sky,and thelaie professor Rask, have been, next to Klaproth,
the most noted of modern writers, who have applied them*
selves to an examination of the: langudges^jfokeh fi4>ong the
Allophylian tribes-;?! Their; investigation' has been hasty and
superficial, and the conclusions which they have drawn appeal-
to be, in many instances^ premature, and in some evidently err#*
netius.; I shap,howevery k y before my
o f their opinions, in order to have an opportunity ofpMniirig
p u t the present state of this department o f ethnography,
- Both Dobrowsky and Rask refer neatly all the nations i#f
EuropeandAsia, who are excluded from the Indo*E®repegi»
family, to one race, which Dobrowsky termed Gzuid-Iugorim^
and Rask, ScyfMan. Rudiger and Dobrowsky Maintained
that one family of languages may be traced from Lapland
over all the countries lying to the northward of the Caspian-
sea, to the mouth of the I nd u s a n d . the latter
writers, has attempted to point out somepdmmon; features; by
which all these idioms are associated-among themselVe's,^nd
may be distinguished from all others^ The following are, the
most remarkable of these common characters.
Nouns substantive admit o f no variations of gd'rtder.’-
Dobrowsky might have added, that many of these language^
have no distinction of number, and can only express a^pl-ural
on particular occasions, by appending a noun of ad verb? © f
multitude. Nouns are, in fact, destitute ofiall inieetids^a
trait indicative, a s it should seem, Of great rudenessPor barbarism.
- 2< “ They admit of no prepositions before nounsi?’ This
observation may be generalized by remarking, that net only
these particles which are used instead of the prepositions of
other languages, but likewise all such auxiliaries to eompo*-
sition as are necessary for denoting any circumstance of affection
of the principal words of a sentence, are suffixed, or placed
after the words of which they modify the meaning. This
observation extends to words answering the place of possessive
and even of relative pronou'Ss.#
Dobrowsky intended to include under these observations'
* Thus the, phrese, ‘'"that widefiisf Mpje^’-irexpressed in theMongoliah by a sort?
no t only all the idioms ©f;@ibevia,,but likewise the languages
•df ..Great- TJartaty,; and, qvehft theseubfofche Esquimaux, and
some tribes.'if/N.orth America.*
„. Professor R ask was. well prepared, -by bismtimate acquaint-
a h fc with the Finnish. H H H i ’ researches
into the-more exitenfiit-e- affinities..of -the. .Scythian- languages*
or of the igEla^^inotb^lloB'ftds > of-Northern Asia, and he
-wnstded t o -anticipate tCOnblru-sions on-1 this subject at which
some\rebettfe p h ilo fe g ^ have .arrived“,after a more elaborate
inv.est-igation.' o f;particMd^s.He expressed-a conviction-that
thpse»writers were mistak.eri^#b^,B%arate entirely the innis
dialects,-from*the Tartar or Turkish -stenriof languages.^ “ On
the p&esmtiOjicasion,’’ h e p s e f ^ , ^ I-cannot advance ade?
quate proofs of myppinion, b u t I will remark, th a t a. striking
resemblance isstWhe found- between..the Turkish and Finnish
fe^u%esy.inal only in particular w ^ d k b u t,e v to n the most
peculiar fundamental - laws- o f ^ n s t l a c t i o n / ^ An exampfo
which all^theivow4ts-?. of a word'correspond with that o f its
terminations- M remark,” — i that^ LeOntie^in his
L e tte rs'-td ^ iR a n g l^ 1 on the ; Literature -of -the- Mandchoos,
S p e a k i n g f e e - Tartar, Mdmgollany and TuugUsian ratees>
h a s assumcdithat these three g r e a h i k ^ O f pbopleln- Central
Asia. are distinct famiMesoof nations f u n d 'd ana^ aware that
Klaproth and the bfestdnfornfied writers have maintained the
same opinion.-1' A - careful study o f ihe languages- of these
races has-convinced me th a t this notion # erroneous, as the
I M I H H n Ä ä Ä e f Ä r e a t Tartary g »
m S P m rnäSm m m and M v i * H H h ob;
tained, by the publication H M, sof ! e
Oumlashka ^ d ^ K u r f f ia n IK , VgÆ a *
Dobrowsky âre fottfad'. j M M M R sp e c ie * of affinity m
.nu, a8 m m W # SHs H M M M B ffie M a n /languages areffie flow in g ! ? un^nan
| H | H H l l i i M I the westem «***of Amertca M l Dobrowsky,’ Literarische NkcÊtichten, s', 9Ö.
I m r . Rask über M H M B M i ( § | &***>| 74'