Sketch of the Kwakiutl language [microform]

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6

SKETCH OF THE KVVAKIUTL LANGUAGE

BY

FRANZ BOAS.

I British Co'
COLLECT. I

23b.t;t6

(From the American Anthropologist (N. s.), Vol. 2, October-December, 1900)

SKETCH OF THE KWAKIUTL LANGUAGE'

Bv FRANZ BOAS

In the course of a series of investigations undertaken for the
Jesup North Pacific Expedition, I collected extensive material on
the language of the Kwakiutl Indians, who inhabit northeastern
Vancouver island and the adjacent coast of British Columbia. A
treatise on the grammar of this language, by Rev. Alfred J. Hall,
was published in 1889;' but the author has not succeeded in eluci-
dating its structural peculiarities. I published a brief sketch of the
grammar in the Reports of the Committee on the Northwestern
Tribes of Canada, appointed by the British Association for the
Advancement of Science.' While the data given in these sketches
are in the main correct, the fundamental traits of the language
have hitherto remained unknown.

The phonetic system of the Kwakiutl is very rich. It abounds
particularly in sounds of the k series and of the 1 series. The sys-
tem of consonants includes velars, palatals, anterior palatals, alve-
olars, and labials. The palatal series (English k) seems to occur
only in combination with u articulations. In most of thef<e
groups we find a sonans, surd, fortis, and spirans. The sonans is
harder than the corresponding English sound. The surd is pro-
nounced with a full breath, while the fortis is a surd with increased
stress and suddenness of articulation. The sonans is so strong
that it is very easily mistaken for a surd. Besides the groups
mentioned before, we have a series of lateral linguals or 1 sounds ;
the laryngeal catch; h; y; and w.

' Published by authority of the Trustees of the American Museum of Natural
History, New York.

" A Grammar of the Kwagiutl Lunguage, Trans. Royal Society of Canada, 1888,
n, pp. 57-105-

* Report of the Sixtieth Meeting of the B. A. A. S., 1890, pp. 655-668 ; also 1896,
pp. 585. 586.

708

HOAS]

SKETCH Oh' THE KWAKWTL LANGUAGE

709

This system may be represented as follows :

Sonans

Surd

l-'ortis

Spiral

Velar

a

q

<l!

X

Palatal

g{w)

k(w)

k!(w)

X

Anterior Palatal

g'

k-

kM

x"

Alveolar

d

t

t!

s

Dental

dz

ts

ts!

—

Labial

b

P

P!

—

Lateral

T

1,

l!

r

Laryngeal

catch

E

Nasal

m

h, y, w.

The velar series are k sounds pronounced with the soft palate.
X corresponds to ch in German Bcxch. The palatal series corre-
spond to our g (hard) and k. X is like x, but pronounced far-
ther forward, g- .ind k' sound almost like gy and ky (with
consonantic y) ; x' is the German ch in ich. d, t, and s are almost
dental, l, L, and l! are pronounced with tip of tongue touching
the lower teeth, the back of the tongue extending transversely
across the hard palate, so that the air escapes sudaenly near the
first molars. In i the tip of the tongue is in the same position,
but the back of the tongue is narrower, so that the air escapes
near the canine teeth. The sound is at the same time slightly
less explosive than L. 1 is the same as the English sound. « is
a very faint Inrjrngea! intonation. The exclamation mark is used
throughout to indicate increased stress of articulation.

The vowels seem to be quite variable. The indistinct E is
very frequent. The two pairs i e and o u probably represent
each a single intermediate sound. The whole series of vowels
may probably be represented as follows :

E

i e, 1, e, a, 6, o u
I e, - ii, a, a, o Q

There are a considerable number of rules of euphony which
govern the sequences of sounds. The u vowels do not admit of
a following anterior palatal, which is changed into a palatal with

