An ADVERBIAL CLAUSE is a sentence that modifies another sentence (often describing when or if one action happens). Mvskoke has several verb endings that form adverbial clauses.
|
ayen owat… |
‘if he/she goes…’ |
|
ayof… |
‘when he/she goes…’ |
|
ahyof… |
‘after he/she goes…’ |
|
ayet owisen… |
‘even though he/she goes…’ |
|
ayekv… |
‘he/she is going, so…’ |
|
ayat… |
‘as he/she goes…’ |
|
ayē monken… |
‘while he/she goes…’ |
|
vyeko monken… |
‘before he/she goes…’ |
‘If’: mēcetsken owat ‘if you do it’
- ‘If’ is expressed with -en owat (or -en omat in older language). In this pattern, agent markers go on the main verb.
| mēcin owat… |
‘if I do it…’ |
| mēcetsken owat… |
‘if you do it…’ |
| mēcen owat… |
‘if he/she does it…’ |
| mēcēn owat… |
‘if we do it…’ |
| mēcatsken owat… |
‘if you all do it…’ |
- The main verb may also be negative.
| mēcetskekon owat… |
‘if you don’t do it…’ |
- Here are some complete sentences using ‘if’.
| Horkopin owat, cvcakhoyvrēs. |
‘If I steal, they will catch me.’ |
| Mv honvnwvt mēcof, hotosvrēs. |
‘If that man does that, he’ll get tired.’ |
| Poset hompen owat, nucepvrēs. |
‘If the cat eats, he’ll fall asleep.’ |
- There is a difference between a phrase like ‘if it rains’ and ‘if it had rained’. You add -vt for the latter meaning (called COUNTERFACTUAL).
| Osken owat…. |
‘If it rains…’ |
| Oskvten owat… |
‘If it had rained…’ |
| Vm vnicetsken owat… |
‘If you help me…’ |
| Vm vnicetskvten owat |
‘If you had helped me…’ |
- Here are some complete examples.
| Osken owat, lvcpvrēs. |
‘If it rains, you’ll get wet.’ |
| Oskvten owat, hę̄rvhanvtēs. |
‘If it had rained, it would have been good.’ |
| Vm vnicetsken owat, respoyeyvrēs. |
‘If you help me, we will finish it.’ |
| Vm vnicetskvten owat, respoyvhaneyvtēs. |
‘If you had helped me, we would have finished it.’ |
‘When’: mēcof ‘when he/she does it’
- Use the ending -of on a verb to mean ‘when (something was happening)’.
| Vtotkof(vn), orēn oskvtēs. |
‘When he/she was working, it rained a lot.’ |
- The verb with -of is not marked for tense, but person markers may be used.
| vtotkvyof… |
‘when I work…’ |
| vtotketskof… |
‘when you work…’ |
| vtotkof… |
‘when he/she works…’ |
| vtotkeyof… |
‘when we work…’ |
| vtotkatskof… |
‘when you all work…’ |
- The ending -of is a short form. The long form is -ofvn or -ofvt. -ofvn is used when the subject of the verb+-of is different from the next clause. -ofvt is used when the subject is the same.
‘After’: mehcof ‘after he/she does it’
- The ending -of means ‘when’, as in mēcof ‘when he/she does it’. To say ‘after (something happens)’, you put the verb stem in the h-grade: mehcof ‘after he/she does it’.
| Mehcof, vyēpvnks. |
‘After he/did that, he/she left.’ |
| Jeremiah homipof, fettvn osiyes. |
‘After Jeremiah ate, he went outside.’ |
| Osikof, hvsottē hahkes. |
‘After it rained, it became sunny.’ |
‘Even though’, ‘but’: mēcet owisen ‘even though he/she does it’
- The ending -isen means ‘even though’. It’s usually shortened to just -is.
| Yekcēn vtotkeyis, fēketv cutkēt os. |
‘Even though we work hard, the pay is small.’ |
| Mēcet owisen, wihkes. |
‘He/she was doing that, but he/she quit.’ |
| Jeremiah vtotket owisen, vyehpes. |
‘Jeremiah was working, but he left.’ |
‘Because’: vtotkikv ‘because I am working’
- The ending -ekv is used to mean ‘because’ or ‘so’. It has the form -kv after a vowel or diphthong.
| Vtotkekv, vhoyeko tayet omes. |
‘Because he’s working, we can’t go.’/‘He’s working, so we can’t go.’ |
- The sentence ending in -ekv is not tensed, but agent person markers can be used.
| vtotkikv… |
‘because I’m working…’ |
| vtotketskekv… |
‘because you’re working…’ |
| vtotkekv… |
‘because he/she is working…’ |
| vtotkēkv… |
‘because we’re working…’ |
| vtotkatskekv… |
‘because you all are working…’ |
- The very common word monkv ‘so’ includes -ekv. The older form is momekv ‘it is that way, so…’.
‘As’: mēcat ‘as he/she does it’
- You can add -at to a verb to mean ‘as (something happens)’. The verb is in the lengthened grade.
| Cufe ayat… |
‘As Rabbit was going…’ |
More examples:
|
Mv honvnwv mēcat, lihkes. |
‘As the man did it, he sat down.’ |
|
Mv efvt wohkat, letikes. |
‘As the dog barked, it ran off.’ |
|
Mv hoktvke yvhikakat, lihkis. |
‘As the women sang, I sat down.’ |
‘As soon as’: mvn eroran vtēkusen ‘as soon as he/she got there’
- To say ‘as soon as (something happened)’, you can use –at vtēkusen or -at vpaken.
| Lvmhe hēcvyat vtēkusen, |
‘As soon as I saw the eagle, |
| tvmkehpes. |
it flew off.’ |
| Hēcvyat vpaken, rescehyes. |
‘As soon as I saw him/her, he/she went in.’ |
| Ohhvlatan vpaken, |
‘As soon as he took hold of him, |
| ’yvnvwv ’mvtēpkvtēs. |
he slapped him on the cheek.’ |
‘Just as’: vlakē mahvn ‘just as he/she was arriving’
- When an action is just about completed, you can use -ē mahvn.
| Vlakē mahvn, hehcis. |
‘He/she was just about here when I saw him.’ |
‘Before’: mēceko monken ‘before he/she does it’
- We’ve seen that monken can be used for ‘still’.
| Huerē monken, hoyahnis. |
‘He/she was still standing when I passed him.’ |
- When the preceding verb is in the negative, it means ‘before’ (literally, ‘while it had still had not happened’).
| Mēcēko monken, pusvlvfkuehohces. |
‘Before we did it, we got arrested.’ |
| Hompēko monken, vlahkes. |
‘Before we ate, he/she got there.’ |
| Makeko monken, kērris. |
‘Before he/spoke, I already knew.’ |
| Hecēko monken, vyehpes. |
‘Before we saw him, he left.’ |
