BOAS] HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 275 



Of a similar character are the following, although their derivation 

 is not clear : 



daqu'nlao matches qld'sgudjao lamp 



Mtsgald' no poker Lqalda'o baking-powder 



xalgadja'o tin pan l'.tio milk 

 q.'aixitagd'no rattle 



Probably the Masset word for food, tao, should be added to this 

 list. The Skidegate word for food is formed in a peculiar way — by 

 prefixing the plural indefinite pronoun ga to the stem of the verb eat 

 (ga ta food) . 



Proper names are often formed from nouns or descriptive terms by 

 means of the suffix s, already referred to. The following are examples : 



Djl'lindjaos a man named Devil-club {djl'lindjao devil-club) 



Gao qons the name of an inlet {gao qon mighty inlet) 



Qlets name for the Kaigani country {q!et narrow strait) 



Gu'lgas a man named Abalone (gu'lga abalone) 



NAnki'lsLas the Person-who-accomplished-things-by-his-w-ord ; that 



is, the Creator, Raven {nAfi M'lsia a person who accomplishes 



things by his word) 

 Qai al Id'nas a family called the people of Qai {Qai al Id'na a man 



of the town of Qai) 

 NAh-sti'ns The-one-who-is- (equal-to) -two (nAfi one person; stin 



two) 

 Na qld'las a family called Clay-house People (na q'.d'la a clayey 



house) 

 Tcdn Id'nas Mud-town 



This, however, is not essential to the formation of proper names, 

 as the following examples will show: 



Xo'ya gA'nm Raven creek 



Qa'itgaogao Inlet-from-which-the-trees-have-been-swept-away (a 



camp between Kaisun and Tc !a'at) 

 Ldjiri xa'idAgai Far People (the Kwakiutl) 

 Gldd'nstA From-his-daughter (name of a chief) 

 Tddnu aI q'.ola'i Master-of-the-Fire (name of a chief) 

 Sgd'na yu' An Great Supernatural Power (name of a chief) 

 Qena-ga'isL Floating-heavily-in-his-canoe (name of a chief) 



The following nouns are nothing more than verb-stems: 



wd'lgal potlatch Iclo'da dead body 



st!e sickness xidl dance 



gu'su speech ^e'da shame (Masset) 



As already noted, there are a few other stems difficult to classify as 

 absolutely nominal or verbal; such as na house, xa'ida person. 



§38 



