Verbs of position

Kashaya verbs of position distinguish the number of people involved, as well as whether they are on or off the ground. Another important difference has to do with aspect: whether the position is ongoing (stative) or is beginning (inceptive). The following lists are adapted from Oswalt's 1975 vocabulary list, with underlying forms added.

Verbs of sitting have the same roots for both aspects when on the ground, but not when off the ground. All forms here with inceptive aspect contain /-c/, presumably the Semelfactive; it is accompanied by vowel lengthening (and therefore accent shift). In /hihko-c-/, however, the suffix is the Terrestrial, in contrast to the Supraterrestrial /-m(a)/ for off the ground.

For one person versus a group there is usually a different root, but "lie on the ground" shares the element /ṭi/, not known elsewhere. The apparent singular /mi/ and plural /ba/ pieces occur only here in those meanings.

The general words for standing assume a normal position: two legs for a person, four legs for an animal. The inceptive forms do not distinguish on or off the ground (standing would of course normally be on the ground), but the statives have a regular use of Supraterrestrial /-m/. Here /-c/ is the Semelfactive again.

For standing with vertical elements, the unsuffixed roots denote on the ground, and the Supraterrestial /-m/ is used for off the ground. The element /qo/ resembles the root for a group standing normally.

The singular root /cohto-/, with Semelfactive /-c/, is likely the source of suppletive /cohtoc/ "one to go away, to leave", via the literal meaning "get up on one leg" or "become vertical".

A final verb pair does not have a singular form, since it refers to a group of objects (or an uncountable mass, such as a liquid).