Unit 4 – Commands

  1. Resources »
  2. ʔiɬe xʷəlməxʷqən materials | Let’s Speak our Coast Salish Language »
  3. Unit 4 – Commands »

Unit 4 – Commands

4.1 Welcome speech

     
ʔi ce:p ʔəw̓ ʔeliʔ ʔal̓? ‘How are you (pl)?’
nem̓ ce:p ʔəmət! ‘You (pl) go sit down!’
t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ c̓əxʷəl̓! ‘Please be quiet!’
xʷiyné:m̓ ce:p! ‘You (pl) listen!’
ʔi łeʔ xʷəlməxʷqən! ‘Let’s speak a First Nations Language!’

4.2 Vocabulary: intransitive verbs

     
t̓iw̓iʔəł ‘pray’
t̓iləm ‘sing’
ʔəmət ‘sit, get out of bed’
xʷc̓eʔənəcəm ‘sit down’
łx̌iləx ‘stand’
ʔiməx ‘walk’
x̌ʷənxénəm ‘run’
q̓ʷəyə́ləx ‘dance’
xʷiyné:m ‘listen’
qʷel ‘speak’
te:m ‘call out’, ‘telephone’
c̓exwəl̓ ‘shut up’, ‘keep quiet’
sc̓ec̓əxʷ ‘be quiet’
xʷiwəl ‘come down to the bighouse floor’
kʷətxʷíləm ‘come in’
həyeʔ ‘leave’
ʔitət ‘sleep’
ʔəłtən ‘eat’
ya:ys ‘work’
həw̓ál̓əm̓ ‘play’
ʔənəxʷ ‘stop’

4.3 Commands

  • A. You can use a verb with the right intonation to express a command to one or more people: ʔəmət! ‘Sit down!’, łx̌iləx! ‘Stand!’
  • B. The second person singular pronoun čxʷ ‘you’ can be used after the verb when expressing a command to one person: ʔəmət čxʷ! ‘You sit down!’, t̓iləm čxʷ! ‘You sing!’
  • C. The second person pronoun ce:p ‘you (plural)’ can be used after the verb when expressing a command to more than one person: ʔəmət ce:p! ‘You (plural) sit down!’, ʔənəxʷ ce:p! ‘You (plural) stop!’
  • D. Instead of using a pronoun, you can express a command with the imperative particle łeʔ, which is often pronounced łə: ʔəmət łeʔ! ‘Sit down!’, qʷel łeʔ! ‘Speak!’
  • E. Use ʔi łeʔ to express ‘let’s’: ʔi łeʔ ʔəmət! ‘Let’s sit down!’, ʔi łeʔ t̓iləm! ‘Let’s sing!’ ʔi łeʔ nem̓ (or simply ʔi łeʔ)means ‘Let’s go!’

4.4 ʔiʔ ‘and’

You can use the conjunction ʔiʔ ‘and’ to combine two verbs.

     
łx̌iləx ʔiʔ t̓iləm! ‘Stand up and sing!’
ʔəmət ʔiʔ xʷiyné:m! ‘Sit down and listen!’

You can place the pronoun after the second verb.

     
łx̌iləx ʔiʔ q̓ʷəyə́ləx čxʷ! ‘You stand up and dance!’
łx̌iləx ʔiʔ q̓ʷəyə́ləx ce:p! ‘You (pl) stand up and dance!’

Or you can place the pronoun after the first verb.

     
łx̌iləx čxʷ ʔiʔ q̓ʷəyə́ləx! ‘You stand up and dance!’
łx̌iləx ce:p ʔiʔ q̓ʷəyə́ləx! ‘You (pl) stand up and dance!’

4.5 Polite commands

You can make a command more polite by adding the word t̓ᶿixʷəm ‘please’ in front of the verb. Link t̓ᶿixʷəm to the verb with the conjunction ʔiʔ.

     
t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ ʔəmət! ‘Please sit down!’ (literally ‘Have pity and sit down!’)
t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ ʔəłtən! ‘Please eat!’

