410 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1915. 



delimited. Occurrences such as the expansion of Polish to the Car- 

 pathian barrier or the restriction of Flemish to the lowland of north- 

 Avestern central Europe can not be attributed to mere haphazard- 

 Determination of linguistic boundaries, therefore, implies due recog- 

 nition of selective influences attributable to surface features. But 

 the influence of region upon expansion or confinement of language 

 is far from absolute. The part played by economic factors will be 

 shown in the following lines to have been of prime importance. 



Considered as political boundaries, linguistic lines of cleavage 

 have a twofold importance. The}'' are sanctioned by national aspira- 

 tions and they conform with physical features. Every linguistic 

 area considered in this paper bears evidence of relation between lan- 

 guage and its natural environment.^ A basis of delimitation is there- 

 fore provided by nature. Eastern extension of French to the Vosges, 

 confinement of Bohemian to a plateau inclosed by mountains, uni- 

 formity of language in open plains and river basins, all are examples 

 of data provided by geography for tlie use of statesmen engaged in 

 the task of revising boundaries. 



Europe may be aptly regarded as a vast field of settlement where 

 the autochthonous stock has again and again been swam]3ed by suc- 

 cessive flows of eastern and southern immigrants. The wanderings 

 of these invaders h.A\e been directed in part into channels provided 

 by Eurasian structural features. Within historic times Celts have 

 been driven westward by Teutons, who in turn were pressed in the 

 same direction by Slavs. The consequence is that few Frenchmen or 

 Germans of our day can lay claim to racial purity. As a matter of 

 fact, northern France is perhaps more Teutonic than southern Ger- 

 many, while eastern Germany is in some respects more Slavic than 

 Russia. The political significance of race is, therefore, trifling. 



Nationality, however, an artificial product derived from racial 

 raw material, confers distinctiveness based on history. It is the 

 cultivated plant blossoming on racial soil and fertilized by histori- 

 cal association. Language, the medium in which is expressed suc- 

 cessful achievement or struggle and sorrow shared in common, 

 therefore acquires cementing qualities. Its value as the cohesive 

 power of nationality is superseded in rare instances by ideals simi- 

 larly based on commimity of tradition or hope and in some cases 

 of religion. Belgium and Switzerland afford good examples of 

 such exceptional instances. Broadly, it nuiy be submitted that the 

 development of civilization in most countries has been marked by 

 the progress of nationality, while nationality itself has been con- 

 solidated b}'^ identity of speech. 



' Linj;uistlc maps accompanying this paper should. In every instance, be examined con- 

 currently with good atlas sheets. 



