42.1. The ‘actual’ glottal stop infix
| šúpt cn. | ‘I whistle.’ |
| šúʔpt cn. | ‘I am whistling.’ |
| ʔíɬən cn. | ‘I eat.’ |
| ʔéʔɬən̓ cn. | ‘I am eating.’ |
| ƛ̓ácu cn. | ‘I fish.’ |
| ƛ̓áʔcuʔ cn. | ‘I am fishing.’ |
| šə́wi cn. | ‘I grow.’ |
| šáʔwiʔ cn | ‘I am growing.’ |
► 1 A prefix attaches to the beginning of a word. A suffix attaches to the end of a word. Guess what an infix does.
► 2 The glottal stop infix in Klallam is inserted after the stressed vowel.
► 3 Now look at the first model. Inserting the ʔ after the ú in šúpt produces šúʔpt.
► 4 The vowel usually changes when this glottal stop is inserted. The vowel in šúpt sounds like the vowel in English ‘hoop.’ But the vowel in šúʔpt sounds more like the vowel in English ‘hope.’ Both are spelled the same in Klallam.
► 5 Look at the second model—the words for ‘eat’ and ‘eating.’ This model shows that the vowel í changes to é when it comes before the glottal stop infix.
► 6 The second model also shows that the n at the end also becomes glottalized—it becomes n̓. This is a general rule:
Any m, n, or ŋ in the word following the ‘actual’ infix becomes glottalized.
► 7 The rule given just above is followed by most fluent speakers, but some speakers, especially in quick, informal speech, do not do this. So, for example, ʔéʔɬən is as acceptable in informal speech as ʔéʔɬən̓.
► 8 Look at the third model—the word for ‘fishing.’ This shows that the á does not change.
► 9 The third and fourth models show another rule:
When a word ends in a vowel (a, i, u, or ə), insert a glottal stop at the end as well as an infix.
► 10 The fourth model also shows that the ə́ becomes á before the glottal stop infix.
► 11 The glottal stop infix is the most common form for the actual. Over 60 percent of words take the glottal stop infix.
► 12 Here is a good rule of thumb for using the glottal stop infix: if the stressed vowel is followed by two or more sounds (two consonants or a consonant and a vowel), then make the actual with a glottal stop infix after the stressed vowel.
► 13 Look at all of the models now and make sure that in each case the stressed vowel (of the nonactual, the plain form) is followed by two or more sounds.
► 14 New vocabulary (these all take the infix form of the actual): c̓ápt ‘bother someone’; c̓íxʷəŋ ‘feel chilly’; číx̣ʷt ‘break something up, take it apart’; túq̓ʷəŋ ‘cough’; wíqs ‘yawn’; swə́y̕tən ‘fishing gear’
 | ʔaʔstúʔŋət cxʷ ʔuč? | ‘What are you doing?’ |
 | ƛ̓áʔcuʔ cn. | ‘I’m fishing.’ |
| ʔáwənə ʔən̓swə́ytən. | ‘You have no fishing gear.’ |
| ó, níɬ kʷə sxʷʔáwənə nəsqə́čaʔ. | ‘Oh, that’s why I have no catch.’ |