Kaita

[qwed117]

You wrote tááy in one of the glosses. What does it mean?

[Frislander]

You wrote tááy in one of the glosses. What does it mean?

Deference to the topic (it's mentioned in the formality post). I'll edit the translation to reflect it.

[Frislander]

Syntax - Higher-Level Goings On

OK, I'll start by making a frank confession. I'm not a big fan of subordination. Being so enamoured of polypersonalism, any situation where I'm forced to let go of it feels terrible for me. I'm therefore also not really a fan of non-finite verb forms short of outright nominalisation: I've only recently added a participle conjugation to Frislandian, and even then it still fully inflects ergatively to mark its core arguments. The only forms in Kaita which come close are the nominalisers -ta (which reduces to a high tone when it is non-final) and the action-nominal suffix -ya (which reduces to -y when non-final): both of these are derivational and are seldom used grammatically except in special cases.

So what does this mean for higher level structures in this language? Put simply, Kaita generally restricts itself to paratactic clause-chaining to denote relations between clauses, whether they be coordination or subordination. There are few conjunctions, meaning that the exact interpretation of the clause sequence often depends on both the modes in which the relevant verbs are in and the context.

Coordination-like relationships are optionally marked with the particle ke between the last pair of conjoined verbs, and the exact interpretation is generally left to context.

yeθáwci yeθani
ye-θáwci ye-θani
III-long III-black
It is long and black

sesisinaanku ke wàay sekaantaankunàaní
se-CV-sina-:n-ku ke wàay se-kaanta-:n-ku-nàaní
II-INT-cut-PRF-3.ERG and NEG II-give-PRF-3.ERG-1.OBJ.PL
(S)he cut it up but did not give it to us

Subordination is practically absent from Kaita. Relative clause-like meanings (which also includes structures such as attributive adjectives and numerals) are expressed, therefore, by juxtaposition of verb phrases with co-referent core participants.

kítan kanahàatiin kéwaankatántàay
kítan ka-na-hàati-:n kéwaan-ka-tánta-`:y
man I-1.SUB-meet-PRF well-I-stomp-HAB
I met the man who dances well

wankaa sesèente senìiya
wankaa se-sèente se-nìiya
island II-big II-sleep
The big island is sleeping

Other relations frequently expressed by subordination are also expressed by juxtaposition: in these cases the exact relationship depends on the mood. Adverbial clauses, for instance, are normally expressed by and imperfective clauses adjacent to a non-imperfective clause.

kékàaθeywa kàawàacawaan
ké-kàa-θeywa kàa-wàa-cawa-:n
ANT-I.PL-weave I.PL-1.SUB.PL-find-PRF
We found them weaving

tííyetáwiku tííweetikuta kasííhàayé saayan
tíí-ye-táwi-ku tíí-weeti-ku-ta ka-sííha-`:y-hé saayan
ADVA-III-sit-3.ERG ADVA-inhabit-3.ERG-NOM I-see-HAB-3'.OBL sun
Sitting in his/her house, (s)he would watch the sun

EDIT: Conditional relations are also expressed by juxtaposition. In this case at least the condition is in the irrealis, with the other clause in any mode depending on the veracity of the statement.

yenìiycó yàanyehaynaannákáá.
ye-nìiyce-^w yàan-ye-hayna-:n-ná-káá
III-wet-IRR CON-III-show-PRF-1.OBJ-PRO
If it is wet don't show it to me

kayta tííhííhàannúkùuni wàanúkáw naasita
kayta tíí-híí-hàanni-^w-kùuni wàa-núka-^w naasi-ta
person ADVA-IV-many-IRR-3.ERG.PL 1.SUB.PL-lack-IRR cover-NOM
If there are many people there we won't have enough clothes

Causative relations may also be handled this way, or the causative clause may be nominalised with -ya and the "main clause" placed into the causative, with the causative clause as the agent.

