BOAS] HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 111 



Verbs (§§ 28-75) 



§ 28. Structure 



The verb in Hupa, as in other Athapascan languag-es, presents many 

 difficulties. It contains in itself all the elements of the sentence. For 

 example, xanalsdiyade^ if she comes back up has, first an adverbial 

 prefix xa-^ denoting that the motion is up the side of a hill; next is 

 found the particle -na-^ having an iterative force, showing that the 

 act is done a second time (in this case it is only intended to show that 

 the path from the river is passed over a second time); the sjdlable -/«-, 

 b}^ the consonant it contains, shows that the act is thought of as pro- 

 gressive over the surface of the ground. The fact that s following i 

 forms a syllable by itself, indicates that the act is thought of as per- 

 formed by an adult Hupa, otherwise .s would have been joined to the 

 preceding na-. The lack of a sign of person or number at this point 

 in the verb allows no other conclusion than that the third person singu- 

 lar is intended. The syllable -d~i-^ of which d seems to be the essen- 

 tial part, usually follows the iterative prefix -na-^ the two being 

 equivalent, perhaps, to English back again. The next syllable, -ya-^ 

 may be called the root, since it defines the kind of act. It is used of 

 the locomotion of a single human being on his feet at a walk, and also 

 of the coming of non-material things. Had this verb been in the 

 plural, the root would have been -deL. Had the pace been more 

 rapid, -La would have been employed. Had some animal been the 

 subject, the root would probably have characterized the gait of the 

 animal. The final suffix -de^ indicates a future contingency. 



Formative Elements (§§ 29-30) 



§ 29. GENERAL REMARKS 



The more extended forms of the verb have one or more prefixes 

 preceding the root, and one or more suffixes following it. By means 

 of the prefixes, the direction of the motion in space, its manner and 

 purpose, whether repeated or not in time, and whether conceived as 

 continuous, beginning, or completed, are expressed. By changes in 

 a single syllable, that which usually directly precedes the root, the 

 person and number of the subject are indicated. These changes 

 almost amount to inflection. By variations in the form of the root, 

 the number of the subject in intransitive verbs, and of the object in 



§§ 28, 29 



