﻿14 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  but 
  not 
  that 
  of 
  an 
  oak. 
  This 
  brief 
  sketch 
  will 
  give 
  some 
  idea 
  of 
  

   scope 
  of 
  this 
  early 
  lexicon 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  language 
  treated. 
  

  

  Zeisberger 
  wrote 
  an 
  essay 
  on 
  an 
  Onondaga 
  grammar 
  nearly 
  ioo 
  

   years 
  later, 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  divided 
  words 
  into 
  simple 
  and 
  compound, 
  

   the 
  participle 
  being 
  usually 
  lacking. 
  Nouns 
  had 
  three 
  genders, 
  but 
  

   no 
  cases, 
  and 
  he 
  mentioned 
  but 
  two 
  numbers 
  where 
  others 
  recognize 
  

   three. 
  The 
  plural 
  adds 
  a 
  syllable, 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  schoh. 
  In 
  words 
  end- 
  

   ing 
  in 
  a, 
  e, 
  o, 
  relating 
  to 
  rivers, 
  roads, 
  hills, 
  springs, 
  etc. 
  nnie 
  is 
  

   added, 
  and 
  hogu 
  or 
  ogu 
  to 
  others. 
  Nouns 
  compounded 
  with 
  ios, 
  

   meaning 
  long, 
  change 
  this 
  into 
  es 
  in 
  the 
  singular, 
  and 
  eso 
  in 
  the 
  

   plural. 
  Thus 
  we 
  have 
  garonta, 
  a 
  tree, 
  garontes, 
  long 
  tree, 
  garonteso, 
  

   long 
  trees. 
  In 
  compounding 
  with 
  numerals 
  age 
  is 
  sometimes 
  added 
  

   at 
  the 
  end, 
  but 
  tekeni, 
  two, 
  is 
  often 
  prefixed 
  and 
  shortened 
  to 
  t\ 
  

   The 
  initial 
  G 
  may 
  signify 
  the 
  first 
  person, 
  v^ 
  the 
  second, 
  H 
  the 
  third, 
  

   and 
  G 
  may 
  also 
  indicate 
  the 
  feminine 
  in 
  the 
  third 
  persons, 
  but 
  these 
  

   are 
  not 
  all. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  many 
  rules 
  for 
  compounding 
  words. 
  The 
  comparative 
  

   degree 
  adds 
  haga 
  or 
  tschihha, 
  and 
  the 
  superlative 
  tschik 
  to 
  the 
  pos- 
  

   itive. 
  Prepositions 
  he 
  placed 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  nouns, 
  but 
  they 
  some- 
  

   times 
  occur 
  at 
  the 
  beginning. 
  An 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  is 
  

   ochnecanos, 
  water, 
  ochenecage, 
  in 
  the 
  water. 
  According 
  to 
  him 
  

   gachera 
  is 
  added 
  to 
  signify 
  on, 
  ocu 
  for 
  under, 
  acta 
  for 
  at, 
  on 
  or 
  by, 
  

   ati 
  for 
  over 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  side, 
  ge 
  or 
  chne 
  for 
  to, 
  etc. 
  There 
  were 
  

   many 
  conjunctions 
  and 
  adverbs, 
  and 
  interjections 
  were 
  much 
  used. 
  

  

  He 
  mentioned 
  but 
  three 
  moods 
  and 
  three 
  tenses. 
  The 
  infinitive 
  

   is 
  the 
  root 
  and 
  the 
  present 
  indicative 
  formed 
  from 
  it 
  by 
  substituting 
  

   a 
  pronoun 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  syllable. 
  The 
  perfect 
  adds 
  a 
  syllable 
  of 
  

   various 
  forms, 
  and 
  the 
  future 
  is 
  like 
  the 
  present 
  with 
  en 
  or 
  in 
  

   prefixed. 
  

  

  In 
  writing 
  on 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  language 
  Horatio 
  Hale 
  referred 
  to 
  

   M. 
  Cuoq's 
  excellent 
  lexicon, 
  published 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  since. 
  According 
  

   to 
  the 
  latter 
  writer 
  12 
  letters 
  sufficed 
  for 
  all 
  words, 
  but 
  the 
  Rev. 
  

   Asher 
  Wright 
  used 
  17 
  with 
  proper 
  marks. 
  The 
  English 
  mission- 
  

   aries 
  used 
  16, 
  and 
  Mr 
  Hale 
  thought 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  had 
  seven 
  con- 
  

   sonants 
  and 
  four 
  vowels. 
  Three 
  nasal 
  sounds 
  made 
  his 
  number 
  14. 
  

   K 
  and 
  G, 
  D 
  and 
  T 
  were 
  interchangeable. 
  Numbers 
  were 
  singular, 
  

   dual 
  and 
  plural. 
  The 
  dual 
  prefixes 
  te 
  and 
  suffixes 
  kc 
  to 
  the 
  noun.- 
  

   With 
  a 
  numeral 
  adjective 
  the 
  plural 
  prefixes 
  ni 
  to 
  the 
  noun 
  and 
  

  

  