We may begin our study of the language with an examination of the

Tense-signs in Othomi.
PRESENT TENSE.
1. I wish,di nee.
2. Thou wishest,gui nee.
3. He wishes,y nee.
PAST AORIST.
1. I wished,da nee.
2. Thou wished,ga nee.
3. He wished,bi nee.
PERFECT.
1. I have wished,xta nee.
2. Thou hast wished,xca nee.
3. He has wished,xpi nee.
PLUPERFECT.
1. I had wished,xta nee hma.
2. Thou hadst wished,xca nee hma.
3. He had wished,xpi nee hma.
FIRST FUTURE.
1. I shall wish,ga nee.
2. Thou wilt wish,gui nee.
3. He will wish,da nee.
SECOND FUTURE.
1. I shall have wished,gua xta nee.
2. Thou wilt have wished,gua xca nee.
3. He will have wished,gua xpi nee.

The pronouns here employed are neither the ordinary personals nor possessives (though the Othomi admits of a possessive conjugation), but are verbal pronouns, strictly analogous to those found in various other American languages. The radicals are:

I,d—.
Thou,g—.
He, it,b—.

In the present, the first and second are prefixed to what is really the simple concrete form of the verb, y-nee. In the past tenses the personal signs are variously united with particles denoting past time or the past, as a, the end, to finish, ma and hma, yesterday, and the prefix x, which is very noteworthy as being precisely the same in sound and use which we find in the Cakchiquel past and future tenses. It is pronounced sh (as in shove) and precedes the whole verbal, including subject, object, and theme; while in the pluperfect, the second sign of past time hma is a suffix to the collective expression.

The future third person is given by Neve as da, but by Perez as di, which latter is apparently from the future particle ni given by Neve. In the second future, the distinctive particle gua precedes the whole verbal, thus inclosing the subject with the theme in the tense-sign, strictly according to the principles of the incorporative conjugation.

This incorporative character is still more marked in the objective conjugations, or “transitions.” The object, indeed, follows the verb, but is not only incorporated with it, but in the compound tense is included within the double tense signs.

Thus, I find in Perez’s Catechism,

diûn-bamagetzi,
He willgive-themheaven.

In this sentence, di is the personal pronoun combined with the future sign; and the verb is ûn-ni, to give to another, which is compounded with the personal ba, them, drops its final syllable, forming a true synthesis.