Grammar and dictionary of the language of the Hidatsa

III. WORDS.

37. Words will be considered under the usual eight heads (articles ex-
cluded) of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, con-
junctions and interjections.

NOUNS.

38. For convenience of description, nouns may be divided into two
classes, primitive and derivative.

31

Primitive Nouns.

39. Primitive nouns are such as, with our present knowledge of the lan-
guage, we are unable to analyze either in whole or in part; as ma 1 s?iow t
i', mouth y ista, eye, etc.

40. Nearly all the monosyllabic nouns are primitive, as are also the
names of many things which are longest known to the people

41. Many of the primitive nouns of the Hidatsa have, in kindred lan-
guages, their counterparts, which they closely resemble in sense and sound.

Derivative Nouns.

42. Derivative nouns are such as we are able to analyze in whole or in
part.

43. Derivative nouns may be formed from words of any class, but chiefly
from verbs, adjectives and other nouns, either primitive or derived, by cer-
tain prefixes and suffixes, the commonest of which are i, adu, o, aku, ma,
the possessive pronouns and the diminutives, daka and kaza.

44. *i' prefixed to transitive verbs forms nouns denoting the instrument
or material with which the action is performed : thus ita, an arrow, is from
ta, to kill, and ikipakisi, a towel from kipakisi, to rub back and forth.

Nouns formed in this way are commonly prefixed by other nouns

(denoting the recipient of the action), by the prefix' ma', or by both ; thus
maikipakisi, iteikipakisi and maiteikipakisi, are more commonly used
than ikipakisi, although all these words denote the same thing. Nouds
of the material are seldom heard without such prefixes; thus maiki-
kaki, thread (from kikaki, to sew), and maiteidusuki, soap (from ite, the

face, and dusuki, to wash), are not heard in the simple forms of ikikaki
and idusuki.

45. ' adu 1 (an adverb of time and place when used alone) is employed,
as a prefix, to form nouns under the following circumstances.

46. 'adu', prefixed to verbs, forms nouns denoting the part on which
the action is performed ; as adukikaki, a seam, from kikaki, to sew. Here
* ma', or the name of the thing to which the part belongs, precedes ( adu'.

47. * adu * is also prefixed to verbs to form nouns, which signify the place
where an action is performed; thus from kidusa, to put away carefully,
comes adukidusa, a place of deposit In this case 'ma', or the noun de-
noting the object of the action, frequently precedes 'adu', e. g. maaduki-
dusa, a place where anything is put away or stored, matakiadukidusa, a
cupboard.

48. * adu' is prefixed to intransitive verbs and adjectives to denote one
or more of a kind or class, which the verbs or adjectives describe; thus
from idakisa, left handed, comes aduidakisa, a left handed person, and from

32

kiadetsi, brave, skillful, etc., eomes adukiadetsi, one of the brave or skilled.
In this case * ma * usually precedes * adu'.

49. * o\ prefixed to a verb, may form therewith the name of the action ;
as in odidi, walking, gait, from didi, to walk.

50. { o' is used in the same way as * adu* to denote the place where, or
the part whereon, an action is performed, as in odutsi, a mine, from dutse,
to obtain.

51. 'aku 1 , prefixed to a transitive verb, forms a noun denoting the agent
or performer of the act, and is nearly or quite synonymous with the En-
glish suffixes er and or. In this case *aku' is commonly preceded by the
name of the object ; thus from masipisa, grapes, and duti, to eat, we have
masipisaakuduti, grape eater, i. e., the cedar bird, or ampclis cedrorum.

52. * aku ' is sometimes used in the same sense as * adu ' in par. 48. In
this sense it is common before the adjectives denoting color ; as in akutohi,
beads, from tohi, blue; and akusipisa, black cloth, from sipisa, black.

53. ' ma' (to be distinguished from the pronoun ma) is a prefix of very
extended use in the language. With some nouns, however, it is rarely used,
while to a different class it is indispensable. It may be regarded as an in-
definite particle, or as a universal noun or pronoun, qualified by the words
to which it is prefixed. Some of the more common instances of its use are
here given.

54. 'ma' is prefixed to nouns of the instrument beginning with 'i,' as
in par. 44, when the object on which the instrument is employed is not
designated. When, for precision of definition, the object is named, its
name takes the place of ( ma.' When the name of the material, of which
the instrument is made, is included, it commonly precedes 'ma'; thus
from maidutsada, a sled, comes mida-maidutsada, a wooden sled.

55. 'ma' is prefixed to adjectives to form the names of articles which
possess, in a marked degree, attributes to which the adjectives refer ; thus
from tsikoa, sweet, we have matsikoa, sugar.

56. * ma ' is prefixed to verbs to form the names of objects on which the
action denoted by the verb has been performed; thus from kidutskisi, to
wash out, comes makidutskisi, a lot of washed clothes.

57. Many words beginning with 'ma' drop this prefix when incorpo-
rated with the possessive pronouns.

58. The possessive pronouns, (m), ma, mata, (d), di, dita, i and ita, are
placed before the name of the thing possessed, when together they are pro-
nounced as one word, and the pronoun regarded as a prefix.

59. In many cases where possessive pronouns are prefixed, the noun
denoting the thing possessed loses its first syllabic, has its accent removed,
or is otherwise much changed; as in itapa, his moccasins, from hupa mocca-
sins; itasi, his robe, from masi, a robe*

33

60. Some words are rarely, others never,* heard without a prefixed pos-
sessive pronoun ; as itadsi, leggings, his leggings, isami, a father's sister ,
itsuka, a marts younger brother.

61. But few words, formed as shown only in paragraph 58, are given in
the dictionary, while all known words in the 3d person, formed as in
paragraphs 59 and 60, are laid down. In the cases of such words as are
referred to in paragraph 60, as never being heard without a pronoun, the
noun, with the pronoun omitted, is given sometimes as a hypothetical wo?*d.

Diminutives.

62. * daka\ which, when used alone, means the offspring or young of
anything, is employed as a diminutive sufHx of general application. Ex. —
idaka, his or Us young (the offspring of any individual or species mentioned) ;
daftpitsidaka, a beards cub t from dahpitsi, a bear ; miiptsidaka, a hatchet,
from miiptsi, an axe.

63. * kaza' is a diminutive suffix, whose use is limited to about twenty
words of the language, including proper names. Ex. — masuakaza, a puppy,
from niasuka, a dog ; miakaza, a young woman, from mia, a woman; am&
tikaza, the Little Missouri River, from am&ti„^ Missouri.

64. The adjective kadista is also used as a diminutive.

Compound Nouns.

65. There are certain words which may be considered as compound
nouns, because they closely resemble in structure compound nouns in En-
glish ; although no definite distinction can be made in Hidatsa between
compound and other derived nouns, since the so called prefixes and suffixes
are really words, — the most of them capable of being used alone.

66. Compound nouns are formed in the various ways described in pars.
44, 46, 47, 54 and 57, and also by simply placing two or more nouns to-
gether or by joining nouns to verbs, adjectives and adverbs ; e. g., istamidi,
tears, from ista, the eye and midi, water; masitadanpitsisui, bacon, from
mast, white man, itadanpitsi, his bear, and h\x\,fat; istaoze, eye-wash, colly-
Hum, from ista, eye and oze, to pour into; itahatski, the Dakota Indians,
from ita, arrows, and hatski, long; amasitakoamasi, the people of Rupert
Land, from amasitakoa, at the north, and masi, white men.

67. When a compound noun is formed by simply placing two nouns to-
gether, the first word commonly denotes the possessor, the second, the
thing possessed. See par. 83.

68. Sometimes verbs, adjectives and adverbs are used as nouns without
undergoing any change of form ; as oze, to pour, a drink; patsatikoa, at the
west, the west.

*This construction is only found with names of things, which necessarily belong to some
one, and cannot otherwise exist (as blood relations), or are usually so conceived, (as cer-
tain articles, of personal property), and only to a limited number of such names

5

34

Properties of Nouns.

Gender.

69. Gender is distinguished by using, for the masculine and feminine,
different words, which may either stand alone or be added to nouns of the
common gender.

70. matse, man, sikaka, young man, itaka, old man, the terms used for
male relations (as itsuka, idisi, etc.), for callings exclusively masculine, and
the compounds of these words (as makadista-matse and itakahe), are nouns
of the masculine gender, applied to the human species.

70. mia, woman, kaduhe, old woman, terms used for female relations (as
idu, itakisa, etc.), for those employed in labors exclusively feminine, and the
compounds of these (such as miakaza, a young woman), are nouns of the
feminine gender, applied to the human species.

71. Kedapi, bull,-when used alone means a buffalo-bull ; but as a suffix,
either with or without the interposition of 'adu', it designates the male of
any of the lower animals.

72. mite, the generic name for buffalo, means also a buffalo cow.

73. mika, a mare, is used as a suffix to denote the females of the lower
animals. It follows the specific name with or without the intervention of
* adu'.

74. When the species has been previously mentioned, or is otherwise un-
derstood, the specific name need not be prefixed to kedapi, adukedapi,
mika or adumika.

Number.

75. Hidatsa nouns suffer no change of form to indicate the difference
between singular and plural.

76. Some nouns we know to be singular or plural from their original
meaning or from the sense in which they are used. In other cases our only
means of making a distinction is by the use of numeral adjectives, or such
adjectives as ahu, many, etsa, all, kausta,/<stc, etc.

Case.

77. In view of their syntactical relations, Hidatsa nouns may be parsed
as having the same cases as nouns of other languages, but they are not
inflected to indicate case except, doubtfully, in the possessive.

78. Possession is ordinarily shown by the use of the possessive pronouns,
which stand before the noun denoting the thing possessed, and are usually
considered as prefixed to it.

79. Two kinds or degrees of possession are indicated in the language.
One of these may be called intimate, integral, or non-transferable possession ;
such as the possession we have in the parts of our body, in our blood re-

35

lations; the possession which anything has in its parts or attributes — the
words idakoa, his friend or comrade, and iko'pa, her friend or comrade, are
put with this class. The other kind, or degree, is that of acquired or trans-
ferable possession ; it is the possession we have in anything which we can
acquire, or transfer from one to another.*

80. Intimate or non-transferable possession is shown by the use of the
simple possessive pronouns, i, his, her, its, di, your, ma, my, and the con-
tractions, m and d. Ex. — saki, hand, isaki, his or her hand, dih^iki, your hand,
masaki, my hand; iaka, a man's elder brother, diaka, your elder brother,
miaka, my elder brother.

81. Transferable possession is shown by the compound possessive pro-
nouns, ita, dita and mata, which are formed by adding the syllable 'ta' to
the simple pronouns. Ex. — midaki, a shield, itamidaki, his shield, ditamidaki,
your shield, matamidaki, my shield.

82. The noun denoting the possessor is placed before the noun denot-
ing the thing possessed, and when the former appears in a sentence, only
the possessive pronoun of the third person can, of course, be used.

83. Possession may be indicated by simply placing the name of the
possessor before that of the thing possessed, without the use of an inter-
vening pronoun ; the two words may be written separately, or as a com-
pound word (TIT 66 > 67), if the signification requires it. Some cases of this
mode of showing possession may be regarded as simply an omission of the
pronoun i; others as the use of one noun, in the capacity of an adjective,
to qualify another noun.

84. When the name of the possessor ends with a vowel, the 'i' of ita may
be dropped, in which case the names of possessor and possessed, with the
interposed * ta\ may be written as a compound word with a vowel or syl-
lable elided, as shown in pars. 34 and 36. But if we regard the ( ta ' as be-
longing to the noun denoting the possessor, we have as true a possessive
case as is made by the English " apostrophe and s." The possessive par-
ticle ' ta' is never used alone as a prefix.

85. The position of a word in a sentence and the conjugation of the verb
which follows, usually show whether it is in the nominative or objective.
Often, too, the case is rendered unmistakable by the meaning of the word
and the context.

Proper Nouns.

86. Proper names, whether of persons, domestic animals, or places, are
usually terminated with the consonant 3, if not already closed by another
consonantal sound, as t or k,

87. * s ' may be regarded as the regular sign of a proper noun. It is well
to end any proper name with s, where another terminal consonant does

♦The terms here employed for the different classes of possession, as shown by the dif-
ferent kinds of pronouns, are the beBt which, at present, present themselves ; but they do
not accurately cover all cases.

36

not interfere, but it may be omitted when, in calling a person, we accent
the last syllable of his name, when we annex the word azi to the name of
a river and occasionally under other circumstances.

88. 's' is not suffixed to the names of tribes or nations when the whole
people are referred to. Perhaps such words are not regarded as proper
nouns by this tribe ; but if the name of the tribe is used to distinguish one
member of it, and is thus employed as a proper name, it takes the terminal

«s;

89. Words temporarily employed as proper names (as terms of relation-
ship, etc.), may take the terminal s, if there would be danger of ambiguity
without it.

90. The name of a person may consist of a single word, usually a noun ;
astsatses, Eagle (the spotted eagle), motsas, Coyote, araazis, Beans.

91. Personal names are, however, more commonly compound words
formed — (1) of two nouns; as pedetskihis (pedgtska and ini) Crow-crop t
ista-uetse*s, Iron-eye; — (2) of a noun and a verb; as tsakaka-amakis, Sit-
ting-bird, danpitsi-iduhis,ifc>m0-^ar;- (3) of a noun and an adjective; as
tsesa-ftadanis, Lean-wolf, tsakok^tohiSy Blue-bird ; — (4) of a noun and ad-
verb ; as midikoa-miis, Woman-at-the-water ; — (5) of a pronoun, noun and
adjective; as itanridaki-ihotakiS, Ilte-white-timld-, — and Ift various other
ways.*

92. Names of females often begin with the word mia (wia, bia), or end
with miis (wiis), both of which mean woman. Ex. — miahopas, Medicine-
woman, miadanpitsis, Bear-woman, tsakawiis, Bird-woman, matahimiis,
Turtle-woman.

93. Localities are named from physical peculiarities or historical associ-
ations. The names of various localities known to the tribe are appended
to the dictionary.

SYNTAX OF NOUNS.

94. A noun precedes a verb, adjective, noun in apposition, or any
part of speech used as its predicate. Since there is no verb " to be" used
as in English, any word, except a conjunction or interjection, may be em-
ployed as the predicate of a noun.

* Children are named when a few days old ; sometimes four names are given, but only
one used. In after years, the names of the males are formally changed once or oftener,
the earliest change being usually made after a youth has first struck an enemy. The
names of women are rarely changed. Sometimes, if a name is long, a part of it is dropped.
Nicknames are sometimes given on account of absurd sayings, ludicrous circumstances
or personal peculiarities, and such names occasionally supplant the true ones. Young
men are sometimes named from distinguished warriors, deceased. Horses are rarely
named, but dogs very often, particularly such as are made pets by children. White men
known to the tribe are ordinarily named by these Indians from personal peculiarities ; as
" Long-neck," "Fish-eyes," "Antelope-eye," etc. Names of whites are sometimes trans-
lated, thus Pierre is rendered mis, a rock.

37

95. The name of ' the person spoken to ' commonly follows a verb in the
imperative ; but in almost all other cases a noun, whether subject or object,
stands before the verb.

96. When the names of both subject and object appear, the former usually
precedes the latter.

97. The name of the possessor precedes that of the tiling possessed.

PRONOUNS.

98. Hidatsa pronouns may be divided into four classes, namely, personal,
relative, interrogative and demonstrative.

Personal Pronouns.

99. Personal pronouns are of two kinds, simple and compound,

100. Simple, or primary, personal pronouns consist, in the singular, of
but one syllable ; they may stand alone, as separate words, but are usually
found incorporated with other words.

