Comparison of Potawatomi to

English

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

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.

More unique traitsMany 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.

WritingPotawatomi 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.

Verbs Verbs Verbs

There are four main types of verbs in Potawatomi

AI (Animate intransative)

II (Inanimate intransative)

TI ( Transative Inanimate)

TA (Transative animate)

AI VerbsThese are the simplest of verbs. They simple state that something is taking place which doesn’t 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

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)

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.

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

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

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