Distinction Between Eskimo and American—Eskimo Pronunciation and Declension—Dialects of the Koniagas and Aleuts—Language of the Thlinkeets—Hypothetical Affinities—The Tinneh Family and its Dialects—Eastern, Western, Central, and Southern Divisions—Chepewyan Declension—Oratorical Display in the Speech of the Kutchins—Dialects of the Atnahs and Ugalenzes Compared—Specimen of the Koltshane Tongue—Tacully Gutturals—Hoopah Vocabulary—Apache Dialects—Lipan Lord's Prayer—Navajo Words—Comparative Vocabulary of the Tinneh Family.
The national and tribal distinctions given in the first volume of this work will, for the most part, serve as divisions for languages and dialects; I shall not therefore repeat here the names and boundaries before mentioned, except so far as may be necessary in speaking of languages alone. As a rule those physical and social distinctions which indicate severalness among peoples, are followed, if indeed they are not governed by the severalness of dialects, that is, the diversities of language operate as powerfully as the aspects of nature or any other causes, in separating mankind into tribes and nations; hence it is that in the different divisions of humanity are found different dialects, and between dialects physical and geographical divisions.[II'-1]
LANGUAGES ON THE ARCTIC SEABOARD.
As I have said in another place the Eskimos are the anomalous race of the New World; and this is noless true in their language than in their physical characteristics. Obviously they are a polar people rather than an American or an Asiatic people.[II'-2]They cling to the seaboard; and while the distinction between them and the inland American is clearly drawn, as we descend the strait and sea of Bering, cross the Alaskan peninsula and follow the shores of the Pacific eastward and southward, gradually the Arctic dialect merges into that of the American proper. In our Hyperborean group, whose southern bound is the fifty-fifth parallel, the northern seaboard part is occupied wholly by Eskimos, the southern by a people called by some Eskimos and by others Koniagas, while further on the graduation is so complete and the transition from one to the other so imperceptible that it is often difficult to determine which are Indians and which Eskimos. In treating of their manners and customs, I separated the littoral Alaskans into two divisions, calling them Eskimos and Koniagas, but in their languages and dialects I shall speak of them as one. No philologist familiar with the whole territory has attempted to classify these Hyperborean tongues; different writers refer the languages of all to such particular parts as they happen to be familiar with. Thus the Russian priest Veniaminoff divides the Eskimo language into six dialects, all belonging to the Koniagas, on theKadiak Islands and the adjacent territory. The fact is Veniaminoff dwelt in southern Alaska and in the Aleutian Isles, and knew nothing of the great inland nations to the north and west. To the people of Kadiak he gives two dialects, a northern and a southern, and carries the same language over to the main land adjacent.[II'-3]The Russian explorer Sagoskin, to the Chnagmute dialect of Veniaminoff, unites the Kwichpagmute and Kuskoquigmute under the collective name of Kangjulit, of which with the Kadiak he makes a comparative vocabulary establishing their identity.[II'-4]In like manner Baer classifies these northern languages, but confines himself almost exclusively to the coast above Kadiak Island.[II'-5]
Kotzebue says that a dialect of this same language is spoken by the natives of St Lawrence Island.[II'-6]Yet if we may believe Mr Seemann, all these dialects are essentially different. The Eskimo language, he writes, "is divided into many dialects, which often vary so much that those who speak one are unable to understand the others. The natives of Kotzebue Sound for instance have to use an interpreter in conversing with their countrymen in Norton Sound; towards Point Barrow another dialect prevails, which however is not sufficiently distinct to be unintelligible to the Kotzebue people."[II'-7]
EXAMPLES OF THE ESKIMO GRAMMAR.
According to Vater and Richardson the Eskimo language as spoken east of the Mackenzie River appears to have a softer sound, as for instance, for the western endingtchthe eastern tribes mostly usesand sometimesh. The German soundch, guttural, is frequently heard among the western people. Nouns have six cases, the changes of which are expressed by affixed syllables.
