Munsee (also known as Munsee Delaware, Delaware, Ontario Delaware) is an endangered language of the Eastern Algonquian subgroup of the Algonquian language family, itself a branch of the Algic language family.
The grammar of Munsee is characterized by complex inflectional and derivational morphology. Inflection in Munsee is realized through the use of prefixes and suffixes added to word stems to indicate grammatical information, including number (singular or plural), animacy (understood as grammatical gender), person, possession, negation, and obviation.
Nouns use combinations of person prefixes and suffixes to indicate possession and suffixes to indicate gender, number, diminution, absentation, and obviation.
Verbs use a single set of person prefixes and a series of suffixes in position classes after the verb stem to indicate combinations of person, number, negation, obviation, and other morphological information.
Word classes There are three primary word classes in Munsee Delaware: Noun, Verb, and Particle. There are two subtypes of nouns: Animate and Inanimate. Pronouns in several subtypes can be considered subtypes of the Noun category. Several verbal subclasses are distinguished, with cross-cutting categorization for gender and transitivity defining the four major subclasses: Animate Intransitive, Inanimate Intransitive, Transitive Animate, and Transitive Inanimate. Other verb classes are derived from these primary classes: Transitivized Animate Intransitive, Double Object Transitive, and Objectless Transitive Inanimate, exemplified below. Particles are words that do not select for inflectional prefixes or suffixes.
Nominal categories
Gender
Nouns are classified as either animate or inanimate. Animate nouns include all biologically animate entities, as well as some items not thought of as biologically animate.Examples from Goddard, Ives, 1979 The gender of the base noun is reflected by the selection of the plural inflectional suffix: /-al/ for inanimate nouns, and /-ak/ for animate nouns.
+ Gender – Munsee Animate and Inanimate NounsAnimateEnglishInanimateEnglish áxko·k snake wté·hi·m strawberry lə́nəw man xwáskwi·m corn mătán'to·w devil máhkahkw pumpkin wə̆la·kanahó·nšuy American Elm paxkší·kan knife pí·lkəš peach e·həntáxpo·n table óhpən potato kehkšə́te·k stove lehlo·kíhla·š red raspberry tánkalo·ns bullet níhkaš my fingernail áhpapo·n chair kó·n snow payaxkhí·kan gun né·naxkw ball pónkw dust
Gender is an inherent property of nouns, but is cross-referenced through agreement in several areas of Munsee grammar. In addition to being marked inflectionally in plural forms of nouns, gender is also selected for in the formation of verb stems, is marked in agreement in the inflection of verbs, and is realized in sets of pronouns. The nature of the gender system has been a topic of debate. Some analysts have viewed the assignment of gender as arbitrary, while others view it as being semantically or culturally motivated; intermediate positions have also been proposed.Dahlstrom, Amy, 1995; Goddard, Ives, 2002
Noun inflection Number Nouns are inflected for plural number by selecting the appropriate plural suffix: ăsə́n 'stone' (Inanimate), ăsə́nal 'stones' (suffix /-al/); mwá·kane·w 'dog' (Animate), mwa·kané·wak 'dogs' (suffix /-ak/). There is no suffix for indicating singular.
Proximate and obviative Animate nouns in certain constructions may take an obviative ending, which does not distinguish singular or plural. The obviative distinguishes two third-person referents in certain syntactic and discourse contexts. In a sentence containing a transitive verb with both an animate third person grammatical subject and an animate third person grammatical object one of the two must be marked as obviative. Any animate third person element that is not obviative is proximate. There is no suffixal marking for proximate.
Although the exact significance of the proximate versus obviative distinction has been disputed, a general view is that the proximate noun phrase is more in focus, while the obviative is less in focus or backgrounded.Goddard, Ives, 1990
In the following sentence the first word 'woman' is the grammatical object and is marked obviative with the suffix /-al/: oxkwé·wal wə̆ne·wá·wal lénəw 'the man sees the woman' (woman-obviative third-sees-third man-proximate). Obviation is also marked on the verb with the suffix /-al/.Goddard, Ives, 1979, p. 32 Obviation is only marked on Transitive Animate verbs, and there is no obviative marking on inanimate nouns or verbs.
Nominal possession Nouns may indicate the person and number of a possessor through combinations of personal prefixes and suffixes indicating plurality. The prefixes are (a) /nə-/ 'first person': nə̆máhksən 'my shoe'; /kə-/ 'second person': kə̆máhksən 'your shoe'; /wə-/ 'third person': wə̆náxk 'his hand.'
Locative Nouns may indicate a locative with the locative suffix /-ənk/: wí·kwahm 'house,' wi·kwáhmənk 'in the house.'
Diminutive The noun suffix /-əš/ adds the meaning 'small, cute' and other affective elements to a base noun: máxkw 'bear,' máxkwəš 'little bear.' Some words with the diminutive reflect a specialized meaning: wí·kwahm 'house' but wí·kwáhməš 'toilet, outhouse.' For some words, the words undergo a mutation from their base forms: takwax 'turtle,' čakwaxəš 'little turtle', or asən 'stone,' əšənəš 'little stone.' This occurs as a result of Diminutive Consonant Harmony, where /t/ is palatalized to /č/ and /s/ is palatalized to /š/ when modified by the diminutive.O'Meara, John, 1992, page 46
A small number of nouns reflect an older diminutive suffix /-əs/ which has lost its diminutive meaning: áxko·k 'snake' but with old diminutive suffix axkó·kəs 'insect.'
