Chapter III

THE NOTION OF BEING IS PRESENT IN THE VERBAL FORM ONLY IN IDEA.

In this case the verb consists only of the stem, and the person, tense, and mode signs. The former are originally pronouns, the latter particles. Before they are worn down by use to mere affixes, the three following cases may arise:

1. That all three of these elements are equally separable and loosely connected.

2. That one of the two, the person or the tense and mode signs, obtains a closer connection with the stem, and becomes formal, while the other remains loosely attached.

3. That both these are incorporated with the stem, and the whole approaches a true grammatical form, although it does not fully represent it.

_Case 1st._

The only language I can instance here is that of the Omaguas, as I know no other with such a decided absence of all true grammatical forms in the verb. The independent pronouns, the stem words of the verbs, and the particles of tense and mode are merely placed together without any change, without internal connection, and apparently without fixed order; _usu_, to go; 1st pers. sing. pres. _ta usu_; 2d pers. sing. perf. _avi ene usu_ (_ene_ is the pronoun, _avi_ the sign of the perfect). Subjunctive, 1st pers. sing. pres. _ta usu mia_; 2d pers. sing. perf. _avi epe usu mia_.

Sometimes, when a misunderstanding is not feared, the verbal stem is employed without these qualifying particles, and cannot then be distinguished from a noun. _Paolo amai amano_. The last word means "to die," but grammatically the sentence can as well be rendered, "Paul only die" (_i. e._ has died), as "Paul only dead."

It is true that the suffix _ta_ changes nouns to verbs: _zhiru_, clothes, _zhiru-ta_, to clothe; but it also changes verbs to nouns, _yasai_, to cover, _yasai-ta_, a cover. This may be explained by the theory that this suffix conveys the idea _to make_, which is taken sometimes actively, sometimes passively.

According to the above, the Omagua conjugation falls in the class where an attributive is united to a pronoun and the verb is omitted; only that here definite tense syllables appear, and this brings the construction nearer to the idea of a conjugation.

_Case 2d._

1. The Maipure, Abipone, Mbaya and Mocobi languages place only the personal sign in intimate connection with the verb, and allow the tense and mode signs to be loosely attached. They have therefore but one type of personal forms to be applied in every tense and mode by means of the particles or the affixes formed from them. This type, taken alone, usually forms the present; but, accurately speaking, this name cannot be assigned it; because the signs of the other tenses are also dropped when this can be done without obscurity. _Ya-chaguani-me-yaladi._ Here the first word is in the indefinite form, though it is not the present but the perfect. The _me_ is really the preposition "in;" but usage has adopted it for the subjunctive sign, and so the Spanish grammarians call it; or rather, the verb is considered to be introduced by a conjunction, "if," "as," so that it is usually not in the present but a past tense. If this is the case with the last verb, the first one must have the same tense, and so the whole phrase, without any tense sign, means, "I had helped him when I said it."

One would scarcely expect to find anything like this in cultivated languages. Yet it does occur in both Sanscrit and Greek. The now meaningless particle _sma_ in Sanscrit when it follows the present changes it into a past, and in Greek ~an~ alters the indicative into a subjunctive.

To form this general type, the Maipure makes use of the unchanged possessive pronoun, and treats nouns and verbs in the same manner. The noun must always be united to a possessive pronoun, a trait common to all the Orinoco tongues and many other American languages. In the 3d person sing., however, neither the verb nor the noun has such a pronoun, but it is to be understood; _nuani_, my son; _ani_, alone, not son, but "his son." The 3d pers. sing. of the verb is often the mere stem, without a personal sign, but that this peculiarity should also extend to the noun I have met only in this tongue. It is evident that a pronoun is considered as essential to a noun as to a verb, and although a similar usage is found in many tongues, yet it appears in none so binding. There are, indeed, some nouns which are free from the necessity of thinking them in connection with a person, but these have the suffix _ti_, which is dropped when the possessive pronoun is added; _java ti_, a hatchet, _nu java_, my hatchet. From this it is evident that _ti_ does not belong to the stem, and is incompatible with the use of a possessive, hence it is the sign of the substantive, in its independent condition. The same occurs in Mexican, and the chief termination of substantives, _tli_, is almost identical in sound with that in the Maipure.

In this respect the verbal, conjugated with the personal signs, differs nothing from the noun united to its possessive pronouns. Grammatically, the form first becomes a verbal one by the added particles of tense and mode. The signification of these can generally be clearly ascertained, and thus are united closely to the stem.

