Assertive

The assertive, as it was called by Bob Oswalt, is special kind of verb in Kashaya. It has a minimal or "defective" size, consisting solely of the consonant /ʔ/. It is probably derived historically from the verb stem /ʔi-/ meaning "be". Like that verb, it can be followed by suffixes, but only a restricted set. Because it is not a full verb, it behaves as a clitic and interacts with the pronunciation of the preceding word.

The assertive can occur as /ʔ/ at the end of a sentence, where it has the meaning "is, are", or can simply emphasize the truth of an assertion (which gives it this name).

• balay | balay ʔ
  blood | it is blood
• mu qʼóʔdi ʔ
  he is good

If the assertive follows a sonorant consonant, it will combine with it to make a glottalized sound. After a stop, it creates an ejective. If the stop is /q/, it becomes the ejective /kʼ/.

• balay | balayʔ
  blood | it is blood
• muʔtʼaw | muʔtʼawʔ
  to be cooked | it is cooked
• šeʔeʔ | šeʔetʼ
  a basket | it's a basket
• simaʔ | simakʼ
  to fall asleep | he (did) fall asleep

More often, the assertive occurs in the middle of a sentence as part of the copula /ʔe·/, but the same change to an ejective occurs in that situation as well.

Between consonants, the /ʔ/ is realized as /i/. This situation arises only when the assertive has a suffix that starts with a consonant, and also is placed after a word that ends in a consonant. A common example is the quotative evidential /-do/, which is typical of storytelling. As a suffix on the main verb, the form is just /–do/; the assertive is included only when this evidential is used in other contexts. The sequence /ʔ-do/ can occur after any part of the sentence that is emphasized, but often it is simply found near the beginning of the sentence.

• mi· ṭʼo ʔdo ʔahša baṭʰé· mu·kinʔ duqʰayá·duce·du
  they say he catches a lot of fish there
• ʔama· šóʔ tʰin ido mu duwi
  Coyote didn't pay attention, they say
• qʰaʔbe ʔácaʔ yacʼ ido ṭʼí· šiʔba tol qʰaʔbe
  Rock Man's body was all rock (they say)

For more examples of alternations like this, see the discussion of the form /ʔyow/.

Other suffixes occur with similar alternations, and tend to express general meanings about the speaker's attitude toward or perspective on the sentence.

• ʔwa ~ iwa
  question
• ʔnati ~ inati
  concessive: although
• ʔqa ~ iqa
  circumstantial: must have, seems to be
• ʔsʼuw ~ isʼuw
  should be, probably
• ʔše ~ iše
  I wonder
• ʔbasʼid ~ ibasʼid
  I guess

These examples are typical because they all involve suffixes that start with one consonant. If the suffix starts with a vowel (specifically /i/), then this vowel is always present, but the /ʔ/ pronunciation will merge with the preceding consonant or disappear entirely, as with the /i/ examples shown above. One instance is /ʔ-insʼ/ meaning "seems to be; I suppose".

• baqʼo tól insʼ
  I wonder what for
• micʰakʼ ínsʼe· mu
  he seems to be sweating
• baʔyáʔ tʰin insʼe· maya
  I suppose you didn't understand

The form /ʔnsʼ/ can't occur because Kashaya doesn't permit three consonants in a row.