i 9 o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



that linguistic classifications are usually in harmony with geo- 

 graphical conditions. The Pushtu (Afghan language) forms a medi- 

 um between the Indian and the Iranian; the Arcadian (ancient 

 Greek), between the three zEolian dialects; the Greek, an intermedi- 

 ate point between the Persian and the European languages. The 

 Sardinian is halfway between Italian and Spanish.* 



There is no absolutely pure dialect. Every population is mixed, 

 has relations with its neighbors, and receives immigrations from 

 abroad. A nation is never isolated, or a province, or a village; but, 

 on the other hand, the closer the boundaries are drawn up, the more 

 frequent are the exterior relations, because the distances to be trav- 

 ersed are less and the means of making one's self understood are 

 easier. Unity is not found even in the family, whose members are 

 in contact with the outside world, but not all in the same way. And 

 finally, when we come to the individual, we have unity of pronuncia- 

 tion and phonetics no more, for we do not speak or pronounce in the 

 same way when we address a single one or many, when we are cool 

 or under the control of passion, when in full vigor and freshness or 

 at the end of a day's work. Nor do we do so when addressing a 

 superior or an equal, for conversation is essentially a work of col- 

 laboration, and our interlocutor must have his part in it. We some- 

 times hear it said of some one that " he knows how to speak to a 

 crowd." All these circumstances modify pronunciation. f The sup- 

 posed phonetic purity of dialects will therefore have to be consid- 

 ered one of the fancies of linguistics. 



The words of the same dialect do not all obey exactly the same 

 phonetic laws. The matter is controlled in part by the principle of 

 frequency. Words which we pronounce more frequently are by 

 that very fact pronounced with greater facility; and pronounc- 

 ing them more easily, we give less attention and effort to them. 

 Examples of this effect of recurring use of words are furnished 

 in the names of persons and places and in exclamations. Words 

 become more subject to alteration as we pay less attention to the 

 meaning of the different elements of which they are formed. As 

 long as we perceive clearly the significance of the two parts of a 

 compound, that compound remains intact. But from frequency 

 relaxation of attention results, or rather the several parts cease to be 

 distinct to the mind, and the whole takes on the value of a single 

 sign, and phonetic alteration has free scope. 



Agglutinative languages, like the Hungarian, are less exposed to 

 alteration than inflectional languages, for each element has a distinct 



* J. Schmidt, Vokalismus, ii, 182. Schuchhardt, Vulgar Latein. 



f This is well understood in the theater, and we may learn much from actors on this 

 subject. 



