Brinton.] 55b [Nov. 5, 



That the verb logoh means, both in origin and later use, " to 

 bu3%" as well as "to love," is undoubtedly true. Its root logh is 

 identical with the Maya loh, which has the meanings '' to ex- 

 change, to bin*, to redeem, to emancipate." It was the word 

 selected by the Franciscan missionaries to express the redemp- 

 tion of the world by Christ, and was applied to the redemption 

 of captives and slaves. It might be suggested that it bears a 

 reference to '' marriage b} T purchase ; " but I think that " to 

 buy," and "to love," maj r be construed as developments of the 

 same idea of prizing highly. When we say that a person is ap- 

 preciated, we really say that he has had a proper price put upon 

 him. The Latin earns, which Cicero calls ipsum verbum amo?-ix, * 

 means costly in price as well as beloved ; and the tender En- 

 glish " dear " means quite as often that the object is expensive to 

 buy, as that we dote very much upon it. Nor need we go out- 

 side of American languages for illustrations; in Nahuatl llazoti 

 means to offer for sale at a high price, and in 1 1 uasteca cartel, 

 from the same root as canez:il, to love, means something pre- 

 cious in a pecuniary sense, as well as an object of the affections. 

 Other instances will present themselves when w r e come to exam- 

 ine some of the South American tongues. But from what I 

 have already given, it is evident that there is nothing contra- 

 dictory in the double meaning of the verb logoh. 



IV. The Qquichua. 



The ancient Peruvians who spoke the Qquichua language had 

 organized a system of government and a complex social fabric 

 unsurpassed by any on the continent. The numerous specimens 

 of their arts which have been preserved testify strongly to the 

 licentiousness of their manners, standing in this respect in 

 marked contrast to the Aztecs, whose art was singularly pure. 

 It must be regarded as distinctly in connection with this that 

 we find a similar contrast in their languages. We have seen 

 that in the Nahuatl there appears to have been no word with a 

 primaiy signification "to love," or any suoh conception. The 

 Qquichua, on the contrary, is probably the richest language on 

 the continent, not only in separate words denoting affection, but 

 in moditications of these by imparting to them delicate shades 



* De Natur(L Deorum, I, 44. 



