Collected Wor
Edward Sapir
Mouton
de Gruyter
The
Collcclcd Works
o\
Edward Sapir
V
The Collected Works of Edward Sapir
Editorial Board
Philip Sapir
Edilor-in-Chicf
William Bright
Regna Darnell
Victor Golla
Eric P. Hamp
Richard Handler
Judith Irvine
The
Collected Works
-^ of
Edward Sapir
V
American Indian Languages
1
Volume Editor
William Briehl
1 990
MoLilon deGruNlcr
Berlin • New York
Mouton de Gruvter (formerly Mouton. The Hague)
is a Division of Walter de Gruyler & Co.. Berlin.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Sapir. Edward, 1884-1939.
American Indian languages.
p. cm. - (The Collected works of Edward Sapir :
5-)
Vol. 1 edited by William Bright.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-89925-654-6 (v. 5) ; alk. paper
1. Indians of North America -Languages. I. Bright,
William. 1928- , II. Title. III. Series: Sapir, Edward,
1884-1939. Works. 1989 : 5, etc.
PM108.S26 1989
497-dc20 89-13233
CIP
Deutsche Bibliothek Cataloging in Publication Data
Sapir, Edward:
(The collected works]
The collected works of Edward Sapir / ed. board: William
Bright ... Philip Sapir ed.-in-chief. - Berlin ; New York :
Mouton de Gruyter.
ISBN 3-11-010104-1
NE: Sapir, Philip [Hrsg.]; Sapir, Edward: [Sammlung]
5. American Indian languages. — 1. Vol. ed. William Bright. —
1989
ISBN 3-11-012327-4
NE: Bright, William [Hrsg.]
© Printed on acid-free paper.
© Copyright 1989 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin 30.
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of
this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printing: Gerike GmbH. Berlin. Binding: Liideritz & Bauer, Berlin. Printed in Germany.
Edward Sapir, about 1915
(Courtesy of Sapir family)
Edward Sapir (1884-1939) has been referred to as "one of the most brilliant
scholars in linguistics and anthropology in our count r\" ( I ran/. Boas) and as
"one of the greatest figures in American humanistic scholarship" (Irankhn
Edgerton). His classic book, Langua^i' (1921), is still in use. aiul many «>f his
papers in general linguistics, such as "Sound Patterns in Language" ami "I he
Psychological Reality of Phonemes," stand also as classics. The development ot
the American descriptive school of structural linguistics, including the adop-
tion of phonemic principles in the study of non-literary lani^uat'cs. \kas pri-
marily due to him.
The large body of work he carried out on Native American languages has
been called "ground-breaking" and "monumentaT and includes descriptive,
historical, and comparative studies. They are of continuing importance and
relevance to today's scholars.
Not to be ignored are his studies in Indo-European, Semitic, and African
languages, which have been characterized as "masterpieces ot brilliant associa-
tion" (Zellig Harris). Further, he is recognized as a forefather of ethnolinguisiic
and sociolinguistic studies.
In anthropology Sapir contributed the classic statement on the theory and
methodology of the American school of Franz Boas in his monograph. " lime
Perspective in Aboriginal American Culture" (1916). His major contribution,
however, was as a pioneer and proponent for studies on the interrelation of
culture and personality, of society and the individual, providing the theoretical
basis for what is known today as symbolic anthropology.
He was, in addition, a poet, and contributed papers on aesthetics, literature,
music, and social criticism.
Note to the Reader
Throughout The Collected Works of Edward Sapir, those publications whose
typographic complexity would have made new typesetting and proofreading
diftic^ult have been photographically reproduced. All other material has been
newly typeset. When possible, the editors have worked from Sapir's personal
copies of his published work, incorporating his corrections and additions into
the reset text. Such emendations are acknowledged in the endnotes. Where the
editors themselves have corrected an obvious typographical error, this is noted
by brackets around the corrected form.
The page numbers of the original publication are retained in the pho-
tographically reproduced material; in reset material, the original publication's
pagination appears as bracketed numbers within the text at the point where the
original page break occurred. To avoid confusion and to conform to the existing
literature, the page numbers cited in introductions and editorial notes are those
of the original publications.
Footnotes which appeared in the original publications appear here as foot-
notes. Editorial notes appear as endnotes. Endnote numbers are placed in the
margins of photographically reproduced material; in reset material they are
inserted in the text as superscript numbers in brackets. The first, unnumbered
endnote for each work contains the citation of the original publication and,
where appropriate, an acknowledgment of permission to reprint the work here.
All citations of Sapir's works in the editorial matter throughout these vol-
umes conform to the master bibliography that appears in Volume XVI; since
not all works will be cited in any given volume, the letters following the dates
are discontinuous within a single volume's references. In volumes where
unpublished materials by Sapir have been cited, a list of the items cited and the
archives holding them is appended to the References.
Contents
Frontispiece: Fdward Sapir. about U)15 h
Preface t ^
Introduction to Volumes V and VI 15
Section Onl: Tvpoi.ociY and Classification
Introduction 21
The Problem of Noun Incorporation in American Indian Languages (1911) . . .'"''
Linguistic Publications of the Bureau of American Ivlhnology ( l*:)!?) , M
Review of C. C. Uhlenbeck, "Het passieve karakter van het verbum transiti\um ol
\an het verbum actionis in talen van Noord-Amerika" (1917) M
Review of C. C. Uhlenbeck, "Hcl identificeerend karakter der posscssicve llexie \n
talen van Noord-Amerika" (1917) 7S
Materials Relating to Sapir's Classification of North American Indian Languages
(1920):
(a) Excerpt from a Letter to Alfred L. Kroeber 81
(b) The Problems of Linguistic Relationship in North America 83
(c) Lecture Notes 84
(d) Sapir's map of 1920 88
A Bird's-eye View of American Languages North of Mexico (1912) . . 93
Central and North Anierican Languages (1929) 95
Glottalized Continuants in Navaho, Nootka. and Kwakiutl (with a Note on Indo-
European) (1938) 105
(with Morris Swadcsh) American Indian Grammatical Categories (193S) .... 1'^'^
The Relation of American Indian Linguistics to Cicneral linguistics (1947) 14 ^
Section Two: Phonetic Oriiiograpiiy
Introduction '**^
(with Franz Boas et al.) Report o\^ the Cimimittee on Plu)nelic Iranscription of
Indian Languages (1916) '■'''
(with others) Some Orthographic Reci>mmendations (1934) ' '
10 Contents
Section Three: Hokan Languages
Introduction ^''
Characteristic Traits of the Yana Language of California (1909) 183
Review of Roland B. Dixon. The Chimarii<o Indians and Language (1911) 185
The Position of ^■ana in the Hokan Stock (1918) 189
fhc Status o\' Washo (1917) 223
Dr. Sapir's Data on Washo and Hokan (1919) 225
The Hokan and Coahuiltecan Languages (1920) 231
A Note on the First Person Plural in Chimariko (1920) 245
Review of J. Alden Mason. The Language of the Salinan Indians (1920) 251
A Supplementary Note on Salinan and Washo (1921) 257
The Hokan Affinity of Subtiaba in Nicaragua (1925) 263
Male and Female Forms of Speech in Yana (1929) 335
Section Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages
Introduction 345
Some Fundamental Characteristics of the Ute Language (1910) 347
Southern Paiute and Nahuatl, a Study in Uto-Aztekan (1913, 1914-1919) .... 351
Section Five: Algonkian and Ritwan
Introduction 447
Algonkin p and .v in Cheyenne (1913) 451
Wiyot and Yurok, Algonkin Languages of California (1913) 453
Algonkin Languages of California: A Reply (1915) 485
The Algonkin Affinity of Yurok and Wiyot Kinship Terms (1923) 491
Review of Truman Michelson, The Owl Sacred Pack of the Fox Indians (1923) . 531
Charles F. Hockett, Sapir on Arapaho (1946) 535
Conlents H
Appkndix
Alfred L. Krocbcr, Ncnin Incorporation in American languages (I'MM) s41
Alfred 1. Kroeher. Iiieorporalioii as a I iiijjuisiic Process (I*M1) S47
Truman Michelson, Two Alleged Algonc|uian languages of ( alifornia (1^>14).
Rejoinder (1915); Sapir. I-pilouue (U)l 5) S53
Phoiielic Key S53
References S73
Prut ace
Volumes V and VI ot The Collected Works of i.dwurd Sufur .irc ilc\»>icd lo
shorter works on Ameriean Indian languages (mainly of North America),
including some pre\ iously unpublished malerial. Xolume V, edited by William
Bright, contains papers oi a general nature on typology, classification, and
phonetic notation, followed by work on Hokan languages, on the Uto-A/lccan
family, and on the relationship of Algonkian. Wiyot. and Yurok. Volume VI.
edited by Victor Golla, contains articles on Athabaskan and Na-Denc lan-
guages, on Penutian. and on the Wakashan and Salishan families, plus twt)
short papers on languages of other groups. Appendices in both volumes con-
tain papers written by other authors which were discussed in papers by Sapir. A
combined index to Volumes V and VI appears in the latter.
The editors of these two volumes have worked together in planning the entire
sequence. Two possible ways of organizing the material were considered. One
would be purely chronological, without considering topic; the t>ther. adopted
here, separates the articles into topical divisions and then arranges them chron-
ologically within each division. This has the advantage, we belie\e. of makint' it
easier for the reader to consult related papers in close pro\imit\
In addition to the articles contained in these two volumes, a number of arti-
cles which discuss one or more specific American Indian languages appear in
Volumes I through IV of The Collected Works. These are listed below, orga-
nized by language or language group. The volume in which a paper is to be
found is indicated by the appropriate roman numeral in brackets.
Athabaskan Languages: 1923c, A Note on Sarcee Pottery |IV|; U^24d. Per-
sonal Names among the Sarcee Indians (IV); 1933c. La realite psychologique
des phonemes (I|; 1935b, A Navaho Sand Painting Basket |I\|; 19.^6c. Mupa
Tattooing [IV]; 1936h. Kutchin Relationship Perms \\\], P^^O. A N»>te on
Navaho Pottery (with Albert (i. Sandoval) [IV |.
Comox: 1939e, Songs for aComox Dance Mask (edited In I eslic Spier I [IV|.
Nootka: 1913b, A Girls' Puberty (\'remony among the Nooik.i hulians |l\'|;
19LSh, The Social Organization of the West Coast Tribes |I\ ]; P'P>e. .A Mood
Legend of the Nootka Indians of Vancouver Island |I\'|; P'.vV-. I a realitc psv-
chologique des phonemes [I|.
Southern Paiute: 191()d. Song Recitative in Paiiiic Nhihclogs (l\ | '"'> ^ '
realite psychologique des phonemes |I|
Takelma: I9()7b. Notes on the Takelma hulians o| S»»uth\sestcrn Oregon
(IV); I9()7d, Religious Ideas o\ llie Takcliii.i liuliaiis ol S*>iilliuesicrn Oregon
(IVj.
14 V American Irulian Umguages I
Tsimshian: 1915g, A Sketch of the Social Organization of the Nass River
Indians [1V|; 192()c, Nass River Terms of Relationship [IV]; 1921c, A Haida
Kinship Term among the Tsimshian [IV].
Yana: I9()8a, Luck-Stones among the Yana [IV]; 1916g, Terms of Rela-
tionship and the Levirate [IV]; 1918j, Yana Terms of Relationship [IV]; 1922d,
The Fundamental Elements of Northern Yana [IX]; 1923m, Text Analyses of
Three Yana Dialects [IX]; 1928j, The Unconscious Patterning of Behavior in
Society [III].
Volumes VII-XV. which contain Sapir's work of monographic scope on
American Indian languages and cultures, also include some shorter, closely
related articles containing lexical inventories and textual analyses. Note that
Sapir's Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech (Volume II) cites
some thirty American Indian languages, and his 1916 monograph. Time Per-
spective in Aboriginal American Cidture (Volume IV), one-third of which is
devoted to "evidence from linguistics," cites dozens of American Indian lan-
guages or language groups. It should also be noted that all references to specific
languages in each article are listed in the indices of each individual volume, as
well as in the comprehensive index in Volume XVI.
Preparation of this volume was supported in part by grants from the Phillips
Fund of the American Philosophical Society, the National Science Foundation
(grant no. BNS-8609411), and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The editor also acknowledges the contributions to the preparation of this
volume by Jane McGary and the help of Dr. Marie-Louise Liebe-Harkort,
editor-in-chief of Mouton de Gruyter. The black-and-white copy of Sapir's
1920 map of the distribution of his six "super stocks" was drafted by Daniel
Cole, research cartographer for the Handbook of North American Indians,
Smithsonian Institution.
Introduction to Volumes \' aiul \ I
It has often been said that Franz Boas is to be considered iIk lather ol
anthropological linguistics in Ncuth America, ami in particular the initiator ol
serious research on American Indian languages. But surely Iidward Sapir. ssho
began his career as a student of Boas, became the most intluential scholar ot the
twentieth century in both these fields. Consider the diversity of the Native
American languages on which Sapir did original research — Chinook. Takelma.
Yana, Southern Paiute, Nootka, Sarcee, Navajo, and others; or the language
families in which he did ground-breaking comparative work — Hokan. Uto-
Aztecan, Algonkian, Athabaskan, and Penutian; or the tvpes of studies he
carried out — descriptive, historical, comparative, ethnolinguistic. and what
would now be called sociolinguistic. Even before his untimely death. Sapirs
achievements were monumental; after 1939, his stature as an Americanist only
grew, as many of the materials he left in manuscript were edited and published
by his students. His stature grows yet more in subsequent Nolumes of these
Collected Works, with the publication of several major collections ot texts
(Sarcee, Kutchin, and Hupa) and other important longer manuscripts, now
edited by students of his students.
It is possible to attempt some general comments abtiut the overall course of
Sapir's work on North American Indian languages as it is reflected in the pre-
sent pair of volumes. Publications from the period 1906-1910 are primarily
descriptive, including the first results of held work on Wishram ChnK)ok. la-
kelma, and Yana. In 1911, typological interest emerges in "The Problem ot
Noun Incorporation in American Languages" ( 191 Ic) and is pursued most nota-
bly in the two reviews {i917k, 19171) of works by Uhlenbeck. Comparative lin-
guistic research, aimed at establishing relatively remote linguistic relationships
on the basis of both lexical and grammatical comparisons, comes to the fore m
1913 with "Southern Paiute and Nahuatl, a Study in Uto-A/tckan" ( \^>\M. l^M^i )
and "Wiyot and Yurok, Algonkian Languages of California" (1913h). During
the following half dozen years, Sapirs enthusiasm ior tracing remoter rela-
tionships is manifest in such papers as"! he Na-Dene Languages" ( 19|5d). "The
Hokan and Coahuiltecan Languages" ( 1920b. written in 191S), and "A Charac-
teristic Penutian Form of Stem" (1921b, written in 191,S). This interest reacheil
its culmination in a drastic proposal to reduce 58 North American "stocks" (as
formulated by John Wesley Powell in 1891) to just six "great groups " I his classi-
fication, based on grammatical and typological rather than lexical corre-
spondences, was presented in a lecture at Chicago in 1920 (the notes for which
are published here in "Materials Relating to Sapir's Classification of North
American Indian Languages"). With little change, this formed the core for
Sapir's influential Encyclopucdiu Hriiunnicu article on "Central and North
15 V American Indian Languages 1
American Languages" (not published until 1929, 1929a). After the early 1920s,
Sapir's interest in these problems seems to have cooled; however, his last major
work in this genre, "The Hokan Afhnity of Subtiaba in Nicaragua" (1925b),
argues for a Central American extension of the far-flung Hokan
(-Coahuiltecan ) group, and presents what is perhaps Sapir's most detailed argu-
ment for the importance of "submerged" structural features in recognizing
remote linguistic relationship.
Sapir's sixfold classification and the methodology supporting it constituted,
during his lifetirne, the most controversial part of his work on North American
languages (it was never accepted, for instance, by his onetime teacher Boas). It
should be remarked, however, that what Campbell and Mithun (1979: 26) have
called the "reductionist zeal" of this classification was not unique to Sapir.
Large-scale genetic regrouping of North American languages was initiated by
Alfred L. Kroeber and Roland B. Dixon, who, in a series of papers beginning
in 1913, proposed assigning most of the Powellian language families of Califor-
nia to one or the other of two new "stocks," Penutian and Hokan (Dixon and
Kroeber 1913a, 1913b, 1919). Sapir joined in this work only after the ground-
work had been laid, and at Kroeber's urging (Golia 1986: 178). Sapir brought to
the task a thorough familiarity with the methods and data of Indo-European
comparative philology, and — after a brief period of skepticism — he became
convinced that a rigorous application of philological principles to American
languages would yield important new insights. He moved from one bold syn-
thesis to another, and his comprehensive classification of 1920 must be regarded
as little more than a report on work in progress. It is noteworthy, however, that
Sapir did relatively little after 1920 either to support or to revise that classifica-
tion. His 1925 paper on Subtiaba, while introducing some new structural argu-
ments for Hokan, is based on essentially the same group of cognate sets as in his
earlier work, and it refers only briefly to the larger Hokan-Siouan grouping
introduced in his 1920 lecture.
In contrast with the wide-ranging comparative work that had absorbed him
during the preceding decade, Sapir's research during much of the 1920s focused
narrowly and intensively on one group of languages: the "Na-Dene" stock of his
1920 classification (comprising Tlingit, Haida, and the widespread Athabaskan
family). As early as 1906 he had worked briefly, during his Takelma field work,
with a speaker of Chasta Costa, an Oregon Athabaskan language; in preparing
this material for pubhcation (1914c), he saw Athabaskan as a family having the
diversity and the relatively good documentation to make it a match for his skills
as a comparativist. He was soon embroiled in controversy with older
Athabaskan scholars (e.g. , Father Morice, 1915c, see Volume VI and Appendix
to Volume VI); this was exacerbated by his 1915 proposal (1915d) of a genetic
relationship among Athabaskan, Tlingit, and Haida. Sapir concluded that only
through extensive field work of his own could he hope to accumulate the evi-
dence necessary to convince his critics. His feeling about the necessity of such
work became even stronger when, around 1920, he came to suspect that an
Ininuiiuium |7
intcrcHintincntal genetic connection between Na-Oene arul Sino- 1 ihetan was a
distinct possibility.
Sapir s plan for Na-Dene tick! research was extraordnianK anibilious. and it
was never completed. Except tor a loray into Haida phonetics (1923d). his Held
work was entirely devcned to Athabaskan, involving tour major investigations:
Sarcee, in 1M22; Kiitchin and Ingalik. in 1V23; ihipa, in U>27. and Navajo, prin-
cipally in l*-)29. Only the Sarcee work is signilicantK represented in Sapir 's bib-
liography; even here the major published study was prepared in collaboration
with his student Li Fang-Kuei (see Volume Xlll). A good deal ot the material
collected by Sapir has been published posthumously, but the detimtive gram-
mar of Navajo which Sapir planned (and was working on even during his last
illness) will never be written. Of his comparative insights into .Athabaskan. Na-
Dene, and Sino-Dene, we have only fragmentary notes.
Sapir s active research career extended from 1905 to 1938, or 33 years During
the first two decades of this period — until his move from Ottawa to a leaching
post at the University of Chicago — he was engaged almost exclusivelv in Amer-
ican Indian research, the bulk of it descriptive linguistics. After 1925 his inter-
ests began to turn toward other types of study, particularly the psychology ot
culture; and his linguistic field research virtually came to an end when he
moved from Chicago to Yale in 1931. He remained, nonetheless, a central ligure
in American Indian linguistics, second only to Boas in status and pre-eminent
in intellectual influence. Nearly all his important students took up the study of
American Indian languages. It was left to them, and to their scholarly progeny
in turn, to continue the many facets of his research. We will do no more here
than mention the names of Harry Hoijer, Morris Swadesh, George Trager.
Stanley Newman, Li Fang-Kuei, Benjamin L. Whorf. Charles F. Voegelin. and
our own teacher, Mary Haas. All these scholars have transmitted to their own
students not only an enthusiasm for American Indian linguistics, but. even
more important, Sapirscommitment to the study of language within the broad-
est context of human understanding.
W 11 1 1 AM HkK .11 1
VieroK Ci( )i 1 A
Section One:
Typology and Classification
Introduction
The papers in Section One arc concerned with general consideraiions. apply-
ing to North American Indian languages across all laniily boundaries. Chrono-
logically ordered, they testify to Sapirs interest in typology troin the earliest
period. Around 1920, his attention turned to genetic classilication. as retlecting
linguistic prehistory; but this waned in subsequent years. The section ends with
two posthumously published papers, reflecting once more Sapir's ongoing
typological concerns.
"The Problem of Noun Incorporation in American Languages" ( iwj k ) relers
to the process by which noun stems are compounded with verb stems, the result
functioning as a verb; a classical example is Nahuatl m-nacu-qua " 1 -meat-eat."
Sapir s survey of the phenomenon constitutes his first major typological state-
ment on Native American languages and continues to be cited as a primary
reference on the topic. Extensive data are cited here from his field notes on
Southern Paiute, Takelma, and Yana — material which, in 1911. had just begun
to be published in monographic form {Takelma Texts, 19()9c, Volume VIII;
Yana Texts, 1910h, Volume IX).
The paper was written in response to A. L. Kroeber s "Noun Incorporation in
American Languages" (1910; reprinted in the Appendix to the present vol-
ume). Kroeber noted a looseness of usage in the term "incorporation." such
that it could be misleadingly applied to pronominal inflection for direct object
in verb forms; and he questioned the status of the concept in general. Sapir
clarifies matters by showing that incorporation indeed has well-delined formal
and functional characteristics in a large number of Native American languages.
In reply, Kroeber s "Incorporation as a Linguistic Process" ( 1911; also reprinted
in the Appendix to this volume) accepts the criticisms and expresses apprecia-
tion for Sapirs "masterly interpretation" (p. 577). Kroeber goes on to suggest
that the term "incorporation" is itself misleading; one coukl simpK speak of
"noun-verb compounding" (p. 582).
"Linguistic Publications of the Bureau of American |-tliiioK>u\ : A (ieneral
Review" (1917d) was Sapirs first paper to appear in the International Jattnml i>1
American Lini^uistics, then newly founded by Franz Boas. It is a survey ol \vork
published by the Bureau of American I-thnoK\uy. an office o\ the Smithsonian
Institution, starting from Powell (1877) and continuing ihrough the first tuo
volumes of the Handbook of American Indian Lani^uaiics. cilileil b\ Boas
(1911a, 1922). Sapir finds that the most valuable Bureau of American Lth-
nology publications have been the morphological descriplii>ns in the
Handbook, and he expresses his enthusiasm in characteristic fashu>n Refer-
ring to the grammatical sketches of (Joddard (V)\\) and Boas ( 1^1 1 ). he savs (p.
81): "To the linguistic psychologist and to the comparative philologist alike il is
22 V American Indian Uin^iuages I
certainly something very like an aesthetic delight to have clearly revealed to
him . . . two such unique organisms ....'"
In the area of historical and comparative linguistics, Sapir sees the Bureau of
American Ethnology publications as having only limited significance. The most
intUicntial is John Wesley PowelTs Indian Linguistic Families of America North
of Mexico (1891), which, although "the corner-stone of the linguistic edifice in
aboriginal North America'' (p. 79), is nonetheless a study "in linguistic geogra-
phy and classification rather than in comparative philology" (p. 81). Reference
is made here to the possibility that the 58 distinct stocks derived from Powell's
classification "may be expected to re-arrange themselves into perhaps not more
than 16. or even less" (p. 80); this of course foreshadows the radical reduction of
linguistic families which Sapir was to propose in subsequent publications.
I he next two articles, published in 1917, are reviews by Sapir of two publica-
tions by C. C. Uhlenbeck. Otherwise known as a Sanskritist, this Dutch scholar
also did extensive research on Blackfoot, an Algonkian language, and in 1916
publishe.d two articles in which he attempted some typological generalizations
on North American Indian languages. Such discussion was, of course, precisely
Sapir's cup of tea; and Boas, as editor of the International Journal of American
Linguistics, took the unusual step of publishing Sapir's comments in the format
of book reviews, in the first issue of the journal.
Uhlenbeck's first article, "The Passive Character of the Transitive Verb . . . ,"
points to a phenomenon which is found in a number of American Indian lan-
guages, and is now usually called "ergativity." In this pattern, objects of tran-
sitive verbs are treated grammatically like the subjects of intransitives, as
"patients," whereas the subjects of transitive verbs are given separate status as
"agents." Sapir shows, contra Uhlenbeck, that such a construction is not simply
a passive — thus, in Takelma, it is specifically contrasted with the passive — and
he concludes with a table in which he neatly distinguishes five ways in which
pronominal elements correspond to categories of subject and object in Ameri-
can languages. A. L. Kroeber, in a letter to Sapir of November 1917, expresses
his admiration — and perhaps his envy: "I've been trying for 15 years ... to draw
up that table of pronominal elements. If I had succeeded, I would have invested
it better than in a review" (Golla 1984: 259-60).
Uhlenbeck's second article, "The Identifying Character of the Possessive
Inflection . . . ," focuses on the morphological distinction made in many lan-
guages between nouns which are "inseparably" or "inalienably" possessed —
typically, body-part and kinship terms — and those which are "separable" from
their possessors. As with the first of these papers, Sapir adduces important new
data, criticizes Uhlenbeck for his tendency toward "speculatively psychologi-
cal" explanations, and shows the importance of more detailed grammatical
analysis — in the present case, distinguishing separable possession from a pat-
tern which, in languages like Takelma, treats kinship terms differently from
other nouns.
"Materials Relating to Sapir's Classification of North American Indian Lan-
guages" includes four items. First is an excerpt from a letter from Sapir to
One: Typolof^x uiui Classificaiitm 23
Kroeber on October 4, 1920, which represents the culmination of an exchange
between the two scholars on the genetic classitication ot North American lan-
guages. It is the first written outline we have of Sapir s drastic proposal to assign
the languages of the continent to just six "great groups," later often called
■"phyla." (The process which led to this has been described bv (lolla ( I'^Sf)). the
letter itself appears in Ciolla 1984: 347-51.) Sapir hatl earlier expressed his dis-
satisfaction (1917d, above) with the 58 "stocks" of North American languages as
formulated in John Wesley Powells classification for the Bureau of American
Ethnology. The new classification proposed here is the one which he presented
at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Chicago meet-
ing in December 1920.
Early in this letter, Sapir writes: "I am planning to make a really exhaustive
questionnaire on morphological and phonetic features ... .1 want to see what
are the distributions of such features as use of syntactic cases . . . then correlate
as far as possible, and see what happens. Finally, apply lexical tests to resulting
groups." The classification which Sapir goes on to propose is evidently the
result of a preliminary application of this procedure. The focus is on structural
evidence; in fact, Sapir never published lexical evidence for his sixfold
grouping.
Two further hypotheses mentioned in this letter were also given relaii\el\
little attention in Sapir s subsequent publications. First, he notes that, although
he wishes to maintain his six-part classification for the time being, he recog-
nizes "certain promising 'proto-American' features (such as negative *k(i. 'ku:
diminutive *-tsi; 1st per. sing, n-; plural and frequentative */)." Such continent-
wide similarities were discussed by Radin (1919); but Sapir had evaluated
Radin s manuscript in 1918 as "a fearful amount of evident rot mixed up hig-
gledy-piggledy with some really good stuff" (GoUa 1984: 278). The possible
significance of "proto-American" correspondences went largely undiscussed in
subsequent years.
Second, the latter part of Sapir's letter refers to "another big Iniguisiic [M)s-
sibility": that the Na-Dene group (comprising Athabaskan, Haida, and Ilingit I
may be related to the "Indo-Chinese" family of Asia (now generalK calleil
"Sino-Tibetan"). Sapir laid out considerable evidence for this hypothesis in a
1921 letter to Kroeber (Golla 1984: 374-82) and apparently dealt with the topic
in a long manuscript which has been lost (see Gollas note 2, p. 383). The ihiIn
published reference to this topic is a report of an interview with Sapir which
iippcared in Science in 1925. "The Similarity of Chinese and hulian 1 anguages"
(1925o, reprinted in Volume VI).
The second item included here is an abstract o\ Sapirs lecture, encloseii
in a letter to Kroeber dated November 30. 1920 (C.olla |W84: 354-35h). in
another letter dated January 20, 1921 (Ciolla 1984: 3(>4-365). he sent
Kroeber a copy of his lecture notes as well as a copy of a map of North America
showing the distribution of the six "super-stocks," which he had used in his talk
These lecture notes have fortunately been found among Sapir's papers,
together with the original hand-cohued map. The notes (pre\ious|\ published
24 V Atmrican Imlian Uiniiiuiiics J
in Golla 1^^S4: 44«^)-452) arc included here, as well as a black-and-white copy of
the map.
The lecture notes begin with procedural considerations. The historical
method to be used is based primarily on morphology; "too much reliance on
secondary factors of descriptive order (incorporation, instrumental prefixes,
polysynthesis)" is to be avoided. An attempt must be made "to get perspective
as to aue of different features," to identify "subtler features of dynamic order,"
and to locus on "vestigiaP patterns which may be revealing of history. These
criteria were to be discussed in more detail in Sapir s Subtiaba paper (1925b,
below).
Each of the main groups is then discussed in terms of its typical grammatical
features; the account here is rather longer than in the revised version later
published in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1929a, below), and in fact con-
stitutes the most detailed version we have of the basis for Sapir's sixfold classifi-
cation. The notes close with a reference to the "proto-American" possibilities
mentioned in correspondence with Kroeber (adding m- "thou") and with some
speculations about possible regrouping and revision of his classification.
"A Bird s-eye View of American Languages North of Mexico" (1921a) sum-
marizes Sapir s paper presented to the American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science: his reduction of the Powell classification, "on the basis of both
morphological and, in part, lexical evidence," to "six great groups, presumably
genetic." He admits that such an "exceedingly rough approximation ... is cer-
tain to require the most serious revision as our study progresses"; but he
defends it as "a stimulus to more profound investigations." However, Sapir's
groupings were in fact not significantly revised by him before his untimely
death, nor were substantial data presented to confirm his six-way division.
"Central and North American Languages" (1929a), published in the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, constitutes the major published version of the six-
way classification proposed by Sapir for the languages of North America, ear-
lier versions of which are included in the preceding articles. As revised by
Harry Hoijer in 1961, it continued to be reprinted in the Encyclopaedia until
1974 and exercised a strong influence. Sapir added a section on "Mexican and
Central American languages" at the end of this article. Here he points out that
some North American stocks, specifically Uto-Aztecan and Hokan-
Coahuiltecan, are represented in the more southerly area; he then lists 15
stocks of "Middle American languages proper," but he makes no serious
attempt to merge these into larger groupings like those which he recognizes for
North America.
"Glottalized Continuants in Navaho, Nootka, and Kwakiutl (with a Note on
Indo-European)" (1938b), published in Language, represents a return of
Sapir s interest to structural and typological research. A common phonological
feature of Native American languages is the occurrence of contrastive glot-
talization with stops and affricates, giving rise to "ejectives." (Sapir's list of
languages which contain such sounds mistakenly includes Karok.) A smaller
number of languages also contain glottalized sonorants — i.e., nasals, liquids.
One: Typ<>li)^\ a/ui CUissifuatum 25
and glides which begin with glottal closure. I he language families charac-
terized by this unusual class of sounds include two in which Sapir had extensive
first-hand experience: Athabaskan and Wakashan. The lornier gr»)up is repre-
sented in the present discussion primarily by Navajo, the latter by Noolka from
Sapir's own field work and by Kwakiutl from that of lioas
The major part of the paper is a detaUed demonstration that the glottali/ed
sonorantsof the languages in question are overwhelmingly of sccondar\ origin
in Navajo, they are derivable from d plus sonorants (where d, lollowing
Athabaskanist practice, stands for unaspiraled (t|); in the \Vakash;»n lan-
guages, they arise from a coalescence of resonanls with a preceding or lollow-
ing '^ or h. Sapir's methodology moves easily from morphophonemic analysis,
of a purely synchronic sort, to internal reconstruction of etymological rela-
tionships — still within individual languages — to comparative phonology on the
level of proto-languages.
A general conclusion (p. 268) is that, where a language has two scls of
phonemes A and B, identical except for the presence of an added distinctive
feature, it is at least a plausible hypothesis that set B has developed from a two-
phoneme sequence: thus French /a/ from an, Navajo /A/ from dn, and Nootka
/\V/ from '^w. Finally, Sapir adds a note suggesting that Indo-Ivuropean corre-
spondences between laryngeal and semivowel — e.g., Greek liclk-, Lithuanian
velk- "plow" — may reflect a prehistoric stage in which laryngeali/.ed sonorants
occurred. (Because of its interest for Indo-European studies, the appeiuled
note is also being reprinted in Volume II.)
"American Indian Grammatical Categories" (Sapir and Swadesh I^Md) was
begun by Sapir around 1919 but was completed only after his death by his stu-
dent Morris Swadesh, and finally published in 1946. The article is clearly
intended for readers who have considerable sophistication in linguistics, but
little in American Indian languages.
Sapir states (p. 104) that "we have noright to speak of American Indian gram-
matical categories" in the sense of morphological patterns shared by all or most
languages. Nevertheless, it is possible to illustrate the diversity oi patterns
found in North America; and Sapir proceeds to do this, using expressions
meaning "he will give it to you" in six of the languages on which he had di>ne
field work.
The paper ends with "jottings" by Sapir (left uiule\eloped b\ Swadesh) \Khich
suggest more extensive typological discussion — e.g.. "importance of aspect in
America: Nootka, Paiute." It must be regretted that Sapir did not live to write
detailed cross-linguistic studies of such features, as he did lor iu>un incorpora-
tion in 1911c, or for ergativity and related phenomena in UM"k.
"The Relation of American Indian Linguistics to General linguistics" is
another posthumous publication. It may have i^riginally been \srilten around
the same time as Sapir's nmc Perspective (l^l^h). since it expresses similar
views about the diffusion of grammatical traits and adduces some of the same
facts. (This is pointed out by Sher/er h'73: 75.V) Sapir's last sentence, to be
sure, refers not only to his own book I uni^unsic (iy2ld) but .ils(» t»» I eonard
25 V Armruun Indian lxini^iHi\ics I
BloDmficld's Laniiua^eof 1933; however, it sounds like an afterthought, proba-
bly postdating the other contents of the paper by several years.
The opening paragraphs, in fact , express a view characteristic of Boas, noting
first that "the phonetic systems of the languages spoken along the [Northwest)
Pacific coast . . . have many characteristics in common in spite of the fact that
they are far from being members of the same genetic group" (p. 1), and then that
"important morphological characteristics . . . seem to have diffused over a con-
tinuous territory occupied by languages of alien stocks" (p. 2). Sapir concludes
that "the intercrossing influence of [structural] diffusion must be taken into
account very much more seriously than is done by students of comparative and
historical grammar in the Old World" (pp. 2-3).
The importance given here to the areal phenomenon of structural borrowing,
so frequently emphasized by Boas, is reflected in a number of Sapir's earlier
works. As time passed, however, Sapir came increasingly to believe that it is
possible for comparative linguistics to identify cross-linguistic grammatical
similarities which can be recognized as in some sense "submerged," but which
retlecl distant genetic relationships, unaffected by more superficial processes
of areal diffusion. This is of course the viewpoint which led him, from 1920
onward, to propose six "great groups" of North American languages (the pre-
viously unpublished materials and 1921a, above).
The second part of this article points to the importance of descriptive work
on American languages as a means of appreciating the diversity which is possi-
ble in human language, independently of all possible racial or cultural associa-
tions. Sapir s words remain fully relevant to current discussion of linguistic uni-
versals: "A linguist who is familiar with the forms of only one circumscribed
group of languages, such as Indo-European or Semitic, necessarily runs the risk
of universalizing formal features which are after all local in their distribution,
or of rejecting as unlikely conceptual peculiarities which are abundantly
attested outside of his special group of languages. American Indian languages
give abundant opportunity to correct both of these possible misconceptions"
(pp. 3-4). (Because of its interest to the general linguist, this paper is also
included in Volume I.)
I Hi: rkol'.I.KiM OF NOUN INCOkPOKAlIoX IN
AMI'.klCAN LANCTACKS
Ih I.DWARD s.MMK
I ""I II-: tc-rm "iiK-orpordtion " has Jn-i-ii iiiiich ummI in discussion
dcNolt'd to ihc striicliirc ol American Iaii,i;ua^cs. I )fs|)iie llic
steadily growing mass of American linguistic material, a good
share of the data presented in the last few decades being distinctly
superior from the point of view of critical analysis to much that
served as illustrative material in earlier days, it can not he asserttxl
that the term is always clearly understood or satisfactorily defined.
This paper is not at all concerned w ith w lieihir the linguistic stocks
of America arc or are not as a whole characterized by a process
that may be called "noun incorporation," but aims merely to give
a usable definition of the term and to show that several of these
stocks actually make use of the process. This ma\ not seem a very
re\olutionary attempt, nor is it intended to be. As, however, Dr
Kroeber has undertaken in a recently published paper ' to demon-
strate the nnlhical or, at an>- rate, theoretically unlikel>- character
of noun incorporation, it seems in order to accept his implied chal-
lenge and to present some new data by way of rebuttal.
On two or three negative points all must be in hearty agree-
ment with Dr Kroeber. In the first place so-called pronominal
incorporation and noun incorporation stand in no necessary relation
to each other. A very large number of American, as of non-Anicri-
can, languages make use in the verb of allixed elements of pro-
nominal signification; they are, as regards their syntactical use,
very commonly subjecti\e, less freciuentk', though by no means
rarely, also objective, and still less commonly they indicate also
dative, ablative, or other case relations (thus, in \\.is<(>. 'hiiu"
and "me" in "I give it to him" and "he takes it from me" are
as thoroughly "incorporated" into the verb-complex as are ihc
'A. L. Kroi-bcr. ".Noun Incorporation in .Xmcriaui LanKuaift-*." X\'l. Imltr-
nalionaler Atnerikanislcn-Kongress, 1909, pp. 569-76.
250
-)j^ V American Indian Languages 1
subjective "I" and "he" and objective "it"). As Dr Kroeber
points out, it is incorrect to consider these pronominal elements
as truly "incorporated" forms of independent personal pronouns;,
being either simpler in form than the latter or, often enough,
etymologically unrelated to them, they are best considered as formal
or inflectional in character. Whether or not they may, in particular
cases, be thought to have been originally independent elements
that ha\c, through an intermediate proclitic or enclitic stage,
coalesced with the verb stem into a morphologic unit, matters not
at all; historical considerations should not interfere with a descrip-
tive analysis, otherwise morphologic change in language ceases to
have a meaning. In the case of the Wasco ^ sentences referred to
before, the "incorporated" elements -n- "I, me," -/- "it," and -i-
"him," are evidently not actually incorporated forms or secondary
developments of the corresponding independent personal pronouns
ndika, Mxka, and ydxka, while -tc- "he" (as subject of transitive
verb) is quite unrelated to the independent pronoun. Few more
striking cases can be found than that of Takelma. Here we have
no less than eight distinct affixes to indicate the first person singular
("my, I, me") in the noun and verb (wi-, -t'ek', -t k\ -t'e^, -t'e'',
-«, -n, -xi), yet not one of these is etymologically related to the
independent pronoun gi'. Clearly, then, the incorporation of a
noun or noun stem into the verb is not in most cases analogous to
pronominal "incorporation." It may even be argued on general
grounds that nominal and pronominal incorporation tend to be
mutually exclusive processes. The main purpose of a pronominal
affix is to refer to or replace a substantive, in the former case often
determining also its syntactic relation; hence a pronominally in-
corporating language should find noun incorporation unnecessary,
and vice versa. The fact that this theoretical conclusion is by no
means entirely borne out by the facts shows how little reliance is
to be placed in a priori considerations. We shall find, however, that
noun incorporation can indeed exist without true pronominal
incorporation or rather inflection.
In the second place it is clear that verbal affixes that refer to
nouns, in other w^ords, convey a substantival idea, are not instances
' Of Chinookan stock.
One: 7v/)o/f »v\ an J C lassificaiion 29
25^
of luHin incorporalioii if ilu'\ arc etyiuolonically unrclatetl to ihc
iiKlepc'iKlfiU nouns or noun stems with uliich ihey stfin lot^ically
cf)nnettr(i. Such altixis are ^cncr.illy liihi-r instrunu-ntal (Siouan,
ShosIioniMii) or local (Kwakiuil, S.ilishi in ( h.iraciiT. Inji may also
be iinploNcd to rci)ri'si-nt the htj^ical <)lijc( t <>r v\vi\, in the ca.HC of
inlransiti\c verbs, subject (this use is characteristic of KwakiutI,
CMuiiiakuin, and Salish). As lon^, however, as they are lexically
cii>tiiut from iioun stems i)roper, they must be kM)ked upon as
grammatical elements jiiiri-and >imple, how ever concrete their signifi-
cation may seem. They are loKitally related to independent nouns
of the same or allied meaning as are tense affixes to indejK'ndent
ad\erl)s of time. This working over of substantival concci)ls into
the \erb-unit as derivational rather than compositional elements
is decidedly characteristic of several American linguistic stocks;
it belongs rather to the sphere of "poKs\nlhesis" than noun in-
corporation, ll is true, as Dr Kroeber pcjints out, th.il bodv-part
ideas are particularly apt to receive such grammatical treatment,
yet it is decidedly misleading to imply, as he does, that body-part
affixes generally form a closed class entireK' apart from all others.
In Sioiian the idea of instrumental activity is far more strongly
de\cloped in these elements, here prefixes, than that of reference
to distinct body-parts. Thus Ponka pa- means not so much "with
the h-and" as "by pressing with the hand," while Ponka ma- and
mil-, Dakota ba- and ho-, refer to no parts of the body at all
but to instrumentality apart from the bod>', lieing respectively
translatable by "by cutting, with a knife" and "by shooting";
similarly, Ponka na- is rendered "by heat, by fire." ' It is very
doubtful whether, to use Dr Kroeber's own example, Dakota ya-
contains a more specific reference to "mouth" than does Ponka
na- to "fire." In southern Paiutc, a Shoshonean dialect, we have,
as in Siouan, a set of instrumental prefixes referring to parts of
the body, though such reference is rather clearer in the case of
Paiute than in that of Dakota or Ponka. As in these latter, so also
in Paiute the instrumental prefixes are etyniologically unrelated
' See Boas. " Notes on the Ponka Granitnar." /i"*5««oii </m Comgrls ImUrnatiomttl
des Americanistes, 2, p. 328; Boas and .Swanton. Sioiiai). JiJ (//<!':" ' ' '
Indian Languages, I, pp. 902-905).
30 V' American Indian Lan^iuii^es I
^53
to the noun stems that express the corresponding body-part concepts.
Examples are ta- "with the foot" (noun stem nampa-), qi-^ "with
the teeth" (noun stem tarjwa-), ma- "with the hand" (perhaps
ultimately related to noun stem nio^o-), ico- "with the head"
(noun stem t""tsi-). It is important, however, to observe that
with these body-part prefixes are necessarily to be grouped a number
of other instrumental prefixes in which the reference is to a noun
other than one defining a part of the body or to mode of action
not \cry definitely connected with a particular object. Such are
ta- "with a missile, by throwing," tsi "with the point of a long object,
with the end of a stick," wu-'^ "with the edge or body of a long
object, with any part of a stick but the point," qn- "with fire, by
burning." The "substantivals," furthermore, of Salish and Kwa-
kiutl include not only body-part elements but also such as have
reference to other important noun concepts, such as "fire," "house,"
"round object."
It becomes evident, therefore, that Dr Kroeber's attempt to
set off body-part elements as such from all other substantive
affixes is not well justified by the facts. There is, it is true,
a tendency in America to emphasize body-part relations and
activities, yet this tendency is fundamentally of psychological,
not morphological, interest. There is, then, no reason why noun
stems denoting parts of the body should not be accepted as evidence
of noun incorporation under the same circumstances as those under
which other noun stems are so accepted. The main point to be
determined in any particular case, as far as noun incorporation
is concerned, is not whether instrumental, local, objective, or
other substantival affixes do or do not refer to parts of the body, but
whether or not they are identical with or closely related to inde-
pendent nouns. According to Dr Kroeber, "an acquaintance with
any number of American languages and with the parts which ele-
' i is used to represent a high back unrounded vowel, practically unrounded close
u; it has by other students been heard as an obscure or imperfectly articulated front
rounded vowel and accordingly written ii or d. There is in Ute a true 6, corresponding
to southern Paiute o, as well as this i. t) is ng of English sing.
' u is a phonetic variant of i and is found particularly after labial consonants. It
is not quite so high as i and seems to have a slight amount of inner rounding; it is
sometimes difficult to distinguish from a (English u in but).
AM. ANTH., N. S., 13 — 17
One: Typology uiul Clussijuaiion 31
iiKnts ot lliis class ])la> in ai least sonu- ol tlu-in, brings so strong
a conviction ol iht-ir peculiar (jualities, thai even the apparent
direct objective use of independent noun-stems denotinji ports of the
body in single-word verb-complexes ' seems dependent on the unique
character of these stems, railur ih.m as beinj^ I rut- noun-incorjxjr-
ation." - This com iction is not sh.ired l)\' tin- presi-ni writer, to
whom noun incorporation seems of fundamental interest rather as
a formal or morphological than lexical or psychologic process.
The importance of bearing clearly in mind the great formal differ-
ence between body-part elements etymologically distinct from noun
stems and incorporated body-part noun stems will become l-\ idi-nt
wlu'ii the body-juirt jirelixes of Takelma are discussed.
Un a third point one can not but uncjualihedly agree with \)r
Kroeber. Many American languages form dencjminative verbs
from noun stems by means of various derivati\e aftixes of verbal,
generalK lransiti\e, meaning. Thus, from Paiute qani- "house"
are formed qanintcu- "to build a house" and qanix'^ai-^ "to have
a house," from Yana haiiyauba- "deer fat" is formed hauyauba--
inigui^a- "to contain nothing but tieer fat." In these derivative
verbs the nouns "house" and "deer fat" can not be considered as
incorporated, for the verbal elements -ntcu-, -x^ai-, and -^inigui^a-
are not verb stems but verb-forming atitixes morphologically com-
parable to English -izc in verbs of the type materialize, pauperize.
It can hardly be maintained, however, that verbs of this txpe have
had much to do with a belief in the existence of noun incorporation,
the process that they illustrate being a familiar one in Indo-Cier-
manic. Eskimo, a language particularh- rich in suffixes that \erbify
nouns, has been termed poKsynthetic, but has not been emplo>ed
by serious students as a source of examples of noun incorporation.
What, then, is noun incorporation.-' I )i Kroeber dffmes it
as follows: — " Noun incorporation is the combination into one word
of the noun object and the verb functit)ning as the i)redicalc
of a sentence."^ This definition seems accejnable enough at first
' Italics mine. These italicized words practically delinc objective noun Incor-
poration for a limited class of nouns.
^ Kroeber, loc. cit., p. 572.
'x^ is palatalized x. approximately as ch in tJerman icb.
* Kroeber. loc. cit., p. 560.
32 V^ American Indian Languages J
siKlit. and thort- wuiiUl l)c no great difficulty, on the basis of it,
in i)n)vinii the existence of noun incorporation in America. Ex-
amining the definition, we find that two things are required — a
noun must combine with the verb-predicate into a word-unit,
and the noun so combined must function as the object of the verb.
The lirst re(iuirement is morphologic in character, the second
purely svn tactic; in other words, the first calls for a certain type
of word formation, while the second demands that a particular
logical relation subsist between the two independent elements that
enter into this word formation. Without denying the abstract right
to set up such a definition, it would seem that the combining of a
morphologic requirement wath an independent syntactic one yields,
on general principles, a definition of too narrow a scope for the
discussion of as fundamental a problem as noun incorporation is
felt to be. Noun incorporation is primarily either a morphologic
or syntactic process; the attempt to put it under two rubrics at
the same time necessarily leads to a certain amount of artificiality
of treatment. A parallel case will make clearer the point here
raised. Noun composition may be defined as the combining into
a word of two independent words or stems, the resulting w^ord
being treated as a noun. There is no limitation put here on the
syntactic relation between the two elements of the compound.
"Steam-engine," "concert-singer," and "song-writer" are mor-
phologically of one class, all three examples consisting of two nouns
united into one, the first serving in some way or other to qualify
the second. Yet the syntactic or logical relation that obtains
between the two members of these compound nouns is difTerent
in each case. In the case of "steam-engine" the word "steam"
may be looked upon as connected instrumentally with "engine,"
"steam-engine" being thus logically equivalent to or the substitute
of the more definitely syntactic "engine that runs by means of
steam"; "concert," on the other hand, defines "singer" locatively,
in other words, "concert-singer" is the logical equivalent of "singer
in concerts"; "song," finally, is logically the object of "writer,"
the last compound noun given being the equivalent of "one who
writes songs." In short, we have in these nouns examples of one
type of word morphologically, of three types (instrumental, loca-
One: Ixpoloxis and C Uissijuahon
256
li\c', and ()l»JL'cti\(.') syiu.uiicalK' or lonicalK'. At this point it may
be ol)jecte(l that it is artilicial, frotii a grammatical |Kjiut of \it\v.
to assign to tin- first mcnihfrs of the three eom|M)im(ls stK< ijt|
a (lefmile SNiitactic \aUif, the ideas of iustruim-niahly, liMMiioti,
and the objictiv r rt-lation Wrinv; t;i\i-n no grammatical expression
but being iinpHcd on imrcK- logical grounds. No doubt there is
reason for such an objection, but jjrecisely the same argument may
be employed in dealing with \ crbs in which the verb stem is miMiit'ieU
in sonu- w.i\' b\ .1 noun >tt'ni co-ilcM-iiig with it. It we form three
\crbs parallel to the compound n<jims we ha\"e selected, "to steam-
run," "to concert-sing," and "to s(jng-write," it is evident that
"steam," "concert," and "song" are respecli\el\' rehited to the
\erbs "run," "sing," and "write" as noun of instrument, locative
noun, and direct object. These relations are, however, just as
purely logical, non-graniniatical, in the case of the \erbs as in that
of the nouns. As far as grammar is concerned ilu-re is not the
slightest reason wh\' "to song-write" or "steam-engine" should
not be understood to mean "to write by means of a song " or "engine
built of steam"; the absurdity of interpretation in these cases is
only a logical one. It so happens in English, as in most or all
Indo-Germanic languages, that \erbs of the t\'pe "song-write"
or "steam-run," that is, compound \erbs in which the hrst member
of the compound is a noun, are not readiK' formed or are not formed
at all.^ There is, however, not the slightest theoretical reason why
such compound verbs should not exist; that they do exist will
have become clear before the end of this paper is reached.
' Verbs like "to typewrite" arc of course only apparent exceptions; they arc only
secondarily verbal in character, being denominative derivatives Irom alrea<ly existing
compound nouns. Similarly, in Greek, ffapKo<pay^uj " I eat flesh" is not a derivative of
a non-existing verb (payito, but a denominative verb derived from the substaiUi\x
compound aapKo<p6.yos "flesh-eating"; so also Latin aedifi<6"\ build" is not directly
compounded of aedi- "house" and non-existing /ocd. but is either derived from a noun
stem aedifec- "house-builder" or formed on the analogy of verbs like pontificO that are
themselves derived from noun stems (e. g. pontifec-). On the other hand, while nouns
like "man-eater" can m t be considered as conclusive evidence of noun incorixiration.
serious exception must be taken to Dr Kroeber's statement that it niiy n »t illuHiraic
noun incorporation "because 'eater' is functionally a n )un" (Kroebiv. I.»c. cil
This may or may not be true, according to the genius of the particular lin^ui<>i>
discussed. "Man-eater " is not necessarily compaundeJ. as in Kniliih. of man
and "eater," but may be a nnun of agency directly forme J from a c im;' 'iiin! \rit>
"man-eat." "Man" -f- "eater" is not morphologically equal to "man
34 V American Indum Languages 1
257
It is this process of compounding a noun stem with a verb that
it is here proposed to call noun incorporation, no matter what the
syntactic function of the noun logically is. The type of verb,
"to song-write," that Dr Kroeber alone regards as illustrative of
noun incorporation, is best considered a particular class of the more
general type of noun- verb compound verb. As a matter of fact,
it is often just as difficult, at least in some American languages,
to draw the line between the objective and non-objective use of an
incorporated noun as it is to determine the precise syntactic value
of the qualifying member of a compound noun. Thus "I hit his
face" may often be interpreted locatively as " I hit him in the face,"
while even so transparent an example as " I eat meat" may at times
be understood instrumentally as "I feed on or with meat." It is
not claimed that in all American linguistic stocks that are concerned
in this problem of noun incorporation the syntactic value of the
incorporated noun is ^■ariable, but the fact that it is variable in
several languages (Takelma, Yana, Shoshonean) that illustrate
objective noun incorporation justifies the setting up of as broad a
definition as possible for the process. This definition is of a purely
morphologic, not syntactic, character. The main point of psy-
chologic interest here involved is that logical relations that are
in many, probably most, languages expressed by syntactic means
are in several American languages expressed, to at least some extent,
by morphologic, or, if preferred, compositional processes. "I
song-write" is such a replacement of the syntactic "I write songs,"
but the replacement is logically and psychologically parallel to that
of "as white as snow" by "snow-white." In both cases the gram-
matical expression of a logical relation, in other words a syntactic
process, is sacrificed to a compositional process in which the logical
relation is only implied. The sacrifice of syntax to morphology
or word-building is indeed a general tendency in more than one
American language.
The broader or more inclusive a concept, the more urgently
it requires classification to make it practically usable. It is clear
that in the concept "noun incorporation" as defined above several
fairly distinct processes and usages have been combined, and it
One: I'ypoloi;) an J Classijicaium 35
will lie found thai in ihi- actual (litails of the use of noun incor-
poration those Anierican lani;ua^t'.s that conn- luulrr the Kcneral
category "noun incorporating" often clilfer materially among
themselves, each tra\eling more or less its own way. It is (jf liiile
list' to classiU' noun in( <)ii)oiation into x.irious t\pes on purely
logical grouiuls; all a ffriori schemes of linguistii- proci-sses liasetl
on logical considerations are a|)t to \)v found encumhered with
artititialitii's when tested by .ipplicalioii lo |)articular languages.
Onl\- such xarii'ties of noun incorporation will he here suggested
as a certain amount of familiarity with some American languages
has shown to actualK' occur. The iustnimentnl, locative, and
objective tyjies of noun incorporation haw been alreads referred to.
Corresponding to the objective use of incorporated nouns in trans-
itixe verbs we should expect to find a subjective use of such nouns in
intransitive \erbs; this process, despite Dr Kroeber's scepticism,'
can be illustrated in Irocjuois and Pawnee. P2xamples occur in
which the incorporated noun does not directK- function as the
subject of the verb but stands logically in a j^redicative relation
to the subject or object. That is, such sentences as "he travels
as spy" and "I call him an enenn " may be converted into the
noun-incorporating verbs "he spy-travels" or "spy-travels" (not
cqui\alent in this case to "the spy travels") and " I-enemy-call
-him" or " I-encmy-call" (not equivalent to "1 call the
enemy"). Such uses of an incorporated noun ma\' be termed
predicate subjective and predicate objective. A further tyi>e of verb
with incorporated noun is logically parallel to the so-called bahu-
vrihi- type of compound noun. In such \erbs (generally adjectival
in meaning) the incorporated noun is not the logical subject of the
verb but is possessed by another, sometimes grammatically un-
expressed, noun. Just as "red-head" means not "a red-head"
but "one who has a red-head," so a b.ilunrihi \erb with incor-
porated subject like "head-is-red " would mean not "the head
is red " but "he has a red head." Such \erbs sometimes look sufier-
' Krocbcr, loc. cit., p. 573.
^.\ Sanskrit word borrowed from native Hindu grammatical tefniinnloRy. Tlic
word means "much-rice," tliat is, "having much rice," and is itself an example of the
class of compound nouns for which it serves as label.
36 V American Indian Languuges 1
259
ficiallv like noun compounds with a verb or adjective as the quali-
fying member; this deceptive resemblance is also often shared by
intransitive, particularly adjectival, verbs with incorporated noun
subject.
Of fundamental importance is the distinction between verbs
denoting permanent or general activity and those predicating a
single act. Thus "I meat-eat" may be understood to mean either
"I eat meat, I am a meat-eater" or "I eat the meat (at one point
of time)"; in its former sense it may be termed a verb of (general
application, in its latter sense one of particular application. The
various syntactic types of verbs with incorporated noun enumer-
ated above may be used in either a general or particular sense.
Thus the verb "I concert sing" with locative incorporated noun
may either mean " I sing at concerts, my business is that of singing
at concerts," or "I am singing at the concert." Bahuvrihi verbs,
however, hardly occur except as verbs of general application.
This distinction between a general and particular type of verb is
of significance in so far as in some American languages verbs with
incorporated noun always belong or tend to belong to the former
type, single activities being expressed by the syntactic method that
we are familiar wath in Indo-Germanic or by one more nearly re-
sembling it. On the whole, "general" verbs with incorporated
object are more often met wdth, or, at any rate, met with in more
languages, than those of the "particular" class, and this fact is
in striking and significant analogy wath the prevailingly "general"
character of compound. nouns.
A third and obvious method of classifying verbs with incor-
porated noun is to set off those languages that, like Iroquois,
Pawnee, Shoshonean, and Takelma, prefix the incorporated noun
to the verb stem from those that, like Yana and Tsimshian,
suffix it. This distinction, as such, is not one of fundamental
importance, being bound up to some extent with the more
general one of the prevailingly suffixing or prefixing character
of the particular language. It is significant, however, for lan-
guages that make use of both prefixes and suffixes, to note with
what group of affixes the incorporated noun is affiliated, for infer-
One: l\f)(}li>i^\ ami Classijuutum yj
260
ences may sometimes be draw 11 in this way as to the essential nature
of the incorporative process. When in Faiute, for instance, the
incorporated noun is prefixed to the verb stem, and it is further noted
that practically all relational elements, including the i)ronomin.il
affixes, are sufifixed, while adverbial stems and instrumental elements
are prefixed, it becomes fairly evitlent that the incc^riHjraietl noun
is, from its morphologic treatment, not so much of syntactic as of
compositional value; "to rabbit-kill" is not morphologically com-
parable to "to kill-him," but rather to "to quickly-kill."
Let us now turn to a brief re\iew of the facts in regard t* noun
incorporation in a number of American languages that can be shown
to make use, in greater or less degree, of the process. To illustrate
noun incorporation, Nahuatl has been often cited. The noun
object of a transitive verb may in Nahuatl be either incorixjrated
into the verb-complex by being inserted between the verb stem and
the prefixed pronominal subject, in which case it loses its nominal
suffix (-//, -tli, -in), or it may be expressed independently of the
verb, its syntactic value being given by an objective pronominal
element that immediately precedes the verb stem; this latter process
is plentifully illustrated elsewhere in America and has often been
te. med objective pronominal incorporation. Thus, in Nahuatl,
one may either say ni-c-qua in nacatl "I-it-eat the flesh" or
ni-nica-qua "I-flesh-eat." According to Dr \V. Lehmann,' how-
ever, there is an important difference in meaning between these
sentences. The former means "I eat the flesh" ( a particular act),
the latter "I eat flesh, I am a flesh-eater." In other words, noun-
incorporation of the object seems to occur in Nahuatl, at an\- rate
according to Lehmann,only in verbs of what was above termed the
general type. The incorporated noun of Nahuatl does not always
appear, however, with the syntactic value of an object, and this
point, though not often urged, is naturally of primary importance.
In the sentence ni-k-tle-watsa in nakatl^ " I-it-ftre-roast the
*W. Lehmann, "Ergebnisse unci Aufgaben der mexikanistischcn Forschung."
Archiv fiir Anthropologic, vi, 1907, pp. 1 13-168. See English translation by Seymour
de Ricci. Methods and Results in Mexican Research, 1909. pp. 65. 66. Dr Krorbcr i«
not literally correct when he implies (Kroeber. loc. cit.. p. 574) that no explanation ha»
ever been given of the ditTorence in treatment of the Nahuatl noun object.
* This and the following examples are taken from F. Mistcli. Charakirrt
hauplsachlichsten Typen des Sprachhaues, pp. 120. 115. Mistcli"* more pi.
un-Spanish orthography is here preserved.
38 V American Indian Languages J
261
meat" the incorporated noun tie- (absolute tletl) "fire" is instru-
mental in value; in o-ki-kets-koton-ke in itstekki "(they) had-
him-neck-cut the robber" {0 . . . ke denotes plural perfect) the
incorporated noun keCs- (absolute kefstli) "neck" is equivalent to
a locative; in sotsi-kweponi in no-kwik "flower-blossoms the my-
song, mv song blossoms like a flower" the incorporated noun
^otsi (absolute soisitl) is predicative to the subject, this sentence
illustrating the predicate subjective type of noun incorporation
already spoken of. These last three examples, it may be incident-
allv observed, seem rather particular than general in their applica-
tion. For the existence, then, of noun incorporation in Nahuatl
there seems good evidence, assuming, of course, that examples
of the types cited are in genuine use. It is clear, furthermore, that
noun incorporation of the object is in Nahuatl only a special
syntactic use of a more general process of noun incorporation, and
that this process is more or less analogous to noun composition (in
noun compounds the first member loses the suffix found in the
absolute form).
Dr Kroeber states that "serious doubt is cast on all noun-
incorporation in Nahuatl by the indication of complete lack of
incorporation in all related languages. The Shoshonean dialects
are but little known, yet enough to make it certain that incorpora-
tion of the noun is at least not a typical process and probably does
not occur in them at all."^ But noun incorporation does undoubt-
edly occur in at least some Shoshonean dialects, as a recent study of
Ute and southern Paiute has convinced the writer.^ Before giving
examples of Shoshonean noun incorporation, it will be well to point
* Kroeber, loc. cit., pp. 574, 575. The genetic relationship of Shoshonean and
Nahuatl is not so definitely established or, in any event, not so close as to justify one
in drawing inferences as to Nahuatl noun incorporation from corresponding facts in
Shoshonean, the more so as "the Shoshonean dialects are but little known."
2 A month's work was done by the writer in the latter part of the summer of 1909
among the Northern Ute of Utah. During four months of the winter and spring of
1910 a considerable body of Kaibab Paiute material, including a set of texts, was
obtained from a Paiute student of the Indian school at Carlisle, Pa. Kaibab Paiute
is spoken in S. W. Utah and N. W. Arizona; it differs more phonetically than grammat-
ically from Ute, both southern Paiute (as distinguished from northern Paiute or Pavi-
otso) and Ute belonging to Dr Kroeber's " Ute-Chemehuevi" group. Both sets of
material were obtained for the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania.
One /\/)nh)ii\ and CUi\sijuittum 39
262
out ii) how little ri-hitioii iioiiu incorporation here slands lo the
treatment of the pronominal elements. It was staled before that
incorporated nouns are, in Paiute, prefixed, pronominal elements
suffixed to the verb stem. Hut this is not the whole story. !*rop-
erl\- speaking, pronominal cltinc-nls are not aflixed at all to the verb
stem, but are merel\- added on encliticalK'. So man\- apparently
clear examples of pronominal incorporation can be adduced in I'aiuie,
that at hrst blush this statement will ajjpear paradoxical, yet it is
not difficult to demonstrate. In a verb form like londvdn idtian'*^
"I shall strike him" (verb stem ton a-; future suffix -viln ia-; 3d
animate \isible singular -aria-; 1st singular -jii) -a-qa- "him" and
-;/;' "I" seem thoroughl\- welded inU) the \erb-complex, the more
so as the final a of -van ia- contracts with the initial a of -ar^a- into
a long (7. Yet if we begin the sentence with the word qanivat}'"^
"house-in" we can say qati ivariwiarjan' * (on dvan i'- "house-in-
him-I strike-shall, I shall strike him in the house." This
usage can hardly be explained otherwise than b\' regarding the
unindependent pronouns as enclitic elements which may attach
themselves to any word in the sentence, very frequently, of course,
the verb. It is clear, then, that if genuine examples of noun incor-
poration can be given in Paiute, it follows that nominal and (pro-
nominal incorporation do not necessitate each other.
A number of examples of noun incorporation have been .selected
from the Paiute manuscript material at the writer's disposal; it
should be borne in mind that all the forms about to be given actually
occur in texts^ Examples of noun incorporation of the object arc
first given: —
'■ denotes aspiration; 'length of preceding consonant; * glottal stop superior
vowels and ", ^, " are whispered, but arc grammatically equivalent t.i full)' voiced
vowels and w, y, n, being reduced forms of these; o is open; u. 6. i. are long open vowels;
long vowels ollowed by superior of same vowel represent long vowels wi.h parasitic
rcarticulation of vowel; ^ after k denotes palatalization of preceding back con«r>nant:
" is weak x developed from ' before moderately velar q; '•" is palatalized aspiration.
weak German ch in ich; 7 is voiced velar spirant (North German g in Tage). v is
bilabial, yel apt to be dento-labial, particularly before i; v" is bilabial with inner
sounding, acoustically midway between bilabial v and w; v and R are voicele»> v and r
(weakly trilled tongue-tip r'; ^, t, and q are stopped consonants with simuUaoeout
closure of glottis, i, u, and a have been aln-adv rxplainc I (p. 25.}. noten i. 2): \ i»
a ; alatalized form of i, heard as obscun- 1.
'Final a of -van'ia has to be elided.
40 V American Indian Languages 1
263
qdni' UyaainUmpUya' "(he) used to hunt jack-rabbits" {qdm-u- "jack-
rabbit"; yaai- "to hunt"; -Jium- usitative; -puyai remote past).
cu'q'iic'^ qdm'uv'^'qaq'a' "having killed one jack-rabbit" {cii'q'uc"^
objective form of cu'yuc"^ "one"; p'^'^qa- "to kill one person or
animal," p between vowels becomes v and -uv- generally becomes
-7/1'"'-; v^ becomes voiceless V^ before "^; -q'ai subordinating suffix
indicating identity of subject of main and subordinate clauses).
qdm'Uxu^oin'dr}"^ "jack-rabbits that he had killed" {qo^oi- "to kill
several persons or animals," q between vowels becomes 7 or % and
-Ux- generally becomes -Uxiv-; -n'a- verbal-noun suffix; -arja
"his").'
'"^qii'd?i'6°xii^ail'uip'U'Yaiyarj"^ "(he) caused her to go for wood"
{'"''qzi'a- "wood," absolute '^^qwdp"'^\ no°- "to carry on one's back";
-xii^ai- derivative suffix "to go to do"; -t'ui- causative suffix;
-CTja "her").
'^'^qwdiyd"vaiyix'" "while bringing back wood" {yd^vaiyi- compound
verb consisting of 3'a"- "to fetch" and paiyi- "to return"; -x'" final
form of -yu-, subordinating suffix indicating that subjects of main
and subordinate clauses are not identical).
nar)qdvaT]''^''pantuxu'ix^^um'^ "while you shake your ears" (tiarjqava-
"ear," absolute na-qqdvav^; '^^'pantiixwi- "to shake," w becomes
rjw between vowels; -x^u- is palatalized form of -xti-, -yu-, subordi-
nating suffix; -". . . mi "you").
wan'dr]wantcixu^aip'uya' "he went to set his rabbit-net" {wan'a-
"rabbit-net" ; ivatci- "to put, set").
wu'p""'cayai'"^ "while looking for a knife" (imt- "knife," absolute
wiiV si-; p'^'cayai- "to look for" ; -yu subordinating suffix used instead
of -yu- after -yai-).
t""sip'uv'''cayaik"y'' "do ye look for flint!" {t""sip'u- "flint";
-k'^a is palatalized form of -q'a denoting plurality of subject).
qdtsiti^norop'Uya' "(he) poked for rats with a stick" {qd- "rat,"
absolute qdtsi-; tsin^noro- "to poke with a stick").
It is interesting to note that certain noun stems seem to lose the
final vowel when incorporated with certain verbs, sometimes even
the final consonant and vowel. Thus narjwa- "track" (absolute
narjwdv^) appears sometimes as nam-, nan-, narj- (according to place
of articulation of following stopped consonant), also as na- and,
'This form is nominal and means literally "his jack-rabbits-killing" or "his
jack-rabbits-killed ones." It implies a verb qam' Uxw^oi-, however.
One: I'ypoloii} uml Classijicaium 41
264
with (.'iilire loss of voice, ""'-. Similarly, tiirjwu- "person" ap|K>ar8
as nini-, ri'in-, nirf-,^ tii-, and "''-. An i-x.iinplc or two in.iy l)e given :-
nam piic'aya^' klip' uya' "(lu-) startrd to look for a track" {nam-
"track"; -/:»- inceptive).
n'ic'it'car}v/aix''ti' "while teasing a person" (mi- "person"; cit'caii-
u^at- "to tease"; -.v''(i/ is palatalized from -xai-, -yai, subordinating
siifTix).
W hilr one or (wo ol tlu-si- (.'XciinpU's of xirhs with incorpf)ratc<:l
noun object seem capable of beinj^j interpreted as general in appli-
cation, most of them evidcntK' refer to |)artiriilar acts. Inasmuch
as Paiute can express, and generally does express, the object of the
verb by providing the unincorporated noun with the accusative
ending -a or -ya, the problem presents itself of when noun iiu-orpora-
tion and when the syntactic method is used to express the object.
This cannot be satisfactorily answered at the present time; it can
only be suggested that what may be called typical or characteristic
activities, that is, those in which activity and object are found
regularly conjoined in experience (e. g. rabbit-killing, looking for
a trail, setting a net), tend to be expressed by verbs with incor-
porated objects, whereas "accidental" or indilTcrent acti\itics
(e. g. seeing a house, finding a stone) are rendered l)y verbs with
independent, syntactically determined nouns. It must be admitted,
however, that a hard and fast line between "characteristic" and
"accidental" activities would be difficult to draw.
Other types of noun incorjioration than the ol)jecti\e ih ( iir in
Paiute. A few examples will suffice: —
unit' on op' uy a' "(he) stabbed with a knife."
q'""" six'''' pap' Uyaiyaq"' ; "with (his) tail (he) hit it" (q'^^'si- "tail."
absolute ^'"""^il''; k"''' pa- "to hit"; -aq'a "it" visible).
axorov^'ik'^axu^q'wa^m'' "while they were licking it" (axo- "tongue."
absolute axdmp'*; toi'^'i- verb stem not separately found: -k'*a «
-q'a- plural subject; -xu- subordinating suffix; -^q'wa- "it"
invisible; -^mu "they" invisible).
qunit'irju'Ap' Uyaiya-rj'" "he smoked him. locked him up in smoke"
(qu'il-, cf. qtL'ii-k'^a-R* "smoke"; tirjxca- "to lock up"; -<jt;<i "him").
niT]wOm'a-rfwup'Uyaiyam^um'' "they caused them to be |)er9on8
'w dos not really disappear in these words, as v^v r<io9 l>ack to oriKinal w
42 V American Indian Languages 1
265
again" {n'i-qwu- "person"; ma-q^wU-^ "to render, cause to be";
-amu- "them" visible; -^ . . . mu dual animate subject).
The first three of these examples show a clear use of the incorporated
noun as instrument, in the fourth we are perhaps dealing with a
locative use, while the last verb illustrates the predicate objective
type of noun incorporation.
Compound verbs, that is, verbs compounded of two or even
three verb stems, are common in Paiute. Ordinarily the actions
expressed by these compounded verb stems are coordinated in
thought, thus "to sing-stand" is logically equivalent to "sing and
stand"; yet there is a number of verb stems that treat a prefixed
verb stem as the syntactic equivalent of an object. As the latter
type of compound verb seems to have some bearing on the problem
of objective noun incorporation, a few examples are given: —
paydin^nit'iv^it'cii^Ap'uya' "(he) learned how to walk" {payain^ni =
"to be walking," composed of verb stem payai- and continuative
suffix -n^ni-; t'iv^U'cu^a- "to learn how").
yadU'iydrjqtq'ar]'^'^ "do ye make him hunt (game)!" {yaai- "to hunt";
tiyd- "to bring about"; -i]qi- indirective; -g-a- plural subject;
-^ . . . r}wa "him" invisible).
tixiui'71'at'iv^it'c'^puyai^r]''^''^ "(he) asked him to tell a story" {t'ixwi-
n'a- "to tell a story"; ttv'^it'cu- "to ask for, request"; -^rjwa
"him" invisible).
mv^dR'^ton^^^'tir]wava'pUya' "(he) made a noise of shaking off snow
from (his) feet" {n'iv^a- "snow," absolute n'iv^dv'^; t'°''ton^m-
"to shake off from one's feet"; t'irjwavd- "to make a noise").
As far as syntax is concerned, these compound verbs are com-
parable to verbs with incorporated noun objects. It seems fairly
evident that there is a general tendency in Paiute to modify the
meaning or limit the range of a verb by compounding it with a
prefixed stem; this second stem may be nominal or verbal, or, it
may be added, adjectival (thus "Ht'int'^'qa- "to eat well, eat good
things" from °%/i- "good" regularly followed by nasal conso-
nant, and t'^'qa- "to eat"). Hence noun incorporation is but a
particular case of verb composition, using that term in its widest
sense, and objective noun incorporation but a particular syntactic
use of a larger process. It is important to notice that incorporated
' Not a causative suffix, but a verb stem.
One: Typolof^y luui Classtficaiion 43
366
noun steins, wlicthcr of body parts or not, art- not afiilialf<l with
the group of non-radical instrumental prefixes already spoken of.
In the examples of noun incorporation ^iven above several of these
instrumental elements occur (/>?<-, />""- "with the eyes"; /51- "with
the point of a stick"; /'"'- "with the feet"); in every case it will Ik:
obser\ed that the incorporated noun object {e. ^. "knife," "rai,"
"snow") precedes the verb stem with its instrumental prefix.
The instrumental use of the incorporated noun (e. g. "tail") should
not mislead us into confusing two distinct classes of prefixed ele-
ments; the resemblance in such a case is merely syntactic, not
morphologic.
Finally, there exists in Paiute a number of iiitransiti\e verbs
with incorporated noun subject; such verbs seem to have reference
particularly to natural phenomena and states. Examples are: —
niv^dyani'^^ "snow-sits, the mountain peak is covered with snow"
{niv^a- "snow"; qar'i- "to sit"; -y'i present tense.
n'iv^'dvi'"* "snow-lies, there is a field of snow on the mountain slope"
(dvi- "to lie").
pdyani'^^ "water-sits, there is a lake" (/>J- "water").
pdyln'ax'qaR^pUya' "fog appeared," lit. "fog began to sit" {pdyln'a-
"fog, cloud," absolute pdyin'av'; -x'qaR*- = q'"qari- "to begin
to sit," reduplicated with inceptive meaning from qari- "to sit").
From such verbs as these are derived present participles in -k' or
-w/'* (after i-vowels -/«'' becomes -/c'' or -w/c'') that are employed
as nouns. Examples are paydr'iR^ "water-sitting, lake"; pdn"*-
qwint'^ "water-running, stream"; qdivayariR* "mountain-sitting,
peak"; qdivdvitc'^ "mountain-lying, plateau."* So perfectly clear
is the essentially verbal force of such nouns, that in the plural the
verb stem must change to the plural stem of corresponding meaning.
Thus the plural verb corresponding to qar'i- is yiixu'i-, and paydrtR*
"lake" becomes pdiyuxwitc'^ "waters-sitting." Th.it we are here
really dealing with verbs with incorporated stibjects and not with
noun compounds in which the qualifying verb or adjective follows
the noun stem, is further shown by such forms as p'''''k''dxu'it''*
• Thus is disposed of a class of apparent noun compounds in which what (ccms to
be the qualifying member follows instead of preceding, as it normally should. See
Kroeber, "Noun Composition in American Languages." Anihropos, vol. v. 1910. p.
213. There is in lUe and Paiute no special class of n >uns in pd . an he nukkc«(«
44 V American Indian Languages 1
267
{p'''i^k"a- "sore, to be sore"; qwifu- "anus," absolute k'^'^'tump'^),
a baliuvr'ihi noun meaning "one who has a sore anus" (proper name),
and p'^'^k^dod'yaip'uya' "(he) had a sore back" {od- "back,"
absolute oav^; -yai- derivative suffix "to have"), a derivative of
the noun "sore back." In these true noun compounds the quali-
fying adjective or verb precedes.
On comparing Nahuatl noun incorporation with that of Sho-
shonean, as represented by Paiute, we find a number of striking
resemblances. In both Nahuatl and Paiute the incorporated noun
is prefixed to the verb stem; in both it often loses a suffix found in the
absolute form of the noun; in both the incorporated noun is used
not only objectively, but also instrumentally, locatively, and as
predicate of subject or object ; noun incorporation is in both languages
but a particular form of modifying the primary meaning of the
verb by prefixing another stem to that of the verb;^ and in both
languages the objective relation is more often expressed by syn-
tactic means than by noun incorporation, the latter method being
employed, it would seem, in expressing "general" or "characteristic"
acts as contrasted with "particular" or "accidental" acts. In
both Nahuatl and Paiute, moreover, the process of noun incor-
poration is best considered one essentially of composition of inde-
pendent stems, and this point of view is further justified by the
fact that in both languages compound nouns can be formed with the
greatest ease and are actually found in great number. Whether
these resemblances are due to the often urged genetic relationship
of Nahuatl and Shoshonean and are thus common Uto-Aztekan
property, it is as yet too early to say. At any rate, it is fair to say
that the evidence here presented does not militate against the Uto-
Aztekan hypothesis but, on the contrary, tends to support it.
Yana has been put by Drs Kroeber and Dixon ^ in a morphological
class by itself as contrasted with the "central Californian" type.
We need not then be surprised to find that it makes use of the
"un-Californian" process of noun incorporation. The incorporated
noun of Yana is, like all affixes, suffixed to the verb stem; certain
' For examples of Nahuatl verbs compounded with prefixed adjective and verb
stems see Misteli, op. cit., p. 115.
*See maps in their article on "The Native Languages of California," American
Anthropologist, N. s., v, pp. 1-26.
One: Typoloi'x ami ClussificaiUm 45
368
derivative suffixes, for instance -tmlmi-^ "on one side" and indi-
rcctive -ma-, may precede an incorporated noun, others, such as
-gu- "a little" and causative -^a-, regularly follow it. Following the
derivative suffixes of the second class are the temjxjrai and nuxlal
suffixes, these, in turn, being followed by the personal endings.
The incorporated noun is thus very firmly knit into tin- verb-com-
plex, never standing at its absolute beginning or iiul. All nouns
in Yana end in their absolute form either in a radical short vowel
or, if the stem is monosyllabic or the stem final is a long vowel,
diphthong, or consonant, in a suffixed -na. When incor[x>rated,
the noun loses this -na and, if the stem ends in a slu^ri \(nvel other
than -V, adds an -i; noun stems beginning with b and d sometimes
change these consonants to w and r. The incorporated form -u<ai-
of the noun bdyia "deer" (stem ba-) illustrates several of these
rules.
An incorporated noun is often objective in meaning, while its
use with locative, predicate subjective, or bahuvrlhi force is also
quite common. As the incorporated noim is treated in exactly
the same way, as regards both position and phonetic change, no
matter what its syntactic value may be, it is obvious how highly
artificial it would be, from the Yana point of view, to treat objective
noun incorporation as an isolated process. Some examples of
Yana noun incorporation follow, and first such as illustrate the
objective type: —
ktutxdisindja "I am thirsty" {k!ul-'^ "to want, desire"; -xai-, incor-
porated form of xdna, hdna "water"; -si- present tense; -ndja
"I").
kfunmiydusindja "I am hungry" {-miyau-, reduced form of mo'yauna
"eating, food").
k.'ut^diisindja "I want fire" {^ is inorganic; ait-, incorporated form
of duna "fire").
kluruwaitnsindja "I wish to have a home" (k.'uru- (ie\eloped from
k!ut- before w; wdwi "house").
k'.uruu'disindja "I want deer meat" {-wai-, incorporated form of bdna
"deer, deer meat").
'For phonetic key to Vana see E. Sapir. "Yana Texts." University of Calif arm f
Publications in American Archarology and I'Ahnology. vol. g. pp. 4. S-
*N. Yana dialect. C. Yana has more archaic krun-: this form of »tcm U prc^rr^-ed
in N. Yana before nasal consonants.
46 V American Indian Languai^es /
269
mitc'dugtimman^t' (23, i) ^ "they had fire indeed" (mite!-, mits!- "to
have"; -gumma- "truly, indeed"; -n^t', reduced from -^ni-t'i-
remote past and quotative).
mits'.duha^nigi (164,4) "let us have fire!" {-ha- hortatory; ^ is inor-
ganic; -nigi "we").
mils! diiunlmisindja "I hold fire in one hand" {-wilmi- "on one side").
mits'.XL'awi} (181, 9) "have house, settle down!" {-ivawt- "house";
^ imperative).
mits'.amditsHts! gisinu (181, 9) "you will have children" {'amditsfi-
"child" not used without -ts.'gi- diminutive plural sufifix; -it-
present or future in second person; -mi "you").
mits.'djuk.'uts.'i^i (177. l) "to have (one's) heart, have courage"
{-djuk.'uts.'i-, absolute djuklutsU "heart"; -^i infinitive).
'di^yausindja (28, 2) "I have carried fire" ('at-" to carry"; -^y- is
inorganic).
auivi^diirusk'inigi "we have gone for fire" {aiiwi- "to take"; ^ is
inorganic; -ru- "to go to do"; -sk'i- present in 1st person plural).
Some of these examples seem capable of being regarded as of
the "particular" type, while others bear interpretation as verbs of
"general" application. The normal method of expressing the
objective relation is to have the object noun in its absolute form
follow the verb, a syntactic particle gi, which is employed to in-
dicate the non-subjective character of the following noun, standing
between the two. Sometimes a noun object is not only incor-
porated but also repeated as syntactic object with preceding gi.
Thus the form 'di^yausindja quoted above is in the text followed
by giHuna "(obj.) fire." In parallel fashion we have auwi^dusan^-
t'iw at Hu' (167, 3) "the fire had been taken away" {-sa- "away";
-w-, elided from -wa- passive sufifix;^ ai "it"; au' "fire," female
form); literally translated this sentence would read "(it)-had-
been-fire-taken-away it fire." It would seem that in Yana,
as in Paiute, noun incorporation of the object is found chiefly in
verbs of "characteristic" activity, a category in which verbs of
desiring and possessing might very well be reckoned. That there
is no sharp line of demarcation, however, between the incorporating
1 References are to page and line of "Yana Texts."
^The incorporated subject of a passive is morphologically identical with the incor-
porated object of a transitive verb. This is true also in Nahuatl.
AM. ANTH.. N. S,, 13 — 18
One: i\(U)U>)i\ iiml CUismIu ilium 47
270
and syntactic methods of rendering the object is indicated by the
sentence mils! k! dip! asinio ai ''duna (164, 6) "we shall have fire"
(-kfal-pfa- "to keep"; -51- future in 1st person j^lural; -ntg elidwl
from -ni^i), in which the verb and object do not coalesce into u
single word; yet l()y;ically this sentence is quite analogous to the
form mits.'duha^'nigi "let us have fire!" already (iiniti<l. As in-
corporated noun objects occur with particular frt-queiicy with
k!ut- "to desire," and mils!- "to have," it may be (objected that
these elements are not really \'erb stems but prefixes forming de-
nominative verbs. In the first place, there are no prefixes in Yana.
In the second place, k!tit- and mils!- occur without incor{X)rated
nouns; thus we have kfutdju^a- "to like, desire" and mitdk'i}
(120, 13) "to come to (him)," lit., " to ha\e hither" i-k'i "hither";
^ infinitive).
Examples of the locative and predicate subjecli\e use in 'S ana
of incorporated nouns are:
biildjaliPai'gaduisiwandja "he kicks my calf" {bui- "to kick";
djalirdi'gadu "calf of leg"; -ivandja "he me").
s'e'mawal^asindja "1 give him to drink" {s'e- causative form of si- "to
drink"; -ma- indireclive suffix; -u-a/-, incorporated form of 6<i//a '
"mouth"; -^a- causative suffix).
djtyddjas (131, 3) "it tastes like human flesh" (dji- "to taste"; -yd-
incorporated form of ydna "person"; -dja- "off, away," of un-
certain application here; -s present tense, female form).
djiu'di^ (131. 3) "to taste like deer meat."
uldja'dumal^guisasi "it smells like dog meat" {ul- . . . -sa- " to smell";
dja'dumdl^gu "dog").
gakltiwi^ (i75i 9) "talk as medicine-man, call upon your protecting
spirit!" (ga- "to talk, utter"; k.'uwi "medicine-man"; * impera-
tive).
The first two of these examples illustrate the locative, the last
four the predicate subjective use of the incorporatetl noun.
Well developed in Yana is the bahuvrlhi type of \erb. Examples
are:
'dik.'udalsindja "I am sick-handed" {'aiklti- "to he sick"; da!-.
incorporated form of ddlla "hand").
' -In- assimilates to -//-.
48 V American Indian Languages I
271
da't'wiihandja "I had much deer meat, was much-deered" {da''t^-
"to be much"; -ha- past tense).
tUnfaiiguhandja "I had little fire, was little-fired" {tUni- "to be
little"; ^ is inorganic; -gti- "a little").
tdup^tc't'iisi "it has a good seed, is good-seeded" {tdup^- "to be
good"; -tc'ui-, incorporated form of tc'una "eye, seed").
u'waisi "he has two deer, is two-deered" (m'- "to be two").
bdiunlmidalsi "he is one-handed" {bar- "to be one"; wilmi- "on one
side"),
k'uwawisindja "I have no house, am no-housed" (k'u- "to be not").
k'uwdisk'inigi "we have no deer meat, are no-meated."
These verbs can not possibly be considered as secondary derivatives
of compound nouns, for in compound nouns the quaHfying member
must always be nominal in form. Hence, if the first element of a
compound noun is to be verbal in force, the verb stem must first
be converted into a participle by the sufifix -mau- ; thus "one person "
is bdigumauydna (24, 12) "one-just-being person." That "much,"
"not," and numerals are rendered in Yana by true verb stems is
proved by such verb forms as ddl^si " there is much " ; dj'mdngunH'
(25, 9) "they were just five" {djiman- "to be five"); and k'uk'inH'
169, 5) "she did not come" (-k'i- "hither"). Bahuvrlhi compound
nouns are in Yana simply substantivized derivatives of bahuvrlhi
verbs, not direct combinations of a verb and noun stem. Thus
dja'dumdl^gu "hang-ears, dog" (dja'- "to hang"; -du- "down";
mdVgu "ear") is a derivative of the verb dja' dumdV guisi "his ears
hang" as truly as is p'uhilla "swim-about, duck" {p'u- "to swim";
-hil- "about, hither and thither"; -la, assimilated from -wa, noun
ending) of p'ubilsi "he swims about."
Morphologically the incorporated noun of Yana is to be con-
sidered as on a par with the numerous derivative suffixes of the
verb, as is shown, among other things, by the fact that it may be
immersed, as it were, in these, some of the prefixes preceding, others
following the incorporated noun. The noun, then, when incor-
porated, is adverbial in character as regards its relation to the verb
stem, that is, in so far as the derivative sufifix is looked upon as
adverbial in force rather than itself verbal with secondary position.^
'See abstract of Yana structure in American Anthropologist, N. s., xi, p. no.
One: TyfX'logy ami Cluwifuution 4W
27a
The morphologic j)arallc'hsiii of such \frbs as k.'utxdisindja "I want
water" and k!uisasindja "1 wani to go away" {-sa- "away") U
obvious. In Uto-Aztckan, where composition of inMejK-nclcnt
verb stems takes pUice freeK', tlu-re was ikj dilticuliy in interpreting
noun incorporation as a kind <*( composition; in Yana, however,
where the verb is regularly followed only by elements that, h«)wever
concrete in meaning, never occur independently, it seems more
approjiriate to regard noun incorjioration as a form of derivation
or, at best, as something between composition .md derivation.
Of syntactically greater importance than in Yana, yet mor-
phologically less clearly developed, is the noun incorporation of
Takelma. As the writer has already discussed this problem in
some detail in his forthcoming "Takelma Language of Southwestern
Oregon," ' it is not necessary to go into the matter fully in this
place. All incorporated nouns are in Takelma jiretixefl to the verb
stem, in contrast to the pronominal elements which, whether sub-
jective or objective, are invariably sufhxed. Here again, then, we
see that noun and pronominal incorporation are unrelateti mor-
phologic processes. There is a further difference between the two
sets of elements. The pronominal sutttxes are as thoroughly
welded with the verb stem (or verb stem plus its derivative suthxes)
as one can desire, fully as much so, for instance, as in Indo-Ger manic;
on the other hand, incorporated nouns, and prefixed elements
generally, are only loosely attached to the verb stem. Incorpo-
ration of nouns is in Takelma something more than mere juxta-
position and yet something less than composition or derivation;
it may be best described as proclisis of stems, the stem, however,
often coinciding with the absolute form of the noun.
The body-part stems occupy a somewhat special place in Takel-
ma. As they hardly ever occur absolutely without jwssessive
suffixes that, as a rule, are preceded by one or more formal suffixes
serving to connect these with the stem, the prefixing of the bare
stems of body-part nouns to the verb stem gives such noun stems
more decidedly the appearance of being incor^xjrated than other
«To be published as part of Bulletin 40. pt. 2, tiurcau oi .\mcrican EthnoloKy
("Handbook of American Indian Languages." edited by I>r F. Boas). Sor t| J4 .If
of Takelma section.
50 ^ American Iniiian iMnf^uages I
273
nouns. Thus the incorporated form of the noun sal-x-d^k' ^ "my
foot" (-dek' "my") is sal-, that of dan-d-t'k' "my rock" (-t'k'
"my") is dan-, a form coinciding with the absolute ddn. More-
over, a number of body-part stems have developed a general
locative meaning in which all trace of the original concrete signifi-
cation is lost: thus dak'- (cf. ddg-ax-dek' "my head") means not
only "head (obj.), with one's head, in one's head" but also "above,
over." Nevertheless, there are several frequently used body-part
prefixes, such as I- "hand," that have no secondary local sense.
One should beware of exaggerating the difference between body-
part stems and other noun stems. It is true that certain body-part
stems are more often incorporated and have a wider range of usage
than other stems, but the fact that the relation of stem to abso-
lute form with possessive sufifix is identical in both classes of nouns
and that, furthermore, noun stems not referring to parts of the body
are at least quite clearly incorporated in an instrumental sense, makes
it evident that the incorporative employment of body-part stems is
more intense, as it were, than that of others, but not different in kind.
Noun stems used with instrumental force always follow a locative
prefix (not necessarily a noun stem), noun stems used as direct
objects precede a locative prefix. Hence it is clear that the incorpo-
ration of any noun stem, if only it is used instrumentally and preceded
by an unindependent element, is easily proved. If, however, the
noun is used objectively, it is only in the case of body-part stems, as a
rule, that incorporation can be demonstrated beyond cavil. Other
noun stems in such a position can be considered as independent
of the verb. It is important to note, however, that a noun stem
employed objectively regularly precedes the verb and that there is
no pronominal sufifix for the object of the third person.^ These
two points, taken together with the analogy of body-part stems,
make something of a case for loose objective incorporation of noun
stems other than those having reference to body parts.
Examples of incorporated instrumental and objective nouns,
both body-part and other, may now be given:
'For phonetic key of Takelma see E. Sapir, "Takelma Texts," Anthropological
Publications University of Pennsylvania Museum, Vol. 11, pp. 8-1 1.
' Except sometimes when the object is personal, in which case a suffix -k'wa may
be employed. This suffix, significantly enough, allows no objective noun to precede
the verb.
One: Typulo^y and L'iasMjicaiion 51
274
wa*it!ox6xi (114, 4)' "he n.itlured tlicm loKitlici" (twi- local prefix
"together"; -'t- "hand" incor()orated with instrumental meaning,
c{. l-ux-dik' "my hand"; -lloxox- aurist stem "to gafl--" ;
instrumental suHix).
da'sgekleiha (102, 3) "he kept listening" (da'- "car" incorporated
with instrumental meaning, cf. da'^-nx-dik' "my '••••"■ •zekfeiha,
continuative of -sgekH*- aorist stem "to listen"*
xdp!i*n6''k'u'a (188, 20) "he was warming his hatk" (xd- "hack"
incorporated with objective meaning, cf. xd-hdmt'k' "my back";
pa* "fire" incorporated with instrumental meaning, cf. p!iy-d-t'k*
"my fire"; -u6"g- aorist stem "to warm"; -k'wa "one's own").
gwenwayasgulliisgathi (144, 3,) "with (his) knife he cut their necks"
igu'cn- "neck" incorporated with objective meaning, cf. gurn-hau-
x-d^k' "my nape"; waya "knife" incorporated with instrumental
meaning, cf. wayd-t'k' "my knife"; sgutltisgat-, distributive of
sg6"d- aorist stciii "to cut"; -hi instrumental suflix).
vAli-wa^il'.dnida^ (28, 13) "you will keep house" {vnli "house" loosely
incorporated as object; lua- "together"; -'^i- "with hand"; -t'.an-
verb stem "to hold"; -i- instrumental suffix; -da} 2nd singular
future subject).
wai-s'ugiis'axgwa^n "I am sleepy" {wai- "sleep, sleepiness" incor-
porated noun, not occurring otherwise, used as object, cf. verb
stem wai- "to sleep"; s'ugiis'ax- reduplicated aorist stem "to be
confused (?)"; -gwa- comitative suffix "having"; -*« first person
singular aorist subject transitive).
An incorporated noun is also, though rarely, found used subjectively
or predicate subjectively in intransitive verbs. .An e.xampie of
each usage is here given :
ba''be'k!iyi'k'da^ "forenoon" {ba"- local prefix "up"; be* "sun" incor-
porated as subject; kHyi^k'- aorist stem "to go, proceed"; -da*
aorist subordinating suffix).
mot'u'ok' (17, 13) "he visited his wife's part'ius, lit., he son-in-law
arrived" {mot'- "son-in-law," not ordinarily used as absolute
noun; wok' aorist verb form "he arrived").
Before leaving Takelnia it may be noted that all the verb forms
here given are particular in application. On the whole it seems that
this language has a decided tendency towartls noun incorjxjration,
' References are to page and line of "Takclma Texts."
52 V American Indian Languages 1
275
but has not carried the process of coalescence far enough to give the
incorporated noun that is not a body-part stem a characteristically
incorporative appearance. Another way of putting it is to say
that Takelma stands midway between two such typical extremes
as Athabascan and Iroquois.
No more thorough-going instance of a noun-incorporating
language can be required than Iroquois. It is significant of the
frequency with which noun incorporation occurs in Iroquois that
in an Oneida text of barely twenty lines published by Dr Boas
at the end of his recent study of Iroquois^ no less than nineteen
examples of this process are found, five passive and reflexive verbs ^
being included in the number. As in this study Dr Boas has dis-
cussed and illustrated the main facts in regard to Iroquois noun
incorporation, we can content ourselves here with merely reviewing
some of these facts and selecting from his illustrative material.
Inanimate nouns are regularly incorporated into the verb-
complex when used as subject or object, apparently also at times
when predicate subjective (or objective) in force. The animate
noun does not seem to be as often incorporated as the inanimate
noun; the animate subject, according to Dr Boas, is in fact never
incorporated.^ Three points are of importance as indicating to
what a degree the incorporated noun coalesces with the verb stem
into a firm unit. In the first place the incorporated noun stem, if in
its absolute form provided with one of the noun-forming prefixes
ga- or 0-, loses this prefix; in the second place it is always placed
between the preceding subjective or objective pronominal element
and the following verb stem, the verb stem, however, being im-
mediately preceded by one o^ the five vowels a, e, i, e, o, according
to the formal class of the verb ; in the third place many incorporated
nouns take a suffix (generally -sla- or zla-,'^ -giva-, or inserted ')
iP. Boas, "Notes on the Iroquois Language," Putnam Anniversary Volume,
pp. 427-460.
2 Passives and reflexives are formed in Iroquois by incorporating what might be
called "empty" nouns, to borrow a convenient Chinese term. They are respectively
-d- and -dad-, both a-stems. See Boas, loc. cit., p. 457, notes 6, ir.
•Incorporated -dA'^lo "friend" (Boas, loc. cit., p. 458, note 46) is perhaps rather
predicate subjective than truly subjective: "they were not good as friends, i. «., they
were not friendly," not "the friends were not good."
* In Oneida. Equivalent to Mohawk -sera-.
Out'. lypi>L>^y and CUissifuutum 53
276
originally, it would seem, of verbal abstractive force, lx.'fore the
characteristic vowel of the verb stem. Tlu- form (jf the pronominal
element preceding the incorporated noun (lei)ends on the inherent
vocalic class of the noun, there being five paradigms of pronominal
prefixes corresponding to the five vowels enumerated.' This
vocalic class of the incorporated noun is in no way connected with
that of the following verb stem or with the prefix of the noun in
its absolute form.
A few selected examples of Oneida noun iiu-orporaiion are taken
from Dr Boas' text; the analysis of the forms is taken chiefly from
the notes to the text.
yo^c'isit"' (455, 4) * "the trail was finished" (yo- thin! person non-
masculine singular objective' of a- paradigm; -/'a'- = -d- + -'o'-;
-d- passive of a-class; -'a'- incorporated form, without suffix, of
absolute o-'aa "trail," object of verb stem; -iztr consists of
prefix -I- of uncertain meaning and perfect Verb stem -2i<" "to
finish" of e-class but lost -e-, Boas, loc. cit., p. 452).
yeW^nodddi (455, 6) "someone carried song along, sang as he went
along" iye- third person indefinite subjective of c-paradigm;
-lA"n- incorporated form, without suffix, of absolute ga-W^nd
"song" of e-class; -o-dadi consists of class vowel -0- and present
verb stem -dadi "to carry along," regularly emi)Ioyed with
incorporated object).
lundnagla'slezaksgwe'- (456, 5) "they searched for villages" lun- »
III""- third person masculine plural subjective of a-paradigm;
-d- passive;* -nagla'sl- incorporated form of absolute nagld'sla
"village," derivative in -sla of aorist verb stem naglal- "to live";
-e-zaks consists of class- vowel -c- and present verb stem -zaks
"to search"; -gwc^ imperfect tense).
dirwadesA'^ndwi^ (456, 9) "thpre they name were given" (</«"*- seems
to represent a combination of three distinct prefixes: df- duality
concept, relation of name to name bearer, practically equivalent
»For these paradigms see Boas. loc. cit.. pp. 4+2, 3. Cf. J. A. Cuji. Etudes
philologiques sur quelques langues sauvages de VAmiriqtte, p. 99-
'References are to page and line of Boas. loc. cit. For phjiu-tic key »ec BoM,
loc. cit., pp. 427-430.
'Subjects of verbs that are perfect in tense are objective in form Sec B»«».
loc. cit.. p. 438.
♦Itisdifficult to see what office this "passive" serve* here. Is it lob?unJrr .
as incorporated with nagla'- "to live." -d-nagU'sKa)- mcininj "whfrcin it U l.v
54 y American Ituium Umguages I
277
to indirect object, -d- demonstrative "there," and wa- aorist prefix ;^
-wa- third person non-masculine singular of a- paradigm; -d-
passive: -e-sA^n- consists of class- vowel -e- and incorporated
form of absolute o-'sA^nd "name"; -d-wi^ consists of class- vowel
-a- and aorist verb stem -wi^ "to give").
sasagoyddagd ne yckzd^ (456, i) "he again body-took up the child,
rescued the child" {sa-, za- contracted from z- "again" and wa-
aorist prefix; sago- "he . . . somebody" combined form of third
person masculine singular subject and third person indefinite
object; -yada incorporated form of absolute o-yada "body"; -go,
-'go aorist verb stem "to pick up, gather" of e- class but lost -e-\
ne article "the"; yekza^ "child").
yotiA^yode (456, 6) "stone stood" {yo- third person non-masculine
singular objective^ of e-paradigm; -«A"y- incorporated form of
absolute o-nA'^yd^ "stone" of e-class; -o-de consists of class-
vowel -0- and verb stem -de "to stand").
jeyadodA^ (455. 8) "again her body was, again she seemed" {'je- =
z-ye-; z- "again"; -ye- third person indefinite subjective' of e-
paradigm; -yad- incorporated form of absolute o-ydda "body";
-o-dA" consists of class-vowel -0- and present verb stem -dA^
"to be thus").
ni'onadlasodA^ (456, 7) "their fate would be thus" {ni- adverbial
prefix "thus"; -'ona- third person masculine plural objective of
a-paradigm, changed from -lona- because of preceding prefix;
-dlas- = dlasw- before following 0-. incorporated form of absolute
a-dldswa "fate" of a-class; -o-dA^ as in preceding verb form).
The first five of these forms illustrate noun incorporation of the
object, the last three of the subject. Two of the former are passives,
but the incorporated noun is doubtless to be considered as the object
of the transitive verb stem, not the subject of the secondarily
passive verb form; in these cases the non-mascuHne pronominal
subject refers not to the nominal subject, from our English point
of view, but to the incorporated passive stem -d- replacing a logical
subject. This morphologic affiliation of passives with transitives
rather than with intransitives is characteristic of more than one
' See Boas, loc. cit., p. 451, no. 6, second paragraph.
'Verbs expressing a state have as pronominal logical subjects objective forms.
See Boas, loc. cit., p. 438.
' Why subjective? Cf. preceding and following verb forms.
One: Typology uiui Cla.\.\ifiiiiitt>n
278
American linguistic stock; in Irocjuois "the trail isfinishwl" is not
to l)e analyzed as "the-trail is-finishe<l," l)ui "it is trail-linish-€d."
At first sight such a form as yeWnodddi with its pronominal
subject (ye-) and nominal object {-Wn) seems to indicate that
the incorporated noun object is the equivalent of a pronominal
objecti\e prefix, or railu r that ilu' (ombiiud pronominal subjective
(or objcctixe) prefix and objecti\ely incorporated noun are the
morphologic, as well as s\ntactic, equi\alent of the composite
subject-object pronominal prefix; tiuis ye-Wn = "somebody-song"
might be directly compared with !^u"'ye- "somebody ... it
(non-masculine singular)." Here, then, we would at last have an
instance in which noun incorporation is similar in spirit as well as
in name to pronominal incorporation, and such a \ iew would be
further confirmed by the fact that both pronominal elements and
incorporated nouns are prefixed to the verb stem and follow certain
adverbial prefixes (such as z- "again," demonstrative d-, future
a"-). Comparison with other \erb forms, however, soon shows this
view to be untenable. Were it correct, we should expect to find
that intransiti\e verbs with incorporated noun subject would do
without a pronominal subject (or object) prefix as being unnecces-
sary, yet reference to a form like yonA'yode "it stone-stood" shows
that such finite verb forms are impossible. Moreover, in forms
like sasagoyddago "he again somebody body-gathered" we see that
the incorporation of a noun object {e.g. -yada- "body") does not
preclude the possibility of a pronominal subject-object prefix ie. g.
-sago- "he . . . somebody"). It is clear that in no ca.se is the
incorporated noun the equivalent of a pronominal prefix. In
other w ords, noun incorporation in Iroquois, as elsewhere in America,
is not pronominal replacement, which might be considered a syn-
tactic process, but a kind of deri\ational or compositional,' at any
rate a purely non-syntactic or etymologic process, the morphologic
equivalent of a logically syntactic one.
'The fact that two noun steins are never comp;)untk"il in Iro.^iMH anl tii.«t .ill
apparent compound nouns consisting of noun stem and verb (or adjective) «fcm ar*
really derivatives of verbs with incorporated nouns, makes this typo of "ci-n
a highly specialized one. If. as in Yana. incorporated nouns could be murpi
grouped with adverbial affixes, there need be no hesitation in callinu the procf-«» ilcti-
vational." As it is, Iroquois noun incorporation is something more or lc«» jmi gtnrrif.
diff cult to assign to any recognized morphologic category.
56 V American Indian Languages 1
279
The distinction between subjective and objective noun incor-
poration ' is thus merely of logical or syntactic value; morphologically
it has no significance. A more important one is illustrated in the
examples given. In the first four and in the sixth examples the
incorporated object or subject is logically unmodified by a possessive
pronoun or genitive; the incorporation is of an unqualified noun.
In the fifth and last examples, however, the incorporated object
or subject is logically qualified by a possessive pronoun or genitive,
or, to put it more accurately, if these sentences are translated into
an Indo-Germanic language, the nominal object or subject, now
freed from the verb, will be found to be thus qualified. The three
sentences referred to ("he again took up the child's body," "again
her body was," "their fate would be thus") illustrate what might
be called "possessed" noun incorporation. The Iroquois rule
covering such cases may be thus stated: — if a noun capable of
incorporation is qualified by a possessive pronoun or genitive, the
noun stem is incorporated into the verb (forms a quasi-compound
with the verb), while its modifier is expressed as the pronominal
subject'^ or object of the verb according to whether the noun when
incorporated is the syntactical equivalent of a subject or object;
if the modifier is a genitive, it follows the verb as in apposition to
its pronominal representative in the verb. The three sentences
just given in E^nglish form thus become in Iroquois: "again he-
somebody-gathered the child," "again she-body-was," "thus
they-fate-are." This construction has considerable resemblance
to the bahuvrlhi type of verb ("she was again so-bodied," "thus
they are so-fated," waga-dlasw-iyo "I -fate-good am, I am good
-fated "),^ differing from it in that it is not confined to neuter
verbs and does not necessarily imply general or permanent activity.
In a neuter verb wuth unpos'sessed incorporated noun like youA^yode
"a stone stood" there is only one object (or person) referred to
' The Iroquois distinction of active and neuter verbs obtains in all verbs, whether
with or without incorporated noun. Transitive and intransitive are terms of little
meaning in Iroquois, unless we choose to call such verbs " transitive" as have combined
subject and object pronominal prefixes; all other verb forms, even such as have in-
corporated noun objects, would then be "intransitive."
^ Objective in form if the verb is neuter.
•I. e. "I have good luck, my luck is good." See Boas, loc. cit., p. 459 note 52.
One: Typol()f>) atui Classifuatum 57
aSo
("stone"); in a neuter verb with possessed incorix)raicd noun
like ni'onadlsodA" "thus is their fate" two objects (or persons)
are referred to ("they" and "fate"),' while in an active verb with
unpossessed or possessed incorporated noun (object) there are
respectively two and three objects (or persons) referretl to.
TypicalK noun incorporating is also Pawnee. The f«j|U)wing
examples are due to the courtesy of Dr Boas:
tati'tkdhu'it- "I dig the ground" {ta- indicative prefix; -/• ■■["; -U-
kahu'il = -ttkdr-pit; -itkar- incorporated form of absolute noun
ilkdr" "dirt"; -pit verb stem "to dig").
tdhikst^^^ "I make an arrow" {tah- = tatr-; tat- as above: -riks incor-
porated form of liks "arrow"; -5/- = -sr-: -ru \erb stern "to
make"; -^" temporal suffix).
tatkituh^^ "I make a mortar" {tat- as above; -kiltth- = ■kttuir-; kilut
"mortar"; -rti and -" as above).
likarihihu^ "the stone is large" (//- third person indicati\e; -karih- —
-karitr-; karit "stone"; -rih^ verb stem "to be large").
tirahurdrihit^ "the deer is large" {ti- as above; -rahurd- incorporated
form of absolute noun nahnrdk' "deer," -i + «- becoming -ir-;
-rihii^- as above).
The first three examples show noun incorporation of the object,
the last two of the subject. It is evident at first glance that Pawnee
noun incorporation is very similar to that of Iroquois. In both
linguistic stocks the incorporated noun stem is inserted between the
preceding pronominal element and the following verb stem, the
pronominal prefix being itself preceded, if necessary, by a tense-modal
' This implies that yo- "it" of yonA"y6'de refers to -nA''y- "slono." It riccm»
decidedly possible, however, that the third person non-mastuhne objective pronominal
prefix of neuter and passive verbs (yo- of first and sixth examples, wa- of fourth example)
does not refer to the incorporated noun "subject" or passive -d-, but is impersonal in
character, hke our English "it" in "it rains," so that even in such verbs there are two
distinct "objects" referred to. Should this interpretation of the non-masculine
singular prefix of neuter verbs be correct, it follows that the distinction made above
between unpossessed and possessed noun incorporation resolves itself into the dif-
ference between impersonal and personal for neuter verbs and intransitive and tr*n»-
itive for active verbs (using the terms "transitive" and "intransitive" in the ii|>cci(k-
ally Iroquois sense defined above).
* " denotes long vowel with rising accent, as in Takelma; I •■ /' in English it. • •■
whispered u; Jfc" = palatal k; "= "nasal breath with decided closure of the pcwtrnor
nares and presumably / [or perhaps k] position of the tongue" (letter from I>r Bom);
( = glittal catch.
58 V' American Indian Languages 1
281
element (with Pawnee ta- compare Iroquois aoristic wa- and future
a"-). Because of the peculiar phonetic laws of Pawnee the coal-
escence of incorporated noun with pronoun and verb stem into a
word unit is even carried further, if anything, than in Iroquois.
In both Pawnee and Iroquois, it should be remarked, verbs with
incorporated nouns are freely used to refer to particular activities.
It will probably be found that a fair number of other American
linguistic stocks, that do not regularly use noun incorporation
to express particular acts, nevertheless make use of the process in
verbs of the general type, including bahuvrihi verbs. Algonkin
seems to be a case in point.
Cree nandawawamiskwew "he hunts beavers, is a beaver-hunter"
{amisk "beaver"; nandonawew "he seeks him").
Ojibwa pdginindzi "he has a swollen hand" {o-nindz "his hand";
pdgisi "it is swollen").^
Another language making use of noun incorporation in this
limited sense is Tsimshian. Examples^ are:
g'U'Erla "to be a harpooner of seals" {g'el-g- "to harpoon"; Erla
"seal").
sEyelwdytnu "I am a paddle-polisher" {sE- causative prefix "to
make"; yel-g- "smooth"; wdi "paddle"; -nu "I" indicative).
Enough evidence has been presented to make it clear that
noun incorporation, even if the term be limited in its application
to incorporation of subject or object, is by no means rare in America.
Lest it be thought, however, that noun incorporation is indeed the
characteristic of American languages generally, it is well to point
out that it is entirely absent in a large, perhaps the larger, number
' These examples are taken from C. C. Uhlenbeck, "Ontwerp van eene vergelijkende
Vormleer van eenige Algonkintalen," Verhandelingen der koninklijke Akademie van
Wetenschapen le Amsterdam, Afdeeling Letter-kunde, N. R., xi, no. 3, p. 65. In
his Fox grammar Dr Jones makes no explicit reference to noun incorporation as a
regular process (Algonquian, Handbook of American Indian Languages, I, pp. 735-
873). Perhaps incorporated nouns are in Algonkin best looked upon as secondary
stems with substantival force, cf. Fox -wind- "horn" and -'kwd- "woman" (pp. 796, 797).
' Due to the courtesy of Dr Boas. ^ is e of English m,et; E is obscure vowel of
undefined quality; g' is palatal ^; / is voiceless palatal I; r \s uvular; ' represents
weak glottal catch. The dialect is that of Tsimshian proper. See now Boas, Tsim-
shian, § 34 {Handbook of American Indian Languages, I, 365).
One: lypolo}^) and Classijuaiion *^W
383
of them. Such are Athaljascan, Salish,' (liiiKKjk.iii, Vokuis,
Siouan, and Eskimo; and yet Athabascan and Mskiino ini^jhi will
be considered types of "polysynthetic" lan^ua^es.
We have seen that noun incorporation as ordinarily undcrstcxxl,
that is, objective noun incorporation, can not be treated without
reference to other syntactic uses of the incorporated noun. Ob-
jective noun incorporation may be a justifiable theme to treat from
a logical or psychological point of view, but as regards morphology
there is every reason to consider this particular process a special
case, syntactically speaking, of the more general i)rocess of coales-
cence of noun stem and verb stem into a single verb form. Besides
objective and subjective incorporation of noun stems, examples have
been given of their use predicate objectively and subjectively,
instrumentally, locatively, and in what have been termed bahuvrihi
constructions. The manner of incorporation has been found to
differ considerably in different linguistic stocks; this applies to
position, degree of coalescence with verb stem, and morphological
treatment of the incorporated noun. Despite all differences of
detail one fact stands out prominently. In no case, not even in
Iroquois, where the process is probably of greater syntactic im-
portance than elsewhere, can the incorporated noun be considered
as morphologically the equivalent of a pronominal affi.v. This does
not mean that noun incorporation has no syntactic value. The
characteristic fact about the process is that certain syntactic re-
lations are expressed by what in varying degree may be called com-
position or derivation.-
Geological Survey of Canada,
Ottawa, Ont.
•The "substantivals" of Salish and Kwakiutl. as already pointed out. arc not
instances of true noun incorporation.
'Since this article was written (June, 1910) Mr J. P. Harrington has published
sketches of two Tanoan dialects, Tiwa and Tewa. In Tiwa both direct and indirect
noun objects may be incorporated in the verb complex, coming between the pronominal
prefix and verb stem; such incorporation is obligatory for ^.ingular direct object*
(American Anthropologist, N. S., 12, 1910, p. 28). In Tewa .singular direct ob)ccl»
may or may not be incorporated (ibid., p. joi)- Tanoan verbs with incorp*»ratcd
noun object are, as in Nahuatl and Shoshone.m, noun-verb compounds.
60 ^ American Indian Lan^ua^es I
Editorial Notes
Originally published in American Anthropologist 13, 250-282 (1911).
Reprinted by permission of the American Anthropological Association.
The persistent life of the term "incorporation" — as well as continuing dif-
ference among scholars over its use — is demonstrated in a scholarly debate of
the 198()s: see Sadock (1980), Mithun (1984), Sadock (1986), and Mithun (1986).
It should be noted that, for Greenlandic Eskimo, Sadock uses the term "incor-
poration" not as Sapir did (to designate noun-verb compounding), but rather to
label a process by which verbs are derived from nouns; this, he finds, illustrates
a kind of interpenetration between syntax and morphology.
Linguistic Publications ot the lUircau ol .Ainciican
Ethnohu'v, a (icncral Rc\ic\\
If only t\v \ irtiic ol its historical position, the lUirL-.m o\ American 1 ihnology
is easily the most prominent Ameriean institution cnuagcil in seicnlific
research and publication on the ethnology, archaeolt)uy. physical
anthropology, and linguistics of the natives of America, particularly of the
tribes north of Mexico. For linguistic stutlents there is cause for congratulation
that from the very first the Bureau has devoted a considerable share of its atten-
tion to the study of the languages of these tribes, l-or this policy they must ever
remain thankful to the founder of the Bureau, J. W. Powell, who, though not a
linguist, clearly perceived the value of linguistic data to Americanistie studies.
He himself set the ball rolling with his "Introduction to the Study of Indian
Languages," published in 1877. Since then there has been a steady stream ot
Bureau linguistic publications, of varying interest and importance, but, on the
whole, of constantly increasing merit, until the total output has reached the
respectable figure of well-nigh ten thousand printed pages. It is now just forty
years since the Bureau, or rather its immediate government precursor, pub-
lished the "Introduction" referred to, so that this would seem to be an appropn
ate enough time to get a birds-eye view of the whole linguistic output. .-X spe-
cific review of each and every publication would be both useless and impossible,
but perhaps a few general impressions may not be without value. The publica-
tions themselves are listed in the following bibliography.
Bibliography of Bureau Publications in
American Indian Linguistics
I. General
\. Powell, J. W. Introduction to the Study of Indian Languages. \miIi WonK.
Phrases and Sentences to be collected (Washington, BB.\! ^--.vcrnment
Printing Office, 1S77: 1-104; 2d edition, LSSO: I-22S).
2. Dorsey, J. C).; Gatschet, A. S.; and Riggs, S. R. Illustration (»t the .Method
of Recording Indian Languages ( RBAL 1 IlSSI]: .S7W-.Ss^)).
3. Powell, J. W. On the Lvolulion of Language, as exhibited m the specializa-
tion of the Grammatic Processes, the Differentiation ot the Parts of Speech.
and the Integration of the Sentence; from a StueK o\ liulian I .inguagcs
(Ihid., 1-16).
4. —Philology, or the Science ol Aetixities designed lot Lxpression (RH.M:
20 119031: exxxix-clxx).
5. Boas. Fran/. Introduction (Handbook d AnieiK.m Indi.ni I .mgu.igcs.
BBAL4()Ipt. I. IWI1|: I-S3).
62 y American Indian Languages I
II. Bibliography
6. Pilling, J. C. Catalogue of Linguistic Manuscripts in the Library of the
Bureau of Ethnology (RBAE 1 [1881]: 553-577).
7. — Proof-sheets of a Bibliography of the Languages of the North American
Indians (Distributed only to collaborators) (Washington, Government
Printing Office, 1885: 1-1135).
^ — Bibliography of the Siouan Languages (BBAE 5 [1887]: 1-87).
9. —Bibliography of the Eskimo Language (BBAE 1 [1887]: 1-116).
10 —Bibliography of the Iroquoian Languages (BBAE 6 [1888]: 1-208).
11 —Bibliography of the Muskhogean Languages (BBAE 9 [1889]: 1-114).
12. —Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages (BBAE 13 [1891]: 1-614).
13. —Bibliography of the Athapascan Languages (BBAE 14 [1892]: 1-125).
14. —Bibliography of the Salishan Languages (BBAE 16 [1893]: 1-86).
15. — Bibliography of the Wakashan Languages (BBAE 19 [1894]: l-70).[77]
16. — Bibliography of the Chinookan Languages (including the Chinook Jar-
gon) (BBAE 15 [1893]: 1-81).
III. Texts
17. Gatschet, A. S. The Klamath Indians of Southwestern Oregon (Texts,
CNAE2[pt. 1, 1890]: 13-197).
18. Dorsey, J. O. The Cegiha Language (CNAE 6 [1890]: 1-794).
19. —Omaha and Ponka Letters (BBAE 11 [1891]: 1-127).
20. Mooney, J. The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees (Specimen Formulas,
RBAE 7 [1891]: 344-397).
21. Riggs, S. R. (ed. by J. O. Dorsey). Dakota Grammar, Texts, and Ethnogra-
phy (Texts, CNAE 9 [1893]: 81-152).
22. Boas, Franz. Chinook Texts (BBAE 20 [1894]: 1-278).
23. — Kathlamet Texts (BBAE 26 [1901]: 1-251).
24. — Tsimshian Texts (BBAE 27 [1902]: 1-220).
25. Hewitt, J. N. B. Iroquoian Cosmology (RBAE 21 [1903]: 141-339).
26. Swanton, J. R. Haida Texts and Myths, Skidegate Dialect (Texts, BBAE 29
[1905]: 7-109).
27. Russell, F. The Pima Indians (Linguistics [Songs and Speeches], RBAE 26
[1908]: 269-389).
28. Swanton, J. R. Tlingit Myths and Texts (Texts, BBAE 39 [1909]: 252-415).
29. Dorsey, J. O.; and Swanton, J. R. A Dictionary of the Biloxi and Ofo Lan-
guages, accompanied with 31 Biloxi Texts and Numerous Biloxi Phrases
(Texts, BBAE 47 [1912]: 13-116).
IV. Lexical Material
30. Dall, W. H. Terms of Relationship used by the Innuit: a Series obtained
from Natives of Cumberland Inlet (Appendix, CNAE 1 [pt. 1, 1877]: 117-119).
31. Gibbs, George; and Dall, W. H. Comparative Vocabularies (Tribes of the
Extreme Northwest) (Appendix, CNAE 1 [pt. 1, 1877]: 121-153).
32. Gibbs, George. Dictionary of the Niskwalli (Niskwalli-English and Eng-
lish-Niskwalli) (Appendix, CNAE 1 [pt. 2, 1877]: 285-361).
Otw: Typoloi-y and Classifuaiiim 63
33. Gibbs, G.;Tolmie, W. F. ; and Mcngarini. (i. Tribes of Western Washington
and Northwestern Oregon; Vocabularies (Appendix. CNAI I |pi .'' 1S77]:
247-283).
34. Powers, Stephen. Tribes of California; Appendix, l.inginsties (Appendix.
CNAE3 [1877|: 439-613).
35. Boas, F. The Central Eskimo (Cilossary, RBAI- (^ |1KKS|: 659-f>f>6).
36. Gatschet, A. S. The Klamath Indians of Southwestern Oregon (CNAF. 2
[pt. 2, 1890]: 1-705).
37. Riggs, Stephen R. (ed. by J. O. Dorsey). A Dakota-l^nglish Dictionary
(CNAE7 [1890]: 1-665).
38. Hoffman, W. J. The Menomini Indians (Vocabulary. Rl^AI 14 |189(i):
294-328).
39. Mooney, J. The Ghost-Dance Religion (Arapaho (ilossary, RBAE
1012-1023; Cheyenne Glossary, 1039-1042; Paiute Glossary. 1056, 1(')57; Sioux
Glossary, 1075-1078; Kiowa Glossary, 1088-1091; Caddo Glossary. 1102-1103).
40. — Calendar History of the Kiowa (The Kiowa Language, RBAE 17 (189S]:
389-439).
41. Trumbull, James H. Natick Dictionary (BBAE 25 [1903]: 1-349).
42. Dorsey, J. O.; and Swanton, J. R. A Dictionary of the Biloxi and Ofo Lan-
guages, accompanied with 31 Biloxi Texts and Numerous Biloxi Phrases
(Dictionary and Phrases, BBAE 47 [1912]: 117-340).
43. Byington, Cyrus (ed. by J. R. Swanton and H. S. Halbert). A Dietionar\ ol
the Choctaw Language (BBAE 46 [1915]: 1-611).
V. Grammatical Material
44. Furuhelm, J. (communicated to G. Gibbs). Notes on the Natives of Alaska
(Appendix, CNAE 1 [pt. 1, 1877): 111-116).
45. Gibbs, George. Note on the Use of Numerals among the Tsim si-an"
(CNAE 155-156).
46. Gatschet, A. S. The Klamath Indians of Southwestern Oregon (Grammar.
CNAE2[pt. 1, 1890]: 199-711).
47. Riggs, S. R. (ed. by J. O. Dorsey). Dakota Grammar, lexts. and I thnogra-
phy (Grammar, CNAE 9 [1893]: 3-79).
48. Goddard, P. E. Athapascan (Hupa), in Handbook of American Indian
Languages (BBAE 40 [pt. 1, 1911]: 85-158).
49. Swanton, John R. Tlingit (BBAE 40 [pt. 1|: 15^)-:o4).
50.— Haida (BBAE 40 [pt. 1): 205-282).
51. Boas, Franz. Tsimshian (BBAE 40 [pt. Ij: 2X3-422).
52. — Kwakiutl (BBAE 40 [pt. Ij: 423-557).
53.— Chinook (BBAE 40 [pt. 1]: 559-677).
54. Dixon, R. B. Maidu (BBAE 40 [pt. 1|: 679-734).
55. Jones, Wm. (revised by Truman Miehelson). .'\lu(MU|uiaii (lox) (HH AT 4(i
[pt. 1]: 735-873).
56. Boas, Franz; and Swanton, J. R. Dakota ( Telon and Santee dialects). \Mth
remarks on the Ponca and Winnebauo (BBAT 40 jpt 1|; S"^-^i^s) (''S[
64 V American Indian Languages J
57. Thalbitzer, William. Eskimo (BBAE 40 [pt. 1]: 967-1069).
58. Sapir, Edward. The Takelma Language of Southwestern Oregon, in Hand-
book of American Indian Languages (BBAE 40 [pt. 2, 1912]: 1-296).
59. Frachtenberg, L. J. Coos (BBAE 40 [pt. 2, 1914]: 297-429).
59a._Siuslawan (Lower Umpqua) (BBAE 40 [pt. 2, 1917]: 431-629).
VI. Comparative Linguistics
60. Powell, J. W. Indian Linguistic Families of America North of Mexico
(RBAE7[1891]: 1-142).
61. Hewitt, J. N. B. Comparative Lexicology [of Seri and Yuman] (RBAE 17
[1898]: 299*-344*).
62. Swanton, J. R. Social Condition, Beliefs, and Linguistic Relationship of the
Tlingit Indians (Relationship between the Tlingit and Haida Languages,
RBAE 26 [1908]: 472-485).
63. Thomas, Cyrus; and Swanton, J. R. Indian Languages of Mexico and Cen-
tral America, and their Geographical Distribution (BBAE 44 [1911]: 1-108).
64. Michelson, Truman. Preliminary Report on the Linguistic Classification of
Algonquian Tribes (RBAE 28 [1912]: 221-290 b).
In brief, 370 pages are devoted to linguistic papers of a general nature, 1526
pages to linguistic bibliographies (not counting No. 7), 2612 pages to Indian text
(including connected English translations), 3007 pages to lexical material, 2211
pages to grammatical studies, and 382 pages to comparative linguistics. Nor is
this all, for a very considerable body of lexical and text material (chiefly songs
and short ritualistic texts) is scattered up and down various ethnological mono-
graphs (for example, in Miss Fletchers "Hako Ceremony," Mrs. Stevenson's
"Zufii Indians," J. P. Harrington's "Ethnography of the Tewa Indians," and
elsewhere). Moreover, there is much unpublished manuscript of a linguistic
nature in the hands of the Bureau, some of which has been drawn upon for the
published papers. ^ As regards mere bulk, the linguistic output of the Bureau is
impressive enough, even when allowance is made for a considerable share of
material (such as Nos. 6-16) that is intended merely as a help for scientific
research. Nor should we forget that lexical and text matter, the indispensable
raw material of all hnguistic studies, is necessarily a somewhat forbidding item
from the quantitative standpoint. The total readable volume of linguistic con-
tributions (aside from translations of texts) boils down, therefore, to hardly
more than a fourth of the whole.
How about quality? It is a thankless, certainly a somewhat dangerous, pro-
ceeding to pronounce judgment right and left wiseacre-fashion, so much
depending on personal bias and the peculiar circumstances attending each pub-
lication. Nevertheless it seems safe to say that in quality the Bureau linguistic
1 . And let us not forget that not a few linguistic papers and monographs published in anthropological
journals and in the anthropological series of other institutions were based on material obtained under the
auspices of the Bureau.
One: Typoloiiy ami Classifwutum 65
publications run a very long gamut indeed, extending alt the way from the dis-
tressing amateurishness of, say. No. 34. to work exemplilied. say. in No. .^7. ol
as high a standard of phonetic finish and morphological insight as one could
hope to find anywhere in descriptive linguistic literature. As these examples
indicate, the general standard has improved with time, as was indeed lo he
expected on general principles. Yet this is not unreservedly true, lor I should
consider it beyond dispute that, for instance, J. O. Dorsey s text material (Nos.
18 and 19) can more than hold its own in comparison with much that followed.
Any general criticism of the linguistics of the Bureau should be tempered by
three considerations. In the first place, much of the output is the work of men
who were either not trained in linguistic methods at all, or, at any rate, did not
receive a training rigorous enough to set them the highest desirable standard of
accomplishment. Under the circumstances in which the scienlitic activities of
the Bureau were launched, this is perfectly excusable; for most of the trained
linguists were and still largely are men devoted [79] to specialist researches of a
more traditional color, — men who shrink from the serious study of languages
spoken by mere Indians with the same amusing helplessness that the conven-
tional classicist seems to betray when he gets a whiff of modern ethnological
method. The Bureau could not pick and choose, it had to avail itself of the
services of such enthusiasts as could be found. In the second place, the lan-
guages studied by the Bureau were in most cases a veritable terra incoi^niia
when first handled by its investigators. It was not, as had already come to be the
case among the Semitists and Indogermanists, a question of refined mor-
phologic analyses and of subtle phonetic determinations. The problems were
rougher and more fundamental, in many ways all the more fascinating on that
account. The vast number of aboriginal American languages had to be roughly
compared with one another, and grouped into at least temporarily exclusive
"stocks;" the phonetic systems, vocabularies, and structures of these languages
had to be painfully worked out point by point; the oral literature of the Indians
had to be slowly recorded in the form of texts which might serve as a bona I'ulc
basis for the grammatical superstructures built out of the raw materials o\ lield-
work. The subject of North American linguistics was, when Powell lirsi took
the work in hand, a tangled thicket with few discernible trails; now. chiefly
through the labors of the Bureau itself, trails have been blazed all through the
thicket, and, though there are still many clumps of virgin forest, most of the
trees have been felled, and a good part of the land turned o\cr to agricultural
uses. Finally, there is a third consideration, in part already aiiticipateil. that
makes any direct comparison of American Indian linguistic work \Mth that o\.
say, most Indogermanic philologists highly misleading. The latter deals chiefly
with written records whose accuracy is beyond personal control, the former
includes and is further based on field-records for whose accuracy the Ameri-
canist is himself responsible. I here is therefcue no use contrasting the
breathless finesse of a German Laittscluchcr \\\\\\ the rcl.iti\cl\ rough-and-
ready carrying-on of the majority of Indian linguists. One can be swordmakcr
and swordsman too, but is not likely to be equalK c\c\c\ ;it ho\h |obs. .Ans wav.
66 V American Indian Languages 1
most of us have a shrewd suspicion that many a renowned denizen of the Ger-
man universities, impressive in his balancing of imponderable phonologic
nuances, would find himself sadly up a tree when confronted with the live prob-
lems of an intricate Indian language that he was forced to study by pure induc-
tion. In spite of the difficulties that we have mentioned, the general level of
quality in the linguistic publications of the Bureau must be admitted to be high.
The corner-stone of the linguistic edifice in aboriginal North America, one
might almost say of North American anthropology generally, is Powell's
"Indian Linguistic Families of America North of Mexico" (No. 60 of the bibli-
ography). Though the work generally passes under Powell's name, it is of course
a compilation based on the labors of several members of the Bureau staff. This
monumental work, with its appended map, has served, and on the whole still
serves, as the basis of all classificatory work in North American linguistics,
secondarily (and less justly) in ethnology as well. Despite its inevitable errors
of detail, it has proved itself to be an eminently reliable guide. The lines of
linguistic cleavage laid down in it still have a fundamental significance, though
the interpretation of these lines of cleavage has been somewhat modified by
recent research. There can now be no reasonable doubt that the ''stocks" of
Powell's linguistic map are not all to be taken in the mutually exclusive sense in
which he defined them. New syntheses are forced upon us by further investiga-
tion, the terrifying complexity disclosed on Powell's map progressively yielding
to simplification. On the basis of evidence [80] already present, and of advance
statements whose validity remains to be demonstrated, I should say that the 57
distinct stocks recognized on the revised linguistic map of the Bureau may be
expected to re-arrange themselves into perhaps not more than 16, or even less.
Always bear in mind, however, that the great divisions recognized by Powell
still have significance, only that many of them are now to be understood as
major subdivisions of larger linguistic units. While nothing is further from my
mind than to minimize the great usefulness of Powell's classification, I may be
pardoned for regretting the too definitive and dogmatic form in which it was
presented. This has had the effect until recently of discouraging further
researches into the problem of linguistic groupings in America. It is always
dangerous to erect a formidable structure on a largely negative basis, for one
tends to interpret it as a positive and finished accomplishment. However, I
would freely grant that the services rendered by Powell's classification have far
outweighed its deterrent influence. A thoroughly revised map of linguistic
stocks north of Mexico will sooner or later have to be issued; but it is as well not
to be too precipitate about this, as the whole subject of the genetic classification
of Indian languages is at present in a state of flux.
In reviewing the linguistic publications of the Bureau as a whole, we have a
right to ask three leading questions: Is the standard of phonetic accuracy
adopted in the recording of the languages adequate? Are the grammars of these
languages so presented as to convey a satisfactory notion of the fundamental
characteristics of their structure? and, Have various languages been treated
One: lypulof^y atui I lnsMfnaimn 57
from the comparative standpoint, so as to suggest historical perspectives tran-
scending tht)se obtained Irom the intensive study of particular languages*' Let
us briefly consider each of these queries.
Early in its career the Bureau outlined a phonetic alphabet, which, as com-
pared with the best that phonetic research at the tunc had to offer, was quite
inadequate, but which was so vast an improvement on the amateurish methods
in vogue for recording Indian words, that its adoption must be considered a
great step forward in the study of American Indian linguistics. It has undoubt-
edly done good work in its day, and must be taken as the basis for further
improvements. However, as it was framed without any very deep knowledge t)f
the actual phonetic problems presented by American languages, man\ of which
are of exceptional difficulty and complexity in this respect, field investigators
soon found it impossible to give an even approximately adequate idea of the
requisite phonetic facts without straining its resources. In this way new symbols
were added from time to time by various investigators, and the accuracy of
linguistic notation, limited naturally by the native abilities of the recorders,
grew apace. It is difficult to dispose of the phonetic quality oi the series in a
word. It is hardly fair to lay stress on the orthographies of some of the earlier
works; e.g., Nos. 30-34 and 44. On the other hand, I do not think one could
candidly say that much even of the more recent work is as good as we should like
to have it (Nos. 18, 52, and 57 probably about represent the high-water mark )
The general run of the linguistic papers might be not unfairly described as "rea-
sonably good" in phonetic respects, certainly no better.
Had a really scientific and reasonably complete phonetic alphabet been
adopted earlier in the life of the Bureau, I believe the phonetic standard of
some of the later linguistic work done under its auspices would have been even
higher than it is. Experience shows that a field-worker tends, in his hearing of
unfamiliar sounds, to be influenced by the standard phonetic scheme that has
made itself at home in his inner ear; he will |81] assimilate to this scheme more
readily than recognize and record as distinctive elements sounds not alre.uh
provided for. For this reason the new phonetic scheme adt^pted by a commit lee
of the American Anthropological Association, and recently published in the
"Miscellaneous Collections of the Smithsonian Institution,"- is timely, and. let
us hope, adequate. I believe that the Bureau cannot do better than adopt it as
the standard alphabet for its future publications. While a fetich should not be
made of uniformity in orthographic matters. 1 do not think it is altogether wise
to indulge in too many individual vagaries.
It is in morphology that I think the Bureau has done its iiu>st \aluable lin-
guistic work. Chiefly under the enthusiastic guidance of Boas, we have pre-
sented to us in Nos. 48-59 (other sketches, such as Kutcnai. Alsea. Siuslaw. and
Paiute, are to follow) an excellent set of descriptive analyses of the structures ol
several Indian languages. How excellent, on the whi>Ie. they are. may be best
gathered by contrasting them with the conventional grammatical treatment
2. Phonetic Transcription of Indian Languages. RcfHUt ot (. ommiilcc o( .Anicncin Anthri»p»ik»jtK-al
Association (Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. bb. no. ft. IMlft). I.'' pp ••"^ ^ laNcs
58 V American Indian Languages 1
with a Latin bias, that we find in so many of the older Indian grammars (No. 47
is not altogether free from this bias). "The Handbook of American Indian Lan-
uuages" is, indeed, easily the most significant linguistic achievement of the
Bureau; taking it all in all, it probably marks the crest up to the present of re-
search in American Indian linguistics, and at the same time constitutes one of the
really important monuments to Boass versatility as anthropologist. It would be
idle to pretend that all are equally good, or that any one, indeed, is altogether
perfect. Many valid criticisms could be made of all or most of them; but they
certainly do succeed, for all that, in giving a vivid picture of the exuberant
variety and distinctiveness of American Indian linguistic morphology. To the
linguistic psychologist and to the comparative philologist alike it is certainly
something very like an aesthetic delight to have clearly revealed to him, for in-
stance, twosuch unique linguisticorganisms as those describedinNos.48and51.
One cannot with such enthusiastic affirmation answer the third of our leading
questions. Nos. 60 and 63 are really studies in linguistic geography and classifi-
cation rather than in comparative philology proper, though they constitute a
necessary preliminary to the latter type of investigation. No. 61 is a purely
negative and rather fruitless type of linguistic research; while No. 62, despite its
more positive outlook, is too hesitating and incomplete a presentation of evi-
dence to merit unqualified praise. This leaves No. 64 as the only really serious
work yet undertaken by the Bureau in comparative linguistics; and even this,
valuable as it is, is too restricted in scope to mark a very notable advance. The
truth is, that the Bureau has not yet fairly reached the comparative stage of
linguistic work, but is still, and for quite some time to come necessarily will be,
mainly concerned with purely descriptive labors. Nevertheless, I do not believe
that this almost total lack of emphasis on comparative work is altogether due to
the fact that so much remains to be done in the amassing of lexical and text
materials and in the analysis of individual morphologies. Comparative work in
linguistics, if it is to be of any scientific value, requires a keenly sensitive histor-
ical consciousness in the handling of linguistic phenomena. It is precisely the
historical interpretation of cultural elements, however, that has up to the recent
past been most conspicuously absent in Americanistic work. The lack of lin-
guistic studies of a comparative nature is merely a symptom of this general
defect.
Editorial Notes
Originally published in International Journal of American Linguistics 1, 76-81
(1917).
The abbreviations used by Sapir represent the following: BBAE, Bulletin of
the Bureau of American Ethnology; RBAE, Report of the Bureau of American
Ethnology; CNAE, Contributions to North American Ethnology.
Review of C. C. Uhlciihcck
Het Passieve Karaklci . . .
Uhlenbeck,C.C.,Het passieve karaktervan het verbum transiiivum otsan hci
verbum aclionis in talen van Noord-Amerika ("The I*assivc Characlcr otihc
Transilive Verb of the Active Verb in Languages of North Amerika"). Reprin-
ted from "Verslagen en Mededeelingen der Koninklijke Akadeniie van Welen-
schappen, Afdeehng LetterkiinJc, fifth series, 2, 187-216. Amsterdam, V)\h.
In this highly suggestive and important paper the distinguislKil Dutch p\\\-
lologist Uhlenbeck undertakes to show that in many American languages (as.
for example, also in Basque) the transitive verb or verb of action is not funda-
mentally active in voice, but rather passive; that the logical subject (from our
own point of view) is really a sort of instrumental, or, better, agentive; and that
the logical object is grammatically the subject of a passive verb. Thus, in a sen-
tence like I KiLLFD IHM, the primary idea expressed by the verb-stem is ni iNci
KILLED rather than killincj: whence it follows that the i is really an agentive
(by me, through my mediation), and that the him is best rendered as a sub-
jective he: he was killed by me. Uhlenbeck does not assume this interpreta-
tion to hold generally for America, but is careful to point out that in a number
of American languages (e.g., Klamath and Maidu) we have true active f(ums
Nevertheless, he looks upon the passive conception of the logical I \ transitive im
active verb as belonging to a particularly primitive stage oi linguistic e\c)lutu>n
Even where a newer conception has supplanted the old. he sometimes liiuis
reason to believe that the latter may still be traced in survival phenomena In
other words, he believes that the passive verb as fundamental concept belongs
to the same group of antique linguistic phenomena as. say. grammatical gender
I think it would be doing Uhlenbeck no injustice to say that his main interest
in writing the paper was not a strictly philological one. but rather to eontribule
to ethno-psychologic speculation on the basis of linguistic data 1 he gist ol the
paper, together with Uhlenbecks psychological interpretation ot the linguistie
facts and the inferences made by him, is given towards the cn<.\ (pp 213-215).
and it seems advisable to quote from this passage in some detail: " Ihe pro-
nominal elements in conjugation present, as we have already noted more than
once, a certain case-value. In the languages with passive eoneeptn>n ol the so-
called active, or of only the transitive, verb, two ease-values are to be ele.irK
distinguished in the pronominal aftixes: namely, that oi a casus t'twrj^riuns and
that of a casus inertiac. Each of these two is found in two varieties, according to
whether the whole active verb, or only the transitive verb, is passively con-
ceived. The energetic, in other words, may be a transitive case (as. for example,
in Basque), in which case it has an intr;insitive case opposeil \o it; or. as case of
70 V American Indian Languages 1
the logical subject in all verbs of action, it may be an active case (as, for exam-
ple, in Dakota), in which instance it may be contrasted with an inactive case. It
is easy to discover the nature of the casus inertiae, whether intransitive or inac-
tive. It is the case of him who or that which is, or gets to be, in a certain state,
aside from his (or its) own will and without his (or its) own participation,
whether under the influence of a stronger person or thing or as if it were of
himself (or itself). But what is the essential nature of the energetic case? It is a
case of instrumental-like character, but nevertheless to be clearly distinguished
from an ordinary instrumental. One might call the energetic the case of the
primary instrument; the ordinary instrumental, that of the secondary instru-
ment. For the primitive linguistic feeling, the real agent is a hidden power. It
acts via the apparent agent, the primary instrument, which again can itself
make use of a secondary tool. Take, for example, a [83] sentence like he kills
THE BIRD WITH A STONE. A Blackfoot would express this in the following man-
ner: THE BIRD BY-MEANS-OF-IS-KILLED-BY-HIM A STONE. He who kills is what
is generally called the 'agent,' but in truth is only the apparent agent, the pri-
mary instrument, which is itself controlled by a hidden power. The apparent
agent, although itself dependent, works on the logical object (i.e., the gram-
matical subject) by its own emanating orenda; and even when it is the logical
subject of an intransitive action, — which is often the case in the mentality of
peoples that recognize the contrast, not of transitive and intransitive, but of
active and inactive, — it works similarly by virtue of the same outstreaming
mystic power. Therefore the energetic case, the exclusively transitive as well as
the general active, can be called casus emanativus or 'case of outstreaming
power.' When it is an active case, it can be more closely defined as the 'case of
operative power;' when it is a transitive, as the case of power that operates on
something else."
For us the main point of value in the paper is the fact that Uhlenbeck has
striven to explain three distinct linguistic phenomena, each of which had been
abundantly recognized as such, as symptomatic of one fundamental feature, —
the passivity of the so-called transitive and active verbs. These phenomena are
the close morphological resemblance in certain languages between normal pas-
sive forms and at least certain transitive forms; the classification of verb-stems
on the basis of singularity or plurality, according to the number of the intran-
sitive subject and transitive object; and the frequent classification of pro-
nominal elements into two groups that do not correspond to our normal subjec-
tive and objective (i.e., either into intransitive subject and transitive object
versus transitive subject, or into inactive subject and transitive object versus
active subject). A few remarks on each of these points.
Uhlenbeck's data for the first class of evidence are taken from Algonkin
alone (Ojibwa and Blackfoot; Michelson's corroborative evidence for Fox is
also referred to). For certain Algonkin verb-forms there can, indeed, be no
doubt that Uhlenbeck's findings are correct; but frankly I do not see that he has
succeeded in showing that the Algonkin transitive as a whole needs to be inter-
preted as a passive. I would tend rather to feel that certain true passives had
One: Typolosiy ami Cla.ssijuaiion 71
been dragged for purely paradigmatic reasons into transitive company; e.g.,
Jones's Fox form for m: — \\i is evidently identical with his i as passive subiect.
and has morphologically nothing to do with such true prononiinalK compound
transitive forms as thod — mi-. That the passive is unrelated lo the true tran-
sitive in Fox, seems to me to be strongly suggested by the occurrence of two
morphologically very distinct forms for the combination of two third persons.
— a true transitive (e.g., he sees him), and a passive of the same structure as
the HE — ME and similar forms already instaneetl (this passive occurs m tuo
distinct forms, — an agentive, he is si:e.n by him; and a non-agenlive. hi is
SEEN indefinitely). However, there no doubt are languages whose whole tran-
sitive is morphologically a true passive. This is notably the case with Yana. in
which such a form as HE sees ME is quite evidently to be interpreted as meaning
properly i am seen by him; thou seest me, as i am sei;n (by riiii is merelv
implied); i see thee, as thou art seen (by me is merely implied); and so on.
Yet even where there is a close morphological resemblance between transitives
and passives, it does not always follow that the transitives are of passive origin.
Thus, inTakelmasuch a form as he sees me is closely related to i a.m sitn, but
is not derived from it. On the contrary, the passive is formed from the transitive
by means of a suffix which differs for various tense-modes. Hence it seems
plausible to interpret it as a sort of impersonal, though there is a true imper-
sonal (with or without object) in [84] Takelma, besides. At any rate, the pro-
nominal object of the transitive cannot in Takelma well be interpreted as the
subject of a passive, for the simple reason that it shows no resemblance to the
intransitive subject, which differs in turn from the transitive subject. Ihis ami
other examples that might be adduced show conclusively that evidence of the
relation between passive and transitive forms cannot without further ado be
used to demonstrate the passive origin of the transitive. Morphological evi-
dence for such an origin undoubtedly exists in some cases, but hardly so abun-
dantly as to establish the general validity of Uhlenbeck s main thesis.
That in those American languages that distinguish singular and plural \erb-
stems the determining factor is not altogether the number o\ the subject, hut.
where the verb is transitive, the number of the object, is well known to Ameri-
canists. Uhlenbeck quotes examples from Athapascan, Haida. Tsimshian.
Chinook, Coos, and Pomo. Naturally there are many other languages that pre-
sent the same feature. Uhlenbeck considers it as a reflex of the primarily pas-
sive nature of the transitive verb; the logical object of an action being psycho-
logically, and in many cases grammatically, the subject of the passive torm of
the action, and hence directly comparable to the subject of an intransiti\e Ncrb
A rapid survey of American languages classifying verb-stems in the manner
described soon discloses the fact, however, that there is no clear correlatii>n
between this feature and the classification of pronominal atfixes into transitiNc
versus intransitive, or into active versus inactive, as contrasieil uith subjective
versus objective. Thus, while Haida classifies its pronominal elements into
active and inactive (to use Uhlenbecks terminology), and Isimshian and
72 V American Imiian Languages I
Chinook into transitive and intransitive, there are not a few languages of sub-
jective versus objective pronominal classification that recognize precisely the
same feature of number-classification of verbs as these languages. Shoshonean,
for example, is a group of languages (I speak chiefly for Southern Paiute) that
rigidly classifies its pronouns into subjective and objective; yet it makes an
unusuaiiv liberal use of verb-stems that are distinct for singular and plural,
singularity or plurality of the transitive verb being, as usual, determined by the
object. One way out of the difficulty is to assume, as Uhlenbeck is evidently
inclined to do, that in such languages as Shoshonean and Klamath the present
classification of pronominal elements is a secondary feature, and that the
numerical classification of verb-stems reflects an older status of pronominal
classification. As I see no warrant for such an inference, I prefer to doubt
seriously whether the two features are causally related. On general psychologi-
cal principles, it seems likely enough that transitive activities are necessarily
more closely connected in experience with the object than with the subject. A
passive interpretation of the transitive is hardly necessary. I would suggest,
however, that the link between the subjectively determined intransitive and the
objectively determined transitive verbs lies in the causative origin of many tran-
sitives. If TO kill is really in origin to cause to die, then the difference
between one man dying and several dying would necessarily have to be
reflected in a difference between causing one man to die, killing one
man, and causing several to die, killing several. And, indeed, a sur-
vey of transitive verb-stems that recognize a distinction of number shows that
they consist chiefly, if not entirely, of such as can be, in part even mor-
phologically, explained as causative derivatives of intransitives. If such
causatives be taken as a starting-point for number-discrimination in the object,
other types of transitive with number-discrimination, if such exist, might be
explained as due to analogy.
The greater part of Uhlenbeck's paper is taken up with his third class of
evidence, the [85] classification of pronominal affixes. The Basque forms
(intransitive subject and transitive object versus transitive subject) are taken as
his starting-point, and attention is called to parallels in Eskimo and, hypo-
thetically, an inferred stage in Indogermanic. The Indian forms are quoted
from Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Chinook, Muskhogean, and Siouan. Riggs's
Dakota evidence, in particular, is presented in great detail; the conclusion
arrived at being that all active verbs are passives in nature, the logical subject
being really an agentive. Comparison with other Siouan dialects (Hidatsa,
Ponca, Winnebago, Tutelo) shows the pronominal peculiarities of Dakota to be
general to Siouan; the Catawba evidence throws no light on the subject (I can-
not refrain, in passing, from remarking that there is no bit of American Indian
linguistic research that more urgently needs doing than the preparation in the
field of a Catawba grammar; Gatschet's sketch is worthless). It follows clearly
enough from Uhlenbeck's evidence, which could no doubt be greatly aug-
mented, that the ordinary contrast between subject and object does not hold in
these languages; but I do not see that the interpretation of the transitive or
One: Typology and Classtfiiation 7^
active verb as a passive is a necessary one. At least iwn oiIki possibilities seem
open. Uhlenbeck s casus incrtiae may be an inlrinsicilK cascless lorm which
takes on all functions not specilically covered by the transitive or active case
(subject of transitive or active verb); in i)ther words, the i ol i si i i i». and the mi-
of m: Kii I s Ml may be identical in form, not because of any identity of verb-
morphology, but merely by way of contrast to the distinctively transitive form ol
the I of I KILL HIM. This explanation would probably imply a previous stage t)l
complete lack of pronominal differentiation. Secondly, instead ot interpreting
the object of the transitive verb as a sort of subjective (in other words, tlenving
it from the intransitive or inactive case), one may, on the contrary, look upon
the latter as an objective, the inactive or intransitive verb being interpreted as a
static verb without expressed subject, but with direct or indirect object. Thus,
forms like i sllep or i think could be understood as meaning properK ii
SLEEPS ME, IT SEEMS TO ME (cf. such German forms as mich huni^crt). Person-
ally, I consider the latter explanation as very likely for those languages that.
like Tlingit, Haida, Muskhogean, and Siouan. distinguish between acli\e and
inactive verbs. On the other hand, it seems considerably more far-fetched m the
case of languages that distinguish between transitive and intransitive verbs (i
RUN, for example, as it runs to me). This brings me to what I consider the
greatest weakness of Uhlenbeck s paper, — the inclusion under one rubric of
transitive versus intransitive, and active versus inactive. 1 believe he wouki
have made a more convincing case if he had confined himself to the former
category, and adopted our second suggestion for the latter. In brief, the tran-
sitive verb may be plausibly interpreted as a passive, though this hardly seems
necessary to me where there is not direct morphologic evidence of the kiml that
Uhlenbeck has produced for certain Algonkin fcunis; the active verb is far
more plausibly otherwise interpreted.
To Uhlenbeck s speculations as to the primitiveness o{ the passive verb 1 am
not inclined to attach much importance. Such questions must be attacked mor-
phologically and historically, not ethno-psychologically. As long as we are not
better informed as to the exact distribution of types of pronominal classification
and as to the historical drifts inferred from comparative linguistic research, it is
premature to talk of certain features as primitive, o'i others as secondary. For
the present, I should like to point out that we know i)f at least five, fundamen-
tally probably only three, types of pronominal classification (S(i| in .America, as
indicated in the following table: —
Obj.tr.
Subj. I
Inactive.
ntr.
Active.
Subj.
tr.
I XiunpU'.
1.
A
A
B
( hinot'k
2.
3.
A
A
A
B
B
B
C
Dakota
Takeima
4.
A
B
B
Paiute
5.
A(
sometimes
A
A
^ana
subj
. of passive)
.
74 V American Indian Languages 1
Identity of letter symbolizes identity of pronominal form. Type 4 is probably
either simplified from type 3 or else represents an earlier stage of it; both devel-
opments may well have taken place. Type 5 is no doubt a specialized simplifica-
tion of type 4. What the historical relations between types 1 and 2 and between
each of these and types 3-5 are, it is impossible to tell at present, though there is
at least some evidence to show that type 4 tends to develop from type 2. The
interpretation of the nature of the verb in each of these types is not always easy.
The passive interpretation of the transitive may apply in certain cases of types 1
and 5.
Editorial Note
Originally published in International Journal of American Linguistics 1,
82-86 (1917).
Review of C. C. Uhlcnbcck:
Het Identificeerend Karaktcr .
Uhlenbeck, C. C, Het idenlificeerend karakter der possessieve flcxie in lalcn
van Noord-Amerika ("The Identifying Character of the Possessive Inflection
in Languages of North Amerika"). Reprinted from "Versiagen en Mededeehn-
gen der KoninkHjke Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afdeehng Lcitvrkundv.
fit^th series, 2, 345-371. Amsterdam, 1916.
Uhlenbeck calls renewed attention in this paper to the well-known fact that in
many American languages the possessive pronouns, generally affixed to the
noun, occur in two more or less morphologically distinct series, — one for
nouns possession of which is of an inseparable nature, the other for nouns
denoting separable possession. The former category includes chiefly terms of
relationship and nouns denoting parts of the body. A careful survey of the c\i-
dence presented by Uhlenbeck shows that, though body-part nouns and terms
of relationship are not infrequently classed together in contrast to separable
nouns, there are sometimes special morphological features that distinguish the
two types of inseparable nouns; further, that in certain languages only the
terms of relationship constitute a special class as regards possessive affixes.
Languages distinguishing separable and inseparable possession as such are
Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Chimariko, Muskhogean, and Siouan. As a rule,
however, the two pronominal series are not fundamentally distinct, but are
morphologically related; in Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Siouan. the separability of
the noun is indicated by an affixed element, while only in Chimariko are the
possessive elements of the two series radically distinct. Miueover, in both
Haida and Siouan the terms of relationship are not treated in quite the same
manner as the body-part nouns. In Algonkin, of which he treats Blackfoi>t in
particularly great detail, Uhlenbeck finds that, while there is no rigid classifica-
tion of possessed nouns into separable and inseparable, a suffixed -m- is used
with great frequency to indicate the separability of the noun.
The relative independence of terms of relationship as a class, suggested by
Haida and Siouan, is still further emphasized by Takelnia. in which such nt>uns
have a peculiar set of possessive affixes as distinct from all other nouns, mk Uui
ing such as refer to parts of the body; further by Yuki and Ponio. m which onl\
terms of relationship have possessive pronominal affixes. In Mutsun (C osi;i-
noan), moreover, where there is. properly speaking, no possessive inflection,
terms of relationship have different endings, acct^rding to the person t>l the
possessor. Such examples strongly suggest that alongside of. or intercrossing.
[87] the classification of possessed nouns into separable versus inseparable,
there is to be recognized an independent classification of possessed nouns into
76 V American Indian Lxinguages 1
terms of relationship versus all others. Uhlenbeck does not take this view. He
prefers to consider such languages as Takelma, Yuki, Porno, and Mutsun as
survivals of an earlier condition, in which both terms of relationship and body-
part nouns constituted a separable class of possessed nouns; and that, as they
grew more analytic in character, the body-part nouns gradually yielded to the
analogy of the vast majority of nouns. Such a language as Haida, according to
Uhlenbeck, represents a transition stage.
So long as we look at the facts in a purely schematic way, Uhlenbeck's histor-
ical theory seems plausible; but further consideration of the facts tends to cast
doubt on the correctness of his view. Leaving Chimariko aside, it certainly
seems suggestive that the fundamental difference between the separable and
inseparable pronominal affixes of such languages as recognize the distinction
merely lies in the presence of an affix of separable significance. The example of
Algonkin, further, strongly suggests that this type of affix is a morphological
element that has per se nothing to do with pronominal classification. On the
other hand, the pronominal relationship-term affixes of Takelma, Yuki, Pomo,
and Mutsun form a morphologically distinct class of elements. In other words,
the two types of classification of possessed nouns (separable versus insepara-
ble, and terms of relationship versus other nouns) work, on the whole, along
quite distinct lines; whence we must conclude that they are historically distinct
phenomena, and merely intercross in certain languages (Haida, Siouan).
That our point of view is sound (i.e. , that the concept of separability or insep-
arability is generally, directly or at last analysis, indicated by an affix, and that,
on the other hand, the terms of relationship generally owe their distinctness as a
class to the factor of pronominal classification), is further indicated by other
linguistic data, in part not accessible to Uhlenbeck. In Southern Paiute there is
no real classification of possessed nouns into separable and inseparable, nor
any classification of possessive pronominal affixes; but there are two suffixes of
not infrequent use that bear on the concepts of acquirement and inseparability,
i'ni- ACQUIRED BY, OWNED BY (e.g., qani-Vni- house owned by one,
qani- house, house one lives in); and -'a- inseparably belonging to,
chiefly used with body-part nouns that in ordinary experience often occur dis-
connected from the body, like bone, saliva, sinew, fat, horn (e.g., oo-
BONE, OO-'a- BONE IN ONE's BODY).
In Nootka, again, there is, with certain interesting exceptions to be presently
noted, but one series of possessive pronominal affixes; but before the pos-
sessive suffix proper normally appears one of two suffixed elements, uk-,
-'ak-, indicating that the possessor and the object possessed are physically sep-
arable (hence including terms of relationship); or -'at-, indicating that they are
not physically separable (hence applying, above all, to parts of the body). The
latter element is morphologically identical with the passive suffix in verbs. The
Nootka -'at- forms suggest that, in any reduction of the range of the inseparable
class of possessed nouns, it would be the terms of relationship — not, as Uhlen-
beck assumes, the body-part nouns — that would be levelled out by analogy.
From another point of view, however, the Nootka terms of relationship stand in
One: TypoU>\i\ and C Ui.sMjuaiion 77
a class by themselves. Not only are most of them provided with a distinctive
relationship-term affix -qso (cf. the corresponding -nif) of K\^akiutl). hut the
second person singular possessive is either formed in the regular manner {qso
plus separably possessive -'ak plus prononiiual -itqak, contracted to
-qsuk'itqak) or, far more frequently, by using the bare stem without (SK| any
affix whatever {-qso drops off; hence iiiv iin( i.i- is a simpler term than
UNCI i). Further, the terms for m\ iaihi r and my moiiii k are irregul.irls
formed by adding the first person singular "objective" element -v directly to the
stem, the vowel of which is lengthened (the normal affix for my is -qsukqas)
These facts mean, for example, that while the forms for my iv\im k and inn
FATHER have no suffix of physical separability, and fall outside the ordinary
possessive pronominal scheme, such forms as ms F-Arm-.R, our jaiiii r. and
MY UNCi.F. are treated, as far as the possessive pronominal afhxes are con-
cerned, like an ordinary possessed noun; in neither set t)f forms is the suffix of
physical inseparability in place. As far as the Nootka evidence is pertinent, it is
obvious that the concepts of separability and relationship-term classification
are morphologically and historically unrelated.
The pronominal distinctness of terms of relationship is not as isolated a phe-
nomenon as Uhlenbeck implies. Wishram' (Upper Chinook) affords us some
interesting data. The possessive pronominal prefixes of terms c^f relationship in
this language are precisely the same as for all other nouns, except for the first
and second persons singular of the words for fathf.r and moi m k In these
isolated cases my and thy are respectively expressed by -na- and -tnu- instead
of the normal -tc-, -k- my and -mi- thy; the interesting point is, that -na- and
-ma- are evidently closely related to the verbal pronominal prehxes //- and m-.
Body-part nouns with possessives are in no way peculiarly treated in Wishram.
The combined evidence of Takelma. Yuki. Pomo. Mutsun. Nootka. ami
Chinookan for the occurrence of a distinctive series, sometimes only preserved
in very fragmentary form, of possessive pronominal afhxes for terms of rela-
tionship, can hardly be set aside as pointing to a merely secondary reduction i>f
the inseparable class of possessed nouns. A little reflection shcnvs that terms of
relationship as modified by possessive pronouns differ from most other nouns
so modified, not so much in the matter of inseparability as in the tact that in ihe
former a personal relation is defined, while in the latter true possession or stune
allied concept is indicated. Thus, m\ iaihi r is not one who is owned In me.
but rather one who stands to me in a certain relation; niorcoser. he may be
some one else's father at the same time, so that \n i \iiii r has no inherentK
exclusive value. On the other hand, my arm, like Nn mm . indicates actual and
exclusive possession. Hence we can readily understand both whv certain non-
kinship nouns that indicate relationship are sometimes morphologically
classed with kinship terms (e.g.. I RiiNi) in lakelma, sw I i iiii \ri inN»H>tka).
and why, on the other hand, such relationship terms as i\o not nnoKe an inher-
ent or non-controllable relation frequently fall outside the true set of kinship
1. The Paiiitc, No()tk;i. ami Wishram tacts arc quoted troin m> manuscript ticklmMc%
78 V American Indian Languages 1
terms (e.g. , husband and wife are not treated like relationship terms in either
Takelma or Nootka). That personal relation, not possession, is primarily
expressed by the possessive pronominal affixes of relationship terms, is beau-
tifully illustrated by the Iroquois usage of expressing many such relations as
transitive verbs; thus, one cannot say my grandfather or my grandson in
Iroquois, but uses formal transitives which may be respectively translated as
HE grandfathers ME or I GRANDFATHER HIM. Clearly, the morphological
isolation of possessed terms of relationship finds abundant justification in
psychological considerations. I would, then, in contradistinction to Uhlen-
beck , allow for three fundamental types of classification of possessive pronouns
in America: —
1. All nouns treated alike (Yana, Southern Paiute).
2. Relationship terms contrasted with other nouns (Takelma). [89]
3. Possessed nouns classified into inseparable (comprising chiefly body-parts
and terms of relationship) and separable (Chimariko).
Sometimes types 2 and 3 intercross, when we get the triple classification of
languages like Sioux and Haida.
Uhlenbeck's desire to look upon inseparability as the most fundamental con-
cept involved in the so-called possessive relation is evidently largely deter-
mined by reasons of a speculatively psychological order. He notes with justice
that the possessive pronouns of the inseparable category are generally simpler
than those of the separable category; that the latter are, indeed, frequently
derivatives from the former. From this he argues that originally only insepara-
ble nouns (body-part nouns and terms of relationship) had possessive affixes at
all. Further, aside from certain exceptions (Miwok, Mutsun, Chumash), he
finds that where, as is generally the case, the possessive pronouns are related to
the pronominal affixes of the verb, they agree in form, not with the subjective
or energetic, but, on the whole, with the objective or casus inertiae. The evi-
dence for this important and well-known fact is drawn from Tlingit, Haida,
Tsimshian, Chinook, Chimariko, Maidu, Yuki, Pomo, Muskhogean, and
Siouan, to which we might add Shoshonean and Nootka.
Uhlenbeck's psychological interpretation of this fact, as well as of the greater
primitiveness of the possessive pronominal affixes of inseparable nouns, is
given at the close of the paper: "Where there is identity of the possessive ele-
ments with inert personal elements, there can hardly be any talk of real
'possession,' seeing that, where real 'possession' is involved, we should rather
expect similarity of possessive with energetic elements, as opposed to a distinct
series of inert personal pronouns or personal affixes. If, now, we recollect the
excellent remarks of Lucien Levy-Bruhl on 'possession' in Melanesia, and bear
in mind that, for example, in Dakota a noun with inseparably-possessive affixes
has entirely, or nearly so, the form of a conjugated adjective, or, aside from the,
in Dakota, differently placed pronominal element, of a verbalized independent
noun, we shall not go wrong in recognizing in the so-called possessively
inflected noun an identifying expression. A [Dakota] form [meaning 'my
heart'] thus does not signify 'my heart' in the manner of our civilized languages.
One: Typology and L lussificatum 74
but indicates the identity of myself with the one heart with which I. and no
other, stand in the closest relation. Similarly the inclusive [Dakota torm mean-
ing 'child of us two'] is not so much child of us two' as indeetl the child that wc
both are,' 'the phase of us two which is the child " Hut it is impossible to tran-
scribe into modern words the thoughts and feelings ot primitives.' even ihoueh
we are perhaps able to think, and feci ourselves into them."
This psychological interpretation strikes me as extreme, the more so as 1 see
no conclusive reason for assuming that possessive pronominal affixes were orig-
inally not employed with separable nouns. If we interpret Uhlenbeck's casus
inertiae, as suggested in the preceding review, as a neutral form ol no intrinsic
case significance, then the identification of afunctional possessive with a speed
ically intransitive or inactive case is arbitrary. As a matter of fact, in quite a
number of American languages we find that the possessive affixes, while gener-
ally closely related to a series of pronominal affixes in the verb, are composed of
a distinctively possessive element of non-personal significance and a pro-
nominal element proper. This is the case, for instance, in Nootka ami most of
the Takelma possessive affixes. In such cases the possessive affix must naturalK
be periphrastically interpreted: my as of me, belonging ro mi-. Where the
sign of general possessive relation is lacking, the pronominal affix can be con-
ceived of as standing in an implicit position-determined genitive relation to the
noun, [90] more or less as in noun-compounds (i.e., i-mousi;, for m^ iioi'sf.
might be conceived of as a compound with merely implied genitive relatnm.
precisely as in a form like hen-housf. if interpreted as nousi oi m ns). There
is still a further method of interpretation, corresponding to the objective inter-
pretation of the inactive or intransitive case given in the preceding review. This
is to look upon the possessive affix as frankly objective (or dative) in character,
e.g., to interpret a form like myhousf as a semi-verbal n()i)SF:(is) iomi . Asa
matter of fact, the line between such predicative forms as ri is my noi'si and
such purely denominative forms as my house is often very difficult to draw;
e.g., in Chinookan. Either of these explanations of the verbal affiliation of the
possessive pronouns of so many American languages seems preferable, m m\
opinion, to Uhlenbeck's mystical theory of identification. The less we operate
with "primitive" psychology, the better. Modern research is beginning to make
it clear that the psychology of civilized man is primitive enough to explain the
mental processes of savages.
One more point before closing. I feel that Uhlenbeek is \oo niueh inclined ii>
look for functional or semantic explanations of possessive pronominal differ-
entiation where purely phonetic factors are probably all that is realK in\ol\ed
(e.g., in Washo; Salinan; Algonkin; and lakelma, aside from terms of rela-
tionship). A striking example of the failure to evaluate purely phonetic factors
is afforded by his discussion of the Blackfoot terms isk m c ki i and its pos-
sessives (e.g., no-xk my hik kii). He considers the forms isk and (o)\k as
representing two etymologically unrelatetl stems, and connects this surprising
phenomenon with such suppletive examples in Hlaektoot as hoksi ami \n
HORSF (as also in Southern Paiute; similar cases occur frequently for !:>«••. in
80
V American Indian Languages 1
America). It seems very much more likely to me that we are not here dealing
with independent stems at all, but that an original osk was in Blackfoot regu-
larly shitted to oxk (the back vowel and k pulling the 5 to a back position;
namely, x). This explanation is practically demonstrated by comparing no-xk
with Blackfoot mo-xkats-is foot (from Algonkin *-skat-; cf. Cree miskdf-
leg).
2. Quoted from Lacombe.
Editorial Note
Originally published in International Journal of American Linguistics 1,
86-90 (1917).
Materials Relating to Sapir's Classification ol Noiih
American Indian Languages
Excerpt from a letter to Alfred L. Krocher, Octohcr l^PO
I have had a considerable recrudescence of interest in linguistics recent 1\. but
feel I want a really big problem on my hands. As soon as my little book {Lan-
guage] is finished. 1 am planning to make a really exhaustive questionnaire on
morphological and phonetic features for languages in Mexict) and N. America
and to fill in for each group.
I want to see what are the distributions of such features as use of syntactie
cases, classification of verbs into active and static, use of diminutive -isi or -si,
and so on through the whole gamut; then correlate as far as possible, and sec
what happens. Finally, apply lexical tests to resulting groups. 1 feel certain we
can get somewhere if we seriously tackle the problem. I think 1 am particularlv
qualified to do this because I have a better feeling for perspective, a clearer
intimation of survival of old vs. development of secondary features than most
others. Paul [Radin], for instance, cannot do this work really convincingh
because he docs not know how to evaluate; everything is fish for his net. M\
present feeling about N. American languages is something like this. We have (>
great groups, which I should like to hold distinct for the present, though even
now I recognize certain promising "proto-American" features (such as negative
*ka, *ku; diminutive ■ -tsi; 1st per. sing, n-; plural and frequentative -/). Ihev
arc:
A. Eskimo-Aleut (includes also Chukchi-Koryak ?)
B. Na-dcne ( Athabaskan, Haida, Tlingit — Haida staiuls oi\ iiiosi )
C. Algonkin-Wakashan:
I. Algonkin; Wiyot-Yurok
II. Kootenay
III. Wakashan; Salish; Chcmakum
D. Penutian:
I. California Penutian
II. Takelma; Coos-Siuslaw-Alsea: Kalapiiva
III. Chinook
IV. Tsimshian
E. Uto-Aztekan; lewa-Kiowa (?)
R Hokan-Siouan:
82 V American Indian Languages I
I. Hokan proper (Shasta down to Seri and Chontal)
II. Yuki
III. Coahuiltecan group (Coahuilteco, Tonkawa, Karankawa)
IV. Keres (decidedly, judging from what Boas writes me)
V. Siouan-Yuchi group:
1. Siouan
2. Muskogi-Natchez
3. Yuchi
4. Tunica-Chitimacha-Attakapa
VI. Iroquois; Caddoan
I know nothing of Zuiii. Modoc-Molale-Sahaptin is possibly transitional
between D and E or is an outlier of E. Of Mexico I know very little, but imagine
Maya may belong to F. Radin has shown that Huave belongs to Zoque-Mixe
[Journal de la societe des americanistes de Paris 11, 489-499, 1919], while his MS
material proves absolutely that Mixtec-Zapotec goes with Otomi; Tarascan
possibly another outlier of Uto-Aztekan. Of course all this is exceedingly tenta-
tive, but I feel much of it will stand. If I were to commit myself still further, I
would suggest that C is a highly specialized polysynthetic offshoot of D; and
that E is possibly a Mischsprache formed of D and F. B stands most aloof of all
(aside, possibly, from Eskimo, though I feel Eskimo closer to Algonkin-
Wakashan than Na-dene to any other group, despite Paul to the contrary). The
test languages are, say, Eskimo, Tlingit, Wintun, Chimariko (or Iroquois).
Master these 4 (or their equivalents) and you have an American linguistic vade
mecum. Here's an interesting point: the polysynthetic tendency manifests itself
at various points quite regardless of genetic relationship. I mean it is not a
highly valuable criterion genetically, but expresses rather a certain extreme
tendency to synthetic expression, however we explain it. Its interest is psycho-
logical rather than historical. To me it is worth less than such an obscure feature
as prevalence of stems with initial vowel (a la Chimariko-Salinan-Keres-Pomo-
Shasta-Iroquois-Muskogi) or classification of pronouns into transitive and
intransitive vs. active and static (D is characterized by the former, F by the
latter). Least polysynthetic is D, which is nearest of all to our inflective type,
but even here a relatively late polysynthesis (or perhaps better incorporative
development) grew up in Chinook, which seems to me to have taken a new
synthetic spurt from a very analytic form that had broken down from a Ta-
kelma-Coos type. Further, polysynthesis in A and C grew up around an old
inflective core; polysynthesis in B developed from a remarkably analytic non-
inflecting (one might almost say isolating) base — yes indeed! Dene complex-
ities notwithstanding (nothing seems more certain to me; a Tlingit, Haida, or
Dene synthetic form absolutely falls to monosyllabic fragments of considerable
individual phonetic and functional independence once you begin to analyze,
and yet Na-dene polysynthesis has in some ways won through to an inflective
system of its own — most fascinating of all languages ever invented! no wonder
Goddard can't budge); and polysynthesis in F is clearly of agglutinative type.
The essentially agglutinative feel of Hokan is once more borne in on me as I
One: Typology aiui C Uiwifuiiimn 83
work on Yana analysis for your Hearst volume ["Text Analyses of I'hrcc Yana
Dialects," 1923m) — as different psychically from lakelma as sun from moon
Wouldn't this threefold development of polysynthesis make a neat hit dI lin-
guistic theory?
But I am just now interested in another biu linguisiK pitssihiliiy I iicmhle to
speak of it, though Tve carried the uerminal idea with me for vears. 1 duni»t led
that Na-dene belongs to the other American languages. I lee! it as a great intru-
sive band that has perhaps ruptured an old lAkinm-Wakashan-Algonkm con-
tinuity. And 1 decidedly feel the old quasi-isolating base. Then there is tone,
which feels old (high and low) — I am all but certain that Athabaskan and H.ud.i
are like Tlingit as to tone. In short, do not think me an ass it 1 .im seriously
entertaining the notion of an old Indo-Chinese offshoot into N.W. America I
am planning to work in Indo-Chinese to some extent. I have already caretully
gone over two Tibetan grammars (Jaschke [Tibetan Gramtnur, 2nd edition,
1883] and Foucaux [Grammaire dc la langue tihctaine, 1S5<S| ) and lind in Tibetan
pretty much the kind of base from which a generalized Na-dene could have
developed, also some very tempting material points of resemblance, e.g.
Tibetan postpositive ma "in" and du "to, at," both of which, precisely as in
Athabaskan and Tlingit, are used also to subordinate verbs; m both Tlingit and
Tibetan the tr. verb as such is clearly passive; causative or tr. verbs have s-
prefixed in Tibetan, s-y- and l-^- in Tlingit, /- in Ath.; Tibetan verb ablaut is
staggeringly like Dene-Tlingit (e.g. present hyed "make", pret. hyas, fut. hya,
imperative hyos)\ and so on. Am I dreaming? At least I know that Dene's a long
shot nearer to Tibetan than to Siouan. Such things as instrumental prefixes,
that Paul made so much of [Radin, "The Genetic Relationship of the North
American Indian Languages," 1919], don't get us anywhere, as Na-dene pre-
fixes of this type are simply late compositions and don't even agree among
themselves (practically any noun might have become an instrumental prefix; as
far as that is concerned, Chinese may say things like fire kill "io kill with fire". I
believe). I'm rather puzzled about it all. I shall have to work out the \s hole lndi>-
Chinese data to get my bearings.
The Problems of Linguistic Relationship in America
Abstract
The widespread feeling that Powells linguistic map has served Hs purpose
and that it needs to be superseded by a classificatiim indicating Nsuler historical
perspectives. The difficulties in the way of a revisuin: difficulties of material, of
method. The role of linguistic borrowing in America The gradual dilferenlia-
tion of linguistic groups. Criteria for genetic inferences: lexical resembl.inces
controlled by phonetic law; phonetic patterns; lund.imeni.il morphoh>gic.d
84 V^ American Indian Languages 1
patterns and processes; convergences and borrowings within a linguistic frame-
work. An attempt to work back to a provisional classification of American lan-
guages: 1. Eskimo-Aleut; 2. Algonkin-Wakashan; 3. Nadene; 4. Penutian; 5.
