124 



[x^p'it] , walruses. — This same prolongation of the vowel in 

 final -it is also found in the dialect of Labrador *). 



If we now sum up liie above results concerning quantity 

 in Greenlandic, we shall find that there are four types of com- 

 bination**): 



short vowel + short consonant [nuna] land 

 short vowel -f- long consonant [màTfci] this 

 long vowel -j- short consonant [mcrne] here 

 long vowel 4- 'ong consonant [mcrn-a] now 



All of these groups may be combined in any order at all. 

 There may be words which consist merely of long sounds, 

 so that the quantity of the single sounds can be determined 

 only by comparison with other words pronounced by the same 

 individual, e.g. («^j-«-]'. In other words, one or two short 

 sounds may be shut in between a series of long sounds : 

 [o'qdt-ai -тр'а-]^ [nak-a/i'is-aii-ilaq]-^. It lias already been shown 

 that a long vowel may occur as a final with some special shade 

 of meaning: [nuna] land, [tiuncf] his land. I have also heard 

 a long consonant as a final: [ak-]'^ [ana-ucrk-]^. Consonants 

 in the beginning of words are generally short, but a long s 

 may be heard in [s-e-r^^o^] ^ [s'rt] or [s-e-H] '. 



These features give us the impression that the phonetical 

 character of the Eskimo language is such that any number at 

 all of all kinds of long sounds can follow immediately after 

 each other without being shortened. 



In its quantitative principle of sound-grouping, the Eskimo 

 language stands out in sharp contrast to the Indo-European 

 languages, as their phonetical principles are at present. Long 



*) Bourquin: Labr. Gr. g 76, 2 ip. 3?), note. 

 **) Just as for instance in Finnish (Jespersen: Fonetik g 391). 



' he is fetching it '■' he is Irving, testing it ^ it will surely fall down 

 * there, please take it ' (myi mother! liii the language of children). * it is 

 whistling, hissing ^ willows. 



I 



