Request for examples

[Amy Fountain]

I think that also in Navajo (Navajo/Apachean experts, please correct me 
if I'm wrong) one finds:

jini(high tone on the final i (only))

in constructions that might translate as 'it is said' or 'people say'. 
This form has the so-called '4th person' prefix ji-, which is an 
obligatorily human pronoun.

Maybe this '4th person' subject marker is the analogous bit to the 
'irregular indefinite human subject' you're illustrating in Tlingit?  It 
might be used in stories, or with general warnings (i.e. 'people say one 
shouldn't X') and such (among many other contexts)?

I'm not getting this from a reference work - it's come up several times 
in an introductory Navajo language class I habitually sit in on. But it 
can be found in the Young and Morgan dictionaries under the C-I form of 
the verb 'to say'.

If Frank can confirm, maybe it'd fit the bill for you?  Or other 
Apacheanists - does this ring true for you?

The stem is the same as in the first set of Frank's examples.  Looks 
like a zero classifier, and the 4th person subject ji-.

Would you be willing to share the list you come up with, James?

Best,

Amy

Hardy, Frank wrote:
> The following examples are from Navajo: 
> 
> ání (á "thus" + ní "say"), "he says thus," if "thus" is the best gloss for this prefix. (Also ní "he says.") Parallel with this we have 
> ákóní (á "thus" + kó "thus" + ní "say"), "he says thus (with emphasis on thus)." (Also kóní "he says thus.") 
> 
> Separately, but putting the previous line (ákóní, kóní) in context, we have
> át'é (á "thus" + t'é "be"), "it is thus." (But NOT also just *t'é "it is.") Parallel with this we have 
> ákót'é (á "thus" + kó "thus" + t'é "it is thus"), "it is thus (with emphasis on thus)." (Also kót'é "it is thus.")
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ATHAPBASCKAN-L [mailto:ATHAPBASCKAN-L at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG] On Behalf Of James Crippen
> Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 5:11 AM
> To: ATHAPBASCKAN-L at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
> Subject: Request for examples
> 
> Can anyone send me an example or two of the verb "people said so" in
> their favorite Athabaskan language? According to an article I'm
> reading, this verb has the areal prefix as an irregular indefinite
> human subject in most or all languages in the family. I'd like to
> collect a couple of examples of this for an informal paper I'm writing
> for a class. Here's the Tlingit form as a template of what I'd like to
> see:
> 
> yéi khuyaawakhaa
> yéi=khu-ÿa-ÿu-ÿa-khaa
> thus=AREAL-VSFC-PFV-CL[−D,0,+I]-say
> "people said so"
> 
> VSFC = vertical surface (< du yá "his face", a yá "its vertical surface")
> CL[−D,0,+I] = classifier, +D, 0-series, positive I component (only
> occurs in Tlingit and Eyak)
> 
> If you can provide a published reference for where the form occurs,
> that's great, but otherwise I'll just say "personal communication".
> 
> Thanks,
> James

-- 
Amy Fountain, Ph.D., Lecturer
Department of Linguistics
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721

avf at u.arizona.edu