Editing Choctaw language (section)

==Morphology==
===Verbal morphology===
Choctaw verbs display a wide range of inflectional and derivational morphology. In Choctaw, the category of verb may also include words that would be categorized as adjectives or quantifiers in English. Verbs may be preceded by up to three prefixes and followed by as many as five suffixes. In addition, verb roots may contain infixes that convey aspectual information.

====Verb prefixes====
The verbal prefixes convey information about the arguments of the verb: how many there are and their person and number features. The prefixes can be divided into three sorts: [[Agreement (linguistics)|agreement]] markers, applicative markers, and [[Anaphora (linguistics)|anaphors]] (reflexives and reciprocals). The prefixes occur in the following order: agreement-anaphor-applicative-verb stem.

=====Agreement affixes=====
The agreement affixes are shown in the following chart. The only suffix among the personal agreement markers is the first-person singular class I agreement marker /-li/. Third-person is completely unmarked for class I and class II agreement arguments and never indicates number.<ref>Broadwell (2006:137-140)</ref>
 
{| class="wikitable" style="border: none; text-align: center;" 
|+
|- 
! colspan="3" rowspan="2" style="border: none; background: none;" | person markers 
! colspan="3" | class I  
! colspan="2" |class II  
! colspan="2" |class III  
! colspan="2" |class N 
! colspan="2" | imperative 
|- 
! <small>+s</small> || <small>+C</small> || <small>+V</small> !! <small>+C/i</small> || <small>+a/o</small> !! <small>+C</small> || <small>+V</small> !! <small>+C</small> || <small>+V</small> || <small>+C</small> || <small>+V</small> 
|- 
! rowspan="4" | first-person 
! rowspan="2" | singular  
! initial 
| colspan="3" rowspan="2" | -li 
| rowspan="2" align="center" | sa- 
| rowspan="2" align="center" | si- 
| align="center" | a̱- 
| align="center" | am- 
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" align="center" | ak- 
| colspan="2" rowspan="4" style="border: none; text-align: center;" | n/a 
|- 
! medial 
| align="center" | -sa̱- || align="center" | -sam- 
|- 
! colspan="2" | [[paucal]] 
| colspan="2" rowspan="2" align="center" | ii- 
| rowspan="2" align="center" | il- 
| colspan="2" align="center" | pi- 
| align="center" | pi̱- 
| align="center" | pim- 
| rowspan="2" align="center" | kii- 
| rowspan="2" align="center" | kil- 
|- 
! colspan="2" | plural 
| colspan="2" align="center" | hapi- 
| align="center" | hapi̱- 
| align="center" | hapim- 
|- 
! rowspan="2" | second-person  
! colspan="2" | singular 
| align="center" | is- 
| colspan="2" align="center" | ish- 
| colspan="2" align="center" | chi- 
| align="center" | chi̱- 
| align="center" | chim- 
| colspan="2" align="center" | chik- 
| colspan="2" align="center" | ∅ 
|- 
! colspan="2" style="border: none;" | plural 
| align="center" | has- 
| colspan="2" align="center" |hash- 
| colspan="2" align="center" |hachi- 
| hachi- |hachi̱- 
| hachim- 
| colspan="2" align="center" | hachik- 
| align="center" | ho- || align="center" | oh- 
|- 
! colspan="3" | third-person 
| colspan="3" align="center" |∅ 
| colspan="2" align="center" |∅ 
| align="center" | i̱- 
| align="center" | im- 
| colspan="2" align="center" | ik- 
| colspan="2" align="center" style="border: none;" |
|}

Some authors (Ulrich 1986, Davies, 1986) refer to class I as actor or nominative, class II as patient or accusative and class III as dative. Broadwell prefers the neutral numbered labels because the actual use of the affixes is more complex. This type of morphology is generally referred to as [[active–stative]] and [[polypersonal agreement]].

Class I affixes always indicate the subject of the verb. Class II prefixes usually indicate direct object of active verbs and the subject of stative verbs. Class III prefixes indicate the indirect object of active verbs. A small set of stative psychological verbs have class III subjects; an even smaller set of stative verbs dealing primarily with affect, communication and intimacy have class III direct objects.

======Active verbs======
As the chart above shows, there is no person-number agreement for third person arguments. Consider the following paradigms:

{| class="wikitable" style="border: none; text-align: center;" 
|+ hablitok ("kicked", past tense)
|- 
| style="background: none; border: none;" colspan="2" rowspan="2" {{diagonal split header|<sub>'''SUBJECT'''</sub>|<sup>'''DIRECT OBJECT'''</sup>}}  
! colspan="3" | first-person  
! colspan="2" | second-person 
! rowspan="2" | third-person 
|- 
! singular !! [[paucal]] !! plural !! singular !! plural 
|- 
! rowspan="2" | first-person 
! singular 
| ''ili-habli-li-tok''{{ref|v1|1}} <br> 'I kicked myself'
| ''pi-habli-li-tok'' <br> 'I kicked us (few)'
| ''hapi-habli-li-tok'' <br> 'I kicked us (all)'
| ''chi-habli-li-tok'' <br> 'I kicked you'
| ''hachi-habli-li-tok'' <br> 'I kicked you (pl.)'
| ''habli-li-tok'' <br> 'I kicked her/him/it/them'
|- 
! plural 
| ''ii-sa-habli-tok'' <br> 'we kicked me' 
| colspan="2" | ''il-ili-habli-tok''{{ref|v1|1}} <br> 'we kicked ourselves'
| ''ii-chi-habli-tok'' <br> 'we kicked you'
| ''ii-hachi-habli-tok'' <br> 'we kicked you (pl.)'
| ''ii-habli-tok'' <br> 'we kicked her/him/it/them'
|- 
! rowspan="2" | second-person 
! singular 
| ''is-sa-habli-tok'' <br> 'you kicked me'
| ''ish-pi-habli-tok'' <br> 'you kicked us (few)'
| ''ish-hapi-habli-tok'' <br> 'you kicked us (all)' 
| ''ish-ili-habli-tok''{{ref|v1|1}} <br> 'you kicked yourself'
| ''ish-hachi-habli-tok'' <br> 'ýou kicked you (pl.)'
| ''ish-habli-tok'' <br> 'you kicked her/him/it/them'
|- 
! plural 
| ''has-sa-habli-tok'' <br> 'you (pl.) kicked me'
| ''hash-pi-habli-tok'' <br> 'you (pl.) kicked us (few)'
| ''hash-hapi-habli-tok'' <br> 'you (pl.) kicked us (all)'
| ''hash-chi-habli-tok'' <br> 'you (pl.) kicked you'
| ''hash-ili-habli-tok''{{ref|v1|1}} <br> 'you (pl.) kicked yourselves'
| ''hash-habli-tok'' <br> 'you (pl.) kicked her/him/it/them'
|- 
! colspan="2" | third-person 
| ''sa-habli-tok'' <br> 'she/he/it/they kicked me'
| ''pi-habli-tok'' <br> 'she/etc. kicked us (few)'
| ''hapi-habli-tok'' <br> 'she/etc. kicked us (all)'
| ''chi-habli-tok'' <br> 'she/etc. kicked you'
| ''hachi-habli-tok'' <br> 'she/etc. kicked you (pl.)'
| ''habli-tok'' <br> "she/etc. kicked her/him/it/them" <br> ''ili-habli-tok''{{ref|v1|1}} <br> 'she/etc. kicked herself/etc.'
|- 
|} 
# {{note|v1}} When the subject and object refer to the same thing or person ([[coreference]]), the reflexive ''ili-'' prefix is mandatory and used in place of the coreferent object.

