30.1. Subordinate conditional: kʷaʔ ____
| xʷítəŋ cxʷ kʷaʔ šúptən. | ‘You jump if I whistle.’ |
| xʷítəŋ cxʷ kʷaʔ šúptəɬ. | ‘You jump if we whistle.’ |
| xʷítəŋ cn kʷaʔ šúptəxʷ. | ‘I jump if you whistle.’ |
| xʷítəŋ cn kʷaʔ šúptəxʷ hay. | ‘I jump if you folks whistle.’ |
| xʷítəŋ cxʷ kʷaʔ šúptəs. | ‘You jump if he/she/they whistle.’ |
► 1 Review §27 on ‘while’ clauses. The little word kʷaʔ works in a similar way to ʔəɬ ‘while.’ They both introduce a subordinate clause that uses the subordinate subject pronoun suffixes. These were introduced in §13. Here they are again:
Subordinate subject pronouns
| Singular | Plural | |||
| 1 | ‑ən | ‘I’ | ‑əɬ | ‘we’ |
| 2 | ‑əxʷ | ‘you’ | ‑əxʷ hay | ‘you folks’ |
| 3 | ‑əs | ‘he, she, it’ | ‑əs | ‘they’ |
main event kʷaʔ condition event
The main event has the main clause subject, while the condition event has the subordinate clause subject.
► 3 In English it is possible to put the conditional clause first, as in ‘If I whistle, you jump.’ This is also possible with the subordinate conditional in Klallam. In that case, the following ‘then’ clause is preceded by the conjunction ʔiʔ: kʷaʔ šúptən ʔiʔ xʷítəŋ cxʷ. However, that construction is not common; it can occur only in the first sentences of a narrative. Usually, if you want to put the condition first in Klallam, you have to use a different construction, as described in §30.2.
► 4 In each of the models, the ‘if’ of the translation could be replaced with ‘when.’ For example, xʷítəŋ cxʷ kʷaʔ šúptən can also be translated ‘You jump when I whistle.’
► 5 Note the difference between ʔəɬ and kʷaʔ. With ʔəɬ, the event in the subordinate clause is occurring at the same time as the event in the main clause. With kʷaʔ, on the other hand, the event in the subordinate clause is a condition for (and happens before) the event in the main clause.
► 6 Although in these sentences it is possible to translate kʷaʔ as ‘if’ or ‘when,’ in §37.1 you will see that kʷaʔ has a more general function as the introducer of subordinate clauses that do not easily translate as ‘if, when.’
► 7 This is the same kʷaʔ that was introduced in §17.3 in a construction used to express ‘or.’ Take a look again at those sentences in §17.3 with kʷaʔ. You should be able to see a connection between those and the use of kʷaʔ in condition clauses.
► 8 New vocabulary: sƛ̓áyəqəm ‘monster’; ɬə́məxʷ ‘rain’
 | hiʔswáʔ cn kʷaʔ hiyáʔəxʷ. | ‘I’ll go along when you go.’ |
 | ʔə́y̓. kʷɬčəyáy cn ʔiʔ hiyáʔ. | ‘Good. I’ll go soon.’ |
| yéʔkʷsəŋ caʔn. | ‘I’ll get ready.’ |
| hiyáʔ st kʷaʔ húyən. | ‘We’ll go when I finish.’ |