ON nil!; NOKTII-WESTEKN TIUUBS OF CANADA. 859 



rossEssivE Pronoun. 



The possessive pronoun has two forms, which are derived from the personal pro- 

 noun. The following form is most frequently found; it precedes the noun to which 

 it belongs : 



Singular, 1st person, aq. Plural, 1st peraon, ha. 



„ 2nd „ I. „ 2nd „ rl. 



„ 3rd „ to. „ 3rd „ hastO. 



While in this form the noun is not altered, in tlie foUowine; it takes the 

 sufiix -ri : 



Singular, 1st person, aq — ri. Plural, 1st person, ha — ri. 



„ 2nd „ I — ri. „ 2nd „ rl— ri. 



„ 3nl „ to — ri. „ 3rd „ hastO— ri. 



I am not able to give any rule as to the use of these forms. The substantive 

 possessive pronoun is formed by the demonstrative a and tlie second possessive form : 

 aq a ri, mine ( = my that). 



Note. — The suifix -ri is sometimes contracted with the terminal sound of the 

 noun : 



aq hiti, my house ; instead of aq hit — ri. 



THE VERB. 



lu discussing the pronoun we stated that there are two forms, one for the transi- 

 tive, tlie other for the intransitive verb, the latter being identical with the objective 

 case of the transitive pronoun. This makes it probable that the intransitive verb 

 may be impersonal, a theory which is the more probable on account of the remarkable 

 particles used with these verbs. In Tlingit all verbs are transitive which express an 

 activity, even in ca.ses in which we do not use an object; all verbs expressing a state 

 are intransitive, and for this reason our passive is rendered in the same way. Fol- 

 lowing is a list of transitive and intransitive verbs in the first person singular : 



Intransitive Verbs. 



qat TE TU'k', I am sick. qat Hi tscn, I am strong. 



qat rF. ta un-a Jia', I am sleepy. qat wu nPq, I recover from sickness, 



qat Ttni di quv'tl, I am tired. I am saved. 



qat ran uwa Ita', I am hungry. qat kawatvE'tl, I break down. 



In another group of such verbs the pronoun is placed after the stem. 



Tlingit qat, I am a Tlingit. icil'ii qat, I am poor. 



ank-a'u qat, I am ricli. gdcu qat, I desire. 



Transitive Verbs. 



at qa qa, I eat. (it). yiiq'a qa tn/l, I speak. 



qa aqtc, I hear. at qa sae' , I cook. 



qa djiin, I dream. qa tana', I drink. 



qa tl'i'q, I dance. qa tl it, I open my eyes. 



qa cl, I sing. at qa cO'uJr, 1 laugh. 



qa ten, I see. qa cc guk, I know to 



qa ta, I sleep. qa got, I walk. 



li-'un qa gad, I am angry. qa t'iqt, I pound. 



qa tsn, I carry. 



The verb, more especially tlie intransitive verb, appears frequently combined with 

 certain particles, the meaning and origin of which I cannot explain. Former students 

 of the Tlingit language failed to separate these particles from tlie words with which 

 they are connected. Therefore the greater number of words of Wemiaminov's, as 

 well as of other, lists are really compounds. 1 give lirst an alphabetic list of these 

 particles. In those cases in which they may be omitted I have placed them in 

 brackets. 



dc dr qat ran uwa ha, I am growing hungry. 



de wu di qiu-'tl, I am growing tired. 

 [dii] ra kc na c'n, it is growing to be daylight. 



