CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 087 973 362 
 
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 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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C3- i^ ^ :]yL nyc JL i^ 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHOCTAW LANGUAGE, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. CYRUS BYINGTON. 
 
 Edited from the original MSS. in the Library of the American 
 Philosophical Society, 
 
 BY 
 
 p. p. Erinton, yVL. p,, 
 
 Member of the American Philosophical Society; the Pennsylvania 
 
 Historical Society ; Corresponding Member of the 
 
 American Ethnological Society, etc. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 McCalla & Stavely, Printers, 237-9 Dock Street; 
 1870. 
 
 i5> 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
INTRODTTCTION. 
 
 The Choctaw, or properly Chahta nation, numbers at present about 
 17,000 souls, 4,500 of whom are Chickasaws. When first known to 
 Europeans these allied peoples occupied the territory on the left bank 
 of the Mississippi, almost from the Ohio river to the G-ulf . They be- 
 long to the great Chahta-Mxjskokee family, which, in early days, 
 controlled the whole country from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, 
 and from the Gulf shore to the Apalachians. 
 
 The Choctaws have always been quick to adopt the instruction of 
 their civilized neighbors, and at present have about seventy schools 
 with nearly two thousand pupils on their reservation. ' During the 
 French occupation of Louisiana, in the early part of the last century, 
 efforts were made by the Roman Catholic missionaries to convert 
 them, but without success. ^ In 1818, Protestant missionaries were 
 sent among them, who effected a permanent impression upon them, 
 and were mainly instrumental in bringing about their present highly 
 creditable condition. Their evil habits were reformed, they were 
 instructed in agriculture, and their language was reduced to writing. 
 In the latter, the alphabet suggested by the Hon. John Pickering, in 
 his essay "On a uniform orthography of the languages of the Indians 
 of North America," was employed. The first book printed was a 
 spelling book, by the American Tract Society, in 1825. Since that 
 time, besides a large number of tracts, almanacs, hymn books, and 
 educational works, the whole of the New Testament and most of the 
 Old Testament have been printed in the language, by the American 
 Bible Society, New York city, after faithful translations by the Rev. 
 Cyrus Byington and the Rev. A. Wright, assisted by educated natives.^ 
 These can readily be obtained, and will be found of great service in 
 elucidating the grammatical structure of the language, as it is for 
 the first time explained in the present work by the hands of the Rev. 
 Cyeus BYi2sreT0N. 
 
 This eminent scholar and missionary, whose name is inseparably 
 connected with the later history of the Choctaw nation, was born at 
 Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, March 11, 1793. He 
 
 1 Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for 1869, p. 37, 
 
 2 Shea, History of CathoUc Missions in the United States, p. 44i. 
 
 3 In comparing the translation of the Four Gospels, second edition, 1845 (Boston, printed for the 
 A. B. C. F. M.), with the second edition of the New Testament by the American Bihle Society (New 
 Vorl£, 1854), I find a number of slight differences, especially in the use of the neutral vowel v. 
 
4 INTEODUCTIOX. 
 
 was one of nine children, and his parents were in humble circum- 
 stances, but industrious and respected. His father was at one time 
 a tanner, and subsequently a small farmer. Necessarily, therefore, 
 his early education was limited. 
 
 When a well grown lad he was taken into the family of Mr. Joseph 
 Woodbridge, of his native town, from whom he received some instruc- 
 tion in Latin and Greek, and with whom he afterward read law. In 
 1814 he was admitted to the bar, and practiced a few years with suc- 
 cess in Stockbridge and Sheffield, Mass. 
 
 His father though a moral was not a religious man, and it seems to 
 have been only after he reached manhood that Mr. Byington became, 
 as he expressed it, "a subject of divine grace." He then resolved to 
 forsake the bar and devote himself to missionary life. With this 
 object in view he entered the theological school at Andover, Mass., 
 where he studied Hebrew and theology, and was licensed to preach, 
 September, 1819. At this time he hoped to go to the Armenians in 
 Turkey. But Providence had prepared for him another and an even 
 more laborious field. 
 
 For about a year he preached in various churches in Massachusetts, 
 awaiting some opportunity for missionary labor. Toward the close 
 of the summer of 1819, a company of twenty or twenty-five persons 
 left Hampshire county, Mass., under the direction of the American 
 Board of Missions, to go by land to the Choctaw nation, then resident 
 in Mississippi. They passed through Stockbridge, in September, and 
 were provided with a letter from the Board, asking Mr. Byington to 
 take charge of them, and pilot them to their destination. He was 
 ready at a few hours' notice. 
 
 The company journeyed by land to Pittsburgh, where they procured 
 flat boats, and floated down the Ohio and Mississippi to a point near 
 the mouth of the Yalobusha river, whence a land journey of two hun- 
 dred miles brought them to their destination. 
 
 Thus commenced Mr. Byington's missionary life among the Choc- 
 taws. It continued for nearly fifty years, and resulted, with the 
 blessing of Providence and the assistance of some devoted co-work- 
 ers in the Nation, especially the Rev. A. Wright and the Eev. Cy- 
 rus Kingsbury, in redeeming the nation from drunkenness, ignor- 
 ance and immorality, to sobriety, godliness, and civilization. There 
 are no lives which in the eyes of the philanthropist are more worthy of 
 admiration, or more deserving of record than those of such men, who 
 not only rescue thousands of individuals from spiritual and physical 
 degradation, but preserve with enlightened care the only memorials 
 of whole nations. 
 
 Por throughout his missionary life Mr. Byington appreciated the 
 value which a knowledge of the language and traditions of the Choc- 
 taws would have to scholars. Prom his arrival among them, there- 
 
INTEODUCTION. 5 
 
 fore, he devoted assiduous labor to their language with a view to com- 
 prehend its extremely difficult construction, and to render it availa- 
 ble for the missionary and philological student. The first draft of 
 his Grammar was completed in 1834. It was written and re-written, 
 until at the time of his death, which occurred at Belprfe, Ohio, 
 December 31st, 1868, he was at work upon the seventh revisal. This 
 had proceeded as far as the close of Part I. This much, therefore, of 
 the Grammar is almost precisely as the author left it. 
 
 Part II. commencing with the Article-Pronouns, I have arranged 
 from the manuscripts of the fifth and sixth revisals, deposited in the 
 library of the American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia, by the 
 family of the author. 
 
 In undertaking this task I have throughout adhered closely to the 
 language and arrangement of the original, even where a different 
 nomenclature and an altered arrangement suggested themselves, as in 
 better accordance with modern philological views. It is, I think, 
 more proper to maintain strict fidelity to the forms chosen by so 
 thorough a Choctaw scholar as the Eev. Mr. Byington, in the expla- 
 nation of so difficult a tongue, than to run any risk of misrepresent- 
 ing his views by adopting a more modern phraseology. 
 
 Mr. Byington's own views of what he had accomplished deserve 
 recording. In his diary under date March 11, 1864 (his birthday), he 
 writes : 
 
 "The last year I revised the Choctaw Grammar, going over the 
 ground twice. The last effort I hope is my best, and will be of use to 
 learners of Choctaw, and to Choctaw scholars in schools, but it needs 
 further revision, and then to be well transcribed. I commit these 
 efforts in my old age to the Lord. I have enjoyed these labours very 
 much. The pleasure of happily resolving difficulties in these studies, 
 and of success in the work, is gratifying, and reviving to the mind." 
 
 In 1867 he wrote : 
 
 "This work can be much improved hereafter by other hands. It 
 may be compared to the first survey and making of a road in a new 
 country." 
 
 In spite of these deficiencies, of which no doubt the author was 
 more distinctly aware than any one else, his Grammar remains one of 
 the most valuable, original, and instructive of any ever written of an 
 American language. It is the result of nigh half a century of con- 
 centrated study, and we may well doubt if ever again a person will 
 be found who will combine the time, the opportunities, and the 
 ability to make an equal analysis of the language. 
 
 Mr. Byington also prepared a Choctaw dictionary, containing about 
 15,000 words, which remains in manuscript, in the possession of his 
 family. 
 
(3-:Ei,JLJi/Lli/£JiJR 
 
 CHOCTAW LANGUAGE. 
 
 In commencing the study of Choctaw, those accustomed only to EngUsh 
 and cognate languages will discover many peculiarities. Some of them 
 are as follows : 
 
 1. The want of the verb "to be" as a declinable word. 
 
 3. The want of personal pronouns in the third persons, singular and 
 plural. 
 
 3. The want of a plural form in many nouns, verbs and adjectives. 
 
 4. The irregular manner in which the plural is made. 
 
 5. The want of a passive voice in some verbs, and its UTegular forma- 
 tion. 
 
 6. The order of words in a clause or sentence. 
 
 7. The use of pre-positive particles, or prefixes. 
 
 8. The use of post-positive particles, or suffixes. 
 
 9. The use of fragmentary pron oun s, simple and compound. 
 
 10. The repetition of pronouns. 
 
 ^ 11. The numerous ground-forms of the verbs, arising from internal 
 changes in the primary root. 
 
 12. The negative forms of verbs, adjectives, and fragmentary pronouns. 
 
 13. The causative forms of verbs. 
 
 14. The internal changes in the causative forms. 
 
 15. The uniformity of grammatical forms and structure. 
 
 16. The extent to which the rough aspirate h supplies the want of the 
 verb of existence. 
 
 17. The difficulties in resolving and translating the article-pronouns. 
 
 7 
 
8 CHOCTAW GEAjNIMAE. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
 OKTHOGEAPHY. 
 
 § 1. The Alphabet. 
 
 Consonants, vowels, diphthongs, nasals, and aspirates are used. 
 
 Letters. Names and values. 
 
 A a a or ah, a broad, as in father. ' 
 
 V V a short, as a in vial, or u in sun. 
 
 Bb be 
 
 Ch oh che 
 
 Be a long, as in made, or e in there. 
 
 Ff fe 
 
 Hh he 
 
 HI hi hie 
 
 I i e as i in marine, and short as i in pin. 
 
 Kk ke 
 
 LI le 
 
 Mm me 
 
 IST n ne 
 
 O o o as in note. 
 
 P p pe 
 
 S s se 
 
 Sh sh she 
 
 U u 00 as in took, or u as in fuU. 
 
 W w vee 
 
 Yy ye. 
 Nasals : g, o, u, i. 
 
 § 2. Remaeks on the Alphabet. 
 
 The vowel v has heretofore been called ii short. But the Choctaws 
 give it the sound of & short, and when lengthened it passes into a long ; 
 as, vbi, to kill ; abi, to kill. 
 
 HI, hi, is an aspirated 1, when at the beginning of a syllable ; when it 
 closes a syllable, it is Ui ; as, hlibata, a buckskin thong ; tulhko, buck- 
 skin leather. 
 
 H, h, has two sounds, one a smooth aspirate, as in hina, a road ; the 
 other rough, as in tahli, to finish. 
 
 K, k, has two sounds, one sharp, as in oka, water ; the other rough, as 
 in the article-pronoun okvt, oke. In order to express the sound fully, the 
 latter might be spelled pkhvt, okhe. 
 
 The vowels have the continental sounds. 
 
 The diphthongs ai'e: ai, pronounced as i in pine; and au, as ow In now. 
 
choctaw geammak, 'j 
 
 § 3. The Nasals. 
 
 These are not represented by independent letters, but by a line drawn 
 under the vowels, thus : a, i, o, u, pronounced ang, ing, ong, ung, with 
 slight variations depending upon the next succeeding consonant. 
 
 V nasaUzed, passes into %. 
 
 e " " " i. 
 
 ai " " " ay, as fal^iya, to be long, falaya, being long. 
 
 an " " " ^w, as laua, to be many, lawa, being many. 
 
 The nasal sounds increase the distinctive power of the words in which 
 they occur. For instance, the article-pronouns a, definite and o distinc- 
 tive are made more definite and distinctive by the nasal mark. This is 
 also true of adverbs of affirmation and negation ; verbs and adverbs take ■ 
 the nasals as intensives ; Ji yes it is ; h^, no it is not ; keyu, no it is not ; ; 
 chito, large ; chito, being large, the large one. The nasal sound implies 
 emphasis, and distinctiveness by comparison. 
 
 § 4. Sounds Wantiistg. 
 
 The consonants c, d, g, j, q, r, v, x, and z, are absent in Choctaw. 
 Double consonants, such as br, dr, tl, bt, nt, st, are of difficult articula- 
 tion to the natives. When such sounds occur in proper names, as in the 
 Bible, they substitute others, as follows : for c soft they use s, as Cyrus, 
 Sailas; for c hard, k, as Canaan, Kenan; for ch hard, k, as Enoch, Enak; 
 for d, 1, as David, Lewi ; or else t, as Daniel, Taniel or TaniU ; for g soft 
 and for j, ch, as Gentile, Chentail, Jew, Chu ; for g, ko or ku, as queen, 
 kuwin, or kowin ; for r, 1, as Rachel, Lechel, but at the end of a syllable 
 it is dropped, as Peter, Peta ; for v, f or w, as Levi, Lefai, David, Lewi ; 
 for X, ks, as Exodus, Eksotus ; for z, s, as Zaccheus, Sakevs. When 
 two consonants come together, a short vowel is sometimes inserted, or 
 one is prefixed : as, wheat, wohet ; Andrew, Antilu ; bridle, bihtel ; 
 Stephen, Istifin ; Reid, Olit. 
 
 § 5. CON-TBACTIONS. 
 Contractions by the eUsion of vowels or consonants are frequent in both 
 simple and compound words and phrases. A few examples are given : 
 chuka g.y ont antah, for onvt antah, he goes to and stays at the house, 
 anont ^ya, for anolit ayah, he goes along and tells it. 
 bot vbi, for bolit vbili, he beats and kills, 
 chukachvfa, for chuka achvfa, a family, 
 chukfushe, for chuifi ushi, a lamb, 
 issakshup, for issi hakshup, a deer skin, 
 siaknip, for sa haknip, my body. 
 
 § 6. Consonant Changes. 
 
 The following change of the consonants may take place : oh may change 
 to sh : ochiah, she draws water ; oshtiah, she goes to draw water ; tanchi, 
 corn, tashishi, corn-fodder. Sh may change to t, as in the article-pro- 
 
10 CHOCTAW GKAMMAK 
 
 noun osh, ot. K and t, and 1 and m, are interchangeable in a few words: 
 as ikhana to ithana, to know ; oktvni to ottvni, to appear ; omba to oma, 
 to rain ; yukpa changes to yuppa, to be pleased. 
 
 § 7. Vowel Changes. 
 
 a shortened becomes v, as chumpa, to buy, chump vt iah, he goes to 
 buy. 
 
 e shortened becomes i, as emah, imah, he gives. 
 
 5 shortened becomes u, as tok, tuk, it was, hommah it is red, hummah 
 it is reddish. 
 
 V lengthened becomes a. ,-r 
 
 1 lengthened becomes e, as pisah, pesah, he sees. 
 
 u lengthened becomes o. 
 
 o in holissoh becomes i in hollisichih, he writes. 
 
 a in momah becomes i in mominchih. 
 
 § 8. Nasal Changes. 
 
 Exact rules for these changes are not easily given. The nasals ^, i, o, 
 u, stand before the consonants f, h, hi, k, n, s, sh, w, and y ; as i fuli, his 
 switch ; i hollisso, his book ; i kana, his friend ; i wak, his cow ; i yuka, 
 his prisoner. The nasal marks are changed to the letter m before the 
 diphthongs, the vowels, and the consonants b, m, and p; and to the letter 
 n before ch, Ei, 1, and t ; but to these rules there are exceptions ; as, imi 
 shilombish, his spirit ; i ponaklo, to inquire of him ; nan anoli, an in- 
 former ; nan illi, death. The position of the organs of speech preparatory 
 to the utterance of the succeeding letter causes a change in the nasal 
 sound ; as, i wak, his cow ; im issuba, his horse ; in chuka, his house. 
 
 § 9. Doubled Consonants. 
 
 Consonants are doubled in the intensive foi-m of verbs and adjectives ; 
 as, 
 
 alota, to be full. vllota, to be quite fuU. 
 
 anoa, to be reported. vnnoa, to be commonly reported, 
 
 anumpa, to be spoken. vnnumpa, to be much spoken, 
 
 himak, now. himmak, hereafter, after all. 
 
 pila, thither. pilla, away there, 
 
 kvnia, gone. kvnnia, really gone. 
 
 When the consonant y is doubled, the fii-st one is transfoi-med into i ; 
 as, 
 
 hoyo, to look for. hoiya, to look for earnestly, 
 
 ayukpa, to be glad of. aiyukpa, to be very glad of. 
 
 ayohmi, to do so there. > aiyohmi, to do so really. 
 
 §10. Syllabification. 
 
 Syllables usually terminate in a vowel sound, but may end with a con- 
 sonant. When two simple consonants occur in the same word, the first 
 ends one syllable and the second commences the succeeding one ; as 
 
CHOCTAW GBAMMAE. 11 
 
 bvnna, to want ; tohbi, to be white. The double consonants ch, sh, hi, 
 and Ih, are inseparable. The long vowels have their full sound in all ac- 
 cented syllables, except the vowel j, which is occasionally short, as in siijsi, 
 a poplar, illi, to die. In words of two or more syllables the accented syl- 
 lable takes a consonant, which is heard in both syllables; as, hina, a word, 
 pronounced hinna. In some words the consonant is doubled ; as, ilh, to 
 die ; putta, all. In a few instances the mark ' has been used to indicate 
 emphasis and the imperative mood; as, Luke X. 37, i nukhaklo tok a', he 
 that showed mercy on him. 
 
 § 11. Accent. 
 
 In words of two or more syllables the penult is accented ; as, kan'ohi, 
 to sell ; ano'li, to relate. In words of four or more syllables there is a 
 sfecondary accent on the second syllable before the penult ; as, po'hlomo'li, 
 to double them up ; anum'pohon'li, to keep talking. There is another 
 accent which falls on the final syllable of such words as in English are 
 followed by marks of punctuation, from the comma to the period. It is 
 called the pause accent. Consonants take the accent merely, while final 
 vowels take the rough aspirate h suffixed. 
 
 § 12. Division of "Woeds. 
 
 All simple words are written separately. There are, however, words 
 compounded with prefixes, sufidxes, and inseparable pronouns, which are 
 written as one. But to avoid confusion, whenever it is possible, the ele- 
 ments of each clause are written and printed separately. 
 
 § 13. The Arrangement of Words in a Sentence. 
 
 1. The connective. 
 
 2. The subject and its modifications. 
 
 3. The object and its modifications. 
 
 4. The verb or predicate, with its modifications. 
 
 5. Time when comes both before and after the subject. 
 
 Time how long is similarly placed, and also at the close of the sen- 
 tence ; Luke I. 34 ; IV. 35. 
 
 6. Instrument and means, with modifications, precede the verb. 
 
 7. Adjectives follow nouns. 
 
 8. Adverbs follow verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. 
 
 9. Infinitives precede the word on which they depend. 
 
 10. The place where, comes next after the time when. 
 
 11. The imperative follows the noun which is its object ; Luke I. 3, 9. 
 13. The predicate is often at or near the close of the sentence. See 
 
 Mat. V. 1—13 verses. 
 
12 CHOCTAW GEA3I3IAE. 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
 GEAMMATICAL FORMS AND INFLECTIONS. 
 
 Parts of Speech. 
 
 There are in Choctaw nine sorts of words, or parts of speech, namely : 
 
 1. Article-pronouns, or post-positive particles. 
 
 2. Pronouns, or substitutes. 
 
 3. Verbs. 
 
 4. Prepositions, or pre-positive particles. 
 
 5. Nouns, or names. 
 
 6. Adjectives, or attributes. 
 
 7. Adverbs, or modifiers. 
 
 8. Conjunctions, or connectives. 
 
 9. Interjections, or exclamations. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 The Article-Peonouns. 
 
 § 1. This is the most diffioult part of Choctaw Grammar. The want of 
 separate words corresponding to the English articles, of the personal pro- 
 nouns in the third persons singular and plural, the relative pronouns 
 single and double, and the copulas, is much felt by Americans in studying 
 this language. The article-pronouns are used to supply these wants in a 
 great variety of ways. They do not always admit of a translation. They 
 often merely indicate the case of a word or clause. An accurate and full 
 explanation of them is not attempted. Only a few leading remarks and 
 rules are presented. 
 
 I 2. The use of the article-pronouns is for definite and distinctive speci- 
 fication, limitation, emphasis, and prominence, and to show the connection 
 and relation which one word, paragraph, or clause bears to another. 
 
 § 3. They are placed after nouns and pronouns with their attributes, 
 after verbs, adverbs, and their attributes, after prepositions and conjunc- 
 tions. They are definite, distinctive, and contradistinctive, subjective, 
 objective, and copulative. A part of speech can take more than one at 
 a time. 
 
 § 4. They may be translated by (1) the articles a, an, the, (2) the adjec- 
 tive pronouns one, ones, some, (3) the personal pronouns he, she, it, they, 
 in the nominative case, and him, her, it, them, in the oblique case, (4) the 
 
CHOCTAW aEASOIAE. 13 
 
 relatives wlio, which, what, that, in the nominative case, and whom, which, 
 what, that in the oblique case, (5) by the double relatives he who, she 
 who, that which, and they who, (6) and by the one who, the ones who, 
 and the ones whom. Often they are not to be translated in English. 
 
 § 5. The primary or ground fonns of the article-pronouns are a definite, 
 and o distinctive. They are used (1) as articles, (2) as personal pronouns 
 in the third persons singular and plural, (3) as relative pronouns, single 
 and double, in both numbers, (4) as adjective pronouns, (5) as copulas. 
 
 § <3. a is definite, and when used as an article is much like the English 
 article the, though it is also translated by a, or an. o is distinctive, and 
 corresponds to the indefinite a or an in English, or to the adjective pro- 
 nouns one, ones, some, a implies certain knowledge, while o ignores 
 of;her objects and does not make certain the objects it specifies otherwise 
 than that they belong to one species or kind, o is emphatic. Both are 
 used for specification, emphasis, and case. ' 
 
 § 7. In the oblique case nouns are sometimes found without either of 
 them. And when they are used, they may be rendered by either of the 
 articles, or as mentioned above. 
 
 § 8. The article-pronouns have (1) variations, and (3) modifications. 
 
 § 9. a Definite. 
 
 a may be varied by becoming v, e, or i. 
 
 It is modified by suffixing various letters, which alter its signification, 
 thus : 
 It adds t, to form the nominative case, at, vt, et, it; 
 a nasal sound, to form the oblique case, 5, i; 
 h, to form an affirmative (predicate definite), ah, it is the ; 
 h, and varies to e, to form an affirmative (predicate absolute), 
 
 eh, it is; 
 k, to form a determinate definite, ak, the, that; and kvt, ket, 
 
 kit;- 
 sh, to form a renewed mention definite, ash, vsh, the said, the 
 
 same; 
 mo, to form a renewed mention distinctive, amo, vmo, the ones. 
 
 I Dpjiniu and DisfiDf^tioe. —These two forms of speech run throug:h the whole language, and 
 moditsjLQt-onlj' acticlfiipronouns, nouns, verbs, and conjunctions, but even clauses and sentences. 
 Mr. Byington explains the double plural of the personal pronoun of the first person, common to 
 nearly all American languages, and generally linown as the exclusive plural (excluding the second 
 person) and inclusive plural (including the second person, with or without the third person), the 
 former as definite, the latter as distinctive. These plurals, he says, " correspond to n. definite and 
 o distinctive;" and of the separable personal pronouns, vno and sia, he says, "the difference be- 
 tween them is similar to that between a and o." The distinctive expresses in its broadest sense 
 the signification of the word or clause, but lends an emphasis which dintinguislmn it from any word 
 or clause of allied purport; the definite tlefin^ or limits the signification to some specific, known 
 word, individual, or act. Vno, T, distinctive, begins a sentence, the speaker being as yet vague ; 
 but as soon as the speaker is defined by a verb, adjective, or other qualifying word, the pronoun 
 changes to sia, T, definite. Vhli, definite, edge, limit, to be the edge or limit of anything, to bound 
 It; this signification is extended in the distinctive form ahli, to be the whole of anything, hence 
 to be true, truth. 
 
14 CHOCTAW GEA3IMAR. 
 
 It prefixes m in mvt, ma, mak, to express a simultaneous, or concomi- 
 tant objector act, the too; e. g. Luke XVI. 25, Svso ma! Son! (i. e. 
 thou, too, my son). 
 
 § 10. o Distinctive. 
 
 o is modified in a similar manner. 
 
 It adds sh, t, or cha, to form the nominative, osh, ot, ocha; 
 a nasal to fonn the obUque case, g, ona; 
 
 h, to form an affirmative (predicate distinctive), oh, that is so; 
 k, to form a determinate distinctive, ok, that one is so; 
 sh, to form a renewed mention distinctive, osh, the said ones; 
 mo, to form a renewed mention concomitant, orao, the said 
 
 ones, too; 
 kb, to form an optative, okb, oh, that it were so; 
 km, to form a conditional, okm, if it were so; 
 " ~^^ keh, to form an affirmative contradistinctive, okeh, it is so and 
 not otherwise; 
 t, cha, and na, to form connectives. 
 
 § 11. The definite and the distinctive are both used separately after one 
 subject, and then the definite follows the noun, and the distinctive its 
 modification. Thus John III. 1, Hatak vt Falisi yosh, a man who was a 
 Pharisee ; Luke X. 39, itibapishi hvt Meli hohchifo hosh, a sister whose 
 name was Mary. The distinctive may also be used first, and the definite 
 follow the modification ; Luke XL 37, ikfoka yvt yummak osh, the womb 
 that. 
 
 § 13. These two article-pronouns and their modifications combine with 
 each other to form the third class, the contkadistinctites. 
 
 § 13. The Contradistinctives. 
 
 The definite a in combination with the distinctive o : 
 
 at, et, vt, take o to form a contradistinctive a, to, eto, uto, nom. case. 
 
 a in the oblique case changes to an and takes o, ano, vno. 
 
 ak takes o to make the determinate contradistinctive, ako. 
 
 mak takes o to make a simultaneous or successive contradistinctive, 
 mako. 
 
 mvt in the nominative case takes o to form a contradistinctive, mvto. 
 
 ma in the oblique case becomes man, and takes o, mano. 
 
 ak becomes ok in ak ok, for intensity of specification. 
 
 mak takes ok in mak ok, for the same reason. 
 
 a takes mo to form a definite and indeclinable renewed mention in 
 recent past time, as Luke XVI. 13, achvfa kamo, the one. 
 
CHOCTAW GKAMJIAK. 15 
 
 The distinctive o in combination with the definite n : 
 
 ok takes vt in okvt, nom. case, contradistinctive. 
 
 ok takes a in oka, oblique case. 
 
 ok takes ah in okah, a distinctive and definite predicate. 
 
 ok takes eh in okeh, a distinctive and absolute predicate. 
 
 ok takes ato, vta, in okvta, nom. and okanto. 
 
 ok takes ano or vno in okvno, oblique case. 
 
 ok takes ak in okak, to double the definitive force of the pronoun. 
 
 ok ak takes the pronoun o in okakosh, okako, as a strong definite and 
 concessive, Mark XV. 31. 
 
 o takes mo in omo, renewed mention in the remote past tense, inde- 
 clinable. 
 
 § 14. The following table presents the values and significations of the 
 article-pronouns and their modifying particles, in a brief and compre- 
 hensive manner : 
 
 a, V, e, i, definite, implying knowledge of the thing, act or individual 
 named ; as, wak a, the cow, not a or some cow. 
 
 o, distinctive, generic, inxplying kind and ignoring other objects, but 
 not rendering the thing, act, or individual certain. It does not specify 
 particular objects, but merely distinguishes them ; as, wak o, a cow, not 
 a horse. 
 
 'ch, connective, and. 
 
 vh, predicative or affirmative, the sign of existence. 
 ' k, determinate or demonstrative, that, the. 
 ^•^ kb, optative, wishing it were so, oh that ; definite ; the distinctive form 
 is okb. 
 
 km, suppositive, conditional, or contingent, if, when, provided ; definite ; 
 the distinctive form is okm. 
 • m, successive, simultaneous, compellative, when, then, also, too, oh. 
 
 mo, renewed mention distinctive, the same, the said ; omo, remotely 
 past ; amo, recently past. 
 
 sh, renewed mention definite of recent past time. 
 
 shkeh, definite affirmation, it is. 
 
 okeh, distinctive affirmation, it is so and not otherwise. 
 
 t, connective, continuative, definite ; a copula, and. 
 
 y, euphonic. 
 
 a, o, i, nasals, objectives and copulas. 
 
 In order that these modifications may be more perfectly understood, 
 some further explanations of the most important of them are added. 
 
 § 15. h predicative, or affirmative. The verb of existence, to be, does 
 not occur in Choctaw, and this particle supplies its place. It is suffixed 
 to nouns, pronouns, infinitives, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunc- 
 tions, and article-pronouns, which end in a vowel, to form a proposition ; 
 
16 CHOCTAW GRAM3IAH. 
 
 when they end in a consonant, the consonant receives an accent called the 
 substantive verb accent. Examples : 
 
 vlla, a child. vllah, it is a child. 
 
 vno, I. vnoh, it is I. 
 
 takchi, to tie. takchih, he ties. 
 
 kvUo, strong. kvUoh, he is strong. 
 
 fehna, very. fehnah, it is very. 
 
 anukaka, within. anukakah, it is within. 
 
 minti, come. mintih, it is come. 
 
 mihma, and. mihmah, and it is. 
 
 a, the. ah, it is the. 
 
 o, a, one. oh, it is a, it is one. 
 
 he, will, shall. heh, it will be, it shall be. 
 
 hatak, man. hatak', it is a man. 
 
 chukvsh, heart. chukvsh', it is the heart. 
 
 "^ tvik, tok, was, has en. tuk', tok', it was, it has been. 
 
 This particle is not subject to any change for person, number, or gender. 
 Its place is at the end of a proposition. In such expressions as kuUo 
 fehnah, he is very strong, the h is removed from kuUoh, he is strong, to 
 the end of the sentence. When used with a verb and article-pronoun, it 
 is in printing often prefixed to the latter, instead of being suffixed to the 
 foi-mei', where it pi'operly belongs ; as, achi hokeh, for achih okeh, he 
 there says. 
 -^ § 16. k determinate. This particle limits with precision the word to 
 _ which it is joined, — just that much, no more, no less, and no other. Like 
 li, it is a suffix, although it is often written as a prefix of the following 
 word. Thus, ilvppvt achukma kvt yummak o i shahli hokeh, this in good- 
 ness is better than that, should be ilvppvt achukmak vt yummak o i 
 shahlih oke. The particle k is also used as a prefix to a vowel in the past 
 and future tenses of verbs in the negative forms, where it has reference to 
 the verb, in order to limit it in this form ; as, ik kvUo ke tuk, which 
 should be written, ik kvUok etuk. In renewed mention in remote past 
 time, k is changed to ch, as chash, chamo, for kash, kamo ; and in some 
 instances h and k are interchangeable, as nachi yim mikvt or nachi yim 
 mihvt, thy faith. 
 
 §17. in successive, simultaneous, compellative. This is a prefix, never 
 a suffix, of a. It may be translated after nouns by, the also, the too; and 
 after verbs by when, tlien, when then, then when. Examples : iyi ma, 
 the feet too ; vmoshi mvto, as for my uncle, he too ; aki mvno, as for ray 
 father, liim also. As a compellative it is prefixed to ah ; miko mah, a 
 king. It is prefixed to ak to make a definite expression that something is 
 just now gone before, or will next follow, or is now passing; as, ia lih mak 
 okeh, I am going now. 
 -J § 1^' The form slikell. The absolute article-pronoun termination 
 shkeh is definite, and follows verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in the present 
 and future tenses, and the pronouns sia, chia, I, thou, etc. 
 
 ia lish keh, I go, absolutely, present tense, I am going, I am off. 
 ia lash keh, I shall go, I will go, let me go, let me off. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 17 
 
 The distinctive foim is seen in ia li liok eh, I go instead of doing some- 
 thing else ; ia lish, I go, and k that, eh, it is ; ia la chi shk eh, go I will 
 and that it is; ia lashke, indefinite and remote future for ia la heslike. 
 
 § 19. The conditional foims kin definite, and oBi.lll distinctive. 
 
 The definite conditional is formed from k determinate and suffix of a 
 ■word, and m a, successive and prefix of a, kma. Luke XII. 53; ia lih, I 
 go; ia lik, a determinate act; ia lik ma, when I go then. 
 
 The distinctive conditional is made by the pronoun o before k in okm ; 
 ia 11 hokma, if I go, suppose I go; km and okm take the definite a with 
 its modifications. 
 
 § 20. The optative forms kb definite and okb distinctive. These par- 
 ticles form the optative mood, by prefixing the infinitive of the verb. 
 "Y :§21. Y is used as a prefix to a and o. It is euphonic after the vowels 
 a, i, o, and before a and o; vUa yvt, vUa yosh, ushi yvt, in place of vlla vt 
 vlla osh, vshi vt. 
 
 g 22. The definite article-pronoun of comparison or contrast. This is 
 used to specify objects either as inferior or superior to otjiers when placed 
 in contrast, corresponding to the phrases "how much more," "how much 
 less," especially with definite and pointed emphasis. The simple form is 
 het in the nominative, and hi in the oblique case. But these are not in 
 use. The compound forms only are used. 
 
 Nom. case, ak het, mak het, okak het. 
 
 Oblique case, ak hi, mak hi, okak hi. 
 
 Contradistinctive form. 
 
 Nom. case, ak heto, mak heto, okak heto. 
 
 Oblique case, ak heno, mak heno, okak heno. 
 Conditional form. 
 
 Nom. case, k mak het Oblique case, k mak hi 
 
 ok mak het ok mak hi 
 
 k mak heto k mak heno 
 
 ok mak heto. ok mak heno. 
 
 Examples of the use of these pronouns where a contrast is expressed 
 may be found in John III. 30, hokakheto. Mat. XXIII. 36, yokakheto, 1 
 John V. 9, 2 Cor. III. 8, 9, Luke X. 35, John VIII. 4. 
 
 § 23. GrENEEAL TABLE OF DeCLEXSIONS OF THE 
 
 Article-Pronouns. 
 
 The definite: 
 
 Nom. case, at, vt, et, it. 
 
 Oblique case, j, i, i. 
 The distinctive: 
 
 Nom. case, osh, ot, ocha. 
 
 Oblique case, o, o, ona. 
 The contradistinctive: 
 
 Nom. case, ato, vto, eto, heto, anto, atoha. 
 
 Oblique case, ano, vno, eno, heno, ano, anoha. 
 
18 CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 
 
 Or ill one table : 
 Norn, case, at, vt, et, it, hetr osh, ot, oelia; ato, vto, eto, heto; anto, atoha. 
 Oblique case, a, a, i, i, hi; o, o, ona; ano, vno, eno, heno; ano, anoba. 
 
 § 24. Translation of the Article-Pronouns, and their 
 Modifications. 
 
 a definite. Wben a immediately follows a noun it may generally 
 be translated by tbe article, or else omitted. When any verb is under- 
 stood in connection with a noun, a should be translated by a relative pro- 
 noun; as, Atvm ak osh hatak moma i tikba hatok, Adam be was of all men 
 the first of them he was ; Adam the one who of all men was the first. 
 When a modifying word or words follow the noun, jhejgajticle comes la gt; 
 as, miko vt mintih, the king comes; miko g. pisah, the king he sees (regem 
 videt); miko chito vt mintih, the great king comes; miko chito g, pisah, he 
 sees the great king. The particle follows pronouns and designates their 
 _cases, vno vt, I; vno a, me. 
 
 § 35. o distinctive. When it follows nouns it denotes them as un- 
 known; nvni clraha yo, a mountain; the particular mountain is not known, 
 but it is made a distinctive object, a mountain and not a plain, or other 
 place. The difference between a and o may be seen in Mat. XVII. 1, 
 and 9, nvnih ohalia yo, a mountain; nvnih chaha ya, the mountain. It has 
 an emphatic and prominent meaning in such sentences as Gal. IV. 3, Pal 
 sia hosh, I, Paul; Acts VIII. 30, Cliihowa yosh nan ima ya, the gift of 
 God; Acts V. 4, hatak o, men. Like a, it is rendered by the personal pro- 
 nouns in both oases and numbers, he, she, it, they, him, her, it, them, 
 and by the relative and double pronouns. It has a contradistinctive sense 
 in such expressions as Mat. XXV. 3, bila yano, as for the oil, in distinction 
 V from the lamps. It is used after verbs, and with some conjunctions, to 
 render a distinct reason for an action; as, Luke XI. 37, ont chukowa cha, 
 impa chi hosh binili tok, he came in and sat down for to eat. It has a 
 concessive sense when combined with the particles ok ak ; as, yohmi 
 hokak o, although it is so. 
 
 Sometimes the article-pronouns are used to translate the articles a 
 and the, and sometimes they are used in Choctaw where the articles do 
 not occur in English. Some examples from Mark I. will illustrate this. 
 The beginning, vmmouak vt; the gospel, vbanumpa; the son of Jehovah, 
 Chihowa ushi; the way, ataya ya; the river of Jordan, Chatan okhina yako; 
 John, Chanvt; Jordan, Chatan ako; Jesus, Chisvs vt; a girdle, vskofvchi 
 yo; water, oka yo; the water, oka ya; a voice, anumpa hvt; the angels, 
 enchel vhleha hosh; the sea, ok hota; the ship, peni ash; fishers of men, 
 hatak hokli yo; the unclean spirit, shUombish okpulo ash osh; the unclean 
 spirits, shilombish okpulo hak. 
 
 Matth. XV. 38: Mihma okla impa tuk vt, olioyo vUa aiena hokvto asha 
 ho, hatak 4000 ushta tok; And they that did eat were 4000 men, beside 
 women and children. Here vt makes those who ate definite, while ho 
 makes the women and children distinctive and objective. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 19 
 
 Acts IX. 6. nanta hak o katiohmila hi a? What wilt thouliaveme do? 
 is definite; but, Acts XXII. 10: nanta ko katiohmi la chi ho? is distinc- 
 tive. 
 
 § 26. Table of Teanslatioks of the Article-Peonouns. 
 
 1. Nominative case, as articles; 
 
 1. Definite, at vt, et, it, a, the. 
 
 2. Distinctive, osh, ot, ocha, a, an, the one. 
 
 3. Nona, case, as personal pronouns; 
 1. Definite, at, vt, et, it, he, she, it, they, 
 
 3. Distinctive, osh, ot, ocha, he, she, it, they. 
 
 3. Nom. case, as relative pronouns; 
 Definite, at, vt, et, it, who, which, what, that, 
 
 4. Nom. case, as double pronouns; 
 
 1. Definite, at, vt, et, it, he who, she who, that which, they who, 
 3. Distinctive, osh, ot, ocha, the one who, some who, the ones who, any 
 one, some one, some who. 
 
 5. Renewed mention; 
 
 1. Definite, ash, the, the said, the aforesaid. 
 
 3. Distinctive, ok, ak, osh, the one, any one who, 
 
 6. Contradistinctive; 
 
 1. Distinctive, conipound, ato, vto, eto, he as for, she as for, it as for, 
 they as for (he as for him, etc). 
 
 3. Definite compound, okvto, they which, such as they. See I(uke VII, 
 35, XII. 4. 
 
 7. Definite distinctives; 
 
 ak osh, he the one who, she the one who, it the one which, they^ the 
 ones who, they who and not others. 
 
 8. Distinctive definite; 
 ok vt, he, she, it, they particularly. 
 
 9. Renewed mention distinctive; 
 
 ash, osh, the said he, the said she, the said they. Luke VII, 80, liatak 
 ash ot. 
 
 10. Conditional; 
 
 1. Definite, kmvt, if the, when the, if he, if she. 
 
 2. Distinctive, okmvt, if it were he then, etc, 
 
 3. Contradistinctive, okmvto, if then as for him, etc. 
 
 11. Oblique case, as articles; 
 1. Definite, a, i, a, an, the. 
 
 3. Distinctive, o, ona, a, the, any, some. 
 
 13. Oblique case, as personal pronouns; 
 1. Definite, a, i, him, her, it, them. 
 3. Distinctive, o, ona, him, her, it, them. 
 
 13. Relative pronouns; 
 Definite, g.) ii whom, which, what. 
 
 3 
 
■20 CHOCTAW GKAMMAR. 
 
 14. Double pronouns; 
 
 1. Definite, a, i, him whom, her wliom, those whom. 
 
 2. Distinctive, o, ona, tlie one whom. 
 
 15. Renewed mention; 
 ash, the said. Luke VII. 19, Chan ash ot. 
 
 16. Definite and distinctive; 
 ok ak o, the one whom, any one whom. 
 
 17. Contradistinctives; 
 ano, vno, eno, as for him, lier, it, tliem. 
 kvno, mvno, okvno. 
 
 18. Definite distinctive; 
 
 ak o, the one whom, lie whom, those whom and not otliers. ak ok, 
 Luke VIII. 13. 
 
 19. Distinctive definite; 
 aka, him, her, them. 
 
 30. Renewed mention distinctive; 
 ash o, the said. 
 
 31. Conditional; 
 
 1. Definite, kma, if him, if her, if it, if them.- Luke XII. 53. 
 
 3. Distinctive, okma, if so. 
 
 1. Definite, km vno, if him, etc., wliat then. 
 
 2. Distinctive, okmvno, if so what then. 
 
 31. Comparative forms; 
 
 1 . Nom. ak het, particularly lie, slie, it, you, I, or they. 
 
 2. Oblique, ak hi, particularly him, her, it, you, me, or them. 
 
 23. Predicative form; 
 1. Definite, ah, eh, he is, she is, it is, they are. 
 
 3. Distinctive, oh. 
 
 1. Definite and final, shkeh, it is. 
 
 3. Distinctive and final, okeli, it is so and in no otlier way. 
 33. Ancient and sonorous forms; 
 
 ocha, hocha, yocha. ona, hona, yona. 
 
 katoha. kanolia. 
 
 okakanto. okakano. 
 
 okakocha. akakona. 
 
 These were formerly used by the orators at the public assemblies, but 
 are now almost obsolete.' 
 
 The compound forms often admit of both the articles, the pronouns, 
 and the relatives, in their translation; alam okash, he the one who; 
 nukhaklo vkleha yokvto, the last word being composed of y euphonic, o 
 distinctive, k demonstrative, a definite (vai'ied to v), t connective, and o 
 
 1 In fonner times there was a well known solemn stj'le which abounded In sonorous words. One 
 partof a sentence was nicely balanced by another, and In delivery a chanting or metrical intonation 
 was used. At the close of each paragraph the orator would invite the people to listen, who would 
 In turn indicate approval by crying out yvmmah I It is that! (or "that's so"); andvlpheaa! It la 
 right! The most frequent peculiarity of the style was the lengthened pronominal suffixes, as for 
 instance, Nanta hocha? Whatislt? Nana hona. something. {Byington MSS). 
 
CHOCTAW GKAJIJIAIl. 21 
 
 fuial, and is iu form a contrfwiistinctive, "the merciful, they who are so, 
 as for them, tliey." 
 
 § 37. Position of the article-pronouns. 'Clie_article -and -pers_pnal pro- 
 nouns^generaUy follow nouns and their attributes. The relatives follow 
 pffinojins, jerbs and their attributes; vno vt, I who, ia li tulc vt, I who 
 went I, Svso ilvppvt ilh tuk o^, falamvt okohaya hoke, Luke XV. 24. 
 
 The article-pronouns are moveable, and may be transferred from the 
 logical to the grammatical subject, in order that they may retain their 
 character as sufflxes. 
 
 In the tenses, the article-pronouns may either precede the particle by 
 vfhioh the tense is indicated, as, a tok, etok, itok, achi, or follow it, as, a- 
 tuk a, a tok g, a chik a, a tuk o, a tok o (literally, a, he; tok, past tense 
 particle, did; o, it; he did it); anta la chi hatuk oke, Luke XIX. 5, I must 
 abide; hlvpi sabvnnah a tuk, salt I wanted it was, it was salt that I wanted, 
 h predicative, a a relative pronoun. 
 
 § 28. Change of case. A peculiarity in the use of the article-pronoun 
 with nouns is that the nominative case changes to the obhque case when 
 another subject is introduced. For example, Matthew XIII. 4, Atuk osh 
 hokchi ma na nUii kanimi kvt hina lapaUka yo kaha tok; atuk o hushi 
 puta kvt ant vpvt tahli tok. Here osh, nom. he (the sower), is changed to 
 ma, obUque, before na nihi kanimi kvt, another subject (some of the seed) ; 
 and this latter nominative becomes atuk o, oblique, before the next sub- 
 ject, hushi puta kvt, (the fowls). 
 
 § 29. Use of the Article-Pronoun with Nouns. 
 
 In connection with nouns, the article-pronouns indicate case, and may 
 thus be regarded a^s forming a sort of declension. For example: 
 hatak, man, men. 
 Nom. case. Oblique case, 
 
 hatak okvt, the man, as a man. hatak amo, the said, the same man. 
 
 hatak okvto, the man, as for the man. hatak oka, as a man, a man. 
 hatak okmvto, when the men they. hatak okvno, the men they, 
 hatak ash osh, men the said. hatak okmvno, if men then, 
 
 peni, a boat, boats. 
 peni vt, the boat, a boat, 
 peni o, a boat, some boat, 
 peni mvt, the boat also, a boat too, or also, 
 peni vto, peni anto, as for the boat, contradistinctive. 
 peni mvto, as for the boat, also, then, 
 peni amo, the said boat. 
 
 peni osh, a boat, one boat, the boats, some boats, 
 peni a tuk, peni ya tok, the boat which was. 
 peni a chi, the boat which will be. 
 peni a hinla, the boat which can be. 
 Example: Luke XVII. 32, Lat tekohi a tok a hvsh ithaiyanashke, she 
 who was the wife of Lot, her remember. 
 
22 
 
 CHOCTAW GRAMMAE. 
 
 § 30. Tabulab List of Article-Pbonouns.' 
 
 
 Definite fonns. 
 
 Distmcti 
 
 Subjective. 
 
 
 Objective. 
 
 Subjective. 
 
 at, vt, et 
 
 , it, 
 
 ish 
 
 a, i 
 
 osh 
 
 vto, ato 
 
 
 
 ano, vno 
 
 okvt 
 
 mvt 
 
 
 
 ma 
 
 okmvt 
 
 mvto 
 
 
 
 mvno 
 ak, mak, 
 
 okbat 
 okbato 
 
 kmvt 
 
 
 
 kma 
 
 omo 
 
 km vto 
 
 
 
 kmak 
 
 
 kbat 
 
 
 
 kba 
 
 
 cba 
 
 
 
 na 
 
 
 amo 
 
 
 
 amo 
 
 
 11 sh 
 
 
 
 li 
 
 Neither subjeoti 
 
 h 
 
 eh 
 
 akok 
 
 mak 
 
 km 
 
 Finals, or verb s 
 h, eh, 
 slikeh 
 ah 
 
 ve nor objective. 
 
 ok 
 
 ok ak 
 
 okm 
 
 okmak 
 
 okvmo, okamo 
 
 ochosli. 
 ubstantive forms. 
 
 hokeh 
 oh 
 
 Objective. 
 
 o 
 
 oka 
 
 okma 
 
 okbeh 
 
 okbano 
 
 omo 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 Pbonouns. 
 
 § 1. The pronouns are divided into tvro classes, separable and inseparar- 
 ble. Separable pronouns are independent words. Inseparable pronouns 
 are fragmentary words, and are all prefixed to other words, except U, I, 
 wliich is suffixed. ^ 
 
 I. Sepakable Pronouks.' \ 
 
 § 2. These are of four classes, 1, distinctive personal; 2, definite per- 
 sonal; 3, possessive; 4, personal-and-possessive. 
 
 I Subjective and Objective.— 'these expressions are used by Mr. Byington rather in their logical than 
 their grammatical sense, and must be so undcrstoodiln this Table. The list here given is evidently 
 not complete, but It Is accurately copied from his latest revision. 
 
CHOCTAW GKAMMAE. 23 
 
 1. The distinctive, or emphatic personal. 
 Simple form. "With h predicative. 
 
 vno, I, me, mine. vnoh, it is I, it is mine. 
 
 chishno, thou, thee, thine. chishnoh, it is thou, thine. 
 
 pishno, we, us, our (def). pishnoh, it is we, ours. 
 
 hvppishno, we, us, our (dis). hvpishnoh, it is we, ours. 
 
 hvcliishno, you, yours. hvchishnoh, it is you, yours. 
 
 § 3. These pronouns are used in the nominative, oblique, and possessive 
 cases for all genders, without change of form. Their case is shown hy_the 
 article-pronouns, which they take for speclficatiou^^emphasis, and case, 
 They are prominent, generally standing at the beginning of a sentence 
 without an antecedent, and are rej)eated by the inseparable pronouns 
 which follow in the same clause or sentence. They are nasalized with 
 some of the article-pronouns; as, vno vto, vnonto, as for me; vno ak osh, 
 I the one who, but vnijk osh, I being the one who. 
 
 Note. — ^The first person plural has two forms. The first is the definite 
 or exclusive plural, and does not include all who are present, but only a 
 fixed number. The second is the distinctive or inclusive plural, and em- 
 braces the speaker and all who are present, but ignores all others. All 
 personal and possessive pi-onouns have this double plural. ' 
 3. The definite Personal. 
 Simple form. With h predicative. 
 
 sia, I, me. siah, I am. 
 
 chia, thou, thee. chiah, thou art. 
 
 pia, we, (def.) us. piah, we are. 
 
 hvpia, we, (dis.) us. hvpiah, we are. 
 
 hvchia, you. hvchiah, you are. 
 
 These pronouns generally have an antecedent, either a noun, or the dis- 
 tinctive personal pronoun, or both. They may be in the nominative or 
 obUque case, which is denoted by the article-pronoun which follows them. 
 
 § 4. The. personal pronouns in the third person, singular and plural, are 
 wanting. They are supplied by a gesture, or by other pronouns; as, 
 ilvppa, this; yvmma, that; ilap, he, she, it, his, her, its; mill, he, she, it, 
 they, the same, the said; okla, people. "When no pronoun is expressed, 
 the third person is understood. 
 
 ^ I have here retained Mr. Byington's deflnition, but I have no doubt the Choctasv double plural 
 is similar to that of other American tongues. The first plural, definite or exclusive, excludes the 
 second person ; the-second, distinctive or inclusive plural, includes the second person, and may or 
 may not, include the third person. Thus the Indians in spealiing to the whites, would say pishno, 
 we (exciuding the hearers), but to those of their own nation, hvpishno (including the hearers). 
 The terms exclusive and inclusive to designate this distinction were, I thinli, first Introduced by 
 Father Holguin, in his G-rammatica y Arte Nveva de la Lengva Qquichua (Uiudad de los Keyes, 1607), 
 and he calls attention to the fact that when used with verbs, the distinction refers to the action 
 of the verb: "mas no se toma con verbos, por razon del pronombre, como aqui [where the pro- 
 nouns are independent], sino por la significacion del verbo, si es en todos o no ygual, o si se excluyen 
 de la accion del verbo, o de su significacion. aquellos con qulen se habla " (fol. 12 recto). In the 
 Grammar 0/ t}ic Dalmta Language^. 9, the Kev. Mr. Rlggs defines the inclusive as a dual {land 
 thou), the correctness of which I doubt, as it may also mean / and you, or We and you. Equally 
 erroneous is Mr. Du Ponceau's comparison of the exclusive plural with nuue autres. In French 
 (Langues SauvageB de VAmerique duIford,p. 155), because nous auWee does not necesBarlly exclude the 
 hearers. 
 
24 CHOCTAW GBAM3IAK. 
 
 § 5. Examples of the use of the definite and distinctive personal pro- 
 nouns : Acts X. 36, vno ak kia hatak sia akinli hoke, / am also a man; 
 Mat. XIV. 37, vno ash sia hoke, it is /; Luke XVIII. 13, nan ashvchi sia 
 hoka, for I am a sinner; Exodus XX. 3, vno ak osh Chin Chitokaka Chi- 
 
 howah sia hosh Echip yakni a chi kokchi li tuk oke, I am the Lord 
 
 thy God which have brought the out of the laud of Egypt, vno I distinc- 
 tive, sia I definite. 
 
 6. The possessive. 
 Simple form. With h predicative. 
 
 vmmi, mine. vmmih, it is mine. 
 
 chimmi, thine. cliirnmih. it is thine. 
 
 immi, his, hers. i. immih, it is his, hers. 
 
 pimmi, ours (def ). pimmih, it is ours. 
 
 hvpimmi, ours (dis). hvpimmih, it is ours. 
 
 hvchimmi, yours. hvchimmih, it is yours. 
 
 immi, theirs. immih, it is theirs. 
 
 The reciprocal forms of this pronoun are : ittimmi, each other' s ; ittimmih, 
 
 they are each other's, singular and plural. 
 
 § 7. Personal-and-possessive pronouns. 
 
 Simple form. "With h predicative. 
 
 Definite, ilap, The, she, it, and ilapahl .,.,., ., ,, . 
 
 ., , . , ■ , 1 • -1 , 1 it IS his, ners, its, theirs, 
 
 ilapa < his, hers, its, his ovm, ilapah ( „+„ 
 
 Distinctive, ilapo I they, theirs, their own. ilapoh J 
 
 The first and second persons are formed by prefixing inseparable per- 
 sonal pronouns; thus: 
 
 salap, I myself, me myself, 
 chilap, thou thyself, thee thyself, 
 pilap, we, us, ourselves (def). 
 livpilap, we, us, ourselves (dis). 
 hvchilap, you yourselves. 
 And to these again the inseparable possessive pronouns may be suffixed; 
 thus : 
 Def. ilapi, ilapim, ilapin, his own, her own, their own. 
 Dis. ilapoi, ilapoim, ilapoin, his own, etc. 
 
 Examples: Mark I. 34, ilapa okla ithana liatuk o, because they knew 
 Mmy Mat. X. 33, vno ak kia ilapa, I also him; .John XIII. 3, ilap ak o 
 ibbak ij, his hands. 
 
 § 8. The separable pronouns are the same for all genders, as are also all 
 
 other pronouns, nouns, and verbs. They take the article-pronouns for the 
 
 purpose of specification, emphasis and case. They can all take the inten- 
 
 y sive pronoun inli, self; e. g.: vno inli, I myself too; sia hak inli, ilap ak 
 
 inli, etc. 
 
 ir. Inseparable Pronouns. 
 
 § 9. These are of seven. classes, 1, subjective-personal, 3, objective-per- 
 sonal, 8, objective-possessive, 4, reflexive, 5, reciprocal personal, 6, recip- 
 
CHOCTAW GEAMIIAE. 25 
 
 rocral possessive, 7, the marriage or sacred pronoun. They are always 
 prefixed (except li, I,) to the words with which they are in concord, and 
 are never used alone. 
 
 § 10 The subjective-personal. ^ 
 
 Affirmative form. Negative form, 
 
 li (a suffix, ) I. ak, I not. 
 
 ish, is, thou. • chik, thou not. 
 
 e, il, we (def). ik, he, she, it not. 
 
 eho, iloh, we (dis). ke, kil, we not. 
 
 hvsh, hvs, you. heloh, kiloh, we not. 
 
 hvchik, you not. 
 ik, they not. 
 E and eho stand before consonants, il and iloh before vowels. The 
 third persons are wanting in the affinnative form. Li is the only one of 
 the subjective personals that takes tlie article-pronouns. 
 
 § 11. These pronouns are used in the nominative case with transitive, 
 intransitive, neuter, __and passive verbs. "When used with neuter and 
 passive verbs they imply an active state, signification, being, or condition. 
 .Examples: 
 
 Transitive verbs, tackchi, to tie. 
 
 takchih, he ties it (h predicative), 
 takchihlh, I tie it. 
 ish takchih, thou tiest it. 
 Intransitive verbs, nowa, to walk. 
 
 nowa lih, I walk. 
 Neuter verbs, nusi, to sleep. 
 
 nuse Uh, I sleep. 
 Passive verbs, holitopa, to be honored, 
 
 holitopalih, I get honor. 
 When these pronouns are used with neuter and passive verbs, the sub- 
 ject of the proposition is active. 
 
 These pronouns are rendered as possessives by changing tlie verbs to 
 nouns; as, apehlichi, to rule there; apehchi lih, I rule there; apelichi li, 
 my kingdom; ish apeliclii, thy kingdom; it aiashvchi, our sins; itti bapishi 
 li Sal mah, my brother Saul (from itti bapishi, to suck the breast together). 
 § 13. The objective personal. ^ / (^ •_< i ; ,; ■; 
 
 Affirmative form. Negative form. 
 
 s, sa, sv, sai, si, I, me, my. iks, ik sa, ik sv, ik sai, ik so, not me. 
 chi, ch, thou, thee, thy. ik chi, ik ch, not thee. 
 
 wanting ik, not him, not her. 
 
 pi, p, we, us our (def). ik pi, ik p, not us. 
 
 hvpi, hvp, we us our (dis). ik hvpi, ik hvp, not us. 
 
 hvchi, hvch, you, your. ik hvchi, ik hvch, not you. 
 
 wanting ik, not them. 
 
 § 13. These forms are used where by the pronoun no action is implied. 
 They are not in the nominative case, although in common conversation 
 
26 CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 
 
 they are thus translated. They should be treated as in the oblique case. 
 
 They are used as subjective, objective, or possessive pronouijs, and are pre- 
 
 flxed_to transitive, passive, and neuter verbs, to those nouns vjrhich pertain 
 
 to one's person, to the various members, and to near family relatives. 
 
 Examples: 
 
 Transitive verbs: chi pesah, he sees thee. 
 
 hvchi hakloh, he hears you. 
 Passive verbs: chi tallakchih, bound thee it is. 
 
 Neuter verbs: chi abekah, thee sick be. 
 
 chi achukmah, thee good be. 
 
 sa yonhah, me fever be. 
 Names of members, and relatives: sa nushkoboh, my head, me head, it is. 
 
 sa chukvsh', it is my heart. 
 
 svsoh, it is my son. 
 
 satekcliih, it is my vcife. 
 
 svpvfv, my dog, it is my family dog. 
 
 sabaiyih, it is my nephew, 
 
 subbitek', it is my niece. 
 The h predicative, or its accent ', will be observed at the end of these 
 
 sentences. 
 
 § 14. The objective possessive. 
 
 Affirmative form. 
 
 a, am, vm, vmi, an, sa, sam, sum, sumi, san, my, of me, to me, for me, 
 
 from me, &c, 
 chi, chim, cliimi, chin, of thee, etc. 
 
 i, im, imi, in, of him, her, it, 
 
 pi, pim, pimi, pin, of our (def), 
 
 hvpi, hvpim, hvpimi, hvpin, of our (dis). 
 
 hvchi, hvchim, hvchimi, hvchin, of your. 
 
 i, im, imi, in. of their. 
 
 Negative form, 
 ik sa, iksam, iksvm, ik san, not of me, not to me, not for me. 
 
 ik chi, ikchim, ikcliin, not of the, etc. 
 
 ik i, ik im, ikin, not of him, her, it, etc, 
 
 ik pi, ikpim, ikpin, not of us. 
 
 ik hvpi, ikhvpim, iklivpin, not of us. 
 
 ik hochi, ikhvchim, ikhvchin, not of you. 
 
 ik i, ikim, ikin, not of them. 
 
 § 15. This class of pronouns is used where there is an acquisition and 
 possession, but not an implied ownership as a part of the thing spoken of. ' 
 Thus; g, shapo, my hat (French, chapeau); vmissuba, my horse; an chuka, 
 my house, are things acquired and possessed; but sanuslikobo, niy head; 
 svbbak, my hand; are integral parts of my person. A few nouns relating 
 to the person take the possessive pronouns; as, vmiskonata foni, my col- 
 lar-bone; vm uksak foni, my ankle bone. 
 
 1 An analogous lUflerence occurs In construction in the Algonkln dialects : " Les 6tres qui tiennent 
 leur manlAre d'etre du Cr6ateur, prennent la marque du possessif, Les etres qui tiennent leur 
 manifire d'gtre de rhomme ne le prennent pas." Etudes Fhilologiqttcs sur quelquen Lanr/unn Snrt- 
 vagps tie V Amenqxte, p. 44. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. '27 
 
 § 16. These pronouns are prefixed tojipiins_andjverbs, transitive, in- 
 transitive, passive, and neuter. Before nouns they may be translated, of 
 him, of her, in the singular, and of them in the plural; as, Chan inchuka, 
 John of him house, John's house ; Chan micha Cliemis in chuka, John 
 and James's house, or houses, for them, of them, etc. 
 
 Before transitive and intransitive verbs they may be rendered by to, for, 
 from, or of him, of lier, of them; as, in chumpah, he buys for or from him, 
 her, or them; i kanchih, he sells to him, or for him, or them; im ia lih, I 
 go for him, imonah, she goes to him; pirn vlah, he comes to us, or for us. 
 Before passive and neuter verbs they may be translated by of him, for 
 him, to him; or, by I, thou, he. Examples: 
 
 Passive verbs, intvUakchih, she is bound for him. 
 i boa, it is beaten for him. 
 im patafah, it is plowed for him. 
 Neuter verbs, i kulloh, he is hard to him. 
 
 im achukmah, he, she, it is good to him. 
 im puttah, they are all for him, all his. 
 in tonlah, it lies for him. 
 im ashah, they sit for him. 
 im ahobah, it seems to him. 
 
 § 17. The reflexive. 
 
 Tills is ille, iU, he himself, she herself, etc. It is used vrhere the subject 
 and object are the same. Example: 
 
 ille takchi, to tie himself or herself. 
 Affirmative forms. 
 
 iUe takchih Uh, I tie myself. 
 
 ish Ule takchih, thou tiest thyself. 
 
 ille takchih, he ties himself, she, it, etc. 
 
 il ille takchih, we tie ourselves (def ). 
 
 iloh Ule takchih, we tie ourselves (dis). 
 
 hvsh iUe takchih, you tie yourselves. 
 
 ille takchih, they tie themselves. 
 
 Negative forms. 
 
 ak nie takchoh, I do not tie myself. 
 
 chik iUe takchoh, thou dost not tie thyself. 
 
 ik ille takchoh, he, she, does not tie himself, herself. 
 
 kil Ule takchoh, •, ^^ ^^ ^„t tie ourselves. 
 
 kiloh ille takchoh, ) 
 
 hvchik iUe takchoh, you do not tie yourselves. 
 
 ik ille takchoh, they do not tie themselves. 
 
 § 18. The reciprocal-personal. 
 
 This is itti, itt; the former before a consonant, the latter before a vowel. 
 They are used where the subject and object both being either in the nom- 
 
 4 
 
28 
 
 CHOCTAW GEAMMAE. 
 
 itti takchilih, 
 ish itti takohih, 
 itti takohih, 
 il itti takohih, 
 iloh itti takohih, 
 hvsh itti takohih, 
 itti halvllih, 
 
 inative or oblique oase mutually aot on each other; as, itti takohih, to tie 
 eaoh other together. Examples : 
 
 I tie him together with me. 
 
 thou tiest him together with thyself. 
 
 he, she, it, they tie eaoh other together. 
 
 we tie each other together, (def). 
 (dis). 
 
 you tie each other together. 
 
 they pull each other. 
 § 19. Reciprocal possessive . 
 This is itti, ittim, ittin, of, to, for, from eaoh other; as, itti halvlU, they 
 pull from or against each other. Both these and the preceding class, 
 unite with the subjective personal inseparable pronouns. 
 § 30. The marriage or sacred pronoun. 
 This is ho before consonants, oh before vowels. It is used in the first, 
 second, and third persons singular, and the second and third persons 
 plural, as a substitute for son-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, their 
 brothers, sisters, and cousins. It has no variation to express number, 
 oase, or gender. It is limited in use to the persons whose relationship is 
 created by marriage; except the husband and wife. It is going out of use, 
 as well as the ancient usages about marriage, especially that which re- 
 quired the mother-in-law and son-in-law to avoid each other. The use of 
 this pronoun may be compared to the emphatic lie or she, with which the 
 master or mistress of the house is sometimes referred to in English; as, 
 when he comes back, meaning father, or husband. The father says to his 
 son-in-law, vmissuba ik hopeso, has he not seen my horse? oh ia lib, I 
 went with him; ho mintilUi, I come with him, or her; oh ant ik sapeso ka 
 hiulah? will he not come to see me? 
 
 § 21. Combinations of the six classes of inseparable pronouns with the 
 verb pisa, or pesa, to see. 
 
 1. The subjective and objective personal. 
 
 Negative form, 
 ak chi pesoh, 
 
 Affipaative form, 
 chi pesa lih, 
 pisa lib, 
 hvchi pesa lih, 
 pisa lih, 
 issa pesah, 
 ish pisah, 
 ish pi pesah, 
 ish pisah, 
 sa pesah, 
 chi pesah, 
 pisah, 
 pilpesah, 
 hvchi ipesah, 
 
 I see thee, 
 
 I see him, her, or it, 
 
 I see you, 
 
 I see them, 
 
 thou seest me, 
 
 thou seest him, her, 
 
 thou seest us, 
 
 thou seest them, 
 
 he sees me, 
 
 he sees thee, 
 
 he sees him, her, it, 
 
 he sees us, 
 
 he or she sees thee, 
 
 it, 
 
 ak pesoh, 
 ak hvchi pesoh, 
 ak pesoh, 
 chik sa pesoh, 
 chik pesoh, 
 chik pi pesoh, 
 chik pesoh; 
 ik sa pesoh, 
 ik chi pesoh, 
 ik pesoh, 
 ik pi pesoh, 
 ik hvchi pesoh, 
 
CHOCTAW GEAIIMAE. 
 
 29 
 
 Affirmative form. 
 
 pisah, 
 
 e chi pesah, 
 
 e pisah, 
 
 eho pisah, 
 
 e hvchi pesah, 
 
 e hohvchi pisah, 
 
 e pisah, 
 
 hvs sa pesah, 
 
 hvsh pisah, 
 
 hvsh pi pesah, 
 
 hvsh pisah, 
 
 sa pesah, 
 
 chi pesah, 
 
 pisah, 
 
 pi pesah, 
 
 hvchi pesah. 
 
 he or she sees them, 
 
 we see tliee, 
 
 we see him, lier, it, 
 
 we see ourselves (dis.), 
 
 we see you, 
 
 we (all present) see you, 
 
 we see them, 
 
 ye see me, 
 
 ye see him, her, it, 
 
 ye see us, 
 
 ye see them, 
 
 they see me, 
 
 they see thee, 
 
 they see him, her, it, 
 
 they see us, 
 
 they see you, 
 
 they see them. 
 
 Negative form, 
 ik pesoh, 
 ke chi peso, 
 ke pesoh, 
 ke ho pesoh, 
 ke hvchi pesoh, 
 ke hohvchi pesoh, 
 ke pesoh, 
 hvchik sa pesoh, 
 hvchik pesoh, 
 hvchik pi pesoh, 
 hvchik pesoh, 
 ik sa pesoh, 
 ik chi pesoh, 
 ik pesoh, 
 ik pi pesoh, 
 ik hvchi pesoh, 
 ik pesoh. 
 
 Subjective personal and reflexive. 
 
 Negative. 
 
 ak ille pesoh. 
 
 Affirmative, 
 
 ille pis alih, I see myself, 
 
 ish ille pisah, thou seest thyself, 
 
 ille pisah, he, etc., sees himself, 
 
 il iUe pisah, we see ourselves (def.), 
 
 eloh iile pisah, we see ourselves (dis.), 
 
 hvsh ille pisah, you see yourselves, 
 
 ille pisah, they see themselves, 
 
 Ille occasionaBy takes a locative and drops e 
 like to himself. 
 
 3. Subjective, objective, and reciprocal-personal. 
 
 Affirmative. Negative, 
 
 chijtti pesahh, I see thee and thou seest me, ak chitti pesoh, 
 
 itti pesa lih, I see him and he sees me, 
 
 chik ille pesoh, 
 ik ille pesoh, 
 kil ille pesoh, 
 kiloh, iUe pesoh, 
 hvck iUe pesoh, 
 ik ille pesoh. 
 iUahobachi, to make 
 
 hvsh itti pesa Uh, I see you and you see me. 
 
 ak itti pesoh, 
 ak hvchitti pesoh, 
 ak itti pesoh, 
 chik svtti pesoh, 
 chik itti pesoh, 
 chik pitti pesoh, 
 
 itti pesa lih, I see them, etc., 
 
 is|svtti pesah, thou seest me and I see thee, 
 
 ish itti pesah, thou seest him and he sees thee, 
 
 ish pitti pesah, thou seest us and we see thee, 
 
 ish itti pesah, thou seest them and they see thee, chik itti pesoh, 
 
 svtti pesah, he sees me and I see him, ik svtti pesoh, 
 
 chitti pesah, he sees thee and thou seest him, ik chitti pesoh, 
 
 itti pesah, he sees him, her, and she, he, sees 
 
 him, ik itti pesoh, 
 
 pitti pesah, he sees us and we see him, ik pitti pesoh, 
 
 hvchitti pesah, he sees you and you see him, ik hvchitti pesoh, 
 
 itti pesah, he sees them and they see him, ik itti pesoh. 
 
30 
 
 CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 
 
 AfSrmative. 
 
 e chitti pesah, we see thee and thou seest us, 
 
 il itti pesah, we see him and he sees us, 
 
 iloh itti pesah, we see one another, 
 
 e hvchitti pesah, we see you and you see us, 
 
 il itti pesah, we see tliem and they see us, 
 
 hvs sitti pesah, you see me and I see you, 
 
 hvsh itti pesah, you see him and he sees you, 
 
 hvsh pitti pesali, you see us and we see you, 
 
 hvsh itti pesah, you see them and they see you, 
 
 svtti pesah, they see me and I see them, 
 
 chitti pesah, they see thee and thou seest tliem, ik chitti pesoh, 
 
 itti pesah, they see him and he sees them, ik itti pesoh, 
 
 pitti pesah, they see us and we see them, ik pitti pesoh, 
 
 hvcliitti pesah, tliey see you and ye see them, hvchik itti pesoh, 
 
 itti pesah, they see one another, ik itti pesoh. 
 
 4. The possessive-objective, in combination with the subjective-personal 
 and objective personal. 
 
 Negative, 
 ke chitti pesoh, 
 kil itti pesoh, 
 kiloh itti pesoh, 
 ke hvchitti pesoh, 
 kil itti pesoh, 
 hvchik svtti pesoh, 
 hvchik itti pesoh, 
 hvchik pitti pesoh, 
 hvchik itti pesoh, 
 ik svtti pesoh. 
 
 AfBiinative. 
 
 
 Negative. 
 
 chi pisa lib. 
 
 I see for thee, of thine, &c.. 
 
 ak chi pesoh lib. 
 
 ilpis'a lib. 
 
 I see for him, her. 
 
 ak i pesoh lUi, 
 
 hvchijpisaj lib, 
 
 I see for you. 
 
 akhvchi pesoh lib. 
 
 i pisjj lib, 
 is S3 pisah. 
 
 I see for them. 
 
 aki pesoh lib. 
 
 thou seest for me, of mine. 
 
 cbik sa pesoh, 
 
 ishi pisah. 
 
 for him. 
 
 chik i pesoh. 
 
 ish pi pisah, 
 
 for us. 
 
 chik pi pesoh. 
 
 ish i pisah. 
 
 for than. 
 
 chik i pesob, 
 
 g, pisah. 
 
 he sees for me, or of mine, 
 
 ik sa pesoh, 
 
 chi pisah. 
 
 for thee, 
 
 ik chi pesoh. 
 
 i pisah, 
 
 for him. 
 
 ik i pesoh. 
 
 pi pisah. 
 
 for us. 
 
 ik pi pesoh. 
 
 hvchi pisah, 
 
 for you. 
 
 hvchik pesoh, 
 
 i pisah. 
 
 for them. 
 
 ik j pesob. 
 
 e chi pisah. 
 
 we see for thee, of thine. 
 
 ke chi pesoh, 
 
 il ijpisab, 
 
 him, 
 
 kil i pesoh. 
 
 iloh i pisah. 
 
 ourselves. 
 
 kiloh i pesoh. 
 
 e hvchi pisah, 
 
 ourselves. 
 
 ke bvobi pesoh, 
 
 eho hvclii jpisah. 
 
 you. 
 
 ke hobvchi pesoh. 
 
 il i i)isah, 
 
 them. 
 
 kil i pesoh. 
 
 hvs sg, pisah, 
 
 you see for me, of mine. 
 
 hvchik sa pesob, 
 
 hvshi i pisah. 
 
 him. 
 
 hvchik j pesoh. 
 
 hvshpi, pisah. 
 
 us. 
 
 hvchik pi pesoh. 
 
 hvsh i pisah. 
 
 them, 
 
 hvchik i pesob. 
 
 The third plural, is the same as the third singular. 
 
 The possessive is sometimes found before the reflexives ille and ill, and 
 sometimes after them ; as, im ill anoli, to confess oneself to him ; ill; 
 nutakvchi, to humble oneself before him ; im ille haiakvchi lib, I shew 
 myself to him. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 
 
 31 
 
 Combinations with tlie reciprocal pronouns are formed in the following 
 
 ^vm i nukhakloh, 
 '^^^him i nukhgrkloh, 
 im i nukh^kloh, 
 pim i nukhi^kloh, 
 hvpim i nukh^kloh, 
 hvchim i nukh^kloh 
 
 manners: 
 
 chitti pisa lih, I see for you (or of yours)with you. 
 
 itti pisa lih, him, her, them, 
 
 hvchitti pisa lili, you, etc. 
 
 svtti pisah, he sees for me together with me. 
 
 echitti pisah, we see for thee together with thee, 
 
 hvs sitti pisah, you see for me together with me, etc. 
 
 When two possessives are prefixed to a verb, one is subjective and one 
 objective; as, 
 
 he pities him for me. 
 thee. 
 
 him, her, or them, 
 us. 
 us. 
 you. 
 
 The negative is ik sum i, ik chim i, ik im i, etc. 
 
 The following form is a combination of the subjective personal, pos- 
 sessive, and reciprocal possessive: 
 
 ^ ish jm jtti nukhakloh, you have pity on each other for him. 
 ^^ifim itti nukhakloh, we have pity on each other for him. 
 
 hvsh im itti nukhakloh, " " 
 
 § 33. Relative pronouns. The article-pronouns supply the place of the 
 relative pronouns, which are not found in Choctaw. This use of the 
 article-pronouns will be seen in the following examples: 
 
 Oblique case. 
 
 Adam him, whom. 
 Eve her, whom, 
 clay it. 
 
 Adam, him whom. 
 Eve, her whom. 
 
 § 23. Interrogative and responsive pronouns. The interrogative pro- 
 nouns kvta, nanta, katima, who?, which?, what?, have two forms, one for 
 interrogation, the other for response. They both take the article-pronouns, 
 like the other separable pronouns, to indicate case. Examples : 
 
 interrog. kvta hosh ik bi ? Who made it ? (osh or hosh is the subjective 
 
 or nominative suffix), 
 respons. kvna hosh ik bi tuk. Some one made it. 
 interrog. nanta hosh mtuti ? What is coming ? 
 respons. nana hosh mintili. Something is coming, 
 interrog. katimak osh achukma? Which of them is good ? 
 respons. kanima kia achukmah. Any one of them is good, 
 interrog. katimampo hosh ia chi ho? Which (of the two) will go? 
 respons. kanimampo hosh ia hinlah. Either of them will go. 
 interrog. katima hosh bvnna ? Which of them (all) want it ? 
 respons. kanimik vt bvnnah. Several of them want it. 
 
 Nom. 
 
 case. 
 
 ( 
 
 Alvm vt, 
 
 Adam he who. 
 
 Alvm a, 
 
 Ifvt, 
 
 Eve she, who. 
 
 If a, 
 
 lukfi vt, 
 
 clay it. 
 
 lukfi a, 
 
 Alvm ak osh. 
 
 Adam, he who, 
 
 Alvm ako, 
 
 If ak osh. 
 
 Eve, she who. 
 
 If ak o. 
 
32 CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 
 
 Oblique case, kvta ho ish pisa tuk o ? Whom did you see ? 
 nanta ho chibunnah ? What do you want ? 
 katimak o ish chumpa tuk o ? Which did you buy ? 
 
 A definite interrogative ends in an aspirate, as, clii bvnnah ? Do you 
 want it? A distinctive interrogative ends in a nasal, as, chi bunng,? 
 These pronouns may also be subjective, as, nanta hosh yohma wah, noth- 
 ing could do it; nanta hakosh yohma wa, no one could do it. 
 
 § 34. Demonstrative pronouns. These are used to supply the want of 
 a personal pronoun in the third person singular and plural. They are: 
 
 Uvppa, this, these, he, she, it, they (near). 
 
 yvmma, that, those, he, she, it, they (remote). 
 
 Their plural is sometimes formed by adding the word putta, all. They 
 take the article-pronouns, and are declined by it. Examples: Gen. XIV. 
 30, yvmmak ak, who; Gen. IV. 3, yvmmak okvt, which; Luke XVI. 37, 
 yvmmak oka, him; Luke XVI. 88, yvmmak mvt, they also; 39, yvmmak 
 o, them. 
 
 § 35. There are other words used as pronouns, some if not aU of which 
 can be also used as verbs and adjectives. They' are: 
 chvfa, one, a certain one, the one, the other, 
 achofona, any. 
 achvfaijTika, each one. 
 achafoa, some, a few. 
 aiyuka, each, every. 
 
 bika, each, same, both, feUow, Mark IX. 33. 
 inla, other, another, 
 inli, self, itself, 
 itatuklo, both, two together, 
 luna, many. 
 
 kanimona, some, several, from kanimi to amount to, and ona some, 
 kanimusi, a few. 
 
 mih, he, she, it, the same, the identical one, they, 
 mika, each, 
 moma, all. 
 
 okla, a people, they; used to form the plural of nouns, 
 okluha, all, the entire crowd, number, or quantity, 
 puta, all, each and every one; used to form the plural of nouns, 
 vhleha, all collectively, of persons only. 
 
 Declension of the Personal Pronouns. 
 
 1st personal singular. 
 
 Nom., I, sia; vno; U. 
 
 Oblique, me, s, sa, sv, sai, si; vno. 
 
 Possessive, mine, sa, sam, svm, svmi, san; vmmi; vno. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 33 
 
 1st person plural. 
 Definite form. Distinctive form. 
 
 Nom., we, pia; pishuo; e, il. hipia; hvpishno; eho, iloli. 
 
 Oblique, us, pi, p; pishuo. hvpi, hvp; hvpishno. 
 
 Poss., OU1-, oui-s, pi, pim, pimi, pin; pimmi. hvpi, hvpim, hvpimi, hvpin; 
 
 hvpimmi. 
 2nd person singular. 
 
 Nom., thou, ohia; chishno. 
 
 Oblique, thee, chi, cb; chishno. 
 
 Poss., thy, thine, chi, chim, chimi, chin; chimmi. 
 
 2nd person plural. 
 
 Nom., you, hvchia; hvchishno. 
 
 Oblique, you, hvch, hvchi; hvcliishno. 
 
 Possessive, yoiu-, yours, hvchi, hvohim, hvchimi, hvchin; hvchimmi. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Yebbs. 
 
 § 1. There are six classes of verbs in Choctaw, the transitive, intransi- 
 tive, passive, possessive, attributive, and personal. 
 
 § 2. The passive verb is made by an internal change of the transitive; 
 but this rarely takes place except iu verbs where the transitive effects a 
 visible change in the object acted on. Thus, takchi, to tie; tvUakchi, to 
 be tied; sa tvUakchi, I am bound; but pisa, to see; sa pisa, he sees me, 
 not I am seen. The passive is formed so variously that rules are not 
 attempted. The following examples will illustrate this: hofahli, to abash, 
 passive, hofahya; okpvni, to abuse, pas. okpvlo; atokoji, to aim, pas. 
 atoko'a ; atokoU, to appoint, pas. ulhtoka ; okchali, to awake, pas. okcha, 
 siteli,'to bind, pas. sita; hopi, to bury, pas. hollohpi; akvlli, to cobble, 
 pas. ulhvta; ikbi, to build, toba, to be built; hukmi, to burn, holukmi, to 
 be burned; chanli, to chop, chjya, to be chopped; bohli, to beat, boa, to 
 be beaten; bvshli, to carve, bvsha, to be carved. Some passives are made 
 by prefixing Ih, a locative and intensive particle from vhli, it may be, to 
 the active; as, tohno, to hire, ilhotno, to be hired; ipeta, to feed, ilhpita, to 
 be fed ; apoa, to give in marriage, passive, vlhpoba ; abeha, to enter a 
 place, passive, vlhbiha. 
 
 § 3. The possessive verb is formed by prefixing the inseparable posses- 
 sive pronouns to other verbs. Thus, ihikiah, he has him standing; iman- 
 tah, he has him staying; intalaiah, he has it standing (like water in a 
 vessel); imachukmah, he has good, there is good for him; intobah, he has 
 it made: imokpuloh, he has evil, he is evil. 
 
34 CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. ' a.^ 
 
 § 4. The attributive verbs affirm attributes or qualities, and are often 
 used as adjectives and adverbs; as, kullo, to be strong; sa kuUoh, I am 
 strong; aohukma, to be good; sa achukmah, I am good. The possessive 
 pronouns are affixed to these verbs, as vm achukmah, I have a good one; 
 a falaiah, I have a long one, or it is long for me. 
 
 § 5. The personal verbs take the objective inseparable pronouns; as, 
 sa lakshah, I perspire; svUih, I die; sanusih, I sleep; saiokchayah, I live; 
 sa hoitah, I vomit. "When the act is involuntary, sometimes a change in 
 the foi-m of the verb occurs; as, hoeta lih, I vomit it up; hotilliko lih, I 
 cough; habishko lih, I sneeze; tiopa lih, I breathe. 
 
 § 6. All verbs end in the infinitive in i, a, or o. They all have an 
 affirmative and negative form in all moods and tenses. This is made by 
 means of the negative prefix ik, and by changing the terminal vowel to 
 o when it is i or a; when it is o, it undergoes no change. Thus, anta, to 
 stay; ik anto, not to stay; minti, to come; ik minto, not to come; ik 
 ishko, not to drink. 
 
 Both fonns take the inseparable pronouns as prefixes, and the article- 
 pronouns as suffixes, but both classes of pronouns are written separately, 
 as far as may be. Thus, chi pisa lik vt, thee see I who, I who see thee. 
 
 § 7. The modes. There are six modes, the infinitive, indicative, poten- 
 tial, subjunctive, optative, and imperative. 
 
 § 8. The Infinitive Mode. 
 
 This is the root or ground form of the verb, from whicfi the other 
 modes are foi-med by suffixes. It can be used as a noun, or in an adverbial 
 sense, takchi, to tie, a tier, the act of tying; hvllot takclii, to tie strongly. 
 It takes the inseparable pronouns and the prepositions as prefixes, and the 
 article-pronouns, and particles of tense as suffixes. Examples : chi takchi, 
 to tie thee; chin takchi, to tie for thee; ille takchi, to tie himself; itti 
 takchi, to tie each other; iti takchi, to tie them to each other; a takchi, 
 to tie at; on takchi, to tie on; isht takchi, to tie with; ant takchi, to come 
 and tie; out takchi, to go and tie; et takchi, to tie hither; pit takchi, to 
 tie thither; takchi a, to tie him to the; takchi ma, to tie simultaneously; 
 takchi ho, to tie distinctive; takchi tuk, takchi tok, to have tied; takcha 
 chi, takcha he, to tie in the future; takcha chin tuk, to be about to have 
 tied; takchi tuk achi, to have been about to tie. 
 
 The English infinitive is sometimes translated by the indicative: as Mat. 
 V. 17, okpvni la hi osh ^ya li tuk keyu; amba ai^hlichila he mak a tok, I 
 am not come to destroy but to fulfil; sometimes the English indicative is 
 translated by the infinitive; as Mat. XI. 30, vm ikonla abana y^ il abanali 
 ka im vlhpiesa, to put on himself my yoke is easy for him. 
 
 The negative form is made by the prefix ik, and the change of the last 
 vowel to o, and corresponds to the English prefixes dis, un, in, etc. ; as, 
 iktakcho, not to tie, to untie; haklo, to hear, ikhaklo, not to hear. 
 
^ CHOCTAW GRAilSIAE. 35 
 
 § 9. Modifications of the verb. There are numerous modifications of 
 the ground form or infinitive mode of verbs, each of which fonus a new in- 
 finitive from which other modifications may arise. Some of the modifica- 
 tions are by internal changes, others by adding a particle. They are: 
 
 1. The definite form, takchi, to tie. 
 
 3. The distinctive form, takchi, to be tying the while; implying continu- 
 ance, pi-ominence, and comparison. C J. 
 
 3. The intensive form. This is made in various ways: , 
 
 1. By an increase of emphasis on the accented syllable of a word; as, 
 tfikbah, to be so bad; t&kchi to tie. 
 
 3. By lengthening the vowel sound in the accented syllable; as, chito, 
 to be large, cheto, to be quite large; patvssa, to be flat, patassa, to be 
 quite flat. 
 
 3. By inserting a syllable; as, taiyakchi, to tie; chieto, to be decidedly 
 large. 
 
 4. By prefixing the diphthong ai to words beginning with a vowel; as, 
 ahli, to be true, aiahli, to be really true; sometimes i is prefixed, as iiksho, 
 to be none indeed. 
 
 5. By prefixing a. to words beginning with a consonant; as bilia, to be 
 forever, abilia, to be forevermore. 
 
 6. By doubling a consonant in the accented syllable; as, alota, to be 
 full; aUota, to be brimful; kvnia, to be gone, kvnnia, to be gone off. 
 
 7. By inserting a consonant in the final syllable; as, cliukva, to go in, 
 chukowa, to go in boldly; ihoa, to call him, i howa. 
 
 8. By prefixing ai and inserting another vowel; as, ulhpisa to be right, 
 aiulhpiesa, to be just right. 
 
 9. By uniting two verbs; as, ishkottahU, to drink all up; vbitkanchi, to 
 massacre. 
 
 4. The frequentative or iterative form; tahakchi, to keep tying. 
 
 5. The instantaneous or quick form, by the insertion of h in the ac- 
 cented syllable; as, tahkchi, to tie quickly; vbi, to kill; ahbi, to kill , 
 quickly; also the form ahahbi; kvnia, to go away, hvninihya, to vanish. 
 
 6. The form for a sudden and single act; as shalvUi, to slide, shalakK, to 
 sUp; halvUi, to hold, halakU, to catch hold of. 
 
 7. The diminitive form in neuter and attributive verbs; as, chito, to be 
 large, chihto, to be largish; hopaki, to be far off, hopahki, to be rather 
 far off; lakna, to be yellow, lahakna, to be yellowish. 
 
 8. The repetitive form, to continue an action in one place and one man- 
 ner; as, binili, to sit, binininii, to rise up and sit down again; tonoli, to 
 roU, tonononli, to roll back and forth. f 
 
 9. The causal forms, 1, by suffixing chi; as, takchichi, to make him tie; 
 ikbichi, to make him do or make. Mat. V. 33; 3, by suffixing chechi; as, 
 is'iko, to drink, ishkochechi, to make to drink, to drench; 3, by suffixing 
 
 5 
 
36 CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 
 
 ^ chi and prefixing a, locative; as, atakchiclii, to tie it to something; 4, by 
 suffixing li; as, acliukmali, to make good; Ivshpali, to make hot, to heat. 
 Of these suffixes, clii denotes the causing of the action signified by^the 
 primitivejyerb; as, kvUoohi, to liarden, from kvllo, to be hard; kolichi, to- 
 cause to break, from koli, to break; cliechi suffixed to a verb denotes the' 
 causing by its own subject of the performance of the action signified by 
 the verb by another subject on an object expressed or understood; as, vno 
 vt Vila yg, ikhish 5 ishkochechi li tuk, I the child him the medicine it did 
 cause him to drink; nafoka ya fohkvoheohi lib, I made him put his clothes 
 on himself ; chi with a, locative, signifies that two different things are 
 acted upon together, as Mat. XIII. 35, onush ash haiyukpulo yo ant a 
 hokchichi cha, kvnia tok, he came and sowed tares among the wheat, not 
 wheat with wheat but tares with wheat; akakushi yo shuka nipi 3 aiau- 
 vshlichih, she fries (causes to fry) eggs with pork. 
 
 The suffix kachi, kechi, kvchi, is added to many verbs slightly altering 
 their sense; as, winali, to shake, winakvchi, to be shaken; basasua, to have 
 stripes, bassasu kvclii, to be striped hke a rattlesnake; malvtha, to lighten, 
 malvthakvchi, to flash once; bichota, to bend, bichotakvchi, to bend and 
 spring once. 
 
 Note. — Verbs may have all the above forms, but the number of verbs 
 found in all these forms are small. 
 
 Example, takchi, to tie, infinitives. 
 Active: 
 
 Definite takchi, to tie. 
 
 Distinctive tjkchi, to be tying. 
 
 Intensive taiyakchi, to tie firmly. 
 
 Frequentative tahakchi, to keep tying. 
 
 Speedy tahkchi, tg tie instantly. 
 
 Definite tvUakchi, to be tied. 
 
 Distinctive tvUakchi, to be the one being tied. 
 
 Intensive talaiyakchi, to be tied fast, or at length. 
 
 Frequentative talaiyah^kchi, to be often tied. 
 
 Speedy talahkchi, to be iustantly tied. 
 
 § 10. Indicative Mode. 
 
 This is formed from the infinitive by prefixing and suffixing the per- 
 sonal pronouns, and suffixing the tense particles for past and future time. 
 1. Present tense, indefinite, with subjective personal pronouns, 
 takchih, he, she, or it ties, or they tie, him, her, it, or them, 
 
 ish takchih, thou tiest him, her, it, or them, 
 
 takchi lih.. I tie, etc. 
 
 hvsli takchih, ye tie, etc. 
 
 e takchih, we tie, etc. (def ). 
 
 eho takchih, we tie, etc. (dis). 
 
 Passive 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMilAH. 37 
 
 2. Pres. tense, definite, with subj. pers. pronouns. 
 takcMslikeh, third sing, and pi. 
 
 To this the pronouns are added as in the indefinite. 
 
 3. Pres. tense, distinctive, with subj. pers. pronouns. 
 takehOi okeh, third sing, and pi. 
 
 To this the pronouns are added as above. 
 
 4. Pres. tense, with objective pers. pronouns, 
 chi takchi lib, I tie thee. 
 
 takchi lih, I tie him, her, it, or them, 
 hvchi takchi lih, I tie you. 
 
 5. Pres. tense, with possessive pronouns. 
 
 in takchi lib, I tie for him, her, it, them . 
 chin takchi hh, I tie for thee, 
 hvchin takchi lih, I tie for you. 
 
 in takchih, he ties for him, her, it, them, 
 chintakchih, " for thee, 
 an takchih, " for me. 
 hvchin takchih, " for you. 
 pin takchih, " for us. 
 hvpin takchi, " for us. 
 Past tenses. There are two past tenses, signified by the particles tuk 
 and tok; tuk is used for the immediate and definite past, tok for the re- 
 mote and indefinite past. They may be combined to form the relative or 
 pluperfect past; as, tuk a tuk, tuk a tok, tok a tuk. The particle a, in 
 these expressions is an article-pronoun, and should be rendered thus: he, 
 she, it was. 
 
 Past tense definite, 
 takchi tuk, he, she, it, they tied, did tie, have tied, 
 
 ish takchi tuk, thou " 
 
 takchi li tuk, I. 
 
 hvsh takche tuk, you. 
 
 e takche tuk, we. 
 
 eho takche tuk, we, etc. 
 
 Past tense distinctive. 
 This is formed by the article-pronoun, okeh. 
 
 takchi tuk okeh, he, etc., tied, did tie, has tied. 
 Another form of the past tense is made by a nasal sound in the fina 
 vowel, as, takchi, chamo. 
 
 Future tense. 
 There are two forms of the future, made by the addition of chi for the 
 immediate, and he, or hi, for the remote and indefinite future. The dis- 
 tinctive future is made by suffixing okeh to chi and he; as, chi okeh, hi 
 okeh. 
 The suffix ashkeh is used for the definite, absolute, or imperative future. 
 
38 CHOCTAW GBAMMAK. 
 
 The past and future are combined to form a relative future; as, tuk a 
 chj, tuk a he, tuk ashke, was to tie; also chin tuk, chin tok, he tuk, hitok, 
 will have, shall have, would have, should have. 
 
 § 11. Potential Mode. 
 
 This is formed from the infinitive by suffixing the articles hinla, may, 
 can, and puUa, must, will. 
 
 Present tense. (but with reference to future time). 
 
 Ijidefinite takcha hinlah, he, etc., may or can tie. 
 
 Definite takcha hinlvphhe, he, etc., may or can tie. 
 
 ^^JDistinctive takcha hinla hokeh, he, etc., may or can tie. 
 
 Indefinite takchi pullah, he, etc., must or will tie. 
 
 Definite takchi puUvichkeh, he, etc., must or will tie. 
 
 Distinctive ta-kchi pulla hokeh, he, etc., must or will tie. 
 
 The past tenses are formed like those in the indicative mode, the tense 
 signs being suffixed to hinla and pulla; as, takchi la hinla tuk, I may or 
 might have tied. 
 
 § 12. Subjunctive Mode. 
 
 This is formed from the infinitive by suffixing km for the definite and 
 okm for the distinctive. The m takes the definite article-pronoun a in all 
 itsi forms. 
 
 JTbfe. — km, if, when, whether, is compounded of k, a suffix, definitive 
 of the idea contained in the verb ; as, takchik, he ties, at that, in that, or 
 just that; and of m, simultaneous or successive, affirming or supposing 
 something in relation to the idea limited or bounded by k, then, when, at 
 the same time or place; takchi km, when he ties then. 
 
 This suffix can be added to the other modes in all their tenses; as, in- 
 finitive, takchi kma, if to tie him, when to tie him; indicative, takchi 
 kmah, if or when he ties him; potential, takcha hinla kmah, if he can tie 
 him. 
 
 Present tense. 
 "^ takchikmvt, definite subjective, if he, etc., tie, then he. 
 
 takchikmah, definite objective, " 
 
 takchihokmvt, distinctive subjective, " 
 
 takchihokmah, distinctive objective, ' ' 
 
 The past and future tenses are inflected with the personal pronouns as 
 in the indicative, except the forms which end in eh. These are always final, 
 and admit of no suffix nor inflections. 
 
 In the past tenses, tuk arid tok, the k in kmvt, kmah, etc., is dropped, 
 that in the tense particle taking its place. In the remote future, he, the 
 distinctive form is not he okmah, but hokmah. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 39 
 
 The distinctive form okm expresses a condition or supposition with 
 more emphasis, and implies a greater degree of uncertainty than km; as, 
 infinitive, takchi hokma, to tie him, if so; indicative, takchi li hokmali, I 
 tie him, if so it be; takchi la hinla hokmah, I tie him if it can be so. 
 
 Examples: Romans XII. 20, chin tvnvp vt hohchvfo hokma; if thine 
 enemy hunger; -John XVI. 7, vno vt ia li keyu hokmvno, if I go not away; 
 same verse, amba ia li hokmvto, but if I do go away; Mat. IX. 13, amba 
 abeka yok mak oh chatuk oke, but they (distinctive) who are sick; Luke 
 XVI. 30, im ona hokmvno, if one went unto them, then; Mat. XI. 15, 
 haksobish vt i hinlikmvt, if he have ears, definite; John XIX. 12, ish i hotofl 
 hokmv, if thou lettest him go, distinctive; PhilUp II. 1, jsha hokma, if 
 there be, a suppositive form; I. Cor. XIII. 8, nan ithana yokmS, whether 
 there be knowledge, a suspensive form. 
 
 § 13. Optative Mode. 
 
 This is formed from the infinitive by suffixing kb definite and okb dis- 
 tinctive. The particle b takes the article-pronoun a in its definite and 
 contradistinctive forms, babato, babano, and o distinctive and emphatic 
 as a prefix, in distinctives and contradistinctives. 
 takchikbat, definite subjective, oh 1 that he, etc., would tie 
 
 it, then he. 
 takchikb^h, definite objective, " 
 
 takohikbato, contradistinctive subjective, " 
 
 takchikbano, contradistinctive objective, " 
 
 takchihokbat, distinctive subjective, oh! that he, etc., would tie, 
 
 even he, then he. 
 takchihokbah, distinctive objective, " 
 
 takchihokbato, contradistinctive subjective, " 
 
 takchihokbano, contradistinctive objective, " 
 
 Examples : 
 
 Subjective form: shukbo chumpak bato, oh! that he would buy a blanket 
 (and take it home and wear it, etc). 
 
 Objective form: shukbo chumpak bano, oh! that he would buy a blanket, 
 (then others might buy). 
 
 Contradistinctive subjective: 
 
 shukbo chumpa hokbato, oh ! that he would buy a blanket, (instead of 
 borrowing one), and do something else, wear it, etc. 
 
 Contradistinctive objective: 
 
 shukbo chumpa hokbano, oh! that he would buy a blanket, then others 
 would come and buy, or do something else. 
 
 Luke XIX. 42, nana isht chi ai yukpa he ai uLhpiesa ka ish ithaiyna 
 tokokbato, if thou hadst known, or, oh ! that thou hadst known; even 
 thou, then thou, etc. lali hokbat, I wish I could go and I (do something) ; 
 iali hokbah, I wish I could go and he (do something). 
 
 Tlie persons, tenses, and numbers correspond with those in the indica- 
 
 4-iirA TTindA. 
 
40 CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 
 
 § 14. Impebative Mode. 
 
 ik takchih, let him, her, it, or them tie. 
 
 takchih, tie thou, 
 
 ak takchih, let me tie. 
 
 hvsh takchih, ye tie, tie ye (def ). 
 
 ho takchi, ye tie, tie ye (dis). 
 
 ohiah, go ye (dis). 
 
 ke takchi, let us tie (def). 
 
 keho takchi, let us tie (dis). 
 
 kiliah, let us go (def). 
 
 kilohiah, let us go (dis). 
 
 takchashkeh, let liim, her, or them tie. 
 
 The particle ashkeh is suffixed to the infinitive in the last word to ex- 
 press an imperative in the shape of a wish. 
 
 The imperative negative is formed by changing the terminal vowel of 
 the verb into o, and suffixing the particle kia; or particles of negation may 
 be used, such as na, wa, heto, he, keyu. 
 Examples: 
 
 ik takcho kiah, do not let him tie. 
 
 ish takchi nah, don't you tie him. 
 
 ish takcha wah, you will not tie him. 
 
 ish takcha heto, you shall not tie him. 
 
 ish takcho he keyu, you shall not tie him. 
 
 Double negatives may be used, not, not no; as: 
 ak t3;kcho ki nah; 
 ak takcho ka wah; 
 ak tokcha ka he keyuh. 
 
 Compare Luke VII. 39, ik akostininoho ka heto, he would not have 
 not known, i. e., he would have known. 
 
 § 15. Irregular Verbs. 
 
 The irregular verbs are: vbi, to kill; vmo, to trim, to mow; via, to ar- 
 rive; vpa, to eat; ia, to go. The vowel v in these verbs is dropped in a 
 part of the persons in both numbers; thus: 
 
 Affirmative form, 
 vpah, he, etc., eats, i. e., of one article of food, vbih, he kills. 
 
 Ishpah, thou eatest. ish bih, thou killest. 
 
 vpalih, I eat. ube lih, I kill, 
 
 hvshpah, you eat. hvsh bih, you kill, 
 
 epah, we eat (def). ebih, we kiU. 
 
 ilohvpah, we eat (dis). iloh vbih, we kill. 
 
CHOCTAW GEA5I3IAE. 41 
 
 
 Negative form. 
 
 
 
 ik poh, 
 
 he does not eat. 
 
 
 ik boh. 
 
 chik poll, 
 
 thou 
 
 
 chik boh. 
 
 ak poh, 
 
 I 
 
 
 ak boh. 
 
 hvchik poh, 
 
 you 
 
 
 hvchik boh. 
 
 ke poh. 
 
 we 
 
 (def). 
 
 ke boh. 
 
 kiloh poh. 
 
 we 
 
 (dis). 
 
 kiloh aboil. 
 
 In the frequentative form of , these verbs, the pronouns in the second 
 person singular and plural are modified thus ; ahanla, ihishla, sing., 
 ahashlah, pi. 
 
 ia, to go. 
 
 AiBrmative form. Negative form, 
 
 iah, he goes, ik aiyuh 
 
 ish iah, thou goest, chik aiyuh, 
 
 ialih, I go, ak aiyuh, 
 
 hvsh iah, you go, hvchik aiyuh 
 
 il iah, we go, kil aiyuh, 
 
 iloh ia, we go, kUoh aiyuh 
 
 iksho, to be none, may be a negative form of vsha or g,slia. 
 It is conjugated: 
 ikshoh, he is not, there is none, 
 
 ikchikshoh, thou art not. 
 iksakshoh, I am not, etc. 
 
 and: 
 ik im ikshoh, he has not, there is none for him, etc. 
 Keyu, not to be, has no modifications except h predicative, and the 
 causatives chi and kechi ; as, keyuchi, to make it nothing ; keyukechi, 
 keyukma, if not, or. Kia, although, is perhaps an imperative form of ia, 
 to go, ikiah, let him or it go. It has no variation except to take h pre- 
 dicative, kiah, although it be. 
 
 § 16. It will be seen that verbs have usually but one form for both singu- 
 lar and plural numbers. Some verbs, however, have ,a-plural, made by an 
 internal change; as, hikah, it flies; helih, they fly; bioiUh, he sits; binohli, 
 they sit; talahlih^^Jhe sets it up; talohlih, he sets thein up; kopoli, to bite, 
 plural, kobU; kanchi, to seU, plural, kampila;' bohli, to lay down, plural, 
 kapulli; tifl, to pluck up. plural, tehli; malleli, to run, plural, yihlepa. 
 Some verbs have this plural form only; as, ilhkoHh, they move off; pehliohi, 
 he rules them; chiyah, they sit. Some have the singular number only; as, 
 issoh, he strikes once. 
 
 Some few verbs are dual ; as, tihlaiah, they two run ; ittonacMh, they 
 two go there together. 
 
 The inseparable pronouns determine the number of the verb in the first 
 and second persons. The third person singular and plural has no personal 
 pronoun; okla is sometimes used as a singular, dual, and plural pronoun; 
 as, anumpulit okla tok, they two spake. 
 
42 CHOCTAW GKAMMAK. 
 
 jjote. — By a verb in the plural is meant plurality either in the subject 
 or object; as, wak pelichih, he or they drive cattle, and wak g. chufifichi, 
 they drive a cow. Here pelichih is in the plural number, and chuffichi in 
 the singular. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Peepositioks. 
 
 § 1. There are few words in Choctaw that correspond to the English 
 prepositions. The article-pronouns to some extent supply this want. 
 Some verbs involve a preposition in their meaning; as, ona, to go to; vba, 
 to arrive at; bokyupi, to bathe in the creek; husa, to fire at. The in- 
 separable possessive pronouns i, im, in, involve a preposition, to him, for 
 him, of him, from him, against him; so also do the reciprocal possessives, 
 itti, ittim, ittin, to each other, for each other, etc. 
 
 The preposition, to, in the infinitive is contained in the simple form of 
 the verb; takchi, to tie. The preposition of, showing the genitive or pos- 
 sessive case is tmderstood; iti Mshi, leaf of a tree. When one of the 
 nouns expresses ownership in the other, the inseparable possessive pronoun 
 is used; as, vUa i holisso, the child its book. 
 
 § 3. As the Choctaw is deficient in single words expressing space and 
 time, it uses in place of them prepositive particles of definite significations. 
 These are: 
 
 1. Locatives. 
 
 They are: a, before consonants; ai, before vowels, and before y. This 
 means the place for, in which, at which, from which, to which, where, 
 there, then; as, afoha, to rest at or in a place, a time for resting; aminti, 
 to come from; ahikia, to stand in; aianta, to stay at or in; ai impa, to eat 
 at or there; ai illi, to die in a (room, etc.), or at (noon, night, etc.); aianuk 
 filli, to think of; aiahni, to long for; ayukfa, to rejoice at. 
 
 o, om, on. This is a more definite locative than a, ai, and may be trans- 
 lated by on or upon; as, onbinili, to sit on; ontalali, to ride on; oyihlepa, 
 to rush upon; ontalali, to set on or upon. 
 
 2. Distinctives: 
 
 Et, anet, here, hither, to this place; et is the simple form, anet the in- 
 tensive; et is from the verb echi, to reach, hand, or hold this way, to pass 
 in this direction, intensive form anechi. These particles are transitive 
 verbs, and are connected by the letter t with other verbs. Echi has the 
 form of a causative verb, ishtishko g- echih, pass the cup hither. Ex- 
 amples: et kanchi, to cast it this way; et anoli, to report hither; et anuk 
 filli, to think this way; awethikia, to stand this way, toward the speaker. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 4 
 
 Pit, thitlier. This is a subjective directive (made so by the t). It is 
 from the verb pila, to send off, or throw, from the speaker to some other 
 point. Examples: pit kanchi, to throw that way; pitanoh, to report it 
 thither; pit anukfilli, to think of thither; pit hikia, to stand or lean that way. 
 
 3. Instrumental: 
 
 Isht, with. This is derived from the verb ishi, to take, with t distinct 
 tive and continuative. Its literal meaning is often lost in the many uses 
 it has as a prefix. Examples: ishtabeka, to be sick with; ishtanowa, to 
 walk with; ishtan umpuli, to talk of; ishtanuk flUi, to think about; isht- 
 holitopa, to take it and be rich. 
 
 4. Of motion. 
 
 Ant, from ayvt, means motion hither, to a place; as, ant anta, to come 
 and stay. 
 
 Ont, from onvt, means motion thither to a place; as, ont anta, to go and 
 stay. 
 
 5. Social. 
 
 Iba, with, in company with, awaya, to go with, awant, to bring with. 
 Examples: ibatoksvli, to work with; ibapisa, to see with, a school-mate; 
 itanowa, to travel together, a fellow-traveler; awantanta, to stay with; 
 awantia to go with, awaya, to marry, fem. i. e., she married him; itawaya, 
 he marries her, or they marry. 
 
 6. The war or fire particle: 
 
 This is ito, before a consonant; it, before a vowel. This particle implies 
 mutuality of action between the fire and what is put on it, or between 
 those who kindle fires in a hostile manner against each other. Examples : 
 oti, to kindlfe a fire; itoti, to fire each other; itotia, to go to war; itot^ya, 
 to wage war by iires. It is used in the New Testament, Mat. VII. 50, tvli 
 a bila luak chito k^ pit ito — ashacha he, to cast them into the furnace of 
 fire. This particle ito may help us to understand how wars were formerly 
 waged by fire rather than by weapons, these being very imperfect in con- 
 struction, while fire was always at hand. 
 
 § 3. These particles have various combinations vrith each other; as, aio, 
 aiom, ai on, ont ai, ant ai, ont isht, ant isht, isht o, etc., but as they are 
 written Separately, they can be readily understood. Examples: ont ai 
 isht ia, go and of it take and go; isht im ai achukma hokeh, they take and 
 in them have pleasure, it is so; ishtai o hoUssochi, to write on it there- 
 with. 
 
 CHAPTBE V. 
 
 Nouns. 
 
 § 1. In Choctaw there is no grammatical difference between common 
 and proper, animate and inanimate, concrete and abstract nouns. They 
 have no internal changes nor inflections to denote number, gender, or case. 
 These accidents are supplied by additional words, or are left unexpressed. 
 
 6 
 
44 CHOCTAW GEAMMAB. 
 
 g 2. Number. — Nouns are presumed to be in that number which is most 
 natural to them. If the number is required to be specified, numerals, 
 numeral adjectives, pronouns, or verbs are subjoined. Examples: wak, a 
 cow, cows; wak achofa, one cow; wak tuklo, two cows; wak lawa, many 
 cows; wak moma, all the cows; wak vmmi, my cow or my cows; hatak vt 
 antah, a man stays; hatak vt ashah, men are staying; wak vt tihlaiah, the 
 two cows run. 
 
 vi§ 3. Gbndbb.— A few nouns only have names in the masculine and 
 feminine gender; as, hatak, a man; ohoyo, a woman; nakni, a male; tek, 
 a female. When gender is emphatic, these words, nakni, and tek, are sub- 
 joined; as, Vila nakni, a boy; vUa tek, a girl; issinakni, a buck; issi tek, 
 a doe. 
 
 § 4. Case. — All nouns take article:3)ronouns for specification, emphasis, 
 ' and case. The subjective relation of a noun to a verb is indicated by the 
 article-pronouns in the nominative case ; the objective relation by the . 
 article-pronouns in the oblique case. A noun, however, is often used by 
 itself, without the article-pronoun, and may then be either in the nomina- 
 tive or oblique case, the connective alone deciding which, though usually 
 it is oblique. Examples: hatak vt mintih, man he comes; hatak mintiah, 
 man comes, or men come; hatak vt pisah, a man sees, or men see; hatak 
 g, pisah, man him (or men them) he sees. 
 
 § 5. The nominative and oblique independent. This occurs when two 
 nouns or pronouns are in a subjective or objective relation to the same 
 verb. In this case the iirst is emphatic or independent; as, hatak okvto i 
 nitak vt hvshvk ak o chiyuhmi hokeh, man as for, he for him, days they, 
 grass, that which is, like they are, so it is. 
 
 hatak achvfa hosh ushi vt in tuklo tok, 
 
 man a certain he sons they to him two so it was. 
 
 In these sentences, hatak okvto and hatak achvfa hosh, are in the 
 nominative case, and nitak vt and ushi vt, are also in the nominative case. 
 So in the oblique case : 
 
 hvchishno ma, isht hvchi, mihacha he, 
 
 you indeed, you, it shall not be judged to, or you, you shall 
 
 not be judged. 
 
 § 6. The possessive or genitive sense. , -< 
 
 Possession may be shown by simple position; as, iti hishi, tree leaf, the 
 tree's leaf; hatak kvUo, man strength, the man's strength, a man of 
 strength; Chahta okla, the Choctaw nation, miko ibbak, king hand, the 
 king's hand. 
 
 Where there is an acquired possession, the jnseparable possessiva_ErD- 
 nouns i, im, in, are inserted between two nouns; as, Chan in chuka, John 
 his house. It is probable that the method of indicating possession by 
 position arose from an elision of this pronoun, as this method is most fre- 
 quent in names of the human body and its members, of near relatives, in 
 nominative and oblique independent nouns, and generally in such as are 
 obviously integral parts of each other, or by nature closely connected. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 45 
 
 Examples: miko ibbak, the king (his) hand; miko ushe, the king (his) 
 son; iti ^•ni, a tree (its) fruit; iti hakshup, a tree, its bark; wak pishuk- 
 chi, a cow (her) milk. 
 
 Names of time take the possessive pronoun; as, i nitak, his day or days, 
 which might also be regarded as i dative, to him, for him, as in wak i 
 kanchi, he sells a cow to him or for him. 
 
 § 7. The objective (accusative and ablative) sense. 
 
 This is ma de by article - pro naums subjoined to nouns; as, hatak a, man 
 him, man whom, man that. In forming the ablative of time, place, cause, 
 the verb, not the noun, takes the preposition ; as, hatak vt a hikiah, the 
 man stands in a place ; isht ikbih, he makes it with. The vocative can 
 be indicated by the particle mah; as, miko mah, O king.' 
 § 8. Classes of nouns. 
 
 The nouns are either p rimitiv e or derive d. - The form er cannot be traced 
 ts_any root; such are, oka, water; tvli, a stone; hatak, a man; ibbak, the 
 hand; the latter are derived from verbs, adjectives, other nouns, etc. 
 § 9. Derived nouns. j 
 
 The following examples wiU show the derivation of nouns: 
 From transitive verbs: 
 ' chanli, to chop, chauli, a chopper, the act of chopping, 
 bvshli, to saw, a sawyer, the act of sawing. 
 From intransitive verbs: 
 nowa, to walk, a walk, the act of walking, 
 ^pisa, to see, a seer, a sight. 
 Fi'om passive verbs: 
 talakchi, to be bound, a bundle, 
 holitopa, to be honored, honor, 
 kvnia, to be lost, the loss, the act of losing. 
 From neuter verbs: 
 kvllo, to be strong, strength, 
 ahli, to be true, truth. 
 From verbs with the locative particle a or ai: 
 achanli, a chopping place. 
 ' impa, to eat, aiimpa, a table, 
 apisa, a looking glass, 
 abvsha, a saw-pit, from bvsha, to be sawn. 
 
 ' In one portion of his manuscript Mr. Byington propounds the following query: "Cannot all 
 Choctaw nouns be treated as verbs ? The root maybe considered as in the Infinitive mood; as, 
 hatak, to be a man ; hatak^ it is a man ; hatak okmvt, if a man." Prof. H. Steinthal, on the con- 
 trary, thinks that the peculiar formation of American tongues makes nouns, but no real verbs. He 
 says of the Aztec : *' das Mexikanische in seinem Ansatze znr Wortbildung Nomina gebildet hat' 
 ahe'rkelne wahrhafteu Verba" iCharoMerisUhdes SprachbaueB^ s. 218). The author ot Etudes philolo- 
 giques nur queljjites Langues Sauvages de V Amerique, p. 3S, says : " Les noms algonquins ne se d^clinent 
 point. Us seconjuguent." Prof. Steinthal, however, is right. The primitive expressions in these 
 languages are concrete, not abstract, — nouns, therefore, not verbs. 
 
46 CHOCTAW GEAMMAE. 
 
 From verbs with the particle isht instrumental: 
 
 isht bvshaj a saw. 
 
 isht talakchi, a band. 
 Prom verbs with the particle na or nanta; 
 ^'" nakanchi, a seller, from kanchi, to sell. 
 
 nanithana, a pupil, from ithana, to learn. 
 From verbs with the definitive particle ka or kakali : 
 
 falamaka, the return, from falama, to return. 
 
 chukbika, a corner, from cliukbi, to be a corner. 
 
 lapalika, the side, from lapali, to be the side of. 
 
 chitokaka, the Great One, God, from chito, to be great. 
 From the verb ahpi, to be first in time: 
 
 achafahpi, the first one. 
 
 ishahpi, the first taken. 
 
 tofahpi, to first of summer, the spring. 
 
 hushtolahpi, the first of winter, the autumn. 
 
 vttahpi, the first-born. 
 With ushi, a son, to make a diminutive : 
 
 bokushi, a brook, lit., son of a creek. 
 
 hinushi, a path, from hina, a road. 
 
 ibbakushi, the fingers, from ibbak, the hand. 
 
 iyushi, the toes, fi-om iyi, the foot. 
 With vpi, a stalk, stem, trunk of a tree, main channel of a river, etc: 
 
 iyvpi, the leg. 
 
 bissvpi, a briar, bramble. 
 
 hatakvpi humma, a red man, an Indian. 
 From the union of two nouns: 
 
 bila pvla, lamp-oil. 
 
 hvpi oka, brine, salt water. 
 
 iti hishi, leaf, leaves. 
 
 nishkin okchi, tears. 
 From the union of three nouns: _,^ 
 
 chukfi hishi shapo, a wool hat, sheep-hair-hat. 
 
 wak hakshup shukcha, a saddle-bag, cow-skin-bag. 
 From a norm and an adjective : 
 
 bota tohbi, jflour, white-flour. 
 
 hvpi champvUi, sugar, salt-sweet. 
 From two nouns and an adjective : 
 
 issuba haksobisKjalaia,' a mule, horse-ears-long. 
 From a noun and a verb : 
 
 iti bvshli, a tree-sawyer. 
 
 shapo ikbi, a hat-maker. 
 
 shulush ikbi, a shoemaker. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 47 
 
 From two words connected by an article-pronoun: 
 kanohit ^ya, a peddler, one that sells and goes. 
 mvUit kvnia, a runaway, one that runs and is gone. 
 From two nouns and a verb: 
 bila pvla ikbi, a lamp maker, 
 lukfi ampo ikbi, a potter. ' 
 Other combinations are also in use. 
 !^ 10. Abstract nouns. 
 
 These are usually formed from neuter verbs ; as, kvllo, to be strong, 
 strength; achukma, to be good, goodness; ahli (distinctive form of vhli, 
 edge, end, point, limit), to be true, truth. 
 
 The translators of the Kew Testament rarely, however, use these words 
 alone, but combine others with them. 
 For example: 
 nayimmi, faith, I. Cor. XIII. 13. 
 nannihullo, love, 
 nanisht i hullo, love, 
 nanithana, knowledge, 3 Pet. 1, 5. 
 ishtaivlbi, redemption, 
 isht aholitopa, glory. Mat. VI. 13. 
 Often circumlocutions are used; as, 
 
 nan-isht hvsh il a nanaiya, your peace, lit., the thing by which you 
 have peace in yourselves, Luke X. 6. 
 I The sufl&x nana or nan gives an intensive signification; as, 
 nanUiullochi, accursed thing, Joshua VII. 13. 
 § 11. Proper nouns, and terms of relationship. 
 
 These take the article-pronouns, and are construed like common nouns. 
 Some proper nouns are simple, others compound. Chahta, Mvskoki, 
 Chalaki, Wishashi, Shawvno, are simple, uncompounded names. Bulban- 
 cha, the Choctaw name of New Orleans, is compounded of bvlbaha ^sha, 
 where there is bvlbaha, unintelligible talking in different languages, as in 
 Babel of old. 
 Apalachioola, apelvchi okla, helping people, alUes. 
 
 Pensacola, pashokla, hairy people. 
 
 Pascagoula, pvskokla, bread people. 
 
 Tombigbee, itomikbi, box makers. 
 
 Bok humma, Red river. 
 
 Boktuklo, river two, applied to a creek the channel of which is divided 
 
 by an island. 
 The terms of relationship are numerous, and differ materially in applica- 
 tion from those used in the English tongue; as wiU be seen in the follow- 
 ing list: 
 
 I A number of words have been adopted from the English, and a few from French and Spanish. 
 They all suffer some change. Thus, Itutus, a cat ; shape, chapeau ; wak, vaca (Sp.); enchil, angel. 
 
48 CHOCTAW GBAMMAR. 
 
 I. Kinship by blood. 
 
 1. In tlie male line. 
 
 timafo, my grandfather, the father of my father or of my mother, their 
 fathers, brothers, and male cousins. 
 
 aki, my father, his brothers, his male cousins, his uncles and nephews, 
 their brothers and male cousins. 
 
 vmosJii, my maternal uncle, his brothers and male cousins. 
 
 akni, the eldest among brothers, and male cousins. 
 
 Ms/w', a son, s-oso, my son, son of the father, father's brothers, male 
 cousins, son of the mother, her sisters and female cousins, son of the 
 father's sister (said by this father's son). 
 
 sabaiyi, my nephew, a sou of my sister or her female cousin. 
 
 sapok nahni, my male grandchild, my sister's male grandchildren, my 
 brother's children (said by an aunt). 
 
 ittibapishi, brother, literally those who suck together, a general name for 
 brothers and male cousins. 
 
 vmmvnni, my elder brother or cousin. 
 
 sa nak fisJi, my younger brother or cousin. 
 
 i nahfi, her brother, spoken by a woman. 
 
 2. In the female line. 
 
 vppokni, my grandmother, her sisters, female cousins and their mothers. 
 
 Jivshke, my mother, her sisters, and female cousins. 
 
 ahukni, my aunt, her sisters and female cousins. 
 
 akni, the eldest child among sisters and female cousins. 
 
 vshetik, or svsotek, my daughter, the daughter of my sisters or female 
 cousins, the child of my father's sister, her sister or her cousin. 
 
 sapoktek, my granddaughter, my sister's grandchildren, the female child 
 of a brother's sister. 
 
 itte bapishi, sisters, female cousins, common gender. 
 
 vmmvnni, my eldest sister or cousin. 
 
 sanak fish, my younger sister or cousin. 
 
 antek, my sister or female cousin, said by a man. 
 II. Kinship by marriage. 
 Jiatak, husband, literally, her man. 
 
 tekchi, wife, im ohoyo, his woman. 
 
 svppocM, my father-in-law, said by the man. 
 
 avppocM, ohoyo, my mother-in-law, said by the man. 
 
 vmvfa, my father-in-law, said by the woman. 
 
 vppokni, my mother-in-law, said by the woman. 
 
 sayup, my son-in-law. 
 
 sapok, my daughter-in-law. 
 
 vmalakusi, my brother-in-law, brother of my wife. 
 
 ■emalak, my brother-in-law, husband of my sister. 
 
 nmafo, my uncle, the husband of my aunt. 
 
 vmalakusi ohoyo, my sister-in-law, sister of my wife. 
 
 sahaiya, my sister-in-law, wife of my brother, also wife of my uncle, or 
 of my nephew. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 40 
 
 uppo, my sister-in-law. 
 
 aapok, my sister-in-law. 
 
 TsJike, the wife of my father's brother. 
 
 haloka, a family name for son-in-law, father-in-law, and mother-in law. 
 
 WhUe formerly the kinsmen {iksa) and the peoples {ohla) had specific 
 names, the family had none. ' The names of individuals were significant of 
 some titiit or quality. Some of the masculine names mean Come and kill, 
 Stand and kill, KUl all, Kill and go; some of the feminine names signify 
 Giver, Bringer, She who loops up her hair, Take water and give him. In 
 times of war brave men received titles, such as Red bird. Red knife. Red 
 owl, etc. 
 
 The individual name is sacred, and is never used in common conversa- 
 tion; the name of relationship, my brother, my cousin, is used instead. 
 The wife speaks of her husband as vlla \ki, the children's father. 
 
 The ancient law of marriage was that no man could choose a wife in his 
 own iksa. Hence the matter of clan relationship became one of great im- 
 portance, and upon it the terms of relationship in general were based. In 
 common salutations, the husband addressed his wife's clan as vm okla mah, 
 my people, but his own clan as vm ai okla mah, inserting the locative 
 particle ai, with an emphatic sense. 
 
 Parents usually refer to their offspring as vlla, the chUd, or children. 
 
 There are no words, such as great-gTaud-father, great-grand-son, etc., 
 to express relationship in the same line beyond grandfather and grandson. 
 AH ancestors and descendants more remote than these are called indis- 
 criminately by these terms. 
 
 1 13. Termination of nouns. 
 
 Xouns may end with the vowels a, i, o, u, and with the consonants f, h, 
 k, 1, n, p, s, and sh; fakit, a turkey, the only noun ending in t, is probably 
 a borrowed word. Those which end with a consonant take the article- 
 pronouns which begin with a vowel sound; as, at, vt, osh, ot, ocha, a> Q> 
 ona, or with the euphonic y; as, yvt, yosh, yocha, ya. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Adjectives. -^ VWV r'< 
 
 }Jc 
 
 § 1. The words used as adjectives, or attributes of nouns, are in reality 
 verbs. AH the classes of verbs are used to modify nouns, but the attribu- 
 tive neuter verb is that most frequently employed. "When subjoined to 
 nouns as adjecti£eatJhe_verbs_dropJhe jajjifiparablejmdlliticl^^^^ 
 whichbelpng to verbs alone, but continue to b e mo dified by the internal 
 changes of the verb. ^Ji ^, ^ ^ ^^ 
 
 4^ 
 
 1 The Choctaws were formally devided into two Iksa. and three " fires" or distrlrts. The latter 
 were- okla falaia, the long people; ahepvt okla, potatoe-eating people; okla hannali, six peoples. 
 The iksa Uved promiscuously throughout the nation and their establishment was attrihuted to 
 sacred authority. This information I owe to Ool. P. P. Pitchlynn, a thorough native Choctaw 
 scholar, who has kindly read the proof of Mr. Bylngton's Grammar with me. 
 
50 
 
 CHOCTAW GBAMMAE. 
 
 § 3. The adjective follows the noun it qualifies, and the article-pi-onouns 
 subjoined to nouns are removed and placed after the adjective. Thus, 
 hatak vt mintih, a man is coming; hatak achukma yvt mintih, a good man 
 is coming. The adjective agrees with its noun in number and case. 
 
 § 3. Affirmative and negative forms. 
 
 Adjectives are changed from the affirmative to the negative foi-ms as 
 verbs are. Thus, hatak kvllo, a strong man ; hatak ikhvUo, a man not 
 strong; jhli, true; ikahlo, not true. A noun with its adjective may be 
 conjugated like a verb through the modes and tenses in the affirmative 
 and negative forms. 
 
 § 4. Number. 
 
 Adjectives have a singular and plural number. The plural is formed 
 from the singular by internal changes, and by the addition of other words. 
 Examples: 
 
 Singular, 
 achukma, 
 chito, 
 falaia, 
 falvsa, 
 pvtha, 
 
 ibakchufanli, 
 ibakhatanli, 
 ibakpishanli, 
 ibaktasanU, 
 yushkotoli, 
 yushbonoli, 
 yushtololi, 
 okchvmaU, 
 
 good, 
 
 large, 
 
 long, 
 
 long and slender, 
 
 wide, 
 
 tapering, 
 
 bald faced, 
 
 round and pointed, 
 
 starved in the face, 
 
 short, 
 
 curly haired, 
 
 short, 
 
 gi-een. 
 
 Plural, 
 hochukma. 
 hochito. 
 hofaloha. 
 falvspoa. 
 hopvtka. 
 ibakchufashli. 
 ibakhatashli. 
 ibakpashashli. 
 ibaktasashU. 
 yushkotushli. 
 yushbonushh. 
 yushtolushU. 
 okchvmashli. 
 
 § 5. Comparison. 
 
 The degrees of comparison are much more numerous than in English. 
 They are expressed either by internal changes, or by the addition of other 
 words. Example: achukma, good. 
 Descending graduation, 
 achukma ik ono, not good enough, 
 
 achukma ik lawo, less good, 
 
 achukma momakg, ik lawo, less good than all. 
 achukma iklawokit taha, completely less good than aU. 
 
 Positive degrees, 
 achukma, good, 
 
 achokma, goodish. 
 
 achuhkma, good emphatically, 
 
 achoyukma, good in an increased degree, 
 
 achukma, good distinctly compared with others, 
 
 achohukma, good and growing better. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMMAR. 
 
 51 
 
 Comparative degree. 
 
 acliukma i shahli, 
 
 Superlative degree. 
 
 achukma moma i shahli, 
 achukma kvt i shaht tahli, 
 achukma kvt i shaht taha, 
 
 better. 
 
 best. 
 
 best, he completes it, subjective. 
 
 best, it is completed, objective. 
 
 The last two expressions are attempts to translate the English superla- 
 tive, and are not natural to the language. They are rarely heard. 
 
 Diminutives. 
 
 iskitini, small, iskitvnisi, smallish, 
 
 okpulo, bad, okpulosi, baddish. 
 
 kanomi, few, kauomusi, fewish. 
 
 Sometimes it is expressed by a kind of lisp; as for ikchito, not large, 
 say iksito. 
 
 § 6. Numerals. 
 
 These are all parsed like verbs, but are here called adjectives, in accord- 
 ance with customi. 
 
 
 Cardinal. 
 
 Ordinal. 
 
 1. 
 
 aohvfa. 
 
 tikba. 
 
 2. 
 
 tuklo. 
 
 atukla, or hittukla. 
 
 3. 
 
 tukchina. 
 
 atuchina, or hittuchiua. 
 
 4. 
 
 ushta. 
 
 aiushta, or isht aiushta. 
 
 5. 
 
 tahlapi. 
 
 ishttahlapi. ' 
 
 6. 
 
 hannali. 
 
 isht hannali. 
 
 7. 
 
 untuklo. 
 
 isht untulo. 
 
 8. 
 
 untuchina. 
 
 isht untuchina. 
 
 9. 
 
 chakali. 
 
 isht chakali. 
 
 19. 
 
 pokoli. 
 
 isht pokoli. 
 
 11. 
 
 auahchvfa. 
 
 
 12. 
 
 auahtuklo. 
 
 
 13. 
 
 auahtucbina. 
 
 
 14. 
 
 auahushta. 
 
 
 15. 
 
 auahtahlapi. 
 
 
 16. 
 
 auahhannali. 
 
 
 17. 
 
 auahuntuklo. 
 
 
 18. 
 
 auahuntuchina. 
 
 
 19. 
 
 auah chakali. 
 
 
 20. 
 
 pokoli tuklo. 
 
 
 30. 
 
 pokoli tuchina. 
 
 
 100. 
 
 tahlepa achvfa. 
 
 
 1000. 
 
 tahlepa sipokni. 
 
 
 The word auah means with, akucha. 
 
 out of, over. There are no wo 
 
 for portions less than one half. 
 
 
OJ CHOCTAW GEAMMAR. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Adverbs. , , 
 
 § 1. Adverbs in Choctaw are verbs as vcell as adverbs They are either 
 primitive or derived. Tlie former are single words, sucli as beka, always; 
 bano, only; ilia, merely; tokba, very much; ahli, certainly; puUa, surely. 
 
 § 3. Derived_adverbs are formed in various ways. When two verbs 
 have a connective between them, the first of them may serve merely to 
 qualify the second and must then be rendered adverbially, though both 
 may be parsed as verbs; as, achukmalit hvsli hoyashke, do ye search dili- 
 gently. Mat. II. 8. 
 
 Adverbs of place are formed from the demonstrative pronouns ilvppa, 
 i here; yvmma, there. These take some of the article-pronoujis; ilvppakinli, 
 right here ; y vmmakinli, right there. 
 
 j Adverbs of number are derived from the numerals ; as, ushta ha, four 
 times; ai ushtaha, at the fourth time. 
 
 Adverbs of time past are derived from the definite article-pronoun ash, 
 renewed mention; as, mish ash, day before yesterday; hopakik ash, long 
 since, long ago. 
 
 Adverbs modify each other; fehna chohmi, somewhat very; fehna pulla, 
 surely very. The degree of modification is varied after the manner of ad- 
 jectives, by emphasis, by prolonging the sound of a word, or by inserting 
 a syllable; as, fehna, fiena; cheki, chehki; chiki, chehika. 
 
 Diminutives are formed by adding si; as, olatomasi from olatoma, this 
 way, on this side of; bilikasi from bilika, close by. 
 
 § 3. Interrogatives. These are definite and distinctive. The distinctive 
 calls for a definite answer; katima ish ia hoh cho? where are you going? 
 anchuka ia lih, I am going to my house. 
 
 In speaking an interrogative tone is used, and to increase the strengtli 
 of the interrogation the final syllable ends with a nasal sound ; antij ? is he 
 staying ? minti ? is he coming ? As there is no predicate in such inter- 
 rogations, the verbal h final is dropped. There is a milder interrogative 
 where the nasal sound is dropped, and the h predicative is suffixed; as, 
 yohmik ah ? is it thus ? yobatuh ah ? could it be ? Interrogatives with 
 the nasal are distinctive; without the nasal they are definite. 
 
 An interrogative in the negative demands an afiii-mative reply ; as, 
 yvmmak keyu ? is it not that ?^it is that. 
 
 The principal interrogative adverbs are katima? or mvto? where? 
 nanta ? what ? katiohmi ? how ? cho ? an interrogative particle. Ex- 
 amples: 
 
 Katima ishia ha ? Where did you go ? (definite.) 
 
 Katima ishia ho ? Where did you go ? (distinctive.) 
 
 § 4. Adverbs take the article-pronouns, and some inseparable pronouns; 
 as, sa tikba, before me (in place); an tikba, before me (in time). When 
 they follow verbs, the article-pronouns of the verbs are removed, and 
 placed after the adverbs. 
 
CHOCTAW GRAMJIAR. 
 
 53 
 
 § 5. Examples of Chocta-n- adverbs. 
 
 i es, yea, yau, ah, i, ome. 
 
 Nay, not, no, keyu, ahjh, b.i, lieto, awa, (haia, Chikasaw). 
 
 ^^"•■^i laua, fehna, apakna. 
 
 Little, kanomusi, iskitine, chvbihasi. 
 
 Oice, himona, himonaha. 
 
 Twice, hitukla, hituklaha. 
 
 Thnce, hituchina, Mtucbinaha. 
 
 First, vmmona, tickba. 
 
 Secondly, ont atukla. 
 
 Thirdly, ont atuchina. 
 
 Now, himak, himo. 
 
 Then, yvmma. 
 
 To-day, himak nitak. 
 
 To-morrow, onna. 
 
 Yesterday, pilashash. 
 
 Upward, vba pila, vbema, vba imma. 
 
 Downward, oka pila, akema, ak imma, aket. 
 
 Beyond, mish sha. 
 
 Soon, cheki. 
 
 Enough, vUpesa. 
 
 Perhaps, chishba, yobaka. 
 
 Tiiily, ahli (from vhli, the limit). 
 
 Hither, anet. 
 
 This side of, ola. 
 
 Toward, pila. 
 
 Merely, peh. 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 COXJUNOTIOXS. 
 
 § 1. Conjunctions connect words, sentences, clauses and paragraphs, 
 and commence and close sentences. They are definite and distinctive. 
 
 Definite conjunctions usually end with t, vt, or a ; as, milimvt, mlhma, 
 and. The distinctives end with osh or o; as, mihi osh, mihio. Some are 
 both definite and distinctive ; as, okvt, oka, where ok, a demonstrative 
 distinctive, is combined with vt and a definite. 
 
 g 2. They take some of the article-pronouns to exhibit the nominative 
 and oblique cases; as, mihmvt, nom. case, and he, mihma, oblique case, 
 and him ; mih is used as a personal pronoun in the third person singular. 
 Mihmvt is literally "he then he ;" mihma, "he then him ;" mihmvt con- 
 tains the verb of existence (h predicative) and the subjective copula ; 
 mihma likewise contains the verb of existence, and solves the subjective 
 
54 CHOCTAW GEA3IMAE. 
 
 copula, and thus it acts on the subject — the subjective copula being solved, 
 a new subject with its copula takes its place. This conjunction may- 
 be translated by any of the personal pronouns in the third person. 
 
 § 3. The conjunction in the nominative case connects two or more sub- 
 jects to one verb; as, Acts II. 8 — 11, where mikmvt and micha connect 
 the names of several nations with eho haiyak loshke. 
 
 When there is one subject and two or more predicates, the subject is 
 connected with aU the predicates; as, Luke XV. 13, where the connective 
 is suffixed to the predicates as a copula. 
 
 But when another subject and predicate following the first are connected 
 with it, the conjunction is in the oblique case. This chaiige of case gives 
 notice of the succeeding subject and predicate; as. Mat. I. 3: Eblaham vt 
 Aisak a tobachi tok; atuko Aisak vt Chekob a tobachi tok; here, atuko is 
 in the oblique case, and connects the two prepositions, and shows two dif- 
 ferent subjects. If it were atuk osh instead of ati\ko it would make Abra- 
 ham a subject of the second preposition. The genealogy of the Saviour in 
 Luke III., illustrates the same usage. The conjunction mihma is there 
 used, "and he," the subject of the next verb. This change in tlie con- 
 junction does not change the subject to the object. It gives notice of 
 another subject, and connects them both by mihma. The coyula is solved, 
 and the way opened for another subject to take it. Thus, in Luke XVII. 
 10: achvfa kok osh Falisi okma, achvfa kvto publikan a tok ; okma is in 
 the oblique case. These instances exhibit the difference between a con- 
 junction in the nominative and oblique cases. 
 
 § 4. Conjunctions are divided into the following classes: 
 
 1. Copulatives ; definite subjective, and, then, t, cha, micha, mihmvt, 
 
 mikmvjt, yohmi cha, yumohmi clia, yohmi mvt, 
 
 yumohmi mvt. 
 definite objective, na,'mina, mihma, mikma. 
 distinctive, "inih ho, mih hosh. 
 
 2. Distinctives ; or, if not, unless, except, but, keyukmvt, keyu hokmvt, 
 
 amba, ikshokmvt, keynkma. 
 8. Concessives ; although, nevertheless, be it so, admit it. They, con- 
 cede something which has been said. They are kia 
 and amba. The distinctive article-pronouns osh, o, 
 and oh, often precede kia, as akohkia, okako kia. 
 
 4. Adversatives ; but, yet, notwithstanding, amba, kia; atuk ak o, but, 
 
 Luke XIX. 14. 
 
 5. Causals ; therefore, for, because, as, so as, okvt, yohmi hosh, yohmi 
 
 kokvt, yomohmi hosh, yomohmih hoh, yomohmi hokah. 
 
 6. lUatives ; therefore, wherefore, on account of, yomohmi hokvt, yo- 
 
 mohmi hokah. 
 
 7. Finals ; because, for, hokvt, hokah, yohmi hokvt, yohmi hokah. 
 
 8. Conditionals; if, lest, when, then, provided, kmvt, kma (def.), okmvt, 
 
 okma, (dis). 
 
CHOCTA-VV GRAMMAR. 55 
 
 9. Suspensives; whether, whether or, kmS, (def.), okma, (dis.), ish toh- 
 biohikm&; ish lusaohikm^, whether white or black, 
 Mat. V. 36. 
 
 Examples of conjunctions : 
 Again, anonti, anowa, himmakma, himakona. 
 
 Also, aiena, itatuklo, mvt, ma, akinli. 
 
 Although, kia, okako, okakosh. 
 
 And, cha, na, micha, mlna, mihmvt, mihma, mikmvt, mikma. 
 
 Because, hokvt, hoka, hatukosh. 
 
 Besides, aiena, micha, mikmvt, mikma. 
 
 But, amba, kia. 
 
 Except, keyukma, akcho. 
 
 Since, hatukosh, hatukg. 
 
 Therefore, yvmohmikmvt, yvmohmikg, yvmohraihokvt. 
 
 Unless, keyukmvt, keyuhokmvt. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 Interjections. 
 
 I 1. The Interjections may be divided into two classes, the subjective 
 and the objective. 
 
 § 3. The subjective interjections. 
 
 These are produ.ced by a sudden ebullition of feeling and merely manifest 
 the state of the speaker's mind, as akshukeh ! oh ! on account of pain from 
 water or -cold; akshupeh ! oh ! when the pain is from fire; uUeh ! for any 
 severe pain; ikikeh ! when in distress of mind or body. 
 
 § 3. The objective interjections. 
 
 These are employed to excite the attention of the party addressed; 
 intah !, ok !, okintah !, well ! now ! used for defiance or banter; yak eh ! 
 look here !, yak okeh, thanks to you ; yokokeh, in lamentation ; omeh ! 
 omishkeh ! to call attention, Give ear ! There are interjections for times 
 of sport, of mourning, of war, victory and defeat. Some are common to 
 both sexes, some used by only one. 
 
 g 4. Interjections chiefly used by men. 
 
 Ah^h, no ! stop ! take heed ! 
 
 Pullashkeh, God forbid ! 
 
 Auohmeh, ah indeed ! 
 
 Hahah, oh ! 
 
 Han, oh ! what ! 
 
 Humpheh, oh ! in anger, defiance, or pain. 
 
 Ok, well ! now ! as, I dare you ! 
 
56 
 
 CHOCTAW GEAMMAE. 
 
 Okintah, 
 Omeh, 
 Omishkeh, 
 Takoh ! yakih !, 
 
 well, come on, I dare you. 
 
 to invite the attention of hearers. 
 
 the same in more solemn style. 
 
 a shout by the warner to the ball-players. 
 
 Interjections chiefly used by women. 
 
 Aiena, alas, wo is me. 
 
 Aiyenaheh, alas, wo, uttered at funerals. 
 
 Ehwah, fie ! begone, in reproach or disgust. 
 
 Aiheh, oho ! half in fun and half in earnest. 
 
 Wehkah, quit ! don't ! 
 
 Kaihoh, oh ! in fear. 
 
 Interjections common to both sexes. 
 
 Ok hoh, 
 
 Akshukeh, 
 
 Okshupeh, 
 
 Ehah, 
 
 Hai, 
 
 Hok, 
 
 Hush, 
 
 Hushha, 
 
 Ikkikeh, 
 
 Intah, 
 
 Issah, 
 
 Mah, 
 
 Makhalokah, 
 
 Mishia, 
 
 Okkvnno, 
 
 Okokkoh, 
 
 no ! no ! quit ! in anger. 
 
 oh dear ! it hurts me ! 
 
 oh ! it burns ! 
 
 woe, woe ! 
 
 in disappointment. 
 
 oh! 
 
 alas ! 
 
 alas ! 
 
 alas ! pity ! 
 
 weU, now, come, enough ! 
 
 quit ! be off ! stop ! 
 
 look there now, sign of vocative. 
 
 "let it be so to him," in contempt. 
 
 begone ! 
 
 indeed ! 
 
 oh dear ! alas !