ON THE NORTH-WESTERN TRIBES OF CANADA. 119
The stem Ait- is composed with suffixes denoting locality to form demonstrative
pronouns, which are very numerous :

hitapois, that one underneath on beach.
hitahs, that one in canoe,
hititl, that one in house. &c.

THE VERB.

INDICATIVE.

OO aren giles pices

| _— Present Imperfect Perfect

| ist person singular ha-whwvah ha-ukitah —— ha-uhu'tlah

Pend .,, is ha-ukoé'its | ha-ukitéits — ha-uketlé'its

Pora 55 3 ha-u'kma | — ha-wkitma

fist ,, plural ha-ukwi'ne | ha-uhiti' ne KC.

fond = (,, es ha-wkoée' itso ha-ukité'itso

Pord — ,, 4 ha-u' kmatl ha-ukitatl

— Saal ene eT 2 SS eee TT SSS ES Se SE —= Sense a

_ Plusquam Perfectum Future Futurum Exactum |

Ist person singular ha-ukutlitah ha-uka'k-tlah ha-uka'kvtlitah |

| 2nd ” ” |
3rd ”» Eb)
Ist 3 plural &e. &c. &e. |
2nd, 5
530 ae or

There are four principal tenses, from which the others are derived: Present,
Imperfect, Perfect, Future. The first is derived from the stem; the second has the
character -it; the third, -zt/; the fourth, atl.

In the plural forms the stem of the verb may be amplified by reduplication,
dizresis, or epenthesis, as the case may be.

Present.
1st person plural, hduknine and hdwakamine.
2na ,, »  ha-ukoélitsi ,, hdwakamé'itso.
31.46 eee »  ha-whmatl , hana'kamaatl and hand'kama.

Or, from ¢2’itl, sick :
1st person plural, ¢é’t¢line and tatéitli'ne.

Other plurals of verbs are:

not to know, hayi'mhe ; pl. ha'hayimhe.
to sleep, wa’-ite ; 5» WO’ tte.
awake, tlu'pha ; » tlo'yuphka.
to sneeze, t’pitscitl ; , totapitscitl.

When the stem of the verb ends with a vowel, m is inserted between stem and
ending. It may also be used after the character of the perfect -xt/.

not to see, ted'tné. we eat, hawakami'ne.
T do not see, tea’tnéimah. I have eaten, ha-uke'tlah and ha-uku'timah.

When the stem of the verb ends in p the latter is transformed into m when.
followed by a vowel, except in the case ef the perfect :

to know, ka'métap. I know, kamé@tamd‘h. I have known, kdmétaputla’h.

The perfect is used frequently where we should expect the present tense. The
imperfect is used in describing past events, The meaning of the other tenses needs
no explanation,