57 Rare Suffixes
Probably all languages have rare grammatical elements. In Klallam, rarity seems to be limited to these six suffixes. They can be rare for a number of reasons. It may be that over the years a suffix was found to be less useful and was abandoned for a new way of saying the same thing. Another possibility is that some sound change in the distant past of the language caused a suffix to be lost or obscured.
Borrowing is major source of rare elements. Words have come into Klallam from other languages. There are some from English, such lilút ‘train,’ which was borrowed from English ‘railroad’; some from Chinook Jargon, such as ləmətú ‘sheep,’ which Chinook Jargon got from French ‘le mouton’; and there are some from neighboring languages, such as miʔláləm ‘confess,’ which came into Klallam from the Twana language via the Shaker Church. There has always been much intermarriage among the tribes, and spouses from other tribes will bring some of their words with them and add them to the language of their new family. That is probably how the word sxʷƛ̓áləp ‘cooking pot’ came into Klallam from Lushootseed. It is likely that some of the suffixes discussed in this section are rare because they came with words that a great-great-grandmother brought with her when she married into a Klallam family.
The meanings of these suffixes are usually clear; they can be useful in creating new words for new speakers of the revitalized Klallam language.
| ʔncqʷáʔmən | ‘reddish’ |
| st̓əŋánəŋ | ‘drop accidentally’ |
| kʷaʔwəntiʔíct | ‘fighting over it’ |
| čə́saʔs | ‘second’ |
| ƛ̓q̓ʷtúy̓ | ‘stick together’ |
| tkʷúɬ | ‘break completely’ |
► 1 The first model shows a suffix that apparently means ‘almost’ and matches the ‘‑ish’ suffix in English. The stem in the first model is ʔənəcə́qʷ ‘red.’ Adding the ‑áʔmən suffix makes it ‘almost red’ or ‘reddish.’
► 2 The ‑áʔmən suffix has been recorded on only two other words: ʔənƛ̓ɬáʔmən and ɬčáʔmən. You can look those up in the Klallam Dictionary.
► 3 In the second model, the suffix ‑ánəŋ is attached to the word st̓ə́ŋ ‘drop down, settle, stumble’ and adds a meaning of ‘accidentally.’
► 4 The ‑ánəŋ suffix has been recorded on only two other words: cicxʷánəŋ and čqʷánəŋ.
► 5 The suffix in the third model is ‑ic. This suffix apparently means something like ‘about’ or ‘concerning.’ It precedes the transitive and would seem to fit into the category of suffixes like the benefactive (§45.2), which change the participant role of the object.
► 6 The stem for the word in the third model is kʷéʔwən̓tiʔ ‘fight with each other.’ The ‑ic-t adds the meaning ‘fight with each other over something.’
► 7 The ‑ic suffix seems like it would be very useful, but it has been recorded only on the one word shown in the model. This one word was used regularly by just one speaker, Tom Charles, who was from Becher Bay. None of the other elders used or even recognized this suffix. It may be a borrowing from some neighboring language. Or it may be a very old usage that has been lost to the other speakers.
► 8 The ‑s suffix shown in fourth model also seems like it would be useful. This is added to the word čə́saʔ ‘two’ to make the ordinal number ‘second.’
► 9 The ‑s suffix has been recorded only on this one word shown in the model. It was used by just one speaker, Lillian Charles, who was from Becher Bay. She was very clear about its use and meaning, but none of the other elders know or use it.
► 10 You might wonder how to express ordinal numbers like ‘first,’ ‘second,’ ‘third,’ ‘fourth,’ and so on in Klallam. Just use the number, as in hiyáʔ cə ɬíxʷ ‘the third one went.’
► 11 The ‑túy̓ suffix in the fifth model is used on very few words but is known to all of the native-speaking elders. This is used on a verb root to add the meaning ‘together’ or ‘along with.’
► 12 The ‑túy̓ suffix may be related in some obscure way to the reciprocal ‑ti suffix (§11.2.1). There is overlap in both meaning and form between the two.
► 13 An alternate form of the ‑túy̓ suffix is ‑stúy̓, as in č̓aʔc̓stúy̓.
► 14 The final model shows the suffix ‑uɬ attached to the root tkʷ ‘break’ (which occurs in tkʷə́t ‘break it’). The meaning of this suffix seems to be ‘completely’ or ‘thoroughly.’
► 15 The ‑uɬ suffix appears in only two words, but they are words known and used by all of the native-speaking elders. Added to the root tkʷ ‘break’ it means ‘break completely.’ Add it to the root k̓ʷən ‘see’ (as in k̓ʷə́nnəxʷ ‘see it’) to get k̓ʷənúɬ ‘observe, see and understand fully.’
 | ʔáwə či c kʷaʔwəntiʔíct! | ‘Don’t fight over it!’ |
 | ʔánəɬ caʔn. k̓ʷənúɬ cn. | ‘I’ll obey. I see and understand.’ |