Wyandot Terms for Cutlery, Plates, Bowls and Bottles
Cutlery
Knife
wenęh It is a knife.
[weh-nenh]
w- feminine-zoic singular patient ‘it’
-enę- verb root ‘to be a knife’
-h stative aspect
wenęšraˀ knife (noun stem)
[weh-nen-shrah-ah]
w- feminine-zoic singular patient, ‘it’
-enę– verb root, ‘to be a knife’
-šr- nominalizer
-aˀ noun suffix
wenęšruwąnęh It is a large knife .
[weh-nen-shroo-wan-nenh]
w- feminine-zoic singular patient ‘it’
-enę– verb root, ‘to be a knife’
-šr- nominalizer
-uwąnę– verb root ‘to be large’
-h stative aspect
wenęšražaˀ It is a small knife.
[wen-nen-shrah-zhah-ah]
w- feminine-zoic singular patient, ‘it’
-enę– verb root, ‘to be a knife’
-šr- nominalizer
-a- verb root ‘to be a quantity’
-žaˀ stative aspect + diminutive suffix
Spoon (noun root) -s-
yasaˀ spoon
[yah-sah-ah]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent, ‘it’
-s- noun root, ‘spoon’
-aˀ noun suffix
yasuwąnęh It is a large spoon.
[yah-soo-wan-nenh]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’
-s- noun root ‘spoon’
-uwąnę- verb root ‘to be large’
-h stative aspect
yasažaˀ It is a small spoon.
[yah-sah-zhah-ah]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’
-s– noun root ‘spoon’
-a- verb root ‘to be a quantity’
-žaˀ stative aspect + diminutive suffix
Spoon, Verb root -erat-
yaerat[1] It is a spoon.
[yah-eh-raht]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’
-erat- verb root ‘to be a spoon’ + stative aspect
Fork -hšǫmat-
uhšǫmahtaˀ fork[2]
[ooh-shon-mah-tah-ah]
u- feminine-zoic singular patient ‘it’
-hšǫmat- noun root ‘fork’
-aˀ noun suffix
uhšǫmahtuwąnęh It is a large fork.
[ooh-shon-mah-too-wan-nenh]
u- feminine-zoic singular patient ‘it’
-hšǫmat- noun root ‘fork’
-uwąnę– verb root ‘to be large’
-h stative aspect
uhšǫmahtažaˀ It is a small fork
[ooh-shon-mah-tah-zhah-ah]
u- feminine-zoic singular patient ‘it’
-hšǫmahta- noun root ‘fork, awl’
-a- verb root ‘to be a quantity’
-žaˀ stative aspect + diminutive suffix
Dishes, Glasses and Pots
Dish, Bowl, Plate -tsę–
yatsęaˀ dish, bowl
[yah-tsen-ah-ah]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent, ‘it’
-tsę– noun root, ‘dish’
-aˀ noun suffix
yatsęuwąnęh It is a large dish, bowl.
[yah-tsen-oo-wan-nenh]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent, ‘it’
-tsę– noun root, ‘dish’
-uwąnę– verb root ‘to be large’
-h stative aspect
yatsęažaˀ It is a small dish, bowl.
[yah-tsen-ah-zha-ah]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent, ‘it’
-tsę– noun root, ‘dish’
-a- verb root ‘to be a quantity’
-žaˀ stative aspect + diminutive suffix
setsęuhare Wash the dish, the dishes.
[seh-tsen-oo-hah-reh]
se- imperative + 2nd person singular ‘you (s)’
-tsę– noun root ‘dish’
-uhare verb root ‘to wash’ + imperative aspect
Bottles, Glasses, Gourds
yaseˀtaˀ bottle, glass, gourd
[yah-seh-eh-tah-ah]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent, ‘it’
-seˀt- noun root ‘bottle, glass, gourd’
-aˀ noun suffix
yaseˀtuwąnęh It is a large glass, bottle, gourd.
[yah-seh-eh-too-wan-enh]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’
-seˀt- noun root, ‘bottle, glass, gourd’
-uwąnę– verb root ‘to be large’
-h stative aspect
yaseˀtažaˀ It is a small glass, bottle, gourd.
[yah-seh-eh-tah-zhah-ah]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’
-seˀt- noun root, ‘bottle, glass, gourd’
-a- verb root ‘to be a quantity’
-žaˀ stative aspect + diminutive
seseˀtuhare Wash the glass, glasses.
se- imperative + 2nd person singular ‘you’
-seˀt- noun root, ‘bottle, glass, gourd’
-uhare verb root ‘to wash’ + imperative aspect
Pot, Kettle: -ndaˀts- (noun root)
yandaˀtsaˀ ‘pot’
[yan-dah-ah-tsah-ah]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’
-ndaˀts- noun root ‘pot, kettle’
-aˀ noun suffix
yandaˀtsižuh It is a large pot, kettle
[yan-dah-ah-tsee-zhooh]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’
-ndaˀts- noun root ‘pot, kettle’
-ižu- verb root ‘to be large
-h stative aspect
to be a pot, kettle –ˀnęu-
yaˀnęuh It is a pot, kettle.
[yah-ah-nen-ooh]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’
–ˀnęu- verb root ‘to be a pot, kettle’
-h stative aspect
yeˀnęuˀah It is my pot, kettle
[yeh-eh-nen-oo-oo-ah]
ye- 1st person singular agent ‘my’
–ˀnęu- verb root ‘to be a pot, kettle’
-ˀ- stative aspect
-ah diminutive
Give Me, Pass Me
The verb root -nǫt- means ‘to give’, and is used when you are asking someone for something.
tayesanǫt Give me, pass me a spoon
[tah-yeh-sah-nont]
ta- imperative
-ye- 1st person singular agent ‘me’
-s- noun root ‘spoon’
-a- noun suffix
-nǫt- verb root ‘to give’ + imperative aspect
tayetsęanǫt Give me, pass me a plate, dish, bowl
[tah-yeh-tsen-ah-nont]
ta- imperative
-ye- 1st person singular agent ‘me’
-tsę- noun root ‘plate’
-a- noun suffix
-nǫt- verb root ‘to give’ + imperative aspect
tayeseˀtanǫt Give me a glass, bottle.
[tah-yeh-seh-tah-nont]
ta- imperative
-ye- 1st person singular agent ‘me’
-seˀt- noun root ‘glass, bottle’
-a- noun suffix
-nǫt- verb root ‘to give’ + imperative aspect
tayenęšranǫt Give me a knife.
[tah-yeh-nen-shrah-nont]
ta- imperative
-y- 1st person singular agent ‘me’
-enę– verb root, ‘to be a knife’
-šr- nominalizer
-a- noun suffix
-nǫt- verb root ‘to give’ + imperative aspect
tayehšǫmatanǫt Give me a fork.
[tah-yeh-shon-mah-tah-nont]
ta- imperative
-ye- 1st person singular agent‘me’
-hšǫmat- noun root ‘fork’
-a- noun suffix
nǫt- verb root ‘to give’ + imperative aspect
How Many?
Tuh How many…..?
[tooh]
Tuh iyasayeh How many spoons are there?
? such a number of spoons
iyasayeh It is such a number of spoons.
[ee-yah-sah-yeh]
i- partitive ‘such’
-ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’
-s- noun root ‘spoon’
-a- noun suffix
-ye- verb root ‘to number’
-h stative aspect
Ndahk iyasayeh There are four spoons.
Tuh iyatsęayeh How many dishes are there?
? such a number of dishes
iyatsęayeh such a number of dishes
[ee-yah-tsen-ah-yeh]
i- partitive ‘such’
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent, ‘it’
-tsę– noun root, ‘dish’
-a noun suffix
-ye verb root ‘to number’
-h stative aspect
Ndahk iyatsęayeh There are four spoons.
Tuh iyaseˀtayeh How many bottles are there?
iyaseˀtayeh bottle, glass, gourd
[ee-yah-seh-eh-tah-yeh]
- partitive ‘such’
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent, ‘it’
-seˀt- noun root, ‘bottle, glass, gourd’
-a- noun suffix
-ye- verb root ‘to number’
-h stative aspect
Ndahk iyaseˀtayeh There are four bottles.
Tuh iwenęšrayeh How many knives are there?
iwenęšrayeh Such a number of knives.
[ee-weh-nen-shrah-yeh]
i- partitive ‘such’
-w- feminine-zoic singular patient‘it’
-enę- verb root ‘to be a knife’
-šr- nominalizer
-a- noun suffix
-ye- verb root ‘to number’
-h stative aspect
Ndahk iwenęšraye There are four knives.
Tuh iyuhšǫmahtayeh How many forks are there?
iyuhšǫwahtayeh Such a number of forks
[ee-yoo-shon-wah-tah-yeh]
iy- partitive ‘such’
-u- feminine-zoic singular patient ‘it’
-hšǫmaht- noun root ‘fork’
-a- noun suffix
-ye- verb root ‘to number’
-h stative aspect
Ndahk iyuhšǫmahtayeh There are four forks.
[1] This is the only form that this verb takes.
[2] This is not in the Narratives, but is found in a list of items named by Potier (Toupin 1996:918 and Potier 1920:446), who lived with the Wyandot of the Detroit area.