2.1. Prefixation.
This section lists and describes all prefixes observed in Saanich except the two possessive prefixes (see §2.4.2). The prefixes are listed here approximately in order of their frequency of occurrence. Prefixes are never stressed and are independent of the radical morphological processes (see §2.3).

2.1.1. ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’.

2.1.1.1. A prefix having the same shape and function as this one appears in all of the Salish languages that have been described to date. It has been referred to by other names such as ‘substantive’ (Hess,1967) and ‘absolute’ (Mattina,1973), but ‘nominalizer’ is the most commonly used label. One reason for the variety of terminology is that ‘nominalizer’ can be misleading. This term is ordinarily used in European and other languages to refer to a morpheme which functions to derive one syntactic category, ‘noun’, from another such as ‘verb’ or ‘adjective’. As in many Salish languages, the syntactic categories of ‘noun’ and ‘verb’ are not usefully distinguished in Saanich. Therefore, the ∥s-∥ prefix is really something quite different from what is usually thought of as a nominalizer.
What ∥s-∥ has in common with nominalizers in more familiar languages is not the syntactic function of converting one category into another, but the semantic function of converting a form that refers to a process into one that refers to an entity. Forms with ∥s-∥, like those without, can function as arguments to predicates (examples 1-3) or as predicate heads themselves (examples 4-11). They can take voice, person, and aspect morphology the same as any other predicative word.
1. √wəs-él̕s tsə s√qéx̣əʔ ‘The dog barks.’ [√bark-STRUC(ACT) DEM S√dog]
2. √ʔəɬən-í-stxʷ sən tsə s√qéx̣əʔ ‘I fed the dog.’ [√eat-REL(∥-ŋiy∥)-CAUS-3OBJ(ø) 1SUBJ DEM S√dog]
3. √x̣č-í-t sxʷ θə nə-s√čéʔčəʔ ‘You know my (lady) friend.’ [√figure out, know-PERSIS-CTRAN-3OBJ(ø) 2SUBJ DEM 1POS-S√friend]
4. s√ʔ(əl)íɬən kʷəʔ ‘It’s a lot of food.’ [S√eat(PL) INFORM]
5. nə-s√ʔəŋ̕á(ʔ)-sə ‘I’m giving it to you.’ [1POS-S√give(ACT)-(CTRAN)-2OBJ]
6. sƛ̕éʔnəq sən ‘I’m giving a potlatch.’

2.1.1.2. Many roots always seem to occur with the ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’ (examples 7-10).
7. swə́y̕qəʔ ‘Man; it’s a man.’
8. sɬéniʔ ‘Woman; it’s a woman.’
9. snə́xʷəɬ ‘It’s a canoe.’
10. sŋénət ‘It’s a rock, mountain.’
These clearly refer to common substantive entities and are translated as nouns or as "it’s a ..." plus noun. There are also many roots that never occur with this prefix and these are just as surely translated as nouns. Two classes of roots can be identified with respect to this morpheme: those that take ∥s-∥ and those that do not. This distinction is most clearly seen in forms with the ‘possessive’ pronominals (see §2.4.2). Some roots must have the ‘nominalizer’ when in a ‘possessive’ form (example 11), while others never do (example 12).
11. nə-s√ʔíɬən ‘It’s my food.’
12. nə√tén ‘It’s my mother.’
Though this distinction may reflect an older noun/verb distinction, it plays no further syntactic role in modern Saanich.

2.1.1.3. Forms with ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’, though usually translated as nouns, can be seen to be "verbal" in translation (see examples 5-6 above). Such forms with a subject pronominal show that this morpheme is marked ‘non-control’.
13. s√ʔí(ʔ)ɬən̕ sən ‘I’m getting eaten up (by insect pests).’
14. √ʔí(ʔ)ɬən̕ sən ‘I’m eating.’
In examples 13 and 14 ∥ʔiɬən∥ ‘eat’ is a ‘control’ root. The subject is a controling agent in 14 without the ∥s-∥, but in 13, with the ∥s-∥, the subject is not in control. See §2.5.1 for more on ‘control’.