The pronoun can follow the verb.

     
t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ ʔəmət čxʷ! ‘You please sit down!’
t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ ʔəmət ce:p! ‘You (pl) please sit down!’

Or the pronoun can follow t̓ᶿixʷəm.

     
t̓ᶿixʷəm čxʷ ʔiʔ ʔəmət! ‘You please sit down!’
t̓ᶿixʷəm ce:p ʔiʔ ʔəmət! ‘You (pl) please sit down!’

HOMEWORK 5: Commands

A. Translate

  1. ʔənəxʷ ’ʔiʔ xʷiyné:m!
  2. t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ sc̓ec̓əxʷ!
  3. t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ t̓iləm ce:p!
  4. ʔi łeʔ ʔəw̓ ʔiməx ʔal̓!
  5. Stand up and talk!
  6. Let’s sing and dance!
  7. You (pl) shut up and work!
  8. You (pl) please stand!

4.6 Motion auxiliaries.

The words nem̓ ‘go’ and ʔəm̓í ‘come’ (usually shortened to m̓i) can be placed in front of the verb. The auxiliary nem̓ indicates motion away from a point of reference.

nem̓ ʔəmət! ‘Go sit down!’
nem̓ x̌ʷənxénəm! ‘Go run!’
nem̓ ʔəłtən! ‘Go eat!’

The auxiliary m̓i indicates motion toward a point of reference.

m̓i t̓iləm! ‘Come sing!’
m̓i ʔəłtən! ‘Come eat!’
m̓i ya:ys! ‘Come work!’

In a command, the pronoun appears between the auxiliary and the verb.

nem̓ čxʷ ya:ys! ‘You go work!’
nem̓ ce:p həw̓ál̓əm̓! ‘You (pl) go play!’
m̓i ce:p ʔəłtən! ‘You (pl) come eat!’

You can form a polite command by putting t̓ᶿixʷəm before the auxiliary. Link t̓ᶿixʷəm to the auxiliary with the conjunction ʔiʔ.

t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ nem̓ čxʷ ʔəmət! ‘Please go sit down!’
t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ m̓i t̓iləm! ‘Please come sing!’
t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ nem̓ ce:p ʔəłtən! ‘Please you (pl) go eat!’

4.7 ceʔ future.

You express the future tense with the future particle ceʔ. Place ceʔ after the verb and pronoun. With the right intonation, you can use these sentences as commands.

ʔəmət čxʷ ceʔ. ‘You will sit down.’
qʷel čxʷ ceʔ. ‘You will speak.’
t̓iləm ce:p ceʔ. ‘You (pl) will sing.’

A more polite way to make a command is to add the interrogative particle ʔə after the verb.

t̓iləm ʔə čxʷ ceʔ? ‘Will you sing?’
ʔəmət ʔə ce:p ceʔ? ‘Will you (pl) sit down?’
q̓ʷəyə́ləx ʔə ce:p ceʔ? ‘Will you (pl) dance?’

ʔi łeʔ can also be followed by a motion auxiliary.

ʔi łeʔ nem̓ ya:ys! ‘Let’s go work!’
ʔi łeʔ nem̓ ʔiməx! ‘Let’s go walk!’

HOMEWORK 6: Auxiliary Verbs

A. Translate.

  1. nem̓ ʔiməx!
  2. nem̓ həyeʔ!
  3. nem̓ ce:p ya:ys!
  4. t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ m̓i ʔəłtən!
  5. You (pl) go sit down!
  6. You (pl) go dance!
  7. Let’s go play!

B. Sentence Scramble.
Rearrange the words to form a correct sentence and translate.

  1. kʷətxʷíləm ce:p t̓ᶿixʷəm ʔiʔ m̓i.
  2. xʷiwəl m̓i čx̌ʷ qʷel ceʔ ʔiʔ ʔə ?

Unit 4 Interactive Workbook