t THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES (vAM \ TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. PRINTED BY I.. B. *EEt,KY A\'J> SONS, WESTON fJRKE.V, THAMBs DITTON, SURREY. TREATISE ON LANGUAGES, THEIR ORIGIN, STRUCTURE, AND CONNECTION; AND ON THE BEST METHOD OP LEARNING AXI) TEACHING THEM; CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT UK THE .MOST USEFUL ELEMENTARY BOOK- IN LATIN, GREEK, FRENCH, ITALIAN, SPANISH, AND GERMAN ; AS ALSO I.V SYRIAC, ARABIC, PERSIAN, AND HINDOOSTANEE, WITH PARTICULAR DIRECTION'S FOR THE STUDY OK THE HEBREW, AND A SUMMARY OF ITS GRAMMAR. BY THE REV. ALFRED JENOL'K, AUTHOR OK A TRANSLATION AND REPOSITION OF ISAIAH. '• God having designed man for a sociable creaturei made him, notonlj iriUi au inclination, anil under a necessity, to have fellowship with those of his own kind ; but furnished him also with language) wbii h was to he the treat instrument, and common •i ieri .'' Locke. PUBLISHED BY R. B. SEELEY AND \V. BURNSIDE: WD SOLD BY L. B. SEELEY AND SONS, FLEET STREET, LONDON. MDCCCXXXII. J- TO THE REV. SAMUEL LEE, M. A. PROFESSOR OF HEBREW AND ARABTC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, THIS ATTEMPT TO FACILITATE THE ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGES, IS, WITHOUT HIS KNOWLEDGE, INSCRIBED, IN TESTIMONY OF RESPECT FOR HIS GREAT TALENTS AS A LINGUIST. BY THE AUTHOR. 1 5 ' PREFACE. (Which the Author hopes will be read; — it is not long.) The disadvantage of a title-page which mi- nutely specifies the contents of a work is, that it naturally excites large expectations, and, if these are disappointed, the author is in danger of realizing the old fable of the mouse and the mountain : " Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridieulus mus." The writer of the following pages prefers, however, incurring this risque to adopting the modern fashion of giving short title- pages, which leave the reader almost en- tirely in the dark as to the subject of the book. The old method has at least this recommendation, that it enables a person to form some idea of the contents of a work Vlii PREFACE. before he purchases it ; and if some of our modern Crispini would return in this re- spect to the custom of our forefathers, they would often perhaps save the public a good deal of trouble and expense. Having said thus much concerning the length of his title-page, which might seem to savour of ostentation without some such apology, the author feels himself bound to add a little for the satisfaction of the reader, respecting its contents. Every person who may chance to cast his eyes upon it, will probably be led to inquire, Does the writer of this book himself understand all those languages which he professes to assist others in acquiring? This is a fair and natural question, and he will endeavour to answer it candidly and explicitly. He does not, then, profess to understand all the lan- guages mentioned in the title page. The only languages he has studied are, the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, and Italian. In Spanish, he has read nothing but the New Testament ; in German, nothing but PREFACE. IX the grammar. Neither has he any know- ledge of the Chaldee and Syriac ; nor of the Arabic, further than being able to read the character, and having a slight acquaint- ance with its grammar. His knowledge of Persian also is confined to what may be gathered from Smith's Persian Moonshee. The Hindoostanee he studied for some time when in India, but he has now almost for- gotten all that he then learnt. Such is a faithful statement of what he has done in the way of acquiring languages. It may, perhaps, be asked, Why treat of those of which he does not profess to have any knowledge ? His answer is, In order to make the book as complete as possible, and the more generally useful. Having him- self, when beginning the study of a lan- guage without a master, felt the inconve- nience of not having a work to refer to which would put him at once into the best way of learning it, and direct him to the most useful elementary books, he thought that an attempt to compress all the requisite inform- X PREFACE. ation upon these subjects relating to the languages usually studied in England into a small compass, could not but be accept- able and serviceable to many. And the reader will observe, that in those cases in which he does not speak from his own knowledge in recommending any particular book, he relies upon the authority of well- qualified judges. In conclusion, he would caution young theological students, and coming as it does from a minister of religion he hopes the caution will not be thought out of place, against giving too much of their time and thoughts to the mere study of words. A man may be a good Grecian and Hebraist, and understand, besides, Syriac and Arabic, and yet, after all, be but a poor divine, and a worse Christian. He is aware that ex- cessive attention to the grammatical mean- ing of the Scriptures is not the prevailing error of the day, but rather the contrary ; yet it is not improbable that those who may feel an interest in a book of this descrip- PREFACK. XI tion, are some of the few persons who are likely to fall into it. It is for these the above caution is intended : and, anxiously and solemnly would he warn such persons to beware of falling into the error to which he has alluded. Let it be remembered, that a knowledge of the letter of Scripture, does not necessarily involve an acquaintance with its spirit ; and, that a man may " know all mysteries," and " speak with the tongues of men and of angels,'' and yet be no bet- ter than " sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. ON THE UTILITY OF THE STUDY OF LANGUAGES. The advantages resulting from the study of languages are seldom duly appreciated. Peo- ple in general seem to think, that the acqui- sition of any language but their own, is a mere exercise for school-boys, and one from which little benefit can be derived even to them, further than that it serves to keep them from being idle. Most persons, in- deed, if they should be going abroad, en- deavour as a matter of course to get a little smattering of the language of the country where they intend to reside ; but as to any B 2 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. benefit that can accrue from the study of languages abstractedly, setting aside all con- siderations of this kind, they imagine there can be none. Now this is a great mistake. For so far from the study of languages being of use only as it enables a man to converse with people of different countries, I should say that this is one of the least advantages to be derived from it. I will mention what appear to me far more important ones. In the first place, then, the study of lan- guages, when properly conducted, tends to produce and keep up a habit of mental application, of discrimination of nice differ- ences, and of diligent perseverance ; at the same time that it strengthens the memory, and exercises the understanding. The acquisition of a language is not, as some suppose, a mere mechanical thing ; or, at most, only an effort of memory. I grant, indeed, that in many instances it is so. As when people take half a dozen lessons in French before they set off for Paris, to enable them to ask for a glass of wine or A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 6 a cup of coffee on the road. But this is not learning a language. We might as well say, that to get hy heart the names of the different gases, salts, and metals, was learn- ing chemistry. To learn a language, is to hecome thoroughly acquainted with its character and structure ; so as to be able to analyse every sentence grammatically, and to trace every word composing the sen- tences, to its proper root, and resolve it into its component parts. Now, I say, this cannot be done by a mere effort of memory, but requires the undivided application of all the intellectual powers. In fact, no study, not even mathematics, is so calculated to exercise the reasoning faculties, and to pro- duce distinctness and accuracy in thinking, as this we are considering. A second advantage resulting from the study of languages is, that it enables a per- son thoroughly to understand and relish the writings of wise and good men who have lived in remote ages of the world, which no translation, however good, can B 2 4 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. possibly do. Translations may serve to give a general idea of an author's meaning and powers, and to convey the facts of his- tory ; but it is impossible they should carry with them the beauties of an author's style, and the full force of his expressions ; to form a correct judgment of these, a book must be read in the language in which it was written, and a man can no more estimate the beauty and excellence of Virgil or Tacitus from the translations of Dryden and Murphy, than he could enter fully into the merits of a painting of Raphael's, from seeing a common print of it. More espe- cially this is true of the sacred writings ; and admirable as our authorized version of the Bible is, it often conveys, I imagine, but a feeble idea of the sublimity and grandeur of the original : this at least I am sure of, that no one can perfectly enter into the sense and reasoning of St. Paul's Epistles, who reads them only in a translation. Not that a knowledge of Greek and Hebrew is necessary to salvation, or to our spiritual A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. D comfort in any way. It would be absurd indeed to make such an assertion. The excellence of the Bible is such, that even a very imperfect translation is able to make us acquainted with all the essential truths of religion. Yet, I say, notwithstanding, that to enter fully into the force of all its statements and truths, we must read it in the original ; more particularly that portion which is occupied by the Epistles of St. Paul. Some of my readers may, perhaps, be ready to ask, why cannot a translation convey the full force of the original ? The reason is, because there are many words both in Greek and Hebrew, with which we have none that are precisely synonymous, and a translator is therefore obliged either to make use of a periphrasis, or, what is more commonly done, to render the Greek or Hebrew word by the English one which most nearly resembles it in meaning. As illustrative of the truth of these remarks, 1 may instance the Hebrew words mashcU and sheol, usually rendered proverb and hell ; B 3 6 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. although every one at all acquainted with Hebrew knows that these familiar English words are far from conveying the same idea to us, as the words which they stand for did to the mind of a Jew. Any of my readers who wish to see this more plainly demon- strated, may read Dr. Campbell's preliminary dissertation to his translation of the Gospels. Lastly, the study of languages is calculated to enlarge the mind, and to give a more comprehensive view of things. For words, we must remember, are not mere empty sounds ; — they stand for ideas. Now, as by viewing a painting in different lights, we may discover new excellences and beauties, so we may often be able to find two or three ideas in a sentence read in the language of the original author ; in which, perhaps, in a translation, we should scarcely be able to make out one. There are in fact some ideas peculiar to different nations, or at least which have never become so general in other nations as to be represented by sounds. As for instance, the French, I believe, have A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 7 no word answering to " comfort," in Eng- lish ; and, on the other hand, we have nothing which answers to the French word "ennui;" yet an Englishman who under- stands French, knows perfectly what is meant hy the latter term ; and so also may a Frenchman know what is meant by the former. And thus the knowledge of differ- ent languages serves to increase the number and clearness of our ideas, and consequently to enlarge the mind ; for the mind is en- larged in proportion to the number of ideas that it contains. I may observe also, by the way, that this last example shews that the language of a people may sometimes give a general idea of their character and habits: for as the word " comfort" being peculiar to the English, indicates at once that they are (or should . I say were ?) a nation fond of that sort of quiet enjoyment which this word signifies ; so on the con- trary, the nationality of the word " ennui" and the frequency of its occurrence among the French, evinces them to be a people 8 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. fond of gaiety and exciting pleasures, and liable, consequently, in their absence to that listlessness and lassitude of mind which this word implies. Thus I trust I have shewn, that the study of languages is not a mere effort of memory, a study which affords no field for the exer- cise of the other powers of the mind, or from which no benefits can be derived ; but on the contrary, that it is one in which the greatest scope is given for the display of all the intellectual faculties, and which may, under the blessing of God, tend to confirm and increase pleasures of the highest order ; those, that is, which are derived from reli- gion itself. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. OF LANGUAGE IN GENERAL, AND THE ORIGIN OF WORDS. Before I proceed to state what appears to me to be the best method of learning lan- guages, it will be proper to take a general view of the nature and origin of language. Language, then, is the medium through which our ideas, or conceptions, or feelings, or whatever else we may choose to call the thoughts and affections of the mind, are conveyed from one person to another. Now, although this may be done three ways, by signs, or motions of the limbs of the body, by written characters, and by sounds, the latter method only, in strict propriety, can be called language, that word being derived from the Latin, lingua, a tongue, because that is the member by which sounds are formed. Yet we are not to suppose that B 5 10 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. sounds are necessary to the communication of ideas. A great deal may be done by simple signs ; and every thing that sounds can accomplish, by written characters. A man may express anger, or pleasure, ap- proval, or disapprobation, as forcibly by a motion of the brow or the mouth, as by any sounds ; often a great deal more so. And a shipwrecked sailor who is thrown among a nation of savages, will be able by the motions of his hands to make known his disaster, to supplicate for pity, and to ask for food. Mere signs, however, must ever be a very defective mode of communi- cation between man and man ; but it is not so with written characters. These latter are capable in themselves of conveying what- ever can be expressed by sounds. They are, in fact, language addressed to the eye, as speech is addressed to the ear ; and since the eye is able to run over a number of written characters much more rapidly than the ear can receive a succession of sounds, they have, in this respect, greatly the ad- A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 1 1 vantage. Thus a person may read in an hour more words than he could receive by the car in three. It may perhaps strike some of my readers, that it is not correct to say that written characters stand for ideas, since it is rather the words or sounds they represent which convey the ideas, and not the characters themselves. Now I grant, indeed, that in reading our own language, which we are constantly in the habit of hearing spoken, we probably gather the sense of an author principally, although not altogether, by converting the written words into sounds in the mind ; but this is by no means so much the case in reading a foreign language, as is apparent from the well known fact, that a passage in a Greek or Latin author, for instance, shall be quite unintelligible when read, the meaning of which shall strike us instantly that we cast our eyes upon it. And the truth of the above assertion, namely, that the eve is equally capable of conveying ideas to the mind by means of written characters, inde- 12 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. pendently of their connexion with sounds, as the ear is by words spoken, is rendered certain by what has been effected in the case of the deaf and dumb, who are taught to read and write, and to hold a conversa- tion, if I may so express myself, upon ab- stract subjects, and all this clearly, without the intervention of sound. Language, then, without confining our- selves to the etymology of the word, may be understood to signify any method by which what passes in the mind of one per- son is conveyed to another. This is usually done by sounds, called words ; or by cha- racters representing those sounds. To learn a language, therefore, is to learn the sounds and characters which represent ideas and things in that language, so that when we hear the one or see the other, the mind directly understands what they mean. But whence did language originate ? And which was the first language ? And whence came the great variety of languages there are now in the world? Have they all one common A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 13 source, or arc they many of them entirely unconnected with each other ? These are curious and interesting questions, and I shall, I hope, be excused if I digress a little from my main subject in order to consider them. In the first place then, how did language originate ? or, in other words, how came man first of all to express his conceptions and feelings by words ? I know of but one answer that can be given to this question ; God, at his creation, implanted in him the will and the power so to do. If there had not been this instinctive faculty in Adam, how could he have given names on the day of his creation to all the animals as thev passed before him? (Gen. ii.) This, as being a Scriptural fact, may be treated lightly by the scoffers of our days. But I would ask such persons, independently of this fact, if there had not been some such faculty given to the first parents of the human race, how could we have had any language at all ? Do they suppose that 14 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. speech is an invention, like printing or gunpowder, and which has been gradually improving and perfecting? The absurdity of such an idea must strike every one. But if it be not an invention of man, then it must be an instinctive faculty implanted by the Creator in Adam when he was formed. Indeed this may, I think, be proved to demonstration, precisely in the same man- ner as we prove that all created beings which necessarily have a beginning, owe their existence to a Creator who has no beginning. For, as we know that we re- ceived our being from our parents ; and they from theirs, and so on ; and, going back in this manner, are compelled at last to acknowledge the existence of an eternal first cause, self-existent, without beginning, the author of all things ; so may we trace the origin of language. For it is certain that we received the language we speak from our parents, or those we were brought up with ; and they, also, in like manner, re- ceived it as children, from those who went A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 15 before them ; and thus at length we must come, as in the other instance, to the first progenitors of us all, who received their language from God. It may, perhaps, be objected, that this argument is not conclu- sive, because language is a thing continually changing, and that which we speak is very different from that of our forefathers. This circumstance however, no more affects the force of the argument, than the difference between a Greenlander and a Patagonian, which is easily accounted for, affects the other argument for the existence of a first cause, the creator of an original pair from whom all the inhabitants of the earth derive their being. That neither children or grown up people would speak at all, if they did not hear others speak first, is a matter of experience, not a theoretical position. It is, I say, a thing proved by indisputable facts, and therefore requires no other argu- ments to confirm it. The facts I allude to are the two following. First, the case of the deaf and dumb. It is well ascertained 16 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. that the latter defect is owing to the former. That is, dumb people generally, although not always, are unable to speak, not from any defect in the organs of speech, but simply because they cannot hear. Now, if speech, or the expression of ideas by the utterance of sounds, were the result of an inborn impulse, would not persons born deaf utter sounds of some kind or other, especially when moved by any strong feel- ings, seeing that they possess the power of doing so as well as other human beings ? But this they never do of their own accord, 1 but continue silent all their lives, which clearly shews, I think, that we should not speak at all, if we did not in our infancy hear others do so. The second fact I re- ferred to is still more conclusive. It is the case of Peter the wild boy, who was found when about twelve years old in the forest of Hanover, and brought over to England in 1 Dumb people may be taught to speak, with great labour, by being made to watch the motions of the lips. Several remarkable instances of persons so taught are mentioned in the Encyclopedia Metropolitan ; Article, Dumbness. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 17 the reign of George I. When found, he spoke no language, and what is more extra- ordinary, although he lived many years, and great pains were taken with him, he could never he made to utter articulate sounds. From this instance we may infer, not only that language is acquired by hear- ing others speak, but also, that if the organs of speech are allowed to remain a long time unemployed, they may become incapable of forming words. From these considerations, then, it ap- pears, that language, or speech, must have been originally imparted by the Creator to Adam, who endued him at his creation with the faculty of expressing, as it were instinc- tively, by articulate sounds, whatever he thought or felt. It is vain for us to inquire how this faculty was imparted. It was done by the Jiat of omnipotence ; and he who doubts the power of the Deity to be- stow such a faculty, may as well at once deny his existence. I would suggest, how- ever, whether it be not 2 )0 ^sible that there 18 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. may be a sort of eternal, essential connexion, between certain articulations and ideas. I mean, so that certain articulate sounds, cor- respond with, and express certain things, by a natural connexion which there is between them. Or, if this cannot be, then God must have given to man originally an intui- tive knowledge of the meaning of those arbitrary sounds by which he was pleased to express his will and purposes. How else could he have understood the meaning of the prohibition given to him concerning the tree of knowledge, and the denunciation attached to it, " on the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." Death was a thing about which he could know nothing excepting so far as the word conveyed its own meaning to his mind. In any case, then, the power of speech must be regarded as an especial endowment bestowed upon our first parents by the Almighty. With them it was natural, — coeval with their existence, in all its perfection ; with us it is acquired. Yet we may hope, when we shall A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 19 have laid aside these frail bodies, and " this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal have put on immortality," that we shall be gifted with the same power as was possessed