Hokan-Siouan; 6. Aztec-Tanoan. Suggested extensions of 4 and 5 into Mexico
and Central America. Possible significance of wider linguistic classification for
inferences as to ancient movements of population. Certain Proto-American
possibilities. Peculiar position of Nadene (group 3).
Lecture Notes
General recognition that Powell's linguistic classification has already served its
purpose. Something more historical and inclusive required now.
Difficulties in way of serious revision:
1. Not all American languages sufficiently well known yet.
2. Persistently descriptive-psychological point of view in spite of all talk of
historical method.
3. Too much reliance on secondary factors of descriptive order (incorpora-
tion, instrumental prefixes, polysynthesis), with no serious attempt to get
perspective as to age of different features. Fundamental features never yet
isolated for large groups. Importance of subtler features of dynamic order
(types of stem, closeness of welding of elements, accent, tone, fundamen-
tal phonetic pattern, development of unified form, order); of vestigial vs.
flourishing features.
4. Disturbing factor of borrowed features.
Suggested classification far from permanent; merely represents my present
feeling in matter and subject to serious revision; not influenced by race or
culture factors.
Basis: morphological, helped out by lexical evidence.
Characteristics of 6 main groups; generalized for groups, do not always apply to
particular languages in descriptive aspect, though survivals sometimes
discoverable:
I. Eskimo-Aleut: Polysynthetic and inflective; consistently suffixing;
extreme welding of stem and suffixed elements; great elaboration of formal
aspect of v[er]b (mode, person); fundamental importance of trans[itive]
vs. intr[ansitive] (subj[ect] intr[ansitive] and obj[ect] tr[ansitive]); pres-
ence of local cases and 2 syntactic cases corresponding to verbal classifica-
tion; noun plural and pronominal elements have formal, not merely mate-
rial, value. No reduplication, inner stem modification, compounding (no
nominal incorporation).
II. Algonkin-Wakashan: polysynthetic and inflective; primarily suffixing
(Algonkin suffixes far older than prefixes, which are only loosely added
proclitics), Wakashan solely so; Algonkin has clearly inflective cast in
One: T\poloi>y and Classijuaiutn S5
modal and pronominal verb suffixes and in gender ami luimher and
obviativeof noun. Wakashan less clearly intleelive. but has iinportani stem
modifications; fundamental \ |erlb classilicalion mto subjective and objec-
tive; only obviative in part developed as syntactic case and one local case
(also in {)art). Reduplication well developed, particularly \\\ \V|;»kashan|.
inner stem changes. No compounding in ordinary sense (parlK in
Algonkin v[er|b), incorporation nu)derately developed in Algonkm
Extreme development of secondary elements, "suffixes." with concrete
significance: local, instrumental, adverbial, concrete verbali/mg
III. Na-dene: loosely polysynlhetic and fundamentallv isolating. \Mth quasi-
inflective developments. "Prefixing" in a sense, moderately suffixing (most
so in Haida); properly speaking, we have monosyllabic elements in defi-
nite order that amalgamate more psychologically than morphologicallv
(cf. Eng. "he came upon it," where "came-upon" is not really "came" and
"upon"); "word" here actually midway between short sentence and true
word (stem and derivative and formal affixes) (see I and II ). Inner form is
in verb stem and implications of order rather than in explicitly tormal ele-
ments. No true welding of stem and affixed elements except to form nevs
stem entities. True stem is monosyllabic of type C + V (probably also C +
V + nasal). Secondary phonetic processes bring about appearance of for-
mal verbal development, but coalescence of subj[ect| pronoun with modal
"prefixes" is really independent of verb stem changes. Importance ol
"voice" and "aspect"; tense not so fundamental. Verb classilies m\o actiNc
and static (including object trfansitive] or subj[ect| pas(sive|). Postposi-
tions well developed, mostly nominal in origin. Composition elabi>rately
developed. No reduplication or formal development of gender, case,
number; "relative" forms distinctive, also nominali/ing of verb forms b\
postpositions. Tone developed; intrinsic high-low.
IV. Penutian: not polysynthetic; decidedly inflective (nearest to liulo luro-
pean and Semitic of all American languages in general form). PrimariK
suffixing; prefixes, where found, are clearly secondary in origin. Sutti.xeil
elements have almost exclusively formal significance and are closelv
welded with stem. Pronominal suffixes, case elements, treatment of plu-
rality, tense and aspect and voice in verb give wortls formal cast: also note
importance of inner stem changes, including reduplication (sometinus
final) and vowel insertion {{ypchai^a-: hag-). Frequency ol stem in [h- ( •
V + Ci + V. No incorporation typically developed, in general no concrete
complications in verb; composition either absent or very moderalcl)
developed. Verb classifies into (subj(ect|) intr|ansiti\e| and (subj|ecl))
tr[ansitive), perhaps also tr(ansitive) obj|ectl as originally dislincl third
category. Tone systems found (Takelma. Maidu. Wintun). apparenth ris-
ing-falling type; signiticance not yet clear. Chinook as independent poly-
synthetic development on basis of broken down, analytic developmcnl of
Penutian. Adherence to group evident from lexical evidence ami from ves-
tigial features. Tsim|shian| profoumllv intUienced b> group II.
86 V American Indian Languages 1
V. Hokan-Siouan: polysynthetic and agglutinative; inflective tendency prac-
tically absent, in spite of formal subtleties and occasional stem modifica-
tions. Both prefixing and suffixing, but most characteristically prefixing in
more formal elements (particularly pronouns) (Yana has secondary fea-
tures). Verb: active:static primarily (Chim[ariko], Sioux, Iroquois). Incor-
poration and true compounding best developed in this group. Reduplica-
tion not so typical as in groups II and IV, sometimes absent; inner stem
changes not generally found (Yana exceptional). Great development of
concrete affixes, particularly in Hokan (instrumental prefixes — also
Siouan; local suffixes and secondary verb stems — based on old compound-
ing). Postpositions well developed. Frequency of stem type V + C -I- Vj
(+ Ci + V2): itali, ipali, ama or uma. Tone reported for Achomawi,
Mohave, possibly Pomo; said to be significant and high-low; needs further
investigation. Group shows rather little stability.
VI. Aztec-Tanoan: moderately polysynthetic and weakly inflective at best.
Formally suffixing; prefixes either merely proclitic elements or old com-
pounded stems. Suffixes belong to formal category, as in IV. Possibly poly-
synthesis formed on basis of IV via simple compounding processes, per-
haps due to contact with V. Verb: subject-object, as in II, markedly distinct
from I-IV, III-V. Reduplication frequent, also incorporation and com-
pounding. Postpositions common. Noun and verb sharply distinct. Case
developed, but rather weakly. All in all, mixed rather than specialized
type. Impresses me as old Penutian strongly overlaid by Hokan (same pro-
cess, but infinitely older, as took place in Maidu). Frequency of stem type C
+ V + Cj + V^. Tone in Tanoan-Kiowa; significance not yet made clear.
Proto-American possibilities:
1. Persistence of n- "I," m- "thou".
2. Negative ka, ku.
3. Continuative-plural-iterative -/-.
4. Diminutive -si, -tsi.
Regrouping possible:
1. Eskimo- Aleut, Algonkin-Wakashan, Penutian
2. Na-dene
3. Hokan-Siouan; Aztec-Tanoan: transitional between 1 and 3.
Valuelessness of polysynthesis as genetic criterion.
Na-dene as tremendous wedge in older distribution; 1 and 3 as two great foun-
dation groups in America — N[orth] and S[outh].
Movements of population to be revealed by linguistic research.
V American Indian Languages 1
Sapir's map of 1920, showing his "Proposed Classification of American I
Indian Languages North of Mexico (and Certain Languages of Mexico and
Central America)."
CD
One: /\7'('/('i,'\ and i lassification
89
N-
C
03
SI
v>
5 c c
< C <D C (?) f«
1 3 C «^ ' *T
CO ^ CT3 dj O IM
LU < Z Cl I <
r-^"^=?-^.
^
CO
//
90
V American Indian Languages I
LINGUISTIC GROUPS NORTH OF MEXICO
III
IV
{
Wiyot
Yurok
I. Eskimo-Aleut
II. Algonkin-Wakashan
1. Algonkin-Ritwan
(1) Algonkin
(2) Beothuk (?)
(3) Ritwan
2. Kootenay
3. Wakashan-Salish
(1) Wakashan (Kwakiutl-Nootka)
(2) Chemakum
(3) Salish
Na-dene
1. Haida
2. Continental Na-dene -
Penutian
Tlingit
Athabaskan
1. Californian Penutian <
2. Oregon Penutian
(1) Takelma
(2) Coast Penutian
Miwok-Costanoan
Yokuts
Maidu
Win tun
Coos
Siuslaw
Yakonan
(3) Kalapuya
3. Chinook
4. Tsimshian
5. Plateau Penutian
(1) Sahaptin
(2) Waiilatpuan (Molala-Cayuse)
(3) Lutuami (Klamath- Mo doc)
V. Hokan-Siouan
1. Hokan-Coahuiltecan
(1) Hokan proper f Karok; Chimariko; Shasta-Achomawi
(a) Northern Hokan < Yana
(b) Washo [ Pomo
(c) Esselen; Yuman
(d) Salinan; Chumash; Seri
(e) Tequistlatecan (Chontal)
One: Typology atui Classijuuium
(2) Suhtiaha- Tluppancc
(3) Coahuiltccan: lonkawa: C'oahuiltccn-C'otominu ( ornt-crudo,
Karankawa
2. Yuki
3. Keres
4. Tunican
( 1 ) Tunica- A la k ap a
(2) Chitimacha
5. Iroquois-Caddoan
6. Eastern group
( 1 ) Siouan
(2) Yiichi
(3) Natchez- Muskogian (incl. Timucua?)
VI. Aztec-Tanoan f Nahiiatl
1 . Uto-Aztecan < Piman
y Shoshonean
^ ^ ,.. j Tanoan
2. Tanoan-Kiowa < ,..
kiowa
3. Zz//// (?)
Extensions into C[entral) America
IV. Penutian: Mixe-Zoque, Iluano??, Xinca??
V. Hokan-Siouan: Mayan; Otomi-Mixtec-Zapotec
Editorial Notes
The "Abstract" is from a typescript, with manuscript additions hy Sapir. in
the Library of the American Philosophical Society. Published by permission i>l
the American Philosophical Society. The "Lecture Notes," table, and map
were among papers held by the Sapir family. The letter to Kroeberis reprinted
by permission of Karl Kroeber and the University of California Press.
Sapir s manuscript revisions to the typescript outline may be ot interest. Fol-
lowing the numbering of the outline, they were as follows: III. "Algonkian"
changed to "Algonkin-Ritwan"; 11.1(2). "Bet^thuk " added from onmn.il
"unplaced" list at end; 11.1(3), "Wiyot-Yurok" changed lo "Rituan"; II 3(1).
"Nootka" circled; IV. 1, "Costanoan" deleted as a separate cntr\ and added to
"Miwok"; IV.3, "Chinook" removed from ''Oregon Penutian" and given sepa-
rate status; IV.5, entire section "Plateau Penutian" added from original
"unplaced" list at end and "Klamath" moved from "Waiilatpuan" li) "Luluami";
V.l, original list had "Hokan" and -( oahuiltecan" as separate levels under
"Hokan-Siouan", so "Hokan-Ccnihuillecan" is a newly added level. \' l( I )(a).
"Yana" added, previously treated like "Northern Hokan"; V.i(l)(b). "\S.tsht>"
92 V American Indian Languages 1
circled; V. l(l)(c), "Yuman" added from now deleted group "Chumash--
Yuman"; V. i(l)(d), "Chumash" added from previous "Chumash-Yuman" and
"Scri" added, previously treated as equal to "Northern Hokan"; V.l(2), "Sub-
tiaba-Tlappanec" newly added; V. 1(3), languages moved up to group line from
former treatment as separate subentries; V.4(l), "Atakapa" added, formerly
treated equal to "Tunica"; V.5, "Iroquois-Caddoan" moved up from end of V;
V.6, "Eastern group" substituted for "Siouan-Muskogian"; V.6(3), "Natchez"
added; VI. 1, "Shoshonean" circled; VI. 3, "Zuni" added from "unplaced" list.
The "unplaced" list was eliminated and the section "Extensions into C. Amer-
ica" added. The italicized names appear to represent families or languages that
are not broken down into a lower level of classification.
A Bird's-Eye View of American Laiiiiiiagc
North of Mexico
.•s
It is clear thai the orthodox "PowclT cMassification of AiiicrKan laiii!uaj;cs.
useful as it has proved itself to be, needs to be superseded b\ a more itielusivc
grouping based on an intensive et^niparative study of morphological leaturcs
and lexical elements. The recognition of 50 to 60 genetically indepenileni
"stocks'' north of Mexico alone is tantamount to a historical absurdity. Manv
serious difliculties lie in the way of the task of reduction, among which mav be
mentioned the fact that our knowledge of many, indeed of most, American
languages is still sadly fragmentary; that frequent allowance must be maile for
linguistic borrowing and for the convergent development of features that are
only descriptively, not historically, comparable; and that our persistently, and
rather fruitlessly, "psychological" approach to the study of American languages
has tended to dull our sense of underlying drift, of basic linguistic forms, and of
lines of historical reconstruction. Any genetic reconstruction that can be
offered now is necessarily but an exceedingly rough approxiiiiatmn to ihe truth
at best. It is certain to require the most serious revision as our study progresses.
Nevertheless I consider a tentative scheme as possessed of real value. It should
act as a stimulus to more profound investigations and as a first attempt to shape
the historical problem. On the basis of both morphological and, in part, lexical
evidence, the following six great groups, presumably genetic, mav be
recognized:
I. Eskimo-Aleut
II. Algonkin-Wakashan <
Algonkin-Wiyot-^'urok
Kootenay
Wakashan-Salish
III. Na-dene (Haida; Tlingit-Athabaskan)
{Californian Penutian
Oregon Penutian
Tsimshian
( Yuki
Hokan
C'oaluultecafi group
Keres
Tunica group
Siouan-^ uchiMuskogian
V Iroquois-C'addoan
1/1 A . T- f lltt>-A/lekan
VI. Aztec-Tanoan < ,,. ,.
[ lanoan-Kiowa
V. Hokan-Siouan <
94 V American Indian Languages 1
This leaves the Waiilatpuan-Lutuami-Sahaptin group, Zuni, and Beothuk as yet
unplaced. The Hues of cleavage seem greatest between IV. and V., and between
III., on the one hand, and I. and II., on the other. Group V is probably the nearest
to the generalized "typical American" type that is visualized by linguistic students
at large.
Editorial Notes
Originally published in Science N.S. 54, 408 (1921). Copyright by the Ameri-
can Association for the Advancement of Science; reprinted by permission.
Sapir's classification was given widespread familiarity through the Map of
North American Indian Languages published by C. F. and E. W. Voegelin in
1944, and was accepted as the standard by linguists and anthropologists until
the late 1950s. However, since the publication of Haas (1958), proposing a rela-
tionship between Algonkian and the "Gulf" languages of the southeastern
U.S., opinions on the linguistic families of North America have become
increasingly diverse. One pole of opinion has favored a return to a classification
approximating Powell's (see Campbell and Mithun 1979: 3-69); the opposite
view goes even farther than Sapir and claims genetic relationship for almost all
American Indian languages (cf. Greenberg 1987). An alternative approach,
renewing the perspective of Boas and of Sapir's earlier work (cf. "Time perspec-
tive," 1916h, Volume IV), seeks to account for many structural similarities
among languages as the result of the diffusion of linguistic features within
sociolinguistically characterizable areas, going back to historically remote
periods (cf. Bright and Sherzer 1976).
Central and North American languages
The population of aboriginal America north ot Mexico (;iht)ut 1 , ISd.iMiii). .a
the time of the discovery of America by Columbus, spoke an asit)nishing
number of languages, most of which are still spoken, though in manv cases by
only a bare handful of individuals. Certain of them, like Sioux and Navaho, ;irc
still flourishing languages.
They consist of a number of distinct stocks, which differ fundamenlallv Irom
each other in vocabulary, phonetics and grammatical form. Some ot these
stocks, such as Algonkin, Siouan and Athabaskan, consist of a large number ot
distinct languages; others seem to be limited to a small number of languages or
dialects or even to a single language. The so-called "Powell classification" ot
languages north of Mexico recognizes no less than 55 of these "stocks" (see the
revised map of 1915 issued by the Bureau of American Ethnology), excluding
Arawak, a South American stock originally represented in the West Indies and
perhaps also on the southwestern coast of Florida.
The distribution of these 55 stocks is uneven; 37 of them arc either entircK or
largely in territory draining into the Pacific, and 22 of these have a coast line on
the Pacific. Only 7 linguistic stocks had an Atlantic coast line. Besides the
Pacific coast, in the lower Mississippi and Gulf coast, languages oi Id stocks
were spoken (apart from Arawak). The most widely distributed stocks are:
Eskimoan, which includes Eskimo dialects ranging from east Greenland west to
southern Alaska and East Cape, Siberia, as well as the Aleut of Alaska Peninsula
and the Aleutian Islands; Algonkian, which embraces a large number o\ lan-
guages spoken along the Atlantic coast from eastern Quebec and C^ipe Breton
Island south to the coast of North Carolina, in the interior o( I.abradtu. in the
northern part of the drainage of the St. Lawrence, in the ccnintrv of the three
upper Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi, and west into the plains oi the
Saskatchewan and the upper Missouri; Imquoian, which consists o\ languages
originally spoken in three disconnected areas — the region of lakes Irie and
Ontario and the St. Lawrence, eastern Virginia and North Carolina, and ilie
southern Alleghany country (Cherokee); Muskoi^ian (incUuling Nalchc/).
which occupies the Gulf region from the mouth o\ the Mississippi east into
Florida and Georgia and north into lennessee and Kentucky; Siouiin. diNidevI
into four geographically distinct groups — an eastern group m \ irgima and
North and South Carolina, a small southern contingent (Biloxi) in si^uihern
Mississippi, the main group in the valley of the Missouri (eastern Montana and
Saskatchewan southeast through Arkansas), and a colony of the main group
(Winnebago) in the region of Green Bay, Wisconsin; Caddoan, spoken in the
southern Plains (from Nebraska south into Texas and Louisiana) and in an
isolated enclave (Arikara) along the Missouri in North and Si>uth I)akt>la.
o^ V American Indian Languages 1
Shoshonean, which occupies the greater part of the Great Basin area and con-
tiguous territory in southern California and the southwestern Plains (Texas),
also, disconnected from this vast stretch, three mesas in the Pueblo region of
northern Arizona (Hopi); Athabaskan, divided into three geographically dis-
tinct groups of languages — Northern (the valleys of the Mackenzie and Yukon,
from just short of Hudson's Bay west to Cook Inlet, Alaska, and from Great
Bear Lake and the Mackenzie delta south to the headwaters of the Saskatche-
wan), Pacific (two disconnected areas, one in southwestern Oregon and north-
western California, the other a little south of this in California), and Southern
(large parts of Arizona and New Mexico, with adjoining regions of Utah, Texas
and Mexico) — besides isolated enclaves in southern British Columbia, Wash-
ington and northern Oregon; and Salishan in southern British Columbia, most
of Washington, and northern Idaho and Montana, with two isolated offshoots,
one (Bella Coola) to the north on the British Columbia coast, the other
(Tillamook) to the south in northwestern Oregon.
The remaining 46 stocks, according to Powell's classification, in alphabetical
order, are: Atakapa (Gulf coast of Louisiana and Texas); Beothuk
(Newfoundland; extinct); Chimakuan (northwestern Washington); Chimariko
(northwestern California); [139] Chinook (lower Columbia river, in Wash-
ington and Oregon); Chitimacha (southern Louisiana); Chumash
(southwestern California); Coahuiltecan (lower Rio Grande, in Texas and Mex-
ico); Coos (Oregon coast); Costanoan (western California south of San Fran-
cisco Bay); Esselen (southwestern California; extinct); Haida (Queen Char-
lotte Islands and part of southern Alaska); Kalapuya (northwestern Oregon);
Karankawa (Texas coast); Karok (northwestern California); Keres (certain Rio
Grande pueblos. New Mexico); Kiowa (southern Plains in Kansas, Colorado,
Oklahoma, and Texas); Kootenay (upper Columbia River, in British Columbia
and adjoining parts of Idaho and Montana); Lutuami, consisting of Klamath
and Modoc (southern Oregon and northeastern California); Maidu (eastern
part of Sacramento valley, California); Miwok (central California); Piman or
Sonoran (southern Arizona and south into Mexico as far as the state of Jalisco);
Porno (western California north of San Francisco Bay); Sahaptin (middle
Columbia River valley, in Washington, Oregon and Idaho); Salinan
(southwestern California); Sha'stan or Shasta- Achomawi (northern California
and southern Oregon); Takelma (southwestern Oregon); Tanoan (certain
pueblos in New Mexico, Arizona and originally also in Chihuahua, Mexico);
Timucua (Florida; extinct); Tlingit (southern Alaska); Tonkawa (Texas);
Tsimshian (western British Columbia); Tunica (Mississippi River, in Louisiana
and Mississippi); Waiilatpuan, consisting of Molala and Cayuse (northern
Oregon); Wakashan, consisting of Kwakiutl and Nootka (coast of British
Columbia); Washo (western Nevada and eastern California); Wintun (north
central California); Wiyot (northwestern California); Yakonan (Oregon
coast); Yana (northern California); Yokuts (south-central California); Yuchi
(Savannah River, in Georgia and South [Carolina]); Yuki (western California);
Yuman (lower Colorado River valley, in Arizona, southern California and
One: Typology and Clussijicutum 97
south into all or most of lower California); Yitrok (northwestern California);
Ziini (pueblo of New Mexieo). lo these was later added, as disiinel frcwn
Yakonan, Siuslaw (Oregon eoast).
This complex classification of native languages in North America is very
probably only a first approximation to the historic truth. I here are clearK far-
reaching resemblances in both structure and vocabulary among linguistic
stocks classified by Powell as genetically distinct. Certain resemblances m
vocabulary and phonetics are undoubtedly due to borrowing of one language
from another, but the more deep-lying resemblances, such as can be demon-
strated, for instance, for Shoshonean, Piman, and NahuatI (Mexico) or for
Athabaskan and Tlingit, must be due to a common origin now greatly obscured
by the operation of phonetic laws, grammatical developments and losses, ana-
logical disturbances, and borrowing of elements from alien sources.
It is impossible to say at present what is the irreducible number of linguistic
stocks that should be recognized for America north of Mexico, as scientific
comparative work on these difficult languages is still in its infancy. The follow-
ing reductions of linguistic stocks which have been proposed may be lookeil
upon as either probable or very possible: I, Wiyot and [Yurok]. to which may
have to be added Algonkian (of which Beothuk may be a very di\ergcnt mem-
ber); 2, Iroquoian and Caddoan; 3, Uto-Aztckan, consisting of Shoshonean,
Piman and NahuatI; 4, Athabaskan and Tlingit, with Haida as a more distant
relative; 5, Mosan, consisting of Salish, Chimakuan and Wakashan; 6,
Atakapa, Tunica and Chitimacha; 7, Coahuiltecan, Tonkawa and Karankawa;
8, Kiowa and Tanoan; 9, Takelma, Kalapuya and Coos-Siuslaw-'*Jakonan; Id.
Sahaptin, Waiilatpuan and Lutuami; II, a large group known as Hokun.
consisting of Karok, Chimariko, Shastan, Yana, Pomo, Washo. I-,sselen.
Yuman, Salinan, Chumash, and, in Mexico, Seri and Chontal; 12. l\-nniuin.
consisting of Miwok-Costanoan, Yokuts, Maidu and Wintun.
A more far-reaching scheme than Powells, suggestive but not demi>nstrable
in all its features at the present time, is Sapirs.
These linguistic classifications, shown in the next column |i.c. . bcUns |. >Ao not
correspond at all closely to the racial or sub-racial lines that have been ilra\Mi
for North America, nor to the culture areas into which the tribes have been
grouped by ethnographers. Thus, the Athabaskan stock counts among iis
tribes representatives of four of the major culture areas of the contineni
Plateau-Mackenzie area, southern outlier of West Coast area. Plains area and
Southwestern area.
Proposed Classification of American Indian Languages North of Mexico
(and Certain Languages of Mexico and Central Anierua)
L Lskinio-Aliiit
IL A Igonk in - Wakashan
1. Algonkin-Ritwaii
(I) Algonkin
98 V American Indian Umguages 1
(2) Beothuk (?)
(3) Ritwan
(a) Wiyot
(b) Yurok
2. Kootenay
3. Mosan (Wakashan-Salish)
(1) Wakashan (Kwakiutl-Nootka)
(2) Chimakuan
(3) Salish
///. Nadene
1. Haida
2. Continental Nadene
(1) Tlingit
(2) Athabaskan
IV. Penutian
1. Californian Penutian
(1) Miwok-Costanoan
(2) Yokuts
(3) Maidu
(4) Wintun
2. Oregon Penutian
(1) Takelma
(2) Coast Oregon Penutian
(a) Coos
(b) Siuslaw
(c) Yakonan
(3) Kalapuya
3. Chinook
4. Tsimshian
5. Plateau Penutian
(1) Sahaptin
(2) Waiilatpuan (Molala-Cayuse)
(3) Lutuami (Klamath-Modoc)
6. Mexican Penutian
(1) Mixe-Zoque
(2) Huave
V. Hokan-Siouan
1. Hokan-Coahuiltecan
A. Hokan
(1) Northern Hokan
(a) Karok, Chimariko, Shasta-Achomawi
(b) Yana
(c) Porno
(2) Washo
One: lypolofiy and Clusstjuuium 99
(3) Essclcn-Yunuiii
(a) Fissclcn
(h) \' II man
(4) Salinan-Scri
(a) Saliiian
(b) Chuniasli
(c) Scri
(5) Tcquistlalccan (Choiital)
B. Subtiaha-Tlappancc
C. Coaluiiltccan
(1) Tonkawa
(2) Coahuiltcco
(a) Coahuiltcco pri)pcr
(b) Cotonanic
(c) Comecrudo
(3) Karankawa
2. Yuki
3. Keres
4. Tunican
(1) Tunica- Atakapa
(2) Chitimacha
5. Iroquois-Caddoan
( 1) Iroquoian
(2) Caddoan
6. Eastern group
(1) Siouan-Yuchi
(a) Siouan
(b) Yuchi
(2) Natchez-Muskogian
(a) Natchez
(b) Muskogian
(c) Timucua (?)
VI. Aztcc-Tanoan
1. Uto-Aztekan
(1) Nahuatl
(2) Piman
(3) Shoshonean
2. Tanoan- Kiowa
(1 ) Tanoan
(2) Kiowa
3. Zuni CM
The aboriginal languages ot North AiiKrica ditlci tioiu each other in hulh
phonetic and morphological respects. Some are poKsMUhetic (i>r "holo-
phrastic") in structure, such as Algonkian. ^'ana. K\Nakiuil-N«>oik.i. i>r
100 V American Indian Languages 1
Eskimo. Others, like Takelma and Yokuts, are of an inflective cast and may be
compared, tor structural outlines, to Latin or Greek; still others, like Coos,
while inflective, have been reduced to the relatively analytic status of a such a
language as English; agglutinative languages of moderate complexity, com-
parable to Turkish, are common, say Shoshonean or Sahaptin.
The term "polysynthetic" indicates that the language is far more
than ordinarily synthetic in form, that the word embodies many more or
less concrete notions that would in most languages be indicated by the
grouping of independent words in the sentence. The Yana word
ydbanaumawildjigummahanigi "let us, each one (of us), move indeed to the
west across (the creek)!" is "polysynthetic" in structure. It consists of elements
of three types — a nuclear element or "stem," yd "several people move"; [140]
formal elements of mode {-ha-, hortatory) and person {-nigi "we"); and ele-
ments of a modifying sort which cannot occur independently but which nev-
ertheless express ideas that would ordinarily be rendered by independent
words {-banauma- "everybody," -wil- "across," -dji- "to the west," -gumma-
"indeed"). Such constructions are not uncommon in native America but are by
no means universal.
Phonetically these languages differ enormously. Some, like Pawnee (Cad-
doan stock), have a simple consonantal structure, others make all manner of
fine consonantal discriminations and possess many strange types of conso-
nants, such as voiceless /- sounds, "glottalized" consonants, and velar k-
sounds, that are infrequent elsewhere. Kutchin, an Athabaskan language of
Alaska, possesses no less than 55 consonantal "phonemes," distinct consonan-
tal elements of the total phonetic pattern. A considerable number of the native
languages of North America are pitch languages, i.e., they use pitch dif-
ferences in otherwise similar syllables to make lexical or grammatical distinc-
tions. Such languages are Tlingit, Athabaskan (certain dialects of this group
have lost pitch as an inherently necessary element of language), Takelma,
Shasta- Achomawi, Yuman, Tanoan. Navaho may serve as an example of such a
pitch language. Every syllable in its words is definitely high or low in pitch, or,
less frequently, has a falling or rising tone. Thus, bint means "his nostril" if the
two syllables have a high tone, "his face" if they have a low tone, and "at his
waist, centre" if the first syllable is low and the second high; ydzid means "you
pour it (sandy mass) down" if the first syllable is low and the second high, but "I
have poured it down" if both are low.
The six major linguistic groups of Sapir's scheme may be characterized as
follows:
I. The Eskimo-Aleut languages are "polysynthetic" and inflective; use suf-
fixes only, never prefixes, reduplication, inner stem modification, or com-
pounding of independent stems; have a great elaboration of the formal aspect
of verb structure, particularly as regards mode and person; and make a funda-
mental distinction between the transitive and intransitive verb, to which
corresponds the nominal case distinction of agentive-genitive and absoiutive
(or objective).
One: Typology aiui Classijumion 101
II. The Algonkin-Wakushan languages, too, arc "polvsynthclic ' and.
especially as regards Algonquian, intlcctivc; make use of sutlixcs, to a much
less extent, particularly in Algonquian and Ritwan, ot prefixes; have important
inner stem modifications, including reduplication; have a weak development ol
case; and illustrate to a marked degree the process ot building up noun and \erh
themes by suffixing to stems local, instrumental, adverbial, and concretelv \er-
balizing elements.
III. The Nadene languages, probably the most speciLdi/ed ol all. are tt)ne
languages and, while presenting a superficially "polysynthetic" aspect, are built
up, fundamentally, of monosyllabic elements of prevailingly nominal signifi-
cance which have fixed order with reference to each other and combine into
morphologically loose "words"; emphasize voice and "aspect" rather than
tense; make a fundamental distinction between active and static verb lorms;
make abundant use of postpositions after both nouns and verb forms; and com-
pound nominal stems freely. The radical element of these languages is probably
always nominal in force and the verb is typically a derivative of a nominal base.
which need not be found as such.
IV. The Penutian languages are far less cumbersome in structure than the
preceding three but are more tightly knit, presenting many analogies to the
Indo-European languages; make use of suffixes of formal, rather than con-
crete, significance; show many types of inner stem change; and possess true
nominal cases, for the most part. Chinook seems to have developed a second-
ary "polysynthetic" form on the basis of a broken down form of Penutian; while
Tsimshian and Maidu have probably been considerably influenced by contact
with Mosan and with Shoshonean and Hokan respectively.
V. The Hokan-Siouan languages are prevailingly agglutinative; tend to use
prefixes rather than suffixes for the more formal elements, particularly the pro-
nominal elements of the verb; distinguish active and static verbs; and make free
use of compounding of stems and of nominal incorporation.
VI. The Aztec-Tanoan languages are moderately "polysynthetic"; suffix
many elements of formal significance; make a sharp formal distinction bei\Keen
noun and verb; make free use of reduplication, compounding of stems and
nominal incorporation; and possess many postpositions. Pronominal elements,
in some cases nouns, have different forms for subject and object but the subject
is not differentiated, as in types I., and IV., for intransitive and transitive
constructions.
Bibliography — J. W. Powell, "Indian Linguistic Families of America niuthot
Mexico," Bureau of Ethnology, lih Annual Report, pp. 1-142 (Washington.
1891); Franz Boas, "Handbook of American Indian Languages." Bureau ot
American Ethnology, Bull. 40 (pt. I, 1911; pt. 2, 1922); P. Rivet. "I angues de
I'AmeriqueduNord," pp. 6()7-62cSof A. Meillet et M. Cohen, /cs I nn^iucs du
Monde (Paris, 1924).
Mexican and Central American Languages. — I he classification ol the native
languages of Middle America is not in quite so advanced a stage as is that ot the
many languages spoken north of Mexico. The languages are, some ol them.
102 V American Indian luinguages 1
spoken by large populations, numbering millions, as in the case of Nahuatl (or
Mexican) and the Maya of Yucatan; others are confined to very small groups,
like the Subtiaba-Tlappanec of Nicaragua and Guerrero, or are extinct, as is
Waicuri in Lower California. Nahuatl, Maya (with Quiche, Kekchi, and
Cakchiquel, which belong to the Mayan stock), and Zapotec were great culture
languages which had developed ideographic methods of writing.
The languages of Middle America may be conveniently grouped into three
main sets: A., southern outliers of stocks located chiefly north of Mexico; B.,
stocks spoken only in Mexico and Central America, so far as is known at pres-
ent; C, northern outliers of South American stocks. It is quite probable that
relationships will eventually be discovered between some of the languages of
group B and languages lying further north.
To group A belong three distinct stocks: Uto-Aztekan, with two subdivisions,
Sonoran (or Piman), spoken in a large number of dialects in northern Mexico,
and Nahuatl (or Aztek), spoken in central Mexico and in a number of isolated
southern enclaves — the Pacific coast of Oaxaca (Pochutla), three disconnected
areas in Salvador and Guatemala (Pipil), two areas in Nicaragua and one in
Costa Rica (Nicarao), and the Chiriqui region of Costa Rica (Sigua), of which
dialects Nicarao and Sigua are now extinct — with Cuitlateco of Michoacan as a
doubtful member of the stock; Hokan-Coahuiltecan, represented by Hokan
proper, which includes Seri (coast of Sonora), Yuman (in Lower California),
and Tequistlateco or Chontal (coast of Oaxaca), by Coahuiltecan (Pakawan), of
the lower Rio Grande, and by Subtiaba-Tlappanec, which is spoken in two
small areas in Guerrero, one in Salvador, and one in Nicaragua; and
Athabaskan (Apache tribes of Chihuahua and Coahuila).
The Middle American languages proper (group B) may, with reservations,
be classified into 15 linguistic stocks, which in alphabetic order, are: Chinantec
(Oaxaca and western Vera Cruz); Janambre (Tamaulipas; extinct); Jicaque
(northern Honduras); Lenca (Honduras and Salvador); Mayan (Yucatan and
neighboring states of southern Mexico, British Honduras, western Honduras,
and Guatemala), with an aberrant dialect group, Huastec, in the northeastern
coast region of Mexico (Vera Cruz, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas); Miskito-
Sumo-Matagalpa, consisting of three distinct language groups: Miskito (coast
of Nicaragua and Honduras), Sumo-Ulua (eastern Nicaragua and southern
Honduras), and Matagalpa (Nicaragua; a small enclave, Cacaopera, in Sal-
vador); Mixe-Zoque-Huave, spoken in four disconnected groups, Mixe-Zoque
(Oaxaca, Vera Cruz, Chiapas and Tabasco), Tapachultec (southeastern
Chiapas; extinct), Aguacatec (Guatemala; extinct); and Huave (coast of Oa-
xaca), Mixtec-Zapotec, a group of languages that some consider as composed of
four independent stocks: Mixtec (Guerrero, Puebla, and western Oaxaca),
Amusgo (Guerrero and Oaxaca), Zapotec (Oaxaca), and Cuiacatec (northern
Oaxaca); Olive (Tamaulipas; extinct); Otomian, consisting of three distinct
groups: Otomi (large part of central Mexico), Mazatec (Guerrero, [141] Puebla,
Oaxaca; includes Trique and Chocho), and the geographically distant
Chiapanec-Mangue {Chiapanec in Chiapas; Mangue and related languages in
One: T\pi>lo\i\ and Clu.ssijuaiion H)\
three disconnected areas in Nicaragua and Costa Kica); ravu (Honduras).
Tarascan (Michoacan); Totonac (Hidalgo. Pucbla. and coast o( \cra Cru/);
Wahuri (southern part ol Lower ('alitoriii;i : ixiiiutl \'nu,, < v,>uiheasicrn
Guatemala).
The outhers from South America are two; Cunl> (coast ot Honduras and
British Honduras; transferred in post-Columbian times from the Antilles),
Cliihcliun (Costa Rica and Panama). In the West Indies two South American
stocks were represented. Carih and Arawak, the latter constituting an older
stream which had overrun the (Greater Antilles anil penetrated into Morula
As to the languages of group B, some connect C hinantec, Mi,\tec-/tipotcc.
and Otomian in one great linguistic stock, Mixtec-Zapoiec-Oiomi. Both Xmca
and Lenca (also Paya and Jicaque?) may be remote southern outliers of the
Penutian languages of North America. Waicuri may have been related to
Yuman. It is by no means unlikely that such important Middle American stt)cks
as Mayan, Totonac, and Tarascan may also belong to certain ot the larger stock
groupings that have been suggested for North America; e.g., Maya may lit into
the Hokan-Siouan framework, Tarascan into Aztek-Tanoan.
Middle America, in spite of its special cultural position, is distinctiv a part ot
the whole North American linguistic complex and is connected with North
America by innumerable threads. On the other hand, there seems to be a much
sharper line of linguistic division, distributionally speaking, between .Mitklle
and South America. This line is approximately at the boundary between Ni-
caragua and Costa Rica; allowances being made for Nahuatl and ()t(^mian
enclaves in Costa Rica and for an Arawak colony in Florida, we may say thai
Costa Rica, Panama, and the West Indies belong linguistically to South Amer-
ica. The Chibchan, Arawak, and Carib stocks of the southern continent were
obviously diffusing northward at the time of the Conquest, but evidence seems
to indicate that for Mexico and Central America as a whole the ethnic and
linguistic movement was from north to south. Middle America may be lotiked
upon as a great pocket for the reception of a number of distinct southward-
moving peoples and the linguistic evidence is sure to throw much light in the
future on the ethnic and culture streams which traversed these regions.
Two linguistic groups seem to stand out as archaically Middle .American:
Miskito-Sumo-Matagalpa, in Central America, and Mi\tec-/apotec-()t«Mni.
with its center of gravity in southern Mexico. The latter oi these sent oltshoois
that reached as far south as Costa Rica. The Penutian languages, centered in
Oregon and California, must early have extended far to the south, as ihe\ seem
to be represented in Mexico and Central America by Mixe-/oque. HuaNc.
Xinca, and Lenca. These southern offshiH)ts are now cut from their northern
cognate languages by a vast number of intrusi\e languages, e.g., Hokan and
Aztek-Tanoan. The Mayan languages, apparentiv o{ Hokan-Siouan t\pe. ma\
have drifted south at about an equally early date. PresumabU later ihan the
Penutian and Mayan movements into Middle .America is the Hokan-
Coahuiltecan stream, represented by at least three distinct groups —
' Coahuiltecan (N.E. Mexico). Subtiaba- liappanee ((iuerrero. Nicaragua), and
104 V American Indian Languages 1
a relatively late stream of Hokan languages proper (Yuman; Seri; and Chontal
in Oaxaca). Not too early must have been the Uto-Aztekan movement to the
south, consisting of an advance guard of Nahuatl-speaking tribes, a rear guard
of Sonoran-speaking tribes (Cora, Huichol, Tarahumare, Tepehuane). The
Nahuatl language eventually pushed south as far as Costa Rica. Last of all, the
Apache dialects of Chihuahua brought into Mexico the southernmost outpost
of the Nadene group of languages, which extend north nearly to the Arctic.
Bibliography — C. Thomas and J. R. Swanton, "Indian Languages of Mexico
and Central America and their Geographical Distribution," Bureau of Ameri-
can Ethnology, Bull. 44 (Washington, 1911); W. Lehmann, Zentral-Amerika, I.
Theil, "Die Sprachen Zentral-Amerikas" (Berlin, 1920); P. Rivet, "Langues de
I'Amerique Centrale," pp. 629-638 of A. Meillet et M. Cohen, Les Langues du
Monde (Paris, 1924).
Editorial Note
Reprinted with permission from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Fourteenth Edi-
tion, Vol. 5, pp. 138-141; copyright 1929 by Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
GLOTTALIZED CONTINUANTS IN NAWMlo, NooTKA,
AND K\VAIvII:TL
(with a notk on i\do-kuropkan)
Edward Sapir
Yale University
1. It is well known that a very largo nuinhor of American Iri<lian
languages number among their phonemes glottalized stops and afTri-
cates (e.g. p, t, k, g, /c"", q", c, <5). Examples of such languages or groups
of languages are Dakota, Winnebago, Ponea and other Siouan languages;
Tonkawa; Chitimacha; Kootenay; Salish languages; Sahaplin lan-
guages; Chinookan; Tlingit; Haida; Tsimshian; Kwakiutl and Nootka';
Chimakuan; Athapaskan languages (e.g. Navaho;') Alsea; Siuslaw;
Coos; Takelma; Karok; Shasta; Achumawi and Atsugewi; Porno;
Chimariko; Yana; Ivlamath and Modoc; Kalapuya; Yana; Yurok;
Yuki; Wintun; Yokuts; Washo; Keres; Tanoan languages; Iviowa;
Mayan languages; Queohua. In most of these languages the glot-
talized consonants are fortes, as in Chinookan and .\thapaskan; in
others, as in Chitimacha and Taos (Tanoan),'" they are lenes. In the
overwhelming majority of cases the glottal release is posterior to the
oral release, precisely as in Georgian and other Caucasic languages.
These glottalized consonants are sometimes known as 'ejecti\es*.
In some languages, however, the oral and glottal releases arc .synchron-
ous. An example of a language having glottalized consonants of this
type is Southern Paiute (Shoshonean), where th(\v are not true pho-
nemes, however, as they may always be analyzed into stop (or afTrirate)
' The Navaho forms cited in this paper are from the author's field notes.
The Nootka forms are quoted from Sapir and Swadesh, .N'ootka Text.>< (Willijim
Dwight Whitney Linguistic Series, Vale I'niversity, 1U38). The Kwakiutl forms
are quoted from F. Boas' writings on Kwakiutl, particularly: Kwakiutl (Hand-
book of American Indian Languages, 1.423 557, Hureau of .\merican Kthnolon)-,
Bulletin 40, 1910); Ethnology of the Kwakiutl, Part 2 (35th .Annual RejMirt of
the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1921), Vocabulary (pp. 1389 1166); A Revised
List of Kwakiutl Suffixes (International .Journal of Anjeriran I.inguistirs 3 117
131 [1921]); Notes on the Kwakiutl Vocabulary (ibid. 6.1f>3 78 (1«.>31|).
'» Fide .Morris Swadesh and George L. Trager reHpectively.
24 S
105 V American Indian Languages 1
249
2. Less common than glottalized stops and affricates are glottalized
continuants. \'oiceiess spirants with glottal affection are well attested
in Tlingit, where we have the series: s, x, x"', x, i"", which must be care-
fully distinguished from the parallel series of glottalized stops and
affricates: c, k, /:"', q, ?"'. In Chasta Costa (Athapaskan) x is the regular
reflex of Athapaskan k, whose more common dialectic reflexes are k
(e.g. Navaho), or q (e.g. Hupa).
Of greater frequency, it would seem, than glottalized voiceless spir-
ants are glottalized sonorant consonants {y, w, m, n, v, I) : y, w, m, n, », L
In these consonants the glottal closure is synchronous with the momen-
tarily voiceless initial phase of the continuants, its release being imme-
diately followed by the voiced phase of the continuant. A pronuncia-
tion "^ + y, for instance, is always resisted by the native's ear as in-
correct, particularly as such clusters may occur as well. In Nootka,
for instance, tana 'child' cannot be syllabified ta^-na, as there are no
syllables ending in '^. The n is a true phoneme, beginning its syllable,
and a syllable can only begin with a single consonant. In Navaho the
same phoneme, n, must be carefully distinguished from the cluster ^n;
the former occurs, e.g., in xdnd'nd^^ *he has crawled out back again',
the latter in xd'^nd- 'across'. A few indications of the occurrence of
these sounds may be welcome. Haida possesses y, w, m, n, rj, and I;
y and w are actually more common phonemes than y and w, though
these are not absent. Yokuts, Tsimshian, and Kwakiutl have y, w,
m, n, and I. Nootka has y, w, m, and n. Navaho possesses n and m
and, very rarely, y; these can only occur as stem initials, never as
word initials.
3. Examples of these phonemes as initials in Nootka are: yama
'salal-berries'; ya-q 'long' (contrast yaq-^rtq 'he who is'); yowa--K 'filled
with surprise, grateful' (contrast yox^'a- 'heating up, giving off hot air');
wa-- 'ashamed, bashful' (contrast wa' 'to say'); walwal 'the temples'
(contrast wal-siX 'to go home'); wv-ya- 'to split into thin slabs' (con-
trast wi--ya 'never'); wic-a- 'to nod one's head' (contrast wica- 'well to
do') ; ma- 'holding in the mouth' (contrast ma- 'to dwell') ; ma-t-il 'cap-
tive' (contrast mat- 'to fly'); mo-q 'throwing off sparks from fire-drill
twirler' (contrast moq- 'having liquid in the mouth'); na-pi 'there is
moonhght' (contrast na-p-a- 'to get coiled up') ; nas- 'to look' (contrast
nas-ok 'strong, firm'); nix''- 'salmon roe, kidneys' (contrast nix'^-ak
'cheap'); noc-siK 'to cook food by steaming' (contrast noc-v 'mountain').
Non-initial examples are: \ol-ryol 'well-throated, having a good voice'
' -^, high tone; -^, low tone.
One: Typoloffy aiul Clmsifnaium 107
250
(contrast '^o--yoq"a 'doing to him'); -xbi, -xbi- 'mark of . ' '- -•- t
-wi, -wi- 'first'); -ma, -ma- 'as far as . . . ' (contrast -ma'^aX \
to . . . '); ^u-naqil 'to find it' (contrast ^o-naqa 'using it a« i
4. It is obvious, from the Ix'havior of j/, w, m, and n in Nootku.
these are true phonemes, sharjjly distinguishalile from the noi. .
tahzcd y, w, m, and n and etymoloKJcally irreducible, at least in the fir«i in-
stance, to "^ -f sonorant consonant (or sonorant cons(jnant + '). SomiiK-
ular are these consonants, however, that it is tempting to seek evidence
accounting for their origin, though in a i)urely descriptive treatment of
the phonemes of a language no such evidence need Ik? considered. Wc
may turn for a moment to Navaho, for neither n, rii, nor y is an original
Athapaskan phoneme and a comj)arative study of Athajjaskan sounds
must account for their appearance in Navaho. iMjrtunately this is
an easy task. It is true that there are, or seem to be, a few stems in
which an initial n must be accepted as an \manalyzable phoneme, e.g.
-ri&h (ipf.), -no? (pf.) 'to crawl'. But in other cases an apparently
irresolvable n can be plausibly shown to re.sult from a contraction of
d + n. Thus, the stem -rii^ of ^i-rii^ 'thunder' and the stem -ni of
dini 'he moans' are best explained as resulting from an earlier *-d-ni'^
and *-d-ni respectively. The -d- of *-d-nP is reduced from the di-
of the verb di-. .-nl 'to say', whose stem (-ni 'to make a .sound') is
identical with the -ni which underlies the -ni of 'to moan' and closely
related to the -ni^ underlying the -ni^ of 'thunder'. That this is the
case can be shown by the testimony of related languages, in which we
either have actual combinations of </ + n or the proper reflexes of -dn-
in the words for 'thunder'. In Navaho dinl 'he moans' the prefix di-
is the same sound-referring element which we have in di-. -nl 'to .»yiy'
and in countless other verbs having to do with sound, word, or sjHH'ch,
while the -d- of earlier *-d-ni is a self-referring element; dinl is, there-
fore, etymologically something like 'he says, makes a sound, with
reference to him.self', i.e. 'he makes a sound without purpose of com-
munication'. It will be seen that the glottal element of n in -ni^ and
-ni, while going back to the same stopped consonant, is not derivable
from the same morphological element. In other words, wc are dealing
here with a purely mechanical morphophonemic emergent, n, due to
the coalescence of two originally distinct phonemes, d and n, of •• '
ever etymological value. Owing to the great semantic distincti\! :- .-
of 'thunder' and 'to moan' as compared with 'to say' and the lack of
obvious paradigmatic relationshij) of '^it'ii'^ and dinl to dt- -nl, it is
safe to assume that the analy.><es that we have given, how. -Mr rU-nr to
108 V' American Indian Languages 1
251
the dissecting linguist, have not the 'configurative pressure' that would
justify our considering the phoneme n as merely a resultant oi d -\- n.
If such an interpretation was at one time possible, it is probably no
longer the case from a purely descriptive point of view, -nth (-rid'*),
-ni^, -ni, and other stems of this sort are best listed, for descriptive
purposes, as possessing a distinct phoneme, n, whose remoter history
has no compelling relevance for its placement in the scheme of Navaho
phonemes.
There are, however, two important considerations which weaken the
force of the negative argument. All other consonantal phonemes
(aside from the rare m and y, of which a word later on), 32 in number,
not only occur as stem initials but as word initials, while n, rh, and y
can only occur as non-initial stem initials. This at once suggests, and
quite aside from historical or morphological considerations, that n,
m, and y have a secondary, derivative, phonemic status. This surmise
is borne out by the second and more important consideration, that all
cases of m and y (there are only a few) and the great majority of cases
of n, a common phoneme, are not as isolable or as relatively isolable as
those we have just spoken of but occur in a clear-cut morphophonemic
relation to m, y, and n respectively. To make this clear, we shall
have to go into certain details of Navaho morphology. An important
feature of the structure of Navaho verb-paradigms is the appearance
of what may be called a rf-effect at certain points in the total configura-
tion. There are chiefly two such points: the first person dual-plural
subjective pronoun prefix {-v- < *-vd-) and the mediopassive forms
(characterized by an old element *-d-). For these two groups of forms
it is necessary to modify either the stem initial or the form of a con-
sonantal prefix immediately preceding the stem or, very frequently,
both. Thus, a d-modified stem initial, even when such modification
is only implicit (in cases where the earlier *-d- disappeared without
leaving an overt trace, e.g. before stops and affricates), requires that
the perfective prefix -z- in the third person of a very large 'class' of
verbs (the most numerous of the four 'classes') take the form charac-
teristic of the other three classes, namely -s-; thus, yi-de--z-^q (pf. stem
-^4 of ipf. -^d'h 'to handle the round object') 'he has gone off with it
(an object of a certain semantic classification)', but passive dt-s-td^
'it has been gone off with' < *de--z-d-'^({. Similarly, yi-de--z-k4 (pf.
stem -fc4 of ipf. -kd-h 'to handle the container with its contents') 'he
has gone off with it (an object of another semantic classification)',
but de--s-k(l 'it has been gone off with' < *de--z-d-k4. Again, dvtd'h
One: Typolofiy urul C'lasMjuaium |09
252
'we 2 go off with th(> round object' < \i-iii-'^dh : dWuh l ro off wiih
it'; while in dikdh 'we 2 go off with the container with it« contcnU':
diskd-h *I go off with it' there is no overt (hfTereii^ ' ~. .-t
and its absence. It may l)e remarked that in <■ in
dialects, e.g. Hupa, the theoretical *-(l- of Navaho actually api)can4 a»
a syllable of type -di-. The table of ^/-modified stem initials, a.siijc
from irregularities which do not interest us, is iis follows:
Primary con.sonant
d-moilificd
?
i
s,z
s, z
9
7
g; sometimes ?
y
§; rarely y
m
m
n
n
1,1
X
In the forms analogous to those which recjuire a change of ' to I, n
becomes n. Hence, analogously to yidcz'^q, dc'stq, dis'^dh imd ditdh,
we have yide-znil (pf. stem -tiil of ipf. -ni'l 'to handle tlie group of
objects') 'he has gone off with them', desnil 'they have been gone off
with', disni-l 'I go off with them', dvnl'l 'we 2 go off with them'. Again,
within the paradigm of the verb di-. .-ni 'to say', the stem -rii, pf.
-nvd, must be modified to -nl, -j'lvd, e.g. di't'ii 'we 2 say' (homonymous
with drril 'we 2 moan' but referal)le to diml 'I say', not to dUAi 'I
moan'), hddd'nvd 'it has been said' (contrast di-nvd 'I have .said').
5. In Navaho y only occurs in morphophonemic alternation with y
in the stem -ydi, e.g. hdhsyoi 'I ha\e bravery, am able to endure',
honiyui 'we 2 have bravery'; to- '^ohdyoi 'they are in great number*,
to- ^dhonvyoi 'we are in great number', ^^'e shoulii have expected
*-^6i in the (/-modified forms of -yoi but, for reasons which .«<eem totally
obscure at present, -yoi here follows the analogy of stems with initial
n and m. m is the regular (/-modified form of in, not a common pho-
neme, and occurs almost exclusivcl}' as its mor|)h<': " ' t.
I'l\ami)lcs are ndnvihd'^v 'we 2 are vagabonds': • a
vagabond, roam about like a coyote', a denominative verb based on
md'^v 'coyote'; ncmds 'we 2 have got round': ri^mds 'I have got round".
ne'zmds 'he has got round'.'
• I owe these forms of the verb to get round' to Kuthi-r lU-rard lUilr, < ' »
J 10 V American Indian Languaf^es 1
253
It would seem, therefore, that the class of glottalized voiced con-
tinuants in Navaho, consisting of ri, rh, and y, of which the two latter
are but sparsely represented, arose in the first place as secondary
phonemes, owing to the coalescence of an old d with an immediately
following n or m, irregularly also with an immediately following y.
The processes -dn-, -dm- > -n-, -rh- may be considered true phonetic
laws but -dy- > -y- contravenes all known analogies, which suggest
-§- as the regular phonetic development. We shall therefore infer that
y arose, not by the operation of a normal phonetic law, but by a peculiar
type of morphophonemic analogy. Perhaps analogies of this sort have
played a greater part in linguistic history than is generally suspected.
In Navaho we have the interesting spectacle of a pecular class of pho-
nemes 'on the make', as it were. Their functional dependence on the
more common, non-glottalized, forms of the voiced continuants (n,
m, y) is still entirely clear, yet cases like -n&h 'to crawl', which cannot
easily be traced to an earlier *-d-ne-h, though that is almost certainly
what it does go back to, already show that there is a tendency for the
glottalized voiced continuants to establish for themselves a more inde-
pendent position in the configuration of Navaho phonemes.
6. We must now return to Nootka. This language is at the opposite
extreme from Navaho, for its glottalized voiced continuants show little
sign of a relationship to the corresponding non-glottalized voiced con-
tinuants. The glottalized varieties have obviously been completely
independent phonemes for a very long time and comparison with
Kwakiutl, a remotely related language,^* confirms this, for in both
languages these consonants occupy the same position. Among the
cognates are examples illustrating them, e.g. Nootka nop- 'one' :
Kwakiutl ndm- 'one' (syllabically final m becoming p in Nootka; be-
fore this p original d labialized to o, phonetically open u). As no
obvious biconsonantal prototype can be suggested for either Nootka
or Kwakiutl n- in this word and in similar words, we must ascribe the
phoneme n, and with it also y, w, rh, and I, to the early Wakashan*
period.
There are, however, certain processes which strongly suggest that
**The degree of genetic relationship of Nootka and Kwakiutl is hardly greater
than that of, say, Russian and German.
* VVakashan is the term employed by Americanists for a linguistic group which
includes two main branches: Kwakiutl, consisting of Kwakiutl proper, Bella
Bella, and Kitamat; and Nootka, consisting of Nootka proper (also known as
Aht), Nitinat, and Makah. This synthesis was first established by Boas.
One: T\pi>U>^\ utui ClasMfuaium \\\
254
Nootka y, w, m, and n arc of soroiuiary origin, at Ica.'^t in pari. These
processes are shared l)v Xootka and Kwakiutl, so that the emergence
of the glottahzcd voiced continuants is at h«ast as old as the \Viiktt>h:in
period. One of the most important of these proces.ses is the 'hardcnniK'
of consonants when they are immediately followed by sufFixes with
inherently 'hardeninp;' power. In the main the 'hardening' proces.s
consists of plot talizat ion. Thus, in Kwakiutl p, t, k", c, q, I, i", to
single out a number of consonants, are 'hardened' to j5, t, k", 6, q, I, \h
respectively; q, undoubtedly a Wakashan phoneme, develops to Nootka
.', a laryngeated ('strangulated') glottal stoj), phonemically distinct
from '^ while -U develops to Nootka -y-. The other of these 'hardened'
consonants remain in Nootka. Thus, to give only a few Nootka
examples, hap- 'hair' + '-itol [r] 'dreaming of . . . '* yields hahapitol
'dreaming of hair'; hopt- 'in hiding' + '-a'^a 'on the rocks' yields
hopta-'^a'in hiding on the rocky (shore)'; .'rA:""- 'pair of brothers' -f '-ck\i
'at the rear, last' yields .'rfc"'aA:Xi 'the two brothers (are) at the rear, come
last'; toe 'large sea-egg' + absolutive suffix '-op yields tocop; 6ikit-q- stem
abstracted (because of current relation of Nootka -t-q- : -n-) from iikinis,
borrowed from English 'chickens', + '-is 'eating . . . ' yields cikitHi
'eating chicken'; hoi- 'dancing' + '-as 'outdoors, in the village' yields
hoyas 'dancing in the village'; ^ox""- 'paddle' (absolutive '^ox^'ap) -f
'-ahs 'in a vessel' yields "^oibahs 'a paddle (is) in the canoe'. In part,
therefore, non-initial y, w, rh, and n, like other non-initial glottahzcd
consonants, can be shown to go back to the 'hardening' of glottalizoti
continuants, such as -I- and -x""-. The chief types of Xootk.-i 'harden-
ing' to these consonants are:
-n- 'hardened' to -n-
-m- " " -m-
-l- " " -y-, sometimes -w-
-s- " " -y-
-s- " " -y-
.x«»- " " -w-
-h- (rarely) " " -w-
Nootka s goes back, in the main, to Waka.shan x (voiceless pri'paJatal
spirant) ; -h- (laryngeated h, similar to Arabic h) is developed from -^-
(voiceless velar spirant) or its labialized form, -j"-, 'hardening' of h
to -w- always implying an underlying Waku-^han -x"-. Of the four
' •- is a symbol to indicate the 'hardeniiiR' effect of a suffix. R indic«tr« th»t
the suffix causes reduplication of stem; l, tlmt the auffix cau«cii lrnclhrnin« of
stem vowel.
112 V American Indum iMnguages I
255
glottalized voiced continuants, therefore, two (n and rh) may be direct
resultants of a glottalizing process dependent on an initial peculiarity
of a suffixed element, and two {y and w) may result, more indirectly,
from glottalization, voicing and loss of spirantal friction or shift in
articulatory position, of voiceless spirants or their prototypes {I, s,
*x, ar", *?"'), dependent on the same initial peculiarity of a suffixed
element. No doubt the three etymological sources for y and the two
(or three) etymological sources for w were originally reflected in five
distinct glottalized phonemes (perhaps -1-, -z-, -7-, -7""-, -7"'-). This
is confirmed by the fact that in Kwakiutl the 'hardened' forms of -1-,
-S-, and X are respectively -1-, -c-, and -n-, the last of which suggests
that 'hardened' Wakashan -7- was a different phoneme from the prim-
ary y shared by Kwakiutl and Nootka.
What this 'initial peculiarity of a suffixed element' was we cannot be
sure of at present. That it was not the simple presence of a glottal
stop is likely, for there are several suffixes which begin with "^ that
remains unabsorbed bj'- the preceding consonant, such as -"^ato 'to
fall off, come off', -'^okt 'obtained by . . .', -^al 'aware of . . .'; thus
his- 'to hit' + -^okt yields his-'^okt 'obtained by violence', not *hiyokt
(contrast hiyo-\ 'to hit on the rocks' < his- + '-o-X 'on the rocks',
momentaneous aspect). There may have been a weak consonant, say
-h-, following the "^ in the case of 'hardening' suffixes, which had the
effect of throwing the ? back on the preceding syllable, with resultant
glottal absorption or 'hardening', while the h was left to begin the fol-
lowing syllable. Later, when nearly all but analogical A's (chiefly in
reduplication, e.g. hihis-, distributive form of his-) disappeared in non-
initial position, the syllabic division was shifted and the appearance
created of simple glottal absorption. If this view is correct, his'^okt
derives from an early his-'^okt, but \o\oyvh 'fishing for herrings' <
"Kos- 'herring' (absolutive Xos-mit) -\- '-rh [r] 'hunting, collecting . . . '
derives from *XoXos-^/ira;^"'^ > *-\oshvx'-'^'> > *-Xozrx^"'^ > Nootka
-\oyrh; the -'^- of the suffix would be responsible for the glottalization
of the emergent -y-, the former -h- for the 'softening' (see below) of
the glottalized spirant (-s- ?) lying back of the present -y-. Be this as
it may, it can be shown from a comparison of Kwakiutl and Nootka
elements that consonant + "i* does not yield a 'hardened' consonant;
in other words, that the difference between retained "^ and 'hardening'
of preceding consonant is not simply a matter of difference of chron-
ology, the 'hardening' process being due to an early, Wakashan, glot-
talizing, but the mechanical preservation of "i* to a later Nootka process.
One: lypolojiy aiui C'lassiJuiUum H3
256
Ai\ example of preserved consonant + "' that inu.st ^o hack to the
Wakashan period is Kwakiutl -x^dnx * . . . year', Nootka -q^Uh, Wak-
ashan *-q^dkx (voiceless stopped consonants are sj)irantixe<l Ix-foro
certain consonants in Kwakiutl; for earlier Kwakiutl *-x'':>tx > -x''.>uf,
cf. 'hardening' of -x- to -n- above).
7. The theory that Nootka and Kwakiutl 'hanicnm^; an- liut- lu iht?
l)ooling of two historically distinct processes, glottalization and 'soften-
ing', receives some weight from the fact that there is an independent
but related 'softening' effect exerted by several suffixes on the imme-
diately preceding consonant. The 'softening' elTect is very clear in
Kwakiutl, which possesses three distinct series of stops and affricates
('intermediate' or voiceless lenis, aspirated voiceless fort is, and glot-
talized: e.g. b, p, p). The '.softening' .sufhxes change aspirated voiceh-s-s
stops and affricates to their corresponding intermediates (e.g. t to d,
c to ?). As Nootka has pooled the old intermediates and aspirates in a
single voiceless fortis series (unaspirated before vowels, aspirated as sylla-
bic finals), the old 'softening' process is visible only with spirants and here
only in considerably diminished range. Those suffixes (like "-i/" 'in
the house' and '-is 'on the beach') which have the '.softening' effect
change I to y (or w), s and s to y, and j" and h (if < *x'') to w; e.g.
-ol 'place of . . .' + '-is yields -owis '. . . place on the beacli', ^r/i-
'big' + '-a-ci\ (inceptive) yields "^rwaciX 'to get big', -7?mI 'moving
about' + '-il 'in the house' yields *-mayil > *-mail > -Tnil 'moving
about in the house' (older ai and an become monophthongized to Nootka
r and o* respectively). It cannot be argued that 'softening' is simply
due to the mechanical lenition of an immediately following smooth
vowel, for in both Kwakiutl and Nootka a very large numi)er of suflixes
which begin with a vowel leave the preceding consonant unaffected.
Both 'softening' and 'hardening', therefore, with their parallel efTects,
must have a ])honological feature in common which goes back to the
Wakashan j)eriod and this feature is most likely to have been a weak
consonant that has now disappeared. Now h is a very common initial
consonant in both Kwakiutl and Nootka but is rare in other positions.
As we have seen, it occurs postvocalically in reduplicated forms, where
its presence is readily explained as due to analogy (an irregular *hi»-
'several hit' < hihis-, distributive of his-, could hardly have with-
stood analogical restoration under the pre.s.sure of thou.san«ls «»f regular
forms like ?7iimis- 'several smell', distributive of mis-). Significantly
enough, present intervocalic h shows a tendency itself to 'soften' and
' ■- indicates 'softening'.
14 V American Indian Languages 1
257
palatalize to -ij- after i in certain very common stems, e.g. hiyil <
Viihil, distributive of hil 'at that place, there'; hiyiq- and hihiq- 'various
things', distributive of hiq- 'all'. 'Hardening' is not a process opposed
to 'softening', as originally conceived by Boas for Kwakiutl, but a
'glottalized softening'. 'Lenition' (due to former -h- ?) and 'glottalized
lenition' (due to former -^/i- ?) would seem to be the linguistically prefer-
able terms.
It may be pointed out that it is at least conceivable that the '-z- of
'-t7 and '-is, the two most common 'softening' suffixes of Nootka (and
Kwakiutl: '-vl, '-i's) is an old demonstrative stem *hiy which obviously
occurs in an important series of local and referential stems: hita-, hin-,
hina- empty stem or peg for attachment of semantically significant
suflSxes; his-, hist-, hisa-, hista-, hil 'at that place, there' (referential).
The last series of stems is formally parallel to ya-s-, ya-st-, ya-l, ya'
'there, that' and to yi's-, yi'st-, yrl, yv 'yonder', enabling us to isolate
*hi without difficulty. The meanings 'in the house' (often also 'inside'
without reference to human abode) and 'on the beach' (originally, as
can be shown, 'on a level stretch') are clumsy renderings of a more
generalized type of orientation.
8. 'Hardening' is a process that had worked itself out long before the
dialectic Nootka period. We cannot directly prove the presence of an
old -'^- to account for it, because the -'^- which appears before a 'harden-
ing' suffix when the monosyllabic stem ends in a vowel (e.g. Xa- 'stick-
like object standing up' + '-a-'^a 'on the rocks' yields \a'^a-'^a '[tree,
stick] standing up on the rocky place') is found also with 'softening'
suffixes under the same conditions (e.g. Xa- + '-is 'on the beach' yields
Xe^fs 'standing up on the beach', umlauted < *\a^is) ; this glottal stop,
while it may be a survival of the phoneme that actually caused the
'hardening', can also be a mere hiatus-filler, for a syllable must begin
with a consonant and vocalic contraction cannot take place between
an initial monosyllabic stem ending in a vowel and an initial vowel of a
suffix that 'hardens', 'softens' or begins with inherent -'^-, though such
contraction does take place in subsequent syllables or when the suffix
begins with a smooth vowel that has no disturbing effect on a preceding
consonant (e.g. not only Xa- + '-a-'^a = Xa'^a-'^a, Xa- + '-is = *\a'''is,
but also Xa- + -^r-^a 'to get to be on the rocks' = *\a'^v'^a 'stick gets
to be standing on the rocks' > \e'^v'^a; contrast Xa- -|- -a-s 'on a sur-
face' = "Ka-s '[stick] standing on [it]' and distributive \a\a-^a 'several
trees standing on the rocks'). What probably happened is that orig-
inal forms of type *\a-'^v- remained, that forms of type *\a-a-s con-
One: Typoloi;) itnJ C'linsifuditon ||5
258
tracted early, and that original forms of t>q)e *Xa-'^ha'^a (hardcninK')
lost their -h- and thus leveled with the first type in this particular
category of cases. The fourth original tyjx-, e.g. *\n-fit
also lost its -h- and yielded at first dissyllabic •Xom, jui
modeled to *\a^is, instead of eventually monophthongizing to •Jkri.
Hence resulted a leveling, in forms involving retained -''-, between
'hardening' and 'softening' 7
9. We have a few interesting cases in Nootka of forms in -''- -f
vowel + voiced continuant which alternate with glottalizc<l vokcmI
continuant, suggesting that this class of consonants could also ari.sc
from an absorption of a ? by a following consonant when the intervening
vowel had dropped out. Such ca.ses are mere survivals of what was
probably at one time an active process. Thus, the stem ku'^tn/- 'to
berate, vituperate', probably monophthongized from earlier *ko^auq-,
alternates with kowaq-; in other words, an underlying *ko^auHjq-
either reduces to *ko'^awq- (with loss of second -a-) > ko'^oq- or to
*ko^waq- (with loss of first -a-) > kowaq-, syllabically final ' l>eing
impossible in Nootka, though very frequent in Kwakiutl. Much
clearer than this example is the obviously archaic alternation of ''c^im
'at first, immediately', umlauted from *'^a^im, with ^ama- 'at a proxi-
mate time (immediately before or immediately after), immediately,
at first, for the first time'. In order to understand these forms, it is
necessary to know that syllabically final m and 7i have a light j-murmur
release, that they go back to original m, n + vowel (a, /, or o; original
syllabically final m and n become p and 0> and that original a preceding
such elements (m*, n') regularly thins to i. After a non-initial con-
sonant -ama {-ami, -amo) and -ana {-ani, -ano), except under condi-
tions which we need not attempt to define here, develop to -in (i.e.
^ That -^- of \e^is is merely analogical seems also to be indicated by the fact
that a number of smooth-vowel suffixes, which neither 'harden' nor 'unfton'
preceding consonants, also insert -^- after a final vowel of the syllable. Thiw,
6a- 'island', ca- 'stream', and ca- 'water' form absolutive (or durativc) ta^ak,
ca?ak, ta?ak (cf. indifferent effect of -ak in such words as kimt-ak MonR pole
extending from end to end', k^as-ak 'dead limb, twig') distributive fafa'k, eaiak,
iata'k. On the other hand, the 'softening', as well as 'hardening*, in Kwakiutl
of original -y-, -w-, -n-, -m-, -I- to -y-, -w-, -n-, -m-, -I- (e.g. han- 'hi>ll<)w vcwirl i«
somewhere' + '-ri yields hanvl 'kettle on floor'; see Uoas, Kwakiutl, !
of American Indian Languages 1.430, 473) might be interpn'tcii to
'softening' too is the result of an old absorption of a glottal Htop, thmiuli ii n. ■ ju-
much simpler to assume that in Kwakiutl types -r»'/i- and -nh- levrlod t«> -n-
Possible confirmation of this will be pointed out below, when Kwakiutl initial
glottalized voiced continuants are discussed.
116 V American Indian Languages I
259
in*) and -im (i.e. -m') respectively, whether in final or non-final posi-
tion (e.g. -la-, -la 'having ... as name', durative, forms momentaneous
-lano\, alternating with *-lano\ > -liriK, i.e. -Hn^X; similarly, -ma
'thing', when combined with -wana-, -win^ 'in the middle', forms
-wanim^ 'thing in the middle'). This means that ^e'^im is not only
closely related in meaning to ^ama- but, in all likelihood, goes back to
a form, *'^a'^ama, that is originally nothing but a phonetic variant of
^ama-. It is quite possible that *^a^ama was originally the inde-
pendent form, as which (^e^m) it is still used, while '^aiha- was always
used as the base for derivations, as which alone it is found today.
Present cases of ^e^im- with derivational suffixes (which, if 'hardening'
or 'softening,' require an inserted -*?- after m, in other words ^e^m'-^-)
are perhaps merely analogical, as derivations are often secondarily
based on absolutive or durative forms rather than on the proper 'com-
bining forms'. This interpretation of the relation between ^e^im
and ^ama- seems simpler than to consider the former a reduplicated
form of ^arha-, for ^e'^im is not, as a matter of fact, the distributive of
^ama-. Both of these stems are, then, divergent forms of an inher-
ently reduplicated *'^d^ama-, which we cannot analyze further at
present. Presumably, when the final a of this stem was non-final,
the second a was elided (original stress patterns: *'^a'^dma but
*'^d'^amd- ? but stress is not functional in Nootka today), the resulting
*'^a'^ma- yielding ^arha-.
10. Far more numerous than such isolated cases are those in which
-y-, -W-, -rh-, -n- alternate with -y-, -w-, -m-, -n- without a trace of
preceding -'^-. Cases in point are: -nok, momentaneous -nok^i\ :
-n/c"'-[R] 'at, on, of the hand' (e.g. Xikis-nok 'white-handed', ya-ya'k-nok
'sore-handed': sosi-nko\ 'to get hold of by the hand' < *soso-nok'^i-}^,
titinkom 'hand-wiper' < Hiti-nokH-ma 'thing for wiping the hands',
k'^ikH-nk-so 'hand' with obscure stem k^i- and suffix -so, possibly also
in holi-nk 'benumbed of hand')^"; -m, -nr : -n 'to come' (e.g. ^o-nr
'that one comes' : hini-n 'to come' < empty stem hina- -f *-ni);
-niq-, -ni-q- 'down a slope' : -nq- (e.g. po-ni' q-sa\ 'several run down a
slope to the beach' : hiti-nq-is 'down a slope on the beach' > 'the
beach' < empty stem hita- -\- *-niq- + "-is) ; -cowatli] 'on . . . side,
on the . . . side' : -co-t 'on . . . side' (= theoretical *-cowt ?); -wilta
'» There is a survival of -nk'^- 'at the hand' [r] in Kwakiutl canc^nk'^-a 'to
wash the hands', with secondary stem C3nk'^-; cf. Kw. co-x"'- 'to wash', N. co-.
This seems to imply that the Nootka alternation of glottalized and non-glot-
talized n is of Wakashan age.
One: Txpoloiix aiui Classification ||7
260
'out of a caiioe' : -olta ( = theoretical *-xvUa; e.^. Uni-mUa 'to gvl
directly out of the canoe' : hinulta 'to come out of the canor' < empty
stem /una- -\- *-ivUa); yiayaq- 'baby', absolutive nayaij-ak : tiantq-a
'lulling to sleep' < reduplicated *;tanaiV;- = *nanay(i-, probably a
denominative verb based on an older form of stem underlying uayaq-.
It is fairly obvious that in cases of this sort we are dealing with
divergent developments of a single element under difTering phonetic
conditions. To understand these developments we must take account
of the fact that the sequence vowel -|- '* + vowel, when the first vowel
is in the second or a following syllable of the word, contracts to a long
vowel, which may then be secondarily shorteneil. The rules of con-
traction are quite complex as to detail and a few examples must suffice:
ma- 'to dwell' + '-as 'on the ground' yields rna'^as 'tribe', but its plural,
with reduplication and lengthening /-infix, is vmtma-s 'tribes'; ^a-
+ '-ak\i 'at the rear' yields Xa'^akXi 'the (stick) is standing at the
rear', but hayo 'ten' + '-ak\i yields haya-kXi 'having ten at the rear',
distributive hahqyak\i; ti- 'boulder' + '-ak\i = ti^akXi 'Ixjulder
at the rear', but -'ak\i + inherently possessive '-at = '-ak\at, e.g.
ya-k^ak\at 'having one's buttocks sore'. If, now, we examine cases
like postconsonantal -noA;"'- : postvocalic -nk""-, we shall be led to .sur-
mi.se that the.se divergent forms are independent reflexes of a ba>-ic
-"^xnok^- (in which v means a, z, or o); that -''v- contracted with pre-
ceding a, i or to -v-, whence frequently shortened -v-, which united
with following -no- to -in-, i.e. -m'-; and that, on the other hand,
when V was it.self elided, the ^, inasmuch as it could not be ab.sorl)ed by
the preceding syllable-ending consonant, coalesced with the following
n to n. Thus, *\i\is'^ anok"^ (as.suming that v = a) > *\i\xs'*nok''
> \i\is7'u}k, but *iiti^anok'^ima > *titanok"'ima, shortened (iH^cau.**
of reduplicated form of word?) to *titanok*'inia > tHiji*kom\ Simi-
larly, an old *na'^ayaq- > *nd^yaq- > nayaq-, but naua^ayaq- >
*na-na-yaq- > *na-nayq- > na-nvq-. In other wortis, the alternations
n : n, vi : m, y '. y, w : w, in non-initial position, are correlates of
such syllabic alternations as ma'^as : -mas. If we may generaliw
from these cases and from those due to 'hardening', it would appear
that many, eventually perhaps all, examples of glottalized voiced
continuants in Xootka in medial po.sition are due to glottal ab>«»ri»tion,
the ^ responsible for this process either preceding or fnllouiim the
continuant (e.g. -^n- > -n-\ -n^h- > -n-).
11. A careful scrutiny of the Kwakiutl and Nootka '
rials would undoubtedly yield confinnatory comparati\
118 V American Indian Languages 1
261
One striking instance is Kwakiutl '-a^ano'^ 'rope, line' (e.g. sdq-a^ano-
'harpoon line') : Nootka -ano-l, -a-no-l [l] 'all along, on a long thing'
(durative), -ario"-X, -a-no'-K (momentaneous), often -ario*-, -a*no*- in com-
binations (e.g. hrn-wno-hsim 'whaling spear' < hin- empty stem + -a'no'-
[l] + '-ahs 'in the canoe' -+- -im 'thing'). Here the *-a'^ano--, *-a''^ano--
required by theory to explain Nootka -ano'-, -a-no'- is directly given
by its Kwakiutl cognate, -a^ano'. We do not know enough about
Wakashan phonology as yet to explain why absorption took place in
Nootka but not in Kwakiutl. Apparently contraction processes of
various sorts were more far-reaching in Nootka than in Kwakiutl.
Nevertheless, there seem to be a few examples in Kwakiutl too of
glottalized voiced continuants in medial position resulting from a
coalescence of "^ with following y, w, m, n, I. Thus '^a'^ams 'bad luck,
defiled' : ^arhe-la 'to spoil, to make a mistake' < *'i'a'''ams- -\- '-la {-y-,
'softened' from -s-, vocalized to -e'- before consonant); "^ayo's-dla
(durative) 'to understand' < *'^a'^ayo's- with primary reduplication :
regularly reduplicated ^a^ayo'c-a 'to try to understand' < unredupli-
cated base "^ayo's — \- '-a [r] 'to endeavor to . . .'; ^ayaso- 'hand' with
primary reduplication^ < *^a'^ayaso- (cf. Nootka k^ik^inkso above);
"^ awal-ilrla 'to walk about searching for something' < *'^a^awal-
(reduplicated from *'^awal- ?; cf. reduced form of stem in ^o-l-dla
'to turn a corner' < *'^aul-) -\- -ilrla 'about' (this suffix, though not
regularly reduplicating, seems to favor reduplicated forms, e.g.
do'ddq'^ile-la 'to look about' : do'q"'- 'to see'; note weakening of do-q"^-
to -ddq"'- as of *^awal- to *-'^wal-) ; ''ana'k 'enough', reduplicated from
*^a^ana'-A; ? (cf. Nootka "^ana 'only' ?).
In view of the possibilities of dialectic development of glottalized
voiced continuants, it is not surprising that it sometimes happens
that Nootka has what seems to be a permanent glottalization where
Kwakiutl shows the more archaic alternation. A case in point is
Nootka hanah 'naked', corresponding to Kwakiutl xana'-la 'naked',
which point to a Wakashan *xanax, *xana'-. So far as Nootka is
concerned, the n is a primary phoneme, but Kwakiutl xdn-x'^i'd (mo-
mentaneous) 'to undress' suggests that here too n is secondary.
In Kwakiutl an enormous number of secondary cases of y and w
* Boas writes -aano (op. cit. 511) but all cases of Kwakiutl v- and -vvi- are to
be interpreted as ?v- and -v^Vi-. Smooth vowel initials and combinations of
vowel and smooth vowel are impossible in Kwakiutl and Nootka.
• Such primary reduplications occur with other Kwakiutl nouns for paired
body-parts, e.g. eye, ear, foot, kidney.
One: Typoloi^y atui Clti.\.\ifuatum \\k)
262
arise when the vowels e- (f < aya) and o- {j- < awa) are reiiolved into
ay and aw respectively and these heterosyllahic Kroui).s are then 'liarti-
ened' to ay and aw. Thus, '^awacjr^ 'the pUwc hctwern, inside' <
^0-- stem of location + '-aj/- 'among' + nonn-f<jrminK -f^; na naqaxha
'to try to meet' < na-qo- 'to meet' + '-a [u] 'to endeavor to . . .'\ea'caya
'to try to draw water' < cc(< *cay-a) 'to draw water' + '-a (u).
Of greater interest to us is a group of cases, equally numerous, in
which c-^ and o*^ are resolved before vowels into ay and axb. Thus,
no-qayas 'his mhid' < no-qe-'^ 'mind' + -as 'his'; \jxhe-s 'and hi.s' <
Xo-^ 'and' + -e-s 'his'; '^aydlk'' 'attendants' < *^e'^9lk", reduplicated
plural of ^9lk"' 'attendant'. And, further, secondarily labialized
guttural and velar spirants (x"", x"') develop w because of immediately
following ^, e.g. bo-xwi-d 'to leave' < bo- + momentaneous -x'^id.
12. It is hardly to be expected that we should have reflexes initially
of an old alternation in Wakashan between glottalized voiced con-
tinuant and ^ + vowel + voiced continuant, for both Xootka and
Kwakiutl are non-prefixing languages and, a.s these alternations, if
present, could not easily develop systematic morphoj)honemic signifi-
cance (except perhaps in connection with reduplication), they would
inevitably tend to be ironed out by analogy. Nevertheless there are
a few cases which are suggestive, though obscure. Nootka yaq- 'long'
may be interpreted as reduced from an old ^aya- 'much' -H *-q- 'in
length (?)' (this hypothetical -q- is perhaps preserved in Nootka -q-'^iih
'... year, for ... many years' : -^ re/;, '-ich, '-rdh '.season of
...'). Much clearer is dialectic (Uchielet and N. Nootka) nic, nic-
^is 'short', which is synonymous with Tsishaath'" ^anc-^is. -^is
is diminutive; "^a-ne- is umlauted from ^a'na-, based on "^ana 'only
that; thus much, thus many', 'short' in effect meaning 'dimiinitively
thus much (in length)' Now the older form of -"^is is *-^ic, as is shown
by the compounded -^ic-a\ (diminutive -f '-aX 'now, then') and this
older form is preserved in rirc < *naic < *^ana-^ic, a j)arallel fonn
to early *^a'na-^ic; nrc-^is is probably a later pleonastic form, with
double diminutive. A further example is nama- 'only', probably
related to "^ana- (see above). The element -ma- is probably a variant
of -ma, -rha- '. . . far off, as far as ... ; ... in (juantity, degree', an
original *'^ ana-"^ ama- 'only to that degree', after contracting to *'*auama-
(see above), still further reducing to y'lama-. The verb xiaq'^o- (liura-
tive and momentaneous) 'to go to a feast in response to an invitation',
combining form waq^o-q-, is probably reduced from an irn'gxilarly
*" Which we take as our basic Nootka dialect.
120 y American Indian Languages I
263
reduplicated *'^awa-q-^auq-, *^awaq'^aw-a. If this analysis is allowed,
an etymology is suggested which may or may not be true. With
reduplicated wa-. .-^o- compare wa-ck- (wa-sk-, wi-nck-) 'living beings
bunched together' and with reduplicating -q- {. .-q-) compare -g [r]
'traveling in . . . vehicle, canoe'; in other words, waq^o' would properly
mean 'to come (as invited guest) in a canoe, crowded with one's people',
which fits the cultural requirements.
Turning to Kwakiutl, we have two striking examples of w- alter-
nating with ^- + vowel + -w-. These are wa--la-s 'large' (sg.) : "^awo'
'great' (pi.) (also with suffixes, e.g. wala-'^as 'distance' but ^awo--zdm
'great tribes'); and wa- 'size, measure' (sg.) : ^awa-, ^awo-- (pi.) (only
with sufiixes, e.g. wa'-xa-co' 'measure inside' : awo'-xa-co' 'measures
inside'). These common and important words seem to point to orig-
inal *^awd--la- : *^dwaw and *^awd- : *'^dwa-, *'^dwawa- respec-
tively. A probable example of rh- : ^am- in Kwakiutl is '^ama- 'small'
(pi.), also an extended form, apparently, ^amay- (j'ame-x'^id 'to be-
come small' < *^amai-; ^ama^inx-e''^ 'youngest child' = amay-dnx-e'^
'the youngest in season, time'?; ^amwyace' 'fifth child') : Koskimo
(Kw. dialect) -rhdn 'young of an animal' (= N. -rhit, -rhvt 'son of . . . '),
Kw. -rhdne'x'^ 'small' (pi.) (= N. -rhin^h plural suffix; -h, -rh is a com-
mon plural suffix in Nootka, Kw. -e-x"" probably a survival of this
element, hence N. -min% probably extended in meaning from 'small
ones').
13. Still further examples of the probable emergence of initial glot-
talized voiced continuants appear when we compare Kwakiutl and
Nootka. There are enough examples of the correspondence in the
two languages of these phonemes in initial position to make it reason-
ably certain that the glottalized voiced continuants had become pho-
nemic in character in the Wakashan period or, at the least, that ^ + y,
w, m, n, I were allowable initial consonant clusters at that time; e.g.,
besides Nootka nop- 'one' : Kwakiutl ndm-, already quoted, may be
noted : N. yak- 'in view, peering out; having one's neck stretched'
< *yax^- (perhaps related to suffixed -yo'c [l] 'extending out, in view' <
*-yax'"-k) : Kw. ydx'^-a 'land looms up'; N. yas-, yas-x-, yas-x""- 'opened
out, having the legs spread out' : Kw. yd- 'to spread the legs' (per-
haps < *ydy-l-, 'softened' from *yds-); N. rhina-l-i 'fishing bank' :
Kw. mdna-la 'fish gather at mouth of river'; N. mo/c""- 'stone' : Kw.
Tkdk^- 'a round thing is somewhere' (e.g. rhdh^-ayind 'to put [a stone]
on top'); N. mack- 'having the jaws closed' < *makx"'- : Kw. rhdk'"-,
rhdi-dxo- 'to choke'; N. rhos- 'closed', rhos 'fish weir' < *max«'-x :
One: T\polof{\ a/ul Cla.\.Mjinuu>n I2|
264
Kw. TTww-a 'salmon woir' < Vwx"- + '-a 'on the rocks'; N. mai/wj-
'delivering, taking a thing to its destination' : Kw. moj*- 'to carry
property'; N. 7hay-ink-!ii\ (momentanoous) 'dancers join in ccniplrtinn
a circle' {-ink 'together') < *r/w/-" : Kw. jiul- 'to pluit a n»iK', to
take a turn on a trail'; N. moq"- 'phosphorescent, glowing' < *iiul-<i''- :
Kw. rhdl- 'white'; X. iia-s 'daylight' : Kw. iia-la 'day, liglil'; N.
iio:aq- < *n9q'^-aq- (for '-aq- cf. '-aq\ 'in, into') 'to swalUjw' : Kw.
naq"- 'to swallow'.
But by no means all ca.ses of y-, w-, m-, n-, I- which ai)pcar u\ iii.-sc
languages can be as archaic as the examples that we have ju.st given
presumably are. Some of them are secondary or point to an old
Wakashan alternation of type y- : ^ay-. Such are: X. v'lixk- 'dull,
without power' < *indsx"'- < *^wiasj"'- : Kw. '^a'^oms 'man of ordi-
nary power' < reduplicated *^a^aums (< *^a'^am3sx'' ?); X. ma-
'holding in the teeth, in the mouth', mac- 'to close the teeth', n'ladk-
'having the jaws closed', Kw. nwk*^- 'to choke' (see above) : Kw.
^am- 'closed up, tight'; N. noS- 'to distribute property in a potlatch
(after the more important gifts have been made to chiefs)' < •'*a?x*-
X- : Kw. ^a7te-j:""-s^o--^e- 'what is left over' (cf. -s'^:)-la 'deserted');
N. ne^if,- 'lit up, light' < *^na^- : Kw. '^an^q-a 'to light fire, charcoal'
(this alternation is likely to be old, cf. Kw. nariu-la 'light' and X.
na'-s above); perhaps also X. ^ana, na-rna- 'only' (see above) : Kw.
na-xH-la 'alone' (related to Kw. na-x''- 'all' ?).
14. There are a number of Kwakiutl words in ha- which look a.s if
they were irregularly reduplicated forms. /Vs this ha- occurs rather
more frequently before y, w, rh, n, t than pure chance would render
likely, in view of the relative infrequency of the.se phonemes, we are
confronted by the po.ssibility that another source of the glottalized
voiced continuants in Kwakiutl is h + voiced continuant. Karly
*hya- would yield ya-, according to this theor>', and early n^iupli-
cated *hahya- would yield haya-; later on ya- would of course redupli-
cate to yaya-. Examples in point may be: haysx^-anoma 'to corae
to dance' < *hahydx''- (sec below for X'ootka confirmation) : xf)!*-
'to dance'; hayano- 'round-headed club' < *hahyano- ?; hayamot
'mark, sign' < *hahya-mot {-mo'l, -mut, -runt 'remains of...' re-
duplicates, e.g. x^'a xul-mut 'what is left over from cutting .«yilmon' :
x^'aX-a 'to cut salmon', hence haya-vwt is .self-<iefined lus rctlupli-
" There is no properly phonemic / in Xootkii. Wnka-shan / almoflt ccrtftinly
developed to Nootka y; cf. 'hardening' of Nootka I to y (ir), 'aoft^ninf ' lo y (ir),
as against Kwakiutl I and I respectively.
122 V American Indian Languages 1
265
cated); hawi-nal-dla 'tol frighten away' (plur.) < *hahwrnal-dla :
mnal-dla (sing.) [read wrnabla ?]; harho' 'pigeon' < *hahmo' (for
similar reduplicated animal name cf . ho-mho'm 'blue grouse') ; hamdlqu-
la 'to remind' < *hahmdlq'"- [read harkdlqu- ?] : rhdlqu-la 'to remem-
ber'; hanak^-e-la 'to do quickly' < *hahnak"'- = *hah-nak'^- ? (cf.
ha- 'quickly'); hanas-xaw-e''^ 'collar-bone of porpoise' < *hahnas-
xaw- {-xaw- = -xo- 'neck' ? cf. ^o--xa-w-e-^ 'neck'); hala-ba-la 'quickly'
< *hahla- {hala-, hala-- of many derivatives, e.g. hala--qa 'go away!',
hala-^a-la 'to tell to hurry', hala--xya 'to eat quickly', probably repre-
sents the unreduplicated form); haW-la 'to hesitate' < *hahla-- (prob-
ably based on an old *hala'-, *hala- > N. haya'-^ak, hayi-m^h 'to be
ignorant'). An example of hay- : y- {<hy-) is hayo-t 'rival' (< haya-
'to go along' [?] in haya-qa 'to pass', haye'Qi 'to imitate', hayo-Ua'la
'to bring out of woods' + -o't 'fellow') : ya-gas 'woman friend' <
*hya- (reduced from hay a-) -f -gas 'woman'. Not all of these examples
are certain but several are highly suggestive. The cluster *-hm-
would naturally become -m-; an example is he'rha-^o'mas 'kinds of
food' < plural-reduplicated *he-hrha- : harh{a)- 'to eat'.
There are also cases in Kwakiutl in which ha- is a formative element
(reduplicating syllable?) before non-glottalized voiced continuant
(e.g. hamanxu-lal 'smiling dance' : manx'"- 'to smile'; hawa'x'^-dla
'to beg, to pray' : wa'x^- 'to have mercy'; perhaps also hawa-kas
'great, dreadful', hamane'k^-a 'to be dazed', hamase'lalis 'grebe',
hane-nax"^ 'to desire to go in company'). Some of these may be cases
of early (aspirate) or late (glottal) dissimilation, e.g. wa'x?- < *wa-x?-
< *hwwx?-'{; hane-nax"' < *hahnaihnax'^l Cases of hay- (e.g. hayali-
lagas 'invisible spirit', hayalcama 'to keep secret', haya'\o--la 'to warn' :
ya'kD- 'take care') are likely to be dissimilated from *hah- (cf. Nootka
hiyil for *hihil, distributive of hil 'there').
15. In Nootka *hy-, *hw-, *hm-, *hn- did not become glottalized
voiced continuants but simply dropped the h-. This is not only sug-
gested by the absence of forms of type hay- which could be explained
as developed from type hahy- but is directly indicated by the verbs
we'^ic 'sleeping' (sg.), momentaneous we^ico-\ : ho'^ic 'sleeping' (pi.)
< *wa'^iko : *haw^iko < *hwa^iko : reduplicated *hahw{ayiko. This
interpretation, curiously enough, is confirmed by the baby word for
'sleep', ho-s, which reconstructs to a *haux that must have been the
old simplification, in baby talk, of *hawa^iko, the prototype of re-
duced *hwa'^iko. There are also cases of Kwakiutl glottalized voiced
continuant which seem to be in relation to Nootka forms with h-,
One: i\ polony ami Clussijuuiion \2\
266
e.g. Kw. T/ax""- 'to dance', hayox^-anoma 'to como to dunce' (see above) :
N. ho-ya-l 'dancing', an irregular reduplicated durative, < *hohyail
< *hdx''hyax^"'^-la (there are several such ca.ses of N. durative -/ <
voiceless spirant + Wakashan durative -la, preserved in Kwakiutl
but lost as such in Nootka), from which was then abstracted the stem
form *hdxH- > hoi- (e.g. hol-rna-s 'going from house t(j hou.se danc-
ing'); Kw. ya 'oh!', yo- (call from a distance), ye- (exclamation of
disgust) < *hya, *hyawa, *hyaya, reduced from exclamations of type
*haya, which represents a well-nigh universal pattern : N. hay (shout
used in various rituals; interjection to attract attention), hayi 'I
told you so!' (if this is correct, N. yo-yo--wa^al 'welcoming one heartily',
which looks like an iterative of -wa 'to say . . . ', hence < 'to keep
saying yo-\ is based on a ceremonial 2Jo- borrowed from Kwakiutl
yo')] Kw. wun- 'to hide' < *hwun- < *hw3mn- : X. hopt- 'in hiding' <
*homn- < *hwdmn-; Kw. wat- 'kelp' < *hwal- : X. hos-min, hoc-smin
'kelp' < *hot-smin < *hu)dt-sma-; Kw. wa'l- 'to stop' < *himl- : X.
hawi-l-, hawi--, momentaneous hawv-\ 'to stop' < *haway- < *hawal-.
Aside from cases such as these, in which h was preserved before a
vowel or before an o which resulted from w -\- retluced \owel, h was
bound to disappear, as in we^id above. Thus, we may deduce from
correspondences of type Kw. ?/ : N. ?/ an older (possibly Wakashan) hy.
Examples are: Kw. we'- 'how, where' < *ivay- < *hivay- ('.softened'
from *hwas- ?) : N. wa's-, wa's-t-, wa-s-a-, wa-s-i 'where?', xcaxj-aii-
'which?' < *hwa-s- ('softened' to *hwa-y-); Kw. ibe-k- 'to carry long,
stiff thing (firewood, pole) on shoulder' < *hivaik- : X. wada- 'piled
up firewood' < *hwaka-; Kw. was- 'dog' < *hu'as- : X. wawin 'hunt-
ing deer in the manner of wolves, emplojdng wolf howls to .scare out
the deer', contracted < *hwa-hwa-'^ in {*hwahway-in ?) (originally
'making the sound of dogs') < *hwa{s)- + '-in [r] 'making the .sound
of ...'; Kw. ma'^o's- 'to work' < *hma'^au-s- : X'^. matno- 'working*
< *hmahmaw-. This type of Gorre.spondence applies al.so in medial
position, e.g. Kw. hanak^-e-la 'to do quickly' < *hahnak''- (see above) :
N. nawit 'to do, finish, quickly' < *hnax"'- {*hnak"-- ?) + '-it; Kw.
xawe- 'loon' : N. ha-wi 'small variety of loon' < *xahwi. An original
hn- can also be inferred for Nootka when it has n- corresponding to
Kwakiutl han-, e.g. N. na'^o--, na^o- 'accompauN-ing, following' <
*Ana^au;-('softened' from *h7ia^ax"'- ?) : Kw. hanrnax'' 'to di-sirt' to
go in company' (see above); N. ni- 'hollow object, container', ni-HX
'to carry in pack-basket' < *hni- : Kw. han- 'an oi)cn vessel is some-
where' (sg.), han-x\a--la 'kettle'.
124 V American Indian Languages 1
267
As syllabically final ^ or glottalized consonant is not possible in
Nootka, certain cases of initial glottalized voiced continuant in Nootka
are likely to be due to absorption of such a glottal element. A clear
case is N. rho- 'burning; setting on fire' < *in9l- < *md'^l- or *mdl'^- :
Kw. mdi- 'to light a fire', mal-e-'^ 'torch'. There are, however, also
a number of cases of glottalized voiced continuant in Nootka which
correspond to an unglottahzed consonant in Kwakiutl, e.g. N. nowi-,
nowi-c-, nom--qso 'father' (nowi-- 'softened' from *nowas- ?) : Kw.
no-mas 'old man' (for N. -w- : Kw. -m- cf. perhaps also N. hawa- 'to
eat' : Kw. harh{a)- 'to eat' alternating with ham- in certain deriva-
tives); N. niK- 'supine', momentaneous ni^-siK 'to lean, fall, back' :
Kw. nd\-a 'to lie on back'; N. yo'-q'^a- 'likewise' (probably compounded
of a demonstrative yo'- and 5"'a* 'thus, such, so') : Kw. yw 'that near
thee'. The reason for this divergence is far from clear. In at least
one case Nootka n- may go back to :n- (.' is a laryngeated glottal stop,
regularly equivalent to Kwakiutl q): ni- (durative ni-ya'), niq- (dura-
tive niq-a-) 'to sew' < **m-, *:niq- < *qni-, *qniq- : Kw. qdn-, qan-
'to sew' (this relation would seem to be parallel to that of N. ni- : Kw.
han-, see above). Other, Kwakiutl, examples of alternation between
glottahzed and unglottahzed consonants, in initial position, are: mo'-
'to pile up', ma'w-a 'to move', mo--xs 'to load canoe' (cf. N. maw-iqs
'covered box' < 'box for storage of goods') : mdw-e's 'heap on beach'
(but plur. mdxmdw-e-s), rhdmw-a'la 'cargo of canoe' (cf. probably also
Kw. Tfiazw- 'to carry property' : N. mawa'- above) ; yo'-ya 'cold wind' :
yo'x'^- 'wind', absolute yo-la < *yaw-ala, ya-w-ap-a 'to set sail' (cf.
N. yo-, durative yo^i, 'wind blowing', yoz-l- 'to get blown by the wind');
wul- 'to stop, to arrest' : wa-l- 'to stop' (see above); mdns- 'to meas-
ure' : mduy-ayo 'measure' < mdns- -\- '-ayo 'instrument of . . . '.
16. The last example takes us back to our hypothesis (see 7 and
note 7) that 'softening' in Kwakiutl and Nootka is due to the effect
left behind by a former -h-. In that case an older *hmdns-hayo could
have dissimilated to *mdnshayo > *mdnzayo > mduyayo. Again,
there are many cases of instrumental and passive -yo-, -yo in Kwakiutl
instead of normal '-ayo, '-a-yo, e.g. Koskimo udl-yo- 'song' < 'singing
instrument'i2 (instead of expected *n9la-yo < ndl- 'to sing' -1- '-a-yo),
ce-la-yo 'dipper', tdko-yo 'blown off by steam', Koskimo hm-yo 'rope',
no'-yo 'medicine put near back of pregnant woman' (rnaa;'*- 'near');
but also qdn-yo 'thread' < 'instrument of sewing' (*qdn-yo dissimi-
" In Nootka too various types of songs are named with -yak, -tak 'instrument
of ...'.
One: TypoUfji) ami CUt.s.siJuiUion 125
268
lated to qsnyo ?), degam-yu 'towel for fucc*. T«) Ivw. '-ayo, '-oyo, -yo-,
-yo probably corresponds N. -yo, -yo- (after conHoiiants), -io, -io- (after
vowels) 'having been . . . -ed'. These various forms are l>c.st recon-
ciled oil the basis of a Wakashan *-hayo, *-hayu, ulternatiiiK, wilh
loss of -a-, with *-hyo-, *-hyo > Kw. -yo-, -yo, N. -yo-, -yo; N. -io;
-60 < *-Qo-, *-qo < *-q-hyu-, *-Q-fiyo with intercalated -q-, frequent
in both Kwakiutl and Nootka (as -c-). But the Nootka instrumental,
corresponding to Kwakiutl normal '-ayo, [-ayo, is -yak (after con-
sonants), -dak (after vowels) < *-yo-'\ik, *-6o-'^ak (< *-lio- < ^-q-i/o-).
It looks, therefore, as though Wakashan, like Nootka, distuiRUished
an instrumental *-'^ayo, *-^yo {*-''hayo, *-'^hyo ?) from a passive *-hayo,
*-hyo and that the two formations merged in Kwakiutl because of the
leveling of *-'^yo and *-hyo to -yo and ix-cause of the leveling of •-nayo
and *-hayo in certain cases (e.g. *-n-Viayo and *-n-hayo > -n-ayo).
In this way would also \^ explained why a few important instru-
mental nouns, likely to be archaic formations, have 'hardening' '-ayo^
instead of the regular and far more common '-ai/o, e.g. tdimj-ayo 'baton'
{idms- 'to beat time'), se-ib-ayo 'paddle' {se-r- 'to paddle').
17 We see, then, that these rather curious phonemes can be shown
to go back to coalescences of *? or /i with following or preceding y, w
m n I, also to coalescences of other consonants, such as d, with fol-
lowing voiced continuants. The details naturally differ for the differ-
ent languages but all the cases here considered have this in common,
that a relatively weak consonantal phoneme, instead of di-sappeanng
entirely when in a cluster with a sonorant consonant, is ab.sorbcd by
the latter, so that new consonantal phonemes emerge. These new
phonemes, characterized by glottal affection, tend at first to be in a
morphophonemic relation with the simple sonorant coiusonants. In
time, however, they tend to take on the status of isolated phonemes.
It would be interesting to analyze the status of these con.^onants in
Haida, Tsimshian, Yokuts, and other American Indian languages in
which they occur to see if there too there is reason to think that they
are phonemic emergcnts due to absorption. Essentially, con.sonants
of this sort are on a par with the nasalized vowels of so many language.,
the n or m originally following a vowel becoming absorbed m the vowel,
whence a new set of phonemes results. The- French na.s.d.z.. voweb
are, of course, the most familiar example. » »- "-^»-'^;''^,'^;,^^^
int;resting point is suggested by cases of this sort that if a U™
has two sets of phonemes, one of which, B, can -.;--'-;; '^.^^'^^^^
as identical with the other, A. except for a definite qualitutiNe plus
126 y American Indian Languages 1
269
which Unguistic experience shows to be relatively infrequent, then the
set B may be suspected, certainly not assumed, to have emerged from
some type of absorption in the set A of, or from modification of the
set A by, a phoneme (or group of phonemes) having something of the
character of this qualitative plus. Entirely new phonemic categories,
such as nasalization, glottahzation, aspiration, rounding, palatalization,
laryngealizing, emphasis, tonal distinctions, may thus arise as absorp-
tion products.
For the rest of this paper we should like to show how the phenomena
we have considered for Navaho and, more particularly, for Nootka
and Kwakiutl, may help us to understand certain Indo-European
phonological developments, specifically in the prehistory of Greek.
Assuming that Indo-European possessed four 'larjoigeal' consonants,
namely ' (a glottal stop followed by e-timbre of full grade vowel in its
primary form), .' (another glottal phoneme followed by a-timbre of
full grade vowel in its primary form), x (presumably a voiceless velar
spirant = h-, -hh- of Hittite), and y (presumably a voiced velar spirant,
Arabic 'ghain', = h-, -h- of Hittite), we have not the right to take it
for granted that when a vowel dropped out between such a preceding
'laryngeal' and a following consonant, the laryngeal necessarily dis-
appeared without a trace. To do this is to project back into the
earliest period the feeling for vocalic syncope that developed in the
later stages of many Indo-European dialects. If, for instance, Greek
afikXycc, a/jLoKyr], with its 'prothetic' d-, leads us, in accordance with the
laryngeal hypothesis, to posit a base *xamelg- (or rather *xa7nelAg-^^)
or *:amelg- (or rather *:amelAg-), we must not implicitly abandon this
same hypothesis when we deal with reduction products and allow the
X- or ;- to disappear with the -a-. The fact that we have forms in m-
(e.g. Olr. hligim < *mligim, Goth, miluks, Toch. A malke) in the later
dialects is far from justifying our dealing with an ablaut *xamel- : *mel-
for the earliest period. We must either believe in our 'laryngeals' and
speak of an ablaut *xamel- : *xmel- or discard them and deal only with
the conventional *amel- : *mel-. It may well be that in the vast
majority of cases such Indo-European sequences as *xm-, *'w-, *:y-,
" We use 'A' to indicate any one of the four laryngeal consonants when it is
desired to speak in general terms or when we have reason to suspect a laryngeal
consonant (in this case chiefly because of the 'Stosston' of Lithuanian melzu)
but have not enough evidence to determine which one is involved. Similarly,
it is convenient often to use 'A' for a laryngeal which must have been either
• or X, say because of the a-timbre of the following vowel, but between which we
cannot decide. This is, as a matter of fact, a frequent contingency.
Orw: r\fK>l(n;\ ii/ul (Uiwiliniiinn |27
270
and *yl- simply became m-, iv-, y-, aiul /-, or their appropriate rafleat,
but we have no more right to a.s.sume this than to a.smimc that, at %
later period, the treatment of pre-Grcok urn- wn.s identical with that of
m-. 'Losses' of elements arc frequently ftillacjou.s l>ccauM' of our
tendency not to look closely enough into the possibilities of aLsorption
phenomena.
If, now, we posit an IE series 'y-, 'u'-, 'm-, 'ti-, 7-, 'r-, a seriea .'y-,
IV}-, :m-, :n-, :l-, :r-, and a series xy-, xw-, xm-, xn-, il-, xr-, we have to
inquire what happened to these clusters (initially and in other posi-
tions) in each of the main branches of IK. In the end it will un-
doubtedly prove far more economical of effort to assume little or
nothing in the way of sweeping reductions of the.se, to us, uncomfort-
able clusters and to keep our eyes open for distinctive reflexes of them
in the IE dialects than to oversimplify our task by a.s.suming radical
reductions in the IE period. Hittitc xxmntcs 'winds' {hu-u-wa-on-
te-es) should warn us. Applying this principle to the Greek reflexes
of this very base (IE *xawe'-, conventionally *w€-, 'to blow'), we are
helped forward at once to a valuable hyi)othe.sis with regard to early
Greek jihonoiogy. An old *xawe'- : *xwe'-, we may surmi.se, need
not have developed an early Greek *awe- : *we-, for there is no reason
for certainty that a prevocalic x- would behave the .same way aa a x-
caught in a consonantal cluster xw-. The actual course of the develo|>-
ment may very well have been something like this:
1. *xawe'- or *x3wc'-^* (tautosyllabic) : *xirc'-
2. *hawe'- (or *h9we'-) : *hwe'-
3. *hawe'- (or *hdwe'-) : *'We'-
4. *haw€- (or *hdwe-) : *tbe-
5. *awe- (or *9we-) : *we-
6. *aice- '. *hc-
By iv is meant a w which had absorbed the preceding aspiration, ther^
fore probably a voiceless to, but we do not claim to be able to say
whether such a w (stages 3-5) was a true phoneme or merely a ron-
sonant cluster. When it was in regular mori)hophonemic relation to
h it may have been felt as a cluster, like sk- or //-, but when many such
" '9' should be used by those who hoUl to the larynRral hypothwiB only for a
real schwa, a simple murmur vowel reduced from a full Rrade flhort vowpI. Tb»
so-called 'schwa indogermanicum', for wiiich '»' ia in goneraJ u»c, will b«vo lo
yield to the series 9', 9', 9X, 9y.
128 V American Indian Languages 1
271
irregular relations as aw- : w- had developed, it is more likely to have
constituted a true phoneme. The Greek forms which actuaHze this
construction are, needless to say, Atj-o-i 'it blows' : aX-v-oi 'I winnow'
< *wd-n-yb < IE *xwd{')-n-y6-A.
Similarly, while it is easy to dispose of Greek ?Xkco, 6\k6%, &\Kr),
6\k6.s by assuming an IE *selk- and comparing with Latin sulcus,
AS sulh 'plow', sound method requires that we refuse to disconnect
2X/CW from its uncomfortable Greek relatives. Just as we insisted on
keeping arjai and alpu together, thereby arriving at a valuable hy-
pothesis in regard to the treatment of IE xw- in early Greek, so here
we may not disconnect IX/cw from &Xo^, av\a^, coXa^, Hom. wXf,
'furrow', Laconian cyXd/cd 'plow'. When we deal with this series,
we are driven to posit *Aawelk- as our base and the difficulty of equat-
ing eX(ca) with the obvious Lithuanian parallel velku (OCS vUkq) dis-
appears. Greek he- : Lithuanian ve-, in other words, means IE *xwe- or
*:we- or *'we- and the Greek words for 'plow' narrow the choice down, in
spite of difficulties of detail, to an a-timbred laryngeal, hence base
*Aawelk- = *xawelk- or *:awelk-. Again, l-repoj, which may be etymo-
logically distinct from its dialectic variant &-Tepos, is a difficult word
and no satisfactory etymology has been given. If we define it as
'(one or) the other' and connect with rje 'or', Latin aut-, ve-, Skr. vd, we
arrive at a base *Aawe-', *Aiw6-teros (*xwe- or *:we-) yields *hwe-teros
or *iwe-teros, either of which, via voiceless w, results in he-teros. The
Latin ablaut au- : -ve is then seen to be in significant relation to the
Greek h-. In this way, too, we are now free to hold to Gk. iainpos,
iawepa : Latin vesper and Gk. i<TTla : Latin Vesta without difficulty.
We cannot at present decide if IE xw-, iw- and 'w- fell together in the
pre-Greek period into, say, hw- or 'w- or voiceless w, or simplified to
xw- and 'w- whence later hw-, or kept apart for a very long time. All
we can say now is that the reflexes of IE xuh, :w- and 'w- seem to be
different from that of w- in Greek as we know it.
The same result is reached when we investigate the Greek reflexes
of so-called IE y- (i-). Current theory states that this phoneme regu-
larly yields Greek h- (e.g. 6s : Skr. yds < IE *y6-s) but that there are
a number of strays (e.g. ^vy6v : Skr. yugdm; few : Skr. ydsdmi;
fwcrros : Lith. fustas) in which we have an 'irregular' f- instead of
the 'regular' h-. Why should a voiced continuant (y) branch into a
voiceless continuant (h) and a voiced affricate (dz) when nearly all
the relevant analogies in Greek indicate that Greek h is of voiceless
origin (e.g. < s) and that voiced consonants before vowels keep their
One: lypolof^y uiui CUtwiJuuium I2*)
272
voice unless unvoiced by voiceless consonants that precede them (e.g.
dy- > dz-; but sw- > hw- > h-)? It is only statistical evidence that
leads to the assumjjtion that y- > h- is the type devrioii: d
y- > dz- the aberrant one. It would seem far more natural i . . e
that y- regularly yielded dz- (cf. Lat. mdjor > Italian maggiure , jocua >
giuoco) but that a reflex h- is due to an unvoicinR of the old y- by sotne
voiceless consonant that has disajjpeared as such. The larj'iiKcal
hypothesis implies the possibility that, as with 11'] u-, wc have here
two distinct prototypes: IE ij- and HO 'y-, :y-, xy-, y'-, y:-, yi-, the
former of which led to s"-, while clusters of the latter t>^>e eventually
led to h-, perhaps via two distinct phonemes, y- and y-. In examples
like ^vydv and few all the available evidence i)oints to simple \K y-;
in other words, there is nothing to show that 110 *yeu'g- and 'yes- are
reduced from bases of type *'eyewg- {*:ayewg-, *iayewg-) and *'eyea-
{*:ayes-, *xayes-). In Gk. 6s : Skr. yds, however, we are not dealing
with a primary *y6-s but with a reduced form of the base *'cye/o-
(cf. Skr. ayd-m, Lat. ea < *'er/a-4), hence properly *'y6-s. Again,
in Gk. S.yios: Skr. yaj-, it cannot be an oripnal *yng- that we have
to posit, for a full-grade a is itself defined by the laryngeal hypothesis
as colored from e by a preceding ; or x, hence we must posit *yAa^-,
i.e. *y:a§- or *yxag-. At what time the y- of this ba.se was glottally
affected or unvoiced to y- we do not know. Po.ssibly there were IK
forms of type *yag- < *y;ag- long before later Greek ones of type *yo-
developed from *'yo- (incidentally, now note an easy explanation of
why Vedic Skr. yaj- reduces, not to ij-, but to 1j- < *i:g- or *ixg- =
theoretical *y:g- or *yxg-). Significantly enough, there seem to Ix* no
primary examples of Gk. fa- < IE *ya-. There was no IE *ya- (there
might, of course, be a *ya:- or *yax- > later *yd-) but only *yr-, *yo-,
*y9-.
With r-, too, we can now see why our Greek reflexes are i);ir(iy » r-
(e.g. ipvdpos : Skr. rudhirdh), partly hr- (^-). A smooth r- developeil
a true prothetic vowel e- (not to be confu.sed \\iih the large class of
pseudo-prothetic vowels which are the remnants of lar>'ngeal -}- vowel,
generally reduced, which originally began the base, e.g. Gk. 6yo^a :
Lat. nomen < *y9ndy-m9n : *yncy-m9n, hence palatalized A- in
Toch.A iiom), while the series V-, .'r-, xr- eventuated in ^-, po.«isibly via
two distinct phonemes r- and r-. In this way it is easy to \inderstand
why preserved initial r always takes the rough breathing in Greek.
This characteristic can hardly have been a spontaneous development
of early Greek r- but may be due to the fact that the vast majonty of
130 V American Indian Languages 1
273
cases of initial r- in Greek as we have it are reduced from initials of type
'er-, :ar-, xar-, plus a later group of cases of type sr-. A case in point
is f>v^eLv 'to growl, snarl' : Horn, kpuyovra 'bellowing' < *'rug- : *'eru§-.
Thus, the Greek history of IE w-, y-, r-, which, as generally presented,
is full of unsolved problems, becomes a symmetrical and phonetically
intelligible series of events from the standpoint of the laryngeal hy-
pothesis:
IE
Pre-Greek
Greek
we-
we-
we- > e- (secondarily <
'we-.
, iwe-, xwe-
we-, we-
he-
ye-
ye-
dze- (perhaps via dye-)
'ye-,
:ye-, xye-
ye-, ye-
he-
re-
re-
ere-
ye-,
:re-, xre
re-, re-
hre-
It would be difficult to present the known facts in a simpler light.
There will still be numerous refractory problems of detail, but it is not
a bad test of the validity of a theory (the laryngeal hypothesis) which
uses entirely different evidence for its establishment that it incidentally
seems to set the house in order for the difficult phonology of IE 'w-',
'y-', and 'r-' in Greek.
Undoubtedly there are still other t3rpes of absorption of the lar}^!-
geals in Greek, and elsewhere. It is very likely, for example, that
Greek at one time had a true phoneme y (not merely the assimilated
rj of -yg-, -rjk-, -ykh-, written -77-, -7/c-, -7x-), for otherwise it would
be hard to understand why 7 was chosen to represent this sound in-
stead of V. If Greek 7 were always of conditional origin, as in iyyaios
'in the earth' < en-gaios, it would have been almost unavoidably
written n, e.g. *ej'7aios. That the y was regularly indicated by -7-,
an intrinsically poor symbol for the purpose, indicates that it may,
like the parallel v and n, also have been a free phoneme. It is there-
fore possible that quite a number of words that are now considered as
having a stopped g were in the earlier period pronounced with y. If,
further, we ask how such a phoneme could arise in Greek, we have
not far to seek for an answer. Either IE x or IE 7 might be expected
to be absorbed in a preceding or following m or n, yielding y. Just
which, if any, of the clusters xm, xn, ym, yn, mx, nx, my, ny actually
yielded y, and under what conditions, is a matter for detailed research.
Two cases may be given for illustrative purposes.
One: Tyfxiloi^y and Classifitaiitm |3|
274
The IE words for 'naked' are known to be diflicult. Starling mih
Lith. ntigas, we know at once, if we apply the principloM of the lar>'ii>r.-n!
hypothesis, that there must have been a lar>'nK('al con»onam 1--
the -g-, IE -g"'-. This can only liave been -y-, the lar>'nKeaJ wiu. n
united with a preceding e to fomi a secondary 6 in many (but not all;
IE dialects, an altogether different entity from the lengtht-nrd grade
of o. We have, then, *ntrg'^os as the primary fonn. CJthcr diaJccUi
used various suffixes, with shift of stress and zero grade in the first
syllable. Oneof these derivatives was •;!7a5f''n<5s > j)re-Gk. *T};fg''n6a >
*7jug"'n6s > *7]ubn6s > ijurrmos, probably the early pronunciation of
YUM"*^?. Another form of the -n6- derivative was, apparently,
*nyeg"'nds > *nog''n6s in those dialects (by no means all) in whirh
IE ye- fell together with o-, hence Skr. nagndh, Avestan mayna- {\)er-
haps the curious divergence between Indie n- and Iranian m- is due to
the fact that each represents an independent development of a rj-
which either developed independently in Indo-Iranian or goes back,
with Greek y-, to an IE rj- < ny-). The persistent o-timbre of the IE
word for 'night' (Lat. nod-), undoubtedly, as Sturtevant has [>oinled
out, related to 'naked', and the v of Ok. wkt- are both of them charac-
teristic traces of the 7-laryngeal (cf., e.g.. Ok. 6.i'-un'Vfxo%) . We now
understand why Hittite has e (not a < IE 0) in the related words:
neku-mant-s 'naked', nekut-s 'bed-time' (read nek^-manl-s, uek^t-s 7),
for IE ye did not yield Hittite a < 0. Hit. nekut- : Lat. nod- is there-
fore not an example of e : o ablaut, something otherwiso unknown for
this group of words, but represents independent reflexes of IE *nyeg''-i-
'bed-time' > 'night'. Here, then, the assumption of an IE ny- cluster
(or, perhaps less likely, its early reflex, 9-, in which case Hit. neku- is
< IE *T}eg''- < *nyeg''-), so far from merely explaining Greek 7u>i»«^,
throws all the related IE forms into a more intelligible focus.
We may return to *xamelAg- (or *:amclAg-) 'to milk'. In most IE
dialects its reduced parallels, *xmclAg- (or *:mdAg-) lost the initial
laryngeal. But the form *xm(d)bA§-t (or -d) 'milk' seems to have
yielded *T](9)hAk-t in that dialect or dialect group which, for Gr-- k ,
yielded *r)alakt > 7(iXa, y6.\aKT-, and, for Latin, *tjhikl > lac, /<j-.'-
It is not necessary to suppose, should it later appear that IE rm-
regularly yielded Latin m-, as is probable, that lad- is a proi>rr IfM.!!('
form. It may be a cultural loan-word from an 110 dialect in whu h
the indicated course of development wa-s regular, as inde<Hl may the
Greek word. All we need to note is that, granted a ba.'«o 'lamrlA^-
(rather than *.'aTndAg- ?) on the basis of Gk. aM«X->a-. a^lo\',f|, we have a
right to expect forms in *xm€leAg- > *TjcU-Ag-.
.^^ V Amerwan Indian Languages 1
Editorial Note
Originally published in Language 14, 248-274 (1938). Reprinted by permis-
sion of the Linguistic Society of America.
American Iiuiiaii ( iraiiiinalical ( .iicL-itiuv
With Morns Suailcsh
riic tirst part dI this artn.lc, up to aiul iiKludini: the i.-xamplc scnicnccs. was wrutrn hv Snpr fhr
analysis oi the sentences anil what IoIIdws was written h\ tne. Sapir must ha\c '
U>2^>, just before his lielcl trip to the Navahi). as suggested hv the tact that a Sarii
the typescript while a handwritten note, evidently added later, gives the Navaho equivalent Sufi 1.
the Navaho and not the Sarcee would have been given if the paper had been composcil •• •>
summer of 1929. In completing the article. I have tried to follow Sapirs general plan as ii
the early part of the paper and in a few handwritten n*>tes (see p 145) attached to tli.
matters of detail I have not attempted to reproiluce what Sapir might have written "• I
hope that my contribution may be of value by supplying data that otherwise nnghl have tobc v>u. f •
in a number of scattered sources. M s
Few people realize that within the eonfines of the United Stales there is spi>-
ken today a far greater variety of languages — not dialeets, not slightly diver-
gent forms of speeeh, but fundamentally distinel languages — than in the \Khi)lc
of Europe. We may go further. We may say, quite literally and safels, thai in the
state of California alone there are greater and more numerous linguisiic
extremes than ean be illustrated in all the length and breadth i)t i!urope. Such a
group as German, French, Irish, Polish, Lithuanian, Albanian, (ireek.
Basque, Turkish, Hungarian, Finnish, and Circassian — to list Furopean forms
of speech with maximum distinctness — exhibits a lesser gamut t>f linguistic
differences, as regards both phonetic elements and peculianiies oi structure,
than an equal number of languages that might be selected from among those
spoken in California.
Needless to say, it is to the aboriginal languages of America that we have
reference. Whether these all stem from a common origin or not — and we have
yet little tangible evidence that they do — , they now present the most be\Mlder-
ing diversities of form. They are at once the delight and the despair of the
linguistic student. It is saddening to reflect that many ol them. doDiiied ti>
extinction, may never be adequately recorded for want of a sufficient number of
properly trained investigators. But we already know enough to be able lo define
some of the fundamental problems of American Indian linguistics. And N^e
have the right to say that a small and devoted band of students, working far
from the market place of science, have already rescued so much of these excep-
tionally difficult languages that general linguistic theory wouUI be quite a dif-
ferent thing without their labors. It would be difficult to ovcresiimale the n.iIuc
of these technical and seemingly detached studies for an eventual philosophy of
speech. They |l()4| have something of that apparent aloi>fness frtun. vcl
uncanny, subterranean relevance to. the psychology of thought and of pat-
terned expression that a purely theoretical branch of malhematiCN ptissesses in
relation to concrete physical pioblcins uliich one would imagine to be safely
beyond its reach. All forms of linguisiic cxpicssion are reilucible \o a common
134 V American Indian Languages I
psychological ground, but this ground cannot be properly understood without
the perspective gained from a sympathetic study of the forms themselves.
It is clear at the outset that we have no right to speak of American Indian
grammatical categories. The languages of our natives differ too much to make
it possible to speak of the general presence or absence of particular categories.
All our well-known types of formal patterning in speech can be illustrated in
aboriginal America, and some that are not at all or not so well known to us, but
there is hardly one that can be said to be universal. Certain American lan-
guages, like Chinook, recognize gender of a type that is not dissimilar to the
masculine, feminine, and neuter of our classical tongues, but in a much larger
number such distinctions are entirely wanting. An equivalent classification into
animate and inanimate nouns is fairly wide-spread, particularly among the lan-
guages of the Algonkian stock.
Plurality of the noun is often expressed with as necessary a particularity as in
English or French, but frequently there are no true plurals. Sometimes it is the
verb rather than the noun which is inherently singular or plural. A vague idea of
this apparently illogical and yet perfectly natural classification may be obtained
by looking upon such English verbs as to massacre and to troop as inherently
plural forms meaning 'to kill several' and 'to run (used of several subjects)'
respectively. If we think of a sentence like the dog trooped as the factual equiv-
alent of the normal sentence the dogs ran, the plurality of the noun being
ignored while the complementary plurality of action, which we habitually
ignore, is selected for explicit grammatical expression, we shall be able to get an
approximate feeling for the idiom of inherently plural verbs. In many Ameri-
can languages what seems at first sight to be a true plural of the noun turns out
on closer analysis to be a distributive. In such a language, say Nootka or
Tsimshian, both spoken in British Columbia, the word houses of the English
sentences / have many houses and / have houses at the point and up on the hill
would not necessarily be rendered in the same way. In the former case Nootka
might quite readily content itself with the absolute or singular form of the
noun, leaving the logical plurality of the concept to be inferred from the inher-
ent significance of the word for 'many.' In the latter case, however, it would be
more idiomatic to employ a reduplicated form of the noun, expressing distribu-
tion, for the reference is not to a mere plurality of houses but to their presence
at different points of space — some here, some there.
In the expression of case too there is a great variety of usage in America.
While certain languages, like Yokuts and Wintun in California, possess syntac-
tic and local cases that are analogous to the cases of the older Indo-European
languages, many other American languages, perhaps the majority of them, are
as innocent of cases as modern French. The relations expressed by the nomina-
tive, [105] accusative, genitive, dative, and other analogous forms are naturally
somehow provided for in these languages, just as they are provided for in
French or in English. One method is the use of syntactic particles, like our of or
to; word order is sometimes important, as in English; or various other morph-
ological devices may be employed which make case affixes quite superfluous
(the genitive relation, for instance, may be rendered with the help of possessive
One: lypolony and Claxsifuuium I35
pronominal elements, as in Chinook, uhuh expresses our linglish ihr man's
house by l/ie-niun his-hoiisc). Where ease elements are fourul. ihes do not nec-
essarily eorrespond exaetly to elassieal usage. Ihus. the kmuliar eontrasl oC
nominative and aeeusative, or subjeetive and objective, is replaced in Mskimo
by one between absolutive and 'subjeetive.' the former being used when the
noun is in an objective relation or is the subject ot an intransitive \erb. while
the latter at once delines the genitive relation and the subject of a iransi(i\e
verb.
Needless to say, the variations ot morphology are just as tar-reaching m the
verb as in the noun. To take the category of tense as an example, there are
American languages that are very particular about temporal discrimination
(Wishram, a Chinook dialect, has no less than four preterits, which differ in the
remoteness of the time from the moment of speaking), while others seem hard-
ly to worry about so fundamental a distinction as that between present and past
(in Takelma, for instance, an obscure but most interesting language of south-
western Oregon, the future is carefully distinguished in both stem form and
pronominal affixes from the present, but the latter tense is really an 'aorisiic" or
indefinite tense which may apply equally well to the present or past)
It is obviously impossible in the face of such varietv of structure to write
about American Indian languages in general terms. It will he far more profit-
able to take up a few concrete instances and to analyze them with some care.
What I propose to do in the remainder of this paper is, first, to see how a very
simple English sentence is structurally transformed in its rendering \n\o some
half dozen selected languages of the American aborigines. In this way we shall
gain a livelier idea of the realities of American Indian linguistic stuily and. at
the same time, we shall learn how plastic a process is linguistic expression in
itself. And, secondly, I shall draw attention to a few important grammatical
categories that are either not expressed at all in languages nearer home »>r are
expressed only fragmentarily or by implication.
The English sentence he will i^ive it to you may be expressed as follows m
Wishram, a Chinookan dialect of the region of The Dalles, on the Columbia
River; in Takelma, an extinct or all but extinct language of southwestern
Oregon; in Southern Paiute, aShoshonean language of the semi-desert counir>
north of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado; in Yana. which is spoken, or was
until recently, by a handful of Indians in the upper drainage of the Sacramen!t>
in northeastern California; in Nootka, which is spoken on the west coast i»f
Vancouver [1061 Island; and in Navaho. an Athabaskan language «>f north-
western New Mexico and northeastern .Arizona:-
1. Also called 'absolute" and relative." See. tor example. William nialbit/er. I vlimx //.it./^'.-A -»/
American Indian Lanf'i4af^i'.s. Bulletin 40. Bureau of Am I thn<'log>. p.iri I. p K'l^ M *»
2. My reason for selecting these six languages is parllv that ihcy well illu%lralr di»cfci»cc% .W
structure, partly that they happen to he languages uuh whuh I h.ivc had u»mc firM-h«nd »r(|iMinlaiK:v
in the field. L.S.
Of the phonetic symbols, the tollowmg may need explanation / (or \oi> ' '
voiceless lateral affricate. ' forglottali/ation; gr.ive accent in takelma Uu %in
for stress with high or rising tone; in Navaho unmarked syllables are l«>» level in pilch. »aiic wpi 1% Im
high-level pitch. M.S.
136 ^ American Indian Uingua^es 1
Wishram: acimli'uia < a-c-i-m-l-iid-a
will-he-him-thee-to-GivE-will
Takelma: '^ospink < '^ok-t-xpi-nk {s < ktx by regular contraction)
WILL GivE-to-thee-heorthey in-future
S. Paiute: mayavaaniaak'ar}a'mi < ma-^a-vaania-aka-ax^a-' mi
GivE-will-visible- thing-visible creature-thee
Yana: ba-jmasiwa^numa < ba--]a-ma-si-wa-'^numa
ROUND THiNG-away-to-doesorwill-doneunto-thou- in-future
Nootka: '^oyi'^aqK'ate'^ic < o'^-yi--'^a-qK-'^at-e'^ic
THAT-give-will-done-unto-thou-art
Navaho: neido-'^d-t < n-a--yi-diho-'^d-l
thee-to-transitive-will-ROUNDTHiNGiNFUTURE
* * * *
In the above examples hyphens show the formal analysis, and a schematic
element-by-element translation gives a general idea of the notional structure.
The stem is marked by small caps in the translation.
In these six languages, selected for grammatical variety, we find not only
differences in the order and organization of the meaningful elements but also in
the matter of what notions are included along with the main content. It may
come as a surprise to some readers to find references to 'round thing' and 'visi-
ble ,' since our original sentence did not specify the nature or the location of the
thing given. These are details that had to be added for natural translation in
essentially the same way as supplying for French the gender of the object {le or
la) and the general social setting of the statement {te or vous). We have con-
cretized the object as a stone: of masculine gender in Wishram, inanimate in
Southern Paiute, and of round-object classification in Yana and Navaho.
For some of the languages we had to decide whether to ignore or insist on the
sex and number of the third-person subject. For example, in Takelma, third-
person verbal endings make no sex or number distinction. We could have shown
the number by adding an independent personal pronoun, '^d-k for the singular;
to show both the sex and the number, we would have had to use a concrete
nominal expression like 'male-person one' (Pi-'^-ld-pha mi-'^s). However, this
would have put a great deal of emphasis on these details. It would be compara-
ble to amplifying our undifferentiated English second person reference to read
he will give it to just you yourself, a man. [107]
These considerations serve to emphasize a basic fact of language and speak-
ing, namely, that no language response can be separated from the contextual
pattern in which it occurs. Since languages differ in the way their forms are
affected by concrete details, one cannot translate from one to another without
constantly referring back to the context. In the process of translation, one must
sometimes add details that are ignored in the first language and sometimes omit
details that are definitely specified in the first.
Quite in contrast to the Takelma stands Wishram with a gender system that is
reminiscent of English, recognizing masculine and feminine and neuter; how-
ever, in detail it is more on the order of Russian or German, since the classifica-
One: Typolofiy mid CUi.\.upiiHum |37
tion of animals and objects is arbitrary Diftcrcnlialion inli) animate and inani-
mate elasses is illustrated in Southern l*amte v^hieh ct)mbines this dieholomy
with that ot visibility, inilieatiiiu whether the fniit\ i .m nr ^ ,uin'«« ^.- >-.■.•■> tr,..«
the standpoint ot the aetion's main setting.
Still ant>ther kind ol elassilieation is that ol shape, retleeled in the ^ana and
Navaho examples. However, it is the verb-stem and not the pronoun thai is
involved. Both ot these languages, though genetieallv unrelated and struc-
turally very tlitterent. happen to eoineide in treating our notion of giving as a
handling operation involving an ob|eet elassilieil as long, rouiul. sheet-like.
ete. The bare stem refers to any kind ot movement ot the given type ot «)bjetl.
and the affixes define the movement. In \'ana. one says that a round thing is
moved away from someone and to someone else, expressed by the subject and
object. The Navaho speaks of handling (indicated bv the transitive element) a
thing to or for someone.
An interesting phenomenon illustrated in our material is the use of zero
forms l\ir expressing one of the grammatical categories in a set. The Navaho has
no specitic element for the third person subject, but it is nonetheless delinitely
implied by the absence of any first or second person element. The same is
largely true in Yana and Nootka, but the fact does not appear in our examples
because of the passive formation used. For third-person object, zero forms arc
even more common.
Case relations, differentiating giver and gift and receiver, are found
expressed in our six languages by every conceivable means: by the order of
elements, by the use of different forms, by relational markers, by relational
implications of concrete elements. Wishram illustrates three of these metht)ds:
The subject and object (if third person masculine or feminine) are doubly dis-
tinguished, bv form and bv position. The second person object form is the snmc
as the subject but the relative position (subject precetlmg. object following)
serves to mark the difference. The indirect object, in aildition to its fixed posi-
tion, is clearly marked by the relational element -/-. meaning "to* or "for " Sim-
ilar indirect-object markers, placed either before or after the pronominal ele-
ment, are found in Takclma and Navaho. Also possible are subject and object
markers, though they are not illustrated in our example sentences. It may be
interesting to add the Yokuts for he will i^ixr it lo vou. shtming an object repre-
senting the recipient, and a locative |1()<S) for the gift (thinl person subject is
normally omitted); the meaning is, as it were, will present thee at (or with) it
ma-m wa-n-en ta--ni rm i -obj. (.i\i -will iiiM-at
Passive signs, in Yana and Nootka, constitute another t\pe of relatn>nal cle-
ment helping to distinguish between the actor and the affected enlit\ In the
case of Yana the use of the passive is entirciv formalized, since it is the t>nly
method ever used for a third person acting upon a first or sectmd perst>n. In
Nootka the passive is stylistic: it serves to iiixe L'rcatcr svnt.ictK prominence fo
the psychologically important entitv
A particularly interesting syntactic relation is that betNveen the .Sooik.i Mem
^o- 'that, that one' and the suffix -v/- (or / ' '*» g»ve." I he latter element
138 y American Indian Languages I
belongs to a class of suffixes known as governing, which stand in a definite
relation to any stem with which they may be used. The relation with the pro-
nouns contained in the paradigmatic modal endings is less definite. Thus, the
subject after the passive could be interpreted either as the recipient or the gift,
but the stem can refer only to the gift.
The number of pronominal elements that can enter into the paradigmatic
complex is three in the case of Wishram and Navaho, two in Takelma and Yana,
one ordinarily in Nootka, none in Yokuts. Our Southern Paiute form has three
pronominal elements attached to the verb, but they are loose enclitics that
could just as readily be attached to some other word in the sentence, replaced
by independent pronouns, or omitted altogether. Our Yana form, with two
pronominal elements, could be interpreted either 'he will give to you' or 'he
will give you (to someone)'; however, in view of the meaning conveyed by the
stem, the latter interpretation would be possible only if one happened to be
talking to a round object. Takelma actually has two separate verb themes:
'^oku-t- (future "^dk-t-) means 'to give (something) to' while the irregularly
related '^oyon- (future '^dyn-) means 'to give': The two stems respectively form
'^dspink 'he will give to you' and "^dynxpink 'he will give you away.'
The Southern Paiute example shows some formal ambiguities that may serve
as a basis for general comment. The different enclitics of third person have only
one form each and the order in which two of them are joined is determined by
class (inanimate precedes animate) and not by case relations. For the second
person, subject and object are different in form but there is no formal distinc-
tion between direct and indirect object. Thus, from the strictly formal view-
point, our sentence can mean either 'creature will give thing to thee' or 'thing
will give creature to thee' or 'creature will give thee to thing' or 'thing will give
thee to creature.' In the nature of things and creatures, the first is the most
likely interpretation. Or, putting it otherwise, it is not likely that the sentence
would be used in just this form unless the most natural order of events is
involved or unless the context is such as to indicate clearly the meaning. South-
ern Paiute does not want for alternate and less ambiguous modes of expression.
For example, one can say:
mai}a-su-aka-'mi maya-vaania
VISIBLE CREATURE ACTiNG-just-visible-thing-thee GivE-will [109]
imi-ncuy^a maya-vaania-ak'-ai}a
GivE-will-visiblething-visiblecreature
mai}a-su maya-vaania-aka imi-ncu-y^a
VISIBLE CREATURE ACTING-jUSt GIVE-wiU-visiblcthing THEE-tO
In addition to devices shown here, another common method for clearing up
ambiguities is that of adding elements without changing the ambiguous form.
The technique is that used in Spanish se la dard a Usted amplifying the ambigu-
ous se la dard.
Our six languages agree with English in showing future time, but there are
important differences in the over-all scheme of time classification. Nootka has
two autonomous systems of time categories. Tense is of secondary importance,
One: TvfHJlogy aiui Classijuwum J39
involving two mechanically added elements, for future and past, whose use is
largely optional. By contrast, aspect is an obligatory calegorv I scr\ iu»nn.il
word (exclusive of relational particles and interjectiDns) requires an aspect
classilicalion, marked l\\ siiMi\ or internal change or a comhmalion of the two
The extensive system of categories includes: duralivc. incepli\e. momcn-
taneous, graduative (similar to linglish progressive). pre-graduati\e. ileraliNe.
iterative inceptive. (The form used in our example, '^oyi- 'give that," is momen-
taneous.) Neither tense and aspect have anything to do with the modal para-
digms, which alone are intlected for person. The Navaho svstem of verbal cale
gories is essentially one of aspect, including: perfective. imperfeeli\e .
iterative, progressive, future, optative. W'lshrani has a pure tense system.
including future, present and four kinds of past, disimguishetl accordini! to
their remoteness from the present. The Takelma system mixes tense and mode,
since it includes: aorist, future, potential ('can do so"), inferential ("evidenllN
does so'), and imperative. As points of comparison \sc ina\ note that the I ng-
lish set of verbal categories is largely one i>f tense and aspect, \shile the French
combines tense and aspect and motle.
Turning now for a moment [o formal structure, our examples illustrate very
nicely the contrast between agglutinative and fusional techniques of
expression. The Wishram is a remarkably clear-cut example of agglutinatu)n.
since the words are analyzable into elements each of which expresses a single
notion. The Takelma involves two interconnected fusions, m the stem and in
the suffix. The stem combines tense-mode with its lexical \alue. ami the enil-
ings combine tense-mode with person. As expressed in the stem, tense-mode is
ambiguous, since what we call the future stem is actually used for all categories
other than the aorist; likewise it is ambiguous in the suffix, since some i>f the
modal forms coincide. However, stem and suffix together give an unambiguous
expression. We can illustrate this with some forms of 'to give to.' uhose stem-
forms are '^okii-t- for aorist and '^ok-t- for the non-aorist categories: With end-
ings we have:
'''okiispi 'gives or gave it to you"
"^dspink 'will give to you"
"^dspi 'can give to you"
"^d.spik 'evidently gave to \i)u"
It will be seen that the general pattern is comparable to that of the Latin \crb
Similar fusion is found in Navaho where the vowel and the stem-final ei>ns*>nant
change to mark the aspects while inflectional prefixes also mark them ^'.tn.i
|11()| stems vary according to voice (hu- is static or passive. /><» - is the form t-i
causative or active transitive). Southern I'aiute has eonsonantic changes, affect-
ing a few stems, to mark aspect, but mostly uses mechanical suf fixation
has fusion in aspect formation and in modal paradigms. It is interest....
prevailingly agglutinative languages, even of polsssnthetic type, as arc >.ina
and Nootka, may nevertheless cmplov lusi.ui for certain limited pur|x>ses
Among the agglutinative languages, there are uide differences in structural
flexibility. Our sentence can be expressed in Wisluam i»nl\ in the iotm given
140 V American Indian Languages 1
(except of course that independent pronouns may be used along with it). Within
the verb, precisely the given affixes and stem must be used and in exactly this
order. By contrast. Southern Paiute allows a number of different possibilities
based on the fact that the suffixes of person are loose enclitics that may be
included or omitted and, when used, may be added to any word in the sentence;
independent pronouns may be used in place of or in addition to the enclitics.
Nootka, also, admits of varying expressions of the same general idea: one has
the option of passive or active construction, of inclusion or omission of an
explicit object, of relative synthesis (combining much into one word) or analy-
sis (using several words).
On first seeing our six translations, which all render he will give it to you as a
single word, the reader could have gotten the impression that all American
Indian languages are extremely synthetic. Of course, such a generalization
does not hold true, as may be seen in some of the comments and examples
subsequently brought forward. Certainly synthesis is common among Ameri-
can Indian languages, but it would not be easy to judge just how much above
average they are in this trait. Incidentally it may be observed that, by usual
criteria of independence of elements, the French verb might be regarded as
synthetically constructed: // te la donnera could just as well be written
itladonra, emphasizing its structural similarity to Wishram.
We have by now demonstrated the considerable variety that exists among
American Indian grammatical categories. It is safe to say that any grammatical
category to be found elsewhere in the world is sure to have a near analog some-
where in the native languages of the new world. And surely there are no
exclusively American traits that are not to be found anywhere else. This does
not mean it is impossible to generalize in any way upon American Indian gram-
matical categories. There certainly seem to be features that are to a significant
degree less common or more common in America than elsewhere. Thus, some
general characterization in terms of relative scarcity or frequency should be
possible but must be made with consideration and caution. In the present
paper, we do not attempt to go beyond a general examination of the problem. ^^
One important negative fact should be evident even from this brief survey,
namely, that there is nothing that can be seriously called 'primitive' about these
languages. True, we had to bring in some grammatical categories in our transla-
tions that were not present in the English, but these categories are neither [111]
more nor less necessary, from the standpoint of absolute logic, than a gender
classification. True also that some English categories are ignored in other lan-
guages. This does not prevent them from expressing all sorts of ideas without
undue ambiguity, and they have sufficient expressive means to eliminate ambi-
guities when necessary. It would be naive to imagine that any analysis of experi-
ence is dependent on pattern expressed in language. Any concept, whether or
not it forms part of the system of grammatical categories, can be conveyed in
3. Sapir has shown how such matters can be treated in his paper. The Problem of Noun Incorporation
in American Languages, Am. Anthropologist N.S. 13.250-82 (1911). M.S.
Orw: I\f>(>lt>i;\ arui C Utssificutton |4j
any language. If a notion is lacking in a given series, ii implies a difference of
conliguration and not a lack ot expressive power
SHLHC'I I I ) lum n X .K \l'|l^
Wishrain and diinook: E. Sapir. PrcliiniiKii\ Report on the Language unci
Mythology ot the Upper Chinook. Arn. Anihrofxiloi^ist. N.S. *;. 53.^-44 {\*^H)1);
E. Sapir, Wishram icxts, vol. 2, {Publications ol the Am. I^lhnologieal St»eiely
(1909); F. Boas, Chinook, Hatidhook of Am. Imiiuii Lun\iua\>i's. Bur. of Am.
Ethnology. Bulletin 40. part I, 423-677 (1911). including a few passages on
Wishram hy Sapir.
Takelma: E. Sapir, The Takelma Language ol Soutlnseslern ()iei'.iii
Handbook of Am. Indian Lun^ua^e.s, part 2, l-29fi.
Southern Paiute: E. Sapir, The Southern l\uutc l.aniiuui^c |gramm.ir. lexis
and dictionary], vol. 65, Proceedings ol the Am. Ac. of .Arts ami Sciences
(1930).
Yana: The Fundamental Elements of Northern >ana. (.'. ofCal. I'uhhcations
in Am. Arch, and Fjh. 13.215-34 ( 1922).
Nootka: E. Sapir and M. Swadesh, Nootka lexis |wuh brief grammatical
description and stem and suffix lists], William Dwight Whitney Linguistic
Series, Linguistic Society of America (1939): M. Swadesh. Nootka Internal
Syntax, UAL 9.77-102 (1939).
Navaho: E. Sapir and H. Hoijer, Navaho Texts, William Duighi Whitney
Linguistic Series (1942); Berard Haile, A Manual of Navaho iirammar (Si.
Michael's, Arizona 1926).
American Indian structural variety: M. Hoijer and oiiiers, I. iniiui.stic Struc-
tures of Native America, number 6, Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology
(1946).
safmr's noifs
[These are the jottings found attached to the uiilinished lypescrif^i I hey may
be of interest in showing points Sapir planned to include in the discussion.)
Adequacy of expression in America. Naivete of imagining that any analysis of
experience is dependent on pattern expressed in language. Lack ol case or
other category no indication of lack functionally. (Jiven siiuatu>n .A N.
expressed as A, ... N, symbolically in which there is no one to one corres-
pondence. Absence of member C, simplv means difference of configur.; '
not lack of C.
In any given context invoking use o\ language, lang response is not to he
split up into its elements grammatically nor sensorimotorK but kept as unit in
contextual pattern. Each unit has its own relatively autonomous pattern.
Orientation as to psychological interest (Nootka) nouns — verbs.
Verbal categories of tr. :intr. , act.:stat. (Yana method)
Importance of aspects in America: Nootka. PaiuJe
Polysynthetic tendency: Nootka, \'ana.
142 y American Indian Languages I
(The notes also include two of the variant translations, the first and third,
mentioned in the discussion of S. Paiute.]
I Variant translations for Nootka, with analysis added by M.S.:]
'->oYi-'^a-qK-ma sot-U THATONE-give-will-does THEE-to
hin-i'- (same form with empty stem hin- instead of pronominal stem ^o-).
[Sapir's Sarcee translation:] na-^a-yi-na-'^a. [112]
NOTE ON ORTHOGRAPHY
I have departed from Sapir's original writing in several details, most of them
in accordance with his own later usage and recommendations: c, j, X for ts, dj,
tl; double vowels instead of length sign in Southern Paiute; omitting indication
of voiceless vowels in S. Paiute (voicelessness is positionally determined, apply-
ing to odd-numbered vowels before ptkcs and to final vowels of polysyllables) ;
omitting accent mark in S. Paiute (it falls on second syllable of trisyllabic and
longer words, on first syllable of short words). In Takelma, I have introduced
some innovations as a result of my own study of some phonemic problems which
Sapir pointed out to us: I have treated the aspirates and the glottalized conso-
nants as clusters {ph etc., p^ etc.) and therefore used/? etc. for the simple stop.
As to the accents, I have adopted two signs after concluding that Sapir s original
rising and high-level represent one phonemic type.
Sapir s original footnote on phonetics reads: T have simplified the phonetics
as far as it seemed possible to do without destroying the essential pattern of the
native words.' The wording reflects the time of writing; Sapir could not then
count on his anticipated readers, anthropologists and linguists, to understand
an explicit reference to phonemics. — M.S.
Editorial Note
Originally published in Word 2, 103-112 (1946). Reprinted by permission of
the International Linguistic Association.
The Relation ot American liulian I inuuisiKs
to General 1 jnmnsiics '
The importance ol Americiiii Iruliaii linuiiislies to the general hnguist is so
obvious that it does not neeti to he stressed. A tew iiuliealions. however, of the
Hght thrown by American Indian languages on general prt)blems of linguistics
may be welcome. Many indications of the general importance of the Ameri-
canist's field have been gi\en by l)r F. Boas in the Introduction" to his
Handbook o( Atncricaii Iiidiun lAini^uni^cs.^
One of the problems which the general linguist has to deal \Mth is the dis
tribution of phonetic elements. It has become well known that sounds and
groups of sounds have their geographical distribution like any other cultural
trait, and from the strictly anthropological point of view there is no reason lo
suppose that these distributions wcnild necessarily follow the lines given by a
genetic classification of languages. It so happens that the languages of native
America are a particularly fruitful field for this type o{ research, it is remark-
able, for instance, that the phonetic systems of the languages spoken along the
Pacific coast south of the Eskimo area have many characteristics in ct>mmon in
spite of the fact that they are far from being members of the same genetic group.
The phonetics of Tsimshian, for instance, agrees in numerous peculiar respects
with that of such languages as KwakiutI and Nootka. yet it is almost certain thai
the genetic affiliations of Tsimshian arc with languages far to the south and thai
its genetic relationship to KwakiutI and Nootka is. at best. cxceedingK remote
and in all probability non-existent. Analogous phenomena have from time to
time been |2| pointed out in other areas of the world. Ihus. .Armenian owes
certain of its phonetic peculiarities to contact w ith Caucasic languages in spile
of the fact that it is itself a typical Indo-Iuiropean language. The American
Indian lield may very appropriately be thought of as an i^bject lesson of the
greatest importance for a general theory o{ historical i^honctics. lor the irreg-
ular distribution of many of the linguistic stocks on the continent has been
especially favorable for the spread of phonetic features far beyond the conlincs
of a single genetic group. Experience gained from a study of American Indian
data must have important methodological consequences for judgments on
phonetic hislorv in such fields as Indcvf-uropean and Mamitic-Semitic
What applies to phonetics is. to a considerable exienl. also true of mor-
phological features. In general, we mav operate with the hvpolhesis that a given
type of linguistic structure lends to inaintain itscll tor exceedingly long pcnixls
•This postluiinous iiKiiuisciipl IrDin llic lin.is ( kIIccIiou ot ihc .Aimru.m I't ' ' ' ' •»
made availahlc thrcuigh the gencri»sity of the SocK-t\ C I- Wn-cchn .uul M v
brought our attention to it. — Editor.
1. Hulletin. lUireau of .American fthnoloi!\, no 4(1. p.iil 1. I'm
144 y American Indian Languages 1
of time. But ii cannot be denied that important re-formations can be, and often
have been, due to contact between fundamentally alien languages. The Ameri-
can Indian languages that we have sufficient knowledge of seem to behave very
differently in this respect. Thus, the languages of the Athapaskan group are
singularly conservative in form as well as in phonetics and vocabulary in spite of
their enormous and irregular spread. There is far less difference in form
between, say, Chipewyan, Hupa, and Navaho, three languages selected from
the Northern, Pacific, and Southern divisions of Athapaskan, respectively,
than between Baltic and Slavic within the Indo-European group. Here we have
languages that seem to have been significantly resistant to exotic influences. On
the other hand, there are important morphological characteristics which seem
to have diffused over a continuous territory occupied by languages of alien
stocks. A good example of such a distribution is the presence of instrumental
prefixes in the verb in the Maidu (north central California) and Takelma
(southwestern Oregon) languages of the Penutian group, in which such prefixes
are not ordinarily found. It seems very probable that we have here an influence
exerted by the Hokan languages such as Shasta and Karok (northwestern Cal-
ifornia) on neighboring languages. These instrumental prefixes are further
found in Shoshonean, which adjoins the area under discussion to the east. A
careful study of a distribution of this sort should help materially in clarifying
our ideas about the relative persistence or non-persistence of grammatical fea-
tures. Even if the importance of diffusion of formal linguistic features as an
explanation of linguistic reseniblances may not be as far-reaching as some diffu-
sionists suppose, it nevertheless remains true that the intercrossing influence of
diffusion must be taken into account very much more seriously than is done by
students [3] of comparative and historical grammar in the Old World. Here
again American Indian linguistics seems destined to become an important
object lesson in linguistic methodology.
Far more important, however, than the suggested importance of American
Indian linguistics for problems of diffusion is the intrinsic analysis of these lan-
guages. As is well known, they are unusually variant in form from each other,
and it is perhaps not too much to say that there is hardly a morphological type
which is not illustrated in the American field. It has often been pointed out that
many of these languages are highly synthetic or polysynthetic in form, but on
the other hand there are not a few languages in native America which are highly
analytic in structure. In view of the confusion which still prevails in regard to
the relation of linguistic form to race and cultural backgrounds, it is peculiarly
important to survey the American Indian field, for within it we find maximal
morphological divergences within a relatively homogeneous race and with
complete lack of correspondence with the cultural groupings of the ethnologist.
This means that American Indian linguistics stands as a silent refutation of
those who try to establish an innate psychological rapport between cultural and
hnguistic forms. Surely, the content of language reflects culture with painstak-
ing accuracy but its morphological outlines seem to be essentially independent
of such cultural influence. Just what this means in a psychological sense it is for
C)m J\(h)li>)^\ o/ul Clii.\Mfutilii>n |4S
the tuliirc to cictcriiiiiic. lor the present ii is oin musls iinportanl lo gather ihc
abundant materials on this point. I he American Indian languages arc in a
peculiarly favorable position [o gi\e us the required ilala li is possible l«> fiiul
areas in native America in which a relativelv unilorm culture is shared b\ pc«»
pies who speak laiiguaues that prescnl ihe \e(\ \Mdest possible contrasts <>(
form. Such entities as the West | Northwest] (oast culture area, the Plains
culture area, and the Pueblo culture area are m tiat contradiction to the lin-
guistic affiliations of the languages spoken within them 11. therefor, there are
fuiuiamental relations between culiuial and formal linguistic phenomena, they
cannot be of the type w hich so many linguistic philosophers and social scientists
are in the habit of discovering. Here again American Indian linguistics is an
invaluable test field for solid linguistic thinking.
A linguist who is familiar u ith the forms ol onK one circumscribed group of
languages, such as lndo-lAnn)pean or Semitic. necessariK runs the risk of uni-
versalizing formal features which are after all local in their tlisiribulion. or of
rejecting as unlikely conceptual peculiarities which are abundantly attested
outside o\' his special group of languages. American Indian languages give
abundant opportunity to correct both of these possible misconceptions. The
Indo-Huropeanist, [4] for instance, will find nominal classilicalions based on
sex gender sparely represented in America and this negati\e fact cannot but
give him a new respect for the possible genetic \alue o\ the presence of sex
gender in Indo-European and Hamitic-Semitic. Again, the rarity in America ol
formal comparatives and superlatives in the adjective gi\es this formal feature
of Indo-European a contrastive emphasis that it might ni>t otherwise seem to
possess. On the other hand, the de\eh)pment of secondary eases from
postposed locative particles, ordinarily felt to be a rather strange feature i»f
certain Indo-European languages, finds numerous parallels in other languages
all over the world, including those of America. Ihe conceptual separation of
aspect and tense comes out very clearly in many American languages, whereas
the two categories tend to be blended in various ways in Indo-Iuropean and
Semitic. These are but a few out of hundreds of examples of what mas he
learned from American Indian languages o\ basic linguistic concepts, or rather
of the grammatical treatment of basic concepts. I here is hardls a classificatorN
peculiarity which does not receive a wealth o\ illumination from .Americ.in
Indian languages. It is safe to say that no sound general treatment of language is
possible without constant recourse to these materials.
A word mav be said on the value of field work in .Americ.in Indian linguistus
for those not planning to occupy themselves prt>fessionall\ uith them Modern
training in linguistics must emphasi/e more ami moie the impi>rlancc of direct
contact with speech rather than the com enlionalK recordeil If It is of
great pedagogical importance for a young Indo I uropeamsi i»i ^ sl l»» tr>
to work out inductively the phonetic system and morphology of some language
which is of an utterly different structure from those that he has been sn
Such an experience frees him from numerous mise«>nceptions and gives : :..-
146 V American Indian Languages J
very best evidence that he could wish for the phonetic and grammatical consis-
tency of a language that ishandeddownentirely by word of mouth. One may go
so far as to say that only students who have had this type of experience have a
thoroughly realistic idea of what language is. For this type of training nothing
more suitable could be thought of than an investigation into one or more of the
languages of native America. They are readily accessible and competent inter-
preters can be found in most cases. It may be pointed out that E. Sapir's
Language and L. Bloomtield s Language owe not a little to the personal experi-
ence of the writers in the inductive study of American Indian languages.
Editorial Note
Originally published in Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 3, 1-4 (1947).
Reprinted by permission of the University of New Mexico Press.
SectionTwo:
Phonetic Orthography
1 III IDdllCl 11)11
Sa[")ii was responsible lor ihc lollow ing two puhlKations ci>nccrncd wiih sl;in-
dardizcd systems of phonetie iiolalion lor Native Anieneaii languages
"Phone tie Transeription ot liulian I aiiuiiaues" (Sapir et al. I^Ui) hail iis ori-
gins at the meeting ot the Ameriean Aniliropologieal Assoeiation m C Icvcland
at the end o{ \'^)\2. At the beginning o\ b'l.v Sapir wrote it> Krocbcr thai (he
AAA had appointed a eommittee to propose "a new praetieal system for
phonetie rendering of Ameriean languages" ((iolla 1W,S4: 72). I he members
were expeeted to be Franz Boas (as Chair), Kroeber, Pliny \.. (ioddard, John P
Harringt(Mi. and Sapir — who aeeepted the position ol Secretary and was
responsible for the repi>rt finalK published. Harrington's name hail to be
deleted from the eommittee roster w hen it was found that he was not a member
of the Association (Goila, p. 140). Several doeuments reflecting the discussions
that went into the final report have been published as Appendix I to the Sapir-
Kroeber correspondence (Golla, pp. 425-4S).
Several motivations seem to have led to the creation o\ the eommittee. First.
linguists such as Sapir. Kroeber. and liarnngion were appreeiaii\e of the
advances which had been made in instrumental phonetics during the preceding
decades; and they were aware that much tield work on American languages had
been deficient in phonetic accuracy. The alphabet proposed by Powell ( 1S7^».
though extensively used, had proved very inadequate. Second, the alphabet
launched in 1886 by the International Phonetic Association (iPA). although
intended for worldwide use, had been found pm^rly suited fi>r Ameriean lan-
guages, as well as typographically tlifticull. linalK. because ot the inadequacies
of both the Powell and the IPA systems, a variety of indi\idual and mulualK
inconsistent practices had developed in the phonetic transcription o! .Nali\e
American languages.
Ihe proposal finally issued by the committee is unusual in that it presents two
systems: lirst. a "comparatively simple" one. "adapted to the i>rdinar> purp*>scN
of reccuding and printing texts" (p. 2); then a nuue complete s\stem. intended
for specialized studies in phonetics. Sapir hiinsell uould apparently have pre-
ferred something less complex. In 1^)21 he wrote to Kroeber: "It should rcallv
be revised and in part simplilied. It is \erv bad aKo lo h.i\e 2 >\slemN. but
(ioddard wanted Part T ((iolla. p. 2S7).
"Some Orthographic Keeonimeiulalions" (Sapir el al. h^.Uj is signed b\
Sapir with live of his students at >ale. It rellects the move of the P*.'^(Kaua> from
phonetic concerns, such as were expressed in the preceding article, and m the
direction of phonemic analysis. I he lei in ■phoneme" is used here, dchncd a* a
■psychologically unitary sound." .Most i)t the text isdeMMedli»u; "' " " "'
though some ph(Miemes might be analyzed ph«>neiK .ill\ .is »
150 V American Indian Languages 1
should nevertheless be transcribed with unitary symbols; thus it is recom-
mended that (ts ts kvv], when functioning as single phonemes, should be written
as /c c k^/.
The proposals here have remained authoritative for scholarly practice in
American Indian linguistics to the present day (for a thorough discussion of
usage, sec Pullum and Ladusaw 1986). However, recent efforts to develop prac-
tical orthographies for literacy programs have frequently motivated the use of
digraphs such as ts ch kw for the phonemes in question.
PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF INDIAN LANGUAGES
REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF AMERICAN ANTHROPOI.oriCAL
ASSOCIATION
The followiiit,^ report is based on several nu-ctiiiv^s held m New.
York in January, 1913, April and May, 1914. and Januar>', 1915, by a
quorum of the committee of the American Anthropological Associa-
tion, charged with tiie drawing up of a phonetic system for tran-
scribing Indian languages, consisting of V. Boas, Chairman, P. E.
Goddard, and E. Sapir, Secretary, further on correspondence with
tlic remaining member of the committee, A. L. Kroebcr.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
It is essential that each simple sound be consistently represented
by the same symbol.
These symbols, as far as possible, should be those associated in
past use with sounds similar to the ones they are chosen to represent.
For the sake of appearance and to avoid distracting the attention
of the reader, mixture of fonts and unusual characters should be
avoided unless indispensable.
In texts accompanied by interlinear translations all characters and
marks of punctuation not strictly phonetic, such as capitals, commas.
and periods, should be eliminated excepting, however, symbols intro-
duced for facilitating grammatical analysis.
In order to reduce the cost of publishing texts, only such diacritical
marks and accents as are essential for adc(|uate transcription should
be employed.
Where a uniform and fairly adequate system has already been
employed in the recording of a particular language, it will usually Ix:
best to continue its use in further work with that language to facili-
tate comparisons and to avoid confusion. For purposes necessitating
the comparison of different languages and requiring phonetic accu-
racy the more rigid system should be applied.
The committee considers that the needs to be met by a phonetic
system for transcribing American languages are several. For the
specialist who wishes to analyze and discuss the sounds of a lanpuaKC
a very considerable number of symbols and a variety of modifying
accessories in the form of diacritical marks and accents arc neccssar>-.
152 V American Irulicm Languages 1
Such an elaborate system proves too complicated for students who are
less thoroughly trained in phonetics and therefore less discriminating
in their perception of sounds. For the recording and printing of
large bodies of texts, a too elaborate and detailed system is expensive
and often impracticable. The main objects to be secured in a large
series of texts are a full vocabulary and ample illustrations from
which the range in the meanings of words and phrases can be deduced.
It is not necessary that words recurring many times in such texts
be transcribed each time by symbols indicating all their phonetic
features. It is, however, necessary that each phonetic unit be un-
mistakably distinguished from all others.
The committee has been led, therefore, to submit a comparatively
simple system of transcription adapted to the ordinary purposes of
recording and printing texts. To provide for the recording and
discussing of the complex and varied phonetic phenomena encoun-
tered in American linguistics, a fairly detailed and comprehensive
system has been provided. It is necessarily of such character that it
can be employed only by a specialist in phonetics. *By its aid it is
to be hoped that the phonetic features of all of the extant North
American languages may be discussed and compared.
A. RULES FOR THE SIMPLER SYSTEM
I. VOWELS
I. Quality. — It is important that each vowel having a distinct
quality or timbre be represented by a definite character. Since the
Latin alphabet has only five vowel characters, it will usually be
necessary to supply others. For a full system of vowels the use of
Greek characters is recommended. Since these are not always avail-
able and present other difficulties in their use, Roman characters with
a diacritical mark above the letter, particularly macron (a), may also
be utilized. The following symbols are recommended :
a, as in English father. a, as in English but.
a, as in English hat.
e, as in English fate. £, as in English met.
i, as in Enghsh pique. i, as in English pin.
o, as in English note. o, approximately as in English not (better as o
in German voll).
u, as in English rule. v, as in English put.
These values correspond exactly to the recommendations of B (see
p. 9). If it is desired to avoid Greek characters, o, and a, the
following alternate system is recommended :
l\\i> fill •tilth < )rlhi'i'>,itiln ^^\
NO. 6 I'lIONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OP INDIAN LANGUAGES t
a, as in Knglisli father. a, as in English but.
a, as in English hat.
e, as in English fate. v, as in English met.
i, as in P'nRlish pique. i. as in English pin.
6, as in English tiote. o. as in EngUsh not (Ixrtlcr a< o in Gmra-
u, as in EngHsh rule. u, as in I"nghsh put.
For vowel qualities due to niixed positions, such as the umlautcd o
and u in German, two dots above the letter are recommended
The obscure vowel, found for instanrc in iMit/lish <i of t<!.-,'. ;..... ._
rendered by o (turned e).
Vowels of any timbre as determined by the shape ul ihc mouth
cavity may be further modified by the addition of the resonance
chamber of the nose. Such nasal quality in vowels (as in the French
nasalized vowels) may be indicated by adding beneath the letter a
hook turning to the right (^i).
It is to be understood that if only one of the qualities usually
associated with a roman letter occurs in the language in (juestion, that
letter is to be used without a diacritical mark (similarly, o is to Ik
used instead of turned c {.'>) if there is only an open o in the lan-
guage).
2. Duration. — The duration or quantity of vowel sounds, often an
essential matter, may be indicated by placing a mark after the vowel.
It is recommended that a turned period (a •) or a colon (a :) be used
for vowels long in duration, and a breve (a ' ) for those unusually
short. It is important that these marks be used after the vowels to
avoid confusion between duration and quality or timbre, since they are
not necessarily connected, as is generally assimied to be the case in
English.
3. Pitch. — In certain languages vowel sounds are distinguished
from each other by definite variations in pitch. When such varia-
tions of pitch arc essential, the acute accent over the vowel ((i) should
be used for high j)itcli. and grave ((i) for low pitch, the circumflex
(d) for falling pitch, and the inverted circumflex (u) for rising pitch.
When it becomes necessary in the recording of a language to use
these accents to represent pitch, similar diacritical marks for quality
over the vowxls are best avoided.
4. Weak vowels. — \'owels which are of full duration and strength
but not voiced, such as whispered vowels, may well be represented
by small capitals. When vowels are slighted in the force of enuncia-
tion, but are voiced, exponent vowels should l>e used (w').
5. Stress. — Where variations in stress are prominent they nuy be
indicated by placing the acute accent ( ' ) after the vowel. Secondary
154 V American Indian Languages 1
accents may be indicated by the grave accent ( ' ). It should be
remembered that stress accent is exceptionally marked in English
and that it is less pronounced and plays a less important role in
many American languages. Unless the indication of stress is neces-
sary to distinguish one word from another, it need not be printed
each time a word appears in texts.
II. CONSONANTS
I. Stops. — The consonants that are usually known as stops, those
in which the stream of breath is completely checked for a moment
by a closure of the mouth passage, are classified in various ways.
Various organs or parts of organs are employed : both lips, the tip
of the tongue against the teeth or palate, the back of the tongue
against the palate, the back of the tongue against the velum. The
sounds resulting from the release of the contact of these various
mouth parts have well-known and distinct qualities, such as the
bilabial sounds of p and h, the dental sounds of t and d, the palatal
sounds of ^ and g, and the velar sounds, not found, however, in
English.
Various modifications of these stops uttered in the four positions
are recognized, and may be grouped in definite series. If the vocal
cords are not closed and are not in operation during the uttering of
the consonant, it is known as a surd. If the vocal cords are closed
and vibrating during the entire time occupied in articulating the
sound, it is a sonant. In many Indian languages sounds occur that
to the English ear appear now a surd and now a sonant. These
stops are called intermediates, and should be consistently represented
by definite symbols. Small capitals of the sonant symbols are recom-
mended for these. The ordinary h, d, g, may be used when only inter-
mediate surds and not sonants occur. Surd consonants are frequently
followed by a strong expiration of breath, and are called aspirated in
consequence. Unaspirated surds are usually difficult to distinguish
from intermediates.
Many Indian languages have a series of stopped consonants quite
foreign to European ears. In addition to and during the usual closure
of the mouth characteristic of the particular sound, there is a closure
of the glottis. The air thus confiped in the mouth is compressed and
escapes with abruptness when the stop is released. These glottaHzed
consonants may be indicated by following apostrophe (/>').
The following system of • recording the stopped consonants is
recommended :
1\V(>: I'honflu ()rlhin;ra/>h\ 155
Bilabial
Dental
Sonant
1)
(1
Intcrmc
U
D
diatc
Sur
P
t
a
Surd fttpi
P'
t"
r>lc«i
Glo«iftltM4
P'
1"
Palatal
a
G
k
k*
k-
Velar
K
G
q or
k
ij' or
k"
q" or k*
Labialized and ])alata1i/ed palatals and velars may be indicated
respectively by addint; y and zv to the consonantal characters. Thus
gy represents palatalized g, ky' glottalized palatalized k, and gtv
labialized velar k.
2. Nazals. — Sounds having closures at the same jx>ints and involv-
inc^ the same mouth parts may be uttered with the passage throu^Jh
the nose unimj)eded. ihey may be continuously sounded through ihc
nose or only released through the nose by a lowering of the velum.
The following characters will ordinarily l)e found to be adequate:
bilabial, >n; dental, n; palatal,)!; velar,//.
3. Spirants. — Consonants of another sort derive their chief dis-
tinctive qualities from the agitation of the mouth ])arts which by their
approximation at certain points form definite strictures in the mouth
passage. They are called spirants or fricatives. They fall generally
into the same classes and series obtaining for stop consonants. When
considered as to the organs involved in their production they arc
bilabial, labio-dentals (lower lip against the upper teeth), interdcntals
(tip of the tongue on the points of the upper teeth), dental sibilants
(the tip of the tongue just back of the upper teeth), palatal sibilants
(the fore part of the tongue with its tip turned down approaching the
fore part of the palate), palatals (the back of the tongue approaching
the palate), velar (the back of the tongue approaching the velum).
These spirant sounds may be and usually are both surd and sonant
for each position. Less frequently they are glottally affected. The
following characters are recommended :
S
jnaiit
Surd
Glottalurd
Bilabial' 1
Labio-dcntal \
V
f
f
Interdental
a
e
r
Dental sibilant
z
s
»'
Prepalatal sibila
nt
j
c
c"
Palatal
7
X
x'
Velar y x *
4. Affricatives.—A series of sounds closely related to the spirants
are generally called alTricatives. Initially they are like stops, except
• Both forms arc not likely t.. occur in the same language and r an.!
be used for either. Proper delinitiun should be given
156 V American Indian Languages 1
that they are released through the mouth positions of the correspond-
ing spirants into which they immediately merge. It has been cus-
tomary to write them with two letters, as if they were compound
sounds. Were sufficient characters available, it would be better to
make use of a single symbol. For practical reasons it is recommended
that the following combinations be used :
Sonant
Surd
Glottalized
Bilabial
bv
Pf
pf
Interdental
d,^
td
id'
Dental
dz
ts
ts'
Prepalatal
dj
tc
tc'
Palatal
g7
kx
kx'
Velar g7 qx or kx qx' or kx'
5. Semivowels. — Closely associated with the bilabial and palatal
spirants are two sounds produced with less evident agitation of the
approximated surfaces. These are the semivowels, zv and 3;. They
are frequently voiceless, when a small capital y may be used and an
italic zv, since small capital is not sufficiently distinct from lower
case w.
6. Trills. — At various points where the mouth passage is con-
stricted a mouth part may be bodily vibrated. When the tip of the
tongue is turned up toward the palate and allowed to vibrate in a
current of air, r-like sounds are produced. The tip of the velum,
the uvula, may be caused to vibrate in a similar manner, resulting in
the uvular r heard in some parts of Germany and France. The
following symbols are recommended : tongue tip, sonant r ; surd R
(small capital) ; uvular, sonant r; surd R.
The surd velar r is hardly to be distinguished from the surd velar
spirant, since the uvula may vibrate in the surd spirant also.
7. Laterals. — The consonant sounds so far discussed are occa-
sioned by the release of stops, or by narrow passages in the middle
line in the mouth. There are other sounds made at the side of the
mouth between the teeth and the edge of the tongue. The best known
is an / sound found in English and all European languages. It is a
sonafit and is given a part of its quality at least by a movement of the
side of the tongue similar to that of the tip of the tongue in the
r sounds.
In many of the American languages there are lateral spirants made
between the side of the tongue and the upper teeth. The spirant
quality is pronounced only when surd. The sonant spirants approxi-
mate the " liquid " or trilled / of English. These lateral spirants
Iwo f'honflu Ortlujfiruf)h\ 157
may be prccotlcd by a clcisiirc forming an affricativc !»iiiular lo \\\e
medial afFricatives. The symbols recommended arc the followini;:
Sonant Surd < •lui«ali(r<l
Lateral trill 1
Lateral spirant f or L' I" or t'
Lateral affricative ill \\ or li, xV or tL*
8. iilottal. — 111 Amtrican languaj^'es a peculiar hiatus is frequently
fouiul between vowels, and a similar cessation of the brcatli precedes
and follows vowels. This closure is of the glottis, and is in all prob-
ability caused l)y the folding of the epiglottis over the glottis, as is the
case in swallowing. It is recommended that the apostrophe (') be
used. As noted above, this glottal closure also occurs with glottalized
consonants.
A glottal spirant, evidently caused by the agitation of the relaxed
vocal cords during the forcible expiration of the breath, does not
differ particularly from the h of English. Strong aspiration should
be indicated by /(, weak aspiration by breathing (').
B. RULES FOR THE MORE COMPLETE SYSTEM
DIACRITICAL MARKS USED INDEPENDENTLY
1. As a sign for long vowel or consonant, it is reconunended that
the inverted period (•) be used after a letter. For more than ordi-
nary length, a colon ( :) may be used after a letter. Thus, a • would
denote long a; a: would denote excessively long a. Excessive
length of non-grammatical significance, such as is often made use of
for rhetorical purposes, may be expressed by plus ( -f ). Oiaracters
without explicit signs of length are to be considered as short. Kx-
cessive shortness of vowels is to be indicated, where it seems advisable
to do so, by a small superior breve ( ' ) immediately after the loiter.
It is to be recommended that it be printed small and close to the pre-
ceding letter, so as not to sprawl the word.
2. Main and secondary stress accents are to be indicated by acute
( ' ) and grave ( ' ) respectively, which are to be placed after the
vowel or syllabic consonant affected. Where an accent and a mark of
length apply to the same vowel, it is recommended that the two sym-
bols be united into a single symbol, so as to avoid sprawling the word
Thus, ■* ' ^ and ~.
3. A period on the line is to be used between characters nornially
forming diphthongs or affricativcs. when it is desired to indicate that
each of the sounds represented has its own (syllabic) value. Dni*.
' Small capital L.
158 V American Indian Languages I
8
a.i is non-diphthongal a phis i, ai being the corresponding diphthong.
Similarly, t.s is the non-affricative t plus s, corresponding to the
affricative ts.
4. Hyphens should not be used for phonetic purposes. They may,
however, be used to indicate morphological analysis. Where, in
continuous text, it seems advisable to indicate somewhat loosely
affixed elements (prefixes and suffixes not thoroughly welded with
stem) by means of hyphens, double hyphens may be used at the ends
of lines to indicate a break in the word not meant to be of morpho-
logic significance.
VOWELS
5. Pitch accent, where indicated at all, should be expressed by
means of diacritical marks over the vowel. These diacritical marks
are also to be used over sonant continuants (such as /, m, n, w, z)
where these bear the pitch accent. The fundamental difference
between the system of pitch accent here recommended (the same as
has been fully described by Father W. Schmidt in various articles in
"Anthropos") and that of indicating stress is that the diacritical
marks for the former stand immediately above the letter, whereas
those for the latter follow. High pitch is to be indicated by an acute
accent ( ' ) over the letter ; low pitch is to be indicated by a grave
accent ( ' ) over the letter ; falling accent from high to low is to be
indicated by a combination of the acute and the grave, i. e., by the
circumflex accent ( ^ ) ; rising accent from low to high is to be
indicated by a combination of the grave and acute accents, i. e., by
the inverted circumflex accent ( '' ) . When it is necessary to indi-
cate middle pitch, this may be done by a vertical line above the
vowel ( ' ).
