from a noun, and was incapable of translating the simplest sentence literally. Besides his ignorance, he was so great a liar that I never knew when to believe him. He sometimes told the Indians the reverse of what I said, and often told me the reverse of what they said.

XXIV.

Examination of the Elementary Structure of the Algonquin Language as it appears in the Chippewa Tongue. By HENRY R. SCHOOL

CRAFT.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE.

SAULT STE. MARIE, May 31, 1823.

SIR: In order to answer your inquiries, I have improved my leisure hours, during the part of the summer following our arrival here (6th July last), and the entire winter and spring, in examining the words and forms of expression of the Chippewa, or (as the Indians pronounce it) Odjibwa, tongue. I have found, as I anticipated, my most efficient aid, in this inquiry, in Mr. Johnston, and the several members of his intelligent family; my public interpreter being too unprecise and profoundly ignorant of the rules of grammar to be of much use in the investigation. Mr. Johnston, as you are aware, perhaps, came from the north of Ireland, where his connections are highly respectable, during the first term of General Washington's administration. He brought letters from high sources to the Governor-General of Canada; but having, while at Montreal, fallen in with Don Andrew Tod, a countryman, who had the monopoly of the fur trade of Louisiana, in a spirit of enterprise and adventure, he threw himself into that, at the time, fascinating pursuit, and visited Michilimackinac. Circumstances determined him to fix his residence at St. Mary's, where he has resided, making frequent visits to Montreal and Great Britain, about thirty years. His children have been carefully instructed in the English language and literature, and the whole family are familiar with the Indian. Without such proficient aid, I should have labored against serious impediments at every step; and, with them, I have found the inquiry, in a philological point of view, involved in many, and some of them insuperable difficulties. The results I communicate to you, rather as an

earnest of what may be hereafter done in this matter, than as completely fulfilling inquiries which it would require Horne Tooke himself, with the aid of the Bodleian library, to unravel. With respect, &c.,

HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT.

His Excellency Gov. LEWIS CASS.

EXAMINATION OF THE ODJIBWA.

1, 2. Simple Sounds.-The language is one of easy enunciation. It has sixteen simple consonental and five vowel sounds. Of these, two are labials, b and p; five dentals, d, t, s, z, j, and g soft; two nasals, m and n; and four gutturals, k, q, c, and g hard. There is a peculiar nasal combination in ng, and a peculiar terminal sound of g, which may be represented by gk. Of the mixed dipthongal and consonental sounds, those most difficult to English organs are the sounds in aiw and auw.

3. Letters not used. The language is wholly wanting in the sound of th. It drops the sound of v entirely, substituting b, in attempts to pronounce foreign words. The sound of 7 is sometimes heard in their necromantic chants; but, although it appears to have been known to the old Algonquin, it is supplied, in the Odjibwa of this day, exclusively by n. It also eschews the sounds of f, r, and x, leaving its simple consonental powers of utterance, as above denoted, at sixteen. In attempts to pronounce English words having the sound off, they substitute p, as in the case of v. The sound of r is either dropped, or takes the sound of au. Of the letter x they make no use; the nearest approach I have succeeded in getting from them is ek-is, showing that it is essentially a foreign sound to them. The aspirate h begins very few words, not exceeding five in fifteen hundred, but it is a very frequent sound in terminals, always following the slender or Latin sound of a, but never its broad sound in au, or its peculiarly English sound as heard in the a of may, pay, day. The terminal syllable of the tribal name (Odjibwa), offers a good evidence of this rule, this syllable being never sounded by the natives either wah or wau, but always wa. These rules of utterance appear to be constant and imperative, and the natives have evidently a nice ear to discriminate sounds.

Rule of Euphony.-In the construction of words, it is required that a consonant should precede or follow a vowel. In dissyllables wherein two consonants are sounded in juxtaposition, it happens from the joining of two syllables, the first of which ends and the last begins with a consonant, as muk-kuk, a box, and os-sin, a stone; the utterance in these cases being confluent. But in longer compounds this juxtaposition is generally avoided by throwing in a vowel for the sake of euphony, as in the term assinebuoin, the e in which is a mere connective, and has no meaning by itself. Nor is it allowable for vowels to follow each other in syllabication, except in the restricted instances where the being or exist ence of a thing or person is affirmed, as in the vowel-words i-e-e and i-e-a, the animate and inanimate forms of this declaration. In these cases, there is a distinct accent on each vowel.

