SENĆOŦEN: A Grammar of the Saanich Language Main Menu Contents Preface Acknowledgments PART 1 Introduction The organization of this grammar The Place of SENĆOŦEN in the Salishan Language Family Basics of the SENĆOŦEN word Useful phrases PART 2 The SENĆOŦEN Alphabet and Sounds Consonants Vowels and Diphthongs Notes on Pronunciation PART 3 SENĆOŦEN Grammatical Patterns 1 Transitive and Intransitive Verbs 2 Past and Future Tense 3 Basic Speech Acts 4 Nouns and Articles 5 Possessive Pronouns 6 Adjectives 7 Basic Word Order 8 The Preposition 9 Serial Verbs 10 Auxiliaries 11 Conjunction: ‘And/with’ and ‘but/without’ 12 No and Not 13 Self and Each Other 14 More Negative Words 15 Questions: ‘Who?,’ ‘What?,’ ‘Someone,’ ‘Something’ 16 Questions: ‘Do what?,’ ‘Say what?,’ and ‘Which one?’ 17 Subordinate Subjects in Questions 18 Questions: ‘Whose?’ 19 Every, All, Any, and Some 20 Comparison 21 Questions: ‘When?’ 22 Numbers 23 Time Expressions 24 Time Prefixes 25 Questions: ‘Where?’ 26 Location Expressions 27 Paths 28 Questions: ‘How?’ and ‘How much?’ 29 Adverbial Expressions 30 Conditional Clauses 31 Should, Must, Ought to, Want to 32 Object Pronouns 33 Passive 34 Strong, Weak, and Zero Stems 35 Participant Roles and Middle Voice 36 Recipient, Beneficiary, and Other Participants 37 Lexical Suffixes 38 Questions: ‘Why?’ 39 Because 40 Cause 41 Collective Plural 42 The Actual Aspect 43 State, Result, and Duration 44 Activity Suffixes 45 Reflexive, Inchoative, and Noncontrol Middle 46 Ȼ Clauses 47 Relative Clauses 48 Speech Act Modifiers 49 Possessed Verbs 50 Summary of Particles with Ȼ 51 So Then ... 52 Reporting Verbs and Direct Quotes 53 Indirect Quotes 54 Verbal Prefixes 55 Nominalizing Prefixes 56 Adverbial Prefixes 57 More Demonstrative Articles 58 Objects of Intent and Emotion 59 More Reduplication Patterns 60 Interjections 61 Politeness Expressions 62 Rare Prefixes and Suffixes 63 A Fully Annotated Text 64 Texts to Annotate Appendix A: Technical Description of SENĆOŦEN Sounds Appendix B: SENĆOŦEN Pronouns Appendix C: Demonstrative Articles Appendix D: SENĆOŦEN Kin Terms Appendix E: Index to Technical Linguistic Topics Appendix F: Vocabulary Bibliography SENĆOŦEN Dictionary Basic SENĆOŦEN Dictionary without root and affix indexes

20.2. Comparative constructions: The ÁN¸ Comparative

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Models
1)ÁN¸ U¸ ĆEḴ TŦE PUS; NIȽ ĆEḴ ¸E TŦE SḴAXE¸.‘The cat is bigger than the dog.’
2)ÁN¸ U¸ ĆEḴ TŦE PUS; ĆEL¸ÁU¸NEṈ TŦE SḴAXE¸.‘The cat is bigger than the dog.’

‣ 1 This is the first of three comparative constructions found in SENĆOŦEN. We will call this the ÁN¸ Comparative.
‣ 2 This is called the ‘ÁN¸ Comparative’ because its most characteristic feature is that the word ÁN¸ ‘very’ is the first word in the sentence. This word is introduced in the chapter on U¸-class auxiliaries (§10.1).
‣ 3 The ÁN¸ Comparative consists of two sentences linked together without a conjunction. This is shown in the models by using a semicolon (;) between the two linked sentences. The item being compared has light highlight, and the item being compared to has the dark highlight.
‣ 4 There are two variants of the ÁN¸ Comparative. These are shown in the two model sentences. The beginning of each variant is the same. Here is the first part of both model sentences with its literal translation:
          ÁN¸ U¸ ĆEḴ TŦE PUS.               ‘The cat is very big.’
‣ 5 In the first variant, the second part begins with NIȽ. Here is the second part of model 1 with its literal translation:
          NIȽ ĆEḴ ¸E TŦE SḴAXE¸.           ‘It’s big to the dog.’
‣ 6 The combination of these two ideas—‘The cat is very big’ and ‘It’s big to the dog’—one immediately after the other, gives us the comparative translation ‘The cat is bigger than the dog.’ Here is the formula for the First Variant of the ÁN¸ Comparative:
          ÁN¸ U¸  QUALITY   X;  NIȽ  QUALITY  ¸E  Y           
‣ 7 For the second variant of the ÁN¸ Comparative, which is shown in model 2, the second part of the sentence begins with ĆEL¸ÁU¸NEṈ ‘to be surpassed, exceeded.’ Here is that second part with its literal translation:
          ĆEL¸ÁU¸NEṈ TŦE SḴAXE¸.                  ‘The dog is surpassed.’
‣ 8 The combination of these two ideas—‘The cat is very big’ and ‘The dog is surpassed’—one immediately after the other, gives us the comparative translation ‘The cat is bigger than the dog.’ Here is the formula for the Second Variant of the ÁN¸ Comparative:
                                    ÁN¸ U¸  QUALITY   X;  ĆEL¸ÁUNEṈ  Y
   
ÁN¸ U¸ ĆEḴ TŦE NE PUS; ‘My cat is bigger than
      NIȽ ĆEḴ ¸E TŦE EN¸ SḴAXE¸.      your dog.’
EWE. ĆEḴ TŦE NE SḴAXE¸ ‘No. My dog is as big
      X̱EN¸IṈ¸ E TŦE STIḴIU¸.      as a horse.’
ÁN¸ U¸ ĆEḴ TŦE NE PUS; ‘My cat is bigger than
       NIȽ ĆEḴ ¸E TŦE STIḴIU¸.      a horse.’
ÁN¸ U¸ MEMIM¸EN¸ TŦE EN¸ STIḴIU¸.‘Your horse is very small.’
 
20.2A. Translate each of the following into English.
1. ÁN¸ U¸ ÍY¸ TŦE EN¸ SȻÁ¸; NIȽ ÍY¸ ¸E TŦE SȻÁ¸S.
2. ÁN¸ U¸ X̱EṈ TŦE STIḴIU¸; NIȽ X̱EṈ ¸E TŦE SḴAXE¸.
3. ÁN¸ U¸ QOMQEM TŦE NE MÁN; NIȽ QOMQEM ¸E TŦE EN¸ MÁN.
4. ÁN¸ U¸ X̱EṈ; NIȽ X̱EṈ ¸E TŦE SMÍYEŦ.
5. ÁN¸ U¸ ÍY¸ TŦE NE S¸IȽEN; NIȽ ÍY¸ ¸E TŦE EN¸ S¸IȽEN.		20.2B. Translate each of the following into SENĆOŦEN.
1. That deer is bigger than my dog.
2. I’m faster than you.
3. Is your father older than mine?
4. My cat is stronger than your dog.
5. That boy is slower than my grandmother.
20.2C. Make four SENĆOŦEN sentences using the ÁN¸ comparative.

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  1. 20 Comparison Montler, et al.

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  1. 10.1. U¸-class auxiliaries