418 BUREAU OF AMEEICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



further indicated by the use of the modal adverb to, to", so, such 

 (see § 106), which immediately follows the subject of the sentence. 



his n'ne ta t^hetJie' teES ts e^ne I am as rich as you are (literally, 



also I such I [have] wealth [as] this a^ou) 

 Ms Tifne ta -rixd'nisES Is e^ne I am as sick as you are 

 his n'ne ta^ tiIe'yUes ts e^ne I am as good as 3^ou are 

 his ii'ne ta^ ii^he'mistEs Ie e^ne I am as tall as you are 

 his xd ta xwd'wlye Ie e^ne he is as light as you are 

 his xd ta^ pdL.'d'ye Ie ^ne he is as heavy as you are 

 his tE Id'nik' ta^ x'iluwl'ye tE haltl'mis that river is as deep as 



that ocean 



In many instances the abstract noun expressing the adjective con- 

 cept is repeated after the object, in which case the object (and also 

 the subject) assumes the function of a possessive pronoun (for pro- 

 nominal subjects and objects) or of a genitive case (for nominal objects 

 and subjects). 



his n'ne ta Tiqaine'ss ll'ye qaine'Es I am as cold as you are (liter- 

 ally, also [of] me such [is] my cold [condition as is] your cold 

 [condition]) 



his e^ne ta ye^ne^' qldna'tES tE hen'ne^ qldna'tEs you are as young 

 as I am (literally, also [of] thee such [is] thy youth [as is] that 

 my youth) 



The comparative degree is expressed by means of a sentence in which 

 the adjective is used in its simple form, while the object is indicated 

 by the use of the instrumental suffix -Etc (see § 70). There is a 

 marked tendency to place the object at the beginning of the sentence. 



ye^ne'itc nlE'yi I am better than you are (literally [as compared], 



with you I [am] good) 

 hexd'itc nlE'yl I am better than he is 

 T^ne'itc e^qaL j^ou are taller than I am 

 xd nne'ito tsaJyux^ he is smaller than I am 

 xwin ti'^nill y^ne'itc we two are stronger than you are 



The superlative degree may be expressed in two ways. Either the 

 numeral particle goH all (see § 109), amplified by means of the 

 adverbial suffix -Etc (see § 70), is placed before the simple form of 

 the adjective; or else the nominalized adverb llaJhatcEm (see §§ 58. 

 104) is used for that purpose. 



xgo^'sitc tiIe'yI I am the best of all (for the use of the prefix x- 



see § 21) 

 tETi te ka'jpd xgo^'sitc pL.'is this here is my heaviest coat 

 xd llaJhatcEin he'rais hethe'te he is the biggest chief 

 xd ila'hatcEin to'mih nid hlta'yasitc he is the oldest man in the 



village 



§ 118 



