Chimariko language

The consonant inventory of Chimariko is:[6]

The vowel inventory of Chimariko is: i, e, a, o, u.[7]

Chimariko shares syllabic similarities with other languages in Northern California. The most common syllable structures for Chimariko are CV and CVC, with the largest possible structures being CCVC or CVCC.[8]

According to Carmen Jany, "no other language has the exact same system as Chimariko".[16] Chimariko uses both a decimal and quinary numeral systems.[17] Numerals appear in noun phrases, do not take affixes (except for the determinative suffix -lle), can either follow or precede the noun, and can appear without a noun.[18]

There are two demonstrative pronouns in Chimariko indicating "here" and "there". Qè- indicates here, or near the speaker, and pa- indicates there, or a distance from the speaker.[12] To indicate "this" and "that", the intensive suffix -ut is added:

This: qèwot, qât

That: pamut, paut, pât[12]

There are many directional suffixes:

[19]

The modal system in Chimariko is abundant.[20] Modal suffixes attach at the very end of a verb after all other suffixes are applied and generally don't occur with aspectual suffixes.[20] The modal suffixes function as interrogatives, negatives, dubitatives, speculatives, conditionals, emphatics, potentials, potential futures, purposive futures, optatives, desideratives, imperatives, admonitives, intensives, inferentials, resultatives, and evidentials.[21]

The research available indicates a variation in opinion about Chimariko's word order. Dixon claimed that usual word order is SVO or SOV, but in some cases the object precedes the subject, especially when the subject is pronominal.[12] Jany claims that word order is not rigid but is mainly verb-final.[22] The clauses are separated by brackets and the verbs are bolded in the following example:

    ʔawaidače xowonat, šičel hiwontat
    [ʔawa-ida-če   x-owo-na-t]        [šičel h-iwonta-t]
    home-POSS-LOC  NEG-stay-NEG-ASP    horse 3-ride-ASP
    'She does not stay at home, she goes around on horseback.'[23]

Inside noun phrases, there is variation in order of modifiers and the noun; sometimes the noun comes before other elements of the phrase, sometimes after.[24] When dealing with possession, the subject always precedes the object.[25]

Chimariko has an agent/patient case system.[26] For first persons, agent and patient are differentiated in both transitive and intransitive clauses, and third persons are not.[27] Person hierarchy in the argument structure is present as well where speech act participants are favored over third persons.[28]

    mokoxanaˀ
    m-oko-xana-ˀ
    2SG-tattoo-FUT-Q
    'Are you going to tattoo her?'[29]
     2>3 => 2

Chimariko differentiates alienable and inalienable possession.[30] Alienable possessions such as objects and kinship are marked by suffix, while inalienable possessions such as body parts are marked by prefix, on the possessed.

[30]

Examples from JP Harrington field notes (Jany 2007) contrasting alienable and inalienable possession:

    čʰ-uweš         'my horn'(deer says)
    noˀot huweš-ˀi  'my horn' (Frank says)

In Chimariko, there is no grammatical complementation, however there are a few strategies to convey semantic complementation including separate clauses, verbal affixes, the use of attitude words, and using the desiderative imiˀna 'to want'.[31] Examples from Jany (2007):

    Complements with utterance predicates (separate clauses):
    himisamdudaˀn sideˀw
    [himisamdu-daˀn] [si-deˀw]
    devil-INF         say-DER
    'It must have been the devil, they said.' (complement is bolded; clauses are in brackets)

    Desiderative imiˀna ‘to want’ with clausal arguments
    yuwom imiˀnan
    y-uwo-m     imiˀna-n
    1SG.A-go-DIR  want-ASP
    ‘I want to go home’

In Chimariko, relativization can be done one of two ways - using a special verb suffix -rop/-rot to form internally headed clauses, and or by a headless relative clause. There is a relative pronoun map'un that is sometimes used.[31] JP Harrington field note example found in Jany (2007):

    map’un hokoteˀrot yečiˀ ˀimiˀnan
    [map’un    h-oko-teˀ-rot] y-ečiˀ     ˀi-miˀn-an
    that.one   3-?-DER-DEP    1SG.A-buy  1SG-want-ASP
    I want to buy that engraved one.
    The relative clause is in brackets. map’un is the head.