Pre face and Ack now l
edgm ents
Th is firs t dictionary of th e Al
abam a Indian l
anguage re pre s e nts th e col
l
aborative e fforts
of a num ber of pe opl
e . Th e originator of th e proje ct w as Cora Syl
e s tine , an educator w h o
re cognized ne arl
y fifty ye ars ago th at th e unw ritte n l
anguage of h e r pe opl
e m igh t be l
os t
ove r th e ge ne rations as fe w e r and fe w e r young pe opl
e s pok e it. Sh e began th e dictionary
proje ct on h e r ow n w riting dow n w ords on fil
e cards and m any ye ars l
ate r e nl
is ted th e
h el
p of profe s s ionall
inguis ts . Am ong h e r activitie s in ch urch and s e rvice organizations
s h e continued h e r w ork on th e dictionary, guiding and ins piring h e r l
inguis t col
l
e ague s
until19 9 1. A fe w m onth s before th is dictionary w as re ady for th e printe r, Cora w as
k il
l
ed in an autom obil
e accide nt on th e h igh w ay in front of h e r h om e on th e Al
abam aCous h atta R e s e rvation. W e m is s h e r l
ive l
y s pirit and k ind h um or ve ry m uch . Th is
dictionary is h e r m onum e nt. Royal
tie s from th e s al
e of th is book go to a Cora Syl
e s tine
Sch ol
ars h ip Fund for Al
abam a-Cous h atta s tude nts adm inis te red by th e Indian Pre s byte rian
Ch urch on th e Al
abam a-Cous h atta R e s e rvation.
In 19 80 H e ath e r H ardy, a l
inguis t at th e Unive rs ity of North Te xas inte re s ted in
s tudying th e gram m ar of th e Al
abam a l
anguage , re ad of Syl
e s tine 's dictionary proje ct in a
H ous ton ne w s pape r. Sh e offe red h e r as s is tance , and Syl
e s tine and H ardy be gan th e ir
col
l
aboration by de ve l
oping a w ay of w riting Al
abam a th at w oul
d be cons is te nt and as
ph one tical
l
y accurate as pos s ibl
e w h il
e being e asy to re ad and w rite for th os e fam il
iar
w ith th e Engl
is h w riting syste m .
H ardy and Syl
e s tine w ork ed ste adil
y from 19 80-19 88 us ing th e ir ow n s pare tim e and
re s ource s , w ith s om e h e l
p from outs ide s ource s . For h e l
p during th is foundationalpe riod,
w e w oul
d l
ik e to th ank th e Unive rs ity of Te xas at Arl
ington for trave ls upport during
19 80, th e Unive rs ity of North Te xas Facul
ty Research Program for trave ls upport during
19 81, 19 83, 19 85 and 19 88, th e NationalEndow m e nt for th e H um anitie s Sum m e r Stipe nd
in June and Jul
y of 19 85, and th e W h atcom M us e um Jacobs Fund for trave lin th e
s um m e r of 19 87. Ph il
ip W . D avis of R ice Unive rs ity be gan s tudying th e gram m ar in
19 83 and h as col
l
aborated w ith us in anal
yzing th e gram m ar and s e m antics of Al
abam a.
W e are grate fulfor h is h e l
p and th ank th e R ice Unive rs ity Departm e nt of Linguis tics as
w el
lfor providing com pe ns ation for l
anguage cons ul
tants .
In 19 84 Tim oth y Montl
e r, anoth e r UNT l
inguis t, w ith e xpe rtis e in us ing com pute rs to
pre pare dictionarie s of Am e rican Indian l
anguage s , introduced H ardy to th e conve ntions
of Le xw are , com pute r s oftw are for bil
inguall
e xicograph y de s igned by Robe rt H s u and
oth e rs at th e Unive rs ity of H aw aii. In 19 86 H ardy and Montl
e r began anal
yzing th e
intricacie s of th e s ound syste m and w ord-form ation rul
e s of th e l
anguage .
In 19 88 th e National Endow m e nt for th e H um anitie s (#R T-209 013-88) and th e
Unive rs ity of North Te xas approved a grant for th e proje ct th at w oul
d al
l
ow H ardy and
M ontl
e r tim e aw ay from s om e of th e ir dutie s as te ach e rs to conce ntrate on th e proje ct.
Alabama Dictionary
Th e grant al
s o provided funds for e q uipm e nt s uch as tape re corders , trave le xpe ns e s to th e
re s e rvation to cons ul
t w ith Syl
e s tine and th e oth e r contributors , and funds to com pe ns ate
th e Al
abam a cons ul
tants for th e ir tim e . In 19 89 UNT granted funds to h ire a re s e arch
as s is tant and Jack M artin, a graduate s tude nt in l
inguis tics from UCLA, began h e l
ping
w ith th e dictionary proje ct w h il
e continuing h is s tudy of th e re l
ated l
anguage Cre e k ,
s pok e n in O k l
ah om a. W e th ank R ol
l
ie Sch afe r, D e an of th e UNT Graduate Sch ool
, in
particul
ar, for h is re cognition of th e im portance of th e proje ct th rough h is s upport and
e ncourage m e nt.
Th e s cope and de pth of th e dictionary h as been e nrich ed by th e ge ne rous devotion of
tim e and ene rgy on th e part of contributors . W anda Ponch o joined th e proje ct as a
l
anguage cons ul
tant in 19 86, w ith Ivey Battis e and Vince nt Ce l
e s tine joining in 19 88 and
D orcas Bul
l
ock in 19 89 . Th e auth ors th ank th e m for th e ir dedication and be l
ie f in th e
proje ct, th e ir ch e e rfuls pirit of coope ration, and th e ir desire to s h are th e ir e xpe rtis e . W e
w is h to e xpre s s our gratitude to th e l
ate Jam e s L. D . Syl
e s tine for al
l
ow ing us to us e
m ate rialfrom audiotape s h e re corded during th e 19 50's and earl
y 19 60's , as w e l
las h is
notations of s om e arch aic w ords , pos s ibl
y of M obil
ian origin, th at are no l
onge r in us e .
W e al
s o th ank Fritz Sch anz for h e l
ping us w ith th e botanicalide ntification of s om e of
our pl
ant s am pl
e s , and Van R e dm an, D .V.M ., for h e l
ping to identify th e te ch nicalnam e s
of ce rtain anim alorgans .
W e w is h to e xpre s s our appre ciation to Ge offrey Kim bal
lof Tul
ane Unive rs ity and
Pam e l
a M unro of th e Unive rs ity of Cal
ifornia at Los Ange l
e s for s h aring w ith us drafts of
th e ir dictionarie s of K oas ati and Ch ick as aw , re s pe ctive l
y, and for m any fruitfulh ours of
dis cus s ion of l
inguis tic and l
e xicograph icalprobl
em s.
W e w is h to th ank our fam il
ie s , our m any frie nds and col
l
e ague s in th e re s e rvation
com m unity and th e academ ic com m unity, as w e l
las m e m bers of th e publ
ic w h o h ave
e ncouraged us and expre s s e d inte re s t in th e dictionary.
Introduction to th e Dictionary
1. Purpose.
Th e Dictionary of th e Alabam a Language is th e firs t dictionary of th e
l
anguage of th e Al
abam a Indians . It is a bil
ingual (Al
abam a-Engl
is h )
dictionary inte nded as a re s ource for th e s pe ak e rs of Al
abam a th e m s e l
ve s and
for th e ir desce ndants as a m e ans of h e l
ping to pre s e rve th e ir cul
turalh e ritage .
It is al
s o inte nded to be us e d by l
anguage s ch ol
ars and anyone w ith an inte re s t
in l
e arning s om e th ing about an Am e rican Indian l
anguage .
Th e dictionary is vie w ed as a com panion to tw o oth e r w ork s curre ntl
y in
pre paration, a col
l
e ction of te xts trans cribed and anal
yzed by H ardy and
trans l
ated by Syl
e s tine , and a detail
ed description of th e gram m ar by H ardy.
Since a col
l
e ction of vocabul
ary is onl
y a part of th e l
anguage a com pl
e te
re cord of th e l
anguage aw aits th e s e additional w ork s . Th e gram m atical
descriptions give n in th is dictionary are brie f and l
im ited to th at ne ce s s ary to
us e th e dictionary.
2. Generalorganization of th e d ictionary.
Th e dictionary incl
ude s a ge ne ral introduction to th e al
ph abet and
pronunciation of Al
abam a;a us e r's guide expl
aining w h at inform ation is in th e
e ntrie s , w h e re and h ow to find re l
ated w ords , and h ow to us e th e Finderl
is t;
and a s e ction providing te ch nicalinform ation about th e l
anguage and th e
dictionary for l
anguage s pe cial
is ts and th os e inte re s ted in th e anal
yticaldetail
s
of th e dictionary. Fol
l
ow ing th e Al
abam a-Engl
is h dictionary prope r is an
al
ph abetized Engl
is h -Al
abam a re ve rs e index or Finderl
is t. Al
s o give n in an
appe ndix is a l
is t of gram m aticalaffixe s (pre fixe s , infixe s , and s uffixe s ) w ith
th e ir ge ne ralfunction and exam pl
e s of us age .
3. Language setting.
Al
abam a bel
ongs to th e M us k oge an l
anguage fam il
y, w h ich now incl
ude s
th e l
anguage s K oas ati (s pok e n by th e Cous h atta tribe), Ch ick as aw , Ch octaw ,
Cre e k , Se m inol
e , and M ik as uk i (s pok e n by s om e of th e M iccos uk e e tribe).
Al
th ough th e s e l
anguage s are h is torical
l
y re l
ated, ge ne ral
l
y s pe ak ing, pe opl
e
w h o s pe ak one of th e l
anguage s cannot unders tand s om e one s pe ak ing a
diffe re nt l
anguage , e xce pt for an occas ionalw ord, jus t as is th e cas e w ith
Ge rm an and Engl
is h s pe ak e rs , for ins tance . Som e of th e l
anguage s are m ore
cl
os e l
y re l
ated to e ach oth e r th an are oth e rs . For ins tance , Ch ick as aw /Ch octaw , Cre e k /Se m inol
e , and Al
abam a/K oas ati h ave s om e tim e s been
described as pairs of dial
e cts . Al
abam a and K oas ati, h ow e ve r, are bette r
xii
Alabama Dictionary
cons ide red as tw o s e parate l
anguage s ;a s pe ak e r of Al
abam a w h o h as not by
ch ance l
e arned to s pe ak K oas ati too w oul
d not be abl
e to unders tand a fl
ue nt
s pe ak e r of K oas ati ve ry w e l
l
, and vice ve rs a.
Th e re are around five h undred Al
abam as l
iving today prim aril
y on th e
Al
abam a-Cous h atta Indian R e s e rvation ne ar Livings ton in Eas t Te xas w h e re
th ey h ave l
ived for ne arl
y tw o h undred years . Al
th ough th e l
arge s t Cous h atta
s e ttl
e m e nts are in Louis iana, a num ber l
ive w ith th e Al
abam as on th e
re s e rvation in Te xas . Som e individual
s unders tand both l
anguage s (th ey are
tril
ingual
) and s om e w ords are th e s am e in both Al
abam a and K oas ati, but w e
h ave tried ins ofar as pos s ibl
e to m ak e s ure th at w e incl
ude onl
y vocabul
ary
ge ne ral
l
y ide ntifiabl
e as Al
abam a. In fact, a dictionary of K oas ati, th e
l
anguage of th e Cous h attas , is curre ntl
y in pre paration in Louis iana.
Th e Al
abam as are righ tl
y proud th at th e ir l
anguage s urvive s to th is day, at a
tim e w h e n s o m any tribes h ave l
os t th is im portant part of th e ir h e ritage . Th e
l
anguage is in e ve ryday us e am ong a num ber of tribalm e m bers , particul
arl
y
th os e of m iddl
e-age and ol
der. Y ounge r s pe ak e rs range from th e fe w w h o are
ful
l
y fl
ue nt to th os e w h o m ay unde rs tand th e l
anguage but rare l
y s pe ak it, a
naturalcons e q ue nce of m ore and m ore pe opl
e m arrying outs ide th e tribe.
H ow e ve r, e fforts h ave been m ade by tribalm e m bers s uch as Vince nt Ce l
e s tine
and Z e th a Battis e to te ach young ch il
dre n th e l
anguage under th e Joh ns onO 'M al
l
ey sum m e r program s . It is our h ope th at th e dictionary and our future
w ork to docum e nt th e l
anguage w il
lfacil
itate th e e fforts of th e s e dedicated
te ach e rs and s pe ak e rs w h o are k e e ping th e l
anguage al
ive .
4. Sources of th e d ata.
Al
th ough th e prim ary s ource of inform ation on th e l
anguage is auth or
Syl
e s tine , a num ber of s pe ak e rs of Al
abam a h ave contributed exte ns ive l
y to
th e vocabul
ary. In addition, contributors h ave al
s o added to de finitions and
s uppl
ied range s of us e s and cul
turalinform ation to h e l
p pe opl
e w h o do not
s pe ak th e l
anguage unders tand th e ful
ls ignificance of a w ord. Eve n th ough
th e s pe ak e rs of th e Al
abam a l
anguage re pre s e nt a s m al
ls pe e ch com m unity,
th e re are variations in th e pronunciation of s om e w ords am ong fam il
ie s and
individual
s . O f cours e , as w e al
lk now about Engl
is h dial
e cts , pe opl
e in one
re gion of th e country s pe ak diffe re ntl
y from pe opl
e el
s e w h e re , younge r pe opl
e
m ay s pe ak diffe re ntl
y from ol
der pe opl
e , and s om e tim e s e ve n m e n and w om e n
s pe ak diffe re ntl
y. W e h ave re corded th e s e variant pronunciations of Al
abam a
w ords w h e re ve r w e h ave h e ard th e m , jus t as variant pronunciations are
re corded in Engl
is h dictionarie s , and h ave noted th e s ource w h e ne ve r
pronunciations vary from Syl
e s tine 's us age , or coul
d not be confirm ed by h e r.
Introduction
xiii
No dictionary can re cord al
lpos s ibl
e w ays pe opl
e m ay pronounce w ords .
D ictionarie s m ay atte m pt to give th e m os t com m on pronunciations , but th is
ce rtainl
y doe s not m e an th at oth e r pronunciations by native s pe ak e rs are
w rong. If th e re are variants in us e w h ich do not appe ar h e re , it is a re s ul
t of
our ove rs igh t rath e r th an th e e rror of th e s pe ak e rs w h o us e th e m .
5. About th e practicalspel
l
ing system .
W e are not unaw are th at w riting dow n a pre vious l
y unw ritte n l
anguage (or
at l
e as t one th at h as n't deve l
oped a s tandardized spe l
l
ing) m ay h ave
cons e q ue nce s for a com m unity. Afte r m uch th ough t and re s e arch on th e
s pe l
l
ing conve ntions for re l
ated l
anguage s s uch as Cre e k , Ch ick as aw , Ch octaw
and K oas ati (Cous h atta), w e h ave ch os e n a ce rtain w ay of re pre s e nting th e
Al
abam a l
anguage . Th is of cours e doe s not m e an th at oth e r w ays of w riting
th e l
anguage w oul
d be `w rong'. But w e h ope th at afte r w e h ave e xpl
ained in
detailour crite ria for a w riting syste m and re aders h ave s tudied th e al
ph abet
and guide to us ing th e dictionary, th ey w il
lfind th e s ys te m naturaland easy to
us e as our contributors s e e m to. As w ith any dictionary, it w il
lbe ne ce s s ary
to re ad th e k ey to pronunciation and guide to th e us e of th e dictionary.
O ur m ain goalin devis ing th e practicalorth ograph y w as to com e as cl
os e
as pos s ibl
e to th e ide alfor a w riting syste m : one l
e tte r s h oul
d re pre s e nt one
s ound in th e l
anguage . (O f cours e , th e Engl
is h s pe l
l
ing syste m fal
l
s far s h ort
of th is ide al
: cons ide r al
lth e diffe re nt w ays th e vow e l
s can be pronounced.)
Furth e r, w e w anted sym bol
s th at are e asy to w rite and type , and e asy to re ad.
(W e h ave avoided diacritics bel
ow th e l
ine , for ins tance , becaus e s tudie s h ave
s h ow n th ey are h arder to re ad.)
W ith onl
y a fe w e xce ptions , th e Al
abam a l
anguage h as s ounds th at are al
so
found in Engl
is h , al
th ough jus t as in l
anguage s s uch as Fre nch and Ge rm an,
th e s ounds m ay be pronounced sl
igh tl
y diffe re ntl
y in Al
abam a and Engl
is h .
For s ounds th at are ve ry s im il
ar to Engl
is h , w e us e th e Engl
is h l
e tte rs , s ince
m os t pe opl
e w h o w il
lbe re ading th e dictionary al
re ady k now th e m .
O nl
y one l
e tte r h as h ad to be added to th e us ualEngl
is h l
e tte rs . Th is l
e tte r
re pre s e nts a s pe cialk ind of /l
/ th at Al
abam a h as in addition to a re gul
ar /l
/
(th is s ound is described in m ore detailin s e ction 1.4). Th e s tandard sym bol
for th is s ound is an /l
/ w ith a s ort of `bow ' or bar acros s th e m iddl
e [¨
] and its
nam e is `barred l'. Th is l
e tte r can be w ritte n as an /l
/ w ith a h yph e n th rough it
on th e type w rite r. Som e w rite rs of l
anguage s w ith th is s ound us e tw o l
e tte rs
to re pre s e nt it, s uch as w ith Ch ick as aw , w h ich us e s th e s e q ue nce /l
h / (M unro
and W il
l
m ond, forth com ing);s om e w rite rs of Cre e k or K oas ati us e th e
s e q ue nce /th / or /th l
/. Al
abam a h as m any w ords w ith a s e q ue nce of /l
/ or /t/
xiv
Alabama Dictionary
fol
l
ow ed by an /h / w h ich coul
d be confus e d w ith th e s ingl
e s ound of ,̈ s o w e
h ave ch os e n to introduce th is s ingl
e s ym bol
. W e do not us e an al
te rnative
l
e tte r s uch as th e /r/ us e d for Cre e k by Lough ridge and H odge (189 0) becaus e
w e w is h to re m ind us e rs th is is a type of /l
/;al
s o, s om e pe opl
e w riting
Al
abam a h ave us e d an /r/ fol
l
ow ing a vow e lto indicate a l
ong vow e lq ual
ity
(as th at found in `r-l
e s s ' dial
e cts of South e rn Am e rican Engl
is h ). W e fe e lth at
al
th ough th e s ym bolis ne w to m os t it is e asy to w rite in s cript and easy to
type ove r a h yph e n. It is al
s o th e s ym bolus e d in th e K oas ati dictionary
(Kim bal
l
, forth com ing). Th is is a m ajor advantage s ince m any of our re aders
w il
lbe inte re s ted in both dictionarie s .
Al
abam a al
s o h as `acce nt' or `tone ' on ce rtain syl
l
abl
e s in a l
im ited num ber
of w ords w h e re it cannot be predicted by rul
e , and ch ange s in acce nt are al
so
us e d to s ignal gram m atical and s e m antic diffe re nce s . For th is re as on,
Al
abam a s pe l
l
ing is s om e w h at l
ik e Fre nch or Spanis h , w h ich m us t m ark
acce nts on s om e vow e l
s . O f cours e , native s pe ak e rs of Al
abam a k now h ow to
acce nt a particul
ar w ord and m ay pre fe r to l
e ave off th e acce nts , but th e
pe rs on unfam il
iar w ith th e l
anguage ne e ds to k now w h e th e r a w ord h as an
acce nted vow e l and, if s o, w h ich type it is , s o acce nt is m ark ed in th is
dictionary w h e n it is not predictabl
e . Th e acce nt m ark is om itted from capital
acce nted vow e l
s.
Th e onl
y s ound th at is re pre s e nted by m ore th an one l
e tte r is th e s ound w e
w rite ch , w h ich h as th e s am e val
ue as th e Engl
is h s ound re pre s e nted th e s am e
w ay in th e w ord ch urch (ph one tical
l
y [¡]). Since a c by its e l
f is not us e d in
w riting Al
abam a (th e [k ] s ound s om e tim e s s pe l
l
ed w ith c in Engl
is h is al
w ays
w ritte n as k in Al
abam a), th e re can be no confus ion w ith a s e q ue nce of s om e
s ound re pre s e nted by [c] fol
l
ow ed by [h ].
Capital
ization and punctuation are as in Engl
is h .
Th is brie f dis cus s ion is inte nded to orie nt th e re ader to th e bas ic w ays in
w h ich our s pe l
l
ing diffe rs from Engl
is h and our re as ons for th e orth ograph ic
ch oice s w e h ave m ade. For a detail
ed description of th e al
ph abet and
pronunciation rul
e s pl
e as e s e e th e s e ction on H ow to Us e th e D ictionary.
H ow to Us e th e Dictionary
1. Th e Al
ab am a al
ph ab e t and k ey to pronunciation .
Le tter
Le tter Nam e
Exam pl
e
Transl
ation
a
eyk a
intak ba
`s tom ach '
b
biik a
k ol
bi
`bas k e t'
ch
ch iik a
ch aah a
`tal
l
'
f
e fk a
ifa
`dog'
i
iik a
nipo
`m e at'
k
k iik a
ak aak a
`ch ick e n'
l
el
ka
l
aana
`yel
l
ow '
¨
ïh k a
äö
`fis h '
m
im k a
m ik k o
`ch ie f'
n
ink a
naani
`m an, m al
e'
o
ook a
ok i
`w ate r'
p
piik a
paani
`cre e k '
s
esk a
s obayl
i
`to k now '
t
tiik a
taata
`fath e r'
w
dabiyo
w oh k a
`to bark '
y
w ayk a
yim m i
`to be l
ie ve '
Th e order of l
e tte rs in th e ch art re pre s e nts th e al
abam a.
ph ab e ticalorder in Al
A fe w l
oans from Engl
is h incl
ude Engl
is h s ounds not found in Al
abam a (s uch
as d and e ) w h ich occur in th e ir us ualal
ph abeticalorder. Long vow e l
s
(`doubl
e vow e l
s ') occur in th e re gul
ar al
ph abetic order and are cons ide red a
s e q ue nce of s ounds . (As in Engl
is h dictionarie s , s pace s betw e e n w ords in
com pounds are ignored for purpos e s of al
ph abetization.)
Al
ll
e tte rs are pronounced m ore or l
e s s as in Engl
is h w ith th e fol
l
ow ing
e xce ptions :
Engl
is h vow e ll
e tte rs are pronounced in a num ber of w ays in th e
1.1.
s pe l
l
ing of Engl
is h w ords . Th e vow el
abam a are m uch m ore cons is te nt
s in Al
and pronounced m ore `pure l
y', m ore or l
e s s as th ey w oul
d be in a Europe an
xvi
Alabama Dictionary
l
anguage s uch as Spanis h , Fre nch or Ge rm an.
os e s t to th e underl
ined vow e lin th e Engl
is h w ord pot or fath e r, or,
a is cl
rare l
y, as in s ofa.
os e s t to th e vow e lin th e Engl
is h w ord pit, or if l
ong, m ore l
ik e th e
i is cl
vow e lin fe e t.
os e s t to th e vow e lin th e Engl
is h w ord vote , but occas ional
l
y s ounds
o is cl
cl
os e r to th e vow e lin put, e s pe cial
l
y fol
l
ow ing th e cons onant [y].
Al
abam a al
s o h as l
s--th e vow e lis
ong vow el
s contras ting w ith s h ort vow e l
s im pl
y h el
d al
ittl
el
onge r. So:
oobi m e ans `h ol
l
ow or h ol
e ' but obi m e ans `th igh '
aapih ch i m e ans `body' but apih ch i m e ans `h andl
e or s tal
k'
iis a m e ans `h ous e ' but is i m e ans `to tak e '
Th e s e q ue nce ay ge ne ral
l
y s ounds l
ik e th at in (non-South e rn) Am e rican
Engl
is h I, aye , and buy but for s om e s pe ak e rs in ce rtain w ords m ay s ound
m ore l
ik e th e vow e lin Engl
is h h ay.
s in Al
abam a m ay h ave e ith e r a h igh l
1.2. Som e tim e s vow e l
eveltone
(w ritte n as ƒ
,‹
, or “) or a h igh fal
, ,̄ or á) and th e s e tone s
l
ing tone ( w ritte n ˜
m us t s om e tim e s be m ark ed for w ords in th e dictionary. For ins tance , m any
w ords for k in or re l
ative s m us t be w ritte n w ith an acce nt m ark . O th e rw is e ,
w ords are us ual
l
y acce nted on th e l
as t syl
l
abl
e and s ince th is is predictabl
e,
finalacce nt is not w ritte n. So,
foos i m e ans `bird' but f“si m e ans `grandfath e r'
If th e acce nt is on a l
ong vow e l
, onl
y th e firs t is m ark ed, but a l
e ve lh igh tone
pe rs is ts for th e w h ol
e s yl
l
abl
e , and a h igh fal
l
ing tone h as th e fal
lin pitch on
th e s e cond vow e l
.
abam a (ph one tical
l
y a voice l
e s s apico-al
ve ol
ar
1.3. Th e s s ound in Al
fricative ) m ay s om e tim e s s ound to an Engl
is h s pe ak e r m ore l
ik e th e s h s ound
in Engl
is h s h e ar, or m ay s ound s om e w h at `h is s ie r' th an th e Engl
is h /s / or as
th ough it is produced w ith a faint `w h is tl
e ' e ffe ct. Th is is becaus e it is
How to Use the Dictionary
xvii
pronounced w ith th e tongue in a s l
igh tl
y diffe re nt pos ition th an for Engl
is h /s /.
Al
abam a doe s not actual
l
y h ave a s h s ound contras ting w ith s .
l
y a voice l
ess
1.4. Th e s ound ,̈ w h ich is w ritte n as a barred l(ph one tical
l
ate ralfricative ) is found in m any l
anguage s , for ins tance , Cre e k and Ch octaw .
It is pronounced w ith th e tongue in pos ition for an [l
], but w ith air re l
e as e d
around th e tongue to cre ate a h is s ing s ound and w ith out th e vocalch ords
vibrating--m uch l
ik e m ak ing an [h ] im m ediate l
y fol
l
ow ed by an [l
] or
`w h is pe ring' an [l
]. A good ide a of h ow th is s ounds is th e pronunciation of [l
]
in Engl
is h in w ords th at begin w ith th e s ounds [k ] fol
l
ow ed by [l
], e .g. k lutz,
clutte r. Th e cl
os e s t Engl
is h s ound to ¨is probabl
y th e voice l
e s s th s ound as in
bre ath ;th is is w h y s om e Al
abam a s pe ak e rs occas ional
l
y us e ¨for th w h e n
s pe ak ing s om e Engl
is h w ords and w h y s om e younge r pe opl
e l
e arning to s pe ak
Al
abam a m ay s ubs titute Engl
is h th for Al
abam a .̈
ong vow e l
s w ritte n as a s e q ue nce of tw o identicalvow e l
s,
1.5. In addition to l
Al
abam a h as l
ong consonants , w ritte n as a s e q ue nce of tw o identical
cons onants . Unl
ik e Engl
is h s pe l
l
ing w h ich ofte n us e s doubl
e cons onant l
e tte rs
to re pre s e nt a s ingl
e cons onant s ound (as in ladde r), th e Al
abam a s pe l
l
ing
contras ts a s ingl
e cons onant w ith a doubl
e cons onant. W h e n tw o l
ik e
cons onants are w ritte n, both are pronounced or h e l
dl
onge r, as in th e fol
l
ow ing
contras ting w ords :
igh t;m onth
h asi s un;day, dayl
h assi gras s
is h w ord l
ik e s ink , th e s e q ue nce of [n] fol
l
ow ed by [k ]
1.6. Jus t as in an Engl
is pronounced as ng [‚] fol
l
ow ed by [k ]. In Al
abam a, th is is true al
s o of an
/m / before /k / as s e e n in th e com m on pre fix am - `m y', pronounced as [a‚] in
ank ati `m y cat'. W e w rite th e s e w ith an n, h ow e ve r, to s im pl
ify th e s pe l
l
ing.