HP

^

710

A MEKICA N AN I IIKOPOLOGIS T

[n, s., 2, i(;oo

following w ; for instance, ut'wayO-g-a this salinoii-wiir, becomes
Ta'wayogwa. aa is often contracted to ii; for instance, o*ma-a
that chief tainess, becomes o^mii. oa is contracted to u; for in-
stance, 'la'wayo-a that salmon-wcir, becomes 'la'wayo. It seems
that combinations of consonants do not occur in the beginning of
words. Extensive clusters of consonants are rare, and even com-
binations of two consonants are restricted in number. The first
sound of such a combination is generally a spirans, nasal, 1 or j,
all of which are produced by stricture, not by closure, k sounds,
which in the process of word-composition become first sounds of
combinations of consonants, are aspirated ; 1 sounds become \.
When, in the process of composition, inadmissible combinations
of consonants occur, the second consonant is often dropped.
Terminal consonants of words, when followed by words with in-
itial consonants, are often modified in the manner here indicated.
From g-ok" house, is formed g-6X"dze large house ; from «nek-
to say, ^nc'x-so he is told. Instead of laa'mL me'x^eL then he will
sleep, we have laa'mi me'x^eL. Examples of dropping of conso-
nants are the following: qa's-x-*id he begins to walk, becomes
qa's^id ; Wa'k!cqes-xLa named Wd'k- leges, becomes Wa'k-!eqesLa.
Suffixes influence the terminal sou ds of stems, which they
often harden or soften. When softener., surd and fortis are trans-
formed into the sonans of the same series; when hardened, sonatis
and surd are transformed into the fortis. s softened becomes dz
or y ; hardened, it becomes ts!. x- softened and hardened becomes
n ; Xw softened and hardened becomes w. \ softened and hard-
ened becomes 1. n, m, 1, y, w, when softened, become sonant by
being preceded by the laryngeal catch. The following examples
will illustrate these processes :

Stem
Llaqw-, red
hanL", to shoot

qas-, to xvalk

Softened
L!a'3w-ato, red-eared
ha'm-as, place of shoot-
ing
qa'y-as, place of walking

. Hardened
i,!S'q!w-6bo, red-breasted
ha'nL!-ala, noise of shoot-
ing
qa'ts!-enox, walker

boas]

SKETCH OF THE KWAKIUTL LANGUAGR

711

. Stem
mix'-, /(' strike

seXw-, to paddle
ts!o'l-, bUxck
*\viin-, to hide

dF.'nxal-, /(' si 11^

Softened ll.inleneil

niKii-a'tslc. drum — strik- iiiK'n''xst, to strike hind

ini:; receptacle
^^' \\ -dLyu, paddle
ts!o'l-is, Mack beach
'''wu''^n-i|, to hide in the

house
clEnxa^l-as, place of

sini^ini^

end

sC-'^w-enox, paddler
ts!r)''^l-a, black rock
*wii'^n-a', to hide on rock

Grammatical ••elations are expressed by means of suffixes and
by reduplication. Suffixes affect tiie word to which they are at-
tached in different ways. A considerable number are attached
to the terminal sound of the word, without causing any modifica-
tions of the same, except such as are required by the rules of
euphony. To this class belong almost all pronominal, temporal,
and conjunctive suffixes. Another group of suffixes is attached
to the stem of the word, which loses all its word-forming suffixes.
It is probable that all nouns are compounds of a stem and of a
number of suffixes. The latter disappear entirely when the noun
is combined with one of this class of suffixes, and we observe ap-
parently an apocope of the end of the noun, while actually its
stem reappears freed from its suffixes. At the same time, the
suffix often mod nes the terminal consonant of the stem. Thus
we have bEgwa'nEm man, stem : bEgw-, and from this bEk!u's
man in the woods; mEt!a'no clam, stein: mEt!-, and from this
iTiEda'd having clams. This process is analogous to what has
been observed in many Indian languages, and has been termed
" decapitation " or " apocope." From the instances with which
I am familiar, I am inclined to believe that a thorough knowledge
of the process will prove that the apparent apocope is due either
to laws of euphony, or to the dropping of affixes, as in the case
here described.

Other changes of the stem are due to reduplication, the
method of which varies according to the grammatical function it
performs. Double or even triple reduplication may occur in the

« «

712

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST

[n. s., 2, 1900

same word; for instance, from the stem bEgw- man, we have
ba'bagum boy, and ba'bEbagum boys.

