Cherokee or Tsalagi (ᏣᎳᎩ ᎦᏬᏂᎯᏍᏗ, Tsalagi Gawonihisdi [dʒalaˈɡî ɡawónihisˈdî]) is an endangered-to-moribund Iroquoian language and the native language of the Cherokee people.

All presented prefixes and suffixes will be in the Latin script.

General

Cherokee is a polysynthetic verb-heavy nominative–accusative language with a non-productive incorporation system. Verbs may be inflected with a large number of suffixes and prefixes that express a range of properties, including subject and/or object agreement, tense and aspect, and evidentiality.

Verbs

Verbs are the central, obligatory part of Cherokee sentences (with the exception of affirmative copular sentences in the present tense). Verbs in Cherokee fall into two conjugation classes, which determine the forms of pronominal prefixes in most tenses. [1]

Structure

The morphological structure of verbs can be analyzed in terms of a slot system, in which every verb possesses the following basic slots.[2] Obligatory items are marked in bold.

prefixes verb stem suffixes
initial pronouns reflexive
-3 -2 -1
non-final final
1 2

Please note that for every following table only the basic form, sometimes/mostly even without a translation, will be listed to not overload the visual input. Phonemical changes and the meaning depend heavily on context and are better described individually in the following sections. The basic morpheme will be displayed in bold for disambiguation. Here is an overview for the depiction of the context and the following changes:

Symbol Meaning
_C before a consonant
_V before a vowel
C_ after a consonant
V_ etc.
= _ becomes _
X zero-marking
_x deletes the following phoneme (often because of merging)
+ in cooperation with

Initial prefixes (-3)

The initial prefixes are optional. They may not co-occur if they inhabit the same slot or convey contradictory ideas.[3]

-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1
y w n de da i ga
j di e
slot prefix _C _V _w _h _i -i y/n/w_ y/n/w_h _a _da/di _ga _u X_ meaning + marks
-7 y yi y yu hy_x -uncertainty

-if-clause

-negation

 X

(subordinate clause)

hla+
j ji j ju -relative clauses

-specific past

-negative imperative

-repetitive imperative

 X

(time-word)

hlesdi+

X

 can also not occur with ga-
-6 w wi w hw_x -face/motion/distance away from speaker

-"let" (non 2 person)

-dative

 X

X

-el
-5 n ni n hn_x -lateral position

-"already"

-negative (relative clause)

-"without"

 X

(past tense/fut.progr./habitual)

-na +j(to be)

X
-4 de de d de_x do_x di t_x do -plural inanimate_objects/acts X
j di_x e- (imperative/infinitive)
-3 da da day t_x da_x dv_x future -i (future tense)
di j -esdi (habitual)
da day dv_x motion towards speaker
di j di_X (habitual/progressive/reportative)
di di_x
-2 i i X3 v -"again" can be substituted by high pitch
v -vi
-1 ga ga gay gv_x -"since"
ge (2nd person)
gvw gvwa_x (3rd person)

Pronoun prefixes (-2)

All Cherokee verbs occur with a pronoun prefix that expresses person properties of a subject argument, object argument, or some combinations of subject and object properties. There are two sets of pronoun prefixes, set A and set B (also known as set I and set II). Only set B prefixes are used with completive and infinitive stems. In other tenses, the choice of prefix is determined by the identity of the verb. These are only present if the verb is intransitive, for transitive verbs one joined set is used. Mark that the exclusive forms are generated by taking the corresponding 2nd person form and adding an "O".

Set I (A)

(The structure is _C | _V)

Person Singular Dual Plural
inclusive exclusive inclusive exclusive
1 ji | g ini | in osdi | osd idi | id oji | oj
2 hi | h sdi | sd iji | ij
3 ga/a | X ani | an
Set II (B)
Person Singular Dual Plural
inclusive exclusive inclusive exclusive
1 agi | agw gini | gin ogini | ogin igi | ig ogi | og
2 ja | j desdi | desd deji | dej
3 u | X uni | un
Compound pronouns

Compound pronoun prefixes express a combination of subject and object properties. Some unique forms are used when both the subject and object of the verb are participants in the conversation (first and second person). Other compound pronouns are used with combinations of a first or second person subject and a third person object. These forms depend on the animacy of the third person object. A prominent feature of transitive pronouns is the -y- insertion. Often the pronoun relationship is both ways and can be used for either action, ambiguity is ensured by patterns of changes within the verb stem.

1st person singular object - 'me'
Person Singular Dual Plural
2 sgi | sgw sgini | sgin isgi | isgiy
3 agwa | agw gvgi | gvgw
2nd person singular object 'thee'
Person Singular Dual Plural
exclusive! exclusive!
1 gv | gvy sdv | sdvy ijv | ijvy
3 ja | j geji | gej

Easily recognizable are the forms of the first-to-second person plural and dual. They are produced via a vowel alternation from the second person forms in which former -i- now wields -v-.

3rd person singular animate object 'the other'
Person Singular Dual Plural
inclusive exclusive inclusive exclusive
1 ji | jiy eni | en osdi | osd edi | ed oji | oj
2 hi | hiy esdi | esd eji | ej
3 ga/a | g A: ani | an B: uni | un

These are basically the set A pronouns, but with a -y- insertion in the singular and an -e- prefix in all forms where the second person is active and non-singular.

3rd person singular inanimate object 'it' set A
Person Singular Dual Plural
inclusive exclusive inclusive exclusive
1 ji | g ini | in osdi | osd idi | id oji | oj
2 hi | h sdi | sd iji | ij
3 ga/a | g ani | an
3rd person singular inanimate object 'it' set B
Person Singular Dual Plural
inclusive exclusive inclusive exclusive
1 agi | agw gini | gin ogini | ogin igi | ig ogi | og
2 ja | j sdi | sd iji | ij
3 u | uw uni | un
1st person dual inclusive object "us both"
Person Singular Plural
3 gini | gin gegini | gegin

These basically stem from the active forms of the corresponding set B pronouns, but now they represent the direct object instead.

