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POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



The Origin of Languages. — Mr. Horatio 

 Hale, in his address at the American Asso- 

 ciation, on " The Origin of Languages and 

 the Antiquity of Speaking Man," reviewed 

 the theories that have been offered on the 

 former title of his subject, and declared 

 them all unsatisfactory ; for none of them 

 can be made to account adequately and 

 consistently for the number and diversities 

 of the languages that prevail among men. 

 And yet, he declares — and confirms his asser- 

 tion with evidence that seems almost as clear 

 as it is novel and interesting — that while 

 some of the ablest reasoners have thus been 

 groping vaguely and blindly, in wrong direc- 

 tions, for the solution of this problem, 

 and while others have given it up in despair, 

 " the simple and sufficient explanation has 

 been lying close at hand, awaiting only, like 

 many other discoveries in science, the ob- 

 servation of some facts of common occur- 

 rence to bring it to light." It is derived 

 from two sets of observations, dating from 

 nearly twenty years ago, which were pub- 

 lished, one in 18G8, and the other some ten 

 years later, without attracting much atten- 

 tion. But they proved full of suggestion 

 to the author, and led him to the conclusion, 

 to which they seemed to point with irresist- 

 ible force, "that the origin of linguistic 

 stock is to be found in what may be termed 

 the language-making instinct of very young 

 children. From numerous cases, of which 

 the history has been traced, it appears that, 



when two children, who are just beginning 

 to speak, arc left much together, they some- 

 times invent a complete language, sufficient 

 for all purposes of mutual intercourse, and 

 yet totally unintelligible to their parents and 

 others about them." One of the observa- 

 tions was published by Miss E. H. Watson, 

 of Boston, in 1878, and related to two chil- 

 dren, twin-boys, in a suburb of Boston, who 

 at the usual age, as she tells the story, " be- 

 gan to talk, but strange to say, not their 

 ' mother-tongue.' They had a language of 

 their own, and no pains could induce them 

 to speak anything else. It was in vain that 

 a little sister, five years older than they, 

 tried to make them speak their native lan- 

 guage as it would have been. They persist- 

 ently refused to utter a syllable of English. 

 Not even the usual first words, ' papa,' 

 ' mamma,' ' father,' ' mother,' it is said, did 

 they ever speak ; and ■ • ■ they were nev- 

 er known during this interval to call their 

 mother by that name. They had their own 

 name for her, but never the English." While 

 they had the usual affections for their par- 

 ents, etc., they seemed to be otherwise com- 

 pletely taken up and absorbed with each 

 other. "The children had not yet been to 

 school ; for, not being able to speak their 

 ' own English,' it seemed impossible to send 

 them from home. They thus passed the 

 days, playing and talking together in their 

 own speech, with all the liveliness and volu- 

 bility of common children." They had regu- 

 lar words, and "even in that early stage, 

 the language was complete and full ; that 

 is, it was all that was needed." Finally, 

 there seeming to be no hope that they were 

 going to learn " their own tongue," it was 

 concluded, when they were six or seven years 

 old, to send them to school. " For a week," 

 as the lady teacher described, to whom they 

 were sent, " they were perfectly mute ; not 

 a sound could be heard from them, but they 

 sat with their eyes intently fixed upon the 

 children, seeming to be watching their every 

 motion — and, no doubt, listening to every 

 sound. At the end of that time they were 

 induced to utter some words, and gradu- 

 ally and naturally they began, for the first 

 time, to learn their ' native English.' With 

 this accomplishment, the other began, also 

 naturally, to fade away, until the memory, 

 with the use of it, passed from their minds." 



