50 



SYNTAX. 



6. When anything past is spoken of as uncertain, 'hediqhai) ' is commonly used; 

 as, he6anoq hediqhaq eien ohdaka wo, if thou didst that, confess it. 



2. The conjunctions e^ta, sta, k;eya^, and ke^, signifying though, although, are 

 also used to form the subjunctive mood ; as, o6i6iyaka esta wi6ayada 6ni, 

 although I tell thee, thou dost not believe ; hi l^eya^ ki6i mde kte sni, though he come, 

 I will not go with him ; amapa l^es en ewa6aqmi sni, though he struck me, I paid no 

 attention to it. 



3. Uqkaqs, if, usually relates to past time or to something already known, and 

 is used to state what would have been the case if the thing mentioned had been 

 different from what it is. It is usually followed by tuka, hut ; as, miye6i6aiu^u 

 ugkaqs 6i(Ju kta tuka, {me-thou-hadst-paid if, I-thee-give would but) if thou hadst paid 

 me, I would have given it to thee; suktaqka mduha uqkaqs mde kta tuka, (horse 

 I-had if, I-go would but) if I had a horse I would go. 



Optative, Potential, <Sfc. 



§ 134. The adverb tokiq, oh that ! is used with verbs to express strong desire ; 

 in which case an ' n ' is suffixed to the verb ; as, tokiq mduhen, oh that I had it ! 



§ 135. The Dakotas have no way of expressing fully and forcibly the ideas of 

 necessity and obligation. The place of the English words ought and must is 

 partially supplied by the word iyededa, ft, proper ; as, e6anoq kta iye6e6a, it is fit 

 that thou shouldst do it. 



§ 136. 1. The idea of abihty or power is expressed by the help of the verb okihi, 

 to be able, used after other verbs, which are either in the form of the infinitive or 

 gerund ; as, e6og owakihi, {to-do I-able) I am able to do it, or / can do it ; manipi 

 kir) owakihi, {walking the I-able) I can walk. Or they are put in a finite form ; as, 

 Suktaqka mduza owakihi, {horse I-catch I-able) I can catch a horse. 



2. Inabihty is expressed either by ' okihi ' with the negative ' sni,' or ' okitpani ;' 

 as, mawani kta owakihi ^ni, or, mawani kta owakitpani, {I-walk will I-cannot) I 

 cannot walk. 'Toka' or ' tokadaq,' followed by the negative '^ni,' is often used 

 for the same purpose; as, tokadaq mawani sni, {any-way I-walk 7iot) I cannot 

 possibly walk. 



3. The word ' pi6a ' is suffixed to verbs to denote possibility or that the thing can 

 he done ; as, e6oqpi6a, it can be done ; waqyagpi6a, it can he seen. But it more 

 frequently occurs with the negative ' sni ;' as, kahpida 6ni, it cannot be made. 



TENSES. 



§ 137. Notwithstanding the Dakota verb has but two distinct forms of tense, 

 there is no difficulty in expressing, by the help of adverbs, etc., all the varieties of 

 time found in other languages. 



Aorist Tense. 



§ 138. 1. The aorist is used to denote present time, and generally needs no mark 

 to show that the present is referred to, that being usually determined by attendant 

 circumstances or by the context ; as, tiyata yaqka, nakalia waqmdaka, he is at the 

 house, I have just seen him. 



