butterfly 3PL:for 3SG:be.pretty:IPV:NOM and ‘Because they liked the butterfly so much.’ 6. Hiitehchuudn hii’idetniih. 3PL>3SG:grab:INC:PFV:NOM 3PL>3SG:fail:PFV ‘They tried to grab it but failed.’

572

BEYOND THE CLAUSE

Two additional comments about this function are in order. In (853) it would be possible to treat at least some of the insubordinate clauses as instances of backgrounding rather than as clause-chaining; perhaps these functions are not entirely separate. Second, the clause-chaining function of insubordination is much less frequent in Upper Tanana narrative discourse than the focus construction or backgrounding: it occurs with some regularity in the speech of the Tetlin speaker who produced (853), but I needed to search through twelve texts in the Northway dialect to find an example such as (854). 31.3. Summary Insubordination in Upper Tanana is characterized by nominalized clauses that are not formally dependent on any other clause; prosodically, they have the characteristics of independent clauses. At the discourse level, insubordination has three functions. Most common is its use in the focus construction, which is pervasive in Upper Tanana discourse. Somewhat more rarely, insubordination is used as a backgrounding device. In a few instances, it can be used for clause chaining. All of these functions are well attested, both typologically and within the Dene language family. Notes 1. Cable (2011, 172) identifies two additional functions: rhetorical questions and exclamations. As discussed in chap. 14, insubordination is very common in content questions in Upper Tanana, not merely in rhetorical ones. In exclamations, interestingly, insubordination does not seem to be attested in Upper Tanana. 2. Lines 2 and 6 of (851) both contain direct discourse complements; the verbs in those are not included in this count. 3. The semantic contrast between neehaał in lines 1, 4, and 5 and shineehaał in line 2 is not entirely clear to me. It looks like shineehaał contains the prefix string shi#n+L ‘ceaselessly, uncontrollably’, but minus the change in voice/valence marker.

Appendixes

A | Portmanteau morphemes in the conjunct zone The portmanteau morphemes of conjugation/mode prefixes with the different qualifiers are presented here. Not all qualifiers occur with all conjugation/mode complexes. The inceptive prefix, for example, occurs productively only with the Ø- imperfective, the aa- imperfective, the dh- perfective, and the optative, but not with the other conjugation/mode complexes. Consequently, information for the other conjugation/mode complexes is spotty. The conative prefix is relatively rare, and the ì- qualifier is even rarer. Also rare are combinations of two or more qualifiers. As a consequence, the tables here illustrate only those qualifierconjugation-mode combinations that occur with sufficient frequency to allow most cells to be filled with attested forms. Forms that are predicted based on the rules outlined in volume 1, but that are not attested in the data, are printed in grey. There are some instances of variation that affect several paradigms. In order to conserve space, these are not included in the tables; instead they are briefly summarized here: 1. The vowel quality of the epenthetic vowel /e/ is variable. In the tables all instances of may be realized as /i/ and could be written as . (The opposite is not true; what is written as is usually realized as /i/.) 2. The portmanteau of the first-person singular subject prefix is generally agn- in most dialects but often is ag- in the Tetlin dialect. 3. Nasalized rounded vowels vary between [õ(ː)] and [ũ(ː)] (see vol. 1, chap. 6). The variation is not entirely understood; sometimes both the close and close-mid variants are acceptable, but sometimes

PORTMANTEAU MORPHEMES IN THE CONJUNCT ZONE

575

only one of these is. In the tables one attested variant is provided; it is possible the other variant would be permitted as well. 4. Before the L- voice/valence marker, nasal vowels are often denasalized, particularly in the Tetlin dialect. 5. The u-qualifier has variable vowel length. 6. The third-person plural subject prefix h- is often not used when subject number is marked elsewhere in the clause. 7. Before the n-, d- and t-qualifiers, the third-person plural subject prefix is variably hih- or h-. Hih- is more common in word-initial position, hin medial position. A.1. Imperfective A.1.1. The Ø- imperfective The Ø- imperfective occurs in operative and conversive verb themes as well as in successive verb themes in their primary derivation. It also occurs in all imperfective customary forms (of active and neuter verb themes alike). It occurs freely with the n-, d-, and hu- qualifiers. It occurs with the u- and dhqualifiers only in a few verb themes; consequently, prefix complexes are not known for all voice/valence markers. With the t- qualifier, the Ø- imperfective is limited to the inceptive derivation of motion verbs, most of which have Ø- and D- voice/valence markers. Combinations of hu-/u- with d-/n- occur relatively frequently, so they are included here. 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øihįįets’eahhe-

Dishinetts’etathet-

Hakįhehts’ehahheh-

Lagnįlelts’elalhel-

Paradigm A.1. Ø- imperfective without qualifiers

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ønihnįįnets’enenahhne-

Dnishninnetts’enetnathnet-

Hnaknįhnehts’enehnahhneh-

Lnagnnįlnelts’enelnalhnel-

Paradigm A.2. Ø- imperfective with n- qualifier

576

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

APPENDIX A Ødihdįįdedzedahhde-

Ddishdindetdzetdathdet-

Hdakdįhdehdzehdahhdeh-

Ldagndįldeldzeldalhdel-

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Paradigm A.3. Ø- imperfective with d- qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øhuhhǫǫhots’ihuhu’ahhihu-

D– – – – – –

H– – – – – huheh-

Lhognhǫlholts’iholhalhihol-

Paradigm A.5. Ø- imperfective with hu- qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øuhu’įįuuts’uuu’ahhuu-

D– – – – – –

Huu’aku’įhuhts’uhu’ahhuh-

L– – – – – –

Paradigm A.7. Ø- imperfective with u- qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ø– – – – – –

D– – – – – –

Hdhakdhįhdhehts’edhehdhahhedheh-

Ldhagndhįldhelts’edheldhalhedhel-

Paradigm A.9. Ø- imperfective with dh- qualifier

Øtihtįįtetsetahhte-

Dtishtintettsettathtet-

Htaktįhtehtsehtahhteh-

Ltagntįlteltseltalhtel-

Paradigm A.4. Ø- imperfective with t- qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øhuhhǫǫhǫǫts’ehǫǫhahhihǫǫ-

D– – – – – –

Hhunakhunįhhunehts’unehhunahhihuneh-

Lhunagnhunįlhunelts’unelhunalhihunel-

Paradigm A.6. Ø- imperfective with hu- and n- qualifiers

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ø– – – – – –

D– – – – – –

Hudakudįhudehts’udehudahhudeh-

L– – – – – –

Paradigm A.8. Ø- imperfective with u- and d- qualifiers

PORTMANTEAU MORPHEMES IN THE CONJUNCT ZONE

577

A.1.2. The aa- imperfective The aa- imperfective occurs in two kinds of forms: progressive (limited to motion verbs) and future (in all verbs). A.1.2.1. Progressive Somewhat complete tables for the progressive can be provided only for the n- and d- qualifiers; it cooccurs only rarely with the i-, u- or hu- qualifiers. 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øihįįaats’aaahhaa-

Dishinatts’atathat-

Hakįhahts’ahahhah-

Lagnįlalts’alalhal-

Paradigm A.10. Progressive forms without qualifiers

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ødihdįįdaadzaadahhdaa-

Ddishdindatdzatdathdat-

Hdakdįhdahdzahdahhdah-

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ønihnįįnaats’enaanahhnaa-

Dnishninnatts’enatnathnat-

Hnaknįhnahts’enahnahhnah-

Lnagnnįlnalts’enalnalhnal-

Paradigm A.11. Progressive forms with n- qualifier

Ldagndįldaldzaldalhdal-

Paradigm A.12. Progressive forms with d- qualifier

A.1.2.2. Future All verb themes may occur in the future. Complete sets can be shown for the n-, d-, dh-, u- and hu-qualifiers, but not for the ì-qualifier, nor for combinations of qualifiers. Forms with the u- and hu- differ only in the presence or absence of h-, so they are shown in the same table.

578

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

APPENDIX A Øtihtįįtaatsaatahhtaa-

Dtishtintattsattathtat-

Htaktįhtahtsahtahhtah-

Ltagntįltaltsaltalhtal-

Paradigm A.13. Future forms without qualifiers

Ø(t)nih(t)nįį(t)naatsenaa- or ts’itnaa2PL (t)nah3PL h(t)na-

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL

Paradigm A.15. Future forms with dqualifier Ø(h)utih(h)utįį(h)utaats’utaa(h)utah(h)uhtaa-

D(h)utish(h)utin(h)utatts’utat(h)utat(h)uhtat-

H(h)utak(h)utįh(h)utahts’utahutah(h)uhtah-

H(t)nak(t)nįh(t)nahts’itnah-

L(t)nagn(t)nįl(t)naltsenal-

(t)nat- (t)nah- (t)nalh(t)nat- h(t)nah- h(t)nal-

Paradigm A.14. Future forms with n- qualifier

ØDHL1SG (t)dih- (t)dish- (t)dak- (t)dagn2SG (t)dįį- (t)din- (t)dįh- (t)dįl3SG (t)daa- (t)dat- (t)dah- (t)dal1PL dzaa- dzat- dzah- dzal2PL (t)dah- (t)dat- (t)dah- (t)dal3PL h(t)daa- h(t)dat- h(t)dah- h(t)dal-

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

D(t)nish(t)nin(t)nattsenat-

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ø– – – – – –

D– tedhak– tedhįh– tedhah– tsedhah– tedhah– htedhah-

HLtedhagntedhįltedhaltsedhaltedhalhtedhal-

Paradigm A.16. Future forms with nqualifier

L(h)utagn(h)utįl(h)utalts’utal(h)utal(h)uhtal-

Paradigm A.17. Future forms with hu- or uqualifier

A.1.3. The n- imperfective The n-imperfective is limited to the primary derivation of motion verbs as well as to certain aspectual derivations of motion verbs. It occurs primarily in second-person forms—imperatives. It is attested with n- and d-qualifiers. The n-qualifier is always absorbed into the conjugation marker.

