BOAS J HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 1007 



a tendency similar to tliat of our own, of distinguishing between 

 nouns and verbs; but this tendency has been crossed by other tenden- 

 cies toward demarcation which partially neutralize the former, as will 

 become evident in the following discussions. 



Accordingly, instead of basing the distinction between Eskimo word- 

 classes on the same principles as those of Latin grammar, I have 

 chosen to depart from the categor}^ of the latter without completely 

 giving up its technical terms of expression, which are useful because 

 they are easily understood. In all branches of science, when pro- 

 ceeding from the known to the unknown, it is necessary to interpret 

 the latter in the light of the former. 



Following this method, we may distinguish between the following 

 classes of words: 



a. Base- Words 



T -mr 1 -i.! -! n J. • i • C^- NoUUS (/iiC* HOUSE, a^^*^ NAME). 



I. Words with full typical in- K. ^r , /.7 . ' ^ 



L down). 



11. Wo-rds with defective inflection {tamaq all, uwaya i, the numer- 

 als, etc.). 

 III. Words with atypical inflection: demonstrative and interrogative 

 words {umt he there, Jxi7ia w^ho). 



1. Interjections. 



IV. Words without any inflection^ 



2. Particles, temporal (»/«??« when), 

 modal {qanortoq utinam), 

 local {iiFFci there), etc. 



/3. Suffixes (Actual and Obsolete) 



1. Common to all kinds of words. 

 11. Confined to certain groups of words. 



INFLECTION (§§ 17-50) 

 Typical Inflection (§§17-44) 

 §17. I*litral and Dual Inflection * 



This is the most general kind of inflection in the Eskimo language, 

 applying to all sorts of words with the exception of particles and 

 interjections. 



§17 



