double inflection

[BARudes at aol.com]

Pam,

I know you asked about the Siouan languages, but I thought you might want to
know that double, as well as triple inflexion for subject also occurs in
Catawba. In Catawba, subject inflexion is marked either by a prefix (which may
appear as an initial consonant mutation on "irregular" verbs) or by a suffix.

Prefix

dat'aNre: 'I wash', yat'aNre: 'you (sg.) wash' (stem: -taN-)

Mutation

n'aNtire: 'I set it', y'aNtire: 'you (sg.) set' (stem: -waNt-)

Suffix

p'iksire: 'I fly', p'ikyire: 'you (sg.) fly' (stem: -pik-)

When the double inflexion consists of two prefixes, it is clear that the verb
form derives from a compound.

ca:n'a:nire: 'I am going to see', ya:y'a:nire: 'you (sg.) are going to see'
(stems: -ra:- 'go', -ka:ni- 'see')

However, when the double inflexion consists of a prefix and a suffix, a
"compound" explanation is not so clear.

n'a?sire: 'I get it', y'a?yire: 'you (sg.) get it' (stem: -ra- 'get'; compare
náre: 'I am getting it', y'are: 'you (sg.) are getting it')

Triple inflected verbs are even less susceptible to a compound analysis.

cun'a?sire: 'I pick it up', yuy'a?yire: 'you (sg.) pick it up' (stem: -ru-
'by hand (instrumental prefix), -ra- 'get', -?- 'momentous aspect suffix')

What appears to have happened was that, at some earlier date, the Catawba
language possesses an auxiliary that was an independent word from the main verb,
and both the main verb and the auxiliary could be inflected for subject.
Later, the auxiliary fused to the main verb and became the suffixes (of which there
can be many) on the main verb. Even after this occurred, the auxiliary
retained its independent inflexion for subject which is now appears as a suffix on
the verb.

Blair