41.1. Infix EL
Models
| 1) | SÁĆS | ‘uncle, aunt’ | SELÁĆS | ‘uncles, aunts’ |
| 2) | MUSMES | ‘cow’ | MELUSMES | ‘cattle’ |
| 3) | SḴAXE¸ | ‘dog’ | SḴELAXE¸ | ‘dogs’ |
| 4) | ŚW̱IMÁLE | ‘store’ | ŚW̱ELIMÁLE | ‘stores’ |
| 5) | S¸IȽEN | ‘food’ | S¸ELIȽEN | ‘lots of food’ |
| 6) | ȽȾIṈEN | ‘comb’ | ȽELȾIṈEN | ‘combs’ |
| 7) | IST | ‘to paddle’ | ELIST | ‘they paddle’ |
| 8) | ȻONEṈET | ‘to run’ | ȻELONEṈET | ‘they run’ |
| 9) | SḴI¸ELES | ‘sad’ | SḴELI¸ELES | ‘they’re sad’ |
| 10) | QOMQEM | ‘strong’ | QELOMQEM | ‘they’re strong’ |
‣ 1 Prefixes go at the beginning of a word, and suffixes go at the end of a word. SENĆOŦEN and many other languages around the world also have something called infixes. Infixes go into the word. The most common way of marking the collective in SENĆOŦEN is with an infix. Around 80% of plurals are formed with some form of the infix in SENĆOŦEN.
‣ 2 This form of the infix is: Insert EL /əl/ after the first consonant of the root.
‣ 3 Model 7 looks like the EL is placed at the beginning, but remember that the glottal stop is a consonant that is just not spelled at the beginning of a word. So phonetically model 7 is /ʔist/ and the plural is /ʔəlist/. The glottal stop /ʔ/ is the first consonant.
‣ 4 Model 1 shows the most common pattern. Here S is the first consonant. The EL is placed right after the S for the plural.
‣ 5 Model 2 shows a word borrowed from Chinook Jargon. Such borrowed words invariably have the EL infix in the plural. The EL infix seems to be the default form of the collective plural.
‣ 6 Models 3, 4, and 5 show that any prefixes are ignored. The EL goes after the first consonant of the root, not the word. In models 3 and 5 we have the S‑ noun prefix (§55). In model 4 we have the Ś‑ ‘thing for’ prefix (§55).
‣ 7 Model 6 illustrates a root beginning with two consonants. Here again the EL follows the first consonant of the root breaking up the ȽȾ cluster.
‣ 8 Model 7 shows that the EL plural applies to verbs as well as to nouns. On an adjective, as in models 9 and 10, the plural refers to whatever has the quality expressed in the adjective. On a verb, it indicates a plural intransitive subject, plural direct object, or plural actions. Note that this is another way the intransitive subject shares grammar with the transitive direct object.
‣ 9 In English there is a class of nouns, usually called ‘mass nouns,’ that cannot be pluralized. For example, in English if we want to talk about a bunch of food, we do not normally say ‘there’s a lot of foods on the table’ but ‘there’s a lot of food on the table.’ SENĆOŦEN has no class of ‘mass noun,’ as English does. Although, as is shown in §41.4, some particular words cannot be pluralized, any general type of word can be pluralized in SENĆOŦEN.
 | ȻELONEṈET TŦE SPELÁ¸EŦ. | ‘The bears are running.’ |
 | ISTÁ ELOOȽTW̱ TŦE SḴEĆE ȽTE¸ I¸ IST. | ‘Let’s put our catch aboard and paddle.’ |
| EN¸ÁN¸ U¸ X̱EṈ TŦE SPELÁ¸EŦ! | ‘The bears are too fast!’ |
| ₭ÍTENOM¸ET! | ‘Pretend to be dead!’ |
| 41.1A. Each of the following SENĆOŦEN words takes the EL infix plural. Make each plural and give its meaning. (The stressed vowel is in red.) 1. ŚEMÁN ‘enemy’ 2. ŦOṈEN ‘eyebrow’ 3. SPAKEṈ ‘flower’ 4. S₭OṈI¸ ‘head’ 5. ÁȽE ‘here’ 6. ȽIQET ‘hook it’ 7. SNOU¸EȽ ‘inside’ | 41.1B. Each of these is a plural. Give the nonplural for each. (The stressed vowel is in red.) 1. W̱ELITEṈ ‘they jump’ 2. ₭ELO¸EṈ¸ ‘lots of kelp’ 3. ŚELIPEN ‘set of knives’ 4. XELOĆE¸ ‘several lakes’ 5. ṮELAḴT ‘they’re long’ 6. PELÁNSEL ‘several pencils’ 7. ELÁSW̱ ‘group of seals’ |