ACADEMY OF SCIENCES] PHONETICS 19 



No. 2] 



There is another series of vocalic stages, i, u, e, a, which appears in a number of words. 



-kpi it is the sound of small crackling objects 



kpe' it is a somewhat sharper, sound; kpekpe'ya with noise of a stick striking a long stick in the middle 



or at the free end ; only as adverb 

 (kpukpa large and small objects are mixed; little trash on water, small and large figures in a pattern) 

 (-)kpa' a sound like kpe stronger and heavier, it is punctured; ho'kpakpa with resounding voice; 



nakpa'kpa sound of explosion of firecracker 

 -spi small berries are off from their bushes 

 -spu larger object, like clasps, buttons, are off 

 -spa a piece is removed from a whole; -spe s'e 23 used for a woman sitting with shawl over head, seen in 



silhouette, like a piece out of which a pattern has been cut 

 *Rpi' it hangs suspended (like a dog's ears, a long lower lip; wic'a'lipi stars, mahpi'ya sky, clouds) 

 (-)fipu' things that have dried come off easily (dry mud, resin on trees) 

 -hpa to be down, to have fallen (hpa'hpa s'e flopping along, lying down intermittently; hpey%ka a dog 



lies with litter; hpeca'sni not to be down; i. e., energetic) 

 -k'i it is rough, scabby (always yuh'i') 

 -h'u the same with larger scabs or greater roughness 

 *h'e' it is rough, like a pebbly space; h'eh'e' ragged 

 *R'a they are scattered, like stars, a pebbly surface, mould 

 -hni it is a-tremble 

 *hna' it is a deep tremolo, deep rattle 

 *ksi' it is crescent shaped 

 *ksq' it is crooked 

 -m.ni'ga it is shrunk 

 -m.nuga it is the sound of breaking up a gnarled object (nu'ga) 



~m.ni.za it is curly 



-m.nuia it is the sound of breaking brittle, easily crunched material (nu'za) 



(-)swu' it is in very small parts, often parallel strips (c'qswu'la saplings; iswu'la tiny stones; oka'swu 



fringes) 

 *swa' it is slashed as a trimming along edge; unraveled 



There is also a relation between % and u, \ and y,. In some cases both forms are used indiffer- 

 ently, in others there is a dialectic difference between Teton and Santee. 



'ani'ni to form a film; wa'nuni to form hard spots (lichens on a stone, pigmented spots on skin); — 

 sipu'te or supu'le lower abdomen; — 'olu'luta or 'oli'lita temperature is warm; 'itu'h'q to act in vain (T) ; 

 'utu'h'q(S) ; — hiyo'ya to go to get (T Y) ; huwe'ya (S) ; — n% let it be so! (S), n\ (T) ; — nv^yq to tame (S) 

 niya' to save (T); — '■qg.na'hqla suddenly (T), 'ihnu'hqna (S); — n%wq' to swim (T Y), nju><{' (S); — 

 'ikto'mi spider (T), \ktomi (Y, S); — t'oki's hardly (T Y), t<oky.'s (S). 



Changes from a to i, q to \ occur between Teton and Santee. 



nac'e'ca perhaps (T Y), nic'e'ca (S);- — lak'a's of course (T), nak'a's, nik'a's (S); — wqh\kpe arrow (T), 

 wihi'tpe (S); — hq'ta' look out! (T Y), h\ti (S); — hi'hqni morning (T), hi'hqna (T Y), hqh'q'na 

 ( Y S) ; — 'osq or 'os\ entire (S) 



§ 22. Irregular Phonetic Changes 



There is a strong tendency to modify long words the etymological derivation of which is 

 perfectly clear. Various processes occur. Words may be abbreviated or contracted, sounds 

 may be assimilated by neighboring sounds, related sounds may be substituted, or there may be 

 changes due to metathesis. 



1. Abbreviations or contractions. 



wic'a' for vric'i'te g.le'ga raccoon (man face striped) 



ma'peh'a toad for mat'a'pefi'a, mat'a'pih'q, or mak'a'pih'q; also ivit'a'peh'q, mit'a'peh'q 



c'qske' k'ama' g.le or c'qp'e'skamak'a'g.le to kneel, for c' qkpe skamak' a g .le (c'qkpe' knee, ska probably 



by metathesis from ksa to be bent, mak'a' ground; g.le to set upright) 

 mi'c'a wolf, probably for ma'yae'a or mi'yac'a 

 c'qhlo'gu woody weeds, from c'q-Rlo'ga-hu wood-pithy-stalk 

 p'ezu'ta medicine, from p'ezi'-hu'te herbs-butt end 



m a changed to e before s'e. (See p. 29.) 



