Unit 12 – Causatives

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12.1 dialogue (Delores)

A.’e’eth wulh tecul thun’ shla’lum’e’lh.“Here comes your babysitter.”
B.’oo. qulstuhw tst.“Ooh. We hate her.”
A.nutsim’ ’a’lu?“Why?”
B.ni’ ’unuhw stal’hwus ’u kwu tst hiw’a’lum’.“She makes us stop playing.”
C.sis ’uw’ ts’ehwul’stal’hwus.“And she makes us shut up.”
D.sis ’uw’ shakw’umstal’hwus.“And she makes us bathe.”
E.sis ’uw’ hwun ’itut-stal’hwus.“And she makes us go to bed early.”
A.’uy’ kw’is le’lum’uta’lum’.“She’s looking after you really well.”
ha’ tseep tse’ ’uw’ ’uy’ ’ul’ ’i’ waw’a’ ’aantalum tse’ kw’un’s huw’a’lum’ulup.“If you are good, maybe she’ll let you play.”

12.2 & 12.3

12.2   Vocabulary: causative verbs.

m’ewustuhw
(From m’i ’ewu “come here”.)
“bring him/her”
ne’mustuhw“take him/her”
statul’stuhw“know him/her/it”
’ulhtunustuhw“feed him/her/it”
xeemustuhw“cause him/her to cry”
’unuhwstuhw“make him/her/it/them stop”
’imushstuhw“make him/her/it/them walk”
qa’qa’stuhw“give him/her/it/them a drink”
’umut-stuhw“have him/her/them sit”
t’ilumstuhw“have him/her/them sing”
yaaysstuhw“have him/her/them work”
’itut-stuhw“put him/her/them to sleep”
’ushulstuhw“have him/her/them paddle”
shaqwulstuhw“help him/her/them across to the other side”
yunumstuhw“make him/her/them laugh”
qwul’stuhw“talk to him/her/them”

12.3   –st causative suffix.

The causative suffix -st (-stuhw when the object is third person) can be added to intransitive verbs.

12.3a When it is added to a simple intransitive, it means “cause” or “make someone do something”.

’itut’itut-stuhw
“sleep”“get him/her/them sleep”
yaaysyaaysstuhw
“work”“have him/her/them work”
’ushul’ushulstuhw
“paddle”“have him/her/them paddle”

12.3b When it is added onto a verb of motion, it means “cause someone or something to undergo motion”.

m’i ’ewum’ewustuhw
“come here”“bring him/her/them”
nem’ne’mustuhw
“go”“take him/her/them”
tsamtsamstuhw
“go up to the mountains”“take him/her/them up to the mountains”

12.3c In some cases, adding a causative suffix to a verb means that the action is directed toward someone.

qwalqwul’stuhw
“speak”“speak to him/her/them”
huw’a’lum’huw’a’lum’stuhw
“play”“play with him/her/them”

12.3d When the causative suffix is added to an adjective it means “to find or have something” in the state described by the adjective.

statulstuhw“know” (= “find it clear”)
’uy’stuhw“like” (= “find it good”)
sqw’u’qw’il’stuhw“have it cooked”

12.4   What do these words mean?

  • qulstuhw
  • ’aalhstuhw
  • q’ulum’stuhw
  • huye’stuhw
  • teemstuhw
  • ’ile’uqumstuhw
  • si’qstuhw
  • sts’uts’e’stuhw
  • t’ukw’stuhw
  • hwiwulstuhw
  • p’ukwstuhw
  • t’i’wi’ulhstuhw

12.5 How do you say it?

  • stand them up
  • take it down to the beach, bring it down from the mountains
  • make them run
  • get them to listen
  • make them smile
  • send them picking
  • make them clap their hands
  • have them dance
  • have it underneath with weight bearing down
  • have them inside
  • get them here
  • have them get in the front seat
  • tell them to shut up
  • get them to speak a First Nations Language

12.6 Object suffixes; 12.7 & 12.8 Substitution drills

12.6   Causatives with object suffixes.

Just like with the transitive suffix –t, the causative suffix can be followed by object and passive suffixes.

’ulhtunustam’sh“feed me”
’ulhtunustamu“feed you”
’ulhtunustal’hw“feed us”
’ulhtunustalu“feed you (pl)”
’ulhtunustuhw“feed him/her/it/them”
ni’ ’ulhtunustelum.“I was fed.”
ni’ ’ulhtunustaam.“You were fed.”
ni’ ’ulhtunustalum.“We/you (pl) were fed.”
ni’ ’ulhtunustum.“He/she/it/they were fed.”

12.7 Substitution drill.

I put the baby to sleep.ni’ tsun ’itut-stuhw lhu qeq.
you: me
wee her
shee me
shee him
II you (pl)
you: us
us: you
shee us
II her

12.8 Substitution drill.

He was sat down.ni’ ’umut-stum.
I
we
you
she
you (pl)
II by the man
you: by the woman
hee by John
wee by our mother
you (pl): by Mary

12.9, 12.10, 12.11 Pattern Practice

12.9 Pattern practice.

I made him work.ni’ tsun yaaysstuhw.
sleep
walk
sing
run
cry
shut up

12.10 Pattern practice.

He brought it.ni’ m’ewustuhwus.
took it
brought it here
brought it home
took it along
took it down to the beach
took it up to the mountains
took it across to the other side
put it in the car

12.11 Pattern practice.

They had us call.ni’ teemstalum.
dance
pick
work
smile
listen
stand up
eat
stop
laugh
stay overnight

12.12 Substitution drill

Do you like Mary?’i ’u ch ’uy’stuhw lhu Mary?
crabapples
me
the book
my car
smoked salmon
your house
my ring
us

12.13 =stunuq; 12.14 =stunamut  12.16 Pattern Practice

12.13 -stunuq “make the people”.

The causative suffix -st can be combined with the lexical suffix -unuq “people”. This makes a special form meaning “make people do something”.

ni’ ’umut-stunuq kwthu John.“John seated the people.”
ni’ ’ulhtunustunuq lhu si’em’.“The honored woman fed the people.”
ni’ t’i’wi’ulhstunuq kwthu luplit.“The priest had the people pray.”
ni’ ’unuhwstunuq kwthu si’em’.“The honored man stopped the people.”

12.14 -stuna’mut “to pretend”.

The causative suffix -st can be combined with the out-of-control reflexive suffix -namut to mean “pretend”.

’itut-stuna’mut“pretend to sleep”
yaaysstuna’mut“pretend to work”
xeemstuna’mut“pretend to cry”

12.15 What do these words mean?

  • ’ulhtunustuna’mut
  • ’imushstuna’mut
  • ’unuhwstuna’mut
  • qw’uyulushstuna’mut
  • hwiyuneem’stuna’mut
  • t’ilumstuna’mut

12.16 Pattern practice.

We pretended to sleep.ni’ tst ’itut-stuna’mut.
go home
go down to the beach
pick (berries)
telephone
leave

12.17 Translation.

  1. ni’ ’umut-stalum ’u kwthu si’em’.
  2. ni’ tsun lhumts’el’sstamu.
  3. ’i ’u ch statulstuhw kwthunu sqwal?
  4. ni’ ’u teemstaam ’utl’ John?
  5. ni’ hwulmuhwqunstunuq kwthu John.
  6. ni’ ’u ’uw’ xeemstuna’mut ’ul’ lhun’ sqe’eq?
  7. I made the baby cry.
  8. He put me to sleep.
  9. Were you made to sit down?
  10. My father had us stay overnight.
  11. The priest had the people sing.
  12. John just pretended to sleep.

12.18 Reading Lesson

qux syaays kw’un’s le’lumut kwthu qeq. ni’ ch tse’ ’uw’ statul’stuhw ’u’ kw’un’ s’ulhtunustuhw kwthun’ qeq. hum’i’ tse’ xeem. ’i’ ha’ ’uwu ts’ehwul’us, ’i’ nem’ ch tse’ ’um’sh’sum’stuhw. mukw’ tse’ skweyul ’i’ ’uw’ nilh tse’ ’un’s syaays kw’un’s sha’hwu’kw’um’stuhw kwthun’ qeq.