Editing Eyak language (section)

===Preverbals===

Preverbals in Eyak are the category of words made up of [[preverb]]als and [[Preposition and postposition|postpositions]]. The two are grouped together because one morpheme may often be used as the stem in both categories. Preverbals are individual words that occur in conjunction with the verb. These combinations may almost be said to form [[lexeme]]s, especially due to the fact that preverbals are rarely if ever used in isolation in natural speech. Preverbals are nearly always [[Bound morpheme|unbound]] and are phonologically separate from the verb, contrasting with the corresponding class in Athabaskan which may be [[Incorporation (linguistics)|incorporated]] or not. One preverbal is most common, but combinations of two are equally possible, as in ''’uya’ ’Adq’Ach’ k’udAdAGu’'' "hot water bottle" (in it onto self something/someone is kept warm). There are more than 100 Eyak basic preverbal morphemes.

Postpositions relate directly to an object outside of the verb. Current analysis by Krauss has been phonological rather than semantic, but there is at least one semantically grouped category of postpositions to consider, that of comparatives. This grouping includes P-'''ga’''' "like P", P-'''’u’X''' "less than P", and P-'''lAX''' "more than P" where P is any postpositional phrase. Eyak lacks conjunctions and many postpositions assume a similar function, creating [[Dependent clause|subordinate clauses]]. These postpositions attach to the verb, the most common example being -'''da:X''' "and" or "if, when".