Ethnonym
The word is composed of the , meaning 'person' and the human plural suffix . While the apostrophe which joins the two parts of this word ordinarily indicates a glottal stop, most speakers pronounce this with a diphthong, so that the second syllable of the word rhymes with English 'nine' (as in the older spelling Tanaina).Phonology
Denaʼina is one of seven AlaskaConsonants
The consonants of Denaʼina in practical orthography, with IPA equivalents.Vowels
The 4 vowels of Denaʼina. Close vowels are more open in the environment of a uvular consonant. Generally, the vowels i, a, and u are considered 'long' vowels and are fully pronounced in words, however the e is considered a reduced vowel similar to the English schwa.Syllable structure
In the Inland dialect, syllables at the end of a semantic unit are often longer, lower in pitch, and have longer rhymes. The onset of a syllable has consonant clusters of up to three, such as CCCVC, though these are rare and more commonly, a syllable onset is one or two consonants.Writing systems
Dena'ina uses a variant of the Latin alphabet, though a Dena'ina artist, Argent Kvasnikoff, created a custom alphabet for the language.Morphology
Denaʼina is a polysynthetic language where a single word can mean the entirety of an English sentence. Verbs are the most elaborate part of speech in the Denaʼina language, which vary in verb paradigms which vary by subject, object, or aspect. The following example is of the verb "to be" in the imperfective aspect and in the Nondalton dialect.Grammatical categories
Denaʼina indicates classification with obligatory verb prefixes, meaning the root verb appears at the end of the word. The verb will always specify a classification and often person, gender, or object prefixes that indicate aspects of the noun or object for transitive verbs, and aspects of the speaker for intransitive verbs. Person can also be indicated by suffixes on the noun; the singular person suffix on a noun is generally , whereas the plural suffix is generally or . Plurals for non-persons that are animate are indicated by the noun suffixes , , and . Inanimate plurals are unable to be indicated by a noun suffix, and instead attach to the verb. For examples of person indication on the verb, see the chart under the morphology section above concerning the verb root . Denaʼina specifies between 1st person singular/plural, 2nd person singular/plural, 3rd person singular/plural, and areal. Verbs fall into many categories that are broadly lumped into "active" and "neuter", where an active verb indicates movement, a state of being incomplete, something being made, or in the production of sound, and a neuter verb indicates a general state of being that is complete. Categories of classification that are affixed to a verb also can refer to certain characteristics of the object of that verb. Depending on the gender affix that follows the classificatory affix, the nature of the object can change, as indicated by the following chart: However, there are other categories of classification or instrumentation that indicate how an action was done or aspects about the outcome of the action. Many instrumental affixes have become causative over time. Causality is expressed by changing a classifier in the verb to "". Instrumental affixes that indicate the manner or motion of an action include the following: "", which refers to clubbing an object or leaving a depression in the snow; "", which refers to causing an object to leave, disappear, or die; "", which refers to affecting an object with the mouth; ",, and ", which all indicate that the object being referred to was used in an instrumental sense; " ()", which refers to a pointing motion; "", which refers to a wiping motion; and "", which refers to the use of a hand.Space relations
Postpositions
Denaʼina shows space relations through the addition of morphemes that are either independent or bound, known as postpositions. * Independent postpositions follow a noun. For example, "miłni det" (without water) is composed of the noun "miłni" (water) and the postposition "det" (without). * Bound postpositions follow a pronoun or a noun, but are said and written as one word, and are often related to directionals. ** Sheł ("with me") is composed of the pronoun sh ("me") and the postposition eł ("with"). ** Object + -ch' (towards the object, in the direction of the object) *** = "He is walking towards us" ** Object + -a (object spends time) *** = "He spent the whole summer day" *** Be = "him/her" (be + a = ba) Postpositions can also be incorporated into a verb as a prefix.Demonstratives
Space relations can also be marked by demonstratives pronouns, which indicate proximal/distal distinction. * - that * - that/these things, non-human and distant * - this/these things, non-human and close by * - there in the distance * - that person, human and distant * - here, nearby * - this person, human and close by * - those persons, human and distant * - these persons, human and close by For example: * = "those mountains" * = "that person calls" * = "this woman"Adverbs
Adverbs of location and direction can also convey space relations. * nes - out from center ** nes yanił chet = "he shoved the boat out" * en - off or away from ** ye'un = "away from it" ** ye'un ti'ilgguk = "he went out the door"Directionals