by our first father in his state of innocence, and be able, without thought or study, to communicate to all, and receive from all, with the most perfect ease, and without fear uf misapprehension or mistake, whatever we think or feel. The inhabitants of the kingdom of God will have but one language, as they will have but one heart and one mind. But leaving this digression, which I trust needs no apology, let us now proceed to the second question, Which was the first language? And this I shall dismiss in a few words, both because I cannot find that the learned throw much light upon it ; and because, if it did appear that there was any possibility of answering it satisfactorily, I feel myself incompetent to the discussion, from being perfectly ignorant of the Sanscrit and Chinese, undoubtedly two of the most 20 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. ancient languages in the world ; and which, therefore, may hoth put in their claims for originality. I shall only observe, that the Jews, and others, who maintain that the Hebrew was the first language, that in which God spoke to Adam, rest their argu- ment chiefly upon the signification of the names of men and places mentioned in the Scriptures. They argue that since these names continue the same without any change, and the derivation of them cannot be traced to any other language than the Hebrew, therefore, it necessarily follows, that the Hebrew must have been the first language of all. As for instance, Adam, was so called, because he was made out of the ground, Adamah ; Eve, or Chavvah, because she was the mother of all living, from Chaiyah, to live : and so on. They argue also from the name of God in Hebrew, Jehovah ; which signifies the self-existent, and thus expresses the distin- guishing characteristic of the Deity, which is not the case in any other language. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 21 Also, from the circumstance that words evidently of Hehrew origin are found in almost all languages with which we are acquainted, whereas there are no Hebrew words derived from foreign sources. Lastly, they argue the originality of the Hebrew from its simplicity and purity, in which respects it surpasses, perhaps, all others. Such is a brief summary of the arguments used by Walton in his Prolegomena to the Polyglott, c. 3. for the originality of the Hebrew, of which opinion he was a stre- nuous advocate : many learned men, how- ever, have taken the contrary side of the question, and " adhuc sub judice lis est." In truth, it seems impossible for us at this distant period of time to determine a point respecting which both sacred and profane history are silent, and which is necessarily involved in much obscurity. 1 But whether 1 The foolish story in Herodotus upon this subject is hardly worth noticing. The facts, as related by him, are briefly these. A certain king of Egypt wishing to ascertain which was the 22 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. the Hebrew be the first language or not, it is certainly one of the most ancient of languages, and, on account of its being consecrated, as I may say, to holy purposes, the most interesting in the world. With respect to the origin and connexion of the various languages which now exist, this also is a subject so complicated and difficult, that volumes might be written upon it to little purpose. Revelation tells us that at one time all the inhabitants of the earth were of one language, but that in conse- quence of their attempting to build the tower of Babel, God confounded their lan- guage, and scattered them over the face of the earth. Both the crime and punishment of these men has given rise to much discus- sion. The best explanation I have met with of the matter is given by Dathe, in his most ancient language, caused two children to be taken from their mothers as soon as they were born, and had them suckled by goats ; persons being appointed to watch them, and mark what sounds they should first utter. At length one of them cried out, " Bee, Bee," which the king found after diligent search, was the word for bread in the Phrygian language. Hence he concluded, that both this people and their language were the most ancient. Hekodoti Hist. Lib. ii. s. 2. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 23 preface to Walton's Prolegomena, who takes it from Perizonius. He supposes, that the Object the descendants of Noah had in pro- posing to build the tower of Babel was that it might serve as a sort of place of rendezvous to them ; so that, however far distant they might wander with their flocks and herds in the plain, they would still be able to return to their city whenever they pleased, being directed by this tower, which they, perhaps, expected would be seen from every part of the earth. He would therefore translate the words which we render, " Let us make us a name." " Let us make us a sign, or a beacon, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the earth;" which transla- tion is certainly preferable to the former, because it makes the reason assigned for building the tower a good and sufficient one, which the other does not ; for how should their making a name prevent their being scattered over the world ? 1 1 Prcf. p. xii. &c. He shews that Ct£? may signify a sign, by reference to Isaiah lvi. 5. 1 Sam. xv. 12. 24 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. But it may be said, there was no great sin in this. Certainly not ; nor, as the author just quoted observes, do these men appear to have been guilty of any sin, ex- cepting thus far, that as God willed that they should spread themselves over the earth, it was sinful in them to attempt to keep together. With respect to the means by which their design was thwarted, Walton and many others suppose that they were actually made to speak a variety of entirel) different languages, by a divine impulse upon their minds ; but the account given in Genesis xi. seems to imply, not that they all spoke different languages, but merely that they were unable to understand each other, in consequence of some confusion and indistinctness in their pronunciation. In the first verse it is said ; ' ' and the whole earth was of one language and one speech,''' literally, " of one lip, and of the same words." That is, I conceive, they all used the same language, and pronounced it in the same manner. But in verse 9 we are A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 25 told that the city was called Babel, be- cause God there confounded not the lan- guage, (a^rn words) but the speech or pronounciation (rrBtt? lip) of the whole earth. And this, then, appears to have been the true origin of all the various languages which now exist in the world. They are all, probably, derived from one common source, and in the first instance were only so many dialects of the primitive tongue, but by length of time and peculiarity of circumstances, have now become distinct and separate. This view of the subject is confirmed by those traces of resemblance which are discoverable amongst all known languages ; from which circumstance we may conjecture that they all originally sprang from the same root. But of this I shall speak more particularly in treating of the connexion of languages with each other ; the next subject that claims attention is that of grammar. 26 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. OF GRAMMAR IN GENERAL. Grammar has been denned to be, "the art of speaking and of writing with pro- priety;" but never was there a generally received definition, in my opinion, more incorrect and defective. We might as well say that harmony is the art of singing and •of playing upon an instrument with pro- priety ; for grammar is in language, exactly what harmony is in music. Grammar is not an art, any more than harmony is an art ; they are both rather parts of a science with which it is necessary to be acquainted in order thoroughly to understand the respective sciences to which they belong. Harmony is a part of the science of music ; grammar of that of language. And as the former may be defined to be " the result of a right combination of sounds ;" the latter A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 27 may be said to be " the result of a right combination of words and phrases ; " or, in another sense, " that part of the science of language which relates to the etymology and formation of words, and the proper combination and position of them in a sentence." The science of grammar, there- fore, is that which enables a person to understand the rationale of language, and to enter fully into its form and structure. But so far from its being " the art of writ- ing and speaking with propriety," a person may be able both to write and to speak with perfect correctness, without any knowledge of grammar whatever, merely from the habit of reading the best authors in a lan- guage, and hearing it correctly spoken. And hence I would remark, by the way, the absurdity of laying so much stress upon the knowledge of grammar in the very com- mencement of learning a language. For as to all the ordinary uses of language, they may be had without any knowledge of grammar at all, as is proved by daily expe- c > 28 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. rience, since ninety-nine persons out of a hundred, probably, know little or nothing of the grammar of their mother tongue. At the same time, it must be admitted, that before we can be said to know a language scientifically, we must be acquainted with its grammar ; nor would I be understood by the above remarks, to detract from the utility and importance of grammar in the study of languages ; only it seems to me usually to be put in its wrong place. But of this hereafter. I shall now offer a few remarks upon the structure of language generally, that is, upon universal grammar. Most grammarians divide the various words of which language is composed into nine different sorts, which they call " parts of speech : " and there are undoubtedly in all languages words so unlike each other in character and power, as to warrant our distinguishing them by different names. The words " a horse," for instance, convey quite another sort of idea to the mind from the words, " they love ; " the former denote A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 29 a thing, the latter an act or passion. A careful examination, however, will convince every attentive observer, that these " parts of speech" are not so entirely distinct from, and unconnected with each other as we might at first suppose ; much less that they are the mere arbitrary formations of fancy or chance. As the right understanding of this matter will greatly assist the student in finding the roots, and in acquiring a scientific knowledge of a language, I shall here briefly state my ideas upon the sub- ject. It is evident, then, that the first sort of words which men would naturally em- ploy in communicating their ideas to each other would be names, or, as they are com- monly called, nouns. For our ideas being always conversant about some action, pas- sion, or thing, and words being nothing more than names, or signs of ideas, it necessarily follows, that in communicating their ideas, men must in the first instance have made use principally of nouns. And in fact, if we come carefully to analyse c 3 30 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. a sentence, even in the artificial languages of modern times, we shall find that the greater part of the words of which it is composed are originally nouns, or substi- tutes for them, and that the same sense may be expressed exclusively by the latter. To make my meaning plain, and to shew- that the above is not a mere vague asser- tion, I shall illustrate it by an example. For this purpose let us take the first two or three lines of Hamlet's soliloquy : " To be, or not to be? tbat is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The stings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them 