32.2. Lexical suffixes in compounds
| sx̣ɬáw̓txʷ | ‘hospital’ |
| ʔapələsíɬč | ‘apple tree’ |
| sxʷtaləháy | ‘purse’ |
| sxʷtaləháyəsən | ‘eyeglasses’ |
| nəxʷsƛ̓ay̓əmúcən cn. | ‘I speak Klallam.’ |
| ʔíyəqsən | ‘narrow point of land, land spit’ |
► 1 Each of the five models has a lexical suffix from the list given at the beginning of this section. Take a minute now to identify the suffixes.
► 2 In these models, the lexical suffix is not referring to the object of the verb. In these examples, the lexical suffix combines with the root to form a compound word with a new meaning. (English has compound words like ‘blackboard.’)
► 3 The first example, sx̣ɬáw̓txʷ ‘hospital,’ combines the root x̣ɬ ‘hurt, ache’ with the suffix ‑áw̓txʷ ‘house, building, room.’ So a ‘hurt‑house’ is a ‘hospital.’ Whenever you see a word ending in ‑áw̓txʷ it almost always refers to some kind of building or room.
► 4 The second example combines the root ʔápələs ‘apple’ (a word borrowed from English) with the ‘plant’ suffix ‑íɬč. Whenever you find a new word ending in ‑íɬč or ‑ɬč, you can bet that it refers to some kind of plant.
► 5 The third and fourth examples have the same root, tálə ‘money.’ There are several things that need to be said about these examples.
► 6 The first thing to note about the third and fourth examples is that when the root ends in a vowel (in this case ə) and the lexical suffix begins with a vowel (in these two cases a), an h automatically pops in between them: sxʷtaləháy, sxʷtaləháyəsən.
► 7 The third example has the lexical suffix ‑áy ‘container.’ It also has the prefix sxʷ‑. The prefix means something like ‘thing for, reason for.’ This prefix often appears on words with lexical suffixes when the meaning of the whole word refers to an item used for something. So here is the analysis of the third example:
sxʷ‑taləh‑áy
thing for‑money‑container ‘purse’
► 8 The fourth example also refers to an item used for something, ‘eyeglasses,’ so it too has the sxʷ‑ prefix. This sxʷ‑ prefix has several other uses. You will be learning more about it later (§51).
► 9 The fourth example has the suffix ‑ən, which occurs on many names for tools or items with a specific use.
► 10 The lexical suffix in the fourth example is ‑áyəs ‘eye.’ You may be wondering now what ‘money,’ tálə, has to do with ‘eyeglasses.’ There are two possible explanations for this. ‘Eyeglasses’ are eyes that cost money. Or, it could be explained by the fact that in the old days dollars were round and shiny, as were the lenses of eyeglasses. In any case, this example illustrates something very typical of compound words with lexical suffixes: often the meaning of the root is very obscure.
► 11 As another example, take the word púʔqʷɬč ‘devil’s club plant’ (used for walking sticks and for charcoal to make black face paint). This clearly has the ‘plant’ suffix, ‑ɬč, but the root, púʔqʷ, has no known meaning in modern Klallam aside from its use in this word. This is a very common occurrence.
► 12 The fifth model is a word that you are already well familiar with. This is an example of a lexical suffix that basically refers to a body part (‘mouth’ in this case) used with an extended meaning (‘language’ in this case). When a lexical suffix is used with an extended meaning, often the nəxʷ‑ prefix is present as it is in nəxʷsƛ̓ay̓əm̓úcən.
► 13 The sixth model is one more example of a word with an identifiable lexical suffix used in an extended meaning. The root, ʔíy, is obscure. Perhaps it is related to the word ʔə́y̓ ‘good.’ The suffix here is the ‘nose’ suffix. A narrow point of land is seen as a kind of ‘nose’ sticking out into the water. A broad point of land is seen as a kind of ‘chest’ sticking out into the water. The place name ʔiʔínəs has the ‑inəs ‘chest’ suffix with the same root.
 | nəxʷsƛ̓ay̓əmúcən u cxʷ. | ‘Do you speak Klallam?’ |
 | ʔáwə cn c nəxʷsƛ̓ay̓əmúcən. | ‘I don’t speak Klallam.’ |
| q̓áy̓x̣ cxʷ. nəxʷsƛ̓ay̓əmúcən q̓ə cxʷ! | ‘You’re lying. You do speak Klallam!’ |
| ʔuʔhúy ʔuʔ ƛ̓aƛ̓úƛ̓aʔ. | ‘It’s only a little.’ |