41.1. č̓ ‘hearsay,’ iq ‘wish,’ ixʷ ‘guess,’ ʔuʔčə ‘must,’ and q̓ ‘emphatic’
kʷánəŋət č̓ cə nəsčáʔčaʔ. | ‘I heard that my friend ran.’ |
kʷánəŋət iq cə nəsčáʔčaʔ. | ‘I wish my friend ran.’ |
kʷánəŋət ixʷ cə nəsčáʔčaʔ. | ‘I guess my friend ran.’ |
kʷánəŋət ʔuʔčə cə nəsčáʔčaʔ. | ‘My friend must have run.’ |
kʷánəŋət q̓ cə nəsčáʔčaʔ. | ‘My friend really ran!’ |
► 1 The English translations of this set of Klallam speech act particles are primarily adverbs.
► 2 The particle č̓ is used when the speaker wants to let the addressee know that the speaker knows about the event only through hearing about it. It is used often in stories that are legends or fairy tales handed down through the generations. This can be translated with English ‘apparently,’ ‘evidently,’ or ‘they say.’
► 3 The iq particle is used when the speaker believes that the event is not true and wants the addressee to know that he or she desires the event to be true. This is almost always translated with English ‘I wish.’
► 4 The iq particle is also pronounced yəq, especially in the older recordings of Klallam. Also, some speakers sometimes pronounce this iqɬ.
► 5 The ixʷ particle is used when the speaker wants the addressee to know that he or she is speculating or guessing that the event is true. It can be translated with ‘I guess’ or ‘must have.’ For example, the third model could be also be translated ‘My friend must have run.’
► 6 The ixʷ particle is also pronounced yəxʷ, especially in the older recordings of Klallam.
► 7 The ʔuʔčə particle is used when the speaker wants to give an estimate based on his or her best knowledge. The speaker uses this one to indicate that he or she is pretty sure the statement is true. It best translates into English as ‘must be’ or ‘must have been.’ Here is an example: ŋús ʔuʔčə skʷáči ‘it must have been four days.’ This sentence was used to describe how long the swelling lasted after an injury. Note that in English ‘must’ can also mean ‘have to’ or ‘be obliged to’ or ‘be required to.’ The ʔuʔčə particle never indicates this kind of obligation or requirement.
► 8 The q̓ particle, also pronounced q̓ə, is used when the speaker wants the addressee to know that he or she is impressed and surprised that the event happened. This particle adds a lot of emphasis to the statement. There are lots of ways to translate this into English, such as ‘really!’ ‘indeed!’ or ‘man!’
![]() | ŋə́n̓ č̓ tálə cə sɬániʔ. | ‘That lady apparently has lots of money.’ |
![]() | siʔám̓ čtə. | ‘She’s probably rich.’ |
![]() | čə́q q̓ə cə ʔáʔyəŋs. | ‘She has a really big house!’ |
![]() | stáŋ ʔuč cə snás. | ‘What is her name?’ |