Stems are the basic building blocks of most words in Hupa. They provide the core meaning of a word, which can be modified by adding prefixes and suffixes.
This list of verb stems is based loosely on the Element List in vol. 14 of the Collected Works of Edward Sapir.
Many stems have an index in parentheses at the end. Since many stems are homophonous and spelled the same way, the indices are used in the Element List to distinguish them from each other. For example, -'aw(1) 'to fool someone' and -'aw(2) 'to sing' are spelled the same way, but 'to fool someone' is listed first in the Element List, and 'to sing' is listed second.
However, the Element List has more kinds of stems (nouns, adverbs, etc.), which can also be homophonous with a verb stem. Since the list appearing below only includes verb stems, the numbers of the indices are occasionally discontinuous. For example, -ch'ich'(1) is a noun stem meaning 'elbow', but -ch'ich'(2) is a verb stem meaning 'to have a boil on the body'. Only -ch'ich'(2) appears in the list below because it is a verb; -ch'ich'(1) is not included because it is a noun.
-'a:(4)•to understand or know how to do something
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-'a:(5)•to ask, order, command; to call an animal
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-'awh(1)•a state or activity involving a round object
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-'e:n(1)•to do something or treat something a certain way
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-'e:n(4)•to treat as something, use something for
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-'ut(2)•a state or activity involving a flat, cloth-like object
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-chwa:(1)•to bury; to throw or handle dirt or a loose mass
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-chwun'(2)•to clump, cluster, bunch together, squeeze
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-da:(7)•to menstruate for the first time; to be honored in the Flower Dance
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-jich•a state or activity involving a granular substance
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-kyo:s•a state or activity involving a flat, cloth-like object
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-le:(1)•to move or carry several objects or a rope
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-liwh(3)•a state or activity involving several objects or a rope
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-łiw(1)•a state or activity involving a soft, doughy, or floppy object
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-qe:t•to shove a long object (stick, canoe, etc.)
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-qowh(1)•to throw a long object (stick, spear, etc.)
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-te:(4)•to carry a living being (non-directed motion)
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-tiwh(2)•a state or activity involving a long, stick-like object
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-tiwh(3)•a state or activity involving a living being
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-xa:wh(1)•a state or activity involving a filled container
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-xe:(2)•to float around as a mass (plural subject); to haul something around (non-directed motion)
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-xiwh•to float as a mass (plural subject); to haul
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-xut'(1)•(cloth) lies flat; to sew; to cover (with fabric)
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