339 



(from in, Mffdr); liwc-Ialulkw, 710I Innrj niitil (frotn hrilcw, hy and bi/) ; liwc-laka', 

 not many ; bwe-la-kful, not often (from ka, many); liwe-t;i', nothing (from ta, that); 

 bwe asis'-ta, not so (from as-is-ta, so). 



^0071, ta'-gwut^ ta'-kwut, ta'-tagwut. 



Aorth. Sce"TFmd". 



^Kose^i muk-s'ii, nmk'-sliitl; the holes for the nose-ornament, asliwul-lo'-nks (from aslo, 

 a kale). Hoo]c-uosed,as-ha-cha'-txis; long-nosed, bfids-kus; pug nosed, askfitks; /lat- 

 nosed, as-bu-pelks^ nostrils, aslo'lo (from as-lo', a hole). To wipe the nose, duk-e- 

 k'k-sud. You icear the nose-ornament, asbii-sbeltsk's-cbfikb. 



Notched, dinted, as-tutl-kwa'bad. 



Nothing, for nothing (in tbe sense of without purpose, from mere curiosity, graiwi- 

 tonsly), also worthless, pat-latl. It is nothing to me, pfit-hitl al nt-sa. I was merely 

 laughing, pat-latl o-bai'-ub. You come early (i. e., umiecessarily so), a'lcbil ijfit- 

 latl-cbil. Tbe word bas apparently itself a root in at-la, to come, and is often asso- 

 ciated witb la-haista, la-best, understood to signify to come or go without pur- 

 2)ose. Pat-latlcbid la-bais'-ta, I came for nothing, from mere curiosity, or out of 

 idleness. See ^^ Good bye^\ That horse is not a bad one, bal sti-a-ke'-yu bwe' la 

 pat-latl. 



Now, a-te'-etl. 



Numerals. Tbe cardinal numbers in tbis as in many otber languages not confined to 

 America are modifled according to tbe objects to be counted. So far as yet 

 noticed, bowever, tbe distinction in tbe Niskwally is confined to two classes, wbicb 

 may be termed simple cardinals and cardinals of value. In certain otber languages, 

 it is carried to a reuiarkablo extent, indicating not merel.^ tbe ideas styled by some 

 writers noble and ignoble, animate and inanimate, but tbose of leugtb, form, and 

 sucb conditions of existence. Tbe subject bas been noticed in Smithsonian Mis- 

 cellaneous Collections, No. ICO, App. B. It is unfortunate that the inquiry in tbe 

 present case was not pushed wbeu the materials for tbis work were collected, as 

 it remains uncertain whether otber objects than money are included in the second 

 form, or whether otber forms exist. Father Mengarini, in his Grammar of the 

 Selibb (Shea's Linguistics, No. II), says of tbe numbers, " They are duplex, one set 

 relating to things, the other to persons'", and gives tbe digits accordingly. It is 

 therefore probable that, as the two languages are of one stock, the same number 

 exists here, but it is noticeable that tbe set relating to persons given by him cor- 

 responds to that used by tbe Niskwallies for money, whereas in the Niskwalli the 

 simple cardinal seems to be applied to men. It is a remarkable circumstance that 

 the adjective sign as is often prefixed to these numbers, showing an instinctive, 

 altiiougb doubtless an unconscious, idea of their place among the parts of speech. 

 The system of enumeration was evidently quinary, and bas gradually assumed 

 a more decimal form, the tendency to contraction and changes from otber causes 

 obliterating the derivations of the second from the first five digits. The original 

 root in tbe name of finger, s'ha'lat-cbi, still remains in the words for six, eight, 

 twenty, and the succeeding tens. The digits are as follows : 



Simple cardiufils. Cardiuals of value. 



1, as-dut'-cho, dut' cho, cbe-elts. 



2, assa'le, sa'lew, sla-elts. 



