INDIAN TRIBES OF THE MISSOURI VALLEY. 435 
thoroughly exploded, that it is unnecessary to allude to it farther. His vocabulary of the 
language, however, is a very excellent one. Schoolcraft also gives a somewhat lengthy 
vocabulary, derived from Mr. James Kipp, for many years a trader among these Indians. 
I may as well state here, that not only the information obtained by me in regard to the 
Mandan language was given by Mr. Kipp, but the same man aided Prince Neuwied and 
Catlin, so that our present knowledge of the Mandan language has been derived from very 
nearly the same source. So far as I can learn, the most important contributions to the 
knowledge of the Mandan language, and the only ones worthy of especial notice, are those 
of Prince Neuwied, Catlin, and Schoolcraft. That of Prince Neuwied is by far the most 
important, containing much of the grammatical structure of the language, and, as above 
observed, it was obtained under circumstances which entitle it to confidence. The latter, 
though important, are merely lists of words, and convey but a partial idea of the language. 
CHAPTER XxX. 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE OF THE MANDAN LANGUAGE. 
I. Nowuwns. 
1. Wirs few exceptions, Mandan nouns have both a singular and plural form, as is 
shown by their termination ; as, a-pe’, a leaf; a-pish’, leaves ; ma-he’, a weed ; ma-hosh’, weeds ; 
si, a feather; si’-ish, feathers. , 
2. The gender of nouns is indicated by the use of different words to express the sex ; 
as, nu’-map-ke, @ man; mi/-he, a woman; be’-ro-ke, a bull; p’tin’-de, a cow; ni’-ka, a calf. 
3. The case of a noun is known by its position in a sentence. 
II. ADJECTIVES. 
4. Adjectives always follow the nouns which they describe ; as, mi-he’-shi-na-shush, a hand- 
some woman; nat-kan’-ka-sish, a hard heart. 
5. The numeral adjectives of the cardinal kind are as follows: 
one, mah’-a-na. eight, te-tuk’-e. 
two, nim’-pa. nine, mahi’-pe. 
three, na/-men-i. ten, pi-rahi. 
four, to’-pe. eleven, a-ga-mahi’-a-na. 
five, keh-iin’. twelve, a-ga-num’-pa. 
six, ki’-ma. thirteen, a-ga-na’-men-i. 
seven, ku’-pa. fourteen, a-ga-top’. 
