ON THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE, 
AS EXHIBITED IN THE SPECIALIZATION OF THE GRAMMATIC PROCESSES, THE DIFFER- 
ENTIATION OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH, AND THE INTEGRATION OF THE SENTENCE; 
FROM A STUDY OF INDIAN LANGUAGES. 
By J. W. PowELt. 
Possible ideas and thoughts are vast in number. A distinct word for 
every distinct idea and thought would require a vast vocabulary. The 
problem in language is to express many ideas and thoughts with com- 
paratively few words. 
Again, in the evolution of any language, progress is from a condition 
where few ideas are expressed by a few words to a higher, where many 
ideas are expressed by the use of many words; but the number of all 
possible ideas or thoughts expressed is increased greatly out of pro- 
portion with the increase of the number of words. 
And still again, in all of those languages which have been most thor- 
oughly studied, and by inference in all languages, it appears that the 
few original words used in any language remain as the elements for the 
greater number finally used. In the evolution of a language the intro- 
duction of absolutely new material is a comparatively rare phenome- 
non. The old material is combined and modified in many ways to form 
the new. 
How has the small stock of words found as the basis of a language 
been thus combined and modified ? 
The way in which the old materials have been used gives rise to what 
will here be denominated THE GRAMMATIC PROCESSES. 
I._THE PROCESS BY COMBINATION. 
Two or more words may be united to form a new one, or to perform 
the office of a new one, and four methods or stages of combination may 
be noted. 
a. By juxtaposition, where the two words are placed together and yet 
remain as distinct words. ‘This method is illustrated in Chinese, where 
the words in the combination when taken alone seldom give a clew to 
their meaning when placed together. 
b. By compounding, where two words are made into one, in which 
case the original elements of the new word remain in an unmodified 
condition, as in house-top, rain-bow, tell-tale. 
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