Page:Archæologia Americana—volume 2, 1836.djvu/225

 SECT. VI.] INDIAN LANGUAGES. 189 The characteristic letter or syllable which precedes the root of the verb designates only, when it is Jc that one of the two pronouns is that of the second person ; when it is n, ) that the two pronouns are those of the first and third person ; when it is w that both pronouns are in the third person. The ter- mination must show, in the first case, to what person the other pronoun belongs ; in every case, which of the two pronouns is in the objective case ; and that termination must also desig- nate, when required, whether one, or both, and, if only one, which of the two pronouns is in the plural number. If there- fore, we select those transitions only, in which the action passes from a person in the singular number to another person also in the singular, the termination, not being encumbered with the varied signs of the plural or plurals, must only show in what manner the pronoun, when unknown, is discovered, and which of the two is in the objective case. There are in each tense seven such transitions from the sin- gular to the singular ; and the table, in the Appendix, of the transitions of the present of the indicative of the five Dela- ware paradigms given by Zeisberger, shows, that when the action passes from the first or second person singular to the third person singular, a particle, viz. a, an, awa, or awan is inserted immediately after the root, or unchangeable part of the verb ; when the action passes from the third singular to the first, or second person singular, the particle inserted is nk, ag, or agun ; when the action passes from the first to the second person singular, the particle is ell or olen ; and when the action passes from the second to the first person singular, the particle is i, or awi. The four characteristic letters used in the four cases respectively are «, or wa ; g, or k ; I ; and i ; the other sounds or letters aw, un, &c, varying according to euphony or usage. Those letters or sounds stand respectively ; a or wa for him ; g, k for he; I for I ; i for me. And combined with the initial characteristics n k w (the last often omit- ted,) they are sufficient to designate with precision the two pronouns involved in each transition, and which of them is" in the objective case. When the action passes from one third to another third person singular, although this might be deemed the simplest case, it presents in our five paradigms more varie~ ties than any other case. They are as follows.