Seneca Dictionary - Seneca Language

1 E n g l i sh - SenecaD i ctionaryComp i l e d b y Wallace Chafewith the indispensable collaboration ofAlberta Austin, Phyllis Bardeau, Marie Biscup,Leroy Button, Betsy Carpenter, Bill Crouse,Edward Curry, Lehman Dowdy, Sandy Dowdy,Elsie Jacobs, Avery Jimerson, Fidelia Jimerson,Roy Jimerson,Roy Jimerson, Albert Jones, Solon Jones, Doris Kenyon,Miriam Lee, Clayton Logan, Oscar Nephew,Myrtle Peterson, Warren Skye, Lena Snow, Tessie Snow,Raymond Sundown, Corbett Sundown, and Pearl White english Seneca Dictionary 2 Read Me First This Dictionary contains Seneca words that were collected over many years from various sources, both spoken and written. The collector was not a native speaker of the Seneca Language , but he aimed for broad coverage and accuracy in spelling. Producing a Dictionary is a humbling experience, and it is even more humbling when the Language is not your own.

2 Aside from subtleties of meaning and use that may escape you, there are no boundaries to the resources of a living Language , no point where you can say, Now I have finished. There is, however, another problem in the case of the Seneca Language . No practical Dictionary can contain anything close to all possible Seneca words. A single Seneca word can often say what it would take a whole sentence to say in english , and as a result the number of Seneca words is far greater than the number of english words. No Dictionary of reasonable size could possibly contain all of them. The entries here are arranged in a way that can be illustrated with the following: acquire, collect. For example: agy :gw h I've collected it. ho: gw h he s collected it. go: gw h she s collected it. hodi gw h they ve collected it. gy :gwas I collect it. h gwas he collects it.

3 Ye gwas she collects it. hadi gwas they collect it. o gy :go I collected it. wa :go he collected it. wa e go she collected it. wa:di: go they collected it. (*-r ko-) The heading of an entry (such as acquire, collect ) is an english word, words, or phrase that translates a meaning that is common to the following Seneca words. Because english meanings do not always correspond to Seneca meanings, these headings may be rough approximations. When there are two or more english words in the heading, as here, the entry is repeated elsewhere with the words reversed. In this case there is another entry with the heading collect, acquire . Many headings are followed by For example and then one or more Seneca words. These Seneca words are only samples of the many words, often in the hundreds, that could be used to translate the english . This example lists a few words that combine with I , he , she , and they , and with meanings like has done it , does it , and did it.

4 But there are many other possibilities, such as hni: go we (you and I) will collect it , yagw : go we (three or more of us, but not including you) will collect it , and so on. The particular words included in an entry are only those that happen to have been recorded, often more or less by accident. Furthermore, the order in which the examples are given follows no consistent plan. When there are several possible english translations for the Seneca examples, the translations are often those that were accidentally suggested for particular words. Thus, the entry headed pity, be kind to, have affection for, sympathize with includes, among other examples, h gi:d :s they are kind to me, wa:gi:d : he had pity on me, g d :s I feel affection for you, english Seneca Dictionary 3 ha d ked :je they are showing sympathy, and so on, but similar translations could be used for any of these Seneca words.

5 They simply illustrate the range of possibilities. The examples are followed at the end of each entry by something that looks like (*-r ko-). This is a reconstructed base , from which additional Seneca words can be created, using rules that are described elsewhere. Most users of this Dictionary can ignore this reconstructed base, but a few may be interested in learning how it can be used to create many additional words. The following abbreviations are used: ex excluding the listener masc masculine in including the listener fem feminine du dual neut neuter pl plural Seneca is spelled here with the following letters and other symbols: Symbol Sound Example a a in father o w : meat e e in they gage:da javelin i i in police dekni:h two o o in note hakso:t grandfather u u in tune niw u:h it s tiny a in cat g :ha it s windy e in men (nasal) :deh daytime o in own (nasal)1 :gweh person w w in wash wahda maple n n in not n :g :h this y y in yes ye:i six d d in dog dosg h near dz dz in adze 2 dza:dak or ja:dak seven t t in tail oto:we it s cold g g in girl ge.

