EXCURSIONS OF AN EVOLUTIONIST 



Wallachian. To the linguist the history of these 

 Romanic dialects is peculiarly valuable, as illus- 

 trating, with the aid of plentiful documents, a 

 process of divergence somewhat similar to that 

 which previously broke up the Old Aryan into 

 different languages. 



The Teutons, whose languages form our 

 sixth grand division, seem to have entered Eu- 

 rope after the tribes already mentioned. About 

 Caesar's time we find Teutons driving Kelts out 

 of Germany, and threatening to overrun Gaul ; 

 but during most of classic antiquity the centre 

 of Teutonism seems to have been farther east 

 than Germany. The greater part of what is now 

 European Turkey was occupied by Goths in 

 the time of Herodotos, and for eight centuries 

 afterwards. The ancient Thracians were Goths, 

 according to Grimm, and so were the Getae. 

 And since the Christian era Teutonic tribes ap- 

 peared in what is now southern Russia. The 

 terrible irruption of non-Aryan Huns from Asia, 

 in the fifth century, drove these tribes westward, 

 and brought them into collision with the Empire. 

 Of the Gothic language nothing remains save 

 a portion of a translation of the Bible, made 

 by Ulfilas in the fourth century. The other 

 branches of Teutonic speech Scandinavian, 

 High German, and Low German, of which our 

 own English is the most important dialect 

 are too well known to require comment. 

 86 



