boas] 



HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 



291 



I have been able to observe the system of consonants of Tsim- 

 shian more fully than that of the Nass dialect. It may be repre- 

 sented as follows: 



stops Affricafives Continued Kasnls 



Labial , . . 

 Dental . . . 

 Anterior palatal 

 Middle palatal 

 Velar . . . 

 Glottal . . . 



h 

 d 

 9' 

 9 

 9 



P 



t 



h 



p! - 

 t! dz 



k! - 

 k! - 

 q! - 



ts ts! - 



m 

 n 



ml 

 n! 



- r 



- (r) 



Lateral, continued, voiced 



" " " fortis . 



'' " voiceless, posterior 



Breathing ..... 

 Semi-vowels .... 



" fortis 



I 



I! 

 I 

 h 



The terminal surd is much weaker than in the Nass dialect, and 1 

 have recorded many cases in which the terminal stop is without 

 doubt a sonant: 



ivalh house g*ad people 



Before g and k, terminal sonants become surds: 



wi-ts!Em-la'°p(/E great cave ES 96.30 

 tiE-gaf ltga° his hat ES 90.1 



Before t and vowels, the sound remains a sonant: 



g'a'hE ... to draw water . . . ES 96.10 

 hl'HdEt . . . many . . . ES 96.14 



The fact that some terminal sounds always remain surd shows 

 that in the cases of alternation of surd and sonant the latter must 

 be considered the stem consonant. 



Some of the sounds require fuller discussion. It has been 

 stated before that the fortes, as pronounced by the present genera- 

 tion, are not as strong as they used to be and as they are among 

 more southern tribes. The ^-series is alveolar, the tip of the tongue 

 touching behind the teeth. The affricatives have a clear continued 

 .9-sound, the tip of the tongue touching the upper teeth: while 6^ has 

 a decided tinge of the English sh. It is pronounced with tip of 

 tongue turned back (cerebral) and touching the palate. The teeth 

 are closed. The sound is entirely surd. The nasals tn and n are 



§4 



