26 Adverbial clauses
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, it’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.’
