11.1 Dialogue.

A.	ni ʔə teməθám̓xəs łə nə stal̓əs.	‘Did my wife call me?’
B.	heʔe. ni teməθá:m. m̓i ƛ̓aʔasθá:m.	‘Yes. She called you. She is coming to pick you up.’
A.	ʔəy̓. q̓aʔtəl ct ceʔ ʔə kʷθə ləplít.	‘Good. We are meeting with the priest.’
B.	nəcím̓?	‘Why?’
A.	məyítəl ceʔ ʔəƛ̓ John łə nə mən̓ə.	‘My daughter and John are getting married.’
B.	ʔəy̓. ƛ̓lim̓ ʔəw̓ ʔiyəstəl.	‘Good. They are really happy together.’

11.2 Passives.

A passive is formed by using a suffix on the verb composed of an object suffix followed by the suffix -əm:

-θéləm	first person singular
-θá:m	second person singular
-táləm	first/second person plural
-təm	third person

Use a passive sentence when the agent is unknown or unimportant. 

ni k̓ʷecəθéləm.	‘I was looked at.’
ni k̓ʷecəθá:m.	‘You were looked at.’
ni k̓ʷecətáləm.	‘We/you (pl) were looked at.’
ni k̓ʷecətəm.	‘He/she/it/they were looked at.’

11.3 Repeat.

a.

ni k̓ʷecəθéləm.	‘I was looked at.’
ni c̓ewəθéləm.	‘I was helped.’
ni ʔa:θéləm.	‘I was called for.’
ni kʷənəθéləm.	‘I was taken.’
ni t̓iw̓iʔəłθéləm.	‘I was prayed for.’
ni ʔəlməcθéləm.	‘I was waited for.’

b.

ni k̓ʷecəθá:m.	‘You were looked at.’
ni c̓ewəθá:m.	‘You were helped.’
ni ʔa:θá:m.	‘You were called for.’
ni kʷənəθá:m.	‘You were taken.’
ni t̓iw̓iʔəłθá:m.	‘You were prayed for.’
ni ʔəlməcθá:m.	‘You were waited for.’

c.

ni k̓ʷecətáləm.	‘We/you (pl) were looked at.’
ni c̓ewətáləm.	‘We/you (pl) were helped.’
ni ʔa:táləm.	‘We/you (pl) were called for.’
ni kʷənətáləm.	‘We/you (pl) were taken.’
ni t̓iw̓iʔəłtáləm.	‘We/you (pl) were prayed for.’
ni ʔəlməctáləm.	‘We/you (pl) were waited for.’

d.

ni k̓ʷecətəm.	‘He/she was looked at.’
ni c̓ewətəm.	‘He/she was helped.’
ni ʔa:təm.	‘He/she was called for.’
ni kʷənətəm.	‘He/she was taken.’
ni t̓iw̓iʔəłtəm.	‘He/she was prayed for.’
ni ʔəlməctəm.	‘He/she was waited for.’

11.4 Passive agent.

In the passive sentences above, no mention was made of the agent, that is, the person performing the action. It is possible to mention a third person agent.

11.4a The verb is followed by an agent phrase, which consists of the preposition ʔə plus a noun phrase.

ni k̓ʷecəθéləm ʔə kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.	‘I was looked at by the man.’
ni c̓i:təm ʔə łə słeniʔ.	‘I was thanked by the woman.’

11.4b Sometimes the English translations sounds a lot better if you use the active form rather than the passive form.

ni c̓ewəθá:m ʔə łən ten.	‘You were helped by your mother.’/‘Your mother helped you.’
ni t̓iw̓iʔəłtáləm ʔə kʷθə ləplít.	‘We/you (pl) were prayed for by the priest.’/‘The priest prayed for us/you (pl).’
ni ʔəlməctəm ʔə łə słeniʔ.	‘He was waited for by the woman.’/‘The woman waited for him.’
ni k̓ʷecətəm łə Mary.	‘Mary was looked at.’/‘Someone looked at Mary.’

11.4c Sometimes an English sentence can be translated into either the active or the passive in Halkomelem. This is the case when the object is first person singular or plural.

ni k̓ʷecəθám̓xəs kʷθə swəy̓qe.

‘The man looked at me.’

OR: ni k̓ʷecəθéləm ʔə kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

‘The man looked at me.’/‘I was looked at by the man.’

 

ni k̓ʷecətál̓xʷəs kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

‘The man looked at us.’

OR: ni k̓ʷecətáləm ʔə kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

‘The man looked at us.’/‘We were looked at by the man.’

 

11.4d Sometimes only the passive can be used. This is the case when the object is second person singular or plural.

ni k̓ʷecəθá:m ʔə kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

‘The man looked at you.’/‘You were looked at by the man.’

NOT: ni k̓ʷecəθáməs kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

 

ni k̓ʷecətáləm ʔə kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

‘The man looked at you (pl).’/‘You (pl) were looked at by the man.’

NOT: ni k̓ʷecətáləs kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

 

11.4e Sometimes only the active can be used. This is the case when the agent is first or second person.

ni cən k̓ʷecət kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

‘I looked at the man.’

 

ni ʔə čxʷ k̓ʷecət kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ?

‘Did you see the man?’

 

11.5 Passives and noun phrases.

Be careful using actives and passives when there is a noun phrase. If there are two noun phrases, either active or passive can be used.

 ni k̓ʷecətəs łə słeniʔ kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

‘The woman looked at the man.’

OR: ni k̓ʷecətəm kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ ʔə łə słeniʔ.

‘The woman looked at the man.’/‘The man was looked at by the woman.’