1" A more artificial passage than this is hardly to be met with ; yet the sense of it might be expressed by nouns only, if lan- guage were in a natural state ; as thus, — " Existence, non-existence? question. Nobility mind greatest, sufferance Stings, arrows fortune enraged ; Greatest, bearing arms opposition sea troubles, Opposition, troubles end." A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 31 Absurd and nonsensical as this may ap- pear, it is only because we are not used to such a manner of expressing our ideas. Many passages literally translated from other languages would to us seem equally senseless and ridiculous. As for example, the first three lines of the first satire of Horace, which, literally translated, run thus: u How is done, Maecenas, that no man which to him- selflot, Whether reason may have given, whether lot may have thrown against, with that, Contented may live ; may praise different things those following." Can anything be imagined more like a mere jumble of words than this? Yet in Latin it is perfectly intelligible, and even elegant. We are not then to suppose, that, because if we attempt to express our ideas in any modern language by nouns only we make nonsense, the other parts of speech are essential to language. A modern writer J has shewn that most, if not all of < 1 Hokne Tooke — This however was not a discovery of his 32 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. the English particles are really verbs, and those verbs might, perhaps, be all proved to be originally nouns. But what then is a verb ? This question has puzzled gram- marians more than any other, and has never been answered satisfactorily. Tooke says indeed, that "a verb is a noun and something more," but he no where tells us what that something more is. Now it seems to me that that " something more" is the agent of the act. May not a verb, in short be defined to be a word signifying a quality, an act, or a passion, which is joined with another noun or its substitute, a pronoun, denoting the agent or subject? A verb cannot stand by itself. It conveys, when alone, no distinct idea to the mind. The words runs, eats, thinks, by themselves mean nothing. We naturally ask, What runs ? What eats ? What thinks ? Nor are the imperatives an exception. For when we say, " Run ; " we mean, " Run own. At least, Koeber had done with the Hebrew particles, what Tooke has done with the English ones, a hundred years before. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 33 thou," the pronoun being of necessity un- derstood. And as for the infinitives, they are not properly verbs at all, but rather ipso facto nouns, which may always be substituted for them. As for example, to love, is, the act of loving ; to live, the act of living. Thus we may say, either " To love our enemies is a Christian duty," or, " The loving of our enemies, &c. " "To live is pleasant," or, the act of living, &c. To shew more clearly the grounds upon which this theory of verbs is founded, and the use it may be of in finding the roots of words, and in acquiring a correct know- ledge of a language, I shall now proceed to analyse what are termed by grammarians the conjugations of verbs in some of the dead languages, a careful examination of which will, I think, plainly shew that the preceding remarks are founded in truth. I begin with the Hebrew, as the most ancient. This language has but two tenses, the past and the future ; or, as some say, the past and the present. The form of the C 5 34 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. past tense, which is usually put first, is as follows : — Lamadti I learnt. Lamadta (mas. 1 ) Thou learnedst. Lamadt (fem. ) Thou learnedst. Lamad (mas.) He learnt. Lamedah (fem.) She learnt. Lamadnu We learnt. Lamadtem (mas.) Ye learnt. Lamadten (fera.) Ye learnt. Lamedu They learnt. A cursory observer might suppose that the several changes here were merely arbi- trary, yet they are, in fact, formed with the greatest regularity and simplicity, by the union of the personal pronouns with the root, which is itself a noun. To make this clear. The personal pronouns in He- brew are, — Ani I. Attah Thou (mas.) Att Thou (fem.) Hu He. Hi She 1 In Hebrew, and Arabic, and I believe most Oriental lan- guages, the verb varies in the second and third persons, accord- ing to the gender of the nominative. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 35 Anachnu We. Atlem Ye (mas.) Atten Ye (fem.) Heem, or Heemu Tliey (mas •) Heen They (fern ) Now the root of the verb is Lamad — learned. Observe, then, the formation of the numbers and persons : — Lamad-am (Lamadfi) I learned. attah (Lamadra) Thou learned. att (LamadO Thou learned. ■ (root) Learned. hi (Lameda/t) She learned. anachnu (Lamadnu) We learned. attem (Lamadteni) Ye learned. atten (Lamadten) Ye learned. heemu (Lamedw) They learned. Hence it appears evident, that the first person of this tense is compounded of the root and of the final syllable of the pro- noun ani, I ; the second of the root, and the pronoun attah, thou, and so on. And thus, also, the future, or present, is formed ; only that the pronoun is prefixed instead of being affixed to the root. Some- thing the same, also, will be found to be 36 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. the case in the Greek and Latin ; but in these the numbers and persons are formed more frequently by means of the auxiliary verb " to be." To give some examples. The following is the form of the present tense of the auxiliary in Greek : — Eimi I am. Eis Thou art. Esti He is. DUAL. Eston Ye two are. Eston They two are. PLURAL. Esnien We are. Este Ye are. Eisi They are. And the first person singular is Ego — I. From these, then, are formed, also, the numbers and persons of the present active, thus : — SINGULAR. Tupt-ego, tupto, I beating. eis, tuptm, Thou art beating. csti, tupfei, He is beating. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 37 DUAL. Tupt-cs/on, tuptefon, Ye, or they, two are beating. PLURAL. esme?i, tuptomen, We are beating. tste, t uptt^e, Ye are beating. eisi, taptotwt, 1 They are beating. SO THE PARTICIPLE PRESENT. Tupt-on, tupton, -^ ousa, tuptousa, > Being beating. on, tupton, * The formation of the numbers and per- sons in these instances is obvious and simple. In many of the Greek tenses, however, the manner of their composition is not so easily discoverable ; yet, reasoning from analogy, we may suppose that they are formed after some method or other. I have little doubt, indeed, that they are all compounded of the root and the aux- iliary verb, the forms of which are now lost. 1 A celebrated grammarian observes, that "probably the original form of the third person plural is ' onti.' But this is evidently a mistake. 38 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. In the Latin, the truth of this theory is still more evident and striking. That I may not waste time and paper, I shall take it for granted that the reader knows how to conjugate the verb " esse," to be. Sup- posing, then, the root of the verb amare to be ama , denoting the act of loving, or love in the abstract, (perhaps from the Hebrew (DN) am, a mother) we have : — INDICATIVE PRESENT. Ama-egw, es, est, sumw,?, estis, sunt, &mo, amaj, amai, amamus, ama««, amant, I loving. Thou art loving. He is loving. We are loving. Ye are loving. They are loving. PRETERPERFECT. Ama-fui, fuisti, (ait, {uimus, fuistis, fuerunt, araavt, ama\isti, amavit, amax imus, am&yistis, amax e?unt, I was loving, Thou wast loving. He was loving. We were loving. You were loving. They were loving. FUTURE. Ama-fuero, amavcro, I shall have loved. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 39 Again, we have : — Dux, or, dues-ego, duco, T a leader. es, dueis, Thou art a leader, &c. Rex, or, regs-ego, I a king, &c. It is needless to multiply examples. Those which have been adduced sufficiently illustrate the theory I am endeavouring to establish ; the sum of which is, that the roots of all verbs in all languages (for what has been observed of the conjugations of verbs in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, is true also of the Arabic and Persian, and, I be- lieve, I may say of every other language), are nouns or substantives ; and that the moods and tenses are formed from the root, either by the addition of the pronoun, or of the substantive verb, signifying being or existence. That there may be some few evident exceptions, and that there may be very many words, and perhaps tenses, of which we cannot trace the origin, or, in fact, give any account, I readily admit ; but that the general principle here asserted is 40 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. true, must, I think, be granted by all those who will take the trouble thoroughly to in- vestigate the subject. 1 But, supposing this theory to be correct, can any practical uses be made of it? Undoubtedly many. In the first place, it will enable us to arrive at the true primitive meaning of the verbs, and other derivatives, in a language; and, consequently, to understand more readily their power and precise signification. Nothing puzzles and perplexes a person so much in learning a language as the nu- merous, different, and, sometimes, even contradictory meanings, which he finds given in lexicons and dictionaries, to the same word. He meets, for instance, with the Latin word " Facio; ' he looks for it in the dictionary, and there finds twenty- four meanings assigned to it, some of them almost opposite to each other, as, to do, to cause to do, to hinder, &c. ; how is it ' It was not until some time after the above remarks were written, that I discovered that Professor Lee has given exactly the same account of Hebrew verbs. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 41 possible, amidst this variety, that he should know which to choose, when, perhaps, he is, at the same time, ignorant of the mean- ing of half the other words in the sentence? But, if instead of these twenty-four mean- ings he were to find the true primitive sig- nification of the root, he would then get a clear idea of the real power of the word, and be able to apply it in all its various uses. I cannot, indeed, but regret that we have no lexicons or dictionaries con- structed upon this principle ; that is, in which the root should be first given with its meaning, and then the several deriva- tives and compounds. To convey a clear idea of the method proposed, I shall, by way of illustration, give an example in each of the three principal languages. And first, in the Hebrew let us take the word ^in (chevel). The first meaning assigned to this word in Buxtorf is, to give or re- ceive a pledge ; then, to corrupt, destroy ; afterwards, he says it signifies, as a noun, corruption, destruction ; a rope; acute pain ; 42 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. a pledge, &c. ; now it has all these mean- ings, but who can trace any connection be- tween them when thus given ? Instead, then, of making the verb the root, I would put the whole in the following form, in which, I think, the connection between the various significations of the word will seem easy and natural : — bin (chevel) a twist, contortion. — Hence : — 1st. A rope, anything twisted. 2d. A portion, or heritage ; because measured by a rope. 3d. In the plural, acute pains, labour pains ; i. e. inward contortions. 4th. In fern, plural, crafty or prudent counsels ; i. e. complicated, woven, or twisted as it were together. 