The Arkansas banner., 1844-05-01
MISCELLAN EOUS.
LANGUAGES.


 Anthony Brewer, l6l7, thus characterized those best known
 "The ancient Hebrew clad with mysteries,
 The learned Creek rich in fit epthets,
 Blesf Ill the lovely marriage of pure words,
 The Chadean wise, the Arabian physical,
 The Roman eloquent, the Tuscan grave,
 The braving Spanish, and the smooth-tongued
 French"
 There are said to be no less than 3,42l known languages ill use in the world of which 937 are Asiatic, 5S7 European, 279 African, and 1924 American languages and dialects. By calculation, from the best dic- tionaries, for each of the following languages there are about 10000 words in the Spanish, 22,000 in the English, 25,000 in the Latin, 30,000 in the French, 15,000 in the Italian, 50,000 ill the Greek, and 80,000 in the Ger man.
 The Hebrew language and letters are de- rived from the PhGnician, since Tyre, Sldon, &c., were distinguished cities in tie age of Moses and Joshua; even Abraham lived in their Territory. SaaScrit is the basis of Hin- doc learning, and said to be the first character
 The Welch or Bardick Alphabet consisted ol sixteen primitive or radical characters, and twenty-lour secondary ones formed by cut Il form. Their nouns have no cases.
 The most ancient Arabick, called the ku- fic, is so named from kufa, on the Euphra- tes, and not now in use. The modern Ara bick was invented by the Vizier Molaeh, A. D. 933, in which he wrote the Koran.
 Armenian is used in Armenia, Asia Minor, Syria, Tartary, Sc. IL approaches the Chal- dee, or Syriack, and the Greek. Chaldee, Phnnician or Syriack, ascribed to Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses. is the same as the Hebrew.
 The Copdck is all Alphabet so called from Coptos, in Egypt, mixture oi Greek and Egyptian.
 Ethiopian, or Abyssinan, IS derived from the Samaritan or Phnncan.
 The Etruscan was the first Alphabet used in Italy, so called from the Etrusci, the most ancient inhabitants
 Gothick, the most ancient characters under | this name, are attributed to Bishop Ulphias. Cadmus, the PhGnician, introduced the first Greek alphabet in BGta, where he settled B. C.. 1900; though Didorus says the Pelas. gan letters were prior to the Cadmean. Btu 1t is evident that the Cadmean, and Peas giack, and Phenician had the same origin
 The Greeks called the PhGnicians Peias gii quasi Peiagi, because they traversed th' ocean, and carried on commerce with othe nations.
 Scaliger supposes the phenician to have been the origanal Hebrew character, other wise the Samaritan, which is generally sup posed to be that which was used by the Jews from the time of Mosees to the Captivity. l ho of ErIfa .,ll al the Devanagarl.
 The Oriental Alphabets are Hebrew, an- cient, modern, and Rabnacal. Samaritan, an cient and modern Phenician. Egyptian hie roglyphck, Chinese characters.
 The Irish Alphabet is the Ph9ncIan.
 The great antiquity of the Irish language which Is the same as the ancient Scytilan, at lords another proof of the Phenician origin of the Irish nation, and that the elements o her idiom were brought to Ireland whei the use oi letters was in it's infancy. Indeed the old Irish bears so great an affinity to th' ancient Hebrew, that to those who are mas ters Of both, they appear plainly 10 be only dialects of the same tongue. This surely lays the foundation for an Ancient History tc be built upon s.lor nation and language arr DOui ol iii dsE, anu H oC uilelClll the people must be as old.
 The whole fabric and shceme ofthe EnglisI language is Gothick or Teutonick; 1t is di alect of that tongue, which prevails over al the nothern countries of Europe except thos' where the Sclavonian Is spoken. See :. 1h, History of the English laaguage," by Dr Johnson.
 A work has recently been published m Ed inburgh, written by Lachlan Maclean, Tn which he attempts to prove the Celtic to be the language of the first man. II IS entitled :. Adam and Eve, or the Genealogy of ths Gael" The language of Paradise is there fore the Celtic, and our modern English base departure from he original mothe tongus
 It is curious to trace the rise and progres of the English language from it's early pro nuncaton by the Britains, or Welch, an, the deductions made from that early period to its present state. About the year ll50 the Saxon began to take form, in which tn beginning of the present English may b plainly discovered. Specimens of the Ian guage of this age, and ll40 of the Saxol Chronicle, the reader will find in Dr. John son's large dictionary.