52.2. ʔəɬ- ‘part’ and nəxʷ- ‘location’
| ʔəɬčə́x̣ cn nəxʷsƛ̓áy̓əm̓. | ‘I am half Klallam.’ |
| nəxʷc̓áʔkʷt. | ‘Wash it inside.’ |
| nəxʷʔač̓úst cn. | ‘I wiped his (the baby’s) face.’ |
| nəxʷtə́q cə súɬ. | ‘The door is always closed.’ |
| nəxʷcəʔítqən. | ‘She/he is honest.’ |
| suʔxʷyəc̓ə́ts. | ‘So they filled it.’ |
► 1 The ʔəɬ‑ prefix is not common. When it occurs, it indicates a part of something. The verb in the model ʔəɬčə́x̣ can be translated ‘half,’ but the root čə́x̣ means ‘rip, tear.’ So, with the prefix, it can be literally translated ‘part torn.’ Use the Klallam Dictionary to look up the prefix and see more examples.
► 2 The ʔəɬ‑ prefix is also often pronounced ʔɬ- or simply ɬ-.
► 3 There is another prefix with the same form: ʔəɬ‑ ‘consume,’ which was covered in §49. These two prefixes are, apparently, not related at all.
► 4 The other prefix covered here is much more common and has a greater variety of meanings. This nəxʷ‑ prefix is often called ‘location’ or ‘locative,’ but that idea covers only part of it.
► 5 The ‘location’ meaning can be seen most clearly in the first nəxʷ‑ model. The stem of nəxʷc̓áʔkʷt is c̓áʔkʷt ‘wash it.’ The nəxʷ‑ prefix adds the ‘inside’ location notion.
► 6 The nəxʷ‑ prefix occurs frequently on stems with lexical suffixes (§32.2). In these cases, the ‘location’ meaning is not always clear. The second nəxʷ‑ example, nəxʷʔač̓úst, has the prefix with the root ʔač̓ ‘wipe,’ the lexical suffix -us ‘face,’ and the transitive ‑t suffix. The ‘location’ idea comes in here because it is the baby’s face that is the location of the wiping.
► 7 Sometimes the nəxʷ‑ prefix adds a meaning of completeness or permanence. In the next model, nəxʷtə́q, the prefix is added to the root tə́q, which means ‘closed.’ tə́q cə súɬ, without the prefix, means ‘the road is closed.’ The nəxʷ‑ prefix adds the idea that the road is permanently closed.
► 8 The fifth model sentence has all of the meanings and uses together in one word. The nəxʷ‑ prefix is followed by the root cəʔít ‘true’ and the lexical suffix ‑qən ‘voice, speech.’ Here we have the prefix in combination with a lexical suffix, the ‘location’ notion is in the idea of ‘true in speech,’ and the ‘permanence’ idea gives the complete concept of ‘honest.’
► 9 The nəxʷ‑ prefix is often omitted when the meaning with the lexical suffix is clear. For example, the model nəxʷʔač̓úst cn could also be ʔač̓úst cn with no change of meaning.
► 10 The nəxʷ‑ prefix is sometimes pronounced simply xʷ‑, especially when another prefix comes before it, as in the final model.
 | nəxʷsƛ̓áy̓əm̓ cn. | ‘I’m Klallam.’ |
 | cəʔít u? | ‘Is that true?’ |
| ʔəɬčə́x̣ cn nəxʷsƛ̓áy̓əm̓. | ‘I’m half Klallam.’ |
| mán̓ cxʷ ʔuʔ nəxʷcəʔítqən. | ‘You are very honest.’ |