Unit 8 – Verbs of Motion

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8.1 Dialogue.

A.nem’ ch ’a’lu hwtsel?“Where are you going?”
B.nem’ tsun yu t’at’uhw.“I’m going down to the beach.”
A.ni’ ’untsu kwthun’ sqe’eq?“Where’s your little brother?”
B.ni’ tsam ’u kwthu smeent yusq’u’q’a’ ’u kwthunu shhwum’nikw.“He went up to the mountains together with my uncle.”
A.’i ’u wulh tetsul kwthun’ men?“Did your father get here already?”
B.’i wulh m’i t’akw’.“He must have already come home.
’i ’uw’ ’i tthu kaas.His car is here.”

8.2 Vocabulary: motion verbs.

tsam“go up into the mountains”, “come up from the beach”
t’ahw“come down from the mountains,” “go down to the beach”
t’akw’“come home”, “go home”
p’ukw“come to the surface of the water”, “float”
nuqum“dive down into the water”
shaqwul“go across to the other side”
tetsul“get here”
tus“get there”
hwiwul“move to the front”
’ile’uqum“go to the back”, “go to the stern”, “get in the back seat”
q’lhanum“go forward”, “go to the bow”, “get in the front seat”
m’i ’ewu“come here”
tuyul“go upstream”

8.3 wulh “already”.

Use the particle wulh to convey the meaning that something has already been done. wulh follows the auxiliaries ni’ and ’i.

ni’ wulh tsam kwthunu stiwun.“My nephew already went up to the mountains.”
ni’ wulh t’akw’ kwthu John.“John already went home.”
ni’ ’u ch wulh shaqwul?“Did you already go across?”
’i tst wulh tetsul.“We are already here.”
’i wulh tuyul kwthunu men.“My father already went upstream.”
’i tst wulh q’lhanum.“We’re already in the front of the boat/front seat of the car.”

8.4 yuhw “must”.

The particle yuhw expresses supposition. Use yuhw if you are fairly certain of something based on logic or circumstantial evidence. yuhw follows the auxiliaries ni’ and ’i.

ni’ yuhw t’akw’ kwthunu men.“My father must have gone home.”
ni’ yuhw nuqum kwthu John.“John must have dived down.”
ni’ yuhw ’ile’uqum tthu qeq.“The baby must have gone to the back (of the boat, car, van).”
’i yuhw hwiwul kwthu stseelhtun.“The salmon must be upstream here now.”
’i yuhw m’i tetsul kwthu John.“John must have come here.”
’i yuhw t’ahw kwthunu shhwum’nikw.“Uncle must have come down from the mountains.”

8.5 ts’u “hearsay”.

The particle ts’u means that the speaker has found out the information second-hand, through hearsay.

ni’ ts’u huye’ kwthu John.“John left, I’m told.”
ni’ ts’u q’aq’i’ lhu Mary.“Mary is sick, they say.”
tetsul ts’u tse’ kwthu Bob.“Bob will arrive, I’m told.”
ni’ ts’u t’akw’ kwthunu men.“My father went home, they say.”
ni’ ts’u shaqwul kwthunu sqe’uq.“My little brother went across, they say.”

8.6 p’e’ “indeed”.

The particle p’e’ means “certain”, “indeed”, “for sure”.

poukw p’e’ tu’i.“This is indeed a book.”
ni’ p’e’ huye’ kwthu John.“John left for sure.”
’i p’e’ q’aq’i’ lhu Mary.“Mary is sick, I’m certain.”
’i p’e’ tetsul kwthu Bob.“Bob did indeed arrive.”

8.7 Particle drill.

Add a particle to the sentence to convey the indicated meaning.

John died.ni’ q’ay kwthu John.
I’m told
already
it’s certain
must have
they say

8.8 Combinations

The particles wulh, yuhw, ts’u, and p’e’ can be combined.

ni’ yuhw wulh t’akw’.“He must have already gone home.”
’i yuhw wulh tetsul.“He must have already arrived.”
’i tse’ p’uw’ tetsul kwthu John.“John will indeed get here.” [p’e’ + ’uw’]
nem’ ts’u tse’ huye’ lhu Mary.“Mary will leave, I’m told.”
ni’ ts’ p’e’ wulh nem’.“He was indeed gone, I’m told.”

8.9 Translation.

  1. ni’ ts’u ’imush kwthu John.
  2. ni’ yuhw wulh tsam kwthu John.
  3. ni’ ch p’e’ wulh ’ayum.
  4. John must have walked.
  5. John is sick, they say.
  6. John must have already left.

8.10 Continuatives

A special form of the verb, the continuative, is used to convey that an action is continuing for a while or happening now. Every verb has a special continuative form. You often find reduplication (repetition of some sounds) and glottalization in continuatives. Certain consonants, including n, change to h when they are reduplicated. Also, motion verbs often add the prefix yu-. Here are the continuative forms of some motion verbs.

t’ahwyu t’at’uhw“coming down from the mountains”
t’akw’yu t’at’ukw’“going home”
p’ukwyu p’up’ukw“coming to the surface”
nuqumyu hun’qum’“diving down”
shaqwul(yu) shahwuqwul’“going across”

8.11 Practice

nem’ tsun yu t’at’uhw.“I’m going down to the beach.”
nem’ tsun yu t’at’ukw’.“I’m going home.”
nem’ tsun yu shahwuqwul’.“I’m going across.”
nem’ tsun yu hwihwuwul’.“I’m going to the front.”
nem’ tsun yu ’ile’uqum’.“I’m going to the stern.” (Some people contract this to yu ’ileequm’.)
nem’ tsun yu q’lha’num’.“I’m going to the front of the boat.”

8.12 Where are you going?

nem’ ch ’a’lu hwtsel?“Where are you going?”
nem’ tseep ’a’lu hwtsel?“Where are you (pl) going?”
nem’ tsun yu t’at’uhw.“I’m going down to the beach.”
nem’ tst yu ’ile’uqum’.“We’re going to the back (of the boat, car).”

8.13 Two words for “where”.

Did you notice that there are two words translated “where”? ’untsu is used when asking where someone or something is located. hwtsel is used when asking where someone is going.

ni’ ’untsu lhun’ ten?“Where is your mother?”
nem’ ch ’a’lu hwtsel?“Where are you going?”

8.14 Translation.

  1. ni’ ’u ch wulh shaqwul?
  2. nem’ tseep ’ile’uqum!
  3. ’i yuhw t’akw’ lhunu ten.
  4. nem’ ’u ch yu hwihwuwul?
  5. ni’ yuhw nem’ t’akw’ lhunu sts’a’muqw.
  6. Did you (pl) go down to the beach already?
  7. The boy must have dived down in the water.
  8. Where are you (pl) going?
  9. My grandfather already went up to the mountains.
  10. My son must have already got there.

8.15 Reading lesson.

tl’lim’ ’uw’ kw’a’lus kwthu skweyul. ni’ thut kwthunu men, “’ilhe nem’ t’ahw.” ni’ tst mukw’ ’aalh ’u tthu kas sutst tuw’ nem’ ’u tthu tsetsuw’. ni’ ’uw’ snuhwulhs kwthunu si’lu. ni’ tst nem’ shaqwul nem’ ’u kwthu skwthe’s. ni’ tst tus sutst tuw’ q’ulum’.

It was a really hot day. Dad said, “Let’s go down to the beach.” We all got in his car and we went down to the beach. My grandfather had a canoe. We went across to an island. We got there and then we camped.