6 Ih four k k in kite o ke:g I saw her s s in sit s h three sh in show a:s h your name is j j in job johd :h nine h h in hat ha nih father middle of uh-oh h h no a: long vowel wa a:g she said it high pitched vowel ahd hgwa shoe : long vowel with falling pitch g :t it will pass 1 But halfway to the o in on . 2 Some people pronounce dz like j. english Seneca Dictionary 4 -A- able, possible. For example: ogwe:ny :h it's possible. agegwe:ny :h I'm able (to do something). o gegwe:ni I was able. o gagwe:ni it was able. niyagwa-gw ny sgwa how much we used to be able. (*-kweni-) See beat (in a contest). abortion. sgay g h. Literally it's been taken back out. (*-yak h-) Also VKDJR\DJs hse:h she's had an abortion.

7 Literally he's taken it out for her. (*-yak hs(e)-) about, approximately. g : je , Q| Js |MH , KR Js |MH . (*-ih -) above one's head. For example: QD DJRQ| s:dih above people's heads. Q| |JZDQ| s:dih above our heads. (*-n arati-) above the plants. QL\y pyKGDJs :ya:t. (*- ehohtak hyat-) above, over, up. he tg h. absolutely! do:Js VJR:wa:h! (tok hskowa:h) abundant, be. od h :d or RG| K|:d there's a lot of it. niy dah :d or niy d h :d what a lot of it there is. (*-ataCh t -) abundant, be; live, dwell. For example: gan ge:k it will continue to be living. yen ge:k one will be living. De gan ge (woman s name). Literally it's not abundant, it s rare. (*-nakr(e)-) abuse (noun). JDQ| KJ|GiVKl . (*-n hk tah-shr-) abuse (verb). For example: shag n hg :ta he abuses her. R VKDJRQ| KJ|:Gs he abused her. (*-n hk t-) See also mistreat, abuse.

8 (*-nokare -) abuse oneself. For example: d snyad da g :oy n you (du) might abuse yourselves. Literally slam yourselves with ashes. (*-atata k hraoy ht-) abut. deyodi:g h it abuts it. (*-atrik-) accident, have an. For example: g di:waje: I had an accident. w di:waje: he had an accident. yagod :waje: people will have accidents. o w di:waje it caused an accident. t :sad :waje: h you will not have an accident. (*-atrihwatyer -) accident. aj sh . (*-atyer shr-) Also: ad :waj sh . (*-atrihwatyer shr-) accomplish, (with patient prefix) gather, assemble. For example: agy isd h I've accomplished it. hoy isd h he has accomplished it. gye:is I will accomplish it. wa:ye:is he accomplished it. waodiye:is they gathered, assembled. j gway sta we gathered, assembled there. (*-yerihst-) accountant, census taker. hashe:das. Literally he counts. y she:das. Literally she counts.

9 (*-ashet-) acorn, red oak (Quercus velutina, Quercus borealis). ogo:w . (*-kor-) acquire, collect. For example: agy :gw h I've collected it. ho: gw h he s collected it. go: gw h she s collected it. hodi gw h they ve collected it. gy :gwas I collect it. h gwas he collects it. ye gwas she collects it. hadi gwas they collect it. o gy :go I collected it. wa :go he collected it. wa e go she collected it. wa:di: go they collected it. (*-r ko-) acrobat, clown. haj n ta . Literally he does tricks. (*-atyana t-) act correctly, do the right thing, be careful. For example: gwaj :n :ni:h we're acting correctly, are careful. wa j :n :ni she did the right thing, was careful. wa n j :n :ni they did the right thing. wa agwaj :n :ni we did the right thing. dwaj :n :ni we will do the right thing. swaj :n :ni you will do the right thing.

10 :n j :n :ni they will do the right thing. saj :n :nih! act correctly! j :n :ni he'll do the right thing. j snyaj :n :ni you two will do it correctly again. (*-aty r n ni-) act stubbornly, obstinately. For example: w :d gw :y : he acted stubbornly. o w d gw :y : it acted stubbornly. (*-at kwaray -) act unexpectedly. For example: hoj sg :h he is acting unexpectedly. (*-ater hsk-) add another thing. For example: d d :hn ne:d he put one coat on over another, said it over again. (*-atna net-) add one thing over another. For example: o:Q| QH:t it has one thing added over another, goes in steps or series. sho:Q| QH:t the one who's next in line, subchief, vice-president. dey :n ne:t two story house. do:gwah niy :n ne:t multi-story english Seneca Dictionary 5 house.