The grammar of Cahuilla is agglutinative, head-marking, and makes extensive use of compounding, and derivation. That is, it can add many different prefixes and suffixes to a root until very long words are formed that sum up a whole sentence.
Demonstratives Cahuilla uses a single demonstrative ("this/that") that takes the form before sonorants and elsewhere.
It can be modified with deictic markers meaning local or distant/remote.
ProximalDistal simple complex simple complexsing. subj. sing. obj. plur. subj. plur. obj.
The complex and simple forms have no difference in perceived meaning according to Seiler. The inflection agrees with the sentence itself where the deictic marker co-ordinates with the subject or verb such as in meaning "this over there, the moon," as is inflected to mark the singular subject . Additionally, there are clitic forms of this marker: , and .
Nouns Nominal predicate subject-marking prefixes Nominal predicates (e.g. 'I ') mark their subjects ('I' in the preceding example) by adding a prefix. Nouns bearing subject prefixes can serve as predicates (i.e. 'to be an X') without a copula. Both nominal and verbal predicates distinguish two numbers: singular and plural, and the number of a subject prefix must match that of its predicate.
Nominal predicates may or may not be preceded by the independent pronouns (in parentheses in the table below). PersonNominal subject prefixesExample1S 2S 3S 1P 2P 3P
Absolutive and construct states Like all other Uto-Aztecan languages, Cahuilla nouns usually appear in what is called the absolutive state (also called non-possessed noun state), that is to say an absolutive ending -t, -sh, -l or -ll is added to the bare noun root. If the noun is possessed however (if it's preceded by a possessive prefix or if it's the possessed noun of a compound), these absolutive endings are dropped and the noun appears in what is called the construct state.
The absolutive suffix is absent when the noun is incorporated into a compound of which it is not the head.
Number and plural Like all modern Uto-Aztecan languages (except Tübatulabal), Cahuilla nouns only know the singular and plural numbers. Plural formation in -em Most Cahuilla nouns are made plural by adding the ending -emSaubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 34: wikikmall "bird" → wikikmallem "birds" taxliswet "person" → taxliswetem "people" As seen in the Morphophonology section, the final -sh of some nouns becomes -ch- between two vowelsSaubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 36. This is what usually happens to -sh ending nouns when the plural ending -em is added: ting'ayvash "doctor" → ting'ayvachem "doctors" tekish "cave" → tekichem "caves" Nouns ending with the -l absolutive ending double the l in the plural before -em: ’eqwasmal "boy" → ’qwashmallem "boys"
Plural formation in -am with vowel loss Some nouns do not follow the -em plural formation pattern but take the plural ending -am and loose the last vowel of their rootSaubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 35-36: palukul "snake" → paluklam "snakes" hunal "badger" → hunlam "badgers" Many (but not all) of these nouns have the vowel u in their root: palukul, hunal, tukat etc. A few nouns whose bare root is ending in -sh and that take an absolutive ending -ill make their plural by loosing the -i-: machill "tick" → mashllam "ticks" A few nouns with either double vowel or a diphthong loose the second vowel and replace it by a h while adding -am: neat "basket" → nehtam "baskets" muut "owl" → muhtam "owls" meet "gopher" → mehtam "gophers" Plural formation through consonant reduplication Reduplication is a plural formation way also found in many other Uto-Aztecan languagesHill, J. H, & Hill, K. C. (2019). Comparative Takic Grammar. Survey of California and Other Indian Languages. UC Berkeley: Department of Linguistics., p. 261. Many nouns referring to human beings, family relatives or living beings show traces of reduplication in their plural formation: nawishmal "girl" → nanwishmallem "girls" Here the first consonant n- reduplicates after the first vowel, and the -em ending is added. Reduplication may also occur with the so-called glottal stop ’, as in ’awal "dog" → ’a’walem "dogs". The noun naxanish, "a man" follows this pattern, but the reduplication of -n- before -x- triggered the palatization of -n- into -ng-: naxanish "man" → nangxanichem "men" to this category belongs also the noun ñichill "woman", even though it shows a -ch-/-k- phonological adaptation: ñichill "woman" → ñingkichem "women" The noun kiat shows a full reduplication of the first syllable and the -am plural endingSaubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 36: kiat "child, baby" → kikitam "children, babies" A few nouns, usually referring to inanimate objects, make their plural through first consonant reduplication but without any -em or -am endingSaubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 34: qawish "rock, mountain" → qaqwish "rocks, mountains" ’elat "dress" → ’e’lat "dresses" Plural formation for Spanish borrowings Words borrowed from Spanish often end in -a’ or -u’. Most of them form their plural by reduplicating this final vowel before the plural-marking -mSaubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 38: gaatu’ "cat" → gaatu’um "cats" kaama’ "bed" → kaama’am "beds" liivru’ "book" → liivru’um "books" A few of them, however, form their plural by loosing the ’ and adding -m: vuuru’ "burro, donkey" → vuurum "burros, donkeys" ’eveexa’ "bee" → ’eveexam "bees" To this last category belong the words kampaan "bell" (plural: kampaanem), mansaana’ "apple" and vureewa’ "sheep".
