2 12 VESTIGES OF THE 



occupies, excepting Hungary, the Basque provinces of 

 Spain, and Finland. Its sub-families are the Sanskrit, 

 or ancient language of India, the Persian, the Slavonic, 

 Celtic, Gothic, and Pelasgian. The Slavonic includes the 

 modern languages of Hussia and Poland. Under the 

 Gothic, are (i) the Scandinavian tongues, the Norske, 

 Swedish, and Danish; and (2) the Teutonic, to which 

 belong the modern German, the Dutch, and our own 

 Anglo-Saxon. I give the name of Pelasgian to the group 

 scattered along the north shores of the Mediterranean, 

 the Greek and Latin, including the modifications of the 

 latter under the names of Italian, Spanish, Arc. The 

 Celtic was, from two to three thousand years ago, the 

 speech of a considerable tribe dwelling in Western 

 Europe ; but these have since been driven before superior 

 nations into a few corners, and are now only to be found 

 in the highlands of Scotland, Irehind, Wales, Cornwall, 

 and certain parts of France. The Gaelic of Scotland, 

 Erse of Ireland, and the Welsh, are the only living 

 branches of this sub-family of languages. 



The resemblances amongst languages are of two kinds 

 — identity of w^ords, and identity of grammatical forms ; 

 the latter being now generally considered as the most 

 important towards the argument. When we inquii-e 

 into the first kind of affinity among the languages of the 

 Indo-European family, we are surprised at the great 

 number of common terms which exist amongst them, 

 and these referring to such primary ideas, as to leave no 

 doubt of their liaving all been derived from a common 

 source. Colonel Vans Kennedy presents nine hundred 

 words common to the Sanskrit and other languages of 

 the same family. In the Sanskrit and Persian, we find 

 several which require no sort of translation to an English 

 reader, as ikkIqt^ mader, sunu, doUiter, hrader, mcnrp, 



