Due February 23, 2000
Lummi is a member of the Salishan language family which is spoken in northwestern Washington not far from the town of Bellingham. In this language, every transitive verb occurs with one of two suffixes: -t or -nEw. [Note: In this web version, the schwa is represented with E, the velar nasal is represented with N, and the lateral fricative is represented with L] One of the purposes of this exercise is to get you to figure the way that these suffixes are used in Lummi.
Note: Transitive verbs are those which express a relation, typically between an "agent" (doer) and a "patient" (someone or something acted upon by the agent). Intransitive verbs express a property or action of a single person or thing. For example, in English, hit, see, find , eat, etc. are transitive verbs, whereas walk, speak, work, etc. are intransitive verbs. A transitivizing suffix changes an intransitive verb into a transitive one.
I. Study the Lummi sentences (A) - (H) below and answer the questions (1) - (7).
| A. c'Es-t-sEn cE swEy'qE' | 'I hit the man on purpose.' |
| B. c'Es-t-sxw cE swEy'qE' | 'You hit the man on purpose.' |
| C. c'Es-t-L cE swEy'qE' | 'We hit the man on purpose.' |
| D. c'Es-t-oNEs-sEn | 'I hit you on purpose.' |
| E. c'Es-t-oNEs-sxw | 'You hit me on purpose.' |
| F. c'Es-nExw-sEn cE swEy'qE' | 'I hit the man accidentally.' |
| G. c'Es-nExw-sxw cE swEy'qE' | 'You hit the man accidentally.' |
| H. c'Es-nExw-s cE swEy'qE' | 'He hit the man accidentally.' |
What part of the Lummi sentences above translate the following:
1. hit _______________________________
2. the man _______________________________
3. I _______________________________
4. you (subject) _______________________________
5. he (subject) _______________________________
6. me, you (object) _______________________________
7. What is the difference in meaning between -t and -nEw ?
II. Next consider the Lummi sentences (I) - (L), and answer question (8) below.
| I. leN-nExw-sEn cE swEy'qE' | 'I caught a glimpse of the man.' |
| J. leN-t-sEn cE swEy'qE' | 'I watched the man.' |
| K. Elen-nExw-sEn cE swEy'qE' | 'I overheard the man.' |
| L. Elen-t-sEn cE swEy'qE' | 'I listened to the man.' |
8. Assuming that leN means 'perceive visually' and Elen means 'perceive aurally' (i.e. both are intransitive verbs), account for the English translations. For example, why is sentence (I) translated with 'caught a glimpse of' while sentence (J) is translated with 'watched' if they have the same verb root? What about (K)and (L)?