Kw’áy kw’ses kwíyx̲thets means ‘They can’t move’.
The ‘they‘ is understood from context. A literal translation would be: ‘Can’t that move-themselves (they)’ (see the structure notes below).
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling
(Note: Elizabeth is chuckling as she says this part of the sentence.)
Vocabulary and Structure
This phrase has the following structure:
Vocabulary:
- kw’ay – can’t, (it is) impossible
- kw’es – that
- -es – here, marks (‘agrees with’) an (understood) third person subject (someone other than you or me). In this sentence the understood third person subject is ‘they‘
- kwíyx̲thet – to move oneself
- -s – this –s again marks the presence of the (understood) third person subject.
The presence of the –es and –s ‘third person agreement’ marking is often required in sentences with third person subjects, especially after that.
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