OlbrecIts] 'fHE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 11 



more often than either the reader or the editor Hkes, it should be 

 borne in mind that the language in which the formulas are couched is 

 a ritualistic idiom, often very different from the ordinary language, 

 both as regards vocabulary and grammar, and abounding in expres- 

 sions which even the initiated do not always understand. 



As for this analysis, I have always given in the interlinear translation 

 the original meaning as far as this could be ascertained, giving the 

 semasiological evolution in footnotes to the free translation. Thus, 

 Ga°ni' will be rendered by "arrow" in the interhnear translation, as 

 this was its original meaning. In the free translation it will be 

 rendered by "bullet," which is its meaning in the context, a footnote 

 explaining the evolution in meaning: "arrow" > "bullet" > "lead." 

 The same applies to such words as: aDe-'lo° that has gone through the 

 following evolution in meaning: "seed(?)" > "bead" > "money" 

 > "dollar"; or to: k*a'la-GWe-'kt'i "locust tree" > "bow" (because 

 locust wood was used to make bows) > "gun" (the modem successor 

 of the bow). 



It is hoped that a paper on Cherokee linguistics, on which the pres- 

 ent writer is working, will soon be ready for publication. 



Phonetic Symbols and Abbreviations 



The following list will serve the double purpose of explaining the 

 phonetic symbols and the abbreviations used in the texts, and of 

 presenting a summary description of the Cherokee phonetic system 



as I heard it. 



Phonetics 

 Vowels — Oral : 

 Long or short — 

 Open — 



a, as in Engl, far, Gm. Band. 



0, as in Engl, not, nought; Gm. Gott. 

 V, as in Engl, spoon, you. 



€, as in Engl, air; Gm. Wahlen; French scSne. 



1, as in Engl. seat. 

 Closed — 



a, as in Gm. einmal; Gm. wahl. 

 u, as in Engl. nook. 



e, as in Engl, baby, stain (this sound is very rarely heard in Cherokee, and 

 then always finally; where it occurs at all it seems to be a contraction 

 of e- (nasalized long e)+i). 

 o, only occurs in songs. 

 i, as in Engl. pin. 

 Short— 



0, as in Engl, bird, but very short; Gm. Gotter. 

 u, a sound between a and o. 



8, vowel of indefinite quality, as in Engl, father, believe. 

 Parasitical — 



Phonems that are scarcely audible and occur frequently as weakly articulated 

 vowels are indicated by small superior characters: o'", e-', "w, 'y, etc. 



