Editing Tlingit language (section)

==Grammar==

Tlingit grammar at first glance appears to be highly [[Fusional language|fusional]], but this is an incorrect assumption. There are predictable processes by which the basic phonetic shapes of individual morphemes are modified to fit various phonological requirements. These processes can be described with a regular language, and such descriptions are given here on a per morpheme basis by giving rule schemas for the context sensitive phonological modification of base morphemes. Analyzing all the possible combinations of morphemes and phonological contexts in Tlingit and constructing a regular language to describe them is a daunting but tractable task.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

Despite not being a fusional language, Tlingit is still highly [[synthetic language|synthetic]] as an [[agglutinating language]], and is even [[polysynthetic language|polysynthetic]] to some extent. The verb, as with all the Na-Dené languages, is characteristically [[Incorporation (linguistics)|incorporating]]. Nouns are in comparison relatively simple, with many being derived from verbs.

===Word order===

Tlingit [[word order]] is [[subject–object–verb|SOV]] when non-[[pronominal]] [[Agent (grammar)|agent]] and [[Object (grammar)|object]] [[phrase]]s both exist in the sentence. However, there is a strong urge to restrict the argument of the [[verb phrase]] to a single non-pronominal [[noun phrase]], with any other phrases being extraposed from the verb phrase. If a noun phrase occurs outside of the verb phrase then it is typically represented in the verb phrase by an appropriate pronoun.

===Nouns===
:''See main article: [[Tlingit noun]]''

===Pronominals===

Tlingit has a complex system of [[Pronoun|pronominals]], which vary depending on their relationship to the verb. The subject pronominals are incorporated into the verb in its subject slot. The object pronominals are also technically incorporated into the verb (i.e. the verb "complex"), but most are graphically independent. They are divided into three classes, the verbal object, nominal object, and postpositional object. There are also the independent pronominals which are completely separate from the verb and can be used in dependent clauses or in subject or object position.

The pronominals all have related semantic values, and their organization can hence easily be visualized in a table.

:{| class="wikitable"
!rowspan=2|'''Type''' !!rowspan=2| '''Subject''' !!colspan=3| '''Object''' !!rowspan=2| '''Independent'''
|-
!                                   VO    !!  NO  !!  PO
|-
| 1 <small>SINGULAR</small>    || xha-||xhat, axh|| axh  || xha- || xhát
|-
| 1 <small>PLURAL</small>    || too-|| haa     || haa  ||      || uháan
|-
| 2 <small>SINGULAR</small>    || ee- || i-      || i    ||      || wa.é
|-
| 2 <small>PLURAL</small>    || yi- || yee-    || yee  ||      || yeewáan*
|-
| 3 <small>RECESSIVE</small>   ||     || a-, 0-  || a    || a-   ||
|-
| 3 <small>NEUTRAL</small>   || 0-  || a-, 0-  || du   || u-   || hú
|-
| 3 <small>SALIENT</small>   ||     || ash     || ash  ||      ||
|-
| <small>REFLEXIVE</small>   ||     || sh-, 0- || chush||      ||
|-
| <small>RECIPROCAL</small>  ||     || woosh   || woosh||      ||
|-
| <small>INDEFINITE<br />HUMAN</small>   ||du-||khu-, khaa-|| khaa || khu- ||
|-
| <small>INDEFINITE<br />NON HUMAN</small>   ||     || at-     || at   ||      ||
|-
| <small>PARTITIVE</small>   ||     || aa-     ||      ||      ||
|}

The numbers in the first column represent the usual concept of person, i.e. first, second, or third. Story and Naish identified a [[fourth person]], but this term is inappropriate since they did not describe a clear separation between the so-called fourth person and the other impersonal pronominals.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

When analyzing a sentence, the pronominal type is given first, then the form (subject, object, independent) is given following a period. This uniquely represents the pronominal as a two dimensional unit. Thus 1<small>SINGULAR SUBJECT</small> is the first person singular subject pronominal, realized as ''xhat''. The <small>RECIPROCAL</small> does not uniquely identify one of the two reciprocal pronominals, but since they are both phonetically identical as ''woosh'', it is generally unnecessary to uniquely identify them.

