Grammar
Conjunct Dubitative Preterit or CDP (#15)
| ᒌᐦ ᓂᐹᑯᐱᓈ |  |
chiih nipaakupinaa… | If she/he were asleep… |
These forms are used to say that the speaker did not know what happened at the time it happened, but knows it now. There was no previous knowledge of what happened.
The following example illustrate the context of use of such forms:
| ᒨᔥ ᐊᓂᑖᐦ ᐋᐦ ᐊᑯᐦᐱᓂᑯᑦ ᐅᑳᐧᐄᐦ ᐅᔅᑳᔅᒋᑭᓂᔨᐦᒡ ᑭᔮᐦ ᑏᐧᐋᐦᒡ ᐋᐦ ᐅᑎᓂᑯᑦ ᒥᔮᑐᒡᐦ, ᐧᑳᐧᔖᓐ ᐋᔨᒋᒑ ᐊᓂᔮ ᐧᐋᐦᒋ ᐃᐦᑎᒃ ᓂᔮᓂᑯᑐᓐᐦ ᓈᔥᒡ ᓈᐅᔥ ᐋᐦ ᓅᔖᓂᑦ, ᐋᐦ ᒥᐧᔮᔨᐦᑎᐦᒃ ᐅᑳᐧᐄᐦ ᐋᐦ ᓂᐹᐦᐄᑯᑦ ᑭᔮᐦ ᐋᐦ ᐧᐋᐅᒋᓂᑯᑦ ᐋᑎ ᓂᐹᒡᐦ᙮ ᐋᑯᐦ ᒦᓐ ᐧᐋᓂᔥᑳᑦ ᐊᓐ ᐃᔅᐧᑳᐤ, ᐋᑎ ᐃᔮᔨᒥᔨᐦᑎᒃ, ᑳᐦ ᓂᐹᐦᐋᒡᐦ ᐊᓂᔮᐦ ᐅᑎᐧᐋᔑᔒᒻᐦ ᑳᐦ ᓅᔖᓂᐦᐋᑦ᙮ ᐋᑳ ᒫᒃ ᐊᓂᔮ ᐃᔑ ᐱᒥᓈᑭᓂᐧᐃᑦ ᐊᐧᐋᔑᔥ, ᐧᑳᐧᔖᓐ ᐋᑯᑎᐦ ᐊᓂᑎᐦ ᐅᐦᒋᐱᔨᔨᒋᒑ ᓂᔮᓂᑯᑐᓐᐦ ᐧᐋᐦᒋ ᐋᑳ ᒌᐦ ᐃᔥᐱᔥ ᓵᒋᐦᐋᑦ ᐊᓂᔮᐦ ᐅᓃᒋᐦᐄᒄᐦ, ᑖᓂᔮ ᐊᓂᔮ ᒑ ᐃᔥᐱᔥ ᓵᒋᐦᐋᑯᐱᓈ᙮ |
| muush anitaah aah akuhpinikut ukaawiih uskaaschikiniyihch kiyaah tiiwaahch aah utinikut miyaatuchh, kwaashwaan aayichichaa aniyaa waahchi ihtik niyaanikutunh naashch naaush aah nuushaanit, aah miywaayihtihk ukaawiih aah nipaahiikut kiyaah aah waauchinikut aati nipaachh. aakuh miin waanishkaat an iskwaau, aati iyaayimiyihtik, kaah nipaahaachh aniyaah utiwaashishiimh kaah nuushaanihaat. aakaa maak aniyaa ishi piminaakiniwit awaashish, kwaashwaan aakutih anitih uhchipiyiyichichaa niyaanikutunh waahchi aakaa chiih ishpish saachihaat aniyaah uniichihiikwh, taaniyaa aniyaa chaa ishpish saachihaakupinaa. |
| (CD09Track03CouncilofElders2002..018) |
| If the mother breastfeeds her child and whenever the baby cries, the mother will pick up her child right away. Maybe this is one of the reasons why children breastfeed for a long time, because they want to be close to the mother. They like to be close to her, because she hugs them when she puts them to sleep. The woman gets up again to do her chores, after she breastfeeds and puts her baby to sleep. If the child is not raised in this manner, maybe this is the reason why he cannot love his parents as much as he could love them. |
These verbs can take initial change:
| ᓈᐹᑯᐱᓈ᙮ | naapaaakupinaa. | He slept there (somebody told me). |
Link to Conjugation Tables