6. Voiceless vowels, that is, aspiration with definite vocalic timbre,
should be indicated by means of small capitals of corresponding
vowels.
7. Nasalization should be expressed by means of a hook, turned
to the right, placed under the vowel or voiced continuant. Thus,
nasalized a is indicated by a. This device may also be employed to
indicate semi-nasalized consonants. Thus, h would indicate semi-
nasalized b, acoustically midway between h and m.
8. What might be rather vaguely termed subsidiary or weakly
articulated vowels of various sorts are to be expressed by means of
superior or inferior characters. Rearticulations (such as often
occur in Indian languages, e. g., a-" in Takelma), vocalic glides,
murmured or echo vowels pronounced with feeble energy, yet not
T\U> /'hi'Hill, ( )rlli,>i-r.inlix J*y
entirely voiceless (such as often occur in America after glottal
stops), vocalic resonance of preceding coiLsonants, and whispered
vowels are all to be expressed by superior or inferior vowrK The
exact usati^e of superior or inferior vowels ;»iiould Ix* carefully
explained in the key in every case, so as to avoid possible confusion.
If it is desired to distinj^uish between vocalic timbres an<l weakly
articulated voiceless vowels on the one hand and vocalic glides and
weakly articulated voiced vowels on the other hand, superior voweU
(") may be used for the former, inferior vowels (a) for the latter.
9. The representation of vocalic (jualities here recommended
attempts to combine, as far as possible, the requirements of ordi-
nary usage with the demands of a consistent scientific system. The
phonetic analysis serving as a basis of the system has been taken
from Sweet's " Primer of Phonetics."
The five vocalic symbols serving as a starting point in this system
are : a, pronounced as in German Mann; e, pronounced as in French
ete; i, pronounced as in French fini; 0, pronounced as in German
so ; and u, pronounced as in German ^^t</.
Roughly speaking, the Greek forms of these letters indicate the
open (Sweet's wide) forms of the same sounds. For Greek omikron,
which would be easily confused with o, inverted c (:>) is substituted.
Thus, upsilon (u) represents 11 of English full; turned c (:>) repre-
sents of German voll; epsilon (e) represents e of English »mW;
iota (t) represents i of English it; alpha (a) represents i< of English
but. According to Sweet's phonetic analysis, o is the wide fonn of a.
but general usage demands the retention of a for the value here
recommended. The principle of simplicity (see last paragtaph of
A, I, i) will, in most cases, involve considerable simplification of this
system. Thus, where but one form of i-vowel is in use, the <;implr
symbol i will be used for either the close or open variety.
Rounded forms of front vowels are to be indicated by the r.;;;,.iut
( ) over the corresponding rounded back vowels. Thus, u irulicates
the vowel of German ki'ihl or French lunc : o represents the vowel
of German schon or French bleu; v represents the fir.><t ' 'f
German Miitce; j represents the first vowel of German (»
The use of the umlaut may be extended to indicate htgh-back-
unrounded vowels, the corresponding high-front-unrounded vowcU
being taken as points of departure. 1 bus, 1 ami • represent the high-
back-unrounded representatives of 1 and .. in other words, the un-
rounded forms f)f u and v. Both of these sounds occur, for example.
in Shoshonean.
160 V American Indian Languages I
lo
A natural extension of the system, as developed up to this point,
is the use of a single dot over a vowel to indicate articulations mid-
way between front and back, that is, all vowels belonging to Sweet's
■' mixed " category. Thus, u represents the vowel acoustically mid-
way between u and ii, an example of which is li of Swedish hus.
To avoid confusion with ordinary i, the superior dot of the i of this
series should be printed a little to the left {'i).
For the low-back-narrow-rounded vowel (the English aw of
/aw), omega (w) may be used ; the corresponding low-front-narrow-
rounded vowel, the eu of French pcur, is indicated by w, which thus
falls in line with ii and o. The vowel midway in position between w
and !1> is oJ.
For the other vowels of Sweet's scheme no specific symbols are
recommended as yet.
An obscure vowel of undefined quality may be represented by
turned e, i. e., d.
CONSONANTS
10. Small capitals are to be regularly used to indicate voiceless
forms of consonants ordinarily voiced (lateral continuants, trilled
consonants, nasal continuants). Thus, l, m, n, and r indicate voice-
less /, m, n, and r, respectively. In the case of stops and spirants,
where distinct characters are used for corresponding voiced and
voiceless forms, the small capital is to be used to indicate a surd-
sonant intermediate (intermediate consonants here include voiceless
consonants pronounced with stress ordinarily characteristic of sonant
consonants, also surd consonants that are sonant at the moment of
release). Thus, g indicates the intermediate between sonant g and
surd k; similarly, z (slightly higher than lower case 2) indicates the
consonant intermediate between s and 2, equivalent to J. O. Dorsey's
turned s.
Weakly articulated or barely audible consonants, also consonantic
glides, are to be represented by superior letters ; thus, Malecite ^m-
and Wyandot -"rf-.
11. A point beneath the consonant is regularly used to indicate a
point of articulation posterior to the standard point, of articulation
adopted for the simple character. Thus, d represents a d pronounced
with the tip of the tongue articulating against the palate back of the
alveolar ridge, that is, the cerebral d. Similarly, k may be used to
indicate a velar k.
A semicircle beneath the letter ( O ^s regularly used to indicate a
point of articulation in front of the standard one adopted for the
Twt): I'htinflu Ortht>iiru/)h\ |5|
1 1
sound indicated by the simj)le character. 'Ihiis. t rrprf'^fnti denial
/, as in Slavic ; i; indicates prepalatal g.
I J. Four main types of articulation are rt-iDf^ni/cfi kjt ir
and affricative consonants i)i each jujsition ; the sonant, thr
inleniicdiate (indicated by small capital forms of letters rqircscnt-
inj^^ sonant stops), and aspirated surd (rejiresented by the si^jn of
asi)iration (') followini,' the symbol for voiceless surd stop). Other
types of consonants involving synchronous articulations will be di»-
cussed below.
13. Three main i)ositions are recognized for stopped conson.^M'-
the bilabial, the linguo-dental or linguo-alveolar, and the lin.- :
palatal or guttural. The sonant of the first position is indicated by
b, its corresponding surd by />, intermediate by «, aspirated surd
by />'. The voiced nasal continuant of this series is represented by m.
its voiceless form by m ; the semi-nasal stop may be indicated by b.
14. In parallel fashion, d, t, i\ and /' indicate corresponding con-
sonants of alveolar position (the tip or blade of the tongue and the
alveolar ridge are here taken as the standard point of articulation for
the linguo-dental and linguo-alveolar consonants), d, (, n, /' indi-
cate the corresponding sounds for the true dental series, d, t. i\
and /' indicate the corresponding sounds for the cerebral series.
The voiced and unvoiced nasals for the three positions defined
above are respectively n, x; n, \; n, \.
15. Between the alveolar and guttural consonants is a set of dorsal
consonants, produced by the upper surface of the tongue articulating
against the forward part of the palate. Such consonants arc indi-
cated by Greek letters. The four stops parallel to those enumerated
for the preceding positions are 8, r. A, and t ; the corresponding
nasals are v and small capital i- ( inasmuch as capital v is identical
with English A^, it is recommended that the lower case ♦- l>e used in
somewhat enlarged form).
S, and correspondingly for tiic other characters of the .scrici. wduUI
indicate dorsal consonants produced by articulating with the nuddir
surface of the tongue against or just back of the teeth ; i, and corre-
spondingly for the other characters of the scries. wouM in-!
dorsal consonant produced by articulating with tin- ini(!.!l<- >•■..:
of the tongue against the back part of the palate.
16. The symbols, je;, k, c, and fc' indicate the gulluial !■
produced by articulating with the back of the tongue >
posterior part of the palate ; the position given by g of
162 V American Indian Languages 1
12
may be taken as the standard. The corresponding voiced nasal {ng
of English sing) is indicated by ij ,' its voiceless form by .y.
The front palatal series (illustrated by k of English kin, or still
more markedly by the anterior palatal ^-sounds of several West Coast
languages) is represented by g, k, g, k'; and the corresponding nasals
by y and iy.
The back palatal series, produced by the back of the tongue articu-
lating against the velum, is represented by g, k (or q), g, and k' ; the
corresponding nasals are v and w.
ly. The rounded voiced bilabial spirant, or semivocalic u, is to be
represented by w; its voiceless correspondent, h (i. e., as used in
transcriptions of Gothic for hw). Unrounded bilabial spirants
(Eskimo / and v, according to Kleinschmidt's orthography) are to
be represented by (f> (voiceless) and ^ (voiced). The dento-labial
spirants are respectively represented by / and v.
The interdental spirants (th of English thick and then) are to be
indicated respectively by the tvi^o forms of Greek theta, 6 (voiceless)
and ''/ (voiced). The spirants corresponding to the various ^-sounds
are to be represented by j- and s; variations of position may be indi-
cated as in the case of f-sounds, s and z representing the ordinary
alveolar sibilants, s and s the dental sibilants, and s and s the cor-
responding cerebral sibilants. Dorsal sibilants may be represented by
a (voiceless) and ^ (voiced), which symbols, however, need be used
only when it is necessary to distinguish explicitly between dorsal and
apical sibilants ; as in the case of the other sibilants, forward and
backward points of articulation may be indicated by o-, ^, and o-, ^,
respectively.
The spirants corresponding to the various ^-series are to be repre-
sented by Greek x (or x) and y, which correspond in position to k
and g. The prepalatal spirants are to be indicated by x (as in German
ich) and y (y, pronounced as in English yes, will be the ordinary
symbol for the voiced spirant of this position, but it will be con-
venient sometimes to use the symbol y for a voiced spirant of the same
or slightly posterior position of non-vocalic effect) ; forx rnay, where
convenient, be substituted x. The back palatal spirants arex and y,
for the former of which may, where convenient, be substituted x.
Spirants that are intermediate, as regards voicing, between typical
surd and sonant spirants, may be represented by small capitals of the
corresponding characters for voiced spirants.
Any spirant may be nasalized, to indicate which the hook, as usual,
is employed. Thus, z would represent the z oi English zeal, but
nasalized.
/viiy. I'luifUlu OrOutfirapIn lf>A
1.^
i8. The sibilants of thickisli (juality (Mnglish sh and s of ship and
azure) arc to be represented by c (voiceless) and ; (voiced). For-
ward and backward articulations of these sounds arc respectively
represented by c. j ; c. j (cerebral c-sounds).
19. AfTricatives, that is, consonantal diphthonj^s consisting of stop
followed by spirant of identical j)Osition, should always be written
analytically, that is, both stop and spirant should tw represented.
Thus, p<^ is the voiceless alTricative of unrounded bilabial |)osition;
da is the voiced atTricative of /-position. Tlie same manner of writing
applies to aftricatives the sj)irantal element of which is a c-sound.
If the stop and following homorganic spirant do not forn) an
aflfricative but preserve their individuality, a period is to be put
between them ; thus, t.s.
20. All lateral sounds are to be indicated by / or Mike characters,
the standard / being defined as an apical voiced / of alveolar position ;
the corresponding voiceless sound is l or /. The corrcsiKindiuK
dental and cerebral /-sounds are /, l. (f); and I, l. (i), respectively.
Dorsal /-sounds are to be indicated by A (voiced) and small capi-
tal lambda, A (unvoiced). Forward and backward articulations of
dorsal / may be represented by means of A, a ; and A (this would be
the back-/ found in many Slavic languages), a.
Lateral aftricatives, that is, t- or k- stop merging into lateral
spirants, should be indicated analytically as in the case of all atTrica-
tives. tt and dl would be the normal characters used for the voiceless
and voiced dorsal lateral aftricatives, while the systematic rcndcr-nir
of these sounds is ta and 8A. A-f-sounds may also occur.
Nasalized laterals can be iiulicated by / and correspondmgly tor
other /-sounds.
21. All rolled consonants (r-sounds), whether markedly trilled or
not, are to be indicated by r or r-like characters, r indicates a voiced
tongue-tipped rolled consonant in alveolar position ; r is the corre-
sponding sound of dental position ; r the cerebral r. The corrcsfwud-
ing voiceless consonants are respectively /?, r. and k.
The uvular r is to be indicated by Greek rho (p) ; the corre>|>ond-
ing voiceless uvular r-sound is to be represented by small capital (p).
which is best printed as small capital italic />.• h-
If it is necessary to distinguish untrilled (or weakly trille<l> from
markedly trilled r-sounds, a macron is to be put above the character
to indicate the latter type. Thus, 7 denotes strongly trilled
Nasalization, as usual, is to be expressed by the hook
character. Thus, p indicates nasalized uvular r.
154 V American Indian Languages 1
14
22. Aspiration, as already indicated above in treating of aspirated
surds, in serving as a consonantal release or concluding a syllable
after a vowel, is to be indicated by breathing ('). Aspiration as an
independent consonant is to be indicated by h when strong, by breath-
ing (') when weak.
Nasalized breath may be represented by [ or h. Nasalized breath
with definite vocalic timbre may be indicated by putting the sign for
aspiration under the vocalic character: thus, /. Voiceless stopped
consonants with nasalized breath release and continuance of oral
contact during release may be indicated by putting the sign for
nasalization under the character for the stopped consonant : thus, p.
The peculiar strangulated-sounding /j-sounds found in Nootka and
Arabic may be indicated by h.
23. The glottal (epiglottal) stop is to be indicated by an apos-
trophe, '. Broken vowels, that is vowels cut in two by a glottal
stop, may be rendered a'a or a'", and correspondingly for other
vowels ; the latter orthography is to be employed when the post-
glottal part of the vowel is weakly articulated (murmured or whis-
pered).
A simple glottalized consonant, that is, a voiceless consonant
pronounced with simultaneous closure of the glottis, and whose
release also is simultaneous with that of the glottal closure, may be
indicated by putting the ' over the character ; thus, p indicates a
glottalized p (such consonants are found in Southern Paiute and in
Delaware), p', and correspondingly for other consonants, indicates
a consonant whose release is immediately followed by a glottal
closure.
A common type of glottaHzed consonant in American languages
is the so-called " fortis." These consonants are generally pronounced
with simultaneous glottal closure and with glottal release subsequent
to that of the oral release. We may distinguish here between the
simple glottalized stop and the true fortis produced with very high
pressure and accompanying increased muscular tension of the articu-
lating organs, which gives to the sound its abrupt exploded character.
It is recommended that the orthography already in use (namely, p!,
and correspondingly for other consonants) be retained for the true
fortis ; p (and correspondingly for other consonants) should be used
to indicate the more weakly articulated glottalized consonant of this
type.
A " glottal trill," that is, a vowel broken up by a rapidly succeeding
series of glottal closures (German " Knarrstimme "), may be indi-
r\ui I'/uitulu Onhoaruphy |(^S
»5
cated by putting the apostrophe over the vowel. Thus, a h ^!o!t:\!!y
trilled a.
A peculiar strangulated-sounding glottal .sto|) found in ..
and bearing the same relation to the ordinary glottal stoj^ th.tt l<.
to h, may be indicated by '. .
24. Special modifications of consonants may be i)i..uLMit :u><nn u\
synchronous articulations, that is, by the simultaneous action of some
other part of the speech apparatus than is primarily involved in the
production of the consonant. Nasalized and glottalizcd consonants,
two types of such " doubly articulated " consonants, have already been
discussed. Aside from glottalization, all such synchronous articula-
tions should be indicated by diacritical marks beneath the character
or by closely following inferior characters. This method seems
preferable to indicating them by means of superior characters, as in
this way confusion is avoided with consonantal glides.
Labialized consonants, that is, consonants pronounced with simul-
taneous lip-rounding, are to be indicated by means of inferior w
closely following the character. Thus, lu, indicates an / pronounced
with markedly rounded lips ; similarly, ku, indicates a k with simul-
taneous lip-rounding (not to be confu.sed, of course, with k'v).
Palatalized consonants, that is, cc.isonants modified by the simul-
taneous articulation of a large part of the surface of the toni^ue
against the palate (in other words, by the tongue taking y-position),
are to be indicated by closely following inferior y. Thus, »iy indi-
cates a palatalized dental n. The ordinary so-called " palatal " / and
n are probably best considered as palatalized dorsal / and n and should
thus, strictly speaking, be indicated by Ay (Italian gl) and »> (Italian
gn) ; ly and ny would, however, be the normal methods of represent-
ing these consonants.
In some languages a vowel or consonant may be given a district
velar or guttural resonance, due to the fact that during the production
of the sound an api)roxiniation is made of the tongue and velum or
tongue and posterior palate to velar or guttural closure without such
closure being actually attained. No symbol is expressly recom-
mended here for gutturalized and vclarized sounds, but these sounds,
where noted, should be definitely indicated in some way.
25. If a consonant forms its own syllable without a preceding or
following vowel, that fact may be indicated by placing a snwll circle
under the character. Thus, n indicates syllabic n, as in English
button (ba'tn).
166
V American Indian Languages 1
I
to
§
'a
'O
13
o
1
1
^
1
2
2
..-^
c
c
1
c
5
1
i
c
•4J
1
i
i
c
I
1
i
c
1
£ -
u
c
o
c
o
'ho
t
•a f2
1
.4^ (U
1
••3 §
(Z4
n3
1
■4-i
§
^
^« I
4-J
£
to
6
c3
1
bo
6
i
bb
13
bio
1
bb
eo
^
vd
^"^
us
g
■^
^
f-(
t— (
to
t-'
'2
'n
ti
s
c
c
3
p
a
^
1
^
4^
9^
2
2
1
2
1
C
1
i
s
a
1
i
1
1
CO
1
i
CO
1
ct3
'X3
a
IS
ti
X
1
i
X
£
1
•3|
c
c
1
CO
bJD
1
s
1
S
■o
c
1
T3
QJ
M
S
1
1
•s
t>
od
CJ
<y
o
T-l
r-t
c4
f-H
^.^
^^
5
'S
-o
'O
1
1
1
P.
1
i
is
2
i
c
3
2
1
«a|
1
i
1
5
3
1
■M
1
§
g
C
1
:i
1 -
1
E
1
^ To
J
i
3 p
cS
°l
3 l"
(4
-a
T3
c4
ti
i
a)
c
1
b«
tii)
-?
bb
CO
<u
CQ
o
Q>
4)
q5
ti
bin
CJ
a5
-^
>o
iX>
Two: Fhunefic OrthoKruphv
\bl
<y
"O
^— ,
^
-u
^
r.
j::
o
J^
vll
-» bo
1
c
u2
W
bo
:2
to
a>
-o
'"^^
•^
1
4->
E
t:
o
rC
i
1
b(
c
W
?3
e -
1
?^
13
:3
^
JS
*j
C
c
::i d
.h
fe
o
-&
a
^
i
J?
15
.d
0)
.a
s
o
s^i
■(«
r1
o
F
.^
5
eu
n
&£
5t^
f^rt
. u
bn-x3
»e
p<
'a
>
it
^bO
l-;.^!'
pj
B
e
'f
<y
bo
CJ
X
H
bo
;^
0)
13
I
g
E
i I
K
E
o
"6
bo
d
,>
"S-
c^ a
I
I
'a
1^
(5
bo
Td
c5
•^
b
1
c
1
1
F
^
o
b
;5
bo
13
C
73
13
bo
?]
u
;:> bo
c
W
I
.a
I
■a
S3
c
E
I
■2
c^
168
V American Indian Languages I
>
♦3
♦
o
c
C
C/3
4
•e^
i
'ii
3c
3
m.
b
b
iic
o
t)
5
Si
05
>
J3
•a
M
TS
T3-
CO
>J1
'o'c
'O
"a-
<>
tuO-
i.
a.
iSc
CO
'".
b
b
iJc
W
w
"-
jC-
o
a
C
c
o
1
•
•©■
<4-l
1.
mc
OQ
IO-
be
to
b-
OC
u
CJ-
lid
7J
^*-
3
c
C
^
^
>
'^^
NC
N
N-
^c
i^
>ji.
•r-lC
•1-^
•r->.
?5
^>
?^.
SI
( 83UBU0S3J
q-JtA\ [OA\OA AUTJ )
£
-e
«*-!
<5i
mc
W
CO.
be
b
b-
at
o
O-
t-<c
X
X-
^
^•
_O.N
<
"c
c
a
c
o
W
1
4J
K
-K
^
"►M
p-
*".
"ij
Xj.
t-
K-
4->
>>
♦J-
j<:
J.i-
J
-
n
CQ
Qt
Q-
<!c
<1
<!•
<l
Of
o
o-
Xi
■T3C
-a
'O-
CCC
00
OO-
>>
IS-
tioc
bfl
bfl.
c
■•-•c
4->
*»•
Kc
U
K-
■♦J
J«!C
.^
-
/\ .
<u
c
1
a)
i
s
s
3
Q)
6
B
1
1
c
3
3
g
o
m
1
13
1
1
1
i
1
o
w
(J
m
o
m
6
1
3
•c
1
1
>
1
a
1
o
O
13
c
-J
Two: Phonflii ()rlfu>iircif)h\
\M
*i
■^
^"^
fl
o
O
OSc
oi
c:-
Q-(
CL
Q..
1
6
c
c
»-.t
b
u-
CL(
Q.
a..
■k!
1
W
a:'
«
«•
CLt
CL
a^
-«
_
">,
^^
^-^
"o
-t-
-w
;!i^
^
<
<-
<
■ v^
"V-.
-4-C
>*•
•^ •
in
O
■^
t-c
K
K.
t-
«j
"*■
Jd(
.:<
M-
>
v«/
"^-^
>„^
.3
c
1
3
u
^
^^
>»-l
rt
_,
_,
-+<
^
^
r-'
'^
>>
>»
,^
„
,^
<
o
'UC
'O
'O-
«^c
CO
CO-
oO
-d
TJ-
bfl<
to
W-
C/3
^^
"■"
,t3
=^
:3
<
<
<
>
'1^
>,
.*-
.^
.^
CO
■WC
<->•
kc
k
K-
K
H
E-
•^C
^
-:<•
o
a
-♦"C
-
^
<^
<
<•
<
•*4
>>
^-^
^^^
i3
:3
c
o
CO
'-"C
—
"•
^<
^
,<;■
>>
>1
tn
,^
^^
3
J
•^
J-
<'
<
<•
<
^
^
^
,.*-^
-^ s.
^_^
c
o
E
cc
c
c-
5ic
A
;i-
A,
c
«>f
f>>
^•
i9
rt
U
^,
T3
, — ^
, — .
y-^
3
CO
/i
>'.c
y.
'<•■
;:^c
j:^-
^"
>>
7.
&<
/?;'
;2?
^-^
'"—'
" —
,
7,
C
2
i
c
3
c
3
6
►3
>-<
8
>
1
c
►J
c5
3
6
1
a
'rt
"ca
1
-3
c
-3
c
u
c
o
n
6
1
3
a
u
o
C
3
<*
%
5r
3
1
c2
3
O
I
c
1
170 V American Indian Languages 1
Editorial Notes
Originally published as Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 66, no. 6.
Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution (1916).
The fate of the committee s proposals was in fact different than Sapir may
have anticipated, and in part because of his own work. During the 192()s and
1930s, linguists' attention turned increasingly away from matters of phonetic
detail and focused instead on the contrastive units of phonological structure;
Sapirs article "Sound patterns in language" (1925p) was a landmark in this
move toward phonemic rather than phonetic transcription. A result of this ten-
dency was that the "simpler system" of the AAA committee report proved
appropriate and adequate for most research and publication by Americanists;
the elaborate resources of the "more complete system," with its provisions for
such unlikely sounds as glottalized dorso-palatal laterals, were seldom drawn
upon.
A misprint occurs on p. 12, line 11, where h should be replaced by b.
Some Orthographic Rccoiiiincndai nms
Arising out o{ discussions by a group ol six Americanist hnguisls
//('/// /. On ['nil Symbols for Inn I'liontnirs
A suilablc oi ihograpliy tor representing the sdiuuIs of a given language
shiuild provide a unit symliol lor eaeli phoneme, i.e., for eaeh psvehologically
unitary sound, e\en though sueh a phoneme ean be analyzed into two or more
stninds from the strietly phonetie stantlpoint. Digraphs are alv\avs unsatisfac-
tory and often misleading. Thus, (fwa- as a method of writing the Noolka word
for "thus" seems to contradict the inviolable rule that no eonsonantic cluster
may stand at the beginning of a word in Nootka. It is patent that the difticully is
mainly orthographic, for [630) the sound is itself unitary in principle — a
rounded or labialized velar stop, q, slightly aspirated and with voiced v\ -effect
only for a fleeting instant before the inception of the lollowing vowel The
rounded if is entirely different from a sequence of </ and \\. as, for instance, m
the word/)/.s7/^/»vf''///. "bad, it is said," in which an unrounded q is followed by a
full aspiration (characteristic of preconsonantic stops in Nootka) before the
inception of the H'-sound; the syllabic division is jii-iaq-we-'in. An adequate
orthography for Nootka and numerous other languages should provide a
means of representing rounded gutturals and velars in such a way that they
cannot be confused with the unrounded gutturals and velars followed by v*
It must, however, be emphasized that a unitary symbol should be employed
only when the phonetic complex is psychologically (phonemically ) unitars in
the given language. Thus, in English the combination of A and w (represented
by qu, k\\\ or ckw) is not a unit, as is clear from the following facts:
1. That there is only one kind of A' and vv sequence (there are no pairs (^fwi>rds
contrasting as do Nootka vaq-wi--'as-'iiq, "he who is first on the ground" and
\'ii-(jni--'as-'ilq, "he who goes outside").
2. The sequence-type of A' -I- h- is not isolated in I'nglish but is paralleled b\
other combinations of stop -f semi-consonant (eg . /' * \ \u h(-nni\ r ♦ » in
twice, / -I- r in tree, s + m in small, etc.).
3. The A and u uiuler appropriate conditions, in accordance with i.nglish
syllabic theory, may be separated syllabieallv (e.g.. in backward. rcquiMtc)
4. The A is only mildly affected by rounding, and this is not peculiar in
English, for all sounds tend to assimilate someu hat to the preceding and folitm ■
ing sound.
The problem of providing a unitary symbol lathei than a digraph li>i unitar>
sounds arises over and over again. particularK in such cases as the folitming:
1. Sounds eharaeteri/eii bv a timbre feature. uKJiiiling labialization, pal-
atali/atit>n. and i>thers.
172 V American Indian Lan^iiiages I
2. Nasalized consonants (as in Southern Paiute and Tiibatulabal).
3. Affricates.
Devices for the unitary symbolization of such sounds must be as easy as possi-
ble to print and must be, so far as this is possible, in accord with general usage.
The following devices are recommended:
For labialized consonants: p'', b'', r, ^^ A:^ g^ etc.
For palatalized consonants: py, by, ty, dy, ky, gy, etc.
For nasalized consonants: "p [ = mp], "b [ = mb], "t, "d, "k [ = r\k], "g [ = ^g],
etc.; or, if preferred, with superior nasal consonant corresponding in position
to the following consonant: "^p, '"b, "t, "d, "Jk "Jg, etc.
For sibilant and lateral affricates: c [ = r^], c [ = ts], 3 [ = dz], 3 [ = dz], X [ = tl],
K\ = dl].
The simple treatment of labialized and palatalized consonants requires no
comment. The device of employing post-posed superscript diacritical marks is
perhaps applicable to other situations for which no recommendation is here
offered. [631]
Of the two ways suggested for writing nasalized consonants, the first consists
in using a pre-posed superscript " as a generalized diacritic representing
homorganic nasal attack. The second consists in adapting the superscript to the
position of articulation, therefore writing ^' before labials, " before dentals,
before gutturals, etc. The first method is perhaps more satisfactory for the
linguist in providing a generalized means of indicating the nasal characteristic.
The second method is easier, on the whole, for general usage.
For the sibilant affricates, the symbols c for [ts], c for [ts], are widely used
among linguists and form part of the current orthography of several important
Slavic languages. (For usages current in various linguistic fields, see M. Heepe,
ed., Lautzeichen und ihre Anwendung in verschiedenen Sprachgebieten,
Berlin, 1928.) 3 for [dz] and 3 for [dz] are used by Slavicists {op. cit., 68 ff.) and
similar forms are used in other circles (op. cit., 76 [Finno-Ugrian]; 90, 93
[Turk]). X for [dl] has been used in Eskimo by Jenness (Notes on the Phonology
of the Eskimo Dialect of Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, UAL 4: 168-80). K for
[tt] is an innovation formed from X as / from /. The use of c, c for [ts, ts] requires
that s be used for the palato-sibilant fricative in place of the c commonly used
among Americanists.
Item II. On the Writing of the Palatal Sibilant Fricative
The use in Americanist circles of c for the palatal sibilant fricative is isolated.
The most general usage of linguists over the world is to employ the symbol s.
This usage has appeared even in Americanist works, being employed by Preuss
in his Grammatik der Cora Sprache, UAL 7: 1 ff., by Schuller in La Lengua
Ts'ots'il, UAL 3: 193-218, by Rivet in various works, and by others. In view of its
wide use generally, extending even into the Americanist field, s is to be
regarded as preferable to c for the sound under discussion.
7Uw. Phonftu ()ri}ut^raph\ \'J\
llcni 111. On i/ic Wriiini^ of tlic (ilotuil Slop
Since the glc)tt;il stop in nuiny Linuuaucs is liirKlionally as important as any
other consonant, it is ticsirablc to write it. in such cases, in a more suhstantiai
form than as an apostrophe. I he apostrophe suggests that the sound he ignored
by many readers (who may be unlamiUar \Mth it), leading in some cases lo
inexact analyses and to impossible etymologies. It is therefore recommended
that the glottal stop be written in the form '. or '•* uhen it constitutes a true
consonant o{ a gi\en language. Ihis suggestion is not inteiuled to apply to the
use of the apostrophe as a diacritical mark above or after consonants to indicate
that they are glottalized. If the writing of the consonantic glottal stop is modi-
lied as suggested, we have an effective means of differentiating the glottal stop
from the diacritic for glottalization.
A post-vocalic aspiration, often written '. shouki be \siiiten /; \shen it con-
stitutes a true consonant of a given language.
George HEiRzoci M \k> H a as Swai>i sh
SiANiJY S. Newman Mokkis Swadesh
Ei:)WARD S.APIR (llAKI I s F". Vof r.i I IN
Yale Universtt^
Editorial Note
Originally published in American Anthropoloi^ist 36, 629-631 (1934).
Reprinted by permission of the American Anthrop(^logical Association
SectionThrcc:
Hokan Languages
I 111 ro due lion
Alter rMKI, a tnirsl ol lickl work on C alitoriiKi liuli.ni languages by Alfred I.
Krocbcr and his associates at Berkeley made it possible to reconsider Ptmell's
1891 classification of California languages into 22 separate slocks I he tirsi
comprehensive proposal was made by Dixon and Kroeber (1^13) I he major
inno\ations were the positing. Ivoiu a combination ot lexical and structural evi-
dence, of two large groupings: Penutian, including Wintu. Maidu. >okuts.
Miwok, and Costanoan; and Hokan, including Karok, Shasta. C himanko.
Achomawi/Atsugewi, Pomo, Yana, Esselen, and "V'uman. A smaller group.
Iskoman, included Salinan and C'humash. Of these languages. Yana was a
major topic of field research by Sapir; his "V'ana data were to provide a major
basis for comparative Hokan studies, both by Sapir himsell and In other
scholars.
"Characteristic Traits of the Yana Language of California" (l^^d^a) had its
origin in 1907, when, at Kroeber's invitation, Sapir undertook held work in
California on Yana, as spoken in the northeastern portion of the Sacramento
Valley drainage. At that time. Northern and Central "^i'ana were still spoken;
the Southern variety was believed extinct, although a sur\i\ing speaker ol the
\i\h\ dialect — the famous Ishi — was to surface in 191 1. providing Sapir with the
opportunity to do additional hrst-hand research. ( )nl\ later was "^ana identitied
by Sapir, Kroeber, and others as belonging to the Hokan linguistic stock This
tirst published report oi Sapir s research on ^'ana is an abstract of a paper w hich
he delivered at the 19()(S meeting of the American Anthropological Association
in Baltimore.
The review (191 Id) of Roland B. Dixon's Ihc Cliimunko Indians ii/ul I iin-
gua^c deals with one of the smallest tribes of western America, in the upper
Trinity River drainage of northwestern California. Iheir language was one of
the Hrst of the area to approach extinction; at the lime of Dixon's field work in
1906, only fragmentary materials could be obtained. The language was subse-
quently classified by Sapir, Kroeber. and others as a member o\ the M<»k.in
stock.
Although Sapir couched his review o\ Dixon in polite leims. he was :
blunt when he wrote to Kroeber in I9I.V "Dixon's phoneiics . . . are in.
deplorable ... .In fact, his whole work is amateuiish to a degree" (Golla I^S4:
90). Other linguists who have workeii with Dixon s data can confirm Sapir's
opinion.
••The Position oi ^ana in the I li>kan Sti»ek" ( P>I7e) was Sapir's first publica-
tion in support of the Hokan h\poihesis In the same period as Dixon and
Kroeber's original proposal, a link between ( luimash and Yuman had been
proposed by Harrington ( 1913) — though essentialK without supp«>rting data.
278 ^ American Indian Languages I
In this period, Sapir s work also was leading him to the conclusion that "Isko-
man" should be merged into Hokan. By 1917, taking Yana — the Hokan lan-
guage which he knew best from his own field work — as his point of departure,
Sapir was able to provide the first detailed documentation for the expanded
Hc^kan grouping, offering no less than 192 cognate sets. Of these, 141 are roots;
the remainder are suffixed elements.
Sapir's own Yana data are presented in his systematic and accurate phonetic
transcription; materials from other languages, however, are in the much more
impressionistic notations of Kroeber, Dixon, and others. Sapir was certainly
aware of the phonetic shortcomings of the materials he used; witness his criti-
cism of Dixon's work, as quoted above. It is perhaps for this reason that he did
not attempt a systematic tabulation of sound correspondences, or any detailed
phonological reconstruction. Only occasionally does he venture, rather infor-
mally, a phonological hypothesis, as when he refers (p. 8) to "Kar[ok] cak
'arrowpoint'" — i.e., sak, actually [sa:k] "obsidian" — as being "from Hokan
*xaka\ Hokan x becomes Kar. 5, c . ..." (In fact, Karok [s s], except in a few
words, are non-contrastive; Bright 1957: 8.)
In his concluding section, Sapir comments specifically on some apparent
vowel correspondences, and especially on an apparent alternation of forms
with and without initial vowels. However, it is the number and the evident plau-
sibility of Sapir's comparisons, rather than phonological correspondences,
which make his case for the validity of Hokan — a case which was not ques-
tioned until the 1970s, and which has yet to be discredited.
"The Status of Washo" (1917m) continues the development of Hokan. A rela-
tionship of Chumash, in southern California, to the Washo language of the
California-Nevada border was proposed by Harrington (1917) — again, with
minimal supporting evidence. Later in the same year, Sapir concurred, and
pointed out that this implied a further expansion of the Hokan grouping. (The
idea is expressed in letters to Kroeber in 1915-16; see Golla 1984: 182, 213.)
Sapir's note refers to his own forthcoming demonstration that Washo is a
Hokan language; this was in fact published in 1919 ("Data on Washo and
Hokan," below).
In this note Sapir also anticipates his later hypothesis of a relationship of
Hokan, in California, to languages of Texas and Coahuila (northeastern Mex-
ico); this was eventually published in "The Hokan and Coahuiltecan Lan-
guages" (1920b, below).
The enthusiasm for ever more far-ranging genetic classifications which was
felt by Sapir and others during this period is well expressed in his observation:
"It is highly gratifying to note that far-reaching reclassifications . . . are being
independently and corroboratingly arrived at . . . .Evidently the cautions that
have been urged by certain more conservative students [presumably including
Boas and Goddard] are not, despite their methodological excellence, exercis-
ing an unduly deterrent influence." At the end of this note, Sapir refers to Yuki
as the only Californian language left "isolated," i.e. unclassified, and he
remarks: "It is hardly to be expected that this privilege can be allowed Yuki
Three: Hokan l.anfiuanes
indefinitely." However, the sixfold elassifieation of all North American lan-
guages whieh Sapir proposed from U>2() onward (ef. seetion 1. above) mclmlcd
Yuki in the Hokan-Siouan grouping only on rather inipressionistie structural
grounds; ^'ukiaii linguistic alliliations remain among the most unclear in n.ttivc
North America.
"Dr. Sapir's Data on Washo and Hokan ( PM^ki) loiined a secluui ot Dixon
and Kroeber ( 1919). Writing to Sapir in 1917 ((iolla 19X4: 251-2), Krocbcr had
expressed pleasure over the note on "The status of Washo," and invited (urihcr
material on Washo correspondences. The ilata providetl bv Sapir comprise 70
roots and 37 affixal elements.
Dixon and Kroeber's note at the end of this listing remarks that the Hokan
family "has grt)wn to comprise . . . ten Californian stocks once reckoned inde-
pendent; besides Seri and Tequistlatecan ['C'hontal of Oaxaea'] in Mexico.*
These languages had been associated with Hokan by Kroeber ( 1915). Sapir had
accepted this expansion in a 1915 letter to Kroeber ((iolla. p. 171). and data
from the Mexican languages are included in his comparisons with Washo. as
well as in his subsequent work on Hokan.
"The Hokan and Coahuiltecan Languages" {192()b) was apparently stimu-
lated by Swanton (1915), in which several languages of southern iexas and
northeastern Mexico — mostly extinct, all little knt)wn — were classified into a
Coahuiltecan stock. Using Swanton s data, Sapir prepared a manuscript linking
Hokan with Coahuiltecan and sent a copy to Kroeber in the same year ((iolla
1984: 179). Because the publication of Sapir s paper in the hiicnuiiional Journal
oj American Linguistics was delayed until 192(1, the text refers only indirectly to
Dixon and Kroeber (1919) as being "promised" (p. 280). 1 ikewisc. Sapir speaks
of his own "Position of Yana" (1917e) as being in progress — but then, in fn ?>. he
announces that it has appeared.
The Hokan-Coahuiltecan cognate list inclutles IDS stems plus ten "gram-
matical elements"; as before, no detailed pluMiological correspondences are
attempted. Sapir points to alternation o{ stem forms with and withmit initial
vowels, previously noted in Hokan, as being characteristic of Coahuilicc.in as
well.
The paper concludes by suggesting a possible geographical ci>rrelalu)n Ii>r
the proposed Hokan-Coahuiltecan linkage, noting that "practicalK the whole
of the vast stretch of country separating the Coahuiltecan trom the ^uman
tribes is taken up by the Southern Athabaskans." \\\\o ha\c K>ng been seen as
recent intruders in the area (p. 290).
"A Note on the First Person Plural in Chimanki)" ( l^^dd) returns loan inter-
est taken up in Sapir s review of Dixon (191 Id. abo\c) In I9|5. Sapir wrote to
Kroeber (C3olla 1984: 171-2): "It isone of the greatest mistoriunes lor American
linguistics that Chimariko could not have been stuilied tar more fulK and pre-
cisely" — since, he believed, it was more "tspicar than ans other Northern
Hokan language (i.e., retained more proiotspical teaturcsof the sliK'k) In the
present article. Sapir shows that, despite the poor qualiiN of Dixon's phonetics
and grammatical analysis, it is possible to uK iiiit\ ( him.iriko Ipl pronominal
180 V American Indian Languages 1
a-, apparently cognate with the corresponding Salinan a-. In fact, in the "sub-
jective" (agentive) series of pronominal prefixes, all three persons of
Chimariko, singular and plural, have close. correspondences in Salinan. Sup-
portive data from Yana and Washo are also cited.
The review of Mason s Language of the Salinan Indians (1920i) comments on
the grammar which had provided Sapir s Salinan data for "A Note on the First
Person Plural in Chimariko" (1920d, above) and which for the first time had
offered to comparativists a major source of data on the language . Sapir s review
expresses appreciation for Mason's "competent" handling of the data and for
his "considerable grounding in general phonetics." However, Mason is criti-
cized for paying too much attention to phonetic "nuances" and too little to "the
irreducible set of organically . . . distinct sounds" (p. 305) ; here Sapir anticipates
his "Sound Patterns in Language" (1925p) and the development of what was
subsequently to be called "the phonemic principle."
Most of Sapir's review is concerned with morphological features of Salinan
which he finds reflected in Chimariko and other Hokan languages. He is
especially struck by a prefix t-, (-, which he sees as "a kind of nominal article of
originally demonstrative force" (p. 307), probably related to the comparable d-
of Washo. Sapir was later to find an additional counterpart in the Subtiaba
language of Central America (see "The Hokan Affinity of Subtiaba," 1925b,
below).
"A Supplementary Note on Salinan and Washo" (1921o) suggests the con-
junction of Salinan and Washo (as two apparent branches of Hokan); but most
of the content has to do with lexical evidence, made available in Mason s book,
for identifying Salinan not only as a Hokan language, but as a member of the
Hokan-Coahuiltecan grouping. In this sense, the paper is a supplement to
Sapir's review of Mason (1920i, above), which primarily discussed mor-
phological links within Hokan. However, Sapir also gives emphasis here to an
apparent distinction between "static" and "active" verbs; he finds this to be a
"deep-rooted Hokan feature," as opposed to the transitive/intransitive dichot-
omy which he sees as more typical of the Penutian stock (pp. 69-70). He also
notes that "the most fundamental and persistent [Hokan] feature of Salinan is
the great preponderance of stems with initial vowel."
The concluding section on Washo points to several structural features which
link that language to Hokan, and proposes a hypothesis for its geographical
isolation on the eastern side of the Sierra: "It is reasonable to suppose that an
old Washo-Pomo-Yana continuum was broken up by the southward movement
of Penutian tribes ..." (p. 72).
"The Hokan Affinity of Subtiaba in Nicaragua" (1925b) is Sapir's last and
most sweeping study of comparative Hokan. In 1908-09, the German scholar
Walter Lehmann collected data in Nicaragua on the Subtiaba language, then
obsolescent (and now extinct). In 1915 he showed that Subtiaba was closely
related to Tlapanec of southern Mexico, a language known only from very
scanty data at the time. In 1920, in a huge two-volume compendium of linguistic
data from Central America, Lehmann surmised that Subtiaba-Tlapanec might
Three: Hokn/i lumguages Ki
be related to languages of California, aiul he spccilically fxuntcd lo a corre-
spondence between the nominal </-preh\ ol Siibtiaba arul that n( Washo (\^hieh
Sapir remarked upon in "A Siipplcmcntarv Noli- on S.ilm.m m,! \\ ,<\u. - iw^ i..
above).
This long paper by Sapir begins by pointing out that the atlilialion ol Sub-
tiaba must be not just to Washes or even just to the Hokan group «»f California
(in spite of his use of the term "Ih^kan" in the title and elsc\slK-rc- ). but r.ithcr lo
Hokan-Coahuihecan as a \sh(»k'. He then proceeds, in SeeliDii I. "Hokan ele-
ments in Subtiaba," to list 103 lexical cognate sets, plus 23 other elements;
Hokan-Coahuiltecan data are here limited, in the main, lo material already
presented in earlier papers (cf. p. 404). Section II. "Notes on Subiiaba pho-
nology," refers to Lehmanns transcriptions as "somewhat inadequate" (p. 426),
but attempts to relate certain features to Hokan origins; Sapir here goes further
in reconstruction of Proto-Hokan forms than in any other of his publications.
Section III, "Notes on Subtiaba and Hokan MorphoU)gy," is signihcanl tor
the emphasis which Sapir gives to the value of the "deep-rooted" structural
correspondences which he regarded as crucial evidence for remote linguistic
relationship. Frequently, he says, it turns out that "the most important gram-
matical features of a given language and perhaps the bulk o\ what is conven-
tionally called its grammar are of little value for the remoter comparison . \s hich
may rest largely on submerged features that are of only minor interest lo a
descriptive analysis" (p. 492). Subtiaba is said to contain such features, dis-
cussed in Sapir s earlier work as characteristic of Hokan: in particular, the ten-
dency for stems to begin in vowels, and the "nominal </-preti\" noted in W'asho
and Salinan. Other class-marking prefixes, apparently characteristic of Hokan
verbs and adjectives, are also discussed here in detail for the first time. As Sapir
wrote to Kroeber in 1925, this article "is far more 'grundlegend' for Hokan"
than his 1917 paper on "The Position of Yana" (Golla 19S4: 422),
"Conclusion: Further vistas" refers to Sapir's 1921 "Bird's-eye \'iew" classMi-
cation of Hokan-Coahuiltecan as part of a larger Hokan-Siouan grouping, the
evidence for which "is naturally morphological rather than lexical" (p. f^Zt-*)
This evidence, Sapir says, "can hardly receive its due weight unless iMie con-
trasts the underlying 'Hokan-Siouan' features with the markedly different
structures that we encounter in I-skimo-Aleut , in N.idene. in Algonkin
Wakashan, and in Penutian." I inaliy. he luUes that "There is no reason what-
ever to believe that the Hokan-Siouan group as alreadv defineil \mII remain
without further adjuncts in Mexico and Central America or perhaps c\en
beyond . . . the real problems of American Indian linguistics have hardly been
stated, let alone studied" (p. ."^27).
"Male and Female I\)rms oi Speech in Yana" ( PJ2^M) reflects Sapiis turning
away from his hislt)rical comparative eoneerns in favor of a purcK descriplivc
presentation, based on his lieUI work ol IWdT-dS Hccause the original publica-
tion teems with misprints, the versu^n iepM>diKed here is the re|Minl of 1*M»)
(Mandelbaum 1949, 206-212).
182 ^ American Indum Languages I
As Sapir states (p. 206), "The majority of Yana words have two forms": the
"male" form was used only by men in speaking to other men, while the "female"
form is used whenever one interlocutor is a woman. However, women used
"male" forms when quoting speech between males (p. 207). The phenomenon is
described by Sapir in full phonological and morphological detail.
The existence of such variation in language — determined not by the personal
or geographical associations of the individual speaker, but rather by the social
situation — is clearly of the type which would currently be called
"sociolinguistic," and Sapir's article has often been cited as a pioneering work
in the field of sociolinguistics that has developed since the 1960s (cf. Bright
1966).
Characteristic Trails ot the \aua I aiigudgc
ol CaliloFFiia
Abslracl
I he ^'ana language of northern ("alitornia represents a distinct linguistic
stock, and was spoken in three dialects (North. ( entral. and South), of which
one (South) is now extinct. Phonetically Yana is characteri/ed hv the presence
ot intermediate, aspirated, surd, and "tortis" slops, hy a weakly trilled r, by
Noicelcss I, ni, n. and r. and by doubled (long) I, m, and n. Phonetic processes of
morphological significance arc vocalic changes in the verb stem in the forma-
tion, e.g., of causatives and passives, and the change of I to n in nouns to form
the diminutive. Ihere arc two main forms of speech in "^i'ana. one used by men
speaking to men, the other in all other eases; the second torm is distinguished
from the first partly by phonetic, partly by formal modifications. Mor-
phologically Yana is characterized by having practically only two parts of
speech — noun and verb (adjectives, numerals, interrogative pronouns and
adverbs, and conjunctive elements are all morphologically verbs). The pro-
nominal elements (possessive and subject) are, in the main, identical in both
noun and verb, a grammatical differentiation of these parts of speech being
brought about largely by syntactic means. Ihe structure of the verb is rather
complicated. Besides pronominal suffixes and tense and mood suffixes, all of
which are more strictly formal in character, we have stem') of first position,
which may, in many cases, be directly employed with the requisite formal suf-
fixes, stems of second or other position, which cannot be used without a preced-
ing stem of first position, and an immense number of ilerivational suffixes
(local, temporal, relational, quasi-modal, etc.). The total number of non-
formal elements that follow stems of first position easiK exceeds 3(H). Prefixes
do not occur in Yana.
Eulitorial Notes
Originally published in 1909 in Afucriain .inf/uopohfinsi W.WO mmA \nSciencir
29, 613 (as Characteristic Pealurcs of Yana). Reprinted bv permission of
American Anthropological Association.
Sapir's subsec|uent descriptive work on ^ana is coiii.iimu m /.v... n ^i^
(191()h), - Ihe lundamental Ilements of Northern Yana" (a stem-list. POM),
and "Text Analyses of Three ^ana Dialects" (19:3m). as well .is m the
posthumous Yana Dictionary, prepared for publication bs Morns v h
(1960). and in a group of Yahi texts colleetetl in P>1^ Ihese malcriab. : ^ r
Ig4 y American Indian Lxini^uages 1
with "Notes on the Culture of the Yana" (a manuscript of Sapir s completed by
Leslie Spier, 1943), constitute Volume IX of The Collected Works. Sapir also
published a full study of Yana kinship terms (1918J), a theoretical paper on the
lc\ irate that relied heavily on the Yahi kinship terms elicited from Ishi (1916j),
and a short note on Yana luck-stones (1908a). These ethnographically oriented
papers can be found in Volume IV. Short discussions of Yana data also appear
in several places in Sapirs more general writings on language; the most impor-
tant of these is in "The Unconscious Patterning of Behavior in Society" (1928j:
130-133), reprinted in Volume III.
Rc\ icw ot Ro la lul B . I )i\()n:
The C hiiiKiriko iiiciiaiis aiul 1 aiiLiiKmc
The Chimariko Indians and Lani^uai^c. By Roland U Dixon. Univcrsily of
California Publications in American Archacoloizv ami I tlinolocv. vol ^. no. 5,
pp. 293-380. Berkeley: The University Press. \')U)
In this paper Dr. Dixon gives us another stuily ot the ethnoizraphic re,un)n in
which he is a recognized authority, that o{ northern ( alilornia, I'niikc the
Maidu. Shasta, Achomawi, and Alsugewi, however, with which tribes Dr.
Dixon has heretofore concerned himself, the Chimariko no longer exist as a
distinct tribe, but linger on in only two aged individuals; from one of these.
Mrs. Dyer, and from a man named Friday, who. though not a ("himanko. had
formerly been in ck^se touch with the tribe, the material presenteil in the paper
was gathered in 1906. As indicated by its title, the paper falls into iwo parts, the
Hrst dealing with culture (pp. 295-306), the secoml with language (pp. 307-3.SO).
The topic of culture, discussed under the heads of territory and histt>ry, mate-
rial culture, social organization, and religion, is necessariK very fragmentary
and calls for no particular comment.
The linguistic portion is fuller than the ctluuilogic. but as the grammatical
material obtained was fragmentary, ami the few texts that are given arc con-
fused and unsatisfactory, many points of importance remain obscure. It wt>uld
be wholly unfair to judge Dr. Dixon's work as one might a grammatical treatise
laying claim to completeness. The circumstances under which the material uas
secured were such that it seems rather in order to thank Dr Dixon for having
rescued as much of the Chimariko language as he diil. The linguistic material is
discussed bv him under the heads o\ phonetics, reduplication. ci»mpositu»n.
pronoun, noun, verb, adjectives, numerals, postpositions, connectives, and
order of words.
There seem to be two series of stopped consonants, surds ami sonants, judg
ing from such not far distant linguistic stocks as lakelma. Athapascan, and
Yana. in which aspirated surds ami ■inlcrniediales" but no true sonant slops arc
found, one may be permitted to surmise that Dr. Dixons sonants are really
intermediates, as he himself expressly states for/' It is sui prising to find that no
distinct series of "fortes" or checked stops is creiliied to Chimariko. the more so
as not only the three stocks already referred to but also the immedialcK adjoin-
ing Wintun and .Shastan (as represenleil by Achoma\M) possess these coiis.>.
nants. as the reviewer |142| knows from personal experience. Such orth<
phies in the vocabular\. however, as p'untvihum "six" and lamina "flea"
strongly suggest that the fortis series is not .ibsent in Chimariko Ntorc<ner. Dr
186 ^ American hulicin Languages 1
Dixon does not always carefully keep apart, it would seem, fortes from ordi-
nary surds. Thus, the Achomawi form fiak "two" (p. 338) was distinctly heard
by the reviewer as hak!, with which its Chimariko cognate xok'u is in striking
agreement.
Reduplication of an interesting type occurs in Chimariko, that in which the
latter part of the stem is repeated, as, tsokoko-tci "bluejay," himimitcei
"grouse." This type of reduplication is also frequently employed in Chinookan
in animal names. Very characteristic are the pronominal affixes, one series
being employed as subjects of neuter verbs, objects of transitive verbs, and
possessives with nouns inherently possessed, while the other series is restricted
to subjects of active verbs and to indicate accidental possession. The use of
distinct pronominal elements to differentiate active from neuter verbs and nat-
ural from acquired possession is reminiscent of Siouan. It is very strange indeed
that certain verb stems require the pronominal elements to be prefixed, while
others take them as suffixes; inherent possessives are always prefixed, acciden-
tal possessives suffixed. Syntactical cases are lacking in the noun, while mate-
rial cases, as far as Dr. Dixon s material allowed him to gather, are confined to a
locative-ablative and an instrumental. The verb complex includes, besides the
stem and pronominal affixes of subject or object (never, it would seem, of both
subject and object), a set of instrumental prefixes, local suffixes, and, always
last in the complex, temporal and modal suffixes. The prefixes of body-part and
other instrumentality, expressing such ideas as "with a long object," "with the
end of a long object," "with the head," "with the foot," "with a round object,"
and "with the hand," are interesting as affording another example of a wide-
spread American tendency. Such prefixes occur, as Dr. Dixon remarks, in the
Shasta, Maidu, and Wintun stocks in the neighborhood of the Chimariko; out-
side of these also in Shoshonean, Siouan, Pomo, and, though not quite analo-
gously, Takelma. The local suffixes, again a well developed morphological cate-
gory in America, include elements expressing such ideas as "down," "up,"
"into," "out of," "across," "through," and "towards"; their use makes intelligi-
ble the defective development of case suffixes in nouns. Among the modal
affixes the negative is peculiar in that it is in some cases prefixed, in others
suffixed.
After the grammatical sketch proper Dr. Dixon takes up the matter of the
possible genetic relationship of Chimariko and Shastan (Shasta, [143]
Achomawi, Atsugewi). A few general morphologic resemblances are noted; by
far the most striking point of resemblance, however, in the opinion of the
reviewer, is not referred to in this connection, but is mentioned earlier in the
paper, namely the use of pronominal elements as both prefixes and suffixes. A
table of fifty-seven lexical correspondences, embracing body-part nouns, natu-
ral and cultural objects, three numerals, verb stems, instrumental prefixes,
local suffixes, and pronouns, is given as the main evidence of a Chimariko-
Shastan linguistic unit. A few of the examples seem rather far-fetched, but on
the whole the evidence appears convincing, the more so as so many of the
correspondences are with the non-contiguous Achomawi rather than with the
neighboring Shasta. With (hnnariko pen. lien "tongue" seems lo be cognate
not only Shasta clicnu, as notcil In Dr i)ixt)n, but also Achomawi in'li
(reviewer's manuscript material). On the uliole the weight of (uobabiliis is in
favor of the genetic relationship proposed by Dr. Dixon In the absence as ycl.
however, of extentled grammatical studies of the Shastan ilialects. it is difficull
for the student to express a dctimtc opinion.
Six text fragments, with intcrhncar translations and grammatical nolcs. !(»!-
low. Their extremely disjointed character lessens very considerabK the value of
these for either linguistic or mythological purposes. Vocabularies. I-'ngJish-
Cliimariko and C'himariko-Einglish, close the paper. One criticism can be made
o\ these vocabularies — Dr. Dixon docs noi seem to ha\c t.ikcn pains to com-
bine in them the lexical material which he obtained as such \Mth that N^hich is
scattered in his grammatical notes and texts. Ihus. the text \\orils xuici la
"children*' and aqd'dcu "grass seed" (p. 347. II. .^. ID) arc to be louiul listed in
neither of the vocabularies. Conversely, grammatical material scattered in the
vocabulary is not made use of to the extent that could be desired in the gram-
matical sketch. Thus, the word Ictretre "spotted," esidcntly an excellent case of
final reduplication, is not listed in the examples given under the heading
"reduplication"; this form is particularly interesting in view of Dr. Dixon's
statement, "Color adjectives, it is interesting to note. i.\('> not appear it> bo
reduplicated."
In other words Dr. Dixon does not seem to have completels utili/ed all his
material; the very fragmentariness of the material makes it particularly desir-
able that the most should have been made of it. Despite the \arious points of
criticism offered Dr. Dixon's paper must be considcrcti a \aluable contribution
to our knowledge of Californian linguistics.
Editorial Notes
Originally published in American Atithropoloy^isi 13. 141-143 Rcprmleil b\
permission of the American Anthropt>logical Association
In 1927, Sapir himself was able to collect a vocabular\ ol C hnnariko in the
field; this material will be found in Volume .XIV. Sorthwcswrn i uhtorniu Lin-
guistics. It is regrettable that, although Sapir recogni/ed that Dixons data con-
stituted a weak point in comparative Ht)kan studies, he never used his imn
much more accurate materials to reconsider the status of Chimanko as a fiokan
language.
TllK IM)Sl'ri()N ol-' NANA IN
llOKAN STUCK
BY
E. SAI'IK
CDXTFATS
PAOB
Introduction „ 1
Radical elements ~... 3
Secondary verb stems i'
Local suffixes 18
Other verb and noun suffixes ~ 21
Pronouns 23
Additional Hokan cognates — ~.. 26
Remarks on phonology ~ -
Bibliojjraphy - '■
INTROnrcTloX
Of the Ilokaii languages, Yaiia would serin to In- one of the most,
if not the most, specialized, particularly in gnuninati«'al n^spt'CU.
Thus, unlike other llokan languages, it is completely lacking in pre-
fixes. Moreover, it seems to possess a far more elaborate apparatiw
of derivative suffixes than any of the others. At pres.'nt published
information on the morpiiology of mo.st of the llokan languagf* in too
.scanty to make a com|)aralivc study of Vaiui morphology v.ry profit-
able. On the other hand, then- is alr.ady enough lexical material
accessible to justify a comparative review of th»' lexical • for
the inchision of Yana in the Hokan stcvk. The Hokan 1.^ "r
grouj)s of languages, recognized in this pap«'r are ShaMlji
Cliimariko. Karok, Yana. Porno, Ks.sclcn. Yuman. Salinaii. t hum«»ii.
Seri, and Cliontal. Salinan and Chunuish an- at prcs^ t '
doubtful inclusion than the others 1 li<.p«'. howcv.T. to ,'
190
V American Indian Languages I
to disi)i'l tliis tloubt by data presented in the course of the following
pages.
The following table shows the source of the material used in the
present study.
Tabulation Showing the Provenience op the Material Used in the Following Pages
The order of groups is geographical from north to south. Karok, Shasta, Achomawi,
Atsugewi, Mohave, and Diegueno forms marked (K) are from manuscript material
made accessible by Dr. Kroeber. Achomawi forms marked (S) are from a vocabulary
obtained by the writer in 1907. Karok, Shasta, and Achomawi forms marked (G) are
frOm manuscript loaned by Mr. E. W. Gifford. Salinan forms marked (M) are from
Dr. J. A. Mason 's manuscript notes.
Language
groups Dialects Abbreviated as Forms quoted from'
Karok Kroeber, 1910, pp. 427-4.35; Dixon
and Kroeber, 1913, pp. 649-655
Shasta- Shasta Shas. Dixon, 1905, pp. 213-217; Dixon,
Achomawi 1910, pp. 337-338
Achomawi Ach. IMd.
Atsugewi Ats. Ibid.
Chimariko Chim. Dixon, 1910, pp. 293-380
Yana Northern N. Yana Sapir manuscript
Central C. Yana Ibid.
Southern^ S. Yana Ibid.
Pomo Northern N. Pomo Barrett, 1908, pp. 7-330
Central C. Pomo loid.
Southern S. Pomo Ibid.
Southwestern S. W. Pomo Ibid.
Southeastern S. E. Pomo Ibid.
Eastern E. Pomo Ibid.; Kroeber, 1911b, pp. 427-435
Northeastern N. E. Pomo Ibid.
Esselen Kroeber, 1904, pp. 49-68
Salinan Kroeber, 1904, pp. 43-49
Chumash San Luis Obispo Chum. (S. L. O.) Kroeber, 1910, pp. 265-271
Santa Ynez Chum. (S. Yn.) Kroeber, 1904, pp. 31-43; Kroeber,
1910, pp. 265-271
Santa Barbara Chum. (S.Bar.) Kroeber, 1910, pp. 265-271
Santa Cruz Chum. (S. Cruz) Ibid.
San Buenaventura Chum. (S. Buen.) Ibid.
Yuman Mohave Moh. Kroeber, 1911, pp. 45-96; Gatschet,
1877, pp. 365-418
Diegueno Dieg. Kroeber and Harrington, 1914, pp. 177,
178; Gatschet, 1877, pp. 177-178
Tonto Hewitt, 1898, pp. 299-344; Gatschet,
1877, pp. 365-418
Yuma Ibid.
Cocopa Coc. Ibid.
Maricopa Mar. Ibid.
Walapai Wal. Ibid.
Kiliwi Ibid.
Cochimi Ibid.
Seri Hewitt, 1898, pp. 299-344
<^'hontal Chon. Kroeber, 1915, pp. 279-290
The phonetic orthographies of the various authorities cited have
been left unchanged, and are explained in the original sources. Stress-
1 See bibliography.
2 The Yahi subdialect is meant. The material was obtained from Ishi.
Three: HoLin lMnnuiii(t's 191
ac-ii-nts, howi'vcr, liavr h.-.n omittnl. TIh- HVHtnn um'd for Van* in
this paper is identical with that .iiiphiye.l iii my Yana 7exl«, except
tliat the ^Mottal eatch is reiideml hy an ap<)«troph»« ('). In all hut a
few cases «luly noted, the Yana forms .luotetl are in th«* C -tr-.l .liak-cl.
KADK'AL KLKMENTS
1. Yana '«• "woman (,'oi'.s ' '
C'hiin. a- "to fjo "
2. Yana a<l(ii h, adai-, -dai-, da "that"
Kar. ta a.lvcrbial participle prcpose.l to verb forms, .lofine.i as indicating
"probably indeliuite or imperfect time" (e.K-, tamaho "I have come."
literally perhaps "at that [time] -I -come")
C. I'omo tr-nd "those people" {ya is personal plural; e.g., E. Pomo hiba yd
"persons," ciUiya "younjj men")
Sal. t-, f- article agglutinatcl as prefix to many nouns (e.g., t'-ulet "taetb,*
cf. fm-uUt "thy teeth"; famlamxut "thy foo.l." cf. Inmxat "food")
Chum. (- article agglutinate.! as prefix to certain nouns (e.g.. 8. L. O. I aie
"bow," cf. S. Yn., S. Bar., San Buen. ax; S. L. O. taua "moon," ef.
S. Yn.', S. Bar. awai) ; S. Bar. ite "this," S. Cruz tuyu "this"
yori I tarn "he, that" (cf. Chum, ite above)
3. Yana - 'n/d-, with diminutive consonanti.sm -'ana- "child." occurring only
in compounds: wa-'alu-man'mi "girl" (literally "sitchild woman '';
cf t/fl- "to sit" (sing, subj.l, wmn'mi "woman"); ua'anam "boy"
(literally "sit-child-man") ; j/flt- 'a/dp. 'rfiui " girls" (literally " sit-<?hild-
women"; cf. yai- "sit" [plur. subj.]. pUtdun "women" syncopate.!
to -p.'diu-i) ,,
N E Porno ula- "child," occurring in compounds: lUabtke "boy (liter
ally "child-man"; cf. b.tf " man ") ; uladakc "girl" .l.t.THllv --.h.!.!
woman ' ' ; cf. dake ' ' woman ' ' )
3a. S. Yana 'a'djuwi "mother's mother, woman's daughter^ .i.....^^ . i-i -•
cf. 'amdui, no. 4; 'atidwi "father's father, man's son's child")
Shas (G) atcidi "mother's mother, woman's daughter's child" (perhaps
related to atcu "older sister"; for di cf. flM.-.f. "stepmother' « com
pared with ani "mother"); Ach. (G) atrun "mother's mother, womaa •
daughter's child"
4. S. Yana 'amiiw "father's mother, woman's son's child" ^^
Shas. (G) amo "father's mother, woman's son's child"; A.-h >u, _ -
"father's mother, woman's son's child"
Chim. himo-lla.(i) " (my) grandson" (also "nephew, n.eco"; lUi- la «&«»•
Pomo ma "paternal grandmother": N. I'omo ami ma; C '
E. Pomo matsaa ; S. Pomo a ma (sen ; 8. W. Pomo maman ^^ ^ . .
S. E. Pomo tmma; N. E. Pomo nua-tw-da. "paternal gmmiUUrr.
nw-<ei-ff<it "paternal grandmother" ../-- \ ».i«r«sl
Chum, (ma.k.)ama "(my) grandchild"; (ma.k.)m6ma " («y) !-«♦«•>
grandparent " « wii i ••
Sal. (M) ama' "paternal grandparent"; trmak grandchiM
192 V American Indian Languages 1
5. Yana 'ambi- "who?"
Chim. awi-lla ' ' who ' '
E. Porno am "who? what?"
6. Yana ' ap 'sa ' ' sky ' '
Ess. imita "sky"
Sal. l-em " sky ' '2a
Chum, alapa "sky" (S. Yn., S. Bar.); hal-acpai (S. Buen.)
Moh. ammaya "sky"; Dieg. ammai
Chon. emaa "sky"
Seri ami-me "sky"
7. Yana 'au-na "fire" {-na is absolute noun suffix)
Shas. dwa "wood" (perhaps originally "fire-wood"; "fire" and "fire-
wood" are often indicated in American languages by a single term or
by closely related words, e.g., Takelma p'l "fire, firewood"); New
River Shasta (ga-)'au "wood" (for prefixed ga- cf. ga-'ats "water"
and gc-'ic "man") ; Ats. ahawi "wood"
Chim. haxi-na "tinder" (literally probably "fire-w^ood"; -na is suffixed to
nouns referring to plants)
Ess. a-nix "fire" (for noun suffix -nex, -nix cf. masia-nex "heart," katus-nex
"mouth")
Sal. (M.) t-a'au( "fire"
Moh. a'auva "fire"; Dieg. a-tui; Yuma ow ; Kiliwi a-au
8. Yana ha- primary verb stem in certain verbs of "calling" (e.g., ha-ts'i^di-'a-
"to shout"; ha-wau- "to call on people to come"; ba-bil-mits'i- "to
call people together from all over"; ba-djiba- "to call by messenger at
every place")
Chim. -pa-, -patci- ' ' to say ' '
E. Pomo ba- in verbs of "telling" (e.g., ba-tsan "to preach"; ba-yi "to
teach"; ba-fa "to tell"; ba-qo "to tell"
9. Yana badjal- "to be big"
C, S. Pomo bate "large"; S. W. Pomo ba'te; E. Pomo baten; S. E. Pomo
batenck
10. Yana badjai-'i "manzanita bush" (-'i "tree," see no. 59); bddjai-na
"manzanita berry"
Ach. (S) badjicu'la "manzanita"; ba' dja "black manzanita"
Sal. (M) pat' ax, pat'ak "manzanita"
11. Yana bai- "one"
Ess. pek "one"
Chumash (S. Yn., S. Bar.) paka "one"; (S. Buen.) paket
12. Yana bama "sinew"
Shas. imme (K) "sinew" (probably assimilated from *ipme) ; Ach. (K)
pirn; Ats. (K) ippiu (probably assimilated from *ipTni-u)
13. Yana ha'nl- "to be full"
E. Pomo madi "to fill tight, jam"; mi7iam "to be full, fill"
Sal. (M, quoting Sit jar) apeaoynfe) "to be full"
14. Yana basi "meat" (cf. ba- "deer"?)
N., E., S. W. Pomo bice "meat"; C. Pomo pice; S. Pomo bece; S. E. Pomo
bexe; N. E. Pomo bese. These Pomo forms also mean "deer"
Sal. (M) p.'ac "elk"
2a According to Dr. Mason, however, there is "no evidence whatsoever that
lem 'above, sky' can be analyzed into l-em."
Three: NoLt/i I xiixiiuafies \*.)\
15. Yana bat'p'al- "to lu> flat"
N. Ponio badu ' ' Hut ' '
16. Yana baud'la "toii^^ue" (possibly from 'bubd'la, cf. -rdf- •« incorporated
postvocalii- foriii of huh "mouth"); bulla "mouth" (aMimilatrd from
'bal-na)
Kar. (K) apri "tongue"
SliuH. thftui "tongue" (from *cptna); Ach. (S) ip'/i
Chim. hipen "tongue"
N. Porno ba, haba "tongue"; C. Porno haiiba ; E., S. K. i'mno nui ; m. i'.imo
hibaa : S. W. Pomo haba; N. K. Pomo hiitibu
Sal. (M) ipal., ^/xii, " tongue"
I'hum. (S. Yn., S. Har., S. Buen.) cleu "tongue"
Moh. ipalya "tongue"
Seri ipt ' ' tongue ' '
Chon. ipah ' ' tongue ' '
17. Yana ban-di- " (eoal) falls, round hard object bounds' ■ m i.MPiiiiii> i n-n
tical with local verb suffix -<ii-, ri- "down")
Chim. -man- ' ' to fall '
E. Pomo ban "to throw a round object, put"
18. Yana be- "it is so and so which, who"; probably demonstrative in origin
("that" of reference), as indicated by its non employment of verbal
•si- suffix in present time (contrast diwaisi-ndja "1 see" with bf-'nidja
" it is 1 who," with which such verbalized nouns as k !uu\ndja "I am
medicineman" agree in form); be-'nidja, e.g., must originally have
meant "that-I (am"); there are only three or four verb stems (of
"being") in Yana whose present tense lacks -si-; this peculiarity of
form is probably to be explained as due to their being verbalized dem
onstrative pronouns (cf. na- and u-, nos. 94 and i;{2)
Kar. pa demonstrative pronoun indicating reference; compounded in paipa
"this" and pa-ik'u "that"
Chim. pa-mut, pa-ut "that"
E. Pomo ba general demonstrative pronoun "that, the'"; r(iiii|i..iiiiiled in
uba, me-ba "that"; its similarity in usage to Yana be- is indicated by
such constructions as nirpbahikiha "he (is) theonewho it di<i "
Sal. (San Antonio) pc "that"
19. Yana be'na- "to eat (mush) with hands"
E. Pomo bili "to suck, eat mush"
20. Yana bui- "to kick"; bu-ri- "man dances" (-ri- "down"; bu-n- literalir
"to foot down"); Yana bui- is probably verbn!ir.ed from obi noun stom
*bu- ' ' foot ' ' (cf . Yana bai- " to hunt deer ' ' from 6a- ' ' deer ' ' ; Chim. pn-
"to lick" as denominative verb from -i/x-n- "tongue")
Chim. h-upo "foot"
21. Yana buna "black bear"
Ats. (K) pinAi "grizzly "
N. Pomo blta "bear"; S., S. W. Pomo butaka; C. Pomo pta-ka; B. Pomo
biira-kal; S. E. Pomo bete-kal
22. Yana da- "to jump; to fly"
Chim. -tu- "to fly"; -tudu- "to jump"
23. Yana dalla "hand" (assimilated from •dnlna), diminutive t*.:
Ach. (S) il'i "hand" (perhaps a.tsimilated from 'illi. ayneopst-
"iiali; cf. ipUi "tongue" from older 'tpalt, no. 16)
194 V American Indian Languages I
6
Chim. -ttni "hand" (e.g., xuli-teni "left hand"); h-itcanka "fingers";
h-itan-pu "arm" (for -pu cf. Chum, pu "arm, hand") ; tranche "five";
h-itra, h-ita "hand, finger"
N., C, S. Porno tana "hand"; S. E. Porno a'tan
Seri inoh ' ' hand ' '
(Yuman *isal, e.g. Moh. isalya and Wal. sal, is probably not related; ef.
Pomo ical ' 'arm' ')
24. Yana dat'- "to be much, many"
Chim. eta, kitat "many"; -tan "lot of" (noun suflBx)
25. Yana de- "to cut off hair, peel bark"
Chim. -tra- "to tear"
E. Pomo dak ' ' to split ' '
26. Yana de- primary verb stem in certain verbs of "seeing" and "knowing"
(e.g., de-wai- "to see"; de-djiba- "to know")
Chim. -trahu- ' ' to know ' '
27. N, Yana det- (probably from den-) "to mash (choke-berries), shell (corn) "
C. Pomo itel "to peel off"
28. Yana do- primary verb stem in certain verbs of "removing" (e.g., do-l'i-sa-
"to take covering down from head"; do-gal'di- "to peel off skin");
passive form of stem, da- (e.g., da-k.'au- "to be cut")
E. Pomo dop ' ' to cut off ' '
29. N. Yana donit- "to whip, beat"
E. Pomo diili, dut' "to kill" (singular object); doc "to strike"
30. Yana dja- primary verb stem in certain verbs of "eating" (e.g., dja-duf-
"to eat much"; dja-nau- "to eat plenty"; dja-wit'dja- "to eat fast";
dja-llli-p !a- "food slips down in eating")
Chim. -tcatci- "to chew"
E. Pomo tsa ' ' to chew ' '
31. Yana dja- primary verb stem in certain verbs of "proceeding, moving"
(e.g., dja-sd- "string goes out"; dja- 'an- "to arrive at"; dja-k.'uyii-
"to move in single file"; dja-ri- "woman dances"; dja-djil- "to dance
in circle": dja-ru- "to come down from sky")
N. Pomo tea "to run"; C. Pomo teak
32. Yana djau-na "grasshopper"
Chim. tsatu-r, tsatu-l "grasshopper" (for Yana au from aru, adu, cf. Yana
mau-, no. 80)
33. Yana djawat-ts.'i "chin"
Shas. tsaivak "jaw"; Ach. tsoiwas
Chim. tsuna ' ' chin ' '
34. Yana djiman- "five"
Chim. -teibum, -(t)cpom "five" in higher numerals (e.g., p'un-teibum,
p'un-tcpom "six," literally "one plus five"; qdqi-epom "seven," liter-
ally "two plus five")
35. Yana dji-na ' ' louse ' '
Shas. (K) tcituk "louse"; Ats. (K) atei
Chim. tsina ' ' wood-tick ' '
N., C. Pomo tci "louse"; S. Pomo atci; S. W. Pomo a'tci; E. Pomo gi
Chum, cik "louse"
36. Yana dju- primary verb stem in certain verbs of "sitting, dwelling" (e.g.,
dju-k.'un'd- "to sit, dwell"; S. Yana dju-k .'ola-ri- "to sit")
Chim. -tcu- "to lie on ground, sleep"
Three: lioLm lxm\-Uiivt\ lyj
37. Yaiia dju- "to sju-ar salmnn''
S. I'oiiio avatsu " lish Hpeur " {aca "fish"); N. I'omo tcAk "to •ho.j'.
C. Ponio djok ; S. INuiio I'trtik ; S. W. Pomo djo
38. Yana d)i]ri- "tree, stii-k Htanda" (ri- "down")
S. Poino djotcun ' ' to stand ' '
39. Yana djuri- "to snow" (h- "down"; djQ- pm»'My from *HyA <
N., ('. Pomo yil "snow"; S. K. Pomo yii / ; S. \V. Pomo I'yd; N. E. Pumo
huyu; K. Pomo />u-/; 8. Pomo fii/iil
40. Y'ana djuk !ut(s .'i "heart"
E. Pomo tsuki'in "heart"; S. \S'. Pomo ts'iikiil; S. K. Pomo UdMf ; N. E.
Pomo tn 'kan
41. Yaua djul- "to be long"
('him. hitrun "long"; xu-itculan "short" (literally "not long")
42. Yana djut'awi "bird" (-ui is collective)
N., S. Pomo tsita "bird"; S. W. Pomo tsi'ta; S. K. Pomo titdta ; N. E. Pomo
tcit-ka; K. Pomo tsiya
■i'.i. Y&na, dji'iua " jackrabbit " (from 'djuja; for postviKnlic «• from x. cf. Ynna
•wulu "in," no. 176, in comparison with Chim. sun anil Kar. -^Hm-)
Ess. trici "rabbit" (for v, s from Hokan x, cf. asanax "water," no. M;
for I from older u, cf. hoci-s "nose" from 'hoxu-, in comparison with
Chim. hoxu, Dieg. 'exu)
44. Yana e' - "to shell acorns"
Chim. ihitri "shelled acorns"
45. Y'ana ' e- primary verb stem in certain verbs of "singing" and other forms
of vocal utterance a})art from normal speech (e.g., 'e-lau- "to sing";
* e-ts.'xaya- "to whisper"; ' e-' nai- "to sing another song"); Yana 'f-
perhaps from *' ehe- from Hokan **exe- (cf. djuhau- contracted to d)6-)
Ach. es (K) "to sing"; Ats. (K) etca; Shas. (K) etcni ; Okwanuchu Shastn
(K) isi-duk (for Shasta- Achomawi s, c, tc, la from x, cf. nos. 53, 55, 58)
N. Pomo kc-beii "to sing"; C. Pomo ke-tcano; K. Pomo xaxnem ; S. E. Pomo
xe-kolne ; S. Pomo ihmin. These forms point to Hokan '(efxe-
Chum. (S. Yn., S. Bar.) eXpetc "to sing"; (S. Cruz) xu uatc
46. Yana ga- primary verb stem in certain verbs of "talking, speaking" (e^-,
gayd- "to talk"; ga-ri- "to talk N. Yana"; (jat'd- "to talk 8. Vaoa";
gawttc'ui- "to tell a lie"; gdts.'an- "to make a speech "»
Chim. -go-, -kd- "to talk"
E. Pomo gatiuk "to speak"
47. Yana gddu "leg"
Shas. (K) xatis "leg"
48. Yana gdgi "crow"
N., C, E., S., S. W. Pomo kaai "crow"
Sal. (M) ckdk! "crow"
Moh. aqdqa "raven"; I>ieg. axdq
48a. S. Yana gal-si "father"; C. Yana tc'\gallii "father.' ••-•• •'
Kar. (G) dkd "father"
49. Yana gain "arm"
E. Pomo gtido- local verb prefix "on the shouhU'r " (for K. Pomo d i' •
original /, cf. dn "sun"' from '<j)
no. ^'ana gamni "clover"
Chim. kdtcu "clover"
N. Pomo knhi') "clover"
196 V Anwruan Induin lumguages I
8
51. Yaiia (/o- "to hear"
Clliiin. -kr- "to hear"
52. Yana ho'iUii-, xa'clai- "to droain"
E. Poiiio xadum "to dream"
53. Yana haga, xaga "flint, arrowpoint"
Kar. (K) cak "arrowpoint" (from Hokan *saka; Hokan x becomes Kar.
s, c, cf. no. 55)
Ach. sat "arrowpoint" (from *xak; for -k developing to -t, cf. also nos. 7(5,
127)
Chim. qdku "arrowpoint" (for Chim. q corresj)onding to Hokan x, cf. nos.
55, 13.1)
E. Pomo xaga "knife," xag'a-xabe "flint-rock, obsidian," vtasan-xagUi
"metal" (literally "terrible knife or flint")
Sal. (M) (i)cdk, (i)cik "knife"; asak'.a "flint "2'>
54. Yana ha'lai-, xa'lai- "to be early morning, dawn"; xalai'a "morning star"
Moh. haly'a "moon"; Dieg. XEL-ya
Sal. (M) ecxai, icxai "dawn, morning"
55. Yana ha-na, xa-na "water"
Kar. ac, ic "water" (from Hokan *a'xa); ca- in ca-ruk "towards river"
(literally " water-toward"; from Hokan (a)xa'-, cf. Pomo ui "eye"
but compounded yu-, no. 128; parallel to ca-ruk is ma-ruk "away from
river," originally "land-toward, " cf. Chim. ama "earth")
Shas. atsa "water"; New River Shasta ga-'ats; Ach. (S) ac; Ats. atssi
Chim. aqa (for Chim. q as equivalent to Hokan x, cf. nos. 53, 133), d'ka;
h-uso-'xa "tears" (literally "eye-water")
N., E., S. E. Pomo xa "water"; C, N. E. Pomo ka ; S., S. W. Pomo aka
Ess. asa-nax "water"
Sal. (M) tea' "water" (analysis into t-ra', according to Dr. Mason, is
probable, but bare stem -ca' is not found)
Moh. aha "water"
Seri ax ' * water ' '
Chon. aha "water"
56. Yana hats .'it'-, xdts'.it'- "to feel cold"
Ach. (S) actc.'a-siwi "it is cold" (from Hokan *axatc.'a- ; for x developing
to c, s, cf. nos. 53, 55; for elision of second vowel of trisyllabic base see
section VII)
Chim. xatsa ' ' cold ' '
E. Pomo katsil "cold" (i.e., k'ats.'il from *xats.'il; for Pomo A' from Hokan
and older Pomo x cf. nos. 45, 55)
Moh. hatchu-urk "cold" (i.e., hatcuuq) ; Diog. h'tchorr (i.e., xlcor) ; Mar.
h'tchitrk (i.e., xtcuq) ; Yuma hutsile, atchura; Kiliwi ahhtchak (i.e.,
axtcak)
57. Yana i^ dal-la "bone" (assimilated from *i'dal-na)
Shas. ak (K) "bone" (perhaps from *hyak or *ahyla]k)
N., C, S. E. Pomo ya "bone"; E., N. E. Pomo hlya ; S. W. Pomo rya "bone,"
ihya ' ' awl " ; S. Pomo iha ' * bone ' '
Ess. iya ' ' bone ' '
2b If Sal. cak (f'-cak "knife," t'-eake "knives," f-me-cak "thy knife") be-
longs here, it would indicate that Hokan x has become assibilated in Salinan
as in Karok, Shasta-Achomawi, and Esselen; cf. also t'd, tea "water, ocean,"
perhaps compounded of article t- and *ea from Hokan *xa "water." This,
however, is contradicted by Sal. -xap "stone": Pomo xabe.
Three: HuLm ljim\iiHiKfs iq7
Sal. tjac (Hitjar) "bono" (i.e., cjak ; from lioluiii *i^y<ji<i); (M) p ar4i,
asak
Chum. (8. Yii., S. Hiir.) s, ' "l.oiif" from 'hyn'')
Moh. i*«A<i "hoiie"; Diojj. (K) hiik (from lioknn 'hyuLu , Wal, timgm
(i.e., tyaga from 'hi/nkin
Sori t<aJk " bone ' '
58. Yana ima- "liver"
Shas. iipci "liver"; At8. opsi
Moh. Upasa "liver"; Diejf. tripKsi
59. Yana 'ina "wood, tree"; 'iui "firewood" (wi is coilertive)
Ess. ii " wood ' '
Moh. (K) a'i "wood"; I'ie^'. (K) ih/
60. Yana 'wi "man, male, husband"
Shas. ic "man"; New River Hhasta (ji'-'ic
Chim. itci, itri ' ' man ' '
S. Porno atcai "man"; N. I'omo ten "person"; V. I'omo trutr ; S. W. ruino
atra
Chum. -i.su,i/ix "husband"
Chon. arans "person"
61. Yana Utc.'in-na "wiMoat"
Chim. tagnir, trcagni-l "wildcat"
Sal. (M) ets! "pinacate"
62. Yana 't.i/a "trail "3
Ach. (S) i'dc" "trail"
Chim. hissa "trail" (for Chim. s: Yana y, of. Yana yn " female," no. 184;
see also 1.39)
C, S. W. Porno (l^i "trail"; N., C. Pomo da "door"; 8. Porno htda "door"
Tonto inya "trail ' '
6.3. Y'ana k'its.'au-na "teeth" (k'i- probably prefixed element; of. verb sufBx
-ts.'au- "to grasp as with teeth or claws")
Ach. (S) its.'a "teeth"; Shas. ct.sau; New River Shaflta ki'tnau; Atn. t'tMau
Chim. h-tttsu "teeth"
Chum, sa' "tooth"
64. Yana i'u- "not"
Chim. X- negative verbal jircfix; xu- "not" (^e.jj., xuitrulatt "n<>t l"inr")
E. Pomo knyi " no "
Sal. (M) ku; kn- negative prefix
65. Yana k'ul- primary verb stem in certain verbs denoting unpleamiiit atataa
of mind (e.g., k'uldja- "to feel bad, la/.y"; k'ul mttM!* "to fe*l norrr.
grieved ' ')
E. Pomo kul ' ' to fear ' '
66. Yana k.'ai- "to be bitter, strong in taste"
Chim. qoiyoin "sour" (qoi- probably to be read as k!oi-, cf. Dixon '• Tana
orthography qaitia "rock" for klattun
67. Yana k.'aina "stone, rork "
Chim. qa'o, kaa "stone (if to be read A .'n <i . ii l•.||IltlIl^' t.. ii..».in
cannot be connei-ted with Yana k!a\- but Ixdongn with K«r. drti "r
Shas. itna; Pomo xabc ; Es«. ciefe; Chum, xop; 8iil. c Map, tct'
^This and foliowiiit; forms seem to point to dome iiuch Hokaa prototTj^ n*
'(i)tyn.
198 V American Indian Languages 1
10
68. Yana k.'u- "to be long" (not freely used as verb stem, but implied in
k.'urulla "long-neck, crane" and k.'u-wil-la "long-belly, lizard")
N., C. Pomo kol "long"; S. Porno a'kon; S. W. Pomo a'kol; N. E. Pomo kol
Sal. (M) klwaka "long, high, tall"
Tonto ikule ' ' long ' '
69. Yana k.'u-na " yellow jacket "
Chim. xowu "yellowjacket "
70. Yana k.'uni-, k.'unu- "and"
Kar. karu ' ' and, ' ' kare-xac ' ' and then ' '
71. Yana k'.uwi "shaman"
S. W. Pomo koo ' ' doctor " ; S. E. Pomo 'xowi
72. Yana Idlagi "goose"
Chim. Idlo "goose"
S. W. Pomo lala "wild goose"
Moh. niago-e ' ' goose ' '
73. Yana llli- "to void nasal mucus"; lili-mauna "nose" (-mauna is participial)
N., C, S. E. Pomo la ' * nose" ; S. W. Pomo ila ; S. Pomo Mla-mda ; N. E. Pomo
Ilvio (probably to be understood as li-mo "nose-hole, nostril")
74. Yana mak.'i "back" (body-part)
Tonto mago "back"
75. Yana mala "acorn" (only in certain compounds, e.g., bdsi-mdla acorn of
bdsi'i "black oak"; sauya-mdla "acorn of white oak")
N., N. E. Pomo maa ' ' acorn ' '
Chim. muni ' ' acorn of black oak ' '
76. N. Yana mal'gu "ear" (perhaps from *smal'gu) ; C. Yana malgu; S. Yana
man 'gu
Kar. (K) itiv "ear" (probably from Hokan *isim, *isam, cf. Chim. -isam
and Pomo cima; for Kar. v, m, cf. also no. 86)
Shas. isak "ear" (read probably issak, assimilated from *ismak) ; Ach. (S)
issat (from *ismak) ; Ats. asmak
Chim. h-isam ' ' ear ' '
N., C, E., S. W., N. E. Pomo cima, cima "ear"; S. Pomo cima-mo "ear-
hole") ; S. E. Pomo xama-ntsa (Pomo c becomes x in S. E. Pomo; cf. S. E.
Pomo xa "fish" for general Pomo ca, aca)
Moh. ^amalya "ear"; Dieg. 'EnuiL
Seri isho ' ' ear ' '
Chon. icmats "ear" {-ts suffixed as in ama-ts "earth," imi-ts "leg")
77. Yana mdri-p.'a- "fire is covered up wdth ashes" (mdri- from mddi-) ; causa-
tive mori- 'a- ' ' to cover up fire with ashes ' '
Chim. matri-pxa "ashes," matre-pa "dust"; matci-tsxol "dust"
N. E. Pomo mala "ashes"
78. Yana mari'mi "woman" (from madi'mi)
N., C. Pomo mata ' ' woman " ; S. W. Pomo imata
79. Yana mat^ -banui- "to be summer"; mat-dasi "spring salmon" (quoted
from J. Curtin, Creation Myths of Primitive America) ; md^V -dja- "to get
new acorns"
Chim. homat ' ' ripe ' ' ; xo-manat ' ' unripe ' ' (.to- ' ' not ' ' )
80. Yana mau- "to tell"; mau-mai-yauna "myth"
E. Pomo maru ' ' to tell traditions ' '
81. Yana viets'.i "coyote"
Ats. makita ' ' coyote ' '
Three: HoLin lxim;ua)ies j.^
Chilli, maidjandera, maidjaitdclo "coyote"
Ess. matckas "coyote"
82. Yana mi- "to cry, wail"
N. Pomo viina "to cry"; C. Pomo mlnuan ; 8. Pomo ml max
Tonto mi "to cry, scream, sigh"; Moh. himin "to cry, lament"
83. Yana minin- "to look"; ml- (passive), m**- (active) |iriiiiary verb atem in
certain verbs of " appearinjij, looking" (e.g., ml rap ru\' d%'a "fare U
all red"; mi-uilk !ui' di'a- "to be cross eyed"; mek.'ul- "to look •Uot-
wise at ' ')
Ach. -nitna- "to see"; Ats. inui-
Chim. -mam- ' ' to see ' '
E. Pomo mabi, mayap "to face, look"
84. Yana midja- "to be heavy"
Chim. tcu-midan "heavy (f) " (ten- may be interpreted as prefix tcu used to
refer to round objects)
85. Yana min-, S. Yana men- "to twirl, drill (for fire), roll"
Chim. men-drahe "disk beads" (beads obtained by drilling bonest)
86. Yana vio-, passive ma- ' ' to eat ' '
Kar. av "to eat" (from am)
Ach. -am- "to eat"; Ats. -ammi-
Chim. -ma-, -ama- "to eat"
N. Pomo maarnaa "to eat"; N. E. Pomo maarUia, viam tt
Ess. am ' ' to eat ' '
Chum. (S. Buen.) uviu "to eat"
Sal. (M) amo' "to eat"; (Sitjar) amma "to eat (as gruel), to suck"
Moh. mam "to eat"; Tonto ma; Coc. ahma
87. Yana mo-, passive mil- "to reach out, hand to, hold"
Chim. -imu- "to hold"
E. Pomo ma "to hold" (singular subject)
88. Yana mo'-, passive ma'- "to take along, fetch"
Ach. -mil- "to carry" (perhaps belong.^ rather to no. 87)
Chim. -mai- "to carry"
Sal. (M) maa, ma 'a "to bring, carry"
89. Yana mti-ma- "to work"; simpler stem mu- seen, e.g., in muyasip.'a "to
feel ill from working"
Chim. -mu- "to fix"
E. Pomo mumu "to try"
90. Yana mugald-'i "log" (for - 'i see no. 59)
S. Pomo mokor ' ' stump ' '
91. Yana muk.'uld "round hole, pit" {k.'ula- may be related to S Yao* -k.'ola-
of dju-k!ola-ri- "to sit")
Pomo mo, mo "hole"
Ess. imu-sa ' ' hole ' '
92. Yana murul- (from mudul) "to lie, be in ii lying position"
N. Pomo mitt "to lie"; C. Pomo mtf; S. Pomo miriii ; 8. W. Pomo mllUei:
S. E. Pomo matmiti: N. E. Pomo /r<i mf«i .• K. Vomo xanamfra-ffi (Kroebvr
gives mer)
93. Yana mu'di, S. Yana miw(/i "paternal aunt"
Kar. (G) mxidjits " father's sistrr" (Us in probably iHmiooUw). mitemw4ti
"father's sister after death of father"
Ach. (G) hamut "father's sister"
20() V American Indian Umi^uages I
12
Chiin. muta-la-(i) "(my) maternal aunt" {-la- is diminutive)
S. W. Ponio viii-tsen "paternal aunt"; S. Porno a-mu-tsen; C. Ponio mami'i-
tsak; N. Porno mamu-ak
Chum, -wius "father-in-law, motherin-law " (this term may originally have
meant "father's brother or sister," cf. Yana and Porno; if so, cross-
cousin marriage is probably implied)
94. Yana na- "that it is, inasmuch as it is" (e.g., na malla-p !a' "[I wonder
■what is going to happen], for [my sleep] is bad");* na-gu- "therefore
one does, is so and so" (-gu- "just, merely, a little"); na-k'u- "there-
fore not" (fe'M- independent verb stem "to be not"). Like he- (see
no. 18), these verbs are used without -si- suffix in their present tense
(e.g., nagu-ndja "therefore I do, am so and so"); this makes it prob-
able that na is originally demonstrative in force (na-gu-ndja originally
perhaps " this-just-I "), which is confirmed by its composition with
independent stem k' u- "to be not"
Sal. na ' ' this ' '
Chum, -na in kie-na "this" (animate); "this" indefinitely is kie
95. Yana ni- "to go" (one male subject)
E. Porno negi, nek "to go to"
Ess. neni "to go, walk"
Sal. (M) nax "to come" (Sitjar), enoxo "to come," ko-nox "to arrive";
these forms belong perhaps rather with C. Yana ne^-, S. Yana nex- "to
step"
96. Yana nina "mother"; simpler stem -n- (from *-ni- or *-««-) is implied in
S. Yana ga-n-na "mother" (vocative ga-n-na found also in northern
dialects; -na is absolute noun suffix)
Shas. (G) ani "mother"; Ach. (G) m-ani "thy mother"
E. Porno nixa "mother"
97. Yana otc^a- "to dig for (annis) roots" (d is active vocalism of a or a)
Chim. dtci "root"
98. Yana p' adja "snow"; p' a- "snow lies on ground"
Chim. pa-nna "snowshoes"5
Moh. ^upaka "snow"; Tonto paka
99. Yana p^al- "biack" (e.g., da-p'ahsa- "to be black"; p^aJ-wUc'u "black
salt, mud salt ")
Seri ko-polt, ko-polcht, ko-pox'l, ji-ko-pohl "black" (i.e., -poh; ko- is prefixed
to several adjectives of color)
100. Yana p'ats.'i "excrement"; p'ats.'djuwa "intestines"
Shas. ipxai "intestines" (px from p')
Chim. h-ijyxa "intestines" (px from p')
N., C, E. Pomo pa "excrement"; S. Pomo apa "excrement," i'pa "intes-
tines"; S. W. Pomo apa "excrement"; S. E. Pomo fa "excrement,
intestines"; N. E. Pomo fa "intestines"; Pomo f, like Shas. and Chim.
px, point to strongly aspirated Hokan p' (cf. Yana form just quoted)
Sal. (M) p'xat "excrement, intestines"
101. Yana p'e- "to lie, be in a lying position"
E. Pomo pid" to lie" (plur.)
4 Sapir, 1910, p. 116, 1. 3.
5 If analyzed as pa- "snow" plus -una "footwear" (?). pa- may, however,
be related to pa, ipa "moccasin." "Snow" is ordinarily hipui, hipue in Chi-
mariko, doubtless cognate with Chum. (S. buen.) poi "snow."
Three: HoLin /^i/iv<«n,vi juj
11
102. Ynna p'l- "si'vituI mov«\ jj o " (rorroM|>oni|in|{ niDKuUr i* 'I )
K. romo pil "to walk" (|ilur.), pi/i "to go" (plur.). That pil im %o hr
under.stoo.l as p' il (cf. Yana form above) ia tn>iirat«<l by Kre«b«r'»
remark* that cdpildle "cast (they) went" waa hear<l tn t»«t u
cop-hilt^te
103. Yana p'W'o/u " woiniui 's (rouml) baiikct (-n|> "
S. W. romo pnlnlo "round"
104. Yanii p'it'hal- "to boil" (intr. ; bul- " u|) " i
("him. -pot pot- "to boil"
105. Yana p'it-t.'al- " (wouml) biirHtH," p' \t ' nnn " i bfiw , Hti«].i«"
E. Pomo pid'ak, pad'ak "to break"'
Sal. (M) paleko "to break"
106. Yana pUt'- "to diat-harpe wind"; p' i-t .'ai-iui "nkunk" (from p'it'-'a*-»a
"one who disi-harpes win<l on people "t
("iiiiii. pxici-ra, picui "skunk" {px from ;»' . cf. no. 100)
107. Yana p'o- "to blow"; p'u-.sd- "to smoke" (-j»<l- "off, away")
Chim. -TU-, -xuc- "to blow"; -ju- "to whistle" (from 'p'u- probably via
'pxu-; for Chim. x« from Hokan p'u, cf. also nos. 109, 110. Ml)
K. Pomo pu- verb stem in verbs of "blowing" and "breathing" ('^J..
pu-cen, pu-t'am "to take breath"; pucul "to blow"; pu-O'a "to
whistle")
108. Yana p'6wat-'u- "to wear beads around neck," pu.tHive p' aval 'a-;
p'6wat-dja-'a- "to put beads around neck"
N. Pomo po "magnesite beads"; ('. Ponm pn ; E. Pomo p/il ; S. E. Pomo fol:
X. E. Pomo fo, fol (Pomo f points to Hokan ;•' ; cf. no. 96)
109. Yana p'u- "to swim"
Chim. -xfi- "to swim" (from Hokan *;»'«-)
110. Yana p'ui'- "to be fat"
Ach. (iphau "fat" (adj.)
Chim. -xu- ''fat" (adj.; from Hokan 'p'u-)
X. Pomo pin "greasy"
Sal. (M) upi-nit "fat"
111. Yana p' un- "to paint,' ' p'an-na ' ' paint ' "; /)'<"»- "to put (paint, pitch) on ";
p'ul-lai- "to smear (pitch) on"
Chim. -xol- (from Hokan *p'ul-) reduplicated in -poxolxol "to paint"
112. Yana p.'asi "buckeye"
Ats. (K) p .'n-fup " buckeye "
S. Pomo bara "buckeye"; S. \V. Pomo harr
Sal. ( M ) pEca ' ' ' buckeye ' '
11.3. N. Yana p.'ut-'di-wi, C. Yana p!udiui "women" (•«•• is eollcftive. f-
plural iflfix) ; -p.'di (syncopated from p.'udt) "w«ini«n" in •;
tc' ap'dju-p.'un'na (from p.'ijf '"'i"* " mothi-r in ln» " .f '•
"father-in law")
Chim. puntsa-r "woman"
114. Yana plulsu "tail"
Kar. (K) apuii "tail"
Shas. (K) i/iiMrt "tail" (from 'ipiurt, cf. no. 16); Okwanueka 8ka.
ip'tlua: Ach. (K) ipi : Ats. (K) t' tpuin
Chim. aqilyc "tail" 'rend pr<ibably oHuvr : k!» from p'm •» n ff.-
see no. 107)
Tonto hihr "tail"
191 In, p. .144, note 49.
202 V American Indian Languages 1
14
115. Yana samsi- "to sleep"; simpler stem sam- implied in plur. sddim- (-di- is
plural infix); in S. Yana this stem appears as tc' amsi-
Shas. (K) itsmas "to sleep"; Okwanuchu Shas. (K) itsiwi; Ats. (K) itsmi
N. Porno sima-mlti "to sleep"; E. Porno slma-nek; S. Pomo slma-mitiu; S.
W. Pomo slma-ka; N. E. Pomo clma-ka; C. Pomo suma-mtlu
Ess. atsini-si "to sleep"
Moh. isma "to sleep"; Dieg. Ex'md
Seri Sim "to sleep"
Chon. cmai "to sleep"
116. Yana sau'a "arrow"
Chim. sa'a " arrow ' '
117. Yana si- "to drink"
Kar. (K) is "to drink"
Ach. (S) dis'a "drink!," dls'i^ -gusiwat "I drink"
Sal. (M) teem, ecim, acim "to drink"
Moh. i6i ' ' to drink ' ' ; Dieg. Esi
Seri Tca-si "to drink"
Chon. cwa ' ' to drink ' '
1 18. Yana sigdga ' ' quail ' '
N., C, S. W. Pomo cakaka "valley quail"; E. Pomo cag'ax; S. Pomo cakaga;
S. E. Pomo xak ; N. E. Pomo sakaka-ka
119. Yana slwin-'i "yellow pine" (for -'i see no. 59)
Kar. civir-ip "yellow pine" (from *ciwin-; -ip suffix for nouns denoting
trees)
120. Yana sun-na (var. of edible root)
Chim. san-na "wild potato"
121. Yana swsM " dog "
Chim. citce-lla, sitce-la "dog"; <ntci-wi, sitci-wi "wolf"
122. Yana tlalam-mauna "white" (-mauna is participial)
Shas. (K) it ' ay u "vfhite"
N. E. Pomo taiya "white"
123. Yana t.'inl- "to be little"; t.'im-si- "child"
Ach. (G) atun "younger brother"
Kar. tunue-itc "small"
Chum, (ina-k-)itc-tu'n "(my) son"
124. Yana tc^au-na "sugar pine"
Kar. (K) uc-ip "sugar pine" {-ip "tree")
Shas. (K) atsahu "sugar pine"; Okwanuchu Shas. (K) atsanihu; Ach. (K)
asauyo ; Ats. (K) atcawo-p
125. Yana tc' ek.'au-na "smoke"
N., N. E. Pomo saha "smoke"; E. Pomo saxa; S. E. Pomo tsaxa
Ess. tcaxa ' ' smoke ' '
126. Yana tcHgal-la "father" {-la assimilated from -na ; tcHgal- may be com-
pounded of tcH- and gal-, ef. S. Yana galsi "father")
Chim. itcila-(i) "(my) father" (-la- probably diminutive)
127. Yana tcUk.'i "female breast"
Shas. itsik "milk"; Ach. (S) IHcit "milk, female breast" (from *i'tcik);
Ats. atciska ' ' milk ' '
Sal. (M) t-icu' "breast, bosom, chest," plur. t-iletco' "breasts"
Dieg. itchikh (i.e., itcix) "breast, heart"
Probably distinct from these are:
Chim. dra, ci 'ila ' ' woman 's breast, milk ' '
Tfiree: Hokxin lxm}iiui^fs
C. roiiio sulo " ffiiwilf brcii.st"; K. romo »\du ; K. \V. I'omo rtdo; 8. Porno
ci'do "female breiist, tnilk"'
128. Yana tc^una "eye, face"
Kar. (K) yup "eye' '
Shas. oi"eye" (probably from *ii'yo)\ Kotumiihu, Ni-w Ki
At8. oiyi; Ach. (S) a' sa
Chim. husot, hucot "eye"; huso'xa "team" (liternlly • ' ivi- wultj ' \ ;
h-mt-ma "face" (Chim. -imo- probably as.Miiiiilatcci from -tjo , at ahowa
by stereotyped htsuma; in Shasta Achoinawi aiiil I'omo original **tu,
c'f. Yuman and Seri, has likewise become assimilated to uyu)
N., C, E., S. E., N. E. Porno uS "eye"; 8., 8. W. Porno AildC; m Kro<>b«r
points out, £. Poino ui becomes yu in compounds: yuia "tear" (litrrally
eye-water," of. Cbimariko above) ; in other words, original •u'yii become*
ui, (u)yu'-xa becomes yuxa
Sal. (M) <-uu'H "face" (perhai)s assimilated from 'uyu from * lyn), ('fl, (-4
Moh. -tSd "eye" (from -iyu) ; Dieg. iyii
Seri ito "eye." Sibilant -s- of Achoinawi, tc' ■ of Yana, and ■«• of Cbimariko;
•y- of Shasta, Atsugewi, Karok, Pomo, and Yuman; and •(• of Seri would
seem to point to some such Hokan original as 'isyu (cf. Vunn <it- I'lutio
(h)y, no. 39; and developments of Hokan -hy-, no. 57)
129. Yana ts.'awil-la "blucjay" (la assimilated from na)
S. W. Pomo tsawala "valley bluejay "
130. Y'ana ts.'up'- "to be good"
S. E. Pomo tsama "good"
Sal. (M) ts.'ep "good"
Chum. (S. Yn., S. Bar.) ctima "good"
131. Yana ts.'urddu "red-headed woodpecker"
Chim. tcuredhu, tnileti "woodpecker"
Sal. (M) ts.'e'/ "woodpecker"
132. Yana u- "to be"; like be- and na- (see nos. is an>l S»4 ) this verb stem i»
used without -si- suflSx in its present tense; hence demouHtrattve origin
seems probable, though not as clearly so as with bf- and na- (u-'nid)a
"I am " perhaps originally " thati [am] ' ')
E. Pomo u, u-ba "that" (for ba see no. 18); u-wn/) "he (ilistant)"
Chum. (S. Bar.) ho "that"
Sal. ho "that"
133. Yana «'-, S. Yana ux- "to he two"
Kar. axak ' ' two ' '
Shas. xokua "two"; Ach. (S) hak ! ; Ats. ^loAi
Chim. xok'u, qaqu (probably to be read laklu) "two"
N. Pomo kO "two"; C, S. W. Pomo ko ; S. Pomo akd : K. Pomo jrdic; 8. B.
Pomo xos
Ess. xulax "two"
Sal. (M) hakic "two" (San Miguel); kaktc, kakru (San Antonio)
Moh. havik "two" (from 'xawtk); Coc. houok; Kiliwi hhmak (i.:, swmk) ;
Dieg. xauok
Seri kaxkum "two"
<"hon. oke ' ' two' '
131. Yana ' ul- "to hit"; ' i//</.;ri "to put." 'uldjata "to throw a» .
Yana 'ul- app«'ars as ' <>l which internal Yana cvideof* abowa to b>-
archaic than '«/•
E. Pomo ol "to throw at"
204 V American huiian Langiia^ies 1
16
135. Yana ua- "to sit"
Ats. we- instrumental verb prefix "by sitting on"
Chim. -tvo- "to sit"; iva- "by sitting on"
Tonto o-a "to sit"; Wal. (nu)-ua; Kiliwi ouau
136. Yana uakli "to defecate"
Ats. u-ehki "excrement" (for Ats. e from a, cf. also no. 135)
Chim. h-iuax-ni "excrement"
137. Y'ana vat'du-wi "blood" {-wi is collective, -t'- probably infixed plural
element); da-waV -sa- "to be red" (i.e., "blood-colored"; da- and -sc-
are characteristic of most color verbs, cf. da-p'al-sa- "black," no. 99);
waPwa-'i "redbud" (probably reduplicated form; for -'i cf. no. 59).
Yana wat- from Hokan *(a)xwat-
Kar. (K) ax "blood" (syncopated from *axwa; cf. ic "water" from ica
from Hokan *axa)
Shas. axta "blood"; Okwanuchu Shas. axta; Ach. axdi; these forms are
syncopated from Hokan *axwata-, *axwati
(Chim. sotri "blood," sodre- "to bleed"; if these forms really belong here,
we would have to assume that Hokan xw has developed to Chim. s, though
Hokan x always remains)
S. Porno hata "red" (perhaps from *xwata)
Chum. (S. Yn., S. Bar.) aXulis "blood" (probably from *axwa-)
Sal. (M) (pjalcata, ekata "blood"
Moh. ahwata "blood" (from axwata) ; Dieg. axwat "blood"; Yuma hhivat
(i.e., xwat) "red"
Seri aval ' ' blood ' '
Chon. awas "blood"
138. Yana waivi "house" (-wi is probably collective suffix); simpler stem -tva
probably in mat .'adju-wa " sweat -house " (literally "winter-house")
Chim. dwa ' ' house ' '
Ess. iwa-no "house"
Moh. ava "house" (from *awa) ; Dieg. awa
139. Yana M'ei/u "horn"
Kar. vecu-ra "horn" (from *wecu-)
Chim. h-owec "antlers, horn" (for Yana -y- : Chim. s, c, see also nos. 62, 184)
140. Yana wil-la "belly" {-la assimilated from -na) ; from Hokan *(u)xtvi-l- (cf.
no. 137); for -I- of Yana wiJ-, cf. i'dal- "bone": Hokan *ihya- (no. 57)
N. Porno koi "belly"; N. E. Pomo koi; S., S. W. Pomo uka ; S. E. Porno x6 ;
E. Pomo xo; C. Pomo woxa; these forms point to original *(o)xoi, *(o)xwi
140a. S. Yana ya' gaihi "wife's brother"
Shas. (G) iyaki "wife's brother, man's sister's husband"
141. Yana 1/M-na "acorn"
Ats. yummi ' ' acorn ' '
Chim. yutri "acorn"
Three: HcLin /^</jv//</v< ^
17
SECONDAKV \l-:iCl'. STK.MS
Ainon^' the iiuiikious siiflixcd clciiu'iits that jfO to build up YaiUI
verb structure is a lar^^r class that conic imiiu'diut»*ly aftiT primary
stems and convey verbal or adjectival ideas of consitb-rabi t©.
ness. Tliey may, accordin^dy, Ite a{)proi)riately terine<l iry
verb stems." it is highly probable that they were originally primary
stems which, being often eomj)ounded with other preceding primary
stems, gradually came to lose their independence and to asKume tho
aspect of verbal suffixes. Indicative of this is the fact that in at
least a few eases elements may be used in both initial and Hecondary
positions. Thus -waC- "red" and -p'ul- "black" are secondary ele-
ments in verb structure, but occur in initial position in nouns (e.g.,
wat'wa-'i "red-bud"; p'al-untc'n "black salt") ; further, samsi- "to
sleep" occurs in secondary position in <fi-s(imsi-p!a- "to feel sleepy"
{gl- primary verb stem indicating states of mind). ('omi>osition of
primary verb stems is, however, so rare in Vana as to be practically
abseiit. The loss of independence of secondary verb stems has evi-
dently been consummated as a general process in the very remote past.
Comparison with other Hokan languages strongly supports the view
that the suflfixation in Yana of these st«'ms is the result of a loss of
independence, for some of them are chaily cogiuite to independent
stems in these languages.
142. Yana -balla- "to knoL-k, hit, poke"
Chim. -pat- "to poke"
E. Pomo bati "to shoot"
143. Yana -dada- "to shake, flutter" (e.p., yaidja-dada-'a- "(one's fl«h, eye-
lashes, cheeks] shake from fear"; 'ep.'idadadibtl- "[hummingbird)
goes buzzing around"; 'al-t'da-, syncopatoil from Uildada-, "to »h«ke
[intr.]")
S. Pomo itataii "to shake"; N. E. I'onio tcenrcm (probably to be under-
stood as tcercnm from 'dcdtm) "to shake." tcurnra rrm " oartbqujUip"
(from *tcadadadcm)
144. N. Yana -gat- "to roll" (intr.)
Chim. -At- "to roll"
14.5. Yana -gal- " (to bite) out piece of"; gal'dx- "to peel off (skin, ba-
Chim. -kxol- "to dent"
140. Yana -* gan- "to break"; S. Yana sgan-
Chim. -kat- "to break, separate"
147. Yana -gulai- perhaps " to be bent" (in ba guhumakH- "to be humpb«<ked " :
mak.'i "back")
Chim. -A-oru- "to bend" (r and / constantly inf.T.hanue in Chimarikot
206 V American Imiiun Languages 1
18
148. Yana -k.'al-: hui-k- .'al-di- "to wash" (hui- is probably causative form of hai-,
incorporated form of ha- "water"); bo-k.'al-' di- "to clean out (grain)
by beating"; d6-k!al-^di- "to brush"
C. Porno k!al " to rub "
149. Yana -k.'au- " (to cut, snap, break) piece out, off"
S. Porno Ikau ' ' broken or burst asunder ' '
150. Yana -k.'un'd-, -k.'un'a- "to stay, dwell, sit"; S. Yana -k.'ola-; occurs also
as primary stem in k.'un'd-mari'mi "old woman" (literally "sit-
woman"), plural k.'iVnd-p .'diwi ; for verbs of sitting as first members
of compounds referring to persons, cf. no. 3
Kar. kini, kiri "to live, sit, be"
151. Yana -llli-, -lili- "smooth" (probably reduplicated element; cf. -dada-, no.
143)
Chim. luyuin ' ' smooth ' '
152. Yana -'la- "(to act upon) soft, sticky object"
Chim. lo'oren "soft"
153. Yana -ts.'an- in gd-ts!an- "to make a speech" (for gd- see no. 46)
E. Pomo -tsan- in ba-tsan "to preach" (for ba- see no. 8)
154. Yana -ts.'au- (see no. 63)
155. Yana -ts.'u- "to tear, scratch, wear out"
E. Pomo bi-tcu "to gnaw off"
156. Yana -wa-, -wd- secondary stem in certain verbs of weeping (e.g., dja-icd-
" to mourn, lament off in woods"; dil-ica- "to dance with grief")
Ach. -wo- "to cry"
Chim. -wo- ' ' to cry ' '
157. Yana -yi- in mo-yi, passive mil-yi- "to teach, give advice" (for mo-, mu-
cf. perhaps mo-, mil- "to reach, hand to, hold," no. 87)
E. Pomo -yi in ba-yi "to teach"; mi-yi "to count"; du-yi "to show, teach,
count"
LOCAL SUFFIXES
Yana is characterized by a large number of local verb suffixes,
resembling in this respect Karok, Shasta-Achomawi, and Chimariko.
On the other hand, it does not possess the local postpositions suffixed
to nouns which are found in these languages, also in Pomo and
Esselen. To express prepositional relations Yana employs the same
method as Salinan and Chumash, that is, the noun is preceded by an
independent local noun of prepositional significance ; thus with such
constructions as Salinan toke tecaan "in the basket" and Chumash
mama o' "in water" compare Yana 'iyemairik.'u ddha "in middle of
river," ihautc'^ ddha "west of river." Such local nouns are in every
case built up of a local verb suffix preceded by the element i- or I- and
sometimes followed by the absolute noun suffix -na or by an element
-k!u (thus the verb suffixes corresponding to the above local nouns are
-yemairi- and -haudju-). As a matter of fact, the most common
PirtT: Uttkiin Ixuiviumfs 1()7
It
nittlKKl of fxpn-ssiiij,' picposit ional rclutions in Yaim U to miffiz the
l(M'al i-lcimiit lo ihf vfi-l) sti'iii iiii<l to connect the verb with the noun
by iiu-ans of the object ivc particb- (//. The clone connection b«-t\»i«rn
local verb sutlixcs ami Im-al nouns in Yana \h at leairt thforvtical
j^roiunl for su»^f?csting that these suffixes, where they occur in Ilokan,
are nothiiij,' l)nt iiicoi-porattd local nouns that oriKinally |)(MM<-KfM*d
complete independeiK't', as still indicatcil by Chuinash and Sahnan.
Comparative evidence bearinj^ on certain specific suffixes would M-em
to confirm this hypothesis (see nos. 160, 172, 174, 176; of. perhaps
further Karok -tako "on" as verb suffix with Salinan tdke "in" an
local noun).
158. Yana -'an- "arriving at"
Kar. -ra verb suffix "towanl" (Karok r frequently fjoes back to n\
(E. Ponio -?i nominal postposition "to")
159. Yana -hil- "about, moving al)out "
E. Ponio -mal, -mli verb suffix "arouml"
160. Yana -dam- {-ram-), -ddmi- {-rami) "out, out of the house"
Kar. -arup, -ripa verb suffix ' ' out ' '
Ach. (K) -da verb suffix "out of house"; Ats. -ta verb suffix "out of"
Chim. -tap verb suffix "out"; -tpi verb suffix "out of"
161. Yana -di- (-ri-), -di- (-rt-) "down" (occurs also con>pounde<l, a« in mar\
"down into hole, receptacle"; -waldi- "down on ground"; -'mldt-
"down from height"); -du- (ru-), -du- (ru) "<lown from point
above"; these two suffixes are probably related, both being jxrhiip*
based on older Hokan *-da- "down" plus elements that h(iv.« ii.>« lost
their individuality
Ach. (K) -danu- verb suffix "down"
Chim. -dam verb suffix "down"
162. Yana -dja- "off," used in certain verbs of "putting," "throwing." »od
other activities
E. Porno tsa- verb prefix "away"; as Kroeber remnrks of this cI«m of
Pomo elements, "Adverbial prefixes are the most loosely coDneot«s| with
the verb, and sometimes are heanl as separate words"; it ia therefor*
not altogether surprising that certain of them correspond to local
suffixes of other Hokan languages; with the exception of -mlt. m^
"around" (see no. 159), Kroeber lists no Pomo local suffixes for vcrbe;
see further no. 17.3 and compare E. Pomo ra- verb prefix '•through*'
with Chim. -usam verb suflix "through"
16.3. Yana -dja- "up" in certain verbs (e.g.. djtidja "water ri»«»": bmldf«^m-
"three fires blaze up"); ordinarily appears com|>«iunlfd m i' itf^-
"up (in air)"; containing this dja- are probably aUo I«k«I • ^i-**
■djn-ri- "house, going up" (e.g., u'djarifi "there »r* two >
literally "there are two going up"); $dja- "house going up ■ »
tualhip'a-sdja sk't "he has ba-l house going up," *f. mallap.'* "to be
bad" and -s-k' t "his is"); djat n "on top of"
Chim. -tso- verb suffix "up"
208 V American Indian Languages 1
20
164. Yana -'e- "with, by means of"
(E. Porno -i, -yai nominal postposition "with, by means of")
165. Yana -gun- stereotyped secondary element possibly indicating "interior,
inside": l-gun-na "sweat-house" (i- possibly identical with prefixed
i-, t- of local nouns; -na absolute noun suffix), originally perhaps "inside
place"; N. Yana wat' -guru-wa "sweat-house" (syllabically final n be-
comes t in N. Yana, which develops to ru before xv, cf. N. Yana ^ aru-wul-
"several go into house" with C. Yana ^an-wul-; -ica "house," cf. no.
133), originally perhaps "sit-inside house"
Kar. -ktiri verb suffix ' ' into ' '
166. Yana -k^i- "hither"
Chim. -k- in -iva-k-, -iva-to-k- "to come" (cf. -ua-, -warn- "to go"; cognate
with Kar. -var, -varam "to go" from -uan or -ival and E. Pomo ua, wal
"to walk, go, pass")
Yuma klrik ' ' to come ' ' ; Dieg. kiyu
167. Yana -k.'am "toward oneself"
Kar. -ka verb suffix "to"
Chim. -s-ku verb suffix "towards" (for -s- cf. -s-mu "across")
Sal. (M) sk.'am "close, beside, hither"
168. Yana -lau- "out of enclosed space into open," sometimes specifically "out
of mouth" (e.g., ya-lau- "mouth bleeds"; 'ul-lau-wal- "breath smells,"
-wal- incorporated form of bal- "mouth")
Chim. -lo verb suffix "apart (?)" (e.g., n-itcxa-Jo "pull out tooth!" itcxa-
"to pull")
169. Y'ana -Uu- "in head" (e.g., ne-Hu- "to kick one's head," from ne^ - "to
step" plus -Hu-; lau-'Ju- "to be strong in head"); N. and C. Yana pre-
consonantal -' - goes back to either original -s- or -x-, as shown by com-
parison with S. Yana (e.g., -^bu- "to be first": S. Yana -xbu- ; -' gan-
"to break": S. Yana -sgan-) ; Pomo cina (see below) suggests that
Yana -'?«-, if indeed related, goes back to original *-islu-
Shasta innux "hair" (perhaps assimilated from *isnux) ; Konomihu k-ina
"head" (perhaps from *isna, cf. Pomo cina; for fe-prefix cf. New River
Shasta k-i'tsau, no. 63) ; New River Shasta k-innux "head"; Okwanuchu
Shas. iimux "head"; Ach. lax "head"; Ats. naxa "head" (perhaps
from *snaxa)
N., S. Pomo cina "head"; S. W. Pomo cina; C. Pomo cna; S. E. Pomo xlya
(Pomo c becomes x in this dialect)
Chum. (S. Bar., S. Yn.) noke "head, hair" (perhaps from *cno-kc; cf. Ach.
lax and Ats. naxa above) ; is this hypothetical c- preserved in Chum.
(S. L. O.) CO "head, hair" (perhaps from *cno?). Hokan *is(i)nu-,
*is(i)na- seems to lie back of all these forms
170. Yana -ma- "together with"; -ba-nau-ma "everyone" (as subject; -ba-
"all"; for -i\au- cf. dja-nau- "to eat much"); perhaps also compounded
as -m-, -mi- in -mts.'i-, -mits.'i- "together, with one another"
Chim. -m- in -m-di, -m-du instrumental postposition (cf. Ess. -ma-nu below)
E. Pomo -ma verb suffix "plural subject"; -ma reciprocal verb suffix "each
other, one another"; these elements are probably further related to
nominal postposition -(i)mak "in company .with " ; -mak verb suffix "to
have, be provided with"
Ess. -ma-nu nominal postposition "together with" (comitative idea prob-
ably conveyed by -ma-, as -nu alone is "with" in its instrumental sense
Three: llnkiui huti'iuifif.s \yif
i\
171. Vaiia ma- vi-rh autlix "tlnT«'. at that place"; maflu "place of" aufflxed
to nouns (thiH element in j;enerully useJ after nounw by ob-
jeitive ffi ami is jiractirully equivalent to Doniinul ]••■ "at "
e.g., fli 'i()uiimiulu "at sweat house place")
Chim. -ma-, mu suflix for place naiiies (e.g., tntcanma "Tavlor** Flat,"
literally " niauzanitaplace, " cf. tnlraiui " ninnr.anita " i
S. W. rouio mall "there, place"
Sal. (M) ma- locative prefix "at, to, there'
172. Yana ma- in -mari- "down into (pit, receptan.- . ( »« n inennn ".lown,"
see no. 161, -ma- must be interpreted to have originally meant "in,
into," though it does not occur alone in that Henne)
Kar. -am-ni- verb suflix "in, into"
Chim. -Eni«- verb suflix "into"
Sal. mum-, mem- in local noun mum-tukc, mcm-tdke "in" (cf. tdke "in")
Chum, mama local noun "in"
173. Yana -mi- "to one side," occurs only compounded, e.g., -iriZ-mi "on one
side, half," cf. -uil- "across"; -wal-mi- "apart, in hiding"; ■mamt-
"plus five," e.g., bul-niami- "eight," literally " three with (cf. no. 170)
five to one side ' '
E. I'omo ma- verb prefix "across, ojijiosite"
174. Yana -mminak .'i- "behind"; corresponding local noun i-mmiiiaA.'i "behind"
Chim. h-imina "back"; h-imina-tce "behind, outside"; this example is
particularly valuable as directly suggesting that at least certain Yana
local verb suffixes are in origin incorporated nouns
175. Yana -'uldi- "down (from fixed point)" (compounded with -</i "down."
see no. 161)
Kar. -Km verb suffix "down"
176. Yana -wul- "into," as local noun htiftlu "in, into"; Yana uulu probablj
goes back to Hokan *xulu (cf. Yana u' from Hokan lu-, no. 137)
Kar. -furu-k verb suflSx "into house" (from Hokan *-Tunu or *-Tutu-; for
Kar. f from original x before original u, cf. further Kar. yufi "now:
Chim. h-oxu, Moh. * -exu "nose")
Ach. (K) -lu verb suffix "into house" (probably fnun 'jlu-, ct. las "bead"
from older *slax, see no. 169; -xlu- syucopateil from 'xulu-, an no often
in Shasta-Achomawi)
Chim. -xun verb suffix "into"; as independent local noun junot "into"
(observe that suffixed -xun is related to independent runo-i with ita
second vowel as Yana suffixed -wul- is to independent -mJ/M). Thia «•
ani})le further illustrates originally independent character of local v«rb
suflixes
Chum, hiliikun local noun "in" (perhaps as.similated from Hokan •*■!••
OTHER VERB AND NolN srFFlXKS
177. Yana -gu- verb suffix "a little, just "
Chim. -^u-, ku- indefinite suffix with diminutiviring force: «a«l-^ "by a»d
by"; curai-gu "some time ago" (cf. ku\ "long ago"); p«|r<"-'-
"something" (cf. patci "what"); gutan "merely, only"
probably diminutive suflix)
178. Yana ma- usitative verb suflix "to be wont to"
E. I'onio kxma verb suflix indicating usitative pant
210 V American Indian Languages 1
22
179. Yana -na absolute noun suffix added to stems ending in long vowel, diph-
thong, or consonant and to all monosyllabic stems; preceding I assimi-
lates it to -la
Kar. -an, -ar noun suffix denoting agent or instrument
Chim. -r, -I noun suffix of rather colorless significance (e.g., tcima-r "man";
kosa-r ' ' crane ' ' ; tsaboko-r ' ' mole ' ' ; himetasu-r ' ' morning ' ' ; piso-r, piso-l
"quail"); some nouns have -ra, -la (e.g., pxici-ra "skunk," ta'i-ra
"ground squirrel"; diminutive -lla perhaps contracted from diminutive
-la-, -I- and absolute -la, -ra)
Pomo -I absolute noun suffix (e.g., N. E. Porno fo-l "beads," S. E. Pomo
fo-l, E. Pomo po-l: N. E. Pomo fo, C. Pomo po, N. Pomo po ; S. E. Pomo
cala-l "liver": N., C. Pomo cala)
Ess. -nax, -nex, -nix noun suffix (e.g., masia-nex "heart"; asa-nax "water")
Dieg. -ly absolute noun suffix (e.g., ^si-ly "salt": Moh. a6'i; ^ emi-ly "leg,
foot": Moh. Hme)i
180. Yana -p'a- modal verb suffix of dubitative significance (e.g., a-p^a "if he
would be"; a- "if"); -s-p^a- (compounded of present -si- and modal
-p' a-) modal verb suffix of contrary-to-fact significance (e.g., asp' a "if
he were, had been")
E. Pomo -pi, -pi-la verb suffix "if, until"
181. Yana -t'-; -V-, -r- plural noun suffixes; -di- ; -dja- ; -' - plural verb infixes,
e.g., sit'in'i-wi "yellow pines" from slwin'i "yellow pine"; mut'djau-
t.'i-wi "chiefs" from mudjau-p !a; muP gald'i-wi "logs" from mugald'i;
kluruwi "medicine-men" from k.'tiwi; ' ddiba- plur. of 'aba- "to be
old"; sddim- plur. of samsi- "to sleep"; k.'ddjawai- plur. of k'.a'wi-
"to be tired"; dja' tod- plur. of djawd- "to mourn")
Sal. -t-, -ts-, -I- plural noun and adjective infix; -I also used as plural suffix
(e.g., sem'ta plur. of sepxa "child"; Mste plur. of hUtcdi "dog";
lentse-n plur. of lene "woman"; cetlip plur. of cetep "dead"; smatel
plur. of smat "beautiful")
182. Yana -ts.'i collective noun suffix generally referring to small objects (e.g.,
haga-ts!i "flint fragments" from haga "flint"; djuwd-ts.'i "small
game" from djuwa "jack-rabbit"); more often occurs as compounded
-ts.'-gi, -ts.'e-gi diminutive noun plural (e.g., 'amai-ts.'gi "children";
'i-ts.'Sgi "little sticks" plur. of 'i-p.'a "little stick")
Kar. -itc diminutive noun suffix
Pomo -ts, -tee, -tsen in certain terms of relationship, evidently expressing
affection; C. Pomo -ts (e.g., cu-ts "mother's sister," cf. N. Pomo -su) ;
E. Pomo -ts (e.g., tse-ts-a "mother's brother," cf. N. Pomo -tsU) ; S.
Pomo -tsen (e.g., a-ba-tsen "father's father," cf. N. Pomo -ba) ; S. W.
Pom. -tsen; S. E. Pomo -ts (e.g., im-ba-ts "father's father"); N. E.
Pomo -tee, -tci (e.g., ka-tci-dai "mother's mother," cf. N. Pomo -ka)
Chum, -ite-, -Its- in ma-k-itc-tu 'n ' ' my son, ' ' ma-k-lts-ls ' ' my younger
brother"
183. Yana -uwi dual noun suffix (e.g., dal-uwi "two hands"; lal-uwi "two feet";
mal'guwi "two ears" from mal'gu "ear"); -wi is plural or collective
noun suffix (see no. 183a and examples in no. 181), leaving -U- as dis-
tinctive of duality
Chim. -owa in nout-owa "we two (excl.) " (cf. nout "I") ; mamut-owa "we
two (incl.) " (cf. mamut "thou")
Chum, -u in ckum-u (literally "two twos") from ickom "two"
"^ It is impossible to be certain at present that Yana -na and Ess. -nax are
comparable to Chim. -I, -r, Pomo -I, and Dieg. -ly.
Three: Ht>kim Ixm\:uii\!t:s ^ii
t3
]s:\(i. Vaiia 1/ 1 lolU'ctive noun «uflix (e.g., 'xut " firewoo^l, woo<l," ef. *i-mm
"tree, stick"; for othrr fxani|il(>.s Ht«e noH. IHI ua>\ Ih.li
Shas. yauKr plural j)ronoiniiial Huflix ; AtH. -uir
Sal. hi-uet, hiuat plural of licmonstrntivp hr "that"
('hum. -trun plural demonstrative suflix (e.g., kaiuuun "ihwn-" from la«
"this one"; qdlo-u^n "those" from qdtd "that one")
1S4. Yana ya "female" (e.g., k.'uuiya " merlirinc woman " from i.'dci
' ' meilicine man ' ')
Chim. -sa "female" (e.g., /a,va "widow"; tru mako aa "my mother in law,"
cf. tcumaku "my father in law ") ; for Vana y: Chim. m, c.t. no. 6Z
18/). Yana -j/au- forms verbal nouns (e.g., moyauna "food" from m/>- "to eat")
Chim. -tu, -«"h forma verbal nouns (e.g., hdmcu "food" from ama "to •i»t"^
Sal. (M) -trt. i'a suffixed to verbs to form nouns
PRONOUNS
Pronominal ideas are expressed in Vana liy nu'an.s of Kiiffixctl
elements {-7idja, -nidja, S. Yana -ndji, -nidji "I, my"; -numa "thou,
thy"; -nigi "we, our"; -nuga, S. Yana -numgi- "yr, your"). These
elements when suffixed to third personal stem ai "h<', it" form the
series of independent pronouns {ai'nidja "1." S. Vana di'nidji;
ai'numa "thou"; ai'nigi "we"; ai'uuga "y<'." S. Yana ai'numgi).
As the present independent series is thus evidently of (juite sfcnndary
origin, it is highly {irobable that the suffixed pronominal elements of
Yana are themselves the old series of independent personal pronouns
which, because of their habitual position after the verb, have beeom*'
reduced to the status of suffixed elements (e.g., dhvaisi'numa "thou
seest" from older *d('wais{ nunui "scc-in-present-tiint' thou"V This
analysis is confirmed by the fact that the elenu-nts -nidja {•ni-dji)^
-numa, -nigi, and -nuga {-numgi) are regularly separated from pre-
ceding vowels by a light glottal stop of purely phonetic (lUsjunetive)
force (e.g., be 'nidja "it is 1"; mosi'nigi "we .sludl eat"'. It is als.«
in striking agrecMuent with tlie testimony of otiu'r Ilokan hmgiia^ren.
whieli make use partly of simple iiuh'pendent pronouns, partly of
prefixed elements, l)ut only to a relatively slight extent iChimariko
and Shasta-Achomawi) of suffixed elements.
Further analysis of the Yana pronominal elements readily tliscloiirti
the fact Ihat they are not simple, but eomj)ounded. The analysis ii
evident from llic following':
Sing. 1. -nidja I'lur. 1. ni-pi
{•ni-dji)
2. numa 2. nu pa
(■Hu-mfii)
212 V' American Indian Languages 1
24
The pronominal elements consist of -ni- (for the first person) or
-nu- (for the second person) plus characteristic elements {-dja, S.
Yana -dji; -ma; -gi; -ga, S. Yana -mgi) that undoubtedly constitute
the old pronominal series proper. The -ni-, -nu- may be an old dem-
onstrative element {-ni- perhaps originally "this, it near me"; -nu-
"that, it near you"), as seems to be indicated by the fact that it occurs
only in intransitive forms and in transitive forms involving a third
personal subject or object (e.g., nisdsi-n-dja "I go away"; dewaisi-n-
dja "I see ; I see him, it" ; dlwaisi-wa-n-dja "he sees me, I am seen by
him"), but disappears in transitive forms involving combinations of
first personal subject and second personal object or second personal
subject and first personal object {-dja, S. Yana -dji "thou-me"; -gi
"thou-us"; -ma "I-thee"; -m'ga, S. Yana -mgi "I-you").
While the pronominal subject and object are solely expressed by
means of suffixed elements, nouns with suffixed possessive pronouns
are at the same time preceded by article-like proclitics. These are,
in Northern and Central Yana, dji for the first person and dju for
the second (e.g., dji wawi-ndja "my house," dji wawi'nigi "our
house," dju wawi'numa "thy house," dju wawi'nuga "your house") ;
the i-u alternation is probably comparable to the corresponding use
of -ni- and -nu- above, while dj- is a demonstrative or article-like ele-
ment found also in other connections (e.g., ai-dje, ai-dje'e "that one";
ai-dj, ai-tc' , S. Yana tc' "the; he, it"; ai-dja " there ").^ In Southern
Yana, however, the possessives are expressed by proclitic elements
alone, except for the second person plural, w^hich is also expressed by
a suffixed -numgi, probably to distinguish it from the corresponding
singular form ; the possessive elements in Southern Yana are :
dji ' ' my ' ' dj%i-m ' ' thy ' '
dji-n ' ' our ' ' dju-m . . . -numgi ' ' your ' '
The -n of djin and the -m of djum are peculiar to this dialect and
are probably abbreviated forms of an old first person plural n- element
which has otherwise disappeared in Yana (see no. 189 below) and of
older ma "thou" or mi "thy" (see no. 190). It is not impossible
that the -i of dji ' ' my ' ' is only secondarily contrastive to the u char-
acteristic of the second person and is really an old first person singular
8m "he, it" of these forms has been already referred to; it is disconnected
from demonstrative -dj-, -tc^ by objective gi, e.g., ai-gi-dje'e "to that one."
For -e, -e'e of ai-dje('e) see no. 192 below; -dja of ai-dja may contain a sur-
vival of an old postpositional -a "in, at" that has othervsrise disappeared
(ai-dj-a originally "it therein"; with this hypothetical -a cf. E. Pomo -a "at,"
e.g., me-a "here, at this").
Three: Hokiin Uinviuiv is 213
possessive elfiiicnt that has liiit^.-n-il on (»nly in pr(x>litic pomtion (thu«
S. Yana dj-i ivnwi originally •thr-my hrnisi'"; with this -i cf . perhaps
("hiiiiariko -/( in, I't;., nuisonuis-i "my reil-.salinon" and i- in, e^.,
i-patni "1 pokt- tlii'c, him")." Th«' pronominal cli-mcntii -i, -n. and m
are the more si^nifieant for eomparative purposes in that th«'ir pfMition
corresponds to that of possi-ssivi' pronouns in othi-r Ilokan lan)fiiaKi*«
(thus with such a foiin as S. Vaiui dju-m u<nri "thy hous*-," of. Kar.
mi-lciririratn "thy house"; Ach. fS) nn'niu-diyum'dji "thy hou*'";
Cliim. m-isiim "thy ear";'" E. Ponio tni-mcx "thy okler brother";
Ess. nnnis-hikpa "thy eyes"; Sal. t'-tn-ulet "thy teeth";" Chum.
ma-p-qo "thy do^";'^ Moh. ^ -ihu "liis nose").
The eomparative data hearing on Yana prnnominal ehiipiits fnlluw
186. Yana -n-dja, -ni-dja (S. Yana -ndji, -nidji) " I, inc. mv ; u a mn i .->. i .ma
•wd-dji "thou-me" (-ud- is really passive, hence literally " I-by(th*«] ")
Shas. -s verbal suffix "I"; Ach. -s ; Ats. -s
Chim. tcti- "my" (inherent possession); tcu-, tea- "he, they-me"; frti-, 'tre
"I" (with static verbs)
187. Yana -i in dji "my''; maus-i "I am about to" (see introductorj remarks
to this section)
Ach. (S) t'f- in i^-Vu "my" (for -t' u of. mist'u "thy"; i'VM dTyvm'tf/i
"my house," e.g., probably means literally "myproperty house")
Chim. -i "my" (accidental possession); i- "I-thee, Ihim"
188. Yana -ni-gi "we, us; our"; -icagi "thou-us" (literally " we by[the«] ")
Kar. Ai-71- "us" (but cf. also kik- "you," subj.; kik- . . . (tp "you," obj.)
Sal. (San Miguel) ka "we"; (San Antonio) kak
Chum, ki-cku "we two" ki-ku "we"; ki- "we, our"
189. S. Yana -n in dji-n "our" (for dji see introductory remarks to this section)
Kar. nu "we"; nu- "we" as subjective prefix; nanu- "our"; H-n- "iw"
as objective prefix
190. Yana -r\u-ma "thou, thee; thy"; -ud'nui "I thee" (literally "thou by
[me]"); S. Yana -m in dju-in "thy" (for ilju see intro»lu«'tory remarka
to this section)
Kar. im ' ' thou ' ' ; mi- ' ' thy ' '
Shas. mai "thou"; Ach. mi- "thou" as subjective pretix, A<h S ••.'".
mi'mu- "thy"; Ats. mi- "thou" as subjective prefix
Chim. ma-mut "thou"; mi- "thou, thou mo, thouus; thouhim, ii..i... ..■>.
they-thee"; -mi "thy" (denotes aci-identnl relation), m- "thr" (de-
notes inherent relation)
E. Pomo ma "thou"; mi "thee"; mi- "thy" (with terms of rflatioothlpt
Ess. nemi, name, uaiime "thou"; nrniiV-, niu'- "thy"
Here may well belong also the <|uite isolateii form mau » \
(mau-s "he is about to"; such forms ns nuiusi n\.'>\jiuina "I an
are perhaps to be understood as originally meaning " in «l>out tu ei- -.«-
(-i) eating (verbal noun in ijnuna. see no. ISf))."
10 In Chimariko ]>ossossive pronouns indicating acciilental reUtior»
fixed, those indicating natural or inalienable relntionn nre |»ri'lli«>«l
11 Sal. r- and Chum. hj<i- corresjiond structurally to Yana .<.»<!•'
214 y American Indian Lan}>iiages 1
26
8:il. mo "thou"; -m-, -um- "thy" (e.g., t'-m-ulet "thy teeth," t'-um-kai
"thy elder brother"; t'-um- is in striking morphological agreement with
S. Yana dju-m "thy")
Moh. mdnya ' ' thou ' ' ; Dieg. ma
Seri me "thou"
191. Yana -nu-qa "ye, you (pi. obj.) ; your (pi.)"; -wu-m'ga " I-you (pi.)"
(literally "you pi. -by-[me]"; -m'ga probably compounded of second
person singlar -ma, -m and second person plural element -ga) ; S. Yana
has -mi-mgi instead of -nu-ga (-m- probably second person singular
element)
Kar. -k- in ki-k- "ye" as subjective prefix (for ki- cf. ki-n- "us"); ki-k-
. . . -ap "you" (pi. obj.; -ap is "thee," hence Kar. -k- . . . -ap is
morphologically equivalent to Yana -m'-ga)
Chim. q-, qe- "ye" as subjective prefix; qo-, qa- "he-you (pi.) "; qo- "they-
you (pi.); ye-me, us; ye-him"
Sal. (M) t-k-, te-k- "your" (t-, te- is prefixed article)
192. Yana -(y)e, -(y)e'e in ai-ye, ai-ye'e "that one," ai-dj-e, ai-dj-e'e "this one,
that one" (ai is third personal pronoun; dj- article-like or demonstrative
element) ; Yana ai-ye probably from *ai-he (-y- is glide between ai and e- ;
for disappearance of intervocalic -h- cf. djo-na from djuhau-na "dwelling
east, Hat Creek Indians")
E. Pomo he, hee "the, this" {hee perhaps to be understood as he'e as in
Yana -e'e)
Sal. he "that"
Chum. (S. Bar.) he "this "12
ADDITIONAL HOKAN COGNATES
When it is remembered that Yana is clearly non-typical of general
Hokan morphology, it will have to be conceded that the present com-
parative list of stems and non-radical elements (which is quite large,
considering that data are scanty for nearly all the languages involved)
goes a long way towards encouraging us to proceed with confidence
on the basis of the Hokan hypothesis. Aside from Yana, I have
observed many striking Hokan cognates. While this is not the place
to discuss them in detail, a few significant references may be welcome.
Chim. -maxa of h-itxani-maxa "knee" S. W. Pomo moko "knee"
(from h-itxan "leg") Dieg. mexe-tunn "knee"
Chim. -lot- "to mash" E. Pomo lat "to mash"
Chim. -owa-, -warn- "to go" Kar. var (from 'wan- or *wal-) "to
go"
E. Pomo tva, wal "to go"
12 Other Hokan demonstratives have become verbal in force in Yana; see
Yana be (no. 18), na (no. 94), and u (no. 132); see also no. 2.
Thrt'f Hokiin iMrijiuufifi 215
t7
Chiin. til "with tht> IihikI ' ' K. I'omo rfw- "with ih* tuiad"
Chilli, fi- "his," hamut "Iw" K. I'iimi> ha " hi«, tb«ir" (wlUi ItmoM
(if ri*lBtioiuihi(i )
Moh. '• "hb"
Chilli. -<in(i- "on" (as verb sutlix)>s E. Porno na, ut -.u .>ii
poaition)
It is only wlnii wr luivc suiiicthini; likf an julftjuatr knowli'dgv
of all the Ilokan languages or dialectic groups that it will Ix* poHHible
to conipilf a relatively complete comparative liokan dictionary and
to study in detail the linguistic gro\ipings and sub-groupings of th«iM'
tribes. So far there seems to be no strung b'xieal t-vidiMu-f to ecmiM-et
Vana witli one rather than with anothti- of the other liokan lang\iag«ii.
Geographically it is elosest to Shasta-Achomawi, but it wema to b«
at least as far removed from these languages as from the gi-ograph-
ically more remote Pomo. Indeed, the only grouping of liokan
languages among themselves that it seems at all possible to make at
present is that of Chimariko with Shasta-Aehonuiwi, as aln-aily pointed
out by Dixon in his study of C'himariko. To Sha.sta-Achomawi and
Chimariko I should be inclined to add Karok as the third memlx-r of
a geographically continuous lu^rthern group of liokan.
REMARKS OX PHONOLOGY
The material gathered together in the preceding s^K-tions cnabh*?*
one to determine (or at lea.st suggest) a number of phonetic laws
characteristic of one or other of the Ilokan languages. Neverthelewi
it would be premature to attempt a systenuitic prt-sentation of Ilokan
phonology. The evidence is far too scattered and scanty for thin
purpase. I shall therefore content myself with a reference to only
two or three points, especially as certain phonetic lawa have h«'«'n
aliTady suggested in eoinu'et ion with the s|)ecific entri<*s
In regard to vowels, one of the most striking featur.-H im a »oiim«-
what fre(|uent correspondence of Chinuiriko <». less often u. to o in
other Ilokan langiuiges. It is to be noted, however, that mort ofirn
gi-n.-ral Ilokan a .seems to b.- npre.si'nted by a in Chimariko alaa
Examples of ('him. ". ii. Ilokan <i. are:
1-^ Not oxi.n.itly ro<oKiiiz«'il l>y l>ixoii. ».ut foun.l in r(>rt«ia io»lni«»«Ul
ns; c.K.. hrimaa'iiaksia "whereon one entM. tablf"; ktvoama da l*« " »k#r#o«
noil
one aits, chair. ' '
216 y American Indian Languages 1
28
No. Chimariko HoJcan
4. h-imo- "grandsorf" Yana 'amdivi-, Chum, -ama
34. -(t)cpom, -tcibutn "five" Yana. djiman-
46. -ko-, -go- "to speak" Yana ga-, Pomo ga-
50. kdtcu ' ' clover ' ' Yana gamcu
66. qoiyo-in "sour" Yana k.'ai-
72. Wo "goose" Yana Idlagi, S. W. Pomo lala
133. xok'u, qdqu "t\vo"i^ Kar. axalc, Acli. hak!, Dieg. xaivok
135. -wo- "to sit" Yana wa-
152. lo'oren "soft" Yana -'la-
156. -wo- "to cry" Yana -wa-
163. -tso- "up" Yana -dja-
22. -iM- "to fly" Yana dd-
75. 7?m/ii ' ' acorn of black oak ' ' Yana -mdla
167. -s-ku "towards" Kar. -ka, Yana -k.'avi-
186. tcu- "my" Yana -n-dja
An important feature of the Hokan group is the occurrence in
certain languages of initial vowels which are absent in other languages
or in other forms of the same language. The vowel in question is
often identical with the stem vowel following the consonant (e.g.,
Hokan *axa "water," *axwati "blood"), but by no means always.
Frequently the identity of the two vowels is due to a dialectic assimi-
lation of the first vowel to the second (e.g., Karok axaJc "two," cf.
S. Yana ux-; Chim. h-uso- "eye," cf. Chim. h-isu-ma "face," Dieg.
iyu "eye"). Sometimes the vowel differs in different languages (e.g.,
S. W. Pomo a'kol "long," but Tonto iknle). Assimilation of the
second vowel to the first also occurs (e.g., Yana lili-mauna "nose"
from *Uili- from *Uala-, cf. S. W. Pomo tla; Ess. xiilax "two," N.
Pomo ko, S. E. Pomo xos from *uxu- from *uxa-, cf. S. Yana ux-,
Chontal oke, Dieg. xawok). In nearly all available examples Yana
has lost the initial vowel, which is best preserved in Shasta-Achomawi,
Chimariko, and dialectically in Yuman; as for Pomo, it seems to be
regularly lost, but is retained in S. and S. W. Pomo (cf. aka "water"
of these dialects with xa and ka of all others). For examples of
variation on this point within the same dialect see nos. 55 (Chimariko
and Karok) and 128 (Pomo). Examples illustrating the loss in Yana
(and other languages) of an initial Hokan vowel are:
(o) With o-Vowel
ivo. Lost vowel Retained vowel
7. Yana 'au-na "fire," Shas. dwa, Moh. a'auva "fire," Ats. ahawi
' ' wood " " wood ' '
35. Yana dji-na "louse," N. Pomo S. Pomo atci, Ats. atci
tcl
1* But cf. Shasta, Atsugewi, Pomo, and Esselen forms with o,
Three: HuLm lj.m)iuu^e\
217
}io. Lost vowrl
48. Yana niiffi "crow"
55. Yana hana "water," E. Porno
jii, Kar. raruli "towards
rivor
5G. Yana hats .'it'- "cohl," Chim.
j'(i(.s-a, K. Ponio katsil, Moli.
hatrhu-urk
59. Yana 'ina ' ' stick, wood ' '
86. Yana mo-, ma- "to oat," I'onio
man-, Tonto ma
93. S. Yana miuidi " father's sister,"
Kar. miidj-its, Poino mil, Cliiiii.
milta- "mother's sister"
96. Yana nlna "mother," E. Ponio
mxa
114. Yana p.'ulsit "tail," Tonto hihc
124. Yana tc'au-na "sugar ]>ine"
137. Y'ana uat'du-wi "blooil," -wat' -
"red," Y''unia hhwat "red"
138. Yana uaui "house"
firlatned vowei
.\loh. uq&tfo ' ' r»v«<n ' '
Kar. <ir, Arh. ar, S. Pomo did, Km.
aaaiuij, .Moh. aha, Hert ax, Cbontal
aha
.\ch. a<tr.'a . Kiliwi ahhiekak
.\li>h. <i'i; Khh. II (aiMiimilat»'<l I
Kar. (If, Ach. am-, ('hint, ama , Vjtm.
am, Coropa ahma ; Chum, minm
Ach. hamut
Shas. tiiii, Ach. ani
Kar. apui'i, Chim. aqiye ; Shaa. \h\\ca
(probably asnimilated from *dpiua)
.\ts. atraitop: Kar. tir
Kar. ax "bloocl,"' Sha.t. aita, (hum.
aXulis, Dicfj. axuat, S«Ti <iid(, <'hon-
tal auas
Chim. ''mil. \!'.iv .>..>■ I"-.- <<■■• •■■■■
(b) With i-Vouki.
No. Lost vowel
12. Yana bdma "sinew," Ach. pirn
16. Yana baud'la "tongue," E.
Porno bal
23. Yana dal-la "hand," ("him.
tranthe "live." N. Poino tana
' ' hand ' '
24. \''ana dat'- "much," Chim. -tan
"lot of"
37. Yana djii- "to spear," N. Ponio
tc6-k ' ' to shoot ' '
39. Yana dju-ri- "to snow," N.
Pomo j/H ' ' snow ' '
41. Yana djul- "long"
54. Yana ra'lai- "to be dawn"
63. Yana -tsfau- "tooth," Chum, sa'
73. Yana lUimauna "nose," N.
Pomo /<i
76. Yana mal'fiu "ear," Pomo rima
(progressively assiinilaf<-.l from
*icama)
Retained vowel
Ats. ippiu
Ach. ip'li, Chim. h-ipen. S. Pomo
htbaa. Chum, elcu, Sal. ipdi., MoU.
ipalya, Seri iph, Chontal i/hii. ; Hukaa
'ipali; a8similatc<l to 'apal% in Kar.
apri, S. W. Pomo haba
.\ch. il'i, Chim. h-itra, Seri iaoL;8. £.
Pomo atdn (assimilated)
Chim. h-itat " many "
S. Pomo i 'tc6-k ' ' to •hoot ' '
.^. \V. Pomo fyd "anew"
Chim. htteun
Sal. irrai "dawn"
Ach. Its. 'a: Chim. hutsu (aaainitattxi)
S. W. Pomo Ua
Ach. l«»at. Kar. •' '••
Seri mU», Chontal i»- ~- --<*^
to •ai(t)m4t- ia At*. **mtk. Mob.
*amalva
218
V American Indian Languages J
30
No. Lost vowel
78. Yana mari'mi "woman," N.
Porno mata
82. Yana mi- "to weep," N. Porno
mina, Tonto mi
83. Yana ml-, me "to look," Chim.
-mam-, Porno ma-
87. Yana mo-, mu- ' ' to hand, hold, ' '
Poino ma
91. Yana mu-k!ula- "hole," Porno
mo
100. Yana p'atsU "excrement," N.
Porno pa, Sal. p'xat
110. Yana p^ ui' - "to be fat," Chim.
-XU-, N. Porno pUi
115. Yana samsi- "to sleep," Porno
sima-, Seri sim, Chontal cmai
117. Yana s^l- "to drink"
122. Yana t.'alam- "white," N. E.
Pomo taiya
126. Yana tcHgal-la "father"
127. Yana tcHk.'i "female breast"
128. Yana tc' u-na "eye, face," Kar.
yup "eye," Pomo yu-xa
"tear"
136. Yana wak.'i "to defecate," Ats.
wehki ' ' excrement ' '
140a. S. Yana ya^ gaihi "wife's
brother"
149. Yana -k.'au- "to break off"
169. Yana -Hu- "head," Ach. lax, N.
Pomo cilia
174. Yana -mmina-k.'i "behind"
Retained vowel
S. W. Pomo Imata
Moh. himim
Ats. -tnia-
Chim. -imu-
Ess. imu-sa
Shas. ipxai "intestines," Chim.
h-ipxa, S. Pomo i'pa; S. W. Pomo
apa ' ' excrement ' ' ( assimilated ) i s
Ach. dphau; assimilated to *up^ui- in
Sal. upinit
Shas. itsmas, Moh. ismd ; Ess. atsini-
Kar. is, Moh. iSi, Sal. icem (but also
acim)
Shas. it'ayu
Chim. itci-Ja-
Shas. itsik "milk," Dieg. itchikh
"breast, heart"; Ats. atciska
"milk "IT
Chim. h-isu-ma "face," Dieg. iyu,
Seri ito; assimilated to *u(s)yu- in
Shas. oi, Chim. h-usot, Pomo di
Chim. h-iwax-ni "excrement"
Shas. iyaki ' ' w'if e 's brother ' '
S. Pomo Ikail "broken asunder"
Shas. innux "hair"
Chim. h-imina "back"
15 It is worth noting that while Shas ipxai, Chim. h-ipxa, and S. Pomo I'pa,
all with i-vowel, mean ' ' intestines, ' ' S. and S. W. Pomo apa, with a-vowel, means
"excrement." This suggests a morphological, rather than a purely phonetic,
basis for the significance of difference of vowels. However, S. E. Pomo, which
does not preserve initial vowels, has fa in the sense of both "intestines" and
" excrement. "
16 Esselen a- is difficult to explain, unless both Shasta-Achomawi and Yuman
i- are due to assimilation to following Hokan i (*isima from older *asima) ; in
that event Yana samsi- would be progressively assimilated, via *asam-, from
*asim-.
17 Perhaps another example of i- interchanging with a- that is of morpholog-
ical significance (see note 26) ; or is Shas., Ach., and Dieg. i- due to assimilation
of older a- with following i?
Three: Holum lAmi;iun;f\ 219
(r) With u Vnwm,
No. Lost lowtl Retatneti towel
20. Yhpii ^l/-, hui "to dunce, kirk ' ' ' liim. hupn "toot"
79. Yana m<tt' bnnui- "to h«> huiii- I'him. hiimnt "rip<»"
HUT
98. Yana p'tulin "snow.'' Tmito .Moli. ' upaka
jxika
l.'U). Yana wt't/u "liorn.'" Kar. irrtird Cliim. hoivee
140. Yana nilld "liolly,'" N. K. I'oino S. I'oino Oka, C. Poino wAxn
koi
(d) With i- or « Yowei.
Lost voticl Sn. Retained vowel
68. Yana k!u- "to be long," N. S. W. Pom.. /i "i.,/, T..nt.. ilu/r-
Pomo kC)\
¥i\r less fre<iiiontly Vaiia lias intscrvitl an initial v()\v«*l lost in
other languages. Examples are:
Retained voirel Lost voutt
.S. Yana -'aid- "i-luld'' (assimi
late<l); N. E. Pomo I'tla
4. Yana 'amdwi- "woman's son's Cliuni. ntdma (retluplicatp«n "pater-
child," Chum, -ama "grand- nal grandparent"
child'' (assimilated); Chiin.
)i-imo-Ua- "grandson"
6. Yana ^ap'-sa "sky," Chum.
al-apa, Moh. ammaya, Seri
amime; a- umlauted to e- or
assimilated to i- in Sal. Irm,
Chontal emaa. Ess. imita
45. Yana 'e- "to sing," Ach. es\ S. S. E. Pomo xc-
Pomo Ih-min, Chum. eX-petc
57. Yana i' dal-la "bone," S. W. N. Pomo i/a. Chnm, .tr '. Diog. AiU
Pomo Ti/rt, Ess. ipa, Sal. cxak,
Moh. isaka, Seri itak
58. Yana im«- "liver," Shas. dpci,
Moh. 'ipasa
60. Yana Usi "man," Shas. ic, ('him. N. Pomo fra " pomon "
itci, Chum. -t.sQj/ix ' ' husband ' ' ;
assimilated to a- in S. Pomo
atcai, Chontal acans ' ' person
61. Yana 'itc.'iniui "wildcat," Sal. <him. loi/iiir
(-■is !
62. Yana 'U/a "trail." .\oh. i'd,". C Pomo ./.i
Chim. hissa, Tonto uii/d
i:?3. S. Yana UJ- "two," Chontal nke ; .\<'h. hak.'. Chim
assimilated to a- in Kar. luak, E.<w. Tulaj. Sa'
S. Pomo ntoi"
'«S. I'omo ako seems to suggest Iloknn *aru rather thiin^*-
explained as d»'rivable from assiiniluted 'nxun (from older «•
its »■■ to pre((>.ling n : this labiali/i«ig of older «l to ir.i
paralleled within Shasta-Aehomawi by Shn.n. xokwa. At». A
220
V American Indian Languages I
32
The distribution in Hokan of forms with and without initial vowel
is sucli as to strongly suggest that the alternation was characteristic
of the primitive Ilokan language from which the languages accessible
to us have diverged. Whether this alternation was primarily a pho-
netic or morphological feature can hardly be demonstrated at present.
A more intensive study of the typical Hokan languages (particularly
Shasta-Achomawi, Pomo, and Yuman) is sure to yield a solution of
the problem.
The only other point of a phonological nature that I wish to refer
to is the syncope, presumably under requisite accentual conditions,
of the second vowel of a stem. Examples of this type of syncope are
found in several Hokan languages, but the process seems to be par-
ticularly characteristic of Shasta-Achomawi, though not all the lan-
guages of this group always illustrate syncope in the same stem. The
loss of the vowel regularly causes the word to end in a consonant or
brings two consonants together ; these are then not infrequently assim-
ilated to each other. Examples of vocalic syncope are :
No. With syncopated vowel
45. Ach. es "to sing," S. Pomo %h-,
Chum. eX-
53. Kar. cah ' ' arrowpoint, ' ' Ach. sat
55. Kar. ac "water," Ach. ac, Seri
ax
60. Shas. ic "man' '
117. Kar. is "to drink"
128. Shas. oi "eye," Pomo ill
(a) Syncope of Final Vowel
With retained vowel
Okwanuchu Shas. isi-, S. E. Pomo xe-
Yana haga, E. Pomo xaga
Yana ha-, Shas. atsa, Moh. aha
Yajia ' isi
Yana si-, Moh. idi
Kar. yup, Dieg. iyU
No. With syncopated vowel
12. Ats. ippiu "sinew" (from
*ipmi-u), Shas. imme (from
*ipme)
16. Kar. apri ' ' tongue, * ' Ach. ip^ li,
Seri iph
23. Ach. il'i "hand" (i.e., ill'i from
*itli)
56. Ach. actc.'a-siwi "it is cold,"
Kiliwi ahhtchak
57. Shas. ale "bone" (perhaps from
*ahy[a]k)
58. Shas. dpci ' ' liver ' '
76. Shas. isak "ear" (i.e., issak from
*ismak), Ach. Issat, Ats. asmak,
Chontal icmats
(b) Syncope of Medial Vowel
With retained vowel
Ach. pim, Yana bdma
Shas. ehena, Chim. h-ipen. Chontal ipah
Yana dal-la, Chim. h-itan-
Chim. xatsa, Moh. hatchu-urk
Moh. isaka, Seri itak
Moh. ^ipasa
Chim. h-isam
Thri'i'. Hnkiin I Ai/n'iun'i\ ^'>|
U
No. With si/ncopattd luwtl U'tth retained tourl
114. C)k\v!iinK'hu Sha3. ip' una "tail" ShiiH. i/iiuji, Knr. <j;»ui«
llf). Ats. itami "to slot'p. " Moh. ismn ( )k\viinucliu Slmn. xtnui. H*ri tim
137. Slias. axta "blood," Acli. axdi l>i""K- axuat, Chum. aXmht
169. Shas. innux "hair" (from N I'l.m.i .ir.n ■ • in-.i,! ' '
•ii/iHx), Ats. ;i<iJ-« (from
•snaxa), Yana -'hi- "head"
176. Ach. -lu "into house" (from Yana -uulfu), Kar. furu k
'■xlu)
Tilt' ori^'inal llokaii forms for tlic sti-m.s with syncopated medial
vowel can be reoonstructctl with a eonsiiU'rabIc df^jn'e of confidence
as *ipami "sinew"; *ipali "tongue"; •j7u/j '"liand"; 'aiatda-
"cold"; *iliyalx-a "bone"; *ipasi "liver"; *isama- "ear"; *ap!iua
"tail"; *mma "to sleep"; •axirah "blood" ; •i.si7u- {*isila-) or *isinu-
{*isina-) "head"; *-.ntli( "into."
Transmitted Aiuiust .'.>'. /.''/*;.
222 ^ American Indian Languages I
34
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barrett, S. A.
1908. Ethnogeographj' of the Porno and neighboring Indians. Univ. Calif.
Publ. Am. Arch, and Ethn., 6, 1-332.
Dixon, R. B.
1905. Shasta-Achomawi: A new linguistic stock, with four new dialects.
Am. Anthrop., n. s., 8, 213-217.
1910. Chimariko Indians and language. Univ. Calif. Publ. Am. Arch, and
Ethn., 5, 293-380.
Dixon and Kroeber
1913. New linguistic families in California. Am. Anthrop., n. s., 15, 649-
655.
Gatschet, a. S.
1877. Yuma-sprachstamm nach den neuesten handscriftlichen Quellen dar-
gestellt. Zeitsch. Ethn., 9, 365-418.
Hewitt, J. N. B.
1898. Comparative lexicology {in McGee, The Seri Indians, 17th Ann. Rep.
Bur. Am. Ethn., Pt. I, pp. 299-344.
Kroeber, A. L.
1904. Languages of the coast of California south of San Francisco Bay.
Univ. Calif. Publ. Am. Arch. Ethn., 2, 29-80.
1910. Chumash and Costanoan languages. Univ. Calif. Publ. Am. Arch.
and Ethn., 9, 237-271.
1911a. Languages of the Coast of California north of San Francisco Bay.
Univ. Calif. Publ. Am. Arch. Ethn., 9, 273-435.
1911b. Phonetic elements of the Mohave language. Univ. Calif. Publ. Am.
Arch. Ethn., 10, 45-96.
1915. Serian, Tequistlatecan, and Hokan. Univ. Calif. Publ. Am. Arch.
Ethn., 11, 279-290.
Kroeber and Harrington
1914. Phonetic elements of the Diegueno language. Univ. Calif. Publ. Am.
Arch. Ethn., 11, 177-188.
Sapir, Edward
1910. Yana texts, together with Yana myths collected by Roland B. Dixon.
Univ. Calif. Publ. Am. Arch. Ethn., 9, 1-235.
Editorial Note
Originally published in Universty of California Publication in American
Archaeology and Ethnology 13, 1-34 (1917). Reprinted by permission of the
University of California Press. '
The Stains ol Wcislu)
Mr. John P. Harrington's aiiiiouiKciiK nt of the gcnclic rclalionshipof Washo
and (Inimash (Anwrican Anihrctpoloi^i.si ( N.S. ). \^)\1 , p. 154) is \Kclcomc conlir-
malion of a result which the undcrsigncil IkkI |4S()| nuicpcndcnllv arnscd al.
namely, the necessity of including Washi> in the Hokan group cslahiishcd by
Drs. Dixon and Kroeber. Specific Chumash-Washo resemblances had also been
noted by the writer. That Chumash is a member of the Hokan eroup had been
suspected by Drs. Dixon and Kroeber, further corroborated b\ iiKidenlal data
advanced by the writer of this note in linuuistic papers just publislicdorsoon lo
be published, and clinched by Mr. Harrington's previous announcement of the
clear genetic relationship of Chumash and >'uman, a typical Hokan group of
dialects. As for Washo, the writer has already gathered a quite considerable
mass of lexical, phonologic, and morphologic data that, at least m hisopmion.
conclusively establish the Hokan character of this language In urammatK.d
respects, indeed, Washo would seem tt) be more typical o\ Hokan than ^aii.i.
which clearly belongs to the group (a paper on the status ot ^'ana has recently
appeared in the University of California Publications in American Archatutlogy
and Ethnology). The writer hopes to reduce his Washo data to the form of a
systematic paper before long. It is highly gratifying to note that far-reaching
reclassifications of American languages are being independently and cor*
roboratingly arrived at by students of American linguistics. I\identlv the cau-
tions that have been urged by certain more ci>nser\ati\e students are ncH.
despite their methodological excellence, exercising an uiuluK deterrent
influence.
The Hokan stock can at present be stated to include Shasta- Acht>mavM.
Chimariko, Karok, Pomo, Yana, Esselen, Salinan. Chumash. ^ uman. \Sashi».
Seri, and Chontal. A paper of the writers, w ritten some time ago. but publica-
tion of which has been delayed, undertakes to demonstrate the cenetu - '
tit)nship of the Hokan languages to the Western (lull or (\»ahuilte».an yi .
(Coahuilteco, Comecrudo, Cotoname, Karaiikaua. lonkavva. pt^ssihly aho
Attacapan) recently set up by Dr. Swanton. It is very inleresiini: to note thai the
territory separating (\>ahuilteco-Karankawa- lonkawa Irom ^ uman
Chumash-Washo is almost entirely occupied bv Shosht>nean and Alhabaskan
tribes, the latter of which are bevond all reasonable di>ubt an intrusive element
from the north, while the former are on\\ less certamK representatives »»f .1
relatively recent northward and eastward spread ot Ito-A/lekan iiiIh-n frimi.
say, southern Arizona and northern Mexiciv Ihe eliminatum oi Washo le.ixe*
Yuki as the only Californian language that can be called "isolated " It is hardly
to be expected that this privilege can be alltnsed > uki indefinilcK
-,-,^ V American Indian Languages 1
Editorial Note
Oripinally published in American Anthropologist N.S. 19, 449-450 (1917).
Reprinted by permission of the American Anthropological Association.
Three: Hokan lumxiiutfU's 225
Dr. Sajnr's Ihita itn H HaIh) itmt llukan
The foUowiiif,' fvi<liiic.' in support of, fin- view that WhuIio i> .i
Ilokan lan^uagt' was coinpilrd hy Dr. Sapir. On Icurniiitf that wt*
haii recently gone over the same j^'roiiml hi- more than (;■ •
insisted on putting his data at our disposal. His list is ••on
larger than ours, and a iiumher of forms arc analy/.«'d farther. It ma>
perhaps set'in that a eomhination of the two scries would have avoided
iluplieation. But the distinctness of the lists fixes reMponsihility and
method, and reveals the degree to which comparisons made inde|N'n<i-
ently eon-ohorate or fail to coi-rohorate. A full half of our puraiU-lK,
and more than a <|uartfr of Dr. Saj)ir's, coincide.
Washo, (1-aca, urine ((lemon, aea, to urinate) ; Chum., oxco;..
Washo, -adu, hatul, de-, uith the hand; riiini., tu-, with thf hanil ; Porno, du-,
ila-, with the hand.
Washo, d a 'hil, leg; Chum., u 'l (S. Buen., ith).
Washo, ahu, to stand (pliir.) ; Chim., boa-, ha-.
Washo, alin, fo lick up (<*ai)lin, tongue?); see Yana-Hokan no. 16;*» Hokan
prototype *ipali.
Washo, ama, paternal firandmother, teaman's .son's child; Yana, 'atniwi; 8ha.,
amo; Ach., amun; Chim., himolla(i); Ponio, ma; Clium., (ma k) ama, (ma k-
mama); Sal., ama'; Moh., ii amau k, father'.^ mother.
Washo, d-ana-1, house (<*-ama ), denom. anal, to live; Chum. (8. Ynet),
ma'm (S. Ynez, Barb., Buen., ap); Sal., t am; Sha., amma.
Washo, d-ayuc, hair; Chum., oc, fur.
Washo, bapa, paternal grandfather, man's son's child; Tomo, N, ami ba, c,
ba-tse, s, a-ba-tsen, se, im-ba-ts,; Porno, c, ba-ts, son's son, tomebatnak, tom'a
daughter; Moh., n-apau-k, father's father.
Washo, bal-i, to shoot, kill; Porno, bati, to shoot; Chim., pot, to poke; Yana,
-balla-, to knock doten.
Washo, basa, to skin, flay; I'omo, bee, to cut off; Chim., bis . (<> .f/Wil.
Washo, bee, to throtv ; Kar., -pas-.
Washo, -peyu, younger brother; Chum., p^po, elder brother.
Washo, -ca'ca, mother's sister; Pomo, n, ami-su, c, cOta, B, cflx-a, «, acQ-ta^n,
S\v, eu-tsen; Moh., n-atfi-k, mother's older sister.
Washo, cfi, breast; Chum., usui, chest, heart; Chim., huai, brrait.
Washo, cum, to throw; Chim., -su-, -sux-.
Washo, -ta, mother's brother; Chum., tnta; Ach., titau ui, tutrr'i eMd.
Washo, dalik, to strike; Pomo, duli, «lut-, to kill (»ing. obj.); Yana. N, dAalt .
to uhip, beat.
"This series, xin, 5, 1917.
226 ^ American Indian Languages 1
109
Washo, (Jamal, to hear (i.e>., d-amal, from *asmal, ear?) ; Yana, N, mal'gu, ear,
c, malgu, s, man'gu; Ats., asmak; Pomo, cima; Moh., 'amalya; Dieg., 'EmaL;
Chon., icmats.
Washo, delem, gopher; Ess., tanani.
Washo, -elel, maternal grandfather, man's daughter's child; Chum., -n^ne,
maternal grandparents.
Washo, d-emli, heart (*amati); Pomo, ne, matee.
Washo, emlu, to eat; Yana, mo-; Kar., av (from *am); Ach., -am-; Ats.,
-ammi-; Chim., -ma-, -ama-; Pomo, N, maamaa; Ess., am; Chum. (S. Buen.) umu;
Sal., amo, amma; Moh., mam; Tonto, ma; Cocopa, ahma.
Washo, -euci, father's brother; Chum., k-a-nuc.
Washo, kagi, crow; Yana, gagi.
Washo, gegel,. to sit (sing.); Pomo, ga.
Washo, gip, to lift, raise; Pomo, ki; Ess., akix, akxi, to get up.
Washo, -gu, maternal grandmother, woman's daughter's child; Ach., aku-n,
mother's father; Kar., gut, mother's father (git, mother's mother) ; Pomo, N,
ami-ka, c, ka-tse, e, g'a-tsa, s, a-ka-tsen, sw, ka-tsen, SE, imu-xa.
Washo, tsi-guguc, belly; Chum., akcuu.
Washo, -kum, self ; Chum., kokcii.
Washo, -hana, mouth; Pomo, N, c, ha, s, sw, aha, ne, ha-mo; Moh., 'iya;
Dieg., 'a; Kil., ahha-a; Cochimi, jaa.
Washo, hawa, four; Ess., xamax-; Chim., quigu; Tonto, hoba; Wal., hoba;
Cochimi, hopa; Yav., hopa; S. Cat., hopa.
Washo, helmi-n, three; Chim., xodai; Sha., xatski; Pomo, e, xomka, SE,
xoxat, NE, kfitc'aka; Ess., xulep; Sal., lapai, ilubahi; Moh., hamok; Seri,
ka-xpam, kapxa; Chon., afan.
Washo, heske, ttco ; Yana, s, ux-; Kar., axak; Shas., xokwa; Ach., hak';
Ats., hoki; Chim., xok'u, qaqu; Pomo, N, ko; c, sw, ko; s, ako ; E, xotc; SE,
xos; Ess., xulax; Sal., hakic, kakec; Moh., havik; Coc, howok; Kil., hhuak;
Dieg., xawok; Seri, ka-xkum; Chon., oke.
Washo, -hu, child, small: mehu, boy, caulam-hu, girl (<*xu); Ess., oxus-k,
ukus, small, infant; Tonto, kotye, small; Chum. (S. Cruz Id.), kutco, child;
Kar., akhe-itc; Pomo, c, kiits E, kutc, sw, kawi, SE, kiitsin, small; N, kawi, c,
-ku, ku-, E, kawi, kus, infant, boy, girl.
Washo, hue, to blow; Chim., -hus-, -xuc-; Sal., xot'.
Washo, d-ibe, sun, moon, month, ebe, day; Moh., 'ipily-k, hot, day; Dieg.,
'upiL, hot; Chon., epaL, hot.
Washo, ibi, to come; Pomo, pibak.
Washo, d-ibu, neck; Wal., ipuk; Dieg., ipuk; H'taam, epok.
Washo, d-iceu, gall; Chim., h-uci, liver.
Washo, igelu, to run (plur.) ; Poma, gadi.
Washo, d-ime, water, ime, to drink; Ess., imi-la, sea.
Washo, is, to take; Ess., es-la, bring!; Kar., tu-es-ep, he took.
Washo, -isa, older sister; Ess., itci, sister; Sha., atcu, older sister.
Washo, iw, eu, to eat (trans.); Pomo, wa (with pi. obj.).
Washo, iye, to walk, go; Ess., iyu, to come; Sal., ia, ya, to go.
Washo, iyek, tooth; Moh., 'i56; Dieg., Eyau; Pomo, E, yao'.
Washo, -koi, father; Chum. (S. Bar., S. Yn.), qoqo; Kar., kohi-matcko, kua-kum,
dead father; Moh., n-akut-k, father of a male.
Washo, -la, mother (*na or *ta) ; Ach., m-ani; Yana, nina, s, ga-n-na; Pomo,
E, nixa; Sha., ani; or Kar., Ita; Chum. (S. Yn.), tuq; Yum., *tai.
Washo, lal-u, to crush; Chim., -lot-; Pomo, lat.
Three: Hokiin lumviiin'i\ 227
110
Washo, Icl b, to roll; Chiin., nolle, round.
Washo, le'lem, midnight; Moh., tinyam, night; Dicjf., tinyam.
Washo, luwe, to sit (plur.); I'omo, naj»o.
Washo, -maca, man's brother's child; Chiiii., niaito la i, dauijhtrr. mira ku i.
nephew.
Washo, -magu.fnaii '« sister's child; ('him., ina^') la i , uncU, tcu oiaku, father-
in-law, tcu-mako-sa, motherinlau-.
Washo, malolo, parents; Porno, N, a-niee, c, medo, h, a mpn, hw, a i>cn, nr,
i-mek, ne, -mee.
Washo, ma'losan, star Caimi'taH); Ess., arnutatas (plur.) ; Moh. Kan. .».-,
Dieg., kwily-iiiesap.
W'asho, nilaya, wife; Porno, N. c, inata, woman, sw, imata; Yauu. ;...4.. .i.i.
Washo, m^hu, hoy, caula nihii, girl; Yana, ' ainaits 'gi, children; Moh., h uma-
i-ch, man 's son.
Washo, m5ko, knee; Chim., h-itxani maxa; Poiiio, sw, mdko; Dieg., meie tuna.
Washo, ta-mftmo, woman; Seri, k-inain, ^ko mam (cf. k tarn, Akf tarn, mam).
