165 



In these last words, then, s' could be explained as an analogical 

 formation which had supplanted the original -ts. But who 

 knows if ts did not become s- in past times? 



Now it seems as if, in certain cases, a svarabhakti i may 

 develop between adjoining t and t, s, ?[ etc. Thus arjut + 

 71'г1Щ becomes сщгащ'ищ^ ', ацШ -\- siag , miutisiaq-; арга 

 -^ siaq, аргШ81щ'^\ сщга in the plural, сщкШ. Here there 

 may be some doubt as to whether the suffix is joined to the 

 ^-stem, or to an older form of the word which ended in -te 

 or -teq {ayiuteq etc.). 



Why do qaq-aq, sanasoq etc. together with the suffix -kut 

 give qaq-ak'ut'", sanasuk-ut^l It is possible that we here have 

 the assimilation qk > Z;-, cf. the assimilation qïi > /f, just 

 mentioned. This parallel is not least interesting because in 

 both cases the uvularization altogether disappears without leav- 

 ing any trace in the preceding vowel — quite contrary to 

 custom; otherwise q becomes r before another consonant. But 

 so much is certain, that the sound-combination rk never occurs 

 (whereas r7i is frequent). If, however, k- and //•, which are 

 invariable initial sounds in these suffixes, cannot be considered 

 as assimilations of the sounds mentioned, they may have found 

 their way into the words ending in q by the analogy of other 

 words in the language which end in к and t (kk^k^ fk'^h, 

 ktj > //•, t7i > //•, regularly). These last words are, to be sure, 

 far fewer now-a-days than those ending in 5, apart from the 

 fact that a number of words do not end in a consonant at all 

 in the current base-form {ik'o ^ etc.). But there may have been 

 other conditions formerly. It is also possible that both causes 

 may have been at work; the analogy of the assimilation in the 

 words ending in -k and -t may have supported the assimilation 

 in the words ending in q. 



' a liUle man ^ a foster-father ^ a purchased file * through or over 

 the mountain ■' the carpenter's, llie carpenter with his family " a house. 



