76 



INDIANS (LANGUAGES OF AMERICAN.) 



U'e have remarked above, that the Indian verb lias 

 various modifications in different dialects. Those 

 of th Delaware language have been sufficiently ex- 

 plained for the purposes of a general view; and we 

 shall now further develop this curious subject, by 

 exhibiting some of the peculiarities of the verb, in 

 1 1 it- 1 ' herokee, or, more properly, Tsullakee language, 

 which belongs to an entirely different stock, and 

 appears not to have the least etymological affinity 

 with the Delaware, though its grammatical forms, 

 generally speaking, are similar. In the course of 

 our remarks, we shall occasionally advert to some of 

 these points of resemblance, as well as to the differ- 

 ence between the two. (a) Numbers, One of the 

 peculiarities which first strikes us, is, that, besides 

 tlie singular and two plurals, which are found in the 

 Delaware, the Cherokee has also a proper dual 

 ntunber, both in its verbs and its nouns and pro- 

 nouns. This dual is again subdivided, in its first 

 person, into two distinct forms ; the first of which is 

 used when one of two persons speaks to the other, 

 mid says, for example, We two (i. e. thou and I), will 

 do such a tiling; the second form is used when one 

 of two persons speaks of the other to a third person, 

 and says, fVe two (i. e. he, and I) will do such a 

 thing;* for example, inaluiAa (we two [i. e. thou 

 and I] are tying it); awstalaiha (we two [i.e. he and 

 I] are tying it). So in the dual of the nouns and 

 pronouns /cinitawtil, our father (i. e. of thee and me); 

 awkinitawtil, our father (i. e. of him and me.) (b) 

 Pluralized or Multiplicative Form. We mean by 

 this denomination a form which indicates, that the 

 action expressed by the verb is predicated of more 

 than one object, or tliat the object of the verb is 

 understood in the plural number. This modification 

 is effected through all the tenses and numbers of the 

 verb, by means of the common plural prefixes, t, te, 

 ti; for example, fcatitaw'ti (I use a spoon); tekati- 

 taut'ti (I use spoons); tsigawwati (I see [a thing]); 

 tetsigawwati (I see [things]); tsistigi (I eat [thing]); 

 tetsistigi (I eat [things]), &c. (c) Habitual or Pe- 

 riodical Form. This is a form or conjugation, which 

 expresses the being in the habit or custom of doing an 

 act, or the doing of it regularly, periodically, &c.; 

 for example, the common form of the verb tsikeyu 

 means / love him; but, in the habitual form or mode, 

 it is tsikeyusaw (I love him habitually, or, am in the 

 habit of loving him); again, galuiha, in the common 

 form, means I tie, or am tying (it) ; but galungihaw-i 

 means / tie habitually, &c. This form appears to 

 correspond to what Mr Zeisberger, in the Delaware, 

 calls the continuous form. (d) Conjugations. These 

 have not yet been sufficiently investigated to furnish 

 us with a satisfactory classification. Some have 



* In writing the Cherokee words, in these examples, we 

 are obliged to express the sounds by the best approxima- 

 tions that our English alphabet affords. The true sounds 

 cannot, in every instance, be perfectly expressed by any 

 other than the national syllabic alphabet, if we may so call 

 it, which was invented by a native Cherokee, Guest, who 

 was unacquainted with any other language than his own, 

 but has analyzed that like a philosopher, and has devised 

 an ingenious set of characters to denote all it* elementary 

 sounds, which he has reduced to eighty-five, and has 

 denoted by that number of syllabic characters. We cannot 

 employ this native alphabet here, as it would be wholly 

 unintelligible without a good deal of study. To express the 

 nasal, which it to common in the language, we have used 

 the u in the description above, and u in the table of 

 the verb; bat the reader should be apprized, that the 

 true sound it more like the French nasal un; like -tin 

 in the first syllable of our words uncle, hunger, as heard 

 the instant before the tongue touches the roof of the mouth. 

 Ihe short f2 is to be sounded, as in but, nut, &c. The aw 

 s to be sounded as in English. The other vowels are to 

 e _, fore /R n or Italian sound, as_in/ar, there, machine, 



ed 



*. The double consonant hi it also used for the sound of tl. 



made them six in number. (e) Moods. These have 

 been described as five in number, corresponding to 

 our indicative, imperative, subjunctive, potential 

 (relating simply to power or ability) and infinitive; 

 to which, in the opinion of the same writers, may 

 be added a sixth, denoting liberty to do an. act; but 

 this classification is not yet sufficiently established. 

 (/) Tenses. An exact arrangement of the tenses, as 

 well as the moods, is still wanting. Besides the 

 three general divisions of present, past, and future, 

 the Cherokee has several subdivisions of time ; but 

 these subdivisions have not yet been settled with 

 much exactness, so as to enable us to compare them 

 with the European verb. The perfect or past tense, 

 however, has a very remarkable subdivision into two 

 forms, which may, properly enough, be called two 

 perfects. They are used not to mark a difference in 

 time, but one of them indicates, that the person 

 speaking was present, or an eye-witness, or conscious 

 of the fact which he relates to have taken place ; 

 and the other, that he was absent, or not conscious, 

 but has learned it since by information, discovery, 

 &c. They might be denominated the absential and 

 presential perfect, or, to avoid the double significa- 

 tion of the word present, we might call them simply 

 the perfect and the absent perfect. The former ends 

 in the nasal u, and the latter in e or ei. Examples : 

 perfect, u-hlu (he killed him) speaking of a killing 

 when the speaker was present, or conscious of the 

 fact ; absent perfect, u-hlei (he killed him) speak- 

 ing of a killing when the speaker was absent. In 

 the following conjugation of the present tense of a 

 Cherokee verb, we are obliged to confine ourselves, 

 as in the case of the Delaware example, to the ani- 

 mate form : 



Conjugation of the Present Indicative of a Cherokee Verb. 



INDICATIVE MOOD. 



Present Tente. 



NEUTER GENDER ; THE OBJECT OF THE VERB BEING IN THE 

 SINGULAR NUMBER. 



Singular. 



1 perton. Galuiha, I am tying it 



2 do. Haluiha, thou art tying it 



3 (prn.>) Kahluiha, he is tying it 

 3 (abs.) Gahluiha, he is tying it. 



Dual. 

 1 & 2.f Inaluiha, thou and I are 



tying It 

 1 & 3. Awstiluiha, he and I are 



Plural. 

 1 & 2. f Italuiha, ye and I are tying 



1 & 3. 



2. 



Awtsaluiha, they and I are 



tying it 

 Itsaluiha, ye and I are 



tying it 



3t (pr.) Tanaluiha, they and I are 



tying it 

 3 (abs.') Analuiha, they and I are 



tjingit. 



NEUTER, DUAL AND PLURAI- ; THE OBJECT PLCRAL. 



Singular. 

 Tecnluiha, I am lying these 



things 

 Tehaluiha, thou art tying 



1 &2. 

 1&3. 

 2. 



Die 



things 

 Tekahlulha, he is tying 



these things. 



Dual. 

 Tenaluiha, thou and I are 3 ((,, ) 



tying these things 

 Tawstaluiha, he and I are 



tying these things 

 Testaluiha, ye are trying 



these things. 



THE FIRST PERSON SINGULAR, OBJECTIVE. 



Plural. 

 1 & 2. Tetaluiha, ye and I are 



tying them (these things) 

 1 & 3. TawtsatluihB. they and I 



are tying them 

 2. Tetsaluiha, ye are tying 



them 

 8 (pr.) TeUnaMlina, they are tying 



Singular. 

 Skwaluiha, thou art tying 



Takwaluiha,heistyingme 

 3 (afu.) Akwaluiha, he is tying me. 



Dual 



Sktnalwiha, ye two are ty- 

 ing me. 



3(pr.) 



Plural. 



Skiyaluiha,ye are tying m 

 Kukwaluiha, they are ty- 

 ing 



3 (abt.) Gukaluiha,tbey are tying 



me. 



* We use the term present to denote the expectation and intention, on the 

 part of the speaker, that the present person should hear. The form styled 

 abient is used when the speaker has no such intention, or is indifferent 

 respecting it. 



t 1 and 2 persons ; 1 and 3 persons. This is, perhaps, a proper distinction 

 between those two forms in the dual and plural, either of which would be 

 expressed by the flrst person in English. 



t The dual and plural of the third person are always the same. Where the 

 dual and plural numbers are given sepatately, in the other persons, we have 

 omitted the dual of the third person; because It always accords with th 

 plural. 



Where a person is wanting, it will be seen plainly to result Irom th 

 nature of the case, as the flrst person in this Instance. 



