16.1. ‘Do what?’ and ‘Say what?’
Models
| 1) | INET SW̱ OĆE? | ‘What did you say?’ |
| 2) | STOṈET SW̱ OĆE? | ‘What did you do?’ |
‣ 1 Unlike English, SENĆOŦEN has special words for asking ‘what’ someone is doing and ‘what’ someone says.
‣ 2 As with the other ‘what’ and ‘who’ questions, the little word OĆE follows the subject.
‣ 3 The word INET has a broader range of uses. INET SW̱ OĆE? can also be translated as ‘What do you mean?’
‣ 4 When INET has the S‑ noun prefix it can refer to something said or something called. Here are a couple of useful sentences using S¸INET:
SQȺ Ȼ NE S¸INET. ‘I have nothing to say.’ / ‘I can’t say anything.’
EN¸ S¸INET OĆE TŦE “fish?” ‘What do you call “fish?”’ / ‘What do you mean by “fish?”’
‣ 5 Instead of OĆE, it is acceptable to use another speech act modifier: ȻEĆÁ. While this particle is usually translated as ‘therefore’ (see §48), with INET, it is better translated as ‘so then’ as in INET SW̱ ȻEĆÁ? ‘So then, what did you say?’ or INET SEN ȻEĆÁ ‘So then, what do I say?’
‣ 6 The other question word here, STOṈET, also has a broader range of meanings. It can also mean ‘What’s the matter?’ or ‘What happened?’ STOṈET SW̱ OĆE? can also mean ‘What’s the matter with you?’ or ‘What happened to you?’ You could use a subject other than SW̱ ‘you,’ such as TŦE EN¸ SXENE¸ ‘your foot,’ as in STOṈET OĆE TŦE EN¸ SXENE¸ ‘What happened to your foot?’
‣ 7 Some speakers pronounce STOṈET as ESTOṈET.
‣ 8 Both STOṈET and INET are intransitive verbs.
 | STOṈET SW̱ OĆE? | ‘What are you doing?’ |
 | I¸ȽEN SEN ȻE¸. | ‘I’m eating.’ |
| INET SW̱ OĆE? | ‘What did you say?’ |
| I¸ȽEN SEN. EN¸ SṮI¸ E TŦE S¸IȽEN? | ‘I’m eating. Do you want food?’ |
| 16.1A. Translate each of the following into English. 1. STOṈET LE¸ SEN. 2. INET ȽTE SE¸. 3. STOṈET OĆE TŦE KÁ¸ṈI¸. 4. INET OĆE TŦE EN¸ TÁN. 5. ESTOṈET SW̱ HÁLE. 6. INET SEN SE¸. 7. STOṈET LE¸ SW̱ OĆE. 8. INET OĆE? | 16.1B. Translate each of the following into SENĆOŦEN. 1. What did you do? 2. What did he mean? 3. What will you do? 4. So then, what will I say? 5. What did your friend do? 6. What did my mother say? 7. What will we do? 8. What happened to your dog? |
| 16.1C. Make up four more sentences using STOṈET and four using INET. | |