GRAMMAR OF THE VUKAGHIR LANGUAGE 



143 



105 

 j'Tunn. 



made. 



106 



Ti ne 



Former 



107 



coi'ir eii'ul^ 



embroidered 



108 



ma'gideiile 



jacket his 



no 

 } 'ero'ye-x ar-ni agi ' le 

 of skins of one year old reindeer jacket 



III 



inoru' ceTiam. 

 put on. 



109 

 pu' dedegen 

 on it 



112 



Ta' bun 

 That 



113 114 115 



pu' dedegen no'threre yodu'tainani. 



upon (of it) (with) blanket of soft reindeer-skin wrapped. 



116 

 Td'cile 

 Thereafter 



117 



inodo'toham, 

 set (also placed) 



118 



o'rje 



in the front corner 



120 

 O mo' c ebon 

 Good something 



121 



le'nnide, 

 if eat 



122 

 loci' Ige 

 in fire 



123 



pe' deienam , 



burn 



119 



modo'toTiam. 

 placed. 



124 

 pu' dedege?i 

 over it (fire) 



125 



tabu'ngele 



that 



131 



le'ndelge 



126 



td 



there 



127 



mo' inuuunam 

 keep : 



128 129 130 



Tcinde me' -legitenam, kdciiei 

 That so fed at every 



meal 



132 



tat 



thus 



"^ZZ 



did. 



134 



Tabu'de 



That (one) 



135 



xo'in-eni. 

 worshipped. 



Told by the old Yukaghir Nicholas Samsonoff in the village 

 on the Korkodon River, October, 1 896. 



Free Translation of the Text. 



Our ancient people, when a shaman died, used to separate 

 the flesh of the corpse from the bones. For that purpose they 

 put on gloves and masks. Then they took iron hooks, and, 

 having caught the flesh of the corpse, drew it to them and cut 

 it off. It was considered a sin to touch the corpse with bare 

 hands, or to look at it with uncovered face. Thus they sepa- 

 rated the flesh from the skeleton on its entire length. Then they 

 made drying-frames and hung the flesh on them outside, in the 

 sun to dry. After the flesh was dried, the relatives of the dead 



