5.1 Dialogue (Margaret James & Theresa Thorne)

A.	ni’ ’u ch nem’ ’u kwthu theewt-hw kw’un’a’ snet?	“Did you go to the big house last night?”
B.	hee’. qux tthu mustimuhw.	“Yes. There were lots of people.
	ni’ ’amut kwthu slhunlheni’ ’i’ hay ni’ lhxilush kwthu suw’wuy’qe’.	The women sat down but the men stood up.”
A.	ni’ ’u qwal kwthu hwuhwilmuhw?	“Did the First Nations people speak?”
B.	hee’. ni’ tl’uw’ qw’uyulush tthu swaaw’lus.	“Yes, and the boys danced.”

5.2 Vocabulary: people

slheni’	“woman”
swuy’qe’	“man”
q’e’mi’	“teen-age girl”
swiw’lus	“teen-age boy”
stl’i’tl’qulh	“child”
qeq	“baby”
mustimuhw	“person”, “people”
s’eluhw	“elder”
si’em’	“honored person”, “respected one”

5.5 Feminine determiners: thu and lhu

In the last unit, we saw that the articles tthu and kwthu could be used for things. These articles are also used when referring to male persons.

5.3a tthu is used for a person who is in view.

ni’ ’umut tthu swuy’qe’.	“The man (visible) sat down.”
ni’ lhxilush tthu swiw’lus.	“The boy (visible) stood.”
ni’ hwiyuneem’ tthu mustimuhw.	“The people listened.”

5.3b kwthu is used for a person who is not in view.

ni’ t’ilum kwthu swuy’qe’.	“The man (out of sight) sang.”
ni’ nem’ ’imush kwthu swiw’lus.	“The boy (out of sight) went for a walk.”
ni’ xeem kwthu qeq.	“The baby boy cried.”

5.4 Translation.

1. ni’ hwyunumus tthu qeq.
2. ni’ huye’ kwthu swiw’lus.
3. ni’ lhuqw’tsum kwthu swuy’qe’.
4. ni’ qwal tthu s’eluhw.
5. The man (visible) danced.
6. The boy (out of sight) called out.
7. The person (visible) worked.
8. The baby boy (out of sight) played.

5.5 Feminine articles: thu and lhu.

A different set of articles is used to refer to a female person.

5.5a The article thu is used for a female person when she is in view.

ni’ t’ilum thu slheni’.	“The woman (visible) sang.”
ni’ yaays thu q’e’mi’.	“The girl (visible) worked.”
ni’ xeem thu qeq.	“The baby girl (visible) cried.”

5.5b The article lhu is used for a female person when she is not in view.

ni’ qwal lhu slheni’.	“The woman (out of sight) spoke.”
ni’ huye’ lhu stl’itl’qulh.	“The girl child (out of sight) left.”
ni’ ’umut lhu s’eluhw.	“The elder woman (out of sight) sat down.”

5.6 Translation.

1. ni’ qw’uyulush thu q’e’mi’.
2. ni’ huw’a’lum’ lhu stl’i’tl’qulh.
3. ni’ qwal lhu qeq.
4. ni’ t’ilum thu si’em’.
5. The girl baby (out of sight) ate.
6. The woman (visible) called out.
7. The honored man (visible) spoke.
8. The girl (out of sight) ran.

5.7 kwthu vs. lhu.

Remember that different articles are used for male and female persons.

5.7a Use kwthu for males who are not in view.

ni’ ’imush kwthu swuy’qe’.	“The man walked.”
ni’ huye’ kwthu swiw’lus.	“The boy left.”
ni’ ’umut kwthu si’em’.	“The honored man sat down.”
ni’ xwchenum kwthu stl’i’tl’qulh.	“The boy child ran.”

5.7b Use lhu for females who are not in view.

ni’ ’imush lhu slheni’.	“The woman walked.”
ni’ huye’ lhu q’e’mi’.	“The girl left.”
ni’ ’umut lhu si’em’.	“The honored woman sat down.”
ni’ xwchenum lhu stl’i’tl’qulh.	“The girl child ran.”

