Comparison of Potawatomi to English

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Comparison of Potawatomi to English
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Potawatomi is very verb heavy

• English is perhaps 30-35 percent verbs
• Potawatomi is closer to 80 percent verbs
• Potawatomi is very descriptive.
• Understanding verbs is very important to
  Potawatomi

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Some unique traits of Potawatomi

• Word order is less important because so much
  information is contained in the verb.
• This will be covered in greater depth in lesson
  9.
• Potawatomi is gender neuter. In languages like
  French a word is either masculine or femine.
• In Potawatomi a word is either Animate(alive) or
  Inanimate(nonliving) This will be covered in much
  more depth in lesson 6.

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More unique traits

• Many words which are considered adjectives in
  English are verbs in Potawatomi. For example
  wawyeya- it is round or mkedewa- it is black.
• In Potawatomi there is a we excluding the person
  being spoke to. So you can say nmajimen- We are
  leaving but not you. In this way Potawatomi is
  more direct and there is less confusion as there
  might be in English.

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Writing

• Potawatomi has been written down a number of ways
  over the years by preists, census takers,
  linguists and different bands of Potawatomi.
• Because English has a several hundred year
  history of written materials much more emphasis
  is put on writing and there are many available
  books in english. Our society was mostly an oral
  society with some exceptions. This will be
  explained in detail in Lesson 3.

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Verbs Verbs Verbs

• There are four main types of verbs in Potawatomi
• AI (Animate intransative)
• II (Inanimate intransative)
• TI ( Transative Inanimate)
• TA (Transative animate)

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AI Verbs

• These are the simplest of verbs. They simple
  state that something is taking place which
  doesnt effect anyone else.
• Examples (verbs are in the third person)
• Bidge- he/she goes enters.
• Maji- he/she leaves
• Nebyege- he/she writes
• Jiptebe- he/she sits

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II Verbs

• These are verbs which basically state something
  non living is.Often these are adjectives in
  English.
• Examples
• Wawyeya- It is round
• Mkedewa- it is black
• Gachinwa- it is small
• Gshate- it is hot (weather/sun related)

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TI Verbs

• These are verbs were something happens between
  someone alive and something not alive.
• Nodan- he/she hears it.
• Nedwendan- he/she wants it
• Dagnan- he/she touchs it
• Gishpnedon- he/she buys it.

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TA Verbs

• These involve something happening between two
  people or two animate things.
• nWabma- I see him
• Nwabmek- he sees me
• Nwabmak- I see them
• Gdbabma- You check on him
• Kenonan- he talks to him

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A few other unique traits

• To make something small in Potawatomi we usually
  add an s or es.
• Example Mko- bear Mkos- little bear
• Pluralizing in Potawatomi is done by adding an n
  or en to something non living and a k or ek to
  something living.
• Example Dopwen- table Dopwenen-tables
• Mko- bear Mkok- bears

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Conclusion

• The language is a portal into the past. It allows
  us to see what was important to our ancestors. It
  is also our birthright it is something that has
  been carried down for thousands of years to us.
  The more you understand the language the better
  you will understand our culture. They are
  intrinsicly wrapped together.
• IW- end