Editing Gwichʼin language (section)

== Grammar ==
Gwich’in is a highly [[Polysynthetic language|polysynthetic]], head-marking language with extensive exclusive prefixal inflection. Word order is relatively flexible but generally follows a [[SOV word order|SOV]] (Subject-Object-Verb) [[Word order|pattern]]. The language exhibits [[evidentiality]] and verbal inflection that conveys aspectual distinctions rather than tense. Gwich’in uses postpositions rather than prepositions. Like other Athabaskan languages, Gwich’in has classifier prefixes in verbs that indicate transitivity and valency changes. 

===Verb configuration===
A verb in Gwich’in contains a great number of smaller meaningful units or [[Morpheme|morphemes]] (e.g. in English ''un-spok-en'') that combine to give the verb its intended meaning. A verb is composed of the [[Affix|stem]] preceded by a varying number of [[Prefix|prefixes]], which in Gwich’in contain information about tense, aspect, and the number of people involved in the action.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 2003 |title=Gwicfi'in Language  Dictionary |url=https://www.gwichin.ca/sites/default/files/gsci_gsci_glc_2003_gwichin_language_dictionary_4th.pdf |publisher=Gwich'in La11fJuage Centre |edition=Fourth}}
</ref>  

{{interlinear|nintɬʼeltshùh|ni-ntɬʼe-l-tshùh|2S-object-1S-give|I gave it to you
| number = (1)
}}

Unlike English verbs, which come with comparatively very little [[Morphological derivation|derivation]] and inflection (i.e. number of affixes), a Gwich’in verb is so rich in affixes that a single inflected and conjugated verb can correspond to whole sentences in English, as in (1).