sinasiykaanθétóó nakenééθetóó
si-na-siyka-:n-θé-tóó na-kenééθe-tóó
POL-1.SUB-hurt-PRF-2.OBJ-tóó 1.SUB-apologise(polite)-tóó (-tóó shows respect for the listener)
I apologise for hurting you/I apologise because I hurt you

haannaya cínyéhankanaasiino
haanna-ya cín-yé-han-ka-naasi-:n-ho
hot-ACT.NOM undo-CAUS-REFL-I-uncover-PRF-3'.ERG
Because it was hot he took his clothes off

Complement clauses are generally also denoted by juxtaposition or nominalisation. However, there are generally fewer complement clauses as many complement-like structures as when the "matrix verb" and the "complement verb" have the same subject, the "matrix verb" ha the form of a preverb.

yeθetanya(ya) híínasaka
ye-θe-tanya(-ya) híí-na-saka
III-2.SUB-catch(-ACT.NOM) IV-1.SUB-need
I need you to catch it

kecaayetankáwku
kecaa-ye-tanka-^w-ku
fear-III-destroy-IRR-3.ERG
He is afraid of breaking it

Nominal Conjunction
There are also three nominal conjunctions: ne "and (nominal)", hi "or" and wàay "(but) not" (this is the same in form as the negative particle; however it is distinguished by never occurring clause initially). These conjunctions may also be used with nouns verbaliser with the copulative suffix -ha.

yosii ne háhaaw kàaweycenyéki
yosii ne háhaaw kàa-weycen-yéki
eagle and crow I.PL-sky-fly
An eagle and a crow were flying in the sky

yeyankáha hi yehàaycéha
ye-yanka-ta-ha hi ye-hàayce-ta-ha
III-red-NOM-COP or III-yellow-NOM-COP
It it either red or yellow

naháyseenθé kaθetankáw nahanci wàay nahínti!
na-háyse-:n-θé ka-θe-tanka-^w na-hanci wàay na-hínti
I.SUB-ask.for-PRF-2.OBJ I-2.SUB-kill-IRR 1.POSS-mother NEG 1.POSS-father
I asked you to kill my mother not my father!

[Frislander]

Can I just ask people's opinions on what I've put up here, because I seem to not be getting much feedback at the moment and I'd really like to know what people think of what I've done.

[cedh]

I've only really discovered this thread yesterday and I haven't had the time yet to read it carefully, but I absolutely love the aesthetic of this language! (And I like well-thought-out polysynthetic grammar a lot too, as this one seems to be from a first casual inspection.) Count me as a follower, even if I don't comment much!

[zyma]

Directly after the oblique marking comes the mood suffixes (or maybe clitics; watch this space). There are seven moods: indicative (unmarked), interrogative, imperative, prohibitive, mirative, indirect and energetic.

Sorry if this is answered somewhere, but can any of the moods ever cooccur?

One particularly nasty kind of spirit is the híkáyácinweta "it walks about backwards" (also an example of tonological rules at work: the underlying form is *hí-káyá-cín-we-ta).

Spoiler:

These spirits resemble fit young men, especially warriors. However, look closely and you will see that their feet are the wrong way round, and when you see one walking about they will be doing so in a backwards manner.

Not that you should ever get close enough to look at their feet, however, for they like to feed on human flesh. "But how do they catch them if they can only walk backwards?" I hear you say. Well it's simple. The monster, like all warriors and hunters, carries a spear, which it can throw with great accuracy and for a great distance. Those trying to run away will find that the spear will change course mid-air and still manage to hit them. Those hit by the spear, which pins them to the ground, are then eaten by the monster.

The only way to avoid this fate is to stand your ground and watch the spear come at you. Then, just before the spear hits you, you must quickly step aside and let the spear dig into the ground, where it will be stuck. You will then have the oppurtunity to run out of sight of the monster, who will have to fetch its spear before it hunts again.

Cool!

Can I just ask people's opinions on what I've put up here, because I seem to not be getting much feedback at the moment and I'd really like to know what people think of what I've done.

Sorry I haven't gotten a chance to comment here lately; there's been a lot added! I'm also sorry that I don't have much to comment on in particular, as usual. Everything looks very well thought-out and impressive, though, also as usual.

[Frislander]

Directly after the oblique marking comes the mood suffixes (or maybe clitics; watch this space). There are seven moods: indicative (unmarked), interrogative, imperative, prohibitive, mirative, indirect and energetic.

Sorry if this is answered somewhere, but can any of the moods ever cooccur?

No they can't (sorry I didn't make that clear).

One particularly nasty kind of spirit is the híkáyácinweta "it walks about backwards" (also an example of tonological rules at work: the underlying form is *hí-káyá-cín-we-ta).

Spoiler:

These spirits resemble fit young men, especially warriors. However, look closely and you will see that their feet are the wrong way round, and when you see one walking about they will be doing so in a backwards manner.

Not that you should ever get close enough to look at their feet, however, for they like to feed on human flesh. "But how do they catch them if they can only walk backwards?" I hear you say. Well it's simple. The monster, like all warriors and hunters, carries a spear, which it can throw with great accuracy and for a great distance. Those trying to run away will find that the spear will change course mid-air and still manage to hit them. Those hit by the spear, which pins them to the ground, are then eaten by the monster.

The only way to avoid this fate is to stand your ground and watch the spear come at you. Then, just before the spear hits you, you must quickly step aside and let the spear dig into the ground, where it will be stuck. You will then have the oppurtunity to run out of sight of the monster, who will have to fetch its spear before it hunts again.

Cool!

Thank you, I put a lot of thought into that.

Can I just ask people's opinions on what I've put up here, because I seem to not be getting much feedback at the moment and I'd really like to know what people think of what I've done.

Sorry I haven't gotten a chance to comment here lately; there's been a lot added! I'm also sorry that I don't have much to comment on in particular, as usual. Everything looks very well thought-out and impressive, though, also as usual.

I've only really discovered this thread yesterday and I haven't had the time yet to read it carefully, but I absolutely love the aesthetic of this language! (And I like well-thought-out polysynthetic grammar a lot too, as this one seems to be from a first casual inspection.) Count me as a follower, even if I don't comment much!

That's all right. I'm not going to be adding anything major for the next few days because we (my family and I) are away on holiday (including going to see the RSC's current production of Hamlet, with a (nearly) all-black cast).

[zyma]

No they can't (sorry I didn't make that clear).

No worries!

Thank you, I put a lot of thought into that.

I can tell! It feels like a realistic myth to me.

That's all right. I'm not going to be adding anything major for the next few days because we (my family and I) are away on holiday (including going to see the RSC's current production of Hamlet, with a (nearly) all-black cast).

Have fun!

[Frislander]

Thank you, I put a lot of thought into that.

I can tell! It feels like a realistic myth to me.

I originally had the idea that it would be a fast runner, but I couldn't come.up with a way for it to catch its prey effectively without it sounding a bit ridiculous (monster just stops right in front of you and you just run into it was the idea), so I gave it a spear which it was a dead shot with. The bit about avoiding the spear is part of a theme of coming face to face with your doom and not flinching which I may explore in later myths.

[zyma]

The bit about avoiding the spear is part of a theme of coming face to face with your doom and not flinching which I may explore in later myths.

I look forward to this!

[Frislander]

OK, here's another monster. This one didn't take so longto decide on: I had the concept early on and it was just about tweaking the details.

Oh, and by the way, this post will contain some graphic/explicit details, just in case that's not your thing.

OK, this monster is called the hísehúúsinàayta "one who bites it off". This monster targets men exclusively. It takes the form of a beautiful young woman (or man, depending on the victim's orientation) that appears at it's victim's home when they return to it after they've been out. The monster will solicit its victim for sex. If the victim partakes and begins to have sex with the monster, it will transform into a monstrous form. If the victim tries to remove their penis in disgust, the orofice will sprout teeth and bite it off (hence the name).