PORTMANTEAU MORPHEMES IN THE CONJUNCT ZONE

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ø– nįį– – nah–

D– nin– – nat–

H– nįh– – nah–

L– nįl– – nal–

Paradigm A.18. N - imperfective with or without n- qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ø– (d)nįį– – (d)nah–

D– (d)nin– – (d)nat–

579

H– (d)nįh– – (d)nah–

L– (d)nįl– – (d)nal–

Paradigm A.19. N - imperfective with d- qualifier

A.2. Perfective A.2.1. The Ø- perfective The Ø- perfective occurs in many descriptive and dimensional verb themes. There are no instances of the Ø- perfective with a D- voice/valence marker. Descriptive and dimensional verb themes that, based on comparative data, would be expected to take the Ø- perfective instead take the aa- or i- perfective. Data is complete for the d-qualifier and somewhat complete for the n-qualifier; all other qualifiers are relatively rare, so no tables can be provided. There is one verb theme (O+d+i+Ø+tth’ek/tth’ak) that requires both d- and ì-qualifiers; these forms are non-tonal in the Tetlin dialect. 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øihįįnts’įįahhįį-

D– – – – – –

Hakįhįhts’įhahhįh-

Lagnįlelts’elalhel-

Paradigm A.20. Ø- perfective without qualifiers

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ønihnįįnįįts’inįįnahhnįį-

D– – – – – –

H– – – – – –

Lnagnnįlnelts’enelnalhnel-

Paradigm A.21. Ø- perfective with nqualifier

580

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

APPENDIX A Ødihdįįdįįdzįįdahdįį-

D– – – – – –

Hdakdįhdįhdzįhdahhdįh-

Ldagndįldeldzeldalhdel-

Paradigm A.22. Ø- perfective with d- qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ødìhdį̀į̀dį̀į̀dzį̀į̀dàhhdį̀į̀-

D– – – – – –

H– – – – – –

L– – – – – –

Paradigm A.23. Ø- perfective with d- and ì- qualifiers

A.2.2. The aa- perfective The aa-perfective occurs in the primary derivation of perfective operative and successive verb themes and all perfective neuter verb themes. Because it is so common, the tables are fairly complete, except for combinations involving the vocalic qualifiers. 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øihįįįįts’įįahhįį-

Dishinatts’atathat-

Hakįhįhts’įhahhįh-

Lagnįlalts’alalhal-

Paradigm A.24. Aa- perfective without qualifiers

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ødihdįįdįįdzįįdahhdįį-

Ddishdindatdzatdathdat-

Hdakdįhdįhdzįhdahhdįh-

Ldagndįldaldzaldalhdal-

Paradigm A.26. Aa- perfective with d qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ønihnįįnįįts’enįįnahhnįį-

D– – – – – –

Hnaknįhnįhts’enįhnahhnįh-

Lnagnnįlnalts’enalnalhnal-

Paradigm A.25. Aa- perfective with n- qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øhuhhǫǫhǫǫts’ehǫǫhahhihųų-

D– – – – – –

H– – – – – –

L– – – – – –

Paradigm A.27. Aa- perfective with hu- qualifier

PORTMANTEAU MORPHEMES IN THE CONJUNCT ZONE

581

A.2.3. The n- perfective The n-perfective occurs in the primary derivation of motion and extension themes. The n-qualifier coalesces with the n-conjugation marker in the perfective. Information for all other qualifiers is incomplete. 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ønihnįįnįįts’inįįnahhinįį-

Dnishninints’innathin-

Hnaknįhnįhts’inįhnahhnįh-

Lnagnnįlįlts’įlnalhįl-

Paradigm A.28. N - perfective with or without n- qualifier

A.2.4. The dh- perfective The dh-perfective occurs in conclusive, classificatory, and stative verb themes. Complete sets can be shown for the n-, d-, dh-, u- and hu-qualifiers, but not for the ì-qualifier nor for combinations of qualifiers. 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ødhihdhįįeets’eedhahhee-

Ddhishdhinetts’etdhathet-

Hdhakdhįhehts’ehdhahheh-

Ldhagndhįlelts’eldhalhel-

Paradigm A.29. Dh- perfective without qualifiers 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ødidhihdidhįįdeedzeedidhahhdee-

D– – detdzet– –

Hdidhakdidhįhdehdzehdidhahhdeh-

Ldidhagndidhįldeldzeldidhalhdel-

Paradigm A.31. Dh- perfective with d- qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ønidhihnidhįįneets’eneenidhahhnee-

Dnidhishnidhinnetts’enetnidhathnet-

Hnidhaknidhįhnehts’enehnidhahhneh-

Lnidhagnnidhįlnelts’enelnidhalhnel-

Paradigm A.30. Dh- perfective with nqualifier 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ø– – – – – –

D– – – – – –

Hdhakdhįhdhehts’edhehdhahhidheh-

Ldhagndhįldhelts’edheldhalhidhel-

Paradigm A.32. Dh- perfective with dh- qualifier

582

APPENDIX A

ØDHL1SG tedhih- tedhish- tedhak- tedhagn2SG tedhįį- tedhin- tedhįh- tedhįl3SG teetettehtel1PL tsee- tsettseh- tsel2PL tedhah- tedhat- tedhah- tedhal3PL htee- htethteh- htelParadigm A.33. Dh- perfective with t- qualifier ØDHL1SG hudhih- hudhish- hudhak- hudhagn2SG hudhįį- hudhin- hudhįh- hudhįl3SG huuhuthuhhul1PL ts’ehuu- – ts’ehuh- – 2PL hudhah- hudhat- hudhah- hudhal3PL hihuu- hihut- hihuh- hihul-

ØDHL1SG udhih- udhish- udhak- udhagn2SG udhįį- udhin- udhįh- udhįl3SG uuutuhul1PL – – – ts’ul2PL udhah- udhat- udhah- udhal3PL hi’uu- hi’ut- hi’uh- hi’ul-

Paradigm A.34. Dh- perfective with hu- qualifier

Paradigm A.35. Dh- perfective with u- qualifier

A.3. Optative uAll verb themes may occur in the optative. The tables for the consonantal qualifiers are relatively complete, but very little information is available on cooccurrence of the optative prefix with the vocalic qualifiers. There is also almost no data on the optative in the only verb theme containing the dhqualifier. 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øuhųųuuts’uuahhuu-

Dushunutts’utathut-

Hokųhuhts’uhahhuh-

Lognųlults’ulalhul-

Paradigm A.36. Optative forms without qualifiers

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ønuhnųųnuuts’enuunahhnuu-

D– – – – – –

Hnoknųhnuhts’enuhnahhnuh-

Lnognnųlnults’enulnalhinul-

Paradigm A.37. Optative forms with n- qualifier

PORTMANTEAU MORPHEMES IN THE CONJUNCT ZONE

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øduhdųųduudzuudahhduu-

D– – – – – –

Hdokdųhduhdzuhdahhduh-

Ldogndųlduldzuldalhdul-

Paradigm A.38. Optative forms with d- qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øtuhtųųtuutsuutahhtuu-

Dtushtuntuttsuttathtut-

Htoktųhtuhtsuhtahhtuh-

583 Ltogntųltultsultalhtul-

Paradigm A.39. Optative forms with t- qualifier

A.4. Negative-perfective iAll verb themes can occur in the negative perfective, but as these forms are not particularly frequent, complete tables can be shown only for the n- and d-qualifiers. 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Øìhį̀į̀ìts’ìàhhì-

