24 DAKOTA GRAMMER, TEXTS, AND ETHNOGRAPHY. 
2. (a) The imperative singular is formed from the third person singular 
indicative and the syllables ‘wo’ and ‘ ye;’ as, Geya wo, Geya ye, ery thou. 
Instead of ‘ye,’ the Mdewakaytoyway has ‘ we,’ and the Titonwan ‘le.’ The 
Yankton and Titoyway men use ‘ yo.’ 
(b) The imperative plural is formed by the syllables ‘ po,’ ‘ pe,’ ‘m,’ and 
‘miye ;’ as, Geya po, Geya pe, Geyam, and Geya miye. It has been sug- 
gested that ‘po’ is formed by an amalgamation of ‘pi,’ the common plural 
ending, and ‘ wo,’ the sign of the imperative singular. In like manner, ‘ pi’ 
and ‘ye,’ may be combined to make ‘pe. The combination of ‘ miye’ is 
not so apparent.’ 
By some it is thought that the Titoyway women and children use ‘na’ 
for the imperative.” 
The forms ‘wo,’ ‘yo, and ‘po’ are used only by men; and ‘we,’ ‘ye,’ ‘pe,’ and 
‘miye’ by women, though not exclusively. From observing this general rule, we 
formerly supposed that sex was indicated by them; but lately we have been led to 
regard ‘wo? and ‘po’ as used in commanding, and ‘we,’ ‘ye, ‘pe, and ‘miye,’ in 
entreating. Although it would be out of character for women to use the former, men 
may and often do use the latter. 
When ‘po,’ ‘pe,’ and ‘miye’ is used it takes the place of the plural ending ‘pi;’ 
as, Geya po, Geya miye, ery ye. But with the negative adverb ‘Sni,’ the ‘pi’ is retained; 
as, Geyapi Sni po, do not cry. 
Sometimes in giving a command the ‘wo’ and ‘ye,’ signs of the imperative, are 
not expressed, The plural endings are less frequently omitted. 
« 
3. The infinitive is commonly the same as the ground form of the verb, 
or third person singular indicative. When two verbs come together, the 
first one is usually to be regarded as the infinitive mood or present parti- 

‘Instead of ‘po,’ ‘pe’ and ‘miye,’ the Titoy way make the imperative plural by the plural ending 
‘pi’ and ‘ye,’ or ‘yo;’ as, e¢onpi yo. In the Lord’s prayer, for example, we say, ‘‘ Waunhtanipi kin 
uykici¢azuzupi ye;” but we do not say in the next clause, ‘‘ Ka taku wawiyutan kin ekta unkayapi 
sni piye,” but ‘“unkayapi sni ye.” Possibly the plural termination ‘pi’ and the precative form ‘ye’ 
may have been corrupted by the Santee into ‘ miye,’ and by the Yankton and others into ‘ biye.’—w. J. c. 
Then it would seem plain that ‘po’ is formed from ‘pi’ and ‘yo;’ and we reduce all the imperative 
forms, in the last analysis, to ‘e’ and ‘0.’—s. R.R. 
**Na’ can hardly be called a sign of the imparative, as used by women and children. (1) It 
appears to be an abbreviation of wanna, now: as, maku-na, 7. e., maku wanna, Give me, now! A cor- 
responding use of now is found in English. (2) It is, at best, an interjectional adverb. (3) It is not 
used uniformly with an imperative form of the verb, being often omitted. (4) It is used in other 
connections; (@) as a conjunction—when used by women it may be only such, as, maku na, Give it to 
me, and—an incomplete sentence; it is often used between two imperative verbs, as, iku na yuta, take 
and eat, Whereas, if it was an imperative sign, it would follow the last verb; (b) it is used to sooth 
erying children, as, Na! or, Nana! (c) Na! and Nana! are also used for reproving or scolding. (5) 
‘Na’ is used possibly as the terminal ‘la,’ and will drop off in the same way. (6) If ‘na’ were a 
proper sign of the imperative, men would use it (or some corresponding form) as well as women. 
But. they do not. We find ‘wo’ and ‘we,’ ‘yo’ and ‘ye,’ ‘po’ and ‘pe;’ but nothing like ‘na’ used 
by men.—t. L. R. 
