§§ 24-171. MORPHOLOGY AND SYNTAX 



§§ 24-29. STEMS 



§ 24. Introductory 



Stems may be divided in two large groups, accented stems and unaccented particles which 

 in most cases may be considered as enclitics. In many cases they are so intimately connected 

 with the preceding accented word that they may be called suffixes. There is no sharp line of 

 division between the group which is treated here as enclitics and those treated as suffixes. The 

 intimacy of relation between the two groups may be gauged by their mutual phonetic influence. 



Prefixes are so closely connected with the stem that they cannot be considered as proclitics. 



In accented words we may distinguish between nouns, neutral verbs, active verbs and un- 

 changeable elements, such as adverbs, conjunctions, expletives. 



The distinction between nouns and neutral verbs is not quite definite. Certain nouns like 

 LaVo'ta Dakota, wicWsa man, and others may be treated as verbs and take pronominal forms, 

 such as La(rna')k t ota'' (I am) a Dakota. On the whole, however, such forms are avoided and we 

 rather have forms like 'Og.la'la /fce(ma')cV an Ogalala (I am) that kind. Nevertheless nouns 

 are verbalized when they take the terminal self-experienced declarative glottal stop: pte' buffalo 

 cow, pte" it is a buffalo cow. 



A distinction is also made between noun and nominalized verb. We can say vri^a'sa ki 

 leye" the man said this, or wic*a'sa k% he' leye" that particular man said this; while waste' ki leye" 

 the good one said this, is not admissible. It must be waste' ki he' leye" the one who is good, that 

 one said this. 



A further difference between nouns and verbs is found in the rules of contraction. Nouns 

 tend to contract two adjoining vowels while verbs keep them separate. (See pp. 6 et seq.) 



Reduplication is very prominent in verbs, exceedingly rare in nouns which occur in redupli- 

 cated form in a few phrases only. (See p. 38.) 



The differentiation between neutral and active verbs is pronounced. They are differentiated 

 by distinct pronouns. The rules of accentuation are different. Neutral verbs when reduplicated 

 are accented on the second syllable, even when the singular stem has the accent on the first 

 syllable, while active verbs reduplicated retain the accent on the first syllable. Furthermore 

 the initial k of neutral and active intransitive verbs is stable, that of active, transitive verbs 

 changes to c after i or e. 



Demonstratives combine in numerous ways with verbs and must be treated as a class by 

 themselves. 



By far the majority of verbal stems are neutral. The concept of a condition extends over 

 almost all inanimate objects that may be brought into a condition. "To scratch" is not primarily 

 an activity; the active verb is derived from the condition of a scratched surface. These stems 

 can be made active only by adding instrumental prefixes which express the means by which the 

 condition is brought about, or by locative elements which apply the condition to a certain object. 



Active verbs are almost exclusively those referring to bodily or mental activities, actions that 

 can be performed by or on living beings only. The only verbs that do not conform to this ride are, 

 so far as I have been able to find, (-)koza to swing, *k < a-pW to surpass ('i'yak'ap^eya surpassing it), 

 (-)pehq' to fold, *t K %' to have, to put on (c'q' ki 'iyu'ha 'ape't'y,' all the trees bear leaves), *'%' to be 

 in existence somewhere (for inanimate objects only when they are sometimes present, sometimes 

 absent: mahe'l 'i'yq k'eya' '%" inside are some stones, as in a rattle ; rnahe'l m.ni' 'y,'sni' there is no 

 water in it) 



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