390 



CALENDAR HISTORY OF THE KIOWA 



(ETH. AXS. 17 



seiitiHl l>y some iuitliors by means of a tiiial /i. is here indicated by the 

 aei-ent '. 



Like all other liviuji hinj;uaj;es. the Kiowa is uiulergoinjr a process 

 of <;ratliial cliaujjo, ami many arehaie forms and expressions are nsed 

 by the old men. partienhuly in reeiting myths, which are unknown or 

 dithcnlt of interpretation by the younger people. The same fact has 

 been noted amon.udtlier tribes (.1/((^f/(cr,s\ >). The changes are more 

 rapi<l in Kiowa on account of the tribal custom, already mentioned, 

 of substituting new words for any which suggest the name of a person 

 recently deceased. Kven such common words as doii, hinJ, and nioirosiu 

 have thus been entirely changed within a few years, and some old 

 men remember as many as three difterent words used at different 

 periods for the same object. As this lu-ocess has been going on for au 

 indetinite length of time, it of course adds dilhcnlties to the work of 

 investigating the linguistic atWnities of the language. In most, if not 

 all cases, however, the new word is not an actual new creation, but a 

 new combination of <dd root forms. 



In most tribes we tind the priests using in their ceremonial rites a 

 peculiar dialect, full of archaic forms and tigurative expressions unin- 

 telligible to the common people. This is jirobably true also of the 

 Kiowa. 



Traces of dialectic forms aj^iear in the language, and from this fact 

 and from statements of the old people, it is probable that some at least 

 of the six rect»gni/ed Kiowa tribal divisions ineviously described, were 

 originally distinct, but cognate and allied, tribes, sjieaking ditlerent 

 dialects. The extinct Kui^to particularly are said to have spoken the 

 language in a peculiar manner. 



A few words from other Indian languages, iK'curriug in the text, are 

 also included in the glossary. Corruptwl popular forms of Indian words 

 are printed in capital letters. 



Soumls 



a Ooug)— j)U, buffalo bull. 

 ;■» (short or obscurol — jjmit, jiicturr. 

 a (.deep, varying to <>) — ii(J<i/, hair, 

 ii ^liorman ii^ — Mi/yi. wiKl sagtf. 



vlong. varying to i> — pf. sand, 

 i (long)— j>i<i, tire. 



1 (short ^ not l"n>queut. 



d (evanescent) — tidal, hair. 



g (sometimes approaching the sound of 



t) — !/". anil: i;iii!al. lintlaUi. 

 h — ho (IN, road, trail. 

 k — kop. pain. 



k' (.explosive) — k up, mountain. 

 1 — (ilo . wiUl plum. 



o (long: sometime* substituted tor li or m— m<i »<i , six. 



i\ aooonted^— ^i>, trai>. 

 u vU>ng> — >)« ii(/iW, red. 

 fi ^ short) not rommou. 

 il vuot common, only in foreign words'! — 



iVi siiiUo. Paseilos of K.l Tivso. 

 ai — ptti, snn. 



fi (^nasalized vowels — /.«»«. horse. 

 Ii^ftol. stomach, 

 d ^slightly explosive > — ilo , tipi; liohn, 



bluff. 



n — onhii te. V>ear. 



p — po, trap. 



p" ^aspirated)— :j>'o, Vieaver. 



s (there is no «A> — sen, nostril. 



t — tern, bone. 



t' (aspirated — t'n. eiir; (iiiii. white. 



w (very rare"! — IVohtite, a \>ersonal name. 



y — yi II. two. 



/ — cf hat, arrow. 