101. Compound personal pronouns consist of more than one syllable,
are derived from simple pronouns, and, except those in the possessive case,
are used as separate words.

102. Personal pronouns exhibit, by their different forms, their person,
number and case.

103. They have the first, second and third persons, the singular and
plural numbers, and the nominative, possessive, and objective cases.

Simple Pronouns.

104. The simple personal pronouns are five in number ; they are ma and
mi (sometimes contracted to m) for the first person, da and di (sometimes
contracted to d) for the second person, and i for the third person.

105. They stand alone when used for repetition and emphasis, but other-
wise are incorporated with other words.

106. ma (I) and da (thou) are the proper nominative forms; they are used
as the nominatives of transitive verbs, but may also be employed as the
nominatives of certain intransitive verbs which have an active sense ; as
amaki, he sits, amamaki, I sit, adamaki, you sit. They may be prefixed or
suffixed to, or inserted into verbs ; thus we have, kikidi, Tie hunts, makikidi,
1 hunt, dakikidi, you hunt ; k^tsihe, he extinguishes, katsima, I extinguish,
katsida, you extinguish; akakasi, he writes, amakakasi, 1 write, adakakasi,
you write.

107. ma (my) is used in the possessive case, prefixed to the noun denot-
ing the thing possessed, in intimate or non-transferable possession ; as in
masaki, my hand, from saki, hand; matsi, my foot, from itsi, his foot, flf 80).

38

108. mi (me), di (thee), and i (him, her, it) are prefixed to transitive
verbs to denote the object; as from kidesi, he loves, we have mikidesi, he
loves me, dikidesi, he loves iliee, ikidesi, he loves him, her or it, midakidesi,
(me thou lovesf), you love me, and dimakidesl, (thee 1 love), 1 love you,

109. mi and di are, however, used as the nominatives of such intransitive
verbs as imply only quality or state of being, and of qualifying words used
as verbs.

110. di (thy, your) and i (his, her, its, theirs) are also used in the posses-
sive case, prefixed to the name of the thing possessed, to denote non-trans-
ferable possession (T 80). Examples — disaki, your hand, isaki, his hand,
from saki, hand; ditsi, your foot, itsi, his foot (the hypothetical word "tsi "
is not used without the possessive pronouns).

111. ma and mi, daanddi, are commonly contracted, when placed before
vowels, according to orthographic rules already given (TIT 34 and 35) ; as in
makuhi, my ear, dakufti, your ear, from akuni, ear} mista, my eye, dista,
your eye, from ista, eye.

112. The possessive pronoun, i, is often omitted before words beginning
with a vowel, where possession is intimated; thusakuhi, ear, is also his or
her ear ; ista, eye, also his or her eye.

113. The plural forms of simple pronouns are not incorporated : they are
mido, plural of ma and mi ; dido, plural of da, and di, and hido, plural of i.

Compound Personal Pronouns.

114. The compound personal pronouns are formed from the simple pro-
nouns by means of suffixes. The words most readily recognizable, as of
this class, are micki, dicki and icki (with their plurals), and the possessives,
mata, dita and ita.

115. micki (1st person), dicki (2d person) and icki (3d person) are used
inan emphatic and limiting sense, and are nearly synonymous with the
English words myself thyself and himself or herself They may be used
alone, as nominatives or objectives to verbs, but are commonly repetitious,
being followed by the simple incorporated pronouns with which they agree,

116. Their plurals, used in the same way as the singular forms, are midoki
(ourselves), didoki (yourselves) and hidoki (tfiemselves).

117. m&ta (my, our), dita (thy, your) and ita (his, her, its, their) are com-
pound possessive pronouns, and are ordinarily used to indicate an acquired
or transferable possession (f f 79, 81); they are prefixed to nouns, denot-
ing the thing possessed (^ 82).

1 18. In compound words, formed of the names of possessor and possessed
with the pronoun ita, the i of ita may sometimes be dropped. See 11 36
and 84.

119. mata, dita and ita, have not separate forms for singular and plural.

120. The words matamac (1st pers.), ditamae (2d pers.) and itamac (3d

pers.), are used respectively as the equivalents of the English words, mine
or my own, thine, or thy own, and his, her\ its, their's, or his own, etc., and
also as the equivalents of the Dakota words, mitawa, nitawa and tawa.
The Hidatsa words, however, I regard not as pronouns, but as nouns
formed by prefixing the compound possessive pronouns to the noun ' mae.'
According to the usual custom with interchangeable consonants, these
words are often pronounced, " matawae " " nitawae," and " itawae."

Synopsis of Personal Pronouns.

Simple,

Singular. Plural.

fnom.,ma and mi.
1st pisrs. < poss., ma. all cases, mido.

[obj., mi.

(nom., da and di.
2d pers.^ poss., di. all cases, dido.

Lobj., di.

fnom. (1131).

3d pers. < poss. ; i. all cases, hido.

Lobj.,i.

Compound.

With 'ki' for emphasis and limitation.

Singular. Plural.

1st pers., micki. midoki.

2d pers., dickl. didoki.

3d pers., icki. hidoki.

With ( ta* to denote transferable possession.

Singular and Plural.
1st pers., mata.
2d pers., dita.
3d pers., ita.

Relative Pronouns.

121. The interrogatives tapa, what, tape, who, the formative prefix aku
and some other words are used as relative pronouns

Interrogative Pronouns.

122. Interrogative pronouns, and all other interrogative words of the
language, begin with t, which, being always followed by a vowel in these
words, has a slight sound of English th in thing.

123. tape, who, tapa, what, taka, what, to, which or where, tua, which ,
how, are the principal interrogative pronouns.

124. Their compounds, tapeitamae, wfowe * tapata, takata, tota, whither ?
todu, where? tuami, how many? etc., etc., are sometimes used as pronouns,
although considered nouns, adjectives or adverbs. The line of distinction
is often difficult to be drawn.

40

Demonstrative Pronouns.

125. The demonstrative pronouns are hidi, this, hido, that, with ku and
Se or sia, that, him, distinctive or 'emphatic forms.

126. Their compounds are hidimi, this many, hidika, this much, hiduka,
this way, kutapa, what is that? kuadu, tliat place, kutsaki, s6tsaki, that
alone, sedu, just there, etc., etc. These, like the compounds of interroga-
tive pronouns, are used as pronouns, but more commonly as other parts of
speech.

SYNTAX OF PRONOUNS.

127. AH simple pronouns in the objective case, or used separately for
emphasis, and usually all compound pronouns in any case precede the
verb.

128. Personal pronouns in the objective commonly precede those in the
nominative.

129. When mi or di is used as the nominative of an intransitive verb
(T[ 109), or of any word used as such, it stands before the verb.

130. When ma or da is used as an incorporated pronoun in the nomina-
tive (If 106), its position in the verb is usually determined as follows : (1st)
In a verb formed directly from a verbal root and beginning with any conso-
nant (except m followed by a), the pronoun is prefixed in the indicative ;
as in kikiski, he measures, makikiski, I measure, dakikSki, you measure;
patsaki, lie cuts, mapatsaki, 1 cut, dapatsaki, you cut, (2d) In a verb
formed directly from a verbal root and beginning with a vowel, or the syl-
lable ma, the pronoun is inserted in the indicative ; while the verb, if begin-
ning in the third person with i or o, is* made to begin with a in the first
and second persons. Ex. — a&adi, he steals, amasadadi, I steal, adasadadi, you
steal; maihe, lie tries, maraahe, 1 try, madahe, you try; iku'pa, he hates,
amaku'pa, lhate, adaku'pa, you hate ; odapi, he discovers, amodapi, 1 discover,
adodapi, you discover, (3d) In a transitive verb formed from an intransitive
verb by the addition of he, ha or ke, the pronoun is suffixed.

131. There is no incorporated pronoun in the third person nominative.*

132. The use of incorporated pronouns being necessary to the conjuga-
tion of verbs, they cannot be omitted when several verbs refer to the same
subject or object.

