OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 553 



the end of the noun or pronoun, it can hardly be considered an exception to 

 the rule. The Esquimaux ha(i great difficulty in pronouncing Captain Lyon's 

 name, which it was more convenient to them to change into Nayon. The 

 letter / occurs perhaps more frequently than any other in the middle of 

 Esquimaux words. The letters r and s are never pronounced as with us, but 

 in a thick guttural manner, the former approximating to the Northumbrian 

 dialect, and the latter to the Scotch ch, (as in the Avord "loch.") The mark 

 * over either of those letters in the Vocabulary is intended to express 

 that sound. The r at the beginning of a word is perhaps the least adapted 

 of any to their organs or habits of speech, and the combination of letters in 

 the v>'ord " spring" produced from them nothing nearer than " sh-pudding." 

 When the letter g is preceded by n, and followed by a vowel, as in anga and 

 pingahike, the g is sounded as in the English word " hanger," and not as 

 in " anger." 



It is common for the Esquimaux to vary the pronunciation of their words 

 at different times without altering the sense. The women, iu particular, 

 seem frequently to make such alterations as conduce to the softness of the 

 words, as, for instance, by dropping the harsh final k which occurs so com- 

 monly, as, Innialoo iox Innialook ; by changing it into a vowel, as Ne-a-ko-a 

 for Necikoke, or by altering Oo-7e-ga into Oo-ing-a or Oo-7e-nui, and Hee-ii- 

 t^ga into Hce-u-iiug-a. Other examples of the same kind occur in the 

 Vocabulary. 



The nouns substantive have three numbers, singular, dual, and plural. 

 The dual generally terminates with a k, and the plural M'ith a < or an ?/ ; to 

 these, however, there are some exceptions among the following words, 

 obtained by repeatedly using the words AUou'seuk (one), Madltroke (two), and 

 Oomoktoot (a great many) respectively. 



Plural. 



Keinian 



Igloot 



Angootit 



Pannan 



Innueet 



Kabloonan 



Took toot 



Oomingmei. 



In the construction of a sentence the nominative case usually precedes the 

 verb, except it be a personal pronoun, which appears always to follow the 



4 B 