The particles which the language of the Abipones uses to form the general verbal type are quite different from the possessives. The tense and mode particles have elsewhere in the tongue independent meanings. Thus _kan_, the sign of the perfect, means a thing which has been, time that has past.

In the language of the Mocobis the personal signs consist merely in letters, prefixed and suffixed, and have no apparent relationship to the pronouns. By affixing these letters, phonetic changes take place so that the stem is combined with them into one form.

Among the tense signs, a prefixed _l_ indicates a past time, a suffixed _o_, the future; but the others are independent particles, loosely attached to the stem.

I have already shown how the Mbaya language conjugates adjectives with the independent pronoun, and participles with the possessive pronoun. The signs used in the conjugation proper of the attributive verb, do not appear elsewhere in the tongue, and must have descended from an older period of its existence.

In the tense and mode signs it is easily perceived how descriptive phrases pass into true forms. For the imperfect and pluperfect the speaker can choose among a number of particles, all of which indicate past time. The modes have definite signs, but these are merely appended, and some have separate significations. The future and perfect have not merely fixed particles, but these are worn down to one letter, so that the stem is actually incorporated with them.

2. In the languages heretofore considered the personal signs added to the word make up the conjugation, and the other signs are attached loosely and externally. The reverse of this, though not perfectly so, appears in the Lule language. The tense and mode signs, often of but one letter, are immediately and firmly attached to the stem, and the pronouns are affixed to this to complete the conjugation. These pronouns are, however, the ordinary possessives, so that noun and verb become in a measure identical; thus, _camc_ means both "I eat" and "my food;" _cumuee_, "I marry" and "my wife;" only in a few examples are the verbal pronouns distinct from the possessives.

In this case, therefore, the personal signs are independent elements, occurring elsewhere in the language, while the tense and mode signs are true affixes.

The inflection-syllables form with the stem real verbal forms, and so far the conjugation of this language belongs to the third case. But each of the elements has its fixed position, and as soon as one has the key to the combination, he can recognize and separate them at once.

Reasons which it would require too much space to set forth render it probable that all the tense signs are really auxiliary verbs or come from them. This is evident of the optative, as has already been shown. The present only is simple, as it has no tense sign.

Slight differences are found between the personal signs of some tenses, so that these tenses can be distinguished by them, a trait usually seen only in tongues so far cultivated that the grammatical forms have undergone such changes as no longer to present simple and uniform combinations. Equally curious is the regular omission of the tense sign of past time in the third person plural only. Although, except in this case and that of the present, each tense has its definite sign, inserted between the stem and the personal sign, yet there are, besides these, various particles expressing past time, which can accompany the usual tense form, so that there is a double sign of time, one in the word itself and one loosely attached to it.

The languages of the Mbayas, Abipones, Mocobis and Lules are closely allied both in words and in some grammatical forms. It is all the more extraordinary, therefore, to find the last-mentioned pursuing a method in the structure of its verb which is almost totally opposed to that in the other three tongues.

_Case 3d._

The languages of this class approach in their conjugations those of the more cultivated tongues, in which each verbal inflection has a fixed and independent form. Both the person, the tense and the mode signs are united to the stem, in such a manner that none of the three can be said to be either less or more loosely attached than the others.

All the conjugations about to be discussed lack, however, that fixity of form which grammatically satisfies the mind.

The elements are placed definitely and regularly one by the other, but are not incorporated into each other, and are therefore readily recognizable.

They are found, moreover, outside of the verb elsewhere in the language either without any change or with slight differences of sound; the personal signs as pronouns, the other affixes as particles.

The composition of the verb is separable, and may receive into itself other parts of speech.

No American language is free from these drawbacks to perfection of form in the conjugations. In some all three are found; in most the first and last. In really grammatically developed tongues, as in the Sanscrit, Greek, Latin and German, none of these imperfections exists. The verb includes in itself no part of its object, the affixes modifying the stem have lost all independent life, and the analysis of the formal elements becomes a difficult philological task, which often fails and only rarely can be fully proved.

I shall discriminate in regard to the conjugations about to be considered that which is an approach toward a fixed form from the intentional separation of the form to insert a governed word.

_1. Approach toward a Fixed Form._

In the Mixteca language, the personal sign is the unchanged possessive pronoun. If the verb is governed by a noun in the third person, the possessive is dropped. It is left to the speaker to choose whether he designates the person, either by prefixing the personal pronoun or suffixing the possessive. The tense signs are prefixed syllables, but the perfect and future signs are altogether different from those of the present, and materially alter the verbal stem.

