Focus Constructions
Focus Constructions
stem? lhwet? ’een’thu! nuwu!….
What? Who? Me! You!….
1. Conversation
| A: | lhwet kw’u ni’ kwunut lhunu snuhwulh? | |
| Who took my car? | ||
| B: | nilh lhu Mary ni’ kwunut lhun’ snuhwulh. | |
| It’s Mary who took your car. | ||
| A: | nutsim’ ’alu? | |
| Why? | ||
| B: | ni’ nem’ tl’tawun tl’shhwimelu. | |
| She went to town to the store. | ||
| A: | stem ’a’lu kw’u ’iluqutus tse’? | |
| What will she buy? | ||
| B: | stl’i’s kws ’iluquts kw’s’ulhtun tst. | |
| She wants to buy food for dinner. | ||
2. Vocabulary
| stem | ‘what’ | |
| lhwet | ‘who’ | |
| stem ’a’lu | ‘what(ever)’ | |
| lhwet ’a’lu | ‘who(ever)’ | |
| nutsim’ | ‘why’ | |
| nutsim’ ’a’lu | ‘why(ever)’ | |
| nilh | ‘it’s ….’ | |
| nilh thu Mary | ‘it’s Mary who….’ |
3. Pronouns Review
| singular | plural | |
| 1st person | ’een’thu I | lhnimulh we |
| 2nd person | nuwu you | lhwulup you (pl) |
| 3rd person | nilh he, she, it | ne’ullh they |
| (1) | ’een’thu ni’ t’ilum. | |
| I’m the one who sang. | ||
| (2) | nuwu ni’ t’ilum. | |
| You’re the one who sang. | ||
| (3) | lhnimulh ni’ t’ilum. | |
| We’re the ones who sang. | ||
| (4) | lhwulup ni’ t’ilum. | |
| You’re the ones who sang. | ||
| (5) | nilh thu Mary ni’ t’ilum. | |
| It’s Mary who sang. | ||
| (6) | ne’ullh ni’ t’ilum. | |
| They are the ones who sang. | ||
4. Focus Constructions
| plain sentence: | ni’ t’ilum lhu slheni’. | The woman sang. | |
| focus: | slheni’ lhu ni’ t’ilum. | A woman is the one who sang. | |
| clarification: | nilh lhu slheni’ ni’ t’ilum. | It’s the woman who sang. |
| (7) | lhwet kw’u ‘i kwun’e’t tthu spe’uth? | |
| Who is holding the bear? | ||
| (8) | ’een’thu ’i kwun’e’t tthu spe’uth. | |
| It’s me who’s holding the bear | ||
5. Some Verbs for Playing the Picture Game
| kwunut | ‘take it’ | |
| kwun’et | ‘hold it’ | |
| lemut | ‘look at it’ | |
| le’lum’ut | ‘looking at it’ | |
| qp’ast | ‘turn it face down’ | |
| tsuluw’t | ‘turn it over’ |
6. Focus Constructions and Transitive Verbs
| (9) | ni’ tsun kwunut tthu spe’uth. | |
| I took the bear. | ||
| (10) | spe’uth tthu ni’ kwunuteen’. | |
| The bear is what I took. | ||
| (11) | nilh tthu spe’uth ni’ kwunuteen’. | |
| It’s the bear that I took. | ||
Subordinate Subject suffixes
Paradigm for kwunut ‘take it’
| singular | plural | |
| lst person | kwunuteen’ ~ kwunutun’ | kwunutut |
| 2nd person | kwunutuhw | kwunutulup |
| 3rd person | kwunutus | kwunutus (‘eelhtun) |
| (12) | stem tthu ni’ kwunutuhw? | |
| ‘What did you take? (visible)’ | ||
| (13) | tsiitmuhw tthu ni’ kwunutun’. | |
| ‘The owl is what I took.’ | ||
| (14) | stem tthu ’i le’lum’utuhw? | |
| ‘What are you looking at?’ | ||
| (15) | spe’uth tthu ’i le’lum’utun’. | |
| ‘The bear is what I’m looking at.’ | ||
| (16) | stem tthu ’i kwun’e’teen’? | |
| ‘What am I holding?’ | ||
| (17) | ma’uqw tthu ’i kwun’e’tuhw. | |
| ‘The duck is what you are holding.’ | ||
| (18) | stem tthu ni’ qp’astuhw? | |
| ‘What did you turn face down?’ | ||
| (19) | stseelhtun tthu ni’ qp’asteen’. | |
| ‘The salmon is what I turned face down.’ | ||
| (20) | stem tthu ni’ tsuluw’tuhw? | |
| ‘What did you turn over?’ | ||
| (21) | ‘es-hw lhu ni’ tsuluw’teen’. | |
| ‘The seal is what I turned over.’ | ||
| (22) | stem kw’u ni’ kwunutut? | |
| ‘What did we take? (unknown)’ | ||
| (23) | stem ’al’u kw’u ’i le’lum’utulup? | |
| ‘What are you all looking at? ‘ | ||
| (24) | stem tthu ni’ kwunutus? | |
| ‘What did she take? ‘ | ||
| (25) | yuxwule’ tthu ni’ kwunutus. | |
| ‘The eagle is what she took.’ | ||
| (26) | stem ’a’lu tthu ’i kwun’etum’ ’utl’ Mary? | |
| ‘What is Mary holding?’ | ||
| (27) | stem kw’u ni’ kwunutus ‘eelhtun? | |
| ‘What did they take? (unknown)’ | ||