692 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



(3) In the formation of collectives. 



(4) In the formation of privatives. 



(5) In the formation of terms, such as are expressed in English by 

 words like only, merely, etc. 



1. Connectives. In the formation of compound nouns a con- 

 nective may or may not be used. Where the stem of the primary 

 component ends in a consonant, the connective is very generally 

 omitted; as in — 



Jios-hini spider-web (hosi buzzard ; hini net)" 



ha't-sdwi head-plume (hat msd'wi grass) 

 In other cases, the euphonic i is retained, as in — 



toll'-waka calf of leg {toll' leg; wakd' meat) 

 When a connective is used, this is invariably m (or n, see § 4), and it 

 may be used either with a noun whose stem ends in a vowel, or with 

 one ending in a consonant, but retaining the euphonic i; as, 



sil'-m-huJcu dog-tail (sil dog; iu'Tcu tail) 



Jii'nl-m-hutu eye-lash (hi'ni eye; hutu fur) 

 Inasmuch as m is the regular nominal suffix of the subjective case, it 

 may be regarded here as expressing a weak syntactic relation between 

 the two components of the compound word. 



2. Diminutives. These are, on the whole, little used in Maidu. 

 In the dialect here discussed, the formation of the diminutive is by 

 means of the suffix -he; as, 



ohe little stone (o stone) sii'he little dog {sii dog) 



The suffix is added directly to the stem, and is applied indiscrimi- 

 nately apparently to animate or inanimate objects. 



3. Colleetives. These express such ideas as a pile of, a crowd 

 OF, A LOT OF, and are quite commonly used. The most frequently 

 used is the suffix -nono added directly to the stem; as, 



Tculo'li-nono a lot of women, all the women 



mai'dil-nono the men as a body 

 Beside this suffix, there are two others that are frequently used as 

 such, although they may be used alone, and stand before the noun. 

 These other forms are -homo and -loJco; as, 



mai'dumhomd all the men, the crowd of men 

 tsd'mlolco a bunch of trees, cluster of trees 



In the case of both these latter forms the connective m is always used. 



§8 



