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Introduction: Compiling the Kanza Texts

Background TOP

The texts collected and analyzed here represent a portion of the work done for the Kaw Nation's 2008-2010 ANA (Administration for Native Americans) grant project to develop educational materials to teach Kanza literacy. The project goals include the following:

Archive all historical texts
Select a smaller set of texts for use in a graded reader document
Record a companion audio CD for the graded reader document

The project team consists of the full-time Language Director Justin T. McBride, part-time Language Coordinator Dr. Linda A. Cumberland, contractual Language Consultant Dr. Robert L. Rankin, and a small Community Advisory Group composed of Kaw tribal members Rima Bellmard-Mathews, Jim Benbrook, Paul Hardy, Curtis Kekahbah, and Kira Mathews.

Texts TOP

The thirty-one texts in this collection represent the entire known corpus of extended Kanza monologues with the exception of sacred speech. They come from several sources, but most were collected in extensive linguistic surveys done by Rev. James O. Dorsey and our Language Consultant Dr. Rankin. Here is the breakdown of the contents:

Rev. Dorsey contributed twenty-four texts from nine Kanza speakers in the 1880s: Alíⁿk'awaho, Gazáⁿ Naⁿge, Charles McCassey, Nighúje Yíⁿge, Óshe Góⁿya, Paháⁿle Gáxli, Stephen Stubbs, Waxóbe K'iⁿ, and Zhóhiⁿ Máⁿyiⁿ. The texts fall into three categories:
- Myths--eight traditional stories to be told in the wintertime
- Historical papers--thirteen texts including everything from migration accounts and depictions of tribal customs to battle stories
- Personal letters--correspondences from three Kaw tribal members
Rev. Joab Spencer contributed a lullaby from an unknown speaker in the early 20th century
George P. Morehouse contributed a speech delivered by Pete Taylor at the 1925 dedication of the Monument to the Unknown Indian in Council Grove, KS.
Dr. Rankin provides a 1970s-era collection of five myths from Maude Rowe, one of the last fluent speakers of Kanza

Apart from two Kanza prayers of significant length, no other texts in the language have been located. If you are aware of any--including not-yet-transcribed recordings of Kanza speech--please contact us at the email address below. We are always on the lookout for new sources of Kanza language material.

Analysis TOP

For the purpose of selecting texts for use in the graded reader document, we needed a cursory grammatical analysis of the texts. We chose an interlinear treatment that divides each sentence of each text into several horizontal sections. The top and bottom lines of this treatment represent the sentence as it was recorded in Kanza and how it translates into English, respectively. Between these lines are five additional analytical lines broken into a series of mixed word-level and phrase-level units we call D-units, after Dorsey, whose divisions they represent. Each D-unit begins with a Kanza word or phrase, and ends with its English translation. The middle three lines consist of the individual components making up the Kanza word or phrase, their grammatical classes, and English equivalents, respectively. This makes for a seven-line interlinear parse:

Kanza sentence
D-unit 1: Kanza word or phrase, D-unit 2, D-unit 3 ...
D-unit 1: component part(s)
D-unit 1: grammatical class(es)
D-unit 1: English gloss(es)
D-unit 1: English word or phrase
English sentence

For some readers, this format can take some getting used to, especially if their goal is not to follow the analysis but simply to read the texts in English. If this is your goal, you can just read the last line for each sentence.

Abbreviations TOP

There are many abbreviations used in this analysis. For a short description of each, please refer to the following table.

