BOAS] HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 441 



IDEAS EXPRESSED BY GRAMMATICAL PROCESSES 



(§§ 9-17) 



§ 9. Character of Steins 



Although the formal distinction of noun and verb is quite sharp, 

 the great freedom with which nouns may be transformed into verbs, 

 and verbs into nouns, makes a classification difficult. All stems 

 seem to be neutral, neither noun nor verb; and their nominal or 

 verbal character seems to depend solely upon the suffix with which 

 they are used, although some suffixes are also neutral. I am led to 

 this impression chiefly by the indiscriminate use of suffixes with 

 stems that occur as nouns, as well as with others that occur as 

 verbs. A separation of suffixes of nouns and those of verbs can be 

 carried through only when the sense of the suffix requires its com- 

 position with eitlier a verb or a noun, and even in these cases com- 

 positions with the opposite class occur which are sometimes difficult 

 to understand. The neutral character of the stem may also be the 

 reason why many suffixes are attached to the stem freed of all word- 

 forming elements. Examples of the indiscriminate use of suffixes 

 with stems that we should be inclined to class as either nominal or 

 verbal are — 



hsldu's man of the woods (from hsg^ man, -s in woods) 

 tle'h'.ES to lie on back on ground (from tleh- to lie on back, and 



the same suffix as before) 

 tle'sEmx'tslana stone handed (from tie's- stone, -Ein plural, 



-x'ts.'dna hand) 

 axts.'and'la to hold in hand (from ax- to do, and the same suffix 



as before) 



It is difficult to understand the combination of a suffix like -ox to 

 OBTAIN with stems some of which we consider as verbal, while others 

 appear to us as nominal stems. We find qfd'Jc-OL to obtain a slave 

 (from q.'dJc^- slave), and also Iol to obtain (from la, a general 

 auxiliary verb, originally designating motion). Lack of discrimina- 

 tion between the nominal and verbal function of words is also brought 

 out by compounds like hEgwd'nEmx'^ld to become a man (from 

 bEgwd'usm man, -a;■^^cZ, inchoative), and mix'H'd to begin to strike 

 (from mix-- to strike and the inchoative suffix). 



A number of suffixes may also be used indiscriminately with 

 nominal and verbal function; for instance, from -naxwa sometimes, 



§9 



