certain, that the separate pronouns are distinguished from each other in the three numbers; that they are used in an abbreviated form in the simple conjugations and in the transitions; and that they are always affixed to the verb, as well as to the noun. The objective case of the personal is said to be identic with the possessive pronoun.

It appears from all the information we possess on the subject, that all the inflections of person and number, which are found in the Indian languages, connected with the verb, are in reality, as from their nature they might be expected to be in primitive oral inflected languages, the inflections of the pronoun and not of the verb. If, considering the limits of this essay, more space has been allowed to this branch of the subject than may appear necessary, it is because it was the only one, respecting which the materials within our reach were sufficiently ample, for the double purpose of reducing it to rules, and of instituting a comparison between the several modes which nations, that had adopted the same principle, have pursued in the application of that principle. It must also be recollected, that nine tenths, at least, of the several hundred inflections found in the conjugations of some verbs are due to those pronominal combinations; and that, as a preliminary process, they must be fully understood, and the noun and verb be disentangled from those accessaries, before any progress can be made in the acquirement of the language. It is undoubtedly for that reason, that both Eliot and Zeisberger have allotted so great a portion of their Grammars to that object.

There can be no doubt that, even in those languages which appear most complex, the power of analogy in the human mind is such as necessarily to produce a sufficient degree of uniformity for common purposes; and that accordingly all those

multiplied inflections are in every instance reducible to rules, subject to more or less exceptions, according as the plan has in its progress become more or less complex. Many of these exceptions may be traced to euphony, and become also subject to the rules which it imposes. One instance will be given, which will explain the apparent anomalies of some of the Delaware inflections.

It seems that the surd or vocal sound belonging to the abbreviated pronouns, and which Mr. Heckewelder expresses by an apostrophe, (n', k', w', or ně, kě, wě; in Chippeway ni, ki, o,) is essential to them, or cannot coalesce with a vowel. Whenever therefore a vowel is the first letter of a verb, the expletive consonant d is inserted between the characteristic of the pronoun and the verb. The rule does not apply to the sound u or o, but extends to the cases where the verb begins with 7.

Achpin, to stay'; n'dappi, k'dappi, 'I stay,' 'thou stayest.' Aan, 'to go'; n'da, k'da, &c. Ahoalan, to love'; n'dahoala, k'dahoala, &c.

Lissin, to be so'; n'delsi, &c. Lauchsin 'to live'; n'delauchsin, &c.

Luen, to say '; n'dellowe, &c.

But wulamalsi makes n'ulamalsi, and walhaton makes n'ohalton. The rule appears to extend to the Chippeway. Ishkodai, 'fire'; ni dishkdaim, my fire'; ossin, ' a stone'; nin dossineen, 'my stone'; ais, 'a shell'; nin daisim, 'my shell.' (Schoolcraft.) But there are exceptions; os, 'father'; nos, my father,' and not ni dos.

The various means adopted by the several Indian nations in order to effect the same object, that of concentrating in a single word the two pronouns and the verb, and the different character which the first steps once taken have impressed on the several languages respectively, seem to deserve attention, inasmuch as the investigation may throw some light on the history of the formation of languages. It must be admitted that the cumbersome apparatus, with which, in order to attain such a simple object, some of those languages have been overwhelmed, is calculated to excite wonder rather than admiration. Their system of transitions, with its multiplied inflections, appears to me to be the most defective part of the Algonkin-Lenape lan

guages. Their merit seems to consist in their innumerable analogical and most convenient derivatives;* in the happy manner by which, through the insertion of a single particle, not only tenses and our common moods, but almost every possible modification of the action, is specially expressed; in the flexibility of the several parts of speech, which has enabled the Indian to enrich his language with so many graphic compound words, and, almost at will, to create new words, perfectly intelligible to the hearer, for every new object or idea. Thus, for instance, the horse is called by the Chippeways, paibaizhikogazhi, and by the Delawares, nanayanges. Both are compound significative words; the literal meaning of the first being "the animal with united (solid) hoofs," of the second, "the animal that carries on its back."

The several Indian languages seem to differ considerably in their respective powers and methods of compounding words. Our information on that subject is as yet very imperfect for most of them. But the designation of the several modifications of which the action is susceptible, by particles prefixed, affixed, or inserted, either significative, arbitrary, or the meaning of which is lost, appears to be a feature common to all. An illustration of this principle is found in the formation of the tenses, of the passive voice, and of the negative form in various languages. It will be seen by the tables in the Appendix, that the number of tenses is not the same in all. All indeed have a present, a preterite, and a future; but we find in some a pluperfect, in others a double future, sometimes referring to the nearer or greater length of time which may elapse before the action takes place, sometimes implying respectively, as in the English will and shall, a voluntary act or an obligation. In some of the languages, that of Chili for instance, there are tenses, the nice shades of distinction between which may not be precisely understood by foreigners. A peculiarity common. to many is the use of the present for the preterite. In the Cherokee, a form derived from the participle has been resorted to, in order to designate with precision the present ("I tying meaning "I do now tie "). In the language of Chili, an insulated tense, unconnected with the regular general system, has been added for the same purpose.

