29.2. ʔiʔ-class intensifiers
| čəyáy cn ʔiʔ t̓áʔŋən. | ‘I almost missed (the target).’ |
| kʷɬčəyáy cn ʔiʔ hiyáʔ. | ‘I go soon.’ |
| híc cn ʔiʔ ʔíɬən | ‘It’s a long time since I ate.’ |
| x̣ʷə́ŋ cn ʔiʔ hiyáʔ. | ‘I might go/I can go.’ |
| húy̓ caʔ kʷi ʔiʔ ƛ̓áy̓ kʷaʔšə́q. | ‘She’ll probably sigh again.’ |
► 1 We already covered the first two of these in detail in §20.3. It would be a good idea to go back and review that section now.
► 2 The models here list all of the known ʔiʔ‑class intensifiers. Some speakers use txʷyáy instead of čəyáy.
► 3 Just as with the ʔuʔ‑class intensifiers, the intensifier comes first in the sentence and the subject and any speech act particles (such as tense, yes/no question, etc.) follow the first word.
► 4 Also, just as with the ʔuʔ‑class intensifiers, most of these have different meanings when not used in the intensifier construction. Compare:
x̣ʷə́ŋ cn ʔiʔ hiyáʔ. ‘I can go / I might go.’
x̣ʷə́ŋ cn ʔəɬ hiyáʔən. ‘I go quickly.’ (remember §28.1)
In the first sentence x̣ʷə́ŋ is translated ‘can’ or ‘might’ or ‘it’s possible.’ In the second sentence x̣ʷə́ŋ means ‘quickly’ or ‘fast.’
► 5 The following table shows how the words differ in meaning in the construction with ʔiʔ and in other constructions:
| In ʔiʔ construction | In other constructions | |
| čəyáy | almost | barely |
| híc | long since | long duration |
| x̣ʷə́ŋ | possibly, might, can | quick, fast |
| húy̓ | probably | goodbye |
► 7 As an intensifier, húy̓ occurs only in the construction húy̓ caʔ kʷi ʔiʔ ..., as in the model.
► 8 The ʔiʔ in this construction looks and sounds like the ʔiʔ that means ‘and’ or ‘with’ (see §17.1), but it is not the same. The ʔiʔ in this construction is never to be translated as ‘and’ or ‘with.’
► 9 New vocabulary: kʷaʔšə́q ‘sigh’
 | híc cn ʔiʔ ʔúx̣ʷ ʔaʔsiʔáɬ | ‘It’s been a long time since I went to Seattle.’ |
 | hiyáʔ caʔn. x̣ʷə́ŋ u cxʷ ʔiʔ wáʔ. | ‘I’m going. Can you come along?’ |
| čən̓táŋ ʔay̓. | ‘When?’ |
| kʷɬčəyáy cn ʔiʔ ʔúx̣ʷ. | ‘I’m going soon.’ |