I often say that Klamath is a language of suffixes. The process of adding suffixes to verbs and nouns is highly developed in Klamath. Adding suffixes and being able to identify them is a skill that everyone needs to learn. There are even a few prefixes that we need to work on.
I am going to share a drill with you that will seem very repetitive and boring. Butit is necessary to develop this skill we need.
Start with a pronoun or verb-it doesn’t matter.
ni _____ sle-a.
Now add every noun and color-one at a time- and complete this sentence. Say the completed sentence out loud. If you are working in groups-I recommend this- the other person can translate the sentence.
As soon as the completed sentence has been correctly translated, the translator of the sentence becomes the maker of a new sentence. And that sentence is translated. This exercise can be expanded to incorporate any new item that has been learned.
Let’s call this exercise the Sentence making exercise. I will need to refer to it in the future. Everyone needs to do this exercise.
At upper levels, this exercise can incorporate the process of responding to the original sentence. It goes on and on.
Let’s start off with one sentence for now. Once you get the exercise going you can change the verb or pronoun as you wish.
