44 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



III. CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES 



Origin of Dialects 



In many cases the determination of the genetic relationship of 

 languages is perfectly simple. Wherever we find close similarities 

 in phonetics, in vocabularies, and in details of grammar, there can 

 not be the slightest doubt that the languages that are being studied 

 are varieties of the same ancestral form. 



To a certain extent the differentiation of a single language into a 

 number of dialects is spontaneous. When communication between 

 peoples speaking the same tongue ceases, peculiarities of pronuncia- 

 tion will readily manifest themselves in one region or the other and 

 may become permanent. In some cases these modifications of pro- 

 nunciation may gradually increase and may become so radical that 

 several quite different forms of the original language develop. At 

 the same time words readily assume a new significance, and if the 

 separation of the people should be accompanied by a differentiation 

 of culture, these changes may proceed at a very rapid rate. 



In cases of such phonetic changes and of modifications in the sig- 

 nificance of words, a certain degree of regularity may always be 

 observed, and for this reason the historical relationship between 

 the new dialects and the older forms can always be readily estab- 

 lished and may be compared to the modifications that take place in 

 a series of generations of living beings. 



Another form of modification may occur that is also analogous to 

 biological transformations. We must recognize that the origin of 

 language must not be looked for in human faculties that have once 

 been active, but which have disappeared. As a matter of fact, new 

 additions to linguistic devices and to linguistic material are con- 

 stantly being made. Such spontaneous additions to a language may 

 occur in one of the new dialects, while they do not occiu* in the other. 

 These, although related to the structure of the older language, will 

 be so entirely new in their character that they can not be directly 

 related to the ancestral language. 



It must also be considered that each of these dialects may incor- 

 porate new material. Nevertheless in all cases where the older mate- 

 rial constitutes the bulk of the material of the language, its close 

 relationship to the ancestral tongue will readily be recognized. In 