5th. A pledge, because it binds or en- tangles one man with another. And, hence the verb signifies, to give, or receive a pledge ; to be in labor, to bring forth, &c. Thus it appears that all these various A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 43 meanings of the word ^in are closely con- nected with one another ; and are, in fact, only different applications of the same original idea. So in the Greek we should have : — MeX, Care, purpose, intention. >.w, I purpose, am about to do. et, (imper.) It is matter of concern. eras', I make matter of concern. Hra-a, A bee, i. e. a careful thing. j, Honey, the produce of the bee. b8o(j A singer, one who concerns himself about songs. qpa, A purposing, delay, — &c. &c. And in Latin : — Fac, Primarily, stands for the idea of doing, acting, making. Hence, — io. I do, make. turn, A deed, thing done. ilis, Doable, easy. COMPOUNDS. Difiicilis, (rfus (Greek) facilis) Hardly doable, difficult. Con-ficio, I finish, perfect. Ef-ficio, I effect, bring to pass. Re-ficio, I make again, repair. Suf-licio, I do under, or instead of, I am suffi- cient, — &c. &c. 44 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. A lexicon constructed upon this plan would, I conceive, be invaluable to the philological student (I do not say it would be adapted to mere school boys), and save an immense deal of labour. Perhaps the hint here given may induce some person to undertake the work, who has more learning, and more leisure, than can be expected in the minister of a country pa- rish ; for a great deal of both would cer- tainly be requisite, as well as much judg- ment and persevering research. 1 But to return from this digression. A second practical benefit resulting from taking the preceding view of the structure of language is, that it will considerably facilitate the acquisition of the conjuga- tions and irregularities of verbs, as they are usually called. To any person who imagines that the conjugations of verbs are merely arbitrary, their apparent irregu- 1 The Greek lexicon of Scapula, and most of the Hebrew lexicons, are constructed something upon the above .plan; but their authors were none of them sufficiently careful to trace the roots to their primary meaning. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 45 larities must be very perplexing ; and even what are denominated regulars, especially in Greek and Latin, will take a long time to commit to memory. But when we un- derstand that all the tenses of verbs, or nearly so, are formed by the union of the root with the tenses of the auxiliary verb, or with the pronouns, we shall then have a key to guide us to the formation of the tenses of every verb ; and when we tho- roughly understand one, we shall, in a manner, understand all. For as to what are called irregular verbs, although there may be many both in Greek and Latin to us inexplicable, they are most of them, in fact, either compounds of the auxi- liary, or else the tenses which seem to be irregular are derived from some other root. Thus, in Latin, Possum is plainly compounded of pot and sunt ; — hence it makes — pot-es, pot-cst, pot-suinus, (by contraction possnmus) &c. 46 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. So Nolo, is non volo ; Malo, is magis volo, &c. With regard to other verbs, the tenses of which are entirely unlike each other, they should rather be called defective than irregular. As for instance, e/jjco/aom * n Greek, and fero in Latin. The former, gramma- rians tell us, makes yKvOa and *?x0ov, in the perfect and second aorist ; and the latter, tuli and latum, in the perfect and supine ; but is it not absurd to represent v^ov as de- rived from eloped, OT tuli, &C. , frOm/, tuli from tulo, and latum from lo ? These irregularities, then, when properly explained, afford no objection either to the principle or use of the theory ; on the con- trary, they make its use more apparent. But, lastly, the taking this view of the subject must prove of great use in aiding the memory in acquiring a copia verborum; for when the student has thus obtained the A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 47 true primitive meaning of any root, he will then have got a key, or at least a sort of memoria technica, to all its derivatives and compounds. I say a key to them, because many of the derivatives of roots are so different in meaning from the original, that although it may be easy to trace a connec- tion between them when it is pointed out, no one would have immediately perceived it of himself. The truth of this remark is evident from the examples already given ; more espe- cially from that in the Hebrew. Whoever remembers that chevel signifies a twist, will easily call to mind all its other meanings. Perhaps it may be objected to the preced- ing remarks, that the roots of all verbs cannot be nouns, because since no sentence is complete without a verb, the latter cannot be derived from the former, but must be coeval with them. It has, however, already been shewn, that although as languages are now constructed, no sentence is com- plete without a verb, it does not follow that 48 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. it must necessarily have been so always ; but, on the contrary, that all sentences might be expressed by nouns only. But it may be asked further, without verbs how should we mark the time when anything was said to be done, thought, or spoken ? Undoubtedly, in order to mark time with precision, tenses, and conse- quently, verbs, are requisite. But the reader will observe, that when I maintain that nouns and not verbs are the roots of w r ords, I am speaking of language in its primitive and most simple form, and not in its present artificial state. However, that time may be in some sort expressed without the use of tenses, although not, perhaps, with perfect accuracy, will be readily seen by a few examples. Take, for instance, the words, " Peter, good man ;" standing thus by themselves, these words may have reference to time either past, present, or future. They may mean either that Peter was a good man ; or, that he is a good man ; or, that he will be a A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 49 good man ; but in most cases the circum- stances of the person spoken of would determine which of the three senses was meant. If, in using these words, I were speaking of the Apostle Peter, every one would know that I meant to say he was a good man. If of any living person grown up to man's estate, it would be understood that I spoke in the present tense, and that I intended to say, He is a good man ; and if of a child, or one of a notoriously bad character, that I meant to express a hope that he would become a good man at a future period. And thus it is in the Chinese, if the ac- counts modern writers give of that language be correct ; for according to them its verbs have neither mood, tense, number, nor per- son, nor, in short, any of those variations or inflections which to us appear indispen- sable ; yet the Chinese write books and hold intercourse with each other, as well as we do, without them, which shews that they are not essential to language. That D 50 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. this defect must cause ambiguity there can be no doubt ; we experience it even in the Hebrew, in which there is not so great a deficiency as in the Chinese, there being, as before observed, two tenses clearly distin- guished ; notwithstanding, this very cir- cumstance makes strongly in favour of the theory here maintained respecting the primi- tives of words, and shews its importance ; for since what are called the Chinese verbs have no inflections of any kind whatever, is it not probable that they are really nouns, that is, names indicative of things, quali- ties, actions, or passions ? So that if a Chinese wanted to say, " Brutus will kill Csesar to-morrow ;" he would express him- self thus: " Brutus death Csesar to-mor- row." I have no authority for saying that a Chinese would so express himself, further than the above general information, that the verbs have no tenses, &c, from which I infer that such would be the case. At all events the illustration shews how the sense of verbs may be expressed by nouns. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 51 It is not my intention to enter further into the subject of grammar ; my object in the foregoing remarks is merely to shew the general structure of language, and to establish the doctrine that nouns, and not verbs, are the roots of words ; and to prove the importance to a person studying lan- guages of endeavouring to find out the original idea, the essential part of words, so to speak, without any reference to gender, number, mood, tense, or person, which are in fact mere accidents. It should be observed, however, that what has been said, is meant to apply principally to the dead languages, not to the modern languages of Europe. d s 52 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. OF THE CONNEXION OF LANGUAGES WITH EACH OTHER ; AND THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY SHOULD BE LEARNT. That all languages are derived from the same source, and are therefore connected with each other, being in fact originally only dialects of that spoken by Adam, is an opinion entertained by many learned men, and in confirmation of which some strong arguments have been adduced. To shew however at large the grounds on which this hypothesis is built, would not only require much more space than it is intended this volume shall occupy, but also much more learning than I pretend to possess. It may however be satisfactory to some of my readers to see a few examples of this con- nexion between two languages, which are, perhaps, as unlike each other in sound A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 53 and structure as any two languages in the world : I mean the Hebrew and Latin. The following are some of the most remark- able that have occurred to me : HEBREW. Bra ', Creation, or he created. Gc-ver, Strength, excel- lency, a strong man Diir, Continuance Vain, Wine Moth, Death Obed, or gnobed, Service Paras, or pars, Division, separation Peri, or phr, Fruit Sac, A sack Sal-em, Peace, soundness Tul, He carried Ur, Light, fire LATIN. Cre-o, I create Vir, A man Dur-us, Hard, enduring Vinum, Wine Mors, Death Ohedire, To serve, obey Pars, A part Fr actus, Fruit Saccus, A sack 2 Sal-us, Health, &c. Tul-i, I carried Ur-o, I burn. These coincidences are obvious and incon- testible ; and although only twelve, in num- 1 May not the name of the Hindoo deity Brain, or Brehm, who is represented as the creat(.r of all things, be derived from the Hebrew? If so, then we have in this single instance the same root for one word in Hebrew, Sancrit, Latin, and English. - It is rather remarkable that this word is the same, I believe, in almost all languages. D 3 54 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. ber, are sufficient of themselves to render the idea of an original connexion between the Hebrew and Latin not improbable. By a diligent and careful investigation no doubt their number might be greatly increased. I could point out many others, but as they would perhaps appear, at first sight, far- fetched and improbable, I forbear. Many similar coincidences have been shewn by various authors to exist between the Greek and Hebrew ; and also between the latter language, and the Teutonic and Sclavonic 1 . In our own language there are words not derived from the Latin which resemble the Hebrew, as : HEBREW. ENGLISH. Bush, or basli, To be ashamed, ^.-hashed. Erez, or erdth 2 , Earth. Has, Husb. Sebang, or seveng, Seven. Now it seems to me that only one or two coincidences of this kind, in languages so 1 Walton's Prolegomena, p. 77. 2 The orientals sometimes give this sound to z. Thus the Persians call the poet Hafez, Hafet^A. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. OD remote from each other, may well awaken a suspicion of this universal connexion of languages for which I am contending. For how else are they to be accounted for? Is it likely, amidst the infinite variety of sounds the organs of speech are capable of producing, that two nations, entirely un- connected with each other, should in a single instance, much less in a great many, fix upon the same sound to denote the same thing ? But it may perhaps be argued, on the other hand, that if all languages were derived from the same source there would be a much greater resemblance between them than is found to exist, and that in- stead of there being a few words here and there like each other, all the words, or at least the majority, in every language would bear the marks of their common original. This, however, is a very mistaken notion, and such an objection would never be made by any person acquainted with the changes which words, in the early stages of a lan- guage, are continually undergoing. To give 56 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. the reader some idea of these changes, and of the manner in which primitive words are altered by passing into another language, it will be sufficient to produce one or two examples. Take then the English word Bishop, and the French word Eveque ; what connexion does there appear to be between them ? There is not a single letter in either of them the same. Would any one then suppose that these two words had a com- mon origin V Yet they are undoubtedly both derived from the Greek word vKHnvms (episkopos) . The English word, by drop- ping the initial and final syllables, and changing the p into b, and the k into h, thus : Episkopos, biskop, bishop. The French by a still greater change in the form of the Greek, thus : Episkopos, ebiskopos, evisk, evesque, eveque. Again, who would imagine that the Eng- lish words, legal, love, diligent, had any connexion with each other, and with the A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 57 Latin lex? Yet these words, unlike as they are in sound and appearance, and even in sense, may notwithstanding be traced to a common root signifying to select, or prefer ; in the Greek, leg-ein (\eyew) ; and in the Anglo-Saxon, hlif-ian. So captious, deceit- ful, and incipient, although having scarcely any thing in common apparently either in sense or sound, are all derived from the same root, viz. the Latin cap-io, I take; which, indeed, different as the above words may at first sight appear in meaning, re- tains its primitive signification in them all; for captious is, take-&b\e of, or, ready to take offence : deceitful is, full of a disposi- tion to take from ; and incipient, is taking in hand, beginning l . These examples, although a very imper- fect specimen, are sufficient to shew what extraordinary changes words undergo by passing into another language. Lapse of 1 Perhaps the true root of all these words is the Hebrew Fp (cap) the palm of the hand, or any thing to take hold of with. D 5 58 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. time also, and abbreviations in composition, make a wonderful alteration in words even in the same language. How different, for example, is though from thafig ; sitthan from since ; yet these were respectively the original Saxon words from which those now in use are derived. What a number of letters are dropped in the formation of the Latin word interficere, to kill. This word is composed of no less than four others ; and written out in full would con- tain eight syllables, viz. " in t err am ire facere," to cause to go into the earth; by contraction these are reduced to five, and the whole formed into one word ; but the elements of which it is composed are so run one into the other, that it requires some consideration to separate them and reduce them to their original condition. Thousands of words, no doubt, in every modern language are formed after the same manner, the first elements of which are lost, while the compounds remain. Now, if we put all these things together, A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 59 and consider besides the very small number of primitive- words there are, comparatively, in every language, (the Greek, copious as it is, has been asserted not to contain more than two hundred), and the ease with which these roots may have lost their original form by the omission, addition, and change of sounds and letters : will it appear an incredible thing that the primitives of all languages are the same ? This general connexion however, supposing it to exist. between all languages is now so little ap- parent in some cases, as for example, be- tween the Oriental and European languages, that the acquisition of the one is little or no help towards acquiring the other, and it becomes therefore a matter of some conse- quence to the student to ascertain what languages are so allied to each other, that by learning any one of them he will have prepared the way for the more easy acquire- ment of all the rest. It being my intention to treat of Oriental languages separately, in considering this question I shall confine 60 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. myself exclusively for the present to the languages of Europe. Which then is the language that a person had better begin with who desires to obtain a general ac- quaintance with the languages and literature of Europe ? Every one who has any know- ledge upon the subject will anticipate the answer to this question. There can be little doubt that the Latin is the language first to be acquired, both because it is more generally infused into all the European lan- guages in which works of literature are to be found than any other, as well as because of its having, until very lately, been made the sole vehicle for conveying information respecting all other dead languages. I say Latin in preference to Greek, not only on account of its being an easier language, which it certainly is in spite of what some may say 1 , and therefore less likely to dis- courage and disgust a beginner ; but also on account of its being decidedly a key to 1 The strongest proof of this is, that you will find twenty good Latin scholars for one that really understands Greek. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 61 the French, Italian, Spanish, &c., and in short all the principal European languages, which the Greek is not. A man who has a thorough knowledge of Greek, will have nearly as much difficulty in learning any modern European language, excepting of course the modern Greek itself, as one who knows nothing of it ; whilst whoever has obtained only a tolerable acquaintance with the Latin, will easily learn any of them he pleases. The reason is, that although the Greek and Latin are in some respects very much alike, and many words in the latter are derived from the former, yet so few Greek words comparatively have passed into modern languages, and most of those which have wear such a different dress in Roman characters from what they do in Greek, that the Greek roots are not readily discover- able, and consequently the knowledge of them affords but little help to the student. To shew the truth of these remarks, I sub- join a few verses from the New Testament in Greek and Latin, and four of the prin- 62 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. cipal languages of Europe, by comparing of which together it will be easily seen how far thev resemble each other. GREEK. 1 Idon de tous ochlous, anebe eis to oros ; kai kathisantos autou, proselthon auto koi mathetai autou. Kai anoixas to stoma autou, edidasken autous, legon ; " Makarioi hoi ptochoi to pneumati hoti auton estin he basileia ton ouranon." — Matt. v. 1 — 3. LATIN. Videns autem multitudines, ascendit in montem ; cumque sedisset, advenerunt ad eum discipuli ejus. Aperuit autem os ejus, et docuit illos, dicens ; " Beati sunt pauperes spiritu, quod illorum est regnum cselorum." ENGLISH. And seeing the multitudes, he went up 1 I use the Roman character for the sake of those who may not understand Greek, although it is giving that language an unfair advantage in the comparison. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 63 into a mountain : and when he was set, his disciples came unto him : and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying ; — " Blessed are the poor in spirit ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." ITALIAN. Ed egli, vedendo le turbe, sali sopra il monte ; e, postosi a sedere, i suoi discepoli s' accostarono a lui. Ed egli, apperta la boeca, gli ammaestrava ; dicendo : Beati i proveri in ispirito ; percioche il regno de deli e loro. SPANISH. Y viendo Jesus las gentes, subio a an monte, y despues de haberse sentado, se llegaron a el sus discipulos ; y abriendo su boca, los ensenaba, diciendo : Bienaven- turados los pobres de espiritu ; porque de fllos es el reyno de los cielos, FRENCH. Et voyant tout ce peuple il monta sur une montagne ; et s'etant assi-s, ses dis- 64 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. ciples s y appro cherent de lui ; et ouvrant sa bouche, il les enseignoit en disant : Heureux les pauvres en esprit ; car le Royaume des cieux est a eux. The words in Italics are derived from, or at least resemble the Latin. The reader will see at a single glance, how large a por- tion they form of the whole three verses in all the languages. Even in English, which has the fewest, there are no less than eight evidently of Latin origin. On the other hand, there is not a single word in any one of the languages, the meaning of which could be gathered from the Greek alone. And if we were to make a hundred com- parisons of the same kind, similar results, or very nearly so, would, I believe, inva- riably follow. Hence it appears then, that Latin is the best language for the student to begin with ; not only on account of its being in itself so fine a language, and con- taining so many books worth reading, but also because of the great assistance it affords A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 65 in the acquisition of other languages. Every person therefore who wishes to lay a good foundation for obtaining a knowledge of the modern European languages, must learn Latin. Greek may be considered as a dis- tinct study, to be pursued by itself, and not so much with a view to facilitate the acqui- sition of other tongues, as for its own intrinsic value and excellence. 66 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. OF THE GENERAL METHOD TO BE PUR- SUED IN TEACHING OR LEARNING A LANGUAGE. I come now to the principal object of this treatise, which is to offer a few sugges- tions respecting the method to be pursued either in teaching or learning languages. Now, without meaning to join in that loose and indiscriminate condemnation of the ways of our forefathers so general amongst a certain class in the present day, who, it may be, " have tasted," but seldom, it is to be feared, have " drunk deep of the Pierian spring;" the old system of teaching lan- guages, and which is still adhered to gene- rally in our schools does, I confess, appear to me to say the least, very ill-adapted to promote the desired end. A system, in fact, A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 67 which nothing but early prejudice, and a pertinacious determination to adhere " with- out rhyme or reason" to the practice of those who went before, could have made persons engaged in education persist in so long. We need no other proof, I think, of the truth of this remark, and the ab- surdity of their system, than this one cir- cumstance, that they adopt the same method with all ages, without any regard to the capabilities of the scholar ; any consider- ation as to, " Quid valeant humeri, quid fcrrc recusent: " and they thus give to a boy of nine or ten years old the same sort of task as they would give to a young man of nineteen. This cannot be right. In teaching a child arithmetic we miirht as well bed. Lucian's Dialogues — selections. The Odes of Anaereon. Homer's Iliad, liook i. Xenophon's Memorabilia, book I. Herodotus's Histories — selections. ON THE HAMILTONIAN SYSTEM. PRICK. £ s. d. Gospel of St. John - - -060 Gospel of St. Matthew - - - 7 G The first three of these are without any translation, and are not, therefore, the best to be used in the very first instance ; but after the student has made a little progress, he will find it of great service to him to read them alternately with the others. Val- py's Delectus, especially, is a very useful book. STANDARD GREEK AUTHORS. Arranged in the order in which they mas- be