MASON, TEPECANO, A PIMAN LANGUAGE OF MEXICO 331 



While it is a delicate task to analyse correctly the phonetic 

 characteristics of these plurals, and some of the above are probably 

 not accurately expressed, yet the general process of secondary plural 

 formation seems to be, first that a medial stop is lengthened or a 

 glottal stop introduced, and second that all vocalic lengths of the 

 ultima are shortened and the pitch raised on the penult. 



A few instances occur where the plural seems to be irregular, 

 containing apparently extraneous elements. Some examples are 



A few instances of reduplication of a secondary syllable are found, 

 this being prima facie evidence of composition or prefixation in 

 these cases. 



atva-ckaT trousers atva'pa - cka - r 



cidu'kam fetish cidu'okam 



bamaro-G father-in-law bamaro"o-G 



Many nouns appear to be not susceptible of internal changes to 

 indicate the plural. In these cases number is expressed by the use 

 of the adverb mui\ "many". 30 



mui' ga.a"an many papers 



mui' o"o many bones 



mui' gamai' many mescales 



mui' gana'na-ktua many squirrels 



mui' gava'hao many brooms 



The proclitic ga- here found is probably related to the demon- 

 strative hoga, "that", which is also occasionally found in this con- 

 nection. 31 Here it has the force of an article and is most frequently 

 found prefixed to nouns in the objective relation as a sign of the 

 accusative 



Pronominal Possession. 



Possession is expressed by the affixation of pronominal elements, 

 differing for number and person, to the object possessed. These 



30 The natnral impulse is to refer this adverb to the Spanish adverb mui/, "very", but 

 the word is proven by comparison with other Sonoran languages to be indigenous. 

 3 ' Or hiiga may be an extended form of ga. 



