Terminology
Plain-language definitions of the grammar words used throughout this wiki ("subject," "suffix," "aspect," and so on) each with an Owens Valley Paiute example. They're here so you never have to already know the jargon to follow the Grammar. Wherever one of these terms is linked, you can click through for a quick refresher.
Terms
| Name | Category | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Demonstrative | Concepts | A pointing word like "this," "that," or "these." |
| Morphology | Concepts | How words are built from smaller meaningful pieces (roots, prefixes, suffixes). |
| Noun | Parts of speech | A word for a person, animal, thing, or place. |
| Pronoun | Parts of speech | A stand-in word like "I," "you," or "they" that points to someone without naming them. |
| Verb | Parts of speech | An action or state word. |
| Object | Sentence roles | What an action is done to. The receiver of the action. |
| Subject | Sentence roles | The doer of a sentence. Who or what is performing the action. |
| Fortis/Lenis | Sounds | The change in a consonant when morphemes join — usually softening (t→d, p→b, s→z, k→g, m→ŵ), sometimes hardening (w→gw). |
| Glottal Stop | Sounds | The catch-in-the-throat consonant written with an apostrophe ('). |
| Aspect | Verb grammar | Whether an action is ongoing, finished, or still relevant. This is separate from when it happened. |
| Tense | Verb grammar | When an action happens (past, present, or future). |
| Transitive Verb | Verb grammar | A verb that takes an object (eat something); an intransitive verb does not (go, sit). |
| Morpheme | Word parts | The smallest meaningful piece of a word. |
| Prefix | Word parts | A piece added to the front of a word to change its meaning. |
| Suffix | Word parts | A piece added to the end of a word to change its meaning or role. |