BOAS] HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 173 



The Verb (§§ 13-21) 



§ 13, Structure 



Verbal stems are, on the whole, monos3dlablio. They take a con- 

 siderable number of prefixes and a few suffixes. Most of the prefixes 

 have a very weak meaning, and appear in many cases as purely formal 

 elements, while in other cases the underlying- meaning may be detected. 

 It seems easiest to classify these prefixes according to their position. 

 In the transitive verb the object precedes the whole verbal complex. 

 Then follow prefixes, stem, and suffixes in the following order: 



Prefixes {^ 14-18) 



(1) Nominal prefixes 



(2) First modal prefixes. 



(3) Pronominal subject. 



(4) Second modal prefixes. 



(5) Third modal prefixes. 



(6) Stem. 



(7) SuflBxes. 



§ 14. NOMINAL PREFIXES 



A few monosyllabic nouns are prefixed to the verb. I have found 

 the following: 



1. q!a MOUTH or lips. 



qeqle'dt mju' ye'qiayaqa toward morning she spoke thus {ai/n' 

 indefinite pronoun and demonstrative; ye thus; q!a mouth; 

 ya- verbal prefix [§ 15.3]; qa to say) 



yuxa'7iAs! adA'x q.'aodtsa' he blew upon the raft {yu demon- 

 strative; xa'tiAs! raft; a indefinite pronoun; dAX on; q.'a 

 mouth; o- verbal prefix [§ 17.2]; dt- verbal prefix [§ 18.3]; 

 sa to blow) 



2. til MIND. 



Atcavje' Utvmlttsi'n therefore (the KiksA'di) are brave {tu mind; 



wu- verbal prefix [§ 15.4]; U- verbal prefix [§ 18.4]; tsln strong) 

 Lax wa'sa tuwimu'k he felt very sad {hax very; wa'sa how; tu 



mind; wu- verbal prefix [§ 15.4]; nuk sad) 



3. Ill POINT. 



daq a'lunago' qoawe when they were running ashore in a crowd 

 {ddq ashore; a demonstrative; lu point, i. e. crowd; na- at the 

 same time when [§ 17.5]; go' qoawe they run) 



§§ 13, 14 



