IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) MM *£ i J^^ ^ ///ji m 1.0 I.I (.25 IfISS 11^ ■^ !■■ 12 2 Hf li£ 12.0 1.8 i.4 lllll 1.6 '^ Photographic Sciences Corporation •^ \ iV ^\ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. HIiSO (716) 872-4503 9) ». o^ # >j» ■ ^^. \t' ^ /inTHHUPOtOGiCAL ^JOCltTV OF WASHINGTON. U.uJ [Trom Thu American Anthropologist i'or Octoukr, 1893.] i POLYSYNTHESIB IN THE LANOUAOES OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS. r.Y J. N. n. HEWITT. In tlic early part of this century I'eter S. Duponreaii annoiiiiced his conviction, obtained from a cursory study of tiie scanty and imperfect linguistic material accessible to him, that the grammatic phenomena of the known tongues of the American Indians arc characterized by a common ground plan, or, adopting a i)hrase of Maupertuis, a "plan of ideas." This plan he called polysynthetic or syntactic, and defined it as follows: "A polysynthetic or syntactic construction of language is that in which the greatest number of ideas are comprised in the least number of words. This is done principally in two ways. i. By a mode of compounding locutions which is not confined to joining two words together, as in Greek, or varying the inflection or termination of a radical word, as in most European languages, but by interweaving together the most signifi- cant sounds or syllables of each simple word, so as to form a compound that will awaken in the mind at once all the ideas singly expressed by the words from which they are taken. 2. Ry an analogous combination [of] the various parts of speech, particularly by means of the verb, so that its various forms and inflections will express not only the jirincipal action, but the greatest possible number of the moral ideas and physical objects connected with it, and will combine itself to the greatest extent with those conceptions which are the subject of other parts of speech, and in other languages require to be expressed by separate and distinct words. Such I take to be the general character of the Indian languages." * He elsewhere says : " I am inclined to believe that these forms are peculiar to this part of the world, and that they do not exist in the languages of the old world." t In an essay, which won, in 1833, the Volney prize of the Insti- tute of France, he says : "A I'aide d'iuflexions, conime dans les langues grecque et latine, de particules, affixes et suffixes, comme dans le copte, I'hdbreu et les lan- gues dites sdmitiques, de la jonction de particules significatives, comme •Transactions of the Historical and Literary Committee of the American Philo- sophical Society, held at Philadelphia, for promoting useful knowledge, vol. i, p. xxx. tLoc. cit., p. 370. 882 TIIK A.Mi:i!I('A\ ANTIIK<)l'()l,()(iIST. [Vol. VI. O dans le chiiiois, ct cnfiu dc syllabcs ct souveiit dc simples Icttrcs iiitcr- cal^es i\ I'dTL't de rdveiller une iduill<:-s dans la forma- tion OIMT. [Vol. VI. ■i nomacli's, u'otit pim •ouillds dans la foriiia- L'S, aiiisi ((UL' 111 iialure fois avcc tonics linirs vouUi, pir excMiiiilc, 2\\iiC i\ Ic (li^'signer sim- ciu-c uiiiciue ; iiiais ils //(W irssfinblent u Idle ir nil seul mot. Mais icmble, ils en auraient iiouvelle laii^uc, ahoti- uce pour line parcille jluique mot, et par la e sous simples tirds de ots iucoliciens qui la propre compose de ces 'out pu y faire entrer, [ui nous parait le plus out comniencd par le IS tard, sous unc forme itions ou leiirs hesoius. letenu heaucoup de ce II. Ia'S parties du dis- -oire qu'elles n'ont pas lit actuellement et qui, le detruire, le syst^me s le commencement, rise les langues algon- influe udcessairement ue dans les ddtails." melange d'iddes qui a est le nombre de mots 1 les circonstances qui envie de manger de la r de la soupe ou de la inslrument tranchant ; t contondant ; ces lau- )onceau has produced ily the most fanciful lich ■^UentioIl will lie given .1S.^> Oct. 1893.1 l'()I,YSYNTni:slS IN IN1>IAN I,A Ndl' AdKS. reasons t.. supp-rt his roMvi<:tie doctrine that Indians rarely generalize. A savage is asked, Mow do you say " I cat meat, or «' I drink soui)?" and, if he understands the question, he replies by llie appropriate sentences (not words, as many tliiivk), meaning, in his own vernacular, " I eat meat," or " I drink soup." He can distinguish between a cut and a bruise, and shows it by his laug.