46 DAKOTA GRAMMAR, TEXTS, AND ETHNOGRAPHY. 
NUMBER. 
§ 76. Adjectives have three numbers, the sengular, dual, and plural. 
§ 77. The dual is formed from the singular by prefixing or inserting 
‘uy,’ the pronoun of the first person plural; as, ksapa, wise ; wiéasta uyksapa, 
we two wise men; waonsida, merciful; waoysiuyjda, we two merciful ones. 
§ 78. 1. The plural is formed by the addition of ‘pi’ to the singular; 
as, waste, good; wiGasta wastepi, good men. 
2. Another form of the plural which frequently occurs, especially in 
connection with animals and inanimate objects, is made by a reduplication 
of one of the syllables. 
(a) Sometimes the first syllable reduplicates; as, ksapa, wise, plur., 
ksaksapa; tanka, great, plur. tanktayka. 
(b) In some cases the last syllable reduplicates; as, waste, good, plur., 
wasteste. 
(c) And sometimes a middle syllable is reduplicated; as, taykinyan, 
great or large, plur., taykinkiy yay. 
COMPARISON, 
) 79. Adjectives are not inflected to denote degrees of comparison, but 
are increased or diminished in signification by means of adverbs. 
1. (a) What may be called the comparative degree is formed by saypa, 
more; as, waste, good, saypa waste, more good or better. When the name of 
the person or thing, with which the comparison is made, immediately pre- 
‘ 
cedes, the preposition ‘1’ is employed to indicate the relation, and is pre- 
fixed to sanpa; as, wicasta kin de isaypa waste, this man is better than that. 
Sometimes ‘sam iyeya,’ which may be translated more advanced, is used; 
as, sam lyeya waste, more advanced good or better. 
It is difficult to translate ‘iyeya’ in this connection, but it seems to convey the 
idea of passing on from one degree to another. 
(b) Often, too, comparison is made by saying that one is good and 
another is bad; as, de siéa, he waste, this is bad, that is good, i. e. that is 
better than this. 
(c) To diminish the signification of adjectives, ‘kitayna’ is often used; 
as, tanka, /arge, kitayna tanka, somewhat large, that is, not very large. 
2. What may be called the superlative degree is formed by the use of 
‘nina,’ ‘ hinéa,’ and ‘iyotay;’ as, nina waste, or waste hinéa, very good ; 
iyotay waste, best. 