 

The agent phrase may either precede or follow the object noun phrase. The preposition ʔə tells you who is performing the action.

 

ni q̓ʷələtəm ʔə łə słeniʔ kʷθə sce:łtən.

‘The woman cooked the salmon.’

OR: ni q̓ʷələtəm kʷθə sce:łtən ʔə łə słeniʔ.

‘The woman cooked the salmon.’

 

If there is only one noun phrase and you use an active sentence, the noun phrase will refer to the object.

 ni k̓ʷecətəs kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

‘The man looked at him.’

NOT: ‘He looked at the man.’

 

To say ‘He looked at the man’, use the passive.

 

ni k̓ʷecətəm ʔə kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ.

‘The man looked at him.’/‘He was looked at by the man.’

 

11.6 Passive agents and proper nouns.

The passive agent can be a proper noun. Remember that sometimes the English translations sounds a lot better if you use the active rather than the passive.

ni c̓ewəθéləm ʔəƛ̓ John.	‘I was helped by John.’/‘John helped me.’
ni k̓ʷecəθá:m ʔəƛ̓ Mary.	‘You were looked at by Mary.’/ ‘Mary looked at you.’
ʔi nayəm̓ətál̓əm̓ ʔəƛ̓ George.	‘We/you (pl) are being laughed at by George.’/‘George is laughing at us/you (pl).’
ni kʷənətəm ʔəƛ̓ Edna.	‘It was taken by Edna.’/‘Edna took it.’

 

Some speakers do not use proper nouns as subjects of transitive sentences. Instead they prefer to use the passive.

ni c̓ewəθéləm ʔəƛ̓ John.

NOT: ni c̓ewəθám̓xəs kʷθə John.

‘John helped me.’

 

ni c̓ewətəm łə słeniʔ ʔəƛ̓ John.

NOT: ni c̓ewətəs kʷθə John łə słeniʔ.

‘John helped the woman.’

 

11.7 Summary chart: active and passive.

Homework 23

Actives and Passives

Which ones are right?

1. John looked at you.

+ a. ni k̓ʷecəθá:m ʔəƛ̓ John. 

1. ni k̓ʷecəθáməs kʷθə John. 

 

2. He helped John.

+ a. ni c̓ewətəs kʷθə John. 

+ b. ni c̓ewətəm kʷθə John.

 

3. The woman thanked him.
4. ni c̓i:təs ʔə łə słeniʔ. 
5. ni c̓i:təs łə słeniʔ. 

+ c. ni c̓i:təm ʔə łə słeniʔ. 

1. ni c̓i:təm łə słeniʔ. 

 

4. Your mother called you.
5. ni temətəs łən ten. 
6. ni teməθáməs łən ten. 
7. ni teməθá:m ʔəƛ̓ łən ten. 

+ d. ni teməθá:m ʔə łən ten.

 

5. My father called for me.

+ a. ni ʔa:θéləm ʔə kʷθə nə men.

1. ni ʔa:θám̓x kʷθə nə men. 

+ c. ni ʔa:θám̓xəs kʷθə nə men.

1. ni ʔa:θám̓xəs ʔə kʷθə nə men. 

Homework 24

Actives and Passives

Translate

1. ni teməθá:m ʔə łən ten.
2. ni q̓ʷələtəm ʔə łə słeniʔ kʷθə səplíl.
3. ni ʔə kʷənətəm kʷθə qeqələ?
4. ni ʔə xłəθá:m ʔəƛ̓ Mary?
5. ni c̓i:təm kʷθə swəy̓qeʔ ʔəƛ̓ John.
6. Did John look at you?
7. The man helped him.
8. Mary is laughing at me.
9. You (pl) prayed for him.
10. The woman waited for you (pl).

11.8 Reflexives.

The reflexive suffix -θət on a verb indicates that the action was done to oneself.

kʷələxt	kʷələxθət
‘shoot it’	‘shoot yourself’
q̓aʔt	q̓aʔθət
‘put it in with it’	‘join’
θəyt	θəyθət
‘fix it’	‘fix yourself’, ‘train’, ‘get better’
c̓əy̓xʷt	c̓əy̓xʷθət
‘dry it’	‘dry yourself’

 

11.9 Reciprocals.

The reciprocal suffix -təl on a verb means ‘each other’ or ‘together’.

c̓ewət	c̓awətəl
‘help him’	‘help each other’
ʔik̓ʷət	ʔik̓ʷətəl
‘throw it away’	‘get separated from each other’
maləqʷət	maləqʷtəl
‘mix them in’	‘mix with each other’
ʔiməx	ʔiməxtəl
‘walk’	‘walk together’

 

Homework 25

What do this words mean?

t̓a:nθət (t̓en ‘go out of sight’)

x̌əłtál

q̓aʔtəl

θəytəl

məq̓áθət (məq̓ ‘get full of food’)

kʷaʔtəl (kʷiʔéʔ ‘get separated’)

c̓iyətəl

ləx̌ʷəθət (ləx̌ʷət ‘cover it’)

 

Homework 26

Reflexives and Reciprocals

Translate

ni ct temətəl.

ni təw̓ kʷay̓əθət.

ni q̓aʔθət ʔə kʷθə hiw̓ál̓əm̓.

ni c̓əy̓xʷθət kʷθə sqʷəméy̓.

ni ʔə ce:p c̓awətəl?

ni cən θeyθət ʔə kʷθə sqʷel.

ni x̌łəθət ʔə kʷθə lem.

ni q̓aʔtəl ʔə kʷθə sq̓aʔtəls tə stal̓əw̓.

 

Unit 11 Linguistic Terminology Workbook

 

Unit 11 Grammar Workbook