In discussing the groups of relations expressed by grammati-
cal processes, we will take up first those relating to the person
speaking, or the pronominal relations. The language has a strong
tendency to define every action and every object in all its rela-
tions to the persons conversing. These relations are expressed
by the personal, demonstrative, and possessive pronouns. The
homology between demonstrative and personal pronouns is here
perfect. The personal pronoun indicates the person acting or
acted upon, as speaker, person addressed, and person spoken of ;
the demonstrative indicates the location of an action or of an
object as near the speaker, near the person addressed, or near the
person spoken of. This strict homology appears in many Ameri-
can languages, but in few is the expression of location so rigidly
demanded as in Kwakiutl. The location of object or action in
relation to the three persons — speaker, person addressed, and
person spoken of — must always be expressed. These three
positions are further subdivided into two groups, the one ex-
pressing objects and actions visible to the speaker, the other
expressing those invisible to the speaker.

Location near 1st Person

Visible to speaker -k"

Invisible to speaker -g'a

2d Person
-X

.q!

3d Person

Personal pronouns appear mostly incorporated in the verb.
The pronominal form, which we designate as " first person plural,"
is not a true plural. Plurality implies the presence of several in-
dividuals of the same kind. A plurality of speakers is seldom
possible ; but our " we " expresses either " I and thou," or " I and
he." It is therefore not surprising that many languages, and
among them the Kwakiutl, use distinct forms for these two ideas.
On the other hand, the second and third persons plural are real
plurals, and are designated in Kwakiutl by a sufifix, -x'da^x",

\\

bOASj

SKETCH OF THE KWAKIUTI. LANGUAGE

713

which precedes the pronominal ending. In the Hc'iltsaq" dialect
this pUjral \i expressed by reduplication.

The personal pronouns have separate forms for expressing
their syntactic relation in the sentence; that is to say, ihere are
pronominal cases. These are the subjective (nominative) and ob-
jective (accusative).

1st Person 2<1 Person 3d Person

Subjective -eh -es

Objective - -ol -q ~ ~

A number of secondary cases are derived from these primary
forms,— a locative from the objective, an instrumentalis and
iinalis from the subjective.

Inclusive
-nts

Exclusive
nu«X

Locative

Instrumentalis

Finalis

1st Pers. 2d Pers. 3d. Pers.
g'a'xED loL laq
(-En ?) -OS -s

qae

qa^n

(ja^s

Inclusive
g'a'xEnts
(-enls ?)
qa^nts

Exclusive
g'a'xEnu'^X
(-Enu'^X ?)
qa^^nu'^X

The old objective of the first person, which occurs in the
He'iltsaq" dialect, is entirely lost, and replaced by the locative.
The instrumentalis of the second and third persons is identical
with the possessive. I have not found any unquestionable forms
of this case for the first person.

The forms of verbs with incorporated object are derived by
combinations of the above forms in the order subject, direct ob-
ject, indirect object (locative), instrumentalis, finalis. It seems
that the first person singular had an older form, -EnL, which is
still used in the Koskimo dialect, and which persists in all forms
in which the subject first person is followed by another pronomi-
nal form. An example of verbal forms with incorporated object
and instrument is mix-^l'daqs he struck him ivith it, from mix-«T'd
to strike, -aq him, -s with it. When substantives are introduced
in a sentence of this kind, they are placed following the pronoun
which indicates their function. At the same time the pronoun is
modified. For instance, mix «l'deda bEgwa'nEmaqs the man
struck him with it; mix-'^i'deda bEgwa'nEmaxa g-ina'nEms the

714

A.%fEHlCAX ANTllROr il.OGIST

[N. S., 2, KJOO

man struck the child with it ; mix'^l'dcda bK^^wa'tiKmaxa ginft'-
nKmsa tlc'sEm the man struck the child with the stone.

