ox THE LANGUAGE OF THE DAKOTA OR SIOUX INDIANS. 447 



will state tliat he likewise explains (in his dictionary) lialia by '■^ water- 

 falls, so called from the cukling waters.^^ 



Our views on this subject, as on various other similar matters, were, 

 moreover, fully approved by Rev. T. S. Williamson, another distin- 

 guished missionary, and a highly respectable authority as regards the Da- 

 kota language, with whom we had many a long conversation on such 

 topics every time we happened to meet with him in the territory. 



Much might yet be done in investigating that inost interesting lan- 

 guage, in a strictly philological manner, and also tracing particularly the 

 many Dakota names of mountains, hills, rivers, lakes, &c., to their true 

 origin and meaning. They almost always contain some attractive allu- 

 sion, something legendary or traditional, which might lead to most val- 

 uable results in regard to the history, religious ideas, ancient usages, 

 &c., of this largest and most powerful of all the Indian tribes of ]S'orth 

 America. 



We now say, in conclusion, that on this continent, researches in phi- 

 lology, ethnology, and history should have for their main object the lan- 

 guages and nations of Ameimca. The field is comparatively new and 

 exceedingly interesting ; an immense deal has to be done in this domain, 

 the real labors of thorough and exhaustive investigation having not even 

 yet begun. If these unpretending page-^ contributed by the author aS 

 his first mite to that kind of research which he wishes to see undertaken 

 by the scholars of this countr}', serve as an incentive to others to inter- 

 est themselves in these studies and devote some of their time and exer- 

 tions to the same, his object will have been successfnlly attained. 



:^OTES. 



^ Such intercalations are, in a measure, almost analogous to the usual 

 insertion of the many incidental clauses in long Latin or German sen- 

 tences, if we are allowed that comparison. 



2 c stands in the present transcription of the -Dakota language for 

 tch ; s for sh ; rj for nasal n; dotted letters indicate a peculiar emphasis 

 in their utterance, for Avhich we have no precise equivalent in English. 



^ Other examples in Mantchoo are liuUa, menuing male, cod, while 

 kckc means hen, &c. These phenomena are, in their last analysis, redu- 

 cible to a fixed principle, which still prevails, to some extent, in the 

 above-mentioned group of Asiatic languages, and which we have some 

 reason to believe once formed an essential part of many other tongues. 

 We might perhaps not iaiproperly recognize in that antagonism some- 

 thing of 2Jolar opposition, some law of polarity. There are distinct and 

 polarly-opposite correlative vowel-classes, viz : a, o, u, in the continen- 

 tal pronunciation, which are, as it were, positive, and e, i, which are neg- 

 ative. Sometimes, however, the reverse takes place, so that e, i, have 

 the power and significance of a, o, n, and vice versa, (a quasi " inversion 

 of the poles.") This division is not an arbitrary one, but — we remark 



