Page:Archæologia Americana—volume 2, 1836.djvu/221

Rh {|
 * ||rowspan=9 | ||Separable.||rowspan=9 | ||colspan=3|Inseparable.||rowspan=9 | ||
 * || ||||rowspan=9 | ||||
 * I,||unno,||ille,||sa, su,||me,
 * thou,||chishno,||ish, is,||che, chi,||thee,
 * he,|||||| ||him,
 * we, (exc. pl.)||ipishno,||e,||pe, pi,||us,
 * we, (indef. pl.)||huppishno,||eho,||huppi,||us,
 * you,||huchishno,||hush, hus,||huchi,||you,
 * they,||||okla,||okla,||them.
 * }
 * we, (exc. pl.)||ipishno,||e,||pe, pi,||us,
 * we, (indef. pl.)||huppishno,||eho,||huppi,||us,
 * you,||huchishno,||hush, hus,||huchi,||you,
 * they,||||okla,||okla,||them.
 * }
 * you,||huchishno,||hush, hus,||huchi,||you,
 * they,||||okla,||okla,||them.
 * }
 * }

All the pronouns, in the nominative case, precede the verb, excepting illĕ, which is a termination. The rule applies equally to the simple conjugation and to the transitions. All the pronouns, in the objective case, are placed, in the transitions, immediately before the verb and therefore immediately after the pronoun in the nominative, with the exception always of the first person in the nominative, which is still a termination: tokch, 'he ties'; tokchill, 'I tie'; ishtokch, 'thou tiest,' &c. Suttokch, 'he ties me'; chittokchill, I tie thee'; ishpittokch, 'thou tiest us'; (exc. pl.), &c.

Those two rules constitute the whole system of the Choctaw transitions in the paradigm of the verb tokchĕ, 'to tie,' and equally apply to all the tenses and moods, passive voice, and negative form; all these being each distinguished by the insertion of its characteristic particle, but without interfering, otherwise than by their respective collocation, with the pronominal inflections. It is not stated, whether there is more than one conjugation; and, where this depends solely on the inflections of the pronoun, it may well happen that, with some anomalies, there is but one. Such is found to be the case in the language of Chili, where the system of transitions, though somewhat more complex, is governed by uniform rules and attains a precision nearly equal to that of the Choctaw. The pronouns, in the nominative and objective cases, are placed in the Choctaw in the same order as in the French. The English say, thou tiest me; the French and the Choctaw, tu me lies, thou me tiest.

A peculiarity in that language deserves notice. An inserted particle, ull, denotes the passive voice; but the personal pronoun, instead of being as in our languages in the nominative, is in the Choctaw in the objective case. Instead of saying, 'I (am) tied,' 'tullokchille,' they say, 'me (am) tied,' 'suttullokche.' The same rule applies to all those intransitive verbs which we Rh