Dìshìnìtts’ìtàthìt-

Hàkį̀hìhts’ìhàhhìh-

Làgį̀lìlts’ìlàlhìl-

Paradigm A.40. Negative perfective without qualifiers

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ødìhdį̀į̀dììdzììdàhhdìì-

Ddìshdìndètdzètdàthdìt-

Hdàkdį̀hdìhdzìhdàhhdìh-

Ldàgdį̀ldìldzìldàlhdìl-

Paradigm A.42. Negative perfective with d- qualifier

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

Ønìhnį̀į̀nìts’inìnàhhinì-

Dnìshnìnnìtts’inìtnàthinìt-

Hnàknį̀hnìhts’inìhnàhhinìh-

Lnàgnį̀lnìlts’inìlnàlhinìl-

Paradigm A.41. Negative perfective with n- qualifier

B | Glossed sample texts This appendix contains four short fully glossed texts: two from the Northway dialect and two from the Tetlin dialect. B.1. Taatsąą’ dixeel’ nadehnay: Raven throws off his pack, by Mrs. Avis Sam (N) This text comes from Mrs. Avis Sam, who relates advice on how to find game with the help of a raven. It is published in Sam, Demit-Barnes, and Northway (2021, 206–07). Its identifier in the Alaska Native Language Archive (ANLA) is UTOLAF08Feb1906. 1. Nadegn’ natsetneek tah shta’ diniign kah tihaak. na-degn’ na-tset-neek tah MED-up:ALL PRMB-1PL.S:INC:Ø.IPV:D-move.nomadically:IPV:CUST when sh-ta’ diniign kah ti-haak 1SG.PSR-father moose for 3SG.S:INC:Ø.IPV:Ø-SG.go:IPV:CUST ‘When we move up there, my father would go for moose.’ 2. Ay tl’aan yehdänh na’idaak. ay tl’aan y-ehdänh na-i-daak and.then 3SG>3SG.P-without IT-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-D:SG.go:IPV:CUST ‘And then he would come back without anything.’ 3. “Ch’ookol,” nih. ch’-ookol nih INDF.O-NEGEX say:IPV ‘“Nothing,” he said.’

GLOSSED SAMPLE TEXTS

585

4. “Dii t’eey k’a nak-’ąy,” shnąą ehniik. dii t’eey k’a nak-’ąy sh-nąą anything NEG QUAL:Ø.IPV:1SG.S:H-see:IPV:NEG 1SG.PSR-mother eh-niik 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV:CUST ‘“I didn’t see anything,” he would tell my mother.’ 5. Ay tl’aan k’ahmänn’ nahut-łįį eh hah’ogn dzelxoh. ay tl’aan k’ahmänn’ na-hut-łįį eh hah-’ogn and.then morning IT-AR.S:DH.PFV:D-become:PFV to NTRL-out:AR dzel-xoh 1PL.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-play:IPV ‘And then, early the next morning we were playing outside.’ 6. Ts’iikeey iin ts’įįłįį nts’ą̈ ’ shnąą ǫǫ tinįįshyay eh taatsąą’ dog daanaat’ah. ts’iikeey iin ts’įį-łįį nts’ą̈ ’ sh-nąą children PL 1PL.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV and 1SG.PSR-mother ǫǫ ti-nįį-shyay eh taatsąą’ dog out:ABL out-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go.PFV:NOM and raven up:AR da-na-naa-t’ah up-IT-3SG.S:QUAL:AA.IPV:Ø-SG.fly:IPV:PROG ‘We were children and my mother came out and a raven was flying over up there.’ 7. Shta’ chih t’axoh tay’ staatetshyah natelsüü xah. sh-ta’ chih t’axoh tay’ 1SG.PSR-father quickly finally again sta-na-tet-shyah away-IT-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:D-SG.go:PFV na-tel-süü xah PRMB-3SG.S:INC:Ø.IPV:L-hunt:IPV:NOM PURP ‘My father quickly got ready to go out again in order to hunt.’

586

APPENDIX B

8. Ay shnąą, shnąą, “Adegn’ nįh’įh, dixeel’ natdehnąyh!” ay sh-nąą sh-nąą a-degn’ and 1SG.PSR-mother 1SG.PSR-mother NTRL-up:ALL nįh-’įh di-xeel’ QUAL:Ø.IPV:2SG.S:H-look:IPV REFL.PSR-pack:POSS na-tdeh-nąyh down-3SG.S:INC:QUAL:DH.PFV:H-move.CO.quickly:PFV ‘And my mother, my mother: “Look up there, he’s throwing off his pack!”’ 9. “Nduu tneet’ak niign įįhaał!” nduu tnee-t’ak where:AR 3SG:INC:QUAL:DH:PFV:Ø-SG.fly:PFV įį-haał AA.IPV:2SG.S:Ø-SG.go:IPV:PROG ‘“Go to where it is flying!”’

niign the.way

10. “Ay tl’aan ch’idhįhxįį de’, ishyiit shyi’ hǫǫ’t’eey ushyi’ maa ǫǫdla’ de’, sǫ’ sǫ’ ‹łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’› u’ǫǫniiy.” ay tl’aan ch’i-dhįh-xįį de’ ishyiit shyi’ and.then INDF.O-QUAL:DH.PFV:2SG.S:H-kill.SG.O:PFV if there meat hǫǫ’t’eey u-shyi’ m-aa ǫǫ-dla’ de’ still 3SG.PSR-meat 3SG.P-for OPT:2SG.S:Ø-classify.PL.O:OPT APPR sǫ’ sǫ’ łahtthegn nts’ą̈ ’ u-ǫǫ-niiy PROH PROH all CON-OPT:2SG.S:Ø-grab:OPT ‘“And if you kill something [a moose] there, leave some meat there for him, don’t take all of it.”’ 11. Shta’ ehnay hi’agnnayh. sh-ta’ eh-nąy 1SG.PSR-father 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV:NOM h-i-agn-nayh AR.P-Ø.IPV:1SG.S:L-remember:IPV ‘I remember she said this to my father.’

GLOSSED SAMPLE TEXTS

587

B.2. Taatsąą’ ts’ikeey iin naagn’ eldeeł: Raven eats the children’s eyes, by Mrs. Sherry Demit-Barnes (N) This traditional story, published in Sam, Demit-Barnes, and Northway (2021, 40–2), was told by the late Mrs. Sherry Demit-Barnes with some help from Mr. Roy Sam. It seems to be one of the favorite Raven stories in the Upper Tanana area; every time I ask about Raven, someone will tell a version of this story. The ANLA identifier of this recording is UTOLVDN10Jul2703. 1. Taatsąą’, Taatsąą’ du’ keey nįįshyah. Taatsąą’ Taatsąą’ du’ keey nįį-shyah raven raven CT village 3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV ‘Raven, as for that Raven, he came to a village.’ 2. Nahdǫǫ ddhäł tüh nįįshyah. nah-dǫǫ ddhäł tüh nįį-shyah MED-up:ABL mountain across 3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV ‘Down the hill he came over the mountains.’ 3. Ddhäł nuhts’ąy’ jign ‹ntsiin nłįį› hahugn daneedlay, ay eh du’ k’it idnett’iah. ddhäł nuhts’ąy’ jign ntsiin n-łįį mountain other.side blueberry few 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV ha-hugn da-nee-dlay ay eh du’ ADJC-there up-3PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:Ø-classify.PL.O:IPV 3 with CT k’it id-net-t’iah on SG.REFL.O-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:D-paint:PFV ‘On the other side of the mountain, with what little berries were hanging there, he paint himself all over.’ 4. RS: Dike’ t’aat jign eh. di-ke’ t’aat jign eh REFL.PSR-foot under blueberry with RS: ‘Under his feet, with berries.’

588

APPENDIX B

5. SDB: Dike’ t’aat jign eh idnett’iah. di-ke’ t’aat jign eh REFL.PSR-foot under blueberry with id-net-t’iah SG.REFL.O-3SG.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:D-paint:PFV SDB: ‘He painted the soles of his feet with berries.’ 6. Ay tl’aan keey nįįshyah tl’aan ts’iikeey iin dinąą iin dishyįį’ deltth’ih. ay tl’aan keey nįį-shyah tl’aan ts’iikeey iin and.then village 3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV and children PL d-nąą iin dishyįį’ del-tth’ih REFL.PSR-mother PL alone 3PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-PL.sit:IPV ‘And then he came to the village, and only children and their mothers were staying there.’ 7. Huta’ iin du’, huta’ iin du’ ‹dineey iin eh› naxach’ihdelshyeek nts’ą̈ ’ huukol. hu-ta’ iin du’ hu-ta’ iin du’ dineey iin eh 3PL.PSR-father PL CT 3PL.PSR-father PL CT people PL and na-xa-ch’-h-del-shyeek IT-weapon-INDF.O-3PL.S-3PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST nts’ą̈ ’ huu-kol and 3PL.O:CON-NEGEX ‘Their fathers, their fathers and the young men had gone out hunting, they were gone.’ 8. “Degn’ jign hǫǫłįį, jign ‹ndląą› hǫǫłįį,” ‹ay› du’ hu’eh stadoodnįį’ąą. degn’ jign hǫǫ-łįį jign up:ALL blueberry AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV blueberry ndląą hǫǫ-łįį ay du’ hu-’eh lots AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV 3SG CT 3PL.P-to sta-da-ho-dnįį-’ąą away-mouth-3SG.S:AR-QUAL:N.PFV:Ø-handle.CO:PFV ‘“Up there on the hill there’s lots of berries, lo::ts of berries,” he exaggerated like that.’

GLOSSED SAMPLE TEXTS

589

9. RS: “Shke’ t’aat unah’įį!” sh-ke’ t’aat u-nah-’įį 1SG.PSR-foot under AR.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2PL.S-look:IPV:IMP RS: ‘“Look under my feet!”’ 10. SDB: “Shke’ t’aat unah’įh!” sh-ke’ t’aat u-nah-’įh 1SG.PSR-foot under AR.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:2PL.S-look:IPV SDB: ‘“Look under my feet!”’ 11. Ay eh Taatsąą’ du’ dike’ hǫǫheeyh ‹t’oot’eey hits’ishniign nts’ą̈ ’ hǫǫheey nts’ą̈ ’›. ay eh Taatsąą’ du’ di-ke’ hǫǫ-heeyh and.then raven CT REFL.PSR-foot 3SG.S:QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-speak:IPV t’oot’eey h-i-ts’-ish-niign nts’ą̈ ’ but AR.P-PP-PEJ-NEG.PFV:1SG.S:D-not.know:IPV how hǫǫ-heey nts’ą̈ ’ 3SG.S:QUAL:QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-speak:IPV:NOM how ‘And then Raven, he was talking about his feet but I forget how he said it.’ 12. “Ts’ikeey iin eh tihdaał,” nih. ts’ikeey iin eh tih-daał nih children PL with INC:AA.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-SG.stay:FUT say:IPV ‘“I’ll stay with the kids,” he said.’ 13. “Ahdäł, jign kah ahdäł,” hu’ehnih. ah-däł jign kah AA.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-PL.go:IPV:PROG blueberry for ah-däł hu-eh-nih AA.IPV:2PL.S:Ø-PL.go:IPV:PROG 3PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“You guys go, you guys go for berries,” he told them.’ 14. Hihteedeel. hih-tee-deel 3PL.S-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-PL.go:PFV:NOM ‘They went.’

590

APPENDIX B

15. Jign kol! jign kol blueberry NEGEX ‘There were no berries!’ 16. Nahindeel eh. na-hin-deel eh IT-3PL.S:N.PFV:D-PL.go:PFV:NOM and ‘They came back.’ 17. Taatsąą’ łąą’ t’eey shyuugn ts’ikeey iin naagn’ aldeeł. Taatsąą’ łąą’ t’eey shyuugn ts’ikeey iin naagn’ raven truly ADVZR down:AR children PL eye al-deeł 3SG.S:AA.PFV:L-eat:PFV ‘Raven had truly eaten the children’s eyes down there.’ 18. Shyąą t’eey ch’a jign hǫǫłįį nay ts’ikeey naagn’ ogndeel xah t’eey. shyąą t’eey ch’a jign hǫǫ-łįį nay ts’ikeey for.nothing FOC blueberry AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV say:IPV:NOM children naagn’ ogn-deel xah t’eey eye OPT:1SG.S:L-eat.PL.O:OPT:NOM PURP ADVZR ‘He’d said for nothing that there are berries because he wanted to eat the children’s eyes.’ 19. Hǫǫ’ shyįį’ hi’agnnayh. hǫǫ’ shyįį’ h-i-agn-nayh thus only AR.P-PP-Ø.PFV:1SG:L-remember:IPV ‘That’s all I remember.’

GLOSSED SAMPLE TEXTS

591

B.3. Noodlee iin: White people, by Mr. Roy H. David Sr. (T) This text is an excerpt from a long historical account by Mr. Roy H. David Sr. about the first white people coming to the Tetlin area. The segment included here describes the arrival of John Hajdukovich; later in the story Mr. David discusses the creation of the Tetlin Indian Reserve in 1930, the U.S. Army presence in the 1940s, and the construction of the Alaska Highway. This narrative is not yet published; its identifier in the ANLA is UTCBVDN14Jul1801. 1. Łeecheeg eh dzeltth’ih danh, shta’ iin shnąą iin huts’ą’ tseneek. Łeecheeg eh dzel-tth’ih danh Łeecheeg with 1PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-PL.stay:IPV at iin sh-nąą iin hu-ts’ą’ sh-ta’ 1SG.PSR-father PL 1SG.PSR-mother PL AR.P-to tse-neek 1PL.S:INC:Ø.IPV:Ø-move.nomadically:IPV:CUST ‘We were staying at Łeecheeg, with my parents we moved there.’ 2. Dzanh xah. dzanh xah muskrat for ‘For muskrat. ’ 3. Huxah hihdeltth’iig xah ay xah. hu-xah hih-del-tth’iig xah ay xah 3PL.P-for 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-PL.stay:IPV:CUST:NOM for 3SG PURP ‘They would always stay there for it.’ 4. Ay tl’aan shiin hǫǫłe’ tah łuugn xah huugn hihdeltth’iik. ay tl’aan shiin hǫǫ-łe’ tah łuugn xah huugn and.then summer AR.S:AA.PFV:Ø-be:PFV when fish for etc. hih-del-tth’iik 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-PL.stay:IPV:CUST ‘And then in the summer time they stay there for whitefish.’

592

APPENDIX B

5. Ay tl’aan xay uteełe’ dą’ dindiign xah chih huug xah hihdeltth’iik. ay tl’aan xay hu-tee-łe’ dą’ dindiign xah chih and.then winter AR.S-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-be:PFV when.PST moose for also huug xah hih-del-tth’iik and for 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-PL.stay:IPV:CUST ‘And in the beginning of wintertime they would also stay there for moose too. ’ 6. Shyi’ gąyh hehxąą. shyi’ gąyh heh-xąą food be.dry:IPV 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-make.PL.O:IPV ‘They made dry meat.’ 7. Tl’aan mba’ įį tah chih hehtsįį. tl’aan mba’ įį tah chih heh-tsįį and dry.fish and also 3PL.S:DH.PFV:H-make.SG.O:PFV ‘And they made dry fish too. ’ 8. Huxah hihdeltth’iik. hu-xah hih-del-tth’iik 3PL.P-for 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV:L-PL.stay:IPV:CUST ‘They would stay there for it.’ 9. Ay tl’aan nithoo xay uteełe’ nahetndeek jah keey nts’ą’. ay tl’aan ni-thoo xay and.then 3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-be.long.time:IPV:NOM winter hu-tee-łe’ na-het-ndeek AR.S-INC:DH.PFV:Ø-be:PFV IT-3PL.S:Ø.IPV:D-move.nomadically:IPV:CUST jah keey nts’ą’ here village to ‘A long time, when it is about to winter they return to this village.’ 10. Jign eh tah t’eey hihnehtsiik. jign eh tah t’eey hih-neh-tsiik blueberry and ADVZR 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV-gather:IPV:CUST ‘They would also pick berries.’

GLOSSED SAMPLE TEXTS

593

11. Huug nchǫǫ t’eey hihnehtsayh danch’og eh t’eey. huug nchǫǫ t’eey hih-neh-tsayh danch’og eh and rosehips ADVZR 3PL.S-QUAL:Ø.IPV-gather:IPV raspberries and t’eey ADVZR ‘They pick rosehips, raspberries too.’ 12. Ay tl’aan ntl’at įį tat’eey nehtsįį xay xah. ay tl’aan ntl’at įį tat’eey neh-tsįį xay xah and.then cranberry and 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:H-gather:PFV winter for ‘And then cranberries also they picked, for winter.’ 13. Hugn dzeltth’ii eh t’eey xay hǫǫłįį de’ ne’ shta’ eeł eedlay xah hugn dzeltth’ih mbeł. hugn dzel-tth’ii eh t’eey etc. 1PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-PL.stay:IPV:NOM and ADVZR xay hǫǫ-łįį de’ ne’ sh-ta’ winter AR.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV if upriver:ALL 1SG.PSR-father eeł ee-dlay xah hugn traps 3SG.S:DH.PFV:Ø-have.PL.O:IPV:NOM because etc. dzel-tth’ih mb-eł 1PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-PL.stay:IPV 3SG.P-with ‘We would stay there and when it was winter, we would stay with my father because he had traps upriver.’ 14. Shnąą shaadeh shǫǫndaa shin eł. sh-nąą sh-aadeh sh-ǫǫndaa shin eł 1SG.PSR-mother 1SG.PSR-older.sister 1SG.PSR-older.brother 1SG when ‘My mother, older sister, older brother, and me.’

