INFANCY AND THE PREFIXES 



I THINK we can liken the primary stage in the 

 development of the race to the infantile stage in the 

 growth of the individual. It will be interesting to 

 discover if words can be found in Xivili or Bakongo 

 to express the " perpendicular " progression in the 

 growth of the baby from its birth to the time that it 

 begins to speak, and so prove itself in the native 

 fashion of thinking as something more than a mere 

 animal. 



In considering this stage we must remember that the 

 child originated from its father, or, as some primitive 

 people thought, in some life-giving stone or tree. 

 There should then be a class for this originating 

 power ; we shall mark this down as the " O " class. 



There never has been any doubt as to the mother 

 being the means through which the child is born. She 

 received the seed, or inspiration, from without herself, 

 and it became confined within an enclosed place. 



1. Va Mu. Varna, space, plural Muma may 

 be taken as standing for this operation. We shall call 

 this class number i. The child is born. 



2. Mu Mi. It has life (Moyd), breath (Mula), as 

 it takes in the air (Mwela] of heaven. The accoucheur 



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