Unit 11 – Actions Affecting the Subject

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11.1 Dialogue (Theresa Thorne and Hazel Good)

A.ni’ ’u temutham’shus lhunu sta’lus.“Did my wife call me?”
B.he’e. ni’ temuthaam. m’i tl’a’asthaam.“Yes. She called you. She is coming to pick you up.”
A.’uy’. q’a’tul tst tse’ ’u kwthu luplit.“Good. We are meeting with the priest.”
B.nutsim’?“Why?”
A.muyitul tse’ ’utl’ John lhunu mun’u.“My daughter and John are getting married.”
B.’uy’. tl’lim’ ’uw’ ’iyustul.“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 =um:

=thelumfirst person singular
=thaamsecond person singular
=talumfirst/second person plural
=tumthird person

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

ni’ lemuthelum.“I was looked at.”
ni’ lemuthaam.“You were looked at.”
ni’ lemutalum.“We/you (pl) were looked at.”
ni’ lemutum.“He/she/it/they were looked at.”

11.3 Repeat

a.ni’ lemuthelum.“I was looked at.”
ni’ ts’ewuthelum.“I was helped.”
ni’ ’aathelum.“I was called for.”
ni’ kwunuthelum.“I was taken.”
ni’ t’i’wi’ulhthelum.“I was prayed for.”
ni’ ’ulmutsthelum.“I was waited for.”
b.ni’ lemuthaam.“You were looked at.”
ni’ ts’ewuthaam.“You were helped.”
ni’ ’aathaam.“You were called for.”
ni’ kwunuthaam.“You were taken.”
ni’ t’i’wi’ulhthaam.“You were prayed for.”
ni’ ’ulmutsthaam.“You were waited for.”
c.ni’ lemutalum.“We/you (pl) were looked at.”
ni’ ts’ewutalum.“We/you (pl) were helped.”
ni’ ’aatalum.“We/you (pl) were called for.”
ni’ kwunutalum.“We/you (pl) were taken.”
ni’ t’i’wi’ulhtalum.“We/you (pl) were prayed for.”
ni’ ’ulmutstalum.“We/you (pl) were waited for.”
d.ni’ lemutum.“He/she was looked at.”
ni’ ts’ewutum.“He/she was helped.”
ni’ ’aatum.“He/she was called for.”
ni’ kwunutum.“He/she was taken.”
ni’ t’i’wi’ulhtum.“He/she was prayed for.”
ni’ ’ulmutstum.“He/she was waited for.”

11.4 Substitution drill

I was helped.ni’ ts’ewuthelum.
you
you (pl)
he
we
she

11.5 and 11.6 Substitution drills

11.5
Were you taken?ni’ ’u kwunuthaam?
I
he
we
it
you (pl)
11.6
You (pl) are being laughed at.’i yun’yun’ta’lum’.
I
he
you
we
she

11.7 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.

11.7a The verb is followed by an agent phrase, which consists of the preposition ’u plus a noun phrase.

ni’ lemuthelum ’u kwthu swuy’qe’.“I was looked at by the man.”
ni’ ts’iitum ’u lhu slheni’.“I was thanked by the woman.”

11.7b Sometimes the English translations sounds a lot better if you use the active form rather than the passive form.

ni’ ts’ewuthaam ’u lhun’ ten.“You were helped by your mother.”
“Your mother helped you.”
ni’ t’i’wi’ulhtalum ’u kwthu luplit.“We/you (pl) were prayed for by the priest.”
“The priest prayed for us/you (pl).”
ni’ ’ulmutstum ’u lhu slheni’.“He was waited for by the woman.”
“The woman waited for him.”
ni’ lemutum lhu Mary.“Mary was looked at.”
“Someone looked at Mary.”

11.7c   Sometimes an English sentence can be translated in either the active or the passive in Hul’q’umi’num’. This is the case when the object is first person singular or plural.

  • ni’ lemutham’shus kwthu swuy’qe’.
    “The man looked at me.”
  • OR: ni’ lemuthelum ’u kwthu swuy’qe’.
    “The man looked at me.”/“I was looked at by the man.”
  • ni’ lemutal’hwus kwthu swuy’qe’.
    “The man looked at us.”
  • OR:   ni’ lemutalum ’u kwthu swuy’qe’.
    “The man looked at us.”/ “We were looked at by the man.”

