ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA. 87T 



gyii, ear. fffidK'/l,' to hear. 



qan, eye. k-i/i, to see (I wa.s frequently doubtfuJ 



wliether to write ti/i or qiii, but pre- 

 ferred tlie former, as I found it more 

 frequently the more adequate spelling 

 than (/iii). 



hin, nose. sleu'iigudEn,^ to smell. 



Also : giidE/i. mind. fffidnii, to think. 



In the word 'to smell' we find an initial /(, which seems to occur rather often- 

 There are some indications that it is interchangeable with tl. 



sk-atl and tlk-dtl, black. 

 k-ai'E'ntsF.Fi and k-atlE'nUBii, brain. 

 sqi-t and qct, fire. 



Finally I gi\ e a collection of sentences illustrating various peculiarities of the 

 language : 



riEH h'El g-add'a, he is a white man. 



dEil tlk-ifigEii veh k-'El g-a'das, I see you are a white man. 



tla nEil dd'raga, I have one. 



de ran na k'oan yft'Enga, I have many houses. 



(atlran') na tlivi stin tl dd'raga, I have two houses. 



7va txl ikolgoy there are many people. 



tlgan k'a il i'ng-agga, I shall go to my countr}'. 



dii atgna da i'sqan .' do you go with me ? 



sqtcn qaulE'ii Icistla g-u'ganr, I give one to each. 



I sk-ai gyidd'ga, his shoulder is tattooed. 



dEHgua gin qd'iiran ? what is your people 1 



tld'o tl g'otlra'gane, I have made it myself. 



de gfidE'/igai ttt'c yv'aji, I am downcast = my heart is very sick. 



dsii gtia gyvqe'l ? have you a perforation of your ear 1 



tl gu'den stlo dv sfe'ga, I think I am sick. 



dc 7iak-tl k-utltd'ea'ganr, somebody has stolen mine (this form seems to 



serve for the passive). 

 dd g-utlran agEti st'cda, you make yourself sick. 

 lui'ldvgi sqd'tvai hta ! give me a knife ! 

 haldigi nd'ra sqd'wai digi i'sta ! give me my knife I 

 hala de'itk-a k'd'it '. come along with nie I 

 gyl'stu tlrxttlrd'ean ? who made that ? 

 got'sl skol yv'an, there are many people. 



III. TSIMSHUN. 



Obtained from a native of Meqtlakqa'tla, ' Matthias '; a native of Ft. Simpson,. 

 Mrs. Lawson ; and from Mrs. Morrison, a half-blood Tsimshian from Meqtlak-qa'tla, 

 the interpreter of the Bishop of Caledonia. 



PHONETICS. 



Vmveh: a, a, e, E, i, o, u. 



Camonants : b, p ; w ; m ; gy, ky ; g, k ; g, k- ; r, q ; h ; d, t ; n ; 



ds, ts ; s ; 1, tl ; y. 



.,1 is never pure, but pronounced between a and «. Long vowels are by many 

 individuals still further lengthened by repeated intonation ; for instance, io't anil 

 i4>'ot, man ; ts'cn and ts'v'en, to enter. I have preferred to retain the repeated vowels, 

 except where I was sure that the repetition is only an individual peculiarity. The 

 distinction of surds and sonants is clear, but terminal surds are throughout trans- 

 formed into sonants whenever a vowel follows. Dn and ts, however, when followed 

 by an hiatus, are very much alike. S is not the English s, but has a s^light touch of 



' The following forms are remarkable : 



dEii gua gyu qv'l ? don"t you hear ? Also : da gua gyudEu? 



dsii gua kimqe'l ? don't you smell it ? dd gua skvngvds'ngsii ? 



