12.1. No and replies to yes/no questions
Models
| 1) | A: IȽEN E SW̱? | ‘Did you eat?’ |
| B: EWE. | ‘No.’ | |
| 2) | A: ȻONEṈET E SW̱? | ‘Did you run?’ |
| B: EWE SEN S ȻONEṈET. | ‘I didn’t run.’ | |
| 3) | A: ŚTEṈ E SW̱? | ‘Did you walk?’ |
| B: EWE. ITET SEN. | ‘No. I slept.’ |
‣ 1 Review §3.2 on yes/no questions.
‣ 2 In English, as in some other languages, you can answer a question like ‘Did you run?’ with what is called an echo response such as ‘Yes, I ran’ or ‘No, I didn’t run.’ In these responses, the answerer repeats the verb of the question back to the asker.
‣ 3 In SENĆOŦEN, EWE means ‘no.’ Unlike English, SENĆOŦEN does not use echo responses. SENĆOŦEN is like Klallam and Lushootseed, other Coast Salishan languages, and other languages of the world. To answer a question such as YÁ¸ E SW̱? ‘Did you go?’ you just answer with EWE ‘no’ if you didn’t. Or you could answer ‘I didn’t go’ without the ‘no.’ If the answer is ‘no,’ you could also tell the asker what you did instead and respond with something like ‘No, I stayed home.’ But you never say ‘No, I didn’t go.’
‣ 4 The basic word for ‘yes’ has several pronunciations: HÁÁ¸E, HÁÁ¸, ÁE, HÁE, HOO¸, and HÁE. You can also confirm a statement that somebody made with: M or HM. SENĆOŦEN elders also sometimes use YÁ ‘yeah,’ which is a word borrowed from English. This kind of variation is not unusual; think of the various ways to say ‘yes’ in English.
‣ 5 You don’t use an echo if the answer is ‘no,’ and also don’t use an echo if the answer is ‘yes.’ If someone asks you YÁ¸ E SW̱ and you want to say ‘yes,’ you just say HÁÁ¸E or M or one of the other variants.
‣ 6 Another way that SENĆOŦEN speakers answer a yes/no question is to simply state the facts. You can answer as YÁ¸ E SW̱ ‘Did you go?’ with YÁ¸ SEN ‘I went’ or EWE SEN S YÁ ‘I didn’t go.’
‣ 7 So we can state a general rule for SENĆOŦEN, the No Echo Rule:
Never echo back the question when answering a yes/no question with EWE or HÁ¸E.
 | IȽEN E SW̱ ¸E TŦE SĆÁÁNEW̱? | ‘Did you eat the salmon?’ |
 | EWE. IȽEN SEN ¸E TŦE SEPLIL. | ‘No. I ate the bread.’ |
| EN¸ SṮI¸ E TŦE SĆÁÁNEW̱? | ‘Do you want some salmon?’ |
| EWE. NE SṮI¸ OL. TŦE SEPLIL. | ‘No. I just want the bread.’ |
12.1A. Translate each of these questions into English then answer each in SENĆOŦEN in various ways.
1. XĆIT E SW̱. 2. NEḴEṈ E SW̱ HÁLE.
3. SÁ¸ET E SE¸ SW̱.
4. ȻONEṈET E ȽTE SE¸.
5. ȽIȾET E LE¸ SW̱ HÁLE.
6. ŚJET E SEN.
7. ȻENÁṈETES E LE¸.
8. NEḴEṈ E LE¸.
9. ŚTEṈ E LE¸ SW̱.
10. ȽÁU¸ E LE¸ ȽTE.
12.1B. Make up four other yes/no questions and answer each three different ways.