Unit 7 – The Family
Unit 7 – The Family
Contents
7.1 Dialogue
A. | ʔi ʔiw̓ ʔam̓ət łən̓ ten? | ‘Is your mother home?’ | |
(ʔiw̓ is a contraction of ʔə or ʔi and ʔəw̓.) | |||
B. | ʔəwə ʔiʔəs ʔam̓ət łə nə ten. | ‘My mother’s not at home.’ | |
A. | ni kʷə ʔənəcə? | ‘Where is she then?’ | |
B. | ni nem̓ ƛ̓ šxʷimélə. | ‘She went to the store.’ | |
A. | ʔi kʷə ʔiw̓ ʔam̓ət kʷθən̓ men? | ‘Is your father home then?’ | |
B. | ʔəwə. ni nem̓ ƛ̓ θi leləm̓. | ‘No, he went to the bighouse.’ | |
A. | ʔi ʔiw̓ ʔam̓ət łəθ sxəyəł? | ‘Is your big sister home?’ | |
B. | ni nem̓ ƛ̓ scəw̓áθən. | ‘She went to Tsawwassen.’ | |
A. | ʔi ʔə čxʷ ʔəw̓ nan̓əc̓aʔ? | ‘Are you alone?’ | |
B. | ʔiw̓ ʔam̓ət łə nə sil̓ə. | ‘My grandmother is home.’ |
7.2 Vocabulary: kin terms
ten | ‘mother’ | |
men | ‘father’ | |
mən̓ə | ‘child’ | |
mem̓ən̓ə | ‘children’ | |
sil̓ə | ‘grandparent’, ‘grandparent’s sibling or cousin’ | |
səl̓síl̓ə | ‘grandparents’, etc. | |
ʔiməθ | ‘grandchild’, ‘grandniece’, ‘grand nephew’, ‘cousin’s grandchild’ | |
ʔəm̓íməθ | ‘grandchildren’, etc. | |
sxəyəł | ‘older brother/sister/cousin’ | Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode. |
sxəyxə́yəł | ‘older brothers/sisters/cousins’ | Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode. |
sqeʔeq | ‘younger brother/sister/cousin’ | |
sqəléʔeq | ‘younger brothers/sisters/ cousins’ | Requested file could not be found (error code 404). Verify the file URL specified in the shortcode. |
šxʷəm̓níkʷ | ‘aunt’, ‘uncle’, ‘parent’s cousin’ | |
šxʷəm̓néləkʷ | ‘aunts’, ‘uncles’, etc. | |
stiwən | ‘niece’, ‘nephew’, ‘cousin’s child’ | |
stətíw̓ən | ‘nieces’, ‘nephews’, etc. | |
sc̓am̓əqʷ | ‘great-grandparent/child’ | |
sc̓al̓əm̓əqʷ | ‘great-grandparents/children’ | |
ʔəkʷiyaʔqʷ | ‘great-great-grandparent/child’ | |
ʔəkʷə́kʷiyaʔqʷ | ‘great-great-grandparents/ children’ | |
t̓ᶿəp̓iʔaʔqʷ | ‘great-great-greatgrandparent/ child’ | |
t̓ᶿət̓ᶿíp̓iʔaʔqʷ | ‘great-great-great-grandparents/ children’ | |
stal̓əs | ‘spouse’ | |
stəl̓tál̓əs | ‘spouses’ |
Notes:
mən̓ə means ‘child’ in the sense of one’s own child, that is ‘offspring’, ‘son or daughter’.
Many of the kin terms are “generational”. That is they name all of the close relatives of the same generation. So sil̓ə not only means your grandparents, but also your grandparents’ brothers and sisters and cousins. And sqeʔeq not only means younger brother or sister, but also cousins (on both sides of the family) that are younger.
Once you get beyond the first two generations up and down (parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren), the terms become “reciprocal”. So sc̓am̓əqʷ not only means great-grandparent but also great-grandchild.
Terms for cousins are not based you relative age with the speaker but rather the relative age of the speaker’s and cousin’s parents.
7.3 Using Articles with Kin Terms
Most kin terms do not distinguish gender. That is, the same words are used for ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’, ‘son’ and ‘daughter’, ‘grandmother’ and ‘grandfather’, etc. For singular nouns, gender is marked on the article.
