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APPENDIX. 



PROFESSOR TURNER'S LETTER ON INDIAN PHILOLOGY. 



New York, December 16, 1851. 

 Dear Sir : In reply to my letter stating that I had examined the Dakota 

 Dictionary and Grammar prepared by members of the mission to that tribe, 

 and recommending tlie publication of the same, you say: "Give me your 

 reasons for tlunking it an interesting addition to knowledge and worthy of 

 publication in the Smithsonian Contributions; also any remarks you may 

 think of importance with reference to the compilation and publication of 

 works of this kind." 



My reasons for recommending the publication in the terms alluded to, 

 have reference partly to the character and merits of the works under con- 

 sideration, and partly to the value of such works in general, as furnishing 

 materials for the study of the philology and ethnology of this continent, 

 and thus "promoting the increase of knowledge amonf>- men." 



The Grammar and Dictionary of the Dakota language, nov/ presented in 

 manuscript for publication by your Instiiution, are the result of the joint 

 labors of the members of the Dakota mission, assisted by the most intelli- 

 gent natives, for the last eighteen years, brought together and placed in 

 their present form by the Rev. S. R. Riggs, and are designed to mC-et the 

 requirements both of the practical linguist and the comparative philoloo-ist. 

 An examination of the MSS. show that they are drawn up with ability and 

 conscientious care. The Grammar is simple and brief. The Dictionary con- 

 sists of two parts, Dakota-English and English-Dakota. The Dakota-Eiig- 

 lish part contains upwards of 1'3,000 words. Theii- division into syllables 

 is marked, and also the place of the accent. Eesides the defmition or Eng- 

 lish rendering of each word, the part of speech to which it belo.'igs "is 

 noted, its etymology explained, and the changes of form exhibited which 

 are produced by the introduction of pronouns and particles. The Ejiglish- 

 Dakota part is briefer and has more of the character of a simple vocabu- 

 lary. There are some changes and additions which it would be desirable 

 to make, particularly in the Granunar. I have had the pleasure of seeing 

 and consulting v;ith Mr. Riggs, who has ex])ressed his readiness to Intro- 

 duce any practicable improvements that may be suggested. 



The languages of the aborigines of North America are worthy of atten- 

 tion in a scientific point of view on two accounts ; and first, for their owii 

 sake, as constituting an important branch of philological investigation. 

 These languages display many interesting analogies to those of otlier parts 

 of the globe, and many equally interesting j)eculiarities of their own. Most 

 of those we are acquainted with are of a highly complicated and ingenious 

 construction; and the study of them enlarges the views of the comparative 

 philologist by disclosing to him new and curious phases of the human mind 

 as manifested in these new modes of communicating ideas. For to the 

 scientific philologist — who regiofds each language, not as something elabo- 

 rated by art or design, but as a true organism, the spontaneous growth, as 

 it were, of the mind of the nation that uses it, and as more or less inti- 

 mately connected by virtue of its origin with other organisms of the same 

 nature — the study of a language simply, irrespective of the literature it 

 may or mav not contain, affords the same species of instruction and deliffht 

 Mis.-4 ^ 



