394 THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF 
The Waicuri language* is of an exceedingly barbarous and rude description, 
by which. rudeness, however, I do not mean a hard pronunciation or a suc- 
cession of many consonants, for these qualities do not form the essence of a 
language, but merely its outward character or conformation, and are more or’ 
less imaginary, as it were, among those who are unacquainted with it. It is 
well known that Italians and Frenchmen consider the German language as 
barbarous, while the Germans have the like opinion of the Bohemian or Polish 
languages; but these impressions cease as soon as the Frenchmen or Italians 
can converse in German, and the Germans in the Bohemian or Polish tongues. 
In the Waicurialphabet theletters 0, f g,/, x, z are wanting, also the s, except- 
ing in the tsh; but the great deficiency of the language consists in the total 
absence of a great many words, the want of which waquld seem to render it 
almost impossible for reasonable beings to converse with each other and to 
receive instruction in the Christian religion. For whatever is not substantial, 
and cannot be seen or touched or otherwise perceived by the senses, has no 
name in the Waicuri language. There are no nouns whatever for expressing 
virtues, vices, or the different dispositions of the mind, and there exist only a 
few adjectives of this class, namely, merry, sad, lazy, and angry, all of which 
merely denote such humors as can be perceived in a person’s face. All terms 
relating to rational human and civil life, and a multitude of words for signi- 
fying other objects, are entirely wanting, so that it would be a vain trouble to 
look in the Waicuri vocabulary for the following expressions: /ife, death, 
weather, time, cold, heat, world, rain, understanding, will, memory, knowledge, 
honor, decency, consolation, peace, quarrel, member, joy, imputation, mind, 
Jriend, friendship, truth, bashfulness, enmity, faith, love, hope, wish, desire, hate, 
anger, gratitude, patience, meckness, envy, industry, virtue, vice, beauty, shape, 
sickness, danger, fear, occasion, thing, punishment, doubt, servant, master, vir- 
gin, gudgment, suspicion, happiness, happy, reasonable, bashful, decent, clever, 
moderate, pious, obedient, rich, poor, young, old, agreeable, lovely, friendly, 
half, quick, deep, round, contended, more, less, to greet, to thank, to punish, to 
be silent, to promenade, to complain, to worship, to doubt, to buy, to flatter, to 
caress, to persecute, to dwell, to breathe, to imagine, to idle, to insult, to console, 
to live, and a thousand words of a similar character.t 
The word Living they have neither as a noun nor as a verb, neither in a 
natural nor a moral sense; but only the adjective alive. Bad, narrow, short, 
distant, little, &c., they cannot express unless by adding the negation ja or 
rat to the words good, wide, long, near, ant much. 'Vhey have particular 
words for signifying an old man, an old woman, a young man, a young woman, 
and so forth; but the terms old or young do not exist in their language. The 
Waicuri contains only four words tor denoting the different colors, insomuch 
that the natives cannot distinguish in their speech yellow from red, blue from 
green, black from brown, white from ash-colored, &ce. 
Now let the reader imagine how difficult it is to impart to the Californians 
any knowledge of European affairs; to interpret for them some article from a 
* Waitcuri. Father Begert’s very curious account of the language is contained on pages 
177-194 of the ‘‘ Nachrichten.” It comprises, besides the general remarks on the chars 
acteristic features of the language, the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed, both with literal and 
free translations, and the conjugation of a verb.—W. W. T.—The Literature of American 
Aboriginal Languages, by Hermann E. Ludewig, with Additions and Corrections, by Professor 
William W. Turner. London, 1858, p. 245. 
It may be remarked in this place, that the author’s name is printed in three different ways, 
viz: Beger, Begert, and Baegert. .In writing ‘‘ Baegert,” I follow Waitz, who probably 
gives the correct spelling of the name. 
+ The author adds; ‘‘And all nouns in general that end in German in heit, keit, niss, 
ung, and schaft.” . 
{ It will hardly be necessary to mention that the Waicuri words must be pronounced as 
German. Excepting the tsch, which is replaced by the equivalent English sound tsh, the 
orthography of the author has strictly been preserved. 
