In some instances these endings are changed for the sake of euphony, certain letters being elided. The endings may really be called auxiliary verbs, attached to the principal verb. Thus the imperfect reads, literally, 'would be I go do,' the ending teena, being nothing but the word tseena, with the s omitted. In like manner the future is formed, as in tudáwa, to want, which is changed into cúwa.
There is nothing to denote number in the verb, as can be seen in the
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE.
| I am, | ahwa | We are, | áyawa |
| Thou art, | ámawa | You are, | ámawa |
| He is, | hámowa | They are, | hámowa |
Of the imperative, the following may serve as an example: hoáleluh, let me go; hoalin, go thou; hoálegun, let him go. The verb chadúna, to see, may signify either I see, or seeing, or to see, or it may be construed as a substantive—sight; or as an adjective in agglutination, as chadunatoboónya, a watchful man. Chanhódin is an auxiliary verb and is always prepositive. The pronouns are, ah, ahto, or ahmet, I; ama, thou; and wemo, waymo, hamo, or ámata, he. The first person of the pronoun is always omitted, except with the verb to be, and the second and third persons frequently. Pronominal adjectives are quite irregular, as owkey, from ah; maykey, from ama; wébakey, from wemo; and they are also used irregularly with nouns. Thus in medde, father; ahmen, or owkáhmen, or áhmedde, being equivalent to I father, my father. Here, also, euphony steps in and makes words sometimes wholly unrecognizable, as ahtótána, equivalent to méhand, and still more different, as mamówky, this is for me. Your father is máykemay; his father, wébamen. Thus it will be seen that medde is changed, or abbreviated, into men, and may. Sometimes the personal pronoun is agglutinated to the verb, and sometimes it is not;—chechoánomdo (chechoána meto), I strike you; meto tudáwa, I love you. As in many other Pacific States languages, we have here a reverential syllable, which in this language is always prefixed, whereas in others, for instance the Aztec, it is an affix. Speaking of persons related, or of things belonging, to the chief, the reverential me or jin, is always prefixed;—owkeybaì, my wife; maykeybaì, your wife; atópte meëtchen, the chief's wife; shinna, head; metoshin, your head; webashin, his head; atópte jinshinna, the chief's head. All adjectives are really substantives, and are used for both purposes. Thus, ootu, boy, also signifies little, or young. Adjectives are generally placed after nouns—majey codey, good day; but there are also many exceptions to this rule. Comparatives are expressed by the particle pala, more;—paleyabáta waymo ahmet, he is greater than I, pala becoming paléya, in composition. This is only used by the more intelligent class. A Gallinomero of the lower order would say, bata waymo ahmet, great he I. The principal characteristics of the language are euphony and brevity, to which all things else are subservient, but nevertheless, as I have shown already, agglutination is carried to the farthest extent.[IV'-14]
TRANS-PACIFIC COMPARISONS.
As will be seen by the following comparative table, the Pomo language, or rather one of its dialects, the Kulanapo, shows some affinity to the Malay family of languages. Of one hundred and seventy words which I have compared, I find fifteen per cent. showing Malay similarities, and more could perhaps have been found if the several vocabularies had been made upon some one system. As it is, I have been obliged to use a Malay, a Tonga, and other Polynesian vocabularies, taken by different persons, at different times. Without attempting to establish any relationship between the Polynesians and Californians, I present these similarities merely as a fact; these analogies I find existing nowhere else in California, and between them and no other Trans-Pacific peoples.[IV'-15]
| KULANAPO. | MALAY. | DIALECT OF THE MALAY. | |
| Woman | dah | do | Kayan |
| Mother | nihk | indi, ini | Sakarran |
| Husband | dah'k | laki, lake | Malay |
| Wife | bai le | bini | Malay |
| Head | kai yah | kapala | Malay |
| Hair | moo sooh | fooloo | Tonga |
| Neck | mi yah | gia | Tonga |
| Foot | kah mah | kaki | Malay |
| House | kah (calli, Aztec) | falle | Tonga |
| Sun | lah | láa | Tonga |
| Fire | poh (Copeh) | apoé | Millanow |
| Water | k'hah | vy, cawna | Tonga |
| Mountain | dah no | darud | Suntah |
| Black | keela keelick | kele | Polynesian |
| Bed | keh dah reh duk | dadara | Malay |
| Green | doh tor | ota | Polynesian |
| Dead | mu dal | mati | Malay |
| I | hah | au | Polynesian |
| One | k'hah lih | tasi | Polynesian |
| One | tchah (Yukai) | satu | Malay |
| Four | dol | tau | Polynesian |
| Five | leh ma | lima | Malay |
| Eat | ku hu | kai | Polynesian |
| Drink | mih | mea inoo | Tonga |
| To see | el lih (Chocuyem) | ilaw | Tonga |
| To go | le loom | aloo | Tonga |
| Bow | pah chee | pana | Malay |
| Tongue | lehn teep (Chocuyem) | lida | Malay |
| Leg | co yok (Chocuyem) | ku jak | Suntah |
The similarities existing between the Japanese and Chinese, and the Californian languages, appearing from a careful comparison of the same one hundred and seventy words, are insufficient to establish any relationship; the few resemblances may be regarded as purely accidental. Of these words I insert the following, which are all between which I have been able to discover any likeness: