Cherokee Complex Verbs

The "A" class verb 'decide'

Verb Root -ugodi-

Note: Like the verbs ᏓᎩᎸᏫᏍᏔᎾᎢ (I work), ᏓᎩᏯᏪᎦ (I'm tired) and several others, this verb takes the distributive prefix [de-] throughout, probably because making a decision involves two or more choices. When used with animate pronouns, this verb can also mean "to pass judgement, to judge someone".

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Present Tense

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ᏕᎫᎪᏗᎭ - deg-ugodi-ha - I am deciding
ᏕᎱᎪᏗᎭ - deh-ukdi-ha - You are deciding
ᏕᎫᎪᏗᎭ - deg-ukdi-ha - He/She/It is deciding
ᏕᎩᏄᎪᏗᎭ - degin-ukdi-ha - You and I are deciding deciding
ᏙᎩᏄᎪᏗᎭ - dogin-ukd-iha - He/She and I are deciding
ᏕᏍᏚᎪᏗᎭ - desd-ukdi-ha - You two are deciding deciding
ᏗᏚᎪᏗᎭ - did-ukdi-ha - We (including you) are deciding
ᏙᏧᎪᏗᎭ - dots-ukdi-ha - We (not including you) are deciding
ᏗᏧᎪᏗᎭ - dits-ukdi-ha - You all are deciding
ᏓᏄᎪᏗᎭ - dan-ukdi-ha - They are deciding

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Practice Sentences

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1. ᏩᎦ ᎭᏫᏯ ᏏᏆ ᎭᏫᏯᎨ ᏍᏗᏩᎯᏍᏗ ᏕᏍᏚᎪᏗᎭ? - Waga hawiya sigwa hawiyake sdiwahisdi desdukdiha?
Are you two deciding to buy beef or pork?

2. ᏕᎫᎪᏗᎭ ᎢᏳᏃ ᎤᏛᏘᏗ ᎤᏚᎵ. - deguktiha iyuhno utvtdi uduli.
S/he is deciding if he/she wants to ask a question.

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Vocabulary

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ᏩᎦ ᎭᏫᏯ - waga hawiya - beef
ᏏᏆ ᎭᏫᏯ - sikwa hawiya - pork
ᎭᏫᏯ - hawihya - meat
ᏩᎦ - waga - cow, cattle
ᏏᏆ - sikwa - pig, hog
-Ꭸ - -ke - a syllable put on the end of the last word in a series of two or more words to mean "or".
ᎤᏛᏘᏗ - utv(ti)di - for him/her to ask a question (inf.)
ᎤᏓᏍᏓᏴᏗ - udasda(yv)hdi - for him/her to cook a meal (inf.)

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Habitual Present

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ᏕᎫᎪᏗᏍᎪᎢ - deg-ugodi-sgoɂi - I decide
ᏕᎱᎪᏗᏍᎪᎢ - deh-ugodi-sgoɂi - you decide
ᏕᎫᎪᏗᏍᎪᎢ - deg-ukdi-sgoɂi - he/she decides
ᏕᎩᏄᎪᏗᏍᎪᎢ- degin-ukdi-sgoɂi - You and I decide
ᏙᎩᏄᎪᏗᏍᎪᎢ - dogin-ukdi-sgoɂi - He/She and I decide
ᏕᏍᏚᎪᏗᏍᎪᎢ - desd-ukdi-sgoɂi - You two decide
ᏗᏚᎪᏗᏍᎪᎢ - did-ukdi-sgoɂi - We (including you) decide
ᏙᏧᎪᏗᏍᎪᎢ -dots-ukdi-sgoɂi - We (not including you) decide
ᏗᏧᎪᏗᏍᎪᎢ - dits-ukdi-sgoɂi - You all decide
ᏓᏄᎪᏗᏍᎪᎢ - dan-ukdi-sgoɂi - they decide

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Remote/Perfect Past

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*Note: Remote Past and Infinitive require Set B Pronouns*

ᏓᏊᎪᏔᏅᎢ - dagw-ukta-nvɂi - I decided
ᏕᏧᎪᏔᏅᎢ - dets-ukta-nvɂi - you decided
ᏚᏭᎪᏔᏅᎢ - tsuw-ukta-nvɂi - he/she decided
ᏕᎩᏄᎪᏔᏅᎢ - degin-ukta-nvɂi - You and I decided
ᏙᏍᏚᎪᏔᏅᎢ- dosd-ukta-nvɂi - you two decided
ᏕᏍᏚᎪᏔᏅᎢ - desd-ukta-nvɂi - he/she and I decided
ᏗᎫᎪᏔᏅᎢ - dig-ukta-nvɂi - we (including you) decided
ᏙᏧᎪᏔᏅᎢ - dots-ukta-nvɂi - we (not including you) decided
ᏗᏧᎪᏔᏅᎢ - dits-ukta-nvɂi - you all decided
ᏚᏄᎪᏔᏅᎢ - tsun-ukta-nvɂi - they decided

ᏓᎩᏯᏪᎬᎢ, ᏗᏇᏅᏒ ᏫᏓᏊᎪᏔᏅᎢ.
- Dagiyawegv, digwenvsv widagwuktanv.
- Being tired, I decided to go home.

ᏓᎦᏏᏃ ᎠᎺᏉ ᏭᎷᏤ ᎠᏂᏧᏣ ᎤᎾᎵᏔᏗᏅᏗ ᏚᏄᎪᏔᏁᎢ. (Spade/Walker "Cherokee Stories" 1966)
- Daksihno amegwo wulutse, anichutsa unaltadinvdi dunuktane'i.
- When the turtle arrived at the sea, the boys decided to jump off of it.

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Imperative/Immediate

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ᏚᎪᏓ - T-ukda! - Decide! Make up your mind!
ᏗᏍᏚᎪᏓ - Dist-ukda! - You two decide it.
ᏗᏧᎪᏓ - Dits-ukda! - Y'all decide!
ᏗᏚᎪᏓ - Did-ukda - Let's decide, make a decision.

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Infinitive

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*Note: Remote Past and Infinitive require Set B Pronouns*

ᏓᏊᎪᏙᏗ - dagw-ukd-ohdi - for me to decide it
ᏗᏧᎪᏙᏗ - dits-ukd-ohdi - for you to decide it
ᏧᏭᎪᏙᏗ - tsuw-ukd-ohdi - for him to decide it
ᏗᎩᏄᎪᏙᏗ - digin-ukd-ohdi - for you and me (the two of us) to decide it
ᏦᏍᏚᎪᏙᏗ - tsosd-ukd-ohdi - for him/her and me to decide it
ᏗᏍᏚᎪᏙᏗ - deisd-ukd-ohdi - for you two to decide it
ᏗᎫᎪᏙᏗ - dig-ukd-ohdi - for us (including you) to decide it
ᏦᏧᎪᏙᏗ - tsots-ukd-ohdi - for us (not including you) to decide it
ᏗᏧᎪᏙᏗ - dits-ukd-ohdi - for you all to decide it
ᏧᏄᎪᏙᏗ - tsun-ukd-ohdi - for them to decide it