15.1. Focus in questions and answers to ‘Who?’
| cán cn ʔay̓. | ‘Who am I?’ |
| ʔə́c ʔuč cán. | ‘Who am I?’ |
| cán cxʷ ʔay̓. | ‘Who are you?’ |
| nə́kʷ ʔuč cán. | ‘Who are you?’ |
| cán ʔay̓. | ‘Who is he/she/it?’ |
| níɬ ʔuč cán. | ‘Who is he/she/it?’ |
► 1 Note that there are two ways to ask some questions.
► 2 Note that the members of each pair of questions in the models differ only in the focus. Putting the word first in the sentence makes it focused.
► 3 When cán is not the first word in the sentence, the little word ʔuč is used to indicate that this is a request for information. As in other types of questions, the ʔuč is not required.
► 4 Answers to cán questions normally use the appropriate focus pronoun. Study the following sets of questions and answers:
| Q: | ʔə́c ʔuč cán. | ‘Who am I?’ | ||
| A: | nə́kʷ Pat. | ‘You are Pat.’ | ||
| Q: | nə́kʷ ʔuč cán. | ‘Who are you?’ | ||
| A: | ʔə́c Sam. | ‘I am Sam.’ | ||
| Q: | nə́kʷ hay ʔuč cán. | ‘Who are you folks?’ | ||
| A: | ɬníŋɬ ʔən̓sčə́y̓aʔčaʔ. | ‘We are your friends.’ | ||
| Q: | níɬ ʔuč cán. | ‘Who is he/she?’ | ||
| A: | níɬ Alex. | ‘He/she is Alex.’ | ||
| Q: | cán ʔay̓ cə swéʔwəs. | ‘Who is that boy?’ | ||
| A: | níɬ John. | ‘He is John.’ | ||
| Q: | cán yaʔ ʔay̓ či kʷánəŋət. | ‘Who ran?’ | ||
| A: | níɬ Jane kʷə kʷánəŋət. | ‘It was Jane that ran.’ |
► 6 Answers to questions provide new information to the person asking the question. In English when we give new information, we sometimes add a phrase like ‘for your information,’ ‘you know,’ ‘don’t you see,’ or ‘don’t you know.’
In Klallam, when you are giving new information to someone, it is polite to include the little word kʷi, which means something like ‘I suggest that.’ You saw kʷi in §3.1 used in polite imperatives. So all of the answers above could also be stated:
| nə́kʷ kʷi Terry. | ‘You are Terry.’ | ||
| ʔə́c kʷi Terry. | ‘I am Terry.’ | ||
| ɬníŋɬ kʷi ʔən̓sčə́y̓aʔčaʔ. | ‘We are your friends.’ | ||
| níɬ kʷi Terry. | ‘He/she is Terry.’ | ||
| níɬ kʷi Terry kʷə kʷánəŋət. | ‘It was Terry that ran.’ |
 | cán ʔay̓ cə q̓áʔŋiʔ. | ‘Who is that girl?’ |
 | níɬ kʷi nəsaʔčúʔiɬ. | ‘It’s my younger sister.’ |
| nə́kʷ ʔuč cán. | ‘Who are you?’ |
| ʔə́c sxʷtáwnqs cə q̓áʔŋiʔ. | ‘I’m that girl’s older brother.’ |