read : — 92 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. PROSE WRITERS. Xenophon's Anabasis. Cyropeedia. Socratis Memorabilia. Lucian's Dialogues. Herodotus. Demosthenes. Thucydides. Aristotle's Rhetoric. Ethics. Art of Poetry. Plato's Works. POETS. Anacreon. Homer. Euripides. Sophocles. J^schylus. Pindar. In giving this list, I do not mean to recommend that each author should be read through in succession ; yet the student, who wishes to attain a thorough know- ledge of Greek, will do well to read a por- tion of each in the above order. If he A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 93 cannot afford to purchase the entire works of the several authors, or if he has not leisure, or inclination to read them, he will find Dalzell's Collectanea Majora the most useful hook there is ; and he cannot do better than to go regularly through it. It is not accompanied with a translation, but most of the difficult passages are explained, and it contains extracts from all the Greek writers of any note, so that when a person is thoroughly master of this book, he will have little difficulty in reading any Greek author. With respect to English translations, there are but few strictly literal ones of Greek books ; such as they are, however, they will be of great service to the learner, and are in general far preferable to any of the Latin versions, which are frequently mere verbal renderings of the Greek, and, consequently, leave many difficult passages as obscure as in the original language. The following is a list of those most in use : — 94 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. PRICE. £ s. d. iEschylus's Tragedies, literally trans- lated, from the text of Bloomfield. (Talboys and Wheeler) - - - 10 6 Prometheus Chained, with the Greek order, a literal translation - - 3 Anacreon, Greek and English, both prose and verse. By Roche - - 5 Aristotle's Ethics and Politics, by Gil- lies, 2 vols. ----- Rhetoric, by Hobbes Rhetoric, Poetry, and 1 1 12 18 16 16 Ethics, by Taylor, 2 vols Demosthenes, by Leland, 2 vols. Epietetus, by Mrs. Porter, 2 vols. Euripides. The Hecuba, Orestes, Phenician, Virgins, and Medea of Euripides, literally translated into English prose ; with notes. (Talboys and Wheeler, Oxford.) (Small type.) A very useful work - - - - 8 Herodotus, literally translated, with notes, 2 vols. Oxford - - - 1 4 , by Beloe, 4 vols, (not literal) 1 10 Homer's Iliad, in prose, 2 vols. - - 1 4 Pindar, in prose, with notes, and West's Dissertation on the Olympic Games. (Oxford) - - - - 1 1 Plato's Works, by Sydenham and Tay- lor, with copious notes, 5 vols, 4to. from - - - -£3 30 to 550 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 95 PRICE. £ t. d. Sophocles. The Tragedies of Sopho- cles, literally translated into English prose, with notes, J vols. (Talboys and Wheeler, Oxford) - - - 15 Thncydides, by Hobbcs - - -0120 , with notes by Smith - - 1 1 Xenophon's Anabasis, by Spelman - 8 Cyropanlia, by Ashley, 2 vols. - - - - - -0100 Memorabilia Socratis, by Fielding - - - - -0 10 6 minor works, by various authors - - - - - -0 10 6 Translations of all the most celebrated Greek writers, including many of the fore- going, are now publishing by Valpy, in a cheap form ; and in a still cheaper form, but in a much smaller type, by Jones The former come out in monthly Volumes, 45. 6d. each. These translations, however, are none of them literal, being intended rather for the use of the mere English reader, than to assist in learning the Greek. 96 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. ON THE STUDY OF THE LATIN LANGUAGE. The Latin language, although inferior in some respects to the Greek, is notwith- standing more generally useful, both on account of its having been employed for many ages by the learned of all the coun- tries of Europe as the only vehicle for conveying information, and also, as already remarked, because of the help which it affords in learning most of the continental languages. Latin is indeed justly consi- dered as an essential part of a liberal educa- tion, nor can any one have the smallest claim to the title of a scholar who is ignorant of it. Nor is it a very difficult language. At least, compared with Greek, it is easy to an Englishman ; and that simply for this reason, that there are so much fewer new words to be learnt than in the Greek, one A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 97 fourth at least of the Latin words of most usual occurrence being very like the Eng- lish. The construction of the sentences in Latin, it is true, is complex and difficult, but this is soon understood, when the student has acquired a knowledge of the declensions of nouns and of the conjuga- tions of verbs, and knows besides the meanings of the little words which most frequently occur. The reason, therefore, why we meet with so few really good Latin scholars, notwithstanding its being generally taught in schools, is, I imagine, not because of any peculiar difficulties in the language itself, but from an erroneous system of teaching, owing to which it not unfrequently happens that a man has to begin to learn Latin after he has entered upon the business of life. For the assist- ance of those who are thus circumstanced, or who have never before attempted Latin, I offer the following suggestions. Begin with committing to memory the five declensions of nouns, the pronouns, F 98 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. and the conjugations of the verbs. When you have thoroughly mastered these, com- mence reading ; proceeding at the same time with your grammar, and keeping up what you have already learnt, by constantly referring to it when you are in doubt about the case of a noun, the tense of a verb, &c. For a first book, I should recommend either Hamilton's translation of L'Homonde's Epi- tome Historian Sacra?, or Phcedrus, with an interlinear translation, published by the London University. The chief difference between these books is, that the translation in the former is in the strictest possible sense literal ; every Latin word being ren- dered by its precise English meaning, with- out any regard to sense or idiom ; whilst that of the latter is less literal, yet suf- ciently so to answer every purpose. Mr. Hamilton's translations are in fact, if I may use the expression, hyper-literal. — From adhering too strictly to the letter of the Latin, his English is sometimes as unintelligible as the Latin itself. The other A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 99 work therefore is, in my opinion, prefer- able, although the last-mentioned has its advantages, and may prove very useful. Alternately with cither of the preceding may be read Valpy's Delectus. Afterwards Ovid's Metamorphoses with Clarke's translation ; and Caesar's Commentaries. Then Virgil's iEneid, and Cicero de Officiis. After which, portions of Tacitus and Horace ; and when these are finished, any book that you please. In going through the above course, although I should recommend the having a transla- tion always at hand to refer to in case of difficulty, and to prevent mistakes, it is not desirable, in my opinion, always to read with it, but to try first to make out the sense of the Latin by yourself, and thus gradually to leave off the use of translations altogether. With regard to quantity, or the length of the syllables, to which great importance is attached in our public schools and colleges, the best way of attaining a correct knowledge of this is, after you have learnt the rules of prosody, to scan daily a f > 100 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. certain number of verses in Ovid or Virgil, without attending to the sense, only mark- ing carefully the quantity of the doubtful vowels. LIST OF LATIN GRAMMARS. PRICK. £ s. d. Eton, in English, by Green - - 2 6 Port-Royal, by Nugent, 2 vols. - - 1 1 Valpy's - - - - - - 2 6 Pinnock's 009 Of these, the Port-Royal is, I believe, the most scientific. There are also many other grammars, too numerous to specify, any one of which will probably answer every ordinary purpose. It is not, in fact, a matter of much importance which is used. The learner must not be guided implicitly by any of them ; but think for himself. DICTIONARIES. PRICK. £ s. d. Ainsworth's, by Carey, 4to. - - 3 10 . , 8vo. - - 15 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 101 , PRICE. £ s. d. Ainsworth, abridged, by Dymock - - 6 6 Facciolati, et Forsellini, Totius Latini- tatis Lexicon, oura Bailey, 2 vols. 4to. - - - - - - 6 16 6 The last mentioned was originally written in Italian, and is considered the most com- plete Latin dictionary extant. ELEMENTARY READING BOOKS. ON LOCKE'S SYSTEM, WITH INTERLINEAR TRANSLA- TIONS. By the London University — 2s. 6; without one, ph ; j"l with a tittle, I ; without it, th : tp with a tittle on the right, ({£;) sh, with one on the left, (jp) *. The letters marked with an r are called radicals ; the others, serviles. Tiie distinction between them is A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 145 this ; tlie latter alone are used in the formation of derivative words, of the moods and tenses of verbs, &c, the former being never employed for this pur- pose. The serviles, however, are sometimes found in the roots. VOWEL PO INTS. LONG. Kfimetz, t a, as in all. Tzere, .. e, — eel. Hirek, ". i, — ice. Holem, 1 °> — old. Shurek, ^ u, SHORT. use. Pathah, - a, as in am. Segol, ,. e, — men Hirek, • i, — in. Kametz- hateph, T O, — not. Kibbutz -. u> — run. REMARKS ON THE VOWEL POINTS. These points are all placed under the letters, ex- cepting Holem and Shurek ; Holem is sometimes used without the^ , Shurek never. The point which dis- tinguishes W from tt? is also Holem, when there is no other vowel, as, HtES Mosheh, N2tP, sonee. The points are sounded after the consonants under which they stand, as TQ7, Lamad, excepting Patha (-) under a final n, n, 37, after Kibbutz (••), or H 146 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. either of the four last long vowels, when it is called patha furtivum, and pronounced before the J"b &c , as rm, ruaeh. Besides the above ten, there is Sheva, which when sounded, is a very short e, as in belong. It is not sounded at the end of a word, or before another Sheva, as 717(7, halak; F\Tu>, lamadt ; nor after a ' — T ' ' : : — x ' i short vowel without dagesh, 1 as "HE?, &«"& From Sheva are formed three other vowels, called com- pound shevas, viz. Hateph-pathah, Hateph-segol, Hateph-kametz, very short a. e. o. Kametz (t), without an accent, becomes hatnetz- hateph before a simple sheva, and with an accent before a compound sheva, as l^yn, Holmad. The accents are numerous, though but little un- derstood. All the marks in the pointed Bibles are called accents, excepting maccaph (-), which joins words, and shews that they are connected. OF NOUNS. Nouns have two genders and three numbers. Words which end in n or j"| are generally feminine. The dual number mas. is formed by adding E?_, the plural by adding D"), as DV (yom), a day; E^ai" 1 1 Dagesh is a tittle in the centre, which doubles the letters in which it is found, excepting in D and H. See Remarks on the Alphabet. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 147 (yomaim), two days ; C , Q > , (i/umim), days. The dual tern, also is formed b> adding -V ImiI those which end in n change it into n. The plural fern, is formed l>y adding m (oth), as "P (yd), a band ; E^ (ijailuiin), two hands; fiTT (i/adot/t), hands. The finals n and n, are changed into j")i. Besides the above change in the terminations, the vowels of the first syllable likewise are generally altered ; but the rules for these changes are complicated, and will be best learnt by observation in reading. THE PRONOUNS. "2N (ant) I. 