Comanche Dictionary and Grammar
This Comanche dictionary is based on research drawn from the files of the late Eliot Canonge which he initiated in the early 1940s under the auspices of SIL International. Dr. Robinson has rescued and enhanced this important body of data which spans traditional and contemporary varieties of Comanche speech styles and four geographically identifiable dialects. The Comanche-English section of the work, with over 5,500 entries, constitutes the central portion of the dictionary, but an English-Comanche section indexes Comanche entries to aid in locating Comanche forms from the point of view of their English equivalents. In turn, Dr. Armagost’s provision of an introductory exploration of Comanche morphology and syntax further enhances this volume as an important contribution to our knowledge of this branch of the Uto-Aztecan family of languages.
This second edition has been improved for user-friendliness, especially in the English-Comanche section, making it much easier to find a Comanche equivalent of an English term.
About the Authors
Lila Wistrand-Robinson has a Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin and served several years with SIL International in Peru. Her research was published in the book, Cashibo Folklore and Culture: Prose, Poetry, and Historical Background (SIL International Publications, 1998). She has also published an Iowa/Otoe–English dictionary and taught Linguistics and Anthropology at Kansas State University.
James Armagost has a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Washington. He has taught Comanche and other subjects at Kansas State University until retiring in 2001. He is the author of multiple papers on Comanche.
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Preface
Abbreviations
Part I Comanche-English Dictionary
Introduction
Guide to Pronunciation
Dictionary
Appendix A: Fauna
Appendix B: Flora
Appendix C: Body parts
Appendix D: Months of the year
Appendix E: Personal names
Part II English-Comanche Lexicon
Part III Grammar
- Phonology
- The simple sentence
- Interrogative mood
- Imperative mood
- Polarity
- Other modality
- Nondistinct argument phenomena
- Derivational morphology
- Noun inflection
- Postpositions
- Noun modifiers
- Pronouns
- Verbs
- Adverbs
- Complex sentences
1.1 Consonants
1.2 Vowels
1.3 Stress rules
2.1 Declarative mood
2.2 Nonverbal sentences
2.3 Intransitive sentences
2.4 Transitive sentences
2.5 HAVE sentences
2.6 DO sentences
3.1 Yes/No questions
3.2 Alternative questions
3.3 Information questions
4.1 Positive imperative
4.2 Hortatory
5.1 Affirmation
5.2 Negation
7.1 Unspecified subject
7.2 Unspecified object
7.3 Reflexive/Passive
7.4 Reciprocal
8.1 Noun morphology
8.2 Verb morphology
8.3 Adjective morphology
9.1 Absolutive
9.2 Dual and plural pumber
9.3 Accusative
9.4 Genitive
9.5 Vocative
10.1 Locative
10.2 Allative
10.3 Instrumental
10.4 Partitive
10.5 Miscellaneous
10.6 Ordering
11.1 Demonstrative adjectives
11.2 Nonnumeric quantifiers
11.3 Numerals
12.1 Nominative pronouns
12.2 Accusative pronouns
12.3 Genitive pronouns
12.4 Coreferential pronouns
13.1 Stems
13.2 Instrumental prefixes
13.3 Temporal prefixes
13.4 Number agreement
13.5 Causative/Benefactive
13.6 Motion
13.7 Aspect
14.1 Temporal adverbs
14.2 Locative adverbs
14.3 Directional adverbs
14.4 Demonstrative adverbs
15.1 Coordination
15.2 Complement clauses
15.3 Relative clauses
Bibliography