The Beto language prefixes the personal signs and also the possessive pronouns to the nouns. As the latter are not fully known, we cannot judge of their identity with the verbal pronouns. The latter do not seem to differ much from the personal pronouns. The tense signs are easily recognized suffixes.

Another conjugation of the same language, by the suffixed pronoun without tense signs, and with the verb omitted, has been mentioned above (I, 1), as forming a substantive verb.

A second substantive verb arises from the conjugation above explained, with the tense signs.

These two forms may also be combined, and this illustrates with what superfluous fullness grammatical forms spring up even among rude nations. The conjugation with the tense sign is changed by a participial suffix into a verbal, and then the pronoun is suffixed, as in the conjugation without the tense sign. The latter, therefore, stands twice in the form. The pronoun used in the conjugation with tense signs may also be prefixed to a simple adjective, and the pronoun used in the conjugation without tense sign is suffixed to this, and the participial ending is then added. This is treated as a verb with the substantive verb understood. But sometimes the verb "to be" in the form without tense signs is added, and then the whole form contains the pronoun three times, without gaining thereby any additional meaning.

The Carib conjugation seems to have arisen from the forms of many dialects or epochs, and is therefore more complicated and formal, and less easy to analyze.

The personal signs are prefixed. In the substantive verb there are two classes, of which only one is also common to attributive verbs. The other indicates in the verb "to be" also the connection of persons with the infinitive and gerund, and is therefore of the nature of a possessive. It may also be that when it is combined with other tenses, the notion among these nations is altogether a substantial one, as we have already seen with the subjunctive.

The stem often receives the addition _r_ or _ri_, the meaning of which is not known.

The structure of the Tamanaca conjugation also reveals a combination of at least two separate structures. Some tenses use as their personal signs entire pronouns, almost identical with the personals. Other tenses merely change the initial letter of the verb, while there is little similarity between these affixes and the pronouns. In the plural some of the persons insert a syllable between the verb and the tense sign.

The tense signs are suffixed, and consist merely of terminal letters or syllables, except two true particles, which distinguish the continued present from the present aorist.

There are an initial _y_ and a _t_ occasionally appearing in all persons, of which we can only say that they are not radicals.

The conjugation of this language, therefore, consists of elements not readily analyzed.

The Huasteca language prefixes the possessive pronouns as personal signs. It may also drop them, and use in their stead the independent pronouns; or may combine both; or may use abbreviated personals; so that there is a prevailing arbitrariness in this part of the verbal form.

The tense signs are usually suffixes; but in the future they are prefixes, which are incorporated with the personal sign placed between them and the stem. They consist of simple sounds, of no independent signification. But the particles of the imperative are so separable that when this mode is preceded by an adverb, they attach themselves to it.

The Othomi language does not make use of the possessive pronouns in the conjugation, but suffixes abbreviated forms of the personals, or else prefixes others of special form, but identical in many letters and syllables with the personals. In the present condition of the language the suffixes are used only with the substantive verb; in the attributive verb, however, they may have been driven forward by the governed pronouns suffixed. Every verbal inflection may also take, besides its pronominal prefix, also the unabreviated[TN-9] personal pronoun in front, or the abbreviated one after it.

The tense signs consist principally of single vowels, by means of which the pronominal prefixes are attached to the stem. The imperfect and pluperfect alone have besides this a loosely attached particle. The past tenses possess a prefix, which we have already seen appears to have been derived from an auxiliary verb.

In the third person of some tenses in certain verbs the stem undergoes a change of its initial letters, which appears to transform these inflections into verbal adjectives, an instance of the confusion of the ideas of noun and verb common in all these languages.

The Mexican language possesses a peculiar class of verbal pronouns which form the personal signs. This pronoun is similar to the personal in its consonants, but has a vowel of its own. It is a prefix. The plural is marked by the accent, or by a special termination. This personal sign is inseparable from the verb, but the speaker may also prefix the independent personal pronoun.

The tense signs are all without signification, being single letters or syllables. The perfect is marked not so much by an affix, as by changing, the termination of the verb in various ways, but chiefly by shortening and strengthening the sound. All tense designations are placed at the end of the word, except the augment for past time. If by augment we mean a vowel sound prefixed to the verb in certain tenses in addition to their usual signs, then the Mexican is the only American language which possesses one.

