Cherokee Verbs & Prefixes

Cherokee Prefixes - Using the Iterative Prefix

Iterative Prefix Meanings
"Iterative" usually means that the action of a verb happens again or is repeated multiple times. Durbin Feeling calls it the "again" prefix since that is the most common meaning it gives when attached to a verb. The "iterative prefix" can be added to many verbs to express this meaning.

Forms of the Cherokee Iterative Prefix
There is no one single form of the Iterative prefix in Cherokee. There are three distinct forms of this prefix that are used with specific tense stems and tense endings. The "Iterative" prefixes are usually spoken with a "high tone" and is added before the verb's pronoun. These three forms are as follows:

1. /i:³-/ is used on the Present and Habitual tense stems. Note the high tone on this prefix. A variation of this used by some speakers is to just pronounce the first syllable of the verb with this high tone instead of adding the prefix.

2. /v:³-/ is used with the Remote Past and Infinitive stems.  It is also used when the "-vɂi" past tense suffix is used on a Progressive (Habitual) stem to create a "Progressive Past" tense. *NOTE! This form of the prefix is not used when this stem ends with the "Reportative" suffix "-eɂi"!! (Uchihara, 2018, Festschrift for Professor Tōru Hayasi.) It becomes "v-" in this case.
Examples:
      ᎥᏣᎷᏨ v:tsaʔluhtsv - You came back.
      ᎢᏣᎷᏤᏍ? v:tsʔluhtse:s? - Did you come back?
In the Qualla dialect of North Carolina, speakers often pronounce these two versions of the prefix with a preceding "h" - /hi:-/ and /hv:-/ and are discussed in both King's and Cook's dissertations on Cherokee grammar which focus on the Cherokee of the Qualla Boundary. Montgomery-Anderson also mentions these variations in passing in Section 10.1.5 of his monumental grammar published in 2015.

3. /tsi³-/ is used on Immediate/ Imperative verb stems. Dr. Feeling refers to this use as the "again"- imperative prefix on pages 243 - 244 in the "Outline of Cherokee Grammar" section of the Cherokee-English Dictionary. Feeling also points out that before vowels, this prefix can appear as either /ts-/ or /tsiɂ-/. When this prefix is added before the "w-" (indicating direction away from the speaker), the two prefixes combine and become "tsu-".

 The various forms that the "iterative prefix" takes before specific verb tenses make its use a little more complicated than most. Cook additionally notes that there are some dialect variations on the use of these pre-pronominal prefixes, for example, speakers in some communities may simply pronounce the pronoun of a verb with a "high" tone instead of adding the prefix to express repetition or "again".

When this prefix is used with some verbs, it gives the verb a specific meaning. The best example is when used on the verb "arrive" ᎦᎷᎦ, the resulting verb ᎢᎦᎷᎦ is best rendered in English as "to go back".

References to the various forms of the iterative prefix are found scattered around the Cherokee grammar resources, such King's dissertation (UGA 1975), pages 67 - 68 (6.7); Cook's dissertation (Yale 1979) pages 77 - 82; and Montgomery-Anderson's Cherokee Reference Grammar (2015), pages 293 - 296. Dr. Durbin Feeling also covered the use of these prefixes in the "Outline of Cherokee Grammar" section of the Cherokee-English Dictionary (1975) on pages 254 - 255 and also on pages 243 - 244 where he refers to it as the "j-, "again"- imperative" and that this form of the prefix is used on the Imperative forms of the verb. He also points out here that when it comes before the w- prefix (direction away from speaker) the two become ju- (tsu-). This page is my attempt to clarify all 3 forms and their uses together in one place. I hope other learners and researchers find this useful!

This page was researched, composed, and created by ᏔᎻᎵ
with much appreciation to Craig Kopris
for proof-reading assistance.
ᏍᎩ ᎩᎾᎵ!
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