Head nu-ciuti nu-chuti nu-chiuti
Eye nu-chi ---- nu-ki
Ear nu-cioca ---- ----
Nose nu-siri nu-siri ----
Tongue nu-nene nu-nene nu-nene
Hand nu-bore nu-boupe nu-bore
Foot ni-bope ---- ni-bope
[Footnote 28: These are three different dialects.]
Now in these, and in numerous other American tongues, the prefix is
the _possessive pronoun_; in other words, there is a great number
of American languages where the capacity for abstracting the thing
possessed from the possessor is so slight as to make it almost
impossible to disconnect the noun from its pronoun. I believe, then,
the affixes in question have a _possessive_ power; and am not aware
that _possessive_ adjuncts thus incorporated have been recognised
in any of the languages for these parts; indeed, they are generally
considered as American characteristics.
How far does their presence extend? In the New Caledonian vocabulary of
La Billardiere we find it. The names of the parts of the body all take
an affix, which no other class of words does. This is _gha_, _guai_,
or _ghai_, or other similar combination of _g_ with a vowel. In Van
Diemen's Land, an important locality, we find the following series of
words, which are submitted to the judgment of the reader.