51 Nominalizing Prefixes
| čáy cn. | ‘I work.’ | nəsčáy | ‘my job’ |
| hiyí cn. | ‘I live.’ | nəshiyí | ‘my life’ |
| qʷiʔnə́wi st. | ‘We are talking.’ | nək̓ʷɬqʷiʔnə́wi | ‘the one I’m talking with’ |
| ʔíɬən cn. | ‘I eat.’ | nək̓ʷɬʔíɬən | ‘the one I eat with’ |
| hiyáʔ cn. | ‘I go.’ | nəsxʷhiyáʔ | ‘my reason for going’ |
| šč̓ətəŋ cn. | ‘I was hit.’ | nəsxʷšč̓ə́təŋ | ‘what I was hit with’ or ‘my reason for being hit’ |
► 1 The first two models show the s‑ nominalizer. This is the most common and useful prefix in the Klallam language. It forms an important part of many constructions. You have certainly encountered it before: §10.3, §18.1, §20.3, §22.1, §24.3, §28.1, §34, §35.2, §38.2 have all made crucial reference to this s‑ nominalizer.
► 2 In Klallam, it is not grammatical to add a possessive prefix or suffix directly to a verb. For example, *nəčáy is just wrong. If you want to talk about anyone’s work, you first have to add the s‑ nominalizer to get sčáy ‘work, job’ to make it a noun, then add the nə‑ or other possessive pronoun.
► 3 Unlike the other two nominalizers covered in this section, the s‑ prefix has no meaning itself. It just has the simple grammatical function of turning a verb into a noun.
► 4 You can find many examples of this prefix in the Klallam Dictionary. Many words translate into English as distinct nouns: čáy ‘work’ and sčáy ‘job,’ hiyí ‘live’ and shiyí ‘life,’ ʔíɬən ‘eat’ and sʔíɬən ‘food,’ ʔíc̓əŋ ‘get dressed’ and sʔíc̓əŋ ‘clothes.’ For others, English has no direct equivalent noun. When, for example, the s‑ is added to čə́q ‘big,’ the result sčə́q means ‘big one’ or ‘a person or anything that is big.’
► 5 Many words with the s‑ prefix do not have such direct noun translations in English. For example, skʷənəsə́yuʔ ‘be thrown away,’ has the root kʷan ‘throw away,’ but it is not used as a noun. When a word with the s‑ prefix is used as a verb, it is typically translated like a passive. For example, sʔíɬən cn means ‘I was eaten up (by mosquitos),’ not ‘I am food.’ In this case, the s‑ prefixed word can even have the ‘actual’ (§42) infix: sʔéʔɬən̓ cn ‘I’m being eaten up.’
► 6 While most words with the s‑ prefix are nouns derived from verbs and adjectives, many words always have the prefix and never occur as verbs or adjectives. These are some of the most common words in the language. A few examples are sɬániʔ ‘woman,’ swə́y̓qaʔ ‘man,’ and sqáx̣aʔ ‘dog.’
► 7 The second pair of models shows the k̓ʷɬ‑ prefix. This prefix turns a verb or adjective into a noun, but unlike the s‑ prefix, this one adds meaning. Add k̓ʷɬ‑ to a verb to get a noun referring to someone or something that accompanies.
► 8 The k̓ʷɬ‑ prefix is very similar in meaning to the ‘co‑’ prefix in English, as in ‘coworker.’ In fact, just add the prefix to čáy ‘work’ to get k̓ʷɬčáy ‘coworker.’ This word can now take a possessive prefix or suffix without requiring the s‑ prefix: nək̓ʷɬčáy ‘my coworker.’
► 9 The k̓ʷɬ‑ prefix is usually translated ‘with,’ as in the models. The word nək̓ʷɬčáy, mentioned in the previous feather, can also be translated ‘the one I work with.’
► 10 The sxʷ‑ prefix has been mentioned in connection with several constructions: §23.4, §32.2, §38.1, and §39.2. It would be a good idea to go to those sections now and review how the sxʷ‑ prefix is used there.
► 11 The sxʷ‑ prefix means ‘thing for, reason for’ and appears in many words outside of the constructions covered earlier. For example, put it on ƛ̓áʔcuʔ ‘fishing’ to get a word sxʷƛ̓áʔcuʔ that can mean ‘something for fishing’ or ‘fishing area’ or ‘reason for fishing.’ There are many examples of this prefix listed in the Klallam Dictionary. Browse through those to get a better idea of the range of use for this prefix.
 | ʔáwənə nək̓ʷɬčáy. | ‘I have nobody to work with.’ |
 | ʔáwənə nəsčáy. | ‘I don’t have a job.’ |
| nək̓ʷɬčáy q cxʷ. | ‘You could be my coworker.’ |
| nəsxʷšaʔšúʔɬ cə ʔən̓sqʷáy. | ‘Your words make me glad.’ |