The most peculiar and perplexing variation is that made by what is termed the "crement," affixed to many (though not all) nouns. This crement in the Canienga takes various forms, _ta, sera, tsera, kwa._ _Onkwe_, man, becomes _onkwéta_; _otkon_, spirit, _otkónsera_; _akáwe_, oar, _akawétsera_; _ahta_, shoe, _ahhtákwa_. The crement is employed when the noun is used with numeral adjectives, when it has adjective or other affixes, and generally when it enters into composition with other words. Thus _onkwe_, man, combined with the adjective termination _iyo_ (from the obsolete _wiyo_, good) becomes _onkwetiyo_, good man. _Wenni_, day, becomes in the plural _niate_ _niwenniserake_, many days, etc. The change, however, is not grammatical merely, but conveys a peculiar shade of meaning difficult to define. The noun, according to M. Cuoq, passes from a general and determinate to a special and restricted sense. _Onkwe_ means man in general; _asen nionkwetake_, three men (in particular.) One interpreter rendered _akawétsera_, "the oar itself." The affix _sera_ or _tsera_ seems to be employed to form what we should term abstract nouns, though to the Iroquois mind they apparently present themselves as possessing a restricted or specialized sense. Thus from _iotarihen_, it is warm, we have _otarihénsera_, heat; from _wakeriat_, to be brave, _ateriatitsera_, courage. So _kakweniátsera_, authority; _kanaiésera_, pride; _kanakwénsera_, anger. Words of this class abound in the Iroquois; so little ground is there for the common opinion that the language is destitute of abstract nouns. [Footnote: See, on this point, the remarks of Dr Brinton to the same effect, in regard to the Aztec, Qquichua, and other languages, with interesting illustrations, in his _"American Hero Myths"_, p. 25] The adjective, when employed in an isolated form, follows the substantive; as _kanonsa kowa_, large house; _onkwe honwe_ (or _onwe_) a real man. But, in general, the substantive and the adjective coalesce in one word. _Ase_ signifies new, and added to _kanonsa_ gives us _kanonsáse_, new house. Karonta, tree, and _kowa_, or _kowanen_, great, make together _karontowánen_, great tree. Frequently the affixed adjective is never employed as an isolated word. The termination _iyo_ (or _iio_) expresses good or beautiful, and _aksen_, bad or ugly; thus _kanonsiyo_, fine house, _kanonsasken_, ugly house. These compound forms frequently make their plural by adding _s_, as _kanonsiyos_, _kanonsaksens_.