China's place in philology: an attempt to show that the languages of Europe and Asia have a common origin

CHARLES WILLIAM WASON

COLLECTION

CHINA AND THE CHINESE

THE GIFT Of
CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
CLASS OF IB76
1918

Cornell University Library
P 201.E23

China's place in phiiologyian attempt to

attempt I

iPii

3 1924 023 345 758

CHmi'S PLACE m PHILOLOGY.

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Library

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PLACE IN PHILOLOGY;

AN ATTEMPT'

TO SHOW THAT THE LANGUAGES

OP

EUROPE AND ASIA
HAVE A COMMON OKIGIIS".

BY

JOSEPH EDKINS, B.A.,

of the London Missionary Society, Peking;

Honorary Member of the Asiatic Societies of London and Shanghai, and of

the Ethnological Society of France,

LONDON:

TRtJBNEE & CO., 8 aito 60, PATEENOSTER ROV.

1871.

All rights reserved.

ft

WftSffVv

PlOl

"aitd the whole eaeth was op one langtta&e, and of
ONE SPEECH." — Genesis xi. 1.

"god hath made of one blood axl nations of men foe
to dwell on all the face of the eaeth, and hath detee-

MINED the ITMTIS BEFOEE APPOINTED, AND THE BOUNDS OP
THEIS HABITATION." ^Acts Xvil. 26.

*AW* & ju€V AiQionas fiereKlaOe tij\(J6* i6j/ras,
AiOioiras, rol Si^^a SeSafarat effxarot av8p&Vf
Ol fiiv ivffofievov Tireplovos, oi S' avdv-rof.

Horn. Od. A. 22.

TO THE DIRECTORS

OF THE

LONDON MISSIONAEY SOCIETY,

IN EECOGNITION OP

THE AID THEY HAVE RENDERED TO EELIGION AND USEFUL LEAENINO,

BY

THE RESEARCHES OP THEIR MISSIONARIES

INTO THE

LANGUAOES, PHILOSOPHY, CUSTOMS, AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS,

OP VARIOUS HEATHEN NATIONS,

ESPECIALLY

IN AFRICA, POLYNESIA, INDIA, AND CHINA,
t

THIS WORK IS

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Intboduction xi

Chaptee I. — Introductory. — Comparison between the ancient Chinese
civilization and that of the Babylonians and Egyptians. — Resem-
blance in genius and early inventions implies consanguinity in
race. — Chronology. — Climatic conditions. — Agriculture. — Altars.
— Government. — Arts. — The kings were priests. — Tombs. —
Causes of the permanence of Chinese institutions 1

Chapter II. — Comparison with Western Asia continued. — Eesem-
blances in philosophy and religion. — Numerical philosophy. —
The nine categories of the Hung Fan. — Measures. — Practical
genius, — Astrology. — Cycles. — Early religion of the world. —
Monotheism and burnt sacrifices in Genesis, Job, and the Shu
King. — Sabeanism. — Angels. — Evil spirits. — Chinese burnt
offerings to Shang Ti. — "Worship of spirits and of visible nature.
— These customs were brought from the west. — Worship of
ancestors in temples 13

Chapter III. — Geographical areas of languages. — Chinese and
Eastern Himalaic — Japanese — Corean-^ Mongol and Turkish —
Manchu — Tibetan — Tamul — Indo-European — Semitic. — Effect
of geographical contiguity. 31

Chaptek IV. — On the primeval language.-^It was monosyllabic. —
Examples. — Pronouns. — ^Laws of position. — ^Laws of rhythmus.
— Pronominal roots also verbs. — Closed syllables a proof of
man's continental origin. — Early use of final m. — Names of
animals. — Divine origin of language 51

Vm CONTENTS.

PAGE

Chapter V. — The Chinese probably Hamites. — Chronology of the
Deluge. — Genealogies in Genesis. — Ancient Semite occupation
of Persia. — Semitic impress on the Himalaic race. — The Chinese
moved eastward before the Confnsion of Tongues. — The Chinese
ancient syllabary recoverable from the phonetics. — Six final con-
sonants. — The surd initials derived from the sonants. — Tones. —
Syntax. . . . 67

Chapter VI. — The Semitic system older than the Turanian ;
younger than the Chinese. — Triliteral roots. — Insertions. —
Suffixes. — Prefixes. — Growth of infiexions. — Sex. — Personifica-
tions. — Syntax. — The verb placed first. — Post-position of adjec-
tive and of genitive. — Post-position of genitive borrowed by
European languages. — Semitic relative and European relative
compared with the Chinese and Turanian equivalent. . . . 92

Chapter VII. — The Himalaic languages younger than the Chinese ;
older than the Turanian. — Eastern Himalaic branch. — Siamese
phonal system. — Cochin-Chinese tones. — Chinese natural tones.
— Vocabulary.' — Syntax. — Western Himalaic branch. — Tibetan
phonal system. — Tibetan and Hebrew common words. — Tibetan
tones. — Post-position of case particles. — Derivatives. — Tibetan
verb. — Antiquity of the Tibetan type. . . .... 1 U

Chapter VIII. — First division of the Turanian system. — Japanese
branch. — The triple-branched Turanian family : Japanese, Dra-
vidian, and Tartar. — First, the Japanese. — Japanese syllabic
alphabet. — Common roots in Japanese. — Formation of com-
pounds. — Case particles. . . . 139

Chapter IX. — Second division of the Turanian system. — The
Dravidian languages. — Proof that this family is truly Turanian.
— Common words. — Common laws of sound. — Surds and sonants.
— Deficiency in sibilants.' — Abundance of liquids. — Syllables
usually open. — Derivation. — Comparative list of words. — The
passive. — ^Negation. — Tense formation. — Dravidian syntax. . .168

Chapter X. — Third division of the Turanian system. — Mongol as a
type of Tartar languages. — An old Turania in Western Asia. —
The Tartar Turanians come nearest to the Indo-Europeans.
— System of sound. — S and j for sh and d. — Ch for s. — Pinal
nff dropped. — No /. — ^Thc seven vowels. — Tone. — Accidence. —

CONTENTS. IX

, PAGE

Substantive verb and first personal pronoun. — Mongol declension.
— Pronouns. — The Mongol verb. — Conjugation. —Adverbial
suffixes. — Mongol syntax 204

Chapter XI.— Malayo-Polynesian.— The Malay the type of a distinct
family. — Alphabet and syllable. — Polynesian syllable based on
the old Chinese syllable. — Efi^ect of marine climate on the
Malayo-Polynesian syllable. — Continental origin of the Poly-
nesians. — Connexion of Siamese and Malay. — Post-position of
the adjective and genitive. — Pronouns. — Case particles. — Semitic
principles. — Chinese influence on Polynesia. — Pronouns. — Verbal
directives. — Comparison. — Arithmetic. — American languages do
not possess an exclusively Turanian or Polynesian type.— The
more civilized were mainly Polynesian. — Semitic and Hindoo
traditions in America. — Legends of the Deluge descended from
Noah. 247

Chapter XII. — The Sanscrit language. — Sanscrit richness in forms.
Its principles of development based on older systems. — Alphabet.
— Syllable. — ^Prefix of s. — Insertion of r and I. — Polysyllabic
word. — Declension. — Case suffixes. — Plural. — Gender. — Com-
parison of adjectives. — -Pronouns.— ^Derivative verbs. — Personal
endings. — Tense marks. — Potential and conditional mood. —
Infinitive. — Participle. — Auxiliary verbs. — Adverbial suffixes. —
Prepositions. — Compounds. — Laws of position. — Zend Syntax. . 274

Chapter XIII. — European languages. — Latest and grandest develop-
ment of language. — The alphabet. — Common radical syllabary
of Chinese and European languages. — European radical syllabary.
— The European word. — Semite influence seen in conjugatioual
vowel changes, in doubled consonants, in masculine and feminine
terminations, and in dual and plural numbers. — Turanian in-
fluence seen in moods and tenses, and in compounds. — ^European
syntax. — Chinese element. — Semitic and Turanian elements. —
Greek. — Tones in Chinese are accents iu Greek. — Common words
in Greek and Mongol. — Latin. — Eesemblance of Latin gerund
and supine to those of Tartar languages. — List of roots common
to Latin, Chinese, and Mongol. — Latin syfitax more Turanian
than the Greek. — Eoman family relationships suggestive of con-
nexion with eastern ideas. — Eesemblance between Eoman and
old Chinese religious beliefs. — Eussian : The best new type of

X CONTENTS.

PAGE

the Sclavonic family.— Full alphabet.— Abounds in prefixes
to roots.— Examples of syntax. — Anglo-Saxon. — The syntax
Turanian. — Anglo-Saxon and Grerman have more of the Turanian
element than is seen in the English. — English returns to Chinese
and primeval syntax. — Cause of these variations. — Eeaemblance
of Anglo-Saxon poetry to that of the Mongols.— Alliteration :
exchanged for rhyme ; cause of this change. — English. — List of
common words, Chinese and English 318

Chapter XIV. — Conclusion. — Primeval Aryan civilization as known
from language.— The common civilization of Aryans and Chinese
may be knownfrom language in the same way. — Activity of the
third millennium e.g.— Ethnology of Genesis x. compared with
the modern distribution of races. — Characteristics of families :
the Chinese, order; the Semitic, life; the Himalaic, quietness ;
the Turanian, extension ; the Malayo-Polynesian, softness ; the
Indo-European, elevation ; all of one blood. — Proof from Poly-
nesian and American traditions. — E&um^. — Duty of Christiana
to Asia, 38S

mTRODUCTIOI^.

To SHOW that the languages of Europe and Asia
may be conveniently referred to one origin in the
Mesopotamian and Armenian region, is the aim of the
present work. Sanscrit philologists, entranced with
admiration of the treasure they discovered south of the
Himalayan chain, forgot to look north of that mighty
barrier. Limiting their researches to the regions tra-
versed by Alexander the Great, they allowed them-
selves to assume that there was no accessible path by
which the linguistic investigator could legitimately
reach the vast area existing beyond their adopted
boundary.

The result of this abstinence on the part of Bopp
and other scholars of high fame has been that the idea
of comparing Chinese, Mongol, and Japanese with our

XU INTRODUCTION.

own mother-tongue appears to some chimerical, hope-
less, and uncalled for.

Yet Scripture, speaking with an authoritative voice
and from an immense antiquity, asserts the unity of
the human race, traces the most general features of the
primeval planting of nations, and declares that all men
once spoke a common language. The most revered
and most ancient of human books, in making these
statements, sheds a bright and steady light on the
obscurity of history, and at the same time reveals the
imperfection of those views held by some modern
thinkers and writers who deny that the languages of
the world had one origin and that its races came
of one stock.

Alike for the vindication of Scripture and the pro-
gress of knowledge, the comparison of the eastern
Asiatic languages with the western is a task which
must be undertaken, by whatever prescription it may
seem to be forbidden. It is indeed not a little sur-
prising that this inviting field of scientific research has
been hitherto so little cultivated.

Among the causes which have operated on the
modern school of comparative philology to prevent
the advance of inquiry in this direction is the neglect
of syntax. By Sanscrit scholars it has been too much
taken for granted that this subject is unimportant.
At least, Bopp, in his great work on the Compara-
tive Grammar of nine Indo-European languages, has

INTRODUCTION. Xlll

entirely passed it by. As there is no language in the
world in which the order of words is not controlled by
fixed laws, the omission of these laws from any book
on grammar leaves it incomplete in a most vital part.
Probably Bopp, seeing that Zend and Sanscrit, while
they were sisters in all other respects, had in syntax
the most singular disparity, allowed himself to con-
clude that difierence in the order of words in a sentence
is a mere matter of rhetoric, emphasis, and agreeable
effect. The tendency of Greek and Latin studies is to
produce this feeling.

One of the commonest effects of the juxtaposition
of languages is the disjunction of syntax and roots.
Every one who has visited China knows something
about the grotesque dialect called Canton- English.
It consists of English words arranged in a Chinese
order. Sons of Cantonese traders procure a manuscript
vocabulary of English words and contribute the syntax
from their own language. A brief time of study
qualifies them to become commercial agents, who can
make themselves sufficiently well understood to gain
profitable employment. In a Semitized country a like
phenomenon would occur on a larger and more per-
manent scale, if it were conquered by a people of a
strange language. The new words introduced would
be arranged in the order familiar to the old population.
Persia, for example, would retain Semite syntax when
it received an Aryan immigration ; and India would

XIV INTEODUCTION.

retain Turanian syntax after being conquered by the
speakers of Sanscrit. It seems reasonable to account
in this way for the resemblance existing between the
Dravidian and Sanscrit syntax.

Another cause of the extensive belief in the impas-
sable nature of the chasm between Indo-European and
Turanian languages, is the assumption that the in-
flexional principle in the formation of compound words
is something entirely distinct from the agglutinative.
Yet in fact, as explained by Professor Max Miiller and
others, they are but different stages of the same pro-
cess. Inflexion was at first agglutination, and agglu-
tination can in many instances not be distinguished
from what is called inflexion. The distinction, how-
ever, reaUy exists, as is indicated by the circumstance
that the writing of the Eastern Asiatic languages is
always syllabic, while that of the Indo-European is
alphabetic. Children are in the far east taught to read
in syllables, rather than by letters. Where the in-
flexional stage of language prevails, the finer analysis
of alphabetic writing also exists. If a sufficient de-
duction be made for the different aspect of languages
as they are written syllabically and alphabetically, and
if, further, the inflexional elements added to roots in
Europe can be identified with those added by agglu-
tination in Tartary, South India, and Japan, the sup-
posed chasm will vanish from view.

The remaining cause for the want of attention to the

INTRODUCTION. XV

claims of the Chinese and other eastern language's for
recognition as genuine sisters, coming from the com-
mon ancestry, like Hebrew, Sanscrit, and Greek, is
unbelief in the identity of the roots. Klaproth and
other authors, whose studies have led them to make
wide comparisons of words in languages of widely
separated families, had a conviction that the roots are
originally one. This is eminently true of Gesenius.
If Semitic scholars have a more thorough confidence in
the original identity of the Hebrew and Indo-Euro-
pean vocabularies than is shown by philologists of the
Sanscrit school, it is probably because they have had
the advantage of knowing both the vocabularies more
thoroughly. The dissyllabic character of the Semitic
roots has been a serious bar to progress in comparing
them with those of families which are, like the Indo-
European and Turanian, based on the monosyllable.
But this should not be viewed as proof of different
origin. It is only to be taken as evidence of contem-
poraneous development. Branching from the same
trunk, the Chinese, Semitic, Turanian, and Indo-
European systems grew up together, each with its own
laws, and in early times powerfully influenced by each
other. If the Semites, as their first step iu change,
chose to prefix or append another consonant to their
roots, and found that which satisfied their love of what
is fitting in this widening of the radical base, we need
not be deterred by this circumstance from the attempt

XVI INTRODUCTION.

to reduce the word thus altered to its original form.
Take the word Shebet, sceptre, rod, to pieces by re-
moving the sibilant excrescence. The remaining het
is our beat and hat, the Latin batuo, and the Chinese fa
or hat, "to strike," "punish," or "chop down." So the
verbs kamah, "to be consumed with desire," and kamar,
" to burn with love," are identical with the Sanscrit
kam, "to desire," the Persian kam, "love," the Chinese
ham, "sweet," "to love." There is every reason to
hope for the most solid and interesting results from
a careful comparison of aU the roots in the Eastern
and Western families of languages, as has been done
with those of the constituent members of the Indo-
European group.

Since the time of William von Humboldt, the re-
ference of language to a plurality of origins has been
in Germany not uncommon ; and Pott, Steinthal, and
F. MiiUer hold this view still, against the opinions of
F. Schlegel, Bunsen, and Max Miiller. Should it be
proved that the Chinese and Turanian families are
certainly akin in syllabary, roots, and syntax to the
Semitic and Indo-European languages, the area on
which this battle can be fought will be very much
diminished. To many minds the difference between
Chinese and English will appear as great as that which
could be found between any two languages whatever.
To such minds what is proved in regard to Chinese
will be admitted at once with regard to others. But

INTRODUCTION. XVH

should further processes of proof be demanded, it may-
be shown that the languages of the Pacific Ocean are
firmly linked to those of the south-east of Asia in
syntax, in roots, and in inflexional growth. Poly-
nesian speech being thus shown to have branched off
from the common trunk of Asiatic language, the de-
fender of the doctrine of human unity in origin and
in language may proceed to America. There is good
reason to believe that the languages of that continent
can be explained on the principles of the Polynesian
and Turanian systems combined. If grammatical
processes common in South-Sea speech are found in
America, its partial colonization by way of the South
Seas and Sandwich Islands must be conceded. The
meeting of Turanian peculiarities, introduced from
Greenland and Kamschatka, with those of south-
eastern Asia, entering America by the tropics across
the ocean, will be recognized as having made the lan-
guages of that continent what they now are. In the
same way in Africa a Malay element would enter from
Madagascar and a Turanian element by the Straits of
Gibraltar ; and the languages of colonies thus intro-
duced may be expected to have exercised an impor-
tant influence on the original Hamitic stock of that
continent.

When to the strictly philological proof are added
such evidences as may be derived from history, tradi-
tions, mythology, the arts, and special habits of group-

XVlll INTEODUCTION.

ing the objects of thought, the argument is powerfully
increased. For example, in Polynesia, as in Eastern
Asia, it is common to have two words for "brother,"
one for those older than the speaker, and another for
those younger. The Mexican and Peruvian civiliza-
tions bear a strong likeness to that of Southern Asia.
There seem to be none of the religious usages of
those races which cannot be furnished with a prototype
from the older locality first inhabited by iihe human
' family.

All these things taken together tend to confirm, with
overwhelming certainty, the impression common to
mankind in all countries, that all are of one original
parentage. This was felt by Terence when he wrote
the famous line :

"Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum pato."

Confucius believed that men are all of one ancestry
when he said, "Si hai chi nui kiai hiung ti ye," All
within the four seas are brethren, or more literally, are
elder and younger brothers, for here we have an example
of the principle referred to in the last paragraph. The
Buddhists had a deep conviction of the same kind when
they taught the vanity of caste distinctions, and the
equality, before Buddha's law, of Sudra and Pariah
with the most high-born Brahman. They also put in
practice this article of their faith when they crossed
seas and mountains to proselyte the Javanese islander.

INTRODUCTION. XIX

the Chinese, and the Tartar, to the cosmopolitan re-
ligion of their founder. But having only Hindoo
legends as a basis of faith, they coidd not teach a
reasonable account of the origin of man or of language,
and the monstrous fictions of their national mythology
shut out from their view the perfect God and eternal
Creator.

It was reserved for Christianity, to make known the
true commencement of history and of language in the
narrative of the creation of Adam. The triple unity
of God, of the race of man, and of human speech, are
taught in the sacred books of the Jews, and the first
two of these are re- asserted with the strongest emphasis
in the New Testament. Imbued with this faith, it is
impossible for the Christian missionary not to feel an
ineradicable conviction that the heathen tribes to whom
he proclaims the Gospel are at one in origin with those
civilized races that have been long blessed with the
light of Christian truth. He sees among the islanders
of Polynesia and Madagascar the descendants of the
common Adam, who have, through want of instruction
and long- con tinned isolation, lost the knowledge they
once possessed, but retain in their traditions, mental
structure, habits of thought, and peculiarities of speech,
more or less clear traces of their original oneness with
the more civilized nations.

Such also has been the opinion of men in all ages.
Even the claim of the black-skinned African to recog-

XX INTRODUCTION.

nition. by the wtite man as " a man and' a brother " is
admitted instinctively by the common human con-
science, as it is required definitively by the Christian
law. It was reserved for modern science to propose
for the first time the hitherto unknown hypothesis of a
plurality of origins for the human species and for
language. That this has been done without, an at-
tempt to compare the Chinese ancient language with
the Indo-European is an indication of rashness on the
part of the promoters of this novel hypothesis. It is
hoped that in the following chapters there will be
found a sufficient number of new and incontestable
facts bearing on the subject to justify the re-opening
of the whole question.

After a careful sifting of recent discoveries by the
geologists on the antiquity of man, it will be the duty
of the Christian theologian to examine afresh the
question of early Biblical chronology. All new light
brought upon this subject from unexpected quarters
must be cheerfully accepted, so that difficulties in the
current scheme may be as far as possible removed, and
the claims of the older portions of the Bible to our
intelligent faith may be shown to be as satisfactory
as those of the more recent.

It only remains to mention the steps by which the
hypothesis contained in this work respecting the con-
nexion of languages assumed the form in which it
now appears.

INTRODUCTION. XXI

Commeiicing the study of the Chinese language
under the auspices of the London Missionary Society,
in 1847, and arriving at Shanghai the following year,
I early sought to learn the laws of connexion between
the dialects of that vast country. These, with the
examination • of the phonetic element in the Chinese
characters, led me to see in 1854 that a rich mine of
information regarding the ancient state of the Chinese
syllabary and language lies concealed in the characters
themselves, as written 4,000 years ago, and that the
dialects furnish the key to it. The use of the Chinese
mode of writing began to spread into Japan, Corea,
and Cochin-China 2,000 years since, and the trans-
criptions then and subsequently made of Chinese
sounds contain valuable information on the contem-
porary state of the Chinese language. These have
been made available by various useful works, published
by the deceased missionary. Dr. W. H. Medhurst, who
spent forty years in the East, on Corean and Japanese ;
by Dr. Hepburn, American missionary-physician, at
Yokohama, on Japanese; and by Father Morrone, of the
Roman Catholic missions, on Cochin- Chinese. Prom
these works and a study of the Chinese transcriptions
of Sanscrit words found in Buddhist works, made 1,500
years since by the Hindoo missionaries of Buddhism
in China, I derived new light on the history of the
Chinese language. The examination of this subject has
been greatly aided by {he work of M. Stanislas Julien.

XXll INTRODUCTION.

Sent to Peking in 1863, to join the missionary-
physician, Mr. Lookhart, in commencing a mission
there, I also studied Mongol; it being the Society's
intention to begin afresh the diffusion of Christian
light among the tribes of Tartary, a benevolent enter-
prise which for more than twenty years had been neces-
sarily intermitted. This gave me the opportunity of
tracing the connexion between Chinese and that lan-
guage, and of examining how far it may be regarded
as a missing link between Chinese and the polysyllabic
speech of western nations.

Feeling convinced, on consideration, that Tartar ag-
glutination and European inflexion are essentially one,
I came to the conclusion that the apparently accidental
likeness in some Latin and Manchu words, signalized
by Herr Von der Gabelentz in his Grammar of the
latter language, are examples in some instances of real
identity. Such, too, appeared to be the case with
Klaproth's list in Asia Polyglotta of what he calls
Antediluvian words.

The present publication is an imperfect attempt to
embody the views thus arrived at.

Residing in Peking, I have been unable to consult
Mr. Hunter's work on the languages of India and
Tartary, and many other valuable books, old and new.
Very useful in these inquiries would be examples of old
Turanian words from the Turanian cuneiform inscrip-
tions, but these I have no means of obtaining.

I

INTRODUCTION. Xxiii

I have been specially indebted to Dr. Karl von
Scherzer for the use of some excellent works executed
at the Imperial printing-press at Vienna, the names of
which occur in the following pages.

Peking, September 2Srd, 1870.

CHmA'S PLACE m PHILOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.

Intbodtjotoey. — Comparison between the Ancient Chinese Civil-
ization AND THAT OP THE BABYLONIANS AND EoYPTIANS. — EeSEM-

blanoe in Genius and Eaeiy Inventions implies Consanguinity
IN Eace. — Chronology. — Climatic Conditions. — ^AoRiouLTUitE.
— Altars.— Government. — Arts. — The Kings were Priests.—
Tombs. — Causes op the Permanence op Chinese Institutions.

The resemblance existing between the old Chinese
civilization and that of the Hamite race long ago
developed on the banks of the Nile and Euphrates is
very remarkable. The two races made a common
progress in agriculture, astronomy, and the arts of
weaving and building. They also achieved the in-
vention of an available mode of writing. The Baby-
lonians impressed their characters on bricks when in
a soft state ; the Egyptians cut them on stone ; and the
Chinese painted them on tablets of bamboo or other
kinds of wood. The first books in China consisted of
bundles of these tablets strung together. In the west,
the first books were made either of the papyrus, or of

1

2 china's place in philology.

sheepskin sewed piece by piece into long rolls. So
close a similarity in genius between the descendants of
Cush and Mizraim, who founded the first arts of the
west, and the Chinese, who on the east of the Indo-
European area have always reigned supreme in intellect
and manual ingenuity, argues a probable connexion of
race.

Living in a latitude of 30° to 40° north of the
equator,! ^]^q early Chinese possessed a climate which
during the predominance of the Hamite and the Shem-
ite intellect proved most favourable to progress in
science and the arts. They probably came into the
noble country assigned them by Providence for an
inheritance, with an adequate knowledge of the Baby-
lonian agriculture and astronomy. Their most ancient
writings record the names of stars, an approximate
length of the year, and the use of the intercalary
month. As the Pleiades and other stars were, ac-
cording to the native account, observed by means of
an armillary sphere 2,000 years before Christ at the
times of the solstices and equinoxes, we can test the
general accuracy of their chronology. Making use of
the correction required by the law of the precession of
the equinoxes, we learn, for example, that the Pleiades
were 4,000 years ago 60° behind their present position.
This is in agreement with the Chinese ancient account.

1 The Egyptian Thebes was in 26°, Memphis in 30°. Babylon was in
33°, and Nineveh in 36°. The old Chinese capital was in 35°.

CHRONOLOGY. 6

We may therefore rely upon the history, so far as these
old astronomical fragments are concerned, as generally
trustworthy.

It has been suggested that the Chinese brought these
observations at the solstices and equinoxes with them
from the west^^ and preserved by tradition the old
positions of the stars. That they brought with them
the rudiments of the arts and sciences seems to be
unquestionable. But the fact that they brought them
is evidence that they were able to make the described
observations of celestial phenomena, and we gain
nothing by shortening the national chronology.

If it had been at a date less than 2,000 years before
the Christian era that the earliest Chinese came into
their country, the difficulty of the historical problem
would be increased. For how are we to explain the
physical changes that have made the Chinese type of
man what he now is if our chronological scheme is to be
curtailed ? It would not be wise to shorten the time
of the separation of the Chinese from the men of the
west, to whom they once stood, as will be shown, in the
brotherhood of a common ancestry. Alterations in
the language are of such a nature as to demand that
we should allow for the Chinese occupation of North-
western China a period certainly not less than that
which is now usually assigned for the Hindoo occupa-
tion of India, or about 4,000 years.

1 Legge's Cliiiiese Classics, Chalmers' Origin of the Chinese.

4 china's place in philology.

As it happened to the Babylonians, so was it with the
Chinese ; their agricultural, settled life was affected by
the geological changes proceeding in their time. The
Yellow River ^ abandoned what appears to have been
its old direction from the Ordos country eastward by
Peking to the sea, and turned abruptly southward
between Shansi and Shensi to the province of Honan.
Here it flowed east, wound its way afterwards north-
east, and reached the sea at Tientsin, near its former
mouth.

The great central plateau of Asia has always been
rising since and for ages before the commencement of
history. The communication of the Caspian with the
Polar Sea has long been dried up, and has become the
bountiful inheritance of a Sclavonic population. The
north coast-line of Siberia is still going out to sea at a
rapid rate, viz. : at one degree of latitude in a century.^
The YeUow Sea becomes each year more shallow, and
the coast which was a few centuries ago at Tientsin is
now forty miles away from it to the eastward. New
alluvial islands spring up in the mouth of the Yang
Tsz Kiang through the gradual elevation of the sea-
bottom, and, covered with fertile alluvium from the
river, become populous and wealthy farming districts.
Teng cheu fu, in Shantung, used to be a port for native

' Pumpelly in Pulilioations of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
2 Arago, " Natural History of Human Species.' Quoted in Frineeton

SIMILARITY IN ARTS, ETC., OF CHINA AND BAByLON. 5

vessels of large burden. Now they cannot anchor
there. The old port is left high and dry, and the
native shipping proceeds to Chefu, sixty miles eastward.
In Babylonia the coast-line advances at the common
mouth of the Euphrates and Tigris one mile in from
thirty to seventy years.^ These facts seem to point to
the conclusion that the whole of Eastern Asia is con-
stantly rising. In particular, the Yellow River has
been subject, through subterranean forces causing oscil-
lation,^ to perpetual changes in its course, and it has
entered the sea sometimes to the south of the Shantung
promontory and at other times to the north. The
necessity of protecting the fields from inundation
proved a powerful stimulus to the emperor Yii and his
contemporaries (as afterwards to the Chinese of each
dynasty), and taught them to erect embankments and
cut canals, just as it happened to the ancient Baby-
lonians, that they were obliged to make provision
against the overflow of the Euphrates by an extensive
system of artificial watercourses.

The ancient Chinese also erected large square altars
and high terraces of earth, stone, and brick. The
sacred altars in Peking, on which imperial sacrifices
are ofiered, are usually square earthen terraces about
sixty yards in circuit, and from four to six feet high.
There is a flight of wide marble steps in the centre of
each side. The emperor, or his substitute, worships on

1 P. Smith's " History of the "World." ' Pumpelly

6 china's place in philology.

the altar, and on it are placed also the offerings, and the
wooden tablet which represents the ohject worshipped.
The terrace for the worship of heaven, 5c M T'^'"' ^''^^'
is round, is in three stages, and is ascended by twenty-
seven steps. The paving-stones and carved balustrades
of this altar are all of marble. When we keep in
mind that the ancient Chinese have always been accus-
tomed to erect lofty terraces for astronomical purposes,
— such as the Observatory terrace now in Peking ;
that most of their terrace altars were for the worship
of Heaven, or rather of God under that name, and of
the powers of nature ; and that the Cuehites, who in-
vented Cuneiform writing, erected in maritime Baby-
lonia, for the worship of their diviuities, terrace towers
in stages stUl remaining ; we cannot but imagine con-
sanguinity between these races as probable.^

Let the inquirer take into account also the ancient
government of the Chinese. They had feudal barons
iQ five grades, Kung, heu, pe, tsz, nan, in subordination
to a lord paramount. The oldest national traditions
speak sometimes of the Hwang, and at other times of
the Ti, as the lord paramount of the state, and recognize
no period when such a personage was wanting. The
Chinese, therefore, must be supposed to have entered

' The tower of Borsippa had seven stages, each dedicated to one of the
seven heavenly powers, and distinguished by an appropriate colour. At
the top was the Moon, silver, area twenty square feet. Then came, 2,
Mercury, blue; 3, Venus, yellow; 4, Sun, golden; 5, Mars, red; 6, Jupi-
ter, orange; and, 7, Saturn, black. Area at base, 272 square feet.

SIMILARITY IN ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 7

their present country with the idea of an absolute and
wise ruler, as essential to the notion of a state. They
have also always regarded him as entitled to his posi-
tion by the choice of Heaven, communicated through
successful war, the consent of the people, and the
personal display of imperial virtues. "We also know,
by the Biblical history of Nimrod, that imperialism
was one of the ideas of the Cushites. They with the
Chinese were the first imperialists of whom history
speaks.

Many ancient customs point to a connexion once
existing between Western Asia and China. The use of
magic, of music, of war chariots, and of religious usages,
are in many respects parallel. In Layard's "Nineveh,"
three horses are seen harnessed abreast, in a bas-relief^
to a two- wheeled chariot without covering, and occupied
by warriors with bows. It is a curious fact that in
native engravings, such as the Chinese love to make
in illustration of their classics, ancient two -wheeled
chariots without covering should be drawn with four
horses abreast, while the emperor sits in the carriage
protected from the sun by an umbrella which is held
over him by an officer. At present in IS^orth China
horses are not harnessed abreast. The farther we go
back, the nearer are the resemblances.

Sorcerers are mentioned under the name Mo ^ in
the Shu king, in the second reign of the Shang
dynasty, which commenced B.C. 1765. They are there

8 china's place in philology.

spoken of in a disparaging manner, according to the
invariable custom of the stern moralists who in China
have been the makers of history.^ The Chinese word
Mo, " sorcerer," " witch," points historically and in its
etymology to " brandishing the arms," " rubbing," and
"handling." The ancient magicians wrought charms
with their hands in India, Persia, and China. The
Latin manus, " hand," and Greek ^mw, " to rub,"
" handle," are from the same root, and it appears in
Chinese as Ma, "to handle," "touch," and Mo, "to
brandish the arms." This therefore is the most
probable explanation of the word Magi, the common
appellation of the Persian magicians.

In the same ancient Chinese records the^ arts of
weaving and of working in metals are mentioned.
The "Tribute of Yu"^ says of Tsing cheu in Shantung,
" Its articles of tribute were salt, fine grass-cloth, and
the productions of the sea of various kinds, with silk,
fine hemp, lead, pine-wood, and strange stones. The
Lai barbarians are shepherds. They brought in their
baskets silk from the mountain mulberry." They seem
at that early period to have been acquainted with all
the ordinary metals. The date of the "Tribute of
Yu" is given by the Chinese b.c. 2205. From South-
eastern and "Western China came, as tribute to the
emperor of that time, gold, silver, copper, iron, tusks,

' Perhaps this tone of disparagement may be taken as an indication of
later composition. It occurs in a long speech attributed to the sage Ti Tin.
2 Legge's " Shoo king," Part I., p. 102, slightly altered.

KINGS wer!b priests. 9

hides, feathers, cinnabar, timber, and various fabrics
of flax, hemp, and hair. In the time of Joshua, b.c.
1450, Babylonish garments were conTeyed to Judsea
(Josh. vii.). The Persian race in Persia Proper, and
as colonists in Turkestan, have always manufactured
elegant woollen carpets. The Chinese ordinary word
to "weave" is ^ CM, old sound Tek; Latin, texo,
" weave." To " build " is ^ Chu, old sound Toh.
Its being placed under the bamboo-class symbol sug-
gests that it was the custom to make bamboo hedges.
They interlaced thin bamboo stems and used stouter
ones as posts. The same word was applied to brick,
earthen, and stone walls : for instance, the walls of
cities. The Q-reeks called a carpenter Tkicrwv.

It is highly probable that the kings of Nineveh
acted as priests. "As in Egypt, they may have been
regarded as the representatives on earth of the deity,
receiving their power directly from the gods, and being
the organ of communication between them and their
subjects."^ In China there is no doubt on the point
that the emperor has always borne a sacred character,
and acted as a priest between God and the people,
praying for them in times of distress, and acknow-
ledging guilt on his own and their behalf.

The tombs of the Chinese emperors are remarkable.
They are vast conical mounds of earth from a quarter
of a mile to a mile in circuit. A long arched passage
' Layard's " NineveL"

10 china's place in philology.

through, brick-work leads up to the mound door. Over
the passage is the monument inscribed with the title of
the emperor. The hall in front, where worship is per-
formed, is magnificent in size and appearance. Before
this is another smaller haU. The tomb entrance, halls,
courts, gates, and boundary walls are all on a large
and complete scale. The tombs of the Lydian kings
were something of the same kind. "The remains of
that of Alyattes still stand near Sardis. The sepul-
chral chamber is surmounted by a lofty pile, and so far
it is like the pyramids, but as the pile is a mound it is
more like the tumuli or barrows of the western world.
The basement consists of immense blocks of stone,
above which is a heap of earth, surmounted by five
pillars carved with inscriptions. The ground plan is a
circle three-quarters of a mile round, a little larger
than the great pyramid. The sepulchral chamber in
the centre of the tumulus is eleven feet long, by
eight feet broad, and seven feet high." See Raw-
linson, quoted in P. Smith's H^tory. Several of the
ancient Chinese emperors, fabulous and historic, have
funeral mounds assigned to them by tradition. That
of Yu, the great engineering emperor, is near Ningpo.
That of Fu hi is near Kai feng fu. The tomb of Yau is
in Shansi, and that of Shau hau in Shantung. The identi-
fication of the tombs of these ancient princes cannot be
relied upon without excavations. But the custom of bury-
ing the emperors in vast sepulchral mounds of earth is

PERMANENCE OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION. 11

thus shown to be a custom as old as that of erecting large
terrace altars for sacrifices, as already described.

To suppose that the Chinese originated indepen-
dently the arts and usages to which allusion has now
been made, is to assign two beginnings to a many-
branched ciTilization which is one in its main features.
At this stage of archaeological inquiry in Europe it
is preferable, when we accept the conclusion now
generally arrived at, that it was the Cushites, the
brothers of the Egyptians, who commenced and de-
veloped the Babylonian civilization, to proceed to class
the Chinese with them. The likeness found to exist in
practical bent, in the arts of life, and in all the solid
elements of the old-world regime is sufficient to justify
this step. If the Chinese did not bring with them
to their new country aU the arts mentioned, at least
they came away with the same sort of mind and the
same instinctive impulses. With a perseverance and
enthusiasm which insured success, they laboured tri-
umphantly for science and for the arts. More fortunate
than the inhabitants of Babylon and Thebes, they have
never seen the wreck of their institutions or the ex-
tinction of their national existence. In this they were
favoured by their isolated position and the compact
mass of their immense population. No Indo-European
races approached them. The aborigines they found in
the country, and the races that occupied Tartary, Tibet,
and the Birmese peninsula, have always been inferior to

12

themselves. When vanquished and subdued by Tartar
races, they taught their conquerors the Chinese civil-
ization, and when they became enervated by it, easily
drove them back to their native wilds. With a wise
foresight, two centuries before the Christian era, they
abandoned feudalism, and adopted the centralization
system of government, which they have ever since
retained. When merchants brought them paper, and
probably ink, of Greek manufacture from the West in
the Han dynasty, they at once began to make them
for themselves. The cumbersome bamboo tablets and
coarse paint which were formerly used, they exchanged
for wolf's-hair pencils and Indian ink, the modern
implements of writing. They gave up war chariots, as
did our ancestors, and commenced the use of cannon in
place of catapults and battering rams. They discovered
the properties of the loadstone, and probably applied it
to navigation in the Indian Ocean several centuries
before the mariner's compass was thought of in Europe.
It was by these and such like improvements on their
old institutions that the Chinese have kept pace with
the ages, and prevented the fabric of their ancestral
civilization from crumbling to irremediable decay.

CHAPTER II.

COMPAEISON ■WITH "WESTERN AsiA CONTINUED. — EeSEMBLANCES IN

Philosophy and Eeligion. — Numerical Philosophy. — The
Nine Categories op the Hung Fan. — ^Measures. — Practical
Genius. — Astrology. — Cycles. — Early Religion op the "World.
— Monotheism and Burnt Sacripioes in Genesis, Job, and the
Shu Kino. — Sabeanism. — Angels. • — Evll Spirits. — Chinese
Burnt Opperings to Shang Ti. — "Worship op Spirits and op
"Visible Nature. — These Customs were brought prom the
"West. — "Worship op Ancestors in Temples.

The numerous and very remarkable resemblances
found to exist between the ancient Chinese philosophy
and religion and those of Western Asia constitute a
po"werful proof of early connexion. There are many
and very detailed allusions in the Chinese " Shu king,"
the most important of the classics, to the philosophy
and reKgion current among the people in the second
millennium before the Christian era.

The philosophy was in one aspect numerical. The
five elements are alluded to as the five energies. Sing
(old sound, Gang), " to walk," " to act," may be trans-
lated " elemental acti-yities." They are water, fire,
metal, wood, and earth, or the five powers supposed to
inhere in these substances. Then we meet with the

14 china's place in philology.

five relationships, namely, those of prince and subject,
father and son, hushand and wife, elder and younger
brother, and the bond of friendship. The following
' extract, somewhat altered, from Legge's " Shoo king,"
p. 79, will illustrate the usage of the numbers four and
five, etc, in common phrases : —

" The emperor Shun said to Yu, You, my ministers,
are my legs and arms, my eyes and ears. I wish to
help and protect my people. You assist me. I wish
to proclaim the powerful efficacy of my government
through the four quarters. You act for me. I wish
to see the emblematic figures of the ancients : the sun,
moon, and stars (illumination), the mountains (security),
dragons (variety), and pheasants (beauty), painted on
the upper garment, the tiger of the ancestral temple
(filial piety), the aquatic grass (purity), fire (bright-
ness), rice (the support of life), the hatchet (legal
decision), and the symbol of discrimination, consisting
of two representations of the character 2» ^^h placed
back . to back, thus, 52 embroidered on the lower
garment. They should be figured with five colours,
splendidly distributed among the five colours for the
imperial robes. It is for you to adjust them plainly.
I wish to hear the six pipes, the five sounds, the eight
kinds of musical instruments, and the seven begin-
nings, in order that poems, made according to the scale
of five sounds, may go forth from the Court and be
brought in from the people. Hear this."

THE HTJNG FAIST.

15

In. the Hung Fan^ is found the most comprehensive
statement on the old numerical philosophy to be met
with in any ancient book. It is said to have been
received by "Wu wang, b.c. 1100, from Ki tszoj who
informed him that Heaven gave it to Ta yu, B.C. 2200,
as a reward for his success in subduing the inundations
of the rivers, and that the orderly arrangement of the
moralities and social relations might thereby be com-
pleted,

THE NINE CATEGORIES OF THE HUNG FAN.

I. Five Blemmtal Mergies.

water

moistens and goes down

salt

fire

Mazes and ascends

bitter

wood

crooked and straight

BOUT

metal

obeys and changes

acrid

earth

sowing and reaping

sweet

II. Mm Human Actions.

expression

respectful

venerable

qualities

speaking

persuasive

order

seeing

clear

prudence

hearing

inteDigent

deliberation

thinking

profound

wisdom

lit. Eight Departments of Government.

food commodities sacrifices works instruction

crime guests the army

IV. Five Megisters of Time.
years months days stars calendar

V. The emperor's perfection in virtue, or himself attaining the summit
of virtue

1 Legge's "Shoo king," p. 320.

16 china's place in philology.

VI. TU Three Virtms.
uprightness times of peace

{TTil* ^nP TPF!Pt*TPn
and retiring

prevailing by mildness times of harmony and compliance | jjitgiiigg^t

VII. Investigation of Doubts hy the Tortoise and Diviner's grass.

mi- ,^, \ n, (Five marks : rain, fine weather, clouds,

Tortoise (^Chm), Tarn. | connexion, crossing.

Diviner's grass (Pm), Foh. Two marks : solidity, repentance.

VIII. Five Natural Indications.
rain sunshine warmth cold times

IX. Five Kinds of Happiness and Six of Misery.
long life riches health and peace love of virtue submissively

accomplishing to the end the will of heaven
accidental death sickness grief poverty wickedness weakness.

The Pa kwa, or system of whole and broken strokes
in groups of three, arranged octangularly, was a set of
symbols intended to represent a very ancient philoso-
phy, consisting partly of physics, partlyofjjicapality,
and partly^ofdiyination. It is the basis of the " Book
of Changes," the time-honoured text-book of the
masculine and feminine or dual philosophy. There
are two other schemes of strokes and lines, called the
"Ho t'u" and the "Lo shu," maps fabled to have come,
the one out of the Yellow River, and the other, the Lo,
one of its Honan tributaries. But none of these can
be compared in value with the Nine Categories of the
Hung Fan, if it be desired to see at one view the
forms of ancient Chinese thought.

In the sphere of physics, the sages of this nation saw

THE HUNG FAN. 17

five powers moving through heaven and earth without
ever resting, giving variety to the forms of matter, im-
parting a natural constitution to all things, and causing
the multifarious distinctions of colour, taste, and sound.

In the field of Immdn action they remarked the five-
fold qualities of the sage corresponding numerically to
the activities of the senses and the thinking power.

In the government of the empire they had the idea
from the first of an imperial head, under whom there
was a division of departments, embracing agriculture,
trade, religious ceremonies, works, education, judicial
decisions, court ceremonial, and war.

Their next field of investigation was astronomy and as-
trology, which were always regarded as important enough
to constitute a distinct branch of study for the sage.

Occupying the centre of this logical scheme, and the
summit of the social pyramid, appeared to these ancient
thinkers the ideal emperor, the priest, the ruler, and
the example in his own person of all the virtues. It
was the duty of the conscientious statesman to keep
constantly before the view of the reigning prince, es-
pecially in his youth, the rounded and stainless image
of moral perfection, that he might never forget the
obligation to reflect it from himself.

The sixth division in the scale of thought was occu-
pied by the discussion and inculcation of the qualities
necessary to a ruler, consisting, when stated most
briefly, of strict integrity, firmness, and mildness.

18 china's place in philology.

The seventh was divination for the foretelling of
future events. For this purpose, so essential, as was
thought, in agriculture, war, and politics, the aged
forms of the same wise men, who during the long ages
of the past gradually shaped out the Chinese civiliza-
tion, must be imagined bending over the boiled or
scorched shell of the tortoise and the forty-nine stalks
of the diviner's grass. They desired to know what
they indicated in regard to rain, wind, success in battle,
and the suitableness of political measures.

- The eighth department was that of the examination
of natural phenomena to know if the emperor was
acting wisely and well. Heat and cold coming in due
proportion and at proper times indicate that Heaven
is pleased with him and with the people. Particular,
stars foretell wind and rain, and also indicate the
existence of certain virtues and vices among princes
and their people. This was the people's divination, as
that of the tortoise and the forty-nine stalks of grass
was the emperor's.

Lastly, the sages studied human life in its varying
fortunes and the inequalities existing in regard to length
of life, riches, health of body, virtuous dispositions of
mind, and moral strength and feebleness ; in other
words, the doctrine of retribution, visiting men always
on moral grounds and by the direct agency of the
Supreme Ruler,

In this sketch of the ancient philosophy of the

NUMERICAL PHILOSOPHY. 19

Chinese, coining from a time five centuries earlier tlian
Confucius, we see the predominance of the numerical
idea. Pixed categories of thought were constructed by
them and by the Babylonians from a cursory observa-
tion of mental and natural analogies. The number of
the fingers on the human hand and of the months of
the year furnished them with sufficient ground for
making five, ten, and twelve the bases of their cycles.
The cardinal points, discovered by mankind in the
infancy of language, as shown by the grammatical
terms for direction existing in the speech of all races,
combined with the succession of the four seasons, gave
rise to the categories of four and eight. The category
of three came from the observation of heaven, earth,
and man, or of heaven, earth, and water, as the three
provinces of being. The old category of two was
originated by the observation of light and darkness
eternally succeeding each other as day and night.
There is a striking contrast here observable between the
ancient dual philosophy of China and Persia resting
on physical and moral distinctions, as light and dark-
ness, or good and evil, and that of modern western
philosophy, which turns its eye inward, and sees only
in the world of existence the antithesis of the ego and
the noH ego.

This numerical philosophy was naturally accom-
panied by measures and measuring instruments both in
China and among the Babylonians. Both races had

20 china's place in philology.

measures of length and capacity, which, they after-
wards communicated to surrounding nations. Our own
weights and measures and divisions oT time came origi-
nally, it is agreed, from Babylon. The genius of the
Babylonians and Chinese was so similar that, in both
cases studying nature synthetically, they were contented
with those useful and simple applications to common
life and the service of the state which were in accor-
dance with the practical bent of their minds. The
more striking and profound discoveries of the analytical
faculty they left to the Indo-Europeans, among whom
thought was destined to soar with a bolder flight, and
wing its way to loftier regions.

In the astronomy of Babylon and of China there
was a common tendency to astrology. As to the
numerical philosopher heaven and earth constituted
one world, controlled by like laws, and those laws for
ever unalterable, human events, he believed, can be
foretold by reading aright celestial phenomena. For
what reason do the stars grow bright and pale, and
shine with a difierent coloured light ? They are surely
indications of the dispositions of the heavenly powers
towards mankind. The same feeling which at a scien-
tific epoch inclines an ardent mind, when gazing on
the always mysterious, always wonderful, scenery of the
starry sky, to wish to know the laws of motion, light,
and mutual influence which there dominate, inspired
in the childhood of science a mind of like aspirations

ASTROLOGY. 21

with a longing to become an astrologer. But there
was this difference. The aspirant after astronomical
knowledge wishes to arrive at correct views of the
laws of the physical universe, and to add to the ever-
accumulating stores of science. The astrologer, on the
other hand, aimed to acquire the key of destiny, and to
wield it as a power over his fellow-men.

It appears to me more consonant with the facts of
the case to trace the Chinese philosophy ultimately to
Babylonia than to any other source, because, from its
predominantly numerical and cyclical characteristics, it
seems to have been founded very much on astronomy.
The land which originated the numerical science of the
Greeks, and of the Hindoos probably at a still earlier
time, gave the Chinese the germs of their astronomy
and philosophy,

The many striking similarities existing between the
Babylonian and Chinese civilization warrant the ex-
pectation that the faith and usages of the religion of
Enoch, Noah, and Abraham may be found among the
ancient Chinese. Belus and Merodach were names
unknown when the ancient connexion here contended
for existed. It was the time described in the book of
Job and the early parts of the book of Genesis, when
the monotheistic faith prevailed in Western Asia, con-
temporaneously with the brick-building, metallurgy,
mu^ic, cloth-weaving, writing, and other primitive
arts, for which the people of that region were famed.

22 china's place in philology.

Babylonia and Mesopotamia were the theatre of the
earliest revelation, and it was there that the historic
muse first commenced the record of the events of time.
From thence, also, China derived her -earliest ideas.
The inspired men of that early period led the march of
the ages, and were the instructors who communicated
the knowledge of the Supreme God, with worship by
prayer and burnt sacrifices, to the ancestors of the
Indo-Europeans,^ the Chinese, and all races that have
preserved the monotheistic tradition.

I will here place in succession the argument from
the book of Genesis, the book of Job, and the Chinese
Shu king. Faith in one God and worship by
animal sacrifices (Gen. iv. 4, and viii. 20), with the
general duties of morality and religion, taught by the
father of the family, who acted as priest and instructor,
constituted, according to the book of Genesis, the faith
of mankind, first in the region of the Mesopotamian
rivers, and afterwards, when the history becomes
limited in its scope, in Canaan. The separation of the
early nations is described, but nothing is said of their
mythologies, which we are left to infer all sprang up
subsequently. In India, for example, .the Brahmanical
religion began with monotheism ; then it merged into a

' The Greeks in Homer's day used language which shows plainly that
theyhad still the monotheistic tradition. ®ebs ri iiev Siaei rh S'tao-ci . . .
" For God will grant and permit whatever has pleased him, for he can do
all things." — Od. xiv., 444, 446. See Max Miiller's " Lectures on Lan-
guage," second series.

GENESIS AND JOB. 23

mythology consisting of a mixed hero-worship and
polytheism; then in the fifth century before Christ
it passed into the Buddhistic atheism, substituting an
image-worship of ideas for that of mythological per-
sonages; and subsequently went back to polytheism.
In Genesis, the first man tilled the ground, and he and
his wife were clothed in skins by divine direction.
The discovery of the metals soon followed, and the ear
of primitive men was pleased with the concord of
musical sounds. They dwelt either ia tents or in cities,
and it is curious that cities should be mentioned first,
as agriculture is mentioned before the keeping of sheep.
The first animal sacrifice, that ofiered by Abel, we are
left to suppose was burnt by fire from heaven, for we
are not told in what way God signified his acceptance
of it. Of Noah it is expressly stated that he offered
burnt offerings on an altar, and this is the first mention
of an altar.

One of the most impressive facts in the book of Job
is that while he knew the names of stars, was able to
describe the process of mining for silver, had an exten-
sive acquaintance with natural history, and was himself
an agriculturist and owner of extensive flocks and
herds, he knew nothing of any pagan mythology. He
was acquainted with the turning of the clay to the seal,
and the graving of the pen upon the rock, with the
productions of Egypt, with the government of kings
upon their thrones, the pawing of the war-horse, the

24 china's place in philology.

thunder of the captains, and the shouting of battle ; but
he had heard of no God beside Elohim and Shaddai,
and to him he offered burnt offerings, as Noah had
done before.

Though there is an allusion (chap. xxxi. 26) to the
Sabean and old Persian worship of the sun and moon,
which is condemned as contrary to the monotheistic
doctrine, there is no reference to Babylonian or Syrian
mythology ; but there is distinct evidence of belief in
the existence of good and evil angels. The enemy of
mankind, appearing in Genesis in the form of a ser-
pent, here comes upon the scene as a fallen angel.

The ancient Chinese emperors, as the Shu king
teaches us, offered from time immemorial burnt sacri-
fices to Shang Ti, the Supreme Ruler, and the custom
has been retained till the present time of burning an
entire bullock, which must be without blemish, and,
with the other bullocks which are offered unroasted, is
previously kept in the park of the altar of Heaven.
The entire bullock is at the present time roasted to
ashes in a large furnace built of green glazed bricks,
and set fire to from beneath. It stands on the south-
east side of the great altar, on which are placed the
tablet of Shang Ti and the offerings which are not con-
sumed by fire. The emperor kneels and offers his
prayer on the large altar, on the centre stone, having
the unburnt victims and the tablets before him on the
north. The furnace of the burnt offering is nine feet

OLD CHINESE WOESHIP. 25

high and seven feet wide, and is ascended by nine
steps on the south, east, and west sides. The fire is
kindled from below on the north side. In several
points it differs from the altars of burnt offering in the
Old Testament, which were made of earth or of un-
hewn stones, and at a later period covered with brass.
The burning took place among the Jews and other
"Western nations on the platform of the altar, and such
was the ancient custom of the Chinese. The great
altar proper, on which the emperor worships, occupies
the place of the Jewish Holy of Holies, which con-
tained the ark, and where the high priest offered
prayer. Pursuing this comparison, the Chinese furnace
of burnt offering is behind the imperial pontifex as he
worships, and in front of the tablet, which is the
visible symbol of the divine presence, and before which
the emperor kneels. The more ancient custom was to
have for the burnt sacrifices (as we learn from the
Li ki, or Book of Rites, the fourth of the five
classics) a second altar, T'ai fan, to the south of " the
round hillock." "When the emperor knelt on the round
hillock this altar of burnt sacrifice was behind him.
The furnace is a modern invention, and its position to
the south-east is a novelty. With regard to the object
of the burnt sacrifice, the Chinese state it to be to
attract the attention of the Spirit of Heaven.

This they also represent as the intention of the
music which has, in ancient and inodern times, always

26 china's place in philology,

accompanied the sacrifices. Special odes are composed
for these occasions, adapted to certain melodies, which
constitute a sort of sacred music. They are intro-
duced at fixed times during the progress of the cere-
mony, and much in the same way as at the setting
up of the golden image by ISTebuchadnezzar in the
plain of Dura.

The want of acknowledgment of sin and of sub-
stitutionary punishment in the Chinese burnt sacrifices
distinguish them from those of Grenesis, the book of
Job, and the Old Testament generally. They are now
difierent, but they were one originally. Forgetting
certain essential ideas, the Chinese have retained
some features of undoubted antiquity which link them
with the beginnings of human history in South-
western Asia, and with the age of the first divine
revelations.

To the original monotheism taught by the first
inspired men succeeded, when they ceased to guide
human thought, the nature-worship of the Turanians
and Persians, the potytheism of the Hindoos and
Babylonians, the animal- worship of the Egyptians, the
Sabeanism of the Arabians. But the primitive age of
monotheistic belief is not so far removed, nor has the
gnawing tooth of time been so destructive among old-
world traditions, as to allow the memory of that early
faith to be entirely obliterated in any of the ancient
literatures still extant;

WORSHIP OF NATURE. 27

It was to J: ij^ Shang Ti alone that the burnt sacrifice -
was offered. This is a name which carries on the
surface its own meaning — the Supreme Ruler. Since
the Chinese came from South-western Asia (where
monotheism originally prevailed), as is shown by a
multiplicity of common customs, arts, and beliefs, and
that at a time anterior to the change from the worship
of one God to polytheism, how can we doubt that the
Being they worshipped with burnt sacrifices under this
lofty title is the Elohim and El Shaddai of the Old
Testament ?

The old Chinese records say that the emperor also
worshipped the six honoured ones, thought by native
critics to be the seasons, cold and heat, the sun, the
moon, the stars and drought ; after them the rulers of
the mountains and rivers, and finally the multitude of
spirits. The honoured ones are called ^ Tsung, " the
lofty ones." They are to be viewed as the intrusion of
nature- worship into the old monotheistic religion.
Evidently they mean those nature divinities that are
above the earth, for the mountains and rivers and the
spirits that occupy the lower regions of the air are
referred to separately. The spirits Shen, anciently
pronounced Zhin, may be the Jinn of the Arabs and

' Legge's "Shoo," p. 34. The name Lay ^ old form Lut, was probably
choaen on account of the roundness of the altar. Other altars were square.
Lut has, for one of its most prominent meanings, " roundness," as in lut,
"reed," "pipe," etc.; and Z«, old sound Lut, "a round stove,"
" a skull," " a round hut."

28 china's place in philology.

Persians, whioli were fairies or demons. Perliaps they
were originally the same as the Beni Elohim, "sons
of Grod," of the book of Job, the ordinary name for
angels in that inspired poem.

The deep impress of religious faith on the national
mind continues to be apparent throughout the history
of the Shu king, terminating b.c. 650. It was during
this time also that the Shi king, the invaluable col-
lection of old national poetry, was written; and here the
same reverence for the Supreme Ruler, faith in his pro-
vidential government of the world, and confidence in
those traditions which represented him as speaking to
"Wen wang, the favourite sage and royal founder of the
Cheu dynasty, are abundantly manifest. Monotheistic
faith only became weakened on the arrival of an age of
speculation, in the latter part of the Cheu dynasty.

The emperors were accustomed in their tours of in-
spection through the empire to offer burnt sacrifices to
Shang Ti, on the summit of mountains in the north,
south, east, and west provinces. Among the sins of
Sheu which caused his death and the overthrow of his
dynasty is mentioned his neglecting the annual sacrifice
at the Altar of Heaven. The accession of emperors to
the throne, and the occurrence of remarkable victories,
together with times of drought and other public mis-
fortunes, were always deemed suitable occasions for
these sacrifices.

The books of Genesis and Job, with the Shu king,

' ANCIENT MONOTHEISM. 29

all depict an age when open altars were used for worship,
when one God was adored, when there was no priestly-
class, when the chief of the family and of the state
was its priest, and when the happiness and misery of
man were universally believed to be providentially as-
signed by God in the way of rewards and punishments.
The Sabean worship of the heavenly bodies grew up
with open altars, and was the cause of Abraham's re-
moval to Canaan. The Chinese brought with them this
earliest deviation from a monotheistic creed, and the
habit of worshipping and attempting to propitiate those
angels, whether well or ill disposed (the Shen and the
Kwei), in whose existence they had learned to believe
before coming from the west. To this they added the
worship of ancestors in temples by means of tablets.
This third deviation from the primitive faith of the
world corresponds to thei honours paid to heroes, and the
polytheistic worship of images with human names in
Babylon, Syria, Egypt, and India, which were also
performed in all cases in temples. The temple is
imitated from the house, and was intended originally
for the posthumous worship of heroic men and the
ancestors of kiags. When the Chinese left the west,
nearly three thousand years before the Christian era, the
germs had scarcely begun to appear of those mighty
polytheistic religions which followed monotheism and
Sabeanism, and preceded or precede Christianity among
the nations of South-western Asia, India, and Europe.

30 china's place in philology.

That tlie early Chinese should, in addition to their
monotheism, have become infected with the Sabeanism
which Job condemned, and with some other heathen
usages found to prevail long after in the countries from
which they came and through which they passed, need
not be wondered at when we recoUect that vestiges of
the old monotheism co-existed witb the Roman, Greek,
Egyptian, and German idolatries. Cicero said, " Dei
nutu omnia provisa sunt," "all things are provided
beforehand by the will of God." He also says elsewhere,
"Haec omnia deorum nutu atque potestate administrari,"
" that all these things are administered by the will and
power of the gods." He speaks in the one case under
the influence of the monotheistic faith, which lay
beneath the prevalent polytheism, and in the other
case under that of the popular faith in the greater and
lesser gods. "Wilkinson, vol. i., in his chapter on the
Religion of the Egyptians, ascribes to the priests an
esoteric faith in the TJnity of the Deity.

Before the introduction of images and temples there
was one religion spread among all the Asiatic races. It '
was the nature-worship which grew up upon the pri-
meval monotheism, and it assumed different phases, as
the professors of it were Persians, Hindoos, Sabeans,
Turanians or Chinese.

CHAPTER III.

Geographicai. Aebas op Languages— Chinese and Eastern Him-
ALAic — Japanese — Cokean — Mongol and Tttrkish — MANonr
— Tibetan — Tamcl — Indo-European — Semitic. — Eppect of
Geographical CoNTiGuiry.

The Chinese probably entered their country, nearly
3000 years B.C., by the usual highway from Moham-
medan Tartary, ' into Xansu and Shensi, ^ founding
colonies along the banks of the western tributaries of
the Yellow River, where we find the ancestors of the
Cheu family. The road by Kia yii kwan and Lan cheu
to Si an Fu would bring the first settlers to the south
bend of the Yellow River, at the pass called T'ung
kwan, so well known in history. Following the river
east and north, they would arrive in Honan, where
Tang, the founder of the Shang dynasty, had his origin,
and in Chili, the north part of which province gave
birth to Yau, the first emperor mentioned in the Shu
king. Other colonists, crossing the river into Shansi at

' Dr. Legge, who, by his translations, has. opened to view in the English
language the treasures of the Chinese ancient literature with unexampled
fullness, is inaccurate when he brings the early settlers by the Yellow
Eiver into Shansi, toI. iii. Prolegomena, p. 189. That route would have
lengthened very unnecessarily the journey across the desert. The cities
of Kansu mark the most practicable route.

32 china's placb in philology.

T'ung kwan, settled in the rich valleys of that province,
where the emperor Shun was afterwards born. Every-
where they found aboriginal inhabitants, whom they
pushed before them, the ancestors of the present Miau
tribes. By the time of Christ they had reached the
south-east coast, for that part of China is then spoken
of as well colonized. They also pushed their conquests
into Cochin China, which was made a Chinese province.

The languages of the Chinese, the Miau tribes, and
of Cochin China are monosyllabic, and marked by the
presence of tones. The same characteristics belong to
the speech of Tibet, Birmah, Siam, and Cambodia, with
all the hill tribes embraced within their boundaries.
These languages together constitute the great mono-
syllabic family of south-eastern Asia.

Of this numerous famUy the type is the Chinese,
which deserves this distinction, not only on account of
the unparalleled population that makes use of it, but for
its antiquity, its high literary development, and its
independence of foreign accessions. It appears from
the vocabularies possessed by the Chinese of the Miau
dialects that their tribes inhabiting the "hill districts
in Kweicheu, Kwangsi, Canton and Tiinnan are best
regarded as a northern extension of the Siamese and
Birmese population. They use partially both the
Siamese and Birmese writing.^ The customs of Siam,

' See the vocabularies of the Ming Imperial College for Languages, of
which Klaproth has made ample use in his " Asia Polyglotta."

THE MIAU TRIBES. 33

its calendar, its costume, are found among them.
A few are BuddMsts, but most tribes are believers in
demons, enchantments, and ancestral worship, and as
such must be assigned to the dominion of that old
Turanian religion and system of institutions which
Logan, speaking of the Tibeto-Burmans, has thus
characterized : " The Tibeto-Burmans, where least
modified by India and China, preserve all the traits of
the ancient race and civilization of Upper and Eastern
Asia. They are Turanian or Mongolic in person only ;
their usages are of archaic Mid- Asian origin, like those
of the Tartars and Chinese. Long before the rise of the
Egyptian, Semitic, and Iranian civilizations, one well-
marked civilization, characterized by a common morality
and by peculiar usages, religious, social, and domestic,
prevailed almost universally." " In this old system,"
he continues, "women were slaves, clanship existed,
with sorcery, divination, and ordeals. The old, weak,
and useless lives were sacrificed when they became
burdensome. They believed in one Supreme God, and
an immaterial imperishable spirit in man ; the spirits
of ancestors and relatives were feared and worshipped.
To gratify the dead and avert their malice, part of
their possessions were burnt or buried with them." '

By vocabularies contained in the Hing i fu chi and
Kwang si t'ung chi,* it appears that the Chung Miau

1 J. E. Logan's " Journal of the Indian Archipelago," 1858.

34 china's place in philology.

are allied to the Siamese. They reside in the south-
west of Kwei cheu province. The Lo lo, a very old
and extended tribe, in the north-west of the same
province, are connected with the Burmese. The first
personal pronoun in these dialects varies between ye,
ku, and nau ; while the second is very frequently meu
and meng, so that they are cut off from any Indo-
European or Tartar connexion.

Logan has conferred a great service on philology
by his division of the Himalaic languages into two
branches, eastern and western. He states that the
eastern or Mon Anam branch has some radical pecu-
liarities in structure, and has been deeply influenced,
first, by the Dravidian family, and, secondly, by the
Chinese. The area of this branch is Cochin China,
Pegu, Siam, and Cambodia. Farther south, at the
peninsula of Malacca, it meets the Malay, which con-
stitutes the type of the Australasian and Polynesian
languages. The western Himalaic branch retains the
same characters in Tibet, India, and Ultra- India, and
is more Scythic than the eastern. *

Most of the migrations of races have been in the
direction of radii from the common centre where the
first human pair was created, and where the first gene-
rations of their posterity lived. Along one radius
came the Dravidian races, and after them the Hindoos,
by way of the Punjaub into India. The Eastern and
"Western Himalaic peoples, after traversing Tibet,

CHINESE AKEA. 35

passed along the valley of the Brahmaputra into
Ultra-India ; settling not only in that peninsula, but
probably also in Southern China, where the Miau,
Ld lo, Nung, Yau, and other tribes are their descen-
dants. The Chinese, taking a more northerly route,
came along the lands watered by the Turkestan rivers
tiU they reached the north-western corner of China
Proper. They met with the Jung in Western China,
the modern Sz c'hwen. These people have left descen-
dants in the Nung, one of the most celebrated branches
of the Miau. The equivalent of the Mandarin initial
J is in old Chinese N and Ni. In 778 B.C., the Jung
were powerful enough to kiU an emperor ^ at the
capital, which was then in Southern Shen si. They
were soon afterwards driven back. At present one of
the tribes bordering on Yunnan is called Nu i, or
the Nu barbarians. Here the same name occurs, but
without the final ng. The Chinese also met in their
earliest wanderings other sections of the Himalaio
migration in Hunan, viz., the three Miau tribes, and
the Lai and Nung in North-eastern China. The old
names in China of rivers, tribes, and mountains are
but one word, and appear to have been all mono-
syllabic. From this it may be inferred that' the
various aborigines all spoke monosyllabic languages.

The present spoken language of the Chinese, as
used over two-thirds of China, is called Kwan hwa, and
1 Legge's " Shoo king," p. 616.

36 china's place in philology.

by Europeans, the Mandarin dialect. The term Man-
darin is of Portuguese origin and -means commander.
Indispensable as it seems, it is a name which cannot
be defended, except on the ground of conTenience.

The northern Mandarin is spoken in the capital and
in the four north-eastern provinces : Chili, Shantung,
Shansi, and Honan. It has also spread itself through
Manchuria and parts of Mongolia by colonization.
The Manchus in Girin and Kwantung form but a
tithe of the population, and have long forgotten their
native tongue. The northern Mandarin is also spoken
partially in Shensi and Hupe.

The western Mandarin is spoken in Kansu and
Sz c'hwen, Kweicheu and Yunnan, and partially in
Shensi and Hupe. Portions of Kwangsi and Hunan
also belong to its area.

In the modern Mandarin language the old sonant
initials g, d, b, v, z, have disappeared. But they are
retained in the dictionaries of the book language. So
also the final letters k, t, p, once abundant at the end
of syllables, have been entirely lost over the whole of
Northern and Western China.

The northern and western Mandarin are dififeren-
tiated principally by the Ju sheng tone class. The
immense group of words, amounting to nearly a fourth
of the vocabulary, belonging to this tone class are in
the northern Mandarin irregularly distributed among
the other four classes. In the western, on the other

THE OLD MIDDLE DIALECT. 37

hand, they have all gone to swell the Hia ping class,
which has thus come to embrace about a third of the
entire vocabulary.

The southern Mandarin, which retains the Ju sheng
as a distinct class, prevails at Nanking, in the north
part of Kiangsu and Anhwei, and partially in Himan.
Its area is a belt of varying width, extending from the
ocean at the mouth of the Yang tsz kiang and the old
mouth of the Yellow River to Chang sha in Hunan.

The old middle dialect is spoken at Sucheu, Shang-
hai, Hangcheu, and Ningpo, and has the distinctive
characteristic of possessing the old thirty-six initials
and four tones as used in the syllabic spelling.
Kanghi's Dictionary and the native tonic dictionaries
all register an ancient pronunciation, which, so far as
the initials and the medials are concerned, is best
represented at present by the old middle dialect. Its
area embraces Chekiang and the southern part of
Kiangsu. It then proceeds westward through Anhwei
and Kiangsi into Hunan, where, near the boundary
of Sz c'hwen, it meets the western Mandarin.

This dialect is invaluable for the study of the old
Chinese language. A knowledge of its peculiarities
renders the syllabic spelling, now eleven or twelve cen-
turies old, perfectly available ; and thus the sounds of
aU characters may be known as they existed before the
language underwent that great organic change which
produced the Mandarin dialect in its three-fold form.

38 china's place in philology.

The assistance derived from the old middle dialect
for research into the ancient Chinese language needs to
be supplemented by the southern dialects, which are
also, especially in regard to their final letters, of great
archaeological value. The lost finals, m, k, t, p, are
retained with almost perfect uniformity in the dialects
of Canton, Chaucheu, and Amoy. The dialects of
Fucheu and Hweicheu, and that called the Hakka, are
less valuable in research, being situated on a line of
transition. The relation of French to Latin resembles
that of Mandarin to the Canton and Amoy dialects.
Am, " dark," Latin umbra, " shade," has become an
in Mandarin, as suum, "his," has become son. Kot,
" to cut," has become ko in Mandarin, as gladius has
become glaive, and traditor, tr&Ure. The root kot, " to
cut," appears in gladius, with the sonants g and d,
instead of the surds k and t. It is also found in
ccedo, "to cut," miter, "a knife," and the English
cut. The / inserted in gladius and culter is dropped
in the French couteau. The Japanese call " a sword,"
katana. The Mongols say hadahu, " to cut," " to
reap." The Tamul-speaking people of Southern India
say katti for "a knife." The Hebrew word for "to
cut off branches " was gadang, J^"1J. In the case of
a wide-spead root like this, found in so many families,
it is certainly no slight advantage to have the ancient
form well preserved in the south-eastern dialects of
China.

JAPANESE AREA. 39

The Japanese language, spoken and written, is
much, mixed with Chinese. The Chinese language,
literature, and customs were introduced there in or
about the first, fifth, and seventh centuries of the
Christian era. In addition to many thousand Chinese
words, introduced with the contemporary pronuncia-
tion and still kept unaltered in the language, the
native vocabulary of words is also very extensive.
The first Chinese immigration was probably Tauist,
and perhaps chiefly intended for the propagation of
religious opinions; but it spread also the Confucian
literature and morality, and gave the Japanese the
alphabet of fifty letters which they still use. The
temples and habits of life and thought of the Sinto
priesthood resemble those of the ancient Chinese
Tauists of the Han dynasty, who did not use images.
During four or five centuries before the arrival of the
Buddhists, a.d. 400, the influence of China in Japan
continued, and this was the period when the Sinto
system, with its numerous Kami, " spirits " or " gods,"
became consolidated. From a.d. 400, during the intro-
duction of the Go won, "Wei pronunciation," and To
won, " Tang pronunciation," there was an immigration
of Buddhist priests of variotis Chinese schools. They
aided in continuing that powerful impulse which ended
in the establishment of a complete system of Chinese
instruction throughout Japan, and the imiversal pro-
fession there of the Buddhist faith. From this time

40 china's place in philology.

every youth learned the language of Confucius at
school, and the Colloquial Chinese of the period became
mixed with the national language to a most remark-
able extent, for the ordinary purposes of life as well as
for the exigencies of the scholar.

But in regard to the Japanese native idiom and
vocabulary, what is it ? It bears a manifest resem-
blance to the Mongol. The root takes polysyllabic
suffixes and vowel prefixes in both languages. The
verb is placed at the end of the sentence, and is pre-
ceded by its object. The case particles are syllabic
suffixes attached to nouns. In Akari.wo tomoshi^ " to
light a lamp or candle," wo is the case suffix for the
objective case. Akari, "a light," is the Mongol gerel
with a vowel prefix, in Chinese kwang. Tomoshi is the
Chinese tiem, " to light," " kindle," with verbal suffix
osM. The Japanese, in regard to pronouns and sub-
stantive verbs, is more like the Chinese than the
Mongol, but in respect of syntax and polysyllabic
derivation, it is manifestly like the Mongol, Manchu,
and Turkish. It is then Turanian, but it does
not bear so close an appearance of kindred to the
Tartar languages as they do to each other. Their
having in common the first personal pronoun and
substantive verb in b and m, links these three modes
of speech together as first cousins, while the Japanese,
Corean, and Tamul languages, from the want of
' See Hepburn's " Japanese Dictionary,"

COREAN AREA. 41

these prominent features, are but as second or third
cousins.

Hence, for the convenient classification of the Tur-
anian system, three sub-families are required : —

1. The Tartar, comprising Mongol, Manchu,
Turkish, etc.

2. The Japanese, embracing Japanese, Aino, and
Corean.

3. The Dravidian, including Tamul, Telugu, etc.
That the Corean language should be placed in close

family relationship with the Japanese cannot be doubted,
when it is remembered that there is in it no trace of
the favourite Tartar and Indo-European pronoun and
substantive verb in i and m, and that it resembles the
Mongol and Japanese in placing the verb at the end of
the sentence, immediately following its object, and in
adding to the roots polysyllabic suffixes. For the sen-
tence " this room has two windows," the Coreans say
i k'uful, "this room," t'ul c'hang isir, "two windows
has." The pronoun i, "this," is in Mongol ene, "this,"
in Chinese i, " that." K'utul may be the Mongol ger,
"house," and Chinese kia, Jce, "home." T'mJ reminds us
of the Persian du and English two. Chang is borrowed
from the Chinese c'hwang, " window." Isir is probably
the Chinese yew, " to have," with suffix sir.

The Japanese ware shiranai, " I do not know," where
ware is " I " and nai is " not," may be compared with
the Corean na, "I," aji, "know," mothar, "not."

42 china's place in philology.

Like the Japanese, the Coreans study Chinese litera-
ture, and mix Chinese words with their own in the
common intercourse of life. An immigration of Chinese
Buddhists, continuing for several centuries, communi-
cated to the language a large Chinese element. The
introduction of French words like adieu into English
may be adduced as an example of the same kind of in-
fluence on our own language. The Chinese sacred books
are read in schools throughout Corea, and the doctrines
of Confucius inculcated. The Corean alphabet made
for them by the Buddhists on a Tibetan or Sanscrit
model, is now used to write the mixed languages as at
present spoken.

The Aino language spoken on Yesso has the Japanese
polysyllabic formation and laws of position, and is
without the substantive verbs and personal pronouns
in m and b. It is therefore a Turanian language,
and is to be classed with the Japanese branch.

The best type of the Tartar sub-family of the Turanian
languages is apparently the Mongol. The Turks have
always been much mixed with the Persians, who early
occupied Bactria. That country, indeed, is spoken
of in the Zendavesta as the original home of the Arian
religion. Though called Turkestan by our geographers,
it was Persian before it was Turkish, and its Persian
population are the Tadjiks of the present day, and the
^ -^ Ta shih,^ old sound Da zhik, of Chinese historians.

' In the Chinese dynastic histories, the Aiah conquests are attributed to

MONGOL AITD TURKISH AREA. 43

They pressed over the passes of the T'sung ling chain,
called by the Turks Mustag, "Ice Mountains," into
Chinese Turkestan ; here they became mixed with the
Wigur Turks, as at Bokhara with Usbeks, Turcomans,
and other races. The result has been that the Turks
of Tarkand, Cashgar, and Bokhara, as well as those of
Constantinople, have assumed more of the Indo-
European appearance than is seen in the Mongols or the
Manchus. This is true also of the Mahommedans who
have crowded into North China during the Sung, Yuen,
and Ming dynasties. This numerous class, coming, as
their traditions say, from Bokhara and the other Turkish
cities, have very much of the European head and phy-
siognomy — their deep and horizontal eyes, prominent
nose, with a tendency to a vertical facial angle, and to
the growth of whiskers, bespeak western descent, and
help to give them, among the surrounding Chinese, a
characteristic and easily recognized physiognomy. This
mingling of Turanian and European features of race
has affected the Turkish language. The Mahommedan
religion has also added many Arabic words which have
been adopted into the Turkish, both of Constantinople
and of Tarkand, with the other cities of Chinese
Turkestan. The word Adam for " man," and ruh for
" spirit," are used in the easternmost Turkish cities. A
Bucharian vocabulary, translated by Elaproth from

the Ta shih. This is through an error in their information. They did not
learn the true name of the Arabs till more recently.

44 china's place in philology.

Chinese, and printed in the Asia Polyglotta, is entirely
Persian. It is called in Chinese the language of the
Hwei hwei or Mahommedans, who during the Ming
dynasty appear to have been identified by the Chinese
with the Persians, in regard to language, religion, and
race. The Turkish is consequently so permeated by the
Persian and the Semitic element introduced by religion,
that it can scarcely be considered the best type of the
Turanian languages ; especially is this true, because the
relative pronoun, otherwise foreign to the Turanian
family, is found in Turkish in its Persian form, and
may best be regarded as borrowed from that language.
The Persian influence on Turkish extends even beyond
the boundaries of Mahommedanism, into Siberian
dialects. In Castren's vocabulary of Turkish dialects
in Siberia, Kudai, the Persian word for the Supreme
Being, often identified with our term God, and the
German Gott, is employed for "heaven" and for "God."
Our word foot appears as put and hut, which are quite
Indo-European, the Persian being pai.

The Mongol, therefore, may be viewed as a better
Turanian type. It occupies scattered sections of that
great belt of land which stretches from near the mouth
of the Amoor to the banks of the Volga, and from the
Kokonor lake to the Alta'i mountains. In its eastern
extension it meets with Tungus tribes and Chinese
colonies of agriculturists, some of whom, near the
banks of the Amoor, learn to speak better Mongol than

MANCHTJ AREA. 45

ttey do Chinese. The Burlat Mongols, east of the
Baikal Sea, are also conterminous in area with Tungus
tribes. "West of the Gobi Desert the Mongols are
mixed with a Turkish population, the descendants of
the ancient "Wigurs, and with various other tribes of
the same race in Turkestan and European Russia. To
the south-west they come in contact with the Tibetans,
and to 'the south-east with the Chinese. The Mongol
language occupies the centre of the Turanian area so far
as Tartary is concerned, and became a written language
about five centuries ago, when, in the Yuen dynasty,
it was necessary for the fierce 'nomades of the great
central plateau of Asia to accommodate themselves to
the usages of civilized countries and commence the
formation of a literature. They adopted the alphabet
already in use among the Wigur Turks and which had
been given them by the Nestorian missionaries. Thus
the present Mongol and Manchu alphabet (for the
Manchus took theirs from the Mongols) was derived
from the Syriac, through the missionary zeal of the
Nestorian communities in Western Asia.

The Manchu language is spoken on the lower course
of the Amoor by tribes under Chinese and Russian
domination. In the Greek church mission, recently
estabKshed there, the Manchu translation of the New
Testament, made at Peking about 1805 by Lipoptsofi",
is found to be intelligible and useful. This is the
version published by the British and Foreign Bible

46 china's place in philology.

Society. In the Chinese province of Hei lung kiang,
north of Girin, the Manchu language would seem to
have lost ground and to have contributed to the Mon-
gol area, for the Chinese colonists there speak Mongol
fluently. In the provinces of Girin and in sea-hoard
Manchuria Chinese is the common speech. If we
would look elsewhere for spoken Manchu, it must be
among the Tungus tribes of Siberia, found scattered
at various localities east of the Baikal. In Peking
Manchu is spoken as a Court language, and learnt for
that purpose from teachers. It is also extensively
written as a documentary language. Numerous helps
exist for the study of it in the form of translations,
dictionaries, and phrase books, published at Peking.
The study of the language is maintained in all the
Manchu garrisons in the eighteen provinces of China
Proper, and in Mongolia. A syllabary is used of about
1,000 syllables. Where the Mongol writing was
deficient in the power of distinguishing sounds, the
Manchu has added special marks, so that the mode
of writing indicates the pronunciation satisfactorily,
which is far from being true of the Mongol.

The Tibetan, perhaps the most convenient type of
the Himalaic languages, has been well opened to obser-
vation by the Dictionaries and Grammars of Csoma de
KoroSj Schmidt, and others. These two grammarians
have not, however, considered the tones, which in a
monosyllabic language become of special importance.

TIBETAN AREA. 47

Georgi's notice of the Tibetan tones is only sufficient
to show that they are of the same nature as the
Chinese. We have not yet any comparative lists of
common words in the Anamitic, Siamese, Burmese,
Tibetan, and Chinese languages made with reference
to their intonations, by help of which the general
laws of tones for all this widespread family might be
investigated.

The Tibetan language spreads from Ladak, the most
northerly of our British Indian possessions, to Sz
c'hwen, where it meets the Chinese area. Its eastern
member is the Si Fan dialect. The nomade Mongols
also occupy Eastern Tibet, and are there mixed irregu-
larly with the Si fans.

Crossing the Himalayas we find the Dravidian area
occupying hill districts in Northern India and the
plains and mountains of the South. Among the lan-
guages of this family, the Tamul is the best to use as a
type. It is spoken by ten miUions of people, extending
on the east coast from Cape Comorin to a point eighty
miles north-west of Madras, and on the west coast from
Cape Comorin to Trivandrum.^

The Dravidian family is cut off from its relatives in
Tartary and Tibet by the intrusion of a broad belt of
the Indo-European area. The Arian invasion of India
is supposed to have taken place about 2,000 years
before the Christian era. Those who came into India
^ Pope's " Tamil Handbook."

48 china's place in philology.

at that time spread the Sanscrit tongue, which was
followed by the Praorit, over three-fourths of India,
and gave origin to the numerous group of languages
known as Bengali, Sindi, Hindustani, Guzarati, Urdu,
and Marathi,

The superior energy of the Indo-European race
enabled it to conquer wherever it found a home.
Europe and Asia Minor, Persia and Bactria, were all
subdued and occupied by this powerful branch of the
human family.

Their home extended from Samarcand to Lisbon, and
from Calcutta to the land of Thor, and the multiplied
experiences of so wide a region tended to excite in
their intellectual development a proportionate richness
and variety.

The gift of imagination was awakened in this race by
residence in mountain scenery and around inland seas.
They wandered far, they grew up amidst the most
beautiful and varying landscapes. Their homes were
among the great mountain chains of the world: the
Himalayas, the Bolor Tag and Mustag of Bactria, the
Caucasus, Mount Taurus, the mountains of Thessaly,
and the Alps and Apennines. Their earliest navi-
gators traversed the Black Sea and the Caspian, the
Archipelago and the Adriatic. Hence the spirit of
freedom and the irrepressible sense of poetry, the
tendency to speculation and the keen appetite for
science, that have always characterized this race. All

INDO-EUROPEAN AREA. 49

other races, except tie Semitic, are comparatively
wanting in these splendid gifts, which make the
Indo-European nations the very flower and crown of
humanity.

A natural love for variety of experience, difficult
travelling, and new scenes, led the earliest colonies of
this favoured race to choose their homes where the eye
and the hand, the mind and the body, should be exer-
cised in due proportion, and thus the human species be
brought higher up on the ladder of progress. The
result we see in the wonderful expansion of philosophy,
science, and literature among many nations of this
race, ancient and modern, which has made Europe
what it now is.

The elder branch of the Caucasian race, the Semitic,
occupying Syria, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Babylonia
Judaea, and Arabia, was destined to do more for the
religious culture of the race than any other linguistic
family. The religious, moral, and spiritual impress on
the European races had a parallel in the earlier lin-
guistic influence which it appears to have exercised.
The superior ease and fluency of European speech,
compared with that of Eastern Asia, comes partly from
the relative pronoun and partly from the liberty
allowed in the construction of sentences. Both the
relative, and the freedom used in the position of verbs
and words belonging to the other parts of speech,
probably come from the influence of Hebrew and its

4

50 chii?a's place in philology.

cognate languages. On the Chinese side of the Hima-
layas, and of the Persian- and Russian- speaking area,
the laws of position in sentences are fixed, and there is,
properly speaking, no relative pronoun. It was not,
then, from this side that the Arians, the youngest of
races, derived their freedom in syntax, leading to a
beauty and expansion in poetic expression which are
inconceivable to the less imaginative races. These
characteristics, with the genders of nouns and the
voices of verbs, came from the influence exercised by
the combined Hamite and Semitic races on the
early language of the world. The Semites were
always neighbours to the Hellenes and the Persians.

The influence of old Turanian languages on the
formation of the Indo-European system was favoured
to an equal degree by geographical contiguity. Colo-
nies belonging to this stock were sprinkled over
Western Asia in many localities ; and in the Persian
area, Iran and Turan from the dawn of history stood
in close contact to each other and in hostile attitude.

The polysyllabic development of the Arian lan-
guages, their case and tense sufiEixes, together with
such vestiges as they retain of a law relegating the
verb rigidly to the end of the sentence, are the effect
of Turanian influence.

CHAPTER IV.

On the Pbimevai Language. — It was Monosyllabic. — Examples. —
Pronouns. — Laws oe Position. — Laws op Ehtthmus. — Pro-
nominal EooTS also Veees. — Closed Syllables, a Proof op
Man's Continental Origin. — Early Use of the final M. —
Names op Animals. — Divine Origin of Language.

Without venturing to discuss, except very cur-
sorily, the origin of language, I shall here first attempt
to mark out some of the common elements existing in
the speech of all nations which seem to belong to a
primeval language older even than the Chinese and the
Egyptian. The mother from whom all existing dia-
lects have been born may possibly be revealed to our
view by carefully rejecting all new elements and
retaining what appear to be universal.

That it was monosyllabic is deducible from the factj
that in all the families, from the Indo-European
upwards, the roots are monosyllables. The words
separation and departure, for example, are traced to the
Latin Part in pars, partis. The r is lost sight of in the
Sanscrit bheda, " dividing," hhedita, " divided," bhinna,
"separated." It occurs in a dissyllabic form in the
Hebrew hadak, " split " (Latin fidit), and badad and

52 china's place in philology.

hadal, " divided," and without a third consonant in the
Hebrew had, "separation." The Chinese is Bit, Pit,
"separate," "other."

Our words rotation and' radiation are traced to rota,
"a wheel," and radius, from the same root, Sad or Mot,
Q-erman rad, "wheel," Sanscrit lut, "roll about." In
Tamul we find urutchi, " roundness," and urul, " a
carriage-wheel." The Chinese call "a wheel" Ltm,
and many round things, as " a stove," " a cottage," " a
skull," " a reed," are known as Lu, where a final t has
been lost. Musical pipes they call Lut. The same
idea of roundness is found, more or less remotely, in
the English rod, reed, oar, row, round. The German
ruder, " oar," rudern, " to row," compared with the
Greek eretmos, "oar," eresso, "row," Latin remus, "oar,"
remigo, " row," throw light on the origin of the word
oar, and enable us to trace it to the same root with the
others. The Chinese Lu, for Lut, is a scuU, such as is
used in Chiaa for propelling a boat by stern action.

When we have arrived in such investigations at the
monosyllabic root Lut, Rad, Rot, our progress is en-
tirely checked, and we are left to conclude that the
primitive speech of man was monosyllabic, and con-
tained in it such widespread roots as the two just
given.

Father and mother must be admitted without hesita-
tion into the primeval vocabulary of the human family,
for though some nations, as the Mongols, appear to

PRIMEVAL MONOSYLLABLE. 53

want them, nine-tenths of the inhabitants of Europe
and Asia agree in their use. Of course they must be
accommodated to the necessities of infancy by cutting
off the second syllable of the English form and
changing the initial / into p, or, still better, into h.
The Turks in saying Baba for " father " are more
primitive than any. The Semites in saying ah and em
for " father " and " mother " gratified a tendency to
prefix vowels. In the Chinese fu, mu, we have the
newest form of what was a few centuries ago Bo, Mo.

The claims of brother to a place in the primeval
vocabulary are quite hopeless. It appears to be un-
known in Asia beyond the Indian and Persian area.
There is more hope for sister than for brother. It may
perhaps be recognized in the Chinese Tsie for an older
Si or So, used in the sense of elder sister.

The names of number differ so widely in the various
Asiatic languages that they are not to be expected to be -
very ancient.

Of the pronouns, a and nga or ga for the first person,
«, MM, and yu for the second, and «', gi, hi for the third,
may claim a very high antiquity ; for their widespread
use through the linguistic families is a palpable and
striking fact.

For the first person we find the old Chinese ^ nga
and ■^ yo or o, of which the latter, being without an
initial consonant, suggests that the ng was prefixed
afterwards. Another prefix consisting of a or e made

54 china's place in philology.

the Sanscrit aham and Latin ego. The m final was a
suffix also found in the Chinese ^ am, a dialect form
for "I." The Hebrews added nocM, anocM, "I." The
Arabs said ana, and the Egyptians anok. There appear
to be very few languages in any part of the world
that do not in their pronominal forms betray the
presence of this root. The same is not true of the
pronoun in m, which is almost entirely limited to the
Indo-European and Tartar languages. Bi, men, "I,"
and manai, " my," are as common in Tartary as me,
mein, meus, e/io? in Europe, but there is not a trace of
them to be found in China, Tibet, or Japan. Quite as
little are they known in the Dravidian area or in the
islands of the Eastern seas. The Mongol riding into
Peking on his camel, says, manai hic'hig, for "my
book," and the Manchu student learns from his in-
structor, manai hit-he, in the same sense, while the
German, in a region 100° of longitude further west,
says, mein Such. But these words, in their European
or Tartar form, are alike foreign to the Chinese ear,
and to that of all the races, Arab or Hebrew, Tamul,
Corean, Tibetan, Burmese, or Malay. While, there-
fore, the pronoun a, nga, kau, or go, for our English /,
represents the primeval pronoun of the first person
with great probability, the root in m and b, with its
correlate substantive verb, be, bin, futurus, fuisse, in
Mongol, amoi, bolhu, bolmoi, can be traced no farther
back than the Turanian family in its Tartar branch.

NATURAL ORDER OF WORDS. 65

from wliich it has gone over into the last great lin-
guistic formation, the Indo-European.

The structure of sentences in the primeval language,
it may be reasonably concluded, was according to the
order of nature. The nominative preceded the transi-
tive verb, and the transitive verb preceded its object.
The Chinese, the Hebrew, and the English here agree.
It is the Turanian family that is chiefly at fault when
tested by these laws. The Japanese, the Mongols, the
Tamuls, and the speakers of Sanscrit, evidently follow-
ing an older 'msms loquendi found in the contemporary
Turanian speech, resolutely limit the verb to the last
place in the sentence, and make the accusative precede
it. This is extremely unnatural, and tends to restrict
painfully the powers of human speech. Nature first
names the actor, then the mode of his action, and
finally the person or thing on whom or on which such
action is performed. But Turanian speakers avoid this
construction. Ching-gis hagan airiben t'umen k'umun
alaba, " Genghis Khan many ten thousands of men
killed." The western branches of the Indo-European
family refused to imitate the speakers of Sanscrit in
their slavish adherence to this Turanian law, and
succeeded in restoring the freedom of nature to our
modem European modes of speech.

So agaia, in placing the adjective before its substan-
tive, the Chinese, English, and Turanian languages
have a clear advantage over the Semitic, the eastern

56 china's place in philology.

Himalaic, the Malay, and the Polynesian, which invert
this order. The adjective naturally precedes the noun,
as the mark of the species precedes that of the genus.
We know a thing from its qualities. The " Bactrian
camel " may be called the " Camel of Bactria," or " le
chameau Bactrien." Of these, the first is the most
natural, and is favoured by the greatest number of
important languages and families. The second form,
inverting the position of the words and connecting
them by of, de, von, etc., adds greatly to the ease and
variety of language. But it is almost exclusively
European and Semitic.^ The Sanscrit follows the
Turanian and Chinese order in this respect, and thus it
is shown that, although she may lay claim to be the
model of the European languages in regard to her
richly developed system of grammatical inflexions, she
cannot be looked to as their mother in syntactical order.

It is to the Semitic family that we must look for the
origin of this inversion, and also for the introduction of
the relative pronoun.

The third form, " le chameau Bactrien," is not so
much a peculiarity of any one family, as of languages
occurring here and there in the area of various families.
Its introduction has conferred no great advantage on
language.

' I suppose the post-position of the genitive and of the adjective to
have been borrowed from the Semitic by the Polynesians, Siamese, and
other races.

PRIMEVAL PROSODY. 57

We haTe now arrived at several approximate notions
of a rudimentary kind with regard to the primeval
language.

1. It. was monosyllabic, and its syllabary, though
containing no double consonants, had probably con-
sonant finals, as bid and lod.

2. Certain roots, verbal and pronominal, are so
widely spread among the various linguistic families
of Europe and Asia, that a large portion of the
primeval vocabulary may be expected to reveal itself
as the reward of careful research.

3. The order of words in sentences was that of
nominative and verb, verb and object, adjective and
substantive, subject and predicate, species and genus.
The common laws of position in the primeval language
probably agreed with those of the Chinese, Greek,
English, and some other languages in such sentences
as Charles beat William, good man, this man is good, or
this man good, fir tree. When two or more verbs
occurred, the order was that of time. Our sentence,
went near and hilled him, would be " go near kill," or
"go approach kill," and some device would be con-
trived to represent past time.

4, The primeval language had probably a rudi-
mentary tonic pronunciation. Variety in pitch, even
tones, inflexions, pauses, accents, long and short quan-
tity, belong more or less to all the tongues spoken
among men. The Greeks inflected the vowels of

58

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

certain syllables in their words. The Chinese do the
same with their monosyllables, and so do all the neigh-
bouring peoples on the west and south. The Hebrews
had an elaborate system of accents. The Greek and
Chinese inflexions exist in modern European languages,
but without attachment to special words or sj'^llables.
Probably this last was the character of the primeval
prosody. The speech of modern Europe, struggling
for greater freedom, rebelled against the prosodial laws
which prevailed in the old Indo-European, Semitic, and
Chinese areas, and by a powerful instinct succeeded in
recovering the primeval use of inflexions and accents.
These aids to a natural, efficient, and graceful elocution
should never become dialectic, or be tied to particular
words. If language were what it ought to be, all local
tones would cease, and those windings of the voice,
simple or circumflex, which in England constitute the
local habit of dialects, and in China are an element in
particular words, would be limited to elocutionary uses.
Thus language would be ennobled, the intercourse of
men with each other would become refined, and the
swiftly changing feelings of the heart would all have a
suitable expression.

Among the elements of the primeval language,
capable of discovery by comparative philology, I omit
the distinction between verbal and pronominal roots.
All the pronouns seem to be used as verbs. It was
when the eye of primitive man saw action that his

PRONOMINAL ROOTS ALSO VERBS. 59

hand pointed to the moving object, and if his lips
uttered a sound it was an imitation of the natural
sound caused by the movement he witnessed. Speech
became the instinctive imitation of natural sounds, and
words were the names both of objects and actions.
How then could the pronouns fail to be also verbs ?
Thus, had, "divide," "separate," "depart," was also
in old Chinese used for " that," " he," and called pat
or pit, ^ now known as pi. Do, " to give," is the
same word as that, das, etc. The Chinese locative case
suffix chung, "middle," more anciently tang, is, when
employed as a verb, used in the senses "to strike in
the middle," "to strike," "to undertake." As an
adjective it means "middle," as in " the Middle King-
dom," and as a substantive it is the name of a " bell."

A further proof is found in the fact that the instru-
mental case suffixes are like others formed from pro-
nouns, but they must from the nature of the case also
be verbs. In fact, post-positions, like prepositions, are
all verbs. All case suffixes, as well as case . prefixes,
may be explained, according to circumstances, either
as demonstratives or as verbs. The nominative,
possessive, and accusative case suffixes are most con-
veniently explained as demonstratives. The case suf-
fixes which express instrumentality, motion from,
motion to, giving, and locality, are best considered as
verbs.

Should it be objected to this view that every verb

60 china's place in philology.

would then become a pronoun, it may be answered
that, for reasons not difficult to discover, the only verbs
used as pronouns would be those that occurred most
commonly, such as giving, going, coming, being, leaving,
carrying. The early forms of such verbs as these by
■perpetual recurrence established themselves as pro-
nouns ; e.g., the pronoxm I, " he," is probably identical
with I, " to go." Such verbs as only find their way
into conversation now and then would not become
pronouns.

It appears to have been an important feature in
the primeval language that the syllabary had both
open and closed vowels. Many modern languages
have no closed syllables. They were rare in Sanscrit
and are stiU. more so in Japanese. It is susceptible of
proof that the primeval syllabary was not one of this
kind. Races occupying areas where enervation is in-
duced by climate are liable to lose the final letters of
their syllabaries. Nations that spread themselves over
mountainous areas and cultivate hardy habits show
less tendency to the disintegration of their roots. The
absence of final consonants is the result , of phonetic
decay, or the addition of vowels through change in
climate and in national habits, or through foreign
influence, and other causes. Hence man must have
been created in a temperate climate and in a continental
locality.

On the hypothesis that words were first formed from

CLOSED SYLLABLES. 61

the imitation of natural sounds, it may be expected
that both kinds of syllables wiU occur. Sounds ending
in vowels and in consonants occur abundantly in nature,
as is shown by the spelling of imitative words in our own
language, e.g., peeteit, cuckoo, dingdong, hiss, hush, etc.

There are other reasons why some words should
terminate with certain consonants. Words ending
in m and p, are usually expressive in Chinese
of combination, closing, holding in the mouth,
union, taste, containing, e.g., gap, "combine," kam,
" sweet," yem, " salt," gam, " hold in the mouth,"
"contain," k'am, "hollow," "deficient." The final
letter seems in these and similar examples to indicate
that the words where it is found are expressive of
actions which are easily represented by the mouth
opened or closed. Emptiness or deficiency would be
fitly pictured by an open mouth, imion by a mouth
closing. But the labial letters m and p, which would
be brought into requisition on such occasions, would
naturally be used, because the shaping of the lips in
forming them was a not unlikely manner of expressing
the ideas to be conveyed. In English gap and gape are
nearly alike in sound. The labial p with which they
terminate may be accounted for in the same way. Gap
in old Chinese means " to combine," " press imder the
arms," " narrow," " a narrow pass through mountains,"
" books fastened together with two boards and straps,"
" the action of scissors." We may explain the final p

62 chika's place in philology.

as expressing the action of the lips, in imitating the
act of pressure witnessed by the word-maker, when he
first encountered the problem how to describe intelli-
gently to his companion the events he had witnessed.
The meaning of the root in English and Chinese
coalesces when a narrow opening among mountains is
in both languages called gap. The initial g will then
be left to be accounted for on the principle of the
imitation of natural sounds.

Should a root once become established in use, the
principle of association of ideas would explain the
origin of a multitude of connected words. The adverb
" back " is to be derived from the substantive " back."
The Chinese word for " the back " is pak. In Kwan
hwa, the modern pronunciation, it is pel. It has for
derivative meanings "to carry on the back," "to repeat
lessons " (because the Chinese pupil always turns his
back to the schoolmaster while repeating his tasks), "to
turn back," or "run away," "the north," "to disobey,"
etc. We find the some root in /SacrTcifa), fero, hear,
porta, etc. For aU these words, with a multitude more,
one root hah, as we may judge from the Chinese
analogy, would be approximately the original form,
and it might be the imitation of sound. The finals k
and g occur not seldom in words imitative of sounds, as
flagellation, thwack, strike, and the Chinese^'aA to "strike
gently," which is identical with the root of flagellum^
plaga, irX'^a-a-w, the I being inserted later. The thwack

NAMES OF ANIMALS. 63

of a whip is to one ear dak, and to another bah. The
twang of a how to the Chinese is kong, to the Greek it
was tok, and to the speaker of Latin dok, which became
To^ov and arcus, the d becoming r, and the vowel a
being prefixed. But to the Teuton hak was the sound,
as it would appear from the verb heugen, bow, and the
substantive bow. The Russian luk, " bow," is evidently
of the same origin as arcus and to^ov. So also the
Arabic raka'a, " to bow."

In the Biblical account of the origin of language, it
is said that " Grod brought " the animals " to Adam to
see what he would call them, and whatever Adam
called every living creature, that was the name
thereof." In accordance with this statement, while it
was by divine assistance that primitive man made
language, it was not without the active exercise of his
own faculties. God placed the animals before him and
made him feel that he must give them names. In
doing this, he would in many cases imitate the sounds
they uttered. The roar of the lion may have origiuated
the words leo, lion, and roar. As r and / are both
derivable very frequently from d, the primitive form
may have been ru or du. The Hebrew is ari or arye.
On the supposition, as philologists tell us, that r and the
sibilants are interchangeable letters within the Semitic
area, a word with a sibilant initial might be expected
as a name for lion. In fact, in the Persian, which from
the most ancient times came under Semitic influence,

64 china's place in philoiogt.

the word for lion is shir. The Chinese word, shi,
"Lion," seems to be borrowed from the Persian, It
occurs first in Chinese literature a little before the
Christian era.

Other animals would be named from the noise made
by them in flying, as the "Kingfisher," which in old
Chinese was called sut. Such a combination would as
well represent the sound heard when that beautiful
bird darts on its prey, as the combination shoot does
in English and in Chinese the sound of an arrow which
has just left the bow. The same root sut is used in
Chinese to express the "hissing noise of water in ex-
tinguishing fire," " to revile people," " to be grieved,"
and " to be broken to pieces." The modern forms it
takes are t'sui and suy.

The scriptural account is restricted to the naming
of animals. This is in harmony with the fact that
language was gradually formed. The opinion has been
very generally held, that man had extraordinary divine
aid in the construction of language. This would pro-
bably consist, partly, in a special control and guidance
exercised over him, impelling him to the use of the
language forming faculties, and partly in the positive
communication to him of such parts of the primitive
language as were necessary for the carrying on of those
interviews which took place between Grod and himself
in Paradise. Enough of language was taught our first
parents by revelation to make existence a pleasure, to

DIVINE OKIGIN OF LANGUAGE. 65

lead them to understand each other's wants and feel-
ings, the first duties of religion, the requirements of a
simple agriculture, the preparation of food, the con-
struction of a suitable habitation. They learned how to
make the first rude attempts at clothing and how to
take care of domestic animals. Such instruction is
implied in the words, " The Lord God made for Adam
and his wife coats of skins, and clothed them." Dr.
Magee (On the Atonement, Dissert. 53) says, "It is
sufficient if we suppose the use of language taught him
with respect to such things as were necessary, and that
he was then left to the exercise of his own faculties for
further improvement upon this foundation."

Revelation was to primitive man what instinct is
and always has been to the lower animals. The same
paternal wisdom which teaches the bird to build its
nest, gave to the first men by direct instruction the
necessary knowledge to make life happy, and to give
the human race a good start on its long career. Man
was created with physical, social, moral, and religious
instincts. They were at first called into exercise by
suitable teaching. This seems the only reasonable way
of accounting for the common notions of morality that
prevail among all nations, and the monotheistic tradi-
tion which imderlies the religious thought of all ancient
literatures. Hence the superior antiquity of moral
words in language over those specially suited for
science and philosophy, which are always of later

5

66 china's place in philology.

origm. The moral element inheres in all language,
and the fundamental moral ideas remaining there after
many millenniums of waste and wear, are vestiges
of the primeval revelation granted for their early
guidance to our first forefathers. If man had been
without reason, instinct would have been a sufficient
director ; but having also the high endowments of the
thinking and language-forming faculty, he needed that
special teaching which, according to the Biblical
account, he received.

CHAPTER V.

Thb Chinese probably Hamites. — Chronology op the Deluge. —
Genealogies in Genesis. — Ancient Semite Occfupation of
Feesia. — Semitio Impkess on the Himalaic Race. — The Chinese
moved Eastwaed before the Confusion of Tongues. — The
Chinese Ancient Syllabary recoyerable prom the Phonetics.
— Six Final Consonants. — The Surd Initials derived prom
the Sonants, — Tones. — Syntax.

The most remarkable indication of change in tlie
primitive language given in Scripture is at the Con-
fiision of Tongues, which took place, according to the
Septuagint chronology, 400 years after the Flood.
This might not unreasonably be regarded as a limit for
the continuance of the primeval language. Yet colon-
ization must have been rapidly proceeding from the
beginning. During the 2,200 years that elapsed
between the Creation and the Flood, the speech of each
band of emigrants would, after the lapse of a few
generations, unconsciously assume a new form. The
Scriptural account of the Deluge and of the Confusion
of Tongues I suppose to refer particularly to the world
according to its dimensions as then understood, the

68 china's place in philology.

•jrdaa olKovfievr] of the day. Colonies that went beyond
the limits of the Flood of Noah, if there were such,
were lost from view. The descendants of Seth were
spread perhaps over what afterwards became the
Semitic region. The Cainites went more to the
east. Whether any of them and the other descen-
dants of Adam passed into Eastern Asia and
America during those 2,000 years now so little
known, we cannot tell. If they did, they would there
be beyond the reach of the Deluge, which science
has shown did not extend to the more distant parts
of the continent.

Among the Cainites sprang up the arts of music, me-
tallurgy, and the tending of cattle on a large scale. The
first two of these features marked the ancient Chinese,
but they were never a nomade people given chiefly to
the care of flocks and herds. They were more like the
Cushites than the Cainites. The art of writing, the
idea of universal government, rather mark them out as
descendants of Noah. When they came into China,
they were not the first emigrants. Others had arrived
before them. We therefore can scarcely be wrong
in limiting the Chinese emigration to Post-Noachic
times, when the arts flourished sufficiently in the
Babylonian region to allow of our identifying that
locality with the original source of the Chinese
civilization.

The Deluge I suppose to have taken place upwards

BIBLICAL GENEALOGIES. 69

of 3,000 years before the Ghristian era. Hales states
it at 3,155. Let us allow for it 3,500. The Call of
Abraham he states at b.c. 2078. It was about this
time that the Hindoo race took possession of North
India, driving the Dravidian population before them.
At this date also the Chinese were settled on the
Yellow River under imperial chiefs, practising astro-
nomy, agriculture, writing, and other ancient arts and
sciences. It would be very conformable to the circum-
stances of the case if we suppose that they came over
from' the west soon after the Deluge, land yet not too
soon to allow scope for the previous development of the
Cushite civilization. The Semite occupation of Baby-
lon took place at nearly the same time. The Semites
then came into possession of the regions they have
held ever since, while the discomfited Cushites either
taught their arts to their conquerors, originating the
Phoenician alphabet, or carried them elsewhere. It
was with an earlier time that the Chinese emigration
is with most probability connected, viz., the age and
race of Nimrod.

The Christian apologist who desires to see the re-
conciliation of Science and Scripture made thoroughly
clear, must not be dismayed by the chronological diffi-
culties connected with the genealogies given in the
Book of Grenesis. That the evangelist Matthew omitted
three names in the list of the kings of Judah who
were ancestors of Jesus is a well-known fact. He

70 china's place in philology.

■wished to aid the memory by recording three fourteens.
In the genealogy of the patriarchs before the Deluge,
ten generations are given, and in the interval between
Noah and Abraham there are also ten names. It is
not improbable that some names are omitted. What
took place so late as the time of Matthew may have
occurred in the period of the early transmission of the
Book of Genesis. These accounts of the early world
were perhaps translated * from the primitive mono-
syllabic language into Hebrew, soon after the Semite
conquest of Babylon, and may have been transmitted
orally and by writing from the time of Noah. Moses
may have used documents which came from the hands
of more ancient inspired men. They would, if this
supposition be correct, be among the earliest documents
committed to writing.

The Septuagint, Hebrew, and Samaritan copies of
the Old Testament aU differ in regard to dates and
numbers in the early genealogy. Too often has it
happened in the history of literature* that numbers
have been tampered with for controversial purposes.
Who shall say now which of these is the most trust-
worthy ? Certainly the Septuagint chronology is the
most advantageous for use in ethnological researches.
The cramping of the Hebrew chronology is intolerable.
There is no room for the development of races and the

' The Northern Buddhists state the birth of Buddha about B.C. 1100.
The Southern Buddhists give it in about 600, and they are right.

SEMITE OCCUPATION OF PERSIA. 71

growth of languages between Noah and Abraham, if
that scheme be adopted.

Since Elam is mentioned among the sons of Shem,
Persia, of which Elam was always one of the names,
was probably a Semite country before it entered the
Indo-European area on the arrival of the Persians.
The cuneiform writing and the Phoenician alphabet
were probably spread over the southern cities of that
country early enough to allow for the Devanagari
alphabet having been derived from a Semitic source.
Attention has been recently again drawn forcibly to
the strong resemblance existing between the old
Sanscrit writing and the ancient Semitic alphabet, by
Professor F. Miiller of Vienna.^ Besides, the languages
of Persia, from the Zend to the modern Persian, have
always possessed more or less a Semitic syntax. There
has also been Semite influence operating in the forming
of the Himalaic and Dravidian languages. The mascu-
line and feminine suffixes found in them are thus best
explained. Further, the post-position of the genitive,
for which Semitic grammar is so remarkable, is equally
characteristic of the eastern Himalaic and Polynesian
languages. I suppose, therefore, that South Persia
was strongly Semitized in the third millennium before
Christ, and that races which passed that way into
India and Tibet derived certain linguistic elements

> Novara Expedition. Linguistischer Theil, p. 219, ff.

72 china's place in philology.

and articles of belief from the Shemite and Cushite
inhabitants of the country. Hence the abstinence of
the ■western Himalaic races from the flesh of the hog,
and the remarkable religious traditions of the Karens
of Burmah.

In the languages of Tartary and China we do not
find the same Semite impress. The syntax is not
Semite, and masculine and feminine suffixes are un-
known. The Chinese and Turanians proper may have
come through Persia before it was Semite, or by the
north part of the country where the Semite influence
was then unknown. Thus it might happen that the
Chinese, whose language is of older type, found
Eastern and Southern China in the third millennium
before Christ already occupied by races partially
Semitized in their syntax. These ancient occupants
of China were far less civilized than the Chinese,
and travelled faster.

That the Chinese have not been under a Semite
influence appears clear when the laws of syntax are
considered, as it also appears clear that the Eastern
Himalayans were iafluenced by the Semites while they
still spoke a monosyllabic language.

It may therefore be not imreasonably supposed that
the Chinese, and after them the Japanese and Tartars,
leaving ITorth Persia, were first attracted by the
country of Bokhara, and, crossing the mountains, pro-
ceeded by the Kashgar route eastward, always travel-

EAKLY EMIGRATION OF THE CHINESE. 73

ling in a latitude of about 40° north. There are no
passes through the Bolor Tag and Tsung ling
mountains south of the Cashgar route, till you
come to the Khyber Pass into Cashmere and India
in about 34° lat. This would be the route of the
Himalaic race, who, leaving AiPghanistan and pene-
trating into the beautiful valleys of Cashmere, went
eastward into Tibet by Ladak and the upper course
of the Indus.

Under these conditions it would seem that the great
breaking up of languages at the epoch marked in
Scripture by the building of the Tower of Babel took
place soon after the departure of the Chinese from
Western Asia. The progress made by the Semite and
other language systems is what is described as the
Confusion of Tongues. The Chinese people may have
remained in l^orth Persia long enough to leave traces
behind them or acquire a knowledge of the dual philo-
sophy and the worship of angels and the powers of
nature. At this time they may have been partially ia
juxtaposition with the Himalaic races, and those who
have since become Malays and Polynesians, as well as
with the triple-branched Turanians. Thus, some of the
resemblances found in the languages spoken by these
races may be accounted for.

At least, we are very much under the necessity of
allowing that the Chinese started on their Eastern
pilgrimage late enough to bring with them the Baby-

74 china's place in philology.

Ionian arts, and early enough to retain the features of
the primeval monosyllabic language more distinctly
than any other old linguistic family has been able to
do. The first great step in the development of human
speech was taken in the formation of the Chinesq
language.

While residing in Persia and Mesopotamia, the
ancestors of the Chinese would both give and receive.
The philosophy, religion, and language of the times
were common. From the moment of separation
changes would commence, and in every emigrant
band, each new generation would see an advance
towards that complete national individuality which it
was destined eventually to achieve.

It might be supposed by those who are fresh to the
subject, that the task of searching for the old Chinese
syllabary of the times of Yau and Shun was hopeless.
But it is far from being so. The Chinese had already
the knowledge of the art of writing, and the pre-
servation of the phonetic element in the written
characters is particularly favourable for investigation.
Their use and signification have never been forgotten.
We are able to assign, in consequence, definite values
to the phonetics without much difficulty, and the syl-
labary of 4,000 years ago comes out to view in a com-
paratively clear and trustworthy form. For example,
the modern sm, "heart," Canton sem, Fu kien sim,
Cochin-Chinese tim, Tibetan sems, is known to have

PRIMEVAL CHINESE SYLLABAET. 75

been sim anciently, because it rhymes in all old poetry
with words in m. But the poetry reaches back to
eleven centuries before the Christian era, and earlier,
and the characters were made, according to native
opinion, B.C. 2300. In this way we are able to reach
the conclusion that the final m and with it, by similar
proofs, its correlates ng, n, k, t, p, the six consonant
finals of the Chinese rhyming art in all ages, were also
the six consonant finals of the earliest Chinese sylla-
bary. The Greek to^mov} " poison," resembles acci-
dentally the Chinese ^ tu, old sound dok. The upper
part of the Chinese character chu, "leader," "lord," ^
if we may argue from its use here as a phonetic, was
probably once called tok, and stUl earlier dok. It is
thus brought into agreement with the Latin duco, dux,
and Greek Sei/cvvfii, and belongs to the verbal root dik,
"to point," in Chinese ^ cM, and in Latin and
English doceo and teach.

The following example wOl show the remarkable aid
to philology afibrded by the phonetics. In Callery's
Systema Phoneticum ^ yuen, ^ wan, ^ yuen, ^
yuen, are, as may be shown, equipollent phonetics,
with the sounds wan, an, yuen, etc., and the meaning,

' The drug used for poisoning arrows was called T0^m6v, from To(oy, "a
bow." This word, again, was from Tvyxiva irvxov, " to hit," " meet
with," Chinese ^ eho, old sound dok, "to hit," "to be right," "yes,"
"put on clothing." The etymology cannot be easily traced of the
Chinese for "poison."

76

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

" roundness," " completion," " origin," " globule," and
" circle."

EauiPOLLSNT
PHONETICS.

COMPOUND DERIVATITI CHAHACTEHB.

% "origin."

j^lj wn, " cut out in a round shape."

^ wan, "rude," " obstinate." ^

^ "bend."

0^ yum, " canister," Jjjg " name of a sceptre."

^ woM, "a bowl," |jg|J "cut out in a round shape."

^ yuen, "king of ducks," Latin mas.

^ 1%, M «"»' "''o^V' BIe "bean."

^ "complete."

1^ wan, " bind round."

1^ wan, " thigh hone," " that which bends."

^ "round."

U ywOT, "circle," |^ ^bm, "rhyme,"' ^ "fall."

g "cause."

JQ yi», " marriage," JQ ^'^m, " smoke."

None of these words, nor any of their derivatives,
ever take initial consonants or undergo any alteration,
except in vowels and an occasional change of the final
n to its correlate t. We therefore conclude that 4,000
years ago these words, and others with the same *
phonetics, began with a vowel and ended with n. The
Latin vocabulary furnishes us with annus, " a year,"
annulus, "ring," anima, "breath," "the soul;" the
Greek has aimv, "an age," with its equivalent cevum.

' As rudis, "rude," in Chinese i^ lu, lud, comes from rot, "round,"
Tiewed as unimpressible, so wan, " round," in Chinese is taken to mean
"duU," "stupid."

* Compare in Greek pveids, " rhyme," from rot, " round."

PHONETICS AND THEIR DEEIVATIVES. 77

The Latin v has the force of w, as in vinum, Greek, owo.
The Russian v, written b, and pronounced v, has in
these comparisons of words also the force of w. "We
find vina, " cause," vyenetz, " crown," "coronet," " cloud
of glory," vyenok, " garland," vyenchat, " to crown."
The English wind, wend, and wander, appear to be of
the same family. Wind is anima, " breath," ventus,
"wind," Sanscrit, an, "blow." The "vine" is that
which winds. In Latin it takes t for n, as in vitis.
Further, the Mongol has undus, " root," " source," and
the suffix dus may be compared with nus, in annus,
" year," and the d in the English wind. The principle
of adding syllabic suffixes and cognate letters is the
same. In Sanscrit we have isdna, " " pipe," vanada,
" AouA," venu, "bamboo," vata, "circle." The letter
V is in fact w. Further, in the Dravidian vocabidary
we meet with the Tamul undei, " a round thing,"
" a ball," " pill." In Chinese ^ yuen, signifies " a
cause," and ^ yun, " cloud," doubtless the same words
originally as % yuen, "origin," and yen, "smoke;"
The Chinese yin, " marriage," when compared with
yuen, " draw with the hand," suggests the Latin unio
and our unite. In Greek evoi, " a year," eros, also " a
year," belong to the same family of words, and perhaps
ev, "in," is the same with the Chinese g "cause,"
" because."

If we take another example with m final, the light
thrown on the primeval form of the syllabary wiU be

78 china's place in philology.

seen still more plainly. The Latin umbra consists of
the root urn, and a common suffix hra, which may be
compared with ber in imber, "rain," brm in tenebrce,
bris in salubris. We have in Hebrew emesh, " night,"
"darkness," where sh is a suffix, as in kafash, "to
cover," " overwhelm," cognate with kafar, " to cover,"
"forgive," Chinese ^ kai, "cover," old sound, as known
from the phonetic, kap. The Latin um, Hebrew am, as
it reads without the points, with the sense of " shade,"
" darkness," " night," are in Chinese B§ an, old sound
am, " dark," |^ ym, om, " obscure," " the principle of
darkness in the dual philosophy," ^ yen, am, "to
shade," " cover," ^ pin, om, " eaves." In Chinese
buildings the eaves project far enough to make a
broad shadow. These coincidences are quite sufficient
to show that in the Chinese primeval syllabary m
was the final letter in this root, and that the initial
was a vowel.

"We thus by multiplying our researches in all parts
of the Chinese vocabulary, always adopting the old
pronunciation registered in Kanghi's dictionary and
other older lexicographical works, arrive at the fact
that the final letters ng, n, m, k, t, p, with the vowels,
were the final letters of the pronunciation in use when
the characters were made. And though they are much
disturbed in the Mandarin dialect, they are retained to
this day with an approach to faultless regularity in
the Canton and Amoy dialects. They are also found

INITIALS. 79

in the Tibetan, Cochin-Chinese, and Siamese languages,
all belonging to the allied Himalaic family.

Having obtained this solid foundation of knowledge
with regard to the final letters of the Chinese syllabary
in use 4,000 years ago, we may proceed to inquire into
the initials. Of these, the most certain are g, d, b, ng, n,
m, I, z, dz, zh, and the vowels. Initials of the next staga
of probability are the aspirates k', t', p', t's, the surds
k, t, p, and the sibilants s, ts, sh. This difierence in
probability arises from the vestiges existing of an old
law of change similar in part to Grimm's law, by which
the sonants have always been throwing out words into
the surd series. So numerous are the examples of this
law, that it is open for consideration whether the surd
series is not altogether made up of successive contri-
butions from the sonants.

Before giving examples of the sonant contributions
to the surd series, let me premise that in the Amoy
and Canton dialects, the surd and sonant series receive
the name of upper and lower series, and are identical
with the so-called four upper and lower tones. In
other words, characters in each division are pronounced
with special intonations of the voice, and thus distin-
guished from the upper or surd division. Thus, ^
hang, "even," is at Amoy pieng in the lower first
tone, while in the syllabic spelling of the dictionaries
it is bang or biang in the first tone. In dialects having
eight tones, words in the lower series may be trans-

80 china's place in philology.

ferred into the system of the dictionaries by changing
the surd initials into sonants, and allowing the peculiar,
intonation to coalesce with that of the upper series.

The word ^ hang, "side," the English "bank,"
" bench," with its equipollent phonetics ^ fang,
"square," ^pang, "state," "kingdom," 2Js hang, "even,"
" peaceful," j^ hang, " side by side," etc., have together
an extensive cluster of derivatives, some of which take
b, and the rest p. The meanings are, " side," "even,"
" tie together," " tie," " impinge upon," " strike,"
" wings," " catalogue of names arranged side by side,"
" square," " anything square in shape," as a " territory,''
a " seal," etc., " edge," " mountain ridge," etc. Cor-
responding words in European languages are impingo,
" strike against," irrf^vvfii, " fix," pace, " peace," pack,
bang, Jingo, fixi, etc. Two hard things brought into
rapid contact caused a sound which primeval man
heard as bang. Thus the peculiar phonal form of the
root in the primitive syllabary of the world may have
originated. It then came to mean "side," from the fact
that the two portions of impinging matter remained
side by side. Then the act of bringing them together
and of holding them together, or of their coming
together of themselves, were named with the same
vowel and consonants. This gave rise to the words
belonging to this family meaning " tie," " fasten,"
" fix." When evenness, physical or moral, had to be
spoken of, the same root was used.

SURDS DERIVED FROM SONANTS. 81

But how do we find them spelled in Old Chinese?
Chiefly with b. Yet in part also with p. " Evenness,"
" impinging," " side," " bringing side by side," are all
bang. To "assist/' "squareness," a "territorial square,"
to " tie," a " wing," to " imitate," are all pang. The
reason of this is evident. Language instinctively seeks
to enlarge her bounds when they become cramped by
an increase of words and of ideas. She aims to remove
ambiguity by introducing differences in pronunciation
between like sounding words.

In the example given the words initiated by b are
the older. Those in p are the newer. The obvious con-
clusion is that p derives its origin from b, and that b is
an older letter than p. The primeval syllabary did not
need so many letters as are now in use. It started
with b, and added p, p', and / afterwards as they were
needed. In the Mongol syllabary there is no p, p', or
/, There is a fuUy developed p in the Indo-European
and Semitic families. Hence the p may have sprung
up contemporaneously in the Chinese and Indo-Euro-
pean families after their separation. In both cases it
was by a natural putting forth of creative strength on
the part of language to increase its alphabet and its
syllabary. It is thus that the preponderance of b over
p in the Sanscrit and Hebrew -vocabularies may be best
accounted for. That Latin and Greek dictionaries devote
so much larger a space to words in p and/ than to words
in 6 is an indication of recent origin in the vocabularies.

6

82 china's , PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

What is true of' b in the old Chinese syllabary is
true also of the other letters in the sonant and surd
series. The sonants g, d, b, z, are the old letters ; the
surds k, t, p, s, are more recent ; / and h seem to be
the newest of all. In the Japanese transcription all
Chinese words in h are written with k, while those
which in modern Chinese commence with / are written
with either b or h. But as h is the regular Japanese
equivalent of the Chinese p, the weight of evidence is
in favour of the statement that p and h were the old
equivalents in all cases of the moderu Chinese /. If
we carry back the inquiry another stage, p and b
coalesce in the primeval and world-wide b. The
Japanese, indeed, have an initial /; but as it is used^ to
write Chinese words in ^ as well as in /, it is probably
a new letter.

We should expect to find the name Buddha trans-
cribed in old Chinese with something like exactness.
We learn on investigation that the character -^ Fo,
was anciently called But, as is shown by the syllabic
spelling, in the Amoy pronunciation Put, and in the
Japanese transcription Budzu.

A few more examples are here appended. Among
the sonants, ^ hun, " divisions," " duties," Jg dan,
"revolve in a circle," ^ bok, "return," i^ gak,
"learn," @ ngang, "hard," ^ zung, "follow," ^Ij
bit, "other," ^ gun, "herd," i§ ngu, "meet," ^
deng, " go up," have the following correlates in the

TONES. 83

surd series, "viz.: ^ puti, "to divide" (Hebrew bin,
Latin findo), ^ tun, "revolve," "turn," English
turn, 4t poh, "north," "back," fj; kak, "teach," ^
kong, "hard," "steel," i§, tsung, "let it be that,"
glj pit, "difference," H kun, "a body of troops," ^
ku, " meet with," ^ teng, " go up."

But it was not enough for language to add the surd
letters to its acquisitions. The syllabary was still too
contracted. "Words and ideas continued to multiply,
and there was a scarcity of syllables to express them.
The age of suffixes and prefixes had not yet arrived.
It was too soon to think of dissyllables or polysyllables,
of a prefixed s or an inserted r. Language in this
time of need seized for the required service those
flitting musical intonations of human speech which the
orator uses to express decision, sarcasm, doubt, and
interrogation. At this time there were in the Chiaese
vocabulary two great groups of words. Those endiag
with ng, n, m, and the vowels, formed one group, which
we will call long in quantity. Those terminating in
g, d, b, or k, t, p, formed another, in which the sound
is shortened by the action of the final letters. They
check the breath and bring the utterance to an abrupt
conclusion. Hence these words become, for the pur-
poses of tonic pronunciation, short in quantity.

But final letters will drop off, through laziness in
emmciation, through imitation of the defects of others,
and from the circumstance that, when stress is laid by

84 china's place in philology.

the speaker on. some one element of sound, the other
elements will suffer. What did language do P She did
not resist change ? This she never does. She allowed
new laws to enter, so that the inevitable changes might
be kept under control. A third group of words was
formed out of contributions from the other two. By
the ancient poetry we learn that 3,000 years ago the
words that could rhyme with each other formed three
groups, which did not encroach on each other's limits.
The new group was mainly composed of what is now
called the Shang sheng tone class or second tone. The
third, or K'ii sheng, was subsequently formed. The
numerals were then pronounced yit, ni, sum, sat, ngo,
loh, sit, pat, ku, zhip. Of these, sam, " three," was in
the long tone, now become the first tone ; ngo, " five,"
and ku, " nine," in the new, or second tone ; ni, " two,"
doubtful; and the rest in the short tone. Of the five
elements, kirn, "metal," was first, mok, "wood," last,
and shi, " water," ka, " fire," t'o, " earth," all in the
newly-formed tone class.

Fifteen hundred years passed away, and the Hindoo
Euddhists were in China teaching the religion and
sciences of India. The Chinese had never thought
about the distinction between tones and letters, and
when Bengal and Panjdb pandits told them that
sound was capable of analysis, and that tones must
be distinguished from vowels and consonants, they
listened incredulously. But the claims of the alpha-

GROWTH OF THE TONE SYSTEM. 85

betical analysis were gradually allowed, and emperors
appointed commissions to settle the sounds and con-
struct dictionaries. Imperial pride condescended to
learn the tone distinctions in a flattering sentence
constructed by a courtier, which exemplified them in
their order. 5C ^ S ® ^'^^ ^** shing chit, " Heaven's
son is holy and wise."

The passage of 1,500 years had seen a new tone
formed, the K'ii sheng. It consists of contributions
from the second and fourth. Poetry at this time was
made according to new laws. Not only the rhyming
words were brought into subjection to the tones in
groups of four ; but all the words of each line were
made to conform to a complex harmonic scale, in the
construction of which the tones formed the chief
element.

Another 1,500 years has passed away, and we now
find that stiU. greater changes have taken place than
in the preceding period. The first tone class has been
split in two. The old sonant initials have been ex-
pelled, and their place supplied by surds and aspirates.
The words of the fourth tone class, after losing aU their
final letters, have been distributed among the other
classes, and the Chinese modem language has become
more changed from the old type than any member of
the monosyllabic family.^

' For a detafled account of these changes, see Mandarin Grammar,
Part I. The principal step I have made in advance in the Chinese part

86 china's place in philology.

There have been three great periods of 1,500 years
each. The first saw the earliest formation of the surd
and aspirate series, with that of a triple tone system.
The second witnessed an extensive dropping of the
final letters k, t, p, and ng, and the growth of the tone
system ending in the quadruple formation of the
dictionaries. The third period, perhaps the most
revolutionary of all, saw the sonant initials, and the
finals k, t, p, m, for ever dismissed, one of the primeval
tone groups completely broken up, and the syllabic
spelling of the Hindoo Buddhists thrown into chaotic
confusion.

All this may be taken as proof of the primitive
character of the Chinese language. Had it inherited
from the Turanian, Indo-European, or Semitic families,
any of their peculiar tendencies to polysyllabic forma-
tion, it would have had, historically, a very difierent
development. But being itself of the first descent
from the primeval mother of human speech, we can
trace in it no later elements. Not the Egyptian nor
the Hebrew nor the Sanscrit can compare with the
Chinese in antiquity of type. They all have a more
complex syllabary, and introduce appendages to the
roots, which constitute an e^vidence of the comparative
recency of their formation.

of the inTestigation since the publication of that work, has been in the
detection of the law by which the suid series has been regularly formed
&om the sonants, as illustrated above.

SYNTAX, 87

If with these views alone before me, I should be
incKned greatly to lengthen Chinese chronology; but
the comparison of the ancient civilizations of China
and Western Asia compels me to reduce the epoch
of the commencement of Chinese isolation to very
nearly that" of accepted history. The similarity
between old Chinese life and that depicted in the
Book of Genesis is so striking and so multiform,
that it seems impossible to date the eastern migration
of the Chinese earlier than a few centuries, at the most
ten, before the time of Abraham.

The laws of position in Chinese sentences are the
same with those already given as belonging to the
natural and primeval speech of man. The actor is
mentioned before the action, and the verb before its
object. The adjective precedes the substantive, and
the specific noun the genus to which it belongs.
The adverb precedes the verb, and the attribute the
substance to which it is attached. The subject is
first mentioned, then the copula, and lastly the pre-
dicate. The only pecuKarity to be here mentioned
as not of natural and primeval growth is, that locative
auxiliaries are made suffixes and not prefixes. " In a
city," is more natural than " city in." The Chinese,
however, prefer in their ancient and modem language
to say the latter. Our phrase, "the world," is with
them 5c "F " teaven under." These locative post-
positions are best explained as substantives. Hia is

88 china's place in philology.

" that which is below." The original force of such
words was verbal. "To go down," is also hia. As
in the Turanian languages, so in Chinese, the verb
became strongly substantival. Act became action. It
is indeed the same in English. " Act," is a verb
and a noun, and the mind learns to abstract the act
from the actor, and look at it by itself. It is then
spoken of as any other noun. Thus, c'heng nei is
translated " the city's interior " or " in the city." The
word nei is nip, to " enter," the p being dropped. The
modem form is ju. That which is entered is the
interior. The language forming faculty performs the
necessary transformation, and applies the name of the
ict enter to the inside of a city or house. It then
becomes a locative suffix.

All Chinese suffixes of this sort were originally
verbs. So the other locatives shang, " above," hia,
"below," t'sien, " before," heu, " behind," etc., were all
verbs originally. As such their places would, before
they assumed the locative character, be before their
nouns.

The germ of the Turanian and Indo-European sys-
tem of declension appears here for the first time.
What the Chinese did for the locative, the ancient
communities, who founded those types of language,
proceeded to do for the instrumental, ablative, and
dative cases. All the case suffixes, whether locative,
instrumental, or dative, were simply verbs robbed of

ORIGIN OF THE POSSESSIVE CASE. 89

their activity and placed ufter nouns as signs of
locality, direction, instrumentality, and so on, in order
to facilitate the more speedy and* convenient allocation
of the objects of thought in the categories of space
and time.

The Chinese has also a sort of possessive case, the
history of which is simple. In the earliest Chinese
the possessive case was included in the law by which
species precedes genus, subject precedes attribute, and
the particular notion goes before the general notion.
" Man's body " was jen shen. Soon one of the demon-
stratives, ti, was used as a connective — J^ ;2l S @
Nin ti ngi mok, "men's ears and eyes." There was
originally no possessive force in this connective, an-
ciently j^ ti, now ^ ti. The possessive force was
conveyed in the order of the words, in accordance with
what may be regarded as a law in the primeval lan-
guage from which the Chinese was derived. A hiatus
is felt in the modem language if Wo e^hai sKi, " my
duties," is said for Wo ti c'hai sKi. The Tibetian would
perceive a similar hiatus. The remedy is found in the
introduction of the particle ti. In the Shanghai dialect
the particle used to fiU the hiatus is ko. In Tibetan ki
is employed. In Fu kien province, as in the Amoy
dialect, e is the word. In all these cases the possessive
force would be acquired subsequently. The origin of
the possessive was simply a want felt, to make the
sentence square, a rhythmical feeling which is not

90 china's place in philology.

contented until the laws of proportion are obeyed in
language. " It is the same feeling which prompts us to
say " a long and happy reign," rather than " a happy
and long reign," and which lies at the foundation of
prosody.

The order of verbs, when they represent two or more
consecutive actions, is in Chinese that of time. This
principle would be adopted from the primeval type.
Thus, primeval man would say without any inversion,
" Sit down eat food," in the language of command or
of narration. The word down would be a verb, and
thus three verbs would stand in juxtaposition before
the solitary substantive food. The modern Chinese
says Tso Ma e'Mfan, "sit down eat rice." The Semites
were the first to introduce a conjunction and, as in
Gren. xviii. 2, " And he lifted up eyes his, and saw, and
behold three men standing by him, and [he] saw and
ran to meet them." The words lifted, saw, behold, ran,

are aU introduced by and. The prepositions " by," 75^

ngal, and 7 le, "to," are originally verbs, the one

meaning " to ascend," and the other " motion towards."
The whole sentence thus consists of nouns, pronouns,
and verbs, and the order in which the verbs stand is
that of the time in which the actions symbolized by
them took place. Not one of them is put out of its
natural position.

The order of time is the basis of the position of

POSITION OF VERBS. 91

verbs in all languages. But it was subject to frequent
inversion in the Hebrew, as in Gen. xx. 6, " And said,
Sarah, laugh made to me God," for " Sarah said, God
has made me laugh." The dative participle le before
me is redundant. The verb laugh is placed before the
verb make, and both stand before their nominatives.

Such inversions do not appear in the Chinese lan-
guage, which is unimaginative. The popular instinct
is satisfied when it describes events in the order in
which they took place, and could take no pleasure in
those bold transpositions which delighted the Semite
race.

CHAPTER VI.

The Semitic System Older than the Turanian ; Toungee than
THE Chinese. — Teilitekal Eoots.— Insertions. — Suppixes. —
Pheptxes. — Growth op Inflexions. — Sex. — Peesonifioations.
— Syntax. — The Verb placed First. — Post-position op Adjec-
tive AND OP Genitive. — Post-position op Genitive borrowed by
European Languaoes. — Semitic Eelative and European Rela-
tive COMPARED WITH THE CHINESE AND TuRANIAN EttUIVALENT.

