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the German must be left to the great philologists of that nation. But, generally speaking, it would seem, as if the progress of language, in a more advanced state of civilization, had a tendency towards lessening inflections and rendering it more analytical.*

The introduction of the alphabet in Russia and her conversion to Christianity belong to the tenth century; and we have translations of the Bible and of various church books, written in the ancient Slavonic, almost immediately after those events took place. They are therefore the true representation of that which till then had been only an oral language. There again we find inflections, less numerous perhaps in the verbs, but more so in the cases of nouns, of which there are seven.

These various facts, combined, sustain the opinion, that the grammatical forms, found in polished languages, had their origin at a very remote epoch, and that, having impressed a distinct character upon each, they have not been materially changed by the introduction of writing and by the progress of knowledge. Although the early formation of languages must ever remain a subject of conjecture, we may yet say, that there is nothing inconsistent in that opinion with the manner in which we may rationally suppose that they were formed. After names had been given to visible objects and to most common actions, the foundation being laid in nouns and verbs, the necessity, for an intelligible communication of ideas, of expressing the relations existing between things and actions and the modifications to which they were subject, must have given rise to some expedient for that purpose. Since there were several means for effecting the object, the modes resorted to by different people have varied. But whatever mode might be adopted, the necessity for such expedient was the same in the earliest stages of society as at this day. Grammatical forms were as necessary, for the most common purposes, and when the knowledge of man and his sphere of ideas were most limited, as in the most

In the English, in the French and other languages of Latin origin, the substitution of the principle of position, for that of inflection, is sufficiently visible. The most general and conspicuous effect has been the annihilation, save only in the pronouns, of the inflections denoting the case of the noun governed by the verb. As these have been preserved in the Slavonian languages, it may be inferred, that the mixture of idioms has had a great share in producing that effect. May not the changes in the modern Greek be partly ascribed to the influence of the Italian?

advanced state of civilization. Notwithstanding the great progress of knowledge during the last four centuries, though new words have been introduced and others become obsolete, though languages have been polished and adorned, the grammatical forms remain the same as they were four hundred years ago, and have been found sufficient for the communication of new ideas and of all that may have been added to our knowledge. The most uneducated men, those who in Europe speak only patois of the written language, deviate from the established rules of grammar, but use grammatical forms to the same extent as the best masters of the language. It seems indeed obvious, that the tendency of a written language is to give it stability, rather than to change its nature; and I believe that experience shows, that the changes have everywhere applied much more to words than to grammar.

Although we cannot say, why or how it happened, that the relations existing between things and actions, the qualifications of the things, and the modifications of the action were expressed, in some languages by new words invented for that special purpose, and in others by changes of termination, insertion of abbreviated particles or words compounded in different ways, we easily understand how the principle, which was once introduced, must gradually have extended its influence over the whole language. Analogy is sufficient to explain all the phenomena, after an innovation suggested by necessity had been generally adopted; and there is no difficulty in conceiving, how a peculiar character was thus impressed on each language from its earliest formation.

Every innovation in language must, in the first instance, have been the work of some one individual, to whom it was suggested by the necessity of finding some new means in order to render himself intelligible. After names, till then inflexible, had been given to visible objects, and to the generality of actions, the man, who first thought of expressing the qualification or modification of either, or their relation, by a mere variation in the word, was an inventor. It is very natural to suppose, that that variation consisted at first in blending together two words, either entire or abbreviated. But, whatever the process may have been, the inventors were not philosophers. The invention was suggested by necessity, adopted on account of its convenience and utility, and extended to similar cases by analogy. The inventors, and those who adopted the innovation, were equally

unaware of its ultimate and extensive consequences, and of the character it would impress on the whole language. It may be doubted, whether the utmost sagacity of men could have anticipated those effects, and whether a more perfect language could, even at this day, be formed by the most learned philologists, than any that has been produced by what may be called natural causes.

If, from all the facts which we can collect, it appears that inflections and compounded words have been, amongst the natural and common means, resorted to in the most ancient times by other nations, for an intelligible and full communication of their ideas; if it is also natural to suppose, that, where not regulated by writing and eminent writers, the application of the principle may have become superabundant and excessive; there is not, it seems, sufficient reason for inferring from the peculiar character of the languages of the Indians, that they had their origin in a state of society, differing from that which was found to exist in North America, when discovered by the Europeans.

APPENDIX.

VOL. II.

27

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