Klallam Grammar

43 State, Result, and Duration

This section covers a prefix, an infix, and a suffix that usually occur together and whose meanings are similar. These do not make for complicated constructions, but understanding them and knowing how they work will increase your active Klallam vocabulary and improve your ability to figure out new words that you haven’t seen before.
1.ʔíɬən‘eat’ʔəsʔíɬən‘got food’
 sáy̓siʔ‘get scared’ʔəssáy̓siʔ‘be afraid’
2.xʷə́č̓‘wedge in’xʷáč̓‘be between’
 x̣ə́ɬ‘get hurt’x̣áɬ‘be hurt’
3.šə́wi‘grow’šə́wiɬ‘grown up’
 kʷənáŋət‘help someone’kʷənáŋəɬ‘help, support’
4.čə́qʷ‘burn’čáqʷɬ‘on fire’
 ƛ̓ə́č‘under’ƛ̓áčɬ‘deep, at the bottom’
5.t̓ə́ŋ̓k̓ʷ‘mix among’ʔəst̓áŋ̓k̓ʷ‘mixed in’
 qʷə́ɬ‘drift ashore’ʔəsqʷáɬ‘on the beach’
6.x̣áčəŋ‘to dry’ʔəsx̣áčɬ‘dried, preserved’
 xʷáŋ‘get down’ʔəsxʷáɬ‘be down’
7.tə́kʷ‘break’ʔəstákʷɬ‘broken’
 hák̓ʷ‘remember’ʔəsháhək̓ʷɬ‘remembered’
 
► 1 The models show seven pairs of examples. Here is how they are arranged:
               1. The first pair have the stative ʔəs‑ added alone.
               2. The second pair have the resultative á added alone.
               3. The third pair have the durative ‑ɬ added alone.
               4. The fourth pair have the resultative á and the durative ‑ɬ.
               5. The fifth pair have the stative ʔəs‑ and the resultative á.
               6. The sixth pair have the stative ʔəs‑ and the durative ‑ɬ.
               7. The final pair have all three.
► 2 The stative prefix ʔəs‑ marks a completed state. The first two models, based on ʔíɬən ‘eat’ and sáy̓siʔ ‘get scared,’ show the basic stative meaning. Adding the ʔəs‑ stative prefix gives a word that refers to a state of being. So ʔəsʔíɬən refers to the state of having eaten, and ʔəssáy̓siʔ refers to the state of having gotten scared.
► 3 The resultative is marked by a vowel change that can be thought of as an infix. In the second two models, the ə of the stem is replaced by a. This vowel change indicates a resultant state. In the models, ‘be between,’ xʷáč̓, is the result of being wedged in, xʷə́č̓. And ‘be hurt,’ x̣áɬ, is the result of getting hurt, x̣ə́ɬ.
► 4 The durative is marked by the suffix ‑ɬ. This adds a meaning of duration—the situation or state lasts for some time. In the third set of models, šə́wi ‘grow’ becomes šə́wiɬ ‘grown up,’ which is a situation that is enduring. The root of kʷənáŋət ‘help someone’ does not occur alone, but with the durative ‑ɬ suffix it becomes kʷənáŋəɬ, which refers to a situation of support lasting some time.
► 5 The fourth pair shows the resultative and durative in combination. For example, the word čáqʷɬ ‘on fire’ is a result of burning, čə́qʷ, that has duration.
► 6 The fifth pair shows the stative combined with the resultative. For example, ʔəst̓áŋ̓k̓ʷ ‘mixed in’ refers to a state that is the result of being mixed.
► 7 The sixth pair shows the stative with the resultative. For example, ʔəsx̣áčɬ ‘dried, preserved’ refers to a state that has duration.
► 8 The seventh pair shows the stative, resultative, and durative all in the same word. The example ʔəstákʷɬ ‘broken’ is a completed state that is the result of breaking that lasts some duration.
► 9 The final model, ʔəsháhək̓ʷɬ ‘remembered,’ has all three, but the resultative has a different form from the other models. In this case, the resultative is marked by reduplication rather than vowel change. The first consonant and vowel of the root hák̓ʷ is copied, and the first vowel takes the stress. So hák̓ʷ becomes háhək̓ʷ with the resultative. Schematically this is:
               C1VC2 → C1VC1əC2
(C1 is the first consonant, C2 is the second, and V is the stressed vowel).
► 10 So there are two forms of the resultative: vowel change and reduplication. It is possible to predict which words will get which form. Before looking at the next feather, look at the roots of the resultatives in pairs 2, 4, 5, and the first root of pair 7 (čə́qʷ, ƛ̓ə́č, t̓ə́ŋ̓k̓ʷ, qʷə́ɬ, and tə́kʷ). What do they have in common that makes them different from the root in the last one (hák̓ʷ)?
► 11 The roots in pairs 2, 4, 5, and the first root of pair 7 all have a stressed schwa (ə́). The last one has a stressed á. So the rule making the resultative is:
If the stressed vowel of the root is ə́, change it to á; if the stressed vowel is not ə́, apply the reduplication.
► 12 There is great similarity in the meaning of these three: completed state (ʔəs‑), resulting state (á or reduplication), and enduring state (‑ɬ). They each refer to a different aspect of a state of being. Because of this similarity, they usually occur together. In fact, forms like those in model pairs 1 through 6 are hard to find. Forms like those in the model pair number 7 are very common.
ʔəstákʷɬ cə nəx̣ʷúʔŋət.‘My paddle is broken.’
čúkʷs kʷi cə nəskʷáʔ.‘Use mine.’
ʔə́wənə ʔən̓x̣ʷúʔŋət.‘You have no paddle.’
níɬ kʷə nəx̣ʷúʔŋət ʔəskʷáʔət.‘That’s my paddle in the stern.’

 

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