1st person dual exclusive object "me and him/her"
Person Singular Dual Plural
2 sgini | sgin isgi | isgiy
3 ogini | ogin gogini | gogin
2nd person dual object "you two"
Person Singular Dual Plural
exclusive! exclusive!
1 sdv | sdvy ijv | ijvy
3 sdi | sd gesdi | gesd
1st person plural inclusive object "us (all)"
Person Singular Plural
3 igi | ig gegi | geg
1st person plural exclusive object "me and them"
Person Singular Dual Plural
2 isgi | isgiy
3 ogi | og gogi | gog
2nd person plural object "you (all)"
Person Singular Dual Plural
exclusive! exclusive!
1 ijv | ijvy iji | ij
3 iji | ij geji | gej
3rd person plural animate object "them"
Person Singular Dual Plural
inclusive exclusive inclusive exclusive
1 gaji | gajiy geni | gen gosdi | gosd gedi | ged goji | goj
2 gahi | gahiy gesdi | gesd geji | gej
3 degi | deg A: gani | gan B: guni | gun
3rd person plural inanimate object "these things" set A
Person Singular Dual Plural
inclusive exclusive inclusive exclusive
1 dega | deg deni | den dosdi | dosd dedi | ded doji | doj
2 dehi | deh desdi | desd deji | dej
3 degi | deg dani | dan
3rd person plural inanimate object "these things" set B
Person Singular Dual Plural
inclusive exclusive inclusive exclusive
1 dagi | dagw degini | degin dogini | dogin degi | deg dogi | dog
2 deja | dej desdi | desd deji | dej
3 du | duw duni | dun

Reflexive marker (-1)

_C _V _a u_ number meaning +
ada ada adad ad uda sg (dl/pl) reflexive action "oneself"
dl or pl reciprocative: "each other" de-

Verbstem (0)

Final and non-final suffixes (1)

The slots of both final and non-final suffixes cannot be properly dissected and thus the attribute final only means that one of these is obligated at all times. For some suffixes even the exact position is disputed amongst native speakers. In the following table final suffixes are marked bold. Because of the sheer amount of suffixes and the number of exceptions it is more efficient for students to learn the most common fused forms first (mostly those with -'i). Markers of aspect and tense are found in this category.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
gi is ilo dan ohn el idol e g v'i gwu sgo ju
e dohdan ihl idi e'i ke
y i esdi na
o'i hv
di isi
a dina
dv
slot suffix _C _V _g s_ meaning +
_(any suffix) _ga _v'i _di _ilo _el _a _i
1 gi gi gis reversive
e (last stem vowel x)
y (before last stem vowel)
2 is is isis isiha_xx isahn isoh duplicative
isahn isis is isan "become"
3 ilo ilos ilo' iloj repetitive
4 dan dan dis diha_xx doh d causative/instrumentative
dohdan dohdan dohdis dohdiha_xx dohdoh dohd unintentional
5 ohn ohn ohvs ohvs completive
6 el el eha_xx eh dative/benefactive
7 idol idol idoh idoh id evasive/circumlative
8 e vs e vs ug es "at intervals"/"go sw. to _"
ihl ihl ihih_x ihis "come here to _"
9 g g x_h g progressive
idi idis pre-incipient (set B)
idena "immediately"
i i is future
10 v'i v past
future imperative
e'i e reportative
esdi future progressive
o'i o habitual
di infinitive (set B)
a present
11 gwu "only, just, still"
12 s(go) interrogative (Yes/No)
13 ju interrogative (also Yes/No but needs more information)
ke "or" interrogative (second verb; unlike english)
na "and what if/about?"
hv "but" (follows sgo)
isi "or else"
dina concessive imperative
dv focus

Nouns

Nouns are often treated as verbs in the manner of to be someone.

Prefixes

The number of prefixes nouns can take is comparably smaller than that of verbs, but since nouns can be treated as verbs with the translation of "to be", the same prefixes as with verbs may be used, if not exchanged with one of the three below.

suffix _C _V _u meaning
di di j d plural (inanimate)
a human
n ni n plural (animate)

Thus plural words for humans take an(i)- as marker (even if the a was optional).

Conjugation - to be someone

For persons and their belongings normally set A prefixes are used. The second person forms also serve as vocative.

Possession - to belong to someone

Every bodypart has to be possessed, unless it is understood as detached or as a general image for example. The bodyparts take both set A and set B prefixes.

Kinship - to be someone in relation to someone

To explain kinship (or other relationships) the transitive compound pronouns are used. In this case the agent part expresses who it is (ex. I am a father) whilst the formerly patient part indicates to whom the relationship takes place (I-him-father = I, his father).

Suffixes

The same with the prefixes; the presented suffixes are exclusive for nouns, whilst these can also take numerous verb suffixes.

i gwu sgo ju
hi na ke
ha hv
ya'i dv

The coverbal suffixes are applied after the pure noun suffixes.

suffix a_ o_
'i x_o'i / x_v'i locative/"place"
hi x_ohi x_v'i
ha partitive/"only"
ya'i (x_iya'i) "pure", "real"

Adjectives

Adjectives can also be treated as verbs of certain qualities, they precede the noun they qualify.

Adverbs

Adverbs are essentially adjectives preceding the qualified verb.

References

  1. ↑ "pronouns".
  2. ↑ "structure".
  3. ↑ "initial prefixes".
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