A Linguistics Workbook, 4th Edition

Name

Section

1.7 Word Building 4: Tohono O'odham

Consider the following verb forms from Tohono O'odham and answer questions A

and B. (The special symbols used in writing these Tohono O'odham forms are

explained in exercise 1.6.)

Tohono O'odham form

Singular

1. fieok


2. him


3. dagkon


4. helwuin


5. 'ul
   Plural


6. fiefieok


7. hihim


8. dadagkon


9. hehelwuin


10. 'u'ul

English gloss

"speaks"

"walks''

"wipes"

"is sliding"

"sticks out"

"we/you/they speak"

"we/you/they walk"

"we/you/they wipe"

"we/you/ they are sliding"

"we/you/they stick out"

Questions

A. Describe, as precisely as you can, how the plural verbs are formed from the

singular verbs. (What must be done to a singular form in order to convert it

into a plural form?)