44.1. Structured activity
Models
| 1) | ELḴELO¸ | ‘buy’ | ELEḴÁL¸S | ‘buying; buyer’ |
| 2) | QENELO¸ | ‘open eyes’ | QEN¸ÁL¸S | ‘looking for lice’ |
| 3) | XEĆELO¸ | ‘inspect’ | XĆÁL¸S | ‘being nosy’ |
| 4) | XEL¸ELO¸ | ‘write’ | XEL¸ÁL¸S | ‘writing; writer’ |
| 5) | ŦI¸ḰELO¸ | ‘dig; grave digger’ | ŦI¸ḰÁL¸S | ‘digging’ |
| 6) | TEȻELO¸ | ‘break’ | TEȻÁL¸S | ‘breaking’ |
| 7) | KEXELO¸ | ‘dig clams’ | KEXÁL¸S | ‘clam digging’ |
| 8) | ₭IṈELE¸ | ‘borrow’ | ₭EṈÁL¸S | ‘borrowing; asking for credit’ |
‣ 1 These two suffixes ‑ELO¸ and ‑ÁL¸S occur on many words in SENĆOŦEN. The basic meaning difference between the two is that ‑ELO¸ is the nonactual and ‑ÁL¸S is the actual aspect form. Other than that, it is difficult to specify the meaning of these suffixes. Models 6 and 7 clearly show the nonactual/actual aspect relationship between these two suffixes.
‣ 2 As most of the models show, these suffixes create words that refer to an activity that is somehow culturally structured or recognized. Often the nonactual form and actual aspect form have unpredictably different meanings. Model 2 is a good example of this unpredictable meaning addition. This pair of words have the root QEN ‘see.’ The nonactual form, QENELO¸, means ‘open eyes’ especially from sleep or ‘stare’ or ‘take a look.’ The actual aspect form, QEN¸ÁL¸S, is used only to mean specifically ‘looking for lice’ in someone’s head.
‣ 3 The suffixes ‑ELO¸ and ‑ÁL¸S added to a root make intransitive verbs with agent subjects. So to use model 1 for example, you could say ELḴELO¸ SEN ¸E ȻSE SNEW̱EȽ ‘I bought the canoe.’ Note that, since ELḴELO¸ is intransitive, the thing that is being bought must be the object of the preposition.
‣ 4 Although the two suffixes here create intransitive verbs, they can also form nouns referring to people with specific occupations. Models 1 and 4 illustrate this. ELEḴÁL¸S can be used to refer to a person whose job it is to buy fish, clams, pelts, and so on from fishermen, hunters, clam diggers, and so on.
‣ 5 Model 5 also shows the unpredictable meaning addition of these ‘structured activity’ suffixes. The unpredictability can apply to either the nonactual or actual aspect forms. ŦI¸ḰELO¸ can mean ‘dig’ in general, but it is usually used to mean ‘grave digger.’
‣ 6 The idea of ‘purpose’ is typically built into words with these suffixes. The translations of most of the models show this. Model 3 is based on the root XĆ, which occurs in the word XĆIT ‘know it.’ The actual aspect form, XĆÁL¸S, implies inspecting with a purpose.
‣ 7 Theses ‘structured activity’ suffixes attach only to a basic verb stem. They never occur after a transitive or middle (§35) suffix. They can, however, be followed by a transitive or middle suffix. For example, ₭IṈELO¸TEṈ ‘be given credit, be lent to’ is the nonactual model 8 ₭IṈELE¸ with the transitive ‑T and passive ‑EṈ following. And QEN¸ÁL¸STEṈ, based on model 2 means ‘being searched for lice.’ The word DEL¸DEL¸ÁL¸SEṈ ‘tingling, feeling pins and needles in a body part) has the ‑ÁL¸S suffix followed by the ‑EṈ ‘middle.’
 | QENNEW̱ E SW̱ ȻSE ELEḴÁL¸S? | ‘Did you see the buyer?’ |
 | EWE. ṮÁ¸ SEN U¸ ṮEL¸Á¸T. | ‘No. I’m looking for him, too.’ |
| KEXÁL¸S LE¸ SEN I¸ ṈEN¸ | ‘I was clam digging, and I have lots of |
| NE S¸OX̱E¸ ¸E TŦE SW̱ÍYEM. | butter clams to sell.’ |
| ṈEN¸ NE Á¸ĆEX. | ‘I have lots of crabs.’ |
| 44.1A. Look up these words and make an original sentence with each. 1. ȽEM¸ȾÁL¸S 2. ₭EṈÁL¸S 3. ḴEKÁL¸S 4. ĆEḰELO¸ 5. OṈELE¸ 6. MEQEL¸O¸ 44.1B. Explain how each of those words show the ‘structured activity’ idea. |