LANGUAGE AND EACE. 397 



and in Delaware, kuligatchis signifies, " Grive me your 

 pretty little paw," from k (2nd person particle pronoun) 

 luulif, pretty, — ivichgat, paw, — shiss^ littleness. 



In the Incorporating languages the objective pronoun is 

 inserted into the verbal form, and a few words are loosely 

 attached to the verbal root, unimpaired in form, and of 

 independent power. The old (pre-Babylonian) Accadian 

 tongue of the lower Euphrates Valley is a good example of 

 this : thus, from in-bat, he opened, was formed in-nin-bat, he 

 opened it. This plan occurs in Magyar, to some extent, and 

 also in Basque, and the Mordvinian dialect of North Hussia. 

 From one point of view it may be truly said that there is 

 much more difference between Incorporation and Polysyn- 

 thetism than between Incorporation and Inflection. 



A consideration of these phenomena of gradation between 

 extreme types of language, as well as of certain other philo- 

 logical observations, led to the framing of a theory which a 

 short time ago held universal sway, and even now has plenty 

 of supporters. I mean the idea that the Inflectional lan- 

 guages have passed through Agglutinate and Isolating stage^i. 

 But although the three classes of language trespass occaaion- 

 ally on one another's ground, and partake in some measure of 

 the characteristics which distinguish each, this is merely an 

 illustration of the principle, here as elsewhere in nature, that 

 one variety or family passes gradually into another, so that 

 the boundary line between them cannot be sharply defined. 



" This, however, does not affect tlie general character of 

 the language ; although those who look to the individual 

 word— the product of the later age of reflection, analysis, or 

 literature —instead of to the sentence may be puzzled how 

 to distinguish between the three great classes of speech. 

 The existence of these three classes, however, is a fact; but 

 it is equally a fact that, in each of these, phenomena occur 



