OF THE LENNT LENAPE INDIANS. 83 



Thus in one word the In lian woman says to the animal. 

 Thij pretty little jiuw ! and according to the tone in which 

 she speaks, and the gestures which she makes, either calls 

 upon it to present its foot, or simply expresses her fondling 

 admiration. In the same manner I'ilape, a youth, is formed 

 from Pihit. chaste, innocent, and Lenape. a man*. It is dif- 

 ficult to find a more elegant combination of ideas in a single 

 Word of any existing idiom. 



I do not know of any language out of this part of the 

 woild in which words are compounded in this manner. The 

 process consists in putting together portions of different 

 womIs so as 10 awaken at the same lime in the mind of the 

 bearer the various ideas which they separately express. 

 There are prohahly principles or rules pout ins; out the 

 particular parts that are to he selected in order to form 

 the compound locution. Sometimes a whole syllable, 

 and perhaps more; so netimes a single sound, or, as we 

 Would call it. a single letter': to discover those rules 

 would require a great proficiency in the language, and at 

 tin same time a very sound discriminating mind ; qualities 

 which are seldom found united ; perhaps also the ear, an 

 Indian ear. is the guide which is generally followed: but the 

 ear has also its rules, to which the mind imperceptibly con- 

 foims: however it may he, this is an interestimc fact in the 

 natural history of human language, justly entitled to the atten- 

 tion of philologists. 



This is not the only manner in which the American In- 

 dians combine their ideas into words. They also have 

 many of the forms of the languages which we so much ad- 

 mire, the Latin, Greek, Sanscrit. Slavonic, fyc. mixed with 

 others peculiarly their own. Their conjugations are as re- 

 gular as those of any language that we know; and for 

 the proof of i is I need only to refer to the nu neroua 

 paradigms of Delaware verbs thai are contained in this 

 grammar, in which will he found the .justly admired in- 



• M.S. letter of Mr Heckewelder, 22d uf October 1818. 



