The languages of the Salish Family, particularly that of the Chehalis, are rich in words, by means of whicheverything coming within their knowledge may find expression; they are not easily acquired by strangers; it is difficult for the different nations and tribes to make themselves understood to one another. This is owing principally to the many localisms in vogue among them, of which there is a good specimen in the Chehalis language. Thus,tolneuchmeans west-wind, off shore, toward the sea, or to the west. Now, if the Chehalis are leaving the shore in a canoe, and one of them wants to tell his mate to put her head off shore, he will saytolneuch, but if in a hurry,neuch neuch.Claathlumsignifies east-wind, also ashore; this they transpose intoclath clath.[III'-31]The Clallum and Lummi languages have another peculiarity, which is a certain nasal sound at the commencement and ending of words like a strong nasalns; also a broadasound as in far, path. The sounds of the lettersv,r,z, are wanting.[III'-32]The frequently occurring endingtlhas also led to speculation, and to a search for Aztec affinities among these languages, but nothing except this phonetic similarity has been discovered. Thistlending is very common. Swan says that, "sometimes they will, as if for amusement, end all their words withtl; and the effect is ludicrous to hear three or four talking at the same time, with this singular sound, like so many sitting hens.'[III'-33]East of the Salish, the Kitunaha, Kootenai, or Coutanie language is spoken. Authorities differ widely in describing this language. Parker calls it "open and sonorous, and free from gutturals, which are common in the language of the surrounding tribes;" while Capt. Palliser affirms that it is "most guttural and unpronounceable by a European, every word appearing to be brought from their lowestextremities with difficulty."[III'-34]The following Lord's Prayer, taken by a Frenchman will give a better idea of the language than any description:
Katitoe(Our father,)naitle(who art)naite,(in heaven,)akiklenais(may thy)zedabitskinne(name be great)wilkane.(and honored.)Ninshalinne(Be thou)oshemake(the master)kapaik(of all)akaitlainam.(hearts.)Inshazetluité(May thy will)younoamake(be done on earth)yekakaekinaitte.(as it is in heaven.)Komnakaike(Grant us)logenie(this day)niggenawaishne(all our wants.)naiosaem miaitéke.()Kekepaime(Forgive us)nekoetjekoetleaitle(all the evil we have)ixzeai,(done,)iyakaikakaaike(as we forgive)iyazeaikinawash(all the evil)kokakipaimenaitle.(done unto us.)Amatikezawes(Strengthen us)itchkestshimmekakkowêlle(against all evil,)akatakzen.(and deliver us from it.)Shaeykiakakaaike.(May it be so.[III'-35])
SAHAPTIN LANGUAGES.
The languages of the Sahaptin family are spoken along the Lewis and Snake Rivers and their tributaries, as far as the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The Walla Walla, Palouse, Yakima, Kliketat, and Sahaptin proper, some of them widely divergent from the mother tongue, are of this family.[III'-36]The Walla Walla differsfrom the Sahaptin proper not more than the Portuguese from the Spanish. Father Pandosy made a grammar of the Yakima language, under which he ranges the whole Sahaptin family, dividing it into dialects, as the Walla Walla, the Tairtla, the Roilroilpam, or Kliketat, and the Palouse.[III'-37]
In the Nez Percé language, the following letters only are found:h,k,l,m,n,p,s,t,w,a,e,i,o,u, but the missionaries having introduced some new words, it was found necessary to addb,d,f,g,v,z. Agglutination is carried to a great length, and long words are very frequent. In fact, wherever a sentence can be expressed by joining one word to another, it is done, leaving out letters in places, for the sake of euphony. The following is a fair illustration:hitautualawihnankauna, he traveled past in a rainy night. Analysed,hiexpresses the third person singular;taua thing done at night;tuala, something done in the rain;wihnan, to travel on foot;kauis derived from the verbkokauna, to pass by;naexpresses the indicative mood, aorist tense, direction from the speaker. The plural of substantives is formed by duplicating the first syllable:pitin, girl;pipitin, girls. Or when the word commences with a vowel, the vowel is sometimes repeated:atwai, old woman;aatwai, old women. Exceptions to this rule are made in words expressing family relations, the prefixmabeing employed in such cases, aspika, mother;pikama, mothers. Ifpterminates the word, it is omitted, asaskap, pluralaskama. To express gender, the wordshama, male, andaiat, female, are employed,but the substantive remains unchanged. Nouns are declined either by changing their terminals, or by affixes:
Comparison—tahs, good;tahs kanmakanm, better;tahsni, best. Personal prounouns—in, I;im, thou;ipi, he, or she;nun, we;ima, ye;imma, they. Of the verb numerous variations are made. They are divided into three classes, neuter, active transitive, and active intransitive. The two neuter verbs arewash, to be; andwitsasha, to become. Active intransitive verbs cannot be followed by any accusative.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE.
