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.