1 | θə nə ten | my mother | |
θən̓ ten | your mother | ||
θə tens | his/her mother | ||
θə tenct | our mother | ||
θən̓ tenələp | your (pl.) mother | ||
θə tens ʔe:łtən | their mother | ||
2 | tə nə mən̓ə | my son | |
θə nə mən̓ə | my daughter | ||
tə nə sil̓ə | my grandfather | ||
θə nə sil̓ə | my grandmother | ||
tə nə šxʷəm̓níkʷ | my uncle | ||
θə nə šxʷəm̓níkʷ | my aunt | ||
tə nə stal̓əs | my husband | ||
θə nə stal̓əs | my wife |
7.4 Expressing Locations and Directions
Where is your mother? | ni ʔənəcə łən̓ ten? | |
Where is your little sister? | ni ʔənəcə łəθ sqeʔeq? | |
Where is your aunt? | ni ʔənəcə łəθ šxʷəm̓níkʷ? | |
Where is your nephew? | ni ʔənəcə kʷθəθ stiwən? | |
Is your father home? | ʔi ʔiw̓ ʔam̓ət kʷθən̓ men? | |
Is your son home? | ʔi ʔiw̓ ʔam̓ət kʷθən̓ mən̓ə? | |
Is your younger brother home? | ʔi ʔiw̓ ʔam̓ət kʷθəθ sqeʔeq? | |
My mother is not home. | ʔəwə ʔiʔəs ʔam̓ət łə nə ten. | |
Her grandmother is not home. | ʔəwə ʔiʔəs ʔam̓ət łə sil̓əs. |
HOMEWORK 13: Kin terms
A. Substitute. | ||
1 | My mother went to town. | ni ƛ̓ tawən łə nə ten. |
2 | my son | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
3 | my grandmother | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
4 | my granddaughter | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
5 | my little sister | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
6 | my daughter | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
7 | my grandson | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
8 | my grandfather | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
9 | my uncle | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
10 | my aunt | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
11 | my niece | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
12 | my nephew | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
13 | my great-grandfather | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
14 | my great-granddaughter | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
15 | my wife | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
16 | my husband | ni ƛ̓ tawən. |
B. Translation. | ||
1 | ni kʷə ʔənəcə kʷθən̓ men? | |
2 | My older brother isn’t home | |
3 | Is your great-grandmother at home? | |
4 | ni ʔənəcə łən̓ ten ʔiʔ kʷθən̓ men? | |
5 | Where is your little sister? |
7.5 Vocabulary: places
šxʷimélə | store | |
tawən | town | |
xʷməθkʷiʔəm, xʷməskʷiʔəm | Musqueam | |
scəw̓áθən | Tsawwassen | |
q̓əyc̓əy | Katzie | |
kʷikʷiƛ̓əm | Coquitlam | |
qəw̓ícən̓ | Cowichan | |
sʔaməneʔ | Duncan, Somenoes | |
pənél̓əx̌ət̓ᶿ | Kuper Island | |
snəné:yməxʷ | Nanaimo | |
xʷk̓ʷal̓əxʷəm | Qualicum |
7.6 -éw̓txʷ ‘house’, ‘building’, ‘room’
The lexical suffix -éw̓txʷ can be compounded with other words to form a word for ‘house’, ‘building’, or ‘room’.
skʷul̓éw̓txʷ | schoolhouse’ (skʷul ‘school’) | |
q̓aq̓iʔéw̓txʷ | hospital (q̓aq̓iʔ ‘sick’) | |
sθe:wtxʷ | big house (θi ‘big’) | |
ʔitətéw̓txʷ | hotel (ʔitət ‘sleep’) | |
t̓iw̓iʔəłéw̓txʷ | church (t̓iw̓iʔəł ‘pray’) | |
ʔəmətéw̓txʷ | bathroom (ʔəmət ‘sitting down’) | |
qewθéw̓txʷ | root cellar (sqewθ ‘potato’) | |
ya:yséw̓txʷ | workshop, toolhouse (ya:ys ‘work’) | |
ʔəłtən̓éw̓txʷ | restaurant (ʔəłtən ‘eat’) |
7.7 Expressing Locations
Placenames and other places that have a unique reference (town, school, the store etc.) are considered proper nouns. So when they are in the oblique case, they take the oblique proper noun determiner ƛ̓. For example:
təl̓lí cən ʔə ƛ̓ xʷməθkʷiʔəm. | ‘I am from Musqueam.’ |
Notice that following the verb nem̓ ‘go’, the oblique preposition ʔə usually drops out, leaving the ƛ̓ to mark the place.
ni cən nem̓ ƛ̓ snəné:yməxʷ. | I went to Nanaimo. | |
ni ʔə čxʷ nem̓ ƛ̓ scəw̓áθən? | Did you go to Tsawwassen? | |
ni nem̓ ƛ̓ xʷməskʷiʔəm kʷθə nə men. | Dad went to Musqueam. | |
ni ct nem̓ ƛ̓ teléw̓txʷ. | We went to the bank. | |
ni nem̓ ƛ̓ tawən łən̓ ten. | Your mother went to town. | |
ni nem̓ ƛ̓ sθe:wtxʷ kʷθə nə stiwən. | My nephew went to the big house. |