Editing Mandan language (section)

==Morphology==

Mandan is a [[subject–object–verb]] language.

Mandan has a system of [[allocutive agreement]] and so different grammatical forms may be used that depend on the [[gender]] of the [[Interlocutor (linguistics)|addressee]]. Questions asked of men must use the [[suffix]] {{lang|mqh|-oʔsha:}} the suffix {{lang|mhq|-oʔną}} is used to ask of women. Likewise, the [[indicative]] suffix is {{lang|mhq|-oʔsh}} to address men, {{lang|mhq|-oʔre}} to address women. The same goes for the [[Imperative mood|imperative]]: {{lang|mhq|-ta}} (male), {{lang|mhq|-ną}} (female).<ref name="gender">Hollow. 1970. p. 457 (in Mithun 1999. p. 280).</ref>

Mandan verbs include a set of postural verbs, which encode the shapes of the subject of the verb:<ref name="mithun2001">{{cite book | last = Mithun | first = Marianne | title = The Languages of Native North America | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge | year = 2001 | pages = 115–116 | isbn = 978-0-521-29875-9 }}</ref>

{{interlinear|lang=mhq|number=1|glossing3=yes|italics2=yes|glossing=no abbr
| wérex <u>ną́k</u>oʔsh
| wérex ną́k-oʔsh
| pot sit-PRESENT
| 'A pot was there (sitting).'}}

{{interlinear|lang=mhq|number=2||glossing3=yes|italics2=yes|glossing=no abbr
| mį́ʔtixteną <u>té</u>roomąkoʔsh
| mį́ʔti-xte-ną <u>té</u>-roomąkoʔsh
| village-big-EMPHATIC <u>stand</u>-NARRATIVE.PAST
| 'There was a big village.'}}

{{interlinear|lang=mhq|number=3|glossing3=yes|italics2=yes|glossing=no abbr
| mą́ątah <u>mą́k</u>omąkoʔsh
| mą́ątah <u>mą́k</u>-omąkoʔsh
| river <u>lie</u>-NARRATIVE.PAST
| 'The river was there.'}}

The English translations are not "A pot was sitting there," "A big village stood there," or "The river lay there." That reflects the fact that the postural categorization is required in such Mandan [[locative]] statements.