Unit 7 – The Family

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Unit 7 – The Family

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’
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sxəyxə́yəł ‘older brothers/sisters/cousins’
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sqeʔeq ‘younger brother/sister/cousin’
sqəléʔeq ‘younger brothers/sisters/ cousins’
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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.

Unit 7 Interactive Workbook