666 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



It would seem that this process of elimination of intervocalic con- 

 sonants has been very important in the development of the present 

 form of the Chukchee (see § 10). 



Among the maritime Chukchee, the men use both the fuller and 

 shorter forms. Among all the branches of the tribe, women use only 

 the fuller forms. 



Koryak (§§ 14-18) 



§ 14. Vmvels 



The system of vowels of the Koryak is considerably reduced. 

 Corresponding to the Chukchee, we maj^ distinguish three classes 

 of vowels: 



(1) Weak vowels i a u 



(2) Strong vowels e o^ ^ 



(3) Neutral vowels 



In this series, e and u are rare 



e is generally replaced by o 



u is generallj^ replaced by / or a 



A comparison of the table of Koryak vowels with that of the 

 Chukchee vowels shows that the glide ^i is missing, e has taken the 

 place of e, and a neutral that of e weak and a strong (see § 3). 



Diphthongs formed with terminal ^ and u occur, but the it of the 

 Chukchee is often replaced by w or v. 



Kor. Kam. apa'vekm Chukchee upa'urkin 



In the dialect of the Kerek, i often replaces strong e, and is a 

 strong vowel. 



Kor. Kam. Kerek Chukchee 



me' mil thong-seal mi'niil thong-seal me'mil spotted seal 

 tanne'ti tanni'ti tanne'ti to a tannin 



o o ® 



I have observed that the Asiatic Eskimo, when speaking Chuk- 

 chee, also have a tendency to replace e by i. They say- 

 mi' mil instead of Chukchee m,e'mil spotted seal 

 tirga' arkin instead of Chukchee terga'arkin he cries 



I do not know whether this peculiarity of the Eskimo is related 

 to that of the Kerek. 



