BOAS] HANDBOOK OF IISTDIAN^ LANGUAGES — SIUSLAWAN 539 



xint he goes, he travels 20.3 pl'Hsis xi'ntma in the ocean he 



travels (around ?) 44.1, 2 

 hakw- to fall 8.7 ha'humyaxan I almost fell down 



aH- to sleep 24.1 a^'sm^yaxan I very nearly fell 



asleep 

 qatc^n- to go 8.2 qa' tai^myaxan I very nearly went 



Tcuoi- to beat 72.17 Icuf^namyaxa^n I almost beat him 



qatx- to cry 58.15 qa'tx^myax he very ^nearly cried 



Nominal Sujfixes {^ 82-105) 



§ 82. INTRODUCTORY 



The number of nominal suffixes found in Siuslaw is, comparatively 

 speaking, rather small, and the ideas they express do not differ mate- 

 rially from the ideas conveyed by the nominal suffixes of the neigh- 

 boring languages. There is, however, one striking exception, for 

 among the neighboring languages (Coos and Alsea) Siuslaw alone 

 possesses nominal cases. Another interesting feature of the Siuslaw 

 nominal suffixes is the large number of suffixed formative elements 

 that require the accent, and their phonetic strength (see § 12). 



§ 83. DniONUTIVE -isk'tn 



This suffix conveys our diminutive idea, and may be added to stems 

 that express nominal and adjectival concepts. Under the influence of 

 the consonant preceding it, it may be changed into -ask'in.^ When 

 added to stems that end in a vowel, the vowel of the suffix is con- 

 tracted with the final vowel of the stem (see § 9). When followed by 

 the augmentative -U'md, the -in- element of this suffix disappears (see 

 § 84). This suffix requires the accent. 



tldmc infant 40,19 tldmd' sVin a little boy 94.16 



IH'a} fish 56.1 Wl'sk'in L!a'<'' many small fish 



46.6, 7 

 q%ut<m'n% woman 30. 21 qlutcunt' slc''in a little woman , a girl 



mitd father 54.22 mU/a'sFni'tin my step-father (lit- 



erally, my little father) 100.3, 4 

 Wpxan niece (?) 92.17 Upxaiii'sFintc^ax they two (were) 



his little nieces 92.15, 16 

 Tco'tan horse 34.9 Icotani' sVin a small horse, a pony 



1 Owing to the fact that most of the texts and examples were obtained from William Smith, an 

 Alsea Indian (see p. 438), whose native tongue has no true alveolar spirants («, c), this suffix appears 

 frequently in the texts as -ick'ln. 



§§ 82-83 



