39.2. It’s because: Ȼ Clause
Models
| 1) | NIȽ Ȼ NE SȽĆIȻES. | ‘It’s because I’m tired.’ |
| 2) | YÁ¸ SEN Ȼ NE SȽĆIȻES. | ‘I went because I’m tired.’ |
| 3) | NIȽ Ȼ NE SȽĆIȻES NE ŚW̱YÁ¸. | ‘I went because I’m tired.’ / |
| ‘It’s because I’m tired that I went.’ |
‣ 1 Again the Ȼ clause is the crucial element of the sentence. This type of subordinate clause is very broadly useful and appears in many SENĆOŦEN grammatical constructions. See §46 for a summary of the Ȼ clause pattern.
‣ 2 The Ȼ clause can often be translated as an English ‘that’ subordinate clause. For example, model 1 could be translated ‘It’s that I’m tired.’
‣ 3 In model 2, the ‘that’ translation does not work as well as it does in model 1. ‘I went that I’m tired’ does not seem to capture the meaning at all. Nevertheless, this is a common way of expressing the ‘because’ idea in SENĆOŦEN.
‣ 4 Model 3 has both the Ȼ clause and the ŚW̱‑ ‘reason for, thing for’ prefix that was seen in §39.1. Here the ‘that’ translation for the Ȼ clause does work. Model 3 could be translated ‘My reason for going is that I’m tired.’
‣ 5 All three of these ways of expressing the idea of ‘because’ are common in fluent SENĆOŦEN narratives and conversation.
 | X̱ENIṈ OĆE EN¸ ŚW̱ȻONEṈET? | ‘Why did you run?’ |
 | NIȽ Ȼ NE SSȺ¸SI¸ LE¸. | ‘It’s because I was scared.’ |
| X̱ENIṈ ȻEĆÁ EN¸ ŚW̱SȺ¸SI¸? | ‘Why were you scared?’ |
| NIȽ Ȼ NE SQENNEW̱ ȻSE SṮÁLEḴEM NE ŚW̱SȺ¸SI¸. | ‘It’s because I saw a monster that I was scared.’ |
| 39.2A. Translate into English: 1. NIȽ Ȼ NE S¸ÁȽE. 2. NIȽ Ȼ SṈO¸ETS TŦE SMÍEŦ. 3. NIȽ Ȼ EN¸ SȻENÁṈETOL¸W̱ 4. NIȽ Ȼ NE SQÁQI¸ NE ŚW̱¸IȽEN. | 39.2B. Translate into SENĆOŦEN using Ȼ clauses: 1. I ate because I was hungry. 2. It’s because I’m sleepy 3. It’s because you’re here that I’m happy. 4. I came because I saw you. |