202 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. I. 



inflections, to the Carriers exclusively. The other Western Denes elimi- 

 nate the negative infixes /^ /te, etc., and if they were to keep the word un- 

 changed by the lexical exigencies of their own dialects they would 

 simply say : 7i-oes(Bs-ceu, n-mtJia:zh-'aC. 



The usitative form consists in a modification of the desinential radical 

 bearing sometimes on the vowel and sometimes on the final consonant, 

 or both. Thus ces'aC, " I eat,'' becomes in the usitative (Bs'cef, while ces- 

 c/iiU, "I take," is transformed into oas-cJio&k. This is the simplest of all 

 the forms, in that sense that it is the only one that never affects any 

 other part of the verb than the desinence. I should also remark, in this 

 connection, that " usitative " is rather inappropriate when applied to the 

 Dene verbs, and is here retained for the sake of conforming to the com- 

 mon wording of American philologists. I think " generalizing " would 

 better answer the purpose. 



The potential varies according to the conjugation of the verb it affects. 

 It merely modifies the radical of the verbs of the first conjugation. So, 

 CB'«/^ " he eats," changes for the potential its radical 'aC into taC, and 

 becomes (x,taC, "it is edible." But if the verb belongs to the second con- 

 jugation, the potential transforms it into a verb of the third. 



The difference between the afifirmative and the causative is equally 

 one of conjugation rather than of form. As a rule, the causative merely 

 changes verbs of the first into verbs of the second conjugation, hitso, for 

 instance, means " thou criest," and by giving its pronominal syllable the 

 /"distinctive of the second conjugation, the result is tltso, " thou causest 

 to cry." This form, if form we must call it, corresponds to the kyphiloiXhe. 

 Hebrew verbs. It is not simply a transformation of an intransitive into 

 a transitive verb, as is shown in the following : namkas, " thou sharpen- 

 est " (a transitive verb) ; naiCkas, " thou causest to sharpen." In a few 

 cases it has for secondary effect to materially alter the final radical of 

 the verb. Thus te-fimsosn, " thou knowest" (a person), when modified by 

 the causative is te-ntftzcBn , " thou acquaintest with." 



The distinctive elements of the reciprocal form are identical with the 

 particles which, in Northern Carrier, characterize the negative. The dif- 

 ference is only one of place and of results. The reciprocal, unlike the 

 negative, leaves both the pronominal syllable and the desinence unaltered, 

 except when the desinence is immediately preceded by the hiatus, and in 

 a few other cases. 



Two prefixes may be assigned as the main distinctive element of the 

 reflective form. They are either (Edmd, preceding immediately the pro- 