These are in the singularmut,mik,mit,me, andkut, and in the pluralnut,nik,nit,ne, andgut.Ga,go,ne,ait,anga,ara, etc., affixed to the nominative, denote a possessive case. As:—kivgah, a servant;kivganga, my servant;kivgane, his servant; etc.Arsuandarsuitare diminutive endings andsoak,sudset, andsudsekaugmentatives. Adjectives are also declinable. Nouns can be transposed into verbs by affixingevokandovok, and the adjective is altered in the same manner.
The third person singular of the indicative is taken as the root of the verb, and by changing its termination it may be used as a noun. The infinitive is formed by the postpositionnek. The verb has numerous inflections.
'To be' or 'to have,' both possessing a similar signification, are expressed bygiorvi—asnunagiva, it is his land.
Richardson gives the following declension of a noun, transitively and intransitively (?):
TUPEK, A TENT.
Some claim that the languages of Kadiak and the Aleutian Islands are cognate, others deny any relationship. Stephen Glottoff, one of the first to visit Kadiak Island, states positively that the inhabitants of Unalaska and particularly a boy from the western Aleutian Isles could not understand the people of Kadiak.[II'-9]Captain Cook thought there existed a phonetic similarity betweenthe speech of the Unalaskas and the people of Norton Sound, which opinion appears to be correct.[II'-10]So disarranged have the aboriginal tongues in this vicinity become since the advent of the Russians that little dependence can be placed on latter-day investigations. Dall admits the speech of the two peoples to be dissimilar yet their language he believes to be one.[II'-11]Vater, more cautious, thinks that there is perhaps some Eskimo influence noticeable among the Koniagas.[II'-12]Baer gives Admiral von Wrangell's opinion, which also inclines towards such a connection, but he himself expresses the opposite belief, citing in support of this that the physical appearance of the Koniagas differs entirely from that of the Eskimo race.[II'-13]Buschmann gives, as the result of careful investigations and comparisons, the opinion that the language of Unalaska is distinct from that of Kadiak, and supports it by the statements of travelers, as for instance that of the mate Saikoff, given in theNeue Nordische Beiträge, tom. iii., p. 284,who says that the two are totally different.
ATKHA AND UNALASKA DIALECTS.
Throughout the whole Aleutian Archipelago there are but two dialects, one of which is spoken on the peninsula, on Unalaska, and a few islands contiguous, while the other—by Veniaminoff called the Atkha dialect—extends thence over all the other Aleutian Isles. In neither dialect is there any distinction of gender; but to make up for this deficiency, besides the plural, a dual is used. Substantives have three cases:—adakch, the father;adamoradaganilyak, of the father;adaman, to the father;adakikoradakin, both fathers;adan, the fathers;adanik, to the fathers. Verbs are conjugated by means of terminals. They are divided into three classes, active, medium, and passive. Negation is expressed by the syllableoljukadded to the root of the verb; sometimes also byljaka,ljaga, organa.Sjukong, I take;sjunakching, I took;sjuljakakching, I take not;sjunag´oljuting, I took not;sjuda, take;sjuljagada, orsjuganachtchin, take not.
The eastern Aleuts enunciate very rapidly, without dividing their words distinctly, making it very difficult for a stranger to understand them. In Unalaska their speech is more drawling, while on Atkha Island the natives pronounce each word very distinctly. The western Aleuts and the people on Umnak also speak rather slowly—drawling.[II'-14]Dall states that the chief difference between the Atkha and Unalaska dialects consists in the formation of the plural of nouns. The former for this purpose employ the terminal letterss,sh, orng. For diminutives the Atkhas use the endingkutshakand the Unalaskasdak.[II'-15]
On the next page I insert a vocabulary of Eskimo, Kuskoquigmute, Malemute, Aleut, and Kadiak tongues.
COMPARATIVE VOCABULARY.
