TAM-inflected nominals

[Bill Lewis]

Santiam (dialect of Central) Kalapuya (Oregon) has five (or six) clause
types--matrix, negative, relative, locative, temporal (and repeated activity of
matrix type)--conjugated through five tenses (called present, aorist, recent
past, usitative and future by Howard Berman, who has worked the most on this) by
three (subject) persons, two numbers, and often one (of a few) directional
markers.  This complex forms a neat prefix of, generally, from one to three
syllables in length, the fourth (or second) syllable typically being the
accent-bearing left-most syllable of the verb root.  Suffixes of object
pronominals, applicatives, aspectoids, and plural-markers follow.

Especially interesting for this discussion is the fact that apparently any
important word, including adverbs and independent pronouns, may bear such a
prefix.  Nouns are regularly so conjugated in the tenses and moods, with
prefixal markers -mi- and -mi-hi- often appended (apparently as indication of a
special nominally predicating clause; -hi- appears to be metrical as well).

1)    láu  tshí  tshum-mi=wáyufna!    now  I  I.am=disease        'Now I am a
disease!'

2)   ... kwáuk   kum-mi-hi-páalakya,   kum-pála    ti-yúulhma [tum-yúulhma].
            he       he.was         shaman     it.was
big                         his spirit.power
       ... He was a shaman; his spirit-power was strong.

As in (2), all adjectives are formally verbs, here taking an argument (in object
position).

3)    mátfan   ki-tii-hi=mé?nma ...      all  TEMP.he.was=the-Indian
        'When all was Indian [= were Indians] ... '

I am not sure which of Matthew Dreyer's categories this is; I assume type three.



Bill Lewis

--
J.  William Lewis
Dept. of Linguistics, University of Victoria
(Courier:  D341 Clearihue Bldg.; C-lot, Ring Road, Victoria, BC  V8W 2Y2)
(Snail:    PO Box 3045, Victoria, BC  V8W 3P4)
CANADA
Telephone:  250-480-7338
E-mail:     jwlewis at uvic.ca