The modes are designated by loosely attached particles, also by a different structure of the tenses, and in the second person a peculiar pronoun.

Thus the Mexican conjugation consists of true verbal forms, not of separate parts of speech of independent significance; but the elements of these forms are easily recognizable, and can be reached without difficulty.

The most difficult to analyze, and hence the most nearly approaching our conjugations, is that of the Totonaca language.

The personal signs differ from the pronouns. That of the 2d pers. sing. is not easily recognized, and several forms of it must be assumed. Its position as a prefix or suffix differs, and it is variously located with reference to the other verbal signs. Still more difficult is it to distinguish the tense signs. There are three different systems of prefixes and suffixes in the conjugation, and the plan on which these are combined with each other serves to distinguish the tense. But only a few of these affixes really appear to designate tense; of the others this may be suspected at best, and of others again it is improbable.

Thus there are verbal affixes which cannot be considered to designate either persons, modes or tenses.

The stem undergoes little change, but the attaching of the affixes to it renders it impossible to apply the same scheme to all verbs, and hence leads to a division of them into three conjugations.

Some tenses have two different forms, without any change in signification.

_2. Divisibility of Verbal Forms to allow the insertion of governed parts of speech._

Of the Mixteca tongue it cannot exactly be said that it divides the essential parts of the verbal form to allow the insertion of the governed object. As a rule, the object is merely appended, and where it appears in the form itself, it is inserted between the stem and the suffixed pronoun. The latter is, however, no necessary part of the form, as it is dropped when the verb is governed by a noun, and can always be replaced by prefixing the indefinite pronoun.

Nor is it mentioned that the Beto language includes the object in the verb.

The Carib tongue unites the governed pronoun with the verbal form, and in some cases the personal sign is thus displaced. But here the object is not inserted in the middle, but is prefixed or suffixed.

Our information about the Tamanaca language discloses nothing on this point.

In the Huasteca, the governed pronoun separates sometimes the last, sometimes the first syllable of the inflectional form from the stem.

The Othomi merely attaches the governed words closely to the verbal form, in this resembling the Mixteca.

The Mexican language is that which has developed this peculiarity to the greatest degree. The governed noun is placed in the middle of the verb; or, if this is not done, a pronoun representing it is inserted. If there are two objects, an accusative and a dative, then two corresponding pronouns are inserted; and if no object is named, but the verb is of that class which is followed by an immediate or remote object, or both, then two indefinite pronouns appear in the verb. The Mexican verb therefore, expresses either a complete sentence, or else a complete scheme of one, which merely requires to be filled out. It says, in one word, "I give something to somebody," _nititlamaca_, and then defines what it is and to whom.

It follows necessarily that a part of the verbal form is fluctuating according to the sense and connection of the sentence, and that the governing pronoun stands sometimes immediately before the verb, and sometimes is separated from it by indefinite pronouns or even nouns.

In the Totonaca language, the prefixes and suffixes make room for the governed words between themselves and the stem.

This examination of the languages whose conjugations approach a fixed form, shows clearly that this fixedness is seriously shaken precisely where it is most important, through this insertion of the governed words.

------

Now if we reflect on the structure of the various verbal forms here analyzed, certain general conclusions are reached, which are calculated to throw light upon the whole organism of these languages.

The leading and governing part of speech in them is the Pronoun; every subject of discourse is connected with the idea of Personality.

Noun and Verb are not separated; they first become so through the pronouns attached to them.

The employment of the Pronoun is two-fold, one applying to the Noun, the second to the Verb. Both, however, convey the idea of belonging to a person; in the noun appearing as Possession, in the verb as Energy. But it is on this point, on whether these ideas are confused and obscure, or whether they are defined and clear, that the grammatical perfection of a language depends. The just discrimination of the kinds of pronouns is therefore conclusive, and in this respect we must yield the decided pre-eminence to the Mexican.

It follows that the speaker must constantly make up his verbs, instead of using those already on hand; and also that the structure of the verb must be identical throughout the language, that there must be only one conjugation, and that the verbs, except a few irregular ones, can possess no peculiarities.

This is different in the Greek, Latin and ancient Indian. In those tongues many verbs must be studied separately, as they have numerous exceptions, phonetic changes, deficiencies, etc., and in other respects carry with them a marked individuality.

The difference between these cultivated and those rude languages is chiefly merely one of time, and of the more or less fortunate mixture of dialects; though it certainly also depends in a measure on the original mental powers of the nations.