There are three ways of avoiding this terrible fate. The first is to throw into the monster's face a mixture of your own saliva, blood and semen which has been blessed by a shaman (called EDIT: céynócííθitáyta, 'that which is not drunk') onto the monster, which will then flee from the house and not return.

The second method of avoiding losing one's penis is to forcefully turn the monster out of one's house. However this is only temporary: the monster will return with a different appearence after this has been done ten times, the monster will force itself upon its victim using its unnatural strength.

This leaves the third option: to continue having sex with the monster, even as it further transforms into further horrible forms. When the victim has ejaculated, the monster is satisfied, and it will withdraw and not return.

(A not on the etymology of EDIT: céynócííθitáyta. The suffix -táy was the original negative suffix. It was still preserved in the prohibitive -táyse, with the addition of the 2nd person affix θe, plus an irregular palatalisation. Wàay, the current negative particle, was originally an abstract noun meaning 'thing', which was sucked into the negative construction à la French, with the original suffix later becoming restricted to the prohibitive).

[zyma]

OK, here's another monster. This one didn't take so longto decide on: I had the concept early on and it was just about tweaking the details.

Yay, another very interesting post!

OK, this monster is called the hísehúúsinàayta "one who bites it off".

Ahh, the classic wiener guillotiner.

This monster targets men exclusively. It takes the form of a beautiful young woman (or man, depending on the victim's orientation) that appears at it's victim's home when they return to it after they've been out.

I like that it doesn't just target straight men. Is there an equivalent monster that targets women?

The monster will solicit its victim for sex. If the victim partakes and begins to have sex with the monster, it will transform into a monstrous form. If the victim tries to remove their penis in disgust, the orofice will sprout teeth and bite it off (hence the name).

What happens if the victim refuses/does not "partake"? Is that the second method described? At first, I thought that meant you had to turn the monster out of your house while having sex with it, but now I'm realizing that it probably means you just don't have sex with it.

There are three ways of avoiding this terrible fate. The first is to throw into the monster's face a mixture of your own saliva, blood and semen which has been blessed by a shaman (called kénócííθitáyta, 'that which is not drunk') onto the monster, which will then flee from the house and not return.

To clarify, "kénócííθitáyta" refers to the mixture, not the shaman, right? Or are shamans forbidden from drinking alcohol?

[Frislander]

OK, here's another monster. This one didn't take so longto decide on: I had the concept early on and it was just about tweaking the details.

Yay, another very interesting post!

Thank you

OK, this monster is called the hísehúúsinàayta "one who bites it off".

Ahh, the classic wiener guillotiner.

Indeed .

This monster targets men exclusively. It takes the form of a beautiful young woman (or man, depending on the victim's orientation) that appears at it's victim's home when they return to it after they've been out.

I like that it doesn't just target straight men. Is there an equivalent monster that targets women?

Maybe, but the anatomy would probably have to be a good deal more complex.

The monster will solicit its victim for sex. If the victim partakes and begins to have sex with the monster, it will transform into a monstrous form. If the victim tries to remove their penis in disgust, the orofice will sprout teeth and bite it off (hence the name).

What happens if the victim refuses/does not "partake"? Is that the second method described? At first, I thought that meant you had to turn the monster out of your house while having sex with it, but now I'm realizing that it probably means you just don't have sex with it.

Yes, it's without having sex with it. I'd guess that it'd be insistant and would keep on until you either give in or forcibly evict it.

There are three ways of avoiding this terrible fate. The first is to throw into the monster's face a mixture of your own saliva, blood and semen which has been blessed by a shaman (called kénócííθitáyta, 'that which is not drunk') onto the monster, which will then flee from the house and not return.

To clarify, "kénócííθitáyta" refers to the mixture, not the shaman, right? Or are shamans forbidden from drinking alcohol?