594

APPENDIX B

15. Hugn dą’ ch’ale’ eł shnąą, “Noo, ahnǫǫ dindeh dindeh xał aatiil dihtth’ak,” nih. hugn dą’ ch’ale’ eł sh-nąą noo ah-nǫǫ etc. at:PNCT FOC when 1SG.PSR-mother ahead:ALL NTRL-ahead:ABL dindeh dindeh xał aa-tiil person person sled 3SG.S:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.LRO:IPV:PROG:NOM dih-tth’ak nih QUAL:QUAL:Ø.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-hear:IPV say:IPV ‘There also my mother, “Ahead, from ahead I hear a man driving a sled,” she said.’ 16. Tthigąą’dzelshyah xał aatiil eh dziitth’ak. tthi-gąą’-dzel-shyah xał out-arm-1PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-handle.PL.O:PFV sled aa-tiil eh 3SG.S:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.LRO:IPV:PROG:NOM when dzii-tth’ak 1PL.S:QUAL:QUAL:Ø.PFV:Ø-hear:IPV ‘We ran outside and we heard the sled coming.’ 17. Ahnǫǫ manh gaay k’it, manh gaay k’it tixałnįįtąą hadzel’įh. ah-nǫǫ manh gaay k’it manh NTRL-ahead:ABL lake small on lake gaay k’it ti-xał-nįį-tąą small on out-sled-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-handle.LRO:PFV ha-dzel-’įh out-1PL.S:QUAL:DH.PFV:L-spot:PFV ‘Ahead, on the little lake, we spotted him coming out by sled onto the little lake.’ 18. “Doo nt’ay,” niłdzetnih. doo n-t’ay nił-dzet-nih who 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be:IPV:NOM RECP.P-1PL.S:QUAL:Ø.IPV:D-say:IPV ‘“Who is this,” we said to each other.’

GLOSSED SAMPLE TEXTS

595

19. Noodlee neets’ą’ xał aatiil. noodlee nee-ts’ą’ xał aa-tiil white.person 1PL.P-to sled 3SG.S:AA.IPV:Ø-handle.LRO:IPV:PROG:NOM ‘A white man driving a sled to us.’ 20. Mbits’ineljit udayaan’ choh [laughs] udayaan’ choh na’elsoo eł. mb-i-ts’i-nel-jit u-dayaan’ choh 3SG.P-PP-1PL.S-QUAL:Ø.PFV:L-be.scared:IPV 3SG.PSR-beard big u-dayaan’ choh na-el-soo eł 3SG.PSR-beard big IT-Ø.IPV:L-be.rime:IPV:NOM because ‘We were afraid of him because his big beard, because his big beard was all frozen.’ 21. Neets’ą’ ła’et-’aak, “Shin diht’eh,” nee’ehnih. nee-ts’ą’ ła-et-’aak shin 1PL.P-to hand-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:D-extend:IPV:CUST 1SG dih-t’eh nee-’eh-nih QUAL:Ø.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-be:IPV 1PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘He waved to us, “It is me,” he said to us.’ 22. “Noodlee ihłįį, jah duugn naxałtihtįįk.” noodlee ih-łįį jah duugn white.person Ø.PFV:1SG.S:Ø-be:IPV here hereabouts na-xał-tih-tįįk PRMB-sled-INC:AA.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-handle.LRO:IPV:CUST ‘“I’m a white man; I drive around with a sled.”’ 23. “Nuh’eh tnihhoł tl’aan ahne’ hutihhaał,” hu’ehnih. nuh-’eh tnih-hoł tl’aan 2PL.P-with INC:QUAL:AA.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-spend.night:FUT and ah-ne’ hu-tih-haał NTRL-upriver:ALL CON-INC:AA.IPV:1SG.S:Ø-SG.go:IPV:PROG hu-’eh-nih 3PL.P-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV ‘“I am going to stop overnight with you guys and then I am going to go on upriver,” he told them.’

596

APPENDIX B

24. Neexah danįįshyah neeła’ na’uunayh. nee-xah da-nįį-shyah nee-ła’ 1PL.P-for inside-3SG.S:N.PFV:Ø-SG.go:PFV 1PL.PSR-hand na-uu-nayh IT-3SG.S:CON:DH.PFV:Ø-move.CO.quickly:PFV ‘He came into the house and shook our hands.’ 25. Ay k’at’eey mbits’iniljidn tsin’įį xah. ay k’at’eey mb-i-ts’i-nil-jidn 3sg NEG 3SG.P-PP-1PL.S-QUAL:NEG.PFV:L-be.scared:IPV:NEG tsin’įį xah thank.you PURP ‘And we were not scared of him because we [were] grateful [to him].’ 26. Ay tl’aan neexah nats’e’aal ha’ełeey. ay tl’aan nee-xah na-ts’e-’aal and.then 1PL.P-for CONT-1PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-eat:IPV:NOM ha-e-łeey out-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:NOM ‘ And after a while he took out food for us.’ 27. Elkąy t’eey! Teejuh ushyii dįį’ąą. elkąy t’eey teejuh u-shyii dįį-’ąą sweets even kindness 3SG.P-in 3SG.S:QUAL:Ø.PFV:Ø-classify.CO:IPV ‘Even sweets! There was kindness inside him.’ 28. K’ahmann’ eh t’eey nee’ich’ih’aał all tl’aan hii’utshyah. k’ahmann’ eh t’eey nee-i-ch’ih-’aał tl’aan morning and ADVZR 1PL.P-PP-INDF.O:3SG.S:Ø.IPV:H-feed:IPV and hii-ut-shyah 3PL.S>3SG.P-CON:DH.PFV:D-SG.go:PFV ‘Early in the morning, he fed us there and then he went on.’

GLOSSED SAMPLE TEXTS

597

B.4. Hah’ogn nuun iin ay xah naak’udzuushya’ xah: About how we become smart from the animals out there, by Mrs. Cora H. David (T) This sample text was told by the late Mrs. Cora H. David. She describes cultural knowledge about how to make desirable traits of certain animals available to children. This text is published in David (2017, 172–74); the version presented here differs from the published version in a few minor ways. In the ANLA it has the identifier UTOLVDN11Jul2902. 1. Udzih ugaay ts’iikeey gaay iin hii’eł natultthagn ha’ ay xah huhiiyeh’aał. udzih u-gaay ts’iikeey gaay iin hii-’eł caribou 3SG.PSR-young children small PL 3PL.S>3PL.P-with ha’ ay xah na-tul-tthagn PRMB-3PL.S:INC:OPT:L-run:OPT:CUST:NOM PURP 3SG because u-i-hiiy-eh-’aał 3PL.P-PP-3PL.S>3PL.O-Ø.IPV:H-feed:IPV ‘Young caribou, they run like them, that’s why they feed it to children.’ 2. Diniign du’ mbihǫǫłeek tah ts’udetniik nts’ą’ k’a xan tah niihaak nts’ą’. diniign du’ mb-i-hǫǫ-łeek tah moose CT 3SG.P-PP-AR:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.born:PFV:CUST when ts’-u-det-niik nts’ą’ k’a xan tah PEJ-3SG.S:?-QUAL:Ø.PFV:D-be.lazy:IPV and NEG quickly ADVZR ni-i-haak nts’ą’ up-3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-SG.go:IPV:CUST and ‘Moose though, when it is born it is lazy, and it doesn’t get up quickly.’ 3. Natet-tl’uk k’eh diign ha k’a ay du’ įįjih that ts’ikeey taa’aal. na-tet-tl’uk k’eh diign ha k’a IT-3SG.S:INC:DH.PFV:D-be.mushy:IPV like do:IPV:CUST:NOM because NEG ay du’ įįjih that ts’ikeey taa-’aal 3SG CT forbidden that children 3PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-eat:FUT:NEG ‘It is weak the way it does things, and that’s why it is forbidden that children eat it.’

598

APPENDIX B

4. Tsa’ du’ ukelaagąy’ dineey gaay iin gaan’ k’it hiiyedlaak tsat huuttheel xah. tsa’ du’ u-ke-laa-gąy’ dineey gaay iin gaan’ k’it beaver CT 3SG.PSR-foot-hand-dry man small PL arm on hiiy-e-dlaak tsat huu-ttheel 3PL.S>3PL.O-Ø.IPV:Ø-keep.PL.O:IPV:CUST wood 3PL.S:OPT:Ø-chop:OPT xah PURP ‘They put beaver claws around boys’ wrists so they can chop wood.’ 5. Jign ntl’at ‹chih› ay chih ts’iikeey k’a ihiitah’aal. jign ntl’at chih ay chih ts’iikeey k’a blueberries cranberries also 3PL also children NEG i-hii-tah-’aal PP-3PL.S>3PL.O-INC:AA.IPV:H-feed:FUT:NEG ‘Blueberries and cranberries too they may not feed to children.’ 6. Hut’ay’ utaakol, heniik shnąą iin. hu-t’ay’ u-taa-kol he-niik 3PL.PSR-strength CON-INC:AA.IPV:Ø-NEGEX 3PL.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-say:IPV:CUST iin sh-nąą 1SG.PSR-mother PL ‘They will not be strong, my parents used to say.’ 7. Hu’ihǫǫłįį noo that kind hǫǫ įįjih hihdįįni’. hu-i-hǫǫ-łįį noo that kind hǫǫ įįjih 3PL.P-PP-AR:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.born:PFV ahead:ALL that kind thus forbidden hih-dįį-ni’ 3PL.S-QUAL:AA.PFV:Ø-say:PFV ‘From the time they are born that time is forbidden, they used to say.’

GLOSSED SAMPLE TEXTS

599

8. Ndlaan du’ tsat hugn tsat dihdǫǫ ay shyiit hugn ch’elseek hii’ehnay, huugn, hugn too ay chih ts’iikeey t’ah hiidedlaak hii’eh tsat utnay xah. n-dlaan du’ tsat hugn tsat 3SG.S:Ø.PFV:Ø-be.lots:IPV:NOM CT wood etc wood dihdǫǫ ay shyiit hugn ch’el-seek hollow? 3SG here etc INDF.O:DH.PFV:L-shave:PFV hii-eh-nay huugn hugn too ay chih ts’iikeey 3PL.S>3SG.O-Ø.IPV:H-say:IPV:NOM etc etc too 3SG too children t’ah hii-de-dlaak hii-’eh pocket 3PL.S>3SG.O-QUAL:Ø.IPV:Ø-keep.PL.O:IPV:CUST 3PL.S>3SG.P-with tsat ut-nay xah wood OPT:D-work:OPT PURP ‘Lots of hollow wood, what they call wood shavings, they put those in the kids’ pockets so they’re strong for wood.’ 9. Tsat hii’eł ettheeł iłeek. tsat hii-’eł e-ttheeł wood 3PL.S>3SG.P-with Ø.IPV:Ø-chop:IPV i-łeek 3SG.S:Ø.IPV:Ø-handle.PL.O:IPV:CUST ‘They like to cut lots of wood.’ 10. Hǫǫ’ t’eey k’a nuh’adetnay nts’ą’ k’oht’iin na’ahłįį k’ahdu’. hǫǫ’ t’eey k’a nuh-a-det-nay nts’ą’ thus ADVZR NEG 2PL.P-PP-QUAL:Ø.IPV:D-teach:PASS:IPV:NEG ADVZR k’oht’iin na-ah-łįį k’ahdu’ people IT?-Ø.PFV:2PL.S:Ø-be:IPV now ‘You guys aren’t taught that way, and that’s the kind of people you are nowadays.’ 11. Hǫǫ’ t’eey ch’a nee’adatnį’ neexon’ du’. hǫǫ’ t’eey ch’a nee-a-dat-nį’ neexon’ du’ thus ADVZR FOC 1PL.P-PP-QUAL:AA.PFV:D-teach:PASS:PFV 1PL CT ‘That’s the way we were taught, us.’

600

APPENDIX B

12. Nts’aa’ nts’aa’ tsaat’eeł niign t’eey nee’ahdįįni’ nts’ą’. nts’aa’ nts’aa’ tsaa-t’eeł niign t’eey how how 1PL.S:INC:AA.IPV:Ø-be:FUT the.way ADVZR nee-a-h-dįį-ni’ nts’ą’ 1PL.P-PP-3PL.S-QUAL:AA.PFV:Ø-teach:PFV ADVZR ‘The way we should be in the future (when we grow up) they taught us.’ 13. Įįjih that ay hǫǫ’ shyįį’ ts’inįįthįį. įįjih that ay hǫǫ’ shyįį’ ts’-nįį-thįį įįjih that 3SG thus only 1PL.S-QUAL:Ø.PFV:Ø-think:IPV:CUST ‘That’s all we think about, forbidden.’ 14. Hǫǫ’ shyįį’ t’eey t’axoh. hǫǫ’ shyįį’ t’eey t’axoh thus only ADVZR enough ‘That’s all.’

References Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. 2004. Evidentiality. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . 2010. Imperatives and Commands. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Allan, Keith. 1977. “Classifiers.” Language 53, no. 2: 285–311. Ameka, Felix. 1992. “Interjections: The Universal Yet Neglected Part of Speech.” Journal of Pragmatics 18: 101–18. Anisman, Adar. 2019. “When If Is When and When Is Then: The Particle nįdè in Tłįchǫ.” PhD diss., University of Victoria. http://hdl.handle. net/1828/11356. Attla, Catherine. 1990. K’etetaalkkaanee (The One Who Paddled among the People and Animals): The Story of an Ancient Traveler. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Axelrod, Melissa. 1993. The Semantics of Time: Aspectual Categorization in Koyukon Athabaskan. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Basilico, David. 1996. “Head Position and Internally Headed Relative Clauses.” Language 72, no. 3: 498–532. Bickel, Balthasar. 2003. “Referential Density in Discourse and Syntactic Typology.” Language 79, no. 4: 708–36. Bochnak, M. Ryan, and Elizabeth Bogal-Allbritten. 2015. “Investigating Gradable Predicates, Comparison, and Degree Constructions in Underrepresented Languages.” In Methodologies in Semantic Fieldwork, edited by M. Ryan Bochnak and Lisa Matthewson, 11–34. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

602

REFERENCES

Bogal-Allbritten, Elizabeth. 2013. “Decomposing Notions of Adjectival Transitivity in Navajo.” Natural Language Semantics 21, no. 3: 277–314. Bortolin, Leah. 1998. “Aspect and the Chipewyan Verb.” Master’s thesis, University of Calgary. Boyle, John P. 2016. “The Syntax and Semantics of Internally Headed Relative Clauses in Hidatsa.” In Advances in the Study of Siouan Languages and Linguistics, edited by Catherine Rudin and Bryan J. Gordon, 255–87. Berlin: Language Science Press. Broadwell, George Aaron. 2006. A Choctaw Reference Grammar. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Brown, Penelope, and Stephen C. Levinson. 1987. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Brucks, Caleb D. 2015. “The Creation of Narrative Space: The Directional System of Upper Tanana.” Master’s thesis, University of Regina. Brucks, Caleb D., and Olga Lovick. 2018. “Losing One’s Way: Geographical and Moral Lessons in the Butterfly Story in Upper Tanana Athabascan.” In Language and Toponymy in Alaska and Beyond: Papers in Honor of James Kari. Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication no. 17, edited by Gary Holton and Thomas Thornton, 97–120. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. Bybee, Joan L. 1998. “‘Irrealis’ as a Grammatical Category.” Anthropological Linguistics 40, no. 2: 257–71. Cable, Seth. 2011. “Insubordination in Tlingit: An Areal Effect?” In Working Papers in Athabaskan Languages 2010, edited by Siri G. Tuttle and Olga Lovick, 165–81. Alaska Native Language Center Working Papers no. 9. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Carter, Leah. 2016. Subject Shift in Purpose Clauses in Upper Tanana Athabascan. Bachelor of Arts (Honours) thesis, University of Regina. Chafe, Wallace L. 1976. “Givenness, Contrastiveness, Definiteness, Subjects and Topics.” In Subject and Topic, edited by Charles N. Li, 27–55. New York: Academic Press. Comrie, Bernard. 1976. Aspect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

REFERENCES

603

Comrie, Bernard, Martin Haspelmath, and Balthasar Bickel. 2015. “The Leipzig Glossing Rules: Conventions for Interlinear Morpheme-byMorpheme Glosses.” Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. https://www.eva.mpg.de/lingua/pdf/Glossing- Rules. pdf. Cook, Eung-Do. 2004. A Grammar of Dëne Sųłiné (Chipewyan): Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics – Special Athabaskan Number, Memoir 17. Winnipeg: Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics, University of Manitoba. . 2013. A Tsilhqút’ín Grammar. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. Cristofaro, Sonia. 2013. “Purpose Clauses.” In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, edited by Matthew S. Dryer and Martin Haspelmath. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. https : //wals.info/chapter/125. Daniel, Michael, and Edith Moravcsik. 2013. “The Associative Plural.” In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, edited by Matthew S. Dryer and Martin Haspelmath. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. https://wals.info/chapter/36. David, Cora. 2011. Teedląy t’iin naholndak niign: Stories by the Tetlin people. Edited by Olga Lovick. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. . 2017. Teedląy t’iin naholndak niign: Stories by the Tetlin people. Edited by Olga Lovick. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. deLancey, Scott. 1990. “Notes on Evidentiality in Hare.” International Journal of American Linguistics 56, no. 1: 152–58. Demit, Ellen, and David Joe. 2010. The Adventures of Yabaa Teeshaay: First Man Stories from Healy Lake, as Told by Ellen Demit and David Joe. Edited by Constance Ann Friend. Translated and Transcribed by Irene L. Arnold and Richard Thoman. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Knowledge Network. De Reuse, Willem Joseph. 2003. “Evidentiality in Western Apache (Athabaskan).” In Studies in Evidentiality, edited by Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and R. M. W. Dixon, 79–100. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

604

REFERENCES

De Reuse, Willem Joseph, and Phillip Goode. 2006. A Practical Grammar of the San Carlos Apache Language. LINCOM Studies in Native American Linguistics 51. München: LINCOM. Diessel, Holger. 2001. “The Ordering Distribution of Main and Adverbial Clauses: A Typological Study.” Language 77, no. 3: 433–55. Dixon, R. M. W. 2009. Basic Linguistic Theory, vol. 1: Methodology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . 2010. Basic Linguistic Theory, vol. 2: Grammatical Topics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . 2012. Basic Linguistic Theory, vol. 3: Further Grammatical Topics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dryer, Matthew S. 2007a. “Clause Types.” In Language Typology and Syntactic Description, vol. 1: Clause Structure, edited by Timothy Shopen, 224–75. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . 2007b. “Word Order.” In Language Typology and Syntactic Description, vol. 1: Clause Structure, edited by Timothy Shopen, 61–131. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Evans, Nicholas. 2007. “Insubordination and Its Uses.” In Finiteness, edited by Irina Nikolaeva, 366–431. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fall, James A. 1990. Upper Cook Inlet Dena’ina Oral Traditions: An Introduction to the Narrative Art of an Alaskan Athabaskan People. Alaska Humanities Forum Technical Report. Givón, T. 1984. Syntax: A Functional-Typological Introduction, vol. 1. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. . 1990. Syntax: A Functional-Typological Introduction, vol. 2. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. . 1994. “Irrealis and the Subjunctive.” Studies in Language 18, no. 2: 265–337. Guédon, Marie-Françoise. 1974. People of Tetlin Why Are You Singing? Mercury Series, Ethnology Division. Ottawa: National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada.

REFERENCES

605

Gunlogson, Christine. 2001. “Third-Person Object Prefixes in BabineWitsuwit’en.” International Journal of American Linguistics 67, no. 4: 365–95. Hargus, Sharon. 2000. “The Qualifier Prefixes in Yukon Deg Xinag (Ingalik).” International Journal of American Linguistics 66, no. 1: 1–21. . 2007. Witsuwit’en Grammar: Phonetics, Phonology, Morphology. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. . 2012. “Subordination and Insubordination in Deg Xinag.” In Working Papers in Athabaskan Languages 2011, edited by James Crippen, 87– 111. Alaska Native Language Center Working Papers no. 10. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Heine, Bernd, and Tania Kuteva. 2007. Genesis of Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Heinrich, Albert. 1957. “Sib and Social Structure on the Upper Tanana.” In Science in Alaska: Proceedings of the Eighth Alaskan Science Conference, edited by Albert W. Johnson, 10–22. Anchorage: Alaska Division, American Association for the Advancement of Science. Herring, Susan C. 1994. “Afterthoughts, Antitopics, and Emphasis: The Syntacticization of Postverbal Position in Tamil.” In Theoretical Perspectives on Word Order in South Asian Languages, edited by Miriam Butt and Tracy Holloway King, 119–52. Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information. Holton, Gary. 2000. “The Phonology and Morphology of the Tanacross Athabaskan Language.” PhD diss., University of California Santa Barbara. . 2004. “Clause Combining in Tanacross Athabascan.” In Working Papers in Athabaskan Languages Number 4, edited by Gary Holton and Siri Tuttle, 115–33. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. . 2005. “Pitch, Tone, and Intonation in Tanacross.” In Athabaskan Prosody, edited by Sharon Hargus and Keren Rice, 249–75. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Holton, Gary, and Olga Lovick. 2008. “Evidentiality in Dena’ina Athabaskan.” Anthropological Linguistics 50, no. 34: 292–323.

606

REFERENCES

Hucklebridge, Sherry. 2016. “Head-Internal Relative Clauses in Tłįchǫ Yatiì.” Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics 36: 1–11. Jaker, Alessandro M., and Emerence Cardinal. 2021. Tets’ǫ́ t’iné Verb Grammar: Tets’ǫ́ t’iné yatié k’ízį́ T’at’ú Henádhër Yatié ʔeltth’i ʔełaníílye. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Jetté, Jules. 1907. “On the Language of the Ten’a (pt. 1).” Man 7: 51–56. Jetté, Jules, and Eliza Jones. 2000. Koyukon Athabaskan Dictionary. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Jones, Eliza. n.d. “Comparative Uses of Koyukon Classificatory Verbs.” Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Kari, James. 1979. Athabaskan Verb Theme Categories: Ahtna. Alaska Native Language Center Research Papers no. 2. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. . 1990. Ahtna Athabaskan Dictionary. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. . 1993. “Diversity in Morpheme Order in Several Alaskan Athabascan Languages: Notes on the gh-Qualifier.” Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: Special Session on Syntactic Issues in Native American Languages 19, no. 2: 50–56. . 1997. “Upper Tanana Stem List.” With additions by Olga Lovick. Unpublished Lexware file in possession of author. . 2007. Dena’ina Topical Dictionary. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Keenan, Edward L. 1985. “Relative Clauses.” In Language Typology and Syntactic Description, vol. 2: Complex Constructions, edited by Timothy Shopen, 141–70. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Keenan, Edward L., and Bernard Comrie. 1977. “Noun Phrase Accessibility and Universal Grammar.” Linguistic Inquiry 8, no. 1: 63–99. Kibrik, Andrej A. 2004. “Coordination in Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan.” In Coordinating Constructions, edited by Martin Haspelmath, 537–53. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. . 2011. Reference in Discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

REFERENCES

607

Kortmann, Bernd. 1991. “The Triad “Tense—Aspect—Aktionsart”: Problems and Possible Solutions.” In Perspectives on Aspect and Aktionsart. Belgian Journal of Linguistics, 6, edited by Carl Vetters and Willy Vandeweghe, 9–30. Brussels: John Benjamins. Krifka, Manfred. 2008. “Basic Notions of Information Structure.” Acta Linguistica Hungarica 55, no. 3–4: 243–76. Leer, Jeff. 1996a. “Comparative Athabaskan Lexicon.” Manuscript, Alaska Native Language Archive no. CA965L1996a. http://www.uaf.edu/anla/ item.xml?id=CA965L1996a. . 1996b. “The Historical Evolution of the Stem Syllable in Gwich’in (Kutchin/Loucheux) Athabaskan.” In Athabaskan Language Studies: Essays in Honor of Robert W. Young, edited by Eloise Jelinek, Sally Midgette, Keren Rice, and Leslie Saxon, 193–234. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. . 2000. “The Negative/Irrealis Category in Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit.” In The Athabaskan Languages: Perspectives on a Native American Language Family, edited by Theodore B. Fernald and Paul R. Platero, 101–38. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lovick, Olga. 2005. “Agentivity and Participant Marking: A Text-Based Study.” PhD diss., Universität zu Köln. . 2010. “Studying Dena’ina Discourse Markers: Evidence from Elicitation and Narrative.” In Fieldwork and Linguistic Analysis in Indigenous Languages of the Americas. Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication no. 2, edited by Andrea L. Berez, Jean Mulder, and Daisy Rosenblum, 173–202. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. . 2012a. “The Identification of Narrative Genres in Upper Tanana Athabascan: A Preliminary Study.” Northwest Journal of Linguistics 6, no. 3: 1–29. . 2012b. “Walking Like a Porcupine, Talking Like a Raven: Figurative Language in Upper Tanana Athabascan.” In Endangered Metaphors, edited by Anna Idström and Elisabeth Piirainen, 103–21. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

608

REFERENCES

Lovick, Olga. 2015. “Dena’ina.” In The Edinburgh Handbook of Evaluative Morphology, edited by Nicola Grandi and Lívia Körtvélyessy, 536–41. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. . 2016. “Įįjih and Request Formation in Upper Tanana Athabascan: Evidence from Narrative Text.” Anthropological Linguistics 58, no. 3: 248– 98. . 2020a. A Grammar of Upper Tanana, vol. 1: Phonology, Lexical Classes, Morphology. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. . 2020b. “Existential and Standard Negation in Northern Dene.” International Journal of American Linguistics 86, no. 4: 485–525. . forthcoming. “Speaking and Acting with Care: The Grammar of Circumspection in Upper Tanana Dene.” In Apprehensional Constructions in a Cross-Linguistic Perspective, edited by Martina Faller, Eva SchultzeBernd, and Marine Vuillermet. Berlin: Language Sciences Press. Lovick, Olga, and Siri G. Tuttle. 2011. “Conversation in Upper Tanana Athabascan: Syntactic and Prosodic Patterns.” In Language Documentation and Description 10, edited by Niclas Burenhult, Arthur Holmer, Anastasia Karlsson, Håkan Lundström, and Jan-Olof Svantesson, 132– 76. London: SOAS. . 2019. “Video Elicitation of Negative Directives in Alaskan Dene Languages: Reflections on Methodology.” In Methodological Tools for Linguistic Description and Typology. Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication no. 16, edited by Aimée Lahaussois and Marine Vuillermet, 125–54. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. . 2021. “Pitch Patterns in Standard Negation in Alaskan Dene.” Paper presented at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Indigenous Languages of the Americas (virtual conference). Lyons, Christopher. 1999. Definiteness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McKennan, Robert A. 1959. The Upper Tanana Indians. Yale University Publications in Anthropology. New Haven: Yale University Department of Anthropology. Midgette, Sally. 1996. The Navajo Progressive in Discourse: A Study in Temporal Semantics. New York: Peter Lang.

