, 1870-12-04
LANGUAGE.


volume" in clrlog - thanks to Tho Trustees
ard Faculty Of L,f.yetto College, who werp
tic hrrs 70 anite IN ono professo'ship TIM
tive Fhi!ologr, and WHO hAro sct apart imo
for these s'udics, and fuula for tho uecs4-
ss1y apparatus to purnuc them.~ This work,
ard Tho au'hor.s Admirshls esny on the
- Method Of Pathological Study Of the
hhneiS ,hae .,;,r hngaage sro abundant evidence Of
feetorth,r.
philology, in its broad sense, has now como
to to recogutzsd as one Of rte most important
hr1nehee Of hietory. Tho language Of peo-
PIE il not merely q vss.!.c1a for rtcordiEg and
transmitting ita deele aud thoughts, but tho
formation atd development Of It a1e lts high
est achievement, and when reduced to writing
its most laetiuE monument. The Hehsnw,la
Guage has outlasted by tive-and-twentv centu-
lies every material work Of tho people who
sMkeit. When there shall not be vcstiGs Of
The. psr!heron, or The Pantheon, the worda
Cicero, vill remain to a,nliud possession
fortveImore. Alaeaulay's New Zesiardcr may
rot he able to discover sastiee Of Wcssraia-
rter Abbsy or ST. rAule. but Ia eill tiuI
"Hsntet" ard :. O,hel1p," :" '"parsd.so Lo:t;"
ard Pilgrims Progress"
u3t'l within few years 1t WAS thonght that
Tie ltngusees Of Northern Europe differed 81
es these do from the Semitic tongucs. II Ia
neT recognized that the great group OF Ism.
g,;aGcB Of which this g1ammlr treats, and
consequently those who epo6e them, bstoag
TO ene Freat family. which Ter four thousand
yca=t-and bow much longer no man knows.
lave been utterly distinct from another great
group, both spoken and wnttcn by peopls far
advanced in civilization. The first groap,, for
want Of better terme, no maY cali Japetsn:
tie tetonu, semiti:. We hers leave out OF
view The Mongol Ard African rangee. Tho
eriEfhsl ecat Of the JaFetan race IVES IN the
r. Itad sou.hward to India and northward
| TO Europe. avoiding the Ge1nites 10 tbs east,
| and the Mopgols to the west 1t IL clear that
they had = single language, which in Tho
course Of time, aud during their humorous
mig1atinns, has undergone various modiaca-
taed:. that al these languages. Sxuezrit,
Greek, Tsutonic, in THAR manifold n,ojiHca-
silEH are now clasaed together as " Indo-Eu-
roIean." Conlenporaneoua With these from
the earliest historic period. wc1o tho S5uiuo
tongues The synetroniann Of the early ree-
! ords Of these- two families OF languages. IL
noteworthy The sausktit vedas belong to
| ,bc same age with tbs Do.ks Ct Mosea- Tho
'* Had sud the psa!ms belong to tho ssmo
pt1iod. EschJlus md Euripides were ueGly
| contsmpofaneou6 with Iaaia11 and Ezekiel.
S3ES IN which the gE9,Ss 5s.S:
/
present hardly an analogy. They d.ifeE not
merely in words, but in Whist ia Of far no.e
importance, in internal structure.
Taking the Greek and tho Hebrew as types
CT the two families Of language, their inLer-
| cut differences mEy be seen almost at 8la1ce.
The Greek abounda in particles and coIrec-
| tiyer. The Hebrew Is almost destitute OF
them two or three coojnnctions aud half \
dozen propositions kase to do duty for tbs
whole claes, 60 that the various relations Of
thought cannot be clearly aud definitely er-
| pressed. Tha Greek abourds In sdjectves
bare 90 tha. to express the quality Of thing
or act it Must resort TO cumbrous circumlo-
cu'inn. The Hebrew uoun uas, strictly speak.
leg, 20 cascA to express even tho pos.
se.sire it a1ightls varies tho word
for the thing possessed. not that
ference consists in the Development Of tho
ufrb-the "woId By emineuce in every Ian
euage. In one important rea2ect tie Hebrew
vetb is far more fully Developed than thc
Greek. The Greek has three coices-scave,
passive, ard 1eile1ive, the last existing as !
The Hebrew las eight uoices (by the grAmma'
tiaus styled copjugaliors}, eimple active. aim
pie passive, intensive Actrye, intensive paa
rive, causatira active, cauaatiye passive, re-
fexiya active, reflective passive, ali q
s,,sh sah are =, .sasa b pFsss n.s dsg
/
| changes Tho difference Of goudcr is ais,
| m1rEtd in The verb. But there ara
properly speaking, no lenses, tho two form
being really ao..ists, not in themselves seliinl
whe;beF An ac;io,s ID past, present, or future
To t1r1ees positively that nm actipn IL past
ci.crmlocution hiss to be employed. Th
Hebrew verb also has 10 moods, except tn
Indicative and imperative. Thus, while. 10
tho purroeo of simple narrative. or of lof.
poetry, tho Hebrew is fu4ly adequate: 1t
altogether Insufficient for the expression Q
philosophy or exact science. And, as y Ian
guage is an exponent q ::- character Of th
people who framedit, tho iu.is:ent difference
: between tho JApetio and Sen1ltis languages in
iicatp ike difference In the mental HI
mural constitution Of the races.
