HINTS AND EXPLANATIONS. 55 
§ 30.—ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATIONS SUGGESTED. 
Should the student pursue his investigation beyond the limits indi- 
cated by the schedules, it is very desirable that he should be on the lookout 
for certain linguistic phenomena that have received no mention in the fore- 
going sections. 
To set forth what is meant in a manner that may be understood some 
explanation seems necessary. 
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 compara- 
tively 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 pos- 
sible ideas or thoughts expressed is increased greatly out of proportion 
with the increase of the number of words. 
And still again, in all of those languages which have been most 
thoroughly 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 introduc- 
tion of absolutely new material is a comparatively rare phenomenon. 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. They are as follows: 
I. The process by comprnation. ‘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. 
