30.3. Hypothetical: Ḵ
Models
| 1) | W̱ITEṈ Ḵ SEN ȻE ŚOPTEW̱ Ḵ. | ‘I'd jump if you'd whistle.’ |
| 2) | HO¸ Ḵ SW̱ ŚOPT I¸ W̱ITEṈ Ḵ SEN. | ‘If you'd whistle, I'd jump.’ |
‣ 1 Consider the difference between these two English sentences:
‘If you whistle, I jump.’
‘If you would whistle, I would jump.’
These both express a main event (‘I jump’) and a conditional event (‘you whistle’). The difference is that the second sentence expresses the speaker’s opinion about a hypothetical situation. In English, we use the auxiliary verb ‘would’ or’d, as in the models, to express this. In SENĆOŦEN, we use a little word Ḵ after the verb and before the tense and subject markers.
‣ 2 This little word, which we will call the hypothetical Ḵ, is another speech act modifier (see §3), one of a set of little words that follow the first word of the sentence. These particles function to show something of how the speaker feels about what he or she is saying. There are many more such particles that are covered in §48.
‣ 3 The hypothetical Ḵ can be used with the future SE¸, but the translation into English is the same with or without the SE¸. For example, W̱ITEṈ Ḵ SEN SE¸ ȻE ŚOPTEW̱ and W̱ITEṈ Ḵ SEN ȻE ŚOPTEW̱ both translate as ‘I would jump if you whistle.’ In SENĆOŦEN there is, apparently, a slight difference in meaning where the second example (with the SE¸) refers specifically to a future event.
‣ 4 When the hypothetical Ḵ is used with the past LE¸, the best translation into English is with ‘would have.’ For example, W̱ITEṈ Ḵ LE¸ SEN ȻE ŚOPTEW̱ is translated as ‘I would have jumped if you whistled.’
‣ 5 The models show both clauses with the hypothetical Ḵ, but usually only one of the two clauses has the Ḵ.
‣ 6 The hypothetical Ḵ is also frequently pronounced ḴE.
‣ 7 The hypothetical Ḵ can be used in any sentence to add the ‘hypothetical’ meaning, not only conditional sentences. For example, YÁ¸ Ḵ SEN means ‘I would go.’
‣ 8 The hypothetical Ḵ comes before the past or future tense marker and after the yes/no question marker. For example: YÁ¸ E Ḵ LE¸ SW̱? means ‘Would you have gone?’
 | SU¸Á¸ Ḵ ŦE KÁṈI¸ ȻE LOLETEW̱. | ‘The girl would go along if you’d ask her.’ |
 | ȻȽ LOLET LE¸ SEN. | ‘I already asked her.’ |
| INET OĆE? | ‘What did she say?’ |
| HO¸ SEN SE¸ EWE S YÁ¸ I¸ YÁ¸ Ḵ. | ‘If I don’t go, she would.’ |
| 30.3A. Translate each into English. 1. HO¸ Ḵ SEN SE¸ ȻONEṈET I¸ EWE SW̱ S NEĆEṈ. 2. HO¸ Ḵ TÁĆEL ȻSE SṮÁLEḴEM I¸ ȽÁU¸ Ḵ SEN. 3. YÁ¸ Ḵ SEN ȻE DOQEW̱. 4. ŚTEṈ Ḵ SEN ȻE EWES Ḵ SE¸ S ȽEMEW̱. | 30.3B. Translate each into SENĆOŦEN using the subordinate conditional and again coordinate conditional. Each requires one or two hypothetical Ḵ’s. 1. I would go if you would go. 2. If the canoe would have arrived here, you’d go. 3. Would you sing if I sing? 4. If I had money, I would go to town. |