The terminals da, xa, and sa might be interpreted as nomi-
native, accusative, instrumentalis of an article, if it were not for
their intimate connection with the preceding verb. The pro-
nominal object and the instrumentalis at the end of the subject in
our first example also show that we have here really an incorpora-
tion of the noun in the verbal expression. The terminal a, which
characterizes the subject followed by an object (like the terminal
a in bEgWcVnEma of our example), must be explained as the
retained a of the compound pronominal ending -aq (as in
niix'Tdaq), and seems to me one of the strongest proofs of our
interpretation. The connection between subject of the first per-
son and object elucidates the same point: mix'^i'dEnLaq / strike
him, where -La- is inserted between the subjf t first person -En
and the pronominal object -q ; and mix-'l'dEiiLaxa g'ina'nEm /
strike the child, which form is strictly analogous to the form with
pronominal object. The nouns which form subject, object, indi-
rect object or instrumentalis in the sentence always enter the
verbal expression in their full form. They do not lose their word-
forming suffi.xes, as they often do in composition with various
other classes of suffixes.

The construction of the sentence is therefore analogous to that
found in other American languages, most of which incorporate
object and indirect object, although the degree and character of
incorporation vary. Mexican and Kootenay embody the object
freed of its word-forming affixes, and often replace it by the pro-
nominal object. Chinook, Sioux, and many other languages in-
corporate only the pronominal representative in the verb, and
place the noun as apposition at the end of the sentence. Kwa-
kiutl pursues the same method as Chinook, but, instead of placing
the nouns as appositions, it places them immediately following
the representative pronoun, thus creating a word-complex held
together by pronominal particles.

I

\

\

boas]

SKETCH OF THE KWAKIUTL LANGUAGE

715

I

I

Tlie phonetic development uf the pronoun, when placed before
a noun, has two series of forms, a definite and an indefinite. The
former are da, xa, laxa, sa, qa ; the latter, -, x, lax, s, cj. The use
of the indefinite is, however, much more restricted than that of
the corresponding forms in Knylish. The indefinite f ">":is are also
used preceding proper nouns.

The language has a strong tendency to combine the possessive
pronoun, which ordinarily appears as a suffix, wit'i he pronominal
suffixes iu«! referred to, sf) that they form a phonetic ui it, uiean-
ing, he my, he thy, etc. From 3EiiE'm xvife, we ha\ : iihnn'mEn
tny wife; but ^ne'k'Kn ilKnlc'm said slw-my wife, '^ne'k'Cxes
3Eni:'m said he-to-his wife. In the second person the pronoun
is repeated as a sufifix to the noun ; in the third person it is
combined with the pronominal suffix when subject and pos-
sessor are identical, it is suffixed to the substantive if they are
distinct.

*ne'k'En SEnr/m my wife said. "^neU'exEn ^EnE'm he said to my wife.
"ne'k'es ^F.nE'mos t/iy wife said, ^nek'exes SENE'mos /te said to thy 7vife-
'ne'keda SEnE'mas his wij^e said, ^nekexes ^EnE'm he said to his (own)

wife.
*nekex SEnE'mas he said to his (the

other Mian's) wife.

Our conjunction " and," and interrogative and a number of de-
monstrative pronouns are treated in the same manner. This phe-
nomenon is evidently closely connected with the tendency of
adverbs and auxiliary verbs to take the subjective ending of the
verb, while the object remains connected with the verb itself.
k*!e"^sEn do'qoaq not-I see-him, shows the characteristic arrange-
ment of sentences of this kind. The pronominal elements always
take the terminal place in the verb.

Moods, in the proper sense of the term, are very slightly
developed. Here might be classed some of the verbals to be
discussed later (page 718), the imperative, and the conditional.
The imperative is indicated by the stem of the verb, or by

7i6

AMERICAN ANTJ/ROPOLOGIST

[.V. S., 2, iqoo

imperative suffixes, such as -g'a, inchoative; -la, continuative.
-x" followed by pronominal endings forms an exhortative. The
conditional is expressed b^ the suffix o : qa*so la'lax if you
should go.

The verb generally consists of a stem and numerous adverbial
suffixes, which modify or limit the meaning of the verbal stem.
These adverbial expressions may be limitations of time, of cause,
of manner, of object. They embrace, therefore, our tenses, con-
junctions, adverbs, and even objects or prepositional expressions.
The lack of distinction in the method of expressing grammatical
relations and material ideas, which is found in most Indian lan-
guages, manifests itself in the variety of ideas expressed by these
suffixes.

There are four temporal suffixes which are used with verbs as
well as with nouns. Words without suffix represent an aorist or
historic tense which is indefinite as to time. Three suffixes desig-
nate past tenses : -ui, -x'^id, -x-de. -uj designates the remote
past, -x-Hd the recent past, and -x-de the transition from present
to past. The limits between -uj and x-^id are not distinct. The
usage depends upon the period with which the time elapsed is
generally compared. In speaking of last year's salmon-run, it is
compared to the period between two fishing seasons, so that half
a year is considered remote past. In speaking of the death of. a
person, the time elapsed since the death is compared with man's
life, and therefore -w\ is not used until five years or more after
death. The words for yesterday and day-before-yesterday con-
tain the ending -uj, and consequently, when these are used, the
verb must take the same ending. The use of -x'dc is quite dis-
tinct from the two former tenses. It always implies the transition
from existence to non-existence. The future is expressed by the
suffix -L. All the temporal suffixes are attached to the full
word.

A number of derivational suffixes may be grouped with those
expressing tenses. We find, among others, a desiderative ex-

<'9ms-''!imm\iu-i..

«w

boas]

SKETCH OF THE KWaKIVTL LANGUAGE

7^7

pressed by the suffix -Oxst, for instance, na'qexst to desire to drink ;
a causative -mas, for instance, qa'samas to cause to walk ; -^nakula
implying a gradual motion, for instance, te'gu^nakuia to hang one
after the other {irom tC;'kwa to hang). The most important forms
in this group are the inchoative and the " tentative," which latter
expresses the attempt to perform an action.

The inchoative is very frequently used, the continuative form
being strictly distinguished from it, as is also the case in the allied
Nootka. The continuative of most verbs ends in -a, while the
inchoative ends in -x'^id, which ending, however, undergoes many
changes according to the rules of euphony. From qa'sa to zvalk,
we have qa's^id to begin to walk ; f'-om mo'kwa to tic, mO'X^wid.
The locative suffixes, which will later be mentioned, have sepa-
rate forms for inchoative and continuative, which are formed
somewhat irregularly (see page 718).

The " tentative " is formed by reduplication with long a vowel,
and hardened terminal consonant : da'doqivva to endeavor to see,
from do'qwa, to see.

Conjunctional suffixes arc uimerous. The simple verbal end-
ings described before are used only when the sentence is without
inner connection with previous statements — that is to say, wlien
a new idea is introduced in the discourse. That a subject has
been referred to before, or that it has been in the mind of the
speaker before, is expressed by the suffix -m. g-a'xEn ^nEmo'kwe
means " my friend of whom I h?ve not been thinking has come
unexpectedly "; g-a'xmEn ^nEmo'kwe means " my friend who was
expected has arrived." -mOs indicates a very weak causal rela-
tion, similar to our "and so"; -g'ij is causal, signifying "there-
fore " ; -la and -t!a signify "but" ; -xa, " also."

More or less adverbial :'re the following: -k"as really ; -x"La
very ; -x'la too bad, that ! -x'st ' us usual ; -x-s;i still ; -axoi and
I did not knoiv it before, a mild expression of surprise.

Locative suffixes are very numerous. Many of them have
distinctive continuative and inchoative forms :

718

AMERICAN

ANTHROPOLOGIST [n- s-

, 2, 1900

Continuative

Inchoative

in the house

-il )

-lil

on the ground

-us

-Is

on rocks

-a

-ala

up

-asta

-ustala

Closely related to the locative suffixes are the objective suf-
fixes, which express either the object acted upon or the subject
of an intransitive verb. Suffixes designating parts of the body
are particularly numerous in this class : -x"Le head ; -x"ts!a'ne
hand; -boe chest, etc. But others are not wanting: -sqwapyfr^;
/sta water. Sometimes the suffix may be considered as express-
ing a local relation rather than an objective one ; but it never
expresses an instrumental relation, as is the case in Siouan and
Athapascan languages.

