BOAS] HANDBOOK OF INDIAN LANGUAGES COOS 325 



In Ie'yI xktm'naHc it does not look good (literally, not good [the 



manner of] looking 34.18 

 xiwP-nt lay- Lo^^LQ^'wax many (persons) her were clubbing 80.4, 5 



X- is always prefixed to the vocative cases of nouns when they 

 are used with the possessive pronouns. This is due to the desire on 

 the part of the speaker to avoid ambiguity or obscurity of meaning. 



ta'% nEx hu^'ims halloo, my wife ! 54.2 



^dj% nEx da' mil you come, my husband! 70.16 



eFlo^HlyExta'is TianL nEx dl't!d you shall take care of me, oh, my 



pet! 86.20.21 

 e^djl nEx temd'mis you come, my grandsons 82.12, 13 

 ^Lo^h^ uEx klo'la sit down, my father 



While the vocative cases (especially for nouns expressing terms of 

 relationship) have special forms, the omission of the discriminative 

 prefix could nevertheless obscure the meaning of the sentence, as the 

 possessive pronoun coincides with the form for the personal pronoun. 



Thus, if in the sentence e^Lo^k^ uex k/o'la, the hex klo'la were 

 deprived of its discriminative prefiiX, it might mean you sit down. I 

 (am the) father. Since, however, the action is to be performed by 

 the person addressed (in this particular instance, "the father"), it is 

 discriminated by the prefix x-. Such an ambiguity can not occur in 

 sentences where the vocative is used without the possessive pronoun, 

 where the prefix is consequently omitted. 



e^Lo'^k^ pkd'k' you sit down, grandfather! 108.14 

 intlxa'riEm l u'md make me (necessarily) lunch, grandmother ! 

 114.5 



§ 24. Modal and Instrumental x- 



This prefix ma}^ be best translated by in the manner of. Its 

 function is the same as that of our English suffix -lt. There is an 

 etymological relation between this suffix and the discriminative and 

 locative a?-, although I was unable to ascertain its exact nature. The 

 suffix -tc is frequently added to stems preceded by the modal prefix 

 ■X (see § 36). 



xLowe'ento kiwt'nts entirely Lowe'entc Lowi'tat all (seals) ran 



he swallowed her 102.23 (into the water) 56.9, 10 



xtci'tcu eFxa'lal how are you? tci'tcuye^ Uuwe'Hcis what do you 



(literally, in what way you think? (literally, what your 



do?) 36.13 heart?) 6.9; 7.1 



xqa'lyeqeHc U kwtna'e^wat as salmon they look upon it (literally, 

 in the manner of salmon they see it [qa'lyeq salmon]) 130.14 



§ 24 