Washo, mfic, to run; Chim., -mum-.
Washo, nauwa, earth ('inawa); Kar., ma ruk, earthtrard ; Chim., ama; Porno,
N, c, ma, s, amma, sw, ne, ama; Ess., maksa-la, matra; Moh., amata; I)l••^'
amat; Seri, amt; Chon., amats.
Washo, dal-p6poi, white; Chum. (S. Cruz), pupu; Sori, ko'po; Chon., iiin:i.
cf. Chum. (S. Buen.), poi, snoiv ; Chim., hi-pui.
Washo, ts'ats'a, chin; Sha., tsawak; Ach., tsoiwas; Yana, djawat tti 'i; Chim.,
-teni, h-itan-pu, arm; Porno, N, c, s, tana, SE, a 'tan.
Washo, ts'ats'a, chin; Sha., tsawak; Ach., tsoiwas; Yana, djawattai; Cbim.,
tsuna.
Washo, tuli-'tsEk, finger; Porno, N, tana-tsu, c, tana,8o<», e, bi'yataukai, 8,
o'toma-se; Sha., dtsa, five.
Washo, -uladut, man's brother-in-law; Kar., eri, ee.
Washo, ulec, to carry; Porno, la.
Washo, yo'wi, thigh; Dieg., yuwiL.
Pronouns
Washo, 1-, 7, my; I^, 7; la-, he — me; Chim.. no-ut, I ; Kar., na, ni , /; na-, ■•*;
nani-, my; Ess., eni, ene, 7; nic-, my; Dieg., n 'ya, 7; Chum., noi, noo, no, /.
Washo, di-, my (=demon8tr. d- + i-); di-, 7 — him; mi-, 7 — thfe (=in- + 1-; ff-
m-, thou, ma-, he — thee); (that -i- is not inorganic is shown hy tormn of rrUtion-
ship like di-Isa, my elder sister); ('him., -i, my. See Yana Hokan no. 1H7.
W^asho, m-, um-, thou, thy; mi-, 7 — thee; ma, he — me; nco Yana Hokaa
no. 190.
Washo, — , his (anal, his house, cf. d anal, house); — , hr, he — htm; Chim.
h-, his, he; Porno, ha-; Moh., ' — .
Washo, ge-, imperative, ga-, . . . him! ; Sal,, k , imprratue plural; Chim.. 9,
qo-, qe-, ye.
Washo, d-, nom. prefix; ida, thereupon; ic da, then, attd thrm; «!♦•, il-^
(before consonants). See also di, there. Hif Yana Hokan no. 2.
Washo, di, there (distant); di-di, that (di.stant); Yana, adai (rl-), •^•*-. '*•*•
Washo, ha, there (near you); ha di, that (near you); Pomo. he. ht*. Ik*.
this; Sal., he, the, that; Chum. (8. Bar.), he, thu; Yana, *i ycCc . fVjf
Washo, wa, here; widi, this; Yana, wairu, now.
Washo, di, in widi, this; hadi, that; didi. that (dint.ir*^ >■" •' ' = *
adai-ri, that.
228 V American Indian Languages 1
111
Washo, ku-, interrogative stem, in kudina, who; kunate, what; kuna, where;
Ess., ki-(ni), who; ke-, where; Chim., qo-mas, ko-mas, who; qa-tci, what;
qa-suk-matci, when; qo-malu, qo-si, where; ko-sidaji, why; Porno, ki-a, who;
Chum. (S. Yn.), ku-ne, who; Sal., ake, who, which, where.
Prefixes
Washo, dal-, color prefix; Yana, da-, color verb stem.
Washo, de-, with the hand; see adu, hand.
Washo, ni-, with the head; Chim., me-, with the head.
Washo, nga-, with a long object; Pomo, ga-, with an edge drawn lengthways.
Noun suffixes
Washo, -ei, dual; 1^-ci, ue two (excl.); leci-ci, we two (inch); mi-ci, ye two;
heskel-ci, two persons; di- . . . ci, of us two; -ki-c, noun plural; Kar., -c, noun
plural; Ess., le-c, we; nome-tc, ye; la-tc, they; Chum., ki-s-, we two; pi-s-, ye two;
si-s-, they two; ki-c-ku, we two; pi-c-ku, ye two.
Washo, -k, emphatic pronominal, as in mi-k, you yourself ; Pomo, l-k, he; h^-k,
they.
Washo, -kic, noun plural; Yana, -ts'gi, dim. plur.; -gi, noun suff.
Washo, -1, noun suffix, as in d-ana-1, house; peguhul, eyebrow; yanil, woman's
sister-in-law ; Chim., -r, -1; Dieg., -ly; Pomo, -1; Ess., la-1, he.
Washo, -tsi, in behe-tsi-n, small; Yana, -ts'i, collective noun suffix referring
to small objects ; Kar., -itc, diminutive noun suffix; Pomo, -ts, -tee, -tsen, in
relationship terms expressing affection; Chum., -itc-, -its-, in ma-k-itc-tun, my son.
Washo, -u, plur. in leu, we; ram, ye; helmiu, people; Yana, -wi, noun plural;
Sha., -yawEr, pronominal plural; Ats., -wir; Sal., hi-wat, he-wat, plur. of he,
that; cf., Chum., -wun, in qolo-wun, those.
Postpositions
Washo, -a, case suffix, «i, to; Pomo, -a, at; Yana, ai-dj-a, there.
Washo, -aca, in, within; Kar., -k-cu.
Washo, -haka, in company with; Kar., -xaka-n.
Washo, -iwi, on; Kar., -ava-kam.
Washo, -lu, instrumental; Ess., -ma-nu, with (comitative), -nu, with (instru-
mental).
Washo, -uwe, from; Pomo, -awa.
Local suffixes
Washo, -uk, -buk, verbal suffix, toward the speaker (cf. -ue, -bue, from
speaker); Yana, -k'i-, hither; Chim., -wak, -watok, to come (cf. -owa-, -wam-,
to go).
Washo, -gi-liwe, motion downward (cf . -giti, upward) ; Kar., -uni, down ;
Yana, -'uldi-, down from a height.
Washo, -ti, down, in piti, heti, diti, to fall; Yana, -di-, -ri-, down; -du-, -ru-,
down; Ach., -danu-; Chim., -dam-.
Other verb suffixes
Washo, -a, indefinite past, aorist; Pomo, -a, present, immediate past.
Washo, -aca, future, desiderative ; Kar., -hec.
Washo, -ce, let us ... I; Kar., -c, imperative.
Three: HoLm iMii^ua^es '>'>9
llf
\\ aslii), (III wo, <iu luii, cttixitiit ; ^'iiiiii, ilu , ru , to go in order to.
Waslio, i, prcstnt ; roino, e, k i, prtdxrattve atljrctwr.
Wa.sho, -Ic^-ki. rccint prctt-rit compUtnl; iii ki, mure dxjitant pretrr\t eomplrted;
Chiin., -ak, past, fomitlttnl ; I'omo, ki ma, u/titatttr pujit, contxnwttwf prearmt ;
-iiki, putdtivf ; -kilo, ]i(us(.
Washo, nawa, niorr, br.siiiis; Yana, ina . tulh, altio.
With the proliaMc julditioii of Wiislio. tlitii, tli.- Ilokaii fHinily him
^M-ow II \o I'oiiiin'isc Kiu-ok, ( 'liiin;ii-iko, Sliastaii, I'omo, Yarui. Wahho,
?]ss('lt'n, Saliiian. Cliuiiiash, aii<l ^'umaii, or ten ( 'aliforiiiaii stiM-kii
once rrckoncd iiKlfprmlcnt ; besides Seri and Te(|uistlatifaii in M- \i.M
Editorial Note
Excerpt originally published in RiWand B. Dixdii .nul A. 1.. Kroebcr (cds.).
Linguistic Families of California. University of California Puhlications in
American Archaeology and Ethnology 16. lOS-l 12 ( PM^M Reprinted hv permis-
sion of the University of California Press.
The Hokan aiul (\)aluiiltccaii I.aiimiaucs
In the general simplification of American Iiulian linguistic stocks \^hich is at
last being seriously undertaken by various investigators. tvst> reccntU pub
lished articles are ot particular interest. Iliese are Kroebers Scnun.
Tequistlatecan, and Hokan^ and Swantons I.mi^utsin I'osition of the Tnhes of
Southern Texas and Northeastern Mexico- . I he tormer adils to the Hokan stiHrk
recently determined by Dixon and Kroeber ( Shasta- Achomawi. ( hmianko.
Karok, Pomo, Yana, Yuman. Esselen; possibly alsoChumash and Salman), the
Seri language of western Sonera and the rcquisthiti.can or Chontal language of
Oaxaca; the latter gives good evidence to show that a number of hmguat'cs
i spoken along the Texas coast and back into the interior trom it (Coahuilleci).
I Cotoname. Comecrudo; Karankawa; Tonkawa; and Atakapa). which have.
according to Powell's scheme, been classilied into four distinct linguistic slocks.
j are best considered as genetically related. The full evidence for the validitv of
the Hokan stock has not yet been made public, but we ha\e been promised it by
Dixon and Kroeber. A comparative Hokan vocabulary insofar as it affects Yana
has been kindly put into my hands by Dr. Kroeber; this, together with such
descriptive or comparative grammatical and lexical Hokan material as has been
published and such further comparative evidence serving to link Yana with
Hokan as I have been able to gather from lime to lime, leaves small doubt in my
mind of the correctness of the theory. ^
In going through Swanlon's comparative vocabularies. 1 was soon struck by a
number of startling Hokan echoes. My interest having been acti\ely aroused. I
looked into the matter more carefully. The following comparative vt>cabular\
of over a hundred stems and elements is the result. When we consider that onl>
a very limited number of comparable terms were available for any twi> of the
languages concerned, this result seems astonishing. It is difficult for me to su^*
gest any alternative to the hypothesis of a common origin of the Hokan a\u\
Coahuiltecan^ languages. True. I have little morphologic e\idence at hand, but
thestudy of the problem thus newlv opeiietl up isconfessetlly in ilsinfancN Asil
is, the very imperfect sketch of lonkawa given by (latschet suggests a consider-
able number of Hokan- Tonkawa parallels m morphological cleiiuiiis
1. University of Calitoriii.i Puhlicilioiis m ,\iih.ik.iii •\t(.li.icoU>j{y and r.lhrK>l«>»;'.
279-290, 1915.
2. American Anthropologist, N.S..vol. 17. pp. 17-40. 1915.
7>. Since this was written, there has appeared V. Sapir's Ihe I'tnitu- ■' * •" -^ ^
(Univcrsityof California Publications in American Archact»log> and l-lti I 13. pp I
4. I here use the term (\)ahuillecan to inchule Coahuilleco. C"omcciutl*». Colimamc. Kataniama.
Tonkawa. and Atakapa.
2^2 ^ American Indian Languages J
In order not to complicate our problem, I have not listed in the table such
Chumash and Salinan terms as seemed likely to be connected with Hokan
words. These have been referred to in the notes to the vocabularies. A few
Chumash-Coahuiltecan terms are noted at the end.
Kroeber s, Dixon s, Barrett's, and Swanton's [281] orthographies have been
preserved, except that Swantons/'f/ of English it), ^ of English merj, and a(uof
English hui) have been respectively changed to t, € and a; Kroeber s and Bar-
rett's G\ g' (voiced velar spirant) have been changed to 7.
The vocabularies have been derived from the following sources:
1. Chontal material obtained from vocabulary quoted in A. L. Kroeber,
Serian, Tequistlatecan, and Hokan. A few forms I owe to manuscript material
loaned by Dr. P. Radin.
2. Seri material obtained from vocabularies quoted in J. N. B. Hewitt, Com
parative Lexicology, pp. 299-344 or W. J. McGee, The Seri Indians, 17th Annual
Report, Bureau of American Ethnology, part I, 1898.
3. Yuman dialects quoted are: Diegueno (Dieg.), Mohave (Moh.), Tonto,
Kutchan (or Yuma), Cocopa (Coc), Tulkepaya (Tul.), Santa Catalina (de los
Yumas) (S. Cat.), H'taam, Maricopa (Mar.), Walapai (Wal.), Kiliwi, and
Cochimi. Most of this material is taken from Yuman vocabularies quoted in J.
N. B. Hewitt, ibid.; and in Albert S. Gatschet, Der Yuma-Sprachstamm nach
den neuesten handschriftlichen Quellen dargestellt, Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic,
vol. 9, pp. 365-418, 1877. (K) after Mohave and Diegueno forms indicates that
they are quoted from A. L. Kroeber, Phonetic Elements of the Mohave Lan-
guage, University of California Publications in American Archaeology and
Ethnology, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 45-96, 1911; and A. L. Kroeber and J. P. Har-
rington, Phonetic Elements of the Diegueno Language, ibid., vol. 11, no. 2, pp.
177-188,1914.
4. Esselen material obtained from A. L. Kroeber, Esselen, pp. 49-68 of The
Languages of the Coast of California south of San Francisco, ibid. , vol. 2, no. 2.
5. Seven dialects of Pomo are recognized by Barrett: Northern (N.), Central
(C), Southern (S.), Southwestern (S.W.), Southeastern (S.E.), Eastern (E.),
and Northeastern (N.E.). All forms whose dialect is expressly given are from
S. A. Barrett, vocabularies given (pp. 56-58) in The Ethno-geography of the
Pomo and neighboring Indians, ibid. , vol. 6, no. 1, 1908. Pomo forms not spec-
ified as to dialect are from Kroeber's Eastern Pomo material in The Languages
of the Coast of Calif ornia north of San Francisco, vol. 9, no. 3, 1911, pp. 320-347.
6. Yana material obtained from my own manuscripts. Central Yana forms are
given except where S. indicates that Southern Yana (Yahi) is meant.
7. Chimariko material obtained from R. B. Dixon, The Chimariko Indians
and Language, ibid., vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 293-380, 1910.
8. Karok material obtained from A. L. Kroeber, Karok sketch (pp. 427-435)
in The Languages of the Coast of California north of San Francisco. Further
material obtained from Mr. E. W. Gifford's Karok manuscripts is indicated (G).
9. Shastan consists principally of three languages: Shasta (S.), Achomawi or
Pit River (Ach.), and Atsugewi or Hat Creek (Ats.). Forms given are obtained
Three: HoLm Uiniiuu^es ^^s
from R. B. Dixon. ///<■ Shusin-Ai hotnnwi: u new l-ini^uisiic Slock, with four
new DiuU'cis, American Anlhroi-mlouisi, N.S.. vol. 7, pp. 2I.'^-2I7. I^MIS; alsithis
comparative Chimariko-Shaslan tahic given on pp. 337 and 338 of iht
Cliinianko Indians und Idni^uai^c. A few Achomawi words marked (S) arc
taken from a manuscript Nocahulary I ohlaineil in 1W(I7 while engaged in Yana
work for the University of California. Certain Achomawi ami Shasta forms
were also obtained from Mr. Li. W. Ciifford's manuscripts. thc\ arc iiulicit*. i!
(G.).
10. All undcsiunatecl Tonkawa words and |2S2| all K.ii ank.i\va. Atakapa.
Coahuilteco, Comecrudo. and Cotonamc wi)rds arc taken from Swanlon's arli-
cie cited above. Tonkawa words folloucd In (( i) arc taken from A. S. Galschct.
Die Sprac/w dcr /'onkdwa.s, Zeitsehrift fur I tlinologic. \i)l. *-). IK77. pp. ft4-73.
Comparative Vocabulary of Hokan and CcKihuiltccaii I aiiguagcs
1. Chontal — 2. Seri — 3. Yuman — 4. fisselen — .^. Pomo — 6. ^'ana —
7. Chimariko — 8. Karok — 9. Shastan — 10. Tonkawa — II. Comecrudo
12. Cotoname — 13. Coahuiltecan — 14. Karankawa — 15. Atakapa.
/. Pronouns
1. 'I, me, my"": 3. Dieg. nya T; 4. eni, ene T, nic- 'm\':l . noui '[ . ><. na. ni
T, na- 'me\ nani- 'my'; 11. na T; 13. na- T; 14. ndyi T.
2. V: 5. ha\ 10. -ha^ (G).
3. 'me, my'^: 1. ka-, ki- V (incorporated); 5. N. C, ke 'm\"; 10 ka 'me*.
4. 'thou, thee, thy'"^: 1. ima 'thou'; 2. me 'thini'; 3. Dieg. ma 'thou, M«>h
mdnya 'thou' (K); 4. nemi, name 'them', nemic-. mic- 'thy'; .5. N. C. I:. S\V. SI
ma 'thou', N mi 'thy\ E nu 'thee'; 6. -nu-nia Mhou'. -wa'-nui ihcc"; 7. nui-mui
'thou', m(i)-, -mi 'thou, thy'; <S. im 'thtnr. ////- 'th\'; ^^ mat 'thou'. .Ach nu
thou', mis- 'thy' (S), Ats. mi- 'thou'; 13. ma- 'thou'.
5. Cf. also Chumash (Santa Ync/.S. Yn. )/»<>/ 1; (Santa Barhaia.S Bar I and (Sant.i < "■
noo T; (San Buenaventura. S. Bucn.)«(rr; (San I.uisOhispo.S.L.O) is not available i
Chumash material obtained from A. I.. Kroeher. Chumash. pp. .1l-4.^t)r Thr I angimcfy <" :■
California south of San Iratuisco; and Chumash comparative vtKabulancs in A I- Ki-
Chumash and Coastanoan I.anfiiuif^i's. University of California Publications in American Afcl»a*;*4u|i>
and Llhnology. vol. 9. no. 2. pp. 2M-211, l^^D.
6. E. g. xaxa-ha 'I was", xaxaha-ha I w;is not'
7. Cf. also Salinan kc V Salman material ohiamed from pp 4^ 4" i>l ktocKr ^ / .
Coast of California south of San Iramisco. ftirms m.irked ( M I are fr«»m manuscript mai*
Mason. Cf. further ( humash A. 1. m\'
S. Cf. also Salman nti> thou', t /n tin {i is .ittuiii
234 ^ American Indian Languages 1
5. *that"^: 2. ham 'he, that'; 5. C te-ya 'those people' {-ya plural suffix); 6.
(ii)d(ii-(ri), da 'that'; 8. ta- adverbial particle, "probably indefinite or imperfect
time"; 10. tel, ta-ka, wa-ta-c 'that, this'; 13. ta 'that, the'; 14. tal 'that, he'.
//. Personal Nouns
6. 'aunt': 5. C mamu-tsak, SW mu-tsen 'father's sister'; 6. muxdi 'paternal
aunt', S musdi; 7. muta-la(-i) '("^V) maternal aunt'; 8. mliaji-ts 'father's sister',
mitca-waci 'father's sister after death of father' (G); 9. Ach. hamut 'father's
sister' (G); 13. m/rcfl/ 'aunt'. [283]
7. 'aunt': 5. E cex-a 'mother's sister'; 10. wacek 'aunt'.
8. 'brother': 5. C ki-de, SW (a)-kin 'older brother', C ekd, SW kun 'younger
brother'; 10. hena 'brother'; 11. kanosa 'brother'.
9. 'father': 5. N, NE -mee, S -men, SE -mek; 11. mam, mawis; 13. mama.
10. 'grandmother': 5. N -mi-ka, C ka-tse, S -ka-tsen, SE -mu-xa 'mother's
mother'; 10. ekak, ekac 'grandmother'; 13. kis, kdka 'grandmother'.
11. 'man': 5. E xak\ 10. haakon 'man, male'; 13. xagu 'man, male'.
12. 'man'^": 1. acans 'person'; 5. N tea 'person', SW atca, C tcatc, S atcai
'man'; 6. 'i'si 'man, male'; 7. itri, itci; 9. sic; 15. icak.
13. 'mother': 4. atsia; 5. C tce-de, S -teen, SE -cek\ 1 . cido-i, sito-i\ 10. issa.
14. 'mother'i^: 3. Tonto ti-ti, Moh. taik, Dieg. taill, Kutchan talle, Cochimi
ka-tai\ 13. tai\ 15. ten.
15. 'mother': 5. E/i/x«;6. nina\^. S. fl«/(G); Ach. -ani{G)\ 13. S. F. Solano^^
naha.
16. 'sister': 5. S unnan 'younger brother, younger sister'; 10. ula 'sister';
15. hilet 'sister'.
17. 'woman, to marry': 4. ta- 'woman'; 5. E da 'woman', NE dake\ 10. ta-e
'to marry'; 13. tdyagil 'man marries, wife'.
///. Body-Part Nouns
18. 'arm, hand': 2. inot; 3.^^ — ;5. N, C, Stana'hand\ SE atan\6. dal- 'hand'' ;
1 . h-itanpu^'^, h-itcanpu 'arm', h-itra, h-ita, h-itca 'hand', -tenl 'hand'; 9. Ach.
iV 'hand' (< * itali) (S); 10. hitian.
9. Cf. also Chumash (S. Bar.) ite 'this"; (S. Cruz) tuyu 'this'. Identical in origin with this Hokan-
Coahuiltecan demonstrative stem *ta may well be Chumash /- found prefixed in absolute forms of
certain noun stems (e.g. S.L.O.t-axaR: S. Yn., S. Bar, S. Buen. ax'bow"; S.L.O. t-awa :S. Yn.,S. Bar.
awai 'moon'). Cf. also article-like noun prefix t- of Salinan (e.g. t-dm 'house'; t--ulet 'teeth').
10. Cf. also Chumash (S. Yn.) isiiyix 'husband'.
11. Cf. also Chumash (S.L.O.) tuyu, (S. Yn.) tuq 'mother'.
12. San Francisco Solano is an isolated, apparently Coahuiltecan, dialect of which Swanton pub-
lishes a brief vocabulary.
13. Moh. isalya 'hand', Dieg. EsEl are probably not connected with these words but are rather
comparable to S. Pomo ica, lean 'arm', S.W. ica, N., C. ca, S.E. xal.
14. -pu of Chimariko itan-pu is perhaps to be compared with Chumash pu 'arm, hand'.
Three: Hokun I Ainsiiuiaes 235
19. 'bclly'"'^: 5. N koi, V.\o\ 12. kox: l.v knm.
20. 'breast': 3. Dicg. iichikh. i.e. /7(/i 'brc.isi'; (^. li'i k'l kiiMlc I'u-.ist
9. Ach. /"'/(// "female breast' (S), S itsik •niilk". .Ats aiciska "milk". Id \uinix
'breast'; 15. itsk 'breast'.
21. 'female breast': 3. H'taiim nycnial, Kiliwi ncfnuvo. ( nclimu \iinitn,
10. ndyomatw 11. kncm\ 12. ktmitu: 14. katiin.
22. 'foot, leg'"': 1. /////7s''; 3. Moh. ////<■ 'leg. loot' (K); .S.>»<— ;7.'' — ; 11. fmi
'foot'.
23. 'heart'-": 7. h-usii'an-lcci; 10. ya-lsunan; 13. xasal. \2SA\
24. 'hair': 3. Tonto \v/////7/ 'skin, hide'; (i. mi -\vi, -mi 'hiile"; 7 h una hair*;
11. ('/^/^// 'skin, hair on body'.
25. 'mouth, lip': 3. Kiliwi ahhu-a, i.e. axaa, Coehimi ha, jaa. i.e. xaa inoulh";
5.N,Cha, S,SWf///f/, Exalsida, SExasto, N\: lia-mo^mnuiW . Id A,;/,; 'm.iniir
(G); ll..\7//'lip'.
26. 'nail': 5. N, S, SW hetc, C etc, NE helca; 10. yo-ican (d).
27. 'neek': 3. Wal. ipuk, Dieg. ipuk, H'taiim cpok; 10. Iicpci(a) (G).
28. 'nose'-': 2. it = u=f, hif; 3. Moh. ///// (K). Dieg. '-t'.v// (K); 4. h-ooi-s;
7. h-oxir, S. _v///r, 9. Ach. yammi (S); 11. \y/.v; 12. ya'x, yax-~.
29. 'tooth': 3. Tonto \v>, Moh. ioo, Dieg. Eyaii. Kiliui ('-(///, i.e. i\aii.
5. E y«o'; 11. /'v; 14. e.
30. 'sexual organs': 3. Tonto minyeta 'penis'; 11. mclkiiai 'female sexual
organs'; 13. maldux 'male sexual organs'.
IV. Animals
31. 'crow'--'': 3. Moh. aqCiqa 'raven' (K); 5. N, C, E, S. SW kaai. (v ga'f^'r,
10. kal.
15. Cf. also Chumash (S. Bucn.) cfop belly'.
16. Cf. also Chumash (S. Yn. S. Bar. )/-tvn leg. foot", possibly also (S. Cruz) w-i/«<'-/ 'leg. fiHtiwilh
n- prefix (ef. note [21]).
17. Chontal -is is suffixed, as further evideneed bv aituii\ earth' (ef. Chmiariko ama "earth') and
icnuils 'ear' (cf. Chimariko icam "ear").
18. Here probably belongs also F'omo mi- instrumental prefix '\Mth the loot
I'J. I'erhaps Chimariko mi-lci- instrumental prefix uilli the loot" belongs here.
20. Cf. perhaps also Chumash (S. \n. ) (/v;/; ehesi, heart': this is more likely, however, lobe ci>gn«tc
to Chim. /j-//.s/ 'breast'.
21. Cf. probably also Chumash (S. Bar. S. Buen ) hikXc nose'. (S \\\ nOX 'nos*
(S. Cruz) n-imc-l (note jlf^j).
22. It seems likely that I lokan-( 'oahuiltecan ' \a\u is to be assumed for 'no»c*. ya-ls'*^ ' bhtali/c*! in
Karok to >«-, is found intact in Comecrudo. Cotoname. Aehomawi. .iiul K.irok. W is n *1
to /-, e- in Scri and Yuman; this front vowel is further rounded to <» in ( himank«» .iml I <»C
following -xu: x has become labialized to/ because of originally following u. in karok and Sen i ha*
becomes, .sin Esselen. as regularly (cf.w.v<i-ma water'- Hokan 'axu) Sen \arianc orthographic* i and
u = u= may point to some such st)und as ii. labiali/ed form of * Aehoniawi m/fimi may be avMmilalcJ
from older 'yax-mi.
23. Cf. also Salinan ckiik! (M).
2^5 ^ American Indian Languages 1
32. 'dog': 3. Coc. cowwaick, i.e. ka(u)waik; 10. eAiwflAi; 12. /:owfl-M.
33. 'deer': 7. a a; 10. «o.
34. 'fish': 5. N, C, E, NE ca, S, SW «ca; 10. esva-lan (G).
35. 'goose': 3. Moh. niago-e\ 5. SW /a/a; 6. lalagi; 7. /fl/o; 14. la-ak.
36. 'rabbit': 3. Dieg. khilkhdo, i.e. xilxdo\ 11. kiextuen; 12. kidxnem.
V. Objects
37. 'arrow': 6. .sfl'w«; 7. ^a'a; 10. caxai^'*.
38. 'bow'25: 7. xdpuneu; 9. S jcaw; 10. nixa-u; 11. xa/; 14. ga/.
39. 'day'-^: 2. i^«jc 'sun', isax 'moon'; 4. a^/, ac/ 'sun', asatsa 'day'; 7. a^/;
9. S atcaii, Ats. a^-i'iy/; 10. ate- nan (G).
40. 'fire': 3. Tul. oho; 5. N ho, S, SE xo, S, SW, NE 0/20; 14. /itim/ie.
41. 'house'-^: 3. Moh. ava (K); 4. iwa-no; 6. wa'-wi; 7. awa; 11. wamdk.
42. 'house': 5. N, C fcfl, S atca, SE r^a, NE ta; 13. ^xam 'house, to dwell'.
43. 'moccasins': 3. Tonto nayo, nana; 1 . (pa)-nna '(snow)shoes'2^; 15. na-u.
44. 'moon': 3. Cochimi kon-ga, gam-ma, ganeh-majen; 11. kan.
45. 'mountain': 3. Dieg. umatete, H'taam morar; 13. Maratino^^maromflw 'to
the mountain'.
46. 'river': 6. da- 'water lies', dd-ha 'river'; 15. ta-i 'river'.
47. 'sky'-^": 1. emaa; 2. amime; 3. Moh. ammaya, Dieg. ammai; 4. imita;
6. 'a'p'sa; 11. ape/.
48. 'sky': 3. S Cat. akwarra; 13. uxudl 'heaven'.
49. 'sun'^^: 3. Moh. anyd (K); 5. E la, S alaca 'moon', SW kalaca 'moon';
7. alia, ala 'sun'; 11. a/ 'sun'; 13. dnua 'month'.
24. Resembles Karok cak 'arrowpoint', Achomawi sat (< *sak; cf. no. 20) 'arrowpoint', but com-
parison with Yana iiaga, xaga 'flint, arrowpoint' and E. Pomo xa-^a 'arrowpoint, flint' (in xaya-xabe
'arrowpoint-stone, obsidian', mfl.vflAj-xfl7fl 'terrible-flint, metal') makes it clear that these forms go back
to *xaga (for Hokan x, h > Karok and Shastan c, s, cf. further Mohave aha, Yana ha-, xa-, Pomo xa
'water' : Karok isa, Achomawi ac).
25. Cf. also Chumash (S.L.O.) t-axa, (S. Yn., S. Bar., S. Buen.) ax 'bow'.
26. Cf. probably also Chumash al-aca, al-ica, icau 'sun'. See note [31].
27. Cf. possibly also Chumash p-awa-y/c 'house'.
28. It is barely possible that Chimariko/7fl««fl is to be analyzed as/j'a- 'snow', -nna 'footwear", p'a-
would then be cognate with Yanap^d-dja 'snow',p'fl- 'snow lies spread out'; Tonto paka 'snow'. Thiepa-
would only accidentally resemble Chimariko pa, ipa 'moccasin'. 'Snow' in Chimariko is ordinarily
hipui, hipue; cf. Chumash (S. Buen.)po/ 'snow'.
29. Maratino is an isolated, apparently Coahuiltecan, dialect of which Swanton publishes a brief
vocabulary.
30. Cf. also Chumash (S.Yn., S. Bar.) aZ-apa 'sky', (S. Buen.) /jflZ-acpa/; possibly also Salinan /-^m
'sky'.
31. Cf. perhaps also Chumash (S. Yn.) alaca 'sun', (S. Bar.) alica 'sun'. However (S. Buen.) icau
'sun' (cf. perhaps Esselen asi, aci 'sun' ; Chimariko ^5/ 'day'; Ats. as-siyi 'day') suggests that these forms
are to be understood as a-l-aca, a-l-ica (for prefixed a-l-, /-, cf. Chumash a-l-apa 'sky', a-l-apaya
above' : Slainan l-em 'sky', l-emo 'above' : Chontal emaa, Seri ami-me, Mohave ammaya, Esselen imi-
ta, Yana 'ap-sa 'sky'). More likely to be related is (S. Cruz) t-anum 'sun'.
Three: Hokan iMttgiiUges T'^7
50. 'sun': 2. lahj, i.e. law >. Nli -dakii\ 10. luxm . ia\im 'sun. «.i.i\'
51. 'stone": 3. lonto \7//. Moh. </r/. Dicu. /•. u/; 11. »t(ncA//«7; 15 wm
52. 'thunder": 5. N tnakila, (" makcla. S\V nuikulu \\ ti . n,.!,„L „-,
11. (pa)-niiik. Ipdh/nok.
53. 'thunder": 5. I- kdli-nidioln''-: 1(1. nician '\o huhicn (d). H. (paf-mttoi
'lightning".
54. •vvater"^'': 1. uliu\ 2. <a ; 3. Moh. (///</ ( K); 4. (isunax; 5. NE, SE.tu. ( \1
ka, S. SW f/A:«; 6. ha-. S .\7/-; 7. </A</. cika: S. <;s. /.s^r. '>. Aeh uc (S). S <i/jfl;
10. a.\ 'water', xana 'to drink"; 11. ax\ 12. (/\; 15. ak. ka. kan.
55. "wotHl": 1. i'ke: 2. che: 3. Kiliwi khaipak. i.e. xaipak. '^ N C /;,// / \/
xai. S. SW (///(//; 11. V(// 'tree, wood".
VI. Adjectives
56. 'blaek': 2. ko-polt^^, i.e. -pol\ 6. //<//-; 14. /><//.
57. 'cold": 3. Moh. h'tcluirk, i.e. xlcucj, Moh. halcu-urk. i.e. haicumi. Kdi\M
ah/uc/iak, i.e. axrcak; 6. /idtsHt'- 'to be cold"; 7. xalsa; *■). Aeh. act* '<> lAi
10. hatsex.
58. 'large": \. k\vcka\2. ka-kolch, i.e. -kof: 10. Au(//r> "izreat"; 15. Af';;/t'"urcal'.
(2861
59. 'old": 1. akwc 'oldman"; 3. Moh. knora- 'old (man)", Coehimi acuso, i.e.
akiiso; 10. Awa/ 'old. ancient".
60. 'red': 2. ko-massolt-, i.e. -massoi 'brown", niossoh''. i.e. mo.wol
'yellow'^^'; 7. masomas 'red salmon'; 11. (pa)-msol ^rc{.\': 12. //jv<y-€ 'red'.
61. round': 5. SW pololo; 6. p'iVolii 'round basket cap"; 10. pUH, ki>-pid.
11. pa-wa-pel.
62. 'small'-^^: 3. Tonto kotye\ 4. oxiis-k, ukus-ki, ukus 'small, ini.iiu ,
5. N kaw'i 'infant', C -ku 'son, daughter', ku- 'boy, girl infant", kuts 'stnall*.
E kawi 'boy', A://.s 'infant", ki'ilc 'small', SW kawi 'small'; 10. caxun sniall .
W'i-xun 'girl'; 12. kitwo-sam 'small, young'; 14. kwan. kwiian "sin. ill. Nciin'.-
15. kun 'girl'.
63. 'white': 3. Moh. nya-nia.sani, S. Cat. i mi capa, Kilnw unwsap.
10. maslak\ 12. mcso-i.
64. 'white'-^^: 1. -j'lika: 2. kn-^po: 11. -pok. -puk. 14 pcka.
32. /c«// dcncncs sky".
33. Cf. also Salinan tea' "walcr' (M) [i- piclixcil .iiiiclc; -m' •- *ui)
34. ko- is (color- )adjcctival prefix.
3.^. ko- is (color-)adjcctival prefix
36. It is barely possible that two phonetically similar hiii ei\iiu>logic.illy JiMincl slcmx jrc here
involved. Almost certainly cognate with .Seri mossol is C'himarik»> rcduphcalcd -mamsu- o( himamtui
'green, blue, yellow".
37. With Hokan-Coahiiiltecan 'ku- ■small, inlaiif is prehaps also cognate Chuma^h jfH-. km' tA
(S. Bncn.) ^unup 'child', (S. Cru/) kuta> 'child'
35. C'f. also Chiimash (S ("rii/) rediiplicatetl /'(//'/< while
238 ^ American Indian Languages J
VII. Numcruls
65. one'''': 4. pL'k\ 6. bai-\ 10. pax, paxaatak 'alone, only'.
66. "two': 1. oko\ 2. (ka)xku-(m)\ 3. Moh. havi-k, Dieg. xawo-k; 4. xulax;
5. N ko, C, SW ko, S ako, E xoto, SE jcd5, NE koon; 6. «'-, S wjc-; 7. xo/cw;
8. fl.vrtA-; 9. S xokwa, Ach. /la^.' (S); Ats. hdki\ 10. aketai; 13. ajc/e.
67. 'three': 4. xulap; 5. xoxat; 14. kaxayi.
VIII. Verbs
68. 'to blow': 5. pu-cen, pu-t'am 'to take breath', pu-cul 'to blow', M-ya 'to
whistle', E pi^jcam^ 'to whistle'; 6. /?'d-,/7'w- 'to blow'; 7. -xu-, -xwc-'*^''toblow',
-xii- 'to whistle'; 10. poxo 'to blow'; 11. (pa)-pdt 'to blow', (pa)pu-sa-mai 'to
whistle'.
69. 'to burn': 7. -maa-\ 10. ma-/; 11. (pa)-makua.
70. 'to come': 3. Kutchan A:zn7c, Dieg. A;z>'w; 6. -A;'/-; 7. -/:- 'hither'; 13. kal;
14. /:fl'5, /:a5.
71. 'to cry': 6. -iva-, -wa-\ 7. -wo; 9. Ach. -wo-; 13. wdyo\ 14. ovvfya.
72. 'to cry': 3.'**; 5. maxar; 10. maka; 12. pa-ma. [287]
73. 'to cry': SE xaA://, SW katca, NE katcet; 12. xakue 'to weep'.
74. 'to cut': 5. jca 'to cut, to cut off; 10. kaetca; 11. A:flwr.
75. 'to die, to be dead': 1. maa- 'to kill'; 3. Dieg. meley; 4.'*^; 6. ma/- 'to get
hurt, (moccasin) has holes, (basket) is torn'; W.pa-plau (from *-mlau); 14. mal
'dead'.
76. 'to do': 5. hu; 7. -xai- 'to make'; 13. hawai, hoi 'to do, to make';
14. kd-hawan.
77. 'to drink': 5. C,N kotcim, Exoxiin, Shokoi; 10. (hen)uk-(no); 12. xudxe;
13. OMXo; 14. akweten; 15. A:fl-M.
78. 'to eat'"*^: 3. Coc. ahma, Tonto ma; 4. ama; 5. N maamaa; 6. mo-, (ma-);
1 . -ama-;S. av (<am);9. Ach. -«m-, Ats. -ammi; 12. hahdme, xaxdme; 13. /lam.
79. 'to eat': 5. C kawan, SE kawd-maaka; 10. y«-x« (G), >'«x; 11. (pa)-kai 'to
eat', (pa)-kakut 'to masticate'.
80. 'to fall': 1. mef; 1 . -man-, -mo-; 11. mel; 14. amoak; 15. ma/:.
81. 'to forget': 7. -xome-; 13. xom.
82. 'to give'44: 4. /mA:; 7. -/laA:- (?); 10. ax.
39. Cf. also Chumash (S. Yn., S. Bar.) pflA:fl, (S. Buen.) /7aA:e/ 'one'.
40. Hokan p"u seems regularly to have developed to xu in Chimariko. Other examples are:
Chimariko-XM-'toswim' : Yanap'w-'toswim'; Chimariko -a:w- 'fat' (adj.) : Yanap'u/'-'tobefat'. Where
Dixon writes pw, probably bu (with intermediate b) or p.'u is to be understood.
41. It does not seem impossible, if not very probable, that Yana mi- 'to cry, wail', Tonto mi 'to cry,
yell, sigh' are also cognate.
42. Here belong perhaps also Esselen moho 'he died'; Pomo mudal 'to die, dead'. Porno mudal is,
however, better compared with Yana murul- 'to lie', metaphorically 'to lie dead'.
43. Cf. also Chumash (S. Buen.) umu 'to eat'; Sal. amo' (M).
44. Cf. also Chumash (S. Yn.) ike, (S. Bar. xiks) "to give'.
Three: Hokitn lj.in\tiutvt\ ■>^y
83. *to go': 5. \va, wal 'to go, to walk'; 7. -warn-, -owa-, 8. wariam), 10. nti/ia
'they go'; 12. </-KYno 'go over ihcrc!; 14. wuna 'go away!'; 15 \%an *io go*
84. 'to go out': 6. -dam- '(to go) out ot house'; 7. -lap 'out of: V Ach ,/w 'mn
of, Ats. -ta 'out oV \ 15. /</ 'to eoinc out'
85. 'to hear': 5. c()k\ 13. tcakwci.
86. 'to kill': 5. C A/im; 7. -ko-; 12. \\ai\u-ka\ 14. ti/n/A..
87. 'to laugh': 5. SLi kc\ 10. .i7U7m;; 14. kaiia. 15. /kiv//.
88. 'to like': 5. NE kaniania: U. k.'un-\ 11. A//</// 'to love'; 13. )k<i»v<i "lo |()\c".
14. ka 'to love'.
89. 'to he pregnant': 6. ydhai-^'^: 13. sahui(fi).
90. tt) run": 3. Kutehan (v>»//o, /.c. kono, Dieg. i^anau. 4. cam a, 5. E ilcaik,
S katan, SE A'«H'aA:«; 10. .17^//^/ 'to go away'; 14. xankdye 'to run. to hasten'
91. 'to say': 5. /)«- 'to telL to preaeh'; 6. />«- 'loeall; 7. -pa-, -pain-: 10 /i<Y>rt;
14. pdtsim.
92. 'to scratch': 7. -xolgo-\ 10. .rH'acflA:«.
93. 'to see': 5. ma-hi, ma-VYv/; 'to face, to look', //if/,i,'.</ to look tor , (> nunin-,
ml-, m£'- 'to look'; 7. -w«m- 'to see'; 8. mw/;- 'tosee; 9. Ach. -nima-. .Ats irua-
'to see'; 11. imdx, mahe; 13. mas.
94. 'to see': 5. N tcadin, S tcadu\ 10. r/^rf (Cj); 14. ica.
95. 'to shoot': 7. -p//-; 15. /?r;/.v.
96. 'to sit': 7. -pfl/- (plural subject); 11. (pa)-ncl-pau. 12. pawr.
97. 'to sleep': 1. em«/; 2. .v/m; 3. (2881 M^^h. isnia: 4. atsini-si\ 5. N, E, S. SW
5/"//?^/. C .silma, NE dma\ 6. samsi-'^'\ S tc^misi-: 9. Als. //s//// ( K). S iisrnas (K);
11. (n)cmet; 13. isamoxitdm; 14. l/?/.
98. 'to speak': 5. ga-nuk\ 6. ga-^''\ 1 . -kn-, -go- 'to talk"; 13. A</ 'to say. to
speak'; 15. /co-/ 'to say, to speak'.
99. 'to tear': 5.''^; 7. -rrfl- 'to tear'; 14. idhama 'to break, lo tear'.
100. 'to touch': 6. t/m- 'to touch, to put out one's hand to'; 10. ta-an 'to handle,
to touch'.
IX. Adverbs
101. 'alone': 7. pola\ 11. palucm 'alone, only'.
102. 'near': 3. Tonto ipc\ Moh. hipa-nik. Mar. hcpamk. 14. pa-huaii, 15. //'w/.
103. 'no, not'-*'^ 5. E kuyi\ 6. A:'//-; 7. -.v/i-. a-. -gu\ 13. ^a. (a//<i 'not'; 14. kom.
kwo-om 'no, not'.
45. Yana>' corresponds ti) Chimariko-Karok s, c in (.(.rt.iin \snrds. e.g. Yana 'iya "irail" : C'himariko
hissa; Yana wr v« horn' : Chimariko wee-. Karok xfiu-rn. '^ana mi female" ( him.irtl-- •
(e.g. icu-mako-sa 'mother-in-law' : icu-nuiku 'latlK•r-ln-la\^■)
46. Simpler form of stem. v(;/m-. ini|ilic(.l in plur. siulim- (alongside o{ sddtimt). %Mlh inluc>'
47. Occurs only in compounds, e.g. \^a-\a- to talk'; .i,'<i-7<i- "It) cry". v<' »"«'""' '••"cH a Im
talk' N. Yana; na-t'ii- 'to talk" C\ '^'ana; and many others.
48. Perhaps also Pomo dak "to spin'
49. Cf. alsoSalinan ku (M).
240 ^ American Indian Languages J
104. 'no, not""**: 3. Wal. opa 'no'; 7. pdtci-gun, patcut 'no'; 8. pu 'not',
-/7/a-less; 10. -pe-, -ba, -bo (G)'^'.
105. 'now': 5. co; 10. hue; 14. acdhak.
106. 'quickly': 7. wel-mu, wele-ni; 14. ewe'-e, e>v^ 'quick, quickly'.
107. 'south': 3. Moh. kdveik (K); 11. kidu.
108. 'where?': 7. qdmalu^-\ 10. a/a; 13. aatw, a/i/.
X. Grammatical Elements
109. derivative noun suffix: 4. -/lax, -/lex, -no^^\ 6. -/ia^"*; 7. -ar-''-^; 8. -an, -ar^^;
10. -o«. -^A^-'^^ (G).
110. derivative noun suffix: 4. -^^S; 8. -c'^^; 10. -c, -560 (G). [289]
111. diminutive suffix: 7. -//o^i; 10. -lo, -la-n, -lo-n, -li-n^^~ (G).
112. adjectiv e suffix: 3. -k^^\ 4. -k, -ki^'^; 5. -A:^-'^; 10. -k^^ (G).
50. Cf. also Chumash (S. Yn.) /?wo 'no'.
51. E.g. tca-pe-no 'not to be', yaxa-bo 'he does not eat', xaxa-ba-ha 'I was not'.
52. qo- is found also in other interrogatives, e.g. qo-mas 'who?', qo-si 'where?'.
53. Esselen -nax, -nex in, e.g., asa-nax 'water', pagu-nax 'bow', katus-nex 'mouth'; -no in, e.g.,
iwa-no 'house'.
54. Yana (N. and C. dialects) -na is regularly suffixed, in male forms, to all monosyllabic noun stems
and to all nouns ending in long vowel, diphthong, or consonant; it is assimilated to -la after preceding -
/-. E.g. ha-na 'water', demau-na 'pine marten', k!u-rul-la 'crane'.
55. E.g. /c/mar 'man', punf.sflr 'woman', A:o5ar 'crane'. Forms like tsabokor 'mo\e\ ragAj/r 'windcat',
■dn(\ humetasur ' morning suggest that only -r is suffixed, preceding a, /, o, and u being stem vowels. This
-r varies in orthography with -/, e.g. sapxel 'spoon', varient punsal-i 'my wife'. Forms like pxicira
'skunk' and ta'ira 'ground squirrel' suggest that -r is abbreviated from -ra.
56. Karok -an, -ar makes nouns of agent and instrument, e.g. kivip-an 'runner', xiic-ar 'thinker'.
57. E.g. kanoc-an 'Mexican' from /comoc 'Mexico', he-yatc-on 'spyglass' from atce'Xo%e.&\ye-kox-on
'boot' from kaxa 'to go', ye-tsox-an 'tent' from tsox 'cloth, canvas'. These nouns are evidently instru-
mental in force, like their Karok parallels.
58. E.g. ehepa-s 'rabbit-skin robe', hoci-s 'nose', opo-pabo-s 'seal', matcka-s 'coyote', tcaphi-s
'birds', xeki-s 'panther'.
59. In kemi-c 'evil thing, monster' from kem 'bad'.
60. E.g. taga-c, taxa-c 'sun', naci-c 'terrapin', auwa-c 'buffalo', apinco-s 'house-fly'. In Esselen,
Karok, and Tonkawa -c, -s seems to form chiefly animate, e.g. animal, nouns.
61. E.g. itri-lla 'boy' (cf. itri 'man'), tumtite-lla 'swallow', tsicumu-lla 'orphan', -lla is quite likely
assimilated from -r-la (-r as in 89 a), e.g. puntsu = -lla (read piintsa-) 'girl' < *puntsa-r-la (puntsa-r
'woman').
62. These elements are not specifically termed diminutive by Gatschet, but some of his examples
suggest that they are. E.g. enopxa-lo 'mosquito', apinki-llin 'green fly, red fly', esva-lan 'fish',
naxtcon-se-lon 'match' (literally perhaps 'little fire-maker', cf. naxtcon 'fire'), -n probably as in 106.
63. E.g. Mar. mil-k, Moh. hwdi-nyel-k, Kutchan nyal-k, Kiliwi nye-g 'black' (contrast Kutchan nyil,
H'taam nyil); Mar. ahot-k, Moh. axot-k, Kutchan ahot-k 'good'; Mar. pln-k, Moh. hai-pin-k, Kutchan
epil-k 'warm, hot' (contrast Kutchan ku-pil, Kiliwi pal).
64. E.g. oxus-k, ukus-ki 'small', putu-ki 'large', sale-ki 'good', ala-ki 'black'.
65. E.g. E. Pomo Iklllkili-k 'white', kedakeda-k 'red', torotord-k 'striped'.
66. E.g. maki-k 'yellow', masla-k, maslo-k 'white', gala-k 'more', -k occurs also as noun suffix, e.g.
kalo-k 'mustache' (cf. kala 'mouth'), oyu-k 'pocket'. Such substantivized adjectives as maki-k 'gold'
(from 'yellow') and maslo-k 'cattle' (from 'white') suggest that nouns in -k may be primarily adjectives.
Three: Hokim UmniM^ts 241
113. locative case siilTix: 5. -ku-ic'A\. lo. In. iK-ar'*»"';8. -fl/t 'in dX'**- 10 -ak^
(Ci).
114. inslruiiicntal case siilti.\; N. in-itk '\\\{\\ . ku s Un accuunt of*-
10. -oA'" (Ci).
SuppIcFiiciilarx C1uiniash-( ■oahuiliccan Nocalnihirv
1 15. (S. Bar. ) akccwc, (S. ^'n. ) ukin 'tielK ': lonk. m w i "belK '
lid. (S. Bar.) xoni 'mother": lonk. \ai niother".
117. (S. Bar.) pako-wac 'old man". cncXc-wac "oUl uoriian' ( v. i c/,c«/
'woman'), (S. Buen.) paku-was 'old man': Tonk. ewac 'father"; .Atak MYi-r/"
'old, ancient'.
11(S. (S. Yn.) ilikiin, (S. Bar.) /cAc/;. (S. lUien. ) /////A/' 'to sn : lonk \//(/to
sit".
Some of these comparisons are doubtful at best and a number of them will, on
maturer knowledge, have to be discarded. A certain amount of uropmg in the
dark cannot well be avoided in the pioneer stage of such an attempt as this.
Careful scrutiny of the comparative vocabulary brings out a very considerable
number of cognate series that it would be difficult to explain away on the score
of accident (e.g. nos. 14,20,22. 2cS,40,50, 52.53. 54.55. 57.NI.M.M, 72. V3.
98, 103). A large number of the cognates are widespread Hokan stems (e.g.
nos. 41, 54, 55, 68, 78). Such a double correspondence as S.W. I'omo makulu
'thunder' : Comecrudo (pajmak 'thunder", li. Pomo -matoto (with final
reduplication) thunder' : Comecrudo (pa)-met(')t {\\\\.\\ final reduplicatmn )
'lightning' does not smack of accident.
An important feature of both Hokan and Coahuiltecan languages is the
alternation of stems with initial vtiwels with forms of the stem without the
voweP', e.g. Chontal aha, Seri ax, Mohave aha, S. Pimio aka. I:ssclen asa-.
Karok as-, Achomawi ac, Shasta atsa, Tonkawa ax, Atakapa ak, Comecrudo
ax, Cotoname ax 'water' : N. E. Pomo.XY/-. Yana ha-, Ibnkawa (2^>0| \ana 'lo
drink', Atakapa ka\ Atsugewi -ima-, Achomawi -inlinta. ( omecruiK* /m<n "lo
see' : Pomo ///^/-, Yiimi ml-, Chimariko -itiani-. Kari)k niah-. ( oahuiltcco wa-s.
Comecrudo mdhc. Even the dialects oi a single group \ai\ ou this point, as
could be abundantlv illustrated from Poiin) and "*iuman.
67. Cf. probably also -k in ima-k in comp.in\ vmiIi (vmiIi I'onio imn <f r\s<l.-ii m,i nu i..fi-ihci
with', Yana verbal suffi.x -ma- 'together with).
6S. Locative ka-. -k probably also comp«»umleil with other elements in k lu in . j»a A«i m uo.
over', -os-ka-m 'before', -vastka-m 'behind', xuku-n 'in ctimp.un with", cum k 'uniJcr'
69. E.g. yi'lsoMin-iik lent-in'.
70. E.g. hclcool-ok 'by means of what'.'", luruinokr on ateounl ol p«»iM>n
71. See Sapir, The Position of Yana in the Hokan Slmk. pp 2S 32
242 ^ American Indian Languages 1
Statistics based on the comparative vocabulary are of little significance at
present, owing to the fact that most of the languages are but sparsely repre-
sented, some far more sparsely than others. Thus, the fact that Pomo,
Chimariko, Yuman, and Yana offer the greatest number of cognates to the
Coahuiltecan languages, while Chumash, Esselen, Shastan, Seri, Karok, and
Chontal offer the least loses nearly all its significance when we remember that
there was less material available for comparison in the latter group than in the
former. In proportion to the amount of material to choose from, indeed,
Esselen, Karok, Seri, and Chontal seem to offer more similarity to the
Coahuiltecan languages than Yana, which, in manuscript form, is by far the
best known to the writer of all the languages compared'^^ j^g relatively small
number of Yana-Coahuiltecan cognates found is probably the only significant
point that could at present be made on statistical evidence. It is doubtless
closely related to the fact, abundantly proven by other evidence, that of all
Hokan languages Yana is the most specialised and therefore the least typical.
Turning to the Coahuiltecan languages, we find that the order of degree of
similarity to Hokan is Tonkawa, Comecrudo, Coahuilteco (including one
example each from San Francisco Solano and Maratino), Karankawa,
Atakapa, and Cotoname, the number of Tonkawa-Hokan cognates being
somewhat greater than of Pomo-Coahuiltecan. This, if significant at all, is as it
should be, for Tonkawa is an interior language and, geographically speaking,
relatively nearest the Hokan languages of California.
A glance at Powell's linguistic map, so far from creating dismay at the haz-
ardous nature of our attempt , rather serves to render it intelligible . True , there
is an enormous distance separating Tonkawa and Yuman, or Coahuilteco and
Seri. But is it an accident that practically the whole of the vast stretch of country
separating the Coahuiltecan from the Yuman tribes is taken up by the Southern
Athapascans (Lipan, various Apache tribes, and Navaho)? That these last are
intrusive in this area has always been felt probable by both ethnologist and
linguist. The relationship of Athapascan to Haida and Tlingit, which I have
demonstrated in another paper^^, raises this feeling to a certainty. I venture to
put forward the hypothesis that the Hokan-speaking and Coahuiltecan-
speaking tribes formed at one time a geographical continuum and that at least
one of the factors in their disruption was the intrusion of Athapascan-speaking
tribes from the north. An earlier intrusion of Uto-Aztekan (more particularly
Sonoran-Shoshonean) tribes from the south may eventually also have to be
taken account of.
72. This I consider a most encouraging fact. If the resemblances here discussed were entirely
explainable as due to accident, the Yana-Coahuiltecan parallels should have been several times as
numerous as for any other pair, whereas, as a matter of fact, there are only a trifle over half as many
Yana-Coahuiltecan parallels as Pomo-Coahuiltecan ones.
73. The Na-Dene Languages, a Preliminary Report, American Anthropologist, N.S.. vol. 17, pp.
534-558, 1915.
Three: Hokan iMnnuages 243
Editorial Note
Originally publishcti in Imcniatiomil Journal oi Attu-ru an I m^uistics \
280-290 (1920).
A Note on the First Plmsom Plural m ( hiinaiiko
I know of few irrc\t)cablc facts in the (.loniam ot Aiiicncaii linguistics thai arc
quite so regrettable as our scanty knowledge of Chiniariko. What attention I
have been able to give the Hokan prt)bleni has tended to convince mc that in
C'himariko we possess, or possessed, one of the most archaic languages of the
whole group, perhaps the one language in California which came nearest a
faithful representation of the theoretical Hokan prototvpe. As it is. we must
make shift to get on with such material as has been spared us and be doubl\
thankful for the fragmentary data that Dixon was able to secure in W(Ki from
the one or two aged or half-witted survivors of the tribe.' I he present note will
serve to illustrate how unexpected and far-reaching may be the threads that
bind Chimariko to geographically remote languages in California.
The first personal pronominal affix for Chimariko verbs always, or nearly
always, shows clearly related forms for singular and plural. This will be evident
from the following-:
^tc-, first person singular. Prefixed or suffixed as subject of intransitive verbs.
with adjectival stems. Prefixed as object of transitive verbs.
tea-, tco-, first person plural. Prefixed or suffixed as subject of intransitive
verbs, with adjectival stems. This suffix^ is distinguished from singular ii ■ In
change of vowel. If the singular has a as connecting vowel, the plural haso. and
vice-versa. Prefixed as object of transitive verbs.
/-, y-, first person singular. Prefixed or suffixed as subject ol intransitive
verbs, with verbal stems. Prefixed as subject of transitive verbs.
ya-; we-, h-, first person plural. Prefixed or suffixed as subject of intransitive
verbs, with verbal stems. Prefixed (ya-) as subject of transitive verbs."
Further on Dixon remarks^:
"It will be seen that two wholly different forms are given in both singular and
plural for the first person. In the use of the one or the other o\ these, there is a
fairly clear distinction in use. The first type, te, is never employed with \erbal
stems indicating action or movement, but with those, on the contrary, which
indicate a state or condition. On the other haiul. uhcrcas the second form. i. y.
is invariably used with the former class of verbal stems, it is also emploved with
the latter, but is then always suffixed. In most cases, there is no confusmn
between the two forms, i.e.. if the first person singular is /or v. the first person
plural isya. A few instances appear, however, in which this ilocs not hold, and
1 . Roland B. Dixon, The ( htmunko Indians and Lan^ua}ic ( I ni^crsUy ol C .ililornM Publicjiion* in
American Archaeology and Lthnology. vol. .S, pp. Ji'VVSd. l')!0)
2. Dixon, op. cit., p. 318.
3. Read doubtless "affix".
4. Op. cit.. pp. 325, 326.
246 ^ American Indian Languages I
we have / in the singular, and tc or ts in the plural. In a limited number of cases
also, either form may apparently be used, as qe-i-xanan, qe-tce-xanan I
SHALL DIE, i-saxni, tca-saxni I cough [perhaps better understood as stem
asax-, with / displacing a- of stem; tc- prefixed: tc-asax-ni. Cf. tc-a-win I fear
and other singulars in tc-a-\. A phonetic basis is to some extent observable,
[292] in that tc or ts is never a prefix when the verbal stem begins with a vowel.
(This seems doubtful.] As between / and y, it appears that the latter is always
used before stems beginning with a vowel except /, whereas / is employed before
stems beginning with / or with consonants. [There seems, however, to be some
evidence to show that /- may displace the initial stem vowel, just as u of tcu- my
displaces the initial vowel of the noun stem, e.g. m-isam thy ear, h-isam his
EAR, but tcii-sam my ear.] The first persons singular and plural are dis-
tinguished from each other, where the form tc is used, only by a change of
connecting vowel already pointed out. [Dixon's "connecting vowel", in the verb
as in the noun, as is shown by general Hokan comparative evidence, is in all
probability either the initial vowel of the stem or a prefixed vowel inhering in
the pronominal or other prefixed element.]
"The pronominal elements as given, are, when used as prefixes, attached to
the verb by means of connecting vowels. These . . . often show some relation to
the vowel of the verbal stem, but this is noticeable chiefly in the case of o and u
stems. The first person singular and plural are distinguished from each other
only by the change in this connecting vowel. As a rule, the first person singular
is tco- or tcu-, whereas the plural is tea-. In one or two instances, however, this
seems to be reversed."
Forms with combined prefixed pronominal subject and object involving the
first person are given by Dixon as follows:
/-: I-THEE, I-HIM, I-YE
ya-\ WE-THEE, WE-HIM, WE-YE, WE-THEM; HE-US
tcu-, tea-: HE-ME, THEY-ME
tea-: HE-US, THEY-US
The material contained in Dixon's paper is hardly sufficient to enable us to
unravel all the details of first person pronominal usage. Much remains uncer-
tain or obscure. It is fairly clear that a number of phonetic laws are operative
that Dixon has not succeeded in disentangling; it is also possible that certain
phonetic niceties not explicitly taken into account, particularly vocalic quan-
tity, may be significant. Thus, it is observable that verb stems in a- with preced-
ing first personal y- show a ye- in the first person singular, ya- in the first person
plural; e.g. , from -ama- to eat: y-ema I eat, ya-ma let us eat. Apparently, in
the singular the a- of the stem has been palatalized to e by the preceding y-\ in
the plural the ya- of the pronominal prefix has displaced the a- of the stem, or
the two a- vowels have contracted to a single vowel that ordinarily resists pal-
atalization. It seems more likely that the -a- oiya- and tea- regularly displace
initial stem vowels. The simplest statement of the facts that it seems possible to
formulate is as follows:
Sini^.
riur
\ - ( hctorc \()ucls )
ya-
/- (bclorc consonants )
-/
•ya
/(■//- (bclorc consonants)
tea-: -tea
/(■- (bctorc \t)\vcls);
-/(•//. -li-
Three: HuLui /^i/iv^wv*"* 247
Subjective (i.e. subject
c)t active verb)
Objective (i.e. subject
of static verb and
object ot transiti\e
verb)
The vowels oi ten- (singular) and ot \r/- and uu- (plural) are probablv inher-
ent vowels ot the preti.xes that normally displace initial stem vowels; ica- for iiu-
and (CO- for ica- are probably secondary phonetic dc\elopments due to assim-
ilaticMi, contraction, or elision. The lirst person plural, then, is tormeil from ihc
corresponding singular by adding an -(/- to the v- or /( - of the singular or hy
displacing the vowel of the singular icu- by an -a-. In other \M)rds, the really
essential element of the afhxed hrst person plural of Chimariko is -a-.
The truth of this is confirmed by certain first person plural forms in a-
(without preceding y- or tc-) that are not explicitly discussed |2^^^| by Dixon bul
are scattered about in his texts. The verb-//n(///;- lo i,i)(-nafn- appears also as.
-owam-. \\iini-. -wauni-) regularly appears with "connecting nowcT -//-. -o-,
e.g.:
y-owa'iii-xa-nan 1*1.1. (jo (p. 349, I. 11)
y-u\vaiim-.\a -nan I shall cjo (349.5)
y-uwau' m-ia I cio (349.2)
m-owa'm-xa-nan you shall go (349. 14)
h-owa'm-da hl went (349.1)
n-u-'wiun go! (349.8; //- is second person singular imperative)
n-uwii'uni cio ijack! (351.1)
nu-i^-uwa'm-na "DON'rcio!" (350. LS)
With these forms contrast the following first person plurals:
(/• -wuni let's go (351.9; 343.4)
u-\va tn (io (359.5)
a-\va tn i l:t's go (351. IS)
u-wu ni let's go (341.6)
a-wa'm-an we'll go (351.16)
na-'tcidut a-'-wum wl (io (349.9)
\(>k()-le- -icc a-wu'm-xa-nan iwo-oi-rs \s ii i -(.o (350.17; 351.3)
xotai'-rc-tce a-wa'm-xa-nan ( wi )- iiiki i u ii i -(iO (350.15)
Obviouslv a- is here a pronominal cicincnt. displacing, as do \a- and ha-, the
initial vowel t>f the stem. Ihc \crb -u\uifn- piobabK contains a suffixed, per-
haps local, -ni-, as shown b\ other dcri\ali\es ol uwd . e g
n-ua-kta go (359.6)
m-u'a-dok-ni Yin- comi wmk (3f'>0.2)
248 ^ American Indian luiniiuages I
In such verbs also the first person plural is characterized by an a- displacing the
;/- i)t the stem, e.g.:
a-\ui-kda-xu n i.in's go around (341.10; 11)
Finally, the negative of the first person plural, ordinarily yo-x-, tca-x-, is for the
verb -u\ui-(m-) apparently a-x-, e.g.:
ii-x-am-i^u-iciii -da-nan (we) don't want to go (350.14)
On the basis of Chimariko alone one might surmise that the original form for
the first person plural pronominal prefix (perhaps only for the "subjective"
series) was a- and that the ya- (and perhaps also tea-) forms arose under the
influence of the singular. An original Hokan paradigm for the first person pro-
nominal prefixes:
Sing, i- Plur. a-
is, indeed, preserved in Salinan''. The contrast of sing. /- (which generally
appears in Salinan as e-; for Salinan e < i cf. Antoniano epa-l tongue,
Migueleno ipai. < Hokan *ipali, Chimariko ipen, Achomawi ip'li): plur. a-
appears in the independent personal pronoun (Antoniano he-'k' I, ha-'k' we;
Migueleno k'e^ I, /c'a' we); in the prefixed subjective elements {e-\,a- we); and
in the locative pronominal series {-k'e to me, -k'a to us). The possessive pro-
nominal prefixes are all but analogous. The first person singular is charac-
terized by the absence of a prefix except, in the case of stems with initial vowel,
for the prefixed article-like element (-, which is not properly a possessive pro-
nominal element; the corresponding plural has t-a-, the article-like (- plus the
properly pronominal -a-, or (before vowels) t-a-t-, in which (- seems to be used
pleonastically. The only pronominal series in Salinan not characterized by a
distinctive a- in the first person plural is the objective, suffixed to the verb {-ak
me; -fak us); here the plural is derived from the singular by means of the
common Salinan [294] pluralizing element -t- (cf. also -ka thee: -t'kam you;
-o, -ko him: -ot, -A;o? them).
It is the series of subjective pronominal prefixes that most closely corre-
sponds to the Chimariko "subjective" series. This is true for all persons, as
indicated in the following comparative table:
5. See J. A. Mason, The Language of the Salinan Indians (University of California Publications in
American Archaeolopv and Ethnology, vol. 14, pp. 1-154, 1918).
ihree: Holuin l^inf{iujfH'i. 249
Cliutuinko Sill I nun
Sing. I y-. /- e-
2 m- m-
3 /;- -
Plur. 1 a-: ya- u-
2 q- k- Isuhjccl oi lm\ per
plur. impcralivc')
3 //- —
As so oltcn 111 Cliiniaiiko. ihc Salman nominal dements o| the lirst person
frccjucntly, if not regularly, displace or contract with the initial vowel of fhc
stem or displace the vowel of a preceding element (e.g. ko- noi; kc- n<ii I.
k-a- NOT \vi ). [Examples of Salinan forms in c- and a- are:
e-ki AM I (loiNCi? (i-kiv(il \ki wi cioiNc/.'
k-i'-c.\ni I \S()Ki iii> n-(i-f)ni </ i it us dancf
{'ic.xai' lo ARISE at dawn)
k-e-k'ak'a I will not sinc; k-a-suxtax wi aki .s«»i \i k \ii>
m-e-yax wiimn I came m-a-ya win n wi: cjo
(/\Y/.\ I() come) (/\7/ si \ I K \I <,())
Note that /- of m/ioc.o, muiotoMi (for/-cf. \\asho/\c k x .< >; for -.v
cf. Chimariko -iiwa-k- to come < -uwa-, -uwu-tn- lo do and ^'ana -k'l-
HiiinR, e.g. ni-sd- ro c;o away, ni-k'i- lo c omi ) is displaced h\ lirst persi>n
plural pronominal a- as in Chimariko (e.g. ya-mitcit-ni \\\ kh Kjt-imtuil-nt iii
kicks; stem -imitcii-, cf. Hokan 'uni- i i ci).
6. Treated by Mason (p. 41) as a mi)dal (imperative) preti.xof the plural, but eMilenlly prunommal.
as shown by the parallel use of pronominal m- in the imperative of the smgular. by the analogy oi ihc
Salinan possessive form t-k-. i-uk-. i-ko- 'loi r, and by the eomparison of other Hokan dialects
(besides C"himarik(w/-, qo-. (/f- we have also \'ana -.i,'<; vi ). Cf. also Washo i,'«- . impcrati\c pr* ' »
this is hkely to be the old seeond person plural prelix. generalized for both numbers rhe Icsi mn
of singular and plural pronominal prefixes is eharaeteristic of Washo Ihe pronominal analogiCMW
VVasho t,'('- have been already pointed out bv Kroeber.
Editotial Note
Originallv published in Intcrnulionul Joiirnul of Arnfriciin I infiuistics 1
2^^1-2'M (\')2()).
^
Review of j. Allien Mason:
The Language ol the Salin;in hulians
Mason, J. Aklcn. Ihi' Lani^uai^c of ilw Sulindn huluins. Uiiivcrsits «)t C alitor
nia Publications in American Archaeology and hlhnology, vol. 14 n,, i ,,.,
1-154. Berkeley, 191S.
Our previous knowledge o{ the language ot the Salinan Indians, oi south-
western C'alilornia. had been embodied in Sitjar's not easilv accessible "Vocab-
ulary of the Language of San Antonio Mission, California" (Sheas Library of
American Linguistics. 1(S61) and in a very brief sketch of Kroebers published m
1904. The present work is another of those happily increasing studies tor \s hich
future Americanists will be thankful, studies of aboriginal languages doomed
to extinction within at most a few decades. Mason has in this volume given us
the linguistic results of two field trips to Monterey C'ountv in 19 Id and I9H).
besides a convenient summary of the older material contained in Sii)ar. I he
whole makes a very useful compendium of the language in both its ext.ini
dialects, Antoniano and Migueleho. To the treatment of the phonologv (pp.
7-17) and of the morphology (pp. lcS-5cS) are added a series of twenty-seven
Antoniano and eleven Migueleno texts with both interlinear and free transla-
tions (pp. 59-120) and a systematic vocabulary of all extant Salinan wt>rds (pp.
121-154). The handling of the language, which is characteri/ed by considerable
irregularity, is competent. A number of obscure or imperfectly analyzed lea-
tures remain, but these are as much due to the fragmentary nature of our mate-
rial as to any shortcomings on the part of the author. The language is moder-
ately synthetic in structure, with a drift towards analytic methods.
Masons treatment of the Salinan phonetic system, as a system and ^vithout
regard to sound relationships, is eminently satisfactt>ry and shin\ s ct>nsiderable
grounding in general phonetics. It is refreshingly unlike the amateurish si^und
surveys that have generally done duty in American linguistics tor "phonelics".
The description oia (p. 7) as "mid-mixed-narrow", however, is an error, prt^ha-
bly an oversight; a is a "back", not a "mixed" vinsci Less satisfactiuy arc
Mason s contributions to the phonology of Salman. I oi (nirposes of iinguislic
comparison it is important to know not so much the distinctive sounds found, in
their various nuances, in a given language, as the ineducible set ot organically.
or better etymologically. distinct sounds with which one has to operate I hus.
to say that two languages both possess a given souiul. sav i. is no\ e\en sug-
gestive unless we know that the status of the v is analogous, in other words, ihal
it is in both a primary consonant or secondarily derived trom an uleniical
source. From this standpoint Mason, like most Americanists, leaves something
to be desired, it is not altogether easy to be clear, lor instance, from his data
252 ^ American Indian Languages 1
whether the aspirated surds are an organically independent series or merely a
secondary development of the intermediate-surds. The former is the impres-
sion conveyed in the phonetic portion of the paper, the latter as the data unfold
themselves in the body of the work. In other words, it would seem that the
Yana-Pomo-Shastan-Chimariko organic differentiation, say, of older k and k'
has been obliterated (or never developed) in Salinan and that Salinan k\ and
apparently often x, are but secondary developments of A: (leveled or [306] origi-
nal); cf. Salinan ko- not with Yana k'u- and Chimariko xu- (from *k'u-). Fur-
ther comparative research may lead us to modify this view. Meanwhile it seems
fairly clear that the great majority of instances of Salinan aspirated surds are
merely due to positional causes.
Mason s examples of "metathesis" (p. 15) are not convincing. They seem best
explained as due to vocalic syncope, e.g. lice YE.AK:elci'-taneL years in all
probability presupposes an originally trisyllabic stem with initial vowel elici-,
elice-. The recognition of this type of stem, which may almost be considered the
original norm for the Hokan languages (e.g. *ipali tongue, *axwati blood)
would, in general, have helped to clear up more than one stubborn feature of
Salinan phonetics or morphology. In particular, I am inclined to suspect that
many examples analyzed by Mason as consisting of prefixed consonant plus
vowel followed by stem with initial consonant would have been more accurately
interpreted as consonantal prefix followed by stem with initial vowel. Salinan
here offers precisely the same difficulties and perplexities that Dixon met with
in Chimariko.
Under reduplication (p. 14) Mason omits to mention several interesting
examples of final reduplication in Salinan, e.g. t-ikelele round, k-itspilil
PAINTED, t'pelel STRIPED, exoxo BRAIN. This would not be so important if not
for the presence of analogous forms in other Hokan-Coahuiltecan languages,
e.g. Chimariko le-tretre- spotted, -poxolxol to paint; Washo tamo-mo
WOMAN, tewi-wi youth; Porno pololo round, matoto thunder; Tonkawa
pilil round. There are also indications of the former existence in Salinan of a
method of forming the plural by final reduplication, e.g. icxexe feet (this is
doubtful because -ex- seems often in Salinan to act as a single consonant related
to -C-), t-iexeplip feet (apparently old plural *-iexepip later re-pluralized by
infixed -/-). This is very suggestive, as final reduplication to express plurality of
the noun is much in evidence in Esselen and Washo.
There seems some evidence for a diminutive suffix -la-, though this is not
explicitly recognized by Mason, e.g. exapa-la-t pebble (cf. exap stone); (o--l
heap (cf. t'oi mountain) ; lua-ne-lo slave (cf . lua man) ; k- 'eke--l-e to have a
FATHER (cf. ek father); ito-l brother, plur. ito--la-nel; maee-l great-
grandchild. The establishment of a diminutive suffix -la- would receive its
due significance by referring to the common Chimariko diminutive -l-(la), -la-;
this element is also frequently found in Chimariko terms of relationship.
One of the most interesting and irregular features of Salinan is the formation
of the plural of nouns and of the plural and iterative of verbs. No less than a
dozen distinct types and a large number of irregular formations are discussed
I'hrt't'. Hokii/i lMn\:utivfs. 253
and illustrated by Mastin, the great majority o\ them involving a suffixed or
infixed -/-, -/;-, or -/-. Signilieanlly analogous plurals, often of great irregulariiy
though oi less Irequeney, are found in \ana; e.g. sueh Salman plurals ai
-l-i'li'villndi \RK()\ss (sing, l-i'icvifii) and unctcm si \ i kai kimain (sing.
iincni) offer more than a eursory parallel to sueh Yana forms as ntui tifuui i hi
c nil IS (sing, ftiudjau-pa), k'uru-\vi sii.\.m.\ns (-r- • d\ sing, k it \si),
sadimsi- si \ i rai. si.e-.ep (sing, su/nsi-. sums). I he Salman type with infixed
-/;-. -.V- (e.g. nic/ien- hands, sing, men-; kiixausiw \<.\\ si.i:i-.p, sing. kau)may
be analogous to sueh Yana forms as djali- si \ i r.ai i ai (.n (from \liahuh "*),
sing. djal-.
The most striking feature of Salinan noun morphology is the pretixmg of an
element /- or /-. This prefix oeeurs both in primary nouns and in nominal deriva-
tives of verb stems. When the noun is preeeded by possessive pronominal pre-
fixes, the (- sometimes appears before the pronominal element, at other times
|3()7) it is laeking. It seems highly probable, moreover, that a number of other (-
prefixes (verbal and loeal) that Mason diseusses in the progress of his sketeh arc
etymologieally identieal with the nominal (- (e.g. eondilional (-. ui-. p. 44). It is
most plausibly interpreted as a kind oi nominal artiele of t)riginally demon-
strative foree (ef. Hokan demonstrative stem *i(i: this fuller form seems to be
found in Salinan enelitie -ta now). It offers a striking and probablv significant
analogy to Washo d-, similarly prefixed to both primary and derivative nouns
The possessive pronominal prefixes of Salinan offer important analogies to the
corresponding elements of other Hokan languages, notablv (■himariki> .ind
Washt); the lack of a distinct pronominal prefix for the first persDii smt-ular is
paralleled, it would seem, in Yuman.
In discussing the pronominal system of Salinan, Mast)n points out the pres-
ence of six more or less distinct series of elements: the indepeiulent personal
pronouns; the "proclitic" series, which might better have been frankK recog-
nized as constituting true prefixes (they occur onl\ as verb subjects and arc
closely connected with the stem, whose initial vowels they si>metimes displace);
the objective elements, suffixed to the verb; the locative series (e.g. si \h mi-:,
i() him); the possessive prefixes; and the enclitic subjects. The last of these.
however, are merely a secondarily abbreviated set derived from the indepen-
dent pronouns. Of the others, the objective series stands out. for the mi>st pari,
as distinctive, the others show ctmsidcrable interrelatu>nship I he locative
series, in particular, is evident 1\ closcK relateil. iu>t. as Mason remarks, to the
independent series, but to the "proclitics" and possessives It is eompi>iinded of
the pronominal element proper and a preceding k-. kc-. evidently an old
locative or objective particle (cf. >ana objective and locative particle jfi);
hence, e.g., -k'e me (locatisc) and -kc<> iii\i (locative) are to he analyzed as
k(e)-'eTn-M\- and ke-o io-him (such a form as .Mason's /<•»»</• Af>AV ni ak mi is
most easilv interpreted as /-('uv/Av^A-'c iiii -i'k<>\imii\ io-mi ). Ihc close par-
allelism between the first person siiii:ul.ii .iiul plural forms in Salman ischarac-
teristicof other Hokan languages; the ctxitrasi of the r r/M^r /eroof the singular
with the a o{ the plural is slrikinglv reminiseeni of Chimanko
254 V American Indian Languages 1
In the section on "temporal proclitics" (pp. 34, 35) there is betrayed a certain
incompleteness or haltingness of analysis which is in evidence also elsewhere in
the book. Phonetically, this comes out in the authors treatment of the pro-
nominal prefix or initial vowel of the stem, which is often mistakenly, I imagine,
drawn to the proclitic. To say that "the prefix ma- probably differs only
phonetically from me- [when]" (p. 25) is misleading. Such examples as me-yam
WHEN I SEE and ma-yaL when we go suggest strongly the analysis m-e-yam
and m-a-yaL with the regular "proclitic" pronouns e- I and a- we. Mor-
phologically, Mason does not seem to realize the probable denominating, in
part demonstrative, origin of his temporal proclitics. They are only secondarily
subordinating elements. Such a form as be--ya when I went (better b-e-ya or
contracted be-eya) is, without doubt, an indicative -e-ya I went subordinated
by the demonstrative stem pe, pa "the, that"; that I-went, whence when I
WENT, is a method of subordination that seems to be paralleled by like con-
structions in Yana and is strongly reminiscent of Siouan.
The use of the perplexing verbal prefixes p- and k- (pp. 38, 39) suggests a
fundamental generic classification of verbs. Mason himself doubtfully
describes the p- verbs as transitives, the k- verbs as intransitives (e.g. k-enai to
HURT ONESELF, p-enai TO wound). This is the most obvious explanation but
there are many difficulties in the way of its acceptance. That [308] p- verbs
embrace such ideas as to think and to circle around seems to suggest that
the proper basis of classification is not so much transitive and intransitive as
active and static, as in Haida-Tlingit, Siouan, and Chimariko. A more intensive
study of the Salinan material, supplemented eventually by comparison with
Chumash, Yuman, Seri, and possibly Coahuiltecan-Tonkawa (cf. Comecrudo
pa- verbs and Seri, like Salinan, adjectives in A:-), will doubtless clear up this
fundamental problem of Salinan morphology. The (- verbs (pp. 39, 40) seem
most intelligibly explained as subordinates (conjunctives), morphologically
nothing but nominalized forms, the (- being identical, as Mason suggests with
reserve, with the common nominal (- prefix. This explanation gains force from
the fact that the /- forms regularly replace/?- and k- forms after "proclitic" and
other prefixed elements. Thus, such a form as ram-t-xwen then (he) arrived
is really then-the-arriv(ing), then (it is) that (he) arrived; similarly
me-t-amp'' when (it) came out must be understood as time-the-coming
OUT. Such constructions, it need hardly be added, are common in America.
The negative verbal prefix ko-, k (pp. 41, 42) offers many points of similarity
with the Chimariko negative xu-, -x-. The pronominal element follows in Sali-
nan, regularly precedes in Chimariko. Dixon, however, remarks that the first
person singular negative of verbs with y-, i- as first person singular pronominal
prefix is generally xe-, the -e- replacing frequently the initial vowel of the stem.
This feature is so isolated as to appear archaic; it strongly, and perhaps signifi-
cantly, parallels Salinan k-e not I.
The locative adverbs and prepositions (pp. 55-57) are frequently charac-
terized by certain prefixed elements {ma-\ tuma-\um-\ tum-;umpa-, tumpa-\tu-,
ti-) which seem to me not quite fully understood by Mason. The most likely
Three: HoLin lxim:iuii>e\ 255
analysis, it seems to me. assumes a petrified noun 'uma- im ac i . imi-re. >»hich
may appear abbreviated to niu- or /////-, aeeorditm to phonetic, perhaps .iceen-
tiiaL eonditions. lo this element may be prehxeil the arliele like (•. vshilc ihc
demonstrative /'(/ iii \i may tollow. The eorreetness ot this view is corroborated
by sueh an independent adverb as titnipu iiii ki . evidenlly lum-pa iiii •
IM.AC I -rnAi ; similarly, rum-Cca' in i hi wai i k is to be understood as rumt
ca' WW (/■-</-)-iM A( I - nil -\NAi IK. I he element urn-, ma-, lutm- is connate lt>
nia- forms in Yana, C'himariko, and Pomo.
A detailed linguistic analysis ot the first text (pp. (i4-h7) makes concrete m ihc
mind of the reader what has been given in analytic form in the grammatical
survey. This analysis is convincing in the main. The chiel misunderstandings, if
I may be allowed the term, are due to a failure to recogm/e in .ill eases ihc
nominal (- prelix and to a tendency to cut loose the initial vowel ot the stem or
the pronominal "proclitic" vowel and attach it to the preceding consonant
Thus, the form /m;/(7;'. translated as ( i iii s why) to go also? (freely, wii^
snoi'LH I COME-,?) is analyzed as consisting oi a general preposition //-. the
stem ya, and the iterative suftix -ten. f ar more plausible is the anal\sis t-tya-Wn
(win ) rm -cioiNCi-.Ai.so? (stem lyu, ia; cf. Washo i\c K) (.o). possibly t-i-ya-
ten (wH^ ) rHi:-I-ci()-ALSO? The "preposition" //- is probably a phantom
In view of the rapidly increasing importance of lexical comparisons in Ameri-
can linguistics, the full Salinan vt)cabulary included by Mason is m the highest
degree welcome and will eventually constitute not the least \.iluable pari of ihc
book. It is precisely because of the growing importance of comparative uork
that I have in this review emphasized points of relatit)nship belueen Salman
and other languages of its group, for that it belongs to the group provisionally
known as "Hokan" is now abundantly clear. Much miue might have been (3()9)
advanced on this point than I have touched upon, but a re\ lew is not the prt>per
place for a full discussion.
Editorial Note
Originally published in International Journal (yf Amcruan l.inguistus 1,
305-309 (1920).
A SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE ON SALINAN AND WASfiO
By E. Sai'ir
When my paper on Hokan and Coahuilte-
c.in ' was first written, Salinan seemed only
doubtfully Hokan. I therefore relegated the six
or seven Salinan-Coahuiltecan parallels that
were then at my disposal to the footnotes (see
nos. 3, 4, 5, 31,47, 54, 103). Even of these
no. 47 (Salinan Ii'm) must be considered very
doubtful at best. A little later, when I was pre-
paring my paper on The Position of Yana in the
Hokan Stock, Dr. J. A. Mason put further Sali-
nan manuscript data at my disposal. The Hokan
athliation of the language seemed to become
more and more probable and I had little hesita-
tion in entering the increasing number of Sali-
nan parallels in my comparative Hokan lists. In
1 9 18 appeared Dr. Mason's paper on The Lan-
i^nage of the Salinan Indians^, which removed
all doubt — at least so it seems to me — as to
where Salinan belongs. Salinan is unmistakably
Hokan in structural type and resemblances in
morphology to Chimariko, Yana, and other
Hokan languages suggest themselves at every
lurn. The agreements with Chimariko are par-
;:ularly impressive and reveal once more the
■ ucial importance of this language to an under-
.inding of Hokan relationships. Unfortunately
. ur Chimariko record is very fragmentary and
is practically certain always to remain so.
Dr. Mason's Salinan vocabulary, which forms
Part IV of his papery enables me to add a
number ot interesting Salinan-Coahuiltecan
lexical parallels. In some of these instances, the
Salinan form is a strikingly corroborative bridge
1. See this Journal, 280-290.
2. UCF 14, i-i 54.
between the Hokan and Coahuiliecan forms
already given. This is notably the case with
Salinan rwa'n i-isH (Tonkawa esva-; Porno
ca, aca); Hokan *istca-, *esiva-. Sa'! . Mi-
tions to the preceding entries are a as.
3. To independent Sal. Ice (properly ;t*^') I
(see note 3 of comparative vocabulan*) add
enclitic objective -fljt .me. This corresponds well
with Tonkawa objective ka .me.
18. Sal. ita"l, e'taa shoulder, presumably
from ARM ; c(. also Chim. h- ita shoulder. Sali-
nan ita'l is curiously close to reconstructed
Hokan *itaii, which was formed from compara-
tive evidence before this Salinan form was avail-
able (see The Position of Yana in the Hokan
Slock, p. 33).
20. Sal. icii'\ ico" breast. But probably ihis
is better put with Chim. h-usi breast; Chu-
mash usu'i chest, heakt.
33. Sal. /-flfl' deer. /-of this and other terms
is the prefixed demonstrative element (see note
5 ; /-is Kroebcr's orthographv for Mason's
0-
34. Sal. cu<a'n, swan, ru'fl'N, cowa'n- fish.
49. Sal. na' sun.
53. Sal. k-emi'ltop lightsis<; -'- pcrhj}>s
frequentative infix in stem- emi:
54. Sal. -ca occurs also without licmofis-
trative/-, /- {t-ca\ tc'a, /'-fa*. l'-ca\ t£'xa'). Cf.
ca-lole dew ; u-ca-t, o-ca-t tears, i.e. hYE-WATE«
(d. Porno yu-xa, Chimariko h-uso-'xa; here
Sal. U-, tm'u-(rom *uyu-, ordinarily face,
preserves its original meaning of 1 v^y
66. Sal. xj'kic, ka'k'cu two.
69. Sal. macoL to blaib, to buin.
70. Sal. -.V hither in u-x, ie-x, ix-x tocome;
258
V American Indian Languages I
69
f. ia, ie to go ; Sal. -.v <-*^'(0- Cf. also Come-
crudo3'a-^TO come.
75. Sal. ema'^t' to kill. Possibly to be ana-
lyzed into ema'-t' to cause to die; -/-, -ie- is
causative in Salinan.
78. Sal. anio TO eat; amiiia (Sitjar) to eat
(as gruel), to suck.
79 . Sal. icx, icax to eat ; from Hokan *ixa-k'-.
Salinan regularly changes Hokan .v tor, 5 where
Esselen, Shastan, and Karok likewise change
it {d. no 54 ; also Salinan t-cik\ t-ca'k knife :
Yana xaga flint, see note 20 of comparative
vocabulary), keeps it (as x or A:') where they
keep it (cf. no. 66). Apparently we must reckon
with two etymologically distinct .r-sounds in
Hokan, presumably palatal x (which tended to
become assibilated) und velar x (which remai-
ned in ^-position).
93. Sal. iani,iem, plural iema'-lt'e to see,
iema-t to show, i.e. to cause to see (-/ is causa-
tive). Salinan iema- corresponds well to Atsu-
gewi -iina- and Comecrudo imax.
97. Sal. me 10 sleep. This goes very well
with Comecrudo n-eme-t, Karankawa 'm. Pre-
sumably these forms are to be disconnected
from Hokan *isama-, *itsama-.
III. Sal. -la-, diminutive suffix. Not explicit-
ly recognized by Mason, but some of his
examples seem clear enough : cxapa-la- 1 pebble
{d. cxap stone) ; fo'-l heap (cf. foi mountain);
luane-lo slave, luani-la-yo, overseer, i.e. slave-
warden (cf. lua man).
Of even greater interest here are examples of
Salinan-Coahuiltecan for which I am at present
unable to find other (or but isolated) Hokan
cognates. Our list of Hokan-Coahuiltecan paral-
lels may be thus extended :
119. Sal. e'ntxt ear Comecr. all ;
Atak. an ear
120. Sal. eno'ol, noL Tonk. nel sexual or-
penis gans
121. Sal. t-itcdmo be-
hind, t-i'tconi
back
122. Sal. ia, ie to go ;
Ess. iyn to co-
me
123. Sal. ica'-k, ica
to go, to walk
(from Hokan
*ixa-, cf. no.
79 above)
124. Sal. xac, plur.
ky! ci-L to sit
down, to be
seated(Hokan
*ik'a-)
125. Sal. ^- ; Seri k-,
intransitive
(better static)
verb prefix
126. Sal. p-, transitive
(betteractive)
verb prefix
Comecr. semi
after
Tonk. yakii- ;
• Karan. yc
to go
Tonk. xa to
go; Coahu.
ka-l to go,
ka-i to walk
Karan. he'kes,
haka to sit ;
Atak. ke
Tonk. k- (e.g.
ko-pol round,
cf. pilil round)
Comecr. pa-
verb prefix
(active ?)
Of these the last two are of peculiar impor-
tance, though the available evidence is not full
enough to enable me to speak with confidence..
In the first place, Mason's account of thefunctionu
of the Salinan k- and /^-elements does notg
strike me as quite hitting the mark. He calls'^l
them « intransitive » and « transitive » prefixes'
respectively, yet, as he himselfremarks,ffmany;
cases are found in which p- introduces an intran-
sitive phrase ». An examination of his verb.;
material leads to the feeling that the ^-prefix*'
primarily characterizes static verbs, i.e. verbs
of state, quality (adjectives), and non-agentivf
process (e. g. to wake up, to snow, it is hot,
to be fat), also passives and reflexives (examplef);
ot « transitives » with k- are probably merelyi(
inadequately translated passives, e. g. « thej'
sought him » is to be understood as « he wa.'
sought))). Practically all Salinan adjectives hav(
Three: HoLin iMn/iiuifies
25^
-o
/■-. Verbs with p- arc evidently active, whether
transitive or not (e.g. to think, to circle around,
to try, to heat, to wound, to seize). Naturally
It is often a matter of idiom whether a verbal
idea is conceived of in terms of action or state,
but the nature of the Salinan classification of
lbs seems clear enough. This classification
cms to be a deep-rooted Hokan feature, while
the Pcinitian languages classify their verbs into
true transitives'and intransitivcs. Neither Yana
nor Chimariko use k- or p- prefixes, but the
distinction of active and static verbs is made by
other means. In Chimariko (as in Siouan)they
are distinguished by differences of pronominal
treatment, in Yana by differences of stem vo-
calism.
The Seri material, wretched as it is, never-
theless strongly suggests that static verbs (at
least adjectives and numerals) are characterized
by the same /.'-prefix that we have in Salinan
(e.g k-ti'ii KED',k-maHii yellow, k-opof black,
k-Ol'ii BLUE, GREEN', k-o'pX WHITE, k-akof GREAT,
k-i'pi GOOD, k-ax-hi-m, k-uxo-iii two, k-osoxi
four). Variant forms clearly suggest that k- is a
movable element, e. g. sox-ku-m four. Tiiis
striking Salinan-Seri feature is almost certainly
paralleled in Tonkawa ko-pol (or /:-o/)o/) round,
as other Hokan-Coahuiltecan cognates (see no.
6i of comparative vocabulary)exhibit the same
stem {pol-, pil-, -pel) without the k- prefix.
Of Coahuiltecan cognates of Salinan active
p- I am more doubtful. A considerable number
of Comecrudo verbs that contain a prefixed /)</-
or p- is ot the active type (to burn, to go, to
drink, to eat, to jump, to rattle [?J, to sing, to
whistle). Unfortunately for our hypothesis not
a few p- verbs are of the static type (black, cold,
dead, to lie down % evening, great, lightning,
thunder, red, round, to sit, strong, tall, tired,
white, to blow [wind]). It is difficult to believe
1. I am interpreting the orthographies of Hewitt's
sources as best I can .
2. Possibly the active verb is meant.
that all of the latter group arc conceived of as
active, though some (like to lighten, to thun-
der, wind blows) may well be. We may sur-
mise that a former active significance of •' - -
prefix was obscured in Comecrudo and ;
became a generalized verb prefix that could be
used with both voices. On the < •' ' J, an
example of the static (adjectival) k to be
preserved in Comecrudo kicdx small, little,
young (/:-;><; -A ;cf. Tonk. ca-xttn, Coahu.ftf-n,
Atak. cka).
Besides such Salinan forms as have already
been recognized as Hokan in the former paper
or in the Yana study ', I have noted a : f
others that seem worth recording, th' „ y
do not directly bear, for the present, go the
Hokan relationship of the Coahuiltecan langua-
ges. They are the fruit of a merely casual read-
ing of Mason's paper. There is no doubt
that a really careful study of Mason's Salinan
material by one that has a full body of Yuman
or Pomo da:a to fall back on would yield a
considerable harvest. I have noted :
1. Sal. (7/cw- younger sister : Ach.a/im youn-
ger BROTMLR {d. Yana-Hokau, no. 123).
2. Sal. puku AK.M : Chumash />« ar.m, hand;
Chim. -pu in /;-//<2//-/>// ARM(cf. Yana-Hokan,
no. 23).
3. Sal. iKx, (la'cx liver : Chim. /m/W liver.
4. Sal. icaha-'L isxaL urine : Chumash " "
URINE.
5. Sal.(/r/<j '-/',w/oTESTiCLE(Hokan*.w/4-.'):
Pomo sa-'vl tf.sticlf.s, da-^l ■ ■
6. Sal. tUo'i OAK, possibly to be . ^d as
/'-/(''/ thi-acorn-true: Yana yu- ACOiN(cf.
Yana-Hokan, no. 141) It may be '
is to be read -/'<>-» and that -i is a i... '.
compounds from Hokan '1- tree (cf. Yana-
ilok.m.no. 59). Other Salinan forms su^
ting Hokan '/- are yeso'-C JVSh, ko: ' '
matiii'-'yi milkwfed, niomn-'yi t
3. Tlicsc do not nerd to be repeated here.
260
V American Indian Languages 1
71
7. Sal. r-o\ t'-o' PINE NUTS : Yana ^'u-fia, 'ii-na
PINE NUTS (stem '«-).
8. S.il. t-ivke IN, WITHIN (from -o'.Y^ ; Salinan ¥
and X, as correspondents of Hokan .y, see no.
79 above, seem to interchange constantly) :
Hokan *vr/</« in (see Yana-Hokan, no 176).
9. Sal. he-, locative particle used after preposi-
tions (e. g. ke'-o HIM, TO him, t-ewa-'ko h-e
NEAR ME, lit THE-NEARNESS to-me) : Yana ^/,
objective particle.
10. Sal. k-etca-" large, great : Yana -djal- in
ba-djal-L\KGE (cf. Yana-Hokan, no. 9).
11. Sal. k-its-pilil painted (for -its- cf. k-itc-ka-
ten RED, k-itc-mila transparent, k-its-tohe
twisted) with final reduplication (also k-if-
pelel striped) : Yana p'un- to paint;
Chim. reduplicated -xoIxqI- (cf. Yana-Hokan,
no. III).
12. Sal. k-atulul-na straight (road): Chim.
h-a-'doha-n straight.
13. Sal . k-esiyu'k' sweet : Chim. h-iqui-ni sweet
(read -ixui- ?).
•14. Sal. sa- TO SPEAK, se' to tell, to say so,
em-se'k' he who speaks : Chim. tc-isi't 1 said
{tc- is pronominal).
15. Sal. te, t'e to tell, to say so : Yana t'i-
TO SAY.
16. Sal. k'unipTO desire : Yana k'nn- to like,
to wish.
17. Sal. -esno-, -esna- to hear (e.g. p-esno'-xo,
plur. p-esnelo'-xo to hear, to listen, p-esna(iy
'ya he was heard, possibly "assimilated from
*-isma-, Hokan *isama- ear (see Yana-
Hokan, no. 76).
18. Sal. a-niQi), -xmk to kill : Yana oudji-
To KILL (static form amdji'-).
19. Sal. -atce- to sit (e.g. k-atce-k to sit down,
t-atce-x seat) : Yana dju- to sit (cf. Yana-
Hokan, no. 36).
20. Sa\. a'ke-n, a'ki'-nyi to think : Yana^/--
To have in mind.
21. Sal. 'arms, a'waiTO shout, to cry : Hokan
*imi- {*ami- ?) to cry (ct. Yana-Hokan, no.
82 ; also no. 72 of Hokan-Coahuiltecan
comparative list).
22. Sal. a'xa-p to die : Chim. -ko- to die;
Hokan * a¥a- (?).
23. Sal. ma't to fill oneself: E. Porno niadi
TO FILL tight (cf. Yana-Hokan, no. 13,
where another Salinan form, corresponding
to Yana bani-- to be full, is better released
from comparison with Pomo madi).
24. Sal. oi, plur. oyi-l to learn, to determine :
Yana, E. Pomo -yi- to teach, to show ;
Hokan *oyi (?).
25. Sal. um-p, o'tnO'p, plur. omo-lo-p to fi-
nish : Hokan *mu- (*umu-}) to work, to
FIX (cf. Yana-Hokan, no. 89).
26. Sal. -e, -i, makes denominative verbs (e.g.
k-cozva'n-i to catch fish from cwa'ti fish) :
Yana -i-, verbalizes noun stems ending in
short vowel (e.g. ba-i- to hunt deer from
ba- deer).
27. Sal. -ni, denominative suffix, apparently
durative intransitive (e.g. k-lua-ni to be hus-
banded from lua man, not to marry a man,
as Mason has it ; k- is static) ; probably iden-
tical with adjectival -we (e. g. ffl"'Aflt'-ne blue,
cf. plur. k-ca''xa-te-na ; t-ehva-ne strong,
fierce, lit. manly, cf. liia above; k-itstdl-ne
twisted, cf. ^\\ix. k-itsldl-ti-ne) : Chim. -«/,
-n, « present » durative verb suffix, also ad-
jectival (e.g. asi-n alia day-sun, cf. asi day ;
a-tcxum-ni dry, hiqu'i-ni sweet, Iwyui-n
smooth, cidjii-n wet). I suspect that this
Hokan -ni is primarily durative intransitive
(or better static).
28. Sal. -i-, imperative suffix with third person
pronominal object (e.g. m-akl-i-k ask him !):
Yana -V, imperative suffix.
Perhaps the most fundamental and persistent
Hokan feature of Salinan is the great prepon-
derance of stems with initial vowel. In this
respect Salinan, like Shastan, Chimariko, and
Yuman, stands on a more archaic footing than
Thnr: HaLin Ixmaua^es
72
Yana and most Ponio dialects, in which the
initial vowel is generally elided. As in other
Hokan languages, and as in Coahuiltecan, there
is an interchange in Salinan between the stem
form with initial vowel and with elided vowel.
Thus, aton-o his younger sister but ton my
YOUNGER SISTER (Mason's « nominal prefix » a-
is merely an abstracted stem initial ; d. Acho-
mawi lUiin younger brother) ; asak'a ilint
but t-cik,t-ca-k KN II- E (Hokan *</A77/i-(? and*.xiika).
The disappearance of the vowel is, no doubt,
conditioned by an old shift of accent {a'xii w.\ter,
whence Tonkawa ax; axa'-na to drink, whence
Tonkawa xana). All in all, there can be no rea-
sonable doubt that Salinan is a Hokan language,
in all probability a more typical one than Yana.
A somewhat involved morphology and the
obscuring operation of a number of phonetic
laws had prevented its proper classification at
the time the Hokan group was set up.
I feel just as little doubt that Washo is a Hokan
language. The evidence recently presented for
this hypothesis by Dixon and Kroeber and by
myself' is difficult to explain away. Morpholo-
gically Washo is quite close to the North Hokan
group that includes Shastan, Chimariko, and
Karok. It has no specific points of resemblance
to Yana, such parallels as it exhibits being
shared by other more remote languages of the
stock. Both Yana and Washo, for instance,
have a set of local suffixes in the verb, but this
feature, which has disappeared or all but disap-
peared in PomOjis also found in Karok, Shastan,
and Chimariko. It agrees with Pomo and the
North Hokan languages in its instrumental verb
prefixes and its nominal postpositions ; these
features mark it off from Yana and Salinan. As
regards the treatment of the old Hokan initial
vowels, Washo is exactly on the same footing
as Salinan . It preserves them as a rule (e.g.
I. Dixon and Kroeber, Lim^m/5/jc Families of California,
UCP 16 : 47-1 18 (1919) ; see pp. 104-1 12.
J-i-be NECK : Walapai i>Milr, Tonkawa hepeta ;« to
EAT. contrast E. Pomo lui; d-iyrlnooTH : Yumin
/>v7//,Comecrudu /^. i" '
is thus, in this impu:-.....; ...,^.;, ,..^u -
than Yana itself. Lexically Washo is no »
to Yana than to Pomo.Chimariko.and Yuman,
indeed, it is less close. What cvid' : '
therefore, is to the effect that t
aspect of Washo is not a secondary feature of
the language due to the influence of V
nearest recognized Hokan langua^'c, . ..;
to the fact that it has preserved a lar^c nv.
of fundamental Hokan stems and morphoh .
characteristics.
Its geographical position is interesting and
important. It stands as a Hokan waif at the
western end of the Gre.it Basin. Like its close
relatives in California, it was cut off from the
Coahuiltecan area and the Yuman tribes to the
south by the movements of Athapascan and
Shoshonean peoples. Within (..'"
it is reasonable to suppose that .i
Pomo-Yana continuum was broken up by the
southward movement of Penutian "■
that Washo and Pomo now stand a- ; .
islands. This southward drift of the Per
group is rendered plausible by the
of these languages with Takclma, t
certain other langu.)ges of Oregon mu.
The proof for this I hope to give in another
paper.
It is not at all probable that the Hokan •
huiltecan group as at present defined u.
than a temporary adumbration
grouping that may be cn- ■ ' ' ■
closer study. The isolaii'
presence of a number ol Hue:
between the Colorado and '
await study suggest that the j
filled in. And to the east it is n
that Atakapa may prove to be a
Coahuiltecan and the Tunica grou, -......-
is for the future.
262 ^ American Indian Languages I
Editorial Note
Originally published in International Journal of American Linguistics 2,
68-72(1921).
THE HOKAN AFI'lM ^^■ < )F SIHI I AHA IN NICARAGUA
By EDWARD SAl'Ik
Contents
Introductorv
I. Hokan F.lemcnts in Subtiaba *^^
A. Body-Part Nouns ^^•
B. Animal Nouns ^^
C. Natural Ohjecu. . ^'^
D. Cultural Objects ^ "
E. Personal Nouns ^'^
F. Verbs. *^^
G. Adjectives ^'*
H. Numerals "*'*
I. Demonstrati\ e. Interrogative, and other Pronominal Steins. . 421
J. Particles.
422
K. Grammatical Elements ^•■*
II. Notes on Subtiaba Phonology
Vocalic Changes
Monophthongization of Diphthongs
Change of w to ^w
\'ocalization of Final -ak and -al ^
Palatalizing of Nasals
Change of / to n
Nasalized Stops
Hokan x and x
Loss and Contraction of Vowels
INTRODUC'TOKV
426
428
428
AM
4M
4J1
AU
I
T IS the purpose of this iKii)cr to loUow uj^ a valuable hypothesis
which Dr. \V. Lehmann has recently proposed in regard to
Subtiaba. a language now spoken by only a small number of
Indians in a village near Leon, on the Pacifjc slope ..f N •^•'
This language is known to us also under the names lO
and, mistakenly, of "Orotina" and "Nagrando." Our material
. See W. Lehmann. Zctral-An.rrika, I. Tnl: Die Sprf^fk^n ^^rmi^
//. fiawJ (Berlin. 1920); sec pp. 910-978. which arc dcv.t
The close relationship of these two languages was first
1915 (see Zcilsilirift fur Etimologie, 1915, pp. 1-34).
264 V American Indian Languages 1
403
is due mainly to what Dr. Lehmann could obtain in 1908 and 1909
from an aged woman in the village of Subtiaba (Jiquilapa), but
is supplemented to some extent by earlier vocabularies collected
by Squier, Don Francisco Arragon (published by the Comte de
Charencey), and Berendt (published in ^nnton's American Race).
For a long time the language was believed to be an isolated one,
aside from a small enclave (Guatajiguala) further north in the
Lenca country in Salvador. But it appeared later that it is very
closely related to Tlappanec or Yopi, a language spoken in the
state of Guerrero in southern Mexico, on the western border of
the Mixtec area. Though what we know of this second language
is apparently limited to a vocabulary of 69 words published by
N. Leon in 1912, it is quite enough to show at once that Subtiaba
and Tlappanec are really only dialects of a single language, dif-
fering no more, say, than Cree and Fox or than Ute and Southern
Paiute. It is probable that they are mutually intelligible or nearly
so. This is surprising in view of the tremendous distance which
separates them, though there is plenty of precedent for this kind
of distribution in America (cf . Pipil-Nicarao and Nahua tl ; Mangue-
Chorotega, Chiapanec, and Mazatec).
This Mexican and Central American language is of very special
interest to students of the languages and cultures of the United
States because of the great likelihood that Dr. Lehmann is correct
in his surmise that it is related to certain languages of California.
He seems to believe in a special relationship with Washo, of eastern
California and western Nevada,^ but I believe that this specific
formulation of the theory is not quite acceptable. Since Dr. Leh-
mann first observed the remarkable analogy between the nominal
fZ-prefix of Subtiaba and that of Washo, Dixon and Kroeber,
J. P. Harrington, and the writer have been led, independently of
each other, to affiliate Washo with the Hokan group (then con-
sisting of Karok, Chimariko, Shasta-Achomawi, Yana, Pomo,
Esselen, Yuman, Chumash, Salinan, Seri, and Chontal or Te-
quistlateco). The present writer was further led to connect with
these Hokan languages a group of languages (Coahuilteco, in-
Thrte: Hokcin Ijimnuigts 265
404
eluding C'omcerudi) ;uul C'otoiKinu'; Tonkawa. K.u.iuk.iw.i , .uwi
perhaps Atakapa) sjjokcn in norlht-asU-rn Mexico ami s^juthcrn
Texas, along the (lull of Mexico, and introduced the term "llokan-
Coahuiltecan" for this enlargrd grou|). An examination of iJr.
Lehmann's material has convinced me that he is essentially correct,
hut that SuhliaJKi and Tlappanec are to be regarded as a southern
outlier of the Hokan-Coahuiltecan stock as a whole, not of a sub-
division of this group to which Washo belongs in particular.
Aside from the d- (or /-) prefix, which is shared by Salinan and
Chumash (San Luis Obispo dialect), and of which reflexes prob-
ably exist elsewhere in llokan-Coahuiltecan, there seem to be no
lexical or morphological agreements that would justify our setting
oflf Washo and Subtiaba-Tlappanec against the other Hokan and
Coahuiltecan languages. Of the seven lexical parallels that Dr.
Lchmann gives between Washo and Subtiaba, four are probably
correct;^ they are noted below. Each of them has other Hokan
cognates as well.
In preparing the following list of cognate words and elements in
Subtiaba (and Tlappanec) and Hokan-Coahuiltecan I have not
by any means made use of all the dialectic Hokan and Coahuiltecan
material which is available for comparison, scanty as that really
is, but have limited myself in the main to the material which has
already been presented in comparative form in other papers.*
' These are words for "mouth," "nape," "sun" ("day"), and "frog." His comparison
of the words for "tree," "silver," and "elbow" can hardly be correct and arc ptartly
due to misunderstandings. Washo becu "silver," which he compares with .Subtiaba
baxka, is to be read with c = Knglish sh and is obviously lx)rrowcd from S|«ni.sh ^so.
Washo d-ttlsu "elbow" cannot be compared with .Subtiaba isu, which Dr. I^hmano
inadvertently translates as "elbow." His material shows that this word rcallv mraiM
"bone"; "elbow" is iJM-/>ax/>u, literally "bone of arm." For Hokan tognalcs to Subiiaba
isu, see no. 4 of our list.
* See E. Sapir, The Position oj Yana in llir Uokan StMk (University of Califorma
Publications in .Vmerican Archaeology and Kthnology, vol. 1.^. pp. I-.M. I9I7i. utrd
as Yan.; R. B. Dixon's and A. L. Kroeber's list of Hokan elements which b«v . ,.-*!€»
in Washo and my own similar list in their Lin/^uislic Families 0/ Co. i~,
vol. 16, pp. 104-112, 1919), cited as Was.Ilok.; K. Sapir. The Hokan an.: im
Languages (International Journal of .American Linguistics, vol. I. pp .'* ".
cited as Hok.-Coa.); E. Sapir, -1 Supplemrntary .V«/<- on Salinan and II j^* shW .
vol. 2, pp. 68-72, 1922), cited as Sup.
266 ^ American Indian Languages 1
405
It is highly probable that a detailed comparison with such Hokan-
Coahuiltecan languages as Seri, Yuman, Chumash, and Tonkawa
would disclose a great many additional Hokan cognates in Sub-
tiaba. The orthography has been slightly simplified and normal-
ized, so far as possible, to current Americanist usage in this
country. Stress accents have been omitted. A number of phonetic
and morphological observations on Subtiaba follow the list of
suggested cognates.
I. HOKAN ELEMENTS IN SUBTIABA^
A. Body- Part Nouns
1. arm: paxpw, Sq. pa'pu, Ar. pahpa (probably "thy arm"; -w, -yw
is "my," -a, -ya "thy" in Sub.). Cf. Chim. -pu in
h-itan-pu "arm" (itan- is "hand"); Chum, pu "arm,
hand"; Sal. puku "arm."
2. back: sw-gitcu- "back," grtcu- (e. g. gvlcw-naxku- "back of foot";
gitcu- is compounded of local gi'-, see no. 113, and stem
-tew or -rtar, hence literally "at rear"), grtca "behind,
back of." Cf. Sal. t-itcom' "back," i-itcomo "behind";
Com. semi "after."
3. blood: eedi, e'di, Sq. e'ti, Ar. edi. Cf. Sh. axta, Ach. axdi; Kar.
ax; Yan. waVdu-wi "blood," -waV- "red" ; S. Po. hata "red" ;
Moh. ahwata "blood," Dieg. axwat "blood"; Ynm.xwat
"red"; Se. avat "blood"; Chon. awas; Sal. p-akata, ekata;
Chum, axuli-s. Hokan *axwati ?
4. bone: i'sw. Cf. Moh. isaka, Dieg. hak, Wal. tyaga; Sal. axa'k',
{p-)axak "bone," k-exakop "bony"; Chum, se'; Se. itak;
Es. iya; Po." ihya, iya, iha, hiya, ya; Sh. ak; Yan. Vdal-la.
Hokan *ihyaka?
* Subtiaba forms not otherwise indicated are from Lehmann's material; Squier'Si
Arragon's, and Berendt's forms are respectively marked Sq., Ar., and Br. The follow-
ing abbreviations are used:
Ach., Achomawi Com., Comecrudo Moh., Mohave Tlap., Tlappanec
At., Atakapa Cot., Cotoname Po., Porno Ton., Tonkawa
Ats., Atsugewi Dieg., Diegueno Sal., Salinan Wal., Walapai
Chim., Chimariko Es., Esselen Se., Seri Was., Washo
Chon., Chontal Kar., Karok Sh., Shasta Yan., Yana
Chum., Chumash Karan., Karankawa Sub., Subtiaba Yum., Yuma
Coa., Coahuilteco
• I quote different Pomo and Chumash dialects without specifying them in each
case.
Thrt'f. Hokiin 1 4in}'iuiiit\ 267
406
5. breast: soslo, soilo, perhaps also conipuundcd as so- in u> ri a
"Ijriasl-chain" ((|ualihcfl elements nearly ul
in Sub., however), Ar. msla. Cf. Wash. . ..
Chum. Usui "chest, heart"; C'him. h-usi "brca
icu', ico' "breast." Further, perhaps. Chim. uta n ua
"woman's breast, milk"; Po. sido, cido, ci'do "female
breast, milk."
6. breast (of female): tci ici. If not borrowed, as Lchmann plausibly
suggests, from Nahuatl chichi "to suckle," cf. Van.
tc'ikli "female breast"; Sh. itsik "milk." Ats. aUiika,
Ach. i'tcii "milk, female breast"; Dicg. iUix "breast,
heart"; Ton. yakax "breast"; At. itsk.
6a. breast (of female): d-udu-ltf (or perhaps better analyzed as
reduplicated dudu-), compounded as -du - in ca -du'lu'
"suckling," Ua-du-, tcaa-dw "suckling." Cf. I*o. {o
"female breasts, milk," also compounded as -do in ii-do,
ci-do, ci'-do, s-do , S. E. I'o. ko-do-tt{or k-odo-n) "female
breasts, milk"; Chum, k-ulct "woman's breast."
7. ear: n^aii, Sq. nan, Ar. n^qwa ("thy ear"), Hr. iiyahu. Cf. Chon.
iiVid-ts; Se. islo\ Moh. 'antolya, Dicg. '.>mal; Po. cima;
Chim. h-isajn; Sh. isak, Ats. asmak, Ach. issat, Kar.
itiv; Yan. maVgu, Yahi inan'gu; Sal. denominative verb
p-esno-, p-esna- "to hear, listen"; Was. denominative verb
d-amal (from *d-asmal?) "to give ear, to hear." Ilokan
*isavia, *isnia{l)k- ? For Sub. «"- from iw-,see Phonology.
8. excrement: awba (from *apo, see Phonology). Cf. Chim. h-ipxa
"intestines"; Sh. ipxai "intestines"; Yan. p'a-ts.'i "ex-
crement"; Po. i'pa, apa, fa "excrement, intestines"; Sal.
p'xat "e.xcrement, intestines."
9. [eye: sitir, srla, Sq. situ, Ar. sita, Br. siklii. These forms are
probably to be understood as si'lu, which is contirmcd by
suxiir "eyelid"; cf. also Ar. tasu-suxla "eyebrows" (tasu-
"hair, "see no. 12). These two forms suggest compounding:
*si-i'hi (or *sa-i'lu) "eye" and *su-{i)'tu, originally "hair
of eyes, eyelashes" (cf. no. 12)? This *-i'tu, without pre-
ceding sibilant element, is in all likelihood actually found
in yi-tu "tear," contracted from *yij-i'tu "water of eye";
for compounded *ya-: absolute iya "water." sec morph-
ology. Cf. Se. ilo "eye"; Moh. -ibo', Dicg. iy« ; Sal.
l-uwu, (-U- "face," u-ca'-l "eye-water, tears"; Po. mi "eye."
yu-xa "eye-water, tear"; Chim. h-uso-t "eye." h-im ma
"face," fi-uso-'xa "eye- water, tears"; Sh. oi "eye." Ats.
oi\i\ Kar. vu-p, Yan. tc'u-tia "eye. face." Hokan •i5yii?
10. face: fw«-, ina ("mv, thy face"), d-inu-hf (for d- and -Im', see
nos. 120, 122), Sq. ivu, Ar. itiu, imwu "thy face"; slcin
inu- shown in inii-mba "mask" (lit., "f.iic-ffie*t"|.
Cf. Chim. -ma in h-isu-ma "face" (f
-isu- "eve," see no. 9); Po. huma "face" .»
268 ^ American Indian iMni^uof^es I
407
with ui- "eye," ui-mo, hid-' mo, huu-mo; perhaps also
in E. Po. nm-su "hair" (lit., "face-hair" ? cf. no. 12).
11. fat: d-asir. Cf. Yan. haii-yau, xau-yau {-yau- is nominalizing).
Hokan *axau- ?
12. hair: t-asii- (absolute form), Sq. tu'su, Ar. tasu; compounded as
su- in suhu "hair of head," perhaps also as sii- in su-xtu-
"eyelid" (properly "eyelashes?" see no. 9). Cf. Chum, o'c
"fur"; Was. d-aytic "hair"; perhaps also E. Vo.-su of
inu-su "hair" (really "face-hair"? cf. no. 10).
13. hand: n^air, Ar. naow-a- ("thy hand"), Br. nyati; Sub. n^, as
Lehmann points out, seems to result generally from i-\-n
(or w, see Phonology), e.g. plur. -inir or -n^u'. Cf. Se. inol.
It seems better, in view of this comparison, to disconnect
Se. inol from Hokan reflexes of *itali "hand, arm" (see
Van., no. 23; Ilok.-Coa., no. 18; Sup., no. 18, p. 68).
14. head: ekw, dca ("my, thy head"), Ar. etcoe; Tlap. etcu. Sub.
{€)tcu- as stem is clearly indicated in gv-tcu- "on, upon,"
which contains local gv (cf. gv-tca "behind," no. 2. ), hence
lit. "at head." Cf. Chum. (San Luis Obispo dialect) co
"head, hair" (for possibly more remotely related forms,
see Yan., no. 169; e. g. Sh. innux "hair," assimilated from
*is-nnx from *isu-nax "head-hair" ?)
15. liver, gall: gi'ko, gvka "liver" (with g- prefix), piirii vko "much
gall, gaily." Cf. Sal. t-erk, t-iek "animal's gall"; E. Po.
b-iko "bitter (with adjectival b- prefix? see morphology);
Was. ts-iga-l "kidney."
16. mouth: d-aif, d-a'ii, d-q'U', d-ar]gwa ("thy mouth"), Sq. d-ahnu
(= -q-u?), Ar. d-anwa {=-q'wa), d-aowa ("thy mouth"),
Br. d-aghu {^-ayu, -qyu?). This word, with its evidently
elusive phonetics, seems to be properly -qywu, -qywa.
Cf. Chim. h-awa; Sh. au, Ach. aph; Was. -ha-j]a (noted
also by Lehmann); Po. aha, ha, ha-mo; Moh. 'rya,
Dieg. "a", Kiliwi axaa, Cochimi xaa; Chum, ok, uk, ao-tc;
Ton. kala; Com. xal "lip"; Hokan *a{r\)ywa?
17. navel: d-umiu-. Cf. Chim. h-onapu; Ats. ts-up'-dis; Was. d-vp.
Hokan *-unapiiv-? {*-unap-, with loss of second vowel,
assimilated to *-ump-, whence *-upp- and *-umm-, ac-
cording to language?).
18. neck: ha-pu- "nape," tu'-ha-pu- "neck," compounded in a-pw-nana
"necklace," Sq. abu-lu "neck," Ar. apa ("thy neck").
Cf. Was. d-rbti "neck" (noted by Lehmann); Dieg. ipuk,
Wal. ipuk, Yum. epok; Ton. hepei{a); perhaps also Sal.
ape-nik "necklace."
19. nose: d-a-ko, compounded in d-aga-mba "nose-big, aquiline nose,"
Sq. t-a'ko, Ar. d-a'hka, d-a-ka ("thy nose"), Br. d-akko.
Cf. Moh. -i-hu-, Dieg. -exu; Es. h-oci-s; Chim. h-oxu;
Three: Hnkiui hiniiiutgrs >f^
408
Kar. yuji; Sc. uuf, hi/; Chum. tt-ox(. n-oy
Cot. vti'.r, vd.v. Ht)kan •vu.vui''
20. Uh){]\: .sitfu-, iiWtj ("my. thy toolh"), S(j. si'mu, .\i. ,j ii»ii.
Br. sitinyu; properly si'-n'u? Cf. Ach. i7i<i. Sh, « /j<im.
New River Sh. k-iUau, Ats. i/vum; Chim, A-m/jm; Van!
k'i-ls'au-; Chum. 5a'; Sal. $uluknai (with inserted plural
-/- ?).
21. wing: t-alala, d-ahihi "wing," also t-alala "bat." Ar t-alaU
"feather." With final redui)liiation, which r
characteristic of ll(tkan (see C'hini., Po.. Was.. 1
Cf. Ats. palala "huttertly"; Was. paloto "hutterriy ';
C. Po. lila-wa "butterlly"'; Sal. {-api-lalf "hat." These
Ats., Wash., Po., and Sal. forms are prohahly «lerivaiive*
of an old Hokan stem indicating "wing, to tli*" •' "sub.
"bat" above).
B. Animal Xouns
22. frog: kosta-lu-. Cf. Was. koda (noted by Lchmann); Chim.
qCitu-s (i. e. kotii-s).
23. rabbit: Tlap. /cwaxi. Cf. Yan. djuwa; Es. tcici. Hokan *t •<-''■ <*
24. spider: axka. Cf. Ach. ts-axa, Sh. -t-aki of kusi-laki, per
Was. ts-ukti- of Isuku-tnaiT, Sal. l-aka- of laka-na. \> r. ; ■
prefix: Sh. /- (</-) prefix is illustrated also in Ach. Isukxa
"blackbird," Ats. tsokha: Sh. dttk'i; cf. also Ats. ts-up-dis
"navel"; Was. d-ip: Chim. -otuipu (no. 17). Was. ts-
prefix is indicated also in ts-if^uf^Ui "belly": Chum, akcuu;
see also nos. 15. 52. For Sal./- jirefix. cf. l-tm "sky." no. 44.
25. worm: un^if (from *imu? cf. u^qu and inn-, nos. 7 and 10).
Cf. Chim. fiemu-ta; Sal. t-imehai, t-almui (these two Sal.
forms can hardly be disconnected; perhaps -/- of t-almui
is collective, as frequently in Sal., leaving as stem -inw-,
-amui).
26. ant: ixki- "olosica" (kind of ant). Cf. Sal. ilkat "ant" (with
collective -/-? cf. nos. 20. 25).
27. lizard: oos'n'go' (wsnA'o? Lehmann's orthography is not quite
clear to me). Cf. Sal. suakaka, two keHa'. Hokan
*asu'anka-, *asu'a'nka-? This word seems to be derived
from Hokan *aswa{-'n-), *isu<a{-'n-) "fish": Po <- J. J,
Sal. cwa-n, swa-tt, cwa-'a; Ton. esva-la-n.
28. louse: iaxa. Cf. Sal. l-ik'e', ike.
29. woodpecker: €>/"»•. Cf. Sal. /-fwaA-. Hokan 'ind*?
^ This example is very doubtful, as Sub. dako scrms l«
group of forms, c. r. Arawak -taki , -tako, Canixana '>•
Trombetti, Elemcnti di Glotlologia, p. 320).
270 ^ American Indum Languages 1
409
C. Natural Objects
30 clay mud: guha "clay," ra-guha "dirt," Sq. guba "earth," Ar.
guuba ■ "earth" ; Tlap. kuba "hill." Cf. Was. tsa-kopi "mud."
31. day, today, sun, moon: endo, endo "today," Sq. endo-la "day-this"
(see no. 104), "today," Ar. endo "day," indo-la, endo-la
"today"; from *i-nwa "this day" (see no. 107a; for
phonology, see below). Cf. Moh. anya- "sun"; Chum.
(S. Cruz dialect) t-anum "sun"; Sal. na' "sun"; Coa.
a-nua "month." Jere belong perhaps also Po. la "sun,"
ala-ca "moon"; Chim. o/c, ala "sun, moon"; Com.
al "sun"; Chon. ora, kal-ora "sun"; also Was. lot "yes-
terday" <*{a)lwa-t "day-that"? Hokan *anwa, *alwa?
32. day: bii', Sq. hi', bi-lu, Ar. bir; Tlap. bihi (read bii?). Cf. Was.
d-i-be "sun, moon, month," tbe "day" (also noted by
Lehmann); Moh. Hpily-k "hot, day," Dieg. 'upil "hot";
Chon. epal "hot."
3Z. day: -ci'i, -xsi-, -si "day" in adverbial compounds di-cri "yester-
day," lit. "that (past) day" {iordi--, ci.no. 107), ga-xsr-yu,
ga--si "tomorrow," lit. "that (coming) day" (for ga-, cf.
no. 106; this demonstrative may be identical with Sub.
ga-, verbal prefix denoting futurity) ; Sq. dixi "yesterday,"
ga-si "tomorrow"; Ar. dixi "yesterday," ga-si "tomorrow,
in the morning." Cf. Es. asi, aci "sun," asa-tsa "day";
Chim. asi "day"; Sh. atcaii, Ats. assryi "day"; Se.
sax "sun," isax "moon"; Chum, icau, al-ica, al-aca "snn."
Ton. etc-nan "day"; perhaps also Po. m-atci, m-adji,
m-itci-l "day" (for w see Morphology); and Sal. icxai,
esxai "morning, day." Hokan *asi, *isa is also found, in all
probability, as incorporated -51- in Yan. -5J-rJ-6a/- . . .-'a-,
sufhxed to numeral stems and indicating "so and so many
days (nights) elapse," literally "to have so and so many
suns go down and up" (-ri- "down," bal- "up," -'a-
causative); perhaps also in Yan. b-asi-- "to be yesterday,
night" (refers to periodic lapse of time, not to darkness),
for i-prefix see Morphology.
Note to Nos. 31-33. In comparing these three words for "day," one is led to
surmise that Hokan *anwa {*alwa) (no. 31) meant properly "luminary, sun, moon,"
Hokan *ipi (no. 32) "day (as period of warmth), day-heat" (observe that Wash.
d-ibe "sun, moon" is derived by means of nominalizing d- from ebe "day," not re-
versely), *asi (no. 33) "daylight, period of solar light." Another term for "sun" is
found in no. 46.
34. earth: u'mba, d-umba'-lw, Ar. umba\ Cf. Chim. ama; Po. amma,
ama, ma; Moh. amata, Dieg. amat; Es. maksa-la, matra
(i. e. mata)] Se. amt; Chon. -ama-ts, ma-ts; Kar. ma-ruk
"land- ward, to shore"; Was. T^auwa "earth" {<*ma-wa,
*ama-wa; cf. d-arja-l "house": Sh. amma, rji- "with the
Three: fioknn luim;tun;es
410
head": (him. nic-, -■na-wa "iK-sidcs": Hokan *-ma "with.
also," see no. 114). Hokan *am,t "earth. land" may,
further he ultimately identical with or related to Hokan
*ma "place, there": Van. -ma- vcrl) suflix "there, at that
place," -madu "place of"; Chim. -ma. -mu surtix for place
names; S. W. I'o. ma-li "there, i)lace"; Sal. mo-, urn-,
t-um-, t-uma- locative prefix "pla<e where, ' "
If *ama "earth" and *(u}mu '*|)late*' arc idcn'
uniba "earth" and Sal. uma- "[>lace" may l>c
reflexes of Hokan *uma- "earth, locality," while *
may be assimilated from this f«)rm; perhaps *amua is
to be assumed, with tmc to Sub. mb.
35. earth: bai-lu "on the ground"; Tlap. bayi "earth." Cf. Van.
bi-u'i "earth, soil" (-wi is collective as in wawi "house."
'iwi "firewood"); Sal. O'iguelefio dialect) f-apaiye*
"dust." (Antoniano dialect) (t-ayiya (from *-af>t\a. in
this dialect p often disappears and />' becomes 'i. Hokan
*apai-}
36. fire: agu', d-agulw, Sq. ahku (i. e. aku probably). .\t. a^u,
Br. agu. Cf. Van. 'au-tia; Sh. awa "wood," New River Sh.
ga-'au "wood," Ats. ahawi "wood," Chim. hau-na "tinder"
(from "fire-wood"); Es. a-uix "fire" (stem a-)\ Moh.
a'auva, Dicg. au, Yuma au, Kiliwi aau; Sal. (-a'au'.
Hokan *(a)'owa.
37. flower, bloom: dii; also dii' "cortes, tree wiih beautiful while
blossoms." Cf. Chim. alrci "flower," i. e. afe *.
38. grass: d-aca-hi' Cf. Was. hos-pi\ .Ats. qussi-dr (read .vm?si-(/?),
Sh. xatsi-d. Hokan *axu'asi? Perhaps Sub. -aca is to be read
-a\a, -axca, assimilated from older *-axci <*-ax''5i-. Hut
d-aca-hr is related to maca "green" (see no. 88).
39. leaf: ina. Sq. ina, At. ina. Cf. Sal. r-/u»', plur. 5-/(j«u-Mr/ (<•-. 5-
before consonants is clea rly prefixed and may be eliminated
as nominal prefix morphologically parallel to^-. /-; cf. Sal.
c-kak' "crow": Van. gagi); Chim. hita-xai. tahal-vi.
Hokan *ita>ia? (Sub. ina to be read itina. a.<%similated
from *itna'!)
40. moon: ukir, d-uku-lu, d-u .yku -Iw , .\r. d-uku. Hr. d-ukku.
compounded as -kw in imba-kw "one month." Cf. <
a.xwai (San Buenaventura dialect), ou-ai, awai. '■
Hokan *axawa-, *u.yinva-?
41. mountain: a-qwa, arjgwa, Ar. atia. Cf. Chim. auu, aumi-ya. u mc,
Po. d-ano. d-ono. k-atto {k-tio); Maratino (j. K. Swanlon.
American Anthropologist, N. S.. 17. p. 38) ka lamu-^ni
"to war on the mountain." Hokan •ujju-u? (for Sub. ijir:
Chim. w, cf. also no. 16).
42. night: m-i duic, tn-i du-lif (adjectival derivative in m-. cf.
no. 123), S(|. m-idiigina "black." Cf. Coa. takom
"night," |)erhaps also Atakapa tt gg. Coahuiltcian-
Subtiaba *itak{u)}
272 y American Indian Languages 1
411
43. seed: iaxa. Cf. Sal. ayexteya (with collective -te- infix in older
*ayaxaya, with peculiar type of final reduplication?
cf. Sal t-icxeplip "feet" with -/- infix from finally re-
duplicated *-icxepip), older stem {a)yaxa probably re-
tained as ya-ha, yaxa "frijol"; probably also in Chim.
ama-ya-qa (read -ya-xa^) "sand," literally "earth-grains."
Hokan *ayaxa}
44. sky, above: Sq. d-ehma-lu, At. d-ehma "en haut," Sub. na-grma
"to mount" (see no. 60; for ^-prefix of g-rma, see no. 124);
perhaps also Tlap. mi- of mi-xkwi "sky." Cf. Es. imi-ta
"sky"; Moh. ammaya, Dieg. ammai; Chon. emaa; Sal.
l-ema, l-em" sky," l-e'ino' "over, on, above"; Se. ami-me;
Yan. 'ap'-sa; Chum, al-apa, hal-acpai; Chim. tc-emu;
Ach. ts-amiki; Com. ape-l. Hokan *ima {*i'ma)?
45. stone: sr-nu, six-nu, Sq. isr, isrnu, i'si "stone, flint," Ar. si-nu;
Tlap. istci. Cf. Kar. aca "rock"; Sh. itsa; Es. ciefe: Sal.
t-cxa', cxap; Chum, xop; Po. xabe; perhaps also Chim.
qa'a, kaa (if to be read xa-'a). Hokan *ixa', *ixa'-pi
(Sub. isr assimilated from *isa' from *ixa')?
46. sun: d-axka'-lw, Sq. ahka, Ar. ahka, Br. d-aska; Tlap. axka.
Cf. Se. tahx; Ton. taxa-c, taga-c "day"; perhaps also
N. E. Po. -daka in mati-daka "day-sun" (though this may
belong rather with da, hada "sun" of other Po. dialects).
Sub. axka is probably related to na-yaxka "to shine,"
hence d-axka'-lu- may be properly "the shining body."
Hokan *taxa{-ka) "sun" is, then, perhaps an old
nominalized form in /- (see no. 120) from a verb *axa{-ka)
"to shine (of sun, moon)"; *axawa "moon" (see no. 40)
may be related to this.
47. tree, wood: i'ci, i'cv , d-ici-lu\ Sq. i'ci, Ar. id; Tlap. itci "tree."
Cf. Chon. ehe, kal-eke "wood, tree" (kal- is nominal
prefix, see no. 106); Se. ehe; Kiliwi (Yuman) xai-pak;
Po. ahat, hai, xai; Com. xai. Hokan *ixai?
D. Cultural Objects
48. axe, hatchet: a-xwa, At. ah-nu; probably also compounded with
si- "stone" (see no. 45), assimilated to sa-, in sa-x-nwa
(or s-ax-nwa) "copper, axe (of metal)," s-ax-nwa-lu "iron,
machete," originally "stone of axe, material of axe," hence
later "copper, iron" and "axe of copper, iron." Cf.
Chum, owa, uwu "knife" (from *axwa?; cf. no. 40);
possibly also Was. ta'wi, ta'wi "knife" (read ta'wi? but
/- is not here equivalent to nominal d-, as is shown by
possessive forms like di-tawi "my knife"). If these
Chum, (and Wa^?.) forms are not to be understood as
having -'w-, they can hardly be compared with Sub.
ax'wa,ax-,SiTid are more likely to belong with Hok. *awai
"stone" (see Hok.-Coa., no. 51).
Three: Hukiin Ixmj^uuftes 273
412
49. bow: d-i(i -In-. Cf. Chum, l-axa. <i.v; Sh. xau (douhtftil ^>rrnM^f
ordinarily Hokan .v appi-ars as Sh. i. I\, wl
appears as .v); Sal. />-u.vimr (same dilVicuUy
Ton. nixau (if analy/able as n-ixau); Com. xat, Kar. (<ii.
Hokan */.v<;/? (lor phonology cf. Hokan •ijfui "ircc.
wood," no. 47. It is possible llial there arc two tlistinct
stems here: *ixoi, if. Sul)., Ton.. Com.. Kar.; and •uyju.
cf. Sh., Sal.; Chum, miplit bclonR to either. But it is more
likely that they k^> ^'^^^^ ti> <>'i*^ source an(| that *ifai.
*ixau was in some dialects shifted to ixai because of
palatal position of i-.)
50. house: ^iva, t^ica-ln-, Sq. gua "house, hut," .\r. /j»ru. iwa . Hr rutj;
Tlap. ^uf^ua. Cf. Yan. wa-wi, -U'u; Chim. a ua, I:
Moh. ava, Dieg. awa; perhaps also Chum. /
Com. wa-mak. From Hokan *iu'a, *awa, *u'a. 1 preter lo
keep apart Hokan *ama "house" (see Was., pp. 106. 108).
though it is c|uile possible that these stems go back lo
one source; fo'- Sub. f^w from w, see Phonology.
51 road- Tlap. is-kamba "camino real, highroad" apparently com-
pounded of is and kawlni "road" (cf. Sub. f^aniba "ma.l.
street"). If is- is to be taken as meaning "trail" (Indian
trail as contrasted with road?), which is far^from certain.
it may be compared with Chim. hissa "trail"; Yan. 't ya.
Ach. i'dc^; Po. hida, da "trail, door"; Tonto (YumanI
iu\a "trail." Hokan *itya {*izya)'? .
5^ shirt: erne "camisa de mujer," me-xtfa "shirt, huipil. »tt tda
{ = mi-i-da?) "camisa de hombre," Ar. mtda-xuberu
"veste de colon." Cf. Yan. mi-wi, -mi "hide, blanket ;
Tonto (Yuman) ya-mia "skin, hide," Yuman -wi. -me
"hair" in Moh. 'iavu-me "beard," Dieg. 'alt-tm beard
(cf Moh. 'iva, Dieg. 'a- "mouth"); Chim. htnia "hair ;
Com. emo-l "skin, hair on body"; Sal. l-emi' ;*rabbil-skin
blanket" (for/-prefix in Sal., cf. no. 44). f/-<rmi-y;a coal ;
perhaps also Was. ts-ivw-l "beard" (for noniinal type
ts- -I cf. ts-iga-l, no. 15); Po. Is-i'tne "hair. fur.
Hokan *ima and *anii, assimilated *imi "hair. fui. skm.
hide, blanket, coat"?
53 string: ««='», d-un^u, d-nun^u, d-nnHi-hr (read «««»« )•
^ Cf Sh. immc "sinew" (from *ipmc). \ch p,m M>. tpp,u
(from *ipm''u); Yan. bama "sinew.) These form> M-t-m
to reconstruct to *ipamu, whence, in Sub. •./>m«. .mm»«.
assimilated to unWu (cf. nos. /. 10, 2.-^).
£. Personal Sonus
54. child: -)t.-, -kr. in 5e-^»- "child." Sq. --'";' i ^^^'^ j^ J;;; 'r^
"daughter," ni- ku-yir "my son-in-la« . f "■*"!! ?>
daughter-in-law" (-y,r "my"; .?" ;• -.C" ^T^J ;, J .J
PU-^-'u^/'Soung woman," /:«-rr./>u "old frm:ilc. ra fra-^-
274 ^ American Indian Languages I
413
"woman"); Tlap. -gui in gu-gui "daughter-in-law." Cf.
Tonto ko-tye "small"; Es. oxu-s-k, uku-s-k, uku-s "small,
infant"; Po. -ku "son, daughter," ku- "boy, girl infant,"
ku-ts, kti-tc "small," ku-s "infant," kawi "small, infant,
boy"; Chum, ku-tco, gu-nup "child"; Ton. -xun in ca-xun
"small," wi-xun "girl"; Cot. kuwo-sani "small, young";
Kar. kxva-n, kwaan "small, young." Hokan *k'u "small,
child"? Sub. seku- "child" may go back to *isa-k'u
(see Phonology) and correspond to Ton. ca-xu n "small."
54a. man: r abu "person, man" <*r a-})a-k (see Phonology, for
r prefix see Morphology), r a'ba gu- "woman" (literally
"man-female"). Cf. Es. efe-hi "people"; Po. ba, ba-ia
"man." Hokcin*! pa-?
55. mother: d-utu-, d-ivtu--lu-, compounded as du- in du-ri'n"a
"mother-old, grandmother," Sq. aulu "mother," Ar.
d-utu, d-uta ("my, thy mother"); Tlap. r-utu- "my
mother," r-uta-lo "our mother." Cf. Chum, tuyu, tuq
"mother"; Kar. ita, ta-t; Ach. da-tyi; Yuman *tai in Moh.
hin-tai-k, Dieg. tai-l^, Yum. ta-l^e, Cochimi ka-tai; Coa.
tai; perhaps also Was. -la. Hokan *uta-, *utay-?
56. sister: se-ka, perhaps from *isa-ka (cf. no. 54). Cf. Was. -i'sa
"older sister"; Es. itci "sister"; Sh. atcu, atci "older
sister"; Ach. ab-is "older sister" {ab- probably as in
w-ab-aui "older brother") ; Kamia (Yuman) esan "younger
sister," intca-tcan "older sister" (for intca- cf. intca-mal
"older brother"), Cocopa hidj-isa "older sister," S, Dieg.
intca-itcan "older sister," 5a/ "younger sister," N. Dieg.
etcan "older sister," esan "younger sister." From these,
forms Hokan *isa "sister" may be inferred.
F. Verbs
57. be: -tsu in ikw ci'-ni'-tsu "I am, dwell" {ikw "I;" ci'~ni'- perfec-
tive, hence properly "I have sat down"). Cf. Yan. dju-
primary verb stem "to sit, dwell;" Chim. -tcu- "to lie
on ground, sleep;" Sal. -atce- "to sit" (k-atce-k "to sit
down," t-atce-x "seat"); perhaps also Es. k-oso- "to
sit down."
58. beseech: -waa in na-waa "pedir" {na-, in this and following
examples, is present tense prefix). Cf. Yan. -wa-, -wa'-
secondary verb stem "to weep;" Chim. -wo- "to cry;"
Ach. -wo "to cry;" Coa. wa'yo "to cry;" Karan. owiya
"to cry."
58a. bring: -g-aya'a, -yaa in na-gaya-a "to bring, drag," ikw gi'-tfaa
"I have brought" (properly "I have been brought"?
gi-- is passive participial) <*-m-yaa (m- is preterital),
also -g-a-ya in na-ga-ya "to have, hold, carry" (for g-
prefix, see Morphology). Cf. Sal. p-aye-m "to carry, bear"
(for transitive p- see Morphology); C. Yan. 'ai- "to
carry." Hokan *aya-}
Three: Hoknn I ^uii^miges
275
414
59. hum: -g-atno (used of fire) in Tta-Riimo (for f> prefix sec Morphology.)
Cf. Chim. -tnaa-; Ton. moi; Com. -makua.
60. climb:
61. come:
62
63
64. crv:
65. die:
-g-ima "steigen" (/^-prefix as in no. 59); cf. corresponding
nominal form d-ehma-lu "sky" (no. 44). Cf. Van. ma -
"to climb."
■a, -aa of na-a, n^-aa (probably from ni-aa; ni- is preterit).
Cf. Chim. -a- "to go"; Van. 'a- "female Rocs." But
iku- ni-naa "I came" and i^m ci -ni-naa "I have come"
seem to indicate Sub. -una as stem; these forms arc
perhaps remade from j)resent na-a.
come: -tea in na-tca. Cf. Yan. dja- primary verb stem "to proceed.
move" (see Yan., no. 31); Po. Ua, tca-k "to run."
come: -kti'i in na-k^ii. Cf. Yum. ki ri-k, Dicg. kiyu; Coa. kai;
Karan. kas, ka's; as secondary stem also in Yan. -k'i-
"hither"; Chim. -k (e. g. -wa-k "to come," cf. -owa- "to
go"); Was. -u-k "toward the speaker" (cf. -u-e "from the
speaker"); Sal. -.r (e. g. ia-x "to come," cf. id "to go");
Com. -k in ya-k "to come." Hokan *k'wali "to come,*
as secondary stem reduced to *-k'{w)i}
-mhi'ya in na-mhi'ya\ simpler stem -mbi, tmbi pre.served in
tmbi "owl." Cf. Yan. mi- "to cry, wail;" Po. mina,
mi'-n-wan, mi'-mai "to cry;" Tonto mi "to cry, scream,
sigh," Moh. himi-n "to cry. lament"; Sal. 'amr-s. ama-s
"to shout, to cry." Hoken *ami, assimilated to *imi?
-ga-n^ii- in na-gan^u' (for g prefix, see Morphology; -n*u-
from *inu* <-iynak or *-ima.x{u') ?). Cf. Es. moho "he
died"; Sal. -ama- in c-aM-lct "corpse
a-m{k) "to kill"; Yan. am'dji- "to
"tokill."
drink: -n^a in na-n^a (from *ima, cf. no. 7).
drink," nominalized as d-ime "water" (from *imu; Washoe
regularly results from a when preceded by »); Ks. imi-la
"sea"; Chum, ma, tc-l-iini "stream," possibly also j-y-omi
"ocean" (note that ma and tc-l-imi can only be reconciled
by assuming *ima, which is precisely what Sub.. Was.,
and Es. independently lead to). Hokan *ima "water,
to drink"?
iu in g-iu, g-iu- (intr.). Cf. Was. iw. cu "to eat" (tr.);
Po. wa (with plural object). Hokan *iu'<i "to eat" (tr.;
intransitivized in Sub. by g-prefix. see Morphology)?
68. go: -xka, -ska in na-xka, Ar. na-ska. Cf. Ton. xa\ Coa. ka4
"to go," ka-i "to walk"; perhaps also Sal. ka, Ua-k
"to go, to walk" (< Hokan *j.V(J-?).
69. go: a-yu, aya "go!" Ar. aiya "to come." Sq. aiyu "to go." per-
haps also -d-ia- "to cause to go" in na-dia-ma "to place"
(<to cause to go with"?; for d-, see no. 125; for -ma
"with," see no. 114). Cf. Sal. ia.ir "to go." iti-x "to omc",
Es. iyu "to come"; Was. iyc "to walk, go," perhaps also
66
p-ama-t "to die,"
kill"; Chon. maa-
Cf. Wash, ime "to
67. eat:
276 y American Indian Languages 1
415
aya "to move running," ya-i]i "to run (plur.);" Ton.
ya-ku- "to go"; Karan. ye.
70. go: -g-au in na-ga-u "to go," ci--ni-gau "ya se fueron"; also
g-a'wv , g-a'gwi- in na-ga-'wi, na-ga-givv "to flee, go away"
(for g-, see Morphology). Cf. Po. wa, wa-l "to go, walk";
Chim. -owa-, -wa-m- "to go," -wa-k- "to come"; Kar.
va-r{-am) "to go"; Was. -u- as secondary stem in -u-e
"from the speaker," -u-k "toward the speaker," -wa-
secondary stem "to go" (e. g. baaci-wa-a "he went in");
Ton. wa-na "they go"; Cot. awo-yo "go over there!"
Karan. wa-na "go away!" At. wa-n "to go." Hokan *awa
"to go away" (note parallelism of Sub. g-a'u: Hokan
*awa and Sub. g-iu: Hokan *i'wa, no. 67)? From this
Hokan stem is perhaps formed also *-awa as postposition
"away from": Po. -awa "from"; Was. -uwe "from."
70a. XdiCk: d-a-wa,d-ag'wa "there is not" (properly "to have lacking";
for (/-see Morphology). Cf. Sal. ^-awc"tobelacking"; with
intransitive yfe-prefix); Yan. wO'-wai-, wa'-jjuai- "to miss"
{-wai- secondary verb stem "to perceive").
71. laugh: ndiegw in na-ndiegw. Cf. Sal. ilik;c. Yan. 'alai-' "(several)
laugh."
72. make: -da in na-da. Cf. Sal. eta, eta'.
73. peel: -di'l in na-dri "to peel (fruits)." Cf. Yan. dt-, static di-
"to peel, shear."
74. pour: -xkwa in na'-xkwa "to pour out, strew out." Cf. Chim.
-qo- "to pour," -qox- "to spill" (read -ko-, -kox- from *-kwa-,
*-U'wax-?).
75. run: -g-agnu, -agal- in Sq. na-gag-nu "to run," d-agal-ni "runner"
(for nominalizing d-, see no. 120; perhaps better analyzed
as -agalni with -In- as nasalized / or some other variant
of / or n). Cf. Yum. kono "to run," Dieg. ganau; Was.
igelu (plur.); Po. gadi. Hokan *ikalu, *ikali?
76. see: -ya in na-ya-rjga {-r}ga probably enclitic pronoun "him"),
Sq. da{i)-ya {da- probably imperative prefix), Ar. da\i)-ya.
Cf. Moh. iyu, Dieg. dwu. Hokan *ayu (assimilated to
*aya, ya in Sub.)?
77. sit: -t-a'u in na-ta'u (for factitive d-, t- prefix, see no. 125).
Cf. Yan. wa-; Chim. -wo- "to sit," wa- "by sitting on";
Ats. we- "by sitting on"; Tonto oa "to sit," Wal. -ua,
Kiliwi owau. Hokan *awa "to sit" (older Sub. *t-awa
"to make sitting, have as seat")?
78. sit: -a-mo, -a-ma in k-a'mo "to sit" (for k-, g-, see Morphology),
k-a'ma goo-yiv "estoy sentado en la casa." Perhaps origin-
ally "todwell" as denominative from Hokan *awa"house."
Cf. Was. d-a-qa-l "house," a-qa-l "to live"; Chum, ma-'m
(or m-a'tn) "house" ; Sal. t-a-m, plur. t-ama'-nel, t-a'ma'-ten,
as denominative verb k-Ma'-i "to live, possess home"
(properly "to be housed"); Sh. amma. Hokan *awa
rhri'c: Hitkiin lxin\iuit^fs ZTJ
410
79
80
"lo sit" (no. 77) may also well he derived from *<
"house" (no. 50).
sleep: S(i. atni. Cf. Sal. ttte; C<»m. tt-ttnr-l, Karan. im; nerhmpt
also Was. ma-ni-m "to lie (sinR.)." maya-c "to lie (plur.)."
llokan *ami {*imi) or •uwuy-?
sleep: -a{)o, -apif, -apa in j?-u/)o "to lie (in sleeping)." na-iapu
"lo slee])" (fi>r |j-pretix. see MorpholoRV). iku naUu
ina-dapa "1 shall sleep" (literally. "I go with sleeping").
Cf. Chini. /)(>-. poi- "tn sleep"; Chum, k-opok "drad". Es.
poko- "to sleep"; Sal. p-apa ' "to copulate" (<dil transitive
in p-: "to lie with, have one lie").
81. sleep: -/j/r in na-gtr. Cf. Sal. kau, plur. kaxau; Chum, ukyoe.
Hokan "ukaii?
82 smoke: -s'ixa in na-sixa, na-s'ixa "to smoke." Cf. I'o lioxa,
s a xa, s a ha ''smoke''; Ks. haxa "smoke" ;^ possibly also
Van. ic'eK-au-na "smoke"; Sal. ts'opo "fog."
G. Adjectives
84 alone: mino, minau "alone, self." Cf. Was. mile "all (from
*vii}uP Hokan n seems not infrerjuently to appear as
Was./, e.g. /-"I" <*»-).
85 big, fat: mnba "big, fat," ombo "big. strong, thick. -f«/)d^«
"big, thick," as augmentative sullix -mha [c. g. a x-mba
"old' mature" of males, gu-mba "old. mature" of females)^.
Sq umpa "great," Ar. uwba "fat." Cf. .Ach. Uphou "fal
(adj.); Chim. -xu- (from *-/>•«-) "fat" (adj); \an.
p'ui- "to be fat"; Po. piti "greasy"; Sal. «/><•«/ "fat (n.).
Hokan *up'au'i "fat. stout"?
86. full: w-a.x«r (for w-prefix in adjectives see Morphology). CI. I*^.
Po. minam "to be full, till"; Van. b-a'nt- "to be f^ull (for
6-prefix in adjectives see Morphology >. Hokan w-u »ii-.
87. good: f/i'.\-X'(with m- prefix as in no. 86) Cf. Ton. hinox;
Cot k-tnas (for )^-prefix see Morphology); Was. utjcjm
/-a7,a«; (-r,- from -a«-?) Sal. /)-/»».va "good successful
(thing)" (for p- prefix see Morphology; -nx- from -y«-.).
Moh. ahr-t "good." /(7-<7//d»<; "real, good." ^ ""i. uxo-/
"good." Dicg. .^v.i»-» "good" (Vuman *axana-l?) Hokan
*ilma-xw-,*ixaua-f • r i :„
88. green, blue: .n-ara (with m- prefix as in no. 8M. nomina i/.ed m
J-ara-/;r "grass (sacate)." Sq. m.J<xi 'green. Ar. fn>...i
"green" ; Tlap. watca "green." Cf. Se. ko-fna^o-l bro« n
nLi-t.-/. yt-wa-v.)-/ "vellow"; Chim. htmafusu.l green luur.
yellow" (reduplicated from *-mcisu ); Sal. / -»•««
(nominali/.ed from adjectival form maui v
directly from radical *-asa as in Sub ) pcrhap
(from *u5a'-) in ar-.va'-SK "blue. J'-'^'-l" j;'^^^ /
perhaps related to *axu-asi, ♦u.r^' K^as-s (sec no
278 V American Indian Languages 1
417
89. high: m-i'sita (with m- prefix as in no. 86). Cf. Sal. -esu-, -usu-
in k-usn-lulna' "straight (tree)" (from "high-straight"?
cf. k-atii-lulna "straight [road]"), plur. k-esu-lu-ti-na.
90. large: d-a-gu (with d- prefix, see no. 121). Cf. Chon. kweka;
Se. k-ako-l (for -I cf. adjective forms in -I in no. 88);
Ton. kwalo "great"; At. home "great"; perhaps also Sal.
k-a'xwen "much." Hokan *aku, *akwa?
91. little: tcitcr "little, younger brother," r-rtci "little," diminutive
-tci (e. g. i-ya-tci "water-little, brook"), Sq. tcitci "small,
child," Ar. tci-tci "little." Cf. Chum, tcitci "child"; Po.
b-itcu, k-itci-du "small"; as affixed element in Kar. -itc
diminutive noun suffix; Po. -ts, -tee, -tse-n in relationship
terms; Chum, -itc-, -its- (e. g. ma-k-itc-tu'n "my son,"
literally "the-my-little-son"); Yan. -Is-gi, -isi'-gi dimi-
nutive plur. (also C. Yan. Hct-gi- "to be small"); Was.
-tsi- in behe-tsi-rj "small."
92. old: axa, -aha, a'x- in sekw axa "muchacho grande," na-xka
d-aha "to grow" (literally "to go to maturity"), ax-mba
"old" (for -mba see no. 85), m-ax- "more" (for m- see
Morphology). Cf. Chim. xawi-ni, hahawi-ti-ta^' old";
Yan. -a- in m-a'-tsk^i- "feathers are old, worn out,"
m-a'-tsk'i-lil-la "buzzard" (for w-see Morphology);
Chum, xax "large."
93. raw: ma'ca "raw (meat)" (there must be some phonetic difference
between this word and ma'ca "blue, green," no. 88,
perhaps of tone, for Lehmann accents "raw" as ma-'ca' ,
but "green" as ma'ca'; perhaps to be understood as ma'ca,
cf. Yan. -'su-i-, Po. tas, kasi-, kis, and Sal. maise- below).
Originally "red"? Cf. Chim. masomas (red.) "red salmon" ;
Sal. maiseko', matseko "chipmunk"; n. Yan. -ra-psr-,
-ra-psu-i- "red" <*-da-msu-i- (probably incorporated form
in -i- . of old nominalized form *da-msu or *d-amsu) ;
Com. (pa-)mso-l "red"; Cot. msa-e "red." Hokan *masu
(*ma'su?) contains adjectival m- (see no. 123). Primary
*-a{')su- "red, raw" is found also in Yan. -'su-i- "raw,
unboiled, unripe" (incorporated element, with lost initial
vowel, in -i- in verb forms) ; Chum, uks- (misheard as
u's- from *a'su-?) in uks-tai "red"; Was. dal-coco-rii "red"
(dal- is color-adjective prefix; -coco- reduplicated from
-co- from *-asu-, with u umlauted to o by preceding a?).
With /- prefix also in Chum, t-asu-n, t-ase-n "red"; Po.
t-'as "red" (from *t-a'su?). With y^-prefix in Po. k-'is
"red"; k-'asi-l, k-asi-l, x-asi-l "redwood."
94. ripe: mgo, nteio (this orthography points to ni'go; <*l'na-?).
Cf. Sal. k-'nap; Chim. -m-ana-t (read -a'na-?) "ripe"
in xo-manat "unripe" (for m- see Morphology), but cf.
ho -mat "ripe." Hokan *i'na-}
Three: Hnknn Uaniua^es ^ pf
418
95. sick: -ndi'yu in >ia-tuli'\u. C'f. \'an. nt adi "lo be sick" (for
VI- see Morphology).
96. sour: m-ika (with m- {)rctix as in no. SO). C(. Van. Arui- lu Lm:
bitter; strong in taste"; Chim. qoiyo-in (read koyo-in})
"sour." Hokan *iliay{a)?
97. sweet: m-itau (with »;- j)refjx as in no, 86). Cf. Vo. -itau. -Uu
in S. Po. kodi-bilau "sweet" (for b- prefix see Mori "
S. W. Po. tuitii (reduplicated with loss of i-, <
*iti(-ihi; cf., for similar parallelism of forms, N. i'o.
tciido-l "round": K. Po. reduplicated tcodoUodo-k).
98. white: vi-ica (with m- prefix as in no. 86; cf. t-i Uu "while."
-g-ica in di-gica "white hair"), Sq. mica. Ar. mua;
Tlap. mitca. Cf. Moh. nya-maso-m, S. Catalina imica-pa,
Kiliwi utnesa-p\ Ton. mas-lak\ Cot. meso-i\ perhaps aUo
f^s. matshai-ba "white people." Hokan *m-isaf
99. yellow: moxmo (red.) "yellow," -mu xi "to paint" in namu fi\
Cf. Van. -mu'du-i- "yellow" (incor[)orated element in -i-,
cf. no. 93), probably derivative of -mu'-, -mux-, perhaps
also Sal. k-umtica "brown."
H. Numerals
100. one: imba, imba, Sq. imba, Ar. imbu, Br. imba (from *ipa}
cf. nos. 8, 85). Cf. Yan. bai-; Ks. pek\ Chum. paka.
pake-t; Ton. pax, paxaa-tak "alone, only"; Chim. po-Vd
"alone" {-la is diminutive). Hokan *ipa{ki)}
101. two: a'pw, Sq. apu, Ar. apii, Br. apu. Cf. Kar. axak; Sh. xokwa.
Ach. /?a^, Ats. Iioki; Chim. xoku; Van. m'-, m.v-; Po. ako,
ho, xotc, xos\ Moh. havik, Cocopa howok, Kiliwi xuak,
Dieg. xawok (Hokan *-xwa- becomes dissyllabic Vuman
*.vawa-?); Sal. xaki-c, kake-c, kak'-cu; So. k-uxo-m.
k-axkti-m; Chon. oke; Es. xulax (with in.sertcd -/- indicat-
ing plurality-duality or distribution?-'); Was. heske. Ton.
ake-tai; Coa. ax-tf. These ft)rms go back to Hokan
*axit'a, *axwaku {*axu'asku?).
102. three: asw, Sq. asu, Ar. aui, Br. assu. Cf. Sh. xalski, Ach.
icacdi; Chim. xodai; Was. hclmi-r] (with inserted -/-. cf.
Es.); Po. xom-ka, xoxa-l. kutc'a-ka; Es. .ri</r-/» (with in-
serted -/- as in no. 101); Moh. hatno-k; Se. k-axpo-m,
Chon. afa-fi; Sal. klapai, lapaiil). These forms arc all
based on Hokan *axwa- (cf. no. 101); for explanation
of individual forms see note after no. 103.
103. four: axku-, Sq. aku, Ar. axku. Br. asku. Cf. Was. havHi, Es.
.V(;y«(;-.v; Chim. qui^u (read .viri-jju); Tonto Aoftd. Wal.
hoba. Cochimi fiopa, Vavapai hopa. S. Catalina kot^i.
Ach. ha'-datua; perhaps also Sal. A''/V<j' (fri»m
or *k-{a}xu'axu'a'?). These forms too are based oi,
*axwa- (cf. nos. 101, 102); for explanation of individuAi
forms see following note.
280
V American Indian Languages 1
419
Note to Nos. 101-103. It is remarkable how much the Hokan numbers for 2, 3,
and 4 resemble each other. The following table shows the parallelism at once:
2 3 4
Chim xok'u > xodai xuigu
Sh xokwa xalski
Ach kak ha'da-ma
Po ako, ko, xo- xoma, xoxal
Es xulax xiilep xamax-
Moh havik hamok hoba (Wal.)
Sal kakec, kak'cu klapai k'ica'
Was heske helmi-i\ hawa
Se -axku- -axpa-
Chon oke qfan
Sub a'pu- a'sw axkw
The resemblances are even closer than they appear to be; dialectic Pomo ako, ko
(i. e. ak'o, k'o) goes back to axo, xo, Yuman ho- of hoba, hopa "four" is probably labial-
ized from ha- because of following -b- (from -w- or -xw-, see below), and Washo he-
and ha- are equivalent elements, a regularly changing to e when followed by i or e.
There seems only one reasonable explanation for these curious parallelisms and that
is to assume that they are due to etymological relationship. If "two" (Hokan *axwa,
less probably *uxa) be taken as starting point, "three" will have to be explained as
"two plus" or "two and one," "four" as "two and two." A close analysis seems to bear
out this hypothesis. At the same time the various ways in which the idea of "three"
may be derived from "two" would account for both the radical resemblance and the
tantalizing differences in the derivative suffixes of the Hokan words for "three."
"Two" and "four," as might be expected, show much greater conformity to Hokan
prototypes. The following table attempts to group the forms on the basis of original
structure.
2. (a) Radical element, Hokan *axu'a:
Yan. «'-, ux-
Po. ako, ko
Moh. havi-k, Cocopa howo-k, Kiliwi xua-k, Dieg. xawo-k (with ad-
jectival -k as in Dieg. miyul-k "sweet"?)
Chon. oke
(b) Hokan *axwa-ku :
Kar. axa-k
Sh. xo-kwa, Ach. ha-k, Ats. ho-ki
Chim. xo-k'u
Sal. xa-ki-c, ka-ke-c (perhaps to be understood as k-xaki-c, Hokan
*k-axwdku-, cf. Seri)
Se. k-ax-kn-m (for intransitive k- and sufSxcd -m cf. Se. forms
for "three")
(c) With inserted plural -/- (cf. frequent use of infixed -/- in Sal.), *axwala-
or *axula-:
Es. xula-x
(d) With -s- suflTix, *aocu'a-s-:
Po. xn-s, xo-tc
Was. ke-s-ke
Three: Hnktin luns^uaffes 2KI
420
(e) With otlicr ilcniciits of less wide distribution:
Ton. ake-tai,Co;i. ax-tr
Sub. a-pu- (from 'cufu-a-pa-kf)
3. (a) Ilokan *a3nfa-5a- or *ii:fwa-ha- (often with -*• sufTu):
Sh. xa-ls-ki,t\i:h. (ta-cdi (jMrrhaps •yuu-Zi- shifted to 'ruo /;
with sibilant development of x, xa' charnrtcristic of
Achomawi and with glottal metathesis, '/u /i-, *lia-$-)
N. E. I'o. ku-k'a-ka, S. K. l»o. xoxa-t (from •.ruxj-ia- or •ppd-i'«-;
Porno 5, c generally api>ears as x in S. K. I*o., c. r. xdnio- 'ear,*
but cima in other dialects)
Sub. a-su- (from *«j.ru'a-5a-i!r, see Phonology)
(b) With element *-ma- "together with, added to" (sec no. 114, if. Van*
numerals like bai-ma-mi- "six," literally "one-wilh |fivc|uide'),
*axua-tna- "two-plus":
E. Po. xo-m-ka {-ka as in kuk'a-ka "three")
Moh. ha-mo-k (k- as in havi-k "two")
(c) With sufli.xed *-pa, perhaps identical with *ipa "one" (see no. 100),
*axu<a-pa- " two-one " :
Se. k-axpa-m
Chen, afa-n (from *(i.t"/>a-?)
(d) With plural -/- inserted in t>'pe b or c, *axwii-l-ma-, *axulapai- (f>asc<f on
*axua-pai- "two-one") :
Es. xule-p umlauted from contracted form *xttla-pi?)
Sal. kla-pai, lapai- (from *x"la-pai-; {K-rhaps to be understood as
k-xla-pai, Ilokan *k-oxulii-pai-; note thai Esselen and Salinan
forms go back to identical prototype)
Was. he-l-mi-t] (from *axu'a-l-mi-)
(e) Hokan *<j.r7f'a-/a-:
Chim. xo-ddi (cf. also Ach. Ica-c-di?)
4. (a) Hokan *axwa-xwa "two-two," generally disguised by secondary pr«H ( < s
Was. ha-ic'a (dissimilatcd from *axuax-ua to 'ayu'OU-a)
Ach. ha-'- in ha'-dama (from 'axwax"-, •.traoy"-)
Sub. a'xku' (from *a'xivasu'a-k<*a'xu'a-ua-k, cf. Washo; sec Phono-
logy; note Sub. a- in "two" and "three" fmm •ajftw'-, but
a'x- in "four" from *a'xu'a-)
Yuman hoba, hopa (probably dissimilatcd from 'ax-usi-^r^ca, perhaps
through *axwa-u'a, cf. Was. and Sub.)
Sal. k'ica' (from *axiva-xwa-, dissimilatcd from 'apt^-rwa-, wilh
Hokan x'xw shifted to c, as regularly, and -a- palatalized to -i-
beforec; perhaps to be undertood as/r-xiVa', Hokan ** •ijruJ r-'O )
(b) With element *-ma- (cf. type b of "three"), 'a^ifa-ma- "two-togethef.
set of twos":
Es. xa-ma-x-
(c) With dual *-u-, '-m-w/, *dxxta-ku(.-u'i) (see t>-pe b of "two"):
Chim. xuiiiu (read xukuv,'?) (this formation would I* r
parallel to Van. lal-uwi "two (<••■'" (hum ikumn *f.. .
twos," cf. ickom "two")
282 V American Indian Languages 1
All
/. Demonstrative, Interrogative and other Pronominal Stems
104. this: -la in ka-la, xa-la "this one," -la "this" (e. g. gwa-ya-la
"this house of yours"), Sq. ka-la "this," endo-la "this day,
today." Cf. Chum, al-, ala- article (e. g. al-apa "sky,"
ala-xiiwiil "coyote"); Es. la- of la-l "he"; perhaps Sal.
-la, -1-, -I of he-l, i-la, i-l-ta "soon, afterwards"; probably
Chon. 1-, ka-l, al- noun prefix (e. g. l-ahutl "house," ka-l-ora
"sun," al-JQ-na "sun"). Here belongs also Sub. -Iw
(see no. 122).
105. this, that: ta- demonstrative stem in Ar. ta-ka "celui-ci, celui,"
/a-/M "celui-la." Ci.Y^in. da,-da-i-,a-dai-, a-dai-ri "that";
Po. te-- in te--ya "those people"; Chum, i-te, tu-yu "this";
Se. i-ta-m "he, that"; Kar. ta adverbial particle preposed
to verb forms indicating "probably indefinite or imperfect
time"; Was. da-, de- "his," d-i- "him-I" (in verb forms),
adverbial particle da, -da (e. g. ic-da "and then," i-da
"thereupon"); Sal. demonstrative particle -ta, ta- (e. g.
i-l-ta "soon," na'-ta', ta-na, ta-ha, ta- "now"); Ton. te-l,
ta-ka, wa-ta-c "that, this"; Coa. ta "that, the"; Karan.
ta-l "that, he." Related to Hokan *ta "that" is probably
/-, nominalizing prefix (see no. 120).
106. that, he: ka'- in ka'-la "this one," ka'-gi "eso," ka'-gi-nu "esos,"
-ka {-r]ga) in i-ka, i-rjga "he," Sq. ka- in ka-la "this,"
ka-gi "that"; perhaps also ga- verb prefix indicating
futurity. Cf. Ton. -ka in ta-ka "that, this"; Chum, ka-,
qo- in ka-i, ka-ki "this," qa-lo "that"; Chon. ka-l- noun
prefix.
107. that (past): dr-, di- in dv-cii "yesterday" (literally, "that
[past] day," cf. no. 2>Z), Sq. di-ci, Ar. di-ci. Cf. Was.
di- "there (distant)," di--di "that (distant)." Perhaps
related to no. 105.
107a. this: i- general demonstrative stem of nearness: i-ryga, i- ka
"he," i-ku- "I," i-ka "thou" (note that "I" and "thou" are
based on general third personal i-ka, see no. 106, as Yan.
ai-'nidja "I" and ai-'numa "thou" are based on ai
"he, the"), e-n^u- "they" (from *i-mak, see Phonology;
-in^u-, -n^u- used as personal plural), i--qgv "near" (based
on i-riga "he, it," perhaps from *i-ka-t "this-at"), n^a
"and" (from *i-ma. "this- with," see Phonology), e-ndo
"today" <*i-nwa "this-day" (see no. 31 and Phonology);
perhaps also in gi- "on, in, at" (see no. 113) which may be
verbified g-r "to be at (this)." Cf. Kar. -i-pa "this,"
-i-k^u "that" (see no. 108); Sal. i-la, i-l-ta "soon," i-n
"yet, still"; Chum, i-te "this," i-two "that"; Was. demon-
strative stem i- in i-c "then," i-da "thereupon," i-rja
"because, although" (originally "this- with," see no. 114);
Se. i-ta-m "he, that"; perhaps also Yan. -i of dj-i "the"
(used before first person singular and plural possessive
forms; contrast dj-u for second personal forms).
Three: Hokun htni;mif(es ^5 «
422
107b. here: tiatta. Ar. -nu, -na of aya-ttu "ici. par ici." aya-nj "\i^n^
ici" (for aya- sec no. W)\ probably also verb ;
present tense (oriRinally demonsiralivc adverb
Cf. Sal. na, twtia "this, these. " noyr, lo-na-i "I:
tia-ia' "now," la-na "now," no', non. no no' "MMin.
time, now"; Chum, -na in kit -na "this" (animate);
na- "that it is" (see Van., no. 95). Perhaps rclalc-l Ij
absolutive *-na of nouns (Kar. -r, -ra; Yan. -ri<j; Ks. -no,
-)ia-x. ->i('-x), see Morphology.
108. yonder: ba- in 6a-r/ "there, all.4." Cf. Kar. ^u demonstrative
pronoun of reference, pa-ipa "this." pa-\k*u "that";
Chim. pa-mut, pa-ut "that"; K. Po. ba "that, the,"
u-ba, me-ba "that"; Sal. pe "that, the. those." pa "that,
those," pa "there, here," ne-pa, ne-pe "there, here";
Yan. be- "(it is) so and so which, who."
109. what?: ma-- in ma--na "what?", mu-, -mu- (from *ma-ky see
Phonology) in mit-nq "what?", nu-mu "where.''", -mbi in
a-mbi' 'when?" (or m: mb see Phonology), -mba in mi-mha
"how much?" Cf. E. Po. am "who? what?"; Yan. 'am-bi-
"who?"; Chim. qo-ma-s "who?" (70 is used as general
interrogative stem); Sal. ma-s "somebody, someone";
Y'uman ma- (e. g. Moh. ma-ki "where?", Dieg. mai-xt
"where?").
110. where?: ala "where? whence? whither?" Cf. Ton. ala "where?"
Coa. anil, ani.
111. all, many: ba-, ba- in ba--ua "all," baa "enough," ban'u
"many." Cf. Yan. -ba- sufVi.x in verb forms "all. several."
-ba-nau-ma "everybody."
112. my: -if (after consonants), -yu' (after vowels), from *-a-k, *-ya-k
(see Phonology), i-kif "I" from *i-ka-k; Tlap. r-utu-
"my mother" <*-;</a-)t (cf. r-uta-lo "our mother"), ano
"my father" <*awa-/; (cf. ana-lo "our father"). Sub. *-*
is also used as objective "me," e. g. -hi- <*-la-k im-
perative particle -|-" me" (see no. 126). Cf. Chon. ka-, ki-
"1" (incorporated); Po. kc "my"; Sal. k'e'. he '-k, ke-k
"I." -ak objective "me" in verb forms; Chum, k- "I; my";
Ton. ka "me."
J. Particles
113. at: gi- "on, in, at" (e. g. gi-diyalu- "in the waljer"). gi-
"toward, from" (e. g. gi-n^axif "from work"). This
general locative particle is also compounded \n ^i Ua
"behind, back of," gi-kii "upon, over." Cf. Yan. fi
general locative and objective particle before nouns;
Sal. he, k- locative element before pronominal suflixci
{k-'e "to me," ke-o "to him." k-'a "'■• m^ " i- .. "f-. v..u
pi.," ke-wal "to them").
284 y American Indicin Lcingiiages 1
423
114. with: ma, generally as postposition (e. g. ikw-ma "with me"),
sometimes preposed, ma--ni "with, by means of"; also
n^a "and" (from *i-ma, see no. 107a), plur. -i-nw,
-i-n^u-, -ffu- <*-i-ma-k "being with this," en«u- "they"
(from *imak). This element {ma-, m-) is frequently used
as verbal prefix in subordinate clauses of purpose (e. g.
ma-n^a "for drinking," literally "with-drink," m-iu "for
eating"); also as indirective, locative, or connective suffix
in verbs (e. g. ni'-cna-ma "gave," na' -data-ma "we speak,"
ikw na-datco'-ma ika "I listen to you," na-dia-ma d-a-gw-
Iw "to put with fire, to burn," na-cka-ma "to reach,"
iku- na-tca--ma "I come," na-stox-ma "to bind"). Cf.
Yan. -ma- verb suffix "together with," -ma-, -m- indi-
rective "to" (with first and second person object and in
passive forms), -m-isi-, -mi-isi-, "with one another";
Chim. -m- in -m-di, m-du instrumental postposition;
Kar, -mu-k nominal postposition "with"; Po. -ma verb
suffix expressing plurality of subject, -ma "each other,"
-ma-k nominal postposition "in company with," -mak
verb suffix "to be provided with"; Es. -ma-nu "together
with" (cf. -nu "by means of"); Was. -r]a- in -rja-iva "more,
besides," also -77c, i-rja "because, although," ic-r]a "but";
verbalized in Sal. k-amau "to be together, join." Hokan
indirective *-m{a) seems to be found also in Po. dika-m,
daka-m "to give": diaxa, di'ka, di'kau; Sal. omia-m "to
meet," p-aye-m "to carry" (no. 58a).
115. in: wan", war]- "in, inside, into" (e. g. warj-gwa'-yw "in-house-
my"), na-warj-no "stomach." Cf. Yan. -wul- "into" (as
verb suffix), i-wM 7m "inside"; Kar. -furu-k "into the house"
(verb suffix); Ach. -lu "into the house" (verb suffix;
from *-xlu?); Chim. -xun "into" (verb suffix), absolute
xuno-i "into." Hokan *xwulu from *xwalu {*x-walu)?
Cf. also Penutian *wani: Takelma -wini- in ha'-wini-dc
"in-interior-my, inside of me"; Wishram (Chinookan)
-wan "belly, womb"; Tsimshian wun-, Nass River hwin-
"innermost part."
116. a little: ax- in ax-kwi- "a little" (from *axu-f), -xo, -xu- in
gwa-xo, wa-xu- "a little, something." See also no. 54?
Cf. Chim. -gu, -ku "somewhat, a little" (e. g. xani'-gu
"by and by," patce-am-ku "something"), -gu-la-n "merely,
only"; Yan. -gu- verb suffix "a little, just." This element
{*axu-, *-ku) is probably closely connected with:
117. not: a-- (from *axwa., see Phonology) as prefixed element,
also as enclitic a (e. g. su-lw a' "someone not, nobody").
Cf. Hokan *k'u, *ku (also *xu?): Yan. k'u- "to be not,"
k'u "not"; Chim. xu- "not," x- negative verbal prefix,
-gu-, -ku negative suffix (e. g. paici-gu-n "no," amaidatci-ku
nowhere"), -c-ku-t, -c-ku-n "without"; Po. ku-yi, ku-i
Three: Hnkim Ixin^iuiKes 285
424
"no, not"; S;il. ko-. k- nc}?:uivc prefix; Coa. ox.oxua "nol";
Karan. ko-m, kwoo-m "no. nol." Presumably Hok*n
♦(<i).YJ<-. *{a)k'u of nos. 116 and 117 was proper lo ic-
cented forms. *-ku (with inlcrmcdiale k-f) lo unaccented
or enclitic forms.
118. now, already: cv (c. r. ci-mia "ni.w," d waxi- -il \s Ute
already"), also fi-. ft-Hi- "already" as !
