Brinton.] ^1^ [March 20, 



which has verbal power is almost identical with the independent per- 

 sonal pronoun. The tense signs are prefixed to it. Thus, gite, I am ; 

 ri que^ I was, &c. This W, however, is merely a particle which ex- 

 presses that something is remote, and corresponds with our "from." 

 Ui-ri-cli^ there was water there, literally " water far is" (from us is). 

 The subjunctive of this substantive verb is given as ri, " if I were." 

 This means, however, " in," and is a particle. Tlie notion of Being is 

 added, as in the pronoun; and the ideas, "in the being," and " if I 

 were," pass into each other. 



Strictly speaking, both the verbal notations here expressed are iden- 

 tical with those already mentioned. Here also the verb is supplied by 

 the mind. The difference is that in the latter case the pronouns alone 

 signify being, and contain this notion in themselves, whereas in the 

 other cases this notion arises from the conjunction of subject and predi- 

 cate. Then also in the Maya language there is a special pronoun for this 

 sole purpose. As far as the forms go, they entirely resemble those oE a 

 true verb, and if que and ten are regarded as mere verbs substantive, 

 one who did not examine their elements would take them to be true 

 verbs like the Sanscrit bhu, the Greek ec,'j.ii and the Latin sum. The 

 example of these languages thus teaches that in the analysis of the sub- 

 stantive verbs of other tongues it is not necessary that a common pho- 

 netic radical need be employed. 



In the Huasteca language the substantive verb is replaced by affixing 

 a tense sign to the independent pronouns ; nana itz, I was, lata itz, 

 thou wert, etc. But the case is not the same. The pronoun receives 

 the verbal power by the suffix itz, and this appears only in later times 

 to have become a sign of the preterit, and in an earlier period to have 

 had a general sense. The mountaineers whj seem to have retained the 

 older forms of the tongue use the itz, not only in the preterit, but in 

 the present and future. It was doubtless the expression of some gen- 

 eral verbal idea, as, to be, to do, etc. 



II. 



The notion of Being is incorporated with the verb as an 



Auxiliary. 

 Auxiliary verbs are used only for certain tenses, or form the entire 

 conjugation. The former arises from accidental causes having relation 

 only to these tenses, not to the verb in general. The latter readily 

 arises when a substantive verb offers an easy means of conjugation by 

 uniting with another verb. Sometimes the conjugation by means of an 

 auxiliary shows that the linguistic sense of a notion sought something 

 beyond the person and tense signs to express the verbal power itself, 

 and therefore had recourse to a general verb. This can, indeed, only be 

 constituted of those elements and a radical; but the want in the lan- 

 guage is thus supplied, once for all, and does not return with every 

 verb. 



