Wendat Dictionary
Glossary of linguistic terms

Glossary of linguistic terms

• Base

  a unit that contains at least one root and sometimes other derivational parts that add to its meaning

  A base is a unit that contains at least one root, but can also contain other derivational units. When a base contains more than just a root, it is considered to be a complex base. There are both complex verb bases and complex noun bases in Wendat. Complex verb bases contain a verb root along with other units, such as prepronominal prefixes, a voice prefix, and derivational suffixes. Because Wendat has noun incorporation, complex verb bases can even contain noun roots or complex noun bases.

• Composition

  the contents of a form

  The composition of an entry or a stem shows all the individual units that make up either the headword of the entry or the form of the stem.

• Conjugation class

  a set of classes for verbs, nouns, and kinship terms that is determined by the first sound or sounds of the stem

  Each entry for a verb root, complex verb base, noun root, complex noun base, and kinship stem is specified as to its conjugation class. There are ten conjugation classes in Wendat, and these classes are established on the basis of the first sound or sounds of the stem. The conjugation class indicates which forms of pronominal prefixes to use with the entry.

  The ten conjugation classes are: a-stem, C-stem, iV-stem, n(d)V-stem, r-stem, e-stem, en-stem, i-stem, o-stem, and on-stem. Many of these classes are straightforward. The a-stem, r-stem, e-stem, en-stem, i-stem, o-stem, and on-stem classes pertain to entries whose stems begin by those individual sounds.

  Other conjugation classes need more explanation. The iV-stem class is for entries that begin with the glide (or semivowel) written as i in the Wendat standardized orthography. It is possible to differentiate between the glide i and the vowel i by looking at the following sound. If the following sound is any vowel (represented by V in the name of this class), then the i is the glide, not the vowel, and the stem belongs to the iV-stem class. If the following sound is a consonant, then the i represents a vowel, and the stem belongs to the i-stem class. The iV-stem class, therefore, represents the sequence of the glide i followed by a vowel (V). The n(d)V-stem class is for entries that begin with an n followed immediately by a vowel or the sequence nd followed immediately by a vowel. If a stem begins with n or nd, but is not followed immediately by a vowel (for example, nh, ndi, ng, etc.), then that entry belongs to the C-stem (consonant stem) class. The C-stem class, where C stands for consonant, is for all entries whose stems begin in a consonant other than the following contexts: iV, n(d)V, or r.

• Interlinear Gloss

  the meaning of each form

  This line in the analysis of examples presents the meanings of each form.

• Noun incorporation status

• Orthography

  the Wendat standardized orthography

  This line in the analysis of examples presents the forms in the Wendat standardized orthography. This orthography was decided upon by the Wendat Language Committee and adopted by the Council of the Huron-Wendat Nation in 2010.

• Part of speech

  a category to which each entry is assigned based on its internal structure and the way it is used in discourse

  Each entry in the dictionary is classified according to its part of speech. This part of speech classification is actually a composite of three different classifications: lexical category, unit type, and grammatical categorization.

  There are four lexical categories in Wendat: verbs, nouns, particles, and kinship terms. Each entry is classified as to its lexical category based on its internal structure and how it is used in discourse. Verbs, for example, are complex, and are the only lexical category that can co-occur with many of its prefixes and suffixes, including voice prefixes and aspect-mood suffixes. Nouns are simpler in their internal structure and consist of a pronominal prefix, a base, and a noun suffix. Particles are words that do not have an internal structure (i.e., they cannot be broken into smaller units) or cannot change their form (i.e., they cannot take prefixes or suffixes). Kinship terms, which refer to kinship relationships, have some characteristics that are verb-like and others that are noun-like, and therefore, they are a category on their own.

  The second component of the part of speech classification is unit type. The unit type refers to the structure of the form. The unit types include root, complex base, stem, affix (including prefix and suffix), clitic, word, collocation, and other larger units. Some of these unit types are defined in individual entries in this glossary.

  The last component of the part of speech classification is grammatical categorization. The grammatical categorization simply specifies the grammatical function of the entry. Some grammatical categorization values are pronominal, prepronominal, voice, derivational, aspect-mood, expanded aspect-mood, attributive, nominal, numeral, and others. The grammatical categorization is useful to distinguish entries which would otherwise have very similar parts of speech. For example, there are many types of verbal prefixes (which would be categorized with the lexical category of verb and the unit type of prefix), but they do not all have the same function nor do they all appear in the same position in the verb. With grammatical categorization, we can distinguish between prepronominal, pronominal, and voice prefixes which all are verbal prefixes.

  We combine these three classifications—lexical category, unit type, and grammatical categorization—to arrive at the part of speech. For example, a verbal nominal, i.e., a verb that is used like a noun in discourse, is classified as a verb for lexical category, a word for unit type, and a nominal for grammatical categorization. In some cases, we only have a subset of these three classifications for an entry. For example, a common part of speech classification in this dictionary is complex verb base, which is a combination of the lexical category verb and the unit type complex base.

• Phonological Form

  underlying forms

  This line in the analysis of examples presents the phonological forms. Phonological forms are underlying forms that sometimes differ from how forms are pronounced. For example, the sound n in Wendat is pronounced n before a nasal vowel like en, on, or an, but is pronounced nd (ⁿd) in all other environments. Even though this sound is pronounced differently depending on the context, the underlying, or phonological, form of this sound is always represented as n. Phonological forms are presented in an Iroquoianist orthography.

• Pre-Wendat Form

  a reconstructed form representing an earlier state of the language

  These forms represent reconstructed forms that are hypothesized to have been part of the Wendat language during a time predating the archival documentation from the 17th and 18th centuries.

• Pronominal Prefix

  a pronoun in the form of a prefix

  Pronominal prefixes are pronouns in the form of prefixes. Every verb, noun, and kinship term must take one pronominal prefix. There are three paradigms of pronominal prefixes (agent, patient, and transitive), and each paradigm has indicative and imperative pronominal forms. The paradigms of pronominal prefixes used by any given verb, noun, or kinship term are specified in the dictionary entries.

• Root

  a unit containing the core of the lexical meaning

  Roots contain the core of the lexical meaning of a larger unit. They cannot be used on their own (i.e., they are bound units). They also cannot be broken down into smaller units.

• Stem

  a unit that contains some inflectional affixes, such as the aspect-mood suffix and any expanded aspect-mood suffix in the case of verbs

  Stems are units that contain some inflectional affixes. In the case of verb stems, this unit begins at the voice prefix category of the verb template and includes the aspect-mood suffix along with any expanded aspect-mood suffix.

• Stem Type

  a verb categorization that specifies the combination of the verb base with the aspect-mood suffix and any expanded aspect-mood suffix

  The stem type is a categorization used for verbs. Its value depends on the aspect-mood suffixes and expanded aspect-mood suffixes that combine with the verb base. For example, the habitual stem refers to the combination of the verb base with the habitual aspect-mood suffix. The different stem types include the basic stem types, such as the habitual stem, the stative stem, the punctual stem, the imperative stem, and the purposive stem. Other stem types (with expanded aspect-mood suffixes) include the habitual past stem, the habitual continuative stem, the habitual continuative imperative stem, the stative past stem, the stative continuative stem, the stative continuative imperative stem, and the purposive past stem.

• Verb class

  a classification that is assigned to each verb based on the aspect-moods it appears with and the selection of pronominal prefixes for these aspect-moods

  There are three major classes of verbs: stative verbs, event verbs, and motion verbs. Stative verbs are verbs that only appear with the stative aspect-mood. These verbs typically describe states of being. An example of a stative verb is -ienhwi-/-nienhwi-/-ien-/-nien- 'to know how to do something'. There are three types of stative verbs: 1) agent stative verbs, which take agent pronominal prefixes; 2) patient stative verbs, which take patient pronominal prefixes; and, 3) transitive stative verbs, which take transitive pronominal prefixes.

  Event verbs are more complex than stative verbs. Event verbs are verbs that appear with the habitual, stative, punctual, and imperative aspect-moods. These verbs typically describe actions and events. An example of an event verb is -ohare- 'to wash something'. There are four types of event verbs: 1) shift event verbs, which take agent pronominal prefixes with the habitual and punctual, patient pronominal prefixes with the stative, and agent imperative pronominal prefixes with the imperative; 2) agent event verbs, which take agent pronominal prefixes with the habitual, stative, and punctual, and agent imperative pronominal prefixes with the imperative; 3) patient event verbs, which take patient pronominal prefixes with the habitual, stative, and punctual, and patient imperative pronominal prefixes with the imperative; and 4) transitive event verbs, which take transitive pronominal prefixes with the habitual, stative, and punctual, and transitive imperative pronominal prefixes with the imperative.

  Motion verbs, which are technically a subclass of event verbs, appear with the habitual, stative, punctual, imperative, and purposive aspect-moods. They typically describe movement or actions or events that involve movement. An example of a motion verb is -hente-/-hent- 'to go ahead'. There are four types of motion verbs: 1) shift motion verbs, which take agent pronominal prefixes with the habitual, punctual, and purposive, patient pronominal prefixes with the stative, and agent imperative pronominal prefixes with the imperative; 2) agent motion verbs, which take agent pronominal prefixes with the habitual, stative, punctual, and purposive, and agent imperative pronominal prefixes with the imperative; 3) patient motion verbs, which take patient pronominal prefixes with the habitual, stative, punctual, and purposive, and patient imperative pronominal prefixes with the imperative; and 4) transitive motion verbs, which take transitive pronominal prefixes with the habitual, stative, punctual, and purposive, and transitive imperative pronominal prefixes with the imperative.

• Verb consequentiality

  a categorization for event and motion verbs that pertains to the meaning of the stative and habitual aspect-moods

  Event verbs and motion verbs need to be categorized as to consequentiality. This categorization has to do with the meanings of the stative and habitual aspect-moods. An event or motion verb is categorized as consequential or non-consequential. A consequential verb is one in which the stative aspect-mood is interpreted as a present perfect, or in other words, it refers to the present consequences of a past event. With a consequential verb, the habitual aspect-mood gains a progressive interpretation alongside its habitual one, or in other words, the event could either be understood to be a habitual or ongoing action or event. A non-consequential verb is one in which the stative aspect-mood refers to a state of being and the habitual aspect-mood refers to a habitual action or event (and not an ongoing action or event).

  I didn't mention variable or unknown as possible values for this categorization, since there are no attested examples of this in the current dictionary.

• Verb Stems

  a section of a verb entry that displays all the verb stems

  The verb stems section of a verb entry displays all the verb stems for that entry.