Brinton.] t)U [Oct. 2, 



to verbals, by which the nominal or pronominal elements of the 

 proposition are subordinated to the verbal elements, either in 

 form or position ; in the former case having no independent 

 existence in the language in the form required by the verb, and 

 in the latter case being included within the specific verbal signs 

 of tense and mood. In a fully incorporative language the ver- 

 bal exhausts the syntax of the grammar, all other parts of speech 

 remaining in isolation and without structural connection. 



Holophrasis does not refer to structural peculiarities of lan- 

 guage, but to the psychological impulse which lies at the root of 

 polysynthesis and incorporation. It is the same in both instances 

 — the effort to express the whole proposition in one word. This 

 in turn is instigated by the stronger stimulus which the imagi- 

 nation receives from an idea conveyed in one word rather than 

 in many. 



These words, when understood, are good enough, without in- 

 venting others. Professor Julien Yinson would like to substitute 

 " syncopated composition " for polysynthesis.* But the process 

 is not simply syncopated composition ; and if it were, why sub- 

 stitute two words for one ? 



A few illustrations will aid in impressing these definitions on 

 the mind. 



As poly synthetic elements, we have the inseparable possessive 

 pronouns which in many languages are attached to the names of 

 the parts of the human body and to the words for near relatives ; 

 also the so-called "generic formatives," particles which are pre- 

 fixed, suffixed, or inserted to indicate to what class or material 

 objects belong ; also the " numeral terminations " affixed to the 

 ordinal numbers to indicate the nature of the objects counted ; 

 the negative, diminutive and amplificative particles which convey 

 certain conceptions of a general character, and so on. These are 



* " Lc polysynthf'tisme, ou, pour employer une meilleure expression : \;\ com- 

 position syyicop&c." M. Julien Vinson in the Compte- Rendu du Oongris Interna- 

 tional des Amtricanisles, 1883, p. 365. 



