764 BIJEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



implies is of such a nature as to combine easily with the notion of a 

 secondary stem to form an added sense of something more definite 

 and restricted. It is as if both initial and secondary stems were 

 modifiers of each other. An initial stem coming before another initial 

 stem in combination with a secondary stem stands toward the group 

 in much the same relation as if the group were a simple secondary 

 stem. The place of an initial stem is at the point where the idea it 

 expresses falls in most appropriately with the mental process of 

 restricting and making more definite the sense of the whole group. 



[Before proceeding to the examples of initial stems, it seems to me 

 important to point out that a large proportion of them terminate in 

 i. Thus awi- to be; dpi- to untie; Agwi- to cover; Auemi- yon 

 way; ^pi-TOSiT; cawi-TODo; ^^Tiemi- to continue to; fc^sH- abil- 

 ity; Hci- completion; Mwi- (an extended form of M) movement in 

 AN INDEFINITE DIRECTION ; md'lcwi- FUTUERE ; motd- TO MOVE ; mdw\- 

 TO GO to; meci- largeness; UAgi- to halt; 'pemi- movement past; 

 pydtci- (an extended form of ijyd) movement hither; etc. It is 

 therefore likely that this i is a morphological element. But it would 

 require a comparison with other Algonquian languages to determine 

 its precise value. It may be added that -^ also occurs with the func- 

 tion of -i, and that the two sometimes interchange. Apparently this 

 -i always drops out before vowels. — T. M.] 



Following is a selection of examples of initial stems which are quite 

 numerous and express ideas of great variety : 

 aski- early, soon, first. 



aaskimg'pu^ when it had first snowed 70.10 {a- temporal aug- 

 ment; me- initial stem common with words for snow, ice, 

 cold; mepu- to snow; -^ f or -gi suffix with a location sense; 

 -i lost before initial vowel of following word) 

 dhsiskdnwig^ while the snow was first on 70.10 (a- as above; ^ 

 glide; -i of aslci- lost before vowel; -dnw- secondary stem, de- 

 noting STATE, condition; -gi as above) 



ea- freedom of movement, passage without friction or impediment. 

 c&fpawdw^ he cries out sending his voice through space 

 capu'nigA^n^ a needle (literally, an instrument for piercing 

 through with ease) 



cosh- is used in several ways. In a special sense it denotes hori- 



ZONTALITY, STRAIGHTNESS. 



c6' ska' Jcusd^w"- he walks erect [-usd §19] 

 § 16 



