THE VERB. INFLECTION. 401 



verbs end in the inflective ending -a, which I call the suffix of the declara- 

 tive mode; it is tlie universal verbitier, and most verbs of the Dictionary 

 appear with it. This -a is dropped in a few verbs only, which terminate in 

 -la (ala) and in -na, and even of these the large majority preserve the full 

 endings -la and -na. A limited number of verbs end in -i (-e) and -u (-o), 

 which are derivational affixes; some of these were shortened from ia, -ua, 

 and some are emphasized upon the last syllable.* 



From all these various phonetic processes result five varieties of inflec- 

 tion in the KUimath verb, which diff'er little from each other. From the 

 final sound of tlie verb, I liave named them as follows: 



1. The A-inflectiou. 



2. The U-inflection. 



3. The I-inflection. 



4. The L-inflection. 



5. The N-inflection. 



By appending a nominal ending to the simple form of the verb nomina 

 verhalia are formed. Cf "Substantive." 



INFLECTION OF THE VERB. 



Compared with the lengthy paradigms of other North American lan- 

 guages, especially of tliose spoken east of the Mississippi River, the inflec- 

 tion of the Klamath verb is very simple and poor in forms. It has no 

 special form for the [)assive and impersonal voice, does not possess the 

 category of number except in intransitive verbs, and i\. few transitives, has 

 no real personal inflection, possesses two tenses only, and a quite limited 

 number of modes. It incorporates neither the pronominal nor the nominal 

 object into the verb. 



The conjugation of the finite verb, viz., the verb connected with a pro- 

 nominal or nominal subject, is brought about by a personal pronoun stand- 

 ing usually before the verb and separated from it. Tlie two participles can 

 also become connected with separate personal pronouns, but when the verb 

 appears as a verbal it connects itself with possessive pronouns. Participles 



"Instances wbere even the snffix -a becomes deciduous in a continuous narrative are frequent. 

 Cf. Texts 70, 6; 78, 7 ; 1-22, 3. It frequently falls oii' in the infl. suffix -uga, -oka: -ug, -uk, -ok, etc. 



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