'DrnS (anachnu) we. nn» (attali ) thou,m. EFIS (attcm) ye, m. FIS (at) thou, f. "jnS (atteen) ye, f. *n r*»j he. EH (heem) they, m tfVT (hi) she. fn (keen) they, f. nj fre/O, this, m. Hv>N (eleh), these, m nST (zoth), this, f. 7S fee/^), these, c "1E?N (asker), who, which, r (Psalm lv. 22.) signified a burthen, if some of them had not heard an Arabian merchant use that word in ordering a load to be put on the back of a camel. This,' he adds, ' is brought as an argument for the great utility of the Arabic in interpreting the Scripture.' 162 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. But if the Rabbies, and the commentators that have followed them, had examined the Hebrew Bible in the manner I propose, (i.e. by comparing together several passages in which the same word occurs,) they would not, I presume, have given a sense to this word, in this single place, which is quite disagreeable to the force of it in all the other places where it is used. Perhaps they would have seen, that the general notion of 2»T i s > t° supply what is wanting. And so in Psalm lv. 22, it will signify the supply of thy wants ; cast the supply of thy rvants, or deficiencies of any kind, upon the Lord, 8pc.' Equally unhappy is Ockley in endeavour- ing to illustrate the utility of the Arabic in tracing Hebrew roots. For the second example he adduces for this purpose is BMN, which, says he, the Jews derive from a verb signifying to be diseased, (rather, frail, mortal,) but the true origin of which x x x is to be sought in the Arabic word, ^j] anasa, to associate together. Few of my A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 163 readers, I imagine, will be disposed to agree with him. The interpretation given to the word BW13, Gen. iii. 1, by a learned modern commentator, who would render it monkey, or ape, instead of serpent, which rendering he justifies chiefly from the meaning of a similar word in Arabic, may be adduced as another instance of the mis-application of the knowledge of that language. These remarks are made, not as proving that the study of Arabic is of no use in the in- terpretation of Scripture, but merely to shew that its importance in this respect has been over-rated by its advocates ; for surely, if the few instances produced by them as proofs of its utility, are shewn to be founded in error, (and those referred to must, at least, be allowed by all to be very doubtful,) it cannot be of that general use they maintain. The truth is, there are but few Hebrew roots the meaning of which may not be ascertained by a careful investi- gation of the different places in which they 164 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. occur ; and when this method fails, it is but seldom that much light can be gained from other quarters. ' In some extraordi- nary cases indeed,' observes the author of the Concordance in the preface above men- tioned, ' the Arabic, and other sister dialects, may be of service ; but at present, I am persuaded, we are not sure how far we want their help. The Arabic, without great care and attention, may be mistaken and misap- plied ; nor should we call for its aid, but where it is necessary. The more learning a man hath, the more need he hath of a correct and cautious judgment to use it well, otherwise his learning will only render him the more capable of deceiving himself and others.' Would we then dissuade persons from the study of Arabic ? Certainly not, in all cases. Those who have the time to spare, and a taste for such things, may pursue it with advantage. But there are some who, although they have neither one nor the other ; yet, because they have been led to A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 165 think that a knowledge of the Arabic throws immense light upon the Hebrew Scriptures, have been induced to take it up. It is for the benefit of such persons the preceding ob- servations are intended, — to save them wasting a great deal of time and labour, which might be better employed. I would observe, however, that every student of Hebrew ought at least to make himself acquainted with the Arabic letters, that he may be able to read the words in that language which he may meet with in the lexicons. This may easily be done by means of an excellent little work by Bishop Burgess, called, " A Praxis on the Arabic Alphabet." For the use of those who may wish to enter more deeply into the study of the language, the following list of books, taken from Ockley and Home's Introduc- tion, &c. is subjoined : 166 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. GRAMMARS AND LEXICONS. T. Erpenii Graminatica Arabica, Ed. Alberto Schultens, Lugduni, 4to. This is considered one of the best Arabic grammars extant. It is copious and scientific; but contains, like most other learned grammars, a vast quantity of matter of no use, and which only serves to perplex the student. Gramraaire Arabe, par Sylvestre de Sacy, 2 vols. 8vo. Institutiones ad Fundamenta Linguae Arabic* ; accedunt sententiae et narrationes Arabic*, una cum Glossario Arabico, Latino, Auctore ^Ern. Frid. Car. Rosenmullero, Lipsic, 4to. Mr. Home says, that this Grammar of Rosenmuller is con- sidered the best that has ever been published. A Grammar of the Arabic Language, in which the rules are illustrated by authorities from the best writers. By John Richardson, London, 1776, 4to. Jacobi Golii Lexicon Arabico, Latinum, con- textum ex probatioribus orientis Lexicographis. — Lugduni Batavorum, 1653, folio. This is said to be the best Arabic Lexicon ever published. Cane's Diccionario Espanol, Latino, Arabico, 3 vols, folio, Madrid, 1787. This work is described by Brunet as exceedingly valuable, and carefully printed. Jacobi Scheidii Glossarium Arabico, Latinum, Manuale, Lugduni Batavorum, 1769, 4to. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 167 ARABIC AUTHORS. FROM OCKLEY'S INTRODUCTION. The Corfui of Mohammed. Ockley says the Coran is written in an elegant style, and as it abounds with repetitions, is not, generally, difficult. — There are various printed editions, and it may be bought in MS. — The best English translation is that by Sale. Aviccnna? Opera. Avicenna was a celebrated Arabian physician, who flourished in the tenth century. His works, which are voluminous, and upon a variety of subjects, were published at Rome in 1489. — This edition, however, is said by Ockley to be full of errors. Evangelium Infantia?. This book, on account of the simplicity of its style, and its being accompanied with a Latin version by Professor Syke, of Cambridge, is particularly recommended by Ockley to beginners. Gregorrii Ahu'l Pharagii Historia compendiosa Dynastiarum, Latine versa et supplemento aucta, per D. Pocockium. Characterised by the author of the introduction, Sec. as being a good key to Oriental writers generally. Pars Versionis Arabicae Lihri Colailah Wa Dimnah, sive Fabularum Bidpai, Philosophi Indi, ab Hen. Alb. Schultcns, Lugduni Batavorum, 1786. This is an interesting little book, and may be useful to the student. — It is not in Ockley's list; but all the preceding are. 168 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. ON THE STUDY OF THE PERSIAN LANGUAGE. The Persian is not a language of much importance to the Biblical student ; but to a person going to India, either in a civil or military capacity, it is the most useful of all languages. Not that it is generally spoken by the inhabitants of Hindostan ; it is, in fact, very little spoken by them ; but it is the language of the courts, .and that in which the correspondence between the British government and the native powers, is principally carried on. It is also of great assistance in learning the Hindostanee, and other vernacular dialects of India. It is not by any means a dif- ficult language ; yet it can hardly be learnt without the help of an instructor, owing to its being usually written and printed with- A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 169 out any vowels, which makes it almost im- possible for a person who knows nothing of the pronunciation to read it. If it were not for this circumstance, few languages would be easier. GRAMMARS, LEXICONS, AND OTHER BOOKS. The Persian Moonshee, by the late Francis Glad- win, Esq. ; abridged by William Carmichael Smith . Esq. London, 1822, 10s. 6d. This is by far the best book a beginner in Persian can con- sult. It contains, in the first part, a compendious grammar ot the language, and in the second, seventy-five short easy stories, with a translation. But what constitutes its chief value is, that the Persian text is expressed on the opposite side in Roman characters, by means of which the student is enabled to get a tolerably correct idea of the pronunciation without a master. The translation is also useful ; but it would have been of much greater assistance to the scholar had it been more literal. — The original work by Gladwin is larger and more full, but the Persian is not expressed in Roman letters. A Grammar of the Persian Language, by Sir Wil- liam Jones, London, 4to. This grammar contains, I believe, ail the information on th< subject of Persian grammar that can be desired. Lumsden's Persian Grammar, 41. 4s. Selections tor the Persian class, 81. 8s. A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English ; with a Dissertation on the Languages, Literature, and Manners of Eastern Nations: by John Richardson Esq. F. S. A. London, 2 vols, royal 4to. I 170 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. A new edition of this work has been lately published, the price of which is nine guineas. It is generally considered an excellent Dictionary, but the various and almost contradictory meanings which it gives to words, without pointing out the connection between them, renders it a very imperfect and per- plexing book. A Vocabulary, Persian, Arabic, and English. By David Hopkins, Esq. London, 1810. This work, which is merely an abridgement of the preceding, may be purchased for about twenty-four shillings. When the student has made himself per- fectly master of the stories in the Persian Moonshee, he may proceed to read the Goo- listan of Sadi, and after that, the Bahar Danush, or Garden of Knowledge, which latter work is highly recommended by Dr. A. Clarke. A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. 171 OF THE HINDOOSTANEE. The Hindoostanee may be called the ver- nacular tongue of all India. It is spoken, more or less, from Ceylon to Delhi ; not, indeed, by every person you meet, but by some persons wherever you go. It is com- pounded of the Sanscrit, (the ancient lan- guage of Hindoostan) the Arabic, and the Persian. The character in which it is usu- ally written is the Arabic ; but, sometimes, the other oriental alphabets are employed. Of all languages the Hindoostanee is one of the most simple, and is, consequently, easily learnt. Every person who goes out to India, whether in the Company's sen-ice or not, ought to make himself acquainted with it. The following are the only books necessary for that purpose. PRICE . £ s. d. Shakespeare's Hindoostanee Grammar 110 Dictionary 4 4 ■ Mooatakabati Hindee - 2 2 Smyth's Hindoostanee Interpreter - 10 6 17*2 A TREATISE ON LANGUAGES. The Grammar of this language is so simple, there being only one conjugation of verbs, and not a single irregularity, that it might have been comprised in a very small compass ; and it seems, therefore, a pity that the author of the above work should have made it a guinea book, as many, no doubt, are deterred from pur- chasing it by the price. All the necessary information might very well have been given for five shillings. There is, I believe, an- other Grammar, printed a long time ago, much cheaper, but I know nothing of its merits. Dr. Gilchrist has, also, written several books for' the use of Hindoostanee students, but they are all in Roman charac- ters, which greatly detracts, in my opinion, from their utility. They may, however, be found of service to those who will not take the trouble to learn the Arabic alphabet. THE END. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. JAN 31980 QCTt$ JUL 1 JBM AC NOV JUL 2l Form L9-Series 4939 P 51. J451 ii ni mill ml 1111 II I 4^58 00536 3261 ■ UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 585 843 6