Download VTA Stem Classes One of the greatest challenges of learning

VTA Stem Classes
One of the greatest challenges of learning Anishinaabemowin is in learning all the different
forms that VTA verbs can take. Not only are there many hundreds of commonly forms, but there
is variation in forms, depending on how the basic stem of the VTA verb ends. While there is lots
to learn, recognition of a small number of distinct sub-classes of VTA will help immensely in
knowing how to form and understand various forms. Here are the basic types of VTA verb. Each
of these discussed in greater detail below.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Class
Consonant-Final
Consonant+/w/-Final
/aw/-Final
/N/-Final
/S/-Final
Example
waabam
nazikwe’
bizindaw
miizh
mawadish
Example Meaning
‘see s.o.’
‘comb s.o.’s hair’
‘listen to s.o.’
‘give to s.o’
‘visit s.o.’
Basic Stem
/waabam/
/nazikwe’w/
/bizindaw/
/miiN/
/mawadiS/
Descriptions of Classes
A careful analysis of the workings of VTA verbs allows us to identify prefixes and sets of
endings (suffixes and groups of suffixes) that are added to VTA’s in order to identify the subject
and object. These affixes (prefixes and suffixes) are quite constant in their basic forms, but
sometimes interact with the basic verb stem to create small amounts of variation in either or both
the suffixes and the basic verb stem. The five classes outlined above account for this variation,
by grouping VTA verbs according to the form the final consonant of their basic stems. The kinds
of variation that is found in inflectional patterns can be seen from the following forms.
imp., 2s » 3
ind., 3s » 1s
ind., 2s » 1s
ind., 1s » 2s
1
2
3
4
C-Final
waabam
see s.o.
niwaabamig
giwaabam
giwaabamin
Cw-Final1
naazikwe’
comb s.o.’s hair
ninaazikwe’og
ginaazikwe’
ginaazikwe’on
/aw/-Final2
bizindaw
listen to s.o.
nimbizindaag
gibizindaw
gibizindoon
/N/-Final3
miizh
give to s.o.
nimiinig
gimiizh
gimiinin
/S/-Final4
mawadish
visit s.o.
nimawadisig
gimawadish
gimawadisin
Note how this form in some ways appears to resemble a C-final stem, but has suffix forms
/og/ and /on/ where C-final stems have /ig/ and /in/.
Note how the 3s»1s form obliterates the final /aw/ of the stem, and appears to add a suffix
/aag/; note how /aw/ is also obliterated too in the 1s»3s form, and the suffix appears to be
/oon/.
Note how the basic form of the verb appears to alternate between having a final /zh/ and a
final /n/.
Note how the basic form of the verb appears to alternate between having a final /sh/ and a
final /s/. Note too that where /N/-final stems have /zh/, /S/-final have /sh/, and where /N/-final
have /n/, /S/-final have /s/.
VTA STEM CLASSES
2
VTA Class I. Consonant-Final VTA Stems
This is the most straightforward class, in terms of the transparency of suffixation. These are
verbs that have a basic stem that ends in a single consonant, usually /m/, /n/, or /’/. The
imperative form cited in the dictionary accurately identifies the basic form.
Example
adaam
amadin
anokii’
awi’
ayeko’
bawin
minwenim
waabam
webin
wiidosem
Example Meaning
‘buy (something) from s.o.’
‘wake s.o.’
‘make s.o. work’
‘loan (something) to s.o.
‘make s.o. tired’
‘shake s.o.’
‘like s.o.’
‘see s.o.’
‘throw s.o. away; divorce s.o.’
‘walk with s.o.’
Basic Stem
/adaam/
/amadin/
/anokii’/
/awi’/
/ayeko’/
/bawin/
/minwenim/
/waabam/
/webin/
/wiidosem/
VTA Class II. Consonant+/w/ Final VTA Stems
This class has a basic stem that ends in a consonant followed by /w/. When suffixes are added
that begin with /i/, the /w/ very often coalesces with the /i/ to produce /o/. In the case of simple
imperatives, the final /w/ of the stem combines with the /i/ of the imperative suffix to become /o/,
and this /o/ is then usually deleted by the standard rule that deletes final short vowels in nouns
and verbs. Since the citation form in the dictionary is the simple imperative, this form often fails
to indicate that the stem actually ends in /w/. Nichols and Nyholm list the basic stem form
separately, as I have below.
Example
aaba’
abiz
adima’
amo
atis
baashkiz
bakite’
bazhiba’
diba’
moona’
Example Meaning
‘undo s.o., untie s.o.’
‘warm s.o. at the fire’
‘catch up to s.o., in a boat’
‘eat s.o.’
‘dye s.o.’
‘shoot s.o.’
‘hit s.o.’
‘stab s.o.’
‘pay for s.o., bail s.o. out’
‘dig s.o. up’
Basic Stem
/aaba’w/
/abizw/
/adima’w/
/amw/
/atisw/
/baashkizw/
/bakite’w/
/bazhiba’w/
/diba’w/
/moona’w/
VTA STEM CLASSES
3
In Southwestern Ojibwe, the VTA verbs of tasting having the final /(i)pw/ take a dummy element
/-izh/ in their imperative form, which combines with the final /w/ of the stem to produce /ozh/.
This dummy element doesn’t occur in non-imperative forms.
Example
gojipozh
minopozh
Example Meaning
‘take a taste of s.o.’
‘like the taste of s.o.’
Basic Stem
/gojipw/
/minopw/
VTA Class III. /aw/-Final VTA Stems
This class has stems that end in /aw/, and is very common because many VTA verbs are derived
by adding /-amaw/ to a VTI base. The main distinction of this class is that the final /aw/
coalesces with certain endings that begin with /ig/ to produce /aa/, as in ninoondaag, ‘s/he hears
me’ (from /ni-noondaw-ig/, and with endings that begin with /in/ to produce /oo/, as in
ginoondoon, ‘I hear you (sg.),’ (from /gi-noondaw-in/).
Example
biizikaw
gabenaw
ganawendamaw
giimitaw
giizizamaw
gikinoo’amaw
jiibiingwetaw
mamaw
noondaw
ozhitamaw
Example Meaning
‘wear s.o., put s.o. on’
‘win from/beat s.o. in a game’
‘take care of (something) for s.o.’
‘eavesdrop on s.o.’
‘cook (something) for s.o.’
‘teach (something) to s.o.
‘wink at s.o.’
‘take (something) from s.o.’
‘hear s.o.’
‘make (something) for s.o.’
Basic Stem
/biizikaw/
/gabenaw/
/ganawendamaw/
/giimitaw/
/giizisamaw/
/gikinoo’amaw/
/jiibiingwetaw/
/mamaw/
/noondaw/
/ozhitamaw/
VTA Class IV. /N/-Final VTA Stems
Members of this class of stems alternate between having a final /n/ and a final /zh/. In
imperatives and in forms having first person objects, the final consonant of the base is /zh/, as in
miizh, ‘give (it) to her/him,’ and miizhiyan, ‘(if ) you (sg.) give it to me.’ Elsewhere the final
consonant is /n/, as in nimiinaa, ‘I give (it) to her/him,’ and miininaan, ‘(if) I give (it) to you
(sg.).’ Linguists distinguish these /n/’s that sometimes show up as /zh/ by representing them with
a capital /N/, which is distinct from a regular /n/, which is always spelled in basic forms with a
lower case «n». So when you see a form in your dictionary listed as having the stem /miiN/, this
means that the final sound of its stem alternates between /n/ and /zh/, or to use our classification,
belongs to VTA Class IV.