4. Accent. The accent generally falls on full or broad vowels, and never on short vowels; such accented vowels are always significant, and if they are repeated in a compound word, the accents are also repeated, the only difference being that there are primary and secondary accents. Thus, in the long descriptive name for a horse, Pa-bá-zhik-ó-ga-zhé, which is compounded of a numeral term and two nouns, meaning, the animal with solid hoofs; there are three accents, the first of which is primary, while the others succeed each other with decreased intensity. By a table of words which I have constructed, and had carefully pronounced over by the natives, it is denoted that dissyllables are generally accented on the final syllable, trisyllables on the second, and words of four syllables on the second and fourth. But these indications may not be constant or universal, as it is perceived that the accents vary agreeably to the distribution of the full and significant Vowels.

5. Emphasis. Stress is laid on particular words in sentences to which the speaker designs to impart force, and the whole tone of the entire sentiment and passages is often adapted to convey particular impressions. This trait more frequently comes out in the private narrative of real or imaginary scenes, in which the narrator assumes the very voice and tone of the real or supposed actor. Generally, in their dealings and colloquial intercourse, there is a significant stress laid on the terms, meenungaika, certainly; kaigait, truly; kaugaigo, nothing at all; tiau, behold; wohow, who; auwanain,

were; and other familiar terms of inquiry, denial, or affirmation in daily use.

6. Conjugation.--The simplest form in which their verbs are heard, is in the third person singular of the indicative, as he speaks, he says, he loves, he dances, or in the first person present of the imperative. The want of a distinction between the pronouns he and she, is a defect which the language shares, I believe, with other very ancient and rude tongues. Conjugations are effected for persons, tenses, and number, very much as they are in other rude languages, particularly those of the transpositive class. The verb is often a single root, or syllable, as saug, love; but owing to the tendency of adding qualifying particles, their verbs are cluttered up with other meanings. The word saug is therefore never heard as an element by itself. In the first place, it takes before it the pronoun, and in the second place, the object of action; so that nesaugeau, I love him, or her, or a person, is one of the simplest of their colloquial phrases. And of this term, the e, being the fourth syllable, is mere verbiage, means nothing by itself, and is thrown in for euphony.

Tenses are formed by adding gee to the pronoun for the perfect, and gah for the future, and gahgee for the second future. These terms play the part, and supply the want of, auxiliary verbs. The imperative is made in gah, and the potential in dau where the second future is daugee. The subjunctive is made by prefixing the word kishpin, meaning if. The inflection nuh, asks a question, and as it can be put to all the forms of the conjugation, it establishes an interrogative mood. The particle see, negatives the verb, and thus all verbs can be conjugated positively and negatively.

To constitute the plural, the letter g is added to the conjugations; thus, nesaugeaug means, I love them. But this is an animate plural, and can only be added to words of the vital class. Besides, if the verb or noun to be made plural does not end in a vowel, but in a consonant, the g cannot be added without interposing a vowel. It results, therefore, that the vowel class of words have their plurals in äg, eeg, ig, og, or ug. But, if the class of words be non-vital and numerical, the plural is made in the letter n. But this letter cannot, as in the other form, be added, unless the word terminate in a vowel, when the regular

plurals are än, een, in, on, or un. This simple principle clears up one cause of perplexity in the conjugations, and denotes a philosophical method, which divides the whole vocabulary into two classes; while this provision supersedes, it answers the purpose of gender. There is, in fact, no gender required by the conjugations, it being sufficient to denote the vitality or non-vitality of the class. Nothing can be clearer. This is one of the leading traits of the grammar of the language, upon the observance of which the best speakers pride themselves.

It does not, however, result that, because there is no gender required in the conjugations, the idea of sexuality is unknown to the nomenclature. Quite the contrary. The tenses for male and female, in the chief orders of creation, are iaba and nozha. These words prefixed to the proper names of animals, produce expressions of precisely the same meaning, and also the same inelegance; as if we should say, male goose, female goose, male horse, and female horse, male man and female man. The term for man (inini) is masculine, and that for woman (equa) feminine in its construction. It is only in the conjugations that the principle of gender becomes lost in that of vitality.

7. Active and passive voices.-The distinction between these two classes of verbs is made by the inflection ego. By adding this form to the active verb, its action is reversed, and thrown back on the nominative. Thus, the verb to carry is nim bemön, I carry; nim bemün-ego, I am carried. Adowawa is the act of thumping, as a log by the waves on the shore. Adowawa-ego is a log that is thumped by the waves on shore. Nesaugeah, I love; Nesaugeigo, I am loved. In the latter phrase, the personal term au is dropped, and the long sound of e slips into , which converts the inflection into igo instead of ego.

8. Participles.-My impression is, that the Indians are in the habit of using participles, often to the exclusion of other proper forms of the verb. The vocabulary contains abundantly the indicative forms of the verb. To run, to rise, to see, to eat, to tie, to burn, to strike, to sing, to cry, to dance, are the common terms of parlance; but as soon as these terms come to be connected with the action of particular persons, this action appears to be spoken of as if existing-both the past and future tenses being thrown away; and the senses appear to be, I, you, he, or they; running, rising,