2.1.1.4. An initial /s/ in borrowed words is readily treated as an ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’.
15. s-tə√tákən ‘Little sock.’ [S-DIM√sock] (stákən ‘sock’)
16. s√w(əl)étə ‘Sweaters.’ [S√sweater(PL)] (swétə ‘sweater’)
17. s-kʷú√kʷəl̕ sən ‘I’m going to school.’ [S-ACT√school 1SUBJ] (skʷúl ‘school’)
Examples 15 to 17 show English loans with various radical morphological processes (see §2.3). In each of these the rule for placement of the
reduplicative or infixed morpheme involves reference to the first consonant of the root. In each of these the borrowed /s/ is ignored, as would be any prefix.

2.1.1.5. The ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’ serves a syntactic function in introducing subordinate clauses that have subjects marked by the ‘possessive’ pronominals. See §2.6.4.2.

2.1.1.6. This morpheme varies in surface form only when preceding ∥xʷ-∥ ‘locative’. See §2.1.3.3.

2.1.2. ∥əs-∥ ‘stative1‘. This is a frequently occurring aspectual morpheme. It is opposed to ‘non-stative’ and indicates that the subject is, was, or will be in a state or condition characterized by or the result of that which is indicated in the stem.

2.1.2.1. This morpheme very often occurs with the ‘resultive’ (§2.3.6) and the ‘durative’ (§2.2.2). See under those sections for examples.

2.1.2.2. By far the most common surface form of the ∥əs-∥ ‘stative’ is /s-/. The form /əs-/ has been observed only following the ∥txʷ-∥ ‘mutative’ prefix. Compare especially examples 18 and 19.
18. txʷ-s√ʔíɬən sən səʔ ‘I’m going to get some food.’ [MUT-S√eat 1SUBJ FUT]
19. txʷ-əs√ʔíɬən sən səʔ ‘I’m going to eat first (before I go).’
20. txʷ-əs√náw̕-əɬ ‘He got inside.’ [MUT-STAT√be inside(RS)-DUR]
21. txʷ-əs√x̣éɬ-əlɬ ‘He got sick.’
22. txʷ-əs√čén̕-əɬ ‘He’s been buried (for quite a while).’ [MUT-STAT√bury-DUR]
23. kʷɬ txʷ-əs√k̕ʷás-əɬ ‘It’s already counted.’ [ALREADY MUT-STAT√count(RES)-DUR]
See §2.1.5 on the meaning and function of the ‘mutative’.

2.1.2.3. Since most occurrences of the ‘stative’ are identical in appearance to ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’ it is usually difficult formally to distinguish the two. It has not been possible to tell if the two morphemes cooccur since no sequence of two identical consonants appear in initial position1.

2.1.2.4. The ‘stative’ can usually be clearly distinguished from the ‘nominalizer’ in the meaning of the form. The following examples show forms referring to qualities and characteristic outcomes rather than to entities; hence the /s/ is known to represent the ‘stative’ and not the ‘nominalizer’.
24. sč̕əpx̣ ‘It’s filthy.’
25. slíləqʷ ‘It’s slack.’
26. slét̕θəɬ ‘It’s full.’
27. shíʔələkʷ ‘He’s happy.’
28. smáy̕əʔ ‘It’s cheap.’
29. sxʷəxʷék̕ʷtəŋ ‘He’s drunk.’
30. stéx̣əɬ sxʷ ‘You’re wrong.’
31. sq̕éθəɬ ‘It’s not enough.’
32. sθén̕əč ‘It’s leaning (against something).’
33. sθəθím̕əʔ ‘It’s frozen.’
34. ʔəw̕ sƛ̕áƛ̕əm̕ sxʷ ‘You’re right.’
35. sq̕ʷə́q̕ʷiʔ ‘He’s dead.’

