37.1. Lexical suffixes as possessed objects
Models
| 1) | DEM¸NOW̱ SEN TŦE NE ḴELEṈ¸. | ‘I hit my eye.’ |
| 2) | DEM¸OLES SEN. | ‘I hit my eye.’ / ‘My eye got hit.’ |
| 3) | DEM¸ TŦE NE ḴELEṈ¸. | ‘My eye got hit.’ |
| 4) | DEM¸OLESNOṈE SEN. | ‘I hit you in the eye (accidentally).’ |
‣ 1 Looking at models 1 and 2, there are two ways of expressing the idea ‘I hit my eye’ in SENĆOŦEN. One, model 1, uses the noun phrase TŦE NE ḴELEṈ¸ as the direct object, and the other, model 2, uses the lexical suffix ‑OLES.
‣ 2 Model 1 is an ordinary transitive sentence (§32.2). Here is the complete analysis:
DEM¸-NOW̱ SEN TŦE NE ḴELEṈ¸.
hit‑trans I the my eye
‣ 3 Model 2—with the lexical suffix—is not transitive, though the first English translation given is the same as for model 1. A somewhat more literal translation of the second model sentence would be ‘I got head‑bumped.’
‣ 4 The second translation given for model 2, ‘My eye got hit’ is also more literal. In sentences like these, the lexical suffix refers to something possessed by either the direct object, if the verb is transitive, or the subject, if the verb is intransitive. This is another way that direct objects and intransitive subjects are treated the same in SENĆOŦEN. See also §4.2 and §11.1.
‣ 5 We can make the second model sentence transitive by simply adding the ‑NEW̱ transitive suffix:
DEM¸OLESNEW̱ SEN. ‘I accidentally hit his/her/its eye.’
‣ 6 Model 4 shows this transitive verb with the second person ‘you’ direct object. Note that the ‘you’ object is the possessor of the thing indicated by the lexical suffix ‑OLES ‘eye.’
‣ 7 Model 3 is included here to show that there is yet another way of expressing the same idea. In model 3, the verb is a bare root DEM¸ ‘get hit.’ The translation here is the most straightforward literal translation.
 | ÁN¸ SEN U¸ QSÁSES. | ‘I really burned my hand.’ |
 | ṮÁ¸ SEN U¸ QSÁSES I¸ QESINES. | ‘I also burned my hand and my chest.’ |
| EN¸ÁN¸ U¸ QÁ¸LES TI¸Á ḰO¸. | ‘This water is too hot.’ |
| HÁ¸E. XEN¸IṈ ¸E ȻS ĆEḰEU¸SE. | ‘It’s like fire.’ |
| 37.1A. Use the dictionary to translate each of the following into English and identify each lexical suffix. 1. XEM¸W̱I¸ḰT SEN TŦE NE STOLES. 2. ȾE¸ȻENOȻEṈ TŦE SṮELI¸ṮȽḴEȽ. 3. ȾE¸ȻOSEṈ TŦE SWIU¸LES. 4. ŚEJSEN TŦE SṮI¸ṮEȽḴEȽ. 5. ŚJI¸ḰTEṈ TŦE SṮELIṮȽḴEȽ. | 37.1B. Translate each of the following into SENĆOŦEN using lexical suffixes. 1. Don’t burn your mouth. 2. I bumped my chest. 3. Does your foot really hurt? 4. I’ll wash my child’s feet. 5. We took off our shoes. |