Unit 6 – Talking About People
Unit 6 – Talking About People
Contents
- Unit 6 – Talking About People
- 6.1 Dialogue
- 6.2 Vocabulary: people
- 6.3 Plain articles: tə and kʷθə
- 6.4 Feminine articles: θə and łə
- 6.5 Proper names.
- HOMEWORK 10: Human subjects
- 6.6 Forming plurals
- 6.7 Plain determiners with plurals
- HOMEWORK 11: Articles
- 6.8 ʔiʔ ‘and’
- 6.9 Conjoining first or second persons
- HOMEWORK 12: Plural Subjects
- Unit 6 Interactive Workbook
6.1 Dialogue
| A. | ni ʔə čxʷ nem̓ ƛ̓ skʷul k̓ʷən̓áʔ xʷənéʔənt? | Did you go to the school last evening? | |
| B. | heʔe. qəx̌ tə məstə́yəxʷ. | Yes. There were lots of people. | |
| ni ʔəmət kʷθə słənłéniʔ ʔiʔ hay ni łx̌iləx kʷθə səw̓əy̓qeʔ. | The women sat down but the men stood up. | ||
| A. | ni ʔə qʷel kʷθə xʷəxʷílməxʷ? | Did the First Nations people speak? | |
| B. | heʔe. ni ƛ̓əw̓ q̓ʷəyə́ləx tə swa:w̓ləs. | Yes, and the boys danced. |
6.2 Vocabulary: people
| słeniʔ | woman | |
| swəy̓qeʔ | man | |
| q̓em̓iʔ | teen-age girl | |
| swiw̓ləs | teen-age boy | |
| sƛ̓iƛ̓qəł | child | |
| qeq, sqeqəl̓ə | baby | |
| məstə́yəxʷ | person, people | |
| syal̓əxʷeʔ | elder | |
| siʔém̓ | honored person, respected one |
6.3 Plain articles: tə and kʷθə
We have already seen that the articles tə and kʷθə can be used for things. These articles are also used when referring to male persons. tə is used for a person who is in view. kʷθə is used for a person who is not in view.
| ni ʔəmət tə swəy̓qeʔ. | The man (visible) sat down. | |
| ni łx̌iləx tə swiw̓ləs. | The boy (visible) stood. | |
| ni xʷiyné:m tə məstə́yəxʷ. | The people (visible) listened. | |
| ni t̓iləm kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ. | The man (out of sight) sang. | |
| ni ʔiməx kʷθə swiw̓ləs. | The boy (out of sight) walked. | |
| ni x̌e:m kʷθə qeq. | The baby boy (out of sight) cried. |
6.4 Feminine articles: θə and łə
A different set of articles is used to refer to a female person.
The article θə is used for a female person when in view.
| ni t̓iləm θə słeniʔ. | The woman (visible) sang. | |
| ni ya:ys θə q̓em̓iʔ. | The girl (visible) worked. | |
| ni x̌e:m θə sƛ̓iƛ̓qəł. | The girl child (visible) cried. |
The article łə is used for a female person when not in view.
| ni qʷel łə słeniʔ. | The woman (out of sight) spoke. | |
| ni həyeʔ łə sƛ̓iƛ̓qəł. | The girl child (out of sight) left. | |
| ni ʔəmət łə syal̓əxʷeʔ. | The elder woman (out of sight) sat down. |
6.5 Proper names.
In Hən̓q̓əmín̓əm̓, articles are also used with proper nouns. Use tə and kʷθə with male names and θə and łə with female names.
| tə John | John (visible) | kʷθə John | John (out of sight) | |||
| θə Mary | Mary (visible) | łə Mary | Mary (out of sight) |
HOMEWORK 10: Human subjects
A. Fill in the Blank and Translate
| 1 | ni həyeʔ ________ swiw̓ləs | (out of sight) |
| 2 | ni t̓iləm ________ siʔém̓ | (visible) |
| 3 | ni həw̓ál̓əm̓ ________ sƛ̓iƛ̓qəł | (out of sight) |
| 4 | ni qʷel ________ syal̓əxʷeʔ. | (visible) |
| 5 | ni q̓ʷəyə́ləx ________ q̓em̓iʔ | (visible) |
B. Translate.
- The girl baby (out of sight) ate.
- Mary (visible) called out.
- The honored man (visible) spoke
- The girl (out of sight) ran.
- John (visible) danced.
- The boy (out of sight) called out.
- The female person (visible) worked.
- The baby boy (out of sight) played.
6.6 Forming plurals
There are many different ways of forming plurals in Hən̓q̓əmín̓əm̓. Here are some of the most common ways.