Cf. To. CO "now"; Ton. /;»« ; Karan. ..
also Yan. -si present indicative verb suiiix (•
"now"? This etymolopy is by no means as far-fr
it seems, as there can be little doubt that Yana tense-
modal sutTixes are nothing but petrified stems which were
originally independent, e. g. quotative -/'i: verb stem
/•/•- "to'say"). .
119 past time: ni-, used as verb prefix or. better, proclitic particle
to express past time. Cf. Yan. -'ni- preterit v. •
(-•- probably shows that -ni- was originally felt ;i
particle disconnected from verb form pr.)per; cf. -wi-^wa
"I " -'ww-wd "thou" for original -ni-dja. cf. -n-djii I.
and -nu-ma)\ To. -ne, -ni apparentativc verb suffix
("must have"). Hokan *m probably old parlirlr v.-rb:
"it was. it happened."
A'. Grufuvialical Elements*
120 Sub. d- absolutivc noun prefix of frequent use (see MorpholoRyK
This element is probably petrified from demonstrative
*ta- (see no. 105) . but it is possible that it already occurred
as nominal prefix (*/-) in early Hokan and did not
merely develop independently in several dialects. 1 1.
Sal /- /- article prefix of many nouns, also frequently
used to nominalize verbs into subordinate clauses.
Chum. (San Luis Obispo dialect) /-article pretix of many
nouns (e. g. t-axa "bow": ax o other dialects\J,ul
probably also as survival in other dialects (c. g. t-em leg.
foot": Chon. inuts; Moh. t""; Com. em,); \Sas. J- com-
mon nominal prefix (e. g. d-a^a-l "house : arjal in .Uc I ).
probably also in d-i- "my" (cf. Sal. (-m- "thy. Nub^
5- . . . -u- "my"); Sh. /-, d- perhaps in certam survivaU
(see no. 24), further Ach. d- in d-tsoq -urine (. bh.
> There is of course, no real line of division »K-lw.on v;r..nu....>K«
proclitic or enditic particles. I have here liste<l such clement, a. ^.crm n>
grammatical in character. Some of them, like intmnsitivc «- «n<l a.lK^ >v
belong to a far older stratum of the language than such prvx ht .c |«rt.c lo *^
a- (no. 118), or na- (no. 107 b).
286 V American Indian Languages I
425
icukwi, Ats. wissuq; Was. d-a'ca "urine," aca "to urinate";
Chum, oxco-l "urine"); Po. d- apparently in certain
nouns (e. g. d-ano, d-ono "mountain": S. E. k-ano, k-no,
see no. 41; d-axo, d-ako, d-ayo-n, d-oko, d-uku-l, t-uku-n
"pestle": S. E. s-ku-n; d-iwe, d-uwe "night": i'we, iwe;
d-apo "fog": pot; d-iwi, d-owi, d-uwi "coyote": i'wi).
For Hokan noun prefixes, see Morphology.
120a. Sub. r-, r- absolutive noun prefix (see Morphology) ; Tlap. r- in
r-utu- "my mother" (properly "the-mother-my"). Cf.
Sal. /- absolutive noun prefix; Chum, a-/-; Chon. /-, t-l-,
ka-l-, ha-l-. See also nos. 104, 122. For adjectival r-
in Sub. see Morphology.
120b. Sub. S-, c- absolutive noun prefix (see Morphology). Cf. Sal.
S-, c- absolutive noun prefix; Chum, s-, tc-; Yuman s-.
See also no. 123a.
120c. Sub. p- absolutive noun prefix (see Morphology). Cf. Sal. p-
absolutive noun prefix; Po. b-.
120d. Sub. k- absolutive noun prefix (see Morphology). Cf. Po. k-
absolutive noun prefix; Sal. k-; Yuman k-.
121. Sub. d- adjectival prefix (e. g. d-a'gu "big"), perhaps identical
with no. 120. Cf. Was. /-, d- (e. g. t-arjau, d-ajjau "good":
arjau "to be good"); Yan. da- in adjective verbs; Po. d-,
i- (e. g. N. E. t-uya "small": S. -uya in baiya-uya "man-
small, boy"); Sal. /-, t- (e.g.t-elwa-ne "strong, fierce" :/M"wa'
"male, man"; V-xauwat "yellow": s-xauwit' "acorn");
Chum, i- (e. g. t-asu-n "red," see no. 93). This element
is discussed below.
122. Sub. -/«■ common noun suffix (e. g. d-i'ya-lw "water": iya
"water," vla-lu' "island" borrowed from Spanish isla),
probably related to demonstrative -la (see no. 104; -/«• per-
haps from *-la-k, see Phonology); Tlap. -lo {e.g. r-uta-lo
"thy mother": Sub. d-u'ta-lw). Cf. Chim. -r, -/ noun
suffix (e. g. tcima-r "man," piso-l "quail"), -ra, -la (e. g.
pxici-ra "skunk"; diminutive 4-la is dim. -/--f absolutive
-la); Po. -I absolute noun sufl&x (e. g. fo-l, po-l "beads":
fo, po; cala-l "liver": cala; mitci-l "day": matci; yu-l,
hu-l "snow": yu, i'yu; k-asi-l, k-'asi-l, x-asi-l "redwood":
k-'is, t-'as "red," see no. 93; buraka-l, beteka-l "bear":
butaka), also -n (e. g. kasi-n "redwood," tuku-n "pestle":
duku-l, dako); Dieg. -l«, -II (e. g. 'emi-ly "leg, foot": Moh.
Hme; apa-ll "arrow": Moh. ipa); Was. -/ (e. g. d-a-qa-l
"house," ts-iga-l "kidney," ts-ime-l "beard"); Es. -/
(in la-l "he," make-l "rat," kumu-l "quail," halaka-l
"mussels," kalu-l "fish": Yan. gala-, kume-l "knife"),
-la (e. g. imi-la "sea," maksa-la "earth": matra); Ton. -I
in te-l "that, this"; Karan. -/ in ta-l "that, he."
123. Sub. m- adjective prefix (e. g. m-a'ca "blue, green": d-aca-lu.
"grass"). Cf. Yan. m- (e. g. m-a'si- "to be ripe": in-
Three: Hokuii hini^iuiiit's 287
426
corporated -si-); Po. m- (c. g. m-alo "larRt": h-^*\;
Yunian m- (e. g. Dicg. m-iyul-k "^wcct": - ':
"sweel"); Sal. m- (c. g. w-artj/ "wliitr").
element is discussed below.
123a. Sub. i-, c- adjective preftx (sec Morphologv). CI. Sal. i-
adjective prefix. This element is probably idcnlictl with
no. 120b.
124 Sub ^- intransitive verb i)refix (e. g. ■f>-i ma "to ascend :
d-ehma-lu "sky"). Cf. Sal. A- prefix for static verbs and
adjectives (e. g. k-axk'o' "to be careful," k-alrp "to forget.
k-itcmila "transparent"), alternating with actjve p\,
Se k- adjective and numeral i)refix (e. g. k-opol "black.
k-akol "great," k-uxo-m "two"); Po. k- prefix^ for m^
transitive verbs and adjectives (e. g. k-amale "angry^
k-itci-du "small": 6-i7n<); Chum, k- (e. g. k-opo-k "dead :
Chim. -po- "to sleep") ; Ton. k- (e. g. k-opol "round : pxlil
"round"); Cot. k- (e. g. k-tnas "good": Ton. Amox.scc
no. 87). This important and evidently archaic Hokan
element is discussed below. .
125 Sub. d- transitive verb prefix (e. g. -d-ia-ma "to make go with.
to place"). Cf. Was. d- (e. g. d-amal "to hear, originally
«to make, give ear," see no. 7). This element is dis-
cussed at greater length below.
126 Sub. -la, -I imperative particle, -/w< Ma-* imperative with
first person singular object (e. g. da-cna-lu , da-cna-l xku .
da-cnu-la "give me!") Cf. Es. -la imperative particle
(e. g. es-la hasa-na[x] "bring water!" xuk-la asa-nax give
me water!" absku-la "look!")
II. NOTES ON SUBTIABA PHOXULOGV
It is not my purpose to discuss Subtiaba phonetics in any detail,
nor would Dr. Lehmann's somewhat inadequate orthography
make it possible to do so in any event. A few indications of prob-
able or possible phonetic developments should be of some service,
however, in elucidating the lexical comparisons that I have sug-
gested. The phonetic character of Subtiaba seems not dissimilar
in some respects to that of Mixtec-Zapotec-Otomi (cf. such syl-
lables as mba and n^m) and it would not be at ^^^ ^"H^^J'.^f »^
this Hokan language, the neighbor of languages of ^he M"' <^-
Zapotec-Otomi group both in Mexico and in Nicaragua (Mixtcc.
Trique, Mazatec, Mangue-Chorotega), had been somewh.' -n-
fluenced by them in its sound system. ...
Vocalic Changes. There is evidence to indicate that u ,s umUuid
288 V American Indian LMnguages 1
427
in many cases to e (or e) by following or originally preceding i.
Examples of a umlauted to e by following i are:
eeJ^', tdi "blood" <*«' 7i<*axwa7z (no. 3)
tmhi "owl" <*ambi (no. 64)
Examples of a umlauted to e by an unaccented preceding i which
has disappeared (see below) are:
me- "camisa" <*iwc-? (no. 52)
S€-ku- "child" <*isa-k'u (no. 54)
se-ka "sister" <*wa (no. 56)
nt-go, nee-go "ripe"<*i'«a (no. 94)
me-mv "nine" <*iniba-nak "one-missing"? (cf. no. 100); that
me- is derived from imba- and not from *ima seems to be
indicated by n^a from *ima (see below)
In another series of examples original i has been modified to e (or e)
by a following a, either preserved, lost or itself contracted with
following -k to -tr (see below) :
ttcu- «head"<*z5(c)«M? (no. 14)
en^w "woodpecker" <*inak (no. 29)
eme "camisa" <*zwo? (no. 52)
d-ehma "en haut"<*i'wc (no. 44)
eWu- "they" <*imak (no. 107a; see also no. 114)
endo " toda,y" <*i-nwa (no. 31)
In me-, eme "camisa" from *ima (see No. 52) both vowels appear
to have modified each other; but it is rather probable that *ami
(or *imi) should be assumed for Sub., as *ima would have resulted
in Wa (see below). In enyu- "they" and plural suffix -{i)nyu- we
appear to have a doublet (e'-: -i-) dependent on differences of
stress. It seems likely that all examples of Sub. e go back to i-
umlaut of a or a-umlaut of i.
Somewhat analogously, a seems to have become rounded to
open or to uj (Lehmann's a) by following w in:
goo "his house" (from *gwoo<*g'wa-wa? cf. gwa "house")
oi's'nko- "lizsivd" <*aswa-'n-ka- {no.ll)
Postconsonantal wa also became o :
endo "today" <*i-nwa (no. 31)
Here belongs apparently also kwa > ku- :
kii'i "to come" <*k'wani, *k'wali (no. 63)
428
Monophthongization oj Diphthongs. 'I lie diphlhonn jm M,-tii; •
have often become monophllionj^i/.fd to w or o and wt* rin<l var. .
of au:u , 0. Examples iirc:
-nipati "hip, fat": ombo (based on umba, -mba); sec no. 85
tui na'u "alone": mi 'no
As the last example shows, the dilTerence between diphthong and
simple vowel is j^robably due to dilTerenccs of stress. These ex-
amples help to explain a series of alternating forms in -«j and -o
(or -m), in which a suffix -w or -« seems to have combined with
the final -a of the stem:
-d-apa: -g-apo, -g-apw "to sleep" (no. 80)
na-cka-ma "to reach": ikw ni-cka-mo "seized me"
na-dia-ma "to place at" : na-xka ga-dia-mo aku "to go to make
fire"
ikw ua-itia "I give (you)": ikic na-cno "I give him"
na-data, na-ala "to say": ika iku na-lo "you say to mc"
We are therefore prepared to find examples of Sub. -u < Hokan au :
d-asu- "fat"<*aA-aM (no. 11)
-gti- "to sleep" <*kaH (no. 81)
P'or -u- from -au<-ak, see below.
Parallel to au> u\ a is ai>i-. \n example from Subliaba
itself is:
yilu "tcar"<*y(7-/7i/ (no. 9)
Final -r, -i probably goes back to Hokan -iii in:
ici "tree" <*ixai (no. 47)
d-ici-lir "l)ow" <*/.va/ (no. 49)
For -r from -ai<-at, see below.
Change of w to gw. There is clear evidence in Subtiaba of an
interchange between initial t)r intervocalic w and gw and of ifw
and rigw. As final --w unites with preceding a to form -au or •«.
we may have an interchange between final -au (or-o) and medial
-agw- i-akw-). Examples are:
arfwa "mountain": ai}gwa (no. 41)
d-awa "there is not": d-agwa (no. 7()a)
na-gau'i "to llee," na-ga u "to go": na-ga gvn' (no. To
a-na-wano "you are not silent": na-guano "qucdarsc calUdo'
waxu': gwaxo "a little"
290 V American Indian Languages J
429
waxi' "late": gwaxv dimba sign- "one year late"
d-at{, d-qii' "mouth" {<d-qw, d-arjw): d-arjgwa (no. 16);
cf. also na-r)gwa-xa "to yawn"
yua "cabuya" (read yuwa): Tlap. yugua "maguey" (read
yugwa)
-to "to say" (from -ta-w, see above): nr-takw iku- "I said,"
ni--takw ika "you said" (from -taw r-)
The last example and such cognates as a-qwa "mountain": Chim.
awu {a-ma), d-a-wa ''there is not": Sal. k-awa^ "to be lacking,"
-g-au "to go": Hokan *awa, and d-a-ii (d-arjgwa) "mouth":
Chim. h-awa suggest strongly that iv is the original consonant
and that g arose parasitically before it. In the following examples
original w appears regularly as gw {g, k before -tf) :
gwa "house" < Hokan *{i)wa, *{a)wa (no. 50); but Ar. writes
also iwd
a'gu- "fire"<agww <*agwa-k (see below) <Hokan *'awa-
(no. 36)
axkw "four" <ax"gwM" <*axwagwa-k (see below) <*axwa'wa-k
(no. 103)
Vocalization of Final -ak and -at. Subtiaba seems to tolerate
no final consonants. As unaccented vowels frequently disappeared
(see below), this can only mean that the final consonant which
remained when an originally following unaccented vowel was lost
united t6 form a diphthong or long vowel with the preceding vowel.
There is not enough evidence available to work out all the phonetic
developments that must have taken place, but it is rather clear
that -ak became -w {or -o-) no doubt via -aw. We may gather this
from comparative evidence, from alternations within Subtiaba of
forms in -a and -w (i. e. -a-4-a lost consonant), and from at least
one luckily preserved alternation of -w : -ag-. Examples are:
isu- "bone" <*ixa^, *ihyak (no. 4)
€«*'«• "woodpecker" <*ma^ (no. 29)
u's'nMo' "lizard" <*a5wa'w^c^ (no. 27)
m-vduu- (read mvdu-'^}) "night" <*z7a^o (no. 42); cf. Coah.
tako'-m "night" and Sub. (Sq.) m-idagi-na "black"
t-itcu- "white" <*/-rca-yfe (no. 98); cf. Sub. m-ica "white"
mu--, -mu- "what?" <*ma-k; cf. Sub. ma'- (no. 109)
-ga-n^w "to die" <*-g-imak or *-g-imax{w) (no. 65)
ra'bu "person, man" <*ra'6fl-^ (no. 54a): ra-ba-gu- "woman,"
literally "person-female"
-lu- "the" <*-la-k (no. 122) ;cf. Sub. demonstrative stem -la
"this"
Three: HoLoi lxuti>iuines 2V|
430
-lu iniptrativc particle -f "mc" <*-/d-* (no. 126): E«. -la imper-
ative particle; Sub. -la, -I
agu- "lire<*'tiW'(i-A- (no. 36)
uku' "moon" <*(i.yau'a-^? (no. 40)
«-«"!<• "they," plur. sufli.x -{i)-n^u- <*i-m<i ^ -- \\\ ■*
Po. -ma-k "in company with"
-«• "my," Tlap. -o <*-a-k{{) (no. 112)
-w numeral ending in aptr "two" (no. 101), a sw "three*
(no. \02), axku- "four" (no. 104),U'i 5W "fwc," mafu' "six,"
kinu- "seven," and mttiif "nine" <*-a-k; cf. Vuman
numerals of type Moli. Iiavi-k "two," hamo-k "three"
The group -alk appears as -an, in other words the -/- became n
and was absorbed as nasalization in -au<-ak:
n^au "ear"' <*ismalk (no. 7)
It is reasonable to suppose that original -at was similarly
vocalized to -ai, -r. Several examples seem to support this \ i'\v
ixki- "olosica" < */.x-/ra/ (no. 26); cf. Sal. i-l-kal "anl"
ambi- ''when?" <*a-ni a -t "what-at?" (no. 109)
ir]gi- "near"<*z-rj,?a-/ "this-at"? (see no. 107a)
ga-mi- , ga-mi "with, together" <*,i,'(i-m<i-/ "tha'l-togclhcr-al"?
(see no. 114); cf. Sub. ma "with")
• Palatalizing of Nasals. One of the characteristic features of
Subtiaba phonetics is the frequency of the anterior palatal nasal,
n" (Lehmann's «). It is highly probable that this sound originates
often and perhaps always, from i+ following nasal (w, w); im
first became palatalized to /m", which then fell together with in'
from original iti. Before a unaccented in" seems regularly to have
simplified to n", which may therefore be considered as nasal («, m)
with inherent /-vowel. Before u, however, in" sometimes assimi-
lates to /<«". Examples are:
en"u- "woodpecker" <*inak (no. 29)
n^an- "hand" <*iwa7i'- (no. 13)
n"a "and"<*/-W(i "this-with" (no. 114V, cf. Was. i-i^j "be-
cause, although"
-Wc "to drink" <*ima (no. 66)
-{i-)n"u-, -i-nu- plural suflix <*j-wu'-A: (n»)s. in7;i 114
€n"u- "ihty" <*i-ma-k (nos. 107a, 114).
-ga-n"u- "to (\\q" <*imak (no. 65)
nyaii "esiT" <*imalk<*ismalk (no. 7); ism- cither assimilated
to imyn->in"- (cf. Was. d-amal "to hear" (read amrnal}]
<*-asmalk) or else ism- first passed to isn->\nn- Xim*-
(cf. Sal. p-esna-, p-cstto- "to hear. li>tcn"; Ach^ !
Sh. tsa)b [read t55a)t?] also presuppose •ii»»«i*<*'
Ats. asmak)
292 y American Indian iMngiuiges 1
431
««"«• "worm"<*/wz/- (no. 25)
unyti "string" (read unn«u?) <*ip{a)mu (no. 53)
An original *uf}iu "face" (itself probably assimilated from *uma)
seems to have dissimilated its labials to inu (no. 10); note that
this in-, in contrast to i4n^u- "worm" <*imu-, does not palatalize
to {i)n^u or un^u.
Change of 1 to n. There is some indication that an original I
sometimes passed to n, whence nasalization of the preceding vowel:
n^a% "eSLT^^ <*ismalk via *ismank (no. 7); of. Yahi mangu:
N. Yana mal'gu, C. Yana malgu {<*isma-l'-ka-w, old
dual in -w from still older dual-plural form in -I'-)
endo " da.y'^ <*i-nwa<*i-lwa (no. 31); but original *anwa may
be assumed as well as *alwa for "sun"
-ki{:'i "to come" <*k'u>ali (no. 63)
Possibly also :
wanv, war]- "in"<*waZi (cf. Hokan *x-wulu, no. 115),
but this form is better referred to Penutian *wani "inside."
Nasalized Stops. The consonant groups mb (also mp), nd, and
■qg are evidently equivalent to single consonants, at least psy-
chologically. They are derived in certain cases from simple stops,
probably by contraction with an old syllable which contained a
nasal, but perhaps also by the direct change of intervocalic -g-,
-d-, and -b- to -g-, -nd-, and -mb-:
bii- "day": nixka-mbvi-lu- "the whole day," asu-mbi-r "in
3 days"
ba'-n^u "many": pu-rw inba--n"u "somos muchos"
gi'ko, gika "liver": ga-T]gi-ga, na--qgiko "fever (with liver
affection)"
i-'ka "he" (for demonstrative stem ka see no. 106): i-r]ga "he"
na-goo "to filter, squeeze out": c-irjgoo "wooden churn"
The comparative evidence suggests that under as yet undetermined
conditions intervocalic p (and p") became mh, mp; for the change
of -t- to -nd- the evidence is more slender.
amba "excrement" <*a/>'a (no. 8)
umba, -mpa-u "fat"<*Mp'a- (no. 85) or, more probably,
*{u)m-up'a- (see below)
imba "one"<*ipa (no. 100)
-ndi-yu "sick": Yan. m-adi- (no. 95) (but see below)
The -mb- resulting from -p- could become reduced, it seems, to
simple m- in an unaccented syllable:
Three: HoLin I utiffuttfies 293
432
tnt-nu' "nine" ( = "0110 missing" ."'j < im6a- •one" (wiih «
umlault'd to « by formerly preceding i but with m not
jialatali/cd to w"; imba- to m«-, but original *ima to n'a)
On the other hantl, it seems ecjually clear that under (.crlaio
circumstances intervocali* vi and n become «*mi-stoppe<l lo mb
and nd (cf. 'iV>gU')\
anibi- "when?" <*ama-/, also -mba \\\ mimba "how much?*;
via-na "what?" (no. 109)
umbel, -umba- "earth" <*Mf«(; (no. 34)
-mbiya "to cry" < *-mi-, tmbi "owl" < •ami (no. 64)
tndo "day"<*V-;rira
-ndiegu- "to laugh": Sal. ilik (no. 71; (but sec below)
It is not possible to tell with our scanty materials when m and n
remained and when they shifted to tnb and nd. In the case of tnd4f
the d may have developed as a glide between n and w of •I'-wu-o.
In umba too it is possible that the original form was *amua rather
than *ama (or *uma). This would explain why some of the Hokan
languages presuppose a type *atua (Chimariko, I'omo, Vuman,
Seri, Chontal), others rather *um(i (Salinan, Subtiaba). If wc
look, beyond Hokan proper to other languages of the larger Hokan-
Siouan group, ^ we find confirmatory evidence for an original
*amwa or *uma {*oma) in Yuki on i <*om <*oma), Wapixi oma
"earth, world"; but Sioux has wa-.
It may not be without significance that Chipanec. which is
closely related to Mazatec and Chorotega-Mangue, has analogous
changes of k, p, and / to rj^, mb, and tid, e. g. kof)e "to see": fut.
ta-7jgope, pomo "to think": fut. ta-mbomo, tiri "mountain": plur.
ni-ndiri. It is quite likely that the general phonetic slant of Sub-
tiaba was determined to a considerable extent by inJlucnccs of
languages of the Mixtcc-Zapotec-Otomi group.
Hokan X and x. There seem to have been two distinct k-
fricatives in Hokan, a more forward guttural (x) and a velar
(x, also labialized .yw)- The latter sound is preserved in all
as X (y, x), as aspiration (A, '). or as aspirated stop (*■); K
words are *axwa- "two," *axu<a-{^)wa "four" (sec nos, 101, lOJ),
*axu'a'ti "blood" (sec no. .S), and *ixaniJ- "good" (scr no. 87).
The more forward x is treated like y in certain dialects (c g.
• See Science, N. S., Oct. 28, 1021, p 408.
294 V American Indian iMnt^uages I
433
Chimariko, Yana, Porno, Chumash, Tonkawa), but becomes as-
sibilated to 5, c (ex), OTts in others (e. g. Karok, Shasta- Achomawi,
Esselen, Salinan); good test words are *ixa' "stone" (see no. 45),
*xaka "flint, knife," and *axa "water." Such examples as Sub. axa,
-aha, ax- "old" (no. Q2), -i-xn"a "good" (no. 87), and axku- "four"
(no. 103) doubtless contain Hokan x and xw\ x is regularly-
palatalized to X after i-vowels. Another set of examples indicates
that Hokan x was assibilated in Subtiaba to s, c:
isi', si-- "stone" <*ixa' (no. 45)
d-asu- "fat" <*cxaM (no. 11)
ici "tree" <*ixai (no. 47)
d-ici-lw "bow"<*ixai (no. 49)
This assibilation in Subtiaba of x to s, c is important because it
shows that the parallel process in Karok-Shastan and in Esselen-
Salinan is rooted in an old Hokan distinction between x and x.
That the assibilation took place independently in the three areas
is demonstrated by the fact that Chimariko, which is rather closely
related to Karok and Shasta-Achomawi but which tends to be
more archaic than they, has preserved x distinct from the true
sibilants. It is very likely that a more careful phonetic study than
has yet been published of certain Hokan languages would indicate
that Hokan x and x are still preserved intact. In Yana this is not
the case, for they have fallen into a single sound, x or h (e. g.
xa-, ha- "water" <*axa like ux-, u'- "two" <*axwa-). One wonders,
for instance, whether the Yuman dialects do not distinguish x
(or h) from x (or h). In the Subtiaba examples just given note that
s remains in "stone" and "fat" because followed by original back
vowels but appears palatalized to c in "tree" and "bow" because
followed by i, i from older ai. The treatment of Hokan x and x
in Subtiaba may therefore be indicated as follows:
before back vowels before front vowels
Hokan a;> Sub. s c
Hokan y> Sub. x,h $
A secondary Hokan x arose from x {k) before y; this was shifted
to s:
isu- "hone*' <*ihyak, *ixyak (no. 4)
Three: Httlum Iji/iiinuges 295
434
Observe that neither in i su bone nor m ni siunc" has the
preceding / the power to pahitaH/.c s to c. This is because the s
is not a true sibilant in origin but is secondarily developed from
-xy- and -x-. Contrast forms like mi ca "while" with primary
-5- (see no. 98).
Of much later datr than the passage of Hokan x to Sub. *,
c is that vi Sub. x to s when immediately followed by a conso-
nant. This change has not been consummated yet, for wc find
many alternative forms.
}n ax ma " c i u i c k " : m a s m a
na-xka "to go": At. na-ska
na-xlo "to shave, bark": osto "bark"
daxka "it stinks": -daska "to smt-U"
na-f^oxta-lw "volverse": ni-^u sla-tna "ic parctc^"
nuxniha "mulatto": nusmba
axkw "four": Ar. asku
roax-n^w "family": daka-ruas n'^itnatia "gente de lejos*
The last example (cf. ro axi "people") and the etymology of afku
(see no. 103) show that x is the older sound in these consonant
groups and that they have originated by the dropping out of
unaccented vowels that originally stood between the x and the
following consonant. A somewhat similar process, but in the
opposite sense, has taken place in Yana. Vahi -.t--f- consonant
and -5- + consonant fell together into -.r- fwlunrr -'-') 4- consonant
in Northern and Central Yana.
Loss and Contraction of Vowels. We have already seen reason
to believe that final vowels, presumably only if short and unac-
cented, are lost in Subtiaba, also that medial short vowels, if
preceded by the accent, drop out and thus cause consonant clusters
to arise. A few further examples are:
-g-iu "to ea.t" <*-g-iiva (no. 67)
-t-au "to sit"<*-/-awa (no. 77)
a'x-mba "old": axa "grown up." d-aita "nuituruy t.nn *>2)
ax-{kwi) "little": (/jM'u)-.y(; "a little" (no. 116)
The group *axwa' seems to develop to Subtiaba a , probably vU
aha\:
a- " noi" <*a.xu'a (no. 117)
a- "two" in a-pw "two." a-su- "three" <*afWtf'- (i«e ooft.
101. \02):ax-ku- "four" <*a'xu<a- (no. 103)
2% V American Indian Luinguages I
435
d-aca-hr "grass," m-a'ca "green^^ <*axwa si "grass," *m-
axwa'si (and *m-axwasi>*m-ax''si?) "green" (nos. 38,
88); but if -aca-, -a'ca- are to be understood as -a'ca-,
this example does not belong here
e'edi, i'di "blood" (read e-"di?) <*a"di <*axwa 'ti (no. 3)
The loss of unaccented short vowels between consonants is
a frequent process in Hokan dialects and probably accounts for
most or all of the consonant clusters in these languages. Thus,
Hokan *i'pali "tongue" becomes i'p'li in Achomawi; Hokan
*i'sama- "ear" becomes *i'sma-, whence Atsugewi a'sma-k, Acho-
mawi i'ssa-t, Washo d-a'mma-l "to hear," Salinan p-esna- "to
hear"; Yana a;a'ga . "flint" corresponds to dat'-xga'-i-si "it has
much flint." This process must have operated in countless Sub-
tiaba words for which we have no evidence in Subtiaba itself.
Frequently, as elsewhere, consonants thus brought together have
become assimilated. In a number of examples we can surmise the
former presence of these vowels from the comparative evidence
given by forms in other Hokan languages, e. g.:
n^aii ''ea.T" KH'mm^a'nk <*i'smalk <*isama- (no. 7)
-u'miu "navel" (read -iimmiu) <*unpi'w- <*unapVw-{no. 17)
o:-s'nMo' '^VizSLrd" <*aswa'nka'k (no. 27)
ina "leaf" (read inna) <*itna'<*itana (no. 39)
unHi "string" (read tinn^u) <*i'mmyu' <*i'pamu' (no. 53)
aockw ''iour" <*a'x"g'wa'-k<*ax'wa-wa'-k (no. 103)
uykw '^moon'^ <*uxg'wa'-k<*uxawa'k (no. 40)
a'xka "spidev^^ <* a xaka' (no. 24).
(To be continued)
THE HOKAN AFFLMI V OF SIH IIAHA IN NICARAGUA
(Conclusion)
Hy EDWARD SAI'IR
CoNTKNTS
111. Notes on Subtiuba and llokan Morphology
A. General Remarks 491
B. Form of Stem 49J
C. Hokan Xoun Prefixes 495
Prefixed (f- 495
Other Nominal Prefixes in Hokan 497
General Survey of Hokan Nominal Prefixes 501
D. Hokan Adjective and \'erb Class-Prefixes 504
Adjectives and Intransitives in w- 506
Other Adjectival Prefixes in Hokan 512
Intransitives in g- 515
Transitives in d- 520
Other Transitive Prefixes 521
General Survey of Hokan \crb Class-Prcfixcs 522
Conclusion: Further Vistas 525
III. Notes on Subtiab.\ .\nu HoisLan Morpholck.y
A. General Remarks
When one passes from a language to another that is only re-
motely related to it, say from English to Irish or frt>n\ llaiila to
Hupa or from Yana to Salinan, one is overwhelmed at lirst by the
great and obvious dilTerences of grammatical structure. As one
probes more deeply, however, significant resemblances arc db-
covered which weigh far more in a genetic sense than the dis-
crepancies that lie on the surface and that so often prove to be
merely secondary diakctic developnu-nts which yield no vcr>' re-
mote historical i)erspective. In the upshot it mav appear, and
4V1
298 ^ American Indian Languages J
492
frequently does appear, that the most important grammatical
features of a given language and perhaps the bulk of what is con-
ventionally called its grammar are of little value for the remoter
comparison, which may rest largely on submerged features that are
of only minor interest to a descriptive analysis. Those who find
this a paradox think descriptively rather than historically. It
would be an instructive experience in method to compare English
grammar with that of the Indo-European language reconstructed
by philologists. Whole departments of Indo-European grammar
find no analogue in English, while a very large part of what English
grammar there is is of such secondary growth as to have no
relevance for Indo-European problems. To anticipate from
another field, a curiously large proportion of those features that
make up "Haida grammar" turn out on closer study to be dia-
lectic developments, on a common Nadene basis, that are peculiar
to it as distinct from Tlingit-Athabaskan; it appears, moreover,
that some of the most significant evidence serving to link Haida
with Tlingit-Athabaskan is not so much as mentioned in the formal
remarks on Haida grammar that have been pubhshed. It would
not seem necessary to make these self-evident remarks if so much
of our work in American linguistics were not heavily biased in
favor of a purely descriptive method and against all attempts at
reconstructing the historical perspective.
We need not be surprised to find that some of the more super-
ficial facts about Subtiaba morphology, enumerated in Lehmann's
study, find no direct parallels in the northern Hokan languages.
Subtiaba, for instance, has a "preterit tense" formed by prefixed
ni- or ci--, a "present tense" in na-, a "future" in ga-; while Pomo
has a past in suffixed -hi or -hi-ba, a present in -a, and a future in
-eya; and Yana a preterit in sufiixed -ha or -'ni-, a present in -si,
and a future in -si-. As soon as we realize, however, that the
Subtiaba "tense prefixes" are merely proclitic elements, probably
of demonstrative or adverbial origin (see nos. 118, 119, 107b, 106),
they cease to be of major morphological interest for the com-
parative point of view. As a matter of fact, some of the most
important grammatical elements and features of Subtiaba have
not been isolated by Lehmann and it is precisely these that
Three: HtjLut Ixmi^mi^es
¥»i
prove it to possess a fundamentally Hokan grammar. I s}i;ill c nil
attention to them in this section.
There is one point of grammar, however, that seems tlciunlcly
un-Hokan. This is the order of elements in compound nouns.
In Subtiaba the determining noun regularly follows instead of
preceding, e. g. sitiu- d-agu- "stone-hre, tlint," il-au d-ia-lu
"mouth-water, shore," gilcir Waic "backhand, back of the
hand," yitu {<ya-i'tu) "water-eye, tear." This is remarkable
because the Hokan languages as a whole compound in the reverse
order, e. g. Chim.'" asi-n-ala "day-sun," Kar. cak-ac "arrowhead-
stone, flint," Sh. tuxu-ara "back-bone," Ach. apxa-tsu "night-sun,
moon," Yan. 'au-ha "fire-water, whiskey," Po. yii-xa "eye-water,
tear," Was. -qana-q-arjal "baby-house, umbilical cord," Ks. tomanis-
aci "night-sun, moon," Sal. n-ca-t "eye-water, tears," Moh.
hukdar-ido "coyote-tooth." It is true that there is a certain type
of Yana compound in which the determining element follows,
e. g. i'dal'-ba "bone-deer, deer bone," galu-m-'i "arm-tree, branch";
these consist of nouns in which the second member of the com{)ound
refers to the possessor* of the body-part indicated by the first.
It is possible that this type was at one time prevalent in Hokan
and that it was generalized in Subtiaba, but it seems very much
more likely that the Subtiaba order is due to the inlluence of
certain other Mexican and Central American linguistic groups in
which the determining element in compound nouns regularly
follows (e. g., Maya tzotz-cch "skin-deer, deerskin"; Zaptitec
yutnu-kuihi "tree-fruit, fruit tree," Chiapanec qiquila ti/hi-popati
"book generation, book of descendants," Mazatec noonlioco
"finger-foot, toe"). We have already hinted at a phonetic influence
on Subtiaba of Mixtec-Zapotec-Otomi.
B. Form of Stem
I have called attention at various times io the large number ol
stems in the Hokan-Coahuiltecan languages which begin with a
vowel and to the tendency of this vowel to drop out either in
other forms of the same word or in cognate words in other lan-
guages of the group (e. g. Po. uyu "eye": yu-xa "eyewater, tear").'*
'o For abbreviations see p. 404, fn. 4; p. 405, fn. 5. Ijh., pp. 24-32, Hck.-Cm^
pp. 2S9, 90; Sup., pp. 71, 72.
300 V American huUan Uinguages 1
494
The loss of the vowel is likely to be due only in part to a phonetic
reason, in part also to an alternation that has morphological
significance. There seems to be a pronounced tendencyto drop the
vowel when the word in which it occurs enters into compounds.
In Subtiaba, precisely as in Shasta-Achomawi, Chimariko,
Pomo, Washo, Salinan, and Yuman, there is an exceedingly large
percentage of stems that begin with a vowel. Some of these have
already been listed in the table of Subtiaba cognates. Others,
taken at random, a,Te: iya "wa.teT,"^^ d-undi'-lu' "rain," i-dr "ash,"
a'no "father," oco "breath," exti-u "forehead," i-du- "salt," ux^du-
"ulcer," t'lu-n^u "sloth," t-qdr "tigre pintado," a-ga "pig," ttci
"beak," apu- "snake," eki "fish," a-xkwa "ant," ixtr "wax,"
axmo "root," i'xna "bird-cage," idw "reed," eni "doctor," -idw
"to bury," -usin^a "to chew," u-ma "cold." Many stems that
really begin with a vowel are disguised by the presence of a
nominal, verbal, or adjectival consonantal prefix (see belowj. In
other cases the vowel is lost as such but its former existence can be
demonstrated by comparative evidence and by its influence on the
following consonant or on the vowel of the next syllable, e. g.
n*ai{. ''esLv" <*ismalk (no. 7), se-ka "sister" <*i5a'- (no. 56). All
in all, the persistence of stems with initial vowel is so marked that
one is led to surmise that there lies buried in the Hokan-Coahuil-
tecan languages an old system of significant initial vowels, whose
nature remains to be determined. S. Pomo i'pa (read probably
ip'a) "intestines": apa (read ap'a) "excrement" is suggestive
(in other Pomo dialects p'a or its reflex /a is used for both "intes-
tines" and "excrement"), so far as it goes; cf. perhaps also Sub.
isu- "bone": m-asw "thorn"; r-a-na "herb": ina "leaf."
More conclusive than such alternations as Sub. se-ka "sister"
<*isa- (no. 56): Was. -isa "older sister," Es. itci "sister," Ach.
>' I do not believe that much reliance is to be placed in Lehmann's vocalic
quantities. Most of these initial vowels are likely to be short even though marked long.
Many German (and English) investigators have a tendency to consider all close vowels
long, particularly if they occur in an open syllable and bear the stress. Such alterna-
tions as itu' and ittv' "seashore," d-a'gu-lw and d-agu'-lw "fire," d-uku-'lw and
d-u'xku--lu- "moon" indicate that Lehmann has not accurately determined the
quantities but has merely assimilated them to German speech habits.
Thri'e: Hnkun /^//jv<«i.jfrv JQI
-is "older sister." \. Dieg. tsa-n "y«)unger sislci. ,i,an ..iu.t
sister" and si'u«u- "tooth" (no. 20): Ach. ilsa, Sh. t'lsau, Ms. iisau,
in which an old initial vowrl may hr inferred for Subliaba by
comparative evidence, are cases of alternation of forms with and
without the vowel in Subtiaha itself. I have noted:
t-asir "hair'": suhu "hair of head" (no. 12)
d-ai]U'(i "mouth": na-r}{^)u'a-.xa "to yawn" (no. 16)
a'no, ano "father": na-r'ni^if "father-old. prandfathcr"
dcu- "head": ^f •-/(•«• "on. over" (no. 14)
€7nbi "owl": na-mbiya "to cry" (no. 64)
erne "camisa de mujer": mc-xn^a "shirt" (no. 52)
iya "water": ya-u. ya-w "well, estero," \t lu<*ya-x'tu
"water-eye, tear"
Sq. isi-, isi-nn "stone, llint." 'flap, istci "stone": 5j-»iu-,
six-nu "stone" (no. 45)
imba "one": me-nw "nine" (no. 100)
ukw, d-ttkn--lir "moon, month": irnba-ktf "one month"
(no. 40)
umba "fat, big": -wba in compounds (no. 85)
uma "cold": tfia "cold," iya-nui "water-cold"
d-utu- "mother": du-rin^a "mother-old, grandmother"
d-udu'-lif "female breast": ca-dii-lif "suckling"
The formal parallelism of Sub. iya "water": yi tu "water of eye,
tear" and Po. iiyu "eye": yu-xa "eye-water, tear" is striking in
spite of the opposed order of the compounded elements.
C. Hokan Xoioi I^rclixcs
Prefixed d-. The Subtiaba nominal (/-prefix is a freely movable
element, as is the corresponding element in Washo and Salinan.
It is unnecessary to give examples here as the reader can find them
for himself in the material already presented. In many cases
the noun, if beginning with a vowel, may occur with or without
the (/-prefix; in the former case it is often, or generally, followeil
by the demonstrative element -Iw (no. 122) except in the case of
body-part nouns, which may have the J-prefix but only rarely
allow the -hf (e. g. in d-udu-lir "female breast"). Words begin-
ning with a consonant have no J-prefix. Here are a few examples.
d-iya-hr "lluid": i\a "water, stream"
d-a'gu-lu- "fire," s'itiu- d-agu- "stone of fire, flint": a c**'
"fire" (no. 36)
302 V American Indian Languages J
496
d-axka--ln- "sun," Br. d-aska: -yaxka "to shine," Sq., Ar.
' ahka "sun," Tlap. axka "sun" (no. 46)
d-utii- "mother," d-utw-lu- "my mother": du- "mother"
(no. 55)
A peculiarity of the rf-prefix is its use not only in absolute forms
but with possessive suffixes (e. g. d-utw-lu- "my mother,"
d-a'mr-lu- "my father": a'no, Sq. ana "father"). This is in accord
with Salinan usage (e. g. t-um-sanai "thy hide," t-a-sa-nai "our
hide," t-uk-sa-nai "your hide"; t-u "my face," t-u'w-o "his face").
In Washo the J-is found in the absolute form of words beginning
with a vowel (e. g. d-arjal "house," d-ryek "tooth," d-a-du "hand"),
not before consonantal stems. This is as in Subtiaba. In Washo,
however, d- drops in the forms with possessive pronouns (e. g.
l-a-qal "my house," m-ryek "thy tooth," a-du "his hand"); certain
of Lehmann's forms suggest that the d- is lost when the possessive
is prefixed in Subtiaba as well (e. g. yu--a'no "my father"), but
unfortunately Lehmann did not arrive at complete clarity in
regard to the use of possessive pronominal affixes. The consonantal
nouns of Washo, which have no d- in the absolute, prefix it in the
possessive forms of the first and third person (e. g. mrko "knee";
d-i-mo'ko "my knee," da-mo'ko "his knee").
Apparently d- was originally a general nominalizing element
and served to differentiate the definitely nominal use of stems
from their adjectival or verbal use. This seems to come out
clearly in cases like:
d-aca-hf "grass": m-a'ca "green" (nos. 38, 88)
d-agalni "runner": -g-agnu "to run" (no. 75)
d-ehyna-lu "sky," d-ehma "above": -g-i'tna "to ascend" (nos.
44, 60)
Such alternations are entirely analogous to Washo cases like:
d-ime "water": ime "to drink"
d-a7]al "house": ar^al "to live"
and to Salinan ones like:
t-a-s-o "his name": k-ase-t "to be called"
i-ecxai "dawn": k-ecxai "to dawn"
i-atcex "seat" : k-atcek to sit down"
/-a/e/^e->'a "question": p-alelko "to ask"
Thri'f. Hi>kun Ixui^uu^es 303
497
Presumably the same contrast iK-twfcn J-noun and verb slcrn
without (/-prefix or with another i)relix applies also to Porno, bul
the evi(k'nce is more scanty hen-:
d-ano, d-ono "mountain": S. K. I'o. kauo "mountain" (prop>
erly "to be a mountain, mountainous"? ; sec n«i. 41'
d-iwe, d-uwe "night" (as noun): iwe "nipht" (proper!".
night"? cf. Van. b-awi-sa- "to be night"?)
In Salinaii the nominal prelix (- is used not only in the absolute
and, partly, \\\c possessed forms of many nouns but is also fre-
quently employed to make subordinate clauses (or nominalizcd
forms) out of verbs, in which case it re])laccs intransitive (or
static) k- and transitive (or active) /)-. This usage is regular after
subordinating particles, temporal adverbs, negatives, and other
proclitics, e. g.:
k-amti' "he was hunting": me t-am{'cU' "tiin. mm iiuuiing
(plur.), when they hunt"
ko p-amk-o "not (I-) have-abilily-(of) it. 1 cannot": ko (-amai
"not (was) the-bcing able, he could not"
This interesting usage is strikinglx- j)aralleh(l in at least one
Subtiaba example:
-g-apw "to sleep," g-apo "acostado": iku' na-tcti ma dapa
"I go with ( = in order to) the-slceping, I'm going to
sleep"
Other Nominal Prefixes in Ilokan. It is possible that Hokan
*t- (Sub. d-) was originally confined to a particular class of nouns
and was later generalized in certain dialects. There secni to be
clear traces in a number of Hokan languages of other absolutivc
noun prefixes and the fact that C'hontal has several of them
(/-, //-, ka-l-) suggests that Hokan may originally have had a
definite set of demonstrative classifiers prefixed to nouns. There
is reason to believe that Subtiaba has at least two other such
elements, possibly four (r- and s-, c-; possibly also />- and ^-)-
The examples will be listed with analogous forms from other
Hokan languages.
An element /- is recognizable in Chontal U"- H- li'^it^ "UkjI".
Tequisisteco^^ miki;l-icmatsi "ear": Tequ. 5wr?.'" ^ •'--'; !i,.im-
" A dialect closely related to Chonlal.
304 V American Indian Languages 1
498
Tequ. hur; ka-l-ora "sun": Tequ. ora; tl- is perhaps demonstrative
/- discussed above, + e-, cf. compounded ka-l-, e. g. tl-urjga "fire":
Tequ. ur)kwa; tl-amats "earth": Tequ. mats, ha-l-maks); Sahnan
(e. g. l-akana "spider": Ach. ts-axa. Sub. a-xka, no. 24; l-otal
"palm": Hokan *itali "hand, arm," Sal. etal "shoulder"; l-emi,
l-ime-^ "rabbit-skin blanket" : Sub. erne "camisa de mujer," no. 52;
l-cma "sky," l-e-mo' "over": Sub. d-ehma "above," no. 44); and
Chumash (e. g. al-apa "sky," al-apa-ya "above," no. 44; al-amiin,
l-mono "man"; al-apamai "body": amun; al-aca, al-ica "sun":
icau, no. 33; al-axiiwiil "coyote"; al-imu "fish"; tc-l-imi "stream":
ma, no. 66). The /-prefix is probably related to demonstrative
*la (no. 104) and to suffixed *-l{a) (no. 122.) To it probably cor-
responds Sub. r-, t-:
r-a-gu-ba "dirt": gu'ba "clay" (no. 30)
r-axma "mountain forest"
r-a'bu "man, husband," r-a'ba-gw "woman": Hokan *ipa
(no. 54a)
r-o'axi "people
r-u'wa, r-tc'wa "dog"
r-a'tia "herb, medicinal herb": d-a'n^a "medicinal herb" (per-
haps r-anna<*r-atana: *itana "leaf," no. 39)
r-u'ma'su "espino muchugiiiste": ma'sw "thorn, spine"
r-andvyu "Pinuela" (originally "what is for sickness"?):
na-ndvyu "to be sick"
r-axwa "handle of stone axe": a'xwa "axe"
r-agami "horizontal beam"
r-elcw "answer"
r-u'ba "guacal," r-wbinya "sieve"
r-i-qgi- "dream"
r-i'gu "house-post"
r-i'so'ti "wooden peg to stretch out hides"
r-a-ga, r-agu "egg, testicles"
r-uxkw "animal"
A sibilant noun prefix s- is clearly found in Salinan as s-, c:
(e. g. s-kaiata "ground-owl"; c-Han "prairie-falcon" ;c-^a-^ "crow"-
Yan. ga-gi, Was. ka-gi; c-kot "snake, worm"; c-lot "gull"; c-maiyik
"abalone"; s-kele-le "sparrow-hawk"; s-ka-u "blue crane"; s-ke-'n
"shell fish"; s-mokoke "mole"; s-mokat "bee"; s-mate-xan "quail";
s-lipdpd "green-winged teal"; s-kalmok "rat"; s-kalo "whippoor-
wiW ; s-kaiya' "raccoon"; 5-«aw "wildcat"; 5-we-^o^ "rattlesnake";
s-mohel "female skunk"; s-mic "cat"; s-nai "eagle"; s-na-k
Three: Hokun Ixinx^iiaaes 3Q5
409
"kangaroo-rat"; s-pcic "rcd-lailcil hawk"; s-p'oko' "bur'-.'^' ">••
owl"; S'to' "fox"; s-tamakala "bat"; s-ant^n "black ant": (
ante-m "large ants," San Luisefto «««/;'* c-avi-Ul "coqwe":
p-ama-t "carrion," Hokan *ima- "to die." no, 65; s-kan "st"!
s-kaniltal "rib" : kancllo: s-koiknc "chin, beard" ; s-mokutu ".i
windpipe"; s-nipik "bones of wing"; s-panal "skin, hide"; s-pekei
"eyebrow"; s-pokcl "fur, hair"; s-puk "muscle"; c-lan' "leaf":
Hokan *ilatia, no. 30; c-k'ah' "large soaproot"; c-pokal' "clover";
s-mat "brush"; s-mo' "acorn": Po. man, Van. -mala; s-nwkunal
"clover"; c-la' "coil basket"; c-l-emi-y'a, c-l-emv "coat," no. 52;
s-kapc' "tray"; s-pokaixa'" "drinking-cup"; f-A''<'M "sea": Chum.
s-xanii; c-kos "cave"; s-tnak "asphaltum"; s-mak'ai "night":
Chim. Iiinw-k "evening"; s-pehet "soot"; s-ka'ata' "infant"; stau'
"girl"; s-kunkTm "girl"; s-kacl "scar, cut": kala-m "sore, scar");
more doubtfully in Chumash (e. g. s-kuntawa "lightning"; s-^ami
"ocean": Sal. c-k'cM "sea"; s-tanayik "valley"; c-loniwa "dog";
s-lo, ts-lo "eagle"; s-maps "sun"; c-axcik "lish": -axcHc "to fish";
c-i-^k "louse": Sal. t-ikc\ ike); and in Vumanfe. g. Dieg. silycxuau
"nail": Moh. k-elyuho). Among the many Salinan examples arc
a large number of animal names, but it would be rash to conclude
that s- was originally a classifier for nouns indicating animals.
Its employment must have been much wider. A number of Sub-
tiaba examples justify the inference that s- is a classifying noun
prefix in this language as well:
s-axnwa "copper (axe)," s-axnwa-lu "iron, machete": a^wa
"axe," r-axwa "handle of stone axe"
s-ta-dar)gwa "upper lip" (d-arigwa "mouth")
s-itu- "eye": yitu "tear" <*ya-i7/r (no. 0)
s-osto "breast" (no. 5)
s-vtin^w "rump"
s-exWif "penis"
s-axwq "soul"
s-cambo "abdomen"
c-n^an^o "finger-nail"
c-i-qgoo "wooden churn": -goo "to filter, squeeze out"
There arc likely to be two distinct tc- {ts-) prefixes. In Chu-
mash it is probably a dialectic phonetic development of the 5-
'» There has evidently been borrowinK iH-lwecn Salinan ami Sho»hon«tn. Thu
example clearly shows i- as a prefixed element.
!-■
306 V American Indian Languages J
500
already discussed (cf. s-lo, ts-lo "eagle";. It seems to occur particu-
larly in the San Luis Obispo dialect (e. g. tc-xime "night": Santa
Cruz oxemai; tc-nexan "ocean"; tc-l-imi "stream": ma, no. 66).
Note that this Chumash tc- may be compounded with /- precisely
as is 5-, c- in Salinan (e. g. tc-l-imi "stream"; Sal. c-l-emi- "coat":
l-emi "rabbitskin blanket"). On the other hand, a true tc- (ts-)
prefix, probably of Hokan origin and perhaps related to s- as
Chontal //- is to /-, seems to occur in Yuman (e. g. Dieg. tc-ipdsi
"liver": Moh. Hpasa, Sh. dpci, Ats. opsi); Washo (e. g. ts-igu-guc
"belly," red.. Chum, akcu, akcewe; ts-arja "anus"; ts-imrbi "hip;"
is-iga-l "kidney": Sub. i-ko, g-rko "liver, gall," no. 15; ts-ime-l
"beard": Hokan *iwa "hair, skin, "no. 52; ts-uku-marj "spider":
Ach. ts-axa, no. 24; ts-akopi "mud": Sub. guba "clay," r-a-gwha
"dirt," no. 30); possibly Porno (e. g. ts-i'me "hair, fur," no. 52;
ts-awala-k "frog": waia-k, wata); and possibly Shasta-Achomawi
and Chimariko (e. g. Ach. ts-axa "spider": Sub. a-x-ka, no. 24;
Ats. ts-iip'-dis "navel": Hokan *unapi-, no. 17; Ach. ts-ami-ki,
Chim. tc-emu "sky": Es. imi-ta, no. 44). The evidence is not )
abundant but convincing for Yuman and Washo. On the whole ',
the ^c-prefix seems to be characteristic of body-part nouns. |
A nominal /^-prefix can be pretty clearly made out for Salinan |
(e. g. M. p-akata, A. a-kaV^'^ "blood": Hokan *axwati, no. 3; )
M. p-akenai, A. akainai "animal's womb"; M. p-aktaina', A. \
'* It is not altogether clear whether in cases like this the Antoniano dialect has
actually lost a p-, as Mason states, or has merely not used the nominal prefix. An
examination of his material suggests that original p' and p (intermediate) remain
in both dialects (e. g. M. p'xai "excrement": A. p'xat', no. 8; M. penan "milk": A. |
pena-no; M. pala'kak "California woodpecker": A. pela'k-a'; M. spokel "fur, hair": ]
A. spoket; M. pasil "chia": A. pasil; M. pa}'ak "manzanita": A. pat'ax; M. pe'l* "pil": ',
A. pili; M. t'dndple' "fire-sticks": A. tapleya; M. tipintca "whiskey": A. iepenca.
Such examples are far too numerous to allow one to say that original p disappears in ,
Antoniano. It is probably nearer correct to say that p' becomes ' in Antoniano (e .g.M.
k'a'p "acorn": A. ka'; M. p'as"son": A.as, read 'as;M. icili'p, read icilip, "fingernail":
A. t'-*cele') but that in cases of type M. p- : A. zero we are really dealing with parallel
forms with and without ^-prefix. As Mason does not always write p', it seems that
cases like M. spanat "hide": A. sanai should really be understood as s'panal: s'anat
(contrast M. and A. spoket "fur" above). Our interpretation is supported by the fact
that the active verbal /»-prefix does not disappear in Antoniano and by the further
fact that in derivatives of nouns with p- this consonant is replaced by other elements
(e. g. k-akat-e "be bloody," k-exako-p "bony").
Ihrff. Hoknn i uni;mi\^i\ 307
SOI
akakauai '•ihunib"; M. p-axak, A. axa k' "bone": liukan *ihyaka,
no. 4; M. p-'a't, A. at' <hal' [?] "white oak"; M. p-axakil.A.
asklc-t "live oak"; M. p-axuwe "bow": Chum, t-axa^ ax, no. 49);
less safely in Chumash (e. g. p-ako-wac, p-akii-was "old . "
Chon. akwe, Moh. kwo-ra-, Cochimi aku-so. Ton. ka-ca
p-awa-yic "house": Hokan *awa, no. 50); an«l in I'oni
N. Po. b-isi-l "rabbit-skin robe": ici, iki, ci, cits, N. To. b adtya
"yellowhammer" : k-atsiya, k-otciyo, k-otciya). A couple of examples
seem to be found in Subtiaba:
p-axpw "arm": m-axptr "body"
p-an^au- "palm": Wau- "hand," d-an^a u "linRcr"
Finally a Ilokan A'-jireUx can 'also be made out with some as-
surance, though it nowhere appears as a common clement, so far
as we can see at present. It is perhaps identical with the in-
transitive ^-prefix treated below. It is probably found in Porno
(e. g. k-ano, k-no "mountain": d-ano, d-ono, no. 41 ; k-aldca "moon":
alaca, no. 31; k-atsiya, k-otciyo, k-otciya "yellowhammer": b-atsiya',
k-awina, k-awana, x-awili-n "turtle": Sal. (-awai, f-awj "turtle";
k-ako "clam": l-ako, l-axo, l-uk); perhaps also in Salinan (c. g.
k-ato "place": c-o{o\ k-alak' "goose, crane": Van. la lat^i "goose,"
Chim. Irlo "goose," S. W. Po. lala "wild coose." Karan. laak
"goose," Cot. k-rak. Ton. x-ilik); Chumash (e. g. k-t4let "woman's
breast": Sub. d-udu-lu-, no. 6a; k-cihimu "star"); and Yuman
(e. g. Moh. k-apeta "turtle": Ach. ha pits; Moh. kdyuho "nail":
Dieg. s-tlyexwau). A few examples of A-nouns seem to be found
also in Subtiaba:
k-ia-micu "bladder": ia-micu "urine" (compounded with
iya "water")
g-i'ko, g-ika "liver": iko (no. 15); also g-i'ga "heart"?
General Survey of Ilokan Xotninal Prefixes. As I have already
remarked, it is probable that some, and perhaps all, o' •>•--*
prefixes are merely stereotyped demonstrative parliclo:
/-<demonstrativc stem *ta (no. 105)
/-< demonstrative stem *la (no. 104)
/>-< demonstrative stem *pa (no. 108)
^- < demonstrative stem *ka (no. 106)
5- of unknown origin
308 ^ American Indian Languages J
502
tc- (ts-) of unknown origin
ka-l- (Chon.) compounded of demonstrative stems *ka (no.
106) and *la (no. 104)
//- (Chon.) compounded of demonstrative stems *ta and *la?
Perhaps Sal. /-, which is phonetically distinct from t-
and more common, also derives from tl- via tr-
Further, of no extra-dialectic affiliation:
Shastan k{i)- (e. g. New River ki-'oi "eye": Sh. oi; New
River k-inniix "head": Sh. innux "hair") < demonstrative
stem *ki related to *ka? Perhaps also Yan. kH- in
kH-isau-na "tooth" (or k'-Hsau-na?)
There can be little doubt that certain absolutive nominal suf-
fixes are closely related to the prefixes, both being petrified forms
of nominalizing elements that differed in position (proclitics and
enclitics). Hence:
/- : Es. -ta (e. g. imi-ta "sky")
/- : -/, Sub. -/«•, Es. -la (e. g. imi-la "sea"; maksa-la "earth":
Chon. t-l-amats, Tequisisteco ha-l-maks); see no. 122
p. : -p{a) (e. g. Kar. yu-p "eye": Po. uyu, yu-; -i-p suffix for
tree names: Yan. 'i- "tree, wood"); Es. -pa (e. g. hik-pa
"eye," matshai-ha ""whites")
s- : Es. -sa (e. g. imu-sa "hole": Po. mo),-s (e. g. lotos "arrow," |
hoci-s "nose," amutata-s "stars"); Kar. -c? (e. g. kfmi-c *
"evil thing, monster": kfm "bad")
And from demonstrative *«a (no. 107b) and *hi (cf. Po. he "the,
this"; Sal. he "the, that"; Chum, he "this"; Was. ha- "there near
you") are probably derived
-na absolutive: Yan. -na; Es. -no, -nax, -nex, -nix; perhaps also
Kar. -n, -r agentive (also, it seems, absolutive -r, -ra,
e. g. ara-r "person"; vecti-r "horn": Chim. h-owec, Yan.
wt'yu)
and
-hi absolutive: Yahi -hi (e. g. ya--hi "person": N., C. Yan.
ya--na)
It is interesting to observe that the absolutive suffixes occur
most where the prefixed elements are either wanting, entirely or
practically so (Yana -wa, -hi; Esselen -/, -la, -ta, -sa, -nax;
Chimariko -/, -r; Karok -p, -c, -r<-n), or seem to be vestigial
rather than living elements (Yuman -/; Pomo -/). Of these suffixes
ihrcv: HoLin lxin\;iun;f\
VN
SOJ
05
I 1
/v. A.
-!. -^
•^ ^ •*<
•J- <3
>^
t—i
<
<
-J
to
<^-<«r
2i^
O
>
H
O
n
<
<
o
CO
(V. ("^ ("»-
I I I
as
v^ "C^
^ ^ ^ i -S -i. -2 •«^-*<
^3 ^
o o vS- -^
tr<^
K^
310 V American Indian Languages J
504
-/(a) has such a wide distribution that we may perhaps attribute
it to the eariy Hokan period. Compound prefix-suffix absolutives
are particularly common in Washo {d . . . -I, ts- . . . -I) and Sub-
tiaba {d- . . . -Iw). Perhaps the most significant point about these
absolutive noun affixes is the fact that the old prefix system tends
to be best preserved in the south (Salinan, Chumash, Chontal,
Subtiaba) and to be wanting or nearly so in the north (Yana,
Chimariko, Karok, Shasta-Achomawi; prefixes hardly more than
vestigial in Porno). Esselen and Yuman seem to have a somewhat
anomalous geographical position, being of the suffixing type.
Washo is to be reckoned as belonging to the southern rather than
the northern Hokan type. The table (p. 503) summarizes the
main facts. A dash means that the element is definitely known
to be lacking. A query means that there is some evidence for the
element but that it is unsafe to assume it as vital. I have had to
leave Seri out of the table for obvious reasons.
D. Hokan Adjective and Verb Class-Prefixes
One of the most far-reaching, as well as interesting, features
of Hokan morphology is the use of a set of consonantal class-
prefixes in the verb and adjective. Probably none of the dialects
keeps the old system intact, but it is not difficult to get an inkling
of what it must have been like from the survivals we still possess.
The first indication of these generic prefixes, which probably
defined such classifications as transitive, active intransitive, static
intransitive, and adjectival (qualitative), was given by J. A. Mason
in his treatment of Salinan. ^^ In this language there is a formal
distinction in many cases between the transitive (or active) and
intransitive (or static) use of the same stem, the former being
characterized by prefixed />-, the latter by k-. The nominalizing
/-prefix replaces these elements, as we have already seen. A few
examples of the prefixes are:
k-enai "he hurt himself": p-enai-ko "I wounded him"
k-ospolox "he commanded": p-espolox-o "he seized it"
k-a-kinyV "they thought": p-a'ke'n-o "I thought (it)"
" See J.A.Mason, The Language of the Salinan Indians (University of California
Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, 1918, vol. 14, No. 1), pp. 38-40.
Three: Hokun iMni^tmges \\\
SOS
Some time after the appearance of Miisons iMpcr 1 'I
out^^ a number of forms in Seri and 'I'onkawa which r<
closely the Salinan intransitives in k-. Lehmann's Subtiaba
material throws the whole ])roblem of Hokan verb-adjcclivc
classes into a deeper perspective. Aside from verbs and adjective*
which possess no class prefix, such as are also numerous in Salinan,
there are intransitives in g-, which correspond exactly to the k-
forms of Salinan (and, no doubt, of Seri and of the ! f
the Coahuiltecan group), transitives in d- which « .
use to Salinan /'-forms, and a well-defined set of adjectives in m
All three of these important elements had been overlooked by
Lehmann; at any rate, I do not lind them spoken of in his gram-
matical remarks. In working through the Hokan material once
more from the new point of xiew afforded by a comi>arison of
Salinan and Subtiaba, I soon became convinced that there were
important survivals of these Subtiaba elements, {)articularly of
intransitive g- and adjectival ;»-, in languages where they had
never been suspected. In Yana, for instance, there can Ix* little
doubt that the m-prefix exists buried as the petrified initial con-
sonant of a number of "stems." Other class-prefixes than the
transitive p- of Salinan, transitive d- of Subtiaba, intransitive ^-
(g-) of Salinan and Subtiaba, and adjectival m- of Subt;
appeared, particularly a /»- (h-) adjectiv.il .•Icmcnt of \
Porno.
As far back as 1907 Kroeber had pointed out certain pu^zlinj?
alternations in Washo of the initial consonant of certain stems."
e. g.:
gipus "to lift": bipos "to pick up, raise": {u)-Upus *to lift"
(uga)-yam "to strike with a long object": dam "lo .strike with
around object": {dum)-bam "to strike with ihr vnA oi i
long object"
lep "to crush": dep "to crush with a roun»l obit •• '•
"to crush flat a round object"
'• See Sup., pp. 69, 70.
" See A. L. Kroeber, The Washo Uniua^c of East Ctntral California amd .Sa*tdd
(University of California Publications in .\mcrii an Arrhaeolony ami Klhnoiogp , JW*.
vol. 4, No. 5), pp. 289. 296, 297.
312 V American Indian Langiiages J
506
The Washo forms given by Kroeber are far too few to throw much
light on an evidently complex system of classifying elements, but
even now the parallelism of Washo g-ipus "to lift" (without speci-
fied object?): h-ipos "to pick up, raise" (a specified object) with
the Salinan forms in k- and p- is at least suggestive. Washo
morphology needs looking into afresh and, when well understood,
will probably throw much light on the fundamental morphological
characteristics of the whole Hokan group.
Adjectives and Intransitives in m-. So large a proportion of
the Subtiaba adjectives begin with m- (e. g., all five color adjectives
listed by Lehmann are w-forms) that one soon suspects a prefix.
Fortunately one is not left entirely to surmises, for a number of
related Subtiaba words are found which show the stem without
the w-prefix. The evidence for adjectival m- in Subtiaba is as
follows :
m-i'ca "white," m-i'ica "clean": t-i'tcw "white" (probably
nominalized form in /- < *t-vca-k): -g-i'ca in di-gi'ca
"white hair"; see no. 98
m-a-ca "green blue": d-aca-lw "grass"; see nos. 38, 87
ni-a'x- "more, superior" in ma'x-mi'xn^a "better": a'x- "old,
mature, grown up, big," d-aha "maturity"; see no. 92
m-v-gu-xku- "hard": gu-xku- "hard (wood)"
m-r-kuxi- "brave": kwxa "robber, thief"
m-v-nanda "weak": ci'-ni-nando "estoy rendido"
Sq. m-idagi-na "black," m-vdwu- " x\\ght" <*m-idaki or
*m-idaku: Coah. tako'-m "night"; see no. 42
m-i-xn«a "good": Hokan *ix(a)na; see no. 87
m-a-ca "raw" (originally "red"?); see no. 93
m-i-ka "sour": Hokan *i]zai; see no. 96
m-vta-u "sweet": Po. b-itau, tu-itu (red.); see no. 97
m-axni- "full": Yan. b-a'ni--; see no. 86
m-oxmo "yellow" (red?), m-oxmo-ya "color"; see no. 99
m-ar]ga "red" (of. Shoshonean ar]ka- "red"?)
m-i-u "bitter"
m-rxtcw "broad"
m-ismi'du "narrow"
m-i-si{-a "hard"
m-i-svta "high"; see no. 89
m-i-gvn^u- "heavy"
m-vxnu- "deep"
m-ixka, m-i-ka "warm"
m-ixnu (?) "yellow"
m-axma, m-asma, m-a-ma "quick, at once"
Three: UiiLui Uiii^iui^its 313
S07
f)i-iuo, m-iriivu "alone, self; sec no. 84
m-u-su, m-u-sa "beautifur (perhaps borrowed f
hcrmoso, as Lehmann surrcsIs; if so, hfr-
perhaps because of feeling for adjectival m-,
Perhaps a nunilH-r cf nouns brlouR here too (cf. m-iduu "nighl"
above), e. j^.:
vi-ini-na "fog, darkness"
ni-axpu- "body": p-axpif "arm" (no. 1)
ni-asu- "thorn, spine, fish-bone": rsir boiu ..■• • .
"thorn" < "bony. bone-Uke"? „,,,,-/.
-m-icu in i-a-wiiu "urine," k-ia-mim "bladder da
"water")
and several others. These may be substantivized adjectives but
are too doubtful in any case to help us here. It is probably not
an accident that the verbs in m- are either clearly intransitive or
easily conceived as such. Presumably these ar.- ic be classc-d with
the w-adjectives. They are:
-m-in^u- "to fear"
-m-a-i "to be born"
-w-cr "to be able" , . ■ c ct««, «f
-m-u-xi- "to paint" (probably denominative from stem of
m-oxmo "yellow") ^
-m-an^ir "to know, to be wise . _^ .^
Z-ada "to give" (without object" contrast .*. m-mada
"you gave" with ikn- na-cna "I give you )
The ;»-forms so far considered all seen, tc have vocalic stems
(it being assumed that the m- is a prefix). Hut there seems also
to be a set of intransitive verbs and adjectives who.e stems begin
with a consonant and which are preceded by a homorgaruc nasaJ
(m n,ri). This nasal is in all probability the same element as
the adjectival and intransitive m- Such cases are:
-n-dUgu- "to laugh" (no. 71)<*m-'</.V.?rr '•- •--//.V.-m)?
-n ta-ii- "to be thirsty"
■:il:'::'Zz^ (no. 95,<-™-../^--y. («»««• v.n.
m-a'di- with different accent)?
-n-(/a>'M"torcad"
-n-di'hi- "to wiite"
-n-tca-wa "to make a noise, to scream
-n-giko "to be feverish": giko "liver" (no. 15)
314 y American Indian Languages I
508
-m-biya "to cry" (no. 64)
m-pa'xi "long, straight: paxi, pa'hi
-ni-pa'u, -ni-ba "fat, big" <*m-up' aw (no. 85)? but also umba,
ombo (with prothetic vowel colored by vowel originally
following m-?)
From the standpoint of Yana itself there are no prefixes in
the language. It is only on the basis of comparative evidence that
one begins to realize that a number of old Hokan class prefixes
are still traceable in Yana. Several formal peculiarities of a
number of Yana elements become more intelligible when these
prefixes are admitted, otherwise we are left with several quite
meaningless first-position "stems" on our hands. Thus, primary
masi- "to be ripe": secondary -si- "to be ripe, satiated" (e. g,
gi-si-tdi- "to be satiated") can only be explained from the Yana
standpoint as ma- -si-: -si-, ma- being a "primary stem" with
unknown meaning. Comparison with such verbs as mala-
"to refuse" and masi-dja- "to be glad" yields nothing. Again,
maha- "to melt" must either be dismissed as a disyllabic "stem"
or analyzed mechanically as first-position stem ma-, of unknown
meam'ng, and -ha- (cf. independent ha-) "water, liquid," ha--
"to be wet." The truth of the matter, however, would seem to
be that these are really disyllabic vocalic stems with adjectival
or static w-prefix, hence m-asi-, m-aha--. It is precisely the prefix
which preserved the initial stem vowel that is ordinarily lost in
Yana. Yana ha- "water," ha- "to be wet": m-aha-- "to melt"
(really "to be watering") is simply another example of the well-
known Hokan alternation of *xa "water": *axa. It is remarkable,
in any event, that the great majority of Yana verb-stems in m,-
are adjectival or static. Chance distribution would require a
larger number of transitives (in which the m- properly belongs
to the stem, e. g. mo-, ma- "to eat": Hokan *awa-; mu- "to work":
Hokan *umu-). Examples of prefixed m- in Yana are:
m-aha-- "to melt" (intr.): ha- "water" (Hokan *axa), ha--
"to be wet"
m-a'si- "to be ripe": secondary verb-stem -si- "to be satiated"
{m-a-si- perhaps related to old stem *asi- "sun," see no. 33)
m-a-di- "to be sick": secondary verb-stem -di- "to be sick"
(e. g. dut'-di- "to be greatly sick"); Sub. -n-di-yu (no. 95)
Thjce: Hokan l.iinKua^t\ y\^
m-ilap- "to wake up" (intr.): secondary vcrb-ilem -'iUp-
(e. R. 'ip-'ilap- "to impcl-Nvake. to wake up" (ir.).
bui-'ilap- "to wake up by kicking"); here -'iia^ U
evidently identical with -ilap- of m-ilap-, which cannot
be analyzed as stem wi--H-/<jp-'*
m-aicun- "to stretch" (intr.): secondary verb-stem -Icun-
"asunder; to split, rend, hurst"
m-aha-iai-si- "to warm oneself by the fire" {-aha- perhaps
related to ha- of hamu-tdi- "to be warm"; -lai' refert
to "lire")
tn-asidja- "to be glad": secondary verb-stem -tc'dja-i- "to
be glad, impatient with joy"
m-a'la- "to refuse, not to want to do": .Sal. k-ilc "to be lazy."
m-ale "to doubt"
m-atc'i- "to be melting"
m-adjup-giri'- "fire is out"
m-o'dira- "(dead salmon) is rotten, decayed"
m-alla-p'a- "to be bad"
ni-alla- "to stay away for a long time"
m-a-ri- "to be tabooed"
m-a'P'djamai- "to be supernatural"
m-akaii- "(baked bread, dried earth) cracks"
m-a'-hk'i- "feathers are old, worn out": Sub. ax- "old"
no. 92)
-m-u'dt(-i- "yellow" (no. 99)
m-a-ga- "to be swollen, to swell"
m-aits-gini- "foot, hand, sleeps"
ni-a-iin-si "common people" {-si is agentive; cf. iini - "little*?)
m-a'iadju- "to be winter"
vi-andja- "to be sharp"
m-a-ial- "to be sharp and black"
m-i-djat-Uu- "clothing is torn"
m-iisu- "to be scratched"
m-i'lcai- "to be angry"
m-i'dja "to be heavy"
m-i(s- "to be possessed of" (with incorp;>rated object)
In Porno too m- seems to be used as adjectival and intransitive
prefix, though the material is more scanty than in Subti.iba and
Yana. lOxamples are:
E. Po. m-i>uim "to be full, to fill" (cf. no. 86)
E. Po. m-alo "large": b-atc, b-alc-n, h-a'U, b-aU-nt-k. It. h
(other dialects)
" See E. .Sapir, The Fimdamenlol ElcmnUs of Sorlhcrn \ <jna (Unixtntly o4 C«b-
fornia Publications in American .Vrchacolojo' and Ethnc»lo(j>. 1''22. vol. I J. NO"^ *
p. 22, where mi-lap- is suggested (also mi k'ai- "lo Ik angry' and oth« wmilM lom»)
316 y American Indian Languages 1
510
S. E. Po. m-axaii-t " sweet'^ <*-asayi-? (for S. E. Po. x<s cf.
bexe "meat": N., E., S.W. Po. bice; xa "fish": N., C, E.,
N. E. Po. ca, sa), note parallelism to S. E. Po. m- atsaki-t
"bitter": Sal. k-esiyu-k "sweet," k-esro-hol "salty"
S. E. Po. m-atsaki-t "bitter": tcaha, djaha (other dialects)
N. E. Po. m-ukauka "dead": E. Po. xauk- in xauk-mudal
"dead" (properly "dead-lying") <*(w)yfe'flwyfe- (for N. E.
Po. )fe': E. Po. X cf. ka "water": xa; kabe "rock": xabe;
kali "tree": xale)
N. E. Po. m-ikalmi "round"
S. E. Po. m-utsa-ka "whiskey" <*bitter- water"? (cf. -ka
"water")
m-ice, tn-eceu, tn-iceu, m-ceu, m-ixe-t "stinking": Chim.
-m-itcxu- "to stink"; Sal. m-e's "to smell, scent" (are
Kwakiutl me's- and Nootka mis- "to smell" remotely
related?)
N. Po. m-itsel "to laugh": Yan. djal- "to laugh"
A few Porno nouns in m- look as though they might be substantiv-
ized verbs:
m-atci, tn-adji, m-itci-l "day" (properly m-atci "to be day,"
*m-atci-l "day"?): Hokan asi "day" (no. 33)
In Salinan the m-prefix, which seems to belong to the very
oldest stratum of Hokan formal elements, had evidently long
ceased to be productive, its place being taken by intransitive k-
(see Mason's long list of ^-adjectives). ^^ This is shown by the
presence of derivatives based on older m- forms, e. g. substantival
Vd-mas "grass": Subtiaba m-aca "green," d-aca-lw "grass" (see
nos. 38, 88). It seems very possible that in a number of instances
w-adjectives (and intransitive verbs) were treated as bases for
new adjectives (and verbs) in k- (or /-, s-), in some cases with the
stem vowel repeated between the new prefix and the older m-, e.g. :
k-am-a'cu '^sweet" <*k-am-a'syu<*k-am-a'siyu: S. E. Po.
m-axaii-t "sweet" <*m-asayi-t; Yuman *m-ayu-l- "sweet"
<*m-asyu-l- (like Yuman *iyu "eye"<*wyw, see no. 9),
Moh. m-abul^-k, Dieg. m-iyul-k; Sal. k-esiyu-k "sweet,"
k-esio'-hol "salty" <*^-c5iyM'-. Hence Sal. k-ama'cu and
k-esiyuk "sweet" may both contain Hokan *asiyu
k'-m-e(o", c-m-ot "heavy, deep (snow)"
t-em-itcu-ko "holey": Sal. m-etsiliu "perforation," perhaps
properly "to be perforated in several places" (stem
*-itsiu with pi. -1-?)
" Mason, op. cit., pp. 149-151.
Tluec: Ifokan l.(in\iuat;es 317
511
k-otn-ux "cU\ct" <*ia)fn-axaw: Sub. ax- "old," m-ax- "su-
perior." Chim. Iiawi- (no. 92)
k-um-lica "brown" (no. 99)
s-m-al "bfiiutiful," plur. s-m-ahaU•-l<\l^^ka.u *m-ati: Po.
k-adi, k-i(Ii, k-odi, k-udi "good"
However this may be, there seem to be a number of Salinan forms
in which initial w- may be analyzed as a prefix, e.g.:
m-cs, p\uT. m-i.sli-p "to smell, scent" (cf. Tonio forms above)
m-al'al "white"
ni-ats'e-kfl', m-atsc-ko "chipmunk": Hokan Tti-a'su- "red"
(no. 93)
m-atcakat (M) "to be outside"
m-a'we'xe (M) "to stand firm, resist": cxwe (dit.)
m-anketso (M) "to insert, add"
m-itac "to make": eta' "to make"
m-a'n (M) "to pass, enter"
The forms marked (M) are given by Mason as having movable m-,
but he does not state on what evidence he considers the consonant
a prefix. Perhaps the forms he lists with (w)- are simply second
person singular imperatives with prefixed ni- "thou," in which
calse thev naturallv do not belong here.
The w-prelix is no doubt found elsewhere in Hokan, but the
evidence is sparse at present. In all jirobability it was generally
submerged in the stem, as in Salinan, c. g. :
Se. m-osso-l "yellow," ko-w-asso-l "brown"; Chim. himamsu-t
(red. from basic *m-asu-) "green, blue, yellow": Sub.
m-a'ca "green, blue" (no. 88)
Chim. niasomas "red salmon" (red. from basic *m-aso-})\
Com. -m-so-l "red"; Cot. m-sa-t "red"; Sub. m-aca "raw
(meta)": Chum, t-asu-n "red"; Po. t-'as "red," k-'asi-l
"redwood." Hokan *m-a'su-, *l-a'su-, *k-a'su- "red,
raw" (no 93)?
Yuman vi-asa.-jn, im-ica-pa, um-cso-p "white"; Ton. tn-as-lak;
Cot. m-cso-i; Sub. ni-inr. Sul). t-itcic, -g-JTa (no. 98)
Ton. m-akik "yellow"
Yuman *in-ayu-l-k "sweet": Hokan *asiyu (see above)
Chim. -m-itcxu "to stink" (see above)
Chim. -m-ana-t "ripe" (no. 94); but cf. ho- mat "ripe"
Other examples of m-adjcctives in Chimariko may be:
-m-ama-t "alive": Hokan *ayyia "house; to dwell" (no. 78)
m-ata'i "clean"
m-ene'i, m-ene "white"
318 ^ American Indian Languages I
512
The Esselen evidence for intransitive (and nominal) m- is
naturally sparse but happens to be not without interest:
m-alpa-pic* "hablador, gossiper": alpa-pisi "hablador"
m-atsi "mother": aisia; Po. tce-de, -tce-n, -ce-k; Ton. issa
m-acai-pa "to be hungry"
m-alitax-pa "there is nothing"
m-alinaika-pa "much"
m-atshai-ba "whites, gente de razon" (no. 98)
m-awi "to sing"
m-epe "to dance (also written mefpa, i. e. m-ep<i)a, m-ep'a?):
Chim. -sa-mxu- "to dance" <*-w^'w (for Chim. xu
<Hokan fu see Van., nos. 107, 109, 110, 111); S. E. Po.
xe-mfom "to dance" (xe- probably "to sing," cf. S. E. Po.
xe-kolne "to sing" and ke-, xai-, ih- of other dialects;
-mfoni<*-mp'o-m, cf. /fl "excrement" <(a)/>'c)
Other Adjectival Prefixes in Hokan. An adjectival p- (or h-)
prefix, apparently not found in Subtiaba, may be uncovered in
Pomo and Yana, possibly also elsewhere in Hokan-Coahuiltecan.
Pomo examples are:
h-ate, h-a'te, h-ate-n, h-ate-ne-k "large": m-ato, ti, te
N. Po. b-itcu "small": S. Po. k-itci-du (see no. 91)
S. W. Vo. p-icu-du "bad" {-du as in S. Po. k-itci-du "small"),
C. Po. h-asc-t (cf. N. Po. t-iic "bad"?)
S. Po. -b-itau in kodi-bitau "good-tasting, sweet": S. W. Po.
tuitu "sweet" (red.; see no. 97)
E. Po. b-iko "bitter": Sub. rko "gall," g-i'ko "liver" (no. 15)
E. Po. b-agil "long"
S. E. Po. b-itsili-n "long": Chim. hitcun "long," xu-itcula-n
"not-long, short"; Yan. djul- "to be long"
E. Po. p-itau "white" (Kroeber writes p-iiau): N. E. Po.
taiya (read iaya?); Sh. iiayfu; Yan. ia-lam-
N. E. Po. p-'etene "angry"
In Yana there is a considerable number of adjectives beginning
with ba-. These I have hitherto analyzed either as polysyllabic
stems (e. g. ba'nr- "to be full") or as containing a first position
stem ba- of general or unknown significance (e. g. ba-gan- "to be
short"). It now seems best to look upon these forms as containing
an adjectival J-prefix which is identical with Pomo b-, p-, and
parallel to the adjectival m- discussed above. The a-vowel is
probably generalized from stems which properly began with a
(see, e. g., b-adjal- "large" and b-a'nr- "full" below). As initial
Thar: llokun Liiti^uuKfs 319
513
short vowels generally disappeared ir\ Vana (e. g. djul- "long" <
*idju'la-) unless preserved by a prefixed consonant, forms like
*badjal- (assimilated from *h'uljal-) and ba'ni- (with original a)
would come to be felt as analyzable into ba-djal-, ba-'ni- (phonetic-
ally like, e. g., ba-djil "to run in a circle") rather than into
b-adjal-, b-a'ni - when the adjectival prefixes (w-, b-, d-) had ceased
to be productive. The "pseudo-stems" ba- and da- thus abstracted
may have crowded out the forms in which b- and d- were folUjwcd
by other vowels. ]''.xamples are:
b-agan-{gu-) "to be short" (cf. -'ji,an-, Yahi -sgan- "to break"?)
b-aiciliai- "to be thick"
b-agul- "to be tired": secondary stem -gul- "tired, obstructed"
b-aisau- "to be caught in a clcfl": secondary stem -isau- "in
a cleft"
b-adjal- "to be large": Sal. k-ctcq- "great," ti-k-etcan-o "his
size"
b-aiat'-p\d-gii- "to be flat"
b-a'ni- "to be full": Sub. m-axnv (no. 86)
b-adjil- "to be coiled": -djil- "around, in a circle"
b-asi'- "to be yesterday, night (as lapse of time)": Hokan
*asi "sun, moon, day" (no. O)
b-awi-sa- "to be night, dark" {-sa- "off, away" frequently
used in adjectives): Po. iwe, i'we, d-iwe, d-uwe "night"
b-ahididni-gu- "to be round, spherical"
b-agulai-maki- "to be hunipl)acked" {maki "back")
b-atsdjai-gii- "to be very glad": m-a'sidja- "to be glad"
b-ak'u- "to spill" (intr.): secondary stem -k'u-, -k'w- "crumply,
finely divided pieces"
A possible Chimariko example of adjectival p- is:
p-ala "strong": Van. laii- "to be strong"
Possible Coahuiltecan examples are:
Com. p-esex "good": Chim. hisik-tii (hisiki-), hisi-ta; Sal.
sd'x, plur. sakc-hel, Hokan *isa'k'i "good"?
Com. p-elc "good"; Karan. p-la: Karan. k-labau ''well, healthy"
A Hokan adjectival d- (/-) prefix (see no. 121) may be identical
in origin with the far more clearly ascertainable nominal d-
(no. 120). Subtiaba examples are not common, perhaps because
m- was generalized as the adjective prefix par excellence:
d-a-gti "large" (no. QO): Se. k-ako-l
d-ara "hairy": d-aca-lif "grass" (no. 38), tn-aia "green"
(no. 88)
320 ^ American Indian Languages 1
514
Porno examples are:
N. Po. d-atoi "striped"
E. Po. t-oro- (perhaps related to N. Po. d-atoi) in reduplicated
toro-toTO-k "striped"
S. W. Po. d-akati "striped"
N. Po. t-'as "red": Hokan *m-a'su- (no. 93); S. W. Po. k-Hs
"red"; Po. k-'asi-l "redwood"
'N.'Po. t-iic "had" :C.Fo.b-ase-t
N. E. Po. t-uya "small": S. Po. -uya in baiya-uya "man-small,
boy," mata-uya "woman-small, girl"
In Yana there is a class of adjectives in da- which refer to ap-
pearance, including color (e. g. da-mhu-sa- "to be beautiful,"
da-lilr-sa- "to be smooth," da-'t'ati-sa- "to be fiat," da-isgai-sa-
"to be green, blue," da-p'al-sa- "to be black," da-p'rii-sa- "to be
blue," da-mu'dui-sa- "to be yellow," da-wat'-sa- "to be brownish
red"). This da- may be identical, at last analysis, with a verb
stem da- "to look" (e. g. da-lil- "to look back," da-H'dja- "to look
up into the air"), but it seems far more likely that these two ele-
ments are quite distinct. The da- is morphologically parallel
to adjectival ha- (cf. da-sir a- Mis a- "to be all white in appear-
ance" with ba-sira-kai-gu- "to be white all over one's head";
da-wat'-sa- "to be red" with ba-wat'-gu- "one object is red") and
it seems possible that it is generalized from stems which originally
began with a and were preceded by adjectival d- (e. g. da-wat'-
"to be red," originally d-awaV- "to be blood-colored," Hokan
*axwa'ti-, see no. 3). The Washo adjectival d-, as Kroeber pointed
out Ion? ago, is perhaps identical with the nominal d-. Examples
are:
d-a-qau "good": arjau "good" (properly "to be good"?) (no. 87)
t-'iyeli "large"
t-'e'kyu "many"
Here may belong also the color-adjectives in dal- and del- (e. g.
dal-cocorji "red," dal-tsatsami "green, yellow," del-piipili "blue,"
del-elegi "dark red") which bear a striking resemblance to the
Yana adjectives of appearance in da.- The Salinan adjectival t-,
t-ca.n hardly be disconnected from the common nominal element
/-, i-. Examples are:
Three: Hokun Lan^uaaes 321
SIS
t-elwa-ne "strong, fierce" (literally "man-ly"): luua' "man,
male"
t-emiku-lco "hole-y": mctsiliu "perforation"
('-xauu'at "yellow": s-xaawit' "acorn"
A probable example of adjectival /- in Chumash is:
t-asu-n, t-ase-n "red": uks-tai (read n's-})\ Ilokan *-a'su,
*tn-a'su, *k-a'su, *l-a'su (no. 93)
Corresponding to the r-nouns of Subtiaba there seems to be
also a set of adjectives in r-. The examples are not numerous:
r-arjga "old, worn out"
r-timhu- "roasted" (also as verb: rumbw "to roast")
r-itci, f-isi- "small, lean, young": -tci, red. tcitci "small,
child" (no. 91)
A Salinan /-prefix corresponding to this r- is suggested by:
l-amayu, l-atnai "right"
l-apai "left"
The /- of these examples is very probably identical with the
nominal /- already discussed.
Corresponding to the 5- (c-) of Subtiaba nouns is a pre-
consonantal s-, c- in a few adjectives:
s-tan^u- "lean"
c-n^axw "erect"
A number of 5-adjectives may also be established for Salinan:
s-ki-ntui', s-kicnt'ui' "small, thin, lesser"
s-kvtana, s-kotan "small"
s-kusna "half (moon)"
s-mat (or s-m-at) "beautiful"
s-pukita "upper"
s-ti-yo'owan "pretty, graceful"
s-wanan "lonesome"
s-tikwau (Mig.) "young, new": k-teka (Ant.)
A corresponding /5-element seems to be found in Chumash:
ts-owis "bad" (S. Luis Obispo)
ts-exu "much" (S. Luis Obispo): uhu (S. Barbara)
Intransilives in g-. We have already seen how basic in Salinan
is the distinction between intransitives in k- and transitives in p-.
322 ^ American Indian Languages I
516
It can be shown that an analogous relation holds in Subtiaba
between ^-forms and <f-forms. The g-verbs seem to indicate both
the active intransitive and the static and thus occupy a position
midway between the adjectival and static verbs in m- and the
transitives. Not all transitives begin with a d- nor are all in-
transitives g-verbs, but thetf-verbs are so preponderantly transi-
tive and so many of the ^-verbs are intransitive that it seems
impossible to resist the inference that both g- and d- are prefixed
elements and that they are respectively intransitive and transitive
in force. Fortunately, we are not left entirely to statistical sur-
mises but have several clear instances of g- alternating with other
elements {m-, d-). It goes without saying that the Subtiaba idiom
is not always in accord with English usage, a number of g-verbs
appearing transitive in translation, but on the whole their in-
transitive character is apparent enough. It will be best to list all
the examples of g-verbs, so that the reader may draw his own
conclusions. Probable intransitives are:
g-wga "to touch" (as intr., e. g. ikw ni'-gu-ga "I touched"):
d-u'ga (tr., e. g. vna gi'-dwga "cara tocada"; da'-tcw
d-u'ga d-a'gu'-lu' "do not touch the fire!")
g-apw "to sleep," g-apo "acostado": d-apa (verbal noun, e. g.
ikw na'tcu ma d-apa "I go with the-sleeping, I go in order
to sleep, I shall sleep"); see no. 80.
g-iu "to eat" (intr., e. g. ikw naxka g-iu "I go to eat"; ikw
a'-na-ma'i g-iw "I cannot eat"): m-i'u (e. g. T/wi ga'n^u
m-i-u "flesh to eat"; for m- see no. 114; see no. 67.
Transitive forms of "to eat" seem to be expressed by
another verb, -su (e. g. ni'-su ikw rjoo'i-lw "I ate the
meat")
g-vma "to ascend": d-ehma-lu "sky"; see nos. 44, 60
g-agnu "to run": d-agalni "runner" ; see no. 75
g-i'ca "white (e. g. di-gixa "white hair"): m-vca, t-vtcw
"white"; see no. 98
g-a-ya "to have, hold, carry," g-aya-a "to bring, drag" (prob-
ably intr., e. g. ikw do'-na-a'-gaya'a "no estoy trayendo").
d-a-ya (probably tr., e. g. d-a-ya-hr sekw "guard, hold
the child!"); see no. 58a
g-uto "to wait, hope": d-a-ti{-lw) "esperese!"
k-uni'nu "sleeping," k-wninii-mba "sleepy-head": na-uni'nw
"to be sleepy"
g-oo "to winnow, filter, squeeze out" (intr.?): d-oo "to squeeze
out, press out" (tr.?)
Three: Hokan l.aimui\ies ^23
517
gitn- "to begin"
gala "ti) arrive"
gnxva. gunuHi "to bathe" (inlr.)
g-amo "lire burns"; see no. 59
goho "to fall"
g-au "to go"; sec no. 70
g-a-wi-, -R-d-gu'i- "to lice, run"; see no. 70
gii- "sun goes down" ^
gaxfiii- (t^uht) "to go out (of the house)
giito "to live, be"
gaxmo, gaxmaya "to know"
kiitna "to deny"
gaa "to foam"
gir "to sleep" (]?- probably belongs to stem); see no. SI
gusta-ma "to appear" ^^
wu-j,'0.y/a-/u"volverse, to return
gila "there is"
iti-.v/ "there is" , „
k-amo "to sit," /:-a;;;(i goo-yu" "estoy sentado en la casa ,
see no. 78
P-an"!!- "to die"; see no. 65
g-r.Yna. g-a.y«o "to dance," g-»-.y;/a "dance (n.)
gaxic "to iae angry"
gair "drunk, drunkard"
PHxkii' "firm" • i . j- »»\
kolio "to stand" (?; in maxpir koJio "erect, straight-standmg )
ga'ga "cooked"
gaki- "pregnant"
ga\in«a "hole" ^^ „ ...
g-oco "to wake up" (tr., intr.) : d-a'co "to get up (?)
giJii {i-ya) "to pour out (water)"
ga-ya "to pass (the night)" (e. g. ikir na'-ga-ya viidtru -In
"paso la noche")
guci- "to guard, keep"
ga'saltr "to make a knot"
gitfau- "to mix"
ga-du "to sow (maize)"
eu-xa "to steal, rob," knxa "thief" „ , , , ,
gtrmfca "to divide": s-kwamba "to cut" (probably caus..
"to cause to divide, be divided")
gaUapaWd "to cover" (fut. ga-?)
In a number of cases it seems safer to inteq^retga- as the future
particle (sec no. 106) than as the g-prelix we are discussing. Forms
in ua-ga- prove nothing, as "present" mz- may be combined with
"future" ga-. Such verbs are:
324 y American Indian Languages I
518
tia-gasi'hi "to give birth" (cf. naxka gasvhi "will give birth,"
literally "goes to give birth")
na-ganiktr "to marry" (probably ga-ni'-ku "will-make-
female, will take to wife," periphrastic verb in -ni-
"to make," such as are common in Subtiaba)
na-ga-spatu- "to chop" (tr. in s-)
na-ga-n^oa "to hunt" (cf. a-ma gr-n^ua "fish-net")
Salinan intransitives in k- have already been discussed. It
will not be necessary to give a long list of examples here as the
element is perfectly clear both as to existence and usage. The
reader will find a large number of intransitive ^-verbs and k-
adjectives listed in Mason's study of Salinan.
In Pomo there is good evidence for the presence of a ^-prefix
in adjectives. Examples are:
S. W. k-'is "red," Po. k-'asi-l, k-asi-l "redwood": t-'as "red,"
Hokan *-a'su, *m-a'su (no. 93)
S. k-iki-du "small": N. b-ifcu (no. 91)
k-apoc, k-apuc "short": buutc, boto
N. E. k-ului "short": N. E. ula- "boy, girl"; Chim. ule--ta
"small"
S. E.' k-ata "old woman": S. E. m-utui "old man," Po. ma-tea,
ma-tiai ma-tu-l "old woman" (ma- "female")
k-ale, k-ale, k-a'le "white"
N. k-atse "black"
k-'ili, k-'li, red. kilik-kilik "black"
E. keda-keda-k "red" (red.)
k-adi, k-idi, k-odi, k-udi "good"
k-ahma, k-amat, k-ahmati, k-amale "angry"
Possible examples of k- in intransitive verbs are:
-kata "to taste" (in N. kidi-kata "good-tasting, sweet"; E.
keresup-kata "sweet")
S. katan "to run"
S. E. kana-kit "to sleep"
N. kaman, C. kamam "to awaken"
N. E. kamantu "to like": E. maxa (?)
C. kadetc "to fight"
E. kilmahwak "to fight"
katca, katcat "to cry"
kuwai "to laugh" (but also cowai, tcuwai)
E. kopxun "to stand"
The Seri evidence is clear for the use of k- as an adjectival
(and numeral) prefix:
Tfjrvc: flokan l.iini;itai;t:s 325
S19
k-evil "rc.l"
k-maso-l "yellow," ko-tnasso-l "l)rt)\vn": mosso-l "yellow"; Sub.
ntaua "green, l)luc" (no. SS)
k-opol "l)lack": Van. /)*<;/-. -p'al- "l)hick"; Karan. p,il
k-ovil "blue, green"
k-o'po "white" (read k-op'o?): Chum, pupu (red.) "while";
Was. -pypoi (red.); Chon. -fuka; Com. -pok, -puk;
Karan. pcka
k-akfl-l "great": Sub. d-agii "large" (no. 90)
k-i' pi "good"
k-axku-ni. k-uxo-ni "two": Hokan *axwa{ku) (no. 101)
k-axpa-w "three" (no. 102)
k-osox-t "four": sox-ku-m "four"
It is possible that these examples are merely instances of a wider
use of k- as an intransitive or static verb prefix.
The evidence for ^-intransitives and adjective-verbs outside
of Subtiaba, Salinan, Pomo, and Seri is scanty, yet perhaps not
altogether negligible. The Washo material is inconclusive:
f^-ipus "to lift" (without specified object?): b-ipos "to pick up,
raise"
gz7/"tobite"
galam "to like"
gayani "to strike, hit"
gcgcl "to sit" (sing.)
Possible Chumash examples are:
k-opo-k "dead": Sub. g-apo "to lie." g-aptc "to sleep"; Chim.
-po "to sleep" (no. 80)
kakan "to stand"
Possible Esselen examples are:
k-olhala, k-olxala-bir "hablador, story-teller"
k-oso- "to sit down": Sub. -Isu "to be"; Van. dju- "to dwell,
sit" (no. 57)
In the Coahuiltecan group intransitive (or adjectival) k- is almost
certainly found:
Ton. k-opol "round": Ton. pilil "round" (with final reduplica-
tion) ; Po. pololo (with final reduplication)
Cot. k-itias "good": Ton. hinox; Sub. m'i'xn^a\ Was. (Jtjum
(no. 87)
Coa. k-'aux "bad" (read /.'-'u.v"?): T()n. e.v
Com. k-i' ax "small, little, young": Ton. ca-xun\ Coa. fd-ff;
perhaps also Sub. 5€- of ie-ku "child" <*/sa-*'M?; see
no. 54.
326 ^ American Indian Languages I
520
Transitives in d-. It is not clear if every case of d- alternating
with intransitive g- is to be interpreted as a transitive element.
It is at least conceivable that where this d- occurs in imperatives
or prohibitives (e. g. datctr d-u-ga d-agir-lw "do not touch the
fire!" d-a-ya-hr sektr "hold the child!" d-aii "esperese!") we are
really dealing with imperative da-, though Lehmann says nothing
to justify us in believing that this prefixed particle can replace
intransitive g-. Fortunately there are other cases of g-: d- (e. g.
gu-ga "to touch": i'na gi-du'ga "cara tocada"; goo: doo "to
squeeze out") which show that not all cases of (/-forms from g-
verbs can be explained as either nominal derivations in d- (see
g-aptr "to sleep": d-apa above) or as imperatives in da-. We are
practically driven to assume a transitive prefix d-. The evidence
of the mass of (/-verbs supports this view. This (/-prefix is likely
to prove identical with the verb da "to make" (cf. periphrastic
use of ni "to make, do" in compound verbs), but it is evident that
the (/-forms must be of great age in any event. The examples
are:
doo "to cease"
d-oo "to press out, squeeze out": g-oo "to winnow, filter"
daxkwa "to bake"
i'na gv-dirga "cara tocada": g-wga "to touch"
dia-ma "to put, place"; see no. 69
too igwa) "to enter (the house)"
taxia "to take grains of corn off of"
dantcaxku- "to tell"
da-ya "to find" (cf. -ya "to see," no. 76?)
da'tco "to hear"
da'tco "to knock"
ti-gu "to comb"
twi- "to suck at"
da'rma'ta "to open"
tiiqga "to roast"
{i:ci-) gr-du'wa "(maiz) tostado"
na-data "to say, speak, talk": na'-ata, na-to
di-i "to peel (fruits)"
dandi "to blow at, soplar"
do'ko (gwa) "to close (the house)"; doxko "to close, cover"
du}-sr "to deceive, tell a lie to"
na-deri-a: n-erra "to kill," ra'bw gi'-yerva "killed person"
dwaco "to take away, pull out (e. g. hair)"
d-iaxa "to desire": ya'xa "to think," yaxa-la "to seek"
gv-du'sna garni- "pelea(n)do entre si" (gr- is past passive
participle)
nirir: Hokan liitiKua^es 327
S21
Such alternations as -data "to say": -ata and -deri a "to kill":
-eria seem to be transitive parallels to intransitive cases like
kuni nu "to sleep": -uni nu (see above) . In a number of cases the
J- verb is intransitive in translation:
da-co "to get up"
diko "to appear"
da 11 "to feel, feel to oneself"
dati "to descend"
do'si- "mcntiroso"
daxka "to stink," daxku "to smell, be fragrant"
da'wa, da-gwa "there is not": Sal. k-awa "to lack" (see no. 70a)
ta'u "to sit": Hokan *a'uui (see no. 77)
Such intransitives may well be transitivcs, however, from the
Subtiaba standpoint, e. g. d-axka "to have, make an odor, produce
a smell," d-a-wa "to have a lack."
The class of transitives in d- cannot be defmitely proved for
other Hokan lan<,'uagcs, but there are at least indications that
it exists also in Washo, e. g.:
depii "to stab"
dalik "to strike, hit"
dabem "to strike, hit"
decern "to meet, come to"
darfol "to hunt"
davial "to hear"
The last example is perhaps a transitive denominative from an
old stem for "car": *d-amnhil <*d-asvnil "to give ear" (cf. Sal.
p-csua- "to hear, listen"?); see no. 7. Such consonantal alterna-
tions, moreover, as -yam (in uga-yam "to strike with a long ob-
ject"): dam "to strike with a round object": -bam (in dum-bam
"to strike with the end of a long object") and lep "to crush":
dep "to crush with a round object", -dip (e. g. de-dip "to crush
with the hand") may involve an old transitive (f-prefix.
Other Transitive Prefixes. The common transitive /^-prefix
of Salinan has already been discussed. Outside of Salinan I hnd:
S. W. Porno p-akum (or pa-kum) "to kill": C. Tonio kum (cf.
Chim. -ko- "to kill"?)
but this example is too obscure and too isolated to count for any-
thing. More suggestive is Washo h- in certain transitive verbs
alternating with g-, a-, and other consonants, e. g.:
328 ^ American Indian Lani^iiai^es I
522
-bam (of dum-ham) "to strike with the end of a long object":
dam, -yam (see above)
bipos "to pick up, raise": gipus "to lift," u-lepus "to lift"
What is almost certainly a transitive (causative) prefix, s,- c-,
is found not infrequently in Subtiaba, nearly always before
consonants :
s-toxma "to bind"
s-kwamba, s-gwamba "to fell, cut (wood)": gwmba "to divide"
(ga-)s-pa'iu' "to chop"
s-padiku- "to shake"
s-mar]ga "to put on a load (e. g., child on one's back)"
c-kama "to reach"
c-no "to give"
c-kamo "to seize, hold"
c-nio'ta "to spit"
c-mi' "to sew" {<*s-ima-t, denominative of *ima "hair"?;
cf. no. 52)
c-indiya "to gather, harvest"
c-ketcw "to hunger"
c-ti'ya "to be ashamed"
A suggestive parallel example of what is perhaps a survival of
causative s- may be found in Yana :
Yahi -s-gan- "to break" (secondary verb stem), C. Yana
-'-gan-: b-agan- (or ba-gan-) "to be short" (originally
"broken, fragmentary"?)
General Survey of Hokan Verb Class-Prefixes. The material
that we have passed in review, scanty as it is, seems to leave little
room for doubt that Hokan originally possessed a set of con-
sonantal verb prefixes of a generic type. The elements that have
the best claim to be recognized as archaic rather than as of sec-
ondary dialectic origin are:
m-, adjectival, (static intransitive)
/-, adjectival
k-, intransitive, (adjectival)
p-, transitive
Other elements, like transitive or causative s-, may well be equally
archaic, but the evidence is too scattering to justify a definite
statement. Salinan and Subtiaba seem to preserve the old system
of prefixes as a live mechanism where the other languages can
Three: Hnkan lanaitages
yi^)
523
«5
kti
i
^^
ui
^
^^^
1 -5".^
5
PREFIXES
SAL.
^-o vis
CLASS-
ED.
s
>
HOKAN
YAN.
d
=; rt C
<^ J.
•XJ .O
^ -O "tj
o
a:
to
^5 ^
-a 'O
'^:S
^^ 1^ .:: •"
•<a,^ -i
^ -cv. >^
330 ^ American Indian Langua^^es I
52-1
apparently show only survivals, but it is quite possible that if
we had reasonably full data for Washo and Seri, we should have
to number these among the archaic languages as well. The fol-
lowing table of the distribution of the adjectival and verbal
class-prefixes is necessarily even more fragmentary than the cor-
responding table for the absolutive noun affixes. It is given rather
as the statement of a fundamental and far-reaching problem
needing investigation than as a satisfactory formulation of the
facts.
The lack of entries for Karok, Shasta-Achomawi, and Chontal
and the paucity of entries for Yuman and Chimariko prove little
or nothing because for none of these languages except the last
have I anything available but the most fragmentary material.
However, it is clear that the characteristic development of in-
transitive and transitive class-prefixes which we have in Subtiaba
and Salinan, and perhaps in Washo, is absent in Chimariko and
Yana. It looks, then, as though it was the southern, rather than
the northern, Hokan languages that best preserved the archaic
features of the Hokan system of verbal class-prefixes. This accords
with the greater conservatism of the southern languages in the use
of absolutive nominal prefixes.
If we ruthlessly eliminate at this preliminary stage of lin-
guistic inquiry all evidence that is weak or ambiguous, we can
still rest a reasonable case for an old Hokan system of "classifying"
or generic prefixes in the noun, the adjective, and the verb on the
following condensed table:
PO.
YAN.
WAS.
SAL.
CHUM.
SE.
SUB
t- (nominal)
d-
t-, t-
t-
d-
m- (adj.; static
m-
m-
m-
intr.)
k- (intr.)
k-
(adj.)
k-
k-
(adj.)
g-
P- (tr.)
P-
Three: Hokan I.ani:ua^e.s 331
S2S
Con'Clusion: Further Vistas
On the basis of the evidence reviewed in the preceding pages
it seems dift'icult to avoid the conclusion that Subtiaba Is a Hokan
(or "Ilokan-Coahuiltecan") lanKua^o and that, as such, it
is genetically related to widely different languages spoken far
to the north (e. g. Shasta, in northern California) and to the
northeast (e. g. Tonkawa and Karankawa, on the Texas coast).
This evidence is lexical, phonological, and, above all, morpholo-
gical. The typical form of stem in Subtiaba is of a recognized
Hokan pattern; the alternation of forms with and without initial
vowel is characteristically Hokan. The old system of Hokan
non\inal, adjectival, and verbal consonantal prefixes, defining the
most fundamental classificatory notions, had begun to emerge
before the present study of Subtiaba was undertaken, but the
new evidence brought by this remote language of Nicaragua and
southern Mexico has clarified the picture appreciably. Much, of
course, remains obscure and in many directions there is everything
to be done.
But can we stop with Subtiaba? In a previous communication*"
I ventured to suggest that one of the major groups of American
Indian languages is a large group extending east and west from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. The name "Hokan-Siouan" was suggested
for these languages. A tentative genetic scheme might be thus
represented :
A. Hokan-Coahuiltecan
I. Hokan proper
1. Northern Hokan
a. Karok; Chimariko; Shasta- Achomawi
b. Yana
c. Porno
2. Washo
3. Esselen; Yuman
4. Salinan; Chumash; Seri
5. Chontal
II. Subtiaba (and Tlappanec)
III. Coahuiltecan: Tonkawa; Coahuilteco-Cotoname-Comecrudo;
Karankawa
*° A Bird's-eye View of American Languages north of Mfxico, Science, n. s.,
vol. uv, 1921. p. 408.
332 ^ American Indian Languages 1
526
B.
Yuki
C.
Keres
D.
Atakapa-Tunica-Chitimacha
E.
Iroquois-Caddoan
F.
Eastern group
I. Natchez-Muskogian
Timucua
II. Siouan
III. Yuchi
Such a scheme must not be taken too literally. It is offered merely
as a first step towards defining the issue, and it goes without saying
that the status of several of these languages may have to be entirely
restated. Thus, Yuki is listed for the time being as coordinate
with Hokan-Coahuiltecan, but it is not unlikely that it is really
a specialized Hokan language which has undergone a great deal
of phonetic decay and has been rather seriously influenced by
contact with neighboring Penutian languages (Miwok and
Wintun).
The evidence for this "Hokan-Siouan" construction is natur-
ally morphological rather 'than lexical, though the lexical bonds
that unite Natchez-Muskogian and Hokan, for instance, are by
no means negligible. This evidence will be given in due time. It is
of a general rather than specific nature, though specific elements
constantly enter into the argument, and can hardly receive its
due weight unless one contrasts the underlying "Hokan-Siouan"
features with the markedly different structures that we encounter
in Eskimo-Aleut, in Nadene, in Algonkin-Wakashan, and in
Penutian.^^ There is now reason to believe that some of the more
archaic elements and classes of elements that are found in Hokan-
Coahuiltecan also exist as survivals in languages spoken far to
the east. Some very suggestive evidence has recently come to
hand, for instance, which seems to indicate that Natchez and the
Muskogian languages originally possessed a system of consonantal
prefixes analogous to the old Hokan system that we have discussed.
Thus, Choctaw la^'sa "scar": mi^sa ''to be scarred" is curiously
remim'scent of such alternations as Subtiaba d-aca- "grass":
m-aca "to be green" and suggests an old nominal prefix /- (of.
" The grammatical peculiarities of Uto-Aztekan are not so clearly differentiated
from those of "Hokan-Siouan."
Tliri'i': Hokii/i I ciriyiuii^i-.s 333
527
Chontal?; and an adjectival or intransitive w- (as in \'ana, Tomo,
and Subtiaba); for the latter element the evidence is already
respectable. A surprising number of other consonantal alterna"
tions have been found in Muskogian and they ])resent an imjjor-
tant historical prolilem.
The example of Subtiaba is sufficient warning of the impoes
sibility of drawing a preconceived boundary to the south. Ther-
is no reason whatever to believe that the "Hokan-Siouan" group
as already defmed will remain without further adjuncts in Mexico
and Central America or perhaps even beyond. The addition of
the Mayan languages seems rather more than less likely. To men-
tion such possibilities is to make it clear that the real problems
of American Indian linguistics have hardly been stated, let
alone studied.
334 y American Indian Languages 1
Editorial Notes
Originally published in American Anthropologist 27, 402-435, 491-527
(1925). Reprinted by permission of the American Anthropological
Association.
Thus ends Sapir's last major publication on the evidence for Hokan-
Coahuiltecan, on the dramatic expansion of that grouping, and on the criteria
for remote genetic relationship among languages. After 1925, comparative
Hokan studies were virtually suspended until the 1950s, when new field work on
Californian languages, by linguists at Berkeley, began to provide fresh data. It
was hoped that the improved quantity and quality of materials on languages
such as Karok, Shasta, and Washo — and on such close-knit families as Pomoan
and Yuman — would permit new insights into Hokan relationships. However,
results to date have tended to clarify the historical backgrounds of individual
languages and families, rather than providing detailed validations or elabora-
tion for the proposed Hokan stock or its more distant affiliations (for a survey
of research, cf. Langdon 1974). Since the 1970s, doubts have been expressed as
to whether final confirmation of the Hokan hypothesis is in fact attainable.
Thus Jacobsen (1979: 570) writes: "The Hokan languages are extremely dis-
tantly related to each other, and the proof is really lacking that they are mutu-
ally more closely related than some might be to other languages outside of the
conventionally recognized group."
Sapir's concept of "deep-rooted" structural similarities as evidence for
remote linguistic relationship has been frequently discussed since his day. In
particular, scholars of areal linguistics have pointed out that it is difficult, in
principle, to rule out any kind of structural borrowing between genetically
unrelated languages, given suitable sociolinguistic conditions of language con-
tact. In addition, research on pidgin and Creole languages makes it plain that a
language may have a grammatical structure which is drastically different from
that typical of the family from which it draws its basic vocabulary. In sum, the
entire genetic model of language relationship is less clearly applicable, in areas
such as Native America, than ever before (cf. Bright 1984). Sapir's sixfold
genetic classification of North American languages, with its subdivisions, is
certain to remain a topic of controversy for many years to come.
Sapir's marginal corrections on his copy are as follows: p. 409, 1. 9, for Jere
read Here; p. 409, 1. 10, delete second ala after Chim.; p. 498, 1. 1 following
table, for c read c-; p. 498, 1. 2 following table, for "crow" read "crow":; p. 500,
fn. 14, 1. 10, for icili'p read icilip\
MALE AND FEMALE FORMS OF SPEECH
IN YANA*
It is a well known peculiarity of some languages that they distinguish
forms used by males from those that are used by females. This pecu-
liarity has, of course, nothing to do with gender. In this paper I propose
to call attention to the sex forms of Yana, a language of northern Cali-
fornia which is (or was) spoken in four distinct dialects — Northern,
Central, Southern, and Yahi. It is the first two dialects which will be
utilized here, though the main facts apply to all four of them.' There are
probably few languages which carry the distinction between male and
female forms so far as Yana. The facts presented in this paper will
therefore, I hope, prove of general interest to students of language and
of linguistic psychology.
In order to clear the ground, it may be pointed out that there is no
gender in Yana. On the other hand, there is a small number of verb
stems which apply exclusively to activity carried on by a male or by a
female; e.g., ni-, nl- "a male goes" but 'a- "a female goes," bu-ri-,
hu-rl- "a. man dances" but dja-ri, dja-rl- "a woman dances." In the
latter case the difference of verb probably reflects an actual difference
in the style of dancing. Furthermore, a number of verbs impljnng a
more or less abnormal kind of appearance add a suffixed -yai- when
the reference is to a female, e.g. hdmai-'a- "to be blind" (of a male),
but lubnai-yai-'a- "to be blind" (of a female). This -yai- is the in-
corporated form of the suffixed element -ya "female," which is common
in nouns, e.g. k!unn "medicine-man" but k!uun-ya "medicine-woman,"
bai-dju-si "male hunter" but bai-dju-ya "female hunter."
The great majority of Yana words have two forms, the full or male
form and the reduced or female form. The terms "male" and "female"
are not entirely adequate, for the male forms are used only by males in
79/80 speaking to/males, while the female forms are used by females in speak-
ing to males or females and by males in speaking to females. In other
words, the female forms are used about three times as frequently as
the male forms. There is apparently no question of the male forms being
* St. W. J. Tceuwcn, cd., Donum Xatalicium Schrijnen (Nijmegen-Utrecht,
1929) pp. 79-85.
and
(19i;
menial hlenunts of :> m inii n i unu, idmi., i.j Ki\i~~i . ii..»--«)i, 1 tJt .» 'i<»« v-^vo «v
Three Ynna iJicilcrts, ibid., 20 (1923): 2G3-291. The Viin:i orthonraphy hon* usfd is
explained in these papers.
336 ^ American Indian Languages J
207
tabooed to the females, for a female uses the male forms without hesi-
tation when she quotes the words of a male speaking to a male, as in
relating a myth in which one male character speaks to another.
There seem to be two distinct methods of distinguishing male and
female forms, depending on specific phonetic and grammatical factors.
The male form may be identical with the absolute, or theoretically
fundamental, form of the word, in which case the female form is de-
rived from it by phonetic reduction of the final syllable; or the female
form may be identical with the theoretically fundamental form of the
word, in which case the male form is derived from it by the addition of
a syllable which varies from one formal category to another. In either
case the male form is longer than the female form. The interrogative
shows rather peculiar sex contrasts, as we shall see later. It should be
carefully observed that the formal sex differences apply to complete
words only, not to stems or suffixed elements as such. Thus, the male
^au-na "fire," 'au-'nidja "my fire," corresponds to the female 'au'
"fire," 'au-'nitc' "my fire"; the contrast between 'au-na and 'aw' ceases
to operate as soon as a suffixed element (e.g. "my") is added to the
absolute or thematic form 'au-. Similarly, the male klum "medicine-
man," k!uwi-ya "medicine-woman," corresponds to the female kluw'^
{-wi has here become voiceless w followed by voiceless i, or voiceless w
with i- timbre), kluvn-y" {-ya has become voiceless y with a- timbre);
the contrast between kluvd and /:/wu;* is of no interest in the form
"medicine-woman" because the suffixed -ya protects the element kJuwi-
from reduction.
It will naturally be impossible to give a complete account in this
paper of all the rules of formation of sex forms, as this would involve
too much grammatical detail. All we can do is to illustrate the main
lines of phonetic and morphological contrast.
One great class consists of all non-monosyllabic nominal and many
verbal forms in which the absolute form, which is also the male form,
ends in a short vowel (a, i, u; but not e, o). The corresponding female
form unvoices the final vowel and also the preceding consonant, if it is
not already voiceless. The "intermediate" or "voiceless lenis" stops
(6, d, gr, dj) become aspirated tenues (p', V, k\ tc'). Hence a female
form of type -i'* may be reduced from either -t'i or -di; e.g. male ni-
sd-Vi, female ni-sd-V\ "it is said he goes away," male p'adi, female
'p"aV\ "place."
The following table of male and female finals covers the actual cases,
-a standing for -a, -i, or -w:/ 80/81
/hrcc: flokan Liitiiiiuififs
337
Examples are:
81/82
Mali
Pkmau
Glottal atop
-'a
.•»
-ba
■P-
Intermediate stops
'
-da
-ga
-t"
-k-
-dja
-tc'»
-p'a
-p"'
Aspirated tenucs
'
-fa
-k-a
-f
-k-«
-tc'a
-tc'*
-p!a
-P!'
Glottal ized stops
(
-t!a
-k!a
-tl»
tsia
-ts!*
Spirants
\
-ha, -xa
-sa, -ca
-x»
-B', -C»
Semivowels
\
-wa
l-ya
-la
-i\ -1"
Liquids and nasals
'
-ra
-ma
-r*
-na
-n», -n'»
-•la
-•i\ r»
Liquids and nasals preced. by glottal stop
■
-'ma
-'m*, -m''
-'na
-•n*, -n**
Male
Feuale
m6'i "to eat"
m6''
imamba "deer liver"
imamp'*
wawipla "little house"
wawip!»
sig&ga "quail"
sigak'*
gagi "crow"
gak*'
mal'gu "ear"
mark*-
p'adja "snow"
p'atc**
mitsli "coyote"
mits!'
daha "river"
d&x»
'isi "man"
•Is'
cucu "dog, horse"
cQc"
tslorfiwa "elk"
tslorfiu;*
*iya "trail"
'ly
wfiyu "horn"
w^y"
'i'lala "star"
•ria/»
IwQlu "inside"
IwQ/«
waklira "moon"
wak !ar-
p'attlama "bird sp."
p'att Iam'»
ba'ninu "dentalia"
bft'nln'"
•aklali'li "lake"
•aklftJiP
mari'mi "woman"
mari'm'
[208]
338 ^ American Indian Languages I
209
Very few types have a final glottal stop preceded by vowel in the
absolute and male form. The best example is the ending of the mild
imperative, -magara', which forms -magav'" in the female form, e.g.,
t'immagar^' "pray tell him!" female Vimmagav'".
A peculiar sub-type of the first main class of forms is the second
person singular in -numa (male), e.g. t'lsi'numa "you say," t'imsiwa'-
nimia "you are said to, he says to you," 'au'numa "your fire." The
parallel female form is not *-num''', as might be expected, but simply
-nu. But the male form is not to be analyzed as absolute -nu plus male
element -ma, in accordance with the second class of forms, but as
identical with an absolute -numa. This is clear from the fact that -numa
must be presupposed for both male and female forms in the interroga-
tive, e.g. male Vlsi'numdn "do you say?" female t'lsi'numa. The final
-ma, moreover, occurs without preceding -nu- in such forms as male
t'imsiwd'ma "I say to you," female Vimsiwa'm".
The second class of forms includes all noun forms which do not end
in a short vowel in the theme, all monosyllabic noun themes, demon-
stratives/and a large number of verb forms. All these forms are charac- 82/83
terized by an added male syllable. All nouns whose themes end in a
long vowel (a, i, u, e, 6), a, diphthong (ai, au, ui), or a consonant, and
all monosyllabic noun themes, suffix -na in the male form, but are
unchanged in the female form except for a breath release (-')• Examples
are:
Male
Female
'i-na "tree, stick"
'i'
yu-na "shelled acorn"
yu'
ba-na "deer'
ba'
ya-na "person"
ya'
yutc'ai-na "acorn mush"
yutc'ai'
'ik!iwau-na "moccasin"
'ikiiwau'
'itc!in-na "wildcat"
f'itclin' (Central)
\'itc!it' (Northern)
t'en'-na "grizzly bear"
t'ef
The rule is slightly obscured in certain cases by the operation of
phonetic laws: e.g. syllabically final n and m, unless protected by im-
mediately following nasal, become t and p in the Northern dialect;
further, V and p' become voiceless nasals plus glottal stop before nasal
consonants. If the theme ends in I or voiceless 1', the suffix -na becomes
assimilated to -la; e.g. male dal-la "hand," female daV. In the Yahi
Ihrcc: l/oka/i l.ani;uaf;es
339
210
83/84
dialect -na (-la) is used in certain cases (e.g. male, 'au-ua 'Tin-") -f-i
in others (e.g. male yd-hi "person").
The demonstratives, which end in -c, add -V to form the male loruih.
Tluis, male aidjc'c "that one," female aidje\ male aiyc'e "that one
yonder," female aiye\ male aigc'e "(to) that one yonder," female aige.
A considerable number of forms, chiefly verbal, add -'a or -'t to the
absolute form, which is used by females. Among these are:
1. Thirtl person future -si-'i, e.g. male VuaVi "he will do," female
Vusi. Contrast male t'usi "he does," female Viis*.
2. First person future -sik!6-'a, e.g. male t'usikld'a "I shall do,"
female t'usik.'d.
3. Third person usitative -rna-'a, e.g. male t'uma'a "he is accustomed
to do," female t'uma.
4. Third person dubitative -k!u-'i, e.g. male nisdklu'i "he might go
away," female jiisuklii.
5. Third person passives in -wa-'a, e.g. male ap'djisiwa'a "he is
killed," female ap'djisiwa.
6. Certain third person contracted causative forms, e.g.:/
Pbimaky
Cadsahve
Future
fMale -si'i
\Female -si
fMale -ma'a
\Female -ma
fMale -klu'i
\Female -k!u
fMale -fi
\Female -f
-sfi'a
Usitative
-86
-ma'a
Dubitative
-m&
-k!6'a
Quotative
-kid
-t 'c'a
-ffi
Thus, from md- "to eat" are formed: male mSt'i "it is said he eats,"
female m6C\ male mdt'e'a "it is said he gives to eat," female Tndt'e.
7. Possessive verbal and nominal forms, also adverbial constructions,
in -k'i-'a, e.g. male laiU'k'i'a "his is said to be strong" (contracted from
quotative -t'i and possessive -k'i'a), female laid'k'i, male momauk'i'a
"Pie eats] his (i.e. another's) food," female mdmauk'i, male bdwisak'i'a
"in the evening," female bdwisak'i.
A peculiar set of verb forms is constituted by the impcrati\(>s. The
male -'i' and -'a' correspond to the female -'* and -'". i.e. the final glottal
stop does not appear in the female forms, e.g. male Jiisd'i' "go awaj'!"
female nisd'\ This absence of the final glottal stop is peculiar also to
the female imperatives with first person object, e.g. male diwai-dja'
340 y American hulian Languages I
211
"see me!" female diwai-tc'", male diwai-k'igi, "see us!" female
diwaik'lk'K
Interrogative forms differ from the two classes of forms that we have
discussed in that the males and females each use distinctive suffixes or
enclitics. The ordinary interrogative has an added -n for the male
forms, with stress accent and falling (not rising) tone on the preceding
vowel, e.g. 'au'asin "is there fire?" The corresponding female form has
a final lengthened vowel, generally of the same quality as the original
vowel, with stress accent and falling tone, e.g. 'au^asi "is there fire?"
But certain forms in -a have the female interrogative in -i, e.g. male
tslewal'awa-randjdn "did I make a noise?" female tsIewaVawarandji;
further, forms ending in a diphthong or consonant take -yi in the fe-
male form, e.g. male go'lCiyau-ndn "crying," female gd'ldyau-yi . The
female interrogative of the demonstrative lengthens the male -'e, e.g.
male aidje'en "that one?" female aidje'e.
Another interrogative, more emphatic than the preceding, is really
an enclitic, male na and female ga, appended to the appropriate sex
form, e.g. male tslewal'asi'nuga na "are you (pi.) making a noise?"
female tslewaV asi'nuk' ga. / 84/85
As we have seen, most Yana words have distinct male and female
forms. There are certain words, however, which are alike in the speech
of both sexes. These are: 1. the syntactic particles {ai, third person
subjective; aitc\ article; dji^ article with first person possessive; dju,
article with second person possessive; k\ possessive of third person;
gi, objective particle); 2. the substantive verbs u "it is" and ht "it is
. . . who . . ."; 3. certain passive forms which end in a long vowel
(e.g. ap'djlward "he was killed", t'im'i "to be told").
Furthermore, final short vowels are elided before words beginning
with a smooth vowel, so that within the sentence or phrase the distinc-
tion between the sex forms sometimes disappears. In such cases the
original form of the consonant appears, e.g. male p'adi "place" and
female p'at'^ appear as male aitc' p'ad aidja "the place there" and
aitc* p'ad ailc'" respectively. There are also morphological processes
that demand a reduction of absolute forms within the word to a form
that corresponds to the female form, e.g. male daluwi "both hands,"
female dalu\v\ takes the form daluw^- in certain cases, e.g. male
daluw'k'i'a "his hands", female daluw'k'i.
The sex forms of Yana, to summarize our data, seem to be derived
from two psychologically distinct sources. In the minority of cases we
are dealing with distinctive sex particles. In the great majority of cases
the female forms can be best explained as abbreviated forms which in
Three: Hokan lun^uaiitw 341
212
origin had nothing to do witli sex hut whicli are spccializtHi fi-inalc
apphcations or reduced forms suggested l)y the phonetic and morpho-
logic economy of the language. Possibly the reduced fenjaU; forms con-
stitute a conventionalized symbolism of the less considered or
ceremonious status of women in the community. Men, in dealing with
men, speak fully and (lelii)erately; where women are concerned, one
prefers a clipped style of utterance! However this may l)e, the female
forms of Yana are now a complex and completely formalized system
which contrasts in many ways with the parallel system of forms used
by males in addressing males.
Editorial Note
f'irst published in Tccuwcn. St. \V. J. (cd.), Donum \aialiciuni Sclinjncn.
Nijmegen-Utrecht, 79-85 (1929); reprinted by permission of Uitgevcrij Dekker
L^ van de Vegt, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The present printing is
reprodtieed from the typographieally eorreeted version in Mandeibatini. I)a\Ki
(ed.). Selected Works of Edward Sapir, Berkeley: University of California
Press, 206-212 (1949), by permission of the University of California Press.
Page references to the original printing have been added in the margin.
I
!
Section Four:
Uto-Aztecan Languages
1 III rod Lie I ion
Sapirs research iii the UtD-A/teeaii taiiiily was i)t a \ery clitlerenl nalurc
from his work in Hokan. His data on Utc and on Southern Pamle, Shoshoncan
dialectsot I'tah, were gathered in 1909-10. In 1913-15, these materials were used
in his path-breaking work on comparative Uto-Aztecan — which, however,
remained within a rather clearly related group of languages, in contrast to his
more adventurous explorations in Hokan. But his very detailed descriptive
presentation. The' Southern Faiiitc Lani^uiii^c, was not written until 1917 and was
finally published only in 1930-31; it is reprinted in Volume X. This was the only
language for which, during his own lifetime, Sapir published a full complement
of grammar, texts, and dictionary; his achievement is generally regardetl by
Americanists with something of the awe that Indo-luiropeanists reserve lor the
Sanskrit grammar of Panini.
"Some Fundamental Characteristics of the Utc Language" (1910c) reflects
field work done by Sapir under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania in
the summer of 1909. His report to the American Association for the Advance-
ment of Science in Boston at the end of that year was represented b\ an
"abstract" — actually a short paper — published in both Science and the
American Anthropologist. Back in Philadelphia in 1910, Sapir undertook work
on the closely related Southern Paiute dialect, obtaining data frtmi Tony
Tillohash, a student at Carlisle Indian School. Under the cover term "Southern
Paiute." this research was to become one of the major achievements of Sapirs
career.
In the paper of 1910, Sapir presents for the first time the Shi^shonean pho-
nological pattern which he was later to make famous in his article ow "La realite
psychologique des phonemes" ( 1933c). To use Sapir s terminology from the ear-
lier period, "The consonantal system in its original form can ... be reduced" to
the stops p I q cp'. which "undergo various mechanical changes." Between
vowels, they are voiced |[3 r 77^'']; if the seciMid vowel is voiceless, they become
voiceless |(|) R x x''|; and after nasal consonants, the \oiceless stops optionalK
alternate with voiced jb d g g^]. The conceptual framework of phonemes ami
environmentally conditioned allophones is clear, though of course Sapir diil not
use such terminology until much later. Even in his Southern Paiute grammar
and texts of 1930. the data appear in phcmetic transcription- although, in the
accompanying dictionary, stems gi\en as the heailings of entries are in
phonemic notation.
It is amazing to reflect that Sapirs wink with I'te and Sinithern I'aiule speak-
ers was carried out entirely in "barely more than a inoiuir' of l^'nw and iluring
four mcmths of 1910 ((iolla I9S4: 43. .^1 ). Work [niblishcd pre\ious|\ had been
346 V American Indian Languages 1
minimal. It is clear that Sapir was not only a genius of linguistic theory, but also
a world-class virtuoso of linguistic data-collection and descriptive analysis.
"Southern Paiute and NahuatP (1913f and 1915i), was Sapir's first important
work in comparative and historical American Indian linguistics. As noted
above, it was not on the level of the higher-order genetic groupings which were
later to claim so much of his attention; rather, it was concerned with the
detailed confirmation, by means of phonological correspondences, of the Uto-
Aztecan stock, which had been suggested by Buschmann (1859) and by Brinton
(1891). This was, in fact, the first application to American Indian languages of
the classical methods established for the Old World by Indo-European com-
parative philology. The anchor points of Sapir s demonstration are, on the one
hand, his own very accurate data on Southern Paiute, and, on the other hand,
Nahuatl forms (correct except for vowel length and glottal stop) from Simeon
1885. In spite of the fact that the published data on other Uto-Aztecan lan-
guages were phonetically inferior, Sapir was here able to establish the founda-
tions of comparative Uto-Aztecan linguistics; all subsequent work in the field
has been built on this.
The work was planned for publication, in two installments, in the Journal de
la Societe des americanistes de Paris, and the first of these appeared promptly in
1913. The appearance of Part II in Paris was delayed by the outbreak of World
War I, and the material was therefore published in the American
Anthropologist in 1915 (in two sub-sections). Later, Part II also appeared in
Journal de la Societe des americanistes de Paris 11:2, issued in 1919. (The present
reprint uses the Paris text for Part II as well as Part I; the American publication
has a significant number of typographical errors.) Sapir planned a third sec-
tion, on comparative morphology, but this was apparently never written (see
Golla 1984: 103-4). After the writing of The Southern Paiute Language in 1917,
Sapir did no further detailed work on Uto-Aztecan topics.
Some Fundamental Characteristics
of the Ute Language
Abstract
The Ute language, originally spoken in much of Colorado and Utah, forms
the easternmost dialect of the Ute-Chemehuevi subgroup, according to
Kroeber's classification, of the plateau branch of the Shoshonean linguistic
stock. It is itself spoken in at least two slightly different dialects, which may be
termed Uintah and Uncompahgre Ute. The phonetics of Ute are only super-
ficially easy, actually they are characterized by many subtleties. The consonan-
tal system in its original form can, by internal evidence, be reduced to the
"intermediate" stops p, t, tc, velar q, and labialized q^, the sibilant c (really a
sound intermediate between s and c), the nasals m, n, and n, and the voiced
spirants w and y ; in Uncompahgre n seems normally replaced by nasalization of
preceding vowel. These consonants undergo various mechanical changes.
Before vowels which, [67] for one reason or another, have become voiceless,
the stops become aspirated surds (p', t', q', and q'^), while the nasals, w, and y
lose their voice, the voiceless n often, at least in Uncompahgre, becoming
merely nasalized breath with the vocalic timbre of the reduced vowel. Between
vowels the stops become voiced continuants (bilabial v, trilled tongue-tip r,
velar spirant 7 and 7^). Lastly, if the stops are preceded by a vowel and followed
by a voiceless vowel, they become voiceless continuants (voiceless bilabial v,
voiceless r, x, and x^). Thus, an etymologically original intermediate p may
appear in four phonetically distinct forms: p, p', v, v; the voiced stops (b, d, g,
gw) may also, though not normally, be heard as modifications of original inter-
mediate stops, particularly after nasal consonants. To be carefully dis-
tinguished from the simple consonants are the long consonants (pp, tt, ttc, qq,
qq^, cc, mm, and nn) and consonants with immediately following or simul-
taneous glottal affection (such as m^, w«, tt^). The vowels are perhaps more diffi-
cult to classify satisfactorily. As etymologically distinct vowels are probably to be
considered a, u, i, weakly rounded o, and perhaps ii and i (Sweet's high-back-
unrounded ?). The influence of preceding and following vowels and consonants,
however, gives these vowels various shades, so that actually a rather considerable
number of distinct vowels are found (thus u may become close or open o, i before v
is a very different vowel from i before 7, a is often palatalized to open e, and so on).
The various vowels, in turn, exercise an important influence on neighboring conso-
nants (thus i palatalizes preceding q to ky, voiceless r has quite different timbres
according to the quality of the reduced vowel following it, and so on). As often in
English, it is possible to distinguish between slowly pronounced normal forms and
allegro forms. Every syllable, in its original form, ends in a vowel or glottal catch;
348 V American Indian Languages 1
where it seems to end in a consonant, more careful analysis shows that the aspira-
tion following it has a definite vocalic timbre. Words ending in a voiced vowel are
invariably followed by a glottal catch or by a marked aspiration.
Nouns are, morphologically speaking, of two types. The absolute form is either
identical with the stem, the final vowel of non-monosyllabic nouns becoming
unvoiced (thus pa', "water," and puiiq'", "pet," "horse," from stems pa- and
punqu-), or certain [68] suffixes may be added to the stem to make the absolute
form. These suffixes are -ttc' (from -ttci) and -n-tc', which are particularly com-
mon with nouns denoting animate beings, though often found also with other
nouns, and -v', -pp'', and -m-p'', which are often employed to give body-part
nouns a generalized significance. In first members of compound nouns, which
may be freely formed, these suffixes are lost, but with possessive pronouns -ttci
is kept, while -vi, -ppi, and -mpi are lost. Only animate nouns regularly have
plurals. Plurals are chiefly of three types: some nouns, particularly person
nouns, have reduplicated plurals; others add -w (objective -wa) to the stem;
still others have a suffix -m'. All nouns with possessive suffixes may form a
reduplicated distributive meaning "each one's — ." The possessive relation,
when predicative, is generally expressed by the genitive-objective form of the
independent personal pronoun preceding the noun (thus ni"nai mo'^'^, "it is my
hand," absolute mo^o'v'), when attributive, by suffixed pronominal elements
(thus mo^o'-n'', "my hand"). Eight pronominal suffixes are found: first singular,
second singular, third singular animate, third singular or plural inanimate, first
dual inclusive, first plural inclusive, first dual or plural exclusive, and third plural
animate. The genitive-objective or non-subjective form of the noun is made by
suffixing -a, less commonly -ya, to the stem, the possessive pronoun suffixes always
following the objective element; as the objective -a often appears as a voiceless
vowel, or, owing to sentence phonetics, may be elided altogether, the deceptive
appearance is often brought about that the objective differs from the subjective
merely in having the unreduced form of the stem (subj. punq'" from punqu, obj.
punqu'^ or punqu from punqua). A well-developed set of simple and compound
postpositions or local suffixes define position and direction with considerable
nicety.
Verb stems differ for singular and plural subjects, often also for singular and
plural objects, the dual always following the singular stem. In some cases the sin-
gular and plural stems are unrelated, in others they are related, but differ in some
more or less irregular respects, in still others the plural has a reduplicated form of
the stem, and in many cases the plural subject is differentiated from the singular by
the use of a suffix -qqa (or -kkya). Reduplication is used [69] to express not only
plurality of subject or object, but also repeated activity; some verb stems always
appear in reduplicated form. The pronominal elements are the same as in the case
of the possessive suffixes, except for the second person subject; they may either be
appended to, not thoroughly incorporated with, the verb as suffixes, the objective
elements generally standing nearer the stem, or they may be appended as enclitics
to a noun, independent pronoun, or adverb preceding the verb. When pronominal
subject and object are both expressed as enclitics they may either appear together
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 349
in either of the ways just described, or the subject may be attached to a word
preceding the verb, while the object is suffixed to the verb; it seems that only 3d
person pronominal enclitic objects are generally combined with following enclitic
subjects. Ute has both prefixes and suffixes in its verbs, the former being less
transparently affixed elements. The most interesting of the prefixes are a set of
elements defining body-part instrumentahty; some of the ideas expressed by the
suffixes are present activity, futurity, intention, momentaneous action, comple-
tion, and others. An important feature of Ute is the presence of numerous com-
pound verbs, the second stem generally being a verb of going, standing, sitting, or
lying. Sometimes these second elements of compounds have quasiformal signifi-
cance (thus "to be engaged in eating" is expressed by "to eat-sit").
Editorial Notes
Originally published in 1910 in American Anthropologist 12, 66-69 and in
Science 31, 350-352. Reprinted by permission of American Anthropological
Association.
Sapir s full descriptive study of Southern Paiute (published in three parts,
1930d, 1930e, and 1931k), together with a set of hitherto unpublished eth-
nographic notes, comprises Volume X of The Collected Works. Some song texts
are included in "Song Recitative in Paiute Mythology" (1910d), found in Vol-
ume IV.
SOUTHERN PAIUTE AND NAHUATL
A STUDY IN UTO-AZTEKAN, '
BY Edward SAPIR
This paper is far from an attempt to deal systematically with the com-
parative study (phonology and morpholoo^y) of the Uto-Aztekan lan-
g-uag^es. The lexical and grammatical material available for the larg^er
number of these languages is still too scanty and, more than that, too
poor in quality to make such a study practicable or, at any rate, easy.
And yet it is clear that if we are ever to get beyond the embryonic
stage of merely vaguely affirming or doubting the validity of the Uto-Azte-
kan synthesis, we must cheerfully attack the fundamental problems of
the phonetic and morphologic comparison of the languages concerned
with a view to reconstructing, as far as feasible, the main features of their
hypothetical prototype. Following Buschmann's " Spuren der Azteki-
schen Sprache "' (Buschmann, however, as Kroeber points out, did not
positively affirm that the Shoshonean, Sonoran, and Nahuatl languages
are genetically related) and Brinton's "American Race" (in which
" Uto-Aztekan"' was first put forth as stock name), it has been quite
customary in linguistic and ethnological works to assume the Uto-Azte-
kan linguistic stock as a valid censtruction. Thus, F. N. Finck, in" Die
Sprachstamme des Erdkreises, " 1909, adopts it without question (" Uto-
astekischer Sprachstamm, pp. 81, 82). The evidence for the construction,
as hitherto presented, is, however, not convincing.
1. Most characters have self-evidenl pliouclic values. Certain plionetic symbols
used in this paper may need explanation. In Ute and Southern Paiute forms, A
denotes uoi English but; a, a of English hat; d, very open o, approaching a ; y, open o,
as in German voll; o, close as in English note or French chose; ii, weakly rounded open
i; 0, about as in German (may be either open or close); /, rather obscure open i,
verging toward i; i, high-back-narrow-unrounded (completely unrounded u); C/, duller
variety of i (wide, not so high, and probably slightly rounded, thus suggesting some-
thing of ?<). Long vowels are denoted by"; nasalized vowels by ; 'denotes aspira-
tion; ' followed by superior vowel (or superior vowel after voiceless spirant) denotes
aspiration with definite vocalic timbre (voiceless vowel); ' denotes stress accent.;', as>
352 V American Indian Languages 1
380
In his resume of the problem ' Kroeber summarizes in tabular form
the lexical evidence, insofar as it affects all three Uto-Aztekan groups
(Nahuatl, Piman-Sonoran, and Shoshonean), on the basis of Busch-
mann's Nahuatl-Sonoran and of his own Shoshonean material. The rather
small amount of lexical evidence that is presented by him 2, unprovided
in English \es;u', as in English zcW/; y denotes palatalization of preceding consonant ;
w, voiceless tc ; t], as in English sing; s, as in English ship; ts, as in English clmrcii;
« , voiceless n; tp, voiceless bilabial/; q, moderately velar h.; y, voiced velar spirant
(cf. g of North German Tage) ; '■, weak glide-like y; .v, as in German aclj; ' glottal stop ;
stopped consonants {p, t, q] with superposed ' are pronounced with simultaneous clo-
sure of glottis (they are not, however, identical with " fortis " consonants) ; ■ indicates
preceding long consonant. For Nahuatl, Spanish orthography has been retained.
Kroeber's orthography is accommodated to my own {c and tc changed to s and //; ii
to T]* « to ; his italic il and b seem to correspond respectively to my iand L', but have
b,een retained; dj, as in English ;'«(/^e). Diguet's Huichol orthography has been pre-
served (/ as in French); also Russel's Pima {U probably equivalent to my U;d, long
open 0, my 5); and Preuss' Cora (x, as in German ich; ' represents " saltillo ", vocalic
roarticulatiouj. * represents hypothetical forms; < means " derived from, " >" from
which is derived ".
Abbreviations of tribal names :
A. C., Agua Calienle
Ban., Bannock
Bank., Bankalachi
(^ah., Cahita
Cahu., Cahuilla
Fern., Fernandeno
Gabr,, Gabrielino
Giam. , Giamina
Git., Gitanemuk
Huich., Huichol
Luis., Luiseno
Moh. , Mohineyam
Mono (N. F.), Mono of North Fork dialect
Mono (In.), Mono of Inyo Co. dialect
N., Nahuatl
S. J. C, San Juan Capislrano
Ser. (II.), Serrano of Highland dialect
Shik., Shikaviyam
S. P., Southern Paiute
Tar., Tarahumarc
Tep., Tepehuane
Till)., Tiibatulabal
Wob. , Wobonuch (see Kroeber, S. D., p. 165).
1. A. L. Kroehev, Slioshonean Dialects of California, Univcvs'iiy oi CaVifornia Publica-
tions, American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 4, 1907, pp. 05-165 (cited 5. D.).
For Uto-Aztekan see pp. 154-163.
2. Out of forty Nahuatl words compared, only si\ seem irrelevant in their context,
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 353
381
as it is uith detinite indications of the operation of phonetic laws and
unsupplemented by morphological evidence, can, however hardly be
regarded as more than strongly suggestive. At any rate, it does not cons-
titute a clear demonstration. While working on Southern Paiute mate-
rial ^ the writer was more and more impressed by the lexical and mor-
phological similarities that cropped up between Nahuatl and Shoshonean.
As Nahuatl and Southern Paiute are territorially quite remote (the lat-
ter is spoken in extreme northwestern Arizona and in southwestern
Utah, while Ute is spoken in northern Utah and in Colorado) and as
there is every a priori reason to believe that of all Uto-Aztekan lan-
guages these two may be as mutually divergent as any, these similari-
ties have much of the nature of an a fortiori argument in reference to
the validity of the Uto-Aztekan theory. While the evidence here presen-
ted makes use chiefly f)f Southern Paiute and Nahuatl material, othei"
Shoshonean languages- are also utilized, even in cases where no cognate
forms are available from Southern Paiute. To a limited extent Piman-
Sonoran material ' also is employed. For Nahuatl forms Remi Simeon's
liaving no ascertainaljle conneclion wilh Shoshonean forms given in the same column.
These aie macuilli " rive"(except insofarasit, like most Shoshonean terms for " five ",
involves ma- "hand"), iUmicatl " sky" (only Sonoran forms seem cognate), tonatiuh
" sun " (<< tona " faire chaud, faire soleil "), yollbtU " heart", tlalli " earth", and
illall " salt " (this has Shosonean cognates, but has nothing to do with Cora una,
Tub. urfi-l, and related forms). Thirty-four Nahuatl stems thus remain as comparable
material. It may be noted in passing that Kroeber sometimes does violence to
Nahuatl forms in subjecting them to his uniformizing orthography. Thus, calli
" house " (assimilated from * cal-tii) should not have been given as kali, whose -/ is
thus suggested to be directly comparable to that of Tiib. ha)ii-l and related forms;
N. // is, of course, etymologically dist.nct from /. To be sure, as we shall see later,
back oi calli lies * kali-tli.
1. Ute texts and grammatical notes were obtained in the summer of 1909. More
extensive Southern Paiute material of a similar nature was obtained in the spring of
1910. Both sets of material were procured under the auspices of the Museum of the
University of Pennsylvania. Ute and Southern Paiute are closely related dialects of
the Ute-Chemehuevi group of Plateau Shoshonean. Northern Paiute, which must
not be confused with Southern Paiute, is closely related to Bannock and Mono,
these languages constituting members of the Mono-Pa viotso or Mono-Bannock
group of Plateau Shoshonean. See above.
2. Shoshonean forms, other than those from Ute and Southern Paiute, are quoted
from Kroeber, S.D., and from Kroeber, Notes on Shoshonean Dialects of Southern Califor-
)iia, University of California Publications, American Archaeology and Ethnology,
vol. 8, 1909, pp. 235-269 (cited N. 5. D.).
3. Quoted chiefly from Kroeber, S. D., pp. 159-161. For his Piman-Sonoran forms
Kroeber has made use of Buschmann, Parry's and Coulter's vocabularies contained
respectively in Schoolcraft and Scoulerand quoted by Buschmann (for Pima), Pimon-
tel, F. Mijller, Hernandez, and Lumholtz (see 5. D., p. 158). Kroeber has normalized
354 V American Indian Languages 1
382
" Dictionnaire de la Langue Nahuatl ou Mexicaine *', 1885 ', has been
used. A serious shortcoming of this work is its failure to mark length
of vowels and saltillos, both of the which are points that will undoubt-
edly prove to be of the utmost importance for comparative Uto-Aztekan
work. Where possible Carochi's grammar- has been employed to supply
this deficiency.
For the Shoshonean languages we have Kroeber's classification, based
almost entirely on lexical evidence '^'. It seems a satisfactory one for the
present, though whether it will eventually be borne out by morphologi-
cal considerations remains to be seen. Four main divisions are recogni-
zed by Kroeber : the Plateau branch, the tribes of which inhabit the vast
arid stretches of the Great Basin; the Tiibatulabal of Kern River, Cali-
fornia ; the Southern Californian branch ; and the Hopi of the pueblos of
Tusayan, x\rizona. The Plateau branch Kroeber further subdivides into
three main groups : — the Shoshoni-Comanche (including the Comanche,
the Shoshoni proper, and the Shikaviyam of California); the Ute-Che-
mehuevi (including the Northern and Southern Ute, the Southern Paiute,
andt he Chemehuevi and Kawaiisu of California) ; and the Mono-Paviotso
or Mono-Bannock (including the Bannock, the Northern Paiute or
Paviotso, and a number of tribes of Eastern California generally referred
to locally as " Paiute and of which the Mono may be taken as the
ty|)e). The Southern Californian branch is also subdivided into three
groups : — the Serrano, spoken in several dialects (Mohineyam, Gitane-
muk, and others); the Luiseno-Cahuilla (including the San Luiseno, the
San Juaneho of " Netela " speech, the Agua Caliente, and the Cahuilla);
and the Gabrielino (including the Gabrielino and the Fernandino) of
" Kizh speech.
all oithogra{)hies lo correspond lo liis own. Besides this body of Piman-Sonoran
malerial, sonic use has hero been made of lluichol forms conlained in Leon Dig-uet,
hiiome Huichol, Conlribution a I' etude des langues Mexicaines, Journal de la Societe des Ame-
ricanistesde Paris, N. S., VHI, 1911, pp. 2.*i-r)4 (cited L. A/.), and of Pima forms embo-
died in texts forming part of Frank Russel, The Pima Indians, 26th Annual Report of
the Bureau of American Ethnology, 11)04-05, jmblished 1008, pp. 3-389 (cited P. I.),
For Cora forms K. I. Preuss' recently published Die Xanuit-Expedition, Erster Baud :
Die Religion der Cora-Indianer, in Texten nehst Worterbiich, 1912, Cora-German vocabu-
lary pp. 299-366 (cited N. E.), has proved valuable. It is to be earnestly hoped that
more Uto-Azlekan material of the grade of excellence exhibited by this Cora malerial
will be forthcoming.
1. Cited simply as R. Simeon.
2. El Padre Horacio Carochi, /^>7e (/c la Lengua Mexicans, 1645; reprinted 1892 by
the Museo Nacional de Mexico. All long vowels and saltillos in Nahuatl forms here
((noted rest on Carochi's authorily.
3. See Kroeber, S.D., pp. 97-101.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 355
383
The Piman-Sonoran languages do not seem to have been adequately
classified. Some of the more important languages of this division are the
Pima of Arizona and northwestern Mexico (including also the Papago of
Arizona and Mexico), the Opata, the Tarahumare, the Gahita (including
the Yaqui), the Tepehuane, the Huichol, and the (^ora ; the last six of
these are spoken in Mexico only '. Whether all these form a definite lin-
guistic group as contrasted with the Shoshonean languages on the one
hand and with the Nahuatl on the other, or whether the}^ are to be sub-
divided into two or more major divisions cooi-dinate with Nahuatl and
Shoshonean, or whether, finally, some of them at least, say Cora and
Huichol, form a closed major group with Nahuatl, are questions that
still await solution -. Presumably volume III of Preuss' Nayarit- Expedi-
tion ' will throw much light on these matters. To the Nahuatl division
belong, besides Nahuatl or Aztec itself, also its southern offshoots Pipil,
still spoken in San Salvador, and Nicarao of Nicaragua (extinct) '-.
The comparative Uto-Aztekan material here presented is partly pho-
nological, partly morphological in character, the purely lexical element
being taken notice of merely as illustrative of these. However, an attempt
will be made to utilize practically all the lexical evidence at the writer's
disposal, though, it may be remarked, he has found this growing so
under his hands from time to time that there is small doubt that consi-
derably more such evidence will be available by the time this paper goes
to press. And, indeed, the very nature of the subject, progressive as it
nmst be, if it is to be fruitful at all. makes anything like a closed or defi-
nitive treatment impossible. The writer is prepared to find that much of
what is advanced in this paper will later be found untenable. He hopes
that it may speedily become antiquated for the very reason that the fun-
damental thesis will be found to be correct and capable of fuller and bet-
ter-grounded elaboration.
1. According to my friend J. A. Mason, who lias studied llio'Tepecano of nor-
lliern Jalisco under Ihe auspices of tlie International School of Mexican Archaeology
and Ethnology at Mexico, this tiibe belongs linguistically with the Tepehuane, and
both form a closed group with the Pima-Papago as against all other Sonoran lan-
guages.
2. For the mapping of the Sonoran and Nahuatl languages see Cyrus Thomas and
J. H. Swanton's Indian Languages of Mexico and Central America and Iheir Geographical
Distribution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 44, 1911.
3. See A^. E., p. iv, where " Texte der Mexicano nebst Worterbuch Mexicano-
Deutsch und Zuzammenslellung der verwandten Nahuatl-, Cora, und Huichol-Worte
sowie einer vergleichenden Grammatik dieser Sprachen " are announced.
4. For interesting remarks on Pipil as compared with Nahuatl proper, see pp. 728-
734 of W. Lehmann's Ergebnisse einer Forschiingsreise in Miltelanierika und Mexico, i^oj-
1909, Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1910, pp. 087-749 (cited E. F. M.).
356 V American Indian Languages 1
384
I. Phonology.
The most feasible" method in treatin<T^ of the phonetic relations between
Nahuall and Southern Paiute seems to l)e to start from the single Nahuatl
sounds, for, as will be obvious in the sequel, Southern Paiute has deve-
loped a number of secondary forms of the original Uto-Aztekan vowels
and consonants and hence does not easily lend itself as point of departure.
In some cases, where the Nahuatl sound is evidently secondary, it Avill
be better to start from the hypothetical Uto-Aztecan sound. The regular
correspondences in Southern Paiute of Nahuatl vowels and consonants
will be first indicated, the less reguhir or, at any rate, less frequent
correspondences will then follow^
a) Vou'ch and Diphihono^s.
The Nahuatl vocalic system seems simple and clear-cut. There are
only four distinct vocalic qualities recognized, all of which may appear
as long or short : a, e, i, and o (with which u often varies). Besides these,
two diphthongs appear, ai and an. Many examples of the latter, howe-
rer, are doubtless only apparent, such orthographies as ndnb "' my wa-
ter '" being evidently meant to represent vowels followed by labialized
aspiration |or perhaps better voiceless u') ; nd'"' would probably be a
more adequate orthography for this word (similarly. Cmliiih " it stuck to
it " might be understood as osali"'^') '.
Turnino- to Southern Paiute, we are confronted with some sixteen or
o
more vocalic qualities, but most of these are variants of a smaller number
of primary vowels and are due to the retroactive or progressive influence
of neighboring consonants or vow^els. For the purposes of this paper it
will not be necessary to operate with any of the secondary vocalic chan-
ges, as these are of interest from the point of view of Southern Paiute
phonology only. Five primary vowels are found : — a, variants of which
are A (as in English but), open c (as in French messe], a (as in English
hat ; this and open e seem to be rather more frequent in Ute than in Sou-
thern Paiute), close e (quite infrequently), and a (dark in quality, say
between a and open o) ; i (either open or «:lose), with close e (as in French
1. Dr. Fr. Boas, who has heard Nahuall, informs tlio writor tliat Ihese h/j-souiuIs
are voiceless spirants beginning wilh //-limbrc and ending with /-timi)r('. Presnma-
bly they are voiceless -tn, in which case they may be written -' "'.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 357
385
M) and rather obscure-sounding / (not very far from i of American
English bird, but without r-quality, say high-mixed- wide-unrounded) as
variants ; close o, with open o (as in German voll), open u (as in English
full), and close u (as in French doux) as variants ; i (high-back-narrow-
unrounded, — in other words, completely unrounded close u, with ton-
gue position characteristic of u retained), of w^hich t/ (similar to i, but
" wide " and perhaps slightly inner-rounded, acoustically suggesting
muddied o or open u), /(see above), open / (particularly after /), and m
(rather weakly rounded open /) are variants ; and open o, here written o
(not to be etymologically confused with open o as variant of close o ; in
Ute close or open o corresponds to this o). Of these vowels, f and its
variants seem highly characteristic of many Shoshonean languages. Of
diphthongs ai occurs frequently, an far less so. Long and short vowels
are to be sharply distinguished.
Nasalization of Southern Paiute vowels is due to either one of two
causes. It is either quite secondary, due to the assimilatory influence of
preceding or following nasal consonants ; or it is a reduced form of a
following guttural nasal (rj). Nasalized vowel instead of vowel plus r^
is more common in Ute than in Southern Paiute ; in Uncompahgre,
indeed, y; as such seems to have disappeared entirely.
All Southern Paiute vowels become voiceless under two conditions.
First of all, all final vowels (and every word must end in a vowel) lose
their voice ; another way of putting it is to say that the last consonant
or last vowel but one is followed by aspiration wath the timbre of the
originally final voiced vowel. A final long vowel or ai is reduced to the
corresponding short vowel or a respectively, followed by aspiration
without definite timbre. If in a sentence such a word is immediately fol-
lowed by one beginning with a vow^el, the aspiration, together with its
vocalic timbre, disappears. In the second place, all vowels standing in
weak syllables (or rather morae) ' and immediately followed by a long
(geminated) stopped consonant or by j or i (which also are normally
long after vowels) become voiceless. According to these phonetic laws
1. This terminology needs a word of explanation. Every short vowel counts for one
mora, or unit of length. Every long vowel or diphthong counts for two morae. The first
mora is always unaccented, unless the word is disyllabic, in which case, the final
vowel becoming voiceless, the vowel of the first syllable has to bear the accent. The
second mora normallv bears the main stress. The third mora is again unaccented,
the fourth secondarily stressed, the fifth unaccented, the sixth secondarily stressed,
and so on, with rigid adherence to this law of alternating stresses on successive
morae [not vowels as such). An unaccented mora is here termed " weak ", a stressed
or secondarily stressed mora may be called " strong".
358 V American Indian Languages I
386
a form like paq'dr^u " lo kill " regularly becomes p' '^^qdri^". Asprefixesor
suffixes are added, accentual conditions are being constantly changed, so
that an interplay between voiced and unvoiced vowel results. Thus,
navdq'ariuyi'n^^ " I kill myself" is extended from the first form (p becomes
V after na-; vide infra).
At first blush the vocalic systems of Nahuatl and Southern Paiute seem
quite distinct. However, nasalized and voiceless vowels are of purely
secondary origin in the latter and hence may be at once eliminated from
our problem. Eliminating also all secondary qualities of vowels, we have
left for consideration the comparison of four primary Nahuatl vowels
with five primary vowels in Southern Paiute. This is really all that is of
direct interest for Uto-Aztekan purposes.
Uto-A:{tekan a.
This vowel appears as a in both S. P. (and other Shoshonean lan-
guages) and N. in all positions. Examples of its occurrence initially are :
N. ayo-tl " tortue " : S. P. 'aya- " turtle "; Cahu. ayi-l K
N. aqui " qui? '', acd " quelqu'un " ; Cora hdiki " was, wie " * :
S. P. a-(a- " where ? how ? " (it is generally used with suffixed elements
which give it its precise meaning ; in itself it is about equivalent to
indefinite " what? '") ; Wob. bake " who? " ■^; Shik. ha'(a- " who? " •^;
Cahu. haxi " who ? " ^; A. C. haxa " who ? " '; Fern, haki
" who ? " •^; Hopi hak'i " who ? " -^
N. atla-tl " machine a lancer les dards " : S. P. 'at'sl- " bow " (< * 'ati-^ ;
Mono (N. F.) eti ^'\ Bank, ali-t ^\ Hopi aiita ''.
N. ax-cdn '' maintenant ", ayamo, ayenio « non encore, pas encore » (^ax-
<i* aye-) : S. P. at-^^ " now ", at- " new ".
N. aci " atteindre avec la main, parvenir en un lieu ", acian " lieu ou
Ton arrive, but, terme "; Cora as " ankommen ", asi " angetroffen
werden " : S. P. ^"-^sia- (^<Cas'ia-) " surface, outer covering " (?).
Huich. aihot:(o " bien " ^ ; S. P. ayr- " good '" ; Ser. (H.) a'aiye-tc ^ (?).
1. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 238.
2. All Cora forms with German translations are from Preuss, N.E.
3. Kroeber, 5. D., p. 87.
4. Id., S.D., p. 238.
:■). Ibid., p. 247.
G. Ibid., p. 77.
7. Diguet, L.M., p. .30.
8. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 2")4.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 359
387
Examples of post-consonantal a in the first syllable are :
N. cat-Q)ica, cat-qui " etre, se trouver quelque part ", cati (pres. plur. of
cd " etre ") ; Cora ca (sing.) " sein, sitzen ", ai-kate " es ist ein Fel-
sabsturz (aix) da "; Pima katiU '• lay " ^ : S. P. qan-{<i* gait-)
" to sit, dwell (singular subj.) " ; Shik. gadii " to sit " ^ ; Hopi gato -.
N. cal-li " maison " ; Tar. kali- ^ ; Cah. kari -^ : S. P. qan'i- " house ";
Tiib. hani-l '■'.
N. fali-ui '* s'attacher, adherer a une chose ", (:ali-ui-ni " gluant, vis-
queux " : S. P. sand-p'^^ ^' gum ".
N. fan " seulement " : S. P. -sam-pa " only, although ".
N. can-tli " joue "; Huich. kana " front " ' : Wob. -gan " beard " •';
Tiib. gar^a- ^ ; Git. -qar^a '".
N. tlaneci, tlathiii " faire jour "' : S. P. t^'^^sia- (< tas'ia-). Nahuatl tla-
«^/ evidently contains «^a' " to appear "' ; similarly, tlathui is com-
pounded with * ithui "to be seen, appear ", intransitive form in -i
of active ithua " to see " in -a (this point will be taken up later), cf.
ithuicanequi '* faire comme si Ton etait vu ". Hence these words really
mean something like " sun appears_, light is visible ". N. tla- and
S. P. ta- represent an old stem that has become stereotyped in com-
position.
N. tlan-quaitl " genou '' ; Pima tdn '' [d represents aw of English law):
S. P. taTttt- " knee "; Mono (In.) -ta-q ^; Shik. -daria ^; Git. -tama "' \
A. G. -tami '' ; Hopi dami "' ; Tiib. torfi ~ ; Cora tunu « Knie ", and pro-
bably also Pima tdn seem to represent another vocalism (assimilated
from * tanu-, * tar^u-l).
N, pani " en haut, au sommet " : S. P. pa\i-nt^' " high ".
N. qua " manger " ; Cora kwa ; Tep. koai ^ ; Tar. koa ^ : A. C. qwaa " to
eat " •' ; Fern, gwa'-* ; Git. kwa •'.
N. paca " laver une chose " ; Tep. bakuane " to wash *' '^ ; Tar. pagota ^'^ '.
S. P. na-vaU'i- " to bathe (intr.) " (reflexive form ; * paq'i- is not used).
N. tlan-tli^'' dent " ; Cora tame ^' ; Huich. tame ^' ; Tep. -tamo ^' ; Cah. tami ^^ :
1. Russel, P. I., p. 294, 1. 0.
2. Kroeber, S.D., p. 89.
3. Kroeber, S.D.,p. 160.
4. Diguet, L.M., p. 33.
5. Kroeber, ibid., p. 74.
G. Russel, P./., p. 347, 1. 3.
7. Kroeber, ibid., p. 76.
8. Ibid., p. 161.
9. Ibid., p. 88.
10. Ibid., p. 160.
11. Ibid., p. ]:■>'.».
360 V American Indian Languages I
388
S. P. tariiud-mp'' "■ tooth " {riw < ni) ; Mono (In.) -tawa ' ; Shik.
-dawa ' ; Tiib. dama- * ; Fern, -tama ' ; Git. -dama '.
N. ilap-copa " orient, levant " (^-copa " de, par, vers, sur " ; hence tlap-
copa- " towards sun " from old stem for " sun " no longer used as
such in N.) ; Cova taunt " Sonne "(" veraltet ''); Huichol /az^ " sun" 2;
S. P. tava- " sun " (< * tapa-) ; Ban. tavi ^ ; Shik. dave ^ ; Hopi dawa
(za = v^ 3 Xhese words may contain N. tla- found in words for " to
dawn " (see above) ; this is corroborated by Tiib. da--l '.
Coramfl, man " hier, dort " : S. P. ma- " that (visible) ".
Cora kwasi " der Schwanz der Tiere " : S. P. q'^'-''"' si- (<C qwas'i-')
" tail".
Examples of a in the second syllable of a stem are also found in consi-
derable number. Some of these are :
N. fflfm-// " paille, herbe, jonc "" : (]ahu. saxa-t " willow"'^; Ser. (H.)'
haka-t " willow " ■'.
N. ana (reflexive), " grandir, croitre " : S. P. nd'a- " to g^row " (perhaps
old reflexive form in na-^ that has lost its properly reflexive force,
formed from old stem -a a- ■< * -ana-. Another case of N. intervocalic
n corresponding to S. P. " was given under N. pani above. See under
Uto-Aztekan «).
N. maca " donner ; " Gah. maka ''; Pima maka * : S. P. nia^a '' to give ;"
Bank, maha ^; Fern, niaxa: Cahu. jnaxa ^.
N. naca^-tli " oreille; " Huich. naka^\ Tep. naxa '*; Tar. naka^; Cah.
naka •' ; Pima nahaka '" (cf. also nank ^), Cora naka-mu-a " horen " (Cora
na- of nasdi "Ohr" and na-mu-a "• horen " is doubtless related) : S. P.
nar^qava- " ear, " nar^qa-q' ai- " to hear;'' Tiib. narjm- " ear"'' ; Cahu.
-naq'a " ; S. J. C. -naqa- ".
N. aca-tl " roseau; " Cora haka " das Schilfrohr " : S. P. pa-^a- " reed"'
(forp >> /; in Cora and its disappearance in N. see under Uto-Aztekan^).
1. Kroeber, S.D., p. "4.
2. Ibid., p. 160.
3. Ibid., p. 78.
4. Kroeber, N.S.D.,p. 238.
."). Ibid., p. 254.
6. Kroeber, S.D., p. 161.
7. Russel, P./., p. 306, 1. 6.
8. Kroeber, S.D., p. 89.
9. Ibid., p. 159.
10. Russel, P. I., p. 320, 1. 9.
11. Kroeber, ibid., p. 73.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 361
389
N. cuitla-tl " excrement; " Cora tsuita " Exkremente von Menschen und
Tieren " : S. P. cjwitia- {ts < t) "to defecate ".
N. eca-tl " vent "; Cora dka- " wind" : Tiib iixka-wa-l " wind" K
N. ilta, ithua " voir, decouvrir " ; Pima hitslj " to see " - : Gabr. huta-a
" to see " \
N. i^ta-tl " sel " : Cahu. seta-xa-t " salty " (-xa-adj. suffix) *.
N. pipina " mang-er, sucer des Cannes a sucre " : S. P. piyd-f'^ " sap,
juice ".
N. po^a-ua " senHer", po(a-ti " manger avec exces " ; Cora husa " gesat-
tig't sein, sich sattigen " : S. P. p^""tsa- (< put'sa-) " to be filled up ".
N. tema " mettre, deposer quelque chose en un lieu, remplir une chose
de semence ou de terre " : S. P. tir^wa- " to cover up (hole) ".
Cora una'"'' Salz '" ; Huich. una^; Tar. hona'^; Cah. ona -^ : S. P. :?a-
" salt"; Ute da-; Wob. iima- ^; Shik or,a- ''; Tiib. u-ria- ^ ; Hopi iaria ^.
Cora tika-ntse " in der Tiefe " : S. P. f'^^qwa- {<ituq' a-) '" to be deep ".
N. yua " envoyer une personne quelque part, conduire quelqu'un,
envoyer un messager ' ; Pima yoa-ka " bring" ' : S. P. yua- " to carry
aw^ay more than one object ".
A considerable number of other cases of Uto-Aztekan a have been
noted, but these will be enough for illustrative purposes. Other examples
of a will appear incidentally when treating of other sounds.
Uto-Aitekan a.
Examples of a are not as easy to find as of a, owing in part to defec-
tive data for most dialects in regard to quantity. This remark applies
also to other long vowels. Reasonably certain are : —
N. cihud-tl " femme " : Luis. suTfa-l " woman " ^; S. J. C. ioriwdl '•*.
N. pa-ti " se fondre, se liquefier, se mettre en eau ' ; d-tl " eau " ; Cora ha
" Wasser" [hd-ta " im Wasser", AT. £"., p. 197,1. 15); Huich. /;« lo ; Tar.
1. Kroeber, S.D., p. 78.
2. Russel, P. I., p. 281, 1. o.
3. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 251.
4. Ihid., p. 238.
5. Kroeber, S.D., p. iiyi.
6. Ibid., p. 81.
7. Russel,?./., p. 301, 1. 3.
8. Kroeber, S.D., p. 72.
9. Id.,N.S.D., p. 249.
10. Id.,S.D., p. 160.
362 V American Indian Languages 1
390
pawi- ^ ; Cah. ba ' : S. P. pa- " water"; Shoshonipa' ; Ban. ba ; Tiib.
ba-l-; Git. ba-tc '-; Gabr. pa-r - ; Luis, pa-la ~.
N. quauh-tli " aigle " : Gahu. qwaal- " hawk sp. " ' ; Ser. (H.) gwaa-tc
condor " ^ ; Hopi kwa-ho^' eagle " •^.
N. tlaca-tl " homme '' ; Cora tdta " Mann " : Hopi taga '' man '' (heard
from Hopi student at Carlisle); A. C. -tax a " person "'i; Fern.
daxa-t^\ Git. daga-t '\
N. yaca-tl " nez, pointe"; Tar. yaxka '" nose'' '; Cah. yeka ' : S.V.ya-fd-
" end, point " ; Hopi yaka " nose " ^.
Coraawd " ein Geweih habend '" : S. P. d- " horn".
Coravate (sing.), vdteme (pi.) " dastehen, vorhanden sein" (Cora v < iv ;
see under lu) : S. P . u'dr,wi- (pl.j " to stand ".
Uio-A:;tekan e.
The most striking difference between the vocalic systems of Nahuatl
and Southern Paiute is the presence of ^ as a primary vowel in Nahuatl and
of ias a primary vowel in Southern Paiute, each of these vowels being
lacking in the other. Southern Paiute and Ute open e as secondary (pala-
talized) form of flis of course of no importance in this connection. \^ he-
ther the original Uto-Aztekan vowel which, as will be abundantly shown
presently, is the source of both Nahuatl e and Southern Paiute i was
indeed e, as is here assumed, though merely as formula, is not certain; it
may really have been some sound more closely approximating t. The
distribution of these vowels among the Uto-Aztekan languages generally
is peculiar. While Nahuatl and, it would seem, most of the Sonoran
languages (Cora, Huichol, Tarahumare, Cahita) agree in havings, Pima
seems to have an i-like vowel in cognate words (written U by Russel).
On the other hand, while the Shoshonean languages as a group (Plateau;
Tiibatulabal ; Hopi; Serrano) are characterized by the presence of / (or
of reflexes of it that are more or less related phonetically), the Luiseno-
Cabuilla group of the Southern Californian branch uses consistently e or
1. Kroeber, S.D., p. 160.
2. Ibid., p. 80.
3. Kroeber, A^. 5. £)., p. 2,18.
4. Ibid., p. 254.
5. Kroeber, S.D., p. 83.
H. Ibid., p. 73.
7. Ibid:, p. 159.
8. Ibid., p. 73.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 363
391
(according to dialect) in its place. It seems quite likely, however, that
these latter e-vowels are but secondary developments of Shoshonean
^-vowels; in that case they w^ould only indirectly agree with Nahuatl-
Sonoran e. Gabrielino has o or o vowels.
Examples of Uto-Aztekan e in initial position are :
N. eca-uia " faire arriver quelqu'un ", eco " arriver'' : S. P. i^a- " to
enter ".
N. ece " toutefois, cependant " : S. P. ^''-tt-s'amp^'^ always" (< i- ri-
i'ampa- : -t'i- participial ending, -s'arnpa- " only, but; " i- <C* it-
<C * i'si-f see under Uto-Aztekan s ?).
N. e:(-tli '* sang", ^ro-// " sang de I'homme " : Gahu. -eiu' " blood of a
person', ewu-l " blood, " "^ ew'i-1 '' much blood" i; A. C. -ow
"blood " ^; Luis. o//-/fl 2; Git. -oi; 2; Ser (H.) -itc^\ Hopi uNJVe -.
N.eca-tl " vent" : Tiib ilxhawa-l " wind" (see under Uto-Aztekan a).
Examples of post-consonantal e in the first syllabe are : —
N. cen-tli " tige, epi de mais sec, " a-cecen-tli " mauvaise herbe " : S. P.
sti'-"' squaw -bush twig, stem (used in basketry)" (<;* sini-).
N. ce-tl " glace, verglas, " ce-ctii " avoir, prendre fro id " ;ce-uet:(i " geler,
faire froid ", cec-miqui " mourir, trembler de froid " {<C niiqui " to
die "), ce-qualo (passive) " se geler, etre gelee "; Cora si " esistkalt";
Huich. je-ri " froid " •' : S. V. si- " cold ". S. P. si- does not occur as
independent stem but forms first member, as " incorporated " noun
stem, of several verbs : — f'^-pafa- " to feel cold " [-ia- = -yaa- " to
die ", cf. N. cec-miqui above), i'' pUra- " to be cold (e. g. , ice) ", s'^^-tu-
" to be cold (weather) ".
N. -mi plural suffix of animate nouns ; Cora -me dit. (e. g., ikwawame
" Schamanen") : S. F.-7nLJ-, -r,wL dit.
N. meti-tli " lune " ; Huich. melse- 6; Tar. mel'sa 6; Cah. m£tsa ^ : S. P. mUa-
'* moon"; Mono (In.) mua-ts ~ \ Shik. ]iid-;a-tsi ' ; Tiib milya-P; Cahu.
rneni-l ^; Luis, moi-la '• \ Fern. 7noa-t ', Git. miia-t '.
1. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 237.
2. Id.,S.D.,p. 76.
3. Id., N.S.D., p. 247.
4. Ibid., p. 254. Kroeber writes italic ti and o, probably for our i and U respectively.
No inconvenience will result here from neglecting italicizing these letters. For w,
and fV, wich seem to represent voiceless u, see under Uto-Aztekan s.
;>. Diguet, L.M., p. 34.
0. Kroeber, S.D., p. 160.
7, Ibid., p. 78.
364 V American Indian Languages 1
392
N. ni, nehudtl " moi "^; Huich. we " je " ^ : S. P. m ' " I " ; Mono (N. F.)
nil 2; Shik. nil'] Tiib. nii-^i; ' Cahu. ne-; Luis, no 2; Git. nu - ; Hopi
«o 2.
N. que- (referring to teeth; e. g., quetioma " mordre quelqu'un". See
under Morphology) : S. P. q'i- instrumental prefix " with the teeth".
N. teca " poser des pierres, construii-e, planter" : S. P. th^a- " to mea-
sure; try, practice".
N. tema : S. P. tir^wa- (see under Uto-Aztekan a).
N. ten-tli " levres, bouche " ; Cora teni " Mund "; Huich. teni
" mouth" 3; Coh. teni '•''•. S. P. tiimpa- " mouth" (w < / ) ; Mono (In.)
-topi ^; Shoshoni -dip '' [i = /'i : Fern. -tdr,i- '•.
N. tepe-tl " montagne, pays, localite " ; Pima IsUwU-t " earth " •', tsU-
wU-nda " : S. P. iivi-p-U earth"; Mono (N. F.) divi-p '' [i =-■ i) ; Git.
diiva-tc "; Hopi dma '.
