Tlingit noun facts for kids

The Tlingit language, spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and parts of Canada, has interesting ways of using nouns. Unlike English, where nouns are usually single words, Tlingit nouns can be simple words or compound words (made of two or more words joined together). They can also be created from verbs or other nouns.

Tlingit nouns show their case (how they are used in a sentence, like subject or object), but they don't usually show number (like singular or plural). How nouns show possession is also unique. Tlingit nouns are divided into two main groups: those that can be possessed and those that cannot. The ones that can be possessed are further divided based on whether they are alienable or inalienable.

Understanding Tlingit Nouns

In many languages, a noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. But in languages like Tlingit, it's a bit more complex. Sometimes, a whole phrase (a group of words) acts like a single noun.

For example, in Tlingit:

• khaa kagéi kawahayi

  khaa

  person

  kagéi

  across.from.it

  ka-ÿa-haa-ÿi

  KLEX-(0,-D,+I)-meet-AGT

  khaa kagéi ka-ÿa-haa-ÿi

  person across.from.it KLEX-(0,-D,+I)-meet-AGT

  This phrase means “(human) rights”, but literally it's “that which is met across from a person”. Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);

• woosh kát kawdliyeeji aa

  woosh

  RECIP.OBJ

  ká-t

  surface-PERT

  ka-ÿu-dli-yeech-ÿi

  KLEX-PERF-(l,+D,+I)-fly.PL-ATTR

  a-ÿi

  it-POSS

  woosh ká-t ka-ÿu-dli-yeech-ÿi a-ÿi

  RECIP.OBJ surface-PERT KLEX-PERF-(l,+D,+I)-fly.PL-ATTR it-POSS

  This phrase means “airplane”, but literally it's “that which they fly on their surfaces”. Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);

These examples show how Tlingit uses fixed phrases that act like nouns, even though they are made of several words.

How Tlingit Nouns Show Possession

Tlingit nouns are split into two main groups: those that can be "owned" or related to something else (possessable) and those that cannot (unpossessable).

For example, names of people and places (like "John" or "Angoon") are unpossessable. You can't say "Alice's John" in Tlingit to mean "John, who belongs to Alice."

Other nouns can be possessable. Words for family members (like "mother") and body parts (like "mouth") must always be possessed because they always relate to someone or something.

Possessable nouns often get a special ending, -ÿi, to show they are owned. This is different from English, where we add 's (like "John's house"). In Tlingit, if hít means “house” and Jáan means “John”, then “John’s house” is Jáan hídi.

Possessive Pronouns

Tlingit uses special words called possessive pronouns to show who owns something. Here are some examples:

There's also a pronoun ḵaa which means “someone’s” or “somebody’s.”

The ending -i is added to a noun to show it's possessed. If a word ends in a vowel, a y sound is added before the -i.

Here are some examples:

• ax̱ dóoshi = my cat
• haa héeni = our river
• ax̱ l’ee x’wáni = my socks

Sometimes, the -ÿi ending changes its sound slightly depending on the sounds before it. This is a common feature in many languages.

Alienable and Inalienable Nouns

Possessable nouns are further divided into two types: alienable and inalienable.

• Alienable nouns are most common. They can be used by themselves or be possessed. When possessed, they get the -ÿi ending. "Alienable" means they can be "separated" or used on their own.
• Inalienable nouns must always be possessed. They usually refer to things that are naturally connected to something else, like family relationships (axh tláa “my mother”) or body parts (du xh'é “his mouth”). They don't usually get the -ÿi ending because the connection is already understood.

However, if you add the -ÿi ending to an inalienable noun, it changes the meaning. For example, xóots shá means “a bear’s head” (still attached to the bear), but xóots shayí means “a bear head” or “a bear’s head detached from its body.”

Words That Describe Nouns

Tlingit uses words that describe nouns, similar to adjectives in English. These can come before or after the noun.

Words Before Nouns

Words like numbers, possessive pronouns, and some descriptive words (adjectives) come before the noun.

Here are a few examples of adjectives that come before nouns:

• ch'a aanínáxh — ordinary, common
• shich — female
• yées — new, young
• aak'é — good

Words After Nouns

Some adjectives and other modifiers come after the noun.

