28.1. ‘How?’
Models
| 1) | U¸ SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ SW̱ OL¸? | ‘How are you?’ |
| 2) | U¸ SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ ȻEĆÁ? | ‘So, how is it?’ |
| 3) | U¸ SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ OL¸ ȻŦE EN¸ TÁN? | ‘How is your mother?’ |
| 4) | SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ SW̱ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸? | ‘How did you go?’ |
| 5) | SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ LE¸ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸? | ‘How did you go?’ |
| 6) | SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ SE¸ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸? | ‘How will you go?’ |
| 7) | SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ Ȼ EN¸ SḰÁL ȻE SENĆOŦENEW̱? | ‘How do you say it in SENĆOŦEN?’ |
‣ 1 The basic meaning of SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ includes ‘way, manner’ as well as ‘how.’
‣ 2 Model 1 may already be familiar to you. This is a common way of greeting someone.
‣ 3 The U¸ at the beginning of models 1, 2, and 3, is not really necessary, but almost always used in conversation. It adds a subtle meaning of contrast with some other situation. This U¸ prefix sounds like, but is not the same as the U¸ auxiliary linker described in §10.1. This contrast U¸ is also discussed in §11.2, §19, §20.3, §23.6, §30.2, §51.2, and §56.1.
‣ 4 The ȻEĆÁ in model 2 is also not necessary for a grammatical sentence, but it does make the sentence sound more conversational. This is translated ‘so’ here, but it is also often translated ‘therefore’ and many times just does not appear in the English translation. This and other speech act modifiers are covered in §48.
‣ 5 The basic pattern in models 5 and 6 should be familiar. If not, review §21 on ‘when’ questions. The pattern here is basically the same as that.
‣ 6 Just as with the ‘when?’ questions, the subject of the event in 5 and 6 is indicated with the possessive pronoun in a Ȼ clause.
‣ 7 Model 7 is a useful sentence. The first part, SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ Ȼ EN¸ SḰÁL, follows the pattern of models 5 and 6. This part could be translated literally as ‘How do you speak?’ The ending, ȻE SENĆOŦENEW̱, is a conditional clause that can be literally translated ‘when you speak SENĆOŦEN.’ This type of subordinate clause is covered in detail in §30.1.
‣ 8 SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ is based on the the word X̱ENIṈ ‘to be a way, manner, like’ with the S‑ ‘stative’ prefix (§43). This word is used in the ‘never ever’ construction (§23.4) and in ‘why’ questions (§38).
 | U¸ SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ OL¸ ȻŦE EN¸ SÁĆS? | ‘How is your aunt?’ |
 | MÁ¸ȻEȽ ȻE. | ‘She got hurt.’ |
| STOṈET OĆE ȻSE EN¸ SÁĆS? | ‘What happened to your aunt?’ |
| ȾSETEṈ ȻE ¸E ȻSE POL. | ‘She was hit by a ball.’ |
| 28.1A. Translate each into English. 1. U¸ SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ OL¸ ȻŦE EN¸ SḴAXE¸? 2. SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ Ȼ EN¸ SȾSETEṈ? 3. SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ SE¸ Ȼ NE SȻENÁṈET? 4. SX̱EN¸I¸EṈ¸ Ȼ EN¸ SḰÁL ȻE W̱ENITEMḴENEW̱? | 28.1B. Translate each into SENĆOŦEN. 1. How did you get here? 2. How was our mother? 3. How did your mother go to town? 4. How will we hold this dog? |