BOAS] HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 805 



egd TO DANCE, and some others. In the form of led, 'kd, and 

 sometnnes gd, it helps to express activity, occupation, exercise, 

 industry. It admits of a wide range of use with the three 

 forms, but everywhere is distinguished the idea of doing, 



PERFORMING. 



nenu' su'\si''W°' he is on a ])uffaki-hunt 



lcepi'hik&''W'^ he is making a fence (i. e., an enck)sure) . [kej)- is an 



initial stem denoting enclosure. — T. M.] 

 Jcoge'nig&^w'^ she is washing clothes (i. e., doing work with water 



[Jcog- § 16]) 



There is no precise notion expressed })y the vowel d in such aug- 

 mented forms as -hd- and -wd-. It is an empty sign so far as 

 standing for an idea goes ; yet the vowel, like some others in 

 its class, plays an important function. It helps to define the 

 preceding stems and to connect them with the terminal pro- 

 nouns. A copula might be an apt term for it, for such is its 

 office. The following show some of its uses: 



M'wdtci'tdh.'si^'W" he is melancholy {-itd- [§ 18]) 

 d'kwi'tah'si''w^ he is sullen 

 M'-yaw'SL^w" he is jealous 

 a''Arwaw" he is angry 



The inanimate retains d in -dmigAt-. As in the animate, so in the 

 inanimate, the rendering is usually with some form of the verb 

 to be. The inanimate admits of a further meaning, implying 

 something of the notion of vague extension, like prevalent 

 tone, pervading temper, dominant state of things. Such is the 

 essential idea that comes from the substitution of -dmigAt- for 

 the animate in the forms that have just been given: 



ne'nusu'k a' migA^w^ the buffalo-hunt is the all-absorbing topic 

 Jce'pihikk'migA^w^ everything is given over to the building of 



enclosures 

 ]cd'genigsi'migA\w^ the place is astir with the washing of clothes 

 M'wdtcitdhsi' migA^w^ the place is sad, dolefully sad 

 d'^kwitdh'si'imgA^'W^ the air is all in a spleen 

 kiydwa,'migA\w^ the place is mad with jealousy 

 d'kwk'migA^w^ it is aflame with anger 



It is well to mention at this point an inanimate use of -gAt-, a com- 

 ponent element of -dmigAt-. The form is sometimes -gwAt-, 

 -kwAt-, or -TcwAt-. In function it is not unlike the inanimate 



§20 



