Klallam Grammar

41.3. ʔaʔčtay ‘speculate,’ čakʷi ‘usual,’ hakʷ ‘why not,’ and kʷiči ‘independent’

kʷánəŋət čakʷi cə nəsčáʔčaʔ.‘My friend ran, as usual.’
kʷánəŋət ʔaʔčtay cə nəsčáʔčaʔ.I think my friend ran, but I’m not sure.’
kʷánəŋət hakʷ cə nəsčáʔčaʔ.Why doesn’t my friend run.’
kʷánəŋət kʷiči cə nəsčáʔčaʔ.‘My friend ran, without telling anyone.’

1 These four particles are not as frequently used as the other speech act particles.
2 The čakʷi particle is used by the speaker to indicate that the situation is routine, a regular and expected occurrence. It happened or is happening and has happened before. It gives some of the idea of the English phrase ‘there he goes again.’
3 With ʔaʔčtay the speaker is expressing curiosity similar to the way ‘I wonder’ or ‘I’m not sure’ is used in English. The way Adeline Smith described it is that when you use this particle, ‘It’s like you’re questioning yourself.’
4 The speech act particle in the third model, hakʷ, is used by a speaker to express a wonder that the situation is not different from the way it is. For example, hiyáʔ is ‘he/she goes’ and hiyáʔ hakʷ is ‘why doesn’t he/she go?’ or ‘I wonder why he/she doesn’t go.’ The English translation can be in the form of a question, but it is only a rhetorical question, not a real request for information.
5 The final speech act particle in this group is kʷiči. This is the one that is the least commonly used. It adds the information that the situation occurred and that the speaker had knowledge of it only after the fact and no control over it. The situation was independent of the speaker.
ʔaʔstúʔŋət q̕ cxʷ ʔuč.‘What are you doing?! ’
ʔúu, ɬáw̕ ʔaʔčtay cə nəpíšpš.‘Oh, I thought my cat ran away, but I’m not sure. ’
k̕ʷə́nt hakʷ cxʷ.‘Why don’t you look? ’
sxʷaʔk̕ʷíʔ čtə cə nəpíšpš x̣ʷənáŋ̕ ʔaʔ ʔə́c. ‘My cat is probably being crazy like me! ’
čəná! ʔáwənə šaʔ ʔən̕sx̣čít!‘Goodness! You obviously don’t know!’
ʔuʔəsx̣ʷaníŋ̕ u q ʔən̕sx̣čít.‘How would you know?’

 

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