THE WITNESS OF Pin LO LOGY. 303 



But as even these philologists do not question that all 

 originally " predicative words" would be found to have had 

 their predicative value determined by gesture, " if we could 

 penetrate to an earlier stage of language," the question 

 whether such demonstrative elements as have come down to 

 us were or were not themselves of originally predicative 

 value, is not of vital importance in the present connection. 

 For there is no doubt that pronominal elements which really 

 were aboriginal as such, depended on accompanying gesture- 

 signs for a conveyance of their predicative meaning ; and 

 although, as we might expect, there is a necessary absence of 

 proof in particular cases whether these elements have come 

 down to us in a practically aboriginal form, or whether they 

 have done so as the worn-out remnants of independently 

 predicative words, the general principles on which we are now 

 engaged are not really affected by any such philological 

 uncertainties in matters of detail. For even the authority 

 just quoted as doubting whether we have evidence enough to 

 conclude that demonstrative elements which have come down 

 to us were never themselves predicative words, elsewhere says 

 of early predicative utterance in general, — " It is certain that 

 there was a time in the history' of speech when the articulate, 

 or semi-articulate, sounds uttered by primitive man were 

 made the significant representatives of thought by the 

 gestures with which they were accompanied ; and this complex 

 of sound and gesture — a complex in which, be it remembered, 

 the sound had no meaning apart from the gesture — was 

 the earliest sentence." * And, after giving examples from 

 languages of Further India, he adds, — " But an inflectional 

 language does not permit us to watch the word-making 

 process so clearly as do those savage jargons, in which a 

 couple of sounds, like the Grebo ni jie, signify ' I do it,' or 



pronominal theory in the supposition that pronominal elements, even of the 

 most al)original kind, were survivals of still more primitive sentence-words— a 

 supposition which would of course remove the difficulty in question. But, as 

 explained in the text, this difficulty, even if it could not be thus met, would really 

 not he one of any importance to my exposition. 

 • Introduction, d-'.., i. 117. 



