54 Verbal Prefixes
We have already seen several of these verbal prefixes in §25.1 and §26.1. These were the prefixes ṮE ‘go to’ and ĆSE‑ ‘go from.’ You will remember that when any of these prefixes is added to a specific place name, the result is a verb.
This chapter covers six other common verbal prefixes found in the SENĆOŦEN. Three of the prefixes here look and sound very similar. These are what are called homophones—words, particles, prefixes, or suffixes that sound the same.
A brief digression on homophones:
Homophones are common in the languages of the world. In English, for example, the ending ‘-er’ has several different meanings: add it to a verb ‘sing’ or ‘run’ to get a noun ‘singer’ or ‘runner.’ Added to an adjective ‘big’ or ‘high’ to get the comparative form ‘bigger’ or ‘higher.’ ‘Tame’ could be an adjective or a verb (‘Tame the lion’ or ‘The lion is tame.’) Add the ‘-er’ and ‘tamer’ could mean ‘one who tames’ or ‘more tame’—‘The lion tamer made the lion tamer.’ But there are even more ‘-er’ endings. A person who lives on an island is an ‘islander.’ Hitting the soccer ball with the head is a ‘header.’ Sometimes the ‘‑er’ at the end of a word is just part of the stem like ‘Vancouver’ or ‘river’ and has no meaning by itself.
The point here is that it is important to realize that, like the English ‘‑er,’ these TW̱ prefixes are different from each other and from the TWES‑ prefix covered in §24 and from the several ‑TW̱ suffixes that are described in §40.1, §40.2, and §40.3. Be careful not to confuse them.
Models
| 1) | ĆEḴ | ‘big’ | TW̱EĆEḴ SEN. | ‘I got big.’ |
| 2) | ĆOL¸EḰ | ‘be in the woods’ | TW̱EĆOL,EḰ SEN. | ‘I got into the woods.’ |
| 3) | SṈÁNET | ‘stone’ | TW̱ESṈÁNET | ‘It turned to stone.’ |
| 4) | TÁLE | ‘money’ | ĆTÁLE SEN. | ‘I have money.’ |
| 5) | S¸IȽEN | ‘food’ | ƸIȽEN SEN. | ‘I have food.’ |
| ĆS¸IȽEN SEN. | ‘I have food.’ | |||
| 6) | SEPLIL | ‘bread’ | ĆSEPLIL SEN. | ‘I have bread.’ |
| 7) | SḴAXE¸ | ‘dog’ | ĆȽSḴAXE¸ SEN. | ‘I was attacked by a dog.’ |
| 8) | SȻÁĆEL | ‘day, weather’ | ĆȽSȻÁĆEL SEN. | ‘I was caught in bad weather.’ |
| 9) | NEȻE | ‘you’ | ĆȽNEȻE | ‘It was you that did it.’ |
| 10) | SMÍEŦ | ‘deer’ | ȽSMÍEŦ SEN. | ‘I ate venison.’ |
| 11) | TI | ‘tea’ | ȽTI SEN. | ‘I drank tea.’ |
| 12) | BOṮEṈ | ‘smoke’ | ȽBOṮEṈ SEN. | ‘I smoked (tobacco).’ |
| 13) | S¸IȽEN | ‘food’ | TW̱S¸IȽEN SEN. | ‘I bought food.’ |
| 14) | A¸LEṈ | ‘house’ | TW̱¸Á¸LEṈ SEN. | ‘I bought a house.’ |
| 15) | ȽḴIT | ‘clothes’ | TW̱ȽḴIT SEN. | ‘I bought clothes.’ |
| 16) | HÁLI | ‘Harry’ | TW̱HÁLI SNEW̱EȽ. | ‘The canoe belongs to Harry.’ |
‣ 1 The prefixes highlighted in the models are often written as separate words. They are, however, not separate words or particles. Each is part of the word it precedes. For example, when the causative ‑TW̱ (§40.2) is added to TW̱E SṈÁNET in model 3, to get TW̱ESṈÁNETTW̱ the meaning is ‘make it to turn to stone.’ The ‘cause’ notion is added to TW̱ESṈÁNET as a single word, not just to SṈÁNET.
‣ 2 Models 1, 2, and 3 show the TW̱E prefix. The basic meaning of this prefix is ‘become’ or ‘turn into.’ You can put this on any noun or adjective to create a verb meaning ‘become (whatever the stem means).’ So, as in the model, put TW̱E on ĆEḴ ‘big,’ and you get a verb meaning ‘become big.’
‣ 3 The suffix ‑SET/‑SOT, covered in §45.1, can have a similar ‘become’ interpretation. However, as noted there, that refers to an internal change or a change that happens on its own. The prefix TW̱E is not limited to change that is only internal. For example, TW̱E ĆEḴ ‘become big’ implies some external force making something big.
‣ 4 The Ć‑ ‘have’ prefix is illustrated in models 4, 5, and 6. This prefix can be put on any noun to make a verb meaning ‘have’ whatever the noun means.
‣ 5 The subject of a verb with the Ć‑ prefix is the possessor. Its use differs from the ‘possessive’ pronouns in that Ć‑ does not necessarily imply ownership. Compare these two sentences:
EWENE NE TÁLE. ‘I have no money.’
EWE SEN S ĆTÁLE. ‘I don’t have money.’
The difference in meaning between these two is that the first one, with the possessive prefix NE, means ‘I’m broke—there is no money that I own’ or more literally ‘There is nothing that is my money.’ The second, with the Ć‑ ‘have’ prefix means ‘I have no money on me—I may or may not be broke, but I have no money in my possession at this time.’
‣ 6 Model 5 shows two results of adding the Ć‑ ‘have’ prefix to S¸IȽEN ‘food.’ In the first sentence in model 5, the S‑ noun-forming prefix is dropped. In the second, the S‑ prefix remains in place. These two ways are equally good. Usually the S‑ prefix is dropped, but L1 speakers feel that the word is good whether the prefix is dropped or not.
‣ 7 Adding a possessive pronoun to a word with the Ć‑ prefix commonly occurs in Ȼ clauses (§46):
ṮÁ¸ U¸ NE SṮI¸ Ȼ NE SĆSNEW̱EȽ. ‘I also want to have a canoe.’
Note that, in this case, SĆSNEW̱EȽ has two S‑ prefixes. The S‑ prefix on SNEW̱EȽ ‘canoe’ marks it as a noun. Adding the Ć‑ prefix makes it a verb ĆSNEW̱EȽ meaning ‘have a canoe.’ To add the possessive NE for the Ȼ clause, the verb ĆSNEW̱EȽ must be converted to a noun with another S‑ prefix. Note that in this case the S‑ after the Ć‑ does not drop. Elders feel that Ȼ NE SĆNEW̱EȽ, with the S‑ deleted, sounds wrong, even though ĆNEW̱EȽ SEN ‘I have a canoe’ is perfectly good.
‣ 8 Models 7, 8, and 9 have the ĆȽ‑ prefix. This prefix adds the meaning of ‘negatively affected by’ or ‘impacted by.’ It always has a strong meaning of something bad happening to the subject that is caused by whatever noun the ĆȽ‑ is attached to. In model 7, for example, it is added to SḴAXE¸ ‘dog’ to express the idea that something bad happened to the subject—SEN ‘I’—caused by the SḴAXE¸.
‣ 9 In model 8, the ĆL‑ is added to the word SȻÁĆEL, which usually is used to mean ‘day,’ as in ÍY¸ SȻÁĆEL ‘good day.’ However, SȻÁĆEL can also mean ‘sky’ or, as in the case of model 8, ‘weather.’ So ĆȽSȻÁĆEL means ‘negatively affected by the weather.’
‣ 10 Models 10, 11, and 12 show the Ƚ‑ verbal prefix. This prefix typically means ‘eat’ or ‘drink,’ as in models 10 and 11. It can also be added to the word meaning ‘smoke’ to mean ‘smoke a cigarette or pipe.’
‣ 11 Models 13, 14, and 15 show another prefix with TW̱‑. This prefix usually means ‘buy,’ but it can also be used to mean ‘get a harvest’ as in TW̱₭ELÁLṈEW̱ SEN ‘I got a harvest of blackberries.’
‣ 12 The last example, model 16, shows yet another prefix with TW̱‑. This prefix has been recorded only attached to proper names. This TW̱‑ prefix can usually be translated as ‘belong to,’ but the meaning goes somewhat beyond that to me ‘be the responsibility of.’ For example, TW̱HÁLI SĆȺ with SĆȺ ‘job, work’ could be translated ‘It is Harry’s job’ or ‘It is the responsibility of Harry’ or ‘It is Harry’s responsibility.’
 | ĆȽPUSOȽ SEN. | ‘I was attacked by a kitten.’ |
 | SȺ¸SESI¸ E SW̱ ¸E TŦE PUSOȽ? | ‘Are you scared of a kitten?’ |
| ÁN¸ U¸ TW̱ESṮÁLEḴEM! | ‘It really became a monster!’ |
| ÁN¸ U¸ ÍY¸ Ȼ EN¸ S¸ITET. | ‘You really should sleep.’ |
| 54A. Translate into English. 1. TW̱EQOM¸QEM¸ ŦE KÁ¸ṈI¸. 2. ĆTÁLE TŦE NE SĆÁ¸ĆE¸. 3. ĆȽSȽEMEW̱ ȽTE. 4. ȽKOFI SEN SE¸. | 54B. Translate into SENĆOŦEN using the prefixes introduced in this section. 1. It’s Mary’s coat. 2. My friend wants to eat salmon. 3. I have a canoe. 4. The monster turned into a dog. |