84 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



that can be given of al- in its more general and indefinite 

 use is that it conveys the idea of motion out from the sphere 

 of the person concerned, whether the motion be directed 

 toward some definite goal (object) or not; an approximate 

 translation in such cases would be to, at. The correctness 

 of this interpretation is borne out by the fact that al- at 

 times replaces a more definite local phrase, as though it were 

 a substitute for it, of the same general formal but weaker 

 material content. 

 wo/^da lo^gwa'^n to-him I-thrust-it, where wd'^da definitely ex- 

 presses a local pronominal idea to, at him. 

 Compare : 



a\lo'"-gwi^n 1 stretched it out to him 



where the exact local definition of the action is not so clearly 

 expressed; the direct object of the verb being here not the 

 object thrust, but the person aimed at, while the indirectness 

 of the action is interpreted by means of al- as an adverbial or 

 local modification of the verbal content. The change of vowel 

 in the ending, a — i, is closely connected, as we shall later see, 

 with ttis change of "face" in the verb. The first form may 

 be literally translated as to-him i-it-thrust; the second, as 

 i-HiM-TO-THRUST (it). Similarly, in aXHlats'.agi'^n i touched 

 his body, the al- is probably best considered as a general 

 directive prefix replacing the more special prefixes (such as 

 sal-, s'in-, and so on) that indicate the particular part of the 

 body affected, or, as one might put it, the exact limit of 

 motion. The use of al- in local phrases shows clearly its 

 general local significance: als*o"wa7 at, to the mountain; 

 ga^a^l to that, as postposition equivalent to to, for. from. 



(a) FACEj eye: 



al^dMini'^n I look around for him (cf . o^da'^n I hunt for him) 

 (92.27) 

 • siixl'^gi^n I see, look at him {-xi^g- never occurs alone) 186.7; 

 188.11. 

 aXgaya^n he turned his face 

 slyehebi'^n I showed it to him (77.8) 

 2\yowoVe^ I looked (cf. yowofe^ I was) (64.3) 

 a\ts!ayaga'^n I washed his face (64.5) 

 manx alnu'^Vwa he painted his (own) face 

 § 36 



