Suffix -m on Verbs
The suffix -m on nouns means "to" (a location) or "with" (an instrument).
On verbs, the -m suffix can be used to make many types of complex sentences involving more than one subject.
-m on verbs means that the following verb in the sentence will have a different subject than the verb marked with -m.
On this page, we will review the many applications of -m, studying a number of original example sentences from native speech that demonstrate its use on verbs. These are pulled from Lesson 33 of Ted Couro's Let's Talk 'Iipay Aa.
The examples on this page will be formatted as follows:
The example sentence in the first line
The most natural or likely translation in the second line
Alternate translations in the third or fourth lines
The most literal translation in the last line, with -m marked
(Any useful notes in parentheses)
The last line, the literal translation, is meant to help you think of how sentences are structured in 'Iipay Aa. However, the meaning you should interpret from the sentence will be in the translations in the second, third, or fourth lines.
-m is like a way of saying "and"
-m is almost a way of saying "and", connecting two clauses of a sentence together. On top of conjoining them, -m tells us that the first verb is done by one subject, and the next verb, after the -m, is done by a different subject. For example:
Puy tenyewaym nyaapum 'enyaach 'aams.
They stayed there and then I left.
There they were staying-m, then I left.
Above, the subject of the first verb is an unspecified "they", as we can tell by its plural form.
That first verb, tenyeway, is suffixed with -m, telling us that the next verb will have a different subject.
As we can see, the next verb, 'aam, has "I" as its subject, different from tenyeway. Here, we did not need -m to tell us that these two verbs had different subjects. But in other sentences, as you will see, we do need -m for this.
Reading to someone
The way Kumeyaay says "I read (out loud) to someone" is, "I say the writing and they hear it." For this, we need -m:
'Enyaach uumall 'iim meyiph.
I will read to you.
I will say the writing-m, and you will hear it-h.
(uumall wii = literally, "says the writing". Different from leerr, reads)
Maach uumall miim 'eyip.
You read to me.
You say the writing-m, and I listen.
*Uumall as a noun means any type of writing or book. Uumall (uchemaall) is also a verb meaning writes or takes a picture.
-m makes a clause the object of a main verb
A common usage of -m is to make a clause a subordinate object clause. That means that one sentence, in its entirety, is the object of another verb, the main verb. In these cases, the subordinate clause will have -m on the verb, and the main verb will not have -m. For example:
Maapch helulm 'eyip
I heard someone playing the flute
Someone played the flute-m and I heard them
(maap = someone, helul = plays the flute. -ch on nouns is the nominative suffix)
Above, "maapch helul" (someone played the flute) is a complete sentence. Marking the verb with -m, it becomes the subordinate clause. The remaining verb, 'eyip (I heard), is the main verb. Since this verb is transitive, it needs an object. The object of the main verb is then the entire subordinate clause: I heard [someone playing the flute-m].
More examples:
Helulm yip.
She* heard him playing the flute.
He played the flute-m, and she heard him.
Helulm yip tewaas.
She was listening to him play the flute.
He played the flute-m, and she was listening.
*He/she are used for clarity in the English; the Kumeyaay has no gender distinction in this sentence.
'Ehatt wipm 'eyips, maach meyipa?
I heard the dog bark, did you hear it?
The dog barked-m and I heard it, did you hear it?
The subordinate clause may simply describe the location or position of the subject:
Sha'ii puy ewaam ewuuws.
He sees the turkey vulture over there.
The turkey vulture is over there-m, and he sees it.
(ewaa = is located somewhere)
Siny puy pehkwiim ewuuws.
He sees the woman standing over there.
He sees the woman that is standing over there.
A woman stands there-m, and he sees her.
(no auxiliary used for pehkwii)
Kurak puy welyakm ewuuws.
He sees the old man lying over there.
He sees the old man that is lying over there.
An old man lies-m, and he sees him.
Sometimes, the word order can be switched up so that -m actually comes after the main verb:
'Ewuuw Rositach shawii wechuwm.
I saw Rosita making shawii.
I saw, Rosita made shawii-m.
'Enyaach 'enur Rositach shawii wechuwm.
I know Rosita made shawii.
I know it, Rosita made shawii-m.
Other times, the subordinate clause can be stuck in between the main subject and the main verb:
'Enyaach ewipm 'ewuuws.
I saw them do it.
I, they did it-m, and I saw them.
(Look to verb form to see: 'enyaach is not the subject of ewip)
Examples with war, wants:
Ewiim 'ewuuwhlly 'ars.
I want to see him do it.
He does it-m, and I want to see.
(No -h on ewiim even though the action is probably in the future)
See how 'ewuuw is the object of war, and ewii is the object of 'ewuuw.
When war applies to just one other verb, -m is not needed, but -hlly is used on the verb:
Mesaawhlly war.
He wants you to eat. (no -m)
He wants that you eat.
You eat-hlly, he wants.
-m can indicate the time at which something happened
as if to say "as", "when" or "while":
Helulm 'ehemays.
As he played the flute, I looked for him.
He played the flute-m and I looked for him.
Pecheshuwm 'elymaam kwa'stikvech melay.
While they were waiting, the little boy died.
They waited-m and the little boy died.
Maaykallym 'esuw wechaawch.
They made food early.
They made food when it was early.
It was early-m, and they made food.
-m in this sense can also be used with prefix nya-, making the "when" more explicit:
Nyahunnm hemaahlly war.
At night he wanted to sleep.
When it was dark-m, he wanted to sleep.
(nya- = "when")
Nyaapum nyakumetnyaallym yip.
Then the next day she heard it.
Then, when it was the next day-m, she heard it.
'Enyaach 'aamem 'ekwiys.
It rained after I left.
It was raining when I left. ('ekwiy uses no auxiliary)
I left-em and it rained.
(e inserted before -m to make it audible)
-m can show cause and effect
In these cases, -m marks the cause, and the main verb is the effect.
'Ehellytaa 'etoom weraps.
My head hurts because I hit it.
I hit my head-m and it hurts.
Puy tenyewaym nyaapum 'enyaach 'aams.
They stayed there and then I left.
Then I left, because they were staying there.
They were staying there-m, then I left.
'Ekwiy rewiim 'emeheyaay.
I'm afraid it will rain.
I'm afraid it looks like it will rain.
I'm scared because it looks like it will rain.
It looks like it will rain-m, and I'm scared.
('ekwiy rewii = it looks like it will rain, in this context)
Remember that -m can sometimes go on the second verb; word order is flexible:
'Iipayvech mechheyaay melay rewiim.
People were afraid that he would die.
People were afraid that he looked like he would die.
People were afraid, he looked dead-m.
(Apparently melay rewii = might die, looks like he will die)
-m can make things happen:
'Enyaach 'ewiim aashukp.
I made it fall.
I did it-m and it fell.
Notice how "ewii" (does) is used to say "make it (do something)".
Above, 'enyaach 'ewiim is not a subordinate object clause like we've seen in earlier examples. Nor does it mean "when" or "as". It is more like cause and effect, I did it-m, and as a result, it fell. It also shows the sequence of events: I did it-m, and then it fell.
-m is used in commands:
In the following examples, each command is accompanied by a consequence or purpose of the command: Give me some water so I can drink. The imperative verb, the command starting in k-, will take the -m. The consequence or purpose, which will happen in the future once the command is completed, is marked with -h on the verb. Do this-m, and this will happen-h.
Note that if a command verb ends in ' (like hwally ki'! Shut up!), the -m will delete the '.
Metaat kim 'ily aakatth.
Tell your father to cut wood.
Tell your father-m, and he will cut wood-h.
(kim is from ki', which is from wii, he says)
'Ehaa 'enyekinym 'esiih.
Give me some water to drink.
Give me water-m, and I will drink-h.
Lamees kechkwam 'esuwh.
Set the table so we can eat.
Set the table-m and we will eat-h.
(chekwaa = sets the table, puts down/leaves a bunch of things)
Ketiikaym peshuwh.
Ask him to wait.
Ask him-m and he will wait-h.
'Uuchuch 'enyekinym 'esaawh.
Give me something to eat.
Give me something-m and I will eat it-h.
Kim helulh.
Tell them to play the flute.
Tell him-m and he will play the flute-h.
'Iikwichvu kim shuuhuuh umaawh.
Tell the man not to steal it.
Tell the man-m and he will not steal it-h.
(Remember, no word for "it")
Kechkwam 'esaawh.
Put them down so I can eat them.
Put them down for me to eat them.
Put them down-m and I'll eat them-h.
(no word for "them")
-m can be used to describe things
We know that verbs can be nominalized and added behind nouns to describe them:
'Elymaam kwa'stik
The small child
The child that is small
(kwa'stik is nominalized from 'estik, "is small")
When something is the object of a verb, and you want to add a descriptor, -m is preferred over nominalization with ku/kw-, especially when the object is indefinite:
'Elymaam stikm 'ewuuw.
I saw a small child.
A child was small-m and I saw him/her.
('estik plus -m becomes stikm)
'Ewaa 'iikuum wechuw.
He made a big house.
A house was big-m and he made it.
'Elymash 'eshashm tenarr.
She has beautiful children.
Children are beautiful-m and she has them.
-m can be used for quantities
Such as "a lot" and "a little":
'Ily 'ehmiiym aakatt.
He cut a lot of wood.
Wood was a lot-m and he cut it.
Shawii stikm wemaa.
He ate a little shawii.
Shawii was a little-m and he ate it.
'Uuchuch 'ehmiiym mewiih.
You will do a lot of things.
You have a lot of things to do.
Things are many-m and you will do them.
'Ehaa stikm achetuuch.
They poured a little water.
Water was little-m and they poured it.
'Ematwinnpch 'iipay 'ehmiiym aawatt.
An earthquake killed a lot of people.
An earthquake, people were many-m, it killed them.
Nya'way 'aany kuphaall 'ehmiiym 'emuullh.
Next year we will gather many deciduous oak acorns.
Next year acorns are many-m and we will gather them.
-m is also used for "how much" someone did something:
Kunykuuyvech chehetatt stikm, nyaapum wamp.
The old lady had to crawl a little before she walked.
The old lady crawled it-was-little-m, then she walked.
(Chehetatt 'estik = she crawled a little)
It can be used to show distances with verbs like 'ekur, is far:
'Ekurm maam temama?
Did you take a long trip?
It was a long way-m and you went-m, didn't you?
(temam is 2nd person of tewam (tenam), does/is while around. 1st person is ta'am)
Metenyaally 'ekurm 'aahs.
Tomorrow I will go far away.
Tomorrow it is far-m and I will go-h.
(No -h for future on the -m verb)
-m is used with numbers:
Since 'Iipay Aa numbers are verbs, -m is used after quantities to show that the main verb has a different subject.
You will see that when the numbered item takes an -m, it is typically the object of the following verb.
'Elymash hemukm tenarr.
She has three children.
Children are three-m and she has them.
'Ekwak siny hewakm ewuuws, 'ewily emak pehemach.
He saw two does, sleeping behind a rock.
Female deer were two-m and he saw them, they were sleeping behind a rock.
(No -m in second clause, verb number shows subject)
Durations of time also use -m on the number, and are treated as if they were objects of a verb:
'Enyaa hemukm 'enuw ta'yiws.
I was running for three days.
Days were three-m and I was running (coming).
Kupilly hemukm naam tenaa.
They went for three days.
For three days they were going.
Days were three-m and they were going away (going).
Kupilly chepapm tenams.
