Wichi

Language

Wichi

Family

Matacoan

Ethnologue

ISO

glottolog_id

Nouns table

gloss	layer	stem phonology	sg	pl
axe	lexeme	resonant-final	husan	husanis
axe	suffix	resonant-final	zero	is
dog	lexeme	x-final	sinox	sinoxos
dog	suffix	x-final	zero	Vs
ear	lexeme	default	kʸutekʸute	kʸuteykʸutey
ear	suffix	default	zero	y
goat	lexeme		qayla	qaylaɬayis
goat	suffix		zero	ɬayis
house	lexeme	t-final	wet	wetes
house	suffix	t-final	zero	es
myth	lexeme		paɬa	paɬalis
myth	suffix		zero	lis
shoulder	lexeme	u-final	hʷapu	hʷapuɬ
shoulder	suffix	u-final	zero	ɬ
song	lexeme		teneq	tenhay
song	suffix		eq	hay
star	lexeme		qates	qatetsel
star	suffix		s	tsel

gloss	layer	1	2	3	1 incl	unspecified
ear	lexeme	nkʸute	hakʸute	lakʸute	ɬakʸute	tokʸute
ear	suffix	n	ha	la	ɬa	to
grandfather	lexeme	nkʸoti	akʸoti	lakʸoti	ɬakʸoti	tokʸoti
grandfather	suffix	n	a	la	ɬa	to
hand	lexeme	ntkʷey	akʷey	takʷey	ɬakʷey	tokʷey
hand	suffix	nt	a	ta	ɬa	to

gloss	layer	stem phonology	1	2	3	1 incl
cook	prefix	C-initial	nt	lata	ta	yat
cook	lexeme	C-initial	ntqatay	lataqatay	taqatay
die	prefix	V-initial	ny	lat’	y	yat’
die	lexeme	V-initial			yiɬ
leave	prefix	C-initial	n	la	i	ya
leave	lexeme	C-initial	nwum
play	prefix	C-initial	n	la	ya	ya
play	lexeme	C-initial			yaquy
slip	prefix	C-initial	n	la	hi	ya
slip	lexeme	C-initial			hip’etax
be bad	prefix	C-initial	n	a	zero	ya
be bad	lexeme	C-initial		axʷitsax	xʷitsax
talk	prefix	V-initial	ny	ɬ	y	y
talk	lexeme	V-initial	nyomey	ɬomey	yomey
swallow	prefix	C-initial	n	la	zero	ya
swallow	lexeme	C-initial			tim

Inalienably possesed nouns take possessor-marking prefixes; the 'grandfather' type is the most frequent pattern.

The -eq (singular) ~ -ay (plural) is found with patient-oriented nominalizations (e.g. 'song' as derived from 'sing'). There are though nouns such as kʷen-eq 'slave', for which there is no synchronically attested verb that it could be derived from.
The suffix -lis is really a distributive, which with some nouns can follow the regular plural marker. For other nouns, though, it is the sole marker of plurality. The suffix -ɬayis is really a collective marker. Again, though, with some nouns it is the sole marker of plurality.

Terraza (2009: 129-37) characterizes the consonant-initial verb classes in semantic terms, though it is no clear how deterministic these definitions are:
- 'leave'-type: agentive
- 'be bad'-type: stative
- 'cook'-type: eventive (non-agentive)
- 'slip'-type: non-control
- 'play'-type: animate subject, with lower volitionality than 'leave'-type
- 'swallow'-type: affected subject
2. Vowel-initial verbs have no particular semantic characterization, and themselves fall into two apparently arbitrary classes.

Jimena Terraza. 2009. Grammaire du Wichí: Phonologie et Morphosyntaxe. PhD thesis, Université du Québec à Montréal.