BOAS] HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 833 



There is also a peculiarity of construction belonging to the pos- 

 sessed inanimate noun of the third person when used as the subject 

 of an intransitive verb. The pronominal ending representing the 

 subject of the independent verb is changed from -w^ to -niw^ in the 

 singular, and from -on* to -niwAU^ in the plural. These peculiarities 

 can be observed from an illustration of an independent intransitive 

 verb. 



uIa' seni'Tn^ jjyd'migAteni'w^ his stone comes this way 

 utAse'nimA^^ pydmig Ate' niwA^n'^ his stones come hitherward 



The construction is not so simple with a transitive verb. If the 

 verb takes an object which in turn becomes the subject of a subordi- 

 nate clause, then its pronominal subject becomes -niwAU^ for both 

 the singular and the plural. 



utA'seni'm^ mecugwi' mwA'n'^ ne'niwA^^ ape'mine']ca''wdniHc^ 

 {''hwdwA^n^ his stone hit the man who was chasing the woman 



utAse'nimA^n^ mecugwi'mwA^n^ ne/niwa^'^ d'j)emine'Jca''wdniHc^ 

 i^Jcwdwa^*^ his stones hit the men who were in pursuit of the 

 women 



If there be only the subject, verb, and object, then the verb 

 assumes dependent form. The ending of the pronominal element 

 representing the subject of an assertive verb is -nitci, which at once 

 looks like an animate form of the conjunctive. But there are three 

 peculiarities which point toward a passive participial. One is the 

 presence of -gwi- before -nitcK This -gwi- seems to be the same as -g- or 

 -gu-, which, occurring in the same place, expresses a passive relation. 

 Another peculiarity is that the first vowel of the initial stem under- 

 goes change. Finally, the syllabic augment d is wanting. Change 

 of the vowel of an initial stem, and the absence of the augment a, are 

 the peculiar characteristics of a participial. 



uIa' seni^TTi^ macw'gwini^tc' ine'niwA^n^ his stone hit the man 

 utAse'nimA^n^ macu'gwini^tc' ine'niwA^n^ his stones struck the man 



The active transitive form of the verb is mfie'cwdw'^ he hit him 

 WITH A MISSILE. The animate passive conjunctive is dme'cuguHc^ 



WHEN HE WAS STRUCK BY A MISSILE. 



[Here should be mentioned the peculiar treatment of a possessed 

 inanimate noun of the first person with a transitive verb taking an 

 animate object. In this case the form of the verb is precisely the 

 same as in the passive [§ 41], but the incorporated pronominal object 



§34 



44877°— Bull. 40, pt 1—10 53 



