Part of Speech: interrogative

Where to? to somewhere, to wherever, to anywhere. ímɨnam wínaša ‘where are you going?’; ƛ̓áax̣ʷna čná wiyáwinata ímɨn náx̣šyaw tiičámyaw ana kú ɨ́nta ‘all of us here will go to some other land when he will call us’.

How long? how far? however long, however far. máal kʷná ikútkutšata ‘how long will he be working there?’; máalnam wínaša ‘how far are you going?’; máalsɨmk̓as wá ‘how far am I now?’; máal paq̓ínunx̣a paamíin ttáwax̣t ‘how far do they see their pedigree?’; máalnam ttáwax̣ɨn ‘how tall have you grown?’; máalna iwaníčayita náaman łk̓ʷí ‘how far will he name the day for us?’ (i.e., ‘how long will we live?’); watx̣ɨ́naš wɨ́npta núsux aš máal ín táwyaša ‘will I catch salmon as long as I am living?’; kʷašta kú máalsɨmk̓a ásapsik̓ʷasa miyánašmaaman ‘and then however much longer I am teaching the children’; ku máal áša ‘and he went in however long’; ana máal ‘however long, however far’. [NE maˀál(k); NP /mahál/.]

Where? See mɨná.

In what direction? for what reason? in whatever direction, in some way. kuna čáw šúkʷaša mayní wíˀanit tún taxʷɨsmí ‘and we do not know how to make things out of dogbane’; kuš mayní aw kú čáw átx̣uta imikíin ‘and in that way I won’t worry about you’; mayníki ‘in what direction? in whatever direction’.

How? why? however, somehow, anyhow, in whatever manner. míšnam míša ‘how are you doing?’; míšnam wá ‘how are you?’; míšmaš wá ‘how is yours?’; míšnam náwa ‘how are you saying?’; míšnamtx̣ata kú wáanaynačtux̣šamš ‘how are you then running back inside?’; anam túman míš pamíta kʷɨ́nki ‘things which they do somehow with that’; ana tún míš áwača ‘anything they somehow had’; kʷata kú míš iwá níix̣ aw míšk̓a iwá mɨlá ‘wonder then whether it is good or whether it is bad’; míškin patmíyuša ‘what are they deciding?’; míšnaš áwɨnta ‘how do I say it?’; čáw míš ‘no way’; ku míš ‘and how, so be it’; míšata kʷá ‘forever more!’; míš ku amúu ~ míškʷa amúu ‘indeed!’ (with irritation). For younger speakers míš functions as a Yes-No question particle: míšnam páykna ‘did you hear me?’. See also watx̣ɨ́n. [NP manáa; manáma; manmaˀí; possibly cognate with the mostly negative NP /míˀs/.]

How? mišnínam áwaničɨnx̣a áswan ‘how do you say “boy”?’; mišnínam íniix̣iya ‘how did he fix it?’; mišníkiiš áwɨnta ‘how should I say…?’.

How many times? a few times. mɨ́laamnam kʷíya ‘how many times did you do it?’; mɨ́laamnam súsusana skúulpa ‘how many times were you calling at school?’. [NP /m´laham/.]

How many? how much? however many, however much. mɨ́łmaš wá ‘how many do you have?’; mɨ́łnam walúukɨn tamíinawit ‘how much do you weigh?’; mɨ́ł áwača x̣áyma natilasanmí ‘how many brothers did my grandfather have?’; ana kú pawɨ́šayčɨnx̣a mɨ́ł anwíčt pútɨmt aw pútɨmt ku nápt ‘when they become about ten or twelve years old’; mɨ́łyaw k̓ʷáy iwá ‘how much is that?’ (how much does it cost?); mɨ́łpan iwá ‘what time is it?’; mɨ́łpan iwá nɨknípa ‘what time is it?’; ana kʷamɨ́łpan anwíčtpa kúušx̣i iwačá k̓sɨ́t čáw táy máan wínatay ‘in however many years was it similarly so cold not for going anywhere?’; mɨ́łmansɨmk̓ataš wá Háwtmipa ‘how many of us are left on McKay Creek?’; inmíkni tilamíkni pawačá kʷamɨ́łman ‘on my grandfather’s side were how many?’; páyš mɨ́ł pútɨmt ku páx̣at anwíčt ‘maybe some fifteen years old’; mɨ́łkin ‘how much (cost)?’; ana mɨ́łman pawínax̣ana ‘however many used to go’. Ablaut: múuł ‘a little bit, a few’. [NP /m´c/.]

With how much? mɨ́łkin iwá čí ‘how much does this cost?’; mɨ́łkinmaš wá waníči tiičám ‘how much is your land priced?’; mɨ́łkinmaš wá imíin tiičám waníči ‘how much is your land priced?’.

Zero ablaut interrogative base. mɨ́n ‘which (of more than two)?’ (Millstein 1990b); mɨ́nkni ‘which (of two)?’ (Millstein 1990b); ímɨn ‘where to?’ (allative); mɨ́ni ‘where from?’ (ablative); mɨná ‘where?’ (locative); mɨ́ł ‘how many? how much?’ (quantity); mún ‘when?’ (temporal). Ablaut: máan ‘toward where?’. [NP /mn/.]

Where from? somewhere else. mɨnamápa tiičámpa ittáwax̣ɨnx̣a čí ‘in what land does this grow?’; mɨnamá pawiyánawi ‘where have they come from?’; pasɨ́nwisana mɨnamáki sɨ́nwitki ‘they were talking in another language’; mɨnamápata kú áwa ‘where indeed does she have it?’ (said about someone bragging); mɨnamákni tiičámkni ‘from their land’.

Where from? whence? from wherever, from somewhere, from anywhere. Ablative case. mɨ́ninam wiyánawi ‘where have you come from?’; ana kú pawiyánawiša mɨ́ni pawɨ́npša tiičám ‘when they are arriving from somewhere they are getting land’; čáwnam mɨ́ni náčiča ‘you didn’t bring it from anywhere’. [N mɨ́nik; NP /m´nik/.]