748 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



due perhaps to the extreme brevity of the final, inarticulate vowel. 

 The feature of the sonorous penult is apparent in extended combina- 

 tions like phrases and sentences, especially when movement is swift 

 at the start, and, gradually slowing up on the way, brings up at the 

 syllable next to the last with a sustained respite which ends with a 

 sudden break into the final vowel. The arrival on the penult creates 

 one or two effects according as the syllable is long or short. If the 

 quantity is long, the vowel is sung with falling voice; if short, the 

 vowel is brought out with almost the emphasis of a primary stress- 

 accent. 



This makes a fairly normal order for stress in a single group stand- 

 ing alone; but it suffers interference in the spoken language where 

 the measure of a syllable for special stress often becomes purely 

 relative. The stress on one syllable brings out a certain particular 

 meaning, and on another gains an effect of a different sort. Stressing 

 the stem of wd'haminu look at me exaggerates the idea of look; 

 stressing the penult -mi'-, the syllable of the object pronoun, centers 

 the attention on that person; and stressing the final member -nu' 

 THOU makes the second personal subject pronoun the object of chief 

 concern. 



Special stress often splits a vocalic sound into two vowels of the 

 same or a different kind. This is common in the case of pronouns, 

 in words of introductive import, in vocatives of spirited address, and 

 in cries calling at a distance: i'in* for i'n* that; nahei' for naM' 

 hark; nemwetige'i for ne'nlweti'g^ oh, ye men! pydgo'"^ for yydfg!^ 



COME YE. 



§ 7. Pitch 



This Algonquian dialect does not fall wholly in the category of a 

 stressed language. Pitch is ever present in a level, rising, or falling 

 tone. The effect of pitch is strong in the long vowels of the penult. 

 Temperament and emotion bring out its psychological feature. For 

 instance, pride creates a rising tone, and a feeling of remorse lets it 

 fall. In the sober moments of a sacred story the flow of words 

 glides along in a musical tone; the intonation at times is so level as 

 to become a tiresome monotone; again it is a succession of rises and 

 falls, now ascending, now descending, and with almost the effect of 

 song. In general, the intonation of ordinary speech is on a middle 

 scale. The tone of men is lower than that of women and children. 



§7 



