Page:Archæologia Americana—volume 2, 1836.djvu/265

 APP. NO •] GRAMMATICAL NOTICES. MICMACS. 229 All the nouns are susceptible of the diminutive form by- adding to it shish, in both numbers of the animate and in the singular of the inanimate, and shigel, in the plural of the in- animate. In order to amplify, to, or rather kchi, must be pre- fixed to the noun. The word sfshit or stchit affixed either befoie or after the noun means c for the sake of.' Examples. Animate gender. man, (vir,) child, girl, woman. Present. tchinera, myaashish, epidesh epit Past. tchinemak, myaashijak, epideshak, epidak, Present. tchinemak, mijaashishk, epideshk, epigik. Inanimate gender. SINGULAR. Present. Past, fire, bsktea, bakteaak, knife, aagan, aaganik, green wood, elnokom, elnokomek, hut, nigtton, sigaomek, PLURAL. Present. Past. bsktal, baktenkel, aaganel, aaganeguel, elnokomel, elnokomkel, •igaomel, aigaomeguel. The termination iktsk added to the word means ' in,' e into' ; and kel, i in ' or l towards ' : slakan, ' a dish ' ; slakaniktsk, < in the dish ' ; kshiguemsk, ' the sea' ; kshiguemsk el, ' in the sea ' or ' towards the sea.' Adjectives of the animate gender have the plural in guile or kik ; and those of the inanimate in guel or kel ; and they have similar inflections with the nouns to designate the past tense. The word pegili, placed before the adjective, supplies the place of the comparative or superlative degree. To pegili implies the highest superlative degree. Pronouns. nil, kit, negeum. I; thou ; he : sla, this ; sakela, these. kins, ninen, we ; kilau, you ; negmau, they Kins is used only when you speak between yourselves: and ninen, when you speak to another person (not including him). Eik tan kins aunka mslk, c there is somebody who sees us.' Ninen sen «lansk najamsloktau, c one of us will go this evening to see you.'