*See, for instance, the derivatives of wulik, 'good,' in Du Ponceau's and Heckewelder's Correspondence, pp. 394, 395.

Referring to the Grammatical Notices and to the Tables for further details, we insert here only the most general modes of formation.

The preterite is formed in the Delaware by affixing the termination eep, neep, ep, or hump; in the Eskimau by affixing sok; in the Choctaw by affixing kamo or chamo, tuk or tok, each of which terminations designates a different modification; in the Onondago, by affixing ochre, ochqua, nha, &c., varying according to the termination of the verb; in the Sioux by affixing kong; in the language of Chili, by inserting vu.

The future is formed in the Delaware by affixing tsh, or ktsh; in the Eskimau, by affixing savok; in the Choctaw, by affixing chi, or he, according as the action is to take place immediately or at some remote time; in the Onondago, by prefixing n, or na, the first if the act is voluntary, the last if ordered; in the Sioux, by affixing ktay; in Chilian by inserting a.

The negative form is made in the Delaware, by affixing wi and prefixing generally the negative atta, or matta; in the Choctaw, by prefixing ik, or ok; in the Eskimau, by inserting ngil; in the Muskhogee, by affixing kost (?); in the Cherokee, by prefixing tlah; in the Chilian, by inserting la.

The passive voice is formed in the Delaware, by affixing xi, or gussi; in the Cherokee, by affixing gung; in the language of Chili, by inserting ge; in the Choctaw by inserting ull in the body of the verb and using the objective case of the pronoun (thou tiest,' ish tokch; thou art tied,' chit tull okch); in the Muskhogee, by affixing agy, and also using the objective case of the pronoun. In the Onondago, a distinct set of pronouns is substituted in the passive voice. Active wagerio, wascherio, waharrie, 'I, thou, he, beat,' passive; junkerio, jetserio, thuwarrie, 'I am, thou art, he is beaten.'

The collocation of those particles is in each language respectively very uniform, and may be understood by the following examples.

neg. pr. verb. pas. neg. plur. pret.

Delaware, Matta n'penda xi-wi-wun-ap; we were not heard.'

Chili,

verb. neg. pas. pret. pl. pron.

Elu-la-ge-vu-ygn; we were not given.'

The indicative and subjunctive moods alone have as yet been mentioned. Of the imperative, it may be sufficient here

to observe that its second person singular is, in many of the Indian languages, if not the root, at least one of the most simple forms of the verb. In others the present of the indicative, and sometimes the infinitive, are amongst the simplest forms. In the Choctaw, tokche, which is the root of the verb "to tie," is equally the third person singular of the present of the indicative, the second person singular of the imperative, and the infinitive. But if the third person of the present indicative appears in that and several other languages in a more simple form than the two first persons of the same tense, it is only owing to the common omission of the pronoun of that third person. The infinitive seems to be less used in the Indian languages than in those of Europe; but they are, in general, rich in participles, present, past, and future, active and passive, and susceptible of modifications which render their use extensively applicable and of great utility.

If we take the word "mood," in its most extensive sense, it will be found that their number far exceeds, in the Indian that in the European languages. By affixing, prefixing, or inserting an arbitrary particle, or rather an abbreviated noun, verb, adverb, preposition, or conjunction, the verb is made to designate the specific modification of the action. Whether that new form should be considered as a mood of the same verb, or as a derivative, is not very important. But it is a matter of regret, that our information on that most interesting view of the Indian languages, and generally respecting all that relates to derivative and compounded words, though sufficient to show the extent to which those several processes are carried, is too limited to enable us to exhibit the subject in a condensed and perspicuous form. The appended grammatical notices embrace the substance of what could be collected in that respect; and reference must be had for further details, particularly concerning the Algonkin-Lenape languages, to the works of the American philologist, from whose writings extracts have been made. A very incomplete and desultory enumeration may convey some idea of those multiplied forms.

Nouns have varied terminations indicative of resemblance, locality, analogy, fellowship; diminutive and derogative forms, and others implying beauty or increase; annexed inseparable prepositions, meaning, in, under, on, at, about, near, towards, through, &c. And substantives coalesce with adjectives so as to express in a single word almost every qualification of which any object is susceptible.