2.1.2.5. The ∥əs-∥ ‘stative’ has a special surface realization when preceding ∥xʷ-∥ ‘locative’. See §2.1.3.3.

2.1.3. ∥xʷ-∥ ‘locative’.

2.1.3.1. This morpheme indicates that the situation referred to by the predicate involves a particular location. Though it is often translated as English "on the ..." (examples 36 and 37), it is usually not directly represented in the English at all2 (examples 38-47).
36. xʷ√t̕ə́m̕=əs sən ‘I got hit on the face.’ [LOC√hit=face 1SUBJ]
37. xʷ√čx̣ʷ=ás-s-əs ‘He spat on my face.’ [LOC√spit=face-(CTRAN)-1OBJ-3SUBJ]
38. xʷ√ʔəmət=néč sən ‘I’m squatting.’ [LOC√sit=tail 1SUBJ]
39. xʷ√ƛ̕ə́qt=nəč ‘Cougar.’ [LOC√long=tail]
40. xʷ√q̕ál̕=w̕əɬ ‘He’s stingy.’
41. xʷ√ɬəŋ=sís-əlaʔ ‘He separated (people fighting).’ [LOC√separate=hand-STRUC]
42. xʷ√ɬx̣=ás-t ‘She painted her face.’
43. xʷ√šč̕=əw̕éč-t sxʷ ‘You spanked him.’ [LOC√spank=bottom-CTRAN-3OBJ(ø) 2SUBJ]
44. xʷ√sénəč=qən ‘Saanich language.’ [LOC√Saanich=throat]
45. xʷ√məkʷ=θí-t sxʷ ‘You kissed him.’ [LOC√curl up, pucker=mouth-CTRAN-3OBJ(ø) 2SUBJ]
46. xʷ√t̕θəʔ=wéč-əŋ sxʷ ʔal̕ ‘Just sit down.’ [LOC√on, upon, high=bottom-CMDL 2SUBJ LIMIT]
47. xʷ√nəqʷ=ás-əŋ ‘He nodded his head.’

2.1.3.2. The ‘locative’ has been recorded with around two hundred different stems. Approximately eighty percent of these contain lexical suffixes. Lexical suffixes need not occur with the ‘locative’ (see §2.2.10 for examples). Examples 36 to 47 all involve lexical suffixes Examples 48 to 54 show the ‘locative’ without lexical suffixes.
48. xʷ√ɬəŋ-əláʔ ‘He cleared it (land).’ [LOC√separate-STRUC]
49. xʷ√qə́p̕-ət sən ‘I patched it.’ [LOC√patch-CTRAN-3OBJ(ø) 1SUBJ]
50. xʷ√kʷén̕-ət sən ‘I poured it (from one container to another).’
51. xʷʔə́y̕əŋ qʷáʔ ‘Clean water.’
52. xʷqə́ləŋ qʷáʔ ‘Dirty water.’
53. xʷlə́mi ‘Lummi people.’
54. xʷsénəčəɬ ‘It belongs to Saanich.’

2.1.3.3. The ‘locative’ can be preceded by either ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’ or ∥əs-∥ ‘stative’. The /s/ of either of these two prefixes becomes /š/ when preceding the ∥x+-∥ ‘locative’. The /xʷ/ of the ‘locative’ then usually is deleted except when a /ʔ/ follows (examples 55-60). A few cases show apparent free variation between /š/ and /šxʷ/ for these combinations of prefixes (examples 61-64). In the great majority of cases when either the ‘nominalizer’ (examples 65-72) or the ‘stative’ (examples 73-75) occur with ‘locative’ the /xʷ/ deletes3.
55. š-xʷ√ʔəp-ə́l=qən ‘Hair brush.’ [S-LOC√stroke-CONNEC=hair]
56. š-xʷ√ʔəxʷí-sət ‘Broom.’ [S-LOC√sweep-REFL]
57. šxʷʔíləx̣ən ‘Sides of the body.’
58. šxʷʔəw̕əl̕íw̕ən ‘Den, burrow, lair.’
59. š-xʷ√ʔiʔ=éləʔ ‘Bladder.’ [S-LOC√good=container]
60. š-xʷ√ʔiʔ=ə́č ‘Tide pool.’ [S-LOC√good=bottom]
61. šxʷnéʔəm ‘Indian doctor.’
62. šnéʔəm ‘Indian doctor.’
63. nəšxʷqʷéləkʷən ‘My feelings.’
64. nəšqʷéləkʷən ‘My feelings.’
65. š√kʷən=ás-əŋ ‘Mirror; window.’ [S,LOC√see=face-CMDL]
66. š√t̕θəʔ=wéč-əŋ ‘Chair.’ (Compare with example 46 above.)
67. š√pxʷ=íqʷ-əŋ ‘Comb.’
68. šnáw̕əs ‘Cloud.’ (xʷnáw̕əs ‘cloudy’)
69. š√məlyí=čəs ‘Wedding ring.’ [S,LOC√wed=hand]
70. š√t̕áq=əθ ‘Whetstone.’ [S,LOC√sharpen=edge]
71. š√tələh=éləʔ ‘Purse.’ [S,LOC√money=container]
72. š-k̕ʷí+√w̕ət̕θ √šíp-ən ‘Butcher knife.’ [S,LOC-ACT+√butcher √whittle-INST]
73. kʷɬ txʷ-əš√ɬáw̕-əɬ ‘It’s done (a canoe).’ [ALREADY MUT-STAT,LOC√hollow out-DUR]
74. kʷɬ šnáŋ̕əs ‘It’s folded up.’
75. kʷɬ š√ɬéŋ̕=əs ‘It’s already cleared (land).’ [ALREADY STAT,LOC√separate(ACT)=face] (Compare with example 48 above.)

2.1.3.4. Two words have been observed to have a /xʷ-/ prefix but it does not seem to have a ‘locative’ meaning. Furthermore these cases
precede rather than follow an /s-/ prefix.
76. xʷ-s√ʔə́n-əɬ ‘He’s obedient.’ (√ʔén-ə-sə sən ‘I obey you.’)
77. xʷ-s√ʔə́č+əč ‘He stutters.’

2.1.4. ∥txʷ-∥ ‘mutative’. This morpheme indicates a gradual change of state. It precedes the ‘nominalizer’ and ‘stative’ prefixes. With the ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’ and ‘control’ roots ∥txʷ-∥ can convey the meaning ‘have ...’ or ‘come into the possession of ...’. See examples 18 above and 78 below for ∥txʷ-∥ with the ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’. See also examples 19 to 23 for ‘mutative’ with the ‘stative’ prefix.
78. txʷ-s√téqəʔ sən ‘I got a bruise.’ [MUT-S√bruise, salal berry 1SUBJ]

2.1.5. ∥č-∥ ‘have’.

2.1.5.1. This morpheme indicates possession, but unlike the ‘possessive’ pronominals it does not indicate person. The possessor is the subject of the predicate to which this prefix is attached. It differs from the ‘possessive’ pronominals also in that it does not necessarily imply ownership. Examples 79 and 80 show two Saanich renderings of the same English sentence.
79. √níʔ kʷsə nə√télə ‘I have some money.’ [√exist DEM 1POS√money]
80. č√télə sən ‘I have some money.’ [HAVE√money 1SUBJ]
The major semantic difference between these is that in 79 the money must belong to the possessor, where in 80 the money is not necessarily
the subject’s property. Also, 79 implies that the possessor has money put away, not necessarily with him, where 80 implies that the subject is carrying money.

2.1.5.2. The ‘possessive’ pronominals can, in fact, cooccur as in example 81.
81. nə-s-č√ʔíɬən sən səʔ ‘I’ll keep this for my own food.’ [1POS-S-HAVE√eat 1SUBJ FUT] (Compare with /nəsʔíɬən kʷəʔ/ ‘It’s my food’ and examples 83-84 below.)
It seems, however, that the ‘possessive’ affix must be the same person as the subject in constructions like example 81. Sentences with different persons in these positions were consistently rejected. Meanings such as ‘I have your ...’ are not rendered with ∥č-∥ ‘have’, but with predicates involving the root ∥√kʷən∥ ‘take, grasp’ in the ‘persistent’ aspect (§2.2.1) as in example 82.
82. √kʷən-í-t sən kʷsə n̕-s√nə́xʷəɬ ‘I have your canoe.’ [√take, grasp-PERSIS-CTRAN-3OBJ(ø) 1SUBJ DEM 2POS-S√canoe]

2.1.5.3. The ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’ is usually deleted when preceded by ∥č-∥ ‘have’. In most cases the deletion is optional. Examples 83 and 84 are apparently identical in meaning and equally acceptable.
83. č-s√ʔíɬən sən ‘I have some food.’
84. č√ʔíɬən sən ‘I have some food.’
However, forms with two ∥s-∥ prefixes are rejected. Compare 83 to example 81 above. 81 must represent a renominalization but /*nəsčsʔíɬən sən səʔ/ is rejected.

2.1.5.4. The ‘have’ prefix can occur in predicate heads and have a "verb-like" translation. In these cases it has the sense of ‘come into the possession of something by means of ...’.
85. č√qə́čəʔ tsə √x̣ə́š-ən ‘The trap caught it.’ [HAVE√catch DEM √trap-INST]
86. č√t̕θə́ŋ̕ sən ʔə kʷs s√t̕θáqʷiʔ ‘I caught a spring salmon.’ [HAVE√snag, snare, hook, pinch 1SUBJ OBL DEM S√spring salmon]

2.1.5.5. Several forms show ∥č-∥ ‘have’ with special meaning.
87. č√kʷéʔ ʔə tɬ s√qʷél ‘He’s a gossiper.’ [HAVE√possession OBL DEM S√speak(RES)]
88. kʷɬ č√qéq ‘She gave birth (had a baby).’ [ALREADY HAVE√baby]
89. kʷɬ č√ŋə́nəʔ ‘She gave birth (had a child).’ [ALREADY HAVE√son, daughter]
90. č√t̕θáɬəŋ sən ‘I have a cold.’ [HAVE√cold weather 1SUBJ]
Example 87 illustrates ∥č-∥ with the emphatic possession root (see §2.4.2.5). A more literal translation of 87 might be ‘he indeed has the word.’ The last three examples, and especially 90, may be calques from English.

2.1.6. ∥šxʷ-∥ ‘reason for; means to’. This prefix is not common. It usually appears in subordinate clauses and is often translated "that’s why ..."
91. √x̣əč-əláʔ ʔal̕ šxʷ√ʔənʔé-s ‘Just to nose around is why he came.’ [√figure out-STRUC LIMIT REAS√come-3POS]
92. √x̣ʷəníŋ kʷəče ʔən̕-šxʷ√yéʔ ‘Why did you go?’ [√how EXPLAN 2POS-(S)?-REAS√go]
93. √níɬ ʔəw̕ šxʷ√háy-s ‘That’s the end.’ [√it is CONTEMP REAS√finish-3POS]
It cannot be determined whether ∥šxʷ-∥ is preceded by ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’ or not.

