Brintou.J ' ^ [Oct. U, 



of it do not syncopate it, their compositions are so rough and 

 lacking in harmony to the ears of the natives that the latter 

 count their talk as no better than that of horse-jockeys, as we 

 would say."* 



The extent of this syncopation is occasionally to such a degree 

 that only a fragment of the original word is retained. As : 

 The charcoal-vendor, na mathid. 



Herewa, is a demonstrative particle like the Aztec in, and 

 mathid is a compound of pa, to sell, and thehnd, charcoal. 



The expression, 



y mahny oqha, he loves God, 

 is to be analyzed, 



y mdhcll nuny oqha ; 

 he loves him God ; 

 where we perceive not only synthesis, but the object standing in 

 apposition to the pronoun representing it, which is incorporated 

 with the verb. 



So : yot-gua, light here ; from yotti, to light, nugua, here. 



These examples from many given in Neve's work seem to me 

 to prove beyond cavil that the Othomi exhibits, when properly 

 spoken, precisely the same theories of incorporation and poly- 

 synthesis as the other American languages, although undoubtedly 

 its more monosyllabic character and the extreme complexity of 

 its phonetics do not permit of a development of these peculi- 

 arities to the same degree as many. 



Nor am I alone in this opinion. It has already been announced 

 by my learned friend, the Count de Charencey, as the result of 

 his comparison of this tongue with the Mazahua and Pirinda. 

 *' The Othomi," he writes, " has all the appearance of a language 

 which was at first incorporative, and which, worn down \>y attri- 



*" Parte de la diflcultad de este idioma consiste en la syncopa, pues el no 

 syncopar los prlncipiantes artistas, es causa de que sus periodos y oraclones 

 sean tan rispldos, y faltos de harmonia, por cuyo motive- los natlvos los mur- 

 murau, y tienen (como vulgarmente deciinos), por quartreros." Heglas de Or- 

 fhographia, etc., p. 140. 



