Introduction: How to Use This Grammar
These sections are designed to be studied in order, but the teacher may want to experiment with some of the later sections. For example, sections §38 and §39 on ‘why’ questions and answers could be covered right after section §15, on focus pronouns. Most of the material and many of the exercises in later sections depend on the mastery of the early sections. Although it is possible to jump around in sections to look up particular ways of expressing ideas, ideally you would do all of the exercises and understand each section before moving on to the next. In any case, the sections 1 through 8 are fundamental and should be mastered before trying to understand the later material. After those chapters you can skip around to study points of grammar that interest you. In each section you will find cross-references to other relevant sections that will help orient you.
Most sections have these five components: Introduction, Models, Feathers, qʷiʔnə́wi, and Exercises.
The Introduction presents an overview of the grammatical points made in the section. It sets the stage for the Klallam grammar by comparing Klallam to English and often introduces special terms for talking about grammar. The introduction has important grammatical information about the Klallam language. You should study the introduction to each section very carefully. Do not just skip over it.
The Models appear after the Introduction in a box. They illustrate the basic grammatical points of the section. You should study the models carefully and memorize them. You can hear the models spoken on the Klallam language web site. Listen carefully to the recorded models and try to imitate the recordings exactly.
The Feathers comment on the models and provide detailed explanations of the grammatical points. The Feathers are the heart of these sections and should be studied very carefully.
The qʷiʔnə́wi section appears in a double box after the Feathers and before the Exercises. The word qʷiʔnə́wi in Klallam means ‘talking together.’ In this double box you will find a short—usually four lines—dialogue. This illustrates a natural conversation between two people (snə́xʷɬ with a canoe icon, and x̣ʷúʔŋət with a paddle icon) using the points of grammar introduced in the section and other useful conversational phrases. The qʷiʔnə́wi, especially in the earlier lessons, often contains grammatical constructions that have not yet been explained. Everything will be explained by the end of the book. You should memorize these dialogues, use them, play with them, and expand on them. You can hear them spoken on the Klallam language web site.
The Exercises are to help make Klallam grammar a part of you. As you work through the Exercises from beginning to end, you will notice a lot of repetition. Repeated exposure to the same elements of grammar will help fix them in your mind. If you really want to know the language, try to do all of the Exercises, even if they seem repetitive. Of couse, if you are just interested in knowing something about the language, you can just browse through the Exercises.
The Exercises are based on a very limited set of words. The first ten or so sections use a basic vocabulary of fifteen nouns, twenty-one verbs, and eleven adjectives. After that, new vocabulary is added a few words at a time. The idea of using this limited vocabulary is that it allows the student to focus on the grammatical points introduced in the sections. If you thoroughly memorize these few words as they are introduced, you will have a much easier time learning the grammar. Use the Klallam Dictionary to expand your vocabulary beyond that used in the Exercises.
While most of this grammatical description is about what can be said in Klallam, it is occasionally useful to discuss what cannot be said in the language–things that may seem to make sense but sound bad to a native speaker. When it is necessary to illustrate a sentence or word that is ungrammatical, this book follows the standard linguistic practice of placing an asterisk (*) in front of the word or sentence that is considered wrong by native speakers.
A word of advice: Please, do not get discouraged! The Klallam language is very different from English and the other European languages. This difference makes Klallam a rather tougher language to learn for an English speaker than, say, French, which shares a lot of grammar and vocabulary with English. Do not expect learning Klallam to be easy or to happen overnight. The richness of the Klallam words and grammatical patterns are the result of thousands of years of development by the ancestors of today’s Klallam people. Remind yourself that preserving this beautiful and complex part of the Klallam heritage makes the struggle to learn it worth every effort.