11.7d   Sometimes only the passive can be used. This is the case when the object is second person singular or plural.

  • ni’ lemuthaam ’u kwthu swuy’qe’.
    “The man looked at you.” / “You were looked at by the man.”
  • ni’ lemutalum ’u kwthu swuy’qe’.
    “The man looked at you (pl).” / “You (pl) were looked at by the man.”

11.7e Summary table for actives and passives (3rd person agent)

objectACTIVEPASSIVE
lst person singularts’ewutham’shusts’ewuthelum
lst person pluralts’ewutal’hwusts’ewutalum
2nd person singularNONEts’ewuthaam
2nd person pluralNONEts’ewutalum
3rd personts’ewutusts’ewutum

11.7f Sometimes only the active can be used. This is the case when the agent is first or second person.

  • ni’ tsun lemut kwthu swuy’qe’.
    “I looked at the man.”
  • ni’ ’u ch lemut kwthu swuy’qe’?
    “Did you see the man?”

11.8 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’ lemutus lhu slheni’ kwthu swuy’qe’.
    “The woman looked at the man.”
  • OR:   ni’ lemutum kwthu swuy’qe’ ’u lhu slheni’.
    “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 ’u tells you who is performing the action.

  • ni’ qw’ulutum ’u lhu slheni’ kwthu sceelhtun.
    “The woman cooked the salmon.”
  • OR:   ni’ qw’ulutum kwthu sceelhtun ’u lhu slheni’.
    “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’ lemutus kwthu swuy’qe’.
    “He looked at the man.”
  • NOT: “The man looked at him.”

To say “He looked at the man”, use the passive.

  • ni’ lemutum ’u kwthu swuy’qe’.
    “The man looked at him.” / “He was looked at by the man.”

11.9 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’ ts’ewuthelum ’utl’ John.“I was helped by John.”
“John helped me.”
ni’ lemuthaam ’utl’ Mary.“You were looked at by Mary.”
“Mary looked at you.”
’i yun’yun’ta’lum ’utl’ George.“We/you (pl) are being laughed at by George.”
“George is laughing at us/you (pl).”
ni’ kwunutum ’utl’ Edna.“It was taken by Edna.”
“Edna took it.”

Many speakers do not use proper nouns as subjects of transitive sentences. Instead they always use the passive.

  • ni’ ts’ewuthelum ’utl’ John.
    “John helped me.”
  • NOT: ni’ ts’ewutham’shus kwthu John.
  • ni’ ts’ewutum lhu slheni’ ’utl’ John.
    “John helped the woman.”
  • NOT: ni’ ts’ewutus kwthu John lhu slheni’.

11.10 Summary chart: active and passive

COMMON NOUN (woman)PROPER NOUN (Mary)
1st person singular
(she helped me)
Active: ni’ ts’ewutham’shus thu slheni’.
Passive: ni’ ts’ewuthelum ’u thu slheni’.
Active: NO: ni’ ts’ewutham’shus thu Mary.
Passive: ni’ ts’ewuthelum ’utl’ Mary.
1st person plural
(she helped us)
Active: ni’ ts’ewutal’hwus thu slheni’.
Passive: ni’ ts’ewutalum ’u thu slheni’.
Active: NO: ni’ ts’ewutal’hwus thu Mary.
Passive: ni’ ts’ewutalum ’utl’ Mary.
2nd person singular
(she helped you)
Active: NONE
Passive: ni’ ts’ewuthaam ’u thu slheni’.
Active: NONE
Passive: ni’ ts’ewuthaam ’utl’ Mary.
2nd person plural
(she helped you pl)
Active: NONE
Passive: ni’ ts’ewutalum ’u thu slheni’.
Active: NONE
Passive: ni’ ts’ewutalum ’utl’ Mary.
3rd person
(she helped him)
Active: ni’ ts’ewutus thu slheni’.
NO: this means: “he helped woman” not “woman helped him.”
Passive: ni’ ts’ewutum ’u thu slheni’.
Active: ni’ ts’ewutus thu slheni’.
NO: this means: “he helped Mary” not “Mary helped him.”
Passive: ni’ ts’ewutum ’utl’ Mary.