Those whose languages we have here analyzed are, in speaking, constantly putting together elementary parts; they connect nothing firmly, because they follow the changing requirements of the moment, joining together only what these requirements demand, and often leave connected through habit, that which clear thinking would necessarily divide.

Hence no just division of words can arise, such as is demanded by accurate and appropriate thought, which requires that each word must have a fixed and certain content and a defined grammatical form, and as is also demanded by the highest phonetic laws.

Nations richly endowed in mind and sense will have an instinct for such correct divisions; the incessant moving to and fro of elementary parts of speech will be distasteful to them; they will seek true individuality in the words they use; therefore they will connect them firmly, they will not accumulate too much in one, and they will only leave that connected which is so in thought, and not merely in usage or habit.

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_Notes (by the translator) on the various American Tribes and Languages mentioned by Humboldt in the preceding Memoir._

_Abipones._--A tribe formerly residing on the broad grassy plains known as _El Gran Chaco_, west of the Parana river and on the right bank of the Rio Vermejo. They are a nomadic, hunting people, and are related by language closely to the Mocobis and Tobas, more remotely to the Mbayas. The Jesuit, Father Jose Brigniel, wrote an _Arte y Vocabulario de la Lengua Abipona_, which has not been published.

_Achaguas._--A small tribe formerly living in Venezuela, between the Apure and Meta rivers. They are mentioned by Piedrahita as an intelligent people. Aristides Rojas says they are now extinct (_Estudios Indigenas_, p. 214. Caracas, 1878).

_Beto._--Usually spelled _Betoi or Betoya_. They live on the upper waters of the Meta river in Colombia and are related to the Yaruris.

_Caribs._--This widely extended stock occupied much of the northern coast of South America and had planted colonies on many of the Antilles. It is believed that they are distantly connected with the Tupis and Guaranis.

_Guaranis._--The name of a number of affiliated tribes in Southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Argentine Republic. The Tupis of Brazil are a branch of the Guaranis.

_Huastecas._--A northern colony of the great Maya stock of Yucatan, dwelling in the province of Tampico on the river Panuco. At the time of the discovery they were an important and cultured nation.

_Lule._--One of the nations of _El Gran Chaco_, west of the Parana river. The _Arte y Vocabulario de la Lengua Lule y Tonocote_, by Father Antonio Machoni de Cerdeña (Madrid, 1732), was republished with a careful ethnographic introduction by J. M. Larsen, at Buenos Ayres, 1877.

_Maipures._--Tribes of various dialects who live on both sides of the Orinoco river where it forms the boundary between Venezuela and New Granada, about 5° N. lat.

_Mayas._--Natives of Yucatan, and the most highly developed of any of the American nations. Related dialects are spoken in Guatemala, in Tabasco, and by the Huastecas.

_Mbayas._--A people of the _Gran Chaco_ in the northern part of the Argentine Republic, and distantly related to the Abipones.

_Mexican._--Otherwise called the Nahuatl or Aztec language. Spoken in the greatest purity in the valley of Mexico, it extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, and along the latter from Sonora to Guatemala, with few interruptions.

_Mixtecas._--A tribe speaking several dialects living in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.

_Mocobis._--One of the four principal nations who formerly occupied _El Gran Chaco_, west of the Parana river. By some the name is spelled _Mbocoby_.

_Omaguas._--Once a nation of considerable extent and culture between the Marañon and the Orinoco.

_Othomis._--A tribe resident near San Louis Potosi, Mexico, and neighboring parts. Their proper name is said to be _Hi[=a]-hi[=u]_. Their language is monosyllabic and nasal.

_Tamanacas._--These dwell on the right bank of the Upper Orinoco, and are connected by dialect with the Carib stock on the one hand and the Guaranay on the other.

_Totonacas._--A nation asserted by Pimentel to speak a mixed language (Nahuatl and Maya) dwelling in the southern portion of the Province of Vera Cruz, Mexico, and parts adjacent.

_Tupis._--The natives of the eastern area of Brazil, related to the Guaranis of the south and perhaps to the Caribs of the north. The _Lingoa Geral_ of Brazil is a corrupt Tupi.

_Yaruris._--Residents on the upper streams of the Meta river in New Granada, related to the Betoi.

FOOTNOTES:

[3-*] _Die Elemente der Philosophischen Sprachwissenschaft Wilhelm von Humboldt's. In systematischer Entwicklung dargestellt und kritisch erläutert_, von Dr. Max Schasler, Berlin, 1847.