There is no good reason to doubt tlie correctness
of those views by which Gesenius and other Semitic
philologists were led to seek affinities between the
Indo-European system and that which formed the
more peculiar object of their researches. The number
of common roots found in these two systems is indeed
very great. Thus, among the numerals, Shad, " one,"
in Chaldee seems to agree with the Greek heis, el<s,
" one," the Latin solus, and with the third among the
common Chinese roots tan, yid, kit, aU meaning " alone,"
or " one." The Chaldee shete, " two," becomes in the
ordinal for thinyana, "second." The original dental
initial t resumes its place instead of the favourite
Hebrew sibilant sh, and points to an old connexion
with diM). The very law which frequently changed t

THE SEMITIC FAMILY OLDER THAN THE TURANIAN. 93

and d to sh or s or ts in Hebrew, prevailed in the
Greek when tu, "thou," became <tv, and still operates
in Q-erman when tide becomes zeit. "Where there are
roots in common, there wiU also be found laws of
change in common. But this is anticipating. Our
task of comparison must for the present be rather
limited to the linguistic systems of Eastern Asia.

The Semitic family has older features than the
Turanian, for in the progress towards a polysyllabic
formation it has not gone far beyond the dissyllabic
root. In the Turanian languages, words of four or
five syllables are not uncommon. Another mark of
superior antiquity in the Semitic system is the absence
of case suffixes in the nouns and of temporal and
model suffixes in the verbs. The earliest Semites bent
their energy, unconsciously but surely, to the formation
of a system of speech in which as much as possible
should be done by prefixes, while the Turanians
directed their language-forming power to the develop-
ment of suffixes. Now, since the Semites never pre-
fixed more than one syllable, while the Turanian
instinct, by the creation of the polysyllabic suffix, has
caused the upgrowth of immense lingual variety in the
speech of more than half the area of Europe and Asia,
the Semitic type must be regarded as less developed,
and therefore more primitive, than the Turanian.

When it is remembered that Mongol, Greek, and
Sanscrit case suffixes are metamorphosed pronouns and

94

verbs put after instead of before their nouns, it must
be admitted that the language-systems to which they
belong are of recent origin. But where, as in Semitic
speech it happens, the verb, which is required to do
the duty of a case particle, becomes a preposition, and
stands before its noun, we feel ourselves to be in the
midst of speakers who retain closely the tradition of
the earth's primeval language. No one will object
to the statement that the Arabs have more primeval
characteristics than the Greeks. Their life, their
customs, and their modes of thinking, bear the stamp
of immense antiquity; and as is their life so is their
language. Every language carries on it the impress
of the genius of the people that formed it. If the
Chinese type is the most conservative among families
of languages, the Semitic comes next to it. It never
went far beyond the primitive model transmitted by
" the earth's gray fathers."

The date of the formation of the Semitic type being
thus shown to be older than that of the Aryan and
Turanian families, it must now be proved that it is
more recent than the Chinese, and that its origination
constitutes the second great step in the progress of
language.

The most obvious point of contrast is in the triliteral
roots. The ancient Chinese said for " happiness," pok,
a root which has the connected meanings, " rich " and
" vast." In Sanscrit we find hhaga, " good fortune,"

TEILITEEAL EOOTS DERIVED FEOM MONOSYLLABLES. 95

in Latin fortuna, in Greek ttXouto?, " rich," in Per- .
sian bakht, "rich," in Mongol boyin, "happiness,"
in Russian hogatie, "rich." The confusion between
riches and happiness is easily accounted for. Among
what people is it not common to make wealth the
measure of happiness? In Hebrew the root occurs
in larach, "to bless." Here we have a triliteral root
brk. The vowels were not written by the early Phoeni-
cians and Hebrews. We have, therefore, only the
consonants to consider. An r has been inserted. There
is in this nothing uncommon. The difference of an
inserted r in the English word world as compared
with the Grerman Welt, does not render doubtful the
identification of these words.

There is a root very widely spread in most languages.
It is our English verb to cut. It is in Chinese kat
^ij, Latin ccedo, Mongol hadomoi, Japanese katana,
" a sword," Tamul katti, " a knife." Gesenius says ^
that the syllable gad has in Hebrew the notion of
cutting in common with gaz, as in gasaz, from which
it is derived by the loss of the sibilant; but on the
other hand it may be traced still farther to the harder
syllables Kats, Kash, Kas, Hhats, Sha%, and, the sibi-
lant disappearing, Kat, Kad, Shot, Shad. All these
syllables have the sense of cutting. They appear as
roots in the forms Oazaz, Katsats, Hhatsats, Kadad,
Hhadad. To these may be added Gadah and Gadang
1 Lexicon Manuale, under Gadad.

96

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

When this great philologist proceeded to compare

with the large family of words here cited the Latin

cmdo and scindo, the Greek a-xi^(o, the Persian chidan

and khudan, and the EngKsh cut, it is evident that he

regarded the triliteral form as the formal root, and the

biliteral as the real. He was manifestly right in this,

as the examples now given from the eastern Asiatic

languages sufficiently show. But there can be but

little doubt that he was wrong in assuming the priority

of the s final to the t, and of the k initial to the g}

The Chinese syllabary shows that a sibilant final to a

root syllable is an innovation, and the history of the

changes of letters in that language renders it probable

that the whole surd series is derived from the sonant.

Hence we learn that the root gad changed its initial to

the strong aspirate Hh or to the pure surd letter k.

The final d became ^ or s or sh or ts. We need not be

surprised if we often meet with an interchange between

the dental t and the sibilant s. This may be illustrated

by the second personal pronoun in t. This form for

the second person does not occur in any families but

the Semitic, the Indo-European, and the Tartar branch

of the Turanian. It is firmly fixed in all these. The

Mongols take the s form, chH or t'si, as do the Manchus

when they say si, and the Turks when they say sen.

The Greek crv has followed them. The Sanscrit tuam,

' Under the word d^JiJ' shmayim, " two," Gesenius states tliat the
primary form seems to be ''jn, thus admitting the priority of the i sound.

PEEFIX SIBILANTS. 97

Persian tu and to, Latin tu, German du, English thou,
agree with the Hebrew atta, Arabic ant, and Egyptian
entok in preferring t.

"We also learn that the first speakers of the Semitic
languages, in forcing the roots to assume a triliteral
form, added as a third letter the consonants ng and h,
or doubled the final letter when it happened to be d, t$,
or 2. There were similar laws of change attendant on
the other letters of the Semitic alphabet where they
occur. The second k, for instance, was added in
mathaq, " was sweet," connected with the Sanscrit
madhu, "honey."

I now give examples to show that the phenomenon
of a sibilant prefix, so common in the Sanscrit, and in
the European languages, is also a favourite way of
modifying the sound of a root among the Semites.
The word saphak, " strike," is used' in the causative
form in the sense of " strike a covenant," which is in
Latin pepigit fmdm, or in the completed form pacttim.
In Chinese ^'a^ is "to strike," and bang, in the modern
form p'ing, is a " proof," " evidence." In the verb
saphak, " to strike," " to punish," there is a variation
in the sibilant initial, samech being used for sin. The
Hebrews also said for to " cleave," to " open," bakang,
bakar, which meanings are expressed in Chinese by
p'ik. May it not be regarded as probable that s was
prefixed to the biliteral root in p, k, just as we say
^ Gesenios, Lex. Man. in roc. Saphek.

7

yo CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

smelt, and the Germans schmehen, for to melt ? If so,
then tsakhaq, "laugh," may be derived from kak, the
root syllable of cachination, the German Kichern, and
the Greek «a%a§B. So shakab, "recline," from kub,
the root of cubo, and Kxnrrw, Mongol heht'emoi, " lie
down." So again, sagab, "to be high," from gab in
gibeah, " a hUl," and gabahh, " to be high." The word
sabar, " to hope," derived from bar, a root meaning
" to pierce," " scrutinize,'' as in the preposition per,
and the verbs pierce, bore, may be compared with the
Latin spero, " to hope." Tsadih, " just," will then be
the same with the Greek BiKMo^ and the Latin rectus,
and agrees still more nearly with our own straight.

By these and similar processes the primitive biliteral
roots have become triliteral, and it was thus that the
Semites poiated out the path of change to the more
youthful Indo-Europeans. Finding among the two
families similar laws of change, we assign to the
Semitic system, on account of its more simple syllabary,
a higher antiquity than to the Indo-European ; and so,
when we compare the Semitic system with the Chinese,
we must call the Chinese the older, because its roots
are in a more rudimentary and primitive form.

The Chinese cM, " straight," is in the oldest ascer-
tainable pronunciation dik. The Tamul-speaking people
say takuti, and the Mongols t'egshi. The Greeks used
the root dik. The Latins changed it to rek. The
English and Arabs prefixed s, and the Hebrews ts.

EGYPTIAN SYLLABLE-EXAMPLES.

99

That the Hamitic and Semitic languages were closely
connected is now generally admitted. Egyptian words
show signs of a more modern form than correspondiag
Chinese words. I select a few examples^ from "Egypt's
Place in Universal History."

CHINESE

MEANING.

EGYPTIAN.

OLD.

HEW.

mo

ma

hemp

hma

mo

wu

is not

m or am

pui

fei

%

pai, pni

ban

p'an

to sin,

offend

ban

put

pu

not

bu

bak

pe

■white

ubex

kit

hi

rejoice

haa

pak

pei

carry

fa, fai

The tendency to assume a dissyllabic form is manifest
in these words. The language of Ancient Egypt be-
longs to a newer formation than the Chinese.

When the structure of the 'Hebrew conjugations, the
syllabic suffixes to express the dual and plural, and
the pronominal suffixes to nouns, are examined, the
advance of the Semitic system from the primeval
monosyllabism towards the polysyllabic form becomes
still more clear. For example, n is prefixed to make a
passive and hith to form a middle voice. The prefix
h makes the verb causative, as does the insertion of

1 These examples have been kindly corrected for me by a distinguished
Egyptologist.

100 china's place in philology.

go and gol in Mongol. Tte root of the verb to cause
is in Chinese ko or kok, atxA. this, as h grows out of k,
may be the parent of both these forms. The root thus
becomes lengthened into four or five letters and two or
three syllables.

The extensive use of /, r, s, and ts, as finals to the
monosyllabic or biliteral root is another mark of more
recent formation. These peculiar finals, entirely un-
known in the ancient Chinese vocabulary, occur abun-
dantly in the Hebrew, Turanian, and Indo-European
syllabaries. The Chinese has /, but not r, in- its
alphabet, and the Japanese r, but not I. In modern
Chinese r is struggling for recognition. In Mongol
and Tamil I and r are fully developed, as in the
Semitic and European systems.'^ They occur either as
initials or as finals. The same is true of the sibilants
s, ts, and sh. To the Semitic stock, therefore, should
be assigned the honour of developing the syllabary of
human speech in this direction. It was this system
that first distinguished between I and r as initials, and
added them, with s, sfi, z, ts, to the list of final con-
sonants. From them the Turanians took them during
their ancient residence in South-western Asia, but
subsequently to the time when they sent away the
Japanese ofishoot, and left it to pursue an independent
existence in the far east of Asia ; for the inhabitants
of that island- empire are very deficient in this part of
' Xot as initials in Tamil.

GENDER. 101

their syllabary, and their language seems to be the
oldest of the three Turanian systems.

The vowels being represented by three letters in the
earliest Semitic (that is, the Phoenician) alphabet, it is
probable that when the ancestors of the Semites left
the primeval stem of language, the vowels a, i, u,
were sufficient for the needs of human speech at that
time.

Thus much for the Semitic syllabary. Another

mark of advance to be now noted is the growth of the

Semitic inflexions. Imagination was always powerful

among the men of this race. It gave to the Old

Testament in its poetical portions their metaphorical

imagery, brilliant description, and rapid movement.

This same gift was their inheritance long before the

days of the prophets, at an earlier time during the

formation of their languages. We see its effects in

the attribution of sex to the lifeless objects of nature.

Cedar, gem, hunch of grapes, death, enemy, hook, were

masculine. Pillar, egg, castle, intellect, year, sleep,

were feminine. Some words, such as earth, fire, were

masculine or feminine. The Chinese and Turanian

languages know nothing of these distinctions, and

hence we infer that this characteristic of the Sanscrit,

Greek, and Latin tongues has been derived from the

influence of the earlier Semitic type. The feminine

was marked frequently by a special suffix, as by h, or

th in Hebrew, and by a in Greek and Latin.

102 china's place in philology.

Among the personal pronouns, ani, the first, was the
common property of the Hebrew man and woman, but
in the second person a distinction commenced, and was
also maintained in the third. In the verb also, when
woman or any feminine objects were spoken to or
spoken of, a special suffix was used. But in this the
Indo-European system did not follow the Semitic ex-
ample, preferring to express the distinctions of person
by the pronominal suffixes, without giving attention
to sex. The Semitic languages gaia little by this
laborious system of conjugating according to gender,
and it has, therefore, nearly lost its place in language.
The predisposition of the human mind for poetical and
rhythmical expression leads to the introduction into
language of many laws, which, on account of their
burdensome nature, must ultimately be given up, and
cannot be espeoted to continue their existence in newly
formed linguistic families. To such laws the Semitic
conjugation by gender must be referred. The dis-
tinction of gender in pronouns has lived for a longer
period, having lasted from the commencement of the
Semitic age down to the modem English, the newest
and freest form of Indo-European speech, which, while
rejecting the distinction of gender in inanimate objects,
has retained it in the personal pronouns he, she, it.

One of the most striking phenomena in Semitic
speech, the result, like the genders of nouns, of bold-
ness in imagination, is the inversion noticeable in the

POST-POSITION OF THE NOMINATIVE. 103

order of words. In tEe first verse of Genesis we read
Breshith hara Ehhim eth hashshamayim ve eth ha-aretz.
" In the beginning created God the heavens and the
earth." Why is the verb placed before its nominative ?
It is in consequence of a law of inversion which it
pleased the imaginative faculty to introduce. It was
rendered possible by the previous formation of an
objective case. The prefix eth being used to mark
the object of the verb's action, there can be no con-
fusion between the nominative and accusative, and it
is, therefore, at the option of the speaker to place the
actor before or after the verb, as he pleases. Guided
by a poetic instinct, the Semite usually preferred to
mention the verb before the actor. In so doing he
departed from the old primeval law of human speech,
still remaining in the Chinese and Turanian systems,
and allowed the imagination to triumph over the logical
faculty, according to which the nominative, as the first
in nature and time, precedes its verb.

Another instance of the effect of inversion is seen
in examples where the verb stands first, the nomina-
tive comes last, and the object is between them. Ki
Yebiaka Yehom, " For shall bring thee Jehovah,"
instead of, "For Jehovah shall bring thee." This order
is rendered possible by the object ka, " thee," the pro-
nominal suffix to the verb, being always accusative, so
that there can be no confusion between actor and
object.

104 china's place in philology.

The laws by wtich the adjective follows the substan-
tive, and the demonstrative pronoun its noun, are also
caused by this> tendency to inversion. The article
came into existence opportunely to allow of this being
conveniently done. The sentence, " This good land,"
is in Hebrew, Hcharetz hattohah haszoth. Ha, the
definite article, is used three times. Tolah, "good,"
follows aretz, " the earth," and zoth, " this," comes last.
This law also meets us in the Malay and Polynesian
languages, where, however, the article is wanting.

A more important inversion perhaps than the pre-
ceding is what may be called the post-position of the
genitive, as in the Arabic zill Allah, " the shadow of
AUah." The natural order is " Allah's shadow," as in
all the languages east of Persia (including the Sanscrit),
excepting the East Himalaic, Malay, and Polynesian
systems. Our primeval ancestors, there can be little
doubt, spoke of the possessor first, and then what he
possessed. The Semitic imagination first seized the
name of the object possessed and then that of the
possessor. This caused what is called the "construct
state." The first word had its vowel shortened, and
the plural termination appeared in a clipped form.
Thus, D'''1il'l devarim, became ^'li'l divre, in the phrase
divre hangam DJ^H *'11'1 " words of the people."

"When in Greek we find the post-position of the
genitive well established, as in dva^ avhpwv, "king of
men," and also remember the contiguity of the Greek

POST-POSITION OF THE GENITIVE. 105

and Semitic areas and the ancient intermixing of the
Phoenicians with the Hellenic race, it seems quite a
natural supposition that the Greeks derived it from the
Semites. The near neighbourhood of the Assyrian
empire and civilization would aid powerfully in the
introduction into the Greek language of this and other
Semite idioms. The same strong and long-continued
Semite influence caused its entrance into the Persian as
in Mushk-i Khoten, " musk of Khoten."

In English the two modes of arrangement are both
in use, and this, as in other European tongues, adds
much to the freedom, fluency, and variety which cha-
racterize modem speech. Thus the Shorter Catechism
commences, " What is the chief end of man ? " and
says in the answer, " Man's chief end is to glorify God,
and enjoy him for ever." If there had been any
difference in intelligibility or propriety of use between
" man's chief end," and the " chief end of man," a
preference would have been shown here for one of
these modes of speaking, to the exclusion of the other.
In the English of the nineteenth century there are
stUl no certain signs indicating that the Semitic
mode of speech is coming near the end of its reign;
and yet it is possible that the post-position of the
genitive may pass into an archaism after no very long
time. The Greeks said V169 ©eov, for "Son of God."
The Latins rather preferred to say Dei fllius. The
Sanscrit-speaking Arians could not transpose their

106

genitive, thus showing that they were under strong
Turanian influence, and showed very little sign of
Semite connexion.

Of the remarkable inversion of order, which in the
Turanian and Indo-European families led to the system
of case suffixes, there is scarcely any trace in the
Hebrew, except in the suffix ah, expressing motion
towards a place. But we do not know what this ah
was. In the case suffixes of the Sanscrit and Greek
we find, or think we ought to find, metamorphosed
demonstratives placed after their nouns. Perhaps we
should rather say verbs metamorphosed. Looking for
an old verbal equivalent to this suffix, we find the
Chinese hiang |^j hung, hung, "towards."

One of the greatest improvements in language due
to the influence of the Semitic mind is the introduction
of the relative pronoun. This pronoun is originally
formed from the interrogative or demonstrative. In
English the demonstrative that has acquired a relative
force, and so it may be said of the interrogative who.

In Hebrew, the relative pronoun ^K'K asher, is not
so easily accotmted for. We find in Chinese an inter-
rogative zholt, "who?" which appears in the modern
form as &hui, after dropping its final and changing its
zh to sh. "We also have &i, " this," and %hi, " this,"
both old words; shat, "what?" a dialect word; and
shen, "what," or, in an older form, zhim, a Mandarin
word. Gesenius prefers to derive asher from the

ORIGIN OF THE RELATIVE. 107

primitiTe demonstrative in s, in Sanscrit sa, sas, English
so, she, German sie, and finds the final r in our words
there, der, er, etc. The old word ^ si, "this," and
its equivalent jl{j t'si, " this," show that the ancient
Chinese had the same sibilant demonstrative. But the
Hebrew sh has in some words the value i in cognate

dialects. Thus, Dty sham, "there," was tam in Chaldee,

Latin turn. Our word asher may therefore be a dis-
guised form of the demonstrative in d, used in so many
languages and dialects, Indo-European and Chinese.
Thus we have in old Chinese di, " this," and the same
in Tibetan, equivalent to the German der, die, das, and
the English this and that. In Chaldee we find da min
da, " this from that," reminding us of the Tibetan di,
"this," and Malay dia, "he." We also meet with di
in Chaldee for " who," " which," " that," and as a sign
to connect a genitive with its prefixed nominative.

The relative is a device for continuing a description
without coming to a fiill stop, and it allows the speaker
to proceed without being compelled to commence again
with a repetition of the noun. Hence the demon-
strative pronoxm is taken for this service as the repre-
sentative of the notm, and as most suited to imdergo
the change in meaning which is required by its new
position. The Hebrews often omitted the relative, an
indication that in the early stage their language was

without it. 17 tJ^wS kol yeah lo, " all was his," that

108 china's place in philology.

is, "all that was his." They afterwards introduced
mher to fill the gap, and make the sentence entirely
coherent. The device was successful. They used for
this object an obsolete demonstrative, asher, not needed
for any other purpose.

When the Semites introduced the relative, it was in
accordance with the genius of their language, which
seizes on the central idea and then describes it in
detail. The second verse of the second chapter of
Genesis reads, if translated according to the Hebrew
order, " And finished God on day the seventh work his
which he did, and he rested on day the seventh from
all work his which he did." The emphatic verbs finish
and rest stand first. Day precedes its adjective, seventh.
Work precedes the relative clause describing it. The
action if a verb and the nominative if a noun must
in all cases stand out in their clear individuality first.
Then the particulars follow, whether expressed by
adjectives, by pronouns, or by the relative clause.
Such was the mode of constructing sentences which
was most agreeable to the Semitic imagination. The
eastern Asiatic languages have been content to be
guided by the logical faculty.

The old Chinese would say, "Seventh day, God's
work being completed, then he rested."^ Here the

tsiim nai k'i aife, "Seyenth day Supreme Ruler work completed then

SEMITIC AND CHINESE RELATIVE COMPARED. 109

time is put first, because it is (viewed grammatically) a
subordinate circumstance. The nominative stands first
because the actor in the order of nature exists before
the act. The verbs completed and rested take the order
of time, and one nomiaative, God, serves for both. The
order of nature allows of brief description. If this
ordier is broken in upon, the penalty must be paid ia
tautologies and circumlocution.

The contents of every relative clause, are capable of
being inserted as a subordinate clause in the priacipal
sentence under the control of the nominative to th^t
sentence. This insertion is what the Chinese make use
of instead of a relative clause.

The Mongol reads " God," uberon uileduhsen uilesi,
" self-done work," jirgogan edure t'egusgeged, " sixth
day being finished," dolodogar edure, "on the seventh
day," uberon uileduksen uiles eche, " self-done work
from," amorabai, " rested." ^ Here the principal verb,
rested, stands last, according to the invariable law of
the Turanian languages. The nominative, God, stands
first, ruling the subordinate and the principal clause.
This is the fixed order of clauses in Ohiuese and iu the
Turanian system. What in Hebrew would be a relative
clause is here constructed in immediate connexion with

stopped rested." From Translation of the Scriptures by Medhurst and
others into Chinese.

1 From the Translation of the Scriptures into Mongolian, by Messrs.
Swan and Stallybrass,

110 china's place in philology.

tlie nominative by means of the possessive sufl&x
attached to the reflexive pronoun self.

The influence of Semite speech appears to have been
less on Sanscrit than on the other Indo-European
tongues. The post-position of the genitive is entirely
foreign to Indian grammar, and it seems to make but
sparing use of the relative. The Hindoos did not
commonly by its means construct a new subordinate
clause after the principal sentence. They placed it as
a Chinese or Mongol would do in a clause by itself
before the chief sentence. They were fond of antithesis,
and introduced a demonstrative he to correspond
with the relative. In Williams' Sanscrit Grammar,
the following example is given. " "What you have
promised, that abide by." Yat pratijndtam tat pdlaya.

The Chinese would say in their modern language,
tsen mo shwo, tsen mo king, "how speak," "how do,"
meaning, " as you have spoken so do." Here, tsen mo
is an interrogative, "how ?" The Sanscrit yad, yah, is
simply an old disused interrogative " who ?" " what ?"
employed to perform , the simpler duties of the relative
according to the limited Hindoo conception of them.
It is to the European languages that we must look for
the examples of the full development of the relative, as
a main help to the attainment of that fluency in narra-
tive and accuracy in description for which they are
distinguished.

CHAPTER VII.

The HniAiAio Laugxtages Yodngek than the Chinese; Oideb than
THE Turanian. — ^Eastekn Hdhalaic Branch. — Siamese Phonai
System. — Cochin-Chinese Tones. — Chinese Naturai, Tones. —
Vocabulary. — Syntax. — Western Himalaic Beanoh. — Tibetan
Phonai. System. — Tibetan and Hebrew Common "Words. — Tibb-
TAN Tones. — ^Post-Position op Case Particles. — Derivatives. —
Tibetan Verb. — AifTiauiTY op the Tibetan Type.

On approacliing the Himalaic languages on the
western side, we find ourselves in contact with a system
of case suffixes for the first time. For these we look in
vaia in the Semitic family, and in Chiaese they are
limited to the locative case. The Tibetan race connects
itself by monosyllabic structure and tones, as well as
by a large number of identical words, with the Chinese.
But by its system of case particles it is seen to approach
to the Tartar and Indian languages. The Tibetan
belongs to a system younger than the Chinese, because
it places the substantive before the adjective, and the
verb at the end of the sentence. In the same way it
may be shown to be older than the Turanian family,
because, though it strongly resembles that system in
placing the case particles after their nouns, and the
verbs at the end of the sentence, yet its monosyllabic
character and system of tonic pronunciation cause it
to approximate to the Chinese.

112 china's place in philology.

The existence of the case suffixes in the Tibetan
language, and the circumstance that the verb is there
uniformly found at the end of the sentence, are suffi-
cient to justify us in ascribing to the Himalaic family
to which it belongs a later origin than to the Semitic.
The third great step in the development of human
language was made, therefore, in the formation of this
family.

At the same time it must be kept in view that the
Eastern and Western Himalaic languages are diverse
in several important respects. The Cochin- Chinese
and Siamese languages have an order like and yet not
like the Chinese in the combination of the prepositions
with the nouns. All the case auxiliaries are prefixed,
whether locative, instrumental, dative, or ablative. In
the Chinese the locative auxiliaries follow, and the rest
precede their nouns. In the Tibetan they are all
suffixes. The Eastern and Western branches of the
Himalaic family thus appear to differ in character very
materially, and a division is rendered inevitable. Yet
their common tonic pronunciation, and their advance
beyond the Chinese in the extended capacity of their
syllabaries, may stUl be regarded as furnishing sufficient
ground for retaining them in connexion as branches of
one family.

In the Cochin- Chinese and Siamese languages, which
are the chief members of the Eastern Himalaic branch,
an alphabetic series and syllabary exist, much re-

SIAMESE PHONAL SYSTEM. 113

sembling the Chinese. The words are monosyllabic.
The finals are in Cochin-Chinese, besides the vowels,
k, t, p, ng, nh, n, m, and ch. Of these nh is a variation
from ng and ch from k. An effort has been made to
throw off some of these finals. We find nhot, " day,"
the Chinese nyit, also spelled ngai, where the t is lost.
There is a limited use of r and I after the initials i and
t. Thus, iron, hlon, trot, blot, all mean "perfect,"
" whole," and are the same with the Chinese ^ t'siuen,
formerly pronounced zien and dzien. In exchange for
dz, dj, ch, ts, the Cochin- Chinese introduced gradually
the initials tr and bl. They also developed the modern
letters r and / out of the old I. The Siamese have
done the same, and have also added f, as the modern
Chinese have done, to the old alphabetic elements. No
other member of the Himalaic family has the letter/.
The area of this letter is also Kmited among the Tura-
nian languages to Japan, Manchuria, and Turkestan.
The Siamese have no sh, but they have, Ij^e aU. the
members of the Himalaic family, an abundant supply
of aspirated surds. Thus, k, t, and p, with an aspirate,
are extremely common. These aspirated mutes exist
in certain localities in Europe, and constitute a main
peculiarity in the colloquial Irish pronunciation of the
English language, but it is only in the speech of
Eastern Asia that they have been made to take the
part of distinct letters. From Jones's "Grammatical
Notices of the Siamese Language," it would appear that

114 china's place in philology.

there has been no change in the finals : k, d, b, ng, n, m,
rule undisturbed as the favourite consonants for termin-
ating all closed syllables. Perhaps d and h, which come
in place of t and p, are of even greater antiquity than
these last. They may be the vestiges of an era when
the surds k, t, p, were still unknown as initials or finals,
and when in the primeval alphabet, as now in the
Tartar languages, the aspirates and sonants were the
only representatives of the triple series known as
gutturals, dentals, and labials.

The tones are in the Siamese phonal system closely
intertwined with the syllabary. The letters are divided
into three series, high, middle, and low. The aspirates
^'j t'i P\ *> /j ^) c'^> ^""s pronounced in the upper and
lower series, that is, for example, in a high and low do.
The surds and sonants k, ch, t, p, d, b, are in the middle
series, e.g., in the key of sol. The remainder, ng, n, m,
I, r, w, y, are in the lower do.

The wQfds being arranged on a scale with a triple
pitch, of which the two intervals, taken together, vary
from, perhaps, a half to an entire octave, the inflexions
and even-tones, five in number, still remain to be
applied to them. These consist of a slow even-tone,
a circumflex, which is a curve of the voice, first down
and then up, a slow falling, a quick rising, and a slow
rising inflexion.^ The English and French interrog-
ative tone is the same as what is here called the quick
' See Grammatica Linguae Tai, by Bishop Pallegoix.

COCHIN-CHINESE TONES.

115

rising inflexion. In the sentence, " What ! not obey
me?" the tone of what is the quick rising inflexion,
and that of obey is not unfrequently the slow falling
circumflex.

The Cochin- Chinese tones are also arranged on a
triple pitch, which we may again think of as upper
do, sol, and lower do, remembering, however, that
the breadth of the intervals and the general pitch of
the voice depend on the habit of the individual and
the state of his feelings. The tones in this language
are like the Chinese, and are not distributed among
aspirates and non-aspirates, as are the Siamese and
Tibetan, but are themselves set in sol, and the lower
and upper do.

COCHIN-CHINESE TONES.'

NATTTEAL CHAAACTER.

MUSICAL NOTATION.

ENGLISH EQUIVALENT.

1. quick even

2. quick rising

3. falling and rising ['=^''^^-

4. slow even

5. quick faUiug

6. slow falling

upper do

sol, si

sol, fa, la

sol
fa, mi

lower do

monotone
interrogative

satirical circumflex

monotone
interrogative
rtone of remonstrance
tone of decision

This system differs from the Chinese only in having
a triple pitch, while the tones of Chinese dialects are,

1 Prof, des Michels, " Sur les Intonations chez las Annamites." 1869.

116 china's place in philology.

perhaps, usually content with a double key. The
Chinese, also, often use the other circumflex, namely,
that which is bent first upward and then downward.

The Chinese, as having a greater variety of dialects,
have, of course, a fuller development of tones than the
sister races can be expected to possess.

They have the quick and slow even-tone, the quick
and slow rising inflexion, the quick and slow falling
inflexion, and the circumflex of two kinds, first rising
and then falling, or first falling and then rising, and
each of these in slow or quick time. They may be
represented by straight and curved lines, thus : —

CHINESE NATURAL TONES.

Even stroke quick and slow monotone

{^''orcur^ed'''*'"^''*^ ^- quick and slow falling slide

{^l^fd' ''™^''' "' ^ - - I'^ol' ''"d sl"^ ^^S slide

Curve down and up > ' V -^ quick and slow falling circumflex

Curve up and down , , x s quick and slow rising circumflex

Each of these may be placed in a higher or lower
pitch, and perhaps there may be an intermediate or
. triple pitch in some cases.^

Each dialect selects from this set of tones as many as
it requires. The least number of tones that any dialect

' The intervals may be do, mi, sol, or mi, h, do, and for the double
pitch do, sol, or la, do, which last is the interval in Peking for ordinary

EASTERN HIMALAIC VOCABULARY.

117

in China is known to use is four, as the Pekinese ; and
the greatest nine, as in the Hok lo patois, in Canton
province.

The waves of the voice in these inflexions are better
represented by curved lines than by the musical scale of
modern Europe, because the sound of the inflexion
is continuous and not broken up into quavers and
crotchets. But to convey a correct idea of the vari-
ation in pitch noticeable in tonic elocution, reference to
the musical scale is highly useful.

The vocabulary of the eastern Himalaic languages is
in many respects like the Chinese.

English

Chinese
Cochin-Chinese
Greek, Latin

fish honey earth clothing mother breath

ngud

IxBis

mid da
mot dat
lt,4\t terra

wei
ao

Testis

mo
me

k'ui
k'oi
halitus

English

1 two three

four

five

six fire

fowl

head

Chinese
Siamese

shong sam
song sam

si
si

ngu
ha

lok hwa
hok fai

koi
kai

du
how

In Siamese h takes the place of the Chinese I and a.
The Siamese I corresponds to the Chinese h, as in
Chinese hit, "blood," Siamese luit; Chinese hwang,
"yellow," Siamese leuang ; Chinese hung, "rainbow,"
Siamese lung. The modern Chinese h corresponds to
an older k, and will bear comparison with our western

118 china's PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

cruor, crudelis, gore, clot} So hwang, " yellow," may be
compared with, our crocus. The word for "rainbow,"
hung, is doubtless a variant of kong, " a bow." The ng
final of Chinese words sometimes corresponds to our
western m. So here the Persian kemdn and Greek
Kafi'TTTco, " to bend," are derived from the same root.

The Siamese pronouns ku, " I," nieung, " thou," and
¥ea, "he," may be compared with the Chinese nga,
"I," the Hainan, Kwangsi, and Kweicheu aboriginal
word mu, ■ " thou," and the Chinese gi, " he." The
extension of the second personal pronoun mu over the
area occupied by the Blue and "White Miau of South
China, the Hainan islanders and the Shan tribes of
Burmah and Siam,* helps materially to connect these
scattered dialects, stretching from the Gulf of Siam,
N. latitude 14°, to Kweicheu in China, N. latitude 26°,
into one system.

The "Western Himalaic languages, including the
speech of the Lo lo in the Chinese province of
Kweicheu, the Burmese and the Tibetians, do not
appear to have this pronoun. They use instead of it
for our thou, in the Lo lo dialect, kai, and in Tibetan,
k'yed.

' Thess words all branch from the primeval root hit, " coagulate,"
"join together." Hence our kith, catena, and the Chinese Mt, "tie," and
gin, "near."

* See Bishop Bigandet's comparative vocabulary of Shan dialects in
Logan's Journal of the Indian Archipelago.

LAWS OF POSITION. 119

The Siamese, the T'ung tribe in Kwangsi, the
White Miau in Kweicheu, the Li tribe of Hainan, and
the Shans, all say for " I " and " my," ku, hau, or k'au.
These are all merely variations from the widely spread
root nga common to the Chinese and Tibetians, and
occurring as aham, ego, ich, in Indo-European languages.

The third personal pronoun k'ia, in Chinese gi, has
nearly as wide an area. The White Miau of China say
kwa for "he," the Tibetians ko. The Japanese say
kono for " this." The Latin is hie, and the English he.
As an interrogative, the same root takes the form of
" quis ?" " quid ? " " who ? " and " what ? " It is also
extensively used in the Turanian and Semitic lan-
guages, as in the Mongol k'en, " who ? " and the
Hebrew hu, "he."

The laws of position in the Eastern branch of the
Himalaic family are very peculiar. In all the dialects,
whether those of the Miau aborigines in South-western
China,^ or the Li in Hainan, the Cochin-Chinese or the
Siamese, the adjective follows the substantive. It is
the same in the Western branch. The Chinese, Mon-
gols, Turks, and Hindoos, encircling these languages
on all sides, place the adjective before the substantive.
The Malays only form an exception. The Himalayan
races have not then, in the adoption of this inversion,

' My authorities for Miau dialects are the Chinese works Hing i fu chi,
Kwangsi t'ung chi, and for Hainan a manuscript vocabulary by Bobert
Swinhoe, Esq.

120 china's place in philology.

imitated any of their neighbours. Shall we trace this
law to Semite influence, or attribute it to their own
independent efforts to effect changes in the primeval
type ? Perhaps the latter view may be most favourably
received. But an early connexion with the Semites
is not unlikely, certainly not impossible.

On the other hand, the Eastern branch of this family
is, in regard to the position of the locative case parti-
cles, older than the oldest of its neighbours. The verbs
which mark the cases of nouns are all found before
their nouns, and very curiously we see the same
principle in operation in the Semitic languages. The
Tibetians and Tartars belong to more modern migrations,
and at the very commencement of their independent
linguistic existence they performed with decision and
the most thorough success the feat of transferring the
verb to the close of the sentence. This process in-
cluded necessarily the post-position of all case particles.
There can be no doubt that this Turanian idiom is new,
and the Ultra-Indian idiom old. The geographical
situation renders this conclusion inevitable. If also it
be remembered that the tribes called in the oldest of
the Chinese classics, the San Miau,^ were the first
known occupants of the Chinese area, it seems difficult
to resist the conclusion that the Eastern Himalayan

' The reign of Shun, B.C. 2255, in the Shu king, included the pacifica-
tion of the San Miau, or three aboriginal tribes, among its chief historical
events.

EASTERN HIMALAIC SYNTAX. 121

races are older than tte Chinese. For how can it be
accounted for that the Chinese should have taken the
first step in the post-position of the case particles, and
that their southern neighbours should show no trace of
a similar phenomenon, except on the supposition that
in the early migrations from the west, the TJltra-
Indians came first and the Chinese next? Tet they
continued uncivilized tiU Buddhist teachers visited
them from India and covered the peninsula with
monastic institutions and Hindoo practices and beliefs.
This was nearly 2,000 years ago. At about the same
time, the light of Chinese ancient culture penetrated
also among them, especially in the reign of Han Wu ti,
B.C. 100. They never originated, like the Hindoos, a
mighty kosmos of the imagination, nor, like the
Chinese, a cpmplete practical system of the arts of
life. The vast Cambodian temples, with their long
colonnades, now hidden in the glades of unfrequented
forests, the shining kiosks of modem Bankok, the
books of prayers written on the palm leaf, the invoca-
tions to Gautama, and the ascetic and convent life, are
all Hindoo. The agriculture, the usages of commerce,
the mode of government, are all Chinese.

Hence their languages. have probably changed more
than the Chinese. Speech owes its persistence to
civilization. Ancient words are crystallized in litera-
ture, even if they are dropped from their place in the
familiar intercourse of men. Barbarous idioms alter

122 china's place in philology.

rapidly. Laws of grammar, words, sounds, meanings,
accents, are in perpetual transition. Hence the noTcl
aspect of much of the vocabulary of these races. Living
as separate tribes, the language of each has undergone
rapid changes. But through all the principles of
grammatical structure and the outline of the phonal
system appear to have retained their ancient features.
The marks of primeval formation are most remarkable,
and their consanguinity to the Chinese type is as un-
deniable as is their likeness in lineaments to the
common mother from which all languages sprang.

We do not meet with any full representative of the
Western branch of the Himalayan race till we arrive
at Tibet and Burmah, and perhaps the Chinese Lo lo.
The Karens are in a half-way position between the
two branches. They place the adjective and the
demonstrative pronoun after the substantive, and the
case particles before the object, whose relations they
define. The possessor precedes the object possessed, as
in all the Eastern Asiatic languages. They have six
tones and a strong attachment for vowel finals. All
the consonant finals have been thrown oflF, except ng.
Although in vocabulary they have borrowed much
from the Burmese and Tibetan languages,^ they cannot
with these laws of position be rightly classed anywhere
but in the Eastern branch.

What strikes the eye most remarkably in the Tibetan
' Logau'a Journal.

TIBETAN PHONAL SYSTEM. 123

syllabary is the prefixed letters. The early speakers
of this form of hmnan speech, not having before them
the idea of terminations, that happy device made use
of by the founders of the polysyllabic languages, bent
their strength unconsciously to add letters at the
beginnings of the roots. In so doing they remind us
of the Semite system, which, in the conjugation of the
verb, prefixes n to make a passive, m to make a parti-
ciple and an agent, and h to render the verb causative.
The favourite prefixes of the Tibetans are g, d, b, h, m,
r, I, s. Csoma de Koros says, they are in modern speech
seldom heard. Hence this effort to extend the mono-
syllabic root at its beginning must be regarded as a
failure. The letters thus ineffectually placed at the
commencement of the words are k, g, d, b, m, r, I, s,
and h. They help to distinguish words haviug the
same sound, and thus in the written Tibetan they
serve a useful purpose. Two letters are also added
occasionally at the end of the root, namely, s and h.
Csoma de Koros says, mi-rnams is pronounced as it is
written, but when the r is not preceded by a word in
close combination it is silent. When these prefixes and
suffixes are cleared away from the word, it is reduced
to the radical form. Mi is the substantive root man,
and nam is the plural suffix.

The six consonant finals of the Chinese language
occur again ia the Tibetan, but with a slight variation.
The mute surds k, t, p, all occur in the sonant form

124

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

g, d, h. The Tibetian cannot shape his vocal organs
so as to pronounce k, t, p, at the end of a syllable.
This peculiarity is more fixed in the Tibetan than in
the Siamese, where h, d, and b occur as finals. In this
respect, therefore, the Tibetan has the palm of an-
tiquity ; for, as before remarked, there is a strong
probability that k, t, and p are newer letters than g, d,
and h, and have been derived from them.

The capacity of the Tibetan syllabary is much en-
larged by the addition of the finals r, I, s. By the
separation of r and I, the Tibetan phonal system is
shown to be more modern than the Chinese, which has
only I, and to stand on the same footing with the
Eastern Himalaic and Semitic systems. H is very
abundant in Hebrew as a radical and a suffixed letter,
and its extensive use in Tibetan warrants a sus-
picion of ancient intercommunication between the two
families. The Bod race left Western Asia later than
the families lying more to the east, and would naturally
remain in contact with a Semite population for a much
longer period. In Genesis it is said that the sons of
Ham were Gush and Mizraim, and Phut and Canaan .
As Cush had eastern and western branches, so may
Phut have had also, and he may be the race-father
both of the Libyans and of the modern Tibetians, now
spread over the whole of Tibet and Bootan in the
Himalayas. That section of the armies of Gog and
Magog mentioned in Ezekiel as belonging to the

TIBETAN AND HEBREW. 125

Phuttian race may have been contributed by the
Eastern branch.

However this may be, the Bod race and the Semites
are, at any rate, alike in their fondness for prefixing
various letters to their words, and in adding r and I
as sufiixes. The Hebrews said gilgal, galgal, for a
" wheel," and gulgoleth, for a " skull," from which
comes Golgotha, the Aramaic original of the Latin
Calvary in the Gospels. The Tibetians say kor, "a
circle," khqr, "a wheel." The Chinese have gu, "a
baU," and ku, "a garland," "a hoop." To this root
the Tibetians added r, the Semites /, and then farther
west it took the forms circulus, kvicko^, tcvXivSco. The
Sanscrit cJiakra, "wheel," and chakrawat, "circular,"
are from the same root, by the common change from

k to ch. The Hebrew, "H^JJ^ ngagur, " revolving," 7JJ^

" revolve," 7-lJ^ "round," may be also included, because

the primitive value oiayin, the initial consonant, is ng or g.
Among the letters the surd mutes k, t, p, are very
weak. They scarcely fill a page each in the dictionary.
The first k is the most important. The aspirated
forms kh, th, ph, k', t', p', abound, as do the sonants
g, d, b. Much the same law appears to exist in the
Hebrew vocabulary. The two ^'s together cover fifty-
one pages, while the aspirate heth covers seventy,
and g and ng together ninety-seven pages. The surd
t, the aspirate th, and the sonant d, occupy respectively.

126 china's place in philology.

five, forty, and twenty-three pages. The labial series
includes,^ and/ together, eighteen, and h seventy pages.

Compare these results with the Sanscrit vocabulary,
and it will be found that the tables are turned, k and
its cognate ch occupy 108 pages, their aspirates eleven,
and the sonants g and/ fifty-seven. The dental series,
t, d, and dh, has the numbers thirty-one, forty, twelve.
The labial series p, h, and p', V, has ninety-six, eleven,
twenty-one. Here the surds have a clear superiority,
and the influence of the aspirates has greatly diminished.

These facts reveal the existence of a great general
law, according to which the aspirates and surds grew
out of the sonants. The older vocabularies, as the
old Chinese, the Turanian, the Tibetan, and the
Semitic, have a preponderance of senate initials and
finals, h, c, d. Then the limits of language were
extended to satisfy the ever-increasing wants of the
historical races and the advance of civilization, and
the aspirates appeared, k', t', p', h', h, 6, (p, f, with
the surds k, t, p, h. These would spring up in some
countries contemporaneously. In others, as in the
Tibetan and Tartar languages, the aspirates grew
into use alone, and the surds slowly followed. This
law embraces the celebrated Grimm's law as one of
its particulars. The reason why dip, deep, door, are
in German taufen, fief, and Thur, is that the English
vocabulary is in this respect older than the German,
and that the German has advanced one stage farther

TIBETAN AND HEBREW COMMON WORDS.

127

than the English in the development of the surd
initials. K, t, p, have grown out oi g, d, and b, just as
we have seen r and I, in the Semitic and Himalaic
systems, grow out of an original I in the old Chinese.
Our English / and th have grown out of a more
ancient h and d. Father is in Hebrew ab, in old
Chinese be, in Turkish baba, in Tibetan yab, in
Latin pater, in German Vater. In the older syllabaries
it was ba and ab, and here we see another lurking
similarity existing between the Tibetan and the Semitic
families meeting as they do in the use of ab, yab,
" father." It is found with p in some southern
Chinese dialects, and in Sanscrit, Greek, and Latin.
Modem Chinese agrees with English and German in
giving the / sound. New vocabularies have a pre-
ponderance of surds, as old vocabularies delight in
sonants. Grimm's law is not so much a circular law,
as one of perpetual advancement.

TABLE OF TIBETAN AND HEBEEW COMMON "WOEDS.

TIBETAN,

HEBREW.

ENGLISH,

MISCELLANEOUS,

yum

em

mother

lang

lakahh

receive

Gkeek \ayxiva.

lug

rahhel (ewe)

sheep

log, side

tselang

rib, side

Chinese lok, rib.

rum

rahham

womb

rab, exalted

rab

great

ring

rahhoq

long, far

Chinese dung.

la

r

to

Ilia, gods

eloah

God, angels

langs, vapo^er, ghost

mahh

spirit, "wind

Togs, friend

rg-ang

friend

128 china's place in philology.

In this list of words common to the Tibetan and
Semitic vocabularies, the circumstance that r agrees
usually with r, and I with I, is itself evidence that the
two families grew up together in their early youth.

The Tibetan, like the Mongol, Cochin- Chinese, and
the Indian languages, has not to this day admitted
/ into its alphabet ; but sh, which is not used in
Mongolia or Japan, has here, as in the Semitic and
Chinese languages, a full development.

The tones of the Tibetan language are mentioned
by Q-eorgi, but no allusion is made to them by De
Koros or by Schmidt. They are attached, like the
Siamese tones, to the letters of the alphabet in sets,
and are, I believe, arranged in a scale of two
elevations, as is usually the case in Chinese.

Dr. Jaeschke, a missionary long resident in Ladak,
and who has extended his researches into the various
provincial dialects, informs me that the tones are
limited to the central provinces. To compensate for
the loss in colloquial pronunciation of letters recog-
nized in the written language, the Lhasa dialect has
introduced (1), an aspiration which may be symbolized
by the forms dh, gh, bh, jh; (2), a deep tone. The
word ehang, "beer," sounds high, short, and sharp.
The deep tone is a lower slow rising inflexion. By
comparing Dr. Jaeschke's remarks with my own notes
on the Lhasa pronunciation, as taken from the lips of a
native visiting Peking, I believe it is correct to state

TONES OF THE TIBETAN LANGUAGE. 129

that surds are pronounced with the upper quick
falling intonation, and sonants with the lower slow
rising. Among the sonants, hoVever, there has been
a loss of g, J, d, b. These are by the Lhasa people
pronounced kh, c'h, t'h, ph. The loss thus sustained
is compensated for by the lower or deep tone. This
change resembles that which takes place in China in
passing from the old middle dialect to Mandarin or to
the Hakka, when du, " map," becomes t'u with the
aspirate. In both countries the sonant is the older,
and the aspirate with its special tone the newer
form.

What caused the tones? I believe Dr. Jaeschke to
be right in his view, that it was the loss of letters.
When certain initial and final letters, faithfully pre-
served in the book language and in the dialects of
the western provinces of Tibet, became mute in the
neighbourhood of Lhasa, the tones were affixed by
an unconscious eflfort of language to maintain dis-
tinctions between words that would be otherwise
confounded. This hypothesis of the origin of tones
agrees with that advocated long since in my " Grram-
mar of the Chinese Colloquial Language."

After the researches of Dr. Jaeschke, which show
that the mute letters of the, Lhasa dialect and of the
written language ,viare all heard distinctly in the pro-
nunciation of some of the frontiers, philologists must
regard the written form of the Tibetan, with its

9

130 china's place in philology.

troublesome compound letters, as^faithfully representing
the old state of the language.

A Semitic principle here appears working itself out
in a somewhat exaggerated manner. The language
made too great an effort to expand itself by prefixes
and suffixes, and is now throwing them off, and
gradually assuming the primeval monosyllabic form.

The tonic element seems destined to extend itself
in Tibetan, as it has done in Chinese. It is now in
the Lhasa dialect doing the work which was formerly
done by the difference between surd and sonant initials.
The syllables kha and ga have assumed tones, and ga
has changed to kha, so that they are now separated only
by intonation. A native of Lhasa reads Ifha for ga, and
intones the syllable.

A subject of great interest in Tibetan is the post-
position of the ease particles. Excepting the locative
case suffixes of the ,old and new Chinese, there was
no earlier family from which the Bod race could
borrow this idea. It manifestly ' originated in the
post-position of the verb. For it is more likely that
the case particles should take their place after their
nouns, as an instance of a general law which drew all
the verbs into that position, than that they should
first go there themselves, and then draw the other
verbs after them. There is little difficulty in con-
ceiving the way in which the locative case particles
came, in the old Chinese, to occupy a position after

POST-POSITION OE CASE PARTICLES. 131

their nouns. They are in fact, as explained in a
previous chapter, treated as substantives following
other substantives in the relation of the part to the
whole. In the phrase t'ien Ma, "the world," literally
"heaven under," the word "under" is viewed as a
noun, " that which is under." The possessive particle
cM might be inserted, t'ien ch'i Ma, showing that we
are quite right in regarding the Chinese post-position
of the locative as only an instance of the juxtaposition
of substantives.

The Chinese language cannot, therefore, explain
the great inversion of the Tibetan and Turanian
languages, according to which the verb with the case
particles comes after the noun. Perhaps the best
explanation iis found in a general tendency of these
races to collect the energy of linguistic expression
at the end both of sentences and words. The boldness
of the Semite imagination was caused by religious
culture, the habit of meditating on the objects of the
spiritual sphere, and the possession of the primeval
revelation made in the antediluvian period, and handed
down from age to age. Hence poetic laws control
the language and literature of the Semites. They
attribute life to inanimate things, and action to objects
that are at rest. They filled the world around them,
as they did their grammatical paradigms, with the dis-
tinctions of gender. The Tibetians and Tartars are
at the opposite pole. They are almost destitute of

132 china's place in philology.

imagination. The sun and moon, the river, the stone,
the mountain, are to them simply what their names
imply—

" A yellow primrose was to him
A yellow primrose, and no more."

They take the world quietly. Things are to them
before action. Personification is to them' an absurdity.
The efibrt required to look on the universe as animated
with living forces is to them almost impossible. Their
books are translated, their alphabets are borrowed,
and they have learned the arts of life from their
neighbours. They let go with facility the old
Turanian religion, and took in the place of it the
Buddhistic faith, a creation of the dreaming Hindoo.
This pleases them because it teaches inactivity. The
thought of Nirvana imparts to them consolation,
because it consists of unbroken rest. The Tibetians
have two substantive verbs, nyug and dod, which
mean either " to sit," or " to be." Sitting is being.
Races of active intellect do not form substantive
verbs thus.

In conformity with this predisposition to inactivity,
they postpone the place of the verb in a sentence
to the end. All the details are carefully completed
before action commences. A nation with very little
poetry will have an unpoetical language, for the
child is father of the man. A language, the work

CASE PARTICLES. 133

of a race in its cliildhood, will be found to resemble
the literature which that race achieves in its
maturity. So the Mongol and the Tibetian, in intro-
ducing the principle of the post-position of the verb,
have only done what we might expect from the
dullness of their literary development.

The case particles in Tibetan are few. There is
a possessive, kyi, gi, gyi, hi, and yi. In Chinese
dialects occur as possessives, ku at Shanghai, ge
and e at Amoy. They are probably identical with
the Tibetan and with the demonstrative roots ki, gi, i.

An s appended to the possessive particles makes
them instrumental, and the sense, " by means of,"
"by the use of," is thus conveyed.

Among the dative case suffixes the commonest, la,
may be the Semitic le, used as a dative prefix. The
Tibetians may have borrowed it at some ancient
period of contact, before the Persian race separated
them from the Semite area, and before they, migrated
to their present locality. The case suffixes, expressive
of motion towards, tu and du, as in lag-tu, "into
the hand," Bod-du, "into Tibet," are probably the
Chinese to, in Mandarin tau, " towards," " to." The
Mongol corresponding case suffix is de. After a
vowel ru is used by the Tibetians for tu and du.
This I incline to think is changed from du. Thus,
ring, "long," is in Old Chinese dung, in Mandarin
c'hang.

134 china's place in philology.

The locative sufSx in is na or la, and tlie ablative
nas or las.

Sucli is the beginning of the declension of nouns,
which expanded itself somewhat in the Turanian
languages, and grew to its fullest dimensions in the
Sanscrit.

"We have also in Tibetan the rudiments of the
system of derivatives. The following forms are in
use :

Monosyllabic Suffixed: pa, ba, ma, po, bo, mo, ka, k'a, ga, nga, ge, nge,

ni, p'o, mo, bu, bu, gu, ngu, nu.
Dissyllaiio Suffixes: papa, pama, papo, pamo, bapa, bapo; bama, bamo.
Closed-syllable Suffixes : ebig, zbig, chag, dag, nams.

The various significations of these suffixes are as

follows :

Flural Suffixes : chag, dag, nam.

Diminutives : gu, ngu, nu, bu, bu.

Maseuline : po, bo, pa, papa, papo.

Feminine: ma, mo, pama, pamo.

Agents or Verbal Substantives : po, ba (masc. or fern,).

It is the tonic pronunciation which prevents derived
words from becoming dissyllables and polysyllables.
The inflexions attached to the root and the suffixes
have a tendency to check the consolidation of the
syllables into a unity. Yet this is in time overcome.
In the Peking pronunciation of Chinese a suffix very
frequently loses its tone and becomes de facto a part
of the word which precedes it.^

The verb forms its infinitive by appending r to pa
1 Mandarin Grrammar.

THE TIBETAN VERB. 135

or ha, as byed par (pronounced ched par), " to do."
Byed pa is either a present participle or a verbal
noun, "doing." Byed alone is an indicative present,
"he does."

In many cases verbs are placed in the indicative
present by adding byed, "do," as an auxiliary, as in
za par byed, "he eats," gro par byed (pronounced
t'o par ched), "he walks." Other auxiliaries, shin pa.
Mug, snang, are used with the same force.

Verbs are made preterite by affixing s. An auxiliary
verb, hdug pa, "was," placed after a verb, changes
it to the imperfect tense, as hong hdug pa, " he was
coming." The future adds hgyur.

In the form for the imperative we meet curiously
with a Semiitic peculiarity. The vowel a or e is
changed to o. Za, " he eats," becomes so, " eat."
Sel, "he cures," becomes sol, "cure." In the Hebrew
paradigm, katal, "he killed," becomes in the imperative
Mol; and sabab, "he surrounded," becomes sob. To a
change like this there is no parallel in Chinese or
Mongol, and it is difficult to conceive any explanation
but that of ancient Semitic connexion.

A precative is formed by the suffix chig, zhig, or
shig. This may be the Chinese root sik, "give," or
shung, "reward." The Mongols in their imperative
add a verb "to give" just in this way, — Pa naded
hel/i ug, "you me for speak give," that is, "be kind
enough to speak for me."

136

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

The conditional suffix na is undoubtedly derived
from the root nak, which now appears in Chinese as
JO and j'u, " if." Thus, b^ed na, " if you do."

The changes in the prefixes of the Tibetan verb
are due to a principle which was also at work, as
before noticed, in the formation of the verb. To
" call " is hgugs, in the indicative present, hkug in
the preterite, dgug in the future, and k'ug in the
imperative. The Chinese root is kok, " call," in
Greek KaXew, in English call. The prefix h frequently
marks the present, b the preterite or future, and d or
g the future.

Another principle, to which attention should be
drawn, is the change, with the moods and tenses,
from sonant to surd and from aspirate to sonant, e.g.
from g to k and from k' to g.

TIBETAN.

CHINESE.

Present.

Fret.

Future.

Imper.

New.

Old.

ht'ag3

btags

btag

t'og

cbi

tek

texo

weave

htogs

btagB

gdags

fogs

Saioon tig, a tie

tie

hbigs

P'ig

dbig

P'ig

p'iau

p'ok

prick

pierce

hbyed

p'ye

dbye

p'ye

■Kpirra), irpayna

do

ht'sog

btsogs

btsog

tsog

siau

sok

seco, section

cut

Mzem

bzera

gzem

zem

schamen, shame

shame

hgegs

bkag

dgag

kie

kak

check

hinder

hgebs '

bkab

dgab

k'ob

kai

kap

niirTiiiySei.ia.f&r

cover

^ This is a widely-extended root. The Chinese hap means "head,"
"covering," "coat of mail," and "to .cover." The Tibetan has k'ob,
"a covering," and mgo, "head." The Western languages have caput,
Maupt, head, KnpaKlj, erab, cope, etc.

ANTIQUITY OF THE TIBETAN TYPE. 137

But these principles, the first of prefixed augments
and the second of the interchange of allied letters,
have not been carried through the language, and
they have failed to acquire the authority of irresistible
law. This may have been owing to the want of strong
wiU in the race speaking the language. Although
characterized by this weakness, the principles here
alluded to are deeply interesting as examples of very
early efibrts of the human race to conjugate their
verbs in a way neither Semitic nor Indo-European.
The geographical position occupied by the Tibetians
indicates that their language may be expected to be
a stepping-stone between the oldest and the newest
types. The Chinese are on one side and the
Persians on the other. But no early literature
crystallized the language in its ancient form. How
far it may have lost features which once belonged
to it, it is now impossible with accuracy to determine.

The antiquity of the Tibetan type, as compared with
the Turanian and Indo-European, cannot be ques-
tioned, when its monosyllabic character and stunted
derivative system are properly considered. The only
modern-looking feature is, indeed, the post-position
of the verb and of the case particles, as already
alluded to. The personal pronouns show that the
long neighbourhood of Mongols, Turks, Hindoos, and
Persians, has failed to have any effect on the Tibetan
towards introducing into it their favourite words, thou

138 china's place in philology.

and me, be and become. The first personal, pronoun
in J or Mi, the second in t or s, and the substantive
verb in b, are used over the whole vast extent of the
Indo-European and Tartar area, but into no Tibetan
or Chinese dialect have they ever forced their way.
The long continuance of linguistic differences between
races that have been living side by side for thousands of
years is at least as remarkable as the mutual influence
they exert on each other's vocabulary and grammar.
In the Tibetan pronouns and substantive verbs we
see a Chinese impress. Nga for "I," h'hyed for
"thou," k'o for "he," with yin, yod, for "to be,"
"to have," reveal a cousinship with the countrymen
of Confucius. They are apparently no other than
the old Chinese words nga, " I," ni^ " you," gi, " he,"
wei, "he," u, "have."

' The common Western equivalent for the Chinese ni is h, g, or k'.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Teiple-Beanohed Turanian Family : Japanese, Dbavidiaii,

AND TaKTAB. FlKST, THE JAPANESE. JAPANESE StLLAEIC

Alphabet. — Common Eoots in Japanese. — Formation op Com-
pounds. — Case Particles.

We now pass the boundary between the mono-
syllabio and polysyllabic languages. The dividing
line is a sharp one, which the traveller crosses from
the region of tone systems and carefully-pronounced
inflexions of the voice to the freedom of polysyllabic
speech. He suddenly finds that he is where tonic
laws have been thrown away, and all accented and
inflected elocution has been transferred from the
region of the syllabary and the vocabulary to that
of the passions and the will. It is but a short
distance from the Chinese city to the Mongol en-
campment, but the change of scenery is great. Ad.
agricultural plain, studded with villages and clumps
of trees, with all the signs of industry, is left at the
foot of the chain of mountains, along which the Great
Wall is built. These mountains must be ascended,
and at the height of 2,000 feet commences the table-
land, which has received the name of "the land of

140

grass." Field labour suddenly comes to a termination,
and everywhere are seen the marks of pastoral occu-
pations. It is the land of the roaming deer, the
patient camel, the vigorous ox, of tents and fleecy
flocks, and droves of ponies ; of vast plains without
trees, and a limitless horizon, only varied by the
undulations which this immense prairie has retained
from the far distant time when it formed part of
the bottom of the primeval ocean. Such is nature's
own well-defined line of separation between the mono-
syllabic and polysyllabic languages.

But it is necessary to begin with an older stock
than the Tartar. The Mongol and the Turk are
much nearer to the "Western type of language than
are the far-off' Japanese, nor apparently can the Indian
Tamul compete successfully with the Japanese and
the Corean for the prize of superior antiquity.

In looking at the Japanese alphabet, with its forty-
seven syllables, generally terminating with a vowel,
we remark at once several limitations. The letters
r and I are not separated. The Japanese use r, and
the Chinese /, and these letters are employed only to
commence a syllable. In Mongol both are used at
the commencement and close of syllables. The Dra-
vidian languages have a very full development of r
and I. As a child whose mother-tongue is English
learns to distinguish the other letters first, and r and
I last, so it is in the comparative chronology of Ian-

JAPANESE LANGUAGE. 141

guages. The distinction between r and ^ is a sign
of late formation. Judged by this test, the Japanese
and Chinese are older than their "Western neighbours.
The word mid, " honey," has final d in old Chinese,
and in the Sanscrit it is madhu. In Hebrew we find
mathak, "was sweet," doubtless the same word, and
here the final ^ is a Semitic addition. The Greeks
had a wine called fiedv, "mead." The Turks and
Mongols use I final, and change the initial m to b,
saying bal. The Japanese have mits, and the Tamul
madu. The Greeks and Latins appear to have followed
the Turanians in the use of the final I, as in mel,
/Lte\t, "honey," fieKia-a-a, "bee." Here the Greek is
more under Turanian influence than either the Sanscrit
or Germanic branches of the Indo-European family.
Also, the Tamul and Japanese both appear to be
older than the Tartar subdivision of the Turanian
family. Take another example. The Mongol gol,
" river," is in Japanese kawa, in modern Chinese ho,
and in old Chinese ga. The addition of I seems to
have been made after the separation of the Tartar
and Japanese races. The word for crow, xopa^, in
Latin corvus, is in Sanscrit kdka or karada. The
Mongol is k'eriye, and the Japanese karasi. The
Chinese have kwa, in the modern compound laukwa,
"crow," where lau means "old." The Chinese and
Sanscrit forms indicate that r is an addition to the
primeval root. The Hebrew form is i^y, where ayin,

142 china's place in philology.

as very frequently happens, represents k or g, and
the word may read goreb. The r medial connects the
Hebrew, second Sanscrit, Mongol, and Japanese forms
in one group. The last addition, b in Hebrew, v in
Latin, ks in Greek, h in German (Kriihe), d in Sanscrit,
ye in Mongol, si in Japanese, must, from its variety,
have been made after the separation of the races.
Thus, the Japanese, although to the east of China,
are connected more closely with the Western than
with the Chinese system. It may also be inferred that
the Japanese brought r with them in their migration
eastward, and the question then arises, whether
the initial r of Western languages is older or younger
than the Chinese I, to which it corresponds? The
Old Chinese lut, "musical tubes in definite lengths,
used for regulating weights and measures," agrees in
idea with the Greek pvdfwr; and the Latin ritus of
the same group corresponds to the Chinese li or lit,
" ceremony." As I is easier for young children to
utter than r (mothers tell me that they can say I a
year and a half sooner than r), the palm of priority
in the history of language should be accorded to I in
this case; and thus the bulk of Western roots com-
mencing with an initial r may with probability be
supposed to have taken it in exchange for a more
ancient I.

Another peculiarity in the Japanese syllabary is,
that the aspirates are wanting. If words cross the

JAPANESE SYLLABIC ALPHABET. 143

sea to Japan, whether Chinese or Mongol, the
aspirated letters, k', t', p', become simple surds,
namely, k, t, and h, or /. Insulation seems to be the
cause of this change.

The absence of sh, ch, zh, and j from the syllabary,
gives it a very defective appearance, but this is one
of the characteristics of some of the most important
Turanian languages, ' and helps to establish the near
kinship existing between them and the Japanese.
Perhaps it should rather be said that these letters
are used to a small extent. In Hepburn's very
valuable Japanese Dictionary the syllables si, tsi, dzi,
are written shi, chi, ji; but this mode of writing,
though doubtless convenient in some respects, is
probably not so accurately descriptive of the real
sound as the Dutch spelling. In explanation of the
want of sh and its cognate letters, it may be men-
tioned that in the Mongol and Tamul languages they
are not found. The Mongol has indeed occasionally an
sh, but it is only, like the same letter in Japanese, a
modification of si. So the Mongol ch' is in fact a
modified ts^, and^' is a disguised d, as will be shown.

The surds and sonants are by the Japanese con-
sidered as so closely allied, that a short double stroke
on the right hand is used to change k, t, and s', into g,
d, and 2. The letters /, h, p, are considered as one
sound under three modifications. The double stroke
denotes b, and a small circle p. Thus kami, " god,"

144 china's place in philology.

" spirit," becomes garni, in the combination onna garni,
"a goddess." Here it is on account of a word pre-
ceding it that k becomes g. That k and g were
originally one letter seems likely also because the
sounds of the Chinese language are by the Japanese
written with extreme irregularity. Thus k and g and
other pairs of cognate letters, carefully kept separate
in Chinese dictionaries, are in the Japanese transcrip-
tion much intermixed. The Chinese sin, " heart," is
spelt sin or zin ; and zhin, "spirit," "divinity," "the
genii," "marvellous," is in Japanese spelt sin or zin,
as in zin riki, " marvellous strength " (in the native
language, " kami no chikara ") ; while Japan is called
sin koku, " kingdom of the genii " (in the native
language, " kami no kuni ").

This tendency to an interchange of surds and so-
nants is probably due to the recent appearance of
either the surds or the sonants. In the syllabary, it
is the surd series that holds the place of honour, and
it is therefore likely to be the older. "When the
Japanese, nearly 2,000 years ago, invented their alpha-
bet, or rather borrowed it from China, they made no
provision for g, d, h, or z. This was a later addition,
dating from the time when Corean, Chinese, and
Hindoo Buddhists propagated their religion in Japan.
As an auxiliary proof, it may be mentioned that the
Mongol egude, " door," appears in Japanese as kado ;
yek'e, "great," as ikai; maihan, "a tent," as makuya.

JAPANESE SYLLABIC ALPHABET. 145

though this word may be directly derived from the
Chinese {mu, in the old form) mok, " a tent," in
Japanese mahu, a " curtain." ^ "Why should k always
occur? It is very. likely that there was at that time
no g, as there was no aspirated k.

But it is necessary to carry this inquiry further.
The Mongols have g, d, h, and the aspirates, but no
hard surd series. I suppose, therefore, that this was
also the primitive condition of the Japanese phonal
system. As the two races are alike in grammatical
structure, and have many identical words, they may
long ago have had the same sort of alphabet. The
g may have become k after the progenitors of the
Japanese passed to their island home, and subsequently
g may have been again developed as ^ sub-division
under k, or vice versa.

The softness and simplicity of the Japanese syllabary,
admitting no final consonant but w, and terminating
all its forty- seven syllables by the five vowels a, i, e,
0, u, seem due to the mUd and damp climate induced by
its insular situation. Its syllables are predominantly
Polynesian in form, but certainly not because of near
connexion in race. The Polynesian islanders place
their verbs before the objects on which their action is
exerted, and their adjectives prefer to foUow the nouns

^ Compare also Japanese liatai, kataku, " hard," Mongol k'at'ago, and
in the eastern dialect, hat'o.

10

146 china's place in philology.

they qualify.' In Japanese the verb foUows its accu-
sative, and the adjective precedes its noun. It may
be concluded then that, as Hoffmann pointed out in
his notes to Donker Curtius' Japanese Grammar,^ the
family connexion of the Japanese language is with
Manchu and Mongol. This being admitted, that
difference in the syllabaries which consists in separat-
ing iinal consonants from the first syllable, and causing
them to form new syllables, should be attributed to the
relaxing effect of sea air on the vocal organs. The
Mongols can say gos, gol, gang, gar, yah, ed, beg. The
Japanese will make dissyllables of all these, thus in-
creasing the influence of the vowels at the expense of
the consonants. The Chinese doh, "poison," becomes
for instance dohi.

In the present state of the Japanese syllabary, ng
has taken the place of n final, but this has not affected
the orthography. N is still written. The sibilants s,
ts, and dz, also sometimes drop their vowel, and in
actual pronunciation take their place as final letters.^

The language of the Japanese had already become

' Notes by T. Gulioh, M.D., on the language of Ponape, one of the
Caroline Islands.

^ Professor Max Miiller, writing in 1861, has invested Prof. Boiler, of
Vienna, with the honour of discovering that the Japanese language ought
to be called Turanian. But the resemblance had several years before
(1857) been perceived by the penetrating sagacity of the Dutch Professor,
to whom we owe so many ingenious remarks on the Japanese language.

' Hepburn notices some other final consonants, as m and p in certain
positions.

COMMON ROOTS IN JAPANESE. 147

polysyllabic when transferred from Corea to their
• islands, for a few Mongol words of three syllables
occur in the vocabulary, e.g. kataku, " hard," Mongol
k'at'ago. The root is the same with that of our word
hard, and the German hart. In Sanscrit we meet with
kat^ara,' "hard," kdt'ina, kdt'inya, "hardness," kat'a,
"rock," Mongol k'ada, "rock."

The first two syllables of a native Japanese word
usually represent the monosyllabic root. Thus kit, in
Chinese " to harden," " coagulate," " tie a knot," kin,
"hard," "firm," occur in Japanese with long suffixes.
Katamari is " to become hardened," hatame, " harden,"
and as above adduced kataku, katai, " hard." So also
the root shut, in Chinese, sheu, " to give," " to receive,"
formerly distinguished by tone, the one taking the
rising (shang), and the other the falling (k'ii) inflexion,
but now amalgamated in the falling tone class, is found
in the Japanese vocabulary, with the forms, sadzukaru,
" to receive," and sadzukeru, " to bestow," or sadzkatta
and sadzketa. The Chinese have cKi, " to stop," in
Japanese todomari, "to be stopped," todokori, "to im-
pede," "stop," todome, "to stop," as in uma wo todo-
meru, "stop a horse," todomerare, "to be stopped." The
Chinese has lost a final t, which appears in dat, "to
stand," "to tread upon," " rest the foot." The Chinese
initial ch in all cases comes from t or d. Hence the
root assumes the form dot, " to stop," and dat, " to
stand." This is really the root of our "stand," the

148 china's place in philology.

Latin sto, the Sanscrit st'ala, " stand," st'dna, " a
place." The Tamul has iandu, " a stand," the
Japanese also say tatsi and tatta, "to stand." The
initial s was prefixed by the forefathers of the Indo-
Europeans before the separation of their western and
eastern branches, for they all have it. The piimeTal
root was probably dad and dan. It may have
originated from the noise of the foot striking the
ground. Families of words closely allied are not
wanting. Among them may be mentioned the Chinese
ti or dad, "earth." Sanscrit dhdrd, Latin terra,
Cochin- Chinese dai. The earth on which we stand
receives its name from the verb "stand," and is a
verbal noun, just as "inkstand," and "the grand
stand" at a race course, receive their names for a
similar reason.

We are now in a position to compare the Japanese
roots with Chinese, Semitic, and Himalaic roots, and
with those of the cognate Turanian languages. In
doing so the Chinese initial h must be read k or g,
ch must be read t or d, and / must be read p or b.
Thus ho, " fire," is gal in Mongol and calar in Latin,
where the inserted I shows that a Turanian influence
has been at work in the formation of the Indo-
European polysyllable. The Greek Kauo, "burn,"
and German heiss, English hot, are connected, as
also the Sanscrit Jcdrshanava, " hot," and the root kdsh,
" shine." The Chinese word ho, " fire," was in the

COMPARISON OF ROOTS. 149

time of the creation of the syllabic spelliag, a.d. 500,
ptonounced ha. More anciently it was ka, and more
anciently still ga, which is as far as the analogies of
the connected languages will carry us. The Japanese
have T(oge, " burn," " scorch," in Chinese k'au,
" scorch." Our word scorch, if the prefix s be removed
and the ch changed for its ancient equivalent, k,
appears to be the same word. The letter s, when
prefixed to a consonant, never belongs to the root.

The Japanese say for " fire " hi. This must for
etymological use be changed to bi, or pi, as in the
'case of all words beginning in Japanese with h or /.
It may then be compared with the verb aburi, " roast,"
Tamul pori, with the Chinese bun, " burn," the Greek
irvp, Latin comburo, and the English burn and fire.

For " warm " the Japanese word is atatakai, and for
"hot" atszku. The root is at, for the sibilant form
of # in "the latter example is accidental. We may
compare it with the Persian atesh and the Hebrew
B'N ish. The etymological equivalent of the Hebrew
sh is t, as in shor, "bull," taurus; sham, "there,"
Chaldee tam. The Persian final sh is thus seen to
be a reduplication of the final t. Compare the Greek
aXdo) and Latin cBstus, which Gesenius believed to be
connected. This author proceeds to say that 11K ur,
"Hght," belongs to the same family relationship.
This is an extremely interesting identification, because
the letter r occupies a frequent place among the

150 china's place in philology.

Semitic initials. For convenience of comparison with
Chinese roots it should have the value d. For example,
UVi rosh, "head," may be advantageously compared with
the Chinese t'eu, "head," old form dut. The equivalent
of sh being also t, the resemblance is complete.

A fourth Japanese root for " fire " is yahe, " to be
on fire," "bake." The Chinese say yik, "flame," "fire,"
"Kght." The Sanscrit agni, "fire," and Latin ignis,
are the same word.

An example of a word common to the three branches
of the Turanian family will help to show the con-
nexion in which they stand to each other. Mime is in
Japanese "the breast," and it is found compounded
with many words; for example, muna gawara, "roof
tiles," where the ridge of the roof is called mune from
its resemblance to the chest. The Mongol has emun,
" before," " front," " south," and the Chinese mien,
"face." The Tamul people say mun for "before,"
"front." In Japanese omote is "before," "front,"
"the face," "outside." In Cochin-China the face is
mat. A door is the front of a house, and in Chinese
"door" is men, and with this seems to be connected
the German Mund and the English mouth. The
interchange of n and t is easily accounted for; they
being allied letters. The final consonant k is found
in the root of a family of words closely related to this
one. The Japanese mukai, " to face," " stand with the
face towards," muki, " frontage," " exposure," is like

PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES IN JAPANESE. 151

the Tamul mukam, " mouth," " face," and the Sanscrit
mukha, "mouth," "face," "commencement," "first."

In the preceding examples occur several prefixed
vowels. They are very common in Mongol and
Japanese. Thus "horse," which is was in Chinese, is
mori in Mongol, and uma in Japanese. The Manchus
say morin. The prefixed vowel agrees in nature with
the vowel of the root, as in omote, " before," isM,
" stone," Chinese zhak. If a vowel be appended to
the final consonant of the root, when already thus
augmented, our primeval monosyllable is already ex-
tended to a trissyllable, and this' without the addition
of new words to make compounds. Thus " hon^," to
be read " bon^," the German Bein, and English hone.
We have the same suffixed e in kake, " to hang up,"
" hook on," in Chinese kwa or hak, and in English
hook.

The next step in additions to the root we may
suppose to have been the appending of consonants.
Thus from ma, " grind," in modern Chinese mo, in
Latin mola, in English mill, is derived the Japanese
maru, "circle." From kak, "black," came k'ara in
Mongol, and kuroi in Japanese, the final k being lost
in both cases. The r and / do not mean anything.
They are not abbreviated words. They are merely
phonetic additions. The Mongols are content to add
an r or / to their roots, without supplementing it by
a vowel, as gar, "hand," i.e., the "holder." The

152 china's place in philology.

Japanese prefer to add a vowel. Hence arose several
syllabic suffixes in ordinary use for forming deriva-
tives, and they gradually, as they grew in length,
assumed distinctive characteristics as nominal, quali-
tative, or verbal terminations. Thus e in hate, "an
end," " to end," from a root bat, " to end," in Chinese,
our word butt, and the French bout, does not dis-
tinguish between parts of speech. So esM and ashi
in hateshi, "the end," and hatashi, "to end," are ap-
pended to the same root without any mark of dif-
ference between verb and noun. But in Mongol the
suffix si or t'si marks nouns distinctly. The following
derivatives occur to the roots maru, " circle," and
kuroi, " black " : —

marui, " circular." kurai, " dark.''

marume, "make round." kurami, "grow dark."

marmhi, " round." kure, " darken."

maru&u, "round." ku/rohu, "black."

marusa, "roundness." kurasa, "degree of darkness."

maroi, "round." huroshi, "black."

mari, "a ball." Tcwom, "blackness."

Of the suffixes here used only me, mi, have a decided
verbal sense, and they are probably connected with
the verb suffix meri, meru, mere, which is translated
" becoming."

Of the substantive suffixes, sa is the only one that
seems to be exclusively used of nouns.

The word siro, "white," takes the derivative forms
shiroi, shiroku, shiroshi, " white," shiromi, " whiten,"

FOEMATION OF COMPOUNDS. 153

% " whiteness." The root is sit in Chinese,
meaning " snow." In Mongol the t is lost and the
suffix gan appended, the sibilant initial taking as a
prefix t aspirated. The Manchu form is shay an.
Shiromi, " to become white," is also used as a noun
in the sense " white of an egg," and " whiteness,''' as
in shiromiga aru, "it has whiteness," where ga marks
the objective case, and aru is th€ substantive verb
used possessively.

Generally speaking, the final mi marks a verb ;
oi, ui, ku, si, mark an adjective ; and sa, ru, a noun.
But these distinctions are not strictly adhered to.
Language is in the Japanese only approaching to
accuracy of conception. It was in fact first in the
Sanscrit that the parts of speech arrived at their fuU
form, with accuracy of outline and suitable variety of
expression. The Mongol conjugates the adverb as he
does the verb, because language, in its ever-advancing
development, has not yet reached the epoch of accurate
grammatical distinctions. So it is in the Japanese
derivatives. The terminations are wanting in sharp-
ness of definition. This was for the first time attained
in the Indo-European system, and even there the
separate independence of the parts of speech is far
from being complete.

The next step in the progress of development is the
formation of compounds. Ki, "a tree," becomes kiburi,
"shape of a tree," from/Mn or buri, "shape," "manner.

154

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

Species precedes genus. This law of position is in-
variable. Kado hi, "door-fire," is the name of the
fire in front of a dead person's house to light his way
to the next world. In Mongol compounds are not
used without the intervention of the possessive suffix..
In Tamul, however, they abound, as also in the
Himalaic and Chinese languages. In Mongol, in-
flexions have more power, and hence the genitive or
accusative mark cannot be omitted, except where the
case is one of simple apposition. Take the following
example : English cowherd, cowkeeper, Japanese usikai.
Here kai is "keeper," and as a verb means "to keep."
Mongol uk'erc'hi, from ukJier, " cow," with the suffix
c'Ai, which is equivalent to our er in shipper, mouser,
chandler. They also saj uk'eri sahikc'hi, "cowkeeper,"
where the verb sahihu, "to keep," governs the accu-
sative in i, and takes itself the suffix of agency, giving
it the form of a present participle. The Tamul has
k6p&lar, " cowherds," and the Sanscrit gopa, where pa
means " ruler," and may be compared with the Semitic
Baal, "lord." The Greek /Sour?;? and Latin buhulcus
are formed like the Mongol from words meaning
" cow," with a suffix of agency. In pecoris cmtos the
Latin order is strictly Turanian. The Mongol would
say uk'erun ejen, literally " cow's lord." Take the
common -Latin word for "cow," wakka (i.e., vacca),
and the resemblance is still more striking. The
etymological value of the Latin v is always w or u.

THE CASE PARTICLES. 155

as in volo, " to will." And it may also be asked, What
is the Greek su&x of agency tj??, as in iTrTroTij?, but
the Turanian ch'i, of which the etymological value is
si ? The letters s and t are conTertible in Greek and
Latin. Apposition of substantives preceded in the
Turanian languages the formation of the suffix of
agency. The formation of compounds by apposition,
as in Japanese, is an older principle than that by
which in Mongol a derivative of agency is formed by
a syllabic suffix. It has also been destined to achieve
a longer lifetime. The derivative suffixes of agency
in European languages have not the prevalence now
that they had 2,000 years ago, and especially in the
Germanic stock they show signs of approach to ex-
tinction. Vavalier will become in English an obsolete
word before horseman. The Manchus and Turks agree
with the Mongols in the use of c'hi as the suffix of
agency, but the Turks have also the form dji. Its
origin may be in sak, " to make," in Chinese tsok and
tso, as in mutso, " carpenter," from mu, " wood."

In proceeding to the case particles, it may be
observed that they originated in the great Tibetan
and Turanian inversion, found also in the Sanscrit, by
which the verb and the demonstrative pronouns were
transferred from their primeval position, before the
noun, to the end of the sentence. Prepositions are
verbs. The case suffixes of the Turanian and Indo-
European languages are modified prepositions, and

156

CHINAS PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

originally verbs or pronouns. The post-position of
the transitive verb took place first, and subsequently
the verb roots of the case suffixes became changed
and shortened in form, and now appear to the investi-
gator as suffixes, more or less closely combined with
the substantives to which they belong.

The Japanese genitive no — as in ki no ha, " leaf of a
tree," where ha, i.e., ba, " leaf," suggests a connexion
with the Siamese hai, " leaf," and with folium and blatt
— is in Manchu ni, and in Mongol sometimes nu, nai.

We have beside this possessive, four others in China
and its neighbour countries. They are, ti in Chinese,
gi or go in Tibetan and the old middle dialect of China,
«', e, or u in Mongol and the South Fukien dialect,
and in or un in Mongol and Turkish. The Eastern
Himalaic languages have adopted the Semitic inversion,
and place the nominative before the genitive, as in
Cochin- Chinese luai dau, "edge of knife," where dau
is " knife."

Our five possessive suffixes are all, let it be observed,
in form demonstrative pronouns, Ifo is the Chinese
na, "that." Ti is di, "this." Gi is gi, "he." U, i,
or u, is i, "he." In and un are other forms of the
third personal pronoun. Here we may see, therefore,
a confirmation of Bopp's view, that the Sanscrit
genitive suffix s^/a is an old demonstrative pronoun
and is equivalent to ti/am and tpat, " that." He adds^
' Vergleichende Grammatik, von Bopp. § 194.

CASE PARTICLES COMPARED. 157

that, "in sya and.^ya are contained the two stems sa
and ta, 'he,' with the relative stem ya, 'which.'"
The Chinese ti, usually read cKi, is in the ancient books
used not only as a possessive particle, but in the sense
of it or that after verbs, and also as a verb with the
meaning of go to..

The Greek and Latin genitives in i and u we may
perhaps 'derive from the Mongol possessive u, affixed
as a genitive ending to nouns closing with n. But I
do not lay stress on this resemblance, for it is possible
that u is here in fact nu, the Japanese genitive. The
modern last Mongol dialect allows the possessive ne to
be used with" more nouns than the grammar of the
book language would admit.

The case of direction " towards " is in Japanese
expressed by the suffix he or he and ye. The Tibetan
has la, the Mongol de and dor, the Turkish ga and
yeh, the Tamul ku. The Chinese has the verbs to,
ti, or tau, the same as our " to," and gip or ki, " arrive
at." In Greek iriBovBe, "to the ground," agrees in
form with the Mongol, Examples abound ia Homer,
as So/MvSe, "to the house." The Greeks afterwards
preferred to prefix ek, " to," with an accusative. That ,
is, as it appears to me, they were under Turaniaii
influence while they used the suffix Se in the sense,
"to a place," and emancipated themselves from it in
this instance when they changed the suffix for the
preposition. This took place soon after the time of

158 china's place in philology.

Homer. In confirmation, it may be remarked tliat
there is an aspirated form of the Mongol, namely, for,
which corresponds to the Greek Sl, an old dative.

Other Chinese verbs, which may be referred to in
explanation of some of the forms now given, are wang,
"go towards," Mang, "towards." IF and y are inter-
changeable initials, and the final ng is frequently
dropped, as in the Chinese ta, " beat," anciently tang.
The ancient equivalent of initial h is k. Hence these
two verbs become ye and ha.

The Japanese he, "to," suggests a connexion with
the Greek irpo<;, " to," and Trapa, " beside," " towards,"
etc. The word proximus, "nearest," is of the same
family, and the Chinese bing, "unite," bang, "beside,"
bang, "to strike against," are probably related. Hoff-
mann says be is the side or direction of a thing. The
verbs heru and furu, mean " to pass from one place to
another." This is undoubtedly the same word. The
Chinese words for " unite," " union," " side," " neigh-
bourhood," " collision," all tend to meet in an ultimate
root bang, "strike against," derived probably from
the noise of collision, and preserved in the familiar
English expression, "bang the door." In the Japanese
and Mongol languages, the final ng of Chinese roots
is usually lost. Thus in kwang, " light " (at an older
period keng), the ng is dropped, and the word re-
appears in Japanese as karui and akari, and in Mongol
as gerel. It was then by the Turanians that the ng

CASE PARTICLES COMPARED. 169

was dropped and an r substituted. In this state the
root was introduced into the Indo-European vocabu-
lary, as in the German hell, "clear," and the Latin
gloria and clarus, where I is inserted.

Motion " from " or " by " a place or route, is ex-
pressed in Japanese by kara and yori. "With the
Mongols ec'he is the word. But this is etymologically
ese. They also have yiar as in eguden y^r, "by the
gate." The corresponding case suffix in Turkish is
d&fi or dan, and in Manchu deri. The Chinese has the
verbs yeu, " take origin from," " let a man do as he
thinks best," and dzung, "to follow," "obey." As
prepositions these words appear with the sense " from."
Yeu (Japanese yori, Mongol yer) has lost a final It, for
the character ^ yeu, is frequently used as a phonetic
in words which to the present day retain final h, in
Southern Chinese dialects, as dik, "flute." The old
value then is ok, the ex of Greek and Latin. The
other word, dzung, early lost ng, and appears com-
monly in Chinese in the form dzi, the modem g tsi.
All the words having ts as their initial had anciently s
or s. The old form of this verb is therefore zung or
zu. The Mongol, having no z, adopted it in the
form of se, and prefixed to it the vowel e.

Another old Chinese verb, taking the sense of from
as a preposition, is tang, "to strike," in modem pro-
nunciation ta. This may be the source from which the
Manchu and Turkish forms are derived. The Turkish

160 china's place in philology.

den, dan, is found in the Greek dev, the old epic suffix
for " from," as in ovpavoOev, " from heaven."

The Japanese kara, "from," is compared by Hoff-
mann to the High Grerman her, " from that place to
this." It may be derived from the Chinese verb
k'ai or k'i, " to open," " to begin," and hence in
colloquial usage "to start from." The Japanese use
ake, akeru, for " to open," and aki, aku, for " to be
open," as in to wo ake, " open the door," where to,
"door," is the same word, perhaps, as the Manchu
duk'a, " city gate," and the Greek dvpo<i. The vowel
Of is a prefix, not radical.

The locative particles used by the Japanese are ni,
te, de, and nite. The Turkish has der, the Mongol
de and dor, the Manchu de, [the Tamul U and idattil.
The Chinese have the prepositions yii, " at," " in,"
dzai or %ai, " to be in " or " at." As local suffixes
they use li or lai, net or nip, " within," chung or tung,
" in the midst of," or " within." Of these, nei is
from w*p, "to enter," in Modern Chinese Ju; and
chung is either "the middle," or "to strike the middle."
The p and ng beiag dropped, most of the locative
forms now given may be derived from these two
locative auxiliaries.

The Greek epic dative in , 6i may, from its corre-
spondence in form and sense with the Japanese and
Mongol locative, be regarded as of Turanian origin.
Thus, o'UoOi, " at home," aXKodi, " elsewhere," may be

CASE PARTICLES COMPAKED. 161

compared with the Mongol ger for or ger t'e, " in the
house," where the usual de or dor hecomes t'e or for,
on account of r preceding; and ober oron dor, or
more colloquially, ore oron de, " at another place." To
illustrate the Grreek dative suffix 6i, Bopp also cites
evda, evTuvOa, "here," as compared with the ablatives
ev0ev, " hence," ifiedev, " from the place where I am,"
forms which resemble the Turkish ablative, as above
stated. He also refers^ to the Sanscrit suffix dhas in
adhas, " under," as connected with the Greek forms,
and derives all of them from the demonstrative stem in
t. I ask, will it not be more satisfactory to trace the
forms in Se and 6i through the Mongol, as a modern
type of the old Turanian language, to the Chinese pj
tau, " to," used as a dative suffix, and the other word
already mentioned, tung, " in the midst of," used as
a locative ? The English to and the German zu have
the dative force, as well as that of motion " towards "
and " arriving at "; and the extension of the meaning
of the word tau, to embrace a dative force, is no more
than what we should expect when it became a post-
position and was employed in case formation.

This word tau, " to," has in Chinese and English
the surd form. In Sanscrit and Mongol it appears
with the sonant d, as also in the Latin ad, where a is
perhaps a prefix for sound's sake. In Mongol and
Greek it has the aspirated form, and in German it
^ Bopp. Zweite Ausgabe, § 223.

11

162 china's place in philology.

occurs as a sibilant, througli the fondness of that
language for the initial ts.

The Turkish dah, "in," "at," "within the limit of
space or possession of,"' with n before it in kandah,
"where," hundah, "here," much resembles the Japanese
locatives te and nite. May not this be pointed to as
the possible origin of the Sanscrit ablative in d? The
Turks say buradah, "here," where the r is a mere
phonal extension of bu, " this." The final h, now
silent, may possibly represent an old k or g, which
would render the transition easy from the Chinese
tang, "from." The Sanscrit kutas, "whence," is not
far from the Turkish kandan, "whence," especially
when compared, as by Bopp, with the Greek iroBev,
where « final replaces s.

The Turkish kani, "where," contains the Japanese
ni as its locative suffix. Compare it with the Sanscrit
kad&, "where." The other Japanese locative is here
used, d being the representative of the Mongol d in
dor, da, and the Japanese t in te. Who doubts that
the Japanese proceeded from the same part of the
world from which the Hindoos proceeded? If there
be any one, the occurrence of resemblances such as
this should cause him to pause. The Turkish for
" when " is kachan, and the Mongol heje ; but the
Mongol/ represents d, and h is k', so that the Sanscrit
and Mongol forms agree, except in the circumstance
1 Eedhouse's English and Turkifih Dictionary, p. 700.

CASE PARTICLES COMPARED. 163

that the Mongol k is aspirated. Can we doubt that
the period during which the Indo-Europeans lived
beside the Turanians in Bactria, Persia, and Armenia,
was fruitful in linguistic results ? Take another form.
The Sanscrit kati, "how many," is in Mongol hedui,
k'edui, or, in the modern coUoquial, simply hedi. The
Latin is quot. The Chinese original of these words,
ki, " how many," is unaspirated, and has probably lost
a final t.

The instrumental case in Japanese is formed by the
suffixes ni, nite, de, te, motte, the last of which is de-
rived from the verb motsi, " to employ." The Mongol
has ler, yar, loga. In the Dravidian languages are
found tl (Tamil), an (Sen- Tamil), iin (Kannada),^ in
newer forms inda. The Chinese na, " to take," tan or
twan, "to carr J," pa, "to take in the hand" (in Mongol
barihu, "to take in the hand"), and i, "take," j^, are
the roots of these forms. The Japanese ni as a loca-
tive is derived from the Chinese nei, " within," and
as an instrumental from na, originally nap. The
Russians have the word nosish, "to carry." The
second word is tan, "to take up" or "carry." We also
find tai, to "carry," or "lead," old form tak, the
English take. "We also have tarn, "carry on the
shoulders," and tang, " to undertake." Since se, " the
back," seems to be derived by dropping n final from

' Eeise der Novara um die Erde. Linguistisoher Theil, von Dr.
Friedrioh Miiller. 1867.

164 china's place in philology.

senaka, "back," I suppose that the first of the four
words is the root here sought for, and that the
Japanese instrumental de and verb tori, "take," are
the Chinese tan. The third Chinese instrumental
verb is pa, Mongol barihu, " seize," Russian hrat,
"to seize." This originated the Mongol ber, when
the verb was placed after itsv noun by the Turanian
inversion. Here too we find a probable origin for
the Sanscrit instrumental suffixes hhy&m, hhih, and
the Latin 6ms. The Sanscrit suffix n& I suppose to
be the Chinese na, " carry." This seems to be a more
natural way of accounting for it than to refer it to
the pronominal root a, as Bopp does, a supposition
which requires the insertion of n for euphony. The
last Chinese verb to be considered is i, " take," " re-
gard as," "use." It was much used in the style of
the Chinese classics. Now it has given way to pa,
tsiang, na, and tan. It affijrds a probable origin
to the Mongol instrumental yer or yar, and the
Sanscrit suffixes ya, a, used in an instrumental sense.
The Tungus suffix dji is probably the same with the
Japanese de, by change of d to j. The Zend instru-
mental is a, agreeing with the prevailing Sanscrit
form.

The Lithuanian instrumental suffix mi should be
compared with the German mit and the Greek yttera.
The Japanese instrumental motta and motsu are no
other than this. Motsi, is " to hold," motsiyi ru, is

CASE PARTICLES COMPARED. 165

"to use," "employ." Bopp's derivation from the
Sanscrit bis seems forced, but lie had so firm a con-
viction that the Indo-European case suffixes are all
to be derived from pronominal roots, that he neglected
nearer and more probable analogies. It is, however,
a remarkable fact that the Chinese instrumental verbs
bear a close resemblance to the primeval pronouns.
The old instrumental i is like the old pronoun i, "he,"
and the modem na, "take," is like the modern pro-
noun 7M, "that," and in sound they are distinguished
only by tones.

The Japanese accusative suffix wo is like the
Turkish yi and Mongol i, and is probably derived
from the old pronoun i for the third person. The
Chinese i usually comes from an older ui or wei, and
the transition from wei to wo is not great. In Manchu
the accusative ha reminds us of the Chinese ^a, which
is used to introduce the accusative, when in the col-
loquial language the speaker desires to place it before
the verb which ordinarily governs it, as in pa t'a
sha liau, " he killed him," literally, " take him kill
finished." Another accusative ending ia Mongol is
gi. This may be the Chinese third personal pronoun
gi. Thus Bopp's view that the Indo-European accu-
sative is of pronominal origia may receive confirmation
from the formation of the Turanian accusative. The
Tamil accusative in ei, the Telugu in ni, and the Tibetan
in gi, appear to be all constructed in a similar manner.

166 china's place in philology.

The Japanese case suffix to has the sense "for the
sake of," and "in conjunction with." In the former
sense it agrees with the Mongol to'la, and with the
Chinese t'i, " instead of." In the latter sense it agrees
with the Mongol t'ai and t'o, as in hamt'o, " together,"
and the Chinese dung, "together." The Chinese
have also dai and wei, meaning " for the sake of," and
"on account of." I suppose therefore the Japanese
to to be a mixture of two words, which are in Chinese
t'i or dai, "for," "instead of," and dung, "with."

The Japanese nominative ba is used like the Mongol
inu, and as the nominative termination in Greek,
Latin, and Sanscrit, was probably first used. With-
out doubt it is a metamorphosed third personal pro-
noun. In the Turanian languages this suffix is not
part of the word, but is a pronominal repetition of
the nominative. Such too was the origin of the
termination s in the Greek oIko<;, in Chinese oh,
"house," in the demonstrative os in Greek, and is in
Latin, in Chinese gi and i. But the final has in these
languages been taken into the word, and forms a part
of it. The Turanian is the older, and the Indo-
European the newer mode of doing the same thing.
Let it not be said that the Turanian languages as
now known are altogether too modern for the philo-
logist to regard them as constituting a stepping-stone
between the Indo-European system, and the venerable
mother from whom all languages, eastern and western.

CASE PARTICLES COMPAKED. 167

have sprung. The Japanese writing, being 2,000 years
old, secures to that language a claim to a very respect-
able antiquity, and when the Dravidian languages are
taken into account, that antiquity is greatly increased.
As the three races, Tartar, Dravidian, and Mongol,
have not been neighbours since 4,000 years ago, the
approximate time of the Arian iavasion of India,
all common features existing in the three branches
must have belonged to the old Turanian stock from
which aU of them proceeded. For example, the post-
position of the verb, and the formation of cases had
then already taken place. Among the case particles
which resemble each other most closely are those
which mark the accusative and conjunctive relations,
viz., ei in Tamil and Mongol, and wo in Japanese for
the accusative, and odu in Tamil, to in Japanese, and
t'ei or loga in Mongol for the conjunctive, or, as De
Oastren calls it, the comitative case. For example, in
Tamil pilleiyddu wcmdan, " he came with the child."^
It also appears from this instance, that at that early
time the final ng of the Chinese word dung, "together,"
was already thrown off in cognate languages, a phe-
nomenon which occurs in the history of many Chinese
words, such as «w, " not," formerly mo, and still earlier
mong, as known from the fact that the character C
mong, was frequently used for it in the ancient Chinese
books.

' Pope's Tamil Handbook.

CHAPTEE IX.

Second Division op the Tdranian System. — The Dbatidian
Languages. — Pnoop that this Family is tkuly Turanian. —
Common Words. — Common Laws op Sound. — Surds and
Sonants. — Deficiency in Sibilants. — Abundance of Lmuids.
— Syllables usually Open. — Derivation. — Comparative List
OP 'Words. — The Verb. — The Passive Negation. — Tense
Formation. — Dravidian Syntax.

Professor Friedeich Muller has expressed doubts
respecting the Turanian character of the Dravidian
languages. The proofs of this rest on a multitude of
common roots, resemblances in alphabet and syllabary,
identity of syntactical construction, and the similarity
observable in their system of suffixes.

First, the roots are the same. Thus, we find resem-
blances like the following :

COMMON TURANIAN BOOTS.

TAMIL.

MONGOL.

JAPANESE.

CHINESE.

INDO-EUROPEAN.

kai, foot

k'ul

kak

to kick.

talei, Jieai

tologai

atama

da, dud

silei, atone

o'hilagon

isi

zhag

saxum.

karam, hmid

gar

Sans. kara.

nay, dog

uohai

inu

marei, rain

boron

ame

mo, mist

Pers. baran.

kiragam, houm

ger

ke

casa.

*— i"'|CXl

degu

ototo

de

'oS€X0({y.

iri, night

yoru

ya

adigam, much,

dake

TURANIAN ORIGIN OF THE DRAVIDTAN FAMILY. 169

TAMIL.

MONGOL.

JAPANESE.

CHINESE.

INDO-EUROFEAN.

wegn, much

yek'e

okini

, teyilam, oil

t'oBsa

ter, ehariot

t'ereg

t'e

dray, drag.

pattini, hunger

hldaru

maram, wood

modo

mok

agam, sin

Ma ek'e

aku

ak

wicked.

k&r, blackness

Vara

kuroi

kek

oaligo.

andam, egg

undug

&,6v.

There is a law in all true Turanian languages,
according to wMcli the vowel of the root repeats itself
in the prefixes and suffixes. If it does not repeat
itself exactly, it takes the form of an allied Towel.
In Mongol a and o are allied; e and u are also allied.
The vowel i is doubtful. Hence the syllabic alphabets
of Turanian languages. The vowels are regarded as
inherent in the consonants. The consonants are essen-
tial, and the vowels are secondary. The vowels only
attained their full and individual importance in the
Indo-European languages.

The sounds of the Tamil and other languages of
the Dravidian family are such as to confirm the fact
of their Turanian origin. There is noticeable a de-
ficiency in the development of the letters sh, ch, and
the surd series generally. Thus k, t, p, become g, d, h,
when they occur in the middle of a word. Analogy,
Japanese, and Mongol, shows that the original sounds
were g, d, b, which become surd at the beginning of
words or when doubled. In the Japanese language,

170 china's place in philology.

words in A or /, for instance, take b for h or /, when
they follow another word. Rito, " man," becomes Mto
in certain cases. Thus hiio hito means "men." Hoff-
mann has shown how the Japanese h of this century
was, last century and previously, /, and that it really
belonged anciently to the labial series. But it is
necessary to go further than this, and to reduce the
h in all oases to b, as its ancient form, as hatasM, " to
complete," Chinese ba, bad, Mongol barahu. So in
the plural kuni guni, "kingdoms," corresponding to
the Manchu gurun, " kingdom," it is better to avoid
being misled by the Japanese orthography, which
make g a modification of 7e, and to regard k as being
rather a modern modification of g. Here I use the
word modern with a wide acceptation. The history
of the Japanese alphabet shows that k and g have been
divided in Japan for 1,500 years. The fact is that
the Turanian ear formerly recognized no such dis-
tinction. Nor does the Mongol of the present day.
When naming his little tent images to his foreign
.visitor, he will call this one Kalin ejin or Qalin ejin,
" lord of fire," that one Shiggamuni Borhan (that is,
Shakyamuni Buddha), and another Gesser Man or
Kesser San, the hero who in Tartary takes the place
of the seven champions of Christendom. It is nothing
to him whether he attenuates his initials into k, t, and
'p, or thickens them into g, d, b. His language has
not yet arrived at this stage. The Japanese have gone

TAMIL SIBILANTS. 171

forward most successfully in the division of the surds
from the sonants. The Tamil- speaking people are in
a midway position. The Mongol has still to arrive
at the consciousness of the distinction. But he makes
use of aspirated surds as a substitute for the pure surds.
He has a fully developed ¥ and t' in his alphabet. It
may be concluded by analogy that the Tamil h, t, p,
have come out of g, d, b, and that the true ancient
sound is heard when it occurs in the middle and end
of words, e.g., ug, "to desire," Chinese yug or yuk,
Sanscrit vag, Greek ev)(pfjMi, English loish. Here the
final g becomes k in modern Chinese, and sh in San-
scrit and English, while in Greek it prefers the aspi-
rated form. The importance of the Tamil is shown
by this example, for with the intermediate form ug as
a guide, there can be no just ground of hesitation in
identifying the Chinese root having the initial y with
the Indo-European root having the initial v, or, which
is the same thing, w.

The Tamil sibilants are very defective. When s
is doubled or follows d or r, it is pronounced ch as in
Charles. The analogy of the Mongol and Japanese
languages shows that s is the true old sound. The
Mongol has s and t's, the latter of which is called c'h,
but its value in comparative philology is simple s, as
in c'hi, "thou," Manchu si, Greek <tv. The Mongol
has no true/, thej in use being a modern corruption
of d, as jirohe, " heart," the same as the Persian dil.

172 china's place in philology.

So jiffahu, to "teach," to "point to," is the same as
the Latin doceo, digitus, the English "teach," and
" betoken," the German zeichnen, etc., and the Chinese
chi or ti, " to point," cM or dik, " straight." So the
Tamil tagw, "to be just," and tagudi, "justice," have
the same etymology. Nor has the Mongol an sh
proper, the initial having this orthography being
modified from si. The same occurs in Japanese,
where si is pronounced like shi, and tsi Kke chi. Thus
in Mongol c'hagan, " white," seems to be connected
with c'hasa, " snow," but c'hasa is evidently connected
with the Chinese sit, " snow," and snow is a substance
which in all countries where the winter is cold, origi-
nates adjectives indicating whiteness. The Manchu
shanggien, " white," is apparently formed from the
Mongol by dropping the initial t. After the letter
sh had been thus introduced many Chinese words
were perhaps borrowed, such as shu'min and shum,
"deep," Chinese shim. I suppose, therefore, that the
Tamil s, though sometimes pronounced ch, is really the
s of Tartary and Japan.

The three r's, two I'b, and three n's of Tamil reveal
the existence of a principle that has been at work
among all the Indian populations since the intrusion
of the dominant Arian element. The Sanscrit lan-
guage has among the vowels a long and short r and
I, and an r and I at the bottom of the cerebral and
dental t series, respectively. The sister language.

ABUNDANCE OF LIQUIDS. 173

Zend, has one r and no l\ and hence it may be
concluded that this rich development of r and I took
place in Sanscrit after the migration to India. It
was, therefore, prohahly the effect of climate, for it
characterizes the Dravidian languages as it does those
of Sanscrit origin. Hot and moist climates induce
luxury and softness of manners. The vowels and
liquids then become extensively subdivided, while
letters which in their enunciation require decision and
physical energy suffer in proportion. The remarkable
completeness of the Sanscrit alphabet, wanting only /
among the consonants, and eu and u among the vowels,
was due to the Arian race having first been located in
a temperate region and afterwards migrating to a hot
and moist one.

That the Tamil and other Dravidian languages have,
when compared with the Sanscrit, so poor an alphabet,
is partly due to the fact, that the Turanian stock from
which they sprang was itself poor. To this should
be added, that deterioration had followed on their
separation from it. A softening process deprived
Dravidian speech of much of the pith and force which
belonged to it at an earlier stage, when it was one
with the Mongol and Japanese. Proof of this will
now be given by adducing the deficiencies of the
Tamil syllable.

The syllable admits in modern Chinese of a prefixed
t before the initials s and sh. This liberty is also

174 china's place in philology.

used in Mongol, and t becomes ts before i and w in
Japanese. In Tamil, s becomes occasionally ck. In
old Chinese the six final consonants by which a
syllable coidd be closed were g, d, b; ng, n, and m. In
Mongol the same rule prevails. The Japanese lan-
guage restricts this law, and takes pleasure in changing
the old monosyllable into a dissyllable. The Mongol
went farther and added s, I, r, to the number of finals
by which their syllables might be closed. The Tamil
people are more like the Japanese than the Mongols in
this respect, and give their syllables no consonantal
letters with which to close them, except n, m, I, and r.
The Telugu and Kannada languages know no finals to
their syllables but the vowels, and they thus assume
in regard to this feature a completely Polynesian
aspect.

The following examples of derivation in the Tamil
language wiU at the same time show that the roots
are found alike in the Chinese and in the European
vocabulary. They have been chosen within the space
of a very few pages in Dr. Winslow's Tamil Dictionary,
and in a part where the identity of words is very easily
detected, because the features of family resemblance
have not been much defaced by the processes of secular
corruption. In Chinese words three sounds are some-
times given, the first modern, the second that of the
dictionaries a.d. 500, the third that of the era (ac-
cording to tradition) of the formation of the phonetic

DERIVATION IN TAMIL. 175

characters, b.c. 2000. The Japanese h is replaced by
its ancient equivalent h.

Padi, "step of a ladder," padam, "foot," "road,"
" metrical foot." Chinese pu, " step," bo, bod. Indo-
European pada, foot, pes, passus, pace. The Tamil here
uses as suffixes of derivation i, am.

Para, " spread," " be diffiised," paramt, " lay open,"
" spread," parambu, " to spread," " become difiFiised,"
" multiply." Japanese fure, bare, " publish," " pro-
mulgate," haru, baru, "spread over," "extend," "dis-
play." Chinese pei, bi, bid, "coverlid," "to spread
over," " extend to." Indo-European bed, spread, pando,
pateo, broad, breit. Tamil derivative syllables a, avu,
ambu.

Padar, " widen," " ramify," " extend," " pass," pa-
dam, " path," i.e., " that by which we pass " or " pro-
ceed," padavi, "road." Mongol badarahu^'to extend,"
badaral, "extension." Chinese /a, hat, "to expand,"
"go forth." Indo-European /(?r^A,^a^A. Russian ra^r-
brasivat, razbrosat, to "dissipate," "extend." Tamil
derivative syllables ar, am, avi.

Paru, " to be increased," parambu, " to multiply,"
pattu, "fold." Betel nut in folds for guests. Hurdles
in folds for folding cattle. Cloth either as spread
or as folded. A "plait" or "doubling" of cloth.
Japanese hida, bida, "fold," " plait," /wte, buta, "two."
Chinese pei, bi, bit, " double," " add as much again."
Indo-European both, German beide, fold, plait, to boot.

176 china's place in philology.

i.e,, " SiA.A," freebooter, i.e., "one who wanders freely."
(Here the sense of spreading is approached.)

Pari, "to part," "separate," piri, "to part from,"
" separate," pMi, " part," " proportion," pMida, " dis-
tribute," pMu, " sharing," p&tti, " division." Mongol
buda, " group." Japanese hedate, hedate, " to separate
from." Chinese, ^«e, hit, "to separate," " other," /ew,
pun, "divide," ^M, hu, bud, "division," " class," /ew,
bun, "a division." Indo-European pars, separo, Sans-
crit bheda,< "dividing," bhedita, "divided," bhinna,
" separated."

Padu, "to suffer," "to be acted on," "to perish,"
" die in battle." This word forms a passive when
joined to the infinitive of active verbs. Japanese hate,
bate, " end, to end," batashi, " finish." Mongol barahu,
"finish." Chinese ^a, ba, bat, "to eoA," pei, bi, bit,
" to be acted on " ; used as a sign of the passive, as in
pei sha, " was killed," pai, " destroy," " be destroyed,"
ba, bad ; fa, " strike," " cut down," " make to fall,"
bat. Indo-European bout, butt, potior, passus, beat,
batuo.

Pari, "burden," "load," "speed," pcLri, "to be
heavy," "to feel heavy," "to be thick." Mongol
bidugun, "thick," bidu gulig, "thickness." Chinese /«,
bu, bud, "burden^" "to bear." Indo-European bear,
fero, <f)epo}, porta, bahren, ^apv^, ^dpo<i, berden, speed,
crirevSco.

Padam, " boiled rice," " eating," p&deyam, " pro-

EXAMPLES OF DERIVATIVES IN TAMIL. 177

visions for a journey." Mongol hada, "food." Manchu
hufa, "cooked rice." Chinese /fl», ban, "cooked rice,"
"food." Indo-European food, feed, fodder, petayu
(Russian "nourish"), hioyd (Welsh "food").

Padivu, "stooping," "lying near the ground," pa-
dukham, " servility." Manchu budun, " vile." Mongol
hegen or bogen, "low" {g is apparently part of the
suffix, and d is probably dropped). Japanese hikui,
bikui, " low." Chinese pel, pi, pid, " low." Indo-
European bottom, base, ^ddo<;.

Pal, "many," palam, "force," "strength," "fruit,"
" result," " profit," palan, " profit," " fruit." Japanese
batashta, " to result," hodoshi, bodosi, " to give,"
" bestow." Mongol butogehu, " fulfil." Chinese pei, pi,
pid, "add to," "give," "annex to," "benefit," "assist."
Indo-European fructus, fruit, fortis, abundo.

PaBeiya, " old," " decayed," paneimei, " oldness,"
" decay." Japanese furui, burui, " old." Chinese pai,
ba, bad, "to decay," "destroy," "decayed," fa, bad,
" wearied," " worn out." Indo-European fatigatus,
fetid, irdXat6<;, beaten (in the sense of " weary ").

Para, " fly," " move quickly," " be dispersed."
Japanese hashiri, basiri, " flee," " move fast." Chinese
fei, pi, pid, " fly," po, pad, " scatter," " winnow."
Indo-European aireipm, ireTdvwfM, bird, fly, Miigel,
irereivd, flee, fast.

Padi, " resemblance," p6lu, " to be like," poli, " like-
ness." Mongol budut'u, " likeness." Chinese pi, pe,

12

178 china's place in philology.

ped, " compare." Eussian podobie, " resemtlance,"
upodoblenie, " comparison."

These, and many other words like them in form,
appear to have sprung from a very few roots, such
as had, bid, bud, which may easily have originated in
the imitation of natural sounds. These sounds would
be, for example : the noise of the foot in stepping,
of a bird beginning to fly, of striking with a hatchet,
or of a heavy object falling to the ground. The many
sharp sounds heard in nature favour the opinion that
closed syllables were common in the primeval syllabary.
It is not likely that our first forefathers ended their
words with vowels exclusively.

The preceding examples show that a close com-
parison of the vocabularies of the Turanian languages
with the Chinese old vocabulary is likely to be most
fruitful in results. Philology, indeed, has at hand no
vocabulary of roots so complete and so ancient in form
as that found in the Chinese dictionary.

Among the additions to the root in Tamil are m and
I, marking substantives, as kadam, "killing," kddal,
" act of killing." The m reminds us of the Semitic
m, which is a demonstrative root, and is used to form
participial substantives from verbs and also to mark
the participle. The suffix I is the same with the
Mongol suffix for verbal nouns. For instance, the
Mongols say c'hidal, " strength," " ability," derived
from c'hidahu, " to be able," by adding I. Chinese

COMPOUNDS. 179

t'sai, "power," "riches," %e, zat. The root is also
found in the Sanscrit sattva, "vigour," "power," and
sattra, "wealth," "sacrifice" (Chinese tsi, tse, sat,
" sacrifice ").

The vowels i and u, -added to the root, are sounds,
and nothiag more. Thus, parru is " a grasp " and
" to grasp." The same is true in Japanese. They
are therefore used merely to make a second syllable,
by giving a vowel to the final consonant of the root.
They show that language has an inherent tendency to
become polysyllabic.

The Tamil, like the Japanese, but more freely,
makes compounds by annexing words to each other.
Thus, from tarisi, " to see," are formed tarisanam,
"vision," and sandarisanam, "the capacity to see all
things in common," where the first syllable is the
root sam, " all," " even," " common," Latin simul,
English same, Greek u/jlu, Chinese t'sam, " equal,"
Tamul samam, "evenness," "sameness." ¥10711 palam,
"strength," is formed samabalam, "equal power." It
is only in the Indo-European languages that we find
a parallel development of compounds. But the pre-
positions irapd, pro, super, etc., which make so promi-
nent a figure as prefixes to words in Greek and Latin
dictionaries, are not able to take the same position in.
any Turanian language, because their nature as verbs
requires them to be placed last. This exception being
made, there can be no doubt that the transition from

180

the Turanian languages to the Indo-European system
is, in regard to the formation of compounds, most
easily made from the Dravidian branch. The Turkish
and Mongol in regard to this feature afford no foot-
hold for comparison, for in those languages the loose
compounds which exist cannot be regarded as single
■vrords. The intervention of possessive and other par-
ticles prevents the fusion of the two words into one.

A glance at the verb will enable us to judge of the
relation held by the three branches of the Turanian
family to each other.

The essential identity of the verb and noun is
plainly taught by the Chinese and Turanian systems
of languages. This identity is not in idea, but in
sound. The framers of language did not confound
action and thing, but they gave them the same name.
Thus, dong in many languages expresses the sound of a
bell. So anything that gives a ringing even sound,
as also the sound itself, and any action that causes it,
would be called dong. The Chinese say ta, old form
tang, "to strike," chung, old form tang, "bell," dung,
"copper." Of the Dravidian roots, Caldwell says, as
quoted by F. MiiUer.^ ""When case-signs are attached
to a root, or when without the addition of case-signs,
it is used as the nominative to a verb, it is regarded
as a noun: the same root becomes a verb without
any internal change or formative addition, when the
' Eeise der Novara. Linguistieoher Theil, p. 95,

THE VERB. 181

signs of tense and the pronouns, or their terminal
fragments, are suffixed to it."

Thus, in Tamil occurs kuttu, a word which means
either " union " or " to join." Changing the vowel,
we meet with kattu, " a tie " and " ,to tie," " a
fabrication " and " to fabricate," " a bundle " and " to
bind." The Chinese kit means, in the same twofold
manner, " a tie " or " to tie," " to coagulate," " to
solidify." But if we observe the same root in Mongol
and in the Indo-European languages, a difference is
perceptible. The Mongols say hada for "a rock,"
hat'ago, for the adjective " hard," hat'aho, for the
neuter verb "to harden," and hadaho, "to make fast"
(by hammering), hat'agaho, "to dry," "to harden,"
in a causative or transitive sense. The Japanese, like
the Mongol, has. advanced beyond the stage when
the verb and noun were one. Thus, we find in the
Japanese vocabulary katai, "hard," katameru, "con-
geal," "harden," katasa, "hardness," kataku, "hard"
(the same with the Mongol), katamaru, " become
hardened," kata, " a mould," " shape," katatsi, "figure."
Among the suffixes here observable, i and ku serve for
the adjective, sa and a for the noun, maru for the verb
in a passive or increscent sense, fneru for the verb in a
neuter or transitive sense. The naked root does not
appear, nor do the verb and noun meet in any one
form.

Hence it may be concluded that the Tamil and

182 china's place in philology.

Chinese types of language are both, in this respect
older than the Japanese and Mongol, while the
English combination of the noun and verb in one
form as " a tie," and " to tie," is a return to primeval
usage after the language had been temporarily subject
to the laws of derivation which reigned in the
Sanscrit, Greek, and Latin.

The Sanscrit vocabulary contains the forms hathora,
"bard," hathoratA, "hardness," kathina, "h.a.Tdi," kathin-
ata, "hardness," kdtha, "rock," kdthina, "hardness,"
kadambara, " the skim of coagulated milk," kUaka,
" harsh," Ml, to " bind," "fasten," or " nail " {I for d),
Mia, " a nail," " pin " (Mongol hadagaso, " a nail "),
kuta, " a hammer." To these correspond the English
hard, hardness, harden, where an r has crept in before
the final letter.

It was this system of terminations, beginning in
the Turanian languages and culminating in the
Sanscrit, Greek, and Latin, that obscured the original
identity of the verb, noun, and adjective, separated
with precision the parts of speech, and thus gave
origin to Indo-European grammar in its broadest
aspect. This vast superstructure of derivatives raised
on the original basis of the monosyllabic roots is now,
and has been for two thousand years, gradually crumb-
ling away. The contrast between the Anglo-Saxon
and the English in regard to the extent of the prin-
ciple of derivative suffixes is a measure of the change

THE VERB. 183

steadily advancing in the whole Indo-European world.
If the human race should last long enough, we might
expect, supposing that the present law of decajr
continues, to find the whole superimposed system of
derivative forms swept away from language, leaving
behind only the primeval vocabulary of monosyllabic
roots. But the working of other laws, and the in-
satiable craving of civilization for new words, will
prevent this.

The verb in Tamil appears as transitive, neuter,
causative, passive, and negative. A neuter becomes
transitive by doubling the final consonant of the root.
Thus pogu, " to go away," becomes pokku, " to drive
away." Professor F. Miiller has noticed that this is a
Semitic peculiarity. I would add that it should be
traced to the influence of the Semitic form of speech
on the Turanian at an ancient period, when they were
geographically contiguous, or mixed in one older
system. In Hebrew the doubling of a consonant is
intensitive or causative. The syllables pi, hi, and vi are
appended in Tamil to make causal verbs out of
transitives. Thus sey, " do," the Chinese tso, in the
old form sak, "do," or "make," when pronounced
seyn, means "cause to do." From kal, "to learn," and
k&n, " to see," are formed karpi, " to teachj" and kdnbi,
"to show," i.e., "cause to see." The Mongol inserts
the syllables ffO and gol, to impart to verbs a trans-
itive or causative sense. This may be the Chinese

184 china's place m philology.

causative verb kiau, old form ko. Tlie Japanese causa-
tive suffix is se. Thus from miru, "see," and naru,
"be," are formed miseru, "cause to see," nasi, "make to
be." This syllabic addition reminds us of the Chinese
causative verb sM. In passing from Chinese to the
Turanian languages, as before remarked, sh becomes s.
The causative syllable in the Telugu and Kannada
divisions of the Dravidian branch is su, which may
be referred to the same origin as the Japanese. The
Turks insert al or ar, to give the sense of " coming
into the state of," and add c? or ^ to add the causative
signification, as hararmak, "to become black," karart-
mak, "to cause to become black." Here mak is the sign
of the infi.nitive. The Sanscrit causal p, inserted before
the causal suffix aya, as in the example given by Bopp,
sth&pay&mi, " I make to stand," may be referred to
the Tamil causative p for a probable origin.^ The
great philologist just mentioned derives the c of doceo,
" to teach," from the Sanscrit causal p, and finds the
root in disco, i^drjv and BoSda-KO). In Chinese we have
the roots fi, " to know," in Mandarin cM, and dik,
"to lead," tok, "to superintend," to, "lord." These
words will furnish a natural and probable etymology
for doceo, dux, SiSdaxeo, the Persian ddnem, " I know,"
and other connected words. Bopp derives the p in
rapio, " to snatch," from the same Sanscrit causal p,

' The Manohu, also a Turanian language, lias bu for a causative syllable,
ehoUmbi, "carve," choHibiimU, "cause to carve."

THE PASSIVE. 185

"in case rapio corresponds to the Sanscrit rapdy&mi,
' I make to give,' of whick the root is rd, ' give,'
formed from dd, ' give,' by a weakening of the c^.'"
When we have the word roh, " to plunder," in English
and Grerman, it seems to be useless to seek for any-
other origin for the Latin rapio than the root rah or
lab, " to take with the hand," " to take violently," " to
receive," etc. ; in Chinese nip, " take with the fingers,"
nap, " to take," " bring," in Mandarin nie and na}

In the eastern Asiatic languages the passive is a
derivative verb. Thus, in Tamil the suffix padu gives
to verbs a passive sense. This is the same word with
the Latin patior, " to suffer," and the Chinese had, in
Mandarin pei, which from the original meaning " to
cover," "to spread," "reach to," etc., has taken the
sense of " being acted upon," and so come to be used
as a passive auxiliary. As such it is quite common in
the modern speech of the country. In some dialects,
as at Shanghai, its tone (4 or 8) indicates that a final
d has been lost.^ The Japanese changes, final i to e to
form a passive. Thus, umi, " to produce," becomes
ume, "to be produced," "to be born"; yomi, "to read"
(Chinese niem), becomes yome, "to be read." The

' The original root for the causative p, Manchu bu, I think is the
Chinese iad or pet, "to give," for in the Shanghai dialect peh for pet is
used in a causative sense. Edkins's Shanghai Grammar, p. 140, Peh la
ngu kHuk kwen sz, " he caused me to suffer a lawsuit."

' The lost letter might be d or i, but the phonetic shows it to have
been d.

186 china's place in philology.

Tungusian adds wum to the active form. Here >» is a
personal ending, and wu is the addition, which may
be the verb ui, in Mongol meaning " to do," and in
Chinese " to do " and " to be." The Mongol passive
is formed by inserting da or de. The Turks insert il.
Thus, in Tungusian silkim, " wash," silUwum, "to be
washed"; in Mongol abho, "take," abdaho, "be taken";
in Turkish deugiirum, "strike," deugilurum, "be struck";
in Tamil adikkappadu, " to be struck"; in Mongol
t'ugsedehu, " to be struck." ^

The Turanian verbs are negatived by the insertion
or addition of the negative roots al, ne, ak, ma, com-
mon in Semitic and European languages. The Tamil
inserts a, as do the other Dra vidian dialects. Its full
form, says Caldwell, as quoted by F. Miiller, is al.
The Telugu simply changes u to a, as in pampu, " to
send," pampa, "not to send." The Tamil allows the
usual terminations to follow. Seygindadu, " it makes,"
seyyAdu, "it does not make." This negative may be
identified with the Hebrew Sx al, "not." The
Japanese negative element, says Hoffmann, is the sound
w. From siri, "to know," is formed siranai, "I do
not know." From ake, " to open," is formed akenu,
" not to open." From yuki, " to go," are formed yuku
na or na yuki so, "do not go." This negative may

' The root dig, dug, "strike," ecourring in three Turanian languages,
is in Chinese tang; in English, with prefix s and insertion of r, strike; in
Hebrew VpFl "he struck," pg'I "beat small"; Arabic <?aA, "strike a bell."

NEGATION. 187

be identified with the Latin non, ne. The Manchu
negative is ak'o, " not," as in ak'o oho, " I have it not,"
dk'uc'hi, " if it is not," ak'ungge ak'o, " nothing is
wanting," ak'ungge, " it is not." The Mongol ugei is
the same word with the aspirate omitted. In the
eastern Mongol w is inserted in this word, as in hada
idesen ugwei, "I have not eateil food." Here hada is
the English food,^ ide the English eat,^ and ugwei the
Greek ovk and ov. It is marvellous that the roving
inhabitants of the Tartar plains should be daily using
words so famiHar to the inhabitants of European coun-
tries, but it is not the less true. These three negative
roots, a, ne, ovk, have absolutely no representative in
Chinese. Hence they must be regarded as of Semitic
and Turanian origin, and the introduction of the
last two into the Indo-European languages must be
attributed to the influence of ancient union, or mutual
influence and juxtaposition of the races.

It is otherwise with the remainder of the negatives
in the Turanian languages. They are chiefly words
identical with Chinese negatives. Thus, the Chinese
wu or mut, " do not," is in Mongol hu, as in bu bio'hi,
" do not write," bu oro, " do not enter." The Turkish
uses ma, as in olmah, " do not be," olmaz, " he is not."

' Compare the Eussian pitat, " to feed," German fiittern ; Eussian
pishe'ha, " food," German /mW«>-, English /of&^er.

' Compare the Sanscrit anna, "food," ad, "eat," Latin edo, Greek
iaOia, German essen, Eussian yest, Greek ISu.

188 china's place in philology.

The Tibetan has ma, mi, "not." The Chinese denial
of existence is expressed by mo, mong, in Mandarin
wu and mei yeu. The Greek firj, in jjur] ryivotro, " let it
not be," is evidently connected with the same root.
The two Chinese words are probably one in origin.
In prohibitions they preferred the final t or d. In the
denial of existence they chose the final ng.^

Another Chinese root is pi, put, in Mandarin fei, pu,
used to express contradiction, as in pu hau, " it is not
good," pu hi, " he does not come." The Mongols say,
hoso, "it is not so," in the eastern dialect, bishi. In
Europe this root appears in the Latin pereo and perdo,
perfidus and perjuria, in all which the prefix per has the
sense of destruction or badness. It is also our own
word had. As a transitive verb it is in Chinese " to
destroy " (fei) ; as a neuter, it is the substantive verb
negatived; as an adjective, it denotes moral badness
(fei lui, " bad people ") ; as an adverb, it is pu, " not."

The formation of the tenses preceded that of the
personal endings. Thus, in the Tamil the form sey-
gind-en, " I do," has for the mark of present time {gir)
gind, and for the first person singular en. The first
person singular in the aorist tense is sey-v-en, " I did."
The perfect is sey-d-en, " I have done." In the older
Turanian types, represented by dialects bordering on
China, the personal endings do not occur. Thus, in

' Mong, in Mandarin wang, is used for "to die" or "be destroyed."
It is the Latin morior, Sanscrit mara, Persian ma/rdan.

TENSE FORMATION. 189

the eastern Mongol, "I kill," "thou killest," "he kills,"
are expressed by bi alana, c'M akma, t'ere alana, while
in Buriat- Mongol, spoken on the shores of the Baikal
Sea, alanap, alanas, alana are used, where p is bi, " I,"
and s is c'M, " thou."

The distinction of masculine, feminine, and neuter
is foimd in the personal endings of all the Dravidian
dialects. Thus, in Tamil the third person singular of
the perfect indicative is, masculine sey-d-an, femiuine
sey-d-dl, neuter sey-d-adu. This peculiarity, being
unknown in the languages of Tartary and Siberia, is
best referred for its origin to ancient juxtaposition
with Semite or Indo-European races. If traces of
Semite influence occur in Dravidian speech, it may
have been from the neighbourhood of some early
people of that descent in Persia. The Cushite settle-
ments stretched eastward along the sea-coast from
Arabia to the mouths of the Indus,i and the language
of the Cushites differed but little from that of the
Semites. In Coptic and other Hamitic languages the
distinction of masculine and feminine is still found in
the personal endings of verbs.^ When it is also
remembered what striking indications of Semite in-

1 Compare the geographical names, Cutoh, in the Gulf of Eutch, near
Bombay; Gujerat; Katsh, the name of a Tibetan province; the Vale of
" Cashmere," etc.

2 Eeise der NoTara. Linguiatischer Theil. In old Egyptian, t marked
the feminine. A neuter gender was unknown to Semitic or Hamitic
grammar. The Arians probably introduced this distinction into language.

190 china's place in philology.

fluence are observable in tbe Tibetan language, it
seems fair to conclude that the races which occupied
the Persian area immediately before the Arian, being
partly Semite and partly Cushite, imparted Semite
elements to the Dravidian languages.

The Dravidian tense marks are, present gindu, giru,
in Tamil ; ta, te, in Kannada ; ehu, tu, in Telugu.
Perfect t, d, and «. Future L Aorist b, v, pp.
• On the origui of the marks for the present no light
is thrown by reference to the Turkish ar or ur, as in
horkarum, korkarsen, korkar, "I fear," "thou fearest,"
"he fears," where um and sen denote the first and
second persons and kork is the root ; nor to the Mongol
moi, na, namas, in hi dbomoi, "I take," t'a ahornoi, "you
take," t'ere abomoi, " he takes," in the eastern collo-
quial Mongol abana, and in old books abonam.

The forms for past time are, on the other hand,
remarkably similar to those found in the connected
languages. The Turkish preterite inserts d, as in
korkdum, "I have feared," where m is the first pro-
noun — our own me. The Mongol gerunds have among
them a form in d, which ma,y easily have originated the
indicative preterite in d. For example, in the eastern
Mongol, noyin moran onad jidan beriji iheu hashigaran
oroba, " the chief, mounted on his horse, and holding
his spear, entered his great court-yard." Noyin is
"any chief." Moran is the second accusative of mori,
"horse," and as such bears a possessive signification.

TURANIAN GERUNDS. 191

Onihu is "to ride." Its gerunds are onad, onaman,
onaji, which may be used in succession in a sentence
composed of several clauses like the preceding. Jidan
is the second accusative of jid, "spear." Berihu is
"to grasp with the hand," — the Chinese pa. Iheu,
" great," is the Japanese okii, " great." Mashigar is
" a palisaded enclosure." Oroha is the past indicative
of orohu, "to enter." The form in d resembles our
English participial form in ed, which agrees with the
past tense indicative, as in, " he was mounted on his
own horse," or, "he mounted his own horse." The
Latin equitatus, or equo vectun, "mounted on a horse,"
are also equivalent. So is the Sanscrit participle in
ta, as patita, "fallen," from pat, "fall."

The third Mongol gerund in ji appears to be the
same wide-spread form disguised by phonetic change,
for the Mongol y has d for its etymological equivalent.

The Japanese gerund in te nearly agrees in form
and use with the Mongol. I take an example from
Hoffinann : Te wo aghete fito wo manehiyubu, " elevating
his hand, he calls the people by signs." Te is "hand."
Wo is the accusative case suffix. Aghete is the gerund
of aghe, "lift up," the Chinese gu or kit, and Greek
iyeipm. The Turanian prefixed vowel has, if this
identification be correct, been retained by the Greeks
from that time in hoar antiquity when the forefathers
of the Japanese were next-door neighbours to the
world-famous Hellenes. Fito wo is "man " or " men,"

192 china's place in philology.

in the accusative, and manekiyuhu is a compound verb,
consisting of maneki, " to beckon," and i/ubu, " he
calls." Hoffmann remarks that the suffix te means "at
the time of," or " by means of," and is locative, modal,
or instrumental.'^ The Japanese past tense takes the
suffix ta, as in watahusiga mita, " I have seen," where
watakusiga means " I," and has the honour perhaps of
being the longest word in the world in use for that
pronoun. Mita is the past of mi, "see," connected
with the Chinese mok, " eye." I suppose that, as in
English, the past tense is of later formation than the
gerund form and founded upon it. So in Greek,
the participle Xehreov preceded the imperfect or aorist
eXiTTOv, and both are later than the Mongol infinitive
or participle in n, with which they are connected by a
distant relationship. So also i^ovT^vaa, "I coun-
selled," and i^ovKev9r]v, " I was advised," may be
viewed as more recent forms, founded on the older
^ovXeva-a<} and ^ovXevdei<;. The Indo-European past
tense in s, d, and n, is based on the participle, and
this again upon the Turanian gerund. The Turanian *
intellect nominalizes the verb. Every verb is looked
at as a substantive, and hence those parts of the
conjugation which were first formed approach in their
nature to the substantive. The Turanian in describing
a succession of events gave to his verbs the forms of
gerunds, and added to them, when needed, the case
' Grrammaire Japonaiae, p. 177.

PAST TENSE. 193

suffixes. Thus, each clause was a substantive. Yet,
by the nature of the case, they retained a verbal
energy. Time was an inherent element which was
inseparable. The union of verb and noun in one word
thus originated the participle of both the Turanian
and Indo-European families. Then from this were
derived certain indicative forms denoting past time.

The origin of the past tense and past participle in ,
d may be looked for, perhaps, in the ancient Chinese
pronoun ti, "him," Mandarin cM. This word is used
as a preposition, "to a place," and as a possessive
particle. I take an example from M. Julien's Syntaxe
NouveUe de la Langue Chinoise : Kwo cM Mun, " the
kingdom's prince." The Mongol use of the suffix de
in the sense of "towards a place " is parallel. In the
dialects of China the same word is used in the same
way as the Mongol gerund. Tsu tsi ping, tang tsang
kH tse^ " he has become a soldier and gone to fight."
Tsu is to " do," " be," " act as," old form sak, in Tamil
sey, " do." Tsi is the common sign of the possessive,
here used as a mark of the gerund. Ping is " soldier."
Tang tsang is a compound verb, "to fight." K'i is
" to go," and is put in the past by the last word foe,
a particle fixing past time. In M. Julien's examples
of the use of chi'^ may be seen, Wei shu sheng chi,
" only millet grows," said of the barbarians of
Tartary, whose country will not grow rice or wheat.
' Shanghii Grammar, § 252. * Syntaxe Nouyelle, p. 75.

13

194 china's place in philology.

At present the northern boundary of wheat cultivation
passes at about 200 miles to the north of Peking.
The word cM is here, says M. Julien, without signifi-
cation. But may there not be here the commencement
of a gerund formation like that seen in compounds
formed with the word cho in Mandarin? Thus, in
Wo chan cho ti sKi heu, "while I was standing,"
wo is " I." Chan is " stand." Cho makes it a
gerund. Ti is the possessive sign to the verb-noun,
chan cho. Shi heu is a compound noun meaning
"hour," "time." Looking at the use of chi in this
way, and keeping in mind the Shanghai usage above
adduced, the history of the gerund formation in d
would become clear. The root ti appears in old
Chinese literature, (1) with the meanings " this,"
"him," "towards," "go towards"; (2) with the pos-
sessive sense, thus becoming a mere auxiliary particle ;
(3) with a gerund-like signification, which comes out
more distinctly in the dialects.^

The other Dravidian perfect in i and the aorist in
b OT V are interesting from their striking resemblance
to the Latin perfect in ui, vi, and imperfect in ham.
In Mongol the ordinary past tense ends in ha when
the root has a or o, and heu when the root has e or i,
e.g., yahaha, "he went," heleheu, "he said." The

' If this is not the true origin of the Mongol gerund in d and ju, it
.may be possible to find it in the Chinese Mandarin gerund cho, meaning
originally " to hit the mark," "strike," "take fire," etc.