YAKIMA, WALLA WALLA, AND PALOUSE.
The following grammatical notes will serve to illustrate the Yakima and some of the other languages of the Sahaptin family.
In the Palouse and Walla Walla languages the affixnanis changed intona. Personal pronouns—I,ink,nes,nesh, orsh; of me,enmi; to me,enmiow; me,inak; for me,enmiei; we,namak,natés,nanam,aatés, ornamtk; of us,néémi; to usnéémiow; us,némanak; for us,néémiei. The Walla Wallas leaves off thekfrom the affixak; thus, instead ofinak, me, they sayina, and instead ofnamak, we,nama.
In one dialect the terminalakis changed intoei.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO HAVE.
As a specimen of agglutination there is the wordipinashapatawtrahliktamawarsha, he himself makes night disagreeably tiresome long wait; that is, he keeps one long waiting for him at night.
YAKIMA LORD'S PRAYER.
Neemi(Our)Psht,(Father,)imk(thou)nam(who)wamsh(art)Roiemich-nik;(high on the side (heaven);)shir(well)nam 'manak(thou)p'a(they (indef.))t-maknani(should)tarnei(respect)wanicht;(the name;)shir(well)ewianawitarnei(should arrive)emink(thy)miawarwit;(chieftainship;)shir(well)nammanak(thee)pa(they)twanenitarnei,(should follow)ichinak(here)techampa,(earth (on))tenma,(inhabitants (the))prw,(will)amakwsrimmanak(thou as thyself)pa(they)twanenishamsh(follow)roiemipama(high of the (heaven))tenma.(inhabitants (the).)Nemanak(Our (us))nim(give us)t-kwatak(food)kwalissim(always)maisr(to-morrow)maisr.(to-morrow.)Nemanak(Our (us))laknanim(forget)chélwitit:(sins:)aateskwsri(us as)namak(we)t'normaman(others)laknánisha(forget)chélwitit(sins)anakwnkink(have by which)neémiow(us)pa(have)chelwitia.(offended.)R-t-to(Strong)anianim(make)nemanak(our (us))temna;(heart;)t-kraw krial.(that it fall not.)Nemanak(Us)eikrenkem(snatch)chelwitknik(bad from the side.)Ekws(So)iwa(it is)neemi(our)temna.(heart.[III'-39])
COURT LANGUAGE OF THE SAHAPTINS.
The Nez Percés make use of two languages, one the native language proper, or, as a European might say, the court language, and the other a slave language, or jargon. They differ so much, that a stranger fully conversant with one cannot understand the other. This jargon originated, probably, from intermixing prisoners of war of different nationalities who were enslaved, and their languages mingled with each other, and with that of their conquerors. The pure-blooded Nez Percés all understand the jargon, learning it when children, together with their own proper language. Nor is this all. The jargon is more or less modified by each of the several languages, or dialects, in which it is spoken. The employés of the fur companies, who first came in contact with the Sahaptins, were greatly annoyed by this multiformity; as, for example, one Nez Percé coming to sell a beaver skin would say,tammecess taxpool, I wish to sell a beaver; another would say,towèyou weespoose, Iwish to trade a beaver; and a third would say,e'towpa e'yechcœ, I wish to trade a beaver.