5.8 Substitution drill

The man walked.	ni’ ’imush kwthu swuy’qe’.
woman
girl
boy child
baby boy
boy
girl child
female elder
male elder
baby girl
honored woman
honored man

5.9 tthu vs. thu.

5.9a Use tthu for males who are in view.

ni’ t’ilum tthu swuy’qe’.	“The man sang.”
ni’ yaays tthu swiw’lus.	“The boy worked.”
ni’ xeem tthu qeq.	“The baby boy cried.”

5.9b Use thu for females who are in view.

ni’ t’ilum thu slheni’.	“The woman sang.”
ni’ yaays thu q’e’mi’.	“The girl worked.”
ni’ xeem thu qeq.	“The baby girl cried.”

5.10 Substitution drill.

The man ate.	ni’ ’ulhtun tthu swuy’qe’.
woman
girl
boy child
baby boy
boy
girl child
female elder
male elder
baby girl
honored woman
honored man

5.11 Proper names

In Hul’q’umi’num’, articles are also used with proper nouns. Use tthu and kwthu with male names and thu and lhu with female names.

tthu John	“John (visible)”
kwthu John	“John (out of sight)”
thu Mary	“Mary (visible)”
lhu Mary	“Mary (out of sight)”

A special article tl’ is used between the preposition ’u and proper nouns, including place names.

ni’ tsun nem’ ’utl’ mutouliye’.	“I went to Victoria.”
ni’ tst nem’ ’utl’ sqwxwa’mush.	“We went to Vancouver.”

5.12 Pattern practice

John (out of sight) walked.	ni’ ’imush kwthu John.
John (visible)
Mary (visible)
the man (out of sight)
Mary (out of sight)
the woman (out of sight)
the man (visible)
John (out of sight)
Bob (visible)
Edna (out of sight)
Barbara (visible)

5.13 Forming plurals

There are many different ways of forming plurals in Hul’q’umi’num’. Here are some of the most common ways.

5.13a Some words form plurals by adding an infix -l-.

q’e’mi’	q’e’lum’i’	“teen-age girls”
kapou	kulupou	“coats”
stth’am’	stth’a’lum’	“bones”
hwunitum’	hwulunitum’	“White people”
shelh	she’ullh	“doors”
patun	pa’lutun	“sails”, “rags”
pout	pou’ult	“boats”
stqeye’	stulqeye’	“wolves”
lutem	lulutem	“tables”

5.13b Some words form plurals by reduplication, that is by copying part of the word. Certain consonants, including l, change to h when they are reduplicated.

slheni’	slhunlheni’	“women”
swuy’qe’	suw’wuy’qe’	“men”
lelum’	hulelum’	“houses”

5.13c Some words form plurals by reduplication and changing a vowel to i.

snuhwulh	sunihwulh	“canoes”
hwulmuhw	hwuhwilmuhw	“First Nations people”

5.13d Many plurals do not exactly fit the above patterns.

swiwlus	swaaw’lus	“teen-age boys”
stl’i’tl’qulh	stl’ul’iqulh	“children”
stl’i’tl’qulh	stuwihwulh	“children” (Nanaimo)
situn	se’lutun	“baskets”

5.14 Plain determiners with plurals

Plural nouns are preceded by the plain articles tthu and kwthu, even when referring to females.

5.14a The article is the same for singular and plural nouns when the noun refers to a male.

tthu swuy’qe’	tthu suw’wuy’qe’
“the man (visible)”	“the men (visible)”
kwthu swuy’qe’	kwthu suw’wuy’qe’
“the man (out of sight)”	“the men (out of sight)”

5.14b When the noun refers to a female, the articles will be different. Singular nouns referring to females have the feminine articles, but plural nouns referring to females have the plain articles.

thu slheni’	tthu slhunlheni’
“the woman (visible)”	“the women (visible)”
lhu slheni’	kwthu slhunlheni’
“the woman (out of sight)”	“the women (out of sight)”

5.14c With singular nouns, it is possible to tell from the article whether a male or female is being referred to. With plural nouns, however, it is impossible to tell, since the plain articles are used for plurals regardless of gender.

