96 



DANIEL WILSOX ON THE HURON-IROQUOIS OF 



the possessive case. " My apple," is ahkwahih. This is a compouud of the pronoun, alikiva- 

 ivenfi, " my," and kahih, " apple," but instead of ahkwawenh + kahih, the last syllable of the 

 pronoun, and the first of the noun, are elided. The peculiar forms for expressing the 

 special and common female gender are also shown here in the formation of the second and 

 third persons : — 



SINGULAR. 



sahih Thy apple, from sawenh + kalàh. 



raohih His apple, " raowenh + kaldh. 



( ahkohih Her apple, " ahkowenh + kaldh. 



\ aohih Her, or its, apples, " aowenh + kaldh. 



DUAL. 



unkyahih Our apple. 



jahih Your apple. 



Masc. raonaldh Their apple. 



Fbm. or Nbut. aonaldh Their apple. 



Masc. 

 Fbm. or Nbut. 



PLURAL. 



iinkwaldh. 

 sewaldh. 

 raonaldh. 

 aonaldh. 



So with kayenkioireh, " an arrow," or alidokenh, '■ a tomahawk ; " the possessive case is 

 similarly formed thus : — 



ahkuiadokenh My tomahawk, ahkicawunh alidoki^nh. 



sadokenh Thy " from saioenh " " " 



raodokenh His " " raonvmnh " " " 



ahkodokfiili Her " " ahkowunh " " " 



(lodokrnh Her, or its tomahawk, from aowunh ahdokaih. 



The dual and plural are formed throughout as in the first example. 



The same pec^^liar distinctive feminine forms, the one used in addressing a person 

 loved or respected, and the other applied to an inferior or a stranger, affect the combina- 

 tion of the pronoun and verb, as in the following example ; which has no claim to pre- 

 sent all the minute elaborations of which the Mohawk verb is susceptible, but will in 

 some degree illustrate its llexibility, and the process by which it accomplishes results 

 akin to those effected by the English auxiliary verbs ; — 



The verb To Give. 



INDICATIVE MOOD. 



Present Progressive Tense. 



1. With Masculine object to verb. 



nyams 

 ehlsawis 



SINGULAR. 



I am giving him. 



Thou art giving him. 



He, she, or it, is giving him. 



I'LUKAL. 



shakwavAs We aro giving him. 



ehtsisewaiois You are giving him. 



ronwaids They (M. and F.) are giving him. 



ehtsiiyawis We two are giving him. 

 ehtdjawis You two are giving him. 

 ronwams They two are giving him. 



With Feminine object of love or respect. 



SINGULAR. 



keyawis I am giving her. 



seyatiris Thou art giving her. 



sakovAs He is giving her. 



yahovAs She, or it, is giving her. 



yakhiyawis We are giving her. 



yetsiyaivis You are giving her. 



sakonams They (M.) are giving her. 



yakonaim They (F.) are giving her. 