Oops, sorry about the dangling modifier: yes it does refer to the mixture, not the shaman. EDIT: ké- is the passive prefix, by the way.

[zyma]

Oops, sorry about the dangling modifier: yes it does refer to the mixture, not the shaman. EDIT: ké- is the passive prefix, by the way.

No worries, thanks for the clarification!

[Frislander]

OK, time for some kinship! The basic system of kinship is Crow: cross and parallel cousins are distinguished, and members of the father's lineage are only distinguished by sex (the terms for paternal aunt is also used for her mother and daughters, for example). The terms are listed below. All of these terms are inalienable and obligatorily possessed, however as possession can be marked by either a prefix or suffix there is no special distinguishing mark given.

mother (and her sisters): hanci
father (and his brothers): hínti
brother (and male parallel cousins): yeθìi
sister (and female parallel cousins): yesàa
paternal aunt (and all other female members of father's patrilineage): yónee
maternal uncle: wìiken
cross-cousin: títùu
maternal grandmother: yawééha
maternal grandfather: yawéékí
paternal grandfather: hécaanta
son (and nephew by same-sex sibling): tìiykin
daughter (and neice by same-sex sibling): càaykin
neice/nephew (and children of parallel cousins): saweeké
granddaughter: yawááycin
grandson: yawííytin
spouse: waaken

(one or two more terms may appear later: these will be added here and this list should be taken as definitive).

There are also three terms to do with familial groups: these are explained below.

The cotén represents the closest thing in Kaita culture to the "nuclear family": mother, father and their children. However, the average cotén is a good deal larger than the typical Western nuclear family, as it includes all relatives covered by the terms "mother", "father", "brother" and "sister", so includes maternal aunts, paternal uncles and their children as well. This is partly because these are the people one shares the relevant lineage name with (maternal on the mother's side and paternal on the father's side - more on this below). This apparent unity is reflected in the much closer bond with parallel cousins among the Kaita than among Westerners, and how same-sex sibling have a greater hand in helping raise children than in our culture.

The yénìin can be best described as a "house" or "clan", which belong to one of two moieties (except for the "royal" family, which has members of both moieties). However, there is a twist: every Kaita belongs to two yénìin, one from each moiety. One is inherited from the mother and the other from the father, with the one inherited from the mother being passed on to any children. The exception to this is the "royal" yénìin, whose members all have only one yénìin.

The sáánita (literally, "that which is two") is the moiety, of which there are two: Wákiha, the Eagle and Káyuθe, the Crow (note the archaic terms for both of these). Each moiety contains five yénìin and also the "royal" yénìin Marriage is always done between moieties and any children take the moiety of the mother: this generally also means between yénìin, however the "royal" yénìin always marries inside of itself; the general large size of this yénìin (about one-and-a-half times the size of a normal one), however, works to alleviate the problem of inbreeding. The húsan (name/crest) of the yénìin within their respective moieties are given below:

Wákiha

• Nantèe Kaθíka, "Blue-green Fish"
• Tasaa Kasèente, "Great Bear"
• Cencii, "Ant"
• Kawíín, "Blood"
• Kíwan, "Sea"

Káyuθe

• Wasìi Kayanka, "Red Snake"
• Heway Kasèente, "Great Wolf"
• Kìinné, "Spider"
• Weycen, "Sky"
• Sannéé, "River"

The "royal" lineage is the Waaceta, "Those on top" (Present in both moieties).

Slaves (kacèeyta "those who serve"), are those who lack húsan, whether through disinheritance from a yénìin, being taken prisoner in raiding, or through being born a slave. They are tied to a specific moiety, however, and are passed down through the female line.

Names are organised like so: the maternal húsan comes first, followed by the paternal húsan, and then the personal name (tííyawsita "that which one is called by"). In less formal contexts (such as within the cotén) the húsan are generally not used, however, in more formal contexts (such as a non-Waaceta talking to a member of that lineage), the maternal húsan is used, and in especially formal language (such as in many rituals), the full name is obligatory (the corollary of this is that slaves, lacking húsan, are forbidden from being a part of most rituals, except possibly as a sacrifice).

