33.1. Infix -əy̕- or -aʔy-
| sqáx̣aʔ | ‘dog’ | sqəy̓áx̣aʔ | ‘dogs’ |
| cáčc | ‘uncle, aunt’ | cəy̓áčc | ‘uncles, aunts’ |
| číkən | ‘chicken’ | čəy̓íkən | ‘chickens’ |
| músmus | ‘cow’ | məy̓úsmus | ‘cows’ |
| tán | ‘mother’ | təy̓án | ‘mothers’ |
| c̓ísən | ‘nail’ | c̓əy̓ísən | ‘nails’ |
| ƛ̓aʔƛ̓úƛ̓aʔ | ‘small’ | ƛ̓əy̓aʔƛ̓úƛ̓aʔ | ‘they’re small’ |
| čxʷə́yuʔ | ‘whale’ | čəy̓əxʷə́yuʔ | ‘whales’ |
| x̣páy̓ | ‘cedar’ | x̣əy̓əpáy̓ | ‘bunch of cedar’ |
| tkʷə́təŋ | ‘is broken’ | təy̓əkʷə́təŋ | ‘are broken’ |
► 1 You are already familiar with prefixes—they go at the beginning of a word—and suffixes—they go at the end of a word. Klallam and many other languages around the world also have something called infixes. Infixes, as you might guess, go into the word.
► 2 The most common way of making a plural in Klallam is with an infix. Around 80 percent of plurals in Klallam are marked by an infix.
► 3 This infix has two common pronunciations: ‑əy̓‑, as shown in the models, or ‑aʔy‑. So, for example, the plural of sqáx̣aʔ can be pronounced sqəy̓áx̣əʔ or sqaʔyáx̣aʔ.
► 4 There are several forms of the plural infix. The ‑əy̓‑/-aʔy- infix is by far the most common of the plural infix forms. More than half of the plural infixes have the form ‑əy̓‑/-aʔy-. In the following sections we’ll cover the other infix forms.
► 5 If you come across a new Klallam word and do not know the plural, use the ‑əy̓‑/-aʔy- infix. Since it is so common, it’s a good bet that ‑əy̓‑/-aʔy- is right. Furthermore, the ‑əy̓‑/-aʔy- form of the infix is the plural form used with new words and those borrowed from English. A good example of this is the word for ‘chicken,’ shown in the models.
► 6 So where, exactly, into the word does the ‑əy̓‑ or -aʔy- go? Take a close look at the models and see if you can figure out where the infix goes.
► 7 The ‑əy̓‑/-aʔy- infix always goes right after the first consonant of the root. When the word begins with an s followed by a consonant, as in sqáx̣aʔ, the s is ignored.
► 8 There are various pronunciations of the ‑əy̓‑/-aʔy- infix besides those two already mentioned. Often the glottalization on the y̓ drops, so čəy̓íkən can be pronounced čəyíkən. For some speakers, the ə of the infix can sound like a or i, so čəy̓íkən can sound like čayíkən or čiyíkən. Although čəy̓íkən or čaʔyíkən can be considered basic pronunciations, all of these pronunciations are correct, depending mostly on how fast you are speaking.
► 9 The ‑əy̓‑/-aʔy- infix has a special pronunciation when the root begins with two consonants. Look at the last three of the models. Each of these, čx̣ʷə́yuʔ, x̣páy̓, and tkʷə́təŋ, has a root beginning with two consonants. In words such as these, the ‑əy̓‑ or -aʔy- is placed after the first consonant, as usual. In addition, it is followed by another ə to produce čəy̓əx̣ʷə́yuʔ or čaʔyəx̣ʷə́yuʔ, x̣əy̓əpáy̓ or x̣aʔyəpáy̓, and təy̓əkʷə́təŋ or taʔyəkʷə́təŋ. All words with roots beginning with two consonants work this way.
► 10 Note that in English, adjectives like ‘small’ and verbs like ‘to break’ cannot be pluralized. In Klallam, however, they can. When an adjective like ƛ̓aʔƛ̓úƛ̓aʔ ‘small’ is plural in Klallam, it refers to a bunch of things that have that quality. When a verb like tkʷə́təŋ ‘to be broken’ is plural in Klallam, it refers to a bunch of things doing the action, or the action happening a number of times.
► 11 In English there is a class of nouns, usually called ‘mass nouns,’ that cannot be pluralized. For example, in English if we want to talk about a bunch of cedar wood, we cannot use ‘*cedar woods.’ Klallam has no class of ‘mass noun,’ as English does. Any type of word can be pluralized in Klallam. So in Klallam the word x̣páy̓ refers to ‘cedar wood’ and does not mean ‘cedar tree.’ The word for ‘cedar tree’ is x̣pay̓íɬč. The plural of x̣páy̓ is x̣əy̓əpáy̓ or x̣aʔyəpáy̓ and means ‘a bunch of cedar wood.’ The plural of x̣pay̓íɬč is x̣aʔyəčáʔčɬč and means ‘a group of cedar trees.’
 | təy̓əkʷə́təŋ yaʔ cə nəsnə́xʷɬ. | ‘My canoe broke up.’ |
 | x̣ʷə́ŋ u cxʷ ʔiʔ ʔəx̣téʔt ʔaʔ či c̓ísən. | ‘Can you fix it with a nail?’ |
| mán̓ caʔ ʔuʔ ŋə́n̓ cə c̓əy̓ísən! | ‘It’ll be a whole lot of nails!’ |
| ččát caʔ st cə x̣ə́w̓əs snə́xʷɬ. | ‘We’ll build a new canoe.’ |