S72 



REPORT — 1902. 



the Salish dialects, viz , that the accent in a word falls oftenest upon the syllable 

 containing a long vowel. In Tcil'Qe'uk the accent seems to play an important part 

 sometimes in the modification of the sense of a word. Thus, in thexeih pEtdmit, 

 to ask, the accent may fall upon the first or the second syllable. When it falls upon 

 the first the term conveys a sense different from that it possesses when the incidfence 

 is upon the second. Thus, when I say pE'tilmit-tcil-tca, ' I will ask,' I mean that t 

 will ask ' anybody ' ; but when I place the emphasis upon the second syllable, thus : 

 pEtii'mit-tcil-tca, it signifies that I will ask some certain person I have in mind. 

 Again, it is the accent tliat marks the difference between certain distributives and 

 diminutives, and augmentatives and diminutives, of common form. Thus, tsEk'tsu'k-ut 

 means ' many trees ' ■ but tsE'k'tsuk'ut signifies ' little trees ' ; slI'sQEtlp = a big tree, 

 but sllsQB'tlp, a little tree. 



NUMBER. 



Tcil'Qe'uk does not appear to possess a true plural. Its place is supplied in various 

 ways ; sometimes by distributives and collectives, which are formed by amplification 

 of the stem by reduplication, epenthesis, or diaeresis ; and sometimes by a vowel 

 change similar to that which takes place in English when we convert 7iiaii into men, 

 foot into feet, &c. ; more rarely by aphaeresis and by the use of a term expressive 

 of ' abundance ' or ' plenitude.' The following will serve as examples : — 



DIMINUTIVES. 



lii'lEm, house ; lElil'm and le'lEm, little house. 



mauq, bird ; humauq, little bird. 



sta'lo, river ; sta'tElO, rivulet ; smalt, stone ; semBle't, little stone, pebble. 



For others, see the Vocabulary. 



REDUPLICATION. 



Reduplication plaj'S an important role in Tcil'Qe'uk, as in the other Salish dialects. 

 Besides performing the functions of a plural it expresses also intensity, repetition, 

 and prolongation of verbal action ; it signifies also, as we have seen, diminution and 

 its opposite, augmentation or increase ; also collectivity, depreciation or inferiority, 

 and several other qualities. 



INSTRUMENTAL NOUNS. 

 The familiar instrumental noun suffix 'ten appears in Tcil'Qe'uk as -tiil, thus :■" 



mEseil-<£?, anchor. 

 tsii'lis-itZ, seat, chair. 

 zu'q-tEl, brusli. 

 cxima'tis-^EZ, dagger. 

 tlu'k-Q-te/, fish-hook. 

 skwe'-^jsZ, ladder. 

 pii'ts-tel, needle. 

 tix&'-tKl, a helpef. 



cm' um-tKli belt. 

 cElEvfE'tl-tnl, borerj 

 stlukBlB's-i£i, button. 

 ciitK'k'4j4, door. 

 sk-an's-tKl, kettle. 

 cutla'kEls-^EZ, matt 

 swii'l-te^, het. 