133. Incorporated possessive pronouns must be prefixed to the name
of each thing possessed, even when but one possessor is indicated.

134. A demonstrative, relative or interrogative pronoun usually stands
at the beginning of the clause to which it belongs.

135. When a relative and demonstrative pronoun appear in the same
sentence, the clause containing the former usually stands first.

* Possibly in nuihu and maihe we have exceptions to this rule. See 5 196.

41

136. Some modifications of the above rules will be discussed under the
head of verbs.

VERBS.

137. Almost any word in the language may be used and conjugated as
an intransitive verb, and may again, by certain suffixes, be changed to a
transitive verb and conjugated as such.

138. Adjectives, nouns, adverbs and prepositions are often thus treated;
pronouns, conjunctions and interjections, rarely.

139. But there is a large number of words in the language, which are
used only as verbs and are not derived from other parts of speech ; these
may be called verbs proper.

140. Many verbs proper we cannot analyze and therefore consider them
as primitive verbs. Such are ki, to bear or carry,, hu, to come, de, to depart,
eke, to know, etc.

141. Other verbs proper, which we call derivative, are formed, by the use
of certain prefixes and suffixes, from verbal roots, from primitive verbs and
from other derivative verbs.

Verbal Boots.

142. Verbal roots are not used as independent words. A great number
have been found iu the language but satisfactory meanings have been dis-
covered for a very few only, some of which are here given for illustration :
hapi, bark, peel, ne&e, tear through, hohi, break across, liu, spill, overset, kahe,
spread, stretch, kape, tear into, lacerate, kaptsi, notch, kide, push, kiti, clear
off, ktade, pound in, peg, midi, twist, mitsi, mince, mu, make noise, mudsi,
roll up, papi, roughen, chap, pi, penetrate, phu, or pnuti, squeeze or press out,
pkiti, smooth out (? fr. kiti), psu, dislocate, ptsu or ptsuti, thrust forth, sipi,
loosen,j$k\, open out, sku, extract, suki, erase, ta, destroy, taki, place in con-
tact, shut, tapi, squeeze, tsa, separate, tsada, slide, tsa'ti, stick, polish, tsiti, raze t
tski, squeeze on a small surface from different directions, shear, strangle, etc. ,
tskipi, pare, tskise, wash, tskupi, bend. Some of these may be modified
roots, containing something more than the simplest radical idea, but could
not be well further analyzed,

143. Some of the prefixes and suffixes referred to are independent words,
but many of them are used only when connected with verbs. Some are to
be regarded as adverbs, others perhaps as auxiliary verbs.

Prefixes.

144. The more important prefixes, whose meanings have been determined,
are ada, ak, da, dak, du, ki, mak, and pa.

145. * ada' immediately precedes the root, and denotes that the action is
performed by the foot, or by means of heat or fire ; as in adahoni, to break

6

42

across with the foot, from ftolri, break across; and adakite, to clear off by fire \
as iu burning a prairie, from the root kite, clear off.

146. * ak ' denotes that the action is performed with or on something ; as
aksue, to spit on, from sue, to spit.

147. * da ' denotes that the action is done, or may properly be done, with
the mouth ; it stands immediately before the root, and is often pronounced
1 ra * or * la.* Ex.— datsa, to bite off, from tsa, separate; dahese, to tear with
the teeth, from the root nese, tear,

148. 'dak' (or daka) stands immediately before a root or verb to denote
that the action is performed with a sudden forcible impulse, or with great
force applied during a short time, and usually repeated at short intervals; as in
daktsaki, to chop, from tsaki, cut; dakahohi,'to break across with a blow, from
the root nohi, break across, n is often used as the initial sound of this prefix.

149. ' du' is prefixed to roots, to convert them into verbs, without mate-
rially adding to their significance ; it may be said to denote general or inde-
finite causation; is sometimes pronounced ru or lu. Ex; — duhohi, to break
across in any way or by any means, from nohi break across; dumidi, to twist
in any way, from the root midi, twist.

150. ' ki y is sometimes added directly to verbal roots, but more commonly
to verbs. It may be added to any verb, no matter how formed, and is the
most extensively used verbal prefix in the language. It intensifies the
meaning; denotes that the action is done forcibly, repeatedly, completely,
with difficulty or over the entire object. Sometimes it merely strengthens,
without altering the meaning of the verb; in other cases it totally changes
its application. Some verbs are never used without it. Ex. — daftpa, to put
the arms around, kidanpa, to hug; pati, to fall down, kipati, to fall from a great
height. The words kime, to tell, and kidesi, to love, have not simpler forms.

151. * mak ' (or maki) is prefixed to verbs to denote opposition or recip-
rocity ; that the action is performed by two contending parties, that the
motion is from opposite directions, that two actors mutually and recipro-
cally perform the action ; thus from pataki, to close, comes makipataki, to
close anything which has both sides moved in the act, as a book or a pocket
comb, and from iku'pa, to hate, makiiku'pa, to hate mutually, to hate one
another.

152. ( pa' is a causative prefix denoting that the action is done by the
hand, or by an instrument held in the hand, or that it may be properly so
performed. It stands immediately before roots and primitive verbs.
Ex. — panu, to pour with the hand> from fiu, spill; pamidi, to twist with the
hand from midi, twist.

Suffixes.

153. The principal suffixes to verbs are adsi, adui, de, he, ha, ke, ksa
and ti, with duk and tok for the subjunctive, di, diha,mi and miha for the
future indicative, and ts for the closing of sentences.

43

154. * adsi* denotes a resemblance or approach to the standard described
by the simpler form of the verb ; it is most commonly, however, used with
adjectives, rarely with verbs proper (T 222). Ex.— mitapa, to lie, to deceive,
mitapadsi to equivocate.

155. 'adui' denotes progression and incompleteness in action on condi-
tion ; it answers sometimes the purpose of the English termination ing in
present participles. Verbs ending in ' adui ' are intransitive and usually pre-
ceded by ■ ki.' Ex. — titsi, thick, titsadui, or kititsadui, gradually increasing
in thickness; isia, bad, isiadui, deteriorating, to become progressively worse.

156. Verbs lose their final vowels when * adsi ' and ' adui ' are suffixed.

157. 'de' maybe translated, almost, nearly, about to, and denotes an
incomplete action or condition. It is added to, and forms, intransitive verbs.
Ex. — tsipiti, to fall upon the water, to be in a condition to sink, tsipitide to be
about to fatly or nearly falling, on the water.

158. 'he/ signifying generally to make or cause, changes some intransi-
tive verbs, and words used as such , to transitive. Verbs take it in the third
person indicative, but rarely retain it in the first person; while in the
second person indicative, and in the imperative, it is dropped or changed
to * ha.' The incorporated pronouns are suffixed to verbs formed by the
addition of l he,' which suffix they sometimes follow, but more commonly
replace. Ex. — komi, complete, finished, komihe, he finishes, komima, I finish,
komida, you finish, komihada, finish thou!

159. ' ha ' is the form of * he ' used in' the second person.

160. * ke/ signifying to cause, to change, to use for, is added to intransi-
tive verbs, to form transitive verbs. It is more extensive in its application
than ' he ' and may be added to any of the numerous words of the language
which are capable of being used as intransitive verbs. It is retained in all
persons, tenses and modes, and followed by the incorporated pronouns.
When ■* ke' is suffixed, the verb is most commonly put in the intensive form,
The more familiar instances, only, of its use are given in the dictionary. Ex.
hisi, red, hisike, to dye or color red, dyed red; isia, bad, isiake, to make bad,
change from good to bad, damaged, debased, kiisiake, (intensive), he damages^
kiisiakema, 1 damage, kiisiakeda, you damage; ati, a house, kiatike, to use

for a dwelling, or convert into a dwelling ; midi, water, kimidike, to liquefy,

161. * ksa' denotes that an action is performed habitually or excessively,
or that a quality exists to a great or excessive degree; it is used with verbs
proper and adjectives. Ex. — mitapa, to lie or deceive, mitapaksa, to liehabitu-
ally or excessively; ide, to speak, ideksa, to speak garrulously or unguardedly^
to say too much. (^[ 227)

162. * ti,' denoting a favorable condition or readiness to perform an act,
it is added to intransitive verbs, forming new intransitive verbs. Ex. — hua,
to cough, huati, to be about to cough, to feel a desire to cough; haftpi, to sneeze,
hahpicti, to desire to sneeze; tsipi, to sink, tsipiti, to fall upon the water, to be
placed in a condition favorable for sinking.

