Centimes have not bd|ri sufficient to obliterate
th#£ s6onds; and the general evidences, which
link together this great Indo-Germanie type
of languages are clear and satisfactory, at this
moment,
. Could we obtain evidence, as clear as^ this, We
should bring together in oiie generic family, the
Iroquois arid the Algonquin, the Bacotah -and
the Appalachian, and other northern stocks^
which we are now obliged foregard as differ-
ent ianguageSj dn] y because their aeJtaaf vocabularies
are so diverse.' In other respects—in their
grammafical principled—the' transpcsitive character
of words---the 'laws of concord which
they estahlish between pCrSons and Objcfetl, and
the curious principles of their mode of compounding
words—they are, in fact; one great
generic group, to which Mr. Duponceau has ap-
plied the term -polysynthetic. We hate only to
become better acquainted with the parent stbekk;
in the other hemisphere, to'perceive analogies
which appear now Mt lfeehlCs The comparison
of concrete vocabularies is not suffieent for-this
purpose, although it has been heretofore chiefly
relied on. Philologists must look up. and starch
out the principles by WhiChyowels and Consonants
necessarily change. Their juxtaposition
to an antagonistical letter, must affect them —
the principles of euphony, in a savage tongue,
are ill explained. But We see, everywhere, that
these tribes lay great stress on them themselves;
Of the laws of consonants, as effected by minute
traits in the physical organization of the tongue
and glqttis^ |p3pj^ haw^metter cognizance. But
above-all, the inquiry should he directed to the
formation of getórin'comparative tables of roots
and radical particlbs, expressing the same ‘general
ideas, as thoiight, motion, sound. It must
;be #wâént, to observers in our aboriginal philology,
thah different nations, and even remote
tribeSVof the same ethnographical family, do not
designate all objebts-by the same traits or charac-
„teristibs, where Che vocabulary is admitted to be
essentially fbe same, and consequently the words
must differ, Thus one tribe call sa horse the beast
that bears burthëns ; another merely pack'; an-
®tbbk the; beast of solid, or uttspKi'’ hoofs; another
simply by a Word which We may translate
servant, or dog. Before vocabularies can be
rightly cohipared, we should be sure that the natives
meânt to express thé same ideas, by the
different names bestowed. It is important too,
in making comparisons of the vocabulary of'remote
tribes, to know whether the name be generally
adopted, or; théie "be two oï more names
for the Same object. And especially; whether
words be used with, ör without the pronouns,
and other c .mulatiye adjuncts; Without the
analysis, and a very complete one of every word
in the vocabulary, no true advance can be made.
There are two principles which prevail extensively
in the grammars of the North American
tribes, or rather of those of Algonquin origin,
which dwell within the United States, east of
50