38.2. ‘Why’ with s-
| ʔaʔstúʔŋət kʷaʔčaʔ kʷi nəshiyáʔ. | ‘Why did I go?’ |
| ʔaʔstúʔŋət kʷaʔčaʔ kʷi ʔən̓shiyáʔ. | ‘Why did you go?’ |
| ʔaʔstúʔŋət kʷaʔčaʔ kʷi ʔən̓shiyáʔ hay. | ‘Why did you folks go?’ |
| ʔaʔstúʔŋət kʷaʔčaʔ kʷi shiyáʔɬ. | ‘Why did we go?’ |
| ʔaʔstúʔŋət kʷaʔčaʔ kʷi shiyáʔs. | ‘Why did he/she/it/they go?’ |
► 1 This pattern is very similar to the pattern shown in §38.1. Compare them now and look for the differences.
► 2 One difference is that this pattern uses the s‑ prefix rather than sxʷ‑.
► 3 The other difference is that an article is required before the clause being asked about. In these models the article is kʷi because all of the English translations are in the past. If we were asking about the future, či would be the article to use:
ʔaʔstúʔŋət kʷaʔčaʔ či ʔən̓shiyáʔ. ‘Why will you go?’
► 4 There is, apparently, no difference in meaning between this pattern and the pattern in §38.1.
 | ʔaʔstúʔŋət kʷaʔčə či ʔən̓sšč̓ə́c. | ‘Why did you hit me?’ |
 | ʔəsx̣áʔəs cxʷ. | ‘You’re bad.’ |
| ʔáwə cn c ʔəsx̣áʔəs. | ‘I’m not bad.’ |
| níɬ kʷaʔčə suʔə́cs ʔəsx̣áʔəs. | ‘Then it’s me that’s bad.’ |