DIALOGUES AND PHRASES
WHO’s WHO?: MORE PHRASES, INTRODUCING hne:ˀ and nęneˀ
_____ gęh?‘_____? (Is it _____?)’
Ęhę:ˀ, _____ . ‘Yes, _____ . (Yes, it’s _____ .)’
_____ gęh hne:ˀ? ‘Is it _____?’
Ęhę:ˀ, _____ hne:ˀ. ‘Yes, it’s _____ .’
Tęˀ, tęˀ _____ dˀegę: . ‘No, it’s not _____ .’
Ęhę:ˀ hne:ˀ. ‘Yes (that’s) it.’
Tęˀ hne:ˀ. ‘(That’s) not it.’
Nęneˀ nę:gyęh? ‘What about this (one)?’
Nęneˀ to:gyęh? ‘What about that (one)?’
NOTES
1) Particles
All of these little words like tęˀ, ęhę:ˀ, gęh, hne:ˀ, nęneˀ, and i:ˀ and i:s are called “particles”. Particles are tiny words that actually play a big role in directing conversation, as you can well see: they help you ask and answer questions, say ‘yes’ and ‘no’, and help you tell whether something is or isn’t the case. Some of our sentences even consist of only particles! We’ll try to keep using them and introducing new ones as we go along. Keep an ear out!
Activity 1: A picture of a group of people
With your partners, draw a picture of a group of people and label yourselves in it. Now, use the phrases we’ve gone over to talk about it. E.g.:
A. Sǫ:naht nę:gyęh? I:s gęh? ‘Who’s this? You?’
B. Tęˀ, tęˀ i:ˀ dˀegę: to:gyęh. ‘No, that’s not me.’
A. Sǫ:naht nę:gyęh? ‘Who’s this?’
B. Sǫ:? ‘Who?’
A. Nę:gyęh. I:s gęh hne:ˀ? ‘This (one). Is it you?’
B. Tęˀ, tęˀ i:ˀ dˀegę: . John hne:ˀ. ‘No, it’s not me. It’s John.’
A. Nęneˀ nę:gyęh. I:s gęh? ‘What about this (one)? Is it you?’
B. Ęhę:ˀ! I:ˀ to:gyęh. ‘Yes! That’s me.’
Activity 2: Bring in a picture
Have students bring in pictures of groups of people with themselves in it, but where you can’t tell which one they are. Maybe it’s from when they were younger, or maybe everybody is dressed up. Try to figure out who the person is in the picture using our vocabulary and phrases so far.