2.1.7. ∥čən̕-∥ ‘time of’ . The following four examples are the only occurrences of this morpheme in the corpus4. In each case it is clearly segmentable and its meaning is evident.
94. čən̕√k̕ʷél̕əs ‘Summer time.’ [TIME√hot]
95. čən̕√θə́qiʔ ‘It’s sockeye time.’
96. čən̕√t̕θáɬəŋ ‘Winter.’
97. čən̕√téŋ ‘When?’ [TIME√what]

2.1.8. ∥šxʷ-∥ ‘functioning as, acting in the capacity of’. This morpheme precedes the ∥s-∥ ‘nominalizer’ and indicates affinal relationship. It resembles the use of "in-law" in English but note /sléʔəɬ/ ‘father/mother-in-law’ does not have this prefix and example 98 does not have this meaning.
98. šxʷsʔákʷəɬ ‘Step-parent.’
99. šxʷsíləʔ ‘Spouse’s grandparent.’ (síləʔ ‘grandparent’)
100. šxʷʔéləs ‘Woman’s sister-in-law.’
101. šxʷʔíŋəs ‘Grandchild’s spouse.’ (ʔíŋəs ‘grandchild’)
102. šxʷséčs ‘Uncle/aunt’s spouse.’

2.1.9. ∥nə-∥ ‘basic color’. This prefix appears only with five roots referring to color. These roots can occur without this prefix when occurring with ∥-əl̕∥ ‘modified color’ (§2.2.9).
103. nəkʷím ‘Red.’
104. nəqʷéy ‘Grass green.’
105. nəpə́xʷ ‘Brown.’
106. nəxʷík̕ʷ ‘Gray.’
107. nəq̕íx̣ ‘Black.’

2.1.10. ∥čə-∥ ‘single, alone’. This prefix has been seen in only two stems.
108. čəswə́y̕qəʔ ‘Bachelor.’ (swə́y̕qəʔ ‘man’)
109. čəsɬéniʔ ‘Spinster.’ (sɬéniʔ ‘woman’)

2.1.11. ∥ɬ-∥ ‘partake’. This prefix is segmentable in a number of forms but the meaning is unclear. The gloss here is especially suggested by examples 111 and 117. Only vague connections can be seen in the meanings of the other examples.
110. ɬ√qít ‘Clothes.’ (š√qít=əs ‘headband’)
111. ɬ√p̕áƛ̕-əŋ sən ‘I smoke (cigarettes).’ (sp̕áƛ̕əŋ ‘smoke from a fire’)
112. xʷ-ɬ√qə́l̕=w̕əɬ ‘Stingy.’ [LOC-PART√bad=canoe]
113. ɬsəq̕ ‘Half.’ (√səq̕ ‘split’)
114. ʔə́wə sɬq̕íl̕ ‘He’s not sure.’ (√q̕il̕ ‘believe’)
115. ʔə́wə kʷə nəsɬq̕íl̕ ‘I don’t believe it.’
116. sčéy̕n̕ sən ʔəw̕ sɬq̕íl̕ ‘I’m very sure.’
117. √ʔə́wə sən nə-s√ƛ̕íʔ kʷə nə-s-ɬ√ʔésx̣ʷ ‘I don’t want to eat seal.’ [√not 1SUBJ 1POS-S√want SUB 1POS-S-PART√seal] (Compare /ʔə́wə sən nəsƛ̕íʔ kʷə nəsčéy/ ‘I don’t want to work.’)
These examples show that this prefix follows all other prefixes.
Notes to §2.1.

1. It would probably be safe to assume that these two morphemes can cooccur with the ‘nominalizer’ preceding the ‘stative’, since this is the order of their cognates in the other Salish languages. See Hess and Hilbert (1980:103) for Lushootseed and Thompson and Thompson (in press) for Thompson Salish.

2. In some of these a locative interpretation is more obscure than in others. It may be that there is more than one morpheme represented here. Historically, at least, this prefix seems to reflect several morphemes. Lushootseed (Hess, 1970) has a number of prefixes containing /xʷ/ whose meanings seem to be collected in Saanich ∥xʷ-∥.

3. It would be possible to analyze these as a single prefix ∥šxʷ-∥ meaning something like ‘instrument’ in forms such as examples 55 and 56. Hess (1970) describes a Lushootseed prefix /səxʷ-/ that is apparently cognate with what I have analyzed here as a sequence of two prefixes.

4. Hess (p.c.) suggests that this is actually a root that commonly enters into compounds.