Examples of Vowel Change in Lenape.
| N'dappin, I am there | Achpiya, if I am there. |
| Epia, where I am. | |
| N'dellsin, I am so. | Lissiye, if I am so. |
| N'gauwi, I sleep. | Gewi, he who sleeps. |
| N'pommauchsi, I walk or live. | Pemauchsit, living. |
| N'da, I go. | Eyaya, when I go. |
| Eyat, going. |
Another omission in his Grammar is that of the "obviative" and "super-obviative" forms of nouns. These are used in the Algonkin dialects to define the relations of third persons. They prevent such obscurity as appears in the following English sentence: "John's brother called at Robert's, to see his wife." Whose wife is referred to is left ambiguous; but in Algonkin these third persons would have different forms, and there would be no room for ambiguity. In his writings in Lenape, Zeisberger makes use of obviatives, with the terminations al and l, but does not treat of them in his Grammar.
As a question in philosophical grammar, it may be doubted whether the Lenape has any true passive voice. Cardinal Mezzofanti was accustomed to deny the presence of any real passives in American languages; and he had studied the Delaware among others.
The sign of the Delaware passive is the suffix gussu or cusso. In the Cree dialect, which, as I have already said, preserves the ancient forms most closely, this is k-ussu, and is a particle expressing likeness or similarity in animate objects[171]. Hence, probably, the original sense of the Lenape word translated, "I am loved," is "I am like the object of the action of loving."
CHAPTER V.
Historical Sketches of the Lenape.
§ 1. The Lenape as "Women"
§ 2. Recent Migrations of the Lenape
§ 3. Missionary Efforts in the Provinces of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.