52 



GLOSSOLOGY. 



as the Arabians, through Ishmael, are also descendants from Abra- 

 ham : but it is written in a more difficult character, and is so copious 

 as to require great labor in learning it. The characters of the Ara- 

 bic alphabet are give in Plate II. No. 5 ; those on the right being 

 used at the beginning, and those on the left at the end of words ; as 

 they are read from right to left. The names of the letters, are 

 given in the following table : 



It will be perceived that several sounds are represented by more 

 than one character, as in the case of our c and k: but some of the 

 gutteral sounds are . such as our letters cannot exactly represent. 

 The letters elif and ain, like the corresponding Hebrew letters, are 

 often silent; their sound having apparently been usurped by the 

 accents. As a specimen of the Arabic language, we have only 

 room to give the words Jlljabr, the reduction ; Jllchimia, the 

 secret ; and Alkoran ', the Reading ; (Plate II. Nos. 6, 7, and 8) ; 

 together with the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis, (No. 9), 

 pronounced and translated as follows : Jlwwal, (in the beginning) ; 

 ma, (indeed) ; khalka, (created) ; Jlllah, (God) ; al-sama, (the 

 heaven) ; w' al-arts, (and the earth). The star, is the character 

 for a period. The Arabic language was written in the characters 

 called Cufic, until the present characters called neski (or copy hand ?) 

 were introduced after the time of Mohamed. The Ethiopia, or 

 Abyssinian language, is written in a peculiar character ; but resem- 

 bles the Arabic, from which it is derived. 



The Tartar family of languages, comprehends the Mongolian, 

 spoken throughout the greater part of Chinese Tartary ; the Tungu- 

 sian, in eastern and central Siberia; the Turcoman, or Tartar proper, 

 in Independent Tartary ; and the Turkish, which is the chief lan- 

 guage of both Asiatic and European Turkey. The Turkish Lan- 

 guage, has borrowed many words from the Persian and Arabic ; 

 and is written in the Arabic characters, from right to left. It is said 

 to be full in its construction, but meagre in original words; and 

 sonorous, though somewhat harsh and rough. It is an oriental 

 proverb, that the Arabic language persuades ; the Persian flatters ; 

 and the Turkish reproves. They say that Adam made love to Eve 

 in Persian ; the serpent tempted her in Arabic ; and that the 

 Angel spoke Turkish, when he drove that first pair out of Paradise. 



3. The Sanscrit family of languages, comprehends those of 

 Persia, Hindoostan, Thibet, and Malaya; and perhaps of some other 

 parts of Chin India. For a knowledge of these languages, we are 

 much indebted to the labors of Sir William Jones ; who accepted 

 the office of Chief Justice, at Bengal, in order to have better op- 

 portunities of studying them. The Zend was the language in which 

 Zoroaster wrote his sacred books, called the Zend-avesta, or Living 



