APPENDIX.

(No. I.)

GRAMMATICAL NOTICES.

ESKIMAUX.

[Extracted from the "Mithridates " and from Crantz.]

THE Eskimaux have a distinct word for every thing, or action, if it requires the least distinction. Thus they designate with a peculiar name animals of the same species, according to their age, sex, and form; and what we call, in general, "to fish," has a distinct name for every species of fish. (Query, whether it is not for every distinct mode of fishing.)

Their words are varied and declined with multiplied different modifications, and are attended with numerous affixa and suffixa; and they join many words together, so as to render the language concise and significant, but extremely difficult for a foreigner to acquire.

They want many of our letters, never use many consonants together at the beginning of a syllable, have a deep guttural r and some diphthongs difficult to pronounce. They often alter letters for the sake of euphony.

The substantives and verbs have three numbers, singular, dual, and plural, but no gender; the plural ends in t, and the dual in k. The genitive is expressed by the termination b, or m, the other cases by prepositions, of which there are only five, mik,with,' through'; mit, from'; mut, to'; me, ' in,' 'upon'; kut, or agut, through,' around'; and these are placed at the end of the nouns, changing them into n in duals, plurals, and pronouns. The nouns may be much varied by additional terminations, of a diminutive (rsoak), augmentative (nguoak), odious (piluk), or agreeable signification; and

two of those are sometimes united, as pilurksoak, both diminutive and derogative. (Crantz).

Others derived from verbs; mio, designates the place where you are; vik, or bik, locality; out or ut, the instrument of action; katak, a fellow companion; ursak, analogy, resemblance; susia, the abstract name of the quality. They have no inflection designating the gender. (Mith.)

In

Adjectives. There are no primitive adjectives; their place is supplied by verbal adjectives or participles. Thus from kernekpok, he is black,' is derived the preterite kernertok, used also as a participle and adjective, and meaning black. the same manner the comparative and superlative are expressed by pronominal inflections of the verb. Angivok, he is great'; angnerrovok, he is greater'; angnerriosarpok, he is the greatest.' The comparative is also expressed by the suffix mit.

When verbs govern the pronoun, the possessive affixes are used, preceded by the particles ma, am, au.

Verbs. Four conjugations (five according to Crantz), of which the third person singular present indicative is respectively terminated in rpok, kpok, pure (viz. preceded by a vowel); ok, pok, or vok; and au. The various tenses are derived by various inflections from that third person singular; the other persons as by the above table. And the termination proper of the tense is moreover occasionally inflected, according to the person. (Mith.)

Tenses.-There are properly but three tenses; the present, used also as an imperfect; the preterite, used also as a pluperfect and denoted by the insertion of s or t; the future, which is twofold, according as the action is to follow immediately, or to take place some time hence. (Crantz.)

Moods.-There are several varied terminations, or inflections, expressive of and distinguishing, not only the mood generally, but the modifications of that mood. The imperative and the

permissive have, each, distinct inflections, according as, in the one, the person orders or asks, and, in the other, prays or asks.

The subjunctive has a causative and a conditional form, and a third according as the action passes from the third person to the subject of the proposition, or to another third person or object. The infinitive by various inflections becomes a gerund either in the past, pluperfect, or future tenses. There is a future participle, but no participles proper, in the present or past tenses. (Mith.)

In the conjunctive the equivocal character of the third person is distinguished by variations of a single letter. Thus in the equivocal sentence, "He was angry when he washed," the sound he is varied so as to show whether he (A) was angry, when he (B) washed him (A), or himself (B), or him (C) another person.

The infinitive has a triple modification expressing "to wash," ermiklune; whilst he washes,' (participle present,) ermiksillune; 'before he washes,' ermiksinanne; each with varied inflections, according as the agent washes himself, me, thee, another, and in the singular, dual, and plural. (Crantz.)

Voices. There is no voice passive proper; but this is expressed by the insertion of the syllable si or ti before the passive person, adding the pronoun of the acting person.

A great number of derived verbs is formed by adding to the primitive verb certain terminations which pervade every mood and tense, and modify the sense of the primitive. Such as arau,' he is used to, &c.'; karpok, he begins to, &c.'; uarpok, he continues to'; saerpok, 'he ceases to, &c.'; narpok, he does nothing but to, &c.'; tarpok, he intends to'; jekpok, he was on the point to, &c.'

And there are also, instead of adverbs, particular terminations to express the ideas of, probably, in a different manner, better, ill, attentively, faithfully, hardly, rarely, as also, of wishing, expecting, doing for the first time, &c. (Mith.)

Their compound verbs enable the Eskimaux to express a number of ideas by a single word. Thus,

Aglegiartorasuarpok, he goes away hastily to write'; (asuar, hastily.')

Aglekkigiartorasuarniarpok; he goes away hastily and exerts himself to write.' (Crantz.)

Transitions. What is most extraordinary, is the prodigious

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number of forms expressing the accusative case of pronouns governed by the verb. All the European languages do likewise express that relation by inflections belonging to the conjugation of the verb and by the termination of the several persons of the pronoun. These accessary forms have produced not less than twenty-seven different inflections for each tense of the Greenlandish language, in order to express the action when it terminates in the third person; and there are as many for that terminating in either of the two other persons. Analogous inflections are found in every tense, and in each tense of every mood, as also in most of the various forms indicated in the preceding paragraph. (Mith.)

The paradigms of conjunctions are very difficult; as you must conjugate with the adjunction of the active pronouns (and of those in the oblique case), through the three numbers in both, and also through all the tenses and moods, of which the conjunctive alone is inflected in twelve different ways. So that we shall find each verb, whether in the affirmative or negative form, to contain one hundred and eighty inflections, necessary to be kept in the memory; a difficult task, though the inflections are regular. (Crantz.)

Negative form. This form is expressed by the termination ngilak and other changes according to the tense, and then is also liable to variations similar or analogous to those of the affirmative form. (Mith.)

Syntax. There are several rules, such as, that the nominative precedes the verb, unless there is in the sentence an oblique case, when the nominative is put at the end of the sentence; the adjective assumes the same termination as the substantive, &c.

The learned authors wonder "how such people can have performed such philological work, which can only have been the result of profound and abstract meditations." (Mith.)

Their proper numeral table is five; then counting on their fingers they call six by the name of the first finger and for the following, repeat two, three, four, five; and count from ten to twenty with their toes. Sometimes instead of twenty they say a man; for one hundred, five men. But the generality are not so learned, and the number, if above twenty, they call innumerable. (Crantz.)

ATHAPASCAS.

The following paper, which belongs to Mr. Du Ponceau's Collection, is the only specimen we have of the grammatical forms of the Chippewyan. The part which relates to verbs will be found inserted amongst the other conjugations.

Dinné, a person' (male or female). Dinné is sometimes used also in the plural, as dinné aiss i, 'I see or discover people.'

Dinné you, ' a man'; dinné you keh, 'two men.' is a contraction or corruption of the former. Dinné 'many men.'

Dinné keh you thlang,

The word keh is the name given to a person's foot or feet, a shoe or shoes, a track or tracks, either of people or animals, &c. It is also often used to express the numeral two, as follows: