Editing Crow language (section)

==Syntax==
Crow is a subject–object–verb ([[Subject–object–verb|SOV]]) language; it is a verb-final and head marking. In noun phrases, the order is possessor–possessum, with the person marker of the possessor identified by a prefix to the possessum. Subordinate clauses precede matrix clauses, and are marked by a suffixed clause-final marker. Relative clauses are internally headed. Crow has postpositional phrases, with the postposition often occurring as a prefix to the following verb. There is no distinct category of adjectives; instead, stative verbs function as noun phrase modifiers.

Crow is an active–stative language, with verbs divided into two classes, active (both transitive and intransitive) and stative, largely on semantic grounds. This is also often called a "split intransitive" language.<ref name="Graczyk p104" />

===Noun-phrase syntax===
An analysis of Crow noun phrase syntax under [[generative grammar]] has yielded the following rules:

# NP → N' (DET)
#
## N' → N
## N' → [s...N' head...]     (relative clause)
## N' → NP N'                (genitive/possessive)
## N' → PP N'                (PP modifier)
# Q → DP Q                  (quantifier phrase)
# DP → DEM NP               (demonstrative phrase)
# NP → NP NP                (appositive)
# NP → S (COMP)             (nominalization)
#
## NP → (NP CONJ)^n          (coordinate NP with ''dak'')
## NP → (N' CONJ)^n DET      (coordinate N' with ''xxo'')

There are two phrases that are subordinate to the NP (noun-phrase): (1) the DP (demonstrative phrase) and (2) the QP (quantifier phrase).

A noun phrase can be marked as definite or indefinite by a suffixed [[determiner (class)|determiner]] (DET). The definite suffix is /-sh/ and the indefinite suffix is /-m/.
**''iisáakshee-'''sh''''' (definite)
***'the young man'
**''bía-'''m''''' (indefinite)
***'a woman'

The determiner suffix is attached to the final word of the noun phrase, not just the agentive noun.
{{interlinear|lang=cro|indent=3
|<nowiki>[[</nowiki>bíakaate shoop-úu]-'''m''' húulee-'''sh''' aw-ákee]-'''sh'''
|girl four-PL-DET yesterday-DET {{gcl|1A|1st-person A-set pronominal}}-see-DET
|'the four girls I saw yesterday'}}

'''[[Relative clause|Relative Clauses]]''': N' → [s...N' head...]
{{interlinear|lang=cro|indent=3
|['''iisáakshi-m''' búupchee-sh ak-ataalée]-sh aw-ákaa-k
|young.man-DET ball-DET {{gcl|REL|relativizer}}-steal-DET {{gcl|1A|1st-person A-set pronominal}}-see-DECL
|'I saw the young man who stole the ball'}}

'''[[Genitive case|Genitive Clauses]]''': N' → NP N'
{{interlinear|lang=cro|indent=3
|[Clara-sh [is-íilaalee<nowiki>]]</nowiki> sapéen ataalí-?
|Clara-DET {{gcl|3POS|3rd-person possessive}}-car who steal-INTERR
|'who stole Clara's car?'}}

'''[[Preposition and postposition|Postpositional Phrases]]''': N' → PP N'
{{interlinear|lang=cro|indent=3
|<nowiki>[[</nowiki>dii-héel-uua] ham]-dappií-o-lahtaa
|{{gcl|2B|2nd-person B-set pronominal}}-among-PL some-kill-PL-even.if
|'even if they kill some of you'}}

'''[[Quantification (linguistics)|Quantifier Phrases]]''': Q → DP Q
There are two classes of quantifiers that are distinguished syntactically. The first class heads a quantifier phrases that takes a demonstrative (or in its stead, a noun phrase) as its complement: ''xaxúa''.
{{interlinear|lang=cro|indent=3
|hinne bía-sh <nowiki>[[</nowiki>hileen [bachée-sh<nowiki>]]</nowiki> xaxúa] áxpa-m
|this woman-DET these men-DET all marry-DS
|this woman married all these men}}

The second class is a stative verb that may function as a nominal modifier. This class includes: ''ahú'' 'many, much', ''hawa'' 'some', ''kooshtá'' 'few', ''sáawi'' 'how many, so many, some', and the numerals. This class may also be followed by a determiner. They may also function as clausal predicates.

'''[[Demonstrative|Demonstrative Phrases]]''': Q → DP Q
Demonstratives are deictic words; in Crow, they occur phrase-initially. They can also cooccur with determiners (ex. 'this the horse').

'''[[Apposition|Appositives]]''': NP → NP NP
/ko/ (demonstrative) and /kon/ (appositive) are used to modify each other.
{{interlinear|lang=cro|indent=3
|['''ko''' bachée-sh] ['''kon'''] día-k
|that man-DET PRO do-DECL
|'that man is the one who did it'}}

===Relative clauses===
Relative clauses in Crow are complex and subject to theoretical debates. There are two types of relative clauses in Crow: lexically headed and non-lexically headed. There are two basic relativizers /'''ak'''/ and /'''ala'''/, several composite forms based on ''ala'' plus ''baa'' 'indefinite pronoun' and instances with no relativizer.  /'''ak'''/ indicates the subject of the relative clause is relativized and marks the subject as animate, and generally agentive. It can occur in both lexically and non-lexically headed clauses.  /'''ala'''/ may indicate a locative, temporal or manner adverbial is the head of the relative clause. In non-lexically headed relative clauses, /'''ala'''/ can sometimes be interpreted as the head of the clause itself. It can also occur in both lexically and non-lexically headed clauses. The relativizers are bound, with many exception, but they are generally prefixed to the word that contains the verb of the relative clause.

Relative clauses are marked with final determiners. If the definite referent of the relative clause has already been accounted in the discourse or is otherwise obvious, the relative clause is marked with the definite /''-sh''/. Relative clauses can also be marked with the indefinite determiner marker /''-m''/; generally this is used to imply that the referent is being introduced into the discourse for the first time. However, the nominal head is almost always marked by the indefinite determiner /''-m''/.