26.2. ‘How much?’ ‘How many?’
| k̓ʷín ʔay̓. | ‘How many are they?’ |
| k̓ʷín ʔay̓ či shiyáʔs. | ‘How many go?’ |
| k̓ʷín yaʔ ʔay̓ kʷi ʔən̓sʔíɬən. | ‘How much did you eat?’ |
► 1 The key word here is k̓ʷín, which can be translated as ‘how much’ or ‘how many.’ The last of the models could also be translated ‘how many did you eat?’
► 2 Notice that the pattern here is much the same as the pattern for ʔəsx̣ʷəníŋ̓. But ʔuč is not usually used with k̓ʷín.
► 3 The word k̓ʷín may look familiar. Take a look at §18.3. The root was used there in the word ʔaʔk̓ʷín to ask about time of day.
► 4 The word k̓ʷín may also be translated ‘what number?’ These questions are asking for a particular number or quantity.
► 5 We can now completely explain the word ʔaʔk̓ʷín ‘what time?’ In §23.1 you learned that the prefix ʔaʔ‑ means ‘be at.’ Add this to k̓ʷín ‘what number?’ and we get ʔaʔk̓ʷín ‘at what number?,’ which can only mean ‘at what number on the clock?’ or ‘what time?’
► 6 Since k̓ʷín can mean ‘what number?,’ it makes sense that it can take the lexical suffixes that numbers can. But note that it does not occur with the ‘tens’ suffix, ‑ɬšáʔ:
k̓ʷənáy ‘how many people’ or ‘how many containers’
k̓ʷənáʔitxʷ ‘how many dollars’
k̓ʷəníɬč ‘how many plants’
k̓ʷənáw̓txʷ ‘how many houses, buildings, rooms’
k̓ʷənáɬ ‘how many times, how often’
k̓ʷənɬnát ‘how many days’
k̓ʷəníkʷs ‘how many of a kind’
► 7 It is possible to have a ‘you’ subject with this question word. If you have a ‘you’ subject, you are necessarily asking about a number of living things, so the ‑ikʷs or -ay suffix is required:
k̓ʷəníkʷs cxʷ hay. ‘How many are you?’
k̓ʷənáy cxʷ hay. ‘How many are you?’
 | k̓ʷənáy yaʔ ʔay̓ kʷi stə́ss. | ‘How many got there?’ |
 | ʔə́wə c ŋə́n̓. | ‘Not many.’ |
| k̓ʷənáy kʷi sʔíɬəns. | ‘How many ate?’ |
| ʔuʔx̣ə́n̓. | ‘All of them.’ |