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16 ‘with’ and comparisons

  • Mvskoke adds different prefixes to verbs to add secondary elements to sentences.
hompetv ‘to eat’ eshompis ‘I’m eating with it’
mahē ‘tall’ ’svnmahēt os ‘he/she is taller than me’
opvnetv ‘to dance’ avm opanes ‘he/she is dancing with me’

‘with (something)’: eshompis ‘I am eating with it’: Instrumental es-

  • A prefix es- on verbs means ‘with (a tool, etc.)’. It comes from esetv ‘to take’.
Hompes. ‘He/she is eating.’ Eslafkvn eshompes. ‘He/she is eating with a knife.’

Before vowels, the prefix is usually shortened to ’s-.

akkopvnetv ‘to play’ ’sakkopvnetv ‘to play with (a toy, etc.)’
  • With verbs of motion, es- may indicate that the subject is taking another person or item along, driving a car, or riding a horse.
vyetv ‘(one) to go’ ’svyetv ‘(one) to go with (someone), take’
vtetv ‘(one) to come’ ’svtetv ‘(one) to come with, bring’
akcēyetv ‘(one) to enter water’ ’sakcēyetv ‘(one) to take underwater’
vretv ‘(one) to go around’ ’svretv ‘(one) to go around with, date’
  • When es- is added to a verb, the verb may take another object and may use patient person markers for the added object.
ayes ‘he/she is going’ ’svcayes ‘he/she is taking me’

The verb vyetv ‘(one) to go’ doesn’t normally take an object. The verb ’svyetv ‘(one) to go with, take’ does take an object, however: ’svcayes ‘he/she is going with me’, ’secēyes ‘he/she is going with you’, etc.

  • The prefix es- is also used when something contains something else.
’Sesketvn ēsis. ‘I’m holding a cup (empty).’
’Sesketvn ’sēsis. ‘I’m holding a cup (with something in it).’
  • Books and signs contain words. These may require es-.
Pokkon ēsis. I’m holding a ball. Cokvn ’sēsis. ‘I’m holding a book.’
  • Other items with salient parts (signs, dentures, eyeglasses, a headdress, a watch, a harness, a tree with fruit) may also call for es- on associated verbs.
  • The prefix es- is often used in the names of tools and utensils (see 0).
foyetv ‘to saw’ esfoy- ‘saw with’ esfokv ‘a saw, what you saw with
akkopvn- ‘to play’ ’sakkopvn- ‘play with’ ’sakkopvnkv ‘toy, what you play with’
esketv ‘to drink’ ’sesk- ‘drink with’ ’sesketv ‘cup, what you drink with’
letketv ‘(one) to run’ esletk- ‘run with’ esletketv ‘bicycle, what you run with’

Comparisons: Escem mahvyēt os ‘I’m taller than you’

  • The prefix es- ‘with’ can be used to add a sense of comparison (‘than’, ‘taking as a
    comparison’).
Fettv hotvle-mahēt os. It’s very windy outside.
Fettv ’svhotvle-mahēt os. The wind is getting stronger outside.
  • The sequence es- + em can be used for comparison to someone. In this pattern, es- means ‘than’ and em agrees with the person you’re making the comparison to.
Mahēt os. He/she is tall.
’Svm mahēt os. He/she is taller than me.
Escem mahēt os. He/she is taller than you.
’Sem mahēt os. He/she is taller than him/her.
Espum mahēt os. He/she is taller than us.

The following sentences show how the pattern is used.

Bill yv eto ’sem mahēt os. Bill is taller than this tree.
Mary ’svm mahēt os. Mary is taller than me.
Yv etuce ’sencvpkekot os. It’s not as long as this stick.

Adjectives like mahē normally use cv- prefixes for their subjects.

Cvmahēt os. I’m tall.
  • When adding es- + em to adjectives, the person marker shifts to the agent set.
Escem mahvyēt os. I’m taller than you.
Bill ’sem mahvyēt os. I’m taller than Bill.
Mary ’sem mahvkot os. I’m not taller than Mary.
Yv cvto ’senrakketskē te? Are you bigger than this rock?

‘with (someone)’: avm opanes ‘he/she is dancing with me’

The a- prefix is used with the dative person markers to mean ‘with (a person)’. These prefixes combine in slightly unexpected ways.

opanes ‘he/she is dancing’
avm opanes ‘he/she is dancing with me’ (a-+vm)
iecem opanes ‘he/she is dancing with you’ (a-+cem)
iem opanes ‘he/she is dancing with him/her’ (a-+em)
iepum opanes ‘he/she is dancing with us’ (a-+pum)
yvhikes ‘he/she is singing’
avnyvhikes ‘he/she is singing with me’
iecenyvhikes ‘he/she is singing with you’
ienyvhikes ‘he/she is singing with him/her’
iepunyvhikes ‘he/she is singing with us’

Some people use different spellings, such as a em opanes instead of iem opanes.

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Mvskoke Language Patterns Copyright © by Jack Martin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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