tthu hwunitum’	“the White man (visible)”
thu hwunitum’	“the White woman (visible)”
tthu hwulunitum’	“the White men/women/people (visible)”
kwthu hwunitum’	“the White man (out of sight)”
lhu hwunitum’	“the White woman (out of sight)”
kwthu hwulunitum’	“the White men/women/people (out of sight)”

5.15 Fill in the blank and translate.

1. ’e’ut ________ John.
2. ni’ ’untsu ________ Mary?
3. ni’ nem’ huye’ ________ swuy’qe’.
4. ni’ t’ilum ________ slheni’.
5. ni’ qw’uyulush ________ swaaw’lus.
6. ni’ hwyunumus ________ q’e’lum’i’.
7. ni’ nem’ ’ulhtun ________ suw’wuy’qe’.
8. ni’ ’untsu ________ slhunlheni’?

5.16 ‘i’ “and”.

In Unit One, we saw that the conjunction ’i’ can be used to conjoin verbs. It is also possible to conjoin nouns with ’i’.

5.16a When conjoining two nouns with ’i’, you only need to use one article.

ni’ ’imush kwthu John ’i’ Bill.	“John and Bill walked.”
ni’ ’imush kwthu John ’i’ Mary.	“John and Mary walked.”
ni’ ’imush kwthu swuy’qe’ ’i’ slheni’.	“The man and woman walked.”

5.16b Two nouns conjoined with ’i’count as plural, so a plain article is used.

ni’ ’imush kwthu slheni’ ’i’ swuy’qe’.	“The woman and man walked.”
ni’ ’imush kwthu Mary ’i’ Bill.	“Mary and Bill walked.”

5.16c Use a plain article even when referring to two females.

ni’ ’imush kwthu slheni’ ’i’ q’e’mi’.	“The woman and girl walked.”
ni’ ’imush kwthu Mary ’i’ Barbara.	“Mary and Barbara walked.”

5.17 Conjoining first or second persons.

5.17a To express the meaning of a third person and ’i’, use the first person plural pronoun tst and then place ’i’ in front of the noun phrase. The pronoun will follow the first auxiliary or verb of the sentence and the noun phrase will follow the verb. The article is optional when the noun is a proper noun.

ni’ tst ’imush ’i’ kwthu swuy’qe’.	“The man and I walked.”
ni’ tst ’imush ’i’ (kwthu) John.	“John and I walked.”

5.17b To express the meaning of a third person and “you”, use the second person plural pronoun tseep and then place ’i’ in front of the noun phrase.

ni’ ’u tseep ’imush ’i’ lhu slheni’?	“Did you and the woman walk?”
ni’ ’u tseep t’ilum ’i’ (kwthu) John?	“Did you and John sing?”

5.18 Substitution drill

I ate.	ni’ tsun ’ulhtun.
the man
the women
you (pl)
John
John and I
the man and you
John and Mary
the men
the men and women
we
the women and I
Mary and I

5.19 Translation.

1. ni’ xwchenum kwthu stl’i’tl’qulh.
2. ni’ ’u qwal tthun’ qeq?
3. ni’ ’uw’ hwts’e’nutsum ’ul’ kwthu swaaw’lus.
4. ni’ ’u t’ilum kwthu John ’i’ Mary?
5. ni’ tst nem’ huye’ ’i’ John.
6. Did the men eat?
7. The teen-aged girl (visible) worked.
8. John and Mary walked.
9. Did the women (out of sight) dance?
10. Did you and Mary sing?

5.20 Reading passage

kw’una’ snet ’i’ sq’uq’ip’ ni’ ’u tthu skwoulew’t-hw. yuw’en’ kw’us qwal kwthu
s’eluhw. ni’ ’uw’ hwulmuhwqun ’ul’. sus ’uw’ t’ilum lhu slheni’. mukw’ lhwet
’uw’ hwiyuneem’ ’ul’. sus ’uw’ qw’uyulush lhu q’e’mi’. sus ’uw’ lhuqw’tsum
kwthu mustimuhw. ni’ hay’ sutst ’uw’ ’ulhtun.

Last night there was a gathering at the schoolhouse. An elder spoke first. He just spoke a First Nations language. And then a woman sang. Everyone just listened. And then a girl danced. And the people clapped. After that we ate.