This class of verbs can often be identified by its citation form, because most VTA verbs that
have citation forms that end in /zh/ are of this type, the exception being verbs that end in /zhw/
(and thus belong to Class II, above—these are a problem because they will lose their final /w/ in
the imperative, e.g., gwayakozh, ‘cut it (an.) straight,’ from /gwayakozhw/, and so appear to end
in /zh/, but in reality end with a /w/). Where things get tricky for us as learners is when we hear a
VTA STEM CLASSES
4
new VTA verb in a particular usage, such as nimaagonaa, ‘I press on it (an.).’ Here we can’t tell
whether this verb is a Class I, and has a basic form of /maagon/, or a Class IV, and has a basic
form of /maagoN/. If you are with a native speaker, you can ask them how to give the command
form, and if you are not, you can try looking the word up in the dictionary, and hopefully, the
word will be listed there.
Example
aawazh
biizh
bookobizh
dakobizh
dasoozh
debibizh
gaazh
ganoozh
giiwewizh
izhi
miizh
naazh
Example Meaning
‘haul s.o.’
‘bring s.o.’
‘break s.o. in half with one’s hands’
‘tie s.o., bind s.o.’
‘trap s.o.’
‘grab s.o., get ahold of s.o.’
‘hide s.o.’
‘speak to s.o., call s.o. on the phone’
‘take s.o. home’
‘say (something) to s.o.’
‘give (something) to s.o.’
‘go get s.o., fetch s.o.’
Basic Stem
/aawaN/
/biiN/
/bookobiN/
/dakobiN/
/dasooN/
/debibiN/
/gaaN/
/ganooN/
/giiwewiN/
/iN/
/miiN/
/naaN/
Stems in /nN/. There are also a couple of VTA verbs that have /n/ before the final /zh/ (/N/).
This /n/ is deleted when the final /N/ is realized as /n/, as in niwaawiinaa, ‘I mention it (an.).’
Example
gonzhi
izhi-wiinzh
waawiinzh
wiinzh
Example Meaning
‘swallow s.o.’
‘name s.o. a certain way’
‘name s.o., mention s.o.’
‘name s.o., mention the name of s.o.’
Basic Stem
/gonN/
/izhi-wiinN/
/waawiinN/
/wiinN/
The Verb izhi. The verb izhi, ‘say (something) to s.o.,’ is quite irregular in its behavior, in that
its basic stem is /iN/, but before suffixes that begin with /ig/, the basic stem is deleted, compare,
for example, niwaabamig, ‘s/he sees me,’ from VTA waabam, ‘see s.o.,’ with (n)indig, ‘s/he
says to me,’ the latter of which consists only of the person prefix /(n)ind/, and the suffix /-ig/.
The verb base is completely deleted. Because izhi also alternates between final /n/ and /zh/ in its
forms, it often presents a great puzzle to language learners. But, in fact, its forms are quite
predictable if one has a good understanding of how VTA verbs work.
VTA Class V. /S/-Final VTA Stems
This class has stems that alternate between having a final /s/ and a final /sh/. The alternation is
according to the same pattern that describes the alternation of /n/ and /zh/ in /N/-final VTA’s,
that is, in imperatives and in forms with first person objects, /sh/ occurs, and /s/ elsewhere, as in
mawadishishin, ‘visit me!,’ but nimawadisaa, ‘I visit her/him.’ Again, linguists use a special
convention of identifying these sounds that alternate between /s/ and /sh/ by means of a capital
/S/. Capital /S/ in a basic form in the dictionary indicates this alternation. We identify verbs
VTA STEM CLASSES
5
whose basic forms end with this /S/ as belonging to Class V. There is only a small number of
common verbs that show this pattern.
Example
ashi
goshi
mawadish
nishi
odish
Example Meaning
‘put s.o. in a certain place’
‘fear s.o.’
‘visit s.o.’
‘kill s.o.’
‘come up to s.o., reach s.o.’
Basic Stem
/aS/
/goS/
/mawadiS/
/niS/
/odiS/