Brintou.] 



50 



[Feb. 5, 



Verbal Forms. 



Of all the dialects the Tacana is richest in verbal forms, and its 

 various subdialects are less variable than its neighbors. 



Further, Armentia states that all the dialects have a dual number 

 in both verbs and pronouns, but his work does not furnish the 

 means of analyzing the character of this dual. As is well known to 

 grammarians, there are several very different conceptions of duality 

 in language. 



• The notion of action in the verbal theme undergoes modification 

 by suffixes, thus : 



lia, to make, to do. 



e-hatani, I am doing [e^=^ema^\). 



e-hametani, I am ordering it to be done. 



ague, imperative, do ye. 



atique, go thou and do. 



Of such suffixes, y'^z expresses desire or to wish, as: 



puti-ja, I wisli to go. 

 dia-ja, I wish to eat. 

 idi-ja, I wish to drink. 



The suffix j'i, appended to a noun, signifies possession, as chipilo- 

 ji, one having money; but reduplicated and suffixed to a verb, it 

 conveys the sense of past time, as : 



puti-jiji, he has already gone. 

 dia-jiji, lie has already eaten. 