-age, but must it be inferred from this that he cannot generalize, or tliat he does it but rarely? Tlie materials of the language of the Iroquois consist of notional words, namely, nouns, verbs, and adjectives ; representative words, namely, prefixive and independent pronouns ; relational words, adverbs, conjunctions, and suffixive prepositions; and derivative elements, namely, formatives and flexions. The distinctive nature and cliaracteristic functions of these ele- ments cannot be changed at will by any speaker, for the good and sufficient reason tliat a language does and can do only what it is in the liabit of doing. In the category of notional words, the class of elements called noun -stems may not indifferently assume the func- tions and the flexions peculiar to either the verb-stems or the ad- jective-stems, neither can the verb-stems nor the adjective-stems indifferently assume the functions and the flexions peculiar to either of the other two classes of elements in that category ; hence Du- ponceau's sweeping statement concerning the general character of the American Indian languages, that - they can change the nature of all parts of speech ; of the verb, make an adverb or a noun ; of the adjective or substantive, a verb," is not true of the Iroquoian ton-rue The elements of its lexicon have acquired their individual values by virtue of a series of historical changes, and they severally retain these values solely at the behest of conventional usage, being subject at all times to further mutations of form and signification as this usage may decree. The stems of words and word-sentences are not divided for any 50 l\* nso TIIR AMKBTCAN A NTH lioroi.oiilST. [Vol. VI. purpose wIiatevLT. Tlic rompomul stems of word-seiUciices in:iy, by liistorical ( hanges, Ik-coiiu! parts of si)ee(;h — notional terms — denotive of tlie lliin(,'S descrilnd l)y llic \vordscnten support), then form hoc, "chair, stool;" er reduced to show icm. The verb-stem i-hc"'-syl'\ " he hears aring)." The com- a compound. ponents of liiis stem are -///"j- and -yi^ ; •fic'^s- is the steni of the ar( haic ii-hc"'-sc, " the e ir," and -jv" is the verb " to enter " of the sentence ra'-yc", "he enters." Hence, "to hear" is made up of tlu' ideas " to enter-car," but belnre these two notions cou Id 1) rendered by " hear" usage had to disregard their several and sepa- rate meanings. Moreover, the stem -//.//•,cw manner of express- ing the cases of substantives, by iutlecting the verbs which govern them ; a „rTa nn.uber (the particular plural) applied to the declension of nouns and conju^^ition of verbs ; a ;/,7c- concordance in tense of the eonjvnctiou with the verb. We sec not only pn.nouns, as in the Hebrew an 1 ; I 1 no2 TIIK AMIOTUr'AX ANTintOl'OT.ndlST. [Vol. VI. fundamental princii)les of morpliology underlying tlie stnictnrcs of the American Indian languages. It should be discarded, since its further use only perpetuates liis errors. In an essay, entitled " Polysynthesis and Incorporation as Char- acteristics of American Languages," Dr. P. G Brinton attempts to show that F. Miiller, L. Adam, and others fail to comprehend what he himself believes to be Duponceau's conception of a " poly- synthetic construction of language." He says: "Ihelicve that for the scientific study of language, and especi.illy of American languages, it will be profitable to restore and clearly to differ- entiate the distinction between polysynthesis and incorporation, dunly perceived by Duponceau and expressed by him in the words already quoted. With these may be retained the neologism of Lieber, /lo/o- phrasis, and the three defined as follows : "Polysynthesis is a method of word-building, applicable either to nom- inals or verbals, which not only employs juxtaposition with aplueresis, syncope, apocope, etc., but also words, forms of words and significant phonetic elements which have no separate existence apart from such compounds. This latter peculiarity marks it off altogether from the processes of agglutination and collocation. "Incorporation (Einvcrlcibung) is a structural process confined to verbals, by which the nonnnal or prononnnal elements of the proposi- tion are subordinated to the verbal elements, either in form or position ; in the former case having no independent existence in the language m the form recpiired by the verb, and in the latter case being included within the specific verbal signs of tense uid mood. In a fully incorpo- rative language the verbal exhausts the syntax of the grammar, all other parts of speech remaining in isolation and without structural con- uection. "Ilolophrasis does not refer to structural peculiarities of language, but to the psychological impulse which lies at