GRAMMAR OF THE YUKAGHIR LANGUAGE 119 



Tabu'n-pe ke'lni Those came. 



Ki'n-pe-gef kelmet' ? From whom (you) came? 



Ke' lul-tdn-pe ti le'Tii Arrived those here are, or those 



that arrived are here. 



Tan is one of the forms that are used as substitutes for relative 

 pronouns (see § 56). 



The Verb. 



§ 64. While almost all the noun-bases are derivatives of ver- 

 bal forms, the bases of verbs are in most cases disyllabic or 

 monosyllabic roots, frequently consisting of one vowel. For 

 instance, a expresses the conception of "doing"; ??, that of 

 being born ; <?, to draw, to get from the bottom. But nouns 

 can, in their turn, become verbs again by means of the suffixes 

 te (for transitive verbs) and de (for intransitive verbs). For ex- 

 ample : o'ji (from 0, to drawn, and o'jc, to drink), water ; dji' tCy 

 to supply some one with water ; mi' mo, a house ; mimo' -de, to 

 be with a house. 



§ 65. While the nominative indefinite always constitutes the 

 base of a noun, that of verbs does not always coincide with one 

 and the same form. The first person, singular, present-preterite, 

 indefinite conjugation, is the base of transitive verbs, while that 

 of the intransitive coincides with the third person, singular, of the 

 negative form, present -preterite, indefinite conjugation (see § 75, 

 table of conjugations). 



§ 66. Verbs have only two tenses, the present-preterite or 

 perfect and the future or imperfect. The action may be either 

 completed or yet to be completed. The performance of an 

 action consists of a continual succession of moments, every one 

 of which appears in a given moment with reference to the act- 

 ing person, either as past or future.' 



Met' kude'de I have killed, and I kill. 



Met' kiide'det' I shall kill. 



1 The present-preterite is also to be found in the Gilyak language (L. J. Stern- 

 berg, Material for the Study of the Gilyak Language and Folk-Lore [Bull, of the 

 Imp. Academy of Sciences, Vol. VIII, No. 4, p. 422, November 1900, St. Peters- 

 burg]). 