Turn now to the Thlinkeets, who extend along the coast southward from Mount St Elias, as Holmberg says, to the Columbia River;[II'-16]Chlebikoff, to the forty-first parallel; Vater, to Queen Charlotte Island;[II'-17]and Veniaminoff, to the Stikeen River; the latter affirming, at the same time, that there is but one dialect spoken among them all.[II'-18]The nations mentioned by Captain Bryant as speaking this language are the Chilkats, Sitkas, Hoodsinoos, Auks, Kakas, Elikinoos, Stikeens, and Tungass.[II'-19]
HARSHNESS OF THE THLINKEET TONGUE.
From all accounts the Thlinkeets possess the mostbarbarous speech found anywhere in the Pacific States. Whether this arises from the huge block of wood with which the Thlinkeet matrons grace their under lip, which drives the sound from the throat through the teeth and nose before it reaches the ear of the listener, I do not pretend to say; but that it is hard, guttural, clucking, hissing, in short everything but labial, there is no doubt. All who have visited them, whether German, English, French, or Spanish, agree in this particular. Marchand describes it as excessively rude and wild. Most of their articulations are accompanied by a strong nasal aspiration, with strenuous efforts of the throat; particularly in producing the sound of a doubler, which is heavy and hard. Many of their words commence with a strongly gutturalksound and this same sound is frequently heard three times in one word. Dr Roblet who accompanied Marchand, says that, notwithstanding all this, the language is very complete, possessing a multitude of words, the natives being at no loss to give a name to everything.[II'-21]La Pérouse, who makes a similar report, gives as an example of its harshness the wordkhlrleies, hair.[II'-22]In Veniaminoff's vocabulary are found such words asthlklunúk, healthy, andkatlhth, ashes, literally unpronounceable. The frequently occurring soundtlhas led several authors to suppose a relationship with the Aztec tongue; as for example Vater, who made a small comparative table which I insert to show directly the contrary to what he wished to prove.
Setting aside thetetl,te, stone, of which I have made previous mention, had the words been selected to prove a want of affinity between the two languages they could not have been more to the point. Buschmann asserts, moreover, that several of the Mexican words are mis-quoted.[II'-23]
A few instances have been discovered by the same writer, where the Thlinkeet tongue appears to be verging towards the Tinneh. Among others he mentions the Thlinkeet wordste, stone,zyyn, muskrat, comparing the latter with the Dogribtzin; the Thlinkeetachschat, woman, wife, with the Umpquasch'at; the Thlinkeettjé,teik, road, with the Tacullytee.[II'-25]La Pérouse pretends that they do not use and can hardly pronounce the lettersb,f,j,d,p, andv. Most words commence withk,t,n,s, orm, the first named being the most frequently used; no word commences with anr.[II'-26]Veniaminoff again says that it would take thirty-eight letters or combinations to write the distinct sounds which are expressed in the Thlinkeet language. The personal pronouns arekhat, orkhatsh, I;bae,be, orbelch, thou;borbch, he;banorbantch, we;ibanoribantch, you;asorastchoryoutasoryouastch, they. The verb 'to do' is conjugated as follows:
Vater has a Lord's prayer communicated by Baranoff, director of the late Russian possessions in America. It reads as follows:
THLINKEET LORD'S PRAYER.