the root of polysynthesis and incorporation. It is the same in both instances-the effort to express the whole proposition in one word. This in turn is instigated by the stronger stimulus which the imagination receives from an idea conveyed in one word rather than in many." * * * "As the holoplirastic method makes uo provision for the .syntax of the sentence outside of the expression of action (/. e., the verbal and what it embraces), nouns and adjectives are not declined. The 'cases' which appear in many grammars of American languages, are usually indications of space or direction, or of possession, and not case-endings in the sense of Aryan grammar. "A further consequence of the same method is the absence of true rela- tive pronouns, of copulative conjunctions, and generally of the machinery of dependent clauses. ' ' »k. " "^ibat fi . HI** odisT. [Vol. VI. lyiiifr tlie stnictiircs of be discarded, since ilb ncorjjoration as Char- G Tlrinton attempts s fixil to comprehend onccption of a "poly- ys ; ^uagc, and especially of )ie and clearly to diffcr- id iiicorporalion, dimly II in tlie words already logisni of Ivieber, //ina- pplicable cither to nom- josition witb aplutresis, )f words and significant stence apart from snch off altogether from the ral process confined to elements of the proposi- Iher in form or position ; ence in the langnage in ler case being inclnded ood. In a fully incorpo- ax of the grammar, all 1 without structural con- iliarities of language, but ■oot of polysynthesis and es— the effort to express :urn is instigated by the es from an idea conveyed siou for the syntax of the c, the verbal and what it ined. The ' cases ' which es, are usually indications case-endings in the sense is the absence of true rela- euerally of the machinery Oct. 1S93.] roTA-SYNTlTKSIS IX INPTAN I.AN'mTAOT.fl. -03 All this doubtless has a certain plausibility so long as it is tested solely by the faulty and equivocal works of the pioneers in Ameri- can Indian philology ; but, by the light of the facts of language which are gradually being made available, these polysynthctic dogmas are being dissipated. Dr. Brinton's definition of polysynthesis is clearly defective and incomi)letc. There is an omission of the name or names of the elements subject to "juxtaposition," and also of the term co-ordi- nate with "juxtaposition " and expressive of a process contrary or co-relative to that of "juxtaposition," two very important omissions in a definition designed to " clearly differentiate the distinction be- tween polysynthesis and incorporation, dimly perceived by Dupon- ceau." But, as Dr. Brinton was merely recasting and remoulding the first sectionof Duponceau's definition of a polysynthetic construction of language, the omitted process, judging from this fact and from other parts of Dr. Brinton's essay, is that affirmed by Duponceau to consist in the "intercalation" or "interweaving together the most significant sounds or syllables of each simple word " and the various "parts of speech, particularly by means of the verb. The alle^^ed process of intercalation or interweaving together of vocal elements has already been shown to be mere hypothesis and unfounded in Uie known facts of Indian languages. Moreover, Dr Brinton tells us that agglutination and collocation differ from polysynthesis in not using "words, forms of words and significant phonetic elements which have no separate existence apart from such compounds." If this statement were substantiated by facts, it would pass unchallenged ; but it is to be doubted that " agglutina- tion and collocation " do not employ, in the polysynthetic sense "words, forms of words," which have no existence outside of compound forms. Even in the English, which is agglutinative in some of its forms, such nouns as sooth and wise are practically obsolete in current speech, although in use in compound forms; hence, must it be inferred that they never had an independent existence in the language? Not at all. In the obsolescence of words and forms they will maintain an existence in certain quaint or striking phrases or compounds when they have lost their adapta- bility for current and new formations. It may be stated that "significant phonetic elements " form no part of the linguistic material of Indian languages any more than they do of that of the Indo-European languages. Words and sounds 51 ft 394 THE AMERICAN AXTimOPOrOOTST. [Vol. VI. in Indian as in otlier l:insiiages have no intrinsic si^'nification apart from that imposed on tliem by tiie common usage of the com- munity. Tile apparent abbreviation of nouns in derivative words aid word- sentences which has given rise to some of these misleading designa- tions may be explained by tlie fact tliat those who attempted to define the methods of derivation and combination of vocal elements took noun-stems from prepositional and other phrases or from word- sentences wlierein those students have percliance found the stem for which they sought, overlooking the fact that language does not make decomposition an antecedent condition to other composition. Again, in some languages the gender-sign is usually discarded from the noun-stem when the stem is united with another to form a new compound. From Dr. Brinton's definition of incorporation— the process of intercalation or interweaving together of Duponceau— it follows that where no conscious or artificial mutilation of notional stems takes place in the compound there is no subordination, and so to that extent no incorporation ; that where no modal or tensal flexions are affixed to the word-sentence in such manner as to give the pro- nominal and nominal elements— the person-endings and the noun- stems— the appearance of being infixed or enclosed between those elements and the verb stem, there is likewise no incorporation. These changes are not made in the sinii)le tenses of the Iroquoian indicative mode, showing that the combination of the notional stems is a condition antecedent to the affixion of modal and tensal flexions to the word-sentence. Tiie fatal error of this doctrine of incorporation lies in the fact that it places flexions and formatives on an equality with notional stems in the expression of thought, making flexions and formatives an integral part of the semasiologic difference between two expressions or word-sentences composed of unlike notional stems, for it is not the flexions but the notional stems which, from the standpoint of morphology, give to every word-sentence its semasiologic individuality. So that testing the question by Dr. Brinton's definition of what constitutes incorpora- tion as he conceives it was dimly perceived by Duponceau, there is in the ground-forms of Iroquoian words and word-sentences no trace of incorporation ; for it is not a question of the affixion or suffixion of elements to a root or stem, but merely the use of a system for that purpose. mtmii p* ■■■■•%. ^ OflTST. [Vol. VI. Oct. 1893] I-OI.YHYNTIIICSIS IN INUIAN I,AN(ir AdKS. 395 isir si}j;nification apart )n usage of the com- 'ative words aid word- se misleading designa- ose who attempted to ition of vocal elements ■ phrase.s or from word- nce found the stem for lat language does not 1 to other composition, usually discarded from inother to form a new oration — the process of onceau — it follows that )f notional stems takes [nation, and so to that odal or tensal flexions mer as to give the pro- -endings and the noun- Miclosed between those vise no incorporation, tenses of the Iroquoian nation of the notional on of modal and tensal rror of this doctrine of flexions and formatives expression of thought, part of the semasiologic -sentences composed of :xions but the notional phology, give to every ty. So that testing the it constitutes incorpora- by Duponceau, there is word-sentences no trace ■ the affix! on or suffixion the use of a system for The statement that the word-sentence exhausts the syntax of the language .n which the principle of incorporation prevads, that no rovisions for the syntax of the sentence outside o the expression of action (/. .., the verbal and what it embraces)" are made, ■ unwarranted so far as the Iroquoian, Siouan, Atiiapascan, and Algonciuian languages are concerned. The employment by these languagesof correlatives, relative and coordinate pronouns and coi - nctio,.s, and prepositional phrases is ample refutation of such cm Fa. is like these show on what an unsubstantud basis wa erected the l,ypothetical polysynthetic scheme of Duponceau and ''' uf Brinton affirms that incorporation consists in subordinating the nominal and pronominal elements of the l-P-^'- °^^^ verbal in one of two ways: first, by a mutilation of form, and Lond, by position. In the first case the noun or pronoun n.ust as ume a Lm which it does not have apart from such -".pounds ad in the second it must be placed between the signs o mode and t^i e on the one hand and the verb-stem on the other In Sanscn t a Indo-European language, the person-endings which are adm.t- :dl .ronominal in origin do not have the form of the pronmu s vhen apart from