15 results found

Sahaptin

čiškíin ~ ičiškíin ‘in this language, in Sahaptin’.

-a

Function:

Present perfect.

See more:

NW Sahaptin. Suffixes to in and un verbs (Umatilla simply lengthens the in and un in the present perfect). See Table 18.

xaslú

Star. ana kú iwá c̓áac̓aa xaslú alxayxmíyaw ku ác̓aasa pɨnmíin háašt ‘when the star is close to the moon he is dying’. [Y x̣aaslú; NP /x̣c̓yu/; both languages may share a common root, *xɨs ~ *x̣ɨs, with Sahaptin suffixing -lu and Nez Perce /-ˀyu/.]

watx̣ɨ́n

Function:

Yes-no question particle.

Examples:

  1. watx̣ɨ́n iwínaša ‘is he going?’;
  2. watx̣ɨ́naš čúutata ‘may I go get a drink?’;
  3. watx̣ɨ́nam áwɨna nayáyasaan ‘did you tell my older brother?’;
  4. watx̣ɨ́nam ímč̓a tq̓íx̣ša ‘do you want [some] too?’;
  5. watx̣ɨ́nam ášukʷaša šína kʷná patámiča ‘do you know who they buryied there?’;
  6. watx̣ɨ́naš ínč̓a wínata ‘may I go too?’;
  7. watx̣ʷɨ́nam tamášwikayitax̣na sɨ́nwit ‘could you interpret for me?’;
  8. kʷawatx̣ɨ́n ‘could it be that?’.

See more:

míš ‘How? why? however, somehow, anyhow, in whatever manner.’

[NE wát; other Sahaptin míš; NP /wét/.]

Wánapam

River people, Priest Rapids people, Northeast Sahaptins. áx̣twaynaaš wínšna Wánapamkni kutaš ayáyat pápasamx̣nana ‘I met a man from Wanapam and we talked to each other wonderfully’; Wanapammaamíyawnaš wínaša ‘I’m going to Priest Rapids’.

tíla

Maternal grandfather; man’s daughter’s child. tíla ‘grandfather!’; natílas ‘my grandfather’; tíl ‘your grandfather’; íntil ‘my grandchild’; ímtil ‘your grandchild’; tíla ‘(his/her) grandfather; his daughter’s child’; natílasanɨms ɨ́nna ‘my grandfather told me’; natílasayin páq̓inuna ‘my grandfather saw him’; amaš šín wačá imíin tíla ‘whoever was your grandfather’; kúušx̣i inmí tíla ittáwax̣na Ímatalampa ‘in the same way my grandfather grew up at Umatilla’; čáwnaš mún q̓inúna tíla ‘I never saw my grandfather’; tilamí áwa ‘it’s his grandfather’s’; tílanɨmš iníya ‘his grandfather gave it to me’; tílayin pániya ‘your grandfather gave it to him’; tílapa iníya ‘he gave it to his grandfather’; iq̓ínušanaaš tiláp ‘your grandfather saw me’; áq̓inušanaaš tiláp ‘I saw your grandfather’; tilapmí waníčt ‘his grandfather’s name’; pínapu pawačá inmíkni tilamíkni ‘there were four from my maternal grandfather’s side’; mɨ́ł áwača x̣áyma natilasanmí ‘how many brothers did my grandfather have?’; áwača natilasanmí ašwaníyama ‘my maternal grandfather had slaves’; čí iwá ímtil ‘this is your grandchild’. [NE síla; NP /plq/; the deviant NE sound correspondence (s for t) suggests borrowing in Sahaptin: cf. Moses-Columbian ttíl̓aˀ ‘maternal grandfather’ Beavert & Hargus (2009:213).]

-ta

Definition:

Will do something, going to do something. new info

Function:

Attach to the end of a verb. new info

Examples:

  1. Future tense.
    1. áwnam ímč̓a wáta waníči ‘now you also will be named’;
    2. pawaníčtanam sɨ́kni ‘they will name you Síkni‘;
    3. kumaš ƛ̓áax̣ʷ níix̣ wɨ́šayčta ‘and all yours will become good’.
  2. Used in noncounterfactual conditionals:
    1. apam kú ttáwax̣ta kupam p̓ɨ́x̣ta ‘when you grow up you will remember’;
    2. apam kú tkʷáynpta kupam laˀák wiyáłamayčta ‘when you go hunting you might get lost’.
  3. Often with deontic sense:
    1. kunam íkʷɨn wínata ‘and you should go there’;
    2. qqaanáytapam ‘you should work!’;
    3. sápsik̓ʷatapam sɨ́nwit naamí ‘you should teach our language’.

See more:

  1. [NP /-uˀ/, future cislocative /-uˀkum/; Sahaptin future -ta is a grammatical extension of purposive -ta.]

spílya

Coyote, Canis latrans. [NP /ˀiceyéye/, likely Shoshoni loan where the word for ‘coyote’ is based on a verb stem, ˀisa, meaning ‘to tell a lie’. Aoki 1994:1007. Sahaptin spílya appears to be a Salish loan.]

-pam

Gentillic. N Sahaptin, sometimes borrowed into Columbia River. pášx̣apam ‘people from Walla Walla, Washington’; Walawalapamłaamí ‘of the Walla Walla people’; X̣ʷáyłx̣ʷaypam ‘Klickitat people’. Umatilla uses -łáma. [NP /-puu/.]

mulá

Mule, donkey. Also limíil. [NP /mólaa/, /molaa/; from Spanish first into Sahaptin and then into Nez Perce according to Aoki 1994:456.]

Max̣máx̣s

A placename on the Snake River. Bruce Rigsby: “It’s Mex̣méx̣s in Tom Andrews’ Palouse Sahaptin.”

Language

čiškíin ~ ičiškíin ‘in this language, in Sahaptin’.

łq̓ám

Moccasin, shoe. walím łq̓ám ‘common shoe’. łq̓ám is more N Sahaptin, for Umatilla word see wɨłq̓ám.

ɨstíˀɨstins

Arrowhead, wapato, Sagittaria latifolia, “a root of the Columbia interior” (Jacobs 1931:102, 225), “no Sahaptin term known” (Hunn 1990:347). Also stínstins. [Y wáptu; cf. Y ɨstínstins ‘evergreen needle, icicle, railroad tie’.]

čiškíin

In this language, in Sahaptin. Also ičiškíin. isɨ́nwisa čiškíin ‘he is speaking in this language’. [NP /ttooqat´mtki/ ‘in the Indian language’.]