44

163. * duk,' used alone as an adverb of future time, is suffixed to subjoined
verbs, to denote doubt or condition in regard to future time, and is there-
fore equivalent to a sign of the subjunctive mode in the future tense. Ex.
miadeheduk ditamamits, If lam angered^ IwiU kill you.

164. ' tok/ an adverb used to denote doubt and interrogation, is usually
used independently, but may be suffixed to verbs to indicate the past and
present tense of the subjunctive mode; as in madetok diamakatats, had I
gone I would not have seen you.

165. *di'(2d person singular), diha (2d person plural), * mi' (1st person
singular) and * miha ' (1st person plural) denote the future tense, indicative
mode, and may follow any verb which takes ma and da for its incorporated,
nominative pronouns. They have the appearance of being only repeated
pronouns, but are probably different forms of a regularly conjugated, aux-
iliary verb.

166. A verb, or any word used as such, in the indicative mode, when
closing a sentence, and therefore when standing alone and forming a sen-
tence by itself, is terminated in ' ts,' if in other situations it ends in a vowel
(If 33). By comparison of this with previous rules, it will be seen that a
large majority of the words of the language are capable of receiving this
termination. In the conjugations following, some of the verbs are shown
with the terminal 'ts' (11 193, 195).

167. ta ' (not), and ta (only), are often pronounced as if suffixed ; they
are regarded, however, as independent adverbs.

168. There are verbs which are heard to end sometimes in ' i ' and some-
times in ' e,' and apparently when a passive sense is meant by the former
and an active by the latter. Owing, however, to the indistinct manner in
which final vowels are so often pronounced, and to certain individual lib-
erties taken with vowel sounds, the value of this peculiarity, as a gram-
matical rule, cannot now be estimated. A few words, where this change
of terminal vowels was often heard, are given in both forms in the dictionary.

169. Many verbs ending in i or e change these letters to a in the second
person indicative and also in the imperative when the final i or e is not
dropped.

Properties of Verbs.

Person.

170. The first and second persons are shown by the incorporated pro-
nouns, * ma ' and ' mi ' for the former, * da ' and * di * for the latter. The
third person is shown by the simple form of the verb.

Number.

171. In the conjugation of the verb number is indicated only in the
future indicative, where 'mi' and 'di' are used in the singular, for the
first and second persons respectively, and * miha' and ' diha ' in the plural.
See If 165.

45

Mode.

172. Three modes only, the infinitive, indicative and imperative, are shown
in the conjugations of verbs. The subjunctive and potential are indicated
by adverbs or additional verbs.

Infinitive,

173. The infinitive mode is the same as the third person indicative, the
simple form of the verb. It is, however, rarely used, finite verbs being
employed instead ; thus " I try to cough " is more frequently rendered
mahua mamahets, 1 cough, 1 try than hua mamahets, to cough 1 try.

174. In the third person no distinction is made between the infinitive
and indicative ; thus hua maihets may be rendered either to cough he tries
or lie coughs he tries.

Indicative.

175. The simple form of the verb is used as the third person indicative.
For the first and second persons this is modified by the incorporated pro-
nouns; and for the future tense, as shown in pars. 165 and 171,

Imperative.

176. The imperative mode has five forms.

177. The first consists in using the same form as the second person in-
dicative ; this is done mostly in verbs which have the incorporated pro-
nouns suffixed.

178. The second is made by changing final * i * or ' e * of the infinitive to
1 a,' or using an infinitive ending in a or u.

179. The third is formed by dropping the final T of verbs ending in

* ki ' and sometimes of those ending in * ti,' thus we have amak, impera-
tive of amaki.

180. In the fourth form the auxiliary 'da' is added to the\second form
of the imperative; it is usually, but not invariably, placed after the verb.

* da' seems to be a form of the verb de, to depart, meanings thou!

181. The fifth form of the imperative mode is made by adding * diha *
instead of * da/

182. The fourth and fifth forms are used when immediate compliance
with the order is desired.

Tense.

183. But two distinctions, in regard to time, are made in conjugating
verbs : one of these is for indefinite, the other fox future time.

184. Other varieties of time are expressed by adverbs, suffixed or inde-
pendent, or by other words used independently.

185. The indefinite tense, used for both present and past time, is shown by
the simple form of the verb, with or without the incorporated pronouns.

40

186. For the future tense, indicative mode, ' mi' and 'miha' are added to
the indefinite, for the first person, and ' di' and ' diha ' for the second per-
son ; in the third person the form is the same as in the indefinite.

Conjugation.

187. All transitive and some intransitive verbs are properly conjugated,
having different forms for the different modes and tenses.

188. The greater part of the intransitive verbs, and words used as such,
are not properly conjugated, since they suffer no change of form in the dif-
ferent modes and tenses

189. The verbs which are conjugated, may be known by taking ma (I),
and da (thou) for their incorporated pronouns in the nominative; while
those which are not conjugated, have the pronouns mi and di incorporated
in the nominative case.

Conjugated Verbs.

190. The conjugation has three principal forms. In the first form the
pronouns are prefixed; in the second, inserted ; and in the third, suffixed.

191. In adding the pronouns, however, some additional changes are made
in the verb, producing in all ten varieties of the conjugation.

192. In the first variety the incorporated pronouns are simply prefixed
to the third person, or simple form of the verb ; while the latter remains
unchanged. Example. — kidSsi, to love, or he loves.

Infinitive Mode.
kie*sdi, to love.

Indicative Mode.

Indefinite Tense.
Singular and Plural.
3d person. kide*si, he, she, or it loves or lored, they love or loved.
2d person. dakide"si, thou lovest, you lore or loved:
1st per so n. makide'si, I ox toe love or loved,

Future Tense.
Singular.
3d person. kide"si, he site or it will love.
2d person. dakedSsidi, thou wilt love.
1st person. makide*simi, I will love.

Plural,
3d person. kid£si, they will love.
2d person. dakide*sidiha, you will love.
1st person. inakidSsimiha, we toill love.

Imperative Mode.
kidCsa, kidesada, kidCsadihu, love thou, love yc.

47

193. In the second variety the first letter of the simple form is dropped
when the pronouns are prefixed, and the pronouns are contracted to 'm'
and ' d.* The words belonging to this variety are not numerous; they all
begin with * d,' and consequently in the indicative mode, indefinite tense,
the forms of the first and third persons are the same. Ex. — duti, to eat, to
chew.

Infinitive Mode.
duti, to chew, or eat

Indicative Mode.

Indefinite Tense,

Singular and Plural.

(without terminal ts.) (with terminal ts.)

3d person, duti, he eats, etc., duttts.

2d person, duti, you eat, etc., dutlts.

1st person, inuti, 1 eat, etc., mutlts.

Fhcture tense.
Singular.
3d person, duti, he will eat, etc., dutlts.

2d person, dutidi, thou wilt eat dutidlts,

1st person, mutimi, 1 will eat mutimlts.

Plural.

3d person, duti, they will eat. dutlts.

2d person, dutidiha, you will eat. dutidihats

1st person, mutimiha, we will eat. mutimihats.

dut

Imperative.
da' dut, etc.

eat, eat thou.

194; The third variety of the conjugation has the pronouns prefixed to
the unaltered simple form ; but the letter * a Ms in turn prefixed to the pro-
nouns, causing them to appear inserted in the verb ; further, the pronouns
are contracted by the omission of their vowels. Most verbs beginning
with ' o ' belong to this variety. Ex. — okipapi, to find, to recover something
lost, but not to make an original discovery.

