5020 REPORT—1899. 
dialects. It will be observed that whenever the action is continuous or repeated, the 
stem of the word is reduplicated. This reduplication serves several purposes. It not 
only expresses the plural and continuous repeated action as above, but enters also 
into the ideas of diminution in several ways. 
DIMINUTIVES. 
Kau 'igii’'sk'En, a little axe, from kaui’sk'En, axe; spEzu'zd, a little bird, from 
spu’zo, bird; pipi’éokQ@ ‘just a few trees, from pié/dka, one tree; cikata’na, J 
strike it strongly; cikci/kata'na, I strike it a little; kiénta’ta, talk to me; kueék- 
uénta/ta, talk to me a little; pi'latci/na, I speak; pilpi’pElatci’na, I speak very 
little. Sometimes a different word is employed forthe same purpose; as, tzHzoi'tsta, 
chop it in big pieces ; tcimima/tsta, chop it in little pieces. 
The diminutive is also expressed by compounds as st6’matl, ox; sto’matl-titi't, a 
little ox; sk‘a’qa, dog; sk‘aqa’-tza, a puppy ; or by a different word; as, tii’ot, boy ; 
cina, a little boy; sla’nats, a girl; ma’qa, a little girl. 
COMPOUND NOUNS. 
Compound nouns are a common feature of the language. Examples of one class 
of these are formed by simple juxtaposition with or without modification: 6’iyip- 
tsk-au’tl, fire-canoe, 7.c. steamer; q’k‘’’Opa, beaver, from qtluk:‘t=broad and cii’pa= 
tail; n’krltza-sk‘a’qa, horse. Another and commoner class are the ‘instrumental’ 
and ‘agent’ nouns given above, 
GENDER, 
There is no evidence of grammatical gender in N’tlaka’pamug. When a speaker 
wishes to distinguish between male and female he does so either by the use of 
separate words ; as, 
skai'uq, man; s’mit’tlatc, woman ; 
ti’ot, boy; sla’nats, girl ; 
ci'‘na, baby boy ; ma’qa, baby girl; 
ck’ca, nephew; sklumké’&t, niece ; 
or, by adding to the class-word in a more or less modified form the terms for man 
or woman; as, 
dog, sk‘a’-kai’uq; bitch, smi-mz’tlatc. 
When there is no possibility of ambiguity the class-word is not used, but just one or 
other of these two terms, as the case may be. 
A few words are used of male and female alike, without distinction, when there 
is no possibility of ambiguity or need to mark the sex; but all these general terms 
can, and sometimes do, add the words for man and woman when there is need to be 
explicit. 
Doctor, mH’laqmé’it ; skti’kEmit, child 
widow, ] 
widower, | 
orphan, cua/ka, boy or girl. 
slEié/amEt ; 
Many class nouns are omitted in common speech when qualified by an adjective, 
as in English; as, ku’/tlamin, old man or woman. The full form of these would be: 
kuw'tlamin tik skai’uq; ku'tlamin tik smi'tlatc. A great many of the adjectives 
may thus be used substantively, 
CASE. 
Ordinarily the noun undergoes no inflexion for case, but in expressions denoting 
possession or ownership there is a modification of the stem which might at first 
sight be taken for a genuine inflexion ; as, tcitiig, house; tci’ttige ha ‘nska'tza, the 
house of my father, or ’n-ska'tza tcittiQe, my father’s house. 
But this is not a true inflexion; it is nYerely one of tle affixes of the possessive 
pronoun, These affixes are seen also in the intransitive verbs, and are likewise 
