13 



SOME ELEMENTARY WORDS FOR DESIGNATING THE 

 IMPLEMENTS OF CHASE. For the reasons here stated we 

 might expect that a similar difference as that just mentioned 

 •would prevail among the names of these objects in the different 

 dialects, especially between those of the extreme east and west. 

 But a careful compilation and comparison of all the words that 

 are found in the vocabularies relating to the peculiar maritime 

 chase nevertheless has revealed a certain simplicity in designating 

 the contrivances that in each case are meant. It requires no 

 thorough knowledge of the language to discover, in running 

 over such a compilation, a limited number of radicals or stem- 

 words which make the chief constituant parts of it, the diversity 

 in the orthography of the European writers of course apart. 

 It may be concluded from this similarity, that in the earliest 

 time of the culture home such elementary words have been 

 invented or adopted for designating the notions to which the 

 new ways of supplying the first necessities of life gave rise, 

 and that this material has been maintained and made use of for 

 new inventions or modifications during the subsequent develop- 

 ment and dispersion of the inhabitants. In examining the fol- 

 lowing list of the said elements some words certainly also here 

 will be found, that likely may have existed during an earlier 

 stage of culture, but as a tolerable completeness was required 

 in the series of words to be found in the vocabularies relating 

 to the whole mode of proceeding in the operations here in 

 question , they could for the sake of plainness not well be 

 omitted. 



LIST OF ESKIMO WORDS RELATING TO SEAL- AND WHALE- 

 HINTING: (Explanation: The eastern dialects: G. = Greenland, 

 L. = Labrador, С = Central. — The western dialects : Л. = Mac- 

 kenzie River, W. = Extreme American West, A. = Asiatic.) 



1. G. vnciq the shaft of the large harpoon, also a smaller 

 harpoon used on the ice; unärsivoq he lifts the (whole) harpoon 