An /m / com ing before a t or ch is pronounced n and is w ritte n as n in th os e
form s ;for ins tance , th e s e cond pe rs on form of th e ve rb ak k am i `to do' is
ak k anch i `you do'.
Som e w ords are w ritte n w ith a rais e d n [ä] fol
l
ow ing a vow e lto indicate
th at th e vow e lis pronounced nas al
l
y, th at is , w ith air e s caping th rough th e
nos e . Th is s ound is rare in Al
abam a and occurs m uch m ore fre q ue ntl
y, for
ins tance , in Ch ick as aw and K oas ati. Nasal
ized vow el
s are produced w h e n th e
nas alcons onant m occurs before ce rtain s ounds , notabl
y f, s , h , and ,̈ but onl
y
w h e n th e s e q ue nce re s ul
ts from w ord form ation proce s s e s , s uch as ve rb
xviii
Alabama Dictionary
infl
e ction. Th e m is re pl
aced by a nas al
ized ve rs ion of th e vow e lth at pre cedes
it. So for ins tance am - `m y' pl
us f“si `grandfath e r' is w ritte n aäf“si `m y
grandfath e r', but th e m re m ains in lom h i `to h ide '. Th e one oth e r pl
ace w h e re
vow e lnas al
ization is im portant is on th e finalsyl
l
abl
e in q ue s tions and th e
ne xt to l
as t syl
l
abl
e in e m ph atic ve rb form s . Nas al
ization is ge ne ral
l
yl
igh t in
Al
abam a and not as s trong or notice abl
e as in K oas ati. Th e rais e d n is
al
ph abetized as th ough it w e re a re gul
ar n.
l
y, w h e n ce rtain pre fixe s e nding in l
ong vow e l
s are added to
1.7. O ccas ional
w ords beginning w ith vow e l
s , th e us ualrul
e th at del
e te s th e firs t of tw o
vow e l
s com ing toge th e r doe s not appl
y. In th is cas e both vow e l
s are
pronounced and s e parated by a transitionaly w h ich w e w rite . So aaoolim pa `tabl
e (l
it. pl
ace for e ating)' is w ritte n aayoolim pa. If th e trans itional
y is fol
l
ow ed by i, th e i is not pronounced, as in [ibaa- /intoh no] w h ich w e
w rite ibaayintoh no. (W e w rite th e y and i in th e s e cas e s for th e s ak e of
cons is te ncy).
l
ow ing a vow e lnot to be
1.8. In fas t s pe e ch it is q uite com m on for an h fol
pronounced. Th is occurs us ual
l
y in tw o s ituations . If th e h occurs betw e e n
tw o vow e l
s in care fuls pe e ch , ofte n th e h is not pronounced in fas te r s pe e ch ,
as in ah ich a and its variant aich a `to w atch ove r'. If th e h occurs as th e l
as t
s ound in th e ne xt to l
as t syl
l
abl
e of ve rb s te m s in care fuls pe e ch , th e vow e l
pre ceding th e h m ay be l
e ngth e ned and th e h not pronounced, as in w ih li and
its variant w iili `to l
ook for'. For th e re ader fam il
iar w ith th e l
anguage w h o
cannot find a w ord unde r a s pe l
l
ing w ith a l
ong vow e l
, w e s ugge s t trying to
find th e w ord unde r a s pe l
l
ing w ith a s h ort vow e lfol
l
ow ed by h , if th is s ounds
l
ik e an acce ptabl
e pronunciation. For w ords ve ry com m onl
y pronounced
w ith out th e h , w e m ay l
is t th e variant w ith out th e h , as in th e cas e s m e ntioned
h e re .
ude a pre fix th at h as th e bas ic s h ape ist-, pronounced
1.9 . M any w ords incl
w ith out th e t if th e pre fix occurs before a cons onant. It is q uite com m on for
w ords w ith th is pre fix to be pronounced in fas t s pe e ch w ith out th e initiali, as
th ough th ey began w ith an s . So, for ins tance , is tafinapk a `k ey' is ofte n
pronounced s tafinapk a. W e w rite al
ls uch w ords w ith th e i, noting h e re th at
th e pre fix can be pronounced as beginning w ith an s (unl
e s s fol
l
ow ed by a
s te m beginning w ith an s ). Since th is variation onl
y appl
ie s to th is pre fix (and,
by anal
ogy, to ce rtain l
oan w ords beginning w ith an s fol
l
ow ed by a
cons onant), w e do not l
is t th e pronunciations w ith out th e i as s e parate variants .
How to Use the Dictionary
xix
R e aders fam il
iar w ith th e l
anguage ne e d to note th at w ords th ey m ay
pronounce as beginning w ith an s fol
l
ow ed by a cons onant w il
lbe found unde r
th e i's and not under th e s 's .
2. Th e structure of th e d ictionary entries.
Th e re are tw o type s of w ord entrie s in th is dictionary: m ain e ntrie s and
root e ntrie s . M ain entries are th e bas ic e ntrie s for e ach w ord in th e
dictionary, containing al
lth e inform ation us ual
l
y found in a dictionary entry.
Th e s e are th e e ntrie s m os t re aders w il
lturn to for inform ation about s pe cific
w ords . R oot entries are s pe ciall
onge r e ntrie s for ve rb roots , w h ich l
is t in
ital
ics (fol
l
ow ing th e m ain e ntry prope r) al
lth e w ords th at are derived from
th e h e adw ord, al
ong w ith th e ir definitions . Th e s e derived w ords are organized
in s uch a w ay s o th at inform ation about w ord form ation proce s s e s in th e
l
anguage is e as il
y re trie vabl
e . (Se e th e Te ch nicalInform ation s e ction for an
e xpl
anation of th e organization.) R e aders w il
lw ant to turn to root e ntrie s if
th ey are inte re s ted in th e anal
yticaldetail
s of ve rb de rivation in th e l
anguage .
In th e s e ctions th at fol
l
ow , w e describe th e k inds of inform ation th at can be
found in an e ntry, il
l
us trating w ith abbre viated entrie s . Com pl
e te s am pl
e
e ntrie s w ith th e diffe re nt k inds of inform ation l
abel
l
ed are incl
uded at th e e nd
of th e introduction on page xl
vi.
ude s a num ber of diffe re nt k inds of
2.1. M ain entries. Each m ain e ntry incl
inform ation about th e h ead w ord . Th e h e adw ord is s e t in bol
dface type and is
s pe l
l
ed us ing th e Al
abam a s pe l
l
ing syste m .
Notice th at no ph one tic
pronunciation guide h as to be give n be caus e th e Al
abam a s pe l
l
ing dire ctl
y
re pre s e nts pronunciation, unl
ik e Engl
is h s pe l
l
ing. Tw o s am pl
e m ain e ntrie s
are provided h e re for il
l
us tration.
Fol
l
ow ing th e Al
abam a h e adw ord are th e Engl
is h d e finitions . Th e n, a
s ol
id bl
ock m ark s any additionalcul
turalor h istoricalinform ation ne ce s s ary
to unders tand a definition or th e im portance of a w ord. If a w ord is re s tricted
to ce rtain s ocialconte xts , a usage l
ab e lis give n (U s age :).
“ol
al
w i traditionalgam e ;e xpre s s ion from th is gam e ?Th is gam e is s om e th ing
l
ik e m us icalch airs w h e re th e guys ch as e th e girl
s us ual
l
y at a Ch ris tm as
party. It is th e l
as t gam e pl
ayed afte r D rop th e H andk e rch ie f, Th re e D e e p,
Rubbe r Jum p;th is is al
s o w h at th e tah p˜
al
a cal
l
s out to h ave e ve rybody
ch ange partne rs during th e gam e . Var: “ol
anw i (DB, VC) Var: “ol
al
w eyis
(IB) «“ol
al
w “ot h om paiäk k ƒ
inn˜tank aan˜
a? Are n't w e going to play
»
“olalw i tonigh t?
xx
Alabama Dictionary
3 [a- /tobiil
a]
atob iil
a o burn in an ove n or s corch on th e s tove (of food) •
Å tobiila
Any variant pronunciations (Var:) of a w ord are give n w ith th e ide ntification of th e s pe ak e rs w h o contributed th e m indicated by initial
s in pare nth e s e s
(s e e Abbre viations s e ction).
os e d in doubl
e angl
ed brack e ts ) containing th e
Exam pl
e sentences (e ncl
h e adw ord are provided for m any entrie s , e s pe cial
l
y ve rbs . Th e s e are firs t
give n in th e Al
abam a l
anguage and th e n a fre e Engl
is h trans l
ation (in ital
ics )
is provided. M any of th e s e h ave been tak e n from re corded storie s . Th e s e are
ide ntified by a th ree-l
e tte r code for th e te xt fol
l
ow ing th e trans l
ation.
Som e tim e s th e s e are incom pl
e te ph ras e s tak e n from a ve ry l
ong s e nte nce in a
s tory;s uch ph ras e s are indicated by el
l
ips e s . O th e r e xam pl
e s are il
l
us trative
com m e nts vol
unte e red by spe ak e rs . O ccas ional
l
y, e xam pl
e s e nte nce s h ad to
be as k ed dire ctl
y in order to ge t an e xam pl
e of a particul
ar type . Th e re ader is
cautioned th at s om e tim e s th e s e ph ras e s , w h e n tak e n out of conte xt, m ay s ound
a bit odd but at th e tim e th e contributor h ad a conte xt in m ind in w h ich
s om e one m igh t s ay th e ph ras e in q ue s tion.
p th e us e r unders tand h ow a
Gram m aticalinform ation ne ce s s ary to h e l
w ord is us e d, h ow it is anal
yzed into parts (s uch as pre fixe s or s uffixe s ),
w h e th e r it h as undergone any gram m aticalproce s s e s , and its e tym ol
ogy if
k now n, is provided im m ediate l
y fol
l
ow ing th e definition or cul
ture note . Th e
gram m aticalanal
ysis of a w ord in brack e ts [ ] indicate s its com pone nt parts :
pre fixe s and s uffixe s are s e parated off by h yph e ns w ith no inte rve ning s pace s .
Roots (th e m os t bas ic part of th e w ord) are indicated by a s pace and a s l
ant
l
ine / pre ceding th e m . Th e fe w bound roots (th at cannot occur w ith out a
pre ceding e l
e m e nt) are m ark ed w ith a s pace fol
l
ow ed by a h yph e n be fore th e
sl
ant l
ine . Individualw ords in a com pound are s e parated by a s pace and each
root is m ark ed w ith a s l
ant l
ine . Unidentified parts of anal
yzed w ords are put
in pare nth e s e s . Etym ol
ogie s are give n in brace s { } w ith an arrow indicating
th e s ource l
anguage .
A fe w e ntrie s contain a note to com pare th e m (cp.) to ce rtain w ords w h os e
m e aning and form are s im il
ar in s om e re s pe cts , s ugge s ting a h is torical
conne ction, but w h ich are not re l
ated by any re gul
ar rul
es.
Final
l
y, for any de rived w ord, a cross-reference is give n to th e w ord from
w h ich it is im m ediate l
y de rived (if th e re is an e ntry for it) or th e ne xt cl
os e s t
re l
ated w ord. Cros s -re fe re nce s are th e l
as t inform ation in an e ntry and are
m ark ed by a triangl
eÅ .
Exam pl
e s of partiale ntrie s are provided in th e ne xt s e ction to il
l
us trate th e
How to Use the Dictionary
xxi
form of e ntrie s ;th e s e are abbre viated entrie s for e xam pl
e purpos e s onl
y (s e e
th e dictionary for com pl
e te inform ation about th e s e w ords ).
abam a are give n in th e ir bas ic form and de fined
2.1.1. Nouns. Nouns in Al
w ith Engl
is h nouns . Botanicalnam es (w ritte n in ital
ics w ith in pare nth e s e s )
are provided for m os t pl
ant nam e s ;te ntative ide ntifications are indicated by
q ue s tion m ark s .
Unl
ik e Engl
is h , w h ich us e s s e parate w ords s uch as m y and your to indicate
pos s e s s ion, Al
abam a us e s tw o diffe re nt s e ts of possessor prefixes to indicate
th e pos s e s s or of th e noun (if one is m e ntioned). (Th e s e pos s e s s or pre fixe s are
ide nticalin form to tw o of th e th re e ve rb conjugation s e ts dis cus s e d in s e ction
2.1.2;s e e Te ch nicalInform ation s e ction 4.2 for th e com pl
e te conjugations .)
M os t nouns us e th e am - set pos s e s s or pre fixe s to indicate th e pos s e s s or. If
no pos s e s s or is s pe cifical
l
y indicated, an am - set pre fix is us e d. Exam pl
e:
ch ich ob a
h ors e ;s aw h ors e «anch ich oba m y h ors e »
Since no pre fix s e t is indicated, ch ich oba tak e s an am -set pos s e s s or as s h ow n
in th e e xam pl
e anch ich oba.
Body parts and k ins h ip te rm s (and a coupl
e of oth e r nouns ) tak e e ith e r th e
ch a- set or th e am - set pre fixe s and th is inform ation is s h ow n in s m al
lcapital
l
e tte rs and eas il
y ide ntified by a pre ceding s ol
id dot. (Th e am - set pos s e s s or is
dis tinguis h ed from an am - set ve rb conjugation by a l
ow e r cas e p for
`pos s e s s or'.) Exam pl
e:
il
b i h and
CH A •
Som e nouns (m os tl
y body parts and a fe w k in te rm s ) ne ve r occur w ith out
th e ir am - set pre fix and th e s e are e nte red in th e dictionary unde r th e i's w ith
th e th ird pe rs on (`h is /h e rs /its ') pos s e s s or pre fix attach ed. Th e pre fix appe ars
in its bas ic form im - in th e anal
ys is for th at w ord. (Variations in th e w ay th e s e
pre fixe s are pronounced are described in th e Appe ndix under im -.) Exam pl
e:
A M p- [im - / äk fi]
iääk fi broth e r (of a w om an) •
M os t Al
abam a nouns do not h ave s pe cialpl
uralnoun form s ;th e s am e
noun form is us e d for s ingul
ar and pl
ural
, and oth e r gram m aticalinform ation
in th e s e nte nce indicate s th at its re fe re nt is pl
ural
. Som e nouns re fe rring
m ainl
y to h um ans m ay form th e ir pl
uralw ith a -h a s uffix or a s pe cialpl
ural
Alabama Dictionary
xxii
form and th e s e are al
so l
is ted in th e dictionary.
