Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-06-12

particularly examining into the structure and COM
position q the English tongue, to state what seems
to us the most probable theory concerning the
genesis of language in general, as the theory, II
true, has important bearings on the nature as well
as origin If human speech There are, we believe,
but three different opinions this point l. That
Languag, was purely the gift of God, conveyed IN
vocal sounds to the listening ear, as from teacher
impartins oral instruction to pupil 2 That it
was the invention of man. contryed for the purposes
of communication, Just as the magnetic telegraph is
the invention solely of man, and contrived for the
same purpose; g. That it was neither the pure gift
of God, nor an invention of man, but the natural
and Spontaneous result Of his organization. OF
these three hypothesis we have little hesitation in
avowing our preference for the last. We regard
language as the necessary if not inevitable result of
mans constitution, and the great popularity
which constitutes his distinctive character In the
visible creation Apart from this browning faculty,
we cannot conceive that the genus homo would
have ever greatly exceeded the Chimpanzee and
simous race in general except in the possession OF
less clumsy feet more convenient fnger-nails, and
such like physical advantages.
Doubtless ideas must always precede words; yet
as words are the continents and symbols OF human
thought it seems to just impossible to suppose
that there could have been any analysis and demon
straton of ideas without language, as 1t is to sup
pose that astronomical calculations could be made
without the use Of numbers Old Homer was right,
then in the selection of his oftrecurring phrase OF
G Misunderstanding men" as being, after reason,
at once the most distinctive and glorious prerogatiye
of our race; we say after reason, though we are not
far from believing that it is incorrect to give prece-
dence to the other for we incline to believe
that the connexion between reason and language is
as intimate and concdent as union of soul and body
! II. hath LAM
and reason subsists, is question that believe has
never been satisfactorily solved and is doubtless mys
erous and nscrutabe the union of spirit and matter
The declaration of William Won Humboldt on this point,
in his able and philosophical treatise the original Of
spoken language, contains, think, in brief terms,
true statement of the Speech must be regarded
naturally inherent in for it is altogether inexph
cable the work Of his understanding in its simple con-
seriousness We are none the better for allowing thou
sands and thousands Of years for its invention There
could be invention Of language unless its type already
existed in the human understanding. Man is man only
by of speech but in order to invent speech he must
be already man. We know that this view of the origin
Of language mpugned by leading to materasm
and ending the absurdtes of such Missionaries Lord
Monboddo, such pseudo philosophers as Cabanis and
Lamarck but think the imputaton most unfair and
gratutous. The suppostion that Deity conferred on
him living soul to act through the body and by endow
ing him with organs constructed to make speech
natural phenomenon of the race, to more
terastc than it is suppose that He made the eye for
seeing and the for hearing 1t is against the second
hypothesis above named that this objection obtains and
against only To Humboldt belongs the honor of hav
ing in modern times, most clearly enunciated the true
doctrine, think concerning the origin of speech
but it would be strange he had not been orestaed
of the profound thinkers of antiquity Accordingly
find the Cratylus of Plato repete with just such
speculatons those here considering. In that
dialogue remember Alright Socrates is represented
as maintaining the correspondence between and
things going far to assert that this CORE
spondence must exist between the elementary sounds that
make up words and the qualities of the things named
Now these expressions only be predcaed on the sup
position that is endowed with natural adaptation of
the organs of speech the external universe that the
subjective idea shall be imaged forth and embodied in the
objective word or succincty that words originally
onomatopetc, unwieldy though current term i'm
ported into language from the Greek and of which
weava ourselves to avoid inconvenient circumlocu
ton. But it may be asked if this natural connection
exist between words and things how is it that
able to trace it through ALL unbrokeny through
any, of the categores into which is divided And
how is that different nations have such different
for the things, and that the people pos
sess many different appellaons descriptive Of the
obects To this reply in the first place, that this
ural connexion is Often in the early stages of Ian
guage, obscured and sometimes destroyed by the modify
ing reaction Of the organs Of speech the materials Of
tongue Compare the Hebrew with the Greek and you
observe in the natural language bearing in its forms
the very impress of the external world in which it
cast while the other has been moulded into shapes Of
beauty by the subsequent operation Of euphonic laws the
assimilation of letters, and arbitrary notifications Of
sounds that the original form and pressure of the Ian
guage have been almost entirely OVERLAND by this "luxu
its origin was onomatopec, may become corrupted
and changed by usage and yet still be Ineligible and
pass as currently as by conventional agreement
This mutaby Of verbal notatons may be Familiarity Illus
trated by monetary symbol in daily use among us-the
dollar sign s. This is doubtless believed by most who
it to have been from the first conventional or arb
trary notation, but such is not the fact II has been
gradually formed, for dispatch in writing by the super
scpon Of the letter upon the letter s. both which let
tiers originally placed before United ste money
distinguish the dollar Of American currency from the dollar
Of other nations And thus too words may be altered
by corrupt usage and euphonic rules entirely extin
guish the traces Of their original connection with nature
The power Of convention prevails the natural forma
tons insomuch that the natural ougrowth Of language
may be and generally checked and stopped ii
the earlier formations Of tongue that must look for
the evidences Of this correspondence between words
things To the question why different languages assign
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