A polysynthetic language is characterized usually by verbal inflections to the point that word order is largely free. Natlangs that are polysynthetic include Mohawk. It is common in North American Indian languages. There are few polysynthetic conlangs, like Bp@x’àãókxá, Noyatowa, Ilothwii and Terpish.
A polysynthetic language generally marks the verb for the number, person, and class (if there are noun classes) of the subject, and sometimes the direct object. The verb is generally marked through affixes that may be prefixes or suffixes. The language may be agglutinative or fusional. In addition, tense, aspect, and any other information about the verb are usually marked on the verb.
Here's a hypothetical example:
|He had seen them.
In addition, it is frequent for polysynthetic languages to incorporate nouns. This means that the noun forms a compound with the verb. To illustrate again:
|He had seen rocks.
A great deal of explanation can be found here:
Jeff Burke has written this description of polysynthetic languages:
Polysynthesis is a grammatical phenomenon most famously present in many North American Indian languages; the Algonquian and Iroquoian tongues are the most well-known. These languages, instead of using case endings on nouns and conjugational endings on verbs, mark both subject and object inside the verb; further, subject and object inflections are considered the actual arguments of the verb, while any free-standing nouns associated with a verb are like dislocated topic phrases. Here is an example from Mohawk, an Iroquoian language spoken in upstate New York and southern Ontario:
Nominalized and rendered in normal English, this is 'I-ate a-banana'; but a more literal translation would be 'A-banana, I-ate-it'. The pronominals 'I' and 'it' (the arguments of the verb root -k- 'eat') are expressed via the prefix ke-, which indicates a singular first-person subject and a singular third-person object. ke- is, then, akin to noun case and verb conjugation fused into a single marker and attached to the verb. Mohawk has some fifty-odd of these pronominal prefixes that express subject-object combinations; and a prefix is mandatory on every verb. By contrast, the noun teiotahià:kton 'banana' stands in relation to the verb wá:keke’ only indirectly, as a topical phrase stands in relation to a central clause in English.
Cheyenne, an Algonquian language spoken in southern Montana and Oklahoma, also marks subject and object on the verb, but does so differently; instead of a fusional marker, it uses a prefix for subject and a suffix for object. Witness:
Literally translated, this means 'A-man, I-saw-him'. Hetane is the noun 'man' standing in relation to the verb návóómo 'I-saw-him' like a topical phrase. Ná- is the prefix for a singular first-person subject; -o is the marker for a singular third-person object.
In addition to marking both subject and object inside the verb, polysynthetic languages often make use of noun incorporation. This is a phenomenon where a noun becomes, in essence, an inflection on a verb. Incorporated nouns can be, depending on the language and circumstances, direct objects, indirect objects, subjects, locatives, and of other kinds. Mohawk makes heavy use of incorporation, as in:
This translates as 'It-is-a-good-shirt', where the noun root atia’tawi (a word that can be used to refer to basically any upper-body garment) is present inside the verb. Cheyenne also uses noun incorporation on a regular basis:
This verb, meaning 'I-have-a-big-house', contains the noun morpheme maheo 'house'.
Noun incorporation can look bewildering, but is best understood in terms of English compounding. Babysit is an example of a word with an incorporated direct object; and words like deer-hunter and manslaughter make use of the same kind of incorporation.
The headmarking inflections can be better understood by thinking of Romance languages like Spanish, which inflects for details about the subject. Polysynthetic languages take this concept further and inflect the verb for details about the object as well.
Lugha ya polysynthetic kwa kawaida huonyeshwa na mabadiliko ya maneno hadi hatua ya kwamba utaratibu wa maneno ni huru sana. Natlangs ambazo ni polysynthetic ni pamoja na Mohawk. Ni jambo la kawaida katika lugha za Wahindi wa Amerika Kaskazini. Kuna conlangs chache polysynthetic, kama Bp@xàãókxá, Noyatowa, Ilothwii na Terpish. Lugha ya polysynthetic kwa ujumla alama kitenzi kwa ajili ya idadi, mtu, na darasa (kama kuna madarasa ya jina) ya somo, na wakati mwingine kitu moja kwa moja. Kwa kawaida kitenzi huonyeshwa kupitia viambishi ambavyo vinaweza kuwa viambishi au viambishi. Lugha hiyo yaweza kuwa ya kuunganisha au ya kuunganisha. Kwa kuongezea, wakati, sura, na habari nyingine yoyote kuhusu kitenzi kwa kawaida huandikwa kwenye kitenzi. Hapa ni mfano wa nadharia: <unk>Alikuwa amewaona. Kwa kuongezea, ni mara nyingi kwa lugha za polysynthetic kuingiza majina. Hilo lamaanisha kwamba jina hufanyiza kiunganishi na kitenzi. Kwa mfano: <unk>Aliona miamba. "Jeff Burke, mwanasayansi wa lugha za asili, aliandika hivi: ""Polysynthesis ni jambo la kisarufi ambalo linajulikana sana katika lugha nyingi za Wenyeji wa Asili wa Amerika Kaskazini; lugha za Algonquian na Iroquoian ndizo zinazojulikana zaidi." Badala ya kutumia mwisho wa kesi kwenye majina na mwisho wa conjugation kwenye vitenzi, alama zote mbili mada na kitu ndani ya kitenzi; zaidi, mada na kitu inflections ni kuchukuliwa hoja halisi ya kitenzi, wakati yoyote ya kujitegemea majina kuhusishwa na kitenzi ni kama dislocated mada misemo. "Kama ilivyo katika lugha ya Mohawk, lugha ya Iroquoian inayozungumzwa kaskazini mwa jimbo la New York na kusini mwa Ontario, ""I-eat a-banana"" ni ""A-banana, I-eat-it.""" Pronominals 'I' na 'it' (mjadala wa kiini cha kitenzi -k- 'kula') huonyeshwa kupitia kiambishi ke-, ambacho huonyesha mada ya mtu wa kwanza wa pekee na kitu cha mtu wa tatu wa pekee. ke- ni, basi, sawa na kesi ya jina na conjugation kitenzi fused katika alama moja na kushikamana na kitenzi. Mohawk ina baadhi ya hamsini-odd ya hizi prefixes pronominal kwamba kueleza mchanganyiko wa mada-kitu; na prefix ni lazima juu ya kila kitenzi. Kwa kulinganisha, jina teiotahià:kton 'banana' inasimama kuhusiana na kitenzi wá:keke <unk> tu kwa njia isiyo ya moja kwa moja, kama kifungu cha sasa kinasimama kuhusiana na kifungu cha kati katika Kiingereza. Cheyenne, lugha ya Algonquian inayozungumzwa kusini mwa Montana na Oklahoma, pia inaashiria mada na kitu kwenye kitenzi, lakini inafanya hivyo tofauti; badala ya alama ya mchanganyiko, hutumia kiambishi cha mada na kiambishi cha kitu. Shahidi: Ilitafsiriwa kihalisi, hii inamaanisha 'Mtu, nilimwona.' Hetane ni jina'mtu' amesimama kuhusiana na kitenzi návóómo 'I-saw-him' kama kifungu cha sasa. Ná- ni kiambishi kwa ajili ya mtu wa kwanza wa pekee; -o ni alama kwa ajili ya mtu wa tatu wa pekee wa pekee. Mbali na kuashiria neno na kitu ndani ya kitenzi, lugha za polysynthetic mara nyingi hutumia kuingizwa kwa jina. Hii ni jambo ambalo jina linakuwa, kwa msingi, mgeuko wa kitenzi. Majina yaliyoingizwa yanaweza kuwa, ikitegemea lugha na hali, vitu vya moja kwa moja, vitu visivyo vya moja kwa moja, masomo, maeneo, na aina nyingine. Mohawk hutumia sana kuingizwa, kama katika: Hii hutafsiriwa kama 'Ni-shati-nzuri', ambapo mzizi wa jina atia<unk>tawi (neno ambalo linaweza kutumika kurejelea kimsingi nguo yoyote ya juu ya mwili) ipo ndani ya kitenzi. Cheyenne pia hutumia kuingizwa kwa jina kwa ukawaida: Kitenzi hiki, kinachomaanisha 'I-have-a-big-house', kina morpheme ya jina maheo 'nyumba'. Kuunganishwa kwa majina kunaweza kuonekana kuwa jambo lenye kutatanisha, lakini hueleweka vizuri zaidi kwa kutumia maneno ya Kiingereza. Babysit ni mfano wa neno na iliyojumuishwa moja kwa moja kitu; na maneno kama deer-mwindaji na mauaji ya kikatili kufanya matumizi ya aina hiyo ya kuingizwa. Mabadiliko ya alama za kichwa yanaweza kueleweka vizuri kwa kufikiria lugha za Kiromani kama Kihispania, ambayo hubadilisha kwa maelezo juu ya mada hiyo. Lugha za polysynthetic huchukua dhana hii zaidi na kugeuza kitenzi kwa maelezo kuhusu kitu pia.