N. tepi-t^in " peu, petit" : S.P. t'ivi-tsi- " very".
N. tequi " couper ", ui-teqtii " egrener en frappant " : S.P. ti'(a-nni " to
cut up (meat) ", th(a- " to gather seeds by beating with seed-beater".
N. te-tl " pierre";Gora iete "Stein "; Huich. tete'^\ Cah. teta '^ : S.P. /?-
in tii-mpi- " stone", ti-Ttqani- " cave ", literally " stone house", possi-
bly also assimilated to to- in to-foa-vi- " rattlesnake" (" rock snake " ?) ;
Mono (In.) dtip ^;Shosh. timpi^ {i=^'i)\ Tiib. dil-nt '^ : Luis, do-da ^\
S.J.G. tb-t^\ Fern. to-ta'-*\ Git. diimu-t^.
Gora ve " dastehen, vorhanden sein " : S.P. wUni- " to stand (sing.) "'.
N. uel-tia " mettre quelqu'un en fuite"; Cora ve " schlagen, werfen,
schiessen, treffen ", vene " schlagen ", ta-ven " verfolgen " : S.P.
wUnai- " to throw down".
Examples of e\n the second syllable of a stem are also found, though
not very numerous. Such are : —
N. ame-huan{tin) " vous (plur.)" : S.P. inUnii- " you (plur.) ",-" . . .-qiuU-
(< *-'... mC7-) enclitic form; Cahu. emem ^^ ; A.G. omoni •^; Git. iinm "^:
N. cati (plur.) ; Pima katsU : S.P. qari- (see under Uto-Aztekan a).
1. Diguet, L.M., p. 2(K
2. Ibid., p. Sri.
3. Kroeber, S.D., p. 159.
4. Ibid., p. 74.
3. Russel,P./., p. 347, 1. 4.
6. Ibid., p. 303, 1.4.
7. Kroeber, S.D., p. 80.
8. /itrf., p. 160.
0. /hW., p. 80.
10. Ibid., p. 86 and Kroebor, K.S.D., p. 23H.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 365
393
Uto-A\tekan e.
Examples are not frequent, for reasons already referred to under a.
Those that follow, however, seem fairly certain : —
N. te-, tequi- " beaucoup, extremement " as ni-tequi-tla-qua " je mange
beaucoup " : S.P. tt- " much, greatly " as verb prefix (e.g., tt-ntiq'a-
" to eat much, have a hearty meal ').
N. «CTte " vieux, ancien ", plur. ueud-qui, no-ueuet-cauh " mon vieux " :
S.V . , vjifu-s'" " long ago " ; Ser. (H.) wUtvi-s " man ", wutyi-wuty
" old man ", niixta-wuty " old woman " '; Giam. muui " man "2;
Fern, muti-mtu " woman " -; Hopi wox-daka " old man '^.
N. mi " grand" ; Cora ve " gross, gross sein " ; Pima tuUs '' all '' :
Fern, we '* all '" ': Git. luii-r'' much ■'; Ser. (H.i zw-r •'.
Uto-Aitekan i.
Examples of initial Uto-Aztekan i are : —
N. / " boire " ; Cora / " trinken "; Tar. pa-hi '; Tep. /- " : S.P. ivi " to
drink"; Mono (N.F.) hibi- ^; Shik. hivi ^: Tiib. in «; Hopi hii-koo ^.
N. / " ceci " {in-in " ce, cette ", plur. ini-qiie-in\ i-huan " et, aussi, ega-
lement " ; ihui " de cette maniere, ainsi " ; /-a, /-:{ " ici"); Cora /, hi,
" dieser"; Pima hitU "this" ^ : S.P. '/- " this" (found in numerous
combinations, some of which are : 'i-n'i- " to do, act, be in this way ";
i-Tid- " this person or animal " ; 'i-tii- " this thing"; 'i-va' "here",
literally " this-at "); Wob. / " this", i-yo-no " here " ^o ; Shik. i-dii
" this ", i-va " here " '«; Bank, i-gi " this " i"; Cahu. i-vi'' this ", i-pa
" here " " ; A . C. li " this " 12^ i-vita ' ' here " 'o ; Fern, i-kwa ' ' here " 10 ;
Git. i-vi-ts " this ", i-p "here "'«.
1. Kroeber, N.S.D-, p. 254.
2. IbtJ., p. 263.
^. Kroeber, SO., p. 72.
4. Russel, P. I., |j. -273, 1.9.
;>. Kroeber, S.D., p. 87.
fi. Id.,N.S.D., p. 2or,.
7. Kroeber, S.D , p. KiO.
8. Ibid., p. 88.
9. Russel, P. I., p. 291, 1. 9.
10. Kroeber, S.D., p. H(\.
11. Id., N.S.D., p. 2.38.
12. Ibid., p. 247.
366 V American Indian Languages 1
394
N. i-ciui '" se presser, se hater, etre actif, dilig'ent "' (cf. ciuia " pour-
suivre, presser, exciter une chose ") : S.P. l-pdtsin'ni-k'yai- " to be
all ready to start off" (cf. pdtsinna- " to start off for race ").
Examples of post-consonantal i in the first syllable are : —
N. cuitla-tl [cui-=^ kwi-) : S.P. qwitsa- (see under Uto-Aztekan a).
N. cuiloni " sodomite " : S.P. kwift- " anus ".
N. mimiloa " renverser, bouleverser, faire rouler une chose "; as reflexive
" se rebuelca comouna bestia " ' : S . P. mtr,qwd- " to come out pell-mell
(as when cattle are frightened) ".
N. min-ton-tli " arriere-petit-fils, -fiUe " : S.P. mia- " tiny", mia-p'U-
tsi- " small".
N. mi-tx_ " te, a toi " : S.P. imi- " thou ", -" . . .mi- enclitic form; Ute
tmi-\ Bank, iimbi'.
N. ni- " je *' (subjective verb prefix) : S.P. -ni- " I, me, my " (enclitic
form) .
N. pichauh-tica " etre engourdi, transi, mort de froid ", ' pichani-li:^-tli
fletrissure, engourdissement " {= ptchaqui-li:(^tli) : S.P. V'^-pit'sa- " to
crush by trampling " [ta- " with the feet ").
N. pipina : S.V. piya- (see under Uto-Aztekan a).
N. pl-tli " soeurainee " : S.P. pia- " female, mother", perhaps stXso yop'ia-
" younger sister" ; S.J.G. pit " younger sister " '.
N. -tit noun ending : S.P. -tsi- noun ending (examples of -tsi-, -ts, in
other Shoshonean dialects also occur passim in this paper).
N. -t:(in-tli reverential suffix (less frequently diminutive) : S.P. -tsi-
diminutive suffix; Gabr. mutu-tsi " flea " '*.
N. uitiilin " petit oiseau qui bourdonne ", uitii-t^ilin ' * oiseau-raouche ",
iiitxil-a:(tatl '' espece d'oiseauressemblant au heron, mais ayant la taille
d'un pigeon ", literally " bird-heron " : S.P. witsi-tsi- " bird " ;
Ser. (H.) witsi-t •'.
N. xix-tli " excrement de V\iommQ\ d-xixtli " urine, excrement " (lite-
rally " water-excrement ") : S.P. sii- " to urinate " (<*57«-; see
under Uto-Aztekan s).
N, -qui (pres. imperative, subj . , and opt.), -quiuh (fut. indie.) " venir "
(purposive) : S.P., -ki- " to come in order to. . . ".
N. oquich-tli " homme, mari, m^le en general " : Gahu. qeat, kiat " boy ",
1. Carochi, p. .'')3I .
2. Kroeber, S.D., p. 8(i.
.). Id., N.S.D., p. 249.
•i. Ibid., p. 2ol.
;i. Ibid., p. 2U.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 367
393
plur. qiqita-m '; (Fern, koti " young man") '-. There is some reason to
believe that o- of N. oquichtli is a prefix.
A considerable number of examples are also available of the occurrence
of Uto-Aztekan /in the second syllable of a stem. Such are : —
N. aci'rS.P. '""5/fl- (see under Uto-Aztekan a).
N. aqui : Cahu. haxi ( » » » »).
Tar. kali- : S.P. qawi- ( » » » »).
Cora teni : Fern. -tdr,i- (see under Uto-Aztekan g).
Cora kwasi : S.P. : ^'""*'i/- ( » » » a).
N. caui-tl " temps" : S.P. qia-qiLi- " yesterday ".
N. chichi " chien " ; Cora kitsi " das Haustier, das einem zugehorigezahme
Tier " ; Tar. kokotsi " dog- " '■'' : Git. gutsi '' ; Moh. gutsi '* ; Ser.
( H . ) kwidji , kivutci ^ .
N. chichi is probably assimilated from * kutsi\ Cora ki- <C * ku- (see
under Uto-Aztekan 0). Uto-Aztekan term for " dog " : * kotsi.
N. cochi " dormir " ; Cora hitsu " schlafen, einschlafen " (assimilated from
kutsil), kutsi-te " einen einschliifern " ; Tep. kosi " to sleep '^; Tar.
kotsi ^; Cah. kotse ^'; Pima kdsi- ~' : S.P. qooi- (plural subject) «< * koi-
< * hsi- (see under s). It seems hardly likely that Git. -kum " to
sleep", yi'oh. kunia-, and Cahu. kiip^ as Kroeber suggests **, are also
cognate; yet this would not seem so unlikely after all, if Cora ^^t
(sing.) " einschlafen, schlafen " is also compared.
N. coli-iii " pencher, se renverser, se courber, en parlant dun mur ",
coloa {<Z. * coli-ua) " doubler, plier une chose; faire des circuits, aller
quelque part par des detours ; Cora kure-yi " kreisen (von Vogeln) ",
kuri-pin " sich auf dem Boden walzen ", kuri-pua " einen umherwalzen :
S.P. qon'i- " to return, come back by same road".
N. cui " prendre une chose " : S.P. -qoi- " to take otf " in com-
pounds, such as ts'^^^-qoi-tsa- " to take off articles of clothing ',
ts'^'-qoi-na- " to take off one article of clothing ", t^°^^-qoi-tsa- " to
take off shoes from feet " (?) .
N. ix-tli (< *isi-tli\ see " Vocalic Syncope in Nahuatl") " ceil "; Cora
1. Kroeber, N.S.D, p. 237.
2. Ibid., p. 251.
3. Kroeber, 5.D., p. 161.
4. Ibid., p. 81.
0. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 2'i4.
0. Kroeber, S.D., p. 161.
7. Russel, P. I., p. 278, I. ."i; p. 279, 1. 2.
8. Kroeber, S.D., pp. 08, 161.
368 V American Indian Languages 1
396
hisi " die Augen "; Huich. utsi " eye ^ "; Tep. buy^ (perhaps to be
understood as bui)\ Tar. pusi-^; Cah. ptisi^ : S.P. pul- " eye ";
Shoshoni zoui ^ (leg . -vui ?) ; Shik . -bui ^ ; Tlib . puntsi- ^ ; Hopi bo^si ^.
N. noquia " perdre, verser, repandre une chose, avoir la diarrhee ",
atl noquia " uriner, verser de I'eau", noqui-ui " couler, se repandre (en
parlant d'un liquide ") : S.P. ^^'qwi- (■< nuq'i-) " to stream, run ",
'^"^qzvi-nt^'^ " stream, river".
N. toqui-a " attiser le feu" : S.P. tu^wi- " fire goes out" (transitive
force of N. toquia due to suffix -a; cf. S.P. tu-(wa- " to put out fire").
N. tepi-tTJn : S.P. tivi-tsi- (see under Uto-Aztekan^).
Cora tawi «* tapi <C * ta-api"^.) "' sich niederlegen " (sing.) : S.P. avi-
(< * api-) " to lie " (sing.)
Uto-A'^tekan i.
Examples of Uto-Aztekan l are scanty . As reasonably certain may be
considered : —
Cora /i/, fse " Hiitte " ; Huich. ki " house^ ";Tep. ki''\ Pima ki"^ : Gahu.
^/-i " house ^ " ; Luis, hi-isa '^ ; Gdhr . ki^; Fern, kiki-s "houses'*";
Git. gii-ts^; Bank, gii-l'*; Yio^i kl-ho "* .
Cora itan " wir ' [i is described by F^reuss as " dumpf, palatal, etw^as
ahnlich dem deutschen //, aber mit indifferenter Lippenstellung ",
N.E., p. evil. It seems to represent originally long ioTo); Cah. i-tom
" we^": Git. i-tsam^^; Hopi itamd*'; cf. also Shik. tl-dir{iua^.
Uto-A^itekan o.
Corresponding to Nahuatl o (or u) we generally have Southern Paiute
(generally close in quality), in certain cases :> (open o, which, however,
is here orthographically kept distinct from open o resulting from close o
modified by phonetic circumstances ; only o is represented in Ute by 6).
Examples of Southern Paiute o will be kept apart from those of J.
\. Kroeber, S.D., p. I :">'.».
2. Ihid., p. 7.3.
.\. Ihid., p. 160.
i. Ihid., p. 77.
'■>. Ihid, p. 161.
6. Ibid., p. 86.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 369
397
Examples of Uto-Aztekan o in initial position are :
N. " cela, -Ik ', in-on " ce, cette ", pi. iniqueon] Cora u " dort, hier" :
S.P. w- " that (invisible) ' (found in numerous combinations, some
of which are : u-n'i- " to do, act, be in that way " ; u-t\wa- " that
person or animal " ; n-ru- " that thing ' ; u-va'' ',' there ", literally
" that-at ").
N. oco-tl " pinus tenuifolia " '; Cora huku " Kiefer " : S.P. o-[0-nipU-
"fir ".
Post-consonantal o in the first syllable of a stem is illustrated in :
N. cui : S.P. -qoi- (?) (See under Uto-Aztekan i).
Tar. pusi : S.P. put- ( » » , N. ix-tli).
N . noquia : S.P. "" ' qwi- ( » " i) .
N. toquia : S.P. tu-^wi- ( » » ).
N. pogaua : S.P. p^^'tsa- ( » » a).
N. -co " dans, en, sur, par " : S.P. -qii- when, as, while " (used to
make subordinate temporal clause whose subject differs from that of
main clause ; it is followed by possessive, not subjective, pronominal
elements. Thus, " I was sitting when you came " is " I was sitting
at-your-coming " [roughly]),
N. coa-tl " serpent " ; Cora kiiku " Schlange " : S.P. io--{da-a' " rattle-
snake " (literally " rock snake " ?).
N. coto-na " couper, mettre en morceaux quelque chose ", cocoto-tTji
" couper une chose extremement : S.P. ts'-qurii- " to tamp (tube)
by pushing (stick) back and forth ", ts'-qufu-n'na- " to take out (tur-
tle from ground) with stick " {ts'-, tsi- " with point of stick").
N. mon-tli " gendre " : Cora mu " Schwiegervater, -mutter, -sohn,
-tochter ", muna-ra " Schwiegervater" : S.P. niona-tsi- " son-in-law ".
N. mo- " ton, ta " ; Cora mua " du " : Fern, mu-, mo- " thy " -.
N. o-me (? <^*'wo-) " deux ", o-ppa " deux fois ", o-cca(n) " en deux
endroits " ; Huich. o-ta " two " "^ ; Tep. go-k--^ ; Tar. wo-ka^; Cah.
woi^: Tiib. tuo " two " ^; Ser. (H.) zi/o-r (varies, however, with wo-),
wu-r ^. It is not quite clear how Uto-Aztekan luo-, implied by these
words, is related to S.P. zva- '' two " and other Shoshonean forms
(see under w).
\. Lehmann, E.F.M., p. 688.
2. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 2.'j2.
3. Id.,S.D., p. lo9.
4. Ibid., p. 71.
5. Kroeber, N.S.D., p 254.
370 V American Indian Languages 1
398
N. on-oc {-t-ocin compounds) " etre couche ' (" ce verbe sert pour... la
reunion de personnes qui sont assises, ou habitant la meme localite ",
R. Simeon, p. xlviii) : S.P. yuywi- (< * yoki- " to sit (plural subject) ".
N. -tloc " aupres, avec, a cote " ; perhaps also Huich. -tuha " au bas " ^ :
S.P. -tuq'iva- " under''.
N. -tloc J however, seems rather to be compounded of -tlo- and -co, as
indicated by reverential -tlo-tiin-co, than to g-o back to * -tloca.
N. tomaua " grossir, croitre, devenir gras, engraisser " : S.P. tUT,quf6-
" to get clumsy, powerless ", tun-tuq- unto- " to feel as though having
heavy lumps all over one's body ''.
N. -ton-tli " suffixe marquant la petitesse, le mepris " : S.P. tua-
(<C * tona-) " child, son ", also used as diminutive suffix -fwa- (of. also
N. min-ton-tli " arriere-petit-fils ").
N. topeiia " pousser quelqu'un; pousser, arracher une chose, attiser le
feu " : S.P. t'"'pa-q-u- (< tup-a-) " to pull out (intrans.) ".
N. t:(on-tli " cheveu, poil '' (older meaning " head " seems to be implied
in i-t^on-co " au sommet ", t-t:(on-tlan " k sa tete ", tla-t^on-co " a la
fin, au bout"); Cah. tioni " hair " ^ : S.P. tSo- (open o) " with the
head " ; Ute tsu- ; Mono (In.) tsobi-p " hair " ^ ; Tiib. tsomo- '^ (com-
pound of tso- and mo- ; see next example).
Huich. mo " hair "^; Cora mii " Kopf ' ; Tep. mo- " head "^; Tar.
mo- '^ ; Pima md-dka ^: Tiib. tso-m'o- " hair " ''. Kroeber's -m'o- for Tiib.,
Preuss' mii with " saltillo " (see N- E., p. cvii.) and Diguet's mou-
hou for Cora, and Russel's md-d- for Pima all seem to imply Uto-Azte-
kan moo- with broken vowel.
Cora hi-pod '' Haar " (Tep. kupa '' hair " '' and Tar. kupa ' may go back
to " kupwa •< * kupua) : Fern, -pud- " head " ^ ; Gabr. -pwa- " hair,
head " ^ ; Git. -go-po " hair " ^ (cf. Cora kipod ■< * kupoa ; see below).
Examples of Uto-Aztekan o in the second sellable of a stem are :
N. cuilo-ni : S.P. kwifu- (see under Uto-Aztekan /).
1. Diguet, LM., p. 29.
2. Kroeber, S.D., p. 159.
3. Ihid., p. 73.
4. Ibid., p. 159. Diguet {L.M., p. 33) gives Huich. moho^'' tete ", Cora iiiouhoti (i.e.
muhu = mu'u?), Tep. mahou (i.e. nmhu).
5. Russel, P. I., p. 312, 1. ";.
6. Kroeber 5. D., p. 73.
7. Ihid., p. 159.
8. Ibid., p. 73.
9. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 2:; I.
Four: Vto-Aztecan Languages 371
399
N. CT^o-tl : Cahu. ewu-l (see under Uto-Aztekan e).
Cora taxis (< * tapu-; see below and under Uto-Azlekan p), taxix " auf-
wachen " : S.P. /'"' pu-nni- '' to wake up ".
Cora hisi " eyes ", ki-pod " hair ", and taxis " to wake up " illustrate
the change, in certain cases, of Uto-Aztekan o to i in Cora. Other examples
of Cora i corresponding to Southern Paiute (or other Shoshonean) u are : —
Cora kin " der Gatte ', kina " einen zum Gatten nehmen " : S.P. qum'a-
" husband ".
Cora kipi '' Hals "' : Cahu. quspi " throat " ^.
Cora hiiue (•< * puwe) " nach einem schreien, briillen" : S.P. pur^wi-
(< * puwi-) " to make peeping noise (like rat) "'.
Cora tika " in der Nacht, Nacht sein " ; Pima tsokar,gi " night " ^ : S.P.
tu^zva- (<; * tnka-) " to be night, dark " ; Mono [1^ .Y.)doga- "• night" ^;
Shik. do'[a- •^; Tiib. duga-l ^ ; Moh. -dunk •' ; Luis, duku-mi-t ^.
Cora tika-ntse " die Tiefe, in der Tiefe (des Wassers) " : S.P. t""qiOa-
(< tuk'a-) "to be deep ''.
Examples of Southern Paiute o (Ute o) corresponding to Nahuatl (Uto-
Aztekan) are less frequent than of o. Such are :
Cora una " Salz " ; Huich. una " salt " ^; Tar. bona- ^ ; Cah. ona ^; Tep.
one *; Pima on '♦ : S. P. od-is^ " salt " ; Ute Ja-©' ; Shik. o-qa-bi ^ ; Tiib.
UTfa-l ^ '., Fern, arfi-r ■' (metathesis from * or,a-r?). Several Shoshonean
languages have reflexes apparently of Shoshonean i : Wob. ilma-bi ^ ;
Luis, e-r^-la ^ ; Cahu. er^i-l ', ir^i-l ^ (second -/- <^ -a-, as will be shown in
another connection) ; Hopi lar^a '^. It is not impossible that we are deal,
ing here with original Shoshonean :?, distinct from o and /, which-
however, tended to be confused dialectically with these sounds (cf.
Tiib. u-qa-l, Luis. er,-la).
Huich. huari (i. e. ivari) " epaule " ^; Cora ware " Schulter, Rucken " ;
5. P. :7rt-cp' " back "; Ute dd-(f' ; Wob. wowa-bi ^. Huichol and Cora forms
1. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 237. Diguet {L.M., p. 33) gives Cora koujpi (= huipn), appa-
rently with retained sibilant corresponding to Cahuilla 5. For Huich. he gives l^onipi
(i.e. kuipt).
2. Russel, P. I., p. 331, 1. 6.
3. Kroeber, S.D., p. 78.
4. Ibid., p. 161.
r». Ibid., p. 81.
6. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 238.
7. Diguel, L.M., p. 33.
8. Kroeber, S.D., p. '"^u
372 V American Indian Languages 1
400
cited perhaps >< * ua-ri\ original Uto-Aztekan w becomes Cora v. Are
Gahu. husa " back " ^ and Hopi hox-ta ^ also related?
N. omi-tl " OS " ; Huich. ome " bone " "^ ; Tar. ot'si (?) 2; Tep. oo, ao - :
S-P. oi-f " bone " ; Ute OM-<p «; Mono (N.F.) -o* 3; Wob. -o 3 ; Tiib.
0-3; Git. -'o 3 ; Ser. (H.) -e'' ■' ; Fern, -'o ^ ; Gabr. -^m ^ ; Hopi iaqa'"^.
Observe Hopi la- as in laXia " salt " above. S.P. :?:'-, as sho"\vn by Ute,
is assimilated from * oo-, which doubtless lies back also of Git. and Fern.
b (long- open o) ; Tep. oo also, as its variant orthography ao seems to
indicate, consists of open o followed by close o. How Tep.-Shoshonean
*Jo- is related to Nahuatl and Huichol otni- is difficult to say at present.
Tep. houam " yellow " (i. e. huam) '"' ; Pima oam '' yellow " ", sd-dhamU ^ :
S.P. oa-q-a- " yellow " ; Ute oa-q'a-.
Huich. toja, tonsa (i. e. tusa) " blanc ''3; Cah. fosa-li '^' : Pima tdhai
" white ""' : S.P. */'^' sa--(a- {< tos-a-) " white '": Ute t'°' sa-ra-. Is
N. U{a-tl " sorte de vernis, terre ou poudre blanche ", tice-ctic, ttceuac
" blanc, deteint, p41e, qui a change de couleur '" also cognate?
N. o-tli " chemin, voie '" ; Cora huye '' ^^eg " : S.P. pd- " trail '" ; Ute
po- ; Shoshoni poe, po' " ; Bank, po'-t " ; Luis, pe-t " ; Cahu. pi-t '^ ; Hopi
pi-hU^^. As suggested by e in Cora huye and Shoshoni pod and by long
open / of Hopi pi-, S.P. pJ- is perhaps assimilated from * pJi'-. For Hui-
chol h and Nahuatl loss of p, see under Uto-Aztekan p.
N. coli-ui " se renverser, se courber ''; Cora kuri-pin " sich auf dem
Boden walzen " : S.P. qon'i- "^ to come back by same road ".
N. colo-ni " couler avec fracas, impetuosite, en parlanl d'un cours d'eau,
d'un torrent " : S.P. sja- " to make a noise as of flowing water ".
N. cochi ; Cora kutsi- ; Pima kdsi-: S. P. U^Jt- (see under Uto-.\ztekan /).
N. col-li "• ai'eul, aieule " : S.P qunu '' great-grandfather " ; Ute qonu-
" paternal grandfather ". As show by Ute, S.P. qmiu- is assimilated
from * qonu-.
It is barely possible that S.P. ^ may in some ca.ses correspond to N.
wa, at least this is suggested by one not very certain example :
\. Kroeber, S.D., p. 73.
2. Ibid., p. 160.
3. Ibid., p. 76.
4. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 251.
:!. Ibid., p. 254.
6. Diguet, L.M., p. 34.
7. Russel, P. I., p. 36.
H. Ibid., p. 281, 1. 2.
'.». Diguet, L.M., p. 34.
10. Russel, P./., p. 277, 1. 9.
11. Kroeber, S.D., p. 77.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 373
401
N. uapal-li, uapali-tl " planche, ais, petit poiitre " ( " wood " in compounds :
uapal-calli " niaison en bois ") : S.P. Jvi- " stick, wood " (< * opi-) ;
Ute avi-. S.P. ovi- in derivatives or compounds " nasalizes " following
consonants (see below under consonants for <( nasalizing" stems);
thus, corresponding to N. uapal-calli we have S.P. ovi-r^-kyan'i- [<iovi-
-\-qan'i-) " wooden house ". This nasalizing effect may correspond to N.
-/-, though, as will be shown below, N. / regularly corresponds to S.P.
n' . Perhaps tc/apa//- >> * Jpin'i- (by assimilation) "^ ovi- with nasalizing
power.
It is not clear as yet whether or not a Uto-Aztekan vowel J, as distinct
from both o and ^, is to be posited. For Shoshonean, as has been shown,
such a vowel seems quite plausible, as it would not be easy to explain
S.P. 0, Ute 0, and corresponding vowels in other Shoshonean languages
as modified from o under certain phonetic circumstances. Pima-Tepe-
huane, with ilsa-vowels in words involving S.P. o, also suggests original
:' as distinct from o. Note, further, that in all cognates of S.P. words
with J Cora regularly has u, not /, which, as we have seen, often cor-
responds to S.P. u [o); see Cora tina, ware, huye, kuri-, kutsi- ahoye, and
contrast u of Cora kuri- and kutsi- with / of Cora kin, kipi, and ki-pod
above. In other words, there is evidence derived from Cora, as well as
from Shoshonean, for original Uto-Aztekan J. More evidence, based on
more carefully recorded material (as regards vocalic qualities), than is
generally available for comparison, is highly desirable.
Lito-A:(tekan 6.
Indisputable cases of Uto-Aztekan o {il) are not numerous. As reaso-
nably safe examples may be considered :
N. ci-tlalin (? cf. tiga-tl : Huich. tusa ; see above) " etoile '', perhaps also
xlhui-tl " comete " (not to be confused with xihui-tl " annee ' "^ as is
done by Remi Simeon) ; YimcYiol iulaui '^, jorahoue{\. e. ^oraive) " star " 3 ;
Cora sureabe, snruabe " Stern " ; Tep. sia-vok " star "^i Ban. suhe
" star-'; Tiib. "su-l ^ ; Git. hini-t -^ ', Luis, sun-la '; Cahu. suu-l'': Hopi
so-ho '■'.
1. See Carochi, p. 53.3.
2. Kroeber, 5. D., p. 160.
3. Diguet, I.M., p. 34.
4. Kroeber, 5. D., p. 160.
:i. Ibid., p. 78.
374 V American Indian Languages 1
402
Tar. sula " heart " '; Tep. hura ■ : Tiib. huina- " heart -^ ; Git. -xiin'^-
[u represents long open u) ; Fern, -hun ^ ; Luis, -sun - ; Gahu. -sun '-.
limch.hourou{i. e. kuru) " fleche " 3; Coram " Pfeil " : S.P.o- " arrow";
Luis, hu-la '* ; A.C. hu-l ^; Hopi hd-hil ^ (o represents long open o).
Cora ira " furzen ", traie " kriiftig furzen "' : S. P. d- *' to break wind '.
Cora i (see under Uto-Aztekan i) seems to correspond, as these
examples indicate, to S.P. (Shoshonean) o.
Vocalic Assimilation .
A considerable number of at first sight irregular vowel correspond-
ences in Uto-Aztekan are evidently due to the disturbing influence of.
vocalic assimilation. Most Uto-Aztekan languages seem to assimilate
vowels of successive syllables to each other to some extent, though in
varying manner. It will be most convenient to take up the cases accor-
ding to the pairs of vowels assimilated.
Uio-A'^tekan e. . .a. In a number of instances original e is assimilated
to following a. Examples are :
N. aca-na (<C * eka-) '* mettre a sec, tirer une chose de I'eau '", as reflexive
'' s'echouer, se mettre a sec, en parlant dun navire ; .\.G. haxa-l
" sand " ^ ; Gabr. oxa-r " land " '' ; Luis, ex'-la " earth " '•. In S.J.C.
exe-l " land " "' e. . .a has become progressively assimilated to e. . .e
it . . .t). Compare also Fern, oxa-7' '' alongside of oxo-r '' (d <C /).
N. met7^-tli (<C * metsa- with syncope of -«- ; see under Vocalic Syncope) ;
Huichol niet^a " lune " ^; S.P. ?nUa-: Cora matsa '' moon " ^, mas-hirai
" Mond " ; Tep. rnasa--*; Pima masa '. For other examples of preser-
ved e. . .a in tliis word see under Uto-Aztekan e.
N. metla-tl " metate " : Huichol mata '' metate" "^ ; S. P. mard-ts' ; Luis.
tnala-l ' ' .
N. nema •' pied a pied, pas a pas : S.P. nar^uja- (< * nama-) " track ".
t. Kroeber, S.D., p. 160.
2. Ibid., p. 76.
.{. Diguet, L.M., p. 34.
4. Kroeber, 5.Z)., p. 77.
:i. Id.,N.S.D., p. 247.
6. Id., S.D., p. 80.
7. Id., N.S.D., p. 250.
8. Diguet, L.M., p. 34.
9. Kroeber, S.D., p. 160.
10. Diguet, L.M.,p. 34.
11. Kroeber, .V. 5. D., p. 259.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 375
403
N. petla-ni ' se verser, se r^pandre (en parlant d'un liquide) " [-a- is secon-
darily lengthened from -a- before -ni\ see Garochi, pp. 476-78) : S.P.
pdra-xa- " rain patters .
Cora hfika (^ <C p) " toten, ausloschen " (with singular object only) ;
S.P. p''"' qa [<i* paq'a-) " to kill '' (singular object).
It is rather doubtful if Uto-Aztekang...fl! (Shoshoneani...fl) may be also
progressively assimilated in Shoshonean to i. . .7 . As example may be given :
N. quetTO. (reflexive) " se lever '" : N. qwiri- (<; * qwi'ti'-) " to arise, get up ".
Ulo-Aztekan a. . .e [i). There is some evidence to show that Uto-Azte-
kan a. . .6 becomes assimilated at times in Southern Paiute to a. . .a.
Huich. tarnejh " nous "' '; Cora i-tan " wir " {<^* tamel) ; Tar. tame
" we "2; Hopi i-iamo'-^; Git. i-tsam-^\ Luis, tsam ^' ; Gahu. tsemem ''
{< * tiame-m'^.) : S.P. far,u'a- (<; * tama- <; * tami- = ta- '' we "' plus
plural suffix -mi-) " we (inclusive, more than two) ". That S.P. tar,u'a-
is assimilated from Ilto-Aztekan * tame- and not * tema- (as might
perhaps be .suggested by N. te-hudn " we '" ; N. te-ch- " us " ; Tep.
a-tem '' we "' -; Shik. -dir,wa ■* = -tirfuja) is clearly indicated by ta- of
S.P tam'i- " we two (inclusive) ".
Huich. tame " tooth " ; Gora tame\ Tar. teme (assimilated from * tame)]
Cah. tami : S.P. tarfWa- " tooth " (see under Uto-Azetekan a).
Southern Paiute a. .a seems to go back to ^. . ./ in :
N. cali-iii : S.P. san'a- (see under T^to Aztekana).
Nahuatl a. . .a seems in some cases to rest on assimilation of original
a . . .e or a . . .1. Examples are :
N. paca " laver une chose '" : Tar. pago-ta " to wash '" •"' ; Tep. baku-ane ■' ;
S.P. na-vaq'i- " to wash oneself ".
N. atla-tl " spear-thrower "; Hopi anta '' bow " ^' : S.P. 'at'sl- '' bow
(< * 'ati-) ; Shik, e'dil « (< * ati-) ; Bank, dli-t ^' {<* dti-).
N. uapal-li : S.P. m- " wood " (see also under Uto-Aztekan 0).
Uto-Aitekan e . . ./. Original Uto-Aztekan e. . .i sometimes appears assi-
1. Diguet, L.M., p. 29.
2. Kroeber, 5. D, p. 161.
3. Ibid., p. 86.
4. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 23K.
5. Kroeber, S.D., p. 160.
G. Ibid., p 77 .
376 y American Indian Languages 1
404
milated to e. . .e (Shoshonean /'. . ./). Nahuatl e . . .gas opposed to Shosho-
neanij. . ./ is exemplified in :
N. mne-pilli " langue "" ; Huich. nene " tongue " ' (yet neni according to
Diguet ^) : Tar. neni- ' ; Cah. nini ' (probably < * neni)\ Tep. niouni ^
(i.e. tiyuni < * neni'l); Git. -ndr^i^\ Fern, -norj-n '' ; Gabr. -nor,i-n ^ ;
Hopi lerti '^ (dissimilated from * ner,i). Besides forms beginning with ne-
there are found in both Sonoran and Shoshonean forms in na- : Cora
nanu *, nanou-re^~ (i.e. nann-re); Tep.nunu^ (assimilated from * nanu"^);
Tub. lala-n"^ {* nar^ii dissimilated to * lar,u, then successively assimi-
lated to *la]u- and lala-); Cahu. -nar, " ' ; A.C. -naq •' ; Ser. (H.) -nar, ^.
It is not clear how * neni and * name are related, but see below for
cases of Shoshonean a < Uto-Aztekan e.
N. tepe-tl " mountain "; Pima tsUwU- " earth" (< * tivi- < * tepe-) :
S.P. tivi-p-U- " earth ' (see under Uto-Aztekan e).
Shoshonean /. . .; < 7. . .?' (Uto-Aztekan c . ./) is exemplified in :
N. nenti " vivre " : S. P. nir,wU- (< * mmi-) '-person ", nir,wU-a-'' body ":
Mono (N.F.) niim " person "'"'; Shoshoni ni" ' (i.e. mu'?) ; Shik.
niiiuu ' {-ivu < -wU). Ute still has final -/- : nnivi- < * m\wi- < * mmi- .
N. huetii " tomber " ; Coraz;^ " fallen " : S.P. ivu'- " to fall" (< * wtsi-'^).
Cora yej-ri, yl-ri " es ist ein Zugang. Aufstieg da "i S.P yii- '' door-
way ".
lJto-A:(tekan e. . . i seems to have been assimilated to Shoshonean
/ . . . / in :
Cora enite " fliegen, flattern " : Ser. (H.) hinyik " to tly "". S.P. nonlsl-
" to fly " seems to be related; but how explain 7z- ?
Dto-A^tekan e. . .o. Shoshonean i. . .o {e. .o) regularly becomes assimi-
lated in Southern Paiute to o. . .0. This process is exemplified in Southern
Paiute itself by such forms as niam'tis'" " those (animate), they
<Cmam'U- -j- -/"»-. Examples of assimilated o. . .o (u. . .n), as evidenced
hy e. . .0 forms in cognate words, are :
N. te-tl " pierre "" ; S. P. /?- " stone " (see under I'to-Aztekan^) : S. P. to-
1. Kroeber, S.D., p. lb<».
2. Diguet, L.M., p. 33.
3. Kroeber, S.D., p. 74.
4. Id., N.S.D., p. 251.
;i. Ibid., p. 237.
(■). Ibid., p. 2o4.
7. Kroeber, 5. D., p. ~'.\.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 311
405
vofl-a)' '' rattlesnake " («< * tiyoa- " rock-snake '" ; it should be obser-
ved, however, that ti- " rock " ordinarily nasalizes follow^ing conso-
nant in Southern Paiute) ; Mono (In.) do-(oa ^ : Shik. do-)'oa ' ; cf. Hopi
tsia (as heard pronounced bv Hopi student at Carlisle ; <; * tsh^ta <C
* ti-^ia <C *ti-'(oa- ; -t- of tsia was heard pronounced with back of tongue
so elevated as to be almost spirantal (voiced velar), y. thus directly
suggesting its provenience from -i^i-).
N.' yecoa- " avoir des rapports charnels avec quelqu'un " : S.P. yoyo-
" to copulate ".
N. lleco " monter " : S.P. lii-^u-tnpa- " sky " (cf. iV " upward "); Sho-
shoni togu-mba-na *' sky " '; Tiib. dogu-mba-l '^ \ Moh. dugu-ba-t^;
Gabr. tuku-pa-r '^.
N. feci " broyer, moudre le mais ou autre chose sous la pierre ", tex-tli
" farine '"; Cora tiise " mahlen '" : S.P. t^"''iu- (■< tus'u-) " to grind
seeds ' (<< * tes'o-; perhaps Cora points to Uto-Aztekan * tose-, which
would also give S.P. tus'u-y see under Uto-Aztekan o. . .e.
Uto-Aztekan o. . .a. Cases of Nahuatl o. . .0 from original (or j) . . .a
probably are ;
N. ^oloni : S.P. soa- (see -under Uto Aztekan 0).
N. non-qua (<C * nono-'^) " a part, separement " : S.P. nan'O-s'u- " by
oneself, all alone ".
Uto-A:{lekan 0. . .i. There are several cases of Nahuatl /. . /which
are evidently assimilated from original . . .i. Such are :
N. chichi " chien '" (< * kitsi < * kutsi) : Git. gutsi " dog " (see under
Uto-Aztekan i).
N. ix-tli " oeil " (■< * isi- < * usi-) : Tar. pusi- '' eye "; S.P. pin- (see
under Uto-Aztekan /).
N. miqui "' mourir " : Cora muitsi " tot ' (< * tnuiki •< * muki) ; Huich.
niouki (i.e. muki) " mort " ^ ; Pima moki " dead " '; Hopi tnoki " dead " ^;
Cahu. muki-s " dead " ". Besides Uto-Aztekan * moki we seem to have
also * meki in Cahu. meki-nka " to kill ''' (cf. N. miqui-ltia " to cause to
1. Kroeber. S.D., p. 84.
2. R. Simeon confuses jyftoa " pecar con una persona" yvxih ykoa " acabar lo que
uno haze " under one rubric. See Carochi, p. 531 .
3. Kroeber, 5.£>.,p. 78.
4. Diguet, Z,.Af.,p. 40.
5. Russel, P./., p. 281, I. 1.
0. Kroeber, 5.D., p. 89.
7. Id., K.S.D., p. 238.
378 V American Indian Languages 1
i06
die "); S.P. tsa-r,iuUk-i- (< * -miti-) " to die off, disappear (plural
subject). " Uto-Aztekan * tnoki is assimilated to * moko- in Tar. muku
" dead " 1 ; Bank, mu^u-t " to kill " -.
bto-Aitekan o...e. In Southern Paiute o...i regularly assimilate to
. . .0 [u . . .u) whenever these vowels are brought in successive syllables
by derivation or composition. Thus, uru- " that (invisible inanimate)"
< *Mn-, cf. ari- " that (indefinite inanimate) '' and mar'i- " that (visible
inanimate) " ; u-(um'ar,iuifu^'wa- " away from it " < ti- " it (invisible) "
+ ghn-a- "other" plus -r{ivifu-^wa- " towards '". This assimilation is
further illustrated in :
N. foqui-tl " boue, terre detrempee, limon, fange " : S.P. so^o-vU- (with
open o; j1) " moist ground " (<* sokt- < *soke-\ for interchange of
Uto-Aztekan e and i see below) .
N. iite-tl " ongle " (< * sote-; cf. possessive no-ite]\ lluich. joute-te (i.e.
^ute- " ongles "" •' ; Cora site " Nagel, Finger, Zehe " {<C*hite)\
Hopi soki " nail " ' (dissimilated from * soti'^) : Tep. xutu " nail " •' ;
Tar. sutu-'; Cah. sutu-'; Tiib sulu-''\ A.G. iuVu^. Original * 5//0-
{'>* sit(o-) is implied in Gabr. estsu-t " nail " ''* (< * sitiu ; note pro-
thetic e- parallel to N. /-);S.P. iitsu-; Mono (N .F.) -iZ/w '^; Shik.
-sidu^. It is not clear how Uto-Aztekan * 50/^ is related to this *sito.
Was * sole, after being assimilated to *soto, further dissimilated to* sito\
or is *sito directly derived from * soti (form parallel to *sote) by vocalic
metathesis ?
Southern Paiute o . . . J appears in : —
Cora hure, -xure " eine Kugel, einen Ball machen ' : S.P. pbfo-q'u'a-
" to be round " (Cora h- < /?-; Cora -u-, not -/-, and S.P. -0- suggest
Uto-Aztekan vowel distinct from 0, see under Uto-Aztekan 0).
Perhaps Nahuatl ^. . . ^ is assimilated from Uto-Aztekan 0. . .^ in : —
N. tene-ua (reflexive) " se nommer, etre appele ", tene-ui " devenir
illustre " : S.J.C. -/%-/j " name " " ; Fern, -tuano- '^ (Gabr. often
represents Shoshonean i).
1. Kroeber, S.D., p. 16i .
2. Kroeber, 5. £>., p. 89.
3. Diguet, L.M.. p. .33.
4. Kroeber, S.D., p. 74.
D. Ibid., p. 160.
6. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 247.
7. Kroeber, N.S.D., p, 250.
8. Ibid, p. 251.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 379
407
Irregular Vocalic Correspondences .
After all cases of regular vocalic correspondence and of assimilation
have been eliminated, there still remain a number of irregular vocalic cor-
respondences which cannot be adequately explained until more is known
of Uto-Aztekan phonology.
e — a Interchange. Th«re are several cases of Shoshonean a correspon-
ding to Nahuatl (and Sonoran) e. Such are :
N. ne- reflexive prefix used with verbal substantives, impersonal and
passive verbs, and \\'\i\\ verbs in -lia, -ti'a, Itia ' : S. P. tia- reflexive pre-
fix.
N. neci " paraitre '" : S.P. ""'simi- (<< nas'uni-) " to appear, seem".
N. nene- : Cora nanu ; Gahu. nar, (see under Uto-Aztekan e. . . i).
N. topeua : S.P .' t""'pa-q'u- (see under Uto-Aztekan o).
N. -que plural suffix of certain nouns and adjectives and (subjectively) of
perfect and future verb forms : S.P. -q'a- plural suffix (referring to
subject) of verb forms; with this is perhaps to be compared 'N.-can
plural suffix of present imperative and optative verb forms.
Cora tene " in Stiicke schlagen " : S.P. 0na- " to punch ".
Within Nahuatl itself e and a seem to interchange in : —
N. tice-cttc, tlce-nac " bianc, deteint, pale : N. tiga-tl " terre ou poudre
blanche ".
i — a Interchange. A few Uto-Aztekan cases oil — a correspondence
have been noted : —
N. quech-tli (? < *keti-) " cou" ; A.G. -qelyi " neck ' " ; Cahu. -qilyH'^ :
S . P qura ' ' neck '" ; Shik . gura ' ' throat " ' ; Mono (In . ) -kUda " ; Luis .
-yara " neck ^ ".
N. tequi " couper " , ui-teqtii " egrener en frappant : S.P. ti^(a-nni-
" to cut up (meat) ", th(a- " to gather seeds by beating ". This inter-
change is possibly based on morphological rather than purely phone-
tic considerations.
N. -tli noun ending; Cora -ri\ Huich. -ri * ; S.P. -tsi- : Luis, -tsa, -la '
1. R. Simeon, s. v. ne and pp. lxi, lxiii.
2. Kroeber. S.D., p. 7i.
3. Id., N.S.D., p. 237.
4. Diguet, L.M., p. 29.
5. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 24j.
380 V American Indian Languages 1
408
(both <*-/«<?* -tla ; these endings will be more fully discussed under
Morpholog-y).
N. qui- objective pronominal prefix " him, her, it " : S.P. -q'a- inani-
mate pronominal suffix " it '\
g — i Interchange. It seems likely that e and / interchanged in certain
Uto-Aztekan forms. Examples of Nahuatl-Sonoran e as compared with
Shoshonean i are : —
N. qiiequeloa (reduplicated from * queU-ua) " chatouiller quelqu'un, le plai-
santer, le railler " : S.P. kie-r,qt- {kia-r,qi-) " to laugh at".
Corsi hiwe : S.P. piir^wi- (see under Uto-Aztekan o).
N. i^te-tl'. Hopi soU (see under Uto-Aztekan" c. . . o).
On the other hand, Nahuatl / seems in some cases lo correspond to
Shoshonean i {<. e). Examples are : —
N. (oqui-tl : S.P. so-^o- {<i* soki-) see under Uto-Aztekan o. . . e).
N. nect : S.P. ^^'iimi- (see under e — a Interchange).
N. piloa (< * pili-ua) " pendre quelqu'un, suspendre " : S.P. pVrtr'i-
(■< */>i'/i-) to hang on to '" (intransitive) (?)
N. ui- verb prefix (apparently having reference to long objects, e. g.
ui-toloa " bander un arc " << toloa " courber la tete "; tii-tlat:(tic " tres
long, tres large " < tlatitic " epais '") : S.P. wU- verb prefix '' with
a long object ". N. ue- occurs alongside of ui- in uellat:{tic.
N. uitlallo-tl '' espece d'oiseau tres allonge, volant peu, mais courant
extremement vite ' : S.P. ivUVsa- '' roadrunner ".
— a Interchange. In some cases NahuatI o corresponds to Shoshonean
a. Such are : —
N. ayo-tl : S.P. aya-\ Cahu. ayi-l (<C * aya-l) (see under Uto-Aztekan a).
N. poc-tli " fumee '" (according to Brinton, Ancient NahuatI Poetry, also
" vapor, fog, misi ''), popoca " fumer, jeter de lafumee " : S.P. pa^i-n'a-
" fog" ; Ca.h\i paxi-s '' fog " ' ; Fern, paki-t ' clou^ " '; Tlib. pa^u-mis-t
" cloud " '^.
N. eco " arriver (cf. eca-uia "' faire arriver (juelqu un ') : S.P. i'va- to
enter ".
e — Interchange. Nahuatl-Sonoran sometimes has e where certain Sho-
shonean languages have o. Examples are : —
1. Kroeber, X..S.D., \>. r.M .
2. 1,1., S.D., |). 7U.
f
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 381
409
N. quech-tli " cou '" : A.C. -qelyi " neck" ' : S.P. qura- '' neck ";
Mono (N.F.) -gut '; Shik . gura "■ throat " '; Luis, --(ara " neck "
(probably assimilated from * --(ora). If (/of Mono (In . ) -kbda " throat "
is to be understood as '/, then Shoshonean * h'ita- is probably to be assu-
med alongside of * kota-\ this does not seem likely, however, in view
of u in Mono (N.F.) -gut.
N. i^te-tl : S.P. sitsu- (see under Uto-Aztekan o. . . e).
N. ce{n) " un " ; Huich. che-oui ~ (i.e seiui) ; Cora se- '' one " '■"• (but Preuss
gives ja;/ " ein "j; Cah. senu '' ; Mono (In.) si-iui •' (— - si-)\ Shik.
kwi-te\'^ Tiib. tsii-ts : ■' S.J.C. se-pul^\ Luis, su-pul ■' (assimilated
from * sepul); Hopi syUx-ke •' : S.P. so-. Gf. also N. ce{n)- '' entiere-
ment " : S.P. id- "entirely, well '. Evidently this numeral goes back
to Uto-Aztekan * se-, Shoshonean ' si- or * si-- It is not obvious how
S.P. so- is to be explained.
e and J correspond in :
Cora tene " in Stiicke schlagen "' : S.P. Una- " to punch ".
/ — Interchange. A number of cases have been noted in which Nahuatl /
corresponds to Shoshonean o. Examples are :
N. cihua-tl " femme ": Luis. sur,a-l " woman "^; S.J.C. sor,wa-l^.
Alongside of N. cihua-tl R. Simeon gives (o{u)a-tl as " forme rare " ;
-oa- is secondarily developed from -iua-, cf. verb-pairs intr. -iui and
trans, -oa .
N. pil-li " fils, fille "; Cora peri " Sohn, Tochter, Kind, vom Vater
gesagt " : A.C. pulyini-s " baby" •'.
N. itta " voir quelqu'un, decouvrir, " also ithua ; Pima hitsJj " see " ^'^ :
Gabr. huta-a " see " " (? <C * hitwa-).
N. teci : S.P. t^^^sa-J^see under Uto-Aztekan e. . . o).
N. citlalin : Luis. snii-Ja (see under Uto-Aztekan o).
Nahuatl ia may correspond to Shoshonean o in : —
1. Kroeber, S.D., \\ 74.
2. Diguet, L.M., p. 30.
3. Kroeber, S.D., p. 159.
4. Kroeber, S.D., p. 159.
5. Ihid., p. 71 .
(). Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 249.
7. Kroeber. 5. D., p. 72.
N. Id., N.S.D., p. 24VI.
9. Ihid., p. 2^1.
10. Russel, P. I., p. 2SI, I. :;.
11. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 2:>l.
382 V American Indian Languages 1
410
N. -quia suftix employed in apodosis of conditional sentence ' : S.P. -q6-
potential suffix (" would ").
Nahuatl i seems to correspond to Southern Paiute ui in : —
N. -// '' to become " (e.g. non-ti " devenir muet " from non-tli " muet ")-:
S.P. -rui '' to become, turn into " (e.g. ar,qa-rui- " to turn red ").
N. -tia causative suffix; Cora -te (e.g. i-te " einem zu trinken geben,
reichen " from / " trinken ") ; Pima -tso[o)^' : S.P. -t'-ui- causative
suffix .
Interchange of a and la. Southern Paiute ia seems sometimes to cor-
respond to Nahuatl a . Examples are : —
N. caui-tl *' temps ""; Huich . ta-kai " hier "-^ : S.P. qifar,wi- " yesterday ''.
N. -tla " qui sert a marquer abondance. quantite " (e.g. te-tla '' lieu
pierreux "); Cora -ta (e.g. sd-ta '' auf dem Sande, der sandige Ort '") :
S.P. -tia- '' place of".
Interchange of oi and ie. Uto-Aztekan oi appears as Nahuatl ie in : —
N. miec '' beaucoup ""; Cora rmii viel "' ; Tep. miti " much '< ; Pima moi
'' many" ■' : Luis, uiuyuk '' much " ^.
Uto-Aztekan Diphthongs.
Vto-Aitekan ai. Original ai seems to be involved in : —
N. ay " faire '" : S.P. ai- " to say "".
CovA kai " nicht ""; Tar. ^g '* no ' ' : Fern, xai " no "'^; Luis. gai^\ Tiib.
hais^\ Shik, ge ^; Hopi gae^ . Uto-Aztekan * kai is apparently extended
from * ka : N. ca-mo{\n ma-camo " non, ne "' before imperatives; a^o-
camo " peut-etre non "); Cora ka " nicht, nein "; S.P. qa-. qatsu-
'' not"; Mono (N.F.) gadu^.
Cora wdi-ka " drei "; Huich. rai-ka " trois'* " : Tar. hai-ka " three " "^;
1. R. Simeon, p. lxii.
2. Rxissel, P. I., p. 272, ]. 6; p. 297, 1. :i.
3. Diguet, L.M., p. 30.
'i. Kroeber, S.D., p. 161.
:J. Russel, p./., p. 313, I. 11.
6. Kroeber, S.D., p. 87.
7. Kroeber, S.D., p. l»il.
H. Ibid., p. 87.
'1. Diguet, L.M., p. 40.
U). Kroeber, S.D., p. 159.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 383
411
Mono(N . ¥.)pahi ' ; Shik. pahi-t > ; Tub. pai ' ; Git. bahi •; Fern, pahai ' ;
Luis, pahai K Several Shoshonean languages, perhaps also Gahita, seem
to point to Uto-Aztekan pahi- rather than simply pai-. To ai of these
words corresponds ei in N. yei " three " (parallel forms without -i, ye
and^, are probably merely secondary, as shown by forms in yex-, ex-,
e.g. yex-pa " three times ", -which imply original -ei-).
DifKcult to understand in regard to vocalism is : —
N. paina " courir vite, avec agilite " : S.P. p3ya- " to run about ".
Uto-Aztekan ai seems to have become Nahuatl i in : —
N. -^m past participle suffix (e.g. cec:nic-qui " glace, transi de froid '") :
Huich. moumouk' i-hai " il etait mort ' - ; S. P. -q'ai- perfective suffix (in
-q'ai-n'a- perfective verbal noun " having — ed "; becomes- ^'a- before
participial ending -titi-, which it perfectivates). It is likely^ that N. -ca,
pluperfect and perfect suffix, is connected with this Uto-Aztekan ele-
ment * -kai.
Nahuatl (and Sonoran) e may in some cases go back to Uto-Aztekan ai.
Examples are : —
N. -que-tl{i) older suffix " having " (e.g, atlaiia-que-lJ " having an
atlatl ") "^; Cora -ke (e.g. peri-ke " ein Kind haben ") : S.P. -qai- " to
have " (combines with participial suffix to form -qant'i- " having "').
N. tle-tl " feu " : Huich. tai''' fire " ^; Cora tai (reflexive) " etwas anziin-
den, verbrennen '" ; Cah. tahi " fire " '' ; Tep. tai '* ; Pima/m ''. Another,
perhaps related, stem is represented by Tar. nai- " fire "^; Cora nai
" Feuer anziinden '"; S.P. na'ai- '' fire burns " (participle naa-nti-
" burning; fire ").
Cora vene " schlagen " : S.P. wUnai- to thrown down " (?)
Cora ta-ve " aufhangen ", vivir '' aufgehangt sein " : S.P. ur,iuai- "' to
hang (intr.) ".
Uto-Aztekan ai may lie back of Nahuatl a in : —
N. hudn •' avec. en compagnie " : S.P. -T,iuai '' together with ".
N, -cd verbal suffix of adverbial or subordinating force (e.g. iciuh-cd
1. Kroeber, S D., p. 71.
2. Diguet, L M., p. 40.
3. Lehmann, ii.F.M., p. 731.
4. Kroeber, 5.D., p. 160.
:i. Kroeber, S.D., p. ICO.
384 V American Indian Languages 1
412
n-iauh " I go quickly ", literally " while-hurrying I-go <) : S.P. -qai-
subordinating- suffix relating^ subordinate verb to subject of main clause.
Vocalic Syncope in Nahuail.
Under certain circumstances short vowels drop out entirely inNahuatl,
so that secondary consonant clusters arise. To a large extent the drop-
ping- out of vowels can be observed in Nahuatl itself, for closely related
forms are found with and without vowel. To a certain extent, also, the
former existence of short vowels between consecutive consonants is made
probable by comparison with related forms in other Uto-Aztekan lan-
guages. The disappearance of the short vowel has become stereotyped
in Nahuatl in certain grammatical forms and word-formations, hence has
assumed in a measure the function of a grammatical process. This is true,
for instance, of the preterites of a large number of verbs, which, besides
prefixing a preterite particle 6-, drop the final vowel of the stem; this
may in turn bring about secondary changes in the form of certain con-
sonants now standing at the end of the word. Thus, nemi " to live " has
as preterite form o-nen <C * o-nem (final m becomes n in Nahuatl). It does
not seem at all probable that the loss of the vowel in such cases is pri-
marily a morphological phenomenon ; it cannot well be understood other-
wise than as a purely phonetic process in origin. Examples of the syn-
cope of the various vowels will now be given, those cases for which
internal evidence is to be had being listed first.
Syncope of a. Examples oi a- syncope made clear from Nahuatl evi-
dence are : —
N. paca " laver une chose " : pret. o-pac (also c-preterit : o-paca-c) ; that a
of paca is no suffix is indicated by derivatives like pnca-Uia " faire laver
quelqu'un '.
N. tion-tecoma-tl '• tete separee du corps "' : no-t:{ontecoH " ma tele
(<C * -t:(onteconi < * -tiontecoma); Ixpntecon-tia (refl.) " se mettre a la
tete "'. t:^onteconie'^ celui qui a une tete " has -e replacing stem-final -a
by analogy of numerous class of possessive nouns in -e in which -e is
etymologically justified; this remark applies to many, probably most,
possessives in -e {and -ud), as indicated by such survivals as gfd " qui
a du sang '\ i.e. cso\ in which wo- is stem and saltillo, ' (■< * -k), pos-
sessive ending. Once t:(onte€on-, which arose regularly according to pho-
netic law in forms like no-t^ontecon {-m > -n) and txpnteconiia {-mt- assi-
I. H. Simeon, s. v. kinhca; see also Carochi, \>. 402.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 385
413
milated to -///-), became established as typical stem form, secondary
forms with etymolog'ically unjustified f:^ontecon- could arise by analogy,
as in tx^ontecon-eua " donner des maux de tete k quelqu'un ". This type,
also, of analogical process applies to any number of other cases in
Nahuatl.
N. ydca-tl " nez, pointe ", in yaca-c " a la pointe, au bout " : no-yac
" mon nez ". For -a as stem final cf. Tar. yaxka; Hopi yaka; S.P.
ya^(d- (see under Uto-Aztekan a).
N. -f adjective ending- << * -ca. Gf. tUl-ti-c '''■ noir " with no-tlilti-ca-uh
" mon noir, ma pupille "; uitlati^-ti-c " tres long " with iti-tlat:(i-ca-yotJ
" longueur " ; i^ta-c " blanc " with i-^tn-ca-tl " blancheur ". Cf. also
adjectival suffix S.P. -qa- and Cahu. -xa- in seta-xa-t " salty ' [seta- =
N. i-:(^ta- " salt'").
Cases of rt- syncope requiring extra-Nahuatl comparison for their proper
understanding are : —
N. cac-tli " souliers " : Huich. cacahi " sandale "' ■^.
N. can-tli '' joue "' ■< Uto-Aztekan * hana- : Huich. hana\ Git. gar^a- {<iee
under Uto-Aztekan a).
N. metT^-tli " lune "' << Uto-Aztekan " melsa- : Tar. metsa- (see under Uto-
Aztekan e).
N. -ton-tli •< Uto-Aztekan * tona- : S. P. tua- (see under Uto-Aztekan o).
N. mln-tontli '• arriere-petit-fils << Uto-Aztekan * mina- : S.P. ijiia-
(see under Uto-Aztekan /).
N. tla-man-tli '" chose " << Uto-Aztekan * -niana- (used also as numeral
classifier, e. g. on-tlamantli cactJi " deux souliers '') : S. P. maa- " thing;
clothes; brush, plant .
N. nan-tli " mere " << Uto-Aztekan * nana- : Cora nana '' die Mutter ",
N. mon-tli"' gendre" •< Uto-Aztekan * wo;/fl'- : S> .P.mon'a- " son-in-law"
(see under Uto-Aztekan o).
N, pl-tli " soeur ainee " <C Uto-Aztekan * pia- : S.P. pia- " female " (see
under Uto-Aztekan /). Saltillo (i.e. glottal stop) on -/- probably due
to syncope of -a- after another vowel (?* pia-tli >> * pia-tJi > * pi-tli,
i.e. pi-tli).
Syncope of e. Examples of ^- syncope, as evidenced b}' Nahuatl material,
are : —
N. cat-qui < Uto-Aztekan * kate- : plur. cale; S.P. qari- (see under Uto-
Aztekan a).
1. Kioeber, A^.5.D., p. 238.
2. Dig-iiel, L.M., p. 34.
386 V American Indian Languages 1
4U
N. -n plur. sut'tix < * -w <C Uto-Aztekan * -me (^e.g-. -ti-n beside -me\
■qui-n- " them " plur. of -c-, -qui- " him, it ") : -w^'plur. suffix; S.P.
-TiwU (< * -me).
N. an- " you (pi.) " < * ame- : ame-huan {-tin) '' you (pi.) " as indepen-
dent personal pronoun; S.P. -' . . . rfWU- {<i *-'... me-) " you (pi.) ",
mUmi- " you (pi.) "as independent personal pronoun.
Examples of e- syncope that become obvious only by comparison are :
N. cen-tli < Uto-Aztekan * sene- : S.P.si'i- (see under Uto-Aztekan^).
N, i^ta-tl < Uto-Aztekan * sela- : Gahu. seta-xa-i (see under Uto-Azte-
kan a.)
N. f/fln-///< Uto-Aztekau * tlame- : Huich. tame (see under Uto-Aztekan a).
Syncope of i. There are numerous evidences of /- syncope in Nahuatl
itself. Among them are :
N. -c- objective pronominal prefix '" it, him : -qui-dii; -qui-n- " them ".
N. -c preterit suffix : -qui pfisl participle suffix, also older form of preterit
suffix.
N. a^ " qui? " : aqui dit; Cahu. haxi (see under Uto-Aztekan/).
N. -can " ou <C * -cani : plur. -canixli (see R. Simeon sub can).
N. -l-tia, -J-huia indirective suffix <; * -li-tia, * -li-huia : -lia dit.
N. cal-li " maison < Uto-Aztekan * kali- : cali-tlatlaqui-tl '' meubles de
maison "; S.P. qan'i- " house (see under Uto-Aztekan a).
N. in article " the " ■< * ini : ini-que-in " these**, ini-que-on " those ".
N. -// noun ending (e.g. a-tl " water'') : -tli (e.g. pa-tli " medicine "').
N. yol-lo-tl " coeur " : yoli " vivre ^\ yoJi-:(-mati '' etre prudent "' ; Huich.
iyali '' heart " ^.
N. tla-fal-li " glu pour prendre les oiseaux "" ■< Uto-Aztekan "saJi- :
galiui " adherer a une chose ".
X. toch-tli " lapin " : tochin dit. (it is quite possible that all cases of noun
" suffix " -in are really to be analyzed as -/-, final vowel of stem which
may in certain forms be syncopated, plus -«) ; Luis, dosi-xi-t " rab-
bit "2; A.G. disi-xa-t ^ (with a. . .i assimilated to i. . ./). Git. diiho-
gu-t '^^, Fern, toho-x-t -, and Gabr. toso-xo-t ' show o- vowel.
N. uapal-Ji " planche '' : uapali-tl dit.
N. tex-tli " farine " < Uto-Aztekan * tesi-tli : te^i " moudre le mais sous
la pierre ' .
N. no-citlal '* mon etoile "' : ciilali-n " etoile".
1. Kroebor, 5.D., p. 160.
2. Ibid., p. 83.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 387
415
N. pil-li " suspendu" < * pili-tli : piloa " pendre quelqu'un " < ' pili-ua.
Examples of /- syncope as evidenced by comparative data are :
N. ix-tli < * isi- : Cora hist; S.P. put- (see under Uto-Aztekan i).
N. ptl-li ■< * pili- : A.G. pulyinis (see under / — o Interchange).
N. poc-tli : Gahu. paxi-s (see under o — a Interchange).
N. ten-tli : Huich. /^m (see under Uto-Aztekan e).
N. tion-tli : Gah. /j'om (see under under Uto-Aztekan o).
N. xix-tli < Uto-Aztekan * 5m- : S.P. si' i- see. under Uto-Aztekan z). -/
is perhaps preserved in N. xixiaua " ventru ".
Syncope of o. Examples of o- syncope from Nahuatl evidence are :
N. tla-tnachttl-li " pupil " ' -< * tla-machtilo-tli w^ith passive suffix -/o-,
literally " one vv^ho {-tli) is caused {-tilo-, passive of causative -tia-)
to know [mach- <C matt-) something- {tIa-) ".
N. e:(-tli " sang < Uto-Aztekan * eso- : efo-tl " sang de Fhomme " ; Luis.
evju-l (see under Uto-Aztekan e). Gf. perhaps also fo " piquer, saigner
quelqu'un ".
N. -c "■ in " after vowels (e.g. 6:(t6-c " dans la caverne ") < Uto-Azte
kan * -ko : -co after consonants (also in fle-co " dans le feu "); S. P. -qo-
(see under Uto-Aztekan o).
Examples of o- syncope gained from comparison are :
N. i:i^te-tl'' ongle " < * i-sote- : Tar. sutu-\ Tiib. suhi- (see under Uto
Aztekan o. . .e).
N. col-li " aieul " ■< * colo-tii : S.P. qunu- " great-grandfather "'.
A considerable number of examples of Nahuatl vocalic syncope h.^ve
been given to show how typical the process is of the language. As a
matter of fact, the examples drawn from a comparison of related forms in
Nahuatl itself could have been multiplied almost ad nauseam',, and it is
impossible to understand the grammatical structure of Nahuatl without
taking constant account of the .syncope of short vowels. One thing beco-
mes clear immediately — that a large percentage of the numerous con-
sonant clusters of Nahuatl is purely secondary in origin, being due to
the falling out of vowels. Can we go further and say that all consonant
clusters are of such origin ? It would doubtless be difficult or even
impossible to prove this in each case, even were full comparative data
available. Two facts are of importance in this connection.
In the first place, there are no true consonant clusters in Southern
1. See Carochi, p. 404.
388 V American Indian Languages 1
ilO
Paiute or, it would seem, in Plateau Shoshonean generally (whetheror not
this statement applies to all Shoshonean languages I would not venture
to say), except for nasal plus following homorganic stop [mp, nt, nts, r,q).
How these latter arose is not always clear; while in many cases they are
quite evidently developed from simple stops by nasal assimilation (e.g.
future ivi-r,ii-inpan-ia- '' will drink (momentaneously) '" with -?«^' because
of preceding -^-, but ivi-van'ia- "' will drink " < * -pan-ia-), this expia-
tion by no means always applies. At any rate these clusters of nasal
plus homorganic stop are felt as equivalent to simple stops, as will become
clearer when the Uto-Aztekan consonants are discussed, so that the gene-
ralitv of the rule of non-occurrence in Southern Paiute of consonant clus-
ters is not seriously affected. T- atfricatives its, ti) and labialized k~
sounds [kw), it is almost unnecessary to say, are not to be considered as
clusters, but as simple consonants. In Cora also, as one may easily
convince oneself by looking through Preuss' material, consonant clusters
are quite infrequent, except for nasal plus homorganic stop (cf. Southern
Paiute), and x or x [ch of German ich) follow^ed by consonant (these lat-
ter, it would seem from Preuss' remarks, are quite secondary in origin; x
and X in such clusters appear to be merely accentuated breath releases of
preceding vowels) ; outside of these, j and s occur with following stops.
Now there is nothing to indicate that in Southern Paiute secondary
vowels have slipped in to lighten old consonant clusters; were this so,
we would expect always to iind certain definite vowels between certain
consonants that once formed clusters — but of this no trace. There is
therefore good a priori reason to believe that all or nearly all Nahuatl
consonant clusters are secondary.
In the second place, it seems, from information supplied by Dr. Boas,
that the consonants of a cluster are apt to be separated by aspiration,
probably most marked when the first consonant of the cluster is a stop.
This breath release is probably the vestige (quantitative equivalent?) of
a former vowel. It is highly probable that it regularly had the timbre of
the vowel it replaced, though this does not seem to be the case now.
According to Dr. Boas, an /-timbre is frequently, or regularly, obser-
vable. This is intelligible in the case of the large number of instances in
which an / has been dropped, e.g. micqui '' dead '" (i. e. jiiik^'ki) •<
* miqui-qui (i. e. * miki-ki). It is difficult, however, to understand why old
a, and e vowels should be represented by /-timbre, unless, indeed, we
assume that the numerically preponderant (?) aspirations with /-timbre
analogically displaced those of other vocalic timbres '. This whole matter
1. Somethino similar has taken place in Irish. In Old Irish all consonants conid
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 389
417
of breath release and attendant vocalic timbre in Nahuatl is probably
worth looking^ into rather carefully ; it may turn out to be of conside-
rable historical importance.
Combining these two considerations with the large number of cases in
which syncope can be proven to have taken place, we may put forward
as a working hypothesis : In Nahuatl {as presumably in Uto-Aitekan gene-
rally^ there zuere no consonant clusters to begin with. All present clusters have been
brought about by the disappearance of short vozuels.
Some consonants, under certain circumstances, change their quality
when they come to stand at the end of a syllable after the syncope of a
vowel. To some extent, at least, these changes may reflect vocalic timbres.
Any syllable beginning with y becomes, when its vowel is syncopated,
X {\. e. sh oi English ship, at least approximately) ; in other words, y not
only loses its voice (which would give .v'^ like ch of German /V/;), but
becomes assibilated. Examples are :
N. yocoya " fabriquer quelque chose " : yocox-ca " doucement, paisible-
ment " ; yocox-qui " qui est bien forme ".
N. ayaya " difficilement, avec peine " : ayax-can, ayax-ca " difiicilement,
avec peine ".
N. ayamo, ayemo " non encore, pas encore ' : axcan " maintenant ".
An / coming immediately after another vowel does not entirely disap-
pear when syncopated, but becomes x [s). Evidently unvoiced y [x^ or
palatalized aspiration, ' w) and unvoiced / ("), when forming its own
syllable, both developed to s from x^ . Examples of / >> .v is) are :
N. yei " three " : yex-can " in three places ' ; yex-pa " three times ".
N. «/ " faire " : preterit o-ax <C *-a''.
When the following vowel is syncopated, w (in Spanish orthography
u or /;//) becomes voiceless [IV, in Spanish orthography uh). According
to Dr. Boas this voiceless w regularly ends in /-timbre ; in other words,
IV plus vowel becomes voiceless lui. This is readily intelligible in the case
of zvi- syllables. Thus,
N. nahui " quatre ' (i, e, nawi) : nauhtetl " quatre (pour compter les objets
ronds) " (i. e, naW'tetl).
N, ^aliui "■ sattacher " : preterit d-^aliuh (i. e. -saliW').
have palatal timbre (/-timbre), dark timbre ((2-timbre), or labial timbre (2<-timbre),
depending primarily on the character of the vowel following or originally following.
In modern Irish this condition has been simplified insofar as //-timbre has completely
given way toa-limbre.
390 V American Indian Languages 1
418
It is difficult, however, to understand why wa and we should become
unvoiced to W\ though we have the hypothetical analogical spread of
/-timbre in syncopated syllables (see above) to fall back on. But can it
really be that, e.g., o-poyanh, preterit oi poyaua " enluminer une chose ",
and o-poyauh, preterit oi payaiii " s'eclaircir ", are phonetically identical?
It is hard to resist the thought, despite identity of orthography, that
the first form is really o-poyaJV" or d-poyafV, the second o-poyaW'.
Syllabically final s, when originally followed by /, becomes palatalized
to X [s). Here we have a retlex of a lost vowel in the timbre of the prece-
ding consonant. Examples are :
N. teci *' moudre le mais sous la pierre "' : tex-tli " farine " (■< * tes^-).
X. xix-tli '' excrement "' < * sisi- '^ * sis''- > *sis-'>, by assimilation
of sibilants, sis- : S. P. sfi- " to urinate" <; ' sisi-.
N. ix-tli <C * isi- : Cora hisi (see Uto-Aztekan /).
When i stands between preceding s and following vowel, it does not
drop out without leaving its trace behind in palatalization of s to s. Thus,
N. texo < * tes-^o < ' tesi-o, passive oi teci.
N. axoa < * as'J oa << * asi-oa (or, more likely. " asi-iva), passive and im-
personal of nci " parvenir en un lieu "',
When originally followed by any other vowel than /, s normally
remains, asinc:^-/// " blood " <[ * eso- (contrast /t'.v-//i al)Ove). However,
s seems sometimes to have become s after i, though not itself originally
followed by /. Thus,
N. (]ui(a " sortir "' : quixtia causative ; qiiixoa impersonal. But, regu-
larly, qui^-ti-iietii " passer rapidement " and analogus forms.
It is not impossible that we have here two stem-forms to deal with :
quica and "quid < qitix.
Syllabically final /, when originally followed by / (and / or//), becomes
palatalized to ch {ts), in other words, */'' > li. This development, it
should be noted, is strictly parallel to that of-" to x {s) discussed above.
Examples of -// syncopated to -ch are :
N. mati " savoir " : causative mach-tia.
N. qmch-tli " cou '" < * keti- : A. C. qelyi- " neck (-/y/, i. e. -/"/, < *-//).
N. oqiiicb-tli " homme, mari, male ", plur. oqiiich-me : Gabr. koti "young
man " (but Cahu. qi-qita-m " boys ").
When / stands between preceding t and following vowel, it does not
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 391
419
drop out without leavin<^ its trace behind in palatalization of / to ch (cf.
texo and axoa above). Thus,
N. macho <C * matyo <C * mati-o, passive of tnaii.
A question that hurries to the front is : When does vocalic svncope
take place ? It may be difficult to give a complete answer to the question
at the present time, but there are plenty of indications that vocalic syn-
cope is primarily bound up with vocalic quantity and accent, in other
words with word rhythm. Consider the forms te-ll " rock "and icn-tli
" lips ". It is customary to say that -// is used after stems ending in a
vowel, -/// after stems ending in a consonant, or vowel with sallillo; the
saltillo, however, is always the equivalent of a consonant. This is perfec-
tly correct as far as it goes, but as stems now ending in a consonant ori-
ginally ended in a vowel (thus, ten- <C * tent-), it does not dispose of the
matter. There is every reason to believe that -// itself is syncopated from
-///. Hence, te-tl and ien-tli go back respectively to * le-tli and * teni-tli. In
the first case the vowel of the stem is unsyncopated, that of the suffix
syncopated ; in the latter the final vowel of the stem is syncopated, the
vowel of the suffix unsyncopated. Hhythmic balance immediately sug-
gests itself as a principle.
In discussingthe vowels of Southern Paiute we saw that alaw of accen-
tual rhythm operated, in virtue of which, under certain circumstances,
vowels, of parts of vowels, in " weak ' morae lost their voice. 1 believe
that a somew^hat similar law can be stated for Nahuatl, in virtue of
M'hich short vowels in weak morae were syncopated (they doubtless
lost their voice before they entirely disappeared ; in some cases
they perhaps still persist, as in Southern Paiute, as voiceless vowels).
As in Southern Paiute, a long vowel or diphthong is the quantitative
equivalent (if two short vowels. On the basis of a considerable number of
test words, the following law of vowel syncope is here suggested as a
working hypothesis : The first mora of a word is strong, the second weak, the
third strong, the fourth lueak, and so on alternately. A short vowel standing in a
weak mora is syncopated. A long vowel is akuays protected from syncope, because
half of it always stands in a strong mora. Observe that this law has reference
to morae, not to syllables as ordinarily understood. It differs from the
similar one stated for Southern Paiute in that the strong morae are the
odd ones, not the even ones, further in that a long vowel can never lose
half its voice. Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that the law need
have no direct bearing on which of the strong morae (or, better stated,
syllables with strong morae) the main stress falls on ; that the main
stress in classical Nahuatl falls on the antepenult in no way contradicts
the laAV as stated.
392 V American Indian Languages 1
420
I believe that a number of f^Tammatical peculiarities, not easily explai-
ned otherwise, will turn out on close study to be primarily consequen-
ces of the law of syncope. One such peculiarity has been already refer-
red to : the alternation of -// and-/// as noun ending. There are many
nouns that follow the rhythmic type oi len-tli : '" (in which ' maybe
used to indicate a short vowel with strong mora, ' a short vowel with
weak mora). Such are : tatli, patli, citli, pilli. miitli, calli, qucchtli, tlantli,
poclli, e:ytli, textli " farine ", t^onlli, and many others. With these contrast
such as follow rhythmic type .• '•^' (where '^ indicates a long- vowel with
weak followed by strong mora) ; the short vowel of the ending, standing
in a weak mora, disappears. Examples are : teotl, cihuatl, conetl, nia^atl,
coxofl, colotl. Examples of type " (where '^ represents a long vowel with
strong followed by weak mora) are : tlacatl, ticitl, xochitl, cihuatl. xihuill.
Other examples that seem to be in accordance with our law are : — ichcatl
(""), chichil 1 {d\i.), oceloil r"'^), motdili {;'"), chlquatli (dit.), Uuclli (dit.),
ilacbtli (dit. ), tlaxcaUi ('""), huexololl ( "'^ "), teticocail ( " " "). Adopting
the symbolism here defined, we may say that there may be expected to
be as many syncopated vowels as there are cases of '.
A second grammatical interchange probaj^ly traceable to the same
source is that of -co (after consonants) and -c (after vowels) " in ". Thus,
comi-c like conn-t I {'''"), but tana-co like tanatli ('"'"). The law of syncope
may also lie back of the contrast between qui- " he, him " and uic- '' I
him", //r- " thou him " ('") < * niki-, * iiki-\ anqui- " you (pi.) him "
('") is regularly developed from * aiiieki-. Similarly, -////(plural suffix)
appears in certain forms as -// (-///-); thus are explained qui-n- or qni-m-
" he them" ('") and plural forms like totolti-n ('^' '") alongside of forms
like tdtolme{''") [']).
It is not impossible that the basis of the difference between verbs
whose preterit is formed by the loss of the final vowel of the stem and
those that add -c is in rhythmic considerations. According to this, stems
whose final short vowel stands in a weak mora lose the vowel in the
preterit and add no suffix (e.g. o-mic <C * o-niiki, preterit oi mi qui), while
those whose final vowel is long or, if short, stands in a strong mora add
-c (doubtless syncopated from * -ki). Carochi (p. 431) gives a set of rules
of when -c is suffixed. The data given by him do not seem to go badly
with our hyopthesis. In the first place, short-voweled monosyllabic stems
(like qua, i, pa, nm) add -c; this is readily intelligible from our point of
vie^v, as such stems necessarily stand in strong morae. In the second
place, all stems whose final vowel is preceded by two consonants add -c.
That the last vowel has two consonants before it means, of course, that
a short vowel standing in a weak mora has dropped out before it ; hence
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 393
421
it itself stands in a strong mora and adds -c. Thus, 6-tlathui-c {'!'). Thir-
dly, verbs whose penultimate syllable has a saltillo (g-lottal stop) also
add -c. As the saltillo is always, it seems, followed by a consonant and
is itself the equivalent of a consonant, this rule is really only a particu-
lar case of the second. Thus, o-ni-pati-c (T). Fourthly, according to
Carochi, verbs which have -c- in their last syllable form their preterit in
-C-. This rule can hardly mean much, as shown by examples like o-mic
from miqui [c and qu, when it stands before / or e, are of course merely
orthographic variants for k). Of the three examples for this rule given by
Carochi, two toca and paca) are in accordance with our law, as the final -a
stands in a strong mora ; niaca (preterit o-inacac) seems to run counter to
it, yet Carochi writes also mdca (p. 432). Fifthly, verbs ending in -o add
-C. The two examples that Carochi gives (/iv/wand pano) seem to lengthen
the -0 before the preterit ending [d-ni-teiiioc, o-ni-panoc), hence would
appear to follow our law. The remaining sets of cases (neutral inchoa-
tives in -hua, denominatives in -oa, and passives and impersonals in -lo
and -hua) refer to specific derivative forms, hence do not seem to be
governed by purely phonetic considerations. Of the miscellaneous cases
given by Carochi, which he seems unable to bring under any of the pre-
ceding rules, lona and cehua form preterits in -c according to our law ;
tolina, if indeed its -z- is organically long, runs counter to it. The case of
icuci is instructive. Carochi remarks, " Icua . . . . haze oicucic, por que
aunque lo escriven assi este verbo, pero su primera c se pronuncie mas
despues de la n y assi viene a tener dos consonantes en la penultima.
Here we seem to have testimony forw-timbre of post-consonantal aspira-
tion as a reduction of original u, according to the law of syncope ; the
accurate phonetic rendering of the form is probably ik''"si (' ), which
forms its preterit quite regularly, as the final -/'- stands in a strong mora.
I am far from ignorant of the fact that there are many Nahuatl forms
that militate or seem to militate against the generality of the law of syn-
cope as here set forth. A large percentage of these forms, however, can
be shown to follow certain definite rules. In the tirst place, it seems that
certain consonant clusters are avoided, or, to put it somewhat different-
ly, short vowels standing between certain consonants cannot be synco-
pated. This is true of all cases in which the second consonant of a clus-
ter would be a voiced continuant (/, ni, n). Examples of such unsynco-
pated vowels standing in a weak mora are : acana {-en- cannot occur) ;
uapali-tl {-pi- cannot occur), which may explain variant form uapal-li
with secondarily strong (because unsyncopated ?) -pa- ; o-ni-miquilti {-cl-
cannot occur), contrast 6-nimicti ■< * -miquiti; otomi-tl {-tm- cannot occur).
Similarly, -:(m-, -^n-, -;{/-, -xni-, -xn-, and -.\7- do not seem to occur ; such
394 V American Indian Languages 1
422
clusters as -ml-, -nl-, and -fiin- also are avoided '. This is not the place to
go thoroughly into this matter of permissible and non-permissible con-
sonant clusters in Nahuatl, which deserves careful study, but it seems
clear that if stems originally really ended in consonants we should expect
to lind cases of at least several at present non-permissible consonant
clusters.
In the second place, it is quite clear that the law of syncope does not
work mechanically in the sense that it is a live process operating within
the whole word-unit as such, regardless of its morphological analysis.
In this respect it differs from the purely mechanical law of vocalic unvoi-
cing which holds in Southern Paiute. One gets in general the feeling
that the law of syncope had long spent its force in Nahuatl as we know
it and now lingers on partly as survival, partly as restricted to definite
stems, grammatical elements, or combinations of elements. It is instruc-
tive, for instance, to observe that pronominal prefixes do not disturb the
rhythmic balance of the verb stem : thus, not only o-micti " he caused to
die "", but also o-ni-micti '' I caused to die ". Had -m- in the latter form
entered into the rhythmic framework of the verb form, we would have
expected the first -i- of -niiqui- to be syncopated, the second to be retai-
ned ; a form like * o-ni-nqui- <C * -mqui- would have resulted. It seems
plausible, then, to infer that the preterit augment and pronominal pre-
fixes Avere not, as least as far as accent is concerned, thoroughly welded
into a unit with the verb stem (this is suggested also by the fact that in
Tiibatulabal and Ute-Chemehuevi pronominal elements occur as suffixes,
or rather enclitic elements, not prefixes, as ordinarily in Uto-Aztekan),
but formed a group of proclitic elements ; within this proclitic group
the law of syncope seems to huve worked, as indicated l^y qui- •' him,
it " alongside of -c-. It is possible, however, that the law of syncope
operated within the whole extent of the word, including pronominal and
other prefixes, and that the variations in form thus brought about were
later leveled out through the uniformizing force of analogy. It seems clear
that the possessive prefixes, at least, were sometimes capable of distur-
bing the rhythmic balance of the word and of thus allowing the law of
syncope to manifest itself. This is indicated by cases like no-yac " my
nose " ('-■"), yaca-tl '* nose" (/ -j. Nouns with prothetic /- (see below)
can also be best explained through the syncope of the first vowel of the
stem induced by a possessive prefix. Thus, * no-^ute " my nail '' (cf. Tar.
sutu-) regularly becomes no-:^te{'") ; -:(te-, thus becoming established as
stem form, displaced original * siite-, and * sute-tli, or perhaps rather its
syncopated reflex, gave Avay to * ^te-il > iite-tJ with inorganic /-.
i. -11-, il sliould be carefully noted, is not -/- plus -/- in origin, but -/- plus -//-.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 395
423
In compounding stems, each appears normally to preserve its rhythmic
individuality, so that the law of syncope operates within each indepen-
dently of the other ; whatever changes of form in the second stem the law
might have been expected to induce may be supposed to have been lev-
eled out by the analogy of the simplex. According to the law^ of syncope,
yve should expect many grammatical suffixes to occur in two forms, one
with short vowel, the other with syncopated vowel. This is indeed what
happens with certain elements, as we have already seen. Certain other
elements, however, seem to have adopted an unvarying form, regardless
of whether the vowel stands in an originally strong or weak mora. This
is true, for instance, of -/- in -l-tia and -1-huia, which might be expected
to appear as -//- in an originally strong mora (cf. -li-a) ; similarly, -li-^-tli
is now completely stereotyped, but may well at one time have alternated
with * -l-zj-tl (assuming -/- to be the vowel that was syncopated after -^-).
Certain final elements, particularly -///, always syncopate their vowel
not only after a short vowel standing in a strong mora and after a long
vowel of form ^, which is quite regular, but also offer a long vow^el
of form ^ (e. g. ^-// " water ", not* a-tli) ; it seems likely that the frequent-
ly occurring types '-' and ''-' brought about a feeling for the use after
a vow^el of a suffix with syncopated final vowel, so that original type
'-' became irregularly modified, by anology, to ^-\ All this shows
clearly that the law of syncope w^as crossed to a considerable extent by
secondary factors, mainly those due to the force of analogy. The working
out in detail of the influence of the law of syncope and of these distur-
bing factors on the actual form of all the grammatical elements of Nahuatl
should be undertaken, but this is not the place for such a study.
After all allowance has been made for the more or less evident factors
that limit the operation of the law of syncope (chiefly avoidance of cer-
tain consonant clusters, proclisis, and analogical leveling), there still
remain cases that militate or seem to militate against the law of syncope.
Here and there comparative evidence serves to throw light on such. Thus,
oqiiichili " man, male " (" ') is difficult to account for, but comparison
with its Shoshonean cognates (Cahu. qiia- " boy " : Gabr. koti " young
man") makes it seem probably that 0- is an added element, however it
be explained; original *qiiichlli ^ ") would be perfectly regular. It is not
unlikely that by further comparative data other doubtful cases would be
eliminated. Among such unexplained forms arefaca-ll, inica-tl,ciieyatl, and
cahuatl, which seem to follow the theoretically non-permissible type '".
I am strongly inclined to think that certain vowels that Carochi marks
long. are either not really such, or, at any rate, have become so only
secondarily. This pseudo-length seems to be particularly observable vith
396 V American Indian Languages J
424
vowels followed / or // plus consonant, e. g". mil-li " field ", tldl-li
" earth ", mon-tli " son-in-law ". That mon-tli is only secondarily leng-
thened hommon-tii (" ) is indicated by Cora mitna- and S. P. niona-, fur-
ther by Garochi's own mon-tatli " father-in-law " (p. 405). N. dch-lli
" frere aine "' w^ould similarly seem to have only secondarily long a\ cf.
Cora has, halsi'' iilterer Bruder " and Cahu. pas " elder brother" '. A
really painstaking study of Nahuatl quantites would be very welcome.
Other Vocalic Processes in Nahnall.
Elision of i before other vowels. Original i is often found to disappear
before vowels, whether it stands in a weak mora or not. It is not unli-
kely that this process is to be considered distinct from regular /- syncope.
Examples are :
c-on- <i * (jui-on- (3rd per. objective pronoun plus demonstrative element
on " yonder ").
n- " I ', /- '■ thou ; we " (prefixed to verb stems beginning with vowels)
<< ni-, ti- : -0- of possessive no- " my "', to- " our "", nw- " thy "', is
also elided before noun stems beginning w^ith vowels.
in-in " this ", in-on " that " -< * ini-in, ' ini-on (cf. plurals iniquein, ini-
queon).
quiaiicill " eau de pluie '' << * qui an i- at I {qiiiaiii-tl " pluie "' + d-tl
" water ").
It is barely possible that this process may explain X. onoc " to lie ",
S. P. yu';wi- (Uto-A/.tekan * yoki-). OviginaX * oni-yoki >> * onioki >-, by
syncope <)f final -/ and elision of / before o, onoc \ cf. compounded form
-toe with connecting -//- (* -ti-yoki •< * -tioki >> -toe).
Labial i:(ation of iiua to oa. There is good evidence to show that original
iiva regularly developed to oa. Examples are :
fod-tl " woman ", variant form of normal cihiid-tl.
nemoa " on vit " <^ * nemi-hna, impersonal form oi iienii. So with other
impersonals in -oa derived from verbs in -/.
iiitoloa " bander un arc, plover, courber. une chose " ■< * uitoliua \ cf.
intransitive iiitoliui " se tordre, se courber . So with other transitives
in -oa that are parallel to intransitives in -i-hui.
aiua also seems sometimes to develop into oa. Examples are :
chocoa ■< * chocaua, impersonal of choca " to cry ".
1. Kroeber, N.5.D., p. 237.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 397
425
pilichoa " rider, froncer, plisser une chose "' < * pilichaua ; cL inlninsitive
pilichaui " se rider, se faner, se fletrir".
Prothetic i. There are a considerable number of cases in Nahuatl of ini-
tial /- which can be shown by internal or comparative evidence to be an
added inorganic element, not originally an integral part of the stem.
Examples are :
N. i:^tn-tl " sel " : Gahu. sela-xa-t "' salty " '.
N. i::Ja-c " blanc " (probably adjective in -c from /--/</- " salt " : salt-
colored) : N. qud-^ta-l-li " blancheur de la tete ",
N. i~te-il " ongle " ; N. no-ite " mon ongle "' ; (]ora sile "■ Nagel " (see
under Uto-Aztekan o...e).
N. icxi-tl " pied "' ; N. no-cxi " mon pied ".
N. ixtlana " s'acquitter " ; N. ni-no- xllaua, 1st per. reflexive.
N. ilhui-ll " fete, jour "; N. uo-Jhui-uh " ma fete ".
N. ilhuil-H " merite, recompense "; N. no-lhuil " ma recompense ".
N. iJpia " Her "; N. ni-no-Ipia, 1st per. reflexive " se ceindre ".
From the strictly Nahuatl standpoint one can say that the prothetic i-
of these forms is due to the fact that the stem begins with two conso-
nants, which thus need to be supported by a preposed vowel ; as for the last
three, and similar examples, one can further note the fact that / is never
found at the beginning of a word in Nahuatl. This does not dispose of the
problem, however, for in discussing vocalic syncope in Nahuatl we have
seen reason to consider all consonant clusters as of secondary development.
Moreover, in i:;tall and /~/<'^/ comparative evidence proves the former
existence of a vowel (respectively e and o, in all probability) between i
and /. The most tenable hypothesis, at least for all cases but those in il-,
would seem to be that already suggested in treating of pronominal pre-
fixes as related to syncope of stem vowels, that is, that the absolute
forms with prothetic vowel plus consonant cluster are due to the analogy
of forms with accented pronominal prefixes which brought about the
syncope of the first vowel of the stem. *
i. Kroeber, N.S.D., p. 238.
2. My friend W. II. Mechling calls my attention to the possibility that /- of body,
part nouns (•' nail " and " foot "') is identical with third person possessive /-. These
nouns, indeed, would hardly occur without possessive prefixes.
SOUTHERN PAIUTE AND NAHUATL
A STUDY IN UTO-AZTEKAN, PART II,
by Edward SAPIR'.
Supplementary Note on Uto-Aitekan o. — In pp. 399 and 400 of Part I of
this paper examples were given of Nahuatl and Sonoran o corresponding
to Southern Paiute open o (Ute 6) as distinct from Southern Paiute close
0, u (Ute 0, u), which also corresponds to Nahvxatl o. We suspected that
: Shoshonean o represented a Uto-Aztekan vowel distinct from Nahuatl
: Shoshonean:?, and found confirmatory evidence for this in Cora. Before
definitely positing a Uto-Astekan :?, however, I stated that «more evi-
dence, based on more carefully recorded material (as regards vocalic
qualities) than is generally available for comparison, is highly desirable 2 ».
Since these words were penned the required evidence has appeared in
the shape of Juan Dolores ' « Papago Verb Stems » •^.
It is clear from Dolores' material that whereas S. P. close o [u) corres-
ponds to Papago «, the Papago o (doubtless an open vowel) is the regu-
lar representative of S. Y* . o (Ute o). The S. P. -Papago ^ examples noted
of this latter correspondence are :
Pap. on'^ « salt » : S. P. oa- « salt »
Pap. koi « to sleep (sing.), die (pi.) » : S. P. qjoi- « to go to sleep
(pi.) »
Pap. noh « to bend » : S. P. noq-o- u to bend »
Pap. oohT a sand » : S. P. afa- « sand » (<< *Jfa-, cf. tar,a- « knee »
<*Pr,a-)
i. See Journal de la Socie'te des Americanistes de Paris, N. S., X, 1913, pp. 379-425.
2. Hid., p. 401.
3. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 10,
1913, pp. 241-263. All Papago forms cited ip this paper are taken from Dolores'
work.
4. Abbreviated Pap.
5. Dolores' small capitals represent voiceless or aspirated sounds.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 399
4U
Pap. tohNij"^ (( knee » : S. P. taT^a- « knee »
{<C*tJr,a-) ; Tiib. forio-
Pap. ovI'tci « awl » (originally « little piece of wood » ?) : S. P. nfi-
(( stick »
Pap. oh « back » : S. P. %- « back » ; Ute od-
Examples of corresponding long o are :
Pap. wohpu ^< to run (pi.) » {wo- <* p>) '• S. P. p:)ya- « to run about »
Pap, wo'ku « trail)), wokah « to have a trail » : S. P. pb- ((trail »
With these examples contrast such as :
Pap. tcuh « to stop burning of itself)) : S. P. tii^wi- (( fire goes out. ))
Uto-Aztekan *toki-
Pap. wui (( eye » : S. P. pui- (( eye »
Pap. ui (( to have wind on the bowels » : S. P. o- « to break w^ind )>
Pap. u'lih (( Avar arrows » : S. P. o' (( arrow )> ; Hopi hb-hii ; Luis. hu-la\
A. G. hu-l
The combined evidence of Southern Paiute (and Ute), Papago, and
Cora thus makes it certain now that open o was a Uto-Aztekan vowel
distinct from close a (m). Both seem to have fallen together into o [u] in
Nahuatl. Shoshonean or Sonoran testimony will in many, if not most,
cases, however, indicate which was the original Uto-Aztekan vowel.
Thus, Nahuatl iona (( faire chaud » [tonatiuh (( sun ))) dindrchocoa (( to cry ))
are proved to have originally had :?, not close o, in their first syllable by
comparison with Papago toN )> to shine » stwdi soh'sah (( to cry » respecti-
vely [soh- <* tsok-t as will be demonstrated further on).
b) Consonants.
The consonantal system of Southern Paiute is even more extensive
relatively to that of Nahuatl than its vocalic system. As in the case of
the Southern Paiute vowels, however, many of its consonants are only
secondary forms of other, primary, consonants and, when thus recogni-
zed, must be referred to these latter when etymological comparisons
with Nahuatl are instituted. Thus, the total number of Southern Paiute
consonants that have to be directly accounted for in terms of Nahuatl
consonants is considerably less than might at first blush appear. Before
proceeding to a specific treatment of the Uto-Aztekan prototypes of the
Southern Paiute and Nahuatl consonants, we must briefly review the
consonantic systems of these languages.
1. Dolores' ii is identical with our S. P. i, both correspoiKiing to Nahuatl e.
400 V American Indian Languages 1
445
Nahuatl Consonants. — The total number of distinct consonants in
Nahuatl is not large. They are represented in the following table :
Voiceless Stop
Voiceless
Voiceless
Voiced
Nasal
Voiced Voiceless
Affricalive
Spirant
Spirant
Lateral Lateral
Affricative
Bilabial
P
w
W
m
Dental
t
ts
s
n
I L
[alveolar)
Prepalatal
ts
s
y
Palatal
k
f,
Labiali\ed
kw
Palatal
Of these, k is regularly represented, in the Spanish orthography which
has become the standard for Nahuatl, by c (before a, o-, u, and conso-
nants) or qu (before e, i) ; ho by qu (before a) or cii (before e, i) ; ts by /;(; ts
[ch of English church) by ch \ sh\ c (before ^, o, u), c (before e, t), or ;(( before
consonants) ; s {sh of English ship, at least approximately) by x', w by /(
or hi ; W (approximately rvh of English when^ but, it would seem, regu-
larly with i -timbre) by -tih\ r, by n (only before qu, cu = ktu, and qu, c
=z k) ; and L by tl. Phonetic p, ^, w, «, and / are so represented in Nahuatl
orthography. // is simply long or geminated /, resulting from assimilated
-II- {-Itl-), and need not detain us further.
Not all the sixteen consonants of the table are primary. W [uh) results,
as we have already seen*, from original iv followed by syncopated a, e,
or i\ r, from original n or m before k- sounds \k, kw). s [x) is in part appa-
rently a primary consonant (e. g. xalli « sand », xochitl « flower »); in
large part, however, it is a resultant of original y followed by syncopated
a, e, or 0-, of syncopated / ', or of original s followed by syncopated P.
■ts [ch) is in large part a primary consonant (e. g. chocoa « to cry », chiua
a to make »), in part a resultant of original t followed by syncopated i^.
It may turn out ultimately that all cases of apparently primary s are really
resultants of original s. There are thus only fourteen, or even thirteen,
Nahuatl consonants that need to be directly treated from a comparative
standpoint.
The so-called <( saltillo » (indicated by ' over vowels) should also be
reckoned as one of the Nahuatl consonants, as shown by its phonetic
1. Part I of this paper, pp. 417-418.
2. Ibid., p. 417.
3. Ibid., p. 418.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 401
446
treatment (e. g. p]tli « older sister », with -tli as in tlantli «■ tooth », not
with-// as in tepetl « mountain))). Carochi's account of it seems to indi-
cate clearly that the saltillo is a g-lottal stop : « The (') indicates the pro-
nunciation which they are accustomed to call saltillo (little jump), for
the vowel on which this accent falls is pronounced as though with a
jump or hiccoug-h or difficulty and with a halt )> K However ^, the sal-
tillo does not seem to be pronounced alike in all Nahuatl dialects, those
of Oaxaca (Tuxtepec, Pochutla) making use of a voiceless mid-pulatal
spirant [x] instead of the glottal stop (e. g. ox- « road », instead of o'-,
generally written o-). The salto (indicated by 6 over vowels) occurs only
at the end of a word and regularly turns into the saltillo when the suf-
lixintr of another element removes it to the interior of the word. It seems
to dilfer hardly more than orthographically from the saltillo ; perhaps,
as its name (« jump ») indicates, it sounded more forcible to Spanish
ears than the saltillo because it abruptly ended the word. The etymolo-
gical value of the saltillo will be discussed further on.
Southern Paiiite Consonants. — Every Southern Paiute consonant, except
s and j, which are always completely unvoiced, appears in two forms —
a voiced or, for stops, unvoiced but unaspirated form, and an unvoiced
and markedly aspirated form ; y, however, when unvoiced, unites as i
with a preceding vowel, the resulting diphthong being followed by aspi-
ration (thus, pa is related to p''' as aya to ai'^ or at'). The unaspirated
(voiced) consonants are used before voiced vowels, the aspirated (unvoi-
ced) consonants before voiceless vowels'^.
Initially and after voiceless vowels stopped consonants appear in their
simple or primary form, unaspirated or aspirated (according to the nature,
voiced or unvoiced, of the following vowel) in the former case, unaspi-
rated in the latter. These consonants are p, t, ts, ts, q (about midway in
point of articulation between mid-palatal and true velar), and qiv (labia.-
lized q, always felt as a simple sound) ; k^i , a palatalized form of q, regu-
larly occurs after /- vowels, k before i- vowels ^ these must be considered
as purely secondary forms of ^) . In aspirated form these are />', /% //',
1. " La ( " ) as senal de la pronunciacion que suelen llamar saltillo, porque la vocal
sobre que cae esle accento se protiuncia como con salto, o singulto, o reparo, y sus-
pension ". Carochi, p. 402.
•2. As I have been informed by Dr. F. Boas.
3. The conditions under which vowels become voiceless in Southern Paiute have
been already defined. See I, pp. 385, 386. Analogous sets of voiced (or partly voiced)
and voiceless aspirated vowels and consonants occur also in Papago; see Kroeber's
remarks in Dolores, Papago Verb Stems, p. 242.
402 V American Indian Languages 1
447
ts' (generally heard as tr), g\ ^'^, {k'^'j. ts and ts are doubtless variants
of one sound, ts occuring before a, o, :>, and i', ts before i (compare q : k) .
Medially after voiced vowels this set of primary stopped consonants
appears in one of three forms : geminated (or lengthened), spirantized
[ts and /5, however, do not become spirantized), and nasalized ; each of
these three types may again be unaspirated (in part voiced) or, in final
syllables, aspirated (and voiceless, except that aspirated nasalized stops do
not lose voice in their nasal element). The geminated stops are/)", t\ t's,
t's,q\ q-w, [k'^); in aspirated form : p-',t-\ fs^, fs' (this is generally heard
asf5",^' assimilating to long 5), 9'', q'''" (which may also be interpreted as
q'tV, i. e. ^'-(-voiceless w), [t^^]. The spirant developments of the stops
are v (bilabial, as in Spanish), r (moderately trilled with apex of tongue),
[ti, ts), Y (voiced guttural spirant, about like ^ of North German sagen),
YW, (y^, nearly but not quite y) ; in aspirated form : <I> (voiceless bilabial
spirant), « (voiceless r), [ts', ts'),x (like ch oi GernMHi Bach), xio, [x^, like
ch of German ich). The nasally affected stops are mp, nt, ntc, nts, r,q, r^qw,
(rj^y) ; in aspirated form: mp' , nt\ nts', nts' (generally heard as 7tts'),
r^q' , Tiq"^ (which may be interpreted also as r,qW), [r,k'^).
We cannot here go into the various rules as to when geminated, spir-
antized, or nasalized consonants are used, as that would lead us too far
into the details of Southern Paiute phonology and grammar. Certain
sulHxes regularly appear in only one of the three forms (e. g., geminated
-q'a-, verbal suffix denoting plurality ; spirantized -va-, postpositive
element « at » ; nasalized -rtqi'-, indirective verbal suffix <' for ») ; still
others in either spirantized or nasalized form (e. g,, spirantized 'Van'ia--,
nasalised -mpHn'ia-, verbal suffix denoting futurity ; the latter form is
used after stems possessing a nasal consonant m, n, or y;) ; still others in
all three forms, there being no obvious rules as to which of these is
demanded by a given stem (e. g., -q'ai-, -yai-, and -r,qai-y verbal suffix
« to have »; -ti-, -ri-, and -nti'-, participial suffix; -p'i-, -vi-, and ■rmpi-,
absolute suffix for body-part nouns). We have thus geminating, spiran-
tizing, and nasalizing stems (stems with nasal consonants tend to belong
to .the last type, though there are also many nasalizing stems that pos-
sess no nasal consonant, e. g, ovi^ « stick », a-^o- «. tongue »). When two
stems are compounded, the second has its initial consonant, if it begins
with one, geminated, spirantized, or nasalized, according to the character
of the first stem. Thus, from'^a?^'' « house » are formed ar,qd-'{an" « red
house )) [a-qqa- « red » spirantizes), t'impi-k'^an'' « stone house)) [timpi-
« stone » geminates), and ovi-rji^'dn'' « wooden house » [ovi- « wood »
nasalizes) ; in the last two examples -qan'' is at the same time palatalized
io-kyan'^ because of preceding /. Suffixes also, in reference to such fol-
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 403
448
lowing- suffix as may have forms of two or all three, classes, belong to
one of the three types. Thus, adjectival -q'a-, --ra-, -r,qa- spirantizes,
hence -ar^qd-"^a-R' « being--red, red » ; -q'a-,^ -;a-, -r,qa-, verb suffix « to
have » (another form o{ -q ■ ai- , --^ai- , --/j^a/- already listed) nazalises, hence
limpi-k'-a-nt' « having a stone ».
Analogous to the stopped consonants is m.. After vowels it is either
geminated (or nasalized) to -m'-, or spirantized to -t,iv- ; aspirated forms
are m' and r/"', in which m and -q are voiced, at least in part (initially,
however, aspirated tn, which stands before voiceless vowels, is entirely
voiceless, .1/). After vowels « regularly appears long, -n'-; its aspirated
forms, used analogously to those ofw/, are «' andiv. Besides these two
nasals must be listed also vj [ng of English sing), palatalized m^', with its
aspirated form r/ ; it cannot occur initially, lu and j have corresponding
aspirated forms '"- and 'y- when initial; postvocalic zi^ is regularly nasa-
lized to -r,w-, aspirated -y;"^ (thus, -r,w- or -r/'' may go back to original
-w- or -IV-).
Postvocalic s and s are regularly long, s' and y . There are no «. spiran-
tized » forms of n, s, and s. We shall see reason later on, however, to
believe that original postvocalic non-geminated n disappeared ;^ similarly,
that original postvocalic non-geminated s, s became ' (glottal stop). In
other words, originally^ : v, t '. r, v : -(, m '. r^w, n : zero, and s, s : ' were
equivalent pairs. The latter two, however, are not now felt as equivalent
pairs in Southern Paiute.
Glottal stops are rather frequent in Southern Paiute and of conside-
rable grammatical importance. They are found not only medially between
vowels but also initially (in which case the first syllable with short
vowel counts as two morae ; e. g. 'aft- <i good », often heard as ^'at'i-
with murmured '*-) and finall3\ Frequently a glottal stop coalesces with
a preceding stopped consonant^ a glottalized stop resulting in which the
glottal closure and release are synchronous with those of the oral chamber.
Thus we have a new series : />', t\ fs, fs, v, vw, {k"^), each of these again
occuring in geminated and nasalized form (e. g. p'', nip'). As glottalized
stops, however, are of purely secondary origin in Southern Paiute, they
need not, as such, concern us further in this study. The Southern Paiute
glottal stop does not (except possibly in S. P. m' <( I » : N. ni « I »)
seem to be historically connected with the Nahuatl saltillo (or salto).
Abstracting, then, from aspirated, palatalized, geminated, spirantized,
nasalized, and glottalized consonants as being all of more or less secon-
dary origin, we have left ia Southern Paiute for specific comparison with
Nahuatl consonants only p, t, q, qw, ti — ts, s — s, ni, n, -t], lU, y, and ',
404 V American Indian Languages 1
449
Nasalised and Geminated Consimants in Shoshonean. — Before deciding
what are the Uto-Aztekan prototypes of the primary Nahuatl and Southern
Paiute consonants, we may ask whether it is possible to define the pho-
netic conditions, from a Uto-Aztekan point of view, under which conso-
nants became spirantized, geminated, or nasalized in Southern Paiute (or
Shoshonean generally). The spirantized consonants, which arose also in
other Shoshonean dialects (e. g. Shoshone), are easy enough to under-
stand ; they doubtless arose regularly whenever a non-initial consonant
came to stand immediately after a vowel .
The nasalized stops are to at least some extent also intelligible. In some
cases, as we have seen, the nasal of the stem assimilated to itself the
consonant of the suffix by affecting it with its nasal quality (e. g., nrr,wu-
nisi- « person » ; n"^' qwi-nti- « flowing, stream » ; tar^wampi- « tooth » ;
sir,wa-mpu- " sand ") ; yet this is not obsrve d in all such stems, even
where the suffix frequently occurs, in nasalized form in other stems (e. g.,
mJO-vi- "hand " with spirantized, not nasalized, form of suffix -pi- ; mnvi-
p'i- " nose " with geminated form of same suffix).
We have already seen reason * to believe that the nasalizing power of
Jvi- " stick " goes back to an old nasal at the end of the stem that has
disappeared as such. If ovi- (plus its nasalizing power) corresponds in all
respects to N. uapali- '' planche ", we must suppose that final / of *opin'i-
was syncopated and that -«•-, not being able to stand at the end of a
word, could maintain itself only when folio w^ed by a stopped consonant,
in other words, lingered on as a nasalizing peculiarity of the stem. There
is no doubt, from comparative evidence, that there are several cases in
Southern Paiute (and other Shoshonean dialects) of nasalized consonants
resulting from the syncope of a vowel between an original nasal (m, n,
or Yj) and a stopped consonant. Such are :
S. P. pa'a-nti- "high'' {<i*paan'i-ti-\ -nt'i- is participial); N. pani
" en haut, au sommet ''
S. P. thnpi- " stone" {<^*tima-pi-), tir,qan'i- " cave " {<C*tima-qan'i-
" stone house ") ; Tiib. diln-t {<i*diima-t) : Ser. (H.) dUma-t ;
Git. diimu-t
S. P. tu-qquftl- " to get clumsy " (<< tuma-qut'il-) ; N. toma-ua " grossir,
devenir gros '
S, P. timpa- " mouth " {<i*tini-pa-) : Fern, tdr^i- \ Cora leni \ Pap.
tcihsi
S. P. -sampa- " only, except " (< *-'san -\- some vowel -J- -pa-) ; N. ^an
1. Part. I, p. 401.
Four: Vto-Aztecan Languages 405
450
" only, but " (< * san -{- some vowel). This example only
implies syncope; at any rate, it clearly indicates that S. P.
mp is etymologically -n (or m, for -m becomes -n in N.) -[- p-
S. P. nontsi- " to fly " [<i*non'i-tsi- : Ser. (H.) kinyi-k ; Corsi eni-te;
Pap. niihNi " to fly up, fly away (pi.) "
S. P. iniT,qivd- " frightened animals) come out in one bunch " [<i*niin'i-
qwd-) : N. nii-viiloa " bouleverser " (<;*w/-m/7/-u/«, redupli-
cated)
S. P. fiarivd-va-*b' " ear ", naT,qa~vai- " to hear » (< reduplicated
*nanaqa-): Fern, nanak \ Tep. nanaca. Unreduplicated wa^d'-
is more common : N. naca:(-tli; Tar. jiaka ; Pap. nahKu
S. P. ampa-(a- " to talk " (< * anfJ-paya-) : Pap. a Mmoh " to talk
loud " (< * ani'J-)
In many cases, however, 1 can give no reason for the occurrence of the
nasalized stop. Such are :
S. P. tu^umpa- " sky " ; Shosh. togumba ; Tiib. dogumba-l : Moh.
dugnha-t ; Gabr. tukupa-r
S. P. pa^a-mpU' " reed " : Cora hakd ; N. aca-tl
S. P. oyo-mpu~ " fir " : Cora bukii " Kiefer " ; N. oco-tl " pinus tenui-
folia
S. P, k'""'tu-mpi- " anus "
S. P. wi^A-mpi- " vulva "
This Southern Paiute (to wliat extent it is general Shoshonean cannot
at present be stated) law of vocalic syncope in the neighbourhood of a
nasal consonant may explain also -^ai- [-q'ai-, -T,qai-) " to have ' as
compared with its participial form -^a-nti~ {-q'a-ntt-, -'f\qa-nli-) " having ",
original *kani- regularly becoming *-kai- >> ~^ai- (see below under Uto-
Aztekan «), w^hile *-kani-ti- with loss of i develops into *-kantt-^ -^(anti'\
similarly, perfective -q'ai- (as in -q'ai-n'a- " what has been — ed ") as
compared with its participal form ~q'a-nti- '' having been — ed". Under
what circumstances this vocalic syncope takes place is still undetermi-
mined.
Still another set of Southern Paiute nasalized stops is due to redupli-
cation, inasmuch as stems with nasal as their second consonant redupli-
cate both first and second consonants; examples are qar^qdn'^ " houses
(distributively) " from ^an" " house ", and pumptn''''k^a' " to see (plural
subject) " from punik'^a' " to see ".
These three causes, then — assimilation to nasal of stem, syncope of
vowel following nasal, and reduplication — niay, in the present state of
our knowledge, be advanced as responsible for the presence in Shosho-
nean of nasalized stops. They are clearly not, any more than the spirantal
406 V American Indian Languages 1
4S1
developments of stopped consonants, to be attributed to original Uto-
Aztekan .
A far more difficult problem is presented by the geminated stops,
which are known to exist not only in Southern Paiute but in other
Shoshonean dialects as well *. As far as can be seen at present, Shos-
honean geminated stops have exactly the same reflexes in NahuatI and
Sonoran as the simple stops (S. P. postvocalic spirants). Yet there is
little doubt that we are here dealing with one of the fundamental points
of Shoshonean phonology. Despite the very fragmentary data at hand, I
believe it can be demonstrated that the geminated stops exist not only in
Plateau Shoshonean but also in Tiibatulabal and Luiseno-Cahuilla. S.P.
r, the spirantal development of original /, is paralleled in these two Shos-
honean groups by / ; e. g., Tiib, sulu- " nail " <i*sutu- (cf. Tar. sutu-),
Gahu. kelawat "wood" <i*keta- (cL Fern. kota). Now it is extremely
suggestive to note that the difference between the noun endings -/ and -/
in Tiibatulabal and Luiseho-Gahuilla may be interpreted as due to the
influence of a preceding spirantizing and geminating stem respectively.
Thus, we are dealing with spirantizing stems in A. C. hu-l '* arrow "
(cf. S. P. u-jun'a- " quiver ", literally " arrow-sack ", qutt'a- " sack "
being spirantized to —(im'a- by preceding u- " arrow ") ; Cahu. pa-l
" waf*er, Tiib. ba-l (cf. S. P. pa-^dri-R' " lake "', literally " water-sit-
ting ", from pa- -\- qar'i- " to .sit ") ; Gahu. n-t]i-l " salt ", Tiib. uria-l (cf.
S. P. oa-vi- " salt ", -vi- being spirantized from -pi-) ; Tiib. niiba-l " snow ''
(cf. S. P. niva-vi- " snow "); Gahu. wewa-l " rain " (cf. S. P. urtwa~ri-
" raining, rain " <:^ original stem *tiwa--{- spirantized form of participial
-//-). On the other hand, we seem to be dealing with geminating stems in
Gahu. duku-t " wildcat" (cf. S. P. f'^'qu-p'u-ts- " wild-cat"; V'^'qil-
rirumu-ts- " panther ", with -m'-, not -r,w-) ; A. G. alwa-t, alwu-t'^ crow "
<i*atwa~ (cf. S. P. geminating afa- in '^'tdp'c-ts' , '^'id-v'wo-ts' " crow ") ;
1. In Northern Paiute, a dialect of the Mono-Bannock group, for instance, it is
necessary to distinguish after vowels between lightly stopped fully voiced consonants
(etymologically parallel to Shoshone, Ute, and Southern Paiute voiced spirants) and
firmly stopped geminated consonants (see T. T. Waterman, The Phonetic Elements of
the Northern Paiute Language, University of California Publications in American Archaeo-
logy and Ethnology, vol. 10, 1911, p. 33). In some Shoshonean dialects (e. g. Uncom-
pahgre and Southern Ute) nasalized stops developed into geminated stops, thus
falling together with the old geminated stops (see, e. g., J. P. Harrington, The Pho-
netic System of the Ute Language, University of Colorado Studies, vol. VIII, 1911, in
which n'o mention is made of nasalized stops, Harrington's material being taken from
Southern Ute). These secondary geminated stops are naturally of no further interest
here .
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 407
452
A. C. muu-t " owl " (cf. mo6-p'u-ts- " owl ") ; Tiib. gu-t " fire ", Calm.
hn-t (cf. S. P. qun'a- " fire ", with geminated -n'- ; qu-, geminating verb
prefix " by means of fire ") ; Cahu. kumi-t " smoke " (probably cognate
with Mono (N. F.) reduplicAied giikuhi-p " smoke ", -kuhi- being iden-
tical with S. P. kwi- <i*kuhi- in kiui'-k^a-ri- " smoke " with geminated
form of -qa- suffix; Cahu. -m- : Plateau Shoshonean h, zero, is perhaps
paralled by Cahu. yami-s " mountain" : S. P. qai- in qaiva- " mountain "
and Moh. gai-tc " mountain ") ; Cahu. saniu-t " grass " (cf. Shoshone
sdni-p " grass ", Shoshone -p evidently corresponding to geminated forna
of S. P. -vl:-, -p'u-, -mpu-, noun suffix regularly used for plants ; for
Cahu. -m- : Shoshone -«-, cf. A. C. -tami " knee ": Tiib. iorfi-^ Cora tunu).
There is, as might indeed be expected, some conflicting evidence to
contend with (e. g. Luis, himwo-t " bear " : Tiib. una-l), but I believe
the case is strong that Luis. -Cahu. and Tiib. -/ .• -/ corresponds exac-
tly to the Plateau Shoshonean difference between spirantizing and gemi-
nating elements.
While, then, geminated stops doubtless form a fundamental class of
sounds in Shoshonean phonology, weare quite at a loss, as already noted,
to find reflexes for them in Nahuatl and Sonoran. The following examples
illustrate this.
S. P. t'^^'qwa- " deep " = luq'a- : Cora tika-nlse " in der Tiefe "
S. P. lH-[U>a- " to be dark, night " [<i*tuka-) ; Tiib. duga-l " night " :
Cora tika " Nacht sein '' ; Pima tsoka- " night
S. P. iii^wa- " to put out the fire ", tu^(iui- *' the tire goes out "
{<i*tuka-, *tuki-) : N. toquia " attiser le feu" ; Pap. t^uh " to
stop burning of itself ", tsui = t'siih^ " to put out the fire "
[<i* tnki- ; for Pap. h <^ k^ see belov\)
Note that Cora tika- corresponds to both S. P. tuq'a- and tu^fa- .
S. P. tiya- " to measure, try " : N. teca " poser des pierres, cons-
truire, planter " ; Pap. tsilh (■< *fika-) " to put away "
S. P. t'"qa- " to eat " = iiq- a- : Pap. tsiih " to taste " (< *tika-)
Note that Pap. tSiih corresponds to both S. P. fiq'a- and th(d- .
S. P. /"*'i/i- " to grind seeds " [<^*tus-u-)'. N, teci " moudre le mais
sous la pierre " ; Pap. tsui " to grind " = tsuU {<C* tiisi- ; for
Pap. h <^ s, see below)
Note that Pap. tsui here corresponds to S. P. /m^'m- with geminated
consonant, before to S. P. iuyi- with spirantized consonant.
S. P. N'^'qwi- " to stream " ^ niiq-i-: N. noquia " verser une chose,
avoir la diarrhee "
Note that N. noquia seems to rime perfectly with toquia^ despite S. P.
nuq'i- : tuyi-^
408 V American Indian Languages 1
453
S. P. si- " cold ", regularly geminating following consonants : N. ce-tl
" glace " ; Pap. hu-hpih " to become cold " ; Cora se " es is
kalt "
In the following examples, S. P. 5* and q- correspond to Pap. hh.
Whether this is of any consequence as regards our problem I cannot say,
though I should hardly be inclined to attach much importance to it.
S. P. V^'qua-^' " meat " == tuq'ua- : Pap. tsuhhuKU'' meat" (<*/m-
k-u-1)
S. P. q'"^'^' si-f^' " tail " = qwas'l- : Cora kivasi " der Schwanz der
Tiere" ; Pap. pahhi " tail " (< *kwas'i)
So far, we must conclude, the existence of a definite series of gemi-
nated stops has been demonstrated only for Shoshonean . These, then,
like the nasalized stops, must be considered a specifically Shoshonean
development (or Uto-Aztekan feature retained only in Shoshonean?).
Uto-Aztekan Consonants
Comparison of Nahuatl, Sonoran, and Shoshonean consonants leads
to the setting up of fourteen, possibly only twelve, distinct consonants.
These arep; t; tl\ is (of which ts may be considered as variant) ;^; ^tt/;
s (of which s may be considered as variant) ; m ; n ; possibly q; I \ w\ y \
and possibly /;. It is very doubtful if also the glottal stop (') is to be
assigned to the Uto-Aztekan period. The Uto Aztekan consonants will
now be taken up in that order.
Uto-Aztekan p.
Initial Uto-Aztekan p ordinarily appears as N. p, Cora h [x) and p,
Shoshonean p, Pap. v (before a and /) and w (before o, u, and ii) ' .
N. poc-tli " smoke, vapor, fog, mist ", popoca " fumer, jeter de la
fumee " : S. P. pavi-wa- " fog " ; Cahu. paxi-s ^' fog " ; Fern.
paki-t " cloud "
N. po(aua " sVnfler ", pofati " se gonfler de nourriture " ; Cora hiisa
gesattigt sein, sich sattigen " : S. P. p'-^'tsa- "to be filled up "
N. pia, pie " garder quelqu'un ; mettre en reserve " ; Pap. vih " to
stay, be left ", viah " to leave something 'purposely " : S. P.
piyai- "to be left remaining "
N. petld-ni " se verser, se repandre (en parlant dun liquide) "; fre-
quentative pepetla-ca : S. P. para-^(a-yt-n'i\ " rain is pattering"
1. Dolores, Papago Verb Stems, p. 242,
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 409
454
N. pauia " mficher " (transitive in -a, perhaps originally meaning " to
cause to go down one's throat ") : S. P. pa-riwi- "throat "
{<C*pawi-) ; A. C. -pava " throat "
N. pani " en haut, au sommet " : S. P. pa'dnt" " high "
N. paina " courir vite " ; Pap wOhpu " to run (plur.) " ['C*pn-kwi~^.) :
p'jya " to run about " {<i* poi-na-'l)
N. pipina " sucer des Cannes k sucre " ; pipinia " s'impr^gner d'humi-
dite " : S. P. piyd-^' " sap, juice "
N. pi-tli " elder sister" : S. P. pia- " mother, female "; S. J. C. pV-t
" younger sister "
N. piHi " son, child " ; Cora p^ri, pdri " Sohn, Tochter, Kind, vom
Vater gesagt " : A. C. pulyini-s " biaby " {pulyi :=i pnlH-)
Cora -poa in ki-pod " Haar " ; Pap. wohpoh " hair on the skin " {<CpM-
kwo-1) : S. P. pua- " hair, fur » ; Fern, pud- " head"; Gabr.
pwa- " head, hair
Pap. vah •' to go in " (< *paka) : S. P, pa-^a-, pa^ai- " to go, walk "
Pap, vahMi " to rise from lying " (■< *pami) : S. P. par,vji- {<i*pami-)
" (lying) on one's belly
Pap. vai '• to call " [<C*pai) : S. P. pai- " to call "
Cora hure, -xure " eine Kugel, einen Bair machen " (<^ *pole'l) : S. P.
p3f^"^-qiva- " to be round "
Cora hhoe '^' nach einem schreien, briillen '' [<C*putve) : S, P. pUTf'wi-
" to make a peeping noise "
Cora heika " toten " (with singular object) (■< *paika'l) : S. P. paq'a-
" to kill one "
Under as yet unknown conditions initial Uto-Aztekan p became h not
only in Cora ^ but also in Nahuatl (and Huichol), where it then disap-
peared.
Examples of N. zero, Cora ^- : Pap. f-, w- : Shoshoneanp- are :
N, aca-tl " roseau " (<; *paka-) ; Cora hakd " das Schilfrohr " : S. P.
pa-^a-mpu- " reed"
N. dch-tli " frere aine " [<C*patsi-) ; Cora ha, has, hatsi{n) " alterer
Bruder " ; perhaps also Huich. matT^i " frere aine": Gahu. pas
" elder brother", patsi- " elder sister "
N. ix-tli " face, visage, oeil " [<i* usi- <C* pusi-) ; Cora hist ; Huich. utsi,
hu{i (so I understand Diguet's hougy) ; Tar. pusi-; Cah. pusi-;
Pap. wui ==: louh' : S. P. pui-^^' " eye "; Tiib. pnntsi- (why
nasalized -«/j-?); Gahu, -pus
1. It is not clear to me when original p remains as such (or as w ?) in Cora and
when it develops to h. Perhaps it regularly becomes h [x) before original a, o (Cora i),
" (Gora m), but remains/ (or w ?) before original i and e (N. e, Pap.-Shoshonean i).
410 V American Indian Languages 1
455
N. d-tli " path, road" {<* poi- or *poe-) ; Cora huye " Weg- " ; Tepe-
cano 1 vol, plur. vbp'oi] Pap. woku " road, trail ", wo-kah " to
have a road " [wo- <*poi-, cf. Pap. wo- <*p^- in wohpu above) :
S. P. p'o- "trail " ; Hopi pi-hu ; Cahu. pi-t
Huich. ya " tobacco " {<^*iha, dissimilated from *hiha <i*pipa'l) ; Cora
ya-na " Tabak rauchen " ; Tep. viva " tobacco" ; Pap. vihwu
<C*pipi): HoTpi piva " tobacco" ; Moh. piva-t ; Luis, piva-t.
Uto-Aztekan *pipa
N. ci-tl " water" ; Huich. ha ; Cora ha ; Cah, ^^ : S. P. pa'- " water ";
Tiib, pd!-/; Git. ba-tc\ Gsthr.pa-r] Cahu. pa-l
It is remarkable that in certain derivatives of Uto-Aztekan *pa- " water))
Nahuatl has preserved p, e. g. pati " se fondre, se liquefier, se mettre en
eau " (-// " to become "). I can suggest no reason for this curious fact.
To judge from the one example available, this N. h <ip was shifted
before e to ^, which then remained (though variants without y- also occur,
significantly enough) :
N. ye[i), e{i) " three " « *hei <C*hai <i*pai) ; Cora wdi-ka (perhaps
changed from *pai- by analogy oiwa- " two ") ; Tar. bai-ka ; Cah.
bahi] Pima vai- [<C*pai-) : S. P. pai- "three " ; Tiib. pai\ it.
bahi
After vowels, Uto-Aztekan p appears in Southern Paiute as geminated
p' , spirantized v^ or nasalized mp. Examples of geminated p' are :
N. pichauh-tica " etre engourdi, transi, mort de froid " ; pichaui-li^tli,
pichaqui-Uitli^ " fletrissure, engourdissement " : S. P. t^^^-pit'ca-
" to crush by trampling " = ta-p'ifca- (geminating ta- " by
means of the feet ")
N. -pa^ -ppa " so and so many times", suffixed to numeral stems (e. g.
ce-ppa " once ", o-ppa " twice ", inatlac-pa " ten times " ; has -ppa
original geminated ^/), or is pp developed from *cem-pa, *om-pa']) :
S. P. -/)•«'% -p'-a- " in (this, that) way"
Pap. vaKU " hole " : S. P. '-"'paq-'' " hole " = J-p-aq'i- (with gemi-
nating prefix J-)
Cora taxis, tdxix " aufwachen " {<,*ta-pus, *ta-pu); Pap. wuhh^ " to
awaken " {<Cpus'a): S. P. f'^'pu-nni- " to wake up " = tnp-ii-
nni-
Cora hipi " sich niederlegen zum Schlafen " [<Chupi ?): S. P. ""'pui-
" to sleep " = ap- ui- (< 'hap-ei- or *hap-eni- ?)
Examples of spirantized v are :
N. paca " to wash" ; Tar. pago-ta : S. P. na-vaq't- " to bathe one-
li Information obtained from Dr. J, A. Mason.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 41
456
self" (spirantizing «a- is reflexive ; -paq'i- does not occur without
prefix in S. P.)
N. uapaJ-li, uapali-tl " planche, ais, petite poutre, bois " ; Pap. ovifsi
" awl " : S. P. mi- " wood "
N. tlapcopa " orient, levant" [<i*tlapa- or *tlapi-, old stem for " sun "
-\- -copa " de, par, vers ") ; Huich. tau " sun" {<C*tawa or -/
<C*tapa or -i) ; Cora tdu-ni " sun " (antiquated) : S. P. tava-
" sun " ; Hopi dawa ; Ban. tavi. Probably -tn- of Git. damia-t,
Gabr. tami-t, Gahu. dami-t is also developed from this intervoca-
lic -p-
N. tepitiin " peu, petit" [-tiin probably diminutive): S. P. tivilsi-
" very "
N. tepe-tl " mountain " ; Pap. tiihuuhT " dirt, earth, world " : S. P.
iivi-p'u- "earth"; Hopi c/twa {<C*tepa)] Git. duva-tc \ Cahu.
tema-l {-m- as in dami-t above)
N. -pa local suffix of indefinite meaning (e.g. cam-pa " where, whi-
ther " ; ne-pa " here, there " ; ipam-pa, pam-pa "because " ; om-pa
" where,"); possibly Cora he- (< */)a- ?) in hcmi " vor ", hete
" unter ", hetsm " auf " : S. P. -va-, -va- " in, at »
N. -pan " upon "'; Cora ha-poa{n) " auf, in, iiber' ' : S. P. -van''', -vaan'^
" on, upon
N. -cpac, -ti-cpac " sur, au-dessus, en haut " (probably compounded of
-c, -co " in " and *-pac) : S. P . -vd-{i-, -vaa-(i-'' over " « *-p'dki)
Cora lawi " sich niederlegen " (sing, subj.) {<C*ta-aiui <i*-api'! cf. taii-
<.*tawa- " sun " < *tapa- above) : S. P. avi- " to lie " (sing,
subj.)
Examples of S. P. words with nasalized mp corresponding to Nahuatl
or Sonoran forms seem hard to find.
Uto-A^tekan t and tl.
To Nahuatl tl regularly correspond in all Shoshonean and Sonoran
dialects reflexes of Uto-Aztekan t\ in other words, it is possible to keep
apart Uto-Aztekan t from // only in Nahuatl itself (in Pipil and Nahuatl
dialects spoken in Oaxaca, however, tl has developed to /). If it were
possible to formulate some law accounting for N. ^/ as developed from
original t according to certain phonetic circumstances, we 'could dispense
with a Uto-Aztekan //. As this cannot be done, it seems necessary to
assume Uto-Aztekcn // as well as /. It may be that more complete and
carefully sifted evidence than can now pe presented will later show that
the reflexes of Uto-Aztekan ; and tl are not always identical even outside
of Nahuatl itself.
412 V American Indian Languages I
457
Examples of Uto-Aztekan / : S.P. (Shoshonean) t initially are:
N.. tocjida " attiser le feu" ; Pap. tsui " to put out the fire " (Pap. has
regularly ts before u, ii, and /, but / before a and o^ : S. P. tu-^wa-
" to put out the fire "
N. tequi " couper " : S. P. tt-fa-nni- " to butcher (meat) "
N. te-tl " stone " ; Cora iete : S.P. //- " stone "; Fern, to-ta
N. tepe-tl " mountain " ; Pap. tciiwiihr "earth " : S. P. ii'vi- " earth";
Gahu. iema-l
N. topeua "pousser, arracher une chose"; Pap. tsiivaiM " to drag " :
S.P. ti'va- " to come loose ". Uto-Aztekan */o/)t'-, *tepa-
N. tifa-tl " sorte de vernis, terre ou poudre blanche " ; Pima tdhai
" white "; Huich. tousa " blanc " ; Cah. tosa-li: S.P. I^ra-
" white
N, ten-tJi " lips, mouth " ; Cora teni : S. P. t'impa- " mouth " ; Fern.
-t&r,i-
N. toch-tli, tochin " lapin " : Luis, dosi-xi-t " rabbit" ; Gabr. io'so-xo-t
N. tenia " remplir une chose de .semence ou de terre ": S. P. th^wa-
" to cover up, close up (hole) "
N. iehudn " we '\ tech " us" ; Tar. tame: S. P. tar^zua- " we (inclu-
sive) ", iam'i- " we two (inclusive) "; Hopi l-tanw
N. teci " moudre le mais sous la pierre" ; Pap. tini : S. P. /'"'i/i- " to
grind seeds "
N. te-, tequi- " beaucoup, extremement "': S. P. ti- " much, greatly "
N. teneua (refl.) "se nommer, etre appele ', teneui " devenir illustre " ;
Pap. tsiihfsi "to name, call" : S. J. C. -t^'iir, " name "; Fern.
-tuano- "■ name "
Examples of Uto-Aztekan ^/: S. P. (Shoshonean) / initially are:
N. tldca-tl " person " ; Cora lata " Mann " : Hopi taqa " man " ; A. G.
-tax' a " person "
N. tla- in tlaneci " to dawn ", tlathui " to dawn, become light " ; Tepee
td-'sia " morning" 2 ; s. P. geminating ta- in t'^'-sra- " to dawn "
N. tlap-copa "orient, levant " ; Cora tau-ni'' sun " : S. P. tava- " sun " ;
Hopi dawa; Tiib. da-1 ; Gabr. tami-t
N. tlico " monter"; Pap. tsiihs " to go up, climb, ride ": S. P. //',
" up ", tii^u-mpa- " sky "
N. tlan-tli "tooth"; Cora tame: S. P. tarfvua- " tooth"; Hopi taina ;
Tiib. dama- ; Fern, -tama
N. tlan-quaitl " knee " ; Cora tunu ; Pap. tohx'u : S. P. tar^a- " knee " ;
Hopi dami\ Tiib. torfi- ; Git. -tama
i. See Dolores, Papago Verb Stems, p, 242,
3, Due to Dr, J. A. Mason.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 413
458
Examples of Sonoran /- : Shoshonean /- are :
Huich. tope, topi " arc ": Luis, kutapi-i " bow"; A. C. gutapi-i\ S. J.
C. -qutup
Cora tika-ntse "in der Tiefe " ; perhaps also Pap. th'ihpr " to sink":
S. P. t'^^'qwa- " to be deep"
Cora tevi "der Mensch, die Person " [<C*tewi), plur. tdite\ Pima tiwo-t\
Pap. tsiio-fsi " man, male" : S. P. ta-qwa- " man" {<Z*tawa-),
Tiib. datwa-I {misheaird for tdwa-l ?). Uto-Aztekan *iewa or *tlewa ;
Shoshonean *ta\ua- assimilated from *tt'wa-2
Hiiich. touhou (i. e. tuhu) "braise": Ser. (H.) tnu-t^ " coal"; Fern.
cithi-t ; Luis, du-la ; Tiib. diildul. S. P. to-q'a- " to be black " may
be derived, with suffixed adjectival -q 77-, from this stem ; ' ' black "
<; " coal-colored "
Huich. tagui, tahoui (i. e. tawi) " poitrine " ; Cora tabi: Gahu. -^aw;
-taiuh (i. e. -taw) " breast "
Cora tine "in Stiicke schlagen " : S. P. ton'a- " to punch "
Cora t'lha " Nacht sein " ; Pima tsoka-rjgi " night" : S. P. tir(wa- " to
be dark, nig-ht " ; Wob. toxa-wan "night" ; Tiib. duga-l; Luis.
duku-mi-t
Pap. tk'ihhu Ku " meat" (< */«7fe-7/-?) : S. P. t'^^'qua- " meat"
Pap. tsuihrsi '' to ask a question " (<^*tui- <C*tm-'!): S. P. tivi- " to
ask "
Pap. tsiih " to taste " : S. P. t'^'qa- " to eat "
Pap. t^iii " to say " : S. P. tin-ia- " to tell "
Pap. tahr " foot ", tatii-vjuah " to put the foot in something " : S. P.
la- " with the foot "
In these, owing to lack of Nahuatl evidence, we cannot at present tell
in which cases we are dealing with Uto-Aztekan /- or tl-.
After vowels, Uto-Aztekan t and // appear in Southern Paiute as gemi-
nated /• , spirantized r, or nasalized nt. Examples of N. -t- corres-
ponding to all three of these forms are :
N. -ton-tli " suffixe marquant la petitesse " : S. P. tua~ " child, son";
as diminutive suffix -fua-, -rua-, -ntua- " small, young of ". Uto-
Aztekan *tona-
N. -ti- " particule servant a unir les verbes avec les verbes irreguliers",
-ti-c adjectival sufhx : S. P. -fi~, -ri'-, -nti- suffix of present
participle. It is quite doubtful, however, if these elements are
really cognate
N. -// " to become " : S. P. -f'ui-, -r'ui-, -nt'ui- " to become, turn into "
N. -tech " dans, sur, a, de, pres " : S. P. -fuywa-, -ru-fwa-, -ntu'cwa-
" to " (probably compounded of two postpositive elements *-tu-
and *-Ya)
414 V American Indian Languages 1
459
Similar in form to these, but corresponding, it would seem, to N. -//-,
is :
N. -the " with, near to " ; Huich. -touha (i. e. -tuba) " au bas " (cf.
adverbs ha-tona-na, ha-tou "dessous", rhe-touha " en bas, sous") :
S. P. -fu(j-iua-, -rug-wa-, -ntuq'wa- " under "
Whether Uto-Aztekan -t- or -//- is to be assumed is uncertain in :
Pap. -Tsu "to make, to make for"; S. P. -fu-, -ru-, -nm- " to
make "
Examples of S. P. geminated -V- corresponding to N. -^, -tU are :
N. -tia causative suffix ; Cora -te causative : S. P. -t'-ni-, -f'ii- causa-
tive
N. -tla " qui sert k marquer abondance, quantite " (e. g- te-tla " lieu
pierreux ") ; Cora -ta (e. g. sd-ta " sandiger Ort ") : S. P. -t'ia-
" place of "
Examples of S. P. spirantized -r- corresponding to N. -t-, -tl- are :
N. cat-qtii " to be (in a place) ", ^^/^ (present plural) : S. P. qart- " to
sit, dwell"; Hopi gato " to sit "
N. coto-na " couper, mettre en morceaux quelque chose, cueillir des
fruits " : S. P. ts'-qur'u- " to tamp (tubcj by pushing (stick) back
and forth "
N. metla-tl " metate " ; Huich. mata ; Pap. maVtsuhT " grinding stone,
metate " : S. P. niara- ; Luis. 7)iala- (-/- <C-^)
N. petld-ni " se verser, se repandre (en parlant d'un liquide) : S. P.
pdra-xa- " rain patters
N. qiietl (poetic form oi quet:^a) " to arise from " : S. P. qwiri- " to get
up"
Before and after i Shoshonean -/- (whether from Uto-Aztekan -t- or
-//-) becomes S. P. -/i-, -ts-. Thus, after /, present participial -//- appears
as -W/-, -ntfi- ; -tu^^wa- " to " as -tiii^(iua-, -ntsu-(iua-; -tu- " to make " as
-till-, -ntsu-. Further examples are :
N. ixte-tl " nail " ; Cah. sutu\ Pap. huT^i (< *suti) : S. P. iitsu- " nail,
claw " (< *situ-) ; Tiib. sulu- (< *sutu-)
N. cuitla-tl " excrement"; Cora thiita " Exkremente von Menschen
und Tieren"; Pap. plhr " manure " (<C*kwita-) : S. P. qwh'sa-
" to defecate "
N. -//, -tli noun ending : S. P. -tsi- noun ending; Cahu. -f, -/, -s
(after i, e. g. ki-'s " house ", yuTiawi-s " buzzard ", qawi-s
" rock "; this -s goes back to -/i, as shown b}' comparison
with Luiseilo) ; Luis, -tsa (after /), -la (both from *-ta < *-tla,
form parallel to *-///) ; Tiib. -/
It IS not quite clear whether S. P. ts has developed from //> / before
original i or i in :
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 415
N. atla-il " spear-thrower" : Yio^i a ut a " bow " ; S. P. atsi-\ Kawai-
isu^ etii ; Bank, ali-t
N. // and S. P. ts may possibly also correspond in:
N. //^ " que? quelle chose?" a-tle " rien " (literally " nol-what ") :
S. P. -tsu- in qa-tsu- " not" (extended form of negative qa-) ; Ute
qa-tsi- (^ Uto-Aztekan *ka-tle-); Mono (N. ¥ .) ga-du-
N. nillalld-tl " espece d'oiseau tres allonge^, volant peu mais courant
extremement vite " : S. P. wul'sa- " roadrunner "
Nahuatl /, originally followed by now elided /, has become ts [ch) in :
N. oquich-tli " homme, mari, male": Gahu. qeat, kiat "boy"; Fern.
koti " young man
N. quech-tli (< Uto-Aztekan Vzeti-) " neck " : A. G. -qelyi " neck ";
S. P. qura-. N. quech- may, however, go back to Uto-Aztekan
*ketse- (assimilated from *kotk-l)^ cf. Pap. kuhsuwoh " neck "
(<; Uto-Aztekan *kotse-) and Tepecano kumd " neck " ^ (< Uto-
Aztekan *kotso-) assimilated from *kotse-), which forms are in
turn perhaps to be compared with Cahu. quspi " throat " (see
under Uto-Aztekan k : Cora kipi)
Uto-Aitekan W, ts.
While S. P. ts not infrequently, as we have seen, goes back to Shos-
honean /, whether in turn developed from Uto-Aztekan / or //, and N.
ts [cb) also in certain cases is developed from /, there remains another
series of examples in which N. ch, /;{ correspond to S. P. (Shoshonean) ts,
ts. These justify us in assuming an original Uto-Aztekan /i [is). N. ch and
/:( both occur freely, and I can give no rule that would clearly indicate
that they are variants of one prototype (compare, however, w/-/:( " you "
with te-ch " us "). It may be that we should assume two distinct affricative
sibilants, /iand ts, for Uto-Aztekan, though I should be inclined at present
to doubt whether this would be correct. In Southern Paiute ts and ts vary
primarily according to mechanical phonetic rules, ts always standing
instead of ts before i. Similarly, in Papago s represents original ts before
a, 0, and u, while it is replaced by s before / and ii ^ (examples of Pap.
s corresponding to N. /:(, ch are : N. chocoa " to cry " Pap. iohsah ;
N. tnet^tli " moon " : Pap. mahsa'T)
i. Californian dialect of Ute-Cheniehuevi group.
2. On Dr. Mason's authority.
3. Dolores, Papago Verb Stems, p. 242,
416 V American Indian Languages 1
461
Examples of Nahuatl ch corresponding to Shoshonean ts are :
N. chichi " dog " (assimilated from *kutsi) ; Tar. kokotsi ; Cora kitsi " das
Haustier " : Git. giitsi "dog"; Moh. gutsi; Ser. (H.) kwutsi
N. pichaiih-tica " etre engourdi, transi, mort de iro'id '\ pichaui-liitii ^
pichaqni-lixtli " Hetrissure, engourdissement " : S. P. t'^'-pif'sa-
" to crush by trampling " [ta- '' by trampling ")
Examples of Nahuatl t:( corresponding to Shoshonean ts, ts are:
N. -t:{a frequentative transitive suffix with verbs expressing sounds
and various activities (e. g. cocomo-t:(a " hazer estruendo con los
pies" from conw-ni " hazer ruido alguna cosa pesada que cae";
popolo-tia " hablar a otro en lengua barbara" from polo-ni " hablar
barbaramente ") ^ : S. P. -tsa- frequentative transitive suffix (e.
g. Is'k-avi-tsa- " to cut several things", ti'^^-qoi-tsa- " to take olT
several articles of clothing ")
N. t^on-tli '■ hair"; Cah. tsoni : Mono (In.) tsobip '^ hair"; Tiib. tso-
nio-] S. P. t'sJ- (Ute tsu-) " with the head", tJfsi- " head "
(perhaps dissimilated from *tsot'si-)
N. -l:(in (vocative -t:{e\ plural -i^it:(in) suffix indicating reverence, res-
pect, endearment (originally' doubtless diminutive, as in uilzj-l^i-
lin " oiseau-mouche " from itil:(i-lin; see below); Cora -isi{n)
diminutive suffix (as in halsi, hatsiu " older brother " ; hulsi
" younger brother ") : S. P. -tsi- : diminutive suffix (not to be
confused with noun-ending -tsi-: N. -tli) ; Gabr. -tsi (as in mtilu-
«/"flea")
N. uit/^ilin "petit oiseau qui bourdonne", uit:(il-aitatl " bird-heron ",
uit:(i-t:(i-lin " oiseau-mouche " : S. P. luitsi-ts' " bird " ; Ser. (H.)
witsi-t
Nahuatl ts, ts corresponds to Shoshonean i, s in :
N. toch-ili, tochin " lapin ": Luis, dosi-xit '" rabbit " ; A. C. disi-xa-t\
S. J. C. dos-t ; Gabr. toso-xo-t ; Fern, toho-x-t {-h- <^s) ; Git. diiho-
gu-t (-/;- <:f)
N. ach-tli " frere aine " ; Cora has " iilterer Bruder" : Cahu. pas " elder
brother "
N. iiet:{i " to fall " ; Tepecano gi's, preterit ^/V [gi's <C*witsi) " to stum-
ble, fall fiat " ^' : S. P. uni- " to fall " [<C*wui-)
1. See Caroclii, pp. 476-.4'*'8.
2. Quoted on Dr. Mason's autiiorily.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 417
Uto-Aitekan k.
Uto-Aztekan^ regularly appears as Nahuatl k (written c or qii) and as
Shoshonean k. In Southern Paiute this k is always more velar [q) than
mid-palatal before all vowels but /, in which case it appears as k ; after
i it is regularly palatalized to k^. Examples of initial Uto-Aztekan k are :
N. quech-tli " neck " : S. P. qura- " neck " (but see N. quech-tli under
Uto-Aztekan /)
N. que- verbal prefix referring to " teeth " (e. g. que-t:(oma " mordre ";
cf. t:(Otna " coudre, couvrir une chose de paille ") : S. P. qt- ins-
trumental prefix " with the teeth ". Related to this is perhaps
Pap. kill " to bite, sting " ; Cora ki " fressen (von fester Nahrung)" :
S. P. qi'i- "to bite "
N. cd, cat-qiii " to be in a place " ; Cora ka '* sein, sich befinden, sit-
zen " (sing.) : S. P. qari- " to dwell, sit " (sing.) ; Hopi o'^^o " to
. sit "
N. cal-li " house "; Tar, kali-: S. P. qufvi- "house"
N. -camo " not "; Cora ka " nicht, nein " : S. P. qa-, qathi- " not "
N. can-tli " cheek"; Pap. kaM'. Tiib. gar^a- "beard "
N. cochi " to sleep"; Cora kutsu " sehlafen, einschlafen'', kutsi-ie
" einen einschlafern" ; Pap. koi " to sleep (sing.), die (plur.)" :
S. P. qJ^i- " to go to sleep (plur.) "
N. icxi-tl " foot " (with prothetic i-, cf. 7to-cxi " my foot "; <i*kesi-,
*kasi- ?) ; Tepecano kai " foot " i « *kahi < *kasi ; cf. Pap. koi " to
sleep " <i*kohi <i*kosi) : Mono (In.) -gugiii'' foot " (reduplicated) ;
Hopi goxgo
N. col-li- " aieul, aieule " : S. P. qurfti- " great-grandfather"; Ute
qon'u- " paternal grandfather
Cora kin " der Gatte " ; Pap. knx " husband ": S. P. qunva- " husband,
male "
Cora kipi " Hals" {<C*kupi ; Diguet gives koujpi " cou ") ; Huich.
kouipi : Cahu. quspi " throat "
Huich. ki " house" ; Cora tsi " Hiitte " (<*/«; Uto-Aztekan ki- regu-
larly gives Cora tH-, while Cora ki- goes back to Uto-Aztekan
ko-) ; Pima ki : Hopi ki-ho " house " ; Cahu. ki-s
After vowels, Uto-Aztekan k appears in Southern Paiute as geminated
q-, spirantized y, or nasalized -qq. Examples of N. -k- corresponding to
all three of these forms are :
1. Quoted on Dr. Mason's authority.
418 V American Indian Languages ]
463
N. -qui (present imperative), -quiuh (future indicative), -co (present and
perfect indicative) " to come to do so and so": S. P. -k'i-, -yi-,
-r,ki- *' to come to do so and so "
N. -que-tl{i) (older form), -t "having"; Cora -ke (e. g. peni-ke " ein
Kind haben ") ; Pap. -kah " to have or claim " : Si P. -q-ai-,
--(ai-, -r,qai- " to have "
N. -c adjectival suffix (e. g. i:(ta-c " white " homiita-tl " salt ")': S. P.
-q-a-, -Yfl-» -Ttqa- adjectival suffix ; Cahu. -xa- (spirantized form
of suffix : seta-xa-t " salty ")
N. -ca " avec, par, k I'aide de, au moyen" (this suffix often makes
gerunds or adverbs out of verb stems: kiuh-cd " quickly" from
kiui " to go quickly, hurry ", e. g, kitihcd n-iauh " while-hur-
rying I-go"): S. P. -q'ai~, -^ai-, -riqai- "as, when" (verbal
suffix making subordinate clause whose subject is identical with
that of main clause ; followed by possessive pronominal suffixes)
N. -co, -c " in, from" : S. P. -q'o-, -yo-, -fiqo- " as, when" (verbal
suffix making subordinate clause whose subject is different from
that of main clause ; followed by possessive pronominal suffixes)
N. -quia suffix used in apodosis of conditional sentence : S. P. -q'o-,
-yd-, -riqO' irrealis
Examples of geminated -q'- in Southern Paiute are :
N. paca " laver une chose "; Tep. baku-ane : S. P. na-vaq'i- " to bathe"
(intransitive)
N. noquia " verser ", noqui-ui " couler, se repandre (en parlant d'un
liquide)": S. P. x"'qwi-nt'''^ ^=. nuq'wi- " stream" {-qw- <i-q-
because of preceding u)
N. tniqui "to die"; Huich. mauki " mort " ; Cora inuitii '" tot "
{<i*muiki)\ Pima muha " to die", tnoki " dead"; Pap. mnh " to
die " (<^ *niuka, cf. Pima tnuha\ Uto-Aztekan -k- often becomes
-/;- in Pima-Papago) : Hopi moki " dead "; Cahu. muki-s " dead ",
tneka " to kill "; S. P. tsa-qwuk'i- " to die off" {<C -*}nik- i-)
N. -qui plural suffix in perfect and future, also for certain nouns (e. g.
ueuetqu^"" old men ", regularly of possessive nouns in -/, -ud), -can
plural suffix in imperative and present optative: S. P. -qa-
verbal suffix indicating plurality of subject
N. -C-, qui- " him, her, it" : S. P. -a-q'a- " it (visible) ", -...q'lua-
(invisible) " (these pronominal suffixes are compounded of -q'a-
" it ", which does not generally appear as such, and demonstra-
tive stems a- " that visible " and 'u- " that invisible")
N: -c, -qui (older form) preterit suffix, -qui past participle (e. g. palan-
qui " corrompu"), -ca pluperfect suffix (preterit suffix of certain
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 419
464
irreg^ular verbs, e. g. cat- " to be somewhere"); Huich. -M
preterit suffix (e. g. moumouk' i^kai " il etait mort ") : S. P. -q-ai-
perfective, -q-ai-n'a- makes perfective verbal nouns, -q-a-nti- makes
perfective participles
Cora tika-ntk " in der Tiefe " : S. P. t'-'^'qwa = tiiq-a- " to be deep "
Pap. vaKu " hole " : S. P. '^'-paq-'' " hole "
Pap. noh " to bend " {<C*nJh-) : S. P. N''qJm-i- " to bend" = noq-j'-
Pap. tUih " to taste " {<C*tiika-) : S. P. f'^'qa- = tiq-a- " to eat "
Other examples than S. P. of Shoshonean postvocalic k are:
Huich. houca (i. e. huka) " jambes" ; Cora hotua (quoted from Diguet;
Preuss g-ives ika " der Fuss, das Bein, der Knochen ") ; Cah.
huoki : Hopi hokya " leg- " ; Mono (N. F.) -huh
N. miec "much" : Luis, muyuk "much". This -k is suffixed, as
shown by Cora mui ; Pima moi " many "
N. eca-tl " vent, air " ; Cora aka-iri) "Wind" ; Huich. heheaca " air"
(reduplicated) : Tiib. iixha-wa-l " wind " ; Mono (N. F.) higwa-p;
Gabr. ahika-r^
Examples of S. P. spirantized y are :
N. yecoa "avoir des rapports charnels avec quelqu'un" : S. P. yo^o-
" to copulate "
N. yaca-tl " nez, pointe "; Cah. yeka " nose ": Wo^'i yaka " nose" ; S.
P. ya^fO.- " end "
N. toquia " attiser le feu" ; Pap. tsui " to put out the fire" {<^*tuhi
{<C*tuki) : S. P. tu-^iua- " to put out the fire" {-w- due to u pi'e-
ceding y)
N. /g^/// " couper ", ui-tequi " egrener en frappant " : S, P. tiya-nni-
" to butcher (meat)", ti'^a- " to gather seeds by beating with
seed-beater "
N. -ca frequentative intransitive suffix of verbs expressing sounds
and other activities (e. g. cala-ni " hazer ruido cosas como nueces,
el cacao quando le cuentan ": cacala-ca " se usa quando estas
cosas son muchas-' ; patld-ni " volar ": papal la-ca " reboletear el
ave, temblar el corazon * " : S. P. -ya-, -xa- frequentative intran-
sitive suffix, particularly of verbs expressing sounds (e. g. qi-hi-
n'ia- " to sound like one tear of a rag ": qi-xa-n'ia- " to sound
like a rag tearing" ; ^^'puq'ivi- = up'uq'wi- " to bounce " : ovo-
q'zua—(a- " to bounce up and down like a rubber ball ")
Huich, queat^ou " poisson " (i. e. kea-tsu) : S. P. pd-^iu- " fish" (lit.
" water-fish ") ; Cahu. kiyu-l ' ' fish "
1. See Carochl, pp. 476-478.
420 V American Indian Languages 1
465
N. poc-tli ''smoke, vapor, fog, mist": S. P. pa^j-n'a- "fog " ; Cahu.
paxi-s " fog " ; Fern, paki-t " cloud "
N. oco-tl " pinus tenuifolla " ; Cora huhi " Kiefer" : S. P. o-(d-mp'
"fir"
N. maca " to give " ; Cah. 7naka ; Pap. rnah {<i*maka) : S. P. ma-xa-
'• to give" ; Fern. maxa\ Cahu. maxa\ Git. a-mak
N. goqui-tl " boue, fange " : S. P. so-(0- " moist ground "
N. coa-tl " serpent"; Huich. kou (i. e. ku) : S. P. -yofl- in io-^oa-*^'
" rattlesnake "
N. aqui " qui?" acd " quelqu'un " : Cahu. haxi " who?" Fern, haki
" who? " Hopi hak'i "who "; S. P. a-ra- "where ? how ? what ? "
N. acatl " roseau"; Cora hakd " das Schilfrohr " : S. P. pa-(a- " reed"
Cora tika " Nacht sein" ; Pima tsoka-r,gi " night " : S. P. tuywa- " to
be dark, night " {-zv- due to u precedijig y) ; Tiib. duga-l
Pap. vah " to go in " {<C*paka-) : S. P. pa-({a)i- " to walk"
N. -cpac- " sur, au-dessus, en haut " : S. P. -vd^i- "over" [<C*p'dki)
Several of these examples show that Shoshonean -k- is often spiran-
tized to -x- in Luiseno-Cahuilla and Gabrielino-Fernandino. Fur-
ther such examples are :
N. tldca-tl " person" : Hopi taqa " man"; Git. daga-t " person";
Fern, daxa-t; Luis, -tax ; A. C. -tax a
N. faca-tl " paille, herbe, jonc': Ser. (H.) haka-t " willow " ; Cahu.
saxa-t
N. aca-na " mettre a sec, tirer une chose de I'eau ", (refl.) " se mettre
a sec, en parlant d'un navire " : A. C. haxa-l " sand "; Luis, ex -la
" earth"; Gabr. oxa-r "land" ; Fern. 6xa-r " land"
An example of S. P. nasalized r;^ corresponding to N. ^ is :
N. nacai'tli " ear " ; Huich, 7iaka ; Cah. naka; Pap. nahKU : Hopi nak"^-
ve " ear" ; Mono (N. ¥.)-nakx\ Luis. -naq\ Cahu. -naqa\ S. P.
na-(\qd-va-^^ " ear", nar,qa-q'ai- " to hear ". We saw above, howe-
ver, that S. P. --qq- may here go back to reduplicated *nanaka- ;
cf. Tep. nanaca (according to Diguet), Pima nank (quoted from
Kroeber; Russel gives nahaka)^ Fern, -nanak. AVe are doubtless
dealing with Shoshonean -k- also in Shik . -narfi " ear " (misheard
for -na(\gi']) ; Tiib. nar,ha- (<C *nartxa- <C *naT,ka-; cf. Tiib. arjmm-l
" person" •< *fl/)A-am- <i*ar,kanl- <i*a-nakani- : A. G. na^{ani-s
" man " <^*nakani-)
N. k seems to correspond to S. P. kio in :
N. quetl (poetic form) " to arise ", quetxp. (ordinary form): S. P. qwirt-
" to get up "
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 421
Vto-A\tekan hiu.
Uto-Aztekan kw remains as such in Shoshonean and Nahuatl (written
qu and cu), also g-enerally in Sonoran ; in Papago, however, it regularly
becomes p (Uto-Aztekan p, as we have seen, becomes t; or zy in Papago).
Examples of kw initially are :
N. qua " to eat " ; Cora liiua ; Tar. ha (probably =^ hua) ; Pap. pah " to
swallow " : Git. -kwa " to eat '' ; Fern. gwa\ Gabr. kwa-a ; A. C.
qwaa
N. qmuh-tli " eagle"; Cora kuolreabe " Adler " [kiio- <i*kwa-)\ Tepe-
cano ba'ao " eagle " (on Dr. Mason's authority) : Hopi kwa-ho
" eagle " ; S. P. qivarv a-nts' " eagle *' ; Ser. (H.) qwa-t\ gwaa-is
" condor " ; Cahu! qiuaa-l " hawk (sp.) "
N. cui (i. e. kwi) " to take " ; Pap. piii " to take (sing, object)'"
{<C*kwei)\ Tepecano bi, preterit bii (on Dr. Mason's authority) :
S. P. vw'ii- " to take, pick up (sing, object) " (assimilated from
*kwn) ^ Compounded with N. cui is cectii " avoir, prendre
froid ", with which is doubtless to be directly compared Pap.
hiihpih " to become cold " [<i*sekiui ; *kiuii when used absolutely,
*-kwi in compounds)
N. cuiloni " sodomite " : S. P. t'''"tu-mp'' " anus " = kwifu-
N. cuiila-tl " excrement"; Cora tsuita " Excremente von Menschen
und Tieren " {<C*kwila ; *kwi > tswi-, cf. */e/- > tsi-) ; Pap. pthr
" manure " {<C*kwita)\ Tepecano bit, preterit blB " to defecate "
(on Dr. Mason's authority) : S. P. qwitsa- '" to defecate " {<i*k'ajita-)
Cora kwasi " der Schwanz der Tiere " ; Pap. pahhi'' tail " {<_*kwas-i) ;
Tepecano bai (on Dr. Mason's authority) : S. P. q'^'-^'si-^'
" tail " = kwas'i- ; Gahu. suwet he-qwasqa '• star its-tail, comet "
In some cases Uto-Aztekan kwa seems to vary with ko [ku] :
N. quai-ll " head " (in compounds qua-) ; Cora ki-pod " hair " (Kt.
" head-hair " ; ki- <.*ku-) ; Tep. ku-pa " hair" ; Pima ko-pats
*' hair " : Tiib. ko'o- " head " ; Git. -go-po " hair "
N. quahui-tl "wood, tree, stick"; Cora kiye{ri) " Baum, Pfahl "
{<*kuye-) ; Huich. kouhie {:^kuye) " baton " ; Tep. kwazoi " wood ";
Pima kwak (quoted from Kroeber), kokaki (given by Russel) ; Pap.
kuA " to get wood" ; Tepecano kuao " wood, to gather wood "
1. This etymology is certain. My previous comparison of N. cui (misunderstood
as phonetically kui) with S. P. -qoi- " to take off " (see p. 395 of Part I) is to be dis-
carded.
422 V American Indian Languages 1
467
(on Dr. Mason's authority) : Hopi ko-ho'' wood" ; S. P. q'"'qwa-p-'i
{=.-kuk'wa-)
Pap. ku'A and Tepecano kuaa make it extremely likely that where
kiL'a- occurs in these words we are dealing with original Uto-Aztekan
*kua- oT*kua-. This is remarkably confirmed by both Nahuatl and Sou-
thern Paiute. Original *kwaivi-tli (with accentual scheme ' ' ', see Part I)
would have become N. *kwaw'-tli (in Spanish orthography *quduh-tli,
not to be confused with quduh-tli " eagle"); original *kuaivi-tli, *kuaivi-
tli (with accentual scheme ' ' ' ') had to develop to *kuawi-tl [-a- could not
become syncopated before w), whence, u losing its vocalic value, kwawi-
tl (in Spanish orthography quahui-tl). Hence N. quahni-tl is only appa-
rently opposed to our law of alternating stressed morae (see Part I,
p. 419). As for Southern Paiute, original *'kwa- would have reduplicated
to *kwak-wa- (> S. P. *q''^''^'qwa-), while kuk'wa- <i*kuk'na- is perfectly
intelligible.
Original km has given rise to kwi in both Southern Paiute and Papago
(where it further developed to pi'^ p') ^^ •
Cora kitsi " Rauch " [<C*kutsi) ; Huich. kout-^i " furnee " (i. e. kutsi) ;
Pap. kups " smoke " {<i*kupis <C*kukwi-ts <C*kuku{b)i-, see Mono
(N. F.) below) : Mono (N. F .) gukuhi-p "smoke"; Wob. gugui-p ;
S. P. kivik'^an^ [<i*kui- <C*kuhi- ; note that value of two morae of
original disyllabic *kui- is preserved in S. P. kwi- by lengthening
i to i'
Uto-A^tekan
Both s and s occur in Nahuatl, but 1 think it very likely that N. s
(written x), aside from those cases where it can be shown to have deve-
loped from unvoiced y or / or from s originally followed by i- timbre ^,
always goes back to original s. In Southern Paiute, and other Shosho-
nean dialects, s and s are also to be kept apart, but here again I believe
it likely that it will be ultimately possible to show them to have deve-
loped from one sibilant (in Southern Paiute s seems to stand regularly
before i and :?; s before i and o ; both ^ and i before a, though s seems
more typical). It is doubtless significant that N. s (written c, before e and
i, and :^, f) corresponds to both S. P. s and 3: and that N. s (x) may cor-
respond to S. P. s. It is further important to observe that Pap. has h or
zero corresponding to both s and s of Nahuatl and Southern Paiute. All
this points to only one Uto-Aztekan sibilant (here assumed to be s) which
1. See Part I, pp. 417, 418.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 423
468
in various dialects must have developed to s under appropriate phonetic
circumstances.
Examples of Shoshonean initial s corresponding- to Nahuatl s are :
N. fali-ui " s'attacher, adherer a une chose ", ^ali-iii-ni " gluant, vis-
queux " : S. P. sarrd-p-'' " gum "
N. folo-ni " couler avec fracas, en parlant d'un torrent ": S. P. soa-
fi'ia- " to make a sound as of flowing w^ater "
N. (ogui-tl " fange " : S. P. so-(0- " mud " (with open o ; probably to be
understood as sO'(O-)
Pap. hah " to melt, thaw " {<*sa-) : S. P. sa- "to melt ", saai-tui-
" to cause to melt "'
N. i^ta-tl " salt", iita-c " white" (lit. "salt-colored"): Cahu. sela-
xa-t " salty "
N. faca-tl " paille, herbe, jonc " : Cahu. saxa-t "willow" ; Ser. (H.)
haka-t " willow " (in all Serrano dialects Shohonean s^ s regu-
larly appears as h or x ; cf. Papago)
Examples of Nahuatl (or Sonoran) initial s corresponding to Shoshonean
s [s) are :
N. fan " only, but" : S. P. -sampa- " only, except"
N. ce, ce{n)- " one " ; Huich. che-oui (i. e. se-ivi); Cora se- (according to
Kroeber's data; Preuss gives sai " ein ", cf. probably also sen
" sicherlich "j ; Cah. senu- ; Tepecano hima-l ' {<C*sema-) : S. P.
M- " one (perhaps <i*suu- < *sunu- <i*sinii- ; cf. Cah. senu-) ;
Hopi syu-xke; Mono (N. F.) simu ; Mono (In.) i/W ; Tub. tsil-is
(<C*.^i-?); Luis. su-pul\ S. J. C. se-pul. Compare also N. ce{n-)
" entierement " : S. P. su- " entirely, well" as verb prefix
N. cea, ceya, cia " vouloir "; Tepecano hhi " to desii'e " {<i*sJhi) *: S.
P. -suya-, -sia- (probably = -siya-^ cf. N. ceya) in -^u-p' u-suya-yiva-
ti'oa- compound modal suffix " would that! I wish (he) had (done
so and so) or would (do so and so) ! " [-'{U- irrealis ; -p'U- proba-
bly perfective ; -ywa- probablj"^ tense-modal element ; -n'oa- modal
element difficult to define ; -suya- is left to be assigned desidera-
tive value)
N. i:{te-tl " nail " {<C*sute-) ; Cora site] Cah. sutu ; Pap. hi'iTSi {<C*suti):
S. P. iitsu- " nail " {<C*situ) ; Shik. -sidu ; Tiib. sulu- ; Gabr.
estsu- ; A. C. -suru [<i*sut'u-) ; Cahu. sal'u
N. ce-tl " glace ", ce-cui " avoir, prendre froid ", ceui " se refroidir " ;
Cora se " es ist kalt" ; Huich. je-ri "froid" ; Pap. hu- {<^*se-) in
huhpih "to become cold", hiiuM "to be cold" , hiiva tsi " to
1. On Dr. Mason's authority.
424 V American Indian Languages 1
become cool " : S. P. si- in si-p-a-ya- " to feel cold" (lit. " to
die, -ya-, of cold" ; s'i-p-a- probably identical with Pap. hil-va-),
si-p-i'ra- " to be cold (e. g. ice) ", si-fu- " to be cold weather "
N. cihua-tl " w^oman" {(oua-ll is given by Simeon as "forme rare ") :
S. J. C. sor,wd-l " woman "; Luis, surfi-l
N. ci-tlalin " star", xihui-tl " comet " (perhaps dissimilated from *SHun-
or *suiui- ; cf. cihiia-tl : foua-tl above) ; Cora sureabe, suruabe.
" Stern"; Huich. sulawi " star "; Tepecano ' hiiva '. Hopi jo-/;o
" star " ; Tiib. su-l\ Git. huu-fi (< *sil-) ;Luis. suii-la
Tar- sula "heart"; Tep. hura [<.*snla): Tiib. suuna- " heart"; Git.
-xim {<i*suna-)\ Fern, -hiin {<C*sima-) ; A. C. -sun ; Cahu. -smi
Examples of postvocalic Uto-Aztekan (Nahuatl) s : Shoshonean -s-, S. P.
-s'-, -s'- are :
N. aci " atteindre avec la main, parvenir en un lieu " ; Cora as " an-
kommen, anhalten ", asi " angetroffen werden, sich finden " ; Pap.
ai {<C*ahi <i*asi) " to reach, overtake, pass" : S. P. ^^'std- '' sur-
face, outer covering " = as'id- (?)
Cora kivasi " der Schwanz der Tiere " ; Pap. pahhi "tail " [<C*kwas' i) \
S. P. ^"^■^'5/-<J>' " tail" {<z.*kivas-i-pi)
Cora has " alterer Bruder " : Cahu, pas " elder brother " (cf. with -ts-,
N. dch-tli " frere aine ")
N. tica-tl " terre ou poudre blanche ",./ic^-//a^, tice-ctic " blanc" ; Pima
tdhai "white " [<C*tosa-) ; Huich. toja, tousa " blanc"; Cah. tosa-
li: S. P. tfs-a- " white"
N. teci " moudre le mais ou autre chose sous la pierre"; Cotsl tiise
" mahlen" ; Pap. tsui " to grind " {<i*tiihi <i*tusi) : S. P. tus'u-
" to grind seeds "
N. neci " to appear ": S.P. nas'i-m'i- " to seem, appear "
Examples of N. (Sonoran) s corresponding to Shoshonean 5 are :
N. xal-li "sable, pierre qui se met en poudre " ; Cora se "Sand ", sd-ta
" auf dem Sande, sandiger Ort " [se and sd- may point to ori-
ginal stem *sea-, cf. Cora dka " Wind ": Huich . reduplicated
heheaca " air " ; this *sea- or parallel *s{a- may Tie back of N. xal-
<i*s^'al-): S. P. sir,ioa-mpu- " sand, gravel" {<C*siwa-). How
Nahuatl-Cora *sea-, *sia- is related to S. P. *siwa- is not clear
N. xix-tli " excrement de I'homme", d-xix-tli " urine" (<*5Z> <*i/^y-
<C*sisi- ; si's- may here be due to assimilation of s- to -/-) ; Pap.
hi I " urine " « *sii-) : S. P. sii- " to urinate ")
1. On Dr. Mason's authority. Dr. Mason pointe out that Tep. sia-vok, given in Part I
as cognate, must be rejected, as Uto-Aztekan 5> Tep. h.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 425
470
Huich. schonre " rouge " (i.e. su-re) ; Cora ta-ja-ri " rouge " (Diguet)',
ta-sa, ta-sa-ra, ta-sa-vin " rot, rot-gelb " (Preuss); Tep. soiihe
" rouge " (i.e. su-he) : Cahu. sel-nekis " red " (Cahu. and A.C.
-nekis, -nikis are suffixes for color terms ; se-l- with suflixed -/, cf.
A.C. tu-I-nikis " black " and Cahu. dnui-s-nikis " white "). Huich.
SU-, Cora -sa-, Tep. su-^ Cahu. se- may point to Uto-Aztekan *so-,
*se- (cf. doubtless also Pap. hilhr " red face paint " <i*sc-)
Uto-Aztekan (or Nahuatl-Sonoran) s corresponds to Shoshonean ts in :
N, poga-ud " s'enfler", po(a-ti " manger avec exces " ; Cora husa, husai
" gesattigt sein " : S.P. p'^^^tM- " to be filled up " ^ pufsa-
N. e:(-tli " sang ", efo-tl " sang de Thomme " : Ser. (H.) -/// " blood";
Git. -odj . These Serrano forms probably point to Shoshonean
*its{o)-. It is difficult to separate from Uto-Aztekan *eso-^ *^tio-
" blood", certain Luiseno-Cahuilla and Hopi forms: Cahu. ewu-l
" blood " ; -evj'' " blood of a person ", ew^i-l " much blood " ; A.
C. -ott'' " blood "; S. J. C. -ou ; Luis, -ou ; Hopi uKwe. These
forms seem to point to Shoshonean *iwo- or, with, voiceless lu,
*iwo- ; how this is related to *iso-, *ttso- is not easy to see
So far all Southern Paiute reflexes of Uto-Aztekan s have been seen to
be some form of sibilant (5-, s-\ -s'-, -s'-\ -ts-). There are, however, a
number of clear cases in \vhich Uto-Aztekan postvocalic s is represented
in Southern Paiute by ' (glottal stop). We may consider this glottal stop
as developed from non-geminated postvocalic s (all cases of S. P. post-
vocalic s or j-, as we have already seen, are geminated). Whether S. P. ' is
here directly equivalent to Pap. zero (which sometimes appears as repre-
sentative, instead of /; or hh, of Uto-Aztekan postvocalic s) is difficult to
say at present, though it does not seem likely (cf., e. g., Pap. tsur " to
grind " <i*tusi : S. P. tus'ii- with Pap. luui " eye " <C*pusi : S. P.
pu'i-). Examples of Uto-Aztekan -j- : S. P. ' are :
N. ix-tli " ffiil " {<C*isi- <C*pusi^ ; Cora hisi " eyes " {<C_*pusi) ; Tep.
buy (i. e. bui) ] Pap. wui ; Tar. pusi- \ CaIi. past-: S. P. pui-^^
" eye"; Shik. -bui\ Mono -biis\ Tub. punt si- \ Luis. -pus\ Hopi
bo^si. Uto-Aztekan *pusi-
N. cochi " to sleep "; Tep. kosi \ Cora kutsu; Pap. koi ; Tepecano koc,
preterit koi ^ : S. P. qfoi- " to go to sleep (plur.) " [<C*hsi-).
Uto-Aztekan *htsi-, *hsi-
N. tietxi " to fall"; Tepecano _^ii " to stumble, fall flat "* preterit ^iV :
S. P. wii- " to fall " [<^*unsi-^ assimilated from *wisi-). Uto-
Aztekan * wet si-, *wesi-
1. On Dr. Mason's authority.
426 V American Indian Languages 1
471
Pap. vihhA '' penis " (if from Uto-Aztekan *wisa- and not *pisa-) : S. P.
imA-p-'' " penis " [<i*wisa-'l)
N. xix-tli "excrement " [<*sisi-)\ Pap. hi i "to urinate'' (dissimi-
lated from *hii- or *hihi-'}) : S. P. sti- " to urinate "
Another example of S. P. '< -s- is afforded within Shoshonean itself:
Cahu. gwaH-s " ash " : S. P. qwo'd-f'^'qa- " to smoke " (lit. " to
eat qwj'a- ■=. ashes? ") [<^kw^sa-)
Uto-Aztekan m.
Uto-Aztekan m appears as such in Nahuatl (where, however, it becomes
-n w^hen final ; also assimilated to n before /, tl, ch, t^i and to y), written
n, before k and kiv), Sonoran, and Shoshonean. Examples of initial Uto-
Aztekan m are :
N. mon-tJi "son-in-law" ; Cora tnu " Schwieger (-vater, -mutter,
-sohn, tochter) ", muna-ra " Schwiegervater " : S. P. mon-a-tsi-
*' son-in-law "
N. met7^-tli " moon"; Huich. met:^a " lune "; Cora matsa- (from
Kroeber), md's-kirai "Mond " (Preuss); Tar. metia\ Pap. tnah'sa t:
Hopi moya-wo " moon " ; Tiib. miiya-l ', Git. mua-t^; Fern, mod-t;
Luis, moi-la; Cahu. meni-l; S. P. tnu a- ; Mono (In.) mila-ts
N. metla-tl "metate"; Huich. mata\ Pap. viaJotsiihT: S. P. mard-ts'
" grinding stone " ; Luis, mala-l
N. mai-tl " hand" [no-md " my hand ", md- verb prefix " with the
hand "); Huich. mama ; Cora mod-ka " Hand " (Kroeber quotes
mod-ma)', Tar. ma-; Cah. mama; Tep. ma-; Pima ma-: S. P.
mo'y-^'^ " hand ". ina- verb prefix " with the hand " [mo' J- assi-
milated from *mfa-, cf. Cora moa-1) ; Shik. moo ; Mono (In.) -maia;
Hopi maa-t; Tiib. ryia-; Git. -ma; Fern, -ma; Luis, -ma; Cahu.
