Brinton.] -^44: [Nov. 20, 



tongues, especially the Tupi-Guarani dialects of Brazil. It 

 appears most frequently before the consonants b and d. Its 

 peculiarity is that it is not an expiratory sound, hut a soft in- 

 spirate, and as such is claimed by Dr. Nogueira to be a phonetic 

 phenomenon confined exclusively to American tongues.* I have 

 been unable to decide from the descriptions within my reach of 

 the Chapanec phonetics, whether the initial resonant is an inspi- 

 rate, and I would call the attention of travelers to this interest- 

 ing point. 



In addition to this simple resonant prefix there are a number 

 of particles beginning either with n or m, which are added to 

 indicate the absolute or independent form of the noun, that is, 

 to characterize it when not attached to a personal possessive 

 pronoun. Of these Albornoz gives fourteen for the singular, and 

 seven for the plural. This will explain the striking prevalence 

 of words beginning with these letters in the vocabulary. 



Accent is of the utmost importance in both these dialects, and 

 the identity to the eye of various words as nyujmi, ear and 

 smoke, arises from absence of proper accent marks in my 

 authorities. The words for bird, snake and flower are the same ; 

 but Albornoz gives this very example to illustrate the import- 

 ance of accent, nolo, a snake, nolo, a flower. Unfortunately, 

 none of my authorities employ any accentual mark but the acute, 

 and this appears to be syllabic. A vowel wiitten above the line 

 of the word, in Berendt's MSS., signifies a semi-vowel. 



Structure. The general structure of the Mangue was clearly 

 polysynthetic and incorporative in a marked degree. In its 

 grammar it was no doubt identical in all essential points with 

 the Chapanec, about which, as above mentioned, we have con- 

 siderable information in published sources. Nominal and verbal 

 forms are defined by the categories of animate and inanimate 

 genera, a distinction which is to a certain extent purely gram- 

 matical, as for instance, a book is considered animate, and a table 

 inanimate (Albornoz, Gram., cap. xiii). The first person plural 

 has an inclusive and exclusive form. Adjectives usually, but 

 not always, follow the nouns. Plurals are frequently formed 

 by simply lengthening the terminal vowel sound. 



♦See the excellent work of Dr. B. C. A. Nogueira, Aponiamentos sobre o Aba- 

 helnga tambem chamado Guarani ou Tupi, pp. 50, 57 (Kio Janiero, 1S7C). 



