21.1. Asking about time: Subordinate event
Models
| 1) | ĆEN¸TÁṈ? | ‘When?’ |
| 2) | ĆEN¸TÁṈ SE¸ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸? | ‘When will you go?’ |
| 3) | ĆEN¸TÁṈ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸ LE¸? | ‘When did you go?’ |
| 4) | ĆEN¸TÁṈ LE¸ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸? | ‘When did you go?’ |
| 5) | ĆEN¸TÁṈ LE¸ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸? | ‘When was it you went?’ |
‣ 1 In §15.1, the word STÁṈ ‘what’ was introduced. This word has the root TÁṈ with the prefix S‑. TÁṈ never occurs as a word by itself; it must have a prefix. If we put the ĆEN¸‑ ‘time’ prefix on the root, we get ĆEN¸TÁṈ ‘When?’ or literally ‘What time?’
‣ 2 Since it is based on the same root as STÁṈ, the word ĆEN¸TÁṈ is used in a similar way. Just as STÁṈ can mean ‘something’ as well as ‘What?,’ ĆEN¸TÁṈ can mean ‘sometime’ as well as ‘When?’ It would be good to review §15.1 now.
‣ 3 The word ĆEN¸TÁṈ is not usually followed by OĆE as STÁṈ is.
‣ 4 For this first method of asking when some event happened or will happen, the event is the expressed in a Ȼ subordinate clause. These are introduced in §12.6 and covered in detail in §46. You can review §12.6 now. The subject of a Ȼ clause is marked by possessive prefixes and suffixes. Here are some more examples:
ĆEN¸TÁṈ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸? ‘When do you go?’
ĆEN¸TÁṈ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸ HÁLE? ‘When do you folks go?’
ĆEN¸TÁṈ Ȼ NE SYÁ¸? ‘When do I go?’
ĆEN¸TÁṈ Ȼ SYÁ¸ȽTE? ‘When do we go?’
ĆEN¸TÁṈ Ȼ SYÁ¸S? ‘When does he/she/it/they go?’
‣ 5 The first model shows that ĆEN¸TÁṈ, can be used without a Ȼ clause. Another useful question is to ask about the time of day: ĆEN¸TÁṈ ¸E TI¸Á ȺNEȻ? ‘What day is it today?’ This also uses ĆEN¸TÁṈ, without a Ȼ clause. The word ȺNEȻ (also spelled ÁÁNEȻ) means ‘today.’
‣ 6 Other than on ĆEN¸TÁṈ, the ‘time’ prefix, ĆEN¸‑, can also be found on the names of some seasons and on some of the names of the months. Here is a list of those words (with the stressed vowel in red to help with correct pronunciation):
ĆEN¸ŦEḴI¸ ‘July’ (sockeye salmon time)
ĆEN¸HENEN¸ ‘August’ (humpback salmon time)
ĆEN¸ŦÁ¸WEN ‘September’ (coho salmon time)
ĆEN¸QOL¸EW̱ ‘early fall’ (dog salmon time)
ĆEN¸QÁ¸LES ‘summer’ (warm time)
ĆEN¸ȾOȽEṈ ‘winter’ (cold time)
‣ 7 These are the only words in SENĆOŦEN that have this ‘time’ prefix. This ĆEN¸- ‘time’ prefix is not productive. This means it cannot be used freely on just any word to mean ‘time.’ There are several other time related prefixes in the language at are productive. These are covered in §24.
 | ĆEN¸TÁṈ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸ DOQ? | ‘When did you go home?’ |
 | EWENE NE SXĆIT. | ‘I don’t know.’ |
| ÁN¸ E SW̱ U¸ ȽĆIȻES? | ‘Are you very tired?’ |
| HÁE. EN¸ÁN¸ SEN U¸ ȽĆIȻES. | ‘Yes. I’m too tired.’ |
| 21.1A. Translate each of the following into English. 1. ĆEN¸TÁṈ Ȼ EN¸ SNEḴEṈ? 2. ĆEN¸TÁṈ SE¸ Ȼ NE SI¸ȽEN? 3. ĆEN¸TÁṈ LE¸ Ȼ SȻONEṈETS TŦE KÁ¸ṈI¸? 4. ĆEN¸TÁṈ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸ HÁLE DOQ? 5. ĆEN¸TÁṈ Ȼ SȽÁU¸S TŦE SḴAXE¸? | 21.1B. Translate each of the following into SENĆOŦEN using this first method. 1. When did you see it? 2. When will he jump? 3. When do you folks sleep? 4. When will we walk? 5. When did they fly? |
| 21.1C. Make four more SENĆOŦEN questions using this method. | |