210 ‘MAJOR C, By CONDER, B-E., D.C, Li.D., MeReACS., 
see well exemplified in Zend, when § becomes H* before a, 
and Sh before i and u, and where 7 and D become S before 
another ¢, and Sh before 4 K is also softened to ¢ before ¢, 
and 7 becomes / before ¢. Hf we wish to represent the most 
distinct sounds, of the many which shade into each other, 
they may be classified in a simple table of nine consonants, 
as follows :— 
Gutturals. Dentals. ‘  Labials, 
Strong aise k ae (aa) oe p- 
Weak mae g ose 8 gars V. 
Nasal sais TOU tae n ae m. 
and under these headings all the more ancient and widespread 
roots in the Asiatic languages might easily be classed. 
Before considering the relationship of these languages we 
must briefly glance at each of the three groups in turn, and 
at the present condition of comparative study of their 
internal relationship; and in so doing it is convenient to 
begin with the Aryan, as the most carefully studied group. 
But a few words are necessary in the first place as to the 
distinction made between what is called “agglutination,” and 
what is known as “inflection ” in language “generally. 
If it be admitted (as is generally taught) that languages 
spring from certain roots, which contain ideas of actions, and 
that words are formed by the putting together of such roots, 
it will appear that what are called monosyllabic languages 
have no real existence. The oldest roots are monosyllables, 
probably in every language, but even Chinese is not really a 
language where Hivecr monosyllables stand alone. Its verbs 
are formed by the prefixes ching and tso, and its nouns in 
their oldest forms are seen to be built up from more than one 
syllable, though in modern Chinese they have been recon- 
tracted to a “single sound, by the general decay of the 
language. In all Asiatic tongues we find words in various 
stages of dec cay, due to the natural attempt to make 
conversation easier and more rapid, which has for centuries 
tended so to wear them down. In some cases the com- 
binations are easily resolved into distinct roots, in others 
the original form is difficult to perceive, or even lost. 
The first condition is agglutinative, or “ glued together,” 
the second is inflevional, or decayed age ‘lutination. No 
language is entirely free from one or other form, but in 
* The interchange of S and H also occurs in Semitic languages. The 
Assyrian and Hadramaut § (in the personal pronoun and voice of the 
verb) becomes H in Hebrew and in Himyarite. 
