Brinton.] "OU [February 4, 



sahaiya, my sister-in-law, wife of my brother, also wife of my uncle, or 

 of my nephew. 



uppo, my sister-in-law. 



sapok, my sister-in-law. 



vshke, the wife of my father's brother. 



haloka, a family name for son-in-law, father-in-law, and mother-in law. 



While fonnerly the kinsmen {ilcsa) and the peoples {oTcla) had specific 

 names, the family had none.' The names of individuals were significant of 

 some trait or quality. Some of the masculine names mean Come and kill, 

 Stand and kill, Kill all. Kill and go; some of the feminine names signify 

 Giver, Bringer, She who loops up her hair. Take water and give him. In 

 times of war brave men received titles, such as Red bird, Red knife, Rdd 

 owl, etc. 



The individual name is sacred, and is never used in common conversa- 

 tion; the name of relationship, my brother, my cousin, is used instead. 

 The wife speaks of her husband as vlla iki, the children's father. 



The ancient law of marriage was that no man could choose a wife in his 

 own iksa. Hence the matter of clan relationship became one of great im- 

 portance, and upon it the terms of relationship in general were based. In 

 common salutations, the husband addi'essed his wife's clan as vm okla mah, 

 my people, but his own clan as vm ai okla mah, inserting the locative 

 particle ai, with an emphatic sense. 



Parents usually refer to their offspring as vlla, the child, or children. 



There are no words, such as great-grand-father, great-grand-son, etc., 

 to express relationship in the same line beyond grandfather and grandson. 

 All ancestors and descendants more remote than these are called indis- 

 criminately by these terms. 



§ 12. Termination of nouns. 



Nouns may end with the vowels a, i, o, u, and with the consonants f, h, 

 k, 1, n, p, s, and sh; fakit, a turkey, the only noun ending in t, is probably 

 a borrowed word. Those which end with a consonant take the article- 

 pronouns which begin with a vowel sound; as, at, vt, osh, ot, ocha, ^, o, 

 ona, or with the euphonic y; as, yvt, yosh, yocha, ya. 



CHAPTEE YL 



ADJECTIVES. 



§ 1. The words used as adjectives, or attributes of noiuis, are in reality 

 verbs. All the classes of verbs are used to modify nouns, but the attribu- 

 tive neuter verb is that most freqviently employed. When subjoined to 



1 The Choctaws were formally divided into two iksa, and three "tires" or districts. The latter 

 were: okla falaia, the long people; ahepvt okla, potatoe-eating people; okla hannali, six peoples. 

 The iksa lived promiscuously throughout the nation and their establishment was attributed to 

 sacred authority. This information I owe to Col. P. P. Pitchlynn, a thorough native Choctaw 

 scholar, who has kindly read the proof of Mr. Byington's Grammar with me. 



