Page:Archæologia Americana—volume 2, 1836.djvu/289

 APP. NO. I.] GRAMMATICAL NOTICES. CHOCTAW. 253 nussupe, l an oak ' (generic for every species of oak,) from nusse, ' an acorn.' From itte, 'wood' or 'tree/ prefixed to another word ; as, ittefobussa, s a pole,' from fobussa, 'slim'; itteshamfe, ' a join- er,' from shamfe, ' to shave.' From nippe, ' flesh ' or ' meat,' affixed or suffixed to other words ; as, nippehumma, ' a mulatto,' from humma, ' red '; isse- nippe, ' venison,' from isse, ' deer.' From hishe, 'hair,' suffixed; as, ittehishe, ' leaf of a tree,' from itte, 'tree.' From na or nan, ' a being ' or ' thing,' prefixed ; as, nan- pissa, ' a spy,' from plssa, ' to see '; nanachunle, ' a tailor, ' from achanle, ' to sew.' Many other nouns are compounded by the simple union of two or more. Adjectives are generally indeclinable. A few are inflected in the plural number, viz. Singular. Plural. chi-to, ho-che-to, big. ok-chim-ma-le, ok-chim-mush-le, green. lb-buk-to-kon-le, Ib-buk-to- kush-le , blunt. put-ha ho-put-ka, wide. tun-nok-be, tun-nul-la, crooked. ok-shau-ah-le, ok-shau-ush-le, fair complexion ul-lo-ta, ul-lo-lu-a, full. a-chuk-ma, ho-chuk-ma, good. yush-ko-lo-le, yush-ko-lush-le, small. is-kit-i-ne, che-pin-ta, small. fub-bus-sa, fub-bus-po-a, slime. Adjectives are compared by adding inshale for comparative and inshatale for superlative : achukma, ' good '; achuhna in- shale, i better'; achukma inshatale, ' best.' But they generally say, ' In being good I am superior to you ;' or, ' I am superior to all.' In the first case they use for supe- rior, the word inshale ; and, in the last case, inshatale, which respectively mean, ' I am better than you'; 'I am the best of all.' Pronouns absolute or separate. un-no, I, | un-no-a, me, un-no, mine.