_Noun._ The case inflection of the substantive, adjective, of some
pronouns and of the nominal forms of the verb is effected by the
suffixes: -i for the absolute, -ut for the subjective, -un for the
objective case: yáti _person_, yátut, yátun; náki _what, which_,
nákut, nákun. A few verbals inflect in -a, -at, -an; for instance,
those terminating in -hunga.
The diminutive ending is the same as in Creek: -odshi, -udshi.
To the Creek collective suffix -algi corresponds -a'li, which is, in
fact, the third person of a verbal plural: míki _chief_, miká'li _the
class of chiefs_ and: "_they are chiefs_." Maskóki: Maskoká'li _the
Creek people_; fápli'hitchi wind, fápli'htcha'li _wind clan, wind gens_.
Hitchiti has a greater power of verbifying substantives than Creek:
míki _chief_, mikólis _I am chief_; tchóyi _pine-tree_, tchóyus _it is
a pine tree_.
There is no real substantive verb in the language, and adjectives,
when becoming verbified, are turned into attributive verbs, as in
Creek: wánti _strong, hard_; tsawántus _I am strong_; wántus _he, it
is strong, hard_; wántatik _not strong_; wántigus _he is very strong_;
wántatis he is not strong; wanta'hlátis _he is not strong at all_.
The gradation of the adjective is expressed either by the attributive
verb, to which isi-, is- is prefixed, or in some other ways
syntactically:
Kúdsuni tchátu-kunáwun isínwantûs _iron is harder than silver_.
ukitchúbi okilósi ihayuχkíki o'latíwats a _lake is deeper
than a river_; lit. "to river the lake in its depth does not
come up." This may also be expressed: okilósi (u)kitchóbi
isihayuχkúwats; lit. "a lake (than) a river more-deepens."
yá hali'hlósăka lápkun uⁿweíkas _this boy is the tallest_;
lit. "this boy all surpasses in height."
yát yákni tchäíh'-apiktchaχáyus _this is the highest
mountain_; lit. "this ground-high stands ahead."
The numeral has two forms for the cardinal number: one used
attributively, and another, abbreviated from it, used exclusively for
counting; there are, outside of this, forms for the ordinal, for the
distributive, and for the adverbial numeral. The list of the numerals
is as follows:
_Cardinals._ _Ordinals._ _Distributive._ _Adverbial._
1 `lámin `láhai'h índshuatki `láhamin a`la'hmi
"_beginning_."
2 túklan tukā′ satóklaka tuklákan satúkla'h
3 tutchínan tutchi satotchínaka tutchinákan atutchína'h
4 sitákin síta'h isítagika sitahákin asítagi
5 tchaχgípan tchá'hgi istchaχgípaka tchaχgipákan atsá'hgipi
6 ípagin ípa isipágaka ipahákan isípagi
7 kulapákin kúlapa iskulapákika kulapáhakan iskulapáki
8 tusnapákin tusnapá istusnapákika tusnapáhakan istusnapáki
9 ustapákin ustapá isustapákika ustapáhakan isustapáki
10 pokólin pukú ispokólika pukúlakan ispukúli
20 pokóli túklan ispokol-túklaka pokó-tukúlakan ispukúli-túklan
100 tchúkpi `lámin istchukpi-`lámika tchukpi-`lámakan istchukpi-`lámin
_Folded four times_ is expressed by the cardinal: po`lótki sítaki;
_folded eight times_: po`lótki tusnapákin.
The _personal pronoun_ appears in different forms: subjective
absolute; subjective prefixed to verbs and objective pronoun.
Subjective absolute: Subj. prefixed: Objective:
_I_ ā′ni tcha-, am-, an-, a- tcha-
_thou_ tchí'hni tchi- tchi-
_he, she, it_ í'hni im-, in-, i-
_we_ pú'hni pu-, po- pu-
_ye_ tchi'hnitáki tchi-, inverted: ítch- tchi-, w. suffix
_they_ i'hnitáki im-, in-, i-
ánāli (usually ánalut) _myself_, 2 s. tchí'hnāli, 3 s.
í'hnāli; pú'hnāli _ourselves_, 2 pl. tchi'hnālitáki, 3 pl.
i'hnalitáki.
_The possessive pronoun._
_my_ am-, an-, a- tcha-, inverted: atch-
_thy_ tchi-, tchi-, inverted: itch-
_his, her, its_ im-, in-, i- im-, in-, i-
_our_ pú'hni, pu- pun-, pu-, po-
_your_ tchíχtchi, tchi- tchi-, with suffix
_their_ im-, in-, i- i- etc., with suffix.
tchálbi _my hand_ or _hands_, tchílbi, ílbi; púlbi _our hand_
or _hands_, tchílbuχtchi, ílbi.
ántchiki _my house_ or _houses_; tchíntchiki, íntchiki;
púntchiki, tchíntchigoχtchi, íntchigoχtchi.
_Demonstrative pronouns_: ma, mût, mûn (Cr. ma); yá, yát, yán
or yûn (Cr. hía); yákti, yáktut, yáktun (Cr. ása); má'hmali
_the same_.
_Demonstr.-relat. pronoun_: náki, nákut, nákun _which, what_.
_Interrogative pronouns_: nó`li? nó`lut or nó`lut i? nó`lun or
nó`lun i? _who?_ náki? nákut? nákun? _which? what?_ nákon
i? _what is it_?
_The Hitchiti verb_ equals the Creek verb in the abundance of
inflectional forms. In order to show the inflection of a verb (or
rather a part of it), going parallel to the one chosen as the Creek
paradigm, we select ísiki _to take, to carry_; áwiki being used when
a plurality of objects is concerned; Creek: ísita, tcháwita.
ísilis _I take_, 2 s. ísitskas, 3 s. ísis; 1 pl. ísikas, 2 pl.
isátchkas, 3 pl. ísa`li.
áwalis _I take_, pl. of obj., 2 s. awitskas, 3 s. áwas; 1 pl.
áwikas, 2 pl. áwatskas, 3 pl. áwa`lis.
í'hsilis _I took_ a short time ago (Cr. ísayanks); á'hwalis.
ísānis _I took_ several days ago (Cr. isāímatas); also _I
had taken_; áwānis.
ísiliktas _I have taken_ many years ago (Cr. īsáyantas);
áwaliktas.
ísilālis _I shall take_ (Cr. isá`lis); áwalālis.
ísis! pl. ísitis! _take it_! ā′wis! ā′witis! (or ā'watis!)
ísiχtchi _having taken, holding in one's hands_; áwiχtchi.
í'hsik (object) _taken_, part. pass.; á′hwak.
ísigi, ísiki _to take, the taking_; áwigi, áwiki.
ísi, ísut, ísun _one who takes, carries_; áwi, áwut, áwun.
isihúnka, -at, -an _one who took, has taken_; awihúnka, -at, -an.
isáhika, -at, -an _one who is going to take_; awáhika, -at, -an.
From this verb ísiki, áwiki the language does not form any passive,
reciprocal, reflective and causative voice, but employs verbs from
other radices instead. The interrogative and negative inflection is as
follows:
ísatas _I do not take_, 2 s. ísitskatis, 3 s. ísitis; 1 pl.
isíkatis, 2 pl. isátskatis, 3 pl. (?); áwatas _I do not
take_, pl. of obj., awítskatis etc.
ísilus? _do I take_? 2 s. ísitskus? 3 s. ísus? 1 pl. ísigō?
2 pl. ísatskō? 3 pl. (?). áwalus? _do I take_? etc.
isatä′sōs? _do I not take_? 2 s. isitskatibōs? 3 s. isitísōs?
1 pl. isikatíbōs? 2 pl. isatskatíbōs? 3 pl. (?). awatä′sōs?
_do I not take_? etc.
A form for the 3. pl. was remembered by none of my informants, who
state that the Hitchiti render it by a circumscriptive sentence.
A specimen of the objective or compound conjugation of the verb _I
strike_, batā′plilis, runs as follows:
_I strike thee once_ tchibatáplilis, _repeatedly_ tchibátaspilis
_I strike him, her once_ batā′plilis batáspilis
_ye_ tchibatap'hólilis tchibatas'hópilis
_them_ batas'húpilis batas'húpilis
_He, she strikes me once_: tchábataplis, _repeatedly_: tchabátaspis
_thee_ tchíbataplis tchibátaspis
_him, her_ batáplis batáspis
_us_ púbataplis pubátaspis
_ye_ tchibatap'hólis tchibatas'hópis
_them_ batáspis batas'hópis
The same verb _to strike_ gives origin to the following _genera
verbi_, each appearing under two different forms, and all being quoted
in the present tense of the declarative mode, affirmative voice:
_Active_: batā′plilis _I strike_ (now) _by one blow_
batā′spilis _I strike_ (now) _by several blows_
_Passive_: tchabátapkas _I am struck once, by one blow_
tchabátaspkas _I am struck more than once_ (obsolete)
_Reciprocal_: itibatáplikas _we strike each other once_
itibatáspigas _we strike each other repeatedly_
_Reflective_: ilbatā′plilis _I strike myself by one blow_
ilbatáspilis _I strike myself by several blows_
_Causative_: bataplídshilis _I cause to strike once_
bataspídshilis _I cause to strike repeatedly_.
_Postpositions_ govern the absolute case of the noun just as
they do in Creek:
kónut tchígi í-aχnun i-aulídshis _the skunk stays under the
house_.
sáwut áhi ígapun untchóχolis _the racoon sits on the top of
the tree_.
ótaki labáki _near_ or _around an island_.
ótagi apálu-un _on the other side of the island_.
yántuntun hitchkátigan _beyond sight_, is an instance of a
postposition figuring as preposition, and is connected with
the objective case of a noun. It is not a real postposition,
but an adverb used in this function.