Then, as he started to leave Owl, he said to him:
(2.14)[14]
'Ákoo, Niishjaań goch'áͅnádeesdzágo,
"K'adóo'iͅiͅdáͅáͅ'é. 'Iyáak'adóo nndáͅ?"
biłch'indiná'a.
Then, as he started to leave Owl, he said to him: "It is time that we eat.
What will you eat now?"
[_]
(2.14) Linguistic Notes
k'adóo'iͅiͅdáͅáͅ'é 'it is time that we eat'.
k'adóo > k'adé 'now, right now' plus -go subord. 'iͅiͅ-dáͅáͅ', a bound form of
'iͅiͅdáͅ, 1st person dual imp. with indef.
obj. of -yáͅ 'to eat' [act. tr.]; -é relative.
Note that the verb 'to eat' suffers alternations of the stem initial similar
to those of -yá 'one person moves'. See
nndáͅ 'you
will eat' [2nd person imp.] in this passage and k'adéhisháͅáͅ'é 'that which I would eat now' [1st person
imp.] in passage 15. It is characteristic of both Chir. and Mesc. that stems
beginning with y- combine with the prefixed consonants immediately
preceding. This is also true of other Athapaskan languages. See F.-K. Li,
Mattole, An Athabaskan Language [Chicago, 1930], §11, pp. 14-16.