Appendix G. 269 



The long acute vowel sounds, such as oo and ee, also the letter r, 

 are pronounced too licjiiidly and subtilely to be easily imitated by a 

 stranger, and in some words the inflections of the vowels are in- 

 conceivably complex and mellifluous. The general euphony or cadence 

 of the language is sprightly and cheerful; if the subject be of a 

 complaining nature, it subsides into a strange chaunt, the sentences 

 being linked together by such see-saw sounds, as " na-do na-do enete 

 na-do" which have no meaning, but serve to connect together the 

 speaker's ideas. 



When two or more words come together, the former ending, and 

 the latter beginning with similar vowels, they are joined by ellipsis. 

 as " Hola'le seniena," instead of " Hola allc seniena," we went yesterday. 



Article. 



There is none, (properly speaking), definite or indefinite. 



Noun. 



There is no distinction of genders, marked or influenced by ter- 

 mination, it being determined by the sense or meaning of the word, 

 whether referring to a male or female being. Besides man and woman, 

 " erril" and " era," boy and girl, " koa" and " kooee," names of rela- 

 tions, and those of a few domestic animals, all other nouns are 

 distinguished in their gender by prefixing " Sandee" male, or " Enga" 

 female, as in Persian or English &H)J ^H) &^j he-hear, she-bear. 



A noun has three numbers, singular, dual, and plural, as in Greek. 



The nouns can scarcely be said to have declension, as the terminal 

 does not vary either according to number or case, although a dis- 

 tinguishing adjunct, which may be called a c Pronoun article,' from 

 its nature and use, is added. 



Singular. Dual. Plural. 



Nom. Seta, a dog. Seta king, two dogs. Seta ko, dogs. 



Gen. Seta-a, of a dog. Seta kingya, of two dogs. Seta koa, of dogs. 

 Ab. Seta-t e }i /rowi a dog. Seta king te, from two dogs. Seta ko te, from 



dogs. 



The dative, accusative, and vocative cases do not differ from the 

 nominative, being only known from their position in a sentence. 



In composition, the noun in an accusative case takes the first place 

 in the sentence, if the nominative be a pronoun ; otherwise the noun- 

 nominative precedes, the accusative follows, and the oblique or dative 

 case comes immediately before the verb, sometimes immediately after 