[3-+] _Die Sprachwissenschaft Wilhelm von Humboldt's und die Hegel'sche Philosophie_, von H. Steinthal, Dr., Berlin, 1848. The same eminent linguist treats especially of Humboldt's teachings in _Grammatik, Logik und Psychologie, ihre Principien und ihr Verhältniss zu einander_, pp. 123-135 (Berlin, 1855); in his well-known volume _Characteristik[TN-10] der Hauptsächlichsten Typen des Sprachbaues_, pp. 20-70 (Berlin, 1860); in his recent oration _Ueber Wilhelm von Humboldt_ (Berlin, 1883); and elsewhere.

[3-++] _Wilhelm von Humboldt's Linguistical Studies._ By C. J. Adler, A.M. (New York, 1866). This is the only attempt, so far as I know, to present Humboldt's philosophy of language to English readers. It is meritorious, but certainly in some passages Prof. Adler failed to catch Humboldt's meaning.

[4-*] _Ueber die Verschiedenheit des menschlichen Sprachbaues und ihren Einfluss auf die geistige Entwickelung des Menschengeschlechts._ Prof. Adler translates this "The Structural Differences of Human Speech and their Influence on the Intellectual Development of the Human Race." The word _geistige_, however, includes emotional as well as intellectual things.

[4-+] _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc., Bd. vi, s. 271, note. I may say, once for all, that my references, unless otherwise stated, are to the edition of Humboldt's _Gesammelte Werke_, edited by his brother, Berlin, 1841-1852.

[5-*] _Aus Wilhelm von Humboldt's letzien Lebensjahren. Eine Mütheilung bisher unbekannter Briefe._ Von Theodor Distel, p. 19 (Leipzig, 1883).

[6-*] From his memoir _Ueber das vergleichende Sprachtstudium[TN-11] in Beziehung auf die verschiedenen Epochen der Sprachentwicklung_, Bd. iii, s. 249.

[6-+] He draws examples from the Carib, Lule, Tupi, Mbaya, Huasteca, Nahuatl, Tamanaca, Abipone, and Mixteca; _Ueber das Entstehen der grammatischen Formen, und ihren Einfluss auf die Ideenentwicklung_, Bd. iii, ss. 269-306.

[6-++] _Ueber die Buchstabenschrift und ihren Zusummenhang[TN-12] mit dem Sprachbau_, Bd. vi, s. 526

[6-||] This letter is printed in the memoir of Prof. E. Teza, _Intorno agli Studi del Thavenet sulla Lingua Algonchina_, in the _Annali delle Università toscane_, Tomo xviii (Pisa, 1880).

[6-§] Compare Prof. Adler's Essay, above mentioned, p. 11.

[7-*] This is found expressed nowhere else so clearly as at the beginning of § 13, where the author writes: "Der Zweck dieser Einleitung, die Sprachen, in der Verschiedenartigkeit ihres Baues, als die nothwendige Grundlage der Fortbildung des menschlichen Geistes darzustellen, und den wechsel seitigen Einfluss des Einen auf das Andre zu erörtern, hat mich genöthigt, in die Natur der Sprache überhaupt einzugehen." Bd. vi, s. 106.

[7-+] "Der Idee der Sprachvollendung Dasein in der Wirklichkeit zu gewinnen." _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, ss. 10 and 11. The objection which may be urged that a true philosophy of language must deal in universals and not confine itself to mere differentiations (particulars) is neatly met by Dr. Schasler, _Die Elemente der Philosophischen Sprachwissenschaft_, etc., p. 21, note.

[8-*] In his remarkable essay "On the Mission of the Historian," which Prof. Adler justly describes as "scarcely anything more than a preliminary to his linguistical researches," Humboldt writes: "Die Philosophie schreibt den Begebenheiten ein Ziel vor: dies Suchen nach Endursachen, man mag sie auch aus dem Wesen des Menschen und der Natur selbst ableiten wollen, stört und verfalscht alle freie Ansicht des eigenthümlichen Wirkens der Kräfte." _Ueber die Aufgabe des Geschichtschreibers_, Bd. i, s. 13.

[8-+] "Das Studium der verschiedenen Sprachen des Erdbodens verfehlt seine Bestimmung, wenn es nicht immer den Gang der geistigen Bildung im Auge behält, und darin seinen eigentlichen Zweck sucht." _Ueber den Zusammenhang der Schrift mit der Sprache_, Bd. vi, s. 428.

