Lesson 11: Personal Suffixes
A. Intransitive personal suffixes
First, second, third person; singular and plural
In lesson 7
we already studied some intransitive personal suffixes. They are:
1sg “I” -ts
2ng “you” -nu
3sg “(s)he” -s
OR zero
1pl “we” -ilh,
-lh
2pl “you folks” -ap,
-nap
3pl “they” -aw,
-naw
From now on
we will use the numbers 1, 2, and 3, to indicate first
person (the speaker or speakers), second person (the person or
people you’re talking to), and third person (anybody other than the
speaker or the ones being talked to). sg means singular, and pl
means plural.
You remember
that 1pl (-ilh) is found after voiceless consonants, while 2pl –nap
and 3pl –naw are found after root-words that in a vowel, glide, or the
letter l. Also remember that after the nasals m and n, you have a choice
between 2pl –ap and –nap, and between 3pl -aw and –naw:
Wa nupilh ts. Our
shirts.
Kikyanaw. They are
grandmothers.
Ti kukwpinap tc. Your guys’s
grandfather.
Nuxslnaw. They
are smart.
Alh7aynawtuu! They are
doing it too!
Naaxwmap/Naaxwmnap. You guys are dancing.
Stanaw/Stannaw. They are
mothers.
When a
personal suffix comes after a predicate[1],
it translates as “I am a . . . “, “you are a . . . “, etc., or as “I (am) . . .
(ing)”, “you (are) . . . (ing)“, etc.:
Staltmcts. I am a chief.
Kmalaycnu.
You are
ill.
Ksnmakaw. They (are)
work(ing).
When
intransitive personal suffixes are combined with nouns (either as a subject or
an object), they mean “my . . .”, “your . . .”, etc.:
Tic t’ayc ti mants
tc. This is my
father.
Waks tsi stannu? Who is your
mother?
Indicative and imperative personal suffixes
The personal suffixes we discussed earlier are indicative
endings. They are used in sentences that give
a fact, or ask a question. As well as them, there are a number of what
are called imperative suffixes
that are used when giving an order or commanding someone. When you give an order, you are telling a
“second person” (“you”, or “you folks”) to do something. The person being
talked to is being commanded. Depending
on whether you address or person or more than one person, you use either a sg
or a pl imperative suffix.
The imperative suffixes are:
Sg pl meaning
-x -(n)axw . . . (folks)!
-xats’ -(n)axwats’ …
now (folks)!
-xatuu -(n)axwatuu …
too (folks) !
-na -(n)awna …
(folks) !
-it -(n)awit well, … (folks) !
-isu -(n)awisu …
again/some more (folks)!
-ilhu -(n)awilhu …
for a while (folks) !
-ilhuukax -(n)awilhuukax … first
(folks) !
Examples:
Ustcwit! Well, come in!
Alhpsawisu! Eat some more, folks!
Mtna! Be seated!
Tsayutsaxwats’! Shut up now,
folks!
The sg imperative suffixes beginning in i usually
become 7i… after verbs that end in a vowel or vocalic sonant,
and sometimes also after fricatives:
Vowel:
Apswa7isu! Blow again!
Vocalic
sonant: Quts ’usm7it! Well, wash your face!
Fricative: Alhps(7)ilhu! Eat for awhile!
The suffixes beginning in i can also glottalize
a stop, if the verb ends in one (but this does not always happen):
Tsayuts(‘)it! Well, shut up!
Mt(‘)ilhu! Sit down for a
while!
Ksnmak(‘)ilhuukax! Work first!
The choice between –axw and –naxw, and the
one between –aw- and –naw-, is the same as the one between –aw
and –naw (remember?) :
-axw
and –aw- are found after root-words that end in a voiceless consonant; -naxw and –naw-
after ones ending in a vowel, glide, or l; after the
nasals m and n one can use
either –axw/-aw- or
–axw/-naw- :
Ksnmakaxw! Work, folks!
Apswanaxw! Blow, folks!
Ixq’m(n)axw! Walk, folks!
Commands can also be given by simply using the indicative
form: tsayutsnu! “(you) shut
up ! “, mtap! “(you folks) sit
down!”
Negative commands
Negative commands are formed as follows:
sg: axwtxw … nu! don’t
……!
axwtxwats’
… nu! don’t
…… now!
axwtxwna
…… nu! don’t
……!
axwtxwisu
….. nu! don’t
…… again!
etc.
pl: axwtaxw … (n) ap! don’t ….. folks!
axwtaxwats’
… (n) ap! don’t
….now, folks!
axwtaxwna
… (n) ap! don’t ….
, folks!
Axwtaxwisu
… (n) ap! don’t ….
again, folks!
etc.
Examples:
sg: Axwtxw
axtsmnu! Don’t
lie down!
Axwtxwats’
alhpsnu! Don’t eat
now!
