I.{kaχ´- (in {wac̲h̲e=“tree”
{ kac̲h̲para, epè {aput=“wood”
{ “sea”)
{tasi; desi=
“to drink”
II. cal ybitá allegcó=“wood”
IV. kahal; kalal (?) ibi; yibi
(Laymon)
1. ahá, aháa epíga
2. aha nevaye; bi=“dead” i-i=“tree, wood”
{ihu=“tree”
3. niluwhet; hahaw’l {inalch=“shrub”
{iya=“wood”
4. háche epúik (ipáik=“alive”) {emabatách=“tree”
{eeêche=“wood”
5. χá epúïk {teísh=“tree”
{iísh=“wood”
6. akha ipuik aí=“tree”
7. {ahá {hippooik=“dead” {ahah=“cottonwood”
{ákhha (Gibbs) {hippóik (Gibbs) {ahee; a-í=“wood” (Gibbs)
8. ahá ichichiwoche=“tree”
a-í=“wood”
9. aha hipúik ahaá=“tree”; aí=“wood”
10. aháa apíge iíe=“tree”
11. ha haigopiga (Gilbert)
12. ahá éeesh=“tree”
e-ee; e-eetch=“wood”
13. ẖa (=χa) puik eekwsen; ee=“wood”
14. akha meley akhakunau; il=“wood”
15. h’ha mispà ilye; sin’yauquatài=“tree”
16. ahah mispah e-ee; e-ee=“wood”
17. ha (=χa) m’s’pa oochoẖ; ee=“wood, pine”
18. ahá, ha pih iíh
19. áha, há bihi; bi; pi ivi; i-i=“wood”
20. já (χ´a) opúic eí=“wood” and “tree”
21. ahá ipapí ii, akiŭl; iiruba=“wood”
22. aha hepi
23. aẖa (=aχa) paspi ẖaipak
24. ah’há mesapá ily=“tree”
All the Serian words denoting “water” are monosyllabic and terminate
with the k-sound or aspirated guttural χ, followed by the breath
instant (to which the final e of Mr Bartlett’s orthography is
equivalent). On the other hand, the vocables of the Yuman group of
dialects invariably end in a vowel or a double vowel, and, in 24 out of
31 given forms, they are dissyllabic, several being trisyllabic. The
Laymon form of the term is evidently the least affected by use, and
jointly with the words numbered 5, 6, 7 (Gibbs), 13, 14, 17, and 23,
shows the genetic character of the terminal vowel in the given words.
These considerations render it probable that the apparently radical
resemblance of the collated words is fortuitous and not at all genetic.
In the Serian list of names for “wood” two different words are given,
and a third occurs meaning “tree”, perhaps “shrub”. This third word,
_ehe_, is very probably an exotic in the list, and is seemingly of
Yuman origin, through its substitution by a Yuman-speaking interpreter
for the proper Seri word. The correct term is probably contained in
the other word given, _ahkáuhkă_, “firewood” (McGee); _a-ká-hoke_,
“wood” (Bartlett); _akaχχ´ŭkŭŭ_, “wood”, Spanish “leña” (Pinart). The
base of the word is evidently _ahka_, _a-ka_, or _aka_, signifying
“wood”, while _uhka_, _hoke_, or _χχ´ŭkŭě_, is the attributive, meaning
“dead” (compare _ikoχχe_, “to die”, _χuaχχ´e_, “dead”, _kochhe_,
“dead”). Hence, the compound signifies “dead wood” or “dead timber”,
and the correct Seri word for “wood” is very probably _ahka_, or
_aka_. In giving the names of the time periods M Pinart records an
expression that confirms the foregoing analysis. The word in question
_koneheχkŭě ishshaχ´_, which signifies the month in which “se seca el
pasto”—i. e., the month “the grass dries, becomes sere”. Now, the
element, _heχkŭě_ is evidently identical with _χχ´ŭkŭă_ above, and this
rendering should be “the month the grass dies”. Thus it would seem
that the term _ehe_, not being a native Seri word, does not serve to
establish relationship with the Yuman.
The compared list of the Serian and the Yuman vocables purporting to
denote “die, dead”, show no tokens of relationship.