112 JOCHELSON 



§ 38. The Yukaghir language has no grammatical distinc- 

 tion of gender. With reference to people, if there are no 

 special names to indicate sex — as, for instance, cci' e (father) 

 and cine' i (mother), po' hit' (old man, husband), teri' kc (old 

 woman, wife) — the words koi, koyo'je, or a' dil' (fellow, man), 

 or pai, payo'je, or ma' rxil' (woman, girl) are prefixed for that 

 purpose. 



koyo'je-d-e'mje younger brother {emje = younger 



pay'oje-d-e'mje younger sister brother, or sister) 



A'duo {\x\'sX^2iAoi A'dil-u'o') son ^ 



Ma'rxi-d-uo daughter ^ ^ 



To indicate the sex of animals, nouns are preceded b>^ 

 o'ncenoje^ for the male, and nio'inoje'^ for the female. 



O' ncenoje-caxa' le male fox ; mo' inoje-caxa' le female fox 



The male of the wild reindeer is called simply o'lice, or o'licie, 

 and that of the elk, pie'je. The female of the wild reindeer is 

 i'rogoje, and that of the elk, u' oye. 



§ 39. The suffix for the augmentative form of nouns is te' gc, 

 and for the diminutive, di' e. Nii' mo-tcge (large house), mi' mo- 

 die (small house). 



The Adjective. 



§ 40. The adjective has no special form. Instead of it, par- 

 ticiples and other verbal forms (see §§ 80, 84) are used. All 

 forms taking the place of adjectives are used as modifiers, put 

 before the modified word, and do not undergo any changes. 



Omo'ce coi'o'mox good man. 



ci'tneye-d- ige'yP long thong. 



§ 41. Degrees of comparison. 



I. The comparative degree is formed by means of the abla- 

 tive of one of the nouns compared and a verbal form in the: 

 third person ; for instance : 



' Generator or provider. 



2 Keeper. 



'^ ^ is inserted for euphony. 



