The Verb ‘to be’ in Wyandot
The verb root -yę- ‘to be’ is unique among Wyandot verbs. It carries the aspects punctual, habitual and stative for nouns, particles (such as ǫdaeˀ ‘that’ and trǫndiˀ ‘much’) in the examples given below) and sometimes for verbs that do not carry a full set of aspect suffixes. These can include people’s names (for example when you are talking about someone who is recently dead), animal names and kinship terms.
The Verb ‘to be’ with Different Aspects
Stative Aspect
This form typically goes with particles (such as ǫdaeˀ) and nouns.
Positive
inęh It is.
[ee-nen-h]
in- partitive prefix ‘such’
-(y)ę- feminine-zoic ‘it’ + verb root ‘to be’
-h stative aspect
ǫdaeˀ inęh It is that one.
that one
[on-da-eh-eh]
uˀndawędaˀ inęh It is a potato.
uˀndawędaˀ potato
[oo-oon-dah-wen-dah-ah]
u- feminine-zoic singular patient ‘it’
–ˀndawęd- noun root ‘potato’
-aˀ noun suffix
Negative
teˀyęh It is not.
[teh-eh-yenh]
teˀ- negative
yę- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’ + verb root ‘to be’
-h stative aspect
tąˀą[1] anyǫnyęˀ teˀyęh It is not a bear.
not it is a bear
[tan-an-an] [an-yon-yen-en]
tąˀą trǫndiˀ teˀyęh It is not much.
not much
[tron-dih]
tąˀą uˀndawędaˀ teˀyęh It is not a potato.
not potato
Punctual Aspect
The punctual aspect goes with the pre-pronominal prefixes of the future and the optative but not the factual with this verb.
Future
Positive
eˀyęhk It will be.
[eh-eh-yenk]
eˀ- future
-yę- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’ + verb root ‘to be’
-hk punctual aspect
yandaˀtsaˀ eˀyęhk It will be a pot.
yandaˀtsaˀ pot
[yan-dah-ah-tsah-ah]
ya- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’
-ndaˀts- noun root ‘pot’
-aˀ noun suffix
šemędižu eˀyęhk You will be in charge.
You are great in voice, in charge it will be
šemędižu You are great in voice, in charge.
[sheh-men-dee-zhoo]
še- 2nd person singular agent ‘you (s)’
-męd– noun root ‘word, voice’
-ižu verb root ‘to be large, great’ + stative aspect
Negative
teˀeyęhk It will not be.
[teh-eh-eh-yenk]
teˀ- negative
-e- future
-yę- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’ + verb root ‘to be’
-hk punctual aspect
yandaˀtsaˀ teˀeyęhk It will not be a pot.
huki teˀeyęhk He will not be a spirit.
huki He is a spirit, has a spirit.
[hookee]
hu- masculine singular patient ‘he’
-ki- verb root ‘to be a spirit’ + stative aspect
Optative
ayęhk It would be.
[ah-yenk]
a- optative
-yę- feminine-zoic singular agent ‘it’ + verb root ‘to be’
-hk punctual aspect
ayǫmeh ayęh One would be human.
one (ind) is human it would be
[ah-yon-meh]
ayǫmeh One is human.
ay- indefinite agent ‘one’
-ǫme– verb root ‘to be human’
-h stative aspect
Habitual Aspect Plus Past Aspect Suffix
This was traditionally used after the name of a person who recently died, like how the word ‘late’ is used before a name in English.
yehęh It used to be.
[yeh-henh]
ye- feminine-zoic singular agent + verb root ‘to be’
-hę- habitual aspect
-h past aspect suffix
yežaˀhaˀ yęhęˀ I was a child
I – child it used to be
yežaˀhaˀ I (am a) child
[yeh-zhah-ah-ha-ha]
ye- 1st person singular agent ‘I’
-žaˀh- noun root ‘child’
-aˀ noun suffix
Wendake yehęˀ Wendake that used to be (i.e., Huronia in Ontario)
anduˀmęh yehęˀ She is my mother that used to be (i.e., she is no she is mother to me used to be longer alive).
[an-doo-oo-menh]
Stative Aspect: With the Cislocative Prefix and the Past Aspect Suffix
kenęˀ when it was in the past
[keh-nen-en]
ke- cislocative prefix ‘when’ + feminine-zoic singular agent ‘to be’ + stative aspect
-nęˀ past aspect suffix
yendrawahs kęnęˀ I used to dance
I often dance when it was in the past
yendrawahs I often, frequently dance.
[yen-drah-wahs]
ye- 1st person singular agent ‘I’
-ndrawa- verb root ‘to dance’
-hs habitual aspect
[1] This part is not absolutely necessary all the time.