ON THE NORTH-WESTKRN TRIBES OF CANADA. 603^ 



JIuiii'ne Ki'twia'aa = I am a Kootenay. 



Kalii'nh 'IwnVm ski'nkfds' = he says ' I am the coyote.' 



I'/w si'nd uqlw' tails =11 is beaver-grease. 



Nl'nii sfiyd'jn = he is a white man. 



TlakaVnsl sJd'nkvts H'tlnamu'is g'il'stet = the coyote is not the wife of the trout. 



iXi'nu ti'tlnamo'is g'u'stet = it is the wife of the trout. 



Often no verb or suffix is employed, as ku'min ski'nkfits = l am the coyote. 

 This me, -inc (-Me) seems to be the same as the suffix -Inc, -ne, -m, found in adjec- 

 tives and some intransitive verbs, e.g. : — 



svM'iii = it is good. i'pine = he is dead. 



si'qi7il = it is fat. wa'qine = it is thick. 



The Yeeb ' To Have.' 

 The verb 'have ' appears in some cases to be expressed by the suffix -<g ; — 



ho'ie'M'ta Fa'tlaQa'jstltsin = I have five horses. 

 Mnash-a'tlte = I have two children. 

 huiid'te dqltu'tdtls = l have an axe. 

 hD'yilnd'te nil'mus = I have many beads. 

 Mtli'tdn-u'te = I have no gun. 



Past Tense. 



The tense-sign for past time is md-. The following examples will serve to indicate 

 it!< use : — 



md'kutstld'kStl = I loved him. mdkl'ej) = he died. 



md'kod'^aanis = I saw you. mdktsekutl = he drank. 



FUTXTRE TeKSE. 



The future tense-sign is Qdtl : — 



hd'tsQdtU'kine = I shall eat. tSQd'tlnma' aS = it will go. 



ku'tsQdtli'pitl = 1 shall kill. hOtSQd'tli'ne =1 sh&H he . . . 



tSQdtli'2ntl = he will kill. gu'tsadtlMMtl = I shall telL 

 hoisad'tleku'tlnS = 1 shall drink. 



The desiderative coincides with the future : — 



tSQd'tldna'Qe = he wants to hunt. Jio'tsadtli'Une = I want to eat. 



khitiiQd'tWt = do you want to eat ? k'tsd'tli'taa = he wants to bite. 



Imperative. 



In this mood, as is the case in many languages, the radical of the verb is easily- 

 seen. The following examples will suffice : — 



i'ke{n) = eat thou ! j?i.iki'7w = let go ! 



owb'ken = get up 1 tcelid'to = look 1 



tcekd'tcn = take care 1 hd'mdti'ktcu = give ! 



ska' kin = give me ! tld i'tQunu = hite me again I 



itki'nin = do it ! isd'kindn = sit down I 



mats unl'tlin — don't be afraid I i'Mtl = eB.t ye I 



k'ko'mne{n') = sleep thou 1 nu'pkctl = sleep ye ! 



tld'ne — • come ! kdmne'kiitl = sleep ye I 



tlu'nu = go away ! tsind'ketl = hurry up I 



There appear to be several endings for the imperative, but the chief are -l, -en, -o- 



for the singular, and -HI for the plural. 



