MCOEE] 



COMPARATIVE LEXICOLOGY 



541* 



While the seeming resemblance between the Yuman terms for "sky, heaven", 

 and the Serian vocables of the same meaning is more apparent than real, yet tlie 

 kinship of the Seri with the Yuman grouji of languages has been conjectured upon 

 data of which this merely fortuitous similarity was made a factor. 



The derivation of the characteristic Yuman term amai, the variants of which con- 

 stitute, with the exception of three vocables, the entire list here compared, is evi- 

 dently from the stem of the Mohave amtiil, "above, on toi)", ainaik, "higher", the 

 Yavapai midi:i, "up", and also the Yuma (Bennett's MS.), amiki, "over". In the 

 number-names, such as those for "eleven" and "twelve", this vocable becomes 

 mail: and maga in Maricopa, in Bartlett's Coco-Maricopa, and in Cochimi, and maike 

 in Hummockhave, amike in Yuma (Bennett's MS.), umaUja and umai in Jl'mat, amaik 

 in Mohave (Gibbs), mae in Kurchan, amaikiji Kutchan fEnglehardt), emmia in Santa 

 Catalina ; in all the number-names in which these variants occur they have a single 

 meaning, namely, "above, over, on top, added to, pins". Thus it is evident that 

 the Yuman variants of amai, "sky, the heavens", are cognate with the auxiliaries 

 or flexions of number-names cited above. Hence, originally the Yuman concept of 

 the "' sky " was " the place above, the higher place, or the place on top ". 



The derivation of the Seri vocable amime or amemma, "sky, the heavens", while 

 bearing only a fortuitous resemblance to the Yuman terms noted above, is not trace- 

 able from the meager material at present accessible. Strictly speaking, the extent 

 of the phonetic similarity between the Y'uman and the Seri vocable is the possession 

 of an wi-sound in the first syllable, which is evidently the dominant one in the 

 Yuman terms. On the other hand, the Serian vocable has two syllables dominated 

 by the m-souud, and the foregoing explanation of the derivation of the Yuman voca- 

 ble, if correct, as it seems to be, does not supply any means for explaining this 

 duality of syllables dominated by an m-sound in the Serian term. For unlike the 

 Yuman dialects of the pre.sent the Seri tongue does not duplicate the stem of a word 

 or any part thereof for any purpose whatsoever (though in the past the Seri may or may 

 not have had the duplicative process, for a language can not only do what it is accus- 

 tomed to do, but may at all times acrjuire new habits). So it would seem that with- 

 out historical evidence to support it this comparison in invalid as an indication of 

 linguistic kinship between the vocables compared, and its evidence regarding the 

 conjectured relationship of the two gronps of languages is negative. 



