The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and ManuscriptsSchoolcraft, Henry Rowe
History
The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and Manuscripts
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
Indians of North America
Ke gee unnoenig, He (sent) you.
Ainnoezhid, He (sent) me.
Ainnoenaud, He (sent) him, &c.
Iau e-mau, He is there.
Ke geedo, He (spoke.)
Kegeeweendumaug, He (told) you.
Ke to dum, He did it.
We reply, to this answer of the native speaker, that the particle _kau_
prefixed to a verb denotes the past tense,--that in the former series of
terms, in which this particle appears, the verbs are in the perfect
indicative,--and in the latter, they are in the present indicative,
marking the difference only between _sent_ and _send_, _spoke_ and
_speak_, &c. And that there is absolutely no relative pronoun, in either
series of terms. We further observe, that the personal pronoun ween,
prefixed to the first set of terms, may be prefixed with equal
propriety, to the second set, and that its use or disuse, is perfectly
optional with the speaker, as he may wish to give additional energy or
emphasis to the expression. To these positions, after reflection,
discussion and examination, we receive an assent, and thus the
uncertainty is terminated.
We now wish to apply the principle thus elicited to verbs causative, and
other compound terms--to the adjective verbs, for instance--and to the
other verbal compound expressions, in which the objective and the
nominative persons, are incorporated as a part of the verb, and are not
prefixes to it. This may be shown in the causative verb, _To make
Happy_.
Mainwaindumeid, He (who) makes _me_ happy.
Mainwaindumeik, He (who) makes _thee_ happy.
Mainwaindumeaud, He (who) makes _him_ happy.
Mainwaindumeinung, He (who) makes _us_ happy. (inclusive.)
Mainwaindumeyaug, He (who) makes _us_ happy. (exclusive.)
Mainwaindumeinnaig, He (who) makes _ye_ or _you_ happy.
Mainwaindumeigowaud, He (who) makes _them_ happy.
And so the forms might be continued, throughout all the objective
persons.--
Mainwaindumeyun, Thou (who) makest me happy, &c.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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