CONDITIONAL TENSE. 195

form in ba differs in nothing from tlie Latin imperfect,
except that the Latin has proceeded to ajfix the mark
of the personal pronoun, a stage which the older
Mongol dialects have not reached. The Buriat-
Mongols, however, have added b, s, t, to the three
persons, thus making the identification complete. The
Turkish and Persian languages, which have always
heen neighbours, both have m for the first person,
as in the Persian imperfect budam, budl, bud, " I was,"
" thou wast," " he was," corresponding in Turkish to
boldim, boldung, boidi. The Manchus also have a past
tense in bi. In Japanese ba is used to serve as a suffix
to the verb in a subordinate clause with the sense
"when," or "as." This appears to be the same as
the Mongol conditional suffix bel. Hoffmann gives the
example : i/ama no ne kumo tsigiretaraba yagate fare,
" should the clouds on the top of the mountain be
dispersed, it becomes forthwith clear." Here no is the
possessive, i/ama is " mountain," ne is " the summit,"
kumo is " cloud," isigiretara is " disperse," yagate
is "forthwith," and fare is "becomes clear." Ba is
" should " or " if."

As to the origin of ba and bel as conditional suffixes,
or as signs of the imperfect indicative, ■there is perhaps
nothing more probable than an ancient connexion with
the Chinese pi, "to compare," and pm,, "to give."
The lost d of the latter of these words is recovered by
comparing the Shanghai form peh for pet with the

196 china's place in philology.

Japanese hodokosM, "to giYc" (N.B. Japanese h=p
or b). The Japanese for "compare" is haiszru, "to
matcli," " equal." The Chinese, as at Shanghai, use
both words in compounds, as in sung peh la ngu, "present
it to me," literally "present give to me"; dang
pi, "mutually compare." The Tamil has these words
with or without an initial o. Thus, oppanei is "simile,"
"parable," pol, " like as," oppdri, " comparison," oppi,
" give," poll or oppu, " likeness," " congruity," polu or
oppu, " to be like," " resemble," oppumei, " similitude,"
oppuvi, "to give," "deliver." The Chinese has also
the aspirated words pH, " a comparison," p'ei, " to
match," " correspond to," and pH, " a match," where
the root is in all cases pHt. In the Indo-European
languages, the Russian has podobie, "resemblance," and
upodoblenie, "comparison," where the prefixed u is
curiously like the o in the Tamil forms. The English
has pair, and the Latin par, " equal," and comparo, " to
compare." The Latin paro, " prepare," is the Chinese
bid, " prepare," in Mandarin pei. In Chinese there
are also other members of this numerous family,
namely, pi, " he," and pit, " other," already adduced
in a previous chapter.

The explanation now proposed of the conditional
and past tense suffix; in b is, that its original meaning
was " resemble " and " give," and that it was appended
as a verb, in juxtaposition with a preceding verb, as
in the modern eastern Mongol helji og, " speak for me,''

PAST TENSE. 197

where og means "give," and he^i is the gerund of
of helhu, "to speak." In Japanese and Mongol it
became suppositive, and in Drayidian and Mongol
preterite. In this state it passed over into the Latin,
when the ancestors of the Romans were still in Asia,
and in close connexion with the Turanians. What is
given is passed over to another. The very word past
means transferred.

Bopp has derived the Latin imperfect from the
substantive verb fui, fore, but there is this objection
to that view. The same suffix for the past tense
exists in Dravidian languages which have not this
substantive verb. The substantive verb in b first
comes into view in the Tartar languages. The older
branches of the Turanian family, the Japanese and
Dravidian, have it not, nor do they contain any traces
of the first personal pronoim in m, which is always
found in the company of the substantive verb in h.

The other Dravidian past in i — as in the Kannada
aorist uv and in the Tamil perfect in i — resembles
the Latin ui and vi, in docui and amwoi. Though
it does not appear in the verb paradigms of the
Mongol and Japanese languages, there is no diffi-
culty in finding it in Chinese. It is the word i,
"already." By analogy the old form of this word
may have been i or wi. The Latin, Sanscrit, and
Tamil v is the equivalent of the Chinese w. The
word i, "already," is in Chinese used in the sense

198 china's place in philology.

"past and gone" (lower second tone), and perhaps
originated the final particle *, for which it is sometimes
used.^ It differs in nothing from the third personal
pronoun i, except in tone : a quality which, as has
been shown, may be treated as having been non-
existent 4,000 years ago. The same word also means
"other," "different." Hence the fundamental idea
of it is " difference," in space, in person, or in time.
Combined with Jen, " man," it means " a man of
another country," " a barbarian " (lower first tone).
It is a noun, "difference," in the sentence, ta t'ung
siau i, " great similarity and small difference." In i U,
"a, different place," it is an adjective (lower third
tone). As an adverb it means "again," and as such
it is the word pronounced in Mandarin yeu, but in the
Shanghai dialect yi (lower third tone). As the third
personal pronoun (upper first tone), it is still used in
the south-eastern dialects.

The Dravidian future in i or e is evidently identical
with the Mongol future in ya, and these forms together
constitute an old type from which the Latin future
in e and ie, as in regam, reges, and audiam, audies,
may have been formed. Its origin may perhaps be
discovered in the Chinese yau, which takes the old
form ok, "wish," "desire." It is a common sign
of the future in Mandarin-Chinese. The k was early

1 For aa example of the use of i, " already," as a fiaal particle in a
predicative sentence, vide Syntaxe Nouvelle of M. Julien, p. 186.

FUTURE TENSE. 199

lost in the colloquial language. The corresponding
western word is volo, wollen, will, ^ovKofiai, and perhaps
wish.^ That this identification is not unlikely to
be correct may be shown by reference to the other
Chinese signs of the future. Tsiang (old form stung)
contains in it the sya, which is the Sanscrit sign of the
future, and the s of the Greek and Latin future, as in
^ovXevam, "I wiU advise," dovkevawv, "about to give
counsel," and ero, "I will be" (/• for s). Another
sign of the future in Chinese is pit, in Mandarin pi.
It means "certainty," "certainly." "It will certainly
be so." The word is the same with the Latin fides,
the Greek 7riam<;, and the Hebrew nt32l hata, "he

' T T '

trusted." This I suppose to be the source of the
Latin future in bo, bis, bit, where bi marks the tense
and 0, s, t, the person, as in amabo, "I shall love."
This affords a more natural explanation of the future
tense formation than to derive it in the manner of
Bopp from the substantive verb, fuisse, futurus, etc.
The Latin future in r, as ero, amavero, etc., is coin-
cident in a curious way with the Manchu future in
ra, re, which again strikingly resembles the Mongol
supine in ra, re. A supine is a sort of infinitive put
in future time, and hence in EngHsh the supine and
the infinitive are not distinguished. The Mongols use

1 Compare wash, in Chinese og, Mongol ogahu. 5A is a western
equivalent for the old Chinese final g or *. In Grerman, the inserted «
in ioiinachm, " to msh," causes a difficulty in the identification.

200 china's place in philology.

for the future botli the present tense in moi or ne,
and also the infinitive in hu. Thus, in Turanian gram-
mar there is not a little mutual interchange between
the present, the future, the supine, and the infinitive.
Hence it should be regarded as open for consideration,
whether (if yau, " wish," is not satisfactory) the
Chinese substantive verb wei, "to be," "to do," and
in the third tone "for," "for the sake of," may not
be the source of the Mongol future in ya, and so of
the Dravidian and Latin forms already adduced. This
verb exists in Mongol in uile, " an act," and uiledhu,
" to do " ; and is probably the root of our western
am, was, werden, est, esse, Sanscrit asti, Tamil iru,
"to be," Japanese iru, oru, "to be," "to dwell."

The syntax of the Dravidian languages is similar
to that of Tartar and Japanese speech. This will be
understood from some examples of Tamil sentences,
taken from Pope's Handbook. "Open the door" is
kadavu tira, where Icadavu is the Mongol egude (or in
modern vernacular ude) and the Japanese Icado, " door."
The Chinese equivalent is gud, in Mandarin hu. The
verb tira, "to open," stands last. So in Mongol ude
nehe, " open the door," where nehe is the Greek avoiye.

An example of the participial construction is the
following : ndn paditia pddam, " the lesson which I
have learned." If&n is "I." Paditta is the past parti-
ciple of padi, " to learn." Pddam is a verbal noun
from the same root. Compare in Mongol bi omsihu ne

DRAVIDIAN SYNTAX. 20X

7, "the book I am reading." Here omsihu is
the infinitive or present participle "reading." It is
in the possessive case, with we to connect it with the
following noun, "book." The past participle would
be omsisen, the other words remaining the same, and
the meaning would be, "the books which I have
read." The Chinese construction is similar, zoo nien
ti shu, "the book I am reading," or "which I have
read." Here ti is the possessive (the verb nien,
"read," being treated as a noun), and corresponds
exactly to the Tamil t&.

The gerund construction will be perceived from
the following instance ; nadandu wand&n, " walking
he came," Mongol yabaju irebe. As / takes the place
of d, the suffix ju is the same as the Tamil du and
the Japanese te. The Chinese has the same order,
tseu lai. The Indo-European languages invert the
order, as in ^X0e, ^eirmv, "he came seeing," rediit
videns. Another example is kittu wasittu esudindn,
"hearing, reading, he wrote." We should say, "he
heard, read, and wrote." The Mongol would use one
gerund in d, another in j'u, and then close with the
indicative.

There can be little doubt in regard to the pro-
bability that the order of verbs in this Turanian
construction rests on the older law ruling the order
of verbs in Chinese, viz., that of succession in time.
Hearing and reading precede writing. Walking pre-

202 china's place in philology.

cedes comiag. After the Turanian period, when
an indicative was fully formed, it was possible to
transgress this order. The rich Indo-European verb
paradigms allowed of verbs being easily distinguished
from each other, and language was no longer obliged,
in the interest of clearness, to maintain a strict
adherence to the order of time in the arrangement
of her verbs.

A more complex example from Mongol will illustrate
the syntax of an expanded sentence : t'ere mande kelsen
ne uge hi mart'asen, "the words that he said to me I
have forgotten." T'ere is "he." Mande is "to me."
Seken is the past participle of helhu, "to speak."
It has the possessive particle ne. Uge is words. Bi
mart'asen is, "I have forgotten," the participle being
used as an indicative in the colloquial language. In
the book language it would receive after it the
substantive verb in the indicative, to complete its
expression. The construction, with the participle, is
here seen performing the duty afterwards assigned to
the relative pronoun. Helsen ne uge is a relative
clause. This was, in the early state of language,
rendered possible by the fact, that the verb was
viewed predominantly by the Turanian mind as a
substantive ; and, as such, the office of finding room
in a sentence for the relative clauses of western
languages was considered to belong to it in one of
its cases, viz., the possessive. But the more Kvely

DRAVIDIAN SYNTAX. 203

and energetic attributes of Semite language had in
this respect greater influence on the Indo-European
mind. The relative pronoun became the hinge on
which the clauses of compound sentences could con-
veniently turn, and the honour of accomplishing this
duty was no longer assigned to the verb in the

CHAPTEE X.

Third Division op the Tueanian System. — Mongol as a Type or
Taktar Languages. — An Old Turania in Western Asia. —
The Tartar Turanians come nearest to the Indo-Europeans.
— System op Sound. — S and / por SS and D. — OS por 8. —
Final JVG dropped. — No J?. — Seven Vowels. — Tone.— Acci-
dence. — Substantive Verb and First Personal Pronoun. —
Mongol Declension. — Pronouns. — The Mongol Verb Conju-
gation. — A Mongol Verb. — Adverbial Suppixes. — Mongol
Syntax.

The great antiquity of the Mongolian type of
language is manifest from its being found in several
of its leading features in the Dravidian area. The
historical events which have separated the branches
of the great Turanian family furnish to us an approxi-
mate chronology for the early stages of Turanian
development. They point to a period anterior to the
dispersion of the Indo-European families, when there
was a primitive Turania in Western Asia, from which
the Japanese, Dravidian, and Tartar races proceeded.
This time cannot be later than 2,000 years before
the Christian era. At that time the Turanian verb
had already its gerund, its past participle, and its

TARTAR TURANIANS NEAREST TO INDO-EUROPEANS. 205

three indicative tenses, a scale of case suffixes, several
polysyllabic derivatives, and a common syntax. The
suffixes were attached more loosely to the root than
in the Indo-European system. It could not have
been otherwise. For the Turanian type stands mid-
way between the monosyllable of China and the richly
elaborated polysyllabism of modern Europe. The
difference between the agglutinated and inflected lan-
guages is simply a question of lower and higher
development. Linguistic types come one out of
another, like orders in architecture, or ages in geology.
The Indo-European system rests on the Semitic and
Turanian systems, as they do on the Chinese, and as
the Chinese does upon the primitive speech of Western
Asia.

The special interest of the Mongolian type consists
in the fact that it comes nearest of all the three
Turanian branches to the Indo-European. As Iran
and Turan stood opposite to each other with hostile
front, but in close contiguity, in ancient Persian
remembrance, so Arian and Turanian speech, in many
respects varying, stand to each other in the closest
proximity. Their remarkable resemblance consists
mainly in the formation of tenses by suffixes and in
the extensive use of the same substantive verbs and
personal pronouns. The verb " to be," the first
personal pronoun in m or b, and the second and third
in s or t, are as widely extended in Tartary as they are

206 china's place in philology.

in Europe, and they form an incontrovertible'argument
for common origin in language, race, and ideas. The
same mental constitution which led the Tartar tribes
to develope these roots in a declined and conjugated
form, as the convenient expression of their ideas of
existence and personality, led the Indo-European races
to adopt them for the same use, instead of the more
ancient substantive verbs and pronouns found in the
Semitic, the Chinese, and the older Turanian lan-
guages. That the Fins, Manchus, Mongols, and
Turks should have borrowed this striking feature
from the Indo-Europeans seems very improbable. It
is worked thoroughly into the texture of their
languages, and has nothing of the appearance of a
foreign element.

The Mongol and other Tartar languages have suf-
fered less from phonetic decay than the Japanese and
Dravidian branches of the same family, which have
been exposed to the enervating effects of mild or hot
climates. Hence there is found here a greater variety
of sounds. Thus, the syllabary includes ng, n, m, g,
d, b, I, r, s, among the finals. Of these, the last three
are beyond the capacity of the Chinese vocal system,
and they must be regarded as new. Thus, gol, "river,"
is formed by appending I to the Chinese root ga, in
Mandarin ho. T'os, "opposite," is formed by dropping
d in the old Chinese tod, "opposite," Mandarin tui,
and adding s. The Tamil has edir, "to oppose."

SYSTEM OF SOUND. 207

The Indo-European languages allow any letter to end
a syllable. Thus, in English, in addition to the nine
consonants by which the Mongols can close syllables,
we have f, v, k, t, p, ch, dj, z, sh, and the surd and
sonant th. This is an unmistakable proof of the
advance in freedom which language has now made.
In the Mongolic stage it had added three finals to the
Chinese and Himalaic phonology. In Sanscrit the
finals are ng, n, m, h, t, d, s, r; differing very slightly
from the Mongol. In Latin, when we have repeated
haud, aut, in, hie, collis, clam, /rater, multiplex, we seem
to have exhausted the capacities of the syllabary, and
have only eight final consonants, d, t, n, h, s, m, r, x,
of which the last, x, is a compound of two others, k
and s. It is only in the Gothic and Sclavonic speech
that language assumed the power of ending syllables
with whatever consonants it pleased. Among these
two, the Gothic has more freedom than the Sclavonic,
and probably there is no language in the world that
can compare in this respect with the English. This,
however, is a distinction which has been acquired only
after long and patient waiting. Language passed
from the monosyllabic stage into the Turanian, from
this to the early or southern Indo-European type,
and from that to the later or northern type of the
same family, before venturing on so great a leap.
In Semitic phonology, on the other hand, language,
with characteristic boldness, claimed the privilege at

208 china's place in philology.

a most ancient period of using as finals the sibilants
and liquids, in addition to the mutes and nasals which
were the finals of the primeval monosyllable.

The unaspirated surds k, t, p, do not exist in Mongol
or.Manchu. These letters, as written by De Castren
and Schmidt in their Grammars, represent aspirated
surds.^ They appear to have grown out of the sonants.
Thus, t'ologai, " head," is in Chinese du, Mandarin
t'eu. So also t'ola, "for," "on behalf of," is in Chinese
t'ek and dak, in Mandarin t'i and tai, " instead of."

The aspirated k has in the eastern Mongol, which
is that spoken in the neighbourhood of Peking, become
h, but k' is retained by the western and northern
Mongols.

The want of sh in Mongol, or at least its very
sparing use, reminds the student of the Greek and Latin
languages, which also lack this consonant. The coin-
cidence can scarcely be regarded as accidental when
the many remarkable resemblances in words between
the Tartar languages and the Greek and Latin are
kept in view. In Mongol k'umun or humun, "man,"
ere, " male," nehemoi, " to open," gar, " hand," dalai,
"the sea," ebur, "horn," sara, "moon," nom, "sacred
book," may be compared with homo, " man," vir, app7)v,
" male," avouym, " to open," x^^P> " l^^nd," OaXaa-aa,

' What the rule is in Turkish I cannot in Peking learn with certainty.
The influence of Arabic and Persian may have led to a change of the
aspirates to the pure surds.

CHINESE D AND T REPRESENTED IN MONGOL BY J. 209

"sea," ebur, "ivory," txeKriw), " moon," v6fio<;, "law."
It is probable, therefore, tbat at some distant epoch a
strong Turanian influence was exerted specially upon
the Greek and Latin sections of the Indo-European
family, subsequent to the separation of the Indo-
Persian tribes from the common Aryan stock.

The Chinese d and t, in Mandarin often ch, is in
Mongol represented by j. Thus, ti, "to point to,"
di, " to rule," " to cure," tok, " candle, " to shine,"
ti, " decree," are in Mongol jahu, " to point," jasahu,
"to rule," "correct," "cure,"yo/, "candle," "lamp,"
jerlig, " decree." In Greek and Latin the corre-
sponding words are helKWjJbi, indico, rego, luceo, lux, lex.
The law regulating these correspondences is, that
words commencing with d and I in the Latin are
found to agree in meaning with words whose initial
is in modern Chinese ch, in Mongol j, and in old
Chinese and Mongol d. As in the registered old
sounds of the Chinese tonic dictionaries, dating from
A.D. 400, some of these words are spelt with t, it may
be reasoned that, as before stated, the old Chinese t
probably came out of a more ancient d, for then it
will not be surprising that I should be the Latin
equivalent. The letters I and d have a known affinity
for each other, and appear to be related, as son to
mother. L has grown out of d, and so also has r,
and thus has been caused an expansion of the alphabet
in Sanscrit, in the Semitic family, and probably in

14

210

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

other ancient systems,
following example.

This will be seen by the

PRIMITIVE IDEA, "TO POINT," BIK.

CHINESE.

SIGNIFICATION

MONGOL.

SANSCRIT.

GREEK, LATIN.

GER., ENG.

ti, chi

point

jahu

SelKVV/u

zeichnen.

dik, ti

lead

daksha

dexter

token.

di, da

to rule

jasahu

dakshinat

duco

di, da

to cure

jasahu

dux

tok, tu

oversee

ejelehu

digitus

tu, ohu

lord

ejen

rajah

rex

le, li

reason

\6yos, lex

reason.

le, li

to rule

raj

rego

Eecht.

ti

decree

jerlig

decet

law.

ti

will

SiKaios

dik, chi

straight

riju

rectus

straight.

A final k ox g appears to have been lost from all
the Chinese words where it is not marked in this
list. In the Mongol ejen, "lord," n final is not part
of the root. It disappears in declension, as in the
plural ejid, and in the verb ejelehu, "to rule." In
the Sanscrit daksha, "right (hand)," dakshin&t, "south-
ward," the double letter ksh has taken the place of k.
The influence of religious ideas connected with the
worship of light is perceptible in the east being
regarded as the front and the south as the right. As
in common roots the Indo-European r corresponds to
the Chinese I, and the Indo-European I and d to the
Chinese ch, the transition from d to /, observable in

OS FOR S. FINAL KTO DKOPPED. 211

the Chinese examples now given, must in all proba-
bility have taken place at a time anterior to the
separation of the races, and when the forefathers of
the Chinese and Indo-Europeans still spoke one lan-
guage. The primeval root dig became doubled by the
change of dto I; and while dig and Kg both remained
in Chinese, they originated in the Indo-European
languages two sets of derived words, one set with the
initials d or I, and the other with an initial r. In
the EngKsh example straight, s is prefixed to the root
and r is inserted after the initial t. The same root
occurs in the Semitic languages with the sibilant pre-
fixed, as in the Hebrew tsadik, " just," Arabic sadik.

The Mongol aspirated ts or ch is found to be the
Chinese s, sh, ts, or t's. Thus, the words c'hitgur,
"a demon," c'hasa, "snow," c'hohom, "accurately,"
" altogether," c'hag, " time," c'hilagon, " stone," are in
Chinese sut, suy, " an evil spirit," " to exercise demo-
niacal influence," sit, "snow," sik, "all," "thoroughly,"
shi, "time," "hour," shig, "stone." The equivalent
in Indo-European is s or sh, as in c'hadaho, " to be
satisfied," satis ; c'hilagon, " a stone," saxum ; chH,
" thou," ov. The change from c'h to t', in c'M,
"thou," t'a, "ye," is parallel to the change from the
Greek ot5 to the Latin tu, " thou."

The final ng of many Chinese words is dropped
in Mongol. Thus, solaraho, "to become weak," lo,
" dragon," gerel, " light," are the Chinese

212 china's place in philology,

"loosen," lung, "dragon," keng, kwang, "ligHt." The
same tendency perhaps lurks in the Sanscrit Mdhu,
" the demon of eclipses," and the Latin gloria, where
an I has crept in after the initial. The Japanese and
Tamil agree with the Mongol in dropping ng final,
as in the Japanese akari, " light." The word morning,
Morgen, to&y he derived from the Chinese mang,
" bright," in Mandarin ming, through the Mongol
maragat'a, " to-morrow," spelled in books managar.
Other common forms are magat'ara, maragasi. They
all mean " to-morrow." There is a verb manahu, " to
shine," " ascend like the sun."

The want of /in Mongol suggests a close connexion
in this part of the Turanian sound system with the
Sanscrit and Greek. Its place is supplied by I.

The vowels are seven. They are called by Schmidt
a, e, i, 0, u, o, m. These values answer for the western
and northern dialects; but for the eastern Mongol,
spoken in the neigbourhood of Peking, and which has
not been described by the Russian and German gram- ,
marians, the values are rather a, e, i, 6, o, o and u or ii.
The fourth is the English o in fond, the fifth and sixth
are divided by tone, and the sound is the English o in
bone. The seventh is sometimes the English oo in
tool, and sometimes the French u. The distinction
between the fifth and sixth vowels cannot be described
in any other way than as a variation in pitch, the
fifth being lower than the sixth. The eastern Mongol

A MONGOL TONE. 213

bears evident marks of being tbe most ancient of the
dialects. It has no traces of the personal endings in
the conjugation of verbs which occur in the Buriat
dialect. This double tone, therefore, of the east
Mongol syllabary must be regarded as a link of con-
nexion with the Chinese and Himalaic systems. In
learning the Chinese language the foreign student
meets with the tones in the individual words to which
they are attached. In the Tibetan, Siamese, and east
Mongol, he meets with them in the syllabary. It is
the same thing. If the Tibetan and Siamese were
written with a separate character, half ideographic and
half phonetic, for each word, the tone mark would be
attached to the character in some such way as that in
use among the Chinese. The difference between the
fifth and sixth vowels of the Mongol syllabary would
be expressed by saying that all words enunciated with
the fifth vowel are in one tone class, and all words
enunciated with the sixth vowel are in another.

The existence of this double tone harmonizes with
the view that the Mongol language rests on the
Chinese as its basis. If a language came between
them, it must have had a tone system, which would
occupy a midway position between the Chinese system
of tones and that of which the last vestiges are now
slowly disappearing in the oldest and most easterly
of the Mongol dialects.

In the study of the Tartar languages, and the

214 china's place in philology.

dialects and languages of the same stock in European
and Asiatic Russia, the occurrence of the substantive
verb to he, and the first personal pronoun in m or J,
is the most striking of all signs of kindred with the
Indo-European family. The verb luhu, " to be," has
a present boi, an imperfect holai, a perfect buloge, a
conditional bugesu, a potential boif'a and bubeja (?),
three gerunds burun, bured (P), bugd'te le, and two
infinitives buhu, buhwei.

The root a, found in our auxiliary verb am, are,
art, is also mixed with the auxiliary to be in a way
resembling that to which we are accustomed in English.
The parts are, a present amoi, an imperfect abai, a
future aho or at/o, a conditional abasu, a potential
amoija, a precative at'ogai, an imperative plural akt'on,
two infinitives aho and ahwei, three gerunds q^'u, agad,
and at'ala, a participle of agency akc'hi, and a past
participle ak'san.

The first of these, bu, is the Sanscrit bhu, in the
infinitive bhavitum, " to be," or " become " ; the Persian
budan, "to be"; the English be; and in the Turkish
bolmak, "become." In the Tartar languages the con-
nexion of this root with the ordinary word for I, in
Mongol bi, in Turkish ben, in eastern Turkish men,
in Manchu bi, is manifest. The possessive of bi, " I,"
is manai, " mine." Thus, then, the English me in the
accusative is the Mongol bi in the nominative, while
the English possessive mine is the Mongol possessive

SUBSTANTIVE VERB AND FIKST PERSONAL PRONOUN. 215

manai, in the book form minu. It appears then that
the English rm and he are the same word, and that
that in which the Mongol differs, namely, the con-
vertibility of h and m, is derived from some Turanian
language, the parent of the present Tartar languages.
In the Indo-European family, m is appropriated to the
pronoun and h to the verb. Hence their identification
is not at first view obvious. In the Tartar languages,
where h is used for the verb, and m and h are both in
free use for the pronovm, the identification does not
admit of doubt.

The question then arises, what is the origin of the
verb to he and the personal pronoun me ? We have
in Mongol and Manchu the word heye, " body," in
Japanese mi. This Japanese term signifies both "self"
and "body." We have also in Chinese mut (Mandarin
wu) meaning "a thing." The Sanscrit mdtra, "matter
in the abstract," and Latin materies, are by some derived
from the word meaning "mother," in Sanscrit m&t&,
in Latin mater. Further, we have in Mongol mun,
" it is so," a strong affirmative, and in Hebrew amin,
"certain." The Mongol and Japanese substantives
furnish the ideas of self. The Chinese, Sanscrit, and
Latin substantives contribute the notion of substance.
The Hebrew and Mongol verbs add the conception
of certainty. Why may not these ideas have met in
the formation of one pronominal and substantive root,
destined to pervade the languages of mankind from

216 china's place in philology.

Manchuria to Portugal, and from Calcutta to Finland ?
That this root is not used in the Semitic, Dravidian,
Tibetan, Chinese, or Japanese languages, either as a
substantive verb or personal pronoun, affords a strong
presumption that it was not originally either the one
or the other. If this hypothesis be correct, the com-
bination of ideas, which resulted in the growth of the
substantive verb in b and the first personal pronoun
in m, must have taken place in the language which
originated the present Tartar dialects. The locality of
this language was probably "Western Asia, or Persia,
or Bucharia, for only in one of these countries could
it be in such convenient contiguity to the Aryan race
as to allow of the engrafting of this fruitful germ
into the mother-speech of that family.

The other auxiliary verb amoi, I suppose to be the
Chinese wei, " to do," " to be." This was, as we learn
from the rhymes of the Shi king, anciently called wa.
In Sanscrit it appears with a suffix s, which is retained
in our tvas' and were, in the last of which s is repre-
sented by r.

The present amoi seems to be formed from the root
a by the addition of hoi, the present tense of the
substantive verb in h, with h altered to m.

The imperfect ahai cannot be derived in the same
way, because, as before stated in the foregoing chapter,
the Dravidian languages have this tense form, while
they are without the substantive verb in h. "We

SUBSTANTIVE VEKB. 217

may refer it rather to a Chinese root, pet or bed, " to
give."

The form in lai and that in loge may perhaps be
derived from the Semitic le. The word fe, or al, means
" towards," " to," " into," and is used to mark the
dative case. The form el, with a vowel prefix, gives
in a more marked manner the proper and physical
sense; and that with a short vowel suffix, le, is used
for borrowed and metaphysical senses.^ The Tibetan
language has la for a dative case suffix. In the
Shanghai dialect the same word is used as a dative
case prefix, and with the force of a substantive verb
in the locative, as in the sentence, I la a li, " where
is he?" literally, "he at what place." Here the
word la, translated by " at," has the force of " is at,"
that is, it is a substantive verb in the locative case.
Its Mandarin representative is tsai, anciently ze. The
Mongol imperfect in lai and preterite in loga may have
been formed from the Semitic le and Shanghai la, by
the intervention of a gerund usage, or, in other words,
a predominant use of the verb as a substantive. For
"he has come back" the Chinese say hwei lai liau,
literally "return, come, finished." Three verbs are
here in juxtaposition. Ewei, " return," is a gerund,
and is translated into English by the present participle
" returning." Lai, " come," is indicative, and is made
past by the addition of the auxiliary liau, "past,"
> Geseniue' Lexicon Eebraicum,

218 china's place in philology.

"finished," whicli is a modern particle, formed from
a verb, Kau, "to destroy." The Mongol would say
hairehe, "he returned," or haireji irebe, "returning
he came." Put h in place of the gerund suffix ji,
and the sense will be, " in returning he came." Then
drop the last verb, " came," and the form in le or loga
becomes a past indicative. So in modern Mongol, as
spoken in Peking, sentences such as the following are
in constant use. — T'ere nidenen jil yahaji, " he left last
year," literally, " he last year' left." The gerund
form in ji is here used as a past indicative tense. It
ought to be ydbaha. It is ungrammatioal. ^ But
language is always busied in making new forms,
successfully or unsuccessfully. If the Mongol lan-
guage needed a past indicative, it might easily be
made from the gerund in ji or ju in this way. So
we may suppose the preterite in hga, colloquially
called lai, to have been formed. This is in harmony
with the general principle, that tense and mood suffixes
in the Turanian and Indo-European languages have
been aU formed from verbs viewed as nouns and used
as gerunds. When gerunds, participles, and infinitives
had been formed, they became indicative in past,
present, or future time by the simple process of drop-
ping the following verb. This principle of tense and
mood formation is at the opposite pole to that which
exists in the Semitic languages. Thus, VHI IB'J? DXI
' The full form would add io^hibe, "went," after the gerund yalaji.

SUBSTANTIVE VERBS. 219

%oth asu vihheyu, "this do ye, and live." Here an
imperative is used in both cases. To the Semite mind
each verb was instinct with its own energy. He
struggled to secure to each verb in a sentence its full
activity, and therefore he connected them by the con-
junction and. This device allowed them each to be
indicative. This vital character of the verb has been
usually retained in the English version of the Scrip-
tures, as in the same example, " This do, and live ; for
I fear God." (Gen. xlii. 18.) Luther has altered the
Semitic mode of expression. He translates, Wollt ihr
leben, so thut also; denn ich furchte Gott, "Would you
live, then so do ; for I fear God." He has two clauses,
of which the conditional contains two verbs, wollt
and leben, the latter with a Turanian suffix; and the
affirmative one verb in the imperative. Compare this
with the Septuaginfc rendering, Tovro woii](Tare Kal
^rjo-ecrde, top 6ebv <yap eym <}}o0ovfiai, "This do ye,
and ye shall live ; for I fear God." The imperative
and future are here employed. The Greek is only
secqnd to the English in its capability of imitating
the freedom and energy of the Semitic verb. How
different is the Mongol — T'a her atmt'o laihwain t'ola
egoni weiladok't'on hemehesu, hi her Borhan ec'he aiyomoi,
" Ye, for the sake of life, should do this. I fear God."
Ber is a particle which marks the nominative t'a, "ye."
Amit'o is " living," t'o being equivalent to the English
suffix ing in living. To'la, "ibr," governs the infinitive

220 china's place in philology.

haihu, " to have," " to be," in the genitive. Hgoni is
" it," the final i marking the accusative. WeiladokH'on
is the plural imperative of weiledehu, " to do." Seme-
besu is the conditional mood of hemehu, " to say," here
used as a particle. Bi, ber, " I." Borhan, " Buddha,"
is the term used for God in the Mongol version of
the Scriptures. Aiyomoi is the present indicative of
aiyohu, " to fear," governing the noun Borhan by the
intervention of ec'he, " from." The Latin vereor, " to
fear," which is the same word, sometimes governs the
genitive. The Greek alBeo/iat, " to fear," " reverence,"
" be ashamed," retains the old final d, which has been
changed into r in the Latin vereor. The Chinese wei,
" to fear," and the Mongol aiyomoi, have both lost the
final d.

Beside the verb huhu,"^ " be," there are also two im-
portant auxUiaries, baihu, "have," and bolhu, "become,"
"arrive at perfection." Bolhu seems to come from
bolai, the imperfect of buhu, by simply treating it as
a root and adding to it the usual suffixes. Thus, bu
is " be "; bol is " arrived at being." In a similar
way, werden, "to become," seems to be derived from
war, ware, by appending d, the sign of the past, which
would give it the sense " already come into being."
To werd was added the infinitive suffix en, and with it
all the suffixes usual in the paradigm. Add to bol the
causative ga, and we have bolgahu, " cause to become."

Perhaps baihu, "to have," used to assert positive

riKST PERSONAL PKONOUN. 221

existence, is formed in a like way from the past tense,
abai, of aho, "to be." But it may also possibly be
connected with the Chinese verb po, or pok, " to hold,"
" hold in the arms or hands," etc.

On following the substantive verb root in h into
the pronoun, we find it used in some parts only of
the declension. As in English, I and me combine
to make up the declension, so in Mongol U and minu
form the nominative and genitive singular, while na,
another root, forms the dative naded, the ablative
nadas, the instrumental nadar, the comitative nadale,
and the substitutionary nadat'a.

The root nad or na I believe to be the Chinese nga,
in Mandarin wo, and to be identical with the western
ego, aham, ich, I, and the Hebrew anochi. The Tamil
uses this root throughout its declension, as nominative
nan, "I," accusative ennei, instrumental ennal, dative
enakJcu, ablative ennil, genitive en, locative ennil.

The Tungus and Turkish use the root b ov m
throughout the declension.

The Mongol plural bida, " we," is carried through
aU the cases. The root na does not appear at all in
the plural. The suffix da occurs also in the plural
of nouns not infrequently. The Turkish plural is
biz, "we," where s, we can scarcely doubt, is a changed
form of d, as we have found- the Mongol j to be
derived regularly from d. The same plural occurs
in the Hebrew aboth, "fathers," from ab, "father."

222 china's place in philology.

But t in the Indo-European languages occurs not
seldom for a more recent s. The Latin tu, " thou," is
older than the Greek ffv, as we learn from the fact that
the Sanscrit, German, Armenian, Sclavonic, and Zend
(Bopp, § 340), all use c? or ^ as the iaitial letter of
this pronoun. We may, therefore, suppose that the
original of the Indo-European plural in s is perhaps
the Turanian and Semitic d and th. On looking for
its archetype in the Chinese vocabulary, we find it in
the word ta, " many," in Mandarin to, and also in the
demonstrative in t. The Japanese plural suffix domo
is possibly the same. Should this hjrpothesis of the
origin of the Indo-European plural ia s be incorrect,
the Mongols still have a plural in s, lost from the
colloquial language, but retained in books ; and of this
plural ia s it may be found difficult to explain the
existence in both the families without supposing an
ancient connexion.

I will now place in succession those grammatical
suffixes, used by the Mongols, which seem to find
their prototypes in the Chiaese vocabulary, and re-
appear in -the Indo-European system of accidence and
derivation.

The old Mongol nominative in ano, ino, lost from
the colloquial, is the Chinese and Indo-European pro-
noun * or in, " he," " she," or " it " ; Shanghai and
Amoy dialects i, " he " ; Latin is, ea, id, ills, iste ;
English it; Persian o. "he," in, "this," dn, "that."

MONGOL DECLENSION. 223

The Persian accusative is ora, "him." This r, with
the Latin I in ille, seems to be taken from an older
Turanian form, which appears in Japanese as are and
in Turkish as ol. The Tamil has masculine ivan and
avan, feminine ival and aval. As v represents w, these
are only the lengthened forms of the Mongol ano, ino.
Many Mongol words ending in n consist of a root
and a pronominal suffix ino, shortened into n, as morin,
" horse," from the Chinese mo, " horse."

The Mongol book genitiTe in in, m, and on may
have been formed from the same pronoun, just as the
Indo-European genitive in sya, s, is, was originally
the third personal pronoun sa (Bopp, § 134 and § 194).
How this took place we see plainly enough in Chinese.
Thus, the sentence " My house " in primeval speech
would be "I that house." The old Chinese has nga
bung, " my house," or nga ti lung, where ti is the old
pronoun "that," "it," called in Mandarin cKi. The
natives of Amoy say Ghoa e c'hu, where gwa is "I,"
e is the sign of the possessive, and c'hu is "house."
In this instance the possessive mark is obviously our
pronoun. The Shanghai people say Ngu hu vang tsz,
literally, "I that house." In that dialect ku is '/that."
The Northern Chinese say Wo ti fang tsi. The old
initial ng is lost from the pronoun "I." The third
personal pronoun in t appears as a possessive auxiliary,
and the soft v of Shanghai, representing the more
ancient b, is replaced by the modern /. They also

224 china's place in philology.

say, when speaking somewhat loosely, TFo che ko fang
tsi, " I this house," where che ko is demonstrative
" this," but also contains in itself the germ of a
possessive case. Thus, in Chinese dialects the third
personal pronouns in i, in k, and in t, are all used.
The other demonstratives in na and Pa may also be
expected to occur as genitive suffixes. Thus, the
Japanese use no. The Turkish has ning. The
Mongols, as before remarked, use nu in the personal
pronouns. The German has a possessive inein, our
own mine. The n may be explained in the same
manner.

The dative suffix dor, de, "to," "in," "by," "at,"
is the Chinese old demonstrative pronoun ti, Mandarin
cM, which is also the probable parent of the gerunds
in ju and d, as explained on a former page. Just so
Bopp traces dative suffixes in Indo-European languages
to demonstrative pronouns (§ 164). But as to and ti,
in Mandarin tau and cM, are both words meaning
" to," " arrive at," the root ti, in its first sense
demonstrative, wiU. in its second sense have become
a verb, and then, thirdly, it may have been taken by
the Mongols to form a dative. So the demonstrative
i in western languages is also a verb " to go,'' and then
a dative, as in regi, " to a king," m-aiZl,, " to a boy."

The accusative suffix in i, gi, is formed in a similar
manner from the Chinese pronoun gi, " he." Compare
the accusative te, thee, me, dich, mich.

SUFFIXES. 225

The instrumental suffixes her, yar, affixed to nouns
to mark the thing by which an act is accomplished, are
the Chinese verbs pa, " take hold of," " handle," and
h &> " *o take." Both these verbs were probably-
formed from demonstratives. Pi, " that," would
originate pa; and i, "he," would give existence to
i, "take," "by means of." What more natural for
primitive man, when already furnished with demon-
strative pronouns, than to use them in describing
both motion towards the positions indicated, and action
loith or by means of the objects spoken of. So Bopp
identifies the Sanscrit instrumental d with the pro-
nominal stem d and with the preposition d, "to,"
" into," " reach to," sprung from the same demon-
strative. (§ 158.)

The second instrumental, or, as De Castren calls it,
comitative case suffix in loga, appears to be connected
with the Chinese dung, "with," in Mandarin t'ung,
and lung, " collect," " meet in one place." The
Chinese final nff is usually omitted in Mongol. Here
g seems to have taken its place.

The ablative suffix e'che has for its etymological
equivalent se, which resembles the Chinese g dzi,
"from," in Mandarin tsi. The Chinese term also
means "self." The prefix t is probably not primeval.
The old form in all words commencing in ts is dis-
covered by dropping t. This word thus seems to be
the same with the Latin se, "self."

16

226

The adjective suffix t'o is probably the demonstrative
in t aspirated. Thus alt'et'o, " golden," corresponds
to the Chinese Mandarin kin ti, where kin is " gold,"
and ti is the unaspirated demonstrative in t, here used
as a termination imparting to the substantive "gold"
an adjective character. So also the older Chinese lai
eke, " he who comes," is formed of lai, " come," and
che, the unaspirated demonstrative in t, pronounced
anciently te. The Japanese form their adjectives in
the same way. Thus, they say for "golden," kin no,
using the genitive suffix, which, as already explained,
is the demonstrative in n. Thus, we see the adjective,
the present participle, and the possessive pronoun, all
proceeding from the same stem, and in the first stages
of language-formation indistinguishable from each
other. The demonstrative pronouns pervading all the
European and Asiatic families of languages may be ob-
served to play just as important a part in the building
up of the Turanian grammatical system as they have
been shown to do in that of the Indo-European family.

The adjective suffix in hi seems to be formed from
the Chinese third personal pronoun gi. Thus, dorahi,
" that which is below," English down.

The diminutive suffix hen, han, attached to adjectives,
is probably the Chinese ngan, found in the Shanghai
dialect in the sense of " a little." Thus, holahan,
" somewhat distant." The original sense is " an eye,"
" a small aperture," hence " a very little,"

PRONOUNS. 227

The intensitive b, inserted to increase the force of
the quality described, as in c'hab c'hagan, "exceedingly
white," ab adeli, " exactly the same," hob hara, " very
black," is perhaps bit, " to add," in Chinese pei, " to
double," in Anglo-Saxon botan, " add," English both.

In their declension the pronouns are like the nouns,
but there are some differences.

The personal pronouns have an inserted m in the
dative and accusative of c'hi, "you," as in cMmador,
"to you," chimei, "you" (objective). This may be
the dative bi, of tibi and sibi. As already seen, the
Chinese have a verb pet, " to give," and pa, " to take
hold of." These roots formed dative and instrumental
suffixes in Latin and Sanscrit. Perhaps this suffixed
m may, however, be more correctly identified with the
demonstrative, root ma, used interrogatively in Chinese
and Hebrew.

The occurrence of the second personal pronoun t'a,
" you," in Mongol, points to Semitic juxtaposition in
ancient times. The existence of a Semitic element
in Mongol is not impossible. Compare the Hebrew
rab, " many," with the Mongol airiben, " many." The
Hebrew pronoun atta, ■ " thou," feminine at, has a
plural masculine attem, and a plural feminine atfen.
The first syllable, at, is said to be a demonstrative
prefix, and stands for an, found in the kindred dialects
and in the Egyptian. The principal letter is t. In
the Indo-European languages it appears as t, d, and s.

228 china's place in philology.

In the Mongol and other Tartar languages it is s (or
c'h for s) in the singular, and t aspirated or s in the
plural. The Turkish and Manchu prefer s in the
singular and plural. The Mongol has t' in the plural.
The same law which softened t into s in the Greek
operated in the neighbour dialect of the Tartars, at
some ancient period when the areas of the Greek and
Tartar races were contiguous. The vowel a of the
Mongol plural in t'a, " ye," is very suggestive of a
connexion with the Greek and Latin neuter plural in
a, e.g., in saxa, " stones," ea, " these." The distinction
of gender, a Semite peculiarity, was borrowed by the
Indo-Europeans subsequently to the time when they
became dissociated from the ancestors of the Tartars.
The neuter would precfede in time the masculine and
feminine forms, and this Mongol plural in a may be
a very old linguistic relic. It is probably the demon-
strative pronoun a. As the second person in i is not
found in any part of Europe and Asia, except in the
Semite Indo-European and Tartar areas, it need not,
be regarded as a primeval word, belonging to the
world's first language. It may be borrowed from
the demonstratives. The true primeval pronoun of
the second person is the Chinese ni or nu, found in
Sanscrit, Latin, and English, in the forms yuyam, vos,
and ye, you. Here it is assumed that n has been
prefixed in Chinese to the original vowel «, which I
suppose to have been appropriated to the second

MONGOL PRONOUNS. 229

person. The vowels may be imagined to have been
distributed in the following manner.

A FiBST Person.

U Second Febson. Thied Feeboi^.

The root of the first person was a. This became
in Chinese and Sanscrit, by prefixing certain elements,
nga and aham. The Sanscrit-speaking race prefixed
first h (for ng~), and then a, and afterwards added m.

The root of the second person was i. The Chinese
prefixed n. The Sanscrit appended yam.

The root of the third person was u, which appears
in the Chinese i, the Turkish ol, the old Latin ollus,
the later ilk, is.

The Chinese use for " this " and " that," t'si, pi,
or more recently che, na. The Mongols say ene, t'ere,
" this," " that," and yim, t'im, " in this way," " in
that way." The Germans use the demonstrative in
d for " this," and that commencing with ye for " that."
The English in this and in that employ the sonant th
Evidently it matters little which of the pronouns is
used. The principle running through all is, that
some one of the demonstratives shall be used when
speaking of near objects, and some other when they
are farther removed.

230 china's place in philology.

The interrogative pronoun hen is worth comparing
with the Sanscrit forms. We find hen, " who ? "
hanasa, "from whence?" .Aec?ew, "how many?" hedui,
" how many ? " henedhi, " whose ? " The Sanscrit has
kah, "who?" kati, "how many?" kada, "when?"
kat'am, " how ? " The Latin has quot, " how many ? "
quis, "who?" quando, "when?" The Mongol hej'e,
"when?" is formed of the root he and the locative
suffix Je for de.

When the Turks say kachan for "when?" and kach,
for " how many ?" they disclose the fact that ch takes
the place of d with them, as j does that of c^ in the
Mongol. The ti in the Sanscrit kati and the t in
the Latin quot are the Turanian plural in d, and the
do of quando and da of kad& are the Turanian locative
suffix. The adverbial suffixes for time, place, number,
and manner, in the Indo-European languages, are
vestiges of the old Turanian declension. Quis and
kah are the same word as the Mongol hen and the
Turkish kih. The Chinese demonstrative gi, "he,"
and interrogative ki or kui, " how many ? " are forms
of the same root. The oldest is the demonstrative gi.
From this sprang the Turanian interrogative hen,
"who?" and the Chinese ki, "how many?" This
ki I suppose to have lost a final d, which was the
word ta, "many," in Mandarin to. Ki-da became
shortened into kid, and the d was afterwards lost.
There is an old interrogative kop, " why not ? " in

MONGOL PRONOUNS. 231

Mandarin ho, which is compounded of ho, "what,"
and^M, "not." This word, there can be little doubt,
has grown up in this way by the running into one of
two words originally distinct. The p final is retained
in the south-eastern dialects, but is lost from the pro-
nunciation of the other parts of China. In Ningpo
the deprecative pu yung, " do not," is heard vong.
This is compounded from veh, "not," and yung, "use."
Other examples might be adduced from dialects old
and new. When the Pekinese say pier for "side,"
they in so doing run two words into one. The words
are pien, "side," and ur, "a son," used as a suffix
for substantives. The suffix loses its tone and becomes
part and parcel of the word to which it is joined.
Thus the flowing of the two words into one, here
claimed as the origin of hop, is in harmony with
Chinese modern practice. With regard to the assump-
tion that B, d or t has been lost from the word M, I
think that any one who carefully examines the cha-
racters in which it is used as a phonetic symbol, will
conclude that it is so. j^ ki, is "a good omen."
Here we see the word Mt, ^ "good luck." ^ ki,
is "to cut asunder." Here we see kat, "to cut."
^ ki, "a boundary," "the emperor's domain." Here
appears the same root kat, "to cut." That which
is cut off receives as its name the name of the action
which cuts it off. The word ^ kiai, "boundary,"
has almost certainly the same origin, and has lost t

232 china's place in philology.

in tlie same manner. It means " that which, is cut
off." The Hebrew hatsah signifies both to "cut off"
and to "end." The Mongol Mjagar, "boundary,"
retains the lost d in the modern j. The phonetic ^
having anciently the same final d, we may then be
allowed to regard as identical with the Chinese ki
the Mongol heden, and the Latin quot.

The origin of the Chinese hi, "how many?" may
thus be seen to resemble that of the German compound
wie viel and the English hoto many. Ki, how, wie, quis'
TToeroi, are the same word. The Chinese, Mongol,
Latin, and Greek forms added da or ta, "many,"
dropping the vowel, and in the instance of the Greek
changing t into s. The Germans appended viel (the
Greek rrroXKo^), and the English the word many. The
source of the interrogative element in the Chinese
word is either ^ gi, "he," or ga, "what," ■jpj, in
Mandarin ch'i and ho. Of these, I suppose the demon-
strative to be the earlier, and the interrogative to be
formed from it.

The Turkish has kanda, " where ? " kim, " who ? "
kih, " that," " for," " who," kach, " how many ? "
kachan, "when?" "We learn from these forms that
the T6 in ttots and the do in quando, "when," are
the Turanian locative suffix de, " in " a place. The
other Turkish form, kani, is probably formed from
the root nip, ni, "in," "the inside," as in the Chinese
ivei ti, " inner land," kitng nei, " in the palace."

MONGOL ORDINAL NUMERALS. 233

Perhaps the n in the English when,^ and German
wann may have been derived from the same root.
The m of kim may be the Chinese and Semitic inter-
rogative ma, "what ?" Kih reminds us of the Hebrew
*5 ki, "for," originally a demonstrative.

While the cardinal numbers in the Mongol are very
different from those of China or of the Indo-European
languages, there is in the syllabic addition for the or-
dinals a remarkable resemblance. The Chinese prefixes
£?e (Mandarin ^«). The Mongol adds t^o^'ar. The Sanscrit
adds tiya, the Latin tus, the Grreek Toii, the English th
or d, the Grerman te. For example, Chinese de si,
Mongol durehdogar, Sanscrit chaturt'a, Greek reTapro';,
English fourth, German vierte. The root of all these
forms is the Chinese de, " order," " degree," found
also in the form tit, in Mandarin chi, in the same
sense. The Mongols say ded ded yar for "in suc-
cession." A ^ or <^ final has been lost in the ordinal.
Since r, I, and d are interchangeable letters, we may
expect to find the same root in the form rod or
lod. Compare in Chinese led, in Mandarin lie, "to
arrange," "place in order," the Greek dpcdfioi; and
pv6fi6<i, and the Latin ordo, litera (though this may
be from lino, " to smear "), the Russian roda, " a
class," etc.

The Mongol verb consists of root and suffix. In

1 Compare the Anglo-Saxon form in an, as in niw-an, "lately," amidd-an
" amid." — Vernon's Anglo-Saxon Guide, p. 71.

234 china's place in philology.

this respect its formation is like that of other Mongol
words. They are not compounds consisting of two
roots, but of one only, with a servile accompaniment.
This servile appendage, however, must originally have
been a root having a significance of its own. There
was a time in Turanian history when its long suffixes,
varying from one syllable in length to four or five,
were separate roots, arranged in juxtaposition like
the words in Chinese sentences. Before the Dravidian
and Japanese branches separated from the Tartar,
many verbs had assumed servile appendages, while
the right to place roots side by side without servile
syllables was still retained. After the separation, the
Tartar dialects gave up this privilege, and submitted
to the necessity of introducing at least one servile
syllable after every verb root, except when used in
the imperative mood.

Most of the original roots needed to account for
the servile syllables in the Mongol conjugation occur
in the Chinese vocabulary. They may be arranged *
in groups thus : —

1. Words suitable to form past tenses are such as
hat, "ended," dzin, "to end," "exhaust," ti, "bring to
a standstill," liau, "decay," "end," mot, "end," zeng,
" already," wan, " finished," hang, " pass through," yi,
"already," tse, "past," ka, "passed." In Mandarin
pa, tsin, ch'i, liau, mo, t'seng, wan, king, i, kwo.

2. "Words suitable to be the source of future tense

MONGOL CONJUGATION. 235

suffixes, yo, "want," yoA, "wish," ngen, "desire," <pit,
" certainly," tsiong, siong, " beside," " assist," " lead."
In Mandarin yau, yu, yuen, pi, tsiang, siang.

3. Words suitable to form a conditional mood, hip,
"give," t'si, si, "give," shong, "to reward," ^e^, "give,"
u, "give," hu, "permit," dik, "band to," "present,"
sung, "to present," "accompany." In Mandarin kei,
ki, t'si, shang, pei, yil, hu, ti, sung.

4. Permissive words are nung, bang, hu, nim. In
Mandarin jang, p'ing, hit, Jen.

5. Words suitable to form gerunds and present
participles, ti, old Chinese genitive, also meaning "to,"
"towards," "bim," "it," gi, t'a, ui, "be," nei or nip,
" witbin," dse, " at," le, " within," la, gip, " to," yu,
" at." In Mandarin ch^i, ch'i t'a, i, nei, tsai, K, ki, yu.

6. Causal words are, ko, " call," " cause," " instruct "
(Mandarin kiau), shi, "use," "one who is used or
sent," ling, "command," "cause."

7. Collectives are, dzip, "gather," dzu, "collect."
Mandarin tsi, tsii.

In addition to this large storehouse of Chinese
words, adapted to supply the necessities of fbe verb
formation, the ancestors of the Mongols were also able
to borrow from the old Turanian and Semitic vocabu-
laries, in those departments where they happened to
be fuller than the Chinese.

236 china's place in philology.

A Mongol Verb.

Indicative Present. — Book- forms, abomoi, abon
amor, abonam, "1 take." From the substantive verb
amoi, the English am. The suffix n is that of a
gerund, and this originates the eastern colloquial abona.

Frequentative Present. — Abodag, " I am con-
stantly taking." Perhaps from the Chinese dung,
"constantly." Mongol c'hang. The Latin frequen-
tative syllable is ta.

Imperfect. — Alaba, " killed." Suffix ba either from
pet, "give," or from hat, "ended" (see chapter on
Tamil). Another form for the third person is alaron.
This suffix ron can only be derived from some western
source. The letter r shows that it is not Chinese. It
agrees remarkably with the Latin third person plural
of the perfect tense, amaverunt, docuerunt, and with
the third person plural middle voice of the Sanscrit
potential and precative modes in ran. As the Mongol
verb does not distinguish persons, this exceptional
form must have crept in irregularly at some ancient
period from an Indo-European source.

Perfect. — Beriloga, "have grasped it." From loga,
a post-position meaning "with," "at," Chinese h,
Tibetan la, Semitic al, le.

Pluperfect. — Bagoltsan buloge, "he had come
down." From the past participle of hagoho and the
preterite of huhu, "to be."

MONGOL VERB. 237

Future. — The suffixes sogai, ho, and ya may be
compared with the Greek future in <7co and the Latin
in am. Looking back, the most probable original
roots, as found in Chinese, are yok and tsiong, " to
wish," and " to lead," respectively. The form in ho
is the infinitive, which is probably formed from the
third personal pronoun gi.

Conditional. — Suffix besu. In colloquial hel. Oem-
sibel, "if I repent." Pluperfect conditional ogusen
bolbesu, " if I had given," viz., the preterite participle
of oghu, "to give," and the conditional of bolhu, "to
become." The origin of this mood is probably to be
found in the Chinese pet, " give," and pi, " compare."

Potential. — Idemoija, "he perhaps eats." Ujisen
boija, "he may have seen it." Both these verbs are
familiarly used throughout Europe, edo, "eat," mdeo,
"see." Baga and bija are common in the eastern
Mongol. Ba and U are the same root pet, which
forms the conditional. Ja for da seems to be the
root da, "give," which perhaps lurks in the Chinese
dik, " to present," " offer to."

Precative and Imperative. — The simple root. Song-
sa, "hear." In the first person singular and plural
the future m ya is used, as yabiya, "let us go."
"Let him go" is yaboge. The suffix ge may be the
Chinese ngen, "to desire," or ho, "permit."

Gerunds. — Present in n. Onggac'M dere garan
yababa, " going out to the boat he went away." The

238 china's place in philology.

Greek participle in v, the Latin in ns and nt, the
Anglo-Saxon in nd, the colloquial English in n, and
the modern English in ng, have their origin in this
Turanian form. The Chinese roots which come nearest
to it in sound are yin, " cause," yuen, " cause," nei or
nip, "within." I prefer to regard yin as the true
root, and identify it with our preposition in, iv.

Gerund in ju. Old form du. Chinese pronoun and
sign of genitive ti. In Mandarin ch'i. Identical with
the English past tense in ed.

Gerund in d. Schmidt calls it past, but it is little
more a past tense than the gerund in j'u. Probably
it is of the same origin.

Gerund in man. A colloquial form. Bada idemen
ireheu, "after taking food he came."

Gerund in tala and sagara. Colloquial sara. They
limit the verb in " time." Tala is " until," and sara,
"during the time of." Nar. onatalei helchiheu, "he
conversed tiU the sun set." Origin, the Chinese to or
tau. English to and till. Sara probably originates in
the Chinese dze, " at," " to be in," or " at." Example,
uder uder ireser baina, "daily he is in the habit of
coming."

Gerund in Itei. A sort of passive gerund. The
future participle passive of western grammar, e.g.
amandus, " deserving to be loved." Examples, Ucheltei,
"deserving to be written," ieheltei, "worthy to be gone
to," ene chichig uj'eltei, " this flower is worth seeing."

MONGOL VERB. 239

Formation : the I in bichel is a derivative suffix, form-
ing a verbal noun. It may be originally la, " to."
The syllable tei is an adjectival suffix, and must be
referred to the pronominal root ta, " that." The Latin
dus in amandus ma,j in the same way be viewed as
demonstrative.

Supine in ra, re. In Manchu and Latin, re is the
infinitive suffix. In English the same preposition,
" to," marks both the infinitive and the supine. "We
may, therefore, without hesitation, identify the supine
of the Mongol written language with the Manchu and
Latin infinitive. The colloquial supine in Eastern
Mongolia is the infinitive construct in hwei, e.g. ujihwei
ichibeu, " he went to see."

The INFINITIVE ends in ho, hu, and hwei. The
Turanian conception of the verb being intensely sub-
stantive, the infinitive is regularly declined as a noim.
Origin : the Chinese pronoun gi, Latin hie, English
he. The form varies, as in ho or hu, according as the
vowel of the root is a, o, or e, u. It may be called the
free infinitive. The form in hwei, or hoi, is the in-
finitive construct, and is used in declension, and as a
supine, e.g. hoMa hwen t'ola gardba, " he is gone out to
sell." Here the suffix t'ola, " for the sake of," follows
the infinitive in the genitive.

Paettciple. a present in gchi or chi. As yabokchi,
" going," " he who goes." It is used profusely for all
classes of agents. Origin: demonstrative in s. In

240 china's place in philology.

Chinese t'si, si. In Sanscrit, sak. There is also a past
participle in gsan, san. For example, yabasen, " gone,"
in the book-form yabagsan. Origin : Chinese zeng,
" already," in Mandarin f'seng or san, " scatter,"
" separate." For the negative conjugation there is a
form in I, as in holdal ugwei ireheu, " not having sold it
he came," that is, "he came without having sold it."
There is also a past negative participle in ge, as in
iregedei, " he has not come."

Mongol Adverb.

In the grammar of the Turanian languages, the verb,
substantive, adverb, and conjunction, are imperfectly
distinguished. It was in the Indo-European system
that adverbs and conjunctions first became indeclinable,
and the verb began to lose its character as a noun. It
was only by gradual steps that the eight parts of speech
could arrive at the point of clear separation from each
other. Mongol grammar presents us with a multitude
of adverbs and conjunctions in the form of nouns and
verbs. Much Hght is thrown by this part of Turanian
accidence on the adverbial forms common in European
speech. To show this, the following case suffixes of
Mongol adverbs will be a sufficient proof.

Locative suffix dor, "in," "at." Eastern colloquial
de. JSnde, " here," tende, " there." As ende is good
book Mongol, the colloquial de may be fully as old as

MONGOL ADVERB. 241

the ordinary book locative dor, Greek oIkoQi, "at
home," ri&Oi, "in the morning," eiida, "here." English
yonder.

Suffi,xes to express motion " towards," dor and de.
In Chinese tau and ti. Mandarin chi. Ende, "hither,"
t'ende, " thither," hande, " whither." Here the coinci-
dence with the English ther is remarkable. The
Anglo-Saxon forms are hider, pider, hinder, "hither,"
" thither," " whither." The old Norse forms are
he^ra, pa?6ra, hvert. The old Greeks used he, as in
aXahe, "to the sea," OdvaTov Se, "to death." In ivddSe,
" thither," " hither," we have the locative suffix dor ini
da, and that of motion towards in Ze. In aXKoae, " to
another place," a sibilant has taken the place of d.

Suffix to express motion from. Mongol ec'he, collo-
quial ese. Sanasa, " whence," enese, " hence," fendese,
" thence." The book forms are hamigasa, " whither ?"
t'ende ec'he, " from thence," ende ec'he, " hence." The
Manchu has c'hi as the suffix for "from," and the
Turkish dan. English whence, hence, thence. Can the
English have retained the suffix ce by tradition from an
old Turanian language ? This question is difficult to
answer, because the Anglo-Saxon fornds were hvonan,
henan, ponan. It may have been through the Danes,
for the old Norse had hva%an, he^an, pa?6an, for
" whence," " hence," " thence." Latham says,> " The
ce in ' hence,' ' whence,' ' thence,' has still to be satis-
1 The Englisli Language, vol. ii., p, 320.

16

242 china's place in philology.

factorily explained. The old English is whenn-es,
thenn-es." The old Norse 'Saw and Greek 6ev being
Turanian, may not the English ce be inherited frona a
Danish dialect, which has not transmitted a literature,
and thus also be Turanian ?

The Turkish locative suffix dah is the same as the
Mongol dor. The Sanscrit atra, "here," tatra, "there,"
kutra, " there," have nearly the Mongol form. Instead
of following Bopp in tracing the origin of the suffix,
tra to the comparative suffix taken instrumentally, I
would suggest that it is better to see in it a Turanian
suffix dor, as now explained. Compare the Latin citra,
intra, and (without the r) quando. The Greeks said
evda and evravda, "here," and avroOi, "in the place
where he was," the old Hindoos kadd, " when ?" iadd,
"then," and yadd, "when." The Zend had had'a,
"here," the Slavish kogda, "when ?" and togda, "then."
The Mongol has heje, " when," and this is equivalent to
hede. The Greek has ore, totc, " when," " then." The
suffix in all these forms may perhaps be traced to one
origin. It is idtimately a demonstrative and interro-
gative pronoun, and is the same with the Turanian
locative in dah and dor. "With the forms when, wann>
qimm, before us, there seems no reason to look else-
where. Bopp, however, finds, as he thinks, in the dd
of kadd, a contraction from divd, " by day." ^ Perhaps
the forms here, there, dar, thar, her, hvar, etc., have
1 Vergleiohende Grammatik, § 423.

MONGOL ADVERB. 243

this source also. The t may be omitted and the r left.
The Sclavonic and Russian gdye retains the radical ga,
"what," in the initial g, and the Turanian suffix dor in
dye. The suffix appears in podii,, "under," mezhdu,
"between." The Greek derivative suffix hov, radicat-
ing the manner of an action, is probably of the same
origin: ava(f>avB6v, " openly," avroa'xeZov, "near at
hand." This hov is often ha in Homer, as in OS.
III. 221.

Ov ydp TTQ) tSov &de deohs ava(pavSh tpiKevvras,
*ns Keivcp ava(pca'Sa iraplffraTO IlaAA^s 'AQ-fjyi].

"From a place" is so frequently in western languages
expressed by dan, or equivalent forms, that we are com-
pelled to regard the Turkish ablative suffix in dan as
in this instance preserving a very important old Tu-
ranian type. The Greek irodev, " whence," corresponds
to the Sanscrit kutas, and we may regard the Sanscrit
s as altered from an older n.' The Latin has ccelitus,
which Bopp identifies with svargatas, " from heaven."
He also finds in the Sclavonic suffix du, "from," the
Armenian ti, and the Gothic thro, variants from the
same primary form.

The common ancient suffix for "from," in the Anglo-
Saxon and German was nana or nan. Latham quotes
from Grimm the Old High German hwanana, Old Saxon
hwanan, Anglo-Saxon hwonan, aU meaning " whence."
The equivalents for " thence " and " hence " are simi-
larly formed. "We fimd in one of the Dravidian

244 china's place in philology.

languages an ablative suffix which may explain this
nan. The MalayaHm has ilninna for the ablative, as
in mala-y-ilninna, "from the mountain," vi^here mala
means "mountain." We have not the opportunity of
examining old types of the Turanian family. We must
await the decipherment of Persian cuneiform inscrip-
tions for further light oh the subject of these remark-
able resemblances between the adverbial suffixes of the
Turanian and Indo-European languages. The Dra-
vidian case suffixes may perhaps be regarded as having
been in use for at least two thousand years, for the
Tamil writing is based on the Devanagari of the
monuments. Hence the Dravidian languages were the
first of the Turanian family to be committed to writing
out of Persia, They were written before the Japanese
or the Mongol. Any Dravidian case suffixes, therefore,
which happen to agree in form with those of European
languages, may easily be of very great antiquity.

Some examples of Mongol syntax will be here given
with parallel examples from the Chinese language.
Adjectives precede their substantives, and adverbs their
verbs. Mongol alt'en gerel, " golden light," Chinese
kin hwang ; Mongol saihan yaba, " walk carefully,"
Chinese hau hau e¥ ti tseu; Mongol hamt'o eohine, "we
will go together," Chinese t'ung k'ii or i k'wai er c'hii.

The nominative begins a sentence. Then comes the
object of the verb. The verb stands last. Mongol
bi teri alaha, "I killed him," Chinese wo sha liau t'a.

MONGOL SYNTAX. 245

The Chinese verb precedes its object. But the Chinese
order is not like the Mongol inTariable. If an auxili-
ary particle be employed, the verb may stand last.
Thus pa, " to take hold of," may be used to vary the
order. Wo pa t'a sha Uau, literally, "I taking him
killed finished." This is something like the inaccurate
English, " I took and killed him."

Adjectives may stand in the predicate without a
substantive verb, and when a comparison is made, they
may take a comparative or superlative force without
its being necessary to prefix adverbs. Mongol uge
bugdege sain, " his words are all good," Chinese hwa
tu hau; Mongol oseg bugdege t'odorahai, "the letters
are all in their right places," Chinese tsi tu wen t'o.
The law of arrangement iu the two languages is pre-
cisely the same. Mongol hoyer yagomanu dot'ora ene
sain, literally, " two things amidst this good," that is,
" of the two things this is the better, Chinese Hang
yang tung si che ko hau, literally, " two kinds things
this one good." The comparative force is conveyed
in the same manner in both languages, and that by
position.

