CANADA, A TYPICAL EACB OF AMERICAN ABORIGINES. 



95 



lu relation to uïimber there are both a dual and a plural, but this is limited to the 

 pronouns. The personal pronoun is thus declined : — 



SIKGULAB. 



I lib. 



My Ahkwawenh, 



Me lih. 



FIRST PERSON. 



We 



Ours 



DUAL. 



Onkenonha. 

 Onkyawenh. 



PLUliAL. 



Tic Oukyuulia. 



Otirs Onkwawenh. 



SECOND PERSON. 



Thou 

 Tliy 



He 



His 



Iseli. 

 Sawenb. 



Raonha. 



Raoweuh. 



She, or it Aoiiha. 

 Her's, or Us. Aowenh. 



The pronoun may thus be shown in post-positional relation to the noun : — 



lam a Mohawk. 

 Thou art a Mohawk: 

 He is a Mohawk. 



Kanyenkehaka ne lih 

 Kanyenkehaka ne iseh 

 Kanyenkehaka ne raonha 



We are Mohawks. 

 You are Mohawks. 

 Tliey are Mohairks. 



Kanj'enkehaka ne onkyunlia 

 Kanyenkehaka ne johna 

 Kanyenkehaka ne ononha 



The plural of novms is formed, for the most part, in two ways, according to the rela- 

 tion of the word to animate beings, or to inanimate objects. For the former the termina- 

 tion ofconh is added to the singular form of the noun. Thus yakomtens, " a horse," becomes 

 in the plural yakosatensokonh. In ronkwe, " man," there are the distinctive plurals rononkwe, 

 "men," onkivehokonh, "mankind." For inanimate objects the addition becomes okon, or 

 okonah, as ahsareh becomes ahsarehokon, or ahsarehokonah ; ahdah becomes ahdahhokon, or 

 ahdahakonah. 



In expressing gender there is a general form used when speaking of the female sex, 

 and employed without distinction, as a common gender, when referring to animals. In 

 speaking of men and women together, the masculine dual or plural form is used. In 

 speaking of women alone the common gender is apj)lied ; but there is another distinctive 

 form in the j)ronoun, employed only when speaking of, or to, one who is an object of 

 respect or affection, such as a mother. This is indicated in the peculiar agglutinative 

 structure of the language by the ka or ke as a feminine intercalation, thus : ahkaonha, she ; 

 ahkoivenh, hers. The change from masculine to feminine in nouns relating to mankind is 

 expressed mainly by the use of the initial r or k, as in the following examples : — 



ronkwe Man. 

 yonkwe Woman. 



raxah Boy. 

 kaxah Girl. 



rihyenah My son. 

 kheyenah My daughter. 



The pronoun is amalgamated with the noun, in accordance with the agglutinative 

 process which rules throughout, as in the following example, and in its mode of forming 



