CANADA, A TYPICAL EACE OF AMERICAN ABORIGINES. 91 



classilicatiou among southern Iroquois tribes. Their numerals, as shown in the following 

 tables, approximate, as might be anticipated, to those of the Tuscaroras, at least in the 

 majority of the primary numbers ; whereas those of the Tuteloes are totally dissimilar. 

 As to the Basque numerals introduced into the comparative tables, they only suffice 

 to show the diversity of the pre-Aryan langiiage still spoken, in varying dialects, 

 on both slopes of the PjTeuees, from either the Iroquois or any other known American lan- 

 guage, except in so far as both are agglutinative in structure. Van Eys, in his " Basque 

 Grammar," draws attention to the words buluzkorri, and larrugori, "naked"; the first of 

 which literally signifies "red-hair," and the second "red-skin." They are interesting 

 illustrations of the way in which important historical facts lie embedded in ancient lan- 

 guages. But the colour of the hair forbids the inference that the ruddy Basques of 

 primitive centuries were akin to the "Redskins " of the New "World. 



The phonology of the Iroquois languages is notable in other respects besides those 

 already referred to. According to M. Cuoq, an able philologist, who has laboured for many 

 years as a missionary among the Iroquois of the province of Quebec, the sounds are so 

 simple that he considers an alphabet of twelve letters sufficient for their indication : 

 a, e,f, h, i, k, n, o, r, s, t, w. The transliterations noticeable in the various Iroquois dialects, 

 follow a well known phonetic law. Thus the I and r are interchangeable, as ronkwe, 

 "man," in the Mohawk, becomes in the Oneida Icmkive ; raxha, "boy," becomes laxha; 

 rakemha, " my father," becomes lakenik, etc. The same is seen throughout the compound 

 numerals from " eleven " onward. The Cayuga and Tuscarora most nearly approach to 

 the Mohawk in this use of the r. A characteristic change of a different kind is seen in 

 the grammatical value of the initial r in the Mohawk in relation to gender. For example, 

 onkwe is api^lied to mankind, as distinguished from karyoh, " the brute." It becomes rori' 

 kwe, man, yonkwe, woman. So also raxah, "boy," changes to kaxUa, "girl ; " rihyenah, " my 

 son," to khei/enah, " my daughter," etc. The change of gender is further illustrated in 

 such examj)les as rauhih, his apple ; raoyen, his arrow ; ahkohih, her apple ; ahkoyen, her 

 arrow; raonahih (masc), aonahih (fern.), their apples; raodiyenkwireh (masc), aodiyenkivireh 

 (fern.), their arrows, etc. But this arrangement of the formative element as a prefix is 

 characteristic of American languages, though not ijecirliar to them. Thus Seshatsteaghse- 

 ragivekough, Almighty Grod, (literally " Thou who hast all power, or strength,") becomes, 

 in the third person, RnsliaMeaghsemgivekough. 



The vowel sounds are very limited. No distinction is apparent in any Huron- 

 Iroquois language between the o and the u. In writing it the e and u sounds are also 

 often interchangeable. Where, for example, e is used in one set of the Tuscarora numerals 

 supplied to me, another substitutes u for it wherever it is followed by an n ; e. g., enjih, 

 unjih; aJisenh, ahsunh ; endah, undah, etc. So also the word for "man" is written for me in one 

 case onkwe, and in another unkweh. It requires an acute and practised ear to discriminate 

 the niceties of Indian pronirnciatiou, and a no less practised tongue to satisfy the critical 

 native ear. Dr. Oronhyatekha, when pressed to define the value of the t sound in his 

 own name, replied, " it is not quite t nor d." The name is compounded of oronya, " blue," 

 the word used in the Prayer Book for " heaven," and yodakha, " burning." In very similar 

 terms, Asikinack, an educated Odahwah Indian, when asked by me whether we should 

 say Ottawa, or Odawa, replied that the sound lay between the two, — a nicety discernible 

 only by Indian ears. 



