Editing Koasati language (section)

===Verbs===

====Position classes====
Kimball identifies the following position classes for prefixes and suffixes that can be added to Koasati verb roots:
*Prefixes
**'''Position 1''': positive and negative subject prefixes
**'''Position 2''': locative prefix ''a-'', or the prefix ''ak-'' which indicates action on the surface of a person (skin) or thing
**'''Position 3''': locative prefixes
**'''Position 4''': pronominal prefixes (''ca-'')
**'''Position 5''': pronominal prefixes (''am-'')
**'''Position 6''': distributive prefix ''ho-/oh-'', iterative prefix ''hoho-/ohoh-''
**'''Position 7''': instrumental prefixes
**'''Position 8''': directional prefixes
**'''Position 9''': indefinite nouns ''na꞉si-/na꞉s-/nas-'' ('something') and ''a꞉ti-/a꞉t-/at-/a-'' ('someone')
*Root
*Suffixes
**'''Position 1''': adverb
**'''Position 2''': diminutive/intensive
**'''Position 3''': habitual
**'''Position 4''': intention
**'''Position 5''': ability
**'''Position 6''': realis/irrealis
**'''Position 7''': deduction
**'''Position 8''': modality
**'''Position 9''': dubiative
**'''Position 10''': hearsay
**'''Position 11''': auditory
**'''Position 12''': tense
**'''Position 13''': consequence
**'''Position 14''': discourse functions
**'''Position 15''': enclitics

=====Prefixes=====
Unlike its frequently used cognates in other Muskogean languages, the general locative prefix ''a''- (Position 2) is falling out of use. Positions 4 and 5 relate to the ''am''- and ''ca''- sets discussed above with nouns. They contain the direct and indirect object prefixes respectively and are used to cross-reference the direct and indirect objects of verbs, as well as mark possession on nominalized verbs. For example, the Position 5 prefix ''ac''- is used to mark possession on the root of the nominalized verb meaning "to photograph" in the following way:

{{interlinear|indent=3
|top= /stacahó꞉ba/
|st- ac- ahó꞉ba
|INSTR- 1SG.POSS- photograph
|"my photograph" ("a photograph of me")}}

A sampling of verbal prefixes, in this case, specific locative prefixes of Position 3, follows:
*''itta''- "action on the ground; action in fire"
*''o꞉''-/''o꞉w''- "action in water"
*''pa꞉''- "action on a raised, artificial, or non-ground surface"
*''on''- "action on a vertical surface or in a vertical plane"
*''itta''- "action in the middle of something"
*''ibi꞉''- "action on the human face"
*''ico꞉''- "action on or in the human mouth"
*''no꞉''- "action on the human neck"
*''nok''- "action in the human throat"

=====Suffixes=====
Kimball recorded over seventy suffixes to fill the fifteen suffix positions. All but eleven of these suffixes can technically co-occur with all other suffixes that do not occupy the same position class. Kimball provides the following example as a possibility:

{{interlinear|indent=3
|top= /ostohimilá꞉cihalpí꞉salaho꞉limá꞉mimpayon incayínkǫ/
|o-st-oh-im-ilá-꞉ci-halpí꞉sa-laho-꞉li-má꞉mi-mpa-y-on im-ca-yím-ko-˛
|go:&-INSTR-DISTR-3.DAT-arrive-PL-{{gcl|ABIL|ability}}-IRR-DEDUC-HSY-CNSQ-SW:FOC 3.STAT.OBJ-1SG.STAT-believe-3.NEG(1A)-PHR:TERM
|"They say that they all might be able to go and bring it to him, but on the contrary, I do not believe them."}}

In the first word, all units that follow the root -''ilá''- "arrive" are suffixes filling the various position classes.

A sample of suffixes, in this case, Position 5 suffixes of ability, follows:
*-''bá꞉no''- "regularly, occasionally"
*-''bí꞉no''- "reluctantly, shyly"
*-''halpi꞉sa''- "to be able to"
*-''yáhli''- "be obliged to, really"

Kimball notes that of these, only -''halpi꞉sa''- "to be able to" is used frequently.

