Volume 3 — CHAPTER VII. THE PIMA, ÓPATA, AND CERI LANGUAGES.

Pima Alto and Bajo—Pápago—Pima Grammar—Formation of Plurals—Personal Pronoun—Conjugation—Classification of Verbs—Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections—Syntax of the Pima—Prayers in different Dialects—The Ópata and Eudeve—Eudeve Grammar—Conjugation of Active and Passive Verbs—Lord's Prayer—Ópata Grammar—Declension—Possessive Pronoun—Conjugation—Ceri Language with its Dialects, Guaymi and Tepoca—Ceri Vocabulary.

PIMA GRAMMAR.

From the Rio Gila southward, in Sonora and in certain parts of northern Sinaloa, is found the Pima language, spoken in many dialects, of which the principal divisions are the Pima alto and Pima bajo, or upper and lower Pima, and it has generally been considered one of the chief languages of northern Mexico. North of the thirty-second parallel, the Pápago is the dominant dialect of the Pima; in Sonora there are the Sobaipuri and others more or less divergent.[VII'-1] The Pima as compared with the languages of their northern and southern neighbors is represented as complete, full, and harmonious.[VII'-2] Although frequently classified with the Yuma, it is nevertheless a distinct tongue. It is closely connected with the Aztec-Sonora languages, which may be proven no less by its grammatical coincidences, than by the similarity of many of its words.[VII'-3] Following is an extract from a Pima grammar. The alphabet consists of the following letters: a, b, c, d, g, h, i, j, m, n, o, p, q, r, rh, s, t, u, v, x, y. Nearly all words end with a vowel. To form the plural, the first syllable of the singular noun is duplicated—hota, stone; hohota, stones. Exceptions to this rule occur in some few cases;—vinoy, snake; vipinoy, snakes; tuaia, girl; tusia, girls; sisi, brother; sisiki, brothers; tuvu, hare; tutuapa, hares. Gender is expressed by means of the words ubi, female, and ituoti, male. Derivatives expressing something which partakes of the nature of the primitive are formed with the affix magui;—xaivori, honey; xaivorimaqui, honeyed. For the same purpose the terminal kama is also used;—hadunikama, related to. Kama is also employed to form names of places and patronymics. Abstract words are formed with the word daga;—humatkama, man; humatkamadaga, mankind; stoa, white; stoadaga, whiteness. The particle parha, affixed to nouns implies a past condition;—nigaga, my land for planting; nigaga parha, the land for planting which was mine.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

SINGULAR.

FIRST PERSON. SECOND PERSON.

Nom. ani an'ani Nom api ap'api

Gen., Dat., and Abl. ni Gen., Dat., and Abl. mu

Acc. ni, nunu, nu Acc. mumu, mu

Voc. api

PLURAL.

Nom. ati, at'ati Nom., and Voc. apimu

Gen., Dat., and Abl., ti Gen., Dat., and Abl. amu

Ac., ti, tutu, tu Ac. amumu, amu

THIRD PERSON.

He, or she, hugai huka They, those, nugama, hukama

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB AQUIARIDA, TO COUNT.

PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I count, ani haquiarida We count, ati haquiarida

Thou countest, api haquiarida You count, apimu haquiarida

He counts, hugai haquiarida They count, hugam haquiarida

IMPERFECT. PERFECT.

I counted, ani haquiarid cada I have counted, an't' haquiari

PLUPERFECT.

I had counted, an't'haquiarid cada

FIRST FUTURE.

I shall count, ani aquiaridamucu, or an't'io haquiari

SECOND FUTURE.

I shall have counted, an't' io haquiari

IMPERATIVE.

Count thou, haquiaridani, or hahaquiarida

Count you, haquiarida vorha, or gorha haquiarida

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.

If I count, co'n'igui haquiaridana

PRESENT OPTATIVE.

O that I may count, dod' an' iki haquiaridana

When I am counting (speaking of one person only), haquiaridatu

Speaking of two persons, haquiaridada

Having counted, haquiaridac

When I count, or after counting, haquiaridaay

He who counts, haquiaridadama

He who counted, haquiaridacama

He who has to count, haquiaridaaguidama, or io haquiaridacama

Verbs are divided into many classes, such as singular, plural, frequentative, applicative, and compulsive. Plural-verbs—murha, to run, one person; vopobo, to run, many. Frequentatives are formed with the verb himu, to go; for example, vaita, to call; vaitahimu, to call frequently. Applicatives are made by changing the terminal vowel of the verb into i, and adding the terminal da—tubanu, to lower; tubanida, to lower something. Compulsive verbs are formed with the affix tuda—hukiaridatuda, to compel to count. A large number of adverbs are used, of which I give only a few specimens:

Where ua, ubai Near here iavu

Here ia High tai

Here (moving) ay Yesterday taco

Near mia How, as xa, astu, xaco

Nearer miacu No pima

PREPOSITIONS.

Before vaita Since oiti

For iquiti, vusio With bumata, buma

Upon damana Of amidurhu

In aba

CONJUNCTIONS.

And upu, cosi Or aspumusi, aspi

But posa Then bunoga

Because coiva Although apcada

Substantives are generally placed after the adjectives. To signify possession the name of the possessor is simply prefixed—Pedro onnigga, wife of Pedro. Prepositions are affixed.[VII'-4] Of the different dialects there are four specimens, of which one differs to such an extent as to be hardly recognizable. Neither the names of these dialects nor the places where they were spoken are given with any of them by the authorities. The first which I give is by the missionary Father Pfefferkorn, and differs most from any of the others.

Diosch ( God ) ini ( my ) mam, ( dear, ) ami si ( I very ) schoic ( sorry am ) tat, wus ( towards ) in' ( my ) ipudakit. ( heart of ) Ant' ( I ) apotuta ( have done ) si ( very ) sia ( much ) pitana, ( ugly, ) apt' ( thou ) um ( me ) soreto ( punish wilt ) taikisa ( fire in ) pia ( no ) humac ( single ) tasch ( time ) pia ( not ) etonni ( burning ) tat. ( is. )

The next, a Lord's Prayer, is from a Doctrina Christiana:

T'oga ti dama ca tum' ami da cama s'cuga m'aguna mu tuguiga, tubui divianna simu tuodidaga. Cosasi m'huga cugai kiti ti dama catum' ami gusuda huco bupo gusudana ia duburh' aba. Siari vugadi ti coadaga vutu ica tas' aba cati maca. Vpu gat' oanida pima s'cugati tuidiga cos' as' ati pima tuguitoa t'obaga to buy pima s'cuga tuidiga. Pima t' huhuguida tudana vpu pima s'cuga tuidiga, co' pi ti duguvonidani pima scuga ami durhu. Doda hapu muduna Jhs.

The next is a Lord's Prayer from Hervás:

T'oca titauacatum ami dacama; scuc amu aca mu tukica; ta hui dibiana ma tuotidaca; cosassi mu cussuma amocacugai titamacatum apa hapa cussudana inatuburch apa mui siarim t'hukiacugai buto ca tu maca. Pim' upu ca tukitoa pima scuca ta tuica cosas ati pima tukitoa t'oopa amidurch pima scuca tuitic; pim' upu ca ta dakitoa co diablo ta hiatokidara; cupto ta itucuubundana pim scuc amidurch.

The fourth, also a Lord's Prayer, is from the collection of the Mexican Geographical Society:

Chóga dáma cáta diácamá izquiáma ña meitilla tabus matúyaga cosamacai yí, dama cata gussada imidirraba Sulit ecuadaga butis maca vupuc chuan yiga cosismatito chavaga tiapisnisquantillos pinitiandaná copetullañi imisquiandura dodá maduná cetús.

From the same source I also take a Pápago Lord's Prayer:

Pan toc momo tamcaschina apeta michucuyca Santo: anchut botonia ati chuyca: entupo hoyehui maetachui apo masima motepa cachitmo, mapotomal pami buemasitaapa, jummo tomae, boetoicusipua chuyechica, apomasi maza china sugocuita juann motupay assimi qui, jubo gibu matama cazi pachuichica, panchit borrapi. Amen.[VII'-5]

THE DIALECTS OF THE ÓPATA LANGUAGE.

Wedged in between the Pima alto and the Pima bajo, is the Ópata, or Teguima, with its principal dialect the Eudeve. Although the Ópata and Eudeve have generally been enumerated as distinct languages, after careful comparison I think with the missionaries who were conversant with both, that it will be safe to call the one a dialect of the other. An anonymous author even says that the difference between them is not greater than between the Portuguese and Castilian, or between the French and the Provençal.[VII'-6] Like the Pima, it is a branch of the Aztec-Sonora languages. As is most frequent on the Pacific Coast, classification differs greatly according to fancy; thus it is with the Ópata; its classifications have been many, and among others it has been placed with the Pima family. Many dialects are mentioned, but little is said of them. Of these there are the Teguis, Teguima, Coguinachi, Batuca, Sahuaripa, Himeri, Guazaba, and Jova.[VII'-7] The Ópata is represented as finished, easy to acquire, and abounding in eloquent expressions.[VII'-8] Of the Eudeve dialect I insert a few grammatical remarks. In the alphabet are wanting the letters f, j, k, w, x, y, and l; vowels are pronounced as in the Spanish; nouns are declined without the aid of articles. Verbal nouns are frequently used;—hiósguadauh, painting or writing, from hiósguan, I write. Nouns as names of instruments are formed from the future active of verbs, designating the action performed by the said instrument;—métecan, I chop; future, métetze, by changing its last syllable into siven, forms métesiven—as a noun, meaning axe or chopper. In some cases the ending rina is used instead of siven;—bícusirina, flute, from bicudan, I whistle, and bihirina, shovel, from bihán, I scrape. Abstract nouns are formed with the particles ragua or súra—váde, joyously, váderagua, joy; déni, good, déniragua, goodness; dóhme, man or people; dóhmeragua, humanity. All verbs are used as nouns, and as such are declined as well as conjugated;—hiósguan, I write, also means writer; nemútzau, I bewitch, is also wizard. Adjective nouns ending with téri and ei signify quality;—bavitéri, elegant; aresumetéri, different or distinct; tasúquei, narrow. The ending ráve denotes plenitude;—sitoráve, full of honey; sitóri, honey; and ráve, full. Endings in e, o, u, signify possession;—esé, she that has petticoats; nóno, he that has a father, from nónogua, father; sutúu, he that has finger-nails, from sutú. Ca prefixed to a word reverses its meaning;—cúne, married; cacúne, not married. Sguari, affixed, denotes an augmentative;—dotzi, old man; dotzísguari, very old man.

DECLENSION OF THE WORD SIIBI, HAWK.

Nom. siibi Acc. siibíc

Gen. siiibíque Voc. siibí

Dat. siibt Abl. sibítze

The plural of nouns is usually formed by duplication;—dor, man or male, plural dódor; hóit, woman, hóhoit, women. Some exceptions to this rule occur;—as, doritzi, boy, plural vus, applied to both sexes, but when intended only for males, it is dódorus. In some cases females employ different words from those used by the male sex; for example, the father says to his son, noguàt, to his daughter, mórqua; the mother says to either, nótzgua; the son says to the father, nonógua; and the daughter, mósgua.

EUDEVE GRAMMAR.

Personal pronouns are nee, I; nap, thou; id, at, or ar, he, or she; tamide, we; emet, or emíde, you; amét, or met, these or they. In joining pronouns with other words, elision takes place, the last letter or syllable of the pronouns being dropped.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB HIÓSGUAN, I PAINT.

PRESENT INDICATIVE.

ACTIVE. PASSIVE.

I paint, nee hiósguan I am painted, nee hiósguadauh

Thou paintest, nap hiósguan Thou art painted, náp hiósguadauh

He paints, id, or at hiósguan He is painted, id, or at hiósguadauh

We paint, tamide hiósguame We are painted, tamide hiósguadagua

You paint, emét hiósguame You are painted, emét hiósguadagua

They paint, amet hiósguame They are painted, amet hiósguadagua

IMPERFECT.

I painted, nee hiósguamru I was painted, nee hiósguadauhru

PERFECT.

I have painted, nee hiósguari I have been painted, nee hiósguacauh

or nee hiósguarit

PLUPERFECT.

I had painted, nee hiósguariru I had been painted, nee hiósguacauhrutu

FIRST FUTURE.

I shall paint, nee hiósguatze I shall be painted, nee hiósguatzidauh

Paint thou, hiósgua

Paint ye, hiósguavu

I will see that I paint, asmane hiósguatze

I shall see that I be painted, asmane hiósguatzidauh

Even though you paint, venésmana hiósguam

I will that you paint, nee eme hiósguaco naquém

I will that thou be painted, nee eme hiósguarico naquém

Even though I may paint, venésmane hiósguam

Even though I may be painted, venésmane hiósguadauh

If I should paint, nee hiósguatzern

I should be painted, nee hiósquatziudauhru

There are seven other kinds of verbs mentioned, such as frequentative, compulsive, applicative verbs, etc.

The numerals show more particularly a strong affinity to those of the Aztec language: 1. sei; 2. godum; 3. veidum; 4. nauoi; 5. marqui; 6. vusani; 7. seniovusáni; 8. gos návoi; 9. vesmácoi; 10. macoi.

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

Tamo Nóno, tevíctze catzi, cannè teguà, uéhoa vitzua terádauh. Tomo canne venè hasém amo quéidagua. Amo canne hinádocauh iuhtépatz éndaugh, teníctze endahtevèn. Quécovi tamo bádagua óqui tame mic. Tame náventziuh tame piuidedo tamo canáde émca; ein tamide tamo. Ovi tamo náven tziuhdahteven. Cana tótzi Diablo tatacóritze tame huétudenta; nassa tame hipùr cadénitzeuai.[VII'-9]

ÓPATA GRAMMAR.

Of the Ópata, there exists a grammar written by Natal Lombardo, from which a few remarks are here given. The alphabet: a, b, ch, d, e, g, h, i, k, m, n, o, p, r, rh, s, t, th, tz, u, v, x, z. Most words end with a vowel. Long words are not rare, as chumikanahuinaguat, name of a plant; kuguesaguataguikide, spring (season); makoisenignabussanibegua, seventeen. Gender is expressed either by the addition of the word, male or female, or by distinct words. The plural is formed by duplication; the manner of duplicating varies; sometimes the first, and at others the last syllable being repeated, and very frequently letters changed;—Temachi, lad; plural, tetemachi; höre, squirrel; plural, hohore; uri, male; plural, urini; vatziguat, brother; plural, vapatziguat; maraguat, daughter; plural, mamaraguat, daughters. Ten declensions are described; they may be recognized by different endings of the genitive, which are: te, ri, si, gui, ni, tzi, ki, ku, ku, pi. The greater number of words belong to the first declension. In the 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 10th, the accusative and dative are the same as the genitive; in the 8th the genitive, which ends in ku, is formed from the accusative, while in the 9th, in which the genitive also ends in ku, the accusative and dative are like the nominative.

1st DECLENSION OF THE WORD TAT, THE SUN.

Nom. tät Gen. tätte Dat. or Acc. tätta

2d DECLENSION OF THE WORD KUKU, THE QUAIL.

Nom. kuku Gen. kukuri Dat. or Acc. kukuri

8th DECLENSION OF THE WORD CHI, THE BIRD.

Nom. chi Gen. chimiku Dat. or Acc. chimi

9th DECLENSION OF THE WORD TUTZI, THE TIGER.

Nom. tutzi Gen. tutziku Dat. or Acc. tutzi

Abstract terms are formed by the affix ragua;—massi, father; massiragua, paternity; naideni, good; naideniragua, goodness. The word ahka is used for a like purpose;—uri, man; uriahka, humanity; tossai, white; tossaiahka, whiteness. To express a local noun, the syllable de is added;—denide, place of light; neomachide, difficult place. Suraua, guëua, ena, en, essa, and otze, signify much, and are used to form superlatives. Personal pronouns are:—ne, I; ta, we; ma, thou; emido, you; i or it, he or she; me, they. Possessive pronouns are:—no, mine; tamo, ours; amo, thine; emo, yours; are, araku, his; mereki, theirs.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB NE HIO, I PAINT.

PRESENT INDICATIVE.

I paint, ne hio We paint, ta, or tamido hio

Thou paintest, ma hio You paint, emido hio

He paints, i hio They paint, me hio

IMPERFECT. PERFECT.

I painted, ne hiokaru I have painted, ne hiosia, or ne hiove

PLUPERFECT. FIRST FUTURE.

I had painted, ne hiosiruta I shall paint, ne hiosea

SECOND FUTURE.

I shall have painted, ne hioseave

IMPERATIVE.

Paint thou, hiotte Paint you, hiovu

Let him paint, hioseai Let them paint, hioseame

Painting, hiopa, or hioko

Having painted, hiosaru, or hiositzi

Having to paint, hioseakoko, or hioseakiko

He who shall paint, hioseakame

He who paints, kiokame

He who painted, hiosi

As in the Eudeve, there are in this language many classes of verbs, differing mostly in endings of certain persons. Prepositions and adverbs exist in great number. Finally I give a few of the conjunctions;—guetza, although; vesé, and; nemake, also; naneguari, why, etc.

THE LORD'S PRAYER.

Tamomas ( Of our father ) teguikaktzigua ( heaven in ) kakame ( he who is ) amo ( of thee ) tegua ( name ) santo ( holy ) ah, ( is, ) amo ( of thee ) reino ( kingdom ) tame ( to us ) makte, ( give, ) hinadoka ( thy will ) iguati ( here ) tevepa ( earth on ) ahnia ( be done ) teguikaktzi ( heaven in ) veri. ( so. ) Chiama ( Of all the days ) tamo ( of us ) guaka ( food ) veu ( now ) tame ( to us ) mak, ( give, ) tame ( to us ) neavere ( forgive ) tamo ( of us ) kainaideni ( bad ) ata ( as ) api ( also ) tamido ( ) neavere ( forgive ) tamo ( of us ) opagua, ( enemy, ) kai ( not ) tame ( to us ) taotidudare; ( fall let; ) kianaideni ( bad ) chiguadu ( of ) apita ( also ) kaktzia.[VII'-10] ( deliver. )

Following is the Lord's Prayer in the Jova dialect:

Dios Noiksa: Vantegueca cachi, sec jan itemijunalequa itemijunalequa motequán. Veda no parin, embeida mogitápejepa. Ennio ju güidade, naté, vite tevá, nate vanteguéca. Necho cuguírra, setata veté toomacá ento oreirá, en tobarurra, como ité yté topa oreira toon oreira seeján. Caa ton surratoga canecho jorrá sacu nuna dogüe seejan iguité caagüeta.

SUPPOSED CERI AND WELSH SIMILARITIES.

East of the Ópata and Pima bajo, on the shores of the gulf of California, and thence for some distance inland, and also on the island of Tiburon, the Ceri language with its dialects, the Guaymi and Tepoca, is spoken. Few of the words are known, and the excuse given by travelers for not taking vocabularies, is, that it was too difficult to catch the sound. It is represented as extremely harsh and guttural in its pronunciation, and well suited to the people who speak it, who are described as wild and fierce.[VII'-11] It is, so far as known, not related to any of the Mexican linguistic families. As in many other languages, some have fancied they saw Welsh traces in it; one writer thought he detected similarities to Arabic, but neither of these speculations are worth anything. The Arabic relationship has been disproven by Señor Ramirez, who compared the two, and the statement regarding the Welsh is given on the hearsay of some sailors, who are said to have stated that they thought they discovered some Welsh sounds, when hearing the Ceris speak.[VII'-12] I give here the only vocabulary which I have been able to find of this language:

Woman jidja Horse cai

Population jiciri Room (chamber) migenman

Milk junin More amen

Wine amat Less tungurá

Good tanjajipe Little jinás

Better jipe