Cheyenne verbs

Cheyenne verbs are constructed of several meaning parts which are connected together to form complete words. Linguists call these meaning parts morphemes. They are the smallest parts of Cheyenne words that have any meaning. For most verbs, there must be at least a personal prefix (similar in meaning to English pronouns), an initial or root, and a final to make a complete word. Here are the building blocks, or morpheme categories, of independent Cheyenne verbs:

PREFIX + TENSE + DIRECTIONAL + PREVERB(S) + INITIAL/ROOT + MEDIAL + FINAL(S)

Here are some Cheyenne verbs that illustrate these building blocks:

Éa'täxa 'He accidentally cut it' = é-á't-ax-á he-accidentally-by.cutting-it (PREFIX + INITIAL + FINAL + FINAL)

Náháóénáóó'e 'I prayed standing up' = ná-háóéná-óó'e I-pray-stand (PREFIX + ROOT + FINAL)

Nééxovêhahtáho'hehe 'Did you warm your feet?' = né-éxove-hahtá-ho'he-he you-warm-foot-by.heat-QUESTION (PREFIX + INITIAL + MEDIAL + FINAL + FINAL)

Nêstaévâhósevóomâtse 'I'll see you again later' = ne-s-ta-éva-hóse-vóom-âtse you-FUTURE-TRANSLOCATIVE(DIRECTIONAL)-back-again-see-I (PREFIX-TENSE-PREVERB-PREVERB-ROOT-FINAL)

There is much more that can be said about Cheyenne verbs, and, as time goes on, we will add more about Cheyenne verbs, as well as nouns, to this web site.

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