LETTER IX.

FROM THE SAME TO THE SAME.

PHILADELPHIA, 13th June, 1816.

DEAR SIR.--I take the liberty of submitting to you a few questions, which have occurred to me in perusing Mr. Zeisberger’s Grammar. I beg you will be so good as to answer them at your leisure.

I am, &c.

QUERIES.

1. In Mr. Zeisberger’s Grammar, double consonants are frequently used, as in _Pommauchsin_, _Lenno_, _Lenni Lenape_.

QUÆRE: Are the two consonants fully and distinctly sounded, thus: _pom-m-auchsin_--_Len-n-o_, as in the Italian language, or is only one of the consonants heard, as if it were thus written: _pomauchsin_, _leno_. In this latter case what is the reason for using two consonants, if only one is sounded?

2. Mr. Zeisberger frequently puts a comma or apostrophe (’) before or after the letter N in the present of the indicative verbs, _’npommauchsi_, and sometimes _n’pommauchsi_. Sometimes he writes the word without: _ndappiwi_, _ndappiwitsch_; what is the reason of this variation? Is there any necessity for the comma before or after the _N_ in the first person, or after the _K_ and _W_, in the second and third? Is it not best to simplify as much as possible the orthography of such a difficult language?

3. What is the difference in pronunciation between _ke_ and _que_; say, _pomauchsijenke_ and _pomauchsijeque_? Is the latter sounded like _cue_ or _kue_, or is it sounded as _ke_?

4. The conjunctive mood is expressed in German by “_wenn_;” does it mean in English “_if_” or “_when_”? Does “_n’pomauchsijane_,” mean “when I live” or “if I live,” or both? I find it sometimes expressed “_wenn_,” oder “_da_,” oder “_als_,” which inclines me to think it signifies both “_when_” and “_if_.”

5. I find some terminations in the tenses of the verbs, sometimes written “_cup_,” sometimes “_kup_,” and sometimes “_gup_;” thus _epiacup_, “where I was,” _elsijakup_, “when or if I was so situated;” and _pommauchsijengup_, “if or when we have lived.” Are these different sounds, or does this difference in writing arise from the Germans being accustomed to confound the sounds of K and G hard?

6. I find some words written sometimes with one _I_ and sometimes with two; thus _elsia_, and _elsija_. Are the two _i_’s separately articulated, or do they sound only as one?

7. I find the second person of the singular in verbs sometimes written with a _K_, sometimes with a _G_, thus _kneichgussi_, du wirst gesehen (thou art seen); _kdaantschi_, du wirst gehen (thou wilt go); _gemilgussi_, dir wird gegeben (it is given to thee). Why is it not written _kemilgussi_? see query 5. I find sometimes a double _aa_--Is it merely to express length of quantity, or are the two _a_’s sounded distinctly?

8. What is the difference in sound between _ch_ and _hh_, do they both represent the same guttural sound like _ch_ in German? If so, why express this sound in two different ways; if otherwise, what is the real difference between the two sounds?

EXAMPLES.

_Ach_pil, bleibe du (remain thou); a_ch_pi_ch_tique, wenn sie nicht da sind (if they are not there); nda_hh_enap, wir waren gegangen (we had gone); kda_hh_imo, ihr gehet (you go).

I am, &c.