Orthography
The written Choctaw language is based upon the English version of the Roman alphabet and was developed in conjunction with the "civilization program" of the United States, a program toDialects
There are three dialects of Choctaw (Mithun 1999): # "Native" Choctaw on thePhonology
* More information on suffixes is in theConsonants
# The onlyFree variation
* There is free variation of some consonants in Choctaw with some speakers:Broadwell (2006:15-20) # /ɬ/, the voiceless lateral fricative, is pronounced as a voiceless dental fricative ¸ →. # The voiceless labiodental fricative /f/ is pronounced as a voiceless bilabial fricative ¸ →.Phonological processes of consonants
* In Choctaw , theVowels
# Lax vowels occur more often in closed syllables. In traditional orthography, ''Ê‹'' usually indicates and ''u'' usually indicates . Exceptions include ''pokoli'' (''traditional'') for , ''imalakusi'' for . The traditional orthography doesn't distinguish lax and tense front vowels; instead it indicates with ''e''. # Nasal vowels are intrinsically long.Pitch
# In Choctaw, very few words are distinguished only by pitch accent.Broadwell (2006:16-18) Nouns in Choctaw have pitch realization at the penultimate syllable or the ultimate syllable. Verbs in Choctaw will have pitch realization at morphemes indicating tense, but sometimes, pitch directly precedes the tense morpheme.Syllable structure
# As is in the chart above, there are three syllable structure types in Choctaw: light, heavy, and super heavy. Possible syllables in Choctaw must contain at least one vowel of any quality.Broadwell (2006:18-19) # Syllables cannot end with a consonant clusters CC. However, there is an exception with the structure *(C)VCC if a word in Choctaw ends with the suffix /-t/. # Syllables do not begin with consonant clusters CC, but there is an exception in an initial /i-/ deletion, which results in a syllable *CCV .Rhythmic lengthening
* Rhythmic lengthening is the process of lengthening the vowel duration of an even-numbered CV syllable in Choctaw. However, vowels at the end of words are not permitted to undergo that process. Also, if an even-numbered syllable is a verbal prefixes class I or III, the affix's vowel may not undergo lengthening, and the same holds true for noun prefixes class III as well.Broadwell (2006:21-26) : CV-CV-CVC→CV-CV:-CVC :salahatok→sala:hatokSmallest possible word
* The smallest possible word in Choctaw must contain either two short vowels or one long vowel. : a:t * /a-/ insertion: there are verbs with only one short vowel in their roots. Without an affix attached to the verb root, the verbs become impossible utterances because Choctaw requires either two short vowels or a long vowel for a word to be formed. An initial A-prefix is thus attached to the root of the verb.Broadwell (2006:18-21) : *bih → a-bihPhonological processes
Glide insertion
* When a verb root ends with a long vowel, a glide /w/ or /j/ is inserted after the long vowel.Broadwell (2006:125) * ∅→/wa/ / V:____ # Where V: is oo # boo-a-h→bóowah * ∅→/ja/ / V:____ # Where V: can be either ii or aa # talaa-a-h→talaayah/i-/ deletion
* In Choctaw, there is a group of nouns which contain an initial /i-/ that encodes for 3rd person possession. It may be deleted, but if the /i/ is part of a VC syllable structure, the C is also deleted, because the resulting CCV syllable is rarely a permissible syllable structure at the onset of words.Broadwell (2006:60-62) :/i/→∅ / #____ : Part 1: /i + C/→∅ + /C/ / #____ : Part 2: /∅ + C/→∅ / #____ :ippókni'→ppókni'→pókni'/-l-/ infix assimilation
* The verbal infix /l/ is pronounced /h, ch, or ɬ/ when /l/ precedes a voiceless consonant.Broadwell (2006:124-125) :l → /_CPhonological processes of the suffix /-li/
* There are several assimilation processes that occur with the suffix /-li/. When the verbal suffix /-li/ is preceded by /f/ /ɫ/ /h/ /m/ /n/ or /w/, the /l/ assimilates to the corresponding consonant that precedes it.Broadwell (2006:26-27) Also, the verbal suffix /-li/ is preceded by the consonant /b/, the /l/ is realized as /b/. Third, when the verbal suffix /-li/ is preceded by the consonant /p/, the /p/ is pronounced as /b/. Lastly, when the verbal suffix /-li/ is preceded by the consonant /t/, the /t/ is pronounced as /l/. :/l/→/f, ɫ, h, m, n, w/ / /f, ɫ, h, m, n, w/____ : /kobaf-li-h/→ kobaaffih : /l/→/b/ / /b/____ : /atob-li-h/→ atobbih : /p/→/b/ / /b/____ : /tap-li-h/→ tablih : /t/→/l/ / ____/l/ : /palhat-li-h/→ pallalih * There are two deletion processes that occur with the suffix /-li/. If the verbal suffix /-li/ precedes the verbal suffix /-tʃi/, the suffix /-li/ may be deleted if the resulting syllable, after deletion, is a consonant cluster.Broadwell (2006:130) The other process occurs when the verbal suffix /-li/ precedes the suffix /-t/, which results with the suffix /-li/ being sometimes deleted if the syllable /-li/ has not already gone under phonological processes as described above.Broadwell (2006:219) :/li/→∅ / ____/tʃi/ :balii-li-chi-h→balii-chi-h :/li/→∅ / ____/t/ :balii-li--h→balii-tSchwa insertion
