VITAL POINTS TO PRACTICE (1)

Where are the subjects in these sentences? How many are there?

HECETV (to see): Type I verb
 
Hecis.  I see.
Hecēs.  We see. (or Hecēyes)
Hecetskes.  You see.
Hecatskes.  You all see.
   
Heces.  She (he or it) Sees.
Hecvkes.  They see.

 

Interrogative: Use these forms to ask a question
 
 Heciyv? Do I see?
Hecēyv? Do we see?
Hecetskv? Do you see?
Hecatskv? Do y'all see?
Hecv? Does s/he see?
Hecvkv? Do they see?

 

Where are the subjects in these sentences? ......the objects?

What do verb-ending sounds tell you...?

Do you know the difference between a subject and an object?

Do you know the differences between 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons?
 
Efvn hecis. I see a dog.
Efvn heciyv? Do I see a dog?
Efvn hecetskes. You see the dog.
Efvn hecetskv? Do you (one) see a dog?
Efvn heces. She sees a dog.
Efvn hecv? Does he (she) see a dog?
Efvn hecvkes.  They see the dog. Note the "vk" infixed for plural
Efvn hecvkv? Do they see the dog?

 

Analyze and discuss these sentences, please...
 
 
 
Efvn heces. He sees the dog. (or she sees, or it sees)
Efvt heces.  The dog sees.
Efvt hecv? Does the dog see?
Efvt cvheces. A dog sees me.
Efvt cehecvkes. The dogs see you.
Efvn hecetskv? Do you see the dog?

 

Explain the differences between these two verb forms:
 
HECES (HEC ... ES) 
HECVKES (HECVKES)

 

Translate some of the following:
 
The cat sees. I see the cat.  The cats see.
A dog hears.  I hear a dog.  The dogs hear.
Does the cat see? A cat sees dogs. The dog hears a cat
Cats eat.  A cat eats a dog. The cats eat a dog.

Can subjects appear twice in a sentence?

Do subjects appear only once in a sentence?

 Explain the differences in tense below. What is a tense...?
 
 
 
Efvn hecis. I see the dog.  
Efvn hehcis. I just saw the dog. (I saw the dog just then.)
Poset cessen pohes. The cat hears a mouse.
Pohetv, Type I
Poset cessen pohhes. The cat just heard a mouse.  
Poset cessen pohhv? Did the cat just hear a mouse?  
Estet pokkon takkes. Someone kicks the ball.
Takketv, Type I
Estet pokkon tahkkes. Somebody just kicked the ball.
 Be careful of the "h" sound
Estet cvtahkkv? Did someone just kick me?  
Tvlofvn vyis. I go to town. 
Vyetv singular, Type I
Tvlofvn vhyis. I just went to town (very recently).  
Tvlofvn vhyv? Did she just go to town?  
Tvlofvn vhyetskv? Did you just go to town?  
 Hokten hehcetskv? Did you just see the woman?  
Cehecares. I will see you.
-ares, 2nd future
Cehecarete? Will I see you?
-arete?
Hvtvm cehecvres. She will see you again.
-vres, 2nd future
Hvtvm cehecvrete? Will she (he) see you again? 
-vrete?

What kind of sounds do most Creek questions end with....?

The second (2nd) future tense (Future II) states it will happen sometime in the later future but not immediately.

The first (1st) future tense (Future I) states it is just about to happen immediately or what we Southerners call the "Fixin' to do it" tense of Southern English.

Now, let's move on to another

 neat little point...(can you discover what's so neat about it?)
 
Pokkon takkis. I kick the ball.
Pokkon estakkis. I kick the ball (with my foot --implied).

 

Grammatically, "es-" is an instrumental -- that is, it tells that an instrument or tool was used in the action. It indicates "what with" or "how" it was done. With the verb kick, foot is usually implied and no additional information is needed in Pvlvcekolv Creek to get the point across. Prefixing " es- " or its other forms (such as "s-" before verbs beginning with vowels) adds a sense of "with" to the verb meaning. Think of this as another labor saving device in Creek which saves time in learning additional new verbs... these particles such as "oh-," "vk-," "tvk-," and "es-" are real verb-meaning stretchers. You will learn more about all these particles in the future lessons.

Cepanet uewvn vklētkes. ("vk-" water, damp, low moist area)

Estimvt lētkv? (or Stimvt lētkv?) Estimv "who?"

Estvmen lētkv? (or Stvmen lētkv?) Estvmen "where?"

