Punctual and the Modals
The punctual is one of the four aspects of the Wyandot language, suffixes that follow every verb. It refers to one occurrence (rather than a state, a repeated occurrence, a command/request or prediction/intention) of what is being referred to in the verb. It appears after a verb root or a root suffix and usually occurs at the end of a word. It takes several different forms: -a(ˀ), -ˀ-, -ę-, -h- or no representative morpheme (word part) at all. This is signified by ø. The punctual requires the presence of one of three different prefixes called modals: factual, future and optative.
Factual and Punctual
The factual generally refers to a single occurrence that happened recently. It takes the form -aˀ- (-a- before an –h-), and usually is found at the beginning of a word.
aˀyaękwaˀ She planted it.
[ah-ah-yah-en-kwah-ah]
aˀ- factual prefix
-ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ’she‘
-ękw- verb root ‘to plant, to prepare a field’
-aˀ punctual aspect
ahęhąǫˀ He said it
[ah-hen-han-on-on]
a- factual prefix
-h- masculine singular agent‚’he‘
-ęhąǫ- verb root ’to say‘
-ˀ punctual aspect
aˀundahtawaˀ They (f) failed, quit.
[ah-ah-oon-dah-tah-wah-ah]
aˀ- factual prefix
-und- feminine-zoic plural patient ’they (f)‘
-ahtawa- verb root ’to fail, quit‘
-ˀ punctual aspect
Future and Punctual
As the name states, this prefix refers to something that will happen. The form taken by the future prefix is -e-. As with the other modals it usually occurs at the beginning of a word.
eurhęhąˀ Day will dawn.
[eh-oo-rhen-han-an]
e- future prefix ’will‘
-u- feminine-zoic singular patient ’it‘
-rhę- verb root ’to dawn‘
-hą- inchoative root suffix (’coming into being‘)
-ˀ punctual aspect
ešateˀwah You will flee, run away.
[eh-shah-teh-eh-wah]
e- future prefix ’will‘
-š- 2nd person singular agent ’you‘
-atewa- verb root ’to run away, flee‘
-h punctual aspect
ehehšakarata You will take care of him.
e- future prefix ’will‘
-hehš- 2nd person singular agent + masculine patient (you-him)
-akarata- verb root ’to take care of‘
-ø- no morpheme
Optative and Punctual
The optative modal is translated as ’would‘ or ‘should‘. It takes the form -ai-, -aˀ- and -a-. Although it shares forms with the factual, it is a little longer in pronunciation.
aˀyetsehąˀ I should draw water
[ah-ah-yeh-tseh-han-an]
aˀ- optative prefix ’should’
-ye- 1st person singular agent ‘I’
-tseh- verb root ‘to draw water’
-hą- inchoative root suffix
-ˀ punctual aspect
ahažaˀturęhąˀ He would find me.
[ah-hah-zhah-ah-too-ren-han-an]
a- optative prefix
-haž- masculine singular agent + first person singular patient (he-me)
-aˀt- noun root ‘body’
-urę- verb root ‘to find’
-hą- inchoative root suffix
-ˀ punctual aspect
aižayęhąˀ They two (f) would go out.
[ah-ee-zhah-yen-han-an]
ai- optative prefix
-ž- feminine-zoic dual agent ’they (feminine) two‘
-ayę- verb root ’to go out‘
-hą- inchoative root suffix
-ˀ punctual aspect