Com pound nouns (com pos e d of m ore th an one w ord) are provided w ith an
anal
ys is into th e ir com pone nt w ords . Unl
e s s oth e rw is e indicated in e xam pl
es,
th e pos s e s s ive pre fix is added to th e firs t w ord of th e com pound and m os t
us ual
l
y tak e s th e s am e pos s e s s or pre fix as th e firs t w ord. In th e fol
l
ow ing
e xam pl
e , th e firs t w ord of th e com pound is ak aak a `ch ick e n', w h ich l
ik e m os t
nouns , tak e s an am - set pos s e s s or, s o th e com pound w ord al
s o tak e s an am s e t pos s e s s or (indicated by th e pos s e s s or not being s pe cified).
ak aak inch ak aafa
ch ick e n gizzard [/ak aak a im - /ch ak aafa]
Som e pl
ace nam e s and pe rs onalnam e s h ave been incl
uded if th ey h ave
h is torical s ignificance (h is torical figure s or l
e aders ) or are l
inguis tical
l
y
inte re s ting. M os t of th e s e pe rs onalnam e s are ol
d l
oans from Engl
is h and
provide inform ation about th e s ound patte rns of Al
abam a, but w e w e re abl
e to
re cord a fe w ol
d nam e s not of Engl
is h or oth e r Europe an origin.
s o s e rve s as
2.1.2. Verbs. Ve rbs are give n in th e ir m os t bas ic form , w h ich al
th e s ingul
ar im pe rative and th e th ird pe rs on s ubje ct form (`h e /s h e /it VERBs ').
Th ey are defined w ith an Engl
is h ve rb(s ) give n in th e infinitive `to' form . An
Al
abam a ve rb is defined w h e re ve r pos s ibl
e w ith an Engl
is h ve rb h aving th e
s am e s ubje ct. Any de viations from th is are e xpl
icitl
y noted. In addition to th e
inform ation found in al
lm ain e ntrie s , an e ntry for a ve rb incl
ude s inform ation
about h ow it tak e s pre fixe s for s ubje cts and obje cts (its `patte rn of
agre e m e nt'). Th is com e s afte r any us age note s , at th e beginning of th e
brack e ted gram m aticalinform ation for th at e ntry. Num e rous e xam pl
e s are
give n to il
l
us trate th e w ay th e ve rbs function. In addition to th e anal
ys is of th e
w ord, inform ation m ay al
s o be give n about any re s trictions in us age (s uch as ,
if it is to be us e d of h um an s ubje cts onl
y), as w e l
las irre gul
ar form s .
Th e patte rn of agre e m e nt w ith s ubje cts and obje cts is th e firs t k ind of
gram m aticalinform ation provided for a ve rb. As w ith th e pos s e s s or m ark e rs
for nouns , th e s e are w ritte n in s m al
l capital l
e tte rs and ide ntified by a
pre ceding s ol
id dot. Th e firs t pe rs on s ingul
ar (`I/m e ' form ) is give n to s h ow
w h ich conjugation patte rn is us e d to re fe r to th e Subje ct or O bje ct(s ) of th at
ve rb.
Th e re are th re e m ain conjugation cl
as s e s . Th e `Control
' s e t al
w ays h as a -li
s uffix for firs t pe rs on s ingul
ar Subje cts (in th e affirm ative , nonfuture ). Th e
tw o oth e r conjugation s e ts can indicate e ith e r Subje ct or O bje ct, depe nding on
th e ve rb. Th e `Noncontrol
' s e t h as a ch a- prefix for firs t pe rs on s ingul
ar. Th e
How to Use the Dictionary
xxiii
th ird conjugation, th e `D ative ' s e t, us e s an am - prefix for firs t pe rs on s ingul
ar;
th e pronom inalpre fixe s in th is s e t al
w ays pre cede th e dative m ark e r im - w h ich
is part of th e ve rb s te m , and re pl
ace th e i. Th e s e ch a- and am - ve rb pre fix s e ts
are ide nticalin form to th e noun pos s e s s or pre fixe s dis cus s e d in 2.1.1. (Se e
Te ch nicals e ction 5.1 for a m ore th orough dis cus s ion of th e th re e conjugation
s e ts .)
A fe w ve rbs can h ave onl
y pl
urals ubje cts or obje cts . Th e re ader is
re m inded th at th e firs t pe rs on s ingul
ar as w e are us ing it h e re re pre s e nts a
particul
ar conjugation patte rn and of cours e is not its e l
f be us e d w ith pl
ural
ve rbs w h ich pe rm it onl
y th e pl
uralform s .
If onl
y one conjugation s e t is indicated th e ve rb is intrans itive ;if m ore th an
one is give n th e ve rb is trans itive . (Se e Te ch nicals e ction 4.2 for com pl
e te l
is ts
of th e s e conjugations .)
y, th e am Intransitive verbs tak e e ith e r th e -li, ch a-, or, ve ry rare l
conjugation. Th e conjugation patte rn is indicated by th e firs t s ingul
ar form in
s m al
lcapital
s fol
l
ow ing a s ol
id dot: ?-LI indicate s a Controls e t s ubje ct, ?CH A indicate s a Noncontrols ubje ct, ?A M - indicate s a D ative s ubje ct.
Som e ve rbs can h ave s ubje cts indicated by m ore th an one of th e th re e s e ts
and th e ve rb's m e aning w il
lch ange depe nding on w h ich conjugation it tak e s .
Th is is indicated by each conjugation s e t l
abelfol
l
ow ing th e definition it is
as s ociated w ith . Rare l
y, a ve rb m ay be l
is ted as tak ing e ith e r of tw o s e ts ;th is
us ual
l
y indicate s s pe ak e r variation in conjugation ch oice or cas e s in w h ich
conjugation doe s not affe ct w ord de finition. Th e s e variations in conjugation
are indicated by a s e m icol
on betw e e n th e ch oice s . For e xam pl
e , th e fol
l
ow ing
ve rb can tak e e ith e r a - LI or CH A - conjugation:
- LI;CH A afal
oh k a to yaw n •
Som e ve rbs can h ave onl
y a noun as s ubje ct (or obje ct), and s ince th e re is
no pronoun pre fix for th ird pe rs on, th e s e ve rbs are m ark ed w ith a 3 to s h ow
th ey occur w ith th ird pe rs on onl
y.
ong •
3
b ask i to be l
Transitive verbs m ay h ave one or m ore obje cts in addition to th e ir s ubje ct.
Th e conjugation s e ts as s ociated w ith th e s e obje cts are l
is ted in th e order:
(Subje ct/O bje ct1) and (Subje ct/O bje ct1/O bje ct2). So, for ins tance :
•
- LI/CH A - m e ans `-li s e t (Control
) Subje ct, ch a- set (Noncontrol
) O bje ct'
xxiv
Alabama Dictionary
No ve rb m ay h ave m ore th an tw o obje ct pre fixe s (and ve ry fe w h ave m ore
th an one ), but m any de rived ve rbs al
l
ow one or m ore obje cts e xpre s s e d as
nouns .
•
- LI/A M -/3 m e ans `-li s e t Subje ct, am - set (Dative ) firs t O bje ct,
3rd pe rs on s e cond Obje ct'
as in th e e xam pl
e:
ink a to give (s om e th ing) to
•
- LI/A M -/3
A fe w ve rbs do not occur w ith s ubje ct nouns or pronoun m ark e rs . Th e s e
ge ne ral
l
y corre s pond to it s ubje cts in Engl
is h , s uch as it's raining, or ve rbs
th at function as adve rbialm odifie rs of oth e r ve rbs . Th e s e are indicated by a
das h (--).
-oyba to rain •
In verb ph rases cons is ting of m ore th an one w ord th e s ubje ct pronoun
m ark e r appe ars on th e l
as t ve rb in th e ph ras e (identified in th e anal
ys is in
brack e ts ), e ve n w h e n th ey are pronounced as a s ingl
e w ord. In th e ve rb
ph ras e e ntry be l
ow , th e finalve rb bitli is us ual
l
y conjugated w ith th e Control
s e t (-li) affixe s . So, for e xam pl
e , `you dance on tiptoe ' is s ik k il‹
plit bitch i.
- LI [/s ik k il
ip-l
i-t /bit-l
i]
sik k il
‹
pl
it b itl
i to dance on tiptoe •
Rare l
y, th e firs t ve rb in a ve rb ph ras e is conjugated. Th is is indicated w ith
th e s ubje ct m ark ing for th e firs t ve rb s e parated by a com m a from th e das h (--)
w h ich indicate s no s ubje ct. For e xam pl
e:
CH A -,-- [il
ook ing •
- /h ‹
ich a /k ano]
il
h‹
ich a k ano to be good-l
Th e -li s e t h as a num ber of diffe re nt conjugation patte rns or s ubcl
as s e s .
Th e ch oice of w h ich particul
ar -li s e t Subje ct s ubcl
as s a ve rb w il
ltak e depe nds
on th e s h ape of th e ve rb. For th is re as on, partialconjugations (ital
icized in
pare nth e s e s ) are provided for al
lve rbs l
is ted as tak ing a -li s e t Subje ct (e xce pt
for ne gative ve rbs ). Th e s e partialconjugations give th e actualve rb form s for
second person singul
ar (`you'), first person pl
ural(`w e '), and second
How to Use the Dictionary
xxv
l
') in th at order. Firs t pe rs on s ingul
ar is al
w ays -li in th e
person pl
ural(`y'al
nonfuture , and th ird pe rs on is not m ark ed. In th e fol
l
ow ing e xam pl
e ch iyah ch i
is th e s e cond pe rs on s ingul
ar (`you w al
k '), ch iyah h ili is firs t pe rs on pl
ural
(`w e w al
k '), and ch iyah h ach i is s e cond pe rs on pl
ural(`y'al
lw al
k '). (Se e
Te ch nicals e ction 4.2 for com pl
e te conjugations for al
lve rbs th at tak e -li s e t
Subje cts , as w e l
las ne gative s te m s .)
k •
- LI (ch iyah ch i, ch iyah h ili, ch iyah h ach i) [/ch iyah -l
i]
ch iyah l
i to w al
Th e gram m aticalanal
l
ow s th e partialconjugation, if one is give n.
ysis fol
In, for e xam pl
e , ink atipa [im - -/k a-t /(i)pa], th e gram m atical anal
ys is in
brack e ts s h ow s th is ve rb ph ras e cons is ts of tw o w ords , ink at and ipa. ink at is
com pos e d of th e pre fix im -, th e bound root -k a, and th e s uffix -t. Infixe s ,
anoth e r type of affix th at is ins e rted into a s te m rath e r th an pl
aced before or
afte r it, are m ark ed by angl
ed brack e ts < > , as in th e gram m aticalanal
ys is of
öpoh k a w h ich fol
l
ow s :
1
y) •
- LI [/ öpo<h > t-k a ]
öpoh k a to s tab, s tick in (re pe atedl
Th e s ingul
ar form is s h ow n to be öpotk a and th e <h > is infixed before
th e finalt and re pl
ace s it in th e pl
urals te m .
Parts of a s te m th at are l
os t in th e pl
uralform s (dis fixed ste m s ) are s h ow n
in pare nth e s e s in th e anal
ys is of th e pl
urals te m . So th e pl
urals te m of batatli
`to h it' is batli `h it re pe atedl
y' and its anal
ys is s h ow s [/bat(at)-l
i;ds fx1] w h ich
ide ntifie s th e s ingul
ar s te m as batatli.
O th e r abbre viated gram m aticalinform ation s pe cifying th e w ord form ation
l
ow th e gram m aticalanal
ys is . Th is
processes th e w ord h as undergone m ay fol
ital
icized inform ation al
s o occurs w ith in th e brack e ts , w ith th e diffe re nt type s
of inform ation s e parated by sem icol
ons . (Se e th e Lis t of Abbre viations to
ide ntify th e m and th e Te ch nicalinform ation s e ction 4 for brie f descriptions of
th e s e proce s s e s .)
- LI
istƒttak k a to be h anging from (of m ore th an one ) •
1
(--, is tƒttak h ilka, is tƒttak h as k a) [is t- /atak (˜
a)-k a ;
ds fx1;ggr] Å atak k a
Th e e xam pl
e s h ow s th at is tƒttak k a tak e s th e -li s e t conjugation and it h as no
s e cond pe rs on s ingul
ar s ince it is a pl
uralform . Th e gram m aticalanal
ys is
indicate s it is com pos e d of a pre fix is t-, and com e s from a s ingul
ar s te m
xxvi
Alabama Dictionary
atak ˜a-k a of w h ich it is th e dis fix-1 pl
uralform (ds f1), appe aring in th e
ge m inate grade (ggr) as pe ct. Th e cross-re fe re nce is to th e bas ic pl
urals te m
atak k a.
Supe rs cript num bers are us e d to dis tinguis h diffe re nt w ords or affixe s
1
h aving th e s am e pronunciation. In th e pre ceding e xam pl
e th e s uffix -k a is
one of th re e s uffixe s w ith th e s h ape -k a. (Al
ls uch pre fixe s , infixe s , and
s uffixe s are l
is ted in th e Appe ndix.) Supe rs cript num bers are not us e d in th e
gram m aticalanal
ys is , h ow e ve r, unl
e s s th e re is a pos s ibil
ity of confus ing tw o
ide ntical affixe s . For ins tance , th e various affixe s of th e pronom inal
conjugations are re pe ated in th e Appe ndix for conve nie nce and s om e are
ide nticalin pronunciation to oth e r gram m aticalaffixe s . Since pronouns w oul
d
ne ve r appe ar in a gram m atical anal
ys is , th e s upe rs cript num bers th at
dis tinguis h oth e r affixe s in th e Appe ndix from th e m are unne ce s s ary in th e
gram m aticalanal
ys is and for th is re as on are om itted.
Part of s pe e ch l
abel
s are not give n. Ne arl
y al
ls te m s are gram m atical
l
y
e ith e r nouns or ve rbs in Al
abam a, al
th ough th ey m ay h ave th e s am e range of
functions as oth e r Engl
is h parts of s pe e ch . Th e Engl
is h definitions and
il
l
us trations s ugge s t th e function of th e w ords in q ue s tion;ve rbs , of cours e ,
can be ide ntified by th e pre s e nce of inform ation indicating th e ir conjugation.
lm ain e ntry for th e
2.2. R oot entries. Th e root e ntry be gins w ith th e ful
h e adw ord from w h ich th e oth e r w ords are derived, fol
l
ow ed by l
is tings for al
l
s te m s derived from th at h e adw ord cited in ital
ics . D e rived ste m s w oul
d
incl
ude , for ins tance , th e ne gative s te m of th e ve rb, any dis tinct pl
uralor pl
ural
im pe rative s te m , its pas s ive m iddl
e or any nom inals te m derived from it, and
any re l
ated form w h os e m e aning is not trans pare nt (s uch as as pe ctual
`grades'). In addition, s te m s derived by pre fixation or s uffixation are incl
uded
in th e root e ntry s o th at us e rs m ay h ave im m ediate acce s s to th e detail
s of
w ord form ation. Th e onl
y de rived form s not l
is ted in th e root e ntry are
com pound nouns (w ords com pos e d of m ore th an one w ord).
Th e re are a s m al
lnum ber of s pe cialh e adw ords for root e ntrie s th at l
is t a
root w ith a pre ceding or fol
l
ow ing h yph e n; th is h e adw ord is not an actual
pronounce abl
e w ord but rath e r a bound root th at is ne ve r pronounced by its e l
f.
(Expl
anation for th is conve ntion is give n in Te ch nicalInform ation s e ction 2.)
Th e onl
y inform ation provided w ith e ach of th e derived ste m s in root
e ntrie s is a brie f definition;s ince th e definitions provided in root e ntrie s are
h igh l
y abbre viated th e re ader s h oul
d turn to th e m ain e ntrie s of derived w ords
for th e ir ful
ldefinitions . For s om e s te m s w h os e definition is predictabl
e , onl
y
th e ide ntifying gram m aticalinform ation is give n. For ins tance , al
lne gative
How to Use the Dictionary
xxvii
s te m s are s im pl
y ide ntified as Neg., since th e ir definitions are obvious .
R e m e m ber th at detail
ed inform ation about e ach of th e s e s te m s can be found in
its ow n m ain e ntry.
Th e s e s ube ntrie s h ave been organized to pre s e rve th e ir derivational
re l
ations h ips to th e h e adw ord and oth e r s ube ntrie s . (R e fe r to th e Te ch nical
Inform ation s e ction 2 for detail
s on th is organization).
Exam pl
e of a root e ntry:
- LI/3
aab ach i to te ach (a s ubje ct), ins truct •
(aabach itis k a, aabach itilka, aabach itas k a)
(aabach is k a, aabach ilka, aabach as k a)
{pos s . re l
ated to /ah obach i} Var: aobach i
«Aabach il
iya is tank anoh ch i. I lik e to te ach .
Tatk a innaaïil
k ayon aabach il
ih ch i. I te ach
th e Englis h language .»
aabach it‹
k k o Ne g.
h olis s on aabach i to te ach s ch ool
aabach itilka te ach ing
aab˜ach i te ach e r
im aabach i to te ach (a s ubje ct) to
im aabach itilka to be taugh t (a s ubje ct)
is tim aabach i to couns e l
m aatim aabach i to s h ow (s om e one ) h ow
3. Th e Engl
ish -Al
ab am a Finderl
ist.
Th e Engl
is h -Al
abam a index give s al
ph abetized l
is tings of tw o k inds of
e ntrie s , re gul
ar and s e m antic cl
as s e ntrie s .
R e gul
ar entries contain th e
Engl
is h h e adw ord, fol
l
ow ed by any oth e r Engl
is h definitions and th e Al
abam a
w ord(s ) th at trans l
ate it (give n in ital
ics ). Since th is is an index onl
y, it is
im portant to re fe r to th e dictionary entry for th e Al
abam a w ord for ful
l
inform ation.
arge e ntrie s in w h ich w ords re l
ating to a
Se m antic cl
ass entries are ve ry l
particul
arl
y im portant s e m antic cl
as s (for e xam pl
e , pl
ants , num bers , cl
oth ing,
and k in te rm s ) are l
is ted. Som e of th e s e m antic cl
as s l
abel
s are :
28
agricul
ture
am ph ibians
birds
body parts
cl
oth ing
col
or
fis h
Alabama Dictionary
fis h ing
h unting
ins e cts e tc.
k in
m am m al
s
num bers
pl
ace nam e
pl
ants
re ptil
es
s ound
tim e
tool
s
tre e s
Th e s e m antic cl
as s e ntrie s are us e fulfor finding w ords th at one is unabl
e to
l
ocate under a ce rtain Engl
is h w ord, as w e l
las for im m ediate inform ation
about ite m s th at are im portant in th e Al
abam a cul
ture .
4. Th e affix appendix.
Th e Appe ndix is an al
ph abetized l
is t of al
laffixes (pre fixe s , s uffixe s , and
infixe s ) w ith a ge ne ralide ntification of th e ir gram m aticalfunction Num e rous
e xam pl
e s e nte nce s w ith th e affix in q ue s tion underl
ined indicate h ow it is
us e d. (Pronom inalaffixe s are al
so l
is ted in conjugation s e ts in th e Te ch nical
Inform ation s e ction 4.2.) Any variation in th e pronunciation of th e affix is
al
s o de s cribed.
Te ch nicalInform ation
Th is s e ction is incl
uded to provide additional inform ation about th e
l
anguage and ce rtain l
e xicograph icaldecis ions th at m ay not be of inte re s t to
th e nons pe cial
is t.
M ore com pl
e te inform ation about th e ph onol
ogy,
m orph ol
ogy, gram m ar and dis cours e of Al
abam a can be found in th e gram m ar
and te xts in pre paration.
1. M e th od ol
ogy.
M uch of th e m ate rialin th is dictionary w as col
l
e cted us ing s tandard l
e xical
el
icitation guided in part by re fe re nce s on s outh e as te rn cul
ture , and fl
ora and
fauna. W e re fe rred al
s o to oth e r dictionarie s or dictionarie s in pre paration of
M us k oge an l
anguage s to h e l
p w ith cove rage of s e m antic are as . Th e K oas ati
dictionary (K im bal
l
, forth com ing) w as m os t h e l
pfulin th is re gard, as w as th e
M us k oge an Cognate Se ts (M unro, e t al
., in pre paration) w h ich incl
ude s data
from th e Al
abam a dictionary. W e re fe rred al
s o to th e Ch ick as aw dictionary
(M unro and W il
l
m ond, forth com ing) and th e Cre e k dictionary (Lough ridge
and H odge 189 0). W e m ade an atte m pt to ve rify or re e l
icit th e brie f
vocabul
ary (l
arge l
y pl
ants ) cited in Fol
s om -Dick e rs on 19 65 and Sw anton's
publ
is h ed Engl
is h trans l
ations of Al
abam a s torie s (Sw anton 19 29 ). Th e
trans cription and trans l
ation of a num ber of h is torical
l
y and cul
tural
l
y
im portant te xts re corded during th e 19 50's and 19 60's by Jam e s L. D .
Syl
e s tine and Cora Syl
e s tine proved ve ry fruitfulas a s ource not onl
y of ne w
vocabul
ary but natural
l
y-occurring e xam pl
e s e nte nce s and cul
tural
inform ation, as did th e re cording of a num ber of fol
k tal
e s , jok e s and gam e s
and conve rs ations by our contributors . W h e re ve r pos s ibl
e w e h ave tak e n
e xam pl
e s e nte nce s from th e s e te xts or oth e r s pontane ous re s pons e s .
It s h oul
d be noted th at s ince th e l
anguage is in e ve ryday us e th e dictionary
incl
ude s trans l
ations of m any of th e ite m s of m ode rn-day cul
ture and
te ch nol
ogy, s om e of w h ich m ay re pre s e nt borrow ings from Engl
is h th at h ave
been adapted to th e ph onol
ogy of Al
abam a. W e h ave not active l
y el
icited
trans l
ations of vocabul
ary th at w e th ough t w oul
d l
ik e l
y be re nde red by a
nonce l
oan trans l
ation--th at is , cas e s in w h ich m os t s pe ak e rs w oul
d probabl
y
us e th e Engl
is h w ord. W h e n th e s e h ave been vol
unte e red w e incl
ude th e m if
th ey are re cognized and confirm ed by anoth e r cons ul
tant. Be tte r th an 9 5% of
th e e ntrie s h ave been confirm ed by at l
e as t tw o cons ul
tants . O th e rw is e , th ey
h ave been re confirm ed w ith th e originals ource to e ns ure , w e h ope , a h igh
l
e ve l of accuracy. W ords or variants th at a cons ul
tant s us pe cts m ay be
K oas ati h ave been ch e ck ed agains t th e K oas ati dictionary and doubl
e ch e ck ed
xxx
Alabama Dictionary
w ith oth e r cons ul
tants .
W e h ave prim aril
y re s orted to th e us e of fie l
d guide s to identify th e
com m on and s cie ntific nam e s of pl
ants and anim al
s . H ow e ve r, pl
ant and tre e
ide ntification w as conducted in th e fie l
d by Vince nt Ce l
e s tine w ith M ontl
er
and M artin, w h o vide otaped spe cim e ns and col
l
e cted sam pl
e s for l
ate r
ide ntification by a s pe cial
is t. W e h ave indicated w h e re ve r our identifications
are te ntative .
2. Com m ents on th e structure of entries .
In incl
uding root e ntrie s as w e l
las m ain e ntrie s w e h ave tried to com bine
th e s im pl
icity of a w ord-bas e d dictionary w ith th e anal
yticals oph is tication of a
root-bas e d dictionary.
D e rived ste m s are e nte red under a bas ic s te m in an order th at corre s ponds
to th e ir l
e ve lof derivation, i.e ., a m ul
tipl
y de rived ste m is s ube nte red under
th e s te m from w h ich it is im m ediate l
y de rived, if th e form is avail
abl
e . If th e
e xpe cted form is not its e l
f an e ntry, th e n th e derived form is s ube nte red under
th e ne xt h igh e s t appropriate s te m . Th e s te m under w h ich a derived ste m is
im m ediate l
y s ube nte red is th e w ord to w h ich it is cross-re fe re nced in its m ain
e ntry. Cros s -re fe re nce s th us re pre s e nt our h ypoth e s e s about th e re l
ations h ip
am ong th e various m orph ol
ogicalproce s s e s th at derive s te m s in Al
abam a.
D e rived ste m s give n as s ube ntrie s under th e root e ntrie s re fl
e ct th e ordering
th at is re q uired by any unde rl
ying h ie rarch icals tructure th at ge ne rate s th e
prope r cros s -re fe re nce s . Th e num ber of s pace s a s ube ntry is indented
indicate s th e l
e ve l of derivation of th at s ube ntry w ith re s pe ct to th e
im m ediate l
y pre ceding s ube ntry. Th at is , s ube ntrie s at th e s am e l
e ve lare
indented th e s am e num ber of s pace s ;a s ube ntry de rived from a pre ceding
s ube ntry h as one additionalindented space , up to four l
e ve l
s of derivation.
O th e rw is e , derived entrie s at th e s am e l
e ve loccur w ith th e m os t bas ic derived
s te m s (s uch as ne gative s or nom inal
s ) firs t, and th e n m ore or l
e s s in
al
ph abeticalorder. Com pounds are not s ube nte red w ith in root e ntrie s as th ey
w oul
d te nd to m ak e th e e ntrie s unm anage abl
y l
arge and do not contribute
m ate rial
l
y to an unders tanding of th e m orph ol
ogy. Partial
l
y s uppl
e tive
nons ingul
ar s te m s are s ube nte red under th e root e ntry for th e s ingul
ar s te m ,
but are oth e rw is e tre ated as s uppl
e tive s te m s .
Approxim ate l
y th irty s te m s are provided w ith h e adw ords in root e ntrie s th at
actual
l
y re pre s e nt bound roots rath e r th an th ird pe rs on or im pe rative s te m s .
Th e s e are indicated by a h yph e n pre ceding or fol
l
ow ing th e root. Th ey are
ne ce s s itated by tw o type s of circum s tance s . Th e m os t com m on is th e
e xis te nce of doubl
e ts : paral
l
e lm iddl
e and nonm iddl
e s te m s derived from th e
Technical Information
xxxi
s am e root, w h os e derivationalbeh avior s ugge s ts th at it w oul
d be inappropriate
to de rive th e m iddl
e s te m from th e nonm iddl
e or vice ve rs a. In addition, th e re
are a fe w s e ts of re l
ated w ords derived from th e s am e bas ic s te m , but th e s te m
doe s not occur as a w ord by its e l
f.
3. Com m ents on th e ph onol
ogy.
W e m e ntion h e re a fe w ph onol
ogicalrul
e s not al
l
uded to in th e guide to
pronunciation.
Al
th ough w e h ave noted th at Al
abam a h as ge m inate
cons onants , no w ords are w ritte n w ith a s e q ue nce of ch ch or bb. Se q ue nce s of
underl
ying ge m inate /¡/ (s uch as th os e produced by im pe rfe ctive ge m ination)
are al
w ays re al
ized as [t¡] and are th us w ritte n tch ;th ey are not ph one tical
l
y
dis tinguis h abl
e from a s e q ue nce of /t/ and /¡/. O th e rw is e , /¡/ in a coda
pos ition is (w ith ve ry fe w e xce ptions ) re al
ized as [s ] and th us w ritte n s .
/b/ in a coda pos ition (s uch as th os e produced by im pe rfe ctive ge m ination
or dis fixation) is al
w ays re al
ized as [m ] and s pe l
l
ed w ith an m . Th e s e [m ]s
from underl
ying /b/ ne ve r undergo nas al as s im il
ation to th e pl
ace of a
fol
l
ow ing s top, or del
e tion w ith vow e lnas al
ization before fricative s (unl
ik e
1
underl
ying /m /). For e xam pl
e , th e s te m [/ öbaf-k a ] `to h ave a h ol
e ' h as th e
dis fix pl
uralform öm k a from / öb(af)k a/ and th e [m ] (from underl
ying /b/)
doe s not as s im il
ate to th e fol
l
ow ing [k ].
Th us , th e s urface form of s om e ve rbs is q uite diffe re nt from th e underl
ying
form s h ow n in th e gram m aticalanal
ys is . For ins tance , th e ve rb ich ok lam bi `to
s tick out th e tongue ' h as th e underl
ying form [ich ok l
ab-l
i]. Th e [l
] of th e
s uffix as s im il
ate s to th e final[b] of th e root by a ge ne ralproce s s of `-li
as s im il
ation' and th e n th e [b] in th e coda pos ition of th e root is nas al
ized.
Som e ve rbs h ave an underl
ying form th at ne ve r occurs as a nonderived
s te m . O ne ge ne ral
ization (noted by Jack M artin) s e e m s to be th at a CV pe nul
t
is l
e ngth e ned if th e ante pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e is l
igh t, w ith onl
y a fe w
e xce ptions . Beyond th is h ow e ve r, a num ber of oth e r (disyl
l
abic) ve rbs al
so
undergo pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e l
e ngth e ning, ul
tim ate l
y in re s pons e to th e
Al
abam a ve rb fram e , a pros odic cons traint th at is e vide nced by th e fact th at
approxim ate l
y 9 7% of active ve rb s te m s (and al
lderived ste m s ) e nd in a tw osyl
l
abl
e , th re e m ora foot. (Se e M ontl
e r and H ardy 19 9 0, 19 9 1, and H ardy and
M ontl
e r 19 9 1.) Th is cons traint appl
ie s to de rived ste m s s uch as infl
e cted
form s , nom inal
/pas s ive m iddl
e s , and caus ative s . Th us , th e infl
e cted form s and
nom inal
/pas s ive m iddl
e s of ve rbs w ith an underl
ying s h ort pe nul
tim ate vow e l
s h ow a s h ort pe nul
t w h ich l
e ngth e ns in uninfl
e cted form s . For e xam pl
e,
h opooni `to cook ' h as tw o nom inal
/pas s ive m iddl
e form s , h olponi and
h oponk a;h aaï `to put on s h oe s ' h as th e s e cond pe rs on s ingul
ar form h ac̈h i.
xxxii
Alabama Dictionary
Ve rbs w ith an underl
ying form diffe re nt from th e citation form h ave an e ntry
in th e gram m aticalinform ation brack e ts s h ow ing th e underl
ying form . So
h opooni is s h ow n as [/h oponi]. Th e pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e of caus ative s te m s is
l
ik e w is e l
e ngth e ned if th e ante pe nul
t is l
igh t, as in h om i `to be bitte r' and
1
h om iich i `to m ak e bitte r' [/h om i-ch i ];th e underl
ying form of th e root is of
cours e to be found in th e m orph ol
ogicalanal
ys is of caus ative s .
Th e re are a fe w s te m s w ith probl
e m atic vow e ll
e ngth . Ne arl
y al
lof th e s e
are cl
os e d syl
l
abl
e s th at appe ar to vary be tw e e n CVC and CVVC. Supe rh e avy CVVC syl
l
abl
e s are not uncom m on in Al
abam a (al
th ough K im bal
l19 9 1
re ports th ey are not found in K oas ati) and m os t s h ow no variation w ith a
s h orte ned form . Th e vow e lin q ue s tion is al
w ays l
ong in derived form s th at
are re s yl
l
abified such th at th e coda becom e s th e ons e t of th e ne xt syl
l
abl
e. W e
note th is by giving th e citation form as s h ort (th e w ay it us ual
l
y is pe rce ived)
and th e vow e l in th e partial paradigm as l
ong. For e xam pl
e , th e ve rb
is tayapk a `to tak e aw ay from ' typical
l
y is s h ort in th e pe nul
t, but its infl
e cted
form s (and ne gative ) s h ow a l
ong vow e l (is tayaapis k a, is tayaapilka,
is tayaapas k a).
4. Com m ents on derive d stem s.
It h as been ne ce s s ary to l
is t a num ber of m ore or l
e s s re gul
arl
y-de rived
s te m s in th e dictionary be caus e th e m orph ol
ogicalproce s s e s th at produce th e m
radical
l
y al
te r th e s h ape of th e s te m in m os t cas e s . Th is is true of ne gative s ,
nom inal
/pas s ive m iddl
e , pl
ural
/re pe titive s te m s , as pe ctual `grade' form s of
s te m s , and th e pl
uralim pe rative s of s om e ve rbs (as w e l
las s te m s infl
e cted for
th e -li Controls e t).
Eve n th ough th e type of s te m m odification is l
arge l
y predictabl
e from th e
ph onol
ogicals h ape of th e s te m , th e rul
e s th at derive th e m are q uite abs tract
and com pl
e x, invol
ving infixation (incl
uding ge m ination) of various k inds as
w el
las s ubtractive m orph ol
ogy. (Th e s e proce s s e s w il
lbe brie fl
y re fe rred to
h e re ;for detail
s s e e H ardy and Montl
e r 19 88a,b, 19 9 1;M ontl
e r and H ardy
19 9 0, 19 9 1.) In fact, pre vious descriptions of both Al
abam a and K oas ati h ave
re s orted to l
is ting paradigm s for ve rb agre e m e nt cl
as s e s and ne gative s te m s
and h ave not re cognized as pe ctualgrade form ation or (for Al
abam a) pl
ural
s ubtraction and infixation. R e q uiring us e rs to cal
cul
ate th e derived form s
w oul
d be im practical
. Furth e r, a num ber of ve rbs failto fol
l
ow th e rul
es,
re q uiring ins te ad a pe riph ras tic s uffix, or, in s om e cas e s , cons tituting true
e xce ptions .
Final
l
y, th e s e m antic re l
ations h ol
ding betw e e n a s te m and its derived form s
are not al
w ays e as il
y ch aracte rizabl
e nor predictabl
e ; th is is obvious l
y th e
Technical Information
xxxiii
cas e w ith as pe ctualgrade form s but is probl
e m atic as w e l
lw ith s om e of th e
1
concate native m orph ol
ogy, s uch as th e -ch i `caus ativizing' s uffix and th e is t`pe riph e ralargum e nt' pre fix. Ve rbs w oul
d h ave to be l
e xical
l
y s pe cified in
any cas e as tak ing any of th e concate native derivationalm orph ol
ogy.
ving
4.1. Ne gative ste m s. Ne gative s te m s occur in s ix configurations invol
2
th e s e gm e nts /i/ and /k / (al
ong w ith h igh fal
l
ing tone and a s te m -final-o
s uffix): one pre fixal
, th re e infixing patte rns , and tw o s uffixal(incl
uding th e
`pe riph ras tic' s uffix). (D e tail
s of th e pros odical
l
y-bas e d proce s s e s th at
produce th e s e are give n in M ontl
e r and H ardy 19 9 1).
Spe cialagre e m e nt affixe s appl
y to th e s e ne gative s te m s . Agre e m e nt type is
us ual
l
y th e s am e as in th e affirm ative s te m ;th at is , an affirm ative s te m th at
us ual
l
y tak e s th e Control s e t conjugation ofte n tak e s one of th e Control
ne gative conjugations , w h ich are predictabl
e from th e s h ape of th e ne gative
s te m (s e e Ne gative Conjugation Se ts for -li s e t Ve rbs ). Affirm ative s te m s th at
us ual
l
y tak e th e Noncontrolor D ative Noncontrols e ts re tain th is conjugation
in th e ne gative . Som e affirm ative s te m s tak ing th e Controls e t ch ange to th e
Noncontrolconjugation in th e ne gative (in re s pons e to pe rce ived dim inis h ed
controlof th e age nt in nonactual
ized eve nts ) and th e s e are s pe cial
l
y m ark ed
for agre e m e nt. A contras t betw e e n th e Controland Noncontrols e ts w ith
ne gative s te m s indicate s th e diffe re nce betw e e n fail
ure to act ve rs us inabil
ity
to act.
4.2. Pronom inalconjugation patterns. W e h ave been re fe rring to th e th re e
m ain type s of pronom inalconjugations as th e -li, ch a- and am - sets . Th e -li
Controls e t is q uite com pl
icated in Al
abam a, h aving a num ber of dis tinct
conjugation patte rns (pre fixe s , infixe s , and s uffixe s ) in both th e affirm ative
and th e ne gative . W e l
is t th e s e h e re for conve nie nce , noting th at th e ir
predictabil
ity on th e bas is of s te m s h ape h as been de s cribed in detail
el
s e w h e re . Th e ph onol
ogicalge ne ral
izations conce rning s te m s h ape as give n
h e re are s im pl
ifications ;for detail
s and tre atm e nt of s ubre gul
aritie s and
irre gul
ar form s s e e M ontl
e r and H ardy 19 9 0, 19 9 1. Th e Noncontrols e ts ch aand am - prefix al
lform s .
Alabama Dictionary
xxxiv
Standard Affirm ative Pronom inalConjugation
ControlSe t (-l
i) agreem ent: 6 sub cl
asses
Se t Ia (canonicalR oot is CV)
1sg
2sg
3sg
-l
i
is--
ipa
1s g
2s g
3s g
`e at'
ipa-li
is pa
ipa
1plil
2plh as3pl-1pl ilpa
2pl h as pa
3pl (oh )-ipa
Ib (Al
lsuffixes but 1sg repl
ace a stem -finalk V)
1sg
2sg
3sg
-l
i
-(h )isk a
--
1pl-(h )il
ka
2pl-(h )ask a
3pl--
is k o
1s g
2s g
3s g
`drink '
is k o-li
is is k a
is k o
1pl is ilka
2pl is as k a
3pl (oh )-is k o
Ic (canonicalstem is R oot+ ch i `causative' or `repetitive')
1sg -l
i
2sg -isk a
3sg --
1pl-il
ka
2pl-ask a
3pl--
Technical Information
xxxv
l
iph ach i `crus h into pow der'
1s g l
iph ach i-li
1pl l
iph ach ilka
2s g l
iph ach is k a
2pl l
iph ach as k a
3s g l
iph ach i
3pl (h o)-l
iph ach i
Note : s om e s pe ak e rs do not us e th is conjugation, pre fe rring th e
pe riph ras tic for ve rbs of th is type .
Id (canonicalR oot ...VCCV)
1sg -l
i
2sg -ch i3sg --
1pl-l
i2pl-h ach i3pl--
h os s o `w rite '
1s g h os s o-li
2s g h och is s o
3s g h os s o
1pl h olis s o
2pl h oh ach is s o
3pl (h o)-h os s o
1
Ie (1sg appl
ies to -l
i stem for VV-finalor C-finalroot;V-final
1
root l
oses final V;-ch i `causative' can be
ad d e d to form a -ch i finalstem )
1sg -l
i
2sg -ch i
3sg --
1sg -h il
i
2sg -h ach i
3sg --
batl
i `h it (re p.)'
1s g batl
i-li
2s g batch i
3s g batl
i
1pl bath ili
2pl bath ach i
3pl (h o)-batl
i
h och ifa `nam e '
1s g h och ifa-li
2s g h och ifch i
3s g h och ifa
1pl h och ifh ili
2pl h och ifh ach i
3pl (h o)-h och ifa
s ah l
ich i `s crape '
1s g s ah l
ich ili
2s g s ah ch ich i
3s g s ah l
ich i
1pl s ah h ilich i
2pl s ah h ach ich i
3pl (h o)-s ah l
ich i
Alabama Dictionary
xxxvi
If (canonicalR oot ...VVCV)
1sg -l
i
2sg -s3sg --
1pl -l
2pl -h as3pl --
paapa `carry'
1s g paapa-li
2s g paas pa
3s g paapa
1pl paalpa
2pl paah as pa
3pl (h o)-paapa
Periph rastic Conjugation
i
1sg -l
2sg -tis k a
3sg --
ka
1pl -til
2pl -tas k a
3pl --
ah ‹
ina `be toge th e r w ith '
1s g ah ‹
ina-li
2s g ah ‹
ina-tis k a
3s g ah ‹
ina
1pl ah ‹
ina-tilka
2pl ah ‹
ina-tas k a
3pl (oh )-ah ‹
ina
Ne gative Conjugations for th e ControlSets
Note : agre e m e nt affixe s are ital
icized.
(i)k - Prefix negative
For CVste m s:
1sg a-k
2sg ch i-k
3sg Ž-ik
1plk -il
2plh ach i-k
3plŽ-ik
(i)pa
1s g
2s g
3s g
1pl k l̄po
2pl h ach ‹
k po
3pl (oh )-‹
k po
`e at'
ƒk po
ch ‹
k po
‹
k po
Technical Information
-k (i) Suffix negative
For ...VV], ...VC], ...VCV stem s:
1sg -tak -k (i)-o
2sg -ch ik -k (i)-o
3sg -Ž-k (i)-o
1pl-k il
-k (i)-o
2pl-h ach ik -k (i)-o
3pl-Ž-k (i)-o
batl
i `h it (pl
.)'
