316 Notes on the Languages spoken by the Mi-Shmis. [No. 4. 



Ke ndat meng, I am calling ; No gya meng, Thou art running ; 

 We gap ineng, He is fighting. 



JPast time is denoted by the addition of the particles Ga for the 

 Imperfect, and Kong for the Perfect Tense. 



Ke ndat ga, I" did call ; Ke gap ga, I did fight ; Ke gya ga, I 

 did run. 



We ndat Kong, He has called ; Gap kong, Has f aught ; Gya 

 kong, Has run. 



Future. IuDg added to the verb denotes future time. 



Ke ndat iung, I shall call ; "We gap iung, He will fight ; No gya 

 iung, Thou wilt run. 



There is no particular form to mark the Gerund, but in all ordi- 

 nary cases, it is the verb in its simple state followed by another verb. 

 Thus ; Vethal tamy in vitch sup-kong, They have purchased the salt 

 to sell it, ovfor the purpose of selling it. 



The Impeeative Mood 

 which exists only in the 2nd person is indicated by the addition of 

 Chu to the verbal root. 



Khai chu, Speak I Groin chu, Lift it up ! 



1 2 3 4 m m 5 6 



Kesa maisa kaplak mai jai thai-chu, 



3 1 2 6 4 5 



All you boys and girls go and dance and sing. 



Prohibition is expressed by prefixing Ai to the root ; thus, Ai 

 khai, JDo not speak; Ai ngai, Do not iveep ; Ai mui, Do not sleep. 



Simple Negation is expressed by prefixing Ma to the root. Thus ; 

 "We ma lap, He does not sit; Kwe ma chak iung, The dog will 

 not bite. 



Potential Mood. 



Power or capacity is usually expressed by Non-niu added to the 

 verb. We rung brii non-niu, He can break the boat ; No jai non- 

 niu, You can sing. 



In the Negative form Ma is prefixed. Ke mai ma non-niu, lean- 

 not dance. 



Particles. 



When a question is asked, the interrogative particle I is com- 

 monly used, except when any other word in the sentence implies 

 an interrogation. 