The directional system in Denaʼina is based upon river flows, and are used with directional prefixes, roots, and suffixes. * Prefixes: ** ey - unmarked ** yu - distant ** du - near * Roots: ** n'e or ni - upstream ** du or t'e - downstream * Suffixes: ** ∅ - towards ** -ch' - towards, form ** -t - at, the place of For example, yunit means "at a place far upstream", and is composed of the prefix "yu", root "ni", and suffix "t".Time and tense
Temporal adverbs
Temporal adverbs convey information about when an action or intent of the verb occurred. * - always * - never * - all day * - still For example: * = "I worked all day" * = "always fog"Mode
Mode indicates when the action happens. Normal mode is also referred to as tense, and is given by mode/aspect prefix positions in the verbs. The tense modes are the imperfect (present), perfect (past) and the future represented by 4 types of imperfectives—, , , —and 4 types of perfectives—, , , . There are also 4 modal variations: neuter, inceptive, optative-intentional, and negative.Tense
* Imperfective mode - action was started and is continuing at the present time ** imperfective and imperfective - generally means the action in moving toward completion ** imperfective - associated w/ motion verbs ** imperfective - generally means the action is static * Perfect mode - action was started and completed in the past ** perfective - most common perfect structure in most aspects ** perfective - often used with motion verbs when action has reached terminal state ** perfective - generally means the actions have achieved a stable state ** perfective - used in transitional themes * Future mode - action has yet to happen. Used with a future stem, a "" in the mode position, and a "()" in the inceptive positionModal variations
* Optative-intentional mode - expresses an intent to act * Inceptive mode - "beginning to" in the imperfect and perfect modes * Imperfect inceptive * Perfective inceptive * Neuter - applicable to neuter verbs, and "to be" neuterAspect
Aspect conveys information about how the action happened, and works in conjunction with tense. The most common aspects are conclusive, momentaneous, neuter, onomatopoetic, and semelfactive. The morpheme attached to the root verb can also change depending on aspect.Modality
Modality is most commonly and easily seen in evidentials which usually appear at the end of a sentence. * Evidentials - words that emphasize certainty ** - then it is ** ł - it is said, it seems, apparently ** For example: *** = "I am the one" *** = "The Denaʼina, they say, had some beliefs about the animals" * Emphatics - words that add emphasis ** - I am ** For example: *** = "I am Albert, this is who I am"Predicates, arguments, and case
Predicate refers to the main verb and auxiliary verbs, whileObliques
Obliques indicate instrumentals, locatives, and other arguments outside of core arguments. Both core and oblique arguments attach to the verb via prefixes which must occur in a certain order. In Denaʼina, obliques are prefixes to the verb which occur between the object prefix and the inner subject pronoun prefix and/or the outer subject pronoun.Possession
Inherent possession
Denaʼina has inherently possessed nouns and non-verbs. Inherently possessed words consist of a prefix and a stem which are abound morphemes. For example, "shunkda" means "my mother", where "sh-" is the possessive pronoun meaning "my", and "-unkda" is the possessed root meaning "mother". The pronouns used with inherently possessed bound morphemes: * sh- = my * qu- = their * n- = your (singular) * k'e- = someone's * be- = his/her * de- = his/her own * na = our * deh- = their own * h- = your (plural) * nił- = each other'sNon-inherent possession
Non-inherent possession occurs with proper nouns as the possessor, shown by -a or -'a attached as a suffix to the possessed noun. Possessive pronouns are attached as a prefix to the possessed noun and the -'a is added at the end of the word.Complement clauses
Complement clauses are clauses that act as the direct object of the verb, introduced by aEndangerment
The population of Denaʼina is 900. As of 2007, there are 75-90 speakers, and in 1970 there were only 10 speakers of the Kenai dialect. Linguist Michael E. Krauss provides three levels of endangerment: safe; endangered, where the language is being learned by children but requires community effort to maintain it; and moribund, where the language is not being learned by children. According to this classification, the Denaʼina is a moribund language.Revitalization efforts
There are various efforts to revitalize the language. * The Denaʼina Archiving, Training and Access grant (DATA) aims to archive and provide access to Denaʼina materials. It also attempts to train community members in technology. * Lake Clark National Park maintains a catalog of audio recordings of the language. * Some books are being published on Denaʼina language and culture, and there is a yearly Denaʼina festival, followed by a three-week intensive course led by elders. * At the Kenai Peninsula College, there is a language class on the Cook Inlet dialect. As of October 2014, there are only 15 students, all young adults, in the class, but this indicates momentum.Neyman, Jenny. (2014)References
Bibliography
* Balluta, Alex & Gladys Evanoff. 2004.'' Denaʼina Qenaga Duʼidnaghelnik (Denaʼina Words Sound Pretty). Denaʼina Phrases 1: Nondalton Dialect'', ed. by Olga Müller. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center; Anchorage: Alaska Native Heritage CenterExternal links