GRAMMAR OF THE YUKAGHIR LANGUAGE 111 



a long vowel, — pohi't-pe (old men), — and ////' after a short 

 vowel, — c'inje-pul' (younger brothers or sisters, or both). 



§ 34. The plain suffix pc, or the double one pepul, is joined 

 to the following words in plural : 



Singular. Plural. 



koi boy, fellow, young man k' oipe and k'oipepul'' 



pai young woman pa'ipe and pa'ipepiil'' 



ke' nme friend kenne'pe ^ and ken?ie'pepul' 



u'o child iio'Tpe"^ and iio'rpepul^ 



K'oipc and pa'ipe are used as if they were in the singular. 

 They say, for instance, i'rkin pai and i' rkin pa' ipe, one young 

 woman. 



§ 35. It is quite likely that pe is a suffix of the now extinct 

 dual number. For example, Eci' e-pe (fathers) means either 

 father and mother together {i. e., parents) or the father and his 

 elder brother ; ^ while EH' e-piit means many fathers. I have 

 not found any more traces to confirm my supposition. With 

 regard to the above-mentioned double suffixes for the expres- 

 sion of plurality, I have noticed that, when these words are 

 preceded by a numeral which does not exceed 5, one suffix is 

 joined to them, and, if it exceeds 5, a double suffix is added ; for 

 instance : 



yan pa'i-pe three young women, and 



ma' Igiyan pa' i-pepul'' six young women. 



§ 36. The element expressing plurality is placed in the nomi- 

 native and all oblique cases, between the base and the other 

 suffixes. A'ce-p7ii-)~iin, to the reindeer (plural), and acc-pjtl-dc- 

 nin, to his reindeer (plural). We have thus the following 

 order: Base -f- element of plurality -f- possessive element -|- 

 case-suffix. 



§ 37. Very often the element pc, when preceding another 

 suffix, drops the e\ for instance, a' ce-p-ki (his reindeer), instead 

 of d'ce-pe-gi, g changing into k when preceded by /. 



' ;// followed by/ changes into n. 



2 ;- is put between the diphthong and/ for euphony. 



3 The elder brother of the father is called conio^'cie, that is, the big father. 