Transitive active verbs seemingly with class III direct objects:

* ''Am-anoli-tok'' 'She/he/it/they told me.'
* ''Chim-anoli-tok'' 'She/he/it/they told you.'
* ''Im-anoli-tok'' 'She/he/it/they told him/her/it/them.'
* ''Pim-anoli-tok'' 'She/he/it/they told us.'
* ''Hachim-anoli-tok'' 'She/he/it/they told y'all.'

When a [[transitive verb]] occurs with more than one agreement prefix, I prefixes precede II and III prefixes:

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Iichipi̱satok.}}|Ii- chi- pi̱sa -tok|1P.I- 2S.II- see{{angbr|{{gcl|NGR|n-grade}}}} -PT|'We saw you.'
}}

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Ishpimanoolitok.}}|Ish- pim- anooli -tok.|2S.I- 1P.III- tell -PT|'You told us.'
}}

For intransitive verbs, the subjects of active verbs typically have class I agreement. Because third-person objects are unmarked, intransitive active verbs are indistinguishable in form from transitive active verbs with a third-person direct object.

======Stative verbs======
[[Image:Cyrus Byington.png|200px|right|thumb|Rev. [[Cyrus Byington]] worked nearly 50 years translating the [[Bible]] into Choctaw. He traveled with the [[Choctaw people|Choctaws]] from Mississippi to [[Indian Territory]] after their [[Choctaw Trail of Tears|forced relocation]].]]
The subjects of stative verbs typically have II agreement. A small set of psychological verbs have subjects with class III agreement.<ref>Broadwell (2006:140-142)</ref>

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Baliililitok.}}|Baliili -li -tok|run -1S.I -PT|'I ran.'
}}

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Saniyah.}}|Sa- niya -h.|1S.II- fat -TNS|'I am fat.'
}}

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|A̱ponnah.}}|A̱- ponna -h.|1S.III- skilled -TNS|'I am skilled.'
}}

=====Negatives=====
The set of agreement markers labelled N above is used with negatives.<ref>Broadwell (2006:148-152)</ref> Negation is multiply marked, requiring that an agreement marker from the N set replace the ordinary I agreement, the verb appear in the lengthened grade (see discussion below), and that the suffix /-o(k)-/ follow the verb, with deletion of the preceding final vowel. The optional suffix /-kii/ may be added after /-o(k)-/. Consider the following example:

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Akiiyokiittook.}}|Ak- iiya -o -kii -ttook|1S.N- go{{angbr|{{gcl|LGR|l-grade}}}} -NEG -NEG -DPAST|'I did not go.'
}}

Compare this with the affirmative counterpart:

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Iyalittook.}}|Iya -li -ttook.|go -1S.I -DPAST|'I went'.
}}

To make this example negative, the 1sI suffix /-li/ is replaced by the 1sN prefix /ak-/; the verb root ''iya'' is lengthened and accented to yield ''íiya''; the suffix /-o/ is added, the final vowel of ''iiya'' is deleted, and the suffix /-kii/ is added.

=====Anaphoric prefixes=====
Reflexives are indicated with the /ili-/ prefix, and reciprocals with /itti-/:<ref>Broadwell (2006:98-99)</ref>

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Ilipi̱salitok.}}|Ili- pi̱sa -li -tok.|REFL- see{{angbr|{{gcl|NGR|n-grade}}}} -1S.I -PT|'I saw myself'.
}}

====Verb suffixes====
:While the verbal prefixes indicate relations between the verb and its arguments, the suffixes cover a wider semantic range, including information about valence, modality, tense and evidentiality.

