570 BUREAU OP AMERICAK ETHNOLOGY Ibull. 40 



§ 8. Consonantic Assimilation 



It is doubtful whether there is a single case of consonantic assimi- 

 lation that is purely phonetic, not dependent on the grammatical 

 value of the consonants involved. For instance, the assimilation of 

 I by preceding and following n, observed in nd'pdnEVi it gets dark 

 (from o'pol night), finds no strict analogies in other similar sound 

 groups. An assimilation of I by preceding n is found whenever the 

 Z is a frequentative suffix (§ 31). 



akso' psna he jumps akso'pEnan he jumps about 



(instead of aksd'pEnal) 



What is apparently an assimilation of I by preceding n is also 

 found in cases of insertion which occur with the suffix -l (see § 31.8). 



§ 9. Vocalization of Consonants 



1 I and n show a peculiar behavior when occurring in the prefixes 

 -gsl-, -xeI-, and -^eI; or the corresponding -gEn- and -xeu (§ 25). 

 Whenever these prefixes are preceded by o, the I and n become e, so 

 that the prefixes assume the forms -{o)goe-, {o)xoe-, -{oYwe, 



agigE'lxem she called him ndgoexe'ma I shall call them 



axETid'ten he helped sing noxoexo'ten they helped sing 



In other cases the combinations Jcul and Jcol are admissible, as in 



oko'lxul mouse okula'm surf 



2. The intransitive t of the third person plural (§ 21) becomes o 

 before all li sounds, and also before adverbial I and n (§ 25). 



§ 10. Vowel Changes 



The verbal prefix -o- (§ 26), when accented and preceding a Ic 

 sound or a w, becomes a. 



anid'cgam I took him anid'wa^ I killed him 



This change does not take place in Upper Chinook. 



igio'waq (Kathlamet), agid'wa^ (Chinook) she killed him 

 Unaccented o does not change in this position. 



afnoxtk I steal her ayowd'x'it he is pursued 261.1 



§ 11. Metathesis 



Metathesis seems to be confined to cases in which two suffixes are 

 thoroughly amalgamated; for instance, -ako and -l combined form 

 -aluTcL (§30). 



§§8-11 



