INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MISSOURI VALLEY. 283 
CHAPTER VII. 
REMARKS ON THE GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE OF THE SHYENNE LANGUAGE. 
I. Nouns. 
1. In the Shyenne language no change is made in the terminations of nouns to indicate 
their case. The nominative and objective cases are inferred from the position of the nouns 
in a sentence, and the idea of possession is denoted by fragment-pronouns, which are 
usually prefixed, and sometimes, though rarely, inserted into the nouns. 
2. Nouns have two numbers, singular and plural; and these are usually distinguished 
by difference of termination, as: (sing.) o'-he, a river ; (pl.) o-he’-ist; (Sing.) wih’-pats, a leaf; 
(pl.) wil’-po-tots; (sing.) mu’-ino, a horse; (pl.) mu’ino-ham; (sing.) na’-e, otter; (pl.) na’in. 
a. There seem to be two forms of the plural number, one of which denotes a moderate 
number of individuals, and the other a great many; as, (sing.) ho’-ma, a beaver; (1st pl.) 
ho-ma’, several beavers; (2d pl.) ho-ma-e’-yo, a great many beavers. 
b. The plural of some nouns is formed by simple change of accent from one syllable to 
another; as (sing.) ho'-tum, a dog; (pl.) ho-tum’; (sing.) ho’-ma, a beaver; (pl.) ho-ma’; (sing.) 
no’-man, a fish ; (pl.) no-man’, 
3. The gender of nouns is denoted by the use of different words; as, o-to-a’, a bull; mi, 
a cow ; o-tu’-a-mu, a male elk; mi’-i-mu, a female elk; wo-stun’,a man; hi, a woman. 
Il. ADJECTIVES. 
4. In the Dakota, Blackfoot, Crow, and other Indian languages of the Northwest, the 
adjective usually follows the noun which it qualifies; but in the Shyenne it most com- 
monly precedes, though examples of both cases occur; as, e-kw’si-si-otum, a sharp-nosed 
dog; mdh-ta’-o-hum, a black horse; mai-is’-ci, a red shirt. In the following instances, the 
adjective follows the noun: ho’i-ay-si-wa’, bad lands; wo-i’-ha-i-not, thick clouds ; i-shi’-ni-pit’-siv, 
a snowy day. 
5, Adjectives have two numbers, singular and plural, the same as nouns. There are 
also two plural forms ; as, 
SINGULAR. PLURAL. 
Ist form. 2d form. 
na-tds, na-to-si-0, na-to’-sis-to, cold. 
no-moh’-ta, no-moh/-tai-yo, . no-mohi’-tas-to, well. 
i-ha’-i-yom, i-ha-i-yo’-mi-o, i-ha-i-yo’-mis-to, fat. 
e-ho’-ni-¢ist, e-ho’-ni-¢is’-ta-o, lazy. 
e-wo-kom, e-wo-ko’-ini-o, e-wo-ko’-mo-nist, white. 
6. The cardinal numbers are as follows: 
