Hupa Verbs

From A Short Practical Grammar of Hupa by Victor Golla, for the Hupa Language Program, Hoopa Valley Tribe, December 1985.

"S" Definite Tense Subject Prefix with Modifying Prefix Examples

Subject	Subject Prefix	to fish with trigger net	to dream about something
I	se:	dah-ne:-se:-day	k'i-na:-se:-la:l
You	sin	dah-ne:-sin-day	k'i-na:-sil-la:l
He/She	'is or ch'is	dah-ch'i-ne:-s-day	k'i-na:-'is-la:l
We	s-di	dah-ne:s-di-day	k'i-nahs-di-la:l
You all	soh	dah-ne:-soh-day	k'i-na:-soh-la:l
They	ya:-'is	day-ya'-ne:s-day	k'i-na:-ya:-'is-la:l

Comments Added by Danny Ammon

Notice the verbs all have specific "stems". To fish with a trigger net has a verb stem of -day. To dream about something has a verb stem of -la:l.

Each verb has a modifying prefix. To fish with a trigger net has a modifying prefix of dah-ne:-. To dream about something has a modifying prefix of k'i-na:-.

The subject is determined by a piece of the word such as -se:-, -'sin-, -s-di-, ... All of the subject markers contain some form of a "s" sound.

More Modifying Prefixes Associated with this Pattern

Modifying Prefixes Linked to this Pattern	Meaning of Modifying Prefix	Example	Meaning of Example
na-	around, about	na:-'as-de:tL	They wandered about
tah-	out of (water)	tah-ts'is-ta:n	He took it out of the water
ti- or te:- or teh-	starting off, moving along	ch'i-tehs-yay	He travelled off
ya-	to pieces	ya:-'as-tse:tL	He hammered it to pieces