Kerretskv? Kerretv "to know, learn"
 
 

Beware of multiple translations & spellings available for some words!
 
 

Hoktet likes.

The woman lives. A woman sits. She lives. A woman exists. She sits. Hunvnwvt likes. or Honvnwvt likes. The man sits. He sits. A man lives. He exists. Hoktet hunvnwvn alikes. The woman sits by the man. She sits by him. (what about "a-"?) Hoktet vlikes. The woman gets up. (OOPS...! what does the "v" do?) Hoktet hueres. (or hweres.) A woman stands. She stands. She exists. Hoktet cepvnen ahueres. The woman stands by the boy. Hoktvket sehokes. Two women stand. The women both stand. Two women both stand. (sehoketv - two only to stand)

hokte - woman, hoktvke - women

 Are you noticing something unusual about the verb "stand?" What?

Hunvntvket svpakles. or Honvntvket svpakles.

Several men stand. The men stand. The men, they stand.

(svpakletv - 3 or more to stand)

hunvnwv/honvnwv - man, hunvntake/hunvntvke - men

 When a noun ends with "-wv" and takes an ending or is combined with another word, the "-wv" is generally dropped. The universal plural in Creek is "AK" (or "VK") which is used in some verbs for clarity. It is also used with terms for body parts and kinship. Most Creek plurals are indicated by the verb structure; most Creek nouns have no separate plurals. A few kinship and body part terms sound better if a "T" is added as a verbal lubricant to make the word pronounce easier, smoother. The two most common are "MAN" and a word for "SISTER." Note how the letter "t" is used with the plural infix below.
 
 

Hoktvket hunvntaken a sehokes. (or asehokes)

Two women stand by several men. Honvntvket hoktvken a svpakles. (or asvpakles) Several men stand by the women. Honvnwvt hokten pohes. The man hears a woman. Huvnwvt hokten pohhes. A man just heard the woman. (it just happened)

An "-h-" is added to many, but not all, verb stems to indicate the immediate past tense--up to the last 24 hours or so.

 Pokkon nvfkes. He hits the ball. Pokkon nvfikes. He hit the ball just then. He just hit the ball a moment ago.

Some stems require the addition of "-i-" instead of "-h-" Do you know why...? Well, think about the sound produced by adding the "-h-" and then think about the already built-in sound of "NVFKETV." Ah ha! It would make no difference to the ear. Solution...? A different sound for certain verb stems --usually, the addition of the "-i-" sound works well. This is called an INFIX.

 Cvnvfikes. She just hit me. Cvnvfikv?

Did she just hit me?

Hokten nvfikis.

I hit her just then. Hokten nvfikiyv?

Did I just hit her? (the woman?)

Hokten cvnvfkvres.

She will definitely hit me sometime in the future. Future II

 Hoktet pokkon escvnvfikes.

She just hit me with the ball.

"Vc" is another form of "cv" -- I or me. Both descend from the original "VCV." Whichever sounds best is used; yes, there is a rule for that but later....okay? Here's a picture of its descent. Think about the English "A" and "AN." Can you guess when to use which form...? HINT: Vowels are involved.

The full formal term "vcv" and its parsing (look up "to parse" in English)
VCV

VC / ... \ CV

The alternate forms "vc" and "cv" are used according to which sounds fit best or what vowel or consonant follow it ... Cvpohes. He hears me. Tvkhehces. She just looked on the ground. Ohhompetvn oh-hehces. He just looked on the table. ("oh" on, upon, at, toward)
 
 

 What marks a word as the subject...? An object...? Have you discovered any new "particles" that modify or expand verb meanings...? Can you see how the use of "particles" as prefixes, suffixes, infixes and so forth, actually makes learning vocabulary easier? Sure you can-- learn one word and with the use of "particles" you will soon realize that you now understand many more words. "Now ain't that great!"

A QUICK LOOK AT TWO VERB TYPES

TYPE I Verbs: person endings that tell a lot of information...!

Ometv "to be" (model type I verb)

  Singular Plural
1st person omis Omēs or omēyes
2nd person ometskes omatskes
3rd person omes, os omakes

 

For type I verbs, think about action, movement, motion, activity

TYPE II Verbs: prefixed pronouns to do the same work...

Yacetv "to want, need, desire" (model type II verb)

 
Singular
Plural
1st person
 cvyaces, cvyac puyaces, puyac
2nd person
 ceyaces, ceyac ceyacvkes 
3rd person
 yaces, yac yacvkes

 

For type II verbs, think emotion, state of being, conditions, feelings