382 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



Phonetic Changes (§§ 84-85) 



Grammatical processes by means of phonetic changes are few in 

 number, and not clearly developed. The phonetic change may be of 

 a vocalic or consonantic character. 



§ 84. Vocalic Changes 



Vocalic change is confined to the verb, and consists in the amplifi- 

 cation of the stem by means of a vowel (usually the a-vowel), or in 

 the modification of the vowel connecting a suffix with a stem. Stem 

 amplification is employed for the purpose of forming active or transi- 

 tive verbs from verbal stems, and of denoting duration of action. 

 The latter application occurs in verbs that have already been transj- 

 tiyized by means of some transitive suffix. The stem is frequently 

 duplicated before amplification is applied to it (see § § 82, 83). For 

 another explanation of this phenomenon see §§4, 11. 



tJcioiL- to follow m tcttc tkwi'yah (they) can not fol- 



low him 



t(AnL- to reach yixd'wExetc td'naL Id Ic^ma'iic, 



to (the roof of) the house reached 

 its horn 86.25, 26 



sto'^q he stood 20.4 nliah! sto'ioaq at the foot of the 



tree he stood 26.17 



ux yu'yu they two stopped ux yu'^'yu they two stopped (for 

 (for a moment) 5.2 a long time) 5.5 



k/a'^- to peck Jc'ilb'ivit hla'wai he saw him (in 



the act of) pecking at it 20.9 



siljp- to comb one's hair si'pMap he is combing his hair 



mXntc- to ask wdndj mitcrnVnatc that way she is 



asking 80.12 



iviL- to twist xqe'ltc wlLwe^'yaL slowly she is 



twisting him 60.7 



Modification of a connecting vowel, whenever it occurs, is employed 

 for the purpose of indicating duration of action. As this phenomenon 

 has been discussed more fully in connection with the transitive suffixes 

 -t and -fe, the reader is referred to the chapters dealing with those 

 suffixes (see § 26 and also p. 357), in order to avoid repetition. 



-j^oj Zi'ci^ they two shake it 13. 8 1%'cat hE Lftd (he) is shaking the 



earth continually 16.2 

 nmu'xwU I felt it T^mu'xvmt I am feeling it 



tiltUs I painted it i^ltats I am painting it 



§84 



