kehs
Malecite-Passamaquoddy
Etymology
Cognate with Penobscot kάkehsəta (“many times”) and Mi'kmaq gaqi'sg (“often; many times”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kèhs/, [ɡæːs˨]
- (Before a pause) IPA(key): [ɡæːs˨˦]
Particle
kehs
- so much, so many, so many times
- (interrogative) how much, how many, how many times
- (limited usage, see notes below) number of times, adverbial numeral marker
- Oqomolcin kehs ― Eight times
- Nisinsk cel kamahcin kehs ― Twenty-six times
Usage notes
As a standalone adverbial numeral marker, kehs is restricted to numbers between 10 and 20 and numbers ending in 6, 7, 8, 9 or 0. For other numbers ending in 1, neqt takes the place of the final 1. For all other numbers ending in 2, 3, 4 and 5, the adverbial is formed by suffixing -(o)kehs to the final digit.
Related terms
- kehsewey
- kehsinsk
- kehsonul
- kehsuwok
References
- Passamaquoddy-Maliseet language portal
- LeSourd, Philip S. (1993) Accent and Syllable Structure in Passamaquoddy, New York: Garland Publishing