[8-++] "Eine Gedankenwelt an Töne geheftet." _Ueber die Buchstabenschrift und ihre Zusammenhang mit dem Sprachbau_, Bd. vi, s. 530.

[8-||] This cardinal point in Humboldt's philosophy is very clearly set forth in his essay, "_Ueber die Aufgabe des Geschichtschreibers_," Bd. i, s. 23, and elsewhere.

[8-§] See _Ueber die Buchstabenschrift_, etc., Bd. vi, s. 530.

[9-*] "Les notions grammaticales resident bien plutôt dans l'esprit de celui qui parle que dans le matériel du language." Humboldt, _Lettre à M. Abel-Remusat Werke_, Bd. vii, s. 396. On the realms of the three varieties of grammar, see also Dr. M. Schasler, _Die Elemente der Philosophischen Sprachwissenschaft_, etc., s. 35, 36, and Friedrich Müller, _Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft_, Band 1, ss. 8-10 (Wien, 1876). Schasler observes that a main object in philosophic grammar is an investigation of "die genetisch-qualitativen Unterschiede der Redetheile," that is, of the fundamental psychological differences of the parts of speech, as, what is the ultimate distinction between noun and adjective, etc.?

[10-*] Steinthal does not like Humboldt's expression "to make capable" (fähig zu machen). He objects that the "capacity" to express thought is already in the articulate sounds. But what Humboldt wishes to convey is precisely that this capacity is only derived from the ceaseless, energizing effort of the intellect. Steinthal, _Die Sprachwissenschaft Wilhelm von Humboldt's_, s. 91, note. The words in the original are: "Die sich ewig wiederholende Arbeit des Geistes, den articulirten Laut zum Ausdruck des Gedanken fähig zu machen."

[10-+] "Nur die Stärke des Selbstbewusstseins nöthigt der körperlichen Natur die scharfe Theilung und feste Begrenzung der Laute ab, die wir Artikulation nennen." _Ueber das Vergleichende Sprachstudium in Beziehung auf die Verschiedenen Epochen der Sprachentwicklung_, Bd. iii, s. 244.

[11-*] Ubi suprá, p. 17. Compare Humboldt's words, "Im Ich aber ist von selbst auch das Du gegeben." _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc., Bd. vi, s. 115.

[11-+] _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc., Bd. vi, s. 116; and compare Dr. Schasler's discussion of this subject (which is one of the best parts of his book), _Die Elemente der Phil. Sprachwissenschaft_, etc., ss. 202-14.

[11-++] Expressed in detail by Humboldt in his _Lettre à M. Abel-Remusat sur la nature des formes grammaticules_, etc., Bd. vii, ss. 300-303.

[12-*] _Ueber die Verwandtschaft der Ortsadverbia mit dem Pronomen in einigen Sprachen_, in the _Abhandlungen der hist.-phil. Classe der Berliner Akad. der Wiss._ 1829.

[12-+] _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc., Bd. vi, s. 115.

[12-++] _Gesammelte Werke_, Bd. vii, ss. 392-6.

[13-*] His explanation of inflection is most fully given in his Introductory Essay, _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc., § 14, _Gesammelte Werke_, s. 121, sqq. A sharp, but friendly criticism of this central point of his linguistic philosophy may be found in Steinthal, _Charakteristik der Hauptsächlichsten Typen des Sprachbones_,[TN-13] ss. 58-61. Humboldt certainly appears not only obscure in parts but contradictory.

[14-*] See these teachings clearly set forth in his Essay, _Ueber das vergleichende Sprachstudium in Beziehung auf die verschiedenen Epochen der Sprachentwicklung, Werke_, Bd. iii, especially, s. 255 and s. 262.

[15-*] The eloquent and extraordinary passage in which these opinions are expressed is in his _Lettre à M. Abel-Remusat, Gesammelte Werke_, Bd. vii, ss. 336-7.

[15-+] _Gesammelte Werke_, Bd. iii, ss. 248, 257.

[16-*] This reasoning is developed in the essay, _Ueber das Vergleichende Sprachstudium_, etc., _Gesammelte Werke_, Bd. iii, ss. 241-268; and see ibid, s. 270.

[16-+] See the essay _Ueber die Buchstabenschrift und ihren Zusammenhang mit dem Sprachbau, Ges. Werke_, Bd. vi, ss. 551-2.

