Subjects with ‘to say.’
In the Wyandot language the newly-introduced subject of a verb often comes after the verb itself, the opposite of what happens in English. The verb or noun that forms the subject typically comes after the relative pronoun that in this case means ‘who’ or ‘the’. Here are examples with one of the verb roots that mean ‘to say’. The sentences are taken from the Narratives recorded by Marius Barbeau in 1911-2.
The eagle said, “Hurry up.“ (Barbeau 1960:140)
ayęhąǫˀ de tsamęhuhiˀ te tsatatęnyǫhtę
she/it said it the eagle hurry up (you plural)
de tsamęhuhiˀ
[deh tsah-men-hoo-hee-ee]
She who is a bear said, “Now he is coming here.“ (Barbeau 1960:143)
aˀyęhąǫ d anyǫnyęˀ nęh utareˀ
she/it said it who (it is a) bear now he is coming here
d anyǫnyęˀ
[dan-yon-nyen-en]
He said it, he who is a boy, “I do not wish it.“ (Barbeau 1960:143)
ahęhąǫˀ de hǫmęˀtsęhtiˀah ą te yehe
he said who he is a boy not I do not wish
He said it, he who is chief, “You will stand at my back.” (Barbeau 1960:70)
ahęhąǫˀ de hǫmąyuwanęh kǫˀmąh tęseˀtaha yeˀnǫmąyeh
he said who he is the chief the other way you will stand at my back
de hǫmąyuwanęh
[deh hon-man-yoo-wah-nenh]
He said it, he who is the turtle, “Me next.” (Barbeau 1960:60)
ahęhaǫˀ nd ingyaˀwiš di nǫmąˀdeˀ
he said who turtle me next time
nd ingyaˀwiš
[ndeen-gyah-ah-weesh]
She said it, she who is old, “Let it be so.” (Barbeau 1960:64)
ayęhąǫˀ ne yaˀtǫˀ tuh skanǫh
she said who she is old there let it be so
Now she said, the eagle, “Who will take care of him.” (Barbeau 1960:140)
nęh ayęhąǫˀ de tsamęhuhiˀ tsinęęh[1] ehukaratat
now she said the eagle who (is it) one will take care of him
[1] This has replaced a less appropriate word.