302 GERMANIC LANGUAGES 



different inflectional classes (the ya- and the i-declension of Sanskrit 

 grammar), and it is obvious that the difference could not have origin- 

 ally depended on the quantity of the stem-syllable. I am inclined 

 to believe that in the West Germanic languages, especially in Anglo- 

 Saxon, the difference between the old i-declension and the old ja- 

 declension has been regulated in a similar way. 



I cannot help feeling that most of the problems on which I have 

 touched here ought to have been discussed at greater length and 

 with more detail. I shall feel satisfied, however, if my remarks have 

 left the impression that it is worth while to examine further these 

 and similar questions. The comparative grammar of the Germanic 

 languages is still a field in which an earnest and painstaking worker 

 may count on a rich harvest, and I venture to hope that work in this 

 field will be pursued with growing interest and lasting results in the 

 United States. 



