BOAS] HANDBOOK OF AMERICAN INDIAN LANGUAGES 1031 



•nih, 



'am/minik with his own {me) finger (assak) or fingers 

 sa' wimniinik with his own knife {sa'wik) or knives {.sa'iceet) 

 alermminnik with their own (mm) harpoon-line (ale/j) 

 ame' torqaminnik with their own {min) old skin 

 ammetorqaminnih with their old skins {anieq^ pi. ammit) 



-yivtf -kilt, -tirjtit, 



qiyamiyut through or b}^ his own {me) nose {qiyaq) 

 keenamiyiit through or over his own (me) face 

 qoyasiayut through or about his {a) neck {qoyaseq) 

 keenaatiyut through his (ejus) («) face 

 niaqoaatlyrit through his {a) head {niaqoq) 

 timaatiyut through his body {time) 

 siutiyuakkut through or by m}- little ear or ears 



Verbs (§§ 30-44) 



§ 30. CONJUGATION 



The conjugation of the Eskimo verb is based on a set of slightly 

 difterent stems; i. e., they are derivatives from a common base, which 

 in itself need not be of the character of a verb. The personal verb- 

 sufiixes follow the stems as terminals. The suflixes (the verb-signs) 

 have difi'erent meanings, constituting at the same time the modes of 

 the verb. Accordingly the stem of the verb alternates during the 

 conjugation. From the base kapi are formed the verb-stems kapiy, 

 kapi'ioo^ ka2)i'wa, kapi'le^ ka'piLLo, etc. (see § 31). Since each of 

 these stems has its own set of six or eight personal endings, it becomes 

 evident that the system of conjugation must be very complex. More- 

 over, there are four classes of conjugation, according to the differ- 

 ence in form of the bases. Examples of these classes are — 



Class I, *kapi., the last syllable weak (unstressed), and invariably 

 ending in a normal vowel (r/, /, ii). 



Class II, *piye (piya), the last syllable weak, and ending in e alter- 

 nating with a. 



Class III, ^'tl'kl {tlkik), the last syllable strongly stressed, but never 

 ending in a uvular. 



Class IV, ^a'toq {ato)^ the last syllable strongly stressed, and ending 

 in a uvular {q>?'). 



Thus the differences in the classes of conjugation depend not only 

 upon the final sound, but also upon the stress, of the bases. These 

 differences affect the constituting suffixes. Class I, for instance, adds 



§30 



