98 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [Vot. VI. 
only say that, in my opinion, his own Vocabulary makes it evident that 
there is absolutely no connection between the two stocks. As Iam here 
confronted with the opposite declaration, viz., that in the doctor’s second 
Vocabulary “the Othomi is placed opposite Tungus and Déné equivalents 
to the contplete tdentification with these tongues,’* I must be excused 
for respectfully asking to be shown one single Othomi word related, 
however distantly, to our Déné idioms other than the monosyllable da, 
which is probably a chance synonym for “eye.” All the other words 
are hopelessly non-Déné. On the other hand, a majority of Campbell’s 
Othomi verbs are monosyllabic, a condition quite impossible in Déné, 
where a verb must be at least dissyllabic, being composed, in its simplest 
form, of a radical desinence preceded by a pronominal crement expres- 
sive of tense and person. 
A parting word, and I close this already too long essay. /x medio 
stat virtus ; enthusiasm should never betray the comparative philologist 
into exaggerations or rash assertions which, sooner or later, he will have 
to withdraw. I have before me a printed statement to the effect that 
“of the Déné tongue it is no exaggeration to say that 50 per cent. 
of its radicals are pure archaic Chinese.” Having noticed that bold 
assertion reiterated in a standard publication, I ventured to call the 
author’s attention to its manifest exaggeration, with the result that it 
was privately withdrawn, though it remains unchallenged to this day in 
the Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada.+ 
APPEND EX 
The phonetics of the Déné languages are not easy, and many of their 
most important sounds will frequently escape the attention of even a 
professional linguist. Such an experienced analyzer of American idioms 
as Dr. Franz Boas is a witness to the truth of this assertion when he 
states in his Report on the Ts’Ets’a’ut tribe that “the Tinneh phonetics 
are difficult.” (Zenth Rep. on the N. W. Tribes of Canada, p. 66). Of 
the Déné verb he asserts that it “is exceedingly difficult to understand” 
(Jé:d). Under these conditions errors in transcribing words heard for the 
first time are to be expected as a matter of course, even from clever 
philologists, since their vocabularies and texts are more the work of their 
interpreter than the result of their own acquired science. Hence ani- 
madverting thereupon, instead of giving offense, should almost, it seems to 
* “The Dénés of America Identified,” etc., p. 206. The italics are mine. 
+ Trans. R.S. C., Sec, II., 1897, p. 89. 