The duplication of words, to give a plural to nouns,
and to denote succession in time and place, occurs
frequently in Mongol and Chinese. Mongol nig nigere
hamoge ireksen, " one by one all came," Chinese yi ko yi
ko tu lai Uau. Literally, " one " (numerative), " one "
(numerative), " all come finished." The Mongol suffix

246 china's place in philology.

ere or er or yar, is frequently appended to nouns and
adjectives to make adverbs. It is probably the source
from wbich the Latin adverbs in er, as libenter, in-
stanter, have derived their last syllable. Mongol c'hag
c'hag wei wei, "time after time," "generation after
generation." Chinese sM sh'i tai tai, " age after age,"
"generation after generation." Compare in Latin quis-
quis, " whosoever."

These and other peculiarities show that a remarkable
resemblance exists between the syntax of the Chinese
and of the Mongol languages. The Tibetan in placing
the adjective after its noun goes away further from
the Chinese than does the Mongol. In the conjugation
of the verb, and the absence of gender, the Mongol
is nearer to the Chinese than the Tibetan, which pre-
fers Semitic analogies. Thus in the order of succession
perceptible among verbs when standing in juxtaposi-
tion, there is a clear likeness to the Chinese. The order
is that of time. Mongol t'ere haireju ireksen, "he is come
back," Chinese t'a hwei lai liau. T'ere, "he," is the
same word as t'a with the suffix r. Mwei, " return,"
is the same word as haireju, to which r was first affixed,
and then ju, the mark of the gerund. Lai, " come,"
is perhaps the same word as ireksen, the past participle
of irehu, " come," here used as a past indicative.

CHAPTER XI.

Malayo-Polynesian.— The Malay the Type op a Distinct Family.
Alphabet and Syllable. — Polynesian Syllable Based on
THE OLD Chinese Syllable. — Effect of Marine Climate on the
Malayo-Polynesian Syllable. — Continental Origin of the
Polynesians. — Connexion op Siamese and Malay. — Post-
Position OF the Adjective and Genitive. — Pronouns. — Case
Particles. — Semitic Principles. — Chinese Influence on
Polynesia. — Pronouns. — ^Verbal Directives. — Comparison. —
Arithmetic. — American Languages. — Their Mixed Character.
— Three Elements op American Population. — Polynesian
Civilized Immigration.

At the extreme south-east of the continent of Asia
the Malay and Polynesian area presses upon that of
the Himalaic races in the peninsula of Malacca, and
meets the Chinese in Formosa. The Malaysian and
Polynesian system presents to view some remarkable
points of resemblance to the Chinese and Himalaic
types. It is on this account that a brief chapter on
this system is here introduced.

Crawfurd has condemned the opinion of Marsden,
Wilhelm von Humboldt, and Sir S. Raffles, that the
islands of the Indian Ocean and South Sea, from
Madagascar to Easter Island, are peopled by a single
race. He remarks that the population of these islands

248 china's place in philology.

consists of brown men with lank hair (Malay), of
sooty men with woolly hair, and of brown men with
frizzled hair. The first of these three, the Malay race,
extends over the Sandwich, the Fejee, the Society, and
the Friendly Islands, with the Malayan peninsula
and most of the islands of the Asiatic archipelago.

The Malay language cannot be regarded as Indo-
European, because, as F. Miiller has shown in a
criticism on the view held by Bopp, it forms deriva-
tives by prefixes, and not by suffixes. From tidor,
"to sleep," is formed, by means of the prefix per,
the word per-tidor-an, " a bed." In the Tagala dialect
of the Philippines, from guntin, "shears," is formed,
by the insertion of urn, the word g-um-uniin, " to cut
with shears."

Max Miiller inclines to regard the Malay as a Tu-
ranian language, and as especially allied to the Siamesie.
But there are some strong objections to this very
extended use of the word Turanian. To class the
Siamese with the Mongol and Japanese is inconvenient,
because it is a monosyllabic language with tones, and
like the Chinese places the verb before its object. The
word Turanian can be suitably limited to languages
which form derivatives by polysyllabic suffixes, make
use of case endings, place the verb at the end of the
sentence, and have a certain system of rules for the use
of vowels.

It is better to regard the Malay as the type of a

MALAY ALPHABET AND SYLLABLE. 249

separate family, as is done by F. Miiller. The agree-
ment between the Malay and the Siamese is indeed
remarkable. The adjective follows the substantive, the
genitive follows the nominative, and the demonstrative
pronoun follows its noun in both languages. The per-
sonal pronouns are also alike. But the non-existence
of tones in the Malay, its polysyllabic character, and
its entirely new series of numerals forbid our classi-
fying it as one with any member of the Himalaic
family.

The alphabet of the Malay family is rich in letters,
and in this respect resembles the Himalaic, and old
Chinese, except in the want of aspirates.

A Dravidian influence is visible in the cerebral series
t, d, n. The surd series k, t, p, s, is found both in the
Malay and in the eastern or Polynesian group, but the
sonants g, d, b, of the western branch (the Malay), are
wanting in the eastern. There is a resemblance to the
triple-branched Turanian system in the use of s and
the want of sh, and to the Japanese and Dravidian
divisions in the absence of the aspirated forms of k, t,
and p.

The simplicity of the Malayo-Polynesian syllable
shows the antiquity of the system to which it belongs.
The initial consonant is usually single, and is never
followed by another consonant, except sometimes by r.
An initial sp, st, for example, would be impossible. In
the western division of these languages, k, t, p, ng, n, m

250 china's place in philology.

(as in old Chinese), terminate syllables. Also s, h, r,
and I (which is not true of the old Chinese), are some-
times found at the end of syllables.

The dissyllabic character of the roots in Malay
reminds us of the Semitic system. " All monosyllabic
roots, with the exception of some pronominal stems
and particles, are shortened from dissyllables. All
words of more than two syllables have become so by
phonal additions to the dissyllabic base."^

The possibility of terminating syllables with con-
sonants extends eastward to the Caroline Islands. In
the dialect of Ponape, sixty degrees east of Penang,
and in nearly the same latitude, syllables are closed
by consonants, as in the Malay.* In the East India
Islands consonants are allowed to close syllables, and
the letters used are the same which close syllables in
the Turanian and old Chinese systems. The Polynesian
dialects extend south-east from the eastern termination
of the CaroHne Islands for seventy degrees. Here
the syllables are never closed by consonants. The
peculiarities in the formation of the syllable in eastern
Asia are adhered to in this respect through about half
the longitudinal extent of the immense island group,
which reaches from Sumatra to Tahiti. Through the
Australian dialects the eastern Asiatic system is stiU

1 P. MuUer, p. 324.

' Grammatical Notes on the Language of Ponape, by L. H. GuUck,
M.D., Missionary on that island.

MALAY PHONETIC SYSTEM. 251

adhered to, but the final consonants are limited to ng,
n, m, I, r. Australia then has, by a process of decay,
lost the finals k, t, p. In the great cone of islands
whose apex is twenty degrees east of Tahiti, and whose
base is planted in the one case on the mainland of
Australia, in the province of Queensland, and in the
other on Ponape, in the Caroline Archipelago; the final
consonants have all been lost from the syllable. In the
East India Islands the finals k, t, p, are used in addi-
tion to those of Australia, and the resemblance to the
eastern Asiatic syllable there becomes complete.

The same contrast exists in this respect between
Malaysia ■ and Polynesia as between Mongolia and
Japan. The Japanese, living in a soft and luxurious
climate, have dropped the final consonants, which in
the cold and bracing climate of the Grobi plateau have
been retained by their Mongolian cousins. So, also,
the Malay syllable bears the same relation to that
of Australia that the old Chinese syllable does to the
modern. The Malay system admits k, t, p, at the end
of syllables as weU as ng, n, m; and this is also true
of the old Chinese system still retained in the dialects
of Amoy and Canton. The Australian system, like
the modern Mandarin of China, at the end of its
syllables only allows nasals or the letter r}

In view of these facts, it may be concluded that
the old Chinese closed syllable, with the finals k, t, p,
1 F. MuUer, p. 247.

252 china's place in philology.

ng, n, m, lies at the basis of, and was formerly found in,
all the languages of Austral- Asia and the South Seas.
Further, the additional finals, /, s, there existing, are
such as occur in the Himalaic and Turanian systems.
The want of final consonants in any of the Oceanic
dialects may be accounted for by phonetic decay.
They may have been simply dropped, or they may
have taken vowels after them, and so become initial
consonants to supplemental syllables.

In addition to the question of the finals, there is also
the question of the initials. Neither the Australian
nor the Polynesian dialects have the letters g, d, b.
Yet they have sounds something like them, which,
after careful consideration, the missionaries and others
busied in collecting data respecting the native lan-
guages usually agree to write k, t, p. In the Malay
region only do the letters g, d<, and h occur in their
full distinctness. The conclusion again seems forced
upon us, that secular decay has wrought destruction
in the alphabets of the more distant dialects, while
the Malay, more recent in the time of its migration
from the continent, has better preserved its ancient
form. As in China it is only in the old middle dialect
that the sonant series of the old language is well
retained, so this relic of the primeval language of
mankind finds a refuge in the Malay area when
abandoned by all the more southern and eastern modes
of speech. All this is in full harmony with the view

CONNEXION OF SIAMESE AND MALAY. 253

that the Malay, and other Oceanic races of the same
sisterhood, proceeded from Asia south-eastward, just
as the Chinese (who drove the Miau tribes before them
into the mountains of Kwe;icheu), and other races of
Eastern Asia, all show signs of western origin. The
Polynesian and Australian alphabets, now predomi-
nantly surd, were origiaally, as it would appear,
sonant, but the Malays left the continent with the
double series of letters found in Hebrew and old
Chinese. It seems premature for F. Miiller to say,
" So much remains certain, and will never by the most
brilliant and most trenchant reasonings be disproved:
the Malayo-Polynesians are connected with no Asiatic
people."

In the discussion which "has been origiaated by
Max MuUer's views on the intimate connexion existing
between the Siamese and Malay languages, — and in
which Pott and F. Miiller have placed themselves in
opposition to that philologist, — it seems to me that
reason is on the side of the Oxford professor. The
resemblance is in many respects most marked. Both
languages are clear of all trace of the great Turanian
inversion, by which the verb is placed at the end of the
sentence, and in this they are at one with the Chinese
and Semitic systems. Consequently the case-marks are
prefixes in Malay, as in the Siamese and its sister
dialects of the eastern Himalaic family. Thus, in
Malay the order is as in English, disabrang sungei,

254 china's place in philology.

"beyond the river," hulia pintu, "open the door,"
dilantei, "on the floor" (diatas, "upon," lantei, "floor").

The absence of the distinction of gender and number
in nouns places the Malay in agreement with the
Siamese, Chinese, and other monosyllabic languages.
ThuSi orang Malayu is "a Malay man," or "the
Malays"; orang being "man" or "men," just as in
Chinese ta jen is " a great man " or " the great men."
The same principle underlies the Turanian languages,
as in Mongol: ende nei hwim hd aina ("here's man all
fear "), " the people of this place are all afraid."
Here hwun, in the written language k'umun (Latin
homo), is plural, though constantly used in the singular.
That in such a case the regular plural form ending in d
is not used is proof that the root without a suffix is, as
in Chinese, either plural or singular. So in the Hebrew
niB' niXD K'JSpn Shamesh meoth shana, " 600 years,"
shana is in the singular, although two plurals exist,
viz., shanoth and shanim. Even in English some nouns
are undefined in regard to number, e.g., fish, which is
singular or plural. But such examples are exceptional.

A remarkable resemblance of the Malay to the
Siamese and other Himalaic tongues Hes in the post-
position of the adjective. This principle characterizes
all the Himalaic and Polynesian languages, and goes
far to cut them off from any thoroughly intimate
connexion with the Chinese and Turanian systems.
The Semites placed the adjective after its noun, and

POST-POSITION OF THE GENITIVE. 255

they once occupied Persia. Persia is the western
neighbour of Tibet. May not this post-position of
the adjective have passed from the Semites to the
Tibetians, Siamese, Malays, and Polynesians ? Or
did the Semites, at some date anterior to the Aryan
conquest of Persia, borrow this peculiarity from the
ancestors of the Polynesians ?

In the parallel principle, the post-position of the
genitive, the Tebetians have, under Turanian iafluence
as it would seem, gone out of the line. But with this
exception, the Semitic, Himalaic, Malay, and Poly-
nesian systems, all agree in placing the genitive after
its noun, that is, the possessor after that which is
possessed. Thus the same powerful Semite influence
which introduced this idiom into European languages
has also made itself felt in all the eastern Himalaic
languages, and in the Oceanic archipelago eastward to
the Sandwich Islands, and south to New Zealand.

Another very strong proof of consanguinity between
the Siamese and the Malay is found in the pronouns.
The three personal pronouns are in Siamese, ku, meung,
mon, in Khamti, kau, mau, man, in Malay, hu, mu, na.
The Chinese nga, "I," appears in Chinese dialects under
the forms gwa (Amoy), ngu, nu (Kiangsu), wo (Man-
daria). "We are not therefore surprised to find it nad
in Mongol, ku in Siamese, ego in Greek and Latin, ku
in Malay, natoi in Australian, hau in New Zealand, wau
in Hawaii.

256 china's place in philology.

The Malay pronoun for tke second person is mu. It
is found among the Miau tribes in south-western China
in the form mu, and among the Li tribes of the Hainan
mountains under that of mow. The origin of this pro-
nominal form for the second person, which is found
only in the eastern Himalaic and Malay area, and does
not extend into Polynesia, may be traced with great
probability to an honorific use of the third personal
pronoun in m. This pronoun is found in Siamese
under the form mon, in Hainan as pun, in the Miau
dialect as men. These forms all mean "he." In the
Chinese language, the indefinite pronoun meu, "a
certain person," is probably the same word. The
Chinese and Semitic interrogative pronoun ma,
"what?" may also be referred perhaps to the same
root, for as the relative has often grown out of the
interrogative, so the interrogative has quite as fre'-
quently grown out of the demonstrative. Thus the
order of origin would be in Latin hie, quis? qui, and
in English he, who ? who.

The Malay pronoun for the third person is na. This *
we may identify with the common Chinese demonstra- ^
tive na, "that," " which p" and with the Siamese
demonstratives ni, "this," non, "that." The Malay
demonstrative " this " is ini.

This close similarity in the personal pronouns be-
tween the Malay and Siamese does not extend to the
Polynesian dialects, nor to all those of the Malay area.

SIAMESE AND MALAY PRONOUNS. 257

The first person in k (ku, ho, ki) is found indeed in all
the Malay dialects, including that of Madagascar. It
also prevails in the form ahau and ku in the Tonga
language and that of New Zealand.

The second person in m is used in Borneo, Java,
and the Philippine Islands, but not in the more distant
members of the Malay group; nor is it anywhere
employed in Australia or Polynesia. Thus much I
gather from the examples collected by Professor F.
Miiller, p. 342.

The argument from identity in pronouns is much
stronger than F. Muller allows. The example he
adduces to show that it is of little worth (p. 278), is
that of the existence of similar pronouns in the TJral-
altai^ and Indo-European families. But the identity
of the pronouns in these two linguistic stems is a
strong support to Professor Max MiiUer's view. In
the Tartar and Indo-European families, as has been
shown, the striking resemblance noticeable in the
pronouns is also found in the substantive verb, in the
adverbial case suffixes, in the tense sufExes, in the
gerundial and participial forms, in the signs for the
plural, and in a large number of common roots.
Hence, when the philological inquirer finds the pro-
nouns identical, he may expect to discover other
agreements revealing themselves on examination. The

' De Castren, the Finnish philologist," proposed this tenn for the
Tartar, Siberian, Finnish, Esthonian, and Hungarian languages.

17

258 china's place in philology.

existence of a second personal pronoun in m, over
an area of 25° in longitude and 35° in latitude in
south-eastern Asia, is parallel, on a smaller scale, to
the existence of the first and second personal pronouns
in m or b, and t or s, over the TJral-altai and Indo-
European area, and affords good ground for expecting
that many other fundamental similarities will be found
to exist.

The law of position for case particles is similar in
the Chinese, Semitic, Siamese, and Malay. Preposi-
tions are used for the purpose of indicating case.

" To a place " is in Chinese tau, to, ti, cKi, Semitic
la, Siamese ^'ew«, Malay datan, Tibetan la, Mongol de.

" From a place " is in Chinese zi, zung, or tsi, t'sung,
Semitic min, Siamese de, Malay deri, Turkish dan.

" "With " is in Chinese dung, t'ung, Semitic DJ^, gim
(Latin cum), T\ii, eth (English with. Compare the
sense of " with " in " withstand " with the meaning
" against," which is the, not uncommon force of the
Hebrew eth). Siamese kab (connected with the
Chinese gip, "to arrive at," "along with"), Malay
dengan.

" In " is in Chinese tsai, and as a suffix, li, tung,
chung, Semitic he, Siamese mai, Malay di (in some
dialects n), Mongol dot'ora.

" Towards " is in Chinese hiang, and in Malay ha.

" By means of " is in Chinese i, tsiang, tan,
Siamese dtoa, Malay ulih, oleh.

SEMITIC PRINCIPLES IN MALAY. 259

Out of these six instances, there are five in which
the Chinese and Malay approach each other, viz., " to,"
" with," " in," " towards," and "hy means of."

There are three instances of agreement of the Malay
with the Siamese, "from," "in," and "by means of."

The Chinese initial h is to be regarded as k, and ch
as t. The Chinese I often comes from an earlier d.
The final ng is commonly lost, and n occasionally.

The paucity of instances in which the Malay and
Siamese approach each other in the use of prepositions
is probably owing to a want of the means of com-
parison. Jones's "Grammatical Notices of the Siamese
Language " is very brief, and contains few words.^

The influence of the Semitic family extends, in
regard to laws of position, into Malay and the Oceanic
dialects to the eastward of the Malay Archipelago, but
in regard to roots it seems to stop with Tibet. So the
Mongols have some Semitic principles, as the plural
in d, but very few Semitic words.

In addition to the post-position of the adjective and
the genitive in Malay, that of the demonstrative pro-
noun constitutes another striking feature. This recalls
the favourite Hebrew idiom, which places the demon-
strative with the article after the noun, e.g., hammakom
hahu, " that place." The article ha is here prefixed to
makom, "place," and to hu, "he." The Malays say,
Pikulhan peti ini, " carry that box." Kan is the tran-
1 PaUegoix' works are copious, but I have not access to them in Peking,

260 china's place in philology.

sitiYe or causative suffix to the verb pikul, " carry."
Ini is the demonstrative pronoun " that." This idiom
is in both languages only a particular case of the post-
position of the adjective. The repetition of the article
in Hebrew indicates that the order of the words is in
such cases not the natural one. For, otherwise, why
is the article repeated ? It may, then, be concluded
that in the order of nature the adjective precedes its
substantive ; and when the converse takes place, there
is an inversion of the natural order.

The Semitic principles occurring in the Malay
tongue have been adverted to, while its resemblance
to the Siamese has been more fully described. I shall
now illustrate the connexion of the Polynesian family
with Chinese, making use of the dialect of Ponape,
in the CaroHne group, as described by Dr. GuKck.

The gender of nouns is distinguished by the use
of special words attached to the nouns. In Chinese
these words stand first. In Polynesia they come
after.

In regard to the number of nouns, it is in Chinese
and the Polynesian languages known from the context,
e.g., by that of the accompanying pronoun.

In the Ponape dialect certain numerative particles
are used with nouns. Thus, men' follows animated
objects, tun is used with bunches of fruit, um with
yams and bananas, pot with plants, sticks, and canoes.
The same principle exists in Chinese and in Siamese.

CHINESE AND POLYNESIAN CLASS- WORDS. 261

Thus, the Siamese say, luk reu sang k'on, " two boat-
men." Here sang, "two," is the Chinese shwang,
" a pair." K'on is the numerative for " men." Luk
reu is "boatmen." Reii is "boat." This in Chinese
would be shui sheu Hang ko, " water hands two." In
the combination Uang ko, " two," ko is the numerative
of " men," shui sheu is " sailors."

The numerative is necessary after numerals by a
common linguistic law. The law of position is, how-
ever, somewhat different in the examples. The Chinese
say " water hands," and place the specific term before
the generic. The Siamese and Polynesians prefer to
say "men of the boat." In English we can speak
in either way, but the order of nature is to place the
specific word first, and there is something artificial
about the inversion. When we say "sea birds," we
adopt a mode of speech in genuine accordance with
the spirit of our language. "Birds of the sea," on
the other hand, is an expression belonging to a
borrowed poetical vocabulary which is ultimately
Semitic.

The Polynesian languages have a double series of
some pronouns. When in addressing a person the
speaker includes himself with the person addressed
under one pronominal designation, it is called the
inclusive pronoun. The Ponape dialect has a dual
pronoun kita, "we," which is inclusive. So in
northern Chinese tsa-men, " we," is distinguished from

262 china's place in philology.

wo-men, "we," by the circumstance that isa-men in-
cludes the person addressed, while wo-men does not.
The origin of this inclusive pronoun for the first
person is in Chinese probably the reflexive ts'i, in old
Chinese zi, and in Latin se. The Chinese write it
Pg tsa. This form is compounded of keu, " mouth,"
(referring to its being a common locution), and ts'i,
" self," indicating that the makers of this modern
logograph felt that this was the etymology of the
word. We may suppose kita to be the other Chinese
reflexive pronoun ki. The Chinese of books has no
inclusive pronoun, as distinct from the ordinary per-
sonal pronoun, but it may have existed in an ancient
unwritten colloquial, and may have descended to the
Polynesians from a common source.

The Polynesian personal pronouns agree nearly with
those of China. Of the first I have already spoken.
The second is in Hawaii oe, in Tonga koe, in Ponape
kowe, in New Zealand koe. These I take to be the
Chinese ni, "thou," "you." Old Chinese has ^^ nu and
^ ngi, and the initial ng is easily interchangeable
with k and g, as in the Turkish ugli, " son," Chinese
nffi, Mongol k'u, "begun." Hence the Polynesian form
in k is accounted for. But ng as an initial is often
dropped, as in the Chinese wo, " I," from ngo, the
Hebrew Ayin from an original ng or g, etc. Thus the
Hawaian oe, " thou," is also explained. With regard
to the third personal pronoun, i, ya, and na, are the

CHINESE AND POLYNESIAN PEONOUNS. 263

prevailing forms. They agree with the Chinese i,
"he," "that," and na, "that."

We find, therefore, the European pronouns Ugo, ich,
vos, you, is, ilk, existing, not only in China, but also
in the most remote Polynesian languages, at a distance
from England of half the circumference of the globe,
and yet capable of recognition with the help of the
connecting link supplied by the old Chinese.

The verbal directives in the Ponape dialect are
another example of strong Chinese influence. F.
Miiller has not mentioned them in his otherwise full
and valuable notices of Polynesian grammar. Nor
are they referred to in Jones's "Notices of Siamese."
It seems to me that they must exist in all the
Polynesian dialects, as in that of Ponape. We have
them in English in such expressions as go up, go down,
go in, go out, where they are adverbs following verbs,
and limiting the direction of the action in space.
Hence the name verbal directives. In Chinese they
are verbs in apposition. Tso Ma is "sit down." Tso
hia lai is also to "sit down," and consists of three verbs
in apposition arranged in the order of time, thus " sit-
down-come." Take another example, tseu tsin lai,
"walk in," or "he walks in," literally, "walk-enter-
come." Here the law of arrangement according to
time is manifest. We may expect, then, to find verbs
in all the English adverbs which are connected with
verbs in this way. Thus " through," in the expression

264 china's place in philology.

" go through," in German durch, is in Chinese t'ok or
t'eu, "to pierce through." The Chinese say of a
soaking rain that it has Ma t'eu liau, " fallen
thoroughly." Here t'eu means that it has penetrated
the soil to the full depth required by the farmer.

We find in the Ponape dialect the following pre-
positions and adverbs used as space direotiTes after
verbs. La, " from," ta, " upwards," to, " downwards,"
we, "away from," i, "going off," long, "in," ung, "to,"
Jung, " from," pena, " together," pajung, " separate."
Thus wa la, " take from," tau ta, " climb up," ko ti,
" come down," ko to, " come hither," ko long, " go
in," ko we, " go away," ko ung, " go to," ko Jung,
" go from," ko pena, " go together," ko pajung, " go
separate."

Among these words may be noticed the Chinese zung
or ts'ung, "from." The initial J is pronounced in
Ponape like dj or sh, and is hard to write down. The
word to, "down," is the Chinese toi, te, or ti, the
Mongol dotai, " downwards," and the English " down."
The Chinese shang, " above," "up," is not improbably
the Ponape ta, "upwards," for in Cochin-Chinese t
is the common equivalent of the Chinese sh. Thus in
Morrone's Lexicon Cochin- Sinense the Chinese sound
shing is detected in thua, "to conquer," "to remain
over," "to abound." The Chinese k'e shang, "travel-
ling merchants," is the basis of the disguised kach
thua, having the same sense. Now we may naturally

SEMITIC PRINCIPLES IN COMPARISON. 265

expect to find that in a matter of this kind, what is
true of the eastern Himalaic languages will be true of
Polynesian languages. They wiU bear a similar re-
lation to the Chinese.

I may add that among the verb auxiliaries in the
Ponape dialect is the causative prefix ka, kau, or ko,
which corresponds with the Chinese ko or kiau, "to
cause," used commonly as a causative in modem
dialects, and identical probably with the Latin causa.

Such clear marks of consanguinity between the
Chinese and Polynesian languages must be taken as
proof, in opposition to F. Miiller, that there is no
room to doubt their coming from one source.

The laws of position and a common vocabulary
connect the speech of the Pacific islanders with that
of Siam, Cochin-China, and China. Where the law
of position in the Himalaic type differs from that
of China, Polynesia connects herself with Himalaya,
and here, as it appears to me, is seen the action of a
Semitic principle.

It is worthy of remark that the Hebrew mode of
comparing by the use of the preposition " from,"
min, is parallel to that of Ponape. In the Hebrew
^y\'0 p\T\p " sweeter than honey," p min, " from,"
is inserted after mathok, "sweet." The Ponapean says,
met kajalel jung meteu, "this beautiful from that," in
correct English, "this is more beautiful than that."
The same idiom is found in the Tartar languages, as

266 china's place in philology.

in colloquial Mongol enese sain, "better than this,"
or Kterally, "this from good." Here the preposition
becomes a post-position by the Turanian inversion,
and sain, " is good," stands last as being the predicate.
There appears to be little ground for doubting that
the Semitic idiom is the older, and that both the
Turanian and Polynesian have sprung from it. So
also our English comparative degree, formed with than,
must be referred to the same origin. This little word,
which has long gone seeking in vain for a plausible
parentage, is no other than the Turkish suffix dan,
" from." Latham says, " than is a variety of then ;
the notions of order, sequence, and comparison being
allied." If so, then the final n of both words is
probably the Turkish post-position ni in kani, " where."
This means "in," "within," "at," and is like the
Chinese nei, nip, "within," as before remarked. It
may have been originally a demonstrative pronoun.

So the English as, Grerman als, and Greek co?, are
perhaps the Mongol ese, which means "from" and
"than." The Turanian form is asa or ese, according
as the vowel in the noun is in the series a, o, o, or in
the series e, u, ii. In Sanscrit the root appears as the
demonstrative sa, without the prefix. In Chinese
it is demonstrative tsi, si, refiexive dzi, or prepositional
dzi, "from." Here also it is without the prefixed
vowel. In Latin the reflexive se also occurs without
the vowel. The Turanian influence has been strong

POLYNESIAN ARITHMETIC. 267

upon the Teutonic and Gothic portion of the Indo-
European family, and has left its trace in the TOwel
initial of as and|a&. The English s in as agrees with
the old Chinese si. The written Anglo-Saxon was
swa. Anything nearer to it I cannot find in Yemen's
Guide. The unwritten dialects, if known, would throw
light on the form. There can be little doubt that the
Persian ez, " from," is the same word. We have then
the sonant form 2 in English, Persian, and old Chinese,
and the surd s in German and Mongol. The modem
Chinese form is ts'i. It appears then that in the
comparison of adjectiyes the Ponapean dialect foUows
very widely spread continental models.

So far from being a savage race originally, the
Ponapeans, as their language shows, are an ofishoot
from the continent. In addition to the above instances
of linguistic connexion with Asia, which might be
easily increased by comparing, for instance, the demon-
strative pronoun e«, "this," with the Mongol ene,
" this," it may be added that the Ponapeans count to
ten, but beyond that number they become bewildered.
Thus, ngavi is with them " ten of yams," but " one
hundred of eggs or cocoa-nuts"; apuki, "one hundred,"
(the Chinese pak) is " one hundred of men, trees, or
yams," but "1,000 of eggs, cocoa-nuts, or stones."
After centuries of isolation. Oceanic islanders lose the
command of high numbers, and their value fluctuates
or becomes lower in value. Thus, the Chinese man

268 china's place in philology.

{wan), "10,000," retains its value among the natives
of Samoa and Tonga, but wlien it reaches the Sandwich
Islands it has already sunk to the value " 4000," and
in New Zealand it means " 1000." i

F. Miiller, after comparing the names of numher
from one to ten of the Malay and Polynesian lan-
guages, says, " From the comparison of the foregoing
names of number, we plainly see that, widely as the
languages which use them are separated from each
other, they branched off at a time when the speakers
could count at least to a hundred. This is certainly
a proof of the not limited intellectual gifts and early
development of these peoples." (Page 287.)

I would go a step further, and say that this fact,
regarding the numbers 100 and 10,000, proves deterior-
ation. The Polynesians could formerly use a decimal
arithmetic. Whether they have adopted a quaternary
or quinary arithmetic, it is probably on account of
long-continued isolation, which tends to produce bar-
barism. The Australian tribes have already exhausted
the arithmetical faculty when they have arrived at
four and five. The word kauwul-kauwul means with
them either "five" or "very many." "With another

' Samoa and Tonga lie betwfeen the Sandwich Islands and New Zealand,
and, if the migration of the Polynesian islanders proceeded regularly hy
way of the Malayan archipelago, would he populated much sooner than
those two more remote localities. In F. MiiUer's triple grouping of the
languages, as the Malay, Polynesian, and Black-race groups, the islands
mentioned all belong to the second.

AMERICAN LANGUAGES. THEIE MIXED CHARACTER. 269

tribe punku, " four," is also " many," and punhu kalan,
" five," is " very many." Their ancestors when they
left Asia could probably all count to ten. Are not
the ten fingers the proper foundation of arithmetic ?
All human races would still practise it but for the
degrading effects of long-continued isolation.

Where the arithmetical faculty is weak, the names
of number easily and rapidly change. The multipli-
cation table would be soon lost to civilization if left in
the hands of the dunces. It is the bright in intellect
that preserve society from lapsing into barbarism, for
they transmit to coming generations the treasured
discoveries of the past. Among Oceanic islanders
degradation is inevitable until they are visited by the
light of Christian civilization.

But easy as it is to lose the names of number, and
especially those of high numbers, it is not likely that
the traces of ancient knowledge will entirely disappear.
Vestiges wanting in one island will be found to exist
in another, and a wide recension may be expected to
restore, piece by piece, the image of the buried past.

The languages of the American continent form a
portion of the field to be investigated before the
position and relations of the Polynesian system can
be accurately determined, As Turanian languages
border on North America at Behring's Strait, so the
Polynesian dialects approach both North and South
America by the ocean. In the valuable collection of

270 china's place in philology.

Lord's Prayers in more than 600 languages and dia-
lects, published by the Imperial Printing Office at
Vienna, I have searched for dialects which by their
syntax might be recognized as exclusively Turanian
or exclusively Polynesian. None occur. The princi-
ples of arrangement are so mixed and so evenly
balanced that the principles of both families seem to
be everywhere in operation. For example, in the
Delaware language, alluded to in Cooper's romance,
" The Last of the Mohicans," while it has case suffixes
and the genitive before the nominative (Turanian), it
has, on the other hand, the verb before the accusative
and makes use of many prepositions (Polynesian). In
the language of the Dacotahs, between the Mississippi
and the Rocky Mountains, prefixes (Polynesian) pre-
dominate over suffixes (Turanian).

Among the Central American languages the Mexican
is important. In no cal, " my house," « cal, " his
house," the order is Chinese and Turanian, as are the
roots. In the Sandwich Islands, and other parts of
Polynesia, hale means " house " also, but there the pos-
sessive pronoun must foUow its word. In Nicaragua
the adjective rigidly follows its noun, which is a
decidedly Polynesian feature.

The language of the Incas in Peru, in having the
adjective after the substantive, is Polynesian, but in
having case suffixes and the verb at the end, is
Turanian. Thus, they said Mango Capac, while we

POLYNESIAN CIVILIZED IMMIGEATION. 271

stould say in English- King Mango; and nocaicuman,
"to us," where man is "to," and is the dative case
suffix.

In the language of the Caribs, whom the discoverer
of the American continent found in the "West India
Islands, there are case suffixes, and the verb pre-
cedes the accusative. They distinguish the elder and
younger brother by different words, as is done in all
the Polynesian and Turanian languages. Their speech
is classed with the South American division of Indian
languages.

"We are warranted by these linguistic data in con-
cluding that there was a Polynesian immigration from
the ocean, and a Turanian immigration by the Aleutian
Islands, and by Iceland and Greenland, which united
to form the population of the American continent.
The influx of ocean tribes would be favoured by the
former existence of extensive lands in the Pacific, now
submerged. Chinese tradition speaks of a chain of
large kingdoms stretching from Japan to California,
through which Buddhism was zealously propagated.
These notices, belonging to the fifth century of our
era, should not be forgotten, though it is not safe to
build much upon them.

The Polynesian element was the more civilized, and
to this must be attributed the main influence in the
production of the civilization of the Aztecs and Incas.
The Turanian element was the more simple, and to

272 china's place in philology.

this may be ascribed the doctrine of the Great Spirit,
and the other religious views of the less civilized tribes
of North America. The Polynesian element prevailed
most on the western shores of the continent. The
forms of science and art, national polity and belief,
found there by the Spaniards, agree best with those of
Southern Asia. The Turanian mould of thought and
belief extended itself rather along the northern and
eastern portions of the continent, and exists among
the Siberian tribes in a similar way. The modem
Polynesians residing on a thousand isolated points
scattered over the ocean, have lost the civilization they
once possessed, and have not been able, on account of
their insular position, to advance in the intellectual
sphere, as did the Aztecs and Incas, but their religious
and mythological traditions point to India and Western
Asia as their source^ The tradition of a deluge and
an ark follows the line of Semitic principles of
language through the mountain homes of the Karens
to the ocean, and proceeds by the Sandwich and other
islands in the Pacific to Mexico. The belief in the
divinity of serpents exists in the Fiji Islands, as it
formerly did in the land of Montezuma. This is both
Hindu and Babylonian, and seems to have sprung out
of the narrative of the Fall in the Book of Genesis.
Cycles in time terminated by a catastrophe are almost
necessarily to be regarded as of Hindu or Chaldean
origin. The Mexican belief in the Age of the Earth

POLYNESIAN CIVILIZED IMMIGRATION. 273

(corresponding to the Satyayuga of Hindostan, and
extending to 5206 years), of Fire, of Tempests, of
Water, and of the present Age,i may be best traced
to India and Babylon. Mr. Hardwick says in regard
to the American traditions of the Deluge, " So nume-
rous, and so extremely arbitrary, are the points in
which those legends are now found to have approached
the sacred story, that some affinity between the two
is generally recognized, except where an archaeologist
or schoolman is incorrigibly blinded by his love
of system-building. Even the divines of Grermany,
beneath whose shadow every kind of mythic theory
has sprung up with rank luxuriance, seem to have
been almost reconciled to a belief that the traditions
now and formerly current in America respecting some
great deluge must have all been carried over from the
old Continent."

As the proof from language proceeds side by side
with that from historical and religious tradition, we
are driven to the conclusion that the Polynesian and
American races are Post-Diluvian, and of the same
ancestry with ourselves. "Ought we not," says^ A.
von Humboldt, " to recognize the traces of a common
origin wherever the cosmological ideas and first tra-
ditions of peoples offer striking analogies even in
unimportant matters ? "

' Hardwiok's Christ and other Masters, part iii., p. 160.

1 Hardwick cites this passage- in p. 164 from " Vues des Cordillferes."

18

OHAPTEE XII.

The Sanscrit Lau ouaqe. — Sanscrit Richness in Forms. — Its
Principles op Development Based on Older Systems. —
Alphabet. — Syllable. — Prefix op iS. — Insertion op E and L. —
Polysyllabic Word. — Declension. — Case Suffixes. — Plueal.
— Gender. — Compabison of Adjectives. — Pkonouns. — Deriva-
tive Verbs. — Personal Endings. — Tense Marks. — Potential
AND Conditional Mood. — Infinitive. — Participle. — Auxiliary
Verbs. — Adverbial Suffixes. — -Prepositions. — Compounds. —
Laws of Position. — Zend Syntax.

In passing to the Indo-European languages, the
Sanscrit first claims attention. The remarkable com-
pleteness of its grammatical forms has attracted the.
admiration of philologists. The same analytical
genius which aided Panini in the arrangement of
Indian grammar, many centuries after it attained its
perfection as a language, aided his .forefathers un-
consciously in its gradual formation. The peculiar
intellectual attributes of a nation are first recognized
in the germ in their language, and afterwards in the
fruit in their literature. Languages are rich, noble,
and worthy of study in close proportion to the political
and literary development of the people that speak
them. The merit of Sanscrit consists in its richness
in forms, and its orderly development.

SANSCRIT ALPHABET. 275

The origin of the peculiar priaciples of the Sanscrit
grammar must be looked for in the families of language
which existed previously. Such signs of Semitic in-
fluence as appear in Sanscrit may be due to an ancient
residence in Armenia, or somewhere in that region,
when they were neighbours to the Semites. The
traditions of Sanscrit and Zend literature point to an
old national home in Bucharia. Here the tribes that
spoke these languages were in proximity to Turanian
races, and on the south with the occupants of Persia
and Affghanistan, at that time probably speaking
a Semite language. But as there was an ancient
Turanian occupation of Asia Miaor, the original
Sanscrit type would also easily gather Turanian
elements during a possible older residence west of
the Caspian.

Alphabet.

The peculiar double development of the t series
may be ascribed to Dravidian influence. The dental
series, t, t', d, d', n, is that which Sanscrit has in
common with western languages and those of Eastern
Asia. The cerebral series, t, t', d, d', n, links the
Sanscrit with the Tamil and its sister-dialects. Let
it be considered that in the Tamil there are a dental,
a palatal, and a cerebral n, and a dental, palatal, and
cerebral r; that there are three t sounds, and two I
sounds. As these varieties do not exist north of the

276 china's place in philology.

Himalaya mountains, they may be supposed to be due
partly to climate, and to bave existed already in
Dra vidian languages before the speakers of Sanscrit
entered the Indian peninsula.

The aspirated k, t, p, ch, may be traced to a
Tartar origin. These letters in Mongol, Manchu, and
Turkish are always aspirated. It is in that part of
the world the normal way of pronouncing them. An
unaspirated t would there be counted as d. Thus, in
Manchu writing a dot on the right changes an aspirated .
k into g.

The aspirated series, gh, dh, hh, jh, has perhaps
been originated by the Hindoos, from an unconscious
tendency to make the sonants as complete as the surds.

The unaspirated surd series, k, t, p, ch, seems to
haye been formed by the common ancestors of the
Indo-European languages from the older series, g, d, b.

The Mongol gar, "hand," is in Sanscrit hara, and
in Greek x^^- Thus Grimm's law is the Indo-
European expression of a wider law embracing all the
Asiatic families, by which unaspirated and aspirated
surds are both formed from an older sonant series
existing in Turanian, Semitic, and old Chinese.

No family has ever been so creative in politics, in
literature, in the arts, and in language, as the Indo-
European. It was suitable that they shoidd start on
their wonderful career with a more perfect alphabet
than had hitherto satisfied the wants of nations. The

SANSCRIT ALPHABET. 277

Turanian alphabet was deficient in surd sounds. The
Indo-Europeans developed them by the exercise of a
powerful instinct, and thus succeeded in so widening
the bounds of the alphabet as to adapt it for embracing
the vast variety of new grammatical forms, and new
names of things and actions, which Sanscrit, Grreek,
Latin, German, and English require- In this they
appear to have been assisted by the Semites, who at
a very ancient period added k, p, and t to the still
older h, g, and d. The Semites, however, never arrived
at the evolution of so copious an alphabet as their
younger brothers, the descendants of Japheth.

The Sanscrit ch corresponds to the Chinese k. In
the Indo-European languages generally k has shown a
tendency to change into ch. In Italian Cicero became
Chichero. In English Kvpiaicrj, or kirche, became church.
In Hussian castus, " pure," is chisto. This law of
change, belonging to all the languages, must have
commenced before the separation into dialects. It
does not afiect the eastern Asiatic languages. Very
recently, however, it has made its appearance in
Chinese. Thus, in Northern and "Western China king,
"to honour," is now pronounced ching. The law of
change which usually corresponds in Eastern Asia to
that of A to cA in Europe, is that of t to ch. This
exists alike in Chinese and in the Turanian languages.

Example. Chitra, " paint," " wonder," Chinese hwei,
git, "paint," kH, gi, "to wonder," kwai, kat, "strange."

278 china's place in philology.

The Sanscrit v corresponds to the Chinese w. In
Chinese, for instance, gj wet, wat, is " to place round,"
"inclose." The round coyering of a cart, a tent,
a curtain, and a low circumscribing wall, are called
wei. The Tamil has vattam, " circle," " revolution in
an orbit," " halo." The Sanscrit has vad, " surround,"
mda, " circle " ; Latin verto, " turn," mlw, " revolve."

The consonant /, wanting in Sanscrit, was probably
also unknown to the old Turanian language, on which
it was based, for it is not found in Mongol, or in the
old Chinese.

The Syllable.

The inherency of a ia all consonants having no
other vowel mark coming after them means that the
Sanscrit-speaking people lost the habit of ending a
syllable with a consonant. There need be no hesitation
on this account in ascribing to the mother-tongue of
the Indo-European family a syllabary of which one
characteristic was the possession of final consonants.
The Sanscrit roots are represented by the Indian
grammarians as ending in many instances with con-
sonants. Also many syllables actually end with the
consonants n, m, t, d, k, r, etc. Hence the law of
Sanscrit grammar here referred to is not strictly true.
It is certain, however, that the tendency of ancient
Hindoo pronunciation was towards vowel endings, just
as is found to be the case with the Japanese syllabary

SANSCRIT SYLLABLE. 279

as compared with tlie Mongol. This may be due to
the enervation consequent on change to a warmer
climate. The Gf-reeks and Latins had much fewer
consonantal endings than the English and Germans
now use.

The Semites and Turanians agreed in introducing
r, I, s, among the final consonants of their syllabaries.
They were followed by the speakers of Sanscrit. "When
words belonging to these languages are compared with
the Chinese roots, such finals seem to be phonetic
additions rather than changed finals. The Chinese he,
" black," in the old language kek, appears in Sanscrit
as Mia and Mka, and in Mongol as hara or k'ara. The
I and r are here introduced in place of a lost k. But
it would be improper to say that k had become meta-
morphosed into either of these letters. With t and d
final the case is difierent. These letters have a natural
affinity for r and I, and interchange is not uncommon.
Thus, the Cochin- Chinese dai, "earth," suggests that
there was once an appendage consisting oi t or d to
the Chinese Jj^ ti, in the old language da. The
Sanscrit form is dhara and the Latin terra. The
Hebrew arets and the English earth seem to be con-
nected by a change from d to r, and the prefixing of
the vowel a. The r of the Sanscrit and Latin forms
may be changed from the old final d or t.

That the connexion between the Chinese syllable
and the Indo-European syllable is to be brought to

280 china's place in philology.

liglil; through intermediate Turanian links cannot
be doubted, when it is observed that these final r'a
and ^'s, comrag in place of the Chinese t, occur not
infrequently in Indo-European and Tartar languages.
Chinese sat, " scatter," " sow," Mongol sargigolhu,
"scatter," Latin sero, "sow," Tamil sidaru, "scatter."
One of the most striking differences observable
between the Sanscrit and Mongol syllable is the pre-
fixing of s to other consonants in the former. As
this is a permanent feature in all the Indo-European
languages, it must have originated before their separa-
tion. It was probably an intensitive. The Semitic
roots which appear to have received s or sh as a
prefix modify their sense so as to be in harmony
with the idea that the sibilant was intensitive. East
of the Sanscrit and Persian there are absolutely no
examples of an s prefixed to the root. In comparing
western words, it is necessary, therefore, to strip them
first of this . appendage. Thus, stand, sto, la-Trj/j,!,,
in Sanscrit st'al, " to stand," st'dna, " a place,"
"situation," may be be referred to the Chinese equi-
valent by removing s. The final t of the Chinese
word ^ dat, " to tread upon," is found in the Sanscrit ^
st'ita, " steady," and in the English stead, steady. The
Arabic has d&sa, " tread," and the Hebrew nathan, " to
place," where the n does not seem to be radical.
Compare in Tamil tandu, tdl, "stand," Tibetan ten,
" to halt." The root tat or dad, tan or dan, is probably

INSERTION OF S. AND Z. 281

imitated from the natural sound of the foot striking
the ground.

Another example is |§ c'hu, old form tok, " to
pierce," stechen, stick, stigo, stingo,^stmg, oTt(5», Anglo-
Saxon stechen, "to stick in," sUccels, German stachel,
English stickle. The Sanscrit is stak.^

A change of almost equal importance, as adding
greatly to the number of syllables, was the introduction
of r and / between the initial consonant and the vowel.
Thus, krit, " to cut," krishna, " black," kri, " to do," in
Mongol hadahu, "to reap," hara, "black," hihu, "to do."
Compare cut, culter, ccsdo, Hebrew gadang, J?"1^ and Sj^p,
Tamil katti, "knife," and for kri, "do," the Chinese
hing, old form gang, "to do," "to go," recollecting that
the loss of final ng is a common circumstance in
Chinese words.

As an example of the insertion of I may be mentioned
kap&la, " skuU," also karpara, Latin calva, Sclavonic
glava and golova, "head," Grerman Kopf, Saupt, "head."
"We have dropped the p in our word head, but the
German restores it to view. Greek Ke<\ia\ri, Latin
caput. The Chinese is ^ kap, "head of a series,"
"shell of a tortoise," "coat of mail," "a cover," "to

1 Compare afiipva, myrrh, darbm, " starre," nose, sneeee,pilce, spike, as
examples vhete the prefix of s has been so recent that it exists in some
languages and is wanting in others. Observe also that sh is prefixed in
Sanscrit and German, while English, Latin, and Greet refuse to admit it.
Schmerzen, smart, Schmidt, smith. Compare amarrn, "bitter," mSiie,
"toil."

282 china's place in philology.

cover." In this last sense the Sanscrit has kuh and
huhh, "to cover," which may he compared with the
Greek KpinrTm, "hide," and KaXvirreo, "cover." In
Mongol we find hobc'his, "clothing," and habhan, "a
covering." The Hebrew has nS3, "he covered,"
" expiated," and the Arabic ghu/ran, " pardon," gha^i,
"hidden."

The occurrence of KaXvirrca with a vowel preceding
the inserted / shows how the syllabary may acquire a
new extension. The monosyllabic root thus becomes
" dissyllabic without either prefix or suffix. Instances,
however, of this sort of extension among European
roots are comparatively rare.

Another mode of extending the primitive syllable
is to insert r and I before the final consonant, as in
karpara, " the skull," from the root kap ; kart, " to
cut," from the root cut. Compare the English work
with the Latin ago, actus.

The Polysyllabic Wokd.

The monosyllable needed to be lengthened and
endowed with a more perfect and beautiful form. Just
as among the works of the Creator are found first
ferns and mosses, and afterwards grasses and trees and
all the rich variety of fiowering plants, so the plain
and unattractive words of the most ancient men were
destined to expand into the ever-changing abundance
and beauty of the Indo-European vocabulary.

FORMATION OF THE POLYSYLLABLE. 283

With tte expansion of the monosyllabic root into a
polysyllable by prefixes, suflixes, and inserted letters,
the subject of derivation is inseparably connected.
Take an example from the Sanscrit vocabulary.

The old English quoth is in Sanscrit kat', "to
speak." From this is formed kat'aka, " a speaker,"
by appending a demonstrative pronoun ka, the English
he, and the Chinese ffi, "he," ku, "that." The Chiaese
hwa, "words," "to speak," is the same word, the old
form being gat. In Mongol helhu, "to speak," takes
e'hi in place of hu, to express the agent. In helcM,
"the speaker," or "he who speaks," the syllable c'hi
is also a demonstrative, the Chinese t'si, "this," and
the Sanscrit sa, " he."

Another suffix which presents itself is n, as in
kat'ana, " saying," a neuter noun. In Mongol we have
hekn, occurring as one of those substantive forms of
the verb which we call infinitive or gerund.

The same suffix meets us in the participles, as in

kdrin, "a doer," from kri; gh&tin, "a killer," from

han; s&yin, "a sleeper," from sl^ (Chiaese shui). In

these cases the word in m is either a noun of agency

or a present participlel The English participle in ing,

formerly in (Latham's English Language), limits itself

to the sense of a participle and infinitive, leaving the

expression of agency to the suffix r, as in lover, ^ loving.

' Williams's Sanscrit Grammar.

' The suffix r for agency may be changed from s, as was is called in the
west of England war. It may then be regarded as the demonstratiTe in ».

284

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

Other farms from kat are kat'angkat'ika, "an interro-
gator," kat'angkat'ikat''&, " question," hat'angkat'ita,
" questioner," kat'aniya, " that may be told," kat'antd,
"inquiry," kat'd, "word," "tale," kat'dmrdga, "atten-
tive to what is said," kat'ika, "story-teller," kat'ita,
" said."

^ Among them the suffix ta or td, used of an agent or
participially, is found in the Chinese g^ ti, ^ che
(old form ta), and in the Mongol gerund or past
participle heled.

The Sanscrit chitra, "painting," "to paint," forms
ehitraka, "a painter." This word is lengthened into
chitrakara and chitrakdra, both meaning "painter."
Chitratala is "painted like a floor." Chitralikh and
chitrakrit mean " painter." Chitragata is " painted."
Chitrala is " variegated." Chitralekhd, is a " picture."
Compare with this family of words the Chinese hwei
or gat, " to paint," the Tibetan skud, " to smear," " to
mark," kud-pa-po, " a marker," " painter," kus-pa,
" smeared," and the Russian chertit, " to paint," cherta,
" a line," ocherk, " a line.''

The suffixes raga, rege, are quite common in Mongol.
So also are lig, al, el, del, ga. Thus, t'erege, " a
cart," is formed from the Chinese c'he, formerly t'e;
c'hic'higlig, " a garden," is formed from c'hic'hig, " a
flower"; uj'el, "a mode of viewing things," comes
from uj'ihu, "to see"; sigudel, "judgment," comes from
siguhu, " to judge."

THE FORMATION OF CASES. 285

The Tamil derivatives from k&tu, "to kill," are
k&takam, k&tam, " killing," k&takan, "a kiUer,'' kdtal,
"act of killing," k&tei, "kiUing."

It appears, then, that the Sanscrit derivative nouns
are formed by appending syllables which bear a strong
resemblance to similar syllables in Mongol. Forms
are, however, more numerous in Sanscrit, which admits
compounds, than in Mongol, which does not. Thus,
chitrakrit is formed from kri, "make," joined with
chitra, "painting."

Declension . Case .

The Turanian languages had formed cases of nouns
before they were known in the Indo-European family.
All the best Turanian types have them. The Sanscrit
shows a more close kinship with its Turanian cousins in
this respect than any other Indo-European language,
because it does not use prepositions at all to express the
relations of nouns to each other. The words for from,
to, in, out, by, etc., come after the noxm, as they do in
all true members of the Turanian family. The other
Indo-European languages use these prepositions plenti-
fully before their nouns. The Sanscrit has come,
therefore, more fully under the control of Turanian
principles than any other member of the family. Yet
a distinction remains to the Sanscrit which forbids our
classing it among Turanian languages. It uses pre-
positions copiously as inseparable prefixes to roots, just

286 china's place in philology.

as did the Greeks and Latins. But it is contrary to
the nature of the Turanian system to do this.

The resemblances noticeable between the Sanscrit
case suffixes and those of the Turanian system have
already been examined. Obvious as they are, it would
be wrong to say that the only influence at work in
the formation of the declension was the Turanian.
The Semitic system has had an effect of its own
peculiar kind. It has given genders to the nouns and
perhaps the accusative case in m. It has also added
a dual number.

The letter m plays an important part in Semitic
grammar. It serves to form a plural im for the
masculine gender, and is then a suffix. It is also a
prefix to denote participles in Piel, Siphil, etc. It
marks an infinitive or supine in Numbers x. 2, X'lp/b?
" to call," said of the use to which the silver trumpets,
ordered to be made by Moses, were to be applied —
" to call the assembly." Then it is further used as a
prefix in verbal nouns, as mishpat, "judgment," modd^,
" acquaintance," from shaphat, " to judge," and yada"^,
"to know." It is also met with in the dual, where
dyim is used instead of the plural im,

As a common interrogative in Hebrew, ma would,
it is likely, be originally demonstrative, and in that
state it might originate the Dravidian plural suffix
m&r and the Sanscrit accusative in m, as well as the
Semitic plural suffix and the participial prefix just

CASE SUFFIXES. 287

described. This explanation of the Sanscrit accusative

is the more probable, seeing that neuter nouns take am

in the nominative, as well as in the accusative ; and

ia Tamil and Mongol ^ w is a very common suflBx to

nouns, and makes a plural in Tamil.

Bopp refers all case suffixes to a pronominal origin,

and~ points to the pronoun imau, "these two," ime,

" these," as the source of the accusative ending in m.

His view of the origin of the cases appears to me to

be wanting in convincing evidence in some respects.

Thus, the instrumental and some other suffixes must,

if viewed under the light of Chinese grammar, be

regarded as true verbs. Bopp, however, was not

willing to allow them to be other than pronouns. I

believe them to have been both. The following are

reasons for this opinion. First, it is more natural

when motion towards or from, making use of or giving to,

have to be spoken of, to employ verbs to express these

ideas. They are really verbs, and no word could easily

be employed to describe them without its having a

verb sense. Secondly, if pronouns are employed as

dative, instrumental, and ablative case suffixes, it should

be allowed that, since they are used with such a force,

they have already a signification as verbs. Thirdly,

the Chinese demonstratives agree in form with certain

common verbs meaning " follow," " give to," " carry,"

"bring," "do," "be."

' Compare hugfim, " music," the Chinese gai ; also the pronoims tHm,
t/im, " that sort of," " this sort of."

288 china's place in philology.

^ zung, "follow," "from."
g zi, "from," "self," "spontaneously."
Jit t'si, S? si, "this," ^ i'si, "give," fl s»A;, "give."
^ WO!, "that," ^ wop, "carry," "capture."
^ «, " he," SX h " make use of," " other," eo, ibam,
ivit, " go."

^ pi, " he," " that," pet, " give," " go away,"
" another."

% i'a, " other," " he," " to draw," " drag."
p i, " that," ^ wei, " be," " become," " do,"
"action," "that."
^ %hi, "this," "is," "be."

The ideas of existence, transitive action, self, other,
carrying, following, moving, are all mixed in confusion
in these words.^

Probably the verb sense was the earliest, for to this
a name would be most easily applied. The notion of
the demonstrative pronoun would be a little more
abstract, and therefore less easy for primitive man to
grasp. He would see motion. He would hear a
sound. The motion would be named from the sound.
Thus the verb would first obtain a name. Early
names for "walk," "move," "go," "carry," would
thus come into use. With a small stock of verbs
primitive man would be prepared to fix on his demon-
strative and other pronouns. The name of an action

1 For some criticisms on Bopp's views on this subject, see article on
Language in the English Cyclopaedia.

NUMBER. 289

would be applied to the actor who was seen performing
it, or to the place or time in which he performed it.
As the actor is not always known, the pronoun thus
acquired would also naturally he assigned to positions
in space and time. Thus true pronouns, prepositions,
and adverbs would be formed to express all spatial
relations. This seems to be the true reason of the fact,
that some of the commonest Chinese verbs coincide in
sound (though usually differing in tone) from the most
ancient and widely spread pronouns.

Since Bopp's time all philologists seem to agree in
accepting the view that case suffixes are of pronominal
origin. Yet it may not be considered superfluous to
remark, in proof of the pronominal origin of the
accusative in m, so widely spread in Sanscrit, Latin,
Grerman, and English,^ that the corresponding Turanian
accusative suffixes gi, i, ni, a, etc., are all easily reduced
to demonstrative roots.

The Greek, Zend, and Sanscrit languages were
spoken by nations in very near relations with Semitic
peoples, and none of the other Indo-European races
have had so full a development of the dual as these
three. We can then only regard the dual number as
of Semitic origin. It does not appear in the Hamite
languages. Thus we are shut up to this hypothesis.

The Sanscrit mark of the nominative plural is h,
corresponding to the Greek, Latin, and English s.
1 Compare the English him, whom, them.

19

290 china's place in philology.

The Mongol has s and d. Perhaps all meet in the
Hebrew th. For s and t are interchangeable letters.
The genitive plural in m, so extensively used in
Sanscrit, Zend, and Latin, may be referred to the
Hebrew plural in im, and ultimately to the demon-
strative in m. Bopp finds the demonstrative ma in
the Greek fiev and the old Latin emem. I would add
the Chinese meu, " some one," the Siamese and Malay
second personal pronoun meu, mu, and the European
words multi, much, many, magnus. So the Chinese ta,
" many," da, " great," ^ may be referred, with some
probability, to the demonstrative root t.

As the Semitic dual is formed from the plural ^by
slightly altering the suffix, that is, by changing im
to dyim, or th to thdyim, so the Sanscrit dual is formed
from the plural by changing, e.g., as to au (Bopp,
§ 206) in the nominative, am to oh in the genitive,
and so on.

Gender.

The triple distinction of gender, as masculine, femi-
nine, or neuter, found in Sanscrit and other Indo-
European languages, we may suppose to have originated
among a Semitic or Hamitic people, and to have been
carried on to its completion by the Indo-Europeans.
If the Hamites were not sufficiently imaginative to
personify natural objects, the credit of this creation
' In Mandarin to and ta.

GENDER OF NOUNS. 291

must be allowed to tlie Semites, of whose tendencies
to view nature with a poetic eye we have such
abundant proofs. But the mythological creations of
the Egyptian mind (unless they sprang from Shemite
teaching) may well suggest that the gift of imagin-
ation was shared by some at least of the Hamites.
The mark of the feminine in old Egyptian was t, and
this agrees with the Hebrew feminine-ending th, some-
times shortened to h. (See Ges. Heb. Gr., § 79.)

The Indo-Europeans were likewise highly imagin-
ative, and they adopted with avidity from both
Hamites and Semites their personifications, alike in
grammar and in mythology. They also carried
forward the distinction of genders to its completion
by adding a third form, the neuter.

To the ancient Hebrew, while his language was in '
course of formation, inanimate objects were by the
poetic faculty endowed with life and distinguished as
masculine or feminine. Strong and powerful objects
appeared as masculine. Those which are easily asso-
ciated with weakness and timidity were regarded as
feminine (Ges. Heb. Gr., § 105). But strength and
power can be attributed to few things, and conse-
quently the majority of the names of inanimate objects
are feminine. Abstract ideas, offices, and collectives
are usually feminine.

Objects seized upon by the imaginative nations as
suitable for mythological personification are in Hebrew

292 china's place in philology.

nearly all masculine. Cloud, rain, morning, tree, heaven,
sun, moon, river, mountain, light, are examples.

Among words occasionally feminine are evening, sun,
fire, cloud, wind. Of these the last is rarely masculine.
Name, hlood, city, are masculine.

In Sanscrit sun, moon, soul (S,tman), head, mountain,
tree, evening, are masculine. Earth, night, light, life,
heaven, river, are feminine. Dawn, mind (manas), hlood,
honey, deed, water, gift, are neuter.

When the Greek and Latin languages made the
moon feminiue, they departed from the usage of the
Hebrew and Sanscrit. In all the four languages life
is feminine. River is masculine in Hebrew, Greek,
and Latin. In Sanscrit it is feminine. Wind is
feminine in Hebrew, but mascuHne ia Greek {dve/io<;)
and Latin. The Greek has also a neuter word, -Trvev/Mi.

Comparison of Adjectives.

If Bopp's explanation of the Sanscrit comparative
degree in tara, as derived from tar, " to pass beyond,"
is open to any doubt, I would suggest that it should
be considered whether the Mongol demonstrative t'ere
may not have originated it. It has its source ia the
primitive root t'a, " other," " he." Its force would
be, after the word good, for instance, " that other is
good." The Manchu ere, "this," would furnish an
explanation of the Latin or, in melior, "better," and
the Mongol ene might be adduced to throw light

PRONOUNS. 293

on the Greek comparative mv, in KdXKlav, " more
beautiful."

Tlie Mongols say t'imu, for " such," t'uilin bogda, for
"extremely wise and holy," and demile airiben baina,
for " there are very many." Here demile means
"very," baina, "to be," and airiben, "many." Perhaps
an explanation of the Sanscrit superlative ia tama
may be found in this last form. In Latin the sim in
carissimus, "most dear," and pessimus, "the worst,"
may be the same word with the t changed to s.

Personal Pronouns.

First Person. Aham, " I." The Chinese nga, and
Mongol na in namai, " me," etc. The forms in m are
identical with the Mongol bi, "I," minu, "of me,"
but instead of being limited to the nominative and
genitive, they are extended to all the cases. The
accusative mdm has the demonstrative in m for its final
letter. The instrumental mayd has the Chinese JJJ[
yi, " to take," as its suffix, or, in other words, the
demonstrative in i. The dative mahyam has the
Chinese yii ^ " give to," and the demonstrative m
for its suffix. The ablative mat has the demonstrative
in t for its ending. The genitive mama and locative
mayi have respectively the demonstrative in m and
the Chinese jj^ yii, "at," "in," for their ending.

The plural vayam is apparently the Chinese ■^ yii,
"I," and the English we. The obUque cases in the

294 china's place in philology. ,

plural are, accusative asm&n, indicative asmdbhih, dative
asmahhyam, ablative asmat, genitive asm&ham, locative
asmdsu. Bopp regards the initial a as meaning "I,"
and the whole of the remainder as demonstrative.^ I
would draw attention to the modern Chinese plural
su£Sx {p3 men in women, " we," the causative pet, the
dative pet, the demonstrative elements k, t, m, and the
preposition /^ tsai, ze, as throwing light on these
forms.

Second Pekson. — As in the first person, there is a
mixture of three roots, aha, ma, wa, corresponding to
the na, hi, mi, of Mongol, so in the second we have
twa, yu, corresponding to the Mongol c'M, t'a. In
the first person the speakers of Sanscrit selected
na and mi, and made no use of hi, except in the
substantive verb. In the second they neglected c'hi,
and made use of t'a in the singular and the Chinese
nu in the plural. The n is lost, as is the case in the
Latin vos and English we.

Third Pekson. — The nominative sah is found in the
Chinese ^ tsi and ^ si, "this." The old form of
both these words was si. The ta of the accusative
tarn, instrumental tena, dative tasmai, ablative tasmat,
genitive tasya, locative tasmin, is the Chinese ^ di,
± ti, fi^ ti, Ji te, "this," and ^ t'a, "that," "other,"
with the Mongol t'ere, "that." The inserted m in

1 In the Shanghai dialect " we " is ngu ni, " I you " ; " you " is nwng
na, " you he."

PRONOUKS. 295

three of the oblique cases resembles that of the Mongol
second person, which has in the dative and locative
c'himador, accusative c'Mmai, indicative c'himaber, c'hi-
maloga, ablative c'hima- ec'he. This similarity becomes
still closer when it is remembered that the second
person usually takes origin from the third. The Greek
(TV and Mongol si (old form of c'M) help to connect
the Sanscrit tvam, Latin tu, English thou, with the
Chinese si and ti, "this," "him."

Demonstbative and Relative.

The demonstrative ayam, " this," accusative imam, is
the Chinese ^ i, and Mongol ino, ano, and ene.
Compare also the Mongol im, " such a," " so," as in
im yehe, "so large."

The Sanscrit relative is formed from this demon-
strative, as the Latin qui and the English who are
derived from the demonstrative in k. The Turanians,
like the Chinese, are without a full relative, and the
appearance of this feature in the Indo-European lan-
guages must be attributed to Semite influence.

The Hebrew asher, " who," " which," may be
compared with the Chinese PJI shui, "who?" "who-
ever," ^ shi, " this." The old forms of these
words would be zhi and perhaps zhid. They are
found in the oldest remains of Chinese literature.
I suppose the demonstrative to have been first, then
the interrogative, and lastly the relative. Since the

296 china's place in philology.

demonstrative and interrogative are paired together,
as words alike in form in so many languages,
there can be no doubt of their identity of origin.
How easy is the transition from the one to the other
may be seen, for instance, in that ? as distinguished
from that. But when the interrogatives that ? and
who ? and which ? are formed from the demonstratives
that and he, a transition just as easy changes the
interrogative into a relative, and advances language
on the path of progress another stage. A tone of the
voice divides the word that ? when it asks a question,
from that, when it 'points to some object ; and a change
to another position in the sentence distinguishes the
relative that from the demonstrative that, e.g.. That
watch. That watch P and The watch that he made.
The history of the formation of all relatives was very
much like this. The Hebrew relative asher, then, may
be supposed to have come out of the Chinese demon-
strative and interrogative root in zhi, unless it be
formed from the demonstrative in t, by change of t
to sh.

The reason why the Eastern Asiatic nations did not
adopt a relative with full powers is found in the nature
of their grammar. The subordinate sentence must in
their languages come before the principal one. A
sentence whose nominative is a relative pronoun is
with them a subordinate sentence, and speech cannot
in their languages expand itself by a series of subor-

PRONOUNS. 297

dinate or circumstantial clauses coining after that
wliicli contains the nominative and principal verb.

It was the triumph of Semitic grammar, by simply-
drawing back the verb to the beginning of the sen-
tence, to leave the way open for a concatenation of
clauses to follow, which might commence at discretion
with conjunctions or the relative pronoun. This
afforded a facUity and easy sequence to the expression
of thought, which is unknown in Eastern Asia.

The Indo-Europeans took from the Semites this
feature, and hence the origin of the relative pronoun
in their grammar.

Interrogative PRONOtrN.

The interrogative hah, ham, kena, etc., is the same
word as the Mongol hen, "who?" This is proved
by the related interrogative adverbs, viz., kati,
" how many ?" kadd, " when ?" corresponding to
the Mongol heden, "how many?" hejiye (j for d),
"when?"

The Sanscrit relative yah appears in Mongol as one
of the interrogatives, and is conjugated like other
adverbs. "We find the forms yambar, "what?" yago,
" what ?" yagahin, yagahinem, yagahihu, yagonhihu,
" how P " yagahiju, " how ? "

Reflexive Pronoun.
The Sanscrit reflexive pronoun swa is the Latin se,

298

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

sui, suus, and our self. It agrees witli tlie Chinese g
tsi, zi, "self," "spontaneously," "from." The Chinese
have another reflexive, g, ki, which seems to be
connected with the demonstrative in g and k, viz., gi
and kit.

< Vekbs. Dekivatives.

The desiderative and intensive forms of verbs redu-
plicate the first letter of the root. This is a principle
we find in Mongol and Turkish. The Sanscrit §mo-
bhish is " to desire to shine," and hMy, " to shine
very brightly." In Mongol c'hahc'hagan is " very
white," hahhara is " very black." The resemblance,
though only partial, is worth attention. Complete
similarity in all points is not required in order to prove
consanguinity of language. Else why is the conju-
gation of the Greek verb so different from the Sanscrit
in many respects?

