310 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



Phonetic Laws (§§ 6-14) 



§ 6* Introductory 



The phonetic laws are quite complex, and in a number of instances 

 show such appalling irregularities that they defy all attempts at 

 systematization. This is especially true of the contraction of two or 

 more vowels into one, and of the law of hiatus. Broadly speaking, 

 the phonetic processes may be said to be due to contact phenomena 

 and, in rare instances, to the effects of accent. 



Vocalic Processes (§§ 7-11) 



The processes treated in this division may be classified as follows: 



(1) Vocalic Harmony. 



(2) Consonantization of i- and u- diphthongs. 



(3) Contraction. 



(4) Hiatus. 



(5) Processes due to change from terminal to medial position. 



§ 7. VOCALIC HARMONY 



The most important phonetic law in the Coos language is the law of 

 vocalic harmony. This tendency towards euphony is so strongly 

 developed in the language, that it may safely be said to be one of its 

 chief characteristics. Its purpose is to bridge over as much as possi- 

 ble the difficulties that would arise in trying to pronounce in quick 

 succession syllables with vowels of widely different qualities. The 

 process may be of a retrogressive or progressive character; that is to 

 say, the suffix may change the quality of the stem- vowel, or vice versa. 

 Only the vowels of the a- and e- series are affected by this phenomenon, 

 which is not alwaj^s purely phonetic. 



The following suffixes cause a change from a to a, a process called 

 the «'- umlaut: 



-I neutral § 31 -tl pronominal § 46 -lye transitional § 35 



ii}ha'wU8 I make it grow hd'wl he grew up 64.24 



'Q,tsxau'wat I kill him 26.22 ntsxewe'll she kills me 24.14 



i^ha'klHUs I draw it up il haklHl'ye they were drawn 



up 30.1 

 §§ 6-7 