For example:

• tlein means “big”
• yéis means “young”

Here's how they are used:

• ch'aak' yéis

  ch'aak'

  bald eagle

  yéis

  young

  ch'aak' yéis

  {bald eagle} young

  “immature bald eagle” (a young bald eagle)

• lingít tlein

  lingít

  person

  tlein

  big

  lingít tlein

  person big

  “important person”

Plural Forms

Tlingit has a plural ending -x' that can be added to most nouns, but it's not used very often. Some nouns have special singular/plural pairs, like khaa (“person”) and khaax'w (“people”).

Diminutive Forms

The diminutive ending -k' can be added to any noun. It makes the noun sound smaller, cuter, or sometimes shows it's a smaller version of something.

Noun Cases in Tlingit

In Tlingit, nouns use special endings or small words called postpositions to show their role in a sentence. These are like cases in other languages. They tell you if a noun is the one doing the action, the one receiving the action, or where something is located.

Here are some examples of these cases:

• Ergative (-ch): Shows who is doing the action in certain sentences.

*

• Punctual (-t): Shows a specific physical location or arrival point.

*

• Locative (-x' or -i): Shows physical or time location, like "at a place" or "on a Sunday."

* “I am/live in Angoon.”

• Ablative (-dáxh): Shows the origin of an action, like "from a place" or "since a time."
• Allative (-dei): Shows a destination, like "to school" or "until a time."

* “I went towards school”

• Comitative-instrumental (-tin): Shows "with" something or someone, or "by means of" something.

How New Nouns Are Made

Many Tlingit nouns are created from verbs. This is called noun derivation. It's like how in English we can turn the verb "write" into the noun "writer."

Creating Nouns from Verbs

The simplest way to make a noun from a verb is just to use the verb as a noun.

• atxhá means “eat” (verb) but can also be used as a noun meaning “food.”
• yoo xh'atánk means “word, speech, language” from a verb about carrying words.

Agentive -ÿi

The ending -ÿi can also be added to verbs to create a noun that means "the one who does the action." This is similar to adding "-er" in English (like "writer" from "write").

• kashxeedí means “writer, secretary” (from a verb meaning "to scratch" or "to write").
• yoo xh'atángi means “speaker.”

Instrumentive -aa

The ending -aa can be added to verbs to create a noun that means "the tool or instrument used for the action."

• óonaa means “gun” (from a verb meaning "to shoot").
• kuxéedaa means “pencil” (from a verb meaning "to scratch" or "to write").
• khaashaxáshaa means “scissors” (literally, "that which cuts hair on a person’s head").

Words Borrowed from Other Languages

Tlingit has borrowed many nouns from other languages, especially Russian, Chinook Jargon, and English. It's harder for Tlingit to borrow verbs because its verb structure is very complex.

• From Russian:

* chayu “tea” (from Russian chai) * káaxwei “coffee” (from Russian kofe) * sawáak “guard dog, big dog” (from Russian sobaka meaning "dog")

Chinook Jargon

Chinook Jargon was a mix of languages used for trade along the Northwest Coast. Many Tlingit speakers also knew Chinook Jargon, so many words came into Tlingit through it. Sometimes, words that seem to come from English actually came through Chinook Jargon first.

For example:

• dáana “money, dollar, silver” (from Chinook Jargon dala, which came from English "dollar"). This word is used in wakhdáana “eye glasses” (literally “eye silver”), just like in Chinook Jargon.
• Sándi “week, Sunday” sounds more like the Chinook Jargon word than the English one.

Here are some other words Tlingit borrowed from Chinook Jargon:

• doosh “cat”
• wasóos “cow”
• gishóo “pig” (from French le cochon through Chinook Jargon)
• óoxjaa “wind”
• shóogaa “sugar”
• Wáashdan “American” (from English "Boston" through Chinook Jargon)
• Kínjichwaan “Canadian, English” (from English "King George" through Chinook Jargon)

Some Tlingit nouns are combinations of existing Tlingit words, but their structure might have been influenced by Chinook Jargon. For example, dikée aankháawu “God” literally means “high up aristocrat.” This was likely created by missionaries as a direct translation of the Chinook Jargon phrase for "God," which meant “high up chief.”