Infinitive Mode.
okipapi, to find.

Indicative Mode.

Indefinite Tense.

Sing, and Plur.

Zd pers. okipapi, he } she or it finds, or found or they, etc.

2d pers. adokipapi, you find or found.

1st pers. amokipapi, /or we find or found.

48

Future Tense.
Singular.
3d pers. okipapi, he, she, or it will find,
2d pers. adokipapidi, thou wilt find,
lstpers. amokipapimi, 1 will find.

Plural.
3d pers. okipapi, they will find.
2d pers. adokipapidiha, you will find,
lstpers. amokipapimiha, we will find.

Imperative Mode.
okipapa, okipapa da', okipapa diha,

195. In the fourth variety the incorporated pronouns are inserted in the
verb by being placed immediately after the first syllable of the simple form ;
while no change is made in the latter except the separation of the syllables.
Verbs conjugated thus have ' a * or * e ' for their first syllables. Ex. — dke,
to know, to recognize.

Infinitive Mode,
eke, to know.

Indefinite Tense.
Sing, and Plur.
(without terminal * ts.')
3d pers. eke, he y etc. knows or knew.
2d pers. edake, you know or knew.
1st pers. emake I know or knew.

Future Tense.
Singular.

(with terminal * ts.')
ekets.
edakets.
emakfets.

3d pers. eke, he, etc., will know.

ekets.

2d pers. edakedi, thou wilt know.

edakedlts.

1st pers. emakemi, 1 will know.

emakemtts.

Plural.

3d pers. eke, tliey will know.

ekSts.

2d pers. edakediha, you will know.

edakedihats.

\stpers. emakemiha, we will know.

emakemihats.

Imperative Mode.
eka, eka da', eka diha.

196. To the fifth variety belong verbs beginning with ' ma/ In it the
incorporated pronouns come after the first syllable, and are substituted for

49

the second syllable of the simple form, which is, therefore, changed by the
loss of a syllable. Ex. — mafhu, to trade, to buy.

Infinitive Mode.
maihu, to trade.

Indicative Mode.

Indefinite Tense.
Singular and Plural.
3d pers. maihu, he or she trades or traded, tliey, etc.
2d pers. madahu, you trade or traded.
1st pers. mamahu, lor we trade or traded.

Future Tense.

Singular.

3d pers. maihu, he or she will trade.

2d pers. madahudi, thou wilt trade.

1st pers. mamahumi, I will trade.

Plural.
Zdpers. maihu, they will trade,
fid pers. madahudiha, you wUl trade.
1st pers. mamahumiha, we will trade.

Imperative Mode.
madahu da', maihu da\

197. In the sixth variety the incorporated pronouns are inserted in the
same way as in the fourth ; but the syllable ' da ' is inserted, in the first and
second persons, immediately before the last syllable of the verb. This extra
interpolated syllable does not seem to answer the purpose of either pro-
noun, adverb or auxiliary; its utility has not been discovered, as&di, to
steal, at6di, to go out of a Muse, and perhaps a few other verbs are conju-
gated in this way.

Infinitive Mode.
aSadi, to steal.

Indicative Mode.
Indefinite Tense.

Singular and Plural.
Zd pers. asadi, he or slie steals or stole, they steal, or stole.
2d pers. adasadadi, you steal or stole.
1st pers. amasadadi, I or we steal or stole.

Future Tense.
Singular.
Zdpers. asadi, lie or she will steal.
2d pers. adasadadidi, tlwu wilt steal.
1st pers. amasadadimi, 1 will steal.
7

50

Plural.
M pers. asadi, they will steal.
2d pers. adasadadidiha, you will steal
1st pers. amasadadimiha, we will steal.

Imperative Mode.
asada da', asada dlha.

198. To the seventh variety belong verbs beginning in * i ' (not the in-
corporated pronoun of the third person objective). Here the incorporated
pronouns are inserted, but * i * is changed to * a.' Ex. — f ka, to see.

Infinitive Mode .
ika, to see.

Indicative Mode.
Indefinite Tense.

Singular and Plural.
3d pers. ika, Ae-or she sees or saw, they see or saw.
2d pers. adaka, you see or saw.
1st pers. amaka, lor we see or saw.

Future Tense.

Singular.

3d pers. ika, he or she will see.

2d pers. adakadi, thou wilt see.

1st pers. amakami, I will see.

Plural.
3d pers. ika, they will see.
2d pers. adakadiha, you mil see.
1st pers. amakamiha, we will see.

Imperative Mode.
ika, ika da', ika diha.

Besides these, ika has a reduplicated form in the imperative, used in an
exclamatory manner, ikaka I See there / Behold /

199. The eighth variety is distinguished by the incorporated pronouns
of the nominative being substituted for the last syllable of the infinitive
form. Nearly all transitive verbs formed from intransitive verbs by the
suffix ( he' belong to the eighth variety. Ex. — hapihe', to lose.

Infinitive Mode.
Rapine, to lose.

51

Indicative Mode.
Indefinite Tense.

Singular and Plural.
3d pers. Rapine, he or she loses or lost, or they lose or lost.
2d pers. Rapida, you lose or lost.
1st pers. Rapima, 1 lose or lost, or we lose or lost.

Future Tense.

Singular.

3d pers. Rapine, he will lose.

2d pers. R^pidadi, thou wilt lose,

1st pers. Rapimami, I will lose.

Plural.
3d pers. napihe, they will lose.
2d pers. Rapidadiha, you will lose.
1st pers. Rapiinamiba, we will lose.

Imperative Mode.
ftapida, da' Rapida, hapiliada,

200. The ninth variety is the same as the eighth, with the addition of
the simple possessive pronouns, in full or contracted, prefixed to the verb.
In this variety are found but lew verbs ; they are formed from nounB by the
addition of the suffix ' he' ; they undergo a double inflection, one to denote
possession of the noun, and the other to show person, tense, etc., in the
verb. Ex. — uahe, to make or cause to be a wife, to wed, from ua, a wife.
uahe in its active sense, or used personally, is said of the male.

Infinitive Mode.
uahe, to make a wife, to wed.

Indicative Mode.
Indefinite Tense.

Singular and Plural.
3d pers* uahe, he makes his wife, he or tiwy wed or wedded, etc.
2d pers. duada, you make your wife or wives, you wed, or wedded, etc.
1st pers. muama, I make my wife, lor we wed, etc.

Future Tense.
Singular.
3d pers. uahe, he will make his wife, or wed.
2d pers. duadadi, thou wilt make thy wife, or wed.
1st pers. muainami, I will make my wife, or wed.

52

Plural.
3d pers. uahe, they will make their wives, or wed.
2d pers. duadadiha, you will make your wives, etc.
1st pers. muamamiha, we will make our wives, or wed.

Imperative Mode.
duada, duaha da', duaha diba.

201. In the tenth variety the pronouns are suffixed to the simple form,
which in itself remains unchanged. Transitive verbs formed from the intran-
sitive by the addition of * ke ' are conjugated in this way. Ex.— kitsakf ke, to
render completely good, to make whole or sound, to change from bad to good,
etc, from tsaki, good.

Infinitive Mode.

kitsakike, to make good.

Indicative Mode.

Indefinite Tense.

Sing, and Plur.
3d pers. kitsakike, he she it or tliey make or made good.
2d pers. kitsakikeda, you make or made good.
1st pers. kitsakikema, /or we make or made good.

Future Tense.
Singular.
3d pers. kitsakike, he she or it will make good.
2d pers* kitsakikedadi, thou wilt make good.
\st pers. kitsakikemami, 1 will make good.

Plural.
3d pers. kitsakike, they will make good.
2d pirs. kitsakikedadiha, you will make good.
1st pers. kitsakikemamiha, we will make good.

Imperative Mode.
kitsakikeda, kitsakike diha.

Unconjugated Verbs.

