498 REPORT— 1900. 



but in the sentence ' I have ten houses,' the numeral takes the common form u'pKH. 

 It is the same with two = d'nos, which is amplified in the same way by the reduplica- 

 tion of the initial vowel. I could not learn that this modification took place with 

 other than the word horses, though it is possible my informant's memory may have 

 been at fault. It is quite clear, however, that these modified forms are not commonly 

 used. 



INSTRUMENTAL NOUNS. 



We find the same suffix -tsn employed in the Sk-qo'mic to mark instrumentality 

 as in the N'tlaka'pamuQ, though not always applied to corresponding expressions ; 

 thus — 



UsL'tc-tE7i, knife, i e., cutting thing. tlEkqai'ts-te«, platter. 



pa'tc-teM, needle, i.e., piercing thing. se'-tEn, basket. 



tli'tc-te?i, saw. nuqyi'm-tun, belt. 



Qe'itc-tew, salmon-knife. n'ku'-p-tBn, door. 



tca'msu-te?i, matting needle. tsetsipe'tl-i£«, nest. 



Qoh'o'ls-tEti, herb or root basket. 'k-we'Ek--tEn, fur. 



tse'is-te«, horn. cupa'lB-<£«, iron. 



nukwiye'utl-i£«, ashes. niikne'tcim-i«M, voice. 



Iwi'm-tETi, a covering. tzu'mk'-tijw, scissors. 



sqO'm'-fiEw, medicine-man. ta.qa'B-tBn, arm. 



These terms are very interesting and instructive, throwing much light upon the 

 method of noun formation which is extremely simple in Sk'qO'mic. 



AGENT NOUNS. 



These nouns are differently formed from the corresponding class in the N'tlaka'- 

 pamuQ, which takes a suffix in -utl. Here we find the particle prefixed and quite 

 different in form ; as — 



nuqskoi'lEc, a shooter, from koilac, to shoot 



nuqspipi'atotl, a hunter, „ pla'totl or plpia'tOtl, to hunt 



nuqstEkw'un'p, a digger, „ tEkwu'n'p, to dig 



nuqtze'tzap, a worker, ,, tze'tzap, to work 



nuqte'tcEm, a swimmer, ,, te'tcEm, to swim 



nuqska'tzut, a runner, „ sk-atzut, to run 



nuqslu'lo, a singer, ,, slu'lo, to sing 



nuqsqai'aqai, a laugher, „ sqai'aqai, to laugh 



nuqca'm, a crier, „ ham, to cry 



nuqsme'tla, a dancer, ,, me'tla, to dance 



COMPOUND NOUNS. 



While there are numerous instances of compound terms in the Sk-qo'mic vocabu- 

 lary, the composite connotive noun is not a distinguishing feature of the language. 

 An analysis of my collection of words shows that a preponderating number of them 

 are of the simple, denotive class of monosyllabic or dissyllabic form. Incorporation 

 or polysyntheticism scarcely finds a place in Sk-qo'mic, the compound forms partak- 

 ing rather of the character of the Greek and Latin compound terms in English than 

 the ponderous syntheses of the Dene and Algonkin. The new compound term 

 employed by the Sk-qo'mic to express the idea of a garden is a fair example of the 

 formation of their composite terms. Formerly they had no gardens of their own, 

 and so had to coin a word when they took up hon iculture. This term is ns-pEn- 

 ma'i, which is formed by the juxtaposition of these independent monosyllabic 

 radicals which signify respectively ' where ' ' get,' ' fruit ' or ' vegetables,' and the 

 whole thus means ' the place where one gets fruit or vegetables.' 



Other examples may be seen in the terms employed to express the seasons of the 

 year, where we have the same simple juxtaposition of independent radicals. The 

 analysis of the composite terms in Sk-qo'mic is, therefore, relatively an easy task. For 

 example, the word sentlqOyatc, meaning ' thumb,' is thus resolved : sentl = first or 

 oldest ; qO = finger ; yatc = the composite form for ' hand.' This last element is 

 necessary in the synthesis to distinguish the word from 'big-toe,' which would be thus 

 written, sentl-qo-cin, cin signifying ' foot.' And so with the word for ' little finger,' 

 sant-qO-yatc, where saut = ' youngest' or ' last.' Again, the word expressive of the 