An example: Kawíín Heway Kasèente Θáákaawtita ("one who is helpful to people") is a member of the Wákiha moiety. His mother was called Kawíín Weycen Niitiθásita ("one who is always happy") and his father was called Heway Kasèente Cencii Seeyninθeta ("one with young legs"). His spouse is Wasìi Kayanka Kíwan Sányéwata ("strong-willed one") and he has a daughter Wasìi Kayanka Kawíín Yéénanata ("one who likes to be alone").

[Creyeditor]

The only forms in Kaita which come close are the nominalisers -ta (which reduces to a high tone when it is non-final) and the action-nominal suffix -ya (which reduces to -y when non-final): both of these are derivational and are seldom used grammatically except in special cases.

I really like the highlighted part.

[Frislander]

The only forms in Kaita which come close are the nominalisers -ta (which reduces to a high tone when it is non-final) and the action-nominal suffix -ya (which reduces to -y when non-final): both of these are derivational and are seldom used grammatically except in special cases.

I really like the highlighted part.

Thank you! It was partly put in because I wanted a way for the derived nouns to not be too long, particularly when incorporated:

θekayta yankákaantaannáku
θe-kayta yanka-ta-kaanta-:n-ná-ku
2.POSS-person red-NOM-give-PRF-1.OBJ-3.ERG
You friend gave me a red one

[Frislander]

OK, I have this phonology which is meant to be one of Kaita's neighbours, but is unrelated to Kaita. It is characterised by lots of consonant clusters, including ones with glottal stops and fricative, and a three-way high-mid-low tone system:

/p t t͡ʃ k ʔ/ <<p t c k '>>
/v s h/ <<v s h>>
/n/ <<n>>
/ɾ/ <<r>>

/i a o/

Ihe vowels may occur in long or short (long is indicated by doubling the vowel), plus or minus nasalisation (denoted by a coda -n), and with one of three tones: high (5, acute), low (1, grave) or mid (3, unmarked).

(C)(C)CV(C)(C)(C)

Initial two-term consonant clusters always fit into this matrix. Three-term clusters consist of any three consonants where any two adjacent consonants in the cluster also fit into this table (note that the left-hand colum is the first term, the top row the second, and that T stands for any stop/affricate):

Code: Select all

  T  '  v  s  h  n  r
T    T' Tv Ts Th    Tr
' 'T    'v 's    'n 'r
v    v'             vr
s sT s' sv    sh sn sr
h hT    hv hs    hn hr
r    r' rv

Final clusters follow the same rules, only coda clusters fit into this matrix instead:

Code: Select all

  T  '  s  h
T    T' Ts Th
' 'T    's 'h
s sT s'
h hT

EDIT: between syllables, TT clusters are also permitted. Also, roots must be at least bimoraic: monosyllables (of which there are only a few) only have long vowels.

EDIT: question removed

EDIT: There are now two processes. Firstly a final h lowers the tone of the proceeding mora: the h is lost before two consonants or a consonant at the end of a word (/_CC,_C#)

The tone-lowering works like this (example vowel a):

a becomes à
á becomes a
à is unaffected
aa becomes aà
áá becomes áa
àà is unaffected.

Example: s-váá-ht-k~' "I hear you used to go" becomes sváat'

Secondly, coda glottal stops raise the preceding mora's tone, and the coda glottal stops are lost in the same environment h is lost. (/_CC,_C#).

The tone-raising looks like this:

a becomes á
à becomes a
á is unaffected
aa becomes aá
àà becomes àa
áá is unaffected

Example: '~0-onka-'-c "I saw he slept" becomes 'onkác

EDIT: question removed

[Creyeditor]

The only forms in Kaita which come close are the nominalisers -ta (which reduces to a high tone when it is non-final) and the action-nominal suffix -ya (which reduces to -y when non-final): both of these are derivational and are seldom used grammatically except in special cases.

