Returned from the south, whither we were led by the Apache branch of the Tinneh family, let us examine the languages of our Columbian group. Next along the seaboard, south of the Thlinkeets, are the Haidahs and Kaiganies, whose language is spoken on the southern part of the Prince of Wales Archipelago, and on Queen Charlotte Island. This language is sometimes called Haidah, and sometimes Kaiganie,[III'-1] and although many tribes belong to these nations, I find among them no dialectic difference, except that between the Haidahs of Queen Charlotte Island and the Kaiganies of the Prince of Wales Archipelago.
Marchand claims that this language is understood by the Thlinkeets and other eastern tribes;[III'-2] Capt. Dixon thinks it is a distinct and separate tongue;[III'-3] Scouler makes one large northern family, which he says spreads "from the Arctic Circle to the northern extremity of Quadra and Vancouver's Island;"[III'-4] Radloff's comparative researches incline him to the opinion that, although there may be a few similarities in words between this and other idioms, as, for example, the Thlinkeet, they are yet insufficient to prove identity.[III'-5]
THE HAIDAH AND KAIGANIE.
Some of those who have heard the Haidahs speak, say that their language is uncouth and difficult to articulate, abounding in consonants, and with a labial and dental pronunciation;[III'-6] others affirm that it does not possess the hard aspirated consonants so frequently found in the Thlinkeet language, that it is richer in vowels and softer, though, like the Thlinkeet, it is wanting in labials, in the dental r, and in the guttural l, while the Haidah has the clear l.[III'-7] The Haidah language lacks the letters b, p, f, and the dental r; neither its substantives nor adjectives have any gender, and to express the feminine the word dshetta, woman, is added. Itlk dshetta, wife of the chief; ha, dog; ha dshetta, slut. Neither is there any particular expression for the plural. Kjéganei, my house; kjeganei tljönxl lágun, my three houses are good; tön dsha, thy wife; tön dsha s'töng hána, thy two wives are both pretty. Two exceptions have been mentioned;—gjeà, mast; gjeàng hlöhnhl, three masts; hätä, man (homo); hátei, men. Substantives are not declined, but remain unchanged in all cases. Hantl, water; hall hantl, bring water; tlu, boat; tlu tön gistasa, I give thee a boat; katt, deer; katt hutsu ziggin, I have a small deer; slei, hand; hall tön slei, give thy hand. Pronouns are either distinct words, or are prefixes to substantives and verbs. Prefixes also denote the possessive case. To the former class belong htlä, I; and tonga, thou. To the latter belong te, ti, de, di, zi, kje, teea, tl, t, mine, all of which are used in the first person singular. Second person singular, töng, tön, ten, thine; second person plural, töllöng, yours.
Of the conjugation of the verb, the following may serve as example: Present indicative—I am hungry, tekutke; thou art hungry, töng khúttus; he is hungry, law khúttung; we are hungry, itl khúttung; you are hungry, töllöng khúttus; they are hungry, únnas khúttung. Root words are not of great length. The larger part are words of one or two syllables; some are of three or four, but these are rare; nevertheless, words may be agglutinated to any length.[III'-8]
The Nass language is spoken with very slight differences by the Nass, Hailtzas, and Sebassas, who dwell around Observatory Inlet, Millbank Sound, and the islands of Pitt Archipelago, respectively. Harsh sounds and gutturals predominate.[III'-9] The personal pronouns are—nookwa, I; cusho, thou; nesho, mine; cusho, thine; nookwintok, we; kycusko, ye; caigh qua, he; elee caigh qua, they.[III'-10]
Dunn gives a few sentences, which I insert as specimens: whealey lowels kussú, where are you going? howmithlem pooquialla iltsouk, do you understand our language? lowels, cah cúnter cah míllah, go shoot deer.[III'-11]
BELLACOOLA AND CHIMSYAN.
In the immediate vicinity of the Nass are two other languages, the Bellacoola and Chimsyan, of which hardly anything is known. Tolmie supposes the Chimsyan to be related to the Tacully language, but Buschmann, on comparing the vocabularies, could not find the affinity. The Rev. Mr Good informs me that the Chimsyan tongue extends inland as far as Fraser and Stuart Lake.[III'-12] Compare the following words: