POWELL] PHILOLOGY CLXIX 



distinct grammar for the arrangement of these glyphic words 

 unlike that of highly developed written language. Etymolo- 

 gies also take a different course; thus, in the Chinese, the 

 et3'mology of glyph words is highly complex and is upon a 

 distinct and peculiar plan. The sematology of the language 

 represents the culture of the people who employ such a writ- 

 ten language. On the other hand, in fully developed written 

 language alphabets represent sounds, while letters are arranged 

 in words and the words in sentences. The etymologies of the 

 written words correspond to the etymologies of the spoken 

 words, while the sematologies of the written words also corre- 

 spond to the sematologies of the spoken words. 



Logistic Language 



The fifth language of tlie series now requires characteriza- 

 tion. In the earliest and best developed condition it is found 

 as the language of enumeration. Here numbers are repre- 

 sented by graphic characters which have been called digits, 

 because originally the fingers of the two hands were used as 

 an abacus for counting, and the written numbers represented 

 the fingers — the nine vertical strokes for nine fingers and a 

 cross stroke for the tenth. LTltimately the ten strokes were 

 developed into ten figures which are still called digits; the 

 tenth digit is called a ciplier, and in order that it niay be sig- 

 nificant it must be read as ten times some other digit; thus 

 one with the zero is read as ten, two with the zero is. read as 

 twenty, etc. A hundred is represented with a one and two 

 ciphers, two hundred by a two and two ciphers. Hence units 

 of difi"erent orders are recognized. A constant ratio exists 

 between one order and its next higher, which is ten, because 

 the original abacus for counting was the ten fingers. As this 

 linguistic system had its beginning in a number system, we 

 call it logistic speech. There have been developed many 

 tables of measures for quantities of various kinds ; thus there 

 are the long-measure table, the square-measure table, tlie cubic- 

 measure table, the dry-measure table, the liquid-measure table, 

 various weight-measure tables, various time-measure tables, 

 etc. These are ;U1 examples of logistic speech, wliicli were 