-mo. It is not clear how S. P. mSo- is related to S. P. ma-
N. maca " to give" ; Cah. maka ; Tep. maxe; Pima maka ; Pap. mah
{<i*maka): S. P. ma-(a- " to give"; Mono (In.) itiaki; Bank.
maha ; Git. a-mdk ; Fern, maxa ; Cahu. maxa
N. mimiloa " renverser, faire rouler une chose": S. P. miT,qu'd-
" (frightened animals) come out in one bunch "
N. min-tontli " arriere-petit-fils, petite-fille " : S. P. mia- " small, tiny "
Cora ma, ma-n " hier, dort ", ma-ka, ma-kan " dort ", md-na, md-naka;
Huich. ma-na " ici " : S. P. ma- demonstrative stem " that
(visible) "
Pap. mat " to learn, know " : S. P. tnai- " to find, discover "
N. mice " much" ; Pima moi " many " : Luis, muyuk " much "
Four: Uto-Aztecan Lxinguages 427
472
Cora mil " Kopf ", mouhoii (Diguet) " tete " (i. e. tfiuti); Huich. moho
" tete " ; Tar. luo- " head " ; Pima mo- (from Kroeber), mdd-ka
(Russel) ; Tep. mo- (from Kroeber), 7iiahou [Dignel] = mau ; Pap.
mo'o: Tiib. tso-tno " hair ". Uto-Aztekan *7)ioo-
Postvocalic Uto-Aztekan m appears in Southern Paiute either gemina-
ted as -m- or spirantized as -y]w;- (in Ute --qw- generally appears as -w-
with nasalization of preceding vowel). Examples of elements appearing
in both forms are :
N. -m^ plural suffix (shortened to -n in i-n " these " ; o-n " those " ;
-qiii-n " them ", plural form oi-c-, -qui- " him, it"; -ti-n, plural
suffix) : S. P. -m'u- =: -m-'i- (<< *-nve), -t,wu- (<C *-me), animate
plural suffixes (e. g. 'i-m'u- " these ", 'u-?n'u- " those", 'aya-m'u-
" turtles "; ntr,zoL'-r,wu-^'' persons ")
N. a?no- " your (plur.) ", ame-hudn[lin) " you (plur.) ", an- " you
(plur. ") as proclitic to verb form [<C*anu-) ; Tepecano am- " your
(plur.); you (plur. obj.)" ^ : S. P. m'^um'i- " you (plur.)" as
absolute form [-m'i- suffixed element, cf. ni'-m'i- '^ w^e exclusive " ;
m'^u-, with its peculiar labialized m, doubtless goes back to*i>;ri'-,
as shown also by cognate forms in other Shoshonean dialects),
-' ...r,ivum'i-^ -' . ..rium'i- "your, you (plur.)" possessive and objec-
tive suffix, -'...-/jti/c;- " you (plur.)" subjective suffix [<C*-7ne)\
Git. iimil " you (plur.) "; Ser. (H.) ilma-m; Cahu. eme-m\ Luis.
omo-m ; Hopi omaa
Examples of S. P. geminated -w- are:
N. mo- " thv ", mi-i:{ " thee, to thee"; Cora }iiua " du " : S. P.-'...w/-
" thy, thee " possessive and objective siiffix, im' i- " thou " as
absolute form [<i*'ivvi-, cf. Ute im""!-)] Tiib. -y; " thy ", umbi
" thou "; Ser. [H.) mo- " thy "; Fern, tnu-, mo- " thy ", umii
" thou" ; Luis, om " thou " ; Hopiow " thou ". How these Shosho-
nean forms w^ith nasal are related to forms without nasal (S. J. C.
0-" thy "; A. Coo "thou"; Cahu. fV " thy ", e ''thou "; Mono
(N. F.) ii " thou"; Shik. ii) is not clear. Apparently Shoshonean
possessed two etymologically distinct elements : *mo- " thy " (cf.
N. mo-), *mi- or *-mi " thy; thee " (cf. N. mi-t^): and *i- or *ti-
" thou " (morphologically, not etymologically, parallel to N. ti-
" thou "). Forms like Luis, om, S. P. im'i-, Git. iimil, used as
absolute forms for " thou ", would then b6 compounded of sub-
jective *7'- and possessive -objective *-;;«'.
N. toma " to loosen, untie, open, deliver, set free " : S. P. ttiupra- " to
1. Quoted on Dr. Mason's authority.
428 V American Indian Languages 1
473
pick up several things ", td-qwai- " to pick up what has been
rejected " [<i*tdmai-) (?)
Examples of S. P. spirantized -r^w- <^-m- are :
N. tlan-tli " tooth " [<C*tlame-)\ Huich. tame\ Cora tame\ Tar. ttme-',
Cah. tami ; Tep. -tamo : S. P. tar,wd-mp" " tooth" [<^*tama-)\
Mono (In.) -tawa '-w- <-m-, as in S. P.); Shik. -dawa; Tiib.
dama-\ Git. -dama; Fern, -tama; Luis, -tma " mouth "; Hopi tama
•' tooth "
N. tema " mettre, deposer quelque chose en un lieu, remplir une chose
de semence ou de terre ": S. P. ti'T,wa- " to cover up, close up
(hole)" {<C*tima-)
N. nemi " to live " : S. P. mr,iuu- " person " [<^*ninii-) ; Ute nuwi-
[<i*mmi-) ; Mono (N. F.) niim ; Shoshone m" (i. e. niw)
N. nema " pied a pied, pas k pas " : S. P. nariwa- " track " («<* nama-)
N. mi(jui " to die " : S. P. tia-r,u'uk'i- " to die off " {<C*-mik'i-)
Huich. tamejh ' ' nous " ; Cora itan ' ' wir " (-n <C -m-) ; Tar. tatiie ' ' we " ;
Cah. //(;m ; Tep. atem : S. P. tar,wa- " we" {<i*tama-)\ Shik.
tldi-qwa ; Git. itsam; Luis, /iaw ; Cahu. tseme-m ; Hopi iffltmo
Cora fewf, hemi-n " vor, bei, in, zwischen, unter " {<i*pemiT) postposi-
tive element: S. P. -var,iui- " in " [<i*-pami-)
Utb-A\tekan n.
Uto-Aztekan n is normally represented as such in Nahuatl (assimilated
to r<, written n, before k and hu'), Sonoran, and Shoshonean. Examples
of initial Uto-Aztekan n are :
N. ne[hudtl) " I "; Cora «^, ni, na, tin "ich"; Huich. ne\ S. P. n'l
"I"; Mono (N. F.) nu\ Tub. nii-gi ; Git. mi; Fern, nu-mii
Luis, no ; Cahu. ne ; Hopi no
N. nene-pilli " tongue"; Cora nanu ; Huich. nene; Tar. «m/- ; Cah.
njni; Tep. n^ww : Git. -no-qi; Gabr. -jio-qi- ; Cahu. -w^r;. This n-
appears dissimilated to /- in Hopi ler,i; Tiib. hla-
N. «^a " to appear " : S. P. nas-'i-nfi- " to seem, appear "
N. nema " pas a pas " : S. P. nariwa- " track '
N. nemi " to live " : S. P. niriwu " person ", nir^wu'a- " body "
N. ne- reflexive prefix : S. P. na- reflexive prefix. This element is pro-
bably identical with reciprocal na- (of quasi-dual significance) in
N. na-hui "four"; Huich. na-u-ka (from Kroeber), na-o-ba
(Diguet) ; Tar. na-kuo ; Cah. na-ki : Hopi na-leyi " four " (cf.
leiyi " two " ; similarly N. -hui, i. e. -wi, and Huich. -u-, -o- are
etymologically identical with N. o- o{ o-me " two ", S. P. wa-,
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 429
474
Tiib. wo, Cahu. wi), na-vai " six " (cf. pahio "■ three "), na-nal
" eight " (cf. nakyi " four ") ; S. P. na-vai- " six " (cf. pai-
" three")
N. naca:(-tli " ear " : S. P. na-qqd-va-^' " ear "
N. noloa " plier, courber une chose " ; Pap. noh " to bend" : S. P.
noq'o-m'i- " to bend "
N. non-qua " a part " : S. P. nan'o-ru- " by oneself"
N. noquia " repandre une chose ", noqiii-ui " couler (en parlant d'un
liquide) " : S. P. nuq'i- " to stream, run ".
Postvocalic Uto-Aztekan n appears in Southern Paiute either as gemi-
nated -«•- or, when orig-irially ungeminated, disappears entirely (cf. -s'-
and -'- as postvocalic forms of Uto-Aztekan -s-). Doubtless -n- first left
its trace as nasalization of preceding- vowel, this nasalization itself later
disappearing (Uto-Aztekan -ana- >■ -aa-.^ -aa- is quite parallel in deve-
lopment to -ama- > -aT,wa- > awa-, e. g. Hopi dama " tooth " : S. P.
tar,wa- : Ute tawa- : Mono -tawa).
Examples of geminated -n'- are:
N. mon-tli "son-in-law" ; Cora, muna-ra " Schwiegervater ' • : S. P.
mon'd-ts' " son-in-law
N. pani " en haut, au sommet " : S, P. paan'i- "to be high ",
paan-t'"'^ " high "
N. -pan "upon " ; Cora ha-poa{n) " auf, in, iiber": S. P. -vaan'' " on,
upon "
N. -nal-co " de I'autre cote" : S. P. -n'ar^qwa- " from (beyond) "
N. «/-, «- " I ", W0-" my" : S. P. -«/- " I ; my, me " ; Tiib. -n "my ";
Cahu. ne-\ Fern, ne-, ni-
Gora vene " schlagen" (cf. ve " schlagen, werfen, schiessen, treffen") :
S. P. wun-ai- ""to throw down
Pap. ntihNi " to fly up, fly away (plur.)" ; Cora eni-te " fliegen, flat-
tern ": S. P. nontsi- " to fly " (syncopated and palataliied from
*non'i-ti-)\ Se r . ( H . ) hinyi-k
Examples of S. P. zero developed from intervocalic Uto-Aztekan -n-
are :
N. -ton-tli " suffixe marquant lapetitesse, lemepris " {<*-tona-) : S. P.
tua- ".child, son", -fua-, -ma-, -ntim- "small, young of"
{<i*tuna-)
N. min-tontli " arriere-petit-fils, -petite-fiUe " {<.*mina-) : S. P. mia-
" tiny " {<^*mina-)
N. cen-tli ** tige, epi de mais sec ", a-cecentli '* mauvaise herbe
[<C*sene-l)\ Tepecano hun " corn " *? (<C*5W«/'-?) : S. P. sii-
i. On Dr. Mason's authority.
430 V American Indian Languages 1
475
" squaw-bush stem used in basketry " (<*ii«f-). This etymology
assumes that Uto-Aztekan *sene- meant " stalk, stem " originally
and that " corn " developed as secondary meaning
N. ce[n) "one " ; Tar. sine-] Gah, senu ; Cora sen " sicherlich " : S. P.
sii- " one " {<C*snu- {<^*sunii- <i*s'inu-'l)
N. -huan " in company with " : S. P. -r^wai- '* in company with "
[<C*-'w''ani-)
Cahu. meni-l " moon " : S. P. mud-ts' " moon " [<.*mina-l)\ Mono
(In.) miia-ts; Shik. mo^a-tsi; Git. miia-t^: Fern, mod-t] Luis, moi-
la; Uopi moya-vjo ; Tiib. milya-l. How Shoshonean *mtna-, *mia-,
*miya- is related to Nahuatl-Sonoran *metsa- is not clear.
N. paina " courir vile" ; Pap. uiohpij " to run (plur.)" : S. P. pjya-
" to run about " {<i*poina-)
N, pipina "manger, sucer des Cannes k sucre ", pipinia " s'humecter,
s'impregner d'humidite, en parJant d'un objet ": S. P. piyd-*\*'
" sap, juice " {<C*pina-; -y- is glide- between i and a)
Another example of S. P. zero <Z-n-, as indicated within Shoshonean
itself, may be :
Mono (In.) tohina " deer" [<i*tiina)\ Ban. tina " antelope " (= t'ina)\
Luis, ton-la] A. C. doni-l {<i*tina-) ; Cahu. teni-l : S. P. ti-ria-
" deer " {<^*tiina-; --(- is glide), pariia- " elk " =: " water-deer "
{<C*pa-ttina-)
It is possible that intervocalic -n- sometimes disappears also in Papago.
An example pointing to this is :
Pap. tsiii " to say " {<*tmi-'^): S. P. tin-ia- " to tell "
Uto-Aztekan (\.
In Nahuatl and Sonoran y) is not found, except insofar as m and n are
in Nahuatl assimilated before k and kw to v] ; this r\, however, as being
purely secondary in origin, does not interest us here. In Southern Paiute
and other Shoshonean dialects, however, y) not only occurs directly
before k- sounds (in which case it need not be original but may go back
to m or n), but also freely after vowels. In such cases Nahuatl-Sonoran
regularly has n. This -y]- does not always occur in all Shoshonean dialects,
but is replaced by -m- or -n- in some. Where Nahuatl-Sonoran n corres-
ponds to intervocalic Shoshonean yj or m, I assume, for the present, that
we are dealing with Uto-Aztekan y;, inasmuch as no phonetic circums-
tancesr can be defined under which Uto-Aztekan n becomes Shoshonean
Y) or m. It seems plausible to suppose that original yj would in different
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 431
476
dialects shift to n or m. Uto-Aztekan yj is parallel to n insofar as it appears
in Southern Paiute either as 73 (sometimes m?) or zero. It may therefore
be assumed that we have orig-inal geminated r)' (S. P. -q- or -?;-) and
spirantized yj, which disappears. Examples of Uto-Aztekan yj preserved
in Southern Paiute are :
N. tlanquai-tl " knee " ; Cora tunu ; Pap, iohNii: S. P. tar.a- " knee "
Mono (In.) -ta-(] ; Shik. -dar^a ; Tiib. torfi-; Mono (N. F.) -rana-
Hopi dami (perhaps -am- <<*-:7r,-, orig^inal o labializing y) to m)
Git. -tama:A. G. -lami; Gahu. -tami. Uto-Aztekan *thTte-, *tlar^e-'
N. ten-tli " lips, mouth"; Huich. teni\ Cora Uni \ Pap. UiloNi : Fern
-tor^i- " mouth " ; S. P. timpa- " mouth " (-m- assimilated to
following p from yj). In Shoshone -dip^ Ban. -//pa, Mono (In
-topi, -p- is to be understood as -p'- < -mp- (cf. Uncompahgre Ute
-/)•- <i-mp-). Uto-Aztekan */g/j/- ?
Pap. a'fl.v " wings ", aNnu-Ki " to flap the wings " : S. P. atiCivu-^'
"arm and shoulder" (assimilated from *fl!Y]?- ?). Uto-Aztekan
'^ar.e- ?
Cora kin " der Gatte ", kina^'' einen zum Gatten nehmen " ; Pap. kuN
" husband " : S. P. qum'a- " husband " [<^* qu-ri' a- , u labializing
y; to w?). Uto-Aztekan *ko-qa-'l
Without cognate in Southern Paiute, so far as at present known, is ;
N. can-tli " joue " ; Huich. kana "■ front " ; Pap. kuM " cheek " (why-
;«-?): Tiib. garia- " beard"; Git. -qaqa \ Mono (N. F-) -^an \
Wob. -gan. Uto-Aztekan *kar,a-'^
An example of Uto-Aztekan yj corresponding to S. P. zero is :
Huich. una " salt ' ; Cora una ; Cah. ona; Pap. on: S. P. od-*i>' " salt"
(•<*^/]fl-) ; Wob. iima-bi [-m- perhaps labialized from -y)- because
of originally preceding 0) ; Shik. o-qa-bi; Tiib. ur,a-l ; Fern, a-qo-r
metathesis from *or,a-r ?) ; Luis. eT,-la ; Cahu. e-qi-l (<< *oqa-T) ;
Hopi laria. Uto-Aztekan *:7Y;fl-?
Examples of S. P. zero <-v3-, based on Shoshonean evidence alone,
are :
Gabr. mama-r " grass " (assimilated from ma-qa-'l Kroeber analyzes it
as reduplicated ma-mar) : S. P. maa-vu- " bush, plant; clothes;
thing " (" bush, plant " is probably its primary meaning, as -vu-
is regularly employed as suffix with plant nouns). Shoshonean
*ma-ria-'l
Hopi moqwi " chief" {<i*nw(\i, w being perhaps due to preceding 0):
S. P. moi- " to lead, act as chief" (<^[*moY)/-, which would
explain why moi- nasalizes following consonants). Shoshonean
*wor)J- ?
432 V American Indian Languages 1
'477
Uto-Axtekan I.
Uto-Aztekan / is not preserved as such in Shoshonean . Where / occurs
in Shoshonean, as in Tiibatulabal, Hopi, and Luiseno-Cahuilla, it is
either spiranti zed from Shoshonean t or dissimilated from n. Uto-Aztekan
/ and n fell together in Shoshonean into n ; original /, which seems nearly
always to have been postvocalic, appears regularly in Southern Paiute
in geminated form as -«•-, only doubtfully in spirantized form as zero.
Inasmuch as there is nothing to show that Nahuatl / and n vary accor-
ding to purely phonetic circumstances and as, furthermore, Nahuatl /
has Sonoran reflexes distinct from those of Nahuatl n (Cora r; Tarahu-
mare / ; Cahita r ; Tepehuane-Tepecano r), it seems justifiable to consider
Uto-Aztekan / as primary and not merely derived from n.
Examples of Uto-Aztekan -/- corresponding to S. P. (Shoshonean) -«-
are:
N. coloa {<i*koli-wa) " doubler, plier une chose; faire des circuits, aller
quelque part par des detours ", coli-ui " pencher, se renverser, se
courber, en parlant d'un mur" ; Cora kuri-yi " kreisen (von
Vogeln)", hiri-pin ■' sich auf dem Boden walzen ", kuri-pua
" einen umherwalzen " : S. P. qm-i- " to return, come back by
same road". Uto-Aztekan*^:?//-?
N. cal-li "house" {<*kali-) ; Tar. kali-; Gah. kari : S. P. qan-i-
" house"; Tiib. hani-l
N. col-li"- aieul, aieule " : S. P. qufvu- " great-grandfather"; Vteqinru-
" paternal grandfather ". Uto-Aztekan *hlo-'l
N. fali-ui " adherer a une chose ", (ali-ui-ni " gluant, visqueux " : S.
P. san'a-p''' " gum "
N. -/-//■ {<i*-li-tli) suffix making abstract nouns from verb and adjective
stems (e. g. tona-l-li " ardeur du soleil " <itona, qua-ita-l-li
" blancheur de la tete " <iiita-c " blanc "), -//-;(-//i suffix making
verbal nouns : S. P. -n'a- suffix making verbal nouns
Cora, kuolreabe " Adler " {hiolrea- < Uto-Aztekan hwalea- 'V) : S. P.
qzvdn-d-nts- " eagle". Without -/- suffix are N.quauh-tli'' eagle":
Cahu. qwaa-l " hawk (sp.) " ; Y{oYt\ kwa-ho " eagle ''
Tar, sula " heart"; Tep. hura\ Tepecano hur^: Tiib. suuna- "heart ";
Git. -xun\ Fern, -him ; Luis, -sun
If the vowel originally following / («•) is syncopated in Southern
Paiute, -«•- appears as that nasal [m, n, or y;) which is homorganic with
the following consonant; in other words, a nasalized consonant results.
Examples are :
1. On Dr. Mason's authority.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 433
N. mimiloa {<^*-niili-wa) (refl.) " se rebuelca como una bestia " (Garo-
chi) : S.P. mir^qwa- "(frightened cattle) come out in one bunch "
(■< *min • i-)
N. -nal-co " de I'autre cote" : S. P. -n-a-qqiva- "from beyond"
(< *-n'an- + unknown vowel, as it is syncopated in both Nahuatl
and Southern Paiute)
N. -//- " to, for" in -li-a- •' to, for ", -l-lhuia " to, for ", -l-tia causa-
tive suffix : S. P. 'Ttqi- " to, for" (< Uto-Aztekan *-li-ke ^
Shoshonean *-n'i-ki]
N. xal-li " sable, pierre qui se met en poudre " : S. P. sir{wa-mpu-
" sand, gravel" [<i*siwan' — [-unknown vowel, syncopated in
both Nahuatl and Southern Paiute)
N. iiapal-li, uapali-tl " planche, petite poutre, bois " : S. P. Jvi- + nasa-
lized consonant (<C *^pifvi-)
I have only one example of Uto-Aztekan -/- corresponding to S. P.
zero :
N. (olo-ni '■ couler avec fracas, en parlant dun cours d'eau ": S. P.
sM-n'ia- " to make a noise as of flowing water ". Uto-Aztekan
Under unknown conditions Uto-Aztekan -/- appears as Shoshonean -/-
(S. P. geminated -f- or spirantized -?■-). This fact, while it cannot at
present be satisfactorily explained, indicates that the treatment of Uto-
Aztekan -/- was not entirely analogous in Shoshonean to that of -n-.
Examples are :
N. cuilo-ni "sodomite ": S. P. kwifu-mpi- "anus "(nasalized form of
suffix perhaps due to earlier form *kwitvu- <^*kwilu-)
Cora hire, -xure " eine Kugel, einen Ball machen " (<[ *pnre <i*pole):
S. P. pbfo-q-wa- "to be round " (<*/?3ri-). Uto-Aztekan *pjle-1
N. -lo passive and impersonal : S. P. -t''ua- impersonal suflix
N. piloa " pendre quelqu'un, suspendre " (<" *pili-wa ; transitive mea-
ning due to transitive suffix -loa) ; S. P. pur'tr'i- " to hang on to
(intr.) " {<C*pitttu). Uto-x\ztekan *peli-l
N. p//-// " child, son, daughter " {<Z*pili-) ; Cora peri, pari " Sohn,
Tochter, Kind (vom Vater gesagt) " : A. C. pulyi-ni-s " baby "
(i. e. pulH- <i*puti-\ A. G. -/- is naturally not directly compa-
rable to N. -/-). Uto-Aztekan *peli-, *pali- ?
Uto-Aztekan w.
Uto-Aztekan w generally appears as such in Nahuatl, Sonoran, and
Shoshonean. In Nahuatl (where it is written u or hu) it appears before
434 V American Indian Languages 1
479
all vowels but o (doubtless original luo has become N. o). In Cora Uto-
Aztekan w regularly appears as v. Examples of Uto-Aztekan w initially
are :
N. uitiilin "■ petit oiseau qui bourdonne " : S. P. witsi-ts- " bird " '■>
Ser. (H.) witsi-t
N. ui- verb prefix referring to long objects : S. P. zvi'- verb prefix
" with the edge of a long object "
N. uitlallo-tl " esp^ce d'oiseau tres-allonge, volant peu, mais courant
extremement vite " : S. P. wufsa- •* roadrunner "
N. mui " vieux, ancien ", plur. ueuet-que : S. P. wi-fu-s-u- " long ago " ;
Ser. (H.) -zuut^ '' old (man, woman) ; Hopi wox-daka " old man "
N. uei " big " ; Cora ve " gross, gross sein " ; Tepecano^i" '* big, great "
(on Dr. Mason's authority) : Fern, wi '' all ", wiipii " much" ;
Git. witr " much " ; Ser. (H.) wor " much "
N. o-nie " two ", o-ppa " twice " (<* luo-), na-hui '' four " (i. e " dua-
lity of twos"; -wi " two "); Cora wci-po "two"; Tep. gok-
[<i*wo-) ; Tepecano gok (on Dr. Mason's authority) ; Tar. wo-ka ;
Cah. woi : S. P. iva- " two "; Mono (N. F.) waha-t\ Tiib. wo ;
Git. iuo\ Luis, we \ Cahu. wV
N. mtxi " to fall " ; Cora ve fallen " ; Pap. hit " to fall " (read giii ) ;
Tepecano gis " to fall in the water " {<C.*wi'tsi), preterit ^n' : S. P.
wi'i- " to fall "
N. ual " vers ici, par ici " : S. P. waq'i- " hither "
Cora vtte{sm^.), vdteme (plur.) " dastehen, vorhanden sein "; S. P.
wdr^wi- " to stand (plur.) " {<C*wdmi- '?)
Cora ve " dastehen. vorhanden sein " ; Pap. kiih " to stand " (read
giih); Tepecano gigu{k) " to stop, remain " (plur.) ' : S. P.
wun'i- " to stand (sing.) {z=z win't-). S. P. sing, wi-n't- : plur.
wd-T,wi- [<^*wd-mi-) agrees strikingly with Cora sing, ve {<i*we) :
plur. vd-ie~nu {<^*wd- . . .-me)
Cora ve " schlagen, werfen, schiessen, treffen " , f ^«^ " schlagen ";
Pap. kiiKiJ " to whip " (read guKu) ; Tepecano gi*)? " to hit with
the tail " * : S. P. wuwai- '• to throw down
Postvocalic Uto-Aztekan w regularly becomes S. P. -riw-, Ute -w- with
nasalization of preceding vowel. From Southern Paiute alone one cannot
always tell whether -r,w- goes back to -m- or -w-. Examples of S. P.
-r^w- <C.-w- are :
N. -hudn " in company with " : S. P. -^wai- '• in company with "
1. On Dr. Mason's authority.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 435
480
N. caui-tl " temps "; Tepecano ta-k'auw " yesterday " [<i* -kaivi '^) :
S. P. qia-qwi- " yesterday " [<i* h'awi-)
Cora tevi " der Mensch, die Person " ; Pimo liwo-t " man " ; Pap. tsiio-
rsr " man, male " [<^*tiwa-) : S. P. tar^wa- " man " {<i* taiua-
-< * tt'wa- ) ; Tiib . datwa-l
Cora hiwe " nach einem schreien, briillen " [<^* puwe): S. ^.pu-qwi-
" to make a peeping rat-like noise " [<C* pu'wi-)
Cora vtye " reg-nen, regnen lassen ", viyan-ta " der Ort des Regens ",
vi-te ' ' Regengotter " : S. P. ur^wa- ' ' to rain " (<; * uwa- <C *wiwa ?) ;
Mono (In.) iiwa-i' " rain " ; Shik. mva-dii [iizva- =: iwa- perhaps
dissimilated from wiwa-) ; Cahu. luewa-l, wewi-nyi-s. How Sho-
shonean *iuiwa- is related to Cora viye-, viya- is not quite clear.
Probably Huich. pou-houye " pleuvoir ", ka-ouy6 " il pleuvra ''
belongs to these forms. Cora viye-, viya- and Huich. -uye seem
to point to original *weye-, *weya- (Huich. u- <C*we- ; Cora -ey-
palatalized to -{)'-?), which, if dissimilated from *weu'e-^ *iuewa-,
agrees remarkably with Shoshonean *w'iwa-
Cora ta-vi " aufhangen ", vivir " aufgehangt sein " [<^*-ive, wiwi-) :
S. P. ur,wai- " to hang " [<i*uwai-)
Without known cognate in Southern Paiute is :
Huich. tagui, iahoui " poitrine " (i. e. tawi) ; Cora tabi (Diguet ; =:tot;?
<i*tawi) : Cahu. -/a//', -tawh " breast ". Uto-Aztekan *^atf /
In one case that was noted Uto-Aztekan -w- corresponds to Luisefio-
Cahuilla -yj-, -r^^v- '.
N, cihua-tl, (o{u)d-tl " woman " : Luis, sii-qa-l " woman " ; S. J. C.
sor,iaa-l
In Papago and Tepecano original iv became stopped to g (Dolores
writes k; this k sound is, however, evidently phonetically distinct from,
more nearly sonant than, original k, as indicated by Kroeber's remarks
prefaced to Dolores' Papago Verb Stems and by its appearance finally as
-A-, whereas original k appears finally as -hK), which, in Tepecano at
least, appears as intermediate -c. when final. For some of my examples
I am indebted to Dr. Mason. Examples appear above (see N. mi, o-me,
uetii, Cora ve " dastehen ", ve " schlagen "). Further examples, on
Dr. Mason's authority, are :
Tepecano ga " that " {<*wa <,*u-a) : Huich. hua-na '' 1^ " (read wa-na
*' that-at ", wa- being derived from demonstrative stem w-, see
under Uto-Aztekan o in Part I ; -na is found as suffixed element
in several other local adverbs given by Diguet , op. aV. [see
Part I], pp. 29, 30, e. g. ma-na " ici ", cha-na " Ik ", and in
Cora ma-na " dort ") ; S. P. wa-, ua- (compounded of demonstra-
436 V American Indian Languages 1
481
tive ti- " that yonder " and element -a-) in various local adverbs
(e. g. ud-n''', ivci-n'' " there ", ua-fi- " being there " tia-fu-'wa-
" to yon place, through there "), of. i{y)d-, i[y)e- (e. g. iye-n''
" here, present") from demonstrative /- '' this here " and -a-
Tepecano gisu-V '' pithaya, organ cactus " (< Uto-Aztekan *witsd-) '.
N. nit:(-tli " epine ", uitio " epineux "
Tepecano gi^it " to tremble (generally with cold) " (< Uto-Aztekan
*wiwi-) ; Pap. kikihwu " to tremble " : N. uiuio-ca " trembler de
froid
Tepecano kua'o " wood, to gather wood " (< Uto-Aztekan *kua-wi-) :
N. quahtii-tl " wood "; Tep. kwdwi. With Tepecano -g cf. -k,
-ki (read probably -g, -gi) of Pima kwa-k, koka-ki " wood "
Tepecano aaG " horn " (reduplicated from *aG •< Uto-Aztekan *dwa-) :
Cora awa " ein Geweih habend "
Tepecano badG " eagle " (<< Uto-Aztekan *kwadw-) : N. quduh-tli
" eagle " [<C*kzudw-)
Ulo-A:{tekan y.
Examples of initial Uto-Aztekan y are :
N. yaca-tl " nose, point"; Tar. yaxha ; Cah. ycka: Pap. tahKu\ Tepe-
cano dak (on Dr. Masons authority) : Hopi yaka " nose " ; S. P.
ya-(a- " end "
N. yecoa " avoir des rapports charnels avec quelqu'un "; possibly also
Pap. tOT " to copulate "; Tepecano dotn (on Dr. Mason's autho-
rity), preterit dot (probably to be understood as doD , as Tepecano
aspirated -t regularly corresponds to Pap. -/;r, Tepecano inter-
mediate -D to Pap. -r; reduplicated preterit from *do- <C Uto-
Aztekan *yD-) : S. P. yo-(0- " to copulate "
N. yua " envoyer une personne quelque part, conduire quelqu'un,
envoyer un messager " ; Pima yoa-ka " to bring " : S. P. yua-
" to carry more than one object "
Cora 3'fm, yiri " es ist ein Zugang, Aufstieg da " : S. P. yi- " door-
way "
Examples of postvocalic Uto-Aztekan j)' are :
N. ayo-tl " tortoise" : S. P. 'aya- " turtle '' ; Cahu, ayi-l
N. ceya, cea, cia " vouloir, consentir, accorder"; Tepecano hhi "to
desire" [<^* sohi <i*50yi'l): S. P. -suya- (probably to be un-
derstood as -siya-), -iia- desiderative suffix (see under Uto-Azte-
kan s)
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 437
482
N. -ya suffix denoting imperfect tense ; Tepecano -dat imperfect tense
(on Dr. Mason's authority) : S. P. -yi- suftix denoting present
tense (occurs also in narrative past of impersonal : -p'ua-(ai-
f-ua-y'i-). If this etymology is correct, Uto-Aztekan*-)'a-,*-)'e might
be understood as having originally had durative significance,
without true reference to tense
Original *yuya- >■ palatalized *yuyi^ is perhaps dissimileted in Huichol
to *uyi~ > lavi- in :
Huich. oiihoui (i. e. ?rtw) " glace " : Cahn yuya-t " snow, ice ",yiiyi-t;
A. G. ayuyi-dy yni't "snow" ; Luis. yuyi't\ F'ern. yua^-f^ ; Git.
yua~t (Fern, and Git. yua- probably dissimilated horn yuya-)
In Papago, Tepehuane, and Tepecano original y became stopped to g
(Dolores writes /, which becomes ts before /, u, and u; this f — /i sound,
is, however, evidently phonetically distinct from, more nearly sonant
than, original t — ts, as indicated by Kroeber's remarks prefaced to
Dolores' Papago Verb Stems and by its appearance finally as -t , -ts,
whereas original t — ti appears finally as -hr , -ts), which, in Tepecano
at least, appears as intermediate -d when final. For this phonetic law
and for some of my examples I am indebted to Dr. Mason. Examples
appear above (see n. yaca-tl, yecoa, and -ya). Further examples are :
Pap. tab " to fly, to jump " (singular) : S. P. yas'i- " flock flies ". This
holds only if/ of Pap. tab is to be read as d
Pap. tsii' aMinub" to punch with a stick or with the fingers " : S. P.
ina-yumu-k'wi-r^q'i- " to nudge with the finger " [ma- " w^ith
the hand, finger "). This holds only if ts <Ct of Pap. tsuaMmuh
goes book to d
Pap. tcub " to do " {<i*du); Tepecano dun, preterit du '' to make ",
do'da " to do thus " (on Dr. Mason's authority) : a'. yocoya " fabri-
quer "
Pap. IsiTtsi " to make tobacco " (<* diTdi—) ; Tepecano din, prete-
rit dlt (on Dr. Mason's authority) (doubtless to be understood
as diD, reduplicated preterit from *di- <;Uto-Aztekan *ye-) : iV.
ye-tl " fumee odoriferante, parfum, tabac "
Tepecano duR " black ant " (on Dr. Mason's authority) : A', yoyoli
" insecte ", yolca-tl " insecte, ver ". Uto-Aztekan '^yoli- (for
Tepecano r : x. I see Uto-Aztekan /)
Tepecano datm, a-dim, preterit a-di " to run, to follow " (on
Dr. Mason's authority) : Covix yei[me) ** gehen, wandern " (sing.)
438 V American Indian Languages 1
483
Uto-Aitekan h.
This sound is found in neither Nahuatl nor Southern Paiute (though
some Southern Paiute forms beginning with pure vowels, that is, not
preceded by ', have at times been heard pronounced with weak breath-
attack ; e. g. a-{a- was sometimes heard as 'a-;a-). It seems clear, howe-
ver, from comparative Shoshonean evidence that /; must be credited to
the original consonantic system of Shoshonean. Such Shoshonean exam-
ples are :
Hopi hoxta " back" ; Gahu. -husa
Hopi honamua " bear " ; Git. hnna-t ; Fern, hunii-r ; Luis, hunwo-t ; Gahu.
hunu-t : Tiib. una-l (Tiibatulabal /; seems always to go back to
Shoshonean ^, while Shoshonean /; disappears)
Moreover, Shoshonean h corresponds in a number of cases to Sonoran
h (Pima, Huichol, Cora, Gahita ; this Gora h is of course etymologically
distinct from Gora /; <ip). There is, therefore, good reason to ascribe h
not only to original Shoshonean but also to original IJto-Aztekan.
Examples of initial Uto-Aztekan /; are :
N. itla^ ithua " voir quelqu'un, decouvrir '' [<^* ile-ua'^)', Pima hitsi;
" to see " [<^*hit'i)\ Gabr. huta-a " to see " ; Fern. hL i u ; Git.
-hu. Uto-Aztekan *hile-, *hote- ?
N. aqui " qui " ? acd " quelqu'un " ; Cora hdi-ki " was, wie " : Gahu.
haxi " who "? Fern. hakl\ \^'ob. hake ; Shik. ba';a-dii ; Mo^'ihak'i ;
S. P. a^(a- " where ? how? " Uto-Aztekan *haki, * haka
N. oco-tl " pinus tenuifolia " ; Gora hukii " Kiefer " ; Tepecano /;///:
"pine" 1 : S. P. o^(0-mpL- " fir" (with open o ; probably o-rJ-).
Uto-Aztekan *M>?
N. eca-tl •' vent, air" ; Gora aka[ri) " Wind " ; Huich. heheaca " air "' :
Tiib. ilxka-wa-l ' ' wind" ; Mono (\. F.) hig-wa-p ; Gabr. a-hikd-r,.
Uto-Aztekan * heaka- ?
N. / " to drink"; Cora /; Tep. i- ; Tepecano ii ' ; Pap. //; ; Tar. pahi
" to drink " (probably to be analyzed as pa- " water' -\^-hi "to
drink ") : S. P. ivi- "%o drink " ; Mono (N. F ) hibi- ; Shik. hivi ;
Hopi hii-koo\ Tiib. iiL Uto-Aztekan */;/-, *hie-, *hipi-
Huich. houca " jambes " ; Coyq^ hoiica (Diguet), 'ika '' der Fuss, das
Bein, der Knochen " (Preuss) ; Gah. hiioki'. Hopi hokya " leg";
Mono(N. F.) huk\ Wob. -huk. Uto-Aztekan * /;o/oa-?
Huich. hou-rou " fleche " ; Cora i-ri " Pfeil '' ; Pap. uiih '* war-arrows "
i. On Dr. Mason's authoritv.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 439
484
(reduplicated form) : S. P. o' " arrow" ; Hopi hd-hfl ; Luis, hu-la;
A. G. hu-1. Uto- Aztekan *hd-
Tep. /70//flw '' jaune " ; Pima oam '• yellow": S. P. oa-q'a- "to be
yellow ". Uto-Aztekan *hoa-'^.
Examples of Uto-Aztekan postvocalic /; are far from numerous:
N. yei, ye " three " {<C* hei <i* pai <,*pahi'l)\ Cora wdi-ka;- Tar. bai-
ka ; Cah. hahi ; Pima vai- : S. P. pai- " three " ; Mono (N. F.)
pahi ; Shik. pahi-t ; Git. bahi ; Fern, pahai ; Luis, pahai; Tiih. p^/ ;
Hopi pahio. Uto-Aztekan *pahi-
Huich, -houjia-na '' devant " (i. e. -hu^ia-) : S. P. -u[w)a-mi- '' in
front of" [-IV- is glide), ■ii{w)i-f u-^wa- "(moving) in front of"
[*-husa- > *-ua- > -iia-'^.)
Huich. touhou " braise " : Ser. (H.) tun- " coal " ; Fern, duu-t ; Gahu.
du-l is probably not to be interpreted as from Uto-Aztekan *toho-,
as intervocalic /; would be expected to remain in Southern Gali-
fornian Shoshonean. Huichol -h- may have been secondarily intro-
duced (< Uto-Aztekap *too- ?) to break up the hiatus ; or Diguet's
-h- may be of merely orthographic, not phonetic, significance
(cf. Diguet's Gora moiihou " head ", where Preuss' orthography
indicates that niuu is meant).
Uto-Aztekan ' .
Quite a number of Uto-Aztekan languages, including Nahuatl and Sou-
thern Paiute, possess ' (glottal stop) as a definite consonant. It is somewhat
doubtful, however, if there are any true cases of Sonoran or Nahuatl
corresponding directly to Shoshonean ' ; in other words, the assumption
of ' as an original Uto-Aztekan sound must be considered at present as
not capable of being completely justified, though indications are not lack-
ing of the soundness of this view. In a large number of cases ' can be
shown to be the resultant of some other Uto-Aztekan sound (as in S. P.
' <Cs ; N. saltillo <-^ or -k, see below) ; such cases must, of course, be
eliminated here. A small but convincing number of examples shows that
widely distant Shoshonean dialects may agree in the use of tfie glottal
stop fe. g. S. P. 'ayi- " good", often heard as '^'ayt- : Ser. (H.) a'aiye- ;
S. P. 7-, '7- " this " : A. C. n).
Examples of initial Shoshonean ' in Uto-Aztekan words, where, as far
as available material can be relied on, there is no ' to correspond in
Nahuatl or Sonoran, are .•
Huich. athot^o " bien " : S. P. 'ayi- " good " ; Ser. (H.) aaiye-tS
440 V American Indian Languages 1
485
N. / " ceci " ; Cora i, hi " dieser " ; Pima hitu " this " ; Tepecano hidi ^ :
S. P. '/- " this " {'itsi- " this " as absolute inanimate demons-
trative <*'//i-) ; Shik. idil " this "; A. C. ti ; Luis. ivi. Uto-
Aztekan *'i{te) ov*hi[tey.
N. ayo-tl " tortoise " : S. P. 'aya- " turtle " ; Cahu. ayi-l
Similar examples of Shoshonean postvocalic or postconsonantal ' are :
Cora hiwe " nach einem schreien, briillen " {<,* puwe) : S. P. pur,'u'i-
" to make a peeping sound " •< *puwi-)
N . -c-pac " sur, au-dessus, en haut " : S. P. -va-(i- " over " {<C* -p'dki-)
N. -pan " upon" : S. P. -vana- " on, upon "
N. pani " en haut, au sommet " : S. P. paatfi- " to be high "
Cora tevi " der Mensch, die Person ", Plur. tdite ; Pima tiwo-t '• man":
S. P. ta-qwa- " man " [<i*taiua-) ; Tiib. datiua-l (perhaps -tiu- is
misheard for -w-)
N -tia causative suffix ; Cora -te : S. P. -t'-ui- causative suffix
Nahuatl ' (saltillo) can be clearly shown to be developed in certain cases
from syllabically final -/ or -k, though I am unable to suggest at present
under vv^hat circumstances this reduction takes place. Examples of N.
-' <i-t are :
N. cd [=ka), cat-qiii " to be in a place ", cat-yan " place, siege ", cati
present plural of cd ; Pima kat'su " lay " (< * kat'i) : S. P. qari-
" to sit, dwell " (< * kat'i-)
N. ueuc (= wewe) " vieux, ancien ", plural ueuet-que, no-ucuet-catih
" mon vieux " : Ser. (H.) -wufi " old " (< * -witi)
N. -me (= -me) plural noun suffix : Pipil -met (e. g. N. matini-me plur.
' ' wise " : Pipil matini-met) "
N. -que {^= -ke) plural noun and verb suffix : Pipil -quet {e. g. N. chi-
hua:{-que "they will make " : Pipil chihua:^-quet)
N. -' plural noun and verb sufPix: Pipil -t (e. g. N. cihtid =^ siwa-
" women" : Pipil reduplicated ciycihuat-quet, with double plural
suffix -t-quet ; N. nemi= nemi- " they live" : Pipil nemi-t) ■^
It is clear from this last example that N. -w/, -qui, Pipil -met, -quet are
compound plural suffixes, the plural suffixes -*me, -*ke (cf. Southern
Pxiiute -mi-, -q'ci-) being further pluralized my means of-', -/ ; doubtless
the analogy of such plural forms as cihud and tiemi, nemit had much to do
with the development of*- w^, * -que to -mi {-met), -qui {-quet) .
There is at least one clear example of N. -' <^ -^ :
1. On Dr. Mason's authority.
2. See W. Lehmann, Ergehnisse einer Forschungsreise in Mittelatnerika und Mexico, i^oj-
1909. Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic, 1910, p. 730.
3. Ibid., pp. 730-731.
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 441
486
N. -ud {=:■ ~iva), 'i, -6 *' having " (e. g. atla-ud " having an atlatV\
mile " having a field ", ffd " having blood ", idtio " having
thorns " (forms in -e and -d are doubtless to be analyzed as ori-
ginally final stem vowels -e-, -o — [- -' " having" ; this is indi-
cated by such forms as efo-tl alongside of e:(^tli " blood ". -e spread
by analogy from such forms as ceiie " having centli " <i* senc-,
of. S. P. sii- <i*sini-, in which -e- was etymologically justified),
calpole-c " having a calpolW' ; older N. -que'tl{i) " having "
(e. g. atla-ua-que-tl " having an atlatl ") ' ; Cora -ke " to have "
(e. g. perike " ein Kind haben ") ; Pap. -kah " to have or claim " :
S. P. -q'ai-, --{ai-, -r,qai~ " to have ", -q-a-ntt-, -ya-ntt-, 'T^qa-nl'i-
" having "
Another group of examples of Nahuatl saltillo seems to have arisen
as the reflex of a syncopated vowel following immediately upon another
vowel. Examples are :
N. eca-tl "yent, air" [<i* eaka-) ; Cora aha-ri " Wind " [a contracted
from original m?); Huich. reduplicated heheaca "air" : Tiib.
uxka-wa-l " wind " [iixka- is perhaps to be understood as ii'ka-
<* iV^ka- <i*iiaka- ; in S. P., -'q- often is heard as -^q-); Gabr.
ahika- r, " wind " (metathesis for *hiaka-^ or is a- prefix ?)
N, b-tli "■ path, road " {<C*oe- or *oi- <.*hoe- or *hoi~ < *poe- or *poi-) ;
Cora huye " Weg " {<C*p^ye-) ', Tepecano voi "road ", plur.
vop-ji"^ ; Pap. wo- ru *' road, trail " (contracted from *zvoi- or *woe
<C*pji- or *p:)e-) : S. P. p3- " trail " (contracted from * p:>J- <.* pn-
or *p^-) ; Shoshone poe, po^ ; Luis, pe-t ; Gahu. pi-t (contracted
from *poi- or less likely *p^i~) ; Hopi pi-hii [l is long open / ;
contracted from * p:?i- or less likel}' *pPi'-) ; Bank, po'-t {<C*p^i- or
* pj'i-) . Tepecano, Shoshone, Luiseno-Cahuilla, and Hopi point
rather to Uto-Aztekan * poi- than *poe- (Cora huye may be <i* poi-
~\ — e, rather than <C* poe). It is not improbable that Uto-Aztekan
*poina " to run " (N. paina " courir vite " : S. P. poya-) is a
denominative verb in ~na from *poi- " trail " ; in N. paina original
has apparently been assimilated to a of the suffix, Avhile i has
had to be retained before n (all feeling of connection between
N . o-tli and pai-na is, of course, gone)
N. pi-tli "elder sister " [<*pia-)\ S. P. pia- " mother, female",
.perhaps also in yop'ia- " younger sister " ; S. J. C -pf-l " youn-
1. Ibid., p. 731.
2. On Dr. Masons authoritv.
442 V American Indian Languages 1
487
ger sister" {<*-pia-t ; if final vowel of stem were originally i,
we would expect -s, not -t, as suffix)
This explanation of N . ' may apply also to :
N. tUco " monter " : S. P. fp '' up" (N. -^- and S. P. -i both seem
to point to Uto-Aztekan e + some vowel which has become syn-
copated in N. and contracted with / in S. P.)
In Papago there are numerous examples of (e. g. to'i " to bet " ; to'pij
*' to twist"; ha'ah ''jar"; vaoh "wooden tongs for gathering cactus
fruit"), but unfortunately in the great majority of cases I do not at pre-
sent know of Nahuatl or Southern Paiute cognates. In at least two cases
Papago has ' where Southern Paiute has none:
Pap. va' KU " hole": S. P. J-p'aq'i- " hole "
Pap. -kah " to have" : S. P. -cj'ai-, -(ui-, r,qai- " to have "
Gases of Sonoran or Nahuatl ' corresponding to Shoshonean are very
scanty? The best examples so far noted are :
Huich. moho " t^te " (i. e, mo'o) ; Cora mu " Kopf " (i. e. viuu); Tep,
mahou " tete " (i. e. man); Pima md-dka "' head " ; Pap. moo:
Tiib, tso-m'o- " hair". Uto-Aztekan *m:f'j-
Cora ki " fressen (von fester Nahrung) " i^^ki'i, assimilated from *kei)-;
Pap. kill '• to bite, sting " : S. P. gi'i- " to bite"
Pap. tcuaMinuh " to punch with a stick or with the fingers " (<; Uto-
Aztekan *yuamu-) : S. P. ma-yuin u-k'wi-r^qi- " to nudge with
the finger "
Pap. Sdi " hanging (like clothes on line, on brush) " : S. P. tsa'i-
" to catch " tcai-k'^'ai- " to hold "
Tepecano ba'do '* eagle " (on Dr. Mason's authority) (<C Uto-Aztekan
*kwad-iv-) : Cahu. qwaa-l '* hawk sp. " (read qtva'a-?); Ser. (H.)
gwaa-tc " condor " (read ^o'^'fl- ?). If we assume Uto-Aztekan
*kwadw- instead o[*kwdw-^ me can explain .v. qudiih-tli " eagle ",
which otherwise offers difficulty. Original *kii'diua-tli (-a- is here
purely schematic, standing for any vowel, as I have no evidence
to show what vowel was syncopated) would have had to deve-
lop (with its accentual scheme ' ' ') to *kwdwa-tl (in Spanish
orthography *qudhua-tl). Original *kivadwd-tli, however, would
develop (with its accentual scheme ' ' ')v to *kwa'dw-tli >, by
later loss of ' and contraction of -ad- to -d-, kwdw-tli (in Spanish
orthography quduh-tli)
Another example of this type would seem to be :
Pap. hi I " urine " : S. P. sii- " to urinate ",
though it is not obvious how this correspondence is to be reconciled
with S. P. si'i- <^* sisi- cf. N. xix-tli " excrement " <C*sisi- ; see under
Four: Uto-Aztecan Languages 443
488
Uto-Aztekan 5), as there is nothing to show that Uto-Aztekan s ever
becomes' in Papago.
An example of S. P. ' corresponding to Nahuatl saltillo seems to be :
N. ne, nehuatl, nehuci (=: ne) "I, me " : S. P. nt " 1 " (contrast with
this absolute form N. ni- " I " as verbal prefix : S. P. -n/- " I "
as verbal suflix)
There is one class of occurrences of ' which seems to be common to all
Uto-Aztekan languages and which probably goes back to original Uto-
Aztekan. This is comprised by reduplicated noun plurals and reduplica-
ted frequentative verb forms, which in varying degree tend to take a
glottal stop after the reduplicating syllable. According to Carochi, the
reduplicating syllable of Nahuatl reduplicated noun plurals does not end
in a saltillo, but in a long vowel (e. g. fnatiiafd, plural of magatl " deer " :
teleo, plural of teotl " god "). In Pipil, however, the old saltillo of the
reduplicating syllable is preserved as a palatal spirant (Lehmann's -/) ;
examples are td'/^tagdmet " persons ", layldmdtquet " old women ". In
Papago and Southern Paiute such reduplicated noun plurals with glottal
stop are found formed from stems beginning with vowels, Papago
examples are : aaN " wings "; uuh " war arroAvs " ; o'ohT " sand " (cf.
S. P. unreduplicated aVa- " sand ") ; iitihhiKu " birds ". A Southern
Paiute example is adip'atsit]^'^' " boys", plural oi dip'ats'.
Many intensives and frequentatives in Nahuatl have a saltillo after
the reduplicating syllable, e. g. ni-pdpaqui " estoy muy alegre " [ni-pdqiii
" estoy alegre ") : cacahuantiuh " en todas partes resuena " (fama) '.
Analogous Southern Paiute examples are : lip'i- " to sip, drink iterati-
vely " {ivi- " to drink ") ; aampaq'a- " to talk repeatedly " [ampa-fa- " to
talk ") ; dap'ui- " to sleep repeatedly " [ap'ui- " to sleep "); qaq'aa-
" to sing repeatedly " [qd- " to sing ").
1. See Carochi, pp. 473-474.
444 V American Indian Languages 1
Editorial Notes
Part 1, originally published in Journal de la Societe des americanistes de Paris
10, 379-425 (1913); Part II, originally scheduled for publication m Journal de la
Societe des americanistes de Paris in 1914, appeared in that journal in 1919 in the
volume dated 1914-1919, 433-488. Reprinted by permission of the Societe des
americanistes. Part II also appeared in American Anthropologist 17, 98-120,
306-328 (1915).
Sapir's work on comparative Uto-Aztecan has been followed up by many
scholars. His student Benjamin L. Whorf continued the tradition on his own
(1935, 1937) and with George L. Trager in "The relationship of Uto-Aztecan
and Tanoan" (1937) — supporting a Hnk which Sapir had postulated in 1920. A
historical survey of comparative Uto-Aztecan research to around 1960 is given
by Lamb 1964. Updatings of Sapir's lexical and phonological comparisons have
been provided by Voegelin, Voegelin and Hale 1962 and by Miller 1967.
SectionFive:
Algonkian and Ritwan
Introduction
Although Sapir did no extended field work on any Algonkian language, he
kept up with the research of others, such as that of C. C. Uhlenbeck on Black-
foot, of A. L. Kroeber on Arapaho, and of Truman Michelson and Leonard
Bloomfield on comparative Algonkian. Sapir's major contribution to
Algonkian studies was his insight, published in 1913, that the apparently iso-
lated Wiyot and Yurok languages of northwestern California — combined as
"Ritwan" by Dixon and Kroeber — were in fact related to Algonkian. Although
this was disputed at the time by Michelson, Sapir's discovery was validated after
his death by new data on the Californian languages, and stands as his most solid
achievement in tracing remote connections among American Indian language
groups.
"Algonkin p and s in Cheyenne" (1913a) is the earliest published reflection of
Sapir's interest in Algonkian, based on the work of Michelson (Sapir's spelling
"Algonkin" is now generally reserved for a particular Ojibwa dialect spoken in
Canada). Michelson had received his doctorate in Indo-European philology at
Harvard in 1904, and had taken up a research position at the Bureau of Ameri-
can Ethnology in 1910, becoming the leading figure of his day in Algonkian
studies. In the present brief note, Sapir for the first time — but by no means the
last — takes issue with Michelson. The point here is that Michelson had written
of a change from Proto-Algonkian *-pm- to -m- in Cheyenne; Sapir shows that,
in fact medial *p disappears quite regularly in Cheyenne, and furthermore, that
medial *s becomes Cheyenne h. Finally, he notes that these changes have well
known parallels in Celtic and Greek — languages whose histories had, of
course, formed part of Michelson's training.
"Wiyot and Yurok, Algonkin Languages of California" (1913h) was the pub-
lication in which Sapir made his startling proposal for the extension of the
Algonkian grouping to include these two languages of the far West. In Dixon
and Kroeber's 1913 article on California languages in the American
Anthropologist — offered as the first evidence for reducing the number of lan-
guage families recognized by the Powell classification — the Wiyot and Yurok
languages were grouped together into a "Ritwan" stock. In the same issue of the
American Anthropologist, using data which he had earlier obtained from
Kroeber, Sapir proposed that Wiyot and Yurok were related not only to each
other, but also to the relatively well known Algonkian family of the north-
eastern and central United States and Canada. As Sapir points out, the argu-
ment is almost clinched merely by the series of pronominal possessive prefixes
used with body parts: m- "someone's," n- "my," k- "thy," and o- "his, her" are
found in Wiyot, in Yurok, and in eastern Algonkian (pp. 621-622). To this he
adds numerous other morphological and lexical matchings, plus a tentative set
448 V American Indian Languages 1
of phonological correspondences. In his conclusion (p. 646), Sapir notes that it
remains unsettled whether Wiyot and Yurok actually constitute a "Ritwan"
subgroup, and he proposes that the term "Algonkin" should simply be extended
to cover the western as well as the eastern languages.
Earlier in 1913, Sapir had written of this to Kroeber, who was enthusiastic:
"Your trump card wins. I am sure I always thought of Arapaho bd- [body-part
prefix] when dealing with Wiyot or Yurok me-, we-, but never dreamed of any-
thing but a coincidence. After this, when I get three aces, I draw to them"
(Golla 1984: 112). However, a prompt and strongly negative reaction was pub-
lished by Truman Michelson in 1914, emphasizing a long list of typically
Algonkian grammatical features which had not been found in Wiyot and
Yurok; this article is reprinted in the Appendix to this volume. As for apparent
resemblances in particular morphological elements, such as the pronominal
prefixes, Michelson suggests that parallels exist in a wide variety of languages,
and are therefore irrelevant to Algonkian connections; thus he cites Isg. k in
Yurok, Iroquois, Miwok, and Chitimacha, and 2sg. m in Yurok, Chinook, and
Porno (p. 366). In view of these points, Michelson says, "fancied lexicographical
similarities have little or no weight" (p. 362).
"Algonkin Languages of California: A Reply" (1915b) points out several flaws
in Michelson's paper — e.g., his flat refusal to consider the extensive lexical
evidence; his discounting of the patterned nature of the correspondences
involving the pronominal possessive prefixes; and his insistence that Wiyot and
Yurok should show detailed features of Algonkian grammatical structure —
against all experience in, e.g., Indo-European linguistics.
Michelson's 1915 "Rejoinder" (also reprinted in the Appendix to this vol-
ume) offers rebuttals on several points made by Sapir; however, his main argu-
ment is that one can find data resembling Wiyot and Yurok in elements from
widely dispersed North American languages. Just as in his 1914 paper,
Michelson fails to appreciate Sapir's efforts to demonstrate correspondence
not just between scattered items, but between systems. Sapir has the last word
in his "Epilogue" (1915, see Appendix), in which he says, essentially, "The
defense rests."
"The Algonkin Affinity of Yurok and Wiyot Kinship Terms" (1923a) con-
tinues the same line of research. In 1917, Sapir wrote to Kroeber: "Just got your
'California kinship systems' [1917] and have very rapidly glanced at Yurok.
Certainly smells Algonkin in structure . . . .Someone should take up Yurok-
Algonkin relationship terms thoroughly, both as regards linguistics and sys-
tem" (Golla 1984: 239). In 1918, he wrote again to Kroeber: "Would you care to
publish [in University of California Publications in American Archaeology and
Ethnology] a paper on Yurok and Wiyot kinship terms as related to Algonkin
terms? I've got the cards ready, but haven't actually written the MS" (Golla, p.
83). Sapir in fact sent the manuscript to Kroeber in March 1922, but Kroeber
was obliged to reply that the work would not be eligible for inclusion in the
University of California series (Golla, pp. 390-392). In 1922, the manuscript
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 449
was accepted by Paul Rivet for the Journal de la Societe des americanistes de
Paris.
Sapir begins by discussing in detail 31 sets of cognate kinship terms, demon-
strating "a most surprising degree of linguistic concordance between the
kinship systems of the Algonkin-speaking tribes east of the Rockies and those
of their remote congeners in northwestern California" (p. 30). The second part
of his article is a comparison not of individual terms, but of the semantic pat-
terns associated with them — perhaps the first serious proposal made to recon-
struct features of a native American semantic system at such a time depth. (For
a subsequent large-scale effort, see Dyen and Aberle 1974.) Sapir points out,
for instance, that Wiyot, Yurok, and Algonkian all agree in showing evidence
of reciprocal kinship terms for parent and child, but not for grandparent and
grandchild; in avoiding distinctions between maternal and paternal grand-
parents; and in merging grandson with granddaughter. He concludes: "Consid-
ering the geographical and cultural break between the Wiyot and Yurok [on the
one hand] and the main body of Algonkin [on the other], no one . . . could hope
to find a greater linguistic and terminological resemblance between the kinship
terms . . . than we have actually found in the course of our study" (p. 44).
The review (1923k) of Michelson's Owl Sacred Pack of the Fox Indians
comments on a monograph devoted mainly to the presentation of an eth-
nographic text in Fox (an Algonkian language). However, the work includes
two linguistic appendices, one of them a list of Fox stems. Sapir expresses his
appreciation for both the ethnographic and the linguistic values of the work,
and points in particular to the light which Michelson's stem list sheds on the
distinction of "first-position" vs. "second-position" verb stems. Algonkian is
here seen as typologically intermediate between languages which freely allow
compounding of verbs, such as Shoshonean, and those in which such combina-
tions have become completely "petrified," e.g. Yana. The discussion points up
Sapir's interest, in his later years, in typology and in general directions of
American Indian language change, as contrasted with his earlier concern for
genetic classification.
"Sapir on Arapaho" (Hockett 1946) is a posthumous publication. In 1916,
Sapir wrote to Kroeber that he had just read the latter's "Arapaho Dialects"
(1916) and that he was "flirting with the idea of writing a more or less formal
study of Arapaho comparative phonology" (Golla 1984: 214-215). His notes on
the subject, however, remained unpublished at his death, when they were
turned over to the Algonkianist Charles F. Hockett. In 1939, Hockett organized
the material in terms of correspondences between Arapaho and the "Primitive
Central Algonkian" reconstructions of Leonard Bloomfield. Another long
delay intervened before Hockett s manuscript was published.
The paper consists of 39 sound correspondences, instantiated by Arapaho
data (from Kroeber) as compared with forms from Ojibwa, Cree, Fox, and
occasionally other languages. The historical phonology of Arapaho is shown to
involve many unexpected developments; thus Ar. c- corresponds to PCA *p-,
Ar. -s- to PCA *-kw-, Ar. -t- to PCA *- kwet-, and Ar. -n- to PCA *-w-.
Algonkin p and s in Cheyenne
In his recently published "Preliminary Report on the Linguistic Classifica-
tion of Algonquian Tribes," Michelson speaks of "the apparent change of
-p(A)m- to -m- and -p(A)t- to -xr-."i I believe it is rather clear from R. Fetter's
data alone^ that original Algonkin intervocalic /? (or b) regularly disappears in
Cheyenne. Examples of this are:
nde "to die": Cree nipi-w "he dies"
tde-va "nightly" (-va is postpositive element): Cree tibisk- "night" (note that in
both these cases Cree -ipi-, -ibi- corresponds to Cheyenne -de-)
vo-m- "to see" (< *wd- < *wdpa-; Algonkin w becomes Cheyenne v, preceding
or following a becoming labialized to 6): Fox wdpA-m-
-ova "referring to water" {<*-dwa < *-dpawa): Cree -dbawa "by means of
water"
-neove- "standing" (< *-nipawi): Cree nibdwi-w "he stands"; Ojibwa nibaw "to
stand"
ohe "river", if secondarily transposed from *hoe (< *hope < *sipi; for si > ho
see ohona below): Cree sipi "river"
Initial/7, however, seems to have remained in Cheyenne, at least in some [539]
cases. Cf. , for instance, Cheyenne na-peena "I grind it" with Cree pini-pu-tta-w
"he grinds it."
Intervocalic Algonkin s has regularly developed to Cheyenne h (doubtful if
also initially; see *hoe > ohe above). Examples are:
ohona "stone" (< *asini. Algonkin inorganic i is to be kept apart from organic
/; / appears everywhere normally as /, while i either disappears or appears in
Cree, Ojibwa, and Delaware as /, in Fox as e, in Cheyenne as o, at least in
part, (probably also as a), in Natick as a, generally written u in Eliot's Bible.
Algonkin *asi- > Cheyenne *aho-, assimilated to oho-; for -na < *-ni, cf.
Cheyenne mata "wood": Cree misti-kw-; Fox Asen'; Cree assni; Ojibwa assin;
Natick hassun (i.e. hasAn); Delaware ''^Qin; Abenaki sin' "stone,"
nd-asni-m' "my stone"
maha "large" (assimilated from *misa, perhaps *masi, < *misi; cf. mata
"wood" < *mrta, perhaps *ma'ti, < *misti): Cree misi- "much, very"; Natick
missi, mussi (i.e. misi, mAsi) "great"
ndhd "thrice," nahe "three of": Fox nesw^ "three"; Cree nisto. It is likely that -h-
of Cheyenne ndhd goes back to -s- < -st- (cf. Cree nisto and see -aha below)
nohon "five" (< *nisin or assimilated from *nisan or *nasinl): Blackfoot
nisi-to. Also Arapaho>'aefl«' (I quote from Kroeber's MS notes) may point to
1. Twenty-eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1912, p. 233.
2. See R. Petter, 'Sketch of the Cheyenne Grammar," Memoirs of the American Anthropological
Association, 1, pp. 443-478.
452 V American Indian Languages 1
intervocalic -s- for Western Algonkin "five" as contrasted with Eastern
Algonkin n and / (e.g. Fox nydriAnw', Ojibwa ndnan, Abenaki naldn')
-aha "by means of the wind" (< *-asi < *-asti; for st > s, see ndhd above): Cree
-asti- "by the wind"
Both of these phonetic laws could be abundantly paralleled elsewhere, for
example in Indo-germanic. Thus, original/? is lost in Celtic (cf. Old Irish ibim "I
drink" with Sanskrit /7//?am/ "I drink"). Original s becomes h in both Greek and
Avestan (cf. Greek heptd and Avestan hafta- with Latin septem). These remarks
are, of course, intended merely to indicate that Cheyenne loss of intervocalic/?
and change of original s io h are not isolated phonetic processes.
Editorial Note
Originally published in American Anthropologist 15, 538-539 (1913).
Reprinted by permission of the American Anthropological Association.
WIYOT AND YUROK, ALGONKIN LANGUAGES OF
CALIFORNIA
By EDWARD SAPIR
AMONG the numerous "linguistic stocks " of California, there
are two particularly small ones whose borders are confined
within a small territory in northwestern California. These
are Yurok (or Weitspekan) of lower Klamath river and Wiyot (or
Wishosk) of Humboldt bay ; they occupy contiguous territory along
the Pacific coast. It is the purpose of this paper to show that not
only are these so-called "stocks" genetically related, but that they
are outlying members — very divergent, to be sure, but members
nevertheless — of the Algonkin stock. We shall begin by making
sure of the genetic relationship of Wiyot and Yurok,
I. Wiyot and Yurok
The material available for a study of these two languages is far
from satisfactory, either as regards quantity or depth of analysis.
For Wiyot we have A. L. Kroeber's paper in "The Languages of
the Coast of California north of San Francisco"^ (pp. 384-413);
for Yurok, a shorter paper by Kroeber in the same volume (pp. 414-
426). Dr Kroeber has also kindly put at my disposal a vocabulary
of Yurok, which is particularly valuable in that in it he points out
a number of Wiyot parallels.^
As regards the relation of Wiyot and Yurok, Dr Kroeber has
expressed himself rather guardedly. In 1910 he writes: "Whether
the two languages are related is . . . another question. A running
acquaintance with both reveals but few words that are similar, . . .
This number is so small that unless it is materially increased by
I University of California Publications in American ArchcEology and Ethnology ,
vol. 9, no. 3, 1911.
* Since this paper was written, Dr T. T. Waterman, who has considerable manu-
script Yurok material, has kindly sent me further Yurok data to work with. Several
new Yuro k- Algonkin cognates were thus ascertained. Waterman's forms are cited
as Wat.
454 V American Indian Languages J
6i8
further comparison, the resemblances must be regarded as due either
to accident or to borrowing. A systematic comparison cannot be
made until both languages are farther analyzed and the stems and
elements of words, which in most cases are complex, are deter-
mined." And, further on, "Loose unification of languages that
may be entirely distinct, based only on general or partial gram-
matical similarities, is unwarranted. The structural resemblances
between Yurok and Wiyot are however so close and often so detailed,
as will be seen, as to create a presumption that lexical and genetic
relationship may ultimately be established; and if not, to make it
certain that morphological interinfluences between the t\vo lan-
guages have greatly modified one or both."^ The most striking
morphological similarities noted by Kroeber are in the pronominal
forms. He summarizes these similarities as follows:
The pronominal forms of Yurok and Wiyot agree in the following points:
They are incorporative. Elements added to nouns [possessive elements] are
prefixed, those added to verbs suffixed. The prefix and independent forms are
similar to one another, the suffix forms entirely dissimilar, also differing completely
among themselves according as they are objective or subjective. The objective
suffixes precede the subjective, which are identical whether transitive or intransi-
tive. There is a form, used with body-part terms, denoting indefiniteness or
absence of possession; it is m- in both languages. The fundamental elements of
the possessive and independent forms in both languages seem to be n for the first
person and k for the second, — the former common, the latter exceptional in
American languages and therefore significant. The suffix forms in the two
languages however show no similarity.^
In his summary of Yurok Kroeber remarks:
The Yurok language is of the type known as appositional in that pronominal,
modal, temporal, adverbial, and other elements are attached to the verb stem,
which serves as the center of grammatical construction, the other words of the
sentence being syntactically connected with it through these affixes. The verb
is therefore complex, the pronominal elements are essentially affixes, and the
grammar of the noun and substantival pronoun is reduced to a minimum, while
the adjective is a verb. The pronominal elements are suffixed, but most other
relations, including those of manner and time, are expressed by prefixes to the
verb. The possessive prefixes of the noun, and the emphatic substantival pro-
nouns, show no similarity to the pronominal affixes of verbs. Number and syn-
1 Kroeber, op. cit., pp. 414-15.
2 Kroeber, op. cit., p. 420.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan
455
619
tactical case-relations are not expressed. Numerals are provided with classifying
suffixes. Derivation is by suffixation, and many nouns are based on verb stems.
... In all these respects Wiyot agrees with Yurok.^
The most, then, that Kroeber has been wilhng to assert is an
undeniably close similarity of grammatical structure between Yurok
and Wiyot. The few cases of lexical correspondence that he then
noted seemed hardly enough to justify the hypothesis of genetic
relationship. Since then, however, more comparable material has
accumulated and, in view of the morphological and lexical resem-
blances thus established, it seems safe to consider Yurok and Wiyot
as mutually divergent members of a single linguistic stock. The
lexical correspondences here given are due chiefly to Dr Kroeber
(some have been already noted by him in the paper referred to,
others have been communicated to me since then) ; a few others were
noted by myself.
NOUNS
WIYOT
we-lir-
tckatc "leg"
we's
m-ept^
me-tkan
wat-wefi {wat- is prefix)
YUROK
we-lin "eye"
-tska "foot"
we-tsewec "hand"
-peL "tooth"
-wehkete "nail"
-moL "head"*
-luL "mouth" (Coast Yurok)
-werL-ker "bones"
-xkwet "penis"
-molox "fajces"
-tpeL "tail"
-LpiL "leg""*
-pit "tongue"'
-pern" nose"^ {-em < *-eln)
mets "fire"
hukca "child"
wat-kerdt
dgat
me'l
wai-hel^
we-liL "foot"
tn-lfi
m-etere (< *-etene)
mes, wes
hetca "baby"
-eiani "strings of dentalium shells" rem " dentalium shell currency "
(numeral classifier)
^ Kroeber, op. cit., p. 426.
2 It may be noted once for all that Wiyot r is regularly n in origin. This is abun-
dantly evidenced by Wiyot itself. See Kroeber, op. cit., p. 386.
* It will be observed that Yurok -L frequently corresponds to Wiyot -/ or -/.
* Wiyot m and w often interchange. See Kroeber, op. cit., p. 385.
'Note -p- peculiar to Yurok.
456
V American Indian Languages 1
620
YUROK
wonoyek "sky" {won- "up")
puuk "deer"
tsieri "bear"
taxteL "eagle"
o'lomeL "house"
camot "bow"
/>a'" "water"
rurawo "to sing"
ckewok "to like"
pleli, pelil "large"
WIYOT
wen, wiru-dala "sky"
hut-caweti "white deer" (caweti " white")
tseisgeruLtgerer
di'l^
mol^
cwat
pdk "salt water, ocean"
VERBS AND ADJECTIVES
lalisw
di-cgam
bel "flat, wide"
qoot-, qo{o)xt-, qoxts-, qoor- "one'
ni'-, nd'-, ne'- "two"
naxkc- "three"
NUMERALS
gd't-, gii'is-
rit{w)- (< *nitw-)
rik{w)- (< *nikw-)
ku "that, the"
ki"that"
YUROK
DEMON STRA TI VES
gu, gu-r, gu-ru "that"
gic "this"
WIYOT
nek "I"
qel "thou"
INDEPENDENT PRONOUNS
yil ( < *nil ?)
kil
ne-, no- my
qe-, qo "thy"
we-, {w)o- "his"
me-, m- "somebody's" (indefinite pre
fix for body-part nouns)
PRONOMINAL PREFIXES
ru-, r- (< *KM-, *n-)
ku-, k-
{h)u-, w-
me-, m-
GRAMMATICAL PREFIXES
kowits- negative ka-, ga-
ki- future ka- "imperative"; git-ga particle indicat-
ing futurity
GRAMMATICAL SUFFIX
-ik, -k locative noun ending -akw
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 457
621
While two or three of these resemblances may be quite acci-
dental and one or two others due to borrowing, it is difficult to believe
that the bulk of them can rest on anything but genetic relationship.
In estimating the value of this comparative material, it should be
remembered that our knowledge of Wiyot and Yurok is still very
incomplete and that therefore the total amount of lexical and gram-
matical material that one can work with is quite inconsiderable in
extent. It is clear enough that Yurok and Wiyot are only distantly
related at best, but I believe it to be no less clear that they are indeed
related.
2. Algonkin, Wiyot, and Yurok
Lexical Evidence
Consider Cree mi-skdt "leg," ni-skdt "my leg," ki-skdt "thy
leg," o-skdt "his leg." Similar to this is m-ipit "tooth," n-ipit
"my tooth," k-ipit "thy tooth," w-ipit "his tooth." These four
possessive pronominal prefixes {m- prefixed to body-part nouns to
express indefinite possessor, "somebody's"; n- "my"; k- "thy";
0- or w- "his") are characteristic not only of Cree but of Algonkin
generally. Compare Micmac m-ilnoo "tongue," n-eelnoo "my
tongue," k-eelnoo " thy tongue," w-eelnoo "his tongue;" Natick
mu-sseet "foot," nu-sseet "my foot," ku-sseet "thy foot," wu-sseet
"his foot;" Arapaho hd- (< *md-) as body-part prefix; Ojibwa mi-
gwan "feather," hinessiwi-gwan "bird's feathers;" Blackfoot mo-
xkatsis "foot," no-xkatsis "my foot," ko-xkatsis "thy foot,"
o-xkatsis "his foot."^
Turning to Yurok and Wiyot, we find all four of these possessive
elements in each. With Cree mi-skdt "leg" compare such Wiyot
forms as m-a'n "pubic hair," me-lir or we-lir "eyes," me-ldk "tes-
ticle;" and Yurok m- "someone's." With Cree ni-skdt "my leg"
compare Wiyot r-a'n "my pubic hair," ra-watkerdt "my bones,"
ru-daluwi "my boat" (Wiyot r-, it will be remembered, is n- in
origin); and Yurok ne-, no- "my." With Cree ki-skdt "thy leg"
compare Wiyot ke-ldk "thy testicle," ke-lir "thy eye," ku-daluwi
1 It is probably from such cases as a starting-point that initial m- of noun or verb
stems came to be so often lost in Blackfoot when preceded by grammatical elements or
other stems. See Uhlenbeck's papers cited below.
458 y American Indian Languages 1
622
"thy boat;" and Yurok qe-, qo- "thy." With Cree o-skat "his leg"
and w-ipil "his tooth" compare Wiyot hu-watkerati'l "his bones,"
o-silakwe'l "his pain," we-line'l "his eye;" and Yurok we-, wo-, 0-
"his." I fail to see how any ingenuities of mere "accident" could
bring about such perfect accord in use and form of possessive pro-
nominal elements. It was indeed these remarkable analogies that
first led me to consider the possibility of Yurok and Wiyot being
outlying members of the Algonkin stock. The search for further
points of contact soon revealed a number of other grammatical
elements held in common by Algonkin and Wiyot (or Yurok, or
both) and a considerable number of lexical resemblances, some of
them startling enough. I shall now, without further preliminary,
present the lexical evidence.^
PERSONS
W.* di-wile, di-wela "somebody, another": Cree awiyak "person" (? < *awilak;
Lacombe's Cree regularly has y where Eastern Algonkin has / and Ojibwa n)
W. gakwih "old man": Oj. akiwesi "old man"
1 For my Algonkin forms I am indebted chiefly to A. Lacombe, Dictionnaire de la
Langue des Cris, 1874; id-. Grammaire de la Langue des Cris, 1874; Bishop Baraga,
A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language, 1878; id., A Dictionary
of the Otchipwe Language, 1878; W. Jones, Algonquian (Fox), Bureau of American
Ethnology, Bulletin 40, pt. i, pp. 735-873, 191 1; S. T. Rand, Dictionary of the Language
of the Micmac Indians, 1888; J. H. Trumbull, Natick Dictionary, Bureau of American
Ethnology, Bulletin 25, 1903; R. Petter, Sketch of the Cheyenne Grammar, Memoirs of
the American Anthropological Association, vol. i, pp. 443-478, 1907; C. C. Uhlenbeck,
Flexion of Substantives in Blackfoot, A Preliminary Sketch, Verhandelingen der Konink-
lijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam, Afdeeling Letterkunde, N. R.,
deel XIV, no. i, 1913; id., De Vormen van het Blackfoot, Verslagen en Mededeelingen
der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, Afdeeling Letterkunde, 4*^ Reeks, deel
XII, pp. 174-219, 1913; id., Ontwerp van eene vergelijkende Vormleer van eenige Algonkin-
talen, Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam,
Afdeeling Letterkunde, N. R., deel xi, no. 3, 1910; T. Michelson, Preliminary Report
on the Linguistic Classification of Algonquian Tribes, 28th Annual Report of the Bureau
of American Ethnology, pp. 22i-29ob, 1912. For Arapaho I have depended chiefly
on material kindly communicated to me by Dr Kroeber. In 1911 I collected short
vocabularies of Delaware, Abenaki, Malecite, Micmac, Montagnais, and Rupert's
House Cree; these have been used to some extent in this paper.
* W. = Wiyot Del. = Delaware
Y. = Yurok Mai. = Malecite
Abn. = Abenaki Mic. = Micmac
Ar. = Arapaho Mont. = Montagnais
Bl. = Blackfoot Nat. = Natick
Ch. = Cheyenne Oj. = Ojibwa
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 459
623
W. mtl-tL "medicine-man": Oj. mid^ "member of Grand Medicine Lodge"
W. ts^k, tclk, tsak "child": Bl. tsiki "boy" (used as vocative, according to
Uhlenbeck, in speaking to small boys)
W. watcer " g\r\" : Mai. woifi "child;" Mic. medii'VjS.dilt^ " chxW
W. bitcb-tcker "grandfather": Oj. -tnisho-miss "grandfather;" Cree -muso-m
"grandfather"
W. ddr, dan- "father, son": Abn. ki-daddn'' "your father," o-dadan-d'' "his
father." Are Oj. -ddn-iss "daughter;" Bl. tann-a "daughter," and cog-
nates for "daughter" in other Algonkin dialects related to these words?
W. dok "brother, sister": Kickapoo -tota-ma "brother, sister; "^ Cree -tote-w
verbal suffix referring to "family"
W. gb-tcker "grandmother" (for -tcker cf. bitcb-tcker above): Cree okku-ma "his
grandmother;" Oj. noko "my grandmother!"; Kickapoo no'^ko "grand-
mother!";* Nat. okummes "grandmother"
W. gwatc "mother": Cree ni-kdwiy "my mother," nega (voc); Oj. - gd; Bl. ni-
ksista (< *-kista?); Nat. nm-kas; Mic. n-kech "my mother," 00-kwij-ul
"his*mother;" Del. ni ■n-gik''^ "my mother"
W. r«!)fec "daughter" (< *neM): Kickapoo -wegwawa "son-in-law"^ (? = "married
to daughter, having daughter as wife," cf. below Oj. wiwan "his wife");
Oj. -ningwan "son-in-law"
W. wetserakw "son-in-law": Nat. wussenum "he is son-in-law of," pish ken
waseenumukqueh "thou shalt be my son-in-law," nosenemuck "he is my
son-in-law." Nat. *wAslnA-m- = W. *wetsena-.
W. wise-pelei "married man," wisi "married woman": Oj. ni-wish "my wife,*
wiwishan "his wife." Cf. Fox uwiw{i)- "to marry;" Oj. wiwi-ma "to
marry one," widige "to be married;" Cree wiyamew "he is married to
her." With these words are related:
W. u4wa-l "his wife": Oj. wiwan "his wife;" Kickapoo n-lwa "my wife;"*
Cree wiwa "his wife;" Nat. no-weewo "my wife"
BODY-PART NOUNS
W. ddu, tdu "belly": Cree tn-atdy "ventre." Less probably also related to Oj.
m-odji (< *ddi) "belly of an animal;" Ar. n-ot "my belly"
W. dgat "penis;" Y. -xkwet "penis": Cree n-itiakdy "mes parties genitales"
W. dfipL-ih "beard": Ch. mV-shis "whiskers"'
Y. -eryfeerL " knee " : Cree wif-^t7i^(M;)- "molette du genou;" O], gidigw- "knte;"
Nat. mu-kkuttuk
1 W. Jones in American Anthropologist, N.S., 15, 1913, p. 334-
2 Ibid.
' Bl. tsi, ksi, and psi are regularly developed from ti, ki, and pi.
* Jones, op. cit.
» Mooney. The Cheyenne Indians, Memoirs of the American Anthropological
Association, vol. i, p. 427.
460 V American Indian Languages 1
624
W. hodlLere "umbilical cord" (ho- third person possessive prefix?): Oj. -diss
"navel"
W. me-ldk "testicles": Mic. ulsook "testicle"
W. me-lokaL "throat": Nat. mu-nnaonk "throat"
W. me-lul "mouth;" Coast Y. -luL "mouth" (< *-/«/): Cree mi-ton "mouth;"
Oj. -don; Mic. p'-tSn' "his mouth;" Nat. mu-ttom "mouth." W. -lul is
perhaps assimilated from *-lun.
W, me'l "excrement;" Y. -molox "faeces": Cree miy, mey "excrement;" Oj.
mo; Nat. mui, m^ee "ordure, dung"
W. m-ept "teeth;" Y. -peL (< *-pet): Cree m-ipit "tooth;" Oj. -ibid; Mic.
w-ibit' "his tooth;" Ar. be-itsid "tooth" (< *me-ipifi); Nat. w-eepit "his
tooth"
W. merdr "horn" (< *wendn ?): Fox -wind- "horn;" Cree -wite' "horns of the
head;" Oj. wagi-wine "it has crooked horns;" Nat. weween "horn"
W. m-etere "nose" (< *-etene); Y. -pern (< *-p-etn?): Mic. n-itn "my nose;"
w-itn "his nose;"* perhaps also Cree m-iteyikum (< *-iteU-, *-iteni')
"nostril;" Oj. mang-idenigome "to have large nostrils." Is Ar. be-iti
"nose" < *me-itn (but cf. Ch. -es "nose" as incorporated element)?
W. me-tkan "nail;" Y. -we-Lkete "nail": Cree mit-eskan "horn of the head;"
Oj. eshkan "horn;" Nat. askon (i. e., eskan); Bl. mo-tskinau.* Related
to these words are, in all probability, also Oj. -shkanj "nail;" Cree mi-
skasiy; Mic. m-kHse.
W. me-weriL "flesh, fat": Oj. winin "fat;" Nat. wees, weis "fat;" Mic. weoo's
"flesh;" Cree wiyds "flesh"
W. m-tt "tongue;" Y. -piL (< *-p-it) "tongue": Ar. be-iOan (< *me-itan)
"tongue;" Bl. m-atsini (< *m-atini < *m-itani by metathesis'); Gros
Ventre inmtunl "tongues" (i. e. -itAniY; Cree mit-eyaniy "tongue"
(< *-elani); Oj. -enaniw; Mic. m-ilnoo; Del. -llAno
W. m-okec "fingers": Bl. m-okitsis "finger"
W. tckatc "leg;" Y. tska "foot": Cree mi-skdt "leg;" Oj. -kdd (< *-'kdt); Bl.
mo-xkalsis "leg, foot" (< *-xkat-); Mic. An-kdt' "my foot;" Nat. mu-
hkont "leg" (i. e. -'kant). Observe that this stem means both "leg" and
"foot" in both Algonkin and Yurok-Wishosk. There seem to be two
Algonkin stems: -skdt (Cree) and -^kdt (Mic, Nat.; these dialects regularly
preserve original sk). This is confirmed by incorporated forms -ska- and
1 For ts < p, see Michelson, op. cit., p. 235.
2 Cree not infrequently has ( where other Algonkin dialects have n or I. See
Michelson, op. cit., p. 239.
' Rand gives wedoon (ist per. nedoon) as "nostril."
* Bl. -tskin- must go back to *-tskan- or *-lkan-, as original ki would have given
ksi. Cf. Bl. omaxksi-kimi "great water" with Oj. -garni- "water."
'Vocalic and consonantic metathesis seems to be rather common in Blackfoot.
Another example of vocalic metathesis is moksis "awl" (< *mokis); cf. Oj. migoss.
•G. B. Grinnell in American Anthropologist, N.S., 15, 1913, p. 330.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 46 1
625
-^ka {-skat: -ska- = W. tckatc: Y. tska). -ska- is found in Fox -sk{a)-
"with the foot" and Cree -ska-we-w (inanimate -ska-m) "with the foot;'*
-^ka- is found, e. g., in Fox -^ka- "trail" and Bl. -ka- "foot" (e. g. siksika
"black-footed").
W. wat-iLat "shell" {wat- in this and following words is prefix): Oj. ess "shell;"
Cree es
W. wal-kai "skin," ra-waikai "my skin": Cree m-asakay "skin of the human
body;" Oj. -jagadi; perhaps also Bl. tn-otokis "hide"^
W. wat-kerat "hoxiG^ " ra-watkerat'^ my hones]" Y. werLker "hones": Cree oskan
"bone;" Oj. -kdn (< *-^kdn); Fox ut-o^kAtt-emAn* "his bones;" Nat.
m-uskon "bone;" Bl. oxkin (< *oskan). Besides *oskan (and its reflex
o^kan, -'kan), we find also *-kan- {-gan-) as incorporated element: Cree
-gand-m-ew "action sur les os, en frappant;" Oj. sdbi-gane "to have strong
bones." This suggests that os- (> *ox-, 0'-) rnay be a prefixed element
cognate with W, wat-, Y. werL- (-tk- > -sk-; see metkan above). Cf. werL-
kun below.
W. wat-melok "ear " (stem -lok) : Cree mi-ttdwokay " ear " (incorporated -ttdwoke-) ;
Nat. me-htduog; Mont, u-tuki "his ear;" Bl. mo-xtokis "ear"
W. wat-otk "fin": Cree mil-oskwan "tail;" Oj. ojigwan "tail of a fish;" Nat.
w-ussukqun "his tail"
W. wat-wet "head;" Y. -ntoL (< *-wot7): Mic. windzi'' "head," n-und£f "my
head" (< *ivindi, *-undi). It is somewhat doubtful if Oj. wijigan "skull"
and Fox u-wtc* "his head" are related to these Mic. forms.
Y. wertkun "liver": Cree oskun "liver;" Oj. -kdn (< *-^kdn < *-sk6n); Mic.
ooskoo'n; Nat. m-ushqun. For Algonkin os-: Y. werL- cf. wat-kerdt above.
W. we-ser (< *-sen) "woman's breast": Ar. be-9en* "breast," be-denetl (= -Oen-
netS "breast-water") "milk"^
W. we-'s "hand;" Y. we-tsewec: Bl. mo-tsis "hand;" Ar. bd-tcei; Cree mi-
tchitchiy. Ar. -tcet seems to indicate that Algonkin tc remains in Ar.;
where Ar. has 6 and Fox tc, we seem to be dealing with Algonkin tc after or
before i or / palatalized in Fox to tc before t^ (cf. Ar. -itsid "tooth" and
-iBan "tongue," in both of which < t after i).
ANIMALS
W. botcwi, butciwi "skunk": Mai. abikHsilg^ "skunk"
W. hblakw, hahakw "deer": Oj. atlk "deer," plur. attkwag; Nat. ahtuk
W. heikw "louse": Oj. ikwa "louse;" Cree ikkwa; perhaps also -kw of Mic.
waakw "louse"
1 Does -ki- go back to *-kai-? Original -ki- would have become -ksi-.
^ Pointed out by Kroeber.
3 Michelson's sole example (op. cit., p. 235) is Fox -nitc*: Ar. -nid. That Fox
conjunctive -tc* is here <*-i* is indicated by corresponding subjunctive -te and par-
ticipial -ta.
462 V^ American Indian Languages 1
626
W. mdkw "grizzly bear": Cree maskwa "bear;" Fox md'kw; Oj. makwa; Nat.
masq
W. me'lakw "elk": Oj. mons "moose"
W. mireL "angleworm": Cree mottew "worm;" Oj. mosse "worm (of wood);"
perhaps also Mic. wete "worm"
W. pdne'r "crane": Oj. bine "partridge," bineshi "small bird," binissi "large
bird"; Cree pihyew "partridge"
Y. wergec "fox": Oj. wdgosh "fox;" Nat. wonkuessis; Mic. wokwis
PLANTS
Y. kdpcL "brush": Oj. kibinsan "shrub, bush"
W. mukweti "pine": Oj. amikwandag "white pine"
W. talew-iL, tdleg'-iL "tree": Gros Ventre land'' "tree"^
W. we'tow; "salmon-berry": Del. '"tahlm" "strawberry;" Oj. odei-min
W. wltcatc "buds": Oj, wanimik "bud;" or though perhaps less probable, Mic.
wiskusok "bud"
W. wit "alder": Oj. wadop "alder-tree"
NATURAL OBJECTS
W. gitcai-ailokwe "sun" (cf. ritsowel-ailokwe "moon"): Oj. gisiss "&un, moon;"
Ar. hUis (< *klUs) "sun, moon;" perhaps also Ch. eieva "daily" (-(c)p5
is locative). Should Oj. gijig "day, sky" not be related to W. kik (q. v.),
gitcai- is perhaps to be put rather with Oj. gijig than with gisiss.
Y. ha'di(gon) "rock": Ar. haha'ana'^kd'* "rock"*
W. hekw "snow": Ch. histds "snow"'
W. kik "clear sky": Oj. gijig "day, sky;" Cree kijik, plur. kijikwa, kijikaw
"it is day;" Nat. kesuk "day, sunlight;" Mic. -giskuk "day," in com-
pounds only. W.kik would seem to imply *kisk (cf. Mic. -gisk-); for Oj.
jig: sk (Fox ^k) cf. Oj. bimi-najikawa "to pursue": Fox -ne^ka- "to drive,
pursue." See gitcai- above.
W. letkak "sand": Oj. nSgaw "sand;" Cree {i)yekaw (< *lekaw)
Y. Lqel "earth": Cree askiy "earth;" Oj. akki; Nat. ohke (i. e. a'ki); Fox a^ki'
W. mdti "wood": Cree mistik (plur. mistikwok, mistikwd) "tree, piece of wood;"
Oj. mitig "tree;" Fox meHigw-; Nat. mehtugiq); Bl. tnistsis "stick"
(< *misti-s; -s is suffix, as shown by nits-istsi-m "my stick"); Ch. mata
"timber, wood." Bl. and Ch. are interesting as implying Algonkin stem
*misti or *masti without -kw- suffix of other Algonkin dialects; this goes
well with W. mdti.
W. mes, wes "fire;" Y. mete "fire": Oj. mishi "piece of wood for fuel," missan
"wood for fuel;" Nat. mishash (Nat. -ash and Oj. -an are inanimate plur.)
* G. B. Grinnell in American Anthropologist, N.S., 15, 1913, p. 328.
* Pointed out by Kroeber.
* J. Mooney, op. cit., p. 427.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 463
627
"wood;" Ar. hdB (< *mas) "wood." Is Cree mitti "firewood" also
related? There are numerous examples in America of "firewood"
derived from or identical with "fire."
W. pak "salt water, ocean;" Y. />a'" "water": Gros Ventre wadh "water"'
W. pdtut "earth, soil": Ar. bita'd"wu " earth "^
W. p'letk, p'lets "rock": Mai. p'Anapsk''" "stone;" perhaps also Mic, -pskSk
"rock" in compounds, which, however, seems rather to correspond to
Mai. -psk'"'.
Y. pontet "ash": Oj. pingwi, pangwi "ashes;" Cree pihkkow; Nat. pukquee
Y. rokw "wind": Oj. nodin "wind;" Cree yotin (< Hotin) "wind blows"
W. wen, wiru-dala (< *winu-) "sky," gotso-wen "day"; Y. wonoyek "sky,"
wonu-clei "sun, moon": Ch. voe "sky" (Ch. v < Algonkin w; cf. Ch. -ova-
"referring to water": Cree -dbdwa- "by means of water;" nevd "four":
Fox nydw*). Kroeber connects Y. wono- with won- "up," with which is
perhaps to be compared Oj. wanako- of wanakong "at top or head of tree,"
wanakowin "top, extremity." wanakodjaonag "foremost part of canoe."
OBJECTS MADE BY MAN
W. cwat "bow;" Y. camot; Coast Yurok cmoxter, cmahater: Fox meHd^* "bow;"
Ar. batd (< *mdtd)} If these etymologies are correct, c{a)- of W. and Y.
would seem to be a prefix.
Y. hordu "arrow": Ar. hoti "arrow;" Cree atus; Oj. mitigw-anwi (mitigw-
"wood")
W. mol "house;" Y. o'lomeL: Bl. moyis "hut;" Gros Ventre -wu\ -wuh'
"lodge;"* Ar. ha'd'Hou "house," -a"wu "lodge" (-"wm < -*mu; cf. wox^
"bear": Cree tnaskwa)
Y. naxko "board": Cree nabakittak "board;" Oj. nabagissag
W. tsdpi "arrow": Bl. apssi "arrow" (< *apt), no-xpssi "my arrow." Fox
n-ip^ "my arrow;" Ar. n-etc' "my arrow." If these etymologies are
correct, W. ts- is a prefix.
W. kac-werar "small house" (< *-winan): Mai. weng^djigwQtn'' "house"; Mic.
wend&lgwdm^; Ar. ntwa" "house" (< *wma'^'i cf. Ar. no'^ku "rabbit": Oj.
wabos )
VERB AND ADJECTIVE STEMS
W. ate-l, ane-l, hane-w; ie-l "to say, tell": Cree ite-w "il lui dit," itwe-w "il dit,"
itwe-win "word;" Oj. nind-ind "I tell him"
W. gawe-betser "it is becoming dry" (gawe- inchoative): Oj. bass "to be,
become dry," bd-tte "it is dry;" Cree pd-swew "he dries it"
> G. B. Grinnell in American Anthropologist, n.s., 15, 1913, p. 328.
' Suggested by Kroeber.
' Noted by Kroeber.
* G. B. Grinnell in American Anthropologist, N.s., 15, 1913. P- 329.
• See Michelson, op. cit., p. 235.
464 V American Indian Languages 1
628
W. bitcewe-tskarer "to peel": Oj. bishagi-bina "to peel, pare, shell, flay"
W. bokin "to hit, strike": Fox pAgA-, pAgi- "to strike;" Oj. pakit^-
W. butc "to scratch": Cree pes- "tracer, tirer des lignes"
W. cakw "sick, to die": Oj. akos "to be sick"
W. capo "straight": Nat. sampwi "it is straight"
W. dokap, dokaw "to crack": Oj. tashka "to split"
W. gets "cold": Cree kissin "it is cold;" Oj. kissina "it is cold"
W. gos-wiwi "to swim": Cree kosdpew "il enfonce dans I'eau"
W. it, w-it, n-it "to sleep, dream": Cree itdbat- "to dream;" Oj. indban-
W. kac, kacam "small, short": Oj. agdshi "small;" Ch. ka- "short"
W. hi-kawaw-iL {hi- denotes past time) "they cut it (dead body) up;" Oj. gawa-
"to cut down (tree);" Fox kdwA- "to crunch"
W. kiedal "to take, pick": Cree kitti-new "il y met la main"
W. kika "red": Bl. ksik- (< *kik-) "white"
W. kLet "hot": Oj. kij-dte "it is hot;" Ar. hasitd'" "it is hot" (< *kdsi-^)
W. ko-mal, (perhaps also) da-kwes "to hang": Cree kosd-we "to hang," ako-tew
"he hangs it;" Oj. ago- "to hang (tr.);" Nat. {h)ogko}-chin "it hangs, is
suspended"
W. {hi-ka-)kuweyeli-iL) "(were not) afraid any longer": Fox ku- "to fear;" Oj.
go-; Cree ku-s-
W. lakwet "to cough": Mai. nek'^'-hAmp- "to cough;" Mic. no'yum^
W. lalisw "to sing;" Y. rurawo: Mai. dlin't'^ {or dlin" to-) "to sing;" Abn. lin't'o*
"sing!" (probably from dl-). Such forms as Abn. kw&wadzint'g- "to
begin to sing," dabadakwint' 0- "to finish singing," Mai. ''mimadjen.' t p-
"to begin to sing," e^kwin'Hp-" to stop singing" show that {d)lin'^tp- is
compounded of dli- and -n'ip-. It is with this dli- (< *djli-?) that W. lali-
is probably to be compared.
W. letka "to fall, descend": Cree nitta-kusiw "to descend," nitti-new "he lowers
it"
W. ha-lewu, o-lewu, do-lewu "to dance": Fox ntmi- "to dance;" Cree nimi-w;
Oj. nim; Mic. nemaVkai'^ "I dance"
W. Leriwoke-tskarer "to peel": Cree siniku- " frictionner, frotter, essuyer-
brosser;" Oj. sinigo- "to rub"
W. mlw- " to eat (slain animal) " : Oj. amwa "to eat (animate object) ; " Fox amw-
"to eat;" Ch. miv (< *miw) "to eat (e. g. human flesh)"*
Y. new, neg^wo (i. e. neywo = newwo, according to Kroeber) "to see": Fox ndw-,
ndU' "to see;" Del. ndwdw'* "I see him"
W. niewom "to kill," hi-ntewa-k "he killed him": Cree nipa- "to kill;" Mai.
ne^pa-. Is Del. ni'l- of nVldwa- "to kill" related?
Y. ok "to live, be" (Wat.): ¥o^{u)wigt-, {u)wige- " to dwell"
W. pelal " to break, open, cut " : Cree payipa ( < *pali-}) " percer de part en part "
' See Michelson, op. cit., p. 235.
' J. Mooney, op. cit., p. 426.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 465
629
W. picar "to swell": Cree pisakusiw "il est abondant, il fournit beaucoup"
Y. qoqonewuL (reduplicated) "long": Cree kino-, kinw- "long;" Oj. gino-, ginw-
W. rakcem "to pursue": Fox nag- "to follow after"
W. siswa "black": Bl. sik- "black"
W. tawal, dakw "dead, to die": Fox tdw{i)- verb stem indicating "physical pain"
W. tawi "to butcher": Nat. tumm-ussum, lumm-ehtam "he cuts (it) off"
W. tawik-wi "to visit": Fox nawi- "to visit"
W. tern "to sit": Del. lum'^i'-api- "to be seated"
W. tigelis-wi "to swim": Mic. degisim- "to swim, bathe"
Y. tmo "to shoot with bow" (Wat.): Fox pemw{u)- "to shoot." If this is
correct, Y. tmo would seem to be dissimilated from *pmo.
W. twe-Layer "to cut, notch": Cree twd-hwew "he makes a hole in it"
W. tsaw "to touch": Cree sdmi-new "to touch"
W. /itoV " to sneeze " : Cree /c/ta/c/ta-mow " he sneezes "
Y. tsiyuk, atsiyugw, atsiyUuk " to sit " : Ar. dioku " to sit " (cf. Bia^ku " to stand ") ;
perhaps also Bl. itsistoxk- "(to do) while lying"
W. tsowes "to shout": Cree sdkowe-w, sd-sdskwe-w "he cries out with joy;" Oj.
sa-ssdkwe "to shout with joy"
W. waL, maL, pL "to eat": Fox wtseni- "to eat;" Oj. wissin
W. wayit "to bend": Oj. wdgina "to bend;" Cree wdki-siw "he is bent"
Y. wec'ona "sky": Cree was- "clair, lumineux, brillant," wdseskwan "!e ciel,
le temps est clair"
W. welu, wilu "hollow": Cree wayd-hew (< *wal-) "he hollows it," wdti "hole
in the earth," wdyi-siw "hollow (inanimate);" Oj. wdnike "to dig a hole
in the ground;" Mic. wol-begdddkun "to be hollow," wdl-kobdkum "to
make a hollow in the ground" (i. e. wal-)
Y. heL-wenoo-c "give me" (stem we-noo-): Cree mi-yew "he gives him;" Oj.
tni-na "to give him;" Ar. bl-n- (< *mt-) "to give;" Fox ml-n-
W. weratc "to drink," weratcl "water": Cree minikkw- "to drink;" Oj. minikwe;
Del. min'd-; Ar. band
W. wet "satisfied," witd'w-iL "he rejoiced": Fox metd- "to take pleasure in;"
Cree miyd-wdtew "il en est content"
It is very important to notice that several Algonkin secondary-
verb stems (i. e. such as occur only compounded with preceding
stems) seem to be cognate with Wiyot primary stems. It is quite
likely on general principles, in view of the fact that several initial
stems may be compounded in Algonkin, that many, if not all, such
secondary stems are in origin primary stems that came to be
restricted to a secondary place in compounds. Once in a while,
indeed, one finds that a stem which is primary in one Algonkin dia-
lect can be used only as a secondary stem in another. Thus
466 V American Indian Languages I
630
Baraga gives Oj. nin gdhaw for "I stand," nin gabawia for "I make
him stand," while Lacombe defines -kahawi-w in Cree as "une
terminaison qui designe: se tenir debout;" similarly, in Fox, Jones
lists -gapa- "to stand" as a secondary stem (of the second order).
The examples so far discovered of Wiyot primary stems correspond-
ing to Algonkin secondary ones are:
W. inag- "to think": Oj. -en{i)- "to think" (e. g. in-en-dam "to think of it,"
takwendam "to think always of it"); Fox -dne- "relates to mental opera-
tion;" Cree it-eyi-mew "il le pense ainsi;" Nat. -an- (e. g. an-an-tam, un-
an-tam "he thinks," miss-an-tam "he thinks much")
W. kawi "to make": Bl. -ka-, -xka-, -xka- "to make something;" Cree -kke-
W. Lephai "to taste": Cree -spo-ku, -spi-te "it tastes so and so;" Oj. mino-pi-
djige "to find a good taste" {-pi- < *-'pi < *-spi)
W. otw "to bring": Cree -towat-ew (ending of neuter verbs) "un fardeau, un
poids, qu'on porte sur son dos;" Fox -5- "to bring, carry a burden on one's
back;" Oj. -0-
W. Unas "to crawl": Fox -otd- "to crawl"
NUMERALS
W. goH-, gu'ts- "one;" Y. qool-, qo{o)xt-, qoor-: Fox negut* "one;" Oj. ningoto-;
Nat. nequt; Bl. nitukska < *nituki- < *nikuti-} Is original Algonkin 'got-
modified to ni-got- by analogy of other numerals beginning with n-?^
W. rit{w)- (< *nitw-) "two;" Y. ni'-, nd'-, ne'-: Cree nijo, nijw- "two;" Fox
ntcw\' Ar. mH; Oj. nij; Abn. ns'; Ch. nixd "two," nis "two of;" Bl.
ndtoka "two." Algonkin *nicw- may have been developed from *nitw-
(cf. W.) as original -tk- developed to -ck-, -sk- (see part 4 of this paper).
Originally, antevocalic *nicw- may be supposed to have varied with ante-
consonantal *nito-; this is confirmed by Bl. ndto-ka with its otherwise
mysterious -t- {-ka suffixed as in nituks-ka "one" and ninoks-ka "three").
W. rik{w)- {< *nikw-) "three;" Y. naxkc-: Cree nisio, nistw- "three;" Fox
nesw\- Ar. ndsd; Oj. nisso-, nisswi; Abn. nds'; Ch. ndd "three," nahe
"three of" {-h- < -s-); Bl. niuokska, niuoka (i. e. *niwoki-}). W. -kw-
and Algonkin -sw- (e. g. Fox) and -stw- (e. g. Cree) point to original final
•w- of stem; W. -kw-, Y. -xkc- and Bl. niuok- point to -k- as part of final
consonant cluster;' Y. -xkc- and Algonkin -sw-, -stw- point to -s- as
1 Another example of consonantal metathesis, if metathesis indeed is involved
here, seems to be matsikin " moccasin "^^ < *masikan < *makisan; cf. Cree maskisin
Oj. makisin.
2 Perhaps Algonkin "one" without n- prefix is preserved in Abn. kwid-A's "six,"
. e., "one and five" (cf. below under W. halu "seven").
» Mic. inanimate ndsiskul (i. e. nesiskAl; -Al is inanimate plural) also suggests
original -k-. -sisk- < *-siks{w)-. assimilated from *-niks{w)- (see below). How
explain ne-? Cf. Algonkin nl-got-?
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 467
631
original member of this cluster also. Perhaps original *niksw- (with loss of
-w- in Y. and of .5- in W.) lies back of all our forms; Algonkin -stw- may
be supposed to have developed from -ksw- (in those dialects that do not
preserve -st-, -stw- developed to -sw-; that all Algonkin dialects originally
had -stw-, and that -sw-, -s- did not directly develop from -ksw- by loss of
k is indicated by Mic. siit\ assimilated from *mst-).
W. riaw-, ram- "four" (< *niaw-): Cree newo "four;" Fox nydw^; Oj. 7iiwin;
Mic. neu; Abn. "ycM* (animate '^ydw'-ak'); Ch. nevd; Ar. yeini {y- < ny-;
cf. ydOani "five": Fox nyanAnw^). Bl. niso "four" does not fit well with
Algonkin *n^ew-; perhaps it is to be more closely connected with :
Y. toon-, tsoon- "four" (perhaps < *toson-, cf. tamaw- below; this may be dis-
similated from *noson- < *ntson- or *nison-): BI. nis{o)6, niso "four"
W. hdlu "seven": Mic. eluwiginxk^ "seven;" Fox nohig'^ (for -g" cf. also
negutwdcig' "six" and necwacig'^ "eight," probably also cdg"^ "nine;"
no- < *ino-, cf. neniw'^ "man" alongside of ineniw'^). Fox ndhi- corre-
sponds to Mic. eluwi-. Most Algonkin dialects have 2+5 for 7: Oj.
nijw-dsso-; Mont, nljw-o'sti; Rupert's House Cree nts-os; Nat. nes-dusuk
tahshe; Ch. nis-oxtod; Ar. nts-a"; Abn. daba-ps (< *dabo-As; cf. kwid-As
"six" and Mic. dabp'^ "two"). W. hdlu, Fox noQii)-, and Mic. elu{wi)- seem
to point to an older stem for "seven" not based on a quinary system.
Two Of three other elements of indefinite numerical significance
may be included here:
W. daru "all" (also as verb prefix ru-): Cree tatto, tattw-aw "each, every"
Y. qblin "the other": Cree kutak "another;" Fox kutAg-; Na.t.' on-katog "an-
other person"
Y. kuc tsdme-L "how many?" kuc tdmaw-o "how many months?" kuc tamo-
pir "how many dentalia?" kuc termerw-er "how many woodpecker
scalps?" (assimilated from *tamaw-er), kuc termerpi "how many obsidian
blades?" (assimilated from *lam{aw)-erpi) {kuc is "what?" whence tamaw-
can be inferred to mean "as much as, so and so many in number;" for
ts-: i- cf. tsoon-: toon- "four" above, perhaps implying original stem
*tasm(,aw)-): Oj. dasswii)- "so and so many" (used with numeral classi-
fiers); Fox tAsw{i)- "as many as, as much as, number." With Y. term-
erpi cf. Oj. dassw-dbik "so and so many objects of metal, stone, or glass."
LOCAL TERMS
W. dat "up, above": Cree tett- "to be over" (tettahyew "he puts it above,"
tettapiw "he is seated over")
Y. pets-ik "up stream" {-ik is locative): Mic. petow "up stream"
Y. pul-ik, puleku-k "down stream": Mic. bdp-kddk "down stream" (cf. perhaps
Cree mdmik "bas d'une riviere")
W. Icatc " south" : Cree 5da;a» "south;" O]. jdwan; Nat. sowandyeu
468 V American Indian Languages 1
632
W. tcwi "behind;" Y. he-Lqdu- verb prefix "in the rear" (Wat.) {he- is demon-
strative; -Lqau- < *Lqw-, cf. Y. hordu "arrow" < *hotw): Oj. ishkwi "to
remain (behind)," ishkwa- "after, at the end of something," ishkweiang
"behind the others;" Cree iskw- "the last, at the end, in the last place;"
Nat. ashq- (i. e. ackw-) in ashqshout "he who remains," ashqunut "he
who is left;" Mic. eskw- in eskwaadoo "I let it remain," eskweak "to
remain." Primitive Algonkin *ckw{i)-, *skw{i)-, variable vowel t-, a-,
e- being presumably prefixed merely to support consonant cluster.
W. wa "far": Oj. wa^^a "far;" Cree way
W. wur "north" (< *mon?): Ch. notam "north" (perhaps dissimilated from
*motam; cf. na''ko "bear" < *ma'kw-?)
PRONOUNS
Y. hi-, he- (Wat.) demonstrative stem compounded with local adverbs used as
verb prefixes (e. g. htgwop "in front floating," hipets "up stream,"
heLqdu " in the rear," heci " this side of ") : Fox t- of Ina " that " (anim.)
ini (inanim.) (-«c as in w^wa "this"); perhaps also i- of Fox ici- "thus,"
Cree it-, Oj. in-
Y. iyo, yok "this," plur. iyohko: Cree eoko "ce, celui-ci," plur. eokonik; Oj. iw, iwi
"that;" Nat. yeu "this (thing)," animate yeuoh, animate plur. yeug
W. tci-wa "that; so, thus;" perhaps also Y. he-ci "this side of" (Wat.) Qie- is
demonstrative): Cree tche-skwa "ci-apres" (for -skwa, see W, /ctfi "be-
hind ") ; perhaps also Fox ici- " thus "
Y. kuc "what? where?": Fox -gu- in wdgund'^* "what (inanimate)?" (cf. wdnd^"
"who?")
Y. tin interrogative pronominal stem in tinica "what? what kind?" tinpa
"which one?": Cree tan- interrogative pronominal stem in tdnisi "how?
of what kind?" tdneki "why?" tdntatto "how much?" tdnispi "when?";
Fox tdn" "which (animate singular)?"; Bl. tda (animate singular) "which?
being where?"
W. -wa in du-wa "what?" ci-wa "what?" wai "is that so?": Oj. wa "what?"
(in answer to questions); Ch. -vd, -va in nevd "who?" henova "what is it?"
Y. nek "I;" W. yil (< *nil}): Cree niya "I" (< *nila)\ Fox nin"; Oj. nin;
Nat. neen; Mic. neen (assimilated from *m/); Mai. nil
W. kil "thou;" Y. qel: Cree kiya "thou" (< *kila); Fox kin"; Oj. kin; Nat.
keen; Mic. keel; Mai. kil
W. hinar, windr "we" (< *-ndn; are these two forms inclusive and exclusive?):
Cree kiydnow (inclusive), niydn, niyandn (exclusive); Fox ktndn", ninan"^;
Oj. kinawind, ninawind; Nat. keenawun, neenawun; Mic. keenoo, nenen;
cf. also -nana and -niina of Bl. nistundna, ksistunilna (these are really
possessive forms of stem -5/m-)
W. kiluwa "you (plur.)": Cree kiyawaw "you (pi.)" {< *kilawaw); ¥ox
kinwdw"; Oj. kinawa; Nat. kenauau; Mic. kelow; cf. also Bl. -aua (= W.
-wa) in ksistoaua (really possessive form of stem -sto-)
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 469
633
3. Algonkin, Wiyot, and Yurok
Morphological Evidence
We shall begin by taking up the various grammatical elements
that Algonkin has in common with Wiyot or Yurok or both.
POSSESSIVE PRONOMINAL PREFIXES
W. r-, ru; ra- (< *»-, *nu-, *na-); yi- (before terms of relationship; < *m'-?)
"my;" Y. ne-, no-: Cree «-, ni-, nt- "my"; Fox n-, tie-, net-; Oj. ni-, nin-.
nind-; Mic. »-, An-; Nat. »-, «« (= ha-); B1. n-, ni-, nit{s)-, no-, -t-
forms (Bl. -t- or -ts- forms) are used before stems beginning with vowels,
This -t- seems comparable to -d- of W. ru-d-aluwi "my boat" {haluw*
"boat"), probably also d- of d-etere "my nose" {m-etere "nose").
W. k-, ku-, "thy;" Y. qe-, qo-: Cree k-, ki-, kit- " thy;" Fox k-, ke-, ket-; Oj. ki-,
kid-; Mic. k-, uk- (i. e. Ak-); Nat. k-, ku- (i. e. kA-); HI. k-, ki-, kit{s)-,
ko-, Ar. hi- (< *ki-). -t- forms (Bl. -t- or -ts- (orma) are used before stems
beginning with vowels. This -t- seems comparable to -d- of W. ku-d-
aluwi "your boat."
W. hu-, 0-, w- third person possessive pronominal prefix, singular or plural,
"his;" Y. we-, wo-, 0-: Cree o{t)-, w-; Fox u{t)-: Oj. o{d)-, w-; Mic. 0-'
W-; Nat. W-, wu- (i. e. wa-); Bl. 0-, ot{s)-, m-
W. tn-, me- body-part prefix, "somebody's;" Y. m-: Cree m-, mi-; Oj. mi-;
Mic. m, 'm- (i. e. Am); Nat. m-, mu- (i. e. wa-); Bl. m-; Ar. bd- (< *md-).
See beginning of part 2.
W. wat- body-part prefix (e. g. wat-kerdt "bone," wat-melok "ear," ra-wat-kai
"my skin"); Y. werL- (e. g. -werhker "bone," -werhkun "liver"): Cree
OS- of certain body-part nouns (e. g. os-kan "bone," os-kun "liver"), see
part 2 s. v. wat-kerdt. Certain body-part nouns in Arapaho are 'preceded
by wa- (wan-7): wa-natana' (read wan-atana'?) "ear," wa-not (read
wan-otl cf. Oj. m-odji < *m-odi "belly of an animal") "belly," wa-a^d
"foot." It is tempting to compare this wa{n)- with W. wat-, though
Kroeber suggests it may be another form of bd- (see under m-).
TENSE-MODE VERB PREFIXES
W. hi- prefix of ordinary past: Ch. -'- prefix indicating past time (e. g. na^-mese
"I ate'': na-mese "I eat")
W. ka-, ga- negative (e. g. guts-kd-nakw "it is not good," hi-ka-kuwiyeliL "were
not afraid any longer"); Y. kowits-: Oj. ka- "not," kawin as independent
adverb; Ar. hdw^ (< ♦Mw/°); Cree eka (only with subjunctive forms)
W. ka- prefix which, together with suffix -iLya, forms imperatives of some verbs
{e.g. ka-Lol-tLya" ]ump\")', Y. ki- future prefix, kiti- (Wat.) "impending
action " : Cree ka-, kata-, kita- future prefixes; Oj. ga-, gad-. With Cree kita-
is perhaps also to be compared git- of W. gitga, particle indicating futurity.
470 V American Indian Languages 1
634
Y. ki- " incomplete action " (Wat.) : Cree ki- prefix of past time
Y. matseki- "if" {-ki- is perhaps future prefix): Ch. ma "if, when"
Y. nimi-, nimok- negative: Cree nama, nama- "not"
W. wi-, wa- future prefix: Fox wl- future prefix; Cree wi- "signe de la volonti;
etre sur le point de"
ADVERBIAL VERB PREFIXES
(comprising also elements best considered as initial verb stems in Algonkin)
W. dakw- in ddkw-darudakw "they are with (their grandmother)": Fox tAgw{i)-
"together;" Oj. dago- "amongst others, amongst other things"
W. gawe-, gawu inchoative prefix: Abn. kwdwadzi- "to begin to" (e. g. kwi-
wadzintq- "to begin to sing;" also hgwadzi-)
Y. kits- prefix indicating completed past: Cree kisi- or kiji- "to finish;" Fox
ktcii)- "to finish;" Bl. -ksist{s)- perfective prefix (< *-kisi-)
W. kul- "back, again": Cree kiwe-w "he returns to his own place," kiwe-hu-yew
"he takes him back to hib country"
W. let- prefix defined by Kroeber as "apparently defining motion in some way"
(perhaps circular motion is implied: let-kale g^al-tL "roll," dak-let-athanagat
"boil violently," let-kalegal "falF'O: Fox tetep- "to move in a circle"
Y. tsegi- " all " (Wat.) : Fox tcdgi- " all, entirely '
PRONOMINAL SUFFIXES
W. -e'l third person (singular or plural) possessive suffix (e. g. we-lin-e'l "his eye,"
hu-watkerat-i'l "his bones"): Fox -An* (obviative ending); Oj. -an; Mai.
-a/'; Mic. -ul (i. e. -aI). Algonkin noun forms with third person possessive
prefix normally end in obviative *-ali; thus, Oj. o-siniss-an "his father-in-
law" (cf. ki-siniss "thy father-in-law"). Is W. -e'l really obviative, and
is W. hu- . . . -el: Algonkin *o- . . . -alt more than accidental?
Y. -k "I" (subjective): Fox -g* "I" in -A-gi "him — I" (conjunctive mode);
Cree -a-k "him — I" (subjunctive-participle), -a-ki-k "them — I;" Oj. -a-g
"him — I" (subjunctive)
Y. -m "thou" (subjective): Oj. -m "you (plur.)" (indicative mode; < *-mwa,
as indicated by imperfect -mwa-ban; this -mwa may be compounded of
original -m- "thou," no longer preserved as such, and -wa, second person
plural suffix, seen, e. g.,in Oj. ki- . . . -wa "your" and -a/a of W. kilu-wa
"you" and -itawa, see below); Algonkin -mwa appears in several dialects
as -pwa (e. g. Fox and Bl.).
W. -it, -at "thou" (subjective): Fox -tci (< *-tt) in -A-tci "him— thou" (con-
junctive), -te in -A-te "him — thou" (subjunctive); Cree -a-t "him — thou"
(subjunctive-participle); Oj. -a-d "him— thou" (subjunctive)
W. -itak, -atak "we" (subjective): Fox -ydge "we (exclusive)" (conjunctive);
Cree -yak (subjunctive-participle); Oj. -iang (subjunctive)
1 But see part 2 s. v. letka.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 47 1
635
W. -itawa, -alawa "you (plur.)" (subjective): Fox -yagwe "you (plur.)" (con-
junctive); Cree -yek (subjunctive-participle); Oj. -teg (subjunctive; <
*-yegwa > *-yego, as indicated by pluperfect -iego-ban)
W. -a "him": Fox -a- "him" (conjunctive; see under -k and -it above); Cree
-a-; Oj. -a-. Note that in Algonkin, as in Wiyot and Yurok, when (in
subordinate modes) both pronominal subject and object are suffixed, objec-
tive elements precede subjective elements; thus, Fox -A-tci (< *-A-ti)
"him — -thou" like W. -a-it (often contracted to -^t) "him — thou."
OTHER VERB SUFFIXES
(including elements best considered as secondary verb stems)
W. -dkw in wdndkw "tree": Fox -d^kw- "wood, tree;" Cree -dsku- (e. g. ask-
dsku-siy "green wood")
W. -atho causative suffix: Bl. -ats- causative suffix
W. -er suffix found on intransitive verbs (including numerals and adjectives;
e. g. rikw-er "three," kacam-er "small," gawu-bets-er "it is becoming dry;"
< *-in) : Cree -n suffix of first and second persons singular indicative of
intransitive verbs (including adjectives; e. g. ni-miyosi-n "I am good,"
ni-pimipattd-n "I run," contrast miyosi-w "he is good," pimipatta-w
"he runs"); and -n suffix of third person inanimate indicative of many
intransitive verbs (adjectival and impersonal; e. g. miwdsi-n "it is good,"
kimiwa-n "it rains")
W. -Ldk adjectival suffix on terms of color: Fox -tAg- secondary stem referring to
color.
W. -Layer suffix in verbs of cutting and related activities (e. g. twe- Layer "to cut,
notch," ka-Layer "to whittle." hawe-Layer "to mash," gutwaiap- Layer
"to brush"), probably best considered as secondary stem: Cree -sw-ew
(animate object), -s-am (inanimate object) "la marque du feu, du ciseau
et du couteau," -sawat-ew (animate object), -sawat-am (inanimate object)
"Taction du couteau ou du ciseau"
Y. -puL in tenpUL "rain": Oj. -hissa "to rain" (secondary stem), Mic. kV-piiax
"it rains"
W. -rakw, -erakw (< *-nakw) verb suffix "to be" (perhaps better defined as de-
noting " to be so and so in appearance or character; " e. g. gols-herakw " he is
good-looking," makL-erakw-iL "he is small"): Fox -ndgu- "look, appear-
ance, resemblance" (secondary stem); Cree -ndku-si- (animate), -ndkW'O-
(inanimate) verb suffix indicating "action de la vue" (e. g. miyo-ndku-si-w
"il a belle apparence")
W. -tskarer suffix in verbs of peeling (e. g. rari-tskarer "to shave, plane," hitcewe^
tskarer "to peel," Leriwoke-tskarer "to peel," ci-tskarer "to flay"), prob-
ably best considered as secondary stem: Cree -kkut-ew "Taction du
couteau, de la hache et de la verloppe, sur le bois"
W. -«, -att adjectival suffix (e.g. /feacew;-a« " short," cf. ^acam-er " small ; " perhaps
472 V American huiian Languages 1
636
predicative, as in ra'L-aw-tL "it is long"): Cree -w third person inanimate
suffix of certain intransitive verbs (adjectival and impersonal; e. g. mas-
kawa-w "it is strong," takkigamiw "liquid is cold"); Bl. -o, -u predicate
inanimate adjectival suffix (e. g. 6maxk-o " big," cf. animate omaxksim for
persons, omaxkimin for animals, omaxksiksim for trees). Do Cree inani-
mate adjectives in -n and -w correspond respectively to W. adjectives in
-er and -au?
NUMERAL CLASSIFIERS
Y. -etni "times, occasions, years" (e. g. naxkcemi "three years)": Bl. -mi
numeral classifier for "years" (Uhlenbeck states: "In order to indicate
age the noun stiiyi 'winter' is suffixed to the numeral stems and the suffix
-mi is placed thereafter, which complexes are then conjugated like ordinary
verbs")
Y. -en "days" (e. g. naxkcen "three days"): BL -ni- numeral classifier for "days
and nights;" compounded with this is Oj. -gijvan "days and nights" (e. g.
nijo-gw-an "two days," morphologically and etymologically parallel to
Y. nd'-din "two days")
Y. -erpi "obsidian blades" (e. g. nerxkcerpi "three obsidian blades"): Oj. -dbik
"objects of metal, stone, glass" (e. g. nijw-dbik "two such objects, two
dollars," morphologically and etymologically parallel to Y. ner'-erpi "two
obsidian blades"); Cree -dbiskw- "iron, stone"
Y. -0 "months, dollars" (e. g. naxkco "three months, dollars"): Oj. -0 used with
numerals to indicate "measure" (e. g. nijo "two before substantives
denoting measure" < nij "two;" nijwdsso < nijwdsiwi "seven")
NOUN SUFFIXES
W. -akw general locative (e. g. mes-akw{i)"in the fire;" Y. -{i)k (e. g. mets-ik
"in the fire"): Fox -g* general locative; Oj. -ng; Cree -k
W. -dtc, -hats, -wdts diminutive suffix: Cree -s, -s, -sis, -siS diminutive suffixes
(-sis is doubly diminutive); Oj. -ns diminutive suffix, -sh pejorative suffix;
Nat. -es diminutive suffix; Mic. -tSitS, -dzitl (morphologically parallel to
Cree -sis, -lis)
W. -iL derivative noun suffix, apparently instrumental in force (e. g. cbor-eL
"index finger, pointer;" dakaks-ih "gun"): Bl. -s{i) noun ending, perhaps
instrumental in force (e. g. mistsi-s "stick," cf. kits-istsi-mi-nilna "our
stick" and, with -kw- suffix, Cree misti-kw-; motsi-s "hand," cf. moisi-sts
"hands," -sts being inanimate plural, and, with another suffix, Cree
mitchi-tchiy; moyi-s "lodge," cf. moyi-sts "lodges;" moksi-s "awl," Oj.
tnigd-ss, cf. Bl. mo ksi-ks "awls," -ks being animate plural. That moksiks
is not phonetically simplified from *moksis(i)ks is indicated by such cases
as oxsis "her younger brother," plur. oxsisi-ks, where -s{i) is no derivative
suffix)
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 473
637
Aside from any question of direct comparison of morphological
elements, it is abundantly clear that Algonkin has several important
morphological characteristics in common with Wiyot and Yurok.
Among these, so far as the limited material at our disposal allows
us to generalize, are:
1. Possessive pronominal elements are prefixed to noun stems.
There are distinct elements for first person, second person, and third
person singular. In Wiyot, as in Algonkin, second and third person
plural possessive prefixes are identical with corresponding singular
elements (cf. W. kiluwa ku- "your," literally "ye thy-" with Fox
ke — pwa "your"). For body-part nouns m- is used to indicate in-
definiteness of possessor.
2. Independent personal pronouns are found which are ety-
mologically closely related to possessive pronominal prefixes. They
are characterized by suffixes which agree to a remarkable extent
(with -I of W. yi-l "I" and ki-l "thou" and -/ of Y. qe-l "thou"
cf. -I of Mai. ni-l and ki-l; with -ndr = -nan of W. hi-ndr, wi-ndr
"we" cf. -nana of Fox ni-ndn'^ and ki-ndn'^ and Bl. ni-stu-ndna; with
-lu-wa of ki-lu-wa "ye" cf. -la-wa{iv) of Cree ki-ya-waw and Mic.
ke-low = ki-la-w).
3. In Wiyot and Yurok verbal forms pronominal elements are
suffixed. In Algonkin pronominal prefixes are found only in indica-
tive forms and are identical with possessive elements. In all other
cases, to a large extent also in indicative forms, pronominal elements
are suffixes. In Arapaho and Micmac indicative pronominal ele-
ments are suffixed only, being really conjunctive in origin. It does
not seem likely that Arapaho and Micmac represent a more archaic
usage in this respect, in view of the occurrence of pronominal pre-
fixes in verb forms in Cheyenne and Blackfoot as well as in nearly
all Central and Eastern dialects. On the other hand it seems very
probable that the indicative with prefixed pronominal elements is
a peculiar development of Algonkin, based on or influenced by the
possessive series (cf. the development in Micmac of a new conjunc-
tive series which is evidently based on the possessive forms). The
pronominal series for the conjunctive and related modes, possibly
also some of the suffixed elements of the indicative, represent, then,
474 y American Indian iMnguages I
638
the historically oldest Algonkin forms. They are etymologically
parallel to the suffixed elements of Wiyot and Yurok. In Algonkin,
Wiyot, and Yurok objective pronominal suffixes precede subjective
elements.
4. Preceding the verb stem are often one or more elements of
temporal or modal significance. These shade off into a set of ad-
verbial prefixes which are doubtless verb or other stems that have
become speciahzed as first position elements (such are W. ru- "all,"
kul- "back, again," let-; Y. tsyu- "all;" Fox tcagi- "all," tetep- "in
a circle").
5. Several derivative verb suffixes (e. g. causative, reflexive) are
found. A number of suffixed elements are found whose significance
is so specific or concrete that they are best looked upon as secondary
stems (see, e. g., W. -tskarer and -Layer above). The peculiar
method of compounding verb stems of various positions which has
been described in detail for Fox by Jones and no less clearly indi-
cated, though in rather different terms, for Cree by Lacombe, thus
bids fair to be paralleled in the verb structures of Yurok and
Wishosk. Much more material, however, is needed before a point
of this character can be satisfactorily established.
6. Animate and inanimate are carefully distinguished in Algon-
kin. For Yurok Kroeber notes several adjectives which have
distinct animate and inanimate forms, animate forms being char-
acterized by suffixed -er (e. g. montse "white," animate monter-er;
cokoto "red," animate cerkert-er). It seems difficult to believe that
this fundamental distinction is expressed in Yurok only in the
adjective. There must be other evidences of its operation that
have not yet been disclosed.
7. Numeral stems are frequently followed by classifying suf-
fixes. That such exist in Wiyot as well as in Yurok is demon-
strated by W. -eu, -ayu "years" and -dk, -wdk "days." Besides
such numeral classifiers as have been noted above, Ojibwa and
Yurok both possess elements denoting "fathoms" and "canoes,"
though these do not seem to be etymologically connected.
8. As distinctive of the noun may be noted a general locative
suffix and a diminutivizing element which is also suffixed.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 475
639
9. Reduplication is not widely used in either Algonkin or Yurok-
Wiyot. It is, however, employed to some extent in both, chiefly to
express iteration (cf. W. tsitsir "to sneeze" with Cree tchatchdmow
"he sneezes").
Some of these morphological traits are, of course, rather general
in character and not to be considered as carrying much weight when
taken singly. Taken en masse, however, and in connection with
the specific resemblances in morphological elements listed above, I
think it will have to be conceded that the morphological evidence
for our thesis is not to be despised. I am well aware of the prob-
ability that a considerable number of my lexical and morpho-
logical parallels will, on maturer knowledge, have to be thrown out
of court; I cannot hope to have always hit the nail on the head.
However, even if we eliminate fifty per cent, of our cognates as
errors of judgment (doubtless far too great a sacrifice to caution)
we are still confronted with no fewer than one hundred or more
reasonably close analogies in stems and morphological elements.
4. Phonological Notes
A really sound study of Algonkin-Yurok-Wiyot linguistics de-
mands first of all the establishment of the phonetic laws that have
operated to bring about present phonetic (and, in its train, no doubt
often also morphologic) divergence. Unfortunately our knowledge
of even Algonkin phonology is as yet in its infancy. No very
precise data as to phonology will therefore be expected of us at this
stage. Nevertheless I believe that at least a few sound-relations
can be made out with reasonable certainty.
WiYOT-YuROK S-. Wiyot and Yurok not infrequently have h-
where Algonkin has no initial consonant. Cheyenne and Arapaho,
however, seem to have h- in analogous cases. It seems not unlikely,
then, that most Algonkin dialects have lost h-, at least in certain
cases.
W. hdlakw "deer": Oj. atlkw- "caribou"
W. heikw "louse": Cree ikkwa
W, hdlu "seven": Mic. eluwiginAk^
W. (A)«- "his" (Yurok 0-): Cree 0-
Y. hordu "arrow": Cree atus; but Ar. hoti
476 V American Indian Languages I
640
Y. ht-, he- demonstrative element: Fox i-
W. hikw "snow": Ch. ht'stds
Y. ha'di "rock": Ar. haha'ana"kd" (reduplication of ha- seems to indicate that
k- is organic)
W. hi- prefix of past time: Ch. - -
In W. hu- it seems likely that h- is only secondary (cf. parallel forms
u- and W-); loss of h- in W. is illustrated also in haluwi "canoe";
ru-d-aluwi "my canoe." In view of such correspondences as Y.
hordu: Ar. hoti it now seems plausible that Ch. hitan "man" and
Ar. hinen have original h-, which has been lost elsewhere in Algonkin
{*hilini-w- > Fox ineni-w-).
WiYOT-YuROK w. As already noted, W. w and m seem to
interchange in certain circumstances. In spite of this there is every
reason to believe that organically distinct w and m are to be kept
apart in W. (cf. W. w- "his": m-, w- "somebody's;" W. miw- "to
eat," Ch. miv-; W. welu "hollow," Mic. wal-). In certain cases W.
(and Y.) w is found where Algonkin has m.
W. wita'w-iL "rejoiced": Fox metd- "to take pleasure in"
W. weratc "to drink": Cree mini-kkw-
Y. Aez,-we»oo-c "give me": Fox »i»- "to give"
W. -/ewtt " to dance " ; Cree nitni-
W. tsaw "to touch": Cree sdmi-
W. wur "north": Ch. notam (see under W. wur above)
W. tawi " to butcher " ; Nat. iuntm- " to cut off "
In W. weratc and wur and Y. -wenoo-, w may have been dissimilated
from m because of following n (W. r = n). Parallel to this may be
Fox ndw- "to see": Abn. nem-.
WiYOT p. In one or two cases W. p (b) seems to correspond to
Algonquin m. Evidence for this is so scanty, however, that it may
well be doubted whether there is anything more than error involved.
W. bitco-tcker "grandfather": Oj. misho-nt-
W. pdiut "earth": Ar. btta'd'^wu (Ar. b < m)
This interchange may be also involved in Mic. bapkddk "down
stream" (cf. Y. pul-ik, puleku-k) : Cree tndmik "bas d'une riviere."
WiYOT /. Though W. / seems sometimes to vary with n — r, it
is quite clear that it is in many cases organically distinct from that
sound. As for Algonkin, it is well known that certain dialects
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan All
641
possess both n and / as distinct consonants (e. g. Micmac), others
only n (e. g. Fox). Michelson seems to assume that Algonkin
originally possessed only n and that, under undefined circumstances,
it developed to I in several dialects. Inasmuch as / occurs in all
positions (and cannot therefore well be explained as resulting from
n) ; as all Eastern dialects (Montagnais, Micmac, Abenaki-Penob-
scot, Malecite, Natick, Delaware), Peoria and related dialects, and
Cree all have / (or its reflexes; various Cree dialects have I, r, y, or
8 — see Lacombe) as distinct from n; and as Cheyenne seems to have
/ or its palatalized reflex ts, not n, where Eastern dialects have I
(cf. Ch. hitan "man" with Mont, ilimi), I prefer to believe that
original Algonkin possessed both / and n and that these sounds were
leveled to n in several Central dialects (Fox, Kickapoo, Ojibwa),
apparently also in Blackfoot and Arapaho. This is confirmed by
comparison with Wiyot and Yurok. Examples of Wiyot / corre-
sponding to Algonkin / are :
W. letkak "sand": Cree yekaw; Oj. negaw. Cree y: Oj. n necessarily points
back to Algonkin /.
W. petal "to break open, cut": Cree payipa- "percer de part en part" (< *pali-)
W. welu "hollow": Mic. wal- "hollow;" Cree wayd- "to hollow;" Oj. wdni-
W. M/m "seven": M'lc. eluwiginAk; Fox nohig"
W. -/ of yil "I," kil "thou," kiluwa "ye": Mai. nil, kil; Fox win", kin'^, kinwdw'
W. di-wile "somebody": Cree awiyak "person" (< *-wila-)
W. -e'l third person possessive suffix: Mai. -al\ -/' obviative suffix
As Michelson has pointed out, Cree sometimes has t where
Ojibwa and Fox have n. It will be noted, however, that in prac-
tically all such cases Eastern dialects have /, so that what is really
involved is not primarily a / — n interchange but a / — I interchange.
Here again Wiyot and Yurok are confirmatory, inasmuch as they
sometimes have / where Algonkin has / or vice versa. Examples of
W iyot / as compared with Algonkin t (or H) are :
W. mil-iL "medicine-man": Oj. mid^ "Indian of the Grand Medicine" (Oj.
d <t)
W. wat-me-lok "ear": Mont, -tuki; Bl. mo-xtoki-s
W. me-lul "mouth": Cree mi-ton
W. holakw "deer": Oj. attkw- "caribou" {-t- < -'^)
W. lalisw "to sing": Mai. dli-n'tq- {dl-< *til-)
W. let' (see above): Fox tetep- "in a circle"
478 V American Indian Languages 1
642
W. lalisw is perhaps assimilated from original *tali-; this may be
supported by Y. rurawo "to sing," inasmuch as Y. r often goes
back to original t (see below), rurawo assimilated from *rula- <
*tula-. Fox tet- is perhaps similarly assimilated from Algonkin *let-.
Examples of Wiyot-Yurok t corresponding to Algonkin / are
apparently about equally numerous. It is interesting to note that
in some cases one or more Algonkin dialects agree with Wiyot-
Yurok as against other Algonkin dialects.
W. dgat "penis": Cree -ittakay "genitals of male" (3; < /)
W. tawik-wi "to visit": Fox nawi- (< *lawi-?)
W. /ew"tosit": Del. lum"^l-api-
W. tn-U "tongue": Del, AlAnd; Cree -eyaniy (< *-elani); but Bl. m-atsini
(< *-atini < *-itani); Ar. be-idan (< *-itan); Gros Ventre -itAni
Y. hordu "arrow" (< *holdu; see below): Oj. -anwi (< *-alwi); but Cree alus;
Ar. hoti
In regard to this interchange of t and I, whose causes are not yet
understood, it is suggestive to note that both -t and -I seem to be-
come -L in Yurok (see part 2 of this paper) ; further that / and I
(or its reflex y) sometimes interchange within Cree itself (e. g. w&ti
"trou dans la terre": wdyi-si-w "creux").
There are, finally, cases of /— w interchange. Examples of
Wiyot / corresponding to Algonkin n are:
W. me-lill "mouth" (assimilated from -lunl): Cree mi-ton
W. me'lakw "elk": Oj. mons "moose" (?)
W. p'le-tk "rock": Mai. pAna-p^k'''
W. lakwet "to cough": Mai. nek^^-hAtno-
W. letka "to fall, descend": Cree nitta-ku-si-w
W. -lewu in halewu, olewu, dolewu "to dance": Cree nimi- (assimilated from
*lim-?)
WiYOT N. Wiyot n (which frequently becomes r) and Yurok n
regularly correspond to Algonkin n (e. g. W. dan- "father, son":
Abn. odadand^ "his father;" Y. new "to see": Fox ndw-). There
are several cases, however, of Wiyot n (r), as of /, corresponding to
Algonkin t (or 't).
W. mirei, "angleworm": Cree mottew; Mlc. wete
W. Unas "to crawl": Fox -old-
W. daru "all": Cree tatto " every "
W. wur "north": Ch. notam
W. -tskar-er suffix used with verbs of peeling: Cree -kkut-
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 479
643
In W. metkan "nail," Cree -eskan "horn," Wiyot-Algonkin n cor-
responds to t of Yurok -weLkete "nail." Within Wiyot itself t and
n seem to vary in atel and anel "to say" (cf. Cree itew: Oj. ind "to
tell").
Yurok r. Yurok r does not ordinarily seem to be equivalent
in origin to Wiyot r < n (yet cf. W. wat-kerdt "bone" with Y.
werL-ker). In several cases it can be inferred to go back to /. With-
in Yurok itself r and / interchange in qoor-e"* "one," normal form of
stem: qoot-.
Y. -erkerL "knee": Cree -kitikw- "molette du genou"
Y. -p-ern "nose": W. -etere; Mic. -iti}
Y. hordu "arrow": Cree atus; Ar. hoti
Y. rurawo "to sing" (assimilated from *rula-): Mai. dli-n'Up- < *tili-
Perhaps also :
Y. pernekr (misprint for pern-erk?) "hand-measure": Mic. -pidn "hand"
One case has been noted in which Y. r seems to correspond to
Algonkin / (/ — I interchange?):
Y. rokw "wind": Cree yotin (< *lotin; Oj. nodin)
WlYOT- Yurok l. Voiceless affricative or spirantal l, which is
so common in Pacific Coast phonetics, occurs frequently also in
Wiyot and Yurok. As it does not occur at all in Algonkin, some
reflex of it should be ascertainable, if our thesis is to be considered
valid. I believe that original l has regularly developed in Algonkin
to s.
W. gdkwtL "old man": Oj. akiwesi
W. djlpL-tL "beard": Ch. mi'-shis "whiskers" (original postvocalic p is regularly
lost in Ch.)
W. ho-dlLere "umbilical cord": Oj. -diss "navel"
W. me-werih "flesh, fat": Mic. weoos "flesh"
W. wat-tLat "shell"; Oj. ess "shell"
Y. kapBL "brush": Oj. kibinsan "shrub, brush"
Y. Lqel "earth": Cree askiy (Y. Lq- may, however, go back to tk-; see below)
W. kLet "hot": Oj. kijdie; Ar. hasitd'"
W. Leriwoke-tskarer "to peel": Oj. sinigo- "to rub"
W. waL, maL "to eat": Fox wiseni-
W. Lephai "to taste": Cree -spo-ku, -spi-te "it tastes"
W. -Layer suffix in verbs of cutting: Cree -sawdt- "Taction du couteau ou du
ciseau"
480 V American Indian Languages 1
644
In view of these cases of l > s, W. -Ldk suffix referring to color: Fox
-tAg- must be considered as rather doubtful.
WiYOT-YuROK TC, TS. There is good evidence to show that
original tc (ts) was regularly simplified in Algonkin to c (or s).
W. watcer " girl" : Mai. waiti "child"; Mic. -wddzlis
W. bitcb-tcker "grandfather": Oj. -misho-miss; Ar. -bdci-bd (< *-mdci-ma)
W. gwatc "mother": Nat. -kas; Mic. -kech
W. wetserakw "son-in-law": Nat. wusse-num "he is son-in-law of"
W. djtpL-ih " beard " {dj doubtless merely variant of tc) : Ch. mi'-shis "whiskers"
W. tckatc "leg;" Y. tska "foot": Cree -skat "leg"
W. gitcai-ailokwe "sun": Oj. gisiss; Ar. hlsis
W. bitcewe-tskarer "to peel": Oj. bishagi-bina "to peel"
W. butc "to scratch": Cree pes- "tracer des lignes" (Lacombe's s includes both
Algonkin 5 and c)
W. gets "cold": Oj. kissina "it is cold"
W. tsaw "to touch": Cree sdtni-
W. tcatc "south": 0].jdwan (Oj. j < c)
Y. kits- perfective verbal prefix: Fox ktc(i)- "to finish"
Y. mets "fire;" W. mes: Oj. missan "wood for fuel," mishi "piece of wood for
fuel;" Nat. tnishash "v/ood"
W. -dtc diminutive suffix: Cree -s, -I; Oj. -ns, -sh; Mic. -tHts, -dUts
It is important to note that while original l becomes Algonkin s,
original tc (ts) normally becomes c (i. e.s), only secondarily, it would
seem, 5 (tck- perhaps regularly becomes sk-). It is possible that
Alongkin 5 (of Oj. miss-an): Algonkin c (of Oj. mishi) reflects W.
mes: Y. mets. It is interesting to observe that in these cases
Micmac has tc (i. e. ts) or dz where other Algonkin dialects have c
(or s). Is this an archaic feature of Micmac? In one case original
tsk seems to have become Algonkin ''k (kk) instead of sk:
W. -tskarer verbal suffix referring to "peeling": Cree -kkut-ew "Taction du
couteau, de la hache et de la verloppe, sur le bois"
Far less commonly Yurok-Wiyot tc its) corresponds to Algonkin
tc {ts) :
Y, tsegi- "all": Fox tcdgi- "all"
W. tsek "child": Bl. tsiki "boy"
WiYOT TK. Wiyot tk, which regularly appears as Yurok Lk
(Lq), has become assibilated in Algonkin to sk, ck.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 48 1
645
W. me-tkan "nail;" Y. -we-Lkete: Oj. eshkan "horn;" Nat. askon (i. e. dskan?);
doubtless also Oj. -shkdnj "nail;" Cree -skasiy. If -tsk- of Bl. mo-tsklnau
"horn" is not secondarily developed from Algonkin sk, it may represent
an older development of original tk to tsk (tck), suggesting that tk > tsk
fell together with original /5^, both then becoming normal Algonkin sk.
W. watkerdt "hone;" Y. -werLker: Cree oskan
Y. -werLkun "liver" (< *wat-kun): Cree oskun
W. wat-otk "fin": Cree -oskwan "tail"
Y. Lqel (< *tkel?) "earth": Cree askiy
Algonkin sk < tsk, tk fell together, it would seem, with original
sk and developed in certain dialects still further to '^k (e. g. Fox)
> kk (e.g. Ojibwa); thus, Oj. -kan (i.e. -kkan) "bone" < *-^kaii
(cf. Fox -o^kAn) < *-skan (cf. Cree -oskan) < *-tskan < *-tkan
(cf. W. watkerdt = *watkendt).
In W. letkak "sand" and W. letka "to fall" (cf. respectively
Cree yekaw and nitta-), -tk- has not developed to -sk-. I can offer
no explanation {let- of letka is quite likely identical with let- dis-
cussed above).
Parallel to this change of tk to Algonkin sk (ck) is that of original
-tw- to Algonkin -cw-:
W. ritw- "fwo": Fox ntcw*
Original tkw (> Yurok Lqw) regularly developed in Algonkin,
as would be expected, to skw (ckw), in Wiyot, however, to tew:
Y. he-Lqdu "behind" (.<-Lgw-, cf. Y. hordu "arrow" < *hotw-); W. tcwi
"behind" ( < *Lkwi): Cree iskw- "le dernier"; Nat. ashq- (i. e. ackw-)
As far as can be seen at present, tckw or Lkw could also here be
assumed as starting point.
Original sk, sk v, st. While Algonkin sk is in a number of
cases the resultant of older tk and tsk, there is also an older set of
words with sk and skw, in which 5 is probably original. While
Wiyot has preserved both tsk and tk (Yurok has preserved tsk but
changed tk to ik), original sk (ck), skw (ckw), and st seem to have
become simplified to k, kw, and t, generally with lengthening of
preceding vowel.
W. me-ldk "testicles" (< *-lask?): Mic. ulsoSk (i. e. Alsiik)
W. kek "clear sky" (< *kisk7): Mic. -giskuk "day;" Cree kijik "day, sky"
W. dokap, dokaw "to crack" (< *loska-?): Oj. tdshka "to split"
W. tndkw "grizzly bear" (< *maskw): Cree maskwa "bear"
482 y American Indian Languages 1
646
W. hikw "snow" (< *hiskw ?): Ch. hi'stds
W. wdn-akw "tree" (< *-dskw?): Cree ask-asku-siy "green wood;" Fox d'kw-
(< *-dskw-) "wood, tree"
W. mdti "wood" {<*masti): Cree misH-kw-; B\. mistsi-s {<*misti-)\ Fox
meHi-gw- ( < Algonkin *misti-)
Vocalic lengthening followed by kw seems to be equivalent to
Algonkin 'kw (kkw) in:
W. heikw " louse" : O]. ikwa; Cree ikkwa
Here again I am fully aware of the probability that I have made
more than one miss in my search for phonetic laws. I hope, how-
ever, that it has become quite evident that such really ekist, as
we compare Algonkin with corresponding Wiyot (and Yurok)
forms. This feeling should do much to inspire confidence in the
nature of our material and in the validity of our hypothesis.
To sum up: There is good lexical, morphological, and phono-
logical evidence to genetically relate Algonkin to Wiyot and Yurok.
Whether Wiyot and Yurok form a group as compared with Algon-
kin proper or whether Wiyot, Yurok, and Algonkin proper are three
distinct major divisions of the stock remains to be seen. Although
there are several startling special threads binding Wiyot and Yurok
to Blackfoot and Cheyenne (as might be geographically expected),
I do not believe that either of these latter or Arapaho will turn out
to be more closely related to the Californian languages than to the
other members of the Algonkin stock as hitherto understood. As
for the name of the stock whose territorial limits are thus unex-
pectedly enlarged, I see no reason to depart from the well-accepted
term "Algonkin." I suggest that the whole stock be termed "Al-
gonkin" and that the dialects ordinarily known as Algonkin be
specifically referred to as "Plains-Atlantic" dialects, wherever it
is necessary to distinguish ("Eastern Algonkin," which would be
simpler, is too definitely connected in most minds with the dialects
of the Altantic seaboard to be given a new meaning). It is not
necessary to waste words here on the new vistas opened up of
earlier distributions and movements of aboriginal populations in
America. Obvious possibilities of various sorts will present them-
selves to all who read.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 483
Editorial Note
Originally published in American AnthropologistN.S. 15, 617-646 (1913).
Reprinted by permission of the American Anthropological Association.
Algonkin Languages of California: A Reply
In a paper on "Wiyot and Yurok, Algonkin Languages of California," pub-
lished in this journal (N.S. , vol. 15, 1913, pp. 617-46), I ventured, on the basis of
lexical, morphological, and phonological evidence, to demonstrate that Wiyot
and Yurok were very divergent outlying members of the great Algonkin lin-
guistic stock. No one is more keenly alive than myself to the probability that
not a few of the lexical and morphological elements compared in this article
may, on maturer knowledge, turn out to be untenable parallels, but it seemed
and still seems to me that the general cumulative evidence presented is so
strong and that many of the specific elements compared are so startlingly sim-
ilar that no reasonable doubt could be entertained of the validity of the claim.
However, Dr. Michelson is evidently far from convinced, for in a note entitled
"Two Alleged Algonquian Languages of California," also published in this
journal (N.S., vol. 16, 1914, pp. 361-67), he adopts a severely critical attitude
and tries to show, apparently to his entire satisfaction, that Wiyot and Yurok
are not and can not (we might almost add must not) be Algonkin. Five main
reasons are given for his dissent, followed by a list of seventeen specific respects
in which Wiyot differs from Algonkin, and of eight in which Yurok so differs.
Considerable space is then taken up with the attempt to prove that five or six
morphological elements have been wrongly compared (leaving the reader to
conclude, I presume, that all other comparisons of elements suffer from the
same defect), after which some rather random data are given to show that acci-
dental linguistic resemblances crop up in all sorts of places.
Dr. Michelson triumphantly ends: "Enough has been said to show the utter
folly of haphazard comparisons unless we have a thorough knowledge of the
morphological structure of the languages concerned. It is for this reason that I
have refrained from endeavoring to compile a list of fancied lexicographical re-
semblances between Wiyot and Yurok with other languages than Algonquian
ones, and a list of such similarities between Algonquian and other languages
than Wiyot and Yurok." It is difficuh for one convicted of "utter folly" to gain a
hearing in [189] self-defence, for he is to be trusted no further. And yet I shall
try to rescue at least part of the painfully constructed edifice that Dr. Michelson
has sent tottering over my head and to show that the trouble with Wiyot and
Yurok, like the premature report of Mark Twain's death, is "greatly exagge-
rated." As for Dr. Michelson's self-denial exhibited in the passage quoted, it
can but elicit our admiration, the more so as he has in this way escaped from
what would no doubt have proved an onerous task. Still I somewhat regret that
Dr. Michelson did "refrain," for as goodly an array of say Fox-Chinese parallels
of equal inherent plausibihty and consistency as those I have given for
Algonkin and Wiyot- Yurok would have done more to convince me, for one, of
the absurdity of my thesis than anything else in his reply.
486 y American Indian Languages I
Among the five main "reasons" for his refusal to follow me in my argument I
am concerned to find that Dr. Michelson lists: "that fancied^ lexicographical
similarities have little or no weight in view of the above [four] points." It would
seem, if I understand Dr. Michelson rightly, that my case would have been
stronger, if anything, if I had left out most of the approximately two hundred
lexical correspondences that I give; at any rate, only four points could then
have been scored against me. But what is one to do if the bulk of his evidence is
summarily ruled out of court on considerations of a largely irrelevant char-
acter? A little later on we are told that "the apparently abundant lex-
icographical material does not impress" Dr. Michelson. All I can say is that if
one is not "impressed" by such truly remarkable parallels as Yurok n- "my," q-
"thy," o- "his," m- "somebody's," (with body-part nouns): Algonkin n- "my," k-
"thy," o- "his," m- "somebody's" {with body-part nouns);^ by Wiyot m-ept
"tooth": Cree m-ipit "tooth"; Wiyot mdti "wood": Cree misti-k, Cheyenne
mata; Wiyot mdkw "grizzly bear": Cree maskwa "bear"; Wiyot mJw- "to eat
(slain animal)": Cheyenne miv "to eat (animate object)"; and many others, his
individual psychology differs markedly from my own. There is no accounting
for tastes, [190] but it seems to me that such callousness deserves to be called
linguistic cynicism almost as much as scientific sobriety.
Another one of the five dissenting "reasons" given is: "that many of the sup-
posed similarities in morphological elements must be considered as accidental,
for they occur likewise in a number of other languages. " The "for" of this state-
ment seems to me to involve a dangerous dogma. Does Dr. Michelson seriously
maintain that the homology of features a, b, c, d,. . . of complex A to features aj,
bj, Cj, ^y ... of complex A| is rendered spurious by the fishing up of such further
straggling homologies as of a to ^2 of complex Aj, bto b^ of complex A3, c to q
of complex A4, and so on? I can see neither logic nor mathematics in his thesis.
One might apply it with disastrous results. Thus, the existence of three gram-
matical genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) in both Latin and Greek is
irrelevant to the question of their genetic relationship, "for" Chinookan also
possesses this feature! Further, the presence of a case system in Latin and
Greek is of no account in view of the fact that Finnish also possesses one ! Or, to
make use of a specific morphological element, it is hardly worth while compar-
ing feminine noun-ending -a of Latin with -a of Greek when we remember that
prefixed a- occurs as characteristic of feminine nouns in Wishram! Evidently
Dr. Michelson overreaches himself here. Moreover, at the very best. Dr.
Michelson's "reason" merely refuses to meet one problem because another
incidentally presents itself.
The greatest stress, however, seems to be laid by Dr. Michelson on his first
"reason": "tha t the published Wiyot and Yurok material indicates that both
1. Would it not have beenwisertoleave this word out? It savors of prejudgment, I cannot help thinking.
2. These four pronominal prefixes must be valued as a unit, instead of being bandied about, as is done by
Dr. Michelson, torn out of theirsetting. The evidential value of an orf/er/y-v^t/ufrtccfl + b + c + d:a, + h,
+ c, + d, is of course vastly greater than of a:a, or b: b, singly. Of the logic of cumulative and associated
evidence Dr. Michelson seems to have hardly an inkling. It is worthy of note that on the most
remarkable of these four possessive prefixes, m- "somebody's," Dr. Michelson is discreetly silent. In
general, the really convincing po^/Z/Vc points raised in my paper are seduously avoided in his reply.
Five: Alf^onkian unci Hiiwan 4X7
have many morphological trails which arc thoroughly un-Algonquian." The
seventeen articles debarring Wiyot from membership in the Algonkin family
are given in support of this statement. Fiere the two most serious Haws in Dr.
Michelson's whole standpoint come out glaringly enough. In the first place, his
remarks indicate a startling lack of perspective in linguistic comparison; in the
second place, he makes an altogether illegitimate use of negative evidence, in a
few cases, curiously enough, even turning a positive argument of mine into a
negative argument to the contrary.
Taking up the first of these flaws, we must bear in mind that the greater the
historic chasm separating languages of common origin , the more profound may
be expected to be the divergences that present themselves. We do not expect
Swedish and German to show as many and as striking similarities as a Saxon
German dialect and a Swabian German dialect; nor Cierman and Latin as many
and as striking similarities as (I91| (jerman and Swedish; nor German and
Bengali as many and as striking similarities as German and Latin. Turning to
America, the parallax of linguistic history absolutely demands that Wiyot and
Yurok, granted their relationship to Algonkin, present vastly greater dif-
ferences from those languages that are generally classed as Algonkin than the
extremes of these (say Cheyenne and Micmac) present among themselves.
Indeed, from the viewpoint of Wiyot, all the Algonkin languages now recog-
nized as such have not improbably to be considered as a single language exhibit-
ing relatively trivial dialectic divergences, just as the differentiation of Slavic
languages today is a quite secondary phenomenon when viewed from the angle
of the relationship of say Celtic and Indo-Iranian to Slavic. It is thus obvious
that if by Algonkin is meant what Dr. Michelson means by it, Wiyot and Yurok
must "have many traits which are thoroughly un-Algonquian." Russian cannot
be more Germanic than it is Indo-germanic; the residue of Slavic minus Cier-
manic, as it were, which is contained in Russian is, of course, as "thoroughly"
non-Germanic as you like.
If, now, we turn to Dr. Michelson's list of divergences, we are almost thun-
derstruck by the triviality of many of them; we are even inclined to feel hurl that
Dr. Michelson should for a moment have wanted Wiyot to be so Fox-like. Thus,
we read: "A demonstrative element ru- is fin Wiyot] frequently prefixed to
verbs, [while there is no such prefix in Algonkin]." One can only shrug his
shoulders and ask a puzzled "Well?" Or: "A special particle is [in Wiyot] always
attached to the first word of an interrogative sentence, [but not in Algonkin]."
This point of difference need not unsettle us, when we remind ourselves that,
e.g., while Latin has an enclitic interrogative particle -ne, its lineal descendant
French has no such thing. Even more instructive as throwing light on Dr.
Michelson's sense of perspective is this item: "1 he stem-vowel of a verb is not
changed [in Wiyot] to form a participial [as it is in Algonkin]." As a mailer of
fact, while internal vocalic change of the type referred to is found well devel-
oped in, e.g., Cree, Ojibwa, and Fox, it has not, so far as I know, been dis-
covered in such undoubtedly Algonkin languages as Micmac, Nalick, Black-
foot, or Cheyenne; in other words, the feature may turn out to be rather a
488 V American Indian Languages 1
special development of a group of Algonkin languages than characteristic of
Algonkin as such. Would Dr. Michelson expect Old Irish to resemble a Prakrit
dialect A more than said dialect resembles Prakrit dialect B? It is not necessary
to refute Dr. Michelson's items one by one, my aim being rather to point out the
general spirit of the criticism. They are either of the trivial nature already illus-
trated, [192] rest on incomplete analysis of the facts, or, at best, can not be justly
held to outweigh in a problem of this kind the mass of positive morphologic
evidence I have given. Curiously enough, some of the shots fired are merely
blanks. In no. 2 we read: "Nouns are not classified as animate and inanimate,
nor are singular and plural distinguished"; in no. 3: "The verbal pronouns do
not distinguish animate and inanimate third persons"; in no. 4: "The subject
and objective verbal pronouns of the third person do not distinguish between
singular and plural"; in no. 10: "In demonstrative and interrogative pronouns,
neither animate and inanimate nor singular and plural are distinguished"; in
no. 12: "The possessive pronoun of the third person does not distinguish sin-
gular and plural." In these five distinct items I discover only two independent
statements (one of them, as we shall see below, high questionable)! When a
man pops out the same argument under several disguises, we suspect that he is
short of ammunition.
Dr. Michelson himself seems to have had a lurking feeling that an abundant
use of negative evidence might be dangerous, for he states: "It is perfectly true
that many of the above objections are negative, that is, that thus far the phe-
nomena listed have not been reported. It is possible that further investigation
may reveal some of them, but it is not likely that a skilled investigator like Dr.
Kroeber would have overlooked the majority of them." We are all of course
delighted to be able to second Dr. Michelson's flattering estimate of an
esteemed colleague, but when "so careful and able a scholar" as myself is con-
fronted in the wash with the charge of "utter folly," we learn to temper our
admiration with prudence. What Dr. Kroeber himself states, in a letter recently
received from him, in regard to his Yurok material is this: "I have made no
serious attempt to analyze the [text] material, contenting myself for the present
with pointing out certain features which came to the surface of themselves. " In
regard to the Wiyot data, Dr. Kroeber remarks: "I do not consider the texts very
good, nor did I find any satisfactory informant in the time at my disposal. The
whole sketch is avowedly a slim preliminary treatment." Under these circum-
stances it is evident that whoever builds on the non-occurrence of features in
Yurok and Wiyot does so at his own risk. As a matter of fact, any one that has
had experience in working out in the field the morphology of a language about
which absolutely nothing is known to start with realizes that it is perfectly possi-
ble to fail to seize many fundamental features for quite a long time. I could give
some striking examples from my own experience, did I not fear to lengthen this
reply inordinately. [193]
Dr. Michelson's use of negative evidence is double. He does not, in the first
place, allow adequately for the fragmentary character of our Yurok and Wiyot
data. In the second place, it is dangerous to build on negative evidence even if
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 489
we know for certain that a specific feature is lacking. The history of language
shows nothing more clearly than the ease with which grammatical features
gradually lose in complexity, often to the point of entire disappearance. What
has become of the elaborate Indogermanic case system in French, or of the old
complex system of personal endings in English? I maintain that one really strik-
ing morphological parallel or half a dozen lexical resemblances buttressed by
consistently working phonetic laws (and why does Dr. Michelson not occupy
himself in his criticism with the phonological material that I have assembled?)
are worth a good many points of divergence (of the same "weight").
One negative argument employed by Dr. Michelson is so amusing that I must
beg leave to comment on it. I had pointed out that Yurok in its adjectives
distinguishes between animate and inanimate and drew the obvious parallel
with Algonkin, venturing to suggest that other examples of the classification
probably would be found in Yurok. Instead of rightly evaluating a striking
positive resemblance, Dr. Michelson makes capital out of a doubtful negative
and cheerfully lists as one of his eight Yurok un-Algonkin features: "Nouns are
not classified as animate and inanimate." In other words, "white" is in Yurok
associated with animate or inanimate not insofar as whiteness is predicated of
an animate or inanimate object but by virtue of some transcendental difference
between animate whiteness as such and inanimate whiteness as such. I am
afraid that neither the Yurok Indians nor myself feel at home in this highly
rarefied philosophic atmosphere.
The one valuable element, I now hasten to add, in Dr. Michelson's criticism is
his treatment of some of the verbal pronominal suffixes of Wiyot and Yurok that
I had compared with Algonkin suffixes. I freely admit that he has made it very
plausible that Yurok -m 'thou' is not to be compared with Ojibwa -m(wa) 'ye,'
and that reasonable doubt has been cast on the validity of one or two others of
my verbal pronominal parallels. Such corrections must, in the nature of things,
be expected and thankfully accepted.
In this reply I have tried merely to point out the serious methodological
weakness of Dr. Michelson's criticism. No attempt is here made to discuss the
evidence for my thesis. For that the reader is referred to the article itself. Let us
hope that further Wiyot and Yurok data [194] will be made available before
long, so that more light may be thrown on an interesting and important prob-
lem. In concluding I should like to suggest to Dr. Michelson that he go through
the evidence again in a somewhat more liberal spirit. Perhaps it would be borne
in on him that the sum total of lexical and positive morphological resemblances
is not so unimpressive after all.
Editorial Notes
Originally published in American Anthropologist 17, 188-194 (1915).
Reprinted by permission of the American Anthropological Association.
490 y American Indian Languages 1
Sapir's affiliation of Wiyot and Yurok with Algonkian was incorporated in his
six-way classification of North American languages in 1920, as part of his larger
"Algonkin-Wakashan" grouping, and was widely accepted. Any remaining
doubts on the relationship of Wiyot, Yurok, and Algonkian were laid to rest in
1958 by Sapir's student Mary Haas, using abundant and accurate Wiyot and
Yurok material newly gathered under the Survey of California Indian Lan-
guages. For a study of Sapir's methodology, see Goddard 1986.
More recent work has tended to see Wiyot, Yurok, and Algonkian as the
three branches of an "Algic" stock (cf. Goddard 1975). A paradox which still
remains unexplained is why so little evidence seems to be available for a "Rit-
wan" grouping; i.e. , in spite of the fact that Wiyot and Yurok are geographically
contiguous, they show no closer kinship to each other than either one does to
the closest Algonkian languages, some 1,000 miles away! One may imagine that
the two languages were separated for many centuries, and that then, by pure
chance, their speakers moved into adjacent territories.
THE ALGONKIN AFFINITY OF YUROK
AND WIYOT KINSHIP TERMS
BY
E. SAPIR.
INTRODUCTION
In his study of the kinship systems of California ^ Kroeber includes
an account of the Yurok system. ^ In discussing its general features, he
remarks :
" The Yurok system stands quite apart from any other yet recorded in
California. The failure to distinguish between grandparents, grandchildren,
uncles, aunts, nephews, and nieces according to their male or female
lineage seems extraordinary after acquaintance with the kinship reckon-
ings of the other Californians. Civilized influences cannot be thought of
in this connection, for if there is any tribe in the state that preserved
the substance of its old life intact until recently it is the remote Yurok.
" Separation of relatives in the male and female line is so frequently
accompanied by a development of true reciprocal expression in Califor-
nia, in the Great Basin region, and in the Southwest that the two phe-
nomena must be taken in connection. As might be anticipated, the
Yurok evince little feeling for reciprocity, not only in the kinship classes
just mentioned but in the other group which lends itself readily to reci-
procal formulation, the relatives by marriage. This is the more remar-
kable because in the Oregon region, as instanced by the Takelma and the
Chinook, systems of California-Plateau-Southwestern type seem again
to prevail. It is necessary to look as far as the Coast Salish, or the
tribes of the eastern United States, before terminologies of the general
plan of the Yurok one are again encountered. As the Yurok are Algonkin,
the interesting problem is raised whether it is possible that they have
1. A. L. Kroeber, California Kinship Systems, University of California Publications
in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 12, pp. 339-396, 1917.
2. Op. cit., pp. 374-376.
492 V American Indian Languages 1
38
brought the outlines of an ancient system with them from this presumable
eastern source of origin, and succeeded in maintaining the same for an
undoubtedly long period in an entirely different cultural setting. "
Further on in his paper ' Kroeber classifies the California n kinship sys-
tems treated by him into three groups : a southern group, consisting of
Mohave and Luiseho ; a northwestern group, consisting, so far as he
knew, of Yurok alone ; and a large central group, comprising by far the
greater number of kinship systems in the state. Of the second of these
groups he remarks :
« The northwest Galifornian type, if Yurok may be regarded as indi-
cative of such a one and is not merely representative of its own particu-
larity, disregards the distinction of cross and parallel relatives and reveals
virtually no impulse toward reciprocal expression. The Yurok, to put it
differently, come much nearer ourselves and the majority of Plains
Indians than do any central or south California people in thinking in
nearly every instance of the sex of the denoted relative and only rarely of
the intermediate one.
The facts brought forward by Kroeber raise a most interesting ques-
tion. If, as I attempted to prove several years ago, - Yurok and Wiyot
are outlying members of the Algonkin linguistic stock, it becomes a
fascinating problem to ascertain whether or not the kinship systems of
these tribes are comparable, structurally and linguistically, with the sys-
tems of the Algonkin languages in the narrow sense of the word. It is
hardly to be expected that tribes so remote in geographic and cultural
respects as the Pacific and Plains-Atlantic groups of Algonkin peoples
should exhibit any very close parallelism in kinship terminology, nor
would the lack of such parallelism necessarily militate against the cor-
rectness of the genetic linguistic hypothesis. Positive evidence, however,
tending to connect the two groups of kinship systems would constitute
welcome confirmatory evidence for this hypothesis.
Since Kroeber's Yurok data have been published, E. W. Gifford has
collected another set of Yurok kinship terms. This set corroborates
Kroeber's in nearly every case, besides suplementing it on several points.
Differences will be noted as they occur. A set of Wiyot terms has also
been obtained by Gifford. A study of Kroeber's Yurok material and of
Gifford's manuscript Yurok and Wiyot data, kindly put at my disposal
by the collector, has still further convinced me of the Algonkin relation-
1. Op. ciL, pp. 378, 379.
2. E. Sapir, Wiyot and Yurok, Algonkin Lancruages in California, American Anthropo-
logist, N. S., vol. XV, 1913, pp. 617-646.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 493
39
ship of Wiyot and Yurok. Not only are general similarities of liinship
type apparent, as Kroeber's remarks would lead us to surmise, but many
of the specific terms themselves are so similar as to leave little doubt of
their genetic relationship. Incidentally, the new data corroborate a num-
ber of phonetic law^s suggested in my previous paper. " ^
I shall present the specific linguistic comparisons first, then a brief
enmparison between the Yurok, Wiyot, and Algonkin kinship systems .
I. Comparison between yurok, wiyot, and algonkin
KINSHIP TERMS -
1. W. yi-dac " my father. " -dac probably consists oisiem-da- and suf-
fixed -c \ cf. W. -dar and Y. tac below (n° 2). yi- is first person singu-
lar possessive.
1. Op cit., pp. 639-646.
Abbreviations :
W. = Wiyot
Del.
=
Delaware
Yur. = Yurok
G. V.
=
Gros Ventre
Kick.
=
Kickapoo
Mai.
z=
Malecite
Mic.
z=z
Micmac
Mont.
zr:
Montagnais
Abn. = Abenaki
Nat.
=
Natick
Ar. = Arapaho
oj.
=
Ojibwa
BI. = Blackfoot
Pen.
—
Penobscot
My Algonkin sources are as follows :
Cree : A. Lacombe, Dictionnaire dela Langiie des Cits, 1874 (see his " Lisle des noms
de Parente, " pp. 664-671).
Fox : W. Jones, Algonquian [Fox), Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 40,
part 1, 1911, pp. 735-873 [passim].
Kickapoo : W. Jones, Kickapoo Ethnological Notes, American Anthropologist, N. S.,
1913, pp. 332-33b (see " Terms of Relationship, " pp. 333-335).
Ojibwa : Bishop Baraga, A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language,
1878 (see pp. 55-61); also passim in A Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language, 1878.
Delawai • D. G. Brinton and A. S. Anthony, A Lendpe-English Dictionary, 1888
(probably Unami dialect ; Anthony's supplementary forms are Munsi) ; E. Sapir,
MS vocabulary obtained in 1911 at Six Nations Reserve, Ontario (according to Michel-
son, either Unami or Unalachtigo dialect). My own forms are quoted as Del. (S).
One or two Delaware forms that go back to Zeisberger are also taken from Trum-
bull's A^a/iVi Dictionary.
Natick : J. H. Trumbull, Natick Dictionary, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulle-
tin 25, 1903.
Penobscot, Abenaki, Malecite,Micmac. and Montagnais : F. G. Speck, Kinship Terms
and the Family Band among the Northeastern Algonkian, American Anthropologist, N. S.
1918, pp. 143-161; E. Sapir, MS vocabularies of Abenaki, Malecite, Micmac, Monta-
494 V American Indian Languages J
40
Y. (Kr) ' tot " father " (vocative), zy^-ZoZ-oc (perhaps better -toto-c) " his
father ; " Y. (G) tot '' father " (vocative), -oc occurs frequently in Yurok
as kinship suffix ; it is probably diminutive and perhaps comparable to
W. -c oi-dac. we- (in some forms u-) is third person possessive. Y. tot
{-toto-) is probably reduplicated from *to-.
Abn. n-dadan " my father ; " Mai. n-dadad. Algonkin *«-, *ne- is first
person singular possessive. Abn. -daddn is obviously reduplicated from
*-dan, which probably contains suffixed -w(see W. -dar below and Algon-
kin forms for " daughter, " n'^ 2). Algonkin reduplicated *-tata- cor-
responds to Y. tot. (It is tempting to connect with these Wiyot, Yurok,
and Abenaki-Malecite forms also Gree n-ottd-wiy " my father, " vocative
n-otta ; Mont, n-ota'-wr, an Algonkin *-ofa'- being made to correspond
to W. -da-. Gree and Mont, -wiy, -wi' are suffixed elements, as indicaded
not only by vocative -otta but by analogous forms for " mother, " see
n° 3. It is practically certain, however, that Gree-Montagnais -ot'a'- is
developed from Algonkin *-o'sa- ; cf. Fox ti-osa, Kick, n-oda, Oj. n-oss.,
Del. (S) n-ux'wa, Nat. fi-oosh, Mic. n-utc. Algonkian *o'sa-w- is implied
not only in Gree-Montagnais but in Ar. n-eisa-na (vocative n-eixa), G. V.
n-ii^i-ng-, in Algonkin terms *n-o''se-wa' ; with analogous suffix is Ar.
and G. V. n-ei-na "my mother. " Another example of Gree tt corres-
ponding to Algonkin 'j- is Gree -utte- " to go, " cf. Fox-usd-, Oj. -osse-.]
2. yV.yi-dar " my son " <^ -dan (W. r and n interchange constantly).
Kroeber, in his Wiyot vocabulary, - gives dar, dan- as "■ father; son.
Though not corroborated by Gifford's data, this may be quite correct and
would be parallel ,in its reciprocal significance, to W.yid-okar " mother,
jnais, obtained in 19H at Pierreville, Riviere du Loup, Cacouna, Pointe Bleue res-
pectively, quoted as (S).
Blackfoot : C. C. Uhlenbeck, passim in Flexion of Substantives in Blackfoot, A Preli-
minary Shetch, Verhandelingen derKoninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te Ams-
terdam, Afdeeling Letterkunde, N. R., deel XIV, n° 1, 1913 ; and in Some General
Aspects of Blackfoot Morphology, a Conlribiition to Algonquian Linguistics, ibid., deel XIV,
n° 5, 1914; C. Wissler, The Social Life oJ the Blackfoot Indians, Anthropological Papers
of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. VII, 1911, " Relationship " on
pp. 14-16 ; L. Spier, Blackfoot Relationship Terms, American Anthropologist, N. S., 1915,
pp. 603-607.
Arapaho and Gros Ventre : A. L. Kroeber, The Arapaho, Bulletin of the American
Museum of Natural History, vol. XVIIl, 1902, pp. 9, 10 ; Arapho Dialects, University
of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. XII, 1916,
pp. 71-138.
1. Kroeber's forms are indicated by (Kr) ; Gifford's by (G).
2. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology,
vol. IX, 1911, pp. 406-423.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 495
41
daughter" (n°3). W. -dar, -dan- is doubtless to be analyzed into -da-
(see n° 1) and suffixed -r, -n-.
Y. (G) Mg-/firc "" my child " (vocative). Probably to be analyzed into-/a-
and diminutive-f, postvocalic form oi -oc (see n°. 1). It may thus be mor-
phologically identical vs^ith conceptually reciprocal Wiyot -dac " father"
(n". 1).
Gree n-tdn-is " my daughter ; " Mont. n-dan-c\ KicV. ne-tdn-e^-a^ voca-
tive ne-tdha : Oj. nin-ddn-iss \ Del. (S) n-da'n-yfy ; Nat. nut-taun-es ; Bl.
ni-tanna ; Ar. na-tane, vocative na-td ; G. V. na-tan. Gree -is^ Mont, -c,
Oj. -iss, Del. -a6, and Nat. -es are forms of Algonkin diminutive suffix
*-ess- ; this element occurs frequently in Algonkin kinship terms. Algon-
kin Ma-w " daughter" is doubtless analyzable into *-/a*- and suffixed
-n- (as in W. dan- " son "). This is directly suggested by vocative -Idha,
-td of Kickapoo and Arapaho, v^hich implies an old stem-/a- [-ha is voca-
tive, cf. Kickapoo vocatives w^-^z^j/?/ and n-ocihi ivoxn ne-gwi-%-a " my son "
and n-oci-^-em-a " my grandchild "). Proto-Algonkin *-tan- must be
presumed to have originally meant " child " (probably as reciprocal to
" father ") and to have become specialized in its significance either to
" son " (Wiyot) or " daughter " (Algonkin proper), while in Yurok
its close relative -ta-c preserved a more primary genetic significance.
