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Show HINTS AND EXPLANATIONS. 67 particles will compensate the student for all the pains it may cost him, for in it he will be brought very near the ultimate roots of the language. To the former class- characteristic particles- belong all the grammatical machinery for energizing and individualizing the activity of the verb, making it intensive, frequentative, causative, possessive, leciprocal, dubitative, simulative, representative, etc.- for designating the manner of acting or of being, and sometimes the instrument or agency by which the act is performed. The nature and office of these characteristics may be shown by a few examples from the Massachusetts- Algonkin, the Sioux- Dakota, and the Choctaw ;* but of their number and variety in any language no adequate conception can be had without study of the language itself. In the Massachusetts ( as written by Eliot) - uhk or whk interposed between the root and the formative denotes continued and progressive action-" to go on" doing: pet- aii, " he puts ( or is put) into" petVHK- au, " he goes into"; assa- maii, " he gives food to," assavHK- amaii ( contracted to sbnKamaii, EL), " he keeps on giving food to," continues to feed ( e. g., a domestic animal); amd- eu, " he absents himself, departs"; amavuK- au, " he drives away" ( goes- after him- going); wek- eau, " he houses himself, provides a dwelling place"; wekUHK- au, " he builds or constructs a dwelling place," goes „ on housing himself. When the action is performed with the hand the characteristic is - nn before the formative: JremiNNwm, " he carries it in his hand77; tohquKRum, " he holds it { ast with his Jtand77 [ comp. Cree tdkwdxum, " he holds it with his hand," tdkwuTum " he holds it in his mouth" J. If the action is performed by cutting or with a knife, - ss takes the place of - nn: sohqu- i, " it is in small pieces," " broken fine"; soltquxnum, " he breaks or pulls it to pieces with his hand77; sohqussum, " he cuts it in small pieces." The act of tying or making fast by a cord or thong is denoted by pi or - pin alter the root: kishvniNum, " he ties it firmly with his hand77 ( the characteristic is double here); asseTisyum, " he ties them together"; togkuYixxau, " he holds him fast by bonds," etc. Sudden, violent, or disastrous action is denoted by the insertion of - sh; petaii, " he puts ( or goes) into," becomes peisnau, " he falls into," ( e. g., a pit or a snare); pohqui, " it parts asunder"; poksneau, " it breaks, by violence or suddenly"; togkun, " it strikes"; iogkusnin, " it strikes with violence, etc. In the Dakota group, the instrumentive or modal characteristic is prefixed to the verb: ba- shows that the action is done by cutting or sawing: bo-, that it is done by shooting ( lit. by blowing) or by some missile; ya-, that it is performed with tlie mouth; pa-, that it is done by pushing, drawing, pressing, or rubbing with the hand, e. g.: BAksa," to cutoff'"; BAmda, " to cut in slices"; BApta," to cut off a piece"; BApako, " to cut or saw crooked " ( from pako, " crooked"); bohdho, " to loosen by shooting" ( from hohd, " loose"); BOV-yowaza, " to make an echo by shooting" ( from ydi'wowaza, " tomake an echo"); YACAO-cho, " to chew fine" ( from clwclio " soft"); YAholio, " to make loose, with the mouth ( from hdho, " loose"); VAdopa, " to push into the mud" ( from d6pa, " tomire"); VAbu, " to make a noise with drumming with the fingers " ( from bu," to make a noise"); YAhmiyan, " to make round like a ball, with the hands" ( from hmiyan1, " round"), etc. * The Massachusetts forms are taken from Eliot's version of the Bible, the Dakota from the Rev. S. R. Riggs's excellent grammar and dictionary of that language ( Washington, 1852), and the Choctaw from the Rev. C. Byington's Choctaw Grammar ( edited by Dr. D. G. Brinton, Philadelphia, 1870). |