380 PEPORT— 1902. 



Reflexive Pronoun. 

 self, lamot {cf. nomot of the Sk-qo'mic), 



Demonstratives, 



tE (masc), sE (fern.), the ; tE la (masc), sEla (fem.), this j 

 tE sa' (masc), sE sii' (fem.), that ; yE sil', those 



These latter forms are generally, though not exclusively, employed to point out 

 persons. When the object is other than a person thefollowing forms are commonly 

 used: — 



tE e la, this (object in speaker's hand or quite close to him). 



tE e ti, this (object near speaker). This is sometimes shortened to tE e. 



sii le ti la'lEm, or sa lii'lEm lo ti, that house (object little distance from 

 speaker). 



sii lii'lEm le ti tla la', that house (yonder in the distance). 



If object be very distant, then the last syllable la is drawn out on a rising tone. 



sii lii'lEm le ti tla 1 . . . a tcak'Q, that house (far over there on the very verge of 

 sight). 



This latter term tcdk-Q appears also in such expressions as the following : — r 

 e-tcit tcak'Q, ' we are far off yet,' said when two or more persons are travelling 

 together towards some distant point, and one asks the other how near they are to 

 their destination. I cannot find distinct forms of demonstrative to mark the plural, 

 The object always does this in Tcil'Qe'uk, never the demonstrative. 



ARTICLES. 



Definite. 



tE (masc), SB (fem.), the. 



I have termed this form ' definite ' to distinguish it from the form hva, which I 

 have, for lack of a better term, called the ' indefinite' article ; but neither of these 

 expressions is really satisfactory or adequate. Te is frequently used where we 

 should employ the indefinite article ; and neither term corresponds very closely to our 

 ' the ' and • a ' or ' an.' It will be seen that this article has the same form as one of 

 the demonstratives. I do not feel at all certain that the particle which marks the 

 noun, and gives it its gender, is identical with that which accompanies the pronoun 

 and demonstratives. The common form may be misleading. If, however, one may 

 judge by the analogy of the Oceanic tongues, which, it may be remarked, possess 

 articles with manifold functions similar to the Salish, it may be that we are here 

 dealing with one and the same particle. Speaking of the various functions of the 

 article in Melanesian, Codrington remarks on this head : ' It can hardly be doubted 

 but that it is the demonstrative particle so conspicuous in pronouns and adverbs.'' 



Indefinite and Partitive Article, 

 K/ra ; a, some. 



The true character and function of this particle may best be gathered from the 

 following illustrations of its use. I found the study of its various functions extremely 

 interesting. Stam kwa stle ? ' What do you want ? ' Its employment here marks 

 the lack of definite knowledge in the speaker's mind of what is wanted. Tlawii't 

 /wf'se't tE swe'yil ? ' Who made the daylight ? ' Here it accompanies and coalesces 

 with the verb set, ' to make or create,' and shows that the questioner has no definite 

 knowledge of the action. The same function is seen in the next sentence : SetES 

 l-rea tci'tcil Slii'm tE la tEmu'q. ' God created the world.' The time of the action is 

 indeterminable ; hence the presence of krva. ElE'tsa kwa swii ? ' Which is yours ? ' 

 The function here is obvious. Wiil'ts ZwEls ka'kai. ' I am often sick.' Its presence 

 here is necessary to mark the indefiniteness of the time when the speaker is sick. 



' The Melaiiesian Lan^vages, p. lOS. Oxford, 1§85, 



