38.2. ‘Why’ with Ȼ Clause
Models
| 1) | X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ NE SYÁ¸? | ‘Why did I go?’ |
| 2) | X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸? | ‘Why did you go?’ |
| 3) | X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸ HÁLE? | ‘Why did you folks go?’ |
| 4) | X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ SYÁ¸ȽTE? | ‘Why did we go?’ |
| 5) | X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ SW̱YÁ¸S? | ‘Why did he/she/it/they go?’ |
| 6) | X̱ENIṈ OĆE Ȼ SYÁ¸S? | ‘Why did he/she/it/they go?’ |
‣ 1 This pattern is very similar to the pattern shown in §38.1. Compare them now and look for the differences.
‣ 2 The big difference is that the models here contain Ȼ clauses. This type of subordinate clause was introduced in §12.6 and is a major part of many constructions in SENĆOŦEN. See §46 for a summary of Ȼ clauses.
‣ 3 There is apparently no difference in use and general meaning between the ‘why’ question in this section and those in §38.1. But we can do a somewhat more literal translation of each to show the difference. Model 2 in §38.1, X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ EN¸ ŚW̱YÁ¸? can be literally, though awkwardly translated ‘How is your reason for going?’ Model 2 in this section X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ EN¸ ŚW̱YÁ¸? can be literally, though awkwardly translated ‘How is it that you go?’ Both mean ‘Why did you go?’
‣ 4 Model 6 shows that, just as for the ‘why’ questions shown in §38.1 either ȻECÁ or OĆE can be used, but without either of those particles¸ it is not a question.
‣ 5 The pattern for this form of ‘why’ questions is:
X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ/OĆE Ȼ possessive S-event
The event could be any sentence, but the subject of the event must be marked with one of the possessive prefixes or suffixes. The ȻEĆÁ/OĆE here means either ȻEĆÁ or OĆE can be used.
‣ 6 As usual, for all the models in this book, if tense is not specified in SENĆOŦEN, context provides it. In these models and those in §38.1, the English translation is in the past tense, but these all could be translated with present or future tense if the context calls for it. Past or future tense (§2) can be explicitly added either after the X̱ENIṈ or after the event.
 | X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ EN¸ STI₭ES? | ‘Why did you bump me?’ |
 | SXA¸ES SW̱. | ‘You’re bad.’ |
| EWE TÁ SEN S SXÁ¸ES. | ‘But I’m not bad.’ |
| NIȽ ȻEĆÁ SU¸ ESES SXÁ¸ES. | ‘Then it’s me that’s bad.’ |
| 38.2A. Translate into English: 1. X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ S¸ÁȽE ȽTE? 2. X̱ENIṈ OĆE Ȼ EN¸ SṈO¸ET TŦE S¸IȽEN? 3. X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ SȻENÁṈETS? 4. X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ Ȼ S¸EWES Ȼ EN¸ SYÁ¸? | 38.2B. Translate into SENĆOŦEN using the Ȼ clause construction: 1. Why did he come to Tseycum? 2. Why don’t you eat? 3. Why did we run away? 4. Why did you hit me? |