There is also a notional zeroth person which can be of subject, object, or independent form. This is not realized in Tlingit, instead it is an empty placeholder for analysis.

====Subject pronominals====

The subject pronominals are all incorporated into the verb. Thus when the subject is represented as a pronominal, the subject position of the sentence is empty.

====Object pronominals====

Object pronominals are divided into three classes, the verbal, nominal, and postpositional.

The verbal object pronominals function similarly to the subject pronominals in that they preclude an explicit object when used.

The nominal object pronominals are similar in some respects to the possessive pronouns of English. They precede a noun and represent the object of the noun, typically implying possession of the noun.

Postpositional object pronominals function as objects to which postpositions are attached. They act as the object of a postposition in a manner similar to an ordinary noun suffixed with a postposition.

===Directionals===

Strictly speaking, the Tlingit directionals can be classified as nouns on the basis of their syntactic function. However, they form a distinct semantic set of nouns which indicate direction relative to some stated position. They also show stem variation depending locative suffixation, in particular with the allative suffix ''-dei''. These stem variants also occur with the adverb construction ''N<sub>1</sub>''-da-''N<sub>2</sub>''-(i)n "''N<sub>2</sub>'' ''N<sub>1</sub>''-ward" where ''N<sub>2</sub>'' is an anatomic noun and ''N<sub>1</sub>'' is a directional stem.

:{|class="wikitable"
!                !! Noun !! ''N''-dei !! ''N''-naa !! Adverb (+15)
|-
| up above || (di-)kée || (di-)kín-dei || (di-)kee-naa || kei, kéi
|-
| down below || (di-)yée || (di-)yín-dei || (di-)yee-naa || yei, yéi, yaa
|-
| upstream || naakée || nán-dei || naa-nyaa ~ naa-naa || –
|-
| downstream || ix-kée, éex || íx-dei || ixi-naa || –
|-
| from landshore, interior || dáakh || dákh-dei || dakhi-naa || daakh
|-
| toward landshore || éekh || íkh-dei || ikhi-naa || yeikh ~ eekh
|-
| toward seashore || yán || yán-dei || — || yan
|-
| from seashore, out to sea || dei-kí || dák-dei || daki-naa ~ diki-naa || daak
|-
| across, other side || diyáa || diyáa-dei || — || yan
|-
| inside || neil || neil-dei || — || neil
|-
| outside || gáan || gán-dei || — || —
|-
| back || — || khúxh-dei || — || khuxh
|-
| aground, shallow water || — || kúx-dei || — || kux
|}

===Particles===

Particles function as neither noun nor verb. They are restricted to positions relative to phrases in the sentence.

====Focus particles====

The focus particles follow the left periphery ("forephrase" per Leer) of a sentence. The Naish-Story term for them is "post-marginals". Many of them may be suffixed with a demonstrative (''-yá'', ''-hé'', ''-wé'', ''-yú''), and they may also be combined with the interrogative (''-gé''). Focus particles are stylistically written as separate words, but phonetically, they may be indivisible from the preceding utterance.

* ''sá'' — wh-question
* ''gé'' — dubitative, unlikelihood, "perhaps", "maybe, "it would seem..."
* ''á'' — focus
* ''ágé'' — interrogative (< ''á'' + ''gé'')
* ''ásé'' — discovery, understanding of previously unclear information, "oh, so..."
* ''ásgé'' — second hand information, "I hear...", "they say..." (< ''ásé'' + ''gé'')
* ''khu.aa'' — contrastive, "however"
* ''xháa'' – softening, "you see"
* ''shágdéi'' — dubitative, likelihood, "perhaps", "probably"
* ''dágáa'' — emphatic assertion, "indeed", "for sure"
* ''shéi'' — mild surprise
* ''gwáa'', ''gu.áa'' — strong surprise
* ''gwshéi'', ''gushéi'' — rhetorical interrogative, request for corroboration, "I wonder", "perhaps"
* ''óosh'' — hypothetical, "as if", "even if", "if only"