They were there for four days.
Days were four-m, and they were around.
On verbs, the -m suffix can be used to make many types of complex sentences involving more than one subject.
-m on verbs means that the following verb in the sentence will have a different subject than the verb marked with -m.
On this page, we will review the many applications of -m, studying a number of original example sentences from native speech that demonstrate its use on verbs. These are pulled from Lesson 33 of Ted Couro's Let's Talk 'Iipay Aa.
The examples on this page will be formatted as follows:
The example sentence in the first line
The most natural or likely translation in the second line
Alternate translations in the third or fourth lines
The most literal translation in the last line, with -m marked
(Any useful notes in parentheses)
The last line, the literal translation, is meant to help you think of how sentences are structured in 'Iipay Aa. However, the meaning you should interpret from the sentence will be in the translations in the second, third, or fourth lines.
-m is like a way of saying "and"
-m is almost a way of saying "and", connecting two clauses of a sentence together. On top of conjoining them, -m tells us that the first verb is done by one subject, and the next verb, after the -m, is done by a different subject. For example:
Puy tenyewaym nyaapum 'enyaach 'aams.
They stayed there and then I left.
There they were staying-m, then I left.
Above, the subject of the first verb is an unspecified "they", as we can tell by its plural form.
That first verb, tenyeway, is suffixed with -m, telling us that the next verb will have a different subject.
As we can see, the next verb, 'aam, has "I" as its subject, different from tenyeway. Here, we did not need -m to tell us that these two verbs had different subjects. But in other sentences, as you will see, we do need -m for this.
Reading to someone
The way Kumeyaay says "I read (out loud) to someone" is, "I say the writing and they hear it." For this, we need -m:
'Enyaach uumall 'iim meyiph.
I will read to you.
I will say the writing-m, and you will hear it-h.
(uumall wii = literally, "says the writing". Different from leerr, reads)
Maach uumall miim 'eyip.
You read to me.
You say the writing-m, and I listen.
*Uumall as a noun means any type of writing or book. Uumall (uchemaall) is also a verb meaning writes or takes a picture.
-m makes a clause the object of a main verb
A common usage of -m is to make a clause a subordinate object clause. That means that one sentence, in its entirety, is the object of another verb, the main verb. In these cases, the subordinate clause will have -m on the verb, and the main verb will not have -m. For example:
Maapch helulm 'eyip
I heard someone playing the flute
Someone played the flute-m and I heard them
(maap = someone, helul = plays the flute. -ch on nouns is the nominative suffix)
Above, "maapch helul" (someone played the flute) is a complete sentence. Marking the verb with -m, it becomes the subordinate clause. The remaining verb, 'eyip (I heard), is the main verb. Since this verb is transitive, it needs an object. The object of the main verb is then the entire subordinate clause: I heard [someone playing the flute-m].
More examples:
Helulm yip.
She* heard him playing the flute.
He played the flute-m, and she heard him.
Helulm yip tewaas.
She was listening to him play the flute.
He played the flute-m, and she was listening.
*He/she are used for clarity in the English; the Kumeyaay has no gender distinction in this sentence.
'Ehatt wipm 'eyips, maach meyipa?
I heard the dog bark, did you hear it?
The dog barked-m and I heard it, did you hear it?
The subordinate clause may simply describe the location or position of the subject:
Sha'ii puy ewaam ewuuws.
He sees the turkey vulture over there.
The turkey vulture is over there-m, and he sees it.
(ewaa = is located somewhere)
Siny puy pehkwiim ewuuws.
He sees the woman standing over there.
He sees the woman that is standing over there.
A woman stands there-m, and he sees her.
(no auxiliary used for pehkwii)
Kurak puy welyakm ewuuws.
He sees the old man lying over there.
He sees the old man that is lying over there.
An old man lies-m, and he sees him.
Sometimes, the word order can be switched up so that -m actually comes after the main verb:
'Ewuuw Rositach shawii wechuwm.
