878 REPORT— 1902. 



man is the father belonging to me.' Again, I may ask to whom belongs a certain 

 house ; the owners would reply thus : ' sEa'tl,' ' ours.' I may be incredulous and ask 

 in a doubting tone, ' SwdElEp-a 1 ' yours ' ? The reply would then come back, ' Snd- 

 tcit,' 'yes, ours.' 



The above are the regular forms, but they are properly used only when the object 

 spoken of is present and visible to the speaker. Different forms are used when the 

 object is present, but invisible to the speaker, and still different forms when the 

 object is both absent and invisible to the speaker. The following sentences will serve 

 to illustrate all these forms as they are used in Tcil'Qe'uk. 



C swG'Eka /'I mEm \ 



tE-1 mEm 

 First person singular J 'l-swil mEl I my father (present and visible) 



tE-l-swa mEl is a good man. 



(^tE-l-swal raElj 



e swS'Eka kwE mEm or mEl, my father (present but invisible) is a good man. 

 c swe'Eka kw'sEl (E)mEn or mEl, my father (absent and invisible) is a good man. 



c swe'Eka f E mE I 



Second person singular J ^^ ^ .°^^^ , \ ^^^ ^^^^^^ (P'"^^^°* ^""^ ^^^^^^^^ 

 ^ " j E swa mel is a good man. 



[tE Eswii mEl J 



G swe'Eka kwEl mEl, thy father (present but invisible) is a good man. 

 e swe'Eka kw'sii' mEl, thy father (absent and invisible) is a good man, 



C swe'Eka CmEls \ 



Third person singular \ ^^ ^^'^\ ^"^^ ^^« ^^^>^' ^'^'f^''^ ^"^ ^^^^'^^^^ 



^ ° swas mels is a good man. 



ItE swas mBls 



e swe'Eka kwE mEls (tEsii'), his father (present but invisible) is a good man. 

 e swe'Eka kw'sii' mEls (tEsii'), his father (absent and invisible) is a good man. 



The plural is formed regularly in like manner. All these forms imply that the 

 speaker has a personal knowledge of the individual spoken of. If, on the other hand, 

 the person were unknown to him, he would add the particle isa or tu'-wa after the 

 adjective ; thus, e tsa swe'Eka or e to'wa swe'Eka, &.c. 



If the object is of the feminine gender, then, in the place of the above the follow- 

 ing forms are used : — 



e sla'li 



First person 

 singular 



' '1 tat or tEl, my mother (present and visible) is a good woman. 



^El ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, „ 



1 swa „ „ ,, „ ,, „ „ 



sEl swa „ ,, „ ,, ,, „ „ 



sEl swal ,, ,, „ ,, ,, ,, „ 



e sla'li ts'El or s'El tat or tEl, my mother (present but invisible) is a good woman. 

 „ „ kw'sal tat or tEl, ,, ,, (absent and invisible) „ „ „ 



Q ■, C e sla'li ts'El tEl, thy mother (present and visible) is a good woman. 



Sidar 1'- " ^^^*^^' " " (present but invisible) , 



° I ,, ., kw'sii' tEl, „ ,, (absent and invisible) „ „ „ 



m, . ■, (■ e sla'li s'e tEls tEsa'.his mother (present and viidble) is a good woman. 



sineuTai"'' 1" " '^ " " " " (Present but invisible) „ „ 



° i_ „ „ kw'sii' „ „ „ (absent and invisible) „ „ „ 



The plurals are formed regularly in like manner. Sometimes the ' absent and 

 invisible ' form is abbreviated. Thus, I may say seI slteq skrcomai', instead of kw'sEl, 

 &c., my dog (absent and invisible) is black. I add another example of the use of 

 these ' absent and invisible ' forms. I am asked by my neighbour, as I stand at my 

 door or just outside the house, if I have any fish. Should I possess some, I answer : 

 Avi-ti-' hv'sEl sa'kwai. Yes, I have some fish. Other interesting examples of the use 

 of these particles will be found in the story I have written in the kindred Kwa'ntlEn 

 text below. 



This particle which marks the ' absence,' &c. of the object is clearly the indefi- 

 nite article liwa. As the presence of the definite article, tE (masc), sE (fem.), marks 