Ais(Father)waan,(our,)wet(who)wwetu(art)tikeu;(in the clouds;)ikukastii(honored be)itssagi(name)bae;(thine;)faa(let)atkwakut(come)ikustigi(kingdom)ibee;(thine,)atkwakut(be done)attüitugati(will)bee(thine)ikachtekin(as we)linkitani(in heaven)zu tlekw.(and on earth.)Katuachawat(Food)uáan(our)zuikwülkinichat(needful)akech(give)uáan(us)itat;(to-day;)tamil(absolve)uáan(us)tschaniktschak(debts)aagi zu(ours as also)uáan(we)akut(give)tugati(debtors)ajat;(ours;)ilil(not lead)uan(us)zulkikagatii(into temptation)táat(but)anachut(deliver)uan(us)akalléelchwetach.(from the evil Spirit.)Tü.(So.[II'-28])
Next come the Tinneh, a people whose diffusion is only equaled by that of the Aryan or Semitic nations of the old world. The dialects of the Tinneh language are by no means confined within the limits of the Hyperborean division. Stretching from the northern interior of Alaska down into Sonora and Chihuahua, we have here a linguistic line of more than four thousand miles in length extending diagonally over forty-two degrees of latitude; like a great tree whose trunk is the Rocky Mountain range, whose roots encompass the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, and whose branches touch the borders of Hudson Bay[II'-29]and of the Arcticand Pacific oceans.[II'-30]In the north, immense compact areas are covered by these dialects; towards the south the line holds its course steadily in one direction, while at the same time on either side are isolated spots, broken fragments as it were, of the Tinneh tongue, at wide distances in some cases from the central line. A reference to the classification given at the end of the preceding chapter, will show the separation of the Tinneh family into four divisions—the eastern, western, central and southern. The eastern division embraces the dialects spoken between Hudson Bay and the Mackenzie River; the western, those of the Kutchins and Kenai of interior Alaska and the Pacific Coast in the vicinity of Mount St Elias and Copper River; the central, those of the Tacullies of New Caledonia, the Umpquas of Oregon, and the Hoopahs of California; the southern, those of the Apaches of New Mexico, Arizona, and Northern Mexico.
Near the sources of a branch of the Saskatchewan River are the Sursees, who have been frequently classed with the Blackfeet, but Mackenzie had before this stated that they speak a dialect of the Tinneh.[II'-31]Umfreville who visited these people, compares their language to the cackling of hens, and says that it is very difficult for their neighbors to learn it.[II'-32]
Glance first at the dialects round Hudson Bay, andthence towards the west. The northern dialects are exceedingly difficult to pronounce, being composed largely of gutturals. Richardson compares some of the sounds to the Hottentot cluck, and Isbister calls them "harsh and guttural, difficult of enunciation and unpleasant to the ear."[II'-33]They differ mainly in accentuation and pronunciation, and it therefore does not require that philological research which is necessary with the farther outlying branches of the family to establish their connection. Richardson says that the Hare and Dog-rib dialects differ scarcely at all even in their accents; and again that the Sheep dialect is well understood by the Hare Indians. Latham affirms that the "Beaver Indian is transitional to the Slavé and Chepewyan proper." Of the Coppermine people, Franklin writes that their language is "essentially the same with those of the Chipewyans." Ross Cox says that the language of the Slowacuss and Nascud "bears a close affinity to that spoken by the Chepewyans and Beaver Indians."[II'-34]
DIALECTS OF THE TINNEH FAMILY.
From a paper in the collection of M. Du Ponceau, cited by Mr Gallatin, there appears to be in the grammar of these northern dialects a dual as well as a plural. Thusdinné, a person;dinné you, a man;dinné you keh, two men;dinné you thlang, many men. Again we havesick keh, my foot;sick keh keh, my feet. The Chepewyan declension is as follows:
My two hats,sit sackhallé keh; thy two hats,nit sackhallé keh; his two hats,bit sackhaleé keh, ornoneh bid tsakhalle keh; their two hats,hoot sackhallé keh; two pieces of wood,teitchin keh; much, or many pieces of wood,teitchin thlang; my son,see azé; my two sons,see azé keh; thy two sons,nee azé keh; his two sons,bee azé keh; their two sons,hoo bee azé keh; my children,see azé keh thlang, orsiskainé. Thus we see that the dual ending iskeh(which also means foot), and that of the plural,thlang. Possessive pronouns are: first person,si,sitornee; second person,nitornee; third person, his or their,bit,bee,noot, orhoo.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB I SPEAK, YAWS'THEE.
At the end of this chapter may be found a comparative vocabulary, comprising words selected from these and other dialects, belonging to this family.
THE KUTCHIN DIALECTS OF THE YUKON.