* Schwa insertion: when a glottal fricative or a velar stop precedes a voiced consonant within a consonant cluster, a schwa is inserted to break up the consonant cluster.Broadwell (2006:16) :∅→ / ____Vowel deletion
* Vowel deletion is the process of a short vowel being deleted at a morpheme boundary. It occurs when an affix containing a short vowel at the morpheme boundary binds to a word that also contains a short vowel at the morpheme boundary.Broadwell (2006:26) # For most vowel deletion cases, the preceding short vowel is deleted at the morpheme boundary. :V→∅ / ____V :/baliili-aatʃĩ-h/→baliilaatʃĩh # If a class II suffix attaches to a word that results with two short vowels occurring together, the short vowel that follows the class II suffix is deleted. :V→∅ / V____ :/sa-ibaa-waʃoohah/→sabaa-waʃoohahMorphology and grammar
Verbal morphology
Choctaw verbs display a wide range of inflectional and derivational morphology. In Choctaw, the category of verb may also include words that would be categorized as adjectives or quantifiers in English. Verbs may be preceded by up to three prefixes and followed by as many as five suffixes. In addition, verb roots may contain infixes that convey aspectual information.Verb prefixes
The verbal prefixes convey information about the arguments of the verb: how many there are and their person and number features. The prefixes can be divided into three sorts:=Agreement affixes
= The agreement affixes are shown in the following chart. The only suffix among the personal agreement markers is the first-person singular class I agreement marker /-li/. Third-person is completely unmarked for class I and class II agreement arguments and never indicates number. Some authors (Ulrich 1986, Davies, 1986) refer to class I as actor or nominative, class II as patient or accusative and class III as dative. Broadwell prefers the neutral numbered labels because the actual use of the affixes is more complex. This type of morphology is generally referred to as active–stative andActive verbs As the chart above shows, there is no person-number agreement for third person arguments. Consider the following paradigms: # When the subject and object refer to the same thing or person (
Stative verbs The subjects of stative verbs typically have II agreement. A small set of psychological verbs have subjects with class III agreement. :''Baliililitok.'' :Baliili-li-tok :run-1sI- :'I ran.' :''Saniyah.'' :Sa-niya-h. :1sII-fat- :'I am fat.' :''a̱ponnah.'' :a̱-ponna-h. :1sIII-skilled- :'I am skilled.'
=Negatives
= The set of agreement markers labelled N above is used with negatives. Negation is multiply marked, requiring that an agreement marker from the N set replace the ordinary I agreement, the verb appear in the lengthened grade (see discussion below), and that the suffix /-o(k)-/ follow the verb, with deletion of the preceding final vowel. The optional suffix /-kii/ may be added after /-o(k)-/. Consider the following example: * ''AkÃiyokiittook.'' * Ak-Ãiya-o-kii-ttook * 1sN-go- * 'I did not go.' Compare this with the affirmative counterpart: * ''Iyalittook'' * Iya-li-ttook. * go-1sI- * 'I went'. To make this example negative, the 1sI suffix /-li/ is replaced by the 1sN prefix /ak-/; the verb root ''iya'' is lengthened and accented to yield ''Ãiya''; the suffix /-o/ is added, the final vowel of ''iiya'' is deleted, and the suffix /-kii/ is added.=Anaphoric prefixes
= Reflexives are indicated with the /ili-/ prefix, and reciprocals with /itti-/: * ''IlipÃsalitok''. * Ili-pÃ̱sa-li-tok. * -see-1sI- * 'I saw myself'.Verb suffixes
:While the verbal prefixes indicate relations between the verb and its arguments, the suffixes cover a wider semantic range, including information about valence, modality, tense and evidentiality. The following examples show modal and tense suffixes like /-aachii̱/ 'irrealis'(approximately equal to future), /-tok/ 'past tense', /-h/ 'default tenses': :''Baliilih.'' :Baliili-h. :run- :'She runs.' :''Baliilaachi̱h.'' :Baliili-aachi̱-h. :run- :'She will run.' There are also suffixes that show evidentiality, or the source of evidence for a statement, as in the following pair: :''Nipi' awashlihli.'' :Nipi' awashli-hli :meat fry-first:hand :'She fried the meat.' (I saw/heard/smelled her do it.) :''Nipi' awashlitoka̱sha.'' :Nipi' awashli-tok-a̱sha :meat fry--guess :'She fried the meat.' (I guess) There are also suffixes of illocutionary force which may indicate that the sentence is a question, an exclamation, or a command: :''Awashlitoko̱?'' :Awashli-tok-o̱ :fry- :'Did she fry it?' :''Chahta' siahokii!'' :Chahta' si-a-h-okii :Choctaw 1sII-be- :'I'm Choctaw!' or 'I certainly am a Choctaw!'Verbal infixes
Choctaw verb stems have various infixes that indicate their aspect. These stem variants are traditionally referred to as 'grades'. The table below shows the grades of Choctaw, along with their main usage. Some examples that show the grades follow: In this example the l-grade appears because of the suffixes /-na/ 'different subject' and /-o(k)/ 'negative': :''... lowat táahana falaamat akÃiyokiittook.'' :lowa-t táaha-na falaama-t ak-Ãiya-o-kii-ttook :burn- complete- return- 1sN-go- :'... (the school) burned down and I didn't go back.' The g-grade and y-grade typically get translated into English as "finally VERB-ed": :''Taloowah.'' :Taloowa-h :sing- :'He sang.' :''Tálloowah.'' :Tálloowa-h :sing- :'He finally sang.' The hn-grade is usually translated as 'kept on VERBing': :''Ohó̱bana nittak pókkooli' oshtattook.'' :Ohó̱ba-na nittak pókkooli' oshta-ttook :rain- day ten four- :'It kept on raining for forty days.' The h-grade is usually translated "just VERB-ed" or "VERB-ed for a short time": :. :Nóhsi-h :sleep- :'He took a quick nap.Nominal morphology
Noun prefixes
Nouns have prefixes that show agreement with a possessor. Agreement markers from class II are used on a lexically specified closed class of nouns, which includes many (but not all) of the kinship terms and body parts. This is the class that is generally labeledNoun suffixes
Choctaw nouns can be followed by various determiner and case-marking suffixes, as in the following examples, where we see determiners such as /-ma/ 'that', /-pa/ 'this', and /-akoo/ 'contrast' and case-markers /-(y)at/ 'nominative' and /-(y)a̱/ 'accusative': :''alla' naknimat'' :alla' nakni-m-at :child male-that- :'that boy (nominative)' :''Hoshiit itti chaahamako̱ o̱biniilih.'' :Hoshi'-at itti' chaaha-m-ako̱ o̱-biniili-h :bird- tree tall-that- -sit- :'The bird is sitting on that tall tree.' (Not on the short one.) The last example shows that nasalizing the last vowel of the preceding N is a common way to show the accusative case.Word order and case marking
:The simplest sentences in Choctaw consist of a verb and a tense marker, as in the following examples:Broadwell (2006:32) :''o̱batok.'' :o̱ba-tok :rain- :'It rained.' :''Niyah.'' :niya-h :fat- :'She/he/it is fat, they are fat.' :''PÃ̱satok.'' :pÃ̱sa-tok :see- :'She/he/it/they saw her/him/it/them.' :As these examples show, there are no obligatory noun phrases in a Choctaw sentence, nor is there any verbal agreement that indicates a third person subject or object. There is no indication of grammatical gender, and for third person arguments there is no indication of number. (There are, however, some verbs with suppletive forms that indicate the number of a subject or object, e.g. iyah 'to go (sg.)', ittiyaachih 'to go (du.)', and ilhkolih 'to go (pl)'.) When there is an overt subject, it is obligatorily marked with the nominative case /-at/. Subjects precede the verb :''Hoshiyat apatok.'' :hoshi'-at apa-tok :bird- eat- :'The birds ate them.' When there is an overt object, it is optionally marked with the accusative case /-a̱/ :''Hoshiyat sho̱shi(-ya̱) apatok.'' :hoshi'-at sho̱shi'(-a̱) apa-tok. :bird- bug-() eat- :'The birds ate the bugs.' The Choctaw sentence is normally verb-final, and so the head of the sentence is last. Some other phrases in Choctaw also have their head at the end. Possessors precede the possessed noun in the Noun Phrase: :''ofi' hohchifo :dog name :'the dog's name' Choctaw has postpositional phrases with the postposition after its object: :''tamaaha' bili̱ka'' :town near :'near a town'Examples
Some common Choctaw phrases (written in the "Modern" orthography): *Choctaw: ' *hi: ' *See you later!: ' *number: ' *Thank you: ' *What is your name?: ' *My name is...: ' *yes: ' *no: ' *okay: ' *I don't understand.: ' *I don't know.: ' *Do you speak Choctaw?: ' *What is that?: ' Other Choctaw words: *Cherokee: ' *Chickasaw: ' *Seminole: ' *Creek/Muskogee: ' *today: ' *tonight: ' *tomorrow: ' *yesterday: ' *month: ' *year/2009: ' *house: ' *school: ' *cat: ' *dog: ' *cow: ' *horse: ' Counting to twenty: *one: ' *two: ''toklo'' *three: ' *four: ' *five: ' *six: ' *seven: ' *eight: ' *nine: ' *ten: ' *eleven: ' *twelve: ' *thirteen: ' *fourteen: ' *fifteen: ' *sixteen: ' *seventeen: ' *eighteen: ' *nineteen: ' *twenty: ' At "''Native Nashville''" weSee also
*References
Sources
* Broadwell, George Aaron. (2006). ''A Choctaw Reference Grammar''. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. .Further reading
* Broadwell, George Aaron. (1991). "Speaker and self in Choctaw". ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', 57, 411-425. * Byington, Cyrus. (1915). ''A dictionary of the Choctaw language''. J. R. Swanton & H. S. Halbert (Eds.). Bureau of American Ethnology bulletin 46. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. (Reprinted 1973 & 1978). * Davies, William. (1986). ''Choctaw verb agreement and universal grammar''. Reidel. * Downing, Todd. (1974). ''Chahta anompa: An introduction to the Choctaw language'' (3rd ed.). Durant, OK: Choctaw Bilingual Education Program, Southeastern Oklahoma State University. * Haag, Marcia, and Willis, Henry. (2001). ''Choctaw Language & Culture: Chahta Anumpa'', University of Oklahoma Press. * Haag, Marcia, and Fowler, Loretta. (2001). ''Chahta Anumpa: A Choctaw Tutorial CD-ROM'', University of Oklahoma Press. * Heath, Jeffrey. (1977). Choctaw cases. ''Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistic Society'', ''3'', 204-213. * Heath, Jeffrey. (1980). Choctaw suppletive verbs and derivational morphology. * Howard, Gregg; Eby, Richard; Jones, Charles G. (1991). ''Introduction to Choctaw: A primer for learning to speak, read and write the Choctaw language''. Fayetteville, AR: VIP Pub. * Jacob, Betty. (1980). Choctaw and Chickasaw. Abstract of paper delivered at the 1978 Muskogean conference. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', ''46'', 43. * Jacob, Betty; Nicklas, Thurston Dale; & Spencer, Betty Lou. (1977). ''Introduction to Choctaw''. Durant, OK: Choctaw Bilingual Education Program, Southeastern Oklahoma State University. * Mithun, Marianne. (1999). ''The languages of Native North America''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (hbk); . * Munro, Pamela. (1987). Some morphological differences between Chickasaw and Choctaw. In P. Munro (Ed.), ''Muskogean linguistics'' (pp. 119–133). Los Angeles: University of California at Los Angeles, Department of Linguistics. * Munro, Pamela (Ed.). (1987). ''Muskogean linguistics''. UCLA occasional papers in linguistics (No. 6). Los Angeles: University of California at Los Angeles, Department of Linguistics. * Nicklas, Thurston Dale. (1974). The elements of Choctaw. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor). * Nicklas, Thurston Dale. (1975). Choctaw morphophonemics. In J. Crawford (Ed.), ''Studies in southeastern Indian languages'' (pp. 237–249). Athens: University of Georgia. * Nicklas, Thurston Dale. (1979). ''Reference grammar of the Choctaw language''. Durant, OK: Choctaw Bilingual Education Program, Southeastern Oklahoma State University. * Pulte, William. (1975). The position of Chickasaw in Western Muskogean. In J. Crawford (Ed.), ''Studies in southeastern Indian languages'' (pp. 251–263). Athens: University of Georgia. * Ulrich, Charles H. (1986). Choctaw morphophonology. (Doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles). * Ulrich, Charles H. (1987). Choctaw g-grades and y-grades. In P. Munro (Ed.), ''Muskogean linguistics'' (pp. 171–178). Los Angeles: University of California at Los Angeles, Department of Linguistics. * Ulrich, Charles H. (1987). Choctaw verb grades and the nature of syllabification. In A. Bosch, B. Need, & E. Schiller (Eds.), ''Papers from the 23rd annual regional meeting''. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. * Ulrich, Charles H. (1988). The morphophonology of Choctaw verb roots and valence suffixes. In W. Shipley (Ed.), ''In honor of Mary Haas: From the Haas Festival conference on Native American linguistics'' (pp. 805–818). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBNExternal links