CANADA, A TYPICAL EACE OF AMEEICAN ABOEIGIKES. 89 



Wyandot ; and some of the modifications in the Iroqnois dialects are no less interesting. 

 Secata, the Hochelaga "one," stirvives in the Onondaga skadah, Avhile it becomes skat in 

 the modern Huron, the Cayuga, and the Seneca. But in the compovmded form of the 

 Wyandot " one hundred," skatamendjawe, as in the Onondaga skadahdeivennyachweli, the 

 terminal a reappears. Tigneny, the old form of " two," is abridged and strengthened to 

 teiidi; ascJie, " three" (originally, in all probability, aschen, or, as still in use by the Hurons 

 of Lorette, achin) survives as ahs/inh or ahsenh in nearly all the Irocjuois dialects, including 

 the Tuscarora. In the Nottoway it is still discernible in the modified arsa The exceptions 

 are the Seneca, where it becomes sew, while one Wyandot form is slienk ; which reappears 

 in the Seneca compounded form of "thirty," shenkwashen. Honnacon, "four," loses both 

 its initial and terminal syllables, and becomes dak in the Wyandot, and keih or kei, an 

 abbreviation of the Mohawk kayerih, in the Cayuga and the Seneca dialects. The ancient 

 form of " five," ouhron, has partially survived in the Huron ouisch. It becomes wisk, whisk, 

 ivisk, or (in the Seneca) ivis, in all the Iroc[uois dialects, — the Wyandot and Cayuga once 

 more agreeing in form. The uyugu, " seven," of the old Hochelaga, nearly resembles the 

 jaclah of several of the Iroquois dialects, asin the Caju.ga,jadak, in the Tuscarora yare«/f, and 

 in the Nottoway oyag ; whereas in the Wyandot it is tsotare. The culigue, "eight," in its 

 oldest form, i.s sadekonli in the Mohawk, and dekrunh in the Cayuga ; with the svibstitution 

 of the / for r it becomes deklonh in the Oneida ; and after changing to tekion in the Seneca, 

 and nagronh in the Tu.scarora, it reappears in the Nottoway as dekra. The ancient madeUon, 

 " nine," curiously survives in abridged form, with the substitute for the labial, in the 

 Oneida toadlonh and the Onondaga uuidonh, while one Wyandot form is entron, and that of 

 the Hurons of Lorette entson. In the Hochelaga assem, " ten," we have the old form which 

 is perpetuated in the Wyandot ahsen, the Onondaga and Cayuga ivasenh, the Tuscarora 

 wasunh, and the Nottoway washa ; while the Mohawk and the Oneida have the diverse 

 oyerih, or oyelih, with the characteristic change of r into /. The form of the Mohawk for 

 " one thousand," oyerihnadevmmiyaweh, is an interesting illustration of the pi'ogressive 

 development of numbers. Na is probably a contraction oî nikonh, "of them," or "of it," — 

 the whole reading " of them ten hiindred." 



In comparing the languages of the different members of the Iroquois confederacy 

 with the Wyandot or Huron, some of the facts already noted in the history of the former 

 haA^e to be kept in view. Nearly two centuries and a half have transpired since the 

 three western nations of the confederacy, the Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas received 

 great additions to their numbers by the successive adoption of Attiwendaronk, Huron, 

 and Erie captives, while the Canyengas, or Mohawks, and the Oneidas remained unaf- 

 fected by such intrusions. There is direct evidence that the Onondaga language has 

 undergone great change ; as a Jesuit dictionary of the seventeenth century exists, which 

 shows a much nearer resemblance between the Mohawk and Onondaga languages at 

 that date than now appears. Allowance must be made for similar changes affecting the 

 Hurons in their enforced migration from the St. Lawrence to their later homes. Here, as 

 in so many other instances, it becomes interesting to note how the language of a peojple 

 reflects its history. 



In tracing out slighter and more remote resemblances, such as may be discerned on a 

 close scrutiny, where the variation between the Hochelaga and the modern Wyandot 



Sec. II., 1S84. 12. 



