BOAS] HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 405 



Tsimshian : 

 al uE-ha'^dlf has he not been running ? 

 a'l inE-vmla'idut hi-wula'gunf don^t you know who did this to you? 



((?) The word no is expressed by i\e (Tsimshian: a'yin). The form 

 a'yin is also sometimes used in interrogative sentences. 

 "we," de'yaL g'a'tg'e "no," said the man 87.11 

 Tsimshian : 



''A'yinl nE-gcm-im'lsEmi^ noPtf'' — "^'ym." Did you not get 

 what you w^ent for, my dear?" — " No." {aJy%n not; nE- posses- 

 sive; gan- reason; \L)al to do; -sEin ye; naPt m.^ dear! [masc.]) 



{d) hawa'lg (Tsimshian) signifies not yet. 



a hawa'lgd gaPl dsdv/HsEt when not yet anything was alive ZE 

 782.1 



{e) In subordinate clauses the negation is expressed by ax- (Tsim- 

 shian loa-). These prefixes have been described in § 11, no. 137, 

 p. 328. This prefix uiHst be considered to have a nominal character, 

 so that the whole sentence appears as a verbal noun. 



if) g'^do' don't ! (Tsimshian g'ild'). 



g'%16 dzE s6'6sEJ7i, ana! don't take the rest out 181.9 {dzE weakens 



the imperative) 

 g'%16' niE dzE sEin ma! leI don't tell about it! 181.11 



Tsimshian : 



I g'ila! ha'^sEiit don't be afraid ! 



I g'Ua! iiiE dzE ga'H don't go there ! 



§ 64:. The Interroffative 



In the Nass dialect the interrogative seems to be formed regularly 

 by the suffix -a, which is attached to the indicative pronominal endings 

 (see § 48). In Tsimshian the most frequent ending is -I, but -u also 

 occurs. It does not seem unlikely that these endings ma}'' be identical 

 with the demonstrative endings -^ and -u, which were discussed m 

 § 56. After interrogative pronouns these endings are not used. 

 1. Interrogative suffix -a : 



neeL is!ens K-\iL-}ia'tgnin-<jl' sEinq ah ts ! Em-livAlha' f did not 

 Labret-on-One-Side enter the house? 191.12 {tsUn to enter; 

 k-\iL- on one side; lidtg'^ to stand; gH'sEinq labret; ts!Em- 

 interior; Tivnlp house; -a interrogative) 

 nefiL w%-t!e'sdaf is it great? 

 7ie ms SEm Jiwa'daf didn't you find it? 106.7 



§64 