the compounds to which they are affixed. Mme- over, tiey may be inserted between the verb and its adveibial qualifiers in the proposition. _ In section 249 of his Sanscrit Grammar Prof. Max MuUer says . "The comparative is formed by tara or iyas ; the superlative hytcnna better (Pan., v. 3, 57) ; pacUatita,na>n, he cooks best (1 an., v. 3- 5 ) Here the pronominal elements, the person-terminations and ?he aboriginal American tongues? If modern instances of th.s q» 11^ l-il ! r I 806 THK AMKltlCAN ANTllUOrOLOOIST. [Vol. VI. "incorporation" and the synthetic capacity for comi)oiinding words be necessary, let us turn to the abundantly synthetic structure of modern Russian, which exemplifies the important fact that in the Indo-European family, of which the Russian is a me.nber, the tendency has not been "everywhere and in all respects downward, toward poverty of synthetic forms, throughout the historic period." Of the structure of this language Prof. W. D. Whitney says: " The Russian of the present day possesses in some respects a capacity of synthetic (kvclopnient hardly, if at all. excelled by that of any ancient tongue. For example, it takes the two independent words bcz Boira '' without God,' and fuses them into a theme from which it draws a whole list of deriv.atives. Thus, Orst. by adding an adjective sunix, it gets the adjective /;f^*o-//««)', 'godless;' a new suffix appended to this makes a nomi, bczbozlmik, 'a godless person, an atheist;' the nonn^ gives birth to a denominative verb, bczbozhnichat, 'to be an atheist;' from this verb, again, come a number of derivatives, giving to the verbal idea the form of adjective, agent, act, and so on : the abstract is be-bozhnichestvo, ' the condition of being an atheist ; ' while, once more, a new verb is made from this abstract, namely bczbozluiichesivovat, literally 'to be in the condition of being a godless person.' A more intricate synthcti-. form than this could not easily be found in Greek, ],atin, or Sanscrit ; but it is no rare or exceptional case in the language from which we have extracted it; it rather represents, by a striking instance, the general character of Russian word-formatiou and deriva- tion."* This, Professor Whitney holds, shows the futility of attempting to maintain that there has been "an miinterrupted and universal reduction of the resources of synthetic exprer>sion among tlie lan- guages of the Indo-European fiimily," demonstrating conclusively that even the members of a linguistic family differ in synthetic capacity. These examples of the synthetic power in the Sanscrit and Rus- sian languages show that the synthesis of a large numl)er of elements into the form of a word is not a trait peculiar to the Indian lan- guages; Duponceau and his followers maintiMn not only that this exuberant synthetic capacity prevails in all known Indian tongues, but also that all these synthetic forms are based on one common model distinctively peculiar to these aboriginal languages; but, if Dr. Brinton's definition of what constitutes incorporation be ac- cepted, then the Sanscrit and the Russian may be confidently said • lyanguage and the Study of Language, p. 281. lUKiJST. [Vol. VI. :ity for compounding fntly synthetic striRtiirc Jiinpoitant fact that in Iissian is a int-.iil)er, tlie Jail respects downward, lit the iiistoric ])eri()d." f). Whitney says: some respects n capacity xcelled by that of any independent words bt's lenie from wliicb it draws in^ an adjective sufllx, it V suffix appended to this I, an allieist ; ' the noun chat, ' to be an atheist ; ' ;rivatives, giving to the nd so on : the abstract is lieist ; ' while, once more, 1 e 1 y bczhozh n ich estvo vat, godless person.' A more ;asily be found in Greek, onal case in the language •cpresents, by a striking )rd-formatiou and deriva- e futility of attempting iterrupted and universal prer^sion among the lan- lonstrating conclusively iiily differ in synthetic n the Sanscrit and Rns- rge number of elements liar to the Indian lan- t.'