====Verbal number====
Muskogean languages such as Koasati have a three-way number distinction in their verbs, with singular, [[dual number|dual]], and plural forms.  Some of these forms are [[suppletive]]. For example,

'To dwell', in the first person, with full suppletion (singular ''aat,'' dual ''asw,'' plural ''is''):  
:{|
| {{interlinear|áata-l|dwell(SG)-1SG|'I dwell'}}
|&emsp;
| {{interlinear|a⟩lí⟨sw|dwell(DU){{Circumfix|{{gcl|1DU}}}}({{gcl|ROOT|root}})|'we two dwell'}}
|&emsp;
| {{interlinear|ís-tílka|dwell(PL)-1PL|'we all dwell'}}
|}

(The angle braces, {{Circumfix|&nbsp;}}, separate the two parts of the root.)

'To smell' is non-suppletive ''hofn'':
:{|
| {{interlinear|hófna-l|smell-1SG|'I smell'}}
|&emsp;
| {{interlinear|ho⟩lí⟨fn|smell{{Circumfix|{{gcl|1DU}}}}({{gcl|ROOT|root}})|'we smell'}}
|}

'To go about', partially suppletive (SG/DU ''aay,'' PL ''yomahl''):
:{|
| {{interlinear|aaya-l|go.about(SG/DU)-1SG|'I go about'}}
|&emsp;
| {{interlinear|a⟩lí⟨iy|go.about(SG/DU){{Circumfix|{{gcl|1DU}}}}({{gcl|ROOT|root}})|'we two go about'}}
|&emsp;
| {{interlinear|yomah-híl|go.about(PL)-1PL|'we-all go about'}}
|}

'To run', partially suppletive (SG ''waliik,'' DU/PL ''tołk''): 
:{|
| {{interlinear|walíika-l|run(SG)-1SG|'I run'}}
|&emsp;
| {{interlinear|tół-hílk|run(DU/PL)-1PL|'we run'}}
|}

====Verb grades====
Like other Muskogean languages, Koasati has verb grades, or an [[ablaut]] system in which morphological and phonemic changes (in this case infixation and nasalization) can be used to alter the meaning of verb.

=====H-grade=====
In Koasati, the h-grade is used to create a polite imperative as well as to indicate a sequence of actions. To form the imperative, ''h'' is inserted before the final syllable of the verb root. For example, the verb ''óntin'' "to come" (singular, dual subject) changes to the imperative ''ónhtįh'' "Come on over!" with the h-grade (in addition to the delayed imperative suffix marked by the vowel nasalization and final ''h''). The use of h-grade to indicate sequence (in addition to the [[Koasati language#Switch-reference|switch-reference]] marker ''-ok'') can be seen below:

{{interlinear|indent=3
|top= /kowík icó íhbok onaí꞉patohǫ/
|kowí-k icó í, h, b-ok on-a-í꞉pa-toho-˛
|panther-SUBJ deer kill, '''h:grade''', SS:FOC LOC-GEN:LOC-eat-REAL-PHR:TERM
|"The panther, having killed the deer, ate off of it."}}

With the sequence h-grade, the last verb in the sequence takes on temporal and aspectual affixes, while the preceding verbs take on the h-grade and the appropriate switch-reference marker.

=====N-grade=====
In Koasati, the n-grade is relatively uncommon but is used to add emphasis, roughly meaning "completely" or "to continue" depending on whether the verb used is a verb of state or description or a verb of action. To form the n-grade, the vowel of the verb root's penultimate syllable is nasalized and accented. For example:

{{interlinear|indent=3
|top= /olfák walǫ´hloscok/
|olfá-k waló, N, hl-o꞉siV´hco-k
|sprout green:&:tender, '''n:grade''', DIM-HAB-SS
|"The sprout is completely green and tender."}}

====Reduplication====
Koasati has both punctual and iterative [[reduplication]] for verbs, in which part of the root is repeated to indicate that an action is repeated. With punctual reduplication, the verb's initial consonant and vowel (or consonant and ''o'' if no vowel is present) are copied and inserted before the final syllable of the root.  For example, ''míslin'' "to blink" becomes ''mismíhlin'' "to flutter the eyelids". With iterative reduplication, the consonant and vowel of the penultimate syllable of the root are copied and inserted before the final syllable of the root. For example, ''molápkan'' "to gleam" becomes ''molalápkan'' "to flash". The iterative can also be formed using the Position 6 iterative prefixes ''ohoh''- and ''hoho''-.

====The glottal stop====
The glottal stop [ʔ] is used to form the interrogative by infixing [ʔ] before a verb's penultimate syllable. Doing so replaces preceding vowel length (if present) and adds a high pitch accent to the syllables preceding and following the glottal stop. For example, /ishí꞉c/ "you see it" changes to the question /ishíʔcá/ "Do you see it?".