The ErGlish language IT, in mauy rcsnec:s
, the most remarkable Of the great 1ndo .Eurc
: ceuturics old; and get, really Aud essential!
II is tho eane which WIS spoken in Centr
. Asia untold generations before aay recofde
history. The peoples who wandered noTs
and south from the central Epot, each dropps
SS3s s Z hse es sTept ia ou1 aaa
Il their accumulated wealth.. We have TAXI
= current money aud tecoined it,; someti9e
n indeed, debsaing. bot ottener pnsfsiH!9 !
II muet know OF what it Is composed. So,
,, rrdersiA1d our own language thoroughly, :
j must etudy those from which it tas co1ns
us The importance, in this Iespect OF 1
~ study Of Greek and Latin il universally !
!. kzowlcdged. We Affirm that the study Of I
lg Apglo-Saxon is Of equal, and, in some !
ut spects, Of still higher Importance.
r Cultivated languages. 70 long ~ they 4
NJ living torg rgr,cs, have : twot.ll aspect. One,
they arc manifested in currant speech t
ao other, ~ they Rppear in literature. No N
u talks inst II authors write, unless, like Co
aa ridge: be talks eesays. Did you ever hesr
ssa 30 sny1iss sss = The rep
IL To say that man talks Ike book. :" ID
to ray that he talks badly. johnson kept
=, sesQuipe1aliAu words aud l2boriou=ty b,lsn;
H. sentences Tor the :" Rambler" and tic A. Lii
da Of the Poets y his tsbls-taIke, as preserved
hs sndracy ss that which We herr every d
ho When no ware taken upstairs" hs wrt
er 10 Mrs. Thrale, - a dirty fellow bouuc
its out OF tho bed on which ono OF ua Was
as lie." This, in his "Journey to the Hcbyids
is is translated into Johnsunesa IA follow
il rcpcee, rtarted up, on our entrance, Il
in L1sck..ss \ C5clops from the forge" In so
ler departments OF modern literature, thkt OF
Of tion especially. An ef1o1t has been naade to
nd produce and perpetuate the actu1l 1angua
$50 II the times. Rut in Gresk and L,tin th
Tho I and the street. Of the forum and agorA
BY | utterly pcrished. The nearest remlininS
rro.ch 10 it is in the letters of Cicero. aud
ara Ilalcguts Of Luciar, for tha charactera
ln- Ariaiophaues and Terence are not represe1
tive OF the current language. But the An!
fore it lixd reached the point Of deyslopn
,4.r AS literary language. Hence its writton
80, 10, MANS arc, both in words And construct
~ ~ fiagmnuts OF the spoken speech. Here
y tory and phtlology iliustrs:e and confirm Q!
other.
I.ns ne Al least rs ea.lY as 800 H. D. VIC find
n9" shores Of the Baltic IN the dsm possession
,,x Teuton:c htarches Of tho Jaeetic stock.
~. Tory fails tG tell rs when and why this peo
~, ,nn loft their old homes and set OF in aitTti
W. W.. crtcticrs 10 do their part in fulfilling the
"a 20, maysl orGina1ce to snbdue the earth and
~ ~ to the fertile plains Of 1ndia; others no
~ ~. 3.rd, akirting that stormy inland ocsan, y
~: 'no .bey iiGEtly MINED .4zPnos, " tho fnhos]
es'' tie" which name WAS 1fterxaEd ch.nge:
mia. ( TO avert tho evil omen. TO Enzinos,
e.t 1st IS xsh s32d i ta I'D b Ee ,ss
1na nm. Hcrc,. again. they disesged: one
had s5;tar,na.n 5a ,ns,t'se evar reu'am Tt.t ho.
. n Hellls, and thenco over Au.onis
~ Italia tho other branch pressed On still nj
,to ward and westward, until. following tho CO
lz Inc shore of the North Sea. For more tn,
W. ~ thousand yeazs after this separation, that
A0 great branches Of emiGrauts never hear
-h.. each other; and each wrought out its owu
~ tiny, Independently OF the others.
The Indian branch whu1n VIC viii call
bnt skirts. framed that stupondous sysie.
mythology and philosophy, which, their
Mr.. enige haHrs Dean feaneed 70 3f,,ng,
lself enoodleo N the tedAs' 1ne aeat
Mr.. nncer me blight eAea Wnlch oFefas
it, I>asians; invented Zeus and Father j
xell. built Argos, and Athens, and Sparta;
cech Gueed Homer and :tscnylas: 41ncEa
ion. tlatc, usaosinenea 1no Afstotts, sugl'
hat eseu1s, LicGfo- an9 doxAee, 1no tnen cisS
nat luE INC Hao,e 1Aooao Eo1t ~ V'3iuP1Au ~