New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-01-22


Through the kindness of Dir. Nicholas TIubaer OF
London, / am enabled to lay before the Society an
early copy of work which has special interest as the
last and probably the most important scientific labor oil
our late earned and lsmented friend and associate Her
mann f. Ludewg and which derives additional iserest
AMI alue from the contributions of our valued ascot
ate. Prof. W. ". Turner. IL Is entitled IRE h"e'"-
"lsye ot hp,cricon aboriginal Languages, ~ hLF-
"N,.. +. LrpEwIG, ,cW additions and corrections oy
:, Prof. W. W. TrRrER" The whole is edited BY Mr..
Trubner, to whose iberalty and enlightened zeal As
publisher We also owe its presentation to the public IN
u present form The original manuscript Ot me
work, although lar from being as complete as tne
printed COPY was deposited by Mr. Ludewig with tins
Society to which Mr.. Tiubner, in weu-written ad'
veItisement, expresses his obligation Tor placing at
his disposa Ii contains brief but very appropriate
biographical memoir of Mr.. Iudewis who died while
the work in press.
have not the time nor il il my purpose TO 60 into
review OF the work. Or to attempt to Indicate 'le
extent and value of its contents Ii Is perhaps enough
to say that apart from concise but clear enlmera-
ton and notice Of he various general
which treat with greater or less tullness o' Ameeau
lsppuapes or which incidentally touch upon their
b;hIiogIanhy il contains not less than !J6 closely
urinted octave pages Of photographer thotMcs vi
grsmmars vocabuarles, 2e., OF the aootiSha, IAN
rusge. of America. IL ~ pecular snu sa'uaois
feature of the work, that not only the t!es o' P'ed
or unfinished grammars and yOcabularie- are gwen,
Int >, 40 that unpublished OF Ms. works OF these KINDS
are noticed in all where they are known 10 eils
AS are also those which are knowS to have eHs;ed'
Int which have disappeared among the ucoris oi inc
sod converts and religous establishments OF
SPANISH America. The indications which TINS iast
class of notices afford. may give the eager STUDENT
the clue 10 many hidden and unknown PhiioioSeai
Treasures and guide him in his search Tor recorded
fra ments III languages spoken 10y Tribes winch nave
themselves disappeared forever.
Mr.. Ludewg and his associates 10 this work scted
wisely N upt attpmDtlrO IN pronounce upon American
languages upon their general or dlaectcal 8tinl-
ties They have aimed 10 present the student with an
index tn the Of information on this intricate
subject and have produced an invaluable aid to his
Investigations. II is not surprising that their notices
of the localities OF languages should often be vague
and sometimes not entirely correct Nor il surprs-
ing that many names of languages dialects should
find place in their work which have no existence
since their plan includes all references to such have
been noticed in print whether rightly or wrongly
denomnaed by the writers presenting them. This il
not matter vi regret of complaint against
the work; on the contrary, by bringing together
number of such under the eye at once criticism,
which, in science. has the same result with acesous
fermentation in liquids, will be apt to he excited, aud
the truth made clear and distinct.
Students in the various departments of American
philology will be induced to make critical nvesti-
CATION OF the authorities who have written Oh tho
languages in which they have special interest. They
will thus gradually sweep away the cobwebs O ignO
rant speculation and remove tia, pretentOus drapery
OF scientific chastsnry In ike manner the of
earnest and truthful students will be- corrected well
as the mistakes of those who have written under i'm.
perfect light, from limited contradictory ufor-
nation The most cautious and conscientious nvesti
gator may err without provoking censure. Those
only who blundcr the face OF easyaccessble facts,
and whose pretenslons challenge clItclsin ShOHd Do
made to feel its sting.
In this sense, and in this spirit am induced to offer
few crit, al remarks matters contained in the ad-
mirable work before U.s. quite Independently OF the
work itself or the in which it, editors have
compli shed their difficult and laborlous task.
"POPOLUCA-KACHIKEL."
On page lJ2 il is stated that a language called
PoPoIrcA (PopUiDc0 or Papoi0ka) was spoken by
certain Indians of the States OF Osaca in Mexico and
san salvador in Central America. II is cOneetured
to be the same the Poc0man POconch and kachi-
quel which certainly dialects of common Ian
guage the radix Of which have preferred TO call, for
want OF a better name the 1:e"ddi. Tins name Is
given on the authority OF DIR. Carl Scherzer, who OBJ
tanned Il vocabulary of a language or dialect to which
he gave that designation spoken by the Indians of
Sta. Maria at the foot of the Volcan de Aqua, III
Guatemala five English miles from the City OF An
tgua Guatemala, which he published in Vienna in
$50 and called " Poppiaco-k0chikei.' In point Of
fact the vocabulary which DIR. Scherzer presents diff
ers but slightly II had almost said lmperceptiblyl
from that OF the Poconchi and Quiche which ne also
adduces except in having the possessive persona pro-
noun ~ your prefxed to most OF the words-as m,
tsan, your nose, rg-raol. your son-a very natural
blunder on the part of the uneducsted Indian from
whom he procured his vocabulary. but rather an IL
expicabe one on the part of the sOrGR
What DIR. Scherzer calls Populuca. Kachike" il
nothing more less than the Kachiquel itself spoken
by the third division OF that great aboriginal family of
which the Clutches and Zutugils were the two re-
naming parts. doubt il Dr. Scherzer had any better
authority for designating the dialect spoken in Sta Ma
ria. E" POpuuca kachike, than he had to call the
language preserved by the Indians OF lzalco, Has
"calteka.
While, therefore, putting aside DIR. Scherzers
designation Of Populuca- kachikel as uncritical
and MISSIONER, il 10, nevertheless proper to say that
La ai.ats all .t az
in Central America, which ID several times referred to
By the ancient chronicers But, IN all cases, Il Is
assigned to people occupying the province OF Qua
zacapan, and within the district where the NdhhdH,
or Mexican was the predominant tongue. The Lcen-
ciado Palaeio- in his report 10 the King Of Spain,
dated from Guatemala in the year lJ''! mentions the
Popoluca. q language spoken 10 the province of
Guazacapan, as the proper language OF the people
of that province, although they also spoke Mexican
lNahuaol. Now, the province OF Guazacapan eI.
tended along the Pacific coast from the Rio Micha-
toyat to the Rio Para, Aguacbapa, and it, relations
seem 10 have been chiefly with the Plpes, Nahuatls,
or Mexcans of San Salvador.
II against the people Of this Province and those
Of Izslco and Cuscatlin that Alvarado excited to
make war by the Kachique kings, who furnished him
with large body Of native auIlsres Tor the purpose.
He three days in passing the belt OF disputed
ground" depopulated aud desolats, which inter.
yened between the Kachiquel territories and those OF
the people OF GuszscapaD. HIS advance, says
Juarros, was slow because "there was no inter.
"course between the provinces, and roads were un-
known
Herara, in describing Guszaeapan, confirm, the
statement of Palacias He says "The natives Of this
Province submissive and speak the Mexican
tongue. although they have another peculiar 10
"tkcmseire'. When heathens they observed the rites
of the Chontals of Honduras
We may fairly infer from this testimony that the
district Of Guazacapan was occupied by people
probably of the same family with the nation group
OF nations vaguely denominated Chontals, who had
either been subjected by their Nahuat neghbors and
compelled to adopt their language, or who had gradu