ABSTRACT Spectroscopic observations of R Aqr and its nearby 'jet' between 1980 and 1984 are presented. As first reported by Sopka et al. (1982), a significant difference between the velocity of the jet and the inner nebula associated with the star is found. Spectra at high resolution show that many emission lines are double with one component near that of the star and one near that of the jet; however, forbidden lines favored by high density do not show the latter component. Profiles of the single Ne III forbidden lines from the inner nebula indicate an expansion velocity no greater than 12.5 km/s in 1984. An assembly of absorption-line velocities for the long-period variable obtained during the past 40 years is consistent with a 44-year period, and a velocity amplitude of 7 km/s. A highly eccentric orbit, which might explain the outbursts by a mass-transfer event at periastron, is not likely to be consistent with the absorption-line data.