30.4. Or
Models
| 1) | SḴAXE¸ E; PUS E? | ‘Is it a dog or a cat?’ |
| 2) | NIȽ TEXIN EN¸ SQENNEW̱; | ‘Which did you see, |
| NIȽ E TŦE SḴAXE¸; NIȽ E TŦE PUS? | the dog or the cat?’ | |
| 3) | SX̱EN¸IṈ OĆ Ȼ EN¸ S¸EN¸Á TÁĆEL; | ‘How did you get here, |
| ȻENIṈ¸ET E SW̱; ŚETEṈ¸ E SW̱? | running or walking?’ / | |
| ‘Did you run or walk here?’ | ||
| 4) | QENNEW̱ SEN ȻSE SḴAXE¸ ȻE PUSES. | ‘I saw a dog or a cat.’ |
| 5) | QENNEW̱ SEN ȻSE SḴAXE¸; I¸WEWE PUS. | ‘I saw a dog or a cat.’ |
| 6) | EWENE NE SXĆIT ȻE STÁṈES | ‘I don’t know what it is, |
| ȻE SḴAXE¸ES ȻE PUSES. | a dog or a cat.’ / | |
| ‘I don’t know if it’s a dog or a cat.’ | ||
| 7) | EWENE NE SXĆIT ȻE U¸ QÁ¸LESES | ‘I don’t know if it is hot |
| I¸ ȾOȽEṈ. | or cold.’ | |
| 8) | SX̱EN¸IṈ OĆ Ȼ EN¸ S¸EN¸Á TÁĆEL; | ‘How did you get here, |
| ȻENIṈ¸ET E SW̱; ŚETEṈ¸ E SW̱? | running or walking?’ / | |
| ‘Did you run or walk here?’ |
‣ 1 Every language has ways of expressing alternatives. The main way that English grammar does it is with the conjunction 'or.' For example, in ‘Do you want to eat or sleep?’ the alternatives are ‘eat’ and ‘sleep.’ In ‘Is it a cat or a dog?’ the alternatives are ‘cat’ and ‘dog.’
‣ 2 In SENĆOŦEN there is no conjunction like English ‘or.’ Instead, SENĆOŦEN uses basically two different constructions to express alternatives. If asking about alternatives, each alternative occurs in its own question. If stating an alternative, one or more of the alternatives occurs in subordinate clauses.
‣ 3 Models 1, 2, and 3 are asking about alternatives. In each model, each alternative is in its own question. Model 1 is literally ‘Is it a dog? Is it a cat?’ Model 2 is built on three sentences. It is literally ‘Which did you see? Was it a dog? Was it a cat?’
‣ 4 The alternatives in models 1 and 2 are things; the alternatives in model 3 are actions, but the pattern is the same. Model 3 is literally ‘How did you get here? Were you running? Were you walking?’
‣ 5 Models 4, 5, 6, and 7 are statements about alternatives. In model 4, the second alternative is in a subordinate clause like those in §30.1. Model 4 looks like it could be literally translated ‘I saw a dog if it’s a cat.’ But that translation makes no sense. The only possible real translation of model 4 is ‘I saw a dog or a cat.’ This model illustrates the most common way that alternatives are expressed in SENĆOŦEN. In model 4, the ‘a dog or a cat’ is the direct object of the verb. The same expression could be used for the subject as in YÁ ȻSE SḴAXE¸ ȻE PUSES ‘A dog or a cat went.’
‣ 6 Model 5 is another way of expressing the same idea as in model 4. The meaning, however, is slightly different. Model 5 means literally ‘I saw a dog; maybe a cat.’
‣ 7 Model 6 has three subordinate clauses in a row. Without the two alternatives the sentence EWENE NE SXĆIT ȻE STÁṈES is ‘I don’t know what it is.’ It contains the subordinate clause ȻE STÁṈES, but with STÁṈ ‘what,’ it can only be interpreted as ‘what it is.’
‣ 8 The other two subordinate clauses in model 6 express the two ‘dog’ and ‘cat.’ Note that these are acting as verbs here meaning ‘to be a dog’ and ‘to be a cat.’ There is no article before either and the first word after the ȻE subordinator must be a verb.
‣ 9 Model 7 shows a less common, but equally grammatical way of expressing alternatives. This method has the first alternative in the ȻE subordinate clause with the second alternative conjoined after the I, conjunction. This pattern is more common when the alternatives are qualities, such as the ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ shown here.
 | EN¸ SṮI¸ E SW̱ TŦE SḴAXE¸ | ‘Do you want the dog |
| ȻE NIȽES TŦE PUS? | or the cat?’ | |
 | NE SṮI¸ TŦE SḴAXE¸ I¸ TŦE PUS. | ‘I want the dog and the cat.’ |
| EWE. U¸ HÍ OL¸ TŦE NEȾE¸. | ‘No. Only one.’ |
| NE SṮI¸ TŦE ĆESE¸. | ‘I want both.’ |
| 30.4A. Translate each into English. 1. SW͸ḴE¸ E; SȽÁNI¸ E? 2. EWENE NE SXĆIT ȻE SW͸ḴE¸ES ȻE SȽÁNI¸ES. 3. EWENE NE SXĆIT ȻE SÁNES ȻE NE TÁNES ȻE NE SÁĆSES. 4. NIȽ LE¸ ȻSE SḴAXE¸ ȻE PUSES. | 30.4B. Translate each into SENĆOŦEN. 1. Is it a seal or a sea lion? 2. I don’t know if it’s a seal or a sea lion. 3. Will you sing or talk? 4. I will sit or go home. |