84 GRAMMAR OF THE LANGUAGE 



flections of the languages of ancient Europe. Although 

 they do not appear to have the numerous tenses which 

 the Greek boasts of, they are not, however, deficient in 

 the expression of the relations of the present, past, and 

 future to each other. There is no shade of idea in respect 

 to the time, place, and manner of action which an Indian 

 verb cannot express, and the modes of expression which 

 they make use of for those purposes are so numerous, that 

 if they were to be considered as parts of the conjugation of 

 each verb, one single paradigm might fill a volume. Thus 

 n'mitzi signifies I eat, in a general sense, and n'mamitzi. I am 

 eating at this moment. Each of these verbs is separately 

 conjugated in all its forms. 



Indeed, the multitude of ideas which in the Indian lan- 

 guages are combined with the verb has justly attracted the 

 attention of the learned in all parts of the world. It is not 

 their transitive conjugations expressing at the same time 

 the idea of the person acting, and that acted upon, that have 

 excited so much astonishment. They are found also, though 

 not with the same rich variety of forms, in the Hebrew 

 and other oriental languages. But when two verbs with 

 intermediate ideas are combined together into one, as in 

 the Delaware n'schitighuipoma, I do not like to eat with 

 him*, which the Abbe Molina also declares to exist in the 

 idiom of Chili f; there is sufficient cause to wonder, particu- 

 larly when we compare the complication of these languages 

 with the simplicity of-the Chinese and its kindred dialects in 

 the ancient world. Whence can have arisen such a marked 

 diversity in the forms of human speech ? 



Nor is it only with the verbs that accessary ideas are so 

 curiously combined in the Indian languages ; it is so likewise 

 with the other ports of speech. Take the adverb for in- 

 stance. The abstract idea of time is frequently annexed to 

 it. Thus if the Delawares mean to say, If you do not return, 



* Hist Trans, p. xxvi. 



f Iduancloclavin, I do not wish to eat with him." Hist, of Chili. 

 Append, on the Chilian Language. 



