1889-90.] THE DENE LANGUAGES. 189 



possessing the meaning of the original two words. Here are examples 

 in two different dialects. 



Carrier Dialect. Chifxohtin Dialect. 



Soef, with me, for s-p-cef Sa, for me, instead of s-cep-a 



Nyoef, " thee, m-p-oef Na, " thee, etc., n-oemp-a 



Poef, yoef, ^^^ ^^^ p-cep-oef, y-oep-oef Pa, ya, p-oep-a, y-oep-a 



toef, hwof, ' ■' t-cep-oef, hwo-poe-f njwa, nao-p-a 



Nef ne-p-oel Jwa, jo-p-a 



Nohwcef nuh-p-oef Kupa, ku-poe-pa 

 Opcef, heyoef, opoe-poe-f, hey-oep-oeC 



Of the adverbs I shall say nothing besides mentioning the fact that 

 many of our adverbs have for equivalents in Den^ non-adverbial particles 

 incorporated in, or prefixed to, the verb as formative elements. The 

 sequence will explain this peculiarity. 



As for the conjunctions and the interjections they offer to the phi- 

 lologist nothing worthy of remark beyond this resemblance with the Mon- 

 golian or Tartaric tongues, that conjunctive terms are but seldom used, 

 their number being reduced to a few indispensable words. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE SIMPLE OR PRIMARY VERBS. 



The verb is indeed the word (verhim) par excellence in Dene. In fact, 

 out of every twenty words of the language, I doubt whether there are two 

 that are not susceptible of conjugation. Were it not for the verb the 

 D^ne grammar might be said to be devoid of serious difficulties. As it 

 is, the multiplicity of the verbs, the varieties of their forms, the frequence 

 of their irregularities, the intricacies of their negative elements and the 

 almost unlimited possibilities of their combinations assign to the Dene 

 idioms one of the first places among the most difficult languages known 

 to Philology. The student should not anticipate in these pages a com- 

 plete treatise on that most complex of the parts of speech. I am not 

 writing a grammar and must confine myself to general outlines. Yet I 

 hope he will miss in this and the following chapters very little of what is 

 of real value to form a sound estimate of the chief characteristics of the 

 Dene verbs. For the sake of perspicuity I shall treat here exclusively of 

 the simple or primary verbs by opposition to the composite or syntheti- 

 cally constructed verbs which shall form the subject of another chapter. 

 14 



