BOAS] HANDBOOK OF INDIAN LANGUAGES TAKELMA 97 



verb-stem -xlJc!- see; aorist Type 6 -xPg- and Type 2 -xikH-xa- 

 see (without object) 



verb-stem yeu- return; aorist intransitive Type 4 yewei-, causa- 

 tive Type 2 yewe^-n-, and, according to Type 8, yewew-ald- 

 go back for some one 



There are few if any verbs whose verb and aorist stems absolutely 

 coincide. If in nothing else the two differ at least in the quantity 

 of the stem vowel, the aorist stem always tending to show a long 

 vowel. In some cases the two (dissyllabic) stems seem identical in 

 phonetic form because of the persistence of an inorganic a in the 

 second syllable of the verb-stem and the presence of a repeated 

 radical a in the second syllable of the aorist stem. Sometimes only 

 certain of the forms built on the verb-stem exliibit the inorganic a; 

 in such cases the secondary character of the a is directly proven by 

 the forms that lack it. A case in point is: 



aorist stem ts'Iayam- hide; verb-stem ts'!ay[aYm- and ts'!a-im- 



Other verbs, however, are phonetically so constituted as to require 

 the presence of the inorganic a in all forms derived from the verb- 

 stem. Such are: 



aorist stem agan- feel, hear; verb-stem ag[a]n- 

 aorist stem plaJian- be ripe, done; verb stem p!ah[a]n- 



Under such circumstances ambiguous forms may result; e. g., 

 wa^agsmiY may be construed either as an aorist (you felt it) or as 

 a potential (you would feel it) derived from the stem ag[a]n-. 

 But evidence is not lacking even in these cases to prove the inor- 

 ganic character of the second a in the non-aorist forms. One test 

 has been already referred to in another connection — the incapability 

 of a secondary diphthong (a diphthong involving an inorganic a) to 

 have a rising accent. Thus: 



aorist <^a^^agan (-aga^n) he heard it; but imperative (Za^^ag[a'jn 

 hear it! 



A second test is the failure of inorganic a to become ablauted to e. 

 Thus: 



aorist plehen- a'nxi he causes me to be done; but future p!eh[a]n- 

 a'nxinlc he will cause me to be done 



The various types of stem-formation will now be taken up in the 

 order of their occurrence in the table. 



1 Brackets indicate an inorganic element. 

 3045°~Bull. 40, pt 2—12 7 § 40 