-in not only that this known Indian tongues, based on one common :inal languages; but, if J incorporation be ac- nay be confidently said ge, p. 281. Oct. i«.j3,] IMtl.YSYNTHKSIS IN l.VDI.VX r.AN(iI ACKS. 007 to form their words and word-sentences on the theoretic ground- plan conjectured to be the pattern of all the grammatic structures of the American Indian tongues. Can it, therefore, be asserted tiiat the Sanscrit, tiie Russian, and their congeners belong to a family of languages based on a model common to that of the .Vmerican Indians? As there is no ground- plan comn. )n to all the well-known Indian tongues, such an assertion cannot well be made. They, like the languages of the old hemis- phere, hare traits which are found in the majoiity of languages and they also individually have otliers which are idionutic. Again, Dr. Brinton says: "As the effort to speak in sentences rather than in words entails a con- stant variation in these sentence-words, there arises both an enormous in- crea.se in verl)al forms and a mulliplicalion of expressions for ideas closely allied. This is the cause of the apparently endless conjugations of numy such tongues, and also of the exuberance of their vocabularies in words of closely similar signification. * » * I^angunges structurally at the bottom of the scale have an enormous and useless excess of words. The savage tribes of the plains will call a color by three or four dilTerent words, as it ajjpears on different objects. The Kskimo has about twenty words for fishing, depending on the nature of the fish pursued. All this arises from the ' holophrastic ' plan of thought." But Dr. Brinton does not show this by the convincing method of citing unequivocal facts of language. He evidently overlooks the impossibility of speaking in words without the use of sentences. What evidence has he adduced to prove that the structure of any one Indian tongue is the product of an " effort " to speak in some specific manner. The truth of the matter is that the speakers of Indian languages are just as powerless consciously to change the habits of their several idioms as are the speakers of Indo-European and other tongues. The statement that certain Indian tongues call a color by three or four different names as it appears on different objects is due to erroneous information. The exi)lanation of this difficulty is tiiis: the three or four different names or words are not names of only one color, but rather of as mafty colors, or, strictly, as many shades of the same color as have received appellations in the language in question. In the English, one says "a gray horse," but "a dun cow;" "a bay horse," but "a red apple;" " a yellow dog," but "a hazel eye," etc. .'5!)8 Tin; AMKltlCAN ANTII IlortMAHilrtT. [Vol. VI. II* The otiicr remark, stating tliat tlic Kskimo possesses twenty words for falling, "(le|KMi(lent on tlie nature of the fish pinsned," is to he exphiiiK'.l in a similar nuinner, beeaiise it is ojjvioas that the dijfi'ratt mnins and mrt/uhh of fisliing necessarily recpiire diffe>ei>l words for their desi-iuUion. In like manner the Missionary l!ntri/. cit.), he says : "Although in polysynthesis we speak of prefixes, suffixes, and juxta- position, we are not to understand these terms as the same as in connec- tion with the Aryan or with the agglutinative languages. In polysyn- thetic tongues they are not intended to form words, but sentences ; not to express an idea, but a proposition. This is a fundamental, logical dis- tinction between the two classes of languages." In Irocpioian and Algoncpiian speech the names of the parts of the body are not inseparably connected with " possessive pro- nouns," nor do they enif)loy " numeral terminations'! to indicate the "nature of the objects counted." Dr. Brinton endeavors to make a distinction between "prefixes, suffixes, and jn.Ktaposition," when used in reference to Aryan and agglutinative languages and when they refer to flexions in Indian languages, on the erroneous M^p'ip^^^^''*"Mtr. 'ol.dcilsT. [Vol. VI. Oct. |S93."| I'OI.VSYNTFIKSIH l\ IN'HI.W I, ANdl' A»ii:.s. :\w 111) possesses twenty words he fish |)iiisiu-(l," is to 1)0 |obvio;is that \.\\^ iiiprcnt |ro dc /<; f.cn;^iit GuiViini, lie a(l()|)ls tliL- following,' rrmarkahlc statement : "The fduiulatioii of this laiiKiinKi' consists of jjarticleH, which frc- (luciitly have no mciininjj if tnken alone ; Imt when conij)ountUy analysis, the (irst act which it (the mind) proposes is, c 11 the contrary, complex, oliscurc, synthetic ; all is heaped together and indistinct. » » * The idea is expressed at first with its entire ?;i„';:;;et-eof,,.co„c,n.on. on Lage . . , of Duponceau's Memo.re ,t ,s sa,d . ..Chacu,, fai. „u moid. a „.,n.™, ,«'il -ompaS". ^e =,g»es, =• versation. ^^y a t.me ha-^^^^^^ e^uld be seen, and yet his lage on a dark mght, when no es ^.^^^^ ^^^^.^^^ words have been understood by ^^^^.f^f^^^ ^^ ,„,,form to fixed could " make a word in his own way , he haU laws, else his speech could not be understood. On page 1 1 8 the same v, riter observes : ..Outilsvoulu.parexemple.donnerunnom^ :r^r:?nti:;^?