BOAS] HANDBOOK OF INDIAN LANGUAGES SIUSLAWAN 609 



The superlative is expressed in the same manner, iilthouo-h the aug- 

 mentative or diminutive suffixes (see §§ 83, 84) or the suffix -U7ii (see 

 § 102) are preferably used to indicate the superlative degree. 



I'na^^^ s^a tia'tc^nxan he is (the) richest of us all 



s'^a yakH'sk'in tExmu'ni he is the smallest man 



na'hcni ijiTcti'l'md lam the tallest 



s^a yiktu'ni that biggest one 



tu yak/a^'ni that smallest one 88.12 



A very important example of idiomatic phraseology is the (collo- 

 quial) use of the singular number for the plural. It will be remem- 

 bered that Siuslaw has only two suffixes expressing plurality, neither of 

 which 13 used consistently (see § § 79, 80). In many cases the adverb 

 yaP-'xa^ much, many (see § 121), the numeral particle ha^'mut all (see 

 § 124) or the stem L!a'°'^ place, world (see § 133), is employed for the 

 purpose of denoting plural subjects and objects, and, while these stems 

 are at times used in conjunction with one of the plural suffixes, they 

 more frequently express plurality without the aid of these suffixes; 

 that is to say, the verb is more often used in the singular form. 



yaP-'xcO- L !a'°-^ hltc yixa'yun he saw many people 70. 2 

 yW^'xa^ JiUg plna^tx ha} many people were sorry 15.4 

 ha^'mut . . . ^^li^ja*' allgetit 82.6 



la'^'qat skvmha^'tx xwaM' ants L!a'°'^ feathers have on their heads 

 those people 10.9 



Very often, however, the singular number has a plural function, 

 even without the aid of any of these particles, as may be seen from the 

 following examples: 



s^a'Ua lH!a^' tE ta^'yax thus eat those who lived here 82.12 



H tqa^'wltc taya^' they lived up stream 82.12, 13 



H tEm^wO'' sqa^Tc they assemble there 82.21, 22 



di'n°'xtc ya'xdP' ants ya^lc'^s three were the seals (literally, three his 



number, that seal) 62.16, 17 

 xa'ts.'u hltcllqa^' two people dig 84.2 

 si'n^xyun Iqid'nu they wanted (to buy) hides 100.15 

 hlq! ahof''' n% ants xu'nha^ ha^'tsl nothing but dentalia shells these 



(people) bet 78.14 



Another peculiar idiomatic expression is found in the manner of 

 expressing an act performed by two subjects, both of whom are men- 

 tioned. This is usually done by adding the subjective pronoun for 



§ 139 



3045°— Bull. 40, pt 2—12 39 



