ON THE NORl'H-WESTEBN TBIBES OF CANADA. 195 



3. Distinct endings to express the second third person and the third third 

 person in a sentence. — This rule is peculiar to Ojibway and Cree, but I 

 could not ascertain whether or not the Blackfeet observe the same 

 distinction. 



4. The adjective is placed before the noun in these three languages. In 

 some other Indian languages, e.g. Sioux, it follows the noun. 



5. All adjectives (with the exception of adjectival particles used only 

 as prefixes) can be transformed, with but very little alteration, into im- 

 personal verbs ; thus (Blackfoot) agsi, good ; agsiu, it is good. This is 

 similar to Ojibway and Cree. 



6. Personal and possessive pronouns. — The first and second persons, 

 singular and plural, as shown in Mr. Hale's report, have the same first 

 syllable and nearly the same plural endings in all three languages, viz. 

 ni, I, my ; hi, thou, thy. Plural endings — nari, we, our ; wa, waw, you, 

 your. 



7. The objective case of the pronoun is in all three languages embodied 

 in the verb. Thus : — 



Blackfoot 

 kitakomimo 

 kitakomimok 

 kitakomimokipinan 

 nitakomimokinau 



8. The simplest form (and often the root) of the verb is the sino-ular 

 imperative. Thus : — 



Ojibway Cree Blackfoot 



Sleep thou nibun nipd okdt 



give it to him mij miy klikit 



9. The negative is doiMe, as in the French language: — Ojibway, 

 Tcawin ...si-, Blackfoot, mat . . .atov ats. In Cree they have only the simple 

 word namdwiya or na-ma before the verb. Thus : I do not love him. 

 Ojibway, kawin nisagiasi ; Cree, namdwiya nisakihew ; Blackfoot, 

 ni-mat- takomimau-ats. 



10. There is a distinct form for the negative imperative. Ojibway, 

 kego ._ . . ken ; Cree, ekaimja or eka ; Blackfoot, mini or pini. Tbus : Do not 

 give it. Ojibway, kego mina ken ; Cree, ekawiya miy ; Blackfoot, mini 

 kukit. 



11. An interrogative particle is used in all three languages. Ojibway, 

 ina ; Cree, tci ; Blackfoot, kat . . . pa. Thus : Are you happy ? Ojibway] 

 kiivawijendam ina ? Cree, kimiyawatam tci ? Blackfoot, kikateagsitakipa '/ 



There may very likely be other analogies between these three 

 languages, but the above are as many as I have had time to inquire 

 into. 



There are two sounds in the language which are difficult of pro- 

 nunciation, and students are undecided as to how best to write them. 



(a) There is a sound between kr and ks. I suggest writing it kc, 

 thus : nikcista, my mother. 



(6) There is a sound between ch and is. I suggest writino- this tc, 

 thus : tcema ? Where ? 



In the following vocabulary the letters and sounds are pronounced as 

 follows : a as in father, a as in bat, e as in they, i as in pique, i as in 

 pick, as in note, u as oo in cool, ai as in aisle, au as ow in cow^ iu as ew 

 in few, j as z in azure, g like ch in the German. 



o2 



