Commands
1. Welcome speech
| ’ii tseep ’uw’ ’eli’ ’ul’? | ‘How are you (pl)?’ | |
| nem’ tseep hwts’e’nutsum! | ‘You (pl) go sit down!’ | |
| tth’ihwum ’i’ s-ts’ets’uhw ch! | ‘Please be quiet!’ | |
| hwiyuneem’ tseep! | ‘You (pl) listen!’ | |
| ’ilhe hwulmuhwqun! | ‘Let’s speak a First Nations Language!’ |
2. Vocabulary: intransitive verbs
| nem’ | ‘go’ | |
| m’i | ‘come’ | |
| m’i ’ewu | ‘come here’ | |
| hwts’e’nutsum | ‘sit down’ | |
| ’umut | ‘get out of bed’ (also for some people ‘to sit’) | |
| lhxilush | ‘stand up’ | |
| qwal | ‘talk’ | |
| ts’ehwul’ | ‘shut up’, ‘keep quiet’ | |
| s-ts’ets’uhw | ‘be quiet’ | |
| hwiyuneem’ | ‘listen’ | |
| t’ilum | ‘sing’ | |
| qw’uyulush | ‘dance’ | |
| hwyunumus | ‘smile’ | |
| ’imush | ‘walk’ | |
| xwchenum | ‘run’ | |
| ’umshasum’ | ‘take a walk’, ‘go for a drive’ | |
| lhuqw’tssum | ‘clap your hands’ | |
| lumhwshenum | ‘stamp your feet’ | |
| ’unuhw | ‘stop’ | |
| huye’ | ‘leave’ | |
| yaays | ‘work’ | |
| huw’a’lum’ | ‘play’ | |
| q’ulum’ | ‘camp’, ‘stay overnight’ | |
| lhumts’el’s | ‘pick (berries, fruit, vegetables)’ | |
| t’i’wi’ulh | ‘pray’ | |
| ’ulhtun | ‘eat’ | |
| xlhas | ‘eat’ | |
| ’itut | ‘sleep’ |
3. Commands
3.1 Simple Commands
| Basic | Forceful | ||||||
| ’unuhw! | Stop!’ | ‘unuhw lhe! | Stop!’ | ||||
| t’ilum! | ‘Sing!’ | t’ilum lhe! | ‘Sing!’ | ||||
| hwiyuneem’! | ‘Listen!’ | hwiyuneem’ lhe! | ‘Listen!’ | ||||
3.2 Using a pronoun
| To one person | To more than one person | |||||
| ’unuhw ch! | ‘You stop!’ | ‘unuhw tseep! | ‘You (pl) stop!’ | |||
| t’ilum ch! | ‘You sing!’ | t’ilum tseep! | ‘You (pl) sing!’ | |||
| hwiyuneem’ ch! | ‘You listen!’ | hwiyuneem’ tseep! | ‘You (pl) listen!’ | |||
3.3 Polite command, using tth’ihwum ’i’ ‘please’
| To one person | |||
| tth’ihwum ’i’ t’ilum! | ‘Please sing!’ | ||
| tth’ihwum ’i’ t’ilum ch! | ‘Please sing!’ | ||
| tth’ihwum ch ’i’ t’ilum! | ‘Please sing!’ | ||
| To more than one person | |||
| tth’ihwum ’i’ t’ilum! | ‘Please sing!’ | ||
| tth’ihwum ’i’ t’ilum tseep! | ‘Please sing!’ | ||
| tth’ihwum tseep ’i’ t’ilum! | ‘Please sing!’ | ||
4. Motion auxiliaries
| nem’ ‘go’ | mi’ ‘come’ | |||||
| nem’ ’itut! | ‘Go sleep!’ | m’i ’ewu! | ‘Come here!’ | |||
| nem’ xwchenum! | ‘Go run!’ | m’i yaays! | ‘Come work!’ | |||
| nem’ xlas! | ‘Go eat!’ | m’i xlhas! | ‘Come eat!’ | |||
In a command, the pronoun appears between the auxiliary and the verb.
| nem’ ch yaays! | ‘You go work!’ | |
| nem’ tseep huw’a’lum’! | ‘You (pl) go play!’ | |
| m’i tseep xlas! | ‘You (pl) come eat!’ |
5. Snail song
Ann and Jim Bob of Snuw’nuw’us sing the snail song. q’uyatl’un is a snail without a shell (i.e. a slug).
| ’imush, q’uyatl’un’! (thume’) | Walk, snail! (twice) |
| tstamut, q’uyatl’un’? (thume’) | What’s the matter, snail? (twice) |
| hwyunumus, q’uyatl’un’! (thume’) | Smile, snail! (twice) |
| qwal lhe’, q’uyatl’un’! (thume’) | Speak, snail! (twice) |
| tstamut, q’uyatl’un’? (thume’) | What’s the matter, snail? (twice) |
6. Homework
Practice your commands: write out 10 plain commands and 10 polite commands.