GRAMMAR OF THE VUKAGHIR LANGUAGE 127 



Forms 1-4 are used when the principal and subordinate 

 clauses have one and the same person as subject, while 5, 6, 

 are used when different person are subjects of the two clauses. 

 Besides, forms 3, 4, and 6 require that the verb in the prin- 

 cipal clause shall also be in the conjunctive mood. For 

 instance : 



1. Met Ci' -de keit' I, if make, shall give. 



2 . Met if - hide keif ' * 



3. Met d'-lelde met o'tkei I, if made, would give. 



4. Met a! -lelnide met o'tkei " 



5. Met il'lgene, tet 7Jiin¥ I, if make, thou take. 



6. Mit a! -lelukene, o'7miiof- we, if made, people would take. 



77ii'ii'nam 



Forms 5 and 6 are also used with the suffix tcl' of the future 

 tense. For instance : 



^^ Metul el-ile' -tel-ge?ie, el-ko'iide-tcl-gcne, met no' rpe 



me not if wilt scold not if wilt beat my children 



mef'-ti' te yo'uleilelgene, te'tiii ke'lteye.^' ^ 

 me like if wilt love to thee will go. 



'' If thou wilt not scold me, wilt not beat me, my children, like 

 me, wilt love, to thee I will go." 



It should be noted in this example that the verbs i' le *' scold " 

 and ko'ude "beat" are in form 5, and yo'tiletle "love," in form 

 6, but without the element of the future tense. The verb kelteye 

 (base, ket^ (I will go) is in the future tense, indicative mode, and 

 not in the conjunctive o't-kelteye, thus corresponding to the first 

 two forms. 



§ Z%. The supine is formed by means of the suffix din. 



Met Id do-din kiece I (in order to) play have come. 



This suffix is apparently the dative of nouns. Very often 

 defiin, the suffix of the dative case, together with the possessive 

 element, are abbreviated into din. For instance, enie' i-defiin (to 

 his mother) may be shortened into enie'i-din. On the other 



^ Jochelson, Yukaghir Materials, etc., text No. 69, pp. 170, 171, lines 46, 47. 

 Thus a widow replied to a man that was courting her. 