REFERENCES

609

Miestamo, Matti. 2007. “Negation—An Overview Over Typological Research.” Language and Linguistics Compass 1, no. 5: 552–70. Minoura, Nobukatsu. 1994. “A Comparative Phonology of the Upper Tanana Athabaskan Dialects.” In Languages of the North Pacific Rim, edited by Osahito Miyaoka, 159–96. Hokkaido University Publications in Linguistics no. 7. Sapporo: Hokkaido University Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Letters. . 2004. “A Preliminary Typology of wh-Questions.” Area and Culture Studies 68: 37–64. Mithun, Marianne. 2008. “The Extension of Dependency Beyond the Sentence.” Language 84, no. 1: 69–119. Morice, Adrien-Gabriel. 1932. The Carrier Language, vol. 1. Mödling bei Wien: Verlag der Internationalen Zeitung “Anthropos.” Müller, Olga. 2004. “Why There Is No y-/b-Alternation in Dena’ina.” In Working Papers in Athabaskan Languages, edited by Gary Holton and Siri Tuttle, 99–114. Alaska Native Language Center Working Papers no. 4. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Palmer, Frank R. 2001. Mood and Modality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pasamonik, Carolina. 2012. “‘My heart falls out’: Conceptualizations of Body Parts and Emotions in Beaver Athabascan.” In Endangered Metaphors, edited by Anna Idström and Elisabeth Piirainen, 77–101. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Payne, Thomas E. 1997. Describing Morphosyntax: A Guide for Field Linguists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Platero, Paul R. 1974. “The Navajo Relative Clause.” International Journal of American Linguistics 40, no. 3: 202–46. Poser, William. 2005. “Noun classification in Carrier.” Anthropological Linguistics 47, no. 2: 143–68. Reichenbach, Hans. 1947. Elements of Symbolic Logic. New York: Macmillan. Rice, Keren. 1989. A Grammar of Slave. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

610

REFERENCES

Rice, Keren. 2000a. “Monadic Verbs and Argument Structure in Ahtna, Slave, and Navajo.” In The Athabaskan Languages: Perspectives on a Native American Language Family, edited by Theodore B. Fernald and Paul R. Platero, 167–99. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . 2000b. Morpheme Order and Semantic Scope. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. . 2003. “Doubling by Agreement in Slave (Northern Athapaskan).” In Formal Approaches to Function in Grammar: In Honor of Eloise Jelinek, edited by Andrew Carnie, Heidi Harley, and MaryAnn Willie, 51–78. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Rice, Keren, and Leslie Saxon. 2005. “Comparative Athabaskan Syntax: Arguments and Projections.” In The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Syntax, edited by Guglielmo Cinque and Richard S. Kayne, 698–774. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sadock, Jerrold M., and Arnold M. Zwicky. 1985. “Speech Act Distinctions in Syntax.” In Language Typology and Syntactic Description, vol. 1: Clause Structure, edited by Timothy Shopen, 155–96. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sam, Avis, Sherry Demit-Barnes, and Darlene Northway. 2021. Ts’exeey iin Naabia Niign xah nahiholnegn: Women Tell Stories about Northway. Transcribed and translated by Caleb Brucks and Olga Lovick with the help of the storytellers as well as Roy Sam and Rosa Brewer. Edited by Olga Lovick. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Sandoval, Merton, and Eloise Jelinek. 1989. “The Bi-Construction and Pronominal Arguments in Apachean.” In Athapaskan Linguistics: Current Perspectives on a Language Family, edited by Eung-do Cook and Keren Rice, 335–77. Trends in Linguistics State-of-the-Art Reports 15. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Saxon, Leslie. 1986. “The Syntax of Pronouns in Dogrib.” PhD diss., University of California San Diego. . 1998. “Complement Clauses in Dogrib.” In Studies in American Indian Languages: Description and Theory, 204–11. Berkeley: University of California Press.

REFERENCES

611

. 2000. “Head-Internal Relative Clauses in Dogrib (Athapaskan).” In Papers in Honour of Ken Hale. Working Papers on Endangered and Less Familiar Languages, vol. 1, edited by Andrew Carnie, Eloise Jelinek, and MaryAnn Willie, 93–108. Cambridge, MA: MIT. Schachter, Paul. 1973. “Focus and Relativization.” Language 49, no. 1: 19–46. Schauber, Ellen. 1979. The Syntax and Semantics of Questions in Navajo. New York: Garland Publishing. Schmidtke-Bode, Karsten. 2009. A Typology of Purpose Clauses. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Schwiertz, Gabriele. 2009. “Intonation and Prosodic Structure in Beaver (Athabaskan): Explorations on the Language of the Danezaa.” PhD diss., Universität zu Köln. Scollon, Ronald, and Suzanne B. K. Scollon. 1981. Narrative, Literacy, and Face in Interethnic Communication. Norwood: Ablex. Searle, John R. 1969. Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Simeone, William E. 1995. Rifles, Blankets, & Beads: Identity, History, and the Northern Athapaskan Potlatch. Civilization of the American Indian Series. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Smith, Carlota S. 1991. The Parameter of Aspect. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic. . 1996. “Aspectual Categories in Navajo.” International Journal of American Linguistics 62, no. 3: 227–63. Stassen, Leon. 1997. Intransitive Predication. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . 2013. “Noun Phrase Conjunction.” In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, edited by Matthew S. Dryer and Martin Haspelmath. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Accessed November 17, 2017. http://wals.info/chapter/63. Talmy, Leonard. 1985. “Lexicalization Patterns: Semantic Structure in Lexical Forms.” In Language, Typology, and Syntactic Description, vol. 3: Grammatical Categories and the Lexicon, edited by Timothy Shopen, 57– 149. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

612

REFERENCES

Tenenbaum, Joan M. 1978. “Morphology and Semantics of the Dena’ina Verb.” PhD diss., Columbia University. Thompson, Chad. 1989. “Voice and Obviation in Athabaskan and Other Languages.” PhD diss., University of Oregon. . 1993. “The Areal Prefix hʉ- in Koyukon Athapaskan.” International Journal of American Linguistics 59, no. 3: 315–33. . 1996. “History and Function of the yi-/bi- Alternation in Athabaskan.” In Athabaskan Language Studies: Essays in Honor of Robert W. Young, edited by Eloise Jelinek, Sally Midgette, Keren Rice, and Leslie Saxon, 81–100. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Thompson, Sandra A., and Robert E. Longacre. 1985. “Adverbial Clauses.” In Language Typology and Syntactic Description, vol. 2: Complex Constructions, edited by Timothy Shopen, 171–234. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Totem Field Storyboards Working Group. 2010. “The Fortune Teller (First Nations Version).” http://totemfieldstoryboards.org/stories/fortune_ teller_fn/. Tuttle, Siri G. 1996. “Direct Objects in Salcha Athabaskan.” In Athabaskan Language Studies: Essays in Honor of Robert W. Young, edited by Eloise Jelinek, Sally Midgette, Keren Rice, and Leslie Saxon, 101–21. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. . 1998. “Metrical and Tonal Structures in Tanana Athabaskan.” PhD diss., University of Washington. . 2018. “Comparative and Superlative Constructions in Alaskan Athabascan Languages.” Linguistic Discovery 16, no. 1: 100–16. Tyone, Mary. 1996. Ttheek’ädn ut’iin yaaniidą’ ǫǫnign’: Old Time Stories of the Scottie Creek People. Stories Told in Upper Tanana Athabaskan by Mary Tyone, Ts’ą’ Yahnik. Edited by James Kari. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center. Van der Auwera, Johan, Ludo Lejeune, and Valentin Goussev. 2013. “The Prohibitive.” In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, edited by Matthew S. Dryer and Martin Haspelmath. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. https://wals.info/chapter/71.

REFERENCES

613

Vendler, Zeno. 1967. Linguistics in Philosophy. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Welch, Nicholas. 2012. “The Bearable Lightness of Being: The Encoding of Coincidence in Two-Copula Languages.” PhD diss., University of Calgary. Wilhelm, Andrea. 2007. Telicity and Durativity: A Study of Aspect in Dëne Sųłiné (Chipewyan) and German. Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics Series. New York: Routledge. . 2008. “Bare Nouns and Number in Dëne Sųłiné.” Natural Language Semantics 16: 39–68. . 2014. “Nominalization Instead of Modification.” In Cross-Linguistic Investigations of Nominalization Patterns, edited by Ileana Paul, 51–82. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. . 2015. “A Radically [+arg, –pred] Language.” In Proceedings of the Eighth Meeting on the Semantics of Under-represented Languages in the Americas, edited by Jérémy Pasquereau, 121–36. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Graduate Linguistics Students Association. Willie, MaryAnn. 1989. “Why There Is Nothing Missing in Navajo Relative Clauses.” In Athapaskan Linguistics: Current Perspectives on a Language Family, edited by Eung-do Cook and Keren Rice, 407–37. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. . 1991. “Navajo Pronouns and Obviation.” PhD diss., University of Arizona. . 1996. “On the Expression of Modality in Navajo.” In Athabaskan Language Studies: Essays in Honor of Robert W. Young, edited by Eloise Jelinek, Sally Midgette, Keren Rice, and Leslie Saxon, 331–47. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.