These criteria for nominal entries in the lexicon are, per Beck:[2] Tlingit has a large number of noun-like constructions which appear on the surface to be phrases, but which are fixed in both meaning and morphology.
“that which is met across from a person” Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);wooshRECIP.OBJká-tsurface-PERTka-ÿu-dli-yeech-ÿiKLEX-PERF-(l,+D,+I)-fly.PL-ATTRa-ÿiit-POSSwoosh ká-t ka-ÿu-dli-yeech-ÿi a-ÿiRECIP.OBJ surface-PERT KLEX-PERF-(l,+D,+I)-fly.PL-ATTR it-POSS“airplane”, lit.
In many situations in Tlingit morphology a similar process has occurred subsequent to the devolvement of ÿ, further muddying the waters of allomorphy.
This complexity of allomorphy for the -ÿi possessed suffix may be easier to understand schematically, and a set of production rules are given below.
They are most commonly associated with a possessive pronoun as the possessor, e.g. axh tláa “my mother”, du xh'é “his mouth”.
The list below is taken from Leer et al. (2001, p. 21)[4] The postnominal modifiers are morphologically diverse, consisting of enclitics, suffixes, and certain specialized possessive constructions.
A small closed class of adjectives exists as postnominal modifiers, e.g. tlein “big” and yéis “young”.
It may be suffixed to any noun, producing a diminutive form that indicates small size, endearment, or occasionally a derivative or dependent position.
Nominal cases in Tlingit are designated by postpositions as with most SOV languages, however they usually behave morphologically like suffixes.
Therefore, in the interests of simplicity and readability the terms “postposition”, “suffix”, and “case” are used interchangeably in this article without any particular theoretical implications.
Final syllables of the shape CÓ (where C is a consonant and Ó is a high tone vowel) are usually lengthened before postpositions.
Exceptions are the anaphor á “it, that”, the relational nouns ká “surface” and yá “face”, and the pronominal bases xha- “1st person singular”, du- “3rd person neutral”, tu- “reflexive“, khu- “indefinite human”, and -.i- “pronominal base”.
In the following example the patient of the verb yajaakh “to kill” is the definite object xhat “me”, the agent is the subject tá “sleep”.
tá-chsleep-ERGxhat-u-ÿa-jakh1SG.OBJ-PERF-(0,-D,+I)-killtá-ch xhat-u-ÿa-jakhsleep-ERG 1SG.OBJ-PERF-(0,-D,+I)-kill“Sleep has killed me” Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);In the next example the patient of the verb si.ee “to cook” is the definite object phrase wéi dleey “that meat”, and the agent is Jáan “John”.
á-chit-ERGá-wéit-MDISTá-ch á-wéit-ERG it-MDIST“because of that” Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);The punctual postposition is -t. The name is from Latin punctus “point”.
It is probable that the adverb yáxh which indicates similarity of the subject with the object is originally derived from yá “face”.
Leer calls this vicinitative in his dissertation, but the typical term is adessive as used in e.g. Finnish and Hungarian.
The major relational postpositions are: A large number of nouns in Tlingit are derived from verb stems and roots.
ka-sh-xeet-ÿiKLEX-(sh,-D,-I)-scratch-AGTka-sh-xeet-ÿiKLEX-(sh,-D,-I)-scratch-AGT“writer, secretary” Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);yoo=xh'a-0-taan-k-ÿito.and.fro=mouth-(0,-D,-I)-carry-REP-AGTyoo=xh'a-0-taan-k-ÿito.and.fro=mouth-(0,-D,-I)-carry-REP-AGT“speaker” Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);The above form is distinct from the homophonous (du) yoo xh'atángi “(his) language; (his) speech” which is the possessed form of the conversion yoo xh'atánk.
It is homophonous with the partitive pronominal object agreement verb prefix aa- (slot +12).
The earliest borrowings were taken from Russian, for example chayu “tea” from чай (chai) and káaxwei “coffee” from кофе (kofe).
Chinook Jargon was a lingua franca widely used on the Northwest Coast by American traders (“Boston men”), British traders ("King George men"), laborers, miners, fishermen, loggers, and many Indian tribes.
Borrowings into Tlingit from English and Chinook Jargon occurred contemporaneously until the early 20th century.
Oral history confirms that many Tlingit speakers in the late 19th and early 20th century were also fluent in Chinook Jargon, some even with native proficiency.
Because the two languages coexisted, it is often difficult to tell whether a particular borrowing is taken directly from English into Tlingit, or instead whether it was imported through the intermediary of Chinook Jargon.
Thus, a number of Tlingit nouns which are commonly assumed to be of English origin are more likely indirect imports through Chinook Jargon.
Many derivations from Chinook Jargon account for what current Tlingit speakers consider to be opaque words that describe foreign concepts but which lack a clear English or Russian heritage.
Note that they mostly pertain to foreign animals and people, and foodstuffs which could be obtained through trade with Europeans.
This word is a creation of Christian missionaries, probably coined as a direct translation of the Chinook Jargon sagali tayee “God”, literally “high up chief”.
Unlike the Chinook Jargon tayee, Tlingit lacks a noun that translates well to “chief”, but the term aankháawu “aristocrat” (lit.