29.1. ʔuʔ-class intensifiers
| mán̓ cn ʔuʔ šaʔšúʔɬ. | ‘I’m very glad.’ |
| ƛ̓áy cn ʔuʔ šaʔšúʔɬ. | ‘I’m also glad.’ |
| húy cn ʔuʔ hiyáʔ. | ‘I’m only going.’ |
| ɬə́ŋ cn ʔuʔ swə́y̓qaʔ. | ‘I’m just a man.’ |
| sə́ɬəŋ cn ʔuʔ qʷáqʷi. | ‘I’m talking continuously.’ |
| cəʔít cn ʔuʔ ʔíɬən. | ‘I truly ate.’ |
| ʔəsɬáx̣ʷɬ cxʷ ʔuʔ ʔiyə́m̓. | ‘You’re definitely strong.’ |
| čəw̓ín̓ cn ʔuʔ qʷáqʷi. | ‘Even I am talking.’ |
| túʔx̣ʷ cxʷ ʔuʔ ʔsƛ̓úʔƛ̓əm. | ‘You’re exactly right.’ |
| txʷʔúx̣ʷ cxʷ ʔuʔ ʔsƛ̓úʔƛ̓əm. | ‘You’re nearly right.’ |
| x̣ə́n̓ st ʔuʔ t̓íym. | ‘We all sing.’ |
| ʔuʔúʔ yaʔ cn ʔuʔ čáy. | ‘I was beginning to work.’ |
| ʔunú ʔuʔ ʔíɬən. | ‘Notice how he eats!’ |
| čaʔnúʔ cxʷ ʔuʔ nəxʷqáyəx̣s. | ‘You’re acting extremely proud.’ |
| pəx̣ʷéʔ cn ʔuʔ kʷčáŋəc. | ‘I was just now calling you.’ |
| qiqə́y cn ʔuʔ mimə́yəq. | ‘I’m sorry I forgot.’ |
► 1 The models illustrate all of the observed ʔuʔ‑class intensifiers.
► 2 The intensifier construction is one situation where the main verb or predicate does not come first in the sentence. The intensifier comes first.
► 3 Note that the subject follows the intensifier—not the verb or predicate. This illustrates a general fact of the Klallam language: the subject pronoun always follows the first word of the sentence.
► 4 The tense and yes/no question markers fill their usual position with the subject after the first word in the sentence. See, for example, the model illustrating ʔuʔúʔ.
► 5 Most of these words have different meanings when not used with the ʔuʔ. Study the following two sentences, for example:
ƛ̓áy cn ʔuʔ šaʔšúʔɬ. ‘I’m also glad.’
ƛ̓áy cn šaʔšúʔɬ. ‘I’m glad again.’
The word ƛ̓áy means ‘also’ when the ʔuʔ follows. But it means ‘again’ when the ʔuʔ does not follow.
► 6 Incidentally, ƛ̓áy ʔuʔ ʔə́c is a useful phrase meaning ‘me too.’
► 7 The following table shows how the words differ in meaning in the construction with ʔuʔ and in other constructions:
| In ʔuʔ construction | In other constructions | |
| ƛ̓áy | also | again |
| húy | only | finish |
| ɬə́ŋ | just like | detach |
| sə́ɬəŋ | continuously | continue |
| cəʔít | truly | tell the truth |
| ʔəsɬáx̣ʷɬ | definitely | be straight |
| čəw̓ín̓ | even (so) | not even (so) |
| túʔx̣ʷ | exactly | be in the middle |
| txʷʔúx̣ʷ | nearly | go toward |
► 9 Usually the connection in the meaning of the word’s use as intensifier is obvious (for example sə́ɬəŋ ‘continuously’ or ‘continue’). But the connection between the two meanings of ɬə́ŋ is not obvious at all. It’s difficult to come up with a simple translation of ɬə́ŋ as an intensifier. It seems that ‘just like’ is as close as English can come to it. Here are some sentences using ɬə́ŋ that will show you the range of use:
ɬə́ŋ cn ʔuʔ x̣čít. ‘I really know it.’
ɬə́ŋ cn ʔuʔ k̓ʷə́nnəxʷ. ‘I just saw it.’
ɬə́ŋ cn ʔuʔ swə́y̓qaʔ. ‘I’m a real man/I’m just a man.’
ɬə́ŋ u cxʷ ʔuʔ hiyáʔ. ‘Are you really going?’
ɬə́ŋ ʔuʔ pə́q̓. ‘It’s really white/It’s almost white.’
ɬə́ŋ cn ʔuʔ siʔám̓. ‘I’m just like I’m rich.’
ɬə́ŋ cxʷ ʔuʔ sqʷmə́y. ‘You’re just like a dog.’ (an insult)
► 10 You’ve seen txʷʔúx̣ʷ before in §16.2. The word txʷʔúx̣ʷ means ‘go toward’ or, as shown in §16.2, it can be used to form a comparative construction.
► 11 The intensifier ʔunú is used to get someone’s attention to something really outstanding.
► 12 The intensifier qiqə́y is translated ‘sorry’ and is used to apologize for some small mistake. It would not be used to apologize for a big mistake or to tell someone you are ‘sorry’ for their loss, or in the sense of ‘to feel sorry’ for someone.
► 13 New vocabulary: skʷáʔət ‘stern, back seat’; šč̓ə́y̓aʔ ‘stick’; ƛ̓áqt ‘long’; kapú ‘coat’; t̓íym ‘sing’; nəxʷqáyəx̣s ‘act proud, boastful’
 | mán̓ cn ʔuʔ ɬčíkʷs. | ‘I’m very tired.’ |
 | ƛ̓áy cn ʔuʔ ɬčíkʷs. | ‘I’m tired, too.’ |
| cəʔít cn ʔuʔ mán̓ ʔuʔ ɬčíkʷs! | ‘I’m really very tired!’ |
| x̣ə́n̓ st ʔuʔ ɬčíkʷs. | ‘We’re all tired.’ |