of the Maskoki language-family is analogous, though by no means identical with the Creek dialect in its grammatic outlines. Many points of comparison will readily suggest themselves to our readers, and enable us to be comparatively short in the following sketch.
The female dialect is an archaic form of Hitchiti parallel to archaic Creek; both were formerly spoken by both sexes. Only the common form (or male language) of Hitchiti will be considered here.
PHONETICS.
The phonetic system is the same as in Creek, except that the sonant mutes, b, g, are more distinctly heard (d is quite rare). The processes of alternation are the same in both dialects. Many vowels of substantives are short in Creek, which appear long in Hitchiti: ă′pi tree: H. ā′pi; hă′si sun, moon: H. hā′si; nĭ′ta day: H. níta etc.
MORPHOLOGY.
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.