1825.] 
is the substantive, the first step in gram- 
mar. The verb ¢o wing, or fly, another 
step, was the same character, with a 
simple mark of accentuation (say ™ ); 
the adjective winged, or flighty, requires 
another accent ( ea ; the adverb flightily, 
a third (3 ). All that is necessary to 
complete the simple grammar of a pri- 
mitive language,—and that is strictly 
the case with the Chinese and Hebrew 
languages, in which latter, seven signs 
perform all the purposes of grammatical 
inflexion,—is, to invent other marks, for 
the plural number, for degrees of com- 
parison, for the pronouns relative and 
possessive, for the past and present 
tenses of the verb, and for the active 
and passive participles. For instance: 
: g : t 
Wings, 4g an indefinite number of 
e ss 
wings, A te ; 
winged, A I wing, thou wing’ st, &e. 
aBR 
g 3 &e. 
The passive form of the verb, qt 5 to be 
winged. The passive participle, winged, 
more winged, 4 Y; most 
I did wing, gi T shall wing, 
-— Any number of philosophers” 
aoa 
might create a universal character on 
this principle, as the Egyptians and 
Chinese certainly did;—and we have 
little or no doubt, that the following 
signs, constantly found among the 
hieroglyphies, were inflexions of the 
grammatical nature proposed :— 
eA 
BENZ 
There is a difficulty, however, to be 
mastered, in deciphering, as there was 
in inventing. When-we see a hawk, a 
dog, or a house, among the sacred cha- 
racters, we may presume that their pri- 
mitive meaning was a hawk, a dog, or a 
house. Theological meanings were also, 
doubtless, metaphorically attached to 
them; and in this new case, perhaps, 
some accentuation was employed. Imi- 
tative representation, however, of the 
most unartificial kind, was (as we have 
seen) used in China and in Egypt,—and 
80 far, the languages of the two coun- 
tries resemble each other. 
These pictural signs we have referred 
to, in the instances of water, head, moon, 
eye, car, field, &e.&c. Combined pic- 
tural signs, in both Janguages, we have 
referred to, in the instances of tear, 
Researches in Eoypt. 
299 
farmer, &e. To the tropical signs of 
both (that is to say, where an idea is 
expressed by a physical object or objects, 
true or false), we have adverted, in the 
Egyptian instance of beneficent—in the 
Chinese instance of quiet. Here the 
difficulty of the decipherer must begin : 
because these tropical combinations 
must naturally be formed by local habits, 
eustoms, caprices, and even philosophi- 
cal prejudices. They are so in the case 
of China, generally speaking: though 
the idea to be employed by the charac- 
ter, is, in many instances, sufficiently 
manifested by the physical image; and 
would be more obvious, did the Chinese 
image preserve, as in Heypt, its original 
form. We will support our argument 
by the following hieroglyphical combi- 
nations in the Chinese language :—~ 
Votuste (like our Sinver-roneue), 
mouth and gold. A 'Trmrrr is composed 
of earth and measure. To express 
Porrry, the symbol of words is added: 
so that Portry means, as it did origi- 
nally in Greece, inspired words. We 
might protract this investigation much 
farther; but we will conclude it, by 
shewing another difficulty in the inter- 
preter’s way, which, doubtless, applied 
equally to China, namely, the adaptation 
of local customs, proverbs, supersti- 
tions, and philosophical prejudices, to a 
great number of the symbols. For ex-~ 
ample,—the sign Forrrenrr is com- 
posed of long and bow, expressive, pro- 
bably, of the first invaders; a District, 
or PanrisH, is composed of a hundred 
and men; SHame, from stop and ear; 
Joy, from mouth and rice ; Writine, of 
knife, string and bamboo; Music, of 
wood, silken strings and sound; a nail 
and words, A BARGAIN; Strire, of three 
and woman; GovEeRNMENT, of bamboo 
and stroke ; high and horse make Provp ! 
mountain and words, Boastine ! 
The following contain axioms, as well 
as express ideas :— 
A mouth and sage, make Happiness ; 
a woman and an inner apartment, QUIET ; 
a@ woman under corn, or in the grave, 
Ease. Two moons, ironically, compose 
the character of a Frrenp. To Frar- 
TER, is represented by the characters of 
words and to lick; and FickLengss, of 
girl and thought. 
If capricious emblems, like these, 
were used in Egypt, the hope of dis- 
covering them, without references to 
the dictionaries of a living people, is 
out of the question: indeed, there is 
sufficient evidence, from analogy, that 
no such analytical arrangement could 
2Q.2 be 