Note to in°* 1 and 2. It is impossible to fail to recognize that n"*
1 and 2 are, in origin, identical terms. The stem *ta- originally seems to
have denoted both " father " and " child " (perhaps, with strict recipro-
city, " man's child "). The following table presents its history :
Bare stem : Kick -Id-ha " daughter.
With -c suffix : W. -dac " father; " Y. -tac " child. "
With -n suffix : W. -datt " son ; " Algonkin -ta-n- " daughter. "
Reduplicated : Y. tot " father; "Abn. -dada-n "father, "
3. W. yi-d-oka-r " my mother, daughter. " Stem probably -oka- with
intervocalic -d- and suffixed -r (cf. -dar in n^ 2). (In his grammatical
sketch of Wiyot, Kroeber does not explicitly refer to intervocalic -d- after
possessive prefixes before vowels, but it is implied in haluwi'"'' boat ,
ru-d-aluwi " my boat, " ku-d-aluwi " your boat. " It occurs so frequently
as apparent stem initial in Wiyot kinship terms that it can hardly be con-
sidered other than a prefixed or intervocalic element. In other words, it
would be identical with Algonkin -t- employed under precisely parallel
circumstances, e. g. Gree «?-/-, n-t-, Fox ne-t-, Oj. ni-nd-, Abn. n-d-, Bl.
ni-t-, ni-ts-). GifTord gives yidukutk for " my niece (endearing) ;
perhaps this is only a phonetic variant [yi-d-ukwct.-) of yi-d-oka- " mother,
496 V American Indian Languages 1
42
daughter " with diminutive suffix -/i:^, -tk. Kroeber, in his Wiyot vocabu-
lary, gives gwatc for " mother ; " perhaps this is abstracted from a form
yi-d-ogwa-ic[k). It seems possible that -oka- became labialized to -okwa-,
-uku-, -[o)gwa- (^-sounds frequently become labialized to ^j^-sounds after
0, u in America),
Y. (Kr) kok " mother " (vocative), u-kok-oc (perhaps heiier -koko-c)
" his mother, " we-ts-eko " his mother ; " Y. (G) kok " mother '' ( voca-
tive), we-fj-^fo " my mother " (reference), u-kok-oc is probably more endear-
ing in tone than we-ts-eko. kok {-koko-) is reduplicated from *ko- ; cf. tot
{-toto-} in n° 1. -eko- of we-ts-eko seems to correspond to W. -oka-, -ts-
may be an intervocalic element analogous to Wiyot -d- and Algonkin -t-
(see above) ; Y. -ts- may be assibilated from original -t- (Yurok inter-
change between t and /^ is exemplified in qoxt-o " one month " : qoxts-emoi
" one fathom ; " toon-o " four months " : tsoon-amoi " four fathoms ").
Gree ni-kd-wiy ' ' my mother, " vocative n-ega ; Mont, nd-qa-wi' ; Fox
ne-gy-" [stem-gi-) ; Kick, ne-gy-a, vocative n-dgy-e ; Oj. nin-gd " my mother, "
o-gi-n " his mother, " vocative nin-ge; Ottawa ^ niri -ga-shi " my mother, "
o-ga-shi-wan " his mother ; " Del. guka " mamma, mother, " Del. {S)gik'^,
gi'k'a'' {g- -^^ri-g-) "my mother, " Munsi^^VM (i. e. gixk) " my mother,
gahowes (i. e.. gao-we-^) " mother; " Nat. ntji-ka-s" my mother ; " Pen. ni'-
ga'-wd-s ; Mic. n-ki'-tc ; Bl. ni-ksi-sta [-ksi- regularly assibilated from *-ki- ;
Wissler gives as plural ni-ksostak " my mother and her sisters ") ; Ar. neina
" my mother, " G. V. neina (these forms go back to *ne-ki-wa' ; -k- regularly
disappears and Algonkin w, as always, becomes «), vocative Ar. na'a
(■< Algonkin *ne-ka' ; cf. Cree). These forms point to three distinct but
related stems in Algonkin : *-ka'- or *-ka- (Ojibwa, Ottawa, Natick, Ara-
paho), often with -w/- suffix (Cree, Montagnais, Munsi, Penobscot) \*-ki-
(Fox, Kickapoo, Ojibwa, Micmac, Blackfoot), with -w- suffix in Ara-
paho and Gros Ventre ; and reduplicated *-kik'a- (Delaware-Munsi). Voca-
tive *n-e'ka, *n-t'ki- ^ (Gree, Kickapoo) is probably merely rhetorically
lengthened *ne-ka,*ne-ki- " my mother ; " on the other hand, it may repre-
sent a fourth stem form, *-t'ka- {-z'ki-), comparable to Yurok -eko (see
above). Presumably *-ka- and *-ki- originally varied in some manner ana-
logous to Oj. nin-gd " my mother, " ki-gd " thy mother, " o-gi-n " his
mother ; " Ar. n-ei-, na-a (Algonkin *«e-^/-, *ne-ka'). — Comparing Algon-
kin with Wiyot and Yurok forms, we find that Algonkin *-ka--, *-ka-
(e. g. Oj. nin-gd) corresponds, on the whole, to W. yi-d-oka-r ; Algonkin
*-ka-sse-, with diminutive suffix (e. g. Nat. nM-ka-s), to W. yi-d-oka-tc[k) ;
1. Ottawa forms are somelimes given by Baraga.
2. I use £• for the Algonkin prototype of Cree e, Fox a, Oj . e, At ii- , ei.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 497
43
Algonkin *-ktk-a{e, g. Del. gik'a') to Y. kok {-koko).; perhaps also Algon-
kin*-e' ki- to Y. ne-ts-eko. Algonkin *-ki- forms and forms with -w- suffix
seem to find no analogues in California.
4. W. yi-d-iitcik " my child ". In his Wiyot vocabulary Kroeber gives
tsek^ tctk, tsak " child. " These forms are probably variants of Gilford's
-utcik and related to it as Kroeber's g[w)a-tc " mother " is related to Gif-
ford's -oka-r (see n° 3). It may be that in both cases Kroeber obtained
genuine absolute forms parallel to GifTord's -u- forms with possessive
prefix. Presumably -M/n'^ is to be analyzed into -utci-k ; for-yfe-suffix, cf.
n«M9, 27.
Gree n-t-oj-im " my (man's) brother's son ; " Mont, n-t-oc-^m " my
nephew, " n-t-oc-9m-sque-m " my niece " (literally, " my nephew-female ") ;
Oj. ni-nd-6j-im " my (man's) brother's son, " ni-nd-oj-im-ikwe-m
" my (man's) brother's daughter " (literally, " my nephew- female ") ,
ni-n-d-dj-im-iss " my (woman's) sister's son, daughter ; " Pen. n-d-u's
<' my daughter, " n-d-o:{-i'm-i's " my (man's) brother's daughter,
(woman's) sister's daughter " ; Abn. n-d-os " my daughter, '' n-d-OT^-rm-i's
'^ my (woman's) niece ; " Mai. n-d-os " my daughter, " n-d-o'^-i'm-r s
'^ my (man's) sister's daughter, (woman's) brother's daughter ; " Mic.
n-t-us " my daughter. " These forms point to Algonkin *ne-t-o's " my
daughter "'(possibly originally " my child ") ; with possessive suffix, ne-t-
o'Zjem'' my nephew, niece " (often specialized dialectically : man's parallel
nephew, parallel nephew or niece, parallel niece, woman's niece, cross-
niece). Its restriction to females in Eastern Algonkin dialects is doubtles
secondary, as indicated by Cree and Ojibwa cognates.
5. W. (Kr) watce-r "■ girl. " -r is probably suffixed as in yi-da-r (n". 2)
nxiA yi-d-oka-r ['nP . 3).
Cree awdsi-s, avudsi-ss- " child, " n-t-'awdsi-m-is " my child " (-w- is
possessive) ; Pen. aiuxs-i's " little child, '' n-d-awQi-dm " my sister's
son " (male speaking), " my brother's son " female speaking) ; Abn. (S)
agsi-s " child " ; Mal.(S)tt'aji5 "child, " also (from Speck's data) n-t-dwaxj-sm
** my sister's son " (male speaking), " my brother's son " (female
speaking) ; Mic-(S) medji-wa'dj-t'tc'' child ; " Ar. hanax-a d-ht i " boy "
[hanax- < *hawas-). These forms point to A\gonk\n*aiua's{i)-*wa's{i)-^ as
absolute always with diminutive -sse-. Probably related to this *wa'si-
is incorporated *-os- (*-o;^-) " child " : Gree -os- (e. g. peyak-os-dn " an
only child, " kik-os-ew " she has a child, she is pregnant ") ; Oj. -o'nj-,
-onj- (e. g, nin mane-onj-e " I have no children, " nin nij-onj-e " I have
two children ").
498 V American Indian Languages 1
44
Note to n°*. 4 and 5. Speck remarks in reg-ard to Penobscot n-d-u's
and its Eastern Algonkin cognates : " Possibly a worn-down form of
n-d-awxs' ' my creature. ' Cf. n-d-awasi's ' my child. ' " This etymology
does not seem unplausible, but the contraction would have to be consi-
dered of great age — not Eastern Algonkin merely or even Algonkin (in
its narrow sense), but proto -Algonkin. Wiyot watce-r " girl '' : yi-d-utci-k
" my child " corresponds remarkably to Algonkin *(a)u/a*5 " child " :
*ne-t-o's " my daughter, " *ne't-o's-em " my nephew, niece. " There is
only one hitch, phonologically speaking, and that is perhaps not insuper-
able. In those Algonkin languages that have nasal consonant groups (e.
g. Ojibwa, Delaware, Natick, Penobscot-Abenaki) Algonkin *[a)wa's-
appears with nasalized s : Pen. n-d-aiu(^:(^9m " my cross-nephew, " n-d-
awas-i's " my child, " Abn. ags-is " child, " to which corresponds Oj.
incorporated -d«/-. Algonkin *ne-t-o's, however, always appears with unna-
salized 5 : Oj. nin-d-dj-im. Pen. n-d-ws, Abn. n-d-os. The validity of Speck's
proposed etymology depends, at last analysis, on whether or not Oj. -onj-
'* child " is related to Oj. -6j-im " nephew, niece.
6. Yur. (Kr) n-oukcu " my child ; " Yur. (G) n-ooha " my child " (ad-
dress). If -CM, -sa is a suffixed element, it may be possible to connect -ouk-^
-ook- with. Yur. (G) ne-ko " my dead child, sibling. " In other words, the
simple stem [*-o'ko-) would be best preserved in the term for the deceased
kin. This seems very doubtful, however, and -ko of ne-komay be connect-
ed rather with kotl [koL] in Waterman's kotl n-oiikcu ' ' dead my-child,
my deceased nephew. "
Cree ni-kos-is *' my son ; " Mont, na-q uds ; Fox ne-gwis-' , vocative ne-
gwt* ; Kick, ne-gwi-^-a " my son, brother's son, " vocative ne-gwihi ; Oj.
nin-gwiss; Del. guis " son " (i. e. kwiB)^ Del. (S) giur^-ah " my son ; "
Mai. no-gwus ; Mic. n-qu3s ; Bl . n-dkds-{a) " my child " perhaps to be
understood as no'-ko'-s) ; Ar, ne-'i " my son " (vocative ; <i *ne-kzm, cf.
na-g,, n** 3) . These forms point to Algonkin *-kwiss-, weakened in some
dialects to *-kwess- (whence labialized -kwuss-, -koss-) . It is quite pro-
baBle that -ss- is diminutive (such forms as Cree ni-kos-is^ Del. gwi-B-aQ
would then be double diminutives, common enough in Algonkin) and that
the simple stem *-^w//- appears, as vocative, in Fox and Kickapoo [-givlhi
is formed from -gwi- as -tdha from ia-n; see n° 2). Bl. n-oko-s may cor-
respond closely to Yur. «-oo^(j-a), pro to- Algonkin *n-o'kwi-, *n-o-kwe-) or,
more likely, it may be merely labialized iTOT[i*ne-kwe-ss- (cf. "SidX.no-siwuss).
6a. Yur. (Kr) ne-megwahce " my boy, son. "
Nat. mukka-tchotik-s " boy ; " Narragansett * muckqua-chuck-s " boy, "
1. Narragansett forms are quoted by Trumbull from Roger Williams' ' ' Key.*'
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 499
45
num-muckqud-chuck-s " my son, " num-tnuck-iese " my son. " In phonetic
orthography these forms are : makka-tcak-s ; rnxkhwa-tcxk-s , nx-moikkwr -
teaks, noL-makk-i's. This last form is identical with Mohegan na-makk-ls
" my son. " * These forms point to Algonkin *ntakkiua- ; cf. Yur.
-megiua-.
7. Yur. (G) ne-gnemem " son " (reference). U-gnemem can be analyzed as
-g-nemem with prefixed -g-, -k- (cf. ne-k-tsum " my nephew ; " further
ne-me-k-tsum " my deceased nephew, " n^me-ke-kts-eu " my dead grand-
mother "), -nemem would correspond to
Nat. wun-naumon-uh " his son, " nun-naumon " my son ; " Pen.
n-e'mon " son, " n-eman-i'm-r s " brother's son " (male speaking),
" sister's son " (female speaking), " spouse's nephew ; " Abn. n-amun
*' son, " n-amun-rm-rs " sibling's son " (female speaking). How Pen.
-e'tnon and Abn, -amun are to be reconciled with Nat. -naumon (read
probably -na'mon) is not altogether clear, though there can be no doubt
that all these forms are closely related. Perhaps n-e'mon and n-amun are
really n-ne'mon and n-namun or reformed from these originals. Algonkin
* -na'mon, as compared with Yurok -g-nemem, may be due to dissimilation
from *-na'mom.
8. Yur. (G) ne-mehi " daughter" (reference) ; Yur. (Kr) ume " girl "
(e. g. wonoyek-c-ume " sky-in-girl ").
Del. amem-ens (i.e. amem-enb) " child, " Del. (S) ami'm-en{t)Q " child. "
Del. -£«9 corresponds to Oj. diminutive -ens, nasalized form of -[t)ss-.
Algonkin *ami'-m- would be related to Yurok -mehi precisely as Algonkin
*awa'si- (see n°. 6) is related to Wiyot watce-r .
9. W. yi-bitco-tc " my grandfather, spouse's grandfather, " yi-biico-x
" my grandparent's brother, great-grandfather ; ' Kroeber gives bitco-
tcker " grandfather. " -tc, -ick- of these forms is diminutive ; for -er cf.
n"* 2,3,0. -X of -bilco-x may be a compounded form of -dux " sibling "
(n° \\).
Yur. (Kr) ne-pits-oc (perhaps better construed as -pitso-c in view of W.
-bitco-tc) " my grandfather, " ne-me-pets-eu " my dead grandfather ; " -(o)c
is diminutive. Yur. (G) ne-pits " my grandfather, grandparent's brother,
great- grandfather. " It is possible that Yur. -pits is to be analyzed into
-pi-ts, with diminutive -ts (cf. -hu-ts, n** 10 ; -rame-ts, n° 21 ; -weyi-ts,
\ . See F. G. Speck, Notes on the Mohegan andNiantic Indians, Anthropological Papers
of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. iii, 1909, p. 194.
500 V American Indian Languages I
46
n" 18), -pi-ts-oc being doubly diminutive like -ku-ts-oc. If so, it must
have been re-formed on the analogy of -ku-ts " grandmother, " from an
older *-pitso- as proved by both Wiyot -bitcd- and Algonkin *-meco--.
Proto-Algonkin *pitco-- or *petco-- " grandfather, " it is barely possible,
may be preserved also in Yur. (Kr) ne-pce-ts " my father, " u-pci-ls " his
father, " Yur. (G) ne-pce-ts " father " (reference), -ts being diminutive ;
Yur. -pce-ts, -pci-ts might go back to an old *petco--ts " little grandfather. "
Gree ni-muso-m- "my grandfather ; " Mont. n9-mocu-m ; Fox ne-meco-m-es ;
Kick, ne-meco-'a, ne-meco-m-efi-a " my grandfather, " vocative «e-w^t'* ; Oj.
ni-tnisho-m-iss " my grandfather; " Del. miichomes {} . e. muxo-m-eb) " grand-
father ; " Pen. n9-mo'su-m-os " my grandfather; '' Ahn. n-maho-m,nd-tnoti-
m ; Mai. ns-mo' su-m-ds ; Ar. nd-bdct-bd{-hd) ; G.V. nd-besei-p. In Penobscot
and Malecite '' grandfather " is also used for " stepfather. " Closely
related forms are sometimes used for '' paternal uncle " : Oj. ni-mislm-me ;
and " father-in-law" : Kick, ne-meco-ni-a. These forms point to Algonkin
*meco'- ; long -o'- seems vouched for by Fox and Kickapoo, also by -i-
and -ei- of Arapaho and Gros Ventre (Algonkin «-vo\vels regularly deve-
lop to /-vowels in Arapaho-Gros Ventre and Cheyenne ^), and corresponds
to -0- (long and open) of Wiyot bitcd-. -m- and *-ess- are possessive and
diminutive suffix respectively: *incco'-m-{ess-). For Wiyot-Yurok p,^ :
A4gonkin w, see Sapir, Wiyot afid Yurok, Algonkin Languages of California,
p. 640, and cf. n" 15.
10. W. yi-d-oko-tck " my grandmother, spouse's grandmother, " yi-d-
oko-x " my grandparent's sister, great-grandmother ; " Kroeber gives
gd-tck-er " grandmother. " -tck is diminutive, as usual (cf. further yi-ga-
Ick " father's brother, " yi-djuu-tck " nephew ") ; -x " sibling " as in n"
9 ; -er as in n" 9. This leaves -oka- as stem, absolute form perhaps in
Kroeber's gd-tcker (cf. n** 4) ; -oko- possibly occurs also compounded in
yi-d-ok-gas " grandchild. "
Yur. (Kr) ne-kuts-oc " my grandmother, " ne-me-ke~kts-eu " my dead
grandmother ; " Yur. (G) ne-kuts " grandmother, grandparent's sister,
great-grandmother. " -oc is diminutive ; -hits is, all probability, compo-
sed of -ku- and diminutive -ts. Of the two diminutive suffixes, -ts and -[o)c,
used in Yurok kinship terms, -ts is evidently an older element, corres-
ponding to Algonkin *-ss- ; -{p)c is used more freely and amalgamates
less closely with the stem.
1. This is only one of a number of distinctive trails that Arapaho and Cheyenne
have in common. I hope to show in a future article that Arapaho and Cheyenne are,
in all probability, not two major divisions of Algonkin but members of a single
major division.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 501
47
Gree n^okku-m " my grandmother ; " Mont, n-oqu-m ; Kick, n-6'ko-me^-a
" my grandmother, " vocative n-o^ko', Oj. n-oko-m-iss, vocative n-oko ;
Del. o/;m-w (misprint for o^m- ?) " grandmother ; "Nat. okti-mm-es ; Pen.
n-o'h-m-9s " my grandmother ; " Abn. n-oh-m-ds ; Mai. n-o'-h-m-ds ; Mic.
n-o^o-m-i'tc ; Ar. n-ei-bd-ha ; G. V. n-ii-p\ In Penobscot, Abenaki,
Malecite, and Micmac " grandmother "is also used for " stepmother. "
Glosely related terms are used in many Algonkin dialects for " pater-
nal aunt " : Mont, n-oqu-m-uc ; Nat. oku-mm-es ; Pen. n-o'''h-m ; Abn.
n-oh-m ; Mai. n-o'h-m. Also for " paternal uncle " : Gree n-okku-m-is ;
Mont, n-oqu-m-uc. And " mother-in-law ' : Kick, n-o'ko-m-a. All these
forms point to Algonkin *-okko- (or *-o^ko-), with possessive and diminu-
tive suffixes : *-okko-m-ess-. Arapaho n-ei-bd- and Gros Ventre n-ii-p' go back
io*n-oko-me- \ -k- disappears (cf. n" 3) and resulting contracted -o'- deve-
lops to -ei-, -ii- (cf. n° 9) ; Ar. -ha is probably diminutive.
11. W. yi-dux " my sibling, ' maternal half-sibling, step-sibling;
second cousin, fourth cousin; " Kroeber gives this term as dok " bro-
ther, sister. "It is not clear wheter yi-dux is to be so analyzed or as
yi-d-ux with intervocalic -d- ; cf. yi-bitco-x and yi-d-oko-x (n°* 9,10), in
which II of -MX may have contracted with preceding o.
Pen. n-dokan-i'm-i's " my younger brother, younger sister ; " Abn. ni'-
dokan " my older brother. " A\gonkin*-tok-eskiu- " sibling-female, sister "
is found ill : Nat. wu-tuk-squ-oh , we-tuk-ishqu-oh " her sister " [-oh is obvia-
tive) ; Del. wi-tg-ochqu-all " her sister " (i. ie. wi-tg-oxkw-al ; stem -tg-<i
-tok- ; -oxkzv- is " woman, female, " cf. uxkwdu " woman ; " -al is
obviative). Pen. and Abn. -dokan- may be analyzed into -dok- (cf. Del.
-tg-) and suffixed -an- (cf. Algonkin *-ta'-n-, n" 2) ; -i'm- and -i's are
respectively possessive and diminutive suffix. Abn. ni'd- and Nat. iveet-
[wet-] and Del. wit- may possibly point to composition of radical -ok-
with wi't-^' together with " (cf. n'' 29), Abn. ni'd- being then contrac-
ted from *ne-wi'd- ; Pen. n-dokan-, however, seems to offer difficulties,
unless it is assumed that it is contracted from older nid-. Algonkin *-tok-
(perhaps better *-t-ok) seems to have meant originally " sibling " without
distinction of sex or age (cf. Wiyot -dux, dok) ; it gained such distinc-
tions by means of qualifying suffixed elements.
12. Yur. (Kr) ts-eihke-ni " younger brother, younger sister; small,
m-eihke-u " my younger brother, younger sister ; " Yur. (G) n-eike-u
" my younger sibling " (address), -ni is clearly a suffixed element ; cf.
1. " Sibling" means " brother or sister ".
502 V American Indian Languages 1
48
perhaps Wiyot -r,-w- (n°* 2,3,5,9,10) and Algonkin -«- (n°« 1,2,11,12).
ts- is puzzling ; it is barely possible that ts-eihke- is compounded of tsi-
(stem of tsits, n° 13) and -eihke-.
Fox n-Vka-n-a " my friend ; " Kick. n-Vka " intimate term of address
between men ; "Oj. n-ikd-fi-iss " my friend, brother, "' w-ikd-n-iss-an " my
friend, brother. " These terms point to Algonkin *-ikka- (or *-i'ka-) ; for
suffixed -n- cf. n"^ 1, 2, 11 ; -iss- is diminutive. It is difficult not to
connect with these also Mic. n-tci-gdn9-m " my younger brother; " its
analysis is puzzling, aside from possessive -w, but -tci'gsnd- may perhaps
be explained as -tc-i' g9-nd- , -n9- being equivalent to Oj. -n- of -ikd-n-iss-,
-rgd- to Oj . -ikd- and Fox-Kick. -Vka, and -Ic- unexplained ; possibly
n-tc- <i*ne- t- before /-vowel.
13. Yur. (Kr) tsits, tcitc (vocative) "younger brother, younger sister, "
ne-tcotc-oc " my younger brother, younger sister; " Yur. (G) tcitc " very
young sibling " (address). Yur, tsits, tcitc probably consists of radical/^/-,
tci- and diminutive -ts ; -tco-tc-oc is a double diminutive, like -ku-ts-oc
(n" 10).
Cree tii-si-m " my younger brother, younger sister ; " Mont, ni'-ci'-tn
" my younger brother, younger sister ; brother, sister (in general) ; " Fox
ne-si-md^ '^ my younger brother, younger sister, "' u-si-m-an " his young-
er brother, younger sister ; " Kick. ne~Qi-tnd-^a ; Oj. ni-shi-tne ; Del.
chesimus " younger brother, younger sister " (i.e. xeB-im-u^ ; Algonkin s,
ss appears in Delaware partly as x, partly as 6), Del. (S) n-xe'^^-m-yfy
" my younger brother, younger sister ; "Nat. wee-see-yn-uss-oh ^ '' hxs> young-
er brother, younger sister ; " Mohegan ^ n-ghees-um " my younger brother,
younger sister " (i. e. n-xi'S-xm) ; Abn. ni'-tce-ni-i's ; Mai. n-o^si'-m-i's ;
Bl. ni-sis-[a) " my younger brother, younger sister " (female speaking),
o-ysis " her younger brother, younger sister, " V^'\ss\&v ni-ssiss-a " younger
brothers and sisters " (female speaking). Here doubtless belong also Ar.
nd-hd-bd-hdd " my younger brother, younger sister, " G. V. n'a-hd-h-y^
(■< Algonkin *ne-se-me-ss-, closely parallel to Natick ; for Ar.-G. V.
-hd- <Algonkin *-se- see Ar. -hei-, n*> 22). There are clearly two distinct
Algonkian prototypes : *-si--m-{*-si-m-, -*se-m-) (Cree, Montagnais, Fox,
Kickapoo, Ojibwa, Natick, Abenaki, Malecite, Arapaho, Gros Ventre) ;
and *-5r55-, *-^w-,wilh or without possessive -m- (Delaware, Mohegan,
Blackfoot). Either may be followed by diminutive -^5J- (Natick, Abenaki,
Malecite, Arapaho, Gros Ventre ; Delaware). In all probability Algonkin
*-si'ss-, *-siss- consists, like Yurok tsits^ of radical *-si'- and diminutive
1. From Trumbull.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 503
49
-SS-. This diminutive formation must be extremely old, perhaps proto-
Algonkin, for it is followed by possessive -m- (*-J5-m), whereas ordina-
rily diminutive -ss- is preceded by possessive -m- {*-m-ess-). In Delaware
-x«*Q-m-a9 the relative ages of the two diminutive suffixes is clearly indi-
cated by their position.
14. Yur. (Kr.) ne-mil[s)-oc " my older brother ; " Yur. (G) ne-mit
" my older brother " (address).
Del. ni-mat " my brother" (Brinton's assistant, Rev. A. S. Anthony,
remarks : " used also as friendly salutation between distant relatives") ;
Nat. we-mal-oh " his brother, " nee-mat " my brother " (Trumbull believes
this term to express the " relation of brother to brother ").
15. Yur. (Kr) ne-pin-oc " my older sister ; " Yur. (G) ne-pin " my older
sister " (address). Possibly analyzable into -pi-n ; for suffixed -n cf. W.
-r n««2,3,5,9,iO)andAlgonkin -n- (n°H ,2,11 ,12).
Gree ni-mis " my older sister, " o-miss-a " his older sister ; " Mont.
nd-mdc ; Kick, ne-mi^-da \ Oj. ni-miss-i \ Del. mis (i.e. w/0) " elder sis-
ter, " Del. (S) ni-mi'B " my older sister ; " Nat. mim-miss-is " my sister ; "
Pen. nd-mds'-rs " my older sister ; " Abn. n9-m9s'-rs ; Mai. m-mdS'-rs ;
Mic. nd-rms ; Ar. nd-bi-^ ; G.V. ni-by-^. Algonkin *-miss- {*-tness-) is doubt-
less analyzable into *-mi- and diminutive -ss- ; non-diminutivized *-tni-
is probably only apparently preserved in Arapaho and Gros Ventre.
Algonkin *-mi' is related to Yurok -pi-n precisely as *- meco'- " grandfa-
ther " (n" 9) is related to Yur. -pits, W. -bitco-.
16. W. yi-be^yi-be-lia-r " my first cousin, third cousin "(vocative) ; for
non-vocative yi-d-ili-be see n" 17. -r presumably as in n°* 2,3,5,9,10.
Besides -be Gilford reports vocative ab^'.abicul " cousin, let us go.
Yur, (Kr) ne-pa " my brother, male cousin, or more distant male
relative " (man speaking) ; Yur. (G) ne-pa " my (man's) brother " (refer-
ence).
Nat. nee-t-ompa-s " my brother, sister, " wee-t-ompa-ssu " his (her) friend,
brother, sister "(Trumbull remarks that this term probably '' expressed
the relation... of brother or sister, used by either sex of either sex ") ;
Abn. nr-d-gb-so " my brother " (woman speaking), '' my sister " (man
speaking). * Trumbull further quotes Rasles for Abn. ni-d-abe " mon frere,
seu un etranger que j'aime comme mon frere. " Note further : Nat. ne-t-
1. Speck's etymology of this Abenaki term as " my man (reflexive) " can iiardly
be correct^ as it applies to both sexes.
504 V American Indian Languages 1
50
omp " mj friend ; " Narragansett (quoted from Roger Williams) ni-t-op ;
Mohegan ^ nl-d-amb " my friend. " All these forms seem to have prefixed
wi't- " together "with ni't- <*ne-wrt-, cf, n" 29. For -sof Nat. -ompa-s and
for -su, -so cf. Pen. ni -tse'ke-s'u, Abn. nr-tsaka-so " my sister " (woman
speaking). This suffix seems to be a reciprocal element. Natick-Abenaki
-ompa- (doubtless only secondarily labialized from *-ampa-), *-ampz-- are
nasalized forms of Algonkin *-apa-, -ape'-. For Algonkin *-fl!/)£-- {*-apa-),
Wiyot absolute abe : Yurok -pa\ Wiyot -be, cf. n°* 5,8.
17. Yur. (Kr) ne-lai " my brother, male cousin, or more distant
male - relative '' (woman speaking) ; Kroeber quotes also Waterman's let,
but without precisely defining it. Yur. (G) ne-lai " my (woman's)
brother "' (reference), ne-let " my (woman's) sister " (reference), Yur.
-lai and -let are clearly related terms ; -let may be analyzed as -le-t, con-
tracted perhaps from *-lai-t. With this Yurok -/ (apparently feminine in
connotation) may perhaps be compared Wiyot -/ in yi-d-oka-t " mother-
in-law " (cf. yi-d-oka-s "father-in-law ").
W. yi-d-ili-be " my first, third cousin " (reference) ; corresponds to
yi-hi, abe (address), see n" 16. Perhaps -ili-be is compounded of two
sibling stems, *-///- (cf. Yur. -lai) and -be (cf. Yur. -pa'). But W. -Hi- may
denote companionship (see w///-, n° 29), -Hi-be meaning " mutual cou-
sin, " in which case it does not belong here.
Pen. 7i-d-alnu-m " my (woman's) brother, male cousin ; " Mai. n-d-
sVnu-m. -m is possessive. It is quite likely that -alnu-m should be further
analyzed into -al-n-iiniy with suffixed -«- (cf. n°^ 1,2,11,12 in Algonkin) ;
-nuni may be identical with Micmac -ndm of n-tci' g9-n9m (n° 12).
Penobscot- Malecite n-d-al- is apparently identical in form with Wiyot
yi-d-ili- [<i*ali- ?), in meaning with Yurok -lai. Note that Algonkin *-al-
corresponds to Yurok -lai, -le- precisely as does Algonkin *-apa-, *-ape'-,
Wiyot abe to Yurok -pa' (see n° 16). Two other Algonkian terms may
belong here : Bl. no-inn-d " my male cross-cousin " (woman speaking) ^^
in which -inn- may correspond to Penobscot -al- (Algonkian / generally
appears as n in Blackfoot) or may be assimilated from -al-n ^ ; and Nat.
wee-t-ahtu-oh " her brother, sister, " ne-t-at " my sister " (Nat. ni-t-at
would correspond to Pen. n-d-al- v^ith l-t interchange occurring fre-
quently, but disturbingly, in Algonkin).
i . See Speck, ibid.
2. Kroeber writes "female," but this is a slip of the pen.
3. From Spier, quoting Morgan.
4. Bl. no- : Pen. and Mai. n-d- is not promising. The proper Blackfoot cor-
respondent is ni-t-, ni-ts-.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 505
51
18. Yur. (Kr) ne-weyi-ts, *' my sister, female cousin, or more distant
female relative " (man speaking-) ; Yur. (-G) ne-weyi-ts " mj (man's) sis-
ter " (reference), -ts is diminutive.
Cree n-t-awe-ma-w " my sister " (male speaking), " my brother "
(female speaking) ; Kick, ne-t-awd-ma-"- " my brother " (female spea-
king) ; Oj. ni-nd- awe-ma " my sister" (male speaking), " my brother "
(female speaking). These forms seem to be verbal in structure :
*ne-... -m-a'wa "I — him (her) " like Fox ne-iudpa-m-awa " I see him
(her). '' It seems possible that transitive suffix -m- (with animate
object) is ultimately identical with possessive -m- of nouns ; this is
indicated by such forms as Ojibwa ni-nd-o6ssi-ma " he is my father,
properly " I have him as father. " hX^onkin *ne-t-aius.'-m-a'wa properly,
then, means *' I (male) have her as sister, I (female) have him as
brother, " leaving *-awt.'- " sibling of opposite sex " as stem. *-awe'-
may be contracted from some such form as *-aweyi- (cf. Yur. -weyi-) ;
for Algonkin *-awe'- : Yurok -lueyi- cf. n°* 5, 8, 16, 17.
19. W. yi-djo-k " my mothers brother, mother's male cousin;
yi-dju-l " my mother's sister, mother's female cousin ; " yi-djuu-tck
" my nephew " (endearing). These three terms undoubtedly belong
together ; -djo-, -dju{u)- is " mother's sibling, "reciprocally " nephew. "
-k of -djo-k occurs also in yi-bau-k " father's sister., father's female
cousin " and yi-d-erena-k " child's parent-in-law " (n** 27) ; -/ of- dju-l
I can find no parallels for in Wiyot, but it is suggestively similar to -/
of Yurok -till " aunt " (probable analysis -tu-l), see n" 20 ; -tck is
diminutive. (For uncle-nephew reciprocity in Wiyot cf. also yi-ga-tck
" my father's brother, father's male cousin " : yi-ga-u " my nephew,
cousin's son, " also yi-ga-s " my daughter-in-law " (originally
" niece " ?).
Yur. (Kr) ne-tsim-oc " my uncle ; " Yur. (G) ne-tsim " my uncle,
step-father. " Kroeber analyses as ne-is-im-oc (cf., for -is-, n" 3), but
there seems no warrant for this, as -tsim- can hardly be disconnected
from its reciprocal ne-k-lsiini (G) " my nephew, step-son; " ne-kep-tsum
(Kr) " my daughter -in-law. " -kep-tsum is clearly compounded oi -kep-
and -tsum " nephew, niece " ; cf. Yur. (Kr) ne-k'ep-eu " my grandchild, "
Yur. (G) ne-kep " my daughter-in-law. " -tsim and {-k) -tsum are pro-
bably only secondarily palatalized and labialized from *-tsam ; cf.
ne-me-tsame-yoL " my dead uncle. " There is nothing in Yurok, so far as
I know, to show that -m of -tsim, -tsum, -Isam is suffixed, but com-
parison with Wiyot -dju- and Algonkin forms (see below) makes this
at least possible. For Yurok -tsiwin, which may be related, see n** 22.
506 V American Indian Languages I
52
Gree ni-si-ss " my maternal uncle, " also " my father-in-law; " Mont.
n9-c3-c " my father-in-law ; " Fox ne-ci-sd-'" " my maternal uncle ;
Kick. tte-ci-Bd-'", vocative ne-ci-^e ; Oj. ni-ji-she ; Del. schiess (i. e. c/--0)
" an uncle ; " Nat. wu-ssi-ss-es (i. e. wx-si-ss-is) " his uncle ; '' Pen.
n9-ia-'s-i's " my maternal uncle ; " Abn. n-:{a-'s-i's ; Ar. nd-cl ; G. V.
ni-s\ These forms point to Algonkin *-si-sS' {*-^i-ss-, *-ji-ss-), possibly
*-sa-ss- {*-:^a-ss-) ; -ss- is diminutive ; double diminutives occur in Natick,
Penobscot, and Abenaki. Algonkin *-si- (*-:(/-, *-ji-) seems to occur
without diminutive suffix in Arapaho and Gros Ventre (this may be
only apparent, however, diminutive -hi, -i possibly contracting with
-ci- to -ci).
20. Yur. (Kr) ne-tul-oc '* my aunt ; '* Yur. (G) ne-tul " my aunt,
step-mother. " There is nothing in Yurok, so far as I know," to sug-
gest that -tul is analyzable into -tu-l, but comparison with Algonkin
forms (see below) and with Wiyot -dju-l " mother's sister, " in which
-/ is clearly suffixed, makes this seem not unlikely. Cf. also -n of
-tsiwin (n° 22) and -tsnin {n° 24),
Cree n-to-s-is " my maternal aunt ; " Mont, n-tu-s " my maternal
aunt, maternal uncle ; " Oj. ni-no-she, ni-nzoi-she '" my maternal aunt,
step-mother ; " Mic. nd-b-s " my maternal aunt. " These terms point
clearly to Algonkin *-lo-ss- or *-lwe-ss-, -in which -ss- is diminutive.
Eastern Algonkin / regularly appears as Ojibwa «, frequently as Gree-
Montagnais /. For Algonkin *-lo- '^ maternal aunt " : Yurok -tu-l " aunt ''
see my IVtyot and Yurok, Algonkin Languages of California, p. 642 (Micmac
-b-s, weakened from -lu-s, is related to Ojibwa -no-sh-, Cree -to-s-,
Yurok -tu-l, precisely as original Algonkin */;fl/zc/ " arrow " is related to
Ojibwa anwi, Gree atu-s, Yurok hordu — Yurok r is regularly developed
from /, cf. n° 21). — Undoubtedly derived from Algonkin *ne-lo-ss-
" my maternal aunt '' is its reciprocal *ne-lo-kwa-, *ne-le-hua- " my
nephew (niece) " : Gree n-tikiua-t-im " my (male's) sister's son, my
(female's) brother's son, " vocative n-tikwa ; Kick, ne-negzvd-''' " my
sister's son, " vocative ne-negwa ; Oj. ni-ningwa-n-iss " my (male's) sis-
ter's son, my (female's) brother's son ; "Del. lunk, lunku-s " nephew, "
longa-chsiss (i. e. lor^a-x^-iO) " nephew ; " Mai. n3-lok--n-i-s " my sister's
son " (male or female speaking), " my (female's) sister's daughter,
my (male's) brother's daughter ; " Mic. nd-luk-s " my nephew " (son
of brother or sister, used by either sex) ; Ar. nd-^dddd (read -Bad-Qd)
" my (male's) sister's son, my (female's) brother's son, " G. V. ne-t'i-t
{At.- G. V. forms <:*nd-td' a-td <*ne-tekwa-te ; cf. Gree -tikwa-t-im and,
for '<.kw, n° 6). It is far from accidental that Gree t, Ojibwa n, and
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 507
53
Micmac / of these forms for " nephew (niece) " are identical with cor-
responding- consonants in forms for " maternal aunt. " u, o of Del.
lunku-, longa-, Mai. -lok'-, and Mic. -luk- probably does not directly
represent Proto-Algonkin *-/o-, but is secondarily labialized from
weakened *-lekwa- as indicated by Cree, Kickapoo, Ojibwa, and Ara-
paho-Gros Ventre reflexes. " Nephew^ " further develops to " son-in-
law " in closely related forms : Cree n-tikwa-t-im ; Kick, ne-nengwa-n-a ;
Oj. ni-ningwa-n- ; Ar. nd-^dox (read -^d'o-x) ; G. V. na-taos (Ar.-G.V.
forms <^*nd-td'o-s<i *ne-tekwa-s). For -n- in above forms for " nephew "
and " son-in-law " see n°^ 1, 2, 11, 12, 17 ; whether Cree and Ara-
paho-Gros Ventre -/- is related (assimilated to preceeding /, or from
older / assimilated to preceding /) is not clear. Cree -im is possessive ;
diminutive suffixes will be easily recognized. — Related to Algonkin
*-lo-ss- " maternal aunt" and *-le-kwa- " nephew " may, less probably,
be another set of forms for " son-in-law " which point to Algonkin
*ne-t-alo-sw- : Pen. n-d-aJo-s'u-k'^'^ " my son-in-law ; " Mai. n-d-lo-s'u-k'^" ;
Mic. n-d-lo-:(u-k, feminine derivative n-t-lu-sw-ask^'^ " my son-in-law-
woman, my daughter-in-law. " Possibly Ar. nd-^do-x and G. V. na-tao-s
given above really belong here : *ne-t-alo-sw-'^ *ne-t-ato-sw- dissimilated
to *nc-t-do-sw-.
21. Yur. (Kr) ner-rame-ts " my niece ; " Yur. (G) ne-rame-ts " my
niece, step-daughter. " -ts is diminutive. Yurok r regularly goes back
to t ; hence -rame- represents older *-tame-.
CTeeni-stim " my (male's) sister's daughter, my (female's) brother's
daughter ; my daughter-in-law ; " Fox ne-cemi-s-'^ " my niece ; " Kick.
ne-cemi-^ " my sister's daughter, ' vocative ne-cemi ; Oj. ni-shimi-ss " my
(male's) sister's daughter, my (female's) brother's daughter, " ni-ssim
" my daughter-in-law ; " Del. chumm (i. e. xum) " my daughter-in-
law ; " Nat. ku-shim'' thy daughter-in-law ; " Pen. n-s^m " my daughter-
in-law ; " Abn. n-sdni ; Mai. «p-;(?w ; Mic. n-s9m " my niece ; " Ar.
ndd-sdbi-^ " my (male's) sister's daughter, my (female's) brother's
daughter ; my daughter-in-law ; " G. V. ndd-Bib-y' " dit. " Neglecting
Cree, these forms readily reconstruct to Algonkin *-ssemi- " niece ;
daughter-in-law; " whether Cree -stim is developed from this *-ssemi- or
represents an older Algonkin *-stemi-, simplified to *-s5emi- in other
dialects, is unclear. It would be easier to reconcile *-stemi- with
Yurok -rame-^ *-tame-. (There are other cases of Cree-Montagnais st
corresponding to ss of other dialects, e. g. Cree ni-ste-s " my older
brother; " Mont. n9-st9-c ; Fos. ne-se-sd-^ ; Kick. ne-Qe-^d-a ; Oj. ni-ssaie ;
Del. (S) n-xa-n[t)% ; Pen. n-id-i-rs ; Mai. n3-he-i-rs ; Mic. n-sv-s ; Bl.
508 V American Indian Languages 1
54
ni-5[a) " my (male's) older brother ; " Ar. ndd-sd-hdd " my older
brother ; " G. V. ndd-^d-hdd. — It is remarkable that in both these
groups of words Arapaho and" Gros Ventre have ndd-, not «a-, as
pronominal prefix. If this is interpreted, as seems almost miavoidable,
as nd'd-^ we may reconstruct as Alg-onkin prototype for Cree st : Oj ss
not St nor ss, but 'ss : *-ssemi-'' niece, " *-ssa- " older brother. " This is
perhaps confirmed by Blackfoot 's in ni-s[a) " my (male's) older bro-
ther. " There is another very interesting phonological problem that
follows. May not Algonkin "ss represent an older kss<Ckts or ks,
*-ssemi- " niece " not directly corresponding to Yur. *-tame- but rather
to -ktsum " nephew, " labialized from *-ktsem ; see n° 19 ? If this holds,
Yurok -tsim " uncle, " -ktsum " nephew, " and -rame-ts " niece, " also
-tsuin of -kep-tsum " daughter-in-law, " may all prove to be radically
connected, Algonkin 'ss : Yurok k -\- sibilant is apparently confirmed by
the Algonkin forms for '' three, " w^hich also contain this problematic
'ss (Cree nisiw- ; Fox nesw- ; Oj, nissw- ; Del. nax- ; Nat. nishw- ; Abn,
nas'- ; Ar. nas- ; G. V, «a6-) — Algonkin *nessw- : Yurok naxkc-,
"W iy oi rikiv- <^nikw-, proto- Algonkin *naksw- or *neksw-.)
22. Yur. (Kr) ne-tsiwin " my mother-in-law ; " Yur. (G) ne-tsewin
" my mother-in-law. " Kroeber analyzes this term into -ts-iwin, but it
is not easy to see on what ground. Much more plausible seems its ana-
lysis into -tsiwi-n <C*-tstmi-n [in and w frequently interchange in Yurok),
-tsiwi- {-tsewj-), *-tsimi- {*-tsemi-) being identical with -tsim, -tsame-
" uncle " (see n" 19). -n would then remain as feminine-forming ele-
ment analogous to -/ of Yurok -iul and Wiyot -dju-l (see n°' 20 and
19); cf. -n of -tsni-n (n° 24). Indeed -n may be identical with -/, being
perhaps nasally assimilated to *-tsimi-. An original Yurok *-tsami-n
ov *-tsami-l would be related to -tsame- " uncle" very much as is
Wiyot -dju-l " mother's sister " to -djo-k " mother's brother. " (If
Wiyot -djii- is contracted from *-djau-, *-djawe-, Yurok -tsiwi-n may
actually be identical with Wiyot -dju-l). Its original meaning would
then have been " aunt, " more probably " paternal aunt, " -tul being
originally confined to " maternal aunt ; " cf. its Algonkin cognates,
n'' 20), secondarily, as in Algonkin (see below), " mother-in-law. "
Cree ni-siku-s " my paternal aunt, mother-in-law ; " Mont, ni-co-^u-s
" my mother-in-law ; " Kick, m-^egw-i^-a " my paternal aunt ; " Oj.
nin-sigo-ss " my paternal aunt, " double diminutive nin-sigo-s-iss " my
mother-in-law " ; Pen. n-idgiu-us " my mother-in-law; "Abn. n-zpgw-us,
n-diahi-s " my mother-in-law " ; Mai. n-idgw-us " my mother-in-law ; "
Mic. n-sugw-ds " my paternal aunt, " n-tsogw-vvdj-i-tc " my mother-in-
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 509
55
law. " These forms point to Algonkin *-sekw-ess- {*-iekw-ess-) " paternal
aunt ; " -ess- is diminutive. " Mother-in-law " is clearly the secondary
meaning, as shown by the striking fact that in both Ojibwa and Mic-
mac it is the simple diminutive that means " paternal aunt, " while the
double (derived) diminutive means " mother-in-law. " (Cf. also Ar. nd-hei,
G. V. nd-hei " my paternal aunt, " diminutive Ar. na-hei-hq^ G. .V.
nd-hei-hd " my mother-in-law. " Ar.-G. V. -hei- is probably derived
from Algonkin *-sekwe- through *-had-, *-hd-- ; for Algonkin s > Ar.-
G. V. h before e, cf. diminutive -hd- <C*-sse- and -hd-bd- " younger
sibling " <; *-se-me-, n" 13.) Algonkin *-sekw-{ess-) is to be analyzed
into *-se-kw- (or *-sa-kiu-) and is almost certainly based on Algonkin *-si-
(or *-sa-) " maternal uncle " (n° 49) ; formally speaking, *-se-kw-
" paternal aunt " seems to be related to *-si-ss- " maternal uncle " as is
*-le-kw- " nephew" to *-lo-ss- " maternal aunt " (n° 20). The different
dialectic sibilant reflexes in *-si- and *-se-kw- (Kick, c : 6 ; Oj. ; : [n)s ;
Ar.-G. V. c, s : h) are probably conditioned by the vocalic difference
between i and its weakened form e (the history and influence of the
Algonkin " pepet '" vowel, ^, is complex and crucial to an understand-
ing of Algonkin phonology) ; cf. Fox animate -cin- '. inanimate -sen-
(e. g. pagi- cin-w'^ " bird lights, " pagi-sen-iu^ " it fell "), Oj. -shin : -ssin
(e. g. nin pangi-shin " I fall, " pangi-ssin *' it falls "), in Algonkin terms
*-s'in- [*-c'in-) : *-s'en-. — According to our analysis, Algonkin
*-se-kiv-{ess-) " paternal aunt, mother-in-law ' is related to Yurok -tsiwi-n
" mother-in-law " not directly but only insofar as both, originally
signifying " paternal aunt, " are derivatives of cognate terms for
" (maternal) uncle. " As hypothetically in Yurok, so demonstrably in
several Algonkin dialects, " paternal aunt " has entirely given way
to " mother-in-law " (Montagnais ; Penobscot, Abenaki, Malecite).
23. W. yi-d-atserap " my daughter's husband, child's spouse's brother,
sibling's daughter's husband. " Kroeber gives wetserakw " son-in-law,
perhaps to be understood as w-etserahw " his son-in-law. " Gilford's -p
is probably misheard ioT-kw\ -ho^ as is clear from comparison with
Yurok, is suffixed, leaving as stem : -etsera-^ -atsera- <i-elsena-, -atsena-
(Wiyot -r-<C-n-, as usual) . Probably related to yi-d-ats (see n» 24).
Yur. (Kr), ne-tsneuk-oc " my son-in-law ; " Yur. (G) ne-tsneu " my son-in-
law. " Gifford's -tsneu is probably misheard for -tsneuk, which must be
analyzed as -tsneu-k, probably labialized from -tsne'e-kw (cf. Wiyot
w-etsera-hv). -tsneu-k is clearly related to -tsndo [-tsna) and -tsni-n, see
n" 24. There seems to be no warrant for Kroeber's analysis into
-ts-ne'uk-^ -ts-noo, -is-nin. Wiyot w-etsera-kw and Algonkin forms (see
510 V American Indian Languages 1
56
below) suggest strongly that Yurok -tsneu-k, -tsno'o {-tsna), and -tsni-ti
are secondary developments of a primary *-tsine-, *-tsina-, that refers
somewhat inclusively to kinship by marriage.
Oj. ni{n)-sin-iss " my father-in-law, "' nind o-jini-ndam " I am son-
in-law^ in a family ; " Nat. wu-ssen-um " he is the son-in-law^ of,
pish hen wa-seen-tim-ukqiieh " thou shalt be my son-in-law, " lua-sen-um-
ukqu-tche (participle) " a son-in-law ; "' Narragansett ' n-o-sen-em-uck
" he is my son-in-law ; " Pen. n-:(i'V-ho-s " my father-in-law ; " Abn.
n-djrl-os[-l-<C.-l-h-) " my father-in-law, " wa-:(i' l-mi-' t " son-in-law ; "
Mai. n-:(i'l-ho-s^^ my father-in-law ; "Mic. n-tcil-ic " my father-in-law; "
Ar. nd-ciB-d " my father-in-law ; " G. V. ne-sit " my father-in-law. "
These forms point to Algonkin *-stl-, *-si'l- i^-TJl-, *~zi'l-) " father-in-
law, " regularly with diminutive suffix -ess- (Algonkin / has become
Ar.-G. V. /, 6, as usual) ; and derivative *o-si'l-em- " to be a son-in-
law " (properly " to have a father-in-law "). Abenaki wa-%i'l-mi-H
and Natick wa-sen-iim-ukqu-tche seem to be participles from possessive
o...-m- verbs ; cf. such Cree forms as we-kosis-im-it " the son, being
the son, " intransitive participle based on o-kosis-a " his son. "
Penobscot, Abenaki, and Malecite -ho-s is explained by Speck as
denoting *' a mild degree of scorn. " It is quite likely that Algonkin
*-si}- is primarily not so much a noun stem denoting " father-in-law "
as an old verb stem indicating the reciprocal relation of father-in-law
to son-in-law (cf. Oj. o-jini- above) or even the more general notion
of kinship by affinity or marriage into another family ; see note fol-
lowing n° 24,
24. W. yi-d-ats " woman's brother-in-law, sister-in-law ; wife's
female cousin, woman's female cousin's husband, husband's cousin,
male cousin's wife. " It seems difficult to disconnect this term from W.
yi-d-atsera-hw " son-in-law, " particularly in view of Yurok -tsna and
-tsni-n below. Gifford writes that in his notes he hd.s yidats "■ spouse's
sister, woman's brother's wife "• but yidatis " man's brother's wife,
woman's sister's husband, " and seems unable to decide whether this
difference is real or due to misunderstanding. Perhaps we are to
understand jy/-^-flf/jf, with long j due to assimilation horn *-atsn, *-atsr
(cf. Yurok forms below).
Yur. (Kr) ni-tsnin " my sister-in-law, " ni-tsndo " my (woman's)
brother-in-law ; " Yur. (G) nc-tsnin " my sister-in-law, husband's bro-
ther's wife, " ne-tsna " my (woman's) brother-in-law. " Kroeber's
i. Quoted by Trumbull from Roger Williams.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 5 1 j
57
-tsndo and Gifford's -tsna may possibly be reconciled as -tsna'^. There is
no doubt that Yurok -tsna and -tsnin are closely related terms. Presu-
mably -tsnin is to be analyzed as -tsni-n, with feminine -n suffix as in
-tsiwi-n (see n° 22) ; this -n may be assimilated, because of preceding
«, from -/ (cf. Yur. -tu-U n° 20 ; W. -dju-l, n° 19).
Note to 1N°^ 23 and 24. There is little doubt that the forms listed in
n°* 23 and 24 point to a single stem (Wiyot- Yurok *-tsen-, Algonkin
*-sil-) that refers to kinship by marriage or to marriage into an alien
family. This seems to be corroborated by certain Algonkin verb forms :
Nat. nob-seen-tam " I marry, " wu-ssen-tamwden " bridegroom, one who
marries ; V Narragansett ' wu-ssen-tan " he goes a-wooing, " luu-ssen-etil-
ock " the\' make a match ; " Pen. n-dal-ii'l-dam-dn " I marry into such
and such a family. " These forms in -tarn-, -dam- are probably related to
Oj. o-jini-dam " to be son-in-law in a family " (see n" 23).
25. W. yi-dak'i-r " mj' (man's) brother-in-law, wife's male cousin,
my (man's) female cousin's husband. " For suffixed -r, cf. n"* 2, 3, 5.
Gree n-tdkku-s " my (woman's) sister-in-law ; "Oj. nin-ddngw-e " my
(woman's) sister-in-law ; " Del. zuachtamjuall " his brother-in-law, " i. e.
w-axtarjiw-al ; Nat. k-adtonq-s "thy cousin ; " Pen. n-adarik'^ " my
(man's) brother-in-law, my (woman's) sister-in-law ; " Abn. nadgg^
" dit. ; " Mai. n^-dak^^' " my wife's brother, my (man's) brother's
wife ; " Mic. ni-dak^^ " my (man's) brother-in-law, my (man's) bro-
ther's wife. ' These forms point to Algonkin *-ta'kkw- or *-tay\kiu-, pro-
bably meaning primarily " sibling-in-law of same sex as speaker.
(Gonnected with these forms is perhaps also Ar. nd-ya^ G. V. nd-yag."' my
(man's) brother -in -law, " which, if read -yg,'\ would reconstruct
to *-ya-kzv-, perhaps *-ta'kw-.) On Oj. -ddngw- is based also j . nin-
ddngo-she " my (woman's) maternal uncle's daughter, paternal aunt's
daughter ; " -she, like -s of Gree n-tdkku-s above, is ^ifninutive.
26. Yur. (Kr) ne-lei " my (man's) brother-in-law ; " Yur. (G) ne-tei
" my (man's) brother-in-law, wife's sister's husband. "
Gree n-ista-w " my (man's) brother-in-law, " w-istd-w-a ." his brother-
in-law ; " Oj. n-ita " my (man's) brother-in-law, " zo-ita-n " his bro-
ther-in-law, " n-ita-g " my (man's) krothers-in-law ; " Del. n-ita-u-s " my
sister-in-law, brother's wife ; '' Bl. (Wissler) n-estd-ntmo-w-ak *' husbands
of father's and mother's sisters ; my (man's) sister's husband ; " Ar.
1. Quoted by Trumbull from Roger williams.
512 V American Indian Languages 1
58
n-atou " my (woman's) sister-in-law ; " G. V. n-atou. Here probably
belong also Pen. n-i'^tcu-s " my wife's sister's husband ; " Mai. n-i'^tcu-s
" my wife's sister's husband ; ' Mic. n-i'tcu-s " my husband's bro-
ther's wife. " In these forms 'tc is assibilated after i from '/ <; j-/ ; u is
contracted from an (cf. Delaware and Arapaho-Gros Ventre cognates) ;
-s, as in Delaware n-itau-s, is diminutive. Algonkin *-istaiu- is probably
analyzable into *-ista-w- (cf. Cree n-itim-w- " sibling in-law of opposite
sex "), as indicated by Blackfoot and certain Ojibwa forms (Oj. obvia-
tive -//a-« and plural -//fl!-o-, however, may be merely analogically remo-
deled after n-ita^ which may be regularly derived from *n-istaiv ; this
explanation is supported by diminutive -itdw-iss, see below). Algonkin
*-ista-[w-) seems to have meant primarily " man's brother-in-law^ ; wife's
sister's husband, " precisely like Yurok -tei. This is indicated by Cree,
Ojibwa, Blackfoot, and Penobscot-Malecite. In Delaware, Arapaho-
Gros Ventre, and Micmac, however, it seems to have taken on corre-
lative feminine significance : " woman's sister-in-law ; husband's bro-
ther's wife. " Based on *-istaw- is also Oj. n-itd-w-iss " my (man's)
maternal uncle's son, paternal aunt's son. " — For Algonkin st :
Wiyot- Yurok /, see Sapir, op. cit., pp. 645, 646.
27. W. yi-derenak " my child's spouse's parent. '' -dere- is regularly
developed from -dene-.
Cree n-littdzua " my child's spouse's parent, " plur. n-tittdw-ok ; Oj.
nin-dinddwa "■ my child's spouse's parent, " plur. nin-dinddiu-ag . -wa, -w-
is doubtless suffixed, as in -istatu- (see n° 26), leaving as Algonkin
stem *-tetta'- or, nasalized, *-tenta'-.
28. W. hakwi^' spouse " (endearing). If this term be presumed to
have originally meant only " wife, " it may be equated with
Algonkin *hiskws.--w-, *heskiuf -w-^ *-esku'z- , *-eskiva"' woman " : Cree
iskwe-w] Mont. (Sapir) ickwz-u ; Fox fkwd-w^ ; Oj. ikwe \ Ottawa i akwe ;
Del. ochqueu (i. e. oxhvt-u), Del. (S). uxkwd-u ; Nat. squda-s, eshqua ; Pen.
-iskwe, -9skwe (in compounds) ; Abn. -eskwa (in compounds) ; Mai. -isk'"^
(in compounds) ; Mic. -as¥^" (in compounds) ; Ar. hisei, in compounds
-dsei (e. g. hdMh-dsei " chief woman ") ; G. V. /;/9a ; Cheyenne - hee (dissi-
milated from * hehe<*hese <*hiskwe-). Without w-suffix, Algonkin *eshue--
is in some dialects used for " wife " : Mont. n-t-9cque-m " my wife "
(-m is possessive) ; Ar. nd-t-dcea " my wife ; " G. V. nd-t-Md ; in
1. Quoted by Baraga.
2. Quoted from R. Fetter, Sketch of the Cheyenne Grammar, Memoirs of the American
Anthropological Association, vol. I, pp. 443-478.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 513
59
others for " man's sister" : Kick, ne-t-e^kwd-m-^ " my (man's) sister ; "
probably also Mic. n-kwe-dji'tc " my (man's) sister" [-dji'tc is double
diminutive ; absolute -kioe- : suffixed -askw is puzzlings) ; Ar. nd-t-dse
" my sister. " Probably related is *-iskwa^ *-iskzve' " co-wife " : Gree
w-iskwa " her co-wife ; " Kick, iskwd-'e " intimate term of address
between women " (Kick, iskwd- : -e^kiud- " man's sister, " Fox Vkwd-w-
" woman " is again puzzling). — It is not likely that a of Ottawa akwi,
Mic. -ask'^ directly corresponds to Wiyot a of kakwi. Wiyot hakwi is
perhaps developed from *heskiai, analogously to Wiyot mati " wood "
from '^mesti (see Sapir, op. cit., pp. 645, 646).
29. W. yi-ivewa-t " my wife ; " probably also compounded in wili-
wita " co-wife. " (I assume that wili- denotes " with, together. "
This is borne out by comparison with Algonkin *wit{i)- " in company
with, '' dialectically assibilated, before / and £•, to witc{i)- : Gree wit-,
witchi- " accompaniment, to do something together with ; " Oj. wid-,
widj-, widji- " with ; " Del. wit-, witsch- " with, "' witschi " with,
at the same time ; " Nat. we[e)i-, weech- " with, " weeche " with, in
company with. " For Wiyot / : Algonkin t, see Sapir, op. cit., pp. 641,
642.) Kroeber records wiwa-l " his wife, " perhaps contracted from
*u-wiwa-l (cf. analogous Algonkin forms below). As Wiyot stem for
' ' wife '"' may be posited -wiiva-.
Algonkin *-wi'w[a)- " wife " : Gree n-iwa " my wife, " luiwa " his
wife ; " Fox n-iwa " my wife, " u-wiw-An' " his wife ; " Kick.
ti-iwa " my wife ; " Oj. wiiu-an " his wife ; " Narragansett ^ no-weewo
" my wife, " wehuo " a wife ; " Del. (Zeisberger) wiw-all " his wife. "
According to Michelson - Fox n-iwa and analogous forms are contrac-
ted from *ne-wlwa (cf. Narragansett no-weewo). This seems to be
corroborated by Algonkin verbal derivatives from wi'w-, e. g. : Gree
wiw-i-w " he has a wife ; " Fox uwiw-i- " to marry " (on analysis see
Michelson," Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, vol. IV,
1914, p. 404) ; Oj. nin wiw-i-kawa " I give him a wife, " nin wiw-i-ma
" I take her to wife " ; Del. (Zeisberger) wiwu " he is married. " —
Algonkin *wi-iv [a)- " wife " is clearly based on *-wi-, which, as noun
stem, occurs, with diminutive suffix, in Oj. ni-wi-sh " my wife,
wi-wi-sh-an " his wife. " Algonkin *wi- occurs also as verb stem in
reference to marriage, e. g. Ar. ni-b- " to marry " <Algonkin *wi-m- .
Here undoubtedly belongs also Kroeber's Wiyot wisi-L, i. e., " married
w^oman, " wise-peki " married man.
1 . Quoted by Trumbull from Roger Williams.
2. American Anthropologist, N. S., vol. XIII, pp. 171, 172,
514 V American Indian Languages 1
60
30. Yur. (G) ne-peu " my wife " (reference) ; perhaps analyzable as
n-epe-u, with -u- suffix (cf. ne-eihke-u, n" 12 ; m-par-eu " my father-in-
law ; " ne-k'ep-eu " my grandchild ; " ne-me-pets-eu " my dead grand-
father ; " ne-tne-ke-kts-eu " my dead grandmother ").
Mal.(S) fpit' " woman, " plural fpvdj-it ; Mic. (S) z-bit' " woman, "
plural s'bidj-ik^. Speck gives also Mic. n-t-ebi' d-eni " my wife " [-em is
possessive).
These thirty-one comparative entries of kinship terms undoubtedly
contain more than one error, more than one misunderstanding, but it is
obvious that if half of them eventually prove valid, we shall still have
to recognize a most surprising degree of linguistic concordance between
the kinship .systems of the Algonkin-speaking tribes east of the
Rockies and those of their remole congeners in northwestern California.
From a purely linguistic standpoint, then, our investigation has proved
most encouraging. It remains to be seen how the kinship systems of
the two separated areas compare as such, that is, in their conceptual
outlines. Two kinship terms may be identical or obviously but variants
of a single prototype and connote, for all that, very different relational
concepts. Again, two kinship systems may be conceptually parallel but
unrelated in their actual terminologies.
II, Comparison Between Yurok, Wiyot, and Algonkin
Kinship systems
Radically as the Yurok and Wiyot kinship systems differ from the
generality of Californian systems, it is clear at the outset that they
offer no inconsiderable divergences among themselves. The difficulty
of arriving at a reconstructed, historically inferred, system for the
proto- Algonkin period is greatly increased by the fact that on a number
of points the Algonkin dialects also differ widely among themselves, so
that it is not always possible to speak confidently of the properly
Algonkin features. No doubt the various Algonkin tribes modified their
inherited kinship system, now under the stress of internal causes, socio-
logical or psychological, now as influenced by contact with the kinship
systems or associated social features of alien tribes. Such dialectic
developments must also have taken place at the remoter period of diffe-
rentiation of proto-Algonkin into Yurok, Wiyot, and Algonkin proper.
In spite of the inherent difficulties of the task, it may eventually be pos-
sible to work out some of the primary kinship features ol the whole
group, to dispose of others as secondary developments. A refined and
detailed study of the whole course of change, from the oldest and most
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 515
61
fundamental features down to the most recent dialectic or regional
ramifications, is a task for an Algonkin specialist. I shall not attempt it,
the more so as it inevitably leads to a far-reaching distributional study,
such as lies beyond the scope of this paper.
The linguistic entries of the first part of our study do not suffice for
a comparative survey of kinship systems within the enlarged Algonkin
group. This is due to the fact that not all terms have ascertainable
cognates. It w^ill therefore be necessary to rearrange and add to the
Wiyot, Yurok, and Algonkin terms already given, so that the relations
between the kinship systems as such may be apprehended more readily.
In the following table linguistic relationship is not considered ; the
entries are made solely with a view to their conceptual equivalence.
As representatives of Algonkin proper I have chosen Gree (Montagriais),
Ojibwa, Penobscot (Abenaki), and Arapaho. The Wiyot and Yurok
forms are Gilford's, unless they are otherwise credited. A row of dots
indicates that an equivalent for the term is definitely known to be
wanting. The lack of an entry merely indicates that data are wanting.
516
V American Indian Languages 1
62
C
a;
c
CO
01
1
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:cC
4>
c
d
C
c
S
c
t^'
ti^
^
^
—■
'5
II
:re
II =§
'u5
n
C
IS-
CjJ
f=
[fl
(/)
C
re
re
1
0)
c
3
o
S
^
-a
Tl
1
o
—
1
1
1
o
1
a c c c e G ^
c
-C5
'^
t«
8
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U5
^ S
3
D
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C
."^
re
.•_, ft)
-o
.^ ^
O
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1
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1
J<i
c
c
a a
in
t/i
C
<0
U3
fiin
G
■re
'T-l
"(i5
a
c ?
G
o
G G
G
G
G
G
(3)
r/l-
-O
T1
en
^
G
H
G
CO
<o
T1
^
T-i
G
G
"g
S
G
cfi j2
o o
^ I
O G
S tn
<o <o 55
-G <B -C far
S"" en O tn
U
re t/)
<re ^ ^ -^^ .;£
O -f J,
G :^
5 S —
tn tn 3 '^
G 3 -=* o
I S 1? c
^ = G -^ = ^
2 5JD S O-^ G
-^ G
'T3T3'a'v C-Q-O^
tlCK-1
c^
^
Jaj
^ J«!
w ^
V 3
o
G
« .2,
6c -o
.2, «
'C -Q
-a a;
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Ol
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G
u
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;h
c2
e
5 ^
-*-
XJ
'TD
'o x:
6c
ri
j^
ffl
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'm
E-.
u t-
tn TS
6C
be
60 -O.
^ <?. Jc
in w
^ c?l
Qj o re _Q • —
r^: (ur^-Gr:? S^*;:; —
-+ lo o r^ 30
— (M CC
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan
517
6
63
c
cs
"S
T rt) 03 .«
O '^ «
C C fi G
.S 'O
i2 i: 2 =3 <5^ '^
d S C
e
^
-ili
in
-73
«
"T
-*
^
1)
a
(C
fto
s
■-
c
'-'
.m
■O
Ifl
-o
-a
d
fl c c c
^
c
^
■^
.^
?
.^ — ^
^ ^
U3
o
CO
s
a
a-
i5^
in
f1
^
s
•^
T-
.^
c
C
Ol
5
'55
-«
CJ
II
II
.Xi
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. JL.
,^
II
c
c
c
a
a
^ '^
^ -p - ?
J5
.a
(U
u
C-i
0!
o
a-
o
n
in
to
CO
t3
o
'5
CO
o
s
(«
rfl
'rt
be
C
tn
tn
^
o
^ -5 Z ^
■~^ G m
b ID oj aj
— JO
fir
!-i
u
fac
-a
o
If.
c
o
tn
'in
tfi
CO
c
m
CD
r-
XI
t)0
m
CO
a.
(U
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D
O
s
Oi
T5
t:
CO
o
tfl
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oj S
OJ CO 5
518
V American Indian Languages 1
64
c ;„
e
a;
00
O
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3
CO
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■. '
6JD
« re' s
<re c -re •"
S <Ji ^ S
.S 5c .- a;
5c:;: -JT^
o
5c
n
.ice
> II II
OS 1^
a- J2
re— — —-.3—; rt'" "iictu
re — re o
S £ S
re
s
U3
3
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re
s
<2
c
'en
3
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re
s
to
3
O
y
re
s
3
re
a
3
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y
re
s
15
U3
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re
6
'a>
13
O
y
"S
3
O
y
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c
re
s
2
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6
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Q.
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Cl,
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Five: Algonkian atid Ritwan
519
65
en
E
ID
o
73
1
c
<e8
'c
a
fao
a
•<
. •*
<C8
03
ingwan
CO
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en
'u5
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C
<C0
TD
c
tiO
tn
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c
o g o -^ ■«
-2 (/5
be
s .s
S iS
s
cc a)
,«^ I
If o 'I' h:
U5 CD CO tn
fli -Q ^ 't-
tn (/)
rt: -c r:;
-r -c
- o
a> ja 4)
^'1
(M
520
V American Indian Languages I
66
u
'i^ ^ ro
a> -G
p^.
>
3
>
3
■^
O
(ii
n
ra
Q.
JJ
a.
u
tn
!/J
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 52 1
67
NOTES TO TABLE
\. Properly a form derived from baby- talk. The more formal term
employed in Penobscot, Abenaki, and Malecite is said by Speck to denote
" my generator " (Pen. n9-mi'tar^gwds).
2. Speck gives the same term for great-uncle as for great-grandfather
(see no. 10), the same term for great-aunt as for great-grandmother (see
no. II). The etymology ( " great-my-grandfather, '' " great-my-grand-
mother ') suggests that these terms refer primarily to the great-grand-
parent class. In Wiyot also, it will be observed, the class of grandparent's
sibling is identified with that of great-grandparent, though here it is
more likely that the primary application is to the former class. In Yurok
both classes are merged with the grandparent class.
3. Lacombe remarks [Dictionnaire, p. 664) : " For the ascending line
there are no further degrees of kinship than my grandfather , my grandmother.
One may, however, also say : my deceased father , my deceased grandfather ,
for my ancestors.
4. I.e., " my grandfather in sequence, " "mygrandmother in sequence, "
Equivalent forms in aniskdtch(f) are also used in Cree.
5. Baraga defines this term not only as " great-grandchild, " but as
" a string tied to another, in order to lengthen it. " Presumably, the
kinship usage is a metaphorical application of the latter.
6. Literally, " great-my-grandchild. " Parallel to n^^S-ll.
7. I. e., " man's sister's son, \voman's brother's son.
8. These second terms are used in an endearing sense.
9. I. e., " man's sister's daughter, woman's brother's daughter.
10. Gilford remarks : " My four Wiyot informants insisted that no
terms were used for step-parents or step-children. They declared that
individuals standing in such relation to each other were not regarded as
relatives. "
H. According to whether the speaker is a man or woman.
12. According to Speck, the literal meaning of this term is " one
whom I w^rap up and protect. "
13. Denotes also " maternal half-sibling. " For " paternal half-sibling "
another term is used : yi-gutswilan .
14. Cree ni-tchiwdm (voc. ni-tchiwa) means not only properly " my
(male's) brother, " but also *' my male friend, comrade "(used only by
males) ; in this latter sense is employed also n-itchds {w-itchds-a " his
522 V American Indian Languages I
68
comrade "). ni-tchiwdmiskwew and ni-tisdniskiueiv are, of course, compounds
of ni-tchiwdm and ni-tisdn respectively and iskwew " woman. " With Gree
ni-tisdn compare Delaware ni-tis " my friend, companion. " Ojibwa
n-idji is clearly cognate with Penobscot n-i'dji'e (Abn. n-rdjva ; Mai.
n-ii'iues' ; Mic. n-i'dji'e " my (male's) brother, " but does not mean
" brother '' in its proper sense; Baraga translates it " my comrade,
friend, equal " (used only by male to male). Equivalent is n-idjikiwesi
" my (male's) male friend, comrade. " Also n-idjikiwi and n-ikdniss
mean " my (male's) male comrade, friend " as well as " my (male's)
brother. " That Pen. n-i'dji'e also is used in a wider sense (" male
co-equal of male ") is indicated by its use for " my wife's sister's
husband " (n" 57). Ojibwa n-idji^ n-idjikiwe, n-idjikiwesi and Penobscot
«-rJ//'r^ are evidently compounded with (u>)idj{i) " in company with.
These terms are clearly not kinship terms in origin.
15. Not used for " my (female's) sister " properly speaking, for which
there seems to be no precise Ojibwa equivalent, but for " my (female's)
female friend, companion. " It is merely a secondary use of nin-ddngiue
'' my (female's) sister-in-law " (see n° 54) ; cf. also its diminutive form
nin-ddngoshe '* my (female's) female cross-cousin " (see n° 44).
16. Kroeber says : " There is another word for ' younger sister ' or
perhaps ' sister, ' ndtdse. " This term clearly means " my woman " (hisei,
-dsei) and is analogous to Fox m-t-e'kwdm'^^ Kick, ne-t-e'kwdm'^y Mic.
n-hvedji'lc " my (male's) sister. " It is quite likely that Arapvaho has
terms for " man's brother, " " woman's brother, " and '' woman's
sister, " but I have no available data. Note that Penobscot and Malecite
nd-hhen^mum " my (male's) sister " also denote simply " my woman. "
17. Without reference to sex of possessor or to whether linking parent
and parent's sibling are of the same sex or not.
18. Kroeber stales that " cousins, even of remote degrees of kinship,
are called 'brothers and sisters. ' " He does not make it clear, however,
whether this statement applies to all cousins, as in Yurok, or only to
parallel cousins, as in Gree and Ojibwa. The Arapaho terminology for"
the uncle and nephew classes suggests strongly that only parallel cou-
sins may be termed siblings.
19. " Parallel " cousins are such as are related through parents of like
sex (" father's brother's child "or " mother's sister's child") ; " cross"
cousins, through parents of opposite sex (" father's sister's child " or
" mother's brother's child ").
20. On p. 670 of his Dictionnaire Lacombe gives " nitchds, mon cou-
sin, mon camarade, mon compagnon de parente, " adding that it can be
used only by men. Under "■ cousin " Lacombe states : " pour issu de
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 523
69
cousin germain, les hommes disent aux hommes, mon cousin, nistchds ,'
son cousin, wistchdsa. " These terms are clearly identical. Presumably
n-istchds is more proper, as it is evidently a diminutive based on n-istdw
" my (man's) brother-in-law " (see n** 53), precisely as n-itimus is a
diminutive based on n-itim (see n*>® 55, 56). Similarly, n-tchdkus (n<* 44)
is based on n-tdkkus " my (woman's) sister-in-law " (see n" 54). Paral-
lel Ojibwa evidence establishes these etymologies beyond cavil : n-itdiuiss
<r n-itd; nin-ddngoshe <C ninddngwe ; ni-nimoshe <C ni-nini. The develop-
ment of / of Gree terms for sibling-in-law to tc in derivative terms for
cross cousin is remarkable. Gf. also Pen. n-i'Ucus (n° 57), undoubtedly
cognate with Gree n-i(^s)tchds .
21. Na-dxrigwus , as Speck himself points out, is a diminutive based
on na-darjk'^ " my sibling-in-law of my sex " (nos. 53,54) ;
na-dxT,k'^s9s'kwe is na-darigwus compounded with -ds'kwe " woman " ;
na-dtxfik''^ si's is a double diminutive of na-d:iT,k^'^ . Speck does not indicate
any distinction between parallel and cross cousins. It seems likely, by
analogy with Gree and Ojibwa, that where doublets are given, the
sibling terms («-/'^/r^, w-Z^^'^^^'m) refer to parallel cousins, the derivatives
of na-dxr,k'^" to cross cousins. Gorresponding doublets are given by Speck
for Malecite : n-xi'ives' , na-dagivus (man's male cousin) ; ni'-tsekes,
ni' -dak'''" si's (woman's female cousin).
22. Apparently only as endearing vocative.
23. These terms are merely nominal derivatives in -gan from verbs
denoting cohabitation or marriage.
24. Explained by Speck as indicating "he or she who lives with
me. "
25. Gifford remarks that this term is said to mean " my man.
26. These terms merely mean " my man, male. "
27. Gifford remarks that this term is said to mean " my woman. "
28. These terms merely mean " my woman.
29. Gifford states that." a co-wife is addressed or referred to by a
sister term" (presumably n°^ 30, 31, 33).
30. Gree has two other terms of the co-spouse class, w^hich I am not
including in the table because of the lack of comparable terms in the
other languages : ni-kusdk^'' my co-husband " and n-t-dyim " my co-
spouse. " The former is used by a man of another with whom he has
the same wife or to whom he has loaned his own wife ; n-t-dyim may be
used by a w^oman or man to indicate another worhan or man with whom
he or his spouse has relations (Lacombe renders " mon concurrent, ma
concurrente ").
31. Gompounded of n° 51 (Gree nahdk-an-, Ojibwa fiadng-an-) and
-iskwe-, -ikwe " woman.
524 V American Indian Languages 1
70
32. Gifford remarks that no terms are applied to the " wife's sister's
husband" or to the " husband's brother's wife.
33. Evidently closely related to or identical with ni'-tse'kes-u " woman's
sister, female cousin " (nos. 33 ; 43, 44). Presumably this term means
properly " woman's female companion, co-equal.
34. N-dodemis¥'^' is compounded of n-dodem and -is¥'^ " woman.
This Penobscot term has Algonkin cognates. In Gree n-totem is defined
by Lacombe as " mon parent, monallie. " In Kickapoo ne-totdma is used
for " my brother, my sister, " apparently a term for sibling, like Wiyot
yi-d-ux, without reference to sex(of possessor or possessed) or seniority.
Evidently the Penobscot (and Alalecite) use of the term is specialized
from that of " kinsman. "
35. For the Wiyot Gilford remarks : " The Wiyot do not regard the
spouse of an uncle or aunt as a relative and therefore apply no term of
relationship. The same holds for the reciprocal relation, spouse's nephew-
niece. " For the Yurok he states : '' As in Wiyot, no terms are applied
to these relatives by marriage, nor do they in turn apply any to their
spouses' nephews and nieces. Yurok living with the Hupa sometimes
follow Hupa usage and designate relatives of this class as siblings-in-law. "
36. Gifford states that Wiyot " terms af affinity were discontinued
foUowmg the death of the connecting relative. " Evidently there is no
Wiyot term parallel to Yurok ne-tsker.
The table suggests a great many problems which can hardly be solved
without considering the possible influence on Wiyot of neighbouring
Galifornian tribes and the almost certain influence of alien tribes east of
the Rockies on a number of the properly Algonkin peoples. My purpose
here is the very restricted one of pointing out that a number of^ Yurok or
Yurok- Wiyot kinship features that appear isolated in California are close-
ly or approximately paralleled by what seem to be fundamental Plains-
Atlantic Algonkin features.
1. All three groups show some evidence of parent-child reciprocity
(Wiyot 1 : 4 ; 2 : 5 ; Yurok 1 [voc] : 3 [cf. Wiyot 1] ; Abn. \ : Algon-
kin 5 [cf. Wiyot 4]. In Yurok and Algonkin this uncommon type of reci-
procity, or rather a survival of it, is limited to the father-son relation.
Wiyot exibits reciprocity both for father-son and, even more purely, for
mother-daughter.
2. In view of the presence in these languages of so uncommon a feature
as parent-child reciprocity, the complete absence in all three of grand-
parent-grandchild reciprocity (see 6, 7, 12), so typically abundant in the
Great Basin, the Southwest, California, and Oregon, is highly noteworthy..
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 525
71
3. All three groups agree in making no distinction between maternal
and paternal grandparents and, correlatively, between the grandchild
through the son and through the daughter. Further, in no case is the
grandson distinguished from the g-randdaughter.
4. At first sight it seems that Wiyot and Algonkin proper contrast
with Yurok in the uncle class. Yurok has a single term for uncle (13,16)
and a single term for aunt (17,18), whereas Wijot and all the Algon-
kin dialects distinguish between the maternal and the paternal uncle
and the maternal and the paternal aunt. A closer study of the facts
however.^ leads to the inference that the differentiation in Wiyot and
Algonkin is probably not a fundamental one but is due to independent
secondary developments, possibly under foreign influence, within these
two groups. First of all, the four Wiyot terms for uncle-aunt are not,
each of them, specific and distinct. The term for " father's brother "
{-gatck') is clearly related to its part-reciprocal -gau " nephew, " as are
-djo-k " mother's brother " and -dju-l " mother's sister " to the alter-
native form for " nephew " (^djuutcJi). Curiously enough, it is the
term for " father's brother " which is the secondary one, for
-ga-tck is clearly nothing but a diminutive in -tck of a stem -c^a-
that seems to apply primarily to the younger generation {-ga-u
" nephew" ; -gas " daughter-in-law " [52]). Furthermore, the two
terms for " mother's sibling " (16,17) are not radically distinct, but are
based on a single stem -dju-: On the basis of the internal Wiyot evidence
alone, therefore, it is difficult to avoid the hypothesis that Wiyot origi-
nally had but two terms for the class, one for the uncle (^djo-k or *-dju-,
with special reference to the maternal uncle), the other for the aunt
(^-bau-k, with special reference to the paternal aunt). The other two
terms are of secondary origin. In any event Wiyot does not possess the
typical Galifornian four-term system, but looks as though it had eff'ected
a compromise between such a system and the two-term Yurok system.
The Algonkin facts are roughly parallel to the Wiyot ones. There is
evidently no primary Algonkin term for " father's brother. " The Gree
term is merely a diminutive of " grandmother " (7) ; the Ojibwa term
is closely related to that for " grandfather " (6) ; the Gros Ventre
identify the paternal uncle with the father (as the maternal aunt with
the mother) ; while the Penobscot have a term vs^ithout wide-spread
cognates, perhaps a descriptive term compounded with the common ele-
ment {iv)i'dj- " together with. " There is a distinctive term in all Algon-
kin dialects for the maternal uncle. There is probably a primary Algon-
kin term for the maternal aunt i^-lo-ss-)^ preserved, e. g., in Gree and
Ojibwa, but the most common term for the paternal aunt (^-se-gw-ess-).
526 V American Indian Languages 1
72
as we have already seen, is a derivative of the term for the maternal uncle
(the Penobscot term for ' ' father's sister " is merely a form of that for
" grandmother "). In other v^ords, it looks as though the primary
Algonkin system was a tw^o-term one, including one for the uncle
(with special reference, as in Wiyot, to the maternal uncle), the other
for the aunt (with special reference to the maternal aunt). As regards
etymology, we may note once again that the Algonkin term for" mother's
brother " is related to the Yurok term for " uncle "and the Wiyot terms
for " mother's siblings, " while the Algonkin (Gree-Ojibwa) term for
" mother's sister ' is probably cognate to the Yurok term for " aunt.
5. Wiyot and Yurok agree in having respectively undifferentiated
terms for " nephew " and " niece, " which are distinguished from each
other as such (19-21 ; 22-24). 1 believe, however, that Kroeber is not
quite correct in denying to Yurok reciprocity of the uncle-nephew class.
The term for " nephew, " -k-tsum, can hardly be disconnected from that
for " uncle, " -tsini, -tsanie-. It is possible also that the term for" niece,
-rame-ts, is also related to -tsame-{see I, 19, 21), but this is less probable.
In any case the reciprocity is linguistically obscure ; it is a linguistic
survival rather than an actual descriptive fact.
In Wiyot there can be no doubt that the terms for " nephew " are
related to terms of the uncle class. As we have already seen, -gau
" nephew " corresponds to -ga-tck " father's brother, " a diminutive
formation; the other term for " nephew, '' -djuu-tck, is an analogous dimi-
nutive formation based on -dju-, the stem of the terms for " mother's
brother " and " mother's sister. " Of the two equivalent terms for
" niece, " one, -ukuik, which I have ventured to sufrgest is to be
interpreted as -iikwa-tck, may be a diminutive formation from the stem
-oka- " mother, daughter "(2,5) ; the olhev, -salibas, is a distinctive term,
possibly descriptive.
In Algonkin proper a distinction is normally made between parallel
nephews (and nieces) and cross nephews (and nieces). If we examine
the terms carefully, we see almost at once that the relationships of the
parallel nephew class (19, 20, 22, 23) are, without exception, properly
terms, or derivatives of terms, of the child class (see 3, 4, and 5 [Pen.]).
Moreover, the Algonkin dialects differ considerably in the exact choice
of terms. This seems to indicate that there were no primary Algonkin
terms for " parallel nephew '' and " parallel niece, " but that an
original two-term system (" nephew " and " niece ") was overlaid at
various times by a more complex system that necessarily followed in the
wake of the secondary four-term system for the uncle class, the different
dialects naturally choosing terms out of the child class that did not
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 527
73
always agree. It is entirely different whith the cross nephews and
nieces. The Algonkin dialects consistently distinguish the cross nephew
(21) from the cross niece (24) and give unimpeachable testimony for
the existence in primitive Algonkin of terms for these relationships
(*-lekiua-, *-lekwa-le- " cross nephew " and *-sseni- or *-ssem- " cross
niece"). I have already tried to show that the former of these terms is
reciprocally related to the Algonkin term for " mother's sister " (origi-
nally •' aunt " in general?) and that the latter, like its linguistic cognate
in Yurok {-rame-, cf. also -k-tsurfi) is perhaps remotely connected with
the term for " mother's brother" (originally " uncle " in general ?). The
linguistic evidence within Algonkin proper for an original two-term sys-
tem for the nephew class (" nephew, " later specialized to " cross
nephew ; " " niece, " later specialized to cross niece ") is thus by no
means bad. Fundamentally, then, primitive Algonkin would seem to
agree with Wiyot and Yurok in : 1 , rigidly distinguishing sex in the
nephew class ; 2, recognizing only two primary terms in the class ; 3,
reciprocity, no longer immediately obvious in Yurok and Algonkin,
between " nephew " and the uncle class (possibly also between " niece "
and the old term for " uncle "). If there is an absolutely distinctive
proto- Algonkin term for the nephew class, it is the term for " niece "
that survives in Yurok -rame-ts " niece " and Algonkin *-ssem-, Cree
-stim "cross-niece.
6. Leaving aside Wiyot, which has a simplified sibling system (one
term) that is rare and perhaps unparalleled in America, we find that the
treatmentof the sibling class (29-35) is strangely analogous in Yurok and
Algonkin. In both groups the terms for sibling fall into two distinct
classes. In the first class (29-31) regard is primarily had to the relative
ages of the siblings, in the second class (32-35) to the sexes of the
siblings (both of person related and of person related to). Further, within
the first class of terms, the sex of the person related is distinguished if
senior, not distinguished if junior. In other words, Yurok and Algonkin
proper have perfectly analogous terms for " older brother, " " older
sister, "and " younger sibling; " further, specific terms for *' brother "
(of male and female respectively) and for " sister " (of male and female
respectively) . The distribution of these latter terms is not, to be sure,
entirely analogous in Yurok and Algonkin. In Yurok there are distinctive
terms for " man's brother, " " man's sister, "and a stem (-lai, -le-^ for
" woman's sibling " (specialized to -le-t " woman's sister "), while in
Cree (less clearly in Ojibwa) the cross-sex system is used (" man's brother "
and " woman's sister " [32, 33] : " woman's brother " and " man's
sister " [34,35]). However, for these terms the Algonkin dialects, as
528 V American Indian Languages 1
74
indicated in the table (32-35), are not altogether in accord. There seem
to be two terms that are likely to be primary Algonkin words : a stem
*-flz^£-- to indicate the cross sibling (34,33 [Cree, OjibwaJ, cf. Yurok
-weyi-ts " man's sister ") ; and a term found in Eastern Algonkin dialects
(e. g. 34 [Pen. -al-n-iim], cf. Yurok -lai, -le-t) to indicate, specifically,
the woman's brother. The terms for " man's brother " and " woman's
sister " probably denote throughout simply " companion, person of
same status (in sex and generation). " This is manifestly true of the
Algonkin terms (32,33) and is made very probable for Yurok -pa (32)
by its linguistic relationship to Wiyot -be, abe " cousin " (36; see also
1,16).
There are other similarities revealed by the table, e. g. the identity of
the " wife's brother " and the " man's sister's husband " (53) ; further,
the classing of the " man's sister-in-law " with the " woman's brother-
in-law " (55,56 : Yurok -tsni-Uy -tsna). But it is well in a confessedly pre-
liminary study like the present one not to insist on doubtful or unspeci-
fic points of similarity. Considering the geographical and cultural break
between the Wiyot and Yurok of northwestern California and the main
body of Algonkin tribes, no one, I believe, could hope to find a greater
linguistic and terminological resemblance between the kinship terms of
these two groups of tribes, granted that they are linguistically related,
than we have actually found in the course of our study.
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan
529
530
V American Indian Languages 1
Editorial Notes
Originally published in Journal de la Societe des americanistes de Paris, N.S. 15,
36-74 (1923). Reprinted by permission of the Societe des americanistes.
The following is a list of corrigenda in the text which Sapir added to his own
offprint of this article as published in Journal de la Societe des americanistes de
Paris:
Original
Original
Corrected
Page
Line
Form
Form
39
14 up:
Relationiship
Relationship
41
4:
diminutive c
diminutive -c
42
13:
after "one month,"
semicolon
colon
43
9:
Presumably utcik
Presumably -utcik
44
16 up:
nd- Vuds
n^-qu^s
44
15 up:
ne-gw'-Q-a
ne-gwi-Q-a
45
32
"my grandfather."
"my grandfather,"
45
35
-wey,i-ts
-weyi-ts,
56
Hup:
yi-d-atsera-kw
yi-d-atsera-kw
62
Arapaho, item 7
n-eibdhd
n-eibdhq
62
item 10
grandfathe
grandfather
62
Penobscot,
item 14:
ktci--n-usas
ktci-n-usas
63
Penobscot,
item 19:
n-(n)emani-mi-s
n-(n)emani-mi-s
63
Penobscot,
item 32:
n-i'tse'k-es'U
n-i-tse'kes-u (move into
item 33)
64
Penobscot,
item 37:
nadoL^g-
na-dar)g-
64
Penobscot,
item 43:
nadar\k^-
na-dar)k^-
64
item 50
= °18
= n°18
69
5:
n-t^hdkus
n-tchdkus
69
note 21, line 9:
or
for
74
2 up:
linguisticay
linguistically
Review of Truman Michelson:
The Owl Sacred Pack of the Fox Indians
Michelson, Truman. The Owl Sacred Pack of the Fox Indians. Bureau of
American Ethnology, Bulletin 72, 83 pp. Washington, Government Printing
Office, 1921.
This volume has at once ethnological and linguistic interest. It belongs to the
class of invaluable documents for which the standard has been set in Ameri-
canistic work by Dr. Boas' series of ethnological texts in Kwakiutl. The Indian
speaks of some phase of his culture in his own person. We get his own point of
view and, needless to say, this point of view by no means coincides with that of
the recording ethnologist in the field. A Sun Dance as understood and felt by an
Arapaho or a Blackfoot is an altogether different thing from the particular Sun
Dance that is minutely and photographically described by a G. A. Dorsey.
What is emphatic and picturesque in the view of the outside observer may be
but a casual feature to the native; what he treasures as expressing the true
inwardness of a custom may elude the observation of the student. It is highly
desirable that we obtain and publish as many of these first-hand ethnological
accounts as there is opportunity for. The labor of recording, translating, and
editing is considerable but is richly worth the student's while, for nothing can
quite take the place in ethnology of authentic native records.
The linguistic value of Dr. Michelson's paper goes far beyond its importance
as a long and carefully prepared text. Pages 12 and 13 contribute materially to
our knowledge of Fox phonetics. But of prime interest to the American linguist
is the appended linguistic matter: "Some Linguistic Notes on the Text" (pp.
68-71) and, above all, a "List of Stems" (pp. 72-83). In the introductory remarks
to this list Dr. Michelson includes a brief summary of the main phonetic shifts in
Fox that he has worked out since the publication of William Jones' basic sketch
of the language. The list of stems is far from being a complete list of such ele-
ments in Fox; it is merely a reference list of all the verbal stems, primary and
secondary, and some of the nominal stems that occur in the "Owl Sacred Pack"
text. Even at that, however, the list is priceless, as every serious student of the
Algonkin languages will realize at once. It is not always easy, in handling so
highly synthetic a form of speech as Algonkin, to unravel the initial and second-
ary radical elements in the verbal formations entered in the dictionaries of
Lacombe, Baraga, and other writers on Algonkin linguistics. Such a check list
as is here offered is of fundamental value because it is something very like an
"open sesame" to the etymological analysis not only of Fox but of a consider-
able number of related languages. [183]
532 V American Indian Languages 1
Jones was first responsible for the classification of the radical verbal elements
of Fox (and of Algonkin languages generally) into a primary (or initial) group
and a secondary set, the latter occurring only in combination with one or more
preceding elements of the former type. This classification stands, but perhaps
the impression that was created when Jones' analysis was first published needs
to be a little modified today. It is abundantly clear that at least as typical of
Algonkin as the combination of a first-position and a second-position stem is
the union of two (or more) first-position stems. In such combinations the first
element has frequently an adverbial or semi-formal significance (e.g. kVci-
coMPLETioN, pemi- ALONG, BEGIN, DURING), SO that the question has been
raised if we ought not to consider certain of Jones' first-position stems as more
properly adverbial prefixes. However, many, if not all, of these "adverbial" ele-
ments may be directly combined with second-position stems, while some may
also function as verbal themes without radical composition. The line between
"adverbial" prefixes and first-position stems thus becomes an impossible one to
draw. This was instinctively recognized by Jones from the beginning. When it
comes to second-position verbal stems (including a number of "copulas"). Dr.
Michelson's list discloses at once the not altogether foreseen fact that, impor-
tant and characteristic as these elements are, they are rather inconspicuous in
number as compared with the more freely movable first-position stems. The
reviewer now feels that the type of composition chiefly envisaged by Jones
(first-position stem + second-position stem) is better illustrated in Yana than
in Algonkin itself, for in Yana there are fully as many elements of second posi-
tion as of first position. Further, it is a question if the second-position elements
do not include at least as many nominal stems (e.g. -dpowA- food; -dme'ki-
earth; -A'kAmi- land; -dgi- hide; -'kwd- head; -'cd-, -'cd- ear; -temi-
depth; - pyd- quality, condition, water; -myd- back) as strictly verbal
ones. Jones had already called attention to these secondary nominal elements,
but he did not definitely state that a large number of them, yet by no means all,
are merely "incorporated" forms of independent noun stems (e.g. -dme'ki-
earth; -tund mouth, point).
It seems to me that Dr. Michelson could do American linguists no greater
service than to overhaul in detail the whole question of the composition of
verbal and nominal radical elements. Questions of sequence and of relative
mobility should be threshed out and amply illustrated. So far as I am able to
envisage the facts at present, Algonkin occupies a curiously strategic position
among American languages. In Yana, composition of the type independent
verb stem + independent verb stem is all but unknown, but there are a vast
number of verbal and adverbial elements that take up secondary positions in
the verbal theme; independent noun stems are frequently "incorporated" in
certain secondary positions. In Wakashan, composition of independent stems
is unknown (though I have discovered one or two elements of secondary posi-
tion in Nootka that are clearly identical with independent, i.e. initial, stems),
but we have a large number of suffixed derivational elements of both verbal and
nominal significance. Now I consider it highly probable that both the verb -f-
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 533
verb (or adverb) compositional type of Yana and the verb + noun (or adverb)
and noun (or verb) + verb^ types of Wakashan^ are petrified [184] forms of
older types of freely combinable independent stems. Algonkin stands midway
between the freely compounding languages (like Shoshonean) and the lan-
guages with "petrified composition" (like Yana) or with elaborately concrete
derivational elements (like Wakashan and Salish). It combines several initial
verb stems, but it has also verb stems that cannot occur initially; it may suffix
the independent noun stem to the verb stem ("incorporation"), but it also
makes use of a set of suffixed nominal elements that have no independent corre-
lates. In other words, certain originally free elements (independent stems)
have, it would seem, lost their independence and have sunk into the position of
"suffixes" of concrete significance. If such a process of petrifaction continues to
its logical conclusion, we gradually get compositional types illustrated in Yana
and Wakashan. In particular, the curious "substantivals" (unindependent nom-
inal elements suffixed to independent stems) of Wakashan, Salish, and
Chimakuan are adequately prefigured in the unindependent nominal elements
of secondary position found in Algonkin.
1. In these formulae "noun", "verb", and "adverb" refer to function.
2. Kwakiutl is more vestigial than Nootka, where the number of elements (concrete "suffixes") of
secondary position is probably as great as, or even greater than, that of the initial elements.
Editorial Note
Originally published in International Journal of American Linguistics 2,
182-184 (1923).
Sapir on Arapahoi
Charles F. Hockett
Edward Sapir left behind him a brief set of notes suggesting eastern cognates
for some Arapaho words. In the Spring of 1939 Morris Swadesh turned these
over to me to edit for possible publication. The material is undated, but inter-
nal evidence suggests that it was worked out prior to the appearance, in 1924, of
Bloomfield's On the Sound System of Central Algonquian.^ Sapir probably did
not intend to publish these notes in anything like the form he finally left them in
— if indeed he planned to publish them at all. For the record, however, publica-
tion in brief form is desirable.
I have reorganized the material somewhat, but have added practically noth-
ing. The Arapaho words were apparently taken from Kroeber's various pub-
lications; I have, in Arapaho and the other languages, replaced a, ', c, tc, and ts
by e, '^, s, c, and c respectively; the Arapaho transcriptions are otherwise
unaltered, whereas in certain now well-understood Central Algonkian lan-
guages I have omitted diacritic indication of features known to be subphonemic
and otherwise brought the writings into accord with modern Algonkianist
practice.
Correspondences are given where possible in terms of Bloomfield's Primitive
Central Algonkian reconstructions rather than by extended lists of forms from
various Central Algonkian languages (Sapir had for the most part done the
latter). PCA is the ancestor of Fox, Menomini, Ojibwa, Cree; Potawatomi;-^
and probably Shawnee; it is not, as now reconstructed, the ancestor of eastern
Algonkian"^ nor of any of the plains languages. Therefore the entries are to be
taken always as correspondences, never as etymologies.
The abbreviations are Sapir's, because in a couple of cases I am not sure of the
meaning: Ar Arapaho, OJ Ojibwa, Aben(S) Abenaki (the "S" may stand for
"Speck," indicating Sapir's source, or for "Southern," probably the former),
Alg(S) Algonkin (an Ojibwa dialect; same comment on the "S"), C Cree, GV
Gros Ventre, F Fox, Ch Cheyenne, Del Delaware, Mic Micmac, Bl Blackfoot.
1. This article was originally written in Mexico in the Autumn of 1939, and sent to Boas for UAL. It was
recovered from the Boas collection by Voegelin: See Ms 283 in Index to the Franz Boas Collection of
Materials for American Linguistics, Language Monograph No. 22 (Supplement to Lg. 21 [1945]); and sent
to me, by my request, for minor revisions before publication. Both in Mexico and here I have had to edit
without access to some of the desirable reference material; Algonkianists will recognize the forms cited
even in case of minor slips in transcription.
2. Lg. 1.130-56 (1924).
3. Proof of this is given in my paper The Position of Potawatomi in Central Algonkian, Papers of the
Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters, 28.537-42 (1942; published 1943).
4. Despite the discussion by Voegehn in Proto-Algonkian Clusters in Delaware, Lg. 17.143-7 (1941). I
hope to present a more detailed discussion of this point shortly.
536 V American Indian Languages J
1. Ar C-, PCA p-'^: 1. Ar ce-seix one, Oj peesik(w-), Aben(S) bazuk^, Aig(S)
peesik, C peyak(w-).
2. Ar -t-, GV -t-, PCA -t-: 2. Ar bete ten, F metaaswi, GV beta-", Ch mato-;
3. Ar ni-set' one, F nekoti; 4. Ar ni-ta"tax^ six, Oj ninkotwaaswi, Aben(S)
(n)kwidAS, Ch na-soxtoa, GV neitya-"tos.
2. 1 . Ar -xt- for Ar -t-: 5. Ar heni-sixt' one (animate), on the following analogy
within Ar: heni-sei two (inan.): heni-si6i two (an.) = heni-set' one (inan.): X.
3. Ar -'^-, PCA -k-: 6. Ar QP^ nine, F [244] saaka (cf. F -sika in nekotwaasika
six and neswaasika eight), Oj saank, saankaswi (saankaso-), Ch sooxtoa; 7. Ar
na'^a" mother!; C nika, Oj ninki.
3.1. Ar zero for Ar -■?-: 8. Ar neina" my mother, F nekya; 9. Ar hi-nan' his
mother, Oj okin. Sapir reconstructs *okiwali.
4. Ar -S-, PCA -kw-: 10. Ar -ni-si-, -ni-se- one, F nekoti, Rupert-House C
nikwat, Aben ngued-.
5. Ar -X, PCA -kw-, see 1.
6. Ar -S-, PCA -xkw-: 11. Ar hisei woman, pi hiseina", F ihkweewa, C is-
kweew, Oj ikkwee, Ch hee.
7. Ar -t-, PCA -kwet-: 12. Ar -ni-t- one, PCA nekweti, F nekoti, [Mohican^
nkwat].
8. Ar -S-, GV -6-, PCA -s-: see 1 and 13. Ar ni-sa"tasa"^ (Sapirs writing
illegible, ending may be wrong) seventy; GV ni-Ba^taOon (ditto, last letter may
be u), cf Oj niiswaaswaak seven hundred.
8.1. Ar -X- for Ar -s- representing PCA -s-: 14. Ar ce"xa" another one, cf Ar
ce-seix, 1.
9. Ar -S-, GV -e-, PCA -^6-: 15. Ar neisana" my father, F noosa, C
noohtaawiy, Oj noons, GV ni-eina".
9.1. Ar -X- for Ar -s- representing PCA -"^e-: 16. Ar neixa" /fl//zer.^ Del
nuuxwa; cf 15.
10. Ar -xwi-, GV -s6-i-, PCA -Kswi- (first member of cluster unknown): 17.
At ni'sa^'iaxwim seventeen, GVni-ea-"toso-in;cf the final syllable of Oj ninkot-
waaswi six, and the final syllable of the second part of the F compound for
thirteen in 18; 18. GV ne-s6-in thirteen, F metaaswi-neswinesiiwi; 19. GV
ni-s6-in twelve, F metaaswi-niiswinesiiwi.
11. Ar -x^, GV -s, PCA -Kswi- (first member of cluster unknown): see 4.
12. Ar -S-, GV -e-, -X-, PCA -xO-: 20. Ar ne-sa" three, F neswi, Oj niswi, C
nistw-, Aben(S) nas-, Mic(S) si-st, GV ehneOi (inan.), ehni-xic (an.).
13. Ar e-, PCA S-: see 6.
14. Ar -S-, GV -S-, -0-, PCA -sw-: 21. Ar ni-s' two, F niiswi, Oj niisw-, Aben
nizw-, GV ehni-sic (an.), ehni-de-i (inan.).
15. Ar h-, GV h-, PCA zero; see 11 and 22. Ar hinen' man, pi hinenina", F
ineniwa, Oj inini, C iyiniw, GV hineni, Ch hetan, pi hetaneo, Bl ninan, pi
ninaiki.
5. Asterisks have been omitted in the citation of single phonemes or clusters from PCA. The hmitation
"PCA" suffices.
6. Swadesh, Mohican Lexical Material (unpublished manuscript, 1939).
Five: Algonkian and Ritwan 537
16. Ar b-, GV b-, PCA m-: see 2.
17. Ar n-, GV n-, PCA n-: see 3, 10, 12, 20, 21.
18. Ar -n-, GV -n-, PCA -n-: see 22 and 23. Ar ya-ean'^ve, F nyaananwi, Oj
naanani, C niyaanan (w-), Aben(S) nalan, GV ya-tan'.
19. Ar y-, GV y-, PCA ny-: see 23 and 24. Ar yein'/owr, F nyeewi, Oj niiwin,
Alg neew.
19.1. Ar n- for Ar y- representing PCA ny-: 25. Ar yeneiniei (some form of
four) by dissimilation from earlier *nye-nyeini-, through *nyeneini- (cf 24);26.
Ar yana-6ani0i (some form of^ve) by dissimilation from earlier *nya-nya-9ani,
through *nyana-0ani- (cf 23).
20. Ar -e-, GV -t-, PCA -6-: see 23.
21. Ar -n-, GV -n-, PCA -1-: see 22.
22. Ar-n-, GV-n-, PCA -w-: 27. Ax him-sdindJ^ his father; Foosani (reflecting
earlier *howo^ea-); cf 15; see also 8, 11, 15, 22, 24.
23. Ar zero, PCA -wa, -wi: see the singular forms in 11, 22.
24. Ar i, PCA i: see 11, 22, 24.
25. Ar i, PCA e: see 10.
26. Ar i, PCA o, w: see 23, 27, and 28. Ar hi-saha^a" his older brother, Oj
osayeyan;'^29. Ar heni-si6i two (an.), GVehni-sic, Cniisw-;30. Ar-nei, -ne-si-,
three, GV ehnixic, C nistw-.
27. Are, PCA e: see 22.
28. Ar a, PCA a: see 4, 6, 15, 23, 28.
29. Ari-, PCAii: see 21.
30. Ar i- , PCA e: see 10, 12. Sapir explains as follows: the change from *e to i-
in -ni-t- one is perhaps conditioned by the special consonantal shift, *-kwet- to
-t-; *nekwe- develops through *nekwi-, *nikwi-, [245] *nisi-, and to -ni-si-, with
lengthened vowel on the analogy of -ni-t-.
31. Ar i-, PCA o (before certain clusters): see 28.
32. Ar i-, PCA oo (before certain clusters): see 27.
33. Ar ei, PCA ee: see 11, 24.
34. Arei, PCA i(?): see 1.
35. Ar ei, PCA oo: see 15.
36. Ar ۥ , PCA e: 31. Ar ne-sehe^e my older brother, Oj nisayi (Oj i reflecting
older e), Del(S) nxante.
37. Ar e-, PCA ee: see 1.
38. Ar a-, PCA aa: see 23.
39. Ar a", PCA aa: see 15 and 16, with which cf also C ohididi^'i father!.
To the above material Sapir adds fourteen Primitive Algonkian reconstruc-
tions, with forms and possible forms from all the languages on which there
were, at the time of his writing, any data, reliable or not. Most of these have
been superseded by the work of Bloomfield, but three of Sapir s reconstruc-
tions deserve mention.
7. This form is certainly in error; Oj e occurs only doubled.
538 V American Indian Languages 1
For man Sapir reconstructs *(h)ileniw, for woman *(h)iskwe-w. The initial
aspiration is suggested on the basis of the Plains forms: see 11 and 22.
Bloomfield's PCA assumes no phonemic contrast, at least, between initial
vowel and initial aspiration plus vowel; no such contrast is called for to explain
the observed phenomena of the central Algonkian languages. But Sapir's sug-
gestion for an earlier stage, based on the Plains languages, finds support in
eastern Algonkian too. Del hak-i, land, beginning with an aspiration, is cog-
nate to PCA *ahkyi or *axkyi; Del (^)alankw star, with initial vowel or glottal
stop (depending on a point of phonemic analysis not yet definite), is cognate to
PCA *a6aankwa. In both the eastern and the plains cases, of course, various
secondary developments, rather than a contrast in the parent language, may be
the true explanation.
For one Sapir reconstructs both *nekwet- and *nek^t-, the latter because of
the correspondence Ar -t-, PCA -kwet-. Such a contrast of forms based on
vowel syncope is the sort of thing which leads one to look for an accentual
system. The accent of Delaware, the pitch accent of Micmac, Passamaquoddy,
and Penobscot, and certain pitch phenomena that the present writer thought he
heard in Arapaho, all suggest the possibility that early Algonkian had more
complex prosodemic structure than is maintained by any of the modern central
dialects.
More conclusive statements on both these points points must await further
detailed study of the eastern and plains languages.
Editorial Note
Originally published in International Journal of American Linguistics 12.
243-245 (1946).
Appendix
Noun Incorporation in American Languages
A. L. Kroeber
Noun incorporation is the combination into one word of the noun object and
the verb functioning as the predicate of a sentence.
It is essential that the resuUant of incorporation is a single word, else the
process is without limit and all syntactical relation may be construed as incor-
poration. In the American construction man house he-it-made, house is not
incorporated into made through the pointing out of its syntactical relation to
the verb by means of the pronominal element it, any more than in vir domum
fecit -m makes domum a part oi fecit, or the presence of the -t which connects vir
and /ec/7 justifies regarding the two words as incorporated one in the other. The
stretching of the term incorporation to include such instances breaks down
what proper meaning it may have. To ask what is and what is not one word is a
natural but a fruitless query. Many a sincere student of linguistics has put to
himself the question "What is a word?" and perhaps has wondered whether the
current conception called a word had any real existence. Nothing is more legiti-
mate than such skepticism, and nothing more difficult or more fundamental
than a satisfying definition of what a word is. But such philosophical doubt does
not invalidate the practical use of the conception and the term, and the most
honest philological inquirer must equally admit the theoretical uncertainty as
to what is and what is not a word, and the actual existence of words as linguistic
entities. We can perhaps not satisfactorily define word, we cannot in all cases
positively maintain that a group of sounds is a part of a word, a word, or a
combination of separate words; but not only every student believes but every
language unconsciously feels and knows that certain of its elements are and are
no more or less than the units [570] we call words. Such a single unit must an
otherwise equally unitary noun and verb constitute if incorporation is to have
significance at all.
It is equally essential to a reasonable understanding of noun-incorporation
that the combination of verb and noun object resuks in a verb functioning as
predicate. Man-eater is not incorporation but composition because eater is
functionally a noun. Dakota combination with a verb oiya-, denoting action by
the mouth, is equally to be excluded, as ya-, being instrumental, and therefore
adverbial, could produce (even if it were capable of independent use, which it is
not) only instances of composition or derivation when combined with a verb
stem.
It is still to be proved that incorporation of the noun object into the verb
exists in any American language. It is a current belief that such incorporation is
common in these languages. But unprejudiced analysis reveals that at least the
greater number of American idioms are free from the alleged process. Many
542 V American Indian Languages 1
supposed instances are cases of composition or derivation, and in other cases
noun incorporation has been merely deduced from the presence of pronominal
incorporation.
The principal cause contributing to the belief in objective noun-incorpora-
tion has been the existence in many American languages of pronominal incor-
poration. Pronominal incorporation has been frequently misunderstood. The
term itself contains an erroneous implication. In at least the majority of Ameri-
can languages possessing pronominal incorporation, the incorporation into the
verb is not one of pronouns, such as we are accustomed to [from] our own Indo-
European languages, but the combination with the verb of pronominal ele-
ments which are essentially syntactical and unindependent elements, and
therefore not words. Whatever their first origin, which can in perhaps no case
be now traced, these elements are shown in a number of languages, such as
Nahuatl, Maya, Siouan, Algonkin, and Eskimo, to be certainly not abbrevia-
tions of originally independent pronominal words equivalent to English / and
him. In the present state of these languages the elements are the older, and the
independent words superficially resembling to Indo-European minds our /and
him, are clearly derivations from these elements by processes of composition.
Such being the case, the combination of pronominal elements with the verb in
these and [571] similarly constituted languages is really not a case of incorpora-
tion. Strictly, pronominal incorporation does not exist in Nahuatl and Eskimo,
and it is only justifiable to employ the phrase, on account of its having estab-
lished usage, if it is understood that the process which it designates is one of
grammatical combination of a verb stem with grammatical, unindependent ele-
ments — inflections, the student of Indo-European would call them — which do
not exist as words.
As long as it was thought that Arapaho ndnanina'' meant /, it was not far
amiss to regard the affixion of ne- or -na" to a stem as incorporation, into one
word with it, of an abbreviated portion of the full pronominal stem ndndnina".
But when it becomes clear that ndndnina" means it is I, and that there is in the
language no uncompounded underived word usable alone and meaning /, it
follows that Arapaho has no pronouns in the sense in which English has them,
but uses instead, and for a far wider variety of grammatical purposes, certain
inflectional elements which have no independent existence (that of the first
person being n), and which are used to form not only the equivalents of English
/ run and he hurts me, but of my house and /. To the present-day student of
American linguistics the use of the term pronominal incorporation as predi-
cated of a language only implies that pronominal inflections predominate over
pronouns and that the syntactical business of the language is carried on to a
considerable extent by pronominal affixes.
As long as pronominal incorporation is regarded as incorporation of an
actual pronoun into the verb, it seems natural that the noun also should be at
times incorporated, for the Indo-European pronoun is syntactically the equiv-
alent of a noun, as its name and its grammar-school definition teach. It is pre-
cisely this point of view that is responsible for the still existing belief in noun
Appendix 543
incorporation. The erroneous conception of pronominal incorporation caused
the behef that nominal incorporation must exist, and this supposition found
food in the little-understood compositional processes common in American
languages, as well as in certain prevalent vague notions of polysynthesis as the
fundamentally characteristic feature of these languages.
These compositional processes, which have contributed to existing beliefs in
noun-incorporation are as yet among the least [572] understood features of
American languages, but enough is known of them in certain languages to
explain their misconception as processes related to noun-incorporation, and
their essential difference from it.
Dakota ya- is translatable by English with the mouth, but is purely an instru-
mental affix, a derivational element, not a noun-stem. The same may be said,
until specific evidence to the contrary is forthcoming, of the instrumental
affixes occurring in many other languages. Even where certain of such affixes,
denoting action with parts of the body or with other objects, show similarity of
form to the independent noun stems denoting these parts and objects, their use
seems compositional, that is etymological, rather than "incorporative", that is
syntactical. It is possible that like the apparent pronouns the independent
nouns are derivations from the affix elements. In any case it is clear that terms
relating to the body occupy a distinctive and peculiar place among nouns in
many American languages. They are frequently usable only in combination
with pronominal elements. The occurrence of affixes like Dakota ya- is com-
mon, and their meanings, even when at times specifically different, often shade
into instrumental signification of parts of the body. An acquaintance with any
number of American languages and with the part which elements of this class
play in at least some of them, brings so strong a conviction of their peculiar
qualities, that even the apparent direct objective use of independent noun-
stems denoting parts of the body in single-word verb-complexes seems depen-
dent on the unique character of these stems, rather than as being true noun-
incorporation. Incorporation only of nouns referring to parts of the body does
not make noun-incorporation; and this leaves noun-incorporation as a general
process to be proved for Selish, Kootenay, Pawnee, Tarascan, Algonkin, and
other languages in which it has been instanced as occurring.
The "substantivals" of SeHsh and Wakashan, elements of substantival signifi-
cance but used only in combination with other stems or elements of words and
usually unrelated in form to the independent words of the same significance,
furnish apparent instances of incorporation, in that they are sometimes used as
objects of verb stems with which they are combined. They are however also
employed subjectively and adverbially, and are therefore more [573] than
incorporated nouns. The essential nature and function of these elements is still
obscure, and until they become better understood they also can furnish no
proof of objective noun-incorporation.
Another class of apparent instances of incorporation consists of verb deriva-
tives from nouns. The nature of the English language is such that many nouns
544 V American Indian Languages J
habitually are, and all can be, used as verbs without change of form, the signifi-
cance of any such verb being to subject to the action of the object, to do by
means of the object, or to cause, produce, obtain, or deprive of the object
denoted by the noun. Thus we use fire, water, house, foot, eye, skin, bark, dog,
fish, father, and thousands of others as verbs. In most languages, including the
majority even of the Indo-European family, a similar use of nouns as verbs
obtains only with a change of form, that is, by means of a derivational process,
usually the addition of an affix. Thus from [nouns] like^r^, bread, fish, there
can be developed in some American languages verb forms which in English
mean to strike fire, to bake bread, to eat fish. The elements which develop these
verbs are however not independently usable verbs meaning to strike, bake, and
eat, but derivational affixes with the signification of causing or using. The
apparent incorporation in such instances, therefore, exists only in the transla-
tion into a language of different idiom and genius. The process is etymological,
whereas noun-incorporation, if it exists, is essentially syntactical.
A theoretical objection to objective noun-incorporation is the fact that no
one has affirmed incorporation of the subject. And yet there is no more reason
why the object should be fused with the verb than the subject, and if objective
incorporation is found in many languages, subjective incorporation should at
least occur sometimes. Pronominal incorporation either affects both subject
and object, or if restricted to one, it is more often the subjective element that
appears in the verb, in American languages as in our own. It may be urged that
the bond between object and verb is closer than between subject and verb in
most American languages. But if it is plurality of the object that induces
changes in many transitive verbs, similar changes in the intransitive verb
accompany plurality of the subject in the same languages. Until subjective
noun incorporation is established, or a reason shown why it should [574] not
occur, there must be an ideal doubt as to the existence of objective
incorporation.
If noun subject and object were both incorporated, incorporation as a pro-
cess would break down of itself. All elements of the sentence, or at least of the
clause, would be contained in the verb, and the syntactical word would be not
only in scheme but in fact identical with the sentence. In spite of all that has
been said about holophrasis, such a construction does not obtain in any Ameri-
can language, nor can it obtain. If ever it did, it would be its own destruction,
for a word enlarged until it comprised a sentence would be a sentence and as
such would at once break up again into separate words.
If now individual American languages are approached with consideration of
the points suggested, it quickly appears that at least most of what has been
called objective noun-incorporation can be dismissed. Either the authors of
grammatical works merely assert its presence, giving at best a few instances; or
the material available [is] textual, where in the absence of a thorough mor-
phological analysis it is uncertain whether the interlinear translation is always
syntactically correct.
Appendix 545
A typical case is the classic one of Nahuatl. Usually the grammars state that
the noun object can be and is incorporated between the subjective pronominal
prefix and the verb, but that the "more common" construction is to "replace"
the noun object by [its] pronominal equivalent. When and why it is usually
replaced, and when not, are passed over. The examples of actual noun-incorpo-
ration are usually limited to one or two , of the type of house-build, bread-make,
hands-wash, in other words possible instances of derivation from a noun by a
causative or analogous suffix, or compositional construction with adverbially
used stems denoting body parts. An examination of analyzed Nahuatl texts
shows occasional occurrences of what may be noun-incorporation, but an infi-
nitely greater number of instances of independence of the noun object. Until a
reason is given for these instances, there must be legitimate hesitation to accept
as true cases of incorporation the fewer possible or apparent instances of it.
Finally, serious doubt is cast in all noun-incorporation in Nahuatl by the indica-
tion of complete lack of incorporation in all related languages. The Shoshonean
dialects are but little known, yet enough to make it [575] certain that incorpora-
tion of the noun is at least not a typical process and probably does not occur in
them at all. The Uto Aztekan languages of northern Mexico are also little
known morphologically, yet all available material points the same way. In many
even pronominal elements are not fully incorporated. Altogether it is clear that
most if not all the statements made as to the occurrence of noun-incorporation
in Nahuatl rest on preconception, and that its existence remains to be shown by
critically analyzed evidence. The same holds true of other American
languages.
In short, proof of the existence of objective noun-incorporation in the verb of
any American language remains to be made, and theoretical considerations
impose the burden of proof on the upholder of the reputed phenomenon. It
would be rash to deny absolutely that noun-incorporation exists, but it is not
going too far to say that it is difficult to understand how it can exist. The general
credence given to the phenomenon is based upon a misconception of the nature
of so-called pronominal incorporation. Pronominal incorporation is not con-
fined to American languages. It is as developed in Semitic, in Basque, and in
many African and Asiatic languages, as in some of the most extreme idioms of
America. It is absent from a large proportion of linguistic stocks of America. It
is fundamentally not an incorporation of words, but an inflectional affixion of
pronominal elements. It is the expression of a linguistic type in which syntac-
tical structure is primarily dependent on grammatical elements which in other
languages take the form of pronouns. So-called pronominal incorporation is
therefore no index or evidence of noun-incorporation.
Brinton was correct when he analyzed the Maya sentence the dog bites the cat
as cat dog his-biting, and went on to say that "such a sentence, whether [it]
coalesces or not into one phonetic complex, is built entirely on the incorpo-
rative plan, and it is a typical example of what is found in very many American
languages." Only, the process could better be called pronominal than incorpo-
rative. Yet there is little need quarreling about terms. Incorporating is well
546 y American Indian Languages 1
established as the designation of the process and there is no reason why it
should not continue to be used as long as it is understood that its fundamental
character is not an incorporation but the use of pronominal elements for syntac-
tical [576] expression. In "whether the sentence coalesces or not into one
phonetic complex," another question is touched upon, however, and modern
American philology can only say that such coalescence, which would be true
noun-incorporation, is theoretically hard to conceive of and actually
undemonstrated.
Editorial Note
Originally published in Verhandlungen der XVI Amerikanisten-Kongresses,
Wien . . . 1908, 569-76 (1910). Reprinted by permission of Karl Kroeber. Minor
typographic corrections have been made in this reprinting.
Incorporation as a Linguistic Process
A. L. Kroeber
Dr. Sapir's recent paper on "The Problem of Noun Incorporation in Ameri-
can Languages"' is such a masterly interpretation of the evidence connected
with this subject, even though the essay is avowedly a refutation of the thesis
advanced by the present writer a few years before ,2 to the effect that such
incorporation is a chimera, that it remains a cause of gratification to have taken
the stand which has been productive of so novel and valuable a contribution.
One point of primary importance that Dr. Sapir brings out clearly is the fact
that noun incorporation has no necessary or inherent connection with pro-
nominal incorporation, as it has been called, or "rather inflection," as he aptly
designates it. Dr. Sapir has gone farther than the writer in pointing out that
there is rather an exclusion between the two processes, in that a pronominally
incorporating language should find noun incorporation unnecessary, and vice
versa; and even though, as he says, the facts do not entirely bear out this a priori
consideration, it is nevertheless a conception of the greatest importance in the
present state of our understanding of linguistic phenomena. The custom here-
tofore has been to assume that noun incorporation was merely a form or phase
of pronoun incorporation, or even the reverse; and, as long as this view pre-
vailed, there was no hope of a correct analysis of such evidence as was
accumulating. In fact this assumption has been the cause of a persistent misun-
derstanding of the subject. That the present writer's argument, which was
based on the contention that the assumed connection did not exist, overshot the
mark and ended by doubting well-authenticated but unexplained facts that had
been called noun incorporation, must perhaps be admitted. But this [578] is of
little moment in comparison with Dr. Sapir's agreement that such "noun incor-
poration" as he has been able to establish has nothing whatever to do with so
called pronominal incorporation. Until this point of view is conceded, or
proved erroneous, the evidence on the question will continue to be
misunderstood.
Dr. Sapir takes issue with the writer's definition of noun incorporation as "the
combination into one word of the noun object and of the verb functioning as the
predicate of a sentence," on the ground that a morphological and a syntactical
requirement are joined: in other terms, that the definition exacts not only a
certain type of word formation, as is justifiable, but also a logical relation
between the elements, which is unreasonable. This criticism is correct, and it
can only be said in palliation of the definition that, inasmuch as the phe-
nomenon to which it relates was not believed to exist, less attention was given to
1. American Anthropologist, (N.S.), XI, 250-282, 1911.
2. Verh. XVI. Intern. Amerkanisten-Kongr., Wien, 569-576, 1909.
548 V American Indian Languages 1
theoretical exactness of statement than to an endeavor to express what had
customarily been meant by the phrase "noun incorporation." In short, the basis
of the definition was historical rather than logical. As a matter of fact, one of the
arguments advanced against the existence of noun incorporation as thus
defined was the circumstance that incorporation of the subject noun had not
been alleged, but would have to be expected in at least some cases if object
incorporation were at all common. Here again Dr. Sapir maintains a most com-
mendable conservative attitude, and, instead of using the apparent absence of
one form of incorporation as an argument against the existence of the other,
demonstrates the occurrence of both, together with still other phases, such as
adverbial and predicative. This leads to a new conception: incorporation is no
longer an essentially objective process, as had usually been assumed and as the
writer accepted for purposes of refutation, but is non-syntactical in its nature.
However the evidence on the question may in future be interpreted, this is a
logical point that compels recognition.
Dr. Sapir also gives the solution of the problem — which would have been
puzzling if it had not been so generally ignored — why in alleged incorporating
languages incorporation sometimes takes place and sometimes does not. As
the writer put this point, ^ the [579] usual statement is to the effect that in a
given language, such as Nahuatl, the object is often taken bodily into the verb,
but "the 'more common' construction is to 'replace' the noun object by its pro-
nominal equivalent. When and why it is usually replaced, and when not, are
passed over . . . .An examination of analyzed Nahuatl texts shows occasional
occurrences of what may be noun incorporation, but an infinitely greater
number of instances of independence of the noun object. Until a reason is given
for these instances, there must be legitimate hesitation in accepting as true cases
of incorporation the fewer possible or apparent instances of it. "
This reason is now given, and with it falls one of the principal theoretical
objections to the acceptance of the facts as hitherto stated. Starting with
Nahuatl, but applying the same distinction also to other languages, Dr. Sapir
finds that true "noun incorporation" tends to occur chiefly in verbs of general or
permanent, opposed to particular or temporary, application. This distinction
was apparently first brought out by Dr. W. Lehmann in an article published so
shortly before the composition of the present author's essay as to have escaped
his notice. Nahuatl can say either "I-it-eat the flesh" or "I-flesh-eat"; but the
former sentence means "I am eating flesh," the latter "I am a flesh-eater." Not
only is there a distinction here, but it is an important and a reasonable one. The
whole process rests on a point that at once appeals to linguistic sense, just as the
old unlimited assertions did not. The difference between what is inherent and
what is accidental has frequently been found to be expressed in various lan-
guages, as in the use of distinct sets of possessive pronominal elements. It is a
difference of wide and often most significant value, and the only surprising
feature concerning it in the present connection is that it has not been made clear
3. Op. cit., p. 574.
Appendix 549
previously. It may be added that the distinction is not entirely foreign even to
English, which formally does not recognize it, in that agent nouns such as
"eater," "runner," "trapper," "fighter," "cobbler," "drummer," are used habitu-
ally if not exclusively to denote occupation or customary action. It is probable
that in some languages noun incorporation does not depend on any significance
of permanent action or inherent quality, but [580] at least there is now every
prospect that in such cases the phenomenon will be found bound up with some
idea or trait of analogous type. The road to explicit limiting conditions is at
least pointed out.
Dr. Sapir s use of Dr. Lehmann's discovery and his application of it to other
languages make clear another point. As the former says in conclusion: "The
characteristic fact about the process [noun incorporation] is that certain syntac-
tic relations are expressed by what in varying degree may be called composition
or derivation." Here is the crux of the whole problem and its answer: noun
incorporation is not grammatical but etymological. We ourselves say "flesh-eat-
ers" and "ship-builders"; but, as these terms are collocations of one noun with
another though deverbal noun, we do not and should not consider them as
instances of noun incorporation in the verb. They are simply compound
nouns.'* Because we can not say "to flesh-eat"-^ and Nahuatl can, it is obvious
that there is a most important point of difference between the two languages;
but the fact nevertheless remains that there is a fundamental identity in that the
terms expressing the ideas of flesh and of eating can be combined into a single
word in both idioms by an etymological process.
The difference is that English, like other Aryan languages, freely permits
compound nouns, ^' but does not tolerate compound verbs, ^ whereas Uto-
Aztekan possesses both. This is rendered doubly clear by the occurrence in
Paiute — as well as in other Shoshonean dialects, it may be added — of com-
pounds consisting of two verbs and functioning as verbs. Such compounds have
a [581] number of times been mentioned as occurring in other languages, and it
is strange that they have not aroused more interest, as they are entirely
unthinkable in those forms of speech in which their discoverers, and all phi-
lologists, thought and wrote. They now acquire an added significance, and it is
reasonable to ask that the existence of "noun incorporation" be at least
inquired into in those idioms that may be reported as possessing binary com-
pound verbs: the two traits can be expected to go hand in hand in at least some
other cases, perhaps customarily.
4. The author says, page 570: ^Man-eater is not incorporation but composition because eater is
functionally a noun." When Dr. Sapir, page 256, says: "'Man' + 'eater' is not morphologically equal to
man-eat' + er" he puts the same idea into a prettier and more exact form.
5. Though "to housekeep" has some usage.
6. That is, compounds which contain at least one noun and which as a unit are nouns.
7. That is, compounds which contain at least one verb and as a unit are verbs. The only exception is
furnished by combinations of preposition or allied adverbial element (such as the negative) with a verb:
understand, offset, undo; and such are possibly derivative, if not semigrammatical, rather than
compositional. If Aryan were an American Indian language, the elements in-, con-, de- would almost
certainly be discussed in connection with grammar rather than formal etymology.
550 V American Indian Languages 1
Carrying the idea still farther, to its logical opposite, we reach a condition
such as is found in Iroquois, where noun incorporation, that is to say composi-
tion of noun and verb, is not only frequent but in some circumstances neces-
sary, whereas the composition of two nouns into one noun is absolutely forbid-
den . This method of linguistic procedure is so radically different from our Indo-
European one as to be startling.^ But at least we need no longer hesitate at
accepting the doctrine that such a highly synthetic language as Iroquois can not
compound noun with noun, since we know that it must, in most cases, com-
pound noun with verb.
In short, it is clear that four classes or types of languages must be recognized:
those that permit compound nouns, but not compound verbs, such as Aryan;
those that allow compound verbs but not nouns, such as Iroquois; those that
permit both, such as Uto-Aztekan; and those that tolerate neither, as for
instance Eskimo. Theoretically the distinction is an obvious one and has per-
haps been made; but, as a general classification inductively arrived at, it does
not seem to have been employed. Of course "noun incorporation" can not occur
in languages of the first and fourth types. But conversely there will always be
reason to suspect, until contrary evidence dispels the possibility in any particu-
lar case, that "noun incorporation" may be found in any language of the second
or third classes.
This close relation of "noun incorporation" to purely compositional [582]
processes tends further to stamp it as of an etymological nature. "Pronominal
incorporation," on the other hand, will probably be admitted to be, as both Dr.
Sapir and the author hold, essentially grammatical or inflectional. This brings
us back once more, and with added emphasis, to the primary thesis that the two
processes have nothing to do with one another, and that their being brought
into connection only obscures the understanding of each. It was said before'^
that "strictly, pronominal incorporation does not exist" and that it was only
justifiable to employ the phrase on account of its established usage, if properly
understood. The same statement can now be made of "noun incorporation."
Accurately speaking, the noun is not "incorporated" into the verb, but com-
pounded with it. One might just as well describe binary compound nouns in
Greek or German as "incorporations" of one noun into another, because the
second of the two elements retains case and number inflections and is treated in
the sentence as if it were single, while the first element is reduced to stem-form.
What is important is the fact that in some languages noun and verb, or verb and
verb, can be compounded into a verb. This is as important and as striking as the
fact that in many languages pronominal affixes or inflections are used with
objective reference, instead of only subjectively, as in our own languages; but
neither process is so radically diverse from processes perfectly familiar from
these languages, that there is any necessity for designating it by a term intended
to imply chara cteristics unparalleled and unrepresented in European speech.
8. Anthropos, V, 215, 1910. The statement was originally made by J. N. B. Hewitt, American
Anthropologist, 1893, and is not contradicted by F. Boas, Putnam Anniversarv Volume, 427-460. 1909.
9. Op. cit.,p. 571.
Appendix 551
When Nahuatl prefixes to the verb the objective pronominal element, we have a
trait that is not fundamentally or essentially of a different nature from the suf-
fixion to the Latin verb of a subjective pronominal element. And just so, when
the former language or Iroquois under certain conditions compounds a noun
stem with a verb, we are confronted by a phenomenon of exactly the same type
and order as when English or German compounds a noun stem with a noun.
In short, the term "incorporation" is a delusion, whether applied to pronoun
or noun. It must be relegated to the same category [583] as other antiquated
catch-words such as "agglutination," which like it originated in the assumption
that the languages of so called uncivilized people must contain certain features
of a kind totally different from those characteristic of Europeans — and inciden-
tally too, features of an inferior order, — and which have found their chief vogue
and employment not among serious painstaking students of language but
among doctrinaires, compilers, and those false popularizers who think to dif-
fuse knowledge by giving a phrase instead of an idea.
Dr. Sapir's paper is invaluable. It shows exactly and precisely what takes
place in a number of languages under those circumstances which have been
designated as incorporations. If only two or three investigators of single lan-
guages had deployed on these the critical acumen and breadth of treatment
with which he approaches half a dozen, the present question would long ago
have been disposed of. It is also thankless to quarrel about names, especially as
Dr. Sapir has illumined the actual phenomena, above all in showing that they
are essentially compositional. But just as his dissertation went beyond the
writer's essay, it also seems to need supplementing. If "incorporation" is to be
understood to denote only one phase of a long-familiar method of word build-
ing which differs from other phases of the same method not in any greater
degree of "embodiment" but merely in affecting the verb instead of the noun,
well and good: then there is incorporation. But if "noun incorporation" is to
imply a process entirely peculiar and distinctive in kind, without parallel in our
own languages, then "noun incorporation," like "pronominal incorporation,"
is a complete misconception of facts and fallacy.
In fine, something that for better or worse has been called "noun incorpora-
tion," and which in precisely the same form does not occur in European lan-
guages, is to be found in certain American tongues; but, barring the particular
application of the process, there is nothing in it that is not present in all lan-
guages that compound in any way. Just as every language except the completely
analytical ones "agglutinates" if there is such a thing as "agglutination" at all, so
every language "incorporates" or compounds. [584] It is thoroughly misleading
to designate the same process respectively "composition" and "incorporation"
according as one has in mind his own or other forms of speech. Some day phi-
lologists will approach their profession not with the assumption that languages
must differ in kind or in being relatively better or worse, but with the assump-
tion that exactly the same fundamental processes run through them all, and
with the realization that it is only by starting from the conception of their essen-
tial unity of type and method that their interesting and important diversities
can be understood.
552 V American Indian Languages 1
The conclusions of the foregoing discussion can be summarized as follows:
1. "Pronominal incorporation" and "noun incorporation" are different and
not connected.
2. "Pronominal incorporation" is a grammatical or inflectional process.
3. "Noun incorporation" is, at least sometimes and perhaps always, a com-
positional or etymological process, which differs from the familiar process of
noun composition only in resulting in words of another part of speech.
4. All languages belong to one of four classes according as they form com-
pound nouns, compound verbs, both, or neither.
5 . There is no evidence of the existence of any kind of "incorporation" that so
far as its process or method is concerned is different from processes occurring
in European languages, and it is more reasonable to assume that there can be
no such difference than that there must be.
Editorial Note
Originally published in American Anthropologist N.S. 13, 577-84 (1911).
Reprinted by permission of the American Anthropological Association and
Karl Kroeber. Footnotes have been renumbered to run consecutively through-
out the article.
Two Alleged Algonquian Languages of California
Truman Michelson
The last number of volume 15 of the American Anthropologist contains an
article by Dr. Sapir attempting to show that Wiyot and Yurok, two native lan-
guages of California, belong to the Algonquian stock. [362] As both these lan-
guages hitherto have been considered as independent families, or at the best
remotely connected with each other, the importance of this discovery, if valid,
can hardly be overestimated. Considering the inherent improbability of such a
relationship, for geographic if for no other reasons, since the article comes
from the pen of so careful and able a scholar, it is important that the thesis
should be confirmed or refuted as soon as possible. My colleagues, Doctors
Swanton and Frachtenberg, and Mr. J. N. B. Hewitt, have respectively fur-
nished me the data on Coahuilteco, Tunica, Chitimacha; Coos, Molala,
Kalapuya; and Iroquois.
In spite of the goodly array of lexicographical material which Dr. Sapir has
assembled, I am quite unconvinced that either Wiyot or Yurok belongs to the
Algonquian stock. My reasons briefly are: (1) that the published Wiyot and
Yurok material indicates that both have many morphological traits which are
thoroughly un-Algonquian; (2) that many of the supposed resemblances
between Wiyot and Yurok morphological elements to Algonquian are purely
fanciful as different elements are compared; (3) that many of the supposed
similarities in morphological elements must be considered as accidental, for
they occur likewise in a number of other languages; (4) that Wiyot and Yurok
possess some morphological elements which strongly resemble those of several
non-Algonquian languages; (5) that fancied lexicographical similarities have
little or no weight in view of the above points.
The following are some of the most pronounced un-Algonquian mor-
phological features of Wiyot:
1. In the combination of a noun and an adjective, the order is the noun with
suffixed adjective.
2. Nouns are not classified as animate and inanimate, nor are singular and
plural distinguished.
3. The verbal pronouns do not distinguish animate and inanimate third per-
sons, nor are the exclusive and inclusive first persons plural distinguished.
4. The subject and objective verbal pronouns of the third person do not dis-
tinguish between singular and plural.
5. The verbal pronouns are the same in all modes, and they are in all cases
suffixed, and modality is expressed by prefixes.
6. The verbal pronoun of the first person often is not indicated at all.
554 V American Indian Languages J
7. The verbal pronouns (save one case discussed below) do not bear the
remotest resemblances to those of Algonquian.
8. The verbal subjective and objective pronouns in transitive verbs [363] are
not so fused that analysis into the component elements often is nearly and
sometimes utterly impossible.
9. The stem-vowel of a verb is not changed to form a participial.
10. In demonstrative and interrogative pronouns, neither animate and inani-
mate nor singular and plural are distinguished.
11. A demonstrative element ru- is frequently prefixed to verbs.
12. The possessive pronoun of the third person does not distinguish singular
and plural.
13. In pronouns of the third person we have no such device as in Algonquian
to distinguish identity and difference in several third persons in a sentence.
14. Instrumental particles showing by what the action is done, i.e., by the
hand, by the foot, with the mouth, with something sharp, — instrumentality in
general, — often simply to transitivize a verb, do not occur. The Wiyot suffix -ut,
denoting that the action of a verb is performed with an instrument, is not com-
parable, as a noun with which the action is performed is expressed outside the
verbal complex.
15. A special particle is always attached to the first word of an interrogative
sentence.
16. Reduplication is not common. Despite Dr. Sapir's assertion, reduplica-
tion is common in Algonquian. The reason that it is not discussed at length in
the Handbook of American Indian Languages is that at the time of its prepara-
tion definite rules governing this could not be formulated; at the same time the
great number of ideas expressed by reduplication was clearly indicated.
17. Middle and passive voices appear to be wanting.
It is perfectly true that many of the above objections are negative, that is, that
thus far the phenomena listed have not been reported. It is possible that further
investigation may reveal some of them, but it is not likely that a skilled investi-
gator like Dr. Kroeber would have overlooked the majority of them. Now it is
perfectly conceivable that a divergent Algonquian language might possess a
few of the un-Algonquian traits mentioned above, but it is incredible that any
Algonquian language possesses all of them en masse. For this reason the appar-
ently abundant lexicographical material does not impress me, for how can one
be sure that the corresponding morphological elements are being compared, in
view of the un-Algonquian morphology of Wiyot; and in point of fact, demon-
strably in certain cases at least, the wrong elements are compared. Either
Wiyot is very different from the published description, or it is not an Algon-
quian language. [364]
In the case of Yurok it is not possible to make as extensive a list of un-Algon-
quian features as in the case of Wiyot. But that is presumably because the actual
material is more scanty, nor is it as good in quality. A list, such as it is, follows:
1. True substantives may be combined into a single noun. Though not abso-
lutely absent from Algonquian, it is rare.
Appendix 555
2. Nouns are not classified as animate and inanimate, nor are singular and
plural distinguished.
3. The independent pronouns have objective case-forms.
4. The plural and singular of possessive pronouns are the same.
5. The first person exclusive and inclusive are not distinguished in the inde-
pendent, possessive, or verbal pronouns.
6. Apparently in demonstrative and interrogative pronouns, neither animate
and inanimate nor singular and plural are distinguished.
7. The verbal pronouns do not in the remotest way resemble Algonquian
ones (for alleged resemblances, see below).
8. In the verb, modality is expressed by prefixes, not by different pronouns.
The comments made under the Wiyot list apply with equal force here.
Now let us examine some of the alleged morphological evidence advanced by
Dr. Sapir to show that Wiyot and Yurok are Algonquian languages.
In Wiyot the objective pronoun -a "him" is held to be identical with Fox -a- in
A-tci, of the conjunctive mode, "thou — him." Now it is impossible to separate
Fox -Atciirom Fox -tci "he," intransitive, of the same mode, and -itci "he — me,"
of the same mode, in which -/- is the objective pronoun first person singular.
(See American Anthropologist, N.S., 15, p. 694.) Obviously the/i of -/irddoes
not mean "him," but the tci does. In fine, the wrong morphological elements
are being compared. ' Now from what has been said about Fox -Atci, it is impos-
sible to regard the a of Fox -Agi "I — him," of the conjunctive mode, as being the
objective pronoun of the third person animate singular. Moreover, it should be
recalled that Fox -Agi also means "he — it." For both these reasons we cannot
consider the -gi of -Agi "I — him" as the subjective pronoun of the first person
singular. Therefore the comparison with Yurok -k "I" fails as the wrong mor-
phological elements are being compared. In the same way Wiyot -//, -at "thou"
can not be compared [365] with -tci in Fox -Atci "thou — him," as we are dealing
with different morphological elements.
Yurok -m "thou" is compared to Ojibwa -m "you" (pi.) of the independent
mode. The full Ojibwa form is ki — m, which corresponds exactly to Peoria ki —
mwa; and Dr. Sapir has noted that mwa is preserved in the Ojibwa imperfect
-mwa-ban. It is intimated that the m denotes the second person singular "thou,"
and the wa a second person plural suffix. I regret that a proper discussion of this
point involves a discussion of the principles of the formation of the independent
mode in Algonquian generally. It is universally agreed that the pronouns of the
independent mode are to be associated with the possessive pronouns. It is also
known that in Algonquian an m suffix is often used in connection with the
suffixed portions of the possessive pronouns. Now, as I have heretofore inti-
mated {American Anthropologist, N.S., 15, p. 694), certain supposed active
forms turn out to be passives in formation. ^ Thus Fox ne — gwa "he — me"
1. If Wiyot -a "him" bears a resemblance to anything Algonquian it is Fox -a- in -atci, -dsa,
-dgwdni "he — him, them an." of the conjunctive, potential subjunctive, and interrogative
conjunctive modes respectively.
2. In a future paper I shall take this up systematically.
556 V American Indian Languages I
Stands for ne—gu-a: -gu- is the same as the -gu- passive sign; ne—a the same as
the possessive pronoun of the first person singular, animate singular, without
the m suffix. So an expression as Fox newdpAmegwa, "he looked at me," really
means "my being looked at." A further point I wish to make here is that in the
independent mode, as in the possessive pronouns, the m suffix may be used.
Thus in Menomini the intransitive first person plural exclusive and inclusive is
ki — mindw" and ni — mindw" respectively; in the transitive verb "he — us,"
exclusive and inclusive is ki — gunaW and ni — gundw". In these mi is the m
suffix and -gu- the passive sign. Similarly Fox ke — guwdw", Menomini
ki—guwdW "he — you (pi.)" are to be explained as without the m suffix which
reappears in Menomini ki—mwdW "you (pi.)" intransitive, ki—imwdw'' "you
— me" (-/- "me"; see American Anthropologist, I.e., p. 694). Just so in Ojibwa
ki—m "you (pi.)," intransitive, ki—im "you (pi.) — me," but ki—gowa "he —
you (pi.)," in which go is the passive sign and ki—wa the same as the possessive
sign for the second person plural, animate and inanimate singular. It will be
recalled that Ojibwa ki — m phonetically stands for ki — mwa. By the above I
think I have made it clear that Dr. Sapir s comparison of Yurok -m "thou" and
Ojibwa -m \nki — m "you pi." intransitive of the independent mode, is not valid
as different morphological elements are being compared. See also below.
As to the comparison of Ojibwa -wa in ki — wa "your" and Wiyot kiluwa
"you," as long as this wa appears also in the Ojibwa possessive [366] pronoun of
the third person plural (and similarly in Fox), though not in Wiyot, it is in the
highest degree probable that we are here again dealing with different mor-
phological elements.
Wiyot hu, the third person possessive pronominal prefix is compared with
Fox U-, etc. But in Wiyot this hu- also occurs in the first person plural, though
the Yurok correspondent does not. Is it not doubtful if we are dealing with
comparable morphological elements? Another reason for not considering the
apparent correspondence convincing will be found below.
Dr. Sapir thinks that, as some Yurok adjectives distinguish animate and
inanimate, other evidence will show that such a distinction exists elsewhere in
the language. If that were the case Dr. Kroeber probably would have recorded
it, as this feature is particularly easy to determine.
I do not deny a few Wiyot and Yurok morphological elements resemble
Algonquian ones; for example, Wiyot k-, Yurok qe- "thy." But I do not think at
present that we have any right to consider them as more than accidental. A
number of such Wiyot and Yurok elements have resemblances in other lan-
guages. For example the verbal pronoun of the first person singular in both
Iroquois and Yurok is k, though in the former it is prefixed and suffixed in the
latter. In Molala and Miwok it is k, and is suffixed; in Chitimacha it is k, ki
under unknown conditions, but in both cases is suffixed. Molala k-f, the inde-
pendent pronoun of the second person singular, resembles Wiyot A.-. Yurok qe-
"thy," to say nothing of Algonquian correspondents in independent, pos-
sessive, and verbal pronouns. The subjective verbal pronoun for the second
person smgular in Yurok is -m; certainly this closely resembles Tsimshian and
Appendix 557
Chinook m-, Maidu mi, Yuki mi, Wappo mi, Miwok mi'. Porno ma, Kalapuya
ma-, as well as the corresponding Kalapuya independent pronoun ma. The
Yurok independent pronoun of the first person singular nek is close to Chinook
naika and Coos np/xkan. Wiyot hu-, the possessive pronoun of the third per-
son, might easily be compared with Miwok (S. Sierra) hu-, and THngit hu, the
independent pronoun of the third person singular, and Tunica hu- "his. " Again
the Wiyot possessives hu- and m- casually resemble Hupa x6- and m-, though
their respective usage is not the same. In Coahuilteco the possessive pronoun
for the second person singular has two forms xa- and m-, the exact use of which
is unknown; the former has a fanciful resemblance to Wiyot k-, Yurok qe-, and
the latter to Yurok -m, the verbal subjective pronoun of the second person
singular. In Wiyot the subjective verbal pronoun of the second person singular
is -as, and in one Miwok dialect -s; in [367] Wiyot the subjective verbal pronoun
of the first person plural is -itak; in Miwok -tok. It has long been recognized that
n in the possessive, verbal (as subject), and independent pronouns of the first
person singular is widely spread; examples are Chinook n- (verbal), Maidu ni
(verbal), niki (possessive), Tsimshian n- (verbal), Coahui[l]teco na-
(possessive), Yurok ne-, no-, Fox ne- (possessive and verbal), and similarly
other Algonquian dialects. Languages as far apart as Wappo and Iroquois
agree closely in the independent pronoun of the first person singular: in the
former it is /", in the latter it is i^.
Enough has been said to show the utter folly of haphazard comparisons
unless we have a thorough knowledge of the morphological structure of the
languages concerned. It is for this reason that I have refrained from endeavor-
ing to compile a list of fancied lexicographical resemblances between Wiyot and
Yurok with other languages than Algonquian ones, and a list of such sim-
ilarities between Algonquian and other languages than Wiyot and Yurok.
Editorial Note
Originally published in American Anthropologist 16, 361-367 (1914).
Reprinted by permission of the American Anthropological Association.
Rejoinder
[to Edward Sapir's "Algonkin Languages of California: A Reply"]
It does not seem to me that Dr. Sapir has met my point, that it is possible or
probable that in his Wiyot, Yurok, and Algonquian word-list, corresponding
morphological elements are not being compared. If they are not, the list per se
has little value.
As to the lack of perspective in linguistic comparison: In the case of Indo-
European languages we have historic proof that certain members of the stock
have diverged greatly from the original type. The question arises as to whether
we have a right to generalize from this, and apply the principle to American
Indian languages. I do not think so. As Professor Boas pointed out at the recent
meeting of the American Anthropological Association, there are other pos-
sibilities to be considered.
If the published accounts of Wiyot and Yurok are merely fragmentary, per se
there is no more reason to expect that new evidence will reveal Algonquian
traits rather than un-Algonquian ones. But the point I emphasize is that the
existing evidence does not justify the genetic connection of Wiyot and Yurok
with the Algonquian stock. (See page 56 of the Report of the Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution, 1914.)
Exactly as Dr. Sapir thinks, I over-value the worth of negative evidence, so I
think he underestimates it.
Regarding cumulative evidence. I might say that my statement, "Now it is
perfectly conceivable that a divergent Algonquian language might possess a
few of the un-Algonquian traits mentioned above, but it is incredible that any
Algonquian possesses all of them en masse,"" shows that I have "an inkling" of
what it is. Dr. Sapir has not answered the point raised in my original article. He
lays special emphasis on the Yurok pronouns n- 'my\ k- 'thy', o- 'his', m-
'somebody's' ; and insists that they be treated as « + 6 + c + ^, and not as a, b, c,
d. Apparently he has not noticed that similar associations occur between Yurok
and Wiyot on the one hand and some non-Algonquian languages on the other.
For example, Chinook n- T (verbal pronoun), Yurok ne- 'my'; Chinook naika,
Yurok nek T (independent pronoun); Chinook m-, Yurok m- 'thou' (verbal
pronoun); Yurok and Molala -k [195] T (verbal), Yurok qe- 'thy', Molala Ar-P
'thou' (independent pronoun); Karok na T (independent), ni- T (verbal', im
'thou' (independent), mi- 'thy', u- 'he', 'she' (verbal), Yurok ne- 'my', -m 'thou'
(verbal), o- 'his, her'; Takelma gi' T (independent), ma 'thou' (independent).
So that it does not appear to me that this association works wholly one way.>
If Dr. Sapir will look over my discussion again he will see that I have not been
"discreetly silent" regarding Wiyot and Yurok m- 'somebody's'. I pointed out a
casual resembl ance to Hupa m-, admitting that the usage was not the same.
1. I take this opportunity to state that my comparison of Miwok -tok, Wiyot -'itak is a mistaken one.
Appendix 559
Dr. Sapir admits that I have made "it very plausible that Yurok m- 'thou' is
not to be compared with Ojibwa -m(wa) 'ye', and that reasonable doubt has
been cast on the validity of one or two others of my [Dr. Sapir's] verbal pro-
nominal parallels." It certainly would be of scientific interest for him to have
stated just which these are. For my own part I think I have not only refuted the
m comparison, but four others as well; "cast reasonable doubt" on that of wa of
Wiyot kiluwa 'you' with Ojibwa ki — wa 'your'; and to have shown that the
comparison of Wiyot hu- with Fox u- may not be so certain after all, as Wiyot
hu- occurs in the first person plural as well as in the third person. I regret that
Dr. Sapir has not seen fit to combat my reasoning in any of these cases. I have
not "sedulously avoided" challenging certain "really convincing po^/^/ve points"
in his paper unless he acknowledges the pronouns under discussion are not
convincing.
I have examined Dr. Sapir's word-list again, and am even farther from being
convinced by it than when I first read it. Dr. Sapir has noted that several Algon-
quian secondary stems seem to be cognate with Wiyot primary stems. He cites
Ojibwa nin gdbaw 'I stand' (from Baraga) to show that even Algonquian
dialects may differ from one another in this respect. I can not confirm this: in all
Ojibwa dialects of which I have any independent knowledge, gdbaw can not
occur initially. That Dr. Sapir can not be held responsible for the error, I freely
grant; but the proposition to equate primary with secondary stems does not
seem to me to be legitimate.
It should be noted that the comparison of Wiyot me-weriL 'flesh', 'fat' with
Ojibwa winin 'fat', Natick wees 'fat', Micmac weoo's 'flesh', Cree wiyds 'flesh',
can not stand. The ordinary phonetic laws bar the comparison of all the Algon-
quian words: the Ojibwa word can have nothing to do with the others; cf. also
Kickapoo winenwi 'fat', wiyddi [196] 'flesh'. Similarly Fox uwiw(i) 'to marry'
and Ojibwa widige 'to be married' cannot be associated (see Jour. Washington
Acad. Sciences, IV, p. 404). For a similar error see the comparisons under Wiyot
wet 'satisfied'. There are some Wiyot-Yurok comparisons, such as Wiyot hekw
'snow' with Cheyenne hVstds 'snow', Yurok rokw 'wind' with Ojibwa nodin
'wind', Cree yotin 'wind blows', and Wiyot wayit 'to bend' with Ojibwa wdgina
'to bend', Cree wdkisiw 'he is bent', which do not conform to the phonetic laws
laid down by Dr. Sapir. Certain Wiyot comparisons involve the assumption of
prefixes in the nouns of that language, against which see Kroeber in University
of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. IX.
Under the circumstances it would have been better to leave out such com-
parisons. Wiyot tern 'to sit' is compared with Delaware lum'^t'-api- 'to be
seated'. I can not analyze the first part of the latter term, but the last part
suggests comparison with Fox, etc., Api- 'be seated'. Though perhaps not ger-
mane to the subject, I should like to point out that Cree -n of the first and
second persons singular indicative is not identical with the -n of the third person
inanimate indicative of intransitive verbs: in Fox in the first case there is no
correspondence, e.g. -si; in the second -enw', in which -en- is a secondary con-
nective stem, and -w' the inanimate termination lost phonetically in Cree. I
560 y American Indian Languages J
have not listed here all comparisons to which exception might be taken; but I
may add that the number of positive errors that at present can be demonstrated
as such, is below the fifty percent allowed by Dr. Sapir.
A word on Dr. Sapir's criticism of my list of the un-Algonquian mor-
phological features of Wiyot. He has suppressed the second part of No. 3 — "nor
are the exclusive and inclusive first persons plural distinguished." So there are
more than "only two independent statements" in Nos. 2, 3, 4, 10, 12; nor is "one
of them" "highly questionable." Dr. Kroeber has not pointed out that in Wiyot
animate and inanimate third persons are distinguished, even if he has pointed
out that in Yurok certain adjectives apparently do make such a distinction.
Yurok and Wiyot are not the same. That Dr. Sapir's remarks apply to the Wiyot
and not the Yurok list is shown by the numbers attached to the quotations. As to
the distinction made in Yurok regarding adjectives, I think there is need of
further material before this point can be elucidated.
As to the point raised by Dr. Sapir with respect to vocalic change in par-
ticipials, it is sufficient to refer to what I have said, namely, "Now it [197] is
perfectly conceivable that a divergent Algonquian language might possess a
few of the un-Algonquian traits mentioned above." I am by no means satisfied
that vocalic change in the participial is lacking in Natick, though I have not
sufficient material at hand to demonstrate it absolutely. Lest the reader think
from Dr. Sapir's language that the change is confined to Fox, Cree, and Ojibwa,
I may assure him that it is found in several other Algonquian dialects.
If most of the list of un-Algonquian traits of Wiyot are "trivial," it surely
would have been easy for Dr. Sapir to refute them one by one, which he has not
done.
At the time at my disposal (I saw Dr. Sapir's article in galley proof only) it is
not possible for me to make so long a list of words that resemble one another in
Algonquian and in other languages than Yurok and Wiyot as Dr. Sapir has
made of Yurok, Wiyot, and Algonquian; at the same time the following will
indicate that such a list probably could be made with sufficient time, even if an
"onerous task."
YUKI ALGONQUIAN
kan, talk Fox, kAn-, kAno, talk
mi, drink Fox meno-, drink
may, futuere Fox, ruA, futuere
na'^w, see Fox, ndw- (really na-), see
pan, fall, stumble Fox, pAnA-, fail, miss^
tas, snare, trap Fox, tes-, sfiare, trap
pok, burst Fox, po'k-, break
tuk, strike Cree, takiskawew, strikes him with
the foot
2. Cf. pAHAtAkAni, 'you must have let it fall astray,' Jones, 230.
Appendix 561
YOKUTS ALGONQUIAN
na, I (verbal) Fox, ne- (verbal), I
nan, we (pi. excl.) Cree (Fort Totten), -nan, we (excl.)
yiuwin, wife Fox, uwiwAni, his wife
ponpon, snow Fox, pepon', winter
met-, large Ojibwa, mitchd, it is large
bok, find Fox, me'k-, find
padu, enter Fox, plti-, enter
w/J, say, tell Fox, wit-, tell
dapi, pick, gather Fox, (A)tdp-, pick up
I maintain that these random Yuki and Yokuts words resemble Algonquian
ones fully as closely as do the most striking Yurok and Wiyot words of Dr.
Sapir's list. Would Dr. Sapir conclude from the Yuki and [198] Yokuts list that
Yuki and Yokuts are Algonquian languages, even if their morphology is funda-
mentally un- Algonquian, so long as we have a trifle more than "half a dozen
lexical resemblances" and "one really striking morphological parallel" in that
Yokuts and Algonquian distinguish the exclusive and inclusive first person
plural?
Truman Michelson
Epilogue
Dr. Michelson evidently dies hard. His "rejoinder" to my reply contains quite
a number of statements that I would have something to say about, did I not feel
convinced that the reader is as sick of this fruitless squabble as I am. I shall
therefore let the real reply to both Dr. Michelson's "rejoinder" and the original
criticism consist of a reference to my article on "Wiyot and Yurok, Algonkin
Languages of California." I prefer to have the reader form his opinion of the
merits of the case from the article itself than from either the article as inter-
preted by Dr. Michelson or as explained by myself. For further criticism, I shall
confine myself to expressing regret at the second paragraph of Dr. Michelson's
"rejoinder," as it makes capital of certain opinions which (whether justifiable in
themselves or not is another matter) are not at hand for the reader to refer to.
E. Sapir
562 V American Indian Languages 1
Editorial Note
Originally published in American Anthropologist 17, 194-198 (1915).
Reprinted by permission of the American Anthropological Association.
Phonetic Key to Publications
of Edward Sapir
Compiled by William Bright
The following list of symbols is based on the planned contents of The Col-
lected Works of Edward Sapir, volumes 5-6, plus selected monographic works.
It does not attempt to include symbols of unambiguous value (such as aork); or
symbols used only in material quoted from other authors; or symbols used in
standard orthographies or Roman transliterations of familiar Old World lan-
guages. Phonetic symbols proposed in the Report of the Committee on
Phonetic Transcription (1916), but not found in Sapir's publications, are also
omitted here.
Part 1 consists of diacritic modifications which are used with the entire class of
consonants (indicated by C) or of vowels (indicated by v). Part 2 consists of
letters or digraphs of the Roman alphabet which are used with special values,
with or without diacritics. Part 3 consists of Greek alphabetic symbols. Part 4
consists of miscellaneous segmental symbols.
Part 1.
C^ Glottalized or ejective stop or affricate; glottalized spirant or
sonorant. Also printed as C and 'C. In some earlier work, this
notation indicated a weaker degree of glottalization in stops than
C!
C! Glottalized or ejective stop or affricate (in earlier work). Note that
ts! tc! are glottalized affricates.
C Stop or affricate with strong aspiration.
C Syllabic consonant.
"C Nasalized consonant.
C",C^ Labialized consonant.
Cy Palatalized consonant.
C- Long or geminated consonant.
C.C Non-affricate consonantal sequence, e.g. t.s when it represents a
sequence of two independent consonants.
^ (Superscript) Weakly articulated consonant, echoed consonant, or
consonantal glide. In early work, whispered or voiceless sonorant
(later written with a small capital).
564 V American Indian Languages 1
V Primary stress; in Athabaskan, high pitch. In Takelma forms of
Sapir & Swadesh 1946, stress with high or rising tone.
V Secondary stress; in Athabaskan, low pitch. In Takelma forms of
Sapir & Swadesh 1946, "stress with falling pitch". In the traditional
orthography of Nahuatl, vowel with following glottal stop.
V Falhng pitch in Athabaskan.
V Rising pitch in Athabaskan.
<f Intermediate pitch in Sarcee. (For intermediate falling and rising
pitches, see article 39).
V Rising pitch in Takelma and Pawnee.
V Vowel length; in some early work, close vowel quality, not neces-
sarily with length. (See specific symbols in Part 2, below.)
V Nasalization of vowel.
if Glottalization of vowel,
v' Primary stress.
V Secondary stress.
V- Length of vowel.
v: Length of vowel; when contrasted with v, indicates more than
ordinary length.
v" Unusual shortness of vowel.
(v) Glide value of vowel.
V. V Non-diphthongal sequence of vowels, e.g. a.i divided between two
syllables.
v'v or v'^ Glottal interruption of vowel; the latter alternative is recom-
mended when the post-glottal portion is weakly articulated.
yv or v^ "Over-long" vowel with glide-hke rearticulation, as in Takelma and
Sarcee.
X^ (Superscript vowel) Reduced prominence of vowel; e.g. murmured
or echoed quality, or vocalic resonance of a preceding consonant.
Also indicates whispered or voiceless vowels, later written with
small capitals.
Xy (Subscript vowel) In Indo-European, a reduced vowel.
Part 2.
a Open mid back unrounded vowel, as in Eng. but; usually replaced
by small capital a or Greek alpha.
Phonetic Key 565
a Long low back rounded vowel, as in Eng. law.
a Low front unrounded vowel, as in Eng. hat.
a Open low back rounded vowel.
a In Sarcee, "a velarized, dark-timbred a".
A (small capital) Voiceless a, as in Southern Paiute; in Wishram, a
mid back unrounded vowel, as in Eng. but.
A (large capital) Voiceless a; in Takelma and Chasta Costa, a mid
back unrounded vowel, as in Eng. but\ in Indo-European, cover
symbol for a reconstructed 'laryngeal'.
A In Indo-European, cover symbol for an a-coloring laryngeal, i.e.
one which induces a-timbre in an adjacent vowel.
b Voiced or "intermediate" labial stop; "intermediate" refers to
sounds heard sometimes voiced, sometimes voiceless — probably
voiceless lenis in most cases (esp. in Hittite.)
b (barred b) In Hebrew, spirant b.
B, B (Capital or small capital) "Intermediate" labial stop; see b above.
c In Nahuatl traditional orthography, used as in Spanish: s before /
or e, but k elsewhere. In Sapir's earlier works, a voiceless alveo-
palatal sibilant like Eng. sh — subsequently replaced by s; in later
works, a voiceless alveolar affricate, equivalent to earlier ts.
Q In Nahuatl traditional orthography, equivalent to Mexican Spanish
2, i.e. Eng. s.
c Voiceless alveo-palatal affricate, English ch as in church, equiv-
alent to earlier tc or ts.
c In Esperanto, equivalent to c.
ch In Nahuatl traditional orthography, equivalent to c.
d Voiced or "intermediate" apical stop; see b above.
d Voiced "cerebral" or retroflex apical stop.
d In Hebrew, spirant d.
6 Voiced interdental spirant, as in English this.
D, D (capital or small capital) Voiced or "intermediate" apical stop; see
b above.
dj, dz Voiced or "intermediate" alveo-palatal affricate (see b, above);
replaced in later work by %.
e Long open mid front unrounded vowel, as in French fete.
566 y American Indian Languages 1
e In earlier work, an open mid front unrounded vowel, as in Eng.
met; in Yana, Chasta Costa, and Nootka, the long vowel of this
quality, as in French /ere.
e Close mid front vowel, as in French ete.
e Close mid front vowel, as in French ete.
e In Athabaskan reconstructions, a formula for "the reduced or
'pepet' vowel", i.e. a.
E (Small capital) In early work, "short obscure vowel of undefined
quality", as in unaccented English the (replaced in later works by
a); occasionally also indicates voiceless e.
g Voiced or "intermediate" velar stop; see b above.
g,g,g,g-,gy Voiced or "intermediate" front-velar stop.
g In Semitic, a voiced velar spirant ( = 7).
g (barred g) in Haida, an "intermediate" velar stop.
g Voiced or "intermediate" back-velar stop.
G, G "Intermediate" velar stop; see b, above.
h In earlier work, represents "strong aspiration" as opposed to the
backward apostrophe; later, h is preferred whenever an indepen-
dent consonant is indicated, as opposed to aspiration of a stop.
h In Sanskrit (and stated to be in Semitic), a voiceless laryngeal spi-
rant; in Nootka (and perhaps properly in Semitic), a phar-
yngealized h. [Some of Sapir's publications seem to use "laryngeal"
improperly for "pharyngeal"; Lg. 10.276 (1934), fn. 4, is
bewildering.]
h (with semicircle below) In Hittite, a velar spirant.
hu In traditional Nahuatl orthography, equivalent to w.
H (small capital) In Nootka, pharyngealized h; later replaced by h.
i In some early work, / as in English it; also a long vowel of that
quality.
i High back unrounded vowel.
i In Tutelo, "as in French fini" (in this language, plain / is "as in
English bit'').
I (Small capital) In Nootka, a "short open i-vowel of rather unclear
quality"; in early work on Southern Paiute, an "obscure" i; later, in
Southern Paiute, voiceless i.
Phonetic Key 567
I (capital) In early work on Southern Paiute, an "obscure" i.
j In earlier work, an alveo-palatal sibilant, like French/ in yoMr; later
replaced by z.
J Voiced or "intermediate" alveo-palatal affricate.
R,k,k,k- Voiceless front-velar stop.
k Voiceless back-velar stop, =q.
k (with underbar) In Tutelo, an "intermediate" velar stop.
ky,ky Voiceless front-velar stop.
/ (Italic I) In Yana, a voiceless lateral.
1 Voiceless lateral spirant of American Indian languages; in Wish-
ram, described as "voiceless palatal lateral".
1, 1 Voiceless lateral spirant as in Welsh //.
L (Small capital) In early work, a voiceless lateral spirant, replaced
later by \.
L (Capital) In early work, sometimes a voiceless lateral spirant (I),
sometimes the corresponding affricate (equivalent to tL, tt, or X).
m (italic) In Yana, an unvoiced bilabial nasal.
M (small capital) Unvoiced labial nasal.
n (italic) In Yana, an unvoiced apical nasal.
n In earlier work, a velar nasal; later replaced by r).
n In earlier work, a back-velar nasal.
V" (superscript) Nasalization of preceding vowel.
r) Velar nasal; varies typographically with Greek eta (nq).
N (small capital) Voiceless apical nasal.
p^ (small capital) Voiceless velar nasal.
6 In earlier work, an open mid back rounded vowel, as in German
voU\ in Southern Paiute and Nootka, a long low back rounded
vowel, as in Eng. saw. Later replaced in both values by d.
6 Mid front rounded vowel, as in German schdn.
o In Nootka, a close mid back rounded vowel, as in French chaud.
o In Indo-European, low back rounded [a], produced by the
'laryngeal' 7 next to the e-type full-grade vowel.
568 V' American Indian Languages J
Co (Subscript o) In Indo-European, cover symbol for shwa (murmur
vowel) or syllabic resonance.
ou In Takelma, "like o but with final u-vanish".
D Open mid or low back rounded vowel.
5 Low mid back rounded vowel, as in German Gotter.
p (with underbar) In Tutelo, an "intermediate" labial stop.
q Voiceless uvular (back-velar) stop.
qu In traditional Nahuatl orthography, a voiceless labiovelar stop
(kw,k^).
r (italic) In Yana, voiceless r; in Tsimshian, a voiced uvular r.
r Voiced uvular r.
f (superscript) In Yana, the combination ■'t indicates a "peculiar
voiceless-r quality" of t.
R, R Voiceless vibrant.
R (small capital) Voiceless uvular r.
s Voiceless alveo-palatal sibilant, replacing earlier c.
s In Esperanto, equivalent to s.
s In Chasta Costa and Nootka, a "palatalized" c (i.e. s), "acoustically
midway between s and c".
s- In Yana, a sibilant "midway acoustically" between s and c (i.e. s).
t Voiceless "cerebral" or retroflex stop.
t (with underbar) in Tutelo, an "intermediate" apical stop.
tc In earlier work, a voiceless alveo-palatal affricate; later replaced
by ts, c.
tl In traditional Nahuatl orthography, a voiceless lateral affricate,
equivalent to tl or X.
tL, tl In earlier work, a voiceless lateral affricate, equivalent to X.
tl, tl Equivalent to X.
ts In earlier work, a voiceless alveolar affricate; later replaced by c.
ts- In Yana, an affricate corresponding to s-.
^s In earlier work, a voiceless alveo-palatal affricate, like English ch
in church; later replaced by c.
Phonetic Key 569
te In Chasta Costa and other Athabaskan, a voiceless interdental
affricate.
tz In traditional Nahuatl orthography, a voiceless alveolar affricate,
equivalent to phonetic ts.
u In early work on Southern Paiute, a long open high back rounded
vowel.
ii High front rounded vowel, as in German kiihl; in early work on
Southern Paiute, used for a high back unrounded vowel (later writ-
ten as i).
uh In traditional Nahuatl orthography, a voiceless labiovelar semi-
vowel, equivalent to phonetic W.
U (capital) In Southern Paiute, "a duller variety of i".
u (small capital) In Southern Paiute, same as U; elsewhere, voiceless
u.
V In early work on Southern Paiute, a voiced bilabial spirant; later
written with Greek beta.
V (italic) In early work on Southern Paiute, a voiceless bilabial spi-
rant; later written with Greek phi.
vw In early work on Southern Paiute, a voiced bilabial spirant "with
inner rounding".
V (capital) In early work on Southern Paiute, a voiceless bilabial spi-
rant; later replaced by Greek phi.
w, w In Indo-European, systematic equivalent for u.
W (capital) Voiceless bilabial semivowel.
X In Nahuatl traditional orthography, a voiceless alveo-palatal sib-
ilant, equivalent to s; in phonetic transcription, a voiceless velar
spirant, like German ch in ach\ but in Wishram, further back than
the German sound.
X, X, x' Voiceless front-velar fricative, like ch in German ich.
X Voiceless uvular (back-velar) fricative; in Wishram, a fricative
"between ch of German ach and ch of German /c/z"; in Hittite,
velar.
x' In Yana, "as in German ich"" .
\y Voiceless front-velar fricative, as in German ich.
^C (superscript x) In earlier work on Southern Paiute, "weak x
developed from [aspiration] before . . . velar q".
570 V American Indian Languages 1
y , y In Indo-European, systematic equivalent for i.
V (small capital) Voiceless palatal semivowel.
z Voiceless alveo-palatal sibilant, replacing earlier j.
3 Voiced or lenis alveolar affricate, replacing earlier dz.
3 Voiced or lenis alveo-palatal affricate, replacing earlier dj or dz.
Part 3 (Greek letters)
a (alpha) Lower mid back unrounded vowel, as in Eng. but.
P (beta) Voiced bilabial spirant.
7 (gamma) Voiced velar spirant ("North German g in Tage'\ Arabic
'ghain').
7 Voiced front-velar spirant.
7 Voiced back-velar spirant.
8 (delta) Voiced interdental spirant, as in Eng. this.
e (epsilon) Open mid front unrounded vowel, as in Eng. met.
^ (superscript) In earlier works, indicates a glottal stop; varies
typographically with an inverted superscript "3". Replaced in later
work by q.
r\ (eta) A typgraphical variant of g, the velar nasal.
T) In Eskimo, the uvular (back-velar) nasal.
6 (theta) Voiceless interdental spirant, as in Eng. think.
I (iota) Open front unrounded vowel, as in Eng. pit.
i (iota with dot) In Southern Paiute, a high central unrounded vowel.
L (iota with dieresis) Open back unrounded vowel.
X (lambda) Voiced or lenis lateral affricate, equivalent of dl.
A (barred lambda) Voiceless lateral affricate, equivalent to tL or tt.
p (rho) Uvular r.
V (upsilon) Open high back rounded vowel, as in Eng. put.
V (upsilon with dieresis) Open high front rounded vowel, as in German
Miltze.
<j) (phi) Voiceless bilabial spirant.
X (chi) Voiceless velar fricative, equivalent to x.
X Voiceless front velar fricative, equivalent to x.
Phonetic Key 571
X Voiceless back-velar fricative, equivalent to x.
o) (omega) Low back rounded vowel, as in Eng. law.
Part 4. Other symbols
^ (inverted superscript "3"; varies typographically with superscript-
Greek epsilon). In earliest work, indicates glottal stop. Later
replaced by the apostrophe, then by ^.
' ("smooth breathing") In earher American Indian work (and as late
as 1938 for Indo-European), the glottal stop; sometimes indicates a
weak articulation, as opposed to a "true" ^. In later work, the apos-
trophe is retained only to mark glottalization of consonants; else-
where, '^ is used. When used for glottalization, the apostrophe is
placed before resonants ('m 'n 'w 'y), after stops (p' t' k'), and
internally for affricates (t's t's). — In Wishram, denotes elision of
final vowel. In Ugaritic, '1 '2 '3 indicate glottal stop with one of
three vowels.
(prime) A feature of "hardening" which imparts glottalization in
Nootka.
? Glottal stop.
("rough breathing") In earlier work, the voiceless laryngeal spi-
rant; sometimes indicates a weak articulation, as opposed to h. In
later work, the rough breathing is retained only to mark aspiration
of stops; elsewhere, h is used. In Semitic, indicates the Arabic 'ain,
inexactly stated to be a "voiced laryngeal spirant".
'y "Palatalized aspiration", equivalent to the voiceless front-palatal
spirant of German ich.
: In Nootka, a pharyngealized glottal stop; in Indo-European, a
glottal (stop) phoneme inducing velar or a-timbre.
3 ("shwa") A weak mid central unrounded vowel, like the a in Eng.
idea .
-I- Extra length of a preceding symbol.
= Between vowels in Wishram, denotes that they "are to be pro-
nounced separately".
<
•:
References
Works appearing in The Collected Works of Edward Sapir are designated by a
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