Commands: Letkvs! ‘Run’

Jack B. Martin

11 Commands: Letkvs! ‘Run’

Mvskoke has different forms of verbs to show different kinds of commands or suggestions. Commands may be to one person or to several people and may be positive or negative.

When you tell one person (or an animal) to do something, use the ending -vs.

letketv	‘(one) to run’	Letkvs!	‘Run! (said to one)’
tasketv	‘(one) to jump’	Taskvs!	‘Jump! (said to one)’
yvhiketv	‘to sing’	Yvhikvs!	‘Sing! (said to one)’
hompetv	‘to eat’	Hompvs!	‘Eat! (said to one)’
tvmketv	‘(one) to fly’	Tvmkvs!	‘Fly! (said to one)’
vtotketv	‘to work’	Vtotkvs!	‘Work! (said to one)’

**Plural commands: Hompvks cē! ‘Y’all eat!’**

When you tell two or more people (or animals) to do something, use the ending -vks.

hompetv	‘to eat’	Hompvks!	‘Eat (said to two or more)!’
yvhiketv	‘to sing’	Yvhikvks!	‘Sing (said to two or more)!’
vtotketv	‘to work’	Vtotkvks!	‘Work (said to two or more)!’

Adding cē to the end of a statement or command gives it strong emphasis: Hompvks cē! ‘You all eat!’
Some verbs in Mvskoke have special plural forms. Liketv, for example, refers to one person sitting, but vpoketv refers to three or more. For words like this, use -vs with the singular verb, and -vks with plural verb forms.

liketv	‘(one) to sit’	Likvs!	‘Sit! (said to one)’
kaketv	‘(two) to sit’	Kakvks!	‘Sit! (said to two)’
vpoketv	‘(three or more) to sit’	Vpokvks!	‘Sit! (said to three or more)’
hueretv	‘(one) to stand’	Huervs!	‘Stand! (said to one)’
sehoketv	‘(two) to stand’	Sehokvks!	‘Stand! (said to two)’
svpakletv	‘(three or more) to stand’	Svpaklvks!	‘Stand! (said to three or more)’

**Negative commands: Yvhikekot! ‘Don’t sing!’**

You can tell someone NOT to do something by using the ending -ekot ‘don’t’.

yvhiketv	‘to sing’	Yvhikekot!	‘Don’t sing! (said to one or more)’
hompetv	‘to eat’	Hompekot!	‘Don’t eat! (said to one or more)’
mēcetv	‘to do’	Mēcekot!	‘Don’t do it! (said to one or more)’

A negative command like yvhikekot! ‘don’t sing!’ is shortened from yvhikekot owvs! ‘don’t sing! (said to one)’ or yvhikekot owvks! ‘don’t sing! (said to two or more)’. The ending -ekot includes negative -eko and the connecting suffix -t.

Here is another way to tell someone NOT to do something.

hecetv	‘to look, see’
hec-	‘look, see’	hehcetskvs! / hehceccvs!	‘don’t look!’
letketv	‘(one) to run’
letk-	‘run’	letiketskvs! / letikeccvs!	‘don’t run!’
hompetv	‘to eat’
homp-	‘eat’	homipetskvs! / homipeccvs!	‘don’t eat!’

The words above are formed by applying the h-grade to a verb stem and adding the second person marker -etsk (or -ecc). If you address more than one person, use -atsk:

	hecetv	‘to look, see’
	hec-	‘look, see’	hehcatskvs! / hehcaccvs!	‘don’t y’all look!’

**Spontaneous commands: Vpokepvks! ‘Have a seat!’**

To suggest that someone do something, add the suffix -ep to a command.

liketv	‘(one) to sit’	Likvs!	‘Sit!’
		Likepvs!	‘Have a seat!’
vm vnicetv	‘to help me’	Vm vnicvs!	‘Help me!’
		Vm vnicepvs!	‘Please help me!’

Adding -ep to a command makes it more spontaneous and gives the listener more choice in the matter.

**‘Let’s’ commands: Hompvkēs! ‘Let’s eat!’**

To make a suggestion to a group, the ending -vkēs (or -vkēts) is used.

hompetv	‘to eat’	Hompvkēs!	‘Let’s (two or more) eat!’
vhoyetv	‘(two) to go’	Vhoyvkēs!	‘Let’s (two) go!’
vpēyetv	‘(three or more) to go’	Vpēyvkēs!	‘Let’s (three or more) go!’

If a verb has plural forms, the plural forms must be used.

A more casual way to say ‘let’s’ is with the ending -ę̄p.

yvhiketv	‘to sing’	Yvhikę̄p!	‘Let’s sing!’
vpēyetv	‘(three or more) to go’	Vpēyę̄p!	‘Let’s (three or more) go!’

**‘Let him/her’ commands: Hompekvs ‘Let him/her eat’**

The suffix -ekvs means ‘let (someone) do something’.

hompetv	‘to eat’	hompekvs	‘let him/her eat’
		hompvkekvs	‘let them eat’

**Suggestions: Eskvccvs ‘You must drink it’**

The suffix -vccvs means ‘you must’, ‘you shall’, or ‘you can’.

nesetv	‘to buy’	nesvccvs	‘you must buy it’
esketv	‘to drink’	eskvccvs	‘you must drink it’
wvnvyetv	‘to tie’	wvnvyvccvs	‘you must tie it’

Negative and plural forms are also possible.

hompetv	‘to eat’	hompekot owvccvs	‘you must not eat’
		hompekot owvkvccvs	‘you all must not eat’

The combination -ep + -vccvs offers the hearer more choice and translates as ‘can’ or ‘may’.

esetv	‘to take’	esepvccvs	‘you can take, have’
hompetv	‘to eat’	hompepvccvs	‘you can eat’

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Plural commands: Hompvks cē! ‘Y’all eat!’

Negative commands: Yvhikekot! ‘Don’t sing!’

Spontaneous commands: Vpokepvks! ‘Have a seat!’

‘Let’s’ commands: Hompvkēs! ‘Let’s eat!’

‘Let him/her’ commands: Hompekvs ‘Let him/her eat’

Suggestions: Eskvccvs ‘You must drink it’