APPENDIX. 463 



nissdn ogimdn, "Bear lie lias killed liim cliief." Ilere tlic verb 

 and the noun are both objective in un, which is sounded an, where 

 it comes after the broad sound of a, as in missdn, objective of the 

 verb to kill. If we confer the powers of the English possessive 

 ('5), upon the inflections aim, eem, im, 6m, 00m, and dm, respectively, 

 and the meaning of him, and of course he, her, his, hers, they, theirs 

 (as there is no declension of the pronoun, and no number to the; 

 third person), upon the objective particle un, we shall then trans- 

 late the above expression, hizhik-eemum., his bison's hisn. If we 

 reject this meaning, as I think we should, the sentence would read, 

 "His bison," him, a mere tautology. 



It is true, it may be remarked, that the noun possessed, has a 

 corresponding termination, or pronominal correspondence, with 

 the pronoun possessor, also a final termination indicative of its 

 being the object on which the verb exerts its influence — a mode of 

 expression, which, so far as relates to the possessive, would be 

 deemed superfluous, in modern languages ; but may have some 

 analogy in the Latin accusatives am, um, em. 



It is a constant and unremitting aim in the Indian languages 

 to distinguish the actor from the object, partly by prefixes, and 

 partly by inseparable suffixes. That the termination un, is one 

 of these inseparable particles, and that its office, while it confounds 

 the number, is to designate the object, appears probable from the 

 fact, that it retains its connection with the noun, whether the latter 

 follow or precede the verb, or whatever its position in the sen- 

 tence may be. 



Thus we can, without any perplexity in the meaning say, Wai- 

 raiitigtzMwug ogi sagidn Pontiac-un, "Frenchmen, they did love 

 Pontiac him. Or to reverse it, Pontiac-un Waimittigozhiwug ogi 

 sagidn, " Pontiac, he did Frenchmen he loved." The termination 

 un, in both instances, clearly determines the object beloved. So 

 in the following instance, Sagunoshug ogi sagidn Tecumseh-un, 

 "Englishmen, they did love Tecumseh," or Tecumseh-un Sagunos- 

 hug oji sagidn, "Tecumseh, he did Englishmen he loved." 



In tracing the operation of this rule, through the doublings o*;* 

 the language, it is necessary to distinguish every modification of 

 sound, whether it is accompanied or. not accompanied by a modi- 

 fication of the sense. The particle un, which thus marks the third 

 j[)erson and persons, is sometimes pronounced icun, and sometimes 