Irregular plural formations A few nouns do not enter in the aforementioned patterns and form their plural by modifying their roots: ’isill "coyote" → ’istam "coyotes" sasang "wild bee" → sasañem "wild bees" A few other nouns do not change in the pluralSaubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 38: kish "house" → kish "house" tamit "sun, day" → tamit "suns, days" pit "road" → pit "roads" kelawat "tree" → kelawat "trees, forest" sawish "bread" → sawish "breads"
Declensions Cahuilla nouns take different forms whether they are the subject of the clause or it's object. When Cahuilla nouns are the object of the verb, they take the ending -i. Naxanish liivru’i leyeerqa = A man is reading the book Nouns that end in a vowel take an -y instead of -i: Ne’elay peteewqa’ = He saw my dress When it is added to a proper noun, the -i is preceded by an hyphen. René Girard-i pe’leyeerqa = You are reading René Girard
Possessive prefixes Possession is usually indicated in Cahuilla by possessive prefixes. The possessed noun must appear in the construct state (without the absolutive endings -t, -sh, -l and -ll) and is preceded by the person possessive prefixes ne-, ’e-, he-, chem-, ’em- and hem-. Only singular nouns can be given in the possessed form. If they want to mean that they possess a plural noun, Cahuilla speakers use the same form as the singular (nesaw means "my bread" as well as "my breads")Saubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 67. Here are a few exceptions : the 3rd person singular prefix he- is only attached to monosyllabic nouns. For longer nouns, no prefix is added and one only knows the noun is possessed because of its construct state (so that taxmu'a must mean his song because a song or the song would be the absolutive form taxmu'at)Saubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 68. a few words, usually Spanish borrowings (but not only, and not all Spanish-borrowed words) also take a possessive suffix -kiSaubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 69-70: weevu’ → chemweevu’ki, "our egg(s)" mansaana’ → ’emansaana’ki, "your apple(s)" nouns referring to animals use the word ’achill (construct state ’ash) "animal" to make their possessive forms, so that cannot say *ne'aw, "my dog" (from ’awal) but has to use the word ’ash followed (or preceded, the order is free) by the word for dog, ’awalSaubel, Katherine Siva, Pamela Munro, Chem'ivillu' (Let's Speak Cahuilla), Los Angeles, American Indian Studies Center, University of California, 1982, p. 70 : ’awal → ne’ash awal or ’awal ne’ash, "my dog" gaatu’ → he’ash gaatu’ or gaatu’ he’ash, "his cat" the word qichill (construct state qish) "money" is irregular, it takes a suffixe -ki'a in addition to the aforementioned prefixes: qichill → neqishki’a, "my money" PersonMarkerkish, short nountaxmu'at, long nounliivru’, Spanish-borrowed noun’awal, animal noun1S 2S 3S (for monosyllabic nouns) (for longer nouns) 1P 2P 3P
Nominalizers Nominalization, or the creation of nouns from verbs and adverbs as is the case in Cahuilla, occurs fairly frequently. Grammatically, these so-called nominalizers created nominal forms from verbs or adverbs, they can be translated in English either by a verbial clause or by a noun, depending on the case.
Verbial nominalizers Seiler lists ten nominalizers attached to the verb playing a wide range of functions.
'inceptive' Using Seiler's terminology, this nominalizer indicates an oriented relationship in the noun/action, very similar to the nominal suffix (see below). As tense plays little role in the language, this should not be taken to mean 'future.'
SUFF:suffix PRON:pronoun STEM:stem P2:P2 prefix P1:P1 prefix O:object prefix
'excellence' This denotes goodness or excellence.
'supposed to fulfill function' This denotes where one is supposed to fulfill a specialized function, notably in a socio-cultural context.
'completed action or process' Denotes a completed action or being completed as a process.
'performing in a special situation' Denotes performing an act in a specially defined situation. Compare the following examples:
'habitual or competent performer' Functioning similarly to , denotes a competent or habitual performer. When in combination with the durative (, ) or stative (, ), it takes the form . Compare the following examples:
& 'abstract nominalizers' These makes abstract verbs into nouns. Where and can attach to abstract verbs with few restrictions, is restricted to abstract verbs which are then possessed once nominalized.
'unrealized subordination' Nominalizes verbs that both indicates subordination and something that has not yet happened.
'event already occurring or occurred' Nominalizes verbs in regard to occurrence of the action.
'located event' A complex of suffixes where the verbal suffix indicates 'locale, place' such as:
Combining with the abstract nominalizer, there become forms such as:
Adverbial nominalizers There is only one adverbial nominalizer according to Seiler's Grammar, which is . It can either affix to adverbs to denote being from a place or time or denote ordering.
Place/Time
Place/Time
Ordering
Pronouns Independent personal pronouns