3.1. Commands: Ø or ĆE or SW̱
Models
| 1) | YÁ¸. | ‘Go.’ |
| 2) | YÁ¸ HÁLE. | ‘Go (all of you).’ |
| 3) | ȻENET. | ‘Take him/her/it/them.’ |
| 4) | ȻENET HÁLE. | ‘Take him/her/it/them (all of you).’ |
| 5) | YÁ¸ ĆE. | ‘Go’ |
| 6) | YÁ¸ ĆE HÁLE. | ‘Go (all of you)’ |
| 7) | ȻENET ĆE. | ‘Take him/her/it/them.’ |
| 8) | ȻENET ĆE HÁLE. | ‘Take him/her/it/them (all of you)’ |
| 9) | YÁ¸ SW̱. | ‘You should go.’ |
| 10) | YÁ¸ SW̱ HÁLE. | ‘You should go (all of you).’ |
| 11) | ȻENET SW̱. | ‘You should take him/her/it/them.’ |
| 12) | ȻENET SW̱ HÁLE. | ‘You should take him/her/it/them (all of you).’ |
‣ 1 The first thing to point out about the speech act modifiers is that, though they are written as separate words, they are not really independent words. Like the subjects SEN ‘I’ and SW̱ ‘you’, they modify the verb they follow.
‣ 2 Sentences giving commands are also called imperative sentences. In English imperative sentences, there is an understood ‘you’ subject, as in ‘(you) Take it.’ The same is true for SENĆOŦEN: just use the verb without a subject.
‣ 3 For a strong, demanding command, add ĆE, as in models 5, 6, 7, and 8. This form is considered almost rude by some elders.
‣ 4 For a more polite command, use the ‘you’ subject SW̱, as in models 9, 10, 11, and 12 This makes it more like a suggestion than a command. It can be translated various ways in English. The models use ‘should,’ but you could also use ‘why don’t you.’
‣ 5 Note that when you are talking to more than one person, you use HÁLE, and the ĆE or SW̱ comes before it.
‣ 6 There are other imperative-like speech act modifiers. These are covered in §48.2.
‣ 7 Note that the speech act modifiers are never stressed.
 | ÁȽE E SW̱ U¸ ÍY¸ OL¸? | ‘How are you?’ |
 | U¸ ÍY¸ SEN. | ‘I’m fine.’ |
| STOṈET SE¸ SW̱ ȻEĆÁ? | ‘What will you do?’ |
| ȻONEṈET SEN SE¸. | ‘‘I’ll run.’ |
| X̱ENIṈ SE¸ ȻEĆÁ EN¸ ŚW̱ȻONEṈET? | ‘Why will you run?’ |
| ȻENET LE¸ SEN. | ‘I took it.’ |
| ȻONEṈET ĆE! | ‘Run!’ |
| 3.1A. Translate each of the following into English. 1. YÁ¸ ĆE. 2. SÁ¸ET ĆE. 3. ȽIȾET ĆE HÁLE. 4. ȽÁU¸ ĆE HÁLE. 5. ȻENIT. 6. W̱EĆET. 7. ȻENÁṈET ĆE. 8. ȻONEṈET ĆE. 9. QENET SW̱. 10. TȻET ĆE. | 3.1B. Translate each of the following into SENĆOŦEN. 1. Run! 2. Sleep! 3. Run away! 4. Dive! 5. Fly! 6. Get dressed! 7. Walk! 8. Wake it! 9. You ought to drop it, all of you. 10. Break it! |
| 3.1C. Write ten SENĆOŦEN commands not shown above. | |