203. All adjectives, adverbs, nouns, etc., used as predicates of nouns are
regarded as intransitive verbs; there being nocopula in the language. These
intransitive verbs, and such others as denote only quality or condition, suffer
no change of form to denote different modes and tenses. They may, how-
ever, take the incorporated pronouns ' mi ' and * di ' for their nominatives.

53

203. These pronouns are prefixed. To verbs beginning with consonants
they are usually prefixed in full. Ex. — Me*, old, to be old.

hie, he she or it is or was old, they are or were old.
dihie, thou art or wert old, you are or were old.
mihie, 1 am or was old, we are or were old.

204. Before verbs beginning with vowels, the pronouns are often con-
tracted. Ex. — adanise, to be ignorant.

adaftise, he is or was ignorant^ they are or were ignorant

dadahise, thou art or wert ignorant, etc.

madaftise, lam or was ignorant or we were ignorant, etc.

205. Transitive verbs in the third person, or used in a passive sense or
impersonally, with pronouns in the objective case prefixed, have the same
appearance as the unconjugated intransitive verbs, except that for the third
person the objective pronoun 'i' is used; thus from, ah6a, to conceal, we
have

iaftoa, he conceals it % or it is concealed.
dianoa, he conceals you t or you are concealed.
miahoa, he conceals me, or lam concealed.

Irregular and Defective Verbs.

206. There are a few irregular and defective verbs in the language of
which the following are examples.

207. hi, to draw into the mouth, to drink or inhale, may, with terminal
1 ts,' be conjugated thus,

1. hits, Ivc drinks or drank or will drink, they drink y etc.

2. dats, you drink or drank.

3. mats, 1 drink or drank.

4. dadits, you will drink.

5. mamits, J will drink.

Here, in the fourth and fifth forms, there are (with the terminal) but the
pronouns and signs of the future tense, and in the second and third forms,
only the pronouns.

208. matu, there is or there are, has no other form.

209. muk (sometimes pronounced as the English word book) signifies
u give me. ,} It may be an irregular imperative of the verb ku, to give, but
is more probably a defective verb.

Compound Verbs (so called).

210. Sometimes two verbs are used together to express an idea for which
there is no single word in the language. When both verbs are in the third
person indicative, or when one is in the infinitive, they often appear to us

54

as a single word, particularly if their English equivalent is a single word ;
but when conjugated, it is found that each assumes its own proper form,
the same as if used independently. Ex. — akhu , to bring, consists of ak to be
with, and hu, to come. This when inflected appears as two separate words,
one in the second, the other iu the first conjugation, thus : ak-hu, he brings,
dak-dahu, you bring, mak-mahu, I bring, dak-dahudi, you will bring ', mak-
mahumi, 1 will bring, etc.

211. Again, a noun and a verb may be used together to express an idea
for which there is no single word in the language ; thus from hi, to draw
into the mouth, we have ope-hi, to draw tobacco into the mouth, i. e., to
smoke, and midi-hi, to draw water into the mouth or drink.

212. Some expressions, such as these, are, for convenience of definition,
put in the dictionary as ' compound verbs.'

SYNTAX OF VERBS.

213. Almost all sentences are closed by verbs or words used as such ; the
principal exception being where interrogative adverbs are used to qualify
an entire sentence.

214. When a verb denoting quality or condition, and another denoting
action, are used in the same sentence with a common subject, the former
precedes the latter ; or, in other words, conjugated verbs commonly follow
unconjugated verbs.

Verbs in the infinitive usually precede those in the indicative.

215. Any word used alone, with the terminal ts, in answer to a question
may form a sentence by itself, for it is used as a verb in the simple form
where a personal pronoun of the third person is understood to be in the
nominative.

216. lit this language, as in other languages, "active transitive verbs
govern the objective case." It might be said that all transitive verbs govern
the objective case for the existence of a passive form is questionable fl[ 168).
When an objective pronoun is followed by the simple form of a transitive
verb, the latter may be parsed as in the third person indicative ; although
in translating the expression into English, a verb in the passive voice may
be used.

217. Other points connected with the syntax of the verb have been re-
ferred to in the discussion of the etymology.

ADJECTIVES.

218. There are certain intransitive verbs in the Hidatsa, which are used in
the same sense as the adjectives of European languages, and maybe trans-
lated by them. For the convenience of the English student, these verbs
will be called adjectives and described as such.

55

219. There are a large number of the adjectives, which we cannot ana-
lyze with our present knowledge of the language, and which may be called
primitive.

220. Derivative adjectives are formed from primitive adjectives, from
other derivatives, from nouns, adverbs, etc., by forming compound words,
or by the use of suffixes having the force of adverbs.

221. The force of the adjective is modified by the adverbial suffixes and
also by adverbs used independently, as shown in the following paragraphs.

222. 'adsi' is suffixed to denote an approach to the standard quality,
or positive degree, as indicated by the simple form of the adjective; thus
from hisi, red, scarlet, comes hisadsi, of a dull red color, crimson or purple.
(1 154).

223. ' isa', or * ise', is of much the same signification as ' adsi', but some-
times applied differently ; it signifies, like or resembling. Ex. — Fromtohi,
blue, sky blue, comes tohisa, of an impure or uncertain blue, bluish; from sipi
black,, comes sipisa, resembling black, i. e., of a deep color hardly to be dis-
tinguished from black. ( adsi * may follow * ise ' to denote a wider variation
from the standard quality.

224. *de' is a suffix, which may be translated almost or nearly. Ex. —
kakini, round, kakinide, almost round; tsamutsi, straight, tsainutside,
almost straight.

225. * di ' increases the signification of the adjective to which it is suffixed ;
its use is not very extended ; it seems to be suffixed only to words of three
syllables, ending with ' i ' and accented on the penult. Ex. — pad6pi, shorty
low sized, padopidi, very short; tamutti, minute^ tamuhidi, very minute.

226. tsifki, good, takes as an increased or intensified form, tsakicti, which
may be a compound of tsaki and ictia, great, tsakicti, commonly takes the
suffix 'di'; thus, tsakictidi denotes a very high degree of excellence.

227. * ksa' denotes that the quality exists excessively, habitually or con-
tinuously. Ex. — isia, &ad,isu£ksa, very bad, persistently bad. Seepar. 161.

228. ka'ti, much, true, truly, is a word used independently as an adjective
and adverb. As an adverb it is used to limit the significance of adjectives
to the true or standard qualities; as in hisi-ka'ti, true red, bright red, isia-
ka'ti, truly bad, unqualifiedly bad.

229. When two nouns are compared together in regard to quality, and
either one used as the standard of comparison for the other, the expressions
itad6tadu and ita6kadu are used. The former means at the near side of it,
and indicates the less degree; the latter signifies on the far side of it or
beyond it, and indicates the greater degree. These expressions give us
more nearly the equivalents of the comparative degree of English than any
thing else in the Hidatsa.

230. An adjective may be formed of a noun and an adjective. Ex. —
From mikef, grass, and tohisa, bluish, comes mikh\6his&, green {grass-bluish).

56

231 Some adjectives are compounds of two other adjectives, as tsidisipi,
bay, from tsidi, yeUow and sipi, black.

Numerals

232. The Hidatsa system of numeration is strictly decimal, consequently
there need not be more than ten primitive numeral adjectives.

233. There are, however, not more than eight, these eight are

duetsa (or luetsa), one, kftiu, five,

d6pa (or nopa), two, ak&ma (or akawa), six,

dami (or nawi), three, s&pua, seven, and

t6pa,/<?wr, pitika, ten.

234. dopapi, eight, is a compound of dopa, two, and pi, (which seems to
be the root of pitika); it probably signifies ten less two.

235. duetsapi, nine, is a compound of duetsa, one, and pi, and seems to
mean ten less one.

236. Multiples of ten, less than one hundred, are named on the same
principle as in English ; thus we have

dopapitika (two tens), twenty, akamaapitika, sixty,

d&miapitika, thirty, sapuapitika, seventy,

topapitika,/<?rtfy, dtfpapiapitika, eighty, and

kihuapitika, fifty, duetsapiapitika, ninety.