A number of suffixes express moods : -lax implies the uncer-
tainty of the conditional ; -nc^s'i the optative " oh, if ! " Here we
may class the suffix -so, which expresses the passive.

In this group the series of verbal nouns are particularly remark-
able. They are numerous, and in construction always retain their
verbal character, governing the pronominal cases that belong to
the verb. The most important ones among these are -cne^, sig-
nifying the abstract noun ; for instance, k"!e'lak'!enc^ the clubbing.
This verbal occurs only with the possessive pronoun. It is used
very frequently to express the intentional when it is preceded by
thr particle qa in order to ox for.

The indefinite verbal, which does not differ from the simple
form of the third person singular without demonstrative ending,
is very frequently used to express subordinate clauses, particu-
larly causal and temporal subordination. The verbal is then
expressed in the objective case, takes the possessive suffix, and
besides this the demonstrative form peculiar to each person.
The following example will make this clear :

aVF-m ya'X^widExg'in g'a'xik" the wind Just began to blo^v when I came.
aVKm yQ'X^widExs g'a'xaaqos the wind just began tobloiv when you came.

^

BOAS] SKETCH OF THE KWAKIUTL LANGUAGE 7>9

aVFtn vQ'X^vidExs g-a^xae the wind Just began to blow when he came.
(a'l^Em lately, yu'X^vid to begin to blow, g'ax to come.)
Other verbal nouns are -k", a passive participle and noun ; as
g-ilo'aik" a thing stolen ; -anEm obtained by, as g•ilo'^anEm obtarned
by stealing {irorn g-ilo'La to steal) ; -ayu instrument, as do'gwayu
trollingdine (from do'kwa to troll); -Em instrument, as k.LE m
net (from k-iLa' to fish with net) ; -Onox" nomen actons, as g-it.e nox"
wood.^vorker (from g'ita' /. do rvork in ^vood)■, and many others.
The suf^x -ayu instrument sometimes expresses a passive,
particularly of intransitive verbs: qa's«idayu he zvas the means of
walking, i. e., he was walked away with by somebody.

There are also a considerable number of sufifixes wh.ch trans-
form nouns into verbs. The possessive verb is used so frequently
that it gives the language a peculiar character. It is formed by
suffixing -ad to the stem of the noun, which loses all its sufifixes
SEnE'm ^vife has the stem SEg-- and, therefore, the Kwakmtl
form SEg-a'd having a zvife. nEXuski'n a berry has the stem
nEX- and, therefore, nEwa'd having berries. „

To eat a certain object is expressed by the reduplicated stem
of the noun ; from nEXusk-i'n berry, nEXna'X" . This derivative,
however, is exceedingly irregular. -6L to obtain, -sila /. take care
of -g-ila to make, are examples of other derivatives.

' Among the categories expressed by grammatical processes we
have to mention those of plurality and diminution. The plural
seems to have been originally a distributive. It is expressed by
reduplication, as bEgwa'nEm pi. be'bEgwanEm man, g-ok" pi.
g-ie-o'k" house. There is a decided preference for the use of the
long c in the reduplicated syllable. All substantives designatn.g
human beings have plural forms, while many other words have no
reduplicated plural. Words with local suffixes form the.r plural
with the suffix -Em, which probably has a collective meamng.
designating a group of individuals: gi'lg-ilala pi. g-ilE mgMlala /.
^alk on rocks. Diminutives are formed from nouns w.th . vowel
in the reduplicated syllable, softened terminal consonant, and the

! i

720

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLUGIS '/■

[n. s., 2, 1900

suffix -Em : g'Ok house, g'a'g'ogum small house ; me'gwat seal,
ma'megwadEm small seal.

Numerals are formed on the decimal system. They take classi-
fying suffixes, the most important among which are those for
designating human beings, round objects, long objects, and flat
objects. The classification of nouns and verbs in regard to
their form is also found in words denoting, existence. These
have separate forms for round, long, flat, and soft objects.

