254 GEAMMAE OF THE KLAMATH LANGUAGE. 



vowels, as the fluid and variable element, were likened to its soul. This 

 furnishes a graphic picture of the structure observed in the Semitic family 

 of languages, and in a less degree applies also to the languages of the Iiido- 

 iMu-opean family. The permutability of consonants and xowels among 

 themselves in unwritten languages has been described above ("Alternating 

 of Sounds"), and does not, generally speaking, alter the signification of the 

 terms in which it is observed. But the case is different with the radical 

 vowels of Klamath under certain conditions, for here we observe somethiner 

 analngoiis to Semitic vocalization, when vocalic changes occur. 



A few similar instances from other American languages are as follows: 

 In the Nipissing-Algonkin, I love Mm is rendered by ni sakiha ; in four 

 "modes" of the verb the long vowel a changes into -aya-, -aia- : sayaki- 

 hak / ivho love Mm, sayahakiban I tvho did love Mm, sayakihak the one loved 

 by me, sayakihakin tvhen I just happen to love Mm. In the same manner 

 verbs with the radical vowels a, e, i, T will alter them respectively into e, 

 aye, e, a. In Cha'hta we meet with vocalic changes in radical syllables 

 like the following : tcheto to he large, tchito to be quite large, tchieto to be de- 

 cidedly large. In other instances of the kind the vowel becomes nasalized. 

 In Creek some verbs lengthen their radical vowels almost imperceptibly 

 to form a preterit from the ])resent tense. 



The study of alterations observed in the Klamath roots is highly 

 important for illustrating the formation of the language, and also throws 

 light upon the radical changes occurring in the inflectional languages of the 

 eastern hemisphere. The vocalic changes are of greater importance than 

 the consonantic, and are brought about in various ways. 



VOCALIC ALTERATION OP THE RADIX. 



Vocalic changes occur only in certain words of the language and with- 

 out any apparent regularity. They are produced either by the intrusion of 

 another sound into the radix, or by an independent, as it were spontaneous 

 change. Some of these changes appear only from one dialect to the other, 

 whih; the majority occurs in words belonging to the same dialect, and then 

 they are always attended by a change in the signification of the term. 