The combination of the focus ''á'' with the demonstratives gives the frequently used particles ''áyá'' and ''áwé'', and the less common ''áhé'' and ''áyú''. Combination of the interrogative ''ágé'' with the demonstratives gives the confirmative particles ''ákwé'' and ''ákyá'' (''ák-hé'' and ''ákyú'' are uncommon), used to elicit a yes/no response from the listener.

The interrogative ''ágé'' also usually contracts to ''ág'' before ''tsú'' "also": ''ág tsú'' "also?" < ''ágé'' + ''tsú''.

The particle ''sá'' is obligatory in forming [[Interrogative word|wh-question]] phrases. It can be combined with a demonstrative, the dubitative, the rhetorical interrogative, and the emphatic assertion:

* ''sáwé'' (< ''sá'' + ''áwé''), ''sáyá'', ... — focused question, "... is that?"
* ''sgé'' (< ''sá'' + ''gé'') — dubitative question, "maybe?", "perhaps?"
* ''ságwshéi'' — "I wonder?"
* ''sdágáa'' (< ''sá'' + ''dágáa'') — "(what) on earth?", "really?"

====Phrasal particles====

Phrasal particles may occur after focus particles that occur with or without demonstrative finals. The following are postphrasal particles, thus they may only occur after the phrase that they modify.

* ''tsá'' — "only then"
* ''tsú'' — "also"
* ''s'é'' — "first", "really!"
* ''déi'' — "now", "this time"
* ''x'wán'' — "be sure to"
* ''tsé'' — "be sure not to"

Except for ''x'wán'' and ''tsé'', the above may occur after the focus particles.

The following are prephrasal particles, i.e. they occur before the phrase that they modify. Naish and Story call these "pre-marginals".

* ''ch'a'' — "just", "the very"
* ''ch'as'' — "only", "just"
* ''ch'ú'' — "even"
* ''tlaxh'' — "very"

====Mobile particles====

These particles may occur before or after any phrase in a clause.

* ''tlei'' — "just," "simply," "just then"
* ''déi'' — "already," "by now"
* ''tsu'' — "again", "still", "some more"

Compare the mobile particle ''tsu'' with the postphrasal particle ''tsú''. Both the sentence ''káaxwei '''tsu''' eetéenaxh xhat yatee'' "I need more coffee" and the sentence ''káaxwei '''tsú''' eetéenaxh xhat yatee'' "I also need coffee" are acceptable. However the sentence ''*'''tsú''' káaxwei eetéenaxh xhat yatee'' is syntactically inadmissible because the particle ''tsú'' is postphrasal, i.e. it cannot precede the phrase it modifies, in this case the noun phrase ''káaxwei''. The corresponding sentence with the ''tsu'' particle in front, '''''tsu''' káaxwei eetéenaxh xhat yatee''  "I need coffee again/still" is in contrast syntactically acceptable. Thus a Tlingit listener will recognize the ''tsu'' particle in a phrase-initial position without confusion but tone is necessary to distinguish it in a phrase-final position. For this reason the ''tsu'' particle is often used prephrasally although it is syntactically admitted in either position. Thus the song name ''Tsu Héidei Shugaxhtootaan'' could also be ''héidei tsu shugaxhtootaan'', but placing the ''tsu'' in front has the advantage of unambiguity, and thus seems more [[Euphony|euphonious]] to native speakers.

====Sentence-initial particles====

These particles may only occur at the front of a sentence. Naish-Story term these "clause marginals".

* ''tléik'', ''l'' — negative, "not"
* ''gwál'' — dubitative, "perhaps"
* ''gu.aal'' — optative, "hopefully"
* ''khaju'', ''xhaju'' — contrary, "actually", "in fact"
* ''khashde'' — "I thought..."