12.3. ‘Not’ with ‘I,’ ‘we,’ ‘you,’ past, future, and questions
Models
| 1) | YÁ¸ ȽTE. | ‘We go.’ |
| 2) | EWE ȽTE S YÁ¸. | ‘We do not go.’ |
| 3) | ȻENET SW̱. | ‘You take it.’ |
| 4) | EWE SW̱ S ȻENET. | ‘You do not take it.’ |
| 5) | ȻENÁL¸YEN SEN. | ‘I am captain.’ |
| 6) | EWE SEN S ȻENÁL¸YEN. | ‘I am not captain.’ |
| 7) | X̱EṈ SW̱ HÁLE. | ‘You folks are fast.’ |
| 8) | EWE SW̱ HÁLE S X̱EṈ. | ‘You folks are not fast.’ |
‣ 2 Notice that the subject meaning ‘I,’ ‘we,’ or ‘you’ comes directly after EWE, while the negated word comes at the end with the negative S in front of it.
‣ 3 The word EWE is really a verb meaning ‘to be not.’ It is possible to say EWE SEN meaning ‘I am not,’ ‘I did not,’ or ‘It’s not me.’
‣ 4 Look at the examples above and think about where the past marker LE¸ and the future marker SE¸ would go in each one.
‣ 5 Of course, past and future markers go in their usual place next to the subject marker. Study these negative past and future tense forms and notice that the negative S always comes just before the next word—the negated word:
EWE LE¸ ȽTE S YÁ¸. ‘We did not go.’
EWE SE¸ SW̱ S ȻENET. ‘You will not take it.’
EWE SEN SE¸ S ȻENÁL¸YEN. ‘I will not be captain.’
EWE LE¸ SW̱ HÁLE S X̱EṈ. ‘You folks were not fast.’
‣ 6 To make a negative yes/no question, simply put the yes/no marker after the EWE as with any other verb. Note that since EWE ends in a vowel, the yes/no marker is not E but ¸Á (see §3.2). Study these:
EWE ¸Á LE¸ ȽTE S YÁ¸. ‘Didn’t we go?’
EWE ¸Á SE¸ SW̱ S ȻENET. ‘Will you not take it?’
EWE ¸Á SEN SE¸ S ȻENÁL¸YEN. ‘Won’t I be captain?’
EWE ¸Á LE¸ SW̱ HÁLE S X̱EṈ. ‘Weren’t you folks fast?’
‣ 7 New vocabulary: ȻENÁL¸YEN ‘captain, owner of a reef net boat’
 | YÁ¸ E SE¸ SW̱ DOQ? | ‘Aren’t you going to go?’ |
 | EWE. U¸ O¸MET SEN. | ‘No. I’m staying home.’ |
| EN¸Á SEW¸Á¸. | ‘Come along.’ |
| EWE SEN SE¸ S YÁ¸. | ‘I’m not going to go.’ |
| 12.3A. Translate each of the following into English. 1. EWE SEN SE¸ S NEḴEṈ. 2. EWE LE¸ ȽTE S IȽEN. 3. EWE ¸Á LE¸ SW̱ S ȽÁU¸. 4. EWE¸Á S JISEṈ. 5. EWE ¸Á LE¸ S SOȽ. 6. EWE LE¸ SEN S QENET. 7. EWE ¸Á S TÁLE. 8. EWE S QENET. 9. EWE¸Á S ḰO¸. 10. EWE ¸Á LE¸ SW̱ HÁLE S QENNEW̱ TŦE NE TÁLE. | 12.3B. Translate each of the following into SENĆOŦEN. 1. Wasn’t it black? 2. He will not be strong. 3. Won’t we take it? 4. Didn’t I look at it? 5. You won’t see it. 6. Isn’t she strong? 7. It was not my house. 8. We didn’t lift the canoe. 9. It will not grow. 10. Didn’t you go? |
| 12.3C. Make up four more SENĆOŦEN sentences similar to those in exercise 12.3A. | |