As the Sanscrit has a causal, a passive, a desiderative,
and an intensive, among its derivatives, so the Mongol
has a causal and a collective. When Sanscrit gram-
mar was formed, the passive had not become^ a voice,
but was, as in Mongol, simply a derivative. Here is
evidence of consanguinity.

Derivative syllables immediately follow the root,
after them come the marks of njood or tense, and
finally those of person. Consequently derivatives are
the oldest, then come the mood and tense marks, and

PERSONAL ENDINGS. 299

the personal endings, tlie most recent in formation,
stand last.

Peksonal Endings.

The personal endings in Sanscrit verbs, as in the
present mi, si, ti, may be compared with those belonging
to certain Tartar languages which border on the Indo-
Jluropean area, viz., the Turkish and the Buriat-
Mongol. The more distant languages, such as Mongol
Proper, Japanese, Tamil, have not personal endings.
We conclude, therefore, that the marks for the persons
sprang into existence after the Mongol and other older
branches of the Turanian family had left their original
seats in Western Asia, and before they were followed
by the Turks. The, Turks did not leave the vicinity
of the Arian mother-stem till the principle of the
relative pronoun had been introduced into their lan-
guage from the Semitic, and they themselves had
communicated the personal endings to the Arians, or
received them from that race. The Turkish relative is
the interrogative in k, and as such it agrees with the
Hebrew ''2, occasionally used as a relative, and with
the Latin and English relative qui and who.

In the Turkish personal endings, as they are at
present (Davids' Grammar), we find the elements um,
first person ; sen, second person. In the third person
of the present tense we find nothing. The syllables
um, un, i, are the marks used in the preterite.

300 china's place in philology.

TTTRKISH PEESENT TENSE.

STHGULAR. PLTIBAL

1. deuffuram, I strike. deuguruz, we strike.

2. deugwrsen, thou strikest. deugmsiz, you strike.

3. deugar, he strikes. deugwrler, they strike.

The antiquity of the Turkish is shown in the absence
of the initial s and inserted r found in the English
equivalent strike.

SANSCRIT PRESENT TENSE.

8IHOULAB. DUAL. PLURAL.

1. haromi, I do kurvah Jcwrmah.

2. karoshi hwruthah kurutha.

3. Icaroti hv/rutah

Where the original elements are not too much
decayed, we see in these two examples the identity of
the marks of person. In the first person singular and
plural m is the distinguishing mark. It is dropped,
however, in the Turkish plural, where the suffix «a of
hiz, " we," alone remains. In the second person s
stands in the Turkish singular and plural. It has
changed to f in the Sanscrit plural, reminding us
of the Mongol t'a, "ye." In the third person the
Sanscrit prefers the demonstrative root t, while the
Turkish adopts that in i or o, as in the preterite deugdi,
"he struck," where the second d marks past time.
The Turkish plural ler is probably formed from ol,

TENSE MARKS. 301

"he," equivalent to the Latin ille. An r is added
and the initial o is dropped.

The idea of marking past time by a prefixed a in
Sanscrit and e in Greek, having no prototype in
Turanian languages, may with probability be traced
to Semitic influence. The creative power of Semitic
grammar is centred on the beginning of the word and
sentence, and in Turanian grammar on the end. The
vowel in the Semitic past tense is a, as in bar a, "he
created." The two Sanscrit preterites of bhu, "to
become," are abhavam and babhuva. Kartum, " to do,"
has three preterites, all having the vowel a, viz.,
akamvam, chaMra (ch for k), akdrsham. I suppose,
therefore, that a has in it a past force, and it may
be compared with the Chinese g, i, "already," which
seems to be the root of Turanian and Indo-European
preterites in u (Tamil), and ui (Latin),i since a some-
times changes to i.

1 Bopp regards the augment in a as a privativum, and views it as an
expression of tlie denial of presence. TMs view has involved him in some
difficulties, and brought him into collision with more than one philologist.
For example, how shall we explain the Greek augment in e, which hears
no likeness to the a of negation p Bopp says the a in the Sanscrit aug-
ment had already lost its negative force, and had become a sign of past
time, before it passed into Greek as the augment in e. Buttmann supposes
it to be a broken-down form of the consonantal augment, regarding
Itvittov as a shortened form from riTvirrov. This, however, does not look
very probable, and, in respect to Bopp's opinion, it is surely better first to
make wider researches in kindred families of language, in hope of dis-
covering the true origin of the augment. To explaia it as the a of
negation should be only a dernier ressort.

302 china's place in philology.

The Sanscrit future in td is probably connected witb
the infinitive in turn, and the Latin supine in turn, tu.
I suppose its origin to be in the preposition to, the
mark of the English infinitive, >and the Chinese ehi,
" to a place," in old Chinese ti. If this be true, it is
also formed ultimately from the demonstrative root in
t, if at least that be not rather regarded as itself
previously a verb of motion towards.

The Sanscrit future in sya is conveniently referred
to the Chinese ^ tsiang, siung, an auxiliary word
used in giving a future tense to verbs. It means
primarily, " starting from the side of," " side," hence
" to lead a division." The Mongols have indeed a
future in sogai, used for the first person singular and
plural, which may be formed from the old Chinese
sik, "give," first used as a precative and then as a
future. The former etymology is the more probable
in appearance.

The future participles seem to have connexion with
the Turanian conjugation. They are formed with the
suffixes (1) tam/a, (2) aniya, (3) ya. Thus, from hhuj,
"to eat," is formed hhoktmya, "edible." Bhojanija,
hhojya, mean the same thing. We are strongly
inclined here to identify the first of these forms with
the Mongol suffix t'o, t'ai, t'ei, in heregt'ei, " necessary,"
idelPei, " to be eaten," dort'ai, " willing," johist'ai,
"ought to be." The Latin gerund dicendus, "to be
said," also bears features of resemblance. In Manchu

CONDITIONAL MOOD. 303

the similar form ends in rangga, e.g., ararmigga, " that
which is to be written," from arare, "to write." The form
in ya seems to be connected with the future indicative of
the Mongol verb, which is formed by the same syllable.

The potential in ya may be compared with the
Mongol future in ya. The Sanscrit potential has
usually the idea of fitness (Williams' Sans. Gram.,
p. 199), and is sometimes a softened imperative. The
Mongol future is also used imperatively, as in yahiya,
" let us go." So the Latin potential in e or i, as in
amem, "I may love," sis, "thou mayst be," may also
be explained.

The Sanscrit conditional in sya seems to be identical
with the Mongol conditional sufBx so, as in bolbeso,
" if it be so." There can be little doubt that it is the
Chinese sik, "to give." The Latin conditional con-
junction si finds also here a convenient etymology,
and is then seen to be parallel to our own word if,
derived from give. I see no reason why we should not
hope to be able at some time to go further back and
identify the conditional in s ultimately with the demon-
strative in s. Such simple ideas as giving, going,
coming, carrying, have attached to them sounds which
are lite the common demonstratives. Thus, in addition
to examples mentioned on a former page, ti is used for
"to arrive at a place," "him," "to." Gip is "to
give," and it is also "to arrive at a place." Ded,
"this," "that," is also "to carry in the hand." Kit,

304 china's place in philology.

gid, " he," is perhaps the European verb gad, " to go,"
Russian chod, Sanscrit gati, "going," gata, "gone."
Si, " this," is in old Chinese " to more from one place
to another," and in Mongol, under the form ac'hiraho,
it means " to caxTj" and under that of ec'hihu " to go."
It is also in the "West the verb of existence sum, asmi,
esse. Further, the demonstrative sM, zhet, "this," may
be compared with shed, "to let go," shoot, and such like
verbs.

Verb as Substantive. Infinitive. Participles.

As the Sanscrit infinitive in turn is apparently formed
of the demonstrative in t, and the accusative in m, so
in Mongol the infinitive in hu resembles the accusative
in gi, and in Turkish the infinitive in melt seems to be
formed from the demonstrative in m.

The participle in t, as in hodhat, " knowing," is like
the Mongol gerund in ged, which in colloquial is pro-
nounced ed, thus, medeged or meded, "knowing." The
two roots, hudh, med, are, there can be little doubt, the
same word.

The participle in amdna may be compared with the
Mongol colloquial gerund in man. This form is not
given in Schmidt's Grammar. Its use is parallel to
that of the gerunds in ged and/w.

The passive past participle in ta may be compared
with the Mongol gerund in Ju, of which the equivalent
old form is du. As the Sanscrit form is often used

AUXILIARY VERBS. 305

indicatively as a perfect, so is it with the Mongol.
The substantive comes first, and then the indicative.
The verb is fondamentally a substantive, and gerunds,
participles, and infinitives, lie at the base and constitute
the foundation of the Turanian verb, e.g., ochogder
medeji, "I knew it yesterday," where the Chinese
tsok, " yesterday," is seen in the first of the words, and
ji, the colloquial form of the gerund j'u, in the second.

It may be objected that this Mongol gerund is
active, and the Sanscrit form ta, now compared with it,
passive. I would then suggest a comparison with the
Mongol adjective in t'o, t'ai, as in heregt'ei, "necessary,"
morit'ai, " possessed of a horse." Bopp states that the
passive participial suffix ta forms in Sanscrit possessive
adjectives out of substantives, as p'alitds, " gifted with
fruit" (§ 835). So in English we say "horned cattle,"
forming a possessive adjective from "horn," just as
the Mongols would say uburt'ei, " horned," from ebur
or ubur, " horn."

Auxiliary Yerbs.

The substantive verb as, " to be," in English am, art,
are, was, appears in Mongol without s. The root there-
fore is a ; which means " being," and is also the
ultimate root of uham, the first personal pronoun.
The idea of being is derived from that of personality,
and the oldest expression of personality is found in this
pronoun a.

20

306 china's place in philology.

The second Sanscrit auxiliary verb is kri, " do,"
karomi, " I do." In Mongol a very common verb is hi,
"do," himoi, "1 do," or "he does," hibe, "he did," etc.

The third Sanscrit auxiliary verb is bhu, " become,"
" be," bhamtum, " to become," bhava, " become,"
abhavam, " I was," or " I was becoming." This verb
is in its Mongol form distinguished as neuter and
causative. The root bu is neuter, "be." The insertion
of I makes it equivalent to our word " do," taken
intransitively as in bolomoi, "it will do." The past
participle bologsen means "completed," and is used as
an auxiliary to express the accomplishment of the
action of any verb.

What proof can be more convincing than the
existence of these auxiliary verbs of the essential
identity in origin of the Sanscrit and Mongol languages ?
But the same proof holds good also for the Turkish
and Tungusic stocks. It is only when we come to the
Japanese and Dravidian branches that this system of
identical auxiliary verbs diminishes from three to one.
The verb a for existence keeps its place everywhere.
Hence it appears that the original Tartar language,
which was split into Turk, Mongol, Manchu, Finnish,
etc., immediately preceded the Sanscrit in the linguistic
development of the world.

Adverbial Suffixes.
T in Sanscrit is d in Mongolian. Thus among

ADVERBS. 307

the adverbs of place, atra, "here," tatra, "there,"
correspond to the Mongol ende, "here," t'ende} "there."
The suffix in the two languages is identical.

D ia Sanscrit is equivalent to j or d in. Mongol.
Thus kad&, "when?" is the Mongol hejiye, "when?"
Ekadd, "once," is in Mongol nigodaga or nigoda,
"once," from nig, " one." Todd, "then," is in Mongol
t'eduile, "then."

The suffix vat in suryavat, "like the sun," from
mrya, " sun," may possibly be the Mongol adeli,
"like.'' The initial v was originally not consonantal.
The Latin is idem.

Negative Adverbs.

The negative na, ne, nehi, is derived from the same
source as the Japanese negative. That source will have
been some Turanian language in South-western Asia.

The negative m& is found in Chinese, in the Tartar
languages, in Tibetan, and in the Semitic family. It
is used over nearly the whole of Asia, but, except in
Greek, is little employed in Europe.

Time, Manner, Comparison, Place.

Adya, "to-day," "now," may be compared with the
Mongol edoge, "now." Evam, eva, "so," "thus," are
suggestive of identity with the Mongol yim, "thus,"
" so." Kwa, " where," is the Mongol hamiga.

1 The Mongol e is the same in sound as the Sanscrit a.

308 china's place in philology.

Pkepositions.
The absence of prepositions to mark the relations of
nouns i& peculiar, among the Indo-European languages,
to the Sanscrit branch. The Romans used "in," "ex,"
"ab," etc., as the English now use "from," "in," "to,"
etc. It is a specialty of the Sanscrit, and of the triple-
branched Turanian system, to employ case suffixes
instead of the more ancient prepositions found in the
Chinese, the Semitic, and the Himalaic systems. The
Greeks, loving freedom, early threw off the yoke of
this Turanian law. The speakers of Sanskrit never
did so. In Homer the adverbial case suffixes are used
with the prepositions. In later Greek the adverbial
case suffixes are not found. They have given place to
prepositions, as afterwards the cases of nouns also
became needless over much of the European area, and
were exchanged for the primeval prepositions which
seem to be ever engaged in recovering their long lost
dominion. In Sanscrit the prepositions are only used
in compounds as inseparable prefixes, and here the
nearest Turanian type to which in this respect it can
be compared is the Dravidian.

Compounds.

When in Sanscrit words are compounded, con-
nective letters are not used, and the resulting whole is
treated as a single word. Thus, for " moonlight "
chandraprabha is used. In Mongol it would be saranu

SAKSCKIT COMPOUNDS. 309

gerel, where nu is the genitive case. The Tartar
languages have an aversion to naked compounds, and
prefer to introduce, as here, the genitive suffix. This
I helieve to be a comparatively modem tendency.
The Sanscrit acts here according to the true ancient
principle for the compounding of words by simple
juxtaposition, as found in Chinese. The Tartar lan-
guages appear to have acquired the habit of inserting
case suffixes, and other particles, between words which
would otherwise coalesce into compounds, since they
were separated from the Japanese and Dravidian
branches. Hence, in regard to the way of forming
compounds, the Hindoo principle must be compared
with that existing in older stems, e.g., in Chinese yue
liang, " moon Hght." In Japanese and the Dravidian
languages the crude forms or roots are likewise placed
side by side without connecting particles. Japanese
tsuki akara, " moon light." In the Greek and Latin
languages, as in luncB lumen, the genitive suffix is, as
in Mongol, carefully inserted. Hence the Tartar race
remained in juxtaposition with the forefathers of the
Greeks and Latins later than the time when the
speakers of the Sanscrit and 'Dravidian idioms were
in a position to exercise an influence upon each other.
The compound guruhishyau means " master and
scholar." There is no conjunction. Au is the sign
of the dual. Guru, " teacher," and Sishya, " scholar,"
are co-ordinate nouns — roots standing together without

310 china's place in philology.

connective, as bahsM, "teacher," shahi, "scholar,"
might do in Mongol. But the Mongol is without the
dual mark, imless hoyol, " the two," be added, as is
sometimes done.

The want of a conjunction is in accordance with the
custom in all eastern Asiatic languages.

In the compound maranmy&dhi^okah, marana is
" death," m/adhi is " sickness," and Mah is " sorrow."
These three nouns are written together without a
conjunction, forming one huge word, which in Sanscrit
syntax is treated as a single substantive. It may be
compared with the Chinese sheng lau ping si, "birth,
old age, sickness, and death," in Mongol t'urehu,
ot'olhu, ohc'hinhu, uhuhu. The four Chinese substan-
tives become in the Tartar idiom four infinitives. How
thoroughly they are regarded as substantives appears
from the fact, that in the Buddhistic language common
in Mongolia they are known as the durhen daldi, " four
seas."

The addition of the connecting conjunction in more
western languages is proof of the influence of Semitic
grammar. The aggregation of substantives without
conjunctions is a circumstance in Sanscrit which shows
how completely that language rests, in regard to its
linguistic principles, on the speech of more eastern
races.

The resemblance may be noticed in all sorts of
compounds. In this part of grammar Sanscrit looks

SANSCRIT COMPOUNDS. 311

like an old Mongol using but sparingly its apparatus
of case particles. E.g., svarga gata, " gone to heaven,"
svargang ga, " the Ganges of heaven." In Mongol
T'engri dor garaksan, Tengrin Gangga murun, where
dor and n are locative and possessive. In Chinese,
ancient or modern, the position of the verb, as standing
before its noun, weakens the resemblance to Sanscrit,
and throws into more prominent relief the essential
identity of Sanscrit and Turanian syntax.

The Sanscrit manda gata, " going slowly," is in Chinese
man tseu, and in Mongol odan yabahu. In the last two
of these languages this compound may take a genitive
suffix and another noun, for instance, man, after it.
The Sanscrit form is an adjective, of which the syntax
is the same as if it were simple.

When such compounds occur as rajagamin, "that
which goes to the king " (e.g., revenue), r&ja guru,
" king's instructor " ; r&jahula, " king's family," from
kula, " family," " caste," the Chinese Ma or ko,
" house," " family " ; r&jaghna, " regicide," from ghnat,
" killing " ; rajadanda, " punishment by a king," from
danda, " punishment ; " Chinese analogy seems to
require that the relation should in all cases be regarded
as possessive. Even where the English rendering re-
quires from or by, as if the relation were ablative or
instrumental, it is better to hold to the simplicity
of primeval grammar, and explain all such instances
on the principle of possessive dependence. Thus,

312 china's place in philology.

" punisliment by a king " is also rendered by " king's
punishment," without much foi'cing.

By regarding the relation as possessive in all cases
where in a compound the second noun depends upon
the first, the analogy with Chinese grammar becomes
perfect. Thus, wang tsi, "king's son," wang tsung,
" king's family," wang fa, " punishment by the
king," wang-^ki, "land appropriated to the use of the
king."

The same law rules in all the languages from the
Hindoo area eastward to the Japanese Islands, except
in the eastern Himalaic and Malay region, where the
Semitic inversion, which transposes the genitive, holds
sway. The true reason why this inversion is impossible
in Sanscrit is, that this language is in fact controlled
by the same laws of position as the Turanian idioms.

The modern Pekinese speaks of fu fu lia, for
" husband and wife." Here fu, " husband," takes one
intonation, and fu, " wife," another, while lia is a
contraction for Hang, "two," and corresponds to the
dual suffix, which would by the Sanscrit grammarian
be placed here. Could analogy be closer ? But com-
pare the words themselves ; fu, " husband," is bharu,
fu, "wife," is bharyd, and in Greek Troffts is "husband."
The proof of original connexion in language thus
becomes still more clear.

Examples may easily be collected from Mongol to
show that the inserted particles are often omitted, and

LAWS OF POSITION. 313

that the analogy thus brought to view may also be
extended to the use of dual and plural suffixes. Thus
c'has c'hagan, means "white as snow." If written in
full, met'u or adeli would be added after c'has, " snow."
This is exactly the Chinese siuet bak, " white as snow,"
and the Sanscrit himaSUala, " ice-cold." So also echige
ehe hoiyogola, " the father and mother both."

The resemblance to Chinese and Turanian idiom is
carried also into what are called the relative com-
pounds. Thus in mahddhanah purushah, " a man who
has great wealth," mahd is "great," dhanah is an
adjectival form of dhanam, " wealth." Native Sanscrit
authors explain this usage as equivalent to the employ-
ment of the relative in the genitive case.^ "With this
may be compared in Chinese a sentence such as ta hio
wen cKi ski, " a scholar who has great learning," con-
sisting of ta, "great," hio-wen, ("learning and heard")
"learning," cKi, the possessive particle, sM, "scholar."
In Mandarin the possessive ti is also used after
adjectives, as in hau ti, "good." Compare also the
Mongol yehe gabiya t'ai humun, or yeheu gabiyan humun,
" a man who has great merit." Gabiya, " merit," is
here made into an adjective by the suffix t'ai, which
thus corresponds to the Sanscrit adjective suffix h.

Laws of Position.

In the Sanscrit and the Turanian languages, the
1 'Williams' Sanscrit Grammar, p. 166.

314

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

laws of position are the same in several of the most
important particulars.

If we take the sentence, " And the children of Israel
dwelt among the Canaanites," in Jud. iii. 5, we find
the Hebrew order the same with the English. The San-
scrit and Mongol both read, " Israel people Canaanites
among dwelt." The Chinese would be " Israel people
at Canaanite people midst lived," or "Israel people
lived Canaanite people among." Thus the translators
of the scriptures at Calcutta (edition 1852) have
adopted an order for the words exactly agreeing with
the Mongol.

Another example is, " Jabin king of Canaan, that
reigned in Hazor " (Jud. iv. 2). As before, the Semitic
order is as in English. The Sanscrit reads Hatsora-
nivdsinah kinaniyarajasya yavinasya haste.^ Here nivd-
sinah is an adjective, "residing in." Itdja is "king."
Sya is the possessive suffix. Haste is "hand" in the
locative. Omitting the word "hand" and the possessive
case preceding it, the Sanscrit reads, " Hazor residing
Canaanite king's Jabin." The Mongol reads, " Hazor
in ruling Canaanites' Jabin king," Sajor for ejelegsan
Hanayan t'anu Jabin hagan. The translators have
adopted in Calcutta the same order nearly as those
who performed their work on the eastern shore of
Lake Baikal in Siberia. The Mongol introduces the
case suffix after Hazor, and gives the name Jabin
before his title. These are the variations; otherwise

\ I

LAWS OF POSITION. 315

the laws of position are identical. T'anu is the genitive
plural.

Hence the Sanscrit language has peculiar laws.
The Greek and English both have the Hebrew order.
In this part of grammar the Sanscrit is cut off from
its proper relationship, and bears no close resemblance
to any western language. It is in agreement with the
eastern idiom of the Asiatic continent, with that of
China and Japan, Mongolia, and Dravidia.

This general agreement in syntax between the
Sanscrit and Turanian types is subject to numberless
exceptions. To make this plain, I here give two
sentences out of the Hitopad^sa, taken from "Williams'
Grammar. Asti, "there is," gautamasya niunes tapo-
vane, "in the sage Gautama's grove of penance,"
Mahdtapd ndma munih, "a sage named Mahatapah."
Tena, " by him," dSramasannidhdne, " in the neigh-
bourhood of his hermitage," mushika kdvakah, " a
young mouse," kdka mukhdd hhrashto, " fallen from the
mouth of a crow," drishtah, " was seen."

Turanian syntax would require the verb asti, " there
is," to be at the end of the first sentence, and the
descriptive clause, "crow's mouth from fallen," to
precede the noun " mouse little one," to which it refers.

These two things excepted, the laws of arrangement
are Turanian, as in " Gautama sage's penance garden
in," " a Mahatapah named sage," " hermitage neigh-
bourhood in," " mouse's little one," " crow mouth from

316

CHINA. S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

fallen," and the position of the verb " was seen " at
the end of the second sentence. The resemblance is
still closer, inasmuch as drishtah is a participle used
indicatively, which is a common phenomenon in
Mongol grammar.

Judged by syntax alone, Sanscrit and Mongol are
sisters, just as Hebrew, Greek, and English, if tested
in the same way, might, though the similarity is
somewhat less close, also be called sisters.

It was after the separation of the Chinese from the
primitive stock, that the great Turanian inversion
occurred, which placed the verb last, and thus
originated the declension of nouns. The Turanians
remained long enough in the west to bring with them
in their wanderings the declension of substantives, the
conjugation of verbs, and a syntax which places them
in a midway position between China and the western
world. And then the Sanscrit, the most easterly
member of the Indo-European family, by its peculiar
syntax, its principle of agglutination in compounds
and its use of the participle, conveniently occupies the
interval between Turania and Europe.

A word upon the Zend. The absence of the Turanian
order in Zend syntax is a sure indication of Semitic
influence. Bopp gives the following sentence in Zend.
Staumi, "I praise," maig'emcha, "the clouds," varemcha,
"and rain," ya te kehr pern, "which thy body,"
vak'sayato, " make to grow," baresnus paiti gairinanm,

ZEND SYNTAX. 317

" on the heights of the mountains." Here gairi, the
Sanscrit giri, and Mongol agola, "mountain," occurs
last, after its nominative. . This is Semitic order, which
is also prominent in the whole sentence. The Zend, in
fact, has an accidence and vocabulary like the Sanscrit,
but a syntax like the Hebrew. As in the modern
Persian, Semitic words had also pushed their way into
the Zend. Thus athr, "fire," is the Hebrew e&h by
the common change which takes place between sh and t.

A few Zend words with old Chinese and Mongol
equivalents are here appended.

" Bad," Zend eghe, Chinese ak.

" Flesh," Zend machshe, Mongol maha, Persian maso.

" Not," Zend ma, Mongol bisM, bu, Chinese mo.

"Ear," Zend goshte, Chinese ngi, Sanscrit ghosha,
Persian gosh.

CHAPTER XIII.

European Languages. — Latest and Grandest Development op
Language. — The Alphabet. — Common Radical Syllabary op
Chinese and European Languages. — European Radical Syl-
labary. — The European "Word. — Semite Influence seen in
conjugational vowel changes, in doubled consonants, in
Masculine and Feminine Terminations, and in Dual and
Plural Numbers. — Turanian Influence seen in Moods
AND Tenses, and in Compounds. — European Syntax. — Chinese
Element. — Semitic and Turanian Elements. — Gtkeek. — Tones
IN Chinese are Accents in Greek. — Common Words in Greek
AND Mongol. — Latin. — Resemblance op Latin Gerund and
Supine to those op Tartar Languages. — List op Roots Com-
mon TO Latin, Chinese, and Mongol. — Latin Syntax more
Turanian than the Greek. — Roman Family Relationships
Suggestive of Connexion with Eastern Ideas. — Resemblance
between Roman and Old Chinese Religious Beliefs. — Russian ;
The Best New Type op the Sclavonic Family.— Full Alpha-
bet. — Abounds in Prefixes to Roots. — Examples op Syntax. —
Anglo-Saxon. — The Syntax Turanian. — Anglo-Saxon and
German have more of the Turanian Element than is seen
IN THE English. — English Returns to Chinese and Primeval
Syntax. — Cause op these Variations. — Resemblance op
Anglo-Saxon Poetry to that of the Mongols. — Alliteration:
Exchanged for Rhyme; Cause op this Change. — English. —
List op Common Words, Chinese and English.

Old as are the European languages, evidenced by
an unbroken series of literary works, dating from about
the ninth century before Christ, they bear in their
structure the marks of youth, if compared with the

INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. 319

Turanian and Semitic families. Principles of grammar
seem to have been early borrowed from both these
families, and incorporated in European speech at a
time when language was still plastic. Destined them-
selves to be the dominant powers in the world's history,
from the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, they were
before that epoch living as independent nations, occa-
sionally subject to the Semitic rulers who from time to
time were able to reduce some of the nearer among
them under their sway. Semitic and Turanian con-
quest at a very ancient date would impart Semitic and
Turanian elements to the language of the conquered,
and when these nations themselves invaded regions
occupied previously by Semite and Turanian peoples,
similar results would ensue.

The Indo-European system, with the Chinese,
Semitic, and Turanian, would each branch directly out
of the primeval trunk of language. Each would
develope its special characteristics with a varying rate
of rapidity. Civilization, the invention of writing,
maturity in arts, and in political institutions, would
soon harden the Chinese and the Semitic families into
a distinctive moulded form. The Turanian and Indo-
European would take a longer time to harden, and in
them the language-forming power would continue for a
longer period. They would remain in a plastic state
till the polysyllable and the paradigms of substantive
and verb forms were completed.

320 china's place in philology.

Eapidity of change in language is in proportion to
the civilization of the people speaking it. In early-
times languages changed more quickly than now.
Not many centuries would be required for the primeval
development of the existing families. But once formed
they would last for thousands of years. Yet there is a
sense in which they may be said to stand in chrono-
logical succession.

As in geology it has been shown that the lesser
ranges of mountains were first elevated and the highest
last, so it has been in the history of language. Mono-
syllabic speech preceded the dissyllable,, as the dis-
syllable preceded the polysyllable. The Alps, Andes,
and Himalayas, were not thrown up till the lesser
mountain systems were complete. They are more
aspiring, they pierce the region of the clouds, they
possess a greater variety of vegetation, present to the
eye richer landscapes, originate larger rivers, and pro-
mote the fertility of wider tracts of land than lesser
mountain chains. So it has been with the Indo-
European languages. They have aimed high in
thought, enlarged the field of poetic feeling, advanced
scientific inquiry, and led the human race forward on
the path of civilized progress to an unequalled degree.
The greatest thinkers in philosophy, the creative
intellects of science, the most noteworthy conquerors
and legislators, have been those whose speech was
Indo-European.

EUROPEAN LANGUAGES RECENT. 321

As the cause of the greater elevation and magnitude
of the more recent mountain chains may be probably
referred to the increased thickness of the earth's crust,
and the consequent increased pressure on the liquid
materials beneath, so the richness in forms and in
capability for expressing human thought which marks
the Indo-European languages, is due to the united
action of the older linguistic families upon this last
and noblest creation of the language-forming power.

It is necessary, therefore, to review briefly the
traces presented to view in European languages of the
presence in a long distant time of strong Turanian
and Semitic influence. The German, Russian, French,
and English of the present day are descended from
older forms of speech, which assumed their peculiar
shape \mder this double formative influence.

The Alphabet.
A.
The broad a in father belongs to all languages. It
has been replaced in modern Chinese by o. In western
vocabularies it occupies less space in those which are
modern than in those which are ancient. Hence it
abounds in Hebrew and Sanscrit. It has become u in
some Chinese words, as infu, mu, "father," "mother,"
from the primeval ba, ma. It belongs to the pronouns,
and represents the first person. As a suffix it is
common in Greek and Sanscrit, as in the Greek names

21

322 china's place in philologt.

of the Plioenician letters. Beth, caph, teth, etc.,
became beta, Tcappa, theta, etc. In the inevitable
Boftening down of language the consonantal finals t, p,
took after them in Greek the vowel a. A has become
in Hebrew, so that lo, "not," is written k7, with
akph. In Tamil, Japanese, and Mongol, a is much
prefixed to roots, as in Japanese ame, " rain," Tamil
mazfiei, Latin madeo, " moisten."

The short a of Sanscrit is understood whenever no
vowel mark is used. This is an indication of the
extensive ancient use of this vowel.

B.

The consonant h was the old representative of
the Chinese p and / in the lower or sonant series. It
is interchanged with m, as in Persian and Mongol
horon, "rain," Japanese ame, Hebrew mayim, "water,"
Hebrew matar, " it rained." Also Mongol bi, " I,"
Turanian min, Latin me, mihi. Also hal, "honey,"
Latin mel. It is sometimes used in Greek for w, as in
^ovXofiM, " I wish," Latin volo, velle.

In Sanscrit it also took an aspirate occasionally like
d and g, as it probably did in old Chinese in the first
sonant tone, which in Mandarin has become aspirated p.

CM.

The compound letter eh is the modern equivalent of
t in the eastern Asiatic languages, and of A in the

THE ALPHABET. 323

Indo-Eiiropean. In modern Chinese we also see ch
originated from k, when standing before the letters u
and i. All Chinese worda in ch not thus formed
recently from k, are derived from t or d, according as
they belong to the surd or sonant series.

The Sanscrit ch, aspirated and unaspirated, are both
from k. The Tibetan ch, ch', is from s or sh. The
Mongol ch aspirated is from t's, and this again from s
or sh, as c'hag, "time," Chinese zhi, c'Mlagon, "stone,"
Chinese zhiag. The same thing occurs in Fuhkien,
where shui, " water," is chui, also in Tibetan, as c'hu,
" water," c'hi, " die," Chinese si. Perhaps a part of
the Chinese words in sk formerly had c'h for sh. The
guttural ch, as in loch, " a lake," in Europe, represents -
k in Chinese. Thus wechseln, " to change," may be
seen to agree with the Chinese yik, " to change."

The Turkish ch corresponds to the Mongol d. Thus
kach, "how many," is in Mongol heden. The Chinese
ch is also found to be / in Mongol, both having sprung
out of an older d or t. The Japanese ch is in Mongol
s, and is, strictly speaking, tsi.

B.

The letter <f is in old Chinese the equivalent of the
modem ch in the lower series, and of the modem
Mongol j. Compare the Sanscrit kadd,, " when ?"
Mongol hej'iye.

The lost final d of many Chinese roots is recovered

324 china's place in philology.

in Japanese, as kudari, "to descend," in Chinese Ma,
ge, Kard, sadzki, "to receiTe/' ^^ sheu, shud.

D is often interchangeable with I, as in lacryma,
hoLKpvov, "tear," longus, "long," Chinese ^ dung,
" long."

D sometimes becomes t in western languages, as
Chinese da, " earth," Latin terra.

Dj takes the place of g in the Shanghai dialect
before the vowels i, u. The same occurs in English,
as in " bridge," from " brig," and several other words
where g is final.

E.

The vowel e in " then," " there," is derived in
Chinese from ya, and is scarcely used except as a
modern final.

In Mongol e is classed with u and u as female, while
a, 0, are male. These terms mean that when the root
has, for instance, e for its vowel, the vowel of the
added syllables shall be of the same class. The
Mongol e is now enunciated as the Sanscrit short a,
but in Hindoo words whose sound is transferred, as in
Ganges, a is used by the Mongols for the short a ; thus
they write Qangga (not Gengge).

The European e is usually the Chinese i, as in yit,
"one," Sclavonic yedin, Chinese nyit, "hot," Scotch
het, German heiss.

The English e, as in he, see, me, we all pronounce in

THE ALPHABET. 325

open syllables with tte sound i. The modern Chinese
medial e, as in p'ei, " to be fit for," " to match," is
found in European languages to be i, as in fit. But in
this case the old form in Chinese is usually p'it. The
Chinese * has changed to e, while the English e has
changed to i.

The Sanscrit e is found late in the series of vowels,
forming with o a supplement to the three chief vowels,
a, i, u. Similarly, the Greeks adopting the three
leading vowels of the Phoenician alphabet a, u, i,
aleph, vav, yod, proceeded to apply an aspirate he to
represent the vowel e, as they used a guttural sign
ayin for the vowel o. The Semites were content with
three vowels. The Indo-Europeans needed five. The
Greeks did with the Semitic alphabet in the west what
the inventors of the Devanagari did in the east. They
took the chief vowels as they found them, and used
new signs for vowels not represented. That at both
ends of the Semitic area, which once probably reached
from the Mediterranean to the Indus, the three letters
akph, vav, and yod, should have been regarded as
vowels, may be appealed to in proof that they were
not originally consonantal signs, as some grammarians
maintain, but true vowels.

F.

Fia a, new letter in Chinese. It proceeds from b, p,
and p'. It is wanting in Mongol and Tamil, as it is

326 china's place in philology.

also in Sanscrit. In Greek it crept in as an aspirated
p, gliding afterwards into 0, pronounced like the Latin
/. The Latin /came from^, as did the English. The
Semitic / probably also came from p. One sign fi is
used for p and / in Hebrew, and the Greeks, adopting
the Phoenician alphabet, used the same sign for the
value p, which shows that at about the time b.c. 1000,
this was its usual force, i^is inserted in a few German
words after a radical initial p, as in pflegen (pledge,
pignus). In Japanese / is used for h when standing
before u, and proceeds ultimately from p, h.

G.

The letter g is the old form of the modern k and k'
in the lower series. In Mongol the old Chinese g is
found as g or h, e.g. hwun delehu, " to honour," from
Chinese king. In Hebrew and in European alphabets,
it precedes the corresponding surd letter k. In Latin
g changed to dj before e, and this again became zh in
French.

The Mongol g sometimes corresponds to the Sanscrit
k and the Greek -y^, as in gar, kara, x^^Pi ^^t ^'l^o to the
Sanscrit g and gh.

The Persian g sometimes corresponds to the Chinese
ni, as in gao, " cow," gosh, " meat," " flesh," " ear," as
does the Greek in yvvr], " woman," if compared with
^ nio.

An initial gi is often dropped, as in if from give, and

THE ALPHABET. 327

in the Piatt Deutsch, where gewesen, " been," becomes
yevesen.

H.

The Chinese h seems to be a modern letter formed
from k, k', and g. For example, § hi, "joy," Latin
gaudium. The final d is recovered from the phonetic,
^ kit, "luck," forming the upper part of the character.

The Japanese h represents p ot b. The Mongol h
represents k, k', ^. In Greek it stands for s. In
Latin it corresponds to the Chinese k and g, as hie,
" this," Chinese ^ gi. The same is true in German
and English, as kok ]5, "high," hoch, "high."

In the old middle dialect of China, as still spoken in
the Sucheu and Hangcheu region, h is subdivided into
a strong and weak aspirate. In the Mandarin dialect
of north and west China, it coincides with s when it
precedes i and ii. In Zend and Persian, h occurs for s
in hapta, " seven," etc.

The Semitic heth, the Scotch ch in hch, is not used
in the eastern Asiatic languages. The Semitic heth
and he both correspond to g, and probably derived
their origin from that letter.

/.

I is one of the three primitive vowels. In modern
Chinese it sometimes becomes wei. This we learn from
the Japanese, who call wel, " a seat," i. It is a prefix
in Japanese and Tamil, as in iku, " how many," from

328 china's place in philology.

M, " how many ? " The changes of vowels are too
rapid to allow any general correspondence to be traced
between the Chinese i and the European equivalent, or
vice versd.

J.

The Chinese modern y is from ni, the Mongol from d.
The Chinese J is zh, the Mongol is dj. The Sanscrit J
is dJ, and is derived from g, as ch from k. The Latin
J was y, and sometimes dj, and has changed into sh in
French, and into dJ in English. The Mongol ujihu,
" to see," jirehe, " heart," are the Latin videre and
the Persian dili. The Semitic y is pronounced j by
Europeans, as in Jehovah. The Sanscrit yiy, "join,"
in Chinese yok, is in Latin jung, and in Greek ^ei/y,
where dz is the Greek equivalent of dj. The Greeks
could not pronounce ch or sh. The Arabic j, pro-
nounced dj, is altered from an older g, as in jahannam,
from Gehenna, " hell," just as c0 has replaced g in the
English words gender, genitive, etc., derived through
the French from the Latin. Thus it appears that dj is
primitive in no alphabet, but, like /and ch, is of recent
origin, and was perhaps quite unknown in the early
languages of the world.

K.

In modern Chinese, k before i and ii has changed to
ch. In the European languages, k changes to ch before

THE ALPHABET. 329

all Towels, except o and w. In ancient Chinese, k
changed to h, but was also itself changed from g.
There are not wanting indications that the true
primeyal source of k was ff. The original of the
Hebrew '5, ki, "for," "that," and HS, ko, "thus," is
found in the Chinese ^ gi, "he." The Sanscrit k
corresponds to the Mongol g, as kara, " hand," Mongol
gar. The Japanese k also corresponds to the Mongol g,
as in kado, " gate," Mongol egude, Chinese hu, gud.
In Sanscrit, ^ occurs for k, as in ^ata, " a hundred,"
as compared with centum. The Chinese change from k
to h exists in Mongol, where the Sanscrit kat'ara,
" hard," is found hat'o, Japanese kataku ; and in
Europe, where collis became "hill," and collum, "neck,"
hak. These two words are in Chinese ngok, "hill,"
and kang, " neck," where the old finals both appear.
In Russian, oh occurs commonly for k, as in cMstiye,
" pure," casius, the Chinese kit, " pure," " clean." In
Tamil, the old k appears for the Chinese and Mongol
A, as in karumei, "darkness," Mongol harangwei, Chinese
hek.

Kt appears as initial in the Greek icrelvm, "kill."
Here the intermediate vowel has been dropped. The
Hebrew is katal, " he killed," and the true root is kat,
" to cut."

The aspirated form of k appears in Sanscrit, Chinese,
the Himalaic languages, in Corean, and in Mongol and
Turkish. Pronounced as the k and h in the word

330

CHINA S PLACE IN PHILOLOGY.

inkhorn, but brought closer together. In Eastern Asia
the aspirated and unaspirated k are separate letters.
In Europe, on the other hand, if k is aspirated, it is
the consequence of local or individual habit, and
embraces all the instances. In the province where
card is called k'ard, cold will also be called k'oM, and
so on.

L.

The Latin I is found in Chinese usually as ch, coining
down from an older d, as in -^ ch'ang, "long," old
sound dung, Latin longus. So the Hebrew I, as in
lakach, "to take," Greek Xatf^ava, seems to be found
in the Chinese t, as in tek, "to get." Compare also
^"h, "clothe," "put on," with the Mongol debel,
"clothes." The frequent change of c? to ^ perhaps
indicates that the true origin of the letter is d.

It is sometimes changed to n, as in the Mongol
nogon, " green," Chinese lok, and the Latin nemus,
" grove," Chinese Urn, Hebrew lo, " not," wow, na.

L is frequently inserted after an initial k, t, p, g,
d, b, as in flat, pledge, black, as compared with patina,
pactum, and the Sanscrit hahula, " black," and the
Chinese bed, "spread out," bang, "pledge," «jeA, "black."

If I occurs after an initial s in European languages
it is radical, and the s not so. Thus, sloe, "a wild
plum," is in Chinese li, "plum," and slachten, slay
are in Chinese lok, " kill." ^

* Slip, Latin labor, lapsus, Crerman schleifen.

THE ALPHABET. 331

Sometimes a connecting vowel is introduced between
the initial and tte inserted I, as in KaXinrra), " hide,"
"cover," Sanscrit kub, Chinese kap. For caput, "head,"
the Russians have glava and golova.

The insertion of I is common in some of the Himalaic
languages, in Semitic, and in Indo-European lan-
guages. It is avoided in Chinese and the triple-
branched Turanian system. Hence in comparing roots
it must be omitted from the European word before the
Chinese or Mongol equivalent can be found.

i is a favourite sufBx in Turanian words, and a
common third letter in Semitic triliteral roots ; as
in Mongol gol, "river," Chinese ga. Hebrew 735,
ngagal, " revolved," from a biliteral root gak, which
appears ia circulus, circle, KVKko<;, etc.

L is sometimes inserted between the final consonant
and the preceding vowel, as in our word old, Mongol
ot'olju, " old," Latin vetus. It then sometimes takes a
vowel, as in the Russian zoloto, " gold," where 2 is g.

In the Cochin -Chinese and Siamese languages I takes
the place of h. So also in the Malayo-Polynesian.^

The Chinese I is usually r in the west, as rota,
" wheel," Chinese luf, " a round thing."

M.

The letter m in Chinese corresponds to the m of
western languages, as in mel, "honey," Chinese mit;
1 Thus, lima, "five," may agree with the Hebrew hhameah.

332 china's place in philology.

miles, " soldier," Chinese mo, " military." The final m
of some European roots is represented by wy in Chinese,
as m/iTTTw, "bend," Chinese ^ kung, "bow," "to
bow." The Hebrew final m seems to correspond in th^
same manner to the Chinese final ng, as ram, " high,"
Chinese lung. The Greek m sometimes corresponds
to the Mongol b and the Chinese p, as iiaKdpio'i,
" blessed," Mongol hoyint'o, " happy," Chinese pok,
" happiness."

The Chinese m occasionally agrees with the English
b, as in black, Greek /tteXa?, Chinese mek, " ink,"
Mongol behe.

Final m has in modern Chinese become n.

jsr.

The letter n is frequently interchanged with t as in
eh, UBioi, " one," unus, Chinese yit, " one." Final n in
Chinese corresponds to final n in the west. Fundo, to
" found," may be compared with the Chinese ;$; pen,
" root," "foundation." Chinese lun, " wheel," English
" round," Chinese tan, " that which is stretched out,"
Latin tendo, " stretch."

Final n is often dropped in Tamil, as in kuzhal,
" tube," Chinese kwan ; Tamil kuri, k6l, " stick,"
Chinese kan ; Tamil t&l, " sheet of paper," Chinese tan.

The Tamil n final sometimes represents the Chinese
t final, as in tan, " stand," Chinese dat, Indo-European
stan, stad.

THE ALPHABET. 333

What we write ng is a separate letter related to k
and g, as « is to ^ and d. It is initial in Chinese and
Tibetan.

The Chinese initial ng is apt to be omitted, as in wo,
" I," formerly nga. The final is also often dropped, as
in kwang, " Ught," Mongol gerel, Japanese akari, Latin
gloria. So also neng, " able," Tibetan nupo, " one who
is able."

In Latin roots ng often replaces the final k, as in
pingo, pinxi, pictum, pango, p^igi, etc.

What we write ni, is in Sanscrit and old Chinese
regarded as a distinct letter belonging to the ch and. J
series. It has changed in. modem Chinese to j. In
Turkish and Mongol it is fouad as k' or g. For
example, nin, "man," Turkish k'ishi, Mongol humun,
ni, " two," Turkish ikH, niok, " flesh," Turkish ffosh, ni,
"ear," Turkish gosh, niok, "if," Turkish eger. The
European avi^p, and homo, " man," seem to belong to
this little knot of words. Compare also gleich, " Kke,"
"if," graeilis, "tender," yuvrj, "woman," yd\a, "milk,"
with the Chinese niok, "like," "if," niok, "weak,"
" tender," niu, " woman," niu, " milk."

The Chinese «, ng, and ni, are on the whole usually
found k, g, h, in Tartar and European languages.
Compare ngu, " cow," Mongol uher, Latin vacca,
German kuh. Nga, "I," ego, niuen, "origin," yei/o?,
genus. Ngan, " eye," oculus.

Some examples exist of n unaltered, as nehmen,

334 china's place in philology.

nimm, " take," Chinese nim, " carry," " burden,"
"responsibility," in modern Chinese jen. For the
Hebrew ayin see o.

0.

The letter o, like the other vowels, is often prefixed
to roots. Chinese t'i, "tooth," oSov?, o86vTo<i, dens.
Compare in Malay orang, " man," with the Polynesian
rang, "man," and the Chinese lang, "man." The
Japanese say obui, " cany on the back," Chinese pei.
In Turanian languages the prefixed Towel is the same
as that of the root syllable. Mongol olos, " people,"
Xaof, leute. So in Chinese the colloquial word for
" elder brother," is aka, where the prefixed vowel takes
its quality from that of the root ka, the old word for
"brother." This is a very old law of change, for it
appears also in the Semitic ahh, "brother," ab, "father."

In the triangle of the three primeval vowels a, i, u,
the letter o stands between a and u, and is liable to
change into either of these vowels, or into the inter-
mediate values o, e, and the o in " gone." The old
Chinese o has become u in the modern language. The
modern Chinese o has come out of a.

The Mongol o has in the eastern dialect the values o
and the o in " gone." The Chinese o is usually the o
in " go."

The old Chinese o agrees with the European o, as in

THE ALPHABET. , 335

rota, rotation, Chinese Ion, "wheel," "revolve," lot,
" anything round," now changed to lun, lu.

The Greek letter o was taken from the Phoenician
ayin, of which the old sound was ng and g. Thus
njj^, " he sang," " he answered," " he spoke," is
by Gesenius identified with cano, " I sing," but may as
probably be compared with the Chinese ^ ngen,
"words," "to speak." So 0153!? "congregate," must have
been anciently pronounced gamam. It is identified by
the same grammarian with the root in yd/w?, cum,
cumulus, which is the same with the Chinese J^
gam, "collected." Thus the Hebrew ai/in was first g,
then it became ng, and was afterwards dropped or
changed for a vowel, usually o.

P.

P in Chinese rests upon b as its base. No widely
extended roots with the initial p are without repre-
sentatives in the old sonant series. Thus pang, "to
tie," has bog among the sonants, with the same
meaning. Compare the European pack and pango.
In the Mongol syllabary b is the normal form of this
labial. The aspirated and unaspirated p grew out of
b in the Chinese, Tibetan, and Sanscrit syllabaries.
In the Semitic languages p, v, and /, appeared on the
base of b. The Greeks, however, assigned the values b
and p to the second and seventeenth Hebrew letters.
We must therefore suppose b to be older in Hebrew

336 china's place in philology.

than V, and^ than/. All Latin, Teutonic, and Persian
words in /, can in Chinese and Mongol only have
equivalents in p. Thus fugio, fliehen, (ftevym, are in
Chinese bik, in Mandarin pi. The Japanese equivalent
for the European and Chinese p is h. The Egyptian
has p for the Hebrew /in apta, "bird," Hebrew Sij^.

The letter q is ku or kw, and its existence is a proof
tbat the Phoenician alphabet was once syllabic, and
perhaps it may be concluded that Cadmus made use of
that alphabet partly at least as syllabic.'^ The Chinese
kwa comes from an older ku, kwo from kok, and so on.
Hence kw is modern, and of no use in tracing etymo-
logies on the Chinese side.

R.

This letter bas appeared recently in Chinese. It
shares witby the possession of the inheritance of words
once belonging to the lost initial ni, as ^ ni, " son,"
now called ur, or er, or rh, as it is differently written,
Turkish ugli, Mongol hubegun. In Japanese r repre-
sents the Chinese I. In Mongol and Tibetan as an
initial it seems to indicate a Semitic origin ; for the

1 Professor Key, in English Cyclopsedia, Art. Q. Yet this hypothesis
fails to explain why the Hehrew kuph is used as a final, as in pflD ,
" was sweet." It may he remarked here that kup/i in this example is a
suffix, the root heing mat, "honey,"' "sweet," the Chinese mit, and
Greek jue0u.

THE ALPHABET. 337

words in which it is found, e.g., Tibetan rob, " high,"
Mongol airiben, " many," Mongol oregen, " broad,"
Mongol orosiyahu, "to be pitiful," as compared with
in, ral, "high," "great," "many"; IHI, rahab,
"broad"; nS^, ratsa, "treat kindly." *

B is inserted commonly in roots after the initial in
the Himalaic, Semitic, and Indo-European languages,
and before the final in the latter of these families, as in
crow, Latin corviis, Sanscrit kaka, umbrella from umhella,
spraohe from speech, world from welt. Before com-
paring roots, this inserted r must be everywhere first
eliminated. The comparison can then be conveniently
made. Thus sprache, speech. Omit the prefix s and
the inserted r. Change the guttural ch into the k ov g
from which it sprang. The root is then pak, which in
old Chinese means " to speak," and is so used in the
modern Shanghai dialect.

R is also a common suffix in Himalaic, Turanian,
Semitic, and Indo-European languages, as in Tibetan
charpa, "rain," from e'hu, "water," Hebrew kaphar,
" to cover," Chinese kap.

R and I are in many respects much, alike. The
European prefix r is in Chinese I. Thus, ros, regen,
rain, are in Chinese lu, " dew," in old times lok.

As / came from d, so also did r derive its origin from
that letter. The Hebrew J'HN, "weave," is texo in
Latin and tek in old Chinese. I suppose both these
words to have had formerly an initial d. Thus, J}''I1,

22

338 china's place in philology.

rosh, "head," is Chinese dud, in modern times f^eu.
The Semitic sh is commonly conTertible with t, and
was perhaps derived from it. The change, however,
might be the other way. The Aramean, which used
tarn for " there," is usually supposed to be newer than
the Hebrew, which used sham. To judge from Chinese
analogy, the most widely spread at the present time
should be regarded as the newest of the Semitic lan-
guages. Further, as Abraham came from the land
of the Chaldees, the language-forms preserved in the
Nineveh and Babylon inscriptions should be regarded as
older than the Hebrew. If so, t might be the older form.
E is also introduced as a second letter in Semitic
roots. Thus, haruch, "the blessed," where the root
hak agrees with the Chinese pok, " happiness."

S.

The letter s is freely introduced as a prefix before
the radical initials k, t, p, I, m, n. Thus, small is the
same word as minus, fiiKp6<!, and the Chinese mi, "little."

It sometimes comes in place of e, as squire from
equerry, the Latin equites.

In Sanscrit and Zend s stands for k, as in the old
name Massagetqe, where Massa is MahA, or magnus,
" the great Getae." In Latin s final stands for t, as
in potior, passus. In Russian s final stands for k, as
in sosat, " to suck." In German it represents t, as in
1, " to bite."

THE ALPHABET. • 339

In Hebrew both samech and sin (having each the
value s) interchange with t. Thus, DDfl, pasas,
" difiiise," is in Arabic basaf. The older form is t.

The Chinese s corresponds to that of Europe in
words such as su, in kau su, "to tell," old form sok,
as compared with sagen, say. So also Chinese sat,
"scatter," "sow," Latin sero, saius. This root is in
Persian zed, as in ghemzeda, " heaviness-dispeUing."
So also Chinese sok, English seek.

Sometimes the European s is recognized in the
Chinese ts or t's. Thus sot, " a drunkard," is tsui or
tsot, "intoxicated."

The Chinese s becomes t in Cochin- Chinese, and
generally in the Eastern Himalaic and Malay system.

SIT.

This sound was not employed by the Greeks and
Eiomans, and they did not, therefore, need an alpha-
betic sign to represent it. In the Turanian languages
it is also very sparingly used. As it is fully developed
in the Chinese, Semitic, and Himalaic families, the
cause of its non-appearance in Greek and Latin may
be probably traced to Turanian influence.

It has struggled back into existence in the French,
where it appears as the representative of the Latin k,
as in calor, French chaleur.

The Chinese sh is sh in Teutonic, Sanscrit, and
Sclavpnic languages, and s in Greek, Latin, and

340 china's place in philology.

Mongol. Thus, schiessen, "to shoot," is the old Chinese
shet, "an arrow." ^, ^, and ^, in Mandarin,
sh'i, sM, she, and meaning " arrow," " shed," " let go."
How many summers and winters have passed since the
ancestors of the Teutons and of the Chinese parted
from each other, each with their vocabulary of common
words, such as to shed, to shoot, a shed, etc. ? It is mar-
vellous that, after so many ages, Time's defacing fingers
have not yet destroyed the traces of original identity.

The German sch is often softened down from sk, as
in schreihen, the equif alent of scribo and lypd^ai. So
the English sh comes often from an older k, as in
" wash," Chinese ok, Mongol ogahu, " to wash," and
perhaps the Greek vryp6<;, vypalvw, " moist," "wet," "to
wet," unless that comes from sok, our " soak."

The Chinese sh is sometimes represented by the
European k, as in cado, " to fall," in Chinese shwai, in
the old form shat, and probably the same as the word
" to let go," shS, given above. For all verb-roots are
capable of assuming the causative, transitive, intransi-
tive, passive, and reflexive modes.

In Semitic languages and in Chinese dialects, sh
is apt to change to s and to t. The affinity of sh
for k appears first in Sanscrit and then in Europe
generally. At present, however, in the Mandarin
change now gradually taking place of ki and ku,
to chi and chii, as also in that of hi and hti, to shi
and shii, we see the budding of a similar principle.

THE ALPHABET. 341

We also see sh pusMng its conquests in the Turanian
area, as in Manchu, where it represents the Mongol
aspirated ch. This ch aspirated is in the Mongol area
the eastern representative of the northern and western
ts. For the Buriats, Kalkas, and Kalmucks, all prefer
ts, which appears to be the older and typical form.
The eastern c'h may therefore be regarded as a sign
of a tendency to introduce sk, appearing at the east
end of Mongolia. Sh proper also occurs in Mongol
words commencing with si, which are softened into
shi, as shidorogo,^ "honest." Such is the law in
Japanese also. The letter sh is thus seen in these
three languages asserting its lost existence, and
winning back its ancient dominion, as in France,
Spain, and other portions of the Latin area it has
also been seen to do.

T.

The letter t comes in very many cases from d.
Thus the Japanese kita, "north," is in Mongol hotai,
"behind," "north," hejem, "behind," "after." Here
j is d, and the old Chinese word would be gud, in the
modern clipped form heu. So treten, " to tread," is in
Chinese dat. The modern ti, "brother," tau, "reason,"
are from older words de, do. The letter t occurs
for the Chinese sh and s in the eastern Himalaic
languages.

1 The Chinese sAih, " real," old form ihit.

342 china's place in philology.

This letter fearly became t', a form whicli probably
appeared in tbe transition from d. The Sanscrit,
Tibetan, and Chinese, have it in addition to t and d.
In Turkish, Mongol, and Manchu, it is the normal
form of t; that is, every t is aspirated, and sounds
like the union of h with t in " anthill."

The Semitic form of this letter was th, as in our
"thin," "thick," and the Greek 6 iu r/^j^/it, "I
place," which occurs for the Mongol d, as in daXda-arj,
dalai, "the sea."

T often precedes s in Japanese and Chinese, and in
such cases is often aspirated. This compound letter,
when not aspirated, is the German z in zeit, " time,"
and when aspirated it is the Mongol t's softened by the
eastern tribes into c'h.

The German z or ts is derived from t, as is the
Hebrew. For example, "IIS, tsor, Tyre, was by the
Greeks, Latins, and Arameans, known as Tvpo^, Tyre.
Probably in this case t was the original sound, but
this is not certain.

V.
The letter u, like the other vowels, is prefixed in
Mongol to roots. In modern Mongol it takes the
place of e, as in umun, " before," in old Mongol emun.
It corresponds to the Greek ei, as uj'ihu, " to see," elSov,
e'iSofiai. Here / stands for d, and hu is the sign of the
infinitive.

THE ALPHABET. 343

In Japanese and Tamil u is prefixed to roots, as in
uma, "horse."

The modem Chinese u (ww) has lost m from before
it in many instances, as in mo, " not," now wu. It has
also taken a prefix before it very frequently ; for
example, e in du, "sorrowful," modern sound ch'eu,
Latin dolor, doleo.

The old equivalent of the modern Chinese u was o.
The modem diphthongs au, eu, iau, ieu, were formerly
0, u, 0, u,

A modern form of u is ii. This vowel appears in no
ancient alphabet, so far as can be known. Its place in
the triangle of which the angles are the three primitive
vowels, is between u and i. As it has replaced u in
some Chinese and Mongol words, so has it done in
many French words of Latin derivation.

r.

The letter v has taken the place of u in many Latin
words, as vereor, " to fear," Chinese wei, Mongol aimoi.
The Romans, however, pronounced it w. The Germans
have also changed initial w to v, retaining the written
symbol unaltered. The English are right to keep w
in "was," "were," "will," for the equivalent words
in Chinese and Mongol have no trace of v. The
Germans write werden, wollen, was, correctly, but they
are wrong in the sound they give to the initial w.

The Greek digamma was v or w, as in FeMocn, viginti,

344 china's place in philology.

"twenty." Here the d of the 'full form duikosi was
dropped, and u became F, and was afterwards lost.

That the Sanscrit v was a vowel seems to be
deducible from facts such as that the suffix of the
dative case was ye or m.

The old Chinese v was the sonant form of /,
and as such came from b. In modern Chinese it
has become /. Its equivalent in western alphabets
is h or p.

In Hebrew, beth took » as one of its values. This
was followed by the Greeks, who used their beta for
words written by the Romans with v. So at present
the Russians for the sound v write the sign b, herein
imitating the Greeks. The Hebrew vav was formerly w.

The Tamil v, like that of Sanscrit, represents the
w of old Chinese, and the ui of Mongolian.

The German v is an^ as in Vogel, "bird," Vater,
"father." The English «; is a German b, as in eben, even.

Thus it appears that in Hebrew, old Chinese,
English, and German, v rests on b and/. In Latin,
Sanscrit, Tamil, and Russian, it is a mispronunciation
of the primitive w.

W.
The letter w belongs as an initial to the old and new
Chinese. In the old Hebrew alphabet it was vav, after-
wards pronounced v. In Greek the Chinese w appears
as a vowel. The root wan, " to bend," appears in the

THE ALPHABET. 345

Latin vinum and Greek olvo';, " wine," from vinea, " a
■vine," " that which bends." The English and Greek
keep the primeval w. In Latin as now pronounced,
and in French, it is changed to v.

The European w, as preserved in the Saxon part of
the English language, and in the ancient Latin, is
represented in Chinese and Mongol by a vowel initial,
which may be a, o, i, or one of the corresponding
consonantal values, w, y. Thus vulgus, "the people,"
is in Mongol olos; vacca, " cow," is uher ; mdeo, " see,"
is uj'imoi, etc. So also wail is in Mongol weilehu;
" was," " were," are in Mongol aho, " to be," weiledhu,
" to do," (the substantive verb here assuming an active
character,) and in Chinese wei, "to do," or "to be."
The German wechseln, " to change," is in Chinese yik.
Here the y is a modern prefix. A form still more
modern is /, as in Mandarin. The Latins had vicis,
"change," vix, vidssim, etc. In the Greek aKi<s of
TrevraKKi, " five times," we have the same root meaning
" times," and it may be the origin of the Latin es in
viaies, "twenty times," and the English ce in once,
twice.

The letter w is inserted after the initial of a root.
This seems to occur through a tendency in the vowel
M to become a consonant. Thus ku, "a melon," in
Europe "cucumber," "gourd," etc., is ia modern
Chinese Jcwa. The vowel a is an addition, and u
appears as w. So in our word sweat, w represents

346 china's place in philology.

the vowel u of sudor and sudo, and ea is inserted. The
same thing takes place when the first letter is u, as in
uge, the Mongol for " word." This corresponds to mco
and vox in Latin. The vowel m becomes a consonant v,
and is inserted. So in the Chinese yue, " say," in
the old form wat, the English equivalent is word, where
r is inserted. The Latin is aio, " I say," the Greek
avSj?, "voice." The Hebrew yadah, "praise," may be
the same word. The original primeval root was pro-
bably ad or ud. From this the Chinese formed H and
sBj ywe and wei, both anciently called, we may suppose,
ud, and afterwards yet and wat. In the mediaeval
dictionaries they are read yet, wei.

A similar change took place in Semitic words. Thus
the city Erech, in the old Hebrew Ark (where the
initial vowel was perhaps intended to be repeated in
the second syllable, so that it would read Arak), is now
Waraka. The Arabs have prefixed w. The Latin
form was Areca. It means "the long" city. The
pointing , of the grammarians, directing it to be
read Erech, cannot represent a very ancient pronun-
ciation.

X

The letter x and the ksh of Sanscrit represent com-
binations of k and a sibilant. They are unknown in
the languages of Eastern Asia. The Grreek f took the
place of the Hebrew Samech between n and o. Hence

the' alphabet. 347

we learn that the base was looked on as s, and k as an
addition. But its real value was nearer to k than to
s. This is shown by such words as ^iwo?, " common,"
which is the same as Koiv6<i. If, then, Palamedes and
his associates, who are said in the time of the Trojan
War to have added 6, ^, ^, j^;, to the alphabet, proceeded
to give this letter its position on the supposition that it
is modified from s, they were mistaken. It is, in fact,
formed by inserting s after k. Thus, Opel's, "dry,"
is convertible with a-'^epo^, a-Krjp6<!, and ;jj;6/30-o?, all
meaning " dry." In a similar way i^, psi, is formed
from p by inserting s, and in Hebrew ts from t in the
same manner. Thus, yjrvxvi "the breath," "soul," is
the Chinese ^'a^, "the corporeal soul," which is distiuct
from the hwun or gun, " the immaterial soul." This
last word by interchange of final n with final p becomes
gut, and may be identified with kwei or ket, " ghost,"
" geist." So also '^rvxpo'i, " cold," is the Latin
frigidus, r being inserted in place of s in the more
western form.

The Chinese and Tibetan are like the Semitic family
in not taking s after k or p, but only after t.

T.

The letter y is i viewed as a consonant. Vowel
initials have a tendency to assume a consonantal form.
Of the three prime vowels, i takes y, u takes w, and a
takes either y, as in the Tibetan yab, "father," from the

348 china's place in philology.

Semitic ah, or w, as ia the Chinese wan, "bend,"
" circle," when compared with annus, " a year,"
or ng, as in Mandarin ngan, "rest," from an, the old
form.

The Chinese y is/ in Latin, as ^ik, "to throw," jacio,
English jerk. In Greek it agrees with the imaspirated
i, as I'Sto?, " alone," Chinese yit, " one." Here, too, we
see the probable origin of idem, "the same," "identical."
It is the Mongol adeli, "same," and the Chinese yit,
"one."

The vowel o also is apt to take y before it. The
Mongol ogahu, " wash," is in Chinese yok.

The Chinese y and Latin j are in Sanscrit y and in
Greek ^. This makes some confusion, for one of the
most common values of / is 4 + zh, and it is formed
from an older d with zh inserted, as Jupiter from Bin.
In SZev^, a dialectic form of ^ei/s, the sibilant is
placed before the initial d, instead of after. Hence
j in Latin and s in Greek sometimes come from d, and
at other times from y. In German j has the value y.
In English y is used as in yoke, German joch, except in
words of Latin derivation, a,B juvenile, which in Chinese
is yeu, old form yu or u.

The letter z may be connected with s, d, y, t, or k.
Old Chinese words in s (that is, in the sonant series
of s) have now become s.

THE ALPHABET. 349

In the Hebrew vocabulary words witb samech, tsade,
and shin sometimes take %ayin. Thus, zur, sHr, are
both used for "to return."

In Hebrew the occasional origin of z from d, like
that of s, ts, sh, from d and t, may be shown by
examples. Thus, NT3, ba%a, " cut in two," is by
Gesenius compared with the Sanscrit bhidh, " to cut."
Compare also the Greek pi^a, " root," with radix.

In Tibetan sang, "copper," zab, "deep," mr, "fork,"
seem to be allied with the Chinese dung, "copper,"
the European deep, and the Chinese t'a, " fork."

The connexion of s with y has been already noticed
in speaking of the Greek seta under y.

In German t has become z, and is then pronounced ts.

In Russian £nal A in a root often becomes 2, as in
lizat, " to lick," German lecken.

The letter sh is otherwise written /, as in the French
jamais, jour.

In Chinese it has grown from an older ni.

It must be looked for in European vocabularies as n,
h, k, etc., as stated under /.

Common Radical Syllabary.

The common roots of the Chinese and European
languages consist of monosyllables. That all roots are
monosyllabic was known by philologists as the result
of the comparison made, in the first haK of the present
century, of European languages with those of Western

350 china's place in philology.

Asia and India. But when the roots of European
speech are compared with those of China, they assume
a definite shape, at the knowledge of which philologists,
while they hesitated to cross in their researches the
Imaus and the Himalayas, could scarcely arrive.

Roots may be first arranged in two groups, those
which end in vowels and those which end in con-
sonants. Among examples of the first are words such
as a, used as " I," and as a verb " to be," ha, " father,"
ma, "mother." Of the second are had, "divide,"
" other," kah, " cover," " head," nig, " hide," " black,"
dale, " cover," hang, " strike," " noise of slamming,"
kan, " tube," " straight stick," om, " dark," " shade."

All the vowels interchange, but the chief lines of
distinction are between a, i, u. Thus we have among
the open syllables a triple division made by these
primary vowels.

The closed syllables in ultimate roots are chiefly
formed by the six consonants g, d, h, ng, n, m.

The initials are the three vowels, the six consonants
just mentioned, with I, z, and sh.

The syllabary, with these elements, would consist of,
(1) three vowels; (2) eighteen biliteral syllables with
consonant finals ; (3) twenty-seven biliteral combin-
ations with vowel finals ; (4) 162 triUteral combinations
with consonant initials, vowel medials, and consonant
finals. In all there would, with these elements, be 210
combinations.

COMMON RADICAL SYLLABARY. 351

This is the smallest number of syllables that we
can allow for the common syllabary, unless we also
elimiaate I, by deducing it from d.

If we add to the initials k, t, p, s, s, w, y, there will
be twenty-one more biliteral combinations, and 126
more triliteral. In all 357. These are perhaps the
most probable and convenient limits for the common
syllabary.

It would be unwise to extend the finals by adding
A, t, p, for although in European roots the difference
between k, t, p, and g, d, b, is recognized, it is not so
in any Chinese dialect. The Shanghai people pro-
nounce g final before a sonant and k before a surd.
The difference depends on position, but the fact indi-
cates the possibility of g, d, b, having once occupied an
important place in the Chinese syllabary which was
afterwards lost to k, t, p, as these have in their turn
resigned their position at the ends of words in favour
of the vowels.

Examples will be here given tending to show that it
cannot be learned from the European roots whether
k, t, p, and g, d, b, aU belonged to the primeval
syllabary or not.

The English reed, German rohr, is ia Chinese lu and
lut. The Latin rota, rotundus, and the Greek pv0fi6<i,
api0fi6<i, with the English round and Latia arundo,
" reed," all come from the same root. The finals
t, d, nd, are found interchanging in European Ian-

352 china's place in philology.

guages, while in Chinese, where lun is "wheel," and
lut "anything round," n and t interchange. A fair
inference is, that we cannot tell whether i or d was the
original final, but that n and that final were inter-
changeable before the Chinese language separated from
the Indo-European.

So with the Chinese ^ok, "to desire," when com-
pared with the Latin acer, French aigre, and English
eager, we cannot tell if A or g^ is the older.

The arts of life had sufiiciently advanced, when the
Chinese separated from the Indo-Europeans, for the
names of boats, of agricultural processes, of weaving,
of houses, of the physician and the necromancer, to be
the same.

Take texo, " to weave," Chinese talt, meaning " to
weave cloth," or " to weave a hedge " of willow
branches or bamboos. The corresponding European
words do not appear ever to have d ox g va. them.
Hence it may be inferred that in this case t was the
form of the initial previous to the separation of the
races. The Russian is tikat or that, " to weave." The
Greek has Tevxo<>, " a wall."

At that distant time wooden cups were in use, which
were called pat, i^ the Sanscrit pdtra, the Latin
patera. " A boat " was hat, and " an oar " was lut,
ipeTfiov. "A house" was ok, oiKOf. "To heal," and
" a physician " were both it, laTp6<;, laofiai. " A
magician " was ma, the Mongol bo, Persian magus,

EUKOPEAN RADICAL SYLLABARY. 353

and Dravidian bagai. "A. dog" was k'on, "a cow," gu.
"A coverlid" and "to cover" were bed, the Latin
pallium, and English bed. "To clothe" and "clothing"
were wit, the Latia mstio, vestis. If boat and paddle
(Latin batillus), and bowl and patera, are connected, it
seems hopeless to expect that the original form of the
initial, whether b or p, can now be ascertained with
certainty.

European Radical Syllabary.

The European families while still one with the
Hindoo prefixed s and sh to the initial consonant of
many roots, and also inserted r ox I after the initial in
many more. To the six final consonants of the roots,
which were originally k, t, p, ng, n, m, were added s, sh,
r, I. Further, r and I were often inserted before the
final consonant of the root.

These processes were common to the Semitic and
Indo-European systems. In the Semitic system the
result was a vast formation of dissyllabic roots con-
sisting of three letters each. Sibilant prefixes, the
insertion of r and I, the duplication of certain letters,
and the addition of r, I, s, sh, p, m, k, h, and perhaps
others at the end, made that formation what it is.
There is no trace of sibilant prefixes in the Turanian
languages, nor of the insertion of r and I after the
initial consonants of roots. In Eastern Asia sibilant
prefixes occur only in Tibetan and Burmese, and the

23

354 china's place in philology.

insertion of r and / only in these languages and in the

eastern Himalaic family. We may, therefore, refer

the sibilant prefixes and the insertion of r and I to

Semitic influence. At least, these phenomena first

make their appearance in that family, and the example

was followed in the Indo-European and Himalaic

systems. Examples : Hebrew shakah} " he reclined,"

KVTTTco, cubo, cumbo, English scoop. Hebrew sagab,

" was high," gabab, " was high," shafat, " he judged,"

from pat or bad, " divide."

Turanian influence on the European root appears in

the finals, where r, I, s, are found as in Semitic.

Examples : Mongol agola, Manchu alin (where the g of

the root is dropped, as in colloquial Mongol), Sanscrit

giri, Greek opo'i, German Siigel, English hill. The

Greek has dropped the initial g. For the Turanian

I we find the English and German I corresponding.

The Semitic is har, which has been followed by the

Sanscrit and Greek. The Latin collis joins the Teutonic

group. The Sclavonic gora is in agreement with the

Semitic and Greek. The German medial g, which

might seem to be an intruder, is found in the Chinese

root gok, " mountain." It has been lost in all the

other languages. Hence the European root is gor or

gol, while the ultimate root is gok, with the sense

"high," as in the words high and hoch.

' For the prefix of the sibilant in Hebrew to biliteral roots, see
Gesenius, Lex. Man., 954, under the letter tJ'.

THE EUROPEAN WORD. 355

Greek evpvi, " broad," Sanscrit uru, Mongol oregun,
" wide." Here ur seems to be the root.

Greek apprjv, dpcrtjv, " male," Mongol ere.

Greek w6X«, German burgh, berg. Mongol balgasun
and balig. Here the root is balg or balig, and the
insertion of I is of Turanian origin. Khanbalik, the
Turkish name of Peking in the time of Polo, means
"the city of the Khan."

The European root shows a special and independent
activity in its great extension of the sibilant prefixes
and of inflexions, and in the great variety of its initials
and finals.

The European Word.

In assuming the polysyllabic form, the European
word followed the Turanian analogy rather than the
Semitic. This is signally manifest in the formation of
derivatives, of case suffixes, of the polysyllabic tenses and
moods of verbs, and of the greater portion of the particles.

Yet the Semite influence is very apparent in the
introduction of strong preterites, doubled consonants,
and all tense forms where the change of the vowel is a
characteristic. The English preterite in oo, u, e, ou,
or 0, etc., from a present in a, i, etc., may be accounted
for most satisfactorily ia this way. This principle of
change in the vowel — as in seethe, sodden, stand, stood,
senden, gesandt — occurs less prominently in Greek and
Latin, where Xeiiro) becomes eKnrov, and sparge becomes

356 china's place in philology.

spergo in dispergo and other compounds. In tlie first
of these examples the change fixes the tense, in the
other it depends on laws of accent and quantity. In
the Hebrew such changes distinguish tenses and moods,
and so we find it in the Tibetan. We must suppose,
then, that the ancestors of the Germans, Greeks,
English, and Tibetians, adopted this mode of marking
tense, mood, and conjugation, from the Semites.

The distinction of masculine and feminine is also
of Semite origin, and with it the idea of dual and
plural numbers.

The conception of mood and tense is chiefly Turanian.
To this the Indo-European has, as its own contribution,
added the distinction of voice, the augments of the
past tenses, an increased number of tenses, and a very
full development of the personal endings.

A Greek verb has in its imperative the simple root,
as found in all languages. Its particles and infinitive,
past, future, conjunctive, and other forms, are Turanian.
They are made by verbal and pronominal suffixes, in
many cases identical with those used in Turanian
languages. The theory of the conjugation of verbs
rests on the mode of viewing the verb. It is regarded
as a substantive, and the infinitive and participles were
apparently first formed, the verb being here more
concrete. From them came the past tenses of the
indicative, in the manner already describe^ in pre-
ceding chapters.

THE EUROPEAN WORD. 357

The formation of compounds reveals to us tte
principle of juxtaposition, as in the oldest stems.
Thus, in XevKoa-Toko^, " white-robed," the law of order
is as in Chinese and Turanian. "Where a preposition
combines with a verb or noun to form a compound,
the principle of order is Turanian, and not Chinese.
Thus, KaTaTraTeaf, "to trample down," is in Chinese
chat Ma, or, as the ancient sages would have pro-
nounced it, dat ge, where ge, the equivalent of Kara,
comes last. The English agrees with the Chinese,
and the principle of arrangement is that of the juxta-
position of two verbs in the order of time. But in
English the word doivn, originally a verb, has become
an adverb. In the Greek compound the principle of
arrangement is Turanian. The word Kara, originally
a verb, "to go down," and the same with the Chinese
ge, or Ma, and the Japanese kudaru, "go down," is
here found in the position of the adverbs of space and
direction, as in Mongol ddtai tehi, "place below." So
in English understand, in German mrstehen. So in
Eussian nishodit, "to go down," where ni, "down,"
is connected with nij'me, "lower," as in the name Nijnie
Novgorod, literally "the lower new city." The English
down is the Latin de, the Chinese ti, "bottom," and
the Mongol do, "below." Thus the Indo-European
languages in their prepositional verb compounds use a
Turanian law of arrangement, while giving to the pre-
position a verb force which is peculiar to those languages.

358 china's place in philology.

European Syntax.

The syntax of the European languages is a mixture.
It contains Chinese, Semitic, and Turanian principles.
The order of words is either natural or inverted.
Where it is natural, as in " "William's son," " tall
man," "William struck Thomas," "quickly fly," "with
a stick William struck Thomas," the order is usually
Chinese and primeval. Where it is inverted, as in
" the son of William," " un ouvrier industrieux," " du
soUst Gott, deinen Herrn, anbeten," ^ " thou shalt
worship God thy Lord," it is by principles derived
from the more ancient Semitic and Turanian families.
The post-position of the adjective, genitive, and adverb,
is Semitic ; that of the verb is Turanian.

The effect of Semitic influence is seen at its maxi-
mum in the translations of the Scriptures made in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, e.g., in Luther's
we read, " AUer Augen, die in der Schule, sahen auf
ihn." The English version reads, "And the eyes of
all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on
him." The relative clause in both cases is thoroughly
Semitic. The only feature not Semitic is in the
German, in the order of the words aller Augen, " eyes
of all." The Mongol would be horal on dotora baiksan
hwun bugudeger nidun yer teguni sirtabai, which might
be translated word for word thus, "Synagogue's within
being men all eyes-with him observed." All refers to
, ' Luther's Bible, Luke iy. 8.

GREEK. 359

men, and toith to eyes. Sim is the accusative after
observed. The participle being is in the past tense,
and here performs the duty of the relative.

The same Semitic influence, however, appears in
Homer. Thus, in dva^ apBp&v, "king of men," the
genitive comes last, and the adjective in Sovpi re /j-axpa,
" with a long spear."

Gkeek.

The Greek seems to be specially founded on the
Chinese in regard to tones. For what are the acute,
grave, and circumflex accents but Chinese tones ? Yet
we have found tones existing in the Himalaic lan-
guages and also in a dialect of the Mongol. It is,
therefore, uncertain from what source in particular
the Greek accents are derived.

Vocal sounds are necessarily either emphasized or
slurred, even or inflected, high or low, long or short,
or, in other words, admit of distinctions in emphasis,
tone, pitch and quantity. In modern Europe the
quick rising inflexion or tone is appropriated to ques-
tions. When and where this began it is difficult to
say. It would not be much needed in ancient Greek,
for in that language very commonly interrogative
words were placed at the beginning of sentences, and
this inflexion was probably the proper sound of the
acute accent. The grave accent would then be the
quick descending inflexion heard in modem Europe

360 china's place in philology.

as the tone of commands. The circumflex would be a
combination of the rising and falling inflexion.

Long and short quantity may be illustrated in
Eastern Asia by the distinction between long and short
tones in the south-eastern dialects of China, and that
between long and short vowels in Sanscrit.

The Greek circumflex was attached only to syllables
long by nature. The Chinese circumflex or double
inflexion may be applied to any word, according as it
happens in the local habit of any dialect to be appro-
priated to this or that tone class to "which the word in
question belongs.

The occurrence of a long vowel in the last syllable
of a Greek word necessitated the change of 'a circum-
flex to an acute accent in the penultimate. Thus,
(pevr^e became <f>evya), and olvo<} became ohov. This
change resembles the change of inflexion noticed some-
times in Chinese compounds. In the Peking pronun-
ciation of shui sheu, "sailor," the application of the
lower slow rising inflexion (which properly belongs to
them) to both words would be unpleasant to the ear.
The first word takes instead the upper quick rising
inflexion. In Pekinese, as in the ancient Greek, it is
easier to pronounce a long inflexion before a short
syllable than before a long one.

Prefixes threw the accent back. Thus, Tvirrto,
" I strike," became eTvine, " he struck." TratSeuro?
"taught," became diraiBevroi;, "untaught." So in the

LIST OF GREEK AND MONGOL COMMON WORDS. 361

Pekinese dialect, composition often deprives the last
word of its emphasis. Thus, Tamen, " public office for
despatch of business," which originally means " flag
door," is emphasized on the first syllable, which keeps
its proper tone, the upper quick rising inflexion, while
the last syllable, requiring the same inflexion, is slurred
over. A prefix in this instance deprives the word men,
" door," of its tone.

The special resemblance of Greek to Chinese and
Mongol may be judged of by the following examples :

ain-6s, "he," "same," "himself," Mongol adeli, "same," Latin idem.

of/cos, " house," Latin viims, " village," Chinese ok, " house."

ipdu, "see," Mongol haraku, "see," " look at steadily."

floXiwo-o, "sea," Mongol dalai, "sea."

t((euSos, "lie," Chinese jpwi, "not," Latin /«/««, English _^&e.

o-ii, " thou," Latin tu, Mongol chi, Mandarin si, Doric ri.

oiiK, " not," Mongol ugei, " there is none."

avolya, " to open," Mongol nehehu, " to open."

ir(JA.is, "city," German hurg, Mongol balgasun, "fortified place,"

" city."
SpoTjy, " male," Mongol ere, " male," Latin vir.
Bia, "to sacrifice," Mongol tehihu, "to sacrifice."
Kvavos, "dark blue," Chinese hiuen, gun, "dark."
a-tSnpos, " iron," Chinese fit, Mongol tumur.
xiuv, "dog," Latin canis, Chinese IcHuen, English hound,
yjnjxh, "soul," "life," Chinese p'aA, "animal soul."
Kf\atv6s, "black," Mongol hara, Chinese kek.
ireMs, "grief," daneae pei, pit, "grieved."
7^, "earth," Mongol ^<j7s>, " earth."

On these words the following observations are ofiered.
1. As the Mongol adeli is nearer to avro'i than to idem,
and chi and si, " thou," are nearer to the Ionic av than
the Latin and Doric, it may be inferred that the old

362

Turanian colony, whose language influenced the Greek,
would be in jiixtaposition with the Ionian Greeks in
Asia Minor.

2. The same supposed Turanian colony would add
the second syllable ga to the root bal, " city," after
separation from the Greeks, but while still in the
neighbourhood of the Gothic stem. For instance, this
may have taken place on the east of the Caspian Sea,
where the Goths were long settled.

3. The addition of the favourite sibilant suffix in
most of these words would take place after the epoch
of Turanian influence, and therefore after the time
when the infinitive in eiv, the participles in mv, fiev,
and (7, the past tenses in k and o-, etc., were formed.
Thus, ^ovkevofiev was formed before ^ovXevofievoi, and
aman, " loving," before amans.

4. The change of ^ to s is specially prominent in
Greek, Hebrew, and Mongol. It is greater in Hebrew
and Greek than in Mongol. It may be regarded
then as a characteristic of Western Asia, where the
Turanians seem to have been settled before they were
in Tartary. The existence of a law like this goes far to
show that these three language- stems have one origin.

Latin.

The resemblance of the Latin verb to that of the
Tartar dialects is most remarkably seen in the gerund
and supine. In this part of the verb the Latin is

LIST OF LATIN AND MONGOL COMMON WORDS. 363

peculiarly old, and reveals a special affinity for that
Turanian characteristic which views the verb as pre-
dominantly a substantive. Only in Sanscrit, where
the use of the participle is specially extended, is the
influence of the Turanian idea equally prominent. In
the pronouns and adverbs some remarkable similarities
to Latin words in Turkish, Mongol, and Japanese, have
been already pointed out. The following examples will
help to give an enlarged idea of the number of such
resemblances : —

homo, " man," Mongol kumim, Chinese nin.

tmlgus, "people," Greek Sx^oi, Mongol olos.

vetus, "old," Mongol otolji, "old."

effeo, " to be in want," Mongol ti^ei, " there is none."

OS, ossis, " bone," Greek hariov, Mongol yeaa.

awnim, "gold," Mongol alte, "gold."

puto, "think," Mongol bodaho, "think," "compnte."

odi, "hate," Mongol ««A«, "hate."

pauei, "few," iaga, "small," English /««>.

emo, " buy," Chinese mai, English i««y.

alter, alius, " other," Mongol ore, German oder, Greek &KKo^.

oppidwn, "town," Chinese ip, "city." Compare wrbs.

jus,justm, "just," Mongol yoao, "right."

quaro, "seek," qiceeso, "pray," Mongol goyoho, "pray," Chinese

ffu, "seek," "pray."
ambulo, "walk," Mongol yabahu.
alius, " high," Mongol tmdur.
mille, " thousand," Mongol minggen.

decet, "it is becoming," Mongol^oAisto', Chinese tong, toll, " ought."
peto, " seek," Mongol badaraho, " seek."

The old form ollus for ilk, " he," is the Turkish ol,
" he." Examples of resemblance to Turkish, Manchu,

364 china's place in philology.

Mongol, and Chinese words occur in all parts of speech
in the Latin vocabulary. So with the Tibetan, as in
nig, " black," which is the same with niger.

This similarity in words and in the conjugation of
the verb is well borne out by the syntax. Compared
with Greek, the Latin syntax shows more of Turanian
influence. The greater freedom and flow noticed in
the Grreek arrangement of words is due to a more
thorough and prolonged intercourse with Phoenicians,
Assyrians, and other ancient Semite races. The dif-
ferent spirit of Greek and Latin syntax finds its
solution here.

The Turanian element in Latin syntax may be
noticed in the favourite position of the verb. In
Livy's First Book the following sentences occur :
" Nondum maturus imperio Ascanius ^nese Alius
erat." A Greek would not put the little verb erat,
" was," last in the sentence. A Turanian could place
it nowhere else. " Tamen id imperium ei ad puberem
setatem incolume mansit." The arrangement is Tu-
ranian, except that the preposition ad, "till," should
take the place of a suffix after cBtatem. " Tantisper
tutela muliebri (tanta indoles in Lavinia erat) res
Latina et regnum avitum paternumque puero stetit."
In this sentence the Turanian element operating on
the syntax keeps the verb in its place at the end, in
the parenthesis, and in the principal sentence. The
position of four adjectives after their nouns is evidence

TURANIAN SYNTAX IN LATIN. 365

of Semitic influence, and this principle is retained in
the French, language to the present time. The natural
place of the adjective is, however, retaiued by tanta
before indoles.

" Ab eo colonise aliquot deductse, Prisci Latini appel-
lati." The first of the two participles in this sentence
corresponds in position to the Turanian gerund occur-
ring at the end of a subordinate clause. The last
participle, used here as a perfect indicative, corresponds
to the Mongol past participle in ksan, which is also
constantly used as a perfect indicative, terminating the
principal clause. The introduction of the parenthesis
is impossible in Eastern Asiatic syntax. "Western
freedom originated this phenomenon.

The Latin seems to stand further back in time than
the other European languages, and possesses an air of
antique dignity which has been derived from the east.
Roman solemnity and power appear in marked contrast
to Grreek poetry and life. Among the causes which
produced this variety in the language, as in the history
and literature of these two races, probably none was
more powerful than the intimate intercourse they had
in a long distant antiquity with Turanian and Semitic
peoples. The character of the Roman family relation-
ships is strongly suggestive of connexion with China
and Tartary. The Latin gens and the Celtic clan are
the counterpart of the Chinese zok (Latin socius) and
the Mongol ^furul. The Latin patruus and avunculus,

366 china's place in philology.

uncle on the father's, and on the mother's side,
respectively, agree in sense with the Mongol abaga and
nagacho, and with the Chinese pak and gu. The
resemblance of Mongol and Roman usage is here
the more observable, because the Chinese subdivides
the relationship on the father's side into two classes.
The uncles who are older than the father are called
pak, and those who are younger are known as shok.
The Manchu amji and echig correspond with the
Chiaese. The Mongol calls both kinds of uncles abaga.
Other remarkable agreements between Chinese and
Roman customs exist. For example, the Romans
used raised altars of earth or stone for the worship of
heavenly divinities, and scooped a hollow in which to
place offerings to those that are terrestrial. The
Chinese offerings of bullocks and silk at the Temple
of Heaven are presented on an elevated altar, while
at that of Earth they are, both silk and bullock, buried
in the ground. The belief in the presence of spiritual
beings in the woods, streams, trees, cultivated fields,
and mountains, and the worship of them, was very
similar among the ancient Romans and the ancient
Chinese, so much so as frequently to impress the reader
of passages in the Chinese classics bearing on these sub-
jects with the idea of ancient connexion with the old
Latin religion. The whole argument for the common
origin of eastern and western nations might perhaps
securely rest alone on the institution of sacrifices and

THE RUSSIAN SYLLABLE REDUCED. 367

reKgious ideas. No one can deny the remarkable
similarities between the religions of the old western
world and China, which spring up to view on making
special inquiry. But the main scope of our investi-
gation is philological, and it is well to attend chiefly
to that branch of evidence.

EUSSLAN.

The Russian language shows what the Sclavonic type
of European speech has arrived at in its most modern
form. It has a very full alphabet, including s, z, J, sh,
ts, ch, and an aspirated ch among its sibilants. The old
final gr or A of a root syllable is often found in Russian
changed to/ or ch. Thus Bog, " God," ^ becomes hojie,
"divine." The compound ts represents an old t, as
tzel, in Grerman Ziel, in Greek reXo?, "end," "aim."

The letter » represents the w of Chinese and English,
and the v of Latin and German, as in mda, " water,"
volya, " will."

As an initial, % represents an old g, as zoloto, for
"gold," zinaSoT hyems, "winter," znanie, " knowledge,"

The Russian language is fond of prefixing several
consonants to the root, as in vshochit, vshlochit, " to clot,"
" entangle." Klochit means the same thing. The pre-
fixed s is the usual Indo-European sibilant prefix, and

' Supposed to come from the Sanscrit bhagavat, " the blessed," " the
glorious," " the adorable."

368 china's place in philology.

the initial v is an old u placed before the word in the
Greek and Mongol fashion. The / is inserted, as in the
English word, after the initial consonant -of the root.

Sometimes a concourse of consonants is caused by a
vowel dropping out, as in mnogie, "many," where the
English word shows that an a has been lost. The word
for " prince " is knyaz, and is the same as the German
Konig, " king." The g is softened into a sibilant, but
is retained in the feminine knyaginya, " princess." The
Chinese is kiiin or kon, " chief," " leader."

The Russian declension of nouns and verb paradigm
are very full, and in this respect the language wears an
old aspect.

The syntax is simple and modern, and seems to have
fewer inversions than the Sclavonic, from which it has
sprung. A few examples here follow, taken from the
ecclesiastical Sclavonic version of the New Testament,
now about seven centuries old, and the modern Russian
version published in 1862 by order of the Synod of
Moscow. Acts i. 7. Sclavonic: Muja dva stasia pred
nimi bo odej'di byelye. In English, translated word for
word, this reads, " men two stood by them in clothing
white." The Russian is vdrug predstali ime dva muja ve
hyeloi odejdye, "suddenly stood by them two men in
white clothing." The Russian restores the adjective
to its place before the noun. It uses a compound
predstali for " stood by." It is formed by prefixiag the
preposition pred, "near," as our word bystander, from by.

ANGLO-SAXON. 369

Acts ii. 31. Sclavonic : I hudet ve poslyedniya dni,
glagolete Gospod izliyo o Duha moigo na vsyaku pht.
" And shall be in last days, saith Lord, I will pour of
Spirit my on aU flesh." The Russian is almost identical
with the Sclavonic. I hudet ve poslyetnie dni, govorite
Boge izliyo ote Duhe Moego na vsyakuyo plot. A new
word, govorit, is introduced for " saith." The Sclavonic
and Russian word Boge, " God," is substituted for
Go^ode, "Lord," which seems to have come into the
Sclavonic version through inadvertence. The word
plot in Sclavonic and Russian is our "flesh," the con-
sonant / not being used in the Sclavonic. Duhe,
" Spirit," is the Hebrew ruahh, " spirit," " wind."
The preposition ve, " in," is also Semitic.

Acts ui. 15. Sclavonic : Nachalnika je jizni ubili.
Literal English: "Prince and of Hfe they killed."
Russian : A nachalnika jizni ubili, " And prince of life
they killed." The Russian restores "and" to its place
at the beginning of the sentence. The Sclavonic je,
" and," like its etymological equivalent que ia Latin, is
placed after its noun. In this example, so nearly the
same in both languages, there seems to be no sufGlcient
reason for placing the verb last, except the presence of
a Turanian element, the same which we have found
powerfiilly operatiag in Sanscrit and in Latia.

Anglo-Saxon.
The following sentences are taken from Vernon's

24

370 china's place in philology.

Anglo-Saxon Guide. " He cannot help him," is ren-
dered by He him helpan ne maeg, " He him help not
may." " How she may escape from the hostile spirita,"
is translated, Su heo tham feondlicum gastum othfleon
mage, " How she the hostile spirits escape may."

The syntax is Turanian. " May " is here to be
regarded as the indicative verb closing the sentence.
Immediately before it comes the infinitive " fly." The
adjective " hostile " i preceds its noun, gastum. These
words in the ablative case constitute with the initial
pronoun a circumstantial clause preceding the clause
which contains the principal verb. Before this circum-
stantial parenthesis stands the nominative. All so far
is Turanian. Only the adverb " how" is out of its place.
It should immediately precede the verb " escape." This
is the single exception to Turanian order.

So frequently does the verb occur at the end of the
sentence, after its accusative, or following some circum-
stantial clause, that it may be concluded, respecting the
Anglo-Saxon as compared with modern English, that it
was much more pervaded by the Turanian spirit. The
same thing may be said of German when compared with
English.

The Anglo-Saxon, like the Latin and German, broke
partially free from this law, which in Sanscrit and in
the three Turanian families ties the verb to the end of
the sentence. The modern English has escaped from it
entirely.

REACTION IN FAVOUE OF PRIMEVAL LAWS. 371

Witli this instance of the gradual abandonment of
Turanian grammar in the modem European languages
agrees the ever-advancing Aeoay of the marks of declen-
sion and conjugation. Our ancestors a thousand years
ago declined the word guma, " man," which is also,
when slightly modified, good Mongol and Latin,
with four variations of the suffix, namely, nominative
a, accusative, ablative, and genitive an, ablative
and dative plural um, and genitive plural ena. The
adjective soth, " true," our sooth, the Chinese shet,
" real," and the Mongol sidorago, " honest," has applied
to it the suffixes ne, e, um, es, re, ra, which supply it
with five cases, two numbers, and three genders. Just
as this more complex system of suffixes used in the
days of Alfred connects our modern English with the
original Indo-European mother-language, so the deeper
tinge of Turanian influence in the syntax of the same
age forms a midway link between the English of the
nineteenth century and a still older Turanian model.

But behind the Turanian influence there is a still
older one, that of the language of which Chinese is the
type. Turania cannot furnish a satisfactory solution
of the problem of the origin of language. In a still
earlier age nature was true to herself, and inversions
were still unknown. Chinese syntax is much more
natural than the Turanian ; and the English of modem
days, and the Greek of two thousand years ago, are
found returning to the more simple laws of arrange-

372 china's place in philology.

ment wliicli were famiKar both to the ancient Chinese
and to the language of the Antediluvians. China
throws light on the problem by showing that the
Turanian and Sanscrit awkwardness in syntax is in
truth not primeval, but an inversion of natural laws,
introduced contemporaneously with the growth of cases,
tenses, and moods.

Language in its developments has been always con-
trolled by the desire to arrive at a measured and ele-
vated expression. What is attempted at a later period
in poetry is sought at an earlier time in language.
There is discernible in all speech an unconscious long-
ing after internal harmony and symmetry. The desire
for ideal beauty which God has implanted in the soul
must be satisfied as far as possible in the creations of
the language-forming faculties. The poet, seeking this
ideal, voluntarily places hin^self under the limitations
of art. Language is, although unconsciously, always
doing the same thing. The Semite, fond of bold
imagery, imagined the objects of nature to possess the
distinctions of sex. A few centuries passed and his
language became thoroughly permeated with this idea.
A few more, and a male and female mythology grew
into popular belief. The Indo-Europeans adopted both
the idea of gender in language and of sex in mythology
which they found among those to whom they then
looked as teachers and examples.

On the other side, the Turanian race left the Chinese

ALLITERATION IN POETRY. 373

freedom, and adopted a certain rigid law in syntax.
The verb, relegated to the end of the sentence, gave
origin in great part to case suffixes, and the moods
and tenses of Turanian grammar. These became the
fruitful source of an abundance of word-forms imitated
by those who first used Indo-European speech, then in
the time of its youth and its greatest susceptibility of
impression. After many generations, language became
weary of these strict rules, of a long array of cases, and
a complex system of moods. She is now throwing away
these encumbrances as fast as she can, and has, in the
English language at least, already attained to an almost
entire freedom from them.

The Anglo-Saxon poetry and that of ancient Germany
was alliterative for the same reason that Mongol poetry
is so. It was partly because words having polysyllabic
suffixes are unsuitable for rhyme or metre, and also,
probably, on account of both these schools having re-
ceived the laws of their versification from some unknown
race which originated alliteration in poetry. Rhyming
was not practised by the Germans in their poetry till
the Christian period.^ Alliteration characterized all
their oldest heathen versification, such as was used, for
instance, in the war-songs of which Tacitus speaks.

The Anglo-Saxon alliteration is less regular than the
Mongol. In Mongol, a poem may begin, for example,

' Weter'a Weltgeschichte, 6th edit. Vol. ii. Gesohichte der Deutsohen
LiteratuT.

374 china's place in philology.

with a. Each principal word in the first, second, third,
and fourth lines will also begin with a. In the next
stanza another letter will be used in the same manner.
In the third stanza, a third, and so on. Thus the
system is more like that of the old Hebrew alliteration,
as in Psalm cxix., where the letter Aleph occurs at the
beginning of each of the eight verses, Beth at the be-
ginning of each of the second eight, and so on to the
end of the alphabet. In Anglo-Saxon the irregular
repetition of the alliterated initial in two or three
principal words is enough. The poet does not attempt to
carry the alliteration through more than two lines.^ He
prefers to begin a new alliteration with some other letter.
Rhyme , is best suited for languages where mono-
syllabic roots abound. Polysyllabic suffixes render it
impossible, or not agreeable to the ear. There would
be no pleasure felt by the Mongol ear in the repetition
at the end of several consecutive lines of three or four
past tenses, such as yababa, "went," taraha, "agreed,"
sanaha, " thought," hairaha, " returned." For the same
reason the Greeks and Latins used no rhymes, because
they had few words without suffixes, and the repetition
of mere suffixes in rhyme would have been wearisome
and inharmonious. Rhyme came into use in Europe
when derivative suffixes began to decay. In the Chinese
language rhyme was always used. It is found in the
most ancient portions of the Book of History. It suits
' Vernon's Anglo-Saxon Guide.

LIST OF ENGLISH AND CHINESE COMMON WORDS. 375

a monosyllabic language, because the emphasis and the
rhyme fall together on radical syllables. In English
and German the number of monosyllabic words is large,
and hence the rhyme can be so arranged as to fall on
roots, and not on servile syllables. It is this circum-
stance that renders the device of rhyme pleasing, and a
suitable ornament of poetry.

English.

A Hst of identical words will now be given, to show
the extent to which the Chinese and English vocabu-
laries agree. After the Chinese new and old pronun-
ciations will be added a few examples of the forms
assumed by the same roots in some select languages.

Avoid, ^ wei, toit, Latin veto, vito, divido.

Augment, ^ i/i, yik, Latin augeo, Greek av^dvm,
German wachsen, English wax.

Back, ^ pd, pok, Persian pusht, Greek otrUrw.

Baggage, ^ fu, hok, Eussian poklaja.

Bake, ^^ p'au, bok, Persian pochtan, Latin ftigo,
Greek (f>pvyo>.

Bang, 5^ p'eng, bang.

Bear -ft fu, bu, be, Latin /ero, porta, Greek <jiepa).

Beat, f^ fa, bat, Latin batuo, Eussian bit.

Bed, ^ pei, bi, bit, " to spread," " a covering."

Black, g me, mek, "ink," "coal," "that which is
black," Greek /teXas, Sanscrit malina.

Boat, ^ fa, bat, Anglo-Saxon bat, Eussian bot.

Bow, ^ fu, bok, German bogen.

376 china's place in philology.

Break, ^ pH, pHk, " cleave with a hatcliet," Latin
frango,fractm, Sanscrit hhagna, "broken," Hebrew ypS,
"cleave."

Bright, ^ pe, bak, Sanscrit bhaj, "shine," Latin
fulgeo.

Bum, ^ fen, bun, Latin pruna, Greek irvp.

But, boot (to add), |^ pei, pi, pit, Anglo-Saxon botan.

Buy, bought, ^ mai, mui, muk, Latin emo.

Call, PJj- kiau, ko, kok, Greek KoXeco.

Can, "a cylindrical drinking vessel," Jg kwan, kan,
^ kan, "a pipe." Hence anything long and round,
as channel, through the Latin canalis, and cane, from
canna, in Chinese ^ kan, " a stalk."

Certain, ^ kiue, kit, Latin certus.

Chaste, ^ A«e, M, "clean," Latin castus, Greek

Cough, ^ k'o, k'ok, German keiche, Greek Koti^<o.
Cow, ^ nieu, gnu, Sanscrit go.
Crooked, ^ kHii, k'ok, Latin cunus.
Crow, Awa, ku, Sanscrit kdka, Latin corvus.
Cut, §ij ko, kat, Latin ccsdo, Hebrew y^3.
Day, ^ cheu, tok, German tag, Latin dies.
Deem, '[^^ c'^ew, t^m, Russian doomali, " think."
Dew, 1^ lu, lok, Sanscrit dai, German thau, Latin ros.
Din, ^ cAm, cJw, " noise of war drums."
Dong, ding-dong, @ chimg, tang, " bell."
Down, -(g i(«, " low," " bottom," Latin deoraum,
Mongol ddra.

LIST OF ENGLISH AND CHINESE COMMON WORDS. 377

Drag, draw, dray, ^ t'o, t'a, Latin traho, tracto,
German Ziehen.

Eager, i^ yii, yok, " to desire," Latin acer.

Ear, hear, 3 '"^j "i^Qh Persian gosh, Sanscrit ghosha,
Turkisli kulak, Latin auris, German ohr, h'dren.

Eat, ^ wei, wid, toat, Sanscrit annam, " food," Mongol
idehu, " eat," Latin vescor.

Elk, ^ lu, lok, Russian los, German elck.

Embrace, ■^ pau, pok, Latin amplector, hrachium,
" arm," Greek 7r»)%u?.

Fast, tj^ pi, pit, Mongol bedu, " firm," Greek ttio-to?,
Latin j^cfes, Sanscrit bad, " to be steady," Hebrew 7{33,
"he trusted."

Father, ^/u, bo, Latin, pater, Hebrew ab, Turkish baba.

Flee, ji^pi, bi, bik, luatiiifugio, Greek ipevyco, German
fliehen, Russian biegat, "avoid," Hebrew rT^S.

Fly, flit, jflU fei, pi, pit, Sanscrit patat, "bird," Greek
■jrereti/o?.

FcBtus, ^ p'ei, p'i, p'it, liatin fceim.

Fold (as in two-fold), ^ pel, bei, bit (as in san pei,
"three-fold").

Forth, ^ fa, pat, " express," " go forth."

Foundation, ;$C pen, pun, hatinfundamentum.

Gather, -§ hwei, git.

Give, S^ ki, kip, German geben.

Glad, ^ hi, kit, Latin gaudeo, gratus, Greek 7Jj0<a.

Go, gang, fj hing, gang.

Goose, II ngo, Russian gus, Mongol galagad.

378 china's place in philology.

Grip, grasp, >^ Ma, kap, "take under the arm or
with tweezers," Latin capio, habeo.

Gullet, P^ heu, gu, Sanscrit gola, Latia gula, German
hals, "neck."

Hate, f^ hwei, git.

He, ^ ¥i, gi, Latin Mc, Hebrew Xin.

Head, ^ Ma, kap, " coat of mail," " first in rank,"
" cover," ^ kai, kap, " covering on the top," caput,
K£^a\ij, kopf, haupt.

Hem (as a substantive), ^ kin, Mm, " hem of a
garment," "a boundary"; (as a verb) ^ kin. Mm, "to
prohibit," " restrain," Russian kaima.

High, ^ kau, kok, Latia celsus, German hock.

Hollow, ^ hii, ku, Latin cavus, German koiXoi;.

Hook, 1^ keu, kok.

Hoop (cooper), @ ku, kup.

Horn, ^ Mo, kak, Latin cornu, Greek Kepa<;, Hebrew
pp, Sanscrit §ringa, Persian shag.

Hot", ^ /e, «y«^, Mongol ^a/ow, Latin calidus, German

House, ^ Ma, ke, Latin casa, Mongol gere.

Humble, ^ Z;'«ew, ^'«m, Latin humilis.

Hymn, B^ 2/*Wj 9'*% " t° chant," Greek vfivo^.

I, ^ wgro, wgra, Latin ego, German ich.

Kick, ^ Ho, AaA, " foot," Welsh eic, " foot," wmw,
" kick."

King, g Mw, kun, "Welsh kun, " a chief," German
Konig.

LIST OF ENGLISH AND CHINESE COMMON WOEDS. 379

Lake, ^ che, dak, Latin locus.

Lamp, J; J Ian, lam, Greek Xa/iTra?.

Lath, ^ lie, lit, " to split," " a rent," or " slit."

Law, 3g li, li, leg, Latin lex, Greek Xoyo^.

Leaf, ^ He, dip, " butterfly," (so called from its leaf-
like wings,) ^ tie, dip, " fold one thing over another,"
Mongol lapc'hi, <' leaf."

Lick, ^ c'hang, dong, Latin lingo, linxi, Greek \ei%Q).

Long, ;g c'hang, dong, Latin longus.

Mill, ^ mo, ma, " grind," Latin mola.

Mother, -^ mu, mo, Greek firjTqp.

Much, ^ mo, mok, " abundant " (used in poetry).

Muck, J^ nw, mok, "dust."

Paint, ^^ piau, pik, " to draw," " to adorn," Latin
pictor, pix, pingo.

Pair, f£ p'ei, p'i, Latin par.

Part, glj pie, pit, bit, " to part from," " different,"
Latin joars, portio, partio, Hebrew 7"13, " he divided."

Paimch, ^ fu, bok, German bauch.

Peace, ^ p'ing, bang, " even," " peace," Latin pax.

Peel, jj^ p'i, ba, Latin pellis.

Peg, pierce, ^J " to pierce by setting on a spear."
Compare the words prick, pick, spoke, poke, pike, with the
Sanscrit pij, " kill," Greek iriKp6<s, Latin pungo, pugno,
German fechten.

Pledge, ^ p'ing, bang, " lean on," " proof," Latin
pignus, Geuaaa pflegen.

Pot, ^ pei, put, " cup," Sanscrit pdtra.

380 china's place in philology.

Prepare, ^ pei, bi, Mongol bekhu, Latin paro.

Put (in put forth), ^ fa, pat, " go forth," or " be
put forth."

Quiet, ^ Me, kit, Latin quies, quietis.

Quoth, f§ hwa, gwat, " say," " words," Sanscrit kath,
Latin cedo.

Reed, rod, ^ lu, lut, German rohr, Latin arundo.

Eight, Ig cKi, dik, " straight," Latin rectus, Greek
SiKMoi}, Sanscrit dakshina, " right."

Ring, ^ ling, ling, "collar."

Round, ^ ^M«, ^' revolve," " a wheel."

Row, i^ lu, lo, lot, " a scull," German ruder, " oar,"
Latin remus, remigo, Greek eper/io?.

Rude, ^ lu, lad, Latin rudis.

Rule, ^ U, " to govern," leg, Latin regula, rego, rex.

Sad, '|2^ foM«, dzot, " sorry."

Same, ^ t'san, t'sam, sum, "blend with," "be one
with," Latin similis.

Satisfy, ^ sM, shit, "fuU," "real," Latin satis.

Say, ||p su, sok, " tell," German sagen, saga.

Seed, ^ sa, sat, Latin sera, safo>", Sclavonic syet, "sow."

Seek, ^ so, sok, " seek," German suchen. Compare
search.

Self, g feii, dzi, zi, Latin se, German selbst.

Serve, "^ sKi, zhi, Latin servo, servus, Sanscrit shach,
" to serve," hri, " to serve."

Set, 12 she, shet, Latin sisto, sedeo, Hebrew H^tJ'.

Shed, ^ she, shed, " cottage," ^ sKi, shed, " house."

LIST OF ENGLISH AND CHINESE COMMON WOKDS. 381

To shed, ^ she, shed, "let go," "forgive."

Shine, ^ shen, shin, German scheinen, Latin candeo.

Shoot, ^ sKi, shed, "arrow," "to swear," Grerman

Sigh, ,g, si, sik, German sorge, Sanscrit suka, " air,"
" wind."

Sing, Ig sung, zung, " to chant," ^ sung, song,
"to praise."

Sister, ^ tsi, tsi, Latin soror.

Slay, ^ lu, lok, German schlachten, Anglo-Saxon
sleahan.

Small, ^ wei, mi, Latin minutus, minor, Russian
malo, Mongol baga.

Smell, ^ wei, mi, " odour," Persian bui.

Sot, ^ tsui, tsut, sol, " become intoxicated."

Sound, ^ t'siuen, zien, " sound," " whole," " all,"
Latin sanus, German gesund.

Sound (of voice), sheng, shang, Sanscrit sramana,
" hearer," Latin sonitus.

SpUt, g)J pie, pit, " to separate."

Spoke (of a wheel), % fu, pok.

Spread, ^ po, pat, "scatter," Latin pateo, " lie open,"
German breit, English broad, Mongol badaraho, "spread."

Stand, stood, ^ ta, dot, "tread upon," Japanese
tatta, " stand," Tamil tan, " stand," Latin sto.

Step, ^^ t'a, dap, " to step," Russian stupat.

Stick, ^ c'hu, t'ok, "pierce," Latin stigo, German
stechen.

382 china's place in philology.

Straight, ]|[ cKi, dik, Tamil takudi, "right," Latin
rectus, Greek SiKaio<i, "just."

Strike, ff ta, tang, Mongol tugsehu, " beat," Hebrew
}}pp\, "struck."

Strong, }(£ chwang, tong.

Suck, pj su, tso, sok, Latin sugo.

Suet, 8$ su, sot, " fat about the entrails."

Tablet, /fL and ^Ij cha, tap, " bamboo or wooden
tablets."

Take off, ^ che, tak.

Take on the person, ^ tai, tak.

Tap, tapestry, ^ c'ha, t'ap, " pierce," " prick,"
"embroider," German teppich, French tapis, English
tap a tree or a barrel.

That, the, this, ^ ti, di, " this," Jf che, te, " this."

Through, j^ t'eu, t'ok, "thorough."

Throw, ^ t'eu, du, dut, ^ tieu, to.

To, ^ij tau, to.

Tongue, ^ c'hang, dung, "to taste," Latin lingo, lingua.

Trickle, fg ti, tik.

Turn, |§ chwen, tun.

Vain (that which is empty and unsubstantial), ^ yen,
in, " smoke," ^ yun, on, " cloud," Latin vanus, anima,
English vanish.

Wash, f^ yil, yok, Mongol ogahu.

We, ^ yii, wu, " I."

When, where, whichj who, fpj Ao, ^fl, " what ? "
^ ki, ka, " how many ? "

LIST OF ENGLISH AND CHINESE COMMON WOEBS. 383

Wicked, ^ ngo, ak.

"Wind, ^ wan, " a bending," " to bend."

Wish, /^ yu, yok, Latin volo.

Word, yue, wat, " say," German wort.

Yoke (that which connects), ^"fj yo, yak, " agree,"
"agreement," Jjatin j'ugum, jungo, Greek ^evyo^.

This vocabulary of 153 words is taken almost exclu-
sively from the Saxon part of the English language.
The few words of Latin origin which occur might as
well be placed in a Latin list, but as they form part
and parcel of our English tongue they have also a right
to be here.'

The old pronunciation of the Chinese words is indis-
pensable in the comparison, and has been inserted in
one or two forms.

Most of the words are such as belong to the pith and
marrow of language, and are not unlikely to be really
primeval.

A considerable difference in meaning, such as occurs,
for example, under the words " vain," " shed," " leaf,"
" shoot," is not a fatal objection to the identification of
the words, because of the great lapse of time since the
ancestors of the Chinese and English spoke a common
language.

The great advantage of the comparison of roots of

' For further examples, see Profeasor Haldeman's Eelations between
the Chinese and Indo-European Languages, p. 13, and Chalmers's Origin
of the Chinese.

384 china's place in philology.

the European stock with those of the Chinese lies in
the fact of the great antiqidty of both. By lists such
as those compiled by Eichhoff in his work on Compara-
tive Grammar, English words are carried back to a
period about two thousand years before the Christian
era, because the Hindoo family cannot well have entered
the Indian peninsula later, and the identification of the
English and Sanscrit vocabularies is well established.
But the Chinese vocabulary can be traced by the aid
derived from the phonetic elements of the characters to
a time equally ancient. During the lapse of four or
five millenniums, the roots must be expected to appear
not without some considerable modifications in the
sense. When they are verbs in China, they may be
nouns in England, and vice versd. The existence of
these difierences thus adds increased certainty to the
identification.

CHAPTEE XIV.

Conclusion. .— Pkimetal Aryan Civhization as Known from
Lanqtjagb. — The Common Civilization of Aryans and Chinese
MAT BE Known from Language in the same Way. — Activity
OF the Third Millennium b.c. — Ethnology of Genesis X.
Compared with the Modern Distribution of Eaces. —
Characteristics of Families : The Chinese, Order ; The
Semitic, Life ; The Himalaio, Quietness ; The Turanian,
Extension; The Malato-Polynesian, Softness; The Indo-
European, Elevation ; All op One Blood. — Proof from
Polynesian and American Traditions. — Resume.— Duty of
Christians to Asia.

Sufficient proof has already been given that a
vocabulary of common words is just as possible for
Europe and Eastern Asia as for Europe- and India.
If language proves that the English race is akin to
the Hindoo, it also shows that it is akin to the Chinese.
Philologists have shown that historical data may be
recovered from the common vocabulary of the Indo-
European family. Before their separation into Hindoo
and Persian, Goth and Sclave, Greek and Latin, the
Aryan race had towns and fortified places, reared cattle
and ploughed the ground. They possessed as domestic
animals the horse, swine, ox, dog, sheep,, and goat ; '

' Whitney's Lectures on Language; Max Mullet's Lectures, first course,
p. 223.

25

386 china's place in philology.

they built ships ; they wove cloth ; they lived in houses ;
they mined the earth for metals; they counted to a
hundred; they recognized the social duties and the
family bonds.

Similar results flow, as shown in the last chapter,
from an examination of the European and Chinese
common vocabulary. We find there words used in the
west for the horse, ox, dog, and domestic fowl. The
boat was known, but not the ship. Weaving was
practised, and was called by the same name by the
Chinese as by the Latins. Wheels and carts were in
use. Corn was ground with mill-stones. Wooden
bowls were employed for holding food. The processes
of sowing and reaping were known by the same simple
names. The same is true of some useful' vegetable pro-
ductions. The Arabic word for flax, kuttan, is like the
Chinese kot. The old Chinese had three words for
houses of difierent sizes, corresponding to the European
oIko^, cot, and shed.

If a complete comparative vocabulary were drawn up
for each division of the Indo-European family, including
the Celtic, Lithuanian, and Armenian, we should be in
possession of all the important words in the primitive
language spoken at the time when in the earth " there
was one language and one speech." Roots which have
survived the destroyiag efiects of time through four
thousand years may be assumed to have lived through
the preceding period without much difficulty. The

ACTIVITY OF THE THIRD MILLENIUM B.C. 387

vitality of roots is most remarkable, and nothing brings
it more vividly into view than the fact of their con-
temporaneous existence through so many ages at the
extreme ends of Europe and Asia. Perhaps five
hundred roots would satisfy the wants of the first men.

The activity of the language-forming faculty was at
its maximum during the period when the distribution
of nations took place. At b.c. 2000 most of the races
were settled in the regions they now occupy. Since
that time the language-forming faculty has limited
itself to the evolution of new languages out of old ones.
Before that epoch the formation of the families took
place, and for this result a space of 1500 years is not
too much.

During the 1500 years which seem to have inter-
vened between the Deluge and the final settlement of
the races, bands of colonists were traversing every
region of the vast inheritance assigned by Providence
to the human family. The energy and enterprise
revealed in the mighty emigrations of those times,
were paralleled by an intense intellectual activity,
which rapidly and unconsciously traced the outline of
the linguistic systems which have ever since prevailed
in the two continents of Europe and Asia. What are
now families were then languages, and they were
cognate to one another as branches from the same
stock.

This time of busy activity is described in the tenth

388 china's place in philology.

and eleventh chapters of the Book of G-enesis, which
constitute the most valuable record we possess for
primeval ethnology. Independent investigation leads
us to the same period, described in the Bible as that
"when the earth was divided." The Confusion of
Tongues at Babel marks the time when the families
of language now existing became separated. Patient
inquiry leads to the support of the Scriptural statement,
and throws light upon it. It seems to refer specially
to the separation of the Semites, Turanians, Indo-
Europeans, and a part of the Himalaic race, for the
rest of the families had probably already left the
Mesopotamian region.

The object of the compiler of the tenth chaptei; was
ethnological as well as genealogical, for Mizraim's seven
sons are rather, as the plural termination indicates,
seven races, and Canaan is said to be the father of
eleven races.

As Cush had an eastern and western branch, so other
races, usually located in the west, may also have an
eastern habitat. The name Bod, common to several
races in Eastern Asia, ought, as already said in a former
chapter, to be compared with Phut, the name of the
third son of Ham.

The Confusion of Tongues was followed by the do-
mination of the Semite language, from Elam in Western
Persia to Lydia in Asia Minor, and from Assyria to
Sheba and Ophir in the south of the Arabian penin-

GENESIS TENTH AND MODERN ETHNOLOGY. 389

aula. Striking traces of Semite influence are found in
the Zend, the Persian, and all the Himalaic languages.

The race of Ham extended into Africa. It fringed
the sea-coast from Arabia Felix to the Indus, following
the line of Cushite settlements. It then seems to have
spread eastward, including the area of the Bod stock
and that of China.

Modem research finds no place for the Turanians
or the Malayo-Polynesians among the names of the
descendants of the sons of Noah.' If they are to be
included in the range of the tenth chapter of Genesis,
it must be without the light ' of race names. The
Scripture record is silent. To the inspired writers
" they are the nations that sat in darkness " and " the
uttermost parts of the earth." The links of connexion
are lost, and they have created no ancient literature
that might have served as a guide.

The linguistic proof, however, remains to show that
they are of the common human stock. The Turanians
are most nearly connected with the Japhetic languages,
as the Himalaic and Malayo-Polynesian are with the
Semitic.

Thus we seem to have the Japhetic influence in the
northern half of Eastern Asia, as that of Shem and
Ham in the southern half. In the Pacific Ocean, Japan

1 The word Mongol may be compared with Magog, and Togm-mah with
the Turks and Tungua. The race name of the Japanese is Wo, which,
as not having a consonant in it, is most nearly like Jaran,

390 china's place in philology.

represents Japheth, and tlie Polynesian Archipelago,
with Australasia, combine to spread Semite principles
of language, r

On the American continent, Turanian and Polynesian
linguistic principles meet in the various Indian lan-
guages. New combinations are formed. But the
peculiarities of the languages have not been found
sufficiently distinctive to form a thoroughly satisfactory
■division into families. Yet it has been generally
agreed to classify them as northern, central, and
southern.

The characteristics of the six families of languages
reviewed in the preceding chapters are, in the Chinese
order, in the Semitic life, in the Himalaic quietness,
in the Turanian extension, in the Malayo-Polynesian
softness, and in the Indo-European elevation.

The love of order shown by the Chinese in their
political and social sphere is found also in their lan-
guage. The musical effect of the tones on the ear is
parallel to the rigid laws of arrangement in their
syntax. Antiquity prevails over novelty, and mono-
syllabism has retained its empire among them, through
a conservative principle, which has thus, happily for
science, secured to us a copy more like the original
mother of languages than can be found in any other
land. The accuracy of the Chinese picture of that
lost tongue, which it is the highest duty of philology
to restore, is in proportion to the restraining force

CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES. 391

which among the Chinese has always hindered deTelop-
ment. That restraint has been caused partly by
a feeling of art, which pleased itself with simple
triumphs and the retention of the antique ; and partly
from want of the poetic impulse, which in more
western regions has had so powerful an influence on
the advance of language.

The principle of life characterizes remarkably the
Semitic languages. The Koran and the Bible are
replete with poetic expression. The people among
whom these books originated were accustomed to look
on the world with the poet's eye. This impulse was
imparted to them by their possession of early revela-
tion ; and its eflect was to modify, first, their language,
and afterwards their literature, by rapid transitions,
personifications, and the breaking up of natural order,
so as to place them in complete contrast to the linguistic
and literary development of Eastern Asia. The poetic
spirit of the Semites probably originated the Indo-
European mythology, as it did the more imaginative
part of the Indo-European languages. Where the
distinctions of gender are found in nouns, there will
also be found male and female divinities with names
and genealogies. The same feeling for personification,
perhaps, has impressed on the Hamitic languages and
systems of thought whatever features they possess of a
kindred kind. The Hamites were a materialistic race,
working patiently at trades and land cultivation. They

392 china's place in philology.

were farmers and artificers, and they appear to have
originated writing. "With such tastes they would not
create the mythology which prevailed in Babylon and
Egypt. Semite influence may be pointed to as a more
likely source of their religious ideas, as it would be
also of much of their grammar.

The Himalaic peoples from Tibet to Cochin-China
are characterized in their language, and in their
history, by nothing so much as quietness. They have
founded no institutions, originated no arts. They
have received without giving. Their religion came
from India and is Indo-European. Their arts were
borrowed from China. The Tibetians have taken some
elements in their language from the Semites, others
from the Turanians, and others, again, from the
Chinese. The Himalaic race are more thoroughly
Buddhist than any other linguistic family. A contem-
plative religion, opposed to activity, pleased them
because it agreed with their natural disposition. Its
effect on them has been to confirm them in their quiet
ways of thinking. They can never produce any im-
press on history till they abandon this inactive and
gentle religion.

The Turanian race has played in the world a much
more important part than those who reside east and
north of the Himalayan Mountains. In the fifth
century, the Huns under Attila were named " The
scourge of God'" ; and in the thirteenth century, the

CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES. 393

Mongols were the conquerors of all Asia and the dread
of all Europe. Occupying Siberia, North Europe,
Japan, Tartary, and South India, they won for them-
selves a good title to the name of Japheth " the extender."
In harmony with this name are the characteristics of
their language. They founded the polysyllable and
the most widely used system in the world of oases,
tenses, and moods. They thus added immensely to the
progress of language, by the simple process of ap-
pending syllables to roots by agglutination. The
language- forming faculty then applied itself to the crys-
tallization of these polysyllabic forms into the grammat-
ical paradigms which belong to the several languages
respectively of the Turanian and Indo-European stocks.

The characteristic of the Malayo-Polynesian lan-
guages is softness. The primitive monosyllable became
a dissyllable by the enervating effect of climate. The
initial consonant formed the first syllable and the final
the second. Agglutination proceeded on the same
principle to work out the Oceanic polysyllable. Every-
thing favoured an easy pronunciation adapted to a race
accustomed to lassitude and contented to deteriorate.
A people having a very soft language can never elevate
themselves imless under new conditions, such as the
introduction of Christianity.

The last of the series, the Indo-European, is remark-
able for elevation. This system is built on those that
went before, and in many respects combines and per-

394 china's place in philology.

fects their peculiar excellences. The topmost branches
of the tree of language, those that spread widest and
aspire highest, are the Indo-European. It is this race
that has led the mind of the world in science and
philosophy, and its language constitutes the most fitting
vehicle for the transmission of scientific and philosophic
thought. The monosyllabic languages are the lower
branches, thick and of great length, but with no bend
upwards. The dissyllabic modes of human speech are
higher and are turned heavenwards. The earlier poly-
syllabic languages have a vast extension, but not much
upward curvature. The chief beauty of the tree is in
its higher foliage. Here are seen the greatest variety
of picturesque effects, the most vigorous growth, the
most elegant forms, the most imposing altitude. All
the branches, however, upper or lower, proceed from
one trunk.

" Grod hath made of one blood all nations of men for
to dwell on all the face of the earth." "When the
European goes into the other continents of the world,
as traveller, colonist, missionary, and civilizer, he meets
everywhere with men of the same race. " But what
have "we in common with the Turanians, with Chinese,
and Samoyedes ? Very little it may seem : and yet it
is not very little, for it is our common humanity. It is
not the yellow skin, or the high cheek-bones, that
make the man. Nay, if we look but steadily into those
black Chinese eyes, we shall find that there, too, there

LANGUAGE SHOWS THE EACES TO BE ONE. 395

is a soul that responds to a soul, and that the God
whom they mean is the same Grod whom we mean,
however helpless their utterance, however imperfect
their worship."^ Language proves them to be one
with ourselves. The black, the yellow, the copper-
coloured, and the brown races come of one stock. If
the yellow and the white can by linguistic proofs be
shown to be one, the presumption will be strong that
the same is true of all. The evidence is more accessible
in the case of the yellow race than of the rest, because
they have an ancient literature and a writing by means
of ideographic signs, of which the phonetic values are
known. With the less civilized races we have not this
advantage. Their languages are perpetually changing,
and we cannot recover their ancient forms. But if the
diffeuences between a white and a yellow skin, an
upright and a receding forehead, a Caucasian and a
Mongolian head, a large blue eye, set deep, and a small
black eye, set on the surface, are not conclusive against
consanguinity, so neither must it be allowed that a
black or red skin, proves descent from a different Adam.
If Adam were the progenitor of Caucasians only, as
held by M'Causland,^ we should not find European
roots existing in abundance in the Chinese vocabulary.

' Max Miiller, Lectures on the Science of Beligion.

2 Adam and the Adamites, 1864. Dr. M'Causland has felt strongly the
force of the stone hatchet argument. But the right way to proceed is
rather to make mutual concessions in chronology.

396 china's place in philology.

Nor should we meet the old type of the Aryan pro-
nouns and the Aryan system of accidence in Turanian
languages still spoken in Tartary and Siberia.

If the Polynesians were not of Asiatic origin, we
should not find proofs of their syllabic system being
based upon an old Asiatic syllabary and their laws of
syntax all formed on Asiatic models. Man cannot
retain his civilization and morality when isolated — he
will cease to practise old arts, he will forget facts once
familiar to him, his religious ideas will become dim,
his range of thought wiU. in each successive century
grow more limited, and he wiU fall into habits which
are immoral and debasing. That the Polynesians are
now inferior to the Japanese and Chinese is the effect
of their distant wanderings, and is an argument for the
propriety of offering to them early the blessings of
religious and moral teaching, with instruction in the
arts of civilized man.

The religion of the Polynesians is more like that of
the Brahmans than of the Buddhists, and there were
probably communicated to them, in early times, from
India, some features of the Hindoo faith. Who can
Tiki be but Sakra ? What can be the paradise of
Tiki, as believed in by the Samoans, but the thirty-
third heaven of Sakra ? At any rate i is changed
into t quite commonly in the cognate languages spoken
on the Birman peninsula. Yet the Samoan belief in a
Supreme Gfod, called Tangoloa reminds us strongly of

rI:stjme. 397

the Mongol and, Turkish faith in Tengri, and that of the
Chinese in Tien. The addition of the two consonants
g, r, is Turanianj and it was apparently from the
Turanians, therefore, that faith in the Supreme Being
under this name was derived. The worship of an-
cestors, common in the South Seas, would be learned
from the Chinese ; while the human sacrifices, which
also existed among them to a frightful extent, ^ must be
viewed as Turanian, — for in some parts of India the
aborigines are, under British eyes, only beginning to
allow this practice to faU into desuetude, — or they are
Semitic, and are of the same origin as the sacrifices to
Moloch condemned in the Old Testament.

Let the reader now recall the successive steps of this
investigation from the commencement. The old insti-
tutions of China were shown to be like those of the
renowned cities of ancient Mesopotamia. It was stated
that the remarkable similarity in arts, usages, and
ideas, existing among the races that lived near the
YeUow Eiver, the Euphrates, and the Nile, indicated
that they sprang from a common source.

After briefly glancing at the geographical areas of
the families of languages spoken in Asia, a sketch was
drawn of their most general features, as constituting a
rough picture of the world's primeval language. The
roots are recoverable in a monosyUabio form. They
were chiefly imitations of natural sounds, and were
1 ■Williams's Missionary Enterprizes.

398 china's place in philology.

increased by the aid of tlie principle of the association
of ideas. Special divine aid was afforded to primeval
man in the task of forming for himself a language.

In the chapter on the Chinese language, after it had
been shown that the conditions of the situation would
be best suited by supposing the Chinese to have left
Western Asia about 5,000 years ago, and yet subse-
quently to the Deluge of Noah, the mode of recovering
the primeval Chinese syllabary from the phonetic
element of the characters was described. The syntax,
so accordant with nature and innocent of inversions,
was seen to be of the most primeval type.

The next step in the progress of language was taken
in the formation of the Semitic language. The people
who used Semite speech added a consonant to the root,
introduced prefixes to mark conjugations and moods,
invented a plural and dual number, originated genders
among nouns not properly masculine or feminine, and
revolutionized the syntax.

In speaking of the languages used in the region
south of China, it was seen that while their tones,
their syllabaries, and their vocabulary, connect them
closely with China, their syntax links them remarkably
with the Semitic type. WhUe this is the case with the
Siamese, the Cochin-Chinese, and the Miau aborigines
in China itself, some stiU more striking Semitic charac-
teristics belong to the Tibetan language. Though its
tones, roots, and radical syllabary show it to be akin to

RESUME. 399

the Chinese, and its syntax and case suffixes prove its
relationship to the Turanian type, its mode of conju-
gating verbs and its consonantal prefixes are Semite,
and seem to point for their origin to a time earlier than
the Aryan occupation of India and Persia, which drove
the Semites and Turanians from their neighbourhood
on the west and south.

The Japanese received special attention as the oldest
of the polysyllabic languages in Asia, and it was shown
how case particles grew into existence by agglutination,
the syllables made use of for this purpose being words
existing as separate roots in Chinese and other lan-
guages.

The second division of the polysyllabic Turanian
system was described as the Dravidian. The growth
of the verb by agglutination was here traced, and a
growing resemblance in vocabulary and grammar to the
western type found to be perceptible.

The greatest likeness and nearest kiaship between
the Indo-European languages and the threefold Tu-
ranian type was proved to exist in the Tartar, of which
Mongol was taken as the best representative. Here it
was shown that the pronoims and substantive verbs,
declension of nouns, and verb conjugation of western
speech, rest chiefly upon the Tartar branch of the
Turanian family as their source and foimdation.

The Malays and Polynesians have a syllabary and
vocabulary which was evidently once continental, The

400 china's place in philology.

Malay and Siamese are specially connected witli eacli
other, while Chinese influence in the principles pre-
vailing in the Polynesian languages is very perceptible.
These islanders retain traces of a lost civilization, which
comes more prominently to view on the American
continent. Language and religious beliefs alike point
to Southern Asia as the source from which came
the tribes that inhabit Australia, Polynesia, and the
civilized portion of the American tribes.

The sudden expansion of language observable in
Sanscrit, as compared with the preceding systems,
indicates the commencement of a new era of develop-
ment, characterized by unparalleled richness of forms.
This new advance proceeds on principles already
existing in older systems. In introducing gender in
nouns, and sex in mythology, Semitic example was
followed. So, also, the prefix of sibilants in the root
and the insertion of r and I after the initial of the
primeval syllable seem to have come from the same
source. But in all the newer portions of the Sanscrit
grammatical formation we find laws prevailing which
also characterize Turanian languages. Case suffixes,
the verb, and the syntax, bear united testimony to this
statement. But there is a more highly wrought
appearance in the forms. Agglutination has become
inflexion. Root and suffix are fused into a closer
imion. The advance in analytical acuteness, which was
after a few centuries to culminate in the creation of

RESUME. 401

Hindoo philosophy, is first seen in the minute sub-
divisions of the verb paradigms. The adjective was
now for the first time declined like the substantive, and
the relative pronoun began to exert some of that power
which it has more fully assumed in the European
languages.

When the speech of ancient and modern Europe was
brought under our review, it was found, as in Sanscrit,
that the principles of older languages were working
underneath the surface. But they appeared ia new
combinations suited to the mental conditions of the
successive races who have in that favoured continent
wrought out such a marvellous history in the political,
social, and intellectual ^sphere. Greece, happily placed
in the vicinity of the ancient empires, was able early to
derive from them the seeds of progress. CarefuUy
nurturing these, she was seen to develope with as-
tonishing rapidity those creations in poetry, science,
history, and philosophy, which the world wiU never
cease to admire. A language and literature so beau-
tiful and complete as the Greek could never have
originated but from the happy combination of fruitful
principles, derived from the pre-existing systems of
language and thought. The Latin, the Teutonic, and
the Sclavonic forms of language were each modified by
special elements, contributed in varied proportion from
the same sources.

In all these languages, early changes foreshadowed

26

402 china's place in philology.

later ones, and new phenomena exemplify over again
what took place long ago. When we say, " Alfred
the Grreat," we use a French idiom, dating from the
Norman Conquest ; and among our Saxon idioms, old
and new, forming the major part of the language,
Turanian modes of expression may be pointed out,
which at some distant time, when our ancestors lived
near the Caspian, found their way into colloquial use in
some similar manner. For the English, " and came
before him," the Anglo-Saxon Gospels have, in Mark vi.
33, " and him beforan comon." These words are
exactly in the order of Manchu and Mongol syntax.

How great are the linguistic accessions to European
speech received from far Asia has been shown by exam-
ples of common words. They are enough to make plain
that the vocabularies of the east and west are essentially
the same. This identity dates from a time previous to
the settlement of the Chinese in China and the Mongols
in Mongolia. Philology may here safely take her
stand, and add a chapter of illustration to the sacred
record, where it treats of the division of the earth and
the planting of nations.

It is the duty, as it is the destiny, of the nations of
Europe to give back to the east the treasure of heavenly
light which they once received from it. To Asia they
owe the first impulses to thought, the earliest lessons
in the arts, the invention of writing, and the price-
less deposit of divine revelation. "Freely ye have

DUTY OF THE WEST TO ENLIGHTEN THE EAST. 403

received," says tlie Saviour, " freely give." Their
higher mental elevation and their richer stores of
knowledge fit them to be the instructors of the old
world; and to this undertaking Divine Providence is
leading them by unmistakable signs. England has
received the rule of .India for this purpose, that she
may become the teacher and evangeliaer of India.
Commerce and war have opened the gates of China,
that Christian truth may enter them. All new fapts,
therefore, should be welcome that tend to show that
the Chinese are one with us in origin, and that their
history, their institutions, their language even, derive
their source, as ours do, from Western Asia. Let the
kindly sympathy of the west for the east be the more
called forth as the proofs of common brotherhood are
accumulated.

THE END.

STEPHEN AUSTIN AND BOHS, PEINTKRS, HERTFOKB.