LANGUAGE. 



the age, or the appearances of nature in 

 particular situations. 



12. In languages, in which the coales- 

 cence between the verb and its adjuncts 

 has taken place, and also the coalescence 

 between nouns and its connective words, 

 (GRAMMAR, 19), much greater liberty 

 of inversion is practicable than in those 

 in which such coalescence has not at all 

 occurred, or but incompletely. In other 

 words, where the noun, adnoun, and 

 verb, admit of flexion, there the arrange- 

 ment depends in many instances more 

 upon the sound than upon the sense; 

 and nearly in all cases may be made sub- 

 servient to the former. This gives such 

 languages considerable advantage over 

 those which admit of but few changes, so 

 far as respects their modulation; and 

 further, the coalescence renders them 

 much more forcible, where emphasis on 

 any of the fractional parts is not required. 

 \Vhenever flexion increases perspicuity, 

 the advantage is decisive and obvious : 

 with respect to modulation, though an 

 object of some consequence, (since we 

 may sometimes find the way to the head 

 and heart by pleasing the ear) yet all cul- 

 tivated languages will be found to pos- 

 sess sufficient power of pleasing the na- 

 tive ear ; and among those who made 

 sound so much an object, sense was often 

 sacrificed to it : with respect to force, it 

 may fairly be doubted whether the ad- 

 vantage of greater precision, by means of 

 more accurate emphasis, does not coun- ' 

 terbaiance it. We are willing to admit on 

 the whole, that the advantage is some- 

 what in favour of those languages in 

 which flexion is extensively adopted ; 

 but we can by no means admit the opi- 

 nion of those who think it necessary to a 

 perfect language. That language is not 

 the most perfect, which enables us to ex- 

 press one thought in a great variety of 

 ways, but that which enables us to ex- 

 press any thought with precision and 

 perspicuity: and contemptible as our 

 own uninflected language may appear to 

 those who can think nothing good but 

 what accords witli the objects of their 

 early taste, we are disposed to believe 

 that in its real powers it rises beyond all 

 the ancient languages, and beyond most 

 ot tiie modern. 



1 -. Hetbre we leave the subject of oral 

 language, we shall pay some attention to 

 the three following inquiries; whether 

 words were originally imitative ; whether 

 they were long ; and of what kind of ar- 

 ticulations they were composed. The 

 iilter of these are of importance in trac- 

 i. it ion JVoni hieroghyphjcalto 



alphabetical writing. Words, in their 

 present state, are simply arbitrary marks. 

 The sound of some appears to be " an 

 echo of the sense ;" but in the greater 

 number of instances in which there is 

 supposed to be this resemblance, very 

 much may be attributed to the fancy of 

 the observer. It is obvious, however, 

 that some words are truly imitative, such 

 e. g. as denote the various sounds of ani- 

 mals. When we carry our inquiries far- 

 ther back, we are led to suppose that the 

 original words would be formed upon 

 some resemblance, real or supposed, be- 

 tween their sound and the thing signi- 

 fied. What else, at first, could induce 

 men to fix upon one sound rather than 

 another ? Sensible objects were the first 

 which obtained names; and of these the 

 number is considerable, which either emit 

 some imitable sound, or perform such 

 motions as are generally accompanied 

 with sound. These would probably be 

 denoted by words imitative of the sound, 

 in the same manner as the Otaheitans 

 gave to the gun the appellation of tick- 

 tick-boo, evidently imitating the cocking 

 and report of the gun, and as we give 

 the cuckoio its name from its note. With 

 respect to qualities totally unconnected 

 with sound, particularly mental qualities, 

 this principle of imitation is not directly 

 applicable: we immediately see the in- 

 congruity of sound and colour, for in- 

 stance, when we call to mind the idea of 

 the blind man, that a scarlet colour was 

 very much like the sound of a trumpet. 

 Yet there can scarcely be a doubt that 

 funded resemblances would, as much as 

 real ones, direct the application of 

 names. Some ingenious writers on this 

 subject have observed certain letters ap- 

 plied to denote a certain class of ideas, 

 which have some common features of re- 

 semblance, and have inferred that those 

 letters were significant of that common 

 feature ; e. g. that c denotes hollowiess, 

 This particular coincidence arises proba- 

 bly from the circumstance, that the ori- 

 ginal word denoting hollowness, which 

 has entered variously modified into the 

 words in question, was c with some vocal 

 sound, This appears to be the extent of 

 the inference which may be justly 

 drawn; that it was so applied, but no't 

 that the sound was significant of the 

 idea. We are accustomed to rise sounds 

 in particular connections with such regu- 

 larity and constancy, that they appear to 

 have a signification" of themselves consi- 

 dered ; but this inference arises from i, t 

 attention to the matter of fact. Frequen 

 ly, from our acquaintance wi< ': 



