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Show 341 ations usually are not accentuated. In many terms, the accentuation is dubious, but generally rests on the same syllable through all the dialects. Of derivative endings, the most frequent for substantives is - a, preceded by a consonant, (- to, - ya etc.;) for instance, vu- uga, thunder; asha, bird; vayaniya, wine; avuytf, door ; amata, earth; huksara, wolf, - k is also very frequent. - ik, - Ik very frequently terminate adjectives; as, tau vanik, low ; hi bilk, hot: nakvi-mulk, rich. Another termination is - urn, which occurs very often: ara- arum, deep; aku- utchum, ripe. Substantives do not assume any sign of the plural, and it is doubtful whether adjectives and pronouns do; as, inyep ido namasaVum, my teeth are white; makatitum, who, which ( pi.); ataik, much, ( sing.); ataim, many ( plur.) shows a form probably contracted from ataikum. Adjectives and numerals are placed after the noun which they qualify. A gradation of the adjective is effected by a circumscriptive sentence or by the particles tdhana, nimka- amk, more; the superlative repeats the tdhana or tahdn twice or three times. In regard to case- inflection, no distinct mark exists for the possessive and dative case except the position of the words. The accusative is rendered by prefixing - entoh to the direct object of the sentence, and by placing this object ' between the subject of the sentence and the transitive verb. Relations expressed by our prepositions are rendered by postpositions: ava liuvtf- aga, in the house; ava* matarelgh, outside of the house. The pronoun entch, intch, abbreviated itchi, tchi,- tch, is a demonstrative, and in compound nouns and verbs means somebody or somewhat, something. Substantives composed with it are itchi- halyuluve, stove, oven, ( viz. something- smoking;) itch- anyo- ora-ahaga, inkstand, ( viz. some what- writing- liquid;) Verbs: tcha- koark, to speak, verbally " something- say;" tchi- kiauk, to bite, verbally " something bite." This element is one of the most frequently occurring parts of Mohave speech, and also serves to form accusatives, as mentioned above, and in this quality means him, her, it, them. As the definite article it is frequently suffixed to nouns, as in ipa\ man ; ip& toh, certain man just spoken of; gutch, what? contracted from ka- entch, literally, what- thing, or what- it f There are three other demonstrative pronouns which are used in similar combinations: ti, inya, and pa. Personal object- pronouns are suffixed to the verb; subject- pronouns are frequently omitted when there is no doubt about the meaning of the sentence. The elements of verbal inflection are as follows: lyduia, I go ; matoh'm iyema, thou goeet; hovatch iyetna, he goes ; inyetch iyema, we go; match'm iyema m&- ama, you go; tcha- am't iyema, they go; iyema, Iwill go ; iyema tltchuma, / have gone; iye- em potchuma, / did go; iyemota, I do not go ; iyemotum tetchuma ( or: iye- em moot e- ep t£ tchuma) or iyemotum p6tohuma, I have not gone. The uegative particle mot is incorporated into the verb, and also serves as privative particle in the derivation of adjectives: ithperum, strong; hithpermutum, weak; te'tchuma and pdtchuma are composed of three pronominal roots: ti, entch, ma; pa, entch, ma, and are intended to mark a past tense more or less remote. Concerning the modes in which verbs are composed in Mohave, we frequently find a syllable hi-, prefixed to the stem of reflective and intransitive verbs, as hilgivak, to ride; hitchibsk, to fall, etc. This particle seems to form verbs eqnivalent to the me-dio- passive verbs in Greek. Of the verbal terminations, - um is the most frequent, and occurs in tapuyum, to kill; tchegovarum, to laugh; kot&- akuin, to open ( a door;) besides this we find a large number of verbs ending in - k, or more explicitly in - ok, ( akho& k, to smoke,)- 6k ( ni6k, to vomit,) - isk, - ilk, - euk, etc., which often nave the accent on the last syllable. A large number of verbs is formed directly from nouns, for instance: mata, earth ; matahtiilk, to dig a hole. oya* air, breath; tchoho- ik, to whistle, blow. agriaga, deer; g6go, fox; ha- ilgutfg, to hunt. To show more clearly the mode of word- composition in Mohave, I add a few groups of words centering around one root and arranged etymologioally. AHAT, HAT A, ANIMAL, BEAST: ah£ t, ahat- o- 61ove, horse; hata- ghlal, saddle; hati; 6nik, bit of horse ; ahat- kagham, spur ; batchtira, akhatch6ra, dog; makho- htfta, bear-amo- nio- hat, domestic, tame sheep; magu&- kuiniu- hata, hog; in Hualapai akh& niga, alive. MATA, AMATA, EARTH, GROUND: amata- tohikvara ( in Diegeno), meadow, prairie; roatfk ( Mohave), north; matag6- opa, hole; matahtiilk, to dig a hole; inathe, mud ; matara, outside; matana, inside; matutna, inwardly; inatmaguilya, skin ( as the enclosing substance). IL, THREAD, in Diegeno, wood; ivu- il, grass, in Hualapai, vila in Ton to; ilvi, green, light green; avo- ilpo, pole, stick; ei- vWy &, feathers ; ilya, final syllable in tree names. AKHA, WATER: aha- tchopa, well, water, pump; akhathim, athim, to drink, to drink water; akh- mata, squashy pumpkin; akh k£- el, opposite ( viz. beyond the water); ah ay am, wet; khattf, island ; nu- h&- vuk, cloud. AP. JJ- 22 |