BOAS] HANDBOOK OF AMEEICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 117 



§ 33. Deictic Prefixes, Third Position 



For the third person, in Hupa, two forms occur. The first form is 

 that used when speaking of adult Hupa. Tlie second form is used 

 when speaking of Hupa children and sometimes of very aged people, 

 of members of others tribes and races, and of animals. The first form 

 begins with fc-, and is completed according to the sound which fol- 

 lows. The second form has y- for its beginning, and is also com- 

 pleted according to the following sounds. After many of the pre- 

 fixes, these signs do not appear; but a hiatus ^ marks the absence of 

 the first form; and contraction or lengthening, often involving diph- 

 thongization, the second. There are no pronouns with which these 

 may be connected, and demonstrative sources are to be expected. The 

 third person has a dual whenever the root by its displacement has the 

 power of showing pluralit^^ In that case the same signs — or their 

 absence — indicate the dual as the singular, the forms differing only in 

 the root. The plural is invariably' indicated by the syllable -?/«-, which 

 has the hiatus after it, for the first class of persons, and lengthening 

 or contraction for the second. 



yetciLda he is carrying a large object 



yeyiLda he (not an adult Hupa) is carrying a large object 



§ 34. First Modal Prefixes, Fourth Position 



Several elements appear as prefixes in many verbs for which no 



definite and satisfactory meaning has been found. 



1. h-f ky-f is phonetically weak, the remainder of the syllable being 

 supplied from the sound which follows. Only occasionally has 

 a meaning been found for it, and the meanings which do appear 

 are not reconcilable. It is probable that it supplies an indefi- 

 nite object for verbs of eating, and perhaps some others.^ In a 

 few cases it has the meaning of leaving as a gift rather 

 than leaving for a time. In manj^ cases a sense of indefinite- 

 ness is present in the verb as regards the time occupied and the 

 number of acts required for the complete operation. 



naMnyCm eat again (without mentioning what is to be eaten) 153.9 

 yakinwuw carry it 105.18 

 yekyuwestce the wind blew in 270.1 



1 The hiatus in this case does not seem to be due to a full glottal stop, but to a lessening of the force 

 of the breath. It is very likely brought about by the disappearance of tc-. The lengthening and 

 diphthongization which take place in the case of the second form are probably due to the coalescing 

 of y with the preceding vowel. 



2In other dialects a sound ((c) which almost certainly corresponds to this is regularly used when 

 the object has not been mentioned or is unknown. 



§§ 33, 34 