I really like the highlighted part.

Thank you! It was partly put in because I wanted a way for the derived nouns to not be too long, particularly when incorporated:

θekayta yankákaantaannáku
θe-kayta yanka-ta-kaanta-:n-ná-ku
2.POSS-person red-NOM-give-PRF-1.OBJ-3.ERG
You friend gave me a red one

That's a nifty solution.

[Frislander]

Derivation

I should probably do derivation now, because I've been referencing the nominaliser -ta without really properly explaining it.

OK, there are EDIT: four productive derivational suffixes: three deverbalisers -ta, -ya and -né and the verbaliser -ha.

The suffix -ta, which is reduced to a high tone when non-final, derives a core argument of a verb. The verb is generally unmarked for grammatical categories, though nouns may be incorporated: however, to derive transitive participants then the voice prefixes are used (ké-, antipassive, for agents and céy-, passive, for patients). Thus this nominaliser only derives from intransitives.

The suffix is generally appended to the imperfective mode, however sometimes it is suffixed to the habitual instead (when non final the falling tone is changed to a high tone and the suffix is lost).

cónócííθita
cónó-cííθi-ta
beer-eat-NOM
beer-drinker

kéθeywata
ké-θeywa-ta
ANT-weave-NOM
weaver

céyθeywákèe
céy-θeywa-ta-kèe
PASS-weave-NOM-ADV
In the weaving/woven goods

Other roles take different voice prefixes.

tííhìiycata
tíí-hìiyca-ta
ADVA-repair-NOM
medicine

There are also a few frozen derivations in -wee (from original wàay, back when it still meant "thing").

káciwee - insult, slur (from káci, to offend)
hàatiwee - council, democratic government (from hàati, to meet)
cúkawee - scale (from cúka, be rough)
taaθawee - sand (from taaθa, be dry)

The suffix -ya (-y when non-final) derives action-nominals, and some states from the imperfective. Again the verb is generally unmarked, however aspect may appear for specific shades of meaning.

kaawtiya
kaawti-ya
help-ACT.NOM
help, assistance

EDIT:hanaya
hana-ya
be.alone-ACT.NOM
solitude

winekensiya
wine-kensi-ya
DEF-choose-ACT.NOM
indecision

EDIT: The suffix -né is used with many statives to derive verbal nouns. The verb may be marked for aspect.

yankané
yanka-né
red-STAT
the colour red

sáθáwciné
sá-θáwci-né
TER-long-STAT
former length

The verbalising suffix -ha is suffixed to nouns to verbalise them into copulative statives ("to be ...").

kèey kayeetíwa
kèey ka-yeetú-ha
MED I-deer-COP
That is a deer

nakáyuθeha
na-káyuθe-ha
1.SUB-eagle.moiety-COP
I am of the eagle moiety

There are the remnants of compounding: cónó "beer, ale, alcohol" is a frozen compound of what are now the incorporated forms waatá "grain" and nétu "water/liquid". Also, terms for in-laws are formed from compounds of waaken "spouse" and the other kinship terms.

waakenyeθìi
waaken-yeθìi
spouse-brother
brother-in-law

There are three ways of avoiding this terrible fate. The first is to throw into the monster's face a mixture of your own saliva, blood and semen which has been blessed by a shaman (called kénócííθitáyta, 'that which is not drunk') onto the monster, which will then flee from the house and not return.

To clarify, "kénócííθitáyta" refers to the mixture, not the shaman, right? Or are shamans forbidden from drinking alcohol?

Oops, sorry about the dangling modifier: yes it does refer to the mixture, not the shaman. EDIT: ké- is the passive prefix, by the way.

Oh bah-humbug, I can't even get this language right all the time: ké- is the antipassive prefix, and it should be céy-, the passive. (I'll edit the post)