The following short vocabulary will show some of the differences between the Nez Percé language and the jargon:
Professor Rafinesque, out of twenty-four Sahaptin words, claims to have found six bearing close affinities to the English, but Buschmann says that of these twenty-four, many are not Sahaptin at all.[III'-41]The Waiilatpu language, conterminous with the Sahaptin, is spoken in two dialects, the Cayuse and Mollale. The Cayuses mingle frequently with the Sahaptins, and therefore many words of the latter have been adopted into their tongue. They mostly understand and speak the Sahaptin, and frequently the Walla Walla, and this not from any relationship in the several languages, but from intercourse.[III'-42]
Like their neighbors, the Cayuses employ two languages; one in the transaction of the common affairs of life, and the other on high state occasions, such as when making speeches round the council fire, to determine questions of war and peace, as well as all other intertribal affairs. That is to say, the Sahaptins use their court language on all ordinary, as well as extraordinary occasions, keeping the jargon for their servants, while the Cayuses employ the baser tongue for common, and the higher for state occasions.
The Cayuses were eloquent speakers; their language abounded in elegant expressions, and they well knew how to make the most of it. When first known to Europeans, it was fast fading away, and subsequently merged into the Sahaptin; so fleeting are these native idioms.[III'-43]
DIFFICULTIES OF THE CHINOOK.
The Chinook language is spoken by the different tribes inhabiting the banks of the Lower Columbia and adjacent country. This family is divided into many dialects, which diverge from the mother tongue as we ascend the river; in fact, the upper tribes have mostly to employ an interpreter, when they communicate with those on the lower part of the river. The chief diversities of this language are the Chinook proper, the Wakiakum, Cathlamet, and Clatsop, and the various dialects mentioned by Lewis and Clarke as belonging to those inhabiting this region at the time of their expedition, but which cannot now be positively identified with any of the languages known to us. Two of the last-mentioned dialects, the Multnomah and the Skilloot, the explorers describe as belonging to the Chinook.[III'-44]Among all the languages of north-western America, except perhaps thatof the Thlinkeets, the Chinook is considered in its construction the most intricate; and in its pronunciation the most difficult. No words are to be found in the English vocabulary which can accurately describe it. To say that it is guttural, clucking, spluttering, and the like conveys but a faint conception of the sound produced by a Chinook in his frantic effort to unburden his mind of an idea. He does not appear to have yet discovered the use of the lips and tongue in speaking, but struggles with the lower part of the throat to produce sounds for the expression of his thoughts. Some declare that the speech of the Thlinkeets, whose language like that of the Chinook contains no labials, is melody in comparison to the croakings of the Chinooks. Ross says, that "to speak the Chinook dialect, you must be a Chinook."[III'-45]Indeed, they appear to have become tired of their own language and to have voluntarily abandoned it, for, to-day, the youthful Chinook speaks almost wholly Chehalis and the jargon. The employés of the fur companies, voyageurs, trappers and traders, who were accustomed to master with little difficulty the aboriginal tongues which they encountered, were completely nonplussed by the Chinook. A Canadian of Astor's company is the only person known to have acquired it so as to speak it fluently. During a long illness he was nursed by the Chinooks, and during his convalescencedevoted his entire time to perfecting himself in their tongue.[III'-46]
Here the sounds of the lettersf,r,v, andzdo not exist, the pronunciation is generally very indistinct, andçands,kandg,dandt, are almost always confounded.
In the first person of the dual and plural of pronouns, the person present and addressed is either included or excluded according to the form used.
Personal pronouns in the Watlala dialect are:
Of the possessive pronouns the following will serve as examples. They are joined to the nounitukutkhle, oritukwutkhle, house.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE COLD.
Dialectic differences particularly among the upper Chinooks, or Watlalas, are found principally in words; grammatical forms being alike in both.[III'-47]Kane remarks as a peculiarity that this language contains "no oaths, or any words conveying gratitude or thanks."[III'-48]
CALAPOOYA PRONOUNS.
Moving again southward to the Willamette Valley, I find the Calapooya language, and for the first time a soft and harmonious idiom. Although the gutturalkhsometimes occurs, it is more frequently softened toh. The consonants areç, ors,f,j,k,l,m,n,ng,p, orb,t, ord,q, andw. Unlike the Sahaptin and Chinook there are neither dual nor plural forms in the Calapooya language.
The personal pronouns are:
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE SICK, ILFATIN.
The following example will serve to illustrate the great changes verbs undergo in their conjugations;—ksitapatsitup maha, I love thee;tsitapintsuo kok, I love him;himtapintsiwata tsii kak, he loves me;hintsitapintsiwata tsii, dost thou love me?[III'-49]
The Yamkally is spoken at the sources of the Willamette River. A comparison of the Yamkally and Calapooya vocabularies shows a certain relationship between them.[III'-50]
COLUMBIAN AND MEXICAN COMPARISONS.
I have said that certain affinities are discovered between the Waiilatpu and Mollale, and also between the Watlala and Chinook; in these, as well as in the Calapooya and Yamkally, Buschmann discovers faint traces of the Aztec language. Others have discovered a fancied relationship between the language of the Mexicans and those of more northern nations, but Mr Buschmann believes that, descending from the north, the peoples mentioned, whose lands are drained by the Columbia, are the first in which the Aztec, in dim shadows, makes its appearance. These similarities, he discovered not alone by direct comparisons with the Aztec, but also by detecting resemblances between these Columbian dialects and those of certain nations whichhe calls his Sonora group and its affiliations, all of which contain elements of the Aztec tongue. Yet Mr Buschmann does not therefrom claim any relationship between the Aztecs and Columbians, but only notices these few slight assimilations.[III'-51]
Herewith is a comparative table, containing a few similar words:
Comparative Table, showing Similarities between the Columbian and Mexican Tongues.
ANALYSIS OF THE CHINOOK JARGON.
The Chinook jargon is employed by the white people in their intercourse with the natives, as well as by the natives among themselves. It is spoken throughout Oregon, Washington Territory, on Vancouver Island, and extends inland into Idaho and some parts of Montana. It is more than probable that, like other languagesde convenance, it formed itself gradually, first among the natives themselves, and that in the course of time, in order to facilitate their intercourse with the aborigines, trappers and traders adopted and improved it, until it was finally brought into its present state. Indeed, so great was the diversity of languages in this vicinity, and so intricate were they, that without something of this kind there could have been but little intercourse between the people.
A somewhat similar mixture I have already mentioned as existing in Alaska. Father Paul Le Jeune gives a short account of a jargon in use between theFrench and the Indians, in the north-eastern part of America, as early as the year 1633.[III'-52]In Europe a similar mixture, or patois, prevails to this day, the lingua franca, used by the many nationalities that congregate upon the shores of the Mediterranean. In China, and in the East Indies, the so-called pigeon English occupies the same place; and in various parts of Central and Southern America, neutral languages may be found. To show how languages spring up and grow, Vancouver, when visiting the coast in 1792, found in various places along the shores of Oregon, Washington, and Vancouver Island, nations that now and then understood words and sentences of the Nootka and other tongues, some of which had been adopted into their own language.
When Lewis and Clarke, in 1806, reached the coast, the jargon seems to have already assumed a fixed shape, as may be seen from the sentences quoted by the explorers. But not until the arrival of the expedition sent out by John Jacob Astor does it appear that either English or French words, of which it contains a large percentage, were incorporated. Very few, if any, of the words of which the jargon is composed, retain their original shape. The harsh, guttural, and unpronounceable native cackling was softened or omitted, thus forming a speech suited to all. In the same manner, some of the English sounds, likefandr, unpronounceable by the native, were dropped, or transferred intopandl, while all grammatical forms were reduced to the fewest and plainest rules possible.[III'-53]But even in this jargon, there are whatmay be called dialectic differences; for instance, many words used at the Dalles, are quite unintelligible at the mouth of the Columbia and at Puget Sound. It has often been asserted that the jargon was invented or originated by the Hudson's Bay Company, but although the fur company undoubtedly greatly aided its development, and assisted in perfecting it, it is well known, first, that this jargon existed before the advent of Europeans, and secondly, that languages are not made in this way.
Mr Gibbs states the number of words to be nearly five hundred, and after a careful analysis of the language, has arrived at the following conclusion as to the number contributed by the several nationalities:
As before mentioned, foreign words adopted into the jargon vocabulary are changed to suit the taste of thespeaker, as in the word Français, being unable to pronounce thef,r, andn, for Frenchman they saypasaiuks, and for French,pasai. The few words formed by onomatopœia, are after this fashion;—tumtum, heart, an imitation of its beating;tintin, bell;tiktik, watch;liplip, to boil, from the sound of boiling water, and so on.
Neither article nor inflections are employed.Okok, this, at times takes the place of the English the. As a rule, plurals are not distinguished, but sometimes the wordhaiu, many, is used. Adjectives precede nouns, as in English—lasuai hakatshum, silk handkerchief;masatsi tilikum, bad people. The comparative is expressed, for example, in the sentence, I am stronger than thou, bywek maika skukum kakwa naika, thou not strong as I. Superlative—haias oluman okok kanem, very old that canoe. There are only two conjunctions,pi, derived from the Frenchpuis, which denotes and or then; andpos, fromsuppose, meaning if, in case that, provided that. The particlenais at times used as an interrogative.[III'-55]
The Lord's Prayer in the Chinook jargon is as follows:
Nesika(Our)papa(Father)klaksta(who)mitlite(stayeth)kopa(in)saghalie,(the above,)kloshe(good)kopa(in)nesika(our)tumtum(hearts (be))mika(thy)nem;(name;)kloshe(good)mika(thou)tyee(chief)kopa(among)konoway(all)tilikum;(people;)kloshe(good)mika(thy)tumtum(will)kopa(upon)illahie,(earth,)kahkwe(as)kopa(in)saghalie.(the above.)Potlatch(Give)konaway(every)sun(day)nesika(our)muckamuck.(food.)Spose(If)nesika(we)mamook(do)masahchie,(ill,)wake((be) not)mika(thou)hyas(very)solleks,(angry,)pe(and)spose(if)klaksta(any one)masahchie(evil)kopa(towards)nesika,(us,)wake(not)nesika(we)solleks(angry)kopa(towards)klaska.(them.)Mahsh(Send away)siah(far)kopa(from)nesaika(us)konaway(all)masahchie.(evil.[III'-56])Kloshe kahkwa.()
Multiplicity of Tongues—Yakon, Klamath, and Palaik Comparisons—Pitt River and Wintoon Vocabularies—Weeyot, Wishosk, Weitspek, and Ehnek Comparisons—Languages of Humboldt Bay—Potter Valley, Russian and Eel River Languages—Pomo Languages—Gallinomero Grammar—Trans-Pacific Comparisons—Chocuyem Lord's Prayer—Languages of the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Napa and Sonoma Valleys—The Olhone and other Languages of San Francisco Bay—Runsien and Eslene of Monterey—Santa Clara Lord's Prayer—Mutsun Grammar—Languages of the Missions Santa Cruz, San Antonio de Padua, Soledad, and San Miguel—Tatché Grammar—The Dialects of Santa Cruz and other Islands.
Notwithstanding the great diversity of tongues encountered in the regions of the north, the confusion increases ten-fold on entering California. Probably nowhere in America is there a greater multiformity of languages and dialects than here. Until quite recently, no attempt has been made to bring order out of this linguistic chaos, owing mainly to a lack of grammars and vocabularies. Within the last few years this want has, in a measure, been supplied, and I hope to be able to present some broader classifications than have hitherto been attempted. Through the researches of Mr Powers, who has kindly placed his materials at my disposal, and the valuable information communicated by Judge Roseborough, the dialects of northern California have been reduced to some sort of system, yet there remains thefact that, in central and southern California, hundreds of dialects have been permitted to die out, without leaving us so much as their name.[IV'-1]
In attempting the classification of Californian tongues, no little difficulty arises from the ambiguity of tribal names. So far as appearances go, some peoples have no distinctive name; others are known by the name of their chief alone, or their ranchería; the affiliation of chief, ranchería, and tribe being identical or distinct, as the case may be. Some writers have a common name for all tribes speaking the same, or dialects of the same, language; others name a people from each dialect. Last of all, there are nations and tribes that call themselves by one name, while their neighbors call them by another, so that the classifier, ethnologic or philologic, is apt to enumerate one people under two names, while omitting many.[IV'-2]
We have seen in the Columbian languages, as we approach the south, that they become softer and less guttural; this is yet more observable among Californians, whose speech, for the most part, is harmonious, pronounceable, and rich in vowels; and this feature becomes more and more marked as we proceed from northern to southern California. On this point, Mr Powers writes: "Not only are the California languages distinguished for that affluence of vowel sounds, which is more or less characteristic of all tongues spoken in warm climates;but most of them are also remarkable for their special striving after harmony. There are a few languages found in the northern mountains which are harsh and sesquipedalian, and some on the coast that are guttural beyond the compass of our American organs of speech; but with these few exceptions, the numerous languages of the state are beautiful above all their neighbors for their simplicity, the brevity of their words, their melody, and their harmonious sequences."[IV'-3]
RULES OF EUPHONY IN CALIFORNIA.
Throughout California, much attention is paid to the euphony of words; and if, in the inevitable manufacturing process, a syllable does not sound well, or does not exactly harmonize according to the native ear, it is ruthlessly sacrificed. In many languages these elisions are made in accordance with fixed rules, while others, again, obey no other mandate but harmony.
Concerning the languages of northern California, Judge Roseborough writes: "In an ethnological view, the language of these various tribes is a subject of great interest. They seem to be governed by the geographical nature of the country, which has had much influence in directing the migrations and settlement of the various tribes in this state, where they have been found by the whites; and there have been in remote times at least three currents, or lines of migration, namely—first, one along the coast southward, dispersing more or less towards the interior as the nature of the country and hostile tribes permitted. In so broken and rough a country the migrations must have been slow, and the eddies numerous, leaving many fragments of aboriginal tribes here and there with language and customs wholly dissimilar. Second, that along the Willamette Valley, over the passes of the Calapooya, across the open lands of the Umpqua, southward through Rogue River Valley into Shasta and Scott valleys. As an evidence of this trace I may mention that all the tribes on this line, from the Calapooya mountains southward to the head of Shasta and Scott valleys, speak the same language, and were confederatein their wars with the tribes on Pitt River, who seem to have arrested their progress southward. In this connection I may mention two facts worthy of remark, namely, first, in this cataclysm of tribes, there have been some singular displacements; for instance, the similarity of language and customs of the Cumbatwas and other cognate tribes on Pitt River denotes a common origin with a small tribe found on Smith River, on the north-west coast: and secondly, the traditions of the Shastas settled in Shasta and Scott valleys, the advance of this line of migrations, show that a former tribe had been found in possession of those valleys and mountains, and had been driven out. The remains of their ancient villages, and the arrangements still visible in their excavations confirm the fact, and also the further fact that the expelled tribes were the same, or cognate to those which the whites found in occupation of the Sacramento Valley. For instance, in all of these ancient villages, there was one house of very large dimensions, used for feasts, ceremonious dances, etc., just as we found on the settlement of California, in the valley of Sacramento. The existing tribes in those mountains have no such domicil and no public houses. They say, when asked, that the villages were built and inhabited by a tribe that lived there before they came, and that those ancient dwellers worshiped the great snowy Mount Shasta, and always built their villages in places from which they could behold that mountain. Thirdly, another wave of migration evidently came southward along the Des Chutes River, upon the great plateau of the lakes, which conclusion is borne out by a similarity of languages and customs, as well as by traditions."[IV'-4]
In support of this theory, Judge Roseborough states that the languages spoken on Smith River, and extending thence forty miles along the coast, are radically and wholly different from those of the neighboring tribes. The former are harsh, guttural, irregular, and apparently monosyllabic, while on the other hand, the neighboringtribes inhabiting the coast southward to Humboldt Bay, and along the Klamath as far up as the mouth of the Trinity, speak a language very regular in its structure; copious in its capacity for expressing ideas and shades of thought, and not unpleasing to the ear, being free from harsh and guttural sounds. Of all the languages spoken in this part, that which prevails along the Klamath River, as far up as Happy Camp, and along the Salmon to its sources, is by far the most regular and musical. In fact, for its regular and musical accents it occupies among the Indian tongues of the continent the same preëminence that the Spanish does among the Caucasian languages. For instance, their proper nouns for persons and places are very euphoneous, as,euphippa,escassasoo, names of persons, andtahasoofca,cheenich,panumna,chimicanee,tooyook,savorum, names of noted localities along the river.
As an example of the copiousness and richness of the coast languages above Humboldt Bay, Judge Roseborough cites the following, for one, two, three, four, they say,kor,nihhi,naxil,chohnah; so for to-morrow they say,kohchamol; for the day after to-morrow,nahamohl; three days hence,naxamohl; four days hence,chohnahamol. Nor do they stop here;mare, being five, andmarunimícha, fifteen; the fifteenth day from the present is,marunimîcháhamohl.
Mr George Bancroft in his Indianology erroneously asserts that the sound of our letterrdoes not occur in any of the aboriginal languages of America. A similar assertion has been made with regard to Asiatic tongues, that there is not a people from the peninsula of Hindostan to Kamchatka who make use of this sound. Although this idea is now exploded, evidence goes to show the rarity of the use of the letterrin these regions; yet, Judge Roseborough assures me that in these northern Californian dialects the sound of this letter is not only frequent, but is uttered with its most rolling, whirring emphasis; that such words asarrarra, Indian;carrook, orcahroc, up;eurook, oreuroc, down;seearrook, acrossand up;micarra, the name of a village;tahasoofcarrah, that is to say the village of upper Tahasoofca, are brought forth with an intensity that a Frenchman could not exceed.
On both sides of the Oregon and Californian boundary line is spoken the Klamath language; adjoining it on the north is the Yakon, and on the south the Shasta and the Palaik. A dialect of the Klamath is also spoken by the Modocs. Herewith I give a short comparative table, and although no relationship between them is claimed, yet many of the words which I have selected are not without a similarity.[IV'-5]
THE WINTOON, EUROC, AND CAHROC.
Along Pitt River and its tributaries are the Pitt River Indians and the Wintoons, of which languages short vocabularies are given.
On the lower Klamath, the Euroc language prevails. As compared with the dialects of southern California, it is guttural; there being apparently in some of its words, or rather grunts, a total absence of vowels—mrprh, nose;chlh, earth;ynx, child. Among other sounds peculiar to it, there is that of thell, so frequent in the Welsh language. Mr Powers says that, "in conversation they terminate many words with an aspiration which is imperfectly indicated by the letterh, a sort of catching of the sound, immediately followed by the letting out of the residue of breath, with a quick little grunt. This makes their speech harsh and halting; the voice often comes to a dead stop in the middle of a sentence." He further adds that "the language seems to have had a monosyllabic origin, and, in fact, they pronounce many dissyllables as if they were two monosyllables."
Along the upper Klamath, the Cahroc language is spoken, which is entirely distinct from that of the Eurocs. It is sonorous, and its intonation has even been compared with that of the Spanish, being not at all guttural like the Euroc. Ther, when it occurs in such words aschareya, andcahroc, is strangely rolled. The language is copious; the people speaking it having a name for everything, and on seeing any articlenew to them, if a proper designation is not immediately at hand, they forthwith proceed to manufacture one.
Another guttural language is the Pataway, spoken on Trinity River. Its pronunciation is like the Euroc, and it has the same curious, abrupt stopping of the voice at the end of syllables terminating with a vowel, as Mr Powers describes it. Related to it is the Veeard of lower Humboldt Bay. The numerals in the latter language are:koh-tseh, one;dee-teh, two;dee-keh, three;deeh-oh, four;weh-sah, five;chilókeh, six;awtloh, seven;owit, eight;serókeh, nine;lokélten.[IV'-8]
The language known as the Weitspek, spoken at the junction of the Trinity and Klamath rivers, is probably the same which Mr Powers has named the Pataway. It is also said to have the frequently occurring rollingr. Thef, as in the Oregon languages, is wanting. Dialects of the Weitspek are the Weeyot and Wishosk, on Eel and Mad rivers. This language is understood from the coast range down to the coast between Cape Mendocino and Mad River.[IV'-9]The Ehnek, or Pehtsik, language is spoken on Salmon River; thence in the region of the Klamath, are the Watsahewah, Howteteoh, and Nabiltse languages.[IV'-10]