The following examples show modal and tense suffixes like /-aachii̱/ 'irrealis'(approximately equal to future), /-tok/ 'past tense', /-h/ 'default tenses':<ref>Broadwell (2006:169-183)</ref>

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Baliilih.}}|Baliili -h.|run -TNS|'She runs.'
}}

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Baliilaachi̱h.}}|Baliili -aachi̱ -h.|run -IRR -TNS|'She will run.'
}}

There are also suffixes that show evidentiality, or the source of evidence for a statement, as in the following pair:<ref>Broadwell (2006:184-190)</ref>

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Nipi awashlihli.}}|Nipi awashli -hli|meat fry -{{gcl|FIRST:HAND|first hand evidential}}|'She fried the meat.' (I saw/heard/smelled her do it.)
}}

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Nipi awashlitoka̱sha.}}|Nipi awashli -tok -a̱sha|meat fry -PT -{{gcl|GUESS|guess evidential}}|'She fried the meat.' (I guess)
}}

There are also suffixes of illocutionary force which may indicate that the sentence is a question, an exclamation, or a command:<ref>Broadwell (2006:191-193)</ref>

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Awashlitoko̱?}}|Awashli -tok -o̱|fry -PT -Q|'Did she fry it?'
}}

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Chahta siahokii!}}|Chahta si- a -h -okii|Choctaw 1S.II- be -TNS -EXCL|'I'm Choctaw!' or 'I certainly am a Choctaw!'
}}

====Verbal infixes====
Choctaw verb stems have various infixes that indicate their aspect.<ref>Broadwell (2006:161-168)</ref> These stem variants are traditionally referred to as 'grades'. The table below shows the grades of Choctaw, along with their main usage.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name of Grade
! How it is formed
! When it is used
|-
| n-grade
| infix n in the next to last (penultimate) syllable; put accent on this syllable
| to show that the action is durative (lasts some definite length of time)
|-
| l-grade
| put accent on next to last (penultimate) syllable; lengthen the vowel if the syllable is open
| before a few common suffixes, such as the negative /-o(k)/ and the switch-reference markers /-cha/ and /-na/
|-
| hn-grade
| insert a new syllable /-hV̱/ after the (original) next to last (penultimate) syllable. V̱ is a nasalized copy of the vowel that precedes it.
| to show that the action of the verb repeats
|-
| y-grade
| insert -Vyy- before the next to last (penultimate) syllable
| to show delayed inception
|-
| g-grade
| formed by lengthening the penultimate vowel of the stem, accenting the antepenultimate vowel, and geminating the consonant that follows the antepenult.
| to show delayed inception
|-
| h-grade
| insert -h- after the penultimate vowel of the stem.
| to show sudden action
|}

Some examples that show the grades follow:

In this example the l-grade appears because of the suffixes /-na/ 'different subject' and /-o(k)/ 'negative':

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|... lowat taahana falaamat akiiyokiittook.}}|lowa -t taaha -na falaama -t ak- iiya- o -kii -ttook|burn -SS complete{{angbr|{{gcl|LGR|l-grade}}}} -DS return -SS 1S.N- go{{angbr|{{gcl|LGR|l-grade}}}} -NEG -NEG -DPAST|'... (the school) burned down and I didn't go back.'
}}

The g-grade and y-grade typically get translated into English as "finally VERB-ed":

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Taloowah.}}|Taloowa -h|sing -TNS|'He sang.'
}}

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Tálloowah.}}|Tálloowa -h|sing{{angbr|{{gcl|GGR|g-grade}}}} -TNS|'He finally sang.'
}}

The hn-grade is usually translated as 'kept on VERBing':

{{interlinear
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Ohó̱bana nittak pókkooli oshtattook.}}|Ohó̱ba -na nittak pókkooli oshta -ttook|rain{{angbr|{{gcl|HNGR|hn-grade}}}} -DS day ten four -DPAST|'It kept on raining for forty days.'
}}

The h-grade is usually translated "just VERB-ed" or "VERB-ed for a short time":

{{interlinear
| Lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Nóhsih.}}|Nóhsi -h|sleep{{angbr|{{gcl|HGR|h-grade}}}} -TNS|'He took a quick nap.
}}

===Nominal morphology===

====Noun prefixes====
Nouns have prefixes that show agreement with a possessor.<ref>Broadwell (2006:52-63)</ref> Agreement markers from class II are used on a lexically specified closed class of nouns, which includes many (but not all) of the kinship terms and body parts. This is the class that is generally labeled [[Inalienable noun|inalienable]].