Absentative Nouns can be marked as referring to a person who is deceased, with a suffix /-aya/ 'third person' or /-ənkala/ 'obviative.' The use of the absentative in Munsee is restricted to deceased persons or kinship terms used to refer to deceased individuals ši·fšáya 'the late Cephas.' Goddard, Ives, 1982 The Unami absentative has a broader range of use.Goddard, Ives, 1979, p. 33-34
Verb classes Verb stems occur in pairs, distinguished by gender. Intransitive verbs select for an animate subject or an inanimate subject, and are referred to as Animate Intransitive: wá·psəw 's/he is white,' or Inanimate Intransitive: wá·pe·w 'it is white.'
Transitive stems select for the gender of their object, and are referred to as either Transitive Animate: ntánha·w 'I lose him,' or Transitive Inanimate: ntaníhto·n 'I lose it.'
Intransitive verbs inflect for their subject, agreeing in person, number and gender of the subject. Transitive verbs inflect for subject and object, agreeing in person, number, and gender of both subject and object. Transitive Animate verbs also agree for obviation.
Certain Animate Intransitive verbs inflect for a secondary object making Transitivized Animate Intransitive verbs: náh ntəlá·he·n 'I threw it over there.' Morphologically, the verb stem /əla·he·-/ 'throw something in a certain direction or manner' has the structure of an Animate Intransitive verb, but is inflected for a third-person object.O'Meara, John, 1992
Similarly, some Transitive Animate verbs inflect for a secondary object, forming ditransitive verbs, termed Double Object Transitive: nkəmó·tə̆ma·n 'I stole it from him.'
Certain verbs, termed Objectless Transitive Inanimate, which have the morphological characteristics of verbs of the Transitive Inanimate class, occur without a grammatical object.Goddard, Ives, 1979, p. 41
Some Objectless Transitive Inanimate verbs also have corresponding Transitive Inanimate verbs.Forms from O'Meara, John, 1996
(a) no·le·lə́ntam 'I am glad.'
(b) no·le·lə́ntamən 'I am glad about it.'
Others never have an object.
(a) šántham 'he kicks out his legs.'
(b) psə́m 'he has something in his eye.'
Verbal inflection Verbs are inflected in three subclasses referred to Orders. These correspond roughly to three major clause types: Independent Order, forming main clause statements and questions; Conjunct Order, forming dependent clauses; and Imperative Order, forming positive and negative commands.Goddard, Ives, 1979, p. 47-48 The Orders are further divided into Modes:
Independent Order Indicative Mode Subordinative Mode Conjunct Order Indicative (fossilized) Changed Conjunct Changed Subjunctive Subjunctive Participle Imperative Order: Ordinary Mode Prohibitive Mode.
The Independent Order uses sets of inflectional prefixes and suffixes, while the Conjunct and Imperative Orders use sets of inflectional suffixes only.
Independent Order
Verbs in the Indicative Mode form statements and questions: mpə́ntawa·w 'I heard him'; kpə́ntawa·w há? 'Did you hear him?' (há is a particle used in the formation of yes–no questions).
Verbs in the Subordinative Mode form complements to certain verbs and to certain particles.
(a) áhwat mpó·si·n 'It's hard for me to get in.' (verb stem /po·si·-/ 'get on board' with subordinative inflection for first-person subject)
(b) nál wə̆níhla·n 'Then he killed the other.' (verb stem /nihl-/ 'kill someone' with subordinative inflection for third-person subject and third-person object)
Conjunct Order
The Conjunct Order forms a variety of subordinate clause types. The Conjunct Indicative Mode is extremely rare, with only a few examples reported in Unami, and none in Munsee.Goddard, Ives, 1979, p. 50
The Changed Conjunct Mode occurs with a restricted set of roots either as part of the verb stem or a preverb, and refers to actually occurring events. The term 'changed' refers to Initial Change, a form of vowel ablaut occurring on the first syllable of a verb or verb complex.
(a) ne·ltó·nhe·t 'as he was talking.'
(b) é·nta- nxá -katənamə́ya·n 'when I was three (years old).'
(c) é·ntxən-pə̆nó·lən 'every time I look at you.'
The Changed Subjunctive combines the subjunctive suffix /-e/ with a changed form of a verb normally formed with the preverb /e·nta-/ 'when.' Goddard, Ives, 1979, p. 51
(a) é·nta-né·wăke 'when I saw him.'
(b) náh we·má·ne 'when I left from there.'
The Subjunctive Mode forms clauses referring to hypothetical situations. The subjunctive suffix /-e/ is added after the conjunct suffix.
(a) moxkánke 'if he finds it.'
The Participial Mode forms noun-like verbs in constructions resembling relative clauses, in which one of the arguments of the verb functions as the head of the phrase.Goddard, Ives, 1979, pp. 52-53
(a) e·kwə̆yá·ni·l 'my clothes' (literally 'those things that I wear')
(b) é·nta-né·wak 'where I saw him'
(c) wé·nk 'he who comes from there'
Imperative Order
Verbs in the Ordinary Mode make commands of various types, in which the listener is directed to perform or undertake an act.
(a) áhl 'put him down.'
(b) áto·kw 'let's go.'
The Prohibitive Mode makes verbs that forbid the commission of an act; they require the use of a prohibitive particle and a negative verbal suffix.
(a) čí·le păkamá·wi 'don't hit him/them (you singular)'
(b) čí· náh á·we·kw 'don't go there' (you plural)'
Verbal negation Verbs of all types are inflected for negation, indicated with a combination of an independent negative particle and a negative suffix occurring as part of the verbal inflectional system.
(a) Transitive Animate: nə̆móxkawa·w 'I found it,' máhta nə̆moxkawá·wi 'I didn't find it.'
(b) Inanimate Intransitive: máxke·w 'it is red,' máhta maxké·wi 'it is not red.'
Verbal aspect