[17-*] On this subtle point, which has been by no means the least difficult to his commentators, see Humboldt's Introduction _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc., _Ges. Werke_, Bd. vi, ss. 45-6, 92-5, 254-5, by a careful comparison of which passages his real intent will become apparent.

[17-+] _Lettre à M. Abbe-Remusat,[TN-14] Ges. Werke_, Bd. vii, s. 396.

[18-*] "Nicht was in einer Sprache ausgedrückt zu werden vermag, sondern das, wozu sie aus eigner, innerer Kraft anfeuert und begeistert, entscheidet über ihre Vorzüge oder Mängel." _Ueber das Entstehen der Grammatischen Formen_, etc[TN-15], _Werke_, Bd. iii, s. 272. Compare with this the expression in his celebrated _Einleitung_: "Die Sprache ist das bildende Organ des Gedanken," _Werke_, Bd. vi, s. 51. A perfected language will "allseitig und harmonisch durch sich selbst auf den Geist einwirken." Ibid, s. 311.

[19-*] [TN-16]_Ueber das Entstehen der grammatischen Formen_," etc., _Werke_, Bd. iii, s. 292.

[19-+] Speaking of such "imperfect" languages, he gives the following wise suggestion for their study: "Ihr einfaches Geheimniss, welches den Weg anzeigt, auf welchem man sie, mit gänzlicher Vergessenheit unserer Grammatik, immer zuerst zu enträthseln versuchen muss, ist, das in sich Bedeutende unmittelbar an einander zu reihen." _Ueber das Vergleichende Sprachstudium_, etc., _Werke_, Bd. iii, s. 255; and for a practical illustration of his method, see the essay, _Ueber das Entstehen der grammatischen Formen_, etc., Bd. iii, s. 274.

[20-*] His teachings on this point, of which I give the barest outline, are developed in sections 12 and 13 of his Introduction, _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc. Steinthal's critical remarks on these sections (in his _Charakteristik der haupt. Typen des Sprachbaues_) seem to me unsatisfactory, and he even does not appear to grasp the chain of Humboldt's reasoning.

[21-*] _Lettre à M. Abel-Remusat, Werke_, Bd. vii, ss. 353-4.

[21-+] _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc., Sec. 23, _Werke_, Bd. vi, s. 329.

[24-*] "Der Mexikanischen kann man am Verbum, in welchem die Zeiten durch einzelne Endbuchstaben und zum Theil offenbar symbolisch bezeichnet werden, Flexionen und ein gewisses Streben nach Sanskritischer Worteinheit nicht absprechen." _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc., _Werke_, Bd. vi, s. 176.

[25-*] "Daher ist das Einschliessen in Ein Wort mehr Sache der Einbildungskraft, die Trennung mehr die des Verstandes." _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc., s. 327. Compare also, s. 326 and 166. Steinthal points out the disadvantages of the incorporative plan and puts it lower than the isolating system of the Chinese; but fails to recognize its many and striking advantages. See his remarks, "Ueber das Wesen und Werth der Einverleibungsmethode," in his _Charakteristik der haupt. Typen des Sprachbaues_, s. 214.

[25-+] _Ueber die Verschiedenheit_, etc., in _Werke_, Bd. vi, ss. 323 sqq.

[27-*] See the essay, _Ueber den Dualis, Gesammelte Werke_, Bd. vi, ss. 562-596.

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Transcriber's Note

The following typographical errors were maintained in this version of the book.

Page Error
TN-1 15 unneccessary should read unnecessary
TN-2 16 grammer should read grammar
TN-3 17 tendncy should read tendency
TN-4 23 acustomed, should read accustomed
TN-5 23 fullfils should read fulfils
TN-6 29 Humboldt should read Humboldt.
TN-7 33 _mil quis amaiciton_, should have numbers over the words
to match numbers on the next line
TN-8 39 powever should read power
TN-9 46 unabreviated should read unabbreviated
TN-10 fn 3-+ Characteristik should read Charakteristik
TN-11 fn 6-* Sprachtstudium should read Sprachstudium
TN-12 fn 6-++ Zusummenhang should read Zusammenhang
TN-13 fn 13-* _Sprachbones_, should read Sprachbaues
TN-14 fn 17-+ Abbe-Remusat, should read Abel-Remusat
TN-15 fn 18-* etc should read etc.
TN-16 fn 19-* _Ueber_ should read "_Ueber_

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