1s g battƒkk o
2s g batch ‹
kk o
3s g bƒ
tk o
1pl batk ‹
lk o
2pl bath ach ‹
kk o
3pl (h o)-bƒ
tk o
h apl
ich i `bath e (s om e one )'
1s g h aptak īch o
1pl h apk ilk īch o
2s g h apch ik īch o 2pl h aph ach ik īch o
3s g h apk īch o
3pl (h o)-h apk īch o
-ik - Infix negative
For ...k V] ste m s:
1sg -(h )a-k 2sg -ch i-k 3sg Ž-(h )ik afaak a `l
augh '
1s g afaah ƒk k o
2s g afaach ‹
kko
3s g afaah ‹
kko
1pl-k -il
2pl-h ach i-k 3plŽ-(h )ik 1pl afaak l̄k o
2pl afaah ach ‹
kko
3pl (oh )-afaah ‹
kko
-k i- Infix Ne gative
1sg -k -a2sg -ch i-k i3sg Ž-k i-
i- (var. l
1pl-k i-l
i-k i ?k i-l
i)
2pl-h ach i-k i3plŽ-k i-
For ...VVCV] ste m s:
˜
ata
1s g
2s g
3s g
`be l
ocated' (im pe rfe ctive )
ak ˜ato
1pl ak ilīto
ach ik īto
2pl ah ach ik īto
ak īto
3pl (oh )-ak īto
xxxvii
Alabama Dictionary
xxxviii
For ...VCCV] ste m s:
atta
1s g
2s g
3s g
`be l
ocated'
ak ˜tto
ach ik t̄to
ak t̄to
1pl ak ilt̄to
2pl ah ach ik t̄to
3pl (oh )-ak t̄to
Noncontrol-ch a Conjugation and Possessor Prefixes
Standard pattern (b e fore C-initialand /i/ initialstem s)
1sg ch a2sg ch i3sg --
1pl po2pl h ach i3pl --
k ano `good'
1s g ch ak ano
2s g ch ik ano
3s g k ano
1pl pok ano
2pl h ach ik ano
3pl h o-k ano
il
bi `h and'
my
ch al
bi
your
ch il
bi
h is /h e r il
bi
our pol
bi
your h ach il
bi
th e ir il
bi
Note : a s te m -initial/i/ is del
e ted afte r th e finalvow e lof th e pre fix.
Vow e l
-initialpattern (b e fore /a/ and /o/ initialstem s)
1sg ach a- (b e fore /a/)
ach o- (b e fore /o/)
2sg ach i3sg --
1pl apo2pl ah ach i3pl --
Note : th e finalvow e lof th e pre fix re pl
ace s th e initials te m vow e lbut re tains
its l
e ngth if th e s te m vow e lis l
ong.
ootoba `dre am '
1s g ach ootoba
2s g ach iitoba
3s g ootoba
1pl apootoba
2pl ah ach iitoba
3pl (oh )-ootoba
Technical Information
ach áoba `be ol
d'
1s g ach ach áoba
2s g ach ich áoba
3s g ach áoba
xxxix
1pl apoch áoba
2pl ah ach ich áoba
3pl (oh )-ach áoba
NoncontrolDative (am -) Conjugation and am - Possessor Prefixes
(al
w ays incl
udes th e im - Dative prefix)
1sg a-m
2sg ch i-m
3sg Ž-im
1pl po-m
2pl h ach i-m
3pl Ž-im
im ach iiba `be sad'
1s g am ach iiba
2s g ch im ach iiba
3s g im ach iiba
1pl pom ach iiba
2pl h ach im ach iiba
3pl (oh )-im ach iiba
im aal
ok h a `brain, m arrow '
my
am aal
ok h a
our
your
ch im aal
ok h a
h is /h e r im aal
ok h a
pom aal
ok h a
your h ach im aal
ok h a
th e ir im aal
ok h a
If a ch a- set Subje ct cooccurs w ith an am - set O bje ct (de rived by th e D ative
pre fix im -) th e pre fixalorder is D ative O bje ct m ark e r + NoncontrolSubje ct
m ark e r. Th e ch a- and am - sets w h e n us e d as O bje ct pre fixe s pre cede th e
pre fixals ubcl
as s variants of th e -li Subje ct s e t, s o th e rel
ative prefixalorder
is D ative O bje ct (am -) + NoncontrolO bje ct (ch a-) + ControlSubje ct +
Ste m .
A fe w oth e r com m e nts are in order conce rning th e ne gative s te m s and
infl
e cted form s of ve rbs e nding in /k a/. In th e th ird and firs t pe rs ons of th e
ne gative , th e s e cond pe rs ons and firs t pl
uralof th e affirm ative , and th e pl
ural
im pe rative of s te m s e nding in /k a/, an excrescent [h ] appe ars in s om e ve rbs
betw e e n th e root and th e affix. Th e s e are re pre s e nted in th e agre e m e nt
paradigm s as an (h ) and w ritte n in th e s te m s and partialparadigm s w h e re th ey
occur. H aas h as noted th e s e w ith out e xpl
anation (19 77);oth e rs h ave
s ugge s ted th ey m ay re pre s e nt underl
ying /h /s th at del
e te in th e ve rbs w h ich
l
ack th e m (Lupardus 19 82: 138). Since th e /h /s th at pre cede th e firs t and
s e cond pl
urals uffixe s of oth e r (non-/k a/) s te m s providing identicals e gm e ntal
e nvironm e nts ne ve r del
e te , w e s ugge s t th at th e s e [h ]s are e xcre s ce nt and
ins e rted fol
l
ow ing root-finals onorants (optional
l
y afte r vow e l
s ) and /k / before
th e vow e linitialinfixe s . Be caus e th is e nvironm e nt is odd and th e re are s om e
e xce ptions in th e pl
uralim pe rative s , w e l
is t th e pl
uralim pe rative s of th e s e
xl
Alabama Dictionary
ve rbs s e parate l
y.
ogicalproce s s s im il
ar to
4.3. Nom inal
/passive m id d l
e stem s. A m orph ol
agre e m e nt form ation produce s (pre fixed, infixed, or s uffixed) s te m s th at
function e ith e r as m iddl
e s /pas s ive m iddl
e s or action/obje ct nom inal
s . Unl
ik e
1
ne gation and agre e m e nt, h ow e ve r, th e s e s te m s h ave a s uffixalform -k a not
ph onol
ogical
l
y re l
ated to th e pre fixaland infixalform s invol
ving an /l
/. (For
detail
s on th e form ation of th e s e s te m s s e e H ardy and Montl
e r 19 9 1;for a
dis cus s ion of th e function s e e H ardy 19 9 0.)
4.4. M orph ol
ogicalprocesses w ith fixe d pl
acem ent.
abam a h as a num ber of m orph ol
ogical
4.4.1. Infixation and d isfixation. Al
proce s s e s deriving s te m s th rough infixation of various type s . Th e s o-cal
l
ed
as pe ctual`grades' found in th e M us k oge an l
anguage s are ch aracte rized in
Al
abam a by infixation into th e pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e of th e ve rb s te m ,
accom panied by th e affixation of tone . W e h ave re tained th e l
abel
s traditional
w ith in M us k oge an s tudie s for th e s e derived ste m s , re fe rring to th e H -grade
(h gr), N-grade (ngr), L-grade (l
gr), G-grade (ggr), as w e l
las introducing th e
te rm F-grade (fgr).
Th e L-grad e (l
e ngth e ned grade) is m ark ed by h igh tone (e ith e r l
e ve l
, or
sl
igh tl
y ris ing on l
ong vow e l
s ) on th e pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e , w h ich is
l
e ngth e ned if it is ope n. Th e finalsyl
l
abl
e l
ack s its ch aracte ris tic h igh tone
fol
l
ow ing th e h igh pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e acce nt of th e L-grade.
Th e F-grad e (fal
l
ing tone grade) is ch aracte rized by h igh fal
l
ing tone on th e
pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e (if it is not cl
os e d by an obs true nt) or h igh tone (if cl
os e d
by an obs true nt) w ith predictabl
e w ord-finalh igh tone re m aining (e xce pt in
ne gative s te m s ). Lik e th e L-grade, th e F-grade l
e ngth e ns th e pe nul
tim ate
syl
l
abl
e if it is s h ort and s ignal
s yet anoth e r k ind of im pe rfe ctive as pe ct. It is
found in ne gative s te m s , age nt nom inal
izations , dis tributive s te m s form ed by
pl
uralcoda s ubtraction (dis fix-2 ste m s ), m any ve rbs of re pe titive activitie s ,
2
incl
uding th os e w ith th e nonproductive re pe titive -ch i s uffix, and m any ve rbs
re fe rring to th e as s um ption of a pos ition. Exam pl
e : h oopa `to be s ick ';
h ok īpo Ne g.
Th e G-grad e (ge m inate grade) can be re cognized by th e l
e ngth e ning of th e
targe t vow e lor cons onant (ge m ination), w h ich can al
s o be described as an
infixation proce s s , to s ignala type of im pe rfe ctive as pe ct (s e e H ardy and
M ontl
e r 19 88b for detail
s ). D isyl
l
abic s te m s and s te m s w ith a cl
os e d
ante pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e ge m inate th e pe nul
tim ate nucl
e us , unl
e s s it is al
re ady
l
ong, in w h ich cas e th e fal
l
ing tone on th e pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e is th e onl
y
Technical Information
xli
m ark e r of th e G-grade and th e G-grade and F-grade are indistinguis h abl
e for
ve rbs of th is s h ape . Al
loth e r s te m s ge m inate th e ons e t of th e pe nul
tim ate
syl
l
abl
e , and affix h igh tone to th e ante pe nul
tim ate and fal
l
ing tone to th e
pe nul
t (l
ik e th e F-grade), unl
e s s th e coda of th e pe nul
t is cl
os e d by an
obs true nt, in w h ich cas e no tone is affixed to th e pe nul
t. Exam pl
e : ch ok áoli
`to as s um e a s itting pos ition';ch “kk áoli `to be s e ated/s itting'.
Th e N-grad e (nas algrade) is m ark ed by nas al
ization of th e vow e l(and
l
e ngth e ning, if s h ort) and th e affixation of h igh acce nt to th e pe nul
tim ate
syl
l
abl
e to s ignalinte ns ity of th e pe rform ance of an activity or m ark edl
y
re pe ated activity. Exam pl
e : bitli `to dance ';b‹
iätli `to re al
l
y dance h ard'.
Th e H -grad e is anoth e r type of im pe rfe ctive as pe ct typical
l
y s ignal
ing an
incre as e in degre e in s tative ve rbs , s uch as th at found in com parative s and
s upe rl
ative s . It is m ark ed by th e infixation of an /h / into th e coda of th e
pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e and h igh pitch acce nt. (Se e H ardy and Montl
e r 19 88a for
detail
s .) Exam pl
e : ch oba `to be big';ch “hba `to be bigge r'.
Som e h e avy-finalroots in Al
abam a form pl
urals te m s (pl
urals ubje ct, pl
ural
obje ct, or re pe ated action as dete rm ined by th e s e m antics of th e ve rb) by th e
infixation of an /h / as th e coda of th e pe nul
tim ate s yl
l
abl
e of th e s te m (w ith
cons e q ue nt del
e tion of any coda pre s e nt in th e s ingul
ar). Th is h -infixation is
not accom panied by an added acce nt. (Se e H ardy and Montl
e r 19 88a).
Exam pl
e : öpotk a `to s tab once ';öpoh k a `to s tab, s tick in (re pe atedl
y)'.
1
M any oth e r roots (fol
l
ow ed by eith e r -li or -k a ) form pl
urals te m s w ith th e
s am e range of s e m antics as th e h -infix by a type of s ubtractive m orph ol
ogy w e
h ave re fe rred to as d isfixation . D is fixation h as tw o form s , one of w h ich
del
e te s th e l
as t tw o s e gm e nts (m os t ofte n th e rh ym e ) of th e pe nul
tim ate
syl
l
abl
e of th e s te m (ds fx1), th e oth e r del
e te s th e coda and th e nucl
e us is
com pe ns atoril
y l
e ngth e ned (ds fx2). (Se e H ardy and Montl
e r 19 88a for
detail
s ). Since th e s ingul
ar form cannot be re trie ved from th e dis fixed form ,
th e del
e ted segm e nt(s ) are s h ow n in pare nth e s e s in th e gram m aticalanal
ys is .
Exam pl
e s : atak ˜ak a `to h ang (s g)';atak k a `to h ang (pl
)' and topatk a `to dry
up (one pl
ace )';topaak a `to dry up (s e ve ralpl
ace s )'.
ls te m -deriving (invariant) affixe s are
4.4.2. Concatenative m orph ol
ogy. Al
1
pre fixal
, e xce pt for th e productive -ch i caus ative s uffix, th e nonproductive 2
1
ch i re pe titive action s uffix, and th e m iddl
e -k a . Affixe s indicating dis cours e
and gram m aticalfunction, deictics , te ns e , as pe ct, m odal
ity and th e l
ik e are al
l
s uffixal
.
xlii
Alabama Dictionary
5. Com m ents on pronom inalagreem ent and argum ent structure.
abam a h as an `active ' pronom inal
5.1. Se m antics of agreem ent. Al
agre e m e nt syste m th at e xpre s s e s th e s e m antics of controlw ith re s pe ct to th e
e ve nt. Ve rbs are l
e xical
l
y m ark ed for th e k ind and num ber of argum e nts th ey
protypical
l
y al
l
ow , s o th is inform ation is give n in th e ir m ain e ntry. Ch oice of
particul
ar agre e m e nt s e t (Control
, Noncontrol
, D ative ) is dete rm ined by th e
s e m antics of controland affe ctedne s s of th e participant/e ve nt re l
ations h ip.
Th e -li agre e m e nt s e t indicate s a ControlSubje ct (or typicalAge nt). Th e ch as e t typical
l
y indicate s a NonControlSubje ct (Expe rie nce r) or affe cted O bje ct
(Patie nt). So, for e xam pl
e , ch atam m iti m e ans `I fe l
l (accidental
l
y) and
tam m iliti m e ans `I fe l
l(on purpos e )'.
W h at w e h ave been cal
l
ing th e D ative (am -) s e t is probabl
y be s t th ough t of
as an al
l
om orph ic variant of th e Noncontrols e t. Th e D ative m orph e m e im - is
an appl
icative m ark e r th at derive s a ve rb s te m w ith an added nonaffe cted
obje ct participant. (Se e H ardy 19 9 1 for a ful
ltre atm e nt.) To th is s te m th e
re gul
ar NonControls e t pre fixe s are added, w ith th e e xce ption th at firs t pe rs on
ch a- is us ual
l
y re pl
aced by a- before th e im - prefix, yie l
ding am -. (Th e ch as e t pre fixe s h ave al
l
om orph ic variants as w e l
lbefore a and o vow e l
-initial
s te m s .) Th e com bined sem antics of unaffe cted and no controlofte n yie l
ds th e
e ffe ct of Lim ited Control
. (For ful
ldetail
s and jus tification s e e H ardy and
D avis to appe ar.) Participants indexed by th e am - set are typical
l
y dative s ,
incl
uding re cipie nts , goal
s , bene factive s /m al
e factive s , and pos s e s s ors of
affe cted participants . For e as e of us e , paral
l
el
is m w ith th e pos s e s s or s e t, and
becaus e it is traditionalin M us k oge an s tudie s , w e h ave l
is ted th e com bination
of th e D ative im - w ith Noncontrolagre e m e nt as a th ird conjugation s e t in th is
dictionary, e ve n th ough th e derived ve rb is cited w ith th e dative derivational
pre fix im -.
e ction of w h ich participants w il
lgove rn obje ct
5.2. M ul
tipl
e ob je cts. Se l
agre e m e nt w h e n th e re are m ul
tipl
e obje cts can be dete rm ined for ne arl
y al
l
ve rbs on th e bas is of a fe w s im pl
e ge ne ral
izations . Th e rare e xce ptions are s o
m ark ed.
(1) If a ve rb is a derived appl
icative im -ve rb, th e n th e agre e ing (am -) obje ct is
a non-Patie nt (th at is , th e R e cipie nt, D ative , Be ne factive /M al
e factive , Goal
, or
Pos s e s s or).
k to, s pe ak to;to re ad from •
- LI/A M -/3 [im - /naaïiinnaaïik a to tal
1
«Sal
ka]
l
in Fal
anch i innaaïil
k an innaaïik al
o. I s pok e th e Fre nch
Technical Information
xliii
language to Sally.»
(2) If th e ve rb is a doubl
y de rived im -im -ve rb th e n th e firs t (agre e ing) D ative
obje ct is a Be ne factive and th e s e cond Dative obje ct is a (nonagre e ing) th ird
pe rs on obje ct.
k to (s om e one ) for;to inte rpre t for •
- LI/A M -/3
im ittinnaaïik a to tal
1
[im -itti-im - /naaïi-k a ] «Ch im ittinnaaïik al
ah o. I'm going to s pe ak on
your be h alf.»
1
(3) If th e ve rb is a caus ative (de rived by -ch i ), th e agre e ing obje ct is th e
caus e e .
- LI/CH A -/3
sob ayl
ich i to te ach (a s ubje ct) to •
«H ol
tinan ch is obayl
ich il
iti. I taugh t you m ath .»
1
[/s obay-l
i-ch i ]
(4) If th e ve rb h as a -ch a obje ct and a 3 nonagre e ing obje ct th e n th e agre e ing
obje ct is a Patie nt.
- LI/CH A -/3 [is t- /bat(at)-l
i;
isbatl
i to w h ip (w ith an ins trum e nt) •
«W aak isbatk an is ch abatch itoh a. You w h ippe d m e w ith a
ds fx1]
bullw h ip.»
(5) If th e im -derived appl
icative argum e nt is l
is ted as th e obje ct w ith a
nonagre e ing nom inals ubje ct (3/am -), th e nom inals ubje ct typical
l
y h as e ith e r
th e -k or -t s uffix ch aracte ris tic of s ubje cts , but th e D ative indexed noun doe s
as w e l
l
. Be caus e of syntactical
l
y paral
l
e l cas e s w ith an ove rtl
y m ark ed
agre e ing s ubje ct, th is cons truction is anal
yzed as h aving a D ative obje ct, rath e r
th an as h aving tw o s ubje cts . In ne arl
y al
ls uch e xam pl
e s th e D ative argum e nt
is h um an and fre q ue ntl
y th e pos s e s s or of th e nom inals ubje ct;it is th is h igh
degre e of `topical
ity' th at occas ions th e -k s uffix. (For a dis cus s ion of th e
s e m antics of th e s e nom inal
/s e nte ntials uffixe s s e e D avis and H ardy 19 84,
19 88;for th e dative , s e e H ardy 19 9 1.) Th e m os t naturalEngl
is h trans l
ation of
th e s e cas e s us ual
l
y h as th e e xpe rie nce r as s ubje ct of a ve rb s uch as `h ave ', e .g.
`to h ave s om e th ing bre ak dow n on one '. Exam pl
e s are provided to il
l
us trate
th e argum e nt s tructure .
3/A M - [im - /h oopa]
iäh oopa to h ave a pain (in a part of th e body) •
«Ch atch onos k ak aäh oopah ch i. I h ave h e art trouble.»
Alabama Dictionary
xliv
3/A M - [im - /n˜
ah o] «Antaatak
inn˜ah o to ow n, h ave , pos s e s s •
k atok inn˜
ah oh ch i. M y fath e r h as a cat.»
In th e pre vious e xam pl
e , th e ve rb of pos s e s s ion, inn˜ah o, derive s from an
e xis te ntialve rb, n˜ah o, ofte n us e d to ach ie ve a pre s e ntative cons truction.
From `th e re is /e xis ts N (at a l
ocation)' th e dative `th e re e xis ts PO SSESSED
for/to PO SSESSO R ' is derived.
6. W ork s cite d .
D avis , Ph il
ip W ., and H e ath e r K . H ardy. 19 84. Nom inal
-sente ntialm ark ing in
Al
abam a. South w e s tJournalof Linguis tics 7:87-101.
____. 19 88. Abs e nce of noun m ark ing in Al
abam a. IJAL54(3):279 -309 .
Fol
s om -Dick e rs on, W .E.S. 19 65. Th e w h ite path . San Antonio: Th e Nayl
or
Co.
H aas , M ary R. 19 77. From auxil
iary ve rb to infl
e ctionals uffix. In M e ch anis m s of Syntactic Ch ange , edited by Ch arl
e s N. Li, pp. 325-337.
Aus tin: Unive rs ity of Te xas Pre s s .
H ardy, H e ath e r K . 19 9 0m s . Al
abam a ve rb s te m cl
as s ification and voice .
____. 19 9 1m s . Spl
it-intrans itivity and th e dative in Al
abam a.
H ardy, H e ath e r K ., and Ph il
ip W . D avis . 19 88. Com parative s in Al
abam a.
IJAL54(2):209 -231.
____. To appe ar. Th e s e m antics of agre e m e nt in Al
abam a. In H e ath e r K .
H ardy and Janine Scancare l
l
i, eds., IJAL 59 (4), Spe cialis s ue on
M us k oge an l
anguage s , to appe ar 19 9 3.
H ardy, H e ath e r K ., and Tim oth y R. M ontl
e r. 19 88a. Al
abam a radical
m orph ol
ogy: H -infix and dis fixation. In In h onor of M ary R. H aas ,
edited by W il
l
iam Sh ipl
ey, pp. 377-410. Be rl
in: M outon de Gruyte r.
____. 19 88b. Im pe rfe ctive ge m ination in Al
abam a. IJAL54(4):39 9 -415.
____. 19 9 1. Th e form ation of th e Al
abam a m iddl
e voice . Lingua 85.1-15.
K im bal
l
, Ge offrey D. 19 9 1. K oas ati gram m ar. Lincol
n: Unive rs ity of Nebrask a Pre s s .
____. (forth com ing) K oas ati dictionary.
Lough ridge , R.M ., and D avid M . H odge . 189 0. Engl
is h and Musk oge e
dictionary. Ph il
adel
ph ia: Th e W e s tm ins te r Pre s s . (re printed, 19 64)
Lupardus , K are n Jacq ue s . 19 82. Th e l
anguage of th e Al
abam a Indians .
Unive rs ity of K ans as Ph .D . dis s e rtation.
Technical Information
xlv
M ontl
e r, Tim oth y R., and H e ath e r K . H ardy. 19 9 0. Th e ph onol
ogy of Al
abam a age nt agre e m e nt. W ord 41(3).257-276.
____. 19 9 1. Th e ph onol
ogy of ne gation in Al
abam a. IJAL57(1).1-23.
M unro, Pam e l
a, e t al
. 19 9 0. M us k oge an cognate s e ts . (in pre paration)
M unro, Pam e l
a, and Cath e rine W il
l
m ond. (forth com ing) Ch ick as aw -Engl
is h :
an anal
yticaldictionary.
Sw anton, Joh n R. 19 29 . M yth s and tal
e s of th e s outh e as te rn Indians . Bure au
of Am e rican Eth nol
ogy Bul
l
e tin 88. W as h ington, D .C.
List of Abbreviations
1. Abbreviations in th e m ain dictionary:
AMA M pCH A -
cp.
ds fx1
ds fx2
Dl
fgr
ggr
h gr
Irr
Im p
l
gr
- LI
ngr
Ne g
O bj
pcl
pl
sg
Subj
Var
3
--
D ative pronom inalconjugation
Pos s e s s or pronoun
Noncontrolpronom inalconjugation;
Pos s e s s or pronoun
com pare to anoth e r w ord
dis fix1
dis fix2 (w ith com pe ns atory l
e ngth e ning)
dual (tw o onl
y)
fal
l
ing tone grade
ge m inate grade
h -grade
irre gul
ar form
pl
uralim pe rative
l
e ngth e ning grade
Control(Subje ct) pronom inalconjugation
nas algrade
ne gative ve rb s te m
obje ct
paucal(s e ve ral
)
pl
ural(tw o or m ore )
s ingul
ar
s ubje ct
variant pronunciation
th ird pe rs on
no s ubje ct;l
ack s a ce rtain conjugated form
2. Contributors:
IB
DB
VC
WP
CS
JS
Ivey Battis e
D orcas Bul
l
ock
Vince nt Ce l
e s tine
W anda Ponch o
Cora Syl
e s tine
Jam e s L. D . Syl
e s tine
List of Abbreviations
3. Te xt cod e s:
h cw
h ai
h pc
jat
jbh
jm c
jpp
l
hr
l
fs 2
l
l
b
l
ws
m bf1
m bf2
m bl
m ic
mkf
m te
ncs
nh n
nia
nsb
nw k
pbb
pfb
pm b
pm m
pth
raf
ras
s cc
s cs
ttp
H is tory of th e Ch octaw W ars
H is tory of th e Al
abam a Indians
H is tory of th e Indian Pre s byte rian Ch urch
Jok e : H ow th e Anim al
s Los t th e ir Tail
s
Jok e : Th e Buzzard and th e Ch ick e n H aw k
Jok e : Th e M onk ey and th e Cat
Jok e : Th e Parrot and th e Pre ach e r
Le ge nd: Th e H unte r and th e R attl
e s nak e s
Le ge nd: A Fairy Story (ve rs ion tw o)
Le ge nd: Th e O rph an and th e Fore s t Boy
Le ge nd: Th e W om an W h o Be cam e a Snak e
Tal
e : Be ar Us e d to O w n Fire (ve rs ion one )
Tal
e : Be ar Us e d to O w n Fire (ve rs ion tw o)
Tal
e : Th e Big Lizard
Tal
e : H ow th e Indians Got Corn
Tal
e : Th e K ingfis h e r
Tal
e : W h y th e Turtl
e H as R e d Eye s
Pe rs onalNarrative : B. Coope r Syl
e s tine
Narrative : O n H unting
Narrative : Th e Firs t Indian Age nt
Narrative : Pl
aying th e Stick bal
lGam e
Narrative : H ow th e Pe opl
e W oul
d W ork Toge th e r
Procedure : H ow to M ak e Bl
uebre ad Dum pl
ings
Procedure : H ow to M ak e Frybre ad
Procedure : H ow to W e ave M os s
Procedure : O n M ak ing M e dicine
Procedure : H ow to Tan H ide s
Th e R abbit and th e Farm e r
Th e R abbit Ste al
s th e Sun
Spe e ch : Cl
e ns on Ce l
e s tine
Spe e ch : Ch ie f B. Coope r Syl
e s tine
Trans l
ation from Engl
is h : Th e Tw e nty-Th ird Ps al
m
xlvii
Alabama Dictionary
xlviii
4. Abbreviations in th e Appendix:
Adv
Appl
Asp
Cons q
Cntg
Cntrs t
Col
l
Com it
Conn
Contra
Cs
Cop
Cus t
D at
D e ic
Det
D im /Aug
D ir
D is c
D is t
Evid
Exis t
Frgn
Ge nLoc
H ort
Im p
Loc
M odf
M odl
NarPs t
Ne g
Ne gCop
Ne gIm p
NLoc
Nom /M id
NPl
Pe ri
Adve rbial
Appl
icative
Aspe ctual
Cons e q ue nce
Continge nt
Contras tive
Col
l
e ctive pl
ural
Com itative
Conne ctive
Contrary to e xpe ctation
Caus ative
Copul
a
Cus tom ary
D ative
D e ictic
D e te rm ine r
D im inutive /Augm e ntative
D ire ctional
D is cours e function
D is tributive pl
ural
Evide ntial
Exis te ntial
Fore ign
Ge ne ralLocative
H ortative
Im pe rative
Locative
M odifie r
M odal
Narrative Pas t
Ne gative
Ne gative Copul
a
Ne gative Im pe rative
Nom inalLocative
Nom inal
/M iddl
e
Pl
uralNoun
Pe riph e ral
List of Abbreviations
Pl
Im p
Pl
O bj
Pl
Sj
Pron
Purp
Ps t
Ps tSq
QCnf
R e as
R e cp
R e fl
R e m Ps t
R e pe t
Sbjnct
Te m p
VExt
Pl
uralIm pe rative
Pl
uralO bje ct
Pl
uralSubje ct
Pronom inal
Purpos e
Pas t
Pas t Se q ue ntial
Confirm ation Que s tion
R e as on
R e ciprocal
R e fl
e xive
R e m ote Pas t
R e pe titive
Subjunctive
Te m poral
Ve rb Exte nde r
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