Some words form plurals by adding an infix -l-.
| q̓em̓iʔ | q̓el̓əm̓iʔ | teen-age girls | |||
| kəpú | kələpú | coats | |||
| st̓ᶿam̓ | st̓ᶿal̓əm̓ | bones | |||
| xʷənítəm | xʷələnítəm | Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode. |
White people | ||
| patən | paʔəltən | sails, rags | |||
| put | puʔəlt | boats | |||
| stqa:yeʔ | stəlqá:yeʔ | wolves | |||
| sitən | siʔəltən | baskets |
Some words form plurals by reduplication, that is by copying part of the word. Certain consonants, including l, change to h when they are reduplicated.
| słeniʔ | słənłéniʔ | women |
| swəy̓qeʔ | səw̓əy̓qeʔ | men |
| leləm̓ | həl̓éləm̓ | houses |
Some plurals use reduplication and change a vowel to i.
| snəxʷəł | sən̓íxʷəł | canoes |
| xʷəlməxʷ | xʷəxʷílməxʷ | First Nations people |
Some plurals do not exactly fit the above patterns.
| swiw̓ləs | swa:w̓ləs | teen-age boys |
| sƛ̓iƛ̓qəł | steʔəxʷəł | children |
6.7 Plain determiners with plurals
Plural nouns are preceded by the plain articles tə and kʷθə, even when referring to females.
| tə swəy̓qeʔ | ‘the man (visible) | tə səw̓əy̓qeʔ | the men (visible) | |||
| kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ | ‘the man (out of sight) | kʷθə səw̓əy̓qeʔ | the men (out of sight) | |||
| θə słeniʔ | ‘the woman (visible) | tə słənłéniʔ | the women (visible) | |||
| łə słeniʔ | ‘the woman (out of sight) | kʷθə słənłéniʔ | the women (out of sight) |
| tə xʷəlməxʷ | the First Nations man (visible) | |
| θə xʷəlməxʷ | the First Nations woman (visible) | |
| tə xʷəxʷílməxʷ | the First Nations men/women/ people (visible) | |
| kʷθə xʷəlməxʷ | the First Nations man (out of sight) | |
| łə xʷəlməxʷ | the First Nations woman (out of sight) | |
| kʷθə xʷəxʷílməxʷ | the First Nations men/women/ people (out of sight) |
HOMEWORK 11: Articles
A. Fill in the blank and translate.
| 1 | ʔi ʔə tiʔí _________ John. |
| 2 | ni ʔənəcə ________ Mary? |
| 3 | ni nem̓ həyeʔ ________ swəy̓qeʔ. |
| 4 | ni t̓iləm ________ słeniʔ. |
| 5 | ni q̓ʷəyə́ləx ________ swa:w̓ləs. |
| 6 | ni qʷel ________ q̓el̓əm̓iʔ. |
| 7 | ni nem̓ ʔəłtən ________ səw̓əy̓qeʔ. |
| 8 | ni ʔənəcə ________ słənłéniʔ? |
6.8 ʔiʔ ‘and’
We have seen that the conjunction ʔiʔ can be used to conjoin verbs. It is also possible to conjoin nouns with ʔiʔ. When conjoining two nouns with ʔiʔ, you only need to use one article.
| ni ʔiməx tə John ʔiʔ Bill. | John and Bill walked. | |
| ni ʔiməx tə John ʔiʔ Mary. | John and Mary walked. | |
| ni ʔiməx kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ ʔiʔ słeniʔ. | The man and woman walked. |
Two nouns conjoined with ʔiʔ count as plural, so a plain article is used.
| ni ʔiməx kʷθə słeniʔ ʔiʔ swəy̓qeʔ. | The woman and man walked. | |
| ni ʔiməx kʷθə Mary ʔiʔ Bill. | Mary and Bill walked. | |
| ni ʔiməx kʷθə słeniʔ ʔiʔ q̓em̓iʔ. | The woman and girl walked. | |
| ni ʔiməx kʷθə Mary ʔiʔ Barbara. | Mary and Barbara walked. |
6.9 Conjoining first or second persons
To express the meaning of a third person and ʔiʔ, use the first person plural pronoun ct and then place ʔiʔ in front of the noun phrase. The pronoun will follow the first auxiliary or verb of the sentence and the noun phrase will follow the verb. The article is optional when the noun is a proper noun.
| ni ct ʔiməx ʔiʔ kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ. | The man and I walked. | |
| ni ct ʔiməx ʔiʔ (kʷθə) John. | John and I walked. |
To express the meaning of a third person and ‘you’, use the second person plural pronoun ce:p and then place ʔiʔ in front of the noun phrase.
| ni ʔə ce:p ʔiməx ʔiʔ łə słeniʔ? | Did you and the woman walk? | |
| ni ʔə ce:p t̓iləm ʔiʔ (kʷθə) John? | Did you and John sing? |
You cannot say:
| NOT: | ni cən ʔiməx ʔiʔ John. | for ‘John and I walked |
| NOT: | ni ʔə čxʷ t̓iləm ʔiʔ John. | for ‘Did John and you walk?’ |
HOMEWORK 12: Plural Subjects
A. Translate.
| 1 | ni ʔəw̓ xʷc̓eʔənəcəm ʔal̓ kʷθə swa:w̓ləs. |
| 2 | ni ʔə t̓iləm kʷθə John ʔiʔ Mary? |
| 3 | ni ct nem̓ həyeʔ ʔiʔ John. |
| 4 | Did the men eat? |
| 5 | The teen-aged girl (visible) and I worked. |
| 6 | John and Mary walked. |
| 7 | Did the women (out of sight) dance? |
| 8 | Did you and Mary sing? |