282 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [Vox. VI. 
sion, as already shown. Christianity lays hold of floating terms and — 
by reducing the tongue to writing, and creating a literature makes them 
permanent, and introduces changes in the social customs and characters 
of the tribe or people. 
The languages of the world are divided into three great classes: The 
monosyllabic, of which the Chinese is the best representative ; the 
agelutinative, represented by the peoples of Central Asia, the natives of 
Siberia, the Finns, the original inhabitants of Hindostan, and the Ameri- 
can Indian race—all of these tribes and peoples living in the nomadic 
stage ; and the flexible, belonging to the historic nations, which stand in 
the forefront of civilization. The structure and capabilities of a language 
depend entirely on the natural capacity of the people with whom it 
originated, and not upon the degree of culture. Barbarous tongues do 
not belong to savage races, as can be shewn by the structure of those 
spoken by the American Indian tribes. Constant warfare among native 
tribes, scarcity of food, internal troubles, and a nomadic life, have separ- 
ated portions of tribes, and in a generation or two there are formed 
dialects. The adoption of prisoners of war has wrought changes, and 
made a mixed language, as in the case of the Blackfoot. On the Ameri- 
can continent the great multiplication of languages and dialects arises 
from the breaking up and scattering of tribes. The configuration of a 
country begets dialects, as seen in Italy, and the English and Scotch 
shires. The dialects of the Cree language show the internal changes aris- 
ing from separation. The letter /is incorporated in the dialect spoken 
at Moose Factory, while in other dialects the letters 7, y, #2 or r are 
substituted for it. As an illustration of the influence of this dialectic 
change take the personal pronoun; Nela, kela, wela=I, thou, he, she, 
is the form in use at Moose Factory; nena; kena, wena, at Albany, 
Severn, and York Factory ; neya, keya, weya, on the East Maine coast ; 
netha, ketha, wetha, at English River; and nera, kera, wera, at Isle la 
Crosse. Although the Blackfeet, Bloods and Piegans have been separ- 
ated for a brief period on reservations, changes are taking place towards 
the formation of dialects. There is a continuity in language which 
nothing can destroy, and in the lowest languages there is seen order and 
wisdom. The main distinction between languages is to be found in the 
inner mechanism or grammar. 
Grammar is interesting in showing the modes by which the human 
mind proceeded at remote periods, and by different races, in working out 
the great problem of articulate speech. Modifications are introduced 
for the purpose of conveying more clearly and briefly the ideas, and 