^="X..^^^ lesfeuiUesressemblent a telle chose.' I2i ' r 404 THE AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST. [Vol. VI. Many other tree names could be given, in most of which the name fsZZa by the simple juxtaposition of the elements. 1 he al eg^d expression of case by the inflection of verbs governing nouns doe no "xi t n Siouan Lguages, unless it applies to the .nstrumental orm of the verb (as .an in, he was wounded w,th or by an ro. ,nan, arrow; i-, instrumental prefix to the -vb , ., o v nd whirh sometimes has r locative force, as in dhte dhan m, lit xvas ded t^e side. On the contrary, in the Biloxi, the nomina- ive and objective signs are suffixed to nouns and pronouns mstead of >e t attTcbed to the governing verb. There are no instances o the .< particular plural" in the languages which I have recorded :ithrugh tie dual often appears in the verb and some other par s o s ech In Dakota, Dhegiha, etc.. there is a first person dial n e V b ; in the Tutu and cognate Athapascan languages of Oregon, veb hasadual in all three persons, and so has the pronoun D ponceau speaks of "a new concordance of tense oi the conjunc ^on with the verb." This does not appear in Siouan languages. A I Cree compound is given as an example of polysynthes.s in no"n; and this word is declared by so high an authority .s D D G B inton to be a fair example. We should not be content wi'ti?a si gle example, especially when that word (the name for loss) seems to be a modern word, introduced after the arrival of r missionaries. Just here let me quote Dr. Brinton. On page .x of his article on Polysynthesis and Incorporation he says : « While the genius of American languages is such that they permit .„d m^m of them favor the formation of long compounds which express r Zl of the sentence in one word, this is by no means necessary M^fof the examp of words of ten, twenty or more syllables are no g^:I nlli^elrds. but novelties manufactured by the missionaries. I know by experience how difficult it is for a missionary to con- ve to the minds of his hearers certain religious ideas. Again aiid ..!^in did 1 try when missionary to the Ponka Indians to find the ;?o er Indian word for kin,do,n, in order to make even an approx- Vate translation of the petition, " Tliy kingdom come." 1 he Ciee Trd o cross (if it be,^s I suspect, a modern word) s as poor an lustration of what the author contemplated as is the Mexican name or ."/ given by Dr. Whitney on page 348 of his work entitled ''Language and the Study of Langunge," as there is no species of goat indigenous to the Western hemisphere. Any one who has Uved among Indians knows the worthlessness of adducing modem [Vol. VI. Ihich the name The alleged Ing nouns docs le instrumental Ir by an arrow: |«, to wfiiind), j/ian iiii, lie was >JlJJ Wi- « ! " I ■ — • a i Xi [Vol. VI. mar ? Kiilnier denotes by tlie idered relations I were regarded the seven cases 5 : the ablative .' that expressed '."t To these •essed by to or ds of Kijhner, rporation " in- nethod " (/. c, je relative ])ro- the machinery are copulative ;he functions of ntences : 1 ebdhegan — I I think desire for our- Panka azhi Ponka another e t one esaid) gdhizai took his own •t the one (who he Ponka who sentences, such sition to speak re concerned. § oc. ,8,3.] ™,vsv>-TnK«. .N ,Nn,AX ,,a™i>a.k». 407 On page .6 Dr. Prison say, tl,a, " U>e ..lOo.. ^ -f '.f,;,^'::, „„„„ iL5„aral,l, connected or, a. east, "'f*;; 'j^^ ;,',,„. ,,„... anrl ^" '!« -= -f^^J ■. ;,;; 'sio,*: ;:;U«. in randl ntnan, near *e '^:^X.^r^ ,. •• My the first person would have the vowel /. ^„ rmr"— In Tome VI, No. lo, 1893, of .;,r,:reraT,:L2-n.a:.c.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ J r r FllU describing the custom of measuring the neck, ine Scaliger, E^l'^'.'^^'"'^' f „„. ^^^^^^ .'Soci^te d' Anthropologic de .Aiez une eguillee de fil blanc -^^ ^^^J^^^.fvL en ferez cou de la raie, puis vous doublerez ""f "^'.^^.drez ladite tenir les d.ux bouts . la ^^^ ^^^ ^,^1,^, elle mesu. . pour fa.re passer sa tfite, si la ^^^^ P^ ^ ^^ ,.elle est estcorrompue; si elle ne 1-^^, ^"^ I'f'JjXrJi/^^^^ .ii<. ' • 'Secrets merveilleux de la tnagie naturelie ei cau ' pucelle. Secrets merv ^ ^^^ ^^^ ,^^^^y ^f FeHt Albert, etc., i743. 21 P- Among ^" > according to the young men is determined solemnly in this manner, ^^^^^^ S „ ^ . 1 f MM Hnnoteau and Letourneau, La Kaoyiie. excellent work of MM. Honoteau aim ^ ^ ^ Hewitt. 5 see my Madison ns to North Ameri- . *V H^ >. f lf?i te °V" S ! ^^ ySi^!,ii 'jtg^' ''' y:!-jli