Syntax
Noun Case Suffixes
Nouns must receive one of ten possible case markings. These cases are classified into four external distribution classes. These classes are subject, object, possessive, and locative. The cases are:
•Subject
•Object
•Possessive
Subject: The nominative case is marked either by the addition of an /m/ such as /wepam/ from /wepa/ 'coyote' or the deletion of the final consonant as in /ni/ from /nik/ 'I'. Nominative is used for the performer of a verb, both A and B in a sentence where A=B, naming, and for the vocative.
Object: The object case also has two allomorphs. The first is the I form, as mentioned in the morphology section, so that /jaman/ becomes /jamani/ 'mountain'. Other nouns have no change, as in /nik/ 'I'. This case is used for the direct and indirect objects, and is also used by some speakers in naming.
Possessive: The possessive case is marked by /Ik'/ or /Ik'i/, as in /wepak'i/ 'coyote's', as /i/ as in /niki/ 'my', or as /k'i/ as in /mink'i/ 'thy'. Possessive is used to refer to both actual possessors (Coyote's flour) and figurative or characerstic possessors (the white man's flour), as well as in some cases to indicate 'for the sake of'.
These next seven cases all belong to the locative class:
•Comitative
•Instrumental
•Locative
•Allative
•Ablative
•Indefinite locative
•Linear distributive
Comitative:The comitative is marked by /Ik'an/ or /k'an/ and means 'along with'. wepak'an 'along with Coyote'
Instrumental: The instrumental case is marked with /ni/ and is used to indicate the means by which something is done or with something as an ingredient. nik?opam jaluluni solti'usan 'my grandfather used to play on a flute' or mym mahatim kak'an wolek'i lawani japem 'that bread is made with white man's flour'.
Locative: The locative case is marked with /di/. This case indicates a static location in space, the space within which an action is carried out, a static location in time, or 'toward'. kuludi kak'as 'ynojbodukkym 'I seldom walk around in the dark'.
Allative: The allative case is marked with /nak/ or /na/. This case usually means 'toward' and rarely means 'for'. mym huskym c'ajna lykk'ojam 'the snake crawled to another place'
Ablative: The ablative case is marked by /nan/ and is the marker for movement away from something or the origin of an object. wolenan 'as 'uni mek'as 'I got this from the white man'
Indefinite locative: The indefinite locative is marked with /te/. This case is used very rarely, and usually indicates a location unknown to the speaker. homonte mink'i wat'a dakym 'where is your dishtowel?'
Linear distributive: The linear distributive is marked with /no/. Like the indefinite locative, this case is used very rarely. This form marks a location with the meaning of 'along' or 'alongside of' and always occurs in conjunction with a noun indicating something with a linear form. 'adom 'unim sewno momi kutidom t'uc'ikdom sewi 'odo tawalwonom 'Then, draining out all of the water along this river and damming up the river, they worked the gold.'
Word Order
Word Classes
There are several different word classes that go into making a Maidu sentence, split into the major and the minor classes. The seven major distribution classes are Subject, Object, Possessive, Locative, Finite Verb, Dependent Verb, and Copula. The minor classes are Connectives, Hesistation forms, Emphasis marker, Temporal Absolute, Adverbial Absolute, Interjection, and Question word. All together combinations of words from these classes make sentences.
Subject, Object, and Locative Phrases
The only way to expand upon the Subject, Object, or Locative is with a preceding Possessive. These connections can only occur with a single pair of words, one Possessive plus the Subject, Object, or Locative.
Verb Phrases
Expansions of the Verb occur only with an Object. The Verb and the Object have an unrestricted arrangement. Both V-O and O-V occur naturally. The only exception to this free word order occurs when there are two object. When there are a pair of objects, usually a dependent and an independent object, the word order is restricted to O-O-V or O-V-O. The word order V-O-O never occurs.
Basic Clause
The basic clause in Maidu contains one Verb phrase, between zero and two Subject phrases, between zero and four locative phrases, and possibly one Possessive phrase. Clauses with a Possessive are limited to a single Subject phrase. The phrases are relatively unrestricted in word order. The only exception is that Possessives always go clause finally.
The most common word order is Subject-Locative-Verb. The Verb is usually clause final, except in cases where the Possessive is present. The Subject and Locative may occur within an expanded verb phrase, making Verb-Subject-Object and Adverb-Locative-Verb potential sentence constructions.
-mym majdym-kak'an-nik'i heskym S-V-S 'that man is my friend'
-jamanna-niktynik'an-lajmendi-'yk'oj'usas L-L-L-V 'I used to go to the mountains with my younger brother in the summer'
-his'usan-'anim kylem-lolo V-S-O 'that woman used to weave baskets'
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