Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-02-22
THINGS.

Admitting language to have been of
divine origin, we cannot imagine that a
perfect system of it was at once given to
man. 1t is more natural to suppose that
God only gave to our first parents such
language as was necessary for their pres
ent requirements, leaving them, as He
did in other respects, to enlarge and i'm
prove it as their future necessities should
require. These rudiments Of speech must
have been poor and narrow. Let us sup
pose a period existed before words were
known. Men could nave had no other
method of communicating their feelings
than by cries of passion, accompanied by
motions or gestures, just as today two
men would endeaNor to Make themselves
understood. if, ignorant of each others
language, they We're thrown together
upon Q, desert island. Consequently those
e~Xclanatlons called by ~gramrnarians IN
teljections,' were undoubtedly the ele-
nlents of speech. Finally names began
to be applied to objects, the names cor-
responding as nearly as possible to the
nature of the object named. When the
objects We're those in which sound or mo-
ton were concerned. the imitation by
words is obvious; thus, one sort of wind
is said to "whistle," and another TO
roar a fly to buzz" hail to rattle
a stream to flow etc. But where
neither noise nor motion is concerned
this analogy becomes more obscure, al
though it is not entirely lost. But as
towns increase in every nation, words de-
viate more widely from their primitive
root and lose all resemblance in sound OF,
the things signified. For instance, what
an amount of history is wrapped up in
the word pagan The word, we learn
from Gibbon, is remotely derived from a
word in the Doric dialect, signifylng "a
tCuntain.' The rural neighborhood which
frequented this fountain came to be
known as "pagans. Soon pagan and
rural became nearly synonymous ana
the meaner class acquired that appella-
ton, which has been corrupted in the
northern languages of Europe into peas
ant Words as We now use them are
symbols rather than limitations.
Language in its infancy being eX-
tremely barren, the mode of speaking by
natural signs could not be at once aban-
doned, and conversation was lntermlHed
with many gestures. Later what hdd
arisen from necessity continued to be
used for ornament. In the Greek and Ro-
man languages particularly Il musical
and Sesticulating pronunciation was re-
tanned in a marked degree. Without con-
sidering this, we should be at a loss to
understand several passages of he
classics relating to public speaking and
theatrical entertainments of the ancients.
The actions of orators and players were
far more vehement than those of the
present day. To us Roscius would APP
pear a mailman. On some occasions the
tlNtii ctlli L AN SAA~
player speaking the words, while an
other expressed the corresponding mo-
tons. Cicero tells us that it was a con-
test between himself and Roscius
| whether he could express a sentiment in
t a greater variety of phrases, or Roscius
in a greater variety of intelligent ges-
lures. Finally gesture engrOssed the
stage entirely, and under the reigns of
Augustus and Tiberius pantomime was
5 the %favorite entertainment of the public.
t The passion of gesticulyating became so
2 violent, in fact, that laws were made
prohibiting senators from studying the
5 art. The order in which words are ar
: ranged in a sentence differ greatly in
ancient and modern tongues, and the
consideration of this serves still further
to unfold the genius of language. Sup
: pose a savage earnestly desired some
1 fruit held by another. U~nacquainted
: with words. he strives to make himself
e understood by pointing eagerly at the
fruit, at the same time uttering a cry.
D Next, let us suppose him to have ac-
5 Quired a few words. The first word
which he would utter would be the name
L of the object he desired, because his mind
:. is concentrated on that object. Thus, the
$ primitive man would express himself in
1 the Latin order of construction Fruit
5 give me-" "Fructum da mihi." AS Ian
: guaSe grew more cOpious it gradually
l lost the ffgurative style, which was its
e early character, and the metaphorical
e mode of expression finally gave way to
[ the more simple style of today. There is
S probably no language more copious than
e the English. which was spoken after the
: Norman conquest in 1866. It is a mixture
e of Anglo-SaXon and Norman-French
and contains something more than A., 600
t words, $4,000 of which are of Latin origin
and IA 1000 of Teutonic extraction. In
Chemistry a few names have come down
= to us from the languages of the civilized
nations of antiquity. For example, the
root of the word ammonia" is more
/ than 1000 years old; ammon, from which
it is derived, having been the name of one
e of the gods worshiped by the ancient
Egyptians, from whom the Romans
transmitted the word to us.
= In the ninth century the Arabians were
the most distinguished chemists, and the
f names which they introduced, and which
still survive, may be recognized by com
mencing with the Arabic definite article
s AL, thus we have alkali, alcohol etc
Astrology and alchemy went hand in
hand. Metal lead and the planet Saturn
S We're associated together, and we still
4 speak of solutions Of lead as Saturnin6
solutions. Silver and the moon luna
s were astrologically connected, thus
nitrate of silver still bears the name OF
Lunar ~caustic, and the metal quicksilver
is not likely soon to lose its astrological,
: name of mercury.
e AN EXTRA LINE.