18 BUEEAU OF AMEKICAN ETHNOLOGY [bult.. 40 



these diphthongs were heard, if not always pronounced, as shortened 

 diphthongs with raised pitch (aV, a^l, a'm). The acoustic effect of a 

 syllable with rising pitch followed by an unaccented syllable is neces- 

 sarily different from that of a syllable with falling pitch (^) , or of a 

 sellable with raised pitch followed by an unaccented syllable, because 

 of the steady rise in pitch before the succeeding fall. The tendency 

 at first is naturally to hear the combination — ^=^ — as — - — , and to 

 make no distinction in accent between yewe'ida^ when he returned 

 and yewezfe^ i returned; but variations in the recorded texts 

 between the rising and falling pitch in one and the same form are in 

 every case faults of perception, and not true variations at all. The 

 words tlomom he killed him and yawalfe^ i spoke may be approxi- 

 mately represented in musical form as follows : 



t.'o- mo-um ya- wa- i- t'e^ 



The falling pitch ( - ) affects both long and short vowels as well as 

 diphthongs, its essential characteristic being, as already defined, a 

 steady fall from a tone higher than the normal level. The peak of 

 the falling inflection may coincide in absolute pitch with that of the 

 rising inflection, though it is often somewhat higher, say an interval 

 of a fourth above the ordinary level. The base Gowest tone) of the 

 fall is not assignable to any definite relative pitch, the gamut run 

 through by the voice depending largely upon the character of the 

 syllable. If the accent hits a long vowel or diphthong not immedi- 

 ately followed by a catch, the base will, generally speaking, coincide 

 with the normal level, or lie somewhat below it. If the long vowel 

 or diphthong be immediately followed by an unaccented syllable, the 

 base is apt to strike this unaccented syllable at an interval of about 

 a third below the level. If the vowel or diphthong be immediately 

 followed by a catch, the fall in pitch will be rapidly checked, and the 

 whole extent of the fall limited to perhaps not more than a semitone. 

 As soon, however, as the catch is removed (as often happens on the 

 addition to the form of certain grammatical elements), the fall runs 

 through its usual gamut. The words 



Ywede'i his name 



yewe'ida^ when he returned 



yewe'^^ he returned 

 will serve to illustrate the character of the falling pitch. 

 § 5 