Crossing over to the country drained by the Yukon, we find the great Kutchin nation and to their north-east the Kenai. The Kutchins, according to Jones, are "divided into about twenty-two different tribes, each speaking a dialect of the same language." Hardisty affirms that "the Loucheux proper is spoken by the Indians of Peels River, thence traversing the mountains, westward down Rat River, the Tuk-kuth, and Van-tah-koo-chin, which extend to the Tran-jik-koo-chin, Na-tsik-koo-chin, and Koo-cha-koo-chin of the Youcon."[II'-36]The connection of the Kutchin language with the Tinneh has been, by early travelers, denied, and this denial re-echoed by writers following them;[II'-37]but later philological investigations have established the relationship beyond aquestion. Furthermore, to corroborate this fact there are persons, well acquainted with these people and their language, having lived in their country and traded with them for years, who are positive that the Kutchin is a dialect of the Tinneh. Some of them even affirm that the eastern Kutchin dialect bears a closer relationship to that of their neighbors, the Hares and Slavés, than do some of the dialects of the western Kutchins to each other, yet it is certain that all the Kutchin tribes of the Yukon and its tributaries understand one another, accentuation being the principal distinction between them.
A greater divergence from the stock language is observable in the dialect of the Tutchone Kutchin, which, with those of the Han Kutchin, the Slavé of Francis Lake and Fort Halkett, the Sicannis, the Abbato-tinneh of the Pelly and Macmillan Rivers, and the Nehanne of forts Liard and Simpson, might almost be called a dialectic division of the Tinneh language.[II'-38]
Richardson, following Murray, cautiously traces these relationships in the following words: "More resemblances, he thinks, might be traced through the Mountain Indian speech (Naha-'tdinnè or Dtchè-ta-ut'tinnè) than directly between the Kutchin and Dog-rib tongues. The Han-Kutchi of the sources of the Yukon, speak a dialect of the Kutcha-Kutchi language, yet they understand and are readily understood by the Indians of Frances Lake and the banks of the Pelly. Now these converse freely with the Naha- or Dtché-ta-ut'tinnè, and other Rocky Mountain tribes, whose language resembles the Dog-rib tongue, and who are, in fact, acknowledged members of the Chepewyan nation. Again, the Frances Lake Indians understand the Netsilley, or Wild Nation, who trade at Fort Halkett, on the River of the Mountains; these again are understood by the Sikanis; and the Sikanis by the Beaver Indians, whose dialect varies little from that of the Athabascans, the longest-known member of the 'Tinnè nation."[II'-39]
The Kutchins pride themselves on their oratorical powers, making long, windy, and allegorical speeches remarkable alike for native wit and eloquence. In public speaking their delivery is unique and effective; commencing in a low monotonous tone the voice slowly rises to a crescendo, then increases to a forte, and finally rolls forth in grand fortissimo, at which point, accompanied by striking gestures, it continues until sheer exhaustion compels the orator to pause for breath. The speech closes with a "most infernal screech," as Hardisty calls it, which is supposed to be a clincher to the most abstruse argument.
It was among these people, in the vicinity of the junction of the Tananah with the Yukon River that the before-mentioned broken Slavé jargon originated. Before the arrival of foreigners, the necessity of a trade, or intertribal, language was felt and met, the dialect spoken on the Liard River forming the basis. With the arrival of Russians, French, and English successively, each one of these nationalities contributed of its words to form the general jargon. Dall says that it is in use among all western Eskimos who have intercourse with the Tinneh. The European element in their jargon is very slight, much less than in the Chinook jargon, from the fact that but few Europeans have ever come in contact with the inland tribes of Alaska even in an indirect way.
Following the Tinneh tongue southward from Central Alaska, we strike the Pacific seaboard at Cook's Inlet and Prince William Sound, where we find the Kenai, with six or more dialects, stretching along the shores of the Ocean as far as Copper River. The word Kenai, or as they are sometimes called the Thnaina,[II'-40]meaning men, in signification and sound is almost identical with the word Tinneh, Dinneh, Tinné, Dinay, Tinna, with many other variations applied to this family.[II'-41]Accordingto Sagoskin the Ingaliks, Unakatanas, and others of the Yukon and Nulato rivers call themselves Ttynaichotana.[II'-42]Veniaminoff, a high authority on matters coming under his immediate observation, draws erroneous conclusions from his comparisons of Kenai dialects. The Kenai language, he says, is divided into four dialects; the Kenai proper, the Atnah spoken by the Koltshanes and the people of Copper River, the Kuskoquim, and the Kwichpak.[II'-43]Baron von Wrangell is of the opinion that the Kenai are of Thlinkeet stock, affirming that although their idiom is different yet it comes from the same root;[II'-44]but Dall believes that it might be "more properly grouped with the Tinneh."[II'-45]The dialect of the Ugalenzes, Buschmann confidently asserts, belongs to the Tinneh family, although its connection with the Kenai is not strongly marked, while slight traces of the Thlinkeet tongue are found in it, but not the least shadow of the Aztec as Vater imagined.[II'-46]Long words are of frequent occurrence in the speech of the Ugalenzes; as for example,chakljtschejalsga, work;tekssekonachalek, enemy;kakujasliatenna, to divide;aukatschetohatle, to take away.
KENAI LINGUISTIC AFFILIATIONS.
The Atnah dialect has also been classed with the Thlinkeet by Baer, who inserts a small comparative vocabulary to show the similarity, but in it few similar words are found, while between the Atnah and theUgalenze the connection is quite prominent, as for instance;
In like manner the Kenai dialect has been classed with the Thlinkeet;[II'-48]but here the preponderance of evidence is with the Tinneh. Buschmann claims it as his discovery that the Kenai belong to the Tinneh family.[II'-49]The Kenai dialect is very difficult to pronounce, so much so that even the neighboring people with their harsh, nasal, and guttural idioms, find great trouble in enunciating it clearly. Some of the combinations of consonants are really very curious,[II'-50]—aljtnjan, earth;kyssynj, woman;mljchny, to drink;keljkatj, to eat;ktaaltatlni, to shoot;kydykntjassnissj, I hear;tschatscheeintschichku, do not be afraid;kazikatejityssny, I know not.
Baer makes the Ingalik cognate with Kenai, Atnah, and Thlinkeet;[II'-51]an affinity is also detected between the Inkalit and the Kenai, Atnah, and Unalaska dialects;[II'-52]while Sagoskin numbers both the Ingalik and the Inkalit among the members of the Tinneh family.[II'-53]Like those of their neighbors these two dialects are harsh and difficult of pronunciation, as for instance in the Inkalit,tschugljkchuja, a fox.
From the earliest times it has been known that the Koltshanes could converse freely with the Atnahs and Kenai, and the relationship existing between these dialects has long been recognized.[II'-54]As a specimen of the Koltshane tongue, I present the following:tschiljkaje, eagle;nynkakit, earth;ssyljtschitan, cold;sstscheljssilj, warm;tschilje, man.
CENTRAL TINNEH DIVISION.
To the Tacullies of our central Tinneh division, whose language Hale separates into eleven dialects, Latham adds the Sicannis, and other writers the Umpquas and the Hoopahs.[II'-55]The northern dialects of this division are represented as composed of words harsh and difficult to pronounce, while the southern dialects are softer and more sonorous, yet robust and emphatic. Mr Hale felt the necessity of adopting a peculiar style of orthography to represent the sounds of these words. The Greekchihe employed to reproduce the Tacully gutturals, which he says are somewhat deeper than the Spanishjota, probably nearly akin to the Germanchinacht und achtzig. Witht chi lhe aims to convey a sound which "isa combination uttered by forcing out the breath at the side of the mouth between the tongue and the palate."[II'-56]In the following words instead of the Greekchi, I writekh, and fort chi l,sch.Schling, dog;schluk, fish;sutschon, good;kwun, fire;kukh, house;schhell, mountain;tse, stone;kuschkai, run.
Hale is the only author who gives any information of the two tribes Tlatskanai and Kwalhioqua. The Kwalhioquas dwell on the north bank of the Columbia, near its mouth; but between them and the river there runs a wedge of Chinook territory. The former are to be found south of the river, on a narrow strip extending north and south. Being nearly related to the Tacully, these languages also belong to the Tinneh family. The only vocabulary obtainable is given by Mr Hale. Round the headwaters of the river Umpqua live the people of that name, speaking a language related to the two last mentioned, but which, if we may believe Mr Hale, is "much softer than the others."
VOCABULARY OF HOOPAH DIALECTS.
Scouler, who has made a curious classification of the languages of north-western America, places the Umpqua in the same family with the Calapooya and Yamkally under the general name of Cathlascon.[II'-57]The southernmost dialect of this division is that of the Hoopahs, on Trinity River. Upon the authority of Mr Powers, "the Hoopa language is worthy of the people who speak it—copious in its vocabulary; robust, sonorous, and strong in utterance; of a martial simplicity and rudeness in construction." Again he writes, "as the Hoopas remind one of the Romans among savages, so is their language something akin to the Latin in its phonetic characteristics: the idiom of camps—rude, strong, laconic. Let a grave and decorous Indian speak it deliberately, and every word comes out like the thud of a battering-ram against a wall. For instance let the reader take the words for 'devil' and 'death'—keetoanchwaandcheechwit—and note the robust strength with which they can beuttered. What a grand roll of drums there is in that long, strong word,conchwilchwil." Mr Powers gives the following declension: I,hwe; father,hoota; my father,hwehoota; you,nine; your father,nineta; mother,necho; death,cheechwit; your mother's death,nincho cheechwit.[II'-58]
On the western slope of Mount Shasta, there is the Wi-Lackee language, which bears a close likeness to the Hoopah; on Mad River is the Lassic and on Eel River the Siah, both probably Hoopah dialects, and on Smith River in Del Norte County, the Haynaggi, Tolewah and Tahahteen, also presumably Hoopah and Wi-Lackee dialects. The following comparative table of the numerals in the Tolewah, Hoopah, and Wi-Lackee dialects, will serve to illustrate their relationship.
SPEECH OF THE APACHE TRIBES.
In the southern and last division of the Tinneh family are found the great Apache and Navajo nations, with their many dialects. The Apaches may be said to inhabit or rather to roam over the country, commencing at the Colorado desert and extending east to the Rio Pecos, or from about 103° to 114° west long., and from Utah Territory into the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Texas, or from about 38° to 30° north lat. Hardly two authors agree in stating the number and names of the different tribes belonging to this nation.[II'-59]The names by which they are knownamong themselves are, according to Orozco y Berra:Vinni ettinen-ne,Segatajen-ne,Tjuiccujen-ne,Iccujen-ne,Yutajen-ne,Sejen-ne,Cuelcajen-ne,Lipajen-ne, for which the Mexicans have substituted, such words as Apaches, Tontos, Chiricaguis, Gileños, Mimbreños, Faraones, Mescaleros, Llaneros, Lipanes, and Navajos.[II'-60]The nations that make up this great people are the Chiricaguis in north-eastern Sonora; Coyoteros in the Gila country; Faraones, west of New Mexico in the Sierras del Diablo, Chanate, and Pilares; Gileños at the eastern base of the Sierra de los Mimbres south of the Rio Gila; the people of the copper mines on both banks of the Rio Grande, ranging west to the Coyoteros and Pinaleños, and also into Chihuahua and Sonora, and at Lake Guzman west of Paso del Norte; the Lipanes, or Ipandes, in Texas;the Llaneros, north-east of Santa Fé, and northerly of the Rio Rojo de Natchitoches or Rio Pecos; Mescaleros, in the Sierras del Diablo, Chanate, Pilares, and on both banks of the Rio Tuerco, above its confluence with the Rio Grande; the Natages, or Natajes, in Texas near the Lipanes; the Pelones, in Coahuila; the Pinaleños, in the Sierras del Pinal and Blanca; the Tejuas, east of the Rio Grande, in the Gila country; the Tontos, in north-eastern Sonora, in the north-east near the Seris in the Pimeria Alta, and south of the Maricopas and the Rio Gila; the Vaqueros in the eastern part of New Mexico; the Mimbreños, in the Sierra de los Mimbres, west of Paso del Norte, and in the south-western end of New Mexico, on the northern boundary of Chihuahua.[II'-61]The Xicarillas, whose dialect forms the principal connecting link between the Apache language and the Tinneh family, live on the Rio de los Osos, west of the Rio Grande; also in the Moro Mountains and along the Cimarron.[II'-62]All the Apache tribes speak dialects but slightly varying from one another, and all can converse easily together. Different accentuations and some peculiar vocal appellations are, for the most part, all that constitute severalness in these dialects. Don José Cortéz states that "the utterance of the language is very violent, but it is not so difficult to speak as the first impressionof it would lead one to suppose; for the ear, becoming accustomed to the sound, discovers a cadence in the words." "It has great poverty, both of expression and words." It appears as well that the harsh gutturals so constantly heard among the northern members of the Tinneh family, frequently occur in the Apache dialects.[II'-63]Bartlett writes, "it sounds like a combination of Polish, Chinese, Choctaw, and Dutch. Grunts and gutturals abound, and there is a strong resemblance to the Hottentot click. Now blend these together, and as you utter the word, swallow it, and the sound will be a fair specimen of an Apache word."[II'-64]Apache affiliations have been surmised by different writers, with nearly all their neighbors, and even with more distant nations. Arricivita hints at a possible relationship with the Otomí, because an Otomí muleteer told him that he could converse with the Apaches.[II'-65]The Shoshone and Comanche dialects have also been referred to the Tinneh trunk, but in reality they belong to the Sonora vernacular, a discovery first made by Turner, and proved by Buschmann.
APACHE GRAMMAR.
Col. Cremony, who was interpreter for the United States Mexican boundary commission, and hence conversant with the Apache language, gives some valuable grammatical notes. "Their verbs," he says "express the past, present and future with much regularity, and have the infinitive, indicative, subjunctive and imperative moods, together with the first, second and third persons, and the singular, dual and plural numbers. Many ofthem are very irregular, and depend upon auxiliaries which are few. In all that relates to special individuality the language is exacting; thus,sheemeans I, or me; butshee-dahmeans I myself, or me myself;deemeans thee or thou; butdee-dahmeans you yourself especially and personally, without reference to any other being. When an Apache is relating his own personal adventures he never sayssheefor I, because that word, in some sense, includes all who were present and took any part in the affair but he uses the wordshee-dah, to show that the act was wholly his own. The pronouns are:shee—I;shee-dah—I myself;dee—thee or thou;dee-dah, thee thyself;aghan—it, he, her, or they. The wordto-dahmeans no, and all their affirmatives are negatived by dividing this word so as to place the first syllable in front and the second in the rear of the verb to be negatived. For example,ink-tahmeans, sit down, but to say, donotsit down, we must express itto-ink-tah-dah;nuest-chee-shee, come here;to-nuest-chee-shee-dah, donotcome here;anah-zont-tee, begone;to-anah-zont-tee-dah, donotbegone."[II'-66]
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE, AH GHONTAY.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO DO, AH GOSH LAH.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO EAT, ISH SHAN.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO SLEEP, IL HOOSH.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO LOVE, IN KAY GO ISHT LEE.
The following sentences will serve as specimens to show the construction of this language.
Whence come you?hash-ee-ohn-dahl?
I come from afar,an-dah-she-oh-thal.
I am a friend,tah-in-joon-ay-ish-lee.
What do you want?ee-ya-althe-ee 'n?
There are wood, water, and grass,tooh-tlo-chee-gon-lee.
Go and watch the enemy,niñ-dah-bin-naht-hah-aden-he.
Take notice of them,gon-joon-ay-go-hah-den-ee.
Of what nation are they?yah-indah-aht-ee?
Where is their camp?hah-ay-vee-goat-hah?
Note well their position,gon-joon-ay-go-nel-he-hayago-ah-tay-na-lee.
They are near by,goh-pee-ach-han-nay-she-go.
I do not believe it,too-vah-osht-lah-dah.
Show me the road,in-tin-dee-she-chee-toh-golt-chee.
Mine,shee.
It is mine,es-shee.
Thine,dee.
It is his or hers,ah-koon-pee.