ON THE ETHNOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 419 



Possessive Pronouns. 



The differences between these and the corresponding forms in Tcil'Qe'uk are not 

 very great ; but such as they are, they have an interest for the linguistic student. 

 One of the most notable of these differences is the presence and use of n in the 

 second person singular. The same feature is seen in some of the interior dialects. 

 The choice between the fh and the ks forms seems to be guided by euphonic laws, 

 as they are not used interchangeably. There are also distinct forms to mark the 

 object possessed as feminine or masculine. I did not detect this feature in 

 Tcil'Qeuk, although it appears to exist in the Halkome'lEm speech generally. The 

 form for the first person singular in Kwa'ntlEn, as will be spcn, differs from the cor- 

 responding form in Sk-qO'mic and Tcil'Qe'uk. The difference between the simple 

 form and that compounded with the deiiion^trative in Kwa'ntlEn is that the former 

 is general in significance, the latter selective. The rule for the use of the two forms 

 will be best understood by an example, thus : wk is used in answer to such a question 

 as ' Whose is this ? ' when only one person is present besides the questioner, If 

 there are several others present, then the answer will always be Te-hb. It is clear 

 from this that the particle ts used with the pronominal forms is the regular 

 demonstrative. 



First Person. 

 Sinffular. 



nE, my (common form with masculine object). 



tE-nE, or shortly tE-n, my (selective form with masculine object). 



nE, my (common form with feminine object). 



sE-nE, or shortly sE-n, my (selective form with .feminine object). 



It is clear from these examples that the formal gender of the pronouns is derived 

 from the demonstrative, which alone has distinct forms for masculine and feminine. 



Plural. 



. . . tst, our (common form with masculine or feminine object). 

 tR . . . tst, ,, (selective form with masculine object). 

 SE . . . tst, „ (selective form with feminine object). 



Second Person. 



Sitiffular. 



En or Es, thy (common form with masculine or feminine object). 

 tE-En or tE-Es, thy (selective form with masculine object). 

 8E-En or sE-Es, thy (selective form with feminine object). 



Plural. 



En or ES . . . ElEp, your (common form with masculine or feminine object). 

 tE-En or tE-Es . . , ElEp, jour (selective form with masculine object). 

 SE-En or SE-ES . . . ElEp, your (selective form with feminine object). 



Third Person. 

 Singular 



. . . s, his or hers (common form with masculine or feminine object). 

 tE . . . s, his (selective form with masculine or feminine object). 

 BE ... s, her ( „ „ „ ,, )'. 



The plural is the same. If it is desirable or necessary to distinguish them from 

 the singular, the demonstrative forms for the plural are added. 



The above forms are used when the object possessed is present and visible. The 

 • invisible ' and • absent ' forms in Kwa'ntlEn differ a little from the corresponding 

 forms in Tcil'Qe'uk. They are as follows : — 



n»2 