{{interlinear
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|sanoshkobo}}|sa- noshkobo|1S.II- head|'my head'
}}

{{interlinear
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|chinoshkobo}}|chi- noshkobo|2S.II- head|'your head'
}}

{{interlinear
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|noshkobo}}|noshkobo|head|'his/her/its/their head'
}}

{{interlinear
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|sashki}}|sa- ishki|1S.II- mother|'my mother'
}}

{{interlinear
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|chishki}}|chi- ishki|2S.II- mother|'your mother'
}}

Nouns that are not lexically specified for II agreement use the III agreement markers:

{{interlinear
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|a̱ki}}|a̱- ki'|1S.III- father|'my father'
}}

{{interlinear
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|amofi}}|am- ofi|1S.III- dog|'my dog'
}}

Although systems of this type are generally described with the terms alienable and inalienable, this terminology is not particularly appropriate for Choctaw, since alienability implies a semantic distinction between types of nouns. The morphological distinction between nouns taking II agreement and III agreement in Choctaw only partly coincides with the semantic notion of alienability.

====Noun suffixes====
Choctaw nouns can be followed by various determiner and case-marking suffixes, as in the following examples, where we see
determiners such as /-ma/ 'that', /-pa/ 'this', and /-akoo/ 'contrast' and case-markers /-(y)at/ 'nominative' and /-(y)a̱/ 'accusative':<ref>Broadwell (2006:64-92)</ref>

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|alla naknimat}}|alla nakni -m -at|child male -that -NOM|'that boy (nominative)'
}}

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Hoshiit itti chaahamako̱ o̱biniilih.}}|Hoshi -at itti chaaha -m -ako̱ o̱- biniili -h|bird -NOM tree tall -that -CNTR:ACC SUPE- sit -TNS|'The bird is sitting on that tall tree.' (Not on the short one.)
}}

The last example shows that nasalizing the last vowel of the preceding N is a common way to show the accusative case.

===Word order and case marking===
:The simplest sentences in Choctaw consist of a verb and a tense marker, as in the following examples:<ref>Broadwell (2006:32)</ref>

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|O̱batok.}}|O̱ba -tok|rain -PT|'It rained.'
}}

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Niyah.}}|niya -h|fat -TNS|'She/he/it is fat, they are fat.'
}}

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Pi̱satok.}}|Pi̱sa- tok|see{{angbr|{{gcl|NGR|n-grade}}}} -PT|'She/he/it/they saw her/him/it/them.'
}}

:As these examples show, there are no obligatory noun phrases in a Choctaw sentence, nor is there any verbal agreement that indicates a third person subject or object. There is no indication of grammatical gender, and for third person arguments there is no indication of number. (There are, however, some verbs with suppletive forms that indicate the number of a subject or object, e.g. iyah 'to go (sg.)', ittiyaachih 'to go (du.)', and ilhkolih 'to go (pl)'.)

When there is an overt subject, it is obligatorily marked with the nominative case /-at/. Subjects precede the verb

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Hoshiyat apatok.}}|hoshi -at apa -tok|bird -NOM eat -PT|'The birds ate them.'
}}

When there is an overt object, it is optionally marked with the accusative case /-a̱/

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2
| top = {{lang|cho|Hoshiyat sho̱shi(-ya̱) apatok.}}|hoshi -at sho̱shi (-a̱) apa -tok.|bird -NOM bug -(ACC) eat -PT|'The birds ate the bugs.'
}}

The Choctaw sentence is normally verb-final, and so the head of the sentence is last.

Some other phrases in Choctaw also have their head at the end. Possessors precede the possessed noun in the Noun Phrase:

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2|ofi hohchifo|dog name|'the dog's name'
}}

Choctaw has postpositional phrases with the postposition after its object:

{{interlinear
| lang = cho
| indent = 2|tamaaha bili̱ka|town near|'near a town'
}}