296 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



Instead of this, we find peculiar forms that belong to certain definite 

 stems — peculiar plurals, passives, causatives, etc., that must be treated 

 in the form of lists of t3'pes. In this respect Tsimshian resembles the 

 Athapascan with its groups of verbal stems, the Salish and Takelma 

 with their modes of reduplication, and the Iroquois with its classes of 

 verbs. The freedom of the language lies particularly in the extended 

 free use of proclitics. 



§6. IDEAS EXPRESSED BY GRAMMATICAL PROCESSES 



The use of the same stems as nouns and as verbs is common in Tsim- 

 shian, although the occurrence of nominalizing and verbalizing ele- 

 ments shows that the distinction between the two classes is clearl}^ felt. 

 The proclitic particles mentioned in the last section ma}' also be used 

 with both verbs and nouns. While many of these particles, particu- 

 larly the numerous class of local adverbs, always precede the stem 

 from which the}^ can not be separated, there are a considerable number 

 of modal elements which have a greater freedom of position, and 

 which merge into the group of independent adverbs. These elements 

 are so numerous and diverse in meaning, that it is diflicult to give a 

 satisfactory classification. The group of local proclitics occupies a 

 prominent place on account of its numbers and the nicet\' of local dis- 

 tinctions. It is, however, impossible to separate it strictl}^ from the 

 group of modal proclitics. 



The use of these proclitics is so general, that the total number of 

 common verbal stems is rather restricted. 



The proclitics are used — 



(1) As local adverbial and adnominal terms; 



(2) As modal adverbial and adnominal terms; 



(3) To transform verbs into nouns; 



(4) To transform nouns into verbs. 



Almost all the proclitics belonging to these groups form a syntactic 

 unit with the following stem, so that in the sentence they can not be 

 separated from it. The pronominal subject of the transitive verb 

 precedes the whole complex. 



Another series of proclitics differs from the last, only in that they do 

 not form so firm a unit with the stem. The pronominal subject of the 

 transitive verb may separate them from the following stem. To this 

 group belong all strictly temporal particles. The transition from this 

 class to true adverbs is quite gradual. 



1^ 



