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T. B.
Yahgan Grammar in A. J. Ellis’ Phonetic System.
begun May 22nd 1866 and completed never
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Preface.
This work does not pretend to be in any wise a perfect grammar of the Yahgan tongue, but is of necessity imperfect, as I am not yet fully master of the language, but what is put down I hope is accurate.
The Rev. G. P. Despard was the first who began to reduce this language to writing in 1857 using A. Ellis’[e] Phonetic System. When he left Keppel Island in June 1861 he had compiled a vocabulary English and Yahgan of upwards of two thousand words, of which previous to his departure I took a copy, having previously learnt most of these words.
By Mr Despard I was constituted a c[h]atechist of the P. M. Society in June 1861 and by him left in charge of two natives Ocoko, & Camīlána his wife. They had been zealously taught and most kindly treated by Mr D. (of whom they are very fond) as that he and she were much improved in mind & maners. During the Allen Gardiner’s protracted absence from June 5 1861 to January 29. 1863 I made conside-
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The Yahgan Phonetic Alphabet.
Remarks on the letters.
The order of the foregoing 38 letters is my arrangement, the order I have from the first adopted for writing the Yahgan dictionary. 1st are the five long vowels, 2nd the short ones. 3rd the 6 broad or open vowels. 4th the 3 additional consonants, and then the other consonants common to English in their usual order.
The natives make often so slight a difference in the following letters that I have found considerable difficulty in many words, in fixing their orthography, between ē and ai. d & t. č & ǰ. g & k. f & p. In fact, they often use one for another. I have heard them often say, ǰila for čila. tātū for dātū etc.
The following Yahgan sounds are strange to English. x. hl. hm. hn. hr hy, auu. The following English sounds are wanting in Yahgan, viz th in thigh, th
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in thy, z in plea[z]«s»ure or s in occasion.
On the Transposition of letters.
Words begining [sic] with H lose it [when] when any prefix is placed before [it] «them», and no word has h anywhere but at the beginning «save when it precedes l m n r.» thus Hā[r]šū heavy Tū-ā[r]ū́nata. To make heavy. Hū́lū big. Tū́[h]ūlū́nata. To make big. Mū́ā[r]šū́na. To rest fr Hā[r]šū. Words ending in hr when followed by a vowel change hr into t, thus Túlöputufkíli. weak knee. Words ending in a when followed by y [change] drop the a and the Y is changed into Ai thus. Čī[š]«s» áiāgū. White or pale face not Čī[š]«s»a yā́gū. Words ending in a vowel drop it when the following words commence[s] with a vowel. Thus Tūkūsél’ ikī́mū. To pour in not Tūkūs«e»l[a] ikī́mū. «Tūkūsela ikī́mū,» Lūp’ ūkwī́na. To blow out for Lūpū ūkwī́na. Words beginning with w when following the possessive case of either nouns or pronouns, [&] the w. is changed into ū and the final letter of poss. case is lost, thus Kītálamunč’ ūaikīpan, for Kītálamunči waikīpan. Adjectives ending in a when the following substantive begins with w the a is dropped, and
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the w is changed into â thus Yek’ âáia for Yeka waia.
[(Adjectives ending in a when the following subs. begins with y. the a is lost, and the y is changed into ai, thu sČī[]š]«s» aiāgū for Čī[š]«s»a yāgū.)
The Accentuation.
The acute accent, only is required, by which the accentuation is most accurately defined.
The accent is placed often on the first syllable of trisyllables as Mū́kusi. Tā́čikū Mínaka. Minaka. Dissyllables are generally accented on the first, but often on both. When two syllables together are accentuated the intervening consonant belongs to the first syllable, but when the first syllable of dissyllables, then the intervening vowel belongs to the last syllable. Thus Číla again is properly divided thus Čí-la. but Čílá tough, thus. Číl-á Often the two last syllables of trisyllables are accentuated thus Isétá. Tūísá. etc. Some few words are accentuated on the last syllable, thus, Öpö́š wise, old. staid. Words of four and five syllables are generally accentuated on the 1st and 3rd syllables thus, Hálagö́puhr. fat Mū́kusḗata To begin to wash oneself. But to this rule there are many exceptions.
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When two vowels are together, the first is generally accentted thus, Hamīnấa I will go down. Tū́öšíteka. to block up the way. Tū́ūka. To ask to sew, etc. but when three vowels are together sometimes the first, sometime the second, but never the third, is accented, thus Iūáia. Jealou. Áuia. a stone. A few words are accented on the ultimate only as Twīái Lūpái, and all vocative cases of nouns.
The Article.
Properly speaking there is no article but the particle ā́ki affixed to substantives «& adj.s & pronouns.» answers the same purpose. Thus Lö́ndasiūā́ki. The bright one Šelā́ki the Little boy. Ū́āki kökā́ta The husband is coming. It signifies a, or the, indifferently. as Lušā́ki. the or a re[a]d one. Ū́āki a, or the man.
Inflection of the Article.
Kī́pāki A or the woman. Kīpākin. the woman.
Kī́pākínči The woman’s
Kī́pākinčiā́kin. The woman’s. or It is the woman’s.
Kīpākinči of or to the woman. the woman obj.
Kīpākinčikaia. with a or the woman.
Kīpākipai The two women. (obj Kīpākipikin)
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Kūka properly an adjective[s] sig. same. also is used especially in the plural as a definite article. thus. Kū́kākī́pa. The same woman.
Kū́kākī́panči. The woman’s, of or to the woman
Kū́«k»ākī́pönčikáia. With the same woman.
Kūkākīpaiamalim. The (same) women
Kūkākīpaiamalimunči. Gen. Dat. & Acc. cases.
In Yahgan there is no distinguishment of gender either in article, noun, adj. part. pronoun & verbs save one or two verbs either exclusively masculine or feminine. thus Dā́rakīpána. To grow is said only of the female sex. fr. Dā́rakī́pa. An old woman. Again Dā́rūóna. To grow. is used only for the male sex, and is a verb derived from Dārūwa. An old man.
Of numbers.
In Yahgan there are three numbers, i.e. sing. dual & plural both in nouns, pronouns verbs and participles.
Of Cases
There are six cases, viz. Nominative, genitive dative, Accusative Vocative and ablative. Nouns, pronouns, and participles are inflected by case.