ol.BRECHTs] THE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 163 



These formulas are now handed down in written form, but before 

 the art of writing was invented, about a century ago, they must have 

 been taught to the initiated orally, and there are quite a few indications 

 which lead us to believe that many of them must be several hundreds 

 of years old, at least. Many of them contain references to mythical 

 beings, spirits and animals, on which even the voluminous tribal 

 mythology is silent. Both in the vocabulary and in the grammatical 

 construction there occur elements which even the oldest priests and 

 the most traditionalist of the medicine men are at a loss to elucidate. 

 The only explanation they venture to offer is that "this was the way 

 it was said by the people who lived a long time ago." 



Knowing as we do the jealous care with which this material has 

 been conserved, and the judgment and the discrimination used 

 when handing it down, it will be possible to make these data serve the 

 purpose of investigating some of the problems of historical Iroquoian 

 linguistics. A few illustrations taken from the different fields of 

 linguistics, viz, phonetics, lexicology, morphology, syn taxis and 

 semantics, will show some of the residts that can be obtained by this 

 method. 



Phonetics. — K clan name a""nisa'o"'ni could not, so far, be identified 

 with certainty. It is true that its relation with sa'k'o*'ni ("blue") 

 has been suggested, but until further evidence was brought forward, 

 this explanation could only be called a plausible guess. It appears 

 now, however, that the exclamatory k'a' used in tribal language is the 

 equivalent of tlie 'a*' met with so often in the formulas; thus not only 

 making the etymology of a'nisa'o*'ni a certainty instead of a guess, but 

 also making it probable that once such a law as the shift from the 

 aspirate to the aspirated velar surd occlusive must have operated 

 initially resp. medially. 



Lexicology. — With respect to the vocabulary there is a good deal to 

 be gleaned from the material. Most, if not all, of the formulas 

 antedating, as far as we can gather, the invasion of the whites, there 

 are many references to aboriginal fauna and flora, to artifacts and 

 utensils which are now obsolete, and the use of many of which has 

 now even been forgotten. In one hunting formula the name of seven 

 different kinds of deer are given, whereas now distinction is made 

 between two kinds only. 



The name kVlo'Gwe' which is now used for gun or rifle is still used 

 in the formulas with the meaning of "bow," just as Ga^ni' now meaning 

 "bullet" or "lead" is used for "arrow" in the formulas. 



"wane-'° which is now only understood as hickory (Hicoria alba 

 (L.) Britt.), is still used in the formulas as "arrow," because arrows 

 used to be made of them. 



st"kwa which in the tribal language merely means "pig," used 

 to stand for "opossum," in which meaning the ritualistic language 

 invariably uses it, 



