Page:Archæologia Americana—volume 2, 1836.djvu/334

 298 A SYNOPSIS OF THE INDIAN TRIBES. [iNTROD. 4 1 see,' if the object, possessed or seen, is animate ; Nolhafton and Ne- mni, it* the object is inanimate. The distinction extends to intransitive verbs — ' Here lies my horse,' or, ' my axe. In the first case, lies is ' shin- gieshtn,' in the other, ' shingieshen.' In the Chippeway, Dr. James gives lor them, egu u if persons, enieu if things. The distinction may have a more extensive influence in that language than in the Delaware : and this is rendered extremely probable by the manner in which Mr. School- craft speaks of it. (Lecture 1st, page 171). It may be proper to observe, in addition to what has been said respecting the subjunctive, that, amongst Zeisberger's paradigms, there is one, of which the plural of the Indicative present may be conjugated as the sub- junctive. .Yihillapewi, ' I am free ' (or, made free), or, ' my own master.' Plural first person — Nihillapewineen, or, Nihillapewii/en& second " — Nihillapewihimo, or, Nihillapewii/efc third " Nihillapewak. FORMATION OF TENSES, VOICE, &c. The Table K. is intended to give some notions of the manner in which the tenses, the passive voice, and the negative form of verbs are genearlly formed ; but it embraces only the principal tenses ; and many languages have also more than one negative form. The pluperfect of the Delaware subjunctive, the optative of the Massachusetts, and those tenses or moods of the Choctaw, Muskhogee, Cherokee, Chilian, &c, which are expressed in English by ' I may,' ' I would,' ' I should,' &c, as well as several (such as the causative form) belonging to some Indian languages, have been omitted. Specimens will be found in the detailed transitions of the respective languages. It will also there be seen, that, in all those of which we have a sufficient knowledge, the several tenses of the same mood are, with slight varia- tions, conjugated, in every other respect than the particle characteristic of the tense, as the present tense. It appears by the table, and it would be still more evident, had there been space for the conjugations of the several moods and tenses in both voices, that those characteristic particles are almost universally placed next to the verb proper, much oftener after than before it, and that they do not interfere with the pronominal combinations. The tables H. 3. 4. 5. 6. will show this for the Delaware so far as relates to tenses. We add examples for the passive voice and negative form. Delaware. n' dahoala n' dahoala ncen n' dahoal gussi n' dahoal gussi hena Atta n' dahoala wi Atta n' dahoala wu neen Atta n' dahoal gussiwi J love We « I am loved We are " I do not love We do not " J am not loved Atta n' dahoal gussi wincen We are not " n> pendamenep k' pendamohumoap n' penda xi hump k' penda xi himo akup Atta n' pendam owi p I have heard Ye " " JT was " Ye were " J did not hear Atta k' pendam o wu newo ap Ye " " Matta n' penda xi wi p / was not heard Matta k' penda xi wunewo ap Ye were "