BOAS] HANDBOOK OF INDIAN LANGUAGES — rSIUSLAWAN 445 



spends to the character of the vowels and consonants that precede or 

 follow it: that is to say, after palatal vowels it is of a palatal character; 

 while before the vowels a, o^ and u^ and before velar consonants, it 

 becomes guttural. When followed b}'^ a vowel, it is changed into an A. 



tutc- to spear 62.2 tuhatca'yun he spears it 



qaqun- to hear 30.18 qa' q^hantun he heard it 36.23 



s% to grow (intr.) 98.10 slhl'tcin xiiityax 1 began to grow 



up 100.17 

 qnu- to find qnu'hun (they two) found it 56.9 



wa'^tux again shall ... 11.2 loaha'hun h^yatsi'tsun again he put 



it on 12.1 



In some instances the aspiration results from the dropping of a t 

 before a following n (see §§ 16, 58, 59). 



§ 4. Sound Groupings 

 Clusters of two consonants are admissible, ex'cept w + any conso- 

 nant other than n. Whenever a w is followed by a consonant other 

 than 77, it changes into a voiceless w, represented here by '^". Clusters 

 of three or more consonants may occur medially or finally, provided 

 a nasal or lateral forms the initial sound of such groupings. 



When, owing to grammatical processes, three consonants that can not 

 form a cluster come into contact, an obscure or weak vowel (mostly 

 £, (2, or i) is inserted between two of the three consonants, thus facili- 

 tating the pronunciation of the cluster. 



A similar insertion takes place in initial clusters beginning with m 

 or 71, and between two consonants belonging to the same series. The 

 latter rule applies to clusters in initial, medial, and final position. 

 Examples of clusters consisting of 7t' + consonant: 



aHcnaw- to trade mutuallv+ aHcna'^Huxts vou two will 



-tux-]r-ts trade mutually 



Lolnaw- to hit mutually + -Em Lolna'^^Tnatci j^ou hit one an- 



-h-tci other! 



xm/'^na he does 11.11 



Examples of avoidance of clusters in initial position: 



m- (prefix of relationship) viita father 54.22 



+ ta father 

 m- (prefix of relationship) mila mother 54.23 



+ la mother 



§ 4 



