39.1. That’s why: NIȽ ȻECÁ ŚW̱-
Models
| 1) | NIȽ ȻEĆÁ NE ŚW̱YÁ¸. | ‘That’s why I went.’ |
| 2) | ȽĆIȻES SEN; NIȽ ȻEĆÁ NE ŚW̱YÁ¸. | ‘I’m tired; that’s why I went.’ / ‘I went because I’m tired.’ |
‣ 1 Review the models in §38.1. The first model there is X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ NE ŚW̱YÁ¸? ‘Why did I go?’ Compare this with model 1 in this section and you will see the sentence structure is the same.
‣ 2 The only difference between model 1 in §38.1 and model 1 here in §39.1 is in the first word of the sentence: X̱ENIṈ in the ‘why’ question and NIȽ in the ‘that’s why’ answer.
‣ 3 The grammar of the pattern in §38.1 is the same as the grammar for model 1 here. However, the ‘that’s why’ construction cannot have OĆE, which goes only on questions.
‣ 4 The first word in model 1 is the third person focus pronoun NIȽ ‘it is.’ This is a very common word in SENĆOŦEN. This and the other focus pronouns were introduced in §15.3. The third-person form NIȽ appears in a number of other constructions. See §16.3, §18.2, §20.3, and §20.5.
‣ 5 Model 2 shows how the phrase in model 1 can be used to express the idea of ‘because.’ The explanation (or excuse) comes first, then the ‘that’s why’ clause.
 | SȺ¸SI¸ SEN; NIȽ ȻEĆÁ NE ŚW̱ȻONEṈET. | ‘I’m scared. That’s why I ran.’ |
 | X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ EN¸ ŚW̱SȺ¸SI¸? | ‘Why are you scared?’ |
| QENNEW̱ SEN ȻSE SṮÁLEḴEM! | ‘I saw a monster!’ |
| ÁĆENÁ! PEK SW̱ X̱EN¸IṈ¸ ¸E TŦE ṈAḴE¸. | ‘Goodness! You’re white as snow.’ |
| 39.1A. Translate into English: 1. NIȽ ȻEĆÁ NE ŚW̱¸ÁȽE. 2. NIȽ ȻEĆÁ ŚW̱ṈO¸ETS TŦE SMÍEŦ. 3. NIȽ ȻEĆÁ EN¸ ŚW̱ȻENÁṈETOL¸W̱ 4. NIȽ ȻEĆÁ EN¸ ŚW̱SQȺ Ȼ EN¸ S¸ITET. | 39.1B. Translate into SENĆOŦEN using ŚW̱‑: 1. I’m sick; that’s why I slept. 2. That’s why I took it. 3. Is that why you helped me? 4. That’s why I will help you. |