46 



BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 40 



A suffixed -{a)n dissimilates to -{a)l because of a preceding m in the 

 stem: 



s'lmi'^l dew (cf. such nouns as pHyi^n deer) 

 daV-s'b^ma'l on the mountain {s'oin mountain) 

 do'^ma'lCV my testicles {do^m testicles) 



With these compare: 



dd°'-ts!a°"wa'n by the ocean (ts.'dU deep water) 

 In xd°'-gulma'n among oaks, the I immediately preceding the m 

 seems to have prevented the dissimilation of the -an to -al. 



It is practically certain that the -am of hagwdHa^m, Dldala^m, and 

 xdHa^-mCV is at bottom phonetically as well as functionally identical 

 with the suffix -an {-al), seen in xd'^-gulma^n (gulu^m oak) and dalc^- 

 s'o^maH, and rests on a second dissimilation of the nasal lingual (n) 

 of the suffix to a labial nasal (in), because of the lingual (I) of the 

 stem. The history of a word like liagwdHa^m is in that event as 

 follows : An original ^Jiagwd^-na'^n in the road (stem gwd'^n- + nominal 

 characteristic -an) becomes first *liagwd'^la^n by the dissimilation of 

 the first n because of the following n, then TiagwdHa^'m by the dissimi 

 lation of this second n because of the preceding I. Similarly Z>wZaZa^m 

 and xdHa'^mW would go back to *Dldana^n and ^xd^na'nW respec- 

 tively ; with the second form compare the reduphcated verb xala'xam- 

 ( = *xanaxan-) urinate. The probability of such a dissimilation of 

 71 to m is greatly strengthened by the fact that nearly all nouns with 

 an evidently sufhxal noun-forming element -(a)m have an I in the 

 stem as compared to an -{a)n of nouns not so affected. Contrast: 



he^Wm. board (cf. dVhe'liya 

 sleeping on wooden platform) 



grela^m river 



fe.'ela^m hail (cf. stem ts!el- 

 rattle) 



xila^m sick, ghost 



ts'Iu'hn wart ^ 

 AaHla^m empty 



lajj'am frog 



-n 

 daga^n turtle 



wigm red lizard 



pHyi'n deer (-n here as suffix 



shown by i^Hya'^x fawn) 

 yutlu^n white duck (cf. yut!- 



u'yidi^n I eat it greedily) 

 yu'xgsin trout 

 xddn eel (cf . hd^-xdd'^xdagwa^n 



I throw something slippery 



far away) 

 wd'^'p!\m- eyebrows 



1 No other example of final -Im is known, so that this form was probably misheard for ts-fulii^m 

 (ci. gulu^m OAK). 



§ 21 