I saw Rosita making shawii.
I saw, Rosita made shawii-m.
'Enyaach 'enur Rositach shawii wechuwm.
I know Rosita made shawii.
I know it, Rosita made shawii-m.
Other times, the subordinate clause can be stuck in between the main subject and the main verb:
'Enyaach ewipm 'ewuuws.
I saw them do it.
I, they did it-m, and I saw them.
(Look to verb form to see: 'enyaach is not the subject of ewip)
Examples with war, wants:
Ewiim 'ewuuwhlly 'ars.
I want to see him do it.
He does it-m, and I want to see.
(No -h on ewiim even though the action is probably in the future)
See how 'ewuuw is the object of war, and ewii is the object of 'ewuuw.
When war applies to just one other verb, -m is not needed, but -hlly is used on the verb:
Mesaawhlly war.
He wants you to eat. (no -m)
He wants that you eat.
You eat-hlly, he wants.
-m can indicate the time at which something happened
as if to say "as", "when" or "while":
Helulm 'ehemays.
As he played the flute, I looked for him.
He played the flute-m and I looked for him.
Pecheshuwm 'elymaam kwa'stikvech melay.
While they were waiting, the little boy died.
They waited-m and the little boy died.
Maaykallym 'esuw wechaawch.
They made food early.
They made food when it was early.
It was early-m, and they made food.
-m in this sense can also be used with prefix nya-, making the "when" more explicit:
Nyahunnm hemaahlly war.
At night he wanted to sleep.
When it was dark-m, he wanted to sleep.
(nya- = "when")
Nyaapum nyakumetnyaallym yip.
Then the next day she heard it.
Then, when it was the next day-m, she heard it.
'Enyaach 'aamem 'ekwiys.
It rained after I left.
It was raining when I left. ('ekwiy uses no auxiliary)
I left-em and it rained.
(e inserted before -m to make it audible)
-m can show cause and effect
In these cases, -m marks the cause, and the main verb is the effect.
'Ehellytaa 'etoom weraps.
My head hurts because I hit it.
I hit my head-m and it hurts.
Puy tenyewaym nyaapum 'enyaach 'aams.
They stayed there and then I left.
Then I left, because they were staying there.
They were staying there-m, then I left.
'Ekwiy rewiim 'emeheyaay.
I'm afraid it will rain.
I'm afraid it looks like it will rain.
I'm scared because it looks like it will rain.
It looks like it will rain-m, and I'm scared.
('ekwiy rewii = it looks like it will rain, in this context)
Remember that -m can sometimes go on the second verb; word order is flexible:
'Iipayvech mechheyaay melay rewiim.
People were afraid that he would die.
People were afraid that he looked like he would die.
People were afraid, he looked dead-m.
(Apparently melay rewii = might die, looks like he will die)
-m can make things happen:
'Enyaach 'ewiim aashukp.
I made it fall.
I did it-m and it fell.
Notice how "ewii" (does) is used to say "make it (do something)".
Above, 'enyaach 'ewiim is not a subordinate object clause like we've seen in earlier examples. Nor does it mean "when" or "as". It is more like cause and effect, I did it-m, and as a result, it fell. It also shows the sequence of events: I did it-m, and then it fell.
-m is used in commands:
In the following examples, each command is accompanied by a consequence or purpose of the command: Give me some water so I can drink. The imperative verb, the command starting in k-, will take the -m. The consequence or purpose, which will happen in the future once the command is completed, is marked with -h on the verb. Do this-m, and this will happen-h.
Note that if a command verb ends in ' (like hwally ki'! Shut up!), the -m will delete the '.
Metaat kim 'ily aakatth.
Tell your father to cut wood.
Tell your father-m, and he will cut wood-h.
(kim is from ki', which is from wii, he says)
'Ehaa 'enyekinym 'esiih.
Give me some water to drink.
Give me water-m, and I will drink-h.
