Lesson Five

Model Sentences

Díi st'igáng.
I'm sick.

Íitl' skáan hlkwiidáang.

Hal jáa gudangáay 'láagang.

Vocabulary

Weak-B Pronouns
díi
I
dáng
you
hal
he/she
íitl'
we
daláng
y'all
tl'
people (in general)

Personal Nouns
díi káa
my uncle (usu. mother's brother)
díi skáan
my aunt (usu. father's sister)
díi tláal
my husband
díi jáa
my wife
díi gudangáay
my thoughts, my feelings

Intransitive-B Verbs
'láagang
is good, well
st'igáng
is sick, ill
hlkwiidáang
is in a hurry, hurrying along

Notes

1) In Lessons 1-4, we have seen the Weak-A and the Strong-A pronouns. The difference
between them is where they get used in the sentence -- the weak pronouns are used right
before the verb, while the strong pronouns are used in the focus position, followed by the focus
marker «uu».

In this lesson, we see the Weak-B pronouns for the first time. Just like the Weak-A pronouns,
the Weak-B pronouns are used right before the verb. The difference is that some verbs in
Haida require us to use pronouns from set A, while other verbs require us to use pronouns from
set B.

All of the verbs that we learned in Lessons 1-4 are verbs that require A pronouns. That is why
we called them Intransitive-A verbs (we'll explain the "intransitive" part of that a couple of
lessons from now). Intransitive A-Verbs can never be used with B pronouns.

However, the three new verbs in this lesson all require B pronouns. That is why we call them
Intransitive-B verbs. Intransitive-B verbs can never be used with A pronouns.

Here is a comparison of the three sets of pronouns we have learned so far.

Weak-A
Strong-A
Weak-B
I
hl
hláa
díi
you
dáng
dáa
dáng
he/she
hal
'láa
hal
we
t'aláng
t'aláng
íitl'
y'all
daláng
daláng
daláng
people
tl'
tl'áa
tl'

If we compare just the Weak-A and Weak-B pronouns, we see that only two of them are
different: «hl» vs. «díi» for "I", and «t'aláng» vs. «íitl'» for "we". The other four pronouns are
the same in both the Weak-A set and the Weak-B set.

2) In this lesson, for the first time, we are actually learning two new sentence patterns. The first
is Pattern 1C, which has a noun in the subject slot (just like Pattern 1A), and an Intransitive-B
verb in the predicate slot. Note that the subject still comes before the predicate.

Sentence Pattern 1C
Subject
Predicate
Noun
Intransitive-B Verb

Here are some examples of Pattern 1C using the Intransitive-B verb «st'igáng» "is sick".

Subject
Predicate

Nang jáadaas
st'igáng.
The woman is sick.
Gaagáay
st'igáng.
The children are sick.
Frankie
st'igáng.
Frankie is sick.
Díi káa isgyáan díi skáan
st'igáng.
My uncle and my aunt are sick.

The second new pattern is Pattern 1D. Here, instead of a noun as subject, we have a pronoun.
Since the predicate in this pattern is an Intransitive-B verb, the pronoun must be from the
Weak-B set.

Sentence Pattern 1D
Subject
Predicate
Weak-B Pronoun
Intransitive-B Verb

Here are some examples of Pattern 1D with the Intransitive-B verb «'láagang» "is well".

Subject
Predicate

Díi
'láagang.
I am well.
Dáng
'láagang.
You are well.
Hal
'láagang.
He/she is well.
Íitl'
'láagang.
We are well.
Daláng
'láagang.
Y'all are well.
Tl'
'láagang.
People are well.

3) One of the most important concepts in any language is possession -- namely, how do we
express that something or someone belongs to someone else. There are several different ways
of doing this in Haida. The first way involves putting the possessor immediately before the one
being possessed. We can call this Possessed Noun Pattern 1, as shown in the following table.
Possessed Noun Pattern 1A
Possessor
Possessed

You have probably noticed by now that the word «díi» means "my" in phrases like «díi aw»
"my mother" and «díi náan» "my grandmother". As we see in this lesson, «díi» is actually a
Weak-B pronoun. It turns out that we can express this type of possession or close relationship
by combining any of the Weak-B pronouns with a Personal noun such as «aw» "mother" or
«náan» "grandmother" . This is Possessed Noun Pattern 1A, where the possessor is expressed
with a pronoun, and the possessed is a personal noun.

Possessed Noun Pattern 1A

Personal nouns in Haida typically refer to one's relatives or parts of one's body; in other words,
things to which one has a close and "personal" relationship. Other types of nouns -- like
common nouns or verbal nouns -- don't use this same possessed noun pattern. Most of the
nouns we have learned so far have been personal nouns. In upcoming lessons we will start
learning about other types of nouns, and then later on we will see how the idea of possession is
expressed with those nouns.

Here are some examples of Pattern 1A, using the personal noun «git» "child".

Possessor
Possessed

díi
git
my child
dáng
git
your child
hal
git
his/her/their child
íitl'
git
our child
daláng
git
y'all's child
Note that the pronoun «tl'» is typically not used in this context. Note also that the pronoun «hal»
can mean either "his", "her" or "their" when used in this pattern, depending as usual on the
context in which it is used.

Personal nouns can also be possessed by other nouns (including, even, other personal nouns).
This is Pattern 1B. Note that the possessor still comes immediately before the one being
possessed.

Possessed Noun Pattern 1B

Here are some examples of Pattern 1B, with the personal noun «jáa» "wife".

Possessor
Possessed

Paul
jáa
Paul's wife
díi káa
jáa
my uncle's wife
nang íihlangaas
jáa
the man's wife

4) Another very important persoanl noun in Haida is gudangáay, which means "one's thoughts,
feelings, emotions, mental state". Take note of these phrases:
Díi gudangáay 'láagang.
I am happy. (Literally, "My thoughts are good.")
Díi gudangáay st'igáng.
I am sad. (Literally, "My thoughts are sick.")
Lesson Six

Model Sentences

Díi uu k'wíidang.
I'm the one who is hungry.
Dáng jáas kangáagang.
Your sister is sleepy.

Vocabulary

Strong-B Pronouns
díi
I
dáng
you
'láa
he/she
íitl'
we
daláng
y'all
tl'áa
people (in general)

Personal Nouns
díi dáa
my brother (of a female)
díi jáas
my sister (of a male)
díi dúun
my younger sibling of the same sex
díi k'wáay
my older sibling of the same sex
díi náat
my nephew/niece
díi náat íihlangaas
my nephew
díi náat jáadaas
my niece
díi t'ak'an
my grandchild
díi t'ak'an íihlangaas
my grandson
díi t'ak'an jáadaas
my granddaughter
Intransitive-B Verbs
xwíigang
feels cold
k'wíidang
is hungry
kangáagang
is sleepy
gíihlgiigang
is ready, finished

Notes

1) Here in Lesson Six we are learning two new sentence patterns. The first pattern has a noun
subject, followed by the focus marker, followed by an Intransitive-B verb. This is the subject
focus version of sentence pattern 1C, so we call it Pattern 1C + Subject Focus (or 1C-SF for
short).

Sentence Pattern 1C + Subject Focus

Here are some examples of this pattern, with the Intransitive-B verb «st'igáng» "is sick".

Subject
Focus Marker
Predicate

Díi jáa
uu
st'igáng.
My wife is the one who is sick.
Frank
uu
hlkwiidáang.
Frank is the one who is in a hurry.
Íitl' skáan
uu
xwíigang.
Our aunt is the one who feels cold.
Jaatgáay
uu
kangáagang.
The women are the ones who are sleepy.

The second new sentence pattern is Pattern 1D + Subject Focus (or 1D-SF for short). Here we
still have an Intransitive-B verb in the predicate, but now we have a pronoun in focus position.
Since the verb in Intransitive-B, we know the pronoun must come from the B set and not the A
set; and since it is in focus position and not immediately next to the verb, we know it must be a
Strong-B pronoun and not a Weak-B pronoun.

Sentence Pattern 1D + Subject Focus

Here are some examples of Pattern 1D-SF, using several different Intransitive-B verbs.

Subject
Focus Marker
Predicate

Díi
uu
st'igáng.
I am the one who is sick.
Dáng
uu
hlkwiidáang.
You are the one who is in a hurry.
'Láa
uu
xwíigang.
He/she is the one who feels cold.
Íitl'
uu
kangáagang.
We are the ones who are sleepy.
Daláng
uu
k'wíidang
Y'all are the ones who are hungry.

Note the differences in the following pairs of sentences -- the first built following Pattern 1D, the
second following Pattern 1D-SF.

1D
Díi
xwíigang.
I feel cold.
1D-SF
Díi
uu
xwíigang.
I am the one who feels cold.

1D
Dáng
xwíigang.
You feel cold.
1D-SF
Dáng
uu
xwíigang.
You are the one who feels cold.

1D
Hal
xwíigang.
He/she feels cold.
1D-SF
'Láa
uu
xwíigang.
He/she is the one who feels cold.

1D
Íitl'
xwíigang.
We feel cold.
1D-SF
Íitl'
uu
xwíigang.
We are the ones who feel cold.

1D
Daláng
xwíigang.
Y'all feel cold.
1D-SF
Daláng
uu
xwíigang.
Y'all are the ones who feel cold.

As we noted earlier, the pronoun «tl'/tl'áa» typically does not occur in focus position.

The table below shows all four sets of pronouns we have learned.

Weak-A
Strong-A
Weak-B
Strong-B
I
hl
hláa
díi
díi
you
dáng
dáa
dáng
dáng
he/she
hal
'láa
hal
'láa
we
t'aláng
t'aláng
íitl'
íitl'
y'all
daláng
daláng
daláng
daláng
people
tl'
tl'áa
tl'
tl'áa

Note that there are no new forms among the Strong-B pronouns -- each of the pronouns has a
form that we have already seen in one of the other three sets.

2) In Haida, men and women refer to their siblings in subtly different ways. If a woman has an
older sister, she will refer to her as «díi k'wáay». If she has a younger sister, she will refer to her
with the phrase «díi dúun». If she has a brother, she will refer to him as «díi dáa», regardless of
whether he is older or younger than her.

The pattern for men is quite similar. If a man has an older brother, he will refer to him as «díi
k'wáay», while he will refer to a younger brother as «díi dúun». If he has a sister, he will refer to
her as «díi jáas», regardless of whether she is older or younger than him.

3) The phrase «díi t'ak'an» means "my grandchild", of either sex. If you want to be more
specific, you can add «íihlangaas» or «jáadaas». The same pattern holds for «díi náat», which
means "my nephew/niece". Note that English doesn't have a simple, single term that covers
both nephews and nieces in the way that Haida does.