It will be seen that the first word of each of these compounds, if not or-
dinarily ending in a is made to do so in this connection, and that the accent
is sometimes removed.

237. The word for one hundred, pitakictf a, signifies great ten. The term
for one thousand is, pit akictia-dkakodi,— the meaning of akakodi, I know
not.

238. Numbers over ten, but not multiples often, are named by the addi-
tion of the word ahpi (portioned ; apart or division), thus :

aftpiduetsa, eleven, dopapitika-ahpiduetsa, twenty-one,

ahpidopa, twelve, dopapitika-anpid6pa, twenty-two,

anpid&mi, thirteen, d&miapitika-ahpidami, thirty-three,

ahpitopa, fourteen, topapitika-anpit6pa, forty-four, etc.

239 With the exception of the word for first, itsika, the ordinals are
formed by prcfi xing ' i ' to the cardinal numbers ; thus, we have idopa, second,
idami, third, itopa, /ourtA, etc.

SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES.

240. Adjectives usually immediately follow the nouns or pronouns which
they qualify.

241. Qualifying words are often seen used as nouns or pronouns; this is
particularly the case with numeral adjectives, and such words as ahu,
many, etsa, all, iha, other, kausta,/e«>, etc.

57

ADVERBS.

&t2. There are adverbs which are apparently primitive, as ta, not, duk,
whe^ tia, a long time, etc. Many primitive adverbs are used as suffixes, as
already shown when describing verbs and adjectives.

243. A large number of adjectives are used as adverbs, without under-
going any change of form. When primitive adjectives are thus used, they
appear as primitive adverbs. Ex.— sua, slow, slowly, hita, fleet, fleetly, a'tsa,
near, tisa,/ar.

244. Derivative adverbs are formed from nouns, from demonstrative and
interrogative pronouns, from adjectives and from other adverbs.

24$. A large number of adverbs of place are formed from nouns by suf-
fixing the prepositions (postpositions), du, ha, ka, koa, and ta ; thus from
dum&ta, the middle, we have dumatadu, in or through the middle, dum&tana,
toward the middle, dumataka, on tfie middle, duin&takoa, at the middle, and
dumfi,tata, facing the middle, or in the direction of the middle.

246 s Words formed thus (1" 245), might be regarded as merely nouns in
the objective, with their governing prepositions; but they are pronounced
and used as if belonging to the same class of words as the English adverbs
icindivard and forward. Since every noun in the language is capable of
taking ne or more of these postpositions, the number of adverbs of this
character is very great.

247. From nouns, adverbs of time are formed by suffixing * du f , * duk'
and ( &edu* ; the first of these means in or during any time, the second in
or during future time, the third, in or during past time; thus from m&ku,
night, we have makudu, during the night, nightly, m&kuduk, during the
coming night, "to-night" makusedu, during the past night or "last night-"
from oktsia, meaning also night, we have oktsisedu, oktsiadu and oktsiaduk ;
from ata daylight or dawn, we have ataduk, to-morrow, etc.

248. From pronouns, adverbs are formed in much the same way as from
nouns ; thus from the demonstrative * se ' we have sedu, in that time or

place, sekoa, at that place, just there, seta, in that direction, and from the
interrogative * to ' we have t6ta, whither, t6du and t6ka, where, wherein,
whereat.

249. When adjectives arc used as adverbs, the same suffixes, to modify
their force and meaning, are used in the one case as in the other. Adjec-
tives which can denote the manner of performing the action are those
chiefly used as adverbs.

250. Adverbs are formed from numeral adjectives by suffixing to the
names of the cardinal numbers ' du ' and the compound preposition
*tsakoa'; thus we have dopadu, at two times or on two occasions, twice,
d&uiidu, thrice, topadu, four times, and also dopatsakoa, at or in two places,
d&mitsakoa, at or in three places, t6patsakoa, in four places, etc.

8

58

251. From ordinals, adverbs are formed by the addition of'du'; thus,
Itsikadu, in the first place or order \ firstly >, id6padu, in the second place or
order \ secondly y idamidu, thirdly, itopadu, fourthly, etc.

252. In adverbs of time, formed by adding to nouns ' du\ * duk ' and
* sedu ' as indicated in par. 247, the numeral adjectives are inserted between
the noun and the adverbial suffix in the manner and for the purpose here
indicated ; thus from 6ktsi or 6ktsia, night:

oktsiadu, during the night.

oktsidopadu, during two nights,

oktsit6padu, during four nights.

oktsfaduk, during the coming night or to-night.

oktsldopaduk, two nights hence, or during the night after next

oktsid&miduk, three nights hence.

oktsit6paduk,/<n/r nights hence.

oktsfsedu, last night, during last night.

oktsid6pasedu, night before last, two nights ago.

oktsit6pasedu,/0«r nights ago.

253. Adverbs formed from nouns are often used as nouns ; thus 6taduk,
during to-morrow or to-morrow, oktsfsedu, during last night, or last night,
ad^sedu, during last summer \ or last summer.

254. Adverbs are used as predicates to nouns, and in this position, there
being no copula, fill the office of intransitive verbs.

255. " Adverbs qualify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs" as in other
languages.

256. Adverbs usually precede the words which they qualify ; but ka'ti,
much, or truly, ta, not, ta, only, and the interrogative tok, more commonly
follow the words they qualify.

PREPOSITIONS.

257. ak (If 146) which is prefixed to verbs, and du,in or during, ha, toward,
ka, in, koa, at, ta, in the direction of facing, which are suffixed to nouns
(1 245) to form adverbs, fill more fully the office of prepositions than any-
thing else in the language. They are not, however, used as independent
words ; and, from the position which they occupy in regard to nouns, would
be more properly called postpositions.

258. aka, on, and api, with, are perhaps to be regarded as independent or
separate prepositions.

259. There are many adverbs which answer the purpose of prepositions
and maybe translated by the English prepositions. Adverbs formed from
nouns which are the names of place, belong particularly to this class ; thus
from mikta, the bottom, comes miktftkoa, below and mikt&ta, down; from
toaho, the interior, amahtfka, within or in; from at&si, all out of doors, ata-
sikoa, out.

59

260. Prepositions, separate and incorporated, and ail adverbs used as
prepositions follow the nouns which they govern.

261. When incorporated, they may be found suffixed to the nouns which
they govern, or prefixed to the verbs which follow ; but in either case they
come, of course, after the noun.

CONJUNCTIONS.

262. There are two words which are possibly simple conjunctions, they
are Isa, and, also, and duma, bitt.

263. Other words used in joining words and sentences, perform also the
duties of adverbs and prepositions, and are properly to be classed as such.

264. Conjunctions commonly stand between the words, clauses or sen-
tences which they connect.

INTERJECTIONS.

265. There are not many words which are purely exclamatory or interjec-
tional ; a large number of the words, which are used as interjections, being
verbs.

266. The following words, however, cannot be well analyzed, and may
be regarded as true interjections :

ii\oh! expressing pain or astonishment and commonly preceding a sen-
tence,

ihe" ! there now / docs that satisfy you ? etc,

ki ! is used in doubt and astonishment.

hidi 1 used by children when teased ; perhaps from the demonstrative
pronoun hidi.

hukahSI used by men to express surprise and delight; as, when much
game is killed at a volley, etc,

tsakak' ! an expression of disgust and impatience, may be a derived word.

Matthews, Washington, 1843-1905
Grammar and dictionary of the language of the Hidatsa.

English and Hidatsa

Reprint. Originally published: New York: Cramoisy
Press, 1873. (Shea's American linguistics, Ser. II
no. 1-2)

1. Hidatsa language — Grammar. 2. Hidatsa language —
Dictionaries — English. 3. English language — Dictionaries
—Hidatsa. I. Title.

PM1331.M4 1984 497'.5 76-44080

ISBN 0-404-05787-4