Klallam Grammar

7.2. Object pronouns (subject not in control): -nəxʷ verbs

 Singular Plural
1-úŋəs‘me’-úŋɬ‘us’
2-úŋə‘you’-úŋə hay‘you folks’
3 ‘him, her, it’ ‘them’

kʷənaŋənúŋəs cxʷ.You help me.’
kʷənaŋənúŋəs cxʷ hay.You (pl.) help me.’
kʷənaŋənúŋɬ cxʷ.You help us.’
kʷənaŋənúŋɬ cxʷ hay.You (pl.) help us.’
kʷənaŋənúŋə cnhelp you.’
kʷənaŋənúŋə st.We help you.’
kʷənaŋənúŋə cn hay.help you (pl.).’
kʷənaŋənúŋə st hay.We help you (pl.).’
kʷənáŋənəxʷ cn.help him/her/it/them.’
kʷənáŋənəxʷ st.We help him/her/it/them.’
kʷənáŋənəxʷ cxʷ.You help him/her/it/them.’
kʷənáŋənəxʷ cxʷ hay.You (pl.) help him/her/it/them.’
kʷənáŋənəs.He/she/it/they help him/her/it/them.’
1  The meaning of each of the models here implies the notion of ‘manage to’ or ‘finally succeed in’ or ‘accidentally.’ The subject is not in complete control of the situation, but does succeed. This is the difference in meaning between these and the models in §7.1.
2  The noncontrol suffix is basically ‑nəxʷ. The əxʷ  drops when any other ending follows. So, for example, kʷənaŋənəxʷ + úŋə becomes kʷənaŋənúŋə.
3  The object ending meaning for ‘me’ is ‑úŋəs and for ‘you’ ‑úŋə.
4  When the root ends in n, the addition of the ‑nəxʷ ending puts two n’s together. These are usually pronounced as one long n sound, sometimes as one short n, but never as two separate n’s.
5  Verbs with these noncontrol endings are translated into English in several ways. The words in English that usually indicate that the noncontrol objects should be used in Klallam are ‘manage to,’ ‘accidentally,’ and ‘finally.’
6  The last of the models, kʷənáŋənəs, is grammatical but not often used. Usually the word for ‘he (etc.) helped him (etc.)’ is kʷənáŋənəŋ. Note that this form with the  ‑nəŋ ending is different from the rest. This is actually a passive form.
7  Notice that, just as with the control transitive, there is no example given for ‘he/she/it/they help me’ or for ‘he/she/it/they help us’ or for ‘he/she/it/they help you.’ A special construction is needed to translate such sentences. To express a first-person (‘me’, 'us') or second-person (‘you’) , Klallam uses the passive construction. The passive is discussed in detail in §31. Here we will just show the basic pattern:
          kʷənáŋənəŋ cn.                   ‘He/she/it/they help me.’
          kʷənáŋənəŋ st.                    ‘He/she/it/they help us.’
          kʷənáŋənəŋ cxʷ.                 ‘He/she/it/they help you.’
8  The basic form sometimes changes with the noncontrol endings. Compare this list with the list of transitive verbs in §1.2:
          ƛ̓kʷnáxʷ   ‘manage to take it’
          c̓čnáxʷ      ‘manage to wake it’
          x̣áčnəxʷ   ‘manage to dry it’
          ɬíc̓nəxʷ    ‘manage to cut it’
          šč̓náxʷ      ‘manage to hit it’
          sáʔənəxʷ    ‘manage to lift it’
          mísnəxʷ     ‘manage to choose it’
          x̣čnáxʷ      ‘manage to figure it out’
          tkʷnáxʷ     ‘manage to break it’
Note that some of these end with ‑náxʷ, while others end with ‑nəxʷ. As a rule, if the basic transitive ends in ‑ə́t with the stressed ə́, then the noncontrol transitive will end in ‑náxʷ. These words have ‘vowelless roots’ also called ‘zero stems.’ We’ll come back to this topic in a later section.
kʷənáŋənəxʷ u cxʷ cə ʔən̓sčáʔčaʔ.‘Did you help your friend?’
ʔáa.‘Yes.’
sáʔənəxʷ u yaʔ cxʷ hay cə snə́xʷɬs.‘Did you lift his canoe?’
ʔáwə. cx̣ə́t st.‘No. We pushed it.’

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