<A>	active verb of the following infection pattern: a- (A1s), ya- (A2c), - (A3c), and aⁿ(g)- (A1d)
<B>	active b-stem verb of the following infection pattern: p- (A1s), shp- (A2c), b- (A3c), and aⁿ(g)- + b- (A1d)
<D>	active d-stem verb of the following infection pattern: t- (A1s), sht- (A2c), d- (A3c), and aⁿ(g)- + d- (A1d)
<G>	active g-stem verb of the following infection pattern: p-/k- (A1s), shk- (A2c), g- (A3c), and aⁿ(g)- + g- (A1d)
<H>	active h-stem verb of the following infection pattern: ph- (A1s), sh- (A2c), g- (A3c), and aⁿ(g)- + h- (A1d)
<IMP>	impersonal stative verb, i.e, one that only permits A3c infection: - (A3c)
<IRR>	active verb of an irregular infection pattern
<NONE>	uninflected active or stative verb
<NV>	active glottal- or nasal vowel-stem verb of the following infection pattern: m- (A1s), zh- (A2c), '- (A3c), and aⁿ(g)- (A1d)
<S>	stative verb of the following infection pattern: aⁿ- (A1s), yi- (A2c), - (A3c), and wa- (A1d)
<Y>	active y-stem verb of the following infection pattern: bl- (A1s), hn- (A2c), y- (A3c), and aⁿ(g)- + y- (A1d)
1s	first person singular; "I, me, my, mine" forms
2c	second person common; "you, y'all, your, yours" forms
3c	third person common; "he, she, it, they, he, her, them, his, her, hers, its, their, theirs" forms
A1d	first person dual/plural agent, "you & I, we" forms
A1s	first person singular agent; "I" form
A2c	second person common agent; "you, y'all" forms
A3c	third person common agent; "he, she, it, they" forms
abs	absolutive; "one who is/does ___"
adv	adverb; "catch-all" grammatical class used to modify verbs, establish time and place, etc.
Affirm	affirmative particle; yes
asp	aspect particle; used to show whether or not the action or state of being is potentially in progress, in progress, or not in progress
aug	augmentative suffix; used to express greater size, degree, or reality
Benfctv	benefactive prefix; used to show that an action is performed for the benefit (or bane) of another person
Caus	causative verb; used to express causation of an action or state of being
conj	conjunction; used to join multiple items, including items in a list or whole clauses
Cont	continuative aspect particle; used to express action or state of being in progress
Datv	dative prefix; used to express other agent(s) to whom action is directed
decl	declarative particle; used to make declaration and express speaker's commitment to statement; can be either masculine or feminine
det	determiner; used to refer to nouns; English determiners include 'a,' 'an,' 'the,' 'this,' 'that,' etc.
dim	diminuative suffix; used to express extreme age (very old or very young) or smaller size or degree
Dubtv	dubitive particle; used to express doubt
epent	epenthesis; additional sound added to a word for the ease of pronunciation, e.g., in Kanza w or y often arise between certain vowels
evid	evidential particle; used in the depiction of events the speaker did not directly witness
Exhort	exhortative particle; used to persuade hearers to participate, e.g., English 'let's'
Fem	feminine form
GI	class of verb prefixes expressing benefactive, dative, reciprocal/reflexive, suus, and vertitive relationships and resembling the form gi-
Habit	habitual particle; used to express ongoing or repeated action or state of being
hypcrstc	hypocoristic particle; used to express intimacy or familiarity; term of endearment; nickname
Imp	imperative particle; used with commands
In	inanimate form
inst	instrumental prefix; used to show manner by which an action or state of being occurs or is caused
intens	intensifier particle; used to express greater intensity
Lie	lying orientation, i.e., involving a subject or object oriented horizontally
loc	locative prefix; used to express orientation or motion of an action or state of being in, on, or toward a location, or its causation by means of an item
Loctn	locative postposition; used to express orientation or motion in, on, to, or at a location
Masc	masuline form
Motn	motion prefix; used only with certain person and number categories when inflecting verbs of motion
Mov	moving orientation; i.e., involving a subject or object in motion
n	alienable noun; a class of nouns including that which can be lost or not possessed
n,nInal	noun, either alienable or inalienable; a class of nouns that by speaker choice can either be lost or not lost, possessed or not possessed
Narr	narrative particle; an evidential particle associated with the relation of narratives
neg	negative particle or suffix; no
nInal	inalienable noun; a class of nouns including that which cannot be lost or not possessed
Obj	grammatical object; patient; that which receives the action, or experiences the state of being
P1d	first person dual/plural patient; "you & me, us" forms for all transitive verbs and "you & I, we" forms for intransitive stative verbs
P1s	first person singular patient; "me" form for all transitive verbs and "I" form for intransitive stative verbs
P2c	second person common patient; "you, y'all" forms
P3c	third person common patient; "him, her, it, them" for all transitive verbs and "he, she, it, they" forms for intransitive stative verbs
part	particle; "catch-all" grammatical class including many small word or word-like units serving grammatical functions but not easily categorized in other grammatical classes
pers	independent personal pronoun
Pl	plural number
pn	proper noun
Pnct	puntual aspect; used to express action or state of being not in progress
Port	portative prefix; used to express possession while in motion
poss	possessive pronoun
postp	postposition;
Pot	potential aspect; used to express action or state of being potentially in progress
prev	preverb; used to show any verbal material occurring before the locus of inflection
pro	pronoun
Prohbtv	prohibitive particle; used to express prohibitions; English 'don't'
quant	quantifier; used to show number, degree, or amount
Quotv	quotative particle; used to express direct quotations
Rcprcl	reciprocal/reflexive prefix; used to show either that subject and object participate equally in action as agent and patient or that subject and object are one and the same; English 'each other' or 'oneself'
redup	reduplication; used to express continuous or iterative action or state of being
root	verb root
Rst	resting orientation; i.e., involving a subject or object sitting or standing at rest
Scttrd	scattered plural object or singular object draped or otherwise arranged like cloth
self	untranslated noun or calque borrowing
Sing	singular number
Sit	sitting orientation; i.e., involving a subject or object sitting down
Stn	standing orientation; i.e., involving a subject or object standing up
Subj	grammatical subject; agent; that which performs the action
Subord	subordinating particle
Suus	reflexive-possessive prefix; used to express that the subject possesses the object
unk	unknown grammatical class
Varnt	variant form
Vertv	vertative prefix; used to express return or resumption of previous state
Voctv	vocative particle; used as direct address

Because our analysis of these texts will continue for the duration of this project, abbreviations may be added or subtracted from this list over time. Please be sure to check back here if you are not sure of what an abbreviation stands for or what a technical term means in plain English.

Issues TOP

We are aware of several unresolved issues involving the texts and their subsequent analysis. Here is a list of some of the major ones:

General
- Incomplete analysis: This is essentially a "first-pass" interlinear parse worthy of posting online but hardly comprehensive. In many cases, we are content to have left large passages unanalyzed. This is especially apparent in the "Monument Dedication Speech" text.
- Orthography: For the educational purposes of this project, we have opted for the practical writing system rather than in the Siouan technical system.
- Mixed target audience: While the texts themselves are intended for the benefit of Kaw tribal members wanting to preserve and revitalize their cultural heritage, the analysis is mostly for the sake of Kanza and Siouan linguistic scholarship for the advancement of our understanding of the language. Sometimes, in our attempt to appeal to both audiences, we may fail to connect with either. Again, bear in mind that this is an organic process--we are far from done with this.
- Age-appropriate content: Some of the texts involve subject matter that many parents today would find objectionable. It is important to remember modern US mainstream culture is radically different from traditional Kaw culture. What might be considered inappropriate in one context is fine in the other, and vice versa.
Phonology
- Phonemic vowel length: Vowel length was not recorded in Dorsey, Spencer, or Morehouse, the vast majority of our texts. To maximize congruence between texts, it is recorded in Rankin only where very obvious.
- Stress marking: All stress is marked as primary in Dorsey, sometimes yielding multiple primary stresses in a single word. There is no stress marking in Spencer and Morehouse. To maximize congruence between texts, secondary stress is recorded in Rankin only where very obvious.
Morphophonology
- Inflection: With respect to verb conjugation, all syncopating inflectional morphemes are shown combining surface form plus reflex of stem-initial consonant, not with underlying forms. For example, Proto-Siouan *WA- + *R- is shown as bl-, the A1s form associated with the modern Kanza <Y> pattern. While not technically accurate, it serves our general educational goals.
- Ablaut: Regular inflectional shift from vowel-final e to a is accounted for by V₁ + V₂ interaction involving suffixation of underlyingly a-initial forms.
- Reduplication: This process is treated inconsistently throughout the analysis. While the process tends to select bases consisting of the first full syllable of a Kanza root (Kanza syllables are of vowel, consonant + vowel, or consonant + consonant + vowel forms), and the reduplication occurs left-to-right, our analysis system forced us to show reduplication differently in the analysis for mono- and poly-syllabic roots. Thus, the reduplicant is shown (correctly) to the right of bases in monosyllables, and to the left (incorrectly) of bases in polysyllables.
Morphology
- Morpheme list: Our tendency to select morphemes with clear boundaries, semantic transparency, and synchronic productivity led us to add entries to the morpheme list inconsistently. In some cases, list entries are whole words with identifyably distinct morphemes whose meanings no longer contribute to the overall semantic quality of the word. In other cases, bi- or even tri-morphemic words can only be explained diachronically. In still other cases, a single root is divided for the purpose of analysis. In any event, it is best to call the "morpheme list" a combination word/word-part list.
- Grammatical classification: As in the rest of the Siouan languages, it is often difficult to pin down a single grammatical class for a word or morphme in Kanza. This has led to the classification of about forty classes, about half of which are associated solely with verbs!
- Zero-pronouns: We posit two separate zero-pronouns, one for A3c and one for P3c, giving rise to a case of null homophony! Some transitive verbs will of course get both zero-pronouns. Tthis practice is frustrated somewhat by impersonal verbs and stative transitives. Which do we use? Does it even matter?
- Valence reducer wa-: We have treated this prefix as a P3c pronoun, well aware of the reprocussions for our doing so. We seem to be unable to come to a conclusion as to whether it obviates the need for a patient slot or simply occupies a patient slot.

Upcoming TOP

Our project continues through September of 2010. Future activities include:

Complete archival deposit of texts to preserve for future generations of Kaws
Selection of texts for use in graded reader
Annotation of texts to facilitate education in Kanza literacy
Selection of a culturally appropriate and attractive layout for the graded reader
Audio recording for the companion CD

Check back here for developments in this project.