49 Verbal Prefixes
We have already seen several of these verbal prefixes in §23.1. These were the prefixes ƛ̓aʔ‑ ‘go to,’ čšaʔ‑ ‘go from,’ ʔaʔ‑ ‘be at,’ and č‑ ‘be from.’ You will remember that when any of these prefixes is added to a specific place name, the result is a verb.
This short section covers four other common verbal prefixes found in the Klallam language.
| čə́q | ‘big’ | txʷaʔčə́q cn. | ‘I got big.’ |
| sʔíɬən | ‘food’ | txʷaʔsʔíɬən. | ‘It becomes food.’ |
| sqáx̣aʔ | ‘dog’ | čsqáx̣aʔ cn. | ‘I have a dog.’ |
| sʔíɬən | ‘food’ | čsʔíɬən cn. | ‘I have food.’ |
| sqáx̣aʔ | ‘dog’ | čɬsqáx̣aʔ cn. | ‘A dog attacked me.’ |
| šáʔš | ‘thirsty’ | čɬšáʔš cn. | ‘I die of thirst.’ |
| tíy | ‘tea’ | ʔəɬtíy cn. | ‘I drink tea.’ |
| músmus | ‘cow’ | ʔəɬmúsmus cn. | ‘I eat beef.’ |
► 1 The first two models show the prefix txʷaʔ‑. The basic meaning of this prefix is ‘become’ or ‘turn into.’ You can put this on any noun or adjective to create a verb meaning ‘become (whatever the stem means).’ So, as in the model, put txʷaʔ‑ on čə́q ‘big,’ and you get a verb meaning ‘become big.’
► 2 The suffix ‑ct/‑cút, covered in §46.1, can have a similar ‘become’ interpretation. However, as noted there, that refers to an internal change or a change that happens on its own. The prefix txʷaʔ‑ is not limited to change that is only internal. For example, txʷaʔčə́q ‘become big’ implies some external force making something big.
► 3 See §21 and compare the ‘become’ prefix with the similar-looking txʷ‑ prefix.
► 4 The second pair of models shows the prefix č‑. The basic meaning of this prefix is ‘have.’ Put this on any noun stem to create a verb meaning ‘have (whatever the noun means).’
► 5 There is a similar-looking prefix, č‑, that was covered in §23.1. That prefix occurs on place names and means ‘originate from.’ It is unlikely that these two prefixes would ever be confused, since, for example, čsqáx̣aʔ cn would never be interpreted as ‘I am from dog,’ and čʔéʔɬx̣ʷaʔ cn would never be understood as ‘I have Elwha.’
► 6 The third pair of models shows the prefix čɬ‑. The basic meaning of this prefix is a little harder to pin down. The closest we can come to a concise meaning is something like ‘be badly affected by.’ You can put this on any noun to make an intransitive verb meaning ‘badly affected by (whatever the noun means).’
► 7 The prefix čɬ‑ can mean ‘get attacked by’ or ‘get killed by’ as in the two models. It can also mean ‘be put in danger by’ or simply ‘have something bad done to by.’ For example, add it to skʷáči ‘day, sky, weather’ to get čɬskʷáči ‘get caught in bad weather.’ You can even put it on a proper name: čɬtím cn ‘Tim did it (something bad) to me.’
► 8 Note that the noun that čɬ‑ is attached to is interpreted as the agent. The subject of the newly created verb is the patient.
► 9 The fourth pair of models shows the prefix ʔəɬ‑. The basic meaning of this prefix is ‘consume, eat, drink, partake of.’ When you put this on a noun referring to something you can consume orally, it makes an intransitive verb meaning ‘consume (whatever the noun means).’
► 10 Note that this prefix ʔəɬ‑ always means ‘eat’ or ‘drink’ except with the word smánəš ‘tobacco.’ ʔəɬsmánəš means ‘smoke tobacco’ or ‘chew tobacco,’ not ‘eat tobacco.’
► 11 Note that, unlike čɬ‑, the noun that ʔəɬ‑ is attached to is interpreted as the patient. The subject of the newly created ʔəɬ‑ verb is the agent.
► 12 New vocabulary: qə́nxʷ ‘starvation’; kʷápi ‘coffee’
 | čaʔčɬpaʔpéʔšpš cn! | ‘I was just attacked by a kitten!’ |
 | sə́y̓siʔ u cxʷ ʔaʔ či paʔpéʔšpš. | ‘Are you scared of a kitten?’ |
| txʷaʔsƛ̓áyəqəm! | ‘It became a monster!’ |
| ʔə́y̓ caʔ či ʔən̓sʔítt. | ‘You should sleep.’ |