11.11 Substitution drill

Use passive.

John was helped by my father.ni’ ts’ewutum kwthu John ’u kwthunu men.
I
you (pl)
he
you
we

11.12 Substitution drill

Change the agent. Use passive if possible – otherwise use active.

John took it.ni’ kwunutum ’utl’ John.
the man
I
Mary
you
you (pl)
the woman
he
we
the boy

11.13 Substitution drill

You called him.ni’ ch temut.
I : you
he : you
he : me
John : me
we : you
we : him
he : us
John : us
you (pl) : John
John : the man
the man : John

11.14 Which ones are right?

Place a check mark in front of good examples and an X in front of bad ones.

  1. John looked at you.
    • a. The woman thanked him.
    • b. ni’ lemuthamus kwthu John.
  2. He helped John.
    • a.  ni’ ts’ewutus kwthu John.
    • b.  ni’ ts’ewutum kwthu John.
  3. The woman thanked him.
    • a.  ni’ ts’iitus ’u lhu slheni’.
    • b.  ni’ ts’iitus lhu slheni’.
    • c.  ni’ ts’iitum ’u lhu slheni’.
    • d.  ni’ ts’iitum lhu slheni’.
  4. Your mother called you.
    • a. ni’ temutus lhun’ ten.
    • b.  ni’ temuthamus lhun’ ten.
    • c.  ni’ temuthaam ’utl’ lhun’ ten.
    • d.  ni’ temuthaam ’u lhun’ ten.
  5. My father called for me.
    • a. ni’ ’aathelum ’u kwthunu men.
    • b.  ni’ ’aatham’sh kwthunu men.
    • c.  ni’ ’aatham’shus kwthunu men.
    • d.  ni’ ’aatham’shus ’u kwthunu men.

11.15 Translation.

  1. ni’ temuthaam ’u lhun’ ten.
  2. ni’ qw’ulutum ’u lhu slheni’ kwthu suplil.
  3. ni’ ’u kwunutum kwthu qeq?
  4. ni’ ’u xlhuthaam ’utl’ Mary?
  5. ni’ ts’iitum kwthu swuy’qe’ ’utl’ 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).

11.16 Reflexives

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

kwulusht
“shoot it”
kwulushthut
“shoot yourself”
q’a’t
“put it in with it”
q’a’thut
“join”
thuyt
“fix it”
thuythut
“fix yourself”, “train”, “get better”
ts’uy’hwt
“dry it”
ts’uy’hwthut
“dry yourself”

11.17 Reciprocals

The reciprocal suffix -tul on a verb means “each other” or “together”.

ts’ewut
“help him”
ts’awutul
“help each other”
’ikw’ut
“throw it away”
’ikw’utul
“get separated from each other”
maluqwut
“mix them in”
maluqwtul
“mix with each other”
’imush
“walk”
’imushtul
“walk together”

11.18 What do these words mean?

  • t’anthut (t’en “go out of sight”)
  • xulhtal
  • q’a’tul
  • thuytul
  • muq’athut (muq’ “get full of food”)
  • kwi’a’tul (kwi’e’ “get separated”)
  • ts’iyutul
  • luxwuthut (luxwut “cover it”)

11.19 Translation.

  1. ni’ tst temutul.
  2. ni’ tuw’ kwayxthut.
  3. ni’ q’a’thut ’u kwthu hi’wa’lum’.
  4. ni’ ts’uy’hwthut kwthu sqwumey’.
  5. ni’ ’u tseep ts’awutul?
  6. ni’ tsun thuythut ’u kwthunu sqwal.
  7. ni’ xlhuthut ’u kwthu lem.
  8. ni’ q’a’tul ’u kwthu sq’a’tuls tthu sta’luw’.

11.20 Reading Lesson

ni’ temuthaam ’utl’ John. skw’ey kw’s humi’. nan ’uw’ tth’etth’up’. nem’ ce’ ts’ewutus kwthu mens ’u tun’a’ kweyul. m’i ts’ew’uthaam ’uw’ kweyulus. ’uw’ ’ulmutst ch ’ul’.