Axwtxwisu
ustcwnu! Don’t come
in again!
pl: Axwtaxw axtsm(n)ap! Don’t lie down, folks!
Axwtaxwats’
alhpsap! Don’t eat now,
folks!
Axwtaxwisu ustcwap! Don’t
come in again, folks!
B. Transitive Personal Suffixes
As opposed to the intransitive personal suffixes, which
express a subject (“he walks”) or possessor (“my
father”) only, the transitive personal suffixes express both a subject and
an object (“he sees him”).
The transitive suffixes are complex, that is: one
element corresponds with the subject, and another with the object. Thus, the object suffixes
1sg -ts-/tsan-
3sg -i-
1pl -tulh-
3pl -ti-
are followed by the subject suffixes
1sg -ts
2sg -cw
3sg -s
1pl -lh
2pl -p/-ap
3pl
–t
as follows:
-------- -its ---------- -tits
“I-him” “I-them”
-tscw -icw -tulhcw -ticw
“you-me” “you-him” “you-us” “you-them”
-tss -is -tulhs -tis
“he-me” “he-him” “he-us” “he-them”
---------- -ilh ------------ -tilh
“we-him” “we-them”
-tsap -ip -tulhp -tip
“you
folks – me” “you f. – him” “you f. – us” “you f. – them”
-tsant -it -tulht -tit
“they-me” “they-him” “they-us” “they-them”
Examples:
Alhk’
ctss. He
sees me.
Alhk’
ctilh. We
see them.
Alhk’
ctulht. They
see us.
Alhnaptscwa Do you see me?
When a verb ends in either a or i, the
suffix for “him” (-i-) becomes –ti-, so that e.g. tsaaxatits
can mean either “I will chase him out” or “I will chase them
out”.
The final u of transitive verbs ending in this
phoneme is changed to w before –i-:
Apsutx! Blow
at it!
Apswits. I will blow at
it!
Iputx! Hide it!
Ipwits. I will hide
it!
Depending on the context, -i- can also be translated as
“her” or “it” :\
Knicits. I will eat it.
Talawsmicwa
ts’ayc? Will you marry her?
Transitive imperatives are formed by replacing the 2sg
and 2pl subject suffixes by the suffixes treated in A: (Intransitive personal suffixes)
Alhk’ctsna! Look at
me!
Alhk’ctulh(7)it! Well, look at
us!
Alhk’ctsawisu! Look at me
again, folks!
Alhk’ctulh7ilhuukax! Look at us first!
The imperative forms involving a 3 object are irregular:
-i- is replaced by –t-, and –ti- by –tan-
:
Alhk’ctx! Look
at him!
Alhk’ct’isu! Look at
him again!
Alhk’ctanna! Look at
them!
Alhk’ctannawilhu! Look at them for a
while, folks!
Negative transitive imperatives are, like the
intransitive ones, formed by placing axwtxw, axwtaxw, axwtxwisu,
axwtaxwats’, etc, before the indicative forms:
Axwtxw
alhk’ctscw! Don’t look at me!
Axwtxwilhu
alhk’ctulhcw! Don’t look at us yet!
Axwtaxwisu
alhk’ctsap! Don’t look at me again, folks!
Axwtaxwats’
alhk’ cip! Don’t look at him now, folks!
When a transitive predicate is followed by one relatum,
this is usually the object:
Alh7awlhis
ti imlk tc tsi cnas tsc. The man
follows the woman.
Tsaaxatit
wa cnas ts wa imlk ts. The woman
will chase the men out.
The transitive personal suffixes involving a second
person are:
-tsinu “I-you”
-tulhnu “we-you”
-tulhap “I/we-you folks”
Examples:
Acwsnictsinu. I
hear you.
Acwsnictulhnu. We hear you.
Acwsnictulhap. I/We
hear you folks.
There are also forms meaning “somebody …s me, you, etc.”:
-tinits “somebody
….s me”
-tst “somebody
….s you”
-im “somebody
…..s him/her/it”
-tinilh “somebody
…..s us”
-tap “somebody
…..s you folks”
-tim “somebody
…..s them”
Examples:
Alh7awlhtinits. Somebody is following me.
Acwsnictinilh. Somebody hears us.
Alhk’
cim. Somebody
is looking at him.
Yacwtim. Somebody woke them
up.
Note that the suffix –im becomes –tim after verbs that
end in either a or i, so that tsaaxatim is ambiguous: “he is chased out” or
“they are chased out”.
These suffixes are called passive personal suffixes, and
they usually follow transitive verbs, but a number of nouns can also take these
endings, which then translate as “to be bothered by ….”:
Muqw’lhatim He (they) has (have) lice.
Tsaptinits. I have arthritis.
Sktsulhktim. They have heartburn.
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Transitive commands
Transitive negative commands
Relatum – subject or object following the verb
Transitive personal suffixes involving a second person
Passive personal suffixes
There are also forms meaning “somebody is . . . ing me, you,
etc.”:
