126 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



is characterized by stronger vowels : for example, a is found in the 

 past instead of u^ and e instead of i; and the diphthong cd and au 

 appear for a. Some roots which end in t in the past do not have 

 that ending in the present. 



A number of roots, many of them containing the vowel ^, do not 

 change in form or length. 



It is extremely difficult to trace these variations of the root to their 

 causes. It is altogether probable that -m, which is the final sound in 

 many roots of the indefinite tenses, is to be connected with -c (sh) or 

 -s (which occurs in the same roots and the same tenses in Tolowa and 

 other Athapascan dialects). It is therefore, in all likelihood, the 

 remains of a former suffix. It is most likely that -ti and -n, which 

 are so characteristic of the definite tenses, are not original parts of 

 the root. In fact, what seems to be the same root often occurs with- 

 out the nasals. The difference between the past and present definite 

 is almost certainly due to the accent, which is on the root in the past 

 and on the S3dlable preceding the root in the present. This in turn 

 may be due to the fact that the latter is often used with suffixes. 



The most important verbal roots are given below with their varia- 

 tions and what is deemed the most characteristic meaning of each. 



§ 46. Roots with Four Forms 



The following roots have the past definite in -en; the present defi- 

 nite, in -in; the impotential, customary, and present indefinite and 

 unexcepted forms of the imperative, in -uw; and the third person 

 imperative, in -e. 



-wen, -win, -wuw, -we (3d imp.) to carry on the back 

 -loen, -win, -wuw, -toe (3d imp.) to move or to wave fire 

 -ten, -tin, -tuw, -te (1st and 3d imp.) to lie down 



Two roots have -u for the impotential and customary, with -e for 

 present indefinite and imperative. 



-len, -lin, -lu, -le to become, to be, to be transformed 



-lau, -la, -lu, -le to do something, to arrange according to a plan 



§ 47. Roots with Three Forms 



The following have the first form for the past definite, the second 

 form for the present definite, and the third form for the indefinite 

 tenses. Some exceptions are noted. 



-^an, -^un, -^auw to transport round objects 



-an, -un, -auw to run, to jump (with plural subject only) 



§§46,47 



