48 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 40 



any other explanation. And the same is true, to a more or less 

 pronounced extent, among other distinct but neighboring languages. 

 The possibility of such a transfer of sounds can not be denied. 

 Among the American Indians, for instance — where intermarriages 

 between individuals belonging to different tribes are frequent ; where 

 slave women raise their own and their masters' children; and where, 

 owing to the small number of individuals constituting the tribe, indi- 

 viduals who have mastered several distinct languages are not by 

 any means rare — ample opportunity is given for one language to 

 exert its phonetic influence over another. Whether this explanation 

 is adequate, is a question that remains to be decided by further his- 

 torical studies.^ 



Graniniatical Influences 



Influence of the syntax of one language upon another, and even, 

 to a certain extent, of the morphology of one language upon another, 

 is also probable. The study of the languages of Europe has proved 

 clearly the deep influence exerted by Latin upon the syntax of all 

 the modern European languages. We can also recognize how certain 

 syntactic forms of expression occur in neighboring languages on our 

 American continent. To give an instance of this kind, we find that, 

 in the most diverse languages of the North Pacific coast, commands 

 are given in the periphrastic form. It would he good if you did so 

 and so; and in many cases this periphrastic form has been substi- 

 tuted entirely for the ordinary imperative. Thus it may well be 

 that groups of psychological concepts which are expressed by means 

 of grammatical forms have developed in one language under the 

 influence of another; and it is difficult to say, if we once admit such 

 influence, where the limit may be to the modifications caused by 

 such processes. 



On the other hand, it seems exceedingly difficult to understand 

 why the most fundamental morphological traits of a language should 

 disappear under the influence of another form of thought as exhibited 

 in another language. This would mean that the greater number of 

 grammatical forms would disappear, and entirely new categories 

 develop. It certainly can not be denied that far-reaching modifica- 

 tions of this kind are possible, but it will require the most cautious 

 proof in every single case before their existence can be accepted. 



igee also p. 53. 



