XV111 INTRODUCTION. 



logical point of view, we may treat the languages as sister 

 descendants of some Asiatic parent which has long since 

 perished, and rank with them such other dialects as agree 

 with these in their roots and structure. Under "Ind-Euro- 

 pean," then, will be comprised Sanskrit and Zend, and all 

 the Indian and Persian dialects that are related to them ; 

 Greek ; Latin, and its modern varieties ; Celtic ; Gothic, 

 and all the other Germanic and Scandinavian dialects ; 

 Lithuanian, and Slavonian ; but not Basque, Lapp, Finn, 

 Magyar, or Turkish. The language of the Indian Yedas, 

 as the oldest existing member of the family, is that to 

 which linguists refer in searching for the roots of words of 

 this class, itself no more than the representative of another 

 still more ancient one, which is utterly lost. 



In order to avoid a long word, and for no other appa- 

 rent reason, it has been proposed of late to supersede the 

 very expressive and most unobjectionable term of " Indo-"* 

 or " Ind-European," and to substitute for k it that of "Aryan," 

 which it is to be hoped will not be generally adopted. For, 

 as well as this may apply to a few Asiatic dialects, it is 

 only by violently wrenching words from their proper 

 meaning, that it can be extended to the European mem- 

 bers of the group. It is perhaps an even stronger objec- 

 tion to its use that some of the most distinguished philo- 

 logists of the day have applied it specially to these Asiatic 



* I have ventured in this word to omit the o, as is done in other words 

 similarly formed from Greek and Latin ; e.g. magnanimous, philanthropy, 

 and neuralgia, which are never written magno-animous, philo-anthropy, und 

 neuro-algia. 



