1889.] Analysis of the Cherokee Language. yjj 
There are six vowels in the Cherokee language, ii il e a go \ 
and twelve consonants, dghklmnqstwy. Every syllable 
ends with a vowel ; and this rule covers all cases where the 
syllable consists of a single vowel. 
The general law of contraction may be stated thus : 
When a vowel comes in contact with another vowel, the one 
preceding is dropped ; and the consonant of the preceding sylla- 
ble unites with the following vowel, forming a new syllable. 
It is obvious from what has been said, that the pronoun he 
(thou) may take as many different forms as there are vowels. He 
is the original form ; the others are derived as follows : 
1 . Henanogaweska ; expanded, He nanogaweska. 
2. Healahoga; contracted, Halahoga. 
3. He adahoga ; contracted, Hadahoga. 
4. He asto ; contracted, Hasto. 
5. He Ogata; contracted, Hogata. 
6. He otanoha ; contracted, Hotanoha. 
That is to say, the pronoun //(' may be heard in conversation 
under six different forms : he, ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, in addition to 
the many other guises which it may assume upon contraction 
with certain other words and prefixes that precede it, as we have 
above shown." 
Prof Duncan adds in this connection : " Now when we reflect 
that all the pronouns, more than fifty in number, with adverbs, 
modal auxiliaries, tense-endings, and a large family of ni 
and personal prefixes (some of them obsolete), are nev 
seldom, seen or heard of, except in these condensed forms oi 
expression ; and that each of these words is liable to assun 
one of six different forms, according as it may happen to be 
touched, fore or aft, by the initial or terminal vowel of a neigh- 
boring syllable, in every case giving the whole word-sentence a 
new, strange and unexpected aspect, it is easy to appreciate the 
importance of a thorough mastery of the rules ^ by which these 
myriad changes are effected ; indeed, without such master>% any 
progress in a scientific knowledge of the Cherokee tongue would 
be utterly impracticable." 
