149 



that is considered. It seems to be the rudiment of a lip- 

 consonant ip), which is no longer necessary, but which may 

 still occasionally be introduced in this manner as an indication 

 of some special shade of meaning in the word. 



In other forms of the verb, the presence or absence of 

 this labialization is of no significance for the meaning. At 

 Jakobshavn, I heard an old woman (born 1828) say: [pe-rsi- 

 mawÅune] while her son repeated it as [pe-rsimäX'uney, and 

 in both cases the reference was to the 3""^ pers. sing. In the 

 3'"'^ pers. plur., the same circumstance would surely be found. 



Of the uncertainty in the choice of glide-sounds we have 

 evidence in the four different forms which I have noted down 

 for the 2°"^ pers. sing, of the word which most frequently occurs 

 as [iÅ'Uy, but also more or less occasionally as [r^«Y]^, [i^'X'it], 

 [p(Å'it]. — The transition-sounds are more important for the 

 meaning and more invariable in the two negative verbs 

 [niX/'ui'thq] , it is not cold (to the touch etc.) <C nilak^ fresh 

 water ice, and [ni^Å'i7i-ila.q], he does not speak , does not let 

 his voice {7iipe)* be heard, yet both of these words coincide 

 in careless pronunciation in the form [niÅ'ui'ila.q] , which has 

 both meanings. 



Labialization of i before the aspirated [^] is found, for 

 instance, in the word [ki^'^-a.q]^, before [.§•] in [г^'з-щ]^. On the 

 whole, labialization both of a [«"'«"'«•"'] and short г, it seems 

 to occur before the most heterogeneous consonants {Å, (p, /, /?, 

 t, w, //), but it (i. e. the glide-sound ги) may be more or less 

 distinct, so it is often difficult to decide if it is an original 

 element in the word or if it is merely an occasional muscular 

 contraction. In not a few cases, it is probable that it is ety- 

 mologically a reduced 2? or nr. 



' after it had become loosened {IÅ-) ' ihou ' thou {IÅ-) ' {}i in this 

 word occurs in the form of labialization in the corresponding verb) •"' a \vori<er, 

 servant ^' the other dav. 



