102 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



§ 10. Denominating Concepts 



Most nouns are clearly separated from verbs, both in form and 

 meaning. Many nouns are monosyllabic, entirely lacking in descrip- 

 tive power, and having meaning because they have become associated 

 in the mind with the object for which they stand. Of essentially the 

 same character are the names of the parts of the body and terms of 

 relationship, which are alwaj's found with a prefixed possessive pro- 

 noun, the purely nominal part being a single syllable. There are a 

 few compound nouns, either co-ordinate and in juxtaposition, or 

 one modifying the other. Certain nouns are formed by suffixes which 

 are strictly limited to a nominal use. Of such character are the aug- 

 mentativ^e and diminutive suffixes -hyo and -itc. Other suffixes have 

 the meaning of dwelling in, frequenting, or being found in the 

 place named by the stem to which the}^ are attached; for example, 

 xontehtau place broad he frequents (coyote). While nouns of 

 this class do describe and predicate certain things, that is not their 

 chief purpose. The description is for the purpose of pointing out 

 definitely an object by discriminating between it and other related 

 objects. 



A number of nouns have a verbal form, and describe the object 

 referred to by giving some characteristic position, form, or action. 

 For this purpose the verb may appear alone in the active or passive 

 voice, or a noun may be placed before it to serve as its object or limit 

 of motion. It is probable that some such verbal forms, having lost 

 their verbal force, have furnished a number of pol3"S3"llabic nouns 

 which have now no descriptive meaning in the mind of the Hupa, 

 and do not yield to attempts at analysis. These complexes which 

 serve the office of nouns, indicating an object or animal by means of 

 a characterization of it, are really substantive clauses. 



There are a few suffixes which are employed with both nouns and 

 verbs. They are temporal, indicating that the thing or act belongs to 

 the past or future rather than the present. 



§ 11. Predicating Concepts 



The verbs differ from the nouns in that they are almost invariably 

 polj'syllabic, and have the meaning of a complete sentence. The more 

 essential part or root of the verb is usually not associated in the mind 

 with a certain object or animal, but with some particular act or motion: 

 as -to^ which means to insert or exsert an object into a tubular 



§§ 10, 11 



