Cora language

There are five contrastive vowels in Cora phonology. They are: [i ɛ a ɨ u]. However, [ɔ] which is produced in the midback area of the mouth is limited to diphthongs when it is followed by the [u] sound. Accents on vowels are to mark stress location. An example of this is (v́).

There is a clear partition in both monophthongal and diphthongal combinations. Where words are divorced by rising and falling pitch. However, rising pitch is oftentimes modal and falling pitch shows variation.

The level and rising monosyllables used for the table above are presented in the table below.[8]

[9]Below are the falling monosyllables. Chart relates to the two charts above.

Disyllables add to the existing dimensions of stress. Initial and final stress are common in Cora phonology. These stresses, at times, serve as conversation cues. Cues include but are not limited to high-pitched stressed syllable followed by the devoicing of the final syllable which is left unstressed. Duration of the word and syllable also have a role in location of stress as it relates to disyllables.

Nouns are marked for possession and exhibit several different plural patterns.

Different classes of nouns mark the plural in different manners. The most common way is by means of suffixes - The suffixes used for pluralization are the following: -te, -mwa, -mwa'a, -tse, -tsi, -kʉ, -sʉ, -se, -si, -ri and -i. Other ways to form the plural is by reduplication of the final vowel of a noun stem or by shifting the accent from one syllable to the other. Another class of works form their plurals by suppletion.

The suffix "mua and mua’a" is generally only used to refer to people. Other suffixes include: -tze, -tzi, -cʌ, -sʌ, -se, -si, -ri, and -i.

Examples of each:

• Pluralization can also be indicated by having a vowel reduplicated:

• Pluralization is also indicated through the use of accents.  

• Pluralization is also indicated by changing words from singular to plural to change of a word into a completely different one.  

Possessed nouns are marked with a prefix expressing the person and number of their possessor. The forms of the prefix expressing first person singular is ne-, na-, or ni-, for second person singular it is a-, mwa'a-, a'a-. The third person singular is marked by the prefix ru-. A first person plural possessor is marked by the prefix ta-, second person plural by ha'amwa- and third person plural by wa'a-. Furthermore, there are two suffixes. One, -ra'an is used to mark an obviative or fourth person possessor. The other is -me'en used to mark a plural possessum of a singular possessor.

Verbs are inflected for person and number of subject and direct object and object prefixes for 3rd person inanimate objects also show the basic shape of the object. Verbs are also inflected for location and direction. Verbs within the Cora language are also used to distinguish between locations, people, direction, and time.

Example:

Ja’atzuútac a ‘a nuja ‘umé   =   al rato me voy    = I'll go later

Cutzú                                   =   está dormido     = He’s sleeping[11]

Example:

náatapúajibe = regalame              = Gift me

ja’achune timuá’acha’ʌʌre’e = Cuánto te debe?   = How much does he owe you?

Pecáraruure = No lo hagas!         = Don’t do it![11]

• The prefix ‘me’ has three forms in the Cora language: ne, ni, and na. The variations of this prefix appear within different classes of nouns.

• The prefix “you” is indicated by ether: a, mua’a, and a’a.

Typologically Cora is interesting because it is a VSO language but also has postpositions, a trait that is rare cross-linguistically but does occur in a few Uto-Aztecan languages (Papago, Tepehuán, and some dialects of Nahuatl). A VSO order is verb, subject, and object. This type of syntax form is the most common amongst Cora language. The VSO structure can be changed in order to show emphasis of certain words, phrases, and sounds.

Indirect object moved to the beginning for emphasis:

ne-‘ci      muni   ‘ya

I-ACC  bean   give

“Give me the beans!’

Locatives and temporals moved to the beginning of sentence for emphasis:

‘régana   simí-le

below     go-PAST

“He went down below.”

‘ma   simí-le

now  go-PAST

“He has already gone.”

*Temporal má does not have a glottal, but it is added when it is being emphasized.

Emphasis seen in equative sentences:

alué   rió    huáni  hú

that   man  PN      is

“That man is John.”

Discontinuous construction can be done by moving an adjective or an adverb to sentence-final position and giving it emphatic intonation:

‘líge  alé        wikóči   napaī – ka         piésta      olá – le – ru – ga – ra                   wa’lú

then  there      PN         gather-EMPH    fiesta       do-PAST- PASS-STAT-QUOT     big

“I am told that then they gathered there at Huicochi and a fiesta was held, a big one.”

Pronoun copies:

Subject pronoun suffix can co-occur with an explicit subject:

pé        ani-á            mučí-ru-ka                  ramué-ka        arégimi

just    say-CONT    be:PL-we-EMPH          we-EMPH        LOC

“That is what we were saying there.”

Subject repeated by use of a pronoun:

Basačí-si       ‘líge       rowí-si      ‘líge       alué        napaí-ka       mučí-me          ka-rá-e    

Coyote-also   then     rabbit-also   then       they    gather-EMPH    be:PL-PRTC   be-QUOT-DUB

ehperé-ga     hámi

live-CONT   wilds

“The coyote and the rabbit were living together in the wilds, they say.”

Focus:

Focus is a type of emphasis that shows “this very one” or “he himself is the one”.

Examples:

Alué      mukí      tabilé   nakí    né     yé     ‘nalí-na             nakí    né

That     woman     NEG     want    I     this   very:one-LOC    want     I

“I don’t want that woman. I want this one.”

Yé’         ‘nalí             ní-le-ke-‘e

This      very:one      be-PAST-QUOT-EMPH

“This was the one.”

Examples of comparison between continuous construction and discontinuous:

Né   bo’né    si-méla

I      myself   go-FUT

“I myself will go.”

bo’né    simí-ka=ne

myself   go-EMPH=I

“I myself went.”

Apposition

Two nouns or noun phrases which have similar grammatical functions can come next to each other with the second further explaining the first:

‘líge    alué    rió     luísi morío     ani-lí-me

Then   that    man       PN               say-PASS-PRTC

“That man named Luis Morillo…”

Apposition can also be seen by a possessive pronoun preceded by a demonstrative pronoun:

Alué     né      ba’čí-la-ka

That      my    older:brother-POSS-EMPH

“he (that one) my older brother”

Apposition can also give emphasis by repeating a sentence in different ways.

né-ka       a’lá       če’wá-ke-‘e              gara-bé      nahká-la      ili-gá

I-EMPH  good    hit-QUOT-EMPH     good-DIM   ear-POSS     stand-CONT

alē        ćewā-ka      né       na’nalī       alē-ge        ‘má-ro-či

there     hit-EMPH    I       very:one     there-side    run-pass:by-when

“I hit him about on the ear. I myself hit him when he ran by on the side of the ridge.”

Postpositions:

Postpositions are attached directly to a pronominal base of some kind, which is the most common pattern in Uto-Aztecan language.

Some examples in Cora are:

ta-ham^wan

with us

Suffixing a postposition directly to a noun:

m^waka-ta-n

(hand-in-his)

in his hand

wa- is used as a third-person plural postpositional object:

wa-hap^wa

on them

Inverted pronoun-copy construction:

wa-hap^wa?u-huci-m^wa

them-on their-younger brother-PL

on their younger brothers

The third-person postpositional base that is used in Cora is ru-. Many of the postpositions in Cora start with he- (or it can be ha- when the vowel that follows harmonizes).

Indirect pronoun-copy construction

-hece in/on/for < -he-ce < *-he-ciw < *pi-cii (him-P)

-hete under < -he-te < *-he-tia < *pi-tua (him-P)

-hemi with/about < -he-mi < *pi-mi (him=P)

-ham^wan with/and < *-he-man < *pi-man (him-P)

hap^wa on/above < *-he-pa < *pi-pa (him-P)

In Cora, the pre- or postpositions can be very similar in their form, but postpositions are typically bound forms and prepositions are free forms. These pairs can be illustrated through the following examples:

hap^wan ?i-čanaka

(on ART-earth)

“on the earth”

hecen ru-muve

(in his-feather)

“by means of their feathershaft”

pu-ri hecen watara sai ru-čanaka

(he-now in go other his-world)

“Now he goes to his other world.

A member of the complex postpositional form is -na:

?i-hatea-na-hece

(ART-river-place of-in)

“in the river”

• Used to indicate where an action is taking place