Lamees kechkwam 'esuwh.
Set the table so we can eat.
Set the table-m and we will eat-h.
(chekwaa = sets the table, puts down/leaves a bunch of things)
Ketiikaym peshuwh.
Ask him to wait.
Ask him-m and he will wait-h.
'Uuchuch 'enyekinym 'esaawh.
Give me something to eat.
Give me something-m and I will eat it-h.
Kim helulh.
Tell them to play the flute.
Tell him-m and he will play the flute-h.
'Iikwichvu kim shuuhuuh umaawh.
Tell the man not to steal it.
Tell the man-m and he will not steal it-h.
(Remember, no word for "it")
Kechkwam 'esaawh.
Put them down so I can eat them.
Put them down for me to eat them.
Put them down-m and I'll eat them-h.
(no word for "them")
-m can be used to describe things
We know that verbs can be nominalized and added behind nouns to describe them:
'Elymaam kwa'stik
The small child
The child that is small
(kwa'stik is nominalized from 'estik, "is small")
When something is the object of a verb, and you want to add a descriptor, -m is preferred over nominalization with ku/kw-, especially when the object is indefinite:
'Elymaam stikm 'ewuuw.
I saw a small child.
A child was small-m and I saw him/her.
('estik plus -m becomes stikm)
'Ewaa 'iikuum wechuw.
He made a big house.
A house was big-m and he made it.
'Elymash 'eshashm tenarr.
She has beautiful children.
Children are beautiful-m and she has them.
-m can be used for quantities
Such as "a lot" and "a little":
'Ily 'ehmiiym aakatt.
He cut a lot of wood.
Wood was a lot-m and he cut it.
Shawii stikm wemaa.
He ate a little shawii.
Shawii was a little-m and he ate it.
'Uuchuch 'ehmiiym mewiih.
You will do a lot of things.
You have a lot of things to do.
Things are many-m and you will do them.
'Ehaa stikm achetuuch.
They poured a little water.
Water was little-m and they poured it.
'Ematwinnpch 'iipay 'ehmiiym aawatt.
An earthquake killed a lot of people.
An earthquake, people were many-m, it killed them.
Nya'way 'aany kuphaall 'ehmiiym 'emuullh.
Next year we will gather many deciduous oak acorns.
Next year acorns are many-m and we will gather them.
-m is also used for "how much" someone did something:
Kunykuuyvech chehetatt stikm, nyaapum wamp.
The old lady had to crawl a little before she walked.
The old lady crawled it-was-little-m, then she walked.
(Chehetatt 'estik = she crawled a little)
It can be used to show distances with verbs like 'ekur, is far:
'Ekurm maam temama?
Did you take a long trip?
It was a long way-m and you went-m, didn't you?
(temam is 2nd person of tewam (tenam), does/is while around. 1st person is ta'am)
Metenyaally 'ekurm 'aahs.
Tomorrow I will go far away.
Tomorrow it is far-m and I will go-h.
(No -h for future on the -m verb)
-m is used with numbers:
Since 'Iipay Aa numbers are verbs, -m is used after quantities to show that the main verb has a different subject.
You will see that when the numbered item takes an -m, it is typically the object of the following verb.
'Elymash hemukm tenarr.
She has three children.
Children are three-m and she has them.
'Ekwak siny hewakm ewuuws, 'ewily emak pehemach.
He saw two does, sleeping behind a rock.
Female deer were two-m and he saw them, they were sleeping behind a rock.
(No -m in second clause, verb number shows subject)
Durations of time also use -m on the number, and are treated as if they were objects of a verb:
'Enyaa hemukm 'enuw ta'yiws.
I was running for three days.
Days were three-m and I was running (coming).
Kupilly hemukm naam tenaa.
They went for three days.
For three days they were going.
Days were three-m and they were going away (going).
Kupilly chepapm tenams.
They were there for four days.
Days were four-m, and they were around.