In conclusion I will give a few lines of texts with grammatical
explanation :

G'6'kula^laC'da ' g'a'Iasa " Dza'wadEenoxwe ' la'xa '

The village was it ^ said the first of the Dza-./adEcnox" at the

'"nE'ldziis" was' Gwa"'exa ° 'le'Sades' Be'bF.nade.'

upper course of the river of Gwa'c the having name of ' Having Phosphorescence.'

Wa,' la'^lae'" a'la pa'ieda " «\va'latSEma." Wii," lan'm'^lae "

Well, then it is said was really hungry the great tribe. Well, then it is said

he'mEnalaEm " ^nEmo'kweda " po'sdan.Hxa " ^•nc'^na'la." Wa,"
always one died of hunger the days. Well,

la'^lae'" ya'qIeg'aLeda " ^nEmo'kwe lax' a'^yi'lkwas'

then it is said began to speak the one among the speakers of

Qa'wadiliSala la'xes " g-o'kulote." La'^lae " ^ne'k'a : " ^ax'da'^x" '''
Qa'nadiliSala to his tribe. Then he said : "Oh!

vvaEiitsos" ho'Lela g-a'xEn," g'o'kulot," qa*^n " ya'q!Og'aLesg-a "
(''o) listen to me, tribe, that I begin to speak of this

Swa'laasg'asg'in ^° na'qek'." "
this kind of this my this mind."

' gok" house; -la continuative verbal suffix ; -^ la quotative ; -e
pronominal ending pointing to following noun: -da pronominal
subjective ending pointing to following noun.

■' ga'la first ; g'a'la contraction of g'a'la-a terminal a indicating ab-
sence ; -sa possessive ending indicating following noun.

' dza'Xun olachen (a fish) ; - ad having, requires the dropping of the
formative suffix - un in dza'Xun and softens the terminal X to w ;
- enox" people of ; - e demonstrative suffix.

* laq at it ; with ending indicating following noun, laxa.

' a contracted from a-a, see ' ; -s possessive ending.

wsm I"'

BOAS

SKETCH OF THE KWAKIUTL LANGUAGE

721

" - xa pronominal objective ending pointing to following noun.

' Te'qEm, stem TC-q - name ; - ad having, see " ; - s possessive.

* bo'x'a to phosphoresce ; - ad having, see ' ; - e demonstrative
suffix.

" A conjunctional interjection.

'" la, conjunction * then,' treated in Kwakiutl as an intransitive
verb ; - ^la quotative ; -e demonstrative suffix.

" pala hungry, starving ; - eda see '.

'" "^wa'las great ; - s3Em a group of individuals.

" laE'm from la then ; - m indicates that the subject of the dis-
course, namely the starvation, has been referred to before ; - ^la
quotative.

'* -m see ".

" ''nEm one, - Ok" classifying suffix indicating persons ; - eda see '.

'" po'sdana literally too hungry, from po'sqa to feel hungry ; - xa
objective pronominal ending, which form is used for all expressions of
time.

" "^nS'la day, reduplicated plural.

" ya'qantlala to speak, inchoative ya'qlOg'aL ; these contain the
suffixes -klalaand - g'ai., noise and beginning of noise.

'" lax to, - es his, the form laxes means to his own, while lax
g'o'kulotes would mean to the other man's tribe.

" g'ok" tribe, - lot companion.

" '^ya oh, - x'da^x" pronominal plural suffix of second and third
persons.

'^'^ Exhortative of wii, s x- ".
g'a'xEn locative of first person personal pronoun.

'■ qa^n finalis of first person personal pronoun.

'" - s instrumentalis ; - g'a demonstrative, signifying this near me
invisible.

'■" Swiil thus, as referred to ; -as place of ; hence Swa'laas the place
referred to, the manner referred to ; - g'a this near me invisible ;
- s genitive ; g in this mine near me.

'" nd'qe mind ; - k' this near me visible.

Free translation. — The first Dza'wadEenox" lived on the upper
course of the river Gwa'^^o at a place named ' Having Phosphorescence.'
The people of the great tribe were really hungry. Every day some of
them died of hunger. Then one of the speakers of Qa'wadiliSala began
to speak to his tribe and said : " Listen to me